Sunday July 29, 2018: 8:30 PM

  The dream that I woke up from this morning was another showcase of working away, learning the basics behind forging and enchanting rings. The Lady of the Darkness Between the Stars had brought me here to learn, and I intended on not wasting her effort or mine. I mentally cached away every bit of knowledge I could from these Hallowed Halls of Heward, and before too long, I was awake. The bed was lonely again, and I sighed as I got up. I certainly didn’t feel the need to spend more time in bed when it was just me.

  I got up and got the dedicated wrights ready for another day of crafting. I had made the first “Overwhelming Banality of it All”, aka my Mirage Arcana brick, and decided to make another of the exact same kind, and spent the same, almost eight hours, working directly with the Mini-Avengers, and got it done just before noon. When we were done, I went to the side parking lot, and activated this brick to make the parking lot look the same as it always had. I then went over and latched the gate shut. I knew that I could see through my own illusions, especially when I activate them myself, and the back eighty feet of the parking lot, up forty feet high, and the twenty foot by twenty foot by twenty foot section at the back of the warehouse where the entrance will be created for access.

  I went to the concrete wall, and used my first Stone Shape of the day, to open up the wall and turn it into a secret door. I didn’t have much else I needed to do with it, so I ensured that there was a pit that the drains can lead to on this side. I resolved to make this building as over engineered as I could to minimize any problems with ANY kinds of inspectors, even if they were just S.H.I.E.L.D. Inspectors. With my remaining spells, I checked out the front area of the future office area, and resolved to get some plans underway for the septic system that would be needed, especially since we would NOT be connecting into any kind of sewer. I got out the remainder of the jade, quartz, snowflake obsidian, and amber from the tent, and found that I had enough full sets for four more of each of the constant energy stones.

  I went to the garage, got my clothes ready to head out, and went to the end of the new garage. I lifted up the bike, cast Vanish, and went to the road to start riding away. I hit the Iron Horse Emblem and started rocketing off for another twenty-four seconds, before getting into an alleyway in a vastly different section of downtown. I drove around for a bit, down Monticello, until I came across a disturbing scene. An elderly man was being harassed by a pair of teens in those same yellow and purple athletic jerseys.

  I slowed down and pulled into a parking lot nearby and swapped to regular clothes to walk over and find out what had possessed them to be this disrespectful of their elders. When I walked up, one of them yelled at me to stand back, or else I would get the same. I sighed and stepped forward. The two of them both pulled pistols and aimed at me. I sighed and told them that they REALLY didn’t want to do this.

  The one who had yelled to stay back told me that yeah, the four of them really do, and I thanked him for letting me know how many were inside. I let the illusion drop, and my clothes changed back to my armor. The one who looked at me like he was going to attack managed to pull the trigger, but it didn’t do anything after hitting the hard plate of my Umbryl Zephyr. I told them that they have chosen… poorly. With but a reflex, my pistol was in my hand, barking out two fire-imbued shots towards the two outside on the street, dropping them with their illusionary gravity.

  I looked at the inside of the store, and asked the security guard if he was okay for the next eighteen seconds. He looked a bit perplexed, but he said that he would be fine. My goggles showed me that he wasn’t fragile or frail, so I took him at his word. I calmly walked into the door, where two of the thugs were there with people held hostage. They started yelling for me to drop my gun or the hostages would get it.

  I looked at one of them, and asked if they thought that I was really less dangerous without a gun in my hand. They looked at each other with confusion as I asked if they thought that they were getting away with any of this. I reached up with my non-dominant hand, and plucked the flattened bullet from the hard plate, and told them that this was a souvenir of their friend who had tried to shoot me before. I saw one start to falter with their firearm, letting it drift a little down and away from the hostage, and I told them that they could keep the guns pointed at me, and maybe suffer only a little wrath, but if they hurt one of the people of Norfolk, MY people, then they can find out how much I can REALLY make them hurt.

  The one who was already faltering lowered their gun completely and yelled out that he didn’t hurt anyone, that he was new to the gang and this was his first job. I looked at the other who yelled out, “Lamar, MAN UP.” I saw the fact that he was focused on his partner in crime and that the pistol was now momentarily out of alignment with the hostage, and fired with supreme focus, ready to snap another round off to deflect, if needed. My bullet struck him in the clavicle and caused him to relax the grip before he dropped to the ground.

  I looked at the one who had given up, and asked him, “Lamar is it?”. He nodded, and I asked him to remove the jerseys from his fellows and tie them all up with them. Lamar balked for only a second before doing so. I looked to the various people in the store, and asked if they were okay. They all nodded and I asked one of them to contact the police.

  I drug the unconscious one out, while lifting Lamar up by the back of his pants, whimpering as he was carried. I rudely set the unconscious one down outside while Lamar got to work doing what I had told him to do. I looked over at the security guard, who was still on the ground, and helped him up while activating the Healing aspect of my belt to jolt some positive energy into him. I quietly asked him if the one who was still conscious had been involved in beating him in any way. He shook his head and said that he was off to the side, and didn’t look like he enjoyed this at all.

  I nodded and asked him what he wanted to have happen to JUST Lamar. The security guard said that he didn’t think that he should get off free, but that he wasn’t as bad as the ones who were beating him. I listened intently and told Lamar that he had a choice, right here and now. Lamar stopped what he was doing and looked up. I told him that he could abandon this “gang” right now, and he would get a less strict punishment when the cops come, or he can continue down his current path. He immediately ripped off his own jersey and said that this wasn’t worth it.

  It wasn’t too long since I had stopped the event when the police pulled up. One of them jokingly asked why I hadn’t made them jade cuffs. I told them that they were regular thugs, and that they didn’t merit it, but if they wanted a diorama of the event, I could make one quick. Before they could say anything, I pulled out a few pieces of stones from my pocket, a deep purple granite, amber, jade, obsidian, quartz, and one of the red bricks that was on the ground. Before I started, I asked the guard if he would want to be represented more accurately or bravely.

  The security guard said that there isn’t any shame in being beaten by two young guys with guns trained on him. I caught the slight intonation and created four of the models again, one for the School, one for the police, one for the guard, and one for the store. The guard looked much more resilient and defiant than he might have if someone else had sculpted it. I handed them to the guards and the police in question. Then I took one into the jeweler on staff, who looked at it immediately with his loupe.

  He stammered and asked what each material was, and I told him the six ingredients, and he told me that this was exquisite, and that if he had to guess, he might expect it to be north of one hundred and forty thousand dollars from the materials and quality. I shrugged and told him it could be a new set piece for his store. I walked back out to the police and reiterated how Lamar had taken sides. One of them laughed and said that he had done something even worse than taking off his jersey, he had disrespected the colors of his gang. I looked at him oddly and the policeman said that he had torn up the jerseys of his gang members to tie them up.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  I shrugged and said that maybe this was a good thing. I asked them if they needed anything else. The policeman told me that they didn’t and that they had enough “evidence” from the diorama, the camera feed, and the security guard’s statements. I thanked them for their work in keeping criminals off the streets, as all I could do was stop them, not keep them from doing it again, and went to ride off. One of the cops yelled out, why the priceless dioramas. I shrugged and said it was the materials that I had access to at the time, and presented them with raw hunks of Jade, Amber, Granite, Obsidian, and Quartz, and then noted that I should probably get some red and purple stones too, especially if this “gang” keep showing up. Yeah, the cops said, the Grape Street Crips are starting to try to move in on the places that were vacated by the Painkillers and the Pepsi Boys.

  That perked up my attention, as I had just associated them with the Slicing Talons. Maybe the supervillains WEREN’T the ultimates in charge of the gangs, or maybe there were others behind the scenes. I thanked him for the information and told him that if he finds anything else, that he should just write it in ANY book, ANYWHERE, with my name and the words “police blotter” next to it, and I will learn it. The cop blanched for a moment, and I told him that it was just something that I could do, and in fact, maybe they should get some kind of signal, to let me know when I need to look for information. It is a LOT more secure than sending emails or texts. No one ever needs to read the book other than the person writing it. I will get the information from those books through my own means.

  I rode off after saying goodbye again, not worrying about the previous encounter, expecting the police to have it under wraps. After about ten minutes, I got another text from Jonathan, telling me that he had asked me to promise not to make social media explode again before Monday. I stopped and replied back to him that I had made no such promise, and in fact, I had told him “No promises”. “Oh,” I added, “The illusions are up for the parking lot AND the tower now. Nothing stopping the construction. Please bring copper wiring commensurate for the needs for both the office and the charging stations on Monday.”

  Jonathan wrote back that he can arrange that and asked if I needed anything else. I told him that I had used up a total of four each of the Jade, Amber, Snowflake Obsidian, and Quartz pieces, and if he could arrange more of them to be delivered, that would be great. Jonathan wrote back and asked me if I knew how much they cost. I told him that I didn’t, and then he stopped replying for a minute. He replied back that he would get another four lots of each stone without saying anything else.

  I asked him how much the stones were, and then told me that each model was less than one hundred dollars in raw materials, and even high end handcuffs would probably be comparable for just one set, and they can be picked. I told him that I would work on making rings that can reshape stone for every person of S.H.I.E.L.D. if that would reduce costs for them. Then they could just carry around one pound blocks of jade as alternatives. Jonathan said that he’d think about it, but that if it works for me, then that is useful, but he didn’t know if he could get S.H.I.E.L.D. as a whole to carry around pounds of semiprecious material. I joked and replied back that it didn’t need to be jade, just any stone with similar properties would work fine.

  He replied back asking why I used jade, and I told him that amber and obsidian were way too fragile, and quartz was prone to shattering. He joked back that this was why most people just used handcuffs. I told him that I didn’t have a good way to get restraints like handcuffs, so I worked with what I had. Jonathan then asked me if I had really used jade because I didn’t have handcuffs, and I replied that that was correct, and so that I didn’t waste the rest of the potential of the Stone Shape spell I needed to cast for the cuffs, so that was the start of the dioramas.

  It was a few minutes before Jonathan wrote back, but when he did, he asked me if I ever thought about giving up superheroism and maybe going into high end art. I told him that I didn’t have the patience for sculpting, and that it wasn’t even nearly as focused on as sewing or carpentry, let alone making firearms or alchemical items. Jonathan was silent again for another minute, and asked if I planned on making any further big busts or monumental events over the next few hours. I told him that I would do my best, and that I only ended up having this one since I encountered the pair of crooks beating up the security guard. I felt obligated to step in.

  Jonathan wrote back that he’d write up everything in his updated weekend report for Director Mackenzie, and asked if I ever took days off. I replied that I didn’t have too much of a reason, considering that neither the city, nor my tower, nor Amber herself, were ready for her return. I added that I would focus more on training soon. I also asked him what kinds of magical items or equipment he’d like? Maybe something that would allow him to never need to eat or drink again, and minimized his need to sleep to just two hours a night?

  I offered that I might be able to start working on something like that in a week or so, at least until we start getting orders for more gloves, goggles, visors, or other things that we come up with. Jonathan said that he’d really think about what kinds of wondrous items that he might want made. I told him that he had some time at least, and we still needed to start getting masses of the goggles, visors, and gloves on recurring shipments, so that we can be ready for orders. Jonathan said that after PBC was set up, we would be working through the Stark Industries Warehouse for intermediary shipping, as they were offering to be the go between. I told him that this was good, and they could be trusted, as they were also helping me.

  Jonathan didn’t offer much in response to that, but said that everyone would be ready at nine am Monday. I thanked him and said that I would be glad that he could get some first hand usage of magical items. I also offered that I would hope that the samples were ready, and he told me that they were, and they were in one inch cubes, as requested. I thanked him, and said that we can go through all of this tomorrow. I told him that I would be going back to the warehouse to make sure everything is arranged as needed, and that the floor plans are provided for everyone, so that there is no confusion.

  Jonathan said that this was a good idea, and that I would be able to meet all three of the new Agents setting up shop in Norfolk, and that they would all be finding their housing as soon as they could. I offered up that I wouldn’t be against reinforcing their new houses with more Walls of Stone to make them tougher. Jonathan said that he would pass that up to Director Mack to see if he wants to greenlight doing that. I told him that it was free to do, so it wouldn’t cost S.H.I.E.L.D. anything more than picking the right buildings. Jonathan said that he would add that and pass it up too, and I sent that I was heading back now.

  Jonathan wrote back goodbye, and I made my way back to the warehouse, and hid myself and the bike from view, using another Vanish, and went back into the warehouse. I took stock of what I had available to cast right now, and what I could do. I went to the garage and used Stone Shape spells to set up two of the other doors, the ones that go to the rest of the building, to make them secret doors. For my last Stone Shape spell, and used my final one to set up the power box for the Galvanic Spark for this portion of the building. I pulled out one of the hunks of amber and enspelled it with Constant Energy (Electric) and set it into the power box.

  I then enspelled a full set of five additional Constant Energy stones, one for each energy type. I placed them in the rough locations of where they are going, and looked over what I could do. I decided to pull out seven blank pages to set up seven Minor Lasting Image spells for the bottom five layers of the tower, one for the office section and one for the garage area. I had emptied out my spell slots and was ready to “relax” for the rest of the day. I spent time talking to Rex and letting him know what would be happening starting tomorrow.

  It was a long discussion, and eventually it was interrupted by Amber Sending me her nightly message, “Good Night my Love, I am just checking in to let you know that I miss you and Rex, and can’t wait to get home.” I Sent back to her, “I miss and love you too, and Rex will be a bit less annoyed when the tower is ready and he can sleep more soundly”. I passed Amber’s message on to Rex and he seemed a bit miffed but I told him that the Tower would give him basically his own place to sleep, and a place to fly out easily. He perked up at that and we discussed modifications to the plan before I went to sleep.