34. Know your enemy

It was a day like any other in this small branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. Clients had come and gone, money had exchanged hands and more than a few people had made a ruckus when the service wasn't up to their standards. Then things had gone wrong.

Very wrong.

"Pitiful people, quiver before my undisputable might! I am none other than the superhuman genius Adahm and you will hand in all your possessions or else!" Spoke a small, bald man wearing a golden crown.

"You heard da boos, on the ground!" Yelled a taller man besides the bald one as he fired his rifle into the air to empathize the point.

All around him people threw themselves to the ground and cowered in fear as half a dozen armed men spread through the building, checking people and taking their purses and wallets alike.

"Boss, we got everyone," informed one of the armed men to Adahm.

"Excellent! Now take me to the vaults so I can use my incredible psionic powers to destroy them and take all the money."

The vault, a sturdy construction of reinforced steel and heat resistant ceramics, offered more of a challenge than Adahm had expected, but after the fifth concentrated psionic blast, the sturdy contraption gave and their path became clear.

The looting was fast, if not really efficient, and there was less in the way of gold and money and more bonds and property titles than he expected, but he was sure that it would be no problem. He was after all a great criminal mastermind!

Adahm watched his men, his "Goon squad" as some bothersome do-gooder had so aptly named them, and felt only pride. He was going to become incredibly rich after this heist, maybe rich enough to afford his own fortress of doom, maybe even an island-fortress one day.

Robbing the Royal Bank of Canada had truly been his greatest plan yet.

"See Jacques," Adahm said to his second, the 'Goon boss', as some called him, "this is what a real criminal mastermind does. We have truly come far."

But before Jacques could answer anything someone else did.

He was a short man, of stocky build and powerfully muscled. In a way it would remind people of a circus strongman, if they were only 1 meter tall. He wore a form fitting sleeveless one-piece suit with a great capital 'P' on his chest.

"I wouldn't call going from a third rate bank robber to a second rate one much of an improvement. But what do I know, I haven't done much in the way of villainy," the man who had spoken paused for a second, 'Maybe I'll try in the future, eh?"

"Wha-" asked Adahm, startled by the sudden appearance, only to be interrupted once again.

"Puck, don't joke like that," answered another man who had also just appeared. "We are important heroes and thus role models to many people, you know?"

This man was much taller, his build closer to that of an athlete. He had dark hair and wore a colourful green and gold suit.

Seeing this Adahm once again tried to speak. "Who do you-" only to be instantly cut off.

"Bah, you're no fun Shaman. How can anyone live an interesting life when you try to make everything boring?"

The way both men were bantering in such carefree manner and ignoring him, the great Adahm, was too much for the self-proclaimed criminal mastermind to bear. With his vision tinted red, he chargend his most powerful attack and fired it at them. A rage-fuelled psionic blast with enough power to pulverize steel speeding towards the still distracted heroes.

But instead of the bone breaking, flesh liquefying force impacting the unaware heroes, they both jumped away at the last second. Puck bounced off the walls and the roof, as Adahm's follow up attacks failed to land, while Shaman simply surrounded himself with an arcane shield, the mental blasts dissipating harmlessly.

"What are you doing, idiots? Shoot them!" The fury in Adahm's voice was palpable as he ordered his underlings to attack.

The three goons answered as one, opening fire from the hip and splashing the room with bullets.

���We can discuss your strange ideas of 'interesting' after we are done with the robber." Even as dozens of rounds impacted his shield he seemed unperturbed, more bored than anything.

"Sure, taking care of these third rates shouldn't take long anyway," answered Puck with an impish smile, bouncing off the left ceiling and landing feet first onto a surprised goon's face.

"I. Am. Not. Third rate!" This time Adahm fired half a dozen beams and once again none of them did anything at all.

"You are right," said Puck and he jumped off a wall, evading a deadly psionic beam and punching another goon in the face, "you aren't good enough for a third rater."

Before Adahm could understand what was going on, Puck was already on top of him. Like a human shaped cannon ball Puck slammed head first against Adahm, his rubber-like head crashing against the villain's face and breaking both his nose and quite a few teeth.

"Agh, ma nos'! Yu damn brut'!" Cried the villain as he grasped the bleeding appendage.

"Don't worry, anything I do to that face of yours can only make you prettier," Puck said with a smile as he looked down at the kneeling villain.

"Tak' dis!" Adahm did not care about winning anymore, he only wanted to erase Puck's smug smile, so he willed all the power he had in one last attack that would completely obliterate the insufferable hero… and nothing happened.

Adahm knew his powers were still working, but he couldn't focus the energy. It was as if something was missing, something like...

"Oh yeah, maybe you are looking for this?" Realization struck as Adahm noticed what Puck was holding in his left hand. The big golden crown, the encephalo-amplifier, was the tool that Adahm used as a focus for his psionic powers was one of a kind and he had no backup, without it he was virtually powerless.

"Giv' it back!" Overcome by rage Adahm lunged at the ehro, or at least attempted to, as Puck easily evaded him, causing Adahm to fall to the ground.

"How about ya Shaman, done with the goons?" asked Puck jovially as he juggled with the encephalo-amplifier, treating Adahm's greatest creation as nothing more than a cheap prop.

"Yes indeed. Though I think we should have let our new companion participate, this is part of his training after all" Answered Shaman as he dragged the unconscious bodies of the goons to the side of the roof and cuffed them.

"Nah, if the new guy wants to see some action then he better learn to keep up," Puck answered with a smirk, before looking down at Adahm's prone figure, "not that these guys were much of a challenge."

That was too much. The way his plans had failed so utterly, the manner in which these so called 'heroes' were mocking him. It was too much for Adahm, too much for him to tolerate the humiliation any longer.

While it was true that his powers were only useful as long as he had his encephalo-amplifier, that didn't mean Adahm was defenseless without it. His previous encounters with the law had taught him one or two things and 'always have a backup plan' was one of those. And while this wasn't exactly what he would have preferred he would make do, if only to shut them up.

In one swift motion Adahm grasped something inside his shirt and took it out, holding it before him as one would a crucifix against a vampire. The thing was a flat disk, similar to a medallion, it was made of blood red clay and had strange symbols and lines in brass and gold. They looked almost like a language but not quite and if one were to try to decipher them for too long, terrible headaches and instinctive fear would be the only results.

With his rage fuelled strength, Adahm crushed the medallion against his chest, the clay and metal exploding in a shower of dust that quickly mixed in with the blood from his nose.

Adahm changed.

---​

One moment Puck was exchanging banter with his friend and comrade at the expense of a minor nuisance, the next he was flying towards the wall furthest away with no recollection of how that had happened, only managing to brace himself before the impact.

Normally his rubber-like body would have bounced off the wall even with an uncontrolled impact, but his speed was high enough that he found himself halfway through it before enough energy bled out. Thankfully Puck suffered no real damage but for some minor disorientation even if the wall wasn't so lucky.

Shaking off the stars in his eyes, Puck stood up once again, ready to kick the minor villain's lights out and saw something… unnerving.

The once small man was now a towering two meters tall. His previously thin body was now a gigantic mass of muscle over taut skin. Arms as thick as tree trunks, with a back wide enough for Puck to comfortably rest on with his arms extended. The villain's previously ugly face was now truly inhuman, with great tusks on a mouth full of sharp teeth, and two deformed, mismatched eyes. Strange words in a suspiciously familiar tongue coming out

"Puck, look out!" Suddenly warned Shaman and reacting on pure instinct Puck jumped, barely avoiding a ball of darkness which impacted the ground where he had just been standing. The tiles and concrete below it bubbled and melted, into a pile of dark-brown goo. A future Puck would rather avoid.

The villain roared, spittle flying from its deformed mouth, and Puck saw more balls of darkness fly at him. Thankfully Shaman had already gotten his bearings by then, and a translucent shield stopped most of them, leaving the rest easy to evade.

"Puck be careful, I don't know what he is doing but I'm certain it is some kind of magic," cautioned Shaman as he called forth the powers of the heavens, earth and life itself. Beams of white pure life firing from his outstretched hands. The purifying energy impacting the villain directly.

The deformed creature just screamed, its eyes full of rage and pain as it cursed the one attacking it.

"⟟ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ☍⟟⌰⌰ ⊬⍜⎍!" As the villain, or what used to be it, spoke Puck felt his blood freeze. The words were unintelligible but he knew them very well.

"Oh no! Shaman I know what he did, he turned into a-" but he never got to answer, as a wave of energy grew from the creature, utterly destroying the ceiling and sending Puck and Shaman flying.

"... a dEmOn." The voice was hoarse, like a landslide, and cruel and utterly terrifying to any basic human instinct. The monster was smiling.

Puck only wanted to kill it.

The demon moved, its taloned feet propelling it in an explosion or detritus and pulverized concrete as the building continued to collapse around them. It hit Shaman's shield head on, cracks spreading on its surface, and pounded it over and over in quick succession, each hit taking it closer to the failure point.

Eventually the shield burst, the concussive energy released when it did being enough to send Shaman flying, a quick number of dark spheres following after him.

Puck had no time to worry about his friend, for it was then that the demon turned towards him once again.

But Puck was already moving, bouncing up and down what few walls remained to gain momentum. His feet hitting the creature head on, his speed and mass enough to kill any regular person or crumple a car like cardboard. The demon barely noticed.

Sadly for Puck barely was more than enough, as the demon, quick as lighting, turned around and grabbed Puck by the leg as he tried to distance himself.

What followed hurt Puck's pride more than it did his body, but only barely.

With brutal and incredibly strong movements, the demon swung Puck against the ground over and over, turning what remained of the bank's floor into rubble before lifting him up until they were eye to eye.

"⟟ ⟒⏃⏁ ⊬⍜⎍" Puck didn't need to know the creature's language to understand its meaning, as the creature opened its malformed maw, far wider than it should have been possible. Only to get stabbed by a pen to the eye.

With a great bellow of rage and pain it released Puck, who fell unceremoniously to the ground.

"Not a demon slaying sword but it will do, eh?" Puck said as he raised to meet his newly enraged adversary.

But before Puck could engage in a titanic struggle between man and darkspawn, a blur crashed against the creature, sending it flying into a pile of rubble.

"It may not be a demon slaying sword but I assume a fellow hero wielding one will do?" Puck did not need to look up to know who it was. The new arrival hadn't been with Alpha Flight for a long time, but he had made an impression since then.

"Took you long enough kid," Puck answered with a smile, "though I can't say I needed your help with this loser."

"Probably not, but after evacuating the hostages I had nothing better to do," answered the newly arrived hero and while Puck could not see his face behind the helmet he wore, Puck knew he was probably smiling.

"Trying to keep it interestin', eh?" Puck had liked the new guy since day one, but as time went on he found himself liking him even more.

"Of course!" the new guy said as he lifted his sword, a dark blade of an unknown metal "now if you will excuse me I have to take care of this."

As he spoke the possessed villain burst from the rubble he had been buried under, roaring in unknown fell tongues and unleashing an aura of terror all around it, only to be silenced a second later as a void-black blade took off its lower jaw.

Puck considered the possibility of taking it out before the new guy could do so, but decided against it. His life already had more than enough demon slaying, it was good to share experiences with the newer generations after all.

What came next could best be described as an execution.

The demon tried, it really did, but it wasn't fast, strong or skilled enough to face the newest member of Alpha Flight. Its diamond hard claws were reflected by parries or evaded before the hero relieved it of both its hands. Orbs of darkness tried and failed to strike vulnerable flesh, their target too fast to follow. Eventually the demon was reduced to an arm and legless torso bleeding from a dozen wounds. It was surprisingly still alive too.

Puck whistled as he saw what remained of the possessed villain. "You really did a full job on him, eh?"

"Just as you told me to if I ever came across one like him," answered the new guy without missing a beat. His dark armor still as shiny and pristine as ever, just as if he had not just brutalized a monster in close range.

"Heh, I guess I did."

The moment of camaraderie between the old man, still full of adventure as the first time he hunted a bear so long ago and the young hero, ready to soak on any knowledge his senior had to offer in pursuit of a life as fulfilling, lasted only for a second before they were interrupted.

"I assume he is ready for capture then?" asked Shaman, completely unharmed except for aesthetic damage to his suit.

"Yes, just gotta bag him in and see if we can take out whatever he put inside himself." As Puck said this he turned around, the new guy following close behind.

"And I assume I must do it?" Shaman had perfected his eyebrow raising to an art, being able to express everything from surprise to slight annoyance and he made sure to put his abilities to full use now.

"Hey, you were napping while we took care of it." Shot back Puck.

"I was hardly napping, nor did you seem very worried about my well being. Nevermind that you didn't do much either." Countered Shaman.

"I let the kid take care of it, big difference," Puck said as he looked at the sky, now visible thanks to the hole blown through the roof.

"So by your leave, I will get going. Kid, you too." And without further ado Puck jumped, easily reaching the shuttle hovering twenty meters above the ground.

"Shaman." The new Alphan said as he lowered his head slightly in a sign of respect, before following behind Puck.

Shaman could only look at the mostly destroyed bank and unconscious (and probably half dead) creature lying before him. All things he would need to take care of.

"Damn you Puck."

---​

Department-H Central, the headquarters of the entire organization, staffed by hundreds of people completely dedicated to superpowered crime fighting and the protection of Canada from forces beyond humanity. It was also the main base of Alpha Flight, the premier Canadian superhero team.

The building had seen much during its relatively short history. Enemies had been held there, only to escape and break havok, almost a dozen heroes had drawn their last breath as fanatic paramedics tried their best to keep them alive for another minute, only to see them breath again not long after, and inventions that could revolutionize half a dozen fields of science had been invented there. The building was young, but it had seen many things. Sadly the latest occurrence was much more common and unwelcome.

"You can't let them do this!" Exclaimed a woman, anger clear in her voice.

"I don't have a choice!" answered back a man wearing a full bodysuit with Canada's flag on it, "Heather please, I… I just can't do anything."

"You can't, James? You can't?" Heather's words were brimming with barely contained violence as she took one step closer to the man, "you are the fucking Guardian, Canada's premier hero and leader of the motherfucking premier hero team and you are saying you can't do anything?"

"Heather... I… It is the law! I, we, have to do this properly," pleaded Guardian.

"Fuck properly and fuck the law. It's been two years James, two fucking years and I'm sick of 'waiting for the law' as you love to say. I want. My. Daughter. Back. Now"

To anyone else this would have looked like a normal couple's quarrel, and in a sense they would be right, but like everything happening inside the Central, it was anything but normal.

James Hudson, a brilliant scientist, had developed a powerful battle suit which he had subsequently donned to become the hero known as Guardian, the defender of Canada. Now after an encounter of the close kind, his battlesuit and his body had become one, turning James into an entity that could never be separated from his Guardian persona. Heather McNeil on the other hand had been dragged into such life by her relation with Guardian, culminating in her gaining a battlesuit of her own, thus beginning her career as Vindicator. Together she and Guardian had formed an unbeatable team and found happiness with each other in the form of their love and the daughter they conceived together.

But most stories rarely have a happy ending and this one was no different. Battle after battle they had survived, always coming out victorious until one day they hadn't. In one fell swoop of destiny they had died, their story ended prematurely and their daughter left alone in such a cruel world. That was to be the end of it.

Until it wasn't.

As most in their profession are prone to do, Guardian and Vindicator had come back to the world of the living. Their hearts once again beating, their lungs full of vital, life giving air. But even if they had come back unchanged, the world hadn't.

To the law they had been dead and as dead they had been treated. Their properties were gone, their assets taken and their daughter given new guardians. Their lives had truly been over in a sense.

But lives could be rebuilt, money could be recovered and assets reclaimed, yet not all was that easy. They had died once, they could die again and probably would. Was it fair to give them back their child only for her to experience their deaths all over again? Was it just to force an innocent to the life they would give her? The court of law had considered these questions and decided the answer.

Their daughter had remained lost to them.

Court after court and appeal after appeal, nothing had been enough. Two of Canada's greatest heroes had been spurned by the people they protected and even as they were sung praises so were their desperate pleas rejected. Their daughter would not be given back.

"I can't Heather, I can't."

It was now, two years after their child had first been denied to them that the tipping point approached. James Hudson, Guardian, was a clear headed man, one who respected rules and acted within the bounds they allowed, no matter how much it pained him so, no matter how much he regretted it, he would not let his feelings rule him, he would not become what he spent his life stopping. His wife on the other hand.

"I don't care!" Vindicator roared, her right hand striking the allow and ceramic table and crumpling it like a soda can.

"I'm sick of this James, I'm sick of waiting." As she spoke tears of pure rage and sadness fell down her cheeks.

"Heather, I understand but we need to-"

"No, nothing about 'waiting' and 'doing things the right way' I'm sick of it." Another heavy strike turned what remained of the table into so much scrap. "Do you know what's going on with our daughter? Have you seen her?"

Guardian frowned, not exactly sure of what his wife was trying to say "Yes, I have seen her. She is healthy and happy."

"Yes james, she is happy, but happy without us," Heather closed her eyes, pain evident on them "I went to see her, you know? I saw her and you know what she said? She said 'hello miss, who are you?' to me! to her own mother. She didn't know who I was."

Guardian winced, knowing that her words were probably true. Their daughter had been no more than a toddler when she was taken from them and young enough that if their separation went on she would eventually forget them.

"Look Heather, I understand. She is my daughter also and I love her with all my heart but we can't go against the law, it will only bring Claire suffering. We have to see to her happiness before ours." Guardian was not a man prone to showing emotion. He was not cold by any means but he was not one for crying either, yet at that moment he would have liked nothing more than to hug his wife and let everything out.

Heather on the other hand just looked at him, something that looked almost like comprehension dawning on her eyes before she spoke. "James, please we need to-"

The sudden opening of the only door leading to the room and Puck's sudden appearance cut her off before she could finish.

"Am I interrupting something?" asked the short Alphan uncertainly.

Before Guardian could speak, Vindicator answered.

"No Puck, I was just leaving." And without another word or explanation she strode out of the room, her impassive.

After looking at the stony-faced Guardian and the destroyed table Puck decided it was better not to ask. He had advice to give but he knew it would not be heed and that giving it would only harm his relationship with his fellow Alphan. So for now Puck would remain silent.

Sighting as he tried to put his thoughts in order, Guardian looked back at Puck "So what did you need me for?"

"Well, you remember that bank robbery Shaman I took the new kid to? The one that would be, and I quote, 'easy practice'?"

"Yes?" answered Guardian, unsure about where Puck was going but already dreading the answer.

"Well, good news is that the kid did alright, managed to take down the excuse of a villain easily. Pretty good for a wet nosed newbie, eh?" Puck said with a knowing smile.

"And the bad?"

"Ah that," Puck rubbed the back of his head, "well, the bank ended up a wreck, a complete loss, and the third rater decided he was hot shit and could deal with things well beyond his station. He was wrong."

"Puck, please go to the point."

"I was getting to that," grumbled the rubber man, "thing is, the idiot decided that calling on the aid of some demon from a godforsaken pit of hell would be a good idea. It wasn't, though that's not much of a surprise, eh?"

Guardian was left speechless. He and the rest of Alpha Flight had lived many crazy adventures and fought more than a few maniacs and strange beings over the years, but how could a minor bank robbery turn into a demon attack? That is if demons were a thing to begin with.

"And you took care of it?" Guardian knew that Puck had said, over and over, whenever someone was enough of a fool to ask him about his time in 'hell' and how he had taken it over. Guardian personally didn't believe his full story, even if he was sure Puck had gone somewhere during his time among the dead.

"Didn't I tell you before? I didn't, at least not after the guy got possesed, let the new blood try his hand at demon slaying. I would say he passes," Puck explained with a smile.

Puck's words brought back Guardian's attention to another subject he had much to think about. Their newest member.

His origins were unknown, his powers barely understood. He said he came from another world and that he had been sent on a mission and could not return home. But he also refused to answer any inquiry about the nature of it. Citing that it did not really involve any of them in any important way and that he was trying his hand at being a hero out of his own initiative, yet he never stopped with his questioning, trying to learn more about anything and everything he could see.

Guardian didn't fully believe him, but for the last month the new Alphan had done nothing but prove himself. Helping out where he could and stopping any crime he could, even helping smooth over some of the most common disagreements between the members of Alpha Flight or any of the related teams, some of whom Guardian himself had struggled with. While he had not fully gained Guardian's confidence yet, the newest Alphan deserved a measure of trust.

"Did he do well?" asked Guardian.

"That he did," exclaimed Puck, a jovial smile on his face. "A little rough for a nonlethal takedown but it got the job done and it's not like the guy is going to die from such wounds anyway. Though I would worry if he tried that with anyone else."

Guardian nodded. ��What about his powers? Anything new to report?"

"Nothing we hadn't seen yet. Super strength, super speed and durability. Also that sword of his." Puck said as he mimicked swinging a sword.

"And what about his behaviour? Anything out of the ordinary?" Continued Guardian, trying to learn as much as he could about his newest companion.

"Cold as stone when doing the deed, yet jovial and charismatic at the next second. In a way he is similar to me, eh?" Puck said with a straight face. "Honestly I sometimes think he is a telepath by how well he acts as I expect him to."

"Something to look into then," answered Guardian with a frown.

"Probably, but for now why don't you ask him instead? I have other things to do."

"He is here?"

"Yes, outside the room just waiting for me to call him in. Seemed pretty eager to have a chat with you."

Sighting, Guardian took one of the few chairs to survive Vindicator's rampage and sat before waving at Puck "send him in then."

Puck just smiled and left, a much larger figure replacing him moments after.

He was tall, at around two meters if not more. He wore black armor that concealed his face and carried a short sword at his hip and a beautiful black longbow on his back. The armor was sturdy but it only covered a few vital points, leaving his plumaged body and black mane of hair exposed. Taloned hands and feet, alongside a quartet of great gold-white wings completed his avian looks. The newest Alphan walked confidently until he stood before Guardian.

"Hellooo," entoned the avian hero, "I have attended your summons oh leader of mine!"

Their newest team member could be very charismatic when he wanted to, but most of the time his personality was.. special. Even then Guardian could not find it in himself to dislike him, the being clearly tried his best every time. Guardian could only like such determination

"Hello Steel Talon," Guardian said with a smile, and a genuine one at that, "please take a seat, we have a lot to talk about."

---

AN:

Here it is, sorry it took so long. I had some reasons not to finish it as quickly as I hoped.

Anyway, this is a set up chapter, presenting some characters and their situations. So don't expect anything too deep from it.

By the way, this is going to be a mostly Alpha Flight centered arc, so don't hope for too much Ainz for a while.

In case you are curious about the characters

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Alpha_Flight_(Earth-616)

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Adahm_(Earth-616)

THIS IS A PAST CHAPTER