The first thing that Greg realized as he stepped through the portal was that dungeon portals were something special. He’d been into the camp dungeon several times after the raid, learning about it, about how the space inside worked, and practicing against the monsters. The portal into the dungeon had been seamless, he hadn’t felt a thing as he’d come and gone. It was like stepping over a line and that was it. Euclidia’s portal, on the other hand, took him by surprise. It was a fragmentary moment, but he felt himself moving through space in a compressed instant. His mind recalled seeing… something, a place that couldn't possibly exist. It all came together into a jarring feeling that sent him reeling as he passed through.
He staggered forward as he caught himself on the other side, resting his hands on his knees as Euclidia walked past him with her arms crossed behind her back. She glanced over her shoulder, “Sensitive to it, huh?’ She asked with barely concealed amusement. “That sucks!” She laughed and kept walking, “Walk it off, new guy!”
“What- what was that?” He asked, breathing hard, he took in his surroundings. He was standing in a garden lined with statue podiums. He blinked, wasn’t he just here the other day? His eyes went wide, they were inside the Garden of Heroes at the Pandora Headquarters! Euclidia just brought them straight through past security and nobody was reacting at all!
Euclidia stopped and turned back to him, “What was what?”
“What was that place? We- we went through something,” He said, catching his breath as his mind reeled from a lot of things at the same time. He stood up and brushed his lips with his sleeve, “It was all-”
“All white?” She interrupted.
He froze, “You know?”
“Course I know!” She snorted, “I make the damn portals,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand, “It’s the Backrooms. Or that's what those of us who’ve seen it instinctively know what to call it. Give it a moment to settle.”
He stared blankly at her, “The… internet meme?” he asked, incredulous as his heart rate slowed. His mind started to catch up with him and his lips thinned into a line. “That-” he paused and tilted his head, “Why-” he narrowed his eyes, “You’re right. It’s… the place that portals go through. It’s what makes them work.”
“Bingo! Your mind caught up quick! That’s good!” Euclidia said and waved to him, “Come on, come on! I wanna get back to my room and you still need to get your badge made. Also…” She gestured casually with a wave of her hand and that glowing cube appeared over it. An instant later a ring of smooth stone appeared in the air to his right and three people fell tumbling out of it. “Introductions!” She crowed, spinning on her heel and grinning at the pile of people. “That’s twelve wins for me!”
Greg hopped back from the trio and whipped his head around, “H-uh?” he stammered before clearing his throat and forcing his heart to calm down. He still felt jumpy from the weirdness of the portal. He exhaled and looked the trio over as they scrambled to their feet. All three of them were wearing crisp-if a bit dirty from their fall-gray uniforms marked with the torch symbol of the Pandora Committee. There were plates of armor on them as well. Heroes? Pandora specific heroes? They cursed and muttered to themselves as they brushed off their clothes before turning to look at Greg.
From left to right there was a huge guy who still looked to be around Greg’s age, all three of them were from the looks of it. He had short brown hair and was heavily muscled, a pair of beady blue eyes flicked his way and he nodded gruffly. The second was a young blonde-haired woman with almost frighteningly dark eyes that seemed to suck in the light around them. She let out a sigh and shook her head, “Knew it wasn’t going to work,” she mumbled as the third pat her on her shoulder.
The third was an athletic looking guy with short black hair and eyes that sparkled with good humor and positivity, he beamed at his friend. “We’ll get her next time!”
“You always say that!” She groaned.
“There’s always a next time!” He laughed in response before turning and putting his hands on his hips. It was the most natural superhero pose Greg had ever seen. Is this guy straight out of a comic book? “You’re Gravitic, I’m guessing?” He asked brightly. “I’m Anton Hosk!” the guy said and marched forward, shooting a hand out to shake, “Nice to meet you!”
“Hey bright eyes,” the girl muttered as Greg awkwardly shook his hand, “We’re going by code names, remember?”
Anton blinked and then slapped his fist against his palm before scratching his head and laughing, “Whoops! Sorry! You’re right!” He beamed at Greg, “I’m Nietz,” he glanced over his shoulder at the other two, “This is Hammond and Locke,” he gestured first to the big guy who nodded gruffly and then to the girl who shrugged and smiled at him.
“Nice to meet you guys, uh,” he blinked and looked to Euclidia, “What’s… going on?”
She raised an eyebrow, “You’re going to be a Pandora Official, right? Work with the logistics department when you aren’t doing hero work?” She asked.
“Yeah? That’s the plan,” he said, not liking where this was going.
“They'll be your security team when you’re on the field and out and about,” she said, “It’s a pretty common practice around here these days. I know you can handle yourself but rules are rules. Usually you get assigned to a more seasoned group but with the graduation we’ve got fresh blood.” she snorted, “I’m a member of the international team so there’s not really anyone out there who can ‘guard’ me.”
Greg blinked, “Oh,” he turned and raised an eyebrow at them, “Nice to work with you I guess?”
Nietz clapped his fist to his chest, “We’ve got you covered, you’re a VIP now,” he said brightly before nodding to the others, “Right guys?”
“We’ll go over our powers in private,” Locke said with a nod, “We’re a bit out in the open, you know?” Hammond grunted but said nothing, she glanced his way, “Quit being so damn shy you big lug and say hello.”
The big man turned his beady-eyed gaze towards him, “Hello.”
The sound of metal doors opening behind him nearly made him jump out of his skin again. He scowled and turned, he was getting tired of being startled by everything. He froze as a pair walked in through the door. One was a woman in a green cheongsam, she was beautiful, breathtakingly so, but her expression was set into one of absolute disinterest and even a bit of mild disgust. The other was a man with brown hair and tan skin, he wore a floral summer shirt. The guy’s arm was slung over her shoulder as he spoke. He held a pair of sunglasses in his hands and was waving them, “...aw come on, what’s another night out, yeah?”
“Not interested,” the woman muttered, “I don’t like being disappointed twice.”
“Oh don’t be like that, you had fun!” He teased.
“Hardly,” she grumbled, “I find more amusement laying waste to lurkers than enduring your pathetic-” she trailed off and glanced up the steps at Greg. “Hero,” she said flatly, looking him up and down before huffing and stepping forward just out of the guy’s reach. The guy turned to resume what he was doing and tripped, falling on his face.
“Oof” He scrambled to his feet and brushed himself off, “Hey now, what’d they say about using powers on the premises?”
“No idea what you’re talking about,” The woman said flatly, “Stop being clumsy and let’s report in,” she said and ascended the stairs. She walked past Greg and eyed him once before immediately looking bored and moving along. The other three with Greg shifted a bit uneasily as she passed, the guy hastening up behind her.
That was when another noise filled the garden. At this point Greg had finally relaxed and didn’t so much as blink when Euclidia squealed with delight. He turned and watched the woman charge straight at the lady in the cheongsam and throw herself forward in a lunge. The woman scoffed and Euclidia suddenly fell face first towards the ground only to vanish through it. A moment later she fell through the air above the woman and landed, wrapping her arms around her from behind and giving her a big hug, “Keekee! You’re back!”
The woman made face somewhere between disgust and exhaustion, “That isn’t my name,” she sighed, “Hello, Euclidia.”
“It’s Molly to you!” Euclidia whined, “Why you gotta be so distant, we’re friends, right?”
“Mm,” The woman grunted noncommittally.
“Yo, Euclidia!” The guy barked, walking up.
Who are these guys? Greg wondered, staring at them. Something felt… dangerous about both of them. Nietz elbowed him in the side and raised an eyebrow, “You don’t recognize them?” he whispered.
“No? Should I?” Greg asked.
“Those are the two newest members of the International Team, top dog heroes. Qilin and First Wind, some of the biggest powerhouses on earth,” Nietz said, his voice filled with admiration.
Greg blinked, a thrill running up his spine as he turned to look at the trio as they bickered and spoke. “...woah.”