"Something else is going on. Who should I tell about it."

"—Hero, probably, although Library of Alexandria or myself aren't poor choices, either, and the PRT should probably be informed, as well."

"...okay, where are they, how often do things like this happen, is there anyone who won't mind if I read their mind to check that they're not lying to me about stuff -"

This really surprises him, given the way he pauses. But he explains: "This happens about once a year, although maybe now no longer if Behemoth doesn't come back. Hero and Eidolon are probably helping more people, Library of Alexandria might be organizing evac efforts and some cape teams. If it's true that you can read minds, that is—astounding, and terrifying, and I'm not sure you'll find many people who would be willing to be read. We all have our secret identities to protect."

"Yeah, I know, I haven't been doing it, I won't do it without permission." He won't tell them how to stop him either, though. "I can - okay, so there are parallel dimensions. Lots of them. And most Earths have different magic systems, and I just got here today so I don't know anything about yours, and lots of magic systems aren't transmissible but some of them are so I have powers from  different ones. I can read minds, I can teleport, I can go invisible, I can heal, and I can make stuff. Any stuff, I could make a black hole if I wanted, but I don't, promise."

Oooh boy. Either he's speaking the truth or his trigger was really really traumatic and he read lots of fiction. Legend's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, though. "About twenty years ago, people started getting superpowers like the ones you've seen. Six years ago, we—Hero, Eidolon, Library of Alexandria, and I—founded the Protectorate, to give heroes a direction in life, and stand united to better the world.

"Then, two years ago, Behemoth appeared. This was his third attack, and mildest so far—thanks to you, probably. With powers like that you could—change the world." Save the world.

"Yeah, I know, I landed and conjured a newspaper and saw it was 1994 and even before I knew you had a giant ash monster attacking I was thinking I could get you up to the 22nd century. I still can, just, the meantime was more horrible than I was expecting. ...my name is Epic. That sounds like it'll fit fine."

"It will. How are you feeling?"

"Um. Sad, freaked out, I need to write a letter home, I keep having to remind myself it's good I landed here, I'm trying to think what's most important to do first and I don't know - debating whether to make some people to help me -"

"You said your home was another—dimension? How did you get here, and how will you return? And what do you mean by 'make' some people?"

"So dimensions are adjacent to one another, and I can teleport between any two adjacent dimensions. There was a transport accident and I ended up in a dimension that wasn't adjacent to any of the two hundred that my home civilization - knows of. So I'm stuck here until someone finds a path between them and us. I told them I was here so they know to look, but it could easily take years, if we're unlucky it could take decades. 

And I can make arbitrary matter. People are matter. I can't make some kinds of people - can't make humans - but I can make some people from my home civilization. It's really unethical to do that without permission but this world is kind of an emergency."

Much more than you think, kiddo, he doesn't say. "This year we started the Wards project, aimed towards younger parahumans, to provide guidance and a path for them to walk. You're not quite like the young parahumans we have in mind, but we have quarters and provisions which you could perhaps use while you figure out what you want to do?"

"...arbitrary matter. I don't need quarters or provisions but I'll go somewhere where I can be around official people and they can help me think where to start - uh, usually I'd start by curing malaria, do you want me to do that? Or I could still put New York back."

"It might be unwise to do anything in most of Africa and South America, but how do you plan on doing that? As for New York, it might be best to wait until evacuation's complete and structural damage can be calculated and accounted for."

"I can do it with a wide-scope biofilter if you're not attached to any species that hadn't been catalogued by the 23rd century or I think I can just flood everything with sterile male mosquitos? I would have to look it up. What's wrong with Africa and South America?"

"Most of Africa's dominated by warlords, and South America's villains are backed by the government while the heroes are the resistance against the dictatorial governments."

"Yeah, that's the kind of problem I'm bad at. Okay. I should make myself somewhere pretty and think.

I need, like - Boots doesn't usually tell me to do things and she definitely wouldn't wish I was home safe instead of fixing a world that needs it, or act like she wished that, I'm really bad at being parented, but I need someone to point out problems with my ideas and be proud of me and help me get things I need, does the Wards have - that?"

"Yes," he answers, again without a trace of hesitation.

Cling. "Then I'll join."

He sighs and pats Epic. What's this world come to, that he must accept a child's help, that a child must suffer through these horrors to help other people—when they came up with the Wards idea he'd never thought they'd have to deal with children this young, this unprepared—and yet, can he throw a resource like this away? Of course he can't.

He decides, quite subconsciously, that he'll care for Epic as if Epic were his own.

A woman with a black costume and a tinted glass helmet floats towards them. "Who's this?"

"This is Epic. He's the one responsible for Behemoth's disappearance. Epic, meet Library of Alexandria, one of the co-founders of the Protectorate."

"Hi. ....do you want the actual Library of Alexandria, my power is that I can make arbitrary matter and 'the Library of Alexandria' was totally made of matter."

She is not Sherlock Holmes. She cannot pluck hints out of thin air to understand what's going on.

She is incredibly quick, cognitively, and has an eidetic memory, and has studied a lot about people and body language and microexpressions and what-have-you. She draws conclusions from this.

She looks at Legend.

"He can also teleport, heal people with a touch, go invisible, and read minds." He trusts she will get the necessary implications.