A Master

“Minions imply a boss…” you consider as the actual police officers show up and start putting your prisoners in the wagon.

“True…” the woman in your ear and the ring on your hand consider at the same time.

“...but that's for the investigation team,” Carla continues, as she can't hear the voice that only exists in your mind, “if you want to leave a phone number we can call you for the takedown. Those types always have something up their sleeve, and the SWAT team can always use some super backing.”

“I'll consider it…” you think as you watch the police finish loading the minions into the wagon. ‘What was that about an inverse law?’ You subvocalize.

“Ah, the Inverse Law of Minions,” the ring goes into lecture mode, “Originally called the Inverse Law of Ninjas due to where it was first observed. Basically, a Minion Master has a certain amount of magic to throw around… and the stronger the minion, the more magic maintenance it requires. So if two eastern themed minion masters have the same strength, and one has a hundred ‘shinobi’ while the other has a single ‘master assassin’, then the single ‘assassin’ will be the equal of the hundred ‘shinobi’, because the ‘assassin’ will be just that much faster, stronger, smarter, more skilled, or whatever else in the ninja theme they have going on. The really interesting bit is that a minion master can reallocate power very quickly: A single ‘shinobi’, held back, is easily promoted to being a ‘master assassin’ once the other ninety-nine are down. It's a common strategy, which means when you know you're up against a minion master… whether you're facing off against a hundred minions, ten minions, or one minion… the fight is going to go roughly the same way, provided the minion master is nearby.” The ring takes a breath, “Ninjas, mutants, golems, robots, soldiers, gangbangers… doesn't matter, it all works the same way.”

‘So the right choice is to contain them…’ you muse.

“Doesn't help,” the ring contradicts, “like Carla said, they die in storage. You saw how incredibly passive the four were after you'd knocked them down and thrown them in the bin?”

‘Yes…’ you consider.

“They were already cut off at that point, their animus gone. How long those empty shells will last will vary, but…” the ring pauses, “...they're already dead for most purposes.”

‘So I can expect any fight with…’ you begin.

“So… you going to get moving, or are you done for the night?” Carla interrupts.

“Sorry, just lost in thought.. “ you get moving again.

“In answer to your unfinished question, no, they won't all be that easy,” the ring chuckles. “This was just an outrider patrol; the master wasn't here paying attention, and probably has quite a few thugs elsewhere being very active. The magic wasn't all here, and the master wasn't here to draw it back. You will have his attention now, though, so you can expect some focus going forwards.”

‘Great….’ you sigh.

Despite your concerns, however, that's the only fight you see in the night: You feel eyes on you periodically, but no gunshots. An hour or two later, you call it quits, turn in the gear… and yes, leave a contact number (of a prepaid phone you purchase for the purpose, with the GPS turned off entirely, of course: Someone digging into records could get a general area based on which cell tower is in use, and someone could then do some triangulation on the signal once in the area, but that requires some heavy targeting, a lot of access, and specialized equipment to pull off.

As you start to run home, you pause, ‘So… I don't have any plans for the rest of the evening…’ you begin.

“Suggesting you don't really want to be awake for the run home?” The ring seems happy.

‘Pretty much,’ you confirm.

“Okay then…” your mouth replies under someone else's control.

The ring keeps your costume on, and pulls a few of the bracelets he purchased from your bag. Putting them on, he focuses: there's a pop, a brief view of a seemingly infinite black, and you land on your bed in the RV. You find he dismissed the hero form at some point during the procedure, as your body's back in your birth form… and nude, but you're in the privacy of your RV. The ring systemically puts on a necklace with pendant, a bracelet on each arm, and a few rings (leaving the titanium one that handles your super form on your finger). He ordered it all while you were asleep, so you don't know the exact metal, but they're all a matching shiny black, and each has a dark blue gemstone. You do know he's spent time infusing each with his particular brand of magic.

He pauses, looking at your nudes form in the mirror, and you can absolutely feel the attraction warming you up, “Hmm… what to wear…” he focuses, and a moment later you're wearing a black dress that goes down to your ankles. It feels like silk, covers your arms to the wrists, and would be modest except for the slit in the front that really shows off your cleavage. It pretty much screams ‘rich’.

“How real is that?” You ask, curious, your voice not leaving your head.

“Real enough to support weight if someone pulls on it,” your voice answers, “but not so real that someone stealing it can sell it. If I stop maintaining it, it will fade out in an hour or so.”

“Is it even an option to make saleable items?” You find yourself asking.

“Yes. Organic materials to other organic materials is easiest and safest, as you don't need to crack atoms, just molecules,” the Ring begins. “The classic lead into gold is possible in a very real way, but it takes a lot of effort, and if you don't know what you're doing you'll end up exposing yourself and everyone nearby to a couple of million sieverts of radiation poisoning getting a couple ounces. It's a lot easier to make lead seem to be gold for a period of time, or make temporary magical constructs that seem to be gold… like I'm doing with the silk here.”

“You know how to do it properly.” You’re not asking.

“Money is easy to come by,” he confirms. “Anyway, this will do, so…” he focuses, and the mirror stops reflecting your image, “...I'm heading out to a party.”