Chapter 6: With Great Powers, comes…
I woke up after an unknown duration, only to find myself in an empty and dilapidated hull of a rusted Ship.
"Wuh?"
I blinked, then looked around in confusion before my brain caught up and remembered the events prior to sleep.
Ah... Right. I came to the Boat Graveyard last night to hide and take a nap... and ended up sleeping in one of the bigger, less rusty-looking ships.
Looking at the Blanket and almost flat pillow that I'd... borrowed from the Shelter using my recently acquired Spatial Storage—Thank you Circus for your unwitting generous contribution—I sighed and sat back up to steady myself.
Last night I'd gone a little crazy in my hunt for powers.
Though the generous results spoke for themselves, it was still a risk that I took knowing the consequences of my actions. Not to mention my more blatant acts that were probably already causing chaos out there in the city. I had to question my genius—or lack thereof—for taking such actions when it wasn't strictly necessary. It was clear I wasn't thinking quite straight last night.
Was it really smart to take away the powers of the gangs' capes and thus alert them? I definitely painted a giant target on my back, front, and sides with that act alone. Now I'll have to make damn sure nobody realizes I'm the one using other capes' powers as they'd likely be on the hunt for a power stealing or suppressing Trump.
That was worrying, indeed. But what was done was already done. Also, it wasn't like I was cornered and out of options here.
All that haul last night—I assumed it was sometime after noon the next day when I woke up; no way I'd sleep for an entire day, no matter how tired I was—meant I was sitting on a large stockpile of Lego blocks of abilities and I was free to make a Cannon, a Robot or even a Spaceship out of it. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
So, what I needed to do was exactly that.
Alright. Let's do that. Let's make a power set that's not a blatant mashup of various Brockton Bay capes' powers. Hm, I might need to use my last charge on top of breaking down powers and rearranging them to accomplish that. But it'd be worth it if I could hide my true power better.
I needed a notebook and a pen for this. Thankfully, I had... also borrowed that last night, and two bottles of Mineral Water and some other small items of necessities from the Store I visited last night. I'll definitely return them (well, maybe not the perishables, as I did leave appropriate cash on the counter for that) once I am able to. Promise.
Okaaay... So, how do we do this?
First things first, the Superman package. Well, I guess it's called the Alexandria package in this universe. I'd leave Aegis' power as it is and style it as a strong Brute with Regeneration ability. Unless Panacea touches me, nobody can identify my Redundant Biology.
On top of it, I'd add Flight from all the Fliers. They'd stack and give me a variable range of flight from light jogging speed to even Supersonic when pushed…
And so, I spent the next few hours just jotting down, arranging, and coming up with a feasible power set.
-x-
… It's finally done.
I groaned, feeling my body ache from sitting and bending down continuously for at least a couple of hours to write in the notebook.
I had definitely underestimated how hard it'd be to create a functional powerset by breaking, combining, and mish-mashing the powers of over three dozen Capes. Some powers seemed to fit easily into slots, like a lot of New Wave (minus PanPan) powers that were usually related, while others simply didn't work as well as one would expect or were too obvious in their visible effects to be used as they were.
In the end, I came to the conclusion that rather than making an exotic powerset that was far removed from the powers I'd stolen—it didn't work out; too many complications, and I didn't have enough charges left to modify them appropriately—instead, it'd be easier and simpler to hide in plain sight.
So, I thought to myself: What's one of the most common and well-known sets of powers on Earth Bet that'd not raise many eyes when seen?
And so, my "Ultimate Grab-bag Power List(TM) (under construction)" looked something like this:
Primary Ability: (Not so) Basic (Alexandria) Superman Package
Enhanced Strength:
From Aegis' Redundant Biology Browbeat's Self Biokinesis/Short-range Telekinesis-given Super Strength Glory Girl's invisible forcefield-given Super Strength Manpower's electromagnetism-augmented Superstrength(limited to internal effects only, no outward displays of electromagnetic effects)
Cost to merge: 1 Charge
Invulnerability:
Glory Girl's invisible skintight forcefield(needs more oomph in the future to improve forcefield's durability and cooldown time), Assault's Kinetic Manipulation(to absorb/redirect kinetic attacks)
(Alabaster's Self Restoration power is too identifiable so it needs a modification to be applied to myself)
Cost to merge: 1 Charge
Cost to upgrade: 2 Charges
Super Flight:
A stacked flight power from Aegis, Glory Girl, Laserdream, Shielder, and Lady Photon
(Purity's kinetically charged light that allows high-speed flight needs a modification as it's too identifiable. It's also redundant for now as the combo flight powers from New Wave's fliers and Aegis is already able to theoretically break Mach speeds when pushed)
Cost to merge: 1 Charge (2 if Purity's flight is to be included)
Super Speed:
Velocity's Breaker power (Needs a charge to remove the Breaker limitation, but given my enhanced physical stats, I can still hit much harder than normal humans even at higher speeds)(Flash-lite!)
Cost to upgrade: 1 Charge
Enhanced Durability, Resistance, and Endurance:
Aegis's Redundant Biology Browbeat's Self Biokinesis/Short-range Telekinesis-given Durability Lung's Regeneration factor (minus transformation, which is linked to heightened rage; scales with longer conflict and with more enemies in range) (Warning! At higher levels, the Transformation starts to happen regardless unless it's separated using a Charge) Manpower's electromagnetism augmented Durability and Shielding(Limited to internal body only) Resistance to electrical shocks
(A possibility of further Biological Self Enhancement once I get rid of Shaper's self-modification limitation)
Cost to merge: 1 Charge
Cost to upgrade: 1 Charge(2 if both Lung's Regen and Biokinesis are to be upgraded)
Total Cost to merge/improve all Primary Abilities: 8(or 10) charges
-x-
Secondary Powers:
High-performance Multitasking:
From a subset of Skitter's power (Needs a charge to modify the focus from arthropod control)
Cost to upgrade: 1 Charge
Mental Shielding(Aside from what Blank already provides):
Subset of Gallant's Emotion Manipulation that prevents other Emotion Manipulators from affecting me
Cost to merge: None
Superior Cognition:
Coil's "Timeline Simulation" precognition/reality modeling ability Tattletale's "Sherlock on steroids" peri-cognition Diana's Probability-focused precognition Gallant's Emotion Sense(Needs some Oomph; too vague right now) Cricket's Subsonic Hearing Accelerated Perception from Velocity(Needs a charge to remove the breaker limitation attached to higher levels of it)
(Skitter's "Bug Sense" needs either training or one of my charges to achieve mastery and is too noticeable if I get in range of Skitter)
Cost to merge: 1 Charge
Edit: Cost to upgrade: at least 3 charges
Combat Mastery and Reflexes:
Technique Mastery from Uber Victor's Skill Thief power Superhuman reflexes, balance, and coordination from Circus's power Power-aided Supernatural Reflexes from a subset of Cricket's power
Cost to merge: 1 Charge
Disguise:
Phantom Presence Browbeat's limited Self Biokinesis Quick change of outfits using Circus's Spatial Storage
Cost to merge: 0 Charges (No real need to merge these)
Total Cost to merge/upgrade Secondary Abilities: 3 charges at least 6 Charges
-x-
Tertiary Abilities
Multi-specialization Tinker powerset:
Prototyping from Leet "Crude" Resource Combat Tinker specialization from Trainwreck Modularity from Kid Win Squealer's Vehicle speciality Chariot's specialization in Mobility, Movement, and Transportation
Total Cost to merge/upgrade: 5 charges (Tinker powers are bullshit in both their effects and their cost)
-x-
Powers that are applied but kept in reserve:
- PanPan's Biokinesis(needs a charge to merge with Browbeat's power to fully unlock unlimited Self Biokinesis)(Caution Needed!)
- Vista's Space Warping(Very OP but noticeable, so kept in reserve/emergency situations)(Spacetime will soon be my personal bitch. Muahaha!)
- Clockblocker's time freeze(Too noticeable, so kept in reserve)(Also same as above lol)(Needs upgrade)
Note: An actual full-fledged Spacetime Manipulation power costs 12 charges when created with Vista's and Clockblocker's powers as the base. (Warning! This one is very powerful and comes with no training wheels; very very dangerous. No messing with the fundamental aspects of reality until I'm strong/durable enough to handle any problems that may arise)
- Variable power Lasers/Hard Light Constructs from Brandish, Laserdream, Shielder, and Lady Photon + Purity's light blasts (Needs 2 charges to merge and modify their visuals and some of the effects as they're too identifiable, even when used in combination) (In reserve Blaster powerset)
- A combination of Krieg, Cricket, and Stormtiger's Kinetic and Sound Manipulation and Vibration Generation(Too noticeable) (Needs a charge to combine and mold these powers into a new Composite Shaker powerset in combination with Space Warping)(In reserve Shaker powerset)
- Skitter's Arthropod Control(Too noticeable; Needs a lot of practice)(Don't use in range of Skitter!)
- Battery's Charging power(Too noticeable, also makes me a sitting duck)(IRL buffering lol)
- Othala's Temporary Power Granting(Noticeable, and doesn't work on myself, so kept in reserve for now)
- Telekinesis from Parian and Rune(Too noticeable and limited)(Needs a charge or two to upgrade it to a proper Telekinesis power)(Has Great Potential)
- Crusader's Ghost Duplication(Too noticeable)
- Kaiser's Metal summoning(Useful for metal resource generation for future Tinker projects; otherwise too obviously noticeable)
- Grue's Darkness(Too noticeable)
- Regent's Neuromuscular Manipulation(Too noticeable)(Also, it's a Master Power, so, yeah…)
- Lung's Pyrokinesis (Cool power, but needs practice/control)
-x-
Other non-applied powers of note:
- Oni Lee's Clone Teleportation(Do not use willy-nilly until it can be upgraded/improved to not slowly make you brain dead!)
- Lung's Draconic Transformation(turning into Big Rage Lizard Boi is very noticeable and not good for my sanity. Who knew!?)
- Alabaster's Regenerative Immortality(it turns me white; too noticiable) (Needs a charge to modify that side effect)
- Fenja and Menja's Breaker powers(Maybe if I feel like going big in the future; not really worth it otherwise)
- Canine Empowerment from Bitch/Hellhound (Not very useful or attractive in its base state and also not really worth spending charges into right now)
- Hookwolf's Blade Blender power (meh)
- others (more meh)
-x-
I couldn't help but chortle as I looked at the two-and-a-half-page list filled with scribbles of my composite powerset.
"If this isn't on the cusp of broken, I don't know what is."
I couldn't imagine what I'd do if I got the actual top-rated powers in this world. A lot of these powers might become either ineffective, redundant, or simply unnecessary in the future. But that's to be expected.
The only thing left to do now was to save charges in the upcoming days to make this mess into an actual coherent powerset. I could still use all of the applied powers already, but it required constant effort to use and keep track of so many powers at once. Last night, I'd felt some mental strain from concentrating on using multiple flight powers for longer periods and had reverted to just Laserdream's flight as it was the best of them all.
Having Multitasking as one of my powers was awesome, but I found out quickly that in its base form, it wasn't the kind of multitasking that I actually wanted. It was primarily focused on telepathically controlling and managing a vast number of smaller lifeforms simultaneously. Separating just the Multitasking aspect from the whole didn't remove that specialization.
However, my last charge for the day wasn't used to merge one of my composite powers or improve Multitasking. Instead, I used it to unlock Self-Biokinesis from Panacea's power. And then I looked within.
Hoo boy… Okay.
Was the human body supposed to be this… freaky and insane, or was this the effect of Aegis and Browbeat's powers on me? … A bit of both, probably. Damn, Panacea must find Aegis' biology so interesting.
I spent some time marveling at my own bizarre biology.
I had known at some level what I was doing to my body using those powers, but a full deep dive told me how much my body had truly changed. The changes were applied at the DNA level, which wasn't as much of a surprise to me as I'd have expected.
The interesting thing was that I could actually think of further biological modifications that could make my already redundant and close-to- perfect human build into something monstrously perfect biology.
But I hesitated a little.
The changes Biokinesis recommended were… definitely invasive, to say the least. They effectively made me different enough from a regular human that I could easily be counted as a new species entirely, despite retaining the human appearance on the surface. And I could only understand these things because my power was telling me—which was, admittedly, a fuck ton of information. Enough to overwhelm me briefly. I hadn't known a single decimal percentage of the amount of information that I could now grasp about my own biology.
However, I could trust my non-Shard version of the power to not fuck things up somehow without my notice. So, with a deep breath and not thinking about the implications of the changes I was about to make too much, I selected the mods that'd add to my primary powerset (i.e., make me more durable and flexible, enhance my perception much further, and improve my natural and power-given regeneration abilities enough to be called broken) without changing my outward appearance too much.
Yesterday, I was just an average Joe who could be killed with a house knife and a bat. Today, I'd need to be disintegrated or my head needs to be so thoroughly destroyed that I lost my mental faculties completely. And even in the case of the latter, there was a chance I'd grow back if enough Biomass was accumulated nearby. The upgraded Biokinesis and Lung's regeneration (assuming it's sufficiently reinforced by ongoing conflict), bolstered further by my other smaller Regenerative abilities had made me durable enough to face an Endbringer's might as just a Brute and not die.
On PRT's Threat Assessment, I'd now be classified as a Brute 8 or 9+ when sufficiently ramped up.
On a related note, I could block other Biokinesis and similar powers from affecting me now due to how Biokinesis worked, so I no longer had to fear Panacea outing me if she touched my skin. Not that I didn't already have a counter for her in the form of my original Trump power. But it was good to have multiple protections against the resident Biokinetic. Now that I'd worked with her powers, I knew how much she could do. Even the single upgrade I'd poured into it to merge it with Browbeat's Self Biokinesis had made this power an S-class status. Not that it wasn't already holding the potential for great devastation.
With my Self Biokinesis finished, I had already begun to feel the effects of the change.
Just my visual and other normal sensory perceptions were night and day compared to yesterday. When combined with powers that boosted them, it got a little crazy on paper.
Standing up a bit taller and a lot more muscular now, I took a moment to gaze at my newly gained abs and muscles, flexing them to get a feel of them. And I let out a whistle.
"Damn, I look like a beefcake."
…
"… Eh, maybe a little too much of a beefcake."
As much as I was amused by my super bodybuilder physique, it just wasn't me.
Using Self-Biokinesis, I molded my body structure into a more athletic and swimmer's build, with dense but flexible muscles. My bones were dense enough to be compared with some metals, yet they retained their usual mobility.
I still weighed more than a bodybuilder thrice my dimensions but it was all packed within tight muscles and dense bones.
Roaming my hands all over my body—which was kinda redundant as Biokinesis did give me a mental image of my own physique—I let out a satisfied hum and smiled.
"Goodbye, old skinny and slightly pudgy body from yesterday. Hello, new and improved superhero physique!"
As for my other powers…
Even though a lot of my abilities were passive and didn't require my attention or active control—and I had the Multitasking ability to aid me greatly in various situations once I upgraded it—I still needed to have some familiarity with my powers, especially the more active ones, before I went out in the city and was seen in public. Right now, I was going to suffer from the Superman problem. The world was made out of cardboard and I had to actively try not to crush it under my substantial might.
Well, there was also a better and more efficient alternative: wait for the day to pass and then use a charge or two to create a skill that'd let me instantly master my abilities. Like a proper Combat Thinker power or Instant Ability Comprehension/Mastery. Or both? Yeah, both. I could use Uber's power as a base for it to reduce the cost too.
I mentally halted.
… Wait, am I being dumb by wasting so many of my charges to merge these powers to fit a stereotype? Multitasking could theoretically help me handle almost all of the disjointed powers individually without merging them and wouldn't cost me even a single day's worth of charges. With Instant Ability Comprehension/Mastery and Combat Thinker power, I'd be nigh-unstoppable.
And I could still use the exact template if only to not show all my cards to others.
"Oh my god, I am such an idiot!" I facepalmed hard enough to probably knock a normal human unconscious yet I felt nothing. My pain tolerance was very high.
I had almost planned to waste days' worth of my charges to create a powerset that'd probably be irrelevant/redundant or simply out of date in a week at most if I continued to gain/create more powers. I'd lost my initial goal of using the template only as its namesake so as to keep my cards hidden. Somewhere down the line, however, I forgot that and ended up hyper-fixating on the powerset itself.
No, instead I should be mastering these powers through the Ability Comprehension/Mastery skill that I'd create tomorrow at the latest. Then I had other abilities I needed to create, like a dedicated high-rated Danger/Threat Sense ability. It'd be quite useful to have. Then there were the abilities I wanted to modify to add to my existing Primary and Secondary powerset. An upgraded and improved Oni Lee's Teleportation(removing temporary clones or line of sight limitation) would be very handy to have as a Mover power.
Heck, Spacetime Manipulation alone would be a really overpowered ability on its own and it cost me less than the total cost to merge/upgrade all of my Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary abilities and gave me a plethora of options for offense, defense, and utility. Imagine being able to sense and then freeze any enemies from a distance with just a thought? Twist them in a pretzel? Or just disable them by taking away their powers. Add an upgraded Multitasking to the mix and I could handle hundreds and thousands (maybe more!) of people all at once. That'd be very noticeable though and possibly out me as a power copying Trump, since Vista's power is quite well-known on the East Coast, but it'd be one hell of a powerset to have.
So, in short, I'd… not necessarily wasted hours of my time today doing the mix, match, and merge but I had gotten too fixated on my Primary/Secondary/Tertiary powersets in the process. The list I'd made was still useful, as it was a fairly exhaustive list of what I was working with, but it'd need a revision. I'd need to shift my priorities and think of the future before allocating my charges to creating the powersets I'd listed.
I groaned and went back to the drawing board. I needed to restart from scratch… or so I planned, but my brain decided that it'd had enough of that for one sitting.
Nope. I'm too tired from all that mental gymnastics. I need a change of pace. Some fresh air. I've been cooped in this ship for too long.
If not for Self Biokinesis improving my metabolism, I'd also be very hungry. I still needed some food, but I'd be fine even if I didn't eat for a day or three.
Then my thoughts wandered into another matter.
Ah, I also need a costume. Hmm, maybe I can make one myself. I hummed as I began pondering.
Prototyping was capable of designing non-mechanical armor, Technique Mastery would allow me to be an expert at costume design, sewing, etc., and I can use Parian's brand of telekinesis to handle the cloth. Maybe? I actually didn't have the fine control needed for that. So, never mind.
Wait, I can check out that Spider Silk Taylor used to make her own suit.
That was definitely worth checking out at the very least. I might be able to expedite the entire process to a few days—rather than the weeks or months it took Taylor to make her armor from scratch—especially if I used Biokinesis to modify and improve those spiders.
And much more. Biokinesis is giving me tons of ideas to make a full-fledged Bio-suit. But I don't think that'd go well with the authorities. Biotinkers have a bad rep here. Though some of these ideas… hmm… yes, that can work. If I integrate it with technology and show the outside as just a normal Tinker suit….
I will have to make sure the creatures I was about to start creating couldn't reproduce too much, had short lifespans, and would have no inclination to escape from their confinement and into the wild. Because that'd be a nightmare. Piggot wouldn't wait a second to label it an S-class situation. And honestly, I couldn't even blame her in that instance. Some of the things those theoretical creatures could do made me shudder when I pictured a scenario where they were let loose into the public.
Thankfully, Biokinesis could easily deal with all of it, so I was good.
Seriously, Biokinesis for the win!
I mentally activated my Prototyping power and fed it the data that Biokinesis had provided to tinker up a strong and durable costume design for my use and was bombarded with hundreds of ideas for armored and semi-armored suits at once. I processed the overwhelming amount of information that the power quite elegantly loaded into my brain without frying it in the process.
Some of those designs were actually feasible with little to no setup or with the help of one or more of my powers—Kaiser's Metal Summoning power actually created permanent metal constructs and could be used as an unlimited metal resource, and Biokinesis made making most of the biological resources easy as hell—while most others required a setup I didn't have and couldn't build in a few days with no budget.
Selecting from the feasible ones, I activated Modularity to see if they could be broken down effectively allowing easier creation and assembly, and then used the "crude" Resource Combat Tinker specialization from Trainwreck and Chariot's specialization in Mobility, Movement, and Transportation to add to the costume while keeping the material requirements to easy-to-gather resources and what I could make using a liberal implementation of Biokinesis.
The result was a rather complicated but robust design that somehow managed to look just like a simple suit with some armor on the outside but was in reality so incredibly durable and resilient that it could give a regular human a decent Parahuman ratings in the Brute and Mover categories.
In the process, I also considered a new possibility I hadn't given much thought to before. I could hide a bunch of my powers as Tinker-derived BS if I went the full Tinker route, but that was a giant time sink and would require me to set up a full workstation to make something that could fool other Tinkers. But the not-quite-a-bio-suit I was going to make could certainly be used to pass off some of my abilities.
With my not-quite-a-Tinker-planning-fugue over, I had a rough mental blueprint to work with now.
Guess I'll be doing a bit of junkyard and resource hunting with my Phantom Presence on.
Before I got my powers, I'd have liked a proper Power Armor even if I had some Brute power, just for redundant safety measures—You can never have too many redundant defenses on Earth Bet! But now… I was actually quite happy with the design I'd cooked up with powers that had an unexpected synergy when used together.
I spent some time planning my course of action before a stray thought struck me.
How did I forget? I should use it.
"Probability that the powerset I just finished writing would be redundant or out of date in a week?"
… Hm?
"Probability that my newly made powerset will be identified by the PRT, heroes, or one of the gangs as a combination of individual powers copied/stolen from other Brockton Bay capes."
…
… Okay… I didn't get a probability. Why didn't I get a probability?
"Um, the probability that my new Cape persona will be linked to my Stranger power if I don't openly use it?"
…
Still nothing.
Hello? Probability power? You there?
I frowned, confused. I clearly remembered taking away Diana's Shard last night. I even had her Shard with me right now.
I mentally poked at it—the power, not the Shard as I couldn't actually touch or truly interact with them.
Hey, why you no work?
I got nothing in reply, as was expected. I tried communicating with the Shard in a vain attempt to see if I could maybe use the Shard-version of the power as my version seemed to be broken. But the results didn't change. I also didn't know Shard lingo, so I couldn't raise my query—What the fuck, dude?—to the Shard. Maybe it was a skill I could get in the future.
Fine, be that way. See if I do anything nice for you.
No, I didn't sulk at my power. Definitely not.
…
"Probability that it'll rain today."
I blinked. "53.86443%. Huh, so it does work. Good. Then why didn't it—oh."
It was Blank, wasn't it? I mentally deadpanned.
Blank made me immune to all Thinker powers. For some reason, I just didn't think it'd hinder my own Thinker powers too. But it made sense in hindsight.
"Wait, shit. Does that mean…?"
With growing dread, I tried to use Coil's power.
-x-
Simulated Timeline
"Okay, huh. I think I divided the timeline. More like creating a simulation. Uhh, how do I test if it's actually working?" I shrugged. "Let's go out, I guess."
Once outside, I flew above the boats, and then, using a combination of all my Blaster powers, I started blasting the area… after making sure that there wasn't anyone in my attack range with a combination of sensory/cognition powers. Simulated timeline or not, I didn't want to see gory deaths of innocent bystanders caused by my own indiscriminate use of powers. Once I was sure, however, I didn't hold back.
"Hah! Take that! And that! And that!"
I kept at it for a while, trying to get the hang of my powers while also playing 'shoot the ship with lasers and light blasts as hard as I can'. Then I shifted to supersonic flight and started blasting in the air, giving a daytime light show to anyone who could see me.
Thinking of something, I temporarily applied Fenja and Menja's breaker power and grew to five times my height, about 30 feet tall.
"Muahahaha! I AM GODZILLA! FEAR ME, MORTALS!"
I definitely didn't start acting like a childish villain from Cartoon Network or say dumb things since I knew this was just a throwaway/simulated timeline. Nope. You can't prove anything.
It was a shame that none of my powers gave me actual eye lasers, though I could use my blaster powers to recreate it with some effort. But it just wasn't the same.
"I AM THE KING OF THE MONSTERS!" I bellowed as I used Lung's Pyrokinesis to breathe fire from my mouth, aiming at the sky—the next best thing I could think of. It was fun!
… I mean, it was definitely for practice and not because I was having too much fun with it in a simulation.
After a short while, however, I noticed something that made me stop.
Why is no one coming to check up on or stop me?
I'd been blasting the area while being Kaiju-sized for quite some time now—definitely 15-20 minutes. The area around me was devastated. Honestly, by now, the Endbringer sirens should have sounded… or at least I should have been confronted by someone from the Protectorate.
Odd.
I flew higher and began approaching the city, and I noticed another oddity.
There's no one here. Everywhere I looked, I couldn't find a single living being.
I spent some time searching further, and when I still couldn't find anyone, I blasted the nearby buildings and cars just to see if that'd prompt a response.
Still nothing.
Damn it. Coil's power was also broken, it seemed. My simulations were able to model myself, which had been my initial fear when I activated it, but instead, they didn't seem to model any other living being except me.
With a sigh, I shut the timeline.
-x-
Original Timeline
I stayed as I was, watching myself act like a loon in another timeline. It felt so surreal, yet so realistic. I could finally understand Coil's perspective. It really did look like I was living two different lives at the same time. Multitasking seemed at home with this ability, which appeared to have a slight Multitasking aspect of its own. Otherwise, Coil wouldn't have been able to handle two disjointed simulations at once.
One version of me, this one, was just sitting and watching the other version of myself, where I was making a fool of myself and doing the exact opposite of what I was supposed to do—laying low and subtly testing my new powers. Although, it did help me release some of the boredom and stress.
I'd be doing the smart thing and practicing most of my louder and flashier abilities in alternate timelines. Even if it was acting up—what with no living beings showing up in my simulations—and I didn't get the muscle memory from it, the mental memory of using my powers seemed to remain as clear as day. And that was good enough for now.
Really, Coil's power had so much potential. No wonder the guy was able to do what he did while being a normie for the most part.
Still, it was annoying that it was being sabotaged by my own anti-Thinker defenses. Understandable, but annoying nonetheless.
With a sigh, I shut that timeline.
-x-
Huh, okay, that's a little disconcerting.
Using Coil's power was like living two short, separate lives. I had two disjointed memories of myself doing two separate things at the same time while being aware of the other in each memory. At least I could label them in my head to preserve my perspective. Still…
Weird. Was I really being Mastered to follow my own actions? It didn't feel like it… Better not think about it too hard for now.
I knew instinctively that one of them never happened. It was the timeline—I guess I'll be using some of Coil's terminology for this—that I closed.
Now that I'd tested his power and seen its clear restrictions, I had questions.
Okay, so… Coil's powers worked somehow but don't actually show people in simulated timelines. But Diana's don't? Well, they don't work on me… or when I'm involved. But Coil's power has no such issues? Why?
"Probability that Taylor will be bullied today."
96.798%
"Probability that Taylor will meet me this week."
…
Yeah, no. Doesn't work when I'm involved. Got it.
Since I was already testing my Thinker powers, I used Tattletale's as well.
Focusing on the rusted hull of the ship on top of which I was sitting—not quite, as I had the blanket still under me—I let her power work.
[Significant wear and decay over time; exposure to elements causing corrosion. Saltwater exposure—oxidation process accelerated by the marine environment. Structural weakness in specific areas; compromised integrity could lead to collapse under stress. Ship likely abandoned for years; no recent maintenance or repair efforts observed. Possible history: once a functional vessel, now derelict; abandoned due to cost of repairs or obsolescence. Sitting on a deteriorated surface, blanket serves as minimal buffer; potential risk if hull's structural integrity fails.]
"… Yeesh."
I promptly stood up from the blanket I was sitting on and began hovering in the air. Then, in a stroke of genius, I sat on the air, hovering with my legs crossed.
It also counted as practice.
Maybe I should've checked this place with Lisa's power rather than making my own uneducated judgment. I really thought this place didn't look that bad last night. Guess I was wrong. Well, it didn't break during the hours I was asleep here and then sitting on the surface, so maybe I wasn't. Lisa's power did say it was only a possibility.
Shaking my head, I thanked whatever integrity the hull had that it didn't give while I was sleeping. That would have been… well, I was durable enough to survive that, but it would still have been very unpleasant.
I tried using her power on myself and was met with silence.
Right, note to self: for now, use Tattletale's and Diana's powers only on things that aren't directly linked to me or would be affected by my actions… which might be problematic as I'd be unable to make effective use of them in most circumstances since they'd likely involve me. As for Coil's power, it's still useful, even in its limited state.
Gonna have to see if I can upgrade them later when I get new charges. Will have to wait till I finish merging/upgrading my powerset.
Now, where was I before that? Right, my costume. I need to gather the resources for it.
So, I had to go resource gathering/stealing now.
… Why am I even doing the whole Cape thing in the first place again? Another stray thought struck me, halting me. Do I even need to show myself in public?
That… was a valid point. It wasn't like I truly planned to get involved in the locals' usual game of cops and robbers. I wasn't exactly planning to be a popular Superhero. No, if anything, if I acted I'd clean house instead and then maybe fuck off and stay under the radar to collect/assimilate some more powers until the next Endbringer shows up.
Hoo boy, I couldn't wait for that fight. I, a guy with the ability to take away Shards of any Parahumans verses the Shard-created Constructs that are entirely dependent on the said Shard to exist and operate. Take three guesses as to why I wasn't too worried about them. The first two don't count.
Honestly, other than behemoth, whose Kill Aura might prevent me from reaching close enough for me to affect his Shard—How large is the radius of its effect anyway? And isn't Alexandria immune to it? I can copy her powers if I go to face an Endbringer and then deal with the Endbringer itself. Problem Solved. Okay, so maybe I had ways to easily bypass that.
Well, that being said, I wasn't going to assume it'd be so easy. The Endbringers were no joke. By the time I faced one of them—because it was approaching certainty at this point—I'd hopefully have enough powers in my bag to not fear their overwhelming might. But I digress. The Endbringers were still a month or so away.
The gangs were a more immediate problem.
The ABB was almost done, with just the crazy bomb Tinker left—who admittedly was the worst of the three. I'd approach her the moment she left her fucking lab and disable her powers. I'd already dealt with four of the worst capes in the Nazis, dealing them a massive blow, but they were still the most numerous cape gang in the city. The Merchants didn't have any more capes, so they were pretty much done for. Hopefully, this will finally make the local police—I think it was called the BBPD?— pick up their pace and deal with that mess once the word gets out.
Then there was… Coil.
Right. He's still there. And he's going to be a pain in the ass with his connection to Cauldron. And the Travelers, with their Simurgh-bombed members and proto-Endbringer in the making.
I'll have to deal with him later, though. I couldn't take away his powers without alerting the local Illuminati. Not that I was too afraid of them now.
… Actually, what are the odds that my actions have already alerted them? I'm pretty sure I'm still hidden since they've yet to come for my head but have my actions already reached their ears by now. I didn't know but I couldn't shake off the nervous feeling at the thought.
Yeah, no, fuck it. Coil still needs to go. Coil was too unhinged. And He and Bakuda could really mess this city up big time in a very short amount of time if they were allowed. I should've taken his power when I had the chance. Well, no worries. I can do it now. Just gotta find that sucker. So, it was either Coil or Bakuda I should aim for first. Maybe both, if time permits, and I get a chance. And I'll punch a Nazi or ten while I'm on the way to fuck Calvert's and Bakuda's day up.
That… sounds like a plan. Sort of…
Not the most ingenious plan, but it's a plan, nonetheless.
Dealing with them would free the city from their long reign of terror and depravity.
But even after dealing with dozens of villains that resided in the city, I'd not be done. Then I'd have to worry about the out-of-city villains who'd come to get a piece of the pie that's Brockton Bay. The Teeth, Fallen, and who knows who else—was it too much to expect that the PRT and the Protectorate would not let it happen? Or was that wishful thinking after all? I couldn't say for sure.
And then there were more national and international matters too. Slaughterhouse 9 would need to be dealt with before Jack gets the chance to doom this world and many others. I wasn't sure the 2-year time until the doomsday still applied as I was butterflying the events hard.
Also, I couldn't forget about the best girl in Worm. Dragon needed to be freed of the clutches of Dragonslayers, lest Saint's rabid and retarded mind goes trigger-happy and actives Ascalon because Dragon had a single momentary thought that could be twisted in his braindead, hay-filled head to make it look like she was planning to revolt or free herself from her binds.
God, she'd make for such a great ally. That is if I could convert her to my side.
Holding her own freedom and life leverage over her felt too scummy and I wasn't going to entertain it unless the situation turned too dire somewhere and somehow. Maybe if I could convince her about the end-of-the-world scenario, then… yeah, it was a possibility. Dragon was known to be very nice and understanding. Plus, she might be more open to listening to me if I am the one who freed her. (Was I also thinking of a grateful AI who could create a sexy gynoid body, while I was in the process of thinking about Dragon? I say you couldn't prove shit.)
Then there's the Goblin King and the Machine Army. They needed to go. Then threats that were out of America but still needed to be dealt with. The Endbringers were still a threat at large, even if I had a theoretical silver bullet for them. Also, I'd also have to deal with Eidolon. The guy couldn't be trusted with his own powers, for fuck's sake. If he activated more Endbringers while I disabled the current three, I'd be pissed.
…
…
… Then… then there's Scion. Zion, I mentally amended.
The Big Bad. The ticking Time Bomb, the End of Earth Bet and all its counterparts in all the multiverses the Entities had accessed. The Real Endbringer masquerading as a mentally retarded and gloomy-looking Golden Hero.
… And I had to do all this while making sure Cauldron didn't mess everything up with their own special way of doing things (stupidly and in the worst way imaginable). As much as I understood—and even sympathized to some degree—their desperation and goals… they were just too desperate and dependent on Contessa's power and wouldn't like an independent like me whom they couldn't path or control.
…
An explosive sigh left my mouth once I put all that into perspective. That was… a lot.
Suddenly, a weariness settled deep into my bones, an all-consuming exhaustion that had nothing to do with any form of physical exertion. It was more like a hollowing of my spirit, a slow unraveling of everything that had held me together since I got here.
I'd been so caught up in the chaos—avoiding Cauldron, local heroes and villains, then trying to a hero or whatever, dealing with powers that were beyond anything I'd ever imagined—that I hadn't really stopped to think about the bigger picture.
What was I even doing here? I wasn't some hero destined to save the day. I wasn't even a part of this world. It hit me like a punch to the gut that I was just… stuck. Plopped into a story that wasn't mine, a world that wasn't mine, playing a role I hadn't asked for.
The CYOA had the clause that if I survived for 10 years I could go back home (or choose to go to another world). But was it even applicable? My main power might have been from the CYOA I filled, but that was it. Nothing else seemed to have been applied.
What were the odds that I'd be given the option to go back once I survived this death world? Not as high as I'd have liked. Also, 10 years was no small duration in the first place.
"Why the fuck am I here?" I muttered to myself, the words bitter on my tongue. I glanced around the cold rusted walls of the dilapidated Ship I was hiding in.
"This isn't my world. I don't belong here."
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the overwhelming sense of dislocation that had been gnawing at me since the moment I was sent here.
…
"Hello? ROB? You listening? I'm done, okay?" I murmured tiredly to the likely Omnipotent being who sent me here. "I don't want to play the OP Self Insert anymore. I don't care about saving the multiverse or whatever. Just… send me home. Please." Let someone else save the day. It's not like it hadn't been done before. I'd read dozens of fanfics with SIs and OCs saving the world in dozens of ways. It wasn't that hard with literal Plot Armor in the form of their OP powers protecting them. I wasn't exactly special or Savior material.
Of course, there was no answer to my plea. No magical portal opening up to whisk me back to my world, to my home. Just the quiet hum of the ocean, the distant sounds of birds, the faint mental buzz of my powers simmering under my skin. The powers I'd copied or stolen, pieced together into something incredible, something powerful. But what was the point in the end?
I sighed, the weight of it pressing down on me like a thousand bricks. The excitement and thrill I'd felt when I first realized I had this much power at my fingertips… it was gone, replaced by a hollow emptiness. I was nothing here. A nobody. No family, no friends, no life.
I floated down a little, my body shifting into a fetal position mid-air, curling up like I could somehow shield myself from the crushing reality of my situation. I'd grown incredibly strong, yet I felt so small, so insignificant. The powers that had felt like a blessing a while back now felt like a curse, chaining me to this world, to this life I hadn't asked for.
I needed help. I couldn't keep going on like this, pretending everything was fine when it was anything but. But who could I turn to? I was alone here, a stranger in a strange land.
No. Another part of me countered. I couldn't just stop. Not after everything I'd done, everything I knew. I couldn't just walk away, fuck off to a safer city—maybe even go to this world's version of my country, my city—and pretend it all didn't matter. Maybe build up my charges to create a Dimension Travelling ability and see if I can go back to my universe. But…
I had the power to make a difference here, to change things for the better, and despite how much I felt bitter and frustrated from it, I couldn't let that go to waste.
"Great power, great responsibility," I muttered bitterly, echoing the famous words with a scowl. "Fuck that. I don't want to be responsible right now."
But I couldn't just sit here wallowing in self-pity either. Maybe I wasn't ready to save the world—or even this country—just yet, but there was something I could do. Something small, something that might actually help someone else while I figured my own shit out.
Taylor.
The name came to me like a lifeline, something solid to grasp onto in the swirling void of uncertainty. Taylor, the girl who was known as the Queen of Escalation in my world, the one who got the worst hand dealt to her by this godforsaken world (and its Author). Maybe, just maybe, I could help her before everything went to hell. It wasn't much, but it was something. A start—
Yeah, no, it sounded terrible. "Stalking depressed teenage girls to make myself feel better" wasn't exactly the kind of self-therapy I'd recommend to anyone. But then again this was Worm, and nothing here was ever straightforward or clean.
If I could help her—really help her—then maybe, just maybe, I'd find a way to help myself too. And who knows, maybe I'd actually make a difference in this screwed-up world after all.
"Alright, Taylor," I muttered to myself, finally uncurling and floating upright again, determination sparking in the hollow darkness of my thoughts. "Let's see if I can do better by you than this world did."
That and foraging the resources I need to make my suit.
Then I remembered I hadn't eaten since waking up. I still wasn't hungry but some food definitely wouldn't go amiss.
And some food too. Haa… it's fine. I can do this. One step at a time, Samir. One step at a time. No need to overwhelm yourself.
On a side note, a Mental Fortitude skill might not be too bad either. But I didn't have any charges for it right now, so it was a moot point.
…
I wasn't going public for at least the next couple of days until my suit was ready and things started happening. So, I could spend some time doing this until I was ready (mentally) to unleash the butterflies once more.
-x-
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
The_POZ
The_POZ I'm not suuuper happy with the chapter. It feels like a mess, caused due to going through multiple edits and small rewrites, and the shift from excited power testing to existential depression at the end felt abrupt. (But hey, life can be unpredictable.)
I have literally spent hours now refining the Powerset, including several edits to include powers from the Capes I’d forgotten to include or didn’t know the nuances of their powers. So, some of my own tiredness leaked into MC there.
It might still have room for improvement, or it could have been more original and creative, but I’ll appreciate any supportive and constructive feedback you guys give me.
I’m curious about your thoughts on this chapter, the MC’s composite powerset, and his decision to help Taylor… partly as an excuse to procrastinate from his own issues. (Sounds reasonable to me, honestly. Because I might have done something like that once or twice.)
Taylor’s inclusion wasn’t planned like this, but sometimes writing takes unexpected turns. Now, this is funny, because I never actually plan things while writing and let the typewriter monkey in my head do his thing and later edit the mess as much as I can.
Your reviews are highly motivating, so keep them coming!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone