3
It took me a good while to follow Joey's directions. When he said "a few city blocks", I thought I'd find that carwash further down the street or something. I didn't expect to walk a full fucking kilometer to get there.
Luckily, I've been close to the edge of the train yard. I managed to leave the Merchant territory without any other incident, but that probably had to do with the time of day. Crashing down from a high, especially after hard stuff, left people sluggish. And if the Merchants liked to party hard at night, they had to be sleepy boys right now.
So far, the city didn't look like it hosted the Leviathan pool party yet, so I probably had at least three years to prepare for the end game. I shook my head, wry smile on my lips. Thank god I didn't get thrown in here after the time skip. That would've sucked.
As I walked, the smell of salt hit me out of nowhere, and a quick glance ahead made it pretty obvious why. I was at the docks, fairly close to the ocean. The famous boat graveyard rose in the distance like a dead behemoth, half buried beneath the waters.
I tried to recall which gang owned this territory, but a red graffiti on a nearby warehouse made my job easy.
I was thankful that Joey had enough presence of mind to send me around the edge of the ABB territory. Sticking close to the water should be the safest route, and it should get me straight to the Boardwalk.
Stopping by the edge of the docks, I sent a quick glance around, making sure that I had some privacy. I managed to figure out how Endow worked in the time it took me to get here, and now it was time to up my survival chances a little. The Portal thing remained on the back burner for now, because trying to figure out portals in broad daylight sounded like a quick way to win the Darwin Award by the end of the day.
Focusing on a mental list that looked more like a power catalogue, I brought it up to the forefront and let it unfold, revealing a few dozen choices. Endow reminded me of that nazi chick, Othala, except I could grant anyone up to five permanent minor powers with a touch, and remove those at will. Sadly, it had nothing that could heal, or grant flight, or invulnerability. Not that I was going to complain. I had enough stuff to survive this world, as long as I played it safe.
Individually, these powers weren't all that great, kind of disappointing even, but put five of them together, and you could easily make a street level cape. I could make an army of low end parahumans on command. The PRT alone would probably bend over backwards to get the troopers this kind of package.
I almost snorted at the sudden mental image of beefed up troopers zooming around Brockton Bay, with Spider-Man level reflexes and agility, beating the shit out of the gangs. Hell, I could even make them shoot webs.
Smiling wryly, I reached towards one of the catalogue entries and brought it towards a mental representation of myself, willing it to slot in and take root.
A power that increased lung capacity and efficiency. Because I really needed some of that shit to make up for my absolutely garbage physical condition. I couldn't run even a couple hundred meters without puking my guts.
I took a slow, deep breath, and I almost shuddered at the sudden rush coursing through my veins. I felt like I could run a marathon. I probably couldn't, but after a minute of normal breathing, my body was buzzing with energy like I'd drank a couple Red Bulls.
I stared wide eyed at the ocean. This power was low-key impressive. I'd have to test it properly with some physical exercise, but it was already looking pretty damn good.
A spike of excitement coursed through me, and I felt my lips twitch upwards. Maybe getting thrown in here wouldn't be that bad if it came with superpowers.
Unfurling my mental list once more, I perused the entries in more detail. I'd already spotted a handful that looked like they might easily become personal favorites, but many of these powers would probably not see much use, if any at all. Either too weak or too niche.
As I kept looking, something caught my eye, and my brows climbed up my forehead. Okay, now that was interesting. Apparently, four of my entries already figured as 'active' for myself, and I couldn't select them anymore, but when I quickly double checked my mental avatar, I still had just one power slotted in there.
No way…
My jaw slackened briefly, before a grin broke on my face. I fucking knew it! I already had some powers, except they were just obscure passive stuff. And they didn't even need a Shard to function, otherwise that vial would have failed.
Let's see… super reaction time, super agility and reflexes, a removed sense of pain, and something that enhanced my autonomous body systems. Better liver to detoxify faster, better lymphatic system to help with physical recovery and keep me active for longer. That kinda stuff.
I probably also produced semen much faster, which might get me a career as a pornstar, if this parahuman thing didn't work out. I held back a snort. This had to be one of the weirdest powers out there.
A sudden thought gave me pause. Do I have even more hidden powers?
Pursing my lips, I left that thought on the back burner. I wasn't sure how I could even go about testing for something like that.
But yeah, I already had four powers from Endow, and with five more available at will, I might actually turn myself into a decent supe.
On a whim, I brought up a leg, trying to balance on one foot, like in those Chinese martial arts movies. To my surprise, I managed it on the first try, when in the past, I wouldn't have been able to balance like that at all. Lowering my leg, I couldn't help but smile. My balance was also something straight out of superhero comics. Certainly useful for combat.
A giddy feeling bubbling in my chest, I unfurled the mental catalogue once more, and reached for a second power, adding it to my mental avatar. Muscle manipulation.
Sadly, it could only bulk me up to triple of my base strength, so I'd need to get some gains the old fashioned way to make full use of this, but it was still good to cover for my current weakness. Triple my current base meant an above average human being, who kept up with their fitness. Not much in a world of Brutes, but definitely some progress.
Throwing a quick glance around to make sure I was still alone, I didn't spot anything unusual. This part of the docks seemed to be deserted. Probably too close to the boat graveyard and Merchant territory for the Asians to bother with it.
Focusing on my left arm, I tried to figure out how this muscle power worked.
A couple minutes later of mental poking and prodding, my arm suddenly bulked up, biceps and triceps bulging out like in that cartoon spinach commercial.
I let out a quiet whistle. My forearm looked like I'd won all the professional jack-off competitions for the past ten years. It was all taut sinews and worming veins, and made me wonder if I'd die from a paper cut.
The disproportion with the rest of my body made it a little jarring, but when I flexed, I could feel the new strength hidden in my limb. Oh hell yeah, brother. I could only imagine how this would scale up once I actually started lifting.
Smiling at my prospects for the future, I tried one last test and slotted out this power. My arm deflated like a balloon, muscles shrinking back to their normal state. A wave of disappointment hit me. Of course it wouldn't be that convenient.
It made sense, but it was still annoying.
A frown pulled at my lips as I reached for that power and pulled it back to the avatar. At least I could turn myself into a dollar store All Might at will. That alone was worth keeping this power.
Out of curiosity, I tried using the power on just my biceps. It latched on normally at first, only to quickly spread to the rest of my arm, beefing it up once more like Popeye's. Huh. So I couldn't affect individual muscle groups, or rather, I couldn't do it yet. Fucking dead Shards. I'd have to practice and experiment with this. But it wasn't like I needed finesse right now, so I just dialed the power to the max, bulking myself up until I looked like a fat wrestler.
Looking down at my arms and body, I smiled. That should do it.
My third choice from the list focused mostly on offense, but still had with some niche defensive potential. A Changer power that could grow my hair and nails on demand. A makeshift weapon, basically. It should make my nails tough as steel, and my hair strong as piano wire. Because cutting stuff with a pair of claws would be metal as fuck.
Next, I reached for a power that manipulated my skin. It could alter the shape, density, color, texture, and even heal damaged skin. Another low-key great pick from the list that bumped up my odds for survival.
It took me about a minute of fiddling, but I managed to max out the durability of my skin. I'd have to test it out later, though I doubted I'd get cut by normal sharp objects anymore. In the hands of regular people, at least. It might help a little against bullets, too, but I wished I wouldn't have to find that out.
Slotting it out for another quick test gave the same result as the muscle power. Again, a bit annoying, but understandable.
Bringing it back, I quickly maxed out my defense again, before trying for some utility. I focused on my palm, hoping to make the skin change color to a darker shade. It did, but, once again, for the entirety of my arm.
These fucking Shards, man…
At least I knew I could get a quick and easy disguise on demand.
Oh, and it could also change the sensitivity. Another power to help me with my future pornstar career. I could make myself rock hard. Literally. They'd call me the big black rock.
A chuckle escaped me at the shitty joke.
Still, this power would be fun to experiment with. I could give it to a girl, get her to up the skin sensitivity, and give her hentai level orgasms just by kissing and fondling.
I left that thought in the "dreams for the future" box, and went back to perusing the catalogue. As expected, picking the last power was the hardest, but I knew I needed a slot that I could swap around freely, so I didn't fret too much over it. I just went for some utility. Crowd control and a ranged option for non-lethal takedowns.
A power that allowed me to shoot sticky webs like Spider-Man. Even better, it made those webs by consuming either my stamina, or fat stores. Whichever I had the most of at a given moment. And boy did I have a lot of fat stores to draw from.
I blinked, a sudden thought leaving me with a grin. Holy shit, I could use this power to speedrun my weight loss. It'd leave me with loose skin, but maybe I could use that Changer power to fix it.
Glancing around for a bit, I spotted a couple hobos skulking in the distance, and stepped away from the pier, pretending to stretch my arms and back.
I'd have to test it later. I've spent enough time around this place already.
I walked away, breaking into a light jog after a few meters as I made my way through the docks. A couple minutes of running later, and I was still going strong, not feeling much different from when I'd started. Normally, this was the point when I'd get winded and start flagging.
By the five minute mark, I had to breathe a little deeper, but that also filled me with renewed energy. Sweat clung to my back and beaded my forehead, but I ignored it. It was just from exertion, but I was nowhere near to reaching my limit. My new limit. A grin broke on my face, and I upped my pace. My spleen hadn't even cramped yet. I kept running.
These powers are great.
As I ran along the edge of the docks, I spotted a few homeless people every now and then, most of them sticking to a corner they'd claimed, or squatting in the shadows of abandoned buildings. None of them spared me more than a brief glance, though, and I wondered if they just didn't give a fuck, or simply mistook me for a gang member.
I could only guess, so I just kept jogging at a steady pace, feeling freer than ever, but still keeping my eyes peeled for any potential trouble. Good thing that I'd bothered looking up that fan-made map of Brockton Bay on more than one occasion. At least I knew what places to avoid in this city.
I briefly wondered where the Dockworkers Union might be around here, but I wasn't curious enough to spend more time than absolutely necessary around the docks.
I wasn't sure how long I've been running, but sooner than I expected, I spotted signs of proper civilization, including that pharmacy. I must've ran a whole kilometer, and I felt only mildly winded. Superpowers were amazing.
Slowing down, I noticed a light tingling feeling in my feet, and my brow climbed up a fraction. Was this how that Painkiller power felt like? Odd, but interesting. Definitely a great power, though. Pain sucked. Nobody liked it.
Once I rounded the building, I took a few seconds to catch my breath, right at the mouth of the alleyway. Even my recovery time was boosted. In less than a minute, my breathing went down to almost normal, and I felt like I could go at it again.
From the look of it, I had to be near the far end of the Boardwalk. I hoped that those ten dollars would be enough to buy me a sandwich in this place. All this exercise had made me a little hungry. I was tempted to swap in that body efficiency power, but after all of this, I deserved to treat myself to a nice sandwich.
I've also been using my quick break to carefully inspect the place, not keen on getting jumped by another weirdo. The alley was lined by a few buildings, and it looked empty enough, not even trash scattered around. I took that as a good sign and walked in, falling back into a steady jog.
I've never liked running, and now I couldn't get enough of it. The rush from all this exercise was crazy.
Soon enough, I was almost at the other exit.
It took me seconds to cross the whole alley, but just as I was about to leave the place, a dark clad figure suddenly rounded the corner. We almost crashed into each other, but I caught myself at the last moment, twisting around into a side step dodge and landing to the stranger's left, my gut jiggling a little from the abrupt movement.
As the person froze abruptly mid-step, I came face to face with a metallic black mask that reminded of a stern woman.
I swapped out the web power for something that turned me into dollar store Velocity, my heartbeat pounding like a drum in my ears. Focusing as hard as I could until some switch inside my head clicked, the world around me suddenly slowed down to a crawl.
On impulse, I tried to move a hand, though nothing seemed to happen. No, I felt a muscle twitch, my body still going through the movement, but with a delay that made me feel like I was having an out of body experience.
Damn, that's freaky.
Bullet Time was more like a dollar store Sharingan. I could slow down my perception of time, but my body kept moving in real time. Not really an issue, since this power would be indispensable in combat, regardless. Split second decisions? Hah. I had all the time in the world now.
Well, mostly. I could see things slowly shift in my field of vision after a while, but still at a crawl. Another low-key busted power.
I took a good look at the person before me.
Spoiler: Cape!
A fairly tall figure, wrapped in a large, urban camouflage dark cloak, with the hood pulled over their head. The cloak, seemingly frozen in time, revealed glimpses of dark fabric and matching kneepads, and I noticed a gauntlet covered hand keeping next to a crossbow secured at the hip.
Who the hell–
I stared in sudden recognition.
Holy shit, it was Shadow Stalker. Not even an hour in this place, and I already came across a parahuman. Was this good or bad luck?
She looked edgy as fuck in her all dark color scheme costume, but at least she kept it on the cool side of edgy, like Batman. Her mask was rather weird, though. I wouldn't call it creepy, but I think she could've done better than that permanent grumpy face.
I supposed it matched her usual mood, so there was that. She got points for honesty. I had a feeling she was the type of girl who had a top tier resting bitch face.
I doubted she would attack me, but I still made a quick plan in case she did. Abusing Bullet Time should help me get away, at least.
A sudden tingle behind my eyes, that quickly turned into an itchiness, told me that I shouldn't rely on this too much.
Of course this stuff had an annoying drawback… luckily, the Painkiller power seemed to work just as fine. Eat shit, Thinker headaches.
Still, I probably shouldn't abuse this one too much. I might risk accidentally popping a blood vessel, or something.
Stilling my body, I dropped Bullet Time, only to almost stagger as I was forcefully pulled back into real-time. Shit, I'd have to get used to that. Fortunately, my budding headache was also gone, so no more itchiness in my brain. Even if it wasn't that distracting, it was still hella weird.
A quiet snort escaped the girl before me, hand subtly twitching closer to her weapon. "Nice move, fatass." The voice coming from behind her mask gave me pause, though. It was unexpectedly deep for a teenage girl, and had a smoky quality to it. It also sounded the tiniest bit amused.
I could listen to her contralto for hours.
Her eyes studied me for a moment, gaze sharp as if assessing me. Her posture shifted almost imperceptibly, shoulders tensing ever so slightly as if she were a panther ready to pounce.
What the hell? Did I give myself out as a cape with that weird ballet move?
A spike of panic shot through me before I quickly smothered it. I wasn't sure what she might do with such knowledge, but I could hazard a guess. This was Sophia. I doubted she'd snitch on me, so long it didn't benefit her in some way.
Worst case scenario, I could just change my skin color or even gender bend myself as a disguise until I figured out something better.
Pushing out that dollar store Wolverine power–useless against a Breaker like Sophia, I grabbed something that let me sense the overall emotions of a person in my field of view, and even shift them a bit with enough time. The first aspect seemed to be a passive, like Dean's, so it didn't need much figuring out.
One good look at Sophia almost made me grimace. The power seemed to draw from my own experiences to provide the feedback, making it easy to identify all the foreign emotions suddenly appearing in my head.
She was a volatile mix of anger, annoyance, and amusement. Her raging Shard really did a number on her, but she shouldn't be exactly beyond help. Even just getting that alien calculator to chill the fuck down for a moment would do her a lot of good.
Maybe I could make it my pet project? She was my favorite Ward, after all. Easily top five favorite female character in Worm, too. Second hottest bitch on the block, right after Emma.
Poking a little at her incandescent anger, I tried to make it calm the fuck down, while outwardly, I gave her a friendly smile, trying to defuse the tension. "Thanks. I've been practicing some stuff lately."
My words sent a small, brief spike of indulgent amusement within Sophia as her anger simmered down a little, her posture losing some of that tension. Her hands still kept close to her hip mounted crossbows, though. Eh. I'd take that as a success.
"Uh-huh." She didn't sound particularly convinced, but at least it got her to look less like she was about to jump me. And not in the fun way.
"Been building that muscle memory stuff, and it kind of shows, doesn't it?"
Her glare didn't abate much, and if I couldn't sense her emotions, I'd be hard pressed to guess that she was still rather amused. A few beats of slightly awkward silence passed between us, before she gave a quiet scoff.
"Look, I don't have time to chat." Her voice turned a little sour. "And don't ask me for any autographs. I don't do that shit."
I kept a light, genial smile on my face as I nodded. "That's cool. I'm sure you're busy, won't hold you any longer." My lips curled further in amusement. "Have fun cracking skulls, and keep up the good work. There's plenty of trash to mop up in this city."
Sophia's anger boiled a little despite my nudging, but her emotion cocktail bubbled with traces of amusement as she gave me a knowing look, and I could easily imagine a wry smirk hidden by her mask.
"Don't I know it."
With those parting words, the slightly-less-angry coffee bean walked past me, quickly breaking into a jog. Smiling faintly, I watched her lithe form as she crossed the alley within seconds, before she ghosted through a wall.
Ah. Sad to see her leave, but so nice to watch her go. Her costume hid it well, but she definitely had a great ass from all that running. And thighs. She probably did a lot of combat training for her Wards shtick, so her core muscles were definitely not neglected, either. Which meant abs. Glorious girl abs.
Wish I could've seen her face, though… eh, one day.
Sophia was supposed to be pretty hot, and deliciously athletic from running all that track, and just the thought of seeing what lay beneath that edgy costume gave me a sudden case of Amazon fever.
I didn't care if she was a bitch. I'd totally go for some of that dark chocolate.
Staring blankly at the sidewalk for a couple moments, I blinked, finally remembering why I was here. Food. I bet Sophia was a great snack, but sadly, man couldn't just live off chocolate.
Shaking my head with a wry smile, I replaced the anger management power with the Claws. I could probably become a parahuman therapist with that power, but where would be the fun in that?
I didn't bother with the web shooter, though, and kept Bullet Time slotted. Better to have it on hand and not need to use it.
As I rounded the corner, I saw the freakin Red Ranger racing down the Boardwalk, drawing looks from passers-by and heading my way. Rust red costume with a silver shield emblazoned on the chest. Probably to hide all the blood, because this guy had to be Aegis.
He zoomed past me, diving into the same alleyway, looking almost like a comet with the light rays catching on his back.
It seemed like he was trying to catch up to Sophia. She had the habit of running off by herself during patrols. I wished him luck. Contending with a track star wasn't easy, but his power would eventually come in clutch.
Godspeed, you Red Rocket.
With a solemn salute in my heart, I made my way along the Boardwalk and looked around, spotting the Subway a few meters to my right. The images on display were enough to make my mouth water, and I made a beeline straight to the shop. I've been denied my food for long enough.
Those ten dollars barely managed to get me a six inch sandwich and a small bottle of water. A highway robbery, even if it wasn't my money. I made sure to pocket the few quarters of change, just in case I ever needed a coin to flip.
Sandwich acquired, I took a leisure stroll on the Boardwalk, idly checking the scenery through mouthfuls of roasted chicken. Mmm, just as good as back home.
I had to admit, the Protectorate base looked pretty neat. Well, it was mostly the giant blue forcefield, but the oil rig probably looked better on the inside. Maybe one day I'd get to see it. If nothing else, just to satisfy that idle curiosity as a Worm fan.
The Boardwalk itself was surprisingly populated, despite the biting weather. Perhaps it was the winter season bringing more tourists than usual to this place, because I couldn't really think of any other reason to justify this bustle. Or perhaps because the Boardwalk had to be one of the safest places in the city, being so close to the Rig.
Passing by a glass panel, I absentmindedly took in my reflection, before a sudden thought gave me pause. I stared at myself with equal parts relief and disappointment. I still looked the same, and I had the feeling that I'd probably missed the opportunity to look better.
I was pretty average. Short black hair, brown eyes, medium nose. At least I was fairly tall. Exactly six foot. I knew I'd look better once I slimmed my face a little. And lost that fat on my belly. I haven't checked it since last Christmas, but I probably weighed somewhere close to ninety kilograms by now. Well, probably a lot more while bulked up like this, though a good chunk of it was just fat. Which, yeah, had to go.
But being in a world full of Tinkers and power bullshit had its perks. I could probably get myself a makeover later on. Turn that above average face into something better, maybe get those cheekbones a little higher, the nose just a tad slimmer, nothing that cosmetic surgery couldn't achieve back home with enough money thrown at it. But before that, I'd have to sweat a little and improve my base state. My powers could only get me so far, and I needed to be better for what was to come.
Spending the last couple years as a couch potato had been a poor life choice, and this was a bad time for consequences.
A sudden commotion further up ahead pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked to the side right in time to catch sight of a black and blue monster truck, racing on the street fast enough to risk accident. Powerful vibrations from a pair of giant, side mounted speakers rattled my bones as the absolute menace of a vehicle blared "Ridin' by Chamillionaire" at max volume for the whole neighborhood to hear.
A quick Bullet Time to glimpse at the driver's seat told me that Skidmark had serious balls driving this thing on the Boardwalk, of all places. Or maybe too high to give a shit. Snapping back into real-time had me staggering mid-step, but the sensation was a bit less jarring, now that I knew what to expect.
I stared thoughtfully at the thick trail of exhaust smoke rapidly dissipating in the air as the truck zoomed out in the distance. You know, maybe the Merchants had more swag than I'd initially thought. If I actually liked drugs and could tolerate long term exposure to chronic stupidity, I'd probably join them full time just for this stunt alone.
A scoff escaped me a moment later. Hah. As if. I had better standards.
I kept walking for a while longer, just letting my meal settle, and soon enough, I found myself at the other end of the Boardwalk, catching glimpse of the tall buildings and much more active traffic of the city proper.
From what I recalled of that fan map, this had to be the route leading to Downtown.
I figured I shouldn't stray too far away inside the bowels of city and risk getting lost, but I kind of wanted to find a quieter place where I could sit down and think for a bit.
It took me about ten minutes of walking in a straight line before I spotted the telltale greenery of a public park, and found myself smiling. This should do it. I could take a quiet breather there and try to come up with a plan.
Entering the park, I took a turn from the main path and walked around a little until I spotted a more remote bench. I sat down with a sigh, pulling off my shoes and flexing my toes a few times to get rid of the tingling feeling in my feet. It didn't really seem to go away that easily, so I just slipped on my shoes with a frown.
Only a bunch of kids could be heard in the distance, most of them running around and playing in the snow.
Glancing around a couple times, I pulled out my phone and powered it up. People might start asking questions if they saw something like this, and might even confuse it for tinker stuff. Better to just keep it hidden from others.
As the home screen popped into view, my gaze instinctively went to the time–14:02–and then the date in the corner. Monday, the 27th of December?
It was Friday, the 31st of May back home. Brow furrowed, I quickly opened the calendar app, and saw the year listed as 2010. Huh. Was this phone set after the local date? How convenient.
I threw another subtle glance around, lips pursed.
When did Taylor trigger again? Something… January? Right after winter break, so… I swiped the calendar page to the next month, which revealed the first Monday of 2011 as January 3rd. Yeah, that must be it.
Okay, so I was exactly one week before Taylor's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Not exactly ideal, but not that bad either. I smiled. Yeah, I could work with this.
Tapping back to the home screen, an odd app quickly caught my eye. FreeBagel? The hell was that?
Opening it up, my brow shot up a fraction at the text on the start page.
A free monthly supply of bagels? What the hell?
Pressing the 'next' button at the bottom brought up a page with a food calendar style selection of bagels. Each entry had a small checkmark box at the corner, as well as an icon that displayed some basic info about the bagel when hovered upon.
I blinked, staring at the screen, chewing on my lip. Well, this solved the breakfast problem, at the very least.
Out of curiosity, I tapped on a cheese bagel, only to see all the other boxes immediately grey out. I frowned. So I could only choose one bagel a day? Still better than nothing.
Clicking the button at the bottom, I got a pop-up box which asked to input a delivery address. Huh. Pretty neat.
For a moment, I wondered where these bagels would come from, but then I decided to save myself the headache, and simply moved on. Worm had weirder shit going on, anyway. Past me came in clutch with the free bagels, and that was all that mattered. I wouldn't starve anymore, at the very least.
As I closed the Bagel app, I suddenly remembered something from that strange note, my fingers quickly bringing up the app menu. This phone was supposed to come with free internet, too.
While I was busy fiddling with the phone settings, something hard and cold suddenly impacted the back of the head, exploding in a thick plume of white fragments and fine powder.
I blinked, a curse on my lips, expecting some pain–that motherfucker had chunks of ice in it–but then I remembered I had a power for this. The only thing I felt was a slight fizziness in my skull, same as the one lingering in my fee–
"Sorry, mister, I didn't mean to hit you, it was an accident, I swear!"
A high pitched voice rapid fired from behind, and I quickly pocketed my phone, before turning around.
Looking over my shoulder, I caught sight of a brown haired kid dressed in a white, fluffy winter coat running up to my bench. The girl had rosy cheeks and an equally fluffy, white hat, with one of those silly puffy balls at the top.
Distant laughter briefly drew my attention to a gaggle of similarly aged girls some distance away, and I held the urge to roll my eyes.
The girl stopped behind my bench, breathing a little heavily from exertion, and I gave her a friendly smile.
"Don't worry, kid, it happens. Just be more careful next time." I brushed off the snow from my hair, still smiling, and she nodded somewhat woodenly, her gaze averting in embarrassment as she fidgeted a little with her gloves.
"Sorry, again. Have a nice day, mister!" Catching my eyes for a moment, she gave a wobbly smile, then quickly turned around and rushed back to her awaiting friends, who welcomed her with another round of giggling.
What a polite child.
As I watched the kids return to their heavy contact snowball fight, a random thought gave me pause. Did I just meet Dinah?
I watched the brunette as she threw a snowball at another girl, my mouth curling wryly as I shook my head. Nah, that would be awfully contrived. Brockton Bay was a surprisingly big city. What would even be the odds?
Besides, Worm didn't really go in much detail describing the physical appearance of the characters. There could be a thousand preteen girls in this city matching Dinah's description. The same probably went for most other characters while out of costume.
I could've probably asked for her name, but hindsight was twenty-twenty, and I did not want some kid's parent calling the cops on me.
Out of curiosity, though, I reached for a power that allowed me to discern any nearby parahumans. A quick glance towards the gaggle of girls revealed nothing out of the ordinary. I waited a while, but no words, nor vague impressions came to mind.
So I was right. Or she just hadn't triggered yet.
I shook my head. I was done thinking about this. I had more important stuff to figure out.
Like how could I make money with Endow? My mouth pressed in a thoughtful line.
Sell powers to people?
Not a bad idea, but I'd only sell to heroes and PRT troopers. Maybe the Rogues, too. The villains could suck a dick. And I'd have to figure a way to ensure safe transactions.
Thinking about it for longer than five seconds, it quickly became clear that I probably wouldn't be able to do this for a while. How would I even advertise it? Doing it over the internet would be like begging for Cauldron's attention.
A frown pulled at my lips as I sank deeper into the bench. I'd have to shelve this idea for now.
Technically, I didn't really need money for sustenance. I could use a combination of powers to deal with that. A power that made food obsolete as long as I kept still like a statue, paired with that hibernation power. Those removed the need for sustenance during sleep. I'd only need water, easy to get at drinking fountains in the park, and I could live off a daily bagel for a while by slotting in that "efficient body functions" power during the day.
I smiled, only for it to sour after a couple moments.
But I wanted money. Just the thought of living like a hobo made my blood boil. I wanted my modern amenities back as soon as possible. Warm water, clean clothes, normal food, a comfortable bed, and a roof over my head. I could live without those for a while, but I already missed them. I was a modern man, not a fucking hermit.
Slumping back into my seat, my hand went to the pocket with the vial, resting there for a moment. Carrying this thing around might be dangerous. From what I knew of canon Worm, Contessa couldn't Path the vials, but walking around with alien juice in my pocket didn't sound too smart. I'd have to find a safe place to stash it, or just find someone trustworthy to give it to.
I could use a partner or a sidekick in this place.
Or maybe try to sell it to Cauldron? My gaze drifted to the sky, lips pursed. The idea sounded good on paper, but… they could just steal it from me. I wasn't strong enough to negotiate with the Illuminati. Yet, hopefully.
The fact that I'd yet to meet the scary hat lady, despite being an information hazard, had me wondering, though. Could she even see me in her Paths? I wasn't too eager to test that out, but even the assumption was enough to give me some peace of mind.
That note clearly hinted that Cauldron had nothing to do with my sudden relocation, so they probably had no clue I was even here yet. A comforting thought, but I really needed to find a harmless Thinker and see whether their power worked on me or not, just to be sure.
My eyes went back to my pocket. What did this vial even do anyway?
I frowned, my knowledge of that CYOA from over a month ago fragmented at best. I remembered a bunch of entries, but none of them had anything to do with powers and crystals.
With a sigh, I fished out the note and read it again. Good thing these vials came with some cliff notes. It would've sucked having to hand the last one out blindly. Even if the note did not bother to explain what each power did, at least some of the labels were fairly straightforward.
Portal obviously made some sort of portals. Any specifics from the document eluded me, but portals were portals. I wanted to test this one so badly, but I couldn't play with portals in broad daylight. Maybe if I found an abandoned building or warehouse?
Endow reminded me of that nazi chick, Othala, but with more variety. I couldn't heal, or make people fly or invulnerable, but I could make an instant cape army in a couple minutes.
I nibbled on my lip. Power Crystallization and Crystal Tinker, though… yeah, this one had me grasping at straws. It did something with powers, so clearly another Trump, then it had a Tinker aspect.
Maybe it could turn powers into 'crystals' or something, which could then be used for tinkering. Somehow. This one was probably some big brain shit that past me had come up with, so I'd have to think carefully about what I did with it.
Pulling out my phone, I checked the time–14:17–before glancing up at the sky, lips pursed thoughtfully.
It looked like I had a few more hours until sundown, so I'd better make the most of it and see if I could come up with a game plan.
Removing my Claws once again, I grabbed a Thinker power, Clarity, to help me focus and make brainstorming much easier. As soon as it slotted in, I felt like I just had an eight our sleep and took a couple brain supplements.
I smiled. Alright, power, who could get me money in this place with the least amount of risk?
I had an answer before I even finished the question.
The Protectorate, obviously, but they had Coil, and I was not getting anywhere close to that guy right now. I was going to Boston tonight anyway, so I'd leave this as Plan B if I couldn't figure something else before then. I wasn't too thrilled about revealing myself to the government so soon, but it was still an option.
Another idea flowed inside my head like warm honey.
Faultline's Crew was a second option, this one more tempting, if not for a small issue. They were mercenary at their core, and Faultline might sell me out for the right price, especially if I threatened removing their powers. Or that lizard guy might brag to some chick about his new powers just for a shot at getting laid. So, really, it was kind of a gamble.
The gangs were out on principle. Villains were cringe, and further empowering those villains was double cringe.
Okay, who else? Who else might be interested in power and less likely to snitch about me?
Sophia came to mind, but I doubted she even had the money to pay in the first place. Her family wasn't that well off in canon, and I wasn't going to make that worse. Besides, I'd rather leave this thing as a carrot option for later on, after building some rapport with her.
I closed my eyes, pondering some more. Who else?
The Undersiders? I almost snorted at the thought, because, well, Coil. A frown pulled at my lips, but then my eyes shot open, because not all of those poor, downtrodden kids were happy campers.
Lisa hated that bastard enough that she probably wouldn't tattle unless tortured in a throwaway timeline or something. But I could give her a power against that. I chewed on my lip, a sigh escaping me.
But then, Coil would get suspicious when Lisa wouldn't squeak like usual. I doubted I could convince her to just kill herself if ever caught in such a timeline. Hmm… Maybe sell her two or three powers to give Coil a nasty surprise?
With all her Thinker bullshit, Lisa definitely had a pile of cash stashed in somewhere for a rainy day, and I could milk some of that. My brows climbed up my forehead as a sudden thought popped in my mind.
Especially if I also sold her Coil's civilian identity. She might even be able to bury him for me. With the right powers…
I found myself grinning. Oh wow, okay. Yeah, this could work.
My mood wavered a little as I encountered a small roadblock. How would I even go about contacting her? PHO?
Wibbles never gave that smug bitch a PHO handle, and I had enough common sense not to make a post on a public message board, asking her to DM me. That applied to any shady capes in general, and doubly so for villains.
I could think of a subtler way to go about it, though.
Pulling out my phone, a quick search on the internet revealed the PHO website in all its glory. A cursory look at the front page reminded me of an unholy child between Reddit and 4chan, with the expected amount of memes, shitposting, and porn that it brought.
A wry smile twitched on my lips. Some things were universal constants, it seemed.
I quickly made an account, the perfect username coming to me in a stroke of genius. Or that's what I liked to tell myself, since I still had Clarity active.
It took me a good minute to find the Brockton Bay board, but now I had the hunting grounds before me, and needed only to deploy my bait. My thumb hovered over the 'New Thread' button for a few moments, before I lowered the phone on my lap.
Folding my hands over the screen, I sucked on my front teeth.
Was tangling with Lisa a good move? I could get a lot from this deal, but… she was a Thinker. And a petty bitch. I grimaced, looking around absentmindedly.
God, another gamble. Was everything on Earth Bet a fucking gamble? I held back a snort, sighing instead.
Lisa was a Thinker, but her power had nothing to do with Shard simulations. It was just cold reading on crack. Even if I had protection against precogs, I had a feeling that her power would still work on me. And while I didn't particularly care if she found out which hand I masturbated with, given enough exposure, she'd definitely ferret out that I knew a lot more things than I should. She probably wouldn't be able to pick on my meta knowledge, but she'd totally assume I was a precog, or at least in contact with one.
Lips pursed, I thought about it for a bit.
Did I even care about that stuff? Lisa was more bark than bite, and really, at most she'd just feel smug about her Sherlock deductions and try to annoy me. And I had a lot to gain from dealing with her. Money was money, but I could potentially get rid of Coil without having to lift a finger. Lisa would hang that bastard with her own hands if she could. And I could give her tools to help with that.
Grabbing my phone, I tapped the 'New Thread' button and began typing, mouth curled in a confident smile.
Spoiler: PHO Post
Once done, I closed the tab and went back to the main board.
And now to wait for the fish to take the bait. Lisa's power should be able to fill in the blanks, and hopefully, she'd message me soon.
Meanwhile though, I should look up a Boston location for tonight. Something remote or with natural cover. Amy's normally frequented hospitals, too, in case I ever needed emergency healing. Maybe I could even find her home address, just to cover all of my bases.
A brief internet search revealed me a bunch of pictures with locations in Boston. I saved some of them, though I'd probably go with the Public Garden. The trees should help obscure my arrival.
Besides, even if the portal managed to draw attention, or a random camera caught it, I had a power to stay low-key. A Stranger field that could selectively reflect light and sound waves around me. Just pop that up before going through the portal, and voila.
Now, for the Amy thing…
Out of curiosity, I went to the cape board on PHO, and, true to my suspicion, it had a bunch of fan-clubs. After digging around for a bit, I found the Panacea one, because, really, if Amy didn't have a fan-club, nobody should. Everybody liked not dying.
As I glimpsed the front page, though… the second hand cringe hit me like a physical force. But such was life on the internet, so I just marshaled through it.
I easily found her hospital rotation, pinned at the top, and, as creepy as some of the posts in there were, it was still the least weird thing I found in her fan-club. Like, there was a dude looking to buy her feet pictures, even though they probably didn't even exist. That did not stop this guy, and many more like him. Used hospital scrubs? What the fuck, guys. Did Amy even know about this shit? My mouth twisted with a brief, sardonic smile. Probably part of the reason why she'd lost faith in humanity by now.
Quickly taking a screenshot of that hospital list, I closed the tab before it was too late. Some things were better left unknown, even to my morbid curiosity.
Still, at least those cape groupies were good for something.
It took me a couple minutes to look up each hospital and save a picture with a label at the top, and after a bit more digging, I even found the Dallon household. I knew I'd easily find their address just by looking up Carol's law firm, but I didn't expect to find a bunch of pictures of their house all over the internet.
Then again, they were public capes. Basically, celebrities. Too bad it got Fleur to eat a neo nazi bullet.
Checking my PHO thread, I only found a couple trolls making fun of my post, so I just pocketed my phone, glancing around absentmindedly. Alright, now what?
I could just wait for Lisa to take the bait, but it was barely three p.m, and I should use the daylight while it lasted. I had only a couple hours until sunset, and I wanted to make them count.
My thoughts went back to New Wave, their flying golden brick, in particular. Masters were really fucking dangerous in this world, and I needed to know if they could affect me.
Checking this world's version of google maps, I typed in the Dallons' home address, briefly slotting in a power to help me memorize the route. Southern side of Downtown, southwest of The Towers. It wasn't even that far away from here, at most just twenty minutes of walking by foot.
I stood up with a smile, stretching myself a little.
I'd have to think of something, I'd rather not get punched or hit by lasers for stalking around New Wave's neighborhood, but I could figure a plan on the way.
Ten minutes later had me walking briskly through that residential area in southern Downtown, enjoying the exercise while idly taking in the scenery. I wasn't here to sightsee, but I already had a plan in mind and not much else to do.
Two high rise apartment buildings towered to my left, giving this place its namesake. The neighborhood seemed pretty clean, and I couldn't spot any shady looking stuff as I made my way along the sidewalk.
This was supposed to be neo nazi territory, but I was white enough to not have to immediately worry about that. And my powers would see to the rest. Worst case scenario, I could just pull a dollar store Imp and run away.
A fast approaching object suddenly entered my peripherals, pulling me out of my idle musings, and I cranked up Bullet Time on instinct. I took in as much as my stiff neck and eyeballs allowed me to, spotting a flying trash can in the corner of my sight, only a couple meters to my left, slowly creeping closer even in my sped up perception.
What the fuck.
I could see at least a couple bystanders around, probably more behind me.
Fuuuuuck. I couldn't dodge this without outing myself in public. Whoever threw this shit was gonna get it. Maybe not now, but definitely one day.
Resigning to my fate, I pushed all my thoughts into bringing my arms up defensively while trying to flex all the muscles that I could. I replaced Claws with Telekinesis and tried to work its magic.
It could only exert one pound of force at once, spread equally among the targets, but it worked with Bullet Time, so I kept pushing at that fucking trash can until my brain started tingling.
Bracing myself with the ghost of a grimace, I replaced TK with something that turned me into a world class contortionist and dropped Bullet Time.
The metal can decked me in the flank an instant later, the world lurching for a bit as I got knocked down on my side. With all my powers working in concert, I managed to twist my body enough to avoid banging my head on the asphalt, but it still felt like I'd got hit by a car.
I fucking hate this universe already.
My side felt tingly all over, but as I moved my limbs a little, I didn't feel any growing itchiness. Good, nothing was broken. I pushed back the urge to sit, shifting my limbs a bit just as a platinum blonde dressed in white came flying out of an alleyway to my left, staggering for a moment before making a beeline towards me. As she got closer, hovering above my prone form, I noticed her wide eyes and panicked expression.
I moved my head a little to get a better look. Blonde hair. White dress. A golden tiara.
Spoiler: Glory Girl
Okay, there are coincidences, and then there's this shit.
"Ohmigod, I'm so sorry, are you ok?!" Glory Girl's voice came out a little high pitched as she looked me all over. "Wait, don't move! Amy says you need to stay still when stuff like this happens, just in case there's a spinal injury."
Seconds later, I caught sight in the corner of my eyes of another brat flying out of the same alleyway, this one draped in a red and black bedsheet and riding a manhole like Aladdin's magic carpet. Rune?
Anger flared in my chest. Oh, I saw you, bitch. You're on my shit list, too.
For a moment, Vicky looked between me and the KKK cosplayer, her face torn. Wow. Just, wow. A memorable first impression, right there.
I let out a pained groan to better sell the act, and her gaze snapped back to me. "Don't worry, I don't think anything's broken." Aside from my patience with this city.
Slowly propping myself up into a sitting position, I gave the blonde wrecking ball a brief, reassuring smile.
Vicky chewed on her lip for a moment, face creased by worry, before pulling out a flip phone from somewhere under her skirt. I blinked. Ah, right, she was wearing shorts to avoid flashing people.
"You still shouldn't move. What if there's internal bleeding?" She argued, a steely note entering her tone. "Just wait for my sister to get here, okay?"
Yeah, how about no?
She was already pressing some keys, so I immediately pressed my panic button, the world slowing down to a crawl around me.
Like hell I was letting Amy take a look at me unless literally dying. I did a lot of power assisted, questionable shit to my body in the last two hours, and I did not want to out myself to Miss Alabama.
I quickly combed through my mental list, looking for a power combination to get this pushy blonde off my back. Halfway through, I found just the thing.
Slotting out Contortionist and Lungs, I grabbed Oratory and a power that allowed me to fit in any situation, like a social chameleon. They didn't need much figuring out, so I turned off Bullet Time, the return sensation a lot less jarring while sitting down.
I smiled, ready to give Brick Barbie a taste of my Speech 100, but just as I opened my mouth, she looked to the side, her brow creasing and mouth suddenly curling into a frown. I followed her gaze and spotted a young geeky dude with his phone out, aimed our way.
Great, now I was gonna end up on the internet, too. At least, it only looked like I was the collateral damage here.
Vicky seemed to take a bigger issue with him, though. "Hey, you, cut that out! It's not cool at all."
The guy just froze, like a deer spooked by a car, phone almost slipping from his hand. He caught himself at the last moment, nodding with a dazed expression while fumbling with his phone. He stammered an apology, then stared some more at Vicky like a love struck fool.
What the hell?
My brow creased a fraction, but then a sudden thought left my jaw slack for a moment. Her aura. That was her aura.
But I couldn't feel anythi–? My eyes shot wide. Holy shit. Her aura didn't work on me at all. I couldn't even notice it.
Did that make me immune to Master effects?
I'd need another test, just to be certain, but it was still safe to assume so. Immunity to human Masters was one hell of a power in Worm. If I was also immune to precogs, the Simurgh could just go eat a dick.
Vicky must've caught her slip up, and reigned in her mind whammy power, because the guy finally seemed to snap out of it and left.
I quickly suppressed the grin that threatened to break on my face just as Vicky turned to me with an apologetic smile.
"Sorry for that." For what? The aura? Didn't even feel it. "I'm calling Amy now, okay? She's home, so it'll take her ten minutes to get here."
"No need to bother her. I think I'm okay." I said with a smile. "I'm a big guy, so there was a lot of cushion." I patted my large gut with a meaty hand, causing it to jiggle a little.
That got a weak chuckle out of her. "You should still let my sister take a look."
Or you could fucking drop it already, and leave. I wasn't planning to sue them, why the hell was she being so pushy?
"Don't worry, I can walk. I'll just head to the hospital and get myself checked."
Vicky hovered a little closer, phone still in hand, looking me up and down, searching for nonexistent injuries. A moment later, she gave an uncertain smile.
"If you're sure…"
Holding back a scoff, I briefly considered using the super therapy power to dial down her worry, but then remembered how Dean's power didn't work on her properly, and dropped that idea like a hot potato. I'd rather not risk it, and she seemed to be giving up anyway.
I briefly replaced Fitting In with a power that gave me a superhuman gut instinct for telling apart any lies.
"Who threw that trash can, anyway?" I was petty enough to remember this.
"Rune." Vicky averted her eyes for a moment, looking contrite. Because, you know, she dodged the flying trash can instead of parrying with her Brute rating. At least she didn't try to lie about it.
Rune, huh? That brat was gonna get it for this. One day.
Slotting back Fitting In, I gave Vicky a cheeky grin. "Hey, if you want to help me with something, you could sign my shirt. It'll make this whole thing worth it."
She blinked at the abrupt change in topic, a tentative smile on her lips. "You're a fan? I'm sorry you had to meet me like this."
I had to admit that she was really good looking, easily at supermodel level back in my world. Most of it was good genes, but she definitely had some airbrushing from Amy, too.
But she got me hit with a fucking trash can. And then considered leaving me to chase after Rune. And blondes weren't really my type. And she was probably the spoiled, entitled type, anyway.
"It's alright, this is Brockton Bay. Shit happens."
That got a quiet snort out of her. "Unfortunately."
Unzipping my jacket, I ignored the small crowd of gawking people, and presented my white shirt. Vicky pulled out a marker from a side pocket, barely visible on her dress, and floated down to my level with a smirk.
"Anything specific?" She cocked an eyebrow, an amused note in her voice. Fucking finally. In the end, the best thing to distract her with was stroking her ego. Go figure.
"How about," I pretended to think for a moment before smiling knowingly. "From a knockout blonde?"
That got a louder and less ladylike snort out of her. At least she had a sense of humor.
"Are you sure?" She pursed her lips, fighting down a grin as the peanut gallery kept watching us from a distance. Did these people really have nothing better to do?
I gestured with a hand at her, my eyes flicking to the slightly dented trash can. "Well, it's true."
Vicky shook her head, her smile torn between amused and exasperated as she leaned closer and got to writing. The marker tickled a little against my chest, but I was a bit more preoccupied trying to avoid looking down.
Those melons looked much bigger from up close, even fully covered by her dress, and this angle only made it worse. Why did she even lean forward if she was shorter than me? Did she think this was funny?
Fortunately for me, I spotted another guy with his phone out a few meters to the left, and just smiled at him, adding a cheeky wave for the camera.
Just smile and wave. Just smile and wave.
Going by the brief shake of her shoulders, Vicky must have found this amusing, too. I wished she'd just hurry the fuck up with her autograph, though. I was running out of people to stare at.
Something told me I was going to end up a PHO meme by the end of the day, and I wasn't sure how to feel about that.
A torturously long minute later, Vicky was finally done, leaning back and capping the marker with a smirk. "There you go."
Briefly checking my signed shirt, I smiled back at the blonde. "Thanks. Looks great."
She eyed me for a moment, mouth still quirked in amusement as she sent a sweeping glance at the gathered onlookers. Someone really liked the attention, huh?
"Sorry again for the knockout, but I gotta go. Make sure to get yourself checked at the hospital, okay?"
"Sure. Have fun on your patrol."
Pocketing her marker, Vicky gave me a playful wink before taking up to the sky while striking a pose, fading into the distance within seconds. Meh. I'd give it an eight out of ten. Her power kept her clothes from fluttering.
The peanut gallery took this as a cue to disperse, none of them sparing me even a second glance. Man, that aura was something else. And the PRT insisted it wasn't a Master effect. Hilarious.
With the blonde menace now gone, I could finally return to my business.
Switching my powers back my normal load-out, I zipped my jacket and made my way back to that park, a smirk curling my lips. This trip had been surprisingly productive. Hopefully, Lisa took the bait, and our talk would be just as productive.
Author's Note: Looks like even walking through the nicer parts of Brockton Bay isn't that safe. I guess this is one way of meeting Glory Girl. At least he didn't have to stalk around her house.
If it seems like Vicky overreacted here a little, remember that, from her perspective, she just got a civilian hit with a trash can, hard enough to knock him flat, with plenty of witnesses around. She already gets bad PR with her property damage. She doesn't need any more heat from the public.