Being a kid was the best.
I remember being in a hurry to grow up the last time around but...
I remember being in a hurry to grow up the last time around but...
Becoming a Freeloder in a New World
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Awakening 1
Being a kid was the best.
I remember being in a hurry to grow up the last time around but couldn't remember why i had even wanted to do so. I realize now that i must have been brainwashed. After all, the only source of information kids have in the world, is adults. And you obviously couldn't trust them to be unbiased about reports of their own importance. But by growing up i had inadvertently infiltrated their inner circles and realize just how utterly boring being an adult is. And had somehow managed to reincarnate into a child. I say somehow, because i don't actually remember reincarnating; or dying; or most of my past life really. But that's besides the point. I was 6 years old now, and intended to make the most of my childhood, and preferably be a kid forever.
After all, it's not like an average adult ever did anything objectively more consequential than an average child in my past life. But then again, in my past life, no one had super powers either.
But that didn't really have anything to do with me. I'm just a normal guy with normal parents. My Mom is caretaker of a big house on the outskirts of this city called Brockton Bay, while my Dad worked as an accountant or something for the owner who is generous enough to allow us to live with him.
I put back the book i was reading in the library and walked out in the corridor. That's another thing i like about being a kid. I could just read stories all day and lay about in general, and my parents would actually praise me for it. Truly this life is just the best.
I stepped aside and made way for my parents' boss as he walked pass, and greeted, "Good morning Mr. Lavere!"
Mr Lavere didn't respond, which i found strange, as usually he'd at least give me a curt nod. But i didn't mind the cold shoulder, just as long as i keep getting free food~!
I watched from a window as my Dad joined Mr Lavere outside. My Dad is a very well built man for an accountant. With his serious black eyes and dark black, shoulder length hair he cut an actually intimidating figure. At least to those who had never seen him playing horse with me~. He's just a big softie inside.
I tracked them walking up to the two cars parked at the manor gate, and get into the first one. The second car followed after them from a distance as they drove off. Those must be the people i see around occasionally carrying pistols and rifles around the manor. I found the casual display of weapons a little unnerving, but didn't begrudge Mr Lavere a desire to protect himself.
Certainly I wouldn't want to go around undefended in a crime ridden city, full of all those criminal supervillains and collateral damage causing superheroes. Dad told me all about these capes and their insistence on poking their noses in the business of us normal folks.
I set aside the thoughts of destructive chuuni enthusiasts running around in costumes, way past an age that such things would be acceptable, and went looking for my totally normal Mom.
I found her washing some ketchup off of the rugs of the Living room. Apparently, one of Mr Lavere's other employees was being let off, but made a mess when he decided to be difficult about it, and dropped the ketchup.
It was a lot of ketchup.
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AN: Not sure where this came out of. I swear i had no intention of using the Tanya the Evil style of narration until i was a couple paragraphs in and realized what it sounded like. Honestly, i was gonna go more along the lines of Thales from The Kingdom's Bloodline. More of a 6 yr old who is gradually regaining the memories of his past life, than a grown up guy possessing the body of a child.
Awakening 2
I know I said that Mom was washing the rug, but it was really Julia who was doing the washing and Mom was mostly just standing there, looking critically at her work. Julia and Maria were the two maids that worked under in the manor. It was clear that they were subordinate to Mom merely from how deferential they acted in her presence; like they were worried she would whip them or something if they made a mistake.
Truly, housewife type women were terrifying.
Apparently, Julia did end up making make some mistake. Not that I could tell from her carpet-washing technique, but i saw Mom frown and start to speak. likely to reprimand the maid, only for me to interrupt her.
"Hey, Mom! Can I get some breakfast?"
Mom visibly composed herself and gave me a smile.
"Sure, Thales. Were you in the library again?"
She turned around, and left towards the kitchen. I saw Julia's shoulders sag with relief and smiled at the pretty teenager who blushed at being caught, but smiled back with gratitude.
"Yes Mum. I even finished most of the homework," I lied as i followed after her. I had finished all of the homework. But telling her that would just increase my workload, as trivial as it was.
Calling it "homework" was a bit misleading, as even my classwork was technically a home-work considering that I'm being home schooled by Mom.
I didn't mind the arrangement though. It saved me the hassle of going to school and doing even more work. And though i might have needed the education expertise of an actual teacher when i was younger, it became more and more redundant as i unlocked more of my past life's memories.
Maria was moving around the kitchen, likely making early preparations for lunch, or maybe fixing her own breakfast. At mom's indication, she fixed some for me. Technically, I could've eaten much earlier, but waited till Mr Lavere had finished his even if my own meal became more of brunch than a breakfast.
It wasn't because of any feelings of veneration towards him though.
I skipped towards the plate with over a dozen boiled eggs and helped myself to some of them. Mr Lavere seems to be really fond of eggs, milk and other healthy food. To the extent of eating outright disgusting amounts of them for every meal. The dozen boiled eggs I just partook from that could feed a small family, for instance, was in fact left overs from his breakfast.
I thanked Maria, and took my Cereals and Milk back to my room. The sheer calcium content in my meals now, would've made the past me sick, but it seemed to have grown on me.
Sitting on my bed, finished with my breakfast, I closed my eyes and focused on the scene slightly nauseating image of the five shining point shaped objects located as if sitting on the 5 axes of a five dimensional co-ordinate system. I knew there were five even though i could only see three at any given time. Kind of like The Pillars of Ashoka. You there are 4 lions on the top, but looking from the side you could only see at most 3 at any given time.
Not that I was complaining though. The limitation probably saved my puny three dimensional brain from going boom.
Waking up in a world with superpowers, I wasn't really surprised when I first started seeing this scene in my dreams consistently, and later learned to summon it with a bit of focus. But i couldn't really do much with it. I hadn't told anyone about it. Not even my parents, because I didn't know how normal this phenomenon was. Maybe everyone with powers saw it. Or maybe those who saw it turned into a monster like Behemoth or Leviathan.
I wish that I didn't have to be so indecisive about this. I had enough regrets from my past life when I did things I later wished I hadn't, or didn't do when I should've. I wished that there was a way I could choose more than one option when faced with such decisions. I know it is childish of me, but i wished i could see the consequences of my choice before i made that choice.
The 3 stars i was focused on at that moment vanished. And suddenly, I could.
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AN: Yes, that is Power Manipulation from the CYOAs. It will however be really nerfed to actually be able to focus on some plot. The 3 out of 5 is the first such limitation. Since the first charge gives a rating of 4-5 and every subsequent charge adding 2 to it, 3 charges at once would give you a power with rating 8-9. Still stupidly strong, but not world-breaking.
Truly, housewife type women were terrifying.
Apparently, Julia did end up making make some mistake. Not that I could tell from her carpet-washing technique, but i saw Mom frown and start to speak. likely to reprimand the maid, only for me to interrupt her.
"Hey, Mom! Can I get some breakfast?"
Mom visibly composed herself and gave me a smile.
"Sure, Thales. Were you in the library again?"
She turned around, and left towards the kitchen. I saw Julia's shoulders sag with relief and smiled at the pretty teenager who blushed at being caught, but smiled back with gratitude.
"Yes Mum. I even finished most of the homework," I lied as i followed after her. I had finished all of the homework. But telling her that would just increase my workload, as trivial as it was.
Calling it "homework" was a bit misleading, as even my classwork was technically a home-work considering that I'm being home schooled by Mom.
I didn't mind the arrangement though. It saved me the hassle of going to school and doing even more work. And though i might have needed the education expertise of an actual teacher when i was younger, it became more and more redundant as i unlocked more of my past life's memories.
Maria was moving around the kitchen, likely making early preparations for lunch, or maybe fixing her own breakfast. At mom's indication, she fixed some for me. Technically, I could've eaten much earlier, but waited till Mr Lavere had finished his even if my own meal became more of brunch than a breakfast.
It wasn't because of any feelings of veneration towards him though.
I skipped towards the plate with over a dozen boiled eggs and helped myself to some of them. Mr Lavere seems to be really fond of eggs, milk and other healthy food. To the extent of eating outright disgusting amounts of them for every meal. The dozen boiled eggs I just partook from that could feed a small family, for instance, was in fact left overs from his breakfast.
I thanked Maria, and took my Cereals and Milk back to my room. The sheer calcium content in my meals now, would've made the past me sick, but it seemed to have grown on me.
Sitting on my bed, finished with my breakfast, I closed my eyes and focused on the scene slightly nauseating image of the five shining point shaped objects located as if sitting on the 5 axes of a five dimensional co-ordinate system. I knew there were five even though i could only see three at any given time. Kind of like The Pillars of Ashoka. You there are 4 lions on the top, but looking from the side you could only see at most 3 at any given time.
Not that I was complaining though. The limitation probably saved my puny three dimensional brain from going boom.
Waking up in a world with superpowers, I wasn't really surprised when I first started seeing this scene in my dreams consistently, and later learned to summon it with a bit of focus. But i couldn't really do much with it. I hadn't told anyone about it. Not even my parents, because I didn't know how normal this phenomenon was. Maybe everyone with powers saw it. Or maybe those who saw it turned into a monster like Behemoth or Leviathan.
I wish that I didn't have to be so indecisive about this. I had enough regrets from my past life when I did things I later wished I hadn't, or didn't do when I should've. I wished that there was a way I could choose more than one option when faced with such decisions. I know it is childish of me, but i wished i could see the consequences of my choice before i made that choice.
The 3 stars i was focused on at that moment vanished. And suddenly, I could.
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AN: Yes, that is Power Manipulation from the CYOAs. It will however be really nerfed to actually be able to focus on some plot. The 3 out of 5 is the first such limitation. Since the first charge gives a rating of 4-5 and every subsequent charge adding 2 to it, 3 charges at once would give you a power with rating 8-9. Still stupidly strong, but not world-breaking.
Awakening 3
I left my room feeling more than a little shaken. Intellectually I know that those 'stars' were going to do something. No superpower in all the history of superpowers, real or fictional, has been so lame that it would do nothing but show just one static image, no matter how exotic. That's the whole reason I had been poking and prodding at it for months now. But it was still kind of terrifying when it did do something.
Especially when that thing was creating a new power. That I created a new power by force of my will. It is certainly possible that every parahuman goes through the same procedure to obtain their powers. But if everybody could choose their powers, I doubt that Merchant cape I saw on news would have chosen frog based powers. Or that new Ward would have chosen the power to become stronger, the more she ate.
On second thought, last one didn't sound so bad.
I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, letting my shoulders sag as i walked to the courtyard.
But that's not an immediate concern. Probably. It's at least not the most immediate concern. I do have a power now. To start with, when faced with a decision I can split the timeline into two and later drop the timeline i find less preferable. I can also nest the splits by repeating the same process inside one or both timelines.
The only apparent limitation I had was that I could have only 4 timelines active at any given point.
I look for something sharp as I step outside and finally settle on a jagged piece of rock. Walking up to a tree I split the timeline with a thought.
Timeline 0:
I use the rock to carve an arrow on the tree.
Timeline 1:
I bounce the rock from one hand to the other.
Dropping Timeline 0 I stare at the very first actual ramifications of my superpower, namely an unblemished tree trunk and both my hands dirty.
Maybe I should be chosen something more impressive.
I take another breath of the fresh air and think of some test that I didn't need to have left my room to perform and notice a sparrow like bird on another tree. Giving a considering look at the rock I split the timeline again.
Timeline 0:
Hurl the rock at the bird.
Timeline 1:
Don't.
I drop the second timeline this time, finding that the rock had missed but the bird still took flight.
I try more experiments with more numerous timelines, but find out the hard way that the more timelines I split, the worse I feel as a side effect. Two timelines is easy, but keeping three active gives me an irritating headache for the duration, while going all out with made me hiss with pain.
It wasn't necessarily debilitating, but I had read enough fiction where overuse of powers caused something or the other to go wrong that I was wary of it.
Further ruminations were interrupted by a car stopping in the driveway, and Mr Lavere walking out with a subdued 5 year old girl.
Especially when that thing was creating a new power. That I created a new power by force of my will. It is certainly possible that every parahuman goes through the same procedure to obtain their powers. But if everybody could choose their powers, I doubt that Merchant cape I saw on news would have chosen frog based powers. Or that new Ward would have chosen the power to become stronger, the more she ate.
On second thought, last one didn't sound so bad.
I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, letting my shoulders sag as i walked to the courtyard.
But that's not an immediate concern. Probably. It's at least not the most immediate concern. I do have a power now. To start with, when faced with a decision I can split the timeline into two and later drop the timeline i find less preferable. I can also nest the splits by repeating the same process inside one or both timelines.
The only apparent limitation I had was that I could have only 4 timelines active at any given point.
I look for something sharp as I step outside and finally settle on a jagged piece of rock. Walking up to a tree I split the timeline with a thought.
Timeline 0:
I use the rock to carve an arrow on the tree.
Timeline 1:
I bounce the rock from one hand to the other.
Dropping Timeline 0 I stare at the very first actual ramifications of my superpower, namely an unblemished tree trunk and both my hands dirty.
Maybe I should be chosen something more impressive.
I take another breath of the fresh air and think of some test that I didn't need to have left my room to perform and notice a sparrow like bird on another tree. Giving a considering look at the rock I split the timeline again.
Timeline 0:
Hurl the rock at the bird.
Timeline 1:
Don't.
I drop the second timeline this time, finding that the rock had missed but the bird still took flight.
I try more experiments with more numerous timelines, but find out the hard way that the more timelines I split, the worse I feel as a side effect. Two timelines is easy, but keeping three active gives me an irritating headache for the duration, while going all out with made me hiss with pain.
It wasn't necessarily debilitating, but I had read enough fiction where overuse of powers caused something or the other to go wrong that I was wary of it.
Further ruminations were interrupted by a car stopping in the driveway, and Mr Lavere walking out with a subdued 5 year old girl.
Awakening 4
I used the timelines to simultaneously spy on both Mr Lavere and the girl he referred to as Amelia. Hearing him give instructions to Mom, it quickly became apparent that Amelia was his daughter and she'll be living with us for the foreseeable future. He sounded equal bits happy and sad, but didn't elaborate on the subject. Not that he needed to of course. My Mom being the dutiful subordinate that she is, quickly went about securing a room and planning meals for the new arrival.
It also gave me something new to focus on. Surprisingly, even an introverted layabout like me gets bored with the lack of any new activity. The thought of having someone my physical age to talk to left me feeling a strange sort of nervousness. In my previous life this would be the time when I'd hole up in my room, too scared of making a bad impression and messing up in front of my parents' boss's daughter.
Now though,
Timeline 0:
I stand behind a pillar creepily staring at the 5 year old girl sitting morosely on the stairs overlooking the courtyard.
I didn't have much time before Mom would take her to her new room.
Timeline 1:
I approach Amelia and offer her my hand, " Hey, I'm Thales. Nice to meet you."
Straight and classy. Can't go wrong with it.
Amelia stared at my hand for way too long and I started to get worried there was something on it. I'm pretty sure I washed my hands before coming here.
Then she looked up at me and I smiled with all the cheer i could muster. That's when her eyes started to tear up and I panicked.
Abort! Abort!
I dropped the timeline and started a new one.
Timeline 1:
I had even less time left now and the standard approach had failed. So I made up my mind and decided to trust my favourite
superhero. I walked up to Amelia, put one hand on her shoulder, and when she looked at me, said in my best gruff impression,
"... Heeeyyy!"
The tears came instantaneously.
Shit! Shit! Spiderman lied to me! Oh, wait it was Prowler that gave that advice in the movie.
Damn you my defective past life pop culture knowledge!
I dropped the timeline and started a new one.
Timeline 1:
I walked towards Amelia again, but halfway through I just stopped and looked.
She wasn't just staring at nothing waiting for some one to come and cheer her up. Sitting on the stairs, she was looking sideways, beyond the railing, where on the ground a whole army of ants was carrying a dead grasshopper like insect, presumably towards their nest.
Maybe she likes insects. But then why would she be so sad? Could it be the death that she is bothered about? She had to come live with a parent she might never have met before. Did something happen to her mother?
I found myself walking closer, still looking at the procession of ants.
"I think she looks happy."
"What..", she sounded simultaneously surprised and indignant. But I interrupted her stride.
"That's a female grasshopper and they lay their eggs in fall. It's way past that, so her eggs must have hatched by now, and she must have seen her children grow up and strong. I think she would have been very happy to see them become so strong. They work very hard for it, you know."
Amelia turned away from, and looked at the bugs again. Her gaze, perhaps more contemplative than morose. There were still tears in her eyes, but at least she wasn't crying now.
I kept standing by her side till Mom came and lead her to her room, and I dropped Timeline 0.
This wasn't a complete success. But then again, I'm not entirely out of options.
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AN: Whew.. i feel so spent. Let me know how you liked the chapter.
It also gave me something new to focus on. Surprisingly, even an introverted layabout like me gets bored with the lack of any new activity. The thought of having someone my physical age to talk to left me feeling a strange sort of nervousness. In my previous life this would be the time when I'd hole up in my room, too scared of making a bad impression and messing up in front of my parents' boss's daughter.
Now though,
Timeline 0:
I stand behind a pillar creepily staring at the 5 year old girl sitting morosely on the stairs overlooking the courtyard.
I didn't have much time before Mom would take her to her new room.
Timeline 1:
I approach Amelia and offer her my hand, " Hey, I'm Thales. Nice to meet you."
Straight and classy. Can't go wrong with it.
Amelia stared at my hand for way too long and I started to get worried there was something on it. I'm pretty sure I washed my hands before coming here.
Then she looked up at me and I smiled with all the cheer i could muster. That's when her eyes started to tear up and I panicked.
Abort! Abort!
I dropped the timeline and started a new one.
Timeline 1:
I had even less time left now and the standard approach had failed. So I made up my mind and decided to trust my favourite
superhero. I walked up to Amelia, put one hand on her shoulder, and when she looked at me, said in my best gruff impression,
"... Heeeyyy!"
The tears came instantaneously.
Shit! Shit! Spiderman lied to me! Oh, wait it was Prowler that gave that advice in the movie.
Damn you my defective past life pop culture knowledge!
I dropped the timeline and started a new one.
Timeline 1:
I walked towards Amelia again, but halfway through I just stopped and looked.
She wasn't just staring at nothing waiting for some one to come and cheer her up. Sitting on the stairs, she was looking sideways, beyond the railing, where on the ground a whole army of ants was carrying a dead grasshopper like insect, presumably towards their nest.
Maybe she likes insects. But then why would she be so sad? Could it be the death that she is bothered about? She had to come live with a parent she might never have met before. Did something happen to her mother?
I found myself walking closer, still looking at the procession of ants.
"I think she looks happy."
"What..", she sounded simultaneously surprised and indignant. But I interrupted her stride.
"That's a female grasshopper and they lay their eggs in fall. It's way past that, so her eggs must have hatched by now, and she must have seen her children grow up and strong. I think she would have been very happy to see them become so strong. They work very hard for it, you know."
Amelia turned away from, and looked at the bugs again. Her gaze, perhaps more contemplative than morose. There were still tears in her eyes, but at least she wasn't crying now.
I kept standing by her side till Mom came and lead her to her room, and I dropped Timeline 0.
This wasn't a complete success. But then again, I'm not entirely out of options.
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AN: Whew.. i feel so spent. Let me know how you liked the chapter.
- Location
- Earth
So he has a better version of Coil's power and his neighbor is Marquis and Amy. Hmm....
- Location
- In The Shadowbear Slave Camp
The title is misspelled. It should be freeloAder.
Awakening 5
The next week passed uneventfully as Amelia slowly integrated herself into our lives. I didn't see her much as she took all her meals with her father. But I did manage to talk to her from time to time, even though our conversations were limited to impersonal topics. I even took her on a tour around the house showing her things Mom, or the other servants wouldn't have bothered to.
Of course, I took full advantage of all these occasions. I had never lacked good food in this life, but Mom was way too honest to actually spoil me with Mr. Lavere's high quality stuff. Obviously, this wouldn't apply to the heiress of the family. And Amelia simply didn't mind sharing some of that sweet sweet snacks with her new friend~!
Every few days Mr. Lavere would have the gardener prepare some flowers, and then take Amelia out for several hours. I assumed that they were either visiting her mother's hospital bed, or prison cell, or mental institution, or her grave, or somewhere else I hadn't thought of.
It bothered me watching Amelia come back from her visits all sad and quiet. And not in the mood to have more snacks. This state of affairs was unacceptable!
Another important change was that Mr. Lavere spent a lot more time at home than he used to. Which resulted into Dad having to spend more time outside taking care of his boss's business, sometimes even bringing it home.
Making generous use of dummy timelines I had identified at least four different people coming to the manor to make reports. Sometimes individually, and sometimes in groups.
I had to cut back on my snooping though, when I identified one if them as a wanted criminal from the supervillain Marquis's gang.
It was, I admitted, possible that Mr Lavere had some dealings with the more criminally inclined members of the society. But the clear deference he showed was slightly concerning.
I contemplated my options as I sat in front of an open book in Timeline 0, while making my way to the Mr Lavere's study in the newly created Timeline 2. The me in Timeline 1 had just seen the same gangster entering the estate, and was on look out for more, while pretending to be studying on a balcony.
I had 2 "charges" left to use. It's been a week since I used the other three, and neither had one of the charges come back, nor had any of the remaining spontaneously expired. But I needed to know the exact problem with Amy's mom before I could create a power that could help her. It wouldn't have been so hard if Amy could ever talk about her without breaking into tears. Not that she'd remember doing that of course~.
So the only viable source of information was Mr. Lavere himself, who might not see much of a reason to share his worries with some 6 year old kid. A parahuman, however, is much likely to convince him. It all really comes down to a trade off. If I trust him with my secrets, he might trust me with his.
Or it would've if I hadn't had such a cheat power.
Timeline 1:
I moved adjacent to the corridor leading to the study and stood looking out a window, seemingly enjoying the fresh air.
Timeline 2:
I tiptoed towards the closed doors and tried to listen through the keyhole.
"...third time this week.. if we.. hit back.. pushing in.."
This definitely sounded like a territory dispute.
".. animals... fight.. teeth..," replied the muffled voice of Mr Lavare.
Teeth? Like the body part, or the gang?
"... be a prob.. if you teach-" the first voice came, louder this time, only to be interrupted and and shift to a scream midway.
I startled and banged my head on the door. Someone had attacked someone else, and I had a feeling that it wasn't Mr. Lavare that was hurt.
The door opened while I feared that I just might get the answers I came looking for.
Dad looked down on me from the half opened door as I spied Mr Lavare looming over the gangster whose limbs were trapped in a solid white shackles, one bent in a way that I felt phantom pains just looking at it.
Bones, I realized.
"Come in" the villainous parahuman commanded, and Dad quickly ushered me in.
Of course, I took full advantage of all these occasions. I had never lacked good food in this life, but Mom was way too honest to actually spoil me with Mr. Lavere's high quality stuff. Obviously, this wouldn't apply to the heiress of the family. And Amelia simply didn't mind sharing some of that sweet sweet snacks with her new friend~!
Every few days Mr. Lavere would have the gardener prepare some flowers, and then take Amelia out for several hours. I assumed that they were either visiting her mother's hospital bed, or prison cell, or mental institution, or her grave, or somewhere else I hadn't thought of.
It bothered me watching Amelia come back from her visits all sad and quiet. And not in the mood to have more snacks. This state of affairs was unacceptable!
Another important change was that Mr. Lavere spent a lot more time at home than he used to. Which resulted into Dad having to spend more time outside taking care of his boss's business, sometimes even bringing it home.
Making generous use of dummy timelines I had identified at least four different people coming to the manor to make reports. Sometimes individually, and sometimes in groups.
I had to cut back on my snooping though, when I identified one if them as a wanted criminal from the supervillain Marquis's gang.
It was, I admitted, possible that Mr Lavere had some dealings with the more criminally inclined members of the society. But the clear deference he showed was slightly concerning.
I contemplated my options as I sat in front of an open book in Timeline 0, while making my way to the Mr Lavere's study in the newly created Timeline 2. The me in Timeline 1 had just seen the same gangster entering the estate, and was on look out for more, while pretending to be studying on a balcony.
I had 2 "charges" left to use. It's been a week since I used the other three, and neither had one of the charges come back, nor had any of the remaining spontaneously expired. But I needed to know the exact problem with Amy's mom before I could create a power that could help her. It wouldn't have been so hard if Amy could ever talk about her without breaking into tears. Not that she'd remember doing that of course~.
So the only viable source of information was Mr. Lavere himself, who might not see much of a reason to share his worries with some 6 year old kid. A parahuman, however, is much likely to convince him. It all really comes down to a trade off. If I trust him with my secrets, he might trust me with his.
Or it would've if I hadn't had such a cheat power.
Timeline 1:
I moved adjacent to the corridor leading to the study and stood looking out a window, seemingly enjoying the fresh air.
Timeline 2:
I tiptoed towards the closed doors and tried to listen through the keyhole.
"...third time this week.. if we.. hit back.. pushing in.."
This definitely sounded like a territory dispute.
".. animals... fight.. teeth..," replied the muffled voice of Mr Lavare.
Teeth? Like the body part, or the gang?
"... be a prob.. if you teach-" the first voice came, louder this time, only to be interrupted and and shift to a scream midway.
I startled and banged my head on the door. Someone had attacked someone else, and I had a feeling that it wasn't Mr. Lavare that was hurt.
The door opened while I feared that I just might get the answers I came looking for.
Dad looked down on me from the half opened door as I spied Mr Lavare looming over the gangster whose limbs were trapped in a solid white shackles, one bent in a way that I felt phantom pains just looking at it.
Bones, I realized.
"Come in" the villainous parahuman commanded, and Dad quickly ushered me in.
Pope Of Floof
Resident floof expert
- Location
- The floof
Cant wait till next chap!!! And watched!
Awakening 6
Timeline 2:
I stood opposite a Supervillain that could snap me in half with minimal effort, and all avenues of escape were blocked.
Timeline 0:
I stood up abruptly, all pretense of studying abandoned in the face of mounting panic. Ignoring the clattering chair, I ducked and hid under my bed.
Timeline 1:
I stood up from where I was leaning against the wall, and turned to run for the stairs, hoping that I could escape the house perimeters before anyone caught up to me.
Wait. What am I doing? I have powers too. I can just drop the timeline and Marquis wouldn't be any wiser.
Timeline 2:
Marquis turned towards me, gracing me with the full weight of his attention for the first time.
Holy shit, this guy is scary! It was hard to reconcile the distant Mr Lavare with this creature of menace before me.
Could this be the legendary Killing Intent~ ?!
I know I should just walk away, but there is something I need to figure out before I walk away.
I drop Timeline 1, and split Timeline 2 into 2.0 and 2.1.
Timeline 2.0:
I look at the restrained gangster with not entirely faked horrified fascination.
Timeline 2.1:
Time to test the water.
"Huh.. so this is not the washroom after all?"
Marquis's lips turned into an unimpressed frown and I heard Dad sigh in frustration.
I dropped the Timeline to start a new one.
Timeline 2.1:
I turned towards my father looking for help.
There was none to be found, so I focused on his expression.
He looked a little angry, but not nervous or afraid.
I dropped the Timeline, and started a new one.
Timeline 2.1:
I shifted my vision from the bound gangster to the man standing over him.
"What are you doing here?"
The Superpowered criminal challenged as I met his eye.
I took a leap of faith, and answered in my best Shirou Emiya impression.
"I came to save you."
That did not seem to be what he was expecting, so I rallied forth.
"I saw that scary looking man come in the house, and they said he was dangerous on the TV", I glanced at the bound man, then gave Marquis the most determined and sincere look I could manage, and said,
"So I came to save you!"
I wasn't lying either. If for some reason I did find him in danger, I would've used my power to help however I could. I just hadn't put much weight to the possibility.
The silence dragged on for a few seconds. The incapacitated gangster looked at me like was a particularly new kind of stupid.
My Shirou Emiya impression must have been spot on!
That was when Mr. Lavere burst into laughter and Dad let out a sound that was halfway between a choked laugh and a hiccup.
"Thales, go back to your room and wait for me there." Dad made his first contribution to the conversation, likely eager to get back to their discussion. I considered him again. Admittedly, it was a little hurtful that he didn't step forth to protect me from Marquis. But I know with utmost certainty that he loves me. That he wouldn't have abandoned me to danger.
Ergo, I must not have been in danger. Marquis wouldn't have hurt me even if I had found out his identity.
So I took another step forward,
"So you don't need any help?"
"You know who I am?" The non sequitur came from Mr Lavare.
"Marquis." I confirmed.
"Then how did you plan to help me?"
"With my superpower." That brought him up short and Dad started behind me.
This is what I was leading to. Ideally, I would've rather brought it up with my parents first, but this was a good opportunity.
They shared a look, and asked for an explanation. I looked questioningly at the gangster who didn't seem very happy being ignored.
"Worry not about Matthew. As excitable as he has a tendency of getting, I do not doubt his loyalty." Marquis assuaged lackadaisically.
The thus named Matthew looked away as I told them about my power.
I stood opposite a Supervillain that could snap me in half with minimal effort, and all avenues of escape were blocked.
Timeline 0:
I stood up abruptly, all pretense of studying abandoned in the face of mounting panic. Ignoring the clattering chair, I ducked and hid under my bed.
Timeline 1:
I stood up from where I was leaning against the wall, and turned to run for the stairs, hoping that I could escape the house perimeters before anyone caught up to me.
Wait. What am I doing? I have powers too. I can just drop the timeline and Marquis wouldn't be any wiser.
Timeline 2:
Marquis turned towards me, gracing me with the full weight of his attention for the first time.
Holy shit, this guy is scary! It was hard to reconcile the distant Mr Lavare with this creature of menace before me.
Could this be the legendary Killing Intent~ ?!
I know I should just walk away, but there is something I need to figure out before I walk away.
I drop Timeline 1, and split Timeline 2 into 2.0 and 2.1.
Timeline 2.0:
I look at the restrained gangster with not entirely faked horrified fascination.
Timeline 2.1:
Time to test the water.
"Huh.. so this is not the washroom after all?"
Marquis's lips turned into an unimpressed frown and I heard Dad sigh in frustration.
I dropped the Timeline to start a new one.
Timeline 2.1:
I turned towards my father looking for help.
There was none to be found, so I focused on his expression.
He looked a little angry, but not nervous or afraid.
I dropped the Timeline, and started a new one.
Timeline 2.1:
I shifted my vision from the bound gangster to the man standing over him.
"What are you doing here?"
The Superpowered criminal challenged as I met his eye.
I took a leap of faith, and answered in my best Shirou Emiya impression.
"I came to save you."
That did not seem to be what he was expecting, so I rallied forth.
"I saw that scary looking man come in the house, and they said he was dangerous on the TV", I glanced at the bound man, then gave Marquis the most determined and sincere look I could manage, and said,
"So I came to save you!"
I wasn't lying either. If for some reason I did find him in danger, I would've used my power to help however I could. I just hadn't put much weight to the possibility.
The silence dragged on for a few seconds. The incapacitated gangster looked at me like was a particularly new kind of stupid.
My Shirou Emiya impression must have been spot on!
That was when Mr. Lavere burst into laughter and Dad let out a sound that was halfway between a choked laugh and a hiccup.
"Thales, go back to your room and wait for me there." Dad made his first contribution to the conversation, likely eager to get back to their discussion. I considered him again. Admittedly, it was a little hurtful that he didn't step forth to protect me from Marquis. But I know with utmost certainty that he loves me. That he wouldn't have abandoned me to danger.
Ergo, I must not have been in danger. Marquis wouldn't have hurt me even if I had found out his identity.
So I took another step forward,
"So you don't need any help?"
"You know who I am?" The non sequitur came from Mr Lavare.
"Marquis." I confirmed.
"Then how did you plan to help me?"
"With my superpower." That brought him up short and Dad started behind me.
This is what I was leading to. Ideally, I would've rather brought it up with my parents first, but this was a good opportunity.
They shared a look, and asked for an explanation. I looked questioningly at the gangster who didn't seem very happy being ignored.
"Worry not about Matthew. As excitable as he has a tendency of getting, I do not doubt his loyalty." Marquis assuaged lackadaisically.
The thus named Matthew looked away as I told them about my power.
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- Location
- Oceanside
This had me dying! Keep it up!
Truck-Sama
An adventure awaits...
- Location
- USA
Upgraded Coil power, noice! Honestly, he should team with Marquis, while still a villain he was a powerful villain with a code and way better for BB overall compared to the other gangs.
Author's note
Hey!
This is my first fanfic and I have every intention to continue it. There are however a lot if issues that I need to deal with.
First is the timeline. This is like 12 years before canon, so I'm uncertain about the current cast. Which gangs are active, what their rosters are, which heroes they face, and all the multitude of OCs I need to fill the gaps.
The second is the direction that I want to take this in. Thales Jadestar is actually the protagonist of Kingdom's Bloodline, another of my favourite webnovels. And It, just like Worm, is ridiculously grimdark. But I wanted to create a story with a little of KB's flow in the Worm verse, and keep it light hearted, which is not exactly easy without ruining the essence if both stories.
The third is pacing. I want to spread this story over a decade or so. But most CYOAs with Power Manipulation go on to kill Scion in like a couple months at most.
So I decided to take some opinions from readers (if anyone still bother to read it).
Which canon characters do you want to see more of? Someone not really developed much in canon maybe?
Any particular powers you want to see?
The SH9 dropped by BB around this time. How involved do you want Thales to be with them?
A little, take them head on, or not at all? I could make it so that SH9 already went away.
If you want SH9, which members do you would you like to see?
Stay in Brockton, or leave for a while?
And thank you for all your patience.
This is my first fanfic and I have every intention to continue it. There are however a lot if issues that I need to deal with.
First is the timeline. This is like 12 years before canon, so I'm uncertain about the current cast. Which gangs are active, what their rosters are, which heroes they face, and all the multitude of OCs I need to fill the gaps.
The second is the direction that I want to take this in. Thales Jadestar is actually the protagonist of Kingdom's Bloodline, another of my favourite webnovels. And It, just like Worm, is ridiculously grimdark. But I wanted to create a story with a little of KB's flow in the Worm verse, and keep it light hearted, which is not exactly easy without ruining the essence if both stories.
The third is pacing. I want to spread this story over a decade or so. But most CYOAs with Power Manipulation go on to kill Scion in like a couple months at most.
So I decided to take some opinions from readers (if anyone still bother to read it).
Which canon characters do you want to see more of? Someone not really developed much in canon maybe?
Any particular powers you want to see?
The SH9 dropped by BB around this time. How involved do you want Thales to be with them?
A little, take them head on, or not at all? I could make it so that SH9 already went away.
If you want SH9, which members do you would you like to see?
Stay in Brockton, or leave for a while?
And thank you for all your patience.
Last edited:
- Location
- Oceanside
Besides for the Marquis' organization (I don't think was ever given an official name in canon), of which he is the sole parahuman, there is The Teeth, The Empire 88, and The Fallen.
I don't know about KB, but you should think about the themes that influence each story and ways to emulate them in your own. Maintaining a casual tone within a grimdark setting is definitely possible. Some of the responses in this thread might help you. The important thing to keep in mind is to lean on your narrative voice for humor, which is working out great so far.
This is around 2000, right? Here is a timeline of events in Worm canon. You can make a good many arcs with the setting as of that time just in Brockton Bay alone, although you will probably have to go with a time-skip to canon time after you deal with the Brigade trying to invade Marquis' home. Keep events in any gap-time straight, maybe even write out snippets taking place during said times.
I don't know if there was any confirmation as to what the roster of the SH9 was when they first visited Brockton. You can nonetheless turn his involvement into an important arc and use it to build up his legend as a cape.
Good luck, man.
- Location
- US
The only timeline issue I recall so far is the Archer's Bridge Merchants, who weren't really a thing yet.
Hero's still alive, so there isn't a Triumvirate, instead it's The Protectorate.
Kyushu already happened, but Lung is going to be in China for the foreseeable future (held captive by the Yangban). Over the next few years some minor gangs, Asian and otherwise, form in the East end of Brockton Bay. This includes the Azn Bad Boys, which Lung will eventually join and take over after he escapes the Yangban.
Marquis has no other Parahumans in his gang yet.
The Empire 88 is probably the most well-established player in Brockton Bay at this point. Purity is around, but might not have joined the Empire yet (probably friendly with Kaiser though). The E88's roster definitely includes Allfather, Kaiser, probably some people from the Herren Clan, maybe a contact with the Gesellschaft and some other generic white supremacists. Heith Anders (size-changer like Fenja & Menja) is dead, and they're probably too young. Probably not Crusader, he seems to have joined when Kaiser was leading.
The Slaughterhouse 9 wiped out the Teeth, likely before 2000 because Marquis gets captured in February of that year. So the Teeth aren't active.
The Fallen probably aren't near Brockton, but the Clans (Herren Clan) might be active in the area.
Hero-wise, the Brockton Bay Brigade (consisting of Lady Photon, Brandish, Lightstar, Fleur, Manpower, Flashbang) is active around this time.
I recommend checking out the r/Cauldron discord and asking in the fact-checking section for more background information about this time period. I know there's relevant stuff from flashbacks in Ward that might be useful.
Maybe he could participate in the Boston Games once they roll around.
I definitely want to see all the powers and power combinations he comes up with for the sole purpose of being lazy.
Chapter 7 : Met a Girl
Timeline 1 :
Nobody gets pampered like children do. We get so pampered that one of the most iconic brands of baby products is called Pampers. Just to exhibit my thoughts, I pointed at an ice-cream stall and asked mom, "Can I please please have that?"
Mom acquiesced readily, and soon Amelia and I were enjoying our fourth snack today.
Ah, buying something with the currency of an uttered "please" with no worry of budget or savings. Truly, this life was blessed!
Whatever I had expected to happen after I gave a censored account of my powers, and subsequently get it tested by Mr Lavere, it wasn't a trip around the Boardwalk with Amelia and my parents, getting to buy anything we want. Not that I was complaining, but I couldn't ignore the worry I could see in their eyes as they tried to make me as happy as they could.
I had the distinct feeling of missing something. Was something supposed to happen as I got my powers? Was I supposed to get the equivalent of a Hogwarts letter, and my parents are trying to cheer me up because I missed It?
I looked around for any intelligent looking birds with a paper tied to them, but failed to find any.
Regardless of what it is, the only thing I could do to reassure them was to enjoy to enjoy as best as I could. At least it was doing wonders for Amelia's mood.
With the cold snack devoured by us two gluttons we marched off in search of more filling pastures. Or as mom would call It, lunch. Unable to decide on what to eat, I split the timeline.
Timeline 1.0 :
We entered the restaurant mom had originally planned to bring us to.
Timeline 1.1 :
I led our party to a smaller, but surprisingly more crowded restaurant.
Timeline 0 :
The reason I was so carefree was, in part, the fact that I had this "safe" timeline where nobody knew about my powers. Granted it felt a little redundant with how well everything was turning out, but I'd rather keep a backup in case I needed it.
At least that's what I tried to convince myself as I finished my lunch. Sandwiches. For the third day in a row. Argh!
Back in my room I examined my power again. Three faded holes, and two bright charges with no noticeable change. Except that one of the holes looked much too dark. Like my if my charges were stars, the two holes black as the empty space then the third hole looked like the black of dark hole.
Timeline 1.1 :
The crowd seemed to be gathered not so much for the food, but the girl in form fitting costume devouring it at a pace that left us in awe. The three waiters, a teenage girl and a pair of college age twin boys, took advantage of the surprise and ushered us to a booth; finally shaken out of my surprise, I exclaimed, "Look mom, that's the glutton hero!"
"Don't call me glutton!", came the reply from the aforementioned glutton standing from her chair with hands on the table and glaring at me.
Hastily pulling down the finger I had so rudely pointed at her, I recalled her name. Meta Girl. Named so for her super metabolism that allowed her to grow stronger the more she ate, with no apparent limits but the food she could eat.
I would've been intimidated had half her face not been covered in food grease. That, and the bounce. Aren't those too big for a girl still in school? A side effect of her power maybe?
Her righteous indignation abated as she realized who, or what age, the target of her ire was (Yay!) and she gets flustered by her outburst, which seemed very instinctive actually. Meta Girl walked up to us and coming down to my level said gingerly, "It's rude to call people names you know. Even if other people do it, you shouldn't repeat it."
Huh. Does she get called that a lot? I know that mom calls her a glutton sometimes, but it's nothing personal. Mom has demeaning names for all heroes!
I started to tell her so, "Okay! But sometimes when I eat too much M.." I trail off as I turned to mom and saw her eye twitching, ".. my uncle says that I'm just as much a glutton as Meta Girl."
Sorry non-existent uncle!
"Well, you shouldn't listen to your uncle then. We're still growing and should eat all the food we can!" she proclaimed loudly as if daring anyone to contradict the girl with super strength.
"Hmm hmm" I agreed. Especially if it is free. "And besides, I think I could eat more than you!" I boasted, caught in her flow.
"Really? Let's do a challenge then! The winner gets to eat for free."
Eh, in front of everyone? I can't perform under such pressure!
Eventually, she dragged in a few more people and watched smugly as they paid for the food they gorged themselves on. A little smugly Really, unless she's getting commission out of it.
So she's getting paid for eating as much as she wants. Truly, this is the epitome of freeloading!
At least I got to meet a hero for the first time.
Timeline 1.0 :
We had an uneventful lunch, so I collapsed the timeline.
They went out again. It was the same routine of buying a bouquet of flowers, taking a car out to town, and the father daughter paid coming back home sadder than they had left. It has been three days since I told Mr. Lavere that I could split timelines and gave the impression that I could keep only two at a time, the third was my failsafe after all, and he had yet to do anything about it.
Timeline 1.0
I waited outside his study.
Timeline 1.1
Even as I stood in his study he kept himself busy looking over some papers as I fidgeted opposite his desk.
"So..", I started.
"Yes?"
"I have powers.."
"So we have tested." And we had. Mr Lavere had me split timelines, read a piece of paper in one, drop that timeline, and narrate it back to him in the other. We also did several variations of it, and he even taught me a trick where we flipped coins in different timelines and kept the one with our desired outcome. A neat trick, if somewhat childish.
"And that means I'm in your gang now." I stated the obvious conclusion. He's a Supervillain, and I, in a way, work for him. This should be obvious!
Not to him apparently, as he responded with a bark of laughter, and finally looked at me.
"Listen, Thales. I know how tempting it is, this need to use your powers. To do what no one else can. To test yourself, your powers against others. But as precocious as you are, you are still a kid. And all kids deserve to be kept safe. Not a privilege your father and I got, but something we have tried to ensure for other kids as much as we could. But with this privilege, this right, also comes a responsibility you know. To keep yourself safe first. I know you want to help your parents, but the thing we want most is for you and Amelia to be safe. Okay?"
How very Uncle Ben of you!
How is this guy a villain? Do the heroes here shit rainbows?
More importantly, this is bad. Bad for my plan to become a support type class character and secure an easy, non-combative job.
I needed to use my trump card. No party turns down a Healer!
I brought forth my power and used the two remaining charges to form a healing power. From my last and only try, I got the feeling that the number of charges corresponded not with the complexity of the power, but with how useful or powerful it could be. Since I only had 2 charges and didn't intend to use it in a fight, I added touch based and slow acting as limitations to hopefully increase the intensity of actual healing during the power crafting. I did get the power I desired, but that's when something unexpected occurred. The three timelines I had active fell out of balance as 1.1 gained an asymmetrical weight to it. I felt metaphorically pulled down as I dropped the other two timelines.
This must be a limitation to my first power. Looks like I must have the same powers in each timeline. Well, not like I'm likely to get more powers everyday or so. I collected myself and rejoiced the the conversation.
"But if we get hurt, I can just heal us."
"You can?" he sounded confused.
"Yeah, did I forget to mention that? Oops."
Nobody gets pampered like children do. We get so pampered that one of the most iconic brands of baby products is called Pampers. Just to exhibit my thoughts, I pointed at an ice-cream stall and asked mom, "Can I please please have that?"
Mom acquiesced readily, and soon Amelia and I were enjoying our fourth snack today.
Ah, buying something with the currency of an uttered "please" with no worry of budget or savings. Truly, this life was blessed!
Whatever I had expected to happen after I gave a censored account of my powers, and subsequently get it tested by Mr Lavere, it wasn't a trip around the Boardwalk with Amelia and my parents, getting to buy anything we want. Not that I was complaining, but I couldn't ignore the worry I could see in their eyes as they tried to make me as happy as they could.
I had the distinct feeling of missing something. Was something supposed to happen as I got my powers? Was I supposed to get the equivalent of a Hogwarts letter, and my parents are trying to cheer me up because I missed It?
I looked around for any intelligent looking birds with a paper tied to them, but failed to find any.
Regardless of what it is, the only thing I could do to reassure them was to enjoy to enjoy as best as I could. At least it was doing wonders for Amelia's mood.
With the cold snack devoured by us two gluttons we marched off in search of more filling pastures. Or as mom would call It, lunch. Unable to decide on what to eat, I split the timeline.
Timeline 1.0 :
We entered the restaurant mom had originally planned to bring us to.
Timeline 1.1 :
I led our party to a smaller, but surprisingly more crowded restaurant.
Timeline 0 :
The reason I was so carefree was, in part, the fact that I had this "safe" timeline where nobody knew about my powers. Granted it felt a little redundant with how well everything was turning out, but I'd rather keep a backup in case I needed it.
At least that's what I tried to convince myself as I finished my lunch. Sandwiches. For the third day in a row. Argh!
Back in my room I examined my power again. Three faded holes, and two bright charges with no noticeable change. Except that one of the holes looked much too dark. Like my if my charges were stars, the two holes black as the empty space then the third hole looked like the black of dark hole.
Timeline 1.1 :
The crowd seemed to be gathered not so much for the food, but the girl in form fitting costume devouring it at a pace that left us in awe. The three waiters, a teenage girl and a pair of college age twin boys, took advantage of the surprise and ushered us to a booth; finally shaken out of my surprise, I exclaimed, "Look mom, that's the glutton hero!"
"Don't call me glutton!", came the reply from the aforementioned glutton standing from her chair with hands on the table and glaring at me.
Hastily pulling down the finger I had so rudely pointed at her, I recalled her name. Meta Girl. Named so for her super metabolism that allowed her to grow stronger the more she ate, with no apparent limits but the food she could eat.
I would've been intimidated had half her face not been covered in food grease. That, and the bounce. Aren't those too big for a girl still in school? A side effect of her power maybe?
Her righteous indignation abated as she realized who, or what age, the target of her ire was (Yay!) and she gets flustered by her outburst, which seemed very instinctive actually. Meta Girl walked up to us and coming down to my level said gingerly, "It's rude to call people names you know. Even if other people do it, you shouldn't repeat it."
Huh. Does she get called that a lot? I know that mom calls her a glutton sometimes, but it's nothing personal. Mom has demeaning names for all heroes!
I started to tell her so, "Okay! But sometimes when I eat too much M.." I trail off as I turned to mom and saw her eye twitching, ".. my uncle says that I'm just as much a glutton as Meta Girl."
Sorry non-existent uncle!
"Well, you shouldn't listen to your uncle then. We're still growing and should eat all the food we can!" she proclaimed loudly as if daring anyone to contradict the girl with super strength.
"Hmm hmm" I agreed. Especially if it is free. "And besides, I think I could eat more than you!" I boasted, caught in her flow.
"Really? Let's do a challenge then! The winner gets to eat for free."
Eh, in front of everyone? I can't perform under such pressure!
Eventually, she dragged in a few more people and watched smugly as they paid for the food they gorged themselves on. A little smugly Really, unless she's getting commission out of it.
So she's getting paid for eating as much as she wants. Truly, this is the epitome of freeloading!
At least I got to meet a hero for the first time.
Timeline 1.0 :
We had an uneventful lunch, so I collapsed the timeline.
They went out again. It was the same routine of buying a bouquet of flowers, taking a car out to town, and the father daughter paid coming back home sadder than they had left. It has been three days since I told Mr. Lavere that I could split timelines and gave the impression that I could keep only two at a time, the third was my failsafe after all, and he had yet to do anything about it.
Timeline 1.0
I waited outside his study.
Timeline 1.1
Even as I stood in his study he kept himself busy looking over some papers as I fidgeted opposite his desk.
"So..", I started.
"Yes?"
"I have powers.."
"So we have tested." And we had. Mr Lavere had me split timelines, read a piece of paper in one, drop that timeline, and narrate it back to him in the other. We also did several variations of it, and he even taught me a trick where we flipped coins in different timelines and kept the one with our desired outcome. A neat trick, if somewhat childish.
"And that means I'm in your gang now." I stated the obvious conclusion. He's a Supervillain, and I, in a way, work for him. This should be obvious!
Not to him apparently, as he responded with a bark of laughter, and finally looked at me.
"Listen, Thales. I know how tempting it is, this need to use your powers. To do what no one else can. To test yourself, your powers against others. But as precocious as you are, you are still a kid. And all kids deserve to be kept safe. Not a privilege your father and I got, but something we have tried to ensure for other kids as much as we could. But with this privilege, this right, also comes a responsibility you know. To keep yourself safe first. I know you want to help your parents, but the thing we want most is for you and Amelia to be safe. Okay?"
How very Uncle Ben of you!
How is this guy a villain? Do the heroes here shit rainbows?
More importantly, this is bad. Bad for my plan to become a support type class character and secure an easy, non-combative job.
I needed to use my trump card. No party turns down a Healer!
I brought forth my power and used the two remaining charges to form a healing power. From my last and only try, I got the feeling that the number of charges corresponded not with the complexity of the power, but with how useful or powerful it could be. Since I only had 2 charges and didn't intend to use it in a fight, I added touch based and slow acting as limitations to hopefully increase the intensity of actual healing during the power crafting. I did get the power I desired, but that's when something unexpected occurred. The three timelines I had active fell out of balance as 1.1 gained an asymmetrical weight to it. I felt metaphorically pulled down as I dropped the other two timelines.
This must be a limitation to my first power. Looks like I must have the same powers in each timeline. Well, not like I'm likely to get more powers everyday or so. I collected myself and rejoiced the the conversation.
"But if we get hurt, I can just heal us."
"You can?" he sounded confused.
"Yeah, did I forget to mention that? Oops."
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Power Manipulation
Power Manipulation provides you with 5 different slots. Each slot has 3 possible states:
All charges are not identical. A charge obtained from Grue will be much more compatible with creating Darkness Manipulation or related powers than one obtained from Purity or Lady Photon.
You may only use at most 3 charges to craft a power.
Power Sharing: Every power you craft can be shared with one other person. This requires physical contact. This process is only available after a power has been crafted, and is independent of your slots.
Hope this is not too convoluted.
- Charged : There is a charge in the slot, and you can use it to craft powers. Slots resemble stars when in this state.
- Dormant : You've recently used a charge from this slot, and now it is unresponsive. Slots seem to fade into the background when in this state.
- Hollow : The slot is ready to accept another charge. Slots resemble dark holes in space when in this state.
- Time : It must spent some time as Dormant before it's ready to be charged again.
- Conflict : You must be involved in a certain amount of conflict with other Parahumans and/or beings with Superpowers to power the shift. The conflict must involve use of your powers. It need not be physical.
All charges are not identical. A charge obtained from Grue will be much more compatible with creating Darkness Manipulation or related powers than one obtained from Purity or Lady Photon.
You may only use at most 3 charges to craft a power.
Power Sharing: Every power you craft can be shared with one other person. This requires physical contact. This process is only available after a power has been crafted, and is independent of your slots.
Hope this is not too convoluted.
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While it's not really relevant anymore since he's already used his initial Charges, but what type of powers were his initial Charges attuned to?
You explained how slots transition from Dormant to Hollow, but what is the process between Hollow and Charged. You mention here that it can be done either via physical contact or close vicinity, but is it instantaneous? Does it require some process like Dormant->Hollow?
Also, how does 'all but two' really work? Sure, if you have three or more Hollow slots and are trying to fill them up immediately, then it's obvious, but what if you have three Charged slots and two Hollow slots but the Charged slots were charged a while ago, does it 'remember' how they were charged in order to determine if you can use vicinity on the Hollow slots? What if you have Dormant slots instead, does it 'remember' how the slots were charged before they were used in order to see if you can use vicinity?
Wait what? If he has a Hollow slot and he touches a parahuman, he can transition that slot into a Charged slot with a predisposition to a power similar to said parahumans. This can then be spent to create a power for him to use, thus transitioning the slot into Dormant and requiring time and/or parahuman combat to transition back into Hollow. this makes sense.
Now he can alternatively steal a parahumans power or grant a person a power, which makes sense because the CYOA version let you, but you don't mention the slots at all. This sentence was formatted with Gaining Charges, so presumably it's either a formatting error and you're missing some explanation or the theft / granting involves a Hollow slot transitioning into a Charged one. Which doesn't make much sense at all. I could see you needing to have a Hollow slot in order to steal a power, and doing so transitions the Hollow slot into Dormant and grants you the full power of the parahuman (irrespective of how many slots it would take you to create a copy of it). I could similarly see you needing a Hollow slot to grant a power to someone (maybe the power 'fills' the slot [even if it was created from multiple slots worth of Charges] and then you give it to someone, transitioning it to Dormant). But Hollow to Charged through stealing or granting powers? Nope.
The first five were "average ones" of sorts. No particular alignment.
It's instantaneous, like in most of these CYOA fics.
Thanks for pointing that out. I basically just wanted to put a penalty on non-contact Power Copying. The idea for now is that you can fill up all but 2 of the currently Hollow slots if not in physical contact with the target. It's supposed to give a sense of hunger, in that you can only use this option if you have at least three Hollow slots open to you.
I'm of two minds about the idea as it necessitates some sort of parahuman detection sense if you have Hollow slots. Which could be fun in itself.
Thanks for pointing these out. I'll update the post soon to fill in the missing info and remove the phrases that are actively misleading .
Basically, you can't actually steal power. You can only fill up your Hollow slots. I called it stealing because physical contact with a Cape also allows you to disable/nullify their powers. You don't need slots for those.
Power Granting can only be done once you have crafted the power. All your powers have a shadow of sorts, which can be transferred to someone else with contact. Of course, this limits to one power being shared only once.
- Location
- Barquisimeto
Ah, Marquis the best supervillain of BB. The good killed people but was a benevolent overlord on his territory. I want him to win and keep being a good Overlord.
Aurora Moon
Verfied Insomniac with too much time on her hands
- Location
- USA, Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
you might want to fix the last chapter's text colors.. make it an auto color, instead of black. really hard to read on the dark background I chose for this forum.
Leaving Hollow slots available is a terrible move unless you're actively working towards getting physical access to a parahuman to get Charged slot attuned to a powerset which you are aiming to get next. Sure, it takes time and danger to transition Dormant slots to Hollow, but if you don't Charge your Hollow slots and use them then you're wasting such potential and putting yourself in more danger in the mean time. I can see keeping some Charged slots to be used in an emergency to solve an eminent danger, but keeping Hollow slots is just stupid. This means that such a radar would only be situationally useful, and since it doesn't tell you who or where they are I'd say it's not a bad thing to include.
This isn't listed in your Information post. While true, a Striker Power Nullifier isn't nearly as useful as a Shaker one (eg. Hatchet Face), it's pretty useful for restraining individual parahumans short term or bypassing normally well defended parahumans defenses if you can get a chance. Without metaknowledge, luck, or overwhelming power, Alabaster is easy to restrain but extremely hard or impossible to kill. With power nullification killing him is trivial once restrained (which is nearly as easy as a normal human). Lung probably wouldn't revert back to human-form if you disable/nullify his power but he wouldn't grow larger or regenerate making him a lot easier. There are many similar examples.
I've updated the Info post now, so let me know what you think of the new mechanics.
I've integrated the Power Nullification into the charging process as a sort of side effect of too draining too much. Also I've decided to completely forgo the non-contact Slot Charging.
I'm planning some combat in a couple chapters. Hopefully, actual application would both, let me finalise the power mechanics and, explain it better to the readers.