Hello fellow forum-goers. I recently got an idea in my head for a new Worm CYOA story, so I...
Being Taylor is a Thing [Worm CYOA]
- Thread starter expo1001
- Start date
-
- Tags
- worm cyoa self insert
- Created
- Status
- Hiatus
- Watchers
- 323
- Recent readers
- 0
- Threadmarks
- 9
-
Statistics (7 threadmarks, 45k words)
User Total expo1001 7 -
Loading…
- Status
Being Taylor is a Thing - Chapter 1
- Location
- United States
Hello fellow forum-goers. I recently got an idea in my head for a new Worm CYOA story, so I spent some time and came up with this. It's a slightly AU universe, in which Scion/Zion is present, but is not crazy and looking for an excuse to go all Dalek on humanity. Please leave comments, I am interested in hearing what you have to say about this story, and my writing in general. Hopefully you enjoy it!
Even with all of his intelligence, knowledge, skills, and memories, Tony would never have believed a lower-middle class teenager with only pocket change to her name could create something that was even 5% as effective as his first suit in a shorter time frame. It was lucky for me that I was a big fat cheating cheater who cheats. I grinned; my lips were no longer "too wide", so I sported a much nicer smile these days.
Physically, everything about my new body was much nicer than standard. My body--Taylor's body, had once been that of a tall, thin, 15-year old girl with mild acne and a small bit of flab on her tummy. Honestly, the old Taylor was a fairly decent looking girl, better than decent if you liked them tall and lithe, who had some pretty terrible body issues. She'd had a pretty low opinion of her looks even though this universe lacked the torment and social isolation which characterized Taylor's place in canon. I could only imagine how that Taylor felt about herself after going through the hell that was her first year and change of highschool.
Now, though, my body was amazing. After some work, of course. I was still obviously Taylor; I shared her basic facial structure, height, and hair type, but there the similarities ended. My face was perfectly symmetrical and I had fixed some of the features I didn't like, such as my too-wide lips, slightly too-long nose, etc, etc. I had also changed my body shape radically. I was lucky that Taylor was still within the age range where teenagers can "bloom", transforming nearly overnight.
If I had to be shaped like a girl, I decided, then I was determined to be the most attractive girl I could be. I had grown myself a nice, curvaceous figure over the course of a few months which please me greatly. My body had large, firm breasts and a butt that was plump without being fat while being just the right shape to complement the light arch of my back and my widened hips. Taylor's legs needed little work, they were long and had fat and muscle in all the right places already. I simply had to slightly lengthen them and smooth them out a little. I had also, for the sake of my sanity, added an upgraded version of my old "equipment" to the existing parts, so to speak. It wasn't ideal, but the circumstances of my entrance to this universe required that I be Taylor Hebert. I didn't hurt that futanari were "in" this season, don't'cha know! I guess it was skirts and dresses for me! I would have to do some thinking if I ever needed to go swimming; bikini bottoms would be rather… insufficient, as well as awkward. Powers are amazing.
It was time to focus on work, so I mentally fortified myself. I was in my workshop trying to get my first set of Iron Man armor completed in time for the weekly Bazaar at the Lord's Free Market this weekend. I had already used every penny of my meager savings to rent a small booth, so if I didn't have a good costume to wear I was basically throwing it all away. There were several reasons I needed to be there, and money was only one, and a small one at that. I wasn't about to let a lack of hard work tonight ruin my plans.
The workshop was little more than a very large underground room with smooth marble walls and flooring with plenty of stone tables, workbenches, tables, and shelves covered with components and tools. Cubes, bars, and pellets of raw materials were stacked everywhere, sometimes all the way up to the 20' high ceiling. In one corner an extremely robust looking weight set sat on padded gym mat flooring next to an over-engineered homebrew treadmill. There was no entrance or exit in sight; I had no need for one after all. A comfy hammock was strung up in one corner for when I needed a nap. All-in-all a pretty spartan place, but so useful, and more importantly it was mine.
I concentrated on the unfinished power armor hanging on the stand in front of me, my willpower a tool of its own as I invented with my mind and powers. Small finished components and pieces of raw materials hovered in the air all around the power armor's gleaming silver and metallic green finish. I flared my will and pieces started telekinetically slotting into place and welding themselves perfectly together while ingots transmuted themselves into alloys more useful for my purposes. Lead to Proto-Adamantium, Tin to Vibranium, and Aluminum to Platinum. The changing metals flew concentric rings around my work in progress, their value increasing as I laughed in glee as they themselves were shaped into more plating and components.
The MP3 player connected to the workshop's sound system played "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana in the background as sweat dripped from my brow due to the massive amount of multitasking I was doing at the moment. I was going to need to add some charges to that particular Thinker power soon; the level of work I would need to do on future projects was only going to increase as time went on and being able to pay attention to absolutely everything down to the molecular level was ever so useful. Smaller pieces became a part of the bigger whole as the fruits of my labor came together, and finally, after a long two hours, it was complete. Two weeks of back-breaking labor, experimenting, and creating new powers to do the work without millions or billions of dollars worth of high-tech tools and machines was finally complete. Until I needed to upgrade or do repairs, of course… To say nothing of armors I would need to create for future teammates if they needed/wanted it.
I sagged, plopping down tiredly onto a stone stool that flowed up room the ground to meet my derriere. I really, really needed to invest in some physical powers to prevent stuff like this from happening. So far I had increase my durability a great deal and removed my need for sleep, and my general health was blatantly superhuman, but due to oversight I was still getting tired like anyone else, even if it took longer before I was completely spent. I decided that some upgrades were in order when I got my charges around midnight, as not collapsing from fatigue seemed like a good thing to make a priority.
I tinkered with a few more small projects until midnight rolled around. My charges came in around a minute and a half before midnight, a new record. Shattered Limiter was stupidly broken if there was that much increase after only a two months of having these powers. I idly wondered what kind of monster I would be in a decade?
I felt much better after creating a power which granted me endless stamina and eliminated the need to eat, drink and breathe. It only took a single charge, believe it or not, and there was even a bit of "potential" left after I defined what I wanted it to do, so I was able to cram a goodly amount of regeneration into the package as well. Per SOP I put two charges each toward upgrading Power Manipulation itself, and two toward my jailbroken copy of Othala's power.
Two more charges were used to further empower one of my primary Thinker suites, which included enhanced deductive reasoning, short-term (battle) precog, localized clairvoyance down to the atomic level, and massive multi-tasking. Fully half of the charge went to the last one, boosting my ability to pay attention to multiple things at once by at least two orders of magnitude. I observed the millions of nearby hydrogen atoms in the air, my attention able to split and focus on each of them at the same time as if I was giving them all my full attention. I watched the single electron on each atom seem to teleport from point to point at the speed of light through their valence shells as my power's observation didn't cause eigenstates to collapse… unless I wanted them to. Yummy.
I mentally "tasted" PM after the charges integrated themselves. Every aspect of the power gained improvements, the biggest of which was to the range at which I could wield this mighty ability. The range was at least twenty or thirty meters more now, which .a nice boost. The depth and complexity of the abilities I could build with Othala increased by a goodly margin, a much more dramatic improvement over PM; but then again it was a lesser ability despite being effectively unlimited.
I perused the new upgrades with my power sense; Othala should be able to generate some of the more powerful 'kinesis type abilities now, and maybe some of the more exotic powers I could imagine, I thought. At this rate of improvement I might soon be able to create some basic Trump-like powers. I wondered yet again if I shouldn't be putting more charges per day into Othala… but I again mentally reminded myself that the two powers synergized wonderfully, so it wasn't really needed at this point.
PM's more powerful abilities ran on the ten daily charges I received, allowing me to create new abilities and upgrade existing powers substantially, however even without those it had some amazing uses. It could provide unlimited amounts of tweaking, basic upgrading, and restructuring of powers, which is where the synergy with Othala came in. PM could also copy any power I found in the wild for my own use, suppress them, and even remove powers permanently. I could also destroy the Shards which gave parahumans their abilities and use the energy released by that process as a source of power to fuel the creation of a more powerful and less limited "Shardless" power.
When working with existing powers PM could, for instance, turn a mid-level pyrokinesis power into mid-level hydrokinesis or something similar, and with some work and little elbow grease even add extra features and abilities at the cost of weakening the primary power by a small margin. I could even combine individual powers into a greater whole, allowing for some awesome powersets. Othala, on the other hand, could provide an effectively unlimited amount of new powers, base material to provide a foundation on which PM could build by enhancing, modifying, and combining them. The only problem was that my modified Othala power wouldn't work on me for some reason. I had tried everything I could think of short of throwing a stupid number of charges at the problem. PM estimated that it would take 10-12 charges to allow Othala work on myself, and I wasn't willing to make that investment quite yet.
I knew that I had either fucked up when giving the specifics of how I wanted to "jailbreak" the power, or I didn't spend enough points to do so when I first got ROB'd. I could use the Othala powers on myself in a roundabout way, and I had, but it was pain in the ass and would require the cooperation of at least one other person unless I was willing to empower people around me randomly.
I had at first thought of handing out powers and then quickly ripping them away… but it didn't quite work out when I tried it. I had given two of the least dickish students at Winslow powers in order to copy them when I first worked out my limitations, and they both discovered their new powers in the first few minutes before they matured enough for me to copy and remove them. When Greg jumped up in the middle of class giggling wildly, and then ran from the room I knew that my first attempt was shot all to hell. After I copied the power I didn't have the heart to take it away from the pathetic little guy. Later that night a new cape with powerful and versatile non-manton limited Telekinesis wearing a fucking pantyhose stocking over his head was spotted by no less than twenty forum goers, according to PHO, and filmed by at least five camera phones. Evidently he was propelling himself through the air while juggling multiple half-ton pieces of rusted steel torn from wrecks in the ship graveyard… all while cackling like a loon. He had been saddled with the unflattering moniker 'Hosehead'... which he totally deserved for dressing like an idiot.
My second test was more circumspect. I snuck into my classmate Sparky's backyard in the middle of the night, hoping to empower him and then copy and remove the ability while he was sleeping. I used my short-range clairvoyance to look into his room, hoping I wasn't about to see something embarrassing. He was sprawled out in his unmade bed, wearing headphones and unmoving but for the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest. I used Othala to give him the Terrakinesis that I needed to create my workshop, and spent a little time upgrading a tweaking it with power manipulation, sculpting the ability into something beautiful.
Lost in the intricacies of power-crafting, I failed to notice a stoned off his gourd but still awake Sparky sit up suddenly, red eyes wide and mouth hanging open in shock. When I came down from my fugue I winced, watching him rise from the mattress on the floor he used as a bed and then summon a beach-ball sized of granite from the either. He chuckled playfully as he made the rock flow into different shapes and float around the room to and fro. I hung my head in shame… I was so bad at this! I copied the power and left Sparky, his face was filled with wonder as he summoned armor made of obsidian and used it to levitate himself through the air around his room.
That had been nearly a month ago, right when I was starting out, and I hadn't empowered anyone else since then. Greg and Sparky both seemed happy with their new powers and their new status as Wards. Both of them seemed more contented and self-confident than Taylor's memories ever remembered them being, and Greg was much less of a spaz. The were both starting to get into better shape now, too. Neither was really ripped yet, but Sparky's shoulders were broadening and Greg's arms weren't looking nearly as twig-like. Sparky (Whose first name was actually Dale, go figure) was actually dating Madison now, who was much less of a bitch in this AU, and not involved with Emma and Sophia at all. The world was a strange place.
To date I hadn't told a soul about my powers. That would soon change, however; I had plans to bring my two best friends into the loop, I just needed to work up the courage to share my secret with them. Honestly, I wanted to do that from a position of strength, hence building my costume and preparing to expand my powers tomorrow at the Bazaar. I spent the rest of the night working on the signage for my booth, as well as some touch screen integrated computers which would allow customers to see the full breadth of products I was offering and select various options. I also doctored up some pamphlets and business cards; if I was really going to do this it could only help to get the word out widely.
It was also necessary to create a few custom powers for tomorrow, to make sure that no one decided to turn Lord's Free Market into a warzone when people found out what I was going to be selling. Defense by obscurity would be a nice start, I decided. I needed a power to keep the wrong kinds of attention off of me and my little business venture, so I used one of my remaining three charges to create a power that could produce bubbles of altered perception that I could anchor to locations, objects, and people.
These perception bubbles could be keyed to cause viewers to see different things inside of them based on selectable criteria, such as their emotions, appearance, group affiliation, status as parahumans, etc. It was a really useful power, and it stretched the limits of what a single charge could create. I had to scale the size of the bubbles down to a maximum of a 20m diameter spheres to allow this power to be created with only one charge, when I had originally wanted to have much larger areas of effect. Additionally, this ability would have to be a "striker" power, as one charge didn't have enough juice to allow bubbles to be deployed at range with all of the other features I wanted. This power should allow me to hide my myself and my booth from anyone who would contact the authorities or try to do me harm. People who were filtered would only see what I wanted them to, like an empty booth or an old woman selling poorly made nicknacks.
In the event that someone was able to bypass the perception filter, or in case of an attack at range, I would need a way to protect myself and any customers present. I was able to suppress powers at range, but that wouldn't help if someone flung a bus at my booth or used a firearm. Not to mention laser beams and waves of super-hot fire. I also suspected that coordinated grid-type searches or multiple points of view might also allow someone to pierce the perception filter.
It took both remaining charges, but I was able to make a power that created definable "peace zones" where the laws of physics were different from the regular world at large. Zones would cancel any attempts at violence with exactly equal applications of a power created "negative force"; this would cause limbs launching physical attacks to stop moving, and powers to fizzle out as they were activated. The same rules applied to weapons and other vectors that could precipitate violence. Beings outside of zone who were planning to commit violence were teleported a few miles away to random locations as they stepped into a zone. Attacks launched from the outside of the zone had the energy propelling them absorbed to increase the power and duration of the zone as they crossed the border. It was a beautiful power, and I was extremely proud of it; I would never have been able to craft something like this in the beginning. I was as ready as it was possible to get, and excitement coursed through my body.
As the sun rose I telekinetically suited up in my new power armor, quickly using my 10-minute precognition window to repeatedly test the functions of the armor in only few seconds. Precog was so broken, I thought while grinning inside the climate controlled exoskeleton. As expected, the suit was flawless; when you can see down to the atomic level it's pretty hard to miss manufacturing flaws. Design flaws were another matter, but the centuries-old mind of an ancient, nearly invincible Tony Stark I had absorbed was so experienced with the technologies involved that I had no fears there. I connected the modular weapons I had created to their hard-points and folded them into the armors space-warped interior for now. Out of sight, out of mind.
I used my own power-granted hammerspace to gather up all of the bits and bobbles for today, and then teleported over half of a mile up and over a mile to the east. I appeared in the air over the bay, the shore just visible in the distance. The sky shone a beautiful gold and red color as the rising sun reflected off of several thin clouds on the horizon. I admired the view for a moment, my eyes capable of seeing further into each end of the electromagnetic spectrum than human eyes ever had, rendering the sunrise more glorious than I could ever describe. The suit's optics and sensors only further augmented the sight.
Blinking, I set a small perception bubble over myself rendering my extremely boring and unimportant to any observers, and orienting myself toward Lord street, I took off like a shot at just under the speed of sound. No sonic booms for you today, Brockton bay. I giggled at my inadvertent rhyme.
It took less than a minute to reach the Bazaar. Setting down amidst the chaos of various merchants and helpers setting up their booths, I landed. No one paid me the least amount of attention. I looked around the sidewalk at the corner of Lord St. and 12th where I set down. Lord street was blocked off from 10th all the way up to 16th for the weekly Bazaar, and preparations were in full swing. Burly youths carried boxes and barrels from trucks and vans of all sizes and varieties while proprietors set up tables, canopies, and booths of all shapes and levels of improvisation. The various sellers had products ranging from a small push-card carrying homemade coffee and donuts--mostly purchased by other sellers at this point, to a large garishly decorated canvas tent selling hand crafted maple and oak furniture, with everything in between.
I walked the two blocks down to my space on the 14th street block of Lord St. and looked over the little lot that I would be setting up on. I had rented a corner of a parking lot in front a an antique store just in front of the sidewalk. It was fairly small, but it was a pretty good spot with lots of foot traffic. There was no way to get electricity to the spot, which made it less desireable in general, but decreased the price to the point that I could just barely afford to rent it for the day. I had maybe a hundred and twenty square feet of space, which was more than I needed, really, but which I could utilize. The bigger and more impressive my booth looked the more interest it would generate.
I attached a perception filter to my space and then defined a peace zone surrounding my location as far as I could go, which overlapped other nearby booths and a good portion of the street and the building behind me.
Now that the only people who could see me were the ones who didn't want to fight or call the PRT, I could get to work. I smiled, and drew on terrakinesis to rapidly assemble a small building out of black marble streaked with cloudy quartz as well as veins of gold and silver throughout. When I was done my stand resembled a tiny cottage with a pointed roof made out of rich, dark stone. The front of the little building had an open standard sized doorway off to the side, with the rest of the space devoted to a giant picture window which showing off the interior, which had a marble counter running the width of the store. There were four stone stools which allowed customers to sit at the counter. In front of each stool I placed one of the touchscreen computers which contained my catalog.
I filled the picture window with smooth, transparent quartz which I summoned with my ever handy terrakinesis. Giving it a nod of approval, I then raised a thin eight foot pole shaped length of black marble with another section sticking out at a right-angle from the top. The result was shaped like an upside-down capital "L" rising from the ground less than a foot from the exterior wall near the door of the building. I hung the sign I had made earlier today from the horizontal bar at the top, attaching it by extruding marble hooks from the bar and letting it hang from the mountings I had attached at the top when fabbing it back at the workshop.
"Superpowers for Sale" proclaimed the old-times oaken sign. I wanted to be upfront about what I was offering, after all. I gave my "stand" a final once over, and then looked around my warily. Fully half of the people within view were stock-still, staring at me and the marble structure I had risen and furnished in less than ten minutes, a few of them who were in groups were muttering excitedly to each other in low voices. Several people were noticeably ignorant of my presence and accomplishment, including the girl setting up a table only feet from my stand. She glanced up at the people staring at me across the street, a frown in place, then looked at me for a moment, her eyes sliding past the store I had made, unseeing. She shook her head at the gwakers obvious lack of sense, a superior smirk on her mouth, then went back to arranging the knitted crafts she was selling. I chuckled at the effectiveness of my new power, and entered the shop, sitting myself on a surprisingly comfortable stone stool behind the counter.
I had only moments to wait before I got my first two customers. A tall, slightly overweight man in his mid-thirties walked tentatively inside, bearded head swiveling around as if on a pivot, trying in vain to pierce the secrets of the marble building. His sun tanned skin was weathered, and he wore a thick flannel shirt along with jeans and worn but well cared for workboots. His hands had more calluses than the Empire 88 had nazis, and that was saying something. I smiled beneath my armor; this was one of my people. He may even have worked for my dad at the dockworkers association.
With the working man was a boy nearly half a decade younger than me, maybe eleven or twelve years old at most. He was dressed in a Legend T-Shirt partially obscured by a carhartt jacket and jeans with his own pair of scuffed boots. The brown-haired child was smiling widely, hand gripping his father's with enough force to whiten his knuckles. In his excitement the kid had grabbed his father's horny mitt after they cleared the door, something kids his age began rigorously trained themselves not to do in preparation for the full antisocial surliness of teen-hood that was shortly to come. He proved my internal musings correct when he quickly disengaged once he noticed what he had done. The father and son duo made their way to the counter, the father's nervousness as visible as the rays of the still-rising sun visible through the quartz display window. He looked like he wanted to speak, but he couldn't quite find a way to start.
'My first customers!' I thought with an internal "squee" of delight. Hey! I could squee if I wanted to! I was a girl now, after all! I looked at the two people looking around nervously and flawlessly launched into my semi pre prepared greeting. Social powers for the win!
"Good morning gentlemen, and welcome to Brockton Bay's one and only Superpower Emporium. My name is Grant, and I will be your bestowal specialist today." I paused to sweep my arm toward the stools and the now active touch screens in front of them before continuing. "Please feel free to place your posterior at one of our power planning pedestals and peruse our catalogue, the 'Power Package 'Pedia' to see what exciting opportunities await you!"
"Uh, is this some sort of joke, or a TV show or something?" asked the man, intense curiosity and slight apprehension marring his face. Junior, of course, was already seated and tapping on one of the screens eagerly.
"Of course not, my dear sir." I spoke, my every movement reinforcing my words. I had to be lavish with my gestures if I wanted to add the weight body language to the conversation, covered in power armor as I was. "Using an amazing new process pioneered by myself, the wonders of parahuman powers are now available to the common man. The process by which we bestow powers is fast, effective, and painless. The powers you purchase today are guaranteed to be permanent and free of any complications or side effects, unlike those hacks at Cauldron."
Junior was still tapping away, a gigantic smile on his face and fire in his eyes as he played with different power combinations. The tall man blinked at me, a shocked look on his face. I could tell that he was still curious though, and more than a little interested. "Is that so?" he asked.
"It is indeed!" I exclaimed, the bottom of my closed fist gently meeting the flat of my other hand. "Listen," I said, my right hand coming up to stroke the 'chin' of my helmet, the other one at my hip. "I can tell that you're skeptical, but you and your boy are my first customers. Take a look at the catalogue and pick out a power set for each of you, and I'll take 95% off the total price for being the very first people to set foot into my new business." I laughed. "Good taste like that deserves a reward!"
The man, Jason Brown, as he later introduced himself, laughed along with me and agreed to take a look. A short time later he and his son, Leroy, had decided on the powers they wanted after asking several questions and some explanations. I wirelessly interfaced with their computers and caused the packages they selected to be sent up to the enormous screen that took up over half of the back wall behind the counter.
"So Leroy, you're decided on the Alexandria Plus package with the Quantum Blaster add-on, right?" He nodded excitedly, looking toward his father. The man patted him on the head fondly and nodded toward me once. I smiled. "Did you want to upsize that order with a side of Regeneration for only $99 dollars more? That's the pre-discount price, of course, so it would only add an extra $4.50 to the total cost of the package with your "first customer" coupon code."
"Can I dad?" he whined, his shining eyes seeming to grow two sizes. His father sighed, shaking his head slowly with a small smile on his face.
"Ok, fine," said Jason, mock exasperation coloring his tone. "Kids, right?" he asked, looking at me.
"Excellent choice Leroy! And for you Jason," I said, pointing to the screen, "I think we've decided that the Kinetic Knight package fits your needs the best, right?" After nod of his head I continued. "You have Metallokinesis and Electrokinesis selected for the base abilities, but I see here that you haven't yet filled the Brute and Miscellaneous slots in the package… Might I suggest Passive Inertial Dampening for the Brute ability? It's a deceptively powerful damage reduction power, and if you're going to be using Metallokinesis as a mover ability it would be extremely useful there as well." I pulled up the relevant ability on his screen, and he studied it for a moment, his eyes going wide.
"Oh, wow... Yeah, let's go with that one!" he said, excitement coloring his tone. "And I was thinking, for that Miscellaneous ability… do you have something that'll let me heal up other people if they get hurt?" he asked hopefully.
"We surely do! There's an option called First Aid Field which is exactly what you just described. It's not going to make you another Panacea, but still incredibly useful. It allows you to make a spherical force field that slowly heals whoever is inside of it. It doesn't work on illnesses or genetic conditions, but it's great for regular wounds. Do you want me to include that in your package?" I asked. He nodded an affirmative. "And finally, did you want to upsize your package with a side of Regeneration as well?"
"Well shoot, I guess I will, it just sounds too useful not to." said Jason, a huge grin on his face. "So… now's the part I won't like. What's all of this going to cost?"
"Now," I said, "bear in mind that I am going to be giving you real, live, permanent superpowers…" I used my very best serious business voice here. "The regular price for the package that Leroy selected, with options, is $3299.00, which is a steal compared to what those crooks at Cauldron charge. Your package Jason, with options, would normally be $4099.00. Comparable package offered by Cauldron, if they could even offer them, which they can't, would be in the millions of dollars, and they would include the possibility of horrendous side effects. So, even if you had to pay full price you would be getting the bargain of the century."
I paused for a moment, their attention focused on me. "Since you are my first customers, your price is only 5% of the numbers I just quoted you. You get a full 95% off the top. Both powersets can be yours for the insanely low price of only three hundred sixty-nine dollars and ninety cents. That's it. For less than what you spend on a month of rent you can buy superpowers which will allow you to earn an excellent living for a lifetime. The protectorate, private security, become a rogue… take your pick, teams will literally be clamboring for you with powers like these." I posed dramatically, my words as sharp as Kaiser's blades. "You literally can't afford not to buy these powers at the price I'm giving you today."
"Do you take debit?" asked Jason.
As he cleared the crowd and stepped onto the street Jason gestured to a heavily dented aluminum garbage can across the way and it flew toward him, compressing and twisting itself into a thick, wide disc as it did so. He stepped onto it wrapped around his feet and calves, anchoring him in place. Languidly he floated into the air, his some rising up to float beside him. They did a victory lap around the block while Leroy whooped with joy before speeding up and disappearing into the skyline. The crowd watched in silence, then broke into a frenzy as people pushed forward trying to get to the door. Thankfully the "peace zone" slowed them down and ensured that no one got jostled or hurt.
I rose into the air until I towered over even the tallest men present. "Everyone, please; your attention!" I said, my voice raised. The crowd quitened. "Thank you. There are powers enough for everyone, and you will all have your turn to shop. Presently I am ready for the next group of customers, so please form an orderly line composed of groups of four based on when you got here. Please share around the pamphlets to get an idea of which power package you might want to get, and to make sure our prices are within your budget." I paused, my hands meeting hips. "Anyone acting in a rude or unruly way will be asked to leave. We do not brook ill manners at the Superpower Emporium. Thank you!"
Business was good that day. When I closed up shop, hammer-spacing the building so that I could re-use it later, I had sold thirty-four separate powersets at full price after those first two. There were a little over twice that many prospective customers who came into the shop, but many of them wanted power for nefarious reasons so I had to find ways to dissuade them. I was only interested in giving powers to people who would become heroes or rogues, or otherwise not use their abilities for evil or crime. Thankfully there was a power for determining their intent. I had split some of the groups up and had the individuals I wasn't planning to sell powers to come in together four at a time, right at the beginning, so that I could dismiss them as fast as possible. Once a group of undesirables was inside I subtly altered their memories and sent them on their merry way smiling, back to wherever they came from an now added to the list of people who couldn't perceive my shop.
Between cash and my the payment processing service I was using for debit and credit cards, I made $122,594. It wasn't bad at all for my first day in business, really. Plus there were thirty-six new parahumans now, all of them either planning to do good or help the world in some way. I smiled beneath my power armor as I rocketed away into the heavens late that afternoon, three dozen new powersets (plus the fourteen I snuck into customers covertly before copying and deleted them) were now mine to command. No, it really hadn't been a bad day at all.
EDIT: Removed chapter in spoiler tag. I decided I didn't like it anymore.
Being Taylor is a Thing
Chapter 1 - Being Taylor is Lucrative
Creating a set of power armor is supposed to be both an expensive and a very time consuming process, even for hypercognitive comic book heroes. The memories I inherited from Mr. Stark assured me that the obscene amounts of money he boasted and his own special brand of super-genius were the only things that had allowed him to design the first set of "proper" power armor so quickly after he came up with the concept, and that had taken him almost two months.Chapter 1 - Being Taylor is Lucrative
Even with all of his intelligence, knowledge, skills, and memories, Tony would never have believed a lower-middle class teenager with only pocket change to her name could create something that was even 5% as effective as his first suit in a shorter time frame. It was lucky for me that I was a big fat cheating cheater who cheats. I grinned; my lips were no longer "too wide", so I sported a much nicer smile these days.
Physically, everything about my new body was much nicer than standard. My body--Taylor's body, had once been that of a tall, thin, 15-year old girl with mild acne and a small bit of flab on her tummy. Honestly, the old Taylor was a fairly decent looking girl, better than decent if you liked them tall and lithe, who had some pretty terrible body issues. She'd had a pretty low opinion of her looks even though this universe lacked the torment and social isolation which characterized Taylor's place in canon. I could only imagine how that Taylor felt about herself after going through the hell that was her first year and change of highschool.
Now, though, my body was amazing. After some work, of course. I was still obviously Taylor; I shared her basic facial structure, height, and hair type, but there the similarities ended. My face was perfectly symmetrical and I had fixed some of the features I didn't like, such as my too-wide lips, slightly too-long nose, etc, etc. I had also changed my body shape radically. I was lucky that Taylor was still within the age range where teenagers can "bloom", transforming nearly overnight.
If I had to be shaped like a girl, I decided, then I was determined to be the most attractive girl I could be. I had grown myself a nice, curvaceous figure over the course of a few months which please me greatly. My body had large, firm breasts and a butt that was plump without being fat while being just the right shape to complement the light arch of my back and my widened hips. Taylor's legs needed little work, they were long and had fat and muscle in all the right places already. I simply had to slightly lengthen them and smooth them out a little. I had also, for the sake of my sanity, added an upgraded version of my old "equipment" to the existing parts, so to speak. It wasn't ideal, but the circumstances of my entrance to this universe required that I be Taylor Hebert. I didn't hurt that futanari were "in" this season, don't'cha know! I guess it was skirts and dresses for me! I would have to do some thinking if I ever needed to go swimming; bikini bottoms would be rather… insufficient, as well as awkward. Powers are amazing.
It was time to focus on work, so I mentally fortified myself. I was in my workshop trying to get my first set of Iron Man armor completed in time for the weekly Bazaar at the Lord's Free Market this weekend. I had already used every penny of my meager savings to rent a small booth, so if I didn't have a good costume to wear I was basically throwing it all away. There were several reasons I needed to be there, and money was only one, and a small one at that. I wasn't about to let a lack of hard work tonight ruin my plans.
The workshop was little more than a very large underground room with smooth marble walls and flooring with plenty of stone tables, workbenches, tables, and shelves covered with components and tools. Cubes, bars, and pellets of raw materials were stacked everywhere, sometimes all the way up to the 20' high ceiling. In one corner an extremely robust looking weight set sat on padded gym mat flooring next to an over-engineered homebrew treadmill. There was no entrance or exit in sight; I had no need for one after all. A comfy hammock was strung up in one corner for when I needed a nap. All-in-all a pretty spartan place, but so useful, and more importantly it was mine.
I concentrated on the unfinished power armor hanging on the stand in front of me, my willpower a tool of its own as I invented with my mind and powers. Small finished components and pieces of raw materials hovered in the air all around the power armor's gleaming silver and metallic green finish. I flared my will and pieces started telekinetically slotting into place and welding themselves perfectly together while ingots transmuted themselves into alloys more useful for my purposes. Lead to Proto-Adamantium, Tin to Vibranium, and Aluminum to Platinum. The changing metals flew concentric rings around my work in progress, their value increasing as I laughed in glee as they themselves were shaped into more plating and components.
The MP3 player connected to the workshop's sound system played "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana in the background as sweat dripped from my brow due to the massive amount of multitasking I was doing at the moment. I was going to need to add some charges to that particular Thinker power soon; the level of work I would need to do on future projects was only going to increase as time went on and being able to pay attention to absolutely everything down to the molecular level was ever so useful. Smaller pieces became a part of the bigger whole as the fruits of my labor came together, and finally, after a long two hours, it was complete. Two weeks of back-breaking labor, experimenting, and creating new powers to do the work without millions or billions of dollars worth of high-tech tools and machines was finally complete. Until I needed to upgrade or do repairs, of course… To say nothing of armors I would need to create for future teammates if they needed/wanted it.
I sagged, plopping down tiredly onto a stone stool that flowed up room the ground to meet my derriere. I really, really needed to invest in some physical powers to prevent stuff like this from happening. So far I had increase my durability a great deal and removed my need for sleep, and my general health was blatantly superhuman, but due to oversight I was still getting tired like anyone else, even if it took longer before I was completely spent. I decided that some upgrades were in order when I got my charges around midnight, as not collapsing from fatigue seemed like a good thing to make a priority.
I tinkered with a few more small projects until midnight rolled around. My charges came in around a minute and a half before midnight, a new record. Shattered Limiter was stupidly broken if there was that much increase after only a two months of having these powers. I idly wondered what kind of monster I would be in a decade?
. . .
I felt much better after creating a power which granted me endless stamina and eliminated the need to eat, drink and breathe. It only took a single charge, believe it or not, and there was even a bit of "potential" left after I defined what I wanted it to do, so I was able to cram a goodly amount of regeneration into the package as well. Per SOP I put two charges each toward upgrading Power Manipulation itself, and two toward my jailbroken copy of Othala's power.
Two more charges were used to further empower one of my primary Thinker suites, which included enhanced deductive reasoning, short-term (battle) precog, localized clairvoyance down to the atomic level, and massive multi-tasking. Fully half of the charge went to the last one, boosting my ability to pay attention to multiple things at once by at least two orders of magnitude. I observed the millions of nearby hydrogen atoms in the air, my attention able to split and focus on each of them at the same time as if I was giving them all my full attention. I watched the single electron on each atom seem to teleport from point to point at the speed of light through their valence shells as my power's observation didn't cause eigenstates to collapse… unless I wanted them to. Yummy.
I mentally "tasted" PM after the charges integrated themselves. Every aspect of the power gained improvements, the biggest of which was to the range at which I could wield this mighty ability. The range was at least twenty or thirty meters more now, which .a nice boost. The depth and complexity of the abilities I could build with Othala increased by a goodly margin, a much more dramatic improvement over PM; but then again it was a lesser ability despite being effectively unlimited.
I perused the new upgrades with my power sense; Othala should be able to generate some of the more powerful 'kinesis type abilities now, and maybe some of the more exotic powers I could imagine, I thought. At this rate of improvement I might soon be able to create some basic Trump-like powers. I wondered yet again if I shouldn't be putting more charges per day into Othala… but I again mentally reminded myself that the two powers synergized wonderfully, so it wasn't really needed at this point.
PM's more powerful abilities ran on the ten daily charges I received, allowing me to create new abilities and upgrade existing powers substantially, however even without those it had some amazing uses. It could provide unlimited amounts of tweaking, basic upgrading, and restructuring of powers, which is where the synergy with Othala came in. PM could also copy any power I found in the wild for my own use, suppress them, and even remove powers permanently. I could also destroy the Shards which gave parahumans their abilities and use the energy released by that process as a source of power to fuel the creation of a more powerful and less limited "Shardless" power.
When working with existing powers PM could, for instance, turn a mid-level pyrokinesis power into mid-level hydrokinesis or something similar, and with some work and little elbow grease even add extra features and abilities at the cost of weakening the primary power by a small margin. I could even combine individual powers into a greater whole, allowing for some awesome powersets. Othala, on the other hand, could provide an effectively unlimited amount of new powers, base material to provide a foundation on which PM could build by enhancing, modifying, and combining them. The only problem was that my modified Othala power wouldn't work on me for some reason. I had tried everything I could think of short of throwing a stupid number of charges at the problem. PM estimated that it would take 10-12 charges to allow Othala work on myself, and I wasn't willing to make that investment quite yet.
I knew that I had either fucked up when giving the specifics of how I wanted to "jailbreak" the power, or I didn't spend enough points to do so when I first got ROB'd. I could use the Othala powers on myself in a roundabout way, and I had, but it was pain in the ass and would require the cooperation of at least one other person unless I was willing to empower people around me randomly.
I had at first thought of handing out powers and then quickly ripping them away… but it didn't quite work out when I tried it. I had given two of the least dickish students at Winslow powers in order to copy them when I first worked out my limitations, and they both discovered their new powers in the first few minutes before they matured enough for me to copy and remove them. When Greg jumped up in the middle of class giggling wildly, and then ran from the room I knew that my first attempt was shot all to hell. After I copied the power I didn't have the heart to take it away from the pathetic little guy. Later that night a new cape with powerful and versatile non-manton limited Telekinesis wearing a fucking pantyhose stocking over his head was spotted by no less than twenty forum goers, according to PHO, and filmed by at least five camera phones. Evidently he was propelling himself through the air while juggling multiple half-ton pieces of rusted steel torn from wrecks in the ship graveyard… all while cackling like a loon. He had been saddled with the unflattering moniker 'Hosehead'... which he totally deserved for dressing like an idiot.
My second test was more circumspect. I snuck into my classmate Sparky's backyard in the middle of the night, hoping to empower him and then copy and remove the ability while he was sleeping. I used my short-range clairvoyance to look into his room, hoping I wasn't about to see something embarrassing. He was sprawled out in his unmade bed, wearing headphones and unmoving but for the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest. I used Othala to give him the Terrakinesis that I needed to create my workshop, and spent a little time upgrading a tweaking it with power manipulation, sculpting the ability into something beautiful.
Lost in the intricacies of power-crafting, I failed to notice a stoned off his gourd but still awake Sparky sit up suddenly, red eyes wide and mouth hanging open in shock. When I came down from my fugue I winced, watching him rise from the mattress on the floor he used as a bed and then summon a beach-ball sized of granite from the either. He chuckled playfully as he made the rock flow into different shapes and float around the room to and fro. I hung my head in shame… I was so bad at this! I copied the power and left Sparky, his face was filled with wonder as he summoned armor made of obsidian and used it to levitate himself through the air around his room.
That had been nearly a month ago, right when I was starting out, and I hadn't empowered anyone else since then. Greg and Sparky both seemed happy with their new powers and their new status as Wards. Both of them seemed more contented and self-confident than Taylor's memories ever remembered them being, and Greg was much less of a spaz. The were both starting to get into better shape now, too. Neither was really ripped yet, but Sparky's shoulders were broadening and Greg's arms weren't looking nearly as twig-like. Sparky (Whose first name was actually Dale, go figure) was actually dating Madison now, who was much less of a bitch in this AU, and not involved with Emma and Sophia at all. The world was a strange place.
. . .
To date I hadn't told a soul about my powers. That would soon change, however; I had plans to bring my two best friends into the loop, I just needed to work up the courage to share my secret with them. Honestly, I wanted to do that from a position of strength, hence building my costume and preparing to expand my powers tomorrow at the Bazaar. I spent the rest of the night working on the signage for my booth, as well as some touch screen integrated computers which would allow customers to see the full breadth of products I was offering and select various options. I also doctored up some pamphlets and business cards; if I was really going to do this it could only help to get the word out widely.
It was also necessary to create a few custom powers for tomorrow, to make sure that no one decided to turn Lord's Free Market into a warzone when people found out what I was going to be selling. Defense by obscurity would be a nice start, I decided. I needed a power to keep the wrong kinds of attention off of me and my little business venture, so I used one of my remaining three charges to create a power that could produce bubbles of altered perception that I could anchor to locations, objects, and people.
These perception bubbles could be keyed to cause viewers to see different things inside of them based on selectable criteria, such as their emotions, appearance, group affiliation, status as parahumans, etc. It was a really useful power, and it stretched the limits of what a single charge could create. I had to scale the size of the bubbles down to a maximum of a 20m diameter spheres to allow this power to be created with only one charge, when I had originally wanted to have much larger areas of effect. Additionally, this ability would have to be a "striker" power, as one charge didn't have enough juice to allow bubbles to be deployed at range with all of the other features I wanted. This power should allow me to hide my myself and my booth from anyone who would contact the authorities or try to do me harm. People who were filtered would only see what I wanted them to, like an empty booth or an old woman selling poorly made nicknacks.
In the event that someone was able to bypass the perception filter, or in case of an attack at range, I would need a way to protect myself and any customers present. I was able to suppress powers at range, but that wouldn't help if someone flung a bus at my booth or used a firearm. Not to mention laser beams and waves of super-hot fire. I also suspected that coordinated grid-type searches or multiple points of view might also allow someone to pierce the perception filter.
It took both remaining charges, but I was able to make a power that created definable "peace zones" where the laws of physics were different from the regular world at large. Zones would cancel any attempts at violence with exactly equal applications of a power created "negative force"; this would cause limbs launching physical attacks to stop moving, and powers to fizzle out as they were activated. The same rules applied to weapons and other vectors that could precipitate violence. Beings outside of zone who were planning to commit violence were teleported a few miles away to random locations as they stepped into a zone. Attacks launched from the outside of the zone had the energy propelling them absorbed to increase the power and duration of the zone as they crossed the border. It was a beautiful power, and I was extremely proud of it; I would never have been able to craft something like this in the beginning. I was as ready as it was possible to get, and excitement coursed through my body.
. . .
As the sun rose I telekinetically suited up in my new power armor, quickly using my 10-minute precognition window to repeatedly test the functions of the armor in only few seconds. Precog was so broken, I thought while grinning inside the climate controlled exoskeleton. As expected, the suit was flawless; when you can see down to the atomic level it's pretty hard to miss manufacturing flaws. Design flaws were another matter, but the centuries-old mind of an ancient, nearly invincible Tony Stark I had absorbed was so experienced with the technologies involved that I had no fears there. I connected the modular weapons I had created to their hard-points and folded them into the armors space-warped interior for now. Out of sight, out of mind.
I used my own power-granted hammerspace to gather up all of the bits and bobbles for today, and then teleported over half of a mile up and over a mile to the east. I appeared in the air over the bay, the shore just visible in the distance. The sky shone a beautiful gold and red color as the rising sun reflected off of several thin clouds on the horizon. I admired the view for a moment, my eyes capable of seeing further into each end of the electromagnetic spectrum than human eyes ever had, rendering the sunrise more glorious than I could ever describe. The suit's optics and sensors only further augmented the sight.
Blinking, I set a small perception bubble over myself rendering my extremely boring and unimportant to any observers, and orienting myself toward Lord street, I took off like a shot at just under the speed of sound. No sonic booms for you today, Brockton bay. I giggled at my inadvertent rhyme.
It took less than a minute to reach the Bazaar. Setting down amidst the chaos of various merchants and helpers setting up their booths, I landed. No one paid me the least amount of attention. I looked around the sidewalk at the corner of Lord St. and 12th where I set down. Lord street was blocked off from 10th all the way up to 16th for the weekly Bazaar, and preparations were in full swing. Burly youths carried boxes and barrels from trucks and vans of all sizes and varieties while proprietors set up tables, canopies, and booths of all shapes and levels of improvisation. The various sellers had products ranging from a small push-card carrying homemade coffee and donuts--mostly purchased by other sellers at this point, to a large garishly decorated canvas tent selling hand crafted maple and oak furniture, with everything in between.
I walked the two blocks down to my space on the 14th street block of Lord St. and looked over the little lot that I would be setting up on. I had rented a corner of a parking lot in front a an antique store just in front of the sidewalk. It was fairly small, but it was a pretty good spot with lots of foot traffic. There was no way to get electricity to the spot, which made it less desireable in general, but decreased the price to the point that I could just barely afford to rent it for the day. I had maybe a hundred and twenty square feet of space, which was more than I needed, really, but which I could utilize. The bigger and more impressive my booth looked the more interest it would generate.
I attached a perception filter to my space and then defined a peace zone surrounding my location as far as I could go, which overlapped other nearby booths and a good portion of the street and the building behind me.
Now that the only people who could see me were the ones who didn't want to fight or call the PRT, I could get to work. I smiled, and drew on terrakinesis to rapidly assemble a small building out of black marble streaked with cloudy quartz as well as veins of gold and silver throughout. When I was done my stand resembled a tiny cottage with a pointed roof made out of rich, dark stone. The front of the little building had an open standard sized doorway off to the side, with the rest of the space devoted to a giant picture window which showing off the interior, which had a marble counter running the width of the store. There were four stone stools which allowed customers to sit at the counter. In front of each stool I placed one of the touchscreen computers which contained my catalog.
I filled the picture window with smooth, transparent quartz which I summoned with my ever handy terrakinesis. Giving it a nod of approval, I then raised a thin eight foot pole shaped length of black marble with another section sticking out at a right-angle from the top. The result was shaped like an upside-down capital "L" rising from the ground less than a foot from the exterior wall near the door of the building. I hung the sign I had made earlier today from the horizontal bar at the top, attaching it by extruding marble hooks from the bar and letting it hang from the mountings I had attached at the top when fabbing it back at the workshop.
"Superpowers for Sale" proclaimed the old-times oaken sign. I wanted to be upfront about what I was offering, after all. I gave my "stand" a final once over, and then looked around my warily. Fully half of the people within view were stock-still, staring at me and the marble structure I had risen and furnished in less than ten minutes, a few of them who were in groups were muttering excitedly to each other in low voices. Several people were noticeably ignorant of my presence and accomplishment, including the girl setting up a table only feet from my stand. She glanced up at the people staring at me across the street, a frown in place, then looked at me for a moment, her eyes sliding past the store I had made, unseeing. She shook her head at the gwakers obvious lack of sense, a superior smirk on her mouth, then went back to arranging the knitted crafts she was selling. I chuckled at the effectiveness of my new power, and entered the shop, sitting myself on a surprisingly comfortable stone stool behind the counter.
I had only moments to wait before I got my first two customers. A tall, slightly overweight man in his mid-thirties walked tentatively inside, bearded head swiveling around as if on a pivot, trying in vain to pierce the secrets of the marble building. His sun tanned skin was weathered, and he wore a thick flannel shirt along with jeans and worn but well cared for workboots. His hands had more calluses than the Empire 88 had nazis, and that was saying something. I smiled beneath my armor; this was one of my people. He may even have worked for my dad at the dockworkers association.
With the working man was a boy nearly half a decade younger than me, maybe eleven or twelve years old at most. He was dressed in a Legend T-Shirt partially obscured by a carhartt jacket and jeans with his own pair of scuffed boots. The brown-haired child was smiling widely, hand gripping his father's with enough force to whiten his knuckles. In his excitement the kid had grabbed his father's horny mitt after they cleared the door, something kids his age began rigorously trained themselves not to do in preparation for the full antisocial surliness of teen-hood that was shortly to come. He proved my internal musings correct when he quickly disengaged once he noticed what he had done. The father and son duo made their way to the counter, the father's nervousness as visible as the rays of the still-rising sun visible through the quartz display window. He looked like he wanted to speak, but he couldn't quite find a way to start.
'My first customers!' I thought with an internal "squee" of delight. Hey! I could squee if I wanted to! I was a girl now, after all! I looked at the two people looking around nervously and flawlessly launched into my semi pre prepared greeting. Social powers for the win!
"Good morning gentlemen, and welcome to Brockton Bay's one and only Superpower Emporium. My name is Grant, and I will be your bestowal specialist today." I paused to sweep my arm toward the stools and the now active touch screens in front of them before continuing. "Please feel free to place your posterior at one of our power planning pedestals and peruse our catalogue, the 'Power Package 'Pedia' to see what exciting opportunities await you!"
"Uh, is this some sort of joke, or a TV show or something?" asked the man, intense curiosity and slight apprehension marring his face. Junior, of course, was already seated and tapping on one of the screens eagerly.
"Of course not, my dear sir." I spoke, my every movement reinforcing my words. I had to be lavish with my gestures if I wanted to add the weight body language to the conversation, covered in power armor as I was. "Using an amazing new process pioneered by myself, the wonders of parahuman powers are now available to the common man. The process by which we bestow powers is fast, effective, and painless. The powers you purchase today are guaranteed to be permanent and free of any complications or side effects, unlike those hacks at Cauldron."
Junior was still tapping away, a gigantic smile on his face and fire in his eyes as he played with different power combinations. The tall man blinked at me, a shocked look on his face. I could tell that he was still curious though, and more than a little interested. "Is that so?" he asked.
"It is indeed!" I exclaimed, the bottom of my closed fist gently meeting the flat of my other hand. "Listen," I said, my right hand coming up to stroke the 'chin' of my helmet, the other one at my hip. "I can tell that you're skeptical, but you and your boy are my first customers. Take a look at the catalogue and pick out a power set for each of you, and I'll take 95% off the total price for being the very first people to set foot into my new business." I laughed. "Good taste like that deserves a reward!"
The man, Jason Brown, as he later introduced himself, laughed along with me and agreed to take a look. A short time later he and his son, Leroy, had decided on the powers they wanted after asking several questions and some explanations. I wirelessly interfaced with their computers and caused the packages they selected to be sent up to the enormous screen that took up over half of the back wall behind the counter.
"So Leroy, you're decided on the Alexandria Plus package with the Quantum Blaster add-on, right?" He nodded excitedly, looking toward his father. The man patted him on the head fondly and nodded toward me once. I smiled. "Did you want to upsize that order with a side of Regeneration for only $99 dollars more? That's the pre-discount price, of course, so it would only add an extra $4.50 to the total cost of the package with your "first customer" coupon code."
"Can I dad?" he whined, his shining eyes seeming to grow two sizes. His father sighed, shaking his head slowly with a small smile on his face.
"Ok, fine," said Jason, mock exasperation coloring his tone. "Kids, right?" he asked, looking at me.
"Excellent choice Leroy! And for you Jason," I said, pointing to the screen, "I think we've decided that the Kinetic Knight package fits your needs the best, right?" After nod of his head I continued. "You have Metallokinesis and Electrokinesis selected for the base abilities, but I see here that you haven't yet filled the Brute and Miscellaneous slots in the package… Might I suggest Passive Inertial Dampening for the Brute ability? It's a deceptively powerful damage reduction power, and if you're going to be using Metallokinesis as a mover ability it would be extremely useful there as well." I pulled up the relevant ability on his screen, and he studied it for a moment, his eyes going wide.
"Oh, wow... Yeah, let's go with that one!" he said, excitement coloring his tone. "And I was thinking, for that Miscellaneous ability… do you have something that'll let me heal up other people if they get hurt?" he asked hopefully.
"We surely do! There's an option called First Aid Field which is exactly what you just described. It's not going to make you another Panacea, but still incredibly useful. It allows you to make a spherical force field that slowly heals whoever is inside of it. It doesn't work on illnesses or genetic conditions, but it's great for regular wounds. Do you want me to include that in your package?" I asked. He nodded an affirmative. "And finally, did you want to upsize your package with a side of Regeneration as well?"
"Well shoot, I guess I will, it just sounds too useful not to." said Jason, a huge grin on his face. "So… now's the part I won't like. What's all of this going to cost?"
"Now," I said, "bear in mind that I am going to be giving you real, live, permanent superpowers…" I used my very best serious business voice here. "The regular price for the package that Leroy selected, with options, is $3299.00, which is a steal compared to what those crooks at Cauldron charge. Your package Jason, with options, would normally be $4099.00. Comparable package offered by Cauldron, if they could even offer them, which they can't, would be in the millions of dollars, and they would include the possibility of horrendous side effects. So, even if you had to pay full price you would be getting the bargain of the century."
I paused for a moment, their attention focused on me. "Since you are my first customers, your price is only 5% of the numbers I just quoted you. You get a full 95% off the top. Both powersets can be yours for the insanely low price of only three hundred sixty-nine dollars and ninety cents. That's it. For less than what you spend on a month of rent you can buy superpowers which will allow you to earn an excellent living for a lifetime. The protectorate, private security, become a rogue… take your pick, teams will literally be clamboring for you with powers like these." I posed dramatically, my words as sharp as Kaiser's blades. "You literally can't afford not to buy these powers at the price I'm giving you today."
"Do you take debit?" asked Jason.
. . .
My first two customers left the store, heads held high and temporary domino masks decorated with my logo, the letters "SPE" in silver and green, adorning their faces. A crowd of at least fifty people had gathered out front and many were talking amongst themselves. A couple of boys from a local scout troop were selling hotdogs and bags of chips from a cart. Several people were reading the pamphlets and business cards I had placed in the dispensers near the door. I did a quick check, and yes, I would have to restock them. I did so quickly and efficiently, topping up both from my hammerspace.
As he cleared the crowd and stepped onto the street Jason gestured to a heavily dented aluminum garbage can across the way and it flew toward him, compressing and twisting itself into a thick, wide disc as it did so. He stepped onto it wrapped around his feet and calves, anchoring him in place. Languidly he floated into the air, his some rising up to float beside him. They did a victory lap around the block while Leroy whooped with joy before speeding up and disappearing into the skyline. The crowd watched in silence, then broke into a frenzy as people pushed forward trying to get to the door. Thankfully the "peace zone" slowed them down and ensured that no one got jostled or hurt.
I rose into the air until I towered over even the tallest men present. "Everyone, please; your attention!" I said, my voice raised. The crowd quitened. "Thank you. There are powers enough for everyone, and you will all have your turn to shop. Presently I am ready for the next group of customers, so please form an orderly line composed of groups of four based on when you got here. Please share around the pamphlets to get an idea of which power package you might want to get, and to make sure our prices are within your budget." I paused, my hands meeting hips. "Anyone acting in a rude or unruly way will be asked to leave. We do not brook ill manners at the Superpower Emporium. Thank you!"
Business was good that day. When I closed up shop, hammer-spacing the building so that I could re-use it later, I had sold thirty-four separate powersets at full price after those first two. There were a little over twice that many prospective customers who came into the shop, but many of them wanted power for nefarious reasons so I had to find ways to dissuade them. I was only interested in giving powers to people who would become heroes or rogues, or otherwise not use their abilities for evil or crime. Thankfully there was a power for determining their intent. I had split some of the groups up and had the individuals I wasn't planning to sell powers to come in together four at a time, right at the beginning, so that I could dismiss them as fast as possible. Once a group of undesirables was inside I subtly altered their memories and sent them on their merry way smiling, back to wherever they came from an now added to the list of people who couldn't perceive my shop.
Between cash and my the payment processing service I was using for debit and credit cards, I made $122,594. It wasn't bad at all for my first day in business, really. Plus there were thirty-six new parahumans now, all of them either planning to do good or help the world in some way. I smiled beneath my power armor as I rocketed away into the heavens late that afternoon, three dozen new powersets (plus the fourteen I snuck into customers covertly before copying and deleted them) were now mine to command. No, it really hadn't been a bad day at all.
EDIT: Removed chapter in spoiler tag. I decided I didn't like it anymore.
Last edited:
Being Taylor is a Thing - CYOA Build
- Location
- United States
In case you're interested, here is the CYOA build. Cheers!
Points:
God Mode: +10pts
Disadvantages: +10pts
Total Points: +20pts
Powers:
Power Manipulation -8pts
Crossover: Tony Stark -4pts
Twins: Othala -2pts
-Jailbroken: User can permanently grant basic powers by touch or at range. -1pts
Disadvantages:
Being Taylor is a thing. +2pts
Wanted (Cauldron-2, PRT-2, E88-1. ABB-1, Merchants-1, Coil-1) +8pts
Advantages and Perks:
AU: Zion Neutered, Annette Lives -1pts
Charles Atlas Superpowers -1pts
Blank -1pts
Shattered Limiter -1pts
First Impressions -1pts
Worm CYOA: Being Taylor is a Thing
Points:
God Mode: +10pts
Disadvantages: +10pts
Total Points: +20pts
Powers:
Power Manipulation -8pts
Crossover: Tony Stark -4pts
Twins: Othala -2pts
-Jailbroken: User can permanently grant basic powers by touch or at range. -1pts
Disadvantages:
Being Taylor is a thing. +2pts
Wanted (Cauldron-2, PRT-2, E88-1. ABB-1, Merchants-1, Coil-1) +8pts
Advantages and Perks:
AU: Zion Neutered, Annette Lives -1pts
Charles Atlas Superpowers -1pts
Blank -1pts
Shattered Limiter -1pts
First Impressions -1pts
- Location
- Burlington Iowa
Then the character half-assedly bio-manipulates the cock away. Problem solved in 5 seconds.
Omega_Endbringer
I am a woodchuck. I chuck wood.
- Location
- England
Or only goes out with girls (and could probably use that precog ability they have to tell how the person's going to react
)
Arimai
Curmudgeon
Girls are even more vicious against those they view as different. For men at that age we exchange a few blows then we go out and share a few drinks. All is forgiven. Unfortunately girls don't do that. They don't do physical confrontations, unless forced to.Or only goes out with girls (and could probably use that precog ability they have to tell how the person's going to react
Subrosian_Smithy
endless
- Location
- Washington
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Or only goes out with girls (and could probably use that precog ability they have to tell how the person's going to react
Unfortunately, girls aren't much more likely to be into a girl with a penis then boys are. I've done the research for my dating prospects.
- Location
- United States
I find that it makes it easier to read. The spoiler text doesn't go as wide when the browser window is full-screened, making it a better size in my opinion.
Last edited:
edmantgoog
init high just high
aww no villains
- Location
- norway
wonder how charles atlas, plot armor and comic book pretty would work together with shattered limiter
Subrosian_Smithy
endless
- Location
- Washington
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Questionable Questing. It's essentially SB/SV but with a separate section for NSFW content.
Tabi
Expert Jissou Abuser
This reads like a fetish fic. I mean, honestly this has all kinds of creepy and really NSFW undertones. Cuz, Taylor? She's fifteen fucking years fucking old.
EDIT:
Right. That's practically Mary Sue material right there. And Fetish Fuel. So this is a Fetish Fic. Honestly, this reads like something you'd find on some random special snowflake's tumblr account.
EDIT:
Right. That's practically Mary Sue material right there. And Fetish Fuel. So this is a Fetish Fic. Honestly, this reads like something you'd find on some random special snowflake's tumblr account.
Last edited:
Tabi
Expert Jissou Abuser
The fact that's it's on QQ should say something pretty clear.
That and as I'm reading it this makes transgendered people sound like brain damaged pansexuals.
Tabi
Expert Jissou Abuser
What, the inevitable whining or the flamebait?
You went into a cyoa thread without expecting it to be a mary sue? lol
Tabi
Expert Jissou Abuser
The generic CYOA is a short lived mary sue that ends with everyone losing interest; the author included.
Great CYOAs are also short lived, but they often almost always have a great deal of character development driving the story forwards, with actual plot and conflict.
in other words, CYOAs with mary sues is basically lazy writing. Most authors who write a good CYOA can write an interesting OP character do it with style and development that draws you in, while a lazy author just goes for the Mary Sue and leaves it at that.
Did I mention that this was fetish fueled?
Last edited:
I personally don't care about the fetish fueled part. Double down on the D if the author wants, I'm not bothered. Heck, in this case it's practically unique.
What bugs me is most CYOA in general have turned me away from CYOA. I've never seen these good or great cYOA you speak of, because I hardly consume them anymore. I'm almost of the mind that they belong in a gulag- i mean, subforum, because they're ridiculously numerous and I'd like the space back for non-CYOA and non-SI fics.
What bugs me is most CYOA in general have turned me away from CYOA. I've never seen these good or great cYOA you speak of, because I hardly consume them anymore. I'm almost of the mind that they belong in a gulag- i mean, subforum, because they're ridiculously numerous and I'd like the space back for non-CYOA and non-SI fics.
- Status