Shining Example (WORM ORIGIN QUEST)

New day.

You know, a week ago, you knew what a new day would have in store for you. No surprises, just get up, read a book, talk to Rebecca and go straight back to bed.

No surprises, no dangers.

Now? You could be thrown off a cliff, or get dragged into a situation where you're fighting a maniac under a collapsing mountain.

Pretty much anything could happen.

Loitering over to your drawers, you grab the first set of fresh clothes you can find. You switch out of the matted shirt and jeans that got you through Pennsylvania. You look up, beyond the desk to the mirror. Your reflection stares back at you. It blinks as you look it over. A full head of hair, gold eyes...

Wait, gold?

You lean forward, inching yourself closer to the reflection. You blink, and when you open your eyes again, they're the blue they've always been. Rubbing your temple, you sigh, leaning all your weight on the desk. Your arms barely feel the weight, and your legs might as well have stopped working for what little effort they needed to put in.

You take another look at the reflection. It smirks without trying; it's hair almost perfect for how average the rest of him looked. From where you were standing, the man radiated confidence.

That man was you.

He could throw a mountain, fight a god, protect an entire town from a psycho, all while using only a fraction of what he was capable of. Now, he was starting a plan that could bring hundreds, no, thousands of people just like him into the limelight so they could have a chance at a normal life.

He sounds like a great guy.

But he's not Alex.

Alex didn't stand up to someone like Doctor Mother. Alex didn't rush into a fight of all things. He didn't argue with Clint, and he didn't make Rebecca worry.

But now he did. He does all of that and more the second he remembers what he could do.

The sound of cracking wood fills your ears, darting your eyes down. Your fingers are digging into the wood like it was butter. You don't see any waves, but here you are, ripping through it. In a flash, your hands are off the wood. You shake your head and take one last look at the man in the mirror.

He still looked confident.

You'd like to feel like that all the time. Not just when people were watching, or when you were doing something worth talking about. The moments where you had the time to ask yourself the questions you didn't want to answer.

Was this going to work?

According to Contessa, yes it should, but Contessa doesn't do it how she should. Her path is just a big slap in the face to everything you said about telling the truth.

But then again, it's the reason you can do this in the first place.

But what if she just-.

You shake your head, what are you thinking? Didn't you ask for this, remember? If it gets results and does what you said, then even if it bends the rules it should be ok.

Clint would say that was right, David might as well, even Rebecca. They would all agree, and you would be justified.

So then why don't you have any confidence now?

"You saved them, isn't that enough?"

… you know you don't have an answer to that one. You look in the mirror, and he seems just as lost as you. At least you two are finally on the same page.

Honestly, the only thing you know for sure right now is the fact that your head isn't ringing. You blink the sleep out of your eyes, focusing on anything. A wave shines over your desk, but there's barely a blip.

In fact, you can barely hear anything.

If there was any silver lining of this morning, it's that. Throwing on the last of the new set of clothes, you head out of the room. The hallways were empty, as per usual. Making your way down the hall, you stop at Rebecca's door.

The light's off looks she's getting some rest.

That's good, amazing actually. You start to reach for the handle but stop as your stomach roars. You take a long look at the door before your hand drops back to your side, and you keep walking down the hall.

No matter how much you might want to talk to her, nothing you say would justify waking her up without taking care of yourself first. Knowing you, you'd just make her worry even more.

Do the smart thing she'd say, and get some food before the rumble in your stomach starts to hurt. You stop, as the mere thought of eating sends your stomach into a war with the rest of you.

Yeah, food sounds fantastic.

Now you're jogging down the hallway, sliding into the elevator the second the doors are wide enough. Pressing the button to the cafeteria, you shift from one foot to the other. Glancing at your palm, you flex your fingers. Waves dance over your palm, sending a symphony of rings through your head. You blink, and they're gone.

It's all as natural as breathing.

The door slides open again, and you see someone else had the same idea as you. Matthew sat with a large glass of some juice and a buffet's worth of pancakes in front of him. He looks up from his breakfast and waves.

"Morning Alex."

You give him a quick wave back, "Morning Matthew."

He gestures to the seat across from him, taking a bite of his pancake. You eye the food machine for a second, only for Matthew to look at you, utterly defeated. Suppressing a sigh, you talk the few steps to the offered seat. Matthew brightens instantly.

Taking the seat, you blink as Matthew prepares another plate and hands you some pancakes and silverware.

"I put in the wrong number in the machine anyway," Matthew says before you can voice a complaint.

You look at him and the pancakes, and your stomach growls before you could even form an opinion. Matthew smirks behind a mouthful of food but doesn't say a word. Rolling your eyes, you can't suppress a smirk of your own as you dig in.

Actually no, eat isn't the right word, inhale is a closer fit. It takes less than a minute to get through the first set of pancakes, and less than two before you're putting more on your plate. Matthew's eyes dart between you and the pancakes looking halfway between impressed and worried. You stop for long enough to give him a sheepish look.

"I didn't have… anything to eat last night."

"Busy night?" Matthew guesses.

You raise an eyebrow at him, and he returns the look.

"Matthew," you start, "Do you know what happened yesterday?"

The living laser just shrugs his shoulders.

"Not a clue," He admits.

He pauses, his fork halfway to his mouth with his next bit.

"Why did I miss something big?"

"You could say that," you mumble.

"Well what is it?" He asks, taking another bite.

You tap your fork on the food, and glance up to see Matthew giving you an expectant look. When nothing happens, he takes a big swig of his juice.

"Ok, just give me the short version."

You wait for a second, and he returns a defiant look.

"Ok," you breath, "after you left I went to Charles like you said. I talked to him; I asked him to build something for me."

Matthew nods, motioning for you to continue as he takes another bite.

"Then Rebecca and David started fighting, it nearly brought the building down, and I got thrown off a cliff."

Matthew lerches, his breath stopping dead. He drops his fork, pounding his chest as he painfully shoved a block of food down his throat. When he could finally breathe again, you just give him a reluctant smile. He nods and slowly puts his hand back down.

"Anything else I should know about?"

You think over the last few days. The half-truths, the deals, the fights and finally the small victories. Going over it all, you don't think you could explain every detail even if you tried. Honestly, you can barely remember some of it, but it can't hurt to try

"It's not going to be the short version."

Matthew pushes his pancakes away, leaning back in his chair.

"My schedule just opened up, so I've got time."

He cracks a small smile, and you can't help cracking one yourself.

"So… how'd it all start?" Matthew asks.

Leaning back in your chair, you tap your fork against your plate. A crack appears on the plate, and your wrist freezes the fork millimetres above the plate. Matthew points the finger at it, and a red beam shots out. It hits the crack, and the smell of melting platter fills the air. You wave away the smell with your hand. When you can stomach the action of breathing again, you see the lack of a crack on the plate. Matthew just shrugs and waits.

"Well, I don't know how the argument started, but I was with Charles when it did," you explain, "We were talking about what he would build for me like I said. He was really eager to make something for me."

"He doesn't take no for an answer," Matthew smiles.

You chuckle a little at that.

"Yeah, he didn't want to hear anything from me but an idea that would let him build something. I thought for a bit, and after giving him an idea, then the entire building started shaking. Before I knew what was happening, I was running to the elevator, telling Charles to tell me where everything was going down."

You raise a hand, flexing your fingers experimentally. This time, no waves appeared, leaving you staring at a normal hand.

"I… I don't know what came over me." you admit, "I just jumped in, head first. I still can't believe that I did it."

In the corner of your eye, you catch Matthew's smile start to sour. Dropping your hand to your side, you force your gaze back to him, and his smile brightens again.

"When I got to Doctor Mother's office, David was holding back Rebecca. I screamed, and then everything went to hell. Rebecca slammed David out of the building, and they started fighting outside while the office started falling apart. I managed to stop some rocks from falling on Manton, but that was it."

You rock the chair, making something crunch. Ignoring it the best you can, you put your hand behind your back.

"I didn't know what to do, I just...froze," you admit, almost reluctantly.

Matthew starts to raise a hand, but you wave it aside.

"Matthew, I froze so bad that Contessa had to drag me to the roof and throw me off just to get me to realise how much I could do if I just stepped up."

You chuckle, but it doesn't feel very funny.

"And as much as I hate it, it worked."

Matthew nods, but he doesn't say a word. He motions for you to continue and you rub the back of your head.

"So after flying a little," you say quickly, "I managed to find Rebecca and David. I broke up their fight, and they told me that I was the reason that they were fighting."

Matthew stares at you, his eyes shooting as wide as dinner plates. You regretfully force yourself to nod, killing any doubt he might have had.

"My powers weren't progressing as fast as Doctor Mother wanted. She wanted results, and she wanted them fast. So she got Rebecca, David and Manton together to figure out a way to step things up a notch. Most of them, David included, thought the best idea was to force me to grow, no matter how much I might not want to."

Matthew's eyes widened again, but it's not such. Horror, even a flash of disgust runs across his face. His fingers danced in the colours of the rainbow. They got so bright that he clenches his fist just to keep the two of you from having to wince.

"Rebecca didn't agree," you continue, "She didn't agree to the point that she was willing to take down David to keep me safe."

You feel your fingers tighten as waves dance around your chair, begging you to move something, anything.

"I decided that was enough, that I was going to do something about it. For the first time in my life, I took the hit. I wasn't going to let either of them take the blame for something that wasn't their fault."

Your fingers loosen, and the waves disappear with them. Matthew eyes you, but you brush the look aside, you've got to continue.

"They managed to make up, and then we realised that nothing added up."

You feel a small smile grow on your face, but it doesn't feel like the ones you used to give. Matthew shivers, it was a little chilly in here after all.

"Contessa, Doctor Mother, Manton" you list, "They weren't telling us everything. We decided to change that. All three of us went straight to Doctor Mother, and she gave us everything."

Matthew blinks in surprise, and you nod through the shock of it all.

"Threw me for a loop too," you say, "But apparently, everyone in the world can get powers. To get them though, you have to go through something called a trigger event."

You snap your fingers in frustration, desperately searching for how you explained it to the kid.

"It's a flight or fight response to the worst things in your life. It's got to be something so bad that you just… snap, and depending on the event you get some power. I don't know much else."

Matthew doesn't even blink. His eyes wordlessly plea for you to take it back, but you shake your head.

"I don't want to believe it either, but she wasn't lying Matthew. One of us would've noticed if she was, and we were left with that."

He rings his fingers together, slowly letting his head bob up and down. The look in his eyes is still there, but he doesn't say a thing.

"I didn't want to live with that, and I told her to stop. She wouldn't, not unless I gave her a better plan."

The corners of your mouth twitch upwards, sending yet another wave of confusion through Matthew.

"And I did."

Matthew's jaw drops, and it takes everything you have not to laugh at the expression.

"I told her that we need to create a culture where everyone, humans and superhumans alike, can work together without anyone being forced. Somewhere that shows just how far we can go when everyone comes together."

You feel the edges of your mouth twitch upwards, remembering the thrill of victory too much to stop.

"Sure, there's going to be monsters who get powers, but we can't let that stop us from helping everyone we can. We can't stop crime, but we can at least help those who were forced into it. So we'll start in the US, made an example here, and wait for the world to realise that our way can work. From there, we can help everyone in the world with our powers, not just the people here."

Matthew's head nods like a bobblehead, his stare of surprise turning into one of awe as you continue. You captivate him just by raising a finger, drawing his attention to the last, and most essential step of your plan.

"But most importantly, I said we had to trust each other to tell everyone everything. No more half-truths, manipulating lying bullshit, none of it. Just people telling the truth, and making their own choices."

You feel yourself slow, your hand gently falling to the table as your smile grows sour. Staring at nothing at the table, you barely see Matthew's awe goes back to concern.

"After Contessa said it was possible, Doctor Mother agreed. The only catch was that we have to let Contessa set everything up."

You manage to stop yourself from spitting out the fact, if only barely.

"To make it work Contessa said that we would need tech from Charles, written laws, and another set of hands to make everything work." You list, using your fingers to keep track, "Rebecca volunteered to help make the laws, David teleported to find and help Charles, and I went with Contessa to recruit the help."

Matthew taps his finger on the table, his head nodding to some unheard rhythm. He lifts a finger, "Did she say anything about me?" he asks.

You lean back, remembering the aftermath, only to shake your head.

"She didn't mention you, so I don't know what she was going to have you do."

"I would've helped you with recruiting if you called."

You raise a finger of your own as you purse your lips.

"About that, I… kind of forgot about you for awhile."

Matthew looks almost hurt, to which you throw your hands into the air.

"I'm sorry, but a lot was going on, and it was another split second choice for me."

Matthew folds his arms, but he gives you that much. Putting your hands down, you wring them together as you take a breath.

"Contessa and I started heading out right away. She doored us to a parking lot, and after getting a car, we started driving through Pennsylvania. I got some rest in before we got to some old ghost town in the middle of nowhere. We stopped, and I met a kid that calls himself Harbinger."

You hold out a hand, trying to gauge his height to Matthew.

"He's about this tall, blonde, and more attitude than you'd expect from a kid."

Letting your arm fall back to your side you grimace as you continue with the story.

"He was on the run from someone on his last team. The two of them were going to kill each other. Contessa offered that me and her step in and deal with him. He agreed, and we tracked the man to a mine where he was keeping two cops hostage."

You grip the hem of your jeans, slowly tearing at the fabric.

"I tried to reason with him, I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen."

Your grip stops, only to let your knuckles go white as your hand balls together by your side.

"We took him down, we were going to bring everyone in and then he…"

You trail off, and Matthew forces something down his throat.

"He didn't want to be taken in, did he?"

You shake your head.

"I tried to stop him. I screamed, I tried using waves but, nothing could stop it. He just… he just ended it right there."

Matthew shifts in his seat. He ran a hand down his face, tapping his foot on the floor. He gives you a small look.

"He made his choice," he says, his voice small.

You don't want to agree, but you feel your head start to nod regardless. As much as it hurts to admit, there's nothing to argue with. You want people to make their own choices, and he did. He made a choice not to be taken in, no matter the cost.

A stupid choice, but his.

But it's not how it's going to go next time. Even if they don't want to, everyone at least deserves another day. It was a mistake, one that you're going to learn from. For some reason, you feel confidence swell in your chest. Clenching a hand over your chest, you wait for it to fade away.

It doesn't.

If anything it gets bigger; it grows till it feels stupid for even worrying that you can't do it.

It's not a feeling that you ever remember having, but it's not a bad one. If you could have it, just for a little longer, that wouldn't be too bad.

"We can stop if you don't want to keep going."

Your eyes dart to Matthew. You follow his gaze towards your chest. Slowly, you take your hand off and shake your head.

"No, it's fine."

Matthew doesn't look convinced, but he leans back in his chair again.

"Once he…you know, the mine collapsed," you say quickly, "I think he was trying to take us with him. I managed to push the mountain off of everyone and make a way out, at the cost of the worst headache of my life. I had to rest for a bit before I could even walk again."

Picking up your fork, you spin the metal in your hand, glancing at your reflection in the shining silver.

"Once I got to the top of the mine, I talked to the kid. I tried to explain how Cauldron could change everything using my idea. But he didn't want to hear it."

You pause, playing with the chilled pancakes with your fork.

"He was going to leave. I was going to let him, and then…"

"Contessa?" Matthew guesses.

You nod.

"She started using her Path. She didn't even have to say a word while I was talking, but everything got back on track."

You let the fork clatter on the plate.

"Harbinger changes his mind, and then he's willing to take a look. Now, he's doing something somewhere around here. Probably whatever Doctor Mother wants him to do, as per usual with that."

You bite your tongue, cutting yourself off from going any further. Folding your arms together, Matthew drums his fingers on the table, his eyes clouding over, staring at nothing. They regain their focus the second he looks back to you.

"... you didn't lie to him, and you let Contessa put the first few steps together."

"Yeah, but I don't have to like it."

Matthew lets his shoulders slump. Shaking his head, he holds back a headache with one hand.

"Alex, do you want to know what I think?"

You nod instantly, and Matthew straightens in his seat. He puts a hand on the table and points right at you. It glows, and your hand is up instantly. The glow dims, and he drops the finger.

"Wow, you're wound up tighter than a spring. No wonder you're in a mood."

"Hey!" you interrupt.

Matthew rolls his eyes, all the while keeping a good little smirk going.

"I'm just trying to help."

You roll your eyes, and Matthew's smile drops off his face. He leans forward, forcing every bit of his glare on you.

"Alex, I asked you to tell me what happened, and you went all over the place. I know you must have a lot on your mind, but worrying about every little thing is only going to make things worse."

"But-!"

"But nothing!" He exclaims.

You jerk back in your seat, making Matthew fight to hold back a grimace. Running a hand through his hair, he tries to smile, but even he gives up after the first attempt.

"Alex," he breathes, "I don't want to sound like a dick, but I've seen you go through two different mood shifts since I've known you, and I met you three days ago."

He stops his small rant, rubbing his temple, he manages a small chuckle mostly to himself while you shift in your seat.

"Look, I know you've gone through a lot, happens to everyone that wakes up here. But as your friend, please just relax a little. Don't get me wrong," he says, quickly holding up his hands, "I think your idea is the best thing to happen around here, but if it makes you go through any more mood swings, it's not worth it."

You start to get up, and Matthew shakes his head.

"I'm not saying you can't worry about them," he clarifies, "Just... take a breath, let somethings just slide for now, and give yourself some time to think things through. That's all I'm asking, ok?"

You glance down, bringing your hand from behind your back. Looking away, you see Matthew. He's waiting, pleading. Letting out a breath you can't remember holding in; you give a small smile. Matthew beams, letting out a sigh of his own.

Picking up his glass, he downs the rest of what he was drinking in a single gulp. His work finished, he set it face down and jumps out of his seat. Smirking, he raises a finger, pointing it straight at the pancakes. You blink, and a red beam of energy flies out of his finger. It hits the food, and suddenly they're steaming like they were fresh off the stove. Matthew breathes a sigh of relief.

"Thought I was going to set them on fire for a second there."

He walks over and gives you a quick pat on the shoulder.

"Now, eat up, I'm off to work."

You turn in your seat, giving Matthew as much surprise as you could muster.

"What work?"

Matthew doesn't answer, pressing the answer call button. He doesn't have to wait long, the doors sliding open barely a second after he calls it. Stepping inside, he grabs the edge of the door and gives you a small solute.

"The work you just gave me."

The surprise doesn't leave your face, making Matthew roll his eyes in mock frustration.

"Since Contessa didn't give me a job, so I might as well do what you're doing. Make sure no one goes off the deep end, that sort of thing. Might give some good ideas while I'm at it, probably stop you from dropping from stress, which is always a plus."

You stare at Matthew, your jaw hanging off the ground. For a second, you don't know what to say. Your mouth just says the first thing that your lips manage to get out.

"Thanks."

"No worries," Matthew smiles, "Just eat up, take a load off in the game room, and let me deal with Doctor Mother."

He takes his hands off of the door letting it finally slide shut, leaving you alone with a mountain of pancakes. Looking at your plate, the discarded fork, you sigh.

No point just leaving it here.

Serving yourself some more, your arms go on autopilot, stuffing your face with as much of the syrupy food that you can manage without choking.

When you stop to breathe, the mountain has lost a few of its peaks, and just looking at it makes you feel a little queasy. Overeating? Maybe, but damn is it worth it.


[] After eating something, a break sounds nice. Heading to the game room like Mattew said would be nice.

[] Head out, and try to find David. If you've got some doubts, he probably does too.

[] Leave, and go to the lab to find Charles. Even if he's working, the tinker sounds like excellent company right now.

[] Go and find Rebecca. She'll have the answers, now that you're willing to admit to wanting to know them.