After Black Swan's explosive "debut", you're running out of clandestine locations to conduct potentially dangerous scientific experiments. It's embarrassing actually. Thankfully, your recent resurgence in popularity in the Worker's Mitt has paid unexpected dividends. As has Black Swan's childhood growing up here.
Ok, so where are we going…
"Yeah, so this is the abandoned warehouse where everyone would come to drink after prom. Hey, that's where Rei threw up after chugging, like, eight beers! Wild!" Black Swan says pointing to a corner.
REI MENTIONED

REI MENTIONED

Awesome!!! She would totally do that (right after threat of extreme peer pressure)!!!
"You'll get 'em next time, doc!" Rhys says from where he waits, surrounded by curtains, "Keep your chin up!"

You turn your head from the disaster that is Dr. Ibis' social life, and step through the curtain to where Rhys sits in a Gatch bed in a hospital gown. Menagerie Witch has a death grip on his hand, a pallid complexion on her face, and her friends protectively huddled around the two of them.
Well, Ibis is doing his best. And the found family grows…
"I thought we weren't coming in! Can't you see Rhys' butt in that gown or something?" Black Swan chirps.

"Don't worry, I'm sittin' down!" Rhys calls, "Thank god it's sweltering outside. Otherwise I'd be freezin' in this flimsy thing."
Horizon natives yadda yadda always hot.
"Hey, gimme some credit, shortstack! I'm Rhys "Crusher" Gardner! I ain't afraid of nothin'!"
Sick ass nickname!
Fine . . ." Menagerie Witch mumbles, "Butthead . . ."

"Pardon me?!" You're glad she's feeling comfortable enough to assert herself, but she just called you what?
Gasp

Maddie! Profanity!
Black Swan covers her mouth to hide her laughter as Menagerie Witch sticks her tongue out at you.

W-when . . . when did you stop being her favorite?!
LMAO🤣
Vulcan? Yes, I was aware."

"Yeah, yeah . . . Gus was an Algernon-type. He told me what using his power was gonna do to him one day. I tried to convince him to stop, but . . ."

"He never would," you finish, with a painful smile. An argument you were well-familiar with.

"Yeah," Rhys licks his lips and looks away, "You think . . . you think he was scared when he used his power?"
That's one hell of a tone change.
You never really knew Vulcan, or any of SLAYERS for that matter outside of their leader. Augustus Schulte struck you as an ambitionless man, content to live a comfortable life in mediocrity. Still . . .

"Yes. I think he was, darling. But he pushed forward anyway."

". . .'cuz that's what heroes do," Rhys finished, squeezing his eyes shut, "Yeah, figured as much. Thanks, LL—um, Lady Leizi."

You nod at him. "Of course. And, Rhys, this is your last chance for second thought."

"Fuck that," he says with a grin that doesn't meet his eyes, "I hope I get turned into a dragon."
Same here.
That's to be expected.

wait a minute, Sir Suffering didn't win.
They boil and fizz and congeal into something else.

It's a matte, platinum-blue substance that almost looks like living stone. It bubbles up from Rhys' remains and consolidates into a solid, rectangular block. But even as it unifies, it starts moving again, thinning out at the corners and stretching into two arms and legs with sharp joints and claws on the hands. His feet only have two toes as a powerfully built chest stretches into a featureless head. The head's crown curves backwards into a crescent shape and two pits for eyes emerge.

The process takes minutes, and you left staring at a seven-foot tall facsimile of a man.
@BKNK.SHOP is going to have a crazy concept to work with.
Rhys holds up his hands in wonder and looks at the rest of his body. Then he falls backwards in despair and says, "Awwwww, I wanted to be a dragon!"
Same here, man. One day.
Oh shit! I'm fine, Maddie! I'm fine! Just a fursona unfulfilled, sorry Gus . . . Anyway! How freaky do I look?"
Bro's a furry? Not what I expected.
"I don't understand it," Dr. Ibis mutters, "The dosage wasn't potent enough to cause a dysmorphic effect. What in the world . . . ?"
Is this another Mona situation where he can do something to look like himself again?
Why you . . . !" Rhys mock shakes his fist, "What a shame, no one will see my beautiful mug again! I can almost remember what it looked like—whoa!"

As Rhys speaks, his head twists and shifts until you're looking at his face as it was again.
Yup.
Rhys' whole body snaps back to its original shape, right now the scar on his abdomen. He raises both arms in triumph.
Henshin! (In reverse!)
"Yes," you agree, looking up with a twitching lip, "And you're au naturale."

Rhys blushes and covers himself. He then squints his eyes and frowns. He screws up his face in concentration and—

"Hey, hey guys! Guess what? I can do pants too!"
Instant pants. Very useful.
Chaucer clears his throat. "Well, yes . . . the report, Doctor?"

"Yes, yes, I'm getting to that!" Dr. Ibis says, flapping his arms, "Ahem. The Ambrosia appears to have permanently transformed Rhys' body into a malleable organic material denser than the human body. We've taken to calling it "clay". Like Adamant and his namesake metal, Rhys' body seems to produce clay in amounts without end."
Clay Crusher! That's a great name, Worker's Mitt dudes would love that.
"No, I wouldn't say that. More . . . his entire body is one great redundancy. He's not only able to shape and mold the clay, but transmute it. During testing he was able to make scales, feathers, chitin, bone, bioluminescent sacs, secondary pairs of organs, and so on. He was able to make constructs in his body as well—we had him create organic pile-bunkers in his elbows that greatly increased the strength of his punches and, after being given a diagram, he could create crude crossbows out of his hands. He even at one point turned himself into a horse to amuse young Madeline—unfortunately her power did not work on him in that form."
Cool.
"It is. He could reliably imitate people, down to their voices, once he figured out how to shape his vocal cords. He also has regeneration on an incredible scale. He's no Scarlet Maturity, but he would be exceedingly difficult to put down through physical means in a fight. Especially if he generated any organic armor."
Down to their voices? This is a crazy utility power.

What did this remind me of again? Oh yeah.

DIED 0.2
CAME BACK 1.5
WELCOME BACK PLAN CHIMERA

(It's only fair a @LucidProp plan wins after mine. It's now perfectly balanced.)
[Transformation] + [Transformation] + [Regeneration] + [Regeneration] + [Fitness] = [Autobiokinesis]
five keywords?

@Bitterman, what's the largest number of keywords we'd need for a synergy? I'm curious now.
 
[X] Clay Changeling
[X] A beating, clay heart that seems to be melting on it's bottom half.

[X] EXCEED! (Valiant Silver, Catch-22, The Woman in Blue)

Who is this woman and why does she like blue so much?

Edit: approval votes for:
[X] A triumphant upward closed fist, emerging from melted clay
[X] The Everything
[X] Plan: Friendly Face
 
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*whistles* Wow, now that's impressive! A nice boost to his HIT and ESPIONAGE scores, and his power is ridiculously versatile. I think he'll fulfil the punch-good role VERY nicely, along with pulling double duty in a sneak-good role.

As for the choices...

[X] Crusher

His potential for espionage will get out eventually, but I'd like to at least try to keep it secret for a while.

[X] A beating, clay heart that seems to be melting on it's bottom half.

[X] EXCEED! (Valiant Silver, Catch-22, The Woman in Blue)
 
[X] Crusher

[X] A beating, clay heart that seems to be melting on it's bottom half.

[X] EXCEED! (Valiant Silver, Catch-22, The Woman in Blue)

Regen and super strenght as obvious tricks. Then his shapeshifting as true trump.
 
Uh, 9. But that's a special one. 5 is the normal max
Well, now I'm curious.

Guesses for Possible 9 Keyword Synergy:
  • [Time Control]
  • [Clarivoyance (True)] (like Augur's.)
  • [Domain Expansion/Bankai Equivalent]
  • [Goldnine Resistance]
  • [Leviathan Force/Eldritch Being Attunment]
  • [Power Copier]
  • [Unlimited Clone Works]
  • [Algernon-Type (No Rebound)]
Edit: I've got one more.
  • [Toon Force]
Certified Gear 5 enjoyer, here.

Honestly id cost a lot but Id love to give someone both fundamental manipulation and autobiokinesis
Ok, we've got a changeling, a black hole, and a young shadow witch. We can probably fit a fleshshaper in somewhere.
 
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Just checked front page, and yep, just as I thought. We'll need a cover for Reputation and Operations soon. In terms of stats, that best one would be Dr, Rhodes, who has the exact statspread we need. Any idea what to give him from list available?

[X] Flight of the Bumblebee (Apiary, Scarlet Maturity, The Defiance Unit)
 
We ended with a supped up version of mystique... not bad, not bad at all. Also, oohh boy stat requirements are going up (depressed) yaaay....
I mean i get it, balance needs to be kept.... i just said balance should be kept in a Hero comic book world.... *shakes head*
NVM lets just hope the stat raise isnt too big.
 
Just checked front page, and yep, just as I thought. We'll need a cover for Reputation and Operations soon. In terms of stats, that best one would be Dr, Rhodes, who has the exact statspread we need. Any idea what to give him from list available?

[X] Flight of the Bumblebee (Apiary, Scarlet Maturity, The Defiance Unit)
a Tolerance boost lets us give him the Wade Combo.

Should work well for an Operator and make sure he wont die on his revenge quest.
 
So after doing this, I realized I made missions cost way too little in terms of stats. Especially Wider than a Mile. I won't change any of the stat requirements on the existing missions (except Wider than a Mile), but in the future they will be going up! Fair warning!
Wider than a Mile (AP 4, HIT 15, ESPIONAGE 19, REPUTATION 13, OPERATIONS 18)
Total Available Stats: HIT 24, ESPIONAGE 26, REPUTATION 17, OPERATIONS 19.
Oh damn, you weren't kidding. We could get that at turn 5 and have an extra metahuman (John?) to spare.
 
Lets see if we get any new DNA samples before that point, well... that and find more goldnine. Oooh boy the next mission plan is going to be interesting....
 
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[X] Popeye
-[X] Publicize the shapeshifting only insofar as it involves suddenly growing gigantic fists (and the big beefy arms and shoulders required to pound them into deserving faces). Should be a nice combo of iconic and misleading.
[X] A can of spinach, crossed out with a 🚫 sign. Because unlike the original Popeye's megamuscles, no spinach is required.
 
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[X] Popeye
-[X] Publicize the shapeshifting only insofar as it involves suddenly growing gigantic fists (and the big beefy arms and shoulders required to pound them into deserving faces). Should be a nice combo of iconic and misleading.
[X] A can of spinach, crossed out with a 🚫 sign. Because unlike the original Popeye's megamuscles, no spinach is required.
That's a QM-veto hahaha
 
...wait he should also be elastic, to a degree, right? He can also punch a guy from across the room by stretching his arm out.

He could grow wings to fly.

He could squeeze through a small gap to enter a restricted area.

Every time I think of something, he gets more versatile in my mind.
 
[X] Goodnight, Avô (Uiara, Ọsanyìn, An Interlocutor)

[X] Plan: Friendly Face
-[X] Name: Handyman
-[X] Emblem: A Theater Mask, one-half smiling and the other frowning

Why Handyman? Because that's Rhy's modus operandi as a spy. He's been doing odd jobs in the Ladder for years without anyone finding a reason to complain about him, and he's a friendly but forgettable presence that can eavesdrop on people or better yet, have them willingly spill their secrets to him while they whine about problems with their workplace.

He's a US trained intel officer, and he's good at his job. The best spy isn't the one that breaks into your home in the middle of the night, but the guy you willingly invite in, and what are Handymen but people you invite into very private places like your home after you tell them all about your problems?

Pretty thematic for our Espionage 9 guy.

The other way to read it is of course him having a wide range of tools at all times thanks to his powers.

I'm a bit iffier on the emblem, but the theater masks are supposed to represent how he has many different faces and identities at his disposal thanks to his powers. There's also my personal interpretation of his character too, that the affable big brother persona Rhys puts up isn't something that comes naturally to him but is a tool he developed for the job.
 
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