A Cat Is Fine Too (Worm CYOA)

[globalwarmth]

never thought of the "can turn him into putty and win any argument by petting him" would mesh with a control freak like her. makes sense for a host of Queen Admin.

 

[euroteres]

As I've said before I will be doing my level best to ruin whatever dignity SI me has, and possibly any dignity of those within the blast radius too.

Click to shrink...

'And not one person in Brockton Bay had retained their dignity by the time eve had fallen.'

 

[Zeuseus]

She got flooded with the chemicals because he forgot to make sure the drip eased off after a bit and it just kept dripping instead. The chemistry will return to normal but a lot of the 'damage' and I stress the airquotes there, has already been done.

Click to shrink...

Aah k, my bad. Mis-remembered the scene in question. Oh well, Taylor needed a friend or a pet anyway. Schrodinger can be both!

 

[jwolfe_beta]

HAH, fat chance of that. Armsmaster is beholden only to his most trusted Halberd. He would sooner shave off his beard than admit to that.

Click to shrink...

And after negotiations fail, your SI uses Imp's power to sneak in and shave off said beard while using Panacea's power to prevent it from ever growing back.

What? He is half-cat after all. And they can be sadistic little guys if crossed, or bored, or not given enough attention, etc etc.

 

[globalwarmth]

'And not one person in Brockton Bay had retained their dignity by the time eve had fallen.'

Click to shrink...

I have read at least 2 fics where a cape named dignity dies first on an endbringer battle. he and hope are not for this earth (bet)

 

[CrunchySharpie]

never thought of the "can turn him into putty and win any argument by petting him" would mesh with a control freak like her. makes sense for a host of Queen Admin.

Click to shrink...

...

Video relevant. QA and Schrodinger.

 

[Sceonn]

This is getting way too Taylor heavy for my taste, but then I'm only speaking for myself.
I mean, getting to be her friend is nice, but this just feels like a Railroading in the life of Taylor Hebert. An out of school cape friend would have been better than the Family invested Besty we're getting here.

 

[Ryune]

Well, Masamune and Miss Militia have a nice synergy anyways, what with the whole 'must have had a production run' rule and all- Normally this would preclude tinkertech, since it's not mass-produced... except that that is, as far as we know, Masamune's specialty.

So yeah. Run your flechette gun through Masamune, at least, Schrodinger.

Click to shrink...

MM is actually possibly the best Tinker/Thinker synergy power. Not even for her main power but for the secondary power that allows her to work without rest and have perfect memory. It allows her to go through the Tinker cycle in her head. Take a power like Bakuda and design a bomb. Because she has perfect memory, while unable to actually build the bomb after swapping away that Tinker power, it's not like the MM power will allow forgetting all the inner workings and design of the bomb. Run the design through Dragon to reverse engineer it and come up with the fundamental parts and then Masamune to create a mass production item and suddenly the power user can create special ammo on demand and in unlimited quantities.

This is also the case for Thinker powers. Admittedly, Thinkers in cannon were somewhat rare when concerning purely Zion shards but Tattletale and Dinah together could be terrifying. It's just too bad Coil is an Eden shard. That one is the one you could really abuse to hell and back.

 

[Firkraag]

Cat makes that story better.

 

[Insomnius]

Okay, here's the next chapter, not much to say about it but that I don't really like how it turned out. It fought me the whole way through and I couldn't seem to get past it. If the quality dropped a bit because of that I apologize. Near the end I was just wanting that scene to be over, don't know why it's bothering me so much.

And some more music for this chapter. Nothing to really go with the chapter, just something I was listening to on repeat while writing. Yes it's kinda weird. No, I won't stop listening to it because of that, song is catchy as hell.

Spoiler

Lets do dis.
-oOo-

The Hebert residence was about what I'd expected it to be; Quaint, cozy, a bit run down, just this side of the docks in an equally run down neighborhood. There wasn't any gang signs visible but I knew, just from the hazy half-remembered maps of Brockton Bay that the Merchant and ABB lines were barely more than half a dozen blocks away.

That was kind of terrifying in it's own way and really brought home that this was real. That this was my life now until I fulfilled whatever criteria ROB felt was sufficient for his amusement and either sent me home-

-Or left me here. And that was an equally terrifying thought. I was in the middle of a war torn city, in a war torn country, on a war torn continent, on a planet besieged by a multi-dimensional space whale. The only thing keeping said space whale from flying off the reservation and going Carrie on every planet earth ever was some homeless guy in some city I can't remember.

This didn't fill me with anything close to confidence.

But, I could manage. I had power, plenty of power to handle that problem. And without having to worry about the single point of failure that Flechette would be. I could create a Flechette gun with Leet's power then reverse engineer and mass produce these with Dragon and Masamune. That was something I could do when I had time. Scion was a far off threat, coming years from now. After Leviathan. After the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Or possibly even longer than that as I doubt that those stations of canon would be passed through that easily.

I was going to change things. First thing I needed to do was neutralize Bakuda, she along with Noelle were the catalyst for Leviathan's attack on Brockton bay. Take care of them and the beast will go to greener pastures. Subsequently, no Leviathan means no Slaughterhouse Nine taking advantage of the city's weakness, which means no Escalation ex Machina to where Jack Slash can turn Scion into his final middle finger to the alternate Earths.

That would give me plenty of time to fuck with the rest of the world for ROB's amusement and build up sufficient amounts of Dakka to take out Scion.

But that was neither here nor there at the moment. I wouldn't be able to put the hurt on that big golden bastard for some time until my infrastructure was built up and to do that I had to get materials and funds to buy the crap needed to make everything I needed.

But back to the matter at hand; Taylor. Dragging me. Into her house. I was suddenly glad that Danny didn't appear to be home just yet, it gave me a chance to think up some bullshit to say in the meanwhile.

"Here's home." Taylor waved her arm around magnanimously, slumping into the somewhat lumpy couch in the living room.

"Any particular reason you dragged me to your house?" It was a legitimate question.

Taylor gave me a look, her hand reaching out to the wooden end table and proceeded to lift the thing with one hand as if it weighed nothing. She set it down and her eyebrow twitched. "You can share your power, which itself copies any two powers. Do you know how bullshit that is?"

I gave her a bland look. "I am aware, yes. That still doesn't really answer my question."

Taylor's fingers tap-tapped a simple rhythm on the end table, brain seemingly whirling in thought. "You know that I'm a cape and what's happening to me at school, I know that you're a cape and your general situation." The finger tapping stopped. "You don't have anywhere else to go and no one to go back to while I have a place to stay." She eyed me like a hawk would eye a small mouse and her words became a little thick. "You wanted to help me, talked to me, encouraged me when you didn't have to, I... wanted to repay the favor..."

Ah... so that's it. The power sharing was the cherry, me being a cape was the whipped cream but it was me stepping up to listen to her problems and comfort her that won the 'best ice cream of the year' award.

And why the hell is she blushing, I thought I fixed that...?

In order; You listened to the problems of an attention starved teen, vilified her bullies, revealed that you were a cape and thus available for hero worship, muddled with her feel-good chemicals to make her relax around you then let her touch you in ways that, given your reaction, can be construed as inappropriate. And to top all of that off, as Schrodinger you're almost sickeningly attractive. What the fuck did you expect was going to happen?

Thank you sarcastic mental voice, your input is neither appreciated nor welcome.

Shhhhit... Taylor was crushing on me.

I was...kind of okay with that, actually. If I was stuck here, then starting up a relationship with someone was a given. I wasn't going to spend the rest of this life celibate. The only real problem I had with the idea was the age difference, and that would become less and less important as time went on.

I wouldn't deny her if she wanted to start a relationship but she had to start it and it wouldn't go anywhere I didn't approve of until the age difference wasn't as... disconcerting. But I ramble, it was too soon to be thinking about that kind of future with anyone and I had more important things to think about. For instance, Taylor brought me here for a reason, I could probably guess what.

"Okay, so you like touching the fluffy tail." I responded cheekily, her blush extended a bit further down her neck. "But you're probably chomping at the bit to play with my power a bit, huh?"

A nod. "I have so many ideas for power combo's." Here a small smile formed on her lips. "I haven't spent much time on it but PHO had some interesting idea's for cape team-ups and power combinations.

Oh yeah... PHO is a thing, huh. I'll definitely need to take a look at that later. "Well, probably don't want to do any power testing in the back yard were people can see, so we're kinda limited to inside the house." I looked around. "Got a basement somewhere? That'd help a lot in hiding any power usage."

"I have a basement... it's just..."

I turned to look at Taylor, who was still blushing up a storm. "Just?" I had a feeling I knew what the problem was; Black Widows out the ying yang.

"Well, I control bugs as you know." I nodded, obviously I'd 'found out' she was a cape with my power so obviously I should know what her power is. "So... I'm kinda making my costume down there, with spiders." She blushed. "Lot's of spiders."

Yeaaah, the less I see of the that the better I'll sleep at night thank you very much. "I'll just take your word for it." I collapse into the couch beside her. "So, how do we do this?"

Taylor nodded, leaning back to look up at the ceiling. "I have a computer up in my room that has Internet access." She frowned a little bit. "It's pretty slow; dial-up is kinda the worst, but it'll do the job checking the Parahuman wiki for powers to try and copy."

In Taylor's room... Yeah, I'm not that stupid ROB, I see your bullshit. "I'm... not really comfortable being in your room when your dad could be home any moment and maybe, possibly, misunderstand why I'm in your room with you... alone." I felt my lips twitch into a rather sour expression, imagining Danny walking in to an unknown boy in his daughters' bedroom. Apocalyptic didn't even cover it. And I really, really didn't want to get pulled to the side to have the 'talk' with someone else's father. Especially since I'm not even dating his daughter.

Yet.

Shaddup sarcastic mental voice. "And on that topic... if I'm going to be staying here then he's going to know I'm a Case 53, there's no way I can hide the cat parts twenty-four/seven around him. By extension, hiding our powers is going to be impossible." Operation; Less Awkward Family is a go.

Taylor sank deeper into the couch. "Does he have to know?"

I softened my features somewhat, still channeling Uber and Tattletale to help me with my game face. "Look Taylor... my memories of my family may be shot to hell but even I know that lying to parents, especially if they're good ones, isn't going to do any good for you. Believe me, if he's got any sort of brain between his ears, he knows you're having problems. Maybe not the specifics but just the fact you're lying and keeping things from him is hurting your relationship more than you realize." I placed a hand on her shoulder, which elicited a little jump on her part. "Whether you grow distant from each other or he just gives up trying entirely, lying to your dad will only end badly."

She still didn't look so sure. I squeezed her shoulder lightly, showing a bit of solidarity to try and convince her to tell the truth to her father. Fuck, a number of Taylor's canon problems could have been solved if she had included her father in them. Going by fanon the guy was connected all throughout the docks and had friends that could grease the wheels a bit where it's needed. Plus, he was kind of a badass. To name a few of his feats; lived through(possibly fought in) the dock riots which caused the boat graveyard, spent the last two decades of his life working the gang infested docks, has held together the Dockworkers Union for at least a decade on pure guile and hard work, married a feminist gangster who worked for one of the biggest man hating female capes of his decade.

Guy has huge, huge balls, just absolutely massive.

The only downside to this was that he'd lost most of his spine after Annette died. Thankfully, one only needed to break their foot off in his ass as a transplant and the man Danny used to be could be brought forth like a raging firestorm of fuck you's. And this? This was the first step to that, getting the main problem to admit that she has a problem, to reach out and actually ask for fucking help to give her father an in-road so he can actually connect with his daughter, rather than letting him wallow at the edge of her life with no idea how to help.

People always seem to give canon Danny shit, when it really, really was a lot of Taylor's fault for not speaking up in the first place. Nipping the bullying in the bud when it was just starting would have made things a whole lot easier. Danny could have actually talked to Alan before things got so bad that the lawyer bastard had to go all papa wolf and burn bridges.

Emma could have gotten help, Taylor could have helped her... Fuck, a lot of the cast could have been a lot better off if they just fucking talked about their problems and visited a shrink. But no, shard idiot balls and the general grimmy darkness of the setting kept the issue on the fire until it blew up in everyone's face.

And speaking of fire and explosions.

"Look." My shoulder squeeze turned into a one armed hug as I let out a small sigh. "What's the point of hiding this from your dad? Are you trying to impress him with your accomplishments after you've done them? Do you want to keep him in the dark so as not to worry him?"

Taylor opened her mouth and was about to defend her actions but I was having none of it; I shooshed her with a finger.

"Rhetorical questions. I don't honestly care about your motivation to keep this hidden from him, merely that doing so is stupid. I want you to sit there and listen about what I have to say, please." And now for guilt trip maneuver number twenty-three. "From what I gathered from Miss Militia, Hookwolf is a pretty tough and nasty bastard, following so far?" A nod, good. "I ran into him within the first five minutes of waking up in an alley. What if you had the same luck I had, huh?" The girl stilled under my arm, telling me exactly what she thought about that information.

"What if you had it worse?" I pushed, not giving her a chance to respond. I stared into Taylor's eyes and she stared back, a small gulp escaped her as she imagined such a situation. Knowing my luck she was probably envisioning picking a fight with Lung on her first night, with all the irony that entails.

"Can you imagine running into someone worse than Hookwolf on your first night out? What if you died out there on the streets trying to prove whatever it is you're trying to prove to yourself? If your father is as good a man as I believe him to be, finding out that his daughter died doing something as stupid as getting into a fist fight with a giant wolf-shaped blender would probably crush him. Do you want to put him through that? Do you want to make him go through losing the only family he has left?"

And now there were tears in Taylor's eyes... shit. I pulled the bug cape into a hug, tactfully ignoring the little sniffles I heard coming from my shirt. "He's your dad, he has a right to know that he can help his little girl rather than getting pushed away and kept in the dark."

We sat there for a few minutes, Taylor venting whatever frustrations, fears or any number of other emotions into my shirt.

Then.

"A..alright, I will... tell him that is." It was thick, half garbled and in need of some expansion, but that admittance was a wonderful, amazing thing. I didn't like manipulating Taylor, hell she didn't deserve that but unlike Batman, I was indeed the hero she needed right now.

Actually I'm pretty sure batman would have been a lot more of a hardass to her. Guy took a bullet to the parents and still had the testicular fortitude to go out there as a human, picking fights with gods and madmen who think they're gods. He'd have probably told her nut up and overcome the problem like he overcame his.

By punching it in the face.

But again I ramble. Taylor pulled away, taking a long shuddering breath as she regained her lost composure. A pained but hopeful smile was painted on her lips, held together with just the right amount of gratefulness that, in my mind at least, vindicates my actions up to that point.

If she didn't have hero worship before, she damn sure does now.

Don't ruin this moment for me sarcastic inner voice, I will fucking cut you.

It was at about that moment that I notice Taylor stiffen, eyes going wide and her face paling. Shit what was the problem now? And then I hear the door creak open.

"Taylor I'm... home." A tall, slightly balding, middle aged man with dark hair and dark eyes walked in the door; Danny Hebert, I presumed.

He took one look at us, sitting on the couch, one of Taylor's hands in mine, my arm around her shoulder and her face covered with all the signs of a woman who had been crying up a storm.

Sunovabich, this isn't going to end well...

The man's demeanor darkened, several of his muscles tensing in his body as his voice took on an edge. "Are you alright Taylor? Who is this boy; a friend?"

Jesus, he could go Papa Wolf at the drop of a hat. I tactfully kept my trap shut until Taylor could answer for me.

"Y-yeah." Taylor sniffled, trying to compose herself. "I just met him today on the bus." Probably shouldn't have told him that I noted, as the man's face grew a bit more stony. "He's been really helpful, talked with me about some things." And here Taylor began to fidget, her fingers playing with mine in ways that had Danny staring at me.

Okay need to make a good first impression. "It's good to meet you Mister Hebert, Taylor has told me a lot about you." My mouth was dry and I couldn't think of anything meaningful to say beyond that soooo shutting up now.

"Call me Danny." He spoke evenly. "Mr. Hebert was my father." His gaze landed on Taylor again. "Maybe we should sit at the kitchen table, to talk about a few things." Okay, that sounded a bit angry, rightfully so I suppose. He turned, stiffly and walked into the kitchen to put a pot of tea on. I asked for water and a cup was set in front of me, which I gratefully used to wet my parched throat and maybe my voice wouldn't break while I spoke.

Danny sat across from me, giving me a look that spoke of pain if I harmed one single hair on Taylor's head. Yeah, no. I'm not that stupid, Taylor wouldn't need your help to kick my ass, thank you very much. "Alright, now what is all this about? Why were you crying Taylor and what were the two of you talking about that would cause such a reaction?"

Ohhhh shit. I shared a glance with Taylor who seemed to be finding it very hard to swallow right now. I handed her my cup and she took it, eyeing the rim with slightly reddening cheeks. Oh for Pete's sake, cooties and second hand kisses are ridiculous, quit being a doofus. She hesitated for a second more before taking a gulp.

After she swallowed the mouthful of liquid, she turned all of her attention to her father, took a deep breath, screwed her eyes shut and just said to hell with it, or at least thats what I imagined she was thinking right this moment. "I'm a cape."

Three little words and it sounded like she'd just strangled a cat to try and get those words across. Needless to say Danny's expression was one of confusion. "What?" He looked back and forth between us.

How very eloquent... Whatever, I can roll with this. "She said she's a cape, otherwise known as a Parahuman." I sat up straighter as the man turned his attention to me. I pulled my hat from my head, revealing my cat ear's to the world. "I also happen to be a parahuman, a case 53 'monstrous cape' or so I've been told."

Danny flinched back slightly at the strange sight of my cat ears before turning his attention to his daughter. "Is this true Taylor?"

In response, a small squadron of flies started performing aerial stunts around the man's head. Taylor nodded. "Yeah, I can control all kinds of bugs."

And as good a time as any for me to come in. "And my power is, a bit more... ridiculous, or so I'm told." I turned to Taylor. "Mind if I show him first hand what the other half of my power can do?"

Taylor nodded, holding out her hand. I didn't need actual physical contact to do this but it was the thought that counted. I grabbed her hand and felt my second set of powers leave her and return to me. Taylor let out a harsh sigh as if she'd just been sucker punched in the gut and released my hand. "That... kinda sucked." She grimaced and held her stomach a bit.

Huh... so some kind of withdrawal? Or perhaps having a power active then having that power leave you unnaturally felt like a piece of you was ripped out with it. Whatever the case may be I needed to keep an eye on that. I turned to Danny, who was looking a bit apprehensive, switching a concerned gaze between Taylor and I. "Alright, hold out your hand, this might feel a bit weird."

Danny stared at my offered hand, visibly shying away from it. "I'm... not to sure about that, couldn't you just tell me what it does?"

Thats when Taylor helpfully chimed in. "Just try it out for a bit Dad, it's awesome." The infectious, happy smile Taylor gave him must have done something for Danny because he straightened up, looking at his daughter like he hadn't seen her in months. And, well, given what he saw most every day, that wasn't that far from the truth. Hesitantly, the older man reached out and clasped my hand, letting the transfer take place and shuddering slightly as the feeling of my power suffused his body.

"Now." I grinned. "Pick a random cape in the city and imagine that capes name and what their powers do." A flash of concentration went across Danny's face for a moment before that look changed to astonishment as an old, Smith and Wessen Model 29 Revolver appeared in the man's hand with a swirl of green-black energy.

A Dirty Harry classic, me like. My grin grew wider. "Miss Militia, a good choice, as well as a very good choice in handgun, you have good taste."

Danny stared at the handgun, his hand shaking ever so slightly as the weapon responded to his stress and changed to a rather generic looking Sawed-off double barrel shotgun; another classic.

"I can utilize the powers of any two capes that I know the name and power's of." I nodded in Taylor's direction. "I think you can guess what the other half of my power is."

"Bullshit." It was barely a whisper but Danny's words were clear to my ears. I struggled, very hard, not to laugh.

I failed.

A sharp clenching laugh escaped me, followed by several more as I lost whatever gravitus I had and let out a long series of snorts and full belly cackles that left me breathless in my chair. To my side, Taylor was laughing a bit more reservedly, though she did note Danny's mortified expression and reached a hand over and pinched one of my ears between her fingers.

A hacking cough came from my throat as I tried to gasp and laugh at the same time. I sat up, clearing my throat a few times and giving Taylor a sour look. "That wasn't very nice."

"The same could be said to you." Taylor shot back with a smile, not stopping with the ear rubbing.

Goosebumps rose up on my skin and I gripped the table tightly enough to set it to creaking. "Please stop doing that."

I felt the hand release me and glanced out of the corner of my eye at Taylor who seemed to be... pouting? Seriously Taylor, quit being adorable, it's very,very hard to take you seriously as an eldritch commander of plagues when you do that.

I returned my attention back to the matter at hand and Danny finally seemed to shake off whatever shock he had and was staring at Taylor like she was a different person, likely noting the strange closeness that Taylor was exhibiting with me; fucking feel-good chemicals I swear to God.

"I suppose you have a few questions about all this?" I waved a hand vaguely in the air. The nod I got from him was all the incentive I needed as I explained how and why I met Taylor, which seemed to earn me some brownie points with the man. Taylor then chimed in a bit on the bullying, who was involved and the lack of help she was getting from the management, which had Danny's teeth grinding with barely controlled rage, only holding back because of some self imposed promise not to lose his temper in front of his family.

"How long has this been going on?"

It was a simple question, one Taylor answered apprehensively but firmly once she had built up the courage, in some small part because of the moral support I was giving her. "Since the beginning of high school."

Instead of further increasing the anger, that bit of knowledge seemed to diffuse Danny, the older man slumping into his chair, looking almost defeated. "It's been going on that long?" He shook his head. "How did I miss that."

"In part." I interrupted, leveling an even stare on the elder Hebert. "Taylor kept this from you, for a good reason. She didn't want you to worry about her, she didn't want you to have to worry with her problems." I held a hand up. "Don't worry, I already dressed her down a bit about that, if you two want to talk about that later then thats fine but I think we should focus on the here and now."

I placed my hands on the flat on the table, getting both their attention. "Taylor offered for me to stay here. As a Case 53, I don't have anywhere else to go and I personally got really bad vibes from the PRT. The question now is; Can I stay here, sir?"

I almost want to say the look Danny gave me was a negative, but there was just enough there for Tattletale to piece together that he was interested, playing up the concerned father angle. I knew how to handle that.

"If it helps, I can promise you that I will help Taylor in any way possible at Winslow. On top of that." Another shared glance with Taylor. "Taylor want's to be a hero. I can help with that, I can be her back-up if she needs it and keep her safe."

And now Danny's face had traces of protectiveness and a touch of sour acceptance. He gave me a long hard look, weighing my very soul for several moments before nodding, seemingly to himself. "I don't like this. I don't like how all of this has turned out." And there's the glare. "I don't like any of that...but." Here he sighed. "I'm also not stupid, I can see the writing on the walls, Taylor is exactly like her mother."

And here he gave me an exasperated look, glancing over at a blushing Taylor who was staring at me. "In more ways than one... She would have gone out to be a hero and possibly gotten hurt, with or without my blessing because she is just as stubborn as her parents." A soft smile. "I can't really blame her for being her mother's daughter with just a hint of my temper and willfulness."

Okay, longwinded much? "So that's a yes to me staying?"

A nod. "Provided you do chores around the house to help pay for your stay here and keep your promises to Taylor and I. Then yes, you can stay."

Well, that takes care of lodging for the long term. As Taylor pulled me into a hug, and why is she hugging me again? Fuck it, just roll with it. So shelter is taken care of, as well as food and water, which I could probably help with if I used a power to grow food, whether in the backyard or in a pot in the house. I told Danny as much and he seemed to agree with it, if only because food was probably tight around the Hebert household. Who knows maybe I could even get a license and start... selling... it. Shit, a license requires a background, which I sorely lack. I let out a string of curses which attracts both Taylor and Danny's attention.

I stare at the both of them, slumping in defeat onto the table. "I'm going to have to go down to the PRT tomorrow and figure out how to set up my identity. I can't just live as some random no name for the rest of my life..."

"And this is a problem... how?"

I groaned in annoyance. "Paperwork. All of the freaking paperwork and dick waving that I'm going to have to deal with. I can feel my spirit crying in protest already."

Their laughter was unwarranted.

The ear rubs from Taylor on the other hand, were greatly appreciated.

-oOo-

As always, if there are errors I'll check them in the morning. Not much else to say really.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, you might want to let Taylor know that you messed with her neurotransmitters ASAP.

 

[CrunchySharpie]

Yeah, you might want to let Taylor know that you messed with her neurotransmitters ASAP.

Click to shrink...

Do I look like I have a death wish? I'll tell her when she's less likely to geld me with Goliath beetles, probably after a nice candle lit dinner, roses, a full body massage and maybe, just maybe a proposal, depends on if I want to leave things to chance or not.

 

[Creus]

Victor for skill drain. To learn martial arts! "I Know Kung Fu"
Panacea/Bonesaw for improvements. Taylor will not have to run to get fit?
Othala for more powers? If you use the power of Othala and then change for another the effect it is lost? How long do the effects last?
Crawler, as with Othala. When you change the power the 'improvements' go?
And Null and One from the Yangban... ufff my head hurts.

 

[Sonifri]

After reading a bit I noticed a useful power that I see no downsides for. Dauntless's power to imbue objects with abilities. It looks like long durations of adding power into objects can turn them into epically powerful artifacts.

If the imbuements last beyond releasing the trump power then each of the three of them could imbue some things a couple of times a day. Seems extra useful for Danny since he doesn't have any power of his own.

 

[Isheepzu]

all this talk of Pan + Bonesaw makes me want to one up it...Bonesaw + Browbeat(two powers? psh Bonesaw would let Browbeat figure out how to gain all other powers at once (can we say viable X-Gene anyone?)) and Pan + Vista or for some real terror..Fog(or SS) + Imp. oh...and Skidmark + Flechette

 

[CaesriusPolybius]

After reading a bit I noticed a useful power that I see no downsides for. Dauntless's power to imbue objects with abilities. It looks like long durations of adding power into objects can turn them into epically powerful artifacts.

If the imbuements last beyond releasing the trump power then each of the three of them could imbue some things a couple of times a day. Seems extra useful for Danny since he doesn't have any power of his own.

Click to shrink...

We discussed that one- it's entirely possible that the charges won't build up if the power's not active. Also, he couldn't use the items without the power active.

Basically, all of the downsides to tinkertech(takes a long time, requires misc. but specific materials) without the upside of 'can use this with other powers open.

MM is actually possibly the best Tinker/Thinker synergy power. Not even for her main power but for the secondary power that allows her to work without rest and have perfect memory. It allows her to go through the Tinker cycle in her head. Take a power like Bakuda and design a bomb. Because she has perfect memory, while unable to actually build the bomb after swapping away that Tinker power, it's not like the MM power will allow forgetting all the inner workings and design of the bomb. Run the design through Dragon to reverse engineer it and come up with the fundamental parts and then Masamune to create a mass production item and suddenly the power user can create special ammo on demand and in unlimited quantities.

Click to shrink...

... I always forget Miss M's secondaries for some reason. The insomnia alone most tinkers would kill for, but the perfect memory...

Yeesh. (Alternately: Schrodinger: "Yesss.")

 

[Sonifri]

We discussed that one- it's entirely possible that the charges won't build up if the power's not active. Also, he couldn't use the items without the power active.

Basically, all of the downsides to tinkertech(takes a long time, requires misc. but specific materials) without the upside of 'can use this with other powers open.

Click to shrink...

I was under the impression that the power was imbued into the items permanently and should function for anyone. I don't think anyone else actually tried to use his items so this is up in the air. Also if they are person specific, would Dauntless's equipment still work for him after someone like Removalist took his power away? A solid maybe.

As for the "charges won't build up if the power's not active" I could see sleeping with it on and basically using it when idle since you're not doing anything else anyways. Just slows down the process but does not eliminate it.

Might not get a full equipment set out of it for a long time but I can see Taylor crafting some body armor for her dad and everyone just enhancing that one item to make it as good as possible in a shorter amount of time.

Basically this is just a way to make use of idle time that is otherwise wasted.

 

[FourmyleOfCeres]

I was under the impression that the power was imbued into the items permanently and should function for anyone. I don't think anyone else actually tried to use his items so this is up in the air. Also if they are person specific, would Dauntless's equipment still work for him after someone like Removalist took his power away? A solid maybe.

As for the "charges won't build up if the power's not active" I could see sleeping with it on and basically using it when idle since you're not doing anything else anyways. Just slows down the process but does not eliminate it.

Might not get a full equipment set out of it for a long time but I can see Taylor crafting some body armor for her dad and everyone just enhancing that one item to make it as good as possible in a shorter amount of time.

Basically this is just a way to make use of idle time that is otherwise wasted.

Click to shrink...

I know that's not where you were going with this, but damn, now I imagine that Dauntless must have trouble getting out of bed in the morning because he's been improving it constantly. It's the comfyist bed in the world! Every day for the last five years he's been making a better bed, one that caters to his every need.

Sleeping Perfection! ... Now if he could just get out of it.

"Where's Dauntless?"

"Oh, he's trapped under a mound of cuddly blankets again. Somedays he has to fight the sheets off with a stick."

 

[Phearo]

"I'll join the Protectorate if you give me one thing."

"Name your price."

"Armsmaster has to admit that I'm better than him."

Click to shrink...

"None of that fake admittance, too. I gotta see him clench those teeth for real!"



But seriously, though, the pace is a bit too fast for me to think of it as natural. If I was in Danny's place, and I saw my daughter with a boy, who the explained that he was a cape, and that my daughter was a cape, and reveal that she only met him a couple of hours ago and now suddenly wants to keep him at their place would ring serious alarm bells. Heck, it's going to ring serious alarm bells even if he wasn't a cape!

 

[CrunchySharpie]

But seriously, though, the pace is a bit too fast for me to think of it as natural. If I was in Danny's place, and I saw my daughter with a boy, who the explained that he was a cape, and that my daughter was a cape, and reveal that she only met him a couple of hours ago and now suddenly wants to keep him at their place would ring serious alarm bells. Heck, it's going to ring serious alarm bells even if he wasn't a cape!

Click to shrink...

1. And most important honestly. What's Danny going to do about it? SI insert me has just professed the ability to copy any cape power I am aware of, which means I can probably lift his house up around his ears with me still being inside. He's not stupid, he's going to be exceedingly careful around me and probably have a hotline to the PRT if he notices something fishy going on.

2. But, on the off chance I am genuine he doesn't want to alienate the only thing that seems to be making his daughter happy. He "Doesn't like how this turned out, but Taylor is her mother's daughter." If he kicked Schrodinger out, or had the PRT do it for him it might very well kill whatever good will he and his daughter had found. That to him is most important. He's watched his daughter slowly become a shell of herself for years now, and in an afternoon here comes this charming, handsome, charismatic character who actually made his daughter smile and... did she just playfully tug on his ears? Was that a grin? A pout? It wasn't just him being dramatic that he was so surprised seeing his daughter as animated as she was. He hasn't seen her genuinely happy in a long, long time. That this character is also being the mature one, counseling Taylor and convincing her to share her problems and secrets with her father so that he can help won some serious brownie points with the man. All of this has a lot to do with him going along with Schrodinger staying.

3. On top of that I've promised to keep Taylor safe, something he has failed in for the past year and a half. It doesn't matter if Taylor hasn't told him, he should be aware and proactive in his child's happiness. All the little things like ruined clothing, coming home in tears, coming home earlier than school lets out, the school calling because of all the missed classes and assignments, among other things. He has to know something is going on but he's too caught up in himself, his depression and his work, to take the time out and investigate what's wrong. He just lets his daughter dictate the relationship by saying "It's fine, don't worry about it dad, I'll take care of it." It's just she doesn't, she cant, she didn't and she's been paying for it day after day, week after week for the last year and a half.

4. I've also promised to take care of the house and even food expenses. This is, quite literally, a godsend. Not having to pay 4-500 dollars a month on groceries saves that money for actual bills that need paying. He's also smart enough to realize that I can probably copy tinkers too, which means I can fix other things around the house as well as making some things completely independent from the power and water grid. He is aware this is possible just from cultural osmosis and my explanation of my BS power.

Danny doesn't trust Schrodinger yet, at all. He'll be keeping a very close eye on me but he's also aware that there's things going on that are more important than his gut instincts telling him otherwise.

 

[Valor]

It's annoying to see you explain these things, man. Aren't they all kind of obvious?
I'll be honest. If I was in the Self-insert's position I'd mind-rape Taylor. Why? Cause she is crazy. Like, mentally broken. I would never trust her with the kind of power the Self-Insert can give out.

That's just me, tho. Stay away from the self-destructive crazy girl that needs tons of upkeep. Or, you can always keep it up and acquire a Yandere with enough time and effort. (Or just use Heartbreaker).

 

[jadecriminal]

It's annoying to see you explain these things, man. Aren't they all kind of obvious?
I'll be honest. If I was in the Self insert's position I'd mind-rape Taylor. Why? Cause she is crazy. Like, mentally broken. I would never trust her with the kind of power the Self-Insert can give out.

That's just me, tho. Stay away from the self-destructive crazy girl that needs tons of upkeep. Or, you can always keep it up and acquire a Yandere with enough time and effort. (Or just use Heartbreaker).

Click to shrink...

Ah, but she's not. Not yet. Not now. She became thus, yes, through a cycle of self perpetuating grimderp. We are what we grow to becone. It's like getting to... eh... what's popular these days... Max Eisenhardt on his first day in Auschwitz? Sauron before Morgoth got to him? Pink Diamond befor she deployed the... Wait no that socio-polytical... Eh... Carmen Sandiago when she first shoplifted?

Dang. Can't think of any suitable example.


My point is she's considerably less broken.

 

[Maromar]

"Oh, I guess there are some powers that don't work... Huh, maybe The Triumvirate are too damn powerful to copy and Case 53's might be somehow different? I dunno, powers are weird."

Sometimes acting ignorant is the best case scenario. And I am not really expecting my lies to last until the end of the story. Eventually Taylor, or at least Lisa or some other strong thinker is going to guess my origins as an extra dimensional being seeing as I don't have protection from cold reading and I can't really keep my story straight over months or years. I will probably, eventually get called out on some of my inconsistent bullshit. I don't know by whom as I haven't decided on it yet.

Even Ack did this in his Security fic, having his character be "Just a security guard" for a large portion of the fic until he was caught with his pants around his ankles and had to improvise, same here.

As for me being relevant to the fic? I know far more about how powers work than she does because I have access to out of universe knowledge. As I've shown, having the power doesn't immediately make you an expert in it. If Taylor tried to go for Siberians power set it's likely that she wouldn't even be able to activate it because she thinks the Siberian is some kind of brute cape so would be trying to apply the power to her own body rather than creating a projection. In the end I chose the power sharing because of reasons like this. The best way to game a double dose of Major Trump is to have a second person working in tandem with you to abuse striker power's and be able to Tinker on one another.

And I think I've made it clear that I am kinda disappointed in Taylor right from the get go. The only thing she really has that I'm interested in is her sheer potential and mentality, as well as moments of brilliance that will keep me from being a forgetful dumb ass.

Edit: That she kind of terrifies me is also a point to me stickingon her good side.

Also, there's nothing stopping me from eventually taking the power back and pulling in more people to create a team, them sharing the power between them.


I'll try to make the story as interesting as possible to give you ideas. Also sent you a PM with some helpful advice writing stories in general and a bit of my mindset of giving characters unique traits and how to use those traits in story. I'd have posted it here but my god it was like 2000 words long



Sharpie <3 Fluffles too, Sharpie shall give more Fluffles, and more tactical strikes to the feels/dignity.



...

Rodney Skinner (the Invisible Man): Hello, Dorian. The great white hunter's bagged his prize.
[they hear and see men being thrashed]
Dorian Gray: Or the prize bagged him.

I am okay with this.



That was the knitting needle I was stabbing at, yes.

Click to shrink...

Mou. Sorry for the late reply (again), but you could just spoiler that monster before placing it. The advice helped me a bunch so I'm certain that others could use it.

 

[Phearo]

1. And most important honestly. What's Danny going to do about it? SI insert me has just professed the ability to copy any cape power I am aware of, which means I can probably lift his house up around his ears with me still being inside. He's not stupid, he's going to be exceedingly careful around me and probably have a hotline to the PRT if he notices something fishy going on.

2. But, on the off chance I am genuine he doesn't want to alienate the only thing that seems to be making his daughter happy. He "Doesn't like how this turned out, but Taylor is her mother's daughter." If he kicked Schrodinger out, or had the PRT do it for him it might very well kill whatever good will he and his daughter had found. That to him is most important. He's watched his daughter slowly become a shell of herself for years now, and in an afternoon here comes this charming, handsome, charismatic character who actually made his daughter smile and... did she just playfully tug on his ears? Was that a grin? A pout? It wasn't just him being dramatic that he was so surprised seeing his daughter as animated as she was. He hasn't seen her genuinely happy in a long, long time. That this character is also being the mature one, counseling Taylor and convincing her to share her problems and secrets with her father so that he can help won some serious brownie points with the man. All of this has a lot to do with him going along with Schrodinger staying.

3. On top of that I've promised to keep Taylor safe, something he has failed in for the past year and a half. It doesn't matter if Taylor hasn't told him, he should be aware and proactive in his child's happiness. All the little things like ruined clothing, coming home in tears, coming home earlier than school lets out, the school calling because of all the missed classes and assignments, among other things. He has to know something is going on but he's too caught up in himself, his depression and his work, to take the time out and investigate what's wrong. He just lets his daughter dictate the relationship by saying "It's fine, don't worry about it dad, I'll take care of it." It's just she doesn't, she cant, she didn't and she's been paying for it day after day, week after week for the last year and a half.

4. I've also promised to take care of the house and even food expenses. This is, quite literally, a godsend. Not having to pay 4-500 dollars a month on groceries saves that money for actual bills that need paying. He's also smart enough to realize that I can probably copy tinkers too, which means I can fix other things around the house as well as making some things completely independent from the power and water grid. He is aware this is possible just from cultural osmosis and my explanation of my BS power.

Danny doesn't trust Schrodinger yet, at all. He'll be keeping a very close eye on me but he's also aware that there's things going on that are more important than his gut instincts telling him otherwise.

Click to shrink...

That's a lengthy reply, but what I could ultimately parse from the chapter and your points is that your character is a very suspicious person trying to disprove his suspiciousness, all the while acting even more suspicious doing so. The very lengths Schrodinger is taking is enough to tell Danny that the boy has an agenda. Promises? People can lie.

If he was on edge, being super paranoid, Schrodinger's action could've be taken as: Bribing Danny, threatening Taylor's life, alluding to his uselessness as a parent to Taylor, and not necessarily in that order.

If Danny is anything like a normal denizen of Earth Bet, the stigma of Masters will also apply to him. The very moment in this story where Schrodinger offered to touch him would have been the final nail in the coffin, resulting with his flat-out rejection of the boy's offer and immediately calling the PRT hotline. Parental fiat comes into play here- Danny's attitude could parallel parents who would do interventions with their children for drug abuse. Taylor's reaction wouldn't matter. He knows(believes) Taylor more than anyone, and to him she is clearly being Mastered. You don't listen to what a mastered person says, that's a given. No matter how happy they look. There would be definite urgency here, and that urgency is on the wrong side of the coin.

Everything is moving too fast, too unnatural. I won't say that you necessarily have to go through with this, but there's definitely a reason why timeskips are the usual go-to for budding relationships within strict constraints.

The best part about it is- half of this can easily be avoided by not drowning Danny in an exposition dump.

 

[Firkraag]

I like the story so far.

I think what is 'realistic' and what isn't, defined by genre. If you add Shryodingers and belly rubs into a story, it clearly tells us in what genre are we and what should be considered possible (parahuman person gets the same reaction, as some stray kitty, found on a street). Normal rules fly out of the window. And it's okay, if that's what you wanted.

Bottom line? Cats make everything better.

 

[Phearo]

I like the story so far.

I think what is 'realistic' and what isn't defined by genre. If you add Shryodingers and belly rubs into a story, it clearly tells us in what genre are we and what should be considered possible (parahuman person gets the same reaction, as some stray kitty, found on a street). Normal rules fly out of the window. And it's okay, if that's what you wanted.

Bottom line? Cats make everything better.

Click to shrink...

I know you're not entirely serious, but I'll respond anyway!

I'm not really asking for it to be realistic. I'm not asking for it to be crack, either. I'm asking for it to be sensible, to make sense. Like how exasperated the PRT is with Amaterasu in the other worm fic, Constellations, that's what you can call an appropriate response to something outside the norm despite that scene being straight up comedy. Danny doesn't act nor sound like he should, and that's not because of some clever trope subversion. It's just surreal.