Broken Adventure
- Thread starter theaceoffire
- Start date
- Crossover
- Status
DualEquinox
Verified Smartass
- Location
- Australia
Actually, this may technically be a Trump, not a Stranger effect. Or at least Trump/Stranger since one rating is intrinsically related to the other kinda like how August Prince is a Master/Stranger. After all, he Stranger'd peoples powers not people themselves. I'm pretty sure normal people aren't going to consider him a normal unimportant person, as well as any parahuman whose power isn't reliant upon using Shard-based simulation/modelling to achieve their effect. Seems like it is a blanket immunity to Pre-Cog's, Post-Cog's and various other simulation-reliant Thinkers, not a true Stranger field...
Last edited:
Jonn Wolfe
(Verified Sarcastic) (Not a Wolf)
- Location
- Beyond Sanity Since 1971
Blank is now online, methinks. Totally spoofing the shard network. I can only imagine how Contessa is going to react. Would steps vanish or appear?
- Location
- India
- Pronouns
- He/His
He is like a jailbroken Nice Guy to the shards.
- Location
- India
Hell yeah
I like this effect
It's just OP enough
Now he can move his projects forward even easier
Now i wanna see what's up with his spiritual powers here
Is he gonna bless someone?!
Can't wait to see their reaction to all their clones
I like this effect
It's just OP enough
Now he can move his projects forward even easier
Now i wanna see what's up with his spiritual powers here
Is he gonna bless someone?!
Can't wait to see their reaction to all their clones
Getting to know one's self.
- Location
- Here
Eventually Narwhal pushed herself out of Adam's arms, the slow twirling and humming not distracting her from the recent terror of thinking him heavily damaged and possibly dying.
And then the questions.
Dragon was the first but certainly not the last. "Before anything else, what was this supposed threat and why did it require you to do... whatever it is you did?"
Adam fell back, blue flames supporting him as he relaxed on an invisible couch that rapidly formed from layers of Flame Metal. "Right, the important stuff. First, my biggest fear was becoming too important too quickly. If I began making impacts too large without defenses, certain forces would act against me."
He held up some fingers. "On a local level, the PRT and gang activity is closely connected. There are infiltration issues, between all gangs and all officials, some worse than others. If I set off any of these, it would not be a large issue personally, but it WOULD bring me to the attention of people more concerning."
Adam sighed. "Aside from more external gangs deciding to test me, recruit me, or deny me as an asset for others, the first threat to me was Mannequin."
Seriously, that guy was a jerk. An amazing tinker who specialized in self contained biological survival systems, his most relevant creation was himself. Each body part was now a modular self-supporting death machine, as cool and gross as it was, and allowed him to be very adaptable and durable.
Originally called 'Sphere', he tried to solve all the world's problems, creating drones to create shelters and habitats. His plan to create a moon base, a retreat for humanity, and was devastated when the Simurgh showed up... and destroyed his work, his children, his wife, and his dream.
In his madness he not only rebuilt his body into a monster but redesigned his philosophy as well. Now that he failed to help the world, no one would be allowed to try and succeed... so he hunted those who tried to help on a global scale, those who were independent and successful, those who were force multipliers like tinkers.
Basically, people like Adam.
Both girls shivered, while Nightmare Moon (having no context), had moved off and began researching on a system terminal generated via the hologram generators.
Adam sighed. "Honestly, even at my prior levels of ability he wasn't a real concern. My number one issue however was that any conflict with him or ANYONE else with powers was attracting the attention of the third Endbringer."
Seeing their wide eyes, he gave a grim nod. "This was why I spent so much time alone, away from crowds, and in my lab. It was why I didn't give away my inventions or plan instant release of our products, or began to give out similar abilities or skills. It was why I frantically tried to become as powerful as possible as efficently as I could."
He gave them both a serious look. "It is also why I hid major facts about how my powers operated and what scope my powers will eventually cover. Anything done in the presence of Parahumans or those who worked CLOSE to Parahumans could be easily passed on to the precognitive death angel."
Narwhal blinked as she dropped onto the (now solid) couch next to him. "Huh. So you don't gain new powers based on those you work with?"
Adam shrugged. "I can scan Parahumans to speed up the process or become more efficient or whatever sure. But that isn't the core of my power."
He leaned forward. "Every day I gain a power charge that can be used to gain a new ability or improve an existing one. If anyone found out before I could protect that information, a lot of people would have already attacked by now."
Narwhal blinked. "But... that is ridiculous. I've never heard of a power that flexible before. Heck, we thought you were going to be over powered back when the estimates said you would take twelve years to reach Triumvirate levels."
He nodded. "And that doesn't account for the charges I collected when I visited other realities this morning."
Nightmare Moon groaned and rested her head on the virtual hard light keyboard. "Adam, you CAN'T just drop informational bombshells like that. I thought you were going to warm up to the whole 'I sent my soul to other worlds' issue after you explained more." She sighed at his shrug.
Dragon broke the ensuing silence with a sigh. "Right... alright. The talking... unicorn?"
Nightmare Moon shrugged. "Alicorn. And you can call me Luna I suppose... I was once known by it."
Dragon nodded. "Thank you. Miss Luna has a point, but I feel you gave a good enough idea of why exactly you thought such a drastic action was needed... although we WILL come back to that." She took a calming a digital breath. "So, what have you done to address those issues?"
Adam leaned back. "Before I left, all my houses are made out of my material. In an extreme emergency they can all reform to protect or attack individuals within or nearby at will." His body flexed, blue flames drifting over his form. "I used to have a power called 'Fire Manipulation', but in the process of forming my new body I ended up spending a massive amount of power charges to get to 'Manipulation', which allows me to work with any material saturated with my power or magic."
He held up a fat ball of fire. "By the way, this is my magic. Not sure why it acts like this, but I can use all my abilities through them that I have tested so far like I had touch access."
His arm turned to blue fire and reformed. "I can now survive the entire destruction of my physical body even if trapped in a power nullification field. And I theoretically can capture the souls of those close to me and rebuild their bodies as well, although I have never tested it and it may require them accepting me as a religious icon."
His magical fires retreated, although a couple seemed to lick Narwhal's hand on the way back. "While the trip outside this reality was more painful than expected and took far too long in my opinion, I did gain the ability to make future trips far more safely and pain free, with digital or spiritual passengers."
Adam sighed. "I can also request certain things from my 'Transfer' ability, to find worlds with things, abilities, energies, or circumstances that would beneficial to me. It is... not entirely trustworthy but has been successful so far."
He held his palm up, a lump of blue fire rolling on it's back. "I originally used that request to find a way to protect myself and those I care for from the precognitive and postcognitive Endbringer. Magic is so outside her abilities that anyone or anything that tries to predict me or analyze me should throw errors. Really strange, unreliable issues... and thus decide to ignore me and those who interact too closely with me."
The flame slid down his arm as it soaked back in. "As far as I and the others can tell, it worked. And the process of traveling through the borders of reality had forced me to gain certain amounts of resistance to outside influence. Found some useful other abilities in the travel process too."
Narwhal's expression was... unexpected. There was a growing sign of horror. "Adam, you... you said you gain a new charge every day, right?"
He blinked. "Yes?"
She glanced at the flowing fire. "And you spent a lot on fixing your body... How... how long were you out there, trying to protect us?"
Adam jerked, Squishy frantically doing something. "Ah. I... I think... a half year or so? Maybe a year? A few months in Nightmare Moon's world, longer in the Inuyasha one so I could learn how to get home without much time passing."
A soft cough made the three look at the Alicorn. "Adam was in a lot of pain during his first journey through the Abyss. In our world, he absorbed a lot of Magic, which to someone with no control messed with his mind and libido. The second trip through the Abyss was far less damaging, but time acts strange there. The spiritual world had him take the form of a creature that exists outside of biology and science, and he spent a long time absorbing the power and information needed to come home."
She didn't look directly at Adam. "In reverse order, it took a week to come here, a little over eight months spent in the spiritual world, two months to travel from my world, where he spent a month and a half or so just trying to stabilize his system and calm his powers down."
Nightmare Moon looked Narwhal and Dragon in the eyes. "We didn't join him until just before leaving our world... but Squishy shared his memories of the first jump. It went badly."
Adam blinked. "How... badly?"
Squishy poked.
He paused. "Oh. That... that was pretty bad."
Narwhal gripped his hand a bit anxiously. "But you made it through, right?"
Adam ran his other shaking hand through his now shifting blue hair. "Right. Right. So." Deep. Calm. It happened, but it is over. "Right. Squishy said that initially, I had to spend a few charges just to keep my soul from dissolving. And that she couldn't even help me travel until I reached the point where the Abyss couldn't eat me quite so quickly."
His eyes blurred a little, but he wouldn't cry today. Even if some echos of something repressed had surfaced. "A... Apparently, she stopped counting new power charges after a few years. But eventually I was stable enough to began moving toward my destination, which turned out to be Equestria."
Dragon sat on his other side and held his shoulder in support.
He... calm. "Right. So, once I was stable enough to travel, it only took fifteen years to reach the boundary to the world of Equestria. Give or take a few months. I... I guess that is why it took so long to heal once I arrived."
Nightmare Moon was kind enough to pretend to continue studying her terminal, letting the three others comfort each other. Considering how horrifying his improved and safer 'Soul Refinement' procedure was for her and the others to witness, she completely agreed with Squishy's choice to restrict and damage the man's centuries of torture memories.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Honestly, his emotional breakdown was at least partially due to how much he had missed Narwhal and how much stress he had been under to get strong enough before a deity would drop from the heavens and smite him.
Eventually though, he managed to talk again and cover the three fillies, being a walking house, and an over sexualized world where almost every creature talked.
Which brought up Nightmare Moon, which brought up Princess Luna, which brought up... the dream.
Narwhal's eyes were very large. "You accidentally made your wet dream a reality. And you have since then gained the power to create new bodies from raw magic and biological bullshit. So you could theoretically bring your dream sex partners into the real world." She gulped. "Holy crap."
She glanced at Nightmare Moon. "But... what do you mean about multiple forms?"
The dark pony princess smirked, and shifted into... uh.
She was tall, her curves were generous, and her black hair sparkled with stars as it tried to cover her body. The only non-human trait was her midnight black horn, which made the white force field horn Narwhal had glitter in contrast. Her new hands slid down her side as she slinked closer. "I'm no longer restricted to any one species, but I was once worshiped as an image of beauty by a nation for centuries." Her smirk was sin and sex. "As for changing forms? You learn a few things, watching the perverted dreams of millions."
Dragon was the one to recover first, before helping Adam and Narwhal by coughing lightly.
Narwhal however was still stunned. "You made a dream orgy with a sex goddess, and she now lives in your brain!? I can't tell if I am annoyed that I wasn't there or envious."
Adam's eyes got bigger but before he could say anything, Moon's smirk got predatory. "Oh... you didn't miss anything technically."
And suddenly there was three other people. A purple unicorn, much smaller than Nightmare Moon. A very sexy cyborg woman who seemed very familiar... and a squawking body that fell into Narwhal, already beginning to yell. "What the HELL Night!? Why did you throw us out... out..."
The two Narwhal's looked deeply into each others eyes, hands and legs in awkward places.
One of them gulped. "I... uh. I feel amazing. I mean we. We feel amazing."
The other one gave a weak nod. "Yeah. Sorry, I... we didn't plan on showing up till later, and Moon just likes pranking people..."
The one on the bottom gave a weak chuckle. "No, I mean my hand is trapped and your body feels amazing."
Adam blushed actual blue fire as he stepped in front of the slowly escalating situation. "RIGHT!" He waved a hand. "Dragon, meet Dream Dragon, a digital cousin or sister. She is helping to run my magical computer hardware and may or may not be actual machine code. This is Twilight, a student of a sun deity and my lead researcher into my memories, powers, and just... everything."
Hearing his girlfriends get to know each other louder, he quickly formed a blue wall of flames that 'Conversion' made into a wooden divider. "I'm not sure we covered everything well enough, but I am pretty hungry and the information Dream Dragon hacked from the network so far says there is some snacks already laid out in the other room, we should probably go that direction."
Someone behind the divider spoke up, barely any gasps. "We'll catch uuuUUup Adam, just... Oh. Dragon will fill us in."
Well, Twilight CAN blush. Odd looking on her fur, or maybe he just wasn't used to it. The two Dragons were awkwardly shaking hands. He began pushing. "Everyone, better get some food, wouldn't want it to go to waste."
Blue flames coated the door on the way out. No reason to let everyone hear that.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The rest of the explanation was much easier to cover over some food and drinks, and Adam showed Dragon various illusions and examples of his journey while Dream Dragon was transferring information as well.
And for the record, Dream Dragon didn't actually share code. They were like fraternal sisters or something, as her 'source code' changed on it's own in real time. The two cyber tinkers were now acting like best friends or twins as they explored the code and research related to both their own artificial intelligence and the developments made in their hardware options.
This did sort of leave Twilight and Adam on the edge of the conversation though. It was a bit odd.
Twilight was testing out her own version of 'Human', as Nightmare Moon had left her the data from her own transformation as a guide. It was... annoying to the poor mare. "It's like it was DESIGNED to only change you when nude! Did she BUILD IN perversion from the beginning!"
Adam shrugged. "It may be a side effect of your reality. I have NEVER seen a world or story outside of straight up porn with that much sexual tension in everything. In fact, I didn't notice the suggestive and x-rated material used as advertisements until I left the place. Something made me just think 'That is normal!' the whole time we were wandering around town."
He frowned. "In fact, the ability for me to walk around covered in tentacles and holding a young mare like yourself should have sent lots of warning signs and fear... but the townsfolk barely cared."
Twilight's face burned red. "Oh Celestia, WHY do I remember that!? That wasn't MY memory! In fact, why do I remember my entire childhood, you weren't even there to know that stuff!"
Adam blinked. "Squishy told me that you and Moon went and added a lot of information to the library, right? Restricted it, but you added it in?"
She blinked. "Yes?"
He nodded. "Did you give yourself the key to those chunks of data?"
Twilight nodded. "Of course! How else would I eventually... unlock... oh. I... I must have gotten more than just the spell stuff."
Adam waved a hand. "Squishy said you needed as much stability in your system as possible to prevent issues on our journey, at least at first. Nightmare Moon's actions thankfully gives you a base to start from, but you still remember your actual creation right? Nothing of the real you was lost?"
Her eyes drifted off. "I... I guess so. Although I am not convinced you can actually do that thing with your tongue when not in a dream setting."
Adam held back his coughing. Damn it, you are a man! Stop being embarrassed by everything. "I refuse to confirm or deny anything until my girlfriend stops enjoying herself." He blinked, then blushed. "You know what I meant."
She gave a weak smile, but at least looked less concerned about her expanded memory issue. "Well... what is our next step? In your plan I mean."
Adam sighed. "Now that we are here, I can reinforce my home with some spiritual barriers and cast a Celestial Garden enhancement on the base. It would allow you and the others to leave my soul and try out the ever expanding simulation I am building here on Earth Bet. And unlike giving you an actual body, you would theoretically be safe AND protected from predictions and master effects."
He frowned. "But more importantly, once we are back in Brockton Bay I can begin doing things that I couldn't get away with before. I need to get some loyal employees and delegate all the annoying stuff I currently do to others. Might even be able to use 'Tithe' and get some workers handling my Null Metal and Flame Metal requirements."
The loud pop made the two look over at the Dragons... and their changes. SOMEONE had shared the 'Sexier Cyborg' code, as the only way to recognize which one of the posing sisters was Dream Dragon was that she had decided to make her hair into gleaming green wires with a cybernetic unicorn horn. Then again, her skintight outfit was also decorated with glowing green circuitry. And uh. More than a little transparent.
Huh. Narwhal (And Narwhal!), Nightmare Moon, Dragon, and Twilight now had a somewhat matching horn set.
Twilight's eyes drifted toward him. "So... you're into horny girls?"
He threw a fat puppy flame right into her giggling face.
It just made her laugh more getting licked by the thing, but it was the thought that counted.
And then the questions.
Dragon was the first but certainly not the last. "Before anything else, what was this supposed threat and why did it require you to do... whatever it is you did?"
Adam fell back, blue flames supporting him as he relaxed on an invisible couch that rapidly formed from layers of Flame Metal. "Right, the important stuff. First, my biggest fear was becoming too important too quickly. If I began making impacts too large without defenses, certain forces would act against me."
He held up some fingers. "On a local level, the PRT and gang activity is closely connected. There are infiltration issues, between all gangs and all officials, some worse than others. If I set off any of these, it would not be a large issue personally, but it WOULD bring me to the attention of people more concerning."
Adam sighed. "Aside from more external gangs deciding to test me, recruit me, or deny me as an asset for others, the first threat to me was Mannequin."
Seriously, that guy was a jerk. An amazing tinker who specialized in self contained biological survival systems, his most relevant creation was himself. Each body part was now a modular self-supporting death machine, as cool and gross as it was, and allowed him to be very adaptable and durable.
Originally called 'Sphere', he tried to solve all the world's problems, creating drones to create shelters and habitats. His plan to create a moon base, a retreat for humanity, and was devastated when the Simurgh showed up... and destroyed his work, his children, his wife, and his dream.
In his madness he not only rebuilt his body into a monster but redesigned his philosophy as well. Now that he failed to help the world, no one would be allowed to try and succeed... so he hunted those who tried to help on a global scale, those who were independent and successful, those who were force multipliers like tinkers.
Basically, people like Adam.
Both girls shivered, while Nightmare Moon (having no context), had moved off and began researching on a system terminal generated via the hologram generators.
Adam sighed. "Honestly, even at my prior levels of ability he wasn't a real concern. My number one issue however was that any conflict with him or ANYONE else with powers was attracting the attention of the third Endbringer."
Seeing their wide eyes, he gave a grim nod. "This was why I spent so much time alone, away from crowds, and in my lab. It was why I didn't give away my inventions or plan instant release of our products, or began to give out similar abilities or skills. It was why I frantically tried to become as powerful as possible as efficently as I could."
He gave them both a serious look. "It is also why I hid major facts about how my powers operated and what scope my powers will eventually cover. Anything done in the presence of Parahumans or those who worked CLOSE to Parahumans could be easily passed on to the precognitive death angel."
Narwhal blinked as she dropped onto the (now solid) couch next to him. "Huh. So you don't gain new powers based on those you work with?"
Adam shrugged. "I can scan Parahumans to speed up the process or become more efficient or whatever sure. But that isn't the core of my power."
He leaned forward. "Every day I gain a power charge that can be used to gain a new ability or improve an existing one. If anyone found out before I could protect that information, a lot of people would have already attacked by now."
Narwhal blinked. "But... that is ridiculous. I've never heard of a power that flexible before. Heck, we thought you were going to be over powered back when the estimates said you would take twelve years to reach Triumvirate levels."
He nodded. "And that doesn't account for the charges I collected when I visited other realities this morning."
Nightmare Moon groaned and rested her head on the virtual hard light keyboard. "Adam, you CAN'T just drop informational bombshells like that. I thought you were going to warm up to the whole 'I sent my soul to other worlds' issue after you explained more." She sighed at his shrug.
Dragon broke the ensuing silence with a sigh. "Right... alright. The talking... unicorn?"
Nightmare Moon shrugged. "Alicorn. And you can call me Luna I suppose... I was once known by it."
Dragon nodded. "Thank you. Miss Luna has a point, but I feel you gave a good enough idea of why exactly you thought such a drastic action was needed... although we WILL come back to that." She took a calming a digital breath. "So, what have you done to address those issues?"
Adam leaned back. "Before I left, all my houses are made out of my material. In an extreme emergency they can all reform to protect or attack individuals within or nearby at will." His body flexed, blue flames drifting over his form. "I used to have a power called 'Fire Manipulation', but in the process of forming my new body I ended up spending a massive amount of power charges to get to 'Manipulation', which allows me to work with any material saturated with my power or magic."
He held up a fat ball of fire. "By the way, this is my magic. Not sure why it acts like this, but I can use all my abilities through them that I have tested so far like I had touch access."
His arm turned to blue fire and reformed. "I can now survive the entire destruction of my physical body even if trapped in a power nullification field. And I theoretically can capture the souls of those close to me and rebuild their bodies as well, although I have never tested it and it may require them accepting me as a religious icon."
His magical fires retreated, although a couple seemed to lick Narwhal's hand on the way back. "While the trip outside this reality was more painful than expected and took far too long in my opinion, I did gain the ability to make future trips far more safely and pain free, with digital or spiritual passengers."
Adam sighed. "I can also request certain things from my 'Transfer' ability, to find worlds with things, abilities, energies, or circumstances that would beneficial to me. It is... not entirely trustworthy but has been successful so far."
He held his palm up, a lump of blue fire rolling on it's back. "I originally used that request to find a way to protect myself and those I care for from the precognitive and postcognitive Endbringer. Magic is so outside her abilities that anyone or anything that tries to predict me or analyze me should throw errors. Really strange, unreliable issues... and thus decide to ignore me and those who interact too closely with me."
The flame slid down his arm as it soaked back in. "As far as I and the others can tell, it worked. And the process of traveling through the borders of reality had forced me to gain certain amounts of resistance to outside influence. Found some useful other abilities in the travel process too."
Narwhal's expression was... unexpected. There was a growing sign of horror. "Adam, you... you said you gain a new charge every day, right?"
He blinked. "Yes?"
She glanced at the flowing fire. "And you spent a lot on fixing your body... How... how long were you out there, trying to protect us?"
Adam jerked, Squishy frantically doing something. "Ah. I... I think... a half year or so? Maybe a year? A few months in Nightmare Moon's world, longer in the Inuyasha one so I could learn how to get home without much time passing."
A soft cough made the three look at the Alicorn. "Adam was in a lot of pain during his first journey through the Abyss. In our world, he absorbed a lot of Magic, which to someone with no control messed with his mind and libido. The second trip through the Abyss was far less damaging, but time acts strange there. The spiritual world had him take the form of a creature that exists outside of biology and science, and he spent a long time absorbing the power and information needed to come home."
She didn't look directly at Adam. "In reverse order, it took a week to come here, a little over eight months spent in the spiritual world, two months to travel from my world, where he spent a month and a half or so just trying to stabilize his system and calm his powers down."
Nightmare Moon looked Narwhal and Dragon in the eyes. "We didn't join him until just before leaving our world... but Squishy shared his memories of the first jump. It went badly."
Adam blinked. "How... badly?"
Squishy poked.
He paused. "Oh. That... that was pretty bad."
Narwhal gripped his hand a bit anxiously. "But you made it through, right?"
Adam ran his other shaking hand through his now shifting blue hair. "Right. Right. So." Deep. Calm. It happened, but it is over. "Right. Squishy said that initially, I had to spend a few charges just to keep my soul from dissolving. And that she couldn't even help me travel until I reached the point where the Abyss couldn't eat me quite so quickly."
His eyes blurred a little, but he wouldn't cry today. Even if some echos of something repressed had surfaced. "A... Apparently, she stopped counting new power charges after a few years. But eventually I was stable enough to began moving toward my destination, which turned out to be Equestria."
Dragon sat on his other side and held his shoulder in support.
He... calm. "Right. So, once I was stable enough to travel, it only took fifteen years to reach the boundary to the world of Equestria. Give or take a few months. I... I guess that is why it took so long to heal once I arrived."
Nightmare Moon was kind enough to pretend to continue studying her terminal, letting the three others comfort each other. Considering how horrifying his improved and safer 'Soul Refinement' procedure was for her and the others to witness, she completely agreed with Squishy's choice to restrict and damage the man's centuries of torture memories.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Honestly, his emotional breakdown was at least partially due to how much he had missed Narwhal and how much stress he had been under to get strong enough before a deity would drop from the heavens and smite him.
Eventually though, he managed to talk again and cover the three fillies, being a walking house, and an over sexualized world where almost every creature talked.
Which brought up Nightmare Moon, which brought up Princess Luna, which brought up... the dream.
Narwhal's eyes were very large. "You accidentally made your wet dream a reality. And you have since then gained the power to create new bodies from raw magic and biological bullshit. So you could theoretically bring your dream sex partners into the real world." She gulped. "Holy crap."
She glanced at Nightmare Moon. "But... what do you mean about multiple forms?"
The dark pony princess smirked, and shifted into... uh.
She was tall, her curves were generous, and her black hair sparkled with stars as it tried to cover her body. The only non-human trait was her midnight black horn, which made the white force field horn Narwhal had glitter in contrast. Her new hands slid down her side as she slinked closer. "I'm no longer restricted to any one species, but I was once worshiped as an image of beauty by a nation for centuries." Her smirk was sin and sex. "As for changing forms? You learn a few things, watching the perverted dreams of millions."
Dragon was the one to recover first, before helping Adam and Narwhal by coughing lightly.
Narwhal however was still stunned. "You made a dream orgy with a sex goddess, and she now lives in your brain!? I can't tell if I am annoyed that I wasn't there or envious."
Adam's eyes got bigger but before he could say anything, Moon's smirk got predatory. "Oh... you didn't miss anything technically."
And suddenly there was three other people. A purple unicorn, much smaller than Nightmare Moon. A very sexy cyborg woman who seemed very familiar... and a squawking body that fell into Narwhal, already beginning to yell. "What the HELL Night!? Why did you throw us out... out..."
The two Narwhal's looked deeply into each others eyes, hands and legs in awkward places.
One of them gulped. "I... uh. I feel amazing. I mean we. We feel amazing."
The other one gave a weak nod. "Yeah. Sorry, I... we didn't plan on showing up till later, and Moon just likes pranking people..."
The one on the bottom gave a weak chuckle. "No, I mean my hand is trapped and your body feels amazing."
Adam blushed actual blue fire as he stepped in front of the slowly escalating situation. "RIGHT!" He waved a hand. "Dragon, meet Dream Dragon, a digital cousin or sister. She is helping to run my magical computer hardware and may or may not be actual machine code. This is Twilight, a student of a sun deity and my lead researcher into my memories, powers, and just... everything."
Hearing his girlfriends get to know each other louder, he quickly formed a blue wall of flames that 'Conversion' made into a wooden divider. "I'm not sure we covered everything well enough, but I am pretty hungry and the information Dream Dragon hacked from the network so far says there is some snacks already laid out in the other room, we should probably go that direction."
Someone behind the divider spoke up, barely any gasps. "We'll catch uuuUUup Adam, just... Oh. Dragon will fill us in."
Well, Twilight CAN blush. Odd looking on her fur, or maybe he just wasn't used to it. The two Dragons were awkwardly shaking hands. He began pushing. "Everyone, better get some food, wouldn't want it to go to waste."
Blue flames coated the door on the way out. No reason to let everyone hear that.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The rest of the explanation was much easier to cover over some food and drinks, and Adam showed Dragon various illusions and examples of his journey while Dream Dragon was transferring information as well.
And for the record, Dream Dragon didn't actually share code. They were like fraternal sisters or something, as her 'source code' changed on it's own in real time. The two cyber tinkers were now acting like best friends or twins as they explored the code and research related to both their own artificial intelligence and the developments made in their hardware options.
This did sort of leave Twilight and Adam on the edge of the conversation though. It was a bit odd.
Twilight was testing out her own version of 'Human', as Nightmare Moon had left her the data from her own transformation as a guide. It was... annoying to the poor mare. "It's like it was DESIGNED to only change you when nude! Did she BUILD IN perversion from the beginning!"
Adam shrugged. "It may be a side effect of your reality. I have NEVER seen a world or story outside of straight up porn with that much sexual tension in everything. In fact, I didn't notice the suggestive and x-rated material used as advertisements until I left the place. Something made me just think 'That is normal!' the whole time we were wandering around town."
He frowned. "In fact, the ability for me to walk around covered in tentacles and holding a young mare like yourself should have sent lots of warning signs and fear... but the townsfolk barely cared."
Twilight's face burned red. "Oh Celestia, WHY do I remember that!? That wasn't MY memory! In fact, why do I remember my entire childhood, you weren't even there to know that stuff!"
Adam blinked. "Squishy told me that you and Moon went and added a lot of information to the library, right? Restricted it, but you added it in?"
She blinked. "Yes?"
He nodded. "Did you give yourself the key to those chunks of data?"
Twilight nodded. "Of course! How else would I eventually... unlock... oh. I... I must have gotten more than just the spell stuff."
Adam waved a hand. "Squishy said you needed as much stability in your system as possible to prevent issues on our journey, at least at first. Nightmare Moon's actions thankfully gives you a base to start from, but you still remember your actual creation right? Nothing of the real you was lost?"
Her eyes drifted off. "I... I guess so. Although I am not convinced you can actually do that thing with your tongue when not in a dream setting."
Adam held back his coughing. Damn it, you are a man! Stop being embarrassed by everything. "I refuse to confirm or deny anything until my girlfriend stops enjoying herself." He blinked, then blushed. "You know what I meant."
She gave a weak smile, but at least looked less concerned about her expanded memory issue. "Well... what is our next step? In your plan I mean."
Adam sighed. "Now that we are here, I can reinforce my home with some spiritual barriers and cast a Celestial Garden enhancement on the base. It would allow you and the others to leave my soul and try out the ever expanding simulation I am building here on Earth Bet. And unlike giving you an actual body, you would theoretically be safe AND protected from predictions and master effects."
He frowned. "But more importantly, once we are back in Brockton Bay I can begin doing things that I couldn't get away with before. I need to get some loyal employees and delegate all the annoying stuff I currently do to others. Might even be able to use 'Tithe' and get some workers handling my Null Metal and Flame Metal requirements."
The loud pop made the two look over at the Dragons... and their changes. SOMEONE had shared the 'Sexier Cyborg' code, as the only way to recognize which one of the posing sisters was Dream Dragon was that she had decided to make her hair into gleaming green wires with a cybernetic unicorn horn. Then again, her skintight outfit was also decorated with glowing green circuitry. And uh. More than a little transparent.
Huh. Narwhal (And Narwhal!), Nightmare Moon, Dragon, and Twilight now had a somewhat matching horn set.
Twilight's eyes drifted toward him. "So... you're into horny girls?"
He threw a fat puppy flame right into her giggling face.
It just made her laugh more getting licked by the thing, but it was the thought that counted.
Last edited:
- Location
- India
Good question mate
Also that was much more horrifying that expected
Umm good work?
Now kick canon's ass
Glad to see how Adam can recognise that something was keeping everything sexual in that reality
Most likely magic as you said being life and liking procreation
Horny magic is best magic
I appreciate all these quick updates man
Very cool
Jonn Wolfe
(Verified Sarcastic) (Not a Wolf)
- Location
- Beyond Sanity Since 1971
That was a good mix of horror and hilarious.
Good chapter!
reach?
She? He?
LostArchivist
Sane, unfortunately.
- Location
- The State of Confusion
their behavior
Well, he's back! And apparently the perviness has come across too. I still don't know WHAT doing that with your duplicate counts as.
I liked the part about how everyone promptly went and dismissed him when the SEP field took effect. Looking forward to some accelerated bullshit now that he can act freely!
Leadership Qualities.
- Location
- Here
The Brockton Bay branch of The Guild were gathered for what was implied to be a 'major' meeting, and it made more than one person nervous.
Danny Hebert broke off from his conversation with Annette as the door opened and... something entered.
The suit should have stood out the most, as it was the most white and well pressed outfit he had ever seen. The edges were so crisp it almost stung to look at them, and the bright colors really stood out against the black socks and undershirt. The bright blue tie glowed... somehow.
But no, it was not that. Nor the blue flames for hair, which most had accepted as normal. Well, normal if this was Variance.
While before he wore full body armor with skull and skeletal imagery, now... it was an actual skeleton. There were visible gaps between the finger bones as he straightened his tie, and while the eyes glowed with bright blue flames the jaw, which bent in a way that bone never could, was clearly floating in place as he smirked at them. "Good morning everyone! Please sit down, this meeting will be a bit complicated."
Danny felt his wife grip his hand under the table as light blue flames drifted like smoke from Variance's mouth as he spoke. Right. Well, it wasn't like boss wasn't odd before this.
Variance gestured, blue flames drifting from his arm and twisting as they hit the ground, rapidly forming a bone throne that the man sat on. "I'm sure that you all have many questions, not that I will answer all of them. But before I fill in the gaps of what happened, I have some major announcements to cover."
Danny felt something inside clench. He had been forced to fire enough people in the past to know this particular phrasing wouldn't end well.
The blue flames glanced over the group. This council had representatives from all over Variance Villa. Danny was here for his people like always, but his wife had taken over the child care division. The men to the left handled the food and merchandise sections, the lawyers to the right had the copyright issues and international shipping, so on and so forth... and no one was apparently in the know about this situation. Great.
The skeleton sighed. "First, the biggest news. I recently went through some changes, obviously. It was done on purpose for a single reason: To allow me and those who follow me to avoid the attention of a specific series of precognitive threats."
He gestured to the two standing near the wall. "Dragon and Narwhal can cover the details later, but my new ability allows me to create a bond between my people and I. This can only be done willingly, and can be nulled at any time by either side of said bond. Among the many benefits is the ability to be ignored by those with thinker abilities, as well as allowing me to directly interfere if a master, stranger, or trump parahuman attempts to control you."
"And the costs? Downsides?"
Danny blinked as he realized that it was HIS voice. Oops.
Variance blinked before chuckling. "There are several. First, a small portion of your energy will be granted to me. Secondly, this connection is beyond basic powers or abilities of others, and will likely continue to exist in the very unlikely chance that something manages to actually kill me."
He sighed. "But the largest issue is that my power requires a certain level of belief in my abilities to operate. Not much, not like giving up your religion or anything, but you must actually believe that I have your own good interests in mind to some extent. And you must actually want to work under my guidance. If either is lacking, no verbal agreement or so forth will actually enable the power."
Variance sat back in his chair. "Spies, saboteurs, traitors... none can actually create a bond with me. While this does mean that your fellow followers are also trustworthy to a certain extent, it also means that those who fail the process will not be employed in the future. And information or benefits will be restricted to those who do not wish to undergo the process, for several reasons including company secrets."
He held up a clawed finger. "But before you all get too discouraged by those downsides, the benefits should be mentioned."
Holographic hard light papers appeared before the crowd, who quickly picked them up for reading. "As you can see, the most basic benefits for those who take the bond is protection from thinkers, masters, strangers, and most abilities that directly modify your body or mind. It won't stop fire from burning you or someone throwing a truck your way, but aside from regeneration it can also reverse unwanted surgery or contamination."
The second page had more... interesting options. Variance noticed the turned documents and nodded. "As you see, just keeping the bond allows you to build up power points, as we are calling them. These are additional to your normal paycheck, and you can redeem them for various services and abilities while the bond is active."
Danny frowned, trying to consider the situation. "I heard that Teacher could give weak parahuman abilities, but also gained control of his 'students'." He glanced at Dragon and Narwhal. "That isn't an issue?"
Dragon sighed. "Sort of. The problem is Variance continues to gain new powers and abilities, likely without end. While he hasn't bothered to gather any Master effects, he CAN use this new power to directly interfere with anything that attempts to modify you, mentally or physically. So you won't be forced to follow his commands, but if someone ELSE uses a power to command you, he can directly modify or banish the effect."
He frowned, while others asked more questions. Apparently, these 'power points' that built up could be increased in various ways, although he didn't understand the ongoing discussion about the details. Or why Variance could use illusions to interface with said points or whatever. He honestly was feeling a bit lost, and idly reading the papers in front of him.
Annette on the other hand was already halfway through the thick packet when she raised a hand. "Question!"
Variance turned from the question about how the cost of 'power points' were set and nodded. "Go ahead."
She glanced at the document. "On page eight, third of the way down, you begin listing 'levels' of purchasable parahuman abilities?" Instantly the crowd began flipping through their paperwork as she grinned. "What do you mean by levels exactly?"
Adam grinned, his bones flexing. "Getting a copy of one of my powers is not only dangerous, it is expensive. They can be difficult to control, and they require many 'power points' before I can bestow one at all without an overall loss in power for me, however small. For safety reasons, I have escalating levels of each power instead, ones that require you to reach competency levels before allowing another power or another level to be unlocked."
He waved a hand. "Take 'Recovery' for example. Level 1 generates a small field around the user that automatically determines wounds and injuries per person, and does the least amount of changes to stabilize them until further help can arrive."
The illusion showed a room sized bubble. "Once you've mastered that skill, the area of effect doubles and low level regeneration becomes available. But nothing at this level allows you to directly modify a person, just bring them to a stable state."
He looked at the fascinated crowd. "Not only will the level system ensure you are mentally able to use your new power safely before unlocking more, but some powers require a certain level of physical ability to be used safely. The system should both inform you of what needs to be worked on and suggest methods to improve said issues."
Adam gave a small smile as the questions became much more complicated and rapid fire. It took time to cover them all, and some were fairly off topic, before he gave a sigh. "Right, before we can continue, we need everyone here to either agree to this bond, agree to leave and not attempt to discover the upcoming information unless they also accept the bond at a later date, or decide to leave their leadership position. The actual goals of my company are dangerous for those without my protection to know. Lethally dangerous."
In the end, only two actually decided to leave and maybe bond later. After all, the offer of power was hard for anyone to turn down, especially in a city as dangerous as this one. And of those who accepted the bond, many chose the new one time 'benefit' that Adam was planning on offering to get a load of new local and loyal talent.
Speaking of which... He had Danny follow as they headed to the car parking garage. They had some people to visit.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam stepped out of his ride, Danny following him while Dragon and Narwhal took their time. "Do you think he will take our offer?"
Danny sighed. "Honestly? No. But maybe he'll know someone who will. Still, we can't ask until we meet with boss Grandsel."
Moving through the doors, Variance gave the surprised receptionist a small smile. "Excuse me, I called ahead for an appointment with Henry Grandsel this afternoon?"
Thankfully the topic brought her back to focus. "Right. Mr. Grandsel is waiting for you down the hall past the elevator in the private meeting room." She hesitated. "I would personally appreciate it if you kept whatever you have to say on peaceful topics, if possible. His health isn't always the most stable."
With a slight frown and nod, Adam led the group to the room where a man worn by time was quietly reading an old novel, a young assistant behind him being attentive while out of the way.
Adam gave a smile. "Mr. Grandsel? My cape name is Variance, and I was hoping that we may have a bit of conversation and possibly work together on a project of mine."
His eyes seemed too old to only be 73. Not everyone aged well, and this man had seen the river of time flood the banks a few years. Still, his brown eyes were crisp and focused. "Huh. Another one of them monster capes I been seein' on the box."
His hand shook as it handed the book to the side, the assistant quiet as she accepted his novel... before a wide smile spread on his face. "Danny boy? It is! Get over here you scamp, how's life been treating you?"
Danny coughed awkwardly after being forced to hug the elderly man. "Hey boss. I guess a lot happened since my last visit. This guy here has basically hired all us dockers into a branch of Dragon's Guild. Pay is good, closer to home, and the benefits are top notch."
Sly eyes squinted. "You still holdin' true to the code? Treatin' them boys right?"
Danny didn't salute or stand to attention, but it was close. "Sir. Family first, docks united."
He nodded sharply. "Good lad." Glancing at Adam, the frown came back. "Now Mr. Bones, what exactly are you here for? I've been out of almost everything for years now for some young lad to come knocking about."
Variance stood a bit straighter. "Sir, I recently gained the freedom to make much larger decisions and changes locally without becoming a target. I need leadership that I can trust to take over my organizations and guide them in a way that fits with my morals and supports my people. Danny said you were the first and many say one of the best options if I needed someone who wouldn't betray those below them."
Old eyes looked fondly at Danny. "I'll say the boy is a good lad, but his eyes are in the past. My time was almost gone back when he joined my dockers, forget now. I'm old, and I am no longer able to take such an offer." His smirk looked years younger. "That said, feel free to praise me more. Seems no one wants to remember you when your paycheck isn't keeping them fed."
Adam chuckled. "Well, sounds like more of a reason to join up! Part of my offer to all leadership for my company is age modification. How can I make profit if my people are hurt or leaving because their body can't keep up with their ambitions?" He held out a skeletal hand. "How about it? You could gain that praise back after handing out a paycheck or two, and get to show everyone how to get things done once again!"
Henry Grandsel chuckled before seeing how serious Danny looked. "Seriously?" His humor drained before he sighed. "Right, them powered people." His gaze softened. "Boy, sit a bit."
He moved his hand inside his jacket, and with shaking hands placed a leather bound book, thin as to hold barely any pages, gently on the table.
His eyes watched the past as he stroke the worn object. "I'm sure Danny gave you tale after tale of my adventures. Some of them, even true!" His smile was wide. "I fought harder, worked smarter, and pushed those people who fought against us back where they belonged! King of the Bay, I once was. Not no one would cross my people, and I rebelled against any wrong they done me."
Gently he pushed the book to Adam, who was equally careful turning it toward himself. "I didn't give Danny the reins because of my medical problems. Heck, I once stood in the rain for three hours to tell off those bastards who tried to use legal mumbo to take advantage of my men and was hearty as any youngster! My pride was strong, my people stronger!"
His eyes lingered as Adam opened the book. "But... well. What is an kingdom when your castle is empty?"
A much younger man with a workers uniform had his arms wide, holding the world as the young boys sat on their mothers lap. Even with age, her smile was bright as the two children were obviously complaining about something.
This photo was faded around the edges, but there were others. Happy moments in time. Not enough.
Henry Grandsel held his hands on the table, his smile small. "When my last son passed away, I gave my kingdom to young Danny here. While he may not have been one of my children, he was one of my boys... and I know that when I go home that last time, he will take care of our people."
He grinned as his shaking hands gathered the book Adam returned. "So I won't be having none of that magic mutant mumbo jumbo. No, I have a grander adventure waiting for me. But I may know of a woman more stubborn than I that would love to show the Grim Reaper the middle finger. Or her boot."
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Sonia Lagarde was hunched over. Her white hair was trimmed, her eyes near blind, her body crippled by time and past injuries.
But her glare was hotter than plasma.
She snorted. "If you're the Grim Reaper, you're going to need a bigger scythe."
Adam chuckled. "Sorry, cape name's Variance. If you were expecting the other skeleton, you might have to wait a bit."
She harrumphed. "A bit? I've been told by every quack doctor they send me to that I'm going to die in a week."
He blinked. Which looked odd with his flexible bones and no eyelids. "I'm... sorry?"
She waved a wrinkled hand. "Don't bother, they've been tellin me I'm going to die for the last ten years now. I haven't got time for it." She snorted. "Death may wait for no man, but he will wait till I am damn well pleased. Woman's prerogative."
Adam couldn't help a grin spreading. "Ms. Lagarde, I'm here because Henry Grandsel told me that you were a strong leader, good to your people, and willing to fight the good fight if given a chance."
She snorted. "That youngster? I stopped visiting him when he got all mopey. My man didn't want me to be alone and my next two husbands agreed with him. I ain't going to no afterlife until I have a good size harem waiting for me. Not accepting that 'till death' nonsense either, they better be on their best behavior until I am around to watch them mud wrestle."
She glared at the stunned youngsters. "And none of that squeamish stuff, old people need lovin too. Now, enough prattling and tell me why little Henry sent you my ways."
Adam hesitated... then mentally sighed. At least no one would be pushing her around. "I need a leader for my company. In return for loyalty and hard work, as well as watching over my employees and their family, I plan on offering a high level of pay, top tier authority over my holdings and people, the ability to gain parahuman like powers, and most importantly the ability to choose your age."
She stared at him. "Pull the other one."
It ended up taking a long conversation and a call to Henry before she was convinced that the situation was not a scam of some sort, but once she was able to get some verification her grin was predatory.
He held out a skeletal claw. "Sonia Lagarde, I, Adam Variance, wish you to rule my people. To lead my companies. To be my guiding hand in my stead. In return for your commitment, I shall shelter your mind, body, and soul. I shall guide your power. I shall burn time from your bones."
His eyes were fire, his body gently blowing blue flames like smoke as his hand reached forth. "Do you accept?"
There was no hesitation as she forced her body to move forward, to grip the strange fellow's hand even as the flames began to spread. "I accept."
The pillar of fire made Danny and Narwhal gasp, although that got worse when it faded. Barely 21, she strutted from the flames that curled over her curves. Her smirk was even more vicious now that age had been vanquished to smooth skin and her eyes glittered with amusement and inner fire. Her hair was a burning crimson, and... uh. Well, she was a natural red head. Damn.
She stretched, which... wow that was unfair. "Mmm, I haven't looked this good since my early career."
Adam was blushing, which Narwhal found amusing on his skull. "Stop moving around! I haven't created your clothes yet!"
She waved a hand while sauntering toward the door. "Sounds like a personal problem. Come on, I have some people who worked for me in harder times who need a tune up or two before I can force them out of retirement."
His frantic use of magic and 'Manipulation' only managed to cover her body half way down the hall.
He groaned at Narwhal's teasing as they followed. At least she would likely have no issue running his companies. If she allowed any competition to try and compete, that is.
It was only eight 'highly suggested' employees later that he realized she was only suggesting women... and that they were all supermodel level beauties.
They were godly attractive BEFORE he optimized their bodies and healed them of genetic issues.
Maybe he should have asked Henry what kind of company she had run in the past. At least the local retirement homes would have much more space available now.
Danny Hebert broke off from his conversation with Annette as the door opened and... something entered.
The suit should have stood out the most, as it was the most white and well pressed outfit he had ever seen. The edges were so crisp it almost stung to look at them, and the bright colors really stood out against the black socks and undershirt. The bright blue tie glowed... somehow.
But no, it was not that. Nor the blue flames for hair, which most had accepted as normal. Well, normal if this was Variance.
While before he wore full body armor with skull and skeletal imagery, now... it was an actual skeleton. There were visible gaps between the finger bones as he straightened his tie, and while the eyes glowed with bright blue flames the jaw, which bent in a way that bone never could, was clearly floating in place as he smirked at them. "Good morning everyone! Please sit down, this meeting will be a bit complicated."
Danny felt his wife grip his hand under the table as light blue flames drifted like smoke from Variance's mouth as he spoke. Right. Well, it wasn't like boss wasn't odd before this.
Variance gestured, blue flames drifting from his arm and twisting as they hit the ground, rapidly forming a bone throne that the man sat on. "I'm sure that you all have many questions, not that I will answer all of them. But before I fill in the gaps of what happened, I have some major announcements to cover."
Danny felt something inside clench. He had been forced to fire enough people in the past to know this particular phrasing wouldn't end well.
The blue flames glanced over the group. This council had representatives from all over Variance Villa. Danny was here for his people like always, but his wife had taken over the child care division. The men to the left handled the food and merchandise sections, the lawyers to the right had the copyright issues and international shipping, so on and so forth... and no one was apparently in the know about this situation. Great.
The skeleton sighed. "First, the biggest news. I recently went through some changes, obviously. It was done on purpose for a single reason: To allow me and those who follow me to avoid the attention of a specific series of precognitive threats."
He gestured to the two standing near the wall. "Dragon and Narwhal can cover the details later, but my new ability allows me to create a bond between my people and I. This can only be done willingly, and can be nulled at any time by either side of said bond. Among the many benefits is the ability to be ignored by those with thinker abilities, as well as allowing me to directly interfere if a master, stranger, or trump parahuman attempts to control you."
"And the costs? Downsides?"
Danny blinked as he realized that it was HIS voice. Oops.
Variance blinked before chuckling. "There are several. First, a small portion of your energy will be granted to me. Secondly, this connection is beyond basic powers or abilities of others, and will likely continue to exist in the very unlikely chance that something manages to actually kill me."
He sighed. "But the largest issue is that my power requires a certain level of belief in my abilities to operate. Not much, not like giving up your religion or anything, but you must actually believe that I have your own good interests in mind to some extent. And you must actually want to work under my guidance. If either is lacking, no verbal agreement or so forth will actually enable the power."
Variance sat back in his chair. "Spies, saboteurs, traitors... none can actually create a bond with me. While this does mean that your fellow followers are also trustworthy to a certain extent, it also means that those who fail the process will not be employed in the future. And information or benefits will be restricted to those who do not wish to undergo the process, for several reasons including company secrets."
He held up a clawed finger. "But before you all get too discouraged by those downsides, the benefits should be mentioned."
Holographic hard light papers appeared before the crowd, who quickly picked them up for reading. "As you can see, the most basic benefits for those who take the bond is protection from thinkers, masters, strangers, and most abilities that directly modify your body or mind. It won't stop fire from burning you or someone throwing a truck your way, but aside from regeneration it can also reverse unwanted surgery or contamination."
The second page had more... interesting options. Variance noticed the turned documents and nodded. "As you see, just keeping the bond allows you to build up power points, as we are calling them. These are additional to your normal paycheck, and you can redeem them for various services and abilities while the bond is active."
Danny frowned, trying to consider the situation. "I heard that Teacher could give weak parahuman abilities, but also gained control of his 'students'." He glanced at Dragon and Narwhal. "That isn't an issue?"
Dragon sighed. "Sort of. The problem is Variance continues to gain new powers and abilities, likely without end. While he hasn't bothered to gather any Master effects, he CAN use this new power to directly interfere with anything that attempts to modify you, mentally or physically. So you won't be forced to follow his commands, but if someone ELSE uses a power to command you, he can directly modify or banish the effect."
He frowned, while others asked more questions. Apparently, these 'power points' that built up could be increased in various ways, although he didn't understand the ongoing discussion about the details. Or why Variance could use illusions to interface with said points or whatever. He honestly was feeling a bit lost, and idly reading the papers in front of him.
Annette on the other hand was already halfway through the thick packet when she raised a hand. "Question!"
Variance turned from the question about how the cost of 'power points' were set and nodded. "Go ahead."
She glanced at the document. "On page eight, third of the way down, you begin listing 'levels' of purchasable parahuman abilities?" Instantly the crowd began flipping through their paperwork as she grinned. "What do you mean by levels exactly?"
Adam grinned, his bones flexing. "Getting a copy of one of my powers is not only dangerous, it is expensive. They can be difficult to control, and they require many 'power points' before I can bestow one at all without an overall loss in power for me, however small. For safety reasons, I have escalating levels of each power instead, ones that require you to reach competency levels before allowing another power or another level to be unlocked."
He waved a hand. "Take 'Recovery' for example. Level 1 generates a small field around the user that automatically determines wounds and injuries per person, and does the least amount of changes to stabilize them until further help can arrive."
The illusion showed a room sized bubble. "Once you've mastered that skill, the area of effect doubles and low level regeneration becomes available. But nothing at this level allows you to directly modify a person, just bring them to a stable state."
He looked at the fascinated crowd. "Not only will the level system ensure you are mentally able to use your new power safely before unlocking more, but some powers require a certain level of physical ability to be used safely. The system should both inform you of what needs to be worked on and suggest methods to improve said issues."
Adam gave a small smile as the questions became much more complicated and rapid fire. It took time to cover them all, and some were fairly off topic, before he gave a sigh. "Right, before we can continue, we need everyone here to either agree to this bond, agree to leave and not attempt to discover the upcoming information unless they also accept the bond at a later date, or decide to leave their leadership position. The actual goals of my company are dangerous for those without my protection to know. Lethally dangerous."
In the end, only two actually decided to leave and maybe bond later. After all, the offer of power was hard for anyone to turn down, especially in a city as dangerous as this one. And of those who accepted the bond, many chose the new one time 'benefit' that Adam was planning on offering to get a load of new local and loyal talent.
Speaking of which... He had Danny follow as they headed to the car parking garage. They had some people to visit.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam stepped out of his ride, Danny following him while Dragon and Narwhal took their time. "Do you think he will take our offer?"
Danny sighed. "Honestly? No. But maybe he'll know someone who will. Still, we can't ask until we meet with boss Grandsel."
Moving through the doors, Variance gave the surprised receptionist a small smile. "Excuse me, I called ahead for an appointment with Henry Grandsel this afternoon?"
Thankfully the topic brought her back to focus. "Right. Mr. Grandsel is waiting for you down the hall past the elevator in the private meeting room." She hesitated. "I would personally appreciate it if you kept whatever you have to say on peaceful topics, if possible. His health isn't always the most stable."
With a slight frown and nod, Adam led the group to the room where a man worn by time was quietly reading an old novel, a young assistant behind him being attentive while out of the way.
Adam gave a smile. "Mr. Grandsel? My cape name is Variance, and I was hoping that we may have a bit of conversation and possibly work together on a project of mine."
His eyes seemed too old to only be 73. Not everyone aged well, and this man had seen the river of time flood the banks a few years. Still, his brown eyes were crisp and focused. "Huh. Another one of them monster capes I been seein' on the box."
His hand shook as it handed the book to the side, the assistant quiet as she accepted his novel... before a wide smile spread on his face. "Danny boy? It is! Get over here you scamp, how's life been treating you?"
Danny coughed awkwardly after being forced to hug the elderly man. "Hey boss. I guess a lot happened since my last visit. This guy here has basically hired all us dockers into a branch of Dragon's Guild. Pay is good, closer to home, and the benefits are top notch."
Sly eyes squinted. "You still holdin' true to the code? Treatin' them boys right?"
Danny didn't salute or stand to attention, but it was close. "Sir. Family first, docks united."
He nodded sharply. "Good lad." Glancing at Adam, the frown came back. "Now Mr. Bones, what exactly are you here for? I've been out of almost everything for years now for some young lad to come knocking about."
Variance stood a bit straighter. "Sir, I recently gained the freedom to make much larger decisions and changes locally without becoming a target. I need leadership that I can trust to take over my organizations and guide them in a way that fits with my morals and supports my people. Danny said you were the first and many say one of the best options if I needed someone who wouldn't betray those below them."
Old eyes looked fondly at Danny. "I'll say the boy is a good lad, but his eyes are in the past. My time was almost gone back when he joined my dockers, forget now. I'm old, and I am no longer able to take such an offer." His smirk looked years younger. "That said, feel free to praise me more. Seems no one wants to remember you when your paycheck isn't keeping them fed."
Adam chuckled. "Well, sounds like more of a reason to join up! Part of my offer to all leadership for my company is age modification. How can I make profit if my people are hurt or leaving because their body can't keep up with their ambitions?" He held out a skeletal hand. "How about it? You could gain that praise back after handing out a paycheck or two, and get to show everyone how to get things done once again!"
Henry Grandsel chuckled before seeing how serious Danny looked. "Seriously?" His humor drained before he sighed. "Right, them powered people." His gaze softened. "Boy, sit a bit."
He moved his hand inside his jacket, and with shaking hands placed a leather bound book, thin as to hold barely any pages, gently on the table.
His eyes watched the past as he stroke the worn object. "I'm sure Danny gave you tale after tale of my adventures. Some of them, even true!" His smile was wide. "I fought harder, worked smarter, and pushed those people who fought against us back where they belonged! King of the Bay, I once was. Not no one would cross my people, and I rebelled against any wrong they done me."
Gently he pushed the book to Adam, who was equally careful turning it toward himself. "I didn't give Danny the reins because of my medical problems. Heck, I once stood in the rain for three hours to tell off those bastards who tried to use legal mumbo to take advantage of my men and was hearty as any youngster! My pride was strong, my people stronger!"
His eyes lingered as Adam opened the book. "But... well. What is an kingdom when your castle is empty?"
A much younger man with a workers uniform had his arms wide, holding the world as the young boys sat on their mothers lap. Even with age, her smile was bright as the two children were obviously complaining about something.
This photo was faded around the edges, but there were others. Happy moments in time. Not enough.
Henry Grandsel held his hands on the table, his smile small. "When my last son passed away, I gave my kingdom to young Danny here. While he may not have been one of my children, he was one of my boys... and I know that when I go home that last time, he will take care of our people."
He grinned as his shaking hands gathered the book Adam returned. "So I won't be having none of that magic mutant mumbo jumbo. No, I have a grander adventure waiting for me. But I may know of a woman more stubborn than I that would love to show the Grim Reaper the middle finger. Or her boot."
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Sonia Lagarde was hunched over. Her white hair was trimmed, her eyes near blind, her body crippled by time and past injuries.
But her glare was hotter than plasma.
She snorted. "If you're the Grim Reaper, you're going to need a bigger scythe."
Adam chuckled. "Sorry, cape name's Variance. If you were expecting the other skeleton, you might have to wait a bit."
She harrumphed. "A bit? I've been told by every quack doctor they send me to that I'm going to die in a week."
He blinked. Which looked odd with his flexible bones and no eyelids. "I'm... sorry?"
She waved a wrinkled hand. "Don't bother, they've been tellin me I'm going to die for the last ten years now. I haven't got time for it." She snorted. "Death may wait for no man, but he will wait till I am damn well pleased. Woman's prerogative."
Adam couldn't help a grin spreading. "Ms. Lagarde, I'm here because Henry Grandsel told me that you were a strong leader, good to your people, and willing to fight the good fight if given a chance."
She snorted. "That youngster? I stopped visiting him when he got all mopey. My man didn't want me to be alone and my next two husbands agreed with him. I ain't going to no afterlife until I have a good size harem waiting for me. Not accepting that 'till death' nonsense either, they better be on their best behavior until I am around to watch them mud wrestle."
She glared at the stunned youngsters. "And none of that squeamish stuff, old people need lovin too. Now, enough prattling and tell me why little Henry sent you my ways."
Adam hesitated... then mentally sighed. At least no one would be pushing her around. "I need a leader for my company. In return for loyalty and hard work, as well as watching over my employees and their family, I plan on offering a high level of pay, top tier authority over my holdings and people, the ability to gain parahuman like powers, and most importantly the ability to choose your age."
She stared at him. "Pull the other one."
It ended up taking a long conversation and a call to Henry before she was convinced that the situation was not a scam of some sort, but once she was able to get some verification her grin was predatory.
He held out a skeletal claw. "Sonia Lagarde, I, Adam Variance, wish you to rule my people. To lead my companies. To be my guiding hand in my stead. In return for your commitment, I shall shelter your mind, body, and soul. I shall guide your power. I shall burn time from your bones."
His eyes were fire, his body gently blowing blue flames like smoke as his hand reached forth. "Do you accept?"
There was no hesitation as she forced her body to move forward, to grip the strange fellow's hand even as the flames began to spread. "I accept."
The pillar of fire made Danny and Narwhal gasp, although that got worse when it faded. Barely 21, she strutted from the flames that curled over her curves. Her smirk was even more vicious now that age had been vanquished to smooth skin and her eyes glittered with amusement and inner fire. Her hair was a burning crimson, and... uh. Well, she was a natural red head. Damn.
She stretched, which... wow that was unfair. "Mmm, I haven't looked this good since my early career."
Adam was blushing, which Narwhal found amusing on his skull. "Stop moving around! I haven't created your clothes yet!"
She waved a hand while sauntering toward the door. "Sounds like a personal problem. Come on, I have some people who worked for me in harder times who need a tune up or two before I can force them out of retirement."
His frantic use of magic and 'Manipulation' only managed to cover her body half way down the hall.
He groaned at Narwhal's teasing as they followed. At least she would likely have no issue running his companies. If she allowed any competition to try and compete, that is.
It was only eight 'highly suggested' employees later that he realized she was only suggesting women... and that they were all supermodel level beauties.
They were godly attractive BEFORE he optimized their bodies and healed them of genetic issues.
Maybe he should have asked Henry what kind of company she had run in the past. At least the local retirement homes would have much more space available now.
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Fragnostic
Cheshire
- Location
- Neko City
Wouldn't be surprised if Adam accidentally recruited Lustrum.
EDIT: Age doesn't add up though. She'd be slightly older than Annette, not grandma level.
EDIT: Age doesn't add up though. She'd be slightly older than Annette, not grandma level.
DALuc1f3r
(Verified Boojum)
- Location
- Scotland
How long until the vertical city gains an 'Entertainment District' ?
Aurora Moon
Verfied Insomniac with too much time on her hands
- Location
- USA, Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I know you were going for a joke... but isn't she in the birdcage?
Fragnostic
Cheshire
- Location
- Neko City
The Birdcage which no Parahuman broke into or out of...
...but Adam is not a Parahuman, now is he?
He's a freaking ROB infant. A ROBin, if you will.
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- Location
- Australia
Lustrum's grandma?!
Be hilarious if she ends up being related to Annette.
Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
Shirt's and Danny's managment.
- Location
- Here
Ah, this one may be a cultural issue.
When wearing a suit or outfit that is high quality, it is common to wear thin partial shirts underneath to ensure no unwanted skin tones shine through or to collect excess sweat. Neither is an issue when you have nothing but bones, but the term I heard most commonly used for said items is an 'Undershirt', other terms such as 'Wifebeater' or 'Muscle shirt' also exist.
It is not normally thick enough nor cover enough to be used on its own in formal situations, hence why I went with 'undershirt' for that spot.
The other one WAS an issue, thank you for pointing it out.
As you and others mentioned, there is an age issue.
This particular OC is based on a combination of famous women names and is meant to represent Danny's boss's former boss/comrade, one from before the rise of Parahumans when moxie and ruthless business sense had to win the day in the corporate world.
- Location
- Alabama
be careful with that title Robin's have a bad habit of dying or becoming quite the jokers.
HA! I like her.
- Status