Hidden (WORM/CYOA)

[asgard]

Note: This story was constructed using ideas from the supersoldiercyoa by EXC4 and slipstream as well as the augmentsoldiercyoa by duburu.

Title: Hidden

Introduction

She ran. Oh ... she ran. Out of the school. Away from that terrible place of unending suffering, humiliation and hate. Madison's malicious smile. Sophia's chilling gaze. And Emma's cutting words. That never failed to bleed her heart.

Why Emma?

She ran.

Why? she asked again. Despite knowing she would not get an answer she asked herself for the reason that continued to elude her like the wind.

What have I done to you, Emma?

Tears streamed down her face. Obscuring her vision somewhat. But she didn't care.

She continued to run. Away from them. Not caring where her legs were taking her. She just wanted to get away from everyone and everything.

Especially the hurt.

And pain. She didn't care where she was going and ... suddenly, there was a screech of burning tires ... and pain.

The pain that she could feel all over her body before darkness claimed her and Taylor knew no more.

---

"She's coming to," a voice spoke, on the edge of her hearing.

"She's going to join us, Papa?" a second voice asked whose voice was high-pitched like that of a child.

"Positive! Her vitals are stable," the voice belonging to the first speaker answered.

"Wow! A sister! For me!" the second voice exclaimed excitedly.

"What's her name, Papa?" she asked again.

"Well ... let's find out, shall we? Hmm ... The regenerating serum's working fine," he commented.

The child-like voice cheered loudly again causing Taylor to open her eyes before looking in the direction of the voice. There was a man in a standard lab coat looking at the various instruments hanging all over the room she was in. Next to him was a young girl waving at her excitedly.

<???>

Five symbols in green light appeared in front of her above the man's head and the little girl's head.

"I'm Doctor Yuito. How are you feeling?" the man asked her gently.

The three question mark symbols hanging above the man's head changed unexpectedly.

<Name: Dr. Yuito. Level: ??? Doctor>

"Fine. What-?" she answered and stopped abruptly.

Her voice was different. It sounded clearer. Like it was coming from a stereo of high definition.

"I will explain everything to you later. Right now, can you remember your name?" the man asked.

"Taylor. I'm Taylor Herbert. My voice-," she spoke slowly trying to get a feel for the strangeness of her new voice.

"Can you remember where you live?" the man cut in breaking her out of her current thoughts.

"Yes. It's next to Dawton Avenue. About fifteen minutes from Winslow High. Am I in the hospital?"

Taylor voiced out.

"Something like that," the man answered.

Taylor pushed herself to get up. Her hands and legs, however, did not move.

"Why can't I move?" she asked as she started to panic.

"Taylor, be calm," the man said and Taylor calmed down immediately, "Your mind still needs to get used to this new body."

"New body?"

There was silence for a minute and then the man finally gave his answer.

"Taylor. There's no easy way to say this. But you've been dead for a week," the man said to her shock.

"What?!!" She started to scream.

"Calm down!" The man spoke again.

Just as before, Taylor calmed down instantly.

"You suffered a real bad accident, Taylor. Running through traffic like that."

"Oh ..." Taylor groaned inwardly as she slowly began to recall what had happened. Unable to control her emotions that day, she had blindly run out of Winslow High without looking clearly as to where she was going. She didn't even know what had happened until the sensation of pain had struck her and before she knew it, she found herself in this strange place.

"Moving your mind to a new body was the only way for you to have any chances of survival," the man explained.

"I don't understand! I want to speak to my Dad! Where is he?" she shrieked.

"Stay calm!" the man ordered.

Immediately, she calmed down. Though she did not know why.

"We have to show you something," The man took a mirror and placed it in front of Taylor.

Taylor looked into the mirror to see a face that was beautiful and would draw attention staring back at her. It was perfect in every way save for the fact that it looked eerily inhuman with its jet-black and dark blue skin with silver highlights across it. The short hair was also a mixture of the same black and blue colour.

"What hap-pen-ed?" She managed to voice out her words with difficulty.

"When we found you, Taylor, you were already in a coma. Your body was already dead. We managed to save your consciousness and moved your mind into another body that was kept in reserve at our facility. There was no time for us to construct a new body for you."

"I want to go home," Taylor spoke up.

"Granted. But you must never reveal or let slip anything about us and this place you're in to anyone. What you have seen here, stays in this room. If anyone asks about what happened, just tell them that you're a Case 53 and leave it at that."

"Why?"

"We have enemies Taylor. Dangerous enemies. If they learned about your connection with us, they would come after you. Keeping your knowledge of us and our place a secret is as much for your own protection as it is for ours. And for now rest."

Without any further hesitation, Taylor closed her eyes and fell asleep.

---

Story Notes from SupersoldierCYOA by EXC4 and slipstream

Name - Taylor Herbert (XV-0111)

Enhancements - Mutagen

Appearance - Athletic

Power Choices

1. Strength Level 3 (active) - Juggle tanks one-handed and punch foes so hard they land several miles away.

2. Durability Level 3 (active) - Nothing short of explosives or armour-piercing rounds will stop the character.

3. Shapeshifting Level 3 (inactive)

4. Unarmed Mastery Level 3 (inactive)

5. Self Healing Level 3 (inactive)

6. Reflexes Level 3 (inactive)

7. Stealth Level 3 (active) - Move in total silence, can sense the location of anyone the character's had direct line of sight on within the last 15 minutes. The character can also turn invisible for up to 10 minutes with a cooldown time of one hour.

8. Enhanced Senses Level 3 (active) - The character can follow objects that move faster than the human eye and track nearby foes by the sound of their breathing. The character can also see in total darkness and hear a branch snap a mile away. The character can also see in infrared and eavesdrop on conversations several miles away.

9. Natural Weapon Level 3 (inactive)

10. Social Enhancer Level 3 (inactive)

11. Focus Level 3 (active) - The character is totally immune to attacks against the character's mind including mindreading and mind control.

12. Predator Level 3 (inactive)

13. Directed Energy Attack Level 3 (inactive)

14. Power Burst Level 3 (inactive)

15. Flight Level 3 (active) - The character can fly without any visible mechanism as fast as the character can sprint, and it requires roughly as much energy.

16. Weapon Mastery Level 3 (inactive)

Mutagen Only

17. Adaptability Level 3 (inactive)

18. Self Improvement Level 3 (inactive)

Perks - Prime Subject, Expert, Charisma, Defector, Defector

Drawbacks - Valuable, Limited, Traitor, Traitor, Traitor, Uncanny, Neutered, Controlled.

Reasons for Perks and Drawbacks

Valuable, Neutered - XV-0111 was an experimental supersoldier body that was designed with no sexual organs as both SAFEGUARD and Yuito didn't see a need for them early on as this was merely a prototype model body for a more effective frontline fighter rather than an infiltrator to carry out their objectives. Both the AI and scientist, however, appeared to have changed their minds with the onset of Hannah Caldwell's creation with the M7 Mutagen, a refined version of the M6 Mutagen.

Limited - The rudimentary intelligence in charge of the experimental body was a disappointment as it only appeared to possess a portion of the abilities it was projected to have and was promptly shutdown. Unknown to Yuito and SAFEGUARD, XV-0111's complete set of powers would manifest with Taylor in charge at different times in twenty years.

Prime Subject - The only piece of good news was that Taylor did not appear to have developed the usual painful symptoms from the use of the Mutagen known as M6.

Uncanny - An unwanted side-effect of the experiment. Taylor looks eerily unnatural from near though she still looks clearly humanoid from far.

Controlled - A new measure that SAFEGUARD came up with to prevent any of their creations from turning against them ever since the incident with Bubbles. This made Taylor unable to refuse direct commands from SAFEGUARD or Yuito and cannot act in anyway which would do damage to them or the organisation itself.

Faction - AI (SAFEGUARD), Bonus (+SOMETHING).

Allies - Hannah Caldwell, Yuito Kataoka, Ryan Elmore, Jason Roark, Ghost

Foes - John York, Bubbles, Olivia Blake, Max-01, Max-02.

Unaffiliated Characters - Immortal, The Prototype.

SAFEGUARD - A reference to either the organisation or the artificial intelligence who created it. SAFEGUARD is an artificial intelligence whose primary objective is to save the human race from destruction even if it means establishing total control over the whole planet to do so. From the very beginning, it had also been aware of SAINT and DRAGON but it shunned contact with either of them, actually viewing them both as a threat to its survival and goals. The first due to his AI-phobic tendencies and the latter due to SAINT's infiltration of DRAGON.

Bubbles - An early experiment in designing supersoldiers that used animals such as apes. Bubbles is a cybernetically enhanced gorilla granted both superhuman strength and intellect that went AWOL. Declaring war on humanity, he has designated anyone connected with SAFEGUARD's organisation as a key target. A formidable fighter in his own right, he has now created more cybernetic animals to aid his cause.

Max-01 & Max-02 - Both canines were also part of a the same experiment that turned Bubbles into a cybernetically enhanced gorilla. When Bubbles went AWOL, they followed him and are one of his most trusted companions.

Olivia Blake - A born leader in combat who is secretly resentful of supersoldiers and parahumans in general. She fell in love with John York later in the story and subsequently betrayed the organisation though he has had little time to return her love.

John York - An anti-supersoldier vigilante who wishes to kill all supersoldiers as well as capes after his entire family was killed in a battle involving parahumans. Believing them to be a blight on the planet, he has sworn to destroy all of them. He is also secretly attracted to Olivia Blake but has had not much time to return her love due to pressing duties. For example, reducing the parahuman population in the world which he considers to be completely out of control. John York has also killed the Immortal many times but has never been able to put it down for good.

Ryan Elmore - An earlier model supersoldier assigned to train and help Taylor adjust to her new life by SAFEGUARD. He is also helping to train Hannah in the use of weapons.

Yuito Kataoka - A scientist or bio-tinker working for SAFEGUARD in return for protection from harm and danger. He is also responsible for moving Taylor's mind into her new body.

Hannah Caldwell - A young girl who befriends Taylor early on in the organisation. She is also a very powerful supersoldier despite being just a kid.

Jason Roark - An early experiment into stealth technology, Jason was turned invisible permanently, much to his dismay. Unable to cope with the changes, he went AWOL and under to hide from the authorities and SAFEGUARD. Only recently, has he returned to active status due to Taylor's inclusion into SAFEGUARD. His interest in her is motivated by his memories of his long-deceased daughter.

The Immortal - A seemingly indestructible supersoldier that keeps on coming back from the dead akin to the Three Blasphemies regardless of how it was destroyed or stopped previously. It also seems to be getting the tiniest bit stronger with each return from the dead. It appeared for the first time after a top secret research facility owned by SAFEGUARD was destroyed by John York.

Ghost - The seemingly disembodied mind of a supersoldier that had been killed and has taken possession of the Immortal in its current quest for revenge on John York and Olivia Blake. It started following Taylor quietly when it discovered that John York and Olivia Blake were after her.

The Prototype - The Prototype is a top secret weapon and deadly killing machine designed by Bubbles to combat humanity. There are rumours that it may have gone rogue and is pursuing some unknown goal.

Story Notes from AugmentSoldierCYOA by duburu.

Name: Ryan Elmore (XJ-2085)

Enhancement Type: Genetics (Ryan was changed using the C23 Serum, before SAFEGUARD started using the more reliable and superior M-series Mutagen widely through its liasion with Dr. Yuito).

Employers: SAFEGUARD

Augments

1. Strength - With the Genetics source, Ryan can lift up to 2 tons.

2. Speed - The Genetics boost causes Ryan to cap at 100 km/h.

3. Durability - Ryan can withstand pistol fire with no harm and survive falling a few stories.

4. Healing - Ryan can heal minor wounds in seconds and major wounds in minutes.

5. Consume - Ryan can extend and retract a short hollow stinger from his body, capable of liquefying flesh and absorbing it as a liquid that can speed up his own regeneration.

6. Senses - Ryan can see in almost total darkness as if it were day. He can track a scent up to 18 miles. He can identify things by taste alone and he can hear as well as an owl.

7. Shapeshift - Ryan's form is malleable, allowing him to change his shape, though not his mass. While shapeshifted, he cannot access his other abilities.

Unstable Augments

1. Assimilation - By eating about 50 pounds of something, he is able to imitate its abilities via the use of absorption cells. He can only replicate a few abilities before he must begin discarding some of them, however.

2. Stealth - Ryan can enter a state of stealth for a few minutes at a time. He becomes invisible, produce no scent or sound, and cannot be thermally detected. This has a cooldown twice as long as the duration which only begins once he's visible again.

3. Super Blade - Similar to melee weapons, they are a pair of retractable blades. They're nearly indestructible and have a monomolecular edge.They can easily cleave through diamond.

Perks

1. Fighting Skills - Ryan has received training in hand to hand combat and handling weapons. This factor has made him a master of these arts, able to both snipe people with ease and stand up to stronger foes with his skill.

2. Sustenance - Ryan is able to survive with no food and almost no water. His needs for oxygen and sleep is reduced by 75%. He can still eat, however, to replenish his energy quickly.

Name: Bubbles (N-136)

Enhancements - Mechanical

Appearance - Inhuman (Gorilla Cyborg)

Faction - AI (SAFEGUARD), Bonus (+SOMETHING).

1. Strength Level 3 (active) - Juggle tanks one-handed and punch foes so hard they land several miles away.

2. Durability Level 3 (active) - Nothing short of explosives or armour-piercing rounds will stop the character.

3. Endurance - Level 3 (active) - Almost unlimited stamina. No longer required to eat, drink or sleep but can do so if desired.

4. Reflexes - Level 3 (active) - Can react fast enough to dodge bullets. Can read body language well and can predict attacks the instant before they happen.

5. Power Burst - Level 3 (active) - Can briefly strengthen all abilities in exchange for a slight loss of control every six hours.

6. Mental - Level 3 (active) - Perfect recall, able to forget if desired, faster processing, read entire books in minutes and a boost to intelligence.

7. Focus Level 3 (active) - The character is totally immune to attacks against the character's mind including mindreading and mind control.

8. Self Healing - Level 3 (active) - Any wound that would heal normally would heal in minutes. Potentially fatal wounds recover in a few hours and lost limbs regenerate within a couple of days.

9. Stealth Level 3 (active) - Move in total silence, can sense the location of anyone the character's had direct line of sight on within the last 15 minutes. The character can also turn invisible for up to 10 minutes with a cooldown time of one hour.

10. Enhanced Senses Level 3 (active) - The character can follow objects that move faster than the human eye and track nearby foes by the sound of their breathing. The character can also see in total darkness and hear a branch snap a mile away. The character can also see in infrared and eavesdrop on conversations several miles away.

Mechanical Only

11. Uplink - Level 3 (active) - Can connect to computer systems remotely and bypass security systems instantanously.

Perks

Prime Subject, Expert, Charisma

Drawbacks

Valuable.

Allies - Max-01, Max-02, Alien.

Foes - All of humanity.

 

[The Stormbringer]

Interesting! Robo-Taylor is not one I've seen. I take it the mutagen, what... gives her a gender?

 

[asgard]

This story has been dedicated to Elmo, my first Muppet from the Muppet Show.

Once there was a man called Ryan Elmore,
Who wanted to go home to the Muppet Show,
For you see he was once a Muppet by the name of Elmo,
Who didn't like the real world compared to the old show,

His wish was granted and Ryan Elmore was no more,
In his place, stood Elmo happy forevermore,
That wish created a problem for a certain omnipotent being,
Who knew that he'd need a poor sap for the replacement thing,

He looked high and low through multiple timelines,
Glancing in all directions through space and time,
Eventually he found him, typing on a computer terminal,
And brought the poor sap up to speed on the troublesome matter.

"Hello. Anybody home?" a voice called out.

The computer user turned in shock and nearly gave a shout.

"Who are you? How did you get in?!"

He answered, "How? I'm a certain omnipotent being."

"Prove it!" I challenged.

The room I was sitting in shifted into a church.

"ROB?" I thought nervously.

"No. COB. Certain Omnipotent Being," he replied easily.

"What do you want?" I asked suspiciously.

"How would you like to be a supersoldier?" he asked.

"Like Captain America and Winter Soldier?" I wondered out loud.

"Yes, something like that," he replied with nary a pout.

"No thanks. I would rather live to see tomorrow than live a dangerous life like those two."

"Don't worry. All that you have to do is play a retired supersoldier by the name of Ryan Elmore. Easy as eating bread," he said.

"Ryan Elmore? Isn't that from the character I modified as a supporting character in a story from the Supersoldier CYOA?" I asked with a feeling of dread.

Since Ryan Elmore was an earlier product of the supersoldier conversion process, I utilised the Augmented Soldier CYOA as the powers and abilities listed in there were much weaker than those found in the Supersoldier CYOA. All these things I did to show the readers that he was weaker than the latter versions of the supersoldiers coming from SAFEGUARD using the M-series Mutagen despite being a massive improvement from a normal baseline human.

"Yes. The very thing," he answered.

"What world is this?" I asked.

"Earth. Early 21st century Earth," he replied.

"It wouldn't happen to be Earth Bet would it? If it is, forget it. No way I'm tangoing with any of the Endbringers or capes. Not a fighter here. Just a writer. Besides, I don't want to be under SAFEGUARD's control," I pointed out.

"If you do it for me, you will earn my lasting gratitude. The gratitude of a CERTAIN OMNIPOTENT BEING," he answered, making sure to emphasize the last three words.

"No thanks. I would still prefer to keep my skin intact. Thank you but no thanks," I replied quickly.

No way was I putting myself on the same planet as the Endbringers or the Slaughterhouse Nine! Only a mindless idiot that was drugged to the gills would ever consider something like that.

"And you will earn the lasting contempt of a CERTAIN OMNIPOTENT BEING!" his face darkened, scaring me out of my wits.

That was bad! He was starting to use threats.

"If I'm going to be doing this, can I please use another CYOA with this?" I pleaded.

"Alright! Fine then! Use the Demigods CYOA! And don't even think about using the WORM CYOA! You're a support character! Not the main one ... People these days ... Give them an inch and they ask for the WHOLE ... NINE ... YARDS ..." he sighed, with emphasis on the last three words.

"The Demigod CYOA? I'm not familiar with that one! I only know about the WORM CYOA!" I cried out.

"Not my problem. Take it or leave it," the powerful being before me smirked.

"Say ... if I'm going to do the Demigods CYOA, would it be alright for me to use the Demigod Phase Mystic character that I created for My Guardian Angel?" I asked with a plea on my face.

"Why do you want to, anyway? The Demigods CYOA has the potential to become much stronger than that Demigod Phase Mystic character you created," the omnipotent being before me countered.

"I'm more familiar with its abilities and powers compared with this Demigod CYOA," I replied.

"And I do want to write a good story," I added.

"How about you pick your first powers using the point system for Demigods CYOA and then we'll see where this goes," he answered.

"Alright ... let me see. Knowing the dangers I would face, I pick Immortality as my first option which leaves me with fifty points. After that, I do want some growth in points so I'll pick War God for twenty points since the potential for conflict on Earth Bet is really high. And maybe Ancient Mysteries for another twenty points which leaves me with ten points. No way am I going near Devourer or Eldritch Abomination. I'm not a monster or a cannibal."

"You picked all the passive options. I see what you mean," COB spoke coldly.

"I did that cause I'm going in as a supersoldier even though I'm really an antique by today's supersoldier standards," I explained.

"Very true. You haven't spent all your points. Are you saving up your remaining ten points?" COB asked cheerfully.

"Definitely. Trying to get Seer of the Infinite or maybe Rewind as soon as possible. Has a fifty point cost each," I answered.

"Well that is a bit of a bummer. Tell you what, I'm willing to sweeten the deal. If you pick Devourer or Eldritch Abomination, I will be willing to give you the equivalent in point costs. Which means that you get seventy points for Devourer if you take it and another fifty points for Eldritch Abomination if you pick it instead of losing one hundred and twenty in point costs. Think about it. Imagine surprising the Slaughterhouse Nine when you switch to an Eldritch Abomination when they think that they have you. Consider it carefully," COB smirked expectedly.

I admitted that the deal was rather tempting. One hundred and twenty extra points for me to spend just by taking two powers. Unfortunately they were the two powers that I really did not want to take. But I didn't ever have to use them, right? I thought. And I could also use another hundred and twenty points. Just in case things went south. Still I couldn't help but feel that there was something off about the offer.

In the end, I gritted my teeth and voiced my words reluctantly to accept the deal.

"Okay, I'll take ... it."

COB simply smiled at my acceptance and asked me to continue with my selections. Having another extra one hundred and twenty points to my essence pool in addition to my remaining ten, I quickly made my choices.

Seer of the Infinite was my very first choice as it would grant me knowledge of the future up to six hours ahead. I was now left with eighty points. I quickly picked Divine Speed, Godly Mind, Sixth Sense, God's Eyes and Apex Predator. That left me with just twenty essence points remaining ... which one to pick ... In the end I chose Healing Hands for two reasons. Capes that could heal on Earth Bet were in massive short supply and I really wanted to do something good besides fighting and killing.

"Is that the final deal?" COB asked for confirmation.

I simply nodded my head.

"No changes of any sort?" he asked again.

I shook my head.

"Let's shake on it, then, to make things official," COB offered his hand.

I gripped it and began to feel very tired ... as if everything was fading away ...

"In that case, how shall I say this? Welcome to your new life!" COB laughed as his voice seemed to stretch and before long, all was darkness.

---

Demigod CYOA (100 points)

1. Immortality (-50 points) - The character's aging process stops. Whenever the character dies, the character is disembodied and transported into a limbo of pure nothing, where the character has to wait 24 hours. When the 24 hours are over, the character can reappear in a location the character remembers perfectly sane. Every time the character dies, the time the character has to pass in the limbo is increased by 24 hours.

2. War God (-20 points) - For every 100 humans within 1000 km from the character that die while fighting, the character gains 1 point. Only humans that are actually fighting award points. Each of these points last for 1 year, after which it disappears. The character can gain a maximum of 200 additional points this way.

3. Ancient Mysteries (-20 points) - The winged entity reveals to the character one last secret before disappearing: She scattered on the surface of Earth 100 seemingly normal stone cubes that contain a part of its divine soul. The character is able to perceive if there is a cube within 1km around the character. When the character finds one, the character can transfer its divine essence into the character's body, obtaining 10 additional points. The process takes a week of full-time meditation with the cube, in order to synchronize the character's soul with it. If the character is a Demigod of great intellect, however, it takes less time.

4. Sixth Sense (-10 points) - The character develops a sixth sense that warns the character of incoming danger. The character is able to detect the presence of other Demigods in a radius of 10km from the character.

5. Apex Predator (-10 points) - All the character's senses are heightened to supernatural levels, allowing the character to perceive the presence of other beings and flawlessly track them down.

6. God's Eyes (-10 points) - The character's eyesight improves dramatically, able to see things that are extremely faraway, perceiving the most minute details of the character's surroundings and retains perfect eyesight even in complete darkness. Additionally, the character's eyesight can see through matter, dissolve illusions and hallucinations, invisible enemies, and can tell Demigods apart from normal humans, even ones that reincarnated and aren't 20 years old yet.

7. Divine Speed (-20 points) - Able to move and strike at the speed of sound and reflexes are heightened to the point the character is able to dodge bullets.

8. Seer of the Infinite (-50 points) - The character always knows what is going to happen to the character in the next six hours. If the character concentrates hard enough, the character can loosely predict what will happen in the next 48 hours in a specific location or to a specific person. These visions are not fixed and can change based on the character's actions.

9. Healing Hands (-20 points) - The character can heal mortals and other Demigods from any injury or disease simply by touching them. The amount of time taken is proportional to the gravity of the injury or disease.

10. Devourer (+70 points) - Whenever the character eats a dead Demigod's heart, the character gains 20 additional points. There is no limit to the additional points gained through Devourer. Each time the character consumes a Demigod's heart, all Demigods within 100km will feel an intense pain and know that there's a Devourer around.

11. Eldritch Abomination (+50 points) - When in the character's Eldritch Abomination form, if something inorganic comes into contact with the character, it dissolves into dust and if the same thing happens something organic, it dies instantly. Divine Weapons, Emmissaries and Demigods do not instantly dissolve/die, unless touched for at least three consecutive seonds or touched three times within ten seconds. Even while the character is in human form, trying to mess with the character's mind causes an extremely painful backlash.

---

There was pain and then darkness again. I saw COB looking at me somewhat abashed.
I looked at him in puzzlement.

"You were right about one thing. Some places are just not possible at all without some perks from WORM CYOA," he said.

"What do you mean?" I wondered.

"It was not even one second into your new life and you had already expired," COB explained.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Simurgh happened," his eyes studied me grimly.

"Simurgh? Why would an Endbringer want to kill me for? I don't even know the creature personally," I replied nonchalantly.

"Regardless of why Ziz did it, we'll have to avoid having that happen again. I'll give you the Temporal Ghost Perk from Alternative WORM CYOA to hide from its sight. You also get the Power Immunity Perk because you don't get any of your powers from a shard. I also don't want anyone else peeking through your brain for the knowledge that you possess," he said.

"Can I get a few more perks with JLA mode?" I pleaded with COB.

"Perks? Fine but no powers of any sort. Your Devourer power will also be augmented automatically at no cost. So instead of twenty points when you consume a Demigod's heart, you gain forty points," he looked at me slyly.

"In that case I would like to go for Augmented Power with all eight points."

"Name them," he ordered.

"Seer of the Infinite so that I know what is going to happen to me twelve hours ahead of time rather than the usual six hours and in a specific location or person, ninety-six hours rather than the usual forty-eight hours. War God so that I gain a maximum of four hundred points rather than the normal two hundred points accumulated in a longer period of two years rather than the usual one year term storage in a two thousand kilometre radius. Ancient Mysteries is easy. Twenty points per stone cube recovered instead of just ten points and being able to detect it in a two kilometre radius. Also, Rewind when I get it. This will allow me to double its potential strengths and gains. I will save the remaining four points for the future," I stated.

"Is that all?" he asked again.

"That's it," I answered.

He was about to send me back when we heard another voice in the darkness.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hold your horses here! Did I hear you correctly that you were about to send this poor dude back to where he was supposed to be?" a voice in the ether that seemed to come from all around me spoke out.

"ROB??!!! What are you doing here?" COB did not look one bit happy with the newcomer who had suddenly appeared from out of the blue in a suit.

"You were about to send him back to a destroyed city, COB with nowhere else to go. The entire city has been quarantined," the newcomer answered jovially.

I looked at ROB hopefully.

"Err ... ROB, could you ... " I was about to give voice to my request.

"Sure! I'll give you what you want! All the phase mystic and shadow warlock abilities from your 'beloved' character designed using the Palladium FRPG and augmented with those remaining points from the WORM Alternative CYOA. Let us send him back to the past before the Simurgh's attack. You want to do the honours or ... shall I?" ROB smirked at his fellow omnipotent being.

COB simply nodded his head in agreement and everything changed.

"Why didn't you tell him that the world that he was about to go to only had Devourers for Demigods?" COB asked.

"Why didn't you?" ROB turned aside the question skillfully.

"Don't tell me that you're thinking what I'm thinking ... " COB accused his fellow omnipotent being suspiciously.

The two omnipotent beings glared at each other with evil looks on their faces for a whole minute before bursting into uproarious laughter.

"But why tell him and ruin all the surprise?" Their sinister words echoed ominously through the void.