High Roller Dice Roller (Worm/Wiki Warrior)

[TheCynicalPogo]

???

The girl was floating, drifting weightlessly through an inky black sea. She was alone in the void, no light, no sound…she simply was, within this pitch black abyss. No thoughts, no worries, none of the tiny voices in her head constantly nagging at her. It was pure bliss…

Until, somewhere within the darkness a light burst forth into being. It was a flickering, meager thing, yet in the darkness she had been wrapped in even the smallest light may as well have been the brightest of stars. She squirmed, recoiling as the light disrupted her simple, tranquil existence, turning away from it and snuggling deeper into the dark like a child burrowing into their blankets.

The light did not care for her desires however, and it prickled at her senses and slowly, the peace she was wrapped in evaporated, and neither grabbing at the fleeing dark as best she could, or waving her arms wildly in a vain attempt to force away such rude and unpleasant brightness, could block the light, and so slowly, blearily, the girl opened her eyes, grumbling.

There were no walls where she had laid, or even a ceiling, she realized, as she stared up at the endless expanse hanging up above her. For a moment she would have thought she was outside, looking up at a starless night sky, yet the sensation of a wooden floor of all things beneath her back threw that thought into turmoil.

Standing slowly, the feeling of cold wooden planks against her skin had her looking down and seeing her own bare feet, poking out from the long white robe that was draped over her body, so long on her that it felt like a sheet.

In the back of her mind a voice whispered that this was wrong, that she had gone to bed in fluffy pink pajamas, but for the life of her she wasn't sure why she would think that. All she could remember was the comfort of the void and waking up on this floor after all. If anything the return of naggy, whiny voices after the comforting silence she had been enjoying only annoyed her.

Despite any annoyance, yet another voice squeaked in the back of her mind, sounding frightened almost, saying that she shouldn't be here, but once again the girl paid it no mind. She wasn't sure where she should be anyways, so why not be here instead?

'Here' was, in fact, a seemingly simple room. If not for the missing ceiling, and the lack of walls to hide the inky darkness that seemed to stretch on forever, the almost shockingly plain wooden flooring beneath her toes could have been pulled from any old house.

In the center of the room, upon a wooden table only a bit shorter than her, a trio of candles, each of varying heights, sat lit with flames dancing upon their wicks, the only source of light in this strange place. She realized then that those candles must have been the same rude light that had dragged her from her bliss, and she couldn't help but frown looking at them.

Stepping over to the table, the girl had every intention of snuffing out those candles and returning to her rest, yet she paused the moment she stood before it, looking down on just what was illuminated by the shifting candlelight.

On the table was a slip of paper, creased and yellowed to the point it should have been illegible, yet the ink upon the page was just as dark as the not-walls and not-ceiling surrounding her, easily read even by her still-sleepy eyes.

Not that there was much to read anyways though. All that was written upon the paper were seven words: "Would you like to play a game?"

Beneath the question were the words Yes, or No, and the girl held the paper in her hands, utterly confused. Once more in the back of her mind the voices chimed in, telling her, begging her to just put the paper down and go back to bed, that whatever game this was would be anything but fun, to listen to them for once and make a good decision-

Without a second thought the girl wrote a check through the word Yes, black ink just like the words on the page dripping from the tip of a quill that she only tangentially realized had not been in her hand just a moment ago. Why would she say no to a game? It wasn't like she had any reason to listen to the voices anyways.

The moment the ink sat fully on the paper it, and the quill, both disappeared before, falling from the empty void above, two small orbs fell through the air, landing on the table with a quiet clatter that did not suit the distance they had seemingly fallen.

The orbs bounced as they landed, rolling, and the girl realized they were dice, each with twenty sides to them. Plain, unadorned metal dice, the same kind someone could buy at any game store for a few bucks that slowly came to a stop, landing on a one and a twenty.

Was this the game that the paper wanted to play? Dice? The girl shook her head as she reached out to pick the toys up. 'Honestly, I kind of expected a bit more for some reason…' she thought, as her fingers touched the metal and her existence became nothing but burning pain-

[The System thanks the Roller for accepting to play the game! It hopes she enjoys her time! As a welcome gift to the game, the Roller gets 1 (One) Boosted Roll on her next roll! Please touch the D20 to initiate rolling!]

Was this the game that the paper wanted to play? Dice? The girl shook her head as she reached out to pick the toys up. 'Honestly, I kind of expected a bit more for some reason…' she thought, as her fingers touched the metal and her existence became nothing but burning pain-

[1-20: Dreamgate - Allows the wielder to travel instantly through dream. With a Natural Power of 20, Madison does not require a Dream Nail to create or warp through Dreamgates, nor does she need to fuel the gates with Essence.]

[Congrats on your first roll! The System wishes you good luck in all future rolls, and looks forward to the Chaos you will bring!]

Spoiler: Rules Of The System

1. The System operates off of Origins, drawing from alternate realities for the lucky Roller's pulls! To begin, the Roller can pull items, powers, and even characters from an initial 20 Origins.

1. Hollow Knight 2. Armored Core 3. Dark Souls 4. Elden Ring 5. Bloodborne 6. Pokemon 7. Legend of Zelda 8. Fallout 9. Halo 10. Mass Effect

11. Star Wars 12. RWBY 13. Hellsing 14. One Piece 15. Naruto 16. Bleach 17. Type-MOON (1. Type MOON 2. FGO) 18. Warhammer (1. Fantasy 2. 40k) 19. The Elder Scrolls (1. UESP, 2. The Elder Scrolls Wiki) 20. Dungeons & Dragons (1. Forgotten Realms Wiki 2. Baldur's Gate 3 Wiki)

2. There will be no time duration on Summons barring unique circumstances and rolls leading to particular interpretations from the System being necessary. Instead, a d20 will be used to instead determine the Power of a Summon, i.e how strong it is. For example, summoning a lightsaber on a 2 will lead to an ancient, damaged, and barely functional laser blade, while a summon on a 19 will gift the summoner with a pristine, recently built, and incredibly efficient and powerful lightsaber.

3. The exception to Rule 2 is Natural 1s and Natural 20s. On a Natural 20, not only will the summoned item, object, or person be enhanced or in their prime, but some other, positive effect will occur. This could be as simple as producing more of the item, or it could be something entirely unique to the summoned thing. No matter what however, the initial boost will always be positive for the summoner on a Natural 20. On a Natural 1, however, can either simply be incredibly weak to the point of uselessness, or depending on what is actually summoned, the summoned thing could instead be just as strong as it would be if summoned by a Natural 20, and will come with an effect of its own. This effect will however be entirely negative to the summoner and possibly the world at large, though not immediately so. In terms of items, using the previous lightsaber, on a 20 this saber may be uniquely attuned to the Light Side of the Force, emanating an aura of tranquility, or could come with instructions on a lightsaber's construction. On a 1, however, the lightsaber may instead be attuned to the Dark Side, possibly even possessed by the dark spirit of a Sith Lord, and could even be deposited somewhere randomly in the world for some random passerby to pick up and be possessed by.
For characters however, the System could roll Radahn, Conqueror of Stars, and on a 19 he would be brought into the world in his prime, before he was infected with the Scarlet Rot. On a 20 however, there is the chance the Radahn summoned would be a Radahn who lived through his years as a mindless beast, and has had his body and sanity restored, and has come out of this terrible experience possibly wiser and tempered, despite being a conqueror. On a 1, however, Radahn will be summoned in the state most are familiar with him in, a wild, rampaging berserker deposited into the world at large somewhere (but always far enough away that immediate harm will not befall the Roller, as per Rule 6).

4. Characters summoned by the System will be differentiated based on a few factors, such as personality and the circumstances of their summoning, as Companions and Acquaintances. Companions will be those joining the central "group" in a sense, having greater involvement in the Roller's actual story, while Acquaintances may end up just that: people or beings that may simply be too powerful, uncaring, or perhaps even evil to be directly involved in events. These labels will not be set in stone however, and story moments could lead to an Acquaintance becoming a Companion (and vice versa as well).

5. Some Summons are too abstract to directly summon, so they're instead converted to some alternative power or effect. For example, if "The Curse of Strahd" module is rolled, the System cannot rip the realm of Barovia from the Shadowfell and insert it into Earth-Bet. A Natural One however could pull the titular Vampire Lord from his reality to this new one.

6. The summoner cannot summon anything that poses an outright and immediate threat to themself or the world as a whole. For example, if a bomb is summoned, this bomb will not have a lit fuse. There are some exceptions to this (see Ex. Nat 1 Radahn in Rule 3 for instance) but the limit will be things that would just immediately destroy the city, country, planet, etc. instantaneously. Such outcomes would be displeasing to the System.

7. Some things are outright too powerful to be summoned directly, such as Gods. The System is only near omnipotent after all! Instead, they will be interpreted and converted in some other form than direct summoning to the land, for better or worse!

8. To ensure maximum exposure and Chaos, there will be a limit upon the system of each Origin only being able to be summoned from once, until all Origins have been pulled from, in which case the counter resets. The amount of Origins, as well as how many times they can be pulled from, are set, but can be changed/increased with Rolls that can only be interpreted as Rule Changes. This will of course be left solely be up to the dice, as all things should be!

9. Certain realities have been determined to be too dull for the System to pull from, and as such will not be included in the Origins ever. The System apologizes to all residents of "Normal Earth" for any offense.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hello there! Recently felt the urge to try my hand at my own Wiki Warrior attempt, and well, here we are! First off, I'd like to credit and thank Donutdodongo for both advice on how to write a Wiki Warrior fic, and for the general framework for this as just straight up their system for this kind of thing is great. Hopefully I'm putting enough of my own spin on it for this, but they deserve the credit for the initial idea so please check out their work like A Realm Randomized and Super Randomizer Lux!

 

[TheCynicalPogo]

Brockton Bay, October 18th, 2010

Madison Clements shot up suddenly with a yelp, and slammed her head against the baseboard of her bed, the ache in her skull overriding the lingering phantom pain in her fingers.

"Fuck!"

Clack…

[3-19: Homing Soulmass - Sorcery developed by Big Hat Logan, the great sorcerer who left the Dragon School in an age long past. Releases homing soulmass. With a Power of 19, Madison can now cast this spell near effortlessly, and can produce the maximum of 5 soulmasses immediately.]

Madison held her aching head in her hands, praying that there wouldn't be a bruise. Today was sooooo not the day for this shit. Emma had told her that after school today, they were all going to go to a photoshoot with-and this was the insane part that had had Madison's jaw on the floor-the freaking Wards of all people, and if she had an ugly mark right on her forehead when she met Aegis or Gallant she was going to kill someone.

Why did she even do that anyways? Madison remembered she had a decently strange dream. Something about…darkness and dice for some reason? Why would she even be dreaming about dice? Trying to look back on it now, the dream only seemed stranger to her, and got extra fuzzy right at the end. It hadn't felt weird at the time but, well, that's how dreams were right? A bunch of weirdness that you forgot by breakfast.

It didn't matter anyways. If she wanted to get to meet goddamn superheroes today, she had to be looking pretty and cute enough for Emma or any of the other girls to not be able to make any snippy remarks, which meant she had, according to her alarm clock….30 minutes to get read-

Her head snapped back to the alarm clock, staring in horror at the blinking lights spelling out the time.

"It's 7 already?! Whyyyyyyyyyyyy!?! What's the point of this alarm clock if it can't even do time right?!"

Madison's room became a whirlwind of motion as she threw herself from her bed and began to speed through her daily rituals-or as much as she had the time to do anyways. Blessings were counted for having had the foresight to have showered before bed as fluffy pink pajamas were discarded in favor of an outfit just a bit better suited for attending highschool (and still pink of course). A white blouse paired with an expensive pink skirt, cute and comfy knee high socks, all wrapped up with an even more expensive and pink jacket came together to create an outfit that would be scandalous on anybody else, but was simply…well, cute on her.

That was her brand after all: the cutesy one of the group, a moniker that definitely did not frustrate her to no end, thank you very much.

Putting such frustrating thoughts aside for a time when she wasn't on a time crunch, with 25 minutes to spare it was time for her favorite part of the morning, getting her hair just right and her makeup on point. Sitting down at her vanity, her hair was simple enough today at least. While her sleep may have been…odd to say the least, it at least hadn't been too rough on her hair. With very few stray ends to wrench back into shape, Madison had her shoulder length brown locks neat and orderly, just as she always did. With the addition of her two signature sky blue pins, her hair was perfect for the day.

Makeup was….less easy, and with how much of a rush she was already in, mistakes were inevitable.

Poke

"Ahk-fuck, my eye!"

Clack…

[20-15: Khamsin - A potent magical poison sometimes used by holy slayer assassins of the Wind of Fate in Zakhara. Smelling of honey, Khamsin is a contact poison that, upon skin contact, quite literally turns their victims to dust in minutes. With a Power of 15, its potency remains the same, but the amount increases, creating a jar of the poison about the size of a large perfume bottle. It manifests on Madison's vanity.]

First slamming her head against her bed, then her alarm not working, now somehow jabbing herself in the eye with her stupid mascara stick?! "What the fuck is this morning…"

Shaking off her building frustration (and checking to make sure she didn't get makeup in her eye, since that seems to be just her luck today), Madison took her time with the rest of the ritual before she was finally almost, somehow with 10 minutes to spare.

"Just need some perfume....huh?" On her desk, Madison noticed a glass bottle on her desk, standing out primarily because of the odd symbol on it, and the fact that she had no memory of purchasing such a thing. "Did mom put this here as a gift?"

Picking it up, Madison closely examined the bottle. It looked like perfume, but for some reason it looked…blueish, of all things, instead of the normal clear liquid, and something just felt off about it. With no sprayer at the stopper either, Madison pulled the top of the jar off herself, giving it a quick sniff.

"I mean…it smells pretty good I guess….but no, today is totally a strawberry day, not honey." Putting the cap back on, the odd bottle was left to sit on her desk, quickly forgotten as Madison finished up her morning rituals before rushing downstairs, hoping she at least had enough time to eat something.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Downstairs in the Clements household, Madison's mother, Jennifer, was just finishing her own delicious breakfast with a nice, warm cup of coffee. In many ways, Jennifer and Madison were spitting images of each other, the mother a more…matured and blossomed version of her daughter (only slightly, however. The apple didn't fall that far from the tree). What she wasn't, however, was as crass as her daughter , who came barrelling down the stairs, swearing up a storm under her breath that left Jennifer staring crossly at her.

"Madison, I know you're running late but you know that's no excuse to have such a sailor's mouth." At her mother's reprimand, Madison froze before wilting, not in such a rush that she would consider getting into an argument this early in the morning.

"Sorry Mom, just, my alarm didn't go off, and then I banged my head and just…" The daughter's eyes narrowed before she glared at her mother.

"How come you didn't wake me up?" Madison accused, to which Jennifer rolled her eyes.

"I opened your door and you said you were up right at 6. It's not my fault you decided to roll back over and sleep in." The answer however, did little to assuage her daughter's anger, and Madison could feel her eye twitching (though whether that was from stray makeup or annoyance she wasn't entirely sure).

"Moooooooom! You know when I do that I'm not actually awake! Ugh, I can't believe this bull-" Just as she began her rant however, Madison stepped forward, not paying attention to where she was moving, and slammed her toe, still clad only in her socks, against the leg of the table.

"-shi-ow!"

Clack…

[17-15: Learning With Manga!Fate/GrandOrder - An anime short skit series adaptation of Learn with Manga! FGO, the 15 minute animation centers around chibi versions of Olga Marie Animusphere and Mash Kyrielight attempting to teach Gudako about Fate/Grand Order, while Gudako is constantly distracted by her gacha addiction and lust for female Servants. With a Power of 15, Madison is now more easily frustrated by learning interruptions, and is also more aware of girls, and feels some measure of attraction to them! The System congratulates her on her journey of self discovery and offers it's full support! Chaos is a rainbow after all!]

As Madison collapsed to the floor, cussing once more while massaging her aching foot, all her mother did was sip her coffee and say, "That's just karma, dear."

All Madison could do was grit her teeth and sigh loudly, unable to fully deny her mother's words even if they only made her more pissed off at this awful morning. "Yeah…I get it…can you just…can you just drive me to school before I scream, Mom?"

Jennifer pursed her lips and nodding, humming as she thought before replying in a sing-song voice, "Welllll…..maybe I can if my daughter that I raised better says the magic words?~"

"Ughhhhh….please?"

"And?"

Madison's cheeks flushed a bright red, a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance flooding her. "....thank you and I love you?"

Jennifer snickered at her daughter's words, which only earned her an ice cold glare, and Jennifer held her hands up in surrender. "Alright alright, I'll stop teasing. Just go start the car for me and I'll be right out."

Jennifer pushed the car keys on the table towards Madison, and with a desperation that only late highschoolers can manage, Madison rushed outside. It was only once they were halfway to school that Madison was painfully reminded by her growling stomach that she had forgotten to get anything to eat.

~~~

Dread it, run from it, homosexuality comes for Worm fics all the same. Honestly the funniest roll I could have hoped for when I saw she got a Type-MOON summon this early hahaha. With my luck I might've ended up with a Grail War in the background. If I had a nickel for every time that happened to a Wiki Warrior fic huh?

 

[TheCynicalPogo]

Character Sheet Format
Status: Character's name, age, gender, etc.
Abilities: Powers that the character possesses, whether they are granted via the System, or natural abilities tied to the character
Effects: Passive effects inflicted by either the System or other sources, both positive and negative, that do not result in an active ability
Equipment: Tools, gear, etc. that the character both possesses, and is actually aware of

Spoiler: The Roller: Madison Clements

Status:

Name: Madison Clements
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Current Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Abilities:
-Dreamgate: Mover-Class Power - Allows the wielder to travel instantly through dream. With a Natural Power of 20, Madison does not require a Dream Nail to create or warp through Dreamgates, nor does she need to fuel the gates with Essence. There is no limit to this ability in terms of distance that can be traveled, only that there can be only one warp point placed at any singular moment.

-Homing Soulmass: Blaster-Class Power - Sorcery developed by Big Hat Logan, the great sorcerer who left the Dragon School in an age long past. Releases homing soulmass. With a Power of 19, Madison can cast this spell near effortlessly, and can produce the maximum of 5 soulmasses immediately, disregarding any Intelligence requirements. Does not deal damage to the surroundings, but will track and hit (to the best of their ability) anything identified as hostile to the caster. As they are bolts of pure soul energy, the Homing Soulmass has no non-lethal option when living (or undead) beings are struck by it.

Effects:
-Learning With Manga!Fate/GrandOrder: Mental Effect - The influence of a gag anime has permanently altered Madison's cognition, the effects representing the plot and main characters of the skit, specifically both Olga Maria and Mash in the form of a newfound frustration with interruptions during lessons, and Gudako, in the form of a newfound and decently sizeable attraction to the female gender.

Equipment:
N/A at this time

 

[TheCynicalPogo]

Winslow High School, October 18th, 7:45 AM

Madison's walk into school was, to her immense consternation, accompanied by yet another rumbling as her empty stomach as it announced its displeasure at being denied its morning sustenance. She had implored her mother to turn around, or even take a detour so she could a donut or something (even if a meal like that would be terrible for her diet) just so she wouldn't have to sit through her morning classes starving until it was time for lunch, but, well…..

"Please please please it won't even take us that long-" She pleaded, but Jennifer did not even glance at her, eyes focused on the road as she shook her head.

"You should have just remembered to eat dear. We're already cutting it close, and if you're late to school, that just means I'll be even later."

"But Moooom-" Just then they drove past a drive-thru donut shop, but before she could even start begging for her mother to turn the corner Madison's pleas caught in her throat when she spotted the painfully long line extending all the way out onto the street. She huffed and looked away from her mother without saying anything, hoping she would just let this go, but Madison was already imagining the little smirk of vindication her mother was wearing as she spoke up.

"See? What did I tell you? We stop and you won't be at school until 8 o'clock at least, and then I won't be at work until 8:30, and then I'll be fired, and given you're wearing the jacket I bought you last week I don't think you'd enjoy that, would you missy? This is why you should always listen to your mother you know, I told you you were up too late reading those forums thingums or whatever it is you like-" Madison tried to tune her mother out, ignoring both her voice and the bright red blush across her pale cheeks at the mention of her late night browsing (which she hadn't even stayed up that late for for once even!), leaning her head against the car window, wishing for something to come and interrupt this latest annoying part of an already obnoxious day.

[2-3: The Underground Maze - One of two choices for the fifth mission in Armored Core: Project Phantasma. In it, the Raven is instructed to destroy all of the 'Doomsday Organization's' research. With a Power of 3, Madison now has knowledge of the mission briefing and can bring it up if prompted.]

"Are you listening to me Madison? It's very rude to not pay attention-" Anything would be better than this, even Doomsday-Jennifer snapped her fingers at her daughter, and Madison wanted to scream.

Sadly her wishes had gone ungranted, and Madison was forced to endure her mother's teasing lecture about responsibility, politeness, and just how well she was raised the entire car drive. It was pure torture for the teenage girl, but at least she was somewhere….well she couldn't necessarily call Winslow better. Even just walking to her locker was enough time for anyone to recognize just how shitty this school was. Gang tags were sprayed out in the open, the building was both filthy and falling apart, staffed by way too many vapid idiots (well she would admit it was mostly just Gladly, but Gladly was certainly enough to drag down the school a lot) and populated by both vicious teenage girls and Nazis in equal supply were all perfect ways to describe Winslow instead.

As she shuffled through her locker for everything she needed for the day, Madison couldn't help but briefly lament not trying just a bit harder in middle school. She hadn't had the grades for Arcadia, but she could have…maybe had them? Possibly? Her family at least definitely could have made the money stretch for her to attend.

But she hadn't had the grades (or the money to not need the grades) so here she was with nothing to show for it.

There was a bang of metal as the locker next to Madison was opened, and she was pulled out of her thoughts only for her brain to short circuit as she looked at Emma Barnes.

Objectively, Madison, as well as everyone in Winslow with eyes, knew that Emma Barnes was just about the hottest girl in school. Madison, able to count herself as probably Emma's second best friend behind Sophia, knew that better than most thanks to the numerous times they had held slumber parties together, or helped each other with their makeup in the bathroom between classes (She was still frustrated that Emma could manage to look good even without makeup but that wasn't here nor there).

For the first time ever now, though, Emma's good looks were registering to Madison a lot differently today. She knew Emma had beautiful skin, but the smattering of freckles across her face drew her eyes in before the pleasant shade of green in her eyes made Madison's heart skip a beat. She knew wayyyy too well that Emma was taller than her, but for once the height seemed like a bonus rather than something to hold against the other girl. She knew Emma was curvy but staring at her now….Madison gulped as she realized she was staring at Emma, her face once more lighting up like a Christmas tree, until her brain caught back up to itself and registered what she was thinking.

'Ok, maybe there's one good thing about being he-wait Madison what the hell, you see Emma every day you know she's pretty-gorgeous even-but-wha-why can't I stop complimenting her incredible looks or luscious-'

"Mads, are you even listening to me?" Madison realized she hadn't stopped staring at Emma, and if she hadn't been bright red before, she certainly was now.

"Ah, sorry Ems I was just-ah-well…d-did you do anything differently with your hair today? It looks so good today-"

'What the fuck am I even saying please something shut me the fuck up ahhhhhhhhhhhh-'

[19-7: Deathbrand Gauntlets - A set of enchanted light gauntlets, forged of Stalhrim and once worn by their eponymous pirate owner, Haknir Death-Brand, as part of a complete set. When worn, the gauntlets increase one's skill with one-handed weapons, the enchantment strengthening with every piece of the set worn. With a Power of 7, the enchantment has been slightly weakened (10 -> 7). The gauntlets manifest in Madison's open backpack.]

Luckily for Madison, her prayers were answered almost instantly. Sadly for Madison, the answer to her prayers was Sophia Hess walking up to both her and Emma, a grin on her face. It normally made Madison a bit worried, whenever she saw the rather….intense girl smiling instead of wearing the scowl she typically had across her face, but right now all she could notice was how nice her teeth were, and the fullness of her lips and the lean muscles of her arms and why was she thinking all of thisssssssss!

While Madison was busy having an internal mental breakdown over why the hell her brain was so weird today, Sophia's focus was on Emma, thankfully distracting the redhead from Madison for the moment as well.

"Emma, there you are. Did you just get in? I've been looking for you." Emma's eyes always lit up in a strange way whenever Sophia came near, a way that Madison still couldn't quite understand, but it wasn't something she would question today as whatever Emma was about to say to her was cut off by Sophia.

"Oh, Sophia! Yeah, traffic was awful this morning, it was so fucking dumb. What do you need though? Is this about uh…" Emma glanced down at Madison, who was only barely paying attention, still stuck in her own head as she was, and half whispered, "...extracurriculars?"

Sophia stared at Emma for a second before her eyes widened in understanding and she shook her head. "Nah, no this has nothing to do with that bull. No, I was thinking about what we talked about last night some more, and I think I've got the perfect idea. Real fitting for a gross geek like her."

If Madison had been paying attention to the conversation, she would have seen Sophia's grin become wider, toothier even, a twisted, almost feral smile far removed from the confident grin that had thrown her thoughts into disarray, all while Emma's eyes lit up once again, a sinister look in those pretty green orbs.

Instead, it took Emma snapping her fingers in her face to bring her back to reality. Madison jumped as she was snapped out of her stupor, stumbling backwards-right over her bag, which she had left sitting on the floor. She should have just stepped on the bag, crushed the fabric and been annoyed at messing it up. It had been empty anyways, there shouldn't have been anything to trip on, yet there was a weight to the satchel that Madison hadn't expected. Madison's foot caught on her bag, the rest of her body kept moving, and-

"Bwuh-wha-fu-"

Thud

Clack…

[15-19: Time Reservoir - A technique unique to members of the Ōtsutsuki clan. A member of the Ōtsutsuki clan can manipulate the mental space of an individual to send their conscience to a certain point back in time. The user creates a doorway which will enable an indictable to travel to the past. The individual sent back in time can only observe past events, they can not interfere or make changes. However, under three conditions, the individual can be sent back in time, both mentally and physically: An unstable space that can control the principles of time must be used, it must occur under a full moon to make use of a natural ley line, and the user must possess an item that holds a connection to both the traveler and a person of the past, with their Chakra mixed in. With a Power of 19, Madison is capable of using this technique with incredible ease akin to the most skilled Otsutsuki members, and the third requirement for full time travel can be ignored at the cost of difficulty controlling where in time the traveler ends up.]

Everything went white.

~~~~
Alright, finally weird stuff is happening with Madison actually noticing. Poor girl is having a rough morning. Woke up late, keeps hurting herself in confusion, forgot to eat, was having a sudden gay awakening while looking at her two pretty friends, and now a sudden mental trip back in time? Wow, whoever's doing this to her must be an assh-

Ahem

Anyways, first roll of the chapter was just straight up a dud. A 3, and its a tiny mission with an extremely small wiki page from one of the earliest installments in Armored Core? Goes by with barely any fanfare lol.

Second roll was what I thought would be the first thing Madison would actually notice. Not right this moment, but later in the day when she needed to go through her bag, ya know? BOY was I wrong lmao. Shame on the power roll but I think she'll live haha.

Time Reservoir was not a thing I knew was a thing in Naruto, but I won't apologize for ignoring the entirety of Boruto's existence. I might be taking some artistic liberties in how this works, with it activating when she banged her head and suddenly had the power, but like...come on. That high of a roll? The System is legally obligated to time travel this girl at that point lmao. May Chaos reign and all that fun stuff.

Thank you to everyone who's commented already by the way, really appreciate the feedback and kind words. I'm still a bit new to Worm and a loooot of my knowledge of the setting comes from fanfiction and such so please let me know if I do I have something a bit off from how it should be!

 

[TheCynicalPogo]

Brockton Bay Suburbs, August, 2009

Consciousness came back slowly to Madison. Everything was fuzzy as she slowly woke up, a splitting headache pounding in her skull, distorting everything even further. Her vision was blurry, and so Madison pawed at the ground, forcing herself to sit up on the dirt she was on, feeling the soft grass beneath her palms, blinking as the burning sun blazed down on her in the clear blue sky-

Wait, that didn't seem quite right.

Madison rubbed her eyes, clearing her vision, hoping her brain was just playing more tricks on her, but all that did was help her better see where she was. She wasn't just outside, she realized, she was in the suburbs of all places, surrounded by pleasant houses and sitting on someone's lawn. Madison blinked then, half-expected to open her eyes and be right back where should be in Winslow, then blinked some more when she saw she was still sitting on the same random lawn.

'Ok Madison, you just…woke up on some random jackass's lawn, with no idea how you got here. That's fine. Cool even. No need to panic, don't panic, I said don't panic-oh wow is my heartbeat supposed to be that loud-'

Clack…

[12-3: Chapter 9 - The 9th chapter of the RWBY manga adaptation published by Shueisha, depicting Yang Xiao-Long's fight with Junior Xiong in his club in search of information on her mother. With a Power of 3, Madison now knows how to make a perfect Strawberry Sunrise! How tasty!]

Madison took a deep breath, trying to calm her pounding heart even as her brain raced through her thoughts, trying to figure out just what was going on with her today.

"Ok I was at school, in the hallway, talking to Emma, thinking about-oh-" Memories of the new, wild (and not exactly unappealing to her) thoughts that had been running rampant through her head brought a blush back to Madison's cheeks. "Whyyyyyyyy….whatever, so I might be gay…in a school full of Nazis……ok nope, nuh uh. Today is not the day to be figuring this shit out."

Madison got up off the ground, standing and banishing all thoughts of her suddenly fluctuating sexuality. There would be plenty of time to figure out whether or not she wanted to kiss girls some other time, like when she hadn't randomly woken up on someone's lawn when she last remembered being in school. Step One was to try and figure out just where she was. Sorting out those thoughts could be Step Ninety Nine for all she cared.

Step One at least proved remarkably simple once Madison actually took a moment to breathe and really look at where she was. With more than a second's glance while panicking, the lawn she was on didn't look so random, and the houses surrounding her were not nearly as unfamiliar as she had thought. In fact…

"Am I really-How the hell did I end up at Emma's house? I was in the hallway at school!"

Despite her disbelief however, Madison's eyes did not lie. She knew that big Colonial-style house, hell she had just been inside it not even a week ago, doing hers and Emma's nails (not Sophia's, who would have probably growled at Madison if she had offered) and coming up with new barbs to hurl at their favorite punching bag, Taylor-

A hand, a leg, then an entire person stepped through Madison from behind as she stood in front of Emma's house, and Madison's heart leapt out her throat as she shrieked.

"SON OF A FUCKING-"

Clack…

[13-4: Psyoblade - The 10th and penultimate chapter of Hellsing Volume 8. In the chapter the duel between the Monster of The Devil, Alucard, and the Monster of God, Alexander Anderson, comes to its climax as Anderson strikes Alucard in the head with a final bayonet, engulfing his entire being in thorns and holy flames. With a Power of 4, Madison now has a talent for throwing bladed weapons such as knives and bayonets, and will find it easier to learn how to use such weapons.]

Hyperventilating, Madison stared down at her hands, watching them shake, her heart once more pounding like a drum in her ears. That did not just happen-what the hell-how could that even-

Clack…

[10-2: Fuel Depot - A massive structure used for the storage of fuel, which can then be purchased by ship captains as needed, placed throughout the galaxy by the various Citadel Races. With a Power of 2, the wreckage of a fuel depot destroyed by the Reapers, with its stores of fuel fully depleted, appears in orbit of Earth…in 2009.]

"Jesus Christ am I dead? No there's no way I could just be dead from hitting my-" Madison's eyes lit up as an idea flitted across her mind, the thought instantly helping to calm her down. "Wait a minute…I tripped on fucking something, and hit my head, which means this is all just a really weird dream! Holy…hahaha!"

Madison couldn't help but laugh, giggling at just how absurd her panic had been. Sure, it wasn't exactly good or healthy that she had gotten knocked out by hitting her head on the floor (she still wasn't sure how she had even tripped) but this weird experience all made so much more sense if her brain was just playing some random crap in her head. The real question now, in Madison's opinion, was just why she was dreaming about Emma's house and-

"Hi, Emma! Ah, we have so much to catch up o-Oh, who's your new friend?"

….Taylor Hebert?

But something was off. Madison's brain was registering the girl as Hebert, but she couldn't be Hebert. Hebert was an ugly, gloomy loser. She couldn't dress well to save her life and wasn't capable of smiling, though, Madison had to admit, she did have amazing hair. Otherwise though Madison…didn't really care about her. She was just something to do at school, someone to mess with with her friends. Hell, fucking with Hebert was practically a rite of passage at Winslow if someone wanted to be in Emma's good graces. It's not like Hebert did anything to dissuade anything they did either. She just stood there, looking sad and taking every bit of it.

The girl on Emma's front steps right now though? Madison could barely believe that she was even looking at the same person, but the resemblance was too uncanny to deny. It didn't make sense though, because this girl looked…fine. Maybe a bit…dweeby in the way she was dressed, but she was actually wearing normal clothes instead of the drug dealer outfit she always had on at school, and the sense of gloom Madison associated with Hebert was burned away by just how bright and sunny this girl was, inanely chattering away with no sign of stopping. It did not compute to Madison, and she could scarcely believe how a girl like this could become the Hebert they all made fun of in the hallways, or through spitballs at, or-

"What are you doing here Taylor?" Madison's train of thought was cut off by the icey voice of Emma, and Madison realized that both she and Sophia were standing in the doorway of Emma's house now.

"Oh! Well, sorry I didn't call ahead, I tried but no one picked up? And well, you know, since I was at camp all summer I was just thinking, well, we haven't hung out at all this summer, and I remembered my dad said we had a call from you wanting to hang out before I got back, so I just thought, well, we should get some time in as besties! You can even introduce me to your new friend, and we can maybe do our nails even or something fun like that, and oh by the way Emma did you decide to cut your hair? It looks really good on you-" The off-Hebert was saying so many words, more words than Madison had ever heard the normal Herbert say, to the point that it was giving her a headache just trying to keep track. She didn't get it at all. How the hell was this the same person?

"No I mean, why the fuck do you think I'd want to hang out with a loser like you?" Emma's voice cut through Taylor's chatterbox rant like a vicious knife, her tone harsh enough to even snap Madison out of her thoughts. It was a tone that Madison had heard many times from Emma, the same tone Emma would have whenever she encountered Taylor in the halls, accompanied by the same vicious sneer that they had all directed at the gloomy loser so many times, yet seeing it directed at this weird, kind of annoying, but altogether not that bad version of Taylor? Despite herself, despite her own apathy towards Hebert, Madison felt a twisting in her gut, like everything about this was wrong.

"I-Emma, w-what do you me-" Madison couldn't see her face, but already Taylor's voice was cracking, warbling with a mixture of confusion and hurt, but Emma was relentless, barely letting the other girl get another word in.

"I mean, a weakling like you isn't welcome here, Taylor. It's been so annoying, letting you pester me all these years, you know? I thought you'd get the fucking hint that I didn't want you around sooner, but I guess that's my fault for thinking a social mess like you could actually pick up hints."

'Oh. So this is how Herbert ended up how she is.' Madison had known Emma and Taylor used to be friends, the redhead had brought it up against Taylor more than enough certainly, but Madison had always assumed that Emma had dumped Taylor because she was already the gloomy loser Madison knew. But watching Emma cruelly cut Taylor out of her life now, Madison struggled to understand just why Emma would want to get rid of her. There wasn't anything wrong with her. Nothing that made Madison think she deserved this anyways.

"I don't…why am I even dreaming of this shit?" Madison hadn't even really gotten to know Emma and Sophia until a few weeks into freshman year, she had never seen this other version of Herbert, so how the hell was she dreaming of stuff she hadn't even been there for?

"E-Emma I don't…I don't understand…" Taylor's words were intermixed with sobs, and Madison could easily imagine the tears welling up in the other girl's eyes. "Did I do something wrong? I-I can come in and we can talk about this, I-I'm so sorry-"

Before she could finish again however, Sophia stepped up, getting in front of Taylor and roughly shoving her away, forcing her off the steps and onto the pavement as Taylor completely failed to keep her balance, falling flat on her ass staring up at Sophia and Emma, right at Madison's feet.

"God that skull of yours is thick, dumbass." Sophia's voice was filled with just as much vitriol as Emma's. "Either get the fuck out of here, or I can beat the shit out of you, bitch. It's your choice."

The gleam in Sophia's eyes as she said that brought an inadvertent shiver down Madison's spine. She could tell which option Sophia was hoping for, and Taylor likely could as well, as Madison watched her gulp suddenly before scrambling to her feet, running away from Emma's house with tears streaming down her cheeks as Emma and Sophia watched, laughing at the pathetic retreat.

Madison glanced at Taylor's retreating form, before glancing back at Emma and Sophia as the duo disappeared into Emma's house. Part of her wanted to head inside, follow the two and try to understand just what was going through Emma's head, to brutally cut Taylor off for seemingly no reason, but…

"Stupid fucking gay thoughts…"

The sight of Taylor's face, tear streaked and runny, tugged at Madison's heart strings in a way they never had before, the sight of a sweet girl in that much pain for seemingly no reason suddenly unpleasant to Madison. That still didn't stop the frustrated sigh that escaped from her as she turned around and ran after Hebert.

A Park In Brockton Bay, August, 2009

Catching up to Hebert proved more challenging than Madison would have expected. While she was no athlete like Sophia, those long legs of hers weren't just for show (especially when Madison's own were so short). It felt like she had run through half the city before Madison finally caught up to her, huffing and puffing as she came upon Hebert sitting on a solitary park bench, bawling her eyes out.

"Why…are you so…fucking tall…" Madison took a moment to catch her breath. She was not a runner, and there was a reason she hated gym class so much goddammit, besides the havoc it wreaked on her makeup every time. Once she was no longer wheezing like a chainsmoker however, Madison directed her attention towards the whole reason she was out of breath in the first place: the weeping girl on the bench.

"Hey, uh…Hebert…that uh…that sure was rough…" Madison started awkwardly, unsure of exactly what to say to Taylor. When she didn't even look up in response to Madison's words however, Madison tried to put her hand on the girl, only to watch dumbfounded as her hand passed right through Taylor.

"Oh, right…you can't even fucking hear me….aghhhh!" Madison kicked at the dirt as she yelled in frustration. "This is so stupid! Why am I even here? Shoulda just followed Emma and Soph…" All of her own whining was only met by more sobbing from Taylor.

"Ughhhh…can you at least just stop crying? It's really fucking sad and rude to do this in public you know!"

Clack…

[14-2: Eisen Whip - A sword owned by Ohm, a priest of God and a member of God's Army. As a weapon, the Eisen Whip possesses the ability to change its form at Ohm's command thanks to the Eisen Dial installed in it. With a Power of 2, the Eisen Whip is brittle and rusted, and the Eisen Dial has been removed from its hilt. It manifests on the ground in front of Madison.]

Suddenly a sword manifested out of thin air, right in front of Madison, the shocking sight nearly making her jump out of her skin.

"Holy shit is that a fucking sword? Is that real?! Where the hell did a sword come from?!" Taylor, still weeping into her hands, didn't even seem to hear the rusted metal clank against the dirt.

Madison bent down to inspect the blade, and it was clear even to her, who was unfamiliar with swords for obvious reasons, that this thing was so rusted it was basically useless. She briefly tried to pick it up before she was reminded she could not touch anything in this…dream…

"Wait, that's it! This is like some weird lucid dreaming crap, isn't it? I can just make her stop crying!" That must have been where the sword came from, though why her brain threw a literal real-ass sword, even if it was a useless one, at her as a solution provoked questions she was not sure she even wanted answers to.

Still proud of her sudden epiphany despite that, Madison focused her thoughts on Taylor, willing her to stop crying and cheer up already.

Clack…

[5-13: The Old Hunters - The singular DLC of Bloodborne, The Old Hunters introduced new areas, weapons, enemies, and bosses in the form of a new horrific nightmare realm. With a Power of 13, a nightmare realm connected to Brockton Bay manifests, tied in form and essence to the city, rather than being a copy of the Yharnam Nightmares. Some cracks in reality now exist throughout the city, where people can slip into the realm, while others may find their dreams pulling them into the new Brockton Nightmare.]

Aaaaaaand nothing happened. Come on, this was her dream, she should be in charge!

Clack…

[16-15: Byakuya Kuchiki - The 28th Head of the Kuchiki Clan, one of the four great noble clans of Soul Society, and the Captain of the 6th Division of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, Byakuya Kuchiki is an immensely powerful Shinigami. With a Power of 15, he is summoned to the world in the state he is in immediately prior to the Thousand Year Blood War. However, due to both Madison and Taylor lacking any form of spiritual awareness, they are unable to see him, nor is Byakuya able to see Madison.]

Ok this was getting annoying, and Taylor was only crying louder, so if something could please just make it stop-!

Clack…

[11-20: Luke Skywalker - The last student of Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Grandmaster Yoda. The son of Anakin Skywalker. A Jedi, like his father before him. Luke Skywalker is an incredibly powerful Force-user, one of the most skilled lightsaber combatants in history, and a truly wise and kind being. With a Natural Power of 20, Grandmaster Luke Skywalker manifests in his prime, returned from being one with the Force following his peaceful retirement and subsequent passing in 45 ABY. The System is so proud of the Roller's most chaotic roll yet!]

Oh come on, something had to happen already-

"Hello there!"

"Fuck!" Madison jumped off the ground as a man suddenly spoke up behind her, and she whipped around to see…a blonde guy in a cape and some pajamas?

He was handsome in a sense, a nice jawline and clear blue eyes, shaggy blonde hair atop his head, but he didn't really look like all that much. Besides the weird outfit, he wasn't even a foot taller than Madison (which said something considering she was barely 4'10") and he just looked like some guy.

Despite that though, there was something about him, something about the look in his eye, the way he seemed to actually be looking at Madison…

"You might want to go back to where you belong, you know." He said, and Madison's heart skipped a beat. Could he actually see her? "I could help you if you can't do it yourself."

"I-"

"N-no, uh, sir I'm just…j-just…" Before Madison could respond, Taylor spoke up, and Madison almost wanted to hit herself. Of course he couldn't see her, he was just talking to Taylor. But that look in those blue eyes of his…

Taylor couldn't even finish her sentence, and the man frowned before sitting down beside her on the bench.

"You know, in my experience, a sympathetic ear is all you need when you're having a bad day." Taylor took a long heaving gasp before side-eyeing the strange man.

"You know, I t-think my dad would have s-something to say about talking to strangers…"

In response to her suspicion the man only laughed, a warm, boisterous and disarming sound that sounded strangely pleasant to Madison, before sticking out his hand towards Taylor.

"Then let's not be strangers anymore. I'm Ben." Taylor eyed the offered hand hesitantly, but maybe it was the way he smiled, or the kindness she could see in his eyes, or something about him…

"T-Taylor."

While watching all of this, Madison couldn't help but smile at herself as well. Ok, this Ben guy seemed a bit weird, but hey. Taylor stopped sobbing! Mission accomplished in her book. Now she just needed to wake up…somehow.
Ben's eyes switched away from Taylor, and this time Madison would swear on her life he was looking directly at her. His eyes lingered on her for a bit, and Madison couldn't help but squirm under his gaze…before the blonde blue-eyed bastard winked at her and waved his hand. Her jaw dropped even as her vision suddenly began to go blurry again, but Madison was barely paying attention to anything other than Luke as she glared at him.

"Motherfucker-!"

Everything went white once again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Alright so we're doing a time travel on....chapter 4. This is fine, everything's fine, while we're at it let's make the decision to have summons appear in the year Madison is mentally present in cause that just kinda makes more sense to me, I'm sure nothing will come of it-

NAT 20 ON LUKE FUCKING SKYWALKER

3P0 please do not tell me the odds of this happening. This might be a mistake. Letting this broken ass motherfucker come in here might be a terrible awful no good very bad mistake. Buuuuuuuuut fuck it we ball. The dice and random page demand it. Who am I to defy their will?

Emma and Sophia running of Taylor the first time

Click to shrink...

I rolled two dice to decide when she would end up. a d4 to decide between days, weeks, months, or years, and a d100 to determine amount. I got a 3 and a 15, so 15 months in the past...which since I VERY RANDOMLY picked October, wound up to be about August 2009, aka exactly when this would happen. Did you pay the dice off? lmfao

Anyways, this ended up being a very long, very weirdly skewed chapter. A loooot of really low rolls. Madison learned how to make a Strawberry Sunrise, developed a talent for throwing bayonets, deposited weird space trash into the atmosphere with the rest of the Simurgh's junk, and summoned a really shitty sword to 2009. Alright, cool, kinda boring but that's fine, let's see what else she summons-

Old Hunters DLC: Honestly this was the best interpretation I could figure for something like this. I could have just dropped the DLC into the like, metaphysical space of Brockton Bay but making up a Brockton style Hunter's Nightmare seems more interesting. Crazy and will cause problems but that's what we want

Byakuya goddamn Kuchiki: First character...and he's dropped into 2009. Oops. Sorry timeline, but hey, at least it's a Shinigami who's just gonna be super hands off on everything. The Byakuya summoned is decently chill and a better person than he is at his first appearance, buuuuuuut he's also not the type to step into bs. Timeline is sa-

LUKE SKYWALKER

It's broken, it's all broken, we're four chapters in and the timeline is soooooo fucked. But you know what? I'm here for it. This shit's gonna get weird. Who knows what the fuck Madison is gonna come back to in late 2010, after letting Luke and Byakuya (mostly Luke) run rampant for a year and change. Could I have interpreted it differently? Eh maybe but like, Natural 20? By my own rules that is the strongest form of the character possible, i.e Grandmaster Luke Skywalker. Hell I might be technically nerfing him since he's no longer one with the fucking Force. Hope you all enjoy this chaos, we'll see if I'm laughing or crying by the end of this lmao

 

[TheCynicalPogo]

Winslow High, Nurse's Office, October 18th, 2010

"-I knew you could see me!" Madison shouted as she suddenly rocketed up from where she had been laying on a bed…ok wait that didn't seem right.

Madison's head whipped around, and with a start she realized she was no longer in the park. Instead, she was in what looked to be the nurse's office, laying on the cot students used when they were sick (read: when they wanted to skip classes and take a nap), and she was not alone either. A wide-eyed Emma was in the room with her, sitting in a chair beside her bed and staring at her, mouth agape with surprise, before, to Madison's shock, she jumped forward and pulled Madison into a sudden tight hug.

"E-Emma-wha-!"

Clack…

[8-20: North Vegas Square - A minor district of New Vegas in the Mojave Wasteland. With a Natural Power of 20, the Docks district of Brockton Bay is now forcibly expanded to include the North Vegas Square, and the city is quite simply bigger than before! Thanks to its power as well, the installation is seamless and causes no earthquakes or similar events. While normally the Square would be a radioactive pile of rubble and squatters, the buildings have now been restored to their Pre-War splendor, with Pre-War technology both furnishing and powering the buildings, while the Square also comes with a small contingent of Protectron Enforcers, pre-programmed to obey the local government and police, as well as able to identify the local gang members of Brockton Bay! To protect and serve!]

There were a few reasons Madison was so surprised right now. First, Emma was not a hugger. Not this kind of hugger anyways, with so much emotion behind the action. It was completely unlike her, and would have normally felt far more disturbing to Madison if not for the second reason she was panicking: a pretty, developed girl was pressing herself against Madison-

Face burning red, Madison couldn't help but push Emma away, something she instantly regretted however when a flash of hurt crossed Emma's face.

"S-sorry Ems, you just-uh, startled me…" Madison said sheepishly, only for Emma to gasp, eyes widening once more while her (still perfectly maintained, Madison couldn't help but notice) eyebrows rose.

"Ah-oh, no! I'm so sorry too Maddie too, I didn't even think-I was just so worried about you, I mean you looked so sick earlier, you were spacing out so much, and then you just passed out right when you hit your head! I wanted to call the hospital right away but the school was all-" Every word out of Emma's mouth was more and more disconcerting. This wasn't how Emma talked, this wasn't how Emma acted, this wasn't-this wasn't right. Emma didn't sound like herself, hell she didn't sound like the girl Madison had just seen in her dream. Instead she sounded more like…that weird, innocent, happy version of Hebert in her dream…

"And then I found those uh…" Emma's voice dropped to a whisper, "those things in your bag but don't worry Maddie your secret's safe with me-" Madison was pulled out of her thoughts, her confusion about how strange Emma was acting was momentarily forgotten.

"Wait-Emma what things in my bag?" Madison interrupted the red-head's long-winded tirade. "What are you even talking about?"

Emma tilted her head quizzically before a look of understanding crossed her face. She glanced around the room, as if to confirm they were alone in the nurse's office for the moment before she said, "Oh Maddie, you know-those weird, uh…ice gloves in your bag? I'm really sorry for unmasking you like this but-but I promise you can trust me!" Emma was beaming, eyes twinkling with excitement, but Madison was just completely lost. Ice gloves? Unmasking?! Did Emma think-

"Emma do you think I'm a fucking cape? I don't even know what fucking ice…gloves you're talking about-I just-and you're acting so weird-and why are you calling me Maddie?! You and Sophia always call me Mads at most-"

"Sophia?!" It was Emma's turn to interrupt Madison however, and Madison was taken aback by the sheer amount of fear she heard in Emma's voice. "M-Madison, what are you talking about? That-that psychopath has been on the run for months! You-you didn't see her right? They said there was no way she would come back to the Bay-" Emma's hands were shaking, her shoulders hunched in fear.

But Madison couldn't even reply, only staring at Emma blankly, dumbfounded. Sophia was…on the run? Emma, Sophia's best friend, was calling her a psycho?

"I…Emma, you and I were just talking to her in the hallway! She-she was with us at your house last week!" But Madison's words didn't elicit the response she'd expected. Instead, Emma looked…concerned. Concerned and scared, even, but whether it was for Madison or of Madison, the teen couldn't tell.

"Maddie…it…it was just us in the hallway this morning. Taylor would have been there but I think she was running late today."

…what?

Clack…

[6-5: Wurmple - The Worm Pokemon, Wurmple are native to Hoenn and, as per their name, resemble large worms. Depending on their particular breed, Wurmples are capable of evolving into either the majestic Beautifly, or the toxic Dustox! With a Power of 5, a Level 5 wild Wurmple manifests in the nurse's office!]

And then, suddenly, there was a giant pink worm, its flesh covered in spines and bumps, which dropped out of thin air right onto Madison's lap.

Madison stared blankly at the giant insect.

Emma also stared blankly, dumbfounded.

The worm turned to both of them, first Madison, then Emma, before it tilted its head in confusion and made a strange, high pitched screech.

Madison screamed.

Emma screamed.

The giant worm screeched even louder and suddenly thrust its head forward, glowing, and slammed itself into Madison's chest, her screams cutting off with a choked gasp.

Clack…

[7-8: Storytelling Bird - A talking bird encountered by the Link of A Link To The Past, who offers to tell profitable stories for a price. With a Power of 8, the bird's greed has grown, and he now charges more for people to hear his stories.]

Her arms waved wildly, her body in shock, and suddenly her heart skipped a beat as five glowing blue orbs suddenly appeared around her. Two almost immediately dissipated, crashing harmlessly against the walls and cot of the office around her.

One orb, however, immediately fired itself off-not at the worm, but at a large green bird which suddenly appeared mid-air, flapping its wings. The bird's massive eyes widened and it just barely swerved out of the way, losing a few feathers in the process as it squawked indignantly before flying out the open doorway. In the chaos Madison could almost swear she heard it shout, "How rude!"

The other two orbs rocketed themselves through the air towards the worm, which screeched once more in alarm, and with speed that a weird giant bug definitely should not have had, threw itself out of the way of one of the orbs. The second, however, caught the worm midair, and the creature was suddenly sent hurtling backwards, crashing through the window, shattering it in the process, and landing outside.

Emma stared at Madison, dumbfounded, while Madison tried to regain control of her breathing, still hacking after getting hit by that weird worm's tackle.

"You're a cape." Emma said once more, this time as if she were stating a fact.

Madison could only sit in the cot, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. Those things had appeared out of thin air…just like…the sword in her dream…

The color drained from Madison's face. "Oh, god, I'm a cape."

Both girls looked around the room, at the shattered window and the stray feathers scattered across the floor. It was Emma who broke the silence first, grabbing the shellshocked Madison by the arm. "We…we should go." Madison just nodded numbly, and let herself be dragged out of the room by the redhead as they both fled the scene.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bit of a shorter chapter, but I started writing the stuff that will be included in the next chapter, like where they're gonna go, reactions to the fact that Madison has powers, etc. but it just wasn't really flowing well so I decided to break them up and drop this section as its own chapter, while the next chapter will have all the really good stuff.

For now though, let's get on to the rolls! Alright Madison, you just got back from your trip through time, surely you won't do anything cra-and that's another Nat 20. At this rate I'm gonna have to force in karmic dice or something lmfao. But compared to the previous Nat 20 this one is wayyyyy more chill. Just a replica of the North Vegas Square, nice and refurbished, safely implanted into the Bay....with a cache of Pre-War technology. PRT will be drooling over this (or incredibly pissed if someone else gets to it first lol).

Ironically the lowest roll is the one that's the most important. And so the jig is up, not with a bang....but with a Wurmple. I promise I did not rig the Random button just so I could make that pun lmfao. Wurmple used Tackle, and it was Super Effective against Madison's doubts that she was not, in fact a cape. Sadly Homing Soulmass was also Super Effective on Wurmple (don't worry tho, lil' guy's still alive).

I should also say this concerning Pokemon: I, personally, really really really dislike the thing where in some fics where just every Pokemon is as smart as a human and has their own mental speech and complicated emotions and such. Just doesn't jive with me. Some Pokemon it only makes sense of course, the Gardevoirs, the Lucarios, a lot of Legendaries like Arceus and such, and some even make sense to be able to actually properly communicate with humans (Gardevoir, Arceus, etc.) but every Pokemon? Just...nah. This Wurmple is obviously smarter than a worm, but I'd say it, and similar Mons, are like....really intelligent dogs at most, in terms of how smart they are. Sorry if you enjoy that kind of Pokemon portrayal but it just isn't my thing.

Storytelling Bird....exists now. Honestly I just thought it would be funny if he almost got shot, it's hard to get more minor than this thing on the Zelda wiki lmao. Hopefully he doesn't get himself shot by someone haha

But yeah, Madison is aware she has powers, Emma knows she has powers, and you can already see some of the consequences of time travel here as well. RIP to my plans for Trio interactions, they got time wiped by fucking stupid Boruto jutsu LOL

 

[TheCynicalPogo]

Brockton Bay, October 18th, 2010, 11 A.M.

When Emma had said they should go, she hadn't just meant the nurse's office, with its broken window that they were hopefully not being blamed for. No, the redhead made the executive decision that today was not a good day to be sitting through classes, and in the small part of her brain that wasn't grappling with the revelation that Madison was somehow now a cape, she agreed with Emma's decision.

Instead, Emma grabbed her bag, Madison's bag, and Madison herself, and pulled the shell-shocked brunette out of school, the pair of them ditching for the day.

Madison didn't pay too much attention to their walk as she was dragged along by Emma, her thoughts racing as she tried to understand what was happening to her. She was a cape, apparently. Madison had no idea how she was suddenly a cape, but the strange creatures appearing right out of thin air, as well as those orb…things that she had made-and she knew she had made them, as now that she was aware of it she could feel it inside of her, the potential for more of those to appear with just a wave of her hand-well, that was just completely undeniable proof of the fact that she had powers.

Inevitably, as they walked, Madison's thoughts drifted towards the 'dream' she had had. The sword that she had made appear, hell that Ben guy that she had made appear-that had just been a dream, right? There was no way she had actually made a whole person, that was insane.

Just as insane as making a sword or a giant gross worm thing appear too.

Madison wanted to scream, but it was all she could do to just keep breathing and try to look as normal as possible as she and Emma walked to…well.

"...hey Emma, where are we going?" Madison asked, the first words she had said since the nurse's office.

Emma glanced at her, concern etched across her pretty face. "I…figured we'd go to your house, Maddie. Mine's too far, and Taylor's…well, it's not like she'd be home to let us in." Emma's reasoning made sense of course. Emma's home was right on the edge of the Docks, closer to where the city turned into the wealthier Downtown district, while Madison's was a bit deeper in. Not enough that they were living in one of the more decrepit and run-down neighborhoods, but they were still much closer to Winslow than Emma was.

Not that Madison was thinking too much about that right now anyways, too distracted by everything else that Emma had said without even realizing. Because there Emma had gone again, calling her 'Maddie' and acting like the two of them were all best friends with Taylor Hebert of all people. It didn't make sense…unless Madison considered the idea that had been lingering on her mind ever since she had realized just how similar the strange creature's appearance had been to Ben and that sword. That dream had been so vivid, and while Madison would admit she wasn't the brightest, she wasn't stupid enough to not realize that she had been in the past. It was weird enough that she had dreamt of something she hadn't even been there for, hadn't even been told about, but to even imagine that she had actually been there? Or sort of been there, like some kind of weird peeping ghost?

…she could accept stuff appearing out of thin air, but-time travel? Not even Eidolon could do that, and-well, there was no one stronger than Eidolon except for fucking Scion (and she wasn't even going to start wondering whether the weird golden man could or could not time travel). She was just some highschool girl, so why the hell could she possibly be able to do something even Eidolon couldn't do?

Madison looked at Emma dragging her through the streets, ditching school to help her friend. Would Emma have normally done that? No, Madison didn't think she would have. She would ditch school, certainly, but that would be to go do something fun, not…deal with her crisis. So for her to be doing it now…for her to be friends with Hebert now, when her hatred of Taylor had been so visceral just hours ago…

And what a mindfuck that had been. Seeing Hebert not being miserable was another thing Madison had pushed to the side while she had been distracted by weird dreams, a weirder present, and strange creatures appearing out of nowhere, but now when she was just walking down the street with Emma she couldn't escape from the memory of that sweet, happy chatterbox wearing the face of the gloomiest loser Madison had ever seen.

She had thought being so…bulliable, was just how Hebert was. The sky was blue, the grass was green, capes were crazy, and Taylor Hebert was free game to mess with. She had been like that before Madison had ever joined in on the 'fun', so Madison had never thought about whether or not it was ok for them to be doing what they were doing. Objectively speaking she had even known it was wrong, with how much effort she, Sophia, and Emma had gone to to make sure they never got in trouble. But it had just been so…so…easy. It was easy, everyone did it, and nobody really cared about how Hebert felt about the whole thing. Madison certainly had never really considered that until today.

And what did that say about her?

Madison felt ill. Between thoughts of Hebert and the distressing possibility that she had gone through time, it was a wonder she hadn't just broken down already. This morning was just insane. The idea that she, Madison fucking Clements, had gone through time, thrown the fucking timeline into disarray. Even if she had, all she had done was summon one guy and a sword! How much damage could one guy and a fucking sword do?!

But the more she thought about it, even if she didn't want to even address the idea, the more it made sense to Madison-and that was what terrified her the most.

Clack…

'Wait what was that sound-'

[9-12: M52B Body Armor - An armored protective vest worn by the members of the UNSC Marine Corps, and a part of the UNSC Marine BDU. With a Power of 12, the vest's durability has been increased, allowing for slightly better protection against energy weapons than normal.]

Right in the middle of the sidewalk, a bulky set of body armor appeared out of thin air, dropping down onto the concrete with a weighty thump. Both girls froze like deer caught in headlights, hearts pounding.

"Did you just-" Emma began, and Madison was really wishing she could say no to the unasked question right at that moment.

"I…I didn't mean to…" Madison stuttered, "d-did anyone see?" Both girls whipped their heads around, scanning the street, but thankfully the area was deserted, everybody either at school or work at the moment. Still, it wouldn't stay that way for long, and Madison bent down to try to pick up the vest.

Right away Madison was surprised by how light it was. That wasn't to say it had no weight at all, it had to have weighed about fifteen pounds or thereabouts, but compared to how it looked, a heavy chestplate with straps connecting several other plates to complete the ensemble, it was far lighter.

She also noticed that the armor was, disturbingly enough, almost exactly her size, to the point that Madison was almost certain she could wear it easily with just a glance. She couldn't help but sigh. More proof that she was a cape…just great.

She could whine about having powers later, however. Turning towards Emma, Madison hefted the body armor up and said, "Come on, my house is close. If we hurry we can get there before anyone sees us with this…thing.", to which Emma only nodded before the two girls ran off down the street, praying they wouldn't bump into anyone on their way.

- - - - - - - -

Luckily for the duo, the streets remained clear the whole rest of the way to Madison's house, and they found themselves unmolested by anybody curious as to why two teenage girls were out of school, with one of them carrying what appeared to be military body armor. As well, there were thankfully no more summons by Madison as they ran.

Once they arrived both girls rushed inside, and Madison was thankful that both of her parents worked the whole day, and would not be home for hours. That gave them plenty of time to start figuring out just what exactly was happening, and just where these things were coming from, as Madison dropped the body armor on her living room floor before taking a seat on the couch, while Emma sat down in a smaller loveseat across from her.

Of course, if they wanted to figure things out, they would have to actually be talking, something both girls were finding difficult, the pair of them fiddling awkwardly as they sat, waiting for the other to break the silence.

It was Madison who spoke up first. "So……" she said, before she paused, unsure what to say.
"So…." Emma repeated, prompting the other girl to continue.

"I'm a cape." Madison finally said, the words hanging heavy in the air.

"...you're a cape." Emma repeated once again, only now she was struggling to meet Madison's eyes.

"I-" Madison began, only to be interrupted by Emma.

"I'm so sorry Maddie!" Emma shouted, looking like she might burst into tears." When…when I found those gloves in your bag, I had just…I was just thinking about how cool it was, that one of my friends was a cape, that I didn't even think about how you must be feeling. Are you ok? I-I know trigger events are-are absolutely terrible, and for me to be so excited when-agh, I'm such a bad friend."

Madison's stomach twisted as she listened to Emma's voice crack with guilt, and she quickly butted in to assuage the poor girl. "No, no Emma I-I don't even know what a trigger event is."

Emma blinked in surprise. "Ooooooo, well," Emma's tears and worries were quickly forgotten as she swapped to 'explanation mode'. "I-well, someone once explained it to me as the uh…'worst day in a cape's life'. When things are just really, really, really awful, like-you might be about to die or kill yourself or something just as bad, and then you just uh…get powers. Nobody really…knows why it works like that."

It was Madison's turn to go 'Ooooooo' then as she nodded along to Emma's words. The worst day of someone's life…well, that kind of explained why the world was the way it was a bit to Madison. If people only got superpowers from that kind of messed up thing, then it was no wonder everything was such a mess. There was just one issue with what Emma had said…

"But…I haven't had a worst day ever. Nothing bad has happened to me, Ems."

Emma's brow wrinkled as she took in Madison's words. "But that…that doesn't make any sense. Are-are you sure you just aren't remembering or-"

Madison cut Emma off quickly. "No, Emma I swear, nothing has happened to me. Unless you count today, but even then it's just been…frustrating and annoying and weird, not 'the worst day of my life'."

"But then…how do you have powers?" Emma asked.

And wasn't that the real question? If she hadn't had a trigger event, then how in the hell did she have powers, especially ones as strange as these?

"I don't know," Madison said, shaking her head. "I just…woke up like…this…" As if summoned by her words, a memory popped into her mind, unbidden, and her eyes widened before she dashed off upstairs while Emma started, flabbergasted.

A few moments later, Madison came back into the living room, holding the glass jar of strange blue 'perfume' that she had noticed on her desk this morning.

"I thought my mom had put this with my makeup as like, a gift or something, and then just forgot to mention it…I was in a bit of a rush this morning too so I didn't think too much about it. But it was just…right there all of a sudden, I didn't even notice until it was just…boom! Right on my desk!" Madison said, a bit flustered. She had almost used whatever this was as perfume, for Christ's sake.

Emma for her part nodded along. "Ok," she said. "That makes, what, three things you've made appear so far?"

Madison shook her head. "No, it's more like five, if we count the weird bird and that…ugh, giant worm thing too." 'And,' Madison thought in her head, 'it's seven if I'm right about that dream…god I want to be wrong so bad.' She put that out of her head for now though. It could be…discussed, later.

"Ok, so those two things, the armor, the bottle, and…the gloves I found in your bag." Emma counted off.

Oh, Madison had almost forgotten about those as well. "I didn't even notice them, heck I haven't even seen them yet."

In response to that, Emma reached over to Madison's bag, and pulled out the gauntlets. Like most things that day, they were like nothing Madison had seen. They looked like armor, but they weren't even close to modern. Instead they were made out of leather, lots of fur, and ice, of all things.

"When I found them, I thought you were a tinker." Emma chuckled sheepishly before placing the gauntlets back down. "I, uh…well I guess I was wrong about that." Emma then scrunched up her face as a new thought came to mind. "Oh, wait, Maddie. What about those uh…orbs that appeared with the uh…worm thing? Were those like all the rest?"

At that, Madison shook her head. "No, it…it's hard to explain, but…I can almost feel it in a sense, that that's just…something I can do now. Like, if I just wave my hand like this-" Madison did so, and well, she really shouldn't have been surprised when five orbs appeared around her again. Her heart skipped a beat, and for a moment she was worried that they would fire off automatically again, like they had with the worm and the bird, and attack Emma, but the orbs simply hung in the air, motionless, instead. After spending a moment frozen, waiting for them to fire while nothing happened, Madison let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"-like, uh, yeah. They're uh…almost too easy to make honestly." Madison answered lamely, shrugging her shoulders while Emma marveled at the glowing blue orbs with wide eyes as Madison waved her arms about, dispelling the floating orbs before they actually did fire off at something.

"God, this is so much cooler than So-" As she spoke Emma's excitement died while Madison's eyes almost bulged out of her head. Did Emma almost say what she thought she said?

"Maddie." Emma asked slowly, as if she was asking something she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to. "Those…those things you said earlier, when you woke up. What…what did you mean, when you said you were with me and…and Sophia?" There was a quiver in Emma's voice as she spoke.

Ah. The question Madison had been dreading this entire time. She still wasn't sure she had a good answer, and it definitely wasn't the answer she wanted to give, but…well.

"I…said that, because for me, this morning, I was talking to you and Sophia. For me, this morning, Sophia Hess was your best friend, and…and for me, this morning, you'd have probably preferred to be dead than call Taylor Hebert anything other than an insult." With every word she spoke, Emma's face only grew paler. By the time she had finished Madison was almost worried Emma was about to be sick right there in the living room.

"But…but that…that doesn't make any sense…" Emma's voice was weak, and it almost made Madison want to stop talking, but she continued on. She had to tell someone her suspicions, or she'd go crazy just thinking about them herself.

Madison gulped. "I…I think…ok this is gonna sound insane-even more insane than anything else today. But…but while I was asleep, I had this…dream. I was at your house, of all places, and-and then Hebert showed up, talking about how you were friends and she wanted to hang out, and then you and Sophia-you guys kicked her out, and she ran away crying," Emma gasped at that, her hands flying to her mouth in shock while Madison continued, ranting.

"-and that didn't really make sense cause you and Sophia never even told me about that, but I didn't even-even think about it, and I just followed Hebert, and she was just sitting there crying and crying and crying and I just wanted her to stop crying already and a sword appeared just like everything else-" Madison was breathless as she spoke now, all of her pent up thoughts spilling past her lips.
"-and I just thought I was fucking lucid dreaming or some stupid bullshit and I made some guy appear and-and-" Madison hiccupped, and she realized that at some point during her rant she had started crying, tears streaming down her face while Emma stared at her in horror.

"I…I don't think it was a dream, Ems. I think I fucked up so bad and-and I don't even want to think about it anymore but-but how can I not think about how I fucking time traveled?!" Madison collapsed onto the couch and let her face fall into her hands while her body was wracked with sobs, all while waiting for Emma to yell, and call her a moron for somehow managing to break time before lunch and how she ruined everything.

But that never came. Instead, Emma simply got up from her own seat and sat down beside Madison, pulling the crying brunette into a side-hug, letting Madison rest her head on Emma's shoulder as she let out all of her pent-up emotions. She didn't say anything as Madison let out her long, ugly sobs born of terror, only rubbing Madison's shoulders and holding her friend close.

By the time she finished crying Madison was sure she looked like a wreck. Her makeup was definitely ruined, her eyes were probably horribly red, and there was no way her face was in any state to go to the superhero modeling shoot today-if that even still existed anymore. But Madison couldn't even bring herself to care about that.

"I'm….I'm just so scared, Ems." Madison said shakily. "If…if I can do this…who knows what else can happen? I could…I could…I don't even know what else might have changed."

Emma nodded and gave Madison another squeezing hug. "Well…why don't we figure that out? What…" Emma hesitated for a moment before gathering her courage. "....what was I like?"

What was Emma like? Madison looked at Emma, her expression full of concern, her shoulder stained with Madison's tears. "You were…" Meaner. Cruel. Those were for the first words that came to Madison's mind, and it surprised her how easily she thought that, when she compared the Emma she knew to the Emma right beside her. "...you probably wouldn't have let me cry on your shoulder and make a mess on you. You would've said, 'Mads, you're acting like a weak-ass pussy who should grow the fuck up.', not…not this."

Emma was silent for a moment before she spoke. "...and Taylor? You said I…well…" Emma looked as if she didn't want to finish the sentence.

Madison nodded though, able to guess what she was referring to. "You…you hated Hebert. God, most of our time was spent on ways to make her more miserable…" Madison glanced up and saw that Emma was staring at her, horrified. "...which judging by the look on your face was pretty fucked up of us, huh?"

Emma could only nod, a mixture of emotions flashing across her face. Disgust, worry, disappointment, even just a dash of anger, and Madison shrunk in on herself, shame of all things blossoming in her gut. It was strange, in a way. Madison had never once felt any shame for what they had been doing to Hebert until today, but now, confronted (almost ironically) by Emma of all people…it didn't feel as fine as it had this morning.

"...why did you do it?" Emma asked, the question startling Madison. "I…I think I know why I did it, and I know why fucking Sophia would do that…but why would you, Maddie? You wouldn't have even known Taylor without knowing me."

Why had she done it? Why had she helped torment Hebert? Sure, she knew it was easy, it was what everyone was doing, it was what had let her become friends with Emma in the first place. And certainly if she had actually stood up for Hebert her life would have been just as much a living hell as Taylor's. They'd done it to people who actually had briefly been on Taylor's side after all.

But was that all of it?

"I guess…" Madison began, before she paused, looking away from Emma. "I did it 'cause it was…fun. I mean, everyone did it, and anyone who stood up for Hebert…well, anyone who tried to stand up for 'gloomy loser Hebert' or be her friend or…anything, wasn't doing it for long. But I just…it was funny, to see the look on Hebert's face from a prank, or hang out with you and Sophia figuring out what we were gonna do to her. We just…did it 'cause we could, and no one was stopping us, and it felt good, so just…why not?"

"Why not?" Emma's tone was rigid, and Madison couldn't figure out what the other girl was thinking right now.

"...I never thought about the why not. I just…did it." It felt…weird, admitting everything to this new Emma. There was a weight off her back, a little nagging voice in the back of her head that she hadn't even heard before silenced with the admission that what they had been doing was wrong. Had she had doubts before and never even realized? It made sense, she supposed. Like she had said, Madison had never thought about whether what they did was right.

Mostly though, Madison was just waiting for Emma to say anything.

The redhead was silent for just a few minutes but to Madison it felt like hours. She couldn't even bring herself to look at Emma, afraid of the look she would see across her face.

"Well…" Emma began, and Madison braced herself. "That was a pretty shitty reason to bully someone." Yep, Madison was starting to realize that herself now. "I hope you know you're kind of a terrible person for doing all of that." Oh god she really was, wasn't she? "It's a good thing none of that ever happened now, huh?" Wait, what?

Madison whipped her head around, her red, puffy eyes wide open staring at Emma like she had grown three heads. Instead of a look of abject horror or unfiltered disgust, Emma had a cheeky grin spread across her lips.

"Yeeeeeep." Emma continued, smiling wider. "Sophia and I uh…let's just say we had a falling out, and then…well I started school a few months late after that. When I did start though, Sophia was the only bully in school. Taylor wasn't up to take any of Sophia's bullshit already, and the psycho didn't exactly like people who fought back, so you know who her favorite target was?"

Madison stared blankly. She had no idea who Sophia would have gone after instead of Hebert. Oh, god, she hoped she didn't help Sophia here too-Emma tapped Madison right on the nose, knocking her right out of her brief spiral.

"She went after short, cute, and completely incapable of fighting back Maddie Clements instead." Madison balked at that, mouth agape.

"She went after me?! Because I'm fucking short?! I-That's just-that fucking bitch!" Emma couldn't help but snort at Madison's outburst, earning her a glare from the indignant brunette.

Emma raised her hands in mock surrender, though her grin never faltered as she did so. "Well, if I hadn't believed you before about all that time travel stuff, I definitely do now with that reaction. Sophia's only good at physical crap, so all she did was hit you a bunch, but the threats she threw at you were….well, they were enough to keep her out of trouble." Emma's smile faltered then, for a moment. "It was…rough, for a while. When I got to school I stood up for you, and…Sophia really didn't like that. I mean Taylor tried to stand up for you too but when I did it Sophia just…well. Some…uh…stuff went down, and now she's wanted in all of New England!" Emma's cheery tone returned at that, and Madison couldn't help but goggle at how happy her friend sounded about Sophia being on a wanted list. Admittedly though, if she really had gone after Madison in this new timeline, well, she'd be lying if she wasn't happy hearing that too.

"Well," Madison said, though she wasn't fully sure how she could even respond to that. "I…I mean I still was really shitty right?"

"Oh yeah, what you didn't do here was absolutely awful." Emma replied, unable to stifle a giggle.

"And…and I'll have to…live with the consequences?"

Emma nodded stoically. "Yep. The consequence of knowing you accidentally erased alllll of your sins from existence and even ended up the victim instead."

"I…." Madison was lost. This was not at all how she had expected this to go. "...huh. Does…am I weird for thinking this feels anticlimactic?"

Emma snorted at that, and her laughter rang loud and clear in Madison's ears. "What, do you want me to flip out on you? Call you a bitch and say we aren't friends?"

Well, no, Madison definitely did not want that to happen. "I-no, obviously, but-"

Emma interrupted her, patting the poor, confused girl on the back. "Just take the out Maddie. If you ask me…this 'timeline' is way better than that one anyways." Emma then grimaced. "And honestly, whatever you did, my other self probably did worse, didn't she? ….ugh, thinking like that's gonna take some getting used to."
Madison…wasn't exactly about to say Emma was wrong, that was for certain. "I mean…yeah, you-or uh, she? She was the…ringleader, I guess…" Madison was silent for a moment, before one last thought popped into her head.

"....you don't think I accidentally killed my other self here, do you?" Madison asked.

Emma blinked, and it was her turn to stare at Madison before she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I…Maddie, let's keep the guilty crises to one a day please. We can grapple with the uh…weird timey wimey bullshit of whether or not you 'killed' yourself some other time. How about instead we get you cleaned up instead, huh?"

"....that does sound nice, yeah.......thanks Emma."

"Of course Maddie. We're friends, right?"

Madison cocked her head and once more let Emma drag her away. She'd heard Emma say that exact line before, mostly when she asked Madison to do something for her. Coming from this Emma, though, it felt...different. In a good way.

Maybe this timeline really was the better one.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wooooooo, this got long lmao. Just the one roll, which fucking finally was a mid roll. Took Madison long enough to stop picking between absolute trash or world changing lol. Hello, M52B body armor, hope you enjoy your stay.

This was primarily chatting, and honestly I was a bit worried that this was happening too early. If not for the time travel who knows when this realization would have happened. Fucking Boruto man....lmfao. Hope I portrayed this well haha. Not as exciting but hey, this discussion had to happen the moment Mads brought up Sophia when she woke up. Hope y'all enjoy.

 

[TheCynicalPogo]

List of Origins

1. Hollow Knight 2. Armored Core 3. Dark Souls 4. Elden Ring 5. Bloodborne 6. Pokemon 7. Legend of Zelda 8. Fallout 9. Halo 10. Mass Effect

11. Star Wars 12. RWBY 13. Hellsing 14. One Piece 15. Naruto 16. Bleach 17. Type-MOON (1. Type MOON 2. FGO) 18. Warhammer (1. Fantasy 2. 40k) 19. The Elder Scrolls (1. UESP 2. The Elder Scrolls Wiki) 20. Dungeons & Dragons (1. Forgotten Realms Wiki 2. Baldur's Gate 3 Wiki)

 

[TheCynicalPogo]

After Madison was finished letting all of her pent up emotions out, the pair took a moment to breathe. Madison washed her face, wiping away the streaky mess she had made of her makeup, and with Emma's help the two took a moment to forget about time travel and strange powers and just do makeup like normal teenage girls…or well. To forget as much as they could while Madison took the opportunity to grill Emma on exactly what else she might have changed.

"Empire?" Madison asked as she applied some mascara, to which Emma gleefully chuckled.

"They've been gone for a while now! But get this, it wasn't the PRT or anything. Nobody ever like, identified just who it was, but it's pretty well known it was just one guy, based on what the Nazis said whenever they were captured. Only time anybody saw anything was when they fought Purity, and that's just 'cause she made a massive lightshow across the whole Bay! It got so bad that a lot of the foreign Nazis showed up from what everyone heard, but joke's on them I guess, cause someone's been ripping them to shreds over there too." Emma replied.

"Huh." Well, considering the…awakening that she was apparently having recently, that was only good news for her. But still…

Madison sighed. "The Empire was doing frustratingly well before, so…you don't think…"

"That it was your 'mysterious Ben'? I mean, if he had powers…but that's…whoever he is you made someone wild appear, Maddie." Emma shrugged.

If he really was…Madison couldn't even imagine just how strong he would have to be to smash the Empire to bits like that.

The girls chatted as Emma and Madison compared timelines. The ABB and Merchants had also had a bad time now, mostly because the lack of the Empire meant the PRT was no longer spread as terribly thin as they had been, but Emma did say there were rumors that the 'Jade Blade' (the nickname given to the man by the Empire due to him apparently wielding some sort of green sword) had some scuffles with the other gangs too.

"People say he beat up Lung once, but since there wasn't a massive fire nobody's sure if that actually happened." Emma had said on the subject, as well as that the Merchants, while still around, had lost Skidmark already to the Protectorate, so most people figured it was only a matter of time before they collapsed.

Outside the city any changes Madison had accidentally made got…less clear. Madison wasn't exactly the best at keeping up with current events. She only knew the big names that everyone knew, like the S-classes or the Heartbreakers and Ash Beasts of the world, and there were only a few changes there. Madison wasn't sure whether she was relieved or disappointed that so many things had stayed the same.

The Slaughterhouse was still kicking somewhere in the US, Nilbog was still sitting in Ellisburg, and Sleeper was…doing whatever it is he did up there in the cold. Heartbreaker however had been taken in however, and his slaves had even been freed, though once again no one knew how they had done so, while the Three Blasphemies had apparently clashed with an unknown foe around the time people guessed 'The Jade Blade' had traveled to Europe, and hadn't been seen since.

The biggest shock came when Madison asked about the Endbringers however. Emma's face had lit up at the mention and she had been quick to gush about how the last three had apparently been amazing days, though her enthusiasm had died quickly once the redhead had noticed the shocked expression Madison wore.

"Uh…guessing they uh, didn't go as well for you?" Emma had said, to which Madison could only reply with an emphatic shake of her head.

Madison remembered there had been three attacks since last August. The Simurgh had hit Madison, Wisconsin in December, and that one had stuck with her and most everyone in the US with just how bad of a day it had been. Endbringers were always bad, but actually losing the entire city was always a massive blow to everyone. After the New Year, Behemoth had thrown himself at Seoul in South Korea in March, laying waste to the city, while the summer had been Leviathan's turn, the creature raising a tsunami that nearly wiped Rotterdam in the Netherlands off the map. While Madison had been the worst by far of the three, all of them had been nasty days full of destruction and death.

Yet in this new timeline, Seoul, while damaged, was nowhere near the slagheap that it had ended up before. Rotterdam wasn't just still on the map, apparently the waters hadn't even reached the city, held back by something while the heroes had laid in on Leviathan, and the reason why was still being hotly debated on and off-line. And while Madison had still been bad, the city hadn't been quarantined this time around. Instead, the Simurgh had apparently pulled some space trash from orbit and crashed it into the city, acting more like Behemoth than her usual nightmarish self. There had been damage of course, but at least this time the city could be rebuilt.

Something had changed in this timeline with these battles, and Madison didn't want to guess what that something was. The implications alone were enough of a headache, much less actually considering some random guy she'd made appear out of nowhere was some magic Endbringer-beating god. The greatest heroes in the world had been trying (and failing, though no one liked to say that part out loud) to beat back the Endbringers since before she was born. There was no way she of all people could be even tangentially responsible for them actually winning, right?

Without any idea where this 'Ben' was however, the girls could only guess at what exactly had shifted, and what may have been him instead of just butterflies due to something else changing. The conversation petered off and for a moment, Emma and Madison let themselves fully forget about time travel and whatever strange powers Madison now had.

Those same powers would not stay forgotten for long however, and soon enough the two found themselves standing back in Madison's living room, the body armor, ice gauntlets, and the jar of strange liquid (that neither of them were brave enough to investigate) arrayed on the table before them.

"So!" Emma began, a wide, excited grin on her face. "Besides the time travel and those uh…orb…things, you can just…make random stuff appear! And you don't have any control over it?"

Madison shook her head. "If I did, I wouldn't be making worm…things and birds pop up, that's for sure."

Emma quirked her head, considering Madison's words. "So you just have no control at all? I mean, most capes seem to have some uh…instinctive control over their powers, from what I've heard."

"Well not me." Madison shrugged. "I mean like, I…think I made it happen myself a few times, when I thought I was dreaming. But every other time it's happened has just been it just…happening. Whenever I got scared, or hurt, and with no warning or..or any…thing…"

Except…that wasn't quite true was it? On their walk earlier, when the body armor had appeared, she had been distracted, but there had been a sound in her ears that time.

"Or…ok so maybe there was something, when we were walking back, I thought I heard something." Madison said, before she sat down on the couch, her eyes downcast. "But do I even wanna fool around with this thing Emma, with the mess I've made already?"

Emma sat back down on the couch besides Madison, patting her on the back. "I mean…yeah, you've already done…a lot with it. But that was all for the best so far anyways, right?" Emma smirked. "And I mean, it's not like you have a choice unless you figure out how to control it, right? Not gonna do that by ignoring it, huh?"

Madison had to admit, Emma had a point, even if the smug know-it-all grin on her face made Madison's eye twitch. Sighing, the brunette stood back up.

"Alright, fine. We'll play around with it, but only until I can figure out how to make it stop just going off whenever I stub my fucking toe or something!"

Emma's smirk didn't dim at all at that, the redhead far too proud of winning the argument in Madison's opinion. She did, however, step away from Madison, getting a good distance away while the brunette prepared herself. "Just uh…just in case you make anything bigger than that worm appear, you know?"

Probably the smart idea there. Madison wished she could join her as she turned towards the center of the living room to try to do…something.

Madison closed her eyes, and focused on the memories she had of when she had used her power in the 'dream'. She remembered she hadn't done much, she had just focused, and willed something to happen…

Clack…

[4-14: Magicbone Arrow(Fletched) - Arrows whittled from bone, with added fletching to allow for further distance. The tip is daubed with a glintstone tincture, allowing them to deal magic damage. With a Power of 14, Madison summons a large bundle of about twenty-eight arrows.]
And her eyes widened as not only did a large bundle of…sticks(?) on the table, but this time she heard something! A sound, like something clattering on a table, suddenly so clear in her ears.

Emma stared with wide eyes from her cover behind the couch. "Holy shit you did it!" Stepping back out into the open, she stepped over to the table, picking up the bundle.

"Careful, Emma!" Madison shouted as she watched the redhead rifle through the bundle. "We don't even know what those do!"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Maddie, they're just…" She pulled one out. "...glowing…bone…arrows…" Emma gently put the arrows and bag back down, pushing it away. "Ok that's…yuck."

"But I mean, you did it! Do you uh…think you can stop it too?" Emma said, turning back towards Madison.

Madison herself was unsure. Could she stop the summoning from happening? She had felt it just then, the sensation, but actually getting it to stop…there was only one way to check.

"I…ok so maybe but…I think you'll need to slap me-"

Slap!

Clack…

[18-6: Ennio Mordini - Born 2369 IC, Mordini was one of the most renowned mercenary commanders in all of Tilea during their Era of Enlightenment. In life it was said that he was blessed by both Myrmidia and Morr, and to serve under him was to know glory and cheat death. He did not, however, cheat death in the end, as in 2411 IC, while serving under Duke Fabriano of Lumbrusco, he was betrayed by the conniving duke and slain. Five years later however, in 2416 IC, Mordini would rise once again and lead a horde of skeletons, called the Nightmare Legion, against Lumbrusco and brutally murdered Fabriano before taking the city for his undead self, rumors saying he still ruled till the present day. With a Power of 6, Madison summons Mordini's bones. Fell energies still linger, yet the skeleton is not animated and his famous blade, Skabscrath, does not appear with his corpse.]

There was sudden pain alongside a clack, and Madison was staring at Emma, her cheek growing red. "I meant when I was ready Emma you-" Madison's tirade was cut short however as she watched Emma's face grow paler, staring at something behind her. Madison whipped around, and saw-
A literal skeleton lying on her living room floor. Its bones were bleached white, and for some reason it was wearing rusted chainmail armor, ripped straight from some medieval battleground.

"Motherfucker-are you kidding me?! Why?! Why even make a fucking skeleton? Does my power want the PRT to fucking arrest me?!" Madison shrieked, more frustrated than anything else.

Warily, Emma crept forward before poking the skeleton with her foot. She jumped when the bones clacked, but when nothing else happened, Emma let out a sigh of relief. "Well…I mean…at least it's not alive, right?"

"Oh yeah, I'm just a graverobber instead, that makes me feel so better." Madison snarked back. "Whatever, we can just…deal with it later, ok?"

Madison then grabbed Emma's shoulders, and forced the redhead to look her in the eyes (or as close as she could get with their height difference anyways). "Ok, Emma," Madison said through clenched teeth. "Let's try this again. This time, when I say I am ready, you're going to slap me, and I'm going to try to make my power…just fucking not. Ok?"

Emma nodded, though she couldn't stop the snort she let out at Madison trying to act so intimidating, which only earned her another glare from Madison. "Ok, ok, I get it-and I'm sorry! Just say when you're ready Maddie and I'll slap you correctly, ok?"

Madison would give the old Emma this-she probably wouldn't have been as much of a smartass as this one (she still sucked though). Putting it out of her mind however, Madison steeled herself, preparing for Emma's blow. She had felt the power activate, she knew what it was like when she made it happen and when it activated on its own, so surely…

Slap!

Madison waited for the clack, but when nothing happened, a broad grin split across her face. "Haha! I think it worked!" Yet even as she smiled, there was an inkling in the back of her mind, as if something was wrong…

[Roll Suppression Detected! The System acknowledges the inconvenience previous standards caused to desire suppression, and will thus raise the standards of the damage trigger! In exchange however, the System must activate Forced Rolls! Beginning now, the System demands that a random amount of rolls must occur per day. Otherwise, rolls will be forced through, with possibly negative effects to the world and the Roller! These measures are necessary for the continuance of Chaos! Rolls will still occur upon significant mental, emotional, and physical shock as well. Please enjoy this kind convenience, Roller!]

Suddenly there was a pressure in Madison's gut, a pulsating energy thrumming with the desire to be used, and her grin dropped. "Oh, fuck…"

Emma had been grinning as well at Madison's exclamation, but as the brunette's smile fell, so did hers, concern replacing her happiness. "Is…is something wrong Maddie?"

Madison let out a short, sarcastic laugh. "No, Emma. It's not. This stupid fucking power…it won't let me just not use it. I can feel it just…inside me, right now even." Even as she spoke, Madison could feel the energy pulsating faster, wilder, if only minutely, with every passing second. Nothing about this power had been intuitive so far, but this-Madison knew instinctively that if she tried to avoid rolling, her power was not going to appreciate that. "It wants to be used-and it won't take no for an answer either."

Emma's eyes widened. "Well, shit." She said as she sat back down on the couch. "Your power kinda sounds like an asshole, Maddie."

"Feels like one too…stupid fucking…ughhhh." Madison sunk back down onto the couch, head in her hands. "I thought at least if I could pick when it happens it'd be more convenient, but now it's just like…I either use it, or it's just…who even knows what it'll do?"

Emma was silent at that, unsure of what to say, and the two simply sat together, Madison sulking for a moment and Emma patting her on the shoulder, before, after a few moments, Madison simply threw her hands up in frustration as she stood once more.

"Ah, fucking…whatever. Fine. I'll just use this stupid power enough that it won't try and do anything itself, and that'll be the end of it."

Madison closed her eyes and once more called on her power, willing it to work once more.

Clack…

[16-2: Spiritual Threads - A technique used by Muramasa. It allows the user to create invisible spiritual threads which possess hands at their ends, and can be used to bind opponents. While invisible to the naked eye, the threads are visible through mirrors, and can dissipate if the user loses focus. With a Power of 2, Madison will be able to recognize the technique if it is ever used against her.]

And…nothing. Both girls looked around the room, confused.

"Did that even do anything Maddie?" Emma asked, and Madison wasn't sure how to answer that question. The feeling in her gut had calmed down slightly, so something had happened, but what exactly that was…she racked her brain, and Madison couldn't even find anything similar to the new instincts that had come with her ability to conjure the orbs and time travel that she had noticed upon realizing those were abilities she now had.

"I…I mean my power calmed down a bit? If the uh…other powers weren't proof that my power doesn't just make actual things appear I'd think it just was a dud." Madison shrugged. Even if it had done something, she could tell she still needed to do just a bit more before she could ignore her power for the rest of the day. Focusing once more, Madison pushed for her power to do something again…

"Hopefully something actually happens this time, huh Ems?"

Clack…

[9-6: Linda-058 - Petty Officer, First Class Linda-058, Callsign 'Sierra Phoenix', born Linda Pravdin. Pravdin is one of relatively few surviving Spartan-IIs from the UNSC's supersoldier program of the same name, and serves as the primary sniper and scout of the Spartan-II squad Blue Team. With a Power of 6, Linda is pulled from mid-operation in the midst of the Human-Covenant War, wearing damaged Mark IV MJOLNIR Powered Armor and armed with only an M6H2 Magnum, her custom sniper rifle Nornfang missing in action.]

Right in the middle of the room, a massive set of armor appeared mid-air right before Emma and Madison's eyes. Easily larger than the both of them, the armor was made of bulky and imposing plate armor, and had a distinctly futuristic appearance that immediately brought to mind Armsmaster, the famous Tinker hero of Brockton Bay.

Yet despite its impressive appearance it was obvious to the both of them that something had damaged the armor, black scorch marks and breaks in the armor's plating peppered across the figure's entire form.

As soon as it had appeared, gravity asserted control, and with a thunderous crash it fell into Madison's living room, crushing the coffee table beneath its weight. It was only once it had fallen that either girl realized that it was not simply armor that had appeared before them. As the figure's chest rose and fell, and they writhed in pain on the floor before them, it was clear that what had her power had pulled was in fact a person in high tech armor, now lying wounded on Madison's living room floor.

Emma stared, dumbstruck at the sudden appearance, while Madison could only pinch her brow, fighting off a headache.

"Me and my big fucking mouth…"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Something something missing in action

Went over a bit more of the timeline in this one to finally start showing off more ripples than just 'Emma got some desperately needed therapy' haha
Rolls wise...well, besides the last one nothing too huge. Magicbone arrows are uh...ammunition I guess, while Ennio's like 90% dead (and Spiritual Threads was a major bust lol)

Then we come to our technical first character roll! First in the sense that Linda is the only one who's actually appeared in any interactable state for Madison anyways lol

Hope you all enjoy!

 

[TheCynicalPogo]

For a moment neither girl said anything, simply staring at the writhing figure on the carpeted floor, yet to Madison's surprise it was Emma who moved first, rushing to the wounded person's side and dropping to her knees beside them, leaning over to inspect their wounds.

"Ok I know a bit of first aid, I think maybe I can he-oh fuck." Emma froze mid-sentence as Madison followed behind her, and it wasn't hard for Madison to see why. The openings in the figure's armor weren't just in the armor, they somehow went deeper, two gaping holes that seemed to drill down to blackened bone, encircled by charred flesh and the still glowing metal of the armor. Madison felt ill just looking at the wounds, her stomach churning as the scent of burnt flesh caught her nose. Living in Brockton Bay, you had to get used to hearing about violence and death. About how Lung had burned a man alive to make an example out of him, how some passerby had been caught in a gang shooting. Hell, that went double if you went to Winslow, where a knife fight between two angry gang kids was always at least somewhat possible every day.

Yet there was a world of difference between hearing about those terrible things on the news, where it was kept sterilized and cleaned for the public eye, and having such brutality thrust into your face. Madison glanced at Emma and saw that the other girl looked similarly ill.

"I…I don't think your first aid's gonna be any good Ems…" Madison muttered, and Emma nodded mutely to her words as she leaned back.

"I guess not…I…first aid didn't really teach me how to deal with…what even are these?" Emma asked quietly, half speaking to Madison, half just thinking out loud, yet she got her answer as an armored hand suddenly grasped her wrist. Both Emma and Madison nearly jumped out of their skin, and they both turned abruptly towards the helmet that had suddenly turned directly towards them, its orange visor almost feeling as if it was staring a hole straight through the both of them.

"You…" The figure-no, woman, Madison realized abruptly-spoke clearly despite her injuries, her voice modulated by the helmet she wore to have a tinny, almost robotic tinge to it. "Civilians should have been evacuated already...what are you doing here?"

Madison blinked at that. Evacuated? Where the hell had she pulled this woman from? Her eyes twitched towards the woman's wounds again as she thought that however, and Madison figured that maybe she was better off not knowing.

"Uhh...ok so I don't know where you were before but you like...uh...aren't there anymore?"
Whatever her reaction was beneath the armor, Madison could not see it, but she could almost feel the intensity of their stare increase beneath the visor. "Explain."

"W-well uh, so, I have this power that lets me like...summon things? And some of those things are like...people? Sometimes? I don't exactly get to pick..." Madison glanced down at the figure again, taking in their high-tech armor, and made a quick guess. "Does uh...Earth, 2010 mean anything to you?"

If it did, the woman gave no physical indication whatsoever, her body language leaving no hints as to whether that information came as a shock or par for the course for this soldier. "So." The woman began. "I am not only ten light years away from where I was, but am also five hundred years in the past?" Madison gave the only answer she really could and nodded at that, and the woman shook her head. "That's impossible..."

She seemed to trail off then, lost in thought, and Madison felt the same. She wasn't a sci-fi nerd, that kind of stuff had never really caught her interest, but she had heard the term light years before, and knew just enough to know that that was an absurd distance, the kind of distance that belonged to theoretical science or cape nerds debating how fast Legend could move-and that was ignoring the fact that the woman had said five hundred years. That might have felt like more of a shock if Madison had not spent her morning accidentally making the timeline her bitch, but even then that was a difference between six months and...well, again, five hundred years!

Before either Madison or the woman could speak again however, Emma cleared her throat, gaining both of their attention as she spoke. "Ok ok, five hundred light years, you're on Earth now, whatever, can we focus on the fact that you have two holes in your body?!" Emma waved her hands wildly as she shouted, still looking a bit queasy as she tried to avoid looking directly at the woman's wounds.

"Trust me, I haven't forgotten." The woman said, and Madison might have snorted at that reply if she couldn't hear hints of the pain the woman must have been in beneath the stoic tone.
She did not continue after that however, and Emma and Madison both looked at each other before Madison spoke up. "Well? What should we do then?"

The woman was silent, but then shifted, only a single grunt a sign of any pain she felt as she moved her body and sat up facing the two girls, for some reason careful not to lean against Madison's couch. "Do either of you know what a sterile field generator is?" Madison and Emma blinked at that and shook their heads, and the woman continued.

"What about flash cloning? Or biofoam?" The woman didn't even wait for an answer to those questions-Emma and Madison's blank expressions were answer enough for her. "You lack the technology needed to treat me properly, even in your hospitals. Any recovery for me will be long term and...painful." Even though Madison could not see her face, she could almost picture her grit teeth and annoyed expression amidst the hints of frustration in the woman's voice at the prospect alone. Still though...

"But like, we can just take you to see Panacea." Madison said, and suddenly it was the soldier's turn to look confused.

"Yeah, she can patch you up like, super fast. I bet she's even seen worse honestly." Emma continued for Madison, and the armored woman only tilted her head, staring quizzically (or at least, they assumed quizzically) at the two girls.

"I..." The woman began, only to pause and take a short breath. "...how is that possible? Earth in 2010 should not have the technology for that..."

"Well...I mean, you guys have capes right? You know, people with powers? Same kinda thing that let me uh....pull you here." Madison winced. "Sorry about that again..."

Once more the soldier was silent, and when she did speak once more her voice was so quiet Madison almost didn't catch what she said. "10 light years, 500 actual years, and a parallel fucking universe..." The bitterness in her tone was palpable, and Madison gulped before she spoke once more.

"So uh...you...don't have capes, I take it? That's....weird." Really weird even. Earth Aleph at least had some form of cape there too after all, even if they were apparently weaker than the capes they had here on Bet. Capes had dominated the world since long before Madison had been born, and imagining a world without them just felt off to Madison. What would that even look like? Would it be peaceful, without villains causing problems everywhere? Or would that world be just as much of a mess as her own? She couldn't even begin to guess.

Madison was broken out of her reverie as the woman began to speak again. "I assume this Panacea is a government contractor?" She asked, and Emma and Madison shared a look.

"Uh..." Emma began, unsure, before Madison took over. "She's like a...really really dedicated volunteer?" Madison couldn't help but cringe at that. When she said it like that, saying Panacea didn't work for the government felt like a bad answer.

It seemed to be a bad answer as well, judging from the way the woman went silent once again.

"...do you have an alternative?" The woman asked, and Madison groaned.

"Oh, come on! She literally just needs to touch you and like, wham!" Madison threw her arms into the air for emphasis. "Are you seriously gonna say no to that for no reason?" Madison glared at the woman, though it did not seem as if it had much effect on her.

"If there is an alternative to involving a civilian doctor, yes." The woman repeated, and she paused as Madison groaned once again, before speaking again. "...do the authorities even know about this ability of yours?"

Madison and Emma both froze at that. That was...not exactly something they had considered. Between the time travel revelation and the injured space soldier and the literal corpse in her living room, Madison had somewhat forgotten that explaining all of that to the heroes or the police might just be the slightest bit...difficult. And by difficult she meant 'Oh my god I'm gonna have to tell them what I did today oh fuckkkkkkkk-'

Madison clapped her hands together, a wide, incredibly fake smile plastered across her face. "Alright, alternatives! Let's see, let's see...uhm, there's uh............" She had nothing, she had absolutely nothing. Panacea had been her alternative, and if she lead to Madison having to explain everything, then God knows asking fucking Armsmaster or the PRT for help would force that same issue! So what could she possibly do-

"Uh, Maddie?" Emma's voice pulled Madison out of her thoughts, and Madison turned towards her friend to see her holding up that weird bottle with moon and stars on it that she had summoned just this morning (though it already felt as if it was months ago), somehow miraculously intact despite having been on the coffee table when the soldier had crushed it. "Why not just like, try your summoning?"
Madison wanted to hit herself for not thinking about that herself, though as she considered it doubt began to creep in. "I...I mean I can, just..." She glanced towards the bones, ignoring the soldier's quiet question of 'Is that a corpse?' in the background as she focused on Emma. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

Emma just shrugged, wiggling the jar in her hand. "I mean, maybe we can just use whatever this is-"

"No." Emma was cut off by the soldier's firm declaration. "Do you even know what that is?" Emma glanced away sheepishly and the soldier only sighed. "If you don't even know, then don't use it." She paused then, shifting her focus towards Madison. "However...if you can...summon-" She said the word summon slowly, as if using it like that was foreign to her, which was probably understandable at least given the circumstances. "-medical equipment I recognize, that will be best for all of us."

"Well...I mean I can try at least...I don't exactly get to pick." Madison sighed and stood up, moving a fair bit away from both Emma and the soldier just in case.

"Ok Madison," she whispered to herself. "...just need one quick pull for a healing...thing. Come on power, don't be a bitch..." She looked inwards, focusing on the twisting energy she'd discovered earlier, and as if she was plucking a string she pulled on it...

Clack...

[15-16: Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson Technique - The user unleashes a volley of shuriken with one hand, and at the same time, exhales fire-infused chakra onto them in order to increase the weapons' destructive potential by making them capable of inflicting severe burns upon direct contact with either the intended victim, or any other object caught within their trajectories. Due to the chakra-based nature of the flames that surround them, the shuriken will continue to burn after impact, regardless of the flammability of the object that they ultimately collide with. With a Power of 16, the Roller can perform this technique decently, and this has granted the Roller knowledge of how to perform this technique alongside natural Fire Release affinity and a basic chakra system in order to facilitate the usage of the technique. Synergy with previous rolls allows for this technique to be performed with other throwing weapons besides Shurikens.]

Madison heard the clack of the dice in the back of her mind, and she looked around the room wildly for whatever had appeared-yet there was nothing in the room. "Annnnd another one where nothing happens. Cool." She was totally not frustrated that nothing was happening again. Totally not.
"...does that happen often?" The soldier asked, and both girls shrugged while Emma replied.

"I mean...kinda? We still don't really know how it works..." The soldier quirked her head at that.

"Do you even know if these 'duds' are duds?" The answer of another round of shrugs from the girls did little to bolster the soldier's confidence. "This power of yours seems unreliable at best."
Madison huffed. "You're telling me..." She then focused on her power once more...

Clack...

[3-2: Espada Ropera - Thrusting sword of Chancellor Wellager. Forged with rare geisteel.A masterpiece of the great blacksmith Llewellyn that he brought along as a gift when he left Mirrah for Drangleic. With a power of 2, the sword is rusted beyond belief and practically crumbling. The System hopes this won't be a trend...]

The clatter of metal on the floor at least signaled that something had happened this time, yet when Madison looked at the pile of rust that she had summoned she couldn't help but curse. "Again? Really? What is with my power and rusted swords?!"
Madison bent down and gingerly picked up the blade, holding it up for inspection. It was...long, she guessed, with a round thing and a strip of metal at the grip part, and looked very different from the last sword she had made besides the fact that a stiff breeze would probably turn it into a pile of rancid dust. Rolling her eyes, Madison tossed it aside. "God I swear if my power is just fucking with me..."

The soldier however seemed to have locked onto the sword, visor never straying from it even as Madison threw it away. The girls could only guess what was running through her head, seeing something appear from nothing, even if it was useless, but for now she seemed to stay silent, merely waiting with Emma as Madison took another long, deep breath and focused on her power once more.

"Ok, let's try this again." She pulled...

Clack...

[11-12: Decimator Laboratory - The Decimator Laboratory was a Galactic Republic laboratory on Eredenn used to house the control codes for the Decimator weapon during its testing. With a power of 12, it merges with Madison's home, decently stocked with a range of technology typical of small-scale Galactic Republic scientific facilities, and possesses an encrypted copy of the plans for the Decimator within its computer systems, but lacks any personnel beyond currently deactivated droids.]

The second Madison heard the clack of dice there was a sudden rumbling that ran through her house as the whole building suddenly began to shake. Frames on the walls rattled, one picture slipping from its loose fixings and crashing onto the floor.

"Uh, Maddie? The fuck did you do?" Emma's voice was filled with worry as she asked that, eyes glancing about wildly, while the soldier beside her almost seemed to be taking this in stride, if not for the tight grip she had on the pistol at her hip as Madison's house shook.

"I don't fucking know!" Madison replied as the rumbling seemed to grow worse for a moment before abruptly, the familiar wood that made up her house seemed to just bleed away, replaced by a slowly spreading stretch of cold steel. Their surroundings warped around them, pristine blocks of white and blue-lab tables, Madison realized, their similarity to the ones in the science classroom at Winslow apparent even if these were clearly of far superior quality-rising up from her floor, all sorts of metal technology on top of them whose functions Madison could only guess at, while strange displays in an odd language Madison had never seen before seemed to just grow out of the walls. "Does any of this look familiar at least, uh....shit did we not even ask you your name yet-"

The soldier only shook her head however. "No, this doesn't resemble UNSC standard..." She seemed to pause then, looking as if she was having a brief internal debate, before continuing, "...and my callsign is Sierra 058."
Madison recognized a non-answer when she heard one, having given plenty of them in her life, whether to her mom or teachers, and waited a moment for the unspoken 'but' to actually be spoken, but when the soldier said nothing else she simply sighed. "Ok, 'Sierra'...is there at least anything that looks...I dunno, 'medically' enough around here?" She gestured at the warped, nearly unrecognizable room they now stood in as the rumbling slowly abated. "Like seriously please tell me there's something useful here so that I didn't just destroy my house for nothing because-"

"Holy shit Maddie your mom's gonna kill you..." Emma cut in, blurting her thoughts out, and Madison's shoulders sagged.

"...that."

To Madison's consternation however, Sierra didn't immediately reply, glancing away from her even, and Madison groaned as she sank to her knees. "Fuuuuuuuck offfffff with this shit!" She looked towards Emma, her eyes full of despair. "Emma, can you please tell me that the rest of the house is fine at least?" She pleaded, praying that at the very least it would just be her living room that got fucked up.

At Madison's request Emma got up from where she had been kneeling and walked over to the window, peering out the glass for just a quick moment. When she turned back towards Madison her eyes were wide and her face pale as she slowly ground out, "It's...it's fine, Maddie..."

"...are you lying to make me feel better?"

"...did it help?"

"...maybe a little."

Emma glanced back towards the window again and grimaced. "...I think your neighbors are calling the PRT right now."

"...fuck."

---

Woooo, hello there people. Been a hot minute since I updated this story, trying to get back in the swing of things haha. Not 100% on how I did Linda, I'm not really as familiar with Halo as I maybe should be so please let me know if I got something wrong. As for the rolls, they aren't all that crazy really-Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson technique is pretty cool and quite lucky as it synergizes with Madison's Psyoblade perk from before, Espada Ropera is literal trash, and the Decimator Lab is just kinda funny lol. Madison is definitely gonna have a lot of questions to answer sooner rather than later with that one appearing. As always feedback is super welcome and I hope you all enjoy!