Hello, friends. Last time, we got a Breaking Bad reboot, Parahuman version, featuring Lung (or Kenta, on his civilian name) as its new protagonist
. So far, a large part of his past life was presented, his ascension from being a simple mook to becoming a leader of his own drug dealers gang, his trigger event that was possible thankfully to Mary Sue aka Contessa aka "I'm creating more heroes than villains and you all have to believe me, even if the truth is actually different" Cauldron bodyguard, his magnificent and honorable fight with Leviathan (the only thing that stood against his victory over the aquatic monster was his damn Passenger, who suddenly decided to leave him powerless exactly in the middle of the fight for reasons that only a Passenger's mind can grasp). This is very frustrating, because parahumans are too much dependent of their Passengers' decisions of the moment and they can't do anything anymore in a fight if their Passengers doesn't allow them to continue to use their powers
. Which is pretty questionable because from what I understand so far about Passengers, they're instinctively attracted by conflict and violence, preferring aggressive hosts or subtle influencing their hosts to act aggressive in certain situations. Lung fought Leviathan, he was involved in a very violent situation that Passenger should have loved it. Yet his Passenger decided: -Oh no, Leviathan is hot...Fuck this, I'm taking away your power and let you die like a pussy right in the middle of this cool battle because...don't question my decisions, human, I'm superior to you in so many ways and I know what is best for you- The many mysteries of the universe means nothing compared with the mind of a Passenger
. Lung's Passenger basically saved Leviathan's life, risking its host life in the process. This would be perfect for an extremely crack ship (Lung's Passenger+ Leviathan= impossible love?), but I see Passengers more like babies than full adults so I don't think a crack ship is the answer :lol. Maybe Passengers share a connection with Endbringers and they forbid their hosts from killing them, even if this means that they hosts are in danger to die anytime. They don't care, they're aliens who care only about themselves, their hosts are like human avatars for them and they can be replaced with other hosts once they're not useful anymore (I still wonder if Cherish's Passenger(s) are capable to leave her -she's useless to them now that she's trapped without any chance to escape by herself or be saved so they should not have any reason to remain there. And when I said "passengers" and not "passenger", I was referring at her Passenger and Butcher's Passenger that she was forced to absorb alongside with the 13 powers and personalities).
See, this is the reason why I find mutants from X-Men being superior and more biological advanced than Parahumans. Mutants have only a different gene giving them superpowers. They can use their powers without many restrictions- except for how strong their power can be (Omega level mutants have zero restrictions because their powers are nearly limitless in their strength)- and with enough training, they can become more and more powerful. Their powers belong to THEM and only THEM. Parahumans have an alien parasite giving them superpowers and they depend of it, no matter how much and hard they're training, they can use their powers in the limits their Passengers allow them to use. Their powers doesn't belong to them, but to their alien parasites. Once their parasites restrict their access to their powers, they can't do nothing about. Mutants> parahumans. Also, parahumans' powers remind them permanently of their trigger events. They live in a more tolerant and acceptable world but their traumas are more pronounced. So, I'd rather prefer to be hated as a mutant, but arguable sane and depending only of my own will than to be admired as a parahuman, but partially or complete insane and depending of the will of an alien parasite inside my brain. X-Men world, here I come
!!!
Interlude 22 (Donation Bonus #1)
The walls of the C.U.I. prison loomed around him.
Lung fumed, but his power was denied him. He paced, punched walls, burned the concrete with his power. All around him, the area was pockmarked with the wounds that marked his periodic struggles.
They'd had him in regular cells before. It had been a learning process for them. He'd found that surviving in a prison like this involved being a true monster, so he'd bowed his head to one boss. When this boss had discovered what he was capable of, he'd attacked another leader in the prison. The ensuing war had ended with Lung being placed in higher security, until he fought the man who'd brought him food, very nearly escaping before Tōng Líng Tǎ, who never showed herself, encased him in a mountain of stone.
All in all, three years since he'd fought Leviathan. Two years since he and his mother had come here to Chaohu. A year and eight months since he'd been arrested by the Yàngbǎn.
Every seven days, Tōng Líng Tǎ used her powers on the walls. The floor, she left alone, but the walls were wiped clean, her power to manipulate stone turning the four impossibly tall walls of Lung's cell into flawlessly smooth surfaces. She would absorb any and all of the trash that remained from his meals, any of the wildlife that had accidentally found their way into the pit, and all of Lung's leavings, which he customarily left in one corner of his cell.
"You will stay here until you answer our questions."
"I will join," he told them.
They exchanged a glance between them.
Worst of all, they would take his powers, most of them, and give him others in turn. This was the reason they imprisoned him, the reason they sought to break him.
He would risk it, and accept the offer. He would do whatever they required of him, and then he would kill whoever he needed to and escape.
C.U.I. is Imperial China, right? Looks like they captured and imprisoned Lung and they try to brainwash him into becoming one of their parahumans. Earth Bet China is still communist, just like our China. Well, Communist China seems to be an universal constant, you can't find a parallel Earth without the obligatory Communist China
. So, once they captured Lung, they want to make him just like them, their "equal" always ready to give up at his own individuality for the benefits of the Party. I can imagine how this works, once you surrender to their will, you'll become just another piece of the huge engine of Capitalism Smashing and all you have to do is to defend interests of the world's proletariat in general and the Communist Party in particular (I'm disgusted by communism in the same manner I'm disgusted by fascism. Both of them are different sides of the exactly same coin
). Sorry, comrade Lung, but once you'll join them, you'll stop being yourself, your own master. Welcome to the Red Hive Mind, enjoy your staying here...for eternity
. I wonder how Lung managed to escape and run in the US. I doubt he was able to fight and defeat all of them, because...China is China and knowing how many people they usually have (they might have Earth Bet's biggest population as well), I won't be surprised if they don't have the biggest number of parahumans in the world, all of them, naturally, being loyal to the Party. Maybe he was mentally strong enough to not let himself brainwashed by them and run away when he found an "escape door".
Yàngbǎn. I'm going to remember these commies jerks- basically a group of parahumans sponsored by the Party, very similar with Cauldron (they take parahumans' powers from them or give them back; however, I have no idea how they can do this with Lung's power, since his trigger was natural). They're like the Communist version of Cauldron, just as bad as them... Tōng Líng Tǎ, the earth bending Yàngbǎn's member. I'm going to remember this bitch too. If Lung escaped, they'll come after him, right, because no way they'll be happy after losing such powerful potential member
.
The 3 main organisations that seem to love quite a lot the brainwashing of their new "recruits":
Gesellschaft- nazis and world-terrorists (brainwash people into becoming CREEPY criminals "stuck" into an endless time loop like Dorothy and Geoff);
Yàngbǎn -communists (brainwash people into becoming loyal to the Party and China)
Cauldron -scientists/extremists (brainwash their victims into forgetting what they did to them). Cauldron kind of remind me of fascists because of their medical experiments on people and their tattoos).
With every defeat, a matching ascent.
"The 'Azn Bad Boys' is a shit name," Bakuda said.
"I fought Armsmaster, Dauntless, Miss Militia, Velocity, Challenger, Assault and Battery," he said. "Yes."
"There are two kinds of fear, Bakuda," Lung said. "The first is common. Fear of the unknown. A questioning fear."
"Uh huh," she said. He could tell he had her attention.
"This is fear of unanswered questions. If I fought him, would I win? How is he going to hurt me? Who or what is he?"
"And the other kind?"
"A fear of knowing. Of realities. If I fight him, I lose. I know him, and I quiver to be in his presence. I know he will hurt me and I know it will be the worst pain imaginable."
Bakuda learned from Lung what fear means and Skitter "learned" from Bakuda what fear means. Each learned an important lesson about fear from someone else
. So, Lung survived to the red brainwashing and started to build his own gang of asians in US. Bakuda and Oni Lee were his first recruits. Hmm, Long was able to confront some of the best heroes and avoid being arrested, yet the annoying bug girl managed to defeat him not only ONCE, but TWICE. Talking about the cosmic weirdness that life is, sometimes. I wonder what Lung would have done against S9, if they'd have tried to recruit him, instead of his lieutenant. I could see Siberian being the only S9 member having a real chance against Lung and only because Lung unawareness of "her" weakness. Jack wouldn't stand a chance to convince Lung that becoming one of his "people" is the best choice in his life. Lung is strong willed and Jack is not very good at manipulating strong willed people (Skitter is the best example to illustrate this point). If there's something else that I admire at Lung character (as a person, he's a completely despicable human being, as a character, he's one of the best written villains in the story) besides his fearless way to fight against anything that stand between him and his ambitions, is how strong his will can be. He survived Contessa's massacre, he survived Leviathan's smackdown, he resisted brainwashing and embracing the proletarian revolution, of course that he'll always remain his own man, no matter how convincing the people who want to have him by their side will be. Maybe Skitter can physically beat Lung, but NOBODY will ever crush his will
.
"I defeated many gangs, many groups. Some had powered members, others did not. I recruited some. Oni Lee was one. The rest I killed."
"And the heroes didn't stop you?"
"The heroes see me as a double-edged sword. They fear me. They know what I am capable of when the situation calls for it, they know I am too strong to defeat as a group. For now, I wait. They leave me be because the only aggression they can see is that I inflict on other criminals, and I amass power, swelling in reputation."
"You will help," Lung said. "Because you think like I do. In terms of power and fear."
Bakuda took a seat at the end of the couch. The two whores inched away from her.
She smiled at that. "Alright. You got me."
Too bad that Lung's lieutenants weren't very competent people. An assassin who was good only at following orders and nothing else, incapable to think on his own and a mad scientist lacking common sense, even more than other mad scientists usually lack. Both failed him and ruined his gang and reputation. He might be a scary and powerful leader but not exceptionally competent when it comes at choosing his most professional people. Now imagine how different the things would have been if Bonesaw replaced Bakuda (basically Bonesaw as Bakuda, but with the same natural smartness and common sense that original Bonesaw have
). Lung would have been a free man, with ABB still unbroken or partially unbroken. But, while is excellent for any respectable villain (and hero) leader to have a Tinker (or more) in their team, their success depends of the respective Tinker. Someone like Bakuda will always doom the team, someone like Bonesaw will assure multiple victories. Tinkers can make or unmake their own team. The same I can say about Thinkers too: just look how unbeatable Cauldron appears to be because they have two Tinkers in their team. Or Undersiders...Masters are another powerful Classification of parahumans, but...FUCK Masters
.
Lung watched Teacher's expression change as he considered the idea. The man seemed so ordinary, so unassuming. To hear the man talk about it, he'd been one of the foremost criminal masterminds until the heroes trumped up charges against him.
"Yes," Teacher agreed. "Our deal stands? You won't replace my dentists or doctors?"
"That wasn't the deal," Marquis chided. "We'll price match. A little competition will keep your employees honest."
Teacher frowned.
Lung took his time walking down to the televisions. Marquis, Spruce and Amelia made their way down, where a crowd had gathered to watch. It was rare, that the same thing would be on all of the working televisions.
"…will recognize Taylor Hebert, revealed to be Skitter in a controversial confrontation at the school just a week ago, a confrontation Alexandria ordered. Taylor Hebert played a crucial role in stopping Alexandria in a moment of crisis, ending the fight."
"But she beat you?" Cinderhands asked.
"Yes," Marquis said, his tone condescending, "I'm quite sure the Protectorate will be apologizing to the public, then they'll throw open the Birdcage's doors and let us all loose."
Amelia's hands went to her mouth.
Marquis glanced at Amelia. Lung took that glance in all it's import. The two girls were opposite sides of the same coin.
Back to my favorite place to read about: BIRDCAGE
. Now we're following present Lung. Teacher is that dick who let people know about Amelia's powers, right? I remember him and yes, he's kind of a dick, according to my first impression about him. He's also a smart dick and a criminal mastermind. Well, welcome to the Dickville, Teacher. Enjoy your staying...and teaching people about how to be villains, I suppose
.
I missed Marquis and Amelia, so happy to see them back. Now, everyone know about Skitter slaying Alexandria and becoming Weaver. I expected Amelia to be more surprised than she actually was but she always knew that deep inside the villain Skitter there was a hero so maybe this is an explanation for her lack of surprise. Of course Lung isn't proud with the double defeat at the hands of this villain turned hero but he'll never admit out loud because he have an reputation to defend in front of the other inmates
.
Lung's eyes fixed on the new heroine, then narrowed.
"Noble," Marquis said. "Foolish at the same time, but the line between the noble and the fool is a thin one, or even a matter of perspective."
"That's for Alexandria, I imagine," Marquis said aloud. "Undeserved, I think, but I imagine Lustrum gave her cell block a very good reason to honor the woman."
"I wouldn't have imagined you'd care," Teacher commented.
"I don't, really," Marquis answered. "But I have a lot of respect for people who keep to a particular code, whatever that code might be, and very little for traitors and wafflers.
"I believe I can be useful to you," Teacher said.
"You have nothing to give me," Lung said. He bristled at the implication.
"You know how my power works, yes?"
"You make others smarter."
"I turn others into lesser Thinkers, into Tinkers."
"At the cost of their independence."
"Yes."
"Because of your incompetent underlings," Teacher finished for him. "Who escalated the feud with the heroes into a war while you were incarcerated, leaving you to sustain what they had started. And, more apropos to our conversation, because your power has a drawback. It requires a certain mental state."
"At the cost of my identity," Lung said. "No."
"A temporary cost to your willpower," Teacher said. He extended a hand, welcoming Lung into his cell block.
There was no conversation in Teacher's cell block. The residents were neat, tidy, and well groomed. Some seemed functional, reading on their own or watching television. Others were more disabled. Lung could see one individual rocking in place, tapping something out on a table. Another was walking in small, tight circles.
"My groupthink," Teacher said. "Rest assured, I wouldn't subject you to something this grave. We would dig deep enough to discover the true nature of your power, fast enough that you didn't feel the side effects at their worst. Then we would use what is effectively a hypnotic state to unlock your power as it truly should be, effectively a second trigger event. If Amelia is right, the entity that grants you your power will resist… but we can get around that."
Trickster reached up to the power button on the television, then began a sequence of turning it on and off, with very specific pauses. A code.
Marquis is such a honorable villain and good person. I don't care that he's a villain, he's a good person and decent man, he loves and is protective towards his daughter and he respects people who have their own personal code, even if they're heroic type (I'm also a bit subjective here because my father have a lot in common with Marquis in terms of personality traits
. They're both long haired men too). Undersiders are villains and good people so why Marquis shouldn't be a worthy man, despite his past crimes? He's also a gentleman and this is another plus
<3. Sorry, Accord, but Marquis is my favorite rogue villain, you're an arguable ok guy but he's much more better. Oh, so much more better.
Lustrum probably mourn the VILLAIN Alexandria, not the hero Alexandria. She considers Alexandria being a role model, because she was a villainous woman who pretended to be a hero and everyone believed her to be a genuine hero. This is how a "cool" woman should probably behave according to Lustrum: being a bitch with two faces
. I can imagine Lustrum being so pissed that "toxic males" like Legend and Eidolon survived, despite being nothing more but heroic "pigs", while a "honorable" woman had such a undignified death. 'Damn men and their poor life choices'- from the fountain of thoughts of a misandrist (misandrist woman= sexist man= the same bullshit so Lustrum is not different compared with sexist men
).
As much as I admire Marquis right now- as character, man and father, Teacher makes me want to throw rotten tomatoes at him (and many other things that I'd like to describe here but I'm afraid that I'll never stop once I'll start). He's not only a criminal mastermind and a skilled "chessplayer" but he's also a manipulative ASSHOLE and a FUCKING MASTER, with the power to enslave (I'm sure NOT TEMPORARY) everyone who accept his offer to upgrade their powers. He reminds me of Coil (the more I read about Teacher the more I'm convinced that this bastard is the reincarnation of that heartless bastard and...I'm NOT very happy about this. Not at all
). The same manner of speaking- polite and controlled, the same "civilized" and "friendly" attitude, the same talent at manipulating people to accept what is basically a deal with the devil, the same desire for POWER and CONTROL. Coil is dead, long life Teacher.
LUNG, DON'T TRUST THIS MASTER BASTARD, YOU'LL END UP BECOMING HIS SLAVE. You have a strong will, you can't allow yourself to break in front of...a Teacher. Nobody should defeat your mind and spirit, not even this Teacher. Fuck my life, Teacher reminds me not only of Coil, but also of Petyr Baelish aka Littlefinger (GoT version of Coil). Teacher is like Thomas+Petyr+ a fucked up MASTER POWER. FUCK MY LIFE. Bleah, Teacher is already everything I hate in a villain and he only had two apparitions. I remember that, in his first apparition, he was described as a fat and ugly man (so I can't imagine him looking like Littlefinger because that bastard wasn't fat neither ugly
). I can't picture him looking like Coil either because, in my mind, Coil looked like Death from Supernatural, only taller and younger. Anyway, until I'll have a clear image of him in my mind, I'll picture him as a fat and ugly bastard who already piss me off a lot :lol. Marquis is too smart and CARING to accept the deal that Teacher wants- meaning to turn Amelia into his personal slave right after he'll make her "stronger"- Trickster (oh, my poor idiot boy) already accepted the deal and now he's nothing more than another slave in Teacher's already respectable collection, and lets see Lung's CHOICE. For your sake and everyone else' sake, turn your back to the devil, please. You can't ruin yourself like this, Lung, I have great expectations from you
.
"Lung, meet Saint," Teacher said.
Lung didn't answer.
"He speaks when we give him something to say," Teacher said. "But I may have been too eager to find a way of contacting the outside world, and I've irritated him. Saint explained what happened. The PRT showed him Dragon's equipment, asked if he could commandeer it, and Saint found an opportunity to insert a discreet backdoor. He has a channel in, a way to observe, but our channel out is poor at best."
"This matters nothing to me."
"It matters a great deal," Teacher said. "Saint can see what Dragon sees, even if he's blocked off from the Birdcage itself, while Dragon is occupied elsewhere. It buys us a window of opportunity to communicate something, a message in code. The program that Dragon has observing us with every moment tracks the activity of our televisions. Turn it on, turn it off, and do it in a systematic enough way, and patterns emerge in a way that Saint can observe. This allows us to coordinate. He can't rescue us, or empty the Birdcage, but, we could do something. We could communicate with the outside world, and with the hypothesis that Amelia has posed… well, that's a world changing set of information, don't you imagine?"
"My power will be left alone," Lung said. "It is enough. If you want a bodyguard for a time after we've walked free, you will have it. I will keep your secret about this Saint for now."
"Marquis," Lung spoke, carefully.
"Hm?" Marquis quirked an eyebrow.
Teacher is working to undermine everything you and your daughter are striving for, Lung thought.
"The tea is good. Thank you."
"Quite welcome," Marquis replied, absently.
And Lung fell silent.
Marquis continues to be the best rogue villain, Lung continues to be a strong willed person BUT also someone who keep secrets from Marquis and Amelia because he wants to use Teacher for his own interests (I doubt that Lung will have any chance to bring Teacher at his mercy, Teacher being very intelligent and cunning to let himself to be defeated by a "mere Brute/Blaster/Changer"), Teacher is a PIECE OF SHIT whose only interests are to escape and to continue his criminal career (he also like disturbingly too much to control people). He controls FREAKING Saint, the man that Dragon made responsible with the Birdcage
. I think that Teacher turned Saint into the best Thinker or Tinker (or both, why not?) Hacker in the world and now Saint must serve Teacher as his slave/henchperson. If Teacher will order Saint to find a way to release all Birdcage's inmates, Saint will do it without any hesitation, even if he might doom the entire world in the process. Well, Saint is a criminal himself so he wouldn't have any problem anyway to help his criminals peers, controlled or not. Dragon, you just committed the biggest mistake of your life trusting your worst enemy with Birdcage, what the hell was in your mind? There were hundreds of talented hackers in the world but you had eyes only for someone like...motherfucking Saint. Btw, I think that Saint was enslaved by Teacher before Teacher being arrested and Birdcaged (I don't think Teacher have such a limitless power that he can enslave people through cameras so...Saint and Teacher probably meet in person when Teacher was a free man; this might explain why Saint was such a redoubtable adversary for Dragon- his Hacker skills were already enhanced by Teacher).
Imagine Teacher with a personal army of hundreds of parahumans with enhanced powers, all of them crazy loyal to him
. He'd be as dangerous as Jack in no time (actually, I'm so glad that Jack doesn't have Teacher's power; imagine how fast Jack would have destroyed the world if he had the ability to corrupt parahumans in a matter of minutes+ make them even more powerful. At least Teacher isn't interested in world destruction, he's more interested in control and domination but he's still very dangerous).
Imagine what if Marquis and Amelia would have accepted Teacher's deal. I can only visualize Amelia getting a better control and refinement of her power (something like Bonesaw but stronger because she also have her original power) and then she'll touch Lung's body, turning him permanently into a dragon. Then she'll touch his head, making him utterly obedient to her. After he'll become nothing but an obedient dragon, she'll make him burn the whole prison then ride him into sunset, ordering him to burn the hell out of people, including INNOCENT MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN.
Marquis will be like: Stop, my dear daughter. You're burning women and children. I can't tolerate this. Have you lost your mind?
Amelia, screaming from the top of Lung: Yes, father, I'm craaaaaazy...I'm crazy after power and revenge. Craaaaaaaaaaazy. Amelia is no longer my name. From now on, you can call me...Maaaad Panacea.
Teacher: What a fine young lady. I'm already proud of her. She's a straight A+ Student. My best student so far.
And so Amelia became one of the most hated characters in Worm...End of story
.
(Ok, I couldn't resist to make a GoT referrence. Sue me! Also, I kind of liked the last season, except for the last episode. Double sue me :lol!)
My headcanon for Teacher: he was a school teacher before triggering, but he had zero authority over his students. In the worst day of his job, when his students pushed him in a puddle of muddy water, he triggered with the power to make everyone OBEY him. This is his life story
Anyway, I find Teacher to be a HUGE jerk, a very dangerous man and I already hate him a lot but...he excites me (NO, not in that way, you dirty minds
. He excites as a character, interesting, provocative and better- AS A CHARACTER- than Coil, despite having similar manners). Maybe he'll not become a major villain in Worm, because we already have too many and only a few Arcs left but I'm sure he'll be one of the main villains in the sequel (once he'll escape Birdcage with the help of Saint). Come on, he have a power that allow him to literally create his personal school of very obedient students, Wildbow will not miss this chance to give this supervillain a more important role for nothing in the world
.
Good night and sleep well, my friends. 
.
