I groan out loud, spinning my revolving chair in circles as I gaze upon the ceiling of my...
Saving the world with my hands in my pockets (Worm CYOA SI)
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1.1
Dragonskyt
Ashen one, hearest thou my voice, still?
- Location
- Kiln of the First Flame
I groan out loud, spinning my revolving chair in circles as I gaze upon the ceiling of my bedroom.
It's what I do time to time, because of reasons I share with a lot of people in the world.
I do this because I made a stupid decision that will bite me back in the ass sometime later.
I do this because I made a fool of myself at work in front of my coworkers.
I do this because I remember a moment of my past that I would do anything for to forget.
All completely normal relatable problems of your common average human being.
So, why this time?
Because of reason number three, or at least a version of it.
The spinning stopped, my vision stopping right in front of the digital screen that sat before me. Scattered over the screen were all kinds of tabs, ranging from websites to all kinds of files. All centered around a single topic. What I've written, or rather what I've never finished writing.
I'm willing to be the first person to agree that, yes, I'm not a good writer. Heck, I wouldn't even call myself all that decent. One-shots aside, I have nothing to be proud of if you'd look at anything I managed to achieve using the written word. Well, there was that one class assignment, but coming in second place in a writing competition where book-hate is almost unanimously agreed is not something worthy of bragging about.
In short, I felt myself to be a failure of a writer.
But I wanted that to change. I need it to change.
Thus with a sigh, I close all tabs and confront the page I've gazed at for many different occasions.
The first Worm CYOA.
I'm kind of conflicted about doing this, it's no secret that this particular CYOA is the very Bullshit 12 Cape Classification by itself. Every single power is overpowered to such a degree that if you want to die, you'll actually have to try doing so. Then again, maybe it's the actual living with the mistakes you have made in the world, that is the true punishment.
But maybe... maybe I should take the overpowered route and see where it leads, rather than the under powered routes I've chosen before. Maybe a change of scenery, or perspective in this case, might be what I needed all along. Either way, it's better than sitting around and doing nothing worth of value. I can read all the stories I want, but if I want to join their ranks, I'll have to at least put in some effort.
I crack my neck and start calculating numbers, pro's and con's.
My first thought is obviously about what kind of story I wanted to create, but I quickly brushed it aside. No matter the setting, with a CYOA like this, it will only end up with a Semi-Bashing/Comedy/I-Know-Something-You-Don't genre like all those other SI fics out there. Therefore, all I needed to focus on is looking into on how I wanted to be overpowered.
In truth there are two main powers that I'd love to have for simple reasons.
Power Manipulation, because that's the way I'd go fixing around problems in Worm. Mainly because the Shards themselves are the number one reason why problems happen in the first place. Change that and all is settled.
And Psychokinetic, because I've never seen anyone choose that ability before. Simple as that.
Then there's Inspired Inventor and Shaper, which I would choose to compliment Psychokinetic.
In total, it would cost eight points so far, but I'll see what difficulties and perks will change that number.
As for perks, all I would need are the first three. Blank to protect me from Thinkers/Simurgh/Zion. Shattered Limiter, to grant me even more bullshit. Invictus, because I'd like to Keep Calm And Stay Sane. Which makes me end with eleven points total.
As for disadvantages, I'll pick Leviathan. That way, it'll still show up even if I take care of Noelle.
Marked for ABB, E88 and Coil. As is tradition. These disadvantages combined takes care of five points.
Which means I have six points total. Thus I end up with Standard Difficulty.
Not bad, if I say so myself.
I could take more disadvantages and end up at an even harder difficulty, but let's face it. It would make no difference at all, if only to make things a bit more bothersome. Jack Slash is still likely to pop up, even if I don't choose the disadvantage. Golden Morning is still likely to happen, if only at a somewhat later date.
So there I have it, typing down my choices on a small notepad list for easy access.
Worm CYOA
It's what I do time to time, because of reasons I share with a lot of people in the world.
I do this because I made a stupid decision that will bite me back in the ass sometime later.
I do this because I made a fool of myself at work in front of my coworkers.
I do this because I remember a moment of my past that I would do anything for to forget.
All completely normal relatable problems of your common average human being.
So, why this time?
Because of reason number three, or at least a version of it.
The spinning stopped, my vision stopping right in front of the digital screen that sat before me. Scattered over the screen were all kinds of tabs, ranging from websites to all kinds of files. All centered around a single topic. What I've written, or rather what I've never finished writing.
I'm willing to be the first person to agree that, yes, I'm not a good writer. Heck, I wouldn't even call myself all that decent. One-shots aside, I have nothing to be proud of if you'd look at anything I managed to achieve using the written word. Well, there was that one class assignment, but coming in second place in a writing competition where book-hate is almost unanimously agreed is not something worthy of bragging about.
In short, I felt myself to be a failure of a writer.
But I wanted that to change. I need it to change.
Thus with a sigh, I close all tabs and confront the page I've gazed at for many different occasions.
The first Worm CYOA.
I'm kind of conflicted about doing this, it's no secret that this particular CYOA is the very Bullshit 12 Cape Classification by itself. Every single power is overpowered to such a degree that if you want to die, you'll actually have to try doing so. Then again, maybe it's the actual living with the mistakes you have made in the world, that is the true punishment.
But maybe... maybe I should take the overpowered route and see where it leads, rather than the under powered routes I've chosen before. Maybe a change of scenery, or perspective in this case, might be what I needed all along. Either way, it's better than sitting around and doing nothing worth of value. I can read all the stories I want, but if I want to join their ranks, I'll have to at least put in some effort.
I crack my neck and start calculating numbers, pro's and con's.
My first thought is obviously about what kind of story I wanted to create, but I quickly brushed it aside. No matter the setting, with a CYOA like this, it will only end up with a Semi-Bashing/Comedy/I-Know-Something-You-Don't genre like all those other SI fics out there. Therefore, all I needed to focus on is looking into on how I wanted to be overpowered.
In truth there are two main powers that I'd love to have for simple reasons.
Power Manipulation, because that's the way I'd go fixing around problems in Worm. Mainly because the Shards themselves are the number one reason why problems happen in the first place. Change that and all is settled.
And Psychokinetic, because I've never seen anyone choose that ability before. Simple as that.
Then there's Inspired Inventor and Shaper, which I would choose to compliment Psychokinetic.
In total, it would cost eight points so far, but I'll see what difficulties and perks will change that number.
As for perks, all I would need are the first three. Blank to protect me from Thinkers/Simurgh/Zion. Shattered Limiter, to grant me even more bullshit. Invictus, because I'd like to Keep Calm And Stay Sane. Which makes me end with eleven points total.
As for disadvantages, I'll pick Leviathan. That way, it'll still show up even if I take care of Noelle.
Marked for ABB, E88 and Coil. As is tradition. These disadvantages combined takes care of five points.
Which means I have six points total. Thus I end up with Standard Difficulty.
Not bad, if I say so myself.
I could take more disadvantages and end up at an even harder difficulty, but let's face it. It would make no difference at all, if only to make things a bit more bothersome. Jack Slash is still likely to pop up, even if I don't choose the disadvantage. Golden Morning is still likely to happen, if only at a somewhat later date.
So there I have it, typing down my choices on a small notepad list for easy access.
Worm CYOA
- Self Insert
- Standard Difficulty (+6)
- Power Manipulation
- Psychokinetic
- Inspired Inventor
- Shaper
- Blank
- Shattered Limiter
- Invictus
- Leviathan
- Marked (ABB, E88, Coil)
Have Fun!
Only to drop it immediately as I felt Invictus activate and my conscious power down into darkness.
Last edited:
1.2
Dragonskyt
Ashen one, hearest thou my voice, still?
- Location
- Kiln of the First Flame
This wasn't supposed to happen.
But it did.
This shouldn't be possible.
But it was.
How can this be?
It simply is.
Here I was, in an abandoned alleyway, sitting on a dumpster that held questionable contents from one of the many restaurants I could smell in the vicinity. It was daytime and it wasn't hard to spot a small mass of people at the end of said alleyway, traveling to who knows where. From what I could tell, I hadn't made a scene yet. Whatever... whoever brought me here did so without alarming those nearby to come take a look at this worlds newest inhabitant.
I appreciated that. I truly did. Too often, in the case of many works of fiction, one would find himself in a scenario filled with battle, tension and possibly worse. At the very least I got some time to think things through, before throwing butterflies around in abandon.
In all likelihood, I was dropped in the Wormverse, Brockton Bay to be precise. I've got no reason to doubt part.
Noticing a small can of some random brand laying on the ground, I focused on it and... watched with an open mouth as it skyrocketed towards space.
Right... Superpowers.
...
Okay, I admit that was cool. Still, I'd better figure out how to not do that on accident.
Locating some other pieces of trash, I willed them over to me, making my best effort not to repeat the same mistake again. Surprisingly, I managed pretty well. It's just a matter of getting used to the very first recoil of a gun, or is comparing it to balancing a bike a better comparison? Either way, it didn't take long before I was stacking trash on top of one another, creating a totem of uselessness. Small pebbles and pieces of wood were dancing around it in circles, but that's my limit as far as my control went when it came to multiple tracks of thoughts. It seems that as long as I paid a little bit of attention it it, I could force certain thoughts on autodrive.
After managing to get to to my height, making it hop all over the place and twirling it around on occasion, I willed another dumpster to open and dumped my creation inside of it. That was enough playing around, I'd better get started with whatever I'm planning on doing.
So far I've got surviving on the agenda. Very important, must not forget.
Other than that, I've got nada. There simply too much to be done at the same time. The criminal organizations will come after me eventually, if my choices were anything to go by. Coil's gotta go before getting his reptilian hands on Dinah, somehow I've gotta become friends with Taylor, or at least not becoming her enemy and then there's Canary, Dragon, Slaughterhouse Nine, Cauldron and possibly some other miscellaneous problems that I might have missed.
Worst part, is now that I've entered a situation like this myself, I've completely forgotten how those other SI guys did all this. Was there some kind of guidebook or checklist I'm missing?
For now, I'm just going to take a walk. I've always had a clearer head after moving around and besides, this way I can get some kind of lay of the land.
Surviving is important. That's basically what I've come up with after ten minutes of wandering around what appeared to be the Boardwalk. I like being alive, it's how I can solve problems. If I'm dead, I can't do that anymore. Simple enough.
I've already learned the bare basics of my Psychokinetic abilities, which is nice and certainly a boon to both protect myself and attack enemies. However, there's still a big flaw with that. In this case, I'm no Taylor Hebert. I don't have the Shard that makes paperwork cry in a corner by allowing its host to have millions of thoughts at the same time. However, that does not mean I can't make one.
Tata! Power Manipulation activate!
Thus I spent at least three charges to fix that to end up with what I'm going to assume is a Thinker 8 power and...
...Wow...
That's...
Huh.
...Cool.
Interesting!
The most amazing thing was that I had all these thoughts at the same time, while also thinking about how I was thinking about how discovering I discovered I could think about discovering I could think about multiple tracts of thoughts.
It didn't stop the headache I got when I rethought that statement, which made more sense a second ago.
To be honest, I'm not so sure if spending three charges, rather than a single one, was going to improve it that much. Then again, I'd rather play it safe and if I'm correct I can probably do this now.
I reached out with Psychokinetic and grabbed a hold of a balloon floating in the air, letting it be brought back to the crying child and the mother who was trying her best to calm him down.
Meanwhile, I also doing my duty as a human living on mother earth, throwing all kinds of trash into the nearest trashcans.
And I helped some poor guy who accidentally dropped his change under a vending machine, shuffling it back in front of his feet.
I'm such a nice guy. The smug grin on my face is sure to unnerve people.
I did all of that without looking. But I do have to focus on looking around though, I'm not aware of everything in my surroundings.
Seems like I'm Taylor without bugs now, because I control energy and matter, rather than arachnids and bees. Whereas she used the senses of those under her command, I see all the shapes around me.
Damn, I'm overpowered.
She's overpowered.
We're overpowered.
But I'm more overpowered.
In any case, with this new ability I can focus on multiple enemies at once, making sure I won't get hit in the back if I lose track of one of them. My Psychokinetic abilities will put a stop to anything heading my way. But what about attacks I can't see? What about attacks I can't see coming? What about attacks that are too fast?
I remember a famous line from Harry Dresden.
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face."
While there's some doubt in my mind that I would ever face an invisible demon, a Parahuman with a particular set of skills to make my life a nightmare can still cause a lot of harm.
I've gotta get myself a Spidey-Sense.
And one charge later, I did.
I'm seriously tempted to simply grab all his powers and just start swinging around, but Brockton Bay lacked the correct amount of skyscrapers and I certainly never learned about power and responsibility. I would be a terrible Spider-Man.
What else would I need? I could probably built myself up until I'm Eidolon 2.0, but as much fun as that would be, is it really necessary at this point? Maybe for now it's better if I learn to use the powers I have, rather than eating an entire buffet. Besides, if anything does go wrong, all I need is a single cell of mine to survive. With Shaper, I'm fairly sure I can rebuilt myself almost instantly if the description was anything to go by.
It's almost scary how calmly and casually I'm discussing my own mortality. I still feel emotions, like fear and irritation, but all so very dulled at the moment. Maybe Invictus is acting a bit too strong, but that's possibly because if it didn't, I would still be freaking out by now. I can't have that.
Another thing I felt for a bit was excitement, for the obvious reasons.
Arrogant or not, but this world is basically my sandbox at this point. Sure I share it with a lot of other children, but I'm the biggest kid around who keeps getting bigger and bigger. If I wanted to become everyone's best friend, or their worst bully, I can change the lives of everyone involved.
...
Okay, time to stop thinking. If this goes on, even I can predict that past-me won't like where future-me is heading.
Time to head out and make some changes. And why not start at the very beginning. Where's Winslow again?
But it did.
This shouldn't be possible.
But it was.
How can this be?
It simply is.
Here I was, in an abandoned alleyway, sitting on a dumpster that held questionable contents from one of the many restaurants I could smell in the vicinity. It was daytime and it wasn't hard to spot a small mass of people at the end of said alleyway, traveling to who knows where. From what I could tell, I hadn't made a scene yet. Whatever... whoever brought me here did so without alarming those nearby to come take a look at this worlds newest inhabitant.
I appreciated that. I truly did. Too often, in the case of many works of fiction, one would find himself in a scenario filled with battle, tension and possibly worse. At the very least I got some time to think things through, before throwing butterflies around in abandon.
In all likelihood, I was dropped in the Wormverse, Brockton Bay to be precise. I've got no reason to doubt part.
Noticing a small can of some random brand laying on the ground, I focused on it and... watched with an open mouth as it skyrocketed towards space.
Right... Superpowers.
...
Okay, I admit that was cool. Still, I'd better figure out how to not do that on accident.
Locating some other pieces of trash, I willed them over to me, making my best effort not to repeat the same mistake again. Surprisingly, I managed pretty well. It's just a matter of getting used to the very first recoil of a gun, or is comparing it to balancing a bike a better comparison? Either way, it didn't take long before I was stacking trash on top of one another, creating a totem of uselessness. Small pebbles and pieces of wood were dancing around it in circles, but that's my limit as far as my control went when it came to multiple tracks of thoughts. It seems that as long as I paid a little bit of attention it it, I could force certain thoughts on autodrive.
After managing to get to to my height, making it hop all over the place and twirling it around on occasion, I willed another dumpster to open and dumped my creation inside of it. That was enough playing around, I'd better get started with whatever I'm planning on doing.
So far I've got surviving on the agenda. Very important, must not forget.
Other than that, I've got nada. There simply too much to be done at the same time. The criminal organizations will come after me eventually, if my choices were anything to go by. Coil's gotta go before getting his reptilian hands on Dinah, somehow I've gotta become friends with Taylor, or at least not becoming her enemy and then there's Canary, Dragon, Slaughterhouse Nine, Cauldron and possibly some other miscellaneous problems that I might have missed.
Worst part, is now that I've entered a situation like this myself, I've completely forgotten how those other SI guys did all this. Was there some kind of guidebook or checklist I'm missing?
For now, I'm just going to take a walk. I've always had a clearer head after moving around and besides, this way I can get some kind of lay of the land.
=0=0=0=0=0=
Surviving is important. That's basically what I've come up with after ten minutes of wandering around what appeared to be the Boardwalk. I like being alive, it's how I can solve problems. If I'm dead, I can't do that anymore. Simple enough.
I've already learned the bare basics of my Psychokinetic abilities, which is nice and certainly a boon to both protect myself and attack enemies. However, there's still a big flaw with that. In this case, I'm no Taylor Hebert. I don't have the Shard that makes paperwork cry in a corner by allowing its host to have millions of thoughts at the same time. However, that does not mean I can't make one.
Tata! Power Manipulation activate!
Thus I spent at least three charges to fix that to end up with what I'm going to assume is a Thinker 8 power and...
...Wow...
That's...
Huh.
...Cool.
Interesting!
The most amazing thing was that I had all these thoughts at the same time, while also thinking about how I was thinking about how discovering I discovered I could think about discovering I could think about multiple tracts of thoughts.
It didn't stop the headache I got when I rethought that statement, which made more sense a second ago.
To be honest, I'm not so sure if spending three charges, rather than a single one, was going to improve it that much. Then again, I'd rather play it safe and if I'm correct I can probably do this now.
I reached out with Psychokinetic and grabbed a hold of a balloon floating in the air, letting it be brought back to the crying child and the mother who was trying her best to calm him down.
Meanwhile, I also doing my duty as a human living on mother earth, throwing all kinds of trash into the nearest trashcans.
And I helped some poor guy who accidentally dropped his change under a vending machine, shuffling it back in front of his feet.
I'm such a nice guy. The smug grin on my face is sure to unnerve people.
I did all of that without looking. But I do have to focus on looking around though, I'm not aware of everything in my surroundings.
Seems like I'm Taylor without bugs now, because I control energy and matter, rather than arachnids and bees. Whereas she used the senses of those under her command, I see all the shapes around me.
Damn, I'm overpowered.
She's overpowered.
We're overpowered.
But I'm more overpowered.
In any case, with this new ability I can focus on multiple enemies at once, making sure I won't get hit in the back if I lose track of one of them. My Psychokinetic abilities will put a stop to anything heading my way. But what about attacks I can't see? What about attacks I can't see coming? What about attacks that are too fast?
I remember a famous line from Harry Dresden.
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face."
While there's some doubt in my mind that I would ever face an invisible demon, a Parahuman with a particular set of skills to make my life a nightmare can still cause a lot of harm.
I've gotta get myself a Spidey-Sense.
And one charge later, I did.
I'm seriously tempted to simply grab all his powers and just start swinging around, but Brockton Bay lacked the correct amount of skyscrapers and I certainly never learned about power and responsibility. I would be a terrible Spider-Man.
What else would I need? I could probably built myself up until I'm Eidolon 2.0, but as much fun as that would be, is it really necessary at this point? Maybe for now it's better if I learn to use the powers I have, rather than eating an entire buffet. Besides, if anything does go wrong, all I need is a single cell of mine to survive. With Shaper, I'm fairly sure I can rebuilt myself almost instantly if the description was anything to go by.
It's almost scary how calmly and casually I'm discussing my own mortality. I still feel emotions, like fear and irritation, but all so very dulled at the moment. Maybe Invictus is acting a bit too strong, but that's possibly because if it didn't, I would still be freaking out by now. I can't have that.
Another thing I felt for a bit was excitement, for the obvious reasons.
Arrogant or not, but this world is basically my sandbox at this point. Sure I share it with a lot of other children, but I'm the biggest kid around who keeps getting bigger and bigger. If I wanted to become everyone's best friend, or their worst bully, I can change the lives of everyone involved.
...
Okay, time to stop thinking. If this goes on, even I can predict that past-me won't like where future-me is heading.
Time to head out and make some changes. And why not start at the very beginning. Where's Winslow again?
Last edited:
1.3
Dragonskyt
Ashen one, hearest thou my voice, still?
- Location
- Kiln of the First Flame
Brockton Bay was big.
Brockton Bay was huge.
Brockton Bay was very difficult to navigate through, if you had no idea where to look.
I should have known better than to walk all the way. If I wanted to, I could have used telekinesis on myself and simply fly all the way to the school. Instead, I've been strolling around at a mediocre pace, asking for directions from the people that crossed my path. Let me tell you, it's a lot more difficult than it seems. People aren't so trustworthy of strangers in this city, more than likely because of the high crime rates.
To make a long boring story short, by the time I ended up at Winslow High, the students were already leaving its premises in a loud not-so-orderly fashion.
Seeing as I remember Taylor leaving the building around after lunchbreak, there was no way I could find her now. Finding Winslow was hard enough, how could I find a young teenage girl's home. Not to mention that sounded way creepier than it needed to be.
However, there's a solution. By using Power Manipulation of course! But I won't, because it kind of felt redundant to spend a charge for that. I knew where she should be in a couple of days. By know, she was probably busy working on her costume, tomorrow the finishing touches and then afterwards she was going to spend the night fighting a dragon.
Now the question was, should I interfere?
If anything, her beating up Lung would give her a huge boost in confidence.
Maybe better if I simply let her do what she needed to do, not to mention it was the very first step to making friends with the Undersiders.
Choices, choices.
My inner brooding was interrupted as I took notice of a particular group of teenagers. Red, black and brown, laughing and joking as they made their way towards the nearest busstop. Those must be the trio, it didn't feel like a huge leap of logic to assume that. It also helped that one of my secondary powers activated and I could tell the black girl has a shard. Must be Sophia, A.K.A. Shadow Stalker.
I couldn't resist. I had to show off my inner Regent.
Forming a small block of telekinesis in front of Emma's feet, I watched as she walked right into it and stumbled around.
Sadly, she did not fall, but the look on her face was priceless.
Enough joking around. Seeing as I'm here anyhow, I might as well do something.
Now, what can I do inside a school?
...
Huh, actually not a lot now I think about it.
I might be one of the strongest on this planet at the moment, but that's basically all I had going for me. Confronting the principal like so many others have done before me was no option. I'm fairly sure I'd get tongue tied the moment I try to convince her that it's best to have Taylor's best interests in mind. I could always blow something up to show her I meant it, but threatening someone with no power seems so petty. Like hacking in an MMO or something like that. No fun at all.
Not to mention that was one heck of a way to get the PRT on my ass. I could see the headlines already.
Parahuman threatens well respected principal of Winslow High! What connection does he have with Ms. Hebert?
No, there really isn't anything I can do here, so I left.
This trip had been a waste of time.
Children's laughter resounded through the playground, monkeying around like the little brats they are. Parent watched from a distance, muttering among themselves or interacting in neighborhood gossip. I've caught several glances and even a pointed finger, all directed in my general direction. I was fairly sure they weren't talking about the civil servant working behind me in the bushes.
I didn't blame them, really how could I?
While I might be as healthy as I've ever been, that did not offset the fact that I looked like trouble. My shoes had seen better days, it was about time to replace them and my clothing consisted of denim jeans with several rips and a hoodie with a classic joke on it. The only disarming trait of mine are my glasses, not that I needed those anymore.
I looked like a bum. Maybe even homeless? Not that it's not true. I don't have a home after all.
Right now, I was simply content on lounging on this simple park bench, closing my eyes and taking all the space I needed. Not like I expect anyone to come sit down next to me. It was just me and my thoughts, just the way I preferred it.
"Why can't I see you!?"
Which explains my surprise when someone suddenly called out to me.
I opened my eyes to see a young child standing in front of me, giving me the biggest pout I've seen in my entire life.
"Huh?" I respond like a gentleman.
She glared at me. "0.00% chance that someone is sitting on that bench in the next five seconds," she replies in a matter of fact tone.
I connected the dots immediately.
"Who are you!"
Turns out, I didn't have to make a choice. It was to be made for me.
I was about to get involved with Coil.
Brockton Bay was huge.
Brockton Bay was very difficult to navigate through, if you had no idea where to look.
I should have known better than to walk all the way. If I wanted to, I could have used telekinesis on myself and simply fly all the way to the school. Instead, I've been strolling around at a mediocre pace, asking for directions from the people that crossed my path. Let me tell you, it's a lot more difficult than it seems. People aren't so trustworthy of strangers in this city, more than likely because of the high crime rates.
To make a long boring story short, by the time I ended up at Winslow High, the students were already leaving its premises in a loud not-so-orderly fashion.
Seeing as I remember Taylor leaving the building around after lunchbreak, there was no way I could find her now. Finding Winslow was hard enough, how could I find a young teenage girl's home. Not to mention that sounded way creepier than it needed to be.
However, there's a solution. By using Power Manipulation of course! But I won't, because it kind of felt redundant to spend a charge for that. I knew where she should be in a couple of days. By know, she was probably busy working on her costume, tomorrow the finishing touches and then afterwards she was going to spend the night fighting a dragon.
Now the question was, should I interfere?
If anything, her beating up Lung would give her a huge boost in confidence.
Maybe better if I simply let her do what she needed to do, not to mention it was the very first step to making friends with the Undersiders.
Choices, choices.
My inner brooding was interrupted as I took notice of a particular group of teenagers. Red, black and brown, laughing and joking as they made their way towards the nearest busstop. Those must be the trio, it didn't feel like a huge leap of logic to assume that. It also helped that one of my secondary powers activated and I could tell the black girl has a shard. Must be Sophia, A.K.A. Shadow Stalker.
I couldn't resist. I had to show off my inner Regent.
Forming a small block of telekinesis in front of Emma's feet, I watched as she walked right into it and stumbled around.
Sadly, she did not fall, but the look on her face was priceless.
Enough joking around. Seeing as I'm here anyhow, I might as well do something.
Now, what can I do inside a school?
...
Huh, actually not a lot now I think about it.
I might be one of the strongest on this planet at the moment, but that's basically all I had going for me. Confronting the principal like so many others have done before me was no option. I'm fairly sure I'd get tongue tied the moment I try to convince her that it's best to have Taylor's best interests in mind. I could always blow something up to show her I meant it, but threatening someone with no power seems so petty. Like hacking in an MMO or something like that. No fun at all.
Not to mention that was one heck of a way to get the PRT on my ass. I could see the headlines already.
Parahuman threatens well respected principal of Winslow High! What connection does he have with Ms. Hebert?
No, there really isn't anything I can do here, so I left.
This trip had been a waste of time.
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Children's laughter resounded through the playground, monkeying around like the little brats they are. Parent watched from a distance, muttering among themselves or interacting in neighborhood gossip. I've caught several glances and even a pointed finger, all directed in my general direction. I was fairly sure they weren't talking about the civil servant working behind me in the bushes.
I didn't blame them, really how could I?
While I might be as healthy as I've ever been, that did not offset the fact that I looked like trouble. My shoes had seen better days, it was about time to replace them and my clothing consisted of denim jeans with several rips and a hoodie with a classic joke on it. The only disarming trait of mine are my glasses, not that I needed those anymore.
I looked like a bum. Maybe even homeless? Not that it's not true. I don't have a home after all.
Right now, I was simply content on lounging on this simple park bench, closing my eyes and taking all the space I needed. Not like I expect anyone to come sit down next to me. It was just me and my thoughts, just the way I preferred it.
"Why can't I see you!?"
Which explains my surprise when someone suddenly called out to me.
I opened my eyes to see a young child standing in front of me, giving me the biggest pout I've seen in my entire life.
"Huh?" I respond like a gentleman.
She glared at me. "0.00% chance that someone is sitting on that bench in the next five seconds," she replies in a matter of fact tone.
I connected the dots immediately.
"Who are you!"
Turns out, I didn't have to make a choice. It was to be made for me.
I was about to get involved with Coil.
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