Alex: Hey Aylamon what do you think your second path can digivolve into?
Aylamon: IDK some kind of god maybe, that seems to be the natural stopping point for about half of all Digimon.
Just to clarify, Magic Boost, increases the effect of any magical power that the creature use.
So 1000 needles with Magic Boost, would deal 2000 dmg, and with Magic Amplification 3000 dmg.
It's Energy boost that increases the size of the reserves.
Just to clarify, Magic Boost, increases the effect of any magical power that the creature use.
So 1000 needles with Magic Boost, would deal 2000 dmg, and with Magic Amplification 3000 dmg.
It's Energy boost that increases the size of the reserves.
For the long answer, we have two different situations.
With the FF invocation not directly. I mean Alex can't apply Magic Boost to himself and then use an invocation and expect to increase their effects. Because he's not the one doing the Magic, the CM does it for him.
However, he can apply Magic Boost to the Invoqued creature right as it appears, to boost the results within the bubble. (The bubble itself wouldn't be bigger, only the effects inside.)
With the Summon Spirit from Golden Sun, however, it does work. He can apply the boost to himself, and boost the resulting Spirit because the Djinn are not the ones doing the summoning, they're just the "keys" that allow him to call on the Spirit.
I believe the potential offered by Alex and his Partners' esoteric abilities to be worth it. Though admittedly, I was hoping not to roll the boost amplification series of powers.
Um, @zagan you appear to have the wrong amplification listed under the character sheet. It claims Magic Boost got the three times multiplier added. The winner was Speed Amplification correct?
Um, @zagan you appear to have the wrong amplification listed under the character sheet. It claims Magic Boost got the three times multiplier added. The winner was Speed Amplification correct?
[X] Power
Power Roll: (660 points)
Entry Roll D36=4
600 Magic Amplification, 600 Speed Amplification, 600 Strength Amplification
Sub-vote results: 600 Speed Amplification
Banked: 060
I hope you like this chapter, I had some trouble with it but it's not a bad result. Fair warning for those who don't like romance, Crystal does appear toward the end but you may still like to read at least the last few sentences because it contains some character development for Alex.
Despite my confidence in my comrades, when it came time for the operation against the Merchant I was on pins and needles. I was sitting behind the console. The feeds from their helmet cams and from Armsmaster's drone were on the screens in front of me. I was also looking through Spider Bot's eyes which I anchored on top of a nearby building.
If anyone asked I would have said that this was in the bag. There was no way for the team to fail in this endeavor. But there was still a niggling doubt in the back of my head that something would go wrong. Squealer would screw up while playing with Apparition and would teleport the whole block, and everyone inside, directly into the sun. Or something equally preposterous.
And this feeling was only worsened by the date. I spent the whole week expressly not thinking about tomorrow, but it was getting harder and harder.
Thankfully, I saw that the assault was starting so I refocused on that.
Truthfully, nothing was happening on the screen. For a while, the team accompanied by a whole lot of troopers, and a few police wagons, were getting in position out of sight all around the abandoned parking building that served as a base for the Merchant at the very edge of the trainyard.
At the same time, I knew that Hannah was deploying her swarm of Manhattan Transfer. With all the practice she's done she could now deploy, up to forty of them at the same time. Still, far from the hundred possible but largely enough for the present operation. I couldn't see the drones through the headcam, but I could see a few with the Spider Bot.
Listening to the coms, Hannah was describing her findings. The Merchants weren't all complete morons, five sentries were in place. They didn't appear to be the most attentive but they exist. Four stood on the corners of the building's roof, and the fifth on the ground floor keeping an eye on the entrance.
I listened with half an ear as Colin gave orders on how to handle the sentries.
A minute later, Robin was running at an oblique angle toward the ground sentries. At the speed he was moving he was less than a blur, it was worse than a blink and you'll miss it moment. In less than a second he had the man in a chokehold, and ten seconds after that the man was gagged and cuffed. Even from a distance, It was interesting to watch. Robin would deactivate and activate his powers in bursts, when he needed to move the man's limbs he'd do so at normal speed and when he was just reaching into his costume's new pockets he'd be doing so at superspeed.
Dealing with the sentries on the roof would be trickier and I was curious to know what Colin would decide. Several options were discussed during the planning session but which one would be best?
In the end, he decided that coming from above was the best bet. Shawn and himself, using Surveyor, would move some distance away from the building, fly up to a kilometer in the air, position themselves above the building, and drop down right in the middle of the roof.
Even though the era of Parahuman began three decades ago, humans still didn't think to look up.
The results spoke for themselves. In a marvelous example of cooperation, Shawn took care of two and Colin the others near simultaneously. Only one sentry even realized that they were under attack but he didn't have enough time to even scream before succumbing to Shawn's arclance.
Then it was time for the true attack to begin. Because they were already on the roof Colin and Shawn started from the top, while the rest of the team used the main entrance. From the position of the Spider-bot, I couldn't see much. The Merchants had installed many makeshift barricades on the open sides of the building, blocking the view. I could have directed the bot to move inside but I decided to trust them.
In the beginning, everything was quiet. This was a good sign because it meant that the alarm hadn't been raised. Occasionally I would spot flashes of color coming from inside signifying that something was happening but nothing more than that. Radio silence has been established in case it was detected. It wasn't within Squealer's specialty but detecting radio signals wasn't that hard even with mundane tech, so she might have something. For the same reasons, the feeds from the helmet cams were also silent.
The anxiety was killing me. It would have been child play for me to deal with the Merchants, not even one minute of work. But no, Colin was right. The team needs to show that they exist beyond me.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but was in reality just two more minutes, the radio crackled to life followed by Hannah's voice. "Squealer has been secured. I repeat, Squealer has been secured."
I let out a sigh of relief. One down. And in my opinion the most dangerous one. Tinkers in their workshop were always dangerous, even the weakest one could do devastating damage in their sanctum.
While Skidmark could cobble together a railgun if he was smart enough, something which I doubt, that was a far more predictable thing to handle.
And indeed, less than a minute later Colin spoke. "I have Skidmark. Keep looking for stragglers. Dauntless will take custody of Skidmark. I will secure Squealer's workshop."
And that was that. The whole thing took less than a quarter of an hour from start to finish. Oh, there were still plenty of things to do, testimonies to gather, gangers to put away, Tinkertech to secure, and so on. But the main thrust was done with.
With that, Brockton Bay could be called free of Parahuman-led gangs. It was far from crime-free, and I doubt it will ever be, but it was a start. Parahuman-wise, a few minor groups still exist, the Undersiders were left, but they were more petty thieves than anything, Coil and his mercenaries still exist, but he's been quiet lately, and Faultline's crew were mercenaries operating outside of the Bay.
We'll need to stay vigilant, the Elites were a big concern, even if none of their capes appeared yet, some of their well-known dummy companies have started investing in properties and businesses. Gangs from Boston and further away could try to move in. The Fallen had been strangely silent since Leviathan's defeat, but they'll be moving at some point for sure.
We'll be ready for them all.
By noon the operation was as complete as it was going to get, with the site cleaned up and the gangers in cells. Squealer's vehicles and tools were stored in the PRT's headquarters underground garage. And those vehicles were interesting, crude on the surface but still interesting. If she had access to better materials and wasn't drugged out of her mind half the time she could have made for a fantastic Tinker, rivaling even Colin.
We found proof that some splinching accidents happened when she developed and experimented with apparitions. Some unfortunate gangers were missing fingers, toes, ear lobes, or even their noses. One sad woman had her left arm cut just below her elbow, and her left foot. We did find some of the missing body parts, kept in jars but not all of them. Olky would reattach what he could. As for the rest, amputation just behind the splinched part may be the only solution. Having a body part floating around could be extremely dangerous for their owner's health.
The atmosphere during the debriefing was celebratory. They were all happy with their performances.
I had to leave shortly afterward to visit two more cities. In Cheyenne, I acquired Zeke, a Corn Snake. I learned that it had been the mascot of the team for a few years already. It once belonged to the son of the previous Protectorate leader, who was also a Ward. When they both died against the Simurgh, the team adopted the snake as an homage to them. It was a very touching story.
My second stop was in Lincoln. Here my new partner was the fluffiest Chinchilla I've ever seen. Nerea, as she was called, was housed with the Wards and they took care of her. The town only counted three Wards, and all of them were young, the oldest being nine. I signed autographs, took photos, and allowed them to play with some of my partners.
That only took a small chunk of my afternoon and soon I was back in Brockton.
While I was away a press conference was held, presided by Colin to officially announce the capture of Skidmark and Squealer. Obviously, questions about why I didn't participate in today's operation were asked. Colin handled it well, stating that I wasn't required and that I had other duties to attend to.
Just as I entered my office, the Menagerie triggered. But in a different way than what I was accustomed to. Instead of a new partner, or a new power, I felt one of my powers changing slightly, growing bigger.
Yep, that's the thing we were warned about./Our Speed Boost power suddenly became stronger. Instead of doubling speed now it triples it.
Considering that I had all the boosts activated on myself all the time, I could verify that easily enough. And indeed as I moved the effect was obvious. The action of taking a single step was accomplished faster than before for the same amount of effort. I spent half an hour in the Pocket Biosphere getting accustomed to my enhanced speed.
As a first example of what I should expect in the future, that was very nice.
After stopping by the PR department to talk about the toys being produced based on my partners and me, and also a little bit about the progress being made on the cartoon, it was time for more Random Summoning.
As I summoned the first one, there was some sort of hiccup, as if two paths could have been taken before it was resolved. What appeared before me could only be called a werewolf. It was violent, snarling while looking all around for potential prey. Thankfully I didn't count. Seeing that I couldn't do anything with it, I dismissed it promptly.
The second one was much more interesting, a small wooly rhino-shaped Pokemon. He was extremely clingy, rubbing himself against me with enthusiasm. It made me laugh and I spent a few minutes petting him before sending him to the training ground to help the others.
(D141=34 Horizon Zero Dawn/Dinotrux, D82=24 Plowhorn (300))
But the real prize of the day was the third one. A mechanical triceratops that came from the same dimension as Raptor and that functions as a terraforming tool. It was interesting for me because I was able to grab several interesting seeds from its reserve, samples of a very effective fertilizer, some enriched water that served as a coolant, and some components that I could safely remove with multiple potential uses.
After gathering everything I could, I hurried into the orb and summoned Hug. After enduring his enthusiastic embrace, I showed him the seeds, which resulted in a second round of hugging. And then he was gone, with the seeds, eager to plant them.
I looked around, and already Hug's garden was looking great. Even with just saplings and sprouts, it was very promising. On one side we had a combination of an arboretum and an orchard containing both mundane tree saplings and special ones. On the other side, we had carefully laid plots with an impressive variety of vegetables and fruit. And in the middle, flowers of all sorts. The coop built yesterday proudly displayed a red-speckled black egg in a nest made of straw. To keep it warm, Prime installed a heating unit but most of the time some of my fluffiest partners brood over it. Currently, it was Cloudy's turn. The scene was so cute that I couldn't resist the urge to take a photo.
Then I spent two hours training in Nimue's Dungeon. Notably exploring her lowest floor, patterned after a factory. As usual she did excellent work.
This was enough to push me toward my sixth level as a Dungeon Master and fourth as a Researcher. I didn't gain anything from those levels, apart from some general improvement to my body but it was still progress.
Returning home I found Mom cooking dinner with Olky's help and Aylamon's dubious assistance. I offered to help, but she firmly refused. She wanted to show her cooking to my girlfriend, so I didn't insist. My role was limited to setting the table.
Right on time the doorbell rang and I hurried toward the entrance to welcome Crystal. What I found behind the door was a vision of beauty. Crystal was wearing a plain light green summer dress, a departure from her usual red, but she still managed to take my breath away with her radiant smile.
"Hello, Beautiful. Please, come in." I stepped to the side and gestured for her to come in.
She answered with a touch of nervousness and a more formal tone than what I was accustomed to from her. "Good evening, Alex." Was she intimidated by the idea of meeting my mother?
Immediately, after closing the door behind her. I dragged her in my arms and kissed her fiercely. I felt her hesitating, but it quickly faded away and she answered in kind. When we broke apart she was blushing prettily, seemingly embarrassed by the display of affection with the possibility of my Mom seeing us.
I put my forehead against hers. "Don't worry. She's going to love you." I didn't add, like me, but it was a near thing.
She stepped back but kept hold of my hand. "Okay. Let's go."
I guided her toward the living room, where we found Aylamon and Mom. "Here we are. You've already met Aylamon. As I've mentioned, she's for all-purpose my little sister."
The impish Digimon made a show of looking closely at Crystal as if she were studying her. "Hmf. Yes, I suppose you're not too bad. But you better treat my brother right."
My girlfriend suppressed a laugh. "Well, thanks for the compliment. I'll do my best." Aylamon gave a firm nod of confirmation.
I gestured toward Mom. "And this is my Mother, Claire Crewser."
Crystal smiled hesitantly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, madam."
Mom beamed. "The pleasure is mine dear. You can call me Claire, I won't mind."
"Hm, yes, of course."
The parallel between now and my meeting with Crystal's parents wasn't lost on me.
"There's also Gobimon, but he's shy and he can't really sit at a table, so he's not with us today. You'll meet him another time."
Mom clapped her hand. "Alex, why don't you give Crystal a tour while I put the finishing touches on dinner."
I recognized that tone, this was an order, not a suggestion. So the next few minutes were spent guiding Crystal around our small house, with Aylamon following us to add her some colored commentaries. Considering the size of our home the tour didn't take too long even with us stopping by every family photo hanging around.
Soon it was time for dinner. And it was enjoyable, Mom was a good cook and her friendliness helped immensely in soothing Crystal's worries. The two of them appeared to go along well, Mom was curious about Crystal's classes and my girlfriend was more than happy to explain all about it.
Toward the end of the meal, I exchanged a glance with Mom and she gave me a subtle nod.
After taking a breath I addressed Crystal. "Hm, Crystal I want to ask you something?"
"Of course, Honey." I appreciate the fact that she relaxed enough during dinner to use my pet name in front of Mom.
"I know we haven't been together for very long, but tomorrow is the anniversary of my father's death. Would you be willing to come with me and Mom to visit his grave?"
She took my hands between her own. "Oh, Honey of course. It would be an honor. You can count on me."
I let out a sigh of relief. I was afraid that it would have been too much to ask. "Thank you, Beautiful." Despite the presence of Mom, I couldn't resist the urge to lean in for a quick kiss. In the corner of my eye, I saw Mom smiling at the sight and Aylamon faked gagging.
As we hammered out the details of where and when to meet, we kept holding hands. It helped keep the gloomy thought away.
Wordcount: 2832
Excess words: 486
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I've been planning to include this minor event for a while. I want to show Alex as a human being and not just as a conduit for the Menagerie. We'll see in the chapter if I manage to handle it well.
For the roll, 060 (Banked) + 240 (Chapter) + 120 (Excess words) = 420 points.
[] Creature
[] Power
Voting will be closed Sunday at 3 PM GMT
Question 1: Does anyone have any idea of Thinker powers that would really benefit from mental partition? I'm trying to create a few Thinker Heroes (maybe members of Watchdog) for the next round of "Grant Summoning". Help would be appreciated.
Question 2: Does anyone have any firm numbers on how long it takes for Senzu Beans to grow? Apart from "a long time" the wiki doesn't give much info, and from what I remember of the manga it wasn't very consistent. For now, I'm pegging it as at least a year for a small plant to grow, perhaps even two, and to bear a handful of beans.
Thought Acceleration from Nasuverse? If you could accelerate each partition it would help in digesting massive amounts of data or running calculations that would usually require a computer.
For actual existing parahumans
From the top of my head
Lisa, Number Man, Horizon (Could solve her power limitations), Roulette (could better analyze her visions while she receives them), Dinah (Could offload her headaches?)
Question 1: Does anyone have any idea of Thinker powers that would really benefit from mental partition? I'm trying to create a few Thinker Heroes (maybe members of Watchdog) for the next round of "Grant Summoning". Help would be appreciated.
It isn't really a Thinker power but you could have a hero whose power is to create a clone/clones of themselves but has to split their attention between controlling them. Mental partition would allow them to dedicate one mind to that while focusing in their own safety.
For a more typical thinker, maybe some sort of power that gives its user an ambiguous vision and having two minds would allow them to interpret it more easily? Or a Thinker who gets very accurate information but the strain renders them unconscious for a while and having another mind would allow them offload the burden and report their findings sooner?
Question 2: Does anyone have any firm numbers on how long it takes for Senzu Beans to grow? Apart from "a long time" the wiki doesn't give much info, and from what I remember of the manga it wasn't very consistent. For now, I'm pegging it as at least a year for a small plant to grow, perhaps even two, and to bear a handful of beans.
Eh Dragon Ball as a whole isn't consistent, iirc they literally had to write in an excuse for why Goku didn't have a tail anymore because Toriyama kept forgetting to draw it, so if day just go with your gut.
Thought Acceleration from Nasuverse? If you could accelerate each partition it would help in digesting massive amounts of data or running calculations that would usually require a computer.
For actual existing parahumans
From the top of my head
Lisa, Number Man, Horizon (Could solve her power limitations), Roulette (could better analyze her visions while she receives them), Dinah (Could offload her headaches?)
I don't know about DB but DBZ had a year till the Sayians arrived and he only had enough for each of the Z Fighters and some change. Then again he might have had a few up to that point?
Read a fic once where MC tried to get Bulma to grow some and she got stumped. Korin was smug about it. Refused to give anything away on how to make them.
My head canon is that they hard hard enough and personally taxing to Korin that he doesn't make any until he has to.
Could also be that, at least part of the reason only he grows them is because how far above sea level he is. Is part of the Senzu Bean's strict environmental needs.
