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.
On why other hand they have to grow quickly enough for Yaojirobe to stuff his face with them every so often.
An argument could also be made that Korin only gives them as many senzu beans as they need for any given fight because they have a tendency to give them to the bad guys.
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
Coil's gang is not minor that's the merchants pre-leviathan, Coil's gang actually hold important territory and was compare to ABB and E88. Fanon tends to overinflated the merchants pre-leviathan too much they only got territory no one cares about.
1. Examples:
-can "tag" people, seeing everything around that person in third person and can give advice(more powerful version has other senses like batman vision or superhearing or thruth vision) limitation is that they witness all tagged people at once, two was their maximum before it got too confusing
-asks themself a question.The question is "slotted in" and everytime they notice something that gets them closer to the answer its highligthed. (Highligthed person has indo,highligthed drawer has documents, highligthed clues like from a video game) can only slot in one question at a time. Cant slot in new question until they have an answer
-combat thinker. When he starts a fight, an equation for a series appears in his minds eye.He solves it in intervals. Every prime in that series is a point in the fight when the enemy is going to be vulnerable to an attack,(14, 8,322,7!!!!!!, 246,11!!!!!). Its difficult to do math and fight at the same time, even with powers
2.Senzu beans have no consistent time. So, i would suggest,since they can only be grown by a god, that you scale their growth rate by how much holy power they are exposed to. Im sure there are some minor gods or celestials in the menagerie. Growing under the light of the explosion constellation would be a start.
The results spoke for themselves. In a marvelous example of cooperation, Shaw 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.
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 prosperous.
It's been a while since we saw any Slimes so that's nice. And it's only the second time we had the option to gain anything from TWEWY so that's cool too.
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.
Lisa, Number Man, Horizon (Could solve her power limitations), Roulette (could better analyze her visions while she receives them), Dinah (Could offload her headaches?)
Lisa: Still a villain.
Horizon: That's a very good one!
Roulette: For now Alex isn't giving powers to Wards, but I'll keep it in Mind it would fit well.
Dinah: Too young and Armsmaster already Tinkered something for her that helped.
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?
Coil's gang is not minor that's the merchants pre-leviathan, Coil's gang actually hold important territory and was compare to ABB and E88. Fanon tends to overinflated the merchants pre-leviathan too much they only got territory no one cares about.
That's true, but in the quest, he was "recruited" by Cauldron to use his power to help protect Compendium when Eidolon and Alexandria first became aware of his potential. Since then, it has become far less necessary (and less reliable because of Alex's Thinker protection) but by now Coil know that he has no hope against Compendium so he's scaling down his operation and focusing on market manipulation. He hated it.
-can "tag" people, seeing everything around that person in third person and can give advice(more powerful version has other senses like batman vision or superhearing or thruth vision) limitation is that they witness all tagged people at once, two was their maximum before it got too confusing
-asks themself a question.The question is "slotted in" and everytime they notice something that gets them closer to the answer its highligthed. (Highligthed person has indo,highligthed drawer has documents, highligthed clues like from a video game) can only slot in one question at a time. Cant slot in new question until they have an answer
-combat thinker. When he starts a fight, an equation for a series appears in his minds eye.He solves it in intervals. Every prime in that series is a point in the fight when the enemy is going to be vulnerable to an attack,(14, 8,322,7!!!!!!, 246,11!!!!!). Its difficult to do math and fight at the same time, even with powers
[X] 200 Quantum Slime + Micro Bonus
[X] 300 Headbangin' Grizzly + Micro Bonus @zagan
Could the Quantum Plorts be used to argument how much can be taken between universes?
Come to think of it, how has Alex's actions affected the economic situation in Brockton? I am not an economist but it seems to me that given the dangers in Worm, including the Endbringers which Alex helped killed, that people will flock to those locations considered safe, likely the ones protected by powerful and responsible seeming Capes. That in turn implies a growth of local markets provided total mismanagement is avoided.
If Coil plays things right he could potentially switch over to a more corporate takeover of the city (which it kind of sounds like he may already be starting?) and become even richer and powerful in a more soft manner. I am actually curious how business are being affected by recent events.
[] 200 Quantum Slime + Micro Bonus
Even in the far future setting of Slime Rancher people haven't managed a way to use quantum plorts for item duplication and the slimes themselves appear to have abilities based more on macro-scale quantum uncertainty than anything else. Still, there is bound to be at least one Tinker for whom the plorts are a godsend. Still not sure about them personally, the point cost is not too bad but it is still 200.
[] 300 Headbangin' Grizzly + Micro Bonus
This one has some interesting pins attached to it. You could probably make a decent Hero using them, possibly by including Material Extraction with Grant Summoning. Yet the cost may not be worth it.
Fairly certain we already have pretty good, non-radioactive battery technology, so I'd rather go with the plort that gives us potential teleportation and item duplication.
I see where you're coming from but I would say that they're different enough.
Roulette's visions aren't particularly ambiguous they're just not very reliable outside of identifying what powers and motivations someone may have
Also since someone else mentioned her as a possible recipient of mental partition I have to say I'm not entirely sure how useful that would be for her. The majority of the limitations of her power are things that it would do nothing to help with and the few benefits it would give her would be questionable at best.
After all even if she uses it to use her power mid fight while still remaining in control of her body she's till flipping the coin on how useful the information she gets will be and how long the visions will last. It would definitely be better than her current situation but I'm not sure by how much.
Come to think of it, how has Alex's actions affected the economic situation in Brockton? I am not an economist but it seems to me that given the dangers in Worm, including the Endbringers which Alex helped killed, that people will flock to those locations considered safe, likely the ones protected by powerful and responsible seeming Capes. That in turn implies a growth of local markets provided total mismanagement is avoided.
If Coil plays things right he could potentially switch over to a more corporate takeover of the city (which it kind of sounds like he may already be starting?) and become even richer and powerful in a more soft manner. I am actually curious how business are being affected by recent events.
The city is almost certainly on an economic upswing, one that's likely to continue once Alex finally clears up the Graveyward, but I don't think it benefits Coil that much because he's likely on a very tight leash.
The second that Cauldron realised that Compendium had the potential to be of use Coil was doomed to never be more than a bit player in Brockton Bay. If he makes any moves against Compendium then Contessa will pay him a visit and if he does anything that even remotely risks drawing Compendium or the PRT ENE's attention to him then at best Cauldron will do nothing to help him and at worst they'll kill him first to prevent him from blabbing about things he shouldn't be.
Even in the far future setting of Slime Rancher people haven't managed a way to use quantum plorts for item duplication and the slimes themselves appear to have abilities based more on macro-scale quantum uncertainty than anything else. Still, there is bound to be at least one Tinker for whom the plorts are a godsend. Still not sure about them personally, the point cost is not too bad but it is still 200.
Even in the far future setting of Slime Rancher people haven't managed a way to use quantum plorts for item duplication and the slimes themselves appear to have abilities based more on macro-scale quantum uncertainty than anything else. Still, there is bound to be at least one Tinker for whom the plorts are a godsend. Still not sure about them personally, the point cost is not too bad but it is still 200
No problem there since as above they have Tinkers or people like Dragon to help study it also Alex has Material Extraction which gives him knowledge on how to use materials from his partners so he has more of a headstart on how to use it than most.
I was recently reading a worm fic about a clone user who was VERY imaginative with his power. Like he may have been a sociopath who only cared about his loved ones, but by god did he use his power in amazing ways. It was to the point he fought Oni Lee into retreating and made Lung kinda look like a dog chasing a bone. Granted, his clone power was more like naruto clones with a hivemind.
Again the beginning of the chapter contains some romance with Crystal, but it's mainly about Alex. I struggled with that first part, I hope I managed to hit the right emotional note.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Saturday, 05/28/2011 (9 AM)
In complete contradiction with my mood, the sun was shining brightly above the cemetery. When I got up this morning and realized that it would be a bright and sunny day I contemplated making it rain. The idea was discarded promptly, it wouldn't have helped. And Dad hates rain anyway, going to see him under the sun was more appropriate.
I stood some distance away as Mom talked to Dad. I've deliberately disabled all forms of enhanced hearing I had access to, this was a private moment. Crystal was by my side, holding my hand in silent support. I looked at the scenery around us, the cemetery was well-kept, with trees and plants scattered around. The tombstones and the monuments were clean and well-maintained. The gangs never bothered doing anything here, there was nothing to gain in despoiling a cemetery besides some bad press and maybe even internal strife.
Inexorably my thought turned back toward the Celestial Menagerie. It contained infinite possibilities, I've been surprised by what it could offer numerous times. Was resurrection among the cards? And if so would I dare? I've never been very religious, and contrary to what one might expect, meeting gods from other worlds didn't help. But if a peaceful afterlife exists, could I drag my father back from it? I've gotten hints that it does exist in some other Dimensions, but was it the case in ours?
I was thankfully dragged away from that impossible-to-answer question when I saw Mom step away from the grave. I saw her eyes glistening with tears and didn't hesitate for a second before engulfing her in a fierce hug. Despite the three years that have passed since Dad died, the wound was still raw for both of us.
After a minute, she calmed down and I let her go. She gave me a sad smile. "Thank you, Alex. Go on, I'll be fine."
I gave her a searching look before nodding. Mom was strong, on the day it was always hard, but she would pull through.
Turning to the side, I hold out my hand for Crystal. She hesitates. "Are you sure?"
I nodded firmly. "Yes, you've met Mom, it's only fair that you met Dad too. Even, if…" A shudder ran through my body. "Even if he's gone."
That was the right thing to say because she returned my nod and took my hand. "Okay."
We walked to the foot of the grave.
"Hey, Dad. It's been a while." I licked my lips, unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry for not coming sooner. There's a lot that I need to tell you about."
I glanced to the side and Crystal gave me an encouraging smile. "First let me present to you, Crystal Pelham, my girlfriend. We haven't been together long, but we've become extremely close. She's very important to me. I'm sure you would have liked her."
Crystal blushed prettily at my words and I squeezed her hand.
"But that's not all. I got powers, joined the Protectorate, and became a Hero. It's been quite the journey. Let me tell you about it."
Haltingly, I began a brief retelling of the last three months. Intellectual, I knew that I was speaking to empty air. Nevertheless, I still want to do it. I want to share all that happened to me and all that I accomplished with my Dad. I want him to be proud of me. In a way, it was more for me than for any possible lingering spirit. Maybe it was a form of therapy.
"...my teammates dealt with the last members of the Merchant, yesterday."
I stopped there. I felt empty, but in a good way, as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
I straightened up and let out a breath. "I love you, Dad. Goodbye." Resolutely I turned around.
When we rejoined Mom, it was her turn to hug me. After one last look toward the grave, we left the cemetery.
When we reached the car, Bernie again, I turned toward Crystal.
"Thank you for being there. I'm sure that it wasn't very pleasant for you."
She put her hand against my cheek. "Don't worry about it, Honey. As I said, it was an honor for me to be there for you." Then she placed a soft kiss on my lips.
We were interrupted by the sound of throat clearing coming from Mom. With a laugh, we parted.
As we were about to get in the car, Crystal asked me a question. "Hey, Alex? We're having a study session in Audrey's apartment this evening and afterward, we're going to play some board games. Do you want to come?" Before I could answer she hurried to continue. "If you don't feel like it, I'll understand. It's just that it could be a nice distraction for you."
I put a finger on her lips. "It's fine. I'd love to come. It'll be fun."
"Great."
After dropping Crystal at her house, Mom and I returned home. I took the day off, and I intend to enjoy it, mainly by doing nothing related to work. And so the rest of my morning was spent playing video games. I avoided anything with even a hint of violence, so it was mainly puzzle games.
For lunch, I whipped a few snacks with Mom and then we watched an old classic together, a comedy we've seen plenty of times already but still as hilarious as the first time we watched it called Airplane. It was one of Dad's favorites.
That consumed an hour and a half of my afternoon. Considering that I still had a good few hours to kill I decided to honor Dad's memory in another way.
While we never had the space or the money for it, he often wished that he could build his own model railway layout. I could remember him saying that once he retired he would convert the attic into a room just for that purpose.
I didn't share his passion but I could certainly appreciate it. And so I spent a chunk of the afternoon on my computer, researching how I should go about building a model railway system. I could have had my AI-Self collect the data in a few minutes, I could have had Prime build everything from scratch, or used Toy Summoning on Bruce to have a fantastic model train. Ultimately, I decided against doing that. I would do everything by hand and use commercially available products. The only concession to my powers was that Nimue would create a room for that purpose in the Dungeon's quarter.
It would be a long-term project, something to relax with when I manage to get away from work.
At the end of the afternoon, despite not working, I still had a few things to do.
Baxter, my Rachni worker, was ready to evolve and become a soldier. In fact, he was ready since I dismissed him yesterday at the end of the training period. The next time I would summon him, it would be as a Rachni Soldier. This wasn't a normal part of the Rachni lifecycle. In the manner of ants, rachnis are born within a cast and remain in that cast for their whole life. For reasons that escaped me, the Menagerie decided that evolving into a bigger and stronger caste should be possible and made it so. As a worker, Baxter didn't possess much personality, he was somewhat smart and capable of complex tasks, including working on technologies but mono-focused on his work. This should change right now.
When Baxter appeared in front of me, he was much bigger than before, nearly as tall as me, and with a body plan that could only be called alien. Four legs, with a curved torso in the center of his body, a pair of pincer arms, two tentacles coming from his back and also ending with pincers, two prehensile arms below the head, a beck that split in four, no visible eyes, and solid brown chitin covering everything. It was nightmare fuel for anyone not warned.
Despite that, Baxter was more than friendly enough, and now he was smart enough to communicate in simple terms.
When he saw me, he bowed low and transmitted via pheromones the title he had chosen for me. Via Animal Translation, to my ears, it sounds like music. And was accompanied by mental images.
"ℭ𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢𝔯. ℜ𝔢𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔫. 𝔖𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯?"
I chuckled. "Yes, we'll be working together in the future."
Followed by Baxter, we visit the Dungeon's entrance. Just in time to see the Pioneer exit accompanied by Hug. I was very proud of their progress. The Pioneer reached level eight in their combat classes and six in their civilian classes. And Hug reached level five in both.
I spent the next half-an-hour with them and Baxter, watching everyone demonstrate their new capabilities and just having fun.
While Baxter didn't join the ranks of my most powerful partner, he was still far from weak. His acid in particular hindered healing, which may come in handy against regenerators.
Star gained an ability called Holy Light, which among other things allowed them to attack at range. A game-changer for the slow-moving alien echinoderm.
Similarly, Hug gained the ability to talk with plants, something that would be invaluable in their garden.
As I watched them play together the Menagerie gave me two new partners.
We have a new slime, and a very interesting one at that, a Quantum Slime./It can generate a ghost copy of itself and then teleport to the location of the ghost./And of course the plorts it generates have the potential for similar things./I think big sister will have fun with that.
That reminded me that I needed to contact her, so she could take custody of several materials I recently gained access to. Without her restriction, I was sure that she would be able to make good use of everything.
The second one is more amusing than anything./ A Garanian Bolite is a tiny insect that resembles a flea./What's funny is that when brought in contact with the skin of a humanoid, it had a peculiar effect. The subject will feel an itching sensation before their skin turns blue, then yellow, then green, then blue again and the cycle continues./The effect lasted less than a minute and it was harmless.
I wasn't one for pranks, but it could be fun.
Then it was once again time for my daily round of Random Summoning.
After triggering Random Summoning, there was a tiny delay. Instead of appearing instantly, it took something like half a second before a Whale shark flopped on the ground in front of me with a crash. Acting fast I gave it the ability to fly and heal it of the damage it had taken. Thankfully, Environmental Adaptation meant that it didn't start suffocating the instant it appeared.
After calming it down, I watched as it rose in the sky, swimming in the air. I could feel some confusion coming from its mind. But also some curiosity at the strange environment it found itself in. I could have just dismissed it immediately, I had no use for a Whale Shark at the moment. And in fact, I couldn't think of any scenario in which I would need one. But it was a majestic creature and I enjoyed watching it fly around.
I took a few photos, just for the hell of it, before sending it back to wherever it came from.
The next one was much more significant, in fact, it may be the most significant one since Gugalanna if you didn't count Zepar which worked differently.
Cernunnos was a god of nature, and looked like a satyr, albeit one that was more than two meters tall. He remained silent as he observed our surroundings. His frown told me that he didn't much like the desolate land that surrounded us.
Immediately I decided that I would treat him with as much respect as the other godly beings I've encountered so far. I didn't want to offend him so I adopted a tone as formal as I could.
I inclined my head. "Lord Cernunnos. It's an honor to meet you."
The nature god focused his attention on me, seemingly examining me in detail, certainly seeing far more than his eyes alone would allow. At last, he spoke. "Keeper. Why have you summoned me on this day? The link between us feels fleeting."
"It is. The Celestial Menagerie, in addition to its usual means of functioning, granted me the ability to temporarily call on beings from all over the universe on an arbitrary basis. I've taken to using that ability daily, in the hope of acquiring resources of all sorts or help against specific problems that I do not have the means to deal with yet."
He inclined his head to the side. "I see."
"I apologize if my call has offended you in any way."
He waved his hands. "Do not worry, Keeper. I do not mind honoring the agreement made with the Administrators of the Celestial Menagerie. It is an interesting experience. I'm willing to lend you my help for my brief time in this realm."
Despite his words, he frowned again and looked around. "However, this place displeases me. It's anathema to my domains."
"That's understandable. The Menagerie does not deal solely with creatures in harmony with nature. This Pocket Dimension is the home of one of my partners. A useful but distasteful creature. If you give me a minute to use my ability one last time, I can then show you somewhere much more pleasant." As I spoke I kept my tone respectful and cautious.
I didn't waste any time and used Random Summoning for the third time today. Seeing that I've only summoned a giant bat with nothing truly special about it besides its size and nothing to gain from it I dismissed it quickly.
I turned back toward the patiently waiting Cernunnos. "Again, thank you for your patience. Let's be off."
With no more ceremony, I teleport us both into the Orb's dimension. Cernunnos took stock of our new surroundings and looked much more appreciative of it.
"Yes, this is much better."
At the same time as I gave him a tour, I talked about the life I have built for myself since I became a Keeper. The struggle I faced and the one still coming. Cernunnos listened attentively and asked pointed questions. He appeared to focus on the reasons for my choice more than on the actions themselves. On the way he also got to meet Princess and some of my other partners, taking particular delight when interacting with the ones that also possess power related to nature. It was a shame that this was only temporary, I would have liked to have him as a partner.
By pure coincidence, we ended the tour at the garden, where Hug had returned and was working. The friendly slime was quick to greet the god, which didn't appear to mind being engulfed in a hug as soon as he was spotted. His great bout of belly laughter resonated through the garden.
Once he calmed down and extracted himself from Hug, he turned toward me. His expression turned serious.
"Keeper, I recognized the worth of your accomplishments. I'm willing to offer you my blessing."
I bowed low. "Lord Cernunnos, I would be eternally grateful for any help you would be willing to provide."
"However, this blessing has a cost. You would lose the ability to call on my help ever again."
Mentally he conveyed the full extent of his meaning. If I accept, I would lose the chance ever to gain his pattern through the Menagerie. In fact, even if I was to find myself in his home realm I wouldn't be able to use Creature Acquisition to form a pact with him.
Would it be worth it? I didn't even know what form that blessing would take and he didn't elaborate.
[] Cernunnos Boon. Note: Enhance the Garden area so the plants grow faster and produce more. Lose access to Cernunnos forever.
[] Cernunnos Glaive. Note: Receive his Glaive to use or to be gifted to someone. (Similar to Grant Summoning.) Lose access to Cernunnos forever.
[] Cernunnos Wild Hunt Note: Transform Glitch Piglett into a magical boar permanently. Lose access to Cernunnos forever.
[] Refuse politely. Note: Cernunnos can still be gained normally if we roll his entry. (Or through the Peerless Companion, capstone power).
Wordcount: 2708
Excess words: 194
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So yeah, with a god among our Ranbom Summoning, I decided to go wild and give you the option to pick up a blessing from him.
I intend for the next few chapters to cover more time. Instead of roughly one day per chapter, instead, it would cover three, four days, or more. Only stopping for important events. However, this means that writing those chapters may take longer. Not really because of the writing part itself, but more about the upkeep of the quest, the random summoning, the ongoing training for Alex and his partners, the selection of new companions, and so on. So I'll try to keep posting weekly, but no promises on that.
For the roll, 220 (Banked) + 240 (Chapter) + 120 (Excess words) = 580 points.
