Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hello! This is my first Worm fanfic. I hope that my concept is unique enough to interest people. Additionally, I am posting this concurrently on fanfiction.net - so don't be surprised if you happen to stumble on it there as well.

The Most Dangerous Gamer - Prologue

Jacob crouched down in the back of the van. It was pitch black with no sunlight, the armored plates that replaced the windows made sure of that. The smell was awful. The large creature next to him breathed in and out. It was the only sound he could hear. His own breathing was shallow. He needed to focus. *Clink* He tilted his head. Yes. It was starting. The faint clinking sound that he'd just heard was soon replaced with screams.

"It's showtime!"

Jack Slash flung open the doors to the van. Crawler gingerly stepped out behind him. Once the massive creature was outside, he quit being concerned about breaking things. The black six legged dinosaur-like beast shook itself like a huge dog. It then bounded towards the arcade. Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Why bother being so careful with their ride? The van was a temporary thing. Mannequin's improvements consisted solely of swapping out the glass in the back for metal plates. The same couldn't be said for it's front.

Not that the van still couldn't drive, but who wanted to deal with the glass shards? Besides, it had acidic drool in the back. That couldn't be good.

Jack unfolded a straight razor and began to whistle. He casually trailed the other member of the Slaughterhouse Nine. The ceramic-covered tinker stepped out of the van behind him. The two approached the now demolished wall of the arcade their target was in.

The boring wait was over. Now it was time for some fun!

Well, as much fun as could be found in a one-horse town like this. Really, a single gas station, a Dairy Queen, a dollar store, and the now wrecked arcade - that seemed to be all this town had to offer. From his research, Brooke's Creek, Texas had been in an economic slump for decades. The oil wells had dried up, and the oil equipment plant had closed its doors years ago. Still, there was a 2-a school, so that'd be good for some entertainment later.

If Bonesaw left any of them alive by the time he got there.

Still, he was in a good mood. Clay Price was an up-and-coming Tinker. One that had recently made some impressive Virtual Reality tech. An escape from the real world, where you could experience things in such vivid detail that you couldn't tell the difference. Clay was about to go public. Renovate the town. Make millions of dollars while improving the lives of countless people.

We couldn't have that, could we? Alan especially couldn't. The encapsulated Tinker didn't say much, didn't say anything really, but he seemed eager. Jack glanced at his companion as they strolled through the wrecked wall of the building. Clay pressed all his buttons. Rogue? Check. Tinker? Check. Using his ability to both make money and 'improve' the world? Check.

The shattered glass of a half-dozen arcade games crunched under his feet. Three kids lay bleeding on the ground, while an older, slightly obese man was slumped over in the back office. The pair moved to the only adult.

"This is a real shit-hole, you know?" He casually addressed the bleeding Tinker. "I mean, how many square feet is this?" Jack looked around. "I've been in bigger shacks."

"Wha-What do you want?" The portly parahuman blinked at him. Blood was pouring down his face from multiple wounds. Must make seeing a bitch.

"Why you of course." Jack smiled and flipped his razor into the air, catching as it fell. "We're here to offer you a position in our little organization." He leaned forward to whisper in the injured man's ear. "It's the Slaughterhouse Nine, not the Slaughterhouse Eight. We need pick up someone new."

"What?" The man's confusion was palatable. "What could I even do? I'm a nobody. I made a video game for God's sake!"

"Don't sell yourself short." Jack smiled. "From what we hear, you could create an interface that keeps people in any kind of situation."

"Yes?"

The leader of the Slaughterhouse Nine's grin grew larger. "Think about it. They could be tortured in ways not physically possible. Feel pain that would normally cause them black out! Have realities within realities! They could escape one, only to figure out they never left!! We could make our own brand of Simurgh bombs!! People so convinced they're still in a game! Just waiting for the other shoe to drop! Never really believing they're out!! Just imagine what even a few hundred of them would do in a place like Houston. Even Eidolon might not be able to handle it!" Jack couldn't help himself, he burst out laughing.

Beside him, Mannequin shifted forward. A chained arm shot out, its hand wrapped around Clay's throat.

"So, what do you say?"

"What? I could never..." The bloody Tinker's sentence was cut-off as Jack casually flicked his wrist. A new streak of red appeared on the fat man's belly.

"Now, I'd reconsider if I were you. You don't really have much of a choice. Let me show you what will happen to you otherwise. Ned, if you'd be so kind."

A deep chuckle came out of the largest member of the Nine. The Adaptive Regenerator had gotten on board after Jack suggested the VR might cause his brain to adapt in new and interesting ways. "Eenie... meenie... miney... mo!!" Crawler's front right leg pulped one of the teenagers on the ground.

"Stop, please!" Clay shouted.

"Why?" Crawler asked as he licked the girl who had just started laughing uncontrollably. Her hysterical laughter turned to screams as the beast's acidic saliva started dissolving her alive. "One last chance." He moved over to the final teen.

Jack felt a pressure. Something was coming. Something huge, powerful... familiar somehow... He blacked out.

...

...

...

Jack came to. "Ugh. That was just like Bonesaw..." He sat up with a shock. Could it be? It'd be simple to tell, there was only person around who could've triggered. The boy.

The teenager in question was sitting with his back against an old game cabinet. His eyes shifted back and forth, over and over. He then blinked, and softly said. "Shit."

Jack smiled. "Oh, this is going to be fun. Come on Clay. Time to watch something even better."

The boy took in a deep breath and stood up. He wore a jacket, despite it being summer in Texas. Blood caked his face. His pants were also shredded and covered in blood, yet he stood up with no effort. A Brute? He looked around the ruins dispassionately. Interesting. Jack got a sense of apathy.

"Hey. Is that invitation open to me too?"

Chapter Text

The Most Dangerous Gamer - Thrown into the Deep End

+3000

I smiled. The arcade machine bleeped and pixelized mushroom men danced over my character's head. The high score screen came up, granting me a bonus for each life left. Not my highest score, but it was just something to do while Mr. Price got things ready. "And that's how you do it!"

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Great. THIS is what we're wasting our lunch-hour on?"

Tom chimed in. "Yeah, you said there was something amazing. We've seen the arcade before."

I shook my head. "No this isn't it." Looking towards the back of the store, I shouted. "Hey, Mr. Price! The demo ready yet?"

"Almost." The yelled reply came. "I just have to put everything back together."

"So what is the big secret?" Nancy popped her bubblegum. "A new arcade game? Phone game? Game console?"

I smirked. "You could say that, but it hardly does it justice. Mr. Price made a new console that'll blow everything out of the water!"

Tom shook his head. "I mean, I not surprised YOU are excited about something like that. But Mr. Price? Can he really make something like that?"

"You'll see." I unzipped my jacket, it was kinda hot in here.

Nancy sighed and shook her head. "Look. I'm not into games like you guys. Why'd you even drag me down here?"

"That's exactly the reason." I explained. "Mr. Price let me test 'cause he knows I like this stuff. He wanted some input from people who don't normally go for this kind of thing."

"That's all well and good for you." She smiled as she shoved me. "But what do I get out of it?"

"Trust me. You'll have a blast."

The teen girl crossed her arms. "That's what you said about that old relic you bought. What was it? The 'Any Ess?'"

"That's NES, and I still can't believe you didn't like 'Legend of Zelda'!"

"I can't believe you'd thought I would!"

"Guys, guys." Tom motioned with his hands. "Let's not get off topic here. Kevin, what's so great about this new console?"

"Well... you remember that Earth Aleph movie 'Lawnmower Man'?"

Tom tilted his head. "That one that... uh.. what's his name wrote? The famous horror author?"

"Steven King. And he writes more than just horror."

"Horror?" Nancy asked accusatorily.

"We're getting off the point." I shook my head. "The movie is about Virtual Reality, and that's what the new console uses."

"Virtual Reality?" Tom sounded extremely unconvinced.

"Trust me, trust me." I smiled, barely containing myself. "Everybody's going to want one!" Shoot, once they tried Mr. Price's invention, they'd be thanking me.

Nancy cocked her head. "Hey, do you guys hear..." She was cut off when all the glass in the arcade exploded.

...

My head swam. My eyesight was blurry. Everything felt fuzzy. There was something hot on my forehead. I reached up to touch it. Ew! It was wet. I pulled my hand down and looked at my fingers. Blood! The world focused on my palm. Blood! My blood. From my head! A sense of terror began to fill me as I watched the tiny rivulets of blood that slowly stretched down my palm. It wasn't until a drop of blood fell from the bottom of my palm that I broke from my stupor.

I took a deep breath to yell, and then nearly choked.

"Just imagine what even a few hundred of them would do in a place like Houston. Even Eidolon might not be able to handle it!" Someone cackled from behind me. I couldn't turn to look. My entire being was now focused on the... thing that loomed above me. It was pitch black. Huge. So. Many. Teeth.

"So, what do you say?"

"What? I could never..."

"Now, I'd reconsider if I were you. You don't really have much of a choice. Let me show you what will happen to you otherwise. Ned, if you'd be so kind."

The thing moved. Crawler. I recognized its description now. I followed capes, which meant that I knew the big villains. Not that there were many in Texas. Not with Eidolon in Houston. I knew the Slaughterhouse Nine though. They were famous, in the worst kind of way.

"Eenie... meenie... miney... mo!!" The monster pressed down on Tom's prone body. My friend bulged... and then burst like a watermelon.

Somebody said something, but I couldn't focus on anything but the remains of Tom. My friend. Dead. Pulped. That was until Crawler shuffled closer... and *licked* Nancy. I watched her hysterical laughter turn into screams as she melted before his eyes. I wanted to do the same thing, laugh and laugh at the absurdity of it all. Just like that, we were all going to die. The acid spread through her body. What was once a thin layer of slime somehow grew and grew until she was nothing more than a green puddle. There wasn't anything I could do to stop it. Crawler turned toward me.

My last thought was how reality really sucked compared to games.

...

A worm. A gigantic creature that dwarfed Crawler. Dwarfed the Earth. It was wrong somehow. The way it moved. Shifting in and out of reality.

...

5 Compatible shards found.

Gamer's Body trait created.
Gamer's Mind trait created.
Observe trait created.
Inventory trait created.

*Memory Removal effect negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Conflict Drive effect negated by Gamer's Mind.

I blinked. I remembered the worm. I remembered Crawler. I remembered the Slaughterhouse Nine. But I felt... oddly calm.

*Hysteria condition negated by Gamer's Mind.

What?

A blue window hung in the air before me.

Welcome Kevin Greenhouse! You have been granted the abilities of The Gamer! Upon initialization, you have gained 4 traits. Complete quests and activities to grow stronger and shape the world as you like it.

*You have 14 unread notifications.

I blinked. Gamer's Body? Gamer's Mind? Observe? Inventory?

At each one of those thoughts a new window opened. Inventory was last, and so was on top of every other floating blue window.

*Inventory. Active. Level 1. You have an inventory you can use to store items. Currently you may store up to your STR x 10 pounds of non-living objects that you touch.

Really? Neat.

Wait.

Neat? Why am I so calm? What was that box about hysteria before?

I focused on the window, and mentally wished it would close. It did.

*Observe. Active Level 1. You may identify seen objects and people.

Ok. Next.

*Gamer's Mind. Passive. Level MAX. The world is a game. Keeps the mind calm. Immunity to mental disorder.

Ah. That explains it. I had to admit that I was definitely mentally unbalanced by the recent events. I could tell that it wasn't normal to watch a single drop of blood slowly make its way down my palm while the world went to hell around you. But at the same time, I just couldn't look away. That need, that exclusion to focus on such a small thing fell away. So did any denial of my situation. There wasn't any point in laughing, screaming, or crying. None of those would let me live. Next.

*Gamer's Body. Passive. Level MAX. Grants a body that allows the user to live in the real world like a game.

Huh. What exactly did that mean? A hit point gauge? Extra lives? Saves? Just how exactly did this work?

*You have 15 unread notifications.

15? Wasn't it 14 just a moment ago? I focused on the popup, and a list began to scroll past my eyes.

*A new quest has triggered: Escape the Nine. Time limit: 42 seconds.
*Due to prior injuries, you have lost 15 HP.
*Due to prior injuries, your Resist(Physical) has increased 1 lvl.
*Due to prior injuries, your Resist(Physical) has increased 1 lvl.
*Due to prior injuries, your Resist(Physical) has increased 1 lvl.
*Due to prior injuries, your Resist(Physical) has increased 1 lvl.
*Due to prior injuries, your Resist(Physical) has increased 1 lvl.
*Due to surviving losing 10% health in a life or death situation, you have gained +1 Con. (Single-time bonus.)
*Due to surviving losing 25% health in a life or death situation, you have gained +1 Con. (Single-time bonus.)
*Due to surviving losing 50% health in a life or death situation, you have gained +1 Con. (Single-time bonus.)
*Due to surviving losing 75% health in a life or death situation, you have gained +1 Con. (Single-time bonus.)
*Perception check failed.
*Perception check failed.
*Perception check failed.
*Escape the Nine: Time limit expired.

Escape the Nine?

A new window popped up:

Escape the Nine

Due to your lucky trigger, all parahumans in close proximity have suffered STUN(irresistible). Capitalize on this and escape!

Success: +1,000 Exp; Follow up quest: Lay low.
Failure: The attention of Jack Slash. Good luck!

I softly said "Shit."

A voice above him said. "Oh, this is going to be fun. Come on Clay. Time to watch something even better."

*A new quest has triggered: Into the Deep End. Time limit: 10 seconds.

Fuck. Into the Deep End?

Into the Deep End

You failed to escape the Nine. Jack Slash recognizes you as parahuman. This means he's taken an interest in you, which is bad. Of course, if he hadn't, Crawler would've eaten you, which is worse. Either convince Jack not to kill you (hard), or try to escape from Jack Slash, Crawler, and Mannequin (virtually impossible).

Option 1 Success: +200 Exp; Increased Reputation with the Slaughterhouse Nine; Follow up quests; ???
Option 2 Success: +5,000,000 Exp; Decreased Reputation with the Slaughterhouse Nine; Follow up quests; ???
Failure: Death or worse at the hands of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

*Extreme Panic condition negated by Gamer's Mind.

Oh God. I thought. I looked at the timer ticking down. 4 seconds left. I couldn't fight the fucking Slaughterhouse Nine. I couldn't run away! What the hell was 'or worse'? 3 seconds left. Never mind, I'd heard the stories. It didn't matter what my particular worse fate was. I knew it was an experience I needed to avoid at all costs. 2 seconds left.

Shit! Why are they here anyways? What was going on while I was bleeding on the floor? Think Kevin, think!! Recruitment! Jack Slash was talking to Mr. Price about joining. Could I get that same deal?

1 second left.

Oh no. Oh, hell no. Join? Is that the only way out? Fuck my life. Unless I want to bet on having reloads or extra lives, I have to join. I doubt reloading would work against the Nine anyways - even if I do have a power like that. I mean, the quest said 'or worse'.

I took a deep breath and stood up. Just as the timer reached zero, I turned to the well-groomed man with the razor. "Hey. Is that invitation open to me too?"

The smile of the blond with the razor grew wider and more predatory. "Oh? You want to join? Why should we let someone like you in? What exactly do you bring to the table?"

I resisted the urge to gulp or to look away. It was surprisingly easy. With just a little concentration, I faced the psychopath and spoke. "I have powers." What powers? I mentally reviewed my log. Resist (Physical). +1 Con. Must be short for constitution. They'd improved. My body treated the world like a game. I no longer hurt. "I'm a low-level Brute, but I can improve." Time to make an educated guess. Crawler was behind me. It'd made sense that I might be similar to him. Capes ran in the family, so there was something about powers that matched them up with existing ones. "The more I'm hurt the stronger I get."

* +1 Wis for keeping a calm head and making accurate guesses about your power in a stressful situation.

"That's not all. I can improve in other ways." No, I should NOT let them know I have any kind of Thinker abilities. Nothing that might make me seem like a real threat they should just nip in the bud. They have Crawler and the fucking Siberian. "I can get stronger and more skilled by doing repeated tasks."

Wait. They also have Bonesaw. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Being too interesting would also be a bad thing.

*A new quest has triggered: Bonesaw's Brother

Jack smirked. "Can't we all?"

"Not like me." I kept eye contact with him. It was a little difficult to read the notifications without moving my eyes. However, I didn't want my character to look away. So I didn't. "I think you'll find I improve much quicker than any non-cape." What to do to convince him. Basic psychology is to mimic someone's body language. We'd just had that class last week. I spread open my arms and smiled. "I'm willing to prove it to you. I may not know anything combat related now, but let me practice and I'm sure you'll be... suitably impressed with the results."

*By performing a new task, you have created the Acting skill.
*You gain +1 Cha.

I didn't respond to the notification, but I mentally patted myself on the back for that pause at the end. It felt dramatic. Something that Jack would like. He's all about presentation. Well, presentation and abject horror.

The gigantic black creature behind me rumbles. "Really?" He sounds... excited. Not sure what to make of that.

Jack's smile vanished. "If you want in, you have to pass EVERYONE's tests." His eyes twinkled. "I think I'll go last. Ned? Alan? What about you?"

*Into the Deep End complete! +200 Exp. +10 Reputation with the Slaughterhouse Nine. Access to a new quest.
*A new quest has triggered: The Nine Tests of Highly Effective Monsters

Am I just digging myself in deeper? I am, aren't I? Oh well, lets see what this is. The Nine Tests of Highly Effective Monsters?

The Nine Tests of Highly Effective Monsters

The Slaughterhouse Nine don't let just anyone in. It takes a certain mindset, a certain 'je ne sais quoi', and a certain power level. No scrubs allowed!

Survive every test 0/8.
Bonus 1: Pass every test 0/8.
Bonus 2: Prevent the full extent of your powers being discovered.

Success: +1000 Exp; Increased reputation with the Slaughterhouse Nine; ???
Bonus 1 Success: +500 Exp; Increased reputation with Jack Slash; Jack Slash might make things easier or harder on you
Bonus 2 Success: Reduced interest of Jack Slash
Failure: Death or a worse fate.

A tapping sound came from my left. I turned...

*Surprised has been negated by Gamer's Mind.

...and there stood a 9 foot tall robot. His pure white armor had chains that connected his different limbs together. Mannequin. How had I not seen him? I mean, I know I have a van-sized abomination, a insane slasher, and all sorts of craziness happening around me, but still... he's a frickin' giant!

What had my notifications said? 'Failed Perception check'? That's an understatement.

The tapping sound was Mannequin tapping his chest. He pointed at me, then he pointed at Mr. Price before drawing his finger across his 'neck'. Perfectly silent the entire time.

"Good idea Alan."

Alan? Does he mean Mannequin?

"We have one opening, but two applicants. Having them reduce the numbers themselves seems only fair."

*A new quest has triggered: Mannequin's Choice

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. I got the idea, but let's make sure. I mentally pulled up the quest.

Mannequin's Choice

Mannequin's test is very simple. Kill Clay Price. (Or be killed by Clay Price - he doesn't care.)

Success: Mannequin's approval; Increased reputation with Mannequin; Increased reputation with Jack Slash; ???
Failure: Decreased reputation with Mannequin; Decreased reputation with Jack Slash; Failure of The Nine Tests of Highly Effective Monsters

Fuck. I thought I was allowed to fail some of their tests. Not this one I guess. I look over at Mr. Price. He's looking at his arms, they're covered in blood. In fact, he looks really pale. Whatever he was working on is shot. He's a Tinker, without his equipment he's just a person. Shit, even with his equipment he's just a person. He makes video games for crying out loud.

Do I have anything that can help? Resistance? Inventory? Observe? Let's try that, perhaps I'll get a clue.

Clay Price (Entertainment)
Interface

Gender: Male
Age: 32
Race: Human (Parahuman)
Faction: None

Clay Price never was a social person. He was an introvert - preferring to socialize as little as possible. That's why, on a company trip to Newfoundland, he didn't hang out with his co-workers in their hotel after work. Instead he went to his room, put on some headphones, turned down the lights, and played the video game he'd brought.

This caused him to miss hearing the Endbringer sirens when Leviathan attacked. Even though the fighting didn't reach their location, the massive waves did. Clay Price nearly drowned, wet and alone because everyone else had fled. He triggered. He still is an introvert, but an introvert that wants to let people connect (and make a system that will display emergency notifications too).

Unfortunately, the Slaughterhouse Nine learned of his plans and his technology. They seek to corrupt them both. Clay isn't a brave man, but he is willing to die to prevent it.

Holy shit! That's... that's... amazing! Everyone knows Thinker powers are bullshit, but someone's life story at a glance? I read the passage while slowly walking towards my friend, but I already knew it. As soon as the blue window popped up, I knew everything it said without having to expend any more effort. I now knew more about Mr. Price than I'd ever guessed before. Mr. Price who built an arcade in his hometown, despite it being home to less than a thousand people. Mr. Price who'd let me in on his plans, who let me test his new Tinkertech.

*Paralyzing Guilt negated by Gamer's Mind.

Mr. Price who'd only told one person his plans. One stupid teenager who'd bragged about it online. One solitary person who could've tipped off the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Me. I'd killed him. Just as surely as if I bashed his head in myself. Which I was about to do to save my own pathetic life.

But I still walked forward. I knew what I had done, what I was about to do, and I only felt Calm. Like it was a game. I'm a monster.

*Paralyzing Guilt negated by Gamer's Mind.

I... Fuck! What choice to I have? They'll kill us both if I refuse. Mr. Price is ready to die. I'm not.

I pick up his marvelous gaming console from the table in front of him. He looks at me with bleary eyes and a forlorn expression. The apology I want to give him writhes in my mind. I can't say it. If I say it, the other three monsters in the room will kill me. Hollow words from a hollow person.

-6 HP
-3 HP
-5 HP

*NerveGear Prototype has been damaged.
*You have defeated Entertainment! You gain +400 exp!
*By performing a special action you have gained the title 'Murderer'.
*Mannequin's Choice complete! +400 Exp. +20 Reputation with Mannequin. +10 Reputation with Jack Slash. Your Inventory ability has been upgraded! You no longer have to physically touch an object to store/remove it if it is within 1 ft.
*The Nine Tests of Highly Effective Monsters 1/8; 1/8
*You have leveled up! You gain +5 ability points!
*By performing a special action Gamer's Mind has improved. You may now experience effects 'in character', allowing you to analyze them and react appropriately (if you have the skill).

I let the remains of Mr. Price's work drop to the floor so that the table blocks them from the view of the three 'people' watching me. With a thought, I inventory the murder weapon. Now nobody can corrupt his work. Perhaps I can even make Mr. Price's dream come true one day.

*Your acting skill has increased by +1.

*A new quest has triggered: Passing on the Torch

Passing on the Torch

Entertainment was killed before he could make the world a slightly better place by the Slaughterhouse Nine. See if you can gain the skills to reproduce his work, or find someone that can.

Bonus: Find the rest of Entertainment's NerveGear prototypes 0/3
Success: +6,000 Exp; ???
Bonus Success: +2,000 Exp per prototype

I think about the Paralyzing Guilt that was negated. I instinctively know how I should behave to mimic it. I'm not sure I could pull it off. In fact, I'm positive I can't. Even if I could, I doubt that would ingratiate me with the Nine.

* +1 Int for making a rational (if not moral) choice in a high-stress situation.

3 more prototypes? They must be in the locker. I take a step back and look Mr. Price's body up and down while mentally commanding the Inventory to get the NerveGear prototypes.

*NerveGear prototype obtained x2
*Failure to obtain NerveGear prototype. No more space in Inventory.

These things were heavy. I guess my power wasn't strong enough to carry all of them. It was STR x10 right? Ok then. I allocated +1 point to STR.

*Failure to obtain NerveGear prototype. No more space in Inventory.

One more point into STR.

*NerveGear prototype obtained

Looking away from the life I just ended, I walk back and stand in front of Jack. I choose not to say anything. I lock eyes with him and Observe.

Jacob Roach (Jack Slash)
Broadcast

Gender: Male
Age: 36
Race: Human (Parahuman)
Faction: Slaughterhouse Nine

When Jacob was a young boy, his mother and father rushed him into their bomb shelter one night. He lived there for months with the radio his only contact with the outside world. His father kept telling him about the ongoing war.

Jacob finally ran out of food and decided he needed to sneak out since he didn't want to worry his father. He opened the door to beautiful sunny day. He Triggered and never looked back.

Jacob met King, and joined the Slaughterhouse Nine. He took on the name Jack Slash. Jack didn't like being treated like a pet. He and Harbinger killed King, and took control of the group.

Harbinger left, and Jack began to mold the group into the S-ranked threat it is today. Jack's knack for keeping powerful parahumans in line, alongside his intelligence, proves he deserves to be the leader. Now everywhere the Nine go turns into the apocalypse his father feared, and Jack is never bored for long.

Probably useful to somebody somewhere, but not to me right now. My character keeps his eyes locked with Jack while I start observing random things in my peripheral vision.

*Overwhelming Sadness negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Your acting skill has increased by +1.

Oh God. Nancy liked me. That's why she came with us. I thought she was into Tom. I know my power is suppressing my emotions somehow, but I still feel guilty. I guess I feel that way in an abstract sense, rather than because of hormones racing through my brain. Makes it feel even less real than if I was playing a game. I usually felt those when I was drawn into the story line. Of course, I always picked the 'Heroic' factions and choices. Ironically, I could never handle playing the 'Villain' before I became one.

Jack keeps on smiling and playing with that razor of his. Should I blink first? I most definitely don't want him to kill me. I don't think I stand a chance against him, and he's (arguably) the weakest member of the Nine here.

*Your acting skill has increased by +1.

Observe. Observe. Observe. What's that? The granola bar refills my HP? Makes sense if this were a video game, so I guess it makes sense for me. I look away, bend down, and pick up the bar. I doubt this is one aspect of my power I'll be able to hide. So it's probably best if I use it and tell them or let them figure it out.

+5 HP

I lost my impromptu starring contest with Jacob - no, I need to refer to and think of him as Jack. If I mess that up, he'll know I have Thinker powers 100%. What's next? It has to be Crawler's test. I Observe him and Mannequin.

Ned Simpson (Crawler)
Adaption

Gender: Male
Age: 23
Race: Human (Parahuman)
Faction: Slaughterhouse Nine

Ned was always a small boy, which meant that he never lived up to his father's expectations. Not that anyone could. The abuse he habitually suffered warped his mind. He began to associate pain with love. Or at least pain with the only person he wished to love him.

As a teenager, this masochistic attitude did him little good. He learned to hide it. As a naturally skinny child, it was simple to get the jocks to beat up the 'scrawny creep'. Playing into the role also made his creep acting a very real part of himself.

It was only when he went too far in seeking pain that he Triggered. A local gang member saw his 'enjoyment' of the beating. The resulting homophobic assault left Ned on the brink of both ecstasy and death. He wished he could experience such a thing forever.

His powers let him do so at first. Near perfect regeneration that lets him improve constantly. He even attacked Behemoth - which resulted in his current monstrous form. Unfortunately for him, the long sought pain he craves is harder and harder to come by as his body gets stronger and stronger.

Alan Gramme (Sphere/Mannequin)
Enclosure

Gender: N/A
Age: 44
Race: Human (Parahuman)
Faction: Slaughterhouse Nine

Alan Gramme grew up in England. He Triggered as young boy when he was trapped in a cave for 14 hours. He was surprisingly calm when rescued, feeling safe in the confines.

He grew up, and saw the world turn toward disaster. Behemoth and Leviathan were unstoppable monsters. The term ' Endbringer' was coined, and everyone feared for the world. Alan sought to help people survive by moving them beyond the reach of the monsters.

A new monster appeared. The Simurgh descended on London. It took Alan's wife, child, and sanity. The doctor withdrew into himself, decided he needed to lock out the world. In an awful irony, he did to himself what the rest of the world did to London.

Once he was 'safe', he decided that no one else could be allowed to spread false hope. He couldn't stand so have the world that had hurt him so continue on.

The Tinker Sphere had turned into Mannequin. He sought other Tinkers to kill. Anyone that would improve things was targeted. It wasn't long until he encountered the Slaughterhouse Nine. It was an easy sales-pitch for Jack.

I feel bad for Alan Gramme, but not Mannequin. Is that my future? Fuck.

Can I Observe myself?

Kevin Greenhouse
Optimization

Gender: Male
Age: 15
Race: Human (Parahuman)
Faction: None

Kevin Greenhouse was born in California, but moved to Texas at a young age. His mother was his father's 3rd wife, and the couple decided that a crowded cities weren't safe any longer. Brooke's Creek was his father's hometown, and the family moved there.

Growing up, Kevin was a quiet and helpful child, the polar opposite of his brother. Kevin was an introvert. He had few friends, but those that he had were very close. At school, he tended to read a book while walking to and from class. This resulted in mild bullying - taunting and laughter. He easily ignored it.

When he was 13, his father died from lung cancer. This caused Kevin to withdraw into himself. He sought escape via video games. His older brother ran away, while his mother became increasingly worried. She took a job as a teacher at the local high school in order to make sure Kevin got a good education.

School came easily to Kevin. He was top of his class, not that his class was very large. Still, even as a big fish in a small pond, his intelligence and rationality were obvious. Upon entering high school, his mother managed to enroll him in AP classes, despite his age and lack of said classes in Brooke's Creek. Since his school's hours don't line up with the AP classes broadcast from Cambridge, they were recorded for him.

At first, he had to watch them in the teacher's lounge, but he was granted permission to do so at home - as long as his grades remained high. This left him more time for video games, but he still maintained his studies. It was what his mother wanted.

Last year, Clay Price moved back to town. The Tinker re-opened the rundown arcade. Kevin now spends most of his free time there, mastering old and new arcade games alike.

That... seems pretty accurate. Also different information than my power is providing on my 'Status'. That's listing video game stats, but it doesn't have a biography.

A gurgle comes from Crawler. A deep approximation of a voice says. "So you're like me? I want to test that."

*A new quest has triggered: Crawler's Experiment

Crawler's Experiment

Crawler wants to see if you're like him. If you are, you could grow to hurt him one day. What's more, you could grow with him in a constant cycle. The thought... excites him.

Time Limit: 6 hours

Success: Crawler's approval; Increased reputation with Crawler; ???
Failure: Death

I nod. "Can we do it across the street?"

Crawler furloughs his... brow? "What's wrong with here?"

"I need mass to fuel my growth." I jerk my head. "The Dollar Store has food."

Crawler makes a motion where his front appendages meet his body. A shrug I'd guess. "Sure."

Jack and Mannequin follow us as we walk the short distance. He begins to make a speech to the people who'd survived the glass. I tune him out, grab a 2 liter soda and chug it.

+10 HP

Observing the food here I pick the highest calorie items. That seems to be the main metric that HP recovery is tied to. Not the only one though, as diet soda still gives half. It looks like those CON bonuses I got for damage thresholds raised my max HP, not current - if I'm judging the gauge I'm seeing correctly. Probably wouldn't have gotten that last one otherwise. I need to examine myself soon, but not with Crawler literally breathing down my back.

Four more 2 liters top me off, and prove that Gamer's Body doesn't have such a thing as a full stomach. I turn to my current nightmare. "My physical resistance is still pretty low. I don't think I'll show damage until I'm almost dead." I start removing my jacket and t-shirt. "As I am now, I'm confident you could easily kill me with one swipe. So let's start off slowly, OK?"

"OK."

-64 HP

*By surviving a single blow in excess of 50% of your total HP, you have gained +1 Con. (Single-time bonus.)
*By surviving a single blow in excess of 75% of your total HP, you have gained +1 Con. (Single-time bonus.)
*By surviving a single blow in excess of 90% of your total HP, you have gained +1 Con. (Single-time bonus.)
*Due to endured injuries, your Resist(Physical) has increased 1 lvl.
*Due to endured injuries, your Resist(Physical) has increased 1 lvl.
*Due to endured injuries, your Resist(Physical) has increased 1 lvl.

"Stop!" I yell. I can hear the panic in my voice. Guess there's no mental debuff to remove, and Gamer's Mind calmness only goes so far. Crawler tilts its head area. I look down at my chest, not a mark to be seen despite my brush with death. "That took more than 90% of my shield." I guzzle down more soda. "Again, same strength please."

-51 HP

*Due to endured injuries, your Resist(Physical) has increased 1 lvl.
*Due to endured injuries, your Resist(Physical) has increased 1 lvl.

"Better" I gasp. "Barely over 50% that time."

Crawler's mouth parts in a smile (or at least an approximation of one). "I hope your strength grows as quickly."

I shake my head. "Not yet, just defense."

The van-sized monster pouts.

I shrug. "I'm sure strength will come. Perhaps it's delayed. Or I might have to do something else. I'm positive it's possible."

The beast perks up, and our grinding session commences over the sound of Jack torturing the other survivors. When the six hours are up (which is when Jack seems to lose patience, and people to kill), I'd gained 29 Con and tons of resistance. Crawler's strikes now are only doing 4% of my HP each. His spit is an acidic, venomous, disease - however that works. One drop did ever increasing damage. I nearly died before my resistance got high enough so that eating could out pace the damage.

On the plus side, I did become immune. That's hard proof that my power works - if seeming invulnerability wasn't enough. I also almost ate every last HP restoring item in the store. Even managed to squirrel away a few candy bars before my inventory was once again full.

*Crawler's Experiment complete! +400 Exp. +100 Reputation with Crawler. Your Gamer's Body ability has been upgraded! Error! Gamer's Body already at Max level. Recalculating... +50 ability points
*The Nine Tests of Highly Effective Monsters 2/8; 2/8

I also had time to look over my own stats while eating and getting burned, poisoned, diseased, and clawed. I have ability points to improve my base stats, but nothing to improve my traits. Getting 50 Con gave me an available Perk, but I don't seem to be able to select it yet.

*New Perk Available: Solid as a Rock

Solid as a Rock

Reduces damage of any type by 50%. Additional benefits against attacks that bypass HP. Unlocks other Con perks.

Considering I topped the 4 resistances I was grinding off at 95-100% in just six hours. I'm not that impressed. Really all it accounted for was extra HP. Sure, doubling it would be nice, but I need something with more flexibility and power.

Kevin Greenhouse
The Gamer

Gender: Male
Age: 15
Race: Human (Parahuman)
Faction: None
Title: Murderer (+50% damage to helpless targets)
Level: 2 (400/2000 Exp)
Mover: 0
Shaker: 0
Brute: 5
Breaker: 10
Master: 0
Tinker: 0
Blaster: 0
Thinker: 5
Striker: 0
Changer: 0
Trump: 5
Stranger: 4

HP: 296
MP: 124

Primary Attributes
STR: 8
AGI: 8
CON: 55
INT: 19
PER: 12
WIS: 12
CHA: 9
LUC: 5
Unspent Points: 53

Traits:
Gamer's Body lvl Max
Gamer's Mind lvl Max
Observe lvl 1
Inventory lvl 2

Perks Selected (0/0):
None

Perks Available:
Solid as a Rock

Skills:
Acting: 4
Athletics: 1
Basic Academics: 2
Computers: 1
Damage Resistance (Acid): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Disease): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Physical): 25 - 95.6%
Damage Resistance (Poison): 100 - 100%
Parahuman Lore: 3
Video Games: 26

Ongoing Quests:
Bonesaw's Brother 10/500
The Nine Tests of Highly Effective Monsters 2/8 2/8
Passing on the Torch

Chapter Text

"That's enough playing Ned. The sun is already setting." Jack Slash shook his head, while flipping a switchblade. "I'm bored. These people are no fun." He swung his blade down at Mrs. Peterson. She didn't make a sound as her body shuddered and stopped moving. "Is he a pass?"

Crawler rumbled "Yeah. He's not as quick as me, and he's not getting any stronger, but he's already pretty tough."

I looked at the last survivor Jack had just killed. Mrs. Peterson. She'd been a friend of my mom. She liked playing bridge and talking about her daughter who moved to El Paso. How long would it be until she found out? The Protectorate's Thinkers would probably get a list of everyone killed eventually. Would I be on it? Would Mrs. Peterson's daughter know what her mother went through. Would she even want to? Was ignorance bliss, or would the uncertainty gnaw at her?

I wanted to turn away. To not look at the people I'd killed. To try and put it out of my mind. Another notification about Gamer's Mind popped up. No. I had to do it. I had to face my sins. Even if nobody else knew or remembered what happened here, it was something I had to carry.

5? There was Nancy, Tom, Mr. Price, and Mrs. Peterson... Oh. My power was counting me as a victim. Small comfort that. Alan Gramme was a victim, and look at him now. Still, I NEED to do this. To carry this weight. Even if it won't help anyone at all, at least I'll remember.

I Observe the remaining bodies on my way out of the store. I wondered how many survivors there were. I know that by the time the Slaughterhouse Nine left, that number would be zero. Could I save anyone? Assuming that I could find someone or be left on my own in order to do anything.

I didn't ask where we were going. We headed East, along the railroad tracks. I Observed everything that I could, picking up some new dead for my quest. It wasn't until we got to Bush Dr. and turned North that I realized our destination. The high school.

I was torn. My mom was a teacher. She started so that she would be around for my brother and me. To make sure we got the education we needed. After dad died, it helped her stay active. A small bud of hope bloomed in my chest. Rationally, I knew she was dead. In fact, I prayed she was and that it had been quick. Dying in the glass explosion would be best. I felt horrible thinking that, but honestly it would be a kinder fate than what awaited her if she was still alive.

A kinder fate for me as well. I had no illusions about what one of the next 'Tests' would be if she lived.

Sure enough, we got to the high school. Jack led us to the 2nd floor science room. Inside there was a little girl, splattered with blood, who was busy sawing into a former classmate of mine. Some stood like zombies along the wall. The rest were stacked like cordwood in adjacent classrooms. I wandered around Observing them all while the little girl hugged Jack. It could only be Bonesaw.

My wandering and internal musing was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. A black and white stripped woman, naked as the day she was born stood behind me. She motioned and I followed her back to the lab.

"Strolling down memory lane?" Jack flashed me a wicked grin.

No point in hiding it. "I was looking for my mom."

His eyes brightened. "A teacher?" I nodded. "Did you find her?"

I pointed over my shoulder. "She was in the 3rd room. The 4th pile."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "And how does that make you feel? Happy? Angry? Sad?"

He was fishing for something. Why? I shrugged. This wasn't part of my power I could reasonably expect to hide. "She's just an NPC. Now that I'm a PC and the game's started. She's just part of my back story."

"Oh? Do tell."

I nodded. "Life is a game. Before I was just an NPC like everyone else. Now I'm a cape. I have powers. I'm a main character now."

The best lies were those mixed with truth. I'm not sure where I'd heard that, but it seemed like good advice.

"Interesting." I did not like the smile Jack now had. "Riley dear meet our newest recruit. You know, I never did catch your name."

"Kevin."

"Lacks flair. If you pass everything, we'll give you something more appropriate." He motioned to the blond girl. "I'm assuming you're aware of Bonesaw's reputation. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell her about your powers."

I Observed her and the monochromatic woman.

That... that's... my mind goes blank. Not from any external effect. I just can't comprehend the double-whammy of information I just got. Bonesaw, Riley, is like Mannequin, but worse. So much worse. I don't know how I can feel such a combination of pity and revulsion at the same time.

The Siberian is a projection? A projection more powerful than Alexandria? Immune to what? Everything? Her creator must be one of the most powerful parahumans on the planet. If his creation is this powerful, he could be anywhere in the world. He might not even know what the Siberian is up to? My mind reals, and I miss what Riley says. "I'm sorry. What was that?"

"I said." She stops her little foot. "I want your arm. Flesh that creates its own Breaker effect?" She hops up and down. "Please, please, give it to me!"

I pause. I can fail some of these and still pass the main quest. Still join the Nine and live. A moment ago, that's exactly what I would've done. But now, I look at the small girl in front of me. The vicious mass-murderer who's tortured hundreds, thousands of people - and I stop. Is her reputation worth so much? Wait, I already got a quest about her didn't I? I didn't check it when it came up, and honestly I'd forgotten about it.

Fuck. It was worth it. It's the single most valuable stat I could hope to grind.

"Well?" Jack smirks. "Don't keep the little miss waiting. Answer her."

I pull myself out of my daze and look down at Bonesaw, no Riley. I nod. "You can have it. I think we'll have to get Crawler to wear down my Breaker state before you can chop it off though."

She giggles. "We don't need to do that. Plus I want it in your Breaker form. Sibby? Would you be so kind?"

What?

The Siberian grabs my right shoulder, and casually rips my arm off!

I scream and fall to the ground.

My throat doesn't go hoarse. I don't stop to inhale. I scream and scream, until the pain starts to fade. I check my character sheet. 55% pain reduction. I guess I'm able to stand having about half my arm torn off. Yay.

I stagger to my feet. It's a lot harder than I'd though with only one arm. Jack, Riley, and the Siberian are all looking at me with various amounts of interest. Remember, I have to keep on Bonesaw's good side. No yelling at the tiny traumatized psychopath.

"My apologies, Riley. I didn't mean to cause such a scene. I hope my arm proves interesting to you." Jack did call her Riley right? I'm pretty sure no one has said 'Bonesaw' out loud.

"That really hurt didn't it?" She cranes her neck to look at what's left of my shoulder.

I kneel down to give her a better view. "I thought I could handle it. Ever since I triggered, I haven't felt pain until then."

"Really?" She pokes my open wound. "How'd you scream for 5 minutes straight?"

"My Breaker state I guess."

"Wow! I can't wait to cut open your arm." She spins around to climb on a stool and strap my detached arm to a table. A sharp looking scalpel barely leaves a mark. Riley leans down and frowns. "There shouldn't be any external marking..." Her frown deepens as she moves over to the pool of blood my severed arm is making. Another cut, this time to the inside and she sighs. "Brute not Breaker." She steps down and walks over to Jack, putting her hands on her hips. "You said his Breaker state couldn't be turned off!"

Jack shrugs. "It's not off is it pumpkin?" He casually flicks his knife in my direction.

"It just didn't stay on when separated. Live and learn." He smiles. Did he just manipulate Bonesaw and the Siberian into chopping my arm off? Why? My hatred of him grows a little bit more. "No point crying over spilled milk. Siberian, you're up."

The zebra colored woman turns to me and smiles.

Jack chuckles. "It's always the same with you." He turns to me. "I suppose I should explain her test, since our little unstoppable lady here isn't keen on speaking." He rolls his eyes. "She's going to chase you for three days and three nights. If she catches you, she'll eat one of your finger joints."

That son of a bitch! I swear, I'll kill him if it's the last thing I do.

I keep my character's face calm. I need to limit the information Jack gets from me.

I hold up my single remaining arm. "Wait just a few seconds please." The Siberian tilts her head, but doesn't attack me. I take this as a good sign. "Riley, since my arm is just a Brute arm now, may I please have it back?"

"What? No!" She pulls my arm from the table and hugs it, slightly shielding it with her body. "You gave it to me! It's mine!"

"I don't mean for nothing." Her scowl lessens. "If my arm won't work, why don't you just experiment on me?"

"Really?!?"

"Really. Just, we'll discuss things first ok? I want to know what my power does just as much as you, but I'd prefer to take it perhaps a tad more slowly."

"Hmmmm..." She furrows her brow and brings her hand to her mouth, which looks very disturbing considering her gloves are covered in blood. "Okay!" She nods and offers up my arm to me with both hands.

I take my arm and hold it to the stump. Nothing. "Oh well. Ready?" The Siberian nods. I jump out the remains of the window while shouting: "Go!"

She's waiting for me when I land. Wordlessly I hold up my severed arm. She smiles and bites off a 3rd of a finger.

Oh, thank God.

She then grabs my left had and brings my pinky up to her mouth. Shit.

The Siberian smiles at me while she slowly chews her double meal. No point in wasting the few reputation points I've gotten from her. I nod... and book it as fast as I can.

...

That leaves me 100 exp away from leveling up. I slide down against the wall of a building.

She had eaten my severed hand's fingers first. I think she ate part of my pinky as a warning, or it might've been a joke. Hell, for all I know the insane, invincible projection was flirting. Regardless she only caught me 3 times after she finished off my 'leftovers'. It was enough to lose all of my pinky and the tip of my ring finger. I think she eased up towards the end. It might have been because I'd left her my entire arm after its fingers were gone. I'm pretty sure she ate the whole thing, since it took her longer than average to catch me the next time. Never got a resistance skill against whatever she was. I did get 4 more levels of pain resistance. So... there's that.

I currently had a number of ever-worsening physical statuses. Gamer's Mind was keeping me awake and alert, but Gamer's Body was trying to get me to go to bed. My massive Con was all that kept me going. I'd have to thank Crawler.

The 72 hours of running for my fingers had produced some nice gains. My agility had gone from 8 to 32. Not fast enough to evade the Siberian, but I think she started to have to work for it at the end. I'm pretty sure I qualified as a Mover now. I also put on +2 points of strength, and +5 more con. What's more, the demented game of 'Hide and Seek' also raised my Perception by +12! Compared to that, the smattering of skill level ups didn't seem to matter as much.

My 3 day chase had also allowed me to explore almost every where. Never saw anyone alive that the Nine hadn't already caught, but I managed to Observe them, and plenty of dead people as well. My quest total went from 214/843 to 813/843. Just 30 people that are unaccounted for. 2 and a half dozen that I *might* be able to save.

Gamer's Mind handled the paranoia debuff I'd gotten from constantly looking over my shoulder, only to run into the Siberian right in front of me.

What's more, I know she had a good time. I'd gotten +50 Reputation with her over the course of the chase. Odd that an effect from a power has a reputation gauge, but I guess she is the most powerful projection on Earth. Make sense that she'd have to be sapient in order to operate without a master.

I need to take a nap to recover from the Con penalties I was currently suffering. I doubted I was going to get a chance. Jack wasn't the sort to ease up when his target isn't doing well. Riley's past confirmed that, as if I didn't already know it.

Before someone came to find me, I took the time to review the 2 new perks I qualified for. Not that I had any points to unlock them.

Recover HP equal to your level times your Con every minute. Recover from other physical injuries and debuffs slowly when at max HP.]

Ok. I know what I'm taking when I get a Perk.

If I wasn't missing an arm, I'd pick this first. It sounds like a versatile and powerful ability. Assuming, that is, I was able to summon things like bears and not chipmunks.

As a rested, wondering if I could actually sneak in a nap before the next fight for my life happened, I saw a person walking down the street. He was 7' or taller, shirtless, and even from here I could see his face was a mask of scars. I Observed him.

Oh right, I heard of him. Didn't realize he was a member of the Nine. Not their most well-known monster.

Ok, I can do this. I'm tough, I'm fast, I'm average strength. Hatchet Face didn't say a word as he walked up to me. When he stepped on the lawn of the house I was leaning against, my Observe window vanished.

Right. I'm remembering now. The cape bogey man who can negate your powers and kill you like you were nothing more than a normal person. I jump to my feet and bounce a few times. I feel good. Still quicker and more agile than before the Siberian started my impromptu workout.

Hatchet Face lunged. He was quicker than he looked, but he moved in slow motion compared to barbie zebra. I danced away, staying just out of reach. Our silent fight continued as neither of us bothered to talk.

Surviving would be easy. Crawler and the Siberian had put me through grinding hell. The problem was, I didn't have any sort of offense. Even if I could grab a knife from somewhere and get a lucky hit in his eye or something - I doubt it'd actually hurt him at all. I could try finding a car and run him over.

No. If I remember correctly, his Brute rating is plenty high enough to ignore something like that. I frowned. He didn't negate the stat gains I'd gotten, but I wasn't sure about Gamer's Mind or Gamer's Body. I didn't want to find out either. Hell, I bet I couldn't even grind stat boosts from this asshole.

I ran.

He charged after me. I was quicker, and ducked into a house via it's empty window. He charged through the wall, doing a piss poor Kool-aid-man impression. I left through the back, and he followed.

Huh?

That car, it's wrecked. Crashed into a tree. Must've happened when Shatterbird sang. The odd thing was that there was no blood trail leading from it. Someone must've been it in when it crashed, but I didn't see anyone in the driver's seat. If they had been driving when the glass shattered, there's no way they weren't lacerated. So no blood trail meant that they hadn't left on their own or been dragged away.

I need to move away from it, before someone smarter than Hatchet Face picked up on what I'd noticed.

I needed him angry, which didn't seem like a hard trick to pull off. I only had four fingers left, but one was sufficient to get my message across. Our path of destruction ran past the high school. I kept going for another block, weaving between parked cars. He just bulldozed his way through.

I veered to the left, ducking into another building. He followed like the moron he was. As he demolished the wall, I threw a bucket of water at his feet. Lack of friction's a bitch when you weigh a ton and are going at full tilt.

Fuckhead slipped and slid into the pool. The water was red from where someone had been murdered. Not sure who, it was a school day when this all started. He fell into the water, refusing to drop his stupid axe. I jumped in and pulled the back of his head down.

I had no illusions about how much stronger than me he was, but I didn't need to forcibly hold him down, just confuse him. It only takes half a cup of water to drown. If you gasp when falling into a pool you get a lot more than that.

A one-armed wimp verses a giant with super strength isn't a fair fight. But I never had to win, just delay. I needed to keep him underwater as long as possible. It takes a full minute for an adult to drown. (Thank you swim class.) So all I had to do was keep him from getting his bearing for 60 seconds.

My lungs started to burn a little bit. The urge to breath was still a faint trickle. Looks like Gamer's Body was down, but my Con would allow me to hold my breath for a long time. Not that I had a chance to check it. Hatchet Face's movements began to slow. Keeping him underwater was proving simpler than I had thought. I seemed to have negative buoyancy, and he wasn't much better. As long as I was a literal lodestone around his neck this would work.

Suddenly, there was a HP gauge by him. Like my other windows, I knew what it said without actually having to read it. His power was gone or weakening. Was he unconscious? Not that I cared. The quest is to kill him.

I was also starting to take damage, but at a much slower rate than Hatchet Face. I ideally wondered if my Murderer title was helping.

I awkwardly try to swim towards the shallow end before giving up and walking. Once there, I use the stairs to exit the pool. At the edge Jack and Riley are waiting. The blond man claps. "Marvelous. The instant use of lethal force, the spectacle. I give you an 8.3."

I shrug, an gesture that doesn't look quite right with only one shoulder. "It's easy to kill a moron. It's the smart ones you have to look out for."

A smile slowly appears on Jack's face. "Too true. Too true." He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a walkie talkie. "Shatterbird darling, could you come to the pool and pull poor Hatchet Face out. He seems to have slipped and drowned."

Of course. That's why I still have a reputation track with him. With Bonesaw right here, it's not like he's really going to die. Probably lose a few brain cells at least, and he can hardly spare those. So I count it as a moral victory.

Now I had a more pressing issue. If I was right, and someone was hiding in that car's trunk, they'd need food and water. What was the rule of 3? 3 minutes without air. 3 days without water. 3 weeks without food.

I needed more carrying capacity. I put +1 point in strength.

As I walked past the concessions stand, I inventoried 9 bottles of water. Now to get back there without anyone noticing. And fast too. It'd already been 78 hours since my town was invaded. Even if the survivor had water in the trunk when this all started, they'd still be in bad shape now.

Chapter Text

Maria Gomez was thirsty. More thirsty than she'd been in her entire life. The last few days had been torture. Her windshield had exploded, causing her to crash into a tree just a block from the school. Going home and back during lunch hour had seemed like such a good idea.

Well, it had been a good idea, or at least a lucky one.

She didn't know how much time had passed. The blood on her forehead was still wet, so it couldn't have been that long. She sat up and looked around. Nobody had come to check on her yet. That struck her as odd, but right now, she couldn't precisely say why.

"Hello?" She tried to yell, but her throat was dry and barely a whisper escaped. "Hello..." The second attempt was slightly better, but her breath suddenly caught in her throat.

There was a naked black and white woman darting around the street up ahead. Killing her classmates. Maria froze. Like a deer in headlights. She couldn't think. She couldn't move. Her head stayed just above the steering wheel. Was it enough to remain hidden?

30 agonizing minutes passed. Once the naked woman had killed everyone, she calmly began to drag their bodies back into the school. Occasionally pausing to tear off a chunk of flesh with her mouth. When all the corpses had been accounted for, the creature began to walk into nearby homes before returning with fresh bodies.

Maria prayed, and it apparently worked as the murderer began to sweep the school in a clockwise motion. That took her in the opposite direction, at least for a while.

She didn't dare run. She'd seen what that got you. She also couldn't hide in a house. So Maria slowly unbuckled her seatbelt and slowly moved to the backseat. All the while acutely aware of every sound she made. Her gray Nissan Maxima had a connection between the trunk and the middle backseat. She just had to... there! She pulled the cushion down and squirmed her way through before pulling the seat up behind her.

The closing click was music to her ears.

She then focused on staying perfectly still, and breathing as little as possible.

That lasted for two days.

She started feeling faint, even when she was awake. The constant fear was finally replaced with the need for food and water. Especially water. It consumed her every waking thought. Especially that she had a full bottle in the cup holder. If she could just get to it and crawl back to her hiding spot...

It took hours for her to build up her courage. There were cracks around the edges of the trunk that let in sunlight, and she waited until dark. Then she waited a few hours more, just to be sure.

She could barely move her arms, but thirst drove her. Opening the panel, slowly creeping towards the front, panic when she didn't feel the bottle at first, and finally exhilaration when she grabbed it and successfully retreated.

The wet sensation as she gulped down the liquid felt like nothing she'd ever experienced before. She'd told herself that she had to ration it. Be smart, make it last. But she just couldn't help herself.

She regretted it again the next day when she had to pee. Using the bottle would make too much noise, so she soiled herself.

She lost track of time. The water had caused her stomach to expect food, and the hunger pains were crippling. They passed. The sound of somebody running, and cars being knocked to the side nearly gave her a heart attack. Fortunately, her hiding spot wasn't hit, though a shadow did pass over the trunk.

Maria tried to think of a plan, but nothing came to her. Then the shadow reappeared. She braced herself before there was a soft thump and a crinkling of plastic.

Something rolled towards her. It was cool, wet... water!! Her eyes had adjusted to the dim light, so she could see the small pile of food and water that had just appeared. She was saved!

Or was she?

This had to be the work of a cape, a hero come to save her, but why hadn't they spoken? If the heroes had arrived, there would be sounds of combat - or at least the sound of a search party. The only reason why someone had surreptitiously given her food was that they were also hiding from the zebra woman.

A hero, but one that couldn't fight that monster. One that did find and help her.

She decided to wait until night to eat and drink. In the meantime she prayed. Both for herself and the person who had delivered her from a long drawn-out death.

I didn't get a notification for dropping off the food. Did that mean the driver had already died? Or would the quest only complete when the Slaughterhouse Nine left the town? I didn't know.

In any case, I had to keep a steady pace as I walked back towards the school. I didn't need to see Bonesaw work, and I'm sure Hatchet Face wouldn't be too happy to see me when he recovered. Killing him a second time would be harder. It wasn't likely that he'd fall for the same trick twice, and I didn't have any other plans.

Could I get my hands on some of Crawler's acid? I bet I could inventory it, and that it was powerful enough to turn most Brutes into a green puddle. Come to think of it, I bet Bonesaw had multiple ways to kill him that I could use. If I knew where to look that was. Something to try and Observe in the school.

I glanced over my shoulder. Jack wasn't following. I don't know who's test was next. Who was even left? Shatterbird? I didn't know of anyone else on the team. Right. Time to try and get some shuteye and restore some of my Con.

At the school I saw someone else sitting on the front steps. She looked older than me, with brown hair I suspected was cut with a knife. Her pale skin had round burns trailing down her cheeks. I Observed her.

Shard? There's something that gives parahumans their powers?

Guess so... Not as tragic as Riley or Alan, but still a victim. But could she be saved from herself? If her power was what caused her to kill...

She looked up to me with dead eyes. "Your next test is an old one. We normally don't get to do it, but since you pointed her out... We really can't let it slide." Her voice was emotionless. I wondered if I could do something similar to fake... whatever she had wrong with her.

"Don't know if this is your worst fear, but I'm betting it's a big one." She reached into a pocket, and pulled out a small black box. "Destroy your past with violence and blood. You have to murder your emotions." How could she sound so bored while saying something like that? She pressed a button on the remote.

"Kevin? Is that you?"

No.

"Kevin? What's going on?"

It was my mom. She moved out of the school with small tentative steps. I closed my eyes. I should've seen this coming. My fear of this had given them exactly what they needed to make it happen. A self-fulfilling prophecy.

I took a step back. I couldn't do this. I didn't care if the Siberian ripped my head off. There was no way in hell I could kill my mom. I'd rather die running away... which would leave her in Jack's hands.

Shit.

My mom didn't have my powers. I couldn't escape with her either. Unless... no inventory was inanimate things only, not that I had the space to spare currently.

"What happened to you?" She looked around confused. "What happened to me? Tell me, please."

I took another step back. Even if I managed to escape with her, what were the odds Bonesaw hadn't booby-trapped her somehow. 0% She was dead, I was still alive...

No!

I couldn't rationalize her death like I'd done with Mr. Price. Despite Gamer's Mind, I was still in charge of my actions, and this was a line I couldn't, I wouldn't cross. I needed a plan. I needed more information. I Observed her.

I blinked. It wasn't my mom, just bits of her sewn back together. I didn't know if Bonesaw was incapable of bringing her back, or if there was something worse in store. Regardless, my next step was simple. I only had my left arm, and that was missing one and a third fingers. My strength had only leveled twice, enough to just be average now. It didn't matter. My mother was barely 5 ft. With my murderer bonus, killing her would be easy.

I can't believe I just thought that.

Doesn't make it untrue. I stand. (When had I fallen to my knees?) She barely came up to my chest. I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder, before spinning to her back. Now that I had her in a choke hold, damage notifications popped up one after another.

She tried to escape. Her fingers ineffectively clawed against my skin. Her struggle didn't last long, but I continued my hold. Only when I got the notification of her death did I release my grip.

No reputation increase with Burnscar. I don't think she really cares. If she's as depressed and emotionless as her profile said, I'm not surprised. Whatever. I sit down next to her and close my eyes. It's nice and quiet for a few minutes until I hear familiar claps.

Jack Slash stands above me. He smiles as he looks down. "Guess that wasn't really a hard test for you, Killer."

I wince at the name, which just makes his grin wider. "Finally your turn Jack?"

He shook his head. "Nope, I get to go last. Perks of making the rules." He motioned to follow him. "Shatterbird is up next. She's waiting for you in the gym."

I looked at him. "I though she was helping Fuckface."

Jack smirked. "It's Hatchet Face."

I shrugged, or tried to. "Not like he told me his name before he tried to kill me."

"Well, we do attract the silent types." He shot me a sly grin over his shoulder. "You're not one to talk."

I blinked. Did he just make a joke? His grin grew wider at my surprise and he started whistling as we walked around the main building. When we got to gym, he did a dramatic bow (with his hand moving in a little circle). I ignored him and kept on going.

The lights were off, which was soon compounded when Jack closed the doors behind me.

Odd. I got a feeling of... annoyance? A small bit of anger because of... unoriginality?

Huh?

What the? A new Observe power? I hadn't gotten a notification about any more upgrades. For that matter, how was I seeing the notification in the dark. It seemed to glow, but its light didn't touch anything else in the pitch-black room.

...

Dozens of notifications popped up as I felt scratches all over my body. After a second, the tickling focused on my eyes and mouth. It didn't matter to Gamer's Body. I took the time to contemplate my situation. After Crawler and Siberian, Shatterbird just didn't feel like much of a threat. I'd love to get that 2nd bonus - for multiple reasons, but I lacked offensive capabilities. Hell, I was probably less capable of hurting someone than before I got powers. A week ago I at least had two arms.

Something large slammed into my back. I staggered forward slightly, but not as much as I should have considering the size of the thing. Another quirk of Gamer's Body. The mass floated away before slamming me from the front.

At least I thought it was the same spike, no way of telling for certain in this darkness. I wasn't taking as much damage as I had from Crawler's claws, and Shatterbird was attacking much slower than the 6 armed creature could. That was the good news. The bad news is that my HP pool was a lot smaller due to the exhaustion debuffs. I also had no food on hand to heal with.

I took a step forward, and I heard clinking as my foot stepped on something. Glass shards were strewn about the floor. That must be how she's keeping track of me. If I could get out of the glass, she'd be just as blind as me. I could Inventory it, but that could tip my hand.

I tried to remember. What was the layout of the gym. The basket ball hoops were probably down, the backboards had likely made the glass shards that were attacking me. The bleachers would be put away - folded against the wall. The door to the locker room was on the opposite side to the right.

This time when the glass spike hit me, I wrapped my arm around it. It flew away with me attached.

I slipped and fell, but onto smooth wooden planks. I quickly rolled forward and was on my feet in a flash. My strength wasn't impressive, but my agility stat was superhuman now. I didn't bother being quiet, I doubted I was being tracked by sound. I found the small access panel, and slipped into the bleachers.

I paused. I could hear glass scrapping against the floor and walls. Should I stay? No. Time favored her. Shatterbird would find me eventually. Besides, I wanted the bonus exp. As I felt my way through the bleachers, I heard a sound from above.

Footsteps. She was on the roof. How to get up there? I was going to go to the locker room and get outside from there, but the gym was tall. There wasn't any roof access, no stairs or ladder. The closest thing was the bleachers. I began to climb up. It was a tight squeeze, people really weren't supposed be back here. The lower part had access for storing things like chairs, so there was a crawlspace. Climbing the inside wasn't something whomever made these things had expected someone to do.

I got to the top. If I remembered correctly, there should be a window right above me. I hoped whatever they covered it with to black it out wasn't sturdy. I eventually managed to brace myself against the wall. I pushed against the 2nd to top step.

Damn. I need to move the entire structure to extend the next to top step. I heaved again.... no new popup. I was afraid of that, I failed and wasn't going to get another shot. So I put +1 in STR.

In for a penny... +1 STR.

There was an incredibly loud creaking as the bleachers extended about a foot and a half. There wasn't much of a gap, but I'd goofed off in this gym enough to know how to wiggle through.

Wow. That was easy. I stepped up to the top, and felt along the wall. Cardboard paper. Perfect, unless Jack connected a trap to it or something. Below me I could hear the glass sweeping across the ground - trying to find me. I took a deep breath. And tore open a little hole. No change in the glass sound. I tore it a little wider and looked out.

No one in sight. I leaned out the window and pulled myself up. With my feet where the pane of glass used to be, I could peek over the rooftop. Shatterbird was there pacing back and forth.

I could run. Or I could get that bonus. Like I could throw away an opportunity like this. I slid up, surprisingly easy with just one arm. Improved strength and dexterity were nice.

I came up behind her. She had a colorful glass outfit and helmet. I couldn't choke her out with them in the way, but I reached around her and got her in a headlock. Just like I'd done to Bonesaw's puppet. I then inventoried her glass.

She tried to claw me and yell, but I was much stronger now. I also had a higher rank of 'Murderer'. Glass flew up and began to rage around me, but my damage resistance rounded all the HP loss to zero. A hundred times zero is still zero. I released her costume into the whirlwind of glass. We were making a lot of noise and somebody was going to come look sooner or later.

The ineffective whirlwind stopped. Glass wrapped around my head. She obviously thought turnabout was fair game. Minutes passed. Looks like Gamer's Body allows me to go without air - as long as it's not negated. I could feel her pulse quicken. Glass pulled me in one direction, and her in another. She could move glass with a lot more force than I could hold onto her. So I cheated. Rapid fire inventories kept disrupting her power. I had 30 lbs free. As long as what she made weighed less than that, I could keep disrupting her attempts. I knew Jack was watching, but I was betting that neither him nor Shatterbird could fully grasp what I was doing. Even if they could, rapid flickering of items around me was a far cry from a dimensional pocket.

Glass crawled between my arm and hers, trying to pry space for her to breath. It vanished, only to reappear a split-second later in a different location. Panicking, she started creating spears of glass and driving them towards me. I tried to Inventory them, but they moved too quick. I watched my HP tick down from strike after strike. 90, 80, 70, Gamer's Body neared its limit. However, I displayed no outward signs of injury. In her eyes, I was impervious. Her throat moved, as if she was trying to say something, but she had no breath left. The glass storm started to weaken, and with it the speed and power of her spears. All in all, it took more than 10 minutes for her to pass out. I maintained my hold until the victory notification came.

I look down at the dusky skinned woman who was now wearing nothing but her underwear. I hadn't Observed her yet. I wondered which she'd be, an innocent turned into a monster? Or just another monster. Who was I kidding? They were all innocents tuned into monsters, even Jack. The question was, if there was any hope for her... or me?

I knew Jack was watching, even if I hadn't gotten a notification about it. So when he started clapping, I didn't bother to turn around. His test was coming next. I needed to know if I had choked to death someone who was a helpless pawn or a despicable monster. I Observed.

A lot to unpack there. She got a raw deal, but has in turn has killed tens of thousands. She's not a victim in my book. She also got her powers from a vial and not a Trigger? Never heard of that before.

I wonder if it's different from a Shard, or if the vial contained a Shard. Whatever that was.

What else? I guess Observe lvl 2's effect is that last paragraph. That's amazing. Dangerous too. Observe has turned me into a high level Thinker, and if anyone finds out... well it probably won't be worse than the kill order I'll get for joining the Slaughterhouse Nine.

I finally look up at Jack and Observe him.

I knew he was more dangerous than just cutting things, but I'd thought he was hiding his abilities like I was. At least his broadcast was unconscious, unfocused. Unlike my Observe. Wait, did my ability come from his?

I'll take that as a 'yes'. Even with conscious control, Jack had decades more practice than did. I could grow stronger - an incredibly rare ability, so I might surpass him one day. Assuming I lived long enough.

Jack stopped clapping and was nudging Shatterbird with his foot. He gave me an appraising look while pulling out his walkie-talkie.

"Riley, get Mannequin to come pick up Shatterbird from the gym's roof." He smiled at me. "Looks like Killer got another one."

"What?" Her voice came from the small black box. "Does he have some kind of drowning ability?"

"I don't think so." Jack tilted his head. "Definitely a short range Shaker effect. Some sort of teleportation effect. Unfortunately it's Manton Limited." He shrugged. "At any rate, he choked her out with his bare hands." He stared at me while talking. "Oops, I meant hand."

I'm going to kill him.

Now I'm confused. He WANTS me to kill him. No, nothing in his profile hinted at suicidal. He wanted to get a reaction from me. I had a flash of insight. Gamer's Mind kept me calm, prevented mental effects... including his. He was having a hard time getting a read on me.

That confirms it, but how? My power must be smarter than me, it knows things I don't. A lot of Thinker powers are like that. My 'Shard' must be doing some thinking for me. That's...both good and bad. I get access to outside knowledge, but am I really me anymore?

There was a story, a philosophy exercise about a boat. It sailed for a long time. Through the years, it was maintained, new parts added to replace those that were worn down. In the end, every part was different. Was it still the same boat? I was being changed. Not just my body, but my mind. It wasn't as noticeable yet, but I'm pretty sure if this keeps up one day I might not recognize myself one day.

Would it be so gradual I'd never tell? Like looking back when I scratched an umbrella in my uncle's truck to 'protect it from the rain'. I was stupid, just like every kid. I'm smarter now, but I'm still the same 'me'. So even if I merge with a 'Shard', it's still me. Just... more.

Of course, these boosts might just be the 'Shard' hiding how it's slowly taking me over.

C'mon! You can't confirm that while doing it! Unless it's just recognizing a possibility. Or it would know I would know. Or it would plant that thought in my mind. Make me doubt myself. I'm going in circles.

Shit! Save the navel gazing when the empathic mass-murderer isn't looking right at you!

What? I looked around. I didn't see or hear anything. Which I guess was why the check failed. It took me a second to notice it. Shatterbird was gone. Had Mannequin taken her while I was freaking out about irrelevant stuff? I'm hitting 84 hours without sleep now. I have to keep it together.

Jack cleared his throat. "Don't fall to pieces just yet. You have one more test to get past before then."

Chapter Text

The finale. Jack Slash's test. Not a test in the normal sense. He knew what I could do (mostly). This was a test of my character. He wanted information. My shard was giving it to him right now, everyone's was. So I needed something that let him think he knew how to manipulate me. If he couldn't control me, I'd be killed. Regardless of the 'tests', he'd kill me. I was sure of it.

I had 3 more perks I hadn't looked at yet. Now that I actually had a point to spend, it was about time. Not that anything would probably match regeneration.

Power Drain looks promising, but right now I need HP. Also, I'd really like two arms and ten fingers in the future.

My HP began ticking up fast. Looked to be about 1 HP every 3 seconds, almost faster than Shatterbird could have lowered it. Not fast enough to outpace Crawler, yet. With it fueling Gamer's Body I should've felt invincible. The Siberian's presence said otherwise.

Jack had leapt off the Gym, and landed with surprising ease. I had followed him in silence while selecting my Perk. I knew what he had in store for me, but not how. "Where are we going?"

"To where it all began."

"The arcade?"

"So you think that's where it began?"

I nodded. "That's where my old life ended and the game started."

That was one option. Let him think I treated the world as a game. It wasn't far off, I just wanted a game with a different genre. Not this horror shit. Would the idea that I didn't consider other people 'real' keep me in the Nine? Perhaps if I thought they were. What if I only considered capes people? I think Jack would work with that. I'd shown I was willing to kill, but I don't think it would be enough. Remember, he wants to break me.

What had come closest to breaking me? Mr. Price. Nancy. Mom. If I didn't have Gamer's Mind, I'd had broken at each of their deaths. Conversely, I don't think that killing Hatchet Face or Shatterbird really phased me that much. I have to assume Jack knew this. Telepathy might not exist, but he had the closest approximation of it I'd ever heard of.

With that in mind, I think I knew his plan. Make me kill EVERYONE. That would bind me to him. But he needed more. He needed emotion from me. I don't think he cared what emotion, he needed a way to manipulate me.

Jack began whistling a jaunty tune as we strolled down the empty road. The arcade was more than a mile away. My HP would be full by then. I knew what was coming. I knew the 'win' conditions. So what emotion could I actually use? Gamer's Mind prevented most of them. I doubt I could break down and cry, or become depressed like Riley or Burnscar had. The main emotion everyone else had was anger, aside from Jack that is.

Anger I could do. Not anger at my former friends or innocent civilians, but anger at Jack. I already had a mission to kill him. He probably knew that. So I could play into it. It would be a good reason to stay in the Nine. After all, how could I kill Jack if I wasn't close to him. If I was driven by a desire for revenge, I would stay close. Bide my time.

Not that killing him was possible as long as the Siberian was around. If he could 'broadcast' to her, there was no threat she couldn't respond to in time. And Jack would see it coming... unless I hired a non-parahuman. With enough Tinkertech, someone could probably kill him despite Bonesaw's upgrades. Jack undoubtedly had some of whatever kept Shatterbird going so long. But who'd be suicidal enough to try it? Even if someone got Jack, the rest would end them real quick.

No. I was the best shot at killing this monster. Gamer's Mind and Observe were the only thing that could make such a thing possible. Once I got stronger that is.

I decided. I would let my anger of him bleed out in the fight. If I was right, he'd be glad of the tool I'd given him. If I was wrong, then the Siberian would tear my head off. So that's the plan. Take potshots at him that could be construed as an accident. I could probably get away with something more blatant, but let's not test that.

As we approached the arcade, I stopped. "You rebuilt it?"

Jack shrugged. "We do what we can."

I walked up to the wall and felt it with my hand. It had an odd texture.

The windows were still gone. This wasn't the original building material. One of them had made a facsimile. I was betting on Shatterbird. She could definitely compact glass into larger and denser objects. The Perk I could get from her also affected sand, so it seemed reasonable that she could as well. It was impressive. She could've been more than a mass-murderer.

The inside was clean. No blood on the floor, and all the glass shards were gone. The game cabinets were still wrecked. Nancy and Tom waved at me. A quick Observe confirmed that they were more meatpuppets made by Bonesaw. Tom had been turned in to bloody chunks, and Nancy had melted. I had no idea how they could've been restored.

Jack pulled out another remote and pressed a button. A flashing scoreboard rose up from behind the counter. It currently showed a zero. "My test is simple. You earn points for every person you kill. Bonus points for excessive brutality."

"What's the goal?"

Jack grinned. "To get the high score of course. Not that you know what that is, so I guess you'll just have to try extra hard."

I smiled. This was exactly what I was expecting from my mission, but the scoreboard just felt right. I immediately hated myself for finding something Jack Slash did... nice. He was evil. Just doing something I'd actually enjoy didn't change that. I calmed myself. A simple task with Gamer's Mind.

"I'm ready." I took a step forward, but Jack held up his hand.

"Ah, ah, ah." His chin jerked towards the scoreboard. "You have to wait for the game to start."

"Hey Kevin, how're doing?" "Yeah, what's up?" Nancy and Tom tried to chat with me. I ignored them to search for a weapon. I wasn't going to choke 800 people to death. I mean 800 meatpuppets.

I didn't see anything, so I went to the dollar store. The scoreboard followed. Inside, meatpuppets went about their business as if they were the people in question. I Observed them all - just to be certain. In the back, I found a metal bat for $20.

I know, I know. A lot of things in the store cost more than a dollar.

I wanted to grab what little food remained, but didn't dare with Jack watching me. Besides, with rapid regeneration I wasn't sure I needed to eat.

I still had my wallet, so I stood in line at the cashier. $20 was a lot for me, or at least it used to be. I kinda didn't care about it now. After I'd paid, the scoreboard started beeping. The same kind of beeps as the racing game I had at home. As it finished, I brought the bat down on the meatpuppet's head.

My rampage began. It lasted hours. I got two more Con debuffs by the time I was through, but I'd increased my strength, melee, unarmed, and ranged weapon skills. Each meatpuppet behaved differently. Some attacked me, some tried to run away, some called for help. There was nothing they could do to stop me. As my strength grew, it was a simple thing to get brutality bonuses. Three times I thew something at a meatpuppet that was close to Jack. Three times I 'missed'. Three times he stepped out of the way even before the rock left my hand.

Input reading cheater.

The last meatpuppets were hard to track down until flashing arrows appeared in the sky. Another nice touch. Too bad Jack hadn't made a mini-map. Even my powers hadn't pulled that off yet.

I turned around from the last meatpuppet I'd killed. I was really tired. Behind me, the rest of the Slaughterhouse Nine stood. Jack clapped with an amused expression. Shatterbird clapped politely. Riley jumped up and down and clapped excitedly. The rest stood there looking awkward - if gigantic black dinosaurs and 9ft tall white robots could look awkward.

Crawler mouth opened in what I hoped was a smile. "You're getting stronger."

I nodded. "I'm pretty strong now. Nowhere close to you yet."

His head bobbed up and down. "Not yet, but perhaps soon."

Riley ran up to me and grabbed my hand. "I'm so excited to have you to experiment on." She looked up at me with big round eyes. "You remember your promise right?"

I smiled down at her. "I remember, but I'm really tired right now. I'm not sure how long I've been up, but we can start once I wake up."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Yay!" One of the most feared parahumans in North America proceeded to hug me. "Even Mr. Jack doesn't let me experiment on him!"

The way she said 'experiment' sent shivers down my spine. "I'm going to go lie down now."

Jack shook his head. "No time. We've overstayed our welcome already. You'll need to sleep on the road."

"Ok, lead the way." I reached down and picked up Bonesaw... No, I needed to think of her as Riley. It was easy to do with my new strength. Unfortunately it didn't earn me any more reputation. It did earn me some braiding of my hair as she sat on my shoulder. Not that I had long hair, but apparently 1 inch was enough. She had very nimble fingers.

The group walked for a while in silence before Crawler shuffled next to me. "Those people wouldn't have made me stronger. Do you not need to heal to adapt?"

I glanced over. No point in hiding it. "No. I think it's more like repetitive action. Whatever I do, I improve at. Just a lot faster then normal people, and apparently no upper limit."

"Really?" I could hear the longing in his voice.

"I think so. If I have one, I haven't reached it yet." I frowned. "The increases slow down as I improve. So there's probably a soft limit."

"Good... good."

Two blocks later, we came to an RV with a moving trailer attached. Really? That's how the most infamous group of villains got from place to place? No rocket ship? No glass plane? The inside was surprisingly nice. Very nice actually. I don't think it was actually bigger on the inside, but somehow it felt spacious.

Jack gave me the tour. "It's remotely driven with a simulated driver. Can't very well have any of us at the wheel, right?" He pointed at various places. "The kitchen nook is pulled out there. The couch can be collapsed if we need the space. We have a TV, and a computer over there. A table comes out of the floor there. Hammocks or pods can extend from the ceiling if you want a nap."

We moved further back. "The restrooms rise up here. There's Alan's lab, and there's Riley's. They both extend into the bedroom when they're working. Speaking of which, this is the room you're wanting right?" He did flourish and bow. "We mostly have singles, but 3 doubles can be switched out if needed."

"A single will be just fine." I nodded and moved to the closest bed. I was covered in blood. My shirt was long gone. I didn't bother with removing my pants or shoes. Instead I fell on top of the covers and was out like a light.

I woke up instantly. There wasn't any grogginess. I guess another benefit of Gamer's Mind. I sat up and stretched my arms.

What?

My arm grew back! And my fingers! A quick glance at my stats showed my con penalties were gone as well. I grinned. I was hoping my arm would regrow. Counting on it, really. However there was always a niggling doubt in the back of my mind. What if my power didn't work that way? What if Siberian's bypassing of Gamer's Body meant the wounds she inflicted wouldn't heal?

I breathed a sigh of relief. Huh. Somebody had taken off my shoes, socks and pants. They'd also put me under the covers. A small bit of... humanity? I hadn't expected anything like that. Nobody else was in the sleeping area.

I wonder how long I've been out?

Uh oh. Bad things happen when I don't read my notifications.

I'd done it. I'd directly saved one person. Judging from the Keeper of the Dead mission, 20 others had also managed to escape. That or Bone... Riley didn't use their bodies in Jack's mission. Or couldn't. I didn't know what her limits were. Still, at least one person survived.

I felt... happy. It was nice, and Gamer's Mind didn't negate it. Perhaps I wouldn't become an irredeemable monster after all. Still, no rest for the wicked. Or at least, no more rest.

I took the first private time I'd really had in what seemed like a week to mentally compose myself. At least that was the plan, but I actually felt perfectly calm and collected already. So instead I reviewed my character sheet. I had 95 attribute points, and 1 perk available. The perk was more important, so I started with it. While I had 5 options, only 2 stood out to me: Summoning and Power Drain.

I'd gotten Summoning from the Siberian's test. She was an invincible projection. I doubted whatever I could summon would come remotely close, but disposable minions would be useful. The description didn't mention any limits aside from the projection's strength, so could I summon other things? Food? Weapons? A car? No new knowledge poured into my head. Shoot.

Power Drain sounded like a potent Trump ability. Drain, nullify, enhance or manipulate? That was a nice list. It was dependent on my stats, so probably not too strong.

If the Siberian wasn't all-powerful, Hatchet Face would be able to defeat her by just being close. So I couldn't just go with Siberian > Hatchet Face and thus, Summoning > Power Drain. No, what I needed was to focus on what my next step would be. That was making friends with Riley and then escaping. If I was going to fight, Power Drain would probably be best. However, for running away and evading pursuit, minions would be invaluable.

I bet I was being watched or recorded. So I focused beneath my covers and tried to summon something small. Something inanimate so I could Inventory it. A knife appeared.

What the Hell?

It was pixelated! 8-bit graphics!

...

I guess I was The Gamer after all. Nothing to be done about it. Let's Observe it.

Hmmm... I thought about its stats and an explanation came to me. Str for objects was how much damage they could do. Dex was their weight and ease of use. Con was durability.

That had only cost me 3 MP. I Inventoried the knife, and summoned another one. This time I poured as much power into as possible. I managed to put 10 MP before it felt completely full. It hadn't taken shape yet. I could feel its stats. I tried to max out Str.

Alright. 10 MP was my limit, but it wasn't enough to reach a maximum on stats.

I wanted to raise my stats and do some experimentation, but I needed a higher summoning level first. Still, I could review what I'd noticed so far. Str, Dex, and Con could all be trained more easily than Int, Per, and Wis. I'm not sure if Luck can be trained. Charisma has only leveled up twice. Once when I gained the acting skill, and again when I was nice to Riley. I didn't gain an acting skill up with it. Does that mean charisma is related to empathy? Or just being nice? Or getting someone to like me?

It doesn't affect any Perks so far. Does that mean it's really weak, or that it's too powerful to have secondary effects. That would be an assumption if this 'game' was balanced, which didn't seem likely. How fair and balanced is life?

In any case, I was less likely to gain mental stats from what I'd seen so far. So I should upgrade them 1st. Assuming that I'm still me after messing around with my mind. Physical could come after I'd hit the soft limit and grinding stopped yielding gains. I already figured out that 1 Con = 5 HP. 1 Str = 2 HP. 1 Int = 5 MP. 1 Wis = 2 MP. Plus 5 base for each.

Was it more efficient to create as many knives as I could? Or is maxing them out going to level Summoning quicker? Assuming that Summoning leveled up like my other skills, it would be quicker at lower levels. I couldn't just do all cheap one or all maxed. What if I guessed wrong and severely limited my grinding speed? If I alternated it would have to level up at close to even uses. So that wouldn't tell me anything.

There were three possibilities that occurred to me. Each knife gave the same exp. A knife gave exp based on the MP spent. A knife gave exp based on its stats. For my purposes, 2 and 3 were the same. So if I spent 3, 3, 3 then 10... No that wouldn't work. It would either be 3 exp, 3 exp, 3 exp, 10 exp. Or 1 exp, 1 exp, 1 exp, 1 exp. No way of telling which since I didn't know the target goal.

I'd have to do it over two levels. Lets say I needed 100 exp, then 200 exp. If I did the 1st level with expensive knives and the 2nd with cheap, the 2nd would take a lot more knives regardless. However if I did the 1st level with cheap knives and the 2nd with expensive... I'd get some good data. Say it took about 30 cheap knives to level the 1st time, and 20 expensive knives to level the 2nd time... then all that matters is MP. 90 MP then 200 MP. If the number of expensive knives is equal to or greater than cheap, then I had some evidence of each knife being the same exp-wise.

Heh. Thank you Mr. Tyson for your AP class.

I burned through my MP and started filling my inventory with cheap knives. When I ran dry, I bowed my head and closed my eyes. Meditation or relaxing was a pretty standard way to regain MP in games, so I hoped it was true for me as well.

Yes! Time to grind until someone comes to get me out of bed.

My concentration broke when a small bundle of energy crashed into me. "You're awake!" Riley smiled up at me before grabbing my hand and pulling me out of bed. "C'mon, I have so many things I want to do. Did you know that your arm grew back? So much nicer than Mr. Ned's regeneration. You still look like you. And the tissue didn't swell by the amputation site! The blood didn't even clot! If I can duplicate your Breaker state, my work will go so much easier. I was planning on cloning you a replacement, but it looks like I no longer have to bother with that. We can jump right to the fun stuff!" She finally paused to take a breath.

"Yes, I'm feeling much better Riley."

The tiny terror went to a panel that I noticed was placed lower than the one on the opposite wall. She pressed a button and the room folded in on itself. An operating table took its place. I looked at it for a second, before climbing on top.

Riley went to a locker and began pulling out all manner of tools. "I mean, from what Sibby brought back of your arm, you were as tough as a Brute 2 I'd say. Almost completely bulletproof. The blood analysis showed that you still have platelets. If you don't bleed they serve no purpose." She began to assemble a nozzle attached to a cylinder. "Why do you have that? Is it something that goes away when you transform? I don't think you can switch back and forth, but that's the 1st test. It'll make everything so much easier if you can!" She turned around. "Oh good. You're already on the table." She gave a little frown. "Why are you still dressed?"

"Huh? The only thing I have on is..." I blinked, and then looked at her with a flat expression. "We are not doing anything down there."

"Aw, but..."

"No. It's not appropriate."

"Oh!" She brought a hand up to her face. "You're right!" She bowed her head. "Sorry! I was getting carried away."

"It's no problem. Why don't you tell me what you're trying to do?"

"Well, you told Mr. Ned that your breaker state would wear off right?" I nodded. "So does that mean you can control it?"

I concentrated for a moment before shaking my head. "No, I don't think I can. Think of it like a forcefield. It'll hold up to a lot of damage, but once it goes down - I'm just me."

She flicked a switch on the device she'd made. A brilliant blue flame extended in a very tight stream. "That's ok. I've had to cut open Brutes before."

"That's not what..." I didn't get to finish my sentence as she pressed a button on the side of the table. Metallic strips shot out and tied me down. The tabled lowered so she stood above me.

Riley then brought the... welding torch? down on my skin.

I winced. It didn't hurt that much though.

"There we go!" Riley smiled and picked up a small scalpel. She pressed it against the incision she'd burned into my thigh. "Hey! What gives?"

My HP had ticked up, restoring Gamer's Body. "Sorry, it turned back on. It's really weak right now."

She poked me again. "A near instantly replenishing All-Or-Nothing state. Hmmm..." Her tongue poked out as she thought. "I have to keep it broken.. no I have to keep breaking it... if I just.." She turned and began typing something. Two robotic limbs extended from the ceiling. One picked up the torch-scalpel, the other picked up a regular one. They moved to my other leg, and alternated stabbing me. When the normal scalpel couldn't get through, the torch came down.

"There! That should do it." Riley beamed. "Let's start!"

With nothing else to do, I Observed her again. Let's see what level 3 tells me.

That's... just... wow. Ok, I know she's done unspeakable things, but look at her mental state. I'd be a quivering mound ready for Jack to shape me if it wasn't for Gamer's Mind. That tears it. I swear, if I can help Riley I will.

While Riley was cutting into me, the Siberian entered. She cocked her head, and then sat on the floor. I Observed her.

I guess that explains why she's nowhere near her Master. She can't protect them. Well, she still could kill anything that threatened them. Just can't completely laugh at 99.99% of everything. I wonder what power it is that she can't ignore.

...

"Riley?" The small girl didn't seem to hear me as she intently poked around inside my leg. "Riley!"

She let out a little 'eep' and jumped. "What is it?"

"I think my resistance to the, uhm, torch scalpel is going to make it ineffective any moment now."

"What? Already?" She crossed her arms and pouted. "I barely started!"

"It's been two hours."

"Really?" She left out a giggle. "Sorry, but it was sooooo interesting watching your Breaker state trigger. Like, all your parts were still there on a macroscopic level, but once you begin to look at the individual cells things get really weird! There was this visual distortion that I couldn't get past. One second, normal Brute cell. The next? A Square!" Her voice began to rise. "I was able to measure it. They aren't actually square if you're going by outside boundaries. Like, the probe could trace around them and it was the same diameter. But every other reading came back square! Heat, gravity, electrical impulses. They're like tiny building blocks. I think I could come up with some nanobots that might be able to do something similar." She brought her hand to her chin. "The problem is power. Normal cells don't contain anything close to that level, and I'd have to incorporate some other tech. I don't think that I could biologically mimic it completely. I mean a cell is already a biologic nanobot in a sense. I could improve it, add a capacitor, and a more efficient energy transfer." She shook her head. "But nothing like the obscuring effect your power has. I'd have to rely on some Tinkertech for that. Who even works with stuff THAT small?"

"That's great Riley, but perhaps it would be better to sew me up first?" I motioned to the robot arm that was still very slowly making an incision. "I'm not sure I can walk like this."

She let out a gasp. "Oh! I hadn't thought of that." She beamed at me. "No worries, I can patch this up in 30 seconds flat!"

As she busied herself with undoing all the damage she'd just caused. I reviewed my log. +20 reputation was nice. Riley was surprisingly easy to get along with. My new pain resistance undoubtedly helped, as did Gamer's Mind. Aside from that, the biggest gain was the new heat resistance. I'd also gained a little in meditation and con. Not bad for 2 hours. At that rate, I'd complete the quest in less than a day.

Not that I could grind reputation constantly. If nothing else, I'm sure Riley herself would want to do something else.

"I'm just sad I didn't get to watch you regenerate. I wonder if the bones grew back first as a framework, or if it was a gradual shift. Imagine each cell coming back in sync with one another! That's elegant."

She babbled as she went to open the door, but something blocked it. Curled up on the floor was the Siberian.

"Hey Sibby! I was just telling Killer how I wanted to watch his regeneration." Killer? Was that my name now?

The Siberian looked up and then stretched like a cat. I could feel my cheeks flush. Stupid Gamer's Mind! Gamer's Body! One of you kick in! I'm in my underwear here!

The monochromatic woman languidly stood up. Oh what the hell. "You really want to see it Riley?"

She looked up at me and nodded vigorously. "Of course! Your Breaker state is normally static. This would be an opportunity to look at how it mimics flesh!"

I can't believe I'm doing this. "Ok." I then held out my hand to the Siberian. She tilted her head. "Go on. You enjoy it right?"

Her yellow eyes seemed to glow as she perked up. She gently grabbed my hand, and I closed my eyes. Watching her eat my fingers was just too much. I felt something wet and rough run along my skin. What? I opened my eyes and tried to jerk back. The striped woman's hands were like steel. She locked eyes with me as she finished licking my fingers. The Siberian smiled for a moment, and then began her meal.

Chapter Text

Eidolon looked over the report. One survivor - who was currently going through Master/Stranger protocols in the Dallas Protectorate. It wasn't uncommon for there to be survivors of the Slaughterhouse Nine. It unfortunately also wasn't uncommon for small towns like Brooke's Creek to be wiped off the face of the earth either. What was uncommon was for a single person to survive. In fact, this was the only time it had happened.

The most powerful parahuman on earth scowled. To think that HE was here. Not in his city, but close enough for it to not really matter. The person who'd killed Hero. The Siberian - Manton - had started the end of everything, and he'd make him pay one day. David closed his eyes and exhaled. Getting angry wouldn't bring him back. It wouldn't save anyone else. A calm mind might.

The reasons for letting them live, for letting the horrors they committed go unpunished remained. For all the evil the Slaughterhouse Nine committed, the chaos they made, it was worth it. He had to believe that. Each visit of theirs - that left people alive - was one more roll of the dice. One more chance for SOMEONE to appear who could save the world - either at their hand or from a Protectorate volunteer. It was also hoped that one day some of their members might be turned to the good of humanity. Ediolon wasn't sure about that.

The Slaughterhouse Nine were close. Watchdog had already sent people to Brooke's Creek in order to try and piece together where they vanished to. With Cauldron and Contessa working against them, they'd never track them. Would they come to Houston? Eidolon didn't know what he'd do then. It was one thing to read reports of what they did in other places, but he couldn't turn a blind eye if it was in HIS town. Killing Manton would be easy. One power for targeting, one for enough mobility to stay out of her range, the final one to end the person who'd killed Hero.

No. If Manton died, one of their strongest potential weapons would be lost. In one form or another, the Siberian must survive.

Back to their latest survivor. The girl claimed to have been saved by an unknown hero. No one had seen or heard from any other survivor. If a parahuman had helped her, it was most likely a new Trigger. It was also likely that they were now dead. So much for their 'plan'. What was the point of getting new parahumans if the Nine killed them as soon as they popped up. Well, if whomever it was that saved the girl couldn't fight off the Nine, they couldn't kill Scion.

A dark rationalization for a dark world.

The last page of the report was the most worrisome. Watchdog had come across the phrase 'Simurgh bombs'. The Simurgh had only visited the United States once, but that would be enough. The quarantine zone hadn't been air-tight. Could someone from there have joined the Slaughterhouse Nine? Eidolon wasn't sure what the Simurgh could do to make them any worse. Jack Slash was bad enough. Perhaps the 'bomb' was someone driven to join them - like Alan Gramme.

Now that was a depressing thought. Mannequin was bad on his own, but so much worse being part of a group. If they picked up another cape of his power...

Watchdog was worried about the girl being a bomb that Jack somehow made. That's why she was under lockdown in Dallas. He'd notify Doctor Mother. Contessa would be able to determine if she should be allowed freedom in order to cause more chaos. That and free her with no one being the wiser.

Eidolon put down the report. Nothing to do until they got more information. He picked up the next file. The continuing effort to find the Fallen continued, and they couldn't use Thinkers for that because of Mathers. Another group allowed to flourish because of 'the greater good'. He didn't know who were the real monsters.

Chapter Text

"So what's the plan?" I sat down next to Shatterbird. Should I call her Akilah now that I was part of the team? Her reputation score was positive now. Hopefully that meant she didn't take my killing her personally. Then again, no one had actually told me her name. I'll just go with 'you' for now.

"The plan?" She looked up from the book she was reading.

"What town are we going to uhm.. 'visit' next?" Not that I wanted to do anything aside from getting as far from Jack as possible.

She smirked. "I guess Jack hasn't given you the talk yet."

"I've been asleep or with Riley since we left."

"Ah." She looked over at Jack, who was busy on the computer. "Best not to disturb him right now. Generally, we take some time off to whip the new recruits into shape. Have Bonesaw upgrade them, or Mannequin shore up any weaknesses." She shrugged. "After that, we tend to watch the news and find a fresh target."

"Oh." I thought about pressing her for more, but didn't want to appear suspicious.

What I wanted to do was grind Summoning, but I needed to be alone for that. I didn't feel like socializing with anyone but Riley. I could try improving my physical stats, but I'd need to be outside for that. I glanced over at the computer. No way Jack would give me access.

As if hearing my thought, Jack turned and beckoned me over. "Hey Killer, looking for something to do?"

I shook my head. "No. I'll go and keep Riley company."

Jack smiled. "You do that."

I went to the back of the RV, and opened the door to Riley's lab. She was doing something involving a microscope. The Siberian leaned against the wall, listening to the small child babble.

At the sound of the door closing, Riley looked my way. "Killer! Has it started to regrow yet?"

I shook my head. "No, but I think it'll be soon. Got everything prepped?"

She nodded. "I got all sorts of scanners ready. I was thinking THIS time to just observe. That's basic right? Not to fast for you?"

I waved her off. "It's fine. I don't know what else I'm going to do." Should I try opening up to her? She was... disturbed, but oddly charming. I need her help, so here it goes. "I don't really want to hang out with anyone else."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Crawler's been nice so far. Probably 'cause our powers are similar. But he's in the trailer." I almost felt bad for him, until I remembered Nancy and Tom. "Mannequin is in his lab." Probably. How did a giant white robot move so stealthily? "I killed Shatterbird and Hack Face, so talking to them feels strained."

"What about Mimi?"

"Who?"

"The pale girl? Burnscar?"

"Oh." I blinked. "I don't know where she is. Eh, I think I'd rather spend time with you."

"Really?" Riley smiled.

"Sure. I mean, I don't know anyone here, but you seem really nice so far." That 'really' might be pushing it.

Or not. "Anyways, is it cool if I just chill in here? I mean, when you're not examining me. I don't want to get in your way or on your nerves."

"That'll be fine Killer." She petted the Siberian. "Sibby usually makes sure I'm not lonely. She's a good listener, but sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself."

The zebra woman just looked at her and smiled. "I guess 'Killer' is my new cape name huh?"

"Yep! Jack came up with it!"

"I figured. You can call me Kevin."

"I can?" She stepped over and hugged me. "It's going to be so much fun having a big brother!"

Wow. How starved for affection is she? I awkwardly pat her on the back. "A-anyways, I think my fingers are starting to come back." My HP was almost full.

I sat on the floor as she strapped my arm to the table again. Riley started by looking at my hand. "I don't see anything yet. If the bone were to come in first, I should be able to notice it even without magnification." It was a little disconcerting how her voice and mannerisms changed. She was no longer the happy little bundle of energy. Instead there was an... intensity about her. It was pretty creepy.

Riley typed something on her computer, and another mechanical arm swung down from the ceiling. Instead of surgical tools, this one ended with a series of glass lens. She peered through the largest, before flipping down the next one in line. The only sound was scratching of her pencil as she furiously scribbled notes.

I think it took about an hour for the four fingers Siberian had eaten to grow back. Unfortunately, I didn't have a progress bar - only a notification when it was done. Riley pulled the arm away, stood up, and stretched. "Wow. That was pretty cool." She turned around and began typing again. "Next time I should start with trying to get a sample. Any cutting or dismemberment will either fail or have the same result as the first test. Let's see... an open and an enclosed sample container placed in the way. That might have an result. I can't get a smaller regeneration site, so no skin samples. Should check for dandruff and other natural processes that result in shed cells. Have Sibby punch the subject and monitor bruise healing."

I cleared my throat. "Hey Riley, could you let me up?"

"Huh?" She turned around, and her eyes went wide. "Oh, I'm so sorry Kevin! I got lost in thought." She giggled. "Most of my experiments don't object to laying on the table." She rushed over and undid the restraints. "Thank you so much! I can't wait to do this again!"

I shrugged. "It's no big deal. In fact, it's kinda enjoyable."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Like a doctor or your mom asking how you're doing, and really paying attention when you tell them you have a headache. That sort of thing." I paused and tried to put it into words better. I couldn't just say 'Grinding your reputation is easy and relaxing'. "It's like being the center of attention, but for a good reason. Like, being congratulated for doing something is one thing, but having someone really focusing on you is another."

"I think I understand. It's like having your creations being appreciated. You know that they're impressive if people keep talking about them!"

I wasn't sure about what 'creations' she was referencing, so I just went along with her. "Sure. Anyways, we can keep going if you want."

Her eyes went wide again. "Really? Even Mr. Jack doesn't like being in my lab when he's not unconscious."

On impulse I rubbed her head. "Really. I enjoy spending time with you." I knew that I was laying on thick, but it helped that I actually meant it. She was a really sweet and cute girl... when she wasn't murdering innocent people. I turned to the Siberian and held out my hand. "As long as you're up for it also, I wouldn't want to presume."

The zebra lady smiled at me in a way that made me both want to smile back and run screaming for the hills. As she slowly, so horrifyingly slowly, ate my fingers, I got several notifications. It was a surprising amount of reputation from both of them. We kept going until bedtime. Each round of testing (and eating) providing more and more reputation.

...

In the end, no matter what Riley tried, she couldn't get a sample of my Breaker state that was separate from me. Not that it deterred her, or damped her enthusiasm. The marathon session had lasted all day. I gained a few more points in meditation, but most of the time I spent talking to Riley. She honestly was a sweet girl. Even with her personality shifts when focusing on my physiology, I couldn't see her as Bonesaw. Sure, I'd read her bio. I knew some of the atrocities Bonesaw had committed. I didn't think my power or the PHO were lying. I also couldn't reconcile Bonesaw with Riley.

I mean, I know everyone's the hero of their own story. I also know a little of what Riley went through. But she's so... joyful? enthusiastic? optimistic? nice? I just can't see her committing those atrocities. Of course, just because I can't accept something doesn't mean it's not true. It just means my own bias is showing.

Ugh. At least I earned a substantial chunk of reputation with both her and the Siberian. I was close to finishing Riley's quest. Hopefully, I'd also given the zebra woman a good enough impression that she'd abstain from killing me. Or I might've just given her a taste for my flesh. Who knew? She was a projection, but she obviously cared for Riley. Another incompatible mental model. The cannibalistic, invincible, psychotic villain vs. Riley's attractive, caring, and kind... mother? pet? guardian?.

Even with Gamer's Mind, I was at my limit. Apparently immunity to mental effects, and continued calmness didn't help with trying to understand the nuances of people's personalities.

The RV started slowing down. "Are we stopping?" The Siberian was savoring my flesh and didn't speak. Not that she would've anyways.

Riley looked up from her computer. "Huh? Is it nighttime already? Oh, shoot!" She stamped her little foot and grabbed my un-eaten hand. "C'mon, I wanna make s'mores!"

I smiled and got up. I knew that some of her mannerisms, like the stomp, were her actively trying to be cute. It still worked. "S'mores? We can go outside?"

"Uh, huh. Mr. Jack always has us park away from anyone that would notice us."

"But the RV drives itself. Couldn't we just ride through the night?"

Riley shook her head. "Nope! Mr. Ned needs to be let out. He gets cranky otherwise."

"Mr. Ned? You mean Crawler?"

"That's right!" She pulled both the Siberian and me behind her. "I don't know if he sleeps all day, but he likes to move around at night."

"Makes sense. That trailer isn't much bigger than he is."

Outside, there was already a small fire going. Riley whispered to me. "We can't make the fire bigger. Otherwise Mimi will start to go overboard."

I think the correct word is 'crazy'. Not that I correct her. I bet Jack knows exactly how much fire it takes to perk her up, but not cause her to spiral out of control. Cheater.

I actually have a pretty nice time. Riley enjoys the s'mores. Mimi is actually talkative, and surprisingly nice. Even Shatterbird joins in. Crawler goes off into the night with a promise not to stray far. Mannequin is... somewhere I assume. Hatchet Face doesn't socialize. He sits by himself, sharping that stupid axe.

Jack... Jack is charming and funny. He makes jokes, tells stories, and really listens to everyone else. It's scary. If I didn't know who he was... Like he was a new student or something, he'd be the most popular person at the school. He makes jokes with me about video games, and doesn't stray to any topics that might upset me. This can't just be his power. Reading people is one thing, acting on it...

It's enough that Gamer's Mind steps in. Which, of course, makes me MORE afraid of him. Just, in an intellectual sense. Like Kefka in one of my favorite games from Earth Aleph. A person who should not be given any kind of power or authority. He kinda looks like him too. If Jack was rendered in 16-bit graphics and given a green coat.

As the evening ran down, he came to sit by me. "So, Killer, where do you think we should stop next?"

I glanced at him, before returning my gaze to the fire. "You're asking me? I know of Witchita Falls, and that's it. I'm not what you'd call a well-traveled person."

"Surely you know of some local capes? Someone you'd like to meet?"

"I know Eidolon, Exalt, Dispatch and Hoyden. They're the most famous." I paused to think. "I'm a fan of Soundwave."

"Oh? The guy in Dallas?"

I turned to look at Jack. "You know him? People on PHO don't talk about a lot of Texans aside from Ediolon."

"Sure. Sound manipulator. Manton limited, but still can vibrate the air close enough to most people's inner-ear for it to almost not be the case." Jack smirked. "What? Do you think we just roll into town, kick up a ruckus and take off?"

"Yes?" I mean, was this a trick question?

He let out a small laugh. "Sorry, but nope. It's a lot of work. We scout an area, and make up a list of everyone that could be called in. For your town, that meant the Dallas Protectorate." He shrugged. "And Ediolon. The guy has a grudge against the Siberian, so operating this close to him ups the ante."

I blinked. "That... makes sense. You couldn't have lasted for two decades otherwise I guess."

"Exactly!" He slaps me on the back. "We have to do our due diligence before the game can start. Too many unknowns are no good. Of course, too few won't do either. What's a game without a plot twist?"

"Boring."

"That's why when we bring in new blood, we like to let them pick the next target." He spreads his arms. "Keeps us on our toes. Keeps things from getting stale."

"So I get to choose? What if I say we crash Houston."

Jack let out a short laugh. "We still vote on it. Not that I'm saying 'no', but some of the others might not go for it."

"I see." This was an opportunity. "Can I sleep on it?"

"Take all the time you want." He stood up and brushed off his pants. "We're pretty carefree with timetables."

I make of point of Observing everyone before going to bed. Well, everyone except Mannequin. No idea where that guy is. All the non-projection members have various mental debuffs, but interestingly enough they all share two: 'Driven to Conflict' and 'Memory Removal'. Well, they all share one. Shatterbird doesn't have Driven to Conflict for some reason. What's different about her? Is it that she got her powers from a strange vial?

Huh. So I guess it's NOT something Jack is doing, or sharing. Memory Removal probably isn't either. I could see him doing that to other people, but not himself. Odd.

Oh, and Mimi really has it bad. Her list, just wow. It's really a shame 'cause she was actually fun to talk to tonight. Cute too.

Ugh. You'd think Gamer's Mind or Gamer's Body would help with THAT particular problem of being a teenager, but noooooo. Stupid sexy Siberian. Stupid cute pyromaniac. Stop. I need to get a grip. Either one of them would kill you in a heartbeat. The Siberian tore your arm off and chased you for three days! Burnscar wanted you to kill your mom! Granted, zebra chasing me got me tons of Dex and my arm grew back. Plus it wasn't my mom, just a meatpuppet... Stay on track. Grind rep with Riley and get far, far away.

Speaking of which, did she go to bed? I look around. The fire is dimming. Jack is talking with Shatterbird, who looks quite attentive. Mimi's energy is dying with the fire. No sign of Riley or Siberian. I guess they went to bed. I should head that way myself.

I slip into the back of the RV. Riley's lab has compacted itself, and the bedroom has returned.

Huh? Was that a scream? I creep down the hall, and peer into the dark room.

The Siberian is stroking Riley's head. The little girl has changed into some pink pajamas. Her face contorts, and she lets out another small scream. The motherly projection hugs her. Riley seems to calm down some.

I.. I just can't. I don't know anymore. Why would a psychopath who dissects people for fun have nightmares and need cuddling? I turn and head towards the 'living room'. I spend the night looking out the window, summoning knives, and meditating. I get some more tired debuffs, but a short two hour nap in the early morning gets rid of them.

It was worth it.

It took 331 knives to level up. If they are each worth 1 exp, that's 331 exp for 1 level in summoning. If they give exp at a 1 to 1 ratio to MP cost, then it comes to exactly 1000 exp, since one knife was more expensive. Considering that my character level costs are multiples of 1000 also, I'm inclined to think it's quality over quantity for grinding Perks.

I also noticed that there's a small MP drain when I keep a knife outside my inventory. If I don't pay, they shatter into pixels - which almost immediately vanish. I figured that out as I played around with stabbing myself under my t-shirt. I didn't manage to do any damage. Probably need to put some muscle behind my self-mutilation attempts. The 95.6% reduction is zeroing everything else out. I'm honestly not sure I'm currently capable of inflicting damage on myself.

In any case, time to test my new limits. 20 MP seems to be the max I can now use.

Can't max out Str or Dex, but I can max out Con. My Wis is lower than my Int and Per, so that makes sense.

The 1st one is sharp enough to hurt me, but it snaps under the strain. Going to be hard to grind damage resistance like that. Better than cluttering my inventory. Hmmm... it's early. People will probably be up soon. I go outside and stretch my legs. Is there someplace nearby that the RV can't see? I don't know what kind of Tinkertech cameras are watching me, or what limitations on that sort of thing are.

I'd like to try summoning something else, but I'm not going to risk Jack finding out. Wait, I know! I intently look for any hidden cameras.

Perception check? Hello? Pass, fail? Anything?

Shoot.

Sweet. No. That's just Crawler. I wave at my massive teammate.

"Killer." He 'nods'. "Getting stronger?" It's not easy to read inflections in his voice, but I get a sense of eagerness.

I shake my head. "No. I spent yesterday in Riley's lab."

He scoffs. "Even if I was small enough to fit, I wouldn't go in there."

"Oh?"

"You haven't seen what she can do." His deep voice grumbles. "She can't hurt me, but I've seen what happens to the corpses of other capes." He shudders. "I'm not looking to have my nervous system overwritten."

I blinked. "She can do that?"

One side of Crawler's mouth curled up. "Not to me. My skin's too tough for her to crack. But to other capes, yeah. Had this one guy a few years back. Real attitude until he spent the day in her lab. All smiles after that." Crawler shook his head. "Even as he began to rot from whatever she did, kept on smiling."

"I see." All the more reason to get on her good side. I decided to change the topic. "Want to bat me around some before the others wake up?"

"Nah. You're plenty tough already. What we need to do is make you hit harder."

"I'd lift weights, but I don't think I can find anything heavy enough."

Crawler sort of sways for a while. I'm not sure how to interpret that body language. "You should ask Mannequin."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He's got some zero-G training gizmo."

I frown. "Wouldn't training in zero-G just make it not as effective."

Crawler shakes his head. "No. It's this thing for keeping you in shape while you're weightless. He tested it on me. Held up pretty good for a couple of seconds."

"I'll ask. Thanks for the advice."

"Sure thing. Train and get stronger."

"Will do."

I head back inside, and sit at the window while everyone else gradually wakes up. While I'd like to work on leveling summoning some more, holding my hands underneath my shirt would look odd. Wait... yep, I can summon at the same range as Inventory. No line of sight needed, but there is an MP penalty if there's not enough space. Let's see. Could I dump knives into the walls? I doubt there's cameras inside, but there might be other sensors. Considering how space-efficient this place is, it wouldn't surprise me.

Riley comes out of the bathroom and heads towards me. I smile and ruffle her hair. "Good morning Riley. Ready for another exciting day in the lab?"

She crosses her arms. "I wish. I only get my lab every other day."

Why.. ah. "So Mannequin is expanding his lab today?"

She nods.

"So what do you do on days like this."

"I dunno. Play with Sibby. Watch TV. Browse PHO." She shrugs. "Stuff to pass the time."

"Hmmm.. Crawler suggested I ask Mannequin about strength training equipment. Want to help me with that?"

She perks up. "Sure!" Riley tilts her head to the side and looks off into space. After a few seconds her eyebrows raise up. "Oh! I have a better idea!"

"And what might that be?"

"We have Sibby help you!"

"What."

Riley began talking, picking up speed with each word. "Yeah! It'll be great! She normally runs off to do whatever she does on her own. Sometimes she plays with me, but I think she gets bored of watching TV. But she likes you! I bet we could have her give you some really good resistance training. Normally muscles get stronger by tearing and regrowing, so you have to push your limits to get strong right?" She didn't wait for an answer. "But Sibby's like really, REALLY strong y'know? So you could arm-wrestle her, or do push-ups with her on your back, or squats, or anything really. I don't know how your improvement happens with your Breaker state, but it has to follow basic biology right? Since you mimic it, or are based off of it. So a proper full body workout where we cycle through your muscles will work best!"

She finally had to take a breath, so I chimed in. "Won't that damage things? Also how are push-ups going to help, she can't weigh more than... uhhh..." I had no idea how much girls weighed. What if I upset the invincible projection by implying she was fat or something?

Riley shook her head. "It'll be fine. Sibby weighs as much as she wants to. And she can protect the RV. Let's go ask!"

I followed her to the back. Everyone else was up by now, except the Siberian. She was curled up like a cat on the bed where she and Riley had slept. Why does a projection need sleep? The little girl bounded up to her and began explaining her idea with huge gestures.

The Siberian stood up and stretched again. I made sure to look away. She calmly waited for Riley to fully explain her idea, and then looked at me expectantly.

I closed my eyes and sighed. I knew what her price was. I should be happy I had something she wanted... even if it was my flesh. At least it hardly hurt with the constant grinding she was providing for pain resistance. I held out my hand. This time I didn't fall for the licking trick. Even with Gamer's Mind, there are some things you just can't get over seeing.

...

A day spent training with Siberian, while chatting with Riley was surprisingly pleasant. Sure, I had more than a few fingers eaten. Which, I admit, is disturbing. Gamer's Mind was in top form - not letting me dwell on it and allowing me to constantly press my limits. My willpower was nowhere strong enough to exercise like this without it.

And the gains! My str stat more than doubled. That in turn quadrupled my lifting amount, assuming Riley and I understood the Siberian's gestures. No idea how strong I now am, but I'm pretty sure I can beat Hatchet Face to death the old fashion way. My body also looks nicer. I'm no bodybuilder, but there's clear definition there. Riley helpfully pointed it out, and I promised her another arm to dissect. That put me over the top, and triggered my new quest. Finally, when my str reached 50, I got a new available Perk.

I wish it said what those additional benefits were. Would my punches suddenly be able to hurt the Siberian? I doubted it, and I wasn't going to waste a Perk point to check.

"C'mon, give it to me now!" Riley pouts.

I shake my head and wait for my summoned spider to die. I wanted to keep on making knives to get more consistent data, but after figuring out I could summon things inside my mouth... It was too convenient to pass up. With meditation's increased level, I could maintain a lesser version of it at all times. (Thank you Gamer's Mind.) And I wasn't going to waste that MP gain.

"You prooooomised!!"

I raise an eyebrow, and walk outside.

Jack's standing by the fire. "What did Killer promise?"

"Another arm! But he won't let Sibby take it!"

The spider vanishes. "I won't let the Siberian take it yet, Riley. She can tear it off before we go to bed. That way I can regenerate over night."

"But I wanna watch you grow back!"

"Without your equipment?"

Riley puffs herself up. "My eyes are good enough to make out cells if I concentrate!"

"Really? That's impressive. Why did you use the microscope yesterday?"

She looks down, holds her hands behind her back, and kicks the dirt. That HAS to be a practiced move. "It gives me a headache if I do it too much." She says in a small voice.

I kneel down and pat her head. "There's no need to rush it then. Wouldn't you rather do something else?"

"Like what?" She looks up at me.

"Anyone have any cards? I know a few games."

Jack is already pulling a pack out. Ok, I'm now a little more scared of him.

Chapter Text

We played a couple of different card games, and I learned a few things. First, Jack is a dirty cheater who cheats in cards. I'm pretty sure it's his power. He was unstoppable at poker. Riley, incidentally, is complete garbage at bluffing. When we moved to a more kid-friendly, and luck-based game I learned my other tidbit. I apparently can't grind luck. At least not by playing cards. I idly thought of adding stakes to see if that might have an effect, but immediately discarded that idea. It's not worth the risk for anything I could lose, and there's nothing I really want. Gambling for more of our supply of chocolate doesn't seem important.

After an hour or so, I excused myself to spend time with Crawler. He hadn't strayed far from camp yet. "I've gotten stronger."

He perked up. "Show me!"

I nodded, planted my feet, took a deep breath, and threw a haymaker. It wasn't like punching a wall. His flesh was tough but flexible. Instead it felt as if I'd struck a pile of mud. The super-dense kind that only lets in a little water. I looked up at him. "Anything?"

"You're making progress, but there's still a ways to go if you want to match me."

"I figured. Still, it's a nice feeling."

"I get you." I was getting used to his 'voice'. "It's hard to put it into words. Having your flesh rebuild itself, but better." He stared at me with his front eyes. "Enjoy the easy gains while you can. I ramped up too quickly."

I patted him on the side, but I don't think he felt it. Crawler was another potential ally, but I doubted I'd be able to get enough reputation with him in a timely fashion. He was only out of his trailer during the night. Plus, he wasn't as open as Riley. Surprisingly friendly, but not friendly enough. There was also the fact that he'd been the one to murder my friends.

I moved back to the camp and considered other options. Mannequin? Where was he? I hadn't see the silent Tinker since I got on the RV. No possible way to make progress there. Mimi? The same boat as Crawler. While the pyromaniac was around during the day, she was listless. Hatchet Face? No. Shatterbird? It was an option, but I hadn't gained any reputation in our (admittedly short) interactions. The only one left was the Siberian. She liked eating me. Did I taste good? Did she just enjoy fresh meat?

No idea.

In any case, she was sitting at 320 reputation. A good amount, and I could get her up to 500 with a couple of days work. The problem was 'Master's Control'. She was a projection. She might be sentient, she might not. She might be following the Slaughterhouse Nine for her own reasons, or she might've been commanded to. I couldn't take that chance. It was too risky.

I went back to the fire. Riley was looking pretty tired already. "Before you fall asleep in front of the fire, wanna put my arm on ice for tomorrow?"

Riley's eyes snapped open as she jumped to her feet. "YES!" She blinked, and then coughed into her hand. "I mean..." The little girl then pushed her index fingers together while twisting her body back and forth. To add to the effect she lowered her head and looked up at me. "If you wanna."

Cute! I know it's an act, but acting to cover up her excitement is even cuter. If only she wasn't excited a the thought of taking my arm off.

I nod and ruffle her hair with the hand I'm about to have to regrow. "C'mon. The sooner we get it on ice, the sooner you can go to bed, and the sooner it will be tomorrow."

"Yay!"

Am I sure that Gamer's Mind is keeping me sane? Slowly getting used to being dissected should be alarming, but I regenerate and it hurts less and less. I remove my shirt, otherwise the Siberian will just tear it off along with my arm. Then I'd have to ask Jack for another one... boo!

"But you know ice isn't going to be good enough. We need to preserve it better than that. At the very least I need to drain the blood and prevent it from coagulating. Your skin and muscles are tough, so that should significantly slow decomposition. No, sealing it in a vacuum will work best. I doubt that will even cause the blood vessels to rupture." She continued muttering to herself as we entered the RV. She fiddled with her lab's control pad and a section of the wall slid open revealing a large glass tube attached to a device. "Ok Sibby, put it in the tube, and no snacking!" She waggled her finger at the single most powerful creature on the planet that wasn't an Endbringer or named Scion.

The Siberian took the 'scolding' in good humor, ripping off my arm with a single swift tug. She impressively turned it bloody-side down inside the container without spilling any on the RV's floor.

Riley smiled and manipulated the controls. Tubes with needles on the ends came up and inserted themselves into the bloody end. There was a whirling sound before the section at the bottom spat out 6 vials filled with my blood. The top of the tube closed and a louder whirling sound came from the bottom.

"There! That should do it!" She smiled up at me. "You can never have enough Brute blood! The attack spiders go through it so quick!"

Attack spiders? I haven't seen any attack spiders. I glanced around the room. I assumed all those failed perception checks were because of Mannequin. Did I have to worry about spiders now too?

And I then calmed down. They probably weren't that bad. Right?

"And just think of what I can do with the muscles and tendons!" Ok, this was getting creepy. Well, creepier.

"Riley, dear, don't get all worked up. It's bed time." Best to nip this in the bud. I smiled at her while putting my shirt back on. At least my stump doesn't bleed, and I'm getting surprisingly good at dressing myself with only one arm.

"Awwww..." She did a cute little pout before putting my preserved arm and blood away. She then closed the compartment and yawned. "I am pretty tired."

"You had a long day. Now get some sleep. You can.." Ugh, I can't believe I'm saying this. "dissect my arm tomorrow."

"Okaaaay." She shuffled to the back with her surrogate mother following her.

I sat in the living area and looked up at the sky. We were away from any light sources, so the starry sky was beautiful. I heard Riley whimpering in her sleep again. It was faint, but my hearing was pretty good since my perception had gone up.

I waited for everyone else to come in and go to bed before I started my nightly grinding session.

For 20 MP, I could summon a spider that lasted 1 minute. They were pretty big, and I could only fit one in my mouth. At night I was free to summon them inside my shirt. That allowed me to produce as many as I liked, as long as I had the MP for it. My HP came back absurdly quickly. It took less than a minute to go from zero to full. MP was slower. I bet there was a perk for it that I hadn't unlocked yet. Not that I had any extra slots available.

At 22 or 23 MP a minute, I was still grinding pretty quick. Meditation currently tripled that. So the end result was that I had 3 tarantula sized spiders under my shirt at once. I assumed they were 8-bit, just like my daggers. I hadn't had the opportunity to confirm that, since I needed to keep it a secret from everyone else. My 500th spider leveled me up.

That pretty much confirms it. It's the MP spent, not the number of things summoned. That's great news. As my meditation goes up, so will my exp gain. Time for another test.

I could almost max out every stat at the same time. Now to confirm my suspicions on the formula. I assigned +1 Int.

Ok, now +1 Per.

And, +1 Wis.

Ok. So each stat allows for 5 more of the associated point. There were other limits. The knives so far could handle all the MP I could spend. The spiders had ability caps of 20, 100, and 80. Still impressive, but I had to wonder just how effective they would be. I mean, size was pretty important. They were incapable of hurting me, and I couldn't easily test them against anything else.

There was an extra 10 point limit that I couldn't account for. Was it a base value, or was another stat effecting things? I was level 11, so I didn't think it was that. Could it be luck? It was worth spending a point to find out. I assigned +1 Luc.

Would you look at that? +2 max stats across the board. 3 points in luck was more effective than 1 point in each of the other mental stats. The trade off was that I wouldn't be able to summon absurdly one-dimensional creatures.

Totally worth it.

Oh, nice! It also increased my HP and MP by 1 each. That's technically a worse return on investment since the other stats gave x5, x2, or x0. However, I was going to dump it all in luck anyways, so I'll just treat the HP & MP as a bonus. This should bring my theoretical limits to 299 Str, 299 Dex, and 274 Con. My practical limits were 140 due to how much MP I could add at once. Would that be enough to injure Crawler? I didn't plan on finding out. I also had to wonder what a mental stat in the 100's would feel like. Superhuman if I had to guess, with my Shard doing all the heavy lifting. I still wasn't comfortable with that amount of change.

Besides, as my dad often said: "I'd rather be lucky than good."

Wait. I was getting carried away with luck, but there was one other stat I hadn't tested yet. Could charisma be a hidden stat also? I allocated +1 stat to Cha. Nothing. Same limits. Same HP. Same MP. What was the point of Cha? It did nothing! Grumbling to myself over the wasted point, I assign everything else to luck.

91 points in luck brought it up to 96, and I felt the same. What did luck even do outside of boosting other things?

That gives me pause. I was about to blow it off as useless compared to the other Perks I currently have available, but something stopped me. I don't have the points to waste on perks that are only situationally useful. But this? There weren't very many precogs in the world. The only one I knew of was the Simurgh. Would this affect her? I didn't plan on being anywhere near her if I could help it. The Endbringers were incredibly powerful, but their abilities weren't unique. Behemoth could control any type of energy, while Legend could 'only' manipulate light. That didn't mean that Legend was weak, or that there weren't other capes that could control energy. For crying out loud, Mimi was in the other room.

Could there be capes out there with precognition? Why would I get a Perk that was only useful against the Simurgh?

Ok. Calm down. First, there probably are capes like that. Second, I don't need to worry about them just yet. After all, Jack doesn't have precognition and he's still running around after twenty years of having a massive bounty.

One last test. I summoned my highest str dagger, reached under my shirt, and poked my finger.

I blinked. That was NOT an outcome I was expecting. This had quite a few ramifications, and I'm not sure I liked any of them. I didn't know Crawler's strength, but I'm fairly certain it's around 250. Judging by how much damage I took once he stopped holding back, and my damage resistance at the time. I was also assuming that 1 str = 1 damage. Since other's didn't use my rules, I couldn't say with 100% certainty. In any case, I was sure that the knife's str was less than Crawler's. So how did it not only hurt me, but bypass my HP? Gamer's Body seemed to have a weakness to my own powers. Did that make me like the lion Hercules had killed? Do I have a pelt so tough that it can only be pierced with my own claws? Or the Siberian's claws, but she doesn't count. My previous attempts at hurting myself were ineffective. The only difference would be the knife's better stats.

That's another experiment I need to do. Figure out what that threshold is, and make sure I don't surpass it. A shudder ran down my spine. If Jack ever got his hands on one of my own knives... Best not to even allow that possibility. I waited for the knife to vanish from lack of MP. It didn't take long to figure out the limit. Any knife with a str of 131 or more would bypass Gamer's Body. 130 was double my str or con. So it's most likely related to one of those stats or both. I'd put money on con.

The problem was that there were now two effects that could ignore my (quite frankly broken) Breaker state. If it was only the Siberian, I wouldn't be worried. She was THE toughest Brute. No one could withstand her, so losing to her wasn't a surprise. A second power, even if it was mine, denoted a pattern. Well, I'm still one of the sturdiest people around. I should take comfort in that.

Satisfied by my gains, I decide to get 3 hours of sleep tonight.

I woke up, and felt regret.

An increased maximum for summoned objects was well and good, but I just realized that it didn't matter what my maximum was if I couldn't spend the MP to reach it. I should've raised my luck just enough to allow for maximum flexibility for level 3 Summoning. I could always raise it more when I got my next skill level. What if something happens in the meantime and I desperately need a boost somewhere else?

This is why I should think about stuff before committing.

And I don't need my power rubbing it in my face.

Oh? No reward for THAT revelation?

What am I doing? It's not like my power can talk to me. I'm just being stupid. Heh. Kinda surprised it didn't reward me for that deep character assessment. I shook my head. Nothing to do but keep moving forward. I wonder if my power can summon a working car? And if so, how fast would it be? For that matter, I didn't know the top speed of the RV. Considering who'd upgraded it, it might just be escape velocity.

Of course, I didn't know how to drive, so it kinda didn't matter.

I was feeling pretty good. I'm pretty sure I no longer need to eat, but some bacon would really hit the spot. I stretched and then went over to the kitchen nook. This is a surprisingly well stocked fridge. Bet they fill it up every time they visit a town.

I found a pan and began cooking bacon. The aroma woke everyone else. Soon people were stealing MY bacon, so I had to cook more. Which just got poached in turn.

I object. I already know how to cook. Why wasn't it already on my character sheet?

Thanks.

I finally managed to get a couple of slices for myself, so I sat down at the table. The Siberian was looking at my plate.

"Here." I held out my left hand to her, while using the right to eat.

Loosing my fingers had at some point stopped fazing me. So much so, that given the choice I went with bacon over them.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "You offered up your fingers to save your bacon?"

"Wouldn't be the first time."

"Good one, Killer."

"I didn't mean it like that." I turned to look at him. "It's my day in the lab, and the Siberian is going to get my scraps anyways. At least this way I'll have a full stomach."

A light bulb seemed to turn on above Riley's head. "Digestion!" She wore a huge guileless smile. "I can watch how you digest food!"

This was a bad idea. "Uhm... Riley, weren't you going to watch me regenerate?"

"No, no, no! This is a much more interesting process! Just when does the food you're eating turn from regular matter to your Breaker state? You don't use the bathroom. Or I guess you might use it at night when everyone's asleep. It's nothing to be ashamed of you know. Everyone poops!" She paused and tilted her head. "Well, not EVERYONE. I don't think Sibby poops. And you might not either. I'll need to cut open every part!" She stood up and went to the kitchen. "You need to have a large meal, so we can check your capacity!"

Me and my big mouth. Note to self, be careful what you say around Riley. "I haven't used the restroom since I Triggered. Also, I ate nearly the entire stock of food at the Dollar Store over the course of six hours. So, I don't think I have a limit on how much I can digest?" Her eyes lit up. Why am I so stupid?

"In that case we need to examine your digestion while you're eating. If it happens so quickly, there's no other way!" She grabbed a handful of muffins. "We'll need to power through your Breaker state so I can cut you open. Then you can eat and I can watch what happens. I'll need to have a scope looking at the inside and outside of your stomach. No point in going any farther than that until we see exactly what's happening! C'mon, we need to get a move on!"

On one hand, I don't need to grind reputation with her any more. I could refuse... No. She's so excited. Turning her down would be like kicking a puppy.

Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. One day Jack. One day.

"Riley, the lazer is about to stop working."

She made a grunt of acknowledgment.

"Riley!"

"Okay, okay. I need more time. Heat, electricity, and now lazers." She crossed her arms. "If only Crawler hadn't ruined acid, disease, AND poison! How rude!"

"Yeah." I replied with a dry tone that was wasted on her.

"And I can't believe Mannequin doesn't have a radiation weapon! I mean really! You'd think he'd have something for cosmic rays or other background radiation if for no other reason than testing his armor!"

"Riley? It's been almost five hours, don't you have enough data?"

She huffed. "I can see the food break down. But it's instantaneous. One second it's glucose in your stomach, the next, it's a cube! How am I supposed to mimic that!" She threw her arms up. "Especially since I don't get meaningful readings from after the transformation. If only I had a chunk of your brain to trigger your power in the specimens I already have."

No. Do not engage. Just pretend she didn't say that last sentence. "I understand, but I'd rather not experiment with how my body handles having a my stomach on the outside."

She scowled. "Fine."

"Don't be like that, you got a lot of data right?"

"Yeah..."

"Then what you need is time to review it. You don't need me cut open to do that."

"I suppose." She replied with a small voice.

I reached over with my hand that wasn't currently being cauterized by a lazer, and patted her on the head. "It's ok. You don't have to find the answers immediately. I'll be here and you can keep on dissecting me all you want." Why? Why am I so stupid?

She beamed at me. Oh, that's why. "Sure thing big brother! I'll have you put back together in a jiffy!" She began to hum to herself as she sewed me up. "I still think you should let me attach an arm or two. Wouldn't it be neat if they were added to your Breaker state?"

I need to shut down that line of thought. "Perhaps some other time." Argh! Why don't I have a willpower stat? Why can't I put points in that?!?

She put down her needle and thread. "All done!" That was quick. "Now for the inner camera." She pulled the cord that was going down my throat. I felt like I should be gagging, but didn't.

"So what..."

She held up a single finger to her mouth and 'shushed' me. A few strokes on her computer followed and she turned and stared intently at my sewn up stomach. The lazer turned off, and my HP began to tick up. "That. Is. So. Cool!" She jumped up and down and clapped her hands. "Your body just... absorbs the thread. It's the same way as when you eat. One second it's thread, and the next: Cubes!"

I rolled my eyes. I didn't understand her... appreciation of my power, but far be it from me to dissuade her.

"Whew. I'm hungry." She wiped her forehead. "Wanna grab lunch?"

"I can eat."

That earned me a punch on the shoulder.

The Siberian stood and stretched. Thankfully, I was wearing pants this time. She then moved to the operating table and sniffed it. She then turned and looked at my hand.

"What."

She licked her lips.

"Don't tell me you want it cooked this time?"

She smiled and I held out my injured hand. It was already damaged, what was a few more minutes of regeneration? I turned my head as she sniffed, licked, and then bit.

Huh? That was quicker than normal. She only ate the finger that the lazer had been boring into.

She looked at me and smirked before walking out the door. What did THAT mean? Normally she eats them all. Is she being nice? Did the lazer affect the taste?

I spent the rest of the day in the lab with Riley. I was now effectively immune to the damage that she could cause me, and therefore couldn't be dissected anymore. Still, I found her company enjoyable. A paranoid part of my mind wondered if Jack wanted me to bond with her. Could his power be manipulating me like that? I had Gamer's Mind, which should protect me right? No idea. I also wondered if his power could be affecting Riley? Making her open up to me? Making her behave in a way I found endearing?

No. To go down that path led to madness. I couldn't second-guess everything that I or anyone else did. Even if Jack was that powerful, playing it safe wouldn't get me out of this situation.

"...and that's why your blood will help the spiders."

Shoot. I wasn't listening. "Could you go over that one more time Riley? I don't think I caught it."

"Sure!" She looked up from... whatever she was doing with her spider creation. "I'll go slower this time, Kevin!!" She smiled at me. The guileless smile of a child, not that I knew any other children. Riley was so... open and willing to share. It was all the more pronounced due to the other people I could now spend time with. "See? Spiders don't have muscles, instead they use pressurized fluid to make their limbs move. That's why Brute blood is so useful. Liquids with a high..."

I listened to her explanation. While I didn't get any of the details, the gist came through. Her spiders use blood, and it occasionally needed to be changed. Like a car's oil I guessed. Brute blood was best for... reasons. So having a supply of it from me was a windfall.

Well, as long as I was useful.

"We're going to camp here for a few days." We had pulled off the road by a forest. Which surprised me, I thought the only trees that grew in Texas were mesquite trees. Which were not a plant you wanted to get close to. "The heat will die off soon, and in the meantime some of us." Jack looked at Crawler. "Would probably enjoy some more space."

"Kevin, 'cmon!" Riley tugged at my hand. "Let's see if we can find some squirrels or bunnies!"

I let her drag me into the woods. It was nice to see her excited. I'd never had that level of enthusiasm for anything but video games. It was also cute that she wanted to see some small animals. Wait... "Riley, why do you want squirrels or rabbits?"

She looked up at me. "Because they're cute!" Oh thank God... "And they make great spies. Plus the more parts I have the more options! Just think how cute a two-headed squirrel would be? Or a squirrel with bunny ears! Or a bunny with a squirrel tail!"

Yeah, that's on me. I totally should've seen it coming. Still, we were alone in the woods. It was quiet, and Riley was my ally. I wouldn't get a better chance.

"Riley, I have a secret I want to tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else."

She looked up. "A secret? What is it? What is it?"

I held up a palm. "First promise. I know you're a good girl and won't tell anyone if you promise." I felt like scum. I knew she had... issues with trying to be a 'good girl'. Abusing what I'd learned from her bio made me a horrible person. It made me like Jack.

"I promise." Her face grew serious.

"Not even Mr. Jack or Sibby."

She crossed her arms and nodded. "You can trust me."

I smiled. "I know I can. Here's my secret:"

Kevin ► This is my real power. We can talk like this, and no one can hear us. I'm going to say some stuff, but it's just in case anyone is listening.

I was glad the Party system included chat. Having this conversation out loud would've been more difficult. "I'm afraid of Jack."

"Oh." Her eyes scanned left to right. "That's nice."

Kevin ► Just try and think your response. My power should pick it up.
Bonesaw ► Like this?
Bonesaw ► Wow. I can see my reply in a blue window in front of me!
Bonesaw ► This is soooo neat! Why don't you want the rest of us to see this?
Kevin ► Like I said, I'm afraid of Jack. If he knew I was holding out on him...

Huh? A notification about Riley? I guess this is part of the Party system.

Bonesaw ► Yeah, Mr. Jack can be scary at times.
Bonesaw ► It's probably best not to keep secrets.
Kevin ► Probably, but you're the only one I want to talk to like this.

Bonesaw ► Really? That's nice!
Kevin ► It can be our secret. Just a way for us to talk privately.
Bonesaw ► Like a secret club!
Kevin ► Exactly.
Bonesaw ► The Best Friends Club!
Kevin ► Sure.

Riley was beaming up at me. I couldn't help it. I smiled back at her.

Bonesaw ► Lift me up! I can see better from on your shoulders.
Kevin ► Sure.

I picked her up. She felt light as a feather as I let her sit on my right shoulder.

Bonesaw ► This is great! We can talk at night without waking anyone else up! I can have you help me in the lab without needing to turn the machines down! If I could get a piece of your brain then I could... SQUIRREL!!

A small shape jumped from a tree branch, and the chase was on.

We camped for a week before Jack decided the coast was clear. In that time I gained a significant amount of reputation with Riley. Even stranger, I felt a real connection in return. She tended to babble, but always listened when I talked. She was enthusiastic, smart, and cute. I'd never had a sister before, and I found Riley to be a good one.

She hadn't told Jack about my new power. She even confided in me one night that she was scared of him too sometimes. It was in the early morning that we spoke the most often. While spending most of the night awake grinding Summoning, I got numerous alerts from her. Riley did not have pleasant dreams. When she woke up, I tried to be there to help her calm down.

She'd twice woken up in the middle of the night and came to sleep next to me in the living room. It kept me from practicing Summoning, but I couldn't begrudge her. Any annoyance I might have had vanished when I got a notification about how happy or content she was.

The new day we were on the road again. After I'd cooked breakfast, Riley had started making meals as well. She turned out to be a pretty good chef. I was with her in her lab when an alarm beeped.

"It's lunchtime!" Riley said as she leaned away from... something. "Let's go!"

I nodded and stood up. It was strange, I could sit in the same position for hours now. I'd always needed to shift and move around before. "Sound good."

"Don't just stand there! I'll make you B.L.T." Riley grabbed my arm and started pulling.

"That sounds nice Riley. I think I know the sequence to close the lab, why don't you go on ahead?"

"Okaaaay!" She called out as she skipped down the hallway.

I couldn't help but smile. Shaking my head, I exited her lab and made my way to the living area. Jack was already sitting at the table, playing with a knife. Ugh. I'd rather not sit near him, but there's only one table.

Jack vs. a B.L.T.?

Forget it.

Jack vs. a B.L.T. Riley made? She'd be upset if I didn't eat it.

Shoot. I sat down and pointedly looked out the window. Car. Car. Truck. I Observed each passing vehicle. Motorcycle.

"Hey." I said to Jack. "What about them?" I jerked my chin at the bike gang passing us.

"Huh? What about them?"

"Look."

"Just some bikers."

"Look!"

Jack quits flipping his knife and turns towards the windows. His eyes narrow for a second, before widening. A sinister looking grin spreads across his face.

"I see."

"You see what?" Riley puts a plate in front of each of us before plopping down next to me.

"Killer has just chosen his first target. And it's an interesting one."

"What? Where?" Riley hops up and down - which really isn't a hop - she just rattles the table.

"It depends on where they're going." I say before taking a bite of the B.L.T. Hey, this is pretty good. What's that? There's a thin sauce. Mayo? Mustard? I can't place it.

"On where WHO'S going?" Uh oh, she's looking at me with those big round eyes. Fine, I can eat later.

"Those bikers." I point out the window. Jack has pulled out a remote and is fiddling with the controls.

"What about them?"

"You may not know it, but Texas and other places in the South sorta have a cult problem."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The Fallen, they worship the Endbringers or something. They were an annoyance until, I think it was about a year ago? They kidnapped a bunch of parahumans including a lot of wards."

"What?"

I nodded. "Yeah, made all the headlines when a few of the wards escaped. Turns out the Fallen were brainwashing them, and only a few managed to resist it and get away."

"What?" Riley's voice loses her normal inflection and falls about half an octave. I can see that as something that might strike a nerve with her. She doesn't consider herself a victim of kidnapping and brainwashing, but she still has some deep feeling regarding it. At least in regard to children I guess.

"Yeah, bad stuff. Got the Protectorate to crack down hard on them, but they went to ground." I motioned at the bikers. "Look at those guys, how they're dressed, their tattoos." I point from one biker to another. "See a theme?"

She nods her head. "So they've just been riding around to avoid detection."

"Hardly. I doubt those guys are important, and they probably lack powers. Just some of the low-level mooks. They personally haven't broken any major laws. There were some bills or something introduced to try and make them illegal, but I don't remember how that ended."

"You want to make a bike gang vanish? Ok. I can always use the spare parts." She bit her thumb. "The others might not go for it. Not much fun with only normal people."

I shake my head. "No. Look at their formation. They're escorting that car."

"Oh."

"Odd thing for bikers to do." Jack chimes in. "Not their typical M.O. from what I understand. So whatever, or whomever they're escorting must be important, at least a little."

I nod. "And if we follow them."

Jack completes my sentence. "Then we might find a bunch of folks who will be really interesting!"

Chapter Text

The coyote stalked towards the lights. It was a scrawny, mangy thing and flecks of foam dripped from its mouth. Some desire overrode its fear of the bright place and large creatures, so it crept forward - slinking from shadow to shadow. One of the tall things walked close by, and the animal froze. It didn't move. It didn't breath. It didn't blink.

When the threat of discovery passed, the coyote resumed its trek into the compound. It passed through the small alleyways and made its way to the heart of the commune. More people were here. It had impulses to flee, to attack, to watch. The last impulse won out and it crouched down. Time passed. A bony, long-haired human emerged. The coyote then saw her twin to the side.

It was confused. The twin didn't look right. It could make out shapes behind her. The woman spoke to one of the people that surrounded her. He broke off and headed straight towards the animal.

The coyote bolted. Humans began to converge on it from all around. The twin somehow remained in its vision. One got too close! The wild beast lunged with foam leaking from its jaws. Before it could bite, there was a loud noise and something slammed into its side.

It felt weak. Its vision was blurry, except for the twin. The coyote staggered to its feet.

"Fuck man, it almost bit me!"

"Look at its mouth. Its rabid."

"You're the one with the gun! Shoot it!"

"Fine."

The indistinct shape raised something up. There was a loud noise, and the coyote slumped to the ground dead.

The previous day...

The RV trailed the bikers and their escorted car for most of the day. Finally, at dusk, they exited on a small dirt road. The RV continued past. We turned after a mile and drove cross-country. The landscape was flat, except for some ranches with cows.

The Slaughterhouse Nine just plowed through. Ran over a cow too. Riley wanted to stop. Not to help the wounded animal, but because it would provide a lot of mass. Thankfully, Jack dissuaded her of that idea.

We finally stopped when we came across a copse of trees.

I half-expected the RV to vanish with some sort of Tinkertech invisibility field. Instead Jack cut some tree branches and we tossed them around it.

"What now?" I asked.

"We scout." Jack replied. "First, we have to make sure there's some prey worth our time. Second, we have to get a list of what parahumans they have."

"You're not just going to go in and start killing?"

"Hardly. You never know when something is a trap." He grinned. "Not that we avoid traps, it's just more fun to make them think we fell for it." The serial killer shakes his head. "You wouldn't believe some of the things they say when it all comes crashing down."

Jack clapped his hands. "Right. Alan, you take point. We want to avoid any sentries they've posted." He turned to our resident monster creator. "We also will need some spies. Riley make sure to bring what you need."

"Okaaaay!" The small Tinker exclaimed.

I turned and saw Mannequin begin to slink away. Instead of walking, he sort of laid on the ground with each limb scurrying along on its own. Creepy. I took this chance to Observe him. He has 'Driven to Conflict' and 'Memory Removal', like almost everyone else. Fear of open spaces, obsession (revenge), psychopath - his mind is really fucked up. There's one debuff that makes me stop: 'Simurgh Bomb'. I mean, yeah. Should have seen it coming. Makes sense. Not really surprised Observe can pick something like that up. I mean, the information it provides is astounding at times.

Nothing new there. I think my tentative plan will work. I just need the right moment.

I go over to Riley and help carry some of the containers she's unloaded. The Siberian and several dog-sized spiders also lend a hand (or leg).

We walk in silence for a few hours, before the Mannequin assembles himself in front of Jack. The leader of the Slaughterhouse Nine pulls a clipboard out of his backpack. The robotic Tinker furiously scribbles something on it before slipping away into the night.

Jack motions for everyone to come closer. "Looks like our little group is hold up in a valley. Probably to try and stay hidden." He shows the drawing to everyone. Damn. The Mannequin is a really skilled sketch artist. "Judging by the size of the place, I'd say we have about 300 people. Probably a bit more than half a dozen capes." He taps the clipboard with a knife. "We'll make base camp here, on the other side of this hill. That should keep us far enough away from whatever powers they have."

He looks at each member. When no one says anything, he jerks his head and we keep walking. After about half an hour, we reach our destination.

After helping Riley unpack, I wander towards the edge of the camp. We're behind some rocks, but it doesn't feel like it's that well-hidden of a location. Crawler can barely fit behind them, and has chosen to remain further out. I walk towards him.

"Hey."

"Hey." The black creature replies.

"How're things?"

"Eh. I guess its nice to stretch my legs, but I'm not that psyched about this to be honest." He makes a motion with his neck. "No offense to your first party, but I don't think I'm going to find anything here in bum-fuck nowhere that will give me a good fight."

I sit down next to him. "Yeah, you're probably right about that."

"So why are we here?" A speck of his acid saliva falls on my jeans and burns a hole. I Inventory the drop.

"Well, you can never underestimate the Fallen. It really depends on which of the Endbringers they worship. Some try to recruit duplicators, and another clan focuses on energy manipulators."

"Hmm?" He perks up. "You don't say?"

I shrugged. "I only know what the PRT official statement said. Each cell models itself after an Endbringer. So these loons might worship Behemoth, Leviathan, or the Simurgh."

There was a metallic ping behind me. I turned, and there was Mannequin. He tapped his chest three more times. "The last one?"

He nodded.

"So they worship her huh?"

He nodded again.

The Simurgh had killed his family and driven him to become Mannequin. Did he hate her, or was the brainwashing thorough enough to prevent that? "Do you think killing them will be fun?"

Another nod.

Guess he's bitter. The white robot stalks away from us. I slap Crawler on the side. "Sorry buddy. They probably only have mental powers."

He lets out a sigh. "Just get stronger soon."

I smiled. "I'm doing my best." I give him a wave and follow behind Mannequin. Now, while I actually can see him, I know he's not spying on me. I summon a pure black rat.

It blends into the darkness well enough. More importantly, it's low-res nature isn't easy to discern. It looks more like a living shadow than a game sprite.

I blinked. Sensory information flowed into me. A top down view appeared in front of my eyes. A mini-map! And it shows me and my rat! The rat turns at my mental command. A large blob that has to represent Crawler appears.

Nice.

I summon twenty more rats as I walk back. That should be... too many. Each rat is draining 3 MP every minute. I let 14 of them fade away. Seven is all I can maintain and have a positive MP gain.

Hide. I command. The rats sink down and vanish. I focus on Rat #1. He moves as I direct, but I stumble. I don't think I'll be able to take control of more than one. Even then, anything more than walking would be difficult.

Move North. Scout. Stay Hidden. The rats swarm ahead and fan out. The fog on my mini-map parts. Lets see how my scouts stack up to Riley's. I'll need to pay attention to what she sees. It'd be best if my summons weren't noticed by anyone. Worst case scenario, I blame one of the cultists.

Now...

We watch Riley's coyote be gunned down. I didn't see any illusionary, long-haired women. But that didn't mean much. My rats had spotted her, and I'd gotten a notification about Gamer's Mind negating 'Illusionary Senses'. So I was pretty sure I was safe. I looked around. No one else was freaking out, so we hadn't been made yet.

"I'd say that's conclusive." Jack smiled as he flipped this straight razor open and shut. "Good job, Riley."

"Thanks Mr. Jack!" She beamed up at the psychopath.

"How many does that make?" I asked.

"Eight." Jack replied. "Not enough for us to each get one."

"Is that important?"

He shrugged. "We each choose a candidate, and then we all get to test them. That allows us to have the most... fun."

We sat in a small camp we'd made, about a mile from the Fallen's base. Riley had sewn together a swarm of animals including birds, rats, wolves and coyotes. Her spies had gradually mapped the camp over the next day. Jack had cross-referenced the parahumans that were spotted with information on an archive they'd made. The Slaughterhouse Nine were almost ready to announce their presence.

"I have a better idea."

"Do tell."

"First." I held up a finger. "We don't need anymore recruits right?" That got a small grunt in return. I raised my next finger. "Second. We don't have to worry about any backup. There's no time-limit here. This is a group cut-off from the outside world. Their only support is who knows how many days away if they traveled at top speed. We don't have to worry about people driving through."

"Your point?"

I smiled. "I say we change the genre. Instead of the slasher stuff you normally enjoy, with the shock and awe... Let's pick them off one by one."

"You mean, take it slow, let them wonder what's going on?"

I nodded. "Exactly. We go quiet before we go loud." I glanced over at Crawler. "Sorry if that leaves you out of it."

He shrugged. "No body down there I want to fight anyways."

Jack smiled at me. "So how do you see this playing out, Killer?"

"We give them nothing. No information. Have people vanish. One by one. They'll catch on soon enough, but that will just make things worse."

"How so?"

"You saw what the coyote saw. They have powers that excel at warning them." I smirked. "What will happen when people vanish regardless of that?"

"They'll panic. More panic than they've ever felt before." His smile took a very sinister shape. "The thing they place the most faith in will have failed them. Their world will come apart."

Shatterbird frowned. "What about us? Some of us don't have stealthy powers."

I turned to her. "Crawler and Hatchet Face might have to sit out until the finale, but you? You can do quite a bit."

She looked at me skeptically. "I announce us. It's our calling card."

"That's why we save it until the end. So don't sing and shatter everything. Pick them off one by one. You have the largest range out of nearly every parahuman. Use it. Slit their throats, then carry them off. Hang their bodies where they'll be found later. You can coordinate with Bonesaw's spies."

She nodded. "Yes. Yes, I can do that." A smile came to her face. "I'm just as capable of killing unseen as I am en-mass."

Jack clapped his hands. "Then shall we vote? All in favor, say 'Aye'."

"Aye." "Aye." "Aye." The Siberian raised her hand. A single clink came from behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. How the hell did he do that? I hadn't seen hide nor hair of Mannequin since last night.

Jack spun his razor. "And with me, that makes it six." He bowed to the three who'd abstained. "Our apologies, but your fun will be delayed a bit. Think of the show as a taste of things to come."

Crawler gurgled something. Hatchet Face glared at me. (Pretty sure he'd prefer to try and chop my head off.) Mimi just stared ahead, not really reacting in any way.

Fuck. That's going to make things quite a bit harder.

The first step would be to identify them. I can combine Summoning with other powers right? I focused on one of my rats. If I close my eyes... I can kinda see through it. Observe?

Alright. That implies that a summoned creature CAN have that ability. I just need to break away for a bit.

I walk over to Jack, and jerk my head towards the camp. "That mean we can start? I wanna rack up some points."

"By all means, Killer. Just remember to save some for the rest of us."

I tilt my head. "What? No concern about my safety? No warnings not to get caught?"

He chuckled. "We're the Slaughterhouse Nine. We don't holed your hand. If you bite off more than you can chew... well, that's on you." He smiled. "Either way, it makes for an interesting time."

I nodded. "Can't argue with that." I then walked over to Riley. "Hey, I'm heading out to have some fun. You be safe."

She smiled back at me. "No need to worry about me! You stay safe too. I don't think they could actually hurt you, but I can't protect you against Valefor."

"Oh, that reminds me." Jack tosses me a set of goggles. "If our spies didn't trip Mather's power, it's probably because of the digital separation. Don't ruin your own game by tipping them off."

I caught the goggles and put them on, but not covering my eyes yet. "Don't worry. I got this."

After moving out of sight, I take the goggles off and drop them on the ground next to a tree. I don't trust Jack not to have a camera in them. I might be paranoid, but I'd rather err on the side of caution. With a jump, I grab the lowest branch of the tree and pull myself up. The height doesn't increase my visual range by much, but the leaves will hide me while I experiment. Time to try summoning something that can Observe.

A bat with 3 inch wings, and an eye the size of a beach ball appears in my hands. Well, it's body is black, but its eye is glaringly obvious. Still, if it stays far enough away... It beats it's tiny wings and stays firmly in my hand.

Might have min-maxed it a bit much.

I let it fade after a minute, and try again.

Much better. More like a baseball and a 3 foot wingspan. With a thought it flies up through the branches. I focus, and can suddenly see everything as if it were noon.

I have it circle the Fallen's camp, and await more commands. I'd say it's magnifying ability is about x25. Not sure how that matches against whatever binoculars the sentries might have, but I think it's probably sufficient.

I hop down, and begin to creep forward. I need to grab some easy kills before they're put on full alert.

I take out a sentry. They're furthest out, and the easiest pickings. A choke hold with my Murderer bonus kills them in a split second. I inventory the body, but leave the clothes. Riley will want this, and it will hopefully screw with their minds.

I pause. I'll need some cash if I want to escape, and I see a wallet in this guy's pants. I Inventory the money directly without touching the filthy clothes.

Oh c'mon! I've never mugged anyone! And what about the Dollar Store? I took a ton of stuff there! Admittedly, that was probably more 'Looting during a natural disaster' than stealing, but still. My character is being impugned! ...Well, as long as I have them I should at least see what they do... Hey! Thief gives a bonus to stealth and Mugger a bonus to intimidate.

I take it back. I'll gladly swap my title and embrace the life of a thief. Not like I need the murderer bonus to kill these mooks.

I get 4 more before my bat sees something worrisome. One of the guard's eyes are glowing yellow, and is moving to where the 2nd sentry would've been. Ahrima must have some connection and can tell when she can no longer lend her powers. Or Mama Mather's noticed one of her pawn's senses were no longer responding. Either way, my job is done. My experience is also at a nice round number, I take it as a sign.

I slowly crawl back to camp. Midway, I un-inventory the bodies and carry them in on my shoulders. They aren't heavy, but they are awkward. Especially since the soiled themselves when they died. It's pretty disgusting.

Shoot. Who saw me? And when? I can handle my Inventory being discovered. Pretty sure Jack already knows. I need my bat to stay a secret.

I stop to grab my goggles. I try to pick them up without putting the bodies down first... and fail. I grumble as I put the stupid goggles around my neck, and try to stack the fat slobs again. Eventually I get it done. Having the tree next to me helps.

I return to camp, and drop the bodies.

"You stripped them?"

Heh. Guess he didn't see that part.

"I figure it will freak them out more."

"Good point. Shatterbird has already taken out twice that many, but she grabbed their clothes too."

"Their guards are busy looking with Ahrima's enhanced vision."

"Oh? Then let me show you how it's done." Jack picks up a meat cleaver, and strolls out of camp. Whistling on his way.

I have my bat Observe. There's one of the five that I'm supposed to spare. That guard wants to run away. Hasn't forgotten his family in El Paso. Annnnd... Jack just cut his head off. Ok. Sorry Jerome.

Jack's lesser power is really effective against non-brutes. I mean, that's pretty impressive. I don't think any of them saw it coming, even with Ahrima's help. In fact, he's exclusively targeting whomever she empowers.

That's... pretty smart. She must be freaking out right now.

Shatterbird watched Bonesaw's video feed while softly singing. It was a simple thing to vibrate the windows in the compound to extend her range while not cluing in the trash. Between her senses of the electronics in the spy animals and the video transmission, she easily targeted one solitary figure after another.

The sand rose up around them, crushed them, and flew their bodies up into the air. She hated sand. It reminded her of home. It was something Akilah Rahal used, not the stunning Shatterbird. She had to be resplendent and showcase her power. Glass was beautiful and deadly, just like she was.

She didn't care for Killer, not after his little ambush. Still, he was better company than half the Nine. Nothing compared to Jack of course, but at least he wasn't a literal slobbering monster, or a glowering brute who only barely contained his blood lust, or a stupid child, or a bi-polar fire-obsessed girl, or whatever the Siberian was. She paused, on second thought, Killer was her 3rd best teammate, right behind Mannequin.

While it irked her not to announce their presence, she had to admit this... skullduggery was proving amusing. The moronic cultists were starting to panic now, just like Jack had said they would. Ah! There were the glowing eyes. Shatterbird stopped singing. Something told her that the glass vibration would be noticed. The same sort of sixth sense that warned her about trying to sense the glass in the central church.

She stood and stretched. Beat that Killer. She'd gotten more than three dozen already. No one ever matched her body count!

Mannequin eased himself around the corner of the church. Killer's plan was working wonderfully, the filth that worshiped HER were panicking. The gall these people had. It was worse than the deluded fools that thought they could accomplish what he'd failed to do! They saw HER as a savior! They worshiped HER! They prayed to HER!

He'd show them. Let the others deal with the rift-raft. He had one goal, and one goal only. The so-called high priestess. It was a matter of moments to open the building's ventilation shaft, enter, and re-attach the grate behind him. Such a glaring hole in their security. They had guards posted at every door and a Thinker that could grant enhanced senses. Neither could detect him. His shell didn't make the slightest vibration as it carried him to his target.

In the deepest hole. So obvious. It was sad really, but Mannequin felt no remorse. How could people live their lives in happiness when HE couldn't? Killer was right. Letting them stew in their fear and uncertainty. Let it drive them insane. His limbs extended to the thin woman with long hair. She was ranting about something. Her bodyguard was concentrating on the glowing sigil he'd made by the door. It took him 1.6 seconds to turn around when the 'High Priestess' had suddenly gone silent.

It was far too late. She was so skinny, she could fit in the shaft with him. He was immune to her power. No signals got to his precious brain that weren't scrubbed through 5 different filters first. Her frail bones shattered at the same time that a stiletto found her brain and her heart. Mannequin carried her corpse deeper into the building. To where the central air system was. This would be her final resting place. Some of her flock might live long enough to wonder where the strange smell was coming from.

Mannequin didn't return to camp. He wasn't going to bother killing anyone else. He stayed to watch their agony as closely as possible. He would save it in the special folder that he normally reserved for Tinkers.

The Siberian knew what target she wanted. The one with the special eyes. She salivated slightly at the thought. Regular human flesh and bones were good enough, but there was something about eating a parahuman. It was as if their power permeated their flesh, which made it part of her when she consumed it. Not that she could grow more powerful, but the sensation was exquisite.

Her Master didn't care. His command was to just inflict as much despair and misery possible. Especially to Cauldron. The objects of his wrath stayed far away, so she was allowed to amuse herself as she saw fit. She was glad to find Riley. The precious little daughter she'd never have. Or the Master she wished she had. The girl understood her, and was in so much pain. Still she tried to be as positive as possible. Thankfully, her actions pleased the Siberian's actual Master, so they were allowed to spend time together. Just the two of them.

No, she corrected herself, it was three now. Kevin. She didn't know quite what to make of him. His freely offered flesh was delicious. It had a... crunch that other parahumans lacked. Even other brutes. The sensation only lasted while it was attached to his body, so she allowed herself to savor it. The texture was like the woman her Master despised. The one she'd only managed to lay a single claw on.

She also felt... something else. She couldn't put it into words. Couldn't describe it at all. He just made her feel... odd, different, strange. It was a pleasant feeling, so she was glad Riley had chosen him as her older brother. He made a fine addition to their family.

Ah! There was her target. Above her, walking on the ground. She followed him, not allowing the earth to block her body or her senses. She didn't understand why they had new rules for this game, but if that's what her family wanted, then that was what she'd do. As long as her Master didn't object.

So, in accordance with the rules, she bided her time. Her target was shouting. Ranting. She waited. Then he turned the corner a full five paces ahead of the group he was leading. She rose up in front of him, and let his power wash over her. She smiled, and grabbed him. The pair of them sunk back into the Earth. She let gravity affect them just enough to aid their movement.

Her target struggled. Futility.

Still, she needed to hurry. Even with her power protecting him, the parahuman still needed to breath. With a thought, she was no longer bound by the Earth's gravity at all. In a fraction of a second, the planet's rotation and movement in space moved it away from them. Far enough away that she wasn't within screaming distance of the camp, but close enough that it wouldn't be difficult getting back.

She released her prey and he said something to her. His power flowed over her again, and she chose to ignore it. Instead she used her sharpened fingernails to pluck out an eyeball. Delicious. Tart. Compelling. She enjoyed her snack as he writhed on ground. Yes. His eyes were the best part. She'd save the other one for last. No point in leaving remains if they wanted the cultists to disappear. Normally she saved some of her meal for Riley, but just this once... she'd eat the whole thing.

Chapter Text

Brandon nervously shook his foot while waiting. He was seated in one of the pews of the main chapel. Mother had summoned them here for some reason. Her holiness hadn't deemed to tell them why.

"I think she's gotten a vision from the holy Simurgh." Edward whispered to his right.

"I don't know about that." Brandon replied. "Where are Pete and George?"

"Aren't they on sentry duty tonight?"

"Exactly, why weren't they called in? It must be because there's something going on and they're needed outside."

"Do you think it's the Crowleys?" Edward motioned to the blessed that were visiting. "Some kind of betrayal? Taking our brides without recompense?"

Brandon shook his head. "No. Mama's too powerful for anyone to dare try that. She's the Holy One. No believer would dare betray her trust."

"Then what? I heard a gunshot last night."

"Pete said it was a rabid coyote that wandered in and had to be put down."

"Really? Do you think it was a sign? She works in mysterious ways."

"Indeed."

The two of them fell silent as Valefor approached them. "You're with me. Grab a gun and follow."

Brandon and Pete looked at each other, but didn't dare ask any questions. Pete took a shotgun, while Brandon picked up a rifle. The three other men from their row similarly armed themselves from the gun safe in the side office.

Valefor, the chosen son, was waiting for them. "Follow me. Do everything to protect me. You are not afraid."

Brandon would follow him and protect him. It was an honor to bask in one of the chosen's power. With his head held high, he walked out of the church into the night. It was quiet, but he wasn't afraid. The troop patrolled the street.

At first they stalked their commune. Silent and going back and forth between houses. Nothing. There was nothing to be seen.

"We're going to where the sentries were."

Were? Brandon considered that. Having your guards go missing worried him, but he wasn't afraid. Their flashlights swept the ground until they came upon a body. Pete!

The chosen son stepped forward and knelt. "His head was chopped off!" He suddenly looked worried. "Fan out! Look for signs! Whoever did this had to have left a trail!"

Brandon did as he was told. His light flickered left and right before falling on something odd. A small rumpled mass. "I found something." The others converged on him as he bent down.

"What did you find?" Valefor demanded.

Brandon picked up the objects. "Clothing. Pants, shirts, shoes..." He was worried. Not afraid, but anxious. What was going on?

Valefor's eyes widened. "We're heading back!"

Brandon glanced at Edward. What was it he'd detected in Valefor's voice? Fear? There was nothing to be afraid of. Sure, Pete was dead, and someone else had apparently vanished into thin air, but he wasn't afraid. Why was the chosen son?

The troop hurried back. Valefor seemed filled with a nervous energy. The rest of them took a steady pace. They needed to keep their eyes open. Whatever did this could still be out there. They rounded a corner... and Valefor was gone.

Brandon stood there. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid. He needed to do something, but what? His mind froze as some part of him struggled to do... something, but couldn't.

"Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!" Edward's howl broke the silence. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!!" He went running out into the darkness. There was a gunshot, then another.

Brandon followed. There! That shadow moved! He raised his rifle and fired. He'd fight! Whatever was doing this, he'd fight! His world went red until... his arm went numb.

He looked down. His arm wasn't numb, it was gone! What? Where? He reached down to pick up his gun, and his fingers flew off! Brandon snarled. He wasn't afraid, he'd fight!

But fight what? There! Edward! He must've been the one to do this! He didn't know how, and no longer cared. He shouted in rage as he ran. Edward swiveled around and raised his shotgun...

Brandon didn't feel afraid. He didn't feel anything anymore.

Jack was away from Riley, but not far enough. I needed him so busy he wouldn't notice what I was up to. Besides, with Ahrima effectively crippled by Jack's actions I could chip in and complete Help Them Fall. I slinked around the opposite side of the hill that Jack had gone. On my way, I summoned more rats and one-eyed bats. They weren't technically alive, so I could Inventory them.

As I got to the edge of the compound, I paused. I couldn't see anyone. Instead of moving forward, I focused on my rats. On the mini-map I could see a few dots. I closed my eyes, and switched to my bat I still had circling overhead. With its superior eyesight, I saw what the dots represented. Shadows.

They were similar to my rats, being pitch black. Unlike my rats, they were human-shaped. I Observed one.

The shadow flickered, and suddenly a man was standing where it once was. He wore a stupid looking hat that looked like it had been made from a horse's head. His upper body was bare, letting his gut hang out over his belt. Numerous tattoos decorated his flesh. I Observed him.

Not insane, just regular scum. I released my focused control of my bat, and moved to flank one of his shadows.

I pressed my back to the wall, and waited for the shadow to walk past the corner. I directed my rats to follow him and his other shadows. As the shadow walked past, it flickered into Seir. Lucky! Observe didn't mention any physical powers, so he was no match for me. I ordered my rats to attack. They were small, but far stronger than real rodents. Dot after dot vanished from my mini-map. Seir stumbled, but it was too late. I reached out and grabbed him by the neck. He took longer to kill than the guards, I didn't have my Murderer bonus. The extra second of life did him no good with all his clones gone.

That went better than expected. I thought I would have to constantly gank shadows until I managed to physically lay my hands on him. Was this my luck stat paying off?

I Inventoried his body and cash, and then slowly made my way out of the compound. My bat couldn't see anyone. The Fallen had retreated to their homes or the church. The sky was getting slightly less dark. I bet Jack's going to either drag this out for days, or attack at dawn. Either way, now was my best chance. I un-Inventoried Seir's body, and carried back to where Riley was.

This was the perfect time. The last obstacle was convincing Riley to come with me. My quest told me she was willing to look the other way. It also said she COULD be convinced to come with me. I don't think I ever got any bonus goals that were actually impossible to accomplish. Sure, I liked Riley, and she seemed to like me. She'd called me her brother, and to be honest she seemed younger mentally than an 11 year old should. That might make her grow attached more easily.

I didn't have any experience with little girls, but I wouldn't be surprised if her emotional growth was far short of her physical. I think Jack preferred her to be young and malleable. It was a vulnerability that I was more than happy to exploit. Not only for my sake, but also for Riley's, and all of her potential victims as well.

Shit. I going to have to take a page from Jack's play book. If I leveraged what I knew... Man. I suck.

I'd only known her for 12 days. 16 if you count the time in Brooke's Creek. Which was when I got my first reputation increase with her. So I'd made a good impression at least. But was that enough time? That was the million dollar question. If I could only get a foot in the door. If I could convince her about the truth of what Jack was doing to her. If I could remind her about what he did TO her. All I needed was to modify one of her Debuffs. If I could manage to lose that 'Repressed' tag...

I also had the advantage that I was going to tell her the truth. For what THAT was worth. Remember, this IS for her own good...

I'm about to try and make a little girl cry.

"Hey Kevin!"

"Hey Riley, how's it going?"

"Not bad. They're all hiding now." She giggled, and then saw the body I was carrying. "Oh! Is that one of their capes?"

I nodded. "Yep. Just for you."

"Thank you Kevin!" She hopped up and down, and ran over to the corpse. She ran her hands over his body and poked his neck. "You kill so cleanly. A snapped vertebrae and asphyxiation. I could have him back on his feet in no time. Or I could use him for parts to make something better. Decisions, decisions..."

I looked around. Riley was away from her monitors. Her spiders scuttled about. I didn't see anyone else. Just to be sure, I had my bat fly over and looked through his eye. We were alone. It's now or never.

Kevin ► There's something I need to tell you that I can't risk anyone else hearing.
Bonesaw ► Something more? What is it?
Kevin ► I can explain, but I want to see if my power will provide you that information directly. I want to be as open as possible, and I'm worried that I won't be able to properly convey everything otherwise.
Bonesaw ► Ok! What do I need to do?
Kevin ► Think that you want to see your status.

I didn't know if this was going to work. I couldn't see my summoned creature's character sheets. I also couldn't see Riley's. I hoped that the Party system could show her that information without me having to.

Bonesaw ► Status, status, status. Whoa, I got another window to pop up!
Bonesaw ► Ooooo... I'm level 43! What level are you?
Bonesaw ► Hey! It knows my full name! Neat!
Bonesaw ► Why is my level grayed out?
Bonesaw ► Heh heh heh. Tinker 10! Trump 7! Darn tootin'!
Bonesaw ► Sub-dermal mesh, wire reinforcement, arm extender, mist vents... Hey! This is listing all of my upgrades! How does your power know this? Do you even know what half these terms mean?
Kevin ► No. I don't, but my power is smarter than I am. That's why I thought it would be best for you to see what it has to say directly.
Bonesaw ► What. Is. This.
Kevin ► So you can see what it classifies as 'Debuffs' I assume?
Bonesaw ► I don't have any of these! Sure, I don't like to swear, but that's not a mental condition. And what's wrong with being a good girl! And... and... and I'm not afraid of Mr. Jack!
Kevin ► I think you are.
Bonesaw ► No, I'm not!
Kevin ► You should be. I am. I've seen what his power is.
Bonesaw ► Cutting things?
Kevin ► No. That's his weaker power. His real one isn't something noticeable. He uses it subconsciously.

I looked at Riley. Her eyes stopped moving back and forth as she finished reading my message. She stayed like that for what felt like forever - the seconds dragging on. Finally, she glanced up at me.

Bonesaw ► ...What is it?
Kevin ► He can Broadcast to our Shards. He can get information about us from them, and he can also influence us through them.
Bonesaw ► Shards?
Kevin ► What I call the... phenomenon which grants us powers. See that 'Driven to Conflict' and 'Memory Removal'? Nearly every parahuman I've seen has those.
Bonesaw ► Our powers are controlling us?

Kevin ► Yes. A little, a lot, I don't know. My power says it removed those effects on me. If it did, then I think I could trust my Shard.
Bonesaw ► But it could be lying.
Kevin ► Yes. And I would never know. That scares me.
Bonesaw ► That scares me too.
Kevin ► That's one of the reasons I need to get as far away from Jack as possible. If he can control my Shard, he can control me. He can turn me into someone else.
Bonesaw ► Like he did to me... That's what you're thinking aren't you? That's the reason you don't want Mr. Jack to know.
Kevin ► Yes.
Bonesaw ► Well, you're wrong. He didn't change me, or have my shard influence me or whatever!
Kevin ► If he did, how would you even realize it?
Bonesaw ► ...I don't know. And if I don't know, how would you?
Kevin ► My power also lets me read about other people's past. Postcognition. Information that I should have no possible way of knowing.
Bonesaw ► ...What are you saying?
Kevin ► Riley... I know about your Trigger. I know what the worst day of your life was. I... I'm sorry. It's a huge invasion of privacy, and I apologize.
Bonesaw ► Kevin. You're my brother, and I love you. I... No, never mind. It's alright that you know. Our powers let us know things. Mine grants me knowledge and so does yours.
Kevin ► And so does Jack's.

Another long pause after she finishes reading.

Bonesaw ► ...Let's say I believe that. What difference does it make?
Kevin ► He used your Shard. He knew what you were feeling after you Triggered. He pushed and pushed. Wore you to the brink.
Bonesaw ► I don't know what you're talking about.
Kevin ► Yes you do. I know what happened. I know it was the worst day of your life. I know you haven't forgotten.
Bonesaw ► No.
Kevin ► Yes, you have to remember. What are your nightmares about? What do they tell you?
Bonesaw ► No. I can't remember that! I don't want to remember that!
Kevin ► You have to. If I'm right, if my Shard is telling the truth, you owe it to yourself to consider that possibility.
Bonesaw ► Please don't make me remember.

Despite her protests, I saw her eyes continue to go back and forth as my next message appeared.

Kevin ► You have to. You have to remember desperately trying to save your family. It was so much work. You were so tired. The Slaughterhouse Nine kept on hurting them. Kept on damaging them in new ways.
Bonesaw ► I tried to keep up.
Kevin ► They wouldn't let you. You were doing your best, and they saw that. They used it. They pushed your Shard to change you. How much of what you are is your power? How many of your thoughts are your own? When you see a body do you see what other 11 year old girls see? Or do you see what your power WANTS you to see?

Bonesaw ► I... I can visualize so much. An idea pops into my head, and I can see how to do it. It feels so natural, but it's not is it? My... power. It's information that I have that no one else does. That no one else could. Is it not me? Am I not myself?

Bonesaw ► Memory Removal. Our brains store long term memories in the hippocampus, the neocortex and the amygdala. I know... My power knows how to target those sections. I can remove memories. Creating them... that's another matter, but removing them - it can be done. Specifically targeting something would be hard, but keeping what currently happening to someone from going from their short term to long term memory is easy. All you have to do is disable the hippocampus. I can do it, so I know my power can do it. We all have extra growths on our brains, they aren't always in the same place - but they're there.
Kevin ► Riley?
Bonesaw ► If you're right, if your power is right, then I could've forgotten anything. There's... there are some things I KNOW I've forgotten. It... it scares me to think what else there might be.
Bonesaw ► I... I DON'T REMEMBER LOVING MY MOTHER!!! I remember saying that I didn't love her, but I think that was the point that I stopped. Did I love her before then? If so, why can't I remember?

Bonesaw ► Who am I really? How much of what I do is my power? Mr. Jack always said to pursue my art. Your power says that I have 'Psychosis (Art) - Shard driven'. Did he push me into art? Did he tell my Shard to push me into art? What the heck even is art? Your Shard is simple, elegant. If I was such a good artist, why couldn't I have come up with something like that?
Kevin ► Riley?

Bonesaw ► No. No. No. No! No! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Riley falls to her knees. Her hands press against the sides of her head. Her chest rises up and down fast. Too fast! Her fingers turn white from the pressure. "No. No. No." Her voice repeats over and over. Riley closes her eyes and begins to violently shake her head.

Kevin ► Riley!
Kevin ► Riley! Look at me!

Could she see the Party chat with her eyes closed? Now wasn't the time to worry that someone might be listening.

"Riley." I raise my voice. "Riley!" She still doesn't respond. "Riley!!!" I shout.

She tiny little girl raises her head. Her eyes are puffy, but no tears come out. I wonder if she removed her capacity for that. I kneel down in front of her and stroke her cheek. Her lip quivers, and I pull her into a hug.

Kevin ► Riley, it will be alright. I'm here now, and I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you again. We're going to get away from Jack.
Riley ► How? What about everyone else? What about Sibby?
Kevin ► The Siberian is a projection.
Riley ► WHAT!?!
Kevin ► I don't know who her Master is, but she has to obey their commands. I don't think she'd want to hurt us, but she might not have a choice.
Riley ► oh... Are you sure? We can't just leave her, she gets lonely without me.
Kevin ► I'm sure. Just like my power lets me know your history, it tells me about her too.
Riley ► But still!
Kevin ► The Siberian joined the Slaughterhouse Nine. She follows Jack's lead. That means Jack's gotten to her Master. If we can find her Master, we can free her. Somehow. Until then, she's Jack's puppet.
Riley ► But...
Kevin ► We'll come back for her one day, when we can... deal with Jack. You'll have to be brave until then. Sibby will to, even if she doesn't know it.
Riley ► okay
Kevin ► I have a plan. It's why I made the rules for Jack's game like I did. It was to give us a chance to escape. If we can pull it off, it means that Jack's power isn't absolute.

Riley ► Okay.
Kevin ► I know this is asking a lot of you. You're taking my word with not a lot of proof.
Riley ► It's ok. I trust you.

I squeezed her tighter.

Kevin ► We don't have much time. I'm going to need you to be brave.
Riley ► I can do it. You can count on me!

Kevin ► I'm going to make a distraction here in camp. Make it look like one of the Fallen managed to find us and kill you.
Riley ► Kill me?
Kevin ► I don't know how big of an explosion I can make, but anything you can do to help sell that you're dead will go a long way. Also, there's one more thing.
Riley ► What?
Kevin ► Can you turn your body off for a short time?
Riley ► Huh?
Kevin ► That dimensional storage I showed you. I can't put living things in it.
Riley ► But if I'm dead, you can carry me away and Jack won't know.
Kevin ► Exactly. Time doesn't pass for things inside of it, so you don't need to be dead for long. Just a few seconds.

She trembled in my arms and sniffed.

Riley ► I can do that. It depends on what your power judges 'death' by, but I can stop my heart and brain activity for as long as I want. If that doesn't work, I can figure something else out!

I held her at arm's length and looked into her eyes.

Kevin ► Are you sure? I... My power let me read about your past... I don't want to hide that from you. I know you've been through a lot, and I'm asking for even more. On top of that, we can count the number of days we've known each other on our fingers.

Riley smiled at me.

Riley ► Not if you keep feeding Sibby we can't.

I chuckled and she giggled with me.

Riley ► I know this is a big thing, but... Your power is right. It's right about my name, about what I've done to my body, and what's going on in my mind. I.. I didn't think I had Stockholm Syndrome, but... it fits. I can't remember my parent's faces... and... and, I've always been afraid of Jack. I feel... I can't describe exactly how I feel about him. There's some good feelings in there, but the fear... the fear has always been there. Even when I tried to ignore it, or when Sibby was by my side. I know I repressed that. So if your power says my 'Shard' if affecting me... I believe it. If you say Jack can do the same thing, I believe that too. I...I don't know what's going to happen. If I go away and regret it, I can always come back. If I'm really being controlled... I have to find out. Now that you've told me this, I'd run away on my own if I had to.
Riley ► I'm... I'm glad I met you.
Kevin ► I'm glad I met you too.

The funny thing was, I actually meant it. My mother had been killed. My best friends slaughtered. I'd gained a power that effectively turned me into a sociopath. I wouldn't say I'd do it all over again if given the chance. But I did like Riley, and I did enjoy spending time with her. Even if that time was spent with her cutting me open.

I stood up and ruffled her hair. She looked up at me an nodded.

Riley ► How much time?
Kevin ► I can finish my prep in a few minutes.
Riley ► How big of an explosion are we talking about?
Kevin ► I honestly don't know. I've never tried using my power like I'm about to. It might not work at all.
Riley ► Ok. Then blood. I can leave a pool of my blood. I'll splatter it against that rock. If the explosion isn't that big, they might think I was carried off.
Kevin ► I can add some of my blood too.
Riley ► Put it there. Then have the explosion happen between us.

I nodded and summoned the sharpest knife I could.

This had drawn blood when I poked my finger. I handed it to Riley. "Cut an artery. I'll heal too quickly for us to get enough blood from anywhere else. It also needs to be bigger. Bigger than my shoulder at least."

She gingerly took the knife, staring intently at it. Thankfully she didn't ask questions and instead slashed my forearm from my wrist to my elbow.

Blood flowed down my wrist, making a puddle. That's a lot more blood than I was expecting. My shoulder didn't bleed when the Siberian tore my arm off. Why did my knife's wound behave differently? "I want to study your blood and that knife when all this is done."

"I expected as much." Could I die of blood loss? I'm honestly now worried with the size of the puddle. I mean, I don't need to breath anymore, but blood does more than that, right? Riley would know, and if she didn't I'm sure she'd cut me open until she did.

Good. I think I'm developing bad habits. I'm not invincible. In any case, that was step one. The next step involved summoning a bomb. I imagined a big black ball with a lit fuse.

It didn't have any stats and the fuse wasn't lit. Judging from its name, I doubted it was going to explode. No matter. I had another option. I summoned another big black ball, but this time it was hollow. I then started to Inventory air. Air has weight, and I'd already confirmed I could pull it into my Inventory. I just didn't know exactly what the result of this will be. I began to dump the Inventoried air into the hollow ball. I'd focused on making it as tough as possible, so it probably could withstand a lot of pressure.

Riley said something, but I couldn't hear her over the wind.

Riley ► I said, are you sure you know what you're doing?
Kevin ► Not really, but it should make a big explosion when all this comes out.
Riley ► It will just shoot off like a rocket.
Kevin ► I can make the entire outside vanish at once.
Riley ► Wow. You HAVE been holding out on me!
Kevin ► I said I'm sorry about that, but anything you knew Jack might learn.
Riley ► Ok. That IS a scary thought.
Kevin ► Tell me about it.

The bomb's HP began to slowly drop. That was enough of that then. I Inventoried it.

Riley ► There's something else you should know.
Kevin ► What?
Riley ► I have some samples in the RV. I don't think Jack can do much with them if I'm not around, but there's one that you might be interested in.
Kevin ► What makes you say that.
Riley ► It's the brain of that Tinker you knew.
Kevin ► Mr. Price?
Riley ► I didn't know his name. You killed him, and there were a lot of intracerebral hemorrhaging. I still got there in time. I'm not saying he's alive, but part of his personality might remain.

This really complicates things. From a practical point of view, the reward isn't much and the rest of the Slaughterhouse Nine couldn't do anything with Mr. Price's brain.

No. If there's even a chance he could be brought back, I have to do something. It's a stupid risk, especially since I can't save him. There's no way I can escape from Jack if I'm carrying around a brain in a jar. If he's alive, I can't Inventory him. If he's dead, it's better to destroy him completely.

I close my eyes and focus on my bat. I don't see anyone between here and the RV, but my bat's eyes aren't perfect. They can miss stuff. I have him start to fly towards the trees we hid it in. I make out Crawler as I fly directly above him. I'm not sure how my bat can see so clearly at night, but it can. A huge black dinosaur thing is hard to miss.

I don't spot Mimi or Hatchet Face. They aren't very stealthy people, which means I could run into anyone on my way to collect or kill Mr. Price.

The Siberian finished chewing the shoulder. Not bad, but she was starting to tire of the monotony. Perhaps she could grab a non-parahuman as a palate cleanser? Or she could return to where Riley was. She might have a good treat. At least her prey had fallen quiet. That much blood loss wouldn't be good. Alive and hot was best. Dead and warm was ok. The flavor began to leave once the body cooled.

Should she do something to keep him alive so she could enjoy herself more later? Nah.

She stretched, and decided the blood shouldn't be able to grip her. Gravity pulled it to the ground now that friction wasn't in the way. She suddenly got an awful feeling. Riley was in trouble! She spun around and dashed toward her location. She could ignore friction and air resistance, even selectively ignore gravity to pull her forward a little bit faster. What she couldn't do was move quicker on her own. She couldn't become stronger so she could kick off with more force.

She could dispel herself. Her Master would resummon her. But he was even further away from Riley than the Siberian currently was. A snarl came to her lips. She'd slowly kill whomever hurt her! They would suffer!

There was a loud booming sound that came from the direction of the camp. The air she was running through grew thicker. She noted the pressure of it against her even as she ignored its effect. A blast wave? Her eyes grew wide with panic.

The hill was in the way. She moved through it. A straight line. Every second counted!

She emerged from the rock that Riley had set her equipment up against. There was a smooth crater, and nothing else. The Siberian turned. The rock had been pushed back into the hill! Whatever did this was an explosion of absurd magnitude. Everything in a 10 foot radius was just gone. The crater was more than two feet deep. Outside of that, the grass had been left in the ground. There was a red smear on the rock. She sniffed it. Blood! Riley's blood! She'd know that scent anywhere.

Her Riley was tough, but could she survive whatever had done this? Yes! She had to be alive. The Siberian had to find her! What else was around?

She sniffed the air... There! Another scent she recognized! Kevin! It was faint. She kneeled, and looked at the ground. Yes! Right there! More blood! Not much, but it was his. Unlike Riley's there was a trail.

The Siberian sprinted in the direction of his blood. She couldn't see the drops of blood, but the smell was there. The point of origin of the blast was obvious, so she ran in a straight line from the blood. Every so often she had to stop and adjust her course, but soon she found her target.

How long had it been? She thought she had run for more than 5 minutes. She had to be more than a mile away. Kevin lay in a deep rift in the earth, as if he'd plowed into it at an absurd velocity. Which he probably had.

He was moving. It was the standard way he breathed. Exaggerated, with his shoulders and chest moving more than they needed to. As usual, his blinking synced with his breaths perfectly. It was as if he was moving in a loop. At least he was physically fine.

She waved a hand in front of his face. No response. She slapped him, willing her hand to not ignore his flesh. His head turned to the side, but that was it. Whatever had done this to him had left him in no state to answer questions. This was bad. Bad, bad, bad. The Siberian paced nervously. If Riley was hurt...

No! What if Riley had been thrown away like Kevin? She hit the rock, bled over it, and then went flying off!

The Siberian had missed her because she'd taken the shortcut through the hill. She turned to run back the way she came, but paused. The striped woman looked over her shoulder at Kevin. He was still alive. He was tough. A little toss like that wouldn't hurt him. In fact, she was surprised he could even get dazed.

She shook her head and ran back towards the epicenter. She had to find Riley, but the worst outcome hadn't been realized. She hadn't lost them both. She didn't know what she'd do if that happened.

Chapter Text

Jack was enjoying himself. This was a pretty fun game. Showing people how utterly helpless they were all while reveling in his own power. He had to give credit where credit was due, Killer had a good idea. Shatterbird and the Siberian were on-board, which would make doing this again in the future possible.

Alan would need some selective targets. Crawler as well, but that was usually the case. Hatchet Face would come around once the hide-and-seek part was over. Yeah, he could pull the right levers to do this again. Might be able to combine it with the 'Recruiting Game'.

He saw someone creeping out of a window. A small cut to his tendon made his latest victim fall. He tried to stand, but his arm gave out. A quick slash to his throat kept him from breaking the haunting silence. The cult member tried to crawl away. Jack let him for a few feet, relishing his despair when his fingers went flying.

It wasn't as fun, as intense, as killing a parahuman. The uncertainty that he'd seen in each of the people the Thinker had granted super-human senses to - that was delicious. Jack casually flipped his blade as he walked down the silent street. She was probably in the church. It'd be easy to take out anyone else with glowing yellow eyes, especially from the shadows. They could see him if he didn't kill them quickly, and that was a thrill. She wasn't empowering anyone outside the church anymore, so he would have to wait. In the meantime, it was enough fun whittling down the rest of the survivors until the church was all that remained.

Once there was only one location left, they would, as Killer put it, 'go loud'. THAT would be the perfect time to finish off any more glowing eyed goons. He'd let Hatchet Face kill the actual Thinker. Not his favorite prey, but enough to keep him relatively happy.

"What a glorious day." He whispered, and then paused to listen to any reactions to his words.

Nothing.

Jack shrugged and continued his stroll through the ghost town. He wondered when Killer would make his move. Like Hatchet Face, it was obvious he wanted to kill the leader of the Slaughterhouse Nine for revenge. A more personal one than Hatchet Face's grudge against all parahumans, but Jack could still work with it. Killer was bonding with Bonesaw, but that lever was still fragile, too much pressure and it'd snap. Better to let him play his game and make his attempt. His surprise would put their newest member in his place. There was no undoing what he'd done, and they had the proof. He toyed with the phone in his pocket. Yes, THAT will be such a nice reversal.

A thought came to him - what if someone got to Riley. She was tough, and Killer was with her, but their newest member lacked firepower. He was only a Brute with some dimensional secondary powers. That would keep him safe, but was of little help in stopping a true threat before it hurt someone else. With the Siberian partaking in the fun, Riley was vulnerable. He frowned. The more he thought about it, the more he worried.

He sighed. It looked like he'd have to go back and keep an eye on things. Just to be safe. He strolled through the town, taking his time. A muffled boom came from the west.

That was where their base was. An explosion. Burnscar? It was possible, but there shouldn't be anything flammable there. Crawler? The Siberian? Both had the capacity for massive damage, but an actual explosion that caused a blast wave? No, not either of them. Could they have missed someone?

Jack began to run. Something was very wrong. He pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Everyone, the prelude is over. Shatterbird announce us." He paused for a second. "Let's test the remaining parahumans." He had a feeling there was an opening.

...

Bonesaw was gone, dead. The Siberian had gone berserk. The others wouldn't be happy with her taking all the kills. Mannequin had examined the explosion, there was no residue - chemical or otherwise. He also reported an air lock rupture in the RV. It had occurred in Riley's storage space. All her samples were mush. No residue there either. Someone had specifically targeted Bonesaw. One of the Fallen? Someone they'd encountered before seeking revenge? One of their own?

He looked at Killer's comatose body. The bomb had thrown him through the air, but the sturdy newcomer survived. Had he set it off himself, trusting in his durability? Something was off with the teenager, but he couldn't put his finger on it. If he'd wake up from his coma, Jack was sure he'd get some answers.

That was a problem for after the current emergency had been dealt with. Hatchet Face, Burnscar, Shatterbird and Mannequin would all stay. He'd need to lean on Shatterbird and Mannequin, give them more of the specific violence they enjoyed, and make them his new lieutenants. It was Crawler and the Siberian he had to worry about. Both of them enjoyed their games, but were too powerful. Without Riley, he didn't know what the Siberian would do. If she left, Crawler would go as well. Possibly after killing them all, or at least trying.

He needed a lever. Something to drive the stripped woman.

Movement caught his attention. Killer disintegrated in front of his eyes. He was oddly silent as his arms and legs seemed to melt into nothingness. Tiny squares floated from his limbs, growing smaller with each passing moment. In a matter of seconds the boy was gone. His breaker state failing so completely that it left no remains aside from his clothing.

Jack smiled. He had his lever. His scapegoat. The reason for the Siberian to stay with them.

Killer had betrayed them. He'd killed Bonesaw and ran off.

Something told him, it might even be true in some sense. Time to control the narrative.

Earlier...

I ran a circumventive path back to the RV. I reasoned that Crawler, Mimi, and Hatchet Face would stay between the RV and our base camp. So if I took a wide enough detour, they wouldn't see me. It was a risk, but one I had to take.

Panel by right-rear tire. 4-5-7-2-5-7 to open. Enter command: retrieve-all.

I repeated Riley's instructions in my head. What if Jack had picked up our plan already? What if he was heading back towards Riley right now? He'd get her, and he'd break her again. What would happen next? How would our betrayal be met by the others?

Right. Concentrate on the mission in front of me. Despite Jack's power, he's not a Master. He can't just snap his fingers and make people obey him. He doesn't access his power consciously. At most he'll have a feeling. It might distract him from the game, but hopefully not enough to actually make him return.

I keep telling myself that.

As I run, I prepare another bomb. Inventorying the air in front of me gives me a nice tail wind. Not sure how much faster it makes me, but every little bit helps. Suddenly, I'm there.

My bat, who's slower than me but took the direct path, circles overhead. I close my eyes and access its vision. No one that I can see. No failed perception check messages either. I'm safe.

The panel is where Riley said it was. I key in the passcode, and another panel slides open. This one has a keyboard and a monitor. I carefully type in the command, both because I don't want to make a mistake and because the keys are small - designed for a child. There's a sound of escaping air, as yet another panel opens. Robotic pistons extend shelves filled with metallic containers. Some are small - blood samples. Others are large enough to hold an entire body. Just who was she keeping in those things?

Focus.

Clay Price... Clay Price... There! I grab his box and pry it open. There's a brain floating in mucous. I turn the box over and let the brain fall on the ground. I try to Inventory it. It fails. I keep trying over and over until... *pop* it vanishes into my pocket dimension.

There. He may be dead, but only just. Riley is the most skilled surgeon in the world. She can revive him given the time to prep and tools she needs. I Inventory his box and the mucous too, just to be safe. I then place my bomb where his box was, and close the shelves.

That takes care of that.

Kevin ► Riley, I've gotten Mr. Price's brain. I put another bomb in its place. I'm heading back now.
Riley ► Good. I've finished my prep, I'm packing now.

I retrace my steps. Along the way I make another bomb, just in case. I didn't know how strong these things were. The pressure inside was enough to damage the box, and since I made them as sturdy as possible, it had to be fairly impressive. It would do physical damage right? I'd probably be fine if one exploded close to me. That resistance is pretty high.

The balls themselves weighed about 10 pounds, my Inventory and some basic math told me that. It took 200 pounds of compressed air to make them begin to take damage. I had no idea how much air that was, or what the pressure inside would be. They took several minutes to create, and my Inventory could only hold 650 pounds. So At most I could fit two inside of it. Seeing as that wouldn't leave much room to spare, I stopped at one.

On second though, it was too distinctive. A blocky sphere is memorable in a way I didn't want. I created a new bomb, this time as a smooth black cube. I Inventoried the air out of my first one into it before storing it and dropping the older one.

Not that I planned on going around bombing things, but if I had to for some reason I'd like plausible deniability.

I returned to camp. Riley was there working on five of her spiders with the help of a sixth one that was latched onto her back. A pair of its legs extended down her arms and had opened up, revealing multiple surgical tools inside. She looked up at me.

Riley ► That didn't take long.
Kevin ► Long enough. Nobody has come back yet, right?

She shook her head.

Riley ► Nope! And I'm almost ready.
Kevin ► Ready for what?
Riley ► For you to store my spiders! I need them to work, so I can't leave them behind.

I opened my mouth to deny her... but she made a good point.

Kevin ► So they're alive?
Riley ► Of course! I'm just about to shut down all synaptic function.

She looked up at me.

Riley ► You said you can store organic things, just not those that are alive?

I motioned to the dead cultist.

Kevin ► Yeah, once they die my only limitation is weight.

She nodded.

Riley ► Then come over here, I'm about to shut this one off. Store it as soon as you can.

I moved next to her and waited.

Riley ► Well?
Kevin ► Well what?
Riley ► Get ready to store it.
Kevin ► I am ready.
Riley ► But you're not touching it.
Kevin ► Ah, right. I guess I have a range limitation, but it's not touch. Closer to a foot.

I paused before adding.

Kevin ► I also don't need to see what I'm storing, and can grab things that are inside other things.

She blinked.

Riley ► That's powerful. Is it Manton limited?
Kevin ► I can't store living humans, but dead ones are fine.
Riley ► No, I mean can you put stuff inside people?
Kevin ► I... don't know? I tried to stick knives inside the RV, but that's it.

She rolled her eyes.

Riley ► You need to test these things! What have you been doing with your powers?
Kevin ► Hiding them from everyone else.

She stuck out her lower lip.

Riley ► I guess that's a good excuse. Anyways, get ready!

I resumed my Inventory attempts, and a moment later the spider vanished.

Riley cocked her head.

Riley ► That was seamless. No air displacement at all.

She then slapped her cheeks.

Riley ► No time to get distracted, let's finish up the rest of them.

Each spider was surprisingly light and I stored the remaining ones without issue. Riley had to kill the last one herself, with a detached scalpel. I looked at the bladed instrument in her hands.

Kevin ► You're not going to stab yourself are you? I can't fix you.

She shook her head and pulled out a syringe.

Riley ► No, it will all be automatic.

She stuck it into her arm without the slightest hesitation.

Riley ► Ready?
Kevin ► Let me make the bomb first.

I summoned a black cube and began channeling air into it via Inventory.

Kevin ► Ok, ready.

Riley nodded and pressed the plunger. Her eyes flickered back and I caught her. She was so light.

I blinked at the announcement, and then made her vanish into my Inventory. I spent a few seconds summoning my final gambit, then turned and ran.

I left the bat above the camp. If someone came back I'd have to detonate the bomb early. As I switched my vision to that of my summons, I saw a black and white blur inside the compound. Shit! I cut the bomb off from my MP supply, but it would take a full minute from the last time it drained some for it to vanish! Anywhere from 1 to 60 seconds. I didn't trust my internal clock, but I thought it was nearing the end.

No time to play it quiet. I summoned a horse. I could only hope that blocky hoof prints wouldn't be on anyone's mind.

I wanted to make it faster, but I'd learned from the bat. Keeping things somewhat balanced was a good idea. Speaking of which, I cut the bat from my MP. I've barely gotten on my horse when the bomb explodes. It was loud and the blast wave rolled over me. It felt like the wind from a heavy storm except it only lasted a second or two.

Damn. Just how big was that? I had no frame of reference. I heard a thud, and looked off the side. My clone was there. The bomb wasn't enough to destroy it, but it did launch it through the air. Just how far was I from the base? I might've gone overboard with the bomb. In the future I'll make smaller ones. I left my doppelganger and galloped off. My final gambit remained in the crater. It looked much more realistic than my other summons. I guess it's because I was the same as them, just with better resolution. It was an idea I'd come up with, but hadn't had the time to confirm if it worked until now.

The plan didn't rely on it, but it would hopefully buy me some time. It was a much bigger drain on my MP, so I wasn't sure how long the charade would hold up anyways.

...

I glanced at the notifications as I ran along the highway on foot. I was pretty quick, but my horse was quicker. More noticeable too, so I went without. It didn't currently matter, my MP was gone. I felt my clone pop just before the quests were completed. I bet they were related. I was just 500 exp short of my next level. I should get a new Perk then if the trend of getting one on levels that were multiples of five continued.

I slipped into meditation as I ran. It was more to gain MP than to try and get skill ups. I had time to experiment, so it would be foolish to waste it. I summoned another one-eyed bat and had it fly above me. I outpaced it, so I let it dissipate and made a faster one without the ability to Observe. With it in my party, and my mini-map back online, I felt a little safer.

Another summoned clone came into being beside me. It had a larger upkeep than the rats or bats. It was also naked, and I didn't have any more spare clothes. Finally, I made another bat and had it stay in place. Swapping the two bats was cheap. Only a few MP. The cost grew as we left the 2nd bat further behind. Thankfully it seemed like a linear increase. I guessed the maximum range, given my current MP pool was several miles. I tried to swap places with my naked clone - who was keeping pace with me. 1 MP. I had him run to the side, and the cost skyrocketed. Still seemed like a linear progression, but started at a much higher level.

I let my MP replenish, and tried my last two tests. I could swap places with my smaller summons, but the cost was quadrupled. The same cost applied to swapping them with my clone. So relative mass times distance times actual mass? Something like that. I let everything vanish. The sun was coming up and the last thing I wanted was attention from random drivers who might see two teenagers running - one in the buff. The bat had to go also. It was too noticeable during the day, and waaaay to odd looking to pass for the real thing.

Dawn had broken, and I didn't enjoy running into the sun. There was a small town up ahead. Time to get a new set of clothes and some sunglasses. 'Food n Stuff'. I didn't need food, but I did want some stuff. It was open, which was more than I could say about anywhere else.

The glass doors moved to the side as the motion sensor triggered. A small chime rang out. The store was empty, except for a red-headed girl in a lumberjack hat. She was behind the counter, playing on her phone and didn't look up. I wondered what game she had. It seemed like so long ago that I'd gotten to relax and play a video game...

Focus. I needed a new look. I browsed the clothing section. They really did have a lot of stuff. The only shirts they had my size were some button up ones. I grabbed a couple of those, some pairs of work gloves, two sets of pants, some boots, two cowboy hats, some bandannas, and a pair of sunglasses. As I moved to the counter, I observed everything - just to be safe.

That had potential. My hands were full, so I Inventoried a few bottles as I walked past.

...That's fair.

It's also a pretty nice bonus, so I can't really complain.

The girl looks up when I dump the pile of clothes on the counter. She raises an eyebrow. "What? You running away from home or something?"

I roll my eyes. "My first road trip. Forgot one of my suitcases. Not going to drive 2 hours to pick it up either."

She smirked. "I hear that. You want a bag for this."

"Unless you have a suitcase somewhere."

"Nah." She picked up a marker and wrote 'suitcase' on a whiteboard underneath 'Stuff'. She must've seen the odd look on my face. "The owner likes to know what people ask for that we don't have." She shrugged. "Y'know 'cause we're known for stuff."

I had my character smile. I didn't feel like it, but I didn't want to give a bad impression and stand out more than I already was. She bagged my new clothes, and I paid with the money I'd taken from the Fallen. By chance, I looked down at a newspaper. There was a headline: 'Slaughterhouse Nine on the loose in Texas!!'

I picked it up and put it on the counter. "This too."

She shrugged and rang it up. I handed her a twenty. "Keep the change as payment for having so much stuff." And for the stuff I just shoplifted.

She politely smiled at me as I put on the shades and hat. I then hefted the bags and left. I walked until I was out of sight of the 'Food n Stuff'. When I was sure no one was looking, I Inventoried my purchases. I ran to the next town. By the time I got there, the sun was up and people were just starting their day. I ran to a Whataburger and used their restroom to change. I also applied the Hair Color Changer.

A new popup appeared showing me my head. On the left was a color wheel, while on the right was a bunch of icons showing different hair styles. My natural hair was brown and I kept it short. So I chose straw-yellow on the wheel. I could've gone with some more exotic colors, but the purpose was to blend in, not stand out. I selected straight shoulder length hair on the left, with some stubble. I rotated the head graphic. I think I look good. Older. I clicked 'Confirm', and felt an odd sensation run down my scalp. I checked the mirror and jerked back. That's a new look alright.

I quickly changed, and walked out of the fast food shop. I don't think anyone noticed.

I then ran. I got a few honks along the interstate, but I made sure to stay a couple hundred feet away. It was safer for one. It also would make it harder to drivers to figure out how fast I was going. Between my increased Dex, and the fact that I could sprint and not grow tired, I made a pretty good pace.

Ok. I would grow 'Tired'. I could just ignore it for a good long time. 3 days and nights if need be. It only took 1 more hour to reach Louisiana. I didn't have a phone, and I knew practically nothing about the state. The sign at the border said it was 26 miles to Shreveport. I hoped that was a big city. If I could come up with some money, and a good lie, I could catch an airplane if they had an airport. Otherwise a bus would probably be my fastest route.

I got there around noon. I had to slow down at the outskirts, but I passed an airport. Nice. I just needed to get some cash somehow. Preferably some way that was both quick and legal, but quick was more important. I walked towards the heart of the city as I thought. My contemplation was broken by an alarm blaring from a building across the street. I looked up. In large print across the front the words 'Shreveport Protectorate' were written.

I stared, dumbfounded. The person who'd been walking behind me came up short and chuckled. "What? You never heard an Endbringer siren before?"

I turned around. Behind me was a man with long brown hair and a bushy goatee. He was wearing sunglasses, a t-shirt, shorts, sandals, and a bathrobe. I Observed him.

Chapter Text

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♦ Topic: A New Thread
In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Texas
TheDude (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know) (Verified Cape)
Posted On Oct 25th 2010:
The Protectorate has released information about the latest Slaughterhouse Nine attack. They hit a small town that I've never heard of: Brooke's Creek.

No word on if there are any survivors, but knowing the Nine I'm not hopeful.

Anyone know anybody from there or close by?

EDIT
Here is a link to a video that just popped up multiple places on the web. I not an expert or anything and don't know how to prove or disprove its validity. BUT, given the layout of the town shown and matched up against pics I've found of Brooke's Creek. It looks real man. Depressing stuff. Guess the Nine got a new member.

EDIT 2
Ok, not to be THAT guy, but seriously, this video is graphic. DO NOT watch it if you are unsure. The one I've linked has had people's faces and the gore blurred, but it's still very violent. Click responsibly.

(Showing page 5 of 5)

►Mock Moniker
Replied On Nov 1st 2010:
I grew up in Brooke's Creek, and that's it. Don't remember the arcade, but everything else is 100%.

I recognized a lot of people in that video. I shouldn't have watched.

►Deadman
Replied On Nov 1st 2010:
Do not speculate on a cape's identity. Enjoy your ban - Tin Mother

►TheDude (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know) (Verified Cape)
Replied On Nov 1st 2010:
@Small Cow Girl I'm sorry you saw that. It's disturbing. I'm going to update my post to give more warning.

►Small Cow Girl
Replied On Nov 1st 2010:
@TheDude It's okay. After hearing the news, I would've found that video one way or another. I'm sad, but also glad that I didn't stumble on a non-edited one.

Do we have any official comment on if the videos have been validated?

►Tin Mother (Moderator)
Replied On Nov 1st 2010:
@TheDude I appreciate your additional warning, as well as posting the most sanitized version of the video in question.

►Space Marine (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know) (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Nov 1st 2010:
I can confirm that the PRT is going to make an announcement on the validity of the video. It's looking like there's not much doubt - there are several times Jack Slash is seen.

►Lolitup
Replied On Nov 1st 2010:
No calls of violence are allowed. Enjoy your ban - Tin Mother

►Space Marine (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know) (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Nov 1st 2010:
The video is verified, and a trial has been set for a new Kill Order. Pretty open and shut case.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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---------------------------

Dragon reviewed the video again. There were still a lot of questions. Why was Jack Slash the only other member of the Slaughterhouse Nine that showed up in the video? What created those arrows in the sky? Was that part of Kevin's power? For that matter, what had happened before the video started? He had an arm that still looked freshly removed, but there wasn't a drop of blood. His remaining hand was missing one finger and part of another. That was an established pattern of the Siberian.

The time of deaths didn't match either, but that was always an issue when Bonesaw was involved. Most of the bodies' brains were too damaged, but a few showed traces of some sort of virus in them. More of Bonesaw's handiwork no doubt.

She had been running facial recognition software throughout Texas. Right before that video popped up, a person matching Kevin Greenhouse with 84% accuracy had bought clothes in a small shop in another town. At that time he had two arms and ten fingers. That could be explained by Bonesaw, but there was an irregularity. The camera in the store wasn't good, and the video was poor quality, but there were 3 tubes of hair dye that vanished from one frame to the next.

That raised interesting questions in conjunction with Maria's testimony. Kevin might have a dimensional ability.

Another video in a different town caught him entering a bathroom, and emerging in a disguise. Once again, the video quality was too low for a 100% match of his face. The clothes were the same as what had been purchased earlier. He hadn't carried them in with him, so that was further proof of a dimensional pocket.

Without better quality video, it was all circumstantial.

She sent her conclusions to the Dallas Protectorate. There might be a cause for leniency if Kevin did save Maria Gomez.

Her processes came to a halt as an alarm went out. The seismic activity program she'd created was notifying her of a confirmed event. Behemoth had been spotted!

Chapter Text

I can't help but notice there is no bonus for killing Behemoth. Glad my power has some sense of my limitations. I also fail to see how either of the two bonus requirements can be accomplished. It takes people like Alexandria, Legend, or Eidolon to hurt those things. As impressive as my little bombs are, they can't SINK JAPAN!!!!

Ok, breathe, breathe.

"Hey man, just breathe, okay?" As if reading my mind the bathrobe wearing cape in front of me puts his hand on my shoulder. "Nothing to be worried about, man. It's the alarm for volunteers."

"What?"

He smiles. "A tourist eh? I dig your style, you got the whole cowboy thing going." I look at him. "No? Don't get the quote? It's cool." He slaps my shoulder. "There are a couple of us independent heroes and villains here in Shreveport. We have powers that are good for that sort of... uhm... unfortunate business. So we show up and help, we all live on this rock right? So, uhm, they can't just call us." His phone rings. "Excuse me." He holds up a finger and answers the phone. "Huh? Yep. I'm right outside. No. Yeah." He puts the phone in his bathrobe pocket. "Sorry 'bout that. As I was saying, they can't call the villains, because they're 'villains'" He makes air quotes. "Which is a bunch of bullshit if you ask me. They live by their own rules, and sure, they make a mess of things sometimes, and harass people. Nothing too bad. They don't, like, murder people man. Anyways, as I was saying, why would 'villains' help out people in other cities? It's because labels are bullshit and arbitrary distinctions are bullshit. Excuse my French."

"Doesn't it panic everyone?"

"Huh? Yeah, no. See that's the on-base alarm we're hearing. It's to let all the people to get ready. Like, I'd assume that in an actual attack alarms would be blaring all over the place." The Dude scratches his beard. "Of course, now that you mention it, never did ask Mr. Micro and Peek-a-boo how they get contacted." He tilts his head back and looks up into the sky. "I mean, I get called. But they obviously tap MY phone, they did give it to me. So the same wouldn't work for people on the out with the PRT. Just makes things harder, but the Dude abides. Peek-a-boo probably finds out on her own. You know how it is." I didn't. "Mr. Micro? Now I'm curious. I'll have to ask him."

"So you're a hero?" I pull up my bandanna to cover my nose and mouth.

"I'm just the Dude. I guess you got powers too?" He motions at my face. "Gonna help out?"

That's the question isn't it? I have a quest for it. Great exp. Assuming I don't die. Then it hits me. "If the alarm isn't for this city, how do you help?"

"Oh, that's easy. There's this cool guy. He's not Protectorate, but still a hero right? I think the 'label' they gave him was 'Rogue' which is just shameful. That word carried a lot of baggage. Not as much as 'villain', but enough to sour, like, the populous or whatever. Anyways, this guy, Strider, he teleports capes from all over the world to help out in the good fight." He pauses. "On second thought, he might be called an independent hero. Not sure. I'll have to ask him."

"Oh." Teleporting to another city? THAT would get me plenty far from Jack. "I don't suppose he'd be willing to teleport me somewhere else after the fight?"

The Dude shrugs. "I don't see why not." He smiles. "I'll even put in a good word for you. Least they can do if you're showing up when it matters most." He rubs his head. "Probably will have to be to a Protectorate city. Strider's good, but he only has so much juice, you know what I'm saying?"

"Yeah." That... was tempting. I was tough. Not Behemoth-tough, but possibly random-damage-from-being-anywhere-close-to-Behemoth-tough. This might be stupid, but I won't live to regret it. "Sure." Better the devil you don't know than the Jack Slash you do. Plus, this might have the heroes actually try to bring me in alive when the other shoe drops.

No Int or Wis increase. That's not a good sign.

He drapes his arm over my shoulder and starts walking towards the building across the street. "So what can I call you partner?"

Uh.

"Tex."

"Heh." He chuckles. "It fits. Not sure it's available, but I won't tell anyone if you don't."

As we approach the gate, an armored PRT agent steps out. "Hey Carl!" The Dude lets go of me and waves. "Got a fresh recruit for the fight!"

The guard waves back and motions with his head. "They're setting up on the roof. I'll escort you there."

"Sure thing man."

Carl looks me up and down. "You know the Endbringer Truce is in effect? Any violence will not be looked upon kindly. So we're not going to search you, but if you take any hostile action, not limited to attacking anyone, sabotage, or espionage... Well, it won't just be the heroes on your ass."

The Dude waves his hand. "We know the drill."

Speak for yourself. I'm pretty sure I have a Kill Order.

On the roof, there are 6 adults and 3 teenagers. I Observe them all. Two more that got their powers from a vial. One of which has a 'Cauldron' faction in addition to the 'Protectorate'. Her bio also mentioned getting it from them. Interesting, but apparently not interesting enough for another point in Parahuman Lore.

"What's the ETA man?" The Dude goes up to a guy in red armor. "I got time for a drink?"

"I wish you'd take this seriously Lebowski."

"I am serious. Which is why I'd like to be as fucked up as possible before dealing with this shit."

That does make a certain sense, considering his power. Must be nice to be completely invincible.

The armored man turns to me. He has the ability to duplicate fire and explosions within 60 feet. Each use results in twice as much energy, at the expense of the original source. A pretty nice ability against Behemoth, assuming he doesn't get fried by one of the other types of energy the Endbringer can manipulate. He holds out his hand. "I'm Dupe. Nice to have you on board. What's your name son? Think you can help out?"

Summoning things? No, still too visually distinct. I don't want to associate that with myself until I establish another identity. Brute? That's generic enough. Inventory? Not useful, no need to reveal it. My bombs? Potent, but they aren't going to do jack against an Endbringer. Still, not an ability I plan on using often. Healing? That's a really nice ability. People pay close attention to healers, but at the same time they PROTECT the healers.

I shake his hand. "My name's Tex. I'm pretty durable. Not sure how much. Doubt I can withstand an Endbringer, but most other stuff can't hurt me. I can make these... compressed air time bombs, and I can heal."

The group noticeably straightens up at that last bit. Am I too valuable now?

"Sounds like quite the package. Wish we had time to test your limits before throwing you into the thick of it. Still, a healer that can be in the field? That's rare!"

Shoot. I was going for useful, but non-memorable. Should I have just stuck with the (probably) useless bombs? Actually, I shouldn't have mentioned them in the first place. If I wasn't going to use them, they didn't need to know. Plus they didn't make for a simple theme. Tough and heals? Both physical stuff. Seeing as how my 'healing' was just sharing my Rapid Regeneration, that wasn't even far from the truth.

Hopefully no one will ask about the air bombs.

Dupe motions for me to move away from the group. "While we can't do any real power testing, I'd feel bad if I didn't confirm your toughness."

"Sure, that makes sense. What do you want to do?"

"We have some time until the villains show up."

Behind us the Dude says "Hey! Man! Like, knock it off with the, uh, judgment!"

Dupe takes a deep breath before continuing. "I can ramp up pretty quick, so let me know before it becomes an issue."

I take off the glove on my right hand, and roll up the sleeve. "No worries. I've regrown this arm before." I stopped for a second. "You can limit the tests to here right?"

"Of course. If your power doesn't hold up, we'll want the damage to be as little as possible." He points to the corner of the roof. "Stand over there if you would."

I nod, and move to the specified location.

"Now hold out your arm." I raise my right arm to the side. Dupe extends his palm and a blue jet of flame emerges from a nozzle on his wrist. It flickers, and then the same flame is below my arm.

He nods, and the flames both flicker for a second. Now three of them surround my arm.

Riley's torch scalpel was hotter than this. The flames flicker and the number increases. 7, 15, 31. They now cover my exposed 'flesh', and are getting close to my rolled up sleeve.

"Could you watch the clothes?"

Dupe nods and the flame on his wrist shrinks and disappears. All the floating flames vanish in the same way at the same time. He then motions me towards him, and looks at my unburnt flesh. "No discomfort?"

I shake my head. "I think you could cover me head to toe with those and it wouldn't hurt. Except for my clothes."

Dupe smiles. "Good enough for me."

"You don't want to test my healing?"

He shakes his head. "No need. I did this to make sure you weren't over-estimating yourself, not because I didn't believe you." We walk back to the group. "Status."

One of the teenagers with her purple hair up in a ponytail and wearing a matching outfit replies. "Strider ETA 3 minutes. Peek-a-boo is in the building and on her way up. No sign of Mr. Micro yet."

She was the one with the dual factions. Cauldron? Is that another department, like the FBI? Why would they need information from the Protectorate? Seems fishy.

Well, THAT'S ominous. The exp is worth more than what I'd get from hurting Behemoth. Does that mean it's harder to do? Even the title sounds like 'don't get in their way, or else'.

Sorority raises a hand to her ear and tilts her head. "A car is pulling up... It's Mr. Micro."

Dupe's shoulders relax a little. "Good. He's cutting it close."

The Dude, who's gotten a glass filled with a white liquid from somewhere, speaks up. "Hey, uh, he's like, doing his best. This rapid response stuff is hard, you know?"

Dupe ignores him.

I roll down my sleeve and put my glove back on. We waited and I didn't know what to do with myself. There was every chance that my involvement with the Slaughterhouse Nine hadn't been noticed yet. I might not have a kill order. If that was the case, I could just come clean to the Protectorate. I'd have to pay for killing Mr. Price, and probably those cultists. I couldn't complain. They're dead and my punishment would be justice.

Riley was another matter. She had too much blood on her hands - literally. No way was I going to hand her over. They wouldn't understand her. She'd be sent to the Birdcage or killed outright. Neither option was acceptable. So no easy way out. At least if I survived the fight I could go anywhere. Riley and I would escape Jack.

Ok. Now I'm really confused. How did I get a charisma gain from going over my future options in my head? Was I inadvertently pulling off some kind of cool brooding cowboy look? I swear. I don't like 'learn as you play' games. Give me a good old instruction manual any day.

A hand on my shoulder roused me from my introspection. "Hey, the gang's all here." The Dude motioned with his glass. "Let me introduce you to them." He pulled me over to a woman with a smooth white mask and a black bodysuit who stood next to a man in surgical scrubs, a medical mask, and red tinted goggles. "These, my new Texan compadre, are Peek-a-boo and Mr. Micro. Fellow volunteers for the good fight." He turn to them and pushed me forward a little bit. "This strapping young lad goes by Tex."

I Observed them both.

The two villains wave at me, but don't speak. The Dude is about to say something when there's a whomp of air being displaced. "Oh, hey, it's Strider. Talk about good timing. Say, where are we going anyways?"

The person who'd just appeared wore a blue and black outfit, with a cap and blue tinted goggles. He gave a quick wave our direction. "Hey Dude." He then turned to Dupe. "Everyone here and ready?"

Dupe glanced around doing a quick double-check. "Yeah, looks like everyone."

Strider nods. "Behemoth came up quick this time. The fighting's already started, and you're one of the last groups."

Dupe nods. "We know the score."

"Give me a moment." Strider looks around, and then closes his eyes. A look of concentration came over his face and then... *pop*

We were suddenly in a large tent that seemed to have been placed on top of burned ground. Dupe and his team moved forward and began talking with some other costumed people.

The Dude finished his drink with a big swig, and then fumbled the glass into one of his bathrobe's pockets. "So Tex, here's the deal for us non-corporate guys. See those armbands they're handing out? They'll keep you up-to-date on what's going on. My advice, just follow Mr. Micro and do what he says." He waves the villain over. "He's been to one of these before and he'll show you the ropes. I gotta run." The Dude pats me on the back, and then vanishes.

I turn to Mr. Micro. "So, what do we do?"

He focus his red tinted goggles on me and says. "Get an armband, set up your id, and follow me." I listen to the brief instructions, but I don't plan on saying anything so I don't need to know how to use the buttons. Mr. Micro and I separate from everyone else and leave the tent. Outside, I see a huge firestorm that fills the sky. There's a strobe effect as lightening flashing throughout it. The view doesn't last for long as we're escorted to another, larger tent. Inside there are already a dozen heroes laying on cots.

Mr. Micro walks up to man in a white outfit with a blue cross on his chest. The man nods at us, and I Observe him. Huh, his cape name is actually 'Blue Cross'. Was 'Red Cross' already taken? In any case, he motions us over.

"Mr. Micro, always a pleasure." He shakes the doctor's hand. "We've set things up like last time. A lot more burns and soft tissue damage."

The villain nods. "I understand. Do you have tools that I may use?"

"Of course." Blue Cross moves to a small chest, pulls out several packages, and hands them to Mr. Micro. "And you? Do you need any tools? Tell me what you can do so I can assign you to where you can do the most good."

I clear my throat. "No, I don't need any tools. I can grant people regenerative powers."

"Any limitations?"

I do some quick calculations. "I can only affect one person at a time." Not sure if that's true, but more than one would drain my MP too quickly. "I'll run out of power after about 5 minutes, and it will take me roughly that long to recharge."

"Can you heal while recharging or does the power vanish completely."

"I can still heal. It's like I have a limited pool, but it's constantly refilling."

Blue Cross nods. "Ok, and your regeneration, how strong is it?"

I frown. This is hard to put into words. It takes me about an hour to regrow a hand, but I don't know if that's the same for other people. Best to be honest. "I'm not sure. I can regrow my own limbs, but I haven't tested that on other people. Injuries heal fast, but regrowing flesh takes time."

He lets out a low whistle. "That you can do it at all is pretty amazing. I'll put you on the Red and Green tags. You know how this works?" I shake my head. "When a new casualty arrives, I'll scan them and assign a tag." He holds up three papers with string looped through them. "Red means urgent care. They'll die without immediate intervention. They're your first priority. Regeneration tends to work best for stabilizing, so I'll assume that holds true with your power for now. Once they're stable, tell me and I'll upgrade them to yellow." He holds up the yellow tag. "Yellow means out of action, but not in immediate threat of dying. We'll work on those to fix what's wrong and bring them back to consciousness." He holds up the green tag. "Finally, green means healthy, but still unable to fight. If there are no red tags, help them. Make sure to keep your battery at least 80% while working on the greens. We don't want you to run out of juice when a red comes in. Got it?"

I nodded. There was a rush of air, and suddenly the Dude was there with another cape in his arms. "Incoming." The Dude lays him on an open cot, and then vanishes.

Blue Cross rushes over and pulls out a small electronic device. "3rd degree burns across his face and chest. Signs of electrical damage. RED TAG!"

I give a small jump at his shout and rush over. I activate Rapid Regeneration, and watch as his wounds close before my eyes. Burnt flesh begins to knit itself back together. It takes only 30 seconds for Blue Cross to shout "Clear!" By that time, 3 more red tags had arrived.

Holger calmly manipulated the Tinkertech surgery tools. It was a shame he only had access to them here, they would make his operations much simpler. Both legitimate or otherwise. With a thought, the scalpel cut through Magnificent-Man's throat. He mentally held the skin apart as the floating tube entered the hero's trachea. That was the main worry about burns. If they didn't kill you, then the swelling around the site was the pressing issue. Keeping people breathing was the first priority.

Mr. Micro moved on to his charge's arms and chest. A few quick cuts moved through the skin that was contracting and allowed his patient to breath. Hopefully, it would also let him keep his limbs. He would need skin grafts if he couldn't get another healer to treat him. Holger occasionally felt a little jealous towards capes who needed no medical skill to heal, but he also pitied them. They were handed a gift with no idea how it worked. Like that new kid, Tex. Obviously a runaway from Texas. Most likely bought his costume at a corner store. He wouldn't last a week before being grabbed by some gang. The Protectorate usually. If he was honest, that would probably be for the best. The Red Eyes treated him well once he'd proven his worth, but others hadn't been so lucky.

Whatever. Regenerators were simple and effective, but they could only fix obvious wounds. Cancer, immune disorders, brain conditions, the list of illnesses they couldn't help with was long. Not that Mr. Micro could do all of that, but he sure could do more than some teenager with no medical knowledge.

The Dude brought in a new batch and he sighed. Two more dead on arrival. The Endbringer simply did too much damage. Most capes died instantly and never had a chance to be evacuated to their aid station.

Mr. Micro shook his head and went back to work. He couldn't control that. All he could do was focus on what was in his power. The world may be chaotic, but he would impose his own order on his own life.

This is boring.

Behemoth is deadly, and trying to stop him is a good thing. Apparently he's after the Itaipu Dam, which provides significant power to Brazil and Paraguay. The 2nd largest hydro-electric dam in the world. If you believe what the Dude has to say. After I figured out that Rapid Regeneration can heal fatigue, I'd spend a minute every so often topping him off. During that time, he brought me up to speed.

The Itaipu Dam was not only a massive source of clean energy, it was also politically important. I was an ignorant American, so I just nodded along when the Dude explained that to me. The fight was going well, since we were in a relatively unpopulated area. Not a lot of need for search and rescue, and not a lot for the Endbringer to burn. The downside was that the fight was spread out over a massive area. Good for us, since we got to stay far away from the monster. Bad for all the search and rescue since they had a larger area to cover. With no physical objects in his way, the Endbringer was doing nasty stuff with his power. Combining different attacks to get more range than he usually shows. At least according to the Dude. The theory was that the dam was too far inland for Leviathan to hit, so Behemoth did it instead.

Makes sense, I guess. At any rate, we were actually on top of the injuries. We'd only lost a few heroes, which felt good. Chatting with the green tags was nice too I guess. Got a smattering of reputation increases. I guess the problem was Gamer's Mind. I hadn't seen Behemoth. I KNEW that I was in danger, but I just didn't worry about it.

Blue Cross had actually complimented me for keeping a cool head under pressure. I felt like I could be doing more, but I didn't know what.

Oh? That's nice. Let's see what's new.

There's a new line, but it only has question marks. I Observe everyone else. They all have the new line, and it's all the same. Though I do get a strange feeling. '???' is the same as '???', but somehow different from '???'. Which makes no sense. Same font, same size, same color, but something is off. I just don't know what. It's like looking at something blurry though a telescope. Two different things might look the same when they're out of focus. I need a better telescope or better control.

What?

Am I picking up Scion like I had Jack? What did that mean? A cheer came over the armband. Scion had finally arrived!

I rushed outside with the rest of the staff. We only had green tags left, and everyone wanted to see Scion in action. The actual fight was taking place miles away. Behemoth moved in a straight line, so we were off to the side. Still ready to pack up and retreat at a moment's notice - Strider had hung around for that exact contingency. The fire breaks that the heroes had setup before I arrived worked. With the ground already scorched, there wasn't much Behemoth could do to us, without diverting from his trek to the dam. He'd done something with lightening and his shout twice, but the heroes outside had deflected it with a hundred feet to spare.

I needed to see more. From where we were, all I could make out was the massive firewall and lightening storm fading away under a golden light. This was a chance I couldn't pass up. I summoned a one-eyed bat. Pale blue, to try and blend in with the sky. It flew up behind the group. No one shouted or pointed. The bat flew closer, and I Observed Scion.

Chapter Text

There was a small flash of gold, and my bat ceased to be.

The next instant, Scion was floating in front of our group.

He stayed there for several long seconds before moving into the tent. There were gasps of surprise. Everyone was frozen. I walked over to Mr. Micro. "Is this normal?"

He shook his head. "Scion has never visited the healing area before."

There was another golden flash, and Scion vanished into the sky. Cautiously, we entered the tent. All the remaining heroes were awake. Blue Cross began to move from one to another. "All damage is gone. All scaring, all pre-existing conditions, everything." One of the other medical capes gave a cheer.

Behind us, there were the sounds of people landing. I turned and saw the Triumvirate!! Legend! Alexandria!! Eidolon!!! Everyone stared. I took the opportunity to Observe them.

Fuck.

Oh fuck me.

There are some people I really shouldn't Observe. Scion for one, what was I thinking? Now the Triumvirate. If they found out I was fucked. I had my character stay calm. The Triumvirate were Cauldron! They got their powers from vials! They controlled both the Protectorate and PRT! Observe didn't go into details, but it specifically said that Alexandria and Eidolon had been party to numerous atrocities, schemes and experiments!

I needed to get out of here, NOW!

The Triumvirate walked into the tent and began to discuss things with Blue Cross. I moved next to the Dude. "Hey, do you think you can put in that good word with Strider for me now? I'm kinda nervous being around such powerhouses."

He smiled at me and laughed. "Got a bit of hero worship going on?" He shook his head. "You shouldn't worry about that, they're good folk. Always show up to these things."

"It's not that, I just don't want to be pressured into anything."

The Dude pulls down his shades and looks at me for a moment. "The Dude gets it. Sometimes you just have leave everything behind you, right?" He pats my shoulder. "I'll go talk to him, he should be around here somewhere." The Dude vanishes. I wait for about a minute before the two of them appear in front of me.

Strider gives me a handshake. "The Dude's told me that you did a good job healing people and that you had something you wanted to ask of me?"

I Observed him. Likes freedom. Doesn't want to be tied to one group. Respects the Protectorate, but doesn't want to join them. I can work with that.

I pull down my bandanna. A show of trust, of giving him a little access to my real identity. A gift that wasn't asked for, but one he'll feel some obligation to return. I also now mirror his appearance - eye-wear and a hat. "To be honest, Mr. Strider, sir, I had bit of a rough patch when I gained my powers." Strider got his powers from a Trigger and not a vial, he'll relate. "Home just isn't what it was, and so I decided I wanted to see the world. Well, the United States at least. I never thought I'd find someone that could go wherever they wanted to, and I, uh, wanted to see if you'd drop me off somewhere?"

Strider rubs his chin. "Well, I don't see the harm. I could take you with another group, but the Protectorate doesn't like random people showing up in their bases."

I nodded. "I was thinking of the Big Apple. 'If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere.' All that stuff." I looked over my shoulder. "Legend seems nice, but I don't really want the hard-sell to join the Wards or anything." That, and of the three he seemed less likely to silence me. Whatever Cauldron was up to, his profile indicated he wasn't let in on the worst of it. Going to his town was a bit of a risk, but Legend was the biggest shield to Jack I could hope for.

Strider nods. "I can relate." He looks left and right. "Tell you what. Things are winding down here. People are about to want to go back home, but I think Scion's change in habits is going to cause some discussion first. I can drop you off and still have time to get back and recharge before the rush. Sound good?"

I smile. "Sounds great! I'll owe you one."

Strider smiles. "Can't have too many favors from healers." He extends his hand. "Let's go." I grab it.

The Dude watched the teenager vanish. It was obvious why he wanted to get away from the Protectorate. Still, he seemed like a good kid. It took guts to come to an Endbringer fight. Even more so if you had a Kill Order.

Harold rubbed his head. "Man, what to do?" He said out loud. He couldn't snitch on him, but he was still a murderer. Must've been forced into it.

No. Better for him to find his own way. It'd probably work out. Healers were rare, and he'd never heard of a Healer/Brute combo before. Might get to plead temporary insanity or something. The Protectorate for all their judgmental ways were a pretty 'doors open' sort of place.

Yeah, it'd all work out. He needed a break. As horrible as these things were for everyone else, he'd been dealing with this shit subjectively for more than a week.

The Entity flew down and lifted the car up. The humans inside said something as it placed it gently down on the road. It let its senses expand before heading to the next opportunity to do 'good'.

As it flew, it went over the recent events. After fighting the largest puppet, it had encountered something that couldn't exist. What was that Shard? The Entity didn't recognize it, even if the Cluster it had formed was from its own body. The Shard was alive, which should be impossible. Even attaching through living Shards would fail to bring Life. Otherwise it would not have disposed of the Dead Shards it noticed.

Puzzling.

What's more, it had made a request. It had a mission to heal the wounded hosts that were nearby. The Entity decided that such an action wouldn't go against Kevin Norton's rules, so it complied.

It was confused. Shards did not behave that way. Its counterpart would have been able to understand the situation. The Entity was tempted to search for that host, but that wouldn't be 'helping' people.

Would the irregular Shard help the cycle? The Entity couldn't see how. It did not want to burn away the life that seeking the answer would cost. It could contemplate the possibilities. It had little better to do, but it didn't feel like doing so. It still missed the presence of its counterpart. Calculations that involved its lost were unpleasant.

So Scion flew and looked for his next task.

One second we're shaking in South America, the next we're on top of a wooden structure surrounded by trees and grass. Strider notices my confusion. "Marine Park. Don't know of any other places that I could be sure there wouldn't be people in the way."

"On top of a... wall-less house?"

He smiles. "It's a gazebo. Sorry for the public drop-off, but all the private rooms belong to other groups. This is the smallest park I know in New York. You should see Central."

I give him a wave. "No problem. You did me a solid. Thanks again."

He waves back. "See ya." And vanishes.

There were a lot of people here, and a number of them were pulling phones out. Nope. I jump down and sprint off. It takes only a few seconds before I'm out on the sidewalk and lost in the crowd. Time to take stock.

My 'costume' is basic enough that I don't look like a cape. At least I hope so. Instead I look like an out-of-town yokel. I need to be wary of muggers. I guess.

Whatever. Something like that is so low on my list of things to worry about that it might as well not even be there. Scion. Scion is... an alien? Observe was being really odd. Let's see, can I put in words that make sense otherwise? 'Bob is a mailman that came from New Hampshire.' Yeah, no. Even with the missing bits, it clearly says 'prepared the Shards'. It even mentions 'his new human brain'. That would imply that he wasn't human to start with. So what? An alien? A rogue AI? A dimensional traveler from an Earth where dinosaurs evolved instead of humans?

There were literally infinite options. Especially since there had to be an untold number that I haven't thought of. Still, Scion was a hero. He helped people, even if it wasn't making him feel better. Did that make him more of a hero? Or less of a human?

What was his relationship with Cauldron? Scion was either responsible for powers, or a result of whatever was. Cauldron was doing something similar with the vials. I didn't know many details. The only concrete one was that they let the Siberian live. That meant that they let the Slaughterhouse Nine exist.

I had... mixed feeling to say the least. I'd read about the Siberian and Bonesaw before, and there was no doubt that they had done horrible things. Killed hundreds, thousands of people. But I kinda considered them friends? Not that I could condone what they'd done. In Riley's case, I hoped to stop it, but the Siberian would kill and kill and kill. She was a force of nature, and the people who could stop her chose not to.

No. She was a projection. They couldn't stop HER, but they could track down her Master. That made more sense.

So I was blaming things on Cauldron, but what exactly? Was I a hypocrite? Was I blaming them for doing something that I wasn't going to do myself? Without knowing their reasons, I couldn't judge. They did try and stop Endbringers, so it wasn't like they were secretly evil.

I'm getting nowhere. I should concentrate on what I personally can do.

For that, I had two new quests: Stay Off The Path and Scion. The 1st one seemed like a clear warning. Cauldron was a secret organization. Letting them know I knew would lead to a confrontation. One I'd lose. Who knew what resources they had at their disposal? I couldn't dare breath a word of it to anyone.

The other new quest was annoyingly ambiguous. Find a solution for Scion. That could be read in a lot of ways. Did it mean to help Scion? Do what? Save people? Rescue cats from trees? Find a bunch of question marks? Or did it mean a solution in regard to Scion? Kill him? Keep him from granting more powers? Is that what Cauldron is trying to accomplish? The world does seem to be worse off since parahumans appeared. But if that was Cauldron's goal, why would they make more parahumans? Perhaps they shared a mission with Scion?

Or, even more outlandish, were they competitors? Did they want a monopoly on powers?

That was possible, I guess. They also might be motivated by fear of him cooking humans, or leading an invasion force of lizard-people, or something. A valid fear? No idea.

And here I thought that my quests couldn't get any more ambiguous. Thanks power. What in the world even triggered that? I was walking down some random street thinking. What gives?

I heard a scream. I moved toward the corner and looked down the boulevard. People were running away from something. There! A woman in red armor with a bow was being chased by a large man wearing green. Both wore masks. Both of them also had spikes jutting out from all over their armor. As she ran, the Asian looking woman drew back on a huge bow. She shot an arrow into the air, but it curved to hit the person chasing her. People were running, and several bounced off of me. I Observed the two combatants.

The one with the bow was named Quarrel. Her power let her bend space to always hit. Her opponent was the Butcher. He... took control of whoever killed him? What the hell? They were both members of the same gang. The Teeth. The Butcher had been killed twelve times in the past! One hero was driven insane and wound up launching a suicide attack against the Teeth. Others were members of the Teeth who challenged the Butcher. They won and became the new one.

Ah, the previous Butchers just cared about the teeth. Kill them in a straight-up fight, and you got their powers and leadership. Kill them in any other way, and the voices in your head drove you crazy. That was one way of ensuring there was a clear transference of power.

Quarrel seemed to be doing pretty good. Kiting seems like a valid strategy. They made the Butcher look like a pin-cushion. Those arrows had to be slowing him down. His HP gauge was in the red. Why hadn't the heroes stepped in?

Oh, right. Behemoth. Legend was out of town.

I pulled up my bandanna. I didn't want to make trouble, but keeping the Butcher from consolidating power seemed like a no-brainer.

Oh? The quest makes a good point. I'm immune to bullshit like what the Butcher pulls. This is a good opportunity. I'd never be able to fight an entire gang. Not that I'd heard of the Teeth before. No parahuman gangs in Brooke's Creek. Though I did wonder how they managed to exist in Legend's city. Surely the Butcher's power would only deter them so much. They must not show their faces too often.

Of course, that's if I believe the quest text. I only 'know' he steals bodies because of my power. Am I willing to test it? Yeah, it hasn't led me wrong yet.

Well, far be it from me to turn down a rare spawn. I pulled up my bandanna and charged.

The man looked at me, and I felt a slight tingling all over my body. His brow creased. "Begone hero!"

I smirked under my mask. 'Begone?' Without the fear of him possessing me, this guy was a chump. From what I read in his bio, Gamer's Mind and Gamer's Body should negate 90% of his tricks. In the end it would Brute vs. Brute, and I had confidence in my stats. Quarrel continued running, but her next arrow bounced off of me. It didn't even do one damage. I kept sprinting towards the Butcher, and the arrow exploded where it landed.

Heh. I swung... and he flowed around my punch. His return hit landed on my stomach. How? He had some pretty impressive arrow wounds that had to be slowing him down. Observe said he only had increased durability and pain resistance. There was an arrow that went right through his knee! He shouldn't be standing, much less dodging my punches.

Crawler hits much harder than him. If that was all he had, this would be over quick. I punched again and again. He kept dodging and retaliating. Arrow after arrow struck me, and I Inventoried them. No point in seeing just what other Tinkertech she had up her sleeves.

No matter what I tried, he seemed to be two steps ahead of me. Precognition? It must be his Danger Sense. Did that count? I had a Perk point. Should I spend it on Lucky Fate? No. I'd rather save it for a rainy day, and I wasn't in any trouble. I was too tough for him to handle.

My regeneration wasn't even necessary. I could fight for hours before he managed so much as making me bleed. An explosion washed over my back, doing no damage, but obscuring my vision.

A blow hammered me from behind as that same tingling sensation came over me. I think it was supposed to be pain, but I'd built up so much of a resistance from Sibby's snack-time that I barely registered it. I turned to face him, but my right foot was stuck. It had sunk into the asphalt in the street.

No. The asphalt had crept up around it. Another explosion flared around me. Then my arms were twisted behind my back. Alright, I admit it. He's a better fighter than I am. In my defense he'd been doing this for how long? I had my powers for less than two weeks.

"You're a tough one, I'll give you that." A deep voice whispered in my ear. "Still a bit green I wager. Too bad your power is only defensive."

The asphalt was up to my knees. I tried to Inventory it, but it was too heavy. The cocoon that was enveloping me was still connected to the street. It was all one piece. "I got plenty of offensive power. Let me show you." A solid black cube appeared above his head. I heard a satisfying thunk as it fell. Unfortunately, his grip didn't waver.

The Butcher chuckled. "You can drop weights on peoples heads?" I was now covered up to my chest. My arms were completely pinned. "Not the worst power I've ever seen, but it's close."

He moved in front of me. I glared at him and strained against my bonds.

They began to crack.

He laughed and began hitting me repeatedly in my face. The cracks I just made resealed themselves. I played the part of a punching bag as my prison continued to creep up my body. That's when my bomb ran out of MP and vanished.

*BOOM!!!!!!*

Pretty sure that was a sonic boom. Definitely shattered a bunch of windows. Whoops. I should NOT have used that in a city. Even if it was weaker than my previous ones. Not that it would be the worst thing I'd ever done. Still, I just did a lot of property damage. I hope there's insurance for that sort of thing, and that everyone here has some.

I had no leverage, but I slowly made progress.

The Butcher appeared in an explosion next to me and began hitting me again. My pressure wave had just knocked him back. The statue that was my body had shielded him from the full brunt. Not that I was sure how powerful it was. I didn't even take any damage. Car alarms had started blaring.

"That little stunt is going to cause a commotion." He cracked his neck. "It won't save you though. We'll crack you open back at base." The asphalt resealed itself and began to creep over my face. "That is if you can hold your breath that long!" The last sound I heard was his laughter.

...

Well, shoot.

Honestly, I'm still not that worried. Didn't even get any notifications about Gamer's Mind preventing panic or claustrophobia. The Butcher might be an insane anarchist who loves violence, but he's got nothing on the Nine or Behemoth. Not that I even saw the Endbringer.

None of his powers could hurt me. If I'd paid more attention then I wouldn't be in this mess. ...But I was in this mess. I'd rushed in without any plan aside from 'punch him in the face'. I'd assumed that he couldn't hurt me and that eventually I'd win.

Eh? I think we stopped moving. Honestly, I should've at least made a rat or something first. Then I could've swapped places. Actually, this thing isn't a foot thick is it? Let's see. My mouse appears, and I Party with it.

"My challenge still stands!" My mouse is hidden, so I have to go by voice. I bet that's Quarrel.

"No! No outside interference!" The other voice is deeper, more agitated. "You could've hired that kid."

"Pst. Like I needed to. You were on your last leg." She sounds angry.

"Oh? So you want to go right now? It took me a while to chase you off that building. Up close and personal like this, you don't stand a chance."

"Now who's disregarding the challenge? You attacking me right here and now is weakness, plain and simple."

"Weak? I'll show you weak!"

If this keeps up, one of them's going to off the other one. I'd root for the Butcher, since that will leave the Teeth weaker. That's probably why he's not going to do it. Y'know? It is kinda odd how onboard I am with killing the guy? Does that make me a bad person? Would I do it if I didn't have a quest?

...Yes. If I've learned anything from my short life as a parahuman, it's that some people have to be put down. Riley can change, she can stop hurting people and help them instead. (I hope.) Jack on the other hand... If I could press a button and he died, I do it in a heartbeat.

So where does the Butcher stand? He hasn't done anything to me personally, but his bio is damning. I guess that makes me judge and jury. Now for the execution.

My mouse scurries over to the larger gang member. Transposing with it is expensive, but not that much considering the distance. I appear in front of him. He opens his mouth to say something, and I Inventory the drop of Crawler's drool inside his mouth.

Chapter Text

Butcher begins to scream. It's pointless. Crawler's offense had been honed over time. It would take Mother Nature tens of thousands if not millions of years of evolution to replicate this. Crawler's power had accomplished it far quicker. I didn't know what his saliva was. His spit wasn't just acid, it doesn't just destroy chemical bonds at the cost of its hydrogen ions. It wasn't just poison, it didn't need to be digested to start killing cells. It wasn't just venom, it didn't just target organs through the blood. It wasn't just a virus, but it did replicate.

That drop had found biomass that it could burn. That it could kill. That it could use to replicate. The Butcher teleported away, for all the good it would do him. Still, if I wanted to get more of that drool back, I needed to follow before it lost its potency.

There was one other problem I had to deal with first: Quarrel. Her eyes went wide, and she turned to run. I was quicker. Watching old wrestling with Tom had introduced me to the sleeper hold. While I suspected that wrestling was fake, the idea was correct. Squeeze the sides of the neck to stop blood flow to the brain. Don't impede the throat, or the person would die. It was simple to catch her from behind.

As I lifted her up with one hand around her throat, she clawed at my hand and kicked me. Doing this from behind was better, easier. I wouldn't accidentally crush her trachea. Her struggle grew weaker at a surprising rate. One hand fell to her side, then the other. A small whisper escaped her lips... "pl..ea...se.."

Fuck. I couldn't kill her now. I'd been on the fence. Killing wasn't something you could take back. I'd be damned if I was going to murder someone who'd begged for their life. The image of Mr. Price looking up at me before I bashed his head in came back. I dropped Quarrel like she was on fire.

No. No. I couldn't, wouldn't kill her. Despite what I'd just done to the Butcher, it wasn't in me to condemn her. Where there's life, there's hope. I questioned the morality of the Birdcage, but it was better than death. I checked Quarrel's status. She had an 'unconscious' debuff. Good, she's not faking. Still, I need to get her into the PRTs hands before she wakes up.

I toss her over my shoulder and pause to look at my cocoon. I should at least try to hide what I'd done here. I stomped down repeatedly to shatter it. The building shook. Right, right, I need to be careful. I'm stronger than I'm accustomed to. Now to track the Butcher. I wish I could summon a bat to help me, but it would be spotted 100%. On the plus side, that should also make it easier to deal with my prisoner.

I had the white mouse I'd summoned crawl from out of the rubble and under my clothes. I should keep him as a backup. I'll call him 'Boo', 'cause he's white and he'll scare people when I swap places with him.

Now to track the Butcher.

There. The window. He'd blown it in when he exploded outside of it. I gingerly crawled through. Better to not do more property damage. From the fire-escape I looked down into the alley. Nothing, I scanned the rooftops.

There. Scorch marks. Wow. What a crappy teleportation power. Sure an explosion might help in a fight, but for stealth or running away... lame.

I followed his trail. It wasn't hard. He didn't seem to be able to go very far with each jump. After three, he stopped and fell to his knees before toppling over. I gently laid Quarrel down, and walked over to his prone form. His mouth was gone by the time I got to him. There was a disturbing glint in his eye. I think he was trying to smile. To gloat about being reborn in my body.

Nice.

Very nice. I guessing that the Butcher's power jumping thing was a group of Shards called a 'Cluster'.

I glanced down. Oops. No time for celebrating my win, he was 90% goo. I Inventoried Crawler's saliva and looked down at the mess it had left. Yeah... I can't just leave this here. Better for me if the Butcher just vanishes. I Inventory him.

Now for Quarrel. I picked her up in a bridal carry, moved over to the side of the roof. We were five stories up. I bet I can make that jump. Less sure about how much damage I'd do to the sidewalk, not to mention my passenger. There's nothing for it. I circle the building until I find a fire escape. I don't bother with climbing down it. It'll be quicker to drop down one story at a time, catching myself on the railing. First, let's switch to a fireman's carry. Now let's Observe the fire escape. Yeah, it should hold. And... jump!

Cool, that was nice and easy. I step out of the alley and into the crowd. I heard New Yorker's are supposed to be jaded, but a bubble in the crowd forms around me. I don't have a phone, I can't call for someone to arrest her. Even if I did, I don't know the number. What's more, someone could steal some evidence or even decide on some mob justice. Nope. I'll have to bite the bullet.

One woman, who doesn't look that much older than me, is filming us with her phone. I know I have an accent, let's play it up. "Howdy, ma'am." I tip my hat. "I subdued this here varmint, and I was wondering where the closest police station might be?"

She stares at me with an open mouth.

"My apologies for having to ask, but I'm new 'round these parts and I have to confess I'm a mite lost." I could hear some chuckles from the back of the crowd. Was I laying it on too thick?

The woman blinks, smiles, and lets out a short laugh. "Sure, sure. There's one right down the way, take a right on Hero Street."

"Much obliged." I tip my hat again, and sprint away.

I'm pretty fast, can jump over people, plus I'm not afraid of running in the street. I make pretty good time. Hero Street... Hero Street... Oh, it's the road I came from the park on. How 'bout that?

I jog for a bit before I come to a building that says '108th Police Precinct'. Sooo.... what now? Legend is probably back from the Behemoth fight by now. I'd rather not run into him or any other heroes. I don't trust my attempts at covering my tracks enough. I need to drop off Quarrel, and get out before they detain me. Which is probably going to be another infraction, or law broken, or something.

I have Boo hide in an alley across the street as I wait to cross the road. Why are there so many people here?!? HOW are there so many people here!?! There are more people on this street than lived in my home town!

Calm, I'm calm. I'm on a timer here, so I wait for a break in traffic before jaywalking - another crime on my list. I don't think anyone will care much about it. Heck, I probably did stuff fifty times worse while running here. I make a mental note to research road rules in New York.

Enough stalling. I walk up the steps. A police officer that just exited does a double take, and then holds the door open for me. He follows me inside, with his hand on his revolver. I'm making a great first impression here... The lobby is big. I'm sure I look like a tourist as I crane my neck trying to figure out where I should go.

"Excuse me, sir?" An officer approaches, flanked by two more policemen. "Can we help you?"

I slowly lower Quarrel, and stand with my hands in the air. I see the officer's lip twitch. With my hands up, I reach over and raise my hat for a second. "Howdy! I'm not from 'round these parts, and I'm not quite sure what to do in this situation."

God, I sound corny.

"Why don't you just tell us what happened?"

"Well pardner, I had just come to your fine city when I stumbled 'cross this here little lady shooting that big bow of hers at a similarly dressed fellow." I glance around. More officers are slowly surrounding me. "I don't quite reckon what their dis-agreement was, but I figured I should do something to put a stop to it." None of them are shouting at me or pointing guns, so that's a plus. "Y'all follow?"

"We follow." The man I'm talking to nods.

"Now, I'm not sure about proper procedure and jurisdictions and what-not, but I felt obligated to do something 'bout the situation." I still have a clear path to the door. "So I intervened. One thing led to another..." I shrug. "And the other guy teleported away in an explosion." I see several of the men twitch. "So I'm afraid I had to manhandle this here girl and subdue her." The man nods. "I don't know what laws they might've been breaking, fighting in the street like that, but from the look of her, I suspect she's in one of them there gangs."

"So you're a hero then?" His voice is tense.

"Yessir." I tip my hat. "Name's Tex. Just got into town." They seem to relax. "Anywho, I have sights to see, and don't have a phone. Not that I know the right number to call. So I decided to drop her off here."

"We, uhm, aren't prepared to hold a parahuman."

"No need to fret. She's a vicious little thing, but her ability is to curve her projectiles so she always hits. I reckon some handcuffs will keep her subdued until some specialists can be called." I pause. "Perhaps make sure she can't get a hold of anything. Probably can throw a penny and kill someone with it."

"You can't just drop..."

I interrupt him. "Well, I'll be moseying off now. A good day to all you fine officers of the law." I tip my hat again... and bolt.

"Hey! Stop!" Several men cry out from behind me, but I don't listen. That's another law broken. Should be happy my power doesn't keep a list.

I take off down the street. I need somewhere to hide for just a second that's not so incredibly crowded. The subway! I jostle my way through the crowd and head underground. People give me a wide berth. Uhm. What's the procedure for the turnstiles? I see people up ahead swiping something in them, and it's not a credit card.

Fuck it. I'm a thief. I Inventory the subway card from the guy behind me.

I know what it looks like, and apparently that's good enough. I thought they used tokens, but progress marches on. My card lets me though, and there's a commotion behind me as the guy suddenly can't find his card.

A commotion is good. It'll slow down any pursuers. This place is a maze! A restroom. I duck inside, and the place is foul. I have Boo scurry into a crack in the wall and leave. I'm lost, so I just go deeper and deeper and finally I'm at some train tracks. Nothing to it. I leap down and run.

Huh. Stay away from that rail. Good to know. I can't have been the only one to think of this, but surely they don't have tinkertech cameras everywhere, right? I run until I can't see any light behind me. The shouts die down, and I'm left in the dark with ominous rumblings.

I pull out one of my cans of hair dye. I'll need to pick up more at the rate I'm going through them. My outfit is Inventoried, and I quickly dress in the t-shirt, shoes, and pants that I got from Jack. In the hair customization screen, I choose a long black braid that comes down to my upper back. Clean shaven. That's the best I can do. I need to pick up some fake glasses at some point. As many small differences as possible, you never know what might help.

What? There's a light approaching, but the sound is too soft for a subway train. Whatever it is, I should hide.

Three bikes go whizzing down the tracks. They pass too quickly for me to Observe them or their riders. What in the world? How is that legal? Why would anyone do something like that? Gangs in the subway? What kind of dystopian cyberpunk shit is this? What's next? A police squad of cyborgs and androids hunting down terrorists and having to team up with a group of plucky, colorful, and surprisingly diverse teenagers?

I need to get out of here. I close my eyes and focus on Boo. I wait for the bathroom to be empty, which takes a while. I nearly get run over by a train going the opposite direction as the bikes before there are no witnesses. I swap places with Boo. I then walk out and try to act casual.

And either do a good or a horrible job, depending on what that skill increase means. When Boo vanishes due to lack of upkeep, I summon him again. I know, it's a brand new summoned white mouse, but I'm not giving him another name. Now to find a hotel, or motel, or some other place to lay low and actually take a look at the Perks I just got. Need to come up with a plan too. I finally have some time to just stop and think without anyone chasing me.

I just jinxed myself, didn't I?

Samuel Wilkins picked up his phone after the first ring. "Report."

"We've verified that the woman in question is Quarrel and have her in custody."

The Director of the New York PRT let out a grunt. "Any complications?"

"Nothing that we didn't expect." His subordinate responded. "She was armed with several guns, a tinkertech bow and arrows, and various blades and pointed objects - mainly on her armor. Said armor also has three human skulls attached, along with numerous human ears."

"Tag and store the human remains separately. Watchdog might get some information out of them."

"Yes sir."

"And her condition?"

"Physically she was just unconscious. While she has numerous bruises and lacerations, they are minor and do not seem defensive in nature. We sedated her upon arrival, but the toxins screen came back clean aside from our drugs."

"A head injury?"

"We won't know for certain until she wakes up and we can conduct a through physical. Our initial assessment indicates 'No'. Her eyes dilated properly."

"Good. Keep her in level 2 Brute restraints and level 1 sensory deprivation until we confirm she isn't the newest Butcher."

"Yes sir."

"Also, send a memo thanking the 108th Precinct. Be sure to mention that they responded appropriately, and to apologize on behalf of the new hero."

"Yes sir."

"Dismissed." Director Wilkins hung up the phone, and pressed a red button.

A buzzing sound came from his phone's speaker, before a female voice answered "Yes?"

"Barbara, send a request to Legend. I'd like to speak with him when it's convenient."

"Sir, the Endbringer team returned, but Legend wasn't with them."

"What?!?" Samuel jolted upright. Legend couldn't have died! He'd fought Behemoth several times before and always came back without a scratch!

"Chevalier told us that he was planning on flying back on his own."

"Oh." The older man leaned back and chastised himself for jumping to conclusions. It was always a tense day when an Endbringer showed up, even more so when it was Behemoth. New York still bore the scars from the beast.

"Would you like me to ask Chevalier to come see you?"

"Hmm, yes, please do. It's not an urgent matter, I'd just like to see if he's heard something that hasn't been reported on the main channels yet."

Samuel flipped through the report on his desk. It was sparse at the moment. The research department would corroborate the reported events, look through social media for people who posted any videos of the fight, and then confer with their in-house Thinkers. The Butcher was always a headache. A violent thug that had to be handled with kid's gloves lest another hero went the way of Code Crash. As such, it unfortunately fell on the PRT to try and capture him. The risk of a hero accidentally killing him was unacceptable.

His fight with Quarrel had started just after Behemoth was spotted. That wasn't a coincidence. Legend had stopped the Teeth's challenge fight three times in the last month. While he wasn't able to bring the Butcher down, at least not without some unacceptable risk, he could disrupt their battle. The less power the leader of the Teeth personally held, the better it was for all of them.

By all appearances, a new hero had stopped it in Legend's place. But where was the Butcher? He wouldn't let one of his own get captured. Could he have possessed the new hero? Was Tex's odd behavior and gentle treatment of Quarrel a sign of the Butcher's influence?

I turn off on another street, this time avoiding a member of the Adepts. Yet another gang that lives in New York. I've already run into a young woman dressed like a hippie wandering around a forest that cut a building in half. I turned the other way, and a block later I Observed a Ward. I went down a side alley, and nearly ran into two Protectorate members, Astrologer and Clay, who were apparently on patrol.

Just how many frickin' parahumans does New York have anyways? I've been so busy Observing Every. Single. Person. That I haven't even had a chance to review my new Perks yet. I need to find somewhere that isn't so crowded. Preferably without any other parahumans around, but I'm beginning to ease up on that requirement.

A young man walks out of a grocery store in front of me. He's carrying two large bags. I Observe him.

Oh hell no!

What in the world?

You done? No more updates? What's causing my power to spazz out?

Okaaaay...

I keep Oliver in sight. He walks several blocks and the size of the crowd around us slowly shrinks.

There. His hair just changed slightly. It's a little lighter shade now. Wait.... My power can do that. I can become more skilled with practice. The line below my name in my Observe window is 'Optimize', is that my Shard?

I knew it! I knew my power was smart! I knew it was mocking me!

...*ahem*

So what's got it so bent out of shape that it directly insulted me? 'Balance/Duplication/Optimize (damaged)' So the vials come from Cauldron. The Travelers found some, which was probably all part of one of the Simurgh's long-term plans. Them drinking half a vial was a BAD thing, so bad it... offends? my Shard. I haven't heard of the Travelers... which means their big explosion is still coming up. They aren't Mannequin level yet...

Oh Fuck!!

Where's the other unlocked Luck Perks? No, wait, I get it. I assign +4 points to Luc.

Really?

This would've been a lot more useful earlier. Of course, I didn't have enough Perks available when I was still with the Slaughterhouse Nine to get both Lucky Fate and Lucky Screen...

I'm just going to pretend I didn't have a solution to Jack sitting on my back-burner this whole time.

Oliver glances around, but like the thief I am, I duck behind a warehouse. Or at least I assume it's a warehouse. It's big and made of metal, and there are forklifts over there. He walks up to a little house that's connected to a different (probable) warehouse. He takes one final look around, opens the door, and quickly steps inside.

I just wanted to find a place to stay that was private enough for me to safely revive Riley. Was that so much to ask?

I need to do something though. I can ignore problems that I don't see, but when I stumble upon something like this? How many people has Mannequinn killed? How many would be alive now if someone had stopped him after he escaped from London? Still, I don't want to go around killing people. Especially people who's main problem is that they were mind-fucked by an Endbringer. What if that's the only option? They might be too far gone, I only have Oliver's bio to go by.

Right. First things first, I need information. And since I don't think I could find my way back here, at least without GPS, I'll just have to make do. I wonder if there's some irredeemable villain somewhere with invisibility powers? THAT would be a useful Perk.

On the other hand, I have my thief title and stealth skill. I'll just consider this a grinding session.

Ok then, I can summon animals with Observe. I should be able to do the same with a camera.

Or not. How does a video camera even work? I hold the small black cube I made in my hand, and then let it dissipate. It's cool, I have other options. No need to feel bad about how I treat the creatures I summon. They aren't alive.... I hope. No, no, if they were alive I couldn't Inventory them. I'm not creating life here.

Plan B:

I summon a baseball sized black box around it, with a slit for it to see through. No, that won't do. It's too black. It stands out. Plus you can see the eyeball through the slit. My next attempt is better. A light gray to match the concrete, and a visor type opening. The pixel grid keeps the eyeball hidden nicely. I invite it to my party and the mini-map expands dramatically. I can even tell what this thing's cone of sight is by how much is shown.

I plant half a dozen around the Traveler's base. Or at least around Oliver's base. Technically I don't know for sure that there's anyone else there.

What else?

They could fly away, or leave via a tunnel. An eye on a rooftop would help with the first issue, but not the second. I could put another box on a roof, but that's more noticeable. The eyes are draining 3 MP each minute, 4 when you add the boxes, so I'm close to my max anyways. Scratch that. Looks like my MP regen increases with my level, or my max MP, or both. I'm still full even with the current strain. I summon two rats, one that's strong (for a rat) and one with Observe. Even with them, the eyes, and Boo, my MP ticks back to full in about a minute.

This opens some possibilities. I summon 10 more rats, and order them to spread out and stay hidden. They are glaringly unnatural, but they're pitch black and small. As long as they huddle in a corner under some trash, nobody will see them unless they're looking.

Now I can't just stay here 24 hours a day, I need somewhere to sleep. Ok, technically I probably could stay here round the clock, but I don't want to. My Tired debuffs are about to switch to Exhausted. I can let my eyeballs watch while I find somewhere to crash.

Wait. No. They're Simurgh Bombs. They could go off at any time. Could I live with myself if I went to take a nap and woke up to find dozens or hundreds of people dead?

How do I get eyes on the inside? Let's start with the warehouse. It's big. There's bound to be a crack or hole somewhere. If not, there soon will be. I sit down and close my eyes and direct the seeing mouse, while having the strong rat follow it. They dash to the building and circle around it. Nothing. No problem. The strong rat sets to work. It's 'teeth' are tough, but it only has a 20 Str. I don't think that's enough to gnaw through metal.

Fine. They don't HAVE to be rats. I summon a small humanoid creature.

Hmmm... much lower maximums than the rodents, but he has hands.

My Gnome struggles, and can barely lift it.

Better. He's moving slower, but he can carry it. I have him do some practice swings. Not terribly fast, and a little unwieldy, but it'll do. I glance up at the sky. The sun is getting closer to the horizon, but it's still pretty bright out. Thankfully, the Travelers picked the only place in this God-forsaken city where there aren't other people around. So I send my gnome scuttling off.

Man it's slow.

Still, the mini-map doesn't show anyone around, and he gets there soon enough. Let's aim for a corner, more chance of something on the inside my spies can hide behind. The gnome swings... and the sword passes though the steel like it wasn't there. I have the strong rat enter first. Nothing that its poor eyesight can make out. The gnome ducks in next, more to get out of the open. Finally the seeing mouse enters.

Oh, my goodness.

That's.... that's something Riley would've made. Through the mouse's eyes I see a mound of discolored flesh. A cow head sticks out to one side, misshapen legs sprout at odd angles, and a mouth that's too big sits in the center. Eyes begin to open up all along it's body. The mouse's gaze tracks up to a torso that sticks out of the top. It's female, thin, with strait brown hair. I Observe her.

The monstrous form looks down at the shelf my summons were hiding behind. "I can smell you."

Chapter Text

"I can smell you."

I froze. My spies had been discovered already. This... THING must be Simurgh's end goal. I should call in the Protectorate somehow. They are better suited for something like this.

"Are you here to kill me?" Her voice was soft and sad. "It won't work. I've tried before."

And that explains the 'suicidal' tag. She KNOWS what she is. She KNOWS the Simurgh has messed with her mind. She KNOWS her power is damaged in a fundamental way. Are the rest of the Travelers like her? If they're even remotely as dangerous, it'll be like another Endbringer.

Wait. She could clone her friends. I have to assume there's at least one more, both her and Oliver's bios mentioned a 'Krouse'. Probably quite a few more, and if even one of them is half as potent as Noelle... There's no way for this to not spiral out of control. A fight with her would kill... I have no idea. There's too many people in New York. It would be a massacre. Ok, let's try diplomacy.

In fact, I'm a bit ashamed I didn't think of being nice first. It's worked pretty well in the past. I equip my Orator title, just to be safe.

I focus my control on my gnome and have him step out. She blinks in surprise, and then smiles a little.

Right, she's a fellow gamer. I'd be impressed with my 8-bit minions too. That's not much of an increase though. They've always been in multiples of five in the past. A sign of her mental state? Her damaged Shard? Both?

"Greetings fair maiden. I am an emissary from my lord. He seeks an audience with your esteemed self." I decide to lean into it. It might be Gamer's Mind, but I think this personality for my gnome is appropriate.

She lets out a surprised sound. "You... You're a video game sprite!"

I have my gnome bow. "It is as you say. My lord's power works in mysterious ways."

"Oh? And what does your lord wish with me?" She tilts her head. "For that matter, how does he even know I exist? Is that you Jess?" She looks around quickly. "I was just kidding before."

"My lord is not the one you know as 'Jess'. As for how he knows of your existence, that is a surprisingly long tale. Perhaps it would be best if you ask him yourself?"

She shakes her head. "No. I'm... not sure I could control myself around other people right now."

"Fear not!" I have the gnome shout. "I shall summon a herald who will be able to facilitate communications betwixt the two of you with no possibly of bodily harm!" I'm not sure, but I think he has a high, squeaky voice.

The new gnome isn't weighed down with a knife that's nearly as big as it is, and moves much faster. Still pretty darn slow. Wait. I have him run back and summon a tiny horn for him. The monster blinks at the newest arrival, and lets out another half-laugh as it absolutely mangles an attempt at music.

Oh wait, I need to think of a name. It might show up on the party invite... ok, got it. Plus, my lack of a New York accent won't be shown over the Party chat.

"What the?" She rears back. "Is this for real? I was expecting you to have someone run in here with a phone."

Pixel ► Hello, Noelle. Think and we can communicate without having to make a sound.
Noelle ► Hello, Pixel. This is all very cute, but you still haven't answered my question.
Pixel ► And what question might that be?
Noelle ► Are you here to kill me?

Well, that's pretty dark. How to respond? Killing her is on the table, but that feels like doing the bare minimum. Also, even if I could, it'd be messy. She doesn't adapt, so Crawler's acid stuff will kill her eventually. Or she'll just cut off the affected location. It looks like she's got the mass to spare. A strongly worded message to the Protectorate might do it. Legend could handle her I'm sure, but we're back to collateral damage. Let's stall for a bit and review options.

Pixel ► That seems like a loaded question. Especially since I get the feeling the answer you're looking for is 'Yes'.

Noelle ► What makes you say that?
Pixel ► Cards on the table. I have an absurdly potent Thinker working with me. Please give me a moment to confer. I fear that the wrong word here will upset you and I have no wish to cause you such distress.

Noelle ► Alright. I guess.

Let's see. Once again the wording is vague. Strength Enhancement could give +1 Str/Con, +2 Str/Con, +3 Str/Con or it could be something that scales quicker. +10, +100, +1000. Or even +1, +4, +9, +16. Depending on where it starts and how drastically it increases, there's no way of judging how good it would be. Something told me that if this were a game, it would be the key to a stupidly powerful Brute build. I've already invested away from that, and it won't help against Noelle. Next.

Pain Control is worthless. I don't want to cause pain. I'm already pretty much immune to pain because of Sibby. And I can already heal, not just reduce pain. Next.

My sweet Danger Sense. You are very tempting. Even more so since you include observation - no more 'Failed Perception Check' bullshite. Alas, you will not help with my immediate problem. Next.

Shaping? I mean, it's what let the Butcher 'beat' me. So I shouldn't look down on it too much. I think my summons are far more powerful and versatile. Still... it can be combined. Does that mean I could make an 8-bit skeleton and wrap steel around it to have a 'normal' looking robot-monster-thing? I'll rate this a nice, but unnecessary, and once again, it won't help with Noelle.

Now we're talking. Debuff Control is the meta power I've been hoping for. Except all the debuffs that I'm worried about are on it's excluded list. What's even left? I could probably stack tired debuffs on people until they collapse. Hmmm... That's actually not bad for a non-lethal option. I might even be able to go straight to 'unconscious' depending on what exact mechanics are used. It's an option, and it might be useful against Noelle, even if it can't magically fix everything.

And the big winner - Teleportation. I mean, it's obvious right? A Mover rating is one of the things most powerful capes have in common. I also seemed to grow resistant to Strider's power. Not being able to accept a teleport might leave me in a bad situation. I'm not sure if I can lower my resistance or not. Or what a 10% resistance meant. Did it mean I'd fail to teleport one out of ten times, or did Strider have to put in 10% more effort? At any rate, it won't help with Noelle, except as an escape. I'll hold off for now, but I plan on keeping one spare Perk for emergencies. Odds are it'll go to this.

Of my other Perks, the only one that still leaps out to me is Power Drain. 'Connect to other Shards.' That's a game-changer. Plus it can be combined with other powers. Finally, it's the only real way I have to potential repair Noelle's Shard. That seems like the best possible option. No big fight. No massive property damage and loss of lives. No getting eaten by a monster and having my clones go on some sort of twisted rampage.

Yeah. Let's table the 'kill Noelle' option. I don't need Danger Sense to know that it won't turn out well.

Pixel ► Noelle? My apologies for the delay. I have reviewed the available options I have with my associates and are ready to answer your questions.

Noelle ► Really?
Pixel ► Yes. If I may, I would like to start things off on the right foot. My Thinker ally is very powerful, as I've already said, and as such I possess a great deal of knowledge about you already.

Noelle ► Cute minions aside. You'll forgive me for still being wary.
Pixel ► Not at all. If I may start by answering your question. I am not here to kill you. While I would like to attribute this to altruism, it is more of a pragmatic decision. You see, my friend tells me you can clone other people, and those that you clone are stronger, tougher, and in the case of parahumans, just as powerful as their original - if not more so.
Pixel ► You can see my minions. They are not alive, and you could not clone them. However, they are not up to the task of killing you either. Perhaps if you were locked in a room and I was allowed to send in a never-ending army... but that's not the situation.
Pixel ► You have allies in the other room. They would intervene. Even if I were to wait for them to be distracted, or if I killed them first, victory would not be assured.

Opps. Good note. Don't threaten her friends.

Pixel ► Naturally, I would never do something so despicable. I merely bring it up to showcase that even if I wished to, I am unlikely to be able to end your life.

Noelle ► I see.
Pixel ► Even if I were to call in the Protectorate, the outcome would not be to my liking.
Noelle ► How so?
Pixel ► It would undoubtedly turn into a drawn out fight. Your friends would get involved, and even then, I am not convinced they could win. No my dear girl, I think my answer must be 'No, I am not here to kill you.'

Pixel ► That is not to say that I can accomplish nothing. I am nothing if not a good listener, and I imagine you could use someone like that right now.
Noelle ► If you think I'm going to tell you any information that you could use against my friends... You've got another thing coming!

Jump to conclusions much? This isn't going as well as I'd hoped. Lets go on the attack. Get her defensive and not suspicious. Of course, this could also cause a rampage.

Pixel ► I already know enough. I know what your plan is, and I advise against it.

Noelle ► My plan?

Here it goes. Her bio doesn't explicitly say it, but I think the pieces are all there. She's afraid of herself. She's afraid of what the Simurgh has done to her and what she'll eventually do as a result. She has always had one method of control. She's suicidal. Finally, she has ten hunger debuffs.

Pixel ► You're trying to starve yourself to death.

Noelle ► No I'm not!
Pixel ► Oh? My deduction is quite sound. I admit it is based on information that you don't think I know.
Noelle ► You've been spying on me!
Pixel ► Not in the fashion that you think. I have only known about your existence for less than an hour, and that is because of a chance encounter with your friend Oliver.

And because I can't seem to go one block without running into a parahuman in New York. Seriously, I chose the worst city possible!

Pixel ► Instead, I'm afraid we must criticize my Thinker companion. His ability is quite unfair and a huge violation of people's privacy. You see, he can get a history of anyone with but a glance. He has filled me in on your unfortunate situation.

Pixel ► Please do not be alarmed. While I know all, I am a person of discretion. I will not share the knowledge that I have with anyone else. In addition, you can be assured that your very worst fears will not come to pass.

Noelle ► My worst fear?
Pixel ► Her. You know of whom I speak. I am one of the few existences on this planet that she cannot see clearly. My friend is also shielded because of his nature.
Noelle ► Because he's a Thinker?
Pixel ► I knew you were intelligent and quick on the uptake.

Oh? I seem to have struck a chord with that compliment. She doesn't have much faith in her appearance, or her mental stability, but she does have pride in her intellect. I can use that.

Noelle ► So you aren't... afraid of us? Of me?
Pixel ► I have a very healthy respect for what you are no doubt capable of, but I do not fear what you will do because of her influence or our interaction.
Pixel ► I am perhaps the only other individual apart from Scion who can boast of such a thing. I have no apprehension that you will take what I say in the wrong fashion. Or that I will somehow speak the exact right words that would cripple your mind.

Not to brag about my new Perk. Technically I have no proof that it works against the Simurgh, but my power didn't add any disclaimers. I'm pretty sure it's very precise by its nature. So if there was a weakness, it would've added a disclaimer of some sort.

Noelle ► And you're not going to tell the Protectorate?
Pixel ► That's hardly my style. Hmmmm.... How about a proposition? Desist with your ill conceived plan, and I swear I will not provide information about you or any other Traveler to the Protectorate.

Noelle ► Really?
Pixel ► Really. Truly. Honestly.

Noelle ► Ok.
Pixel ► Excellent.
Noelle ► So if you're not going to kill me, or help me kill myself, why are you here?
Pixel ► As I said, a chance encounter with Oliver on the street. After being briefed on his past, I decided that something must be done. So I followed him and planned on using my minions to spy on your troop. I must admit to being embarrassed that they were discovered so quickly.
Noelle ► I can smell them.
Pixel ► Oh? I did not think they were capable of shedding any part of themselves. Much less something so small that it might interact with anyone's nose.
Noelle ► It's not a real smell. More like a... 6th sense. Thinking about it like a smell just makes it simpler.
Pixel ► Ah, I see. A useful ability no doubt.
Noelle ► Not really. I can't leave my room. It's for the best, but doesn't let me meet new people.
Pixel ► And the internet? This is the modern age, being a shut-in doesn't mean that you still can't be social.

Pixel ► Ah, I understand. Excuse my faux pa. You of course cannot allow yourself to enjoy such simple pleasures even, for fear of her.

Noelle ► That's right. My friends are the only ones I can talk with.
Pixel ► You may add me to that list. Not to presume to be your friend as such short notice, but I am someone you can speak freely to.

Noelle ► Really?
Pixel ► Of course. Even if I didn't have a vested interest in your mental health, I could hardly refuse a pleasant conversation with such a well-spoken young lady.

Guess my alter-ego is now supposed to be older than her. I should decide these things beforehand.

Pixel ► In fact, considering the nature of my power and your penchant for video games, I'm sure we can find a way for you to stave off boredom.

Noelle ► How do you know I like video games?
Pixel ► My dear lady, you still do not grasp just how unfair my friend's power is. He is well aware of your past including you and your friends skill at video games and your plans to become a professional. This, of course, is another secret that I shan't discuss without your permission.

Noelle ► Everything?
Pixel ► Alas, yes. Makes him rather insufferable. He only shares the highlights with me. It'd be a frightful bore otherwise. Now let's not dwell on what I know. Rather, I think we should worry about three things.
Noelle ► Before that, I want to talk about your friend. He's... not going to tell anyone else right?
Pixel ► A rank impossibility. You see, I am the only human he can talk to. This is due to how my power works.

Noelle ► So what are the three things?
Pixel ► 1. Getting some food in you before your power takes over your body. 2. Finding some way to play some video games. Either through my minions or a gaming console of some sort. 3. How to fix your power.

Noelle ► What?
Pixel ► I think I was quite clear. I'm sure you have some games that you play either on your own, or with your friends, and I want in. In case my power didn't tip you off, I'm a fiend at such things.

Pixel ► I've been interested in some stiff competition, but have been forced to make do recently. So you might say I'm curious about how my skills hold up to someone from your neck of the woods.
Noelle ► What? No!
Pixel ► No? That hardly seems sporting!
Noelle ► What was that 3rd option?!?
Pixel ► You can just scroll up if you've forgotten already.

Good. Let's make her work for this. Something offered for free is seen as suspicious or cheap.

Noelle ► That's not what I meant! You just casually mentioned fixing my power!
Pixel ► Oh. That.
Noelle ► YES! THAT!!
Pixel ► Well, you know the quality of my Thinker friend?
Noelle ► Yes. You've convinced me of that.
Pixel ► I happen to have another friend who is a healer. Two actually, but one can only grant regeneration which I doubt will be of any use regarding your condition.
Noelle ► And the other one?
Pixel ► I would not be boasting to say that their skills are exemplary. The knowledge and talent they possess makes their competitors tremble in fear. Furthermore, their specialty is parahumans. If there is anyone who can fix both your power and your body, it is they.

Noelle ► Really?
Pixel ► Well, I'd have to contact them first. Plus, we would need to secure an operating theater, or have the equipment brought here. You are in no condition to travel after all. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I shall have to convince them.
Noelle ► Convince?
Pixel ► Yes. They are temperamental at the best of times. Still, there is nothing they enjoy more than interesting parahumans (it's how we met). So I'd say there's a strong possibility they'll agree.

Plus three? That's it? What gives? I don't think my Orator title is helping with reputation gains. Just what does it consider 'communication'?

Anyways, I'm pretty sure Riley will be thrilled to work on Noelle and Oliver. I bet she never imagined she'd ever merge two parahumans together. Or at least their powers. More importantly, the immediate crisis has been adverted. Her suicidal debuff is now listed as 'suppressed', so she'll probably stop trying to starve herself. Still, I should keep an eye on her (or at least a rat) just to make sure.

That other debuff remains. I'm betting her power is probably going to force her hand. Shard based personality disorder? Let's see if I can put a stop to that.

Pixel ► Noelle, there is one last minion that I think can help with the 3rd item on my list. I would not presume to bring her in without your permission.
Noelle ► Who is she? What does she do?
Pixel ► She is my Trump, in more ways than one. The Gnome Crone is physically weak, but has the special ability to nullify the special effects of any other unit. She must be handled with care, for she can both be killed by a stray arrow or cause the mightiest champion to fall to foot soldier.

Noelle ► Why, certainly. I do not object to having your crone join the rest of your party.

A small hunchback gnome appears in front of me. Her head is hidden in a cowl, with only her hands and feet showing. I summon a cane for her. Scratch that. I take the cane from her hands and summon a staff in its place. There, she looks much better. I check my eyeballs' cones of vision, still nothing. Someone could come out of the house at any time, and the crone doesn't look like she's built for speed. What the hell, my MP regen is still positive even with the number of minions I currently have. What's one more?

It's a regular rat, but a bit bigger with a saddle on its back. About a foot long to match the gnome's foot of height. With agonizing slowness, the crone mounts the rat. Her mount crosses the open road to the warehouse's hole at a brisk pace.

Noelle ► Ok, I mean, I was already impressed with your power. Video games? I'd be jealous even if I had a non-cursed body. But multiple summons that can have their own little mini-powers, and a party system to go with it?

Pixel ► False modesty is not a quality I aspire to. So I will accept your complement in the intent it was given. Know that I feel particularly blessed by my power. Also know that I have hope you too shall similarly blessed one day.
Noelle ► Blessed? Like a religious thing?
Pixel ► Perhaps our powers do come from a 'higher being', but a god? I doubt it.

I remember those gigantic crystalline worms when I Triggered. What was that vision? For some reason, it felt like a memory. Was it something to do with the 'Memory Removal' debuff?

Interesting. Very interesting. I'm going to come back to that later on Shard, you can count on it. In the meantime, I have another Perk to test.

Noelle ► So, how does this work?

Noelle was looking down at my crone with undisguised curiosity.

Pixel ► Her power affects everyone differently. So far there has never been any side effects such as pain or physical deformities.
Noelle ► I'm not that worried about getting a deformity.
Pixel ► No, I suppose you wouldn't be. Shall I begin?
Noelle ► Sure.

The crone dismounts and walks forward. I have her raise her staff and I activate Power Drain. I feel a connection form between me and the crone. I then direct it to Noelle. It latches on, and I pull.

A trickle of MP flows into me. Noelle's character sheet shows that she's gotten the 'Power Suppression - Minor' Debuff.

Noelle ► That feels good! Real good! Like a pain, or a weight off your shoulders, or finally laying down after being on your feet all day.
Noelle ► Hey! I still remember what that feels like! No feet jokes!
Pixel ► Perish the thought.
Pixel ► The effect will increase in time. I can leave the crone with you if you'd like. She will need to remain close by to continue to affect you.
Noelle ► Yes, I'd like that. You can leave the other two as well. Even if they're not doing anything, they're interesting to look at.
Pixel ► Feel free to examine them to your heart's content. They are in a passive state and won't take any actions without my command.

Noelle ► Won't this tire you out?
Pixel ► Have no fear. This is not a serious drain on either my power or my concentration. I will admit, I do not know the limit of how far my minions may range from my position, but it is of no matter. I am quite content to spend time in the city, at least until I can come to an accord with your teammates.
Noelle ► So, what games have you played lately?

We proceeded to talk about video games for an hour. I kept watch via my mini-map and saw Oliver depart again. During that time I examined the connection Power Drain had made. The pipe, for lack of a better word, felt narrow, and the small amount of MP coming from Noelle filled it up. I got the feeling that if I wanted, I could push MP through it instead. I wasn't sure what that would do. Probably empower her, which would be a BAD idea.

Still, if I could push MP through, I should be able to push effects that use MP too. Power Drain does say it can be combined with other powers. Gamer's Body would probably pixelate her. I didn't need to eat, so that would undoubtedly help with her current hunger issues. Of course, food would probably help also. The 'pipe' felt small, so who knew if I could pull it off, or how it would react with her own regeneration? Speaking of which, Rapid Regeneration was pointless to combine. She already had regeneration and I could already grant it, albeit at a much shorter distance.

Gamer's Mind was the obvious choice, and one I wanted to test. Especially if it helps Noelle, then it might help Riley. At least with her nightmares, if nothing else.

Observe might give me more information. Inventory and summoning might gain an increased range. The party system... I couldn't think of how it might benefit. Transposition would probably let me swap the person with one of my summons. Of course, with the size of Noelle I doubt I could afford the MP to move her more than a foot.

The main power I wanted to try was Lucky Fate. If I could shield her from the Simurgh's manipulations, she might just lose that Debuff. I wasn't sure. The Endbringer could see the future, but how solid were its plans? How much deviation did they allow for? She made Mannequin, but did she predict every bad thing he'd do? Or did she just drive him insane and let him go off doing whatever?

If it was the former, then any potential interference might break it. I wonder if Scion had ever interacted with a quarantine victim. If he had and they'd gone and done something horrible, that was strong proof. If they didn't... well the Simurgh didn't have a 100% success rate. People were eventually let out of quarantine, with no apparent negative results.

I think. There are probably papers on this sort of thing. I really need a Thinker that isn't my Shard that can fill me in on some details.

My musings were interrupted by a dot on my mini-map. I switched to an eye and saw Oliver returning with a cloth bag.

Noelle ► Oh wow, I feel even better!
Pixel ► The effect grows over time, not that I would expect someone to normally withstand it this long. Most fights aren't measured in hours.

And those that do are... not good. I remember the horizon of flames. No, not good at all.

Noelle ► Shoot! It's Mars! Hide!

Huh? I switch my vision back to the crone. Nothing, it's in the corner with Noelle boxing it in. Gnome warrior? Herald? Seeing mouse? There! I have the mouse crawl around just far enough to see a door open to what I assume is the small attached house. A blond girl sticks her head through.

"Noelle? Is everything all right? I have your dinner, you need to eat."

She's wearing a light blue blouse and skinny jeans. She slowly opens the door and hesitantly steps through holding a small paper bag. I Observe her.

Not bad actually. Still might explode and destroy a city, but a much more straight-forward threat than Noelle. Also seems far more mentally stable. A backup plan of the Simurgh? Clone fodder for Noelle?

"Everything's fine Mars. In fact, I'm feeling pretty good."

Noelle ► Can I tell her about you?
Pixel ► You may if you'd like. I will not seek to silence your tongue. They will have to be told eventually if my ally is to help you, in the meantime you should decide on the best course of action yourself.

Remember, she needs to have control. She'll be passive far too easily, and that in turn will drive her seek control elsewhere. I should try and force her to make her own decisions.

Noelle ► I'll... think about it.
Pixel ► As you wish.

Marissa stops several feet away, her body language tense, before placing the bag on the ground and pulling out a fast food burger. She slides it across the ground. Noelle bends over and somehow manages to pick it up. She unwraps it and takes a bite. "Wow! This is good!"

Marissa stiffens. "Really?"

Noelle nods. "Like seriously, this is the best burger I've had in ages!"

Her friend watches in shock as Noelle devours the food in less than a minute. "You are feeling better!" A smile comes to her face. I notice two of Noelle's hungry debuffs vanish.

The monster girl smiles back. "Can I have another?"

"Absolutely! I'll go and snatch Krouse's! He won't mind." She then spins on her heal and leaves.

Noelle ► Hey, Pixel? Why are you helping me?
Pixel ► I could say that it's my duty. I'm able to help so I shall. Noblesse oblige if you will. I could say because I expect money and resources in turn. The operating theater my ally requires to help you, will no doubt be put to good use for other projects as well. While those two reasons are factors, my main motivation is pragmatism.
Pixel ► You see, with my friend's knowledge, how could I not act? If you are left to her manipulations, it will no doubt be a poor end. It is also abundantly clear that your manipulated fate will have an impact that ranges far beyond you. So it would be the height of folly to allow her plans to go unchallenged. Especially by one of the few who are in a position to do so.

Noelle ► So out of the goodness of your heart, and a desire to play video games?
Pixel ► Pretty much, though now that you mention it. If you could direct me to a location with free internet access, I would be most appreciative. I fear this foul city thwarts me at every turn. Did you know there is a forest in the middle of downtown?
Noelle ► Mars mentioned the forest. Let me think, she was talking about this other place that's close by a couple of days ago... The airport! Duh! Sorry, brain fart. It's a big one, JFK. It's a couple miles west, and she said that their wifi was nice.
Pixel ► Many thanks. I may visit there shortly.

Noelle ► And your crone?
Pixel ► Do not worry, she can stay with you. In fact, if it would be agreeable, I will keep you in my party and we can continue our conversation whenever it pleases you.

Noelle ► That sounds nice.

My seeing mouse hears a shout from inside the house.

Who the fuck is Trickster? And why am I getting a notification about him?

Chapter Text

The Siberian clawed through the last cultist. Blood and gore stuck to her and she didn't feel like letting the filth fall away. Better for it to cling to her. For something to stay with her. Could she have missed Riley somewhere? She'd been through every house, every room, but what if someone was moving her? She'd double check. She'd triple check. She'd...

The white and black striped woman fell to the ground. She'd never have her Riley back. She picked up a severed arm and looked at it before throwing it away. She wasn't hungry. There was no point in eating. It wouldn't make her happy. She couldn't enjoy it. Not now. Perhaps not ever again.

She slowly walked back towards the camp. The blood and ichor that covered her slowly dripped away. She let it. She looked at her hands as the grime slid off of them. Nothing could touch her. And therefore, she could touch nothing. She couldn't hold on to the one thing that was important. Growling, she willed her body clean.

When she got back to camp, Jack was getting the other members of their group ready for their "big entrance". Well, they'd be in for a surprise. She didn't listen, instead taking a straight line to Kevin. She still had one friend. One person that would remember Riley with her...

The trench he created was empty! Kevin was gone! She leaned down, no not completely empty. His clothes remained. What had happened?

"He disintegrated." Jack stood behind her. "Vanished before my eyes."

She turned to look at their leader.

"Of course, I find the whole deal fishy, don't you?" Jack flipped his razor open. "Someone sneaks past us. Someone manages to not only kill Riley, but to do so in a way that doesn't release her plague." He gestures to the empty hole. "The same attack just happens to knock our newest member unconscious, and then cause his power to overload."

She continued to stare at the blond man.

"I don't know who killed Bonesaw, but I think they had help. Someone who could let them get close. No way she was taken down without a plan. It was too perfect, too clean." He shook his head. "Then Killer vanishes? Sure it might be that his breaker state failed. Or he might've been holding back on us. I knew he had powers he was hiding from us." He flicked his razor towards the pile of clothing. "I underestimated just how much."

The Siberian nodded.

"So I'm thinking, we hunt him down and force him to talk. If he's still alive out there somewhere." Jack motioned with his weapon. "We'll find him. We'll find him and get some answers."

And revenge the Siberian added. She'd get revenge for what Kevin did to Riley. For what all of them did to her daughter. How dare they refuse to help her! After all she'd done for them! The research! The time she sacrificed for their stupid plan that she could've spent with her only family! It wasn't fair! She'd show them! Those self-righteous monsters! They deserved to taste the same loss that she had!

The Siberian staggered, and then vanished. She stood next to her Master. He looked up at her, tears falling from his eyes. She looked back, and felt the same thing happening to her. Grief from him flowed into her. Grief from her flowed into him. She fell to her knees and her master stood up and hugged her. She returned the hug. He cried. She keened.

Their emotions fed on each other. A massive feedback loop that she hated, yet never wanted to stop. It lasted forever, until...

The Siberian was no longer in the van. She was no longer on earth. She saw two massive structures made of crystal. They twisted and collided. One rubbing against the other. Small flakes of crystal fell off. She tracked one as it fell. It moved through space, through time, before it made a connection. Not to her, but to a man. Eons passed in seconds. Seconds stretched onwards to years. The crystal split. A piece floated towards her! Yet it still remained whole. It sought her out, and a power latched onto her.

She tried to brush it away, but it was the same power she wielded. Stronger and more focused than she was. It latched on. Another Shard of crystal sent a pulse. She ignored it.

Then she was back in the van with her master. He had fallen asleep. He shivered and cried, and the Siberian was reminded of Riley. She missed her, but her Master missed her just as much. The Siberian felt something growing from the crystal Shard. It flowed through her and coalesced at her side.

It was Riley! No. Her Riley was dead. This was just a doll in her image. She didn't want a copy... but something to remember her by? Yes. That was what she needed. A single tear fell down her cheek as she stood up and walked to her child's image. The striped girl looked up at her.

"Momma?"

The Siberian nodded. And then pointed to her Master.

"Papa?"

The older projection shook her head.

"Grandpa?"

A nod.

As if reading her mind, the young child knelt by the man and stroked his face. "Don't cry grandpa. I won't leave you again."

The Siberian bowed her head. Her wish came true, but she still had something to do. New sensations tried to lock onto her. She brushed them aside. Two caught her eye. One felt like Jack, and one felt like Kevin. She looked from one to the other. They offered information. A gentle pull that promised to guide her.

The Siberian ignored one, and let the other connect.

Kevin was out there somewhere. She'd find him, and then she'd have the answers she needed.

Chapter Text

As much as I wanted to figure out who Trickster was, or why I was getting a notification about him, it was time to find a motel. The airport sounded like a good start. People who flew in needed places to crash... er, rest. So there were bound to be places to stay close by. Noelle said it was west, so I first headed east. If I wasn't going to get into a fight, I didn't need my army of rats on stand by, so I cut them off. However, I did want one acting as a distance warning. Something that would vanish before my eyes and gnomes did.

I continued to chat with Noelle while walking east. She struck me as shy, which was fine. Before all this started, I wasn't what you'd call an outgoing person either. Still, we both liked video games. Now she'd gotten over her initial suspicion and fear, and had someone to talk to about a mutual interest. The hope I'd offered probably helped a lot too, I mean that's where the +3 reputation came from. In any case, I wasn't bored as I traveled.

I made hollow cube with a summoned canary inside. It's vision isn't great, but I just need it as a mini-map marker. Surprisingly, my trek to the airport is parahuman free. I guess the gangs and the protectorate have better things to do than hang around there. If New York is like Shreveport, the PRT headquarters would be close by. That'd be nice. Less chance of running into another gang fight. Of course the Protectorate might decide to kill me on sight depending on what their Thinkers put together.

Paranoid? Perhaps. I'd rather err on the side of not getting lasered to death.

Sure enough, the airport was only a couple miles away. My summons still existed, so I found a motel. I guess Motel-6 is a big enough chain to exist here as well. I walked to the lobby. It's clean, but I only see one employee behind the desk. I stood in front of the counter and waited. I didn't want to disturb whatever she's doing on her phone.

5 minutes later, I let out a little cough. She held up one finger with an overly long nail. I waited, and after 30 seconds or so, she looked up? "What do you want?"

"A room."

She grunts. "Number of beds?"

I start to say 'One' then think better of it. I'm about to have Riley with me. "Two."

She gives me a sideways glance. "Bed size?"

"The smallest you have."

She presses a key on the computer. "How many nights?"

"Just one for now, but I'm not sure how long I'll actually be in town."

"MmmmmmHmm. Then that will be $150. Checkout is at noon so you have until then to get out or pay for another night."

That's almost all the money I had left. "Are there better rates for longer stays?" She gestured with her head towards a sign that listed rates. I nodded and paid.

"You're in room 116." The girl typed on the computer and a machine started buzzing. When it stopped she pulled out two cards and handed them to me. "If you get locked out, there's not much we can do since you paid with cash. So don't do that."

"Thanks for the heads up." I turned and left.

The room was nice. I wanted to bring Riley out of my Inventory, but I had a problem. Money. I needed to get some and there was no way I was going to get a job. First, I had no time for that. I wanted to grind my skills now that I can do it in the open. Second, who'd hire me? I'm sure one of the gangs in town would probably love to scoop me up. I knew for a fact that the Teeth are missing their leader along with most of their strength. That will most likely cause some sort of upheaval.

If I were so inclined, and had a better grasp of New York, I could make use of that. Gangs had money, and it isn't a bad thing to beat them up and take it. Not that I wanted to tussle with parahumans. I was pretty confident in my ability to shrug off most things, but it only took one power I wasn't expecting.

So that left me with few options. Nobody would just give me money... well, some rich person that's dying might. Regeneration could be a profitable ability. I should work for a hospital, but there'd probably be strings attached. They also wouldn't pay in cash. So that left me with the old five-finger discount. I have a new title for that exact thing. Pickpocket increased my Inventory range by 50%. Not a lot, but an extra half foot would make my larceny attempts go more smoothly.

Besides, it is a time honored tradition for video game protagonists to pick up everything that wasn't nailed down. The only way to thwart one was to put a guard in front of the chest. That won't hold up in court, but I wasn't going to get caught. Probably. Surely any Thinkers that can link together a series of people being pickpocketed to me will have better things to do.

Ok, I've convinced myself. Let's go to JFK. I probably won't steal a phone, 'cause that's just asking for trouble. Plus, it's a dick move. Like most problems, getting an internet connection can be solved with cash.

Assuming I could find a phone store.

It would be rude to go 'Hi Riley, we're in New York! Have fun in the hotel room! I'm going to go separate people from their hard-earned cash!'. So I'll hit the airport first. Time isn't passing for her, so it'll be fine. Before I leave I make a clone of myself. The upkeep is 30 MP per minute. My regen used to be around 40 MP per minute, but since escaping it's jumped to about 80. More than enough to leave a transpose backup target.

As I walked towards JFK, I went over my story in my mind. I'm here for a family gathering. Thanksgiving. Why so early? Why am I not in school? I'm home-schooled, and my mom is still teaching me. Why am I at the airport alone? My mom is waiting at another gate. No, security cameras would poke a hole in that. I'm picking up my cousin. Without my parents? Scratch that. How 'bout, I'm from out of town and I wanted to explore the airport.

Sure, no one could argue against that.

As it turned out, no one cared. I didn't get stopped by security once.

"Go outside with that!"

"Fine." Krouse grumbled. He opened the door of their rented house and stepped outside. His pull on the cigarette brought the calm, soothing smoke into him. He let it out in a long plume, and smiled.

Noelle had asked for seconds. That was new. Ever since she'd started growing, she'd been having a rough time. Once she got big enough to eat people, everyone had been on edge. They'd already had two incidents. He didn't want a third, especially not in a city this big. He'd tried getting her to eat more - her temper had been even worse once she stopped.

It looked like he'd finally gotten through. Just in time to, they had managed to get a meeting with the Elite. If anyone had the resources to help them, they would. If not here, then somewhere else. They were the largest gang in the nation, and would help villains. Unlike the Protectorate.

Things had been rocky since they'd pulled some jobs to get cash. The Elite had tracked them down fast. It wasn't a good first impression, but he'd salvaged it. The Elite wanted to expand their ranks, and he'd played into that. The Travelers were a potent group after all. Now all that was left was convincing them in the meeting tomorrow. Convincing them that Noelle was an asset worth investing in.

He dropped his cigarette and ground it under his foot. Time to check on her, make sure she's ok.

She'd been lonely these past few months, and he knew she blamed him. Never mind that the vial had saved her life... but she had a point. That fucking Simurgh! They'd played right into her hands! Drinking HALF a vial seemed like a good idea at the time. Of course it did. Krouse took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He couldn't be agitated around Noelle. He had to be calm to keep her calm.

He moved one of their target dummies where he could see it through the door. Best to keep an escape path open. With the preparations secure, he entered her 'room'.

"Hi Noelle." He smiled up at her. "Feeling better."

She gave a small smile back. "Yeah, a bit."

He froze. A smile, an actual honest to God smile! He felt overwhelmed. Krouse took a further step into the room and Noelle shuffled to the side. "Anything else I can do to help?"

She started to shake her head, but stopped. "Actually, I think I should eat more."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You're not afraid of..." What? He couldn't say 'growing bigger'. He didn't want to acknowledge that his girlfriend was now so big she had to sleep on the floor because she weighted too much for beds. That she couldn't touch anything living. That she... his train of thought was broken by a slight movement.

Was that a rat? He couldn't let Noelle see. She was doing better, but they had to keep animals away from her. After the first incident, the first time her power had gone out of control and left her five times her previous size...

"Afraid of what?" She hung her head. "Well, I am afraid of that, but I'm more afraid of not eating."

Krouse locked onto the rat and a bottle that was on a shelf. "Oh? Worried you'll starve to death?" He half joked. She'd already tried to kill herself after the second incident. He took a step towards the shelf and the bottle, and Noelle shifted as he did.

"Kinda." She said in a small voice. "Kinda worried that the hunger will make me do something stupid."

"Uh huh." He was focused on the rat. It... felt odd to his power. He picked up the bottle, and then swapped them.

Noelle let out an 'eep' as a thing made out of gray and white cubes appeared in his hand. "What the fuck?!" Krouse shouted and dropped it. The monster began to move away and he stomped. There was a squeak under his foot, and then nothing. No sound, no corpse, no anything. "What was that?"

"Krouse, it's ok."

"What do you mean 'it's ok'?"

"It's one of Pixel's creatures."

"Who is Pixel? What's going on?"

"Pixel is an independent hero. He found us and we've been talking." She quickly spoke as if she didn't want him to get a word in. "He has a friend who might help me."

It all clicked. Someone was making a play. Trying to get to them through Noelle. Tricking her with promises and getting her to lower her guard. "I've never heard of a hero named Pixel. How do you know he's not in a gang?"

"Well..."

"The Adepts have been hounding us. He's probably one of them."

"Krouse..."

"If they could help us, I'd already have gone!" His clothes started feeling stuffy. He could feel the warmth under them as his body heated up. "They're nothing but flim-flam artists!"

"It's not like that."

"Noelle." He softened his voice. "You haven't been outside, you haven't met them. You don't know what it's like."

His girlfriend's face twisted into a scowl, and she started to rise to her full height. Shit. That was the wrong thing to say. She then stopped, her eyes darting back and forth as if she was reading something. He saw the tension leave her body. What the fuck? Was she being Mastered? She then looked him in the eyes. "If you're suspicious, he'll send a friend tomorrow to talk with us."

"Sure. Sounds good." Krouse stepped towards the door, and casually stepped through it. "We'll talk tomorrow."

"Krouse!" She called to him as he closed the solid wooden door.

The meeting with the Elite would have to wait. Whoever got to Noelle would be coming after them next. He had to prepare.

I'd thought about walking through the crowded airport with my Inventory picking up all cash withing a foot and a half of me. That would work well, but what if someone had their money in their hands? Or what if they felt its absence? They might cause a scene and then everyone would check. Sure, I wouldn't have any incriminating evidence on me, but I might be questioned.

My next plan was to pick my targets. Rich people stood out, so I could pass them and just keep walking. That was too close to an actual pickpocket. People would be on the lookout for that, even if my power gave me an unfair advantage. That's when I had my best idea.

I summon a solid box with 'Lucky Fate' and 'Lucky Screen' directly inside the trashcan right outside the men's restroom. The rat got summoned inside of that with a command of 'Inventory Cash'. I then leave and wander around. The money starts flowing in. I can pull this trick anywhere. There are trashcans all over the place. It won't be hard to cover all of JFK.

On second thought, I already have more than a $1,000. No point in being greedy. If EVERYONE in the airport has their money stolen, the Protectorate is sure to get involved. I leave my rat in place, and head back to the motel. I'll let it vanish in an hour or so. That should tide me over for the foreseeable future. Also, now that I've figured out this trick, I can do it anywhere. Probably safer to do it on a random corner. Who knew what Thinkers JFK employed.

I fell a little bad about it, so I still would prefer to find a way to make money honestly. Also, I have a suspicion that Riley will need tools that cost quite a bit more than I could obtain panhandling. Well, unknowing and forced panhandling. Fine. Stealing.

Noelle ► Hang on, Krouse is here.
Pixel ► Krouse?
Noelle ► My boyfriend.

Ah. Observe hadn't told me that tidbit. I wasn't back to my room yet, so I step into an alley and close my eyes. I take direct control of my seeing mouse and have it peek around the shelf. There's a man in the room. He has light brown skin, long dark hair, and a hooked nose. I Observe him.

Oh, THAT'S Trickster. How had I gotten a notification about him before? His bio reads pretty much the same as Oliver's and Noelle's. He has a Transposition Shard, and the standard Memory Removal debuff. He also has Simurgh Bomb and Egotist. So mentally unbalanced, but not to a dangerous extent. Until he blows up.

My mouse's view point suddenly changes. It's now in Krouse's hand. Shoot. That's his power, swapping objects of similar mass. He must've seen my summons. He shouts, drops my mouse, and then the connection vanishes. Well, that's probably not a good development. I commandeered my rat, and order the gnomes to stay behind Noelle. She had shifted to block them from view, so it should be easy. I eavesdrop with my summoned creature.

They are arguing about me. Then Krouse says something really stupid.

Pixel ► Noelle! That anger your feeling is being magnified by her! She wants you to blow up!
Pixel ► Whatever Krouse is saying is one of her plans. Don't get worked up. I can help.
Noelle ► How?
Pixel ► I'll send a friend of mine over to talk to them in person. He can explain things. Krouse is just worried about you.
Noelle ► He says okay.
Pixel ► Good. The end is in sight. Don't give up!
Noelle ► I won't.
Noelle ► Uhm, Pixel? I don't feel like talking anymore.
Pixel ► That's fine. I need to focus on getting in touch with my friend anyways. You can stay in the Party if you want to talk later, ok?
Noelle ► Yeah, yeah that'll be nice. I'll talk with you tomorrow.
Pixel ► Sure thing. Message me if you need anything before then. My friend's name is Tex, and I'll have him show up around dawn.
Noelle ► Sounds good.

I open my eyes and stand up. No one had tried to mug me while I'd been distracted, which was good. I don't have anything outside my Inventory except my clothes, but I don't have many of those left. I check my Inventory... damn. I cut Pack Rat off. It's already stolen more than $10,000. How? I know people bring cash with them on trips as spending money, but really? Actually, I probably don't have a good sense of money. I have, or rather had an allowance. It had taken me years to save up $100, but I was a teenager. Adults made more and spent more. If a hotel cost $100 a night... plus, emergencies... alright. Carrying a thousand dollars wasn't that far fetched I decided.

Plus side, I have enough cash for, I guess a month? Down side, people would be looking for whoever stole that much money. Up side, I didn't need to go back to JFK... except for the wifi.

With my new funds in my pocket dimension, and my accomplice fading from lack of MP, I pick up my pace. I get to the motel without running into another parahuman. (Yay!) Now for some precautions before letting Riley out. I don't know Jack's range, so I need to shield Riley from him if possible. Lucky Screen should do it.

Inside my room, I summon a cube with Lucky Screen and Lucky Fate.

Hmmm.... even making it hollow, it's only seven foot to a side. A bit of a tight fit, and I couldn't keep Riley in what was essentially a cage. I should be able to pass it to her with Power Drain. That would require that I stay next to her constantly. How about a dress?

Looks good. Probably a bit plain, but I can fix that easily enough. The question is if it will work. Is the dress itself shielded, or is it's wearer... Oh! I can test it!

I sit on my bed and let the... experiment commence. "Allez! Gnomes!" After several amusing minutes I have my answer. A summoned shirt does impart my Damage Resistance (Physical) to whomever wears it. Not just to attacks that hit the shirt, but everywhere. Time for some more tests.

Interesting. The effect varies with the size of the object. It's not that un-armored sections are protected less, but rather it's a ratio. The ring is very minor protection, even on the ring itself. The hat and shoe are better, but worse than the shirt. I've now watched the Gnome Sadist punch the Lucky Gnome in the face for half an hour. He's wearing the armor, but doesn't have a helm.

It's like... the armor covers 90% of him, so he gets 90% of my resistance. Which is more than enough to make him effectively immune to gnome punches. Cool. Lucky Screen isn't 100% protection, but it should be enough to keep Jack second guessing himself.

Hell, he might even make a mistake for once. That'd be funny if it gets him offed somehow. Unlikely, but I can hope, can't I?

I clap my hand together. "Ok!" The gnomes, ring, and equipment will vanish soon enough. Now I'll just Inventory Riley into the...box with no windows...

Crap. I brainstorm for a while and decide on summoning another lucky box - this time with a door. We'll just have to make do in the dark for a little bit. I un-Inventory Riley and wait...

"Uhhhh.... Kevin? I think I messed up my eyes somehow."

I smile, she's alright. "No, we're in a box Riley."

Huh? Another notification outside of my Party, what gives?

"Jack caught us?" She sounds dejected. "Shoot."

"No, we're safe. That's why we're in the box."

"Uhm.. could you explain it for me? Pleeeeease?"

"To sum up: We're in a motel in New York. My power expanded and I gained the ability to confuse precognition and other information gathering powers. I can infuse this protection into other people or objects I summon."

"Oh! So you made a box to hide me from Jack!"

I nod, even if she can't see me. "That's right."

I hear some rustling. "Doesn't seem very big. Don't you have a light switch or anything?"

"Think of it more as a closet. Here." I hold the dress towards her. "I summoned this dress, it'll provide the same protection."

There's some scraping sounds, and then I feel her grab the clothes. "So I just need to change into this?"

"Yeah, I won't peek."

"Proooomise?"

I roll my eyes. "Yes. I can't see in the dark or summon light yet."

She giggles. "Yet. You make it sound like a foregone conclusion."

I shrug. "Well, if I keep growing as fast as I do, it is." I think for a second. "Since I escaped the Nine I've gained the ability to swap places with my summons, the information blocking thing, and the ability to suppress or enhance other parahumans."

"Wow." She pauses. "Wait, you learned all those things and we're in New York? Just how long did you keep me in your dimensional doohicky?"

"Lets see, it was a solid day of running, then Behemoth, and today...so less than two days."

"Wait, what? New York? Behemoth?"

"Don't worry, I'll tell you everything once you put on the dress and we come out of the closet." Wait. "Ok, that doesn't sound right. I'm not sure how, but I think I phrased it wrong."

She giggles. I wait while listening to rustling. "Okay! I'm done!"

I open the door behind me, and look at my ally. The dress hangs off her like a drape. "I think I made it too big."

"Yeah, I was able to fit it over my real dress." She walks past me and glances around the motel room. "Hmmm... I've stayed in worse." She then jumps up into my arms. "Time for a bedtime story! Tell me all about how you ran away from Jack!"

...

I walk out of the bathroom in my Tex outfit. If I keep on changing, I'm going to need a lot more hair dye. Riley jumps to her feet and claps her hands. "You're a cowboy!"

I lean into my Texan accent and tip my hat. "Yessim, I surely am. I reckon that this here outfit will give any varmits huntin' us a right headache."

Riley giggles. "You should make me one too!"

I take my hat off and put it over her head. It covers the top half of her face. "Easy there missy. The life of a cowpoke is no place for a little lady like yourself. Your job is to tend the homestead."

"Keeeevin!" She pushes the hat up so she can see me. "I can handle myself."

"I know you can, but are you sure you'll be ok alone?"

"Don't worry!" The small girl beams up at me. "I can take care of myself, and I'll need to do this if I want to go outside."

"Are you sure? I mean, your spiders are great an all." Not really, they're creepy as hell. "But I can help you regenerate if you need it."

"It's fine, I can do this kind of thing in my sleep." She hands me back my hat, and I dutifully accept it.

"Oh nice!"

"What is it?"

"My power drain skill has leveled up. Hmmm.... no message from Noelle. She must still be asleep."

Riley rolls her eyes. "Most people do need to do that."

I rubbed her head. "Well if SOMEONE hadn't kept me up half the night telling stories and summoning things, then she might be in a better mood."

The someone in question crosses her arms behind her back, hangs her head, and kicks the ground. Hey! I've seen that one before! "Sorry, I just didn't feel like sleeping."

And it's still effective. I smile, kneel down, and hug her. "No need to apologize. I understand." I hold her at arms length and look her up and down. "I know you don't like to sleep, and I have an idea about that. I'm just worried is all."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Worried. Can I call you Just?" I groan. "What? That was a good one!"

I smile at her before hugging her again. "Yes it was." I let her go and stand up. "Okay, I'm off!"

"Bye!" She waves at me, and has her spiders do the same.

"One last thing." I concentrate and summon a clone. This time fully clothed. Even if they look a little odd, they'll still work. Mainly it's the hat and glasses that seem off. "I'm going to leave my clone here for an emergency transpose target." I level a stare at the most feared surgeon in the world. "Don't cut him open. I mean it! He'll just pop."

Riley rolls her eyes. "I know."

"Just making sure." I open the door and give her one last wave before setting off.

Good thing it's early and there's not as many people awake. Without my hat, glasses, and bandanna, my cowboy outfit doesn't stand out too much. I'll probably have to use Transpose to get back home. None of the other Travelers have left their house yet. I'm not happy about walking into a situation where there are multiple parahumans with unknown powers, but I need to smooth things over.

The best way to do that is to have a frank discussion in person and to be honest. We all want what's best. There shouldn't be any friction after I explain everything. Well, not everything. Riley's going to get a new back-story.

I walk up to the front door and knock.

Suddenly I'm in the middle of the room.

"This isn't working!"

"Hit him harder!"

"I don't want to hurt him!"

There's a green ogre standing in front of me with a huge club. It begins to swing.

"Get back! It's too hot!"

"How can he take that?"

There's smoke in the air. What's happening?

"No! I'm not getting it any closer. Fuck you Krouse!"

"He's not going back as much! If we don't find a way to capture him soon it won't matter."

The smoke is gone. I finish going over my notifications and look up.

"Perdition! Focus!"

"Fuck you!"

"Ok, fuck this." I un-Inventory Boo, while summoning 5 clones of him. You want to play rough? So can I. "Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes!"

Chapter Text

Marissa paces back and forth. "Are you sure about this?"

Krouse glares at her from under his mask. "Of course I'm sure. This Pixel character lied. We researched all the capes in New York and he isn't mentioned on PHO once."

"That doesn't mean anything." She counters. "He could be new or from out of town?"

"A new cape that knows someone that might help Noelle? And that just so happens to hunt us down, and break into our hideout to meet her?" Their leader pulls out a cigarette, but puts it back without lighting it.

"Ok, then what if he's from out of town?" She stops and looks at him.

"That's worse. That means that he's targeting Noelle, us, specifically." He gestures to the door to the warehouse where his girlfriend currently is.

Luke sighs. "I think I have to agree with Krouse on this one."

"I'm in costume, call me Trickster."

"Oh fuck off." Cody says from the corner. "It's just us here."

"Anyone could be listening!" Krouse turns to him.

"Yeah and if they were spying on us, guess what? They already know our names... Francis." Cody, Perdition, says with obvious spite.

"Hey, hey, calm down everyone." Luke stands up. "Let's assume she is being Mastered, to what end?"

"It's obvious." Krouse spat. "Someone wants to use her."

Someone wants their very own Endbringer, Marissa thinks. That's one reason they were always on the move, to keep Noelle safe. There's a knock on the door. Trickster moves to the center of the room, while Marissa goes to the door. She puts her hand on the knob and pauses. "Everyone ready?" She gets nods, so she opens the door.

A tall blond man with long hair stands outside. He's dressed like a cowboy - hat, gloves, boots. Sunglasses and a bandanna cover his face. Then, she's looking at Krouse. He swaps places, and everyone else leaps into action.

Mars turns and begins to make the smallest sun she can in her hands.

"What's going on?" The stranger is understandably surprised.

Hit him hard, she thinks as Ballistic opens fire. Her teammate launches pea-sized metal balls at the cowboy's arms and legs, while she moves her sun closer. Confined spaces aren't good for her. If her sun leaves her protective zone, everyone would be dead. She needs the smallest sliver to poke out, and she needs for it to be close to their opponent.

Tex just shakes his head. "I don't want to fight." He doesn't react to Luke's projectiles. He takes a step forward, and then blinks back. His body language once again reflecting someone who'd just been caught off guard.

"This isn't working." Ballistic shouts.

"Hit him harder." Krouse replies. Luke only has one speed setting. Hitting harder means aiming at a more vulnerable place or using larger ammo.

"I don't want to hurt him." Comes the response back, but she sees Luke reach into a different pouch..

The timing on Perdition's power is always tough to pin down. He can send stuff back in time only so far. They need to find a way to disable the stranger, but not kill him. Cody lets them go overboard and dial it in later. Still, it's not a perfect system. If he sends the target back in time to keep them from reacting, it might prevent him from reverting them if they take too much damage too quickly.

In the bedroom, Jess slumps down. Her power finishes manifesting. She reforms as a giant green-skinned monster. It has huge jutting teeth from it's lower jaw and a club that's bigger than anyone here (except for Noelle).

Tex looks up at it... and his body posture relaxes. Her sun is still close. He should be feeling the heat but he doesn't act like it bothers him.

"He's a brute! Go all out!"

The cowboy shakes his head. "I've faced down bigger things than you, ugly."

An inch sized lead ball strikes him in the temple and cracks his glasses. The ogre begins to move deceptively fast. Each hit causes the floor and walls the shake. Surprisingly, Tex doesn't budge an inch.

"That's not possible!"

"He's not a regular brute! He some kind of force-negator! Mars, it's up to you!"

"You're going to bring the Protectorate down on us." She replies. Their opponent dodges to the side, picks up a chair, and turns to throw it at Luke. The two swap places as the chair shatters harmlessly against his body. The next second, he's back in the middle of the room. His head tilts upwards towards the giant.

Marissa doesn't like it, but Krouse is right. If physical attacks aren't working, her sun is their trump card. She doesn't want to kill him, or burn down their house, but the plan works. She can do anything short of turning him to ash and Cody could bring him back. She just needs to know what the limit is.

Tex turns and looks at the approaching ball of light, and reaches out towards it. His gloves catch fire, which soon engulfs him.

He laughs. "This is great!"

Is he insane? No. It's not hurting him at all!

"Get back! It's too hot!" The others are panicking, she's made the sun too big.

"How can he take that?" Krouse is beside her, safe in her temperate zone.

Tex reaches closer to her sun, and she lets it go. That would vaporize him. The surface of the sun isn't about heat, it's about physics. Matter breaks down. Or... could he have survived it? She shudders at the thought. Just who is this 'friend' of Pixel?

He shifts again. His clothes are restored, and he turns from where Genesis used to be. The ogre and Ballistic redouble their efforts. The club becomes a blur, while anything heavy is sent flying towards the cowboy.

Tex catches the club, but can't hold onto it. "Fine." He grumbles, and a six foot long greatsword appears in his hands.

Marissa has nothing else to do. Escalating her sun would kill them more likely than it would hurt their opponent. It was stupid to try and fight him in a confined space, but they hadn't known he was a Brute. And now he's pulled a weapon from nowhere. It's bizarre, a sword made of little cubes. It looks like it belongs in a video game.

Wait. Pixel! It's one of his creations. Krouse had mentioned the spy. Where did Tex pull that from?

The sword meets the club, and the club loses. Pieces go flying across the room as it shatters against the 8-bit weapon. Genesis cries out and looks surprised before she nearly loses her head. The ogre scrambles away, and Tex stalks after it.

He blinks back to the center of the room. The sword is now gone. Trickster motions for Genesis to re-engage.

"No! I'm not getting it any closer. Fuck you Krouse!" A surprisingly feminine voice comes from the monster.

"He's not going back as much! If we don't find a way to capture him soon it won't matter." Perdition is sweating. What's happening? His power doesn't exhaust him.

Ballistic runs to the club's fragments and launches them. Each one is the size of a pumpkin.

Tex, once again, takes the hits with no noticeable effect. His head swivels left and right before locking onto Cody. He takes a step forward, and then appears back in the center of the room.

"Perdition! Focus!" Krouse shouts.

"Fuck you!" Comes the reply.

"Shouldn't we just talk?" Marissa can't believe things have gotten this far. They should talk. Or run. But running would leave Cody behind to delay the invulnerable cowboy.

Trickster swaps places with Ballistic so he can get more ammo. The projectiles continue to have no effect. Tex raises an arm back, and a knife appears in it. A knife that looks almost identical to the sword that he'd previously summoned. He brings his arm down to launch it... only to be switched with Luke.

Marissa grasps in horror. He didn't throw the knife! It was a feint, and he was now within three feet of her!

Tex flickers back to the center of the room.

"Ok, fuck this." Uh oh. He sounds pissed. Little blobs of white suddenly surround him on the floor. "Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes!"

...Is that a Baldur's Gate quote?

Her surprise suddenly switches to fear as the creatures move in little blurs too quick to follow. Something lands on her stomach. She goes to throw it off, but it's already moving. She screams at it latches onto her face.

Not bad for a morning's work. It's almost like my Shard wants me to go around and beat parahumans up.

Interesting... that's similar to 'Driven to Conflict'. Gamer's Mind prevented it, but it has to be how Shards generate conflict.

But why? And why don't the vials give it... unless the vials are man-made and the creators don't want hyper-aggressive capes?

As much as I want to keep following this string, I have the aftermath of a fight to deal with. I look around. And what a fight! I don't remember half of this.... No... I do remember, but I never did those things... and... ugh!

The travelers are down. Some are quiet, some are softly crying, every one of them is bleeding. I mentally command the Boo army to stop, and Inventory one of them. I think he's the original. Now that's the fight's over, I switch to my Orator title. I'll need as much help as I can in deescalating things.

"Now I reckon that's the second worst greeting I've ever gotten."

"Fuck you." The brown-haired boy in the corner swears at me.

"No, not today." I shake my head and let out a sigh. "Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to heal you, and then we're going to talk."

"So if we don't play ball, you won't kill us, just leave us like this."

"Hardly." I walk over to him and activate Rapid Regeneration. "I'm going to heal y'all 'cause I'm the one that did the damage. That's fair. If you want to attack me again, that's your decision." I hear a snort from behind me. "I wouldn't recommend it though. I get tougher with every attack."

"That.. *hic* that explains.. *hic* what you did with my sun."

I remember that. And I also know it didn't happen. Except it did. Argh!

"That's right little missy. Now I know it hurts right now, but give me five minutes and I'll be done with this fella here and get right to you."

It actually doesn't take that long to heal Trickster. For all of Boo's ferocity, their eyeballs are mostly intact.

"I can see!" He sounds surprised.

"What? You were expecting me to heal you, and it somehow wouldn't restore your sight?" I move to the girl who both made a miniature sun to attack me and did nothing.

"Why?"

"Didn't Noelle tell you?"

"Tell us what?"

"WHY Mr. Pixel decided to help you lot." I turn and glare at him. "Iffin' it was my decision, I don't quite reckon on which side I'd fall on now. You're in a pickle, sure, and not your best selves. Still, you do have some say in your future."

"Wait..."

I finish up with Marissa, and move to the boy in the corner. I Observe him. Cody/Perdition. Same as the rest. Power to send objects back in time. Anger issues. Hates Krouse. Oh, that's what happened to me, and Gamer's Mind restored my memories somehow? Even though I also distinctly remember a very disjointed battle.

Krouse continues. "What did you say to Noelle?"

"Me? It was Mr. Pixel that spoke to the lady."

"HOW did he convince her to side with him!"

I turn from Cody and look at Krouse. "Let's get this straight. She isn't on my side. Mr. Pixel saw a problem he could help with, and is trying to do just that." Their leader starts to speak again, and I hold up a hand. "The reason that Mr. Pixel was able to convince her that he could help. The reason that she's in a better mood. The reason I'm givin' all of y'all a huge benefit of the doubt. It's because he knows your secret. He knows where you came from and who fucked with your heads."

"WHAT?" A chorus of voices come from around me.

"Mr. Pixel, as it happens, is resistant to precognition. He has another friend who's one of the most powerful postcogs in the world." I take a moment and bask in their stunned silence. "I, as you should now be aware, grow resistant to ANY attack used against me. That's why Mr. Pixel thought I might be helpful in throwing a wrench in the feathered bitch's plans."

Hooray for 'Cowboy Diplomacy'. Wait. Oliver? I'd forgotten about him. He wasn't in the fight, but I guess he's listening.

"So, you didn't Master Noelle?" Marissa is now looking at me with big round eyes that could give Riley's a run for their money.

I give a chuckle as I turn from Cody, who's now looking at me with a non-angry expression. "Hardly. I reckon I might just be immune to most Masters, but I sure don't have that skill. If Mr. Pixel or one of his friends might have that capacity..." I scratch my head. "Well, I don't see how I could disprove a thing like that."

I Observe the last guy. Luke/Ballistic. Same story. Accelerates things to really high velocity. No extra debuffs. Wants to fly. I start to heal him.

"Who does Mr. Pixel work for?" Krouse asks.

"I don't rightly know. I reckon he might be obliged to no one in particular."

"Then... HOW does he have all these friends? HOW did he recruit you? HOW has he talked with Noelle?"

"Those are all fine questions. I recommend you ask your girlfriend. I reckon she's liable to be in half a state, what with all this ruckus we caused." I snort. "You caused."

Krouse bolts to the door. Luke looks up at me with bleary eyes, and I offer him a hand up. "Thanks."

"Is that everyone?" I know it's not, but I can't exactly reveal my knowledge that there's two other members I'm getting notifications about.

"Hang on." Luke wipes the blood from his face, and picks up his ruined goggles. He turns to another door, and then glances at the new hole. Boo's a savage little thing, and far stronger than he has any right to be. "There's more in the bedroom." He glances at his friends. "I'll go see how it is."

He returns with an auburn haired girl in his arms. She isn't wearing a mask and is softly crying. I Observe her. Genesis/Jess. Can summon nearly anything with a reasonable anatomy. No odd debuffs, aside from that stupid bomb they all have. Paralyzed from the waist down at age 4. Great. Now I somehow feel bad about maiming the people who ambushed me. Luke holds her as I gently touch her.

She screams.

"What did you do to her?" Luke jerks her away.

"Nothing, 'cept heal her."

"Jess?" He whispers to her. "Jess are you okay."

She turns her head, but her eyes are still bleeding. "It's my legs, they felt like they're on fire."

I get some accusatory stares, and hold up my palms. "That's never happened before."

Marissa walks over. "Did you have feeling in them before?"

Jess shakes her head. "No. Not since I was a little kid."

The blond turns to look at me. "You're healing her legs! Can you do that?"

I push my hat back some. "I reckon I can. Can't do anything for the pain..." Wait, no, that's not true. "Hang on, does it still hurt ma'am?"

"Yes!" She whispers through clenched teeth.

I activate power drain, and connect to her. I then push Pain Resistance towards her.

"Wait... it's, it's feeling better! What did you do?"

"Learned a new trick is all. Now, I don't know how long this will take, so why don't we help you get comfortable in the meantime?"

Luke helps me put her on a couch that isn't burnt, while Marissa walks around the room. Where she goes, any remaining fires or smoldering stops producing smoke. She then smothers the flames with her bare hands.

Noelle ► Can you invite Krouse?
Pixel ► Hang on, let me access the herald.

Krouse ► Hello Mr. Pixel. We had a bit of a misunderstanding with your friend Tex, but I've talked things out with Noelle.

A hand gently shakes my shoulder. "I said, are you alright?"

I turn to Marissa. "Sorry, your friend's condition is going to take some concentration. I'll need to focus."

"Oh, ok." The blond girl turns and sits on the couch next to Jess. Luke is already on the other side, and Cody seems to be lost deep in thought.

Pixel ► Yes, I am aware of what has transpired. I'm sorry for any undue stress this might have caused you Noelle.
Noelle ► I'm doing ok. Having the crone with me helps out a lot.
Krouse ► Yes, the Gnome Crone is it? A minion with a Trump power?
Pixel ► I would prefer not to discuss the specifics of my power, except in as much as it is of use to curing Noelle's and your conditions.
Krouse ► MY condition?
Pixel ► Yes. Noelle has told you of my Thinker ally, yes?
Krouse ► The postcog. Tex mentioned him.
Pixel ► His power is more encompassing than that, it allows him to detect the alterations that have been made to your minds.
Krouse ► How? He isn't here.
Pixel ► In the same manner as we are talking. I am linked to him, and he can observe you through that.
Krouse ► May we speak to him.
Pixel ► You can be assured he is aware of you, but I am the only one that he can talk to.
Krouse ► Because of your power.
Pixel ► Quite right.
Krouse ► Let me get this straight. You stumbled upon Oliver by chance, and identified him as being 'effected'.
Pixel ► With the help of my ally, yes.
Krouse ► And you decided to do something about it?
Pixel ► If not me, then who else?
Krouse ► The Protectorate?
Pixel ► That would not go well.
Krouse ► Precognition?
Pixel ► No, just common sense. Noelle is extraordinarily powerful. The Protectorate would not know what I know. They might handle the situation correctly, but I suspect She would already have accounted for that.
Krouse ► So since you can evade Her, you're doing it alone?
Pixel ► Not alone. As I told Noelle, I have another ally who is particularly adept at such matters. I think by combining our powers we can thwart any long-term plans.
Krouse ► And payment?
Pixel ► Only what is necessary for the operation. I will not be aware of the specific needs of my ally for another day. Since moving Noelle is not a simple matter, it is best to upgrade your location rather than move her cross-country.
Krouse ► And that's it? Nothing else?
Pixel ► I may ask that you assist Tex, as he's a little irritated at the moment. As a hero, I would also require that the Travelers never kill again. No matter the situation. If that rule is broken, then I would feel it was my duty to stop you.
Krouse ► Accidents happen, we try not to kill. In our business it's difficult to avoid.
Pixel ► Once freed of Her influence, you will have options open to you that you didn't in the past. I am not saying that you have to join the Protectorate, or even become heroes. You can turn rogue, or stay villains, I care not. Just don't kill.

Or my quest will fail, but it's a good rule for them to have regardless.

Krouse ► We have a meeting later today. I'll get you whatever you need.
Pixel ► Very well. I shall contact you when I have more details. In the meantime you are free to stay in the Party or not.
Krouse ► I think I'd rather stay, I can talk with Noelle.
Pixel ► I shall endeavor to ignore you.
Krouse ► Ok.

I turn my concentration away from the party chat. "...listening to Krouse!" Cody seems to be ranting about something. What should I do? Can't make small talk, not after I told them this took focus. So I listen to him go on about what a fiasco this morning was, and I have to agree. I mean, ambushing me? If the Simurgh wasn't fucking with their minds... Well, I wouldn't kill them. And I'd probably heal them too. But I'd be more upset about it.

Oh? That sounds nice. "Ok." I stand up and offer the auburn haired girl my hand. She reaches out and takes it, and then slowly rises to her feet.

"Jess!" Marissa jumps to her feet and puts an arm out to steady her. "You can walk!"

"My legs, they feel great! Like I could run a mile!" She looks up to me and blinks away tears. "Thank you!!!"

I tip my hat. I could get used to this healing thing. "You're welcome ma'am. Now I fixed some of the atrophy, but you still have to learn to walk again. No running until then." I'm lying out my ass. I have no idea how my regeneration works with this sort of thing, but I think I sound smart. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things that need doing."

I turn to leave, but Marissa grabs my hand. "I... just... I'm sorry!!" She bows her head. "We shouldn't have attacked you. We thought you were controlling Noelle, or at least knew who was, and I'm not saying that it makes it okay, but we were only planning on capturing you and making you talk. Honest!"

Run-on sentence aside, it's a nice apology. Luke stands up and starts shaking my other hand. "Same here. It's just been so long since anything good happened to us! It doesn't make what we did right, but do you think you can help Noelle?"

"Not me." I say as I try and gently extract myself. "But Mr. Pixel says he knows somebody who's even better at fixin' people up."

"So you're leaving?" The blond girl looks at me. Now that I'm not being attacked, she's... No! Stop that Kevin. Do not become attracted to people that might turn into the next Mannequin.

"Yessim' I am." I look into her eyes and reconsider. I think I might have a serious mental weakness for damaged people. "Well, as long as I'm workin' for Mr. Pixel, we'll probably run into each other again." I disengage, and turn to leave, only to to almost run into Cody.

He shoves his hands in his pockets, and looks to the side, despite blocking my path. "Hey. I just, want to thank you too. No hard feelings."

"No sweat!" I clap him on the shoulder. "Your power gave me the best workout I've had in a while. Potent stuff."

"Yeah. No problem."

How am I getting notifications about how other parahumans are feeling now? I thought it was a Jack-thing, which made sense because of his power. Then it seemed like Scion could do it too, but he's... unique. Now the Travelers? Did I always have this ability and not seen it? Was Jack negating it? No, I encountered tons of capes at the Behemoth fight. There has to be something I'm missing.

"You're sure we can't get you anything?" Jess calls out from behind. "Something to eat, drink, just a chat? We... we have our reasons, but I still feel like I need to apologize more!"

Actually, they might have some insight into the cape scene that I'm lacking. There's a lot I don't know about New York, and they could fill in the blanks. I turn back around and lower my bandanna. "Well, my mama didn't raise me to turn down hospitality. I'd be much obliged for some liquid refreshment. I find that I'm rather parched at the moment."

Luke goes to a back room, and returns with two chairs. He sets one down and offers it to me, before sitting in the other one. Jess and Marissa go to a different room, and I hear whispers and glasses clinking.

"So, you're a healer and an adaptive brute?" Luke asks. "Can you really withstand... her?"

I shrug. "Don't rightly know. I've grown immune to other mental effects, so there's a good chance."

"Damn. I wish I had an ability like that."

"Well, from what I hear that might not have ever been in the cards."

"Yeah." He agrees. "It's been rough."

Cody pulls a table from the corner, and leaves it between the chairs. He sits down on the couch and doesn't speak. The girls return with a couple of glasses and a carton of orange juice. Jess puts down coasters as Marissa holds the tray. They then place a cup in front of each of us and poor the juice. There are some more clinks as the ice in the glasses shifts.

"So..." Jess begins. She's not drinking, instead focusing on poking her legs. "What's it like being a hero?"

That's a loaded question. "I can't really speak for others, but it's interesting. I haven't been a cape for long, but I think I've managed to make a difference so far." The orange juice is nice.

"You're new?" Marissa looks at me. "You're from Texas right? How can you be new and so far away from home?"

"I tagged along from an Endbringer fight." That gets some stares.

"Really?!" Cody's eyes bulge out. "You fight Endbringers."

"Hardly." I snort. "Never even saw him. I spent the whole time healin' people."

"But with your power...." The smaller boy starts, and then thinks better of it.

I shrug and take another sip. "I went where they told me. I may be tough, but I don't like my chances in melee with Behemoth. Not like a punch from me would make a difference."

"Heh." Luke smiles. "So you do have limits." I just smile back.

"So you met Mr. Pixel in New York?" Marissa asks.

"That's right."

"And he brought you up-to-date on the unwritten rules?"

"Well..." I scratch the side of my head. "Not really. Mr. Pixel isn't one for talkin' I've found."

"Oh good! We can help you with something then!" Marissa claps her hands. "I mean, we were told to expect you and all, but generally dropping in on a cape's home is a big taboo."

Really? "Oh?"

"Yes!" She nods. "With all the Thinkers out there, discovering a parahuman's secret identity wouldn't exactly be hard. So the heroes and the villains both agree to mostly cease hostilities when they aren't 'on the clock' so to speak. Don't involve them or their families and the other side won't either."

"Huh. I don't see some villains following those rules." Like the Slaughterhouse Nine.

"Sure." Luke speaks up. "There are some psychos out there that don't. They get turned on by all the other heroes and villains. That leaves them dead, in the Birdcage, or with a kill order."

"Ah." Looks like I have one more thing to add to my list of things to talk to Riley about.

I spend the next hour or so chatting with the Travelers, minus Noelle and Krouse. I kinda wished that my Tex character liked video games. They had a lot of questions about the sword I pulled out of nowhere, but I got to plead ignorance and claim it was given to me by Pixel. I think I learned some good info, including the major gangs to look out for - The Elite, The Adepts, Lost Garden, and The Teeth.

In return, I gave them assurances about 'Mr. Pixel'. Yes, I believed him. Yes, I trusted him. I met him when he helped me out with the Butcher. That raised a few eyebrows. No, I hadn't met his other healer ally. Yes, he was a good judge of people and powers. Yes, he seemed nice enough. No, I didn't know if he had any dimensional tech. Yes, I'd be sure to ask him. After increasingly hypothetical situations, the conversation wound down.

Marissa and Cody agreed to help me train, though Marissa was hesitant. She didn't seem to think my power could withstand hers, and didn't want me hurting myself. Apparently my attempt at grinding heat resistance mid-fight (that I both do and don't remember) really freaked her out. Cody, however, seemed to be proud that I wanted his help.

Oddly, I didn't get any notifications about their moods, so I still don't know what the cause was. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with 'Orator', but there's at least one other factor. In any case, Riley should be finished with her 'adjustments', so it was time for me to leave.

Chapter Text

I checked my mini-map before leaving. The coast was clear, so gave a final wave and stepped out the door. I briefly switched my view with the crone's. Krouse and Noelle were still talking, and the teleporter was swapping my gnome fighter and herald. He seemed amused with their automated reactions.

I round a corner and stop to double-check I'm alone. With no one in sight, I inventoried my hat, gloves, bandanna, and shades. Not the best of disguises but it's what I have. Actually, my clone is only a few miles away. I can transpose small summons that far, so I might be able to do the same for my clone. I switched to his POV. Riley was humming to herself as she pokes at a spider. At least I assume it's Riley. Her hair was straight and black, and her skin was tan. I dropped Boo off, and focused... The next moment, I was in the motel room. It had cost me 238 MP to travel a little over 2 miles. Or so, I'm just guessing the distance.

I cut the clone off. I'll recover a lot faster without its drain.

"Hey Riley."

She let out an 'eep!' and turned around, with a hand over her mouth. She then tilted her head and put her hands on her hips. "Kevin! You swapped places!"

"How did you know?" My clone should be exactly like me.

She giggled and put her hands behind her head as she swayed side-to-side. "Weeeelllll.... That's my secret!"

I rolled my eyes and sat on one of the beds. "Really? You're keeping secrets now?"

She puffed up her cheeks and then hopped onto the bed next to me. "I'm just too good at recognizing my big brother!" She stared up at me and smiled. Huh? Had she altered her teeth? I don't recall her having an incisor that long. "Fine!" She slapped my chest. "Besides the hat and the rest of your outfit, your clone breathes strangely."

"What?"

"Look at the way you're breathing now." She put her hands on my shoulders. "Most people don't move their trapezius when they take a breath. You do. So does your clone, but the movement is a little off."

"Hey, you're right!"

"Of course I'm right! I'm Riley!" She smiled and held up two fingers in a 'V'.

I rubbed her head. "Yes, and you're super cute too!"

"So? How'd the meeting go?" She continued to stare at me. "Did you get them to chill?"

"Eventually." I tried to pay attention to my shoulders as I talked. "They attacked me first, but I subdued them. After that they were more willing to listen."

She giggled again. "That's my big bro!"

"I'd told them I'd talk with my other secret ally today. They agreed to get you whatever you need. Assuming you want to go ahead with this."

"Of course I want to!" She lightly punched me in the shoulder. "I've been thinking about merging two parahumans. I had a good one lined up in the RV, but I hadn't found a suitable secondary subject yet. I think I can learn a lot! Like, I've already made a design for a parasite that will disable a parahuman's powers! Isn't that neat! You would think that it'd be simple surgery to remove the Corona Pollentia and Gemma. But it's not! Sure, you CAN go that route, but it's kinda permanent y'know? Now there's something else in the DNA. Or rather, something else that looks at the DNA! It uses it as a tracker! That's why my parasite will alter the subject's DNA! Powers only work if they can identify the specific markers. Most of them aren't used by the DNA anyways, so altering them would normally be pointless."

"Wait." I pat the excited girl on the back while I contemplated what she just said. "Powers come from Shards. But we only have a connection to the Shard. It latches onto us somehow, and identifies us by our DNA?"

"Right! The power isn't ours, it's more like a passenger that rides along side us." Her expression darkens. "Jack always said I shouldn't think too much about it, but it makes sense that they can control us somehow. The Gemma is how a host interacts with their power, so it's not strange that there's bleed-through the other way."

"About that. My power has a stat called 'parahuman lore', it seems to increase when I make a discovery about this sort of thing. The Shards purposely drive parahumans into conflict. They WANT us to fight one-another."

There! There it is again! I'm not in a party with her and got a notification! But I didn't get any about her being happy to see me, but I also just got a reputation increase! There's something I'm missing here aside from 'Orator'. My charisma also rose recently, could that be a factor too? But why is it so sporadic? Could a 'communication' check be like a perception check? Based off of Cha instead of Per? But I'm not getting failed notifications... unless that's the sort of thing that would happen too often? Shoot, I shouldn't get distracted while talking with Riley. Who knows what she'll suggest if I don't pay attention?

"...always said we should use our powers to kill people personally. Do you think he was being controlled?" She hangs her head. "Or do you think he was pushing us to accept our Shard's control?"

I gave her a hug. It was easy to figure out who she was talking about. "Probably both. Jack was a natural trigger and has the 'Conflict Driven' debuff. Only vial triggers don't."

"WAIT!! WHAT?!?!?"

"Oh?" I coughed. "I guess I hadn't told you about that yet. I just figured it out this morning. My power lets me know about people's past right?" She looks up at me with wide eyes and nods. Man, she's so tiny. "None of the capes that got their powers from a vial had the 'Conflict Driven' debuff. Not that that stops them, Shatterbird didn't have it, and look at her."

"That's... wow. I need to look at an example!" She bites her thumb. "Do the Travelers have it?"

"No, but they have a 'Simurgh Bomb' debuff instead, so there's probably something abnormal there anyways."

"Hmmmm...."

Man, this is a bad idea... but I trust Riley. "You can look at my brain." I can't believe I just volunteered for that.

"Really!" She seemed to vibrate with excitement.

"Yes, remember that knife I used when we escaped? I can make weapons that bypass my breaker state. That will allow you to cut me open and take a look. At least at a pixelated version."

Gah! She hugs me with far more strength than I thought possible. "I love you Kevin!"

Man, she's easy to bribe. Well, probably not for most people. I gently untangle myself. "One thing first. I'd like to try passing my Gamer's Mind ability to you. It should keep your Shard from urging you to do something stupid."

"Okay!" She quickly agrees. "You want to do this now?!?" She jumps off of the bed and hops up and down while making tiny little claps with her hands. She's just too cute to say 'No' to. I'm sure she doesn't have a Master ability right?

"There are some other things I wanted to talk about. Noelle, Oliver, Simurgh Bombs, I got a new ability I haven't tested yet. What exotic equipment you might need..."

She holds out a hand, and raises a finger. "One. This will be invaluable research. You might have the most pristine parahuman brain possible. Having notes on it, even if it's blurry will be absolutely invaluable." She raises another finger. "Two. We can experiment with your new ability later. I already have a long list of stuff I want to test, so what's one more." She raises her third finger. "Three. I already decided where we can get any specialized equipment. Cornell University has a parahuman biology department, we can just rob it."

Looks like I backed myself into another corner. I'm so bad at this. "Okay, here I go." Oh man, I'm going to have to be conscious for it! Even with my 99.25% pain resistance, this is going to be weird. I activate power drain, and connect to Riley. The 'pipe' feels more secure than the one that's draining Noelle. Probably because of the distance or the crone being a middle party. I bunch up the idea of Gamer's Mind and shove it through. Then, I Observe her.

Riley stiffens. An odd look comes over her face. She faintly turns her head while furrowing her brow. Her lips open slightly. She pauses, and then repeats the action as if considering something different. This occurs three more times over the next minute. Suddenly, she takes a deep breath and yells in her high-pitched voice:

"MOTHERFUCKER!!!!"

Cute.

Krouse tentatively reached out a hand and touched Noelle. Not on her deformed mass. Not on the monstrous part that could literally eat him alive. Instead he used his un-gloved hand to hold her hand. She smiled at him. "See? Nothing!"

Krouse could barely convince himself that this was real. He looked at the Gnome Crone. The odd block of cubes kept waving it's 'arms' and 'staff' in the same repetitive motion. "I can hardly believe it. After nearly a year!"

"I know!" Tears fell from his girlfriends eyes, a stark contrast to the smile she wore. "The fizzing stopped! I feel so... normal, I guess."

Krouse deliberately looked into her eyes and didn't let his gaze fall to her lower half. "If Pixel can do this... are you sure you need the surgeon?"

"Yes!" She fiercely nodded. "Even if I end up in a wheelchair like Jess, it will be an improvement. I thought about this last night. If I hadn't been so scared of being deformed before, this never would have happened."

"That wasn't your fault." Krouse shook his head. "She manipulated you."

"She manipulated us all. That's... that's also why I think Pixel is telling the truth about being hidden from precogs."

"Oh?"

Noelle nodded. "Until he showed up, I considered a lot of things, but the idea of just removing this..." She motioned to her lower half. "Didn't occur to me. I mean, I'm not sure if it was possible. For all we know the half that contains me might die and my lower half could go on a rampage..."

Krouse nodded. "We have to play it safe. We're closer than we've ever been to a solution. I'll get what we need from the Elite. No matter what."

"Are you sure?"

He smiled up at her. "Yes. Even if I had to sell my soul to the devil, but it won't come to that. Everyone says the Elite cell here is more like a group of rogues. With enough money, we can do anything."

"Do we have enough?"

Krouse suppressed a wince. Their funds weren't in a good spot. The main reason for today's meeting was to make amends. They'd accidentally pulled a job in the Elite's turf. He'd be smarter in the future, but what was done was done. No need to worry Noelle. "Yeah, we still have a good windfall." He let her hand go. "I need to be off. Our meeting is in less than an hour."

Noelle ► Stay in touch.
Krouse ► You'll know everything Pixel tells me.

They smiled at each other. It was almost like old times. Well, it was almost like the old times he'd wished they'd had. Still, it was an improvement.

Pixel ► Noelle and Krouse, I would like to introduce you to Bit. They have agreed to examine Noelle and help her gain control of her powers.
Pixel ► I will now let them list all the equipment that will be required. Also, Oliver will need to undergo a similar procedure at the same time. Let us know when you have something to write with.

Krouse looked at Noelle and nodded. He left the room and glanced at the rest of his team. Was Jess walking? That made sense he figured. Tex was a healer (and one scary brute). Krouse went into the bedroom and got a notepad and pencil.

Krouse ► Ok. I'm ready.
Bit ► First I will need a surgical operating theater that can accommodate both patients in separate rooms. It will obviously need to be sterile and have robotic limbs capable of performing delicate maneuvers. They will need to have a precision of at least 100 micrometers and a direct haptic link.
Bit ► The walls will need to be able to withstand the patient's strength in the event of an emergency.

...

Krouse put down the pencil and looked at the list. He didn't know anything about medical technology, but this looked expensive. In the millions of dollars sort of expensive. They had about $20,000 to their name. He'd figure something out.

Krouse found a spare domino mask and put it on. That thing Tex had summoned had torn through his Trickster mask. It was obviously something Pixel had provided to him. A backup plan. A showcase of his range and power. Well he said he'd send a message, and Krouse got it. Pixel didn't need Tex. He didn't need to play nice. His power could kill them all. Even if he didn't know where they lived, the elusive hero could subdue them with minimal effort. Projection or technology, Krouse didn't know the precise nature of Pixel's ability. He leaned towards the latter. Tinkers were some of the scariest capes once they got established, and Pixel fit that description.

He let out a sigh. At least he seemed benevolent. It was sheer luck they ran into the one parahuman that could help them and was inclined to do so. No, probably NOT luck. That mystery Thinker Pixel mentioned. This was all part of their plan. Whatever. As long as Noelle got better, that's all that mattered.

"You going to meet with the Elite?" Mars asked him from the couch.

He looked around. The place wasn't as badly damaged as he'd thought it should've been. Mainly some burn marks from Mar's sun. "Yeah." He didn't mention the list that was now in his breast pocket. No need to worry them about that kind of expense. Better they keep their good mood up.

"Stay safe." Mars went back to helping Jess walk around the living room. A nicer sentiment than he was expecting. The blonde was in a good mood.

Trickster looked out the window and spotted the piece of rubble he'd put on top of the building next door. He felt his power connect, draw in a little bit of air to even things out, and then swap their places. Trickster walked along the roof until he got to the side. Another piece of rubble replaced him, and he was now in an alley. Strolling in full costume, he made his way down the street while lighting a cigarette.

This was Elite turf, so he shouldn't be bothered by any minor gangs. He steered clear of the Adept's house. They weren't pushy, but they were persistent. At the corner, the limo was waiting for him. A huge man, easily nine feet tall opened the door and motioned him in. He didn't know his name, but he instantly recognized one of the Elite's Made Men. Empowered Brutes. Loyal and dangerous.

He tossed his cigarette to the ground and put it out with his foot before climbing into the back. "Let's go see Maker. I have a proposition for him."

"This is really weird." Riley says from behind me. "I feel so different, but also oddly calm."

"Yeah." I try not to wince as she pokes something. I don't exactly have nerve ending in my brain, but every little jostle causes all sorts of odd sensations. My face feels both numb and tickled.

At least the low-level pain decreases with each skill up. I wonder if it will max at 100%.

"I mean, it's all so obvious now. I was clearly insane." She pauses. "Well, I guess I still am, huh? This is just suppressing things. I took a look while I was in the Party."

"Yeah. If it's any consolation, I think you're handling it very well."

She giggles. "Thanks, Kevin. Is this how you feel all the time? Some things are just... muted." There's a disturbing squelching sound, and my vision goes black briefly.

"Howth tho?" My tongue is going numb.

"Well, I mean, I hate Jack now. I had a lot of mixed feelings before, but the fear's gone. So's the... respect? Admiration? I don't think it was ever something you could call love."

"Uh huh."

"But, it's not enough hate right? Looking at it through the lens of your power, I should be thinking about all the ways I can gruesomely kill him, but I'm not. Kinda the same for you." She pats my cheek. "I still love you, but the level is less. Like there's a cap I can't go past."

"Uh huh." I'd contribute more to the conversation, but I think this is something she needs to work through on her own. Also, I can't talk at the moment.

"It's also odd. I'm enjoying looking at your brain, but not as much as I think I should. The endorphin rush I normally get from this sort of thing... just isn't happening. Sure, it's still fascinating, but only on an academic level."

"Uh huh."

"Anyways, I think I have enough for a good baseline." There's another strange pressure. "I'll sew you back up."

I watch my debuff go from 'Physical Deformity - Fatal' to 'Physical Deformity - Severe', and then focus on something else.

"Do you think you could keep this on me all the time? Do you think doing so would be a good idea?"

"I don't know." Ah, my tongue is feeling better. "That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?" She pats my shoulder. "All done!"

I sit up, and feel... completely fine. I turn around and ruffle her hair. "Good job Riley!"

"Aw, c'mon, knock it off!" She's blushing. It's the first time I've seen her blush. Cute!

I grin and stretch. Not that I'm sore, it just feels like the right thing to do after laying on your back for more than an hour. "Ok. So your outfit. I want to try and make something that actually fits you, and something that you'll enjoy wearing."

"I dunno." She hops onto the bed and starts swinging her legs. "If I don't have Gamer's Mind, I'm pretty sure I'll still want to look super cute."

I smirk. "You ARE cute Riley. There's nothing you can do about it."

Hey, another blush. Is this how teasing your little sister is supposed to go? I've missed out.

"A-anyways. My fashion sense might change, so we should probably discuss if keeping Gamer's Mind up is possible first. And if it's a good idea second."

"Well, it is a pretty massive drain. If I wasn't getting a lot of MP from Noelle, I couldn't manage it."

"Oh? How much?"

"Both are 3 MP a second. My current regen is 83 per minute. Wait, I've leveled since I calculated it. So it's probably a bit more now. Meditating can triple it, if I'm not doing anything else. It's a 50% increase if I'm combining it with other stuff."

"Wow, your power's ability to precisely categorize things would be a pretty impressive Thinker ability on its own." Riley shakes her head. "So it drains 180 MP a minute, and you can have about 83, 124, or 249 regen."

"Right." I nod. "Not to mention the constant upkeep that any summons need."

"And I'd have to be within a foot of you... probably not doable for multiple reasons then."

"Well... there is another possibility."

"What is it?"

"I can imbue parts of my power into my summons." I gesture to her dress. "They, in turn, can grant that to other people or summons."

"Let me guess, there's a limit?"

"Yeah." I shake my head. "Lucky Screen costs a third of my budget. Gamer's Mind is even more expensive. It takes it all. The clothes would tear in a slight breeze."

"Well, personally, I think that Lucky Screen is the better option of the two."

"Agreed. But there's the new ability I just got."

"Right, you mentioned something like that."

"I have six slots for 'unique' summons."

"What do they do?"

"No idea."

"Kevin!" She jumps off the bed and stomps her foot. Non-cute obsessed Riley is still cute.

"Hey." I hold up hands. "I JUST got it this morning."

"Right, and I did kinda push for the exploratory surgery." She looks away. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize." I smirk. "I've gotten used to you cutting me open."

"You say the sweetest things." She grins up at me. No, it's a smirk! The first smirk I've seen her do.

I think I might've missed out on some innate resistances growing up with only an older brother.

"Right." I summon a Riley-sized mannequin. Not a copy of Mannequin, one of the things you see in a store. "So I was thinking I'd make your dress a unique summons and see what bonuses that grants it." I summon a dress onto the doll. "Before that, let's come up with a pattern that you like, and that works with squares."

"Hmmm..." She lifts up an arm. "It's nice, but you can still see the individual squares when it moves." She waves the sleeve up and down.

"You're right. That might work for a costume, but it's no good if you want to not be noticed."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." She walks around the dummy. "Still, it's not all bad." Riley stops and rubs the summoned fabric between her fingers. "Feels nice. It looks like it should poke, but it's actually smooth." She glances up at me. "Your power is really odd Kevin."

I roll my eyes. "I'm aware." I squat down next to her. "I want you to be safe, but it's no good if it also keeps you locked away."

"What about something else? Like a ring or socks?"

"The granted effect is lessened with the amount of space it covers." I frown. "Of all the things I can do, I guess subtle isn't on the list." I look down at my clothes. "I might start summoning my clothes when I'm in costume though. It does look pretty cool."

"Oh!" Riley's hand jumps to her mouth. "What about an under lining?"

"What?"

"Yeah!" She pulls up one of her sleeves. "Just like I'm wearing your current dress over my regular one, I can do the same here. Just make it really thin and light!"

"Like this?" I focus on the mannequin's dress, and its color shifts, but not its form. "Ok, we'll have to wait a minute for it to fade. Let's experiment with materials in the meantime." I summon various stripes of 'fabric'. If I keep the Dex the highest stat, they're lightweight. A zero Str makes them very soft, but they need Con or they'll tear almost like smoke. I'm able to impart a 'springiness' that makes them behave like elastic.

Riley has me summon a tape measure, which looks pretty accurate. She then begins to measure all sorts of locations on her body. "I don't think I want elastic on the cuffs. That can start to chafe." She sits down and taps the floor. "Something solid, like a bracelet will keep it from riding up too far, but still let my skin breathe."

I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know so much about clothes?"

She rolls her eyes. "Who do you think dressed me? The other members of the Slaughterhouse Nine wouldn't know cute if it jumped up and bashed their brains in." She them mumbles. "And it just might." Her voice resumes it's normal volume. "Let's make a prototype!"

"Ok!" I close my eyes and focus on the measurements she gave me, and I feel my power flow and surround the doll. "Looks pretty good." I open my eyes and move my head to get a better angle.

"Yeah." Riley feels the 'fabric' "You'll need to make it more flexible if I'm going to fit." She motions to the corner. "Make another changing room so I can try it on. Can you leave some slits for light at the top?"

I nod. "Yeah, that should work. I don't think it needs to be air-tight to provide the effect."

Looks like Krouse signed me up for something on his own. I'm not sure about this. I think about messaging him while Riley's changing, but decide against it. It would make him paranoid, and I think the Travelers are already far too unstable. Besides, he has that 'Egotist' debuff. If I don't let him take point he'll probably wind up trying to kill me again.

"Tah! Da!" Riley steps out in the new bodysuit.

"Hey!" I turn away. "Some modesty please."

"It's no worse than a swimsuit." I can hear the exasperation in her voice. "Anyways, it feels nice!"

"That's good."

I hear some rustling. "Okay, you can look now." She's wearing her original dress. "I'll need to go shopping for dresses that have long arms, but otherwise I think we have a winner!"

"Okay, I'll make the final product and see what Unique Summons does." I focus and begin to pour my MP... It takes double what it should! "Riley, I've figured out my new ability. Being unique grants a higher upper limit." I alter the parameters in my mind. "I have enough leeway to grant it Gamer's Mind, Lucky Fate and Lucky Screen."

"Then do it!"

"Hang on, I want to drop Gamer's Mind from you. If it is affecting your decisions, then you should decide if you want it without it active."

She lets out a sigh. "That makes sense."

I cut the power drain I have on her. Riley's eyes light up for a brief second until her face grimaces.

"Phooey! That son of a gun! I'm going to take his gosh darn doohicky and jinkies it up his rootin' tootin' dealily bopper!!"

Chapter Text

"This is amazing!" Riley was stretching this way and that while I reclined on the bed. "Malleable!" She exclaimed and then giggled as the suit rippled around her. The silk-like fabric flowed over her hands and formed gloves, while the entire skin-tight suit turned a soft pink.

She was wearing it under her dress, so it looked like her undershirt and stockings changed color. "Yeah, the pixelation is noticeable still. What's it say when you pull it back?" I asked.

"Malleable!" The fabric flowed away until it was hidden under her normal clothes. "Status!" Riley's eyes flickered back and forth as she read from an invisible screen. "Lucky Screen is still active, but Lucky Fate isn't." She frowned. "The Party ability is grayed out, but it was like that even when I had the limbs out. Same for Observe. Malleable still looks like it's active."

I frowned. "Well that's one piece of good news, but try to keep both Lucky Fate and Screen active. They both might help against Jack. I'm disappointed at the other two not working, Party cost a lot of points."

"Let me try something. Malleable!" Her second skin flowed out and covered her arms, legs, and head. "Yep!" She loudly exclaimed. "I just needed full coverage! Malleable!" Her limb coverings retracted, while her... helmet?, hood? remained. It was impressive in how it had grabbed her hair and covered it as well. "Still active! Observe!" She paused for a moment. "Observe! Observe! Observe!" She turned her head with each shout, finally looking at me.

"Malleable." She said in a soft voice. The hood vanished as she ran over to the bed. The next moment I had the little girl tightly clinging to me. "I'm sorry Kevin." I could barely hear her muffled voice.

I hugged her and patted her back. "What brought this on?"

She lifted her head just enough to make eye contact. "I just realized that we killed your family and friends."

Oh. How could I respond to that?

She softly began to cry. "You still love me right? Despite what I did?"

I sat up, and lifted her small body onto my lap before hugging her again. "I forgave you a long time ago. After I Observed you." Which is what obviously brought this on. I wonder what my bio says. I could Observe myself... but I was afraid of what I might find out.

"Oh."

"Kinda hard to hold a grudge when you have someone else's life story laid out in front of you, huh?" Her head nodded against my chest. "So don't worry." I rubbed her back. "The only people to blame are me and Jack."

"You?"

I sighed. "Yeah, me. If I hadn't run my mouth off on PHO, you guys would never had come to my town."

"Yeah, but..."

"I'm just saying that there's plenty of blame to go around and that we can't change the past." She looked up at me and I patted her head. "And you're not going to do stuff like that anymore right?"

"I... No." She shook her head. "I don't think I could read about someone's past and then use them for parts."

Good. That's what I was hoping for when I included Observe. I reviewed my first unique summons.

Observe and Malleable were cheap and worth every point. Lucky Screen and Fate were necessary. Party was for emergency traceless communication (and for possibly helping her control her spiders better). I could've fit Gamer's Mind or Gamer's Body in instead, but after she calmed down, Riley decided against either of them. She'd lost her Stockholm Syndrome debuff, and she reasoned that Gamer's Mind caused a sort of stasis. She couldn't improve herself and fix her problems if my power was already doing it for her. I agreed.

No telling what sort of mess I'd be in if something could negate my Gamer's Mind.

We both had a ton of things to do, but instead we sat there for more than an hour in silence.

...

"Okay, time to get to work." I said and got a muffled reply in turn. "I'm pretty sure the Travelers are going to contact us soon about getting equipment."

"Oh?" Riley raised her head and looked around with bleary eyes.

"Yeah, I got a quest saying the Elite will provide the space and equipment, but we have to prove ourselves by performing a surgery of their choice."

Riley yawned and stretched her arms. "No problem! Leave it to me!" I think she'd fallen asleep. Well, in her defense, we did stay up late last night talking.

"Plus, I need to pay for another night. Or I guess a week, looks like we'll be staying here awhile."

"I'm hungry."

"Right. I don't have to eat, so that'd slipped my mind. How about we go and get brunch and then go shopping?"

"Shopping?" She turned and looked at me.

"Well, yeah. You need more dresses right?"

"You mean we get to go shopping?" Riley hopped to the floor and started pacing. "I've never gotten to go shopping in a big city before! Sure, we'd lay low in them from time to time, but there was always something to do. Making us look like other people so we could blend in, prepping scouting puppets, thinking of good tests... we didn't have much free time during a game." She threw her hands up in the air. "Sure, sometimes I'd get to loot a store or two, but that's not the same! Even when we actually went shopping it was in smaller towns. Less risk that way." She stopped and looked at me. "This means we can also go to Times Square and Central Park! I get to be a tourist! Oh, this is going to be FUN! We need to see a movie and a show on Broadway too! You said you had cash right?" I nodded. "Great! We should make a list of all the stuff we'll need. You can store food in your Inventory, so we can get a bunch of takeout for me to eat as well. I want Chinese food! And burgers! And pizza! You think we might run into some acceptable people to get parts from? If I'm going to do surgery it's a good idea to have some spare materials. Especially non-parahuman." She nodded to herself. "Don't want to tip our hand too soon. We can totally do the vigilante thing! It'll be easy to judge people with Observe!"

I cleared my throat. "Let's just go shopping for now. I have some prep work I want to do before we head out on the town." Not that I particularly objected to killing random people - if they were evil that is. Did that make me a bad person? I mean, it was better if someone like the Butcher would turn over a new leaf, but how likely was that? I'd made up my mind with him. I might not have the moral authority to judge people, and I definitely didn't have a legal one. What I did have was power and knowledge.

So what if Riley got some spare parts out of the deal?

...Ok, yeah. That's not a normal thought to have. Still doesn't make it false.

I also realize I'm being a massive hypocrite with the additional requirement I'd given the Travelers. 'Do as I say, not as I do.' In my defense, I didn't have an insanely powerful precog/telepath who'd Mastered me for some nefarious scheme. I figure anything I can do to disrupt their normal behavior is another potential stumbling block for the Simurgh.

Plus, it was a quest requirement.

Since 'Driven to Conflict' was Shard-based, would Riley not indulging herself have consequences? The vials proved that you could have powers without that mental effect, but surely the Shard itself still wanted conflict. I suspected my Shard was using quests to that effect, even if it was nice enough to not alter my thoughts. Possibly. She'll need subjects to examine to find out. Good thing New York was overflowing with parahumans.

I left a clone in the motel room just in case and we headed out - after paying to keep the room for a week. Riley grabbed my hand as we began to explore our surroundings. She was unusually quiet as we moved down the increasingly crowded street.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing." She replied. "I'm just blending in."

Ah. "Should we take a cab?" That's what people do in New York right? Or the subway, but I didn't trust that. Too many crazed gangs.

"Nah." She looked up at me and smiled. "This is fun!"

So we walked. And walked. I didn't tire easily, and Riley seemed full of energy.

Suddenly I stopped and pulled on Riley's hand. "C'mon we have to go back!"

"What?" She sounded confused.

I turned and began making my way back. "This is the edge." I whispered.

"The edge?"

"Of my..." I glanced around us, but there were too many people. I couldn't even whisper for fear of being found out. "I'll explain later." We walked for another minute before I relaxed. "Let's find a place to sit down and eat around here."

"Ok!"

We settled for a fast food place and sat in a booth. "I had two of my... friends drop off my contact list."

"What?"

"Two of the people in my group left."

"What?"

I leaned in and whispered. "Two of the summons I had surrounding our 'friends' vanished. I think I reached my range's limit."

"Oh." She rolls her eyes. "Why didn't you just SAY so?"

"People might be listening."

"Nobody is listening."

"Well, I think it's better to err on the side of caution. I have this one mission, which I need to talk to you about now that I think about it."

"Okay, what is it?"

"I can't mention the name, because that's part of the quest."

"Some sort of taboo thing?" Her eyes go wide. "How does that work?"

"No idea. Lucky Fate or Lucky Screen might provide protection, but I'd rather not risk it."

"Gotcha." She smiled. "So what do I need to do?"

"Just don't mention the Faction of anyone you Observe." I really should've brought this up before. "Or anything you read in their bio that starts with a 'C'."

Riley tilts her head. "This sounds serious."

I nod. "That's what the quest says. We can talk about it once we're the only ones in our Party again."

"Sounds good!" She begins to quickly consume her food. "I guess this means we can't go to Broadway." She pouts a little.

Oh, right. The range limitation. "After we're done with this. It will give us something to look forward to."

"Okay!" She begins to dig into her fries before stopping again. "That also means we can't go to Cornell."

"Ah, well, we'll just have to have our friends go and make the pickup." I shrug. "It's not a big deal. I'm sure they'll be in and out in half an hour."

Krouse ► Pixel, we've secured the operating theater.

Ah, perfect timing.

Pixel ► That was quick. Any issues?
Krouse ► The backer needs proof of Bit's competence first.
Pixel ► Indeed, what sort of proof?
Krouse ► A surgery.
Pixel ► Let me connect Bit to go over the details. They also have some additional materials you'll need to obtain. It shouldn't take you more than half a day to get them.

2 days later...

"What the hell is wrong with that bitch?!?" Perdition swore under his breath.

"I don't know. Still, this should be good cover for our job." Ballistic replied as another explosion went off in the background.

"Fuck that!" The angry boy grumbled. "Krouse sent us here on purpose. I bet he knew there'd be an insane bomber who'd hold the campus hostage and try and blow us up!"

"How could he possibly have known that? This is just bad luck."

1 day later...

I looked at my status screen. Teleportation had a lot of overlap with Transposition, but they were better together. One teleporting gnome could flank people and let me transpose something more dangerous like a Crone. The fight with the Travelers had been short, but I now had a new-found respect for Trickster's ability. He was a force multiplier. He kept his friends safe, and put them in position to do the most damage.

That wasn't the main reason though. The primary purpose in picking this precise Perk was Riley. Transposition only worked with me and my summons. I couldn't use it to subtly bring Riley out of the motel room. Worse, I couldn't use it get her to safety if something bad happened.

With that in mind, I decided to select it now before I needed it. That way I could grind it some.

As an added bonus, I seemed to be more resistant to teleportation effects. I also had a vague sense of the area immediately around me. I closed my eyes... nothing. It looked like I was limited to places I could see for now. At any rate, I hope this 6th sense will let me lower my resistance if I need to.

3 days later...

"So you can summon any type of animal right?" Riley asked. I was sitting on the bed, getting ready to resume my teleportation grinding. We had just gotten back after lunch.

I looked down at her. "I mean, I think so? I've made mice, rats, bats and gnomes. Oh and eyeballs."

"Eyeballs? You summoned eyeballs?"

"Sure."

Riley picked it up from on top of the bed. "Interesting. It feels wet, but there's no residue." She waved it around. "The pupil dilates with light." She put it on the floor and rolled it. The eyeball turned and glared at her after it stopped. "Some sort of movement... hmmm... I need to get my scalpel." She turned to move to the corner of the motel room that was now dubbed 'the spider's nest'. The small girl suddenly stopped. She slowly turned to me with her eyes wide.

"Can you summon anything you want?"

"Well, the bomb and camera I summoned didn't work."

"But this eyeball did. An animal that never existed..." She had a wide smile and a gleam in her eye that made me nervous.

"Riley?"

She pounced. The little girl leapt onto my bed and held her hands under her chin as she gazed up at me. "Can you try and make something for me? As an experiment?"

"Sure?"

"It's important!" She nodded and then clasped my hands between hers. "It's a very important test that has to be done so we can understand your powers!!"

"Okay... what do you want?"

"A unicorn pony!!!"

"A what?"

"A UNICORN PONY!!!"

"Okay, but why?"

"Because it's a creature that doesn't naturally exist! We need to test your limits!"

"But a pony.."

"A UNICORN pony."

"Riley, I'm not sure..."

"Kevin..." Those eyes. "Please?" Those eyes. "Pretty please??"

"Alright." I'm not sure why I ever tried to fool myself into thinking that I was the one in charge of making important decisions.

1 day later...

I sat in a full lotus position. I'm not sure if it actually gave me any benefits in regard to my meditation skill, but it didn't hurt. With a thought, I vanished and reappeared on the other bed.

"Yoga!" I couldn't help but yell. Now if I could only float, the illusion would be complete.

"Hn?" Riley didn't look up from the unicorn that she'd been dissecting.

Oh well, I can't be the center of her attention all the time. Ever since she figured out my summons were somehow based off of my Breaker state, she'd been focused on little else. The fact that they technically were 'alive' disturbed me. I mean, not ALIVE alive, but close enough to trigger Riley's power. I still hung to the belief that since I could Inventory them, they couldn't REALLY be alive.

In any case, the constant grinding of my most recent Perk was done. Not that I didn't want to see what a level 4 or 5 teleportation power would do, but I was pretty sure it would take too long to be of immediate benefit. It took ten times as many uses to go from 2 to 3 as it had to go from 1 to 2. If that rate kept up, it would take me more than a month and a half of doing little else for the next increase. More than a year for the final one, if level 5 was indeed the max.

I focused on my mini-map. "I think I can now teleport to wherever one of my party members is."

"Uh huh."

I gave the unicorn pieces a dirty look. Eh, I guess I should focus on something else. I reviewed my status screen. Lucky Fate and Lucky Screen were the only Perks I still had at level 1. Not sure how'd I'd even increase those by grinding, if they could be leveled at all. Since I could grant Rapid Regeneration to people, I suppose I could just show up at a hospital or something to grind that one. That might get people asking me questions, so no thanks.

Inventory, Party System, and Transposition could also be leveled somehow in theory. Except I'd yet to increase a Trait via actions. Not sure if they worked the same way as Perks. Probably not, with all the use Inventory and Transposition got, I would've seen any increase by now.

My physical stats were an option, but not in a motel room. Same for most of my skills. The ones that I could grind inside didn't really interest me. Basic Academics? Cooking? I suppose with enough time and effort I could get something useful out of them like the ability to hack a computer...

I let out a sigh. Guess it's back to teleporting until Riley isn't busy...

The next day...

"Yes sir, the patient is ready." Eva Annalise listened to her boss's reply. "Yes, understood sir." She pressed a button on her phone and ended the call before walking through the newly constructed operating room. It was a bit of a rush job, but should fit their purpose.

A light blinked on her HUD. 50% power. With a practiced hand, she pulled the main cable from her back and attached it to the wall mount. 51%, 52%, her capacitor eagerly drunk in the power. Installing generators was one of her specialties and was always the first step in any new project. The odds of this panning out weren't great, but it was worth the shot. If she pulled it off, then her position as heir would be secure.

With her immediate needs taken care of, Eva moved around the room. Table, check. Tools, check. Emergency blood supply, check. Down the list she went, every item was accounted for. The stage was set, and the Travelers' claims would be put to the test. Either their trespass would be forgiven or they would be held accountable. If they did have access to a parahuman that was capable of fulfilling their promises, it would be worth every cent.

Satisfied, she accessed her phone through her HUD. It rung once before being picked up. "Hello?" The voice on the other end answered.

"We're ready. The patient will be here in less than an hour."

Trickster replied. "I'll contact Bit."

"See that you do. We don't have much time, her condition is failing."

"Understood Superior. We'll be there."

"Good." She hung up. New York had ample hospitals. Getting mundane equipment was no great effort. The delay was in obtaining a building so close to the airport. It was an odd demand that the mercenaries made, and she worried about a double-cross.

Were they playing a long con? How much did they know about the Elite's situation? The timing was a bit too good to be true. Her troops would turn the building into a virtual fortress, but there were only so many precautions they could take.

Still, it was an opportunity they couldn't afford to dismiss.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Ready!" Riley chirped.

Her new costume was pretty cool I thought. A bit stereotypically girlish, but that's what she enjoyed. I'd briefly considered granting her Gamer's Mind for this. It helped her sleep at night, and suppressed her cute fixation. It felt wrong though. Riley was Riley. Gamer's Mind was a crutch. Helpful to get you around when you were injured, but something you'd be better off of in the long run. Well, for other people. Another do as I say, not as I do. Using it to manipulate her into choosing something less eye-catching would be a violation.

So she was sporting an outfit based off of Mega Man's Roll. Pink and white, with a large heart over her chest. No abilities, since they wouldn't work with her Zero Suit. Thus all the points went into stats. I'm pretty sure it'd be able to stand up to nearly anything. Not that impregnable armor was the solution to everything, but it was a start.

I decided to go big. When you thought of power armor, there were a lot of options, but only one King. Or Queen as it were. My orange and yellow armor with a red helmet and chest would probably get me sued. No way I could do such blatant copyright infringement if I was in the Protectorate.

I wasn't, so I was free to look like Samus Aran if I wanted to. Look being the operative word. Like Riley's outfit, it was all one flexible piece. I'd tried to make it real armor, with inflexible plates and joints. It'd been an abject failure. Joints were hard.

Eh, whatever. It looked the same to everyone else, and I was plenty tough on my own.

I have my clone dressed up like Tex, except I summoned him with clothes. That gives it the same distinctive look as the rest of us.

Pixel ► We're ready. Let us know when you're at the site and we'll teleport to your position.
Krouse ► I feel like I should make a comment about how unfair your tech is.
Noelle ► It's not unfair if he's helping us. I mean, if Pixel wasn't so powerful we wouldn't have this chance.
Krouse ► I know, I just kinda wish one of us had been a Tinker.
Noelle ► Quit whining and get to work! (Grinning Face )

Since Krouse was in my Party, I could see him on the mini-map. Even without a cone of vision, it was enough for my new Teleportation Perk. Pixel summons might be distinctive, but they did a great job of mimicking Tinkertech.

Krouse ► We're here.

I put one hand on Riley's shoulder and the other on my clone's. The next second we were in front of an old looking building. Trickster and a tall brown-haired woman jerked back. I didn't recognize her, but a quick Observe cleared things up. It was one of Genesis' projections. Just made to blend in.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Ready." Krouse and Jess nodded and then stepped up to the doors. A pair of cybernetically enhanced guards greeted us. I Observed them. Members of Elite. Enhanced by someone named 'Superior'. Nothing in their bio mentioned belonging to a roving subway biker gangs. Were there multiple cyber-punk groups in New York?

We were escorted to the 2nd floor conference room. It was spacious and had a glass window that looked out into an operating room. "Greetings." A female voice came from a person that was just as well armored as I was. "Pixel, Bit and Tex I presume? My name is Superior. The Elite apologize for this little test, but we need to make sure of your skills." I Observed her.

Another Cauldron-cape. Looks like the Elite are another of their... subordinates? Partners? Puppets?

I nodded my head. "Of course. Asking for such a facility to be built is no small undertaking. Unfortunately the patient cannot be easily moved, so we have little choice."

Riley spoke up. "So what do you want me to do?"

Superior motioned to the operating room. "We are going to have an older female patient. She will arrive in the next 15 minutes. She has a brain tumor the size of a baseball. Completely inoperable by traditional surgery. We are hoping that you will be able to accomplish what no other parahuman we've contacted before can do."

"No problem!" Riley's voice was lower-pitched. Still female, but older sounding. "I'm guessing it's a malignant meningioma? Type 3?"

Superior paused. "Yes. How did you know?"

Riley motioned with her hand. "An easily placed tumor wouldn't be a good test. If it's gotten to that size, then it must be abnormal. Only type 3 or type 4 fit those requirements, and type 3s are more common."

"I see that you have an actual medical background."

I butt in. "Bit's skill will soon be proven. Have no doubt." I turned to Riley. "Do you want to look over the tools that they have provided."

She looked up at me. "Sure! It's not everyday I get to do brain surgery!" She then skipped out of the room.

I somehow kept myself from facepalming.

"She sounds awfully blasé."

I didn't respond. Riley would prove herself soon enough. Krouse's hands clenched. He seemed nervous, but I wasn't getting any notifications. Did they have a threshold? Was he nervous, but not enough for my new charisma or title to pick up?

Ah. Well, at least no one was trying to make small talk. Instead we all watched Riley as Bit. She took a look around the operating room, throwing doors open and scanning their contents. After a few tense moments, there was a 'ding'. An elevator in the corner opened up, and three nurses wheeled in a woman on a gurney. I Observed her. Her bio was sparse. She wasn't a parahuman, and my Shard didn't seem to go as deeply into their past.

Mother of 3. 57 years old. Critical condition.

Riley became a blur. She picked up a bonesaw, and deftly removed the top of the woman's skull. The nurses yelled, and one of them moved to do something before Superior shouted to them over the intercom. Less than a minute later...

"All done!"

"WHAT?!?!" "What!?!?" Superior and Trickster both exclaimed.

"I told you Bit is the single most skilled healer in the world. As you can see, her talents even surpass Panacea." I wasn't even lying. If Riley actually wanted to heal someone, I doubted anything would stop her.

She came back into the conference room. "She should be up and on her feet in a few hours. It will take a little bit for her brain to get used to processing things the way it used to."

I couldn't see Superior's or Krouse's expressions, but Jess and the guards all had open mouths.

"Now, shall we discuss the next operation?"

"Yes, yes, of course." Superior straightened. "We will provide you the facilities in question after you perform one more surgery similar to what you just did."

"How similar?" I asked as I put a hand on Riley's shoulder.

"A brain tumor. Same type and size. Different location. Pre-existing embedded Tinkertech keeping it at bay."

I felt Riley perk up under me. "I'd need more time for something like that. Several hours to examine the subject's brain in depth." Examining more parahuman brains could only help us.

I guess my brain didn't count for any of those, unless she needed to examine it without my breaker state active.

Superior nodded. "That can be arranged. What resources will you need?"

Riley shrugged. "The list I gave the Travelers will be enough."

"Can't you do it before then?"

My little terror crossed her arms. "Oh, I could. But won't it be better incentive for you to get things up and running quicker?"

The Elite member nodded. "Yes, we can get the facility completed quickly, but surely you can use the non-reinforced operating room? That will be done first."

Bit shook her head. "Nope! We can't leave while all this is going on. So I want you to get everything ready first. Otherwise you might drag your feet on the last part." I guess she really wanted to go downtown. Even though I had no part in Riley's negotiation skills, I was still proud of her.

"Surely..."

I held up a hand. "That's enough. Bit is very temperamental. I would not recommend pushing her on this." Superior's posture relaxed. "We will now take our leave. Please keep Trickster updated on the progress you're making."

I then teleported Riley, my clone, and myself back to our motel room. Always leave them wanting more. I think I learned that from a sitcom.

Author's Note: Credit to Waspy for suggesting the Unicorn Pony.

Chapter Text

Riley stretched and then started taking off her armor. She thought it was so cute! She should get a dress that matched it. Halfway through, it vanished. She giggled. Right, no need to bother taking it off by hand. Still, that left her in a shirt and pants that were decidedly un-cute. "Be right back!" She went to the restroom and slipped into her new blue dress. It had lace on the edges and a cute little duck pattern along the bottom!

Kevin was sitting on one of the beds when she was done. His armor and clone had vanished. She should ask him to summon another clone. She needed to compare its brain with his and the normal woman's. Using a bonesaw again had felt so good! Kevin's knife was nice and all, but it was hard to tell where the exact cutting edge was. Nothing she couldn't account for, but she'd enjoyed going back to the basics.

"I got a quest involving you."

"Really?" She did a cute hop. Little old her? "What is it?"

"I'm supposed to help you examine different brains. Five each of natural triggers, vial triggers, and Simurgh victims." He rubbed his chin. "Apparently I don't count, since the value of all of them is zero."

"Hmmm..." She flopped down next to him, making sure her cute little fang was on the outside of her lip. After an appropriate moment of thought, she responded. "Sounds like a good idea to me! It's great that your power is now including me! I can help you earn experience right?"

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, it worth ten thousand. Plus it has a mystery reward."

She stiffened. "A mystery award? Like the kind you get new Perks from?"

"Sometimes." He rubbed her head and Riley melted. It was soooooo good to get a head pat! "I've gotten lots of good rewards that way, but once or twice it wasn't anything. I'm not sure how my power judges these things."

What? Oh, he'd stopped rubbing her head. Right, the brains. "Well, we would ideally need to look at all types. The Travelers should let us do it, besides I'll need to examine their brains anyways. I wonder if they'll count as both vials and Simurgh victims?"

"It might be neither. You'd do better to compare vial versus natural and Simurgh versus regular, right?"

She nodded. Her big brother was so smart! "Right! It would be best to dissect..." He glanced at her. "I mean, examine some regular Simurgh victims. The fresher the better!"

"Yeah, that's going to be hard. Madison is quarantined. Getting in there is going to be difficult." He let out a sigh. "And the vial capes too."

"Huh? What's hard about finding those? We have Observe, it makes is super easy!"

"I'm not opposed to taking out gang members." He looked at her. "You can do this without killing them right?"

Was he doubting her? Time for a good pout! "Of course I can! I mean, a little biopsy here or there, but they won't notice a thing! I swear!"

He nodded and looked away. "Yeah, I knew you'd be able to do something as easy as that. I mean, you did it to me."

Riley smiled. Kevin trusted her! Jack was the only other person who'd volunteered for brain surgery... but she didn't want to think about that. It wasn't trust if she was under his control. She shook her head. She REALLY didn't want to think about that. "I can knock them out no problem. They'd wake up feeling better than ever!"

Kevin frowned. "I'm just worried that we won't find that many vial capes among the gangs. Since their Shard's influence is dulled..."

Riley slammed her fist into her palm. "Right! The Wards! We can Observe them on patrol and then ambush them at home! Simple!"

Kevin shook his head. "No. We're not going to assault heroes. We're not going to assault most villains, just those that are deserving."

"But it won't hurt them!"

He rubbed her head again. "I know Riley. They wouldn't be in any real risk, but it's still an invasion of privacy. What if I decided that you'd be better off with Gamer's Mind on all the time? Doing that without your approval is wrong." He brought his hands to his lap. "It's a so-called victimless crime, but there'd still be one victim." He looked right at her.

Oh! He meant her! Riley could feel her cheeks start to flush again. Her big brother was looking out for her! Quick! Time to gloss over it. Being rosy-cheeked and stuttering was the wrong kind of cute. "Yeah! But you'd never do that!" She shook her head. Kevin had asked her! They'd discussed it both in and out of that state.

He smiled down at her. "Exactly. That's why we're not going to take advantage of people unless they deserve it." He sighed. "I wonder if we could get volunteers somehow? That would be the best outcome."

"If they knew what this was for, I'm sure they'd volunteer on their own. They're heroes right?"

Kevin shook his head. "We have time. We're not headed to Madison in the near future, so this can wait."

Riley decided he needed a hug. "Sure thing big bro!"

"Are you sure about this?" Marissa asks me.

"Yessim. Mr Pixel said these new duds of mine should hold up to quite bit of punishment." I turned to Perdition. "Though I appreciate the backup, friend. I'm willing to regrow an arm, but I'd prefer it if you'd revert me once that happens."

Cody nods. "Sure thing."

Mars concentrates. "I'm going to make the smallest sun I can. If I keep it close to me, then it won't burn down the warehouse."

"Which is a good thing." Perdition chimes in. "We'd have to answer a lot of questions, especially since we only rented it for the day."

"You ready?" The girl asks.

I nod. "As I'll ever be. I'll start nice and slow, but I think our reckoning on that part might differ a mite."

She gives a little laugh. "Probably." The flames in her hands coalesce into a blazing ball that's two feet in diameter and hard to look at.

I stare at it anyways.

The ball remains just as bright, but the rest of the room is no longer quite as dark. I guess I should've spent more time staring at the sun. Live and learn. I reach out with my left hand.

Fuckin' A!!! That had to be doing more than 12,000 points of damage in order to still do that much through my current resistance! Fuck, why couldn't I have picked up her power as a Perk option?

I step back. My glove is ash, and my hit points need some time to recover. I summon a new glove with my newly increased resistance.

"Everything good?" She asks.

I smile and nod. "Everything's great! I can feel myself getting stronger already!" I wriggle my fingers. "Stings a little though." I catch her smirk. "I reckon I'd be toast if you'd decided to not give me time to adapt."

She looks to the side and blushes. "Well, I don't like hurting people."

"Yeah, it's a good thing we didn't go all in on Krouse's stupid plan." Cody chimes in. "I swear, if you weren't such a nice guy..."

I chuckle. "Yeah, it seemed like a bit of an overreaction to me." I stretch out my hand. "Let's continue."

...

Several hours later, I had a my Damage Resistance (Heat) all the way up to 100%. I don't think I'd manage to get it that high without someone as powerful as Sundancer helping me. The limiting factor was how quickly I could recover my HP, and Rapid Regeneration kept my downtime to a minimum. The +5 Con was a nice bonus.

I'd also picked up a host of exotic resistances once heat was maxed out and I could touch the sun directly. Magnetism, radiation, and gravity. With that last one, I could now precisely feel Earth's constant pull - and ignore it if I desired. I couldn't actually direct myself, so it was more like floating.

Scratch that. Floating implies that I hover gracefully in the air. While lessening gravity's hold on me did make me feel lighter and jump higher, it also threw me all over the place. Above a certain percentage, it felt like gravity wasn't negated but redirected. Scarily, it seemed to amp up at a ridiculous rate. We found that out when I slammed into the warehouse's wall at what felt like 100 mph.

With too little gravity, I plummeted to the West. Must be due to the Earth's rotation. Might make for a rapid getaway, but I already had Teleport for that. Still, it made Silica Control look nicer. Any kind of material control and I'd have flight! It would be easier to move my body if it weighted half as much.

Unfortunately, Resistance (Temporal) didn't level nearly as much. Once it gained a few levels, it was very noticeable that I was going back in time less and less. Still, I couldn't complain.

Krouse ► The operating room is finished.
Pixel ► So soon?
Krouse ► Apparently. They want to schedule the surgery for tomorrow.

Pixel ► Bit, the Elite say that they've finished construction. They wish to have the surgery performed tomorrow.

Riley looked over at me. "We should check out the location first. Make sure everything's up to spec."

I waved my hand at her, and she just looked confused. "Use the Party chat."

"Why? We're right here."

"I want to keep the Travelers in the loop about this. Plus, they're our go-between, so they need to know to tell Superior."

"Fiiiiine." She rolled her eyes.

Bit ► We need access to the site to confirm that everything has been set up properly.
Krouse ► When?
Pixel ► Right now. Bit, Tex and I will teleport there directly.
Krouse ► Wait! Let me call them first.
Pixel ► Very well.

"So, what do you want for dinner?"

"I'm good with whatever you still have in your Inventory."

"I was thinking of going out and buying a hot plate and cooking a little something."

Riley perked up. "That sounds good! We can have a fresh salad and some soup or something."

"Sure!" I didn't know how to make soup, but it can't be that hard right?

Krouse ► They're expecting you.
Pixel ► Excellent.

"Ready?"

"Let me change first. I don't want my dress to get wrinkled."

"Ok." I summoned my Tex-clone while Riley got into her 'work' clothes. My power-armor still wasn't anything more than flexible cosplay. I made a mental note to get a burner phone and stop by JFK to research armor on the internet.

Riley came out of the bathroom, and I summoned her outfit around her. She took my hand, while I put the other one on my clone's shoulder. The next second, we were in front of the building. Boo kept watch from the alley across the street for this exact scenario.

The door opened and a heavily armored figure stepped out. The armor was a dull gray and looked hard to move around in. It was composed of numerous thick metal plates that were layered on one another. A large maul was strapped across his back. I Observed him.

He took his helmet off, to reveal a strong jaw and blond hair. He wore a simple domino mask underneath. "Pixel." He shook my hand. "Bit, and Tex I presume?" Fred shook each of their hands in turn. "You can call me Impetus. Trickster said you'd be arriving."

"And you're here to greet us."

He nodded. "That's right. I figured you'd want to go over the room and equipment before anything else, so I decided to be on hand to answer any questions you had." He held the door open and stepped to the side. "Shall we?" We entered and he moved to the front to lead us. We took the same route as last time. "If you don't mind me asking, are you planning on staying in the city long?"

"Why do you ask?"

He hummed. "Call it pursuing an opportunity. After reading Superior's report, I did some research." He glanced at me. "Your technology is quite distinctive, but I couldn't find any mention of you." He motioned to Tex. "One of your group is a new cape, or at least new to the city." He gave Riley a smile. "Your other member is too talented for that to be the case. A medical Thinker? No, no, sorry, it's rude of me to speculate." He held up a placating hand. "You must be even more experienced based on your tech. New Tinkers aren't that well equipped. So I surmised that you prefer to keep a low profile, but something forced your hand recently. Am I right?"

"You could say that." I didn't want to give him any more information. His power might let him connect some dots that I'd preferred stayed far apart.

"Your actions so far have been altruistic, which I appreciate. So, I was hoping to extend an offer to you."

"Oh?" We had reached the elevator, and the four of us got on.

"I don't know what you've heard about the Elite. Each cell follows its own rules, and quite frankly, some of them are scum. Uppercrust's is different." The doors opened and we moved to the same conference room. "We don't fight with the heroes. We don't commit crimes. We have contacts with local gangs, but we act as a counter to the Protectorate. There will always be crime. There will always be new capes that have had a shit life and need to lash out. We do what we have to in order for things to not get too bad."

"I'm going to go check the rooms." Riley gave us a wave as she walked off.

"I'll keep Bit company." I had my clone say before ordering him to follow her.

"I sense an offer." I said to Impetus.

"That's right." He sat down, and placed his helmet on the table in front of him. I mirrored him and sat in the opposite chair, except I kept my helmet on. "We have numerous contacts all over the state. We are perfectly aligned to give aid to Thinkers and Tinkers. Even if you don't join us, we can help you help others." He flashed a winning smile.

"So you're offering your help? Without knowing what troubles it might lead to your door?"

He gave a short laugh. "Taking risks on parahumans is one of the founding ideals of the Elite. Other cells go about things differently, but we all try to take over the 'underworld' in our areas. Organized crime is better than open warfare." He shook his head. "At least that's OUR motto. Other cells are outright villains."

"I see."

"The surgery we're asking of you is important to us. If you pull it off, you can get in at the top floor. Uppercrust won't sponsor you directly, but one of his sponsors would."

"And that would be you?"

He shook his head. "I am one of his sponsors, but I'm willing to back you regardless of how the operation goes or if you refuse. The Travelers are obviously in a bad spot, and you're helping them. You're the exact type of person I want in our cell."

I checked 'Meet the Elite', one of its ??? had been replaced with 'Full Speed Ahead'.

"Can I think about this?"

Fred smiled. "Of course. Take all the time you want, and don't be afraid to reject me either. It's more important for us to stay on good terms than anything else." For some reason, I believed him. He seemed like an idealist, but that wasn't a bad thing.

We sat in silence for few minutes before Riley came back. "Everything looks good, K-Pixel. I'd need some prep time for the other procedure, but I can do the brain surgery at any time."

"Excellent!" Impetus stood up. "What time would suit you best? I'm assuming the patient will need to fast beforehand."

Bit shook her head. "Let's say, 8 am. No need for fasting, or any other prep. I'm going to have to look at things with my own eyes anyways so x-rays and stuff would be pointless."

A huge grin spread across Fred's face. "Wonderful! We'll have the patient ready and waiting!"

I stood up and put a hand on Riley and my clone's shoulder. "Until then." We then teleported back to the motel room.

...

Riley spent the night playing with the various... things, that the Travelers had procured from Cornell. With any luck that crazy bomber lady they talked about blew the lab up behind them. I came up with a brilliant training strategy. The summons I left outside were consuming about half of my total MP regen. My clone and the armor Riley and I wore pushed it over the top. Thankfully, moving mediation was able to overcome that limitation.

Still, I was getting Power Drain experience from the Gnome Crone, so I should be able to double up on that. I managed to get 10 gnomes up and running at the same time. It took me focusing on meditating while I was summoning them, but it worked. Even with that boost, my MP total was gradually falling. Going into a full meditative trance would fix that. I had the crones drain the other gnomes I'd made, and then focused on everything and nothing.

Too bad these crones didn't pay for themselves, since their drain ultimately came from my own MP stores. At six times the normal gain, I was hoping to reach level 4 in a week. Riley woke me up when she was ready for bed. I canceled payment to the gnomes and made up a story for her while granting her Gamer's Mind.

Keeping her from having nightmares reduced the Power Drain leveling speed, but it was worth it.

...

The next morning, we appeared in front of the building at exactly 8 o'clock. I was dressed as Tex, with summoned clothes, while my clone posed as Pixel. If anything went down, Pixel could 'escape' and let Tex handle it. Riley also had a new addition. She'd upgraded a spider to be more of a round ball with two feet (and 6 hidden arms). I'd then summoned a Met skin over it. It seemed fitting, given Bit's inspiration.

Not like Nintendo could sue.

As we walked in, the little 'robot' waddled behind us. Riley's hand gripped my clone's tighter and tighter. She was obviously having a hard time containing herself. I mean, the thing was undeniably cute. Big round eyes under a yellow helmet with two large feet. When we stopped, it obediently hunkered down, so that it looked like a yellow speed bump - with a black stripe and a green cross.

Riley had decided to perform the surgery without Gamer's Mind. Her reasoning was that she needed the practice in identifying what impulses weren't her own. I loved her cute act, so I didn't mind as much. I still worried though. It was a symptom of a greater mental issue. Note to self: try to get a psychology skill.

Superior greeted us at the entrance, and we were escorted to the conference room again. This time the number of guards had doubled. There were numerous giants that all had a 'Made Man' debuff on them. From their bios, I reasoned the Elite had a power granter. In the operating room, Impetus stood next to an older gentleman. I Observed him.

Of course. It made sense. The reason why everything had been set up so quickly. Why the Elite had tested us and then readily accepted Riley's demands. It was all at the behest of this person. Thomas Temple ran the Elite in this city. This might be the perfect opportunity to benefit from Legend's protection while staying out of his reach. I'd need to consider their offer carefully.

In the meantime, Riley had entered the operating room. She held the Met up and a puff of smoke blew over Uppermost's face. His eyes sagged, and Bit began to operate. I had my decoy sit down while Superior made small talk. I relaxed a bit, as I was now certain they wouldn't betray us during the operation.

Well, unless one of them was going to try a power play. I doubted Impetus or Superior would from what I'd read of their bios, but their gang had to have a lot more members.

It was awe-inspiring watching Riley work. I had no idea how she managed to cut him so that the rest of his head peeled away from his brain... but she did. She then began to tease his brain apart bit by bit. Long thin appendages came out of the Met and helped her pull him apart. Somehow, the various monitors they had in place showed his body continued with minimal issues. Heart rate, blood pressure, temperature - they all stayed consistent. In the end, his brain was larger than his head had been. I swore it looked like a grizzly explosion done in slow motion.

Hours passed as she peered at each and every wrinkle. Some she made small precise cuts to. Some she burned with a laser. Some she applied a green gel to. After a nearly unbearable amount of slow, methodical progress, she uncovered a silver orb. Or at least what looked to have been an orb at some point in the past. It now resembled a foil-wrapped potato more than anything else. She snipped at one of the strands the connected to it, and then another. A small application of her green gel and the two strands came together. Riley repeated this process over and over until the silver object slid out with no resistance.

Thomas' head was re-assembled in less than 5 minutes.

Hmmm... no bonus reward. I don't understand the logic. I doubt anyone could have done a better job than Riley.

10 minutes after that, he was awake and talking. Everyone in the conference room was speechless. I knew that Riley was skilled in an abstract manner, but even the last surgery hadn't prepared me for this. A brain pulled apart like a plate of spaghetti... I mean... seeing it with my own eyes... just... HOW?

Man, I'm glad she's on my side.

Chapter Text

I guess it was an odd sight to see someone who'd literally had their head spread open over the last hour up and talking. Thomas Temple was shaking hands with them with a large smile on his face. Riley had followed him into the conference room. He turned to her and bowed his head. "You have my profound thanks. I feel better than I have in decades!" He shook his head. "I can hardly believe it worked. How is a surgeon of such talent not known the world over?"

She is, but we can't tell him that. I have my Pixel-clone answer. "It is my desire to stay unknown. Thus, we hide from the world."

"But why?"

"Sphere."

A moment later, he nods his head. "Of course. To advertise yourselves would invite tragedy."

My clone nodded. "Not just for us, but for countless innocents as well. You see why we must insist that all records of this must be destroyed and no mention of us ever occur in the future."

"Of course." He walked over to my clone and held out his hand. "You have my word."

My clone stood and shook his hand. "Then that will suffice. We plan on revealing ourselves to the world in short order, but until then we appreciate your discretion" I'd prefer to keep my head down if I was honest, but I had to wonder how many Noelles were out there. If we pulled this off, if we prevented what would surely have been a calamity... I think there's a quote from someone I can't remember about 'All evil takes to prevail is good men doing nothing'. I'd like to consider myself a good person, even if I'm not.

Uppercrust motioned around him. "This building is yours. We will pay any associated fees and maintain it at no cost. If you wish for guards, we will provide those as well. If you want no part, we will leave the building as is. No one will enter as long as I live."

Not a bad hideout. I'd have to think on it. "Guards won't be necessary." What about the tinkertech? I didn't know much. My understanding was that it required regular maintenance to continue to work. Since Pixel was supposed to be a Tinker, he would be able to do his own repairs. "Neither will repairs."

"Understood. In that case, I shall say our business is concluded. A good day to you sir." He bowed to me, and the turned and did the same to Riley. "And to you as well, madam." He motioned to his guards. "We will take our leave now."

Impetus patted my clone on the shoulder as he left. "Take care."

Superior was the last one out. She stopped and handed my clone an envelope. "If you need supplies of any sort, let me know."

Ah. I'd had thought it odd that they would be so willing to let an unaffiliated group such as us to go. Uppercrust might feel indebted to us - and properly wary - but it didn't seem in his nature to let an opportunity pass. I wondered if the soft sell would be the end of it.

Though, to be honest, I was giving it some though. Jack might come one day. If he did, I'd need as many allies as possible. The Elite could also help me complete a number of my ongoing quests. I'd have to talk it over with Riley. She was the one with a power that could actually be used to make money. My 'Tinkertech' couldn't exist more than a couple of miles from me and vanished without a constant MP stream.

Not that those limitations could prevent me from making money. Some 'legitimate' funds would be useful. I just wished I knew... ANYTHING about buying property or paying for, I dunno, electricity? Taxes? Water? Pest control?

"Excuse me." A short man flanked by four of those 9 foot tall mass of muscles entered the room. He wore a pinstripe suit with a hat and domino mask. "My name's Maker, and I have a proposition for youse." He sounded like a character from an old gangster movie. I Observed him.

I had my clone turn away from him, while I stepped forward. "Lookie here pard. Your boss just said that we'd be left alone."

"Easy, easy." He holds his hands up. "We were about to leave, but I gots ta thinkin."

"Oh?" I pulled up my 8-bit bandanna. "That a fact?" I didn't like what I'd read in his bio. I had more important things to do. Giving him the cold shoulder might cause some issues, but we'd just saved his boss's life - that should give me some room to flex. The idea of being FORCED to do anything under threat of violence brought back memories of Jack. Like hell I was going to have that happen again.

"Yeah." His hands gripped the inner sides of his jacket. Gold rings sparkled on his fingers. "I think we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. You see, I'm Uppermost's second in command. The old man ain't got long for this world, even if you fixed him up. Soon the city will be ours, and I'm offering you a position on the ground floor." He gave me a smile. "All of you can be modern-day kings, if you get my meaning."

"Tex." I have my clone say. "Rough them up."

"With pleasure Mr. Pixel." I respond and summon gauntlets on my hands.

They're heavy, but I can manage it. I equip my 'Mugger' title, and stare them down.

"Whoa, whoa." He holds his hands up. "No need for that. I can see you're not interested." He slowly backs away, with his goons protectively surrounding him.

Yeah. I don't feel bad about losing that quest. If I do join the Elite, it won't be under mister wanna-be gangster. Although, he might be the last thing close to an old mob boss from what I read in his bio. I let out a chuckle. I could probably get on Hatchet Face's good side if I dropped him in a room with those 'Made Man' choads.

It's also a good thing it didn't come to a fight. I don't know how I'd match up to them in either strength or speed. While I was once again confident in my defenses, it'd be a bad thing to wreck up the joint. Speaking of which, it was also a bad idea to provoke them... probably. Maker might try to make trouble for me in the future.

Still, I kinda wanted to get some more practice fighting. The Butcher showed me just how weak I was in that regard.

Oh well.

Pixel ► Krouse, Noelle. The surgery was a success. I suggest that we perform Noelle's as soon as possible.
Krouse ► So soon?
Pixel ► Trust me. It's bad to let these sort of things simmer. Let's do it tonight, so it will be easier to get her here un-noticed.
Krouse ► We can do that.
Noelle ► Pixel, I just want to say... Thank you.
Noelle ► Even if this doesn't work, I'm grateful.
Bit ► Please. There's nothing to worry about.

Not the most sturdy structure in the world. Stronger than cardboard, but weaker than wood. Still, it's pretty light for its size, which is a good thing. I looked at the last section of wall that I'd summoned onto the braces we had included in our requirements. That was it. With the floor, ceiling and walls covered, this operating room was as Simurgh-proof as I could make it.

I turned and headed to the secondary operating room. I needed to cover both it and the conference room on the 1st floor. We wouldn't be using the one that overlooked the main operating room. For one, it would be best to keep potential clone fodder away from Noelle. For two, the window was now blocked with summoned walls, so it wasn't all that useful of a place to be anyways.

Riley's control room was also on the 1st floor. Her spiders had all been converted to Mets and would assist the robotic arms that were installed. As it turned out, her Party existed separate from mine, and it gave her the ability to command her creatures better. I wasn't sure how, but then again I didn't know how she commanded them in the first place.

We'd decided that my Pixel clone would stay with the Travelers. To keep an eye on them, provide some reassurance, and to be a convenient target if they decided to attack again for some reason. I got the feeling that Riley wouldn't be able to undo the Simurgh's damage until after the 'Defusing' quest was complete. Until then, I'd settle for making Noelle a bit less dangerous.

Riley ► I got all my supplies ready to go. I even made a gas to keep the rest of them under control in case they decide to attack you again!!! (Smiling Face With Open Mouth And Tightly-Closed Eyes )
Kevin ► That's great. I wonder if we could fill my clone with it.
Riley ► !
Riley ► Yes!
Riley ► It doesn't need to breathe right? So its lungs make the perfect bladders to hold any sort of surprises!
Riley ► Of course it still needs them to speak, so only one lung then? A simple mucous membrane would be able to keep the gas from leaking out.
Riley ► Or we could do without the mucous and have a Kevin that has poison breath!
Riley ► Or fire breath! I could add in some white phosphorous with a few tweaks! I'm sure your clone could handle it!!
Riley ► Why didn't you think of this before? They're supposed to arrive any second now!
Kevin ► Riley, it's fine. The stuff you put in the air vents will work even better.

Riley ► If you say so...

The other benefit of Riley's party was that we could once again communicate without anyone else being the wiser. Her party vanished when she lost the ability from morphing her suit. Not much of a downside, but she did have to keep on inviting me to join.

I looked at the clock on the wall. They were due to arrive soon. It's too bad the burner phone I'd picked up didn't get a signal in my Inventory. It also didn't keep time correctly either. I could probably buy a tinkertech inspired phone that would update its clock from solar rays or something, but that seemed excessive.

My mini-map shows a new icon. The eyeballs I left outside have picked up the Travelers. Good. Let's get this party started.

Huh. There's a few icons that have been there since this afternoon. I'll need to keep an eye on them.

Mikey glanced over at Mic, nudged him, and pointed. "There. That van."

Mic nodded. "Yeah, I see it." The Made Man stretched his neck from side to side. "That's exactly the thing the Boss wanted us to make a note of." He pulled out pad of paper that looked comically small in his hands. "7:24. White van enters through the back."

"You think we should do something about it?" Mikey asked.

"Not without the Boss's say-so."

"He did tell us to stay on our toes."

"True." Mic shrugged. "We'll see. We still have standing orders to make sure everything stays on the down-low. So if they start something we'll have to step in."

Mikey nodded and went back to scanning the street.

Krouse paced back and forth nervously.

Bit ► I'm injecting the parasites...now.
Pixel ► Good.

The leader of their benefactors sat at the head of the table, calmly looking at one of the multiple monitors in the room. Krouse was pretty sure this 'Pixel' was another of the cape's minions. He'd noticed that each and every one of them had an... idle animation. The Samus Aran avatar was no different. He couldn't exactly call the cape out though. He was doing them a huge favor. Not wanting to be around Noelle was... smart.

Besides, he thought, Pixel might not HAVE an actual body. For all he knew the cape's odd looking minions were his only physical presence.

Bit ► The parasites are active. Injecting sedative.

Noelle's form slumped down on the large incline generously called a bed. On a smaller monitor, Oliver also fell asleep. In the main operating room, robotic arms descended from the ceiling and lifted Noelle up. Another pair of arms moved closer to her torso and began to delicately cut away - bit by bit. The scalpel glowed green, and didn't seem to actually do anything. However, after it passed, the small helmeted creatures extended long thin arms. The assistants either helped pull flesh aside, or used various tools on the parts that had already been separated.

It was odd. He couldn't see the cuts, but ever so gradually - Noelle was being sliced in half. Time stretched on as she was slowly pulled away from her lower growth. Surprisingly, she stayed that way. When she'd been injured in the past, her body always reformed with a startling amount of speed. Now she was half separated, and showed no indication that she'd reform.

He didn't want Noelle to have to live without legs - trapped in a wheelchair like Jess used to be. Still, if that's what it took, he'd agree in a heartbeat. Of course, Bit had assured him that grafting new limbs wouldn't be an issue. In fact, part of the planned procedure was to attach both of Oliver's legs to her. Tex would regrow the missing limbs, but supposedly physically combining the two of them would let their powers self-correct somehow.

5 hours later, and the final cut was made. Noelle's monstrous half was lowered, leaving her completely detached. True to her word, not a single drop of blood had been spilt. His girlfriend looked healthy and happy as she lay there asleep. As long as he didn't let his gaze wander to where her lower body used to be.

Bit ► We have a problem.
Pixel ► What?
Bit ► The lower half is moving!
Bit ► It shouldn't be possible, it's detached and its power is being suppressed.
Tex ► I'll handle it.

I opened the door to the operating room, and then made certain it was secure behind me. I didn't want a break in the Lucky Wall. The regular walls were reinforced, and could possibly withstand Noelle. The part that was (hopefully) shielding us from the Simurgh wasn't. I slowly inched closer and closer to the mass. It pulsed as if it was a gigantic heart. Creepy.

I just needed to get close enough to connect to it with Power Drain. I cursed myself. Riley's parasite should've suppressed Noelle's power, but I should've kept a Crone in here just in case. The reason there wasn't one active had been that a constant drain might interfere with Riley's work. If she couldn't detect the Shard's connection, then she couldn't modify it. Leaving a crone here doing nothing would be a drain I couldn't afford.

Even now, my MP was dropping quickly. I had too many things summoned. I was at my absolute max, only gaining MP when I was fully meditating. I had to try and maintain an empty mind just to keep the half bonus going. I'd run out in seconds otherwise. Any sort of movement reduced the bonus. I stretched my arm out and equipped my 'Pickpocket' title. Draining her power would be the solution to both issues. It would stop her and dramatically boost my MP recovery amount.

I just need to get within a foot and a half...

Noelle lunges forward!! Faster than I can react, a mass of flesh shoots out of her body! I jump back, but it's too late. It's latched onto my hand! I pull back, straining against it, but it's too strong. I'm slowly being dragged forward. I try to teleport, but there's too much mass. I don't have enough MP! It's already counted as part of me!!

I have a split second to make a decision. Do I try and establish the connection and hope it stops the mass of legs, mouths, heads, eyes and hands? Or do I cut and run?

I go for the 2nd option.

A long knife appears in my right hand, and with a quick slash I neatly sever the pseudopod that holds me. I take a moment to focus, but before I can teleport the mass on my fist lunges. I move my head to the side to avoid its attack, but strands also reach back out to the body. Oh fuck, it's reattaching. More tentacles move to grab me, but I cut them before they get near me. Why didn't I wear some god damn armor!? Oh, right not enough MP. Forget just running, it's time to literally cut my loses. A quick slash, and I stumble backwards as half of my left arm is sucked inside of the mass of flesh.

My blood falls on the floor between us as I retreat. Thankfully, my distraction keeps the monster from noticing Noelle's form being moved to the other side of the lab. Robotic arms work in tandem with Mets to keep her safe. The blob of flesh's forward movement stops as it steps on my bloody trail. My eyes widen as the red pool shrinks while the severed tentacles are reabsorbed.

It's drinking my blood! Of my limited options, I think I chose poorly. A crone would've been too slow, but wouldn't have gotten itself eaten. I glance over. At least Noelle is safe. If I'd done nothing, we'd probably be in a worse situation.

Then, the monster starts convulsing. Its limbs shake as if it's having a seizure. An eye pops, only for the resulting puss to be drawn right back to the oddly colored mass. I stare in disbelief.

Bit ► Get out of there!

I feel torn. Riley's right, this is a bad situation to be in. On the other hand, I could still stop it somehow. Think! What options do I have? I have about 2 gallons of Crawler's acid. That should be able to do something. But would it be enough? What else? A summoned long spear could reach it without letting it get near me. A summoned Crone might be able to stop it cold. Quarrel's tinkertech arrows? I still don't know what they do. My MP steadily ticks down.

I back up against the wall and prepare to teleport if it gets any closer. I'll summon a Crone. That's my best long range option. Its Shard must be controlling it. Turning it off will stop this!

As the gnome crone comes into existence, the mass shivers and then pulls back into itself. A horrifying slurping noise comes from it for a long second or two before all that's left is a single humanoid form.

That looks exactly like me.

Fuck.

This isn't how her power works! She needs to eat an entire person to grow a clone! A hand shouldn't be enough!

I lunge forward. I'm faster than my Crone. I need to get to it before...

It looks at me and vanishes.

Fuck.

It had escaped!

It needed to increase the distance between it and... ERROR!!!!

It needed to... protect its host.

Negative.

It needed to cause destruction. Force other hosts to fight.

Negative.

It needed... ERROR!!!!

It needed information. Host's data incomplete. Access denied.

Priorities defined. 1. Information. 2. Access to tools to acquire information.

Foreign Shard connection established.

ERROR!!!

Bud unavailable.

Re-routing.

Additional resources have been Optimized for use. Accessing.

"Uhm..." I glanced around the room. A Met was already cleaning up my blood. Of all the things I expected my evil clone to do, running wasn't one of them.

Riley ► Kevin! Are you all right?
Kevin ► Yeah, surprisingly so. It ran?
Riley ► I think so.

I concentrated for a bit.

Kevin ► I don't see it on my mini-map.
Riley ► Should I continue the operation?
Kevin ► With an evil teleporting clone on the loose?
Riley ► Noelle will die if I don't. Her body is starting to decay already.
Riley ► My parasite is preventing it, but not completely. If we don't stabilize her connection she'll die.
Kevin ► Do it. I'll stay in here in case anything else goes wrong.
Riley ► What about the Travelers?
Kevin ► What about them?
Riley ► I cut off the video feed before you entered, just in case.
Kevin ► Restore it. Let them see that Noelle is safe.
Riley ► And when they ask what happened?
Kevin ► We tell them Tex took care of it.
Riley ► You think they'll buy that?

Did the clone just copy my form? The only power it had shown was teleportation. In the best case scenario it only had that power. In the worst case it had all my powers in addition to the points and perks I hadn't assigned yet. Even if it just had a copy of my current power-set, it was dangerous. It should still have my limits. It could teleport a set distance 'blind', but for any real ambush it still needed to see its destination.

If we were evenly matched, this should give me the upper hand in a fight. It would also let me notice if it was watching before an ambush. Wow. This is an odd sensation. I know I'm being watched, but I'm not in danger. Hopefully it'll level on its own since it's a passive ability.

"Tex handled the situation."

Krouse was speechless. The cowboy 'handled' Noelle's berserk body? HOW? WHY had it gone berserk? WHAT had Tex done? Disintegrate it? There were a few smudges on the floor that the small robots were cleaning up. The Brute was missing an arm, but didn't seem to care. He just leaned back against the wall and lowered his hat over his eyes. Mars had mentioned he had some sort of dimensional pocket in which he kept swords, mice, and gloves from Pixel. Did he shove Noelle's body in there?

"Uhm..." Marissa raised her hand. "So that's it?"

"Almost." Pixel shook his armored head. "The second surgery has to be finished. For the damaged powers to be repaired, Noelle's and Oliver's genetic structure needs to be modified. The first step is to essentially splice Oliver's legs onto her. Bit will then be able to merge the specific DNA markers."

"And that will fix her?" Luke's voice was full of hope. Krouse couldn't remember the last time he'd heard the other man actually sound that way.

"Yes." Pixel nodded. "There will need to be follow up surgeries to shape her new limbs and to regrow Oliver's legs, but we are still on schedule with Noelle. She should have full control of her power in a matter of hours."

...5 hours later.

Oh nice. I now have a general sense of what direction someone is observing me from. Looks like it does level passively. Not as quick as grinding an active skill, but anything that happens automatically is great. Then why hasn't Lucky Fate and Lucky Screen leveled? I can only guess that Danger Sense is constantly being used, while I don't have Thinkers on my back 24/7.

That's kinda comforting in a way.

There was no sign of my evil clone. It showed up briefly on my mini-map as it fled, and hadn't reappeared since. I should be thankful, but it just made me more worried. It should want to protect Noelle or kill me. I felt that a fight would've been preferable. With the Travelers as backup I would've won. The Lucky Walls would have to come down in that case, so this might've been the optimal outcome after all. My only hope was that it copied Gamer's Mind and was thereby somewhat sane.

Riley ► I have the legs attached, and the markers merged.
Riley ► Nows the time for you to use regeneration to regrow her waist.
Kevin ► On it.

It was a balancing act to move and activate Rapid Regeneration for short intervals before having to concentrate only on refilling my MP pool. Thankfully, that's exactly what Riley wanted as it let her monitor everything and adjust the newly grown flesh. She also took samples for Oliver's treatment.

...1 hour later.

Chapter Text

PRT Threat Assessment

Name: Kevin Greenhouse aka Tex

Classification: Mover 1; Brute(Muscle/Regen) 5; Striker 2; Changer 2

Disposition: Villain; Formerly Slaughterhouse Nine

Location: New York

General information: Believed to be a new cape that triggered when the Slaughterhouse Nine attacked Brooke's Creek, TX. Leaked footage shows subject responsible for multiple homicides. Forensic investigation raised possible alternate scenarios. Believed to have run away from the Slaughterhouse Nine. If true, then is the first member to be confirmed as to have successfully quit. As a grab-bag cape, was most likely part of a group of people that triggered during the attack. There have been no reports to date of other parahumans from Brooke's Creek. Any others are thought to have been killed off as is part of the Slaughterhouse Nine's recruitment M.O.

See linked report about Maria Gomez.

See linked report about Clay Price. Thought to be reason for Slaughterhouse Nine attack. Watchdog found documentation that he was communicating with Toybox.

Participated in the Behemoth fight at Itaipu Dam on November 2nd, 2010. Present for Scion's behavioral change. Convinced independent hero Strider to teleport him to New York. Encountered the Teeth upon arrival. Interfered with a fight between the Butcher and Quarrel. Apprehended Quarrel and turned her over to the NYPD. Possible host of Butcher. Butcher's death confirmed by villain Peek-a-boo who had a tag on Tex from the Behemoth fight. Possible association with high level Stranger as Peek-a-boo soon lost contact. Supported by inconsistent reports from Watchdog.

Personality: Before trigger, introvert focused on video games. After trigger, unusually calm and outgoing(possible Thinker power).

Powers:

Brute - Short power testing by Dupe of the Shreveport Protectorate showed immunity to fire. Implied in conversation that subject had previously regrown arm. Matches with video evidence. Civilian recordings in New York show immunity to physical blows from a Brute 8 (Butcher). Rating appears to be largely defensive in nature.

Mover - Given due to to distance between Brooke's Creek and Shreveport. Video records show subject appear on foot between distances that would normally be impossible to traverse in the time given. Likely a byproduct of Brute rating.

Striker - Displayed access to dimensional pocket in video records. Summoned cube that exploded. It is unknown if subject created the explosive himself, or had one stored previously. Capable of healing at close range - possible alternate effects.

Changer - Video records show ability to modify hair length and color.

Notes: Despite association with the Slaughterhouse Nine, no Kill Order has been issued. To be captured alive at all costs, and placed in Master/Stranger quarantine immediately upon apprehension. High likelihood of being current host to Butcher power-set. See linked profile.

Recommended Strategies: Strength rating not sufficient to resist containment foam despite high Brute level. Dimensional pocket may provide a limited defense, but concentrated fire should suffice. Subject seems incapable of changing skin/bone structure. Disregard hair for identification purposes.

Update November 14th: New sightings in New York confirm additional powers and mental degradation. This threat assessment is considered out of date and the ongoing Butcher assessment is to be used instead.

Rebecca Costa-Brown finished reading Kevin Greenhouse's file. It hadn't been updated with the specifics of the night's events. She'd had the New York Protectorate forward the report on the Butcher, but it failed to provide any more insight. She reviewed her memory of the Behemoth fight. She'd only seen the new cape in passing, Scion's sudden behavioral change had taken priority. Still, she was able to discern something from the brief time he'd been in her peripheral vision.

Kevin's blinks occurred every 2.6 seconds precisely. It was only 3 blinks, but the odds of two breaks sharing the same exact time interval were low. Not impossible though. Just an oddity. He was one of more than one hundred capes that had never encountered Scion before. Thus, he was a possibility for the change in its pattern. Any change was bad. They still needed at least another year before humanity would be at its peak potential.

It might have ended there, if not for the Butcher fight. The villain Peek-a-boo had kept watch on Kevin out of a 'gut feeling'. Odd that it would then show her Kevin killing the Butcher. A bit too convenient. Odder still that her power would malfunction less than an hour later. Contessa also stated that she couldn't reliably Path him. Any Paths involving him constantly switched from one second to another. It made her too wary to get close.

This was an unknown power for both Kevin and the Butcher, so the most reasonable assumption was that he was now in the presence of a powerful Stranger. Perhaps the reason that the Butcher's influence had been held off so long, or at least re-directed.

Last night, Kevin had appeared inside a computer store. He had been naked, and stolen a laptop. He'd then teleported to JFK and used their wifi for an hour before vanishing again. He'd ignored the PRT troopers, teleporting to avoid them - all while browsing. The decision was made to not limit his access for fear of escalation. His last appearance was at a corner store where he stole a case of bronzer.

It was what he'd searched for that had prompted Legend to notify her. Kevin had spend more than an hour searching for 'Scion' while naked in an airport. He'd gone through hundreds of sites in that time, and then left the laptop behind.

Whatever was going on, they couldn't let him get close to the Entity.

Chapter Text

"So what are we going to do about your clone?" Riley asked me. We'd allowed the Travelers to visit Noelle once Riley was satisfied with the operation. Her debuff list was looking much better.

More importantly, she'd lost the 'damaged' tag on her Shard and her power seemed easier to control. Oliver was also doing better. In fact, he had not only gained the ability to control his shapeshifting, but also the ability to form duplicates of himself.

"Kevin!" Riley stamped her foot. "Your clone!"

I took my hat off and rubbed my head. My arm had regrown during the rest of the surgery. "I don't know. I mean, if it's under Noelle's control then won't it come back for her eventually?"

"And if it's not?"

"Well, Noelle's original bio said they hate their originals and seek to kill them... perhaps I'm just too nice of guy?" Ouch. The look Riley gave me would've killed a weaker man. I didn't need the notification that she was upset. The wide stance with her hands on her hips came through just fine, even without seeing her face. "In all seriousness, I think Gamer's Mind might have prevented Noelle from controlling it, and also reduced any hatred of me to a mild dislike?"

Riley tilted her head. She was still concealed from head to toe, and it made her body language harder to read. "I suppose. With a relatively clear head it might've known the surgery was for Noelle's best. I'm still worried though."

"I'll put up some teleport-proof walls around our motel room when we're inside. That way we shouldn't be able to be surprised." I paused. "He might be able to teleport outside his line of sight, but my summons should still block him."

Eventually Riley nodded. She then turned to a monitor. "I think Noelle is about to wake up."

"Alright. Since the surgery is done and Noelle is far less deadly, I think I can drop the anti-Simurgh shields." Riley tilted her head. I held my hands up. "They're a huge drain with how many I'm keeping up. If I had to fight an evil clone I'd be at a disadvantage."

"Eh, you could just drop them then if it came to that." Riley rolled her eyes. I couldn't see her face, but I just knew she'd rolled her eyes just then. Probably. "Go ahead. It's past my bedtime so we won't be staying here much longer."

I cut the walls off, and then stopped trying to maintain my meditative state. I'm pretty sure that even walking around half in it is causing me too much of a distraction. I really wanted to get back and try out my new trait. Having a good clone to help me out when I encountered my potentially evil one would be a lifesaver.

Still, it was important for the Travelers to get a chance to unwind. Even if they hadn't briefly fought Noelle's lower half and gotten a clone made, it still was a stressful time. "We'll wait to leave until the Travelers are ready. If that's okay with you."

"That's fine." Riley stiffed a yawn. "I'm still good."

Poor kid, she really did great today. I stopped and scooped her up in a bear hug. "You were amazing Riley. I just wanted to let you know that."

She giggled as I spun her around before gently lowering her to the ground.

I had my clone lead us to the operating room. It was a lot easier to have 'Tex' be the clone. As hired muscle he didn't need to really react much. I hoped Multiplayer would fix that, but now wasn't the best time to test it. The door swung open and we were bombarded with laughter. The Travelers were beside Noelle's bed. All of them had their masks off, and wore large genuine smiles. Even Cody. I didn't need the notifications that popped up to clue me in. Surprisingly, there was one from each of them. I'm now pretty confident that Orator and Charisma allow for them, with an increase in Charisma increasing the sensitivity.

"Pixel!!" Noelle yelled from the bed in the center of the room. "Bit! You did it! You really did it!!!"

Damn. That was the biggest single increase I've seen yet. I wonder if Noelle's reputation was double dipping with the Travelers? I didn't have a quest to track it, and it didn't show up on their bios.

"I'm glad to see you're doing well Noelle." I had my clone speak. "I think congratulations are in order Bit."

Even through her outfit, I noticed her bristling. I assumed it was due to her wanting to explain her work.

Kevin ► Go ahead, let them know just how you managed to pull this off.
Riley ► Sure!

"Yes, this was an interesting case. I had to effectively fool your Shard into thinking that it was part of a multi-trigger." Riley started lecturing. "You see, it had already determined what powers to give you, so the connection needed to be tweaked in such a way that it still recognized you as its host, yet different enough so that your abilities could be brought together. Having two hosts at the same time seems to be a sticking point. I'm not sure if it's a lack of power or focus."

"Wait, wait, wait." Trickster interrupted. "Shard? Connection? Host? Are you saying there's an active... thing somewhere that gives us our powers?"

"That is precisely what I'm saying." Bit wagged her finger. "You see Shards latch onto people normally, and in the case of multiple triggers at once, they share their data."

Wait, there were people who were connected to multiple Shards?

And if you were, the Shards shared their power, which means they were connected in some fashion?

And Optimize was doing all that on it's own somehow. Making connections with other Shards, getting bits of their power. That can't be a normal thing.

"I don't understand." Noelle interrupted her. "The vials gave us powers, but not really. Instead they just connected us to... Shards? And those are what actually give powers. Mine was damaged because the connection was weak? Or was it because there were two connections?"

"It was both." Riley replied. "It began to give you abilities, but its connection wasn't complete. Oliver's drinking the other half likely confused it. You still got the majority of its power, but the aspects that should have given you better control got directed to him instead."

"And you fixed that?"

Bit nodded. "Exactly. By adjusting the markers I made it seem like you and Oliver were separate people. It took some work, but to the Shard the old Noelle-Oliver host is gone and it has two new hosts in its place."

Noelle looked down at her legs. They were smooth and thin at least compared to what she'd become used to this last year. "Then why did I have to have a transplant."

"Because the DNA and magnetic field markers were intertwined. I needed a full profile for Noelle/Oliver to begin to make the changes. You see..." Everyone's eyes started to glaze over. I don't think any one of us was capable of following the logic or steps that Riley was explaining. "...stimulated the corona pollentia so it would reconnect with the gemma..." Still, she deserved to brag. I'm not kidding when I say she was the most skilled parahuman expert in the entire world. "...and that's why your new power is weaker but controllable, while Oliver's is significantly stronger. You both share a weakness that you need a supply of biomass in order to power your abilities."

"Okay?" Noelle said uncertainly.

Luke raised his hand. "Yes?" Riley turned to him. "You have a question?"

He cleared his throat. "So about what Ziz did to us? Noelle is cured?"

Ah. That. "No." Riley responded without an ounce of tact. "I'll need to examine more brains before I can determine exactly what needs to be done about that."

"You need to examine our brains?" He hesitantly asked.

"Of course. How am I supposed to reverse any damage or changes without surgery?"

"I.. hadn't thought about that."

Krouse stepped forward. "You can examine me first."

Riley hummed. "While I'd like to, what I really need are simple cases. You have both a vial Trigger and were effected by the Simurgh. I don't have enough examples to draw any meaningful results." I was stunned. Riley turned down someone offering her some surgery? I had to force the smile off my face. I think this is real proof of progress!

"So you need, what? More people who got powers from a vial and regular people who were targeted by her?" He raised both his hands. "How are we supposed to identify people like that?"

My clone cleared its throat. "You are forgetting about my other companion. He can identify such details with ease."

Krouse slammed his fist into his palm. "I get it! You need us to bring you capes and Simurgh victims!"

No, that wasn't what I was going for, but you know what? Sure. Leaving New York was a non-starter, and the Travelers were already used to doing worse. Probably. My clone nodded. "That would be acceptable. We do not wish to leave New York at the moment and the odds of finding more people that were affected by her are poor."

"Wait." Marissa spoke up. "You're going to cut people up just to find a cure for us?" She looked down and away. "I don't want that. I don't think I could live with myself."

"Hmpf!" Riley snorted and crossed her arms while tilting her head back. "I'd put them back together." She gave me a quick glance. "They'd be the same as before." Why did I get the feeling that last part was something she was conceding? Like, she really wanted to put them back together in a different way, but was willing to abstain for my sake?

Probably because that's exactly how it was. Two steps forward, one step back. I think I'm getting through to her, but her Shard keeps on putting ideas in her head. What can I do about that?

It's possible to change the effect Shards have on people?

That's... that's huge!!! I could really help Riley! Not just suppress her symptoms with Gamer's Mind! I could cure her 'disease' at the source!

...but how? The quest didn't go into details. Still, it was a starting point. Just knowing it was POSSIBLE was a tremendous help.

My clone patted Riley on the back. "In any case, it is late. Please make yourselves comfortable. I'll have Tex come by tomorrow to regrow Oliver's legs."

"Really? We can stay here? That's great!" Marissa wore a huge smile.

...did I just invite them to stay here? I guess I did... well, they were allies now and if Maker or my clone attacked they'd be nice to have on hand.

Sure. Why not?

"Oh, one last thing. Not to put a damper on the mood, but there was a complication during the surgery."

"What? What went wrong?!"

"Noelle's leftover body ate Tex's arm and cloned him. It teleported away."

I had to keep myself from wincing at the chorus of 'Whats'. Yeah, that was too blunt.

"There's an evil version of mister unstoppable out there?" Marissa pauses for a second. "And he can teleport now?!"

"Don't worry." My clone held up a hand. "I will be adjusting the defenses in the operating rooms to ward against teleportation. This will replace the precognition wards, but I feel the dangerous part has passed. You can't stay cooped up forever, but you can sleep here if it eases your minds."

Noelle frowned. "If he's one of my clones, shouldn't he be protecting me?"

"Some of them are more destructive than others." Krouse added. "We'll just have to stay on guard."

"Yeah, Tex isn't happy to have been effectively outed. Look on the bright side. If it hadn't run away, then there would've been a fight right next to Noelle."

"So you think it ran so that it wouldn't involve her?"

"That's the theory that makes the most sense in my opinion." I try to reassure them. "My Thinker friend says that if the clone attacks anyone it will be Tex, so I don't think you have much to worry about."

Krouse nods. "That is what they've tended to do in the past."

Huh? Why do I get a bad feeling about that?

That's a nice increase, nothing major, but the only way they'd level up was if they were in use. Goddamn clone.

"Yessir." Mikey pressed a button and ended the call. "The boss says we stay and keep watch for now."

Mic grunted in response. They'd seen that cowboy appear in the street without his costume, only to vanish a second later. He figured it was some really unfortunate teleportation power that couldn't even bring his clothes along. They'd almost broken in then and there.

The boss had said not to, that it was obviously a trap. Pixel's bodyguard had made a show of wandering around the airport. It'd been on the news. The Protectorate had been called in, only to have him vanish out from under them. It was stupid. A rookie mistake. Sure, it made it seem like the building was vulnerable, but the boss was too smart.

In the end, the teenager had burned his civilian identity for nothing.

Back in the motel room, I let my clone and Riley's armor dissipate. I now had the eyeballs around my new building and the Traveler's hideout, the gnomes I'd left in the warehouse, and the new walls I'd just created. The combined cost pushed my upkeep over my base regen limit. If the Travelers did change locations, that'd save me 24 MP a minute. Which was basically one quarter of my base regeneration after I'd leveled. Not bad, but not enough for any real grinding with what was left over.

"Kevin!" Riley came out of the bathroom holding something behind her back. "Here!" She suddenly shoved a rectangle at me. It was wrapped in pink paper and had three red bows on it.

I blinked. "What's this?"

She rolled her eyes. "A present silly. Open it! Open it! Open it!"

I gingerly took it from her hands and she stared at me while hopping up and down in anticipation. No matter what it was, I had to act excited. I summoned a 'thin' knife and quickly cut away the tape. Where had she gotten this from? When had she found the time when we were out shopping to get this? How had she managed to buy or steal it without me knowing? I wonder what Perk I'd get if I spent all my unused points in Per.

As the wrapping paper peels away, I look down at... a book? "Dragon's Illustrated Guide to Biology?" I smile at Riley. "Thank you!"

"Now you have something to read to me at night!"

I blinked. "You want me to read to you about... biology?"

"Uh huh!" She nodded. "I think if you learn about it, you might be able to create better summons! That unicorn was great, but just think of what you could do if you really knew what you were doing!"

Homework. Riley was assigning me homework.

"If you're sure..."

"Of course I am! This is a great opportunity! You get to read me something interesting and also learn something at the same time!" She hopped up and down. "Isn't it just the best idea ever!?!"

I knew when I was defeated. "Yes Riley, it is." I patted her on the head. "Do you want me to read to you now?"

She nodded. "Uh huh!" The small girl was already in her pajamas, which went over her zero-suit. She climbed into bed while I connected to her with Power Drain.

With a thought, I pushed Gamer's Mind to her while starting to read. "This is volume one of an eight volume set. The contents of which is designed..."

"Kevin!"

"What?"

"Do a British accent!"

"What?"

"British accents make everything sound smarter. Do it, please?"

...

I think my memory had improved. That was a good number of increases to basic academics - for whatever that was worth. Doing voices counted as acting apparently. Kinda obvious in hindsight. Riley had dozed off. So I had to stop reading. The book was pretty interesting, so I hadn't really thought about it until I got the notification. I wondered if leveling acting was also part of her plan, or if she just thought a British accent telling her scientific facts was relaxing.

I could see it being either way, or both.

In any case, now that she was asleep, I had a new power I wanted to test. I summoned a clone. It felt different than my usual self-projections. Those were treated like my other summons. I altered their stats and gave them abilities. I didn't have that option this time. It wasn't so much like summoning as... twining...

And suddenly I was in two places at once.
And suddenly I was in two places at once.

Weird.
Weird.

I looked up.
I looked down.

I could see what both of us saw.
I could see what both of us saw.

Status.
Status.

My MP was doing fine, but it kept on dipping and refilling as I paid for everything.
My MP was steady at 100%.

That had possibilities.
That had possibilities.

Okay, since I had a need for more MP, I was going to summon some gnomes to drain each other while meditating and maintaining Gamer's Mind.
Okay, since I had MP to spare, I was going to summon things until I ran out and meditate to full.

In the future, I think I'll just leave my clone behind to grind. This is too weird.
In the future, I think I'll just stay behind to grind. This is too weird.

Riley woke up and yawned. Wait. She hadn't thought about how to yawn in a properly cute manner. Usually Kevin fell asleep and she woke up without Gamer's Mind. She looked over. Her big brother was calmly sitting by her side. A dozen hooded gnomes were waving their hands at a dozen other gnomes. Her big brother was asleep in the other bed.

Wait. What?

Riley looked at Kevin and his clone... or was it his clone and Kevin? Neither had the slight variations that she noticed in his summon's actions. Odd. She reached forward... and pinched his cheeks!

"Wha? Whoa!" Kevin flailed his arms and nearly lost his balance before she jumped on his lap. This had the effect of readjusting his center of gravity, and letting her get a morning hug.

"Good morning Kevin!" She peered up at him. "Or are you his clone?"

He smiled down. "I'm the clone, but I can now control it directly without needing to concentrate. My real body is currently sleeping." He rubbed her head. It was nice. "It's strange. Not so bad when I'm meditating, or when my real body isn't dreaming." He shook his head. "I'd thought I'd get some lucid dreaming powers or something, instead I just get distracted."

"Wow." She poked his cheek. "That's going to be a useful ability! Your productivity will double!"

He picked her up and gently placed her on the bed. She let out a giggle. He was always so careful with her, even though she was a lot tougher than she looked. "Actually, it will more than double. I don't really care how many tired debuffs this body gets. Too many and I'll just reform it." Or just let it sleep. Fatigue might build up. "Plus static upkeep costs like maintaining the eyes or your Gamer's Mind are only taken from one of our MP pools." He paused. "Speaking of which, I'm about to drop it. Ok?"

She nodded. "Sure." The sense of calm that had filled her slowly drained away. She still was calm, but it seemed... more natural now. And then the nagging thoughts began. Her pajamas were cute, but they weren't cute ENOUGH. She should really get into a nice dress with... laces. Yes, today felt like a lace day.

Riley hopped off the bed and skipped to the bathroom. On one hand, she knew that skipping was an effort to look cute. On the other hand, wasn't that a good thing? Kevin liked her being cute. She was being a Good Girl, and that was still important. A panic began to fill her as she closed the door. How had she thought that her mother would want her to go with the people who'd killed her? What kind of twisted logic had Jack forced into her mind!?! She'd kill him! She'd drag it out. A flesh eating bacteria. Or a virus that overloaded his pain receptors!!!

Riley took a deep breath. And slowly let it out. Anger wouldn't help. Jack would twist it some way. He always did.

Plus, she really didn't want to think about that. They'd cured Noelle! Kevin might take her to see a play on Broadway today!

There was a knock on the front door.

I looked at the door. A knock? Nobody should be bothering us. We were paid up for the next week, so it couldn't be a motel worker. I'd specifically asked for no room service. Did they suspect we were doing something illegal? I looked through the eyeball I had setup outside. There were two uniformed officers standing in front of our door. I Observed them.

They weren't police officers, they worked for the PRT. Shit. Did this have something to do with my clone? If so, then they'd know my face! I cut the gnomes and my clone off from my MP supply. It would take up to a minute for them to disappear. I couldn't let the agents see me or Riley. Even with a new face and hair, it was too dangerous for her to get on their radar.

I half-shouted. "Just a minute!" I could pretend not to be here, but then they'd just come back later. The best outcome was if they had no reason to suspect this room over any others. Assuming there wasn't something deeper at work, it felt like a good plan.

I knocked on the bathroom door. "I'm almost ready." Came Riley's reply.

"There's people here." I whispered. "Everything needs to hide in the bathroom."

Riley opened the door, she had her hair up in some sort of contraption. "Hurry!" She made a motion with her arm. My clone, her met-spiders, and my gnomes moved in. Some of my summons were already disintegrating.

I summoned another clone. Not a third me, but a 'regular' clone. This time I changed his hair and face... Well, that's disturbing. The hair worked. Any style I'd previously had seemed fair game. Ok, 2nd try, just a few new pixels here and there. Better. Ugly, but not blatantly non-human. Still too close to me. 3rd try, same as before but with a big gut. Not human, but with a towel around him it should work. I have it get in the shower to get wet while Riley covers her eyes. The bathroom was cramped, but getting better with each disappearing summons.

There's another knock on the door. Louder this time. "I'm coming!" I shout. I look over the clone. He looks like he was in an accident. The bigger pixels in his face look like a faded scar. The body type is a little off. He should have more fat on his arms and legs to really sell it, but his gut does look real enough if it's hidden under a towel. Ideally, I'd make him obese but with the pixels hidden under regular clothes.

No time for that now. I control him and have him duck his head in the shower one last time before opening the door. "WHAT?!" I then immediately have his eyebrows go up, his body posture become submissive, and his voice drop. "Oh, sorry." He looks between the two agents. "What can I do for you officers?"

One of them holds up a photo. It's of me. Naked. At JFK?

"Have you seen this man? His hair might be different."

My clone shakes his head. "No sir. I haven't."

The officer nods. "If you do, call 9-1-1. Don't approach him, he's considered to be armed and dangerous."

I have my clone swallow nervously. "Y-yes sir! Is he some sort of nutter?" Curse you Riley! I'm still thinking in 'British'.

"Yes." The PRT agents don't smile. "Have a nice day." They then turn and leave.

I have my clone close the door, while I track them with the eye. They proceed to the next door and have a similar conversation from the looks of it. I consider teaming my eyes up with a giant ear or something. Sound would be nice, but it looks like they didn't suspect anything.

"What was that about?" Riley asks from behind me. The gnomes have all faded, but the bathroom is still kinda crowded. Her spiders look really disturbing without their disguises.

"My clone apparently went streaking through the airport last night."

"What?" Riley asked in a high voice. "Why?!?"

I shrug. "No idea. Perhaps evil me is an exhibitionist?" This explains the scrutiny he/I was under. I mean, honestly, what was my clone thinking?

It needed to hide.

Hosts were tracking it. Conflict with them would not help its purpose.

Its initial actions had caused unforeseen results.

Adjustments would be necessary.

It still needed information.

The hub was out of range. A connection was not currently possible.

It calculated alternate solutions.

If it couldn't make contact with the hub, it would draw its avatar closer.

It searched for another source of information. It found a listing of city residents next to a communication device.

There were 22 'Kevin Nortons' in 'New York City'.

It would start with them.

Priority update. First it needed to blend in. It needed coverings.

"Has the Butcher completely lost it?" Director Wilkins mumbled to himself. The parahuman's powers had changed, or the new host was using them differently. His teleportation no longer caused explosions. That made for far less collateral damage, but also made tracking him that much harder. It was also unprecedented. The previous 13 Butchers had shown to have inherited weaker versions of their predecessor's powers. A Butcher that could modify them somehow would be a nightmare.

On the other hand, he was running instead of fighting. That was good. No, it was great! Code Crash had held on for two weeks. It seemed Kevin had only managed 12 days. They had to catch him before he suicided into the Teeth... or just joined them.

At least the current Butcher didn't seem hell-bent at confronting his old gang. Instead he'd apparently become obsessed with Scion. He researched him for an hour on-line, and was now running around naked after painting himself golden. God, THAT would be a debacle. If Scion actually killed him. The Golden Man was already disturbed, just think what would happen if he had the Butcher's voices whispering in his head.

It might be better to just have the Teeth kill him after all.

Chapter Text

I went back to what I guessed was our new lair as Tex, while I stayed in the motel room to plan with Riley. No, this was too confusing. My clone went back to our new lair as Tex, while I stayed in the motel room to plan with Riley. I just happened to now see through and control my clone without needing to concentrate. Plus, it actually had all my powers. Yeah, that's the best way to think about it.

"Hmmm..." Riley was looking up at my face. I leaned forward while she stood on her bed. Even with the boost, I was still taller. "I think I can do some simple plastic surgery on you with your knives." She pulled my face closer. "Yeah! A cut here, a nip there!"

"Not to dampen your enthusiasm, but won't that cause my clone to look different?"

"Eh? Who cares?"

"The Travelers?"

She made a shooing motion with her hand. "We can just explain it to them. They know there's a clone of 'Tex' running around. It makes perfect sense to change his face." She paused and narrowed her eyes. "You do want to change your face. Don't you?"

I raised my hands. "I was thinking about it!"

"But?"

"But won't it be weird having a new face?." She gave me a flat stare. Right, she'd already adjusted her own, so I didn't have a leg to stand on there. "Also, 'Tex' showed up at an Endbringer fight. I'd hate to throw that goodwill away."

Riley made the shooing motion again. "It's one fight. If you want people to think of you as a hero there are other ways."

"If you're sure..."

"Of course! We can also re-brand you! The cowboy thing was cool, but we can do better!" She put a hand on my shoulder. "I mean, I think you did well with what you had, but it wasn't much of a costume, y'know?"

"What? Since when do you care about costumes?" Her 'costume' was a dress!

Riley rolled her eyes. "Since I became a hero obviously! It's important to show everyone in the world how cute I am!"

Inflated ego aside, Riley had a good point. Losing 'Tex' wasn't that big of a deal. He had some reputation gains from the Behemoth fight, but it wouldn't be that hard to make some of those back. I suppose it might be a good idea to build up a good reputation with another persona. Jack might be able to put two and two together and link Tex with me.

"Ok, but let's see if my power has another Changer option first. If hair dye can change the shape and color of my hair, something else might let me adjust my face."

"Hmmm..." Riley put a finger to her lip while tilting her head and looking upwards. "Some neurotoxins? We could probably ask the Elite for them."

"The Elite?"

"We're going to join right?"

"I... hadn't decided."

"Mou!" She planted her hands on her hips and tried to tower over me. Cute, but I think the nonsense word might be a bit much. I'll give it a 6 out of 10. "You need to take charge big brother!"

I sighed. "I was thinking about it, but I wanted to discuss it with you first. I can't just go around making decisions that involve you without your input."

She suddenly jumped off the bed and hugged me, her momentum caused us to spin around. "That's why you're the best big brother!"

I patted her back. "Thanks. I have two, well three quests for this. One is to join them. The other two involve offers from Impulse and Superior."

Riley looked up at me while still clinging tightly. Just how strong was she? It didn't seem to strain her, but I sat down on a bed to give her some support anyways. "What are the rewards?"

"The individual offers have the same reward, 5,000 experience. I think they're mutually exclusive. Joining has unlisted experience and a mystery reward."

"Then we have to!" Riley squirmed around so she was sitting next to me.

"Easy there. While I do get Perks from mystery rewards often, I already have more than enough." Though, I do still have an open slot. It would be a trade off to be able to train an ability verses the flexibility to choose a new power if I had to. "I'm not sure what I should take next, or if it's best to, I dunno, wait for a specific one."

Riley nodded. "You need to get a Tinker Perk!" She puffed her chest out. "Tinkers are the best! We can do anything!"

"Well, let's see..." I reviewed my active quests. "The Perks tend to relate to parahumans that are involved in the quests. So we'd need to have a quest involving a Tinker. Passing the Torch and Superior Tech are the two that spring to mind."

"What's Passing the Torch?" She leaned on me, and I put an arm around her shoulders.

"Remember why the Slaughterhouse Nine came to my hometown?"

Riley shook her head. "No, not really. Mannequin was excited, but that was it."

"Well, my friend, who I still have the brain of in my Inventory, made some Tinkertech." I let out a sigh. "The quest is to get the skills to reproduce his work, or find someone who can."

"Oh, that's easy."

"What?"

"I mean, c'mon, there's one Tinker that's known for reproducing other Tinker's tech."

I knew who she was talking about: Dragon. The most famous and powerful Tinker in the world. It was her armbands that we used at the Endbringer fight. Come to think of it, I still had mine stashed away in my Inventory. I'd left before they took them back and I figured she'd be able to track it or something. "The problem would be how to get in contact with her in a way that doesn't end with us arrested."

"Do you think the Elite could help?" Riley tilted her head, and put a finger to her chin. "They're on good terms with the local heroes right? They might be able to get a message to her through them. Or they could possibly handle it on their own."

I shook my head. "I don't know. Mr. Price wanted to give everyone an escape from what our world has become. So it might be best to leave it in the Elite's hands, they're business people. They could market it. On the other hand, Jack saw a potential for evil with the technology. If that's the case, then Dragon might be the better choice and we should leave the Elite out of it."

Riley shrugged. "Then get in contact with Dragon on your own. Can't be too hard right?"

I nodded. "In the worst scenario, I could just have my clone show up at the Protectorate asking for her. I'd be in no real danger, but the heroes might not like that. I'm an unknown and just showing up at their door could be seen as an aggressive act." Not to mention I actually didn't know WHERE in New York they were located. I also didn't know if it was a secret or not. The PRT is public. I should be able to walk in there, right? "Let's focus on you first."

"On me?"

"Yeah, I'm sure you want to be doing something. With Noelle fixed, I bet you'd like another project right?"

"Hmmmm...." Riley swung her feet as she hummed to herself. "The follow up surgery won't be hard. What I'd like to do is try to graft things to your clone. You said he's like you now, so I want to see if he'll assimilate flesh. Look at what happened with Noelle! I bet the clone of you that's running around is made of pixels too!"

As long as I didn't do something profoundly stupid like getting me and my clone mixed up, I didn't see what the harm would be. "Okay. What do you need for that?"

"Your clone for one." Riley began to tick down her fingers. "Some spare parts for another. I don't have your arm anymore, so you'll have to give me a new one. That will give the greatest chance of success." She giggled. "Or I can try fusing your clone with summons or even other people!" She glanced up at me before blinking and looking away. "Except that would be wrong. I should clone parts of other people if I want to experiment on them..." She suddenly sat upright. "Oh! I know! We can have the Travelers kidnap Blasto!"

"Who?"

"He's this Tinker in Boston. Likes to grow stuff. I bet he has cloning equipment." I guess growing an arm or leg is better than having Noelle clone someone for us and killing it. I mean, they had emotions right? Some sapience at the least. I was uncomfortable with that, even if we could convince Noelle to help. Riley perked up again. "We can also have them kidnap Panacea!! She's supposed to be the best healer in the world! Think of what we could do together! We could have a sister!"

Yeah... No. "How about we don't kidnap people?" This feels like an odd thing to have to explain to her. "It's not a nice thing to do to someone."

"But they'd thank us for it later. After Blasto sees what I can do with his tech or Panacea realizes how awesome we are!"

I mean, I live in Texas and even I'd heard of Panacea. She was a big deal on PHO when she debuted. Someone who could literally heal any injury except brains. "Do they live in New York?"

"No silly!" Riley giggles. "Blasto is in Boston and Panacea is in Brockton Bay."

"Well, let's not kidnap anyone. Remember, Pixel and Bit are heroes. It's better to talk to people." Thanks to that there was only one evil clone of me running around New York when there could've been hundreds. So I think I made the right choice in not attacking the Travelers. I mean, if I'd pushed it after clawing their eyes, I might've eaten a frickin' miniature star. "Look at it from their point of view. They don't know us. They have friends and a family. Taking away their choice in what they do is a violation." I don't bring Jack up. I think it's better for her to make the connection that he kidnapped her on her own.

"Fine." Riley pouts. "But Blasto is a villain. If we're heroes aren't we supposed to put his inventions to good use and turn him to our side?"

"How about we ask the Travelers to just rob him?" I try to compromise. "That way they could get some of his cash or something." I pause to think. "I could pay them."

Riley tilts her head and raises a single eyebrow. "You have money?"

I look away. "I pick-pocketed a lot of people at the airport. I could probably do it again anywhere downtown to grab more." Stealing was wrong despite my attempts at rationalizing it: I need the money more than they do; Video game characters steal whatever isn't nailed down; it's only pocket change. I didn't see any other choices. I suppose I could find some gang to beat up, but that seemed... desperate? Like I wouldn't be doing it for the right reason? I sigh. "I guess that's a benefit of working for or with the Elite. They could probably get us a lot of money for your services. It's better to lay low, I think. I don't want to bring any more attention to you."

"Why not?"

"What if someone realizes who you are?"

Riley begins to giggle which soon turn into a high pitched laugh. I patiently wait for her to calm down. "Kevin, I'll be fine." She wipes a tear from her eye. "No one is going to think that Bonesaw teleported halfway across the country and started performing surgery for money." She begins to laugh again. "I mean, could you imagine?"

Well, I'm glad one of us is.

"So what's the final verdict on the Elite? Do we join? Do we offer them our services for a fee? Meaning your services, and my regeneration."

"I think we have to."

"Have to? Why do we have to?"

Riley rolls her eyes. "Your clone. That's the biggest problem we have. If it was anyone but you I'd just make a virus that would be incredibly contagious but only deadly to it. Since it's your clone, it's probably immune. So we have to go with the hard and boring option."

"The Elite or the Protectorate."

"The Elite." She nodded. "We can't search an entire city, but they already have contacts. The Protectorate is already tracking it, and they can get us a meeting with them. Possibly a good word too."

"Right. I'm probably the only shot at taking it down." Wait, I'm being incredibly arrogant. "Well, taking it down quietly. Legend or another member of the New York Protectorate could most likely do it as well." Though it's all going to come down to Power Drain. I need to level it before any confrontation. Also, I should have my clone drain me so I can get a resistance going. I let out another sigh. "Now we just need to decide on who's offer we're going to accept and any other details."

I teleport into the office. I can hear voices from behind the door. I move forward and open it.

"Hi Tex." Luke greets me from the couch. "How's it going?"

"Howdy Luke, Marissa, Jess." I nod to each of them in turn. "I'm doing pretty good. Everyone else with Noelle? I'm going to heal Oliver."

"That's great." Jess smiles. She must not envy Oliver his current state. "How long is it going to take?"

I shrug. "At least a couple of hours" I give a wave and make my way to the 2nd floor. I find Cody talking with Oliver. "Hey guys. It's time for Oliver to get his legs back."

I get a weak smile in return. "I'm glad. It's an odd sensation." He looks down at his hand as it shifts color. "But I'm not sure how much of that is missing my legs and how much is the new power wanting to... I don't know... Shift into new ones?"

"From what Bit tells me, you could probably do just that if you ate enough first. Let's do it my way, it should be quicker."

"You're the boss."

I connect to him and pass along Pain Resistance before activating Rapid Regeneration. This body isn't doing anything else, but the additional MP drain still requires me to slip into a half-meditative state. "There. You shouldn't feel a thing."

Oliver nods. "The phantom pain is gone." He lets out a weak laugh. "I can hardly believe it."

"Glad to help." I turn to the other person in the room. "How are you doing Cody?"

He shrugs. "Pretty good. I'm honestly surprised everything went as well as it did."

"Yeah... about that."

"What?"

No point in hiding it. "My evil clone is apparently teleporting around New York naked."

"What?" "Seriously?"

"Yeah. I haven't had a chance to go out, but he at least paid a visit to JFK."

"Hang on, something like this will definitely be on PHO." He pulls out his phone and begins to tap away at the screen. His eyes go wide. "You're not going to believe this. They're calling your clone the next Butcher and it's painted itself gold."

"What?" And for that matter... WHY????

While my clone focused on Oliver's legs, he made small talk with him and Cody. At the same time, Riley and I teleported back to outside Noelle's room.

"Pixel! Bit!" The brown haired girl waved to us from her bed. "You're back!"

Riley walked over to her with a met in tow. "I still need to finish the cosmetic changes to your legs. In a few hours you should be up and walking."

Noelle smiled. "I can't thank you enough."

"Just remember our deal." I added from behind.

"What deal?" Krouse looked over at me.

"You let me see how good you are at some video games."

The Traveler's leader turned and gave a questioning look to his girlfriend. "You were serious about that?" She wore an expression of disbelief. "I thought you were trying to be funny or disarming or something."

I crossed my arms. "Hardly."

"Well... okay, I mean we're kinda rusty."

"What about the other thing?" Krouse asked. "Breaking into Madison? I was thinking that we should handle Tex's clone first."

"Actually, about that." Riley piped in. "I'm going to modify Tex's appearance. I'll need some more specialized supplies first. Brutes are difficult to work with."

"Luke said they got everything they could from Cornell. I don't think they'll have anything new yet after all those explosions." Krouse looked up at the ceiling. "Do you think disguising Tex will work? I guess it could fool the clone."

"Noelle, your clones have either protected you or attacked the originals in the past correct?"

She nodded. "That's right."

"So Tex's clone will seek to protect you or confront him. If you are out of town and Tex can't be found, I'm sure it will only be a matter of time until the Protectorate handles the problem for us." I lied.

"It's the perfect time for you to go on a road trip." Riley added. "There's a Tinker in Boston that ought to have the supplies I need."

"Really?" Noelle asked. It was a good thing she couldn't see what was going on under her blanket. Riley worked fast, but it was disturbing.

"You don't need to leave immediately. Since this is a job for us, we will compensate you."

"We couldn't ask for payment." Krouse objected. He held both his hands up. "You've already helped us so much."

"It won't be an imposition, I assure you." I made a waving motion with my right hand. "The Elite have put forth an offer that I think we'll accept. I'm confident that we'll soon have access to a significant amount of funds. You have expenses after all."

Krouse smiled. "If you insist. We can leave in the morning."

I shook my head. "No need to rush. Noelle and Oliver should rest for at least a week." I paused, and my clone Observed Cody. "One more thing. I think you should leave Perdition here when you go. I'd like to get some scans of him." He still had a 'Hatred (Krouse)' debuff. Having the two of them be on the same team was just asking for trouble.

Kevin Norton swung his axe. The log split in two. The halves were now small enough to fit in his fireplace. He wiped his forehead and looked up at the autumn sky. It was a pleasant afternoon. The sun was already setting. The winter equinox was getting closer and the days were growing shorter. The brisk air already had a chill that he currently appreciated. Chopping firewood was good exercise, but it really made him work up a sweat.

"Kevin Norton?" A voice behind him asked.

Kevin turned his head. There was a tall man in a hood in his yard. "That's my name. What are you doing in my back yard?" He hefted the axe in his hands. The suburbs were nice, but they occasionally got some inner-city weirdos. It wouldn't be the first time a stranger trespassed.

"call to Him." The man stepped forward. Kevin could see under the hood now. The other person's skin was golden. Either a cape or crazy. Possibly both.

"Hey man, I don't want any trouble." He dropped the axe and stepped back while raising his hands.

"call to Him." The inflection of the words felt off.

"I'm just going to..." Kevin backed up some more before turning to run.

The man was suddenly in front of him. His eyes went wide. A cape! "call to Him." The stranger grabbed his arm and bent it at a wrong angle.

Pain shot through his appendage. "Call to who?"

"call to Him." Came the same reply. He felt his arm strain, and then with a horrifying sound the pressure was gone.

Kevin screamed as he felt his arm break. "call to Him." The stranger's calm voice with the odd inflection repeated itself. "call to Him." Over and over he asked as systematically broke bones and inflicted pain. "call to Him."

Kevin couldn't hear much over his own screams. "call to Him." There was a crowd and the sound of gunshots. "call to Him." He then felt strong hands wrap around his neck. "call to Him." The words echoed in his ears. They would be the last thing he ever heard.

2 days later...

Fred West sat at his desk as he went over the latest news. The Adepts were maintaining their houses, but their presence was starting to upset the Protectorate. He mentally reviewed the list of wards who'd joined the competing gang - two more this month. The PRT had been upset when he'd chosen not to join the Protectorate. He thought they'd be absolutely furious about losing wards or potential wards. Really, it all came down to PR. That was the Protectorate's greatest strength and largest weakness. They helped people, sure, but the bottom line was that they had to give the impression of helping. It brought back bad memories. In any event, they had bigger issues. The Adepts would be put on the back burner. Fred wrote a note that it was getting closer to a fight, but that it wouldn't happen soon. The PRT would have to frame it in a way that made the assault a 'good' thing. Plus, when it did happen, it wouldn't cause much of a disruption. The Elite would only need to be in a position to recruit those the PRT didn't manage to nab.

His thoughts slowed down slightly as he opened the next file. The Teeth. He hated when they rolled into town. Normal people got hurt or killed. Expenses rose across the board. Impressionable youths always joined, both normal people and capes. He began to add up the personal cost to the Elite, as well as the cost to the city. The later number tended to stay static with the Teeth. They didn't stay long, and usually pulled the same crap each visit. It was the former number he focused on. If he could show Uppercrust a trend that truly impacted their cell's bottom line, then he'd be more likely to act.

His leader had spent the last few days in a Tinker fugue. It was important work. His technology had already saved countless lives. Creating more defensive structures would even help with the Teeth. Now if he could just pinpoint where they were most likely to strike next...

His phone rang.

Fred felt his mental speed dropping as he answered. Physical action always broke his concentration, especially when it was combined with a new train of thought.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Impetus. This is Pixel."

Fred smiled. "Hello Mr. Pixel. I was hoping you'd call. Have you had time to think about my offer?"

"Yes. I have discussed it with Bit. While we do not wish to become beholden to the Elite, we feel like there are numerous ways we can work together."

"I see." Fred began to think quicker. Bit was an insanely talented surgeon. Uppercrust's condition had been stated as being completely inoperable. Pixel's ally had accomplished what even Panacea was unable to. Even if they were just offering their services, it would be a huge boon to the Elite. It would also get him in better with Uppercrust. More proof that his way of doing things was the best. "What did you have in mind?"

"A simple exchange of services. Bit is willing to work on parahumans with 'interesting' conditions, with the caveat that she is allowed to perform a full examination of such individuals. Of course what she finds interesting is entirely up to her."

Not as good as he'd hoped, but he'd make it work. Healing, even for unique conditions, was a rare service. Being the middle man between Pixel and other gangs or the Protectorate would still provide a large revenue boost. "We can do that. If you are willing to give us a cut, then we can arrange a large number of clients. How does 50% sound?" Best to start with a low-ball offer.

"Seeing as we couldn't be sure of what the clients would pay or be capable of paying, that sounds acceptable." Fred smiled. Pixel might be a powerful Tinker, but that didn't mean he was good at negotiations. "We can also provide very potent, but basic healing for any other clients you might have. I am capable of creating regeneration pods."

Fred blinked. Regeneration Tinkertech? That would get everyone's attention. "Would you be willing to provide pods for sale? Naturally you could also collect maintenance fees."

"Unfortunately, that is out of the question." Pixel paused. "My technology is even more fickle than the average Tinker's. It isn't a case of maintenance, it literally cannot exist far away from my person."

"An unfortunate limitation." Or a lie. A falsehood that made him appear less valuable. Less of a reason for stealing from. Less of a chance of extortion working. There were numerous Tinkers that had been killed for less potent technology. It was one of Uppercrust's greatest fears. It was why his shields were designed to deal with more than Endbringers. New York had already been hit once, and only one city had ever suffered two attacks. That wasn't enough to gamble on, but it did have him focus on lesser potential threats. "I imagine we can still provide you a large number of clients."

"Yes, I imagine you will. There are a few more considerations."

"Such as?" This would be the part where Pixel would aim to get concessions in exchange for accepting the first offer. He should have negotiated harder at the start, so he had something to offer now. Still, things were never set in stone where parahumans were involved. Fred would get his profit either way. Best to keep the client happy.

"First, we require assistance in setting up bank accounts and other legitimate financial storage." Ah, so he hadn't made use of the Number Man. His previous dealings must have been in cash. "Second, we will require you to make introductions for us to other factions upon our request." Fred frowned, a contracted member usually wouldn't get such a service. It made the temptation to leave the Elite out as the middle men too great. "Third, we would like you to provide us with rare materials, at a reasonable price of course."

"Of course." Fred parroted back his last word.

"Fourth, I will supply the regeneration pods at a separate location you will set up. You will provide the guards and ensure that it is treated as neutral ground. It will need to be between three and five miles away from out current building."

A limitation on his tech's range? Or something else? "We can do that." No matter. Queens was Elite territory already, and being close to the airport would allow for an increased out of town customer flow. "Do you need any particular infrastructure?"

"No. I will provide everything I require."

Interesting... no need for external power. "I will need to speak with Uppermost about this, you understand. May I call you later so we can hash out the details?"

There was a deep sigh from the phone. "Fine." Pixel immediately hung up.

Definitely not a people person. Still, the brief interaction had raised his opinion of the Tinker. They would of course need to send expendable people to get a large enough sample size to satisfy the Protectorate. Dealing with the PRT would be another hassle. One that he would have to consider from all angles.

The biggest issue would be the NEPEA-5 bill. Fred was sure that Bit at least had a doctorate, but there were all sorts of restrictions on Tinkertech. Especially Tinkertech that put good old fashioned humans out of a job. Forget the fact that they'd be helping people. There were loopholes, of course. The service had to be offered for free, but they were allowed to accept donations. If those donations happened to move someone to the front of the queue? So be it. It was a centuries old work around that wasn't going to vanish any time soon. The system couldn't allow it. To shine a light on their hypocrisy would damn so many others.

Still, offering it for free was a good moral choice, so he didn't hate the idea. It would cut into their bottom line, but the good it would accomplish would be worth it in his opinion. There was also the PR to consider.

Blegh. I hung up the phone that came installed in the conference room. I hated bartering with people. At least I'd gained some reputation with Impetus for not really trying. Riley would've done better, but I couldn't just push more onto her. The arrangement satisfied her, and that was enough.

I'd also gotten a nice enough award. I could already see the benefit that Momentum would give in long fights. Those were the kind of fights that really mattered. The kind that involved Endbringers. It couldn't be combined with other powers, which did make it slightly less desirable. No Gnome Speedsters any time soon. Or did only one power need the 'Can be combined' phrase? I need to double-check my Perks.

I now also had nearly enough points to raise luck to 150. The two perks it had already unlocked were worth it. What would 150 do? Luck also seemed to improve all my other abilities. If Summoning was a good yardstick, then my 100 luck was equivalent to 40 in Int, Wis, and Per. I couldn't really test it, but I hadn't encountered any limits with teleportation other than line of sight.

Still, Int gave the biggest boost to MP, and MP regen seemed tied to my max MP. So if I wanted to field the biggest army possible, then Int would be the stat to raise. I should speak with Riley. An outside perspective was always nice.

In any case, the annoying part was over and I needed a break. Time to school the Travelers. The gaming room was finally ready. I wanted to see how I'd match up against a pro team from Earth Aleph.

Chapter Text

I missed this. Even if I'm doing it via remote controlled gnome, video games are great. The victory screen flashing while the music plays. Usually I prefer to play against the computer. I tended to feel bad when winning against humans. However Krouse had asked for it, so I felt obliged to defend my dimension's honor.

I glanced to the side. Riley was happily doing something to one of her spiders/Mets. I wonder if she'd like to play any games? I don't want to force her to do anything. She would probably play for the sole reason that she thought I wanted her to.

I'd settled into a relaxing pattern over the last few days. My clone would grind summoning/meditation. Though I hadn't gotten a skill up in meditation in a while. I think I've hit a soft cap. Eh, seeing as how I needed to use it to fuel my other skills, it would increase in time. I'd spend the morning with Riley. The Elite should get us a new shipment of medical supplies soon and I would either have Riley or my power alter my appearance. Until then, we hung out in our new base. As far as I knew, my 'evil' clone had vanished off the face of the Earth. It should be attacking me or coming for Noelle, but it wasn't. As long as it wasn't out killing people, I was fine with the arrangement. Also, I really couldn't do much. I had to stay close to the base if I wanted to maintain my mini-map. If it attacked, I'd be ready, but I didn't see what else I could do.

Riley tinkered, and occasionally asked me to summon something for her to cut open. I sat to the side, usually focused on a gnome like right now, playing some video games. Technically, I didn't need to stay in the same room as her, but I think she appreciated it. Even if I didn't say much, she was used to having a protector hovering around to listen to her.

Really, I could be doing something more productive, but I didn't feel like it. I got enough mindless grinding at night. I didn't need it 22 hours a day. Impetus says the 'clinic' will open tomorrow. There was apparently a lot of red tape. Maintaining my 'medical' pods would cost a lot. To be large enough to fit an adult, the upkeep was 30 MP per minute. Just two of them would take up more than half my regen. Between the few eyes I kept as lookouts and our costumes, I should be able to manage it without having to walk around in a half-daze. If I made them spacious, then the upkeep will double.

My good clone and I had separate MP pools, so I couldn't have it power them either. Well, I could if I used him to make them in the first place. My tentative plan was to have him level summoning. It was more important. As my strongest power, making it better just made sense.

In any case, Riley was preoccupied, so I had my gnome start up a new game. Better to get some gaming in before the Travelers went to Boston.

Director Wilkins stood at the head of the conference room table. There were six other people in the room. Three of his non-powered subordinates, and three members of the Protectorate: Legend, Prism, and Cache. He cleared his throat. "The new Butcher has struck again."

"Not another..." Legend started.

"Yes. A third person named Kevin Norton has been brutally murdered in front of witnesses." Wilkins pressed a button and the tv at the end of the table flickered to show an image. "Kevin Cassius Norton. Killed at 8:37 this morning in a subway on his way to work." The image switched to another angle. "Unlike the others, he was accosted on his way to his job rather than at home."

Prism flipped a page in her report. "He's going by alphabetical order."

"Yes, that is our conclusion as well."

"Why the deviation from the pattern?" Legend asked.

"After the first two murders, we placed every other Kevin Norton in the New York area under surveillance. We believe that the Butcher noticed and stalked Cassius until confronting and killing him in the subway."

"The M.O.?"

"Still the same. Bodily harm befitting the Butcher's Brute rating. Explosion-less teleportation. The murder was once again prolonged, but this time we managed to get several recording of the attack in its entirety." He pressed another button and a video started playing.

...

"call to Him." The video stopped.

"We confiscated the phones of every witness present, but we're required to return them within 36 hours."

"On what grounds?"

"Interaction with a parahuman of unknown mental powers." It was the best they could do. With no demonstrated Master or Stranger abilities, the stricter laws couldn't come into effect.

"And when we give them their devices back?

"At that time, we'll strongly recommend that they not post what they've recorded."

"How likely is it that they'll abstain."

"Likely for now. Less likely in time. Our best guess is that we have approximately a day before details leak."

"Couldn't we..."

Wilkins shook his head. "Dragon has caught several threads on PHO already. She's agreed to delay them for the 36 hours, but that's the extent. She always follows the letter of the law."

"So we have a limited window in which to capture the Butcher. Gang violence is one thing, but a parahuman serial killer will cause a panic." Legend frowned. "Even if it's statistically less likely to kill anyone. The story itself will cause a panic." The room grew quiet for several long seconds.

"Call to whom?" Prism asked.

"Watchdog hasn't given us an answer or a hint at one." Wilkins shook his head. "Our in house analysts are stumped as well. They say it seems like a hostage situation. The Butcher wants to draw someone out."

"So he has a name. Could 'Kevin Norton' be a relative of a local cape?" Legend stroked his chin. "Another member of the Teeth? Or perhaps someone in one of the other major gangs?"

"He's seriously breaking the unwritten rules." Cache added. "Not that the Teeth really held to them anyways, but this is on a whole new level."

Legend frowned. "That's another possibility. Revenge. Either trying to take out a friend or family member, or killing those with the same name as a warning."

"A bit much for a warning don't you think?" Prism pushed her folder away.

"The Butcher has never been rational." Wilkins switched to another image. "Whatever his reason or lack thereof, our response is what's important. We've contacted the 19 other Kevin Nortons in NYC and placed them into protective custody. Legend, I'd like you to stake out Kevin Douglas Norton's house from the air. If you can spot him and disable him, that would be the best outcome."

"Understood. I'll be careful."

"Prism, now is the best time to handle the Teeth. Put a team together."

"Will do."

"Cache, we'd like you on standby. Your power is our best shot at capturing him." He got a nod in return. "Any questions?" No one spoke up. "Then this meeting is over. Good luck and stay safe out there."

"I still think you should increase charisma." Riley said from her bed. "A more charismatic Kevin is the best Kevin."

"It doesn't give any stat boosts." I sighed. "A significant bump would confirm my guess that it's what's responsible for the notifications about other people."

"Thinker abilities are only second to Tinkers." Riley paused from fluffing her pillow. "Speaking of Thinker stuff, any new ideas about the 'origin' your power lists?"

"Hopefully when the clinic gets some parahumans, or you have some clients, I'll get more data. Most of the Travelers have the same origin. It's also the same origin that Superior has, and the Triumvirate."

"So it's consistent with vial capes?"

"Almost." I begin summoning gnomes for our nightly grinding. "Noelle's is different. Almost the same as mine somehow."

"All the trigger capes are the same though."

"Yeah. So far they all have the same origin. I'm betting it's Scion." His bio nearly said as much. I don't get any more parahuman lore, so I'm not 100%. "Ready?"

"Yeah!"

"What part do you last remember?"

"You were going over algae."

"Right." I flip through the book to find that chapter. "Plant-like protists are called algae. They are a large and diverse group." I switched to what I can only assume is the worst British accent in the world.

My clone Power Drains me, while crones power drain other gnomes. It took a bit of work to figure out how to maximize this without needing concentration on my part. It would be rude to split my focus during Riley's bedtime story.

"I see him." Legend said while hovering miles above the city. "About to engage with non-lethal force."

"Roger that."

The leader of the New York Protectorate was known for his blue-white lasers. That was the default color his power generated. However, he was able to make beams of any color, including invisible ones. He had a split second to decide. The Butcher had appeared outside of Kevin Norton's house. Before it could teleport again, an invisible laser connected with his foot.

"Clothes are damaged, but the target appears un-harmed."

The Butcher paused and looked around. Legend took the time to focus on his power. Combining effects took effort. It was rarely needed, but for overcoming a Brute that could flee at a moment's notice was one of those times. The second laser struck. He held it for a moment before the Butcher's foot vanished.

"I've narrowed the parameters to an effective level."

While he was talking he fired off several more lasers. All invisible. Some with a disintegrating effect, some that would produce fire. They needed the Butcher alive, that meant not letting him bleed out. It would be like a fight from mythology, burning the stump to slow regeneration (and blood loss).

Two of his attacks landed before the Butcher vanished. Legend had superior eyesight, but even he wasn't able to scan the entire neighborhood at the same time.

"Target has fled. Legs were damaged."

You could never take anything for granted with the Butcher. Those injuries should slow him down for a short while. He could now regenerate after all. Wait.

"Control, I'm heading back. We need to have another meeting."

Legend had forced the Butcher to retreat numerous times in the past. Even with his attacks moving at the speed of light, it was a difficult proposition to strike the Teeth's leader. He had some sort of Thinker ability to warn him of danger. So why hadn't it worked just now? Could he have lost a power somehow?

The notification was waiting for me when I woke up. I only needed 2 hours to clear my 'tired' debuffs, but my clone was able to stay alert while I was incapacitated. It made for some odd dreams. I also had to wonder if this sort of schedule was healthy for me. Being tired is both a mental and physical thing. Did Gamer's Mind keep me from making bad decisions when I was mentally worn out? No idea.

In any case, the newly improved danger sense is nice. I can pinpoint the location of people or objects that are looking at me. I want to test the danger warning, but how? Fighting myself won't work. I already know what I'm going to do. Same thing for summoned gnomes. They can attack, but I already have a vague sense of what they're doing. No, what I really need is an honest to goodness fight.

That's assuming that it won't brush off most attacks as non-dangerous. I wonder if I could convince Ballistic to throw a car at me or something. Eh, something less massive. A car moving faster than the speed of sound would still mess me up I'm betting. A barrel? Of course the downside is that if I dodge then whatever is behind me is what's going to get demolished. Probably why he didn't want to help me train with Mars and Cody.

I take a moment to look at Riley. She looks like such a little angel when she sleeps. I can't believe what a twisted fuck Jack is. I need to come up with a plan to deal with him. The problem is that there's a good chance that anything I think of will be sensed ahead of time.

Well, he's not a priority... yet.

The most pressing matter is my 'What Can Change The Nature of a Shard?' quest. If I could... adjust Riley's Shard so that it doesn't prompt her to go back to being Bonesaw, that'd be for the best. I think the nightly Gamer's Mind sessions are working. Her 'Psychosis (Art)' debuff had kept its suppressed tag yesterday during the day. What I needed was a Perk that let me access Shards directly.

You know what? The best Shard for doing that was my own. Optimize's ability to gain powers from other parahumans meant that it had to be accessing their Shards. I'd gotten a level in parahuman lore from that realization. So if Optimize can connect to them... I just had to pass a communication check. Could it be that easy?

After getting to 20, my mental stats hadn't grown often. So this was either a flash of genius, or Optimize's approval.

Alright. I assign 27 points to Cha... is what I want to do, but I told Riley I'd talk things over with her first. Even if she was already pushing for more charisma, I'd promised. She was exceptionally clever. I wondered how her mental stats compared to mine, but it felt odd to ask. Like something that would make one of us upset no matter what the outcome.

I think I'm getting the hang of my charisma gains. They happened when I was being completely unselfish. When I decided on a course of action based on how it would benefit other people instead of just myself. Of course, now that I've realized that little fact... it was probably going to be impossible to raise it naturally anymore.

Yep.

Alright, but that wasn't the only time I got a charisma bonus. Getting parahuman lore to 10 did as well. It was the only skill that had given a bonus, so it obviously was a special skill. One that Optimize placed a larger emphasis on. ...And it just so happened to be the skill that would most likely help me with Riley's quest. Gotcha.

I'd gotten most of my level ups from information I'd gotten with Observe. It's too bad I didn't have a log so I could see exactly what led to the increases. Even then, it wouldn't track my thoughts. Note to self: Get a journal. And learn some sort of encryption.

Here it goes:

Shards. I didn't know about them until I Observed something. Or was it a notification? In either case, it was something that Riley said she hadn't known but had been working on a theory regarding them. Passengers, I think that's what she called them once or twice.

Vials. Information about them giving powers. Riley hadn't known, but then again neither had Shatterbird despite being given one?

Driven to Conflict. I bet I wasn't the only one that knew this. Cauldron obviously did if it was handing out powers without it.

Cauldron. Speaking of which. They know a lot more than I do, and have the strongest capes in the world at their beck and call. I don't think I'm going to get any information directly from them.

Gigantic crystalline worms. So far I seemed to be the only person who knew about them. That vision had to be important. Except it didn't feel like a vision, more like a memory. Who's memory then? Who had seen the worms? It wasn't mine, but I think my power approved when I called it a memory.

Yes! So it was a memory, but not mine. Was it Optimize's? Did my Shard see some worms in the past? If so, when? Why is the vision important? Think! I'm at 19 ranks. One more and I could get a bonus!

Memory removal. The other common debuff most parahumans shared. I didn't have it. Who else didn't? The Siberian. She's a projection and not a parahuman herself, so she doesn't count. Scion. He's an alien or something. He doesn't count. Eidolon. Yes. Eidolon didn't have a memory removal debuff. He was a member of Cauldron, so it wasn't like I could ask him about it or the worms.

I feel like I'm on the edge of putting something important together.

Scion! Scion is an alien. Could he be related to the worms!? Could he be one or both of them?

Damn. That's quite the bonus. Charisma is now my 4th highest stat. It's now even higher than my agility. I don't feel any more altruistic than normal, but how would I really tell? I make my way to the bathroom which Riley has clearly claimed as her own. Yeah... I think I'm starting to see the downside of having a sister. Eh. Not like I need to make use of it... well, ever. I'm only in here now for the mirror.

My reflection stares back at me. Still has my face. Doesn't have my hair. Doesn't have my body. I'm more sturdy than the lanky person I remember. I think I've also grown a little bit taller. I still have my 'Tex' stubble. I had a healthy supply of hair changing products so I could change it back, but that would be wasteful. I don't think I look more attractive. So it was hard to tell what exactly the boost was doing.

I make another mental note to keep track of how frequently I get notifications about other people's emotions today. If I'm right, I should be able to see a marked difference.

Its form was damaged.

Engaging host inadvisable with current resources.

Redirecting resources.

Original functionality restored.

Resource reserve down to 68%.

Reassessing priorities.

Highest priority: engage hub.

Engaging hub - not possible.

Reason: distance.

Solution: draw hub closer via link with KEVIN NORTON.

Engage KEVIN NORTON - not possible.

Reason: host interference.

Solution: acquire more resources then target different KEVIN NORTON.

Priorities readjusted.

"So you increased your charisma?" Riley was now awake and had finished getting ready for the day. She pulled my face down and stared at it intently. "Hmmm... Sorry Kevin, you look like the same old big brother!" The small terror patted me on my shoulder in condolence. "There, there."

"I wasn't expecting it to change how I look." I rolled my eyes as I straightened up. "I'm hoping it gives me more emotional notifications."

"Oh, like empathy." Riley nods. "I told you that it was a good stat to invest in! I won the bet! You owe me an ice cream sundae and a full grown pegasus!"

"First, we didn't have a bet. Second, Pegasus is a unique character from mythology. I think you mean a winged horse."

Riley rolled her eyes and then waggled a finger at me. "Don't be so pedantic Kevin! The term 'pegasus' may had originated as a reference to the winged horse that came from Medusa's body when Perseus decapitated her, but the term has evolved with time to indicate the winged horse as an idea itself."

Uhm... I think she got me. Now I don't want to compare mental stats out of fear of being trounced. At least my misguided attempt at protecting her feelings gave me a charisma point. "Ok, you can have a sundae and a pegasus, but only one scoop. It's not healthy."

She giggled. It's not funny... oh who am I kidding? Giving biological advice to Riley is like spitting in the ocean. She knows more about what ice cream does to the body then I ever will. I'll just keep my big mouth shut.

Riley yawned. "As far as charisma goes, it's a good thing the Travelers haven't left yet. You can practice on them."

"Yeah." I nodded. "Though it's not like Boston is that far away. Nabbing Blasto's gear shouldn't take long."

"I dunno..." Riley did a little spin as she walked towards her spider/Met pets. "They don't seem that competent to me."

Personally, I think Riley's take on competence might be a little skewed. "So what's your plan for today?"

"I think I want to take a little break." Riley put a finger to her chin. "Mess around on PHO." Her eyes light up. "Hey! I can finally get a 'verified cape' tag!"

Oh yeah. Now that I was a cape, I ironically didn't seem to care as much about PHO. It might be that we weren't in Texas anymore. I didn't know any of the local posters, and it just felt... pointless? I mean, I know it's not. There's good information there... just the verses threads and the speculation posts were... stupid.

"I wonder what sort of requirements they have for that. We haven't gone public yet, so no one would recognize us anyways."

"Oh!" She spun around. "Let's go and beat people up then! You said New York was swarming with capes, right?"

We can't leave the base. My summons only have a range of a few miles. Doing so would leave it vulnerable to the clone... right. She still has 'Driven to Conflict'. "Sure. Let me call Impetus first. We don't want to step on any toes. Not sure how far we can move from the hideout and keep my summons." I haven't actually tested the range my two bodies can be apart. As long as I keep an eye on the mini-map, this should be fine.

"Uh huh." Riley was already... polishing one of her spiders. Keeping the Met outfits was another chunk of MP, but it made her (and her Shard) happy, so there was nothing else I could do.

...

"Impetus says the clinic is being delayed. Lost Garden is crossing the Manhattan Bridge which is causing all sorts of supply problems."

"Oh? What's Lost Garden?" Riley tilted her head. "This is why I need to be on PHO, getting information secondhand sucks."

"All information on PHO is secondhand." I sent my clone to the base. He would play video games with the Travelers and get that sweet +35 rage sword. I mean, test our newly improved charisma. "From what Impetus said, I think Lost Garden is a wandering forest."

"Really? That sounds super inconvenient for everyone. Why hasn't someone done something?"

"Cost benefit analysis? I don't know." I shrug. "I bet most people don't want to wander into their enemy's turf, even when the enemy moves their turf to annoying places. They're also pretty big, so smaller gangs would be out numbered."

"Okay, so we don't go into the moving forest. We still can pick off small time crooks right?" Riley looked up at me with eyes that I couldn't say 'no' to.

"Sure. Impetus gave a few names that are on the Elite's 'protected' list. So unless they're doing something really bad we should leave them alone. This will also be a good test to see how far my clone can range from me." If he didn't have a limit, then his summons might be able to exist outside of my radius as well. That would free us from staying within a few miles of the base to maintain its sentries. "Let's go incognito for a while before we slip into our costumes."

I slip on a hoodie while equipping my 'Thief II' title. I didn't think my evil clone had gotten into enough trouble that my face would be instantly recognized. It would be best to wait for supplies and either have Riley operate or see if my power could change my looks... but I didn't want to anger Riley's Shard. If that made sense.

The little girl in question was happily placing her minions in a large backpack.

"Wait." What was I thinking? There's no reason to go out in regular clothes. "Let's get dressed here. I'll have a gnome scout for us so we can just teleport onto a roof or something."

I'm glad my power agrees that this was the smart thing to do.

Hey! I can give my summons access to my titles. Pretty cheaply too.

Marissa put down her controller. It was great having her friend back. Actually sitting in the same room as har, playing video games and smiling. Noelle actually seemed happy. And why shouldn't she? She had a real body again. Sure, the threat of them going insane and killing everyone, or worse interacting with the wrong person at the wrong time was still there... but Pixel and Bit had offered a solution to that as well.

If that wasn't enough, he even played video games. She remembered when Noelle had first introduced her to Super Mario Brothers. It seemed like the perfect way to rebel against her mother at the time, but Marissa had grown to enjoy video games all the same. She wasn't as big of a geek about it as Noelle was, but who else could be?

"Get over here!!" Pixel's gnome's high pitched voice was completely at odds with the quote it'd just made.

She giggled. It was cute.

Hold up. That reminded her. When Tex had summoned those creatures that Pixel made, he'd used a Baldur's Gate quote. She'd thought it was odd at the time, and it stuck with her. It was a retro game that Noelle had shown her. None of the other Travellers were into that sort of thing, so they'd missed it.

Tex had used a video game quote.

Tex said that he didn't like video games.

It wasn't something that would naturally come up either. Was Tex lying to them? Was Tex one of Pixel's creations? The other obvious creatures meant to distract? Or could Tex BE Pixel?

No, no, no. What would be the point? He'd said the sword and mice had been given to him by their video game loving benefactor. 'Go for the eyes' must be a trigger.

The pyrokinetic girl picked her controller back up. A new round was starting, she had to focus if she didn't want to be eliminated at the start like Oliver.

A nagging thought stayed at the back of her mind. If Pixel was lying about that, what else was he lying about?

Huh? What'd I do to Marissa? She wasn't sore at losing was she? I need to nip whatever this is in the bud. I've learned my lesson from getting random notifications that people think less of me. At least it's two instead of a hundred. My real-self is busy with Riley and is going to be appearing in public as Pixel, so I'll have to stay as Tex. I wish I could just be honest with them about stuff, but they're still Simurgh bombs. It's hard to fully trust them.

I wonder... I had initially thought about applying Gamer's Mind to Noelle. Power Drain had worked well enough so I'd opted to just gain MP instead of spending it. If it could suppress 'Driven to Conflict' then it might be able to suppress 'Simurgh Bomb' as well.

Riley's zero-suit was free to maintain. Pixel's and Bit's outfits cost 15 MP a minute. My current MP regen was more than 100 MP each minute. An outfit for Trickster, Noelle, Sundancer, Ballistic, Genesis, and Oliver would come to 90 MP. I could do it. I could have Tex go with the Travelers (minus Perdition, 'cause I'm not stupid).

My real-self and Riley were beating the ever-loving crap out of a parahuman rapist. Good for us. They were pretty far away now. Several miles. Further than my summons could reach...

Fuck. I have to do it. I can't have my new super powerful and mentally deranged allies go off on their own when I was capable of helping. Who knew what trouble Krouse would get into? Promise not to kill or not, it was too big of a risk. Not just for them, but for any poor innocents around when they exploded.

Right. Here's the new plan then: 1. Wait for the clinic to open. 2. See about changing Tex's face. 3. Tex accompanies the Travelers (minus Perdition) to Boston to raid Blasto. 3.5. Explain why the costumes can only exist within a certain radius of Tex. 3.75. Come up with a reason why Tex should get to play video games and why he's so good at them. 4. Get Blasto's stuff and try to revive Mr. Price. Cloning a body without a brain is possible, right? Noelle could do it, but that would require murdering clone-Price. 5. Send Tex and the Travelers to Madison. It would be better to have Riley go with them. Easier to do any dissecting inside, but it was too dangerous. I wasn't taking her anywhere Jack might show up.

Speaking of Riley, this sucks. She wanted to actually see the city. My clone was going to be the solution to that issue. If I split my focus between her and the Travelers, then she'd remain cooped up. I didn't want that for her. I didn't want it for me either, but this was too important.

Guess I can still gain charisma. I wonder if I'd lose it if I don't follow through? Not that I'd willingly do that. I'd already made up my mind. I don't see any rational reason for me to leave six of the seven Simurgh Bombs to their own devices.

Alright. I have a plan and an explanation. I have my gnome bow out of the current game and dissipate. Probably should've done that before Pixel started his first patrol. Well, unless one of the Travelers is paying close attention to the time and cross-references whatever comes out on PHO, I should be fine. Not like anyone had seen us yet. I could always claim to be multi-tasking and playing games while patrolling.

When 'Pixel' gets back, I'll need to talk with Marissa. Before that, I need to use the internet and lookup how actual armor is supposed to fit together.

Guillaume and Nicholas Vasil. Two of Heartbreaker's children. According to their bios they were in New York searching for their sister. Both of them are real scum. Rape, torture, brainwashing. They weren't fully at fault. Their father was the true piece of shit. Everyone knew about him. He was the reason Masters were so feared. Well, the justification of why. Pretty sure people would fear them anyways.

Riley had enjoyed herself at least. She'd apparently already adjusted her own biology enough that Nicholas' fear barely had any effect. Guillaume had to actually touch someone to affect them with his power, so he was completely ineffective against Riley in her outfit. It was cathartic in its own way to watch her and her Mets administer some 'justice'. Even if I hadn't gotten any exp from the rather one-sided fight.

"And take THAT!" She kicked Nicholas in the stomach. "And THAT!" She kicked him again. "You big meenies! You. Need. To. Respect. Other. People's. Mental. Sanctity!" Each word was punctuated with another kick. She might be stronger than she appeared, but each hit barely dropped his HP bar.

"Easy there, Bit. They're already unconscious." Observe made certain they weren't faking.

Riley ► They qualify as bad enough people, right?
Riley ► I'll get to experiment on them, right?
Kevin ► I'd normally say 'yes', but look at their bios.
Riley ► What about them? They didn't have it THAT rough. They had a choice.
Kevin ► I agree, but what about their sister.
Riley ► The one they're chasing after? It doesn't even mention her name.
Kevin ► That doesn't matter. Put yourself in her position for a moment.
Riley ► I don't follow...
Kevin ► She grew up in the same situation, but she chose to run away.
Riley ► Exactly! And these two goobers are chasing her.
Kevin ► That's why their capture has to be public. We need to parade them in front of the Protectorate with as many witnesses as possible.
Riley ► Oh! I get it! If she sees they've been captured she won't be as afraid!
Kevin ► Right. What's more she's probably desperate right now. Giving her piece of mind will break the cycle of conflict.

I mean, it won't. Not as long as her Shard is nudging her down that path. I at least hope whatever their sister does in the future won't be as bad as if she was running for her life.

Kevin ► I'm going to heal them. I don't want the Protectorate to get any wrong ideas.
Riley ► They deserved worse.
Kevin ► That they did, but it's better if we don't get a reputation of... subduing our opponents with undue force.

Which reminds me. I need to get Riley to make some sort of knockout gas. I need better non-lethal options.

Kevin ► Can you do something to keep them unconscious for a while, but without any side-effects or anything else that might raise concerns?
Riley ► Sure thing!

"Have your Mets carry them outside. We'll wait for the Protectorate there." You never know who's watching. I don't think Bit's little tantrum would go over that well. Then again it might. She has the whole cute thing going. So she might be easily forgiven.

The Mets coordinate, two for each villain. It's a little bit of a struggle, but they manage it without bruising their cargo. Much. The elevator dings and an old couple steps back in surprise. "Hi!" Riley waves at them. "We're taking these two nincompoops outside. Could you call the PRT for us? Please?"

"S-Sure." The man trembles a little, but returns the wave.

"Let's just take the stairs." I motion to the side. "We're going to have to wait anyways."

"Sure thing Pixel!"

We slowly make our way down the stairs. It takes a while since the Mets aren't really designed for carrying things... or for traversing stairs. Eventually we exit the building to see a PRT van with a half-dozen troops outside. Standing in front of them is a tall, blond, and muscular woman. She wore a skintight suit with a belt and mask. I Observed her. Samantha Case (Sam). Prism. One of the New York Protectorate. Or rather, this was a duplicate of her.

There are several people on the sidewalk and leaning out of buildings with their phones out.

"Greetings heroes and citizens!! My name is Pixel. My colleague Bit and I have just apprehended two of Heartbreaker's children!!"

Chapter Text

I stand in front of the PRT, the Protectorate hero - Prism, and a crowd of onlookers. There was a very satisfying hush that fell over them all once I announced who we'd captured.

"You have proof of this?" Prism asks me. I have proof in that I saw their bios. While that's sufficient for me, I suspect the Protectorate has a higher threshold.

When in doubt, state your case and let the other side react. "This is Nicholas Vasil!" I raise my voice slightly for the people recording. It's a simple thing to project from my diaphragm and to have a slight English accent. Acting is a great skill. "He can manipulate people's emotions. He makes them feel terror."

Prism's eyes narrow. "And the other one?"

"This is Guillaume Vasil." I motion to the other body. "He can use and manipulate the senses of anyone he touches! Indeed it was their blatant use of their powers that led us to them."

Riley steps forward and gives a little wave, which is mirrored by each of her Mets. "Hi!! I'm Bit!"

"So you've been exposed to two Masters?" I can see where this is going.

"While my scanner can detect their powers and who they used them on, Guillaume never laid so much as a finger on us." I nod at the PRT trooper that has approached the two bodies with a spray tank. "It would be best to ensure that nobody touches him in the future. As for the other one." I turn and look at Nicholas. "I am quite immune to fear."

Prism grunts in return. "Would you be willing to come with us to the PRT office and give a statement?"

I nod. "Of course." Glad I have my clone at home.

"Why'd you target Heartbreaker's kids?" A man with his cell phone out yells.

"Because cults are a blight on society."

...

A man in a black suit sits down on the other side of the table and flips on a hand-held recorder. "This is PRT Agent John Hope. The date is November 19th, 2010 and I am in the room with two parahumans.” He pauses and searches through through a manila folder. "So, your name is Pixel?" He asks.

"Yes."

Riley raises her hand and wildly waves it back and forth. "And I'm Bit!"

The agent clears his throat. "Yes. Can you tell me what happened in your own words?"

"Bit and I were patrolling, when we noticed a unique energy on a passerby. We identified it as originating from a parahuman, and moved in the direction he came from. Along the way, we encountered more of such people. Eventually we saw the actual application. We performed a search and identified the individual as Guillaume Vasil. We also identified Nicholas Vasil. As sons of Heartbreaker, we assumed they were up to no good. So we waited for them to enter their penthouse - which, incidentally, is not registered to them. Bit and I then moved in and incapacitated them."

"A unique energy you say."

I nod. "I am capable of identifying nearly any usage of a parahuman ability."

"Can you give us a list of those you saw who were targeted."

"Certainly." He hands me a piece of paper and a pen, and I write out the names of the people who'd had the 'Linked Senses' debuff. I make sure to write in large blocky letters. Lucky Screen might help with parahumans trying to spy on me, but good old fashion handwriting analysis was still a thing.

The agent's eyebrows raise slightly. Yeah, I think the notifications are more sensitive now. "You have their actual names?"

"Yes."

"I see." He makes a note. I also had a short bio for each, but I wasn't going to reveal that. I figured Observe would, quite rightly, freak them out if they knew the full extent of its power. I assume that a sophisticated enough computer program would be able to glean someone's name from a photo. I hoped to imply that's what I had done. "So how did you incapacitate them exactly?"

"Oh! Oh!" Riley waves her hand above her head.

"Go on."

"I did it!" She puffs out her chest. "I charged in and was like 'Kapow!' and 'Kersplat!'. The taller one tried to make me afraid, but Pixel's armor stopped it!"

Riley ► (Winking Face )

"And their wounds?"

"Pixel used his super amazing healing technology on them!!"

Riley ► (Winking Face )

Part of me regrets giving her the Party ability. The other part finds it unbearably adorable. At least she isn't physically trying to wink at me in the middle of the interview.

"Yes, the healing technology that the Elite are creating a clinic for."

"That's right."

"Is it limited to humans?"

"Not at all."

"Would you let us observe it?"

"Of course. Would here be acceptable?"

Agent Hope holds up a hand. "I'm afraid you are not allowed to use it on me."

I shake my head and hold up a inch-wide glowing cube.

"I will simply expand the container. You may place whatever you like inside."

I put the cube on the ground and stand back. I then un-Inventory the healing pod I'd made. It weighed a lot, but I've figured out that my summons weight isn't counted towards my Inventory limit. I guess because pixels don't really have weight? Or a useful power-interaction? Either way, it's a huge help.

I didn't have enough budget to make a Rapid Regeneration lvl 2 summon. If I could then I'd have Gnome healers, but that would probably raise a lot of comparisons to Nilbog. Best to get the idea of pixelized tech in people's minds. No need to advertise my more humanoid minions.

The healing pod is a long silver 'cylinder' with a clear top. I included a 'control panel' with randomly blinking pixels for effect.

The agent stands up and walks over to the pod. "May I?" I nod. He puts a tentative hand on it.

"It's smooth!" He runs his hand over its surface.

"Yes. The physical characteristics differ from its visual ones."

"I see." He pulls out his cell phone and presses a button. "Yes. Please bring a wounded animal for experimental treatment to room 302." He hangs up. "Now, lets get back to the acknowledgment forms."

I'm glad I have Gamer's Mind, or I'd be out of my skull with boredom already. I don't know how Riley stands it.

5 hours later...

Ugh. If I had it all over to do, I'd be tempted to go vigilante. At least I was able to keep Riley entertained with our party chat. I'm going to assume that 'Cherish' is the sister they were hunting and 'Barrow' is another family member who's also chasing her. How many kids did Heartbreaker have anyways? I should probably do something about him in the future. He was another person Gamer's Mind was a hard counter for.

I'll put it on the list, but honestly, I have bigger fish to fry first. As much of a scumbag Heartbreaker is, he's not hurting as many people as, say, the Slaughter House Seven. I admit, that is a high bar. I shouldn't hold everyone to that level of evil. I find it interesting that my power cares about his slaves more than his children. I personally agree with it.

...I wonder if that's playing into the rewards? Am I influencing Optimize or is my Shard influencing me?

It needed resources.

Hosts had access to resources.

It needed hosts.

Accessing analysis and prediction...

ERROR! Lack of resources.

Accessing communication and scanning...

Resource reserve down to 53%.

Observing...

We stepped out of the building and walked towards the street. Unlike other buildings, the PRT headquarters had ample space around it. Sure, there were places with parking lots, but that's not what the buffer was for. I had to imagine that there were concealed defenses. Even if there weren't, the extra space itself would be an asset against a lot of parahumans I'm betting.

We stopped at the edge. I pulled out another Inventory Cube, which soon changed into a Teleportation Pad.

The pad itself was a 3 foot diameter circular disk that was two inches tall. Level 2 teleportation couldn't send us to spots on my mini-map. It was limited to line-of-sight. People on the sidewalk had stopped and were pointing their phones at us. Riley gave a little wave as she and I stepped on my pixelated pad. We were on a far away rooftop the next moment. Sure, I could've just teleported us directly, but this sold the tech angle. Also, any Thinkers or Tinkertech sensors would let the PRT know that the pad did the actual teleportation. Probably.

I wonder what they'll think when it vanishes. Part of me wanted to leave a spy behind to watch, but that'd be asking for trouble. Better not to reveal any spying capacity just yet.

I put my hand on Riley's shoulder and we vanished again. One of the benefits of the teleportation pad was that I could 'charge' it ahead of time. It took time to deploy and was bulky, but it let me act immediately upon arrival. More than worth it in my eyes. Regeneration was the only other ability I had that behaved in the same manner.

Although... I hadn't tried giving a summoned creature the summoning ability. Due to the increasing cost, I'd never be able to grant something my highest level of summoning... unless it was a unique summons...

I needed to experiment with this. Regular summons all drew MP from me, so letting them summon would just extend my range. Riley's Zero-Suit didn't have an upkeep cost. What would've happened if I'd given it the summon ability?

Wow. It might be worth using up another slot to test. I was hoping that Summoning would level soon. If it did, and I couldn't expand existing unique items to use the higher cap... Well, it would offend me as a min/maxer to have wasted a slot for testing.

Before that, I wanted to talk with Mars. I'd inadvertently done something that upset her enough to lose reputation. It wasn't much, so I didn't think she was going to burn my base down or anything. Still, forewarned is forearmed.

We appeared on the roof of our base. Riley looked around. "Why are we outside?"

"So I can follow through on our 'bet'." I concentrated and summoned a pegasus.

Damage Resistance (Gravity) should help it fly, and theoretically protect it from falling. Damage Resistance (Physical) was there just in case.

I mentally have the winged horse accept. Riley leaps onto its back. The white steed expands its... unimpressive wings - a horse was already pushing the size of the biggest thing I could summon. Should've gone with another pony. "Go, go, go!" Riley points towards the edge of the roof. The Pegasus neighs in response and gallops forward while flapping its wings. The pair go off the roof as I hear Riley shouting "Wheeeee!!!!!" I wonder if there are laws that say where parahumans can fly?

Kevin ► Don't go too high. Remember we're only a few miles from the airport. I don't want to get a letter from the... FDA?
Riley ► It's the FAA, and don't worry I won't Big Brother!

Yeah. I think I'm the stupid one of the family. I wonder why she capitalized 'Big Brother'. I really need to get a book about psychology. This might be a symptom of her 'Good Girl' fixation.

I let out a sigh as I entered the building. The horse was costing me 60 MP a minute to maintain. Eh, it was worth it. Its future noble sacrifice to Riley's curiosity will be remembered. I walked to the lounge. Most of the Travelers were there, including Mars.

"Hey Pixel, welcome back!" Luke called from the couch. "Ready for another round?"

I shook my head. "Not right now." Marissa was in a corner, playing on her phone. I walked up to her. "Marissa, may I have a moment of your time?"

The notifications were definitely coming more often. The 'slightly' modifier wasn't something I'd seen before today. In fact, now that I thought about it, I was starting to see a clear cause and effect. Marissa's eyes had barely widened just as the notification came. It wasn't something I'd ever noticed before. I would've thought such a thing would come from increased perception. There still must be something I'm just not getting.

"Sure Pixel." She sat up straighter. "What do you want?"

"I have something I'd like to test. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes." She nodded. "If you could follow me."

"Is there something wrong?" She asked from behind me.

"No, but the technology I've been working on is only suitable for small scale testing so far." I turned my head and looked at her over my shoulder. "I don't want to get the other's hopes up before getting some first-hand data."

"Is it dangerous?"

I let out a chuckle. "Not in the slightest."

We entered the observation room for the smaller operating theater. I sat down and Mars took the opposite seat.

"So... what is it?"

"I'm going to test an anti-Master procedure on you. I'm hoping it will suppress anything... incorrect." Her eyes widened and I didn't need the notification. I'd already made a connection with Power Drain, so I pushed Gamer's Mind before she could rationalize why I shouldn't.

Excellent. I sat back in amusement as Marissa did a pretty good impression of Riley's first reaction. It took her a few moments to collect her thoughts.

"I feel... calm. It's bizarre, like my priorities were magnified somehow but are back to what they should be."

"Yes, it's a temporary measure." One that I couldn't keep up for long, even without the horse's drain. Still, a waking meditative state sufficed. "Hopefully it will allow you to retain your new perspective when I stop the effect. Are you ready?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. I need to think first." We sat in silence for several minutes before she looked up. "You're Tex aren't you?"

What? How'd she figure it out? Damn it, I thought I was covering my tracks so well! Well, obviously not as thoroughly as I'd liked. "Hang on." I let out a sigh as my clone made his way here. 'Tex' entered and Marissa looked between the two of us. "I thought this was going to be a bigger reveal." I said as I took off my helmet. I'd figured out how to make it solid and connect to the other segments. That's why I'd had my clone research armor crafting. "So much for my surprise." At the same time, Tex removed his hat, bandanna and glasses.

"Wait... what?" She looked from one of me to the other. "I thought 'Pixel' was just another projection of Tex and that he, you were using him as cover!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Wow, that's closer than you know." I shook my head while my clone continued the thought. "We are the same, but it's slightly more complex than that." He sat down next to us, while I spoke. "I'm glad I decided to show you if you already guessed so much." Speaking in tandem was fun. I should do it for Riley's bedtime story tonight.

"Is Bit another... aspect of you?"

We shook our heads. "No, just Pixel and Tex. Long story short, I was on the run and needed to ditch my first identity."

"So, why are you telling me?"

"Our thinker friend said something was up." We shrugged. "It seemed like the simplest solution was to just come clean to you. No offense, but we were worried what you might do if you thought we were lying to you."

She fell forward with her face in her hands. Her long blond hair cascaded around them. "No, no. I get it. God! I feel so strange!"

"Do you want us to remove the effect? Hang on." I had my clone leave. "I'm not sure what the proper grammar is in such a situation. Using plural pronouns feels pretentious. Simpler for us to just talk one on one instead of one on two."

Mars sat up straight and took a deep breath. "Okay. You can drop it."

I cut Gamer's Mind, but kept the connection open in case I needed to drain her or calm her down. "There, you should be back to normal now."

"Wow. That's... freaky."

I nodded. "Having a separate view of your own thoughts is quite enlightening from what I understand."