Chapter Text
Believe it or not, I do not own WORM or ABERRANT. I do own a clear conscience, though, and isn't that priceless?
Multiversal Russian Weeb
Prologue
Dying was terrifying. The waters of the Barents Sea are cold, dark and cloudy at the best of times, and the storm was anything but.
At 120 pounds, only when soaking-wet like a gangly noodle, I was not prepared for the wind to actually drag me off the oil rig and into the water. I mean, I was nowhere near the edge, for Christ’s sake! It didn’t so much drag me as just blow me off the platform to my rightfully terrifying death.
Plus, I had just finished paying my college debt, and was finally, finally ready to try my hand at socializing, you know? In a year or two, once I was done paying for my apartment. Probably. Maybe?
Listen, do you have any idea how hard it is to be the introverted, ugly lesbian duckling in a family of gorgeous extroverts!? In fucking RUSSIA!? It's goddamn hard, let me tell you… LGBTQ rights? Hah! What are those? Are they tasty?
Anyway yeah… I lived my entire life in the closet. Fucking pisses me off, now that I think about it. Would I have preferred to be born a guy? Not really.
I mean, it's not like I find guys hideous or anything. I just think girls are cuter, you know?
*cough*
Anyway, there I was, kicking myself in the ass for living all my life as the very epitome of the useless lesbian meme, surrounded on all sides by athletic, shapely and energetic acquaintances and friends throughout my education all the way to college, then in my professional life… I mean, I hired this really, really hot (and klutzy) redhead with a preference for miniskirts, high heels and legs for days as my secretary instead of the guy with 12 years of experience and multiple degrees in international business management and office administration for my engineering agency, sue me.
*cough*
As I was saying. I died a coward, sort of? I got in the way of this huge dog when it attacked my niece, you know? Just wrapped my jacket around my left forearm and jammed my puny fist down its throat, and then there’s that one time when I ran into traffic to rescue a kid, but that kind of courage is completely insufficient against the bone-chilling dread the very idea of coming out of the closet as a lesbian instilled into my thoughts.
Salty? Yeah, I’m salty as fuck. Also, I’m dying at sea, so that’s extra salt, hah!
See? I can laugh at myself, all the way to the end… shit, it really is the end. There’s absolutely no way I can swim up with all these wet clothes dragging me down, and even if I could, I have no idea which way to the rig, and even if I did know, I doubt the waves would let me climb the ladder back up into the platform and… yeah, I’m deader than the dinosaurs.
Fuck that, I’m gonna try!
I kick my boots off an- uh?
I’m no longer wet, or cold, or dressed, for that matter. I’m just floating in the middle of nothing and can see nothing but myself, and that only because I’m glowing from within and… aw shit, I went into shock and am hallucinating, aren’t I? Well…
“At least I’ll die knowing I fought to the very end,” I sigh in this airless void.
<Indeed,> says a voice like rain on the roof while I’m warm and safe as a child on my nana’s lap. <you did. Good job fighting to the very end.>
“...thanks.”
<Would you like to try again?>
“Oh? You sound like a very accommodating kind of shock. Sure, just let me go, and I’ll do my damnest best to find the Rig and climb up no matter what. Fuck the storm.”
<I’m afraid that life is already done. Would you like to try again?>
“Wait… am I getting Isekai’d? Is my dying hallucination just me getting Isekai’d?” That… seems kind of amusing to me.
<I am glad we understand each other.>
“Alright, since I’m pretty sure I’ve been unconscious long enough I’m probably a couple hundred feet under the surface by now, why the hell not indulge my Isekai hallucination? Hit me. Why me?”
<You didn’t give up. You were kind. You were brave.>
“Pfft, I was a chickenshit. Lived in the closet, died in the closet.”
<You helped a lot more people than you give yourself credit for.>
“My niece and the old lady? One was family, the other was just being a decent human being.”
<You are skipping the girl getting mugged in the park, the kitten in the river, the man in the rain…> The voice goes on for a good while. It’d be nice if it wasn’t a hallucination, because this list just means that, well…
“Who would have known? My subconscious kept track of every little good thing I ever did. I guess I was an egotistical piece of shit, too.”
<You were not. You were a genuinely brave and kind person, and that’s why I’m asking you to help.>
“Sure, why not? This little bit is my final hurrah before a fade to black… oh, maybe I’ll get to see nana again? That’d be nice, too.”
<But you could help a lot of people before then.>
“Yes yes, I said I’ll do it anyway. So, what’s up?”
<I’m sending you to WORM.>
“Well, shit. They do need help.” I mean, the grimderp ‘it can always get worse’ most popular ABERRANT fanfic of all times really needs a lot of help. “So, what do I get? Tinker of Fiction? Celestial Grimoire? The Company’s system? Chaos Gacha?”
<Since you’re familiar with it, how about ABERRANT?>
You know what? As far as ironic goes, using the oooold pen-and-paper RPG that inspired WORM in the first place to save Earth-Bet from itself has to be up there in the ranks. I mean, it's a game so old it's set ‘in the distant future of 2015’, heh.
“All the books?”
<All the books.>
“Well shit, paint me green and call me a pickle, that sounds hilariously overpowered. Once I’ve had time to escalate, that is. Can I start a second gen?”
<Sure.>
“Oooh boy. Imma need copies of the books to make this work, you know?”
Multiple books pop out of nowhere all around me, from the very basic core rulebook to the fantastically well made fanbooks like New Flesh.
“Am I going full reincarnation? As in, start as a baby, or are you just gonna parachute me in? And if so, at which point in the timeline? Can I save Taylor’s mom?”
<You will pop into existence fully formed, but it will be up to you to secure an ID, roof and food. The time will be shortly after Taylor’s trigger event, so no.>
“Well, that’s what Time Travel is for, anyway.” I grin, because goddamn high-level Quantum powers are bullshit like that. I mean, just wait until I can pull off time shenanigans and give Coil a fucking stroke…
As for securing my own ID, address and what not? Pfft, Mega-Intelligence plus computers plus cyberkinesis will let me run circles around Dragon, nevermind Watchdog.
I mean, White Wolf was amazing at worldbuilding, but God were they shit at rules, balancing and handbooks. Besides, Dragon is limited to a single train of thought, and with all her skill, she still can’t go any faster than human speed, so yeah. The best AI girl is gonna get styled on.
Firstly, 5 dots (which is the maximum within the original system) everything, which is to say, human maximum strength, dexterity, stamina, perception, intelligence, wits, appearance, manipulation and charisma, then 2 dots of mega attribute on everything, aka the Batman build, or the Capt. America build, depending on if you’re a DC or a Marvel fan, I guess.
I am fully aware that it sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t, not when Homo Sapiens Nova gets involved. Regardless, each dot in a mega attribute builds exponentially upon the base attribute, which means that...
Max human deadlift capacity sits at roughly 500 kilos (~1104 lbs), and thus, a single dot in Mega Strength will each give me the ability to deadlift 13 tons (250.000 lbs). Two dots simply doubles that, for a total of 26 tons (500.000 lbs), which means I’m not gonna be the brutest of brutes, but that’s fine because that’s not the core of my build. For enhancements, I’m taking [PRECISION] and [QUANTUM LEAP]. One will let me hit people full strength without actually dealing damage beyond knocking them out, effectively making my unarmed attacks into the best non-lethal option at my disposal, while the other lets me jump around like the Hulk.
Max dexterity is hard to quantify, but according to the rulebook, I should be able to juggle a dozen chainsaws while tied upside down. How to quantify that into Mega Dots? Well I should be able to drive a bike through a helicopter’s spinning blades. Hey, it's an example from the rulebook, so don’t look at me like that. For enhancements, I’ll go with Fast Reload, which lets me reload any gun as a free action, effectively giving me infinite ammo as I kind of pull the extra bullets out of my ass, and Perfect Balance, which simply says ‘You have perfect balance, no matter what.’ Uh, Fast Reload gives me an idea. I wonder if Earth Bet ever got the anime for Grenadier?
Stamina deals with how hard I am to injure, and while 2 dots in Mega Stamina are downright pathetic by Nova standards, I’m gonna try and prioritize leveling that up as soon as I can. At least I should be knife proof and bullet resistant, though I’m gonna dip into what is known as ‘the Trinity of defenses’ anyway, so I just need the Mega Stamina for reasons of endurance more than damage resistance. And speaking of endurance, I’m taking Restorative Activity (Tinkering) and Regeneration as my enhancements, which means that so long as I’m tinkering away, I’m getting the same rest as if I’d spent that long deep asleep in a comfy bed. Eat your heart out, Armsmaster! As for Regeneration, well, that’s kinda obvious, isn’t it?
As Sun Tzu said ‘First, make yourself invincible, then wait for your enemy to inevitably fuck up.’
Not that I plan to, anyway. The moment I get a good sniper rifle, I’m sending me after Jack Slash, but more on that later.
Mega Perception… uhmm… I’m gonna take the Holovision power and the [Edit Senses] and [Holographic Awareness] enhancements. This basically means I’ll be able to see the structure of things around me at a subatomic level, with 360° of vision around myself, while my brain records everything and gives me the ability to recall, zoom, and even spin objects within several hundred feet around me. X-ray vision is for chumps. Furthermore, it’ll work like a super V.A.T.S. in combat, letting us track every combatant, every bullet, and every power on the battlefield.
Intelligence. Ah, here we go, this is why I’m going low-key with everything else. The highest IQ on record is 228, but there was this guy called Willian James Sidis who apparently had an IQ somewhere between 250 and 300, but human IQ tests just wouldn’t go high enough to give a final score. With that, I think it's fair to say that ‘maximum intelligence’ means an
IQ of ~250. I may be low-balling the guy, but hey, it's always better to err in caution.
Anyway, assuming 5 dots on Intelligence means I’ll start with an IQ of 250, then every dot in Mega Int gives me an additional 62500 IQ points (250^2) which is… yeah, and I’m taking it five times. No, it's not an ego thing, though I’m smart enough to know I wouldn’t mind being a bit smarter. I’m taking 5 dots in Mega Int because I want the enhancements that come with it, specifically -
- Taint Resistance - Because the price for phenomenal cosmic power is paid in physical or mental mutations, and I’d very much rather avoid all that, thank you very much.
- Eidetic Memory - I can instantly recall anything I ever learned, though I need to invest a normal effort in learning it first. In short, I’ll never forget anything I learn, but I can’t just chug down petabytes of information and hope to hold it all. That’s what Enhanced Memory is for,
- Enhanced Memory - Lets me absorb truly absurd levels of information all at one. I could sit in front of 25 different computer screens as computer code flies by, and memorize it all. Normally, all this information would go away after about a week, but that’s what Eidetic Memory is for.
- Compartmentalized Mind - Lets me split my mind into multiple, parallel-running personalities. If one gets Mastered, the others can just reboot it to shake off the effect. This is Earth Bet we’re talking about, so having a simple and always-on anti-Master effect will come in handy no matter what. I wonder if it’ll mess up with precogs? I mean, which of my personalities are they trying to predict? How many? Guess there’s something to be said for ruling by committee when it happens in real time.
- Analyze Weakness - Kind of Faultline’s trick, but for personalities, structures, machinery, security systems, software, protocols, etc. If it has a weak spot, it can and will be exploited, ruthlessly and as often and as quickly as inhumanly possible.
Wits - How fast can you think? How quick are you to come up with a retort? How many things can you do at the same time? I’m talking maximum human capacity here, and then adding 2 dots on Mega Attributes on top, which again, are gonna enhance that exponentially. Twice. For enhancements, I’ll go with Natural Empath, because I’m a little afraid of ending like Armsmaster, and Multitasking, because what’s better than compounding on what already is going to be my greatest strength?
Maximum Appearance… well, I mean, everyone has their own preferences, which is why I’m taking this to human max and then sprinkling two dots of Mega Appearance on top, Now, the [Shapeshift] power is gonna synergize massively with this build, but let’s also throw in [Halo Effect] and [Divine Visage] just to fuck with the Bitches Tree. C’mon, it’ll be fun!
As for Manipulation… eh, it sure has a bad rep, but its utility cannot be overstated. For my enhancements there, I’m taking the [Persuader] and [Overwhelming Question]. Again, what does Manipulation do? It lets me manipulate people through various means, bringing them around to my point of view. Mega Manipulation enhances that exponentially, and I’m gonna build on that with Persuader. As for the Overwhelming Question? It basically forces people to answer me truthfully, so long as I’m asking things that can be answered in a simple way.
Finally Charisma. As usual, maximum human, compounded by 2 dots of Mega Charisma, which lets me take 2 enhancements. In this case, I’m gonna go with [Seductive], which lets me know what kind of behavior the people around me find attractive, and [Perfect Guest], which will let me behave exactly right at all times, whether that is while talking to gangsters, kings or bureaucrats. Basically, it lets me say all the right times, at all the right times.
Now abilities… let’s max out Brawling with specialties in Catch Wrestling and Box, Martial Arts with a focused specialty on Ninjutsu, Melee with a focused specialty on Western Swordplay, and Firearms with a focused specialty on Golden Gunplay, because who wouldn’t want to be the love child of Rushuna (Grenadier) and Cleric (Equilibrium). Don’t know who they are? I’m so sorry for you.
Anyway, that should give me a nice repertoire of options for close, mid and long-range combat. Can it be better? Yes, eventually, but this is the starter package, so to speak.
I’m also gonna invest into Stealth, Endurance, Awareness, Investigation, Academics, Analysis, Computers, Engineering, Science, Meditation, Rapport, Weave, and a few others.
I don’t know if I said it enough, but abilities are the cheapest thing to take and raise during character creation, followed by attributes, followed by mega attributes, powers, and finally Quantum.
Ability-wise, I’m basically starting as a low-tier Batman, and intend to fully run with that until I’m BatGod, by the way.
Let’s see… powers. Oh girl, this is the expensive bit.
Alrighty then. In no particular order… Arcane, Blank, Clone, Invulnerability (Kinetic), Absorb (Energy), Psychic Shielding, Cyberkinesis, Biomanipulation (with the extra that lets me modify bacteria-sized organisms) Quantum Weapon and Body Modification (Adhesive Grip, Footpads, Advanced Chromatophores).
Jesus, that chugged 85% of my points all at once. Well, it can’t be helped. Let’s see if I can game the system a little for extra points…
Flaws… flaws… Child (6 points flaw), Blind (6 points flaw) and Crippled (Mute)(4 points flaw) Honestly, I don’t mind being Vista’s age. If I’m gonna live a new life, I may as well get the most mileage I can out of it, anyway.
Blind and Crippled (Mute) are a filthy lie because I absolutely can fix myself with Biomanipulation, but hey, extra points are extra points! Besides I have Edit Senses, so I can just turn my skin into a photosensitive organ and be fine without eyes. And just like that, I got 16 extra points.
What else is there… Short (1 point Flaw). Again, I can just edit this out of myself using Biomanipulation anyway so whatever, just free points.
And now just dump all my leftover points into N-Node, Quantum and Willpower Points.
There, done!
“Mysterious Voice X, I’m ready to go!”
<Your Appearance isn’t done yet.>
“Eh? I got Appearance 5 and Mega-Appearance 2, I should be the hottest… well, the cutest thing this side of a button, though?”
<...what do you actually look like?>
“Oh… oh! Got it! Alright, does this work?” I say, sending the Mysterious Voice X a mental image of what I want.
<Alright. Good Luck, and live a life you won’t regret.>
“...WAIT!”
<Yes?>
“Were you gonna drop my child self naked in Brockton Bay?”
<...yes?>
“Can I at least get an extra large T-shirt made from my favorite fabric?”
<Alright. Remember to find unexpected uses for your powers and abilities. Just because there’s no ‘Raise the Dead’ power, doesn’t mean you can’t.>
“This time for sure, here we go~!”
~Chapter 1~
I land on an alley downtown, and am immediately overwhelmed by the flood of information my Holovision throws at me. Sure, 360° subatomic vision sounds badass until you have it, and then you realize you’re trying to process a whole new sense for the first time, right as it is feeding you subatomically detailed information about everything around you, and that your oh so clever idea of going with both Eidetic Memory and Enhanced Memory means you will never forget anything ever again.
At this pace, I may as well develop [Heresy Resistance], you know? Nai wa, heh.
Ouch, my head. No time to get cute. I can feel that I’m about to faint because its just too much fucking info. I can tell everything about everything in a 60ft radius centered on myself, and while my galaxy brain is no longer having any issue keeping up, my squishy baseline sense of self is a very different story.
Behind and above and below and inside every atom around me in all directions at the same time, plus the way they interact with each other and even which ones make an object surface based on how photons bounce off it, I… urgh. I… I should turn it off, except that if I do that, I’ll never again have the balls to turn it back on, and-
Blessed, blessed unconsciousness overtakes me…
…just kidding. I’m still up.
The problem is, while I’m still standing, I’m not in control. I… I think I did faint, and my subconscious decided (correctly) that I was the problem, then shoved me into a separate personality shard using Compartmentalized Mind while it pilots my body.
Wait, how do I get control back? The whole point of Compartmentalized Mind was to avoid getting mind controlled, so why am I mind controlling myself!? Hey, body-in-charge, where are you going!?
My body is waddling about on the snow-covered street. Hey, I stealth-yoinked us an eufiber T-shirt from the Mysterious Voice X so we could shift it into any clothes we needed, you know? People are looking at us weird, because we’re an utterly adorable 4’3” child with 5’ long pink hair walking down a snow-covered street in nothing but an oversized T-shirt, hey! Get some clothes!
As I watch my subconscious piloting my body, I realize two things. One, I’m watching things, which means my subconscious must have shifted my (our? I’m gonna use our for a while) skin into a photosensitive organ. Two, I’m still a little dizzy because Holovision is still active, so I guess that’s why body-in-charge has yet to give me back control.
Where are we going, anyway? We don’t know where we are, let alone anywhere else, so how could you possibly be heading anywhere, body-in-charge? Listen, you need to look around, copy what people are wearing, and head into a library or anywhere else with an unattended computer so we can make ourselves a paper trail. We need a national identification number, a birth certificate, an address, all that stuff.
C’mon, I maxed out Tradecraft (which really should be called Spycraft) so we know this shit! Once we’re into the system, we can go about building ourselves a power base, start making some clones and sending them to infiltrate the gangs, track down Coil, all that good stuff. Hey! Hey, body-in-charge, listen!
…holy crap I’m Link’s annoying faery companion now.
I really wish I could facepalm.
Oh, my body just facepalmed for me. Makes me feel a lil’ better, thanks. Also, I have to say, that probably should have hurt, because body-in-charge has no sense of scale. Good thing that while I have mega strength 2, I also have mega-stamina 2, because that sounded like a gunshot.
Oh, and now I have tiny handprints on my face. Yeah, I’m pretty sure it must have hurt… aaaand people are looking at us now.
Look, body-in-charge, we really need those clothes, alright? Just… look, that nice looking lady over there is wearing some very sensible boots, a long dress and a coat, copy what she’s wearing, alright? Just go into an alley or a bathroom first so people don’t see you do it in the op-
And the body-in-charge just copied her clothes. Our t-shirt kind of liquefied around us, flowing down to cover ourselves down to our toes, then solidified into a perfect (if smaller) copy of that lady’s winter clothes… and now people are filming us because if that doesn’t scream ‘parahuman’ to the average Brocktonite, nothing will.
Oh, body-in-charge just facepalmed again. Yes, thank you. You really get me, me.
Look just… I’m willing to deal with the headache, just let me back in charge. How are you keeping me out, anywa- ah, you’ve assigned me my original 128 IQ to run in, while keeping the rest of our phone number-like IQ to yourself in order to run things the best you can, got it. Yup, body-in-charge just told me how it's doing what it's doing with nothing but my hindbrain in charge right now.
What a considerate little girl, my body is.
Look, just… I think we’re in what passes for a commercial district around these parts, so just go into a store, any store, and change your clothes and hair color to something less conspicuous, alright? Yes, I realize this is mostly my fault because I’m the one that based our appearance off Ana(F/GO’s Medusa Lily) because I do so firmly believe, she’s the most adorable little girl in fiction, and will eventually grow into an absolute knockout, 12/10 would stare at her everything again, but right now we need to get lost in the crowd, so go into a store, go into the bathroom, change our hair color, pull it up into a bun, change our clothes, and go looking for an unattended computer we can use to forge ourselves an ID, alright?
Ah, you’re walking into a department store. Yes, this is good. Good job, body-in-charge, I wish I could give you a hug and all the headpats. Oh, you’re headpatting ourselves… well, that’s alright. Now go to the back, I’ll tell you when I spot the bathrooms and… why is that lady staring at us like that? I mean, yeah we’re adorable and have light pink hair, but we’re not actually doing anything weird and are wearing proper clothes, so…?
Miss Militia/Hannah
‘...’ Hannah watches as a 4ft tall little girl with 5ft long light pink hair in fashionable high heel boots, winter dress and fur coat walks with her eyes closed into the department store she’s at, dodging around things and people with no issue whatsoever.
Hannah walks over and takes a knee to try and get herself as low as possible as she talks to her “Hey there sweetheart, are you lost?”
The little girl stands in place. Eyes closed, but oriented towards her anyway. At least for a few seconds, before she tries to walk around her, pink hair trailing behind her, flowing smooth over the luxury vinyl floor as she heads deeper into the store.
Ana(Body-in-charge)/MC Shard
Yup, that’s good, just keep heading further in. Come think about it, we don’t really need the bathroom. A changing booth will do just fine, so keep going towards the back and… yes, there’s an empty one over there. Now get in and close the door behind us. Good job! You headpat ourselves again. Good girl, Body-in-charge.
Alright, close the latch. Good job. Now let’s see… alright these clothes look a bit too mature for us, so let’s try switching to something else. Since you’ve been following instructions so well, I assume you have access to my memory, yes? No, don't bother trying to answer, it makes us look constipated when you frown like that. I know I didn’t give us any vocal cords, so it's not your fault you can’t speak. Is okay, I’ll fix it when I’m back in charge, don’t try doing any complicated body changes, just… change our hair color from light pink to black, that’s a lot more normal.
Yup, a nice, lustrous black, nice and glossy. Good job.
As for our clothes, change it to a nice knee-length plated skirt with wool leggings underneath and a turtleneck, long-sleeve sweater with flat soles boots. Let's add a hair bow for cuteness’ sake. Perfection.
Alright, we can go back out now. We still need to find an unattended computer, and then we can get started on cooking ourselves a paper trail. Well, a digital trail anyway.
Hannah/Miss Militia
Hannah blinks and turns around to follow the child as she continues to waddle deeper into the store, walking around things and avoiding people with her eyes closed, silky soft pink hair flowing behind her as she gets into a changing booth and closes the door.
Standing up, Hannah walks out of the way and fetches her cellphone, then dials for Console at the Rig.
<Console here, this is Aegis.>
“Any news about a pink-haired child?”
<...give me a moment. We just got a report about her, how did you know?>
“She just walked into the store I’m at, high heel boots, long winter dress, fur coat, eyes closed but not crashing into anyone.”
<Should I… should I reroute you to Armsmaster or maybe the Deputy Director’s desk?>
“What is the report about?” Hannah waits as Aegis explains that the reports say the child was walking around in just a shirt, then her clothes changed into what Miss Militia saw her wear. “No. She hasn’t done anything illegal. It's just… well, she’s very obviously a parahuman, and almost certainly a lost child, so I guess I’ll try talking to her again.”
<Understood. Should I send reinforcements, just in case?>
“Send Battery if she’s on duty right now. If not, send Assault, or Triumph. Someone will need to pick her up and take her in while we find her parents, and I can’t do that in my civvies.”
<Got it.>
Aegis isn’t gonna bother asking why Miss Militia didn’t ask for Armsmaster’s help to deal with a small child.
A couple of minutes later, and the child walks out of the changing booth, dressed up like a doll and having changed her hair color (but not its length) into the glossiest black Hannah has ever seen. Same everything else, though, including the closed eyes.
Ana(Body-in-charge)/MC
Good job, you may head past us again! Now let’s try and find a library or a cybercafe or something like tha- why’s the same lady waiting for us outside the booth?
*Ana(Body-in-charge) stiffens for a moment, ‘looking’ at the lady as she crouches in front of the booth, very clearly waiting for her. Her mouth opens, her mouth closes, and she goes back into the booth, then closes the door and looks at herself in the mirror, eyebrows furrowed.*
Yeah, I was surprised too, me. I get it. Alright, let's wait for a couple of minutes, maybe she’ll leave.
*A couple minutes later, the lady has not, in fact, left.*
“...” We stare at her.
She stares at us, smiling kindly “...”
“...” We stare at her some more.
“Sweetie, are your parents coming to pick you up?”
“...!” Lady, you were not supposed to talk to us, you killed the gag! *cough* More importantly, Body-in-charge can’t use our powers just yet. Enhancements, sure, but I have the bad feeling that she’d screw something bad if she tries to use our powers, so we haven’t given ourselves eyes yet. Or more importantly to this and any conversation, vocal chords, alright?
Ah, that gives me an idea. Body-in-charge, go back into the booth. We’re gonna use the Advanced Chromatophores to turn invisible, then walk up the wall and use it as an alternative floor all the way to the exit.
“Wait, wh-?” The nice-looking lady sounds confused, wh- oh. Body-in-charge, you were supposed to go into the booth first.
*Facepalm*
Yes, I guess it is a facepalm moment.
*sigh*
Good job, me.
She’s less than an hour old, this mind shard of mine. I should not expect perfection yet.
Hannah/Miss Militia
Right in front of Hannah’ eyes, the child fades away into the background. No, it’s not really invisibility, it’s more like an octopus’ camo trick. Her skin, hair and somehow her clothes, just took the color and texture of whatever’s behind her so she’s really really hard to see.
Miss Militia can tell because the moment she stands up and looks down at the spot the child was, she’s right there, just colored and textured so she’d be basically invisible… if Hannah was still looking at her from the same direction.
Ah, she adjusted, and now she’s invisible again. Aaand now she went back into the booth. At least while she’s moving, it’s exactly like watching the monster from that old movie, Predator. Except it's a 4’ tall child.
But if three red dots appear anywhere on herself, Hannah is breaking out the artillery, because dammit Hero, that was not an appropriate movie for Ward's movie night!
Ana(Body-in-charge)/MC
Well, that was less than ideal but salvageable. Look, just… climb up the wall and start walking towards the entrance. Do your best, Body-in-charge!
*And walks up the booth wall all the way to the roof overhead, and starts moving towards the entrance. Slowly.
‘Yes! Good job, Body-in-charge! Just keep going along the wall… yup, the lady is still waiting by the booth. We’re clear to go.’
Alright, it's the early 2010’s so cybercafés should still be a thing. Just keep the chromatophores on and we’ll be fine. Now wait until the doors open, then quickly sneak out and…
Looking through the clear glass that makes up the entrance, we can see a PRT van outside, along with a woman in a skintight white and grey outfit with blue circuit lines.
Stop! Stooop don’t go that way, turn around, turn around right now! We’re leaving through a window on a higher flo- wait. Actually, is this really a problem? I mean…
We could go with them, get signed up with the PRT, let them do our paperwork the legal way. Piggot is famously short on capes, so she’ll sign us up right away. It’s not like we’ve committed any crimes or somesuch.
Right, for all intents and purposes, we’re just a lost child. Probably a recent trigger… ah!
Hey, Body-in-charge, give us an Omega symbol on the back. Something big and easy to spot.
*cough*
There we go, amnesia as a ready story. Thank you Cauldron.
Anyway, we can get registered with the PRT, join the Wards and they’ll probably call Panpan in to give us a check once they realize we have neither eyes nor vocal cords. We’ll probably get signed on to go to school with Missy because of our age, and by then I should be in control of the body again so I can use our powers to create a clone and send it back into the PRT while I love about. It’s actually pretty practical, and it’ll save me some time.
Alright, so now we need to get caught in a manner that doesn’t seem to have been on purpose, but how would Why is that kid holding his phone in our direction? Like, straight at us.
Wait, are you telling us that this- this normal kid, he saw through our maxed-out, advanced chromatophore-reinforced stealth ninja training with Mega Dexterity on top!? Nai wa!! Is he… is he a one in a billion, one in 10-generations genius!?
*stare*
Greg Vader/XxVoid_CowboyxX
‘I’ll prove that this store’s sign is broadcasting in superliminal code to planet X to signal the venusian lizard men it's time to attack. I just need to film it for a bit, then I can go home and analyze it until the pattern shows itself. PHO will have no choice but to accept I’m right!’
Greg’s eyes clinked as he looked at the screen.
‘Wait, something’s happening to the sign, the edges are kind of blurry, like…’
“Oh my God, it's an alien!”
Battery/PRT Agents
“”“The fuck?”””
We all turned to look at the kid, because isn’t that what anyone would do? He was filming something on his phone and…
*The troopers lift their confoam launchers the moment they see the shimmering on the sign.*
“Wait, we got a tip about a kid th-!” Battery tried to stop them, but there’s always the one twitchy finger guy.
*PHOOM*
Ah, whatever it was, it dodged, but now that we’re looking at it move, it's not impossible to see. Its edges look blurry, like we’re watching through weirdly shaped glass, but it is otherwise impossible to see unless you’re on guard and looking for it.
The fact it can run on walls is an extra issue. We can’t just shoot confoam at it. If we miss, we’ll catch the civilians that, because this is Brockton Bay, half of which are now just filming the whole thing.
I swear, tourists. You can tell because the actual brocktonites left for cover.
“Follow after it!”
The troopers start running after it, and some people are getting shoved to the floor because it's not exactly easy to run through a crowd when you’re in full riot gear and trying to track something running along the walls on top of you.
Ana(Body-in-charge) / MC
Alright, Body-in-charge, I know you can’t use our powers without me on the driving seat, but you’re doing a good job with our enhancements.
Yes, you can pat our head, just keep a slow pace so they can keep us in sight. We want them to understand they’re chasing a small child.
Alright, now how do we get caught accidentally on purpose? Factually, it's not like they can run up the wall at us, and it’d be way too suspicious if we abandoned our advantage to try and run along the ground.
Ah, we ran out of buildings. That’s actually convenient.
Body-in-charge, jump onto the roof of that bus stop, and let them surround us for a bit, then hop on top of the bus. If it drives away, we’re on a slow-moving vehicle with a well-known path, so they should eventually just send a flyer to just pick us up. If they stop the bus, just roam on top of the roof and pretend to be a scared cat, raised hackles and all, until they get a ladder and pick us up. Oh, and either way, drop the chromatophores effect. You can also shift our hair back to pink, let them get a good look at us, and convince them we can’t keep it up for very long.
When you’re weak, pretend strength. If you’re strong, pretend you’re weak. Sun Tzu said that, and the guy knew a thing or two.
Yup, this’ll be fine. Just a scared child running away from the scary people with guns, nothing to see here.
Alright so… There's so much wrong with that statement, but you get my point. Of course the diminutive child would run from the scary people in riot gear who also happen to carry guns as thick as a fireman hose.
Battery/PRT troopers.
The camo effect dropped shortly after she began to run. And we could all tell it was a she. Roughly 4’ tall, doing her best to get away while sending gravity to cry behind a couch, treating the side of the building as if it was an empty road.
Pink. So much pink.
There were zero chances of taking it for anything but a small child anymore. More specifically, a very small child, doing her best to run away from the scary grownups with guns and riot gear.
Thank God nobody tried taking a shot. I’m pretty sure PR would crucify us all if we try.
Her hair floated behind her as she ran with her arms spread wide, almost like a toddler learning to walk, or a kid in so many layers of thick cloth she can’t even bend her arms. We now had zero issues following her on open ground, as did the cameras of roughly four dozen cellphones from pretty much everyone on site.
Hookwolf? Run for cover. Four feet tall child with pink hair waddling her way along a building side? Prime PHO stuff, that.
“Oooh!”
The crowd cries out in worry as she makes it to the end of the building and leaps about a dozen feet straight ahead. She rolls through the air, becomes a fluffy-pink sphere for a heartbeat or two, then uncoils and lands like a cat on top of a bus stop’s roof, gives us a look, and takes a short hop onto the slowly peeling away bus.
Ah, she sat down and waves at us, right as the wind picks up her hair and makes it float all over herself. Not exactly a hard target to track.
For Battery, it is hardly any trouble. Barely an inconvenience. She just runs ahead and starts following the bus, then overtakes it and has it pull to the side of the street.
The moment the kid tries to hop down, Battery’s there to catch her in her arms. They’re both covered in pink, and about a hundred phones catch it all. PHO’s gonna have a blast.
…is …is she giving Battery headpats?
Ana(Body-in-charge) / MC
I love it when a plan comes together. Squirm a little so she has to hold you a little tight, but make sure to be gentle since she’s not a brute, then let out a big sigh and settle down.
Yes, yes, you did great. Battery too, I… yes, you can give her headpats, but don’t go overboard. Now we need them to take us to the PRT and check on us…
Ah, use the [Shapeshift] power to make lots of scar tissue inside our eye sockets and throat. We want them to think we’ve been abused to hell and back so they’ll call Panpan to check our overall health.
I’m sure it’ll be a whole thing.
A/N: I enjoy comments, so go ahead and give 'em to me! I also have a Patreon, and you can read up to chapter 19 over there (as of the moment of this upload). The link is --> here <-- but if that doesn't work, just google Maglad and Patreon together.