Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

[Snake/Eater]

To start with, your lips." He kissed me softly, and I responded with a soft moan. If he knew my response was an act, then he pretended that away as well.

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I couldn't feel the gentle effort he put into his kisses and caresses, the way he softly bit my neck. All that was wasted on me. Part of the price I paid for my powers.

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For about three and a half minutes. Then the alarm sounded.

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I choose this song to be Emma's theme romance theme for this chapter,here's "Enjoy The Silence" by Depeche Mode as covered by Denmark + Winter.the song has multiple meanings for that last paragraph,but the most common theme is she will refuse to regret having her powers,because they help give her back Zach."All I ever wanted, all I ever needed.Is here in my arms.Words are very unnecessary,They can only do harm.

Spoiler: Enjoy The Silence

My money is on Tohu being responsible for cutting the romance short,because she's totally crazy for Zach.

 

[Coruscant Knave]

I'm emoting about Emma again. This is uncomfortable.

Sonic manipulation and amplification. It made him one of our better Thinkers, actually, able to hear heartbeats from half a block away, but his blaster power took a lot of time to build up into something effective, and when it did it exploded with force enough to shatter concrete. He didn't have a nonlethal setting.

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Dubstep.

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Which came first, the power or the name?

 

[pepperjack]

Which came first, the power or the name?

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Dr. McNinja'd:

Spoiler: Dubstep Quartet

 

[Z000]

Dubstep gun for Dubstep

 

[Ack]

Wow, Emma pretending to feel something, just so she can have quality time with her boyfriend?

I don't know if that's really sweet or really creepy.


... well, Boost hitting on two girls in the space of ten seconds; that's creepy.

 

[dasstan]

Did they not try to merge Vicky and Emma to see if they could fix some of her deviances, or was that an off panel sort of deal?

 

[the DragonBard]

Probably either something the shapeshifting can't fix, or since Emma's problem isn't severe enough, they figure she's low priority.

 

[Asunder]

She can never know how tender a lover's touch can feel. Her skin is cold but her heart still burns. But still she fights to earn a redemption that none can give...
Oh god my latent teen poetry tendencies are emerging! what have you done Tananari!

 

[GladiusLucix]

"Did you realize that Riley's genetic analysis tech works on nonhumans, and managed to hybrid yourself a puppy with a Japanese Squirrel? Because I did that two weeks ago. Still haven't gotten around to actually growing one. Cross species genetics get ugly."

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Japanese Squirrel? *googles*

OH GOD THAT'S ADORABLE!

 

[abyssmal_kismet]

His power only works on mammals, huh? What about a mammal crossed with a non-mammal?

 

[TanaNari]

So. Who's going to be the unlucky sod to use the flash built Time Gun on the threat?

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Your mother.

More likely, suicide zerg.

Which came first, the power or the name?

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I roll dice. I have a chart. Enhanced hearing. Energy manip. Energy generation. Energy detection. Stun blast. I accepted that this was a sign.

Did they not try to merge Vicky and Emma to see if they could fix some of her deviances, or was that an off panel sort of deal?

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She's "low priority". Also, she never put herself on the waiting list because she already knows it won't work, and quite frankly she doesn't want to deal with the pity party of everyone knowing about this issue. A bit of Sophia's lingering influence about the whole 'showing weakness' thing, if you like.


[dice]431[/dice]


So that's Adaptation (Crawler's base power)
Possession.
Motion Detection.
And acid generation.

... That's a fucking horrifying combination. So... Case 53 that climbs inside its host, grants all kinds of cool physical abilities. Until the host's metabolism burns out and it has to find a new body.

 

[GiftofLove]

Let me guess. Emma can't take advantage because her power actively changes her biology when she switches states?

 

[TanaNari]

And Vicky's shapeshifting option is only shapeshifting. It could turn Sveta from squid-head to cosmetically humanoid. It couldn't make her human.

Emma's already cosmetically human. There's nothing Vicky's power can change other than maybe give her slightly boosted physical abilities, and even that's a maybe.

 

[gatewaewanderer]

Amelia, Ch 293- Emma

SNIP

"Says the guy who thinks the hottest thing about me is that I can transform?" I crossed my arms and took a displeased stance, complete with glare and tapping one foot on the ground. "Do you really think you have room to criticize?"


"Hey, all your transformed states are human," he defended. "That's just the fun of getting it on after a haircut or dye job, only you can do it more often. Besides, that's nowhere near the hottest thing about you."


"Oh?" I smiled, walking toward him. I put a bit of extra swing in my step. He could be a charmer when he wanted to, and I had to love him for ignoring how not human my anatomy really was. "Now I have to know what you think is hottest about me."


"Oh, sure, put me on the spot," he complained. But he was smiling back, and approached me quickly. We had the lab to ourselves, this late at night Trevor and Riley would be in bed. That left only Rey, and he had his own lab focused on how to best exploit the Endbringer tissue. He caressed my cheek. "To start with, your lips." He kissed me softly, and I responded with a soft moan. If he knew my response was an act, then he pretended that away as well.


I barely felt it when Taylor punched me in the face hard enough to break my zygomatic and maxilla. I barely felt it when I was trapped in New Delhi, my skin boiling even when I was using my hybrid state to keep me, my armor, and Dennis alive.


I couldn't feel the gentle effort he put into his kisses and caresses, the way he softly bit my neck. All that was wasted on me. Part of the price I paid for my powers.


I had it better than many parahumans. Like, say, Lisa. It didn't disgust me, I still enjoyed the intimacy, and my rewired brain didn't experience even the basics of that desire in the first place. Not being able to want to was better than wanting to but being unable, at least from where I was sitting. So I pretended the appropriate responses, tapped into my power to analyze his physiological responses, and spent some quality time with my boyfriend.


For about three and a half minutes. Then the alarm sounded.


"REALLY?!"


===============

A/N- Zach: "Okay, now it's fucking personal."

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Huh. Figured she'd very likely be unable to have children, but unable to feel anything at all, in what sounds at least slightly similar a manner as Weld (for all that he's made of metal and she's not, it still sounds like both of them have little to no sense of touch?)

Also, it's swiftly becoming apparent that Endbringers as a whole seem to enjoy cock(or whatever's applicable,)-blocking Pantheon. Makes me wonder if there's some kind of underlying issues in Eidolon's mind. Is the real problem with him that he's not getting laid on a regular basis? Could the real PtV be "Get Eidolon A Girlfriend?"

 

[GiftofLove]

David is deeply distressed knowing that a bunch of dating teenagers are living together unsupervised, of course.

 

[Daunmi]

I think you missed my "I kid" invisitext. I really just wanted an excuse to post grumpy cat.

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... You know what makes it worse? I missed it when reading your post, then wondered why I had to edit out some extra spaces after the spoiler to tidy up the quote. Normally I'm quite good at spotting invisitext. Ah well.

Each time we kill one, the next generation is that much less effective." As long as we avoid the fight with Tohu and Bohu.

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So, does this mean they're assuming that they can only copy the powers of capes present at the fight? Ooooh that's not going to go well...

"Sure, that sounds like fun," Boost agreed, smiling and looking at Clarice. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

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Boost: "I'm back from Avalon guys, you miss me?"
Boost's friend: "Hey man, how'd it go?"
Boost: "Well, I definitely didn't have my ass kicked by a teenage girl, that's for sure, so let's change the topic."

Your mother.

More likely, suicide zerg.

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More likely? So... mothers are still possible at least?

 

[GladiusLucix]

Boost: "I'm back from Avalon guys, you miss me?"
Boost's friend: "Hey man, how'd it go?"
Boost: "Well, I definitely didn't have my ass kicked by a teenage girl, that's for sure, so let's change the topic."

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Yeah, she's only ten or eleven at this point.

 

[dasstan]

More likely? So... mothers are still possible at least?

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Tis a noble death. She will be missed.

 

[GladiusLucix]

Prediction for the upcoming Endbringer fight:
Leviathan shows up and "plays" with whoever shows up, because they'd rather keep him around than deal with any more new Endbringers. Taylor is directing the zerg while snuggling in bed with Amelia, the tinkers go back to their labs, and Alexandria and Victoria play catch.

 

[Daunmi]

Prediction for the upcoming Endbringer fight:
Leviathan shows up and

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After a quick scramble by Pantheon forces to get there asap, Taylor just glares at the other capes. "What, Leviathan? Fuck, we've got more dangerous Endbringers to worry about." They all shunt back.

Leviathan doesn't bother using waves to cover the battlefield. His tears do the job.

 

[TanaNari]

Amelia, Ch 294- Taylor


The alarm screeched its displeasure, and I shot up in bed, reaching over to shake Amelia awake. Two in the morning? God damn it. Amelia complained unhappily in her sleep, then realized what was going on, and was instantly as awake as me. RealizationHorrorAlert. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing. I rolled out of bed, and she did the same on her side.


"Do you know anything?" she asked.


I reached out with my senses, looking for information as I put on my armor. I found it with Victoria. Every Pantheon member's specialized armor was quantum linked to Avalon and functioned as a relay bug. A fact that was a closely guarded secret. In essense, it meant I was backup any time any of our teams needed help.

"Confirming Leviathan, Pacific ocean, likely California," Director Dunn told Chevalier and the rest of the gathered team. Victoria was already there with them. "Dragon's transport vessel is en route now."


"Understood," Chevalier replied. "Arclight, you take charge here while I'm gone."


"Yes, sir," the other man answered. The voice tech in the armor made it clear he wasn't happy about that command, although I didn't know why.


"I'm sending Janus after you," I informed Victoria.


"May as well cancel the transport," Vicky cut. "We have special pickup plans."


"Miss," the Director responded. "You're not the one in charge."


"Oh, I know," she answered. "But I just got instructions from the people who are. We'll have a teleporter here in..." she paused for a second, and I took the prompt for what it was.


"About three minutes," I answered.


"Five minutes," Vicky finished.​

"North America, they think," I answered, grabbing my armor. What does it say about us that we keep million dollar plus pieces of combat armor in our bedroom? "West coast. Could possibly be Hawaii."


"Coast? That's specific," she asked as she morphed her suit over her body.


"We know who this one is," I answered. "Leviathan's making a showing."

"It's Leviathan. I want both of you to go to the Philedelphia site and meet with Victoria and Chevalier's team," I instructed Lily and Eric. "Then bring them all to Avalon's capitol." We really need to get around to naming things.


"Understood," Eric responded, already in his armor. Lily was still not dressed. Her armor was a lot less convenient than the rest of ours, thanks to the nanofilament that let her shield herself with her power.


"Just teleport us over now," she told him. "I'll get dressed during."

​

DeterminationVindication. "The last of the originals," Amelia responded. "Do you think we'll be able to kill him?"


"Vicky's going to be pissed that it won't be her that gets to deliver the final blow," I answered. Meanwhile, my zerg were lining up for their transit. The phalanx types were top priority, taking the forward facing position. I'd trained with Missy enough that she knew what that meant. I felt the warp of space as she wove her way across the planet, creating the path my monsters started traveling through even before Amelia and I were finally able to make it outside.


"Status report?" I asked.


"Command center's powering up," Emma responded. "Ten minutes."


"It'll have to stay here," Missy spoke. "I can barely get the zerg through."


ConfusionConcern. "I thought it would be years before Avalon was populated enough to give you problems," Amelia asked.


"If we wanted to go to or from anywhere else, it would be," Missy responded. "But you're asking me to jump from our most populated area to our second most populated area. I had to detour near the south pole for this. It's almost like they planned it this way."


"Can't rule it out," Lisa cut in. "We know they managed to build the Simurgh. They might be using something like her to coordinate attacks."


"Just worry about the zerg, then," I commanded. "We'll rely on Janus to get us in position."


Meanwhile, I felt the perception shift as Atropos and Janus jumped from Bet to Avalon, and then a moment later over to our Philadelphia site to pick up Victoria and the others. I didn't bother eavesdropping on the conversation.


"Don't worry, I can provide a staging area," Dragon responded over our com systems. One of the few non-Pantheon members that we'd given that access to. "I have a number of Fafnir models in the region doing geological scans. They're versatile enough to accomplish most of what your platform can under ordinary circumstances. Leviathan is a known quantity, your more esoteric technology will be wasted on this."


GratitudeAcceptance. "Thank you," Amelia responded.


Over the course of a few seconds, Philly's Protectorate team started appearing on our teleportation platform. Victoria and Lily immediately flew toward where Lisa was waiting, followed closely by Chevalier, and then the rest of his team.


"Same plan we already discussed?" Lily asked as they landed. Normal voices, not the com systems.


"Minor changes, but nothing that concerns your roles," Lisa answered.


Emma rushed up to Vicky. "Here's that sword I told you about," she held up the weapon. It shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow, a kaleidescope unable to decide on a pattern. "The stasis forcefield is active for now. It's unbreakable in this state, and as sharp as any standard sword. If you need to you can give it Clockblocker's immovability or a cutting edge just slightly weaker than the nanorthorns. But those are huge energy drains."


"It's basically a lightsaber," Zach cut in.


"Okay, I see the options on my armor," Vicky agreed. She held the sword straight up. With a better angle, I could see how slender it was More like a fencing sword than the weapons Chevalier or Alexandria used.


"Activate the final setting and you have exactly twenty six seconds before it breaks," Emma continued. "During that time, it will be able to cut through anything, matter or energy, that isn't enforced by Atropos or Shaman's powers. We've tested it against Alexandria's power and the densest Endbringer tissue we've had the opportunity to study. Don't know if it'll cut through their core, but I'm pretty sure it will."


"Don't use it unless you absolutely fucking have to," Lisa demanded. "I know you want to get payback for Gallant, Shielder and Manpower. But the new Endbringers are designed to be immune to methods that were key in killing their predecessors. If Atropos fails-"


"I won't," Lily cut in, her voice determined.


"If Atropos fails," Lisa continued. "Then we might be better off letting Leviathan get away and trying with her power again in a year or so when he gets back for a rematch. You could be carrying the only thing that can kill the newest generation of Endbringers, since the Shaman-Rosary interaction was used on Wendigo. And we don't know how Leviathan's going to behave during this battle. We'll need to expect his rules to change."


"Fuck that," Vicky complained. "Ames will back me on this. That bastard needs to die."


"She's right," Chevalier argued, placing a hand on Vicky's shoulder. "We don't know how the Endmakers are going to react to two Endslayer combinations. If this is a third method, we need to keep it hidden as long as we possibly can."


Vicky deflated a little. "Fuck," she sighed. "Fine, we do it your way."


================

A/N- Wee, stuff!

How Vicky's new sword works: It creates a time distortion along its edge. On one side, time is accelerated to approximately twice its normal speed for an area about half a molecule thick, all along the length of the blade. On the other side, time actually flows in reverse. Not by much, mind. Anything caught along the edge is divided by their own past and future.

 

[SamPardi]

Hmm, I can see Lisa's side of the argument, but Leviathan is one of those that needs to go. Him and Khonsu. The others are good for killing people and destroying cities, but Leviathan especially is a threat to the entire world's ability to run properly. He casts a constant pall of fear over any maritime shipping and every island nation. His replacements may be harder to kill, but if they're as focused on facing/killing Pantheon as the others it'll actually be a net gain for the world.

 

[Twilight666]

Nice! new chapter I thought TanaNari was done for the day.

PS. So Dragon has versatile dragon suits named Fafnir.
I saw what you did there

 

[Daunmi]

Probably should have held back giving her that weapon till she needed it. Seems like a lot of temptation.

Nice! new chapter I thought TanaNari was done for the day.

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He's not really aware of what that 'day' term means.

 

[Tavarokk]

Since the colonization of Avalon started to impede Missy, should they move the staging ground to Mashu, perhaps? What's going on there, actually?

 

[Daunmi]

Since the colonization of Avalon started to impede Missy, should they move the staging ground to Mashu, perhaps? What's going on there, actually?

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Makes me wonder if it's so hush hush they're not telling everyone on their team. Although it could also be that they've got that god damned many creatures everywhere that they just hadn't gotten around to shuffling them over yet.

 

[edale]

... well, Boost hitting on two girls in the space of ten seconds; that's creepy.

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I had Zach Fashbacks myself. That's pretty much how his introduction went. Only his was on national TV, and he was closer in age.

 

[tordg]

Wow, Emma pretending to feel something, just so she can have quality time with her boyfriend?

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I've been wondering about this for a while. Until such time as Emma gets her own Clarice equivalent this is the most stable arrangement. And even then an appropriate Clarice equivalent would have to wait for BCIs that can give her the relevant sensory and emotional cortices, which would have implications reaching at least as far as their current brain editing tech. As things are I mostly wonder about how Zach deals with the cold.

Yeah, she's only ten or eleven at this point.

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Didn't they celebrate her 12th birthday a while ago?

RealizationHorrorAlert

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Italics

I could see how slender it was More like

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Missing period.

 

[Ack]

Didn't they celebrate her 12th birthday a while ago?ItalicsMissing period.

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Yes, Riley is 12.

 

[GiftofLove]

What, no quip about how Vicky and Chev match now that she also has a sword?