Aw, Crap (Worm/Marvel/DC)

[jcogginsa]

Who was the guy with the red and white power armour? Falcon?

Also, you know that Miss Militia doesn't run out of ammo, right? When the gun is empty, she changes it to a gun that's full.

Click to shrink...

Falcon

Which she would have done had Armsmaster not tossed her a grenade labeled "Freeze"

 

[Ack]

Falcon

Which she would have done had Armsmaster not tossed her a grenade labeled "Freeze"

Click to shrink...

... kept shooting, I guess.

But, point.

 

[jcogginsa]

Baptism in Fire 2.4​

"What's our next move?" the Gimel cape asked.

"Blasto's lab is destroyed, so I'm going to continue with my plan: hunt down and kill as many members of the Nine as I can find," I stated.

"I'm coming with you," Miss Militia said. There was no room for discussion on the matter.

"Me too," the Gimel cape added.

"Fine," I grunted, "my suit needs a minute to recharge either way. Take to the air and make sure nothing is trying to sneak up on us."

The Gimel cape nodded and flew into the sky. I went still, and activated a device I'd created via studying Battery's power. After exactly a minute, I was fully charged. I spent some of that power charging up my remaining halberd, then went still again to top off.

Thirty seconds after I had finished charging, the Gimel cape flew back, leading a trio of other capes. One of them, a Dalet cape if memory served, was a tall, muscular Hispanic man. He wore a skull faced mask, a black tank top, and beige cargo pants. In each hand he wielded a modified M134 minigun. Where he kept the ammo, I couldn't say.

Next to the Dalet cape was a cape from this world. He was a member of the Adepts, a villain group convinced that powers were magical, Felix Swoop. He wore an orange and red costume, patterned after a wizard's robe, with large angular shoulder pauldrons that several birds were perched on.

The final cape was another I didn't recognize. A walking skeleton, shrouded in flames, wearing a stereotypical biker outfit.

Once they'd all met up with us, we exchanged introductions and brought them up to speed. The Hispanic man called himself Bane. The flaming skeletal biker was Ghost Rider. The flying Gimel cape was the Falcon. Then, we were off.

----

I rounded a corner, then immediately stepped back, knocking Miss Militia to the ground.

"What did you-" Swoop began to say. I shushed him, and mouthed two words that, when taken together, were some of the most terrifying words in the English language.

Grey Boy.

The rest of them stayed quiet. We'd given them a run down of the threats we might face, so they knew how dire the situation was. I bent down to help Miss Militia up, and heard her mutter, "Mother of God."

She was staring at the sky, a look of horror on her face. I turned my head an looked up. Floating in the middle of the sky, not far off the ground, was Eidolon.

A grey shaded Eidolon.

I snarled silently. I reached for the Grenade launcher. The Grenades were labeled, so I had some idea of what each did. One was labeled 'Time Stop.' I loaded it. If anything could stop that motherfucker, it was this.
Before I could use it, an arm burst from the wall we were hiding behind and grabbed Ghost Rider by the shoulder, then pulled him through. Bane stepped back and raised his guns, but before he could fire, a man drove an axe into his back. Nice Guy.

Two pigeons flew from Felix Swoop's shoulders and doused Nice Guy with flames, as I jumped at him, obliterating his head with the nanothorns. Then something struck me from behind. It only took me a second to get back to my feet, but by then Chuckles and Skinslip were in our midst, making guns a very impractical choice.

Miss Militia was doing her best to defend herself with a pair of swords, but that was a battle she couldn't win. I rushed Chuckles, trying to take off an arm with the nanothorns, but he caught my Halberd by the shaft, stopping it instantly.

He raised his hand, winding back a punch. I hit a button on the halberd. A metal tube dropped from the other end of the weapon into my waiting hand. I held up the tube and activated it as Chuckles struck. His fist slammed straight into an intensely hot plasma field contained within a rotating forcefield, bisection his fist down past the wrist. Chuckles let go of my halberd and I slashed him across the stomach with it, the nanothorns reducing his internal organs into a fine red mist. He collapsed to his knees, and I stabbed him trough the underside of his chin with the Plasma blade, incinerating his brain.

Skinslip had ensnared Swoop and Falcon. Between my halberd and my plasma cutter, I managed to free them, then backed off. Bane and Miss Militia opened fire on him with their miniguns, turning him into chunky salsa.
Bane slumped against the wall, and Falcon asked, "Where's Ghost Rider?"

Miss Militia walked over to the hole Chuckles had made when he pulled Ghost Rider through. Her weapon shifted into a rifle with a Cornershot attachment. She used it to survey the area without exposing her body.
"I think it's safe," she announced, confusion apparent in her voice.

When I saw it with my own eyes, I shared the sentiment. Grey Boy had used his power on Ghost Rider, but something had gone wrong for him. Ghost Rider had his hands on Greyboy's head, forcing him to look into the flaming skeletons I sockets. I could see that Gray Boy was slack jawed, screaming inaudibly.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Swoop asked.

"I think I heard about this once," Falcon began "He can burn out your soul if you look into his eyes, or something like that."

"Couldn't a happened to a nicer guy," Swoop groused.

"There's nothing we can do." I stated, "We need to continue on. Bane, wait here. I'll call an evac for you."

----

The Falcon landed quietly, and told us what he'd seen, "There's a guy in a red costume in real bad straits the next street over. He's fighting a tiger striped black and white naked chick."

"Siberian," Miss Militia surmised.

"No fucking way I'm getting anywhere near that bitch," Swoop said.

"I think I may have something capable of dealing with her," I said, "Falcon, take Miss Militia and Felix Swoop to higher ground. They can provide a distraction so I can get away if things go south."

Falcon nodded, and held out his hands to Swoop and Miss Militia. Swoop took it without reservation, but Miss Militia gave me a look. Finally, she took the hand whilst saying, "Don't die. That's an order."

I nodded. Falcon took them into the air.

I once again rearranged the grenades. I grabbed one that Bakuda had eloquently labeled 'Siberian Fucker' and set it to fire next. I made my way over to the battlefield, and took cover behind a car. Aegis really was in rough shape. His left arm had been skinned. His left eye was gouged out, leaving half his face hanging off. A pipe had been stabbed through his right lung, and his intestines were hanging out. He was completely outmatched, the Siberian was just playing with him, and he had to know it. So why not run?

I caught a glimpse of the reason as they moved. Two capes, one of them Triumph, were laying unconscious in the street severely burnt. Aegis was trying to defend them. A hero to the last.

Aegis was too close. Could I really take the shot, knowing it would kill Aegis as well? True, there was a small chance that the weapon was specialized in such a way that Aegis would not be harmed, but the chances were infestesimal. If I fired, Aegis would die. Perhaps even the capes he was giving his best to save. Would it be worth it, to kill three good people just for the chance to end the Siberian once and for all? The Siberian had never been harmed in her entire existence, would this time be any different? I had to believe it would. I had to believe it would be worth it. If this monster lived, it would go on torturing and killing until there was nothing left in the world. I thought of all the people the Nine had killed. I thought of all the lives ruined at their hands. I thought of the man earlier that day who'd died blind, afraid, and alone. I pulled the trigger.

The grenade caught the Siberian by complete surprise. It consumed the beast and Aegis in a dome of warped reality, producing sights I could not fathom, let alone describe. After 6 seconds, the dome faded away. A disgusting soup that had once been a Ward spilled to the ground. There was no trace of the Siberian. I stood. I had killed it, but only time could tell if it would be worth-

Pain shot through as something cleaved into me from behind. With a sickening sound, my left arm, the arm holding the grenade launcher, was torn off. I turned in time to see the Siberian backhand me away.

Bloodloss was already making me dizzy. I was in a haze, time passing without recognition. I saw the Siberian kill flame spewing birds that surrounded her. I saw one of the burned capes wake, and loose an scream at the Siberian, only to have her throat crushed by a thrown rock. I saw Dauntless arrive and try futilely to defend me.
I saw Siberian raise a hand to end my life.

And then, every thing snapped into crystal focus. I saw everything. I saw the entire universe. I saw a man made of stars who was all things. I saw Aegis be reborn. I knew his name without ever learning it.

Captain Universe.

Captain Universe grabbed the Siberian by the head, and she disappeared forever. I felt my eyes close. I snapped them open an instant later, but it was too late. Things had turned back, the insight was gone. I saw a man with Skin like the night sky, the pleiades shining proudly at the center of his chest, walk over to me. He held a hand to the wound on my shoulder, and I felt a pleasant burn.

My eyes closed again, and I lost consciousness.

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

I severely doubt the ability of GB's field to hold Ghost Rider indefinitely.

Is this a special anti-hero Bane? Those are... rare.

 

[jcogginsa]

I severely doubt the ability of GB's field to hold Ghost Rider indefinitely.

Is this a special anti-hero Bane? Those are... rare.

Click to shrink...

He was there as part of the Suicide Squad

 

[Ack]

I severely doubt the ability of GB's field to hold Ghost Rider indefinitely..

Click to shrink...

Do you mean Eidolon?

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

Do you mean Eidolon?

Click to shrink...

Him too.

 

[jcogginsa]

Interlude 2.h​

Many Moons Ago

I stared at my brother, gobsmacked.

"You're just making fun of me, again," I said, after collecting my thoughts. Obviously, what he was saying was impossible.

"I'm serious," Tom insisted, "Actual magical potions, Harry!"

"And I suppose you learned how to make these potions tending bar?" I asked. Skepticism wasn't my forte, but this was obvious BS, even by my standards.

Tom sighed, "Look, Harry, I know I made fun of you for this magic stuff before, but things are different now. You've seen the news. All those parahumans, it's obvious that magic really does exist. Can you really say with a straight face that Eidolon isn't magic?"

I studied the ground, before admitting, "No. Eidolon is definitely magic. But that doesn't mean there are potions capable of giving out powers."

"What about those Tinkers, like Hero. They clearly enchant objects. Why couldn't they make potions too?"
His logic made sense.

"Fine. So I believe you. Where did you find these potions?"

My brother grinned, "There are these people, called Cauldron."

That brought on another set of eyerolls.

Present Day

"Where have you been?" Chevalier asked as I landed

"Blasto's lab, before it was redecorated with fire," I answered gruffly. Wizards, like seniors, did not have to be polite. "The serpent's battle with the drake drew close, and I elected to vacate the premises. Wizard though I may be, I am nonetheless a man. Men best keep out of the affairs of dragons, for we are crunchy and go well with ketchup."

"Enough with the Tolkien, we've got a job to do," The cape next to Chevalier, Acoustic, sniped.

"And who, pray tell, are you?" I asked.

"This is Acoustic," Chevalier answered, "She's a member of an independent hero group called Quartet. Her ranks are Shaker 4, Trump 6. She can produce counterfrequencies which can nullify certain aspects of reality, and tune them to activate automatically when certain sounds happen within a certain range of her."

"Good. Once we find Shatterbird, we'll use her magic to counter hers," I replied.

"I'm not sure if I'll be in range of you two, if you fight in the air," she said.

"Worry not," I soothed her, "When Blasto was last in Chicago, I acquired a mount which should alleviate such an issue."

I opened a large hole into one of my worlds. Acoustic and Chevalier stepped back as my mount walked through.

Not As Many Moons Ago

I lashed out with my staff, creating sparkles of magic which exploded out in righteous fury.

Or rather, they would have, if they didn't disappear with a wave of my brother's hands. His arcane magics were strong. They'd reverted time to the moment before my spell had been cast.

"Be reasonable, brother," my brother called.

"You're a fine one to talk, considering you killed thirty men!" I shouted.

"I had to! They'd have killed us both if I didn't," the warlock replied.

"I'm supposed to believe that? Men don't simply kill for fun!"

My brother looked away, and said, "They were mobsters, Harry. They were going to kill us because the money I used to pay for the potions was there's."

"You stole from the mob?!" I demanded, more surprised than angry. Though still very angry.

"Yeah. I knew their petty guns wouldn't be a match for the magic we could get. With this kind of power, we could be great! Just put down the hockey stick and let's discuss this logically."

I took a deep breath, and exhaled, calming my nerves.

I pointed my staff and him, and spoke resolutely, "You've been corrupted by black magic. And I'll not let myself fall to the same corruption."

Present Day

I found her in the midst of an immense glass storm, which I suppose I should have expected. I drew an opening into a world of pure concussive light. She saw my attack coming by a mile, and formed a shield of glass to defend herself. To my surprise, the shield held, though not implacably. It had been reinforced, somehow, likely by either Bonesaw or Mannequin. Mannequin made more sense, meaning that it was most likely Bonesaw.
Chevalier made his approach, and fired a shot from his cannonblade. The thundering boom nullified Shatterbird's magic, and the shot smashed straight through her shield. Unfortunately the shot only clipped her.

Chevalier had to readjust his weapon as his mount moved unexpectedly. In the distance, Lung suddenly burst into an enormous fire ball, framing Sue the T. rex as she let loose a powerful roar. Chevalier aimed his weapon, and fired once more. Shatterbird's magic again failed her, and the shot, now a different form of ammunition, exploded in the midst of her glass storm. She fell towards the ground, and Sue's jaws latched around her ankles. The theropod slammed Shatterbird into the edge of a nearby building. The murderer's spine bent unnaturally. A normal person would have been crippled for life, if they even lived.

Sue whipped her head around, sending Shatterbird careening head first into a building in the other side of the street. As she fell to the ground, I waved my staff once more. A stream of energy flowed forth from the resulting gateway, causing the three story building to collapse onto the witch. She sang shrilly, bidding her reinforced glass to hold the building up so she could scramble away.

Acoustic raised her weapon, a Tinker Tech device resembling a megaphone, and hit the trigger. The sound of Chevalier's canon blade firing again resounded through the area, and the building fell atop Shatterbird.
We waited a moment, to see if the vile woman would resurface. Sure enough, the building's rubble soon began to rumble. Chevalier quickly fired his cannonblade, and I loosed a burst of concussive force. The top of the pile of rubble was blasted away. Shatterbird could not be seen.

Acoustic took to playing her megaphone, over and over. I began blasting the rubble periodically, to either kill her or force her out. After a few moments of this, something shot from the rubble behind me. By the time I'd turned, Acoustic had fallen from Sue, a spike made of opaque material lodged in her shoulder. Shatterbird emerged, the glass having changed form, merged together into a single object. It was fluid like liquid metal, and she reshaped it with ease. This was an entirely knew tactic, one I wagered was only possible because of her special glass.

Chevalier fired his cannonblade once more, but the nullifying effect didn't take hold and Shatterbird cut the projectile out of the air. Chevalier charged forward once more, aiming to bring things into melee, and she formed her arms into long blades. I drew closer to her, but it was a mistake. Spikes jutted from her back, and my own momentum would carry me straight through them.

Then, I was suddenly several feet back, and not moving. I looked around for cause, and then found him.

Epoch.

My brother.

He used his power to pause Shatterbird in place, releasing her the moment before Chevalier shot her point blank with his cannonblade. She went flying back, her armor distorted. He fired again, and she made to dodge, but my brother rewound her back into the line of fire, causing her arm to be blown off.
Suddenly, her fallen arm exploded, firing spikes of glass in every direction. In the next instant, I found myself in another location once more. I'd been fast forwarded by my brother. I turned back to him...and saw a spike had been stabbed through his throat.

He fell to the ground and I rushed over to him.

"Tom!" I cried as I cradled his body. He was already gone.

I turned to her, a white hot rage building in the pit of my very being. She was dashing toward me, but I cared not.

I opened a gateway between us, and a torrent of flames that burned only half as hot as my rage poured out, consuming her and anything behind her. I let the flames flow for a full minute, before closing the gate. I took heavy breaths as I took in the sight of her. She was, amazingly, still recognizable. Closer to me than she had been, her glass armor had been melted whilst it surrounded her. It had to have been a truly agonizing death, a fact which brought a cruel smile to my fa-

She screamed, and molten glass shot at me. My cloak caught fire. She was still alive!
"JUST DIE ALREADY!" I roared, as I jabbed my staff up under her jaw. A small gate opened, and flames rushed out. Through her eyes, her mouth, her nose, her temples, and back down the staff.
I fell backwards, satisfied that she was dead, and passed out.

Still Fewer Moons Ago

"Myrddin?"

I turned, and saw her. I smiled, which was getting to be a rarer thing these days.

"Mind if I take a seat?" she asked. I scooted to the side, and she took a seat next to me on the edge of the roof. Neither of us were in much danger of falling

"How is the world treating you, Becky?"

She frowned.

"You know I don't like being called that when I'm in costume."

I chuckled, "You're the one who told me."

"Yes, and you've been...distant, since then."

"Can you blame me? It's quite a shock, you must admit."


"That's true," she admitted, "but I know I can trust you, just like I can trust David, Alex, and Roy."

"Why? The others, I can see, you've fought alongside them for years. But why me?"

She stared at me. For a moment, I thought that she might lean forward and kiss me, like an old romance novel. But she didn't.

We watched the sunset together.

Present Day

I awoke in a medical tent. My costume had been removed, and my injuries treated. I felt numb. I just stayed there for a few moments, and listened to the room around me. In the bed to my right, someone was speaking.

"Then I slammed my shield into his face, and Batman detonated the explosive gel. It didn't put him down for good, but we couldn't pursue because of our injuries," Captain America said, obviously finishing a story.

"So, the long and short of it is, Jack Slash is still out there, he's just walking around without a face?" someone else, the Scarlet Witch if I recall, replied.

"Yes," Cap said succinctly.

"Okay then," Scarlet Witch spoke, "now that I know how you got cut up, what did you want to tell me?"

"Do you remember when the Hulk was tossed away earlier?" Captain America asked.
She nodded.

"Whether by unfortunate accident or deliberate intent, he crashed into one of the other monsters attacking this world. The Simurgh. He and the Green Lantern are fighting her now, but they won't make it if we don't send back up. The Protectorate tells me their precogs can't sense magic users, so we're gathering them up. We want you to lead them."

I stopped listening. This was something out of my league. Even I was predictable to the Simurgh. If she really was immune to the Simurgh's gaze, then she must be an even mightier wizard than I.

Suddenly, there was a crackle of lightning in the midst of the room, and two men appeared. One of them was Booster Gold, a cape who'd handed out business cards before the fight. This was rather odd, as Booster Gold was also standing about six feet to the left of me. The new Booster pointed to the other one, and said, "Two weeks from now, remember it."

Then he disappeared in another pulse of lightning.

The other man was clad in Black and Gold Power Armor, with red highlights. He walked up to me, bent down, and...embraced me, as if I were an old friend. I cleared my throat.

"...Who the hell are you?" I asked.

The Man's helmet folded away...and I gaped.

"...Roy?"

The Most Moons Ago

I smiled wide as I looked at my handiwork, a drawing of myself in robes, reading from a tome of magic. I didn't care what my brother said. I knew magic was out there somewhere, and I would find it, or my name wasn't Harry Potter.

 

[Ack]

So very cute.

I like it.

 

[jcogginsa]

So very cute.

I like it.

Click to shrink...

Thank you XD

Though cute is a word i didn't think would be used to describe this chapter XD

 

[Ack]

Myrddin, real name Harry Potter, wanting to do magic. What's not cute about that?

 

[jcogginsa]

You are who you choose to be 3.1

My body hit the ground roughly, gasping for air and flopping around, trying to get on my legs. My Body looked around. My body was in a place...a room, my thoughts said. There was a blonde girl nearby...grinning?​

And a huge thing with a girl sticking out of it. My...mother.

The blonde began clapping, and made a high pitched noise from it's mouth. My body noticed her clothing was...covered in blood?

Why?

"Why?" my body asked. My mind was taken aback.

"Why are...why...why blood?" my body and mind asked together.

The blonde looked at her clothes, and shrugged, then said with a...giggle, "I forgot to clean up today."

The 'giggle' scared my mind. And my mind...remembered her now. Bonesaw. Dangerous. Very Dangerous.
My body scrambled away.

"Oh, don't run away! I need to examine your powers!" Bonesaw whined.

Had to get away. Had to get away. Had to-

My body's hand touched the ground, and it sank beneath the surface.

My mind went deep. Very deep. My body was...the ground? My mind was scared, my mind wanted to be out of the ground.

My body appeared on a street. There was no one in the street. There was a place with rooms, a building. My body went inside. It was a place with clothing. My body found a thing, a mirror, that showed my mind what my body looked like.

My body was odd. As my mind looked, my mind began to remember things. Words and their meanings. My hair was blond on the left, and brunette on the right, with a line of red separating them. It was an odd divide, in places the hair would start one way and end another. My body's skin was odd, splotchy. Most was Caucasian. Parts were Asian, other African. One of my body's eyes was oval shaped, the other almond shaped. My body had scars at various places. My body was both male and female.

My mind thought of raising an arm. My body raised it's arm. My mind experimented with that more, until my mind had an epiphany. My mind and my body were together, and they were I.

I was....

Who was I?

Who was I?

Who was I?

Who was I?

Who wa-

The mirror exploded.

 

[theBSDude]

Noelle and Bonesaw, huh? Who's that they've cloned? One of the Alt-earth capes, obviously, with an esoteric powerset, but I can't tell beyond that.

 

[jcogginsa]

You are who you choose to be 3.2​

The glass struck...me, and went through me. But, my body...wasn't there. There was something, a force, where my body had been, and it pushed the glass back. The glass shattered and shrapnel came back at me, but the same happened.

Was this my power? Whoever I was, I was sure I was a cape. But this isn't what my power had been before. Before, my body became the ground. Now, my body became...a push. Or something

My body changed back. I tried to change it back, but something else happened. My hand grew...no, stretched, and flattened. My palm and fingers were thin. Incredibly thin. Perhaps a...molecule thick.

I waved my hand at the remains of the mirror...and it went right through it.

I fell backwards. My hand returned to normal.

What...what was going on?

I closed my eyes, and tried to use my power again. It was different again. I could hear, smell, and touch things for miles. I opened my mouth, and quickly shut it. Taste, I could Taste too.

I opened my eyes. Sight. But, this was different. My ears, my nose, my touch. It was all so much stronger than my sight. Why?

The...Endbringer, drew my attention. Leviathan. He had just begun making his arm blurry, and it soon slipped loose of the golden rope around it's wrist. He knocked his assailant...Lung, away with a sudden burst of water, then turned, jabbing his elbow into Lung's stomach, the blur making it pass through him, bloodily.
Leviathan fired himself into the air, leaving behind a trail of water clones. Thor roared, and fired off a bolt of lightning wider that he was tall. The lightning struck the steel beam impaled through Leviathan's leg, and a moment later there was a great explosion, blasting Leviathan's leg off.

Leviathan loosed a deluge of water at Thor. A flood, tall as the surrounding buildings and wide as the street, going as fast as a bullet. A red flash whipped through the area, pulling to safety everyone by Thor himself. Thor stood his ground as the deluge struck him, then in spite of it's pressure, pressed forward.

On a dime, the flood changed directions, flowing back toward Leviathan, even faster. Thor was swept up by the tide. The water disappeared, back to where in had come from, and took Thor with it.

By now, Lung was closing in on Leviathan once more. A trio of giants, Fenja, Menja, and Giant Man, flanked the beast. Leviathan jumped at Giant Man, spinning tail over end and bringing his remaining leg, now blurry like his arm had been, down on Giant Man's head.

I tried to focus on something else. Something less...

I watched people fighting Leviathan's water clones, for a while. Eventually, I caught notice of some one else. Glory Girl. Seeing her invoked feelings in me. Feelings I didn't recognize. Concern, awe, dislike? It was a jumble.

Glory Girl was in a bad shape. Her left arm was connected to her by only a strip of flesh, and her stomach had been...cut open. And her opponent, Hatchet Face, he made her powerless. Glory Girl, whatever she was to me, she was...

Tears began to stream down by cheeks, and my hands came together. I began speaking on instinct. A Catholic prayer, remembered from a childhood I new instinctively I'd never had.
Suddenly, a gunshot struck Hatchet Face in the shoulder, leaving his arm in a similar state to Glory Girl's. He turned, and received another shot to the chest. I widened my focus a bit, and saw Miss Militia. She made to fire again, but a bullet flew past her, grazing her arm.

It played out like that for a few minutes more, Hatchet Face trying to take out Miss Militia, who was unable to attack back due to another sniper. She'd been forced to flee several times. However, soon there was a commotion in a nearby building, halting the sniper fire, and Glory Girl made a move. Miss Militia had been steadily retreating, until finally Hatchet Face was far enough away that Glory Girl regained her powers. She curled a fist, and punched a nearby green sedan. The path was miraculously clear of most debris, save for glass and water. Part of that was down to Hatchet face himself, who had knocked aside the largest bits in his pursuit of Miss Militia.

The sedan crashed into Hatchet Face at high speed. Miss Militia ran back to Glory Girl, as Hatchet Face tried to push the sedan off his body. Once Miss Militia was out of his range, she turned and shot him through the head once more. I turned away from the scene. They were safe from Hatchet Face, but Glory Girl was still in bad shape.

I saw Bonesaw, and focused in on her. She handed a plain-looking man a syringe and pointed to something.
"Go inject the dragon man with this, pretty please?"

The man nodded, putting the syringe in a holster on his back pocket, and rushed off towards Lung. After a moment of thought, I shifted my focus to follow the plain man. He was making his way over rooftops using parkour. Before he got close enough, two women intercepted him. Agents of Shield, Natasha Romanoff and Melinda May.

The two women each produced a baton crackling with electricity, and engaged the man. In the back of my mind, I recognized their fighting style. Their opponent must have as well, because he evaded the attack with minimal difficulty. With perfect precision, he struck May in the solar plexus and kicked Nat's legs out from under her. May stepped back, as Nat made a move. She tossed her stun baton to her other hand, and jabbed it at the foe's knee. He sidestepped at the last moment, but it had been a feint to allow Nat's free hand to push her back onto her feet.

As she landed on her feet, her free hand was already drawing her Glock. The man made to move, but still took two bullets to the chest. The man flicked his wrists, producing a pair of switchblades that he flicked open a moment later. Nat holstered her Glock, at the same time tossing her baton to the ground. The Baton ricocheted up at the man's chin, which brought an odd pride to me.

The man backstepped to avoid the baton, but as it flew past him, May jumped in the air and grabbed it, slamming both her's and Nat's into his back. The man convulsed briefly, before sending one of his knives into May's stomach with a flick of the the wrist. Nat tossed a bolo at his legs, ensnaring them. He dropped back, tossing his remaining knife into the air. He kicked with both legs, shattering one of May's knees, before transitioning to a handstand. His timing was perfect, and the falling knife cut through the ropes. He flipped onto his feet, catching the knife in the process.

Nat closed in, now wielding a black Ka-Bar, and thrust forward. The man parried, but immediately after that May shot him in the back with her Glock. Nat took advantage on this and slashed his throat open. He reacted a moment before her attack, shifting position slightly so the bloodspray would blind Nat. The man pivoted, elbowing Nat in the mouth and turning to May. He threw his knife into her throat as she fired. He leaned slightly to the side, causing May's bullet to strike...

I shifted away from him immediately.

Nearby, at one of the shelters, a horde of monsters burst forth. Thousands. They rampaged, searching out victims. However, soon they began to halt in their tracks. I focused closer, and noticed what appeared to be red wisps of smoke travelling between them, seemingly hypnotizing them as it went. Then, once it had gotten everyone...it snapped, cracking the monsters in the chest with enough force to send them flying off their feet. Before they'd even hit the ground, the beasts had turned into humans. I found the origin of the smoke, a hero by name of Scarlet Witch.

Off to the side, there was a colossal flash of light, and a loud explosion. I looked at the aftermath, and saw Lung, standing nearly twice as high as Leviathan, and steadily growing, his body radiating unfathomably intense heat. Leviathan's flesh burned away with rapid pace, until it gradually slowed to a stop. Still, it was more damage than Leviathan had ever taken, as far as I knew.

Lung grabbed Leviathan by the head, and jumped. An explosion, larger than the last, detonated under his feet, propelling him high into the air. At a couple thousand feet in the air, he detonated again. Lung had become stronger than he'd been during his last fight with Leviathan, which was the closest thing to a known limit that he had. Did my power have limits? I wasn't sure. Then again, I wasn't sure what my power actually was.

And just like that, it was as if I flicked a light switch. My senses snapped back to normal, and information came to me, seemingly from thin air. My power... was to change my power.

 

[theBSDude]

Eidolon?

Also, 3.1 is missing from the threadmarks.

 

[jcogginsa]

Eidolon?

Also, 3.1 is missing from the threadmarks.

Click to shrink...

thanks for the heads up

 

[jcogginsa]

You are who you choose to be 3.3​

After that realization, I went somewhat numb for a bit. Perhaps five minutes. Then I decided to take my mind off of it with a distraction. I looked throughout the store for clothes. I had to try on a lot. I couldn't remember my sizes. Rather, I remembered several different sizes, none of which were right. My power, once I could put thought to it, proved to have limits. I could make coverings, they were crude, made of the ground, the air, the space itself. Better to go with real clothing, I thought.

My new outfit was...well, garish. Red, Black, White, green, lavender, navy, and at least three other colors, they were all present in some form. And the patterns were no less disparate. Even my shoes didn't match. Still, it covered me up, so I suppose it did it's job.

I took hold of a metal rod, which had been used to hold clothes, and made my way out of the store. The makeshift weapon felt right. I'd scarcely made my way out of the building when someone jumped in front of me. A woman with a mouse mask.

'Mouse Protector,' I thought

She looked at me, and gave a beaming, albeit strained smile. Understandable, given the situation.

"Are you okay?" She asked me. I was, more or less, though my only response that she could see was gaping like a fish. Had to sharpen my people skills.

"Fine," I stuttered after a moment.

She patted me on the shoulder, and asked, "What's your name, dear?"

She was trying to calm me down.

"My...uh-" I said dumbly

"Nice to meet you, Maya!" she said, "don't you worry your little head, I'll get you out of here safely."

"No!" I yelled. It surprised her, and it surprised me too. After a moment, I continued.

"I have powers. I can help you...I can help."

I could hear the uncertainty in my own voice. Why did I want to help? I was afraid, that much was certain, and I knew why I felt that way.

"Look," Mouse Protector said soothingly, "you just got your powers today, right?"

I nodded.

"Then you need to know: You don't have to do this. Having powers, that doesn't mean you have to go into this fight. It doesn't mean you have to risk your life. No one will blame you if you run from here, and no one will think less of you for doing it."

"Then why are you here?" I asked.

She seemed taken aback for a moment, then there was a stretch of silence. Then she said with a sigh, for she had to know how I'd respond.

"Because I can help."

"And I can too," I replied.

And that really was the end of it. She seemed to know she wouldn't talk me out of it, and I had made myself be resolute. I would go out there, and help. It was my instinct, and right now, instinct was all I had.