Rise Of Titan (Worm/Original Superhero Setting)

ZFighter18 · Jan 17, 2016

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the plot of this story and my Original Characters.
This is for pure entertainment and the improvement of my skills.
Currently looking for a beta.

Rise of Titan (Worm/Original Superhero Setting)

A new Hero from another universe appears in the middle of the Canberra fight against the Simurgh.
How will he cope with this new world with it's own problems?
How will he deal will the Protectorate? Will he bring new hope to this forsaken world? Or is this "Hero" too good to be true?

Prelude: Falling Skies

Mitchell Pratt

My name is Mitchell Pratt. I'm 14 years old, half black and half Korean, and I am currently bedridden when I should be enjoying my vacation Down Under. Two nights ago , my parents had taken me to a fancy restaurant that I really didn't feel like going to. My mother, a tiny little Korean woman, was on my back about my weight...again and decided that I could not order a steak or burger and instead ordered me a Grilled Triggerfish, whatever that is. I know I'm fat. It's pretty obvious to tell when you're fourteen years old and two hundred pounds. I just wish she wouldn't bring it up all the time. Anyway, the good thing was that the fish came with a side of potato salad and actually tasted pretty good. The bad thing was that it gave me food poisoning.

As I lay in bed, staring at how the patterns on the ceiling spun through my delirious eyes, I noticed a loud crashing and a scream that sounded oddly like my mother's. When the scream stopped, I heard my parents yelling at each other. Despite my best efforts, I could not make out what they were saying so I made an effort to go back to sleep. To my surprise, my father burst through my door, with a duffel bag in one hand. "Mitch, get up! We have to go now!"

I replied with an eloquent "Mmmwaah?"

My father was not a very physical man. Standing at 5'9, he weighed roughly 190 pounds. He didn't lift weights. He didn't play basketball. He was an actuary, a profession I could seriously say was one of the most boring in the world. The only sort of physical exercise he did was play golf every other Sunday, if you could call golf exercise. Due to his lack of physical conditioning, I was surprised when he lifted me out of bed, threw me over his shoulder and ran through the house with an unnatural vigor.

Despite my delirium, I noticed a very, very loud sound that seemed oddly familiar. A whining noise, like you might hear from a particularly large baby preparing to scream. The nasal 'wa' sound stretched out, so loud it was painful to listen to. Despite how familiar it was, I just couldn't remember where I knew it from. My father kicked open the door and ran out towards the van he had rented for our family vacation. He jumped in and tossed me in the backseat with a mumbled "Sorry, son", all the while screaming at my mother to drive. My mother pulled out of our rented beach house so quickly that I was beginning to wonder if I had suddenly been transplanted into an action movie.

"Dad?" I groaned out.

I looked up at my father and flinched as I saw the expression on his face. He was breathing heavily, sweat ran in rivulets down his face and he was constantly jerking his head around several times, as if attempting to look out every window at once.

He turned around and looked down at where I lay on the backseat. I flinched again as I looked directly at him. God damn, I was sick and I was pretty sure I looked healthier than he did right now. His eyes were bloodshot and it looked like he was tearing up a little. No...no way, that's probably my imagination. Dad's not emotional like that.

"Son...". he looked at me, waiting for me to begin.

I coughed once or twice, in an attempt to clear my throat. "Dad, what..." I paused as I heard what was undoubtedly my mother crying, "Where are we going? What's happening? Why's mom crying?"

My father's face twisted up. "We're heading to the Endbringer Shelter, Mitch. Canberra's being hit."

I froze. That whining sound. Air raid sirens. How didn't I fucking notice it before? The Endbringer alarm. Wait a minute...

"Which is it? Which one?" I asked as I forced myself to sit up, not willing to let my ill health prevent me from focusing.

My father shook his head sadly. "We don't know. The news just told us what to do and where the shelter was. It didn't tell us which one was attacking."

I prepared to ask another question when the minivan suddenly jerked and we skidded to a stop and I heard my mom's quiet voice. "Oh my God."

My dad leaned forward until he was right next to my mother and I adjusted the seat in front of me until it was low enough for me to climb over.

"Ran, what's the prob...."my dad trailed off as we all took in the sight in front of us.
In front of us were thousands of cars in a traffic jam that looked like it stretched for miles. People were getting out of their cars and running in the direction we had just come from.

My dad wasted no time. "Okay...we have to go. They wouldn't be running this way if there wasn't a reason for it. We get out and we run. Ran, hold Mitch's hand and I'll grab yours. We can't afford to lose each other in this...insanity outside." He paused, took a deep breath and continued. "Ran, grab the bags". My mom nodded and turned to me. "Mitchie, honey, are you good to run or do you need help?" The concern and caring in her voice was evident in every word she said. I had found it embarrassing but in this situation, it gave me an odd feeling of strength and a warm comfort.

I nodded. "I'm fine on my own. I'm definitely good."

My dad glanced at me sharply. "Are you sure? I can carry you if you need it."

'Carry me? Please, I'm not a baby.', I thought to myself. I grimaced and shook my head.

My dad nodded and jumped out, my mom and I right behind him. We began to run as soon as we jumped out of the minivan. The crowd jostled us and knocked us around, exacerbating my dizziness and nausea. My mom's hand grabbed mine in a vice grip as I stumbled and she gave me a reassuring smile.

Looking at the mayhem around me, I felt myself getting sicker and my headache getting worse. People were being trampled underfoot due to not being quick enough, a few others had turned their cars around and were simply mowing down those too slow to get out of the way. Children were crying...no, not just children. women, grown men were openly crying. They just didn't want to die. The monsters, the Endbringers, didn't give a shit what they wanted. They had decided that today was our day to die and whether it was by water, heat, or mind control, a large number of us would die.

I noticed my mother worriedly glance at me out of the corner of my eye.

'This has to be hitting her hard.' I thought to myself. 'This vacation was her idea. Hell, I know for a fact that she definitely feels bad that I'm sick because of that fish.' I had to make her feel better...somehow.

I gave her hand a quick squeeze and she turned to me. "Sweetheart?"

I gave her a smile that I hope seemed comforting. "Don't worry, Mom. We'll be fine, I'm sure."

"Mitch is right, honey." intoned my dad in his deep baritone. "Everything will be alright."

She smiled at both of us and I mentally added. 'At least I hope so. I'm almost out of breath and dad doesn't look much better.'

The screams behind us suddenly increased in volume and intensity.
I turned my head and froze as I saw was undoubtedly the most terrifying thing I had ever seen in my life.

She was at least half a mile away but I could see her as if she was right in front of me. She was at least three times as tall as any normal human with ivory skin, long white hair and so many, many wings and all asymmetrical. Despite the fact that she was completely naked, she had wings that covered all her "private parts", that is if she actually had any. Chunks of skyscrapers, pavement, cars and roadwork followed her, occasionally flying through the air to hit a target I couldn't see.

My observations led me to one conclusion.

"Oh fuck...the Simurgh" I rasped, my throat suddenly drying up in fear of imminent death or mindrape by psycho angel monster.

The twin gasps of shock from behind me led me to the belief that my parents had come to the same conclusion I had.

My fear dulled slightly as I saw what appeared to be a cloud of hundreds of flying parahumans attacking the monstrous Angel Of Death. 'Maybe they can chase her off, maybe we'll get lucky, maybe....'

My attempts at self delusion were cut off as the Sadistic Seraph began her Scream. I pulled my hand from my mom's grip and clasped them over my ears in an attempt to block the noise. It didn't help at all. It was just so loud, so fucking loud. It came from everywhere at once. Even though I ran with my hands covering my ears, the unnatural sound persisted. A sound like a million tortured people screaming for the sweet release of death in unison. It hurt to hear. All I wanted to do was bash my head in so I could be free from the horrible noise that this monster was torturing us with.

As the Simurgh continued to Scream, my headache and nausea only increased as the crowd went mad. Half the crowd slowed down and fights began to break out. It was madness. 'What are you doing?', I felt like screaming at what I saw. 'She wants us to die and you're just doing her job for her.' I felt a sudden sharp pain to the back of my head and I fell to the ground, smashing my nose on the ground, causing a white hot pain to erupt there.

'Shit! My nose!" I raised one hand to my nose, which was currently gushing blood, and another to feel a hot, damp mess that I could only assume was my blood and hair, and rolled over in an attempt to see my attacker.

"...The hell?", was all I could vocalize due to my sheer surprise at my attacker. It was Mr. Wilden. He was a senior who lived in a beach house not too far from us. Seventy-four years old and retired, the only thing he had strength for now was fishing...and apparently, bashing kids in the head with his cane. I scrambled backwards and he kept swinging, trying to brain me with his blood-stained cane.

I must have looked pathetic. Bloodshot eyes, bleeding nose, wearing nothing but Eidolon pajamas, and Armsmaster slippers, trying desperately to crawl away from a homicidal, Simurgh affected septuagenarian.

I gritted my teeth. "Sorry about this, old man." With a sharp kick, my foot slammed into his knee. I was ashamed to realize that a small part of me enjoyed the look of pain on his face and the loud cracking noise that his knee made. I scrambled to my feet, purposely ignoring the howls of pain that came from the old man. 'It was him or me.', I thought to myself, 'He tried to kill me. I didn't even return the favor.'

I prepared to run again and I felt a wave of nausea hit me as I realized that I couldn't see see my parents. Until Mr. Wilden had attempted to kill me, I had kept my eyes firmly locked on my mother's back, as my father was just slightly ahead of both of us, determined not to lose sight of my family.

The Simurgh's Scream suddenly increased in volume and intensity. The million voices became ten million and I fell to my knees. The burning sensation of bile filled my throat, my eyes began to water and the contents of my stomach vacated my body, finding a new home on the pavement.

I looked up toward the Screaming creature and watched in horror as some of the Capes fighting her began to explode. It made for a sort of gory fireworks and I began to giggle to myself.

"We're all going to die", I whispered to no one in particular as I continued to laugh. I ignored the people who ran past me, seemingly unaffected by the Simurgh's unholy noise, just trying to get to safety. I ignored the mothers gruesome killing their children whatever way they could. I ignored the cannibalism, I ignored the murder, I ignored the suicide. I ignored all the DEATH. "This is it."

I looked up towards the cause of everything that was happening. I wasn't scared anymore. I had accepted it. This was the end. I took in the Simurgh's appearance one more time. I don't know what I was thinking before. She wasn't monstrous, she wasn't sadistic. People died all the time. She wasn't doing anything bad. No, it was perfectly natural. She was getting closer with every passing second and I watched her, without moving from my place. I saw her beautiful snowy hair blowing in the wind, her expression peaceful, serene even. I imagined myself running my hands through those beautiful ivory wings, caressing her pale alabaster skin and placing a kiss on her beautiful, thin li-

"What...WHAT THE FUCK?!!", I screamed out loud. My chest heaved as I tried to come to terms with what I was just thinking of. I began to dry heave and it was all I could do to prevent myself from throwing up.

However, my freak out ended abruptly as the Simurgh stopped Screaming. She had frozen. Her wings stopped moving and all the massive detritus and debris held by telekinesis fell to the ground. All the Capes fighting her immediately dived for cover. No one attacked. Everyone was either hiding or attempting to get out of range. The civilians had stopped their mindless mayhem and simply stared at Her. Everything and everyone was deathly silent.

The Simurgh tilted her head upwards. Seconds passed and nothing happened.

Then, the sky broke apart and everything went insane.

ZFighter18 · Jan 17, 2016

Introductions 1.1

Evron Grey was confused. He was not really used to being confused. He liked to think that in his ten years of being a Super Hero, he had seen everything there was to see and in his defense, he had seen a hell of a lot. However, he had just spent the last few weeks fighting a war against an multidimensional empire and clashed with beings with enough power to destroy entire galactic quadrants.

In short, he was tired, he was hungry and he had used much more Zirin than was safe and ended up Redlining...again. He hated Redlining. After using too much of his own Zirin energy to where he was at the point of passing out, his body would attempt to stay awake at all costs, forcing him to fight every single thing he viewed as a threat to his existence. He barely remembered anything from his Redline and it always annoyed him to no end.

This time was hardly different. He had awoken on his hands and knees, buried under a huge pile of building materials and vehicles but he didn't really care about that. It wasn't the the first time, after all. He wasn't being crushed so whatever. He blinked rapidly as short flashes of memories hit him. "How the hell did I end up in a fight right after I just finished the last one?", he mumbled to himself with a resigned sigh,"Let's just get this over with." Evron closed his eyes, trying to gauge if he had enough in his internal reserve to take on this weird, crystalline angel monster that was rampaging in this city.

He let out a deep breath he hasn't realized he'd been holding and he opened his eyes. "Shit...I barely have enough", he spat through gritted teeth. He hated burning through his own Zirin when he was low like this. It wasn't painful, per se, but it felt like a million little insects running through his veins, increasing the sensitivity of his body with every tiny little step. 'Fuck, I've been in worse situations. First things first, let's get out of here.' His hands began to glow and he steeled himself.

Hunched over as he was, he slammed his knuckles together. With a pulse of blue light, the mountain of debris exploded, leaving him at the center of a wide crater. He looked up and noticed the weird crystal angel monster looking down at him. He shot a glare at the creature and wiped the blood from his mouth. "Alright, bitch...Let's finish this!", he said with as smirk.

Despite the confident look on his face, his bravado was forced. 'I'm not as fast as I should be right now. I have to make the most of what I have if I'm going to win this.' Forcing Zirin to his legs, he jumped. Even to an enhanced eye, the Zirin-enhanced jump was so fast that he appeared to teleport directly in front of the Endbringer. Without pause, he swung a glowing fist at Her and was not surprised at all when she gracefully slid out of the path of his first punch. Strike after strike was thrown, combinations and chains of attacks were launched with precision and at speeds near the speed of sound. 'How? She's not even moving that fast!', he screamed to himself, 'This makes no sense.'

He launched a spinning kick that was lazily dodged and flew backwards until he was no longer in close range with the Simurgh. He cupped his palms in front of him, making sure none of his fingers were touching each other, all the while dodging the various items the Simurgh launched at him. The space between his palms began to glow and a small sphere of vibrant blue light began to appear while smaller orbs formed on each of his finger tips and thumbs. With a sound like a cannon, the blue sphere between his palms became a powerful beam, rocketing towards the Simurgh. "Try and dodge this!!!", With that said, Evron immediately covered the beam with his fingers and the energy on his fingertips converged with the bright blue beam, turning it from a single beam into thousands of pencil-thin lasers intersecting each other.

With an ease that was becoming infuriatingly familiar, the Simurgh managed to avoid being hit by any of the small lasers and floated unhurt in the middle of Evron's laser grid. "No way in hell.", he spoke through gritted teeth. With a twitch of his fingers, the position of the lasers shifted. The Simurgh was still untouched. With another twitch, the position of the lasers shifted again. 'How in the hell is this bitch avoiding my Death Grid? I don't even know where the lasers will show up. It's completely random.' He let the Death Grid dissipate and shot a glare at the Simurgh, his eyes glowing a bright blue, and she stared back blankly at him with her white eyes. His eyes suddenly widened as he came to a sudden realization.

"You...oh my god...You're a Precog? A fucking Precog? That's what I've been worried about. This is ridiculous. I've been wasting all this time.", Evron chuckled as he spoke, a wide smile spreading across his face. "I'm going to rip you in half...again. Vertically this time.", he added after glancing at the Simurgh's partially regrown lower half. "...because apparently having no legs doesn't bother you at all." His blue eyes flashed and shifted to a deep, glowing emerald. The Tinkertech devices on his chest and limbs simultaneously changed to match his eyes and a hazy verdant aura sat just atop his skin.

His body began to vibrate and shudder and he clenched his fists. With a sound like an explosion, he disappeared, a shockwave spreading from where he previously hovered in midair. He reappeared directly in front of the Simurgh, his entire arm glowing greener than the rest of his body and pulled back for a powerful swing. His blow connected and the resulting sound was utterly deafening. A green wave of energy exploded from his fist as soon as he made contact, creating a massive cylinder of green energy that lanced through the ground, leaving a massive hole in the ground beneath them. Air was forced away from the epicenter of the strike, clearing the area of any dust and causing debris to fly through the air. The Simurgh was damaged, that much he could clearly see. Half her face was cracked open. The wings covering her chest were little more than silvery fragments, exposing Her androgynous chest. Large fragment of her skin were simply gone and cracks covered the majority of her porcelain skin. Despite this, he could FEEL that all this damage was merely superficial. She was still as capable as ever. He dashed away from the Simurgh and watch her drift from side to side to side as if dazed. 'It's not enough. She can't see where I am or where I'm going to be but that's not going to last forever.', thought Evron worriedly. 'God damn, this bitch is pretty durable for someone having this level of power.'

"One...Final", he clenched his fists and began to glow brighter and brighter, until he appeared to be a bright emerald sun in the sky, "...Strike!!!" Another wave of green energy shot out, this one seemingly doing nothing to affect the environment. The wave spread and spread, until it encompassed the entirety of Canberra and beyond. Everything was silent. Evron wheezed as he felt an extreme wave of exhaustion overtake him and he landed, lacking energy to stay afloat. 'That...that definitely took a lot...more than I thought.' He looked up through half-lidded eyes and nearly screamed in shock. 'She's still...How is she not down? The backlash from that should take down any Precog or Mind Reader. How...Shit...'

He felt the force before it hit him and he braced himself in preparation for the pain. It didn't help in the slightest. The wave of telekinetic force launched him upwards and he flew through the air. As he reached the apex of his flight, another blast of TK struck him and he felt his arm shatter. 'I shouldn't have held back. If I had gone full out, this wouldn't be happening.' His thoughts were interrupted as a massive, house-sized piece of concrete and steel slammed into him, sending him hurtling downwards. 'This is my fault.'

He fell toward the ruins of the city below. This was the end. His last attack had cost him what little energy he had left. Everything he had done was for nothing. He landed on his back and a sickening crack was heard. His body was broken and he was too drained to move. He couldn't feel anything below his waist and his heart wrenched as he realized how truly vulnerable he was. His chest exploded with pain and he spit up a gout of blood. A thin steel rail had fallen from above, piercing his chest and it took all he had not to scream his head off. His body was already hyper-sensitive due to his Redline and his normally extremely high pain tolerance was forced to the limit.

Evron looked up at the Simurgh hovering directly above, five more thin steel rods floating around her. With four sharp thuds, the rods landed, piercing through each one of his limbs, nailing him to the ground.

A scream of pain ripped from his throat before he forced it down. Another steel rod hung high above him, aimed directly at his head. "...not...like this", he croaked, "...home!" The rod began to drop. Fear filled his eyes. "One...Thirty...Eight...HB Five!" A bright flash of blue light appeared, obscuring his body. An instant later, the steel rod embedded itself into the ground.

- ~0~ - ~0~ - ~0~ - ~0~ - ~0~ - ~0~

Evron appeared in what, from what he could tell, was an alley. His vision was beginning to darken but he could definitely make out the orange tint of the sky, telling him that the sun was just about to set. Brick walls, covered in ugly graffiti, surrounded him on both sides. Slow, nervous footsteps made their way towards him. He looked up, wincing at how even the slightest movement nearly elicited a scream of pain. A tall, lanky awkward looking teen stood above him, mouth agape at the sight of his damaged, blood covered body. That was the last thing he saw before everything went black.

ZFighter18 · Jan 17, 2016

Introductions 1.2

Evron awoke to a dull, constant ache in his joints and chest as well as a throbbing pain in his head. The pain in his muscles was nothing he hadn't felt before but the headache was enough to be a mild annoyance. He blinked and shook his head several times to clear the throbbing pain away. His sight began to clear and he was finally able to see his surroundings. It was...quaint. A small room with some type of...ancient computer in the corner. The walls were covered with faded posters of superheroes that he didn't recognize and various unfamiliar superhero memorabilia littered the room.

Evron felt the fog lift from his head and he suddenly realized that he was not alone in the room. A teenage boy sat in a chair directly across from him. A mop of untidy blonde hair was the first thing he noticed. The second was the wide eyed look of excitement on the stranger's face.

"...Hey", he said, cautiously.

"You're awake!",began the blonde excitedly, "I thought you were dead, you know, 'cause you had huge holes all over your body and you were bleeding everywhere and blood was everywhere and I was freaked out 'cause I didn't know what to do butthenyouwereglowingandeverythingandthenyoustoppedbleedingand-"

Evron rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed as the kid began to ramble and go off on tangents. This always happened when he met fans. He couldn't blame the guy. He must have gotten a shock when he appeared out of nowhere all beaten and bloody. However, Evron still had a headache and the blonde's nonstop talking was only aggravating it.

"andyourheartwasgonelitteralynotihingwhereyourheartwassupposedtobeandiwaslikewhoathisguy'sdefinitelydeadbutthenyouwerentandiwaslikewhoaagainand-"

"DUDE!", shouted Evron. The blonde shut up, blue eyes widening in shock at the sudden increase in volume. "Okay. Didn't mean to scare you, man. I was just worried you were about to pass out. You know, cause you weren't breathing.", he continued, the jibe flowing off his tongue naturally.

The blonde scratched the back of his head as a sheepish expression spread across his face. "Heh...sorry. It's a bad habit. I tend to talk a lot. Sorry." He gulped nervously and put his arm out. "My name's Greg, by the way. Greg Veder. Sorry about my room. I'm kind of a cape geek, if you haven't already guessed." His expression somehow became even more embarrassed.

Evron took his arm with a confident grin and gave it a firm shake. "Name's Evron Grey but, of course, you already knew that. "

Greg looked stunned. "Your real name?! Really?!"

"Of course. I've only used my real name for about three years now." Evron's expression became confused at the odd look on Greg's face. "It's me...Evron....Grey. Titan...Have you been living under a rock? It's me!"

Greg shrugged. "I have no idea who you are, man. You must not be that famous if nobody mentions you on PHO, especially if you use your real name. I'm there all the time and I never heard about you. Maybe you're just a lot less important than you think you are." Greg smiled nervously as he finished talking.

"L-less...less important than I think I am?", spluttered Evron," You have to be joking. I am literally the most important on Earth. I've saved the entire world way more times than you could count! I'm the leader of Titanwatch! I run Grey Incorporated! How do you not know me?!", he screamed.

Greg jumped up and waved his arms, trying to calm Evron down. "I'm sorry! I'm sorrysorrysoryy! You're probably super famous! I don't know what I'm talking about, man!!!" 'Oh my god, I'm alone in the house with a cape who's definitely insane. I'm gonna die!'

Evron closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You know what, it doesn't matter. You obviously know nothing at all about...anything. I'm gonna make a call. Be quiet for like thirty seconds."
Evron raised his arm until one of the metal Tinkertech devices was level with his mouth. " Sia, contact Anton Mercer."

The device beeped once and spoke in a digital imitation of a low pitched female voice. "Unable to contact Anton Mercer. Contact information invalid."
"What are you talking about?! Contact Dana Grey!" "Unable to contact Dana G-" "Contact Craig Keller!" "Unable to contact Crai-"

"Shit!", he cursed loudly, oblivious to Greg's growing anxiety. 'This can't be. I should be able to reach them no matter how far away they are. Unless...no...not...' Evron felt his heart drop into his stomach as he realized something. "...Sia, access the Net and give me information on known hero Evron Grey or hero group Titanwatch."

A Second later, a beep was heard. "No information was found on known hero Evron Grey or hero group Titanwatch.", reported Sia.

Evron jerked his head over to Greg, who had been attempting to sneak out of the room while Evron was occupied. "Greg?"

The blonde jumped nervously and gulped. "Y-yeah..." 'So close...'

"What year is this?" Evron asked, his face blank of emotion.

"2-2-...2011...why?", he responded anxiously.

Evron sighed. "...no reason but for some reason, THE UNIVERSE FUCKING HATES ME! How could this happen again?"

"What happened...again?", Greg wondered.

Evron stood up from Greg's bed and let out another deep breath. "Greg, lets just say...I'm not from around here."

ZFighter18 · Jan 17, 2016

Interlude 1a: Inhuman Perspectives

Ziz 1

(Lower Earth Orbit, Earth)

Her senses were gone. The tools that she had relied on since the moment of her creation in order for her to carry out the task had been removed. No...not removed. Limited...no...altered, changed, warped. Yes, warped.

She could barely track a few existences, let alone the multitudes she used to monitor. She saw no fulcrum points, no possibilities. She could no longer track like she once did, no longer sense and comprehend the actions that once were and she now lacked the ability to comprehend the many possibilities in store.

The information she had gathered prior to this point was there but the understanding that she had was lacking. She knew what it meant, of course, and she could act on it and attempt to set new paths that she could track but it would not be worth it. Without her full capabilities, it would be a childish fumbling compared to her once masterful, subtle proddings.

She had a task to complete but how would she complete said task without the proper tools? It could be done...but it wouldn't be done right. Her postcognition was limited to the data she had already collected and she could not extrapolate the actions of those she had not tracked without gathering data of their past but now lacked a method of doing so. She could still perceive some future actions but without the constant analysis of her postcognition, she could not separate the pivotal elements from the trivial. It was all a scattered mess of information and it frustrated her. She could still see one target at a time. One target...only one among billions? She was essentially blind. She had what little data she had collected of the past but she could not use that to extrapolate the multitude of possibilities that could be. No past...no future...

She thought back to the last time she had access to her full abilities, the moment when the Anomaly appeared. Her pretercognition had begun weakening and at some points during the encounter with the Anomaly, stopped working entirely. It was as if he did not exist at all. She could not extrapolate. She could not control his excretions, manipulate his senses, nothing at all. She had been forced to focus all her attention on her precognition in order to prevent her premature termination. Self-preservation was the only goal she could focus on. This had left her vulnerable for some time and the Anomaly had taken advantage of her weakness, damaging her more than she had even been before. She had gained the upper hand but she knew this was not due to any effort on her part. The Anomaly had exhausted itself and she had attempted to terminate It's existence but It had escaped before she could complete It's termination. Her abilities had fallen to their current state shortly before the Anomaly had disappeared entirely. A feeling of annoyance overcame her at the thought of the Anomaly and how It had been nearly invisible to her sight. Annoyance...odd. Emotions were not relevant to the task. She did not feel. She was not created with the ability to feel.

She felt the brush of atmospheric wind on her crystalline skin and tilted her head at the odd sensation. She was confused. She had no sense of touch. She was not supposed to feel. Emotions were not relevant, completely unecessary...yet she had them. The Simurgh opened her white eyes and froze. For hours, she hung in the exact same position, no longer following the orbit of the planet. The Simurgh saw. She saw everything. What could only be described as a smile covered her face as she gazed upon the Earth below.

ZFighter18 · Jan 17, 2016

These are terms that will be receiving heavy use in later chapters. Wanted to get them out of the way now.

Glossary Of Terms

Archetypes: An Archetype is a set of primary powers that classify a Superhuman. Paragon; Flight, Strength, Speed, Durability, Energy Projection, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Mental Processes. Tank; Strength, Durability. Runner; Speed, Agility. Bruiser; Strength, Speed, Durability. Battery; Energy Projection, Energy Absorption, Energy Manipulation. Brain; Enhanced Mental Processes, Mental Control, Precognition. Hunter; Enhanced Senses. Jumper; Teleportation. Shifter; Physical Manipulation. Bestial; Animal Physiology

Church of Health, Prayer and Love : Colloquially known as the Cult of Love, they worked with the Imagination Foundation to create the creatures that H.P. Lovecraft wrote about in order for them to worship. They were surprisingly successful.

Enhanced Human: A human that undergoes a procedure in which they are modified using the genetic information of Superhumans.

Gene Modification: A procedure in which a normal human is modified into an Enhanced Human using the collected DNA and genetic information of Superhumans.

Global Security Agency: An organization created by the United States that was taken over by the United Nations. Created in 2030, it was originally the Mutant Control Agency.

Grey Incorporated: International business conglomerate formerly run by Evron Grey's father, Richard M. Grey. Evron Grey took over after his father and grandfather were found dead under mysterious circumstances.

Imagination Foundation: A large group of mad scientists determined to create the monsters and creatures found in fantasy works from dragons to zombies, werewolves and vampires. They were very, very successful.

Iceberg: A world famous Charity organization that has been around for over 300 years. Known ties to Evron Grey.

Justice: Founding Member of Freedom Guard. Brain AT, Runner AT, Hunter AT.

Korath: An empire of former galactic conquerors who worship the Nexus and Evron as his successor for granting them powers. The average Korath adult is a trained fighter able to lift 25 tons and run at speeds exceeding two hundred miles an hour. A member of a noble house is expected to be at least 200 times as powerful while the Royal Family is at least ten times as strong as any member of a noble house.

Liberty: Formerly Lady Liberty, she is considered the most powerful female superhuman on Earth. Founding Member of Freedom Guard. Paragon AT.

Mayhem: Group of powerful mutant terrorists who believe mutants are the strongest predators on Earth. They regularly caused mass killings and disasters. All members killed by Titanwatch. Founding Members; Mastermind, Riff, Pierce, Killing Machine, Godiva, Schadenfreude, Ubermensch and Romero.

Metahuman: An empowered individuals who gain superhuman abilities but possess no Zero Gene. Metahumans tend to develop powers in areas of high Zirin concentration or areas of high Superhuman activity. They have high potential for natural power growth and are the lowest at risk for Power Incontinence & Power Overload. They tend to be rather weak but their abilities grow in power with both age and experience.

Mutant: An empowered individual whose abilities are due to the Zero Gene found in 80% of Evron's Earth. A Mutant's powers appear in times of extreme stress and or near-death. A Mutant can manifest between the ages of 8-38. Mutants tend to possess more powerful abilities than Metahumans, Transhumans and Enhanced Humans but have little to no potential for natural power growth. Mutants are at a higher risk of Power Incontinence & Power Overload than both Trans and Metas.

Mutant Riots: The Mutant Riots were an international attack on the world's governments led by Patient Zero's group of mutant terrorists and human supporters in 2050. This led to the governments of several European, African and South American countries collapsing entirely and the UK to return to the days of the absolute monarchy.

Nexus: The Nexus refers to one extradimensional being who is the origin of all superhuman abilities in the near infinite numbers of reality sets it controls. It is essentially omnipotent, and gains enjoyment from life by living it through the eyes of a lesser sapient, it's host Evron Grey.

Paragon: Formerly the world's strongest superhuman and leader of the Freedom Guard, he was killed in a fight by Evron Grey after going berserk. Paragon AT.

Patient Zero: The first natural mutant ever known. He is also the cause of the Zero Virus being released which led to the death of hundreds of millions and the rise of the Zero Gene in the population.

Power Incontinence: An affliction that effects many Superhumans with physical abilities. In individuals with speed based powers, it manifests as a period of intense hyper acceleration colloquially referred to as "The Jitters". In individuals with high durability, it manifests as Insensitivity to External Stimuli and Total Sensory Deprivation.

Power Overload: An affliction similar to Power Incontinence that, instead of affecting those with physical abilities, affects those with energy based powers. They tend to cause much more collateral damage than Power Incontinence.

Reality Set: Every instance of a known universe. Example: Every Harry Potter Fic exists in one reality set.

Reapers: An underground gang centered in the US that hunts low powered mutants and strips them of their organs and vital fluids.

Superhuman: A term used to refer to Enhanced Humans, Metahumans, Mutants, and Transhumans as a whole.

Syndicate: A shadowy criminal organization that is believed to control organized crime internationally. Suspected ties to Evron Grey.

Titanwatch: Originally a United States sponsored superhero team for the best heroes in the world, it was secretly a method to monitor, manipulate and control the strongest Superhumans. It was rendered useless by the GSA's Freedom Guard. It was later revived as the world's premier super team by Evron Grey AKA Titan.

Transhuman: A superhuman that possesses their powers from birth. They possess similar or identical powers to their parents/other family members and their offspring will possess the same or similar powers. Average potential for power growth. Less powerful than Mutants but More so than Metahumans.

Zirinium: An element not native to Earth that was found in large quantities on Earth in a meteor shower in 2010. This element is very unstable and has been documented to have mutagenic properties. Superhumans have been found to produce a variant called Zirin which powers their abilities.

ZFighter18 · Jan 17, 2016

Introductions 1.3

"You're an alien?!" Greg jumped to his feet, moving so suddenly that his chair skidded on the wooden floor and slammed into his wall.

For the third time since he had met Greg, another sigh fell from Evron's throat. "Greg, I didn't say that I wasn't from Earth. I said that I'm not from this Earth. I'm not an alien...Technically, I'm not human anymore, though."

Greg scrunched his eyebrows together together and tilted his head slightly. "What? So, you're from another universe like Earth Aleph?"

"What? You guys already made contact with another universe? Already? When?" It was now Evron's turn to be confused.

Greg nodded. "Yeah, I don't really remember when we found out about Aleph. I think it was about like a long while ago. A cape made a doorway or something to Aleph and then Aleph started getting Capes. Weak Capes, though."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm not from Earth...Aleph."

"How do you...know that? I mean, for sure?" Greg said, his visible Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed nervously.

"How long have people had powers on this Earth, Greg?" Evron's eyes flickered over to the computer Greg sat in front of and the large amount of superhero memorabilia that he found completely unfamiliar.

Greg shrugged. "I guess about thirty years."

Evron slowly paced around the room, eyes still analyzing the entirety of Greg's room. "On my Earth, nobody had powers until the year 2025 and it's been over three hundred years since then..."Evron paused and stared at Greg as he began to splutter and cough.

"Thr-thr...three h-hundred years. That's crazy...Wait. I call bullshit." Greg calmed his breathing and gave Evron a disbelieving look as his voice took on a derisive, mocking tone. "Oh...okay...first, you're from another Earth, then you're from the future. Suuuuureee....I get that you're a Cape and that's really cool. It really is." Greg's voice shifted from mocking to patronizing as if Evron were a small child who believed in fairy tales.

Unmindful of the blank look on Evron's face, Greg continued on. "You have a power, that's awesome. Sure, all you can do is heal yourself but that's still pretty cool. I mean, you're no Alexandria or Eidolon but you don't have to make stuff up to make yourself feel better." Greg smiled at Evron as he finished, oblivious to how condescending his little pep talk was.

"You done talking?" Evron asked, his face the very picture of bored annoyance. "Good. Listen close, Greg. On my Earth, information about alternate realities is a really good secret. Like, the type of secret that would get a regular person a visit from some not-so-friendly guys in black suits if they found out. It's not something that a random guy like you would know about."

Greg nodded silently and looked at the ground, his face burning in embarrassment.

"Greg, I'm gonna leave.", said Evron after a short pause.

Greg stammered. "Why? I thought you could stay for a while till you healed up."

"I'm healed, dude. Right now, I'm just a bit drained." He raised a hand to brush a lock of hair out of his eyes. "Look, I'm glad you picked me up off the street but I need to get back to my own universe. I can't do that here. Trust me, you DON'T want me to do that here. I assume you like your house in one piece."

"So you're really a big time Hero? Like Eidolon?" Greg asked, eyes wide with excitement.

Evron smirked and zipped up his hoodie, hiding the device on his chest. "I have no idea who the hell that is but yeah, the biggest. Everyone on my Earth and a couple others know the name Evron Grey. I've fought the biggest, baddest, strongest villains ever and me and my team...heh...we don't lose. "

Greg took in a shallow breath. "Cool..."

Evron turned around, facing Greg's window.

"Wait!" Greg called out," Can't we talk about, you know, your Earth a bit more first? Before you leave, I mean." 'Come on man, don't go yet. You're the first Cape I've ever talked to.'

Without even turning around, Evron responded. "I really can't do that, Greg. I have to start heading home. My friends need me. My world needs me. It was...uh...interesting talking to you. Some advice; just take it from me, learn to relax a bit. You're kind of all over the place."

Greg gave him a sad smile. "Yeah, a couple of people have mentioned that I am kind of...awkward."

Evron turned his head, returning Greg's smile. "You'll be fine, man. Thanks for letting me use your bed, by the way. See ya. "

With that, Evron leapt out Greg's open window.

Greg ran to his window and looked out to see Evron already high above his house flying away. "So cool...That was unreal. I've got to tell people on PHO about this." He sunk into his chair and was about to enter said forum when he heard his front door open and a voice called out.

"Greg, honey, I'm home. I hope you don't mind. The store was out of the chips you like so I got you-OH MY GOD, IS THIS BLOOD?!!!"

Greg felt his heart drop into his chest. 'Shit! I forgot to clean the blood he left on the door! I'm so dead. Mom already saw it.'

"GREG? GREG?!!"

'I save a hero and this is what happens. Fuck you, Karma!'

"GREGORY LUCAS VEDER! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!!!"

ZFighter18 · Jan 17, 2016

Read these spoilers only if you want to find out some backstory about Evron and Members of Titanwatch without waiting for the story

Aka Titan. Extremely Rich, charismatic, arrogant and playful white teenage boy. Has sadistic and sociopathic tendencies. Suffers from occasional bouts of megalomania and beliefs of godhood. Son of Richard Malcolm Grey and Daniella Grey, brother to Dana Rachel Grey. Grey family possesses transhuman ability to control, manipulate and dominate using voice or physical cues. Grey Family is the Syndicate, a shadowy organization that has controlled the world for over two hundred years. Current head is elder Sister Dana Grey. Both parents are currently dead. Became a Hero at 14 Years Old with best friend Anton Mercer. Chronologically 20 years old, Biologically 17. Lost powers and became a leader of a highly infamous gang of Supervillains at the age of 16. Was murdered eight months later. Brought back by father's scientists. Never stops smiling because "Smiling is the best way to piss people who don't like you off." Due to side effects caused by his former addiction to power granting drugs, he sometimes gets cravings for human flesh. Has Disassociative Personality Disorder based on some of his emotions; Rage, Fear, Pride, Happiness, Sadness, Logic Each Personality has a power-set specific to them. Also has control issues that he attempts to temper.

Anton Mercer AKA Atlas has been Evron's best friend since the age of 6 and serves to ground him. 7'9", 2,400 lbs. Anton is a massive, musclebound behemoth with a perfect V-shaped torso, mixed race; Father is white, mother is black. Currently twenty-one years old. Has one younger brother, age 15 and two twin sisters, age 12. All are powered. Anton honestly believes in Truth, Justice, Loyalty, Honesty and other virtues and believes in Personal Responsibility. Has a strong desire to obey authority. He is unaware that his virtues were preprogrammed into him by his father.Father is Aaron Mercer, formerly Arthur Michaels AKA Patient Zero; the creator of the Zero Gene and wanted mutant terrorist. Anton and his twin sister Eva, were not born naturally like their other siblings. Created as the perfect and strongest mutant soldiers before their father decided to change his mind, the twins are extremely smart and have knowledge on nearly every martial art. Powers: Super Strength(Estimated to be roughly in the range of septillions of tons), Super Speed (Limit is Mach 24), Flight(35 million miles an hour) Durability(Immune to all forms of external physical damage. However, can still feel pain from strikes above a certain force. Bones unbreakable as well.) Transforms into a 12 ft wolf at will.

Craig Keller has been Evron and Anton's friend for years. 22 years old. Formerly Lazy and and extreme slacker Widely known as the smartest person on Earth, Craig has created many devices and discoveries that revolutionize life as we know it. Craig assisted Evron and Anton's superhero career for over a year and a half by producing equipment for them to use. He was attacked by the Villain group Mayhem and after ripping off one of his arms and mangling one of his legs, they left him to die. However, Craig survived and rebuilt himself. With a body that is now techno-organic and outfitted with the most advanced weaponry Earth has ever seen, Craig can go toe to toe with some of the strongest in the universe. Powers: Eidetic Memory, Total Recall, Accelerated Probability, Causality Perception, Accelerated Mental Development, Hypercognition, Accelerated Thought Processes, Detail Intuition, Technokinesis, Parallel Processing, Enhanced Intelligence. Highly skilled in Nanorobotics, Bionic Physiology, Mechanical Augmentation, and Weaponry Design.

Friend of both Anton and Evron. Friendly rival to Craig. Best Friend of Alexandre Pistris. Cocky enough to annoy Evron slightly. Loves to crack jokes and shoot large weaponry. Skilled in robotics and vehicle design. Powers: Any Insectoid Physiology/Transformation, Flight, Enhanced Speed, Enhanced Strength, Danger Sense, Enhanced Metabolism, Adhesive Skin, Limited Insect Control. DECEASED.

DECEASED

Alex is a clone of his father that his father commissioned after his mother gave birth to a daughter and she was stillborn. His father is a mutant with Shark Transformation abilities. Unlike his mutant father, Alex is a transhuman who possessed his abilities from birth. His father is also a cannibal and attempted to raise him to eat meat the same way he does. After his mother protested when she realized what his father was doing, his father killed Alex's mother on Alex's tenth birthday and locked Alex in a cell with his mother's dead body for over over two weeks until Alex finally gave in and ate her rotting corpse to survive. Alex is a withdrawn, quiet guy and a piercing stare. Powers: Super Strength, Enhanced Speed. Durability. Hydrokinesis. Shark Physiology/Transformation. Electroreception. Enhanced Hearing. Enhanced Smell/

Eldritch Craven was not born naturally. His mother, a beautiful young teenager with mental issues and a love of horror stories, was led away from her privileged environment into a life of drug abuse by her then boyfriend Jackford "Jax" Craven. After she ran away from home, Jax got tired with her and sold her to a group who were looking for young pregnant runaways. She was then brainwashed and her fetus was then altered to create a sick twisted monster for the Church of Health, Prayer and Love to worship. Eldritch was their first success. His birth ended up killing his mother but he absorbed her and slaughtered every cultist and scientist in the facility. El always wears a black suit with black shirt and black sunglasses. His eyes are usually black with no pupils. Sadistic, cannibalistic, predatory, mocking and terrifying are some adjectives that could be used to describe one of Earth's greatest heroes. Powers: Biological Matter Absorption, Infinite Digestive System, Redundant Physiology, Digestive Assimilation, Immortality, Evolution, Total Shapeshifting, Complete Body Manipulation, DNA Manipulation, Tendril Creation, Tendril Manipulation Enhanced Eating, Dimensional Manipulation, Dimensional Travel, Dream Manipulation, Dream Travel, Shadow Travel, Shadow Manipulation, Teleportation, Invisibility, Illusion Manipulation, Danger Intuition, Enhanced Senses, Imperceptibility, Inaudibility.

Steve is the transhuman son of mutant criminal and cult leader Madman; a former comedian who gained powers when his original family died due to him falling asleep at the wheel. White, Very tan. Died at the age of 19. thin but built.Angelo's power is the ability to get stronger, faster, more agile when He is laughing or People are laughing with him. Is a bipolar manic depressive/has logorrhea(Can't stop talking). Uses swords and a lot of guns. Former villain along with Evron Grey. Obsessed with guns, weaponry and working for Evron. Died with girlfriend Kunoichi taking out his father and the majority of his cult. Powers: Laughter Empowerment, Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Speed, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Agility. Skilled in Sword Use, Skilled Sniper, Rapid Regeneration. DECEASED.

DECEASED

Friend of Evron Grey. Black, killed at the age of 18 by the terrorist group Mayhem. Transhuman with the ability to infuse almost any superpower into items worn on his person after touching someone with the power. Left behind a girlfriend and a newborn son, little brother and mother. Powers: Power Infusion, Suit Up!, Power Suit. DECEASED

DECEASED

32 years old, looks 16. Thin, 5"5'. Princess of the Korathians, Liara was worshipped and expected to be a godlike warrior with strength surpassing all others, as all members of the Royal Family were. However, due to the brutal treatment of her vicious, cold-hearted mother, the Queen, and the experience of watching her parents kill each other in front of her, Liara is very kind and gentle, almost pacifistic; something considered anathema by her conflict, power and dominance based society. Liara, as well as all in the multigalactic Korath empire, worship the Existence known on their planet as "The True Burning Star". She believes the same as all Korathians do, that the Existence will one day return to them after finding a host.

After traveling to Earth with her brother to conquer it and find the Existence, she met Evron, realized he was the host of the Existence, and swore subservience to him. After being immediately rejected, she stayed on Earth and Evron began to warm to her. Soon they were dating. They are now engaged. All Korathians possess an ability called Bloodrage that activate when pushed to the limit and enraged. It enhances their strength and speed extremely while limiting their cognitive functions. When in Bloodrage, Liara's blonde hair displays red highlights and displays a split personality that contains the rage, bloodlust, and cruelty her mother taught her. Powers: Super Strength(When Angry, her strength rivals Anton's), Super Speed (When Angry, can reach fractions of Light Speed), Flight, Zirin Projection, Zirin Control. Teleportation. Healing. Resurrection. Biological Manipulation.

Raised as a ninja and trained from the age of 2, Takumi is one of the world's deadliest killers. She literally can't feel fear. Assisted by a thin alien bodysuit, she is leagues above any human in nearly any physical skill. Died with boyfriend Steve. Powers: Enhanced Agility, Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Speed, Enhanced Flexibility, Enhanced Endurance, Enhanced Durability, Enhanced Dexterity, Enhanced Senses, Memory, Intelligence, Reflexes, Marksmanship, Reflexes, Instincts.

DECEASED

Born to Richard and Daniella Grey, she was sent to her aunt at the age of 3 to be raised by her as her daughter after her mother died shortly after giving birth to her little brother. Due to her aunt's inappropriate tendencies, Dana grew up knowing how to manipulate and seduce grown men by the age of 8. She is also a kleptomaniac who cares little for the value of items and is willing to steal costume jewelry if it catches her eye. She hates her father and the last name Grey with a passion but softened to her dad shortly before he died. Very beautiful, she is 5"11' and occasionally models. She is currently dating Anton Mercer. Powers: Feline Physiology/Transformation, Enhanced Agility, Flexibility, Dexterity, Senses, Reflexes, Strength, Agility, Speed, Endurance.

Anton's twin sister. Short, spiky, multicolored hair. Loves to change her hair color. Physical powers are much weaker than Anton's due to not being pushed as hard as her brother. Powers: Adaptive Abilities, Power Creation, Crystalline Wings, Super Strength, Flight, Teleportation, Super Speed.

Voice naturally makes people agree with, listen and obey him. It is uncontrolled, extremely subtle and immediate. A small offhand sentence can be interpreted as a lifetime order that the person simply carries out by thinking It was their idea. Super Speed (Ranges from Fractions of Light Speed to FTL Time Travel). Super Strength(Roughly in the millions of tons). Flight. Danger Intuition. Enhanced Awareness. Enhanced Vision. Enhanced Reflexes. Extremely Rapid Regeneration . Friction Negation. Highly Durable Bones. Little to No Waste Production. Extreme Stamina. Parallel Processing. Inertia Negation. Zirin Control. Zirin Manipulation. Zirin Absorption. Zirin Projection(Estimated to be in the range of Sexdecillion Megatons). Ability Mimicry. Power Awakening. Teleportation. Dimensional Travel, Dimensional Awareness. Limited Time Manipulation. Resistance to Mental Control. Resistance to Precognition. Limited Shapeshifting. Uncontrolled Reality Warping, Uncontrolled Omnikinesis, Potential Omnipotence

Evron Grey is the host of an extradimensional existence now known as The Nexus that not only exists simultaneously in nearly every reality existence simultaneously but is also the cause of all powers in his universe. The existence was once part of an advanced race of aliens whose only goals were scientific advancement and the genetic manipulation of lesser species for their enjoyment. The existence ,formerly known as Evron, was praised for his intelligence among his people despite being a child in his people's standard's of maturity. In his attempt to create a device that would allow for truly endless energy, he set off a reaction that led to his entire reality being subsumed in an ontological apocalypse.

After all was said and done and countless other realities were subsumed and absorbed, the existence awoke with the consciousness of the being formerly known as Evron. After aeons spent doing nothing but thinking and controlling the essentially infinite mass of energy that he now was, he attempted to create life using all the information from the centillions of sapient species he had absorbed.

After recreating the original inhabitants of his universe, the existence began creating things that he had only ever imagined. He gave planets and stars sapience, made an organic being the scale of an entire galaxy, and many others. After all of this, he had become bored again. He wished to be organic again. He created an organic body and found it lacking. He had no emotions. He felt nothing. After many attempts at taking another organics body for himself that met with failure, he came to realize that he was tired of existence. He wanted to die. The existence spent his next few hundred thousand years in a crystalline form on a planet with some primitive sapients contemplating how best to terminate itself without destroying the universes in which it kept all it's creations. It then left the primitive sapients behind uncaring the fact that it's existence on their planet had given them abilities that could be best defined as godlike and that they had been worshiping him for millennia. It found it's way to Earth, circa 2010. The very act of entering Earth's atmosphere had already enhanced/mutated some of Earth's inhabitants in small ways.

Almost three hundred years later, an infinitesimally small amount of time to it, it found a developing life form being incubated in another mature life form. The incubating life form had a mental structure exactly the same as the existence's original life form, a side effect of the mutations caused by it's original appearance three hundred years past. The presence of the Existence affected the mother, causing her to give him the name Evron despite not knowing it's origin. It entered the incubating life form and acted as a leech on it's emotions, leaving the child emotionless and sociopathic. The child was then put through a procedure and given intensive medication, causing numerous mental issues later on in life.

The child joined with others and began using the abilities granted to it by the existence. His host growing stronger every day, the existence awaits the day that his host will take his place and take it's power, allowing him to fade away without destroying the trillions of realities it had used as a playground. All powers that exist in the Nexus are really just reality warping.

ZFighter18 · Jan 17, 2016

Interlude 1b

PHO/Cauldron

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■

♦Topic: Mystery Cape Speculation
In: Boards ► World ► Events ► Debates

WildMassGuesser (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (Cape Groupie)
Posted on February 24, 2011:

Shit just got real! Ziz showed up in Canberra. The sky turned red and cracked open. A cape flew out. He and the Simurgh had a staring contest for five minutes then he smacked the shit out of her. He fought her solo because shit happened that fucking fast and he hits like a nuke. The bitch lost her lower half, for fucks sake!!!

Some more stuff happened. Only 6 Capes died. This is BIG!!!

If you're not up to speed, head to the Confirmed Information Thread.

Video and Stills can be found here.

This is the Speculation Thread. Let's speculate, people!!!

(Showing Page 29 of 62)

► EthanH
Replied on February 24, 2011:
Veritas - How the hell does that make sense? What evidence could there possibly be that this guy is the next Endbringer? He just fought the Simurgh. You saw the video. If you haven't, here. He took 5 steel rods to the body before he teleported away.

► Veritas (Cape Groupie)
Replied on February 24, 2011:
@EthanH - I'm not saying for sure that he's an Endbringer. It just seems to fit. He doesn't look fully human.
Black/red eyes, Black/red veins sticking out everywhere. Skin as pale as the Simurgh's. Hair as white as the Simurgh's. He regenerated faster than the Simurgh. He took a steel rod to the HEART!

► EthanH
Replied on February 24, 2011:
Veritas - "He doesn't look fully human". What sense do you make? Haven't you heard of Case 53's? Also, did you not notice later on in the fight that his hair went mostly black?

► The_Darkness (Cape Groupie)
Replied on February 24, 2011:
@EthanH - Veritas makes a really good point. If you gave him wings and took away his clothes, he'd look like the Simurgh's little brother.

► Simon_Tama (Unverified Cape)
Replied on February 24, 2011:
@The_Darkness - That's a real scary thought, man.

► The_Darkness (Cape Groupie)
Replied on February 24, 2011:
@Simon_Tama - I know, right. Imagine if Leviathan had a little sister.

► PlanksFriend94
Replied on February 24, 2011:
Look, EthanH is right. He had Tinkertech on his arms, legs and chest. He wore clothes. He could talk. Enough with the Endbringer theory.

► BoosterBill (Cape Son)
Replied on February 24, 2011:
@PlanksFriend94 - He talked? When did this happen? All I heard was roaring and screaming.

► Ironroar (Verified Cape)
Replied on February 24, 2011:
Look, I don't know if he's an Endbringer or not but I was there. I fought Ziz before the new guy showed up. She stopped everything a good two minutes before the sky turned red and started cracking. She could tell he was coming. He moved real slow to her. They looked like they were communicating when they were looking into each other's eyes. No cape is going to pull the type of shit that guy pulled with the Simurgh.

► PlanksFriend94
Replied on February 24, 2011:
@BoosterBill - Yes, he could talk. Remember when he pointed at the Simurgh. He obviously said something.

► Winged_One
Replied on February 24, 2011:
@PlanksFriend94 - I think he might have used some offensive language. That's not behavior appropriate for a Hero. Think of the children.

► PlanksFriend94
Replied on February 24, 2011:
Winged_One - Are you making a joke? 'Cause I can't really tell.

► Winged_One
Replied on February 24, 2011:
@PlanksFriend94 - I'm being completely serious.

► BoosterBill (Cape Son)
Replied on February 24, 2011:
It sounded like growling to me.

► UniverseOfPain
Replied on February 24, 2011:
I think the Endbringer theory has some merit. We're not really sure what the Endbringers are. They could be aliens.
The Simurgh could obviously tell someone was coming. She might have been expecting him.

► CompletelyInsaneWriter
Replied on February 24, 2011:
@UniverseOfPain - She's the fucking Simurgh, she fucking "expects" everything!!! Precog's her thing!

► Cow and Burger
Replied on February 24, 2011:
I think he could definitely be an Endbringer. More likely, he's the Simurgh's ex-boyfriend. Did you see the way they stared passionately into each other's eyes before they started ripping each other apart?

► Bug-Boy
Replied on February 24, 2011:
Why ex-boyfriend? For all we know, fighting and destruction could be the Endbringer version of sex.
The Simurgh's into some really rough stuff, apparently. She's just a girl that loves to be in control.

User received an infraction for this post.

► Tin_Mother (Moderator)
Replied on February 24, 2011:
That is inappropriate and offensive to those who have suffered because of the Simurgh. More comments like that and you will be suspended.

► Ironroar (Verified Cape)
Replied on February 24, 2011:
Seriously, though, that mystery cape was strong. Every time he hit the Simurgh, there were huge shockwaves.
I was still in the air at the time and every hit almost knocked me to the ground. It took all my focus not to fall out of the sky.

► Simon_Tama (Cape Groupie)
Replied on February 24, 2011:
@The_Darkness - Levi-tan. That's all I have to say.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 ... 60 , 61, 62

■

♦Topic: Lung Has A Son? (New Cape)
In: Boards ► News ► Events ► America ► Brockton Bay

Lurker (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Posted on February 24, 2011:

Okay, I was heading home tonight after some drinks with my friends. I saw a lot of guys who were clearly E88 chasing after a couple of black kids.

I got on my phone to call 911 and then I saw THIS. (Sorry for the shitty quality. My phone's camera really sucks and it was pretty dark.)

I know that Brockton Bay has a lot of capes but do we really need another Pyrokinetic Brute? Especially one this violent? He ripped a couple of guys in half here, people. He burnt another guy's face off.
Granted they're Nazis, but still. The guy wasn't wearing a mask and I couldn't really make out his face but he was definitely white.
His voice, if you can't make it out, sounds exactly like Lung's. This is crazy.

(Showing Page 22 of 26)

► SpecificProtagonist (Cape Groupie)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
No wonder the gangs won't stop fighting. There was a knife fight yesterday at Winslow and one guy brought a gun. Honestly, I'm glad Shadow Stalker was there. Someone could have gotten killed.

► XxVoidCowboyxX
Replied on March 1, 2011:
This new guy is super awesome. He'd never join Lung, though. The ABB target non-asians in their territory. He'd probably fight Lung and I dont know why but I have a gut feeling that he'd win.

► Makai
Replied on March 1, 2011:
@XxVoidCowboyxX - You don't know what the fuck you're talking about, retard. Lung is the Big Boss Dragon. This fucking matchstick couldn't do shit to him. The entire Protectorate and the E88 can't do shit to him. Lung would show him what real fire is. You better shut your fucking mouth before you get yourself killed.

User received an infraction for this post.

► Kaiser (Moderator)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
I can understand why a mongol like Lung behaves the way he does, but for a new powerful cape of pure blood to be a race traitor is sad. This new cape attacked and killed some of my men. He will pay. Neither Lung nor this upstart are a challenge to the might of the E88. When the time comes, they will both be taken care of.

User received an infraction for this post

► Lung (Verified Cape)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
Kaiser - Is that so? We'll see how pure your blood is when it's poured out all over the ground, Kaiser.
I have no son and the ABB makes clear who it accepts in it's ranks.

User received an infraction for this post.

► SithLadySusan (Cape Groupie)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
Someone told me that The Mystery Cape has been spotted around town. Could he be trying to join the Protectorate?

► XxVoidCowboyxX
Replied on March 1, 2011:
@Makai - Was that a threat? Cause I could kick your ass up and down Brockton Bay. You couldn't touch me.

User has received an infraction for this post.

► Makai
Replied on March 1, 2011:
Go fuck yourself, you little shit. You're trying to talk tough on PHO. If you met an ABB, you'd shit yourself. I'd fuck you up.

User has received an infraction for this post. One more time and you will receive a suspension.

► XxVoidCowboyxX
Replied on March 1, 2011:
Do you mean you by yourself or your entire gang? I don't even care anymore. If the Mystery Cape is in town, the ABB is next after the E88 goes down.

► Makai
Replied on March 1, 2011:
Do you know what a balisong is, faggot? It's a fucking butterfly knife. I'll cut your fucking ass to pieces. I'm ABB, bitch!

User has been suspended.

► Tin_Mother (Moderator)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
@Makai - I warned you. Enjoy your twenty day suspension.

► Tin_Mother (Moderator)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
@XxVoidCowboyxX - I'm watching you. Don't incite others to make threats.

(Showing Page 22 of 26)

► Bagrat (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
@SithLadySusan - Where did you hear the rumor about Hyperion?

► SithLadySusan (Cape Groupie)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
@Bagrat - I can't really say. So, Hyperion? The PRT finally gave him a name?

► Bagrat (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
@SithLadySusan - Yes. My friend in the PRT said it took a while because they kept discussing the powers he showed and wanted to name him around those. They eventually settled on Hyperion.

► Laserdream (Verified Cape)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
The PRT finally named him. Hyperion...I like it. It sounds powerful. Too bad I can't call him Mr. Mystery any more. He is really hot, though.

I've been trying to get a glimpse of him the past few days. Glory Girl told me she saw him with white hair again with another cape running super fast down by the Docks. They disappeared when she tried to fly down to them. I wonder if he's planning to stay in BB. :naughty::naughty::naughty:

► GloryGirl
Replied on March 1, 2011:
Laserdream's right. I totally saw Hyperion. It looked like he was training the other cape. I wonder if they're related.

► Bagrat (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
This is interesting. Hyperion might be making Brockton Bay his home. That is, if he didn't live here already. And he might have family here. This is good stuff. Thanks, GloryGirl, Laserdream.

► EvronGrey (Unverified Cape) (New Member)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
Hyperion...nah. It's a good name but it's not for me. I prefer to be known by my real name. You can all call me Evron. Evron Grey.

► Lurker (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
@EvronGrey - Is this a joke or are you really the Mystery Cape?
Cause if you're joking, it's not funny.

► EvronGrey (Unverified Cape) (New Member)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
I'm not joking.

► Lurker (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
Holy Shit! Hyperion just pulled a New Wave! Sorry, I mean Evron Grey just pulled a New Wave!!!

► GloryGirl (Verified Cape)
Replied on March 1, 2011:
Is this for real?!

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alexandria walked through the familiar glowing, rectangular portal and entered a long, white hallway. She walked calmly towards the meeting room and opened the double doors. She was not surprised to see the meeting room already occupied.

The Number Man was there, along with Contessa and Doctor Mother. Eidolon and Legend sat across from the three of them. Sitting next to Legend, she gave her two old friends a nod in greeting and Eidolon returned it while Legend offered a warm smile in return.

"So, we're here to talk about the new parahuman, then? The PRT already named him. Hyperion was what they decided on." she began.

The Doctor nodded slowly. " Yes. We're currently trying to see if his appearance will have any discernible effect on our plans."

Alexandria raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"He has only been a factor for five days. Since we have been aware of his existence, we have had our Thinkers rigorously attempt to glean whatever information they can about him. We accomplished very little other than finding a new way to give Thinkers blinding headaches," remarked Doctor Mother. "So far, one thing we are certain of is that Hyperion is not from this Earth."

The Triumvirate leaned forward almost in unison. Eidolon spoke first. "This Earth?"

Number Man nodded. "Or any Earth within the range of Doormaker or The Clairvoyant."

"How is that possible?", Legend wondered aloud.

"We don't yet know," responded Doctor Mother. "It may be that there are Earths that exist outside of Scion's purview. We currently have no method of testing this theory."

Eidolon glanced towards Contessa who had made no attempt to speak. "And what about you?"

Contessa straightened in her chair and looked at each of them in turn. "My Paths have been...odd since the arrival of Hyperion. All the Paths that I was previously on disappeared. I started them again and most seem to be functional but a few highly important ones have proven to be blind spots to me. I would assume that he is a being like Scion but I found that I am able to take some Paths that involve him but many are blank. It's...perplexing."

Alexandria frowned at that unfortunate piece of information. "So what you're saying is that he is a partial blind spot to your ability."

Contessa frowned as well and nodded curtly.

Doctor Mother chose then to speak. "He has displayed Mover abilities that are worth at least a 8. His strength, durability, regeneration and endurance net him a Brute 8. His energy blasts were capable of completely destroying the Simurgh's lower body. That's never been done before. He was also capable of manipulating his blasts in odd ways. We should also put him down as a Blaster 9. From the footage we received from Dragon, we were able to see that he also was able to channel some form of energy to his fists during the latter part of his fight, so he has some form of Striker rating. Possibly 6 or 7. He was apparently able to land direct hits on the Simurgh so he might have a power nullifier. He could be a Trump 5 even if his power only worked on Precogs simply due to the fact that it can affect the Simurgh." The Doctor gave a slight cough before continuing. "Does anyone have any relevant information concerning Hyperion?"

Legend shook his head in the negative while Eidolon said nothing.

"Actually, I do. I was on PHO seconds before I left my office," began Alexandria, "I found out that Hyperion's real name is Evron Grey. He released his name on PHO. He apparently has a partner of some sort who possesses Mover abilities."

Eidolon looked directly at Alexandria. "Wonderful,"replied Eidolon, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "We have a powerful new cape who can fight an Endbringer solo for at least ten minutes and he's loose in a city with the highest concentration of capes in the country and he doesn't give a shit about secret identities. This can't go horribly wrong at all, right?"

Alexandria shot him a glare.

"This might not be that bad, everyone," Legend replied, "I mean, we know he's powerful. He did do all that but he'll probably be willing to work with the Protectorate. He attempted to keep us occupied with the Simurgh. Not many capes would be willing to risk their lives figting the Simurgh. I know capes who would rather fight Leviathan or Behemoth than The Simutgh Another bonus, the Simurgh most likely might not be able to affect him considering that she was struggling against him."

Alexandria gave a small smile after hearing Legend's point of view. "You're right. And besides, even if he is a villain, he didn't display anything we can't handle if we work together. We are the Triumvirate after all." She emphasized her statement by bringing her hand down on the highly reinforced table.

Doctor Mother chose that moment to interject. "Actually, there is one problem."

"What is it?", Eidolon asked, already expecting the worst.

The dark skinned Doctor steepled her hands on her chest. "A Thinker belonging to Cauldron, Triage, was at the Simurgh attack performing triage alongside the Healers. If you couldn't determine by her name, she has the ability to determine how healthy or ill a person is. She informed me earlier today that Evron Grey was already on his last legs before the Simurgh fight started. In her own words, his body was already recovering from a massive fight and he hadn't slept or eaten in weeks. In other words, he fought the Simurgh when he was already half-dead," she concluded gravely.

The Triumvirate were left speechless by the bombshell Doctor Mother dropped on them.

Legend then summed up their respective feelings in two words.

"Well...shit."

ZFighter18 · Jan 17, 2016

Introductions 1.5

Gregory Veder ran through the through the abandoned areas of the Docks, his breathing heavy and his brow dripping with sweat. His limbs ached, weighed down by the silver gloves and boots he wore that distinctly resembled Tinkertech. He was very glad that it was still light out. In this area of the Docks, gang members rarely appeared until well into the night and he had no intention of being slowed down by a wannabe mugger. He had something hidden away to deal with them but he could not afford to be slowed down, not right now.

He had been running at this pace for well over two hours, longer and farther than he had ever ran in his entire life. If this was merely for the sake of exercise, he would have slowed to a jog or even a walk in an attempt to get a second wind. Instead, he increased his pace, ignoring the pain that shot through his legs and chest, forcing his body past his human limits. He was terrified that slowing down would allow his relentless pursuer, who was still on his trail after more than two hours, to finally pounce on him like the prey he felt like right now.

He glanced nervously around, unable to see any sign of his hunter. However, that only made him increase his speed further. 'If I can't see him,' thought a frantic Greg, 'that means he could be anywhere.' Greg gasped for breath but he simply balled his fists, unwilling to be caught. He dug deeper and kept pushing, sure that he would greatly regret if he didn't.

Even though he struggled to keep running, he increased his speed further, despite the fact that all he really felt like doing was lying on the ground and not getting up for a week. 'Keep going...don't stop...keep...going...Shit!'

Greg noticed a shadow directly under him that was distinctly separate from his and whipped his head upwards, not slowing his pace down in the least. "Not catching me...". He ducked into a side alley and, with a single leap, cleared a chain link fence nearly twice his height. He ran into another wider alley and vaulted a large dumpster someone had foolishly placed in the center of the alley. If this area had actually been filled with anyone other than a single sleeping homeless man, Greg might have been ashamed to be seen in his current attire. Dressed in nothing more than white sneakers with long white socks, a tight white T-shirt and red shorts that could only be described as nut-huggers, he looked exactly like a middle-aged gym teacher. In other word, ridiculous.

Greg reached the end of the alley and found himself blocked off by a group of warehouses that someone apparently thought it was a good idea to build so close together. With a muttered expletive, he turned around and prepared to head back the same way he came. As soon as he entered the alley again, his eyes widened in shock as he noticed the dumpster from earlier flying directly at him.

With an attempted backflip that began rather gracefully but immediately turned into a painful and uncontrolled tumble, he avoided the trash receptacle that quickly found itself embedded into a warehouse wall. Greg winced as he saw the dumpster crumple against the side of the wall but he had no time to waste. He scrambled up and immediately tried to run, only to freeze as he he heard his name.

"Gregory, you were rather disappointing," began the voice. It sounded distorted and hard to track, as if it was coming from everywhere at the same time. "I thought you would last longer than you did."

Greg goggled. "I've been running as fast I can for two freakin' hours," he whined.
"You're a horrible teacher, boss."

The voice laughed and Evron appeared several meters in the air , hair white as snow and blue eyes shining playfully. He wore his blue and black hoodie with a black shirt underneath as well as his black and blue pants and boots. His normal Tinkertech limb devices were currently on Greg's person. All he wore on each wrist was a thick silver manacle. Around his neck, his jeweled choker was no longer there. "Seriously, Greg, you're doing better. Do you know how fast you were going?"

Greg shook his head, trying to relax his breathing enough to get his second wind.

"You kept a pace of almost fifty miles an hour for over two hours, Greg. We started at your house. You kept taking back alleys and backtracking several times to try to stay out of my sight. All in all, you ran about ninety miles, Greg." Evron beamed down at Greg, a wide and approving smile on his face.

Greg's jaw hung open. "Ninety...ninety...miles?" He couldn't believe it.

Evron nodded. "Your personal best. Not bad for your third week with powers, huh? Without the power limiters,"he paused, gesturing to the devices Greg wore, "you could probably run at about a hundred miles an hour."

Greg just stared, mouth agape and his tiredness forgotten. 'A hundred? I'm fast...'

Evron dropped to the ground until he was only a few meters away from Greg. "You did good today, Greg. But...we're not done yet."

Greg furrowed his eyebrows, his confusion visible. "We're not?" In the three weeks since they had started this, Evron had focused on giving Greg endurance and speed training, neglecting his other abilities because, in Evron's words, "What's the point of having flashy powers if you're slow and weak?"

Evron's warm smile turned positively vicious. "DODGE!!!"

There was no warning. No warning at all.

Except the extremely loud shout of "DODGE!!!".

But other than that, none at all.

Before he could even process the word, the massive blow struck Greg directly in the chest, knocking all the wind out of him and sending him flying backwards into the concrete wall of the warehouse behind him. ' I didn't even see him move.' The world seemed to slow down for him and he began to think back to exactly how he had gotten to this moment.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Three weeks ago)

Greg sat in his bed staring at Evron who had just asked something he could only describe as incredible. The question was so shocking that he forgot that less than two minutes ago, Evron had appeared in his room, covered in blood and smelling of burnt meat. It was so mindblowing that Greg only had one thing to say. "What?"

Evron, who had already transformed back to normal, restated the question calmly and slowly as if speaking to a child.

"Greg, do you want me to give you superpowers?"

The question hung in the air unanswered for all of two seconds..

"Y-you can give powers?"

Evron nodded, a smile on his face. He already had Greg, and both of them knew it.

Greg continued. "Really? You can make someone trigger?"

"Trigger...heh. Where I'm from, we call it Evolving. Yes, I can give you powers."

"No side effects? What powers can I get?"

Evron shook his head. "None that I can't fix and your powerset depends on your subconscious."

"So you just want to give me powers out of the goodness of your own heart and you don't have any...uh...ulterior motivation?" replied Greg skeptically.

Evron shrugged, a smirk still on his face. "Well, I do have an ulterior motive. I mean, come on, why else would I just offer you powers?"

Greg nodded. "So what do you want from me?"

Evron leaned forward until he was less than an arms length from Greg. "I want your help to take over the world."

Greg's expression could only be described as dumbfounded. "Huh?"

"See, when I landed on your Earth, I showed up in the middle of this big monster fight. This angel thing called the Simurgh or Ziz, or whatever, was trying to fight me. I was really beat up already 'cause I just finished a massive battle but I can't leave when people are getting killed by giant monsters. I mean, really, it's in my job description. I can't not do it without my approval rating going down, anyway. All the other heroes were hiding for some reason so I fought the angel lady by myself and tried to kill her. I hit her a few times and blasted her in half but I was trying to save energy and ended up underestimating the bitch and...then you found me."

Greg gaped. "Ho- wha- he- you- whe-...Simurgh?!!!?", Greg questioned/screamed.

Evron slapped a hand over Greg's open mouth and shot him a glare. "Shut up! It's one in the morning. People are asleep...like your mom," hissed Evron. Evron paused for a few seconds. "Okay, she's still sleeping. Go ahead." He removed his hand as Greg nodded his understanding. "And yes, the Simurgh. That bitch is a tricky Precog. Normally, when I use...certain abilities of my power, I'm blank to them but that obviously didn't affect her."

'He fought the Simurgh...by himself. How tough is this guy? Wait...he fought the Simurgh by himself?!!' Greg jumped up on his bed as he came to a realization and raised a fist. "Stay back...,"Greg whispered, his voice wavering.

Evron sighed again. "What is it now?"

Greg gulped, fat droplets of sweat rolling down his face. "Y- y- you fought the Simurgh..."

"Yes..."

"...by yourself?," questioned Greg.

"Why do I feel like we've gone over this already? Yes!"

Greg backed up a few steps on his bed until his back hit the headboard. His breathing became heavy and rather ragged. "Y-y-you're Simurgh affected."

A confused expression passed over Evron's face until he realized what Greg was talking about. "Oh, you mean one of her mental time bombs? No, I'm immune to mind control."

"Really?"

Evron nodded confidently. "You can't get anywhere high in society, politics, business, whatever, in my universe without making sure you're either naturally immune or you've gotten psi-blocker implants." He tapped his left temple for emphasis. "This is locked down tight. Honestly, if i really wanted to kill you, why would I offer you powers first?"

Greg gave a sigh of relief but still stared at Evron with clear suspicion. "That's...good, I guess, but why do you want to...take over the world? That's bad."

"As I was saying before you screamed like a girl, I fought the Simurgh and I almost beat her. I was on my last legs the whole time and nobody else seemed to be helping. Which, now that I think about it, was smart. You did not want to be in the middle of that. I wasn't paying attention to what I hit. She didn't care what she hit. Anyway, after I left your house, I looked up all the problems Earth Bet has to deal with and then I had a...conversation with someone and they gave me a good reason not to leave just yet. Your world is really shitty, Greg."

"No, it's not! I mean..." Greg paused as he began to think.

"My world wasn't perfect. There was prejudice and racism toward metas and mutants. We had giant monsters. We've had them for centuries. We either killed them or kept them under control. We had supervillains. A shit load of supervillains, man but we had at least 20 different prisons for Metas, just in the US. We had ways to handle things. We had a secret organization that kept people calm and stopped them from losing their shit. We had fixed global warming. Your world doesn't seem to have any of what mine had. The way I see it, your world's going to end in twenty-five years, thirty at the most. If these Endbringers don't leave you unable to recover, your Triumvirate will end up dying to some powerful super or team that wants to make a name for themselves and people will lose their shit. Villains will think they're free to do whatever."

Greg simply stared at Evron, mouth slightly open.

"Trust me, Greg. Look...my world had issues. There was a global, what's the word...uh...uprising a few decades after people started getting powers. Mutants and their supporters against the bigots who hated mutants. A lot of places were not prepared for superhuman warfare. The British Empire survived because the Royal Family went against most of Parliament and supported mutants. Most of Africa fell to warlords. India, well...India's India. Japan's thriving, though. They embraced mutants like crazy. The US survived because they actually gave mutants their rights...mostly.

When me and my friends became Titanwatch, we were literally the strongest supers in the world. Then shit went south and certain people in high positions decided I needed to go. They framed me and my friends as being criminals and terrorists, making us Public Enemy #1 worldwide. They froze my accounts. My business was taken from me. They tried to arrest our families. Any Blank or Super that was friendly with us or working for Titanwatch was considered a terrorist. We...took offense to that. While we were on the run, we somehow ended up in control of a few small war-torn countries. Other nations took offense to that and eventually, after a lot of crazy shit happened, only a few countries were left. They joined us willingly."

Greg didn't know how to deal with this. He was talking to someone powerful to take over an entire Earth. An Earth that had had capes for over three hundred years. Even without the capes, three hundred years was a long time. There had to be some bullshit Tinkertech designed since then. Fuck, it was three hundred years, there had to be some bullshit regular tech too. Greg dropped himself on the side of his bed and looked up at Evron. "But...taking over the world. Isn't that...kinda...you know, evil?"

Evron sat next to the blonde and placed an arm on Greg's shoulder. "Greg, when I ended up taking over my Earth, I didn't do it because I wanted to rule. I did it because I saw what was going to happen if I didn't. Look, my world had a great infrastructure. It had three hundred years to build it. Yours is crumbling. This world needs us. We can build that infrastructure, Greg. This world doesn't have to end. Look, I don't want to rule. I'm not going to rule."

"You don't? You're not?" Greg replied slowly, his mind racing in an attempt to deal with the bombshells being dropped on him.

Evron gave him a beaming, confident smile and stood up, taking a few steps away from Greg's bed. "Of course not, man. This isn't my universe. I can't stay here forever. I want to give you powers. I want to make you so strong that by the time I leave, no one on this Earth could possibly challenge you. No one. Not the Protectorate, Not the Triumvirate, not the Endbringers, not even Scion. Do you want to rule the world, Greg? Do you want to make sure this world is safe? Do you never, ever want to feel weak and useless again? Gregory Veder, do you want powers?"

Greg stood up immediately and looked Evron directly in the eyes. "Yeah...I...Do it."

Evron's smile, if possible, grew even wider and his metal Tinkertech gauntlets fell off and hovered next to his arms. He took a step forward and his boots parted, staying rooted to the floor while he walked forward. His hair went from a single skunk stripe to complete snow white and his eyes glowed a bright blue. He unhooked the blue studded choker from around his neck and dropped it into a pocket. Greg leaned over and looked at the Tinkertech Evron left behind.

"Don't mind those. They're just power limiters. Safeguards, really. I need to be at full power and in full control for this."
Evron stretched a hand out and his forefinger began to glow the same shade of blue. His hair began to blow in an invisible wind and Greg felt an unnatural pressure weighing down on him.
Evron's hand moved closer until it almost reached Greg's forehead and- "Wait!!!"

Evron's hand did not move nor did he stop glowing as he gave Greg a look of intense frustration. "What is it now, Veder?"

Greg gave him a familiar awkward smile. "You sure you can't control what powers you give?"

"I told you. It depends on what you really want." He moved his finger closer and almost touched Greg's forehead. "Ready?"

"Yes. I'm ready." The last thought Greg had before Evron's finger touched his brow was 'I want to be like you.'

----------------------

No time. No location. No thought.

Whiteness. An unending expanse on the flat ground spread out FOREVER. The sky above was black, an infinite thick, tar-like, black spread.

Evron is here. Where? Up. Down. What is up? What is down? He exists. He is everything.

"Hello, Greg. No, don't bother answering. You can't even process what you're seeing properly, how sad. Only my voice, and barely that. We're outside reality, Greg. All realities. You might wonder why I brought you here. You won't even remember this after we're done but I'm a bit of a showoff. Blame Evron. He taught me all my bad habits. You want to be just like Evron, don't you? He must seem so impressive. A confident little godling with all his impressive tales of heroics to regale you with. The first powered being you ever met. I can make you EXACTLY like him. Do you want that?"

A pause.

"You can't answer, silly me. It must be horrible being so pitiful. You're a lot different from Evron. He lives and breathes confidence. He's suited to a harsh life. You're different. You lack that unrestrained self-assurance that Evron takes for granted. You can't be EXACTLY like him...but I can make you a close match."

"Thank you for listening to me, Greg. You had no choice, but still.
You're gonna help me a lot, Greg. Have fun."

----------------------

He woke up to the bright sunlight shining from a window.

He yawned and lifted his head from his pillow, blinking in an attempt to clear his vision. All of a sudden, the memories from last night hit him like a sledgehammer and he jumped up and looked quickly around, hoping it wasn't a dream. His fears were calmed as he saw Evron smiling at him while seated in his revolving desk chair. "How do you feel, Greg?"

Greg froze as he realized how he felt. Pure, raging fire filled his veins and he basked in the overflowing sense of amazing, vibrant energy that rushed through him. Everything was so clear, so colorful. He could hear so well, smell so crisply. His mind was racing. He felt like he could do anything. He felt POWERFUL.

He flexed his muscles and stared at Evron. "Fucking Awesome!"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Every day since then, Evron would work with him on his speed and agility after school. He had told his mom that he was going out running and occasionally going to a gym, to her extreme surprise. He wasn't even lying. Sometimes, they would practice freerunning. Other days, they would test his speed over long distances and occasionally, they would practice wall-running and occasionally flipping. He still needed to work on that. In fact, that would come in handy right now.

With a slight flourish, Greg flipped in midair and kicked off the wall, landing on the paved ground without much trouble. A quiet crackle of a sole on gravel was the only warning he got before Evron suddenly appeared in his face with a hard right.

The strike slammed Greg face first into the ground and left a small depression where his face was. He rolled over on his back and stared upwards at a smirking Evron. 'Cocky bastard. Shit, I'm glad these limiters only drain my speed and strength and not my durability or I'd be done for. I'm probably going to be black and blue all over when I get home.'

He was brought out from his thoughts by Evron's voice. "Well, you gonna get up or are you giving up?"

The inclination to give in passed through Greg's mind before he waved it away. "Hell, no. I'm gonna kick your ass!", he said, despite the fact that his ass was still firmly on the ground.

Evron laughed. "You can try. You suck at dodging. I literally told you what to do. It's not like I yelled out 'Dance!'"

Greg took offense to that. "Did you ever think that yelling out dodge makes it hard for the person to focus on dodging?!!"

"You might have a point...but you still suck at dodging."

Greg flipped back and landed on his feet. "Sia, knives." The devices on his wrist beeped and two thick butcher knives slid out of the silvery metal gauntlets into his awaiting palms. The edges of the knives began to glow a bright gold and Greg leapt forward.

He slashed and stabbed and made every attempt to cut Evron open all the while moving fast enough to outpace the average car. Evron blocked every single one of his strikes with a single finger from his left hand, as if not even trying. Greg's legs were not idle throughout his attempt to perforate his white-haired sensei. At least one foot was engaged in a flurry of kicks every moment he felt he had an opening. Those all missed their target even though he didn't seem to this to be moving.

"How are you doing this?" Greg growled as he attempted to slash Evron's jugular only to be blocked by the bastard's fucking pinky.

"I'm better than you," Evron shot back with the utter smugness of someone who felt he was always right.

"You're a horrible person," replied Greg, in the middle of stabbing Evron in the eyes.

"I've been informed of that," responded the smug bastard. With a small movement of his left hand, he knocked the knives out of Greg's hands and they cut deeply through the paved ground like...knives through butter. "Use your blades, young Veder," he said in what was actually a rather good impersonation of some ancient Chinese master.

Greg scowled playfully at him and closed his eyes, balled his fists and began to focus. After almost thirty seconds, two wide, six-inch long, gold, spade-like energy blades grew from Greg's balled fists. Greg opened his eyes and stared them. They appeared rather blunt and but he and Evron had tested them on boats at the Ship Graveyard. They sliced through without any resistance. "Finally. It only took like half a minute this time."

Evron snickered. "Yeah, thirty seconds in a fight where the other guy's not going to be waiting patiently for you to grow your energy blades. Let's do this, Greg."

Evron held his hand up and dozens of blue, baseball-sized energy balls appeared above it. "Let's play dodgeball." A smile that Greg could familiarly describe as vicious appeared on his face.

"Fuck me with a rusty fuck-stick," muttered Greg.

The barrage of balls shot at him moving at least twenty miles an hour and Greg slashed at them with his golden energy blades. Several were batted away and dissipated, a few were cut in half but most struck Greg all over, feeling exactly like baseballs on his toughened skin. Eventually, the bombardment ended and Greg asked the question he'd been waiting to ask. "Can we go home for a break now? My mom's working tonight. We'll have all night to practice. She made spaghetti, too." , he added as an afterthought. Evron loved to eat.

"Ehhhh...I just don't knooooowwww...maybe..."Evron continued to make a show of thinking about it while Greg prayed silently behind him. "Fine, if you're gonna whine about it."

Greg raised an arm half-heartedly. "Yay."

"But first..."

"Nay..."

"Man up, Greg. Let me see how strong your blasts have gotten."

"Fine." Greg may have acted tired but he really did love firing off his energy blasts. They were so fun. He wasn't very skilled and they felt like baby tickles at a farther range than two feet away, 7 feet with the limiters off, but he loved them. With a mild grunt, Greg channeled the energy he had in his body, Zirin is what Evron had called it, to his hands and pushed it out. Twin golden beams as wide as Greg's arms shot from his hands and impacted the wall of an abandoned warehouse, three feet away.

The golden lights tore through the wall with no resistance at all, utterly destroying the section of wall it came in contact with. The golden death beam continued until it hit the next wall and simply splashed against it, refusing to go any further despite how much energy Greg pushed into it. Greg stopped channeling his Zirin and let the fire in his veins calm down before turning to face Evron.

Evron smiled. "At least your range has gotten a little longer. That's at least three and a half feet with the limiters on."

"Can we go now?" Greg whined, sounding more like a six year old than the sixteen year old he was.

"Let's go, Greg." Evron began to walk out of the warehouse docking area, Greg a bit behind.. " Wait, one more thing..."

Greg paused. "What?"

"Dodge!"

"AAAHHH!!!" Greg cried out as he was slammed back into a warehouse wall by an unseen force.

"Hahahahahahaha!!! Learn to dodge, man!"

"Goddamn it!! Evron!!!"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I really struggled on this chapter. It took me three or four days. I usually finish a chapter in a day and spend another day or two editing and changing things to make it flow. Still Looking For A Beta.

Next Chapter is the Ending of Arc 1: Introductions.
After that is Arc 2: Complications.

Leave me your questions, critiques and nitpicks.

Edit: Fixed some formatting problems. Is Invisitext not working anymore? I've been trying to get it to work.

ZFighter18 · Jan 17, 2016

Interlude 1c

Evron Grey

The dictionary defines evil as something or someone that is profoundly immoral, wicked, depraved, corrupt, degenerate, harmful or undesirable. An evil person seeks to harm others for it's own enjoyment. An evil person is malevolent towards others and does not care for their suffering. An evil person destroys the lives of others without regard for their well-being.

I am Evron Grey and I am evil.

Less than ten hours ago, I attacked a group of drunk gang members attempting to kill two black teens. I beat them bloody. I burnt others. A few unlucky ones ended up torn apart. A normal person...a good person would feel at least a shred of regret. Those men probably had families. I know one had a daughter. He told me about her while he begged me not to kill him. I couldn't really make out his words through his tears but I'm pretty sure I understood what he meant to say. He hoped that telling me about his family would make me show him mercy. He was right. I didn't kill him. The burns I gave him were punishment enough. Fun fact, Do you know humans smell and taste like pork? I had learned that before firsthand, but apparently I forgot. Funny how small things like that can slip your mind.

I was still covered in their blood. Thankfully, it had dried off. I doubt Greg would be happy if I sat on his desk chair while covered in the blood of Nazis.
I wasn't even angry at them. I was mad at Nexus, the smug bastard...and I expressed that rage on targets that made themselves available.

I watched as Greg slept, unaware of my vigil. I didn't need to sleep anymore. I didn't need to eat. I didn't need to breathe. I was no longer human. If anything, I was closer to whatever type of being that Nexus was and I hated it. I did not regret the power it gave me. I hated what it had turned me into.

I had told Greg that I wanted to help him save his world. I had lied to him. I cared about his world less than Nexus did, meaning I couldn't care less if it exploded right now. There were infinite iterations of just this version of Greg's Earth. I did not want anything to do with this Earth. What I wanted was Greg.

It wasn't a sexual thing. I had a fiance. Even if I was attracted to men, I'm confident that I could do better than Greg. I needed Greg to be my minder, to remind me that I was human. I had been surrounded by my friends for years. Most of them never realized that I never created Titanwatch to protect the world. I did it so that they could protect the world from me. Only Anton and my Lia; beautiful, wonderful, Lia, knew how I really felt. They had been there to ground me, to keep me stable. I had changed when I had become what I was now.

As a human, I had Dissociative Identity Disorder and I had to deal with that along with the joy of growing up with Nexus in my head. After I had died and come back roughly a year later with my body irrevocably altered, Ascended being the term Nexus used, my Identities were no longer fragmented but had merged with me. At any provocation, I could be on a roaring rampage. At the smallest compliment, I could be preening myself in vanity. When pushed to far, I would make rather brutal choices.

I didn't want that. I wanted to be good for the sake of being good, like Paragon or Exemplar. It's ironic that I killed all the male heroes that I looked up to but things are funny that way. The only one left that I looked up to was Anton and he was my best friend. I missed my old self so much. If I could describe myself now, I'd say that I lacked humanity. My friends didn't realize that. They just thought I was harsher and more sadistic because of the fact that I died but that wasn't the whole truth. The normal inhibitions I used to have were gone. I could control my reactions but I no longer felt the desire to. Why should I lower myself to limit my behavior for simple humans? I was above that.

That! That right there. It was those types of thoughts that made me realize I needed Greg. He reminded me so much of my friends. He was just as awkward as Aren. If Greg wore glasses and had brown hair, I could swear that they were twins. It was people like Aren who I lived for. My friends were what grounded me. When I was around them, I was whole...calm...at peace. My thoughts were more focused. I was no longer controlled by my whims. I focused on the well-being of others...of them, rather than my own sadistic, prideful impulses. God, I wish I was as good as I pretended to be. I was a monster, no doubt about it. But I was a monster on a leash, much like Eldritch, now that I think about it. And like Eldritch, our friends kept us fro turning into unrecognizable, unstoppable monsters.

I had to make Greg need me. He had to be my friend. The main reason I Evolved him from human to metahuman because I knew he had to see me on some level as an equal. Greg liked me already but I could tell It was simple admiration. Hero worship just wasn't enough for me. That wasn't friendship at all. It would fade eventually. It would be child's play to simply compel him to be my friend but that wouldn't be fair. I needed a friend who knew me as me. A friend that could keep me stable.

I didn't care what Greg did with this world after we took over. He could rule it like a king or he could simply leave with me and join me on Earth Grey. I didn't care. I knew when Greg would truly be a lifelong friend. It was one of my powers. One of my natural powers, not simply an offshoot of being whatever Nexus was. I could already feel the bond between us. If I wanted to, I could control his thought patterns without even trying, sculpting the path he would take for the rest of his life with a stray sentence. I didn't, of course. I could never willingly compel a friend. The moment I no longer had the ability to mold Greg's thought pattern, I would know we were friends till death. Until then, I would wait, doing my best to be the best friend he had ever had and will ever have.

What time is it? Huh...already 7:00. Greg's mom had left for work just thirty minutes ago. She had poked her head in the door to check on him and left just as quickly. Golden blonde hair down to her shoulders, glasses, and a slightly chubby frame. She was actually rather pretty. Then again, I always did like blondes.

A beam of sunlight from his window hits Greg's face and he begins to twitch. I sit up slowly and stare at him with renewed focus. I expected the process to knock him out for some time. I simply expected him to wake up much earlier. He opens his eyes and I see the gold light shining behind them, signifying the power he is still unaware of. He stood up and I spoke.

"How do you feel, Greg?"

I see him close his eyes and take a deep breath, a golden aura flaring around him for a single second before disappearing. Greg was silent for a time, enjoying the energizing burn of his new power. I watched as the Zirin in his bloodstream rushed through his body, energizing every cell and optimizing his body. He was weak now but I'd make him unstoppable.

"Fucking awesome!"

Greg was happy. That was good. I felt the unbridled joy coming from him and I was at peace.

My name is Evron Grey and I will do everything in my power to make sure that as long as I am on this Earth, I will not let myself lose control. Not to my rage, not to my pride, not to my logic, not to my happiness, and certainly not to my own darkness.

Rise Of Titan (Worm/Original Superhero Setting)

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