The Power Manipulator - Worm SI OC

Even with my new power gains, the fact that I was alone in a new city (on a different planet, in a different dimension) and with no identity or money continued to be an issue. There were things I wanted to have but just didn't have the money to buy. Like a smartphone. It was almost mind-boggling how I was able to survive without that thing for this long. I couldn't remember a day where I hadn't at least spent 4+ hours on that thing.

I'd already looked for places where I could crash as a homeless during my research at the library and they weren't too far away from the Boardwalk (still needed a bus ride though) and thankfully didn't require any ID. But the money problem was going to be an immediate issue.

I couldn't keep stealing food and other necessities for my survival. It simply wasn't feasible.

With my Phantom Presence, Temporal Stasis, and Redundant Biology (and of course there's Blank for a more esoteric safety measure), I had quite a bit more of a safety net in this dangerous city than before. Still not enough to live carefree and not worry about the various elements currently active (and would soon be acting) in the city but enough to not fear every single encounter with even an unpowered mugger or gang banger on the streets.

That being said, I only had to bide my time till midnight when my charges would hopefully replenish and I could get to making myself a lot more durable and safe.

I'd already mentally pre-allocated the charges that I'd be getting in a couple of hours.

Honestly, it'd been an interesting few hours, living the life of the Invisible Man. I'd also confirmed that, yes, being (effectively) invisible makes me more prone to doing things that I'd never do otherwise. It's like this power is an enabler of questionable thoughts and ideas. Not that I've done anything too amoral. My worst crime so far is stealing a Pizza meal set and using an on-display Smartphone (and tearing a page off of a notebook), which I think is pretty mild, all things considered. I'd try not to go too far with it though. Like Uncle Ben said: with great power, comes great responsibility.

Well, there's also the other saying that: with great power comes the absolute certainty that you'll turn into a right cunt. I think that's how Butcher said it. The Billy Butcher from The Boys I mean, not the in-universe body-hopping cape Butcher who's the leader of the New York-based gang called the Teeth.

But let's not dwell on the latter quote too much and be positive. I'll just have to keep it in mind in case I start acting like a total cunt drunk on powers. Earth Bet has enough grim and dark as it is. No need to add more to it.

-x-

I managed to locate the shelter and even got an entry without any issues. Nobody noticed me (well, duh!) entering the place. Once there, I found a relatively empty corner in the otherwise quickly-filling space and tried to get some rest. Sadly, I'd not be sleeping much, if at all, tonight, and for good reasons too.

I'd had some time to think during the travel to the Shelter and I realized something.

I'm an idiot.

I had told myself that I'd be using my ability to detect capes to its full extent and yet I never thought of actively using it to pursue them, rather than running away from them.

... Okay, so, it wasn't a wrong decision then as I was a squishy Average Joe back when I thought of it. But now? With two new powers, one of which has made me a Superhuman that's very hard to put down and given me flight while the other lets me freeze my targets in time? Not to mention my Stranger ability that helps me stay out of people's perception?

Yeah, it was time I stopped being passive and started grinding for power.

I couldn't stop the rush of excitement that came as I realized I'd be able to copy a lot of powers if I simply flew quietly toward the locations where I got pings from, try to get close enough without alerting anyone, and then copy the hell out of all the powers I can grab.

The best part of it– I didn't even have to risk myself by going for the gangs first. Why bother with them when I could just target the heroes and the Wards instead? I mean, just imagine getting the entire catalog of New Wave's powerset. Or Vista's Space Warping or Velocity's Superspeed.

It will be Merry fucking Christmas for me!

With those thoughts still active in my head, I went to take a short nap, ready to wake up by midnight to begin.

-x-

I woke up sometime late in the night, far past midnight, judging by the lack of light in the large hall/open space. Several bodies lay around in the room, covering most of the free surface.

Sighing and then stretching—sleeping on a simple mat hadn't done my body any favors—I began to trudge my way through the sea of sleeping homeless folks, trying my best not to disturb anyone by stepping on them. No need to raise a commotion, even if I could likely escape it without getting anyone's attention.

It took some time and focus in the dark, but my eyes had adjusted enough to let me see even in the dark. Not quite night vision but my eyesight had definitely improved in the night. Must have something to do with Aegis' powers, I reckoned.

...

Getting out of the Shelter, I roamed around the empty streets. From a wall clock in one of the rooms, I found out it was a little past 3 in the morning. I seemed to have overslept. Still, the time was actually perfect to bag in some powers. My Parahuman Sensor (I decided to call it) told me the direction and relative distance of the Parahumans in my range. A lot of them were stationary, which likely meant they were asleep.

But before I went on that endeavor, I had something important to do.

Mentally grasping on my power, I could see the previously empty dark sky had once again filled with 5 glowing motes of light. I willed 2 of those charges into Blank and dumped two more into Phantom Presence.

It pained me a little to see those notes spent so quickly after I'd gained them, but the result was well worth the effort.

Now with 6 charges and 3 charges respectively, my first two skills had become a lot better.

—Blank—

Provides immunity to all Thinkers and Masters. You're completely invisible or immune to those powers. Thinker powers cannot even work around you.

Cost: 6 charges

-x-

—Phantom Presence—

You are effectively unnoticeable to others, causing them to forget your presence. When active, your presence is so subtly erased from memory that people may not remember you were there at all. You can also make yourself consciously visible if desired, though it requires some minor effort to toggle the effect. While in this state, you also remain undetectable by your scent and most technology that can detect you in a fairly large area around you, and it is extremely difficult to link the former to your specific presence in case it is detected.

Cost: 3 charges

I smiled in delight.

Yes, that's more like it.

This was only a taste of what my powers allowed me. Just in a day or so, I had gone from hopelessly weak and vulnerable to fuck all the Thinkers in the world. Seriously, fuck Contessa and her Path to Victory! Fuck The Simurgh and her bullshit Post and Pre-Cognition! They couldn't do jack to me now!

... Well, okay, that's my hubris talking. But god (ROB?), it felt so good to have a nice blanket protection against the bullshit cheat category of powers that's Thinkers and the risks of Masters. Now I could at least have assurance that I won't be fucked by Thinkers or Masters. I'd have to add a few more charges to add at least Strangers and Trumps to the list, though I did wonder if Trumps could even affect me. I remembered taking the Special Snowflake perk that prevented others from copying, stealing, suppressing, or draining my powers, but I had no idea if that was applied or not. It wasn't something I could check easily and I didn't want to take a risk just to confirm it was applied. Heck, I was working under the presumption that it wasn't and thus was going to add Trump immunity to the Blank.

But I could do that in due time.

Now, I still had one charge left and I had originally wanted to put it into Aegis' power to make myself even more resilient, stronger, and my flight faster, but I instead decided to conserve it for now and use it in case I needed a new power later down the road. Furthermore, it felt wasteful to invest in Aegis' power when I could get more Brute powers and stack them on top of his. Yeah, that's what I was going to do.

Alright, enough dilly-dallying. Time to start the hunt. I mentally muttered to myself in a low tone. The hunt for power(s)!

The statement was accompanied by a momentary triumphant look. Then, I got off my high and began walking towards the first stationary target in my range...

... Wait, what the fuck am I doing? I have fucking Flight! Bruh!

I paused and facepalmed, feeling the earlier gusto and excitement dying down painfully and after a moment of feeling like a moron, I tried to use Aegis' flight ability.

"Woah..." I muttered in half awe, half nervousness as my shoes suddenly left the sidewalk and I started hovering in the air.

"Haha, I'm flying. Fuck yeah!" I quietly cheered, then immediately paid more attention to the act as I felt myself quickly drifting down the few inches I'd gained, my feet touching the sidewalk again and making me almost lose my balance.

Okay, not as instinctive as I thought. Still not too difficult either.

I probably should have practiced it when I got it and was on my way to the Shelter but eh, right now worked too, I supposed. I slowly increased my height and was soon approaching the rooftop of the double-storied building I was standing in front of.

It took some trial and error, and 3 separate incidents where I almost fell from up high, but in mere minutes I'd grown familiar with the sensation and started developing some mastery over my new ability.

"Woo!" Still, I cheered lightly as I flew above the surrounding buildings at a full-on sprinting speed. Flying was an amazing and freeing experience. I couldn't deny the rush that came with it.

God, I was loving this power. If I could, I'd thank Aegis for (unknowingly) giving me such a nice package of abilities. For my first set of abilities, I was quite happy with them. Not that I'd stop at just this. Oh, no.

Tonight, I'm on a hunt~

And I'll grind till the sunrise~

...

My first stop led me to an industrial-looking area. I didn't recognize anything except one sign.

Redmond Welding.

Well, well. Hello there, the Undersiders. Don't mind me, I'm just your friendly neighborhood Pizza and Power thief.

I briefly pondered if calling myself the Pizza Thief as my cape name would work, then immediately shook off that idea. It was pretty bad, admittedly. Even as a joke, it was very lame. I guess I was still a little hung up on that incident as it kept popping up in my head every now and then.

Getting within range, I could easily identify the two powers located inside.

Neuromuscular Manipulation and Canine Empowerment, so it's Regent and Bitch, huh. Not on top of my list of powers to get, but eh. Couldn't hurt to have 'em. Better to have them and not need them than not have them and need them, I suppose.

I copied their powers, taking their Shards along with it this time. I ignored the vision of their Shards that came when I metaphorically yoinked its connection/anchor out of their head and then gave them a perfect copy of their powers, minus the Shards. Then I promptly left for my next target without making any other changes or adding it to my powerset.

As I flew, I thought.

Shame I couldn't get Tattletale. Grue too. I guess they don't sleep here normally. No, I think Liza has her own apartment somewhere else and Brian lives either with his sister and father or in his own apartment.

I didn't quite remember the details.

Lisa's power was the most useful among the Undersiders, though. And the one I wanted to have the most. Especially once I put a charge or two in it to improve it. A more precise and accurate peri-cognition ability that can put Sherlock to shame would do wonders against anyone and help in a lot of situations.

I won't even have to deal with the infamous Thinker headaches as I won't have the Shard-version of the ability to cause the aforementioned headache. I'd simply be unable to use the power anymore rather than getting hammered inside my brain when I overuse it.

My mind thought of a joke that included the hammering and Redmond Welding but it didn't quite fit the bill and my thoughts shifted elsewhere.

Heh, Lisa would probably cry her heart out if she ever found out about this titbit. Maybe she'd even try to get me to remove/suppress that limitation, once she could confirm that there's no catch. Something to keep in mind in case of an encounter.

I'll probably get her power one way or another eventually. Right now, though, I had to head in another direction and location. The grind for powers demanded that I don't dilly-dally. The night was still young, and the hunt had only just begun!

...

The next target led me to Downtown. This one had two different pings in the region somewhat close to each other. Slowly approaching the first apartment building while still in flight where one of the pings was coming from, it didn't take me long to realize who it was.

Ah. Hello Grue… And bye-bye.

Taking his power (plus Shard) and giving him a copy, I left for the next target without any fanfare. I didn't really care much for Grue's power but, eh. Once again, better to have it and all that jazz.

…

The other target in the area turned out to be Purity.

Jackpot! Strongest Blaster power in the city get!

I left the area humming happily after repeating a similar power swap as I'd done with the three Undersiders. The more people without a conflict drive in this city, the better, I thought.

I wondered if they would notice the change. Was it even a perceivable effect in the first place? From my somewhat spotty knowledge, the Shards were very good at subtly fucking with people's brains, but some parahuman studies clearly hinted at it being the case. It didn't seem to be anything more than a theoretical study and a nod to the fact that yes, that was a thing. I guess to most people it simply didn't matter as they could do nothing to fix or change it.

...

I flew high above the buildings as I quickly approached my next set of targets. This one was a more deliberate set of targets I'd been looking for as I was sensing 4 distinctive pings from one single house.

If my guess was correct, this would be...

Ah, New Wave~! There you are… Which family though?

Approaching closer at a more sedate and quiet pace, I got access to the 4 new powers.

It wasn't hard to guess it was the Pelhams rather than the Dallons, judging by the lack of Biokinesis and an excess of forcefields and blaster powers. No worries though, as I could sense another group of 4 stationary parahumans not too far away within my range. I'll get Biokinesis tonight, no matter how long I have to search for it.

I mentally whooped in joy as a combo of more Flight, Hard light Blaster abilities, Forcefields, and Electromagnetic Augmentation were added to my growing collection of powers.

I immediately applied all 4 to myself and flew away much faster (still very much subsonic as I didn't want to shatter the windows around me and alert everyone) using Laserdream's flight power which was the fastest out of all of my Flight powers, then I started gaining height quickly.

Once I was sufficiently high up in the air, sure that nobody would hear or see me up here, and looking at the city and its surrounding land below, I paused and then let out a loud cry of joy.

"WOO! Oh maaan! This is too easy! Fuck!"

I just got over half a dozen powers in less than an hour!

"Holy fuck! Holy fucking shit! Haha!"

I spent some time just freely dancing and barrel-rolling in the air before letting myself calm down from the adrenaline rush from getting so many powers so quickly.

"God, I love my powers. Woo!"

Shaking off the last dregs of elation, I got a little serious.

If it was so easy to get powers in the dead of night, then what's stopping me from going around and gathering all the powers I can from this city? It shouldn't be too hard. Not with my upgraded Phantom Presence that could even fool the people looking at me through cameras and sensors now and the multiple Flight powers I had that made travel a breeze through the air. (Heh.)

"Oh yeah, the grind has just begun~"

I smiled a crooked smile as I sing-songed and then dived down into the city towards my next target.

The grind continues!

-x-

The grind finally ended as the sky started lighting up and the sun was about to rise up in the bay.

I'd spend the last few hours flying all around the city, collecting any and all powers I could detect and approach close enough to. In just a single night of hunting, I had over 3 dozen powers in my bag. That's also over 3 dozen capes without an active conflict drive in the city. I couldn't deny any longer the possibility that the changes I made tonight will be noticeable. Especially considering the fact that I didn't deem it necessary to give a copy of their powers back to Hookwolf, Kreig, Cricket, and Stormtiger of the Empire, the entirety of Merchant capes, and two of the three ABB capes (I wasn't confident enough to approach Bakuda's workshop, even when I could guess its location). But I no longer cared as much.

I was now loaded with power(s)! I was stronk! … Well, I'll be pretty stronk once I apply a proper combination of the copied powers I'd gathered.

If one could perceive me right now, they'd see a young man with the most goofy and exhilarated smile standing atop the Medhall building.

Not that I was here for power-hunting reasons. No, I'd already found most of the Nazi capes in their homes/hideouts and yoinked their powers, though I returned a non-shard copy to the majority of them for now. Only four of the Nazi capes and two of the ABB capes were the ones I deemed too unstable and murderous to have powers. As for the Merchants… most of their capes were seemingly asleep in a heap of nasty and smelly people judging by their lack of movement in my mental cape radar—Hey! Cape Radar was also a pretty decent name for this ability—The only one I had to find elsewhere was Trainwreck whom I found in one of the local junkyards. From there, it was easy to steal their powers and let them rot. No need for those duggies to have powers.

The only fucking reason Mr. Slimy Snake aka wannabe James Bond villain aka Coil didn't get the same treatment as Hookwolf and Lung was because I was 90% sure his power was still active when I copied it. It was also the reason he still had his Shard as taking it would likely pop his simulated timeline or something and he'd be alerted. I was still a little nervous about the possibility that he'd reach out to Cauldron with this information and they'd come to hunt me. I wasn't ready for the Triumvirate. Even if I could copy their powers, I would have zero mastery in it while they'd have decades worth. Yeah, I wasn't that egotistical to think I'd win in a battle of technique against a Parahuman who's had their powers for so long. Heck, even someone like Skidmark could wipe the floor with me (assuming he wasn't high as fuck at the time) if we fought with only his power.

I didn't wait around once I was done copying his powers and left. But in the process, I'd managed to locate his civilian identity's home address. Well, I assumed it was his home given he was apparently sleeping in the bedroom.

If I ever felt like breaking the unwritten rules… well, more than I already had I guess, then this information would be helpful.

Regardless, I swore to depower him or put him down as soon as I could get away with it. He was the one person I didn't want planning shit in this city.

More important than that, though. I'd managed to locate the Travellers and what I assumed was Coil'd repurposed Endbringer Shelter/Lair. (I mean who else would it be if not them given the current timeline.)

Sadly, none of them were in range for me to take their powers. Probably due to being deep in the Shelter/lair. I didn't know how deep the repurposed Endbringer Shelter was but it was apparently far enough to make it impossible for me to nab their power from above ground. Unfortunate, but I'd definitely be coming back to get them. Especially Noelle. Couldn't leave a proto-Endbringer in the making out in the open (figuratively speaking). I'd also not let Coil have the last laugh if or when he's killed, not while I'm here and can do something about it.

Other than the major gangs, I had Circus' grab-bag powers, Chariot's specialization in Mobility, Movement, and Transportation, L33T's Prototyping tinker power (my first Tinker power chronologically, as it turned out), and Uber's Technique Mastery.

For the Heroes, I had gotten most of the Protectorate heroes and Wards' powers by subtly approaching their civilian identity's homes without raising alarms or alerting the hidden PRT vans I found close by. That had been a little nerve-wracking, admittedly, but I succeeded in remaining hidden. The only ones I missed out on were Miss Militia and Armsmaster who were apparently on the Rig. A shame, given the versatility and potency of their individual powers, but I still didn't feel quite confident enough to approach Protectorate ENE's base of operation. Who knew what esoteric defenses and detection tech they had installed. My Phantom Presence was potent, but it wasn't Omnipotent or all-encompassing. Even if it hadn't let me down until now, I wasn't going to invade the Heroes' HQ to stress test it and risk outing myself.

For independents, I now had the entire set of New Wave powers under the bag (OP Biokinesis and a personal forcefield that can even tank a punch from Scion get!). It actually didn't take that long to find another group of 4 stationary pings in the city after I found the Pelhams and were my next targets after them. I was beyond happy with my find as Biokinesis was at the top of my list of powers to get.

For Rogues— well, Parian was the only Rogue I knew of that lived here. I had gotten her Lightweight Telekinesis (Shard included, of course).

And I also found three unknown capes with the ability to create small electric discharges and be immune to electric shocks up to a certain level, an echolocation ability that seemed like a subset of one of the Nazi Cape's sound-related powers, and an ability to create small metal thorns from skin, which vaguely reminded me of Hookwolf's blade blender ability, minus the blending or blade part. Okay, so it was quite different, but I noticed the fact that Hookwolf's Shard and this new Cape's Shard (which might have been a bud) had some minor similarities.

I had no idea who these powers belonged to. But considering not every single cape in Brockton Bay was mentioned in Worm canon, it might have been one of those unknowns.

I didn't find Faultline's crew anywhere though, so I was guessing they were currently out of town. I'd have liked to have Labyrinth's Shaker power and maybe give her a safe copy if I could. I think her powers messed with her brain or something. Or messed it up more than it already was? Wasn't she in the Mental Asylum or something before Faultline got her? Was it due to her powers or was she there since before she triggered? I didn't know for sure.

Overall, I was still more than happy with my night's haul.

What I needed to do now was find a safe and secluded place and consolidate, mix and match, and create a potent set of abilities for myself. While I could simply apply all of them to myself and be the ultimate grab bag cape in the city (maybe even the country, though I guess Eidolon existed and he was still leagues beyond me… for now), I had thought better.

Honestly, I'd never be able to fully utilize this many abilities, and it'd take a substantial amount of time and effort to be at least proficient in using most of them. Given I had no training in them, I'd also not be able to utilize them fully in a combat situation that I'd likely be getting into in the future and might even get confused or indecisive while in battle due to an excess of choice. That'd be bad.

Also, I'd most likely immediately gain the ire of every single cape in the city (and the interest of the entire world, possibly) when they saw me using their exact powers.

Yeah, I doubted it'd go well with any of them. I'd become the enemy of every single faction in record time.

I'd bet there was a dumb law that stated it was actually illegal to steal/copy Protectorate Heroes and Wards' powers. If there wasn't, they'd make it a new law to bring me under their heels. Any excuse to get their hands on the most potent Trump on the planet. (Eidolon can go and suck it. Hah!)

"Alright, time to f—"

I was about to say "Find a safe and secluded place and consolidate powers" but was distracted by a jaw-snapping yawn.

I was tired, hungry, and also a little sleepy and needed to eat and rest first before I got to work on creating the perfect power set for me. Who knew flying all over the city for hours on end was rather tiring. Oddly enough, flying was like working a muscle that I couldn't pinpoint. I could feel some minor strain on my body. Not much, but enough to notice.

Still, tonight's hard work was well worth the effort, I decided.

If nothing else, I hoped a lack of Shard-driven conflict drive would help stabilize the city a little. The people here probably could do without all the mess they got in canon.

…

…

… Eh, who am I kidding. The Empire would probably raise hell in the morning once they realize four of their capes have been depowered. I didn't know what the ABB would do. I would have liked to remove Bakuda's powers as well but she scared me with her Singularity, Time Stopping, Matter Annihilation, and Fresh Melting bombs, etc. Really, the saying: Don't attack a tinker in their own workshop applied most certainly to Bakuda. If I had to make a guess, she'd take over the ABB (now that Lung couldn't do jack to her) and then maybe go on with her canon act of implanting bombs in people for some reason (like assert dominance or superiority over others). It was hard to tell anything for sure.

I wish I could say it'd not happen now that she was the sole cape in ABB but I was in Worm, anything that could go wrong would go wrong.

In contrast, however…

No more hiding away in fear.

It's time I started... acting... Right after I take a short nap somewhere.

My stomach grumbled a little and I sighed. No way I'd find an open fast-food joint so early in the morning.

Hmm, there should be those 24-7 stores open right now. What was it called? 7-11 or something. I forgot. I thought tiredly.

If I could pinpoint one thing that I didn't do tonight, it'd be that I failed to locate any gang hideouts that I could enter and grab some cash. Mostly because I didn't want to alert the gangs' capes by infiltrating the hideouts they were located in.

During my 'hunt', I did find 2 separate muggings and one break-in.

I guessed it was due to the god-awful hours I was active, but the crime was very… minimal. I had thought the crime didn't sleep at night. But, maybe they did. At least tonight they did.

Oh well. I still had some cash from those incidents. I wouldn't have to steal food or, god forbid, use Panacea's power to convert Bio-garbage into edible content. Eugh.

…

As it turns out, it was actually harder to find an open store that I could quietly use than it was to find capes in Brockton Bay. Not having a map or a mental radar that could point me in the general direction of my destination made the search a lot harder than I'd like to admit.

-x-