Word Play 6

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Word Play
Chapter 6

-VB-

I got four powers in the middle of my planning: Astonishing, Cake, Exchange, and Layout. I burned it all and combined them to make a tier 3 charge. Said charge was then left alone, because part of my new plan was to focus my power into Horrify. Of my two powers, it was easily the better (no pun intended) in its broadness and applicability. As great as Better was in what it could do, its applicability was wholly dependent on what I worked with while Horrify could work as a stand-alone.

Then I went back to planning, starting with my situation.

First, I realized that I was under influence. I should be afraid and tired and whatever else an involuntarily dimensionally and fictionally-transplanted person should be. Instead  I gleefully experimented with powers without end. The thoughts of my family didn't so much as appear like they should. I couldn't help this and would be a weakness that others might exploit if they knew about it. I also knew nothing of  the limits of my original power/circumstances.

Second, I was in Brockton Bay and have not been doing any preparation to keep myself alive. Sure, I had the Weeping Angel running about, surely working to improve its and my chances of survival, but that was only one Weeping Angel. I mean, I only made one. I needed to remedy this as soon as possible.

Third, I needed to hide the fact that my powers grew steadily but endlessly. This required either a long and slow build-up so that no one could touch me when I introduced myself or I needed to make myself bigger than I was right now so that I could use the cover to explain away future new powers until, again, I couldn't be touched. Because I could make independent projections, I could opt for a long play.

Now then, what did I want?

I wanted to keep working with my powers, whether or not it was an urge innate to me. I also wanted to be able to enjoy a comfortable life. It didn't have to be peaceful, because peaceful could be quite boring. Lastly, I wanted… a harem. Kinda embarrassing to admit it even to myself but I wanted to find women who might like me and vice versa and make a family! It might not work out but I wanted to say that I tried.

How could I go about it?

Well, first off, I needed a safe space for myself. Seeing as Brockton Bay was a trouble magnet, I should leave the city. With only two powers already, I could build up without having to worry about Brockton Bay's shenanigans.

Second, I needed to focus on creating a power that could either convince Scion to not murderhappy or kill him before he even realizes what happened. Horrify could possibly do that if the Weeping Angel was any indication.

Third, I needed to -.

I blinked and my Angel was there in the room with me. I blinked again and there were more of them.

With the initial plan forgotten, I slowly rose up from where I had been sitting and slowly approached my Angel. I knew it by instinct.

There were a dozen angels in the room with me. How?

I gave a cursory look around before settling my gaze on my Angel.

"What have you been doing while I was playing around?"

The communicated feeling I got was not reassuring. The newspaper they gave me with its headlines only made it worse.

"Stone Angels assault Medhall Hospital!"

"Giant Spiders are seen leaving Medhall Hospital and entering the sewers!"

Stoning, I looked back up and found my Angel looking away.

"Are you serious?"

-VB-

Well, my Angel(s) now ranked very high on the PRT's shit list, so I would be hunted down anywhere I went as long as I associated with them, but despite my pragmatism insisting that I should cut my losses and "despawn" my Angel for something else, I didn't.

'Call it sentimentality or pride, but I don't just discard what is mine because it became a little inconvenient,' I thought to myself. On top of that, my tinkertech had activated and produced giant spiders of all things. According to the news article, the least of them stood three feet high and fifteen feet wide. The biggest …

I grimaced at the picture of a giant spider, easily big as two school buses put together, that laid dead at Armsmaster’s feet with him in a heroic shot.

I mean, sure, my pride hurt a little seeing my creations hurt, but I wasn’t expecting …that.

The tinkertech box in question was supposed to release a short-lived contagion designed to alter people’s perception of themselves and the world around them. I gave it to Angel because it was meant to be a distraction gadget, not “get myself labeled a Kill Order approved S-class threat to humanity”!

Speaking of which…

Yes, although no one knew it was me, I officially now had an S-class label attached to me and a Kill Order as well.

I glared at Angel, who tried to make himself - herself? - innocent. “Was this necessary?” The feeling I got said so.

“Ugh,” I muttered.

Leaving was not going to change anything. In fact, being alone out in the forest to do whatever I wanted was as good as giving the Air Force permission to bomb me to hell.

No, no, no.

I had to stay in the city; I needed to use the urban city as a hostage if I ever got discovered.

“Okay, with this threat rating on your ass,” I growled and poked the stone Angel on their(?) chest. “I can’t associate with you openly. Make sure you try to stay away from me, alright? I’ll call you when I need you. And no, I am not abandoning you. You and the rest of your … children…? Yes, children. They are all mine.”

I got an affirmation before, between one blink and the next, they all disappeared.

Sighing, I turned back to the table.

“I need a new plan.”

And that’s when I got stuck with four more powers, which was eight powers total today. Wow, that’s a lot.

Anyways, they were Comprehensive, Administration, Confrontation, and Rehabilitation.

Now, Administration, despite the connotation it carried in this place, was not a Master power but a Trump/Thinker. At its current level, all I could do was see what powers did, kind of like reading a resume. The other powers were lackluster in comparison, and in the case of Rehabilitation, repetitive. I turned the three into motes of power and used them to empower Administration’s definition. From this empowerment, I got Administration 1 with Trump/Thinker, Master, and Striker/Trump.

I’ll have to wait until I could upgrade it to tier 3. I could use the tier 3 mote I did have saved, but that was kind of like using a nuke to kill a mugger: unwarranted and over the top.

Okay, I now had more options, and patience, apparently, would net me my victory.