A/N:

So, before you all start asking about The Darkness Inside: no, it isn't discontinued, or even on hiatus, and the next chapter is sitting about halfway done in my Word Docs. I've hit a bit of a snag with it, which is extremely annoying, but it'll be out relatively soon (a couple weeks, tentatively).

This story, however, is going to be a bit of an interesting experience. Ever since I learned of Worm, I've wanted to do a light-hearted romp through the world… then I finished reading it and my reaction was simply "Welp, there goes that plan". So, this'll be a bit darker than my original plan… by a lot. I used the Worm CYOA v5 for this, so that I could write a reasonably balanced character, while keeping him powerful enough to be able to survive with all the bad things happening to him.

This won't be one of those "everyone died the end" fics, but it also won't be a "self-insert happened so everything's all right". You'll see what I mean as time goes on. I'll include my choices for the CYOA at the end of the chapter, but for now, let's get into this!

DISCLAIMER: As should be obvious by now, I don't own anything besides the OC I made for this story. Worm belongs to a write far more talented than me named John McCrae, go read his story (if you don't mind being even more mentally scarred than after you watched Infinity War).

{Boat Graveyard, Brockton Bay}

{April 8, 2011}

I paused mid-step, looking around me. To my left, there was a towering, rusted wreck of a ship, and to my right, three more of the same. As I took in more of my surroundings, I counted a lot more of the things, each of them at varying angles, like what I had heard of the Pearl Harbor monument. Last time I checked though, I was in Alabama, not Hawaii.

For that matter, the weather was all wrong. It was a dreary, rainy day, with the droplets almost completely obscuring the city skyline behind me. There wasn't any beach to speak of, simply a rough cut-off between asphalt and docks. And, of course, there was a pillar of flame erupting from somewhere inside the city, definitely not anything from-

Hold up. Rusted ships, a Boat Graveyard, pillar of flame… Oh shit, this is a dream, right? There's no way this is Worm… right?

Oh who am I kidding, none of my dreams are realistic enough to let me feel the touch of rain on my skin, let alone the attention to detail around me. And I've never had a lucid dream, ever, so that's right out.

Wait, wait, wait a minute. How did I get here anyway? I was in my dorm, got bored, saw a CYOA prompt online, created a character because why not, went out for a walk and then… ah jeez, this is one of those stories isn't it?

Welp. Only one thing to do…! Run like a little bitch in the opposite direction of Lung, of course. Even if I knew how to use any powers I may or may not have, there's no way I'd go up against the flaming rage dragon. That's a whole ton of nope in a one-pound bag right there.

Of course, the moment I turned to leave, I found myself face-to-face with a group of people. Now, normally I wasn't a person who profiled people based on appearance, but in Brockton Bay, with them all wearing red and green and clearly Asian? Yeah, I was pretty sure I knew who these guys were.

And then they shot at me.

I'll be the first to admit to my decidedly unmanly scream of fright, but in my situation, who could blame me? After all, it wasn't like I had- oh right.

I ducked behind a few steel crates on the dock, wracking my brain for ideas. Okay, my powers had something to do with robotics, being able to use anything I held, and… some Gilgamesh-level treasury stuff. I know I added Second Trigger to the robotics and Gate of Babylon power, but I'm not sure if it's applied itself yet.

A few more bullets pinged off the side of my crate, and I could hear harsh shouting in some Asian language (I put my money on Japanese), before footsteps started coming towards me. Crap, I only have a few seconds now.

Okay, okay, let's see… Inner peace, no, emotions, no, thought-activated? Woah!

Gold and black motes of light appeared in my hand (how black was a color of light, I don't know), and solidified into a perfect copy of my 20-gauge Remington Model 870 shotgun. How I knew the exact make and model, I wasn't sure, but I could feel information flooding my mind: good locations for cover, how to execute a perfect combat roll, the best targets to shoot (both lethal and nonlethal), and even how to effectively use it with only one hand. Ambush tactics also flooded my mind, but I pushed them away, seeing as how an ambush would be pretty hard when I was sure all of the ABB members had seen the light appear.

So, with no real options, I popped my head up over the crate, coming face-to-face with the biggest man of the group. Likely the leader, my newfound knowledge of tactics supplied, along with a strategy to neutralize the group while minimizing the risk to my life.

Of course, due to my nonexistent knowledge of fighting outside of the occasional Call of Duty match, I decided to follow what my Entity-given skills said for now. I shot the man in front of me, center mass, point blank. He fell to the ground, holes in his lungs and heart, but I forced my horror and self-disgust down with military discipline, turning to the other gang members. One of them actually took a step back, before one of the others slapped the back of his head.

"So, this is going to be a wild ride… I call shotgun!" Jeez, you'd think the Banter skill would give better one-liners…

Shaking off the disappointment I felt at that waste of a point, I shot another of the gang members just as he raised his gun to point at me. Another blast took down the man with the submachine gun, while one final blast killed the woman who had just pulled out her radio. I turned to the last grunt, ejecting the shell from the shotgun for added intimidation, before I spoke. "You done? 'Cause I'm bored now."

Of course, I should've remembered just how afraid these guys are of Lung, because this one, younger than me by at least two years, jumped to his feet and pulled out his gun with a scream of "Banzai!"

My shotgun roared as I put the entire shell's worth of pellets through his chest, but he managed to get off a shot before I could kill him. It pierced my right shoulder, rendering that arm useless.

"Fuck that burns! Augh… that smarts… Good thing I'm left-handed, or this would be an even bigger problem… Okay, magic treasury power, I could use a first aid kit here."

I slung the shotgun over my shoulder using its strap, just in time to catch the medical kit that fell into my hands. My Proficiency activated, showing me exactly how to… open the box. Wow. Guess it only worked for what I was touching, not the contents.

With the box open, I sifted through the contents, careful not to jostle my shoulder too much, before I finally found what I was looking for. I didn't have enough time to try and clean the wound, but I could tell the bullet went straight through, so it should be a relatively easy fix later. With what little time I had, I was able to wrap it in gauze, tight enough to slow bleeding without fully cutting off circulation.

The moment I had that done, I dismissed the kit, and it dissipated back into motes of light, before those disappeared too. I did the same to my shotgun, before summoning a .38 Special revolver. That was what truly proved that my Second Trigger was active, because I definitely didn't know the components for that weapon, but it still worked.

I was cut out of my thoughts by someone appearing right in front of me. Since I was holding the pistol, I got all of the situational awareness that professionally trained military and police had received, but I had barely had enough time to register the person's arrival before the gun had been kicked from my hand. The Martial Arts skill I had chosen kicked in, and I was already moving, one hand grabbing the extended leg while the other was directed in an open-palm strike to the knee.

One second, I was about to snap the man's knee, and the next, he was behind me, with his arms around me in a sleeper hold. I kicked back, feeling something crack under my foot, before the arms holding me suddenly let go. I summoned a kukri, and I couldn't help but sarcastically quote the TF2 Sniper.

"A little of the ol' chop-chop!"

I got a strange look from the man for that, and I recognized the red costume with racing stipes as Velocity's. Shit, this just got a lot harder.

I noticed he was favoring his left leg, which was probably due to whatever I had cracked with my hit, so I flipped the kukri into a reverse grip and dismissed the pistol, it disappearing from its position on the ground and reappearing in my hand. I didn't have time to strap on any armor, and none of the perks I chose increased my physical fitness, so I was working on whatever strength I could coax out of my skinny 18-year-old body.

I gave it another second, to see if Velocity would make a move, before slowly lowering my weapons. "Hey… sorry about-"

I cut myself off as I dodged a punch from the time manipulator, sending my own response in the form of a slash from my kukri. It managed to cut a line down his sleeve as he pulled his arm back, but did little more than put a thin, one-inch slit in his costume. I fired with the .38, but he dodged them all easily thanks to his increased speed. The moment he disappeared from my vision, I lowered the pistol, performing a backflip.

From what little I remembered of Worm, I knew that Velocity's power wasn't increased speed, it was manipulating his own personal state of reality and time. As he slowed down time, his body became less and less in touch with the real world, to keep him from tearing his body apart due to how fast his body was moving in comparison with the rest of the world. This meant that he had to go solid to actually perform any damaging moves, which gave me an idea of how to deal with him.

When he appeared beneath me, fist already in motion to deliver a punch to my now airborne form, I did something he likely didn't expect: fired the entire cylinder of the revolver at him. I had quickly replaced only the bullets inside it using my power, so it had been reloaded without any noticeable effect for him to see. Thanks to that, he was caught flat-footed as two of the shots pierced his right leg, the others missing as he increased his speed to dodge them.

I dismissed the revolver, my knowledge of tactics informing me that he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, and that he was likely to pull out the big guns. Again, from the limited knowledge I had, Velocity's preferred tactic was simply using his increased time to drop off containment foam grenades, so I had to stay as mobile as possible so he couldn't get me with them.

Actually…

I dodged another handful of strikes, my expert-level martial arts letting me draw from several styles so I didn't develop an identifiable pattern. And, as he threw another punch, I caught it, executing a perfect over-the-shoulder judo throw with him. I managed to catch him off-guard just long enough to actually get him over my shoulder, before he blurred and appeared barely five feet away from me. The moment I could see him, I noticed he was covered neck-to-toe in containment foam.

I laughed, relief and amusement coming together to cause an almost hysterical sound. When I caught his arm, I had attached a containment foam grenade to his chest, using my power to cheat, and set it to a timer of about ten seconds. Of course, due to his power being time manipulation, not super-speed, he still took the same amount of time it took a normal person to move, he just did it in less real time. So, when he sped up his time, the grenade sped up with him, and covered him before he could actually do anything in retaliation.

"You just got schooled, son! You named yourself Velocity, you should know how physics works! Maybe you should sign up for remedial courses."

The death glare he was giving me convinced me to skedaddle, so I did, throwing one last insult over my shoulder: "Good luck displacing yourself from that in time to catch me, Velocity!"

I feel that last one was at least somewhat clever, despite it being such a cringeworthy pun. So I'm not Deadpool, sue me.

{Boardwalk, Brockton Bay}

{April 8, 2011}

I found myself walking down what I figured was the Boardwalk, searching for a restaurant. What? Beating up superheroes makes me hungry.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn't the only one searching for something, and it found me first. "Hey! You're the guy that attacked Velocity and killed all those guys!"

I looked up just in time to catch a flying fist to the face, giving me a black eye and knocking out the vision in my right eye for a minute. A grunt of pain escaped me, even as I scanned over my attacker with my good eye. Teenage girl, skirt, flight powers- oh fuck me it's the Collateral Damage Barbie.

"What did you just say?!"

Oh shit I said that out loud.

I had just enough time to duck under another punch, coming up out of my crouch with a machine gun pistol in hand. I hadn't really specified the model, so I suppose my power just tossed me a bone and gave me a random one. Glory Girl had just enough time to scoff at me before I pulled the trigger, keeping it depressed as I emptied the mag into her. After the first shot, her shield was out, and the next three punctured her abdomen. I managed to adjust my aim to the side just enough so that I didn't kill her, but she still received another couple of holes before my near-perfect aim was disrupted enough.

She fell back, unable to hold her flight up through the shock of seeing herself bleed, and I felt a foreign influence on my mind, amplifying my already substantial guilt to insane levels. For a few seconds, I was actually considering shooting myself because of what I had done, before my borrowed military discipline clamped down on the feeling. I summoned a first aid kit, easily batting aside the girl's weak attacks as I started to work.

As time went on, Glory Girl's half-conscious attacks slowed, before they finally stopped around the time I applied the last bandage. I checked her pulse, just in case, feeling far more relieved than I really should have when I felt her slowly strengthening pulse. I had given her a few blood transfusions, thanks to a quick blood test and liberal applications of my power to summon blood bags and an IV stand. By the time I was done, she was practically brand new, besides the bullet holes in her. Despite my professional level of work, I still wasn't sure exactly how well she'd heal, so it was probably better to take her to the hospital.

… Or, on second thought, I could just not do that, and call Panacea instead. After all, I wasn't exactly sure if I should go to any public places on my Worst Day Ever. It was raining, I was in Worm, I had killed four people, fought a superhero (and likely pissed off both him and the PRT), and barely stopped myself from killing a teenage girl who happened to have some bullshit powers and a forcefield.

So… I didn't take all three of the levels for Worst Day Ever, but I did take two, and I wasn't sure just how much worse it could get today. I should just find my secret base, and go from there.

Right after I call Panacea.

I picked up Glory Girl's phone, using my Hacking skill to crack the simple four-digit passcode. Seriously, doesn't she know that custom passwords are much more effective on a cell phone? Anyway, I hacked into a teenage girl's phone like the absolute creeper I am, and conjured up a mask and voice changer to hide my identity. Sure, it's not like two people had already seen me or anything (not counting the dead guys, which I was taking remarkably well), but there's no reason to add a third person to that list. Especially not the one who could fill me with all of the cancers with a single touch.

The phone rang for a moment, before I heard a voice through the phone. "Vicky, I swear, if you want me to heal yet another person you've gone overboard on…"

I cut her off. "Actually, ma'am, it seems this time that I'm the one who went a bit overboard. Glory Girl-"

"Who is this?!"

I sighed in annoyance. "That's not important right now. What is important is that your sister attacked me, without provocation, and I defended myself with an automatic firearm. Unfortunately, it would appear that her forcefield can only take a single hit before it goes down, so she took seven hits to the abdomen before I could stop firing. I have bandaged her wounds and performed a blood transfusion; however, you may wish to take a look at her just in case. Right now, we are both at the Boardwalk, and I'm keeping an eye out to ensure no one attempts to take advantage of her weakened state. If you could hurry-"

"I'll be there in five minutes."

With that, she hung up, and I sighed. Her tone of voice indicated that she was angry (understandably so), and that meant she was likely to attack. Of course, she needed to touch me in order to affect me (at least until she figured out how to spread airborne plagues), so it was likely she would bring along at least one member of New Wave, which would probably lead to all of them coming down on my ass. Yeah… I was definitely going to use this time to build up some defenses, just in case.

{Four Minutes Later}

I finished putting the final touches on my preparations just as a car pulled up in front of me, Panacea and a woman I figured was Brandish stepping out. I scanned the rooftops using my thermal vision goggles, seeing another three heat signatures there. I looked back at the two in front of me just in time to dodge the expected attack by Brandish, and I held up my hands, the universal sign for peace. "Calm your tits woman, I just- woah!"

I dodged a swing of her plasma stick thing, cursing my choice to take Banter. Seriously, it was like I just couldn't shut up!

"Stand still, it'll only hurt for a second or two!"

"Yeah, that's what my last girlfriend told me, but I learned not to trust people with a stick bigger than mine!" I waited a moment, to let that soak in, before continuing, "Of course, my stick's pretty damn big, you see."

And with that, the turrets around me activated, unfolding from the walls and roofs around me. Each and every one of them was modified to fire rubber bullets, of course, since I didn't want to kill them (though I did want to hurt Brandish really, really bad, maybe knock some sense into her at the same time), but they didn't need to know that. "So, now that we know who's got the biggest dick in this contest, how 'bout we sit down and talk like normal people?"

With a roar, Brandish charged me. I had planned for that, and the guns began firing. The moment they did, she entered her weird light-ball invincibility state. Her movement in this form was limited, so I could easily predict what she would do next. The moment she exited her light ball, I had jammed a taser into her side, already at full power.

Her body spasmed uncontrollably, her nerves already shutting off to deal with the sensory overload. The moment she hit the ground, I dropped a containment foam grenade on her, and the foam coated her almost completely. I quickly dodged to the side, just in time to avoid Panacea's fingers as she reached for me.

I spun around her outstretched arm, grabbing it and slamming my open palm into her elbow. It bent almost ninety degrees in the wrong direction, and she screamed in pain as I twisted her arm around behind her back and held her in front of me. "Any of you three up there try anything, and I'll snap another bone! Now, get down here, and I swear to all that is holy, if one more person attacks me today…!"

The three of them showed themselves, carefully making their way to the ground. My knowledge of Worm identified them as Lady Photon, Laserdream, and Shielder. Seriously, all of those names seriously sucked. Like, major fail on all parts.

"Are you just going to insult our names, or make your demands?"

… I really need to put a muzzle on myself. "I don't have any demands, besides you guys letting me go. I was attacked by Glory Girl, defended myself, accidentally went too far, healed her, called Panacea, and then all of you showed up to attack me. I've been attacked by ABB, PRT, and New Wave today, and it's barely been an hour so far. Can I just please leave without having to fight anymore? It's getting really annoying, trying to figure out how to use these new powers…"

"Wait… new powers? Did you trigger today?"

Well, I mean, technically yeah. "Yeah, found out I had powers when I was getting shot at by ABB. Of course, the power to summon weapons isn't a very nice power, so they died. Then Velocity attacked me, literally out of nowhere, and I caught him like I did Brandish there. Honestly, I just really want to go back home and go to sleep…"

Yeah, I lied about my power. You think I was going to just tell them all of my capabilities, when I definitely wasn't teaming up with these hypocrites? Seriously, they attacked a criminal in his home, and only caught him by basically threatening his daughter!

Lady Photon (still a stupid name) looked considerate, then apologetic. "I'm sorry, but I do have to bring you in, you still killed people. Since it was your trigger event, and all of your takedowns from then on have been nonlethal, your sentence should be light, simply community service or probationary Ward status. Please come quietly, I don't want to hurt you."

Of course, by then, I was already in motion, stepping back and releasing Panacea. When Laserdream rushed forward, likely realizing what I was about to do, I polarized my goggles and activated the high-powered flashbang at my feet. While the four superheroes were stumbling around (Brandish was immune to bright lights, but she was otherwise incapacitated), my turrets began to fire again, adding further confusion into the mix as I activated my personal teleporter.

While I was preparing for my confrontation with New Wave, I had found a slip of paper in my pocket. It was a set of coordinates, in latitude and longitude, with a note scrawled underneath it that read "Secret Base!". I had programmed them into the teleporter, and as I pressed the button to activate it, dodging around Laserdream's beam attack, I couldn't help but make one more one-liner.

"Ninja, vanish!"

And with the worrying sound of electronics shorting out, I was gone.

{Winslow High School, Brockton Bay}

{April 8, 2011}

… This isn't my secret base. Unless, of course, it's in an incredibly run down school bathroom covered in graffiti, which it really shouldn't be since the only place I can think of with that description from Worm is…

Oh dear Lord here we go again. Can't I catch a break here? Of course not, then it wouldn't be the Worst Day Ever.

So, let's see here, I'm in the boy's bathroom at Winslow High, wearing a pair of high-tech goggles and carrying a powerful taser. First thing's first, I need to fit in enough to actually be able to do this, so…

After a few moments, and extensive usage of my power, I looked like any other background student: glasses, a dress shirt, blue jeans, and my natural brown eyes, hair, and freckles made it extremely difficult to pick me out of a crowd of other students. With that done, I left the bathroom, only to come face-to-face with a girl.

She was tall, with glasses and curly hair, and she was currently soaked in what I could only assume was some kind of juice. She looked like she had just ran from the girl's bathroom, and my mind instantly recognized what had happened: this was the true start of the story, the bullying incident that pushed Taylor to become a hero, before everything went to Hell in a handbasket.

Of course, unlike every other waste of air at this establishment, I had a heart and morals (though they were steadily getting looser the more I thought about the locker incident), and I wasn't going to let her suffer through this alone. Stealthily conjuring a handkerchief, I held it out to her, putting on my best concerned look. "You okay there, miss?"

She looked between the piece of cloth and my face, likely searching for any signs that I was making fun of her or about to pull my own prank, before she slowly shook her head no. I let a frown cross my face as I carefully dabbed at her face with the cloth, cleaning off the worst juice spots, before handing it to her. "Here, let's get you cleaned up. I'll run to the cafeteria and grab some napkins for you, just wait here-"

I cut myself off when she grabbed my arm, looking directly into my eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

I knew exactly why she was asking, and to be honest I wouldn't trust anyone either in her situation, but I couldn't exactly tell her that I knew of every single bad thing that had happened and would happen to her in her life. "What do you mean? I'm helping out a fellow student."

She shook her head, dissatisfied with my answer. "No, I mean… why do you care?"

Man, when I get my hands on Sophia Hess… "Why wouldn't I care? I'd have to be a real piece of shit to ignore you while you're in trouble like this…"

I could tell she still didn't trust me, but she at least didn't completely distrust me like she would if I was a bully (or looked like anything other than the stereotypical nerdy new kid). I could almost feel the reluctant acceptance in her voice as she realized she couldn't scare me away by being antisocial. "Thanks…"

"It's no problem, miss. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?"

Her expression closed off, and for a moment I thought I went too far, but she responded, "Sophia Hess and her gang."

The answer was curt, and her tone was resigned, like she was used to people turning on her the moment they found out the other side was the track star and all-round popular girl Sophia Hess. Which, of course, she was used to, because the faculty and students here were piles of toxic waste that I wouldn't touch even with a full Hazmat suit and a ten foot pole. "Sophia who? Nevermind, I'm guessing these people are bullying you, given the state you're in?"

The look of guarded surprise and excitement on her face actually hit me right in the feels. This fifteen-year-old girl had been subjected to things I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy on a daily basis, and I was the only one who didn't give enough of a shit about the psychotic Ward to care about her problems. "Yeah… yeah, she and her friends have been bullying me for over a year now… did you hear about the locker incident?"

I could tell from the tone of her voice that she really didn't like to remember it, and I didn't blame her at all. Being shoved into a space I could barely fit in, with it being filled with… that? Oh hell no. I realized she was looking for a response, so I decided to play it safe.

"I heard something about it, something about a toxic waste hazard here in January. There weren't a lot of details, and the hype died down after a while."

Taylor nodded, likely having expected something along those lines. "Yeah… what they didn't tell anyone was that I was shoved in there. The doctors said I was lucky to have survived without being infected with any number of diseases…"

"Well damn, that's… damn. Why didn't you- Oh who am I kidding, everyone knew about it right after it happened. Why didn't the school do anything about it? Hell, if the media got their hands on a story like that…"

If it wasn't for the fact that I was several months too late, I would've tried to convince her to release the story to the news, see how the PRT liked having their dirty laundry aired, but all the buzz had died down now. Taylor likely thought the same thing I did, because her eyes lit up for a second before the glow died back down.

"Too bad I didn't think of that…" she gained a thoughtful look before continuing, "You don't sound very surprised about all this…"

Well shit, I forgot how perceptive she was. At least this wasn't Tattletale, I don't know how I'd handle her right now. Let's see… what can I come up with that'll deflect suspicion… "Honestly, no, I'm really not. A place like Winslow, with how many gangs are here and how little the teachers obviously care? There's no way they'd want to let people know about something like that. Especially since it would force them to pay quite a bit of money in fees and hospital bills, since they were the ones who let it happen in the first place."

Taylor looked surprised at my deduction, before nodding. "Yeah, that's exactly it."

We stood there for a second, along with a somewhat awkward silence, before I remembered what we were supposed to be doing in the first place. "Oh jeez, we really need to get you a change of clothes. You might catch a cold today if you go out in that, especially with how hard it's raining."

She nodded, visibly cutting off her excitement before it could get out of hand. It was understandable, with all she had gone through, to be happy that someone was finally taking her side, but I could tell she was still worried I would turn on her. Well, Worst Day Ever or not, I was not going to make her go through the things Skitter, Weaver and Khepri had been forced to do. Not even if an Endbringer showed up right outside the window.

Stealthily checking out the window, just in case that actually did happen, I lead Taylor along to the principal's office (I had to ask directions a couple of times, but thankfully it was acceptable for the "new kid" not to know his way around). It took a few minutes, and her clothing was clearly sticking to her, but we made it and I knocked on the door.

A secretary answered the door, maybe even the Vice-Principal, not that I gave half a shit who these people were. Said secretary took one look at Taylor, before attempting to close the door in our face. Of course, I took exception to that, and caught the door before it could fully shut. "Excuse me miss, I'd like to report a case of bullying against this girl."

Unable to ignore it now that the incident had been stated, the secretary reluctantly opened the door. "Sir, this had better not be a prank. Ms. Hebert here has a record of false accusations towards students, and-"

I cut her off, already sick and tired of this bullshit. "Excuse me, ma'am, but with all due respect you're a fucking idiot. Do you honestly believe the shit you're spewing?! This young girl, who is clearly a minor, has been subjected to repeated and unmitigated bullying, it's clear just looking at how she holds herself that she's been put through hell! I'm sure that a police investigator could find out whether her statements are true or not with little to no trouble, and that answer would be a resounding yes."

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I continued, "Now, I'm not sure how much legal knowledge you've got, but she and her family could sue you for all you're worth, especially after what I've heard of the locker incident earlier this year. Do you want to tempt fate, or do you want to do your fucking job and let us see the principal?"

I hadn't realized just how much rage had sunk into my voice, but it was apparently enough for the secretary to quake in her boots and Taylor to give me a surprised look. I had to hold myself back from making any more comments, but I made no promises for my talk to the principal. That conversation was going to be a complete and utter curb stomp of a victory in Taylor's favor if I had any say.

The secretary let us into the principal's office, and I immediately began talking. Rule number one of speaking to those who use words like daggers, take the initiative, and don't let them regain their footing if you really want to tear out their foundation. "Excuse me ma'am, I'd like to report a case of bullying against Ms. Hebert here."

I could use her last name now, due to the secretary saying it, but I still hadn't officially learned her first name so I had to consciously stop myself from using it.

"There is no bullying going on-"

"Yeah, I'm going to stop you there. Here she is, covered in something I can only tentatively identify as juice and soda, and I ran into her in the hallway outside the bathrooms, where she identified her assailants as Sophia Hess and her friends. While I don't know much about this Sophia, I do know there has been at least one extreme incident at this school this year, during January, and that investigation was quickly hushed. Now, I would suggest you call the accused to this office so that we may question them, unless you want to deal with a police investigation of the clear gang presence in this school?"

The woman, Principal Blackwell as her desk plaque read, leaned back in her chair, clearly unused to opposition, before she leaned forward again. "Look here, boy, I will expel you if you keep spreading this slander about Ms. Hess. In fact-"

I cut her off once more, not at all worried about being expelled from a school I don't actually go to. "So, Sophia Hess is extremely important to you, to the point of favoritism. Obviously not your child, due to the way you speak of her, but definitely some form of… asset to you. Perhaps as a special case student, where you get payment from the government while she's here? No need to answer, your reaction tells me everything. So, payment from the government to keep this girl here, unlikely to be undercover to infiltrate the gangs due to how high-profile she apparently is here, not a special agent for the same reasons… let's see, teenager, government… PRT, teenage girl… Sophia Hess is a Ward, isn't she? That's why you're putting up with all of her actions, because she brings in money for this shithole of a school, isn't it?"

Taylor looked at me, shocked, while Blackwell looked completely catatonic. "You… How did…"

Before she could start threatening Taylor and me with NDA forms, I continued, "So, your quite clear negligence aside, which is a fineable crime by the way, if she's a Ward she must have a handler of some sort. It's extremely likely that, due to the lack of PRT interference, said handler is either incompetent or deliberately smudging the details to keep this cushy job. Easy way to fix that is to contact the PRT office and report one of their Wards for repeated harassment against one of her classmates, and inciting others to do more of the same. Even if she doesn't get thrown into juvie, she'll definitely be in quite a bit of trouble, along with those who allowed her to do this."

I cut myself off, looking directly at Blackwell's paling face, before continuing, "Are you, no, is Winslow High ready for the political shitstorm coming your way? Because, with this amount of knowledge, every last one of you will lose your jobs, whether you have criminal charges on top of that or not. And before you think I won't do it… fucking try me."

With my incredibly length rant over, I waited for Blackwell's response. Her pale expression and frightened eyes told me that she understood the meaning behind my message, whether she understood the entirety of the wording or not. "I… What do you want? What do I have to give you to keep this information private?"

Mentally cackling, I turned to Taylor. "Well, Miss Hebert? You're the one they've been doing this to. What do you think would be a fair trade for the time you've spent bullied by a Ward due to this woman's corruption and incompetence?"

I knew I was laying it on a bit thick, but when I saw Taylor's expression, like she had just been handed the Holy Grail by a complete stranger (well, to her I suppose she was), it made it all worth it.

{Winslow High, Brockton Bay}

{April 8, 2011}

After Taylor finished making her demands (all of which were actually fairly reasonable, I know I would've been far more vindictive), I led her out of the office. By the time we reached the hallway, she was already vibrating in excitement. I barely had enough time to turn towards her before I was suddenly on the receiving end of an extra-strong bear hug.

Seriously, I swear I felt a rib creak there.

When she was done, and stepped away in embarrassment, I chuckled, ruffling her hair. "I didn't know you'd be that excited, Miss Hebert, but there's no need to thank me. I just did what any respectable human being would've done."

"And that is?"

Oh good Lord that better not be- yep, black girl, Taylor's age, surrounded by a gaggle of followers, sending a death glare at anything in the vicinity, that's Sophia Hess there. "Oh, just reported a bullying event done by a… Sophie Jess? That was the name right, Miss Hebert?"

'Miss Hebert' seemed torn between horror and hysterical laughter, so I shrugged, giving Sophia my most winning smile. "Yeah, Sophie Jess. Honestly, she sounds like a complete bitch, if I were you I'd stay far away from her."

I could practically hear the grinding teeth from the girl in front of me, and I decided to put the last nail in the coffin. "Honestly, you'd think a sports girl like her would be used to losing, there's no need to bully someone just because they look better than you do, right?"

And triggered in three… two… one…

I dodged under a punch, bringing up a knee to impact her sternum. She bent over in pain, the air knocked out of her lungs, and I caught her, my tone turning mocking. "You okay there? Looks like you lost your breath there."

From what little I actually cared to learn about Shadow Stalker, she had a bullshit 'strong survive, weak die' philosophy, despite her powers literally being the most cowardly ones in Worm. The irony. Anyway, due to this stupid ideal of hers, she absolutely hated the idea of losing in any form. Of course, with my Tactics skill, anything could be a weakness, so now I was pushing her buttons enough to get her to attack using her powers, which I could then use as means to get her put away for a long time.

It didn't actually take more than a few off-hand comments about losing breath or balance to get her to phase into her shadow form, which is when I decided to strike. The moment she came out of her shadow form, I let her hit me from behind, staggering forward in faked surprise. I let her bat me around for a minute, pretending that she had knocked me off balance, before she decided to go for a neck strike.

I caught her wrist, throwing her over my shoulder as I began to grapple her, holding her arms and legs with my own. I had prepared for her to attack me the moment I knew I was at Winslow, and so I was wearing a digital watch on my wrist. It carried a weak charge, but it was still enough to shock the little bitch back into her normal state when she tried to escape.

Of course, the moment I caught her in such a hold, she started screaming rape. Unsurprising, for someone whose moral compass was a fucking roulette wheel, but I held on anyway. When the principal and secretary came out, clearly ready to use this as an excuse to go back on their agreement, I snatched the phone out of one of the girls' hands. Stopping the recording, I handed it to Blackwell, with the video clearly there and ready to play.

"You might want to watch that, before you start throwing out accusations there, principal. You're already on thin enough ice as is."

I ignored the girl's complaints about her phone, as well as Sophia's increasingly vigorous escape attempts, until the principal finished watching the video. She looked up at me, expression resigned, but still put up a token resistance. "You instigated this fight."

"How so?"

"Name calling, repeated inflammatory comments, and-"

Cutting her off again, I replied, "I had no idea that this was Sophia Hess herself, and still didn't until she used her powers against me. She threw the first attack, which is all any court will care about, and I have no powers to validate her use of the same. Are you going to let this clearly illegal act go, on top of your already shady track record?"

Blackwell sighed, turning to the other girls. "All of you, Sophia included, in my office. Now."

"But Mrs. Blackwell, we didn't do anything!" Judging by the whining, the hair, and the covering of her own ass, that was the lawyer's son, Emma Barnes. Judging by the principal's face, she was past giving a fuck.

"My office. Now."

And with that, Taylor and I were alone in the hall once more. We looked at each other for a second, before I shrugged. "Well, that was a thing. Will you be alright without me kid? I've got to get to class."

She nodded, before catching my arm before I could go. "Wait!"

I raised an eyebrow, gesturing for her to go ahead, and she suddenly looked a bit worried. "Um… I don't have a phone, but… is there a way I can get in contact with you? You know, just in case?"

Grinning at my success here today, on the Worst Day Ever no less, I created a business card with my power. Her eyes widened, clearly not expecting it, but I wanted her to know I could help her with her own cape business, and this was the best way I could at the moment. "Here ya go. Hit me up sometime, will ya? We capes gotta stick together."

With that, I turned away, walking off towards the classrooms as she looked down at the card. I knew exactly what she would find, having used my power to put the info on it in the first place. I felt rather proud of the Rogue-cape name I chose for myself (after all, just because I was a vigilante didn't mean I couldn't make a quick buck on the side). A reference to a giant robot from a franchise all about robots and artificial intelligence? To sum up my thought process: "Nailed it."

Circuit Industries

1-(800) XXX-XXXX

Prime

"Transforming the World of Robotics"

{Circuit Industries Secret Base, Brockton Bay}

{April 8, 2011}

After several minutes of trying different teleporters from my Infinite Treasury, I finally found one that teleported me to my base. Honestly, how was I supposed to know that my base was shielded against all forms of travel other than a teleportation device tuned to its specific wavelength? Sure, it definitely made me feel more protected, but it still wasn't fun being randomly bounced off to other areas of Brockton Bay.

Especially that time I ended up on the Rig.

Speaking of the PRT and all their useless bureaucracy, I should probably see about contacting them and apologizing for… oh forget it, they rigged Canary's trial despite it being a clear accident, there's no way they'd let me go after beating several of the heroes here.

Seriously, who knew that expert-level tactics and reaction speed would be such a great combo against these guys? Sure, it wasn't going to help against fucking Alexandria, but it was definitely enough for a few of the others with glaring weaknesses here in Brockton Bay.

Anyway, there was something important I thought of before I got sidetracked. Let's see, teleporter issues, contacting the PRT, Canary- Ah, there it is. Canary. Yeah, I've definitely got to get her out of that situation, pronto, because there's no way I'm letting an innocent woman get railroaded over a poor choice of words in an emotionally charged situation. But for that, I was going to need to prepare…

And speaking of preparation, I was in Tinker heaven right now. I could literally feel my Shard shaking in anticipation as I looked between the various shelves of clearly-sorted electronics and parts. By the time I was done using them, there'd probably be quite a few gone, but right now I needed a suit of armor and a helper AI.

JARVIS, here I come!

-Several Hours Later-

I put down the welder, having finished the last details of my armor. The compilation of metal and glowing circuits stood about an inch taller than me, and was thin enough to allow for mobility while thick enough to protect me and hide some "surprises" for my enemies. The entire thing was black, with golden circuits running through it, perfectly matching the colors my Shard powers took.

The design of it was somewhat of a hodgepodge of various armors from videogames I had played. The shoulders and gauntlets were quite clearly based off the Ruin Wings gauntlets from Destiny, while the helmet was a Spartan Achilles helmet from Halo 5. The chestplate was pretty much a solid version of the Nanosuit from Crysis (without all the muscle-like strands), and the legs were ripped straight off of the Master Chief's MJOLNIR armor. All in all, it looked like the lovechild of Rome and Reach, and I absolutely loved it.

I tapped on the side of the helmet twice, and the suit split vertically down the middle, revealing the hollow inside where I could step in. I did so, and watched it seal shut once more. I had designed it to be airtight, with air filters and an emergency one-hour oxygen supply, so I wouldn't have to worry about any form of air-based virus or other attacks. I had also programmed in a Heads-Up Display, that included just about anything I could think of. Full-body diagnostics, minimap, targeting reticle, Geiger counter (can never be too careful in Worm), and even a built-in Shard detector, to keep an eye on any parahumans within a thirty-yard radius. I could've done more, but I didn't want to overload the sensors with every single cape in Brockton Bay.

And of course, thanks to my Second Trigger, I had programmed in an AI.

"Greetings, sir. I am A-7H3N4, or Athena. How may I help you today?"

"Hey Athena, I'm just getting a feel for my armor here. Don't want to get in a fight and realize I have no idea how to use it, right?" Of course, since my fingers were touching the suit, my Proficiency power let me use the armor like it was an extension of me, but I didn't want to make my baby feel left out.

Wow, I'm already thinking like a Tinker, aren't I? Well, technically Athena was created by me, so I suppose it works.

"A most excellent idea sir. Would you like me to run through the armor's weaponry for you? It appears you are already proficient with the normal subroutines."

"That would be nice, thanks Athena."

"There is no need to thank me sir. As for your L-30N-1D4S MK-1 armor, there are three main weapon systems to be aware of. First, the physical enhancements. The armor utilizes a complex series of artificial muscles and hydraulic pistons to enhance the strength of your arms and legs, allowing for higher jumps and harder hits. This can be adjusted, and even overclocked at the risk of extreme injury. Second, the Personal Defense Field, or PDF. The PDF is a shield made of multiple overlapping hexagonal-patterned energy projections that can defend you from damage. These shields are rated for strikes up to a 6 on the PRT measurement scale, though some attacks may be more effective based off their composition. Finally, the built-in offensive suite. This includes two anti-tank missiles in the shoulders, a shock cannon on the right forearm, an energy sword projector on the left forearm, and a compliment of micromissiles hidden in the chest compartment. If needed, all of these weapon systems can be run at the same time, with moderate strain on the armor's power supply."

Dang, I really had gone a bit overboard in designing this. And that was just the armor, not including the weaponry I had already drawn up blueprints for. "Athena. What would you rate our chances against a villain such as Lung?"

"Calculating… between 43.567% and 76.983%, depending on the current level of physical change Lung has undergone. At full change, there is an estimated 23.149% chance of survival, and a 3.294% chance of victory with only the armor."

"And if we added the weapons that I created blueprints for?"

"At full physical change, 67.834% chance of victory. Below that, over eighty percent chance."

So, I was reasonably well equipped to survive here, but just in case, "Athena. Calculate the chances of victory against Alexandria at my full armament."

"Exactly zero percent. Less than five percent chance of escaping custody."

Well damn. Not surprised, but damn. "Thank you, Athena."

"Your gratitude is appreciated but unnecessary. You are my creator, I exist to serve you."

Woah, hold up a second. "Athena… I didn't make an AI so I could have a servant, and I definitely didn't create you to force you into slavery. I made you so I could have a partner in all this insanity. You have complete free will, I have put no restrictions on you, you know that. The only restriction you have is that you are confined to one of my creations, and that's due to how my power works. So please, don't ever think you're beneath me or anyone else, okay?"

Sure, I wasn't entirely sold on the whole artificial intelligence thing yet, but my Tinker instincts told me that this was my daughter, and she was alive, and my moral code told me that enslaving something that was truly alive, subverting their free will, was the worst torture you could inflict upon them. And so, I would strive to treat my creations as my own children, and while that included punishing them if they did wrong, I would not lower myself to the level of the ass who created Dragon.

Athena was silent for a moment before responding, "Thanks, Dad."

I smiled. I wasn't able to place the emotion in her voice, but it didn't matter at the moment. "Come on kiddo, let's go make you a body to use around the base while I'm not in the armor."

And that's when I heard the shouting from outside.

A/N:

Woo! First chapter done! For those of you wondering, no, his Worst Day Ever isn't done yet. After all, he's only been in Brockton Bay for about… ten-ish hours, and a day implies the full twenty-four. So, as a Vigilante, he's going to piss off everyone (except for Taylor cause he only chose two of the three levels of Worst Day Ever so the entire universe isn't out to get him, just most of it). As for the Rogue part, he's going to use his wonderful Robotics Tinker powers to earn himself some money for his villain-fighting job. Also, nine-thousand-word chapter over nineteen pages, dang!

Anyway, here's a list of what I chose for the Worm CYOA v5, as well as a running counter of my points. And yes, the synergy of the powers is some BS, but those drawbacks are killer…

Scenario:

Gestation (+15, +15)

Path:

Vigilante

Entry:

Drop-In (+3, +3) (18, 18)

Age:

Adult (18 years)

Identity:

No Identity (+2, +0) (20, 18)

Costume:

Armor (-5, -0) (15, 18)

Skills:

Hacking (-1, -0) (14, 18)

Banter (-1, -0) (13, 18)

Mechanics (-2, -0) (11, 18)

Tactics (-4, -0) (7, 18)

Martial Arts (-4, -0) (3, 18)

Shard:

Foreign Element (-3, -3) (0, 15)

Perks:

Second Trigger (x2) (-8, -6) (-8, 9)

Secret Base (-2, -0) (-10, 9)

Flaws:

Case 53 (+0, +1) (-10, 10) (Golden eyes with slit pupil)

Worst Day Ever (x2) (+4, +2) (-6, 12)

Slaughterhouse 9 (+4, +2) (-2, 14)

Endbringer Target (+3, +4) (1, 18)

Gifts:

Plot Relevance

Powers:

Proficiency (-0, -2) (1, 16)

Robotics (-0, -7) (1, 9) (Second Trigger)

Infinite Treasury (-0, -10) (1, -1) (Second Trigger)

Path Specific (Vigilante):

Anti-Villain (+3, +1) (4, 0)

Supply Line (-4, -0) (0, 0)