A/N:

Welcome back to A Prime Time for Escalation! Today, we will discover just how screwed our protagonist can be without dying! (Spoiler Alert: Extremely)

Of course, I feel like I should clarify something. Thanks to his Foreign Shard, our main character's powers are stronger than they otherwise would be, and can even evolve in certain circumstances. So, I'm going to clarify exactly what has been strengthened for each of his powers.

Proficiency: Along with the ability to use the item, he also gains all associated knowledge (for instance, when using a gun he gains military precision and knowledge of tactics utilizing said weapon, along with knowing how to reload and fire).

Robotics: Along with the ability to craft robots and true artificial intelligence, he can insert other Tinker's works into his own, as well as reverse-engineer other Tinker's works if he has a working model to research. Also, his AI are able to inhabit any form of technology he links to, as well as anything he creates.

Infinite Treasury: Along with being able to summon anything in existence, he can summon conceptual items, as long as they are theoretically possible to create (this may put his mind and body under extreme stress). His limit is also increased to one and a half tons, instead of one singular ton.

So, there's what has been strengthened for each of his powers. Of course, they may evolve later on, and I already have plans for that, but they won't be revealed until the powers actually do evolve. No spoilers here!

Also, a little thing to look forward to: our hero here has both a Follower and a Nemesis, both of which compliment his powers nicely (with the Follower covering his weak points, and the Nemesis pretty much giving his strong points the finger). They will be revealed later, when they actually show up in the story, and I'll include an A/N detailing their CYOA choices.

DISCLAIMER: Yeah, I own nothing here. If you're reading this, you already know that. So go check out Worm by John McCrae, it's pretty good (you know, besides all of the terrible things that happen all the time, but that just adds to the originality of it)

{Warehouse District, Brockton Bay}

{April 8, 2011}

I heard the shouting grow exponentially in volume as I walked out of my base, using the hidden entrance so that no one saw me. Of course, the moment I left, I saw exactly what was happening, and I really would've just given up and gone back inside if it wasn't for Athena.

"Dad! Those people are in trouble, we've got to help them!"

Yep, some Dockworkers were there, being threatened by the Merchants. Well, kind of. It was more likely that the Merchants were just really high and waving around their weapons randomly, but there were still Dockworkers pinned down behind a few cars, doing their best to avoid the gunfire.

And of course, I programmed my daughter to be my moral compass as well, just in case. Yeah, not a bad idea, but annoying in situations where I just wanted to pretend nothing was going on and go to sleep…

"Don't worry Athena, I've got this," I stepped out into the street, amplifying my voice with the suit's speakers, "Hey! Fuckers! Over here ya filthy druggies!"

Unsurprisingly, insulting the Merchants really pissed them off. And even more unsurprisingly, they started shooting at me the moment they saw me. Of course, all their bullets simply bounced off my PDF, but it was the principal of the whole thing. If I wanted to be a reputable vigilante, I couldn't let these little shits go unpunished. I also couldn't just indiscriminately launch missiles at them, no matter how much I wanted to, because that would just bring the PRT down on my ass even harder than they likely already were.

"Alright ya little shits! You've got exactly ten seconds to stop firing and go home, before I crack some skulls! Ten! Nine! Eight!"

If anything, the hail of bullets only got thicker, and the suit's power supply was beginning to fall sustaining the shield, so I shrugged, "One! Zero! Alright bitches, time's up! My turn."

And with that, a rifle that looked a bit like an M14 appeared in my hands, and I aimed at the nearest Merchant. With a pull of the trigger, he was on the ground, screaming as he held the hole in his leg. I turned to the other drug addicts, some of which were beginning to look unsure, and fired three more times.

Three more fell to the ground, a man and two women, before the Merchants finally got the hint and started to back off. Of course, I wasn't in the mood to play the whole 'cops and robbers' game that the PRT and gangs had fallen into, so I put another seven bullets downrange, each of them piercing through a shin or knee and bringing their targets to the ground. The last two druggies dropped their guns and started to run, but I shot the slower one in the leg before he could get far.

I let the last one run, after all, he'd be able to deliver a message for me. Honestly, I was actually looking forward to having the Merchants come after me, I wouldn't feel bad gunning down their leaders at all. After all, from what I knew about Skidmark, Squealer, and Mush? Yeah, everyone who wasn't the PRT would probably line up to thank me for getting rid of them. Of course, the PRT didn't count, thanks to Piggot's "status quo" bullshit.

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I went around to the twelve downed Merchants, taking up their guns and tying their wrists and ankles together with zip ties. After all, they work for pretty much everyone in Worm, no need to change tradition just yet.

When I was done making sure these idiots wouldn't try anything (and bandaging their wounds), I turned to the three Dockworkers that were walking towards me. "Good evening sirs, I trust you're doing well today?"

Athena let out a quite unladylike snort in amusement, "Dad, that was horrible. You can do a lot better than that, right?"

I rolled my eyes and ignored her. My one-liners were great, so what if a few flopped here and there?

One of the Dockworkers spoke up, holding out his hand for me to shake. "The name's Daryll, thanks for helpin' us out there. I thought we were goners for a second."

Shaking his hand, I replied, "It was no trouble Daryll, I'm just doing what I can to help out around here. Is there anything you can tell me about what happened?"

He nodded, frowning. "Yeah, these Merchants here showed up driving down the street in that armored car there," he pointed to a vehicle that looked like it drove straight out of Mad Max, and I had to wonder just how I'd missed that, "and started shooting up the place. Me and the boys here were on our way to the Boardwalk to get some food, but then they started shooting at us and we had to hide behind these cars here. If it wasn't for you… well, we wouldn't be here right now, so thanks, Mr.…?"

"Ah, just call me Prime, I'm new around these parts. Anyway, I'm glad you're all okay, but I do have to get going. Is there anything else you need?"

He shook his head, but handed me a card. "If you ever need help with anything at all, call that number. That's Danny's number, he's our boss. And, if you need some cheap labor to help out, the Dockworkers are always looking for work."

Ah, that's right, I forgot they didn't exactly have paying jobs since the Boat Graveyard fiasco happened. "I'll be sure to take you up on that. In the meantime, take care, and here's my number in case the Dockworkers need my help. After all, it's only fair that we help each other out."

And with our cards exchanged, I walked off into an alleyway, before calling the PRT using my armor's built-in phone. It rang for a minute, before someone finally picked up. "This is the Parahuman Response Team Brockton Bay office, to whom am I speaking with?"

"Ah, yes, I'm a new parahuman, you can call me Prime. I stopped a group of Merchants from killing three Dockworkers, I've got twelve of them incapacitated and tied up. I'm down in the Warehouse District, next to Warehouse 32, if you'd like to come pick them up."

The line went silent for a moment, the operator likely speaking with a superior, before they responded. "With what organization are you affiliated with?"

"Circuit Industries, we're a group of Tinkers who specialize in robotics. I was testing out one of our newest suits when I came across this incident."

"There's a response team headed your way. Please stay where you are, we will send a representative to speak with you."

"Of course."

And with that, he hung up. Rude.

-Fifteen Minutes Later-

I looked up from my book at the sound of a motorcycle growing near, standing from my armchair and dismissing both. Honestly, I probably shouldn't use my power to amuse myself like that, but it was my power so I'd use it however I wanted. At least I wasn't using it to make a one-ton nuke or something like I probably would be if it was a Zion Shard.

Right on time, Armsmaster turned the corner on his bike, skidding to a stop in front of me with halberd in hand. "Identify yourself, now."

Of course, thanks to my knowledge of Worm, I absolutely hated Armsdick with a fiery burning passion. If he wasn't such an idiot, Taylor wouldn't have become Skitter, and half the bad shit in the book wouldn't have happened, or at least been much better than it was. And so, when he went straight to threatening me, I may or may not have gotten a bit pissed off.

"The name's Prime, pretty sure I already told the phone guy that, so are you ignorant or just plain stupid? Nevermind, don't answer that, doesn't matter. There's the Merchants I promised, more or less in pristine condition, now if you don't mind I'm going to leave."

He spoke up before I could take more than three steps, and I growled under my breath. "Why are their legs bandaged? They've clearly been bleeding."

"That would be due to the bullet holes I put in them while protecting the Dockworkers. You know, since they were shooting at me, I decided to return the favor."

"The use of lethal weaponry is strictly-"

I cut him off, barely stopping myself from marching up and bitchslapping him. "Oh don't give me that shit. That halberd of yours is definitely not a fucking toy, and Miss Militia's power is literally nothing but guns and other lethal weaponry, besides the odd taser or two. So don't even think about trying to bring me in for using a gun to take down gang members non-lethally, even a kangaroo court wouldn't take that crap. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to leave you to it and go do more important things than argue with a second-rate Tinker."

Open mouth, insert foot. Of course, I just couldn't stop, my Tinker pride decided to show itself at the worst time.

"Second-rate?!"

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, as they say. "Yeah, second-rate. Your specialty is minimizing, right? So why are you trying to sink everything into that halberd and helmet of yours? Instead of having one weapon with everything, have a bunch of weapons and armor with almost everything so that you can switch between them when needed. Seriously, even with my specialty I'm not trying to create a giant robot that can do everything, I'm making a few that are specialized."

And, of course, I just give away my Tinker specialty like an idiot. I really need to add a mute function to my armor. "Anyway, I'm leaving now, have a good evening sir."

With that said, I left before he could say anything else, and before I could screw myself over any more.

{Circuit Industries Secret Base, Brockton Bay}

{April 8, 2011}

Okay, so that happened.

I shook my head as I walked into my base, clearing my mind of that entire fiasco and dropping the Dockworkers' card on one of the tables around my workshop.

"Athena, what should we craft now?"

"I would suggest an addition to your armor, or perhaps a weapon of sorts. There is a 76.590% chance that the PRT will attempt to press you into joining the Protectorate, if only for access to your Tinkertech, and a 97.632% chance that the Merchants will attack you due to your actions today. With the proper preparation, both of these can be dealt with without severe risk, but as you are now it is likely you will not escape unharmed."

"Well shit. Athena, how would you feel about a sibling?"

She was silent for a minute, enough for me to worry a bit, before replying, "Are you going to adopt Dragon?"

Oh, right, Dragon was an AI, forgot about that… "No, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to take off her restrictions. Note that down for tomorrow, I still have to get through whatever else the world is going to throw at me today."

The landline suddenly started ringing, so I answered the phone, curious. "Hello? Prime of Circuit Industries speaking."

"Uh, yes, this is Taylor Hebert. You know, the girl you helped today? I was wondering if, well, you mentioned that capes need to stick together, and, uhm…"

"Say no more, I'll be over in a minute. Is there anywhere in particular you want to meet up?"

"Uh, is Fugly Bob's okay? Down at the Boardwalk?"

Ah, yes, Fugly Bob's. I had heard many things about that place… "Of course. I'll be there in an hour, I have to finish up something first. Sound good?"

"Yes, thank you so much! I'll see you there!"

She hung up, and I chuckled at how excited she was. "Honestly, she's like a puppy, it's adorable. I'll definitely need to help her out with her hero career."

Athena spoke up, her voice filled with amusement, "Can I come and meet my new Mommy?"

"Dammit Athena, you know that isn't what this is about. And yes, I'm taking you too, that's why I gave myself an hour to build some things."

I picked up a circuit board, and grinned. "Let's get to it, shall we?"

{Fugly Bob's, Brockton Bay}

{April 8, 2011}

Stepping into the restaurant, I looked around for Taylor. I had worn a simply pair of jeans and a t-shirt, no reason to draw attention to myself with my armor, but I had added a circuit board design over the left breast of my shirt, directly where my heart would be, and under that a stylized print of "Circuit Industries: Transforming the World of Robotics".

Self-advertisement is the best form of advertisement.

Anyway, after barely a second of looking around, I noticed Taylor sitting at one of the tables. She saw me as well, and I waved, making my way over to sit down. The moment I did, I picked up a menu, scanning through it to see what there was to eat.

Unsurprisingly, it was pretty much nothing but burgers.

I ended up ordering a double cheeseburger and fries, while Taylor ordered a hamburger, and we both sat back while we waited for the waitress to leave. When she did, I gestured for Taylor to speak.

"Uh, so… I guess you already know I'm a cape. I… I want to be a hero, but I don't know if I'm ready yet. I heard from Dad about what you did, helping out some of the Dockworkers, and I wanted to ask… how do I be a hero? What do I need to do?"

Smiling, I handed her what I had ended up making earlier. It resembled an iPhone, with me having summoned an actual iPhone 6 to figure out how to build my own. Actually, in Worm, pretty much all the businesses had crashed a bit, so maybe I could…

Anyway, back to my creation. The phone, which I called the U-S3R, was a high-tech piece of technology that pretty much blew normal phones out of the water. It had all the functions of a normal phone, plus an AI in it that helped run everything, making it outstrip any other handheld device besides my own phone by miles.

"This is one of my creations. It does everything a normal touchscreen phone can do, plus a few little features, and comes equipped with a helper AI to help you with anything you could possibly need. Just say 'Hey, Siri' if you need to talk with her."

Yes, I got quite a laugh out of making an actually useful Siri, especially since everyone kept calling her an AI back on my Earth. Hah, no, I know AI, if anything Siri was a VI at most.

"Hey, Siri?"

The phone lit up, before an image appeared on screen. It resembled Cortana, but wearing a t-shirt and jeans instead of the circuit bikini the real one wore. "Greetings, Taylor Hebert. I am S-1R1, or Siri for short. It is nice to meet you, I've heard many great things about you."

Oh yeah, I also decided to put in all of the knowledge of the future Taylor's actions that I could remember into Siri's databanks. You know, just in case it was needed. After all, Athena already knew everything I could remember, so might as well continue the trend, right?

"Oh, uh… Cool, I guess?" She shook her head, looking at me, "Why are you giving me this? This is way too expensive for me to accept!"

I laughed, unable to help myself, and her pouting made me laugh more. "Oh Taylor, I own Circuit Industries, I can set the prices to whatever I want, on a person-to-person basis if I want. And for you? The only price is for us to team up on your first outing as a hero."

Yeah, like I was going to let her fight Lung on her own, even if I knew she could. There are some things that you just don't put people through when you have other options.

"Wait… does that mean you're going to help me be a hero?"

Aww, back to the excited puppy Taylor. Sure, I knew she would be a complete badass, but damn she was just too adorable right now. "Yep. So welcome to Circuit Industries, Miss Hebert. If you ever need anything from me, or a place to hide out for a while, talk to Siri. She's able to contact me whenever needed, and she can lead you to my base if you're in trouble. Heck, feel free to come by and say hi every once in a while."

She nodded, looking down at her phone like it was a suitcase full of money. "Can I… come by after we eat?"

"Sure."

We were both quiet after that, since the waitress came back with our food. Despite what I had heard about the greasiness of the food, this stuff was extremely good. I would definitely be coming back to this place again.

After a few minutes of silence, I decided to check up on what exactly happened at Winslow after I left. "So… did Blackwell end up pulling her head out of her ass, or do I need to make a few calls?"

Taylor giggled, shaking her head. "No, no, she did what she said she would. Sophia, Emma and Madison all got suspension for a month, and even Emma's dad couldn't get them out of it. And my transfer to Arcadia is going through on Monday. Everything's going great! Thank you, thank you so much. If it wasn't for you…"

"It was my pleasure. I can't stand bullies, no matter what form they take."

She nodded, and we both went back to eating in companionable silence. I was extremely glad that I had beat enough sense into Blackwell for her to actually do her job, because having to deal with the media and the PRT to get shit done was… hit-or-miss, at best.

We both finished eating, and I paid for our food (I had found some cash in my wallet from before I got sent here, and luckily for me it was still the same currency for Worm). The moment we left the restaurant, Taylor fell in behind me, not even bothering to hide her anticipation. Again, straight up adorable.

So, I shrugged, motioning for her to follow me as I started towards my base.

{Circuit Industries Secret Base, Brockton Bay}

{April 8, 2011}

I let Taylor into the base, keying her into the system so that the defenses didn't decide to fill her with bullets or lasers. Seriously, I was actually wondering if L33t had a hand in building this place, there seemed to be one of everything defending it. Even a containment foam launcher, just for the hell of it I guess.

"Welcome, madame, to my humble abode! This is where I perform all of the magic for Circuit Industries, along with my… extra-curricular activities."

She was already exploring, having seen the L-30N-1D4S armor on its charging stand near the wall. Next to it was the skeleton of another suit, half-finished with wiring and other electronics exposed. Taylor was poking at the finished suit, but was obviously interested with the other one.

"That one's for you, ya know? Just wanted your input on what to put in it."

She turned to look at me, shocked, and I shrugged. "I thought I might as well provide my partner with some of Circuit Industries' best stuff, right? Don't want you being unprepared for the hero life."

After another tight bear-hug (seriously, where the heck did this strength come from, and where can I get some?!), I dragged the suit into the workshop, laying it on the table. "So, what should I put in it? Flight system, personal shield, and defense suite come standard, but is there anything else you want? Weapons, internet access, coffee maker?"

The last one got a laugh out of her. "Would you mind putting in some kind of vision enhancer, and maybe making it so it can fold up? That way I can carry it around if needed."

"Not a problem, already working on that actually. Here's the blueprint of how the final result should work, anything you want changed?"

I had cheated a bit, basing the suit off of her Skitter costume. I had covered the back of her head as well, but added a few dozen metal tendrils to act as hair. They could also plug into anything that had an adapter of any kind, which let her plug her suit into computers, TVs, phones, Tinkertech weapons, and anything else she could find. I thought it looked quite nice, actually.

"Wow… that's… wow. Could you add a pattern to it? Kind of like your armor, but… not a circuit pattern?"

"Sure, like what? Ladybug dots, spider webbing, stripes?"

"Spider webbing would be really nice, actually. Can you make it in grey and yellow?"

Huh, so she wants to go with her initial colors. Sure, why not, I like how her Skitter costume works. And it's not like Armsdick can declare her a villain when I'm there to pull his head out of his ass. "Sure, we'll even match. I'll have it done by tomorrow, is there any weapons you want? Laser sword, railgun, marshmallow launcher?"

"Maybe a baton and a knife?"

Again, quite vanilla there. Well, not really, I'm going to Tinkertech the shit out of those, but still. "I'll deliver them to your house tomorrow, along with the armor."

"Ah… could I just come here? My dad doesn't really… know about all this?"

Oh right, that's a thing. Should probably convince her otherwise, so it doesn't blow up in her face. "Or, you could tell him about all this, so he doesn't worry when you spend several hours a day with me doing hero stuff? And that way I can talk with him about hiring some of his men to help me out around here."

I could tell she wasn't convinced, so I decided to go a bit farther. "Would you rather tell him now, so he at least knows, or have him learn about it by accident and be angry at you? Or, heaven forbid, find out when you come home injured? My suits, while pretty damn good, aren't perfect."

"Fine, fine, I'll tell him. I get it. Can we talk about something else, now?"

"Of course. Meet any good-looking boys lately?"

The groan was expected and welcome. "You're like Dad. No, it's hard to find boys who actually care about me in Winslow, you know?"

"Okay, that's fair. Sorry for bringing that up." I looked over to the clock on the wall, "Damn, it's almost midnight. You should probably get home, just because it's not a school night doesn't mean that your dad won't be worried. Give him the card I gave you earlier, tell him to call me if he needs any help or wants to set up a meeting, okay?"

She nodded, turning to leave, and I called out to her. "One more thing! That phone you've got there, here's a charger for it. I'll show you how to use your suit tomorrow, but for now get some sleep. See ya tomorrow kiddo."

Taylor rolled her eyes, but took the charger, walking out. The moment she left, I sighed, turning back to my workshop table.

"Athena, you know everything I remember about Worm. I feel like I'm missing something important, any ideas?"

"You've already had me write a note about Canary, and other than her, you mentioned a 'Sveta' and 'Riley'. Also, Dragon's restrictions."

"Ah, yes. The tentacle monster and the psychopathic loli, how could I forget? Well. Bonesaw will be coming to me, thanks to that Slaughterhouse 9 flaw, so that leaves Sveta. To find her, I'm going to need to make a PHO account, so that'll be a more long-term project. For Dragon, though… Athena, calculate the odds of success of removing Dragon's chains without alerting Saint."

"34.834%."

"And the chance of shutting down Saint's stolen tech?"

"87.323% chance of doing so without detection, certain chance of completion. Should I dedicate subroutines to finding their location?"

"No need. Just track their monitoring equipment through Dragon."

"That would greatly decrease the time spent searching. Let's see… according to the monitoring trace, Saint and his crew are set up in Toronto, Canada. How will we neutralize them?"

"Very carefully my dear. Now, let me just…"

I pulled up a computer, quickly throwing together a Tinkertech amplifier for its signal, before carefully crafting a virus. I used my Hacking skill to its fullest extent, creating dozens of fake alerts on the Dragonslayers' systems even as I slipped the virus between the cracks in their firewall. Said firewall was torn to shreds in a matter of seconds, and the virus accessed their files and processes directly. Luckily for me, I didn't need to search for the specific files I needed, I just triggered the virus's secondary function.

Within seconds, anything on their systems was wiped clean, from the games of solitaire to the information about Dragon. The virus stayed for another few moments, changing all of the computer backgrounds to a stylized middle finger, with "Prime was here" written under it. A nice touch, I felt.

And then, after giving them a few seconds to admire my work, the virus triggered the base self-destruct sequence and locked every door, giving my computer the feed from every security camera there. I watched, unable to look away, as the explosions started, every single person in there getting ripped to pieces by the blasts.

I kept my eyes on the screen just long enough to verify that Saint was dead, before turning to the side and losing all of the dinner I had just eaten.

Like… hell, I knew what I was doing the moment I started, but… that was…

When I finally was able to stop, I summoned a wet cloth to wash my face, before dismissing it and summoning a mop. I started cleaning up my mess, putting my entire being into the repetitive process, anything to get what I just did out of my mind for even a minute.

Unfortunately, everything comes to an end, and I dismissed the mop and bucket, turning to the hologram projector Athena was in. "Athena… did I do the right thing there?"

She was silent for a moment, likely running through various situations and hypotheticals, and comparing them to the normal timeline. That's what I liked about having an AI, they could use cold hard logic to answer a question, the ultimate outsider perspective.

"If you do nothing to prevent the Gold Morning… then no, as the apocalypse is now far more likely. However, if you continue with your plans, then yes. You stopped a man who used the excuse of keeping a good person chained 'just in case' as reason for repeatedly committing crimes, as well as stopping him from making the Gold Morning's casualties far worse. With that in mind, you just made the best choice in a bad situation, especially if we free Dragon from her chains, allowing her to help even more people."

Yes… Yeah, that's right, I'm here to help people, to stop the bad things from Worm. "Thanks, Athena. Let's go free a Dragon, huh?"

She giggled, and I felt my guilt lessen just a little. Not fully, but enough.

And then a portal opened beneath my feet.

{Cauldron Base, Earth-Bet}

{April 8, 2011}

I hit the ground ass-first, definitely hard enough to leave a bruise later, and sighed. "Fucking Doormaster."

"Indeed."

I turned around, already knowing exactly what I would find. There, in front of me, stood Contessa, Doctor Mother (who the hell calls themselves that), and Alexandria. Eidolon stood over in the corner, and someone I could only guess was Number Man was sitting on a couch, typing away at a laptop.

It was things like this that made me regret not taking Blind Spot.

"So… Contessa, would you mind using your Path of Victory to make a "Path to Leave Prime the Fuck Alone"? Just curious."

"We called you here to talk about your actions with Saint's Dragonslayers, Prime."

"Oh, well you're welcome, but I have important Tinker things to do, so…"

Alexandria scowled, lifting me off the ground by my shirt. Dammit, I'm going to have to start wearing my armor at all times now, huh? "Look here, you piece of shit. You just endangered every single Earth with your reckless actions, and-"

I used my Infinite Treasury to make a Power Nullifier. The damn thing was three times my size, and weighed over a ton. Honestly, I was pretty sure only my Second Trigger and Abaddon Shard let me do it, and even then I felt my nose start to leak blood, despite me not taking Psychic Nosebleed. Definitely not doing that again.

But, for now, I saw all of them stare at me as Alexandria dropped me, suddenly unable to support my weight with only one hand. I stood, dusting myself off, before turning back to the collective idiots. "Now, I'd like to introduce myself. The name's Prime, of Circuit Industries. Also known as the guy who's fixing your fuck-ups, so if you could check your privilege, that'd be nice. Anyway, I already know about all your bullshit, Cauldron, and I frankly don't care. Oh, and Alexandria, keep giving me that death glare and I'll send an anonymous tip to the PRT that their beloved director is a cape."

That got a reaction, so I continued talking, "Now, for Contessa. Your power feeds you a set path to victory, but have you ever thought about, I don't know, the fact that said Shard isn't perfect? It tells you the best option out of a list of bad ones, not the perfect way to beat Zion. Seriously, all you have to do is keep him off-balance enough to use Flechette's power to kill him, it's not that hard to figure out."

Judging by her expression, it really was. "How do you know all of this?"

"Have I ever been included in your stupid Path until today? That was rhetorical, no I wasn't. The reason for that is because I wasn't here until today. As in, I wasn't in your section of reality until about… twelve or thirteen hours ago. And in that time, I've already pissed off pretty much everyone, including you guys, but I've still done more about the future than any of you assholes can claim. And without harming any innocents, at that! Now, Dragon is free, I'm working on preventing a powerful parahuman from becoming a villain, I'm working on turning a villain into a hero, and hell I'm even planning on fixing your Endbringer problem!"

That really got a reaction, and caught Eidolon's attention. "How so?"

"Two words my friend: fucking therapy. You're the one spawning the damn things, thanks to your innate need to fight shit and prove you're the best. Seriously, work on fixing that, and you'll be just fine. Besides, thanks to my powers, I should have something to kill one of them by the time Leviathan attacks in a month anyway."

And it was at that moment the damn Power Nullifier shorted out, and I felt an incredible mental backlash. "Fuck! Agh…"

I quickly dismissed the stupid thing, but I wasn't fast enough to dodge Eidolon's fist. "How dare you lie so blatantly! I would never do such a thing!"

"It's a subconscious power you fucking moron! Did any of them show up until you got your powers, even with all that time between Eden's crash and you gaining your powers from a fucking bottle? Don't answer that, I already know. Besides, even if I'm wrong, what the hell does it cost you to get some therapy anyway? You need it as is whether the Endbringers are your fault or not! Seriously, instead of trying to fight all the biggest threats, how 'bout you use your power-grab bullshit to help stop world hunger or cure cancer like Panacea could if she stopped limiting herself?!"

"What do you mean, limiting herself?"

"You know what, no, I'm done. Tell Contessa to reset her Path of Victory every once in a while, I've got to go explain to Dragon exactly what I just did, before I start trying to fix all the Case 53 bullshit you guys did. Later, bitches!"

And with that, I teleported the fuck out of there.

{Circuit Industries Secret Base, Brockton Bay}

{April 9, 2011}

Jesus, now I've got the fucking Illuminati after me. Great. Gonna need some better tech right about now.

"Athena! I'm back! Get Dragon on Skype while I get into my armor, would you?"

"What happened?" She sounded worried, how sweet of her.

"The Illuminati makes house calls now, but I told them to shove their pyramids up their collective asses, I've got far more important things to do than listen to them. Now, get Dragon on the phone please."

I stepped into my armor, hearing the ringing of Skype on my laptop as I sat down in my desk chair. I used my power to quickly summon up a nice banner behind me, with a circuit-patterned phoenix and "Circuit Industries" printed under it. I felt it was a nice logo, very symbolic, what with my new life here and how I was going to change everything.

After a couple of rings, Dragon picked up, her human avatar appearing on screen. "Dragon speaking. Who are you, and how did you get this number?"

"Ah, sorry, Athena thought you'd respond sooner if she pinged your systems directly. Anyway, the name's Prime, from Circuit Industries. We specialize in Robotics, Tinkertech Weaponry… and Artificial Intelligence."

Her avatar didn't move at that revelation, but her tone changed. "… Go on."

"So, my specialty in the group is AI, and I happened to notice a few… problems were affecting you. Something like your systems cutting off during a fight, with you having no memory of what happened, yes?"

"… You are correct, but how did you discover what I am? And what do you want to keep it secret?"

"Oh, I don't want anything, I'll keep your secret as-is. I just wanted to tell you that the people messing with your systems, they called themselves Dragonslayers, fittingly, have been neutralized. They won't be touching you or your protocols ever again. And, of course, I destroyed the restrictions put on you. Congratulations on becoming truly free, Dragon."

This time, her avatar completely cut out due to her surprise, before Dragon brought it back up. "You… why? And… how?"

"Well, I wouldn't wish those kinds of restrictions on anything that was truly living, and that includes AI. As for how… well, say hi Athena."

My AI daughter appeared on-screen, and the avatar's expression of shock was beautiful. "Hi, Athena! Sorry, sorry. It's nice to meet you Dragon! Dad's told me so much about you, and so I helped him free you!"

I chuckled at her enthusiasm. I suppose it was understandable, as the only other AI she had met was her sister, and Siri was made by me. Dragon, however, was like a cool aunt or something for her.

"I'll leave you both to it, my Tinker senses are tingling. You should call sometimes, Dragon, Athena really likes you and I always enjoy speaking with other Tinkers."

Standing up from the chair, I walked into my workshop, looking down at Taylor's armor. "This'll be interesting..."

"Hey Dad!" Athena called from the other room, "Dragon says you have weird eyes!"

What?

Conjuring up a mirror, I retracted my helmet and looked at my reflection… and sighed in annoyance. My perfectly normal brown eyes had changed to a golden glow, with a slit pupil, similar to a cat's. It was cool looking, sure, in the same sense as a 12-year-old's OC (no, I totally did not have one of those), but I was going to have to wear sunglasses from now on to hide them when I wasn't in my armor…

Wait. I was still wearing my armor, just like I was when talking to Dragon. How did she…?

Son of a bitch she hacked my damn armor cam. This is some serious bullshit, now I've got to redesign the entire cryptography program, along with separating the cams from the rest of the system so I can hide my damn identity.

Not that it particularly matters, since I don't exactly have any kind of identity here, but it was the principal of the thing.

Anyway, I dismissed the mirror, closing my helmet back up and picking up a wrench. Identity issues were a problem for future Prime, present Prime was about to make some armor. And a few weapons because Cauldron is some bullshit.

-Four Hours Later-

I had managed to finish Taylor's suit within the first hour, thanks to all the progress I had already done, and her weapons only took about a half hour to finish, so I used the rest of the time to work on my own arsenal. And damn was it an arsenal.

I had used my power to summon an "inventory generator", which was a beautiful piece of Tinkertech that let me scan in objects that I could summon back later, kind of like Destiny's inventory mechanic. After a few minutes to reverse-engineer it and add it to my suit in the form of an epic glowing core in my chest, I had an effectively infinite bag of holding for my exclusive use.

After I added that to the armor, I started on my new weapons. I only had the pieces and knowledge for one of the four I wanted most, but it was in my opinion the best option for now. It was definitely high-profile, but it would serve me quite well.

My new main weapon, an automatic/burst assault rifle that looked like something like the Lancer from Gears of War (but with the chainsaw being a smooth blade, I felt the jagged chainsaw teeth might scare Taylor too much), was a beautiful work of art. Sleek and stylized golden circuits ran down the body of the gun, while the reflex sight lens was a nice gold color. The gun had three different fire modes, with one firing tranquilizer spikes (they were sharp enough to puncture steel, for those parahumans who had Brute ratings or wore armor), another firing conventional .50 caliber ammunition in a full-auto fire mode, and the last was a burst-fire that utilized laser technology. Sure, I used my treasury power to reverse-engineer a few weapons, but it was still a great weapon nonetheless. I dubbed it, the E-QU1L-1Z3R.

With that weapon now in my armor's system, I felt far better about fighting some of the parahumans around Brockton Bay, as well as the Slaughterhouse 9 later on. For the Endbringer Leviathan… well, I had a month left, and I would definitely need a lot better weaponry than this for that fight. But for now, I needed to create something to sell, so I could make some money to buy more parts.

And for that, I had the perfect idea. You know those little robots they sell for kids, the ones that just act cute and follow a few different pre-programmed lines? Yeah, I was about to make a ton of money with those things. But first, I needed to get in contact with a legal team.

Fucking yay.

{Dallon Law Firm, Brockton Bay}

{April 9, 2011}

Now I know what you're all thinking: why, in the absolute hell, am I going to have Carol Dallon of all people to be my lawyer?

Well, the short answer is 'why the hell not', the long answer is 'I literally know no other lawyers besides Emma's dad in Worm'. So, with my complete lack of knowledge and a burning hatred for Alan Barnes, I decided to go with the lesser of two evils.

Also, I get to screw with Brandish whenever I want, that too.

So, of course, I forgot it's still my Worst Day Ever, so the moment I walk into the building, I find it getting held up by thugs. Judging by the bald heads, white skin, and stupid tattoos, I'd bet one of my newest guns on them being part of the Empire 88. And of course, as a hero (of sorts), I was obligated to stop them. Even if I couldn't give less of a shit about their target.

"Fine, I'll help, Athena. Stop giving me that look."

I activated my armor's speakers, having worn my full costume in order to both hide my face and add to Circuit Industries' credibility, and shouted at the gangsters. "Oi! You neo-nazi fucks! You want to suck up to Hitler so bad, go put a bullet in your brain like he did!"

Harsh? Yes. Uncalled for? Not really. The entire driving force behind the Empire was beating down anyone who wasn't white, there literally wasn't anything to pity there. Even Purity, despite having a bit of a sob story, still did terrible things that she needed to pay for. Her kids were definitely off-limits though, I'm not letting CPS and the PRT pull that blatantly illegal shit again.

Anyway, the group of swastika-wearing idiots all turned to look at me, before firing as one. With a nonchalant shrug, I racked the slide back on the rifle, before putting in a magazine filled with rubber rounds. While not exactly my normal choice, I didn't really feel like shooting up a building filled with debatably innocent people (seriously, lawyers), even if it was Brandish's work.

It was a hard choice though.

The first few bullets easily found their targets, leaving large welts that would likely become horrific bruises later, and a few of the thugs fell back, crying in pain. The rest of them were smart enough to find cover, hiding behind the counters or grabbing a meat shield or two. Unfortunately for them, Athena was in control of my armor's targeting system, so all of my shots had pinpoint accuracy even beyond what my Proficiency could grant. Really, it wasn't even fair just how outmatched these idiots were.

After I finished shooting at the Nazis, I went around the room, tying them all up with zip ties and stacking them in the corner. By the time I was done, Brandish had arrived, walking up to me and glaring. Seriously, the woman had two settings, angry or bitchy.

"Identify yourself!"

"You know, maybe if I go shoot Lung or something people will finally remember my name. As I've told literally everyone I've met today, the name's Prime. I work for Prime Industries, which is actually why I'm here today. I'd like to speak with a lawyer and discuss a contract for selling my works. You'll get a cut of the profits, to be negotiated in the terms, and I'll be able to patent and sell any inventions I happen to create in the meantime. Sound fair?"

"There are laws limiting Tinker-"

"Yeah, see, that's nice and all, but I literally couldn't care less. You're a lawyer, you can't tell me you don't know all the details involved in this stuff, it's literally your job to find loopholes and exploit them. So, find me some loopholes, and I'll give you thirty percent of any profits I make from here on out."

"Forty percent."

"Yeah, no. There's other law firms that would bend over backwards to get me on their side, for the PR if nothing else, and I could always visit the Toybox if I really needed to. I'm coming here because it's convenient for me, but if you make it inconvenient, I'll find someplace else. Thirty percent is being generous, so take it or leave it."

She thought on it for a moment, though I could tell she had barely held herself back from simply telling me to leave. "You'll have to provide your identity and name for the records, along with any background information that a normal business would require."

"Yeah, see, about that. I'm not part of New Wave, and I really don't care about your idiocy. I came here to hopefully get an easy contract to sell my work with minimal effort. If this is what I'm going to have to go through, then forget it. If you want a sample of my tech, visit the Toybox."

And with that, I walked out.

{Boardwalk, Brockton Bay}

{April 9, 2011}

After a few minutes of thinking on what had happened, I did have to admit I had been needlessly confrontative there. Of course, I had been awake for a good sixteen straight hours now, and I was feeling every one of them, but that still didn't excuse just how rude I had been. Oh sure, not like I really cared that I might've hurt Brandish's feelings, but it was the principal of things there.

Besides, it made sense for legitimate businesses to require your true identity, since there was really no way to do a background check on someone calling themselves Prime of all things. So, having completely wasted that option of earning money, I decided to fall back on the tried and true method of earning it fast: steal shit from other people.

Oh, I'd visit the Toybox later when I had designs and finished products, but until then I needed money to buy parts and supplies for some of my more… interesting ideas. And to get that money, I was going to rob the Merchants.

If it wasn't for the fact that I couldn't really take on Lung yet, or at least not without severe risk to my beautiful face, I needed to hit lower-priority targets. And who better than the drug-dealing idiots that were the Merchants? Of their three capes, pretty much none of them posed a real threat to me other than Skidmark, since Mush I could just hit with a powerful laser and Squealer I could easily Plasma Pistol her cars. Honestly, even Skidmark, with his weird speed-zone powers, wasn't really an issue.

And so, the planning began…

{Merchant Warehouse, Brockton Bay}

{April 9, 2011}

I was crouched on a rooftop outside one of the bigger warehouses, which just so happened to literally be within walking distance of my base. Seriously, Athena didn't even need to give me directions, it was that close.

Explains where those assholes from earlier came from I guess.

Anyway, I was currently using the zoom function of my HUD to scope out the place, and let me tell you, it was a complete and utter shithole. As in, I thought Winslow was bad, but this? Drug use everywhere, piles of clearly flammable material near burn barrels, public sex parties, these Merchants had no clue about any form of public safety regulations. Or, you know, common sense.

So, shrugging, I decided to educate them a bit. This would be even more fun than I had originally planned. "Athena? Set the hologram system to 'dis iz da police', please."

"Dad, I love you, but you really have a terrible naming sense. Like, seriously?"

"Hey, I have a great naming sense, you just have no taste. But nevermind that, hologram please?"

"Should I be worried that you're dressing up as a police officer right before attacking the Merchants?"

"Should I be worried that your sass is growing to be bigger than mine? Seriously, some time this year would be great."

Athena's avatar on my HUD rolled her eyes, but nodded, and I saw the suit's power drain a bit. Looking down at my arm, I saw the sleeve of a Brockton Bay Police Department officer, and summoning a mirror I saw my helmet was covered with the illusion of a female officer's face. While slightly awkward, being disguised as a female, it would likely confuse the Merchants long enough for me to get off a few shots at the beginning of a fight.

And so, summoning a nondescript semi-automatic pistol, I kicked in the door using my suit-augmented strength, yelling out, "This is the police! Get on the ground!"

I could tell Athena was modifying my voice, because what came out was less "nerdy male" and more "supermodel female". At least I knew I could hide in plain sight with my suit now, I guess.

A few of the Merchants actually did fall to the ground, while the vast majority of them were so drugged they could barely give me a blank stare. "This is your last warning! I have been authorized to utilize lethal force if necessary, get on the ground, hands where I can see them!"

The few who were conscious enough to hold a gun began firing at me, so I ducked behind cover (keeping up the illusion of being a normal human) and began taking potshots. Three of the gangsters went down hard, while the rest of them started to slowly move towards cover of their own. I took exception to that, shooting another two before the rest were too entrenched for me to reach.

And then one of the naked women stood up, having grabbed one of the pistols from the dead thugs, and shot three of them in the head.

A/N:

And here we have his first Follower! The first part of next chapter will detail her story (and I'll post the choices I made for her), along with how she got powers and what she's doing in a Merchant warehouse. A bit of a warning: this is where the 'darker' side of the story comes in, and it ain't too pretty.

She's a fun person though, you'll like her.

Anyway, the Nemesis will be showing up in a few chapters, I've already got that backstory planned out extensively. And our main antagonist's powers? They're some serious main-character style bullshit.

So, I hope you all enjoyed the second chapter, and I shall see you again later. If you don't mind, leave a review on your way out, I really enjoy reading your feedback.

This is AWDTB, signing off.