Disclaimer- I don't own Worm. Nor am I making any profit from this story.
Summary: An OC wakes up in the world of Brockton Bay with the power of copying variations of other powers
The last thing James Antony Parici remembered was a loud bang followed by heat, pain and disorientation as he was flung violently away from where he was. Several members of his unit were screaming, the sounds of gunfire.
"James! James!" He hears his best friend Michael Burke screaming as he turned James over.
"Ow." James groaned. He feels like screaming but he doesn't. He does his best to focus on what Mich is saying.
" – going to be – James. Medic! Medic!" Mich screamed. "Hold – James. God – hold on, please hold on"
Suddenly he is in another place. White all around and he is kind of floating. The total absence of pain makes him feel a little high. He giggles as he floats around.
"We did not bring you here for you to see you act with stupidity James Antony Parici." A deep voice reverberated around the room and James fell abruptly to the floor.
"Ow." James said before forcing himself to stand up. "Am I dead? Is this Limbo, Heaven or something?"
"You died but this is not Heaven or the Afterlife." Another voice said amused. "We gathered your soul before you passed on from the explosion caused by The Bomber. We grabbed you so you could take part in an experiment we are conducting."
"An experiment?"
James woke up in a hospital bed. For a hospital bed it was surprisingly comfortable. The ache in his body hit him almost immediately after that observation causing him to groan. He felt like someone had worked him over pretty good in a fight. Wincing James grabbed the nearby remote and pressed down on button causing his bed to to incline, allowing James to see the room he was in properly. The room wasn't really anything special to look at, cream colored walls and white tiled floors. It looked like any other hospital room he had ever been in. Reaching for a nearby pitcher he poured himself a glass of water. He quickly polished it off along with a refill with a sigh. Searching around his bed he quickly found the button he wanted and turned on the television. James flipped through the channels before it was tuned to the news.
"...has been tracked to near the coast of Scandinavia while no sightings have been made of Behemoth." The female anchor said. "As always we will try to keep track of the Endbringers..."
"Shit." James cursed to himself softly after muting the TV. He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes and kneaded them. "I really am in Worm. So those guys weren't a dream."
James collapsed back into his pillow with a sigh before running a hand through his hair.
James had agreed to participate in the experiment offered by the so-called Supreme Beings. They had even allowed him to choose his own power. Instead of a really powerful power or group of powers James had chosen a low-level beginner Trump power of Power Copier. It had the potential to be quite versatile and make him very powerful in time. To copy a power or powers James had to be within a one block radius of a Parahuman to receive powers from them. The catch was James wouldn't receive the Parahumans' actual power but a variation of it. Some Parahumans might also offer more than one but never more than three. The biggest catch was James could only have fifteen powers at a time. James could also decide not to accept a power and could discard any he had if he wanted to.
However James had an idea on how to effect that in a way that would allow him to gain a lot more than fifteen powers at once. Sure if it worked it might be cheating but hey, he wouldn't be breaking any rules, just bending them. James couldn't wait to try it out. In exchange for choosing to have no power but the ability to copy others when he first arrived in Worm James was able to decide to take over the life of his counterpart on this world. To further sweeten the deal James was guaranteed a home that was completely his and a decent amount of money in the bank.
A knock on his door had him looking up. Standing in the doorway was a middle aged woman with greying brown hair and blue eyes partially obscured behind a pair of silver framed glasses.
"Good morning Mr. Parici." The nurse said. "I'm Nurse Orland. Call me Susan please."
"Morning." James told her. "Feel free to call me Tony."
The nurse smiled.
"How are you feeling Tony?" She asked. "Any sharp pains or unusual sensations?"
"Not too bad but it feels like someone worked me over pretty good." James told her with a wince.
"Doctor Scolfield will be in to check on you in a little bit but first what would you like for breakfast Tony?" Susan asked.
James chose a breakfast platter which consisted of scrambled eggs, three slices of bacon, two small pancakes and a glass of orange juice. The nurse returned with his meal quite quickly and James was surprised that the food was actually quite good. It wasn't quite up to his standard of cooking but it wasn't anything to sneer at. He had certainly eaten worst food in the hospital.
It was about twenty minutes after he had eaten that a Doctor walked into the room. He was middle aged blond haired man with a receding hairline and laugh lines around his blue eyes. James could tell that man was friendly and outgoing.
"Hello Mr. Parici. I'm Doctor Wyatt Scolfield." The man said introducing himself with a smile that actually reached his eyes. He wasn't some burnout who worked far too many hours. He was a Doctor who genuinely enjoyed his work.
"Hey Doc." James said, shaking his hand. "What am I doing in here?"
"You were in a car accident yesterday. You received a mild concussion, some bruising and had a long cut in your side. We stitched you up and decided to keep you over night." Dr. Shelton informed him, while shining a little light in his eyes. "How are you feeling?"
James felt something that immediately grabbed his attention like nothing ever had before. It was like something he really wanted. Something inside of him, he guessed his Power, stretched out as if it reaching for something and touched it. It was a Parahuman, Pancea to be exact. James sensed that he could absorb two powers from her. His brows rose as he discovered what they were.
The powers were Self-Biokinesis and Organic Tinker.
James accepted them both and felt his power pull two bits of energy from Pancea before it was rapidly sucked back into his body. James inhaled sharply as they seemed to slot into place and started offering him ideas on how to use them. How to improve his body to make himself stronger, faster, better and how to make things that could improve others.
James figured he would sign up with the Protectorate after he acquired a few more powers or perhaps the Affiliate Program like New Wave had done. James already had a list in his head from least to most dangerous to obtain. Hell, he didn't even know what powers he would obtain before his power touched theirs. He would also have to watch out for any inconsistencies.
"Thanks." James told the cabby as he handed him his money for dropping him off at his house.
"No problem sir." The cabby said. "Be sure to contact in the future if you need a ride anywhere within the city or a twenty-five mile radius around it."
Turning around James' brows rose as he took in his counterpart's, now his, house. It was a big two story brick home in what looked to be a medium-income neighborhood. It appeared to have a decent sized yard with an attached garage. Walking inside James stepped into a small entryway. On one side was the living room through which he could see the kitchen and on the other was a dining room. The living room was fully furnished with comfortable looking furniture that James quite liked the look of. There was a large framed section on the wall that with a press of a remote retracted to reveal a hidden cubby containing a large flat screen television. There was two bedrooms on the bottom floor and what was clearly an office.
Stepping into the kitchen James' grinned appreciatively. The kitchen was quite large which James liked. When he wanted to cook he wanted to have room to move. It of course had a large dishwasher as it seemed even his counterpart had hated doing the dishes. A large island with several bar stools stood in the middle of the room.
Their was a large gas stove with a stainless steel hood. He had not one, but two ovens. Feeling along the cabinets he found a stand up freezer and refrigerator cleverly disguised by wooden paneling making them look like part of the cabinets. Off the kitchen was small eating area with two sliding glass doors leading to the backyard.
The backyard was partially covered by a nice wooden deck with a built-in grill and cooking stations and there was an inground pool outside along with a hot tub. It had a large, finished basement with a couple of storage rooms and a media room containing a huge theater screen with a great sound system. The second story contained the three bedrooms including the Master Bedroom with a Master suite and another bathroom. house had five bedrooms, three bathrooms including a Master Suite with a balcony off the Master Bedroom.
From what James remembered the Dallons and the Pellams lived close to one another. He would go by their place and would scout out the powers he could absorb. Checking in the phone book netted him their address. When doing further research online James' luck took a turn for the better when he found a bus stop just down their street. Walking over to it he sat down and pulled out his phone and started playing a game. While he was partially focused on that he stretched out with his Power.
In the Dallon House James could sense two Parahumans. From Flash Bang, aka Mark Dallon, James sensed he could absorb the skill of Explosive Energy Constructs. James nibbled on his lip but decided against it. He could always come back for it later. As he was rubbing up against the other one, James mentally reminded himself to pick some other way to describe it later. He didn't need to say his power was rubbing up against the powers of others, especially underage Parahumans. The second one around was Glory Girl. From her James could acquire the abilities of Enhanced Superhuman Strength and Flight. James decided to take both. James gasped as he felt his strength increase and the urge to lift off but he restrained himself.
"Damn it!" He allowed himself to curse as he lost the level on the game he was playing. Making a frustrated face he clicked his tongue before starting over.
Turning his attention the house next door he sensed Lady Photon, aka Sarah Pelham. The power he could copy from her was Energy Production/Projection. James' eyes widened.
Jackpot! He thought excitedly.
James would need, well he would like, a ranged power. He felt it was best to have a power for every range. Energy Projection was a good one. James accepted it. James brows furrowed as he grabbed his stomach, warmth was filling his body as some kind of reservoir was filling up inside of him. James felt energy fill his body causing his knee to start jumping up and down and him to start fidgeting. James grimaced as he tried to get used to the energy running through his body. It took him about ten minutes but he finally started growing used to energy.
From Manpower, aka Neil Pelham James sensed the power of Electrokinesis. James' mouth widened in a wicked grin as he thought of throwing out lightning like the Emperor and Zeus. James quickly accepted it as well. He twitched as electricity ran through his body. The only outward sign was some sparks around his fingers and through his eyes. James inhaled deeply as the energy inside of him seemed to double or triple.
Deciding that he had been in the same spot for more than enough times James quickly accepted an ability from both of the Pelham children. From Laserdream, aka Crystal Pelham he received Energy Beams. He sensed they had four different effects. Explosive, Cutting, Burning and Disintegration. From Shielder, aka Eric Pelham he received Forcefields.
The rest of the time waiting for the bus James spent playing Tetris on his smartphone.