A New Way to Play

by soundless steps

This is a Gamer/Worm fanfic where Taylor has the gamer power. Seeing that school held nothing for her right after waking up from a coma, Taylor decides that the time she would spend at school is better spent exploring her new power.

4. Chapter 4

To the Fanfiction guest who asked what Speed Reading did. It increases reading speed to 30secs×(Skill Level). This let's her grind INTL faster.

After reading a comment from Sapphire Cat, I decided to do a little more with Auto-Loot. She'll automatically pick up the items from a defeated foes like originally planned, but she'll also pick up any cash and crafting materials that had been sitting on the ground or in refuse bins for at least a minute. Auto-Loot will not trigger if another person has their eyes on the item in question.

There was a lot of talk about combat styles, and we're still a few chapters out from them being relevant. What you guys should know is that the sky's the limit. Just assume that she'll be able to learn any style to ever exist.

So now, after wasting all my free time reading the works of others, here's chapter 4.

*L9: E28; 24; 28; 15; 32; 12; 15*

Sixteen hours passed since the meeting with Alan, (which earned me 5 INTU and 250 bonus EXP for recruiting him for my Quest.). During that time, I had figured out more aspects of my power. My immunity to physiological and psychological Status Effects seemed to include not needing to sleep. That gave me all night to train my stats, which came with some serious improvements. I learned that I will need a different way to really work on my DEXT and that contemplating my view on world events over how others present the news slowly improved my WSDM. I also learned that pushing my muscles to the limit of my VIGR with dynamic tension required more DEXT. Draining my stamina quickly improved my VIGR more while doing it slowly improved ENDR. The internet and my currently level 14 Speed Reading skill were perfect for improving my INTL (Reading anything improved the stat). And lastly, all my stats took longer to train the higher they got.

Through the process of bringing my INTL up to 32, I did a lot of research on local capes and capes that claimed to use magic. I learned that the latter group were full of themselves. None of the PDF's that I was able to find triggered my power's ability to develop skills, including a few by Myrddin. I wouldn't be surprised to find them void of Mana like everyone else I've seen so far. The real question was, why was I so special, and was I even a parahuman? Everything my power had told me about titles said that all parahumans were hosts to their powers. Did that mean they were infected somehow? What that meant for the world at large wasn't an idea I wanted to play around with until I had more information.

I also looked up a lot of info on how to properly be a hero, including bits about how dangerous hitting the head really was, soft spots that don't come with permanent damage,and other such advice. I made sure to spend my time wisely.

At that moment, I was looking at my inbox.

From: legendhairystyles

Hey speed reader

I know we just met today, but I figured, no time like tomorrow

I'd love a chance to meet up with you at the boardwalk

Fugly's at noon

We can go shopping after lunch

I'll be really sad if you don't come

I might drown myself in a challenger

Pray that I survive

See you tomorrow!

I took a half hour to decide what to do. I thought I was over the betrayal that my last friend put me through, but it must have played some part in my delayed decision. The argument that I would have less time to train if I went out was defeated by knowing that I could move around semi-naturally while maintaining tension. It took remembering that human interaction seemed to improve my INTU to tip me over the edge.

I looked at my bare reflection and still felt floored by the young woman looking back at me. Gone was the paunch I had over my waist, and in it's place was a ripped six pack you could grate cheese on. My arms and legs were toned with dense muscles. I still didn't have anything that could be called a bust, but at least I had an ass. Even the way I stood was more attractive thanks to how the Tai Chi training was influencing my stance. To be honest, I would have been grateful to not look like a mountain of muscle like the strongmen I was allegedly equal to. This was much better than that.

I looked at my limited wardrobe and was glad that that all ten of my tops and my three pants were baggy numbers that would hide my newly developed build even without the help of my hoody. I still wasn't sure if I wanted to explain my powers to Dad or not, and being suddenly forced to was not high on my list. It should have come to no surprise that he was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. "Morning kid…do." His pause did not help with my nervousness. "Did I ever tell you how much like your mother you look?"

A light blush reached my cheeks. It had been years since he's been able to mention mom with a smile on his face, and my recent development bridged the gap between us. It was as if my dad was feeling better overnight. I didn't want any worry about me being a cape to put a end to his good mood. Maybe I'd tell him when he starts getting worried about me being out at odd hours…after making sure that I would be really hard to kill.

"Morning dad. Can I go to the Boardwalk today?" He flinched at the thought of letting his daughter go out one day after she woke up from a coma, and I flinched at his flinching.

"Can you tell me why you want to go?"

Thankfully, there was no need for excuses or lies there. "Kendra, from the library…she wants to hang out with me today. I promise that I'll come straight home if I feel tired, and I won't be alone. Please."

That left the moment of truth up to him. Rather than answer simply, he walked up to me and pulled me into a firm hug. "I'm so proud of you little owl. Go get'm."

I hugged him back, but pulled away when I heard his back crack. "Dad! Oh God, I'm so…"

He put a pause to my rant with his palm. "I'm fine, best hug I had in ages honestly." He did a few stretches and shivered while I felt giddy at proof of my strength and subsequently promised myself to control that strength in the future. "Wow! Where did that come from?"

Me being as strong as an Olympic weight lifter wasn't something I wanted to tell him, so I went with a half truth. "I think that I feel better than ever."

"I think I believe it. Hold on a second." He pulled out his wallet and handed me a hundred dollar bill. "Get yourself something nice Taylor. With Alan helping us out, we can afford it." It was impressive that he was able to say that with a smile on his face.

I couldn't refuse his offer, so I made my way to the Boardwalk with…$164.92 in my inventory? 64 cents coming from out of nowhere was unexpected, but appreciated. I still had nearly an hour left before I had to be at the Boardwalk, so I decided that it would be a good opportunity for a run. I kept my arms and core flexed while letting my shoulders move more freely. The stamina costs for my sprinting speed seemed to go as high as ten per second, which I could keep up for under thirty seconds. It was shocking how suddenly that cost dropped off once I was down to jogging speeds and stopped flexing my muscles. With careful management of my movements, I was able to match my cost to my regeneration. Part way, I began using Observe on everything I came by and telling the pop-ups to close on the following breath. Altogether, It earned me quite a bit by time I finally reached my destination. Looking at how the info was displayed, the extra time spent fiddling with the settings overnight felt worth the time.

ENDR+1=29 (66-EXP)

Restorative Breathing is level 5

DEXT+2=17 (82-EXP)

Observe is level 3

Kendra was already waiting for me. She wore tight fitting jeans and a pink windbreaker over a white embroidered sweater. I Observed her from a distance.

Kendra Sonders: LV: 3

HP: 200/200

SP: 80/80

MP: N/A

VIGR: 5

ENDR: 9

DEXT: 7

INTL: 16

WSDM: 4

INTU: 11

An intelligent and cheerful girl, but many dismiss her as a pretty ditz. Those who get acquainted to her know differently, and she likes it that way. She is happiest meeting people that can see past her surface behavior.

"Taylor, you're here!" She ran up to me and pulled me into an affectionate hug. "I get to live."

I shook my head at her holding onto that joke while internalizing what I read about her. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Well…first we have lunch, then I ask you what you want to do. You'll say something like not having any idea, so I'll drag you over to get some real clothes. I try to bring up why you didn't have any friends yesterday while we try stuff on. Then we spend hours window shopping and talking about boys, capes, cape boys, and whatever else we can think of."

"O…kay then." I didn't have much of a response to her onslaught of options, so I followed her to the restaurant/bar/shack that was Fugly Bob's, home to the greasiest burgers in the bay. Every Brocktonite has eaten there before, and those with any sense waited a year to do it again.

When it came time to put in our orders, I was thinking about a minor aspect of my power that I had the perfect chance to test out. It wouldn't be too hard to explain either. The only real risk was if I was wrong. There was only one way to find out. "Give me, The Challenger." The waiter and Kendra both gave me incredulous looks. Even pushing 5'7", I was still a beanpole of a teen whose weight I actually didn't know yet.

I made a mental note to check what that was once I got back home.

"Are you sure Miss?"

Half-truths were working so far. "The last thing I ate was a bowl of soup last night, and I ran here." My still recovering stamina and the fact that I wasn't wearing my coat helped sell my story. That got a shrug from our waiter.

Quest Alert!

You have decided to take on Fugly Bob's Challenger burger. Finish it in 45 minutes or else.

Success: +100-EXP; Your photo on the wall

Failure: Pay $35

Rejection: N/A

100 EXP sounded like a good bonus reward for what I was about to do. I was glad this quest was automatically accepted.

While I mused over my new quest, Kendra got a large order of fries. After a few seconds, she placed her hand over mine. "I just want to say, you are so brave." If not for the grin she was failing to keep off her face, I might have bought that line. "I will never forget your sacrifice."

What followed was a battle of wills, her near-grin verse my expression of neutrality. With naught but a raised eyebrow, her facade was shattered. It didn't take much of her laughing to get me chuckling alongside her. "If you don't finish in time, I'm helping you eat it."

That threw me off for a bit. "Isn't that when someone offers to help pay for it?"

She just raised a knowing eyebrow. "Do you want me to help you pay?" She had me there, so I could only shake my head. This was something that I decided to do myself, damn the consequences. It was too bad that those consequences included the attention of every patron around. If only they didn't have to loudly announce every attempt but it wouldn't be much of an attraction if they didn't draw attention to it at every opportunity.

The Fugly Bob's Challenger was four one-pound slabs of 'beef' nestled between two pounds of bun, cheese, and fixings, including a large order of fries. It was not the kind of thing anyone would expect a skinny white girl to be able to eat, but I knew that there was a precedent for skinny girls winning eating challenges.

Once they set the monstrous meal before me, I had 45 minutes to eat all of it down to the last fry, and I had sixteen people rooting for me. I decided to put on a show and get some info in one go. "Observe!" They cheered.

Fugly Bob's Challenger:

A heart stopping, gut wrenching, food coma inducing bad idea. Eat it in 45 minutes to waive the cost and earn a photo on the wall.

+40 HP REGN/min. for the next 3 hours. Can cause Acid Reflux, Indigestion Bloating, Food Coma, Stamina Damage, Clogged Blood Vessels, Asphyxiation, Cardiac Arrest, etc.

Those all looked like physiological problems, so I ignored them and began eating at a steady pace. It took around five minutes before I started seeing drops in my stamina every time I swallowed a bite. That must have been the Stamina Damage. From there, it was childs play to carefully use up to 25 SP per minute. By time the last fries entered my mouth, I had ten minutes left on the clock and thirteen SP remaining. I would not have been able to complete it if not for all my overnight training.

When I broke my attention away from my plate, I was assaulted by cheers and clapping from dozens of people who came by just to watch the show. For me, the challenge boiled down to simple math. But to them, I achieved something only a select few had been capable of. Even with my powers, it felt like something I could be proud of because I still *earned* the stats I needed to do it. It was a drastic shift from what I was used to.

After things quieted down, I was directed to pose near my empty plate so they'd have a picture of me on the wall. A more cynical part of me thought that it was a way to keep track of big eaters so they didn't try to return for a free meal.

WSDM+1=13 (34-EXP)

And cynicism wins the day.

After five minutes of congratulations, Kendra and I were on our way, me with a comfortable weight in my stomach. "Question."

I blinked. "Yes?"

"Do you worry about gaining weight?" That was an easy no. Even before my powers, it took a year of lethargy to gain a little paunch. She sounded out a 'dignified' raspberry when I said no. "Lucky you."

"If it makes you feel better, that might play hell with my skin."

"Why would that make me feel better. I'll still have to be careful of how much I eat and you get pizza faced. That's only funny if you're a bitch. You're not a bitch, are you?"

I thought about the three bitches who were half the reason I wanted to drop out, and knew that I was not going to be anything like them. "No. I'm not."

"Then we can be friends, and if we're going to be friends, we'll need a better way to get in touch. Follow me!" In moments, we found ourselves at a mobile phone vendor. I felt another bout of muted nervousness, but couldn't justify not having a phone anymore. "How much do you have?"

"160 dollars."

There was a hissing sound of her breath passing through her teeth. "That's a small budget. Prepaid flip phones it is!" She practically dragged me into the store, but she and Observe made the process of finding a $25 prepaid phone quick and painless. So long as I didn't use it much, it should be much cheaper than a plan. I was feeling pretty good about the whole deal up until I remembered that I left my money in my inventory. "Bathroom."

The cashier looked at me funny, but I had someone to back me up against her scrutiny. "That Challenger finally getting to you, huh?"

"You ate the Challenger?"

"She beat the Challenger?"

That got an appreciative whistle with only a hint of pity. "Okay then, follow me." The photogenic brunette led me to a back room restroom which I used to pull out all of my…$166.86? I nearly vocalized my confusion when I saw that the boxes were holding paper, plastic, aluminum, rubber, and steel scrap. I only knew that much because I Observed each one. They were all listed as crafting materials.

It wasn't a mystery that I could solve by staring at it, so I pulled all my money out, faked flushing, washed my hands, remembered to tense my muscles lightly, then returned to the counter to find Kendra handing me a receipt. There was no entitlement from her expression, more of a curiosity towards what I would do next. I decided to give her the $27.25.

She gave me a smile and nod then skipped off without a word. It made me wonder if I passed some kind of test, which was made weirder by how we went over me wanting to pay for myself earlier. I continued wondering up until Kendra pulled me into a seat at the nearest bus stop. "Where are we going?"

"We're going somewhere else to get you some clothes."

I tilted my head at that. "Why not go to the Boardwalk boutiques?"

"You're not ready for that yet." I felt affronted for a second from that. "No offense, but Boardwalk people are mean if they think you can't afford their stuff and are even meaner when they know."

"So I need to…"

"Start small and work your way up."

"Not how I was going to put it, but close enough."

"Yep. That, and you only have $130. That'd get you a nice pair of sunglasses."

"So where are we going?"

"Goodwill silly. They won't charge you an arm and a leg. You kinda need those to go places." She snorted at her own joke. "It's a good place to get clothes if you have the time to look for them, and we have all day."

That sounded like a much better idea than her original one. I was feeling pretty good about things up until Kendra went totally silent and pulled out her phone like many teenagers do. I doubted that she was suddenly rethinking us spending the day together, but I was expecting her to strike up some sort of conversation before deciding that something else was more worthy of her attention. The silence was a little stifling after a few minutes, so I tried starting a conversation myself. "Why are you helping me?"

"Why not? We're friends after all." And with that, we lapsed into another short silence. After a minute or so of watching her do whatever on her phone, I realized that I wouldn't be able to contribute to the shopping trip if I didn't know what to look for, so I asked her.

"Well you're tall and thin, so you automatically have great legs, but you want to try to make yourself look shorter sometimes. Maxi dresses are a must. Skinny jeans and giant waist belts too. Knee high boots if you want to buy shorts. Skirts reaching your knees to go with anything else you want to put your feet in. We need to look for stuff that pops, but no vertical stripes. Horizontal is good though. For make-up? You have a great complexion, which is good because makeup on pimples is bad. Definitely lipstick; eyeshadow and mascara you can do without. Lastly, we need to find stuff that hasn't had a visit from the moth fairy. Holes around the knees are fine, but everything else needs to be in one piece. We don't have a big budget, so the bargain bins are our first targets. If that doesn't work out, we can try the outlet a few miles out. Sounds good?"

"What? Where did all that come from?"

She turned her phone towards me, which was on an online article about how Goodwill handled clothing. I thought about that for a few moments before realizing that she didn't just look up Goodwill, but what kind of clothes I would look good in. It would explain the word vomit, though the bits about makeup sounded specifically tailored to me. It was a far cry from how even pre-bitch Emma was like. Emma's fashion knowledge seemed entirely focused on things that she liked and looked good in. Thinking back on it, half my wardrobe before highschool was almost a mirror of hers.

In comparison, Kendra seemed entirely focused on what I would look good in. Even without me earning any stat points so far, I felt like I was getting to know what a good friend should be like. Something like that wasn't a waste of my time.

Of course it was then that my super powered intellect decided to finally remind me that nothing was stopping me from exercising in public. So long as I toned down the intensity, I shouldn't draw more than a cursory glance. If someone who knew me personally asked, I could tell the truth. Kendra seemed like the type to be impressed by such behavior, and it's not like anyone will realize what kind of forces that I was exerting upon myself. I decided to start with my abs and work my way down, reducing the intensity whenever my limbs started shaking.

Before I knew it, we settled into having an unofficial staring contest. It didn't get awkward for me until she zoned out. No one has truly been stared at until they've sat under the scrutiny of someone who isn't really looking at you. Before I could snap her out of it, the bus stopped, jolting Kendra out of her trance. She grabbed my arm and bulldozed through the departing crowds with me in tow. I had to jog to keep up with her mad dash to the Goodwill building.

She split from me almost immediately, leaving instructions to only look for skinny jeans and anything with colorful patterns. Observe proved its worth all over again thanks to Stamina translating into how damaged a garment was. It also told me what the price was, tax included. Shopping for clothes was never easier or cheaper. I managed to gather enough to want to use my Inventory to store them before Kendra returned with enough clothes to fill her own shopping cart, all without powers. "Wow. First speed reading, now super shopping. Are you sure you're not a cape?

"I am not a cape." I wasn't lying there either. Technically, someone isn't a cape by the slang definition unless they've gone out under an alias and/or in costume.

"Do you have powers?" I tried giving her my most incredulous glare. "I'm not hearing a no."

"You're not going to hear a yes either."

We stared each other down for a few seconds before falling into chuckling fits. "This is fun, and we haven't started trying clothes on yet."

"Joy of joys." I was not looking forward to that part of our excursion, but like every other intense emotion which would have normally had me running for the hills, my anger and trepidation were muted. This left only my strong desire to not let Emma dictate my future. It was amazing what some logic and a lack of detrimental emotions could do for someone's thinking process. I thanked Gamer's Mind and Kendra both for the Skill the amateur fashion show earned me.

Basic Self-Presentation: (Sustained)(TS: 1/5)

The behavior that changes how others perceive you.

(Fashion: [LV:4] The use of clothing and hair styles to appear more attractive or break up your body shape.

Looked at another way, it was a Skill that could be used to make me unrecognizable. Nothing else could be better for a hero aspiring to keep their identity secret. Learning how I could change clothes instantly was just icing on the cake; though I had to make sure to take the clothes out of my Inventory, lest I become a thief.

I was having fun jumping from outfit to outfit, using my improving judgement to decide which combinations to show off to Kendra. She wasted no time commenting on my physique, which reminded me that I wanted to hide it. Her idea of a compromise was giant belts, scarfs, and coats that all made me look smaller. I could only talk her into one baggy outfit and tops that billow out, earning me another point and level on top of the point dynamic tension earned me.

VIGR+1=25 (58-EXP)

INTU+1=16 (40-EXP)

The new settings were definitely worth it.

At the end of it all, I came away with four new outfits, an exercise outfit, two belts, and three massive satin scarves. The total cost ran up to $143.79, bringing my total funds down to 59¢ even after Kendra chipped in. I tried not to think about where the additional 59¢ came from or how Kendra insisted on paying for the rest. I would normally think that I wasted my money, but everything I knew about myself seemed to point towards me not needing money for anything other than clothes. Until I figured out how my power was spontaneously generating money, I couldn't afford to turn any assistance down. Giving in had nothing to do with her begging to pay for the rest.

*L3: 5; 9; 7; 16; 4; 11*

Taylor had powers, just like Carlos, Chris, Denis, and Dean. (Shadow Stalker didn't go to Arcadia as far as she could tell.) It wasn't hard for her to figure out who was who since Kendra knew what to look for and what not to look for. When accused of being a cape, parahumans had all sorts of reactions. It's the normal people who look confused. Capes also had a sorrowful intensity that Taylor had in spades. If it was just that, Kendra could have been happy with just being a friend, but Taylor needed more.

She needed a best friend.

Figuring out how to actually do that for the girl was proving to be a challenge. The whole shopping trip was more Kendra going by the cliche of what two teen girls are supposed to do to get to know each other. Even in the face of frequent silence, she was having fun. She wouldn't soon forget personally witnessing a skinny girl eat the Challenger with ten minutes to spare.

Kendra thought back on every strange thing she'd seen Taylor do in an attempt to figure out her power. So far, Taylor seemed to have some kind of power that made her able to do things faster than normal. It didn't sound like a strong power until she applied the concept to everything Taylor did. The tower of lean muscle Kendra was shopping with was not the same as the stick thin girl she hugged tightly 24 hours prior. If it's anything like Uber and Victor, Taylor had some potential.

That still left her with the conundrum of truly befriending Taylor. Capes all seemed to prefer to talk about cape stuff with other capes while trying to keep all the non-capes out of the loop. Kendra couldn't be a real best friend until they talked about everything. There were a lot of capes that should be able to do a lot more than they do, and no friend of Kendra's was going to be one of them. She was also going to make sure Taylor had at least a little bit of what a normal girl should be like. "Alright, next is makeup."

"I thought you said I didn't need makeup."

"Nope," she said with that popping sound she loved.

"Oh yeah. You said something about makeup over pimples not being good."

"Yep." It was nice of Taylor to bother remembering that detail. Kendra hadn't. Fast memory recall? She wondered if Taylor had any relation to Velocity. Powers worked like that sometimes. "I know a good place a few blocks from here." She grabbed Taylor by the hand and dragged her in the desired direction. There was a little resistance, but Taylor let herself be dragged along.

It was too bad that it was too soon to seriously dive into the topic of capes. Barring some minor disaster, getting Taylor to talk will take time, maybe a week. Her line of thought cut off when Taylor jerked her into a sudden stop. It was really jarring, and there didn't seem to be a good reason why.

Sure, there was a man, at the end of the alley, walking towards them, with an unpleasant smile, a menacing gait, and pulling out a knife.

…

Apparently Taylor was fast on the uptake…or was that supposed to be quick? She could think about that later. The bigger problem was that the winter sun was setting, and the surrounding streets were mostly deserted. "What do you think you're doing nigger bitch." And he was a Nazi who decided not to look like one. That wasn't fair.

"Get out of here." The iron like voice drew both of their attention to Taylor. Her new friend placed herself between her and the Nazi.

He seemed to smile more at that. "Oh, I get it. You're a dyke race-traitor. Don't think being white's gonna save you."

Kendra's mind decided that it was a good time to remind her that she hadn't confirmed her theory on Taylor. The may-be-a-cape dropping her bag of clothes attracted her full attention. Most would see it as just a bag, but Kendra saw something she could distract him with and give them both a chance to escape.

She had a simple plan: grab the bag, throw it, tackle his legs, roll away, run. He was pretty close, so she made the first move. "Bitch!" She flinched at the guttural yell and looked up to realized that the Nazi had a knife throwing hobby. She put her arms up in a slapdash attempt at self-defense

The pain she expected never came, only the sound of feet scuffling across asphalt, the thumps of fists against flesh, and the thump of a body hitting the ground.

[HP-9]

(50×2)

(100×2)

"Fucking." There was one more thump, then silence.

(75×2)

(146-EXP)

Kendra let her arms fall and saw her friend towering over the unconscious racist. She had imagined being in similar situations before, but none of those took into account how imposing someone who easily beat another someone unconscious could be. She watched Taylor turn around and pull the knife out of her hoody, from her left breast specifically. "Kendra, are…are you okay?"

"Yeah." She tried to ignore her trembling and the missed opportunity to say yep. "You're not bleeding?"

"No. He barely nicked me. Thrown knives aren't as dangerous as people think apparently."

"You are a cape."

There was a pregnant silence before Taylor sighed in defeat. "Yeah. Normal girls don't beat up grown men in three hits."

"What did you do to him?"

"A punch to the solar plexus, a kick to his liver, and another punch when he was down." Taylor stared at her for a second before looking back at the man. "We should call the cops and…talk."

Talking: that sounded like a good plan.

*ANWtP*

The underlined text is invisible to the focus character. I don't want to use invisa-text since it doesn't translate well outside of SB and SV.

I don't have else much to say except about the Nazi. He was Level six with his knife having a Threat Bonus of three. If nothing good to read comes along, the next chapter shouldn't take as long.