Steamrolling Worm

Chapter 3

Tayles

The front door to Taylor's house opened up with a nearly inaudible groan of the hinges. A slightly feminine figure in a gray silk costume with bug like armor plating padded out of the house, closing the door behind her softly. She was trusting her bugs to inform her of her surroundings.

Shame I had so many more powers than her.

"Hi Taylor," I nonchalantly greeted her, as if I wasn't ambushing her right outside her house.

Just as she tried to sneak out.

In the dead of night.

...

It's not as bad as it sounds, alright? Honestly.

Taylor clearly didn't agree with me on that. To her credit, she didn't scream.

But I did end up getting swarmed by insects.

Thank you Invictus. So, so much. Instead of the terror filled screaming the me with no powers would've done, I merely blinked.

Of course none of the bugs broke my skin.

Taylor seemed to realize this because the swarm eventually subsided. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"My name is Deus." There. Short and simple.

I imagine if her eyes were visible through her goggles I'd have been able to see her eyes pop open without an Eidolon slot being used.

Pretty face. Her self image issue is bogus.

"Like… the Deus? The one who took out the Slaughterhouse Nine, The Sleeper, and tossed Leviathan into orbit?"

I smirked and nodded. "I also neutralized Nilbog and conquered Ellisburg."

She gave me a disbelieving stare. "No, Queen did that. She's sitting on the throne Nilbog made right now and hasn't left it!"

I winced and rubbed my backside. "Yeah and it's damn uncomfortable too. Sitting there is, heh, a pain in the ass."

"What."

I winked at her and manifested two more of my bodies, one a female just to prove I could. "Hivemind power with multiple bodies," I succinctly explained.

The duplicates of me vanished just as they'd appeared. One moment they were there, and the next, not.

Taylor took a step back from me. "What are you doing here?"

"Stopping you from doing something stupid," I fired back.

Her fists clenched and she squared her jaw. "I'm going to be a hero," she flatly declared.

"Yes, you are," I agreed.

That stopped her building rage dead in its tracks. "What?"

11:59:50 PM.

I looked up at the moon just as time ticked over.

12:00:00 PM.

Ten new orbs of possible power flared to life inside me. I'd only used seven inspiration charges yesterday, now, and so I was expecting the three I had left to disappear.

My Inspired Inventor charges ticked up to 13.

My eyes widened involuntarily. If that worked with Power Manipulation too?! Shit would get very real very fast.

Taylor cleared her throat, annoyed.

I looked back down at her and grinned. "How would you like to fly, Taylor Hebert?" I asked.

"You're not taking me anywhere until I get some explanation from you!"

"Oh no," I shook my head to correct her, "I wouldn't be taking you anywhere. You would."

Her breath hitched in her throat. "Wha-" she tried, gulped, and tried again, "what the hell are you talking about?!"

"Oh…," I began, trailing off.

I assembled the power in my head first. I tied it to a field which manipulated physics and was skin tight. An… Aura, one might say, but it wasn't really. Supersonic flight, invulnerability, immense super strength and super leverage were already built in. The super leverage actually made the field extend to anything she was touching, including clothes. I added another charge to make it radiation powered. Any radiation. Another to generate its own separate internal atmosphere and climate. A fourth forced it permanently on with absolutely no way to disable it. Not even I would be able to without PM. A final, fifth charge added Comic Book Pretty with a subconscious shapeshifter ability to the already insanely impressive Alexandria package. It even came with a minor clothes shifting ability for costume creation!

Then I manifested it. "...this."

Five PM charges on Shattered Limiter and World Breaker crack make one hell of a power, and the size and brightness of the power orb reflected that. A sphere of white light larger than a basketball burst into existence above my spread palm. It bathed the entire neighborhood in light so bright it might as well have been daytime.

Taylor stared at me in awe and panic. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" she yelled at me.

I palmed the ball of light in my hand and experimentally tossed it up and down. Yup, just like a basketball.

I grinned down at Taylor and hefted the orb her way. "Catch."

Her eyes shot wide open behind her mask. I could see her brain just starting to send the signal to her body to run away.

But it was already in motion, instinctively lunging for the shiny. I didn't even need to ensure her muscles had a little nudge from me in the right direction. Kinda expected to have to, but… oh well?

...Look, Taylor apparently has a thing for lunging at shiny objects. I didn't have to do jack shit.

"NO!" she screamed.

Just as the orb touched her fingers.

It burst into white light streams and suffused her entire body, her skin glowing that same white momentarily. She was like a newborn star in that tiny moment.

Then it was over and the neighborhood was dark again.

"Oww," she groaned from her position. She was laying down, clutching her head.

"You may want to look down," I conversationally told her.

"Why? It's just the grou-" she began to ask.

Then Taylor saw the three feet of space between her body and the grass of her lawn.

Speaking of her body, it seemed that Comic Book Pretty was already taking her subconscious desires and implementing them. Significantly bigger chest and hips, slightly smaller waist, very, very slightly thinner mouth and cute, almost anime eyes.

And her hair was even longer, shining and glittering in the moonlight.

Hey, whatever she wants her body to be is her business. It's not like she was locked into this new appearance. Maybe it looked slightly anime like because she didn't actually have a clear picture of what she wanted to look like that could translate to the power properly?

Hey, I'm a programmer, not a mind reader.

Anyways… yeah, she freaked out.

Taylor shrieked and flopped over and around in midair as she scrambled to try grabbing something, anything, to anchor herself to. The changing proportions of her body certainly didn't help.

Her efforts or my self control.

I couldn't resist any longer. I burst out laughing.

Taylor locked her terrified gaze on me and scowled. "This isn't funny, asshole!" she shouted. "Put me down!"

I raised my hands in surrender, what little it was worth with my power level and the fact I was still laughing. "T-Taylor," I managed, "I'm not doing this. It's all you."

"WHAT?!"

"Focus on trying to land," I offered helpfully.

She screwed her eyes up at me for several more flip-filled seconds before she finally gave in with a huff. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to ignore the spinning, and presumably did as I recommended.

And she floated to the ground.

She gasped and forced her eyes open, staring at the ground. She was in shock.

"See?"

"How- What- When?" she stammered. Taylor was clearly incapable of coherent speech.

"You're welcome."

She looked up at me again. Not in anger this time, nor confusion, but awe. "You- you gave me flight?" she gasped, her throat dry. A couple of gulps delivered water where it needed to go.

"Yeap," I confirmed via nod. "And invulnerability, a personal atmosphere, super strength, super leverage because that one is really important if you want to pick up anything, and a minor Changer ability directed by your subconscious that makes you look like a superheroine, body and costume. A classic superheroine, not like the Parahumans this world has. All powered by radiation. Any kind!" I cheerily continued explaining what I had gifted her, listing the abilities on my fingers.

Her eyes shot wide open and she glanced down at her much hotter body, seeing very prominent curves where there weren't any previously. Taylor, alternate timeline Lady of Escalation, drew in a terse breath through her teeth. This time when she looked at me it was with an almost palpable amount of worship. "Why?"

"That is a discussion for private locations and away from prying eyes." I glanced up in the orbital direction of the still grappling Conflict Engine siblings.

Ziz's head zeroed in on me and our eyes met.

"Yeah, that's right, I meant you too," I fired off at her. "Don't make me piledrive you into Mars."

I didn't raise my voice at all, made no attempts to make sure she heard me.

Yet she did.

"Who are you talking to?" Taylor asked.

Ziz's eyes shifted to look at her.

"HEY!" I yelled into the sky.

The winged Endbringer's gaze snapped back to me. Her normally inexpressive eyes showed a hint of fear.

I raised two fingers, pointed them at my eyes, then turned them so they were pointing at hers. "Mine."

Ziz didn't move for several moments. Then she slowly nodded and went back to grappling with her brother.

"Deus?" Taylor pressed hesitantly.

I looked back at her and grinned, shrugging. "Oh, just the Simurgh. Had to make it clear you were hands off where she's concerned." I intentionally said this in the most nonchalant way I could manage.

"What."

"Definitely had to if I'm gonna invite you to my hero team," I continued, just as conversationally.

"WHAT!"

"Shall we go in? Pretty sure your dad doesn't want us showing off powers on his lawn."

"Wuh? But he's asleep!"

"Is he?" I asked, grinning past her at the door of her house.

The same door where a gobsmacked Daniel Hebert was standing, having been woken up by a momentarily activated Eidolon power and directed to come to the door but remain silent.

My address of him was the cue.

"Taylor," he tried to start, "what is going on?"

She froze.

"In, yes?" I asked, a shit eating grin on my face.

"So Taylor," Danny began almost a second after the front door closed, "care to explain how you were flying?" He crossed his arms and glared pointedly at her.

Taylor's eyes widened and took on this adorably obvious affronted look. "Hey!" she defended herself, "Blame him! He gave me that!"

Then she realized what she'd just said and her face paled. Taylor collapsed into their living room couch, eyes staring off into the distance. "Holy shit. He gave me powers," she muttered under her breath.

Danny turned his glare on me. "You what?"

I opened my mouth to begin responding. "Well yes, but-"

"YOU gave me POWERS!" Taylor interrupted. I glanced down at her and found her eyes alight, a gigantic grin on her face.

"Yes I did," I huffed, "but-"

"Holy shit, can you give anyone powers?" she continued earnestly, her inner cape geek going nuts. "Are there any limits? What kinds of powers? Only Alexandria packages? What can you do?!"

I blinked several times. It seemed that being exposed to my ridiculous power levels and gaining powers of her own of the kind she'd always wanted had shocked her out of her bullying induced funk.

Either that or her new powers were hard countering her depression. I wasn't very clear on the definition of invincibility I gave her after all.

Instead of responding to her continual cape geekery I simply turned to Danny's bewildered face and broke the secret. "Danny, Taylor had bug control before I gave her an Alexandria package on steroids. That's what the costume is for."

Taylor was still rambling as I spoke. When I said 'bug control' she froze, her eyes wide. She turned to her father and gulped.

He was stormy now.

"Both of you explain. Now." As we both opened our mouths, me to comply, Taylor to attempt a terrible refusal, he held up a finger.

His glare darkened even further.

We both shut our mouths.

"One at a time," he seethed.

Taylor and I stared at him. She looked at me. I kept looking at Danny for a few more seconds, then grinned out of the side of my mouth at her.

"Rock Paper Scissors," I announced, already moving my hands into position.

"Wh-what?" Taylor stammered.

"We're both explaining things to Danny here tonight Taylor, Rock Paper Scissors to decide who goes first," I reasonably explained.

Danny looked disbelieving, if a little amused. Taylor was stupefied. "What?" she asked again.

This time I looked directly into her eyes. "Rock. Paper. Scissors," I repeated naturally, raising an eyebrow.

Taylor gaped at me.

"You… do know how to play, right?" I asked innocently.

Danny began snickering under his breath.

Taylor blinked, scowling at her father, then at me. "I am not playing Rock Paper Scissors to decide who goes first," she declared flatly, narrowing her eyes. "Given I am not explaining anything at all in the first place."

I scowled back and dropped my hands. "Fine," I cut off Danny's impending return fire with my own flat tone of voice. "Then I will."

I manifested a thick book in my hand, holding it out to Danny. "Are either of you familiar with the theories of Robert Heinlein?" I mentally went over that particular well known author and scowled. "I mean, the decent works of his, anyways?"

Taylor glared at me, her eyes flitting to the book and back. She didn't get up. "Yes," she seethed, crossing her arms.

"'Worm'?" Danny asked, tentatively accepting the hardcover.

"Read the first page," I told him.

Danny looked up at me, his eyebrows raised with disbelief, but he did open and start reading.

"What is that book?" Taylor asked.

I held up three of my fingers and mouthed counting down. 'Three, two, one…'

"WHAT!" Danny yelled at the top of his lungs. He dropped the book and glared at me. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

As Taylor tried to surreptitiously bend down to pick up the dropped book, I locked eyes with Danny. "Robert Heinlein thought up a theory which can be roughly described as 'The World As Myth'," I explained, ignoring Taylor's gasp and trembling hands. She looked like she had seen a ghost. "That book is a copy of my eidetic memory-enabled perfect recollection of a story called Worm."

Perfect recollection of the first arc, anyways. But they'll never read past the first page, so who cares! The thing got retconned so badly by its author it might as well be a different story.

Taylor finished reading the first few sentences. Her eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

Then she got it.

Her face went bone white and she dropped the book, her hands trembling. "W-What is this?!" she hissed at me, her eyes ablaze with accusation.

Still not looking at her, still staring down her father, I smirked. "If I did it right, a narrative from your perspective of this… er, yesterday's morning." I finally turned to her and raised my eyebrows. "Am I wrong?"

Taylor gulped. She was shuddering with fear. "N-no."

I gestured with one of my hands and the book vaporized into a tiny cloud of ash. "So yeah. World as Myth. It's real." I took a slight step back so I could keep both of them in my view. "I'm not from Earth Bet. But I know a lot about it."

"Because you read it," Danny deadpanned, disbelief on his face.

"Yup." I shrugged. "Why else would I be here?"

"On our planet?" he asked.

"No. I meant here," I gestured around their living room. "In your house. Of all the people on Earth Bet, all the families-"

"Why us?" Taylor finished, whispering.

I grinned at her and decided to answer her theoretical question. "Because you're the protagonist, Taylor. I've read of your struggle from your point of view. In a way, I'm a big fan of yours. And I want to help you."

Taylor stared at me incredulously for several long, intense moments. Then it hit her.

"Oh my god, you're trying to make a fix fic."