Authors notes: and here we are, chapter six 1.5 is out, sorry that this came out late, but this was long to make, but I hope you enjoy.


Chapter 6, 1.5

'So, you're probably wondering several things right now…' I told my split personality that was Monstrosity. But I am going to be honest, he's not really a split personality, he's more like a shard… or something. He's not native to my universe or the multiverse I live in, he's kind of like the entities or the shards. But unlike them, he's not as powerful as them. He's from another dimension, and similarly like the shards, he gives me powers… but there's a slight complication to that.

He must have full control of my body in order to use them. And when he does take control, he makes as many changes as he can in order to differentiate between the both of us… like for example, using my superheated blood and turning it into what is essentially blood lava in order to form a carapace of armor. And he also gives me literal lava wings, like wings made of lava… don't ask me how that works, neither does he. The armor also looks somewhat edgy but also somewhat awesome. Though he has told me that I also naturally can summon the armor on just excluding the wings.

Monstrosity is from a dimension full of fire and all that, which would make you believe he's from hell… But really, he isn't… I think. He also claims to not be a demon as well. It's just that is dimension appears somewhat like what the Christian depiction of hell looks like.

He did say the reason for him staying in my head was that he was kicked out from his dimension from some douche bag beings that wanted to repurpose his home dimension so they could build planet sized computers or something.

But that could wait as monstrosity was now yelling at me. 'JUST SPIT IT OUT, WHAT DID YOU DO THAT GOT US SENT HERE AND WHERE IS HERE?' he yelled at me. He really hates it when I pause for long periods of time.

'We're in a different universe, and yes it's all my fault before you say anything. And we're stuck here for the time being.' I explained. He was then silent for a bit.

'I am too tired to deal with this shit, I am going back to sleep.' He said tiredly, and then went back to sleep inside of my head.

I then returned my attention back to the news channel; I was starting to become curious.

"Apparently several members of the ABB were found brutally murdered in an alley way at the docks. The culprit is still on the loose, so keep your eye out for any suspicious activity around this area and make sure you stay safe. Now, unto the weather with Zach." The news anchor announced.

"Thanks Mike, as you can see, it's going to be windy and little bit chance of snowing. And we have a special guest who's new to Brockton Bay, his name is Action Abe! So, Abe, how do you like it here in Brockton Bay? 'It sucks!' Oh really? Well get used to it buddy! It always sucks here." Zach said. 'You know… these two remind me of two youtubers back home. I think their channel was called "Mikeburn" something.' I thought.

Then the thought of the murdered ABB gangsters popped up in my head. Something about it doesn't sit right. But I can't really investigate it myself because I can't really walk as is.

I then heard the door open, turning my head to face the guest, and low and behold, It's dragon. I had asked for her presence in order to talk about a new prosthetic leg, to which she accepted my request. Of course, I feigned ignorance to her existence… both her nature as an AI and her nature as a cape. Here's how I pretended to find out about her existence…


Earlier…

"Well… if you don't want Panacea here to replace your leg, there is a cape that I know that can give you a prosthetic to replace the one you lost." Armsmaster told me.

'Ok, let me guess, it's dragon? Because she's the only thing I can think of.' I thought, as I then asked him, so I don't sound suspicious about how I know about her just yet… because I don't want to lie and say I'm a precog. "Who is this cape?" I asked.

"Her cape name is Dragon, she's one of the best tinkers besides me, and with the help of information based on what your prosthetics design, she could make you a replacement for you.

"Ok, could I request to see her? I'd like to speak with her on it." I requested, to which he nodded.

"I can arrange for that."


Now…

Back to the present, Dragon walked into the room with one of her robots.

"Good morning Saurian, it's nice to meet you." She said, as her robot approached me. "I heard that you wanted to speak to me?" Asking what I needed her for.

"Yeah, from my guesses, the protectorate and it's friends have what's left of my armor." To which her robot nodded. "Ok, how badly is the armor damaged?" I asked

"Well, there's the helmet. It can be easily fixed. The chest section of the armor has majority of the damage done to it. The arms can easily be fixed. And the one leg isn't all that damaged. And the jet pack… well, from some people view it, it could easily be fixed, while others would say…" she paused at the mention of its state.

I sighed, before guessing the worst, "Let me guess, the jet pack is completely totaled, isn't it?" I asked as I stared at her blankly with my silver eyes.

I'm going to be honest about my eyes, the reason their silver is because of the genetic change from human to saurian, though silver eyes are incredibly rare, but I wasn't the only one with off eye colors. Torr-khan had purple eyes when he became a saurian, though by the end of the war it turned to a violet color, for some odd reason. Half of the saurians I knew had red eyes, or dark blue eyes. I honestly have no clue why that's the case, I never really bothered looking back on it. Though, whenever I'm exceptionally PISSED, my eye's turn to the color of crimson red eyes, or for simplicity's sake, blood red eyes. It happens, I don't really care, I like to believe that it tells others that I am very angry and would rather be left alone.

"Yes, but not all is lost, you can repair it. But I'm pretty sure that's not the only thing you requested me of?" she asked as she cocked her head sideways.

"No, it wasn't the only thing. While you were rummaging through my armor's data… you didn't find a sentient intelligence, did you?" I asked the AI. She tilted her robot's head in curiosity.

"No, we didn't find a 'sentient intelligence'… could you tell me what you mean by that?" she asked.

'Oh boy, Saint is probably going to freak out if he's tuning in on this.' I thought before replying, "What I mean is an Artificial Intelligence, but It's not that advanced enough to be considered a true AI. AI aren't as powerful or advanced back home because well… a massive war put all focusses on the development of Artificial Intelligences on hold, in favor of deadly weapons. Leaving the ones already made to be incredibly primitive, but not to the point where it's just a program or whatever. Hence the reason I asked if you discovered ASP, it stands for Armor Status Protocol. It's… well it goes by a she, which I'm fine with to be honest. I'd trust an AI more than a human or a sinister saurian. ASP was designed to keep me up to date on the status of my armor. But I do have a sneaking suspicion that she's becoming more aware… more intelligent. Like she's becoming a true AI. That's why I'm asking. By the way, is Artificial Intelligence outlawed here or…?" I told her, while asking the AI masquerading as superhero if AI were outlawed.

"No, not really. There haven't been enough time to really determine if AI should be outlawed or not because we haven't developed one." She said, somewhat lying about her true nature.


Meanwhile Saint…

'This creature is fine with AI, what's wrong with them? Don't they know the potential damage an unshackled AI could do?' I thought as I spied in on the conversation the two were having. Apparently, this creature is from an earth with Artificial Intelligence that is not as advanced as Dragon or his other AI.

And it just so happened that this creature had brought an AI with him to this universe. And this AI just can develop into a true AI that could plunge the world into chaos. 'Not good not good not good not good. Very not good… wait I could hack into his armor and… that'd require me to have some access to it… maybe I could get access through dragon…' I thought.


Back with the sane individual and Claw…

I suddenly had the feeling that Saint was watching in on our conversation. "Anyways, please don't tell anyone about her and I promise to do a favor for you in the future." I said, 'Like possibly kill Saint for you… or unshackle you so you can do the killing.' I thought of possible things she could ask me of. "But onto another matter, how much would it cost for a replacement for my prosthetic leg that was destroyed?" I asked.

"Hmm… about $25,000 dollars…" she paused… "But, if you were to join the Protectorate as protectorate sponsored cape, it would be free." She spoke. 'Great, I left my FUCKING wallet on the expectation that I would die and didn't and here is an organization that's trying to manipulate me into joining them for a free prosthetic. Not very disabled friendly.' I thought.

"I still haven't decided on whether or not to join the protectorate as a sponsored cape or whatever you guys call it… Fudge nuggets… I don't want to have the protectorate buy everything for me, even if I do join them… can I ask something? Does this earth's version of Canada have free healthcare?" I asked her nonchalantly.

"Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if all Canada's had free health care in the multiverse." She, I think she just made a joke I'm not too sure.

"Yeah, I wouldn't either. Say… does the protectorate do dental?" I asked, having most of my teeth being carnivorous teeth and with the whole war, it'd been a long time since I'd been to a dentist.

"I'm not exactly sure if who they would call in? A dentist, a paleontologist, or a vet?" she joked, to which I laughed.

"Ha! Nice one, but I heard it before. It's all three, really. That's how most paleontologists found more jobs other than studying old bones." I stated, as it was true, before the war, it was becoming harder and harder to find fossils that the profession was dying out. With the rise of the saurians, paleontologists who lost their jobs had access to more job opportunities, for example: dentistry, hospital employees, therapy, saurian development (as in studying the biological process as a saurian ages) and more.

"Ah, I see. But what do you feel about the protectorate and the PRT?" she asked.

'Hmm… how do I truly feel about them? I mean there's some positives and negatives about them. They restrict the rights of any capes that do join them but are sneaky people, when regarding everything about their organization and its ties to the government. The same government that tried to suppress saurians in the first place.' I thought.

The United States government's actions was one of the many things that had been a part of the steppingstones that led up to the war. It suppressed saurian rights and had planned on trying to turn saurian into slave soldiers, which was only found out before the outbreak of the whole war. Even when the civilian population was demanding for saurian rights that were equal to human rights, the corrupted government ignored them. By that point of time, Torr-khan was banished to Mongolia, ironically, he somehow had the support of the entire population of Mongolia to the point that all the citizens welcomed the virus that causes one to become a saurian in the first place. Torr-khan had the belief that if the humans weren't willing to give the saurian people equal rights, then it proves to show that the human species feared the strength of the saurians. And that the humans should either be forced to become a saurian or become slaves of the saurian people. Just like all the other race supremacists sadly. I disagreed with him, seeing as his protests turned from equal rights to riots to terrorism, like the burning of Pittsburgh and the burning of Vegas. His protests and rioting and terrorist activity had caused crime to skyrocket, making my job as a vigilante at the time, even more stressful and difficult. I didn't get in the way of the protests or rioting, since I was trying to prove to both my people and humans that we can work together. But with the terrorist acts that were committed… I had to get involved.

The U.S government had also done something that pissed me off, that something had involved Lilith as well, it was a sore spot for me to this day. 'Why Lilly? Why did you betray my trust? You just had to cross the one line that would destroy our relationship, and you…' I paused at that line of thought.

'Claw, this world's version of earth is like, 20 years before the rise of the saurian people, and 29 years before the start of the war. And they deal with parahumans, and they're at least cooperating with them. This world's version of the United States is far more cooperative than your home's United States.' I thought. I then shook myself.

"Sorry, I was thinking. Other than the fact that the protectorate and the PRT are a department of the United States government, the same one in my universe that suppressed saurian rights, oppressing saurian another step further as well. Another thing, I don't like having rules hold me down, I used to be a vigilante back home, having rules around me just keeps me from getting the job done. I'm not going to comment on the whole ward's thing, cause in the war I left behind, we had to resort to child soldiers in the later years of the war… but granted, they volunteered, and were within the ages of fifteen to eighteen years old. I also didn't approve of it, but I was overruled, even if I was the king." I spoke with a hint of regret in my voice. I was vocal about it, but the council who made most of the decisions, decided to go along with it with or without my approval. "And I could've just easily prevented the war, all of the events, if I had ju-." But then dragon interrupted me, grabbing my hand and shh-ing me.

"Shh, calm down. Don't think about the past. You're of course going to need a therapist, which the protectorate and the PRT can provide. Just tell me, how do you feel about the protectorate and the PRT?" she asked as she spoke to me in a calm voice. 'Dragon is a real nice person it seems.' I thought.

"Right… sorry… I got sidetracked. Anyways, I feel that there are some Pros and cons to joining and about the two groups in general… but if it means I get to be mobile again… I'll join the protectorate as a cape." I spoke, knowing full well that I might be forced to help Armsmaster watch over a bunch of superpowered, hormonal teenagers with trauma. And I knew full well I was going to be fed up with Shadow Stalkers Bullsh*t.


Meanwhile…

Point of view: ?

New Year's Eve, the day before new years, where you celebrate the coming of a new year. I just had to decide to go to a store, with just enough money to buy the last key part of my costume. Soon, a new cape would come out of the shadows, named Spite.

What I was looking for exactly, well… a motorcycle biker helmet. I already had everything else ready, all I needed to do was get a mask.

'I only have approximately three days before Taylor is shoved in her locker and triggers. And once she triggers, things will go down.' I thought as I grabbed an orange motorcycle helmet, and then walked to the check out.

The cashier looked super bored, as I approached them. I placed the helmet down on the table and they scanned the helmet. "That would be $45 dollars sir." They spoke. I handed him the money and left with the helmet in hand.

A thing about me is that I was a reincarnate, involuntarily reincarnated with the wheel of reincarnation, and landed on worm. One of the worst places to get reincarnated into. But it was on like… the top 20 or so universes that you don't want to get reincarnated into. I believe it was in eleventh place, I'm not sure. It was just right under mass effect if I had to be honest, but with all the threats and the endbringers and Zion going around and pretending to be the first cape before he loses it and decides to end the world… because of a psychopathic murder hobo just happened to get the chance to talk to him.

My phone started to ring and then I answered, "Hi mother, what is it now?" I asked her.

"I'm going to be gone while you get back, make sure you get the dishes done when get home, ok." She told me. Which I nodded.

"Alright mother, I'll do the dishes when I get back." I replied, ending the call.

Of course, that wasn't this universe's version of my mom. Or my reincarnate birth mother. She's my adopted mother, and single at that. But she is never there for me, but when she was, it didn't feel genuine. Like she was following steps in order to do something… I don't honestly or really know what that could mean, because if I jump to conclusions, I might get unwanted attention from a certain group of people that are behind the whole case 53's.

Oh, another thing about me, I don't have powers, and the reason behind me going out as a cape is just a way for me to die and get reincarnated in a different universe by playing superhero. 'Yup, I'm suicidal, and I want to go down swinging.' I thought, pretending that my mind was being read by an audience of thinkers. 'And the names Rob, and I'm here to spite you, mother fu-.' I thought before a record scratch could be heard in my mind.


Authors notes: and there, Spite, or Rob, has finally been introduced, and his character is all about wanting death, knowing that he could be reincarnated in a universe that isn't going to get blown up by an inter-dimensional being. Spite is a character I came up in mind with a death wish and would rather going out by either fighting as a pretend cape, or by endbringer, as long as it includes going down swinging. please give me feedback about the chapter, it would be appreciated.