Sorry I've been away for a while. Had a bit of Writer's Block, and got a bit busy with Destiny. Oh, and I wasn't feeling too well for a couple of weeks. But I figured I might as well use the Easter Weekend to get away and do a bit of writing. Get something done at least.

I just want to say thank you to the people that are joining us recently and enjoyed the Omake. Even though you guys think it would be nice to keep in, I still feel like leaving it non-canon and putting a bit more effort into dealing with Scion. And I also want to thank Dymian for offering the idea for the first half of this chapter. As you can tell from the title, this is more for setting up future S9 members.


Chapter 25: Macellum IX Vitae

Gregory Smiles was quite happy working at Royal Treasures, one of the swankiest and most expensive jewellery stores in Boston. There was something pleasant about how orderly and clean this place was, where you didn't have to deal with the chaos of a large crowd of people and constantly worrying that someone would try some shoplifting. Here, the clientele was very exclusive. The latest fashions, the most expensive gadgets, the largest bank accounts. And the large pay check at the end of the week certainly made things a bit sweeter. Smiling politely, Gregory pointed out to a new customer the different jewels and gems on sale. The lady was hooked by a ring with a grape-sized diamond and etched in thin lines of gold. A winning smile from him, a great sales pitch, and the customer left 20,000 dollars lighter and yet a hundred times happier. Smiling to himself, Gregory moved onto the next customer.

Just then, a new person entered the store. And the chatter stopped as suddenly as if a corpse had flopped in. The figure before them was thin and malnourished, wearing drab and frayed clothing. His boots were practically grey, the leather wrinkled like elephant skin. His pants were crisscrossed with patches and stitching, flopping around his boots. And his leopard-print jacket had faded so much that the spots had almost disappeared, and was clearly three sizes too big.

Gregory blanched. Royal Treasures was just as well known for its clientele as it was for its wares. A man like this poisoned the entire store just with his presence. Even as he watched, he saw several customers wrinkle their noses, and move to leave. Panicking slightly, he rushed around his counter to stand in their way. "There's no need to leave." He said quietly. "Our store deals exclusively with people like your good selves. Just give me a moment to sort out this dreadful mess." And taking a deep breath, he turned around to the vagrant standing in the doorway. "Excuse me sir." He said loudly. "But I'm afraid that this store is too expensive for you. I'll have to ask you to…"

The man stood up straighter, revealing his face to Gregory. His skin was clammy and pales, veins standing out everywhere. A small ragged white beard hung from his chin, framing pointed teeth. Curiously, his hood bulged a lot above his head. Something about his appearance made Gregory stop talking. He knew he should be removing this man, but… why? He… he belonged here. Yes, this man obviously belonged here. He was clearly wealthy enough. He could almost hear the crowd relax, and the everyone went back to what they were doing. Gregory felt a strong urge to smile widely at the man. The man smiled back, and he felt like he had to smile even more. His jaw muscles were almost snapping from how big his smile was. The man smiled even wider, and turned away. Gregory felt himself relax suddenly and his face ached. Taking deep breaths, Gregory moved back behind the counter, eager to get on with his day. He started making a sale to a regular. A very wealthy man and his needy wife, always in to buy a new accessory. She was interested in the pride of their store, a necklace with a massive jewel. Easily as big as an egg. He was just about to finish the sale when it felt like something was digging into his skull. The lady's voice grated on his nerves, making his skin crawl. His vision was turning red, and the blood was pounding in his ears. Arguments were getting heated, and the room felt smaller. The wife fired off a foul curse, and he immediately punched her in the face everyone broke out into a brawl, throwing each other to the ground and smashing faces through glass. His customer snarled at Gregory, and he responded by jumping over the counter. He crashed into the man, and wrapped his hands around his neck. He hated him; he hated this man for as long as he knew him. He hated his tie, he hated his face, he hated his weak behaviour. He pulled away one arm and started punching him, ignoring the fighting around him…

And ignoring the strange man watching all this, grinning even as his hood seemed pulsated.


Rising Boston hero Lucky Luke grimaced as he exited the PRT truck, glad his expression was hidden behind his bandana. He hadn't heard all the details yet, but apparently this was going to be nasty, even by Protectorate standards. Flanked by a couple of PRT officers like an honour guard, he ducked under the police tape and approached the officer in charge.

"Glad to see a hero joining in." The office said. "I think this might be a bit outside our capabilities. It looks… Well, it's a horror film in there."

"Good think I watched a lot of them when I was young. I don't scare so easily." Lucky Luke replied, trying to appear braver than he really was. "Let's have a gander." As they entered the sight, he took a glance at the sign on the front of the store. Just their luck that one of the most expensive shops in the city got caught up in a murder spree.

Inside, he had to stop and catch his breath as he took in the scene. About 13 people in total, dead. Carved up by glass, bones broken, and piled up together. He stepped over one pile, the two customers' limbs tangled together. Glass crackled under his boots.

He glanced at another pile; a staff member, lying on top of another man. "So, any ideas what happened here? Did a Brute come marching in here?"

"Um, we don't think so. In fact, as far as our initial findings show… these people killed each other."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "They all started killing each other? Over fancy rings and necklaces? I know people can kill for things, but I can't see anyone actually killing each other like this."

"Neither did we. So we thought to have a look at the CCTV." He leaded the way into the back offices, where a series of screens were arranged around a room. Right now, they all showed police and PRT searching through the debris. The officer sat down at the desk, tapping away at the console. One camera dominated the screen, before rewinding to earlier that day. The dead people were walking around, happy and oblivious. Then, what looked like a hobo walked in.

Luke leaned in. "Don't recall seeing him amongst the bodies."

"Good eye. We didn't either. But at least we know why." He unpaused the video. Sped it up until people started fighting. They watched as everyone started bashing each other, tearing each other apart. And during all the fighting, the hobo just stood in the eye of the storm. Untouched by the fighting. And after everyone had finished dying, he walked out to the back rooms. Came out with cash. And walked out the door, like nothing even happened.

The officer stopped the tape. "So, our hobo walked in the store, somehow convinced the clerk to let him stay, and then barely 10 minutes after he shows up everyone goes rabid and murders each other."

"Probably some kind of Master. Emotion control. Rack up everyone's aggression until they snap. And he's not in this for the money. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold and precious gems, and he just goes after the contents of the safe?"

"He's doing this… for the thrill of it?" The officer sounded sick. "Oh god. Not again."

"Yeah. He's trying to be a one-man Slaughterhouse 9." Luke replied grimly. He had only been a kid when the last one had been around, but he had heard all the stories about them. The stuff of nightmares, the monsters in the closet, the new millennial Rippers. And then they made the mistake of pissing off the wrong monster and were wiped out entirely. That was probably the first act that solidified Zeus's credentials as one of the strongest villains around.

"Wh-Wh-Wha do we do? I… Slaughterhouse 9 is too much for us. We need…"

"First thing is to get a grip." Luke interrupted the officer's panicking. "He's not S9. He's just some insane lunatic that thinks he is. Put out an All-Points Bulletin on this guy. Get everyone looking for him. And when we find him, we should take him out with a sniper. If we keep far enough away, his powers shouldn't be as effective on us."

"I… Yes sir."

"Good. And maybe we can finally move the bodies. Give some people some closure." And with that, he headed back outside. He couldn't do anything here in a broken shop. His skills were in stopping psychopaths like this guy, not cleaning up. He needed to be out there, looking for this guy. He headed for the van, ready to head back to HQ and get the search started.

He was surprised as the PRT officers that had arrived with him jumped in the van like someone had kicked them in. The wheels were spinning before the back doors had fully closed. He had to brace himself to stop himself from flying.

He bit back a curse. "What the hell?" He called out, struggling to his seat and buckling in. "What's going on?"

"Sorry sir. We just got another call. There's a mass suicide going on downtown." One of the officers replied.

"What kind of mass suicide? Are they drinking something? Falling over dead? Give me some details."

"Jumping. We've got people jumping off a skyscraper. Just lining up for it, acting way too orderly about it. Like they're robots or something."

Robots? People were just marching off like they were being ordered too? Or were they being…?

He groaned as everything clicked. He knew exactly what was going on.

"Send word out to all officers at the scene. We are dealing with a parahuman here, Master 7 at least. Has the power to affect people's emotions. Get a helicopter in the air and look for a man in a jaguar coat. Lethal force is authorised." The officers glanced at each other, but didn't say anything. After Zeus took over Brockton Bay and other villains took advantage of the Protectorate's weakened state, heroes were given permission to authorise kill orders if they felt it was necessary.

"Understood sir."


Their van arrived just in time to see five people hit the pavement at over 40 miles per hour. Blood and guts splattered everywhere. And from the number of bodies, they hadn't been the first.

Luke jumped out as soon as he could, running across the road for a command centre hastily set up opposite the skyscraper. He passed by teams carrying nets and trampolines, everyone rushing as fast as they could to save as many lives as they could. Inside the centre, he found the officer on duty. Along with Boston Protectorate leader Gaia. The green-haired woman was watching a live feed, showing Wind Turbine and Stratosphere trying to catch people out of the air. But it was obvious that there were just too many people to save.

Luke cleared his throat. "You uh… you got my message?" He asked. He always felt nervous around Gaia now. Probably because they had a thing when they were younger, and he may have cheated on her once.

Gaia barely looked up. "We did, thank you. Chopper's incoming with a sniper. ETA…" She glanced at the officer with her.

"Two minutes and closing." He replied.

"Two minutes? They'll all be dead by the time it arrives. We need to get someone in position right now." Luke said, nearly shouting. The sight of those bodies everywhere freaked him out. This wasn't what he wanted to see today. "Give me a rifle. I'll get onto the next roof over and blow his brains out."

"By the time you get into position, the helicopter will already be here. You can't go any faster than that." The officer answered.

"Stratosphere could…"

"She's busy catching people and lowering them to the ground." Gaia interrupted. "If we take her away to get you in position, then we'll lose even more people." She finally looked up; looked him in the eye. "I know you want to help. But there's nothing else we can do right now. Our first warning was when the bodies started falling. Just take a deep breath, calm down, and help any way you can." She turned back to the officer, asking if any big plants had been delivered yet. Luke stormed out of the tent.

He knew she was right. Those skyscrapers were so tall that getting to the top of any adjacent tower would take at least three minutes or so by elevator. And that's assuming it was already on the ground floor. But he still was just so pissed off. He wanted to stop this, he wanted to save lives. His powers weren't good at catching people. They were good at stopping villains. And right now, he was in a position where he couldn't do either.

Screw it. He wasn't giving up just yet. Determined to peg the sonovabitch, he hurried off to the armoury. Grabbed a sniper rifle and a grappling line. Ran to a building tall enough for him to see the people on the roof. And sheer luck allowed him to find an elevator ready to go.

When he exited onto the roof, he found the helicopter already circling, just like he was told. A sniper hung out the side, rifle at the ready. Luke tapped into the comms, ready for a status update.

"This is Zulu Delta Niner. Target has been acquired." The helicopter crew reported. "Having some mechanical error though. Stick's a little sticky, over."

Luke tapped his comms. "Delta Niner, this is Lucky Luke. I have an eye on your bird. Swoop to your left and circle round. That should give your sniper the angle he needs, over."

"Roger that Lucky Luke. Circling now, over." The helicopter tilted slightly, veering off left and moving forward. The sniper had a perfect view of the parahuman and his victims. He readied his rifle, moved to squeeze the trigger…

An air conditioning unit suddenly ripped away from its base, hovering between the sniper and the villain. The bullet still punched through it, but the mass caused it to veer off course. It missed completely.

"Tango not down. Repeat, Tango not down. Has Striker powers, telekinetic, over." More bits of metal orbited the villain, creating some kind of protective barrier. The sniper fired again, but his round was deflected again. This time into a person.

Luke fired up his comms. "Sniper, watch your targets! There's civilians in there, goddammit!" He shouted angrily.

"What's the point?"

Luke started. "Excuse me?"

"They're all gonna die anyway. Falling, choking, getting hit by some fucking freak. The world's nothing but a pile of shit." The sniper said morosely. Luke could only watch as the helicopter listed sideways, barely straightening out. "We should just put everyone out of their misery."

"Command." That was the pilot. Sounding as if he was fighting something. "He's not what he appears to be. He's not an empath."

Gaia's voice sounded. "Report, pilot. What have you found out?"

"He's… He's in my head. Whispering things at me. Telling me what to do. I can't… I can't control my arms anymore." The helicopter started drifting downwards. Towards the people still falling. The sniper muttered something about how it was all futile, right before he jumped out. "I… I think… he's a…"

Then the man went silent. His bird moved right into position. The next set of jumpers were instantly blended by his blades.

Cursing loudly, Luke readied his sniper rifle. Found the villain, orbited by debris. Blood dripping from his nose. Snarling, Luke pulled the trigger. And like before, instead of his head being turned into the mist, debris blocked the bullet. Ricocheting it.

But this guy didn't know Luke's powers. PRT had him figured for a Blaster/Thinker hybrid. His bullets didn't behave like regular bullets. As long as he had a target in his sights, he could still hit them.

The bullet bounced off the roof, skidding off a piece of metal before bouncing again and going through the villain's hood. But the bastard ducked at the just the right time, his barrier dropping. His hood was torn away by the force, flapping against his back. And when he got back up, Luke could see how his skull curved back, like a banana.

A Master with emphatic powers, telekinetic control over items, and can forcibly take control of human beings. With a giant skull, and therefore a giant brain. This wasn't a Master. This was something impossible.

A genuine psychic.

"Yes, Mr Harvard." A voice sounded in his head. "A psychic. Which means that I know every action you will take." The crowd of people stopped marching off the roof; turning back and surrounding the psychic. "You care about these ants. Enough that it pains you when I hurt them." His arms started shaking, and a spike of pain ran through his brain. Against his will, he felt his finger tighten on the trigger. "How much will it hurt to know that you were the one that killed these people? How many rounds will it take to kill everyone here?"

Luke snarled. The only person dying today was the bastard in the middle. Laughter filled his head. The man thought this was funny. He probably felt safe and secure. His finger tightened fully, and the rifle fired. The bullet went flying, straight for the heart of a businessman.

But Luke's power curved the flight path. The bullet curved past the man's shoulder, wormed its way through the crowd, before hitting the roof on an angle. Instead of going upwards away from the crowd, it ricocheted nearly 180 degrees, bouncing off… something, before twisting again and passing through the crowd again, covered in blood. The crowd dropped to the ground, showing the psychic writhing on the ground. Luke didn't waste a moment as he felt his body return to his control. He fired again.

The psychic propelled an air conditioner unit into himself, sending him skidding. But as he got to his feet and ran, the bullet bounced off after him. Just missing before bouncing back around again. It was going to keep going until it got him. The psychic jumped down the stairwell, and the bullet followed him. Luke sighed in relief as he watched him go, glad that no one else was dying today. With shaky hands, he tapped into his comms.

"All units. Target is a psychic. I repeat, target is a fucking psychic. He can hear your thoughts and get into your head. Hunt him down, and end him. Over."


Back in Brockton Bay, Dana was looking at the canvas Alex had set up for himself. One of three. The first was a perfect replica of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, probably exact in every detail. Dana was willing to bet that even the best art critic wouldn't be able to tell the two apart. The next one was… not so good.

She pointed at it. "So, what exactly am I looking at here?" She asked. The second artwork was a mess of colours, like Alex had just grabbed cartons and thrown them at the canvas. Alex shrugged, arms crossed.

"I tried something different. My lessons told me that one can express themselves by painting whatever comes to mind, or even just throwing ideas at the wall. I… may have taken it a bit literally."

"Mmhmm. So, what comes to mind when you see this?"

"…Painting is confusing."

Got it. And what about this one? What does it say?" She pointed at the final canvas. Well, calling it a canvas was being generous. It was a mess of colours and slashes. It was like Alex decided to toss in a few chainsaws while he was at it.

"It says that I hate painting. And having to express myself."

"Oh. Yeah. I see it now." They both gazed at the ravaged painting before glancing at each other. "Sooo… Not painting?"

"Not painting." The artwork dissolved into biomass, turning back into the walls and floors.

"Ok then. We'll just try another hobby."


Legend floated down from the skies above New York to gaze upon the trail of destruction before him. He hadn't heard about it on any official channels, but it was the kind of trail that's a little hard to miss. And it was seeing destruction like this that made him hate having to be out of contact while with Cauldron. Spotting Aegis at the entrance, he floated down to the ground. And grimaced. Aegis looked like he got hit by a lawnmower. Parts of him were still inflating. The younger man turned as Legend landed.

"Legend." He wheezed.

"Hello Aegis. Sorry I wasn't here earlier. I was out of the country for a meeting." Legend replied. He turned around to look at the damage. A trench dug through the city, a solid straight line out to the other side. "What happened exactly?"

"Parahuman. We're putting him at a Brute 9, Breaker 4. Goes by the name of Unstoppable." Aegis explained.

"Is that what his power is? Being unstoppable?" They both headed into the trench, following its path. Legend spotted footprints imbedded into the ground.

"We think so. Once he starts moving, he shifts into a state that causes kinetic energy to be reflected and anything he hits to give way under his blows. But it's only really strong from the front. From any other direction, it's just stopped."

"Turning himself into a human wrecking ball." Legend noted, stopping before a hole in a wall. It was slightly bigger than the two of them, but vaguely human-shaped. "So anything that hits him from the front gets reflected back, and anything that gets in his way is smashed?"

"Or pushed aside or pummelled. That's what happened to me. I tried to punch him, and he knocked me down and trampled me."

"Makes me wish I had been reachable. Maybe we could've stopped him."

"Don't know for certain. But we do know he's not unbeatable." Aegis smiled, showing missing teeth. "I hit him from behind, thinking that maybe I could punch him into submission. I managed to make him stumble and fall over. I made him bleed. And then he got moving again and was unbeatable again."

"So he needs to stay in motion to be unstoppable. Makes sense, actually. If he's stopped, then he's not unstoppable." He glanced upward, saw someone smeared against a wall above them. "What was his motive? Was he after anything, like gold or something?"

"Nothing. We think he just wanted to destroy for the sake of it." Aegis paused, biting his lip. "Boston had something similar. A real psychic, making people kill themselves. Do you think we might be dealing with…?"

"Another Slaughterhouse? It's hard to say with any certainty right now, but I think they might. We've had parahumans murdering people everywhere right now. And the people doing it would've fit right in with the old group." He took deep breath. "We should get the word out. That these people are highly dangerous, and need to be killed on sight. We've got enough trouble with Endbringers and morale. The last thing we need is another S9 running amok."

"Yes sir. But uh… I have a suggestion sir." Aegis said. He glanced around furtively before leaning in close. "Why don't we set things up so that they clash with Zeus instead?"

Legend gave him a look. "Are you suggesting this so that we don't risk our lives stopping these monsters? Or because you think they might actually kill him? Because we can't, in either cases."

"Am I allowed to ask why? It's just that after seeing friends die to that…" Aegis took a deep breath. "I just don't like losing people sir."

Legend put a hand on his shoulder. "Nobody does, Aegis. But trying to get Zeus to do our dirty work isn't going to work out in the long run. We can't really get thee people to head to Brockton Bay, so that would mean luring Zeus out here, where he'd be fighting them amongst innocent people. If Zeus kills them, then he gets their powers for himself. And what would people say when they see that Zeus has taken out S9 twice? He'd end up in a better position than before, and we'd look even weaker. But if we stop S9, then people will remember that it was the heroes that saved the day. And it shows that we aren't going to kowtow to every would-be dictator and tyrant with a strong power."

"And then could we take Brockton Bay back?"

"One step at a time Aegis. We'll deal with the most immediate threats first. Zeus hasn't really done much else for the last few years. Maybe he actually is just happy with one city." He turned away and started floating away. "The world isn't as black and white as we like it to be. Sometimes to make sure things are good, you have to let some bad people get away with bad things. If we keep a cool head on our shoulders though, we'll win eventually. Understood?"

"Y-Yes sir." Aegis grunted. But their conversation made Legend think. Even though Cauldron were 'employing' Mercer, they didn't actually have a clue what he was doing. He could be creating more strains.

Or worse.


Deep in Mount Olympus, a man with brown hair and dressed in a knight's armour stood beneath a balcony, a fair maiden in a dress high above. The man knelt on one knee, an arm raised up towards her.

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, that thou her maid art far more fair then she; be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green and none but fools do wear it; cast it off." The handsome knight crooned. The woman fluttered her eyes.

From the seating below the stage, a lone woman threw popcorn at the man. "What did you say to her?" Dana yelled.

The man stood up and rolled his eyes. "Do I have to repeat the entire verse?" Alex asked, annoyed. "I was definitely loud enough."

"No. I meant 'what did all that bullshit even mean'?"

Alex stopped, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Juliet's as beautiful as the sun, and the moon's jealous of her?" He guessed.

"Oh really? I thought you were saying her dress made her look ugly and she should get naked."

"There's that option too." He saw Dana roll her eyes and heard her sigh.

"Cut." She groaned. The stage, the seating, and Juliet all melted away, the room returning to an empty box, the two of them alone. "This… isn't working." She sighed.

"Of course it isn't. Art requires passion, skill, interest. I've only got one of those things." Alex growled. Then he made a seat for them both and sat down, moping. Dana pulled out a list, and crossed another item off it.

"Ok then. So theatre's a complete bust. So was painting. And filming. And I still don't know how you went from photography to arson."

"I got frustrated."

"And so you smashed a car."

"What's next on the list?" Alex asked, hoping to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"What's next, what's next? There's competitive gaming. Your reflexes would let you clear the board… Actually, maybe not. The online community's like 90 percent griefers, trolls and assholes. You'd listen to them for five seconds before you start hunting them down." Another item crossed off. "Pottery maybe? Do something with your hands? Or how about glassworks? You like making things with your hands. This could be a chance to make something other than gore."

"That's what you said about painting too."

"Fine, Mr Killjoy. No pottery or glasswork." Another item off the list. "I'm just going to say some ideas aloud, so don't bother trying to answer them just yet." She started pacing. "Construction? Nah. You've done enough of that already. You could just become one of your beasts if you ever got the urge to build more buildings. Inventing? I mean, this world is way too much like ours in terms of technology given all the super powers and Tinkers. Where's the jetpacks? Where's the hovercars? Why am I not living on Mars and poking aliens up the ass with a laser gun?"

"Tinker technology…"

"I know Tinker technology is impossible to replicate without Tinker powers. But still… there should be something. Before we took over, I had to look up at the Protectorate tower just to remind myself that we're on another fucking planet." She turned to Alex. "Well?"

"I got a degree in genetics, not engineering. And most of the people I consumed hunting down Gentek were the same. In real life, just because you're smart doesn't mean you can be a genius in every scientific branch out there." He explained.

"So… You don't know how to build a hover car?"

"I don't even know how to build a regular car." Dana sighed, flopping backwards. A chair rose to catch her, moulding around her body. She glanced at her list again.

"What about sports?" She asked.

"Sports? Like biking, running, basketball and football?"

"Yeah. What do you think about it?"

"I think I'd immediately get kicked out for performance-enhancing powers. And for being a dictator. Besides, where's the challenge in outpacing humans? I could score a goal before they even start moving. I could smash through the opposing team if I wanted to, or just throw the ball to the other end of the field."

"Alright, alright. It was just a suggestion. So much for gambling." She glanced down at the list, puffing out her cheeks. "Ok Alex. We've gone down this whole list, and nothing has interested you. There's only one thing left, and I want you to promise me that you'll say yes."

"I thought you told me to never say yes until I hear what I'm agreeing to." Alex replied. "But fine. What is it?

"College."

Alex blinked. "You want me – a guy who can learn anything by eating the right person – to go back to college?

"Think of it as a self-imposed challenge. Instead of just consuming someone who put a shitload of effort into learning something, you do the effort yourself. You can motivate yourself to learn everything you can about whatever subject we agree on. You get to hang out with people, assuming you ever get the crazy urge to finally socialise."

"Don't hold your breath. I distinctly remember my fraternity being nothing but pranks and goofing off. And one guy who thought the resident nerd would've been an easy target."

"You never told me about that. How many teeth did he have left?"

"Plenty. I just broke both his legs after he burned my thesis. Shot his dreams of ever being a star football player. He and I never crossed paths ever again." Alex paused. "Mostly because when I was 20 he found me and tried to run me over. I managed to escape, made him crash his car, grabbed the gun he was waving and shot him in the head. Turned out that Gentek paid good money for new bodies to test on."

"So that's why Gentek paid a lawyer for you." Dana chuckled. "Well, promise me you won't at least kill anybody this time."

"I haven't even agreed to this yet."

"Come on Alex. I've been working my ass off to find you a hobby. The least you can do is fucking give it a try." Alex looked up at her, and at her fierce determination. He sighed.

"What should I get a degree in?" He asked.


Yeah, so we've now got a psychic in the Wormverse. I know that Wildbow says that psychics don't actually exist, but Dymian pointed out a good point. The biggest argument in canon against psychics is that they'd need huge brains to process all the information they receive, and probably to project their thoughts. But Taylor controls millions of bugs, and can have groups doing dozens of different things at once. That would also require a huge brain to process all that information. And yet her head is perfectly normal. So maybe psychics are actually possible.

And we see a few new heroes that sprung up over the years. Gaia is pretty much their Poison Ivy. Someone who can control and affect plants. She's like a Tinker, except that she doesn't need equipment to affect the plants. Wind Turbine is an aerokinetic. Or an Airbender if you prefer. He usually creates blasts of air to blow people away. Stratosphere is a flier that can move pretty fast and can go pretty high up. She can't leave the planet, but she can still go far. And Lucky Luke has improbable ballistics as a power, along with a slightly enhanced physical capability. He won't be wrestling people or running up buildings, but he's officially the fastest gun in Boston.

And finally, yes, we might see Alex going to College under new identities. I'm just going to spoil things and admit right now that his college days aren't going to be smooth. If we see him, he probably going to end up involved in stuff.

So see you guys next time (Whenever the hell that might end up being).

Edit: A fan named Darksider1073 sent me a PM suggesting that I perhaps bring Cole MacGrath over into the Shardsverse. I've had a couple of ideas for Cole, simply because he could be good or evil, and given the number of complaints last time I introduced another crossover character, I decided I would check with you guys about it first.

So, should I bring in another crossover character? And if so, should it be Cole from Infamous, or Delsin from Second Son? Give me your thoughts, and really make it clear how you feel. If lots of people aren't keen on the idea, then please let me know before I write him in. Thank you.