A Bad Choice

When I filled out a CYOA out of boredom, I never expected a ROB to take that as an invitation and drop me in it. Oh god, I really should have picked something that made me harder to kill! To make matters worse, I wasn't just dropped in, oh no, now I have the god damn Nazi's chasing me for my powers!

And we're back. As you can probably tell, this story won't be a crossover, although I can't be arsed to go back and change anything, so Theo still has a blue haired friend called Sayaka. She won't be a big part. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 3

Apparition is...an interesting experience. Its a useful trick, but hardly the most comfortable. The first time I used it, I ended up bent over in Kaydens living room, trying to keep from tossing my cookies as my step-mother came pelting out of her bedroom, hands lit up and ready at the loud sound. At the sight of me gasping for breath, she slowly lowered her hands. The fact I was now feeling the after affects of my first 'fight', which was against the heavy hitters of one of the strongest gangs in the city certainly didn't help.

"Theo? How did you…"

"Hang...on…." I gasped, holding up a hand.

After a couple more seconds, I managed to regain my breath and straightened.

"THAT was unpleasant," I said, "I think I need to practice with that…"

I smiled at Kayden as she let her light fade now that she was sure I wasn't an invader.

"Sorry for just popping in, but I was in a bit of a rush," I said.

"Thats...fine," said Kayden, "What happened? And since when can you teleport?"

I sighed and dropped into the sofa behind me.

"My powers are...a little different than most," I said, "It may seem like I have a lot of different, completely unrelated ones, but I actually only have three. My Elemental Manipulation, my Dragon Form and an ability that allows me to manipulate an esoteric form of energy to perform all kinds of feats. Like this."

I waved a hand and the coffee table turned into a tiger. Kayden yelped and jumped about a foot in the air as the big cat yawned, showing off a mouth full of impressive dentition. Another wave turned it back into a table.

"Don't do that again," growled Kayden as she returned to her seat.

"Sorry," I said, although my unrepentant grin probably didn't do anything to convince her of my sincerity, "Oversized pets aside though, I'd actually like to try something."

"What are you planning?" asked Kayden.

I scowled.

"I've slapped Max down enough that we'll likely have some time, but I have no doubt that he'll try something soon enough," I said, "I'm worried that he might do something stupid like outing you. With that in mind, I'd like to use my power to make sure that no one will ever be able to connect Kayden Russel to Purity. I intend to do the same with my powers as well, but your the one I need to do it with as soon as possible."

Kayden frowned.

"What will it do?" she asked.

I remained silent for a moment, trying to think of a way to state it without sounding crazy.

"Well, basically it will create a Stranger affect that will mean that the only way someone can find out that your Purity is if you tell them directly," I said, "Any written versions of the information will be rendered unreadable to anyone not in on the secret and anyone who knows simply won't be able to remember the information, although they will know that they knew it. Even if they are later told the Secret, they won't be able to pass it on because they won't be Secret Keepers."

Kayden stared at me for a moment, eyes wide.

"That...sounds almost to good to be true," she said, "How is that even possible?"

I shrugged.

"How do you fly around and blow people up with energy blasts?" I asked, "Powers are weird."

"That they are," muttered Kayden.

She sat still for a moment, staring down at her hands, before she looked up and in the direction of her room where Aster was asleep in her cot. Then, she nodded.

"Alright, I trust you," she said, "Lets see if your little trick works as advertised."

I nodded and stood, indicating for Kayden to do the same. I snapped my fingers and my wand came shooting out of my room and slapped into my palm.

"Easier to use this than my ring," I said, "Now, I need you to focus on the fact that you're Purity. Hold the fact in your mind to the exclusion of everything else."

Kayden nodded and closed her eyes. After a moment, she nodded and I raised my wand. I tapped her once on the forehead, then on the heart and then waved my wand in a smooth circle around her head.

"Commendo isto," I intoned, "Clauditis Auferetur!"

My magic surged, surrounding both Kayden and I in pure, white light, before it was suddenly sucked into Kayden's chest. There was a loud clunk and I felt the Fidelius settle into place. As the Caster, I was exempt from the wipe, but not from being unable to divulge the secret. That remained solely with the Secret Keeper.

With the spell complete, I lowered my wand and let out a long breath. The complexity and power requirements of casting the charm were proportional to the number of people who knew the secret you were attempting to seal. Thats why buildings and areas of land tend to be more difficult to hide since anyone who walked past them knew about them, even if it was just subconsciously. With Purity's identity though, it was limited to the Capes of the E88 and, likely Coil and some of his minions, so casting the spell was a lot easier. Still draining though.

"There, done," I said, "I'm exempt as the caster, but anyone else will need to be told the Secret."

Kayden nodded, a slightly odd look on her face.

"That...felt strange," she said.

Then she shook her head and refocused.

"Speaking of strange, a delivery came for you while you were out," she said.

I tilted my head on one side.

"Whats strange about that?" I asked, "I know I've lost my memory, but couldn't past me have ordered something?"

"Not without a credit card you...he?...you couldn't," said Kayden, "Besides, why would you order an old steam trunk?"

"Huh?"

I followed Kayden into my room and stared down at the large trunk sitting innocently in the middle of the room with a key taped to the top. Other than being utterly out of place, it looked like a perfectly ordinary trunk with a crest that resembled some kind of lizard head on the lid above seven keyholes.

"I...have no idea what this is," I said as I picked up the key.

I slipped it into the first lock and opened it, revealing...a perfectly normal compartment.

"Well, that was...underwhelming," said Kayden as I shut the trunk.

"Yeah...I guess it was," I muttered, eyeing the other keyholes.

Something told me that I didn't want to try those with Kayden in the room. Fortunately, at that moment, Aster woke up and started screaming.

"Guess shes hungry," said Kayden as she left the room.

As soon as the door shut, I shot a locking spell at the door, getting a soft squelching sound in return, and turned back to the trunk.

"Alright, lets see what you're hiding," I muttered as I slipped the key into the second lock and lifted the lid, "HOLY COW!"

The reason for the exclamation was that, when I opened the second compartment, it revealed an utterly vast storeroom with racks and racks of metal shelves full of jars, boxes, bolts of cloth, rolls of leather and more. It was also apparently exempt from the laws of physics as the room extended downwards from myperspective, but the shelves were perpendicular to the floor.

"Thats...not normal," I said, "Even for Tinkertech."

I shut the trunk again and opened it with the third keyhole. This time, I was met by the sight of what looked like a wizards lab, complete with large amounts of esoteric glasswork, a cauldron and a number of shelves full of books. The next couple of keyholes revealed a training room with sparing mats, dummies, mirrors and a good number of exercise machines, while the next had a massive library, the sixth held a medical bay and the last one contained what looked like a fully furnished flat.

"Huh...thats...handy?" I said.

I had no idea where this had come from. None of my choices could possibly have resulted in this appearing out of nowhere, although it was clearly a Wizarding trunk. I slowly reached into the portal, before taking a deep breath and jumping in...only for the world to abruptly rotate 90 degrees and dump me flat on my back just inside the door.

"Ow."

I got to my feet and turned back to the door, only to be greeted by the extremely peculiar sight of my bedroom ceiling directly overhead. Right, need to stand this thing vertically to use it properly.

I turned my attention back to the comfortable sitting room, scanning the room for anything that could give me a hint where the Trunk had come from. The room was done in Gryffindor colours (and I'm not entirely sure if that was due to my nature or not), with a thick, red carpet, cheery yellow wallpaper that somehow didn't look tacky and an overstuffed lounge set around the fireplace, consisting of a large sofa, a loveseat, an armchair and a rather large wingback chair, all bound in red and gold fabric. The coffee table and side tables around the chairs were made of a dark, varnished wood, as was the bookshelves, glass fronted cabinets and other surfaces around the room. The surfaces were tastefully decorated with nick nacks that looked like the sort of things I'd pick up given half the chance. The room was lit by a mixture of the fireplace and a few lamps that burned with a strange, smokeless lanterns that just seemed to hold balls of light. A few doors led out of the room, but I was a lot more interested in the letter sat conspicuously in the middle of the coffee table addressed to me. With my Fanfiction handle.

I snatched up the letter and opened it, yanking out the parchment (really going for the Harry Potter theme, aren't they?) inside and scanning it.

Dear Mr Lexic,

Or should that be Mr Anders now? Well, no matter, all that matters is that you are where you need to be and are reading this letter. As you might be able to guess, I am the ROB that dropped you into the Worm-verse. However, despite what you might think, it wasn't out of malicious intent or simple amusement. The truth is, I, like many of my brethren, simply like to make things interesting and better for the worlds of you 3 dimensional beings. I chose you because, well, your character seemed the most interesting out of all of the many created every day in your and all other versions of your world.

However, there was a slight issue that you didn't think of. Many of the Harry Potter elements would be difficult to fully use without resources. You were lucky that you gained a form that allowed you to craft a Focus, or you'd have been at a massive disadvantage. With that in mind, I've modified your CYOA to give you Resources. Unfortunately, since I had to follow the same rules contained within it, the S9 now want to recruit you when they come to town. Sorry about that! On the up side, I had some friends of mine make you this amazing Trunk! They do excellent work and I'm sure it'll serve you well. Plus, it'll get a chuckle out of the readers of this story.

Good luck. Your gonna need it.

ROB.

PS, only you can read this letter.

PPS, try not to break the fourth wall to badly!

I went white as I finished reading the letter and exactly what the ROB had done sank in. The worst thing was, it was 100% correct. Without supplies, I truly was limited to what I could do with the HP information in my head. Hell, the fact I was able to make a Focus that worked as well as mine did was nothing short of a miracle! Still, the idea of having the fucking NINE after me was god damn terrifying, especially when you consider that I already have enough skills to make Jack very interested in me. I wasn't naive enough to believe that I'd never be pushed to far enough to be forced into using some of my more dark skills. I hoped I wouldn't be, but I wouldn't be holding my breath.

I sighed and headed back out of the Trunk, using Airbending to flip back to my feet rather than hit the floor. A wave of my hand had the trunk lifting up and floating over to a free patch of wall where I lent it against the wall and stuck it in place with a Sticking Charm. I paused, then layered a few Notice Me Not charms around it to keep anyone from noticing the Trunk, making sure to key Kayden to it. I could just leave it, but she already knew it was a thing and so the charms would likely have some odd affects on her.

With that done, I headed out of my room in search of food and, after an enjoyable meal and spending some time amusing Aster (who incidentally is the most adorable little girl I'd ever met), I did a quick bit of research to find out where Parians shop was located and when it opened. What? I've got a lot of different skills, but Magical fashion is not one of them. I could unlock it, but it'd be a lot easier to just have the expert do it. Plus, I'd love to see what she could do with the Acromantula silk and Dragon hide I'd found in my Trunk.

Yeah, apparently the Resources perk manifested as a frankly obscene amount of stuff in the Trunks storeroom, enough that I probably wouldn't be able to use it all in 100 lifetimes. A cursory look revealed the previously mentioned fabrics, enough ingredients to make a Potions Master drool, Dragon parts, every type of Wand core imaginable and the woods to go with it, massive crates of precious and semi-precious stones, gold, silver, platinum and more and even a chamber full of bricks of money from all over the world, including Wizarding money. I'd even found a stack of deeds and keys to homes all over the world under the names of a number of characters from the Wizarding world, ranging from the Potter Mansion in Wales, to a house under the name Goldstein in New York. Hell, I even had the Riddle House, 12 Grimmauld Place and the goddamn Hogwarts castle itself! That perk is utterly bullshit. As an added bonus, all my properties were linked with an internal Floo network that was also hooked into my Trunks fireplace.

Oh, and I also apparently had both Azkaban and Nurmengard, both of which were set up as prisons, presumably in case I ever needed to lock someone up myself. I really hope there aren't any Dementors floating around, although quite how that would be possible, I don't know. Still, sticking someone in a massive fortress in the middle of the ice cold north sea or half way up a mountain in the middle of nowhere would make escaping rather difficult, especially since both were apparently surrounded by a perpetual storm that made approach nearly impossible.


With my inspection of my (ridiculously extensive) assets done, and after casting a Fidelius on my identity as a Cape, I settled in to think about what I needed to do and what I wanted to do. I had three days before Taylor would meet Lung and the Undersiders, so I'd need to decide if I wanted to help with that or not. Despite what many people who wrote SI fics did, I didn't think that helping the Undersiders directly would be needed. After all, none of them had issues that were immediately pressing, other than Coil, who I'd be tossing into Azkaban anyway. Oh, I'd probably recruit them at some point, they were very good at what they did after all, but they wouldn't be my main focus. Taylor on the other hand...yeah, she needed help. I would not let her get anywhere close to becoming Skitter, let alone Khepri, and the best way to do that was to put myself forwards as a better option than either the Undersiders or the Protectorate, although I got the distinct impression that that wouldn't be hard.

After that, I'd focus on helping others that needed it. Amy, Dinah and Canary were the three at the top of the list, although I had no idea what I could do for the latter, short of just breaking her out and then hiding her somewhere safe. Or just completely change her appearance with Magic. It wouldn't be hard. However, I wanted to at least try to blow her case wide open, if only so Tagg would get completely fucked over. Dinah would be easy, just provide a Portkey to whisk her away if Coil managed to grab her and tag her with a Tracking charm to find where the snake was holed up. Amy would be a little harder, but providing my services as a Healer to get close enough to her to befriend her and introduce her to more people who could provide more friendship would certainly help. I'd also like to either get her away from Brandish or get the woman to get her head out of her ass, but that was for later. I'd also need to figure out a way to get rid of Victoria's Auras effects on the poor girl.

However, with all that in mind, I wasn't so foolish as to believe I could pull all that off with just one identity, especially with Canary, which would likely require some pretty underhanded moves. I didn't want the PRT to be able to railroad me and turn me into a villain for outing their dirty laundry. Fortunately, I had a ready made method for throwing of suspicion. I could use my Bending for one identity, my Magic for another and, hell, I could even use my Paper Control and potion making skills as a third and fourth. The best way to do it would probably be to pass the potions of as coming from a Tinker specializing in potions of various types who wishes to remain anonymous while providing assistance for my healer identity in the form of medicines and other potions. I probably wouldn't go quite as far as to have more than three though and I doubted I'd be able to keep it up for long.

Fortunately, while they did need to go through the FDA and PRT for testing, Tinkertech that worked was generally approved pretty quick and the FDA apparently had a Tinker working for them who had developed a handy machine that allowed them to cut down on a massive amount of testing, shortening the time from years to weeks. I have no idea how thats possible, but Tinkertech is bullshit. Fortunately, I had some potions in storage, although not an infinite amount like the rest of the ingredients, but enough to hand them over to the hospital for testing. Before that however, I'd need a costume.


The next day, I headed out to the Boardwalk (after assuring Kayden that I'd be fine) with a rucksack I'd enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm (which wasn't actually that hard) with a rather large bolt of Acromantula Silk and a few rolls of Dragon Skin leather from a number of different Dragons, ranging from the black Hungarian Horntail to the rather pretty shade of blue of the Swedish Short Snout. I also had a mask in my pocket I'd made out of a sheet of steel that I'd found in my Trunk and Bent into shape. I'd based it on the White Fang masks from RWBY which, while intended for intimidation, worked fine for what I wanted. Besides, the main reason why they were intimidating in RWBY was because they were based on Grimm, so around here, it was just a cool looking mask.

When I was nearly at Parians store, I ducked into a nearby alley and, after casting a quick Notice-me-not, slipped my mask on, flipped up my hood and ran my hand over my hoodie, changing it from the dark blue it had been to black and red, just in case anyone would recognize it. With that done, I dropped the Ward and headed out, making sure to keep my head down so no one could see my mask.


Pariens shop was located just of the Boardwalk and was a relatively small place. The front room was full of bolts of different coloured cloths and a few mannequins clad in high quality clothes, along with a few racks of premade clothes. A few of the Doll Capes large stuffed animals were scattered around the room, apparently randomly, but I was willing to bet that they had been positioned in such a way that would allow Parian the best advantage in case of an attack. The fact a snake was hung above the door was testament to that.

The shop was currently empty, but I could feel someone moving around in the back through my Seismic Sense who paused at the sound of the bell above the door going off.

"One moment!" called a faintly accented voice from the back room.

A moment later, the door opened and the doll masked Cape emerged. I have to admit, the sight of the porcelain doll mask was rather creepy.

"Good morning," said the other Cape, "What can I do for...you…"

She trailed off as I lifted my head and she caught sight of my mask. Out of the corner of my eye and through my connection to the air, I felt the clothing and fabric in the room start to shift slightly. OK, now that was actually pretty damn intimidating. Attacking Parian here would be right up there with attacking a Tinker in their lab in terms of stupidity.

"Whoa, I'm not here to cause trouble," I said, "I just wanted to see if I could commission you to make me a costume."

Parian relaxed slightly and the fabric stilled.

"You could," she said, "But my work is expensive and, well…"

She eyed me up and down, taking in my slightly worn jeans and scruffy hoody.

"I know and I actually have plenty of money," I said, "However, I also have something here to sweeten the pot."

Parian tilted her head on one side as I shrugged off my bag and opened it. Then, she jerked back slightly as I put my arm in up to the shoulder, despite the fact it was clearly much to small to do so.

"Wha...how did you…?" she spluttered.

"Powers," I said blandly, "However, the bag isn't what I'm offering, although I could make one if you wanted. Its actually this stuff."

I pulled out a bolt of Acromantula silk that was bigger than I was, followed by a few rolls of Dragon Skin. The Fashion Cape quickly overcame her shock and approached, curiously running a hand over the silk.

"This...isn't normal silk," she said.

"Nope," I said, "Its much, much stronger. A t-shirt made of this stuff would be able to take an anti-tank bullet without being penetrated."

I'm pretty sure that Pairans eyes were wide behind her mask.

"Wha...where did you get something like that!?" she spluttered, "Are you a Tinker?"

I smiled and shook my head.

"Nah, I just know people," I said, "I can give you what you'll need to work with it, but I'm sure you can come up with some impressive stuff for your shop."

"I'll say," said Pairan, "What about the other stuff? Some kind of snakeskin?"

My grin only widened.

"Nope, Dragon Hide," I said.

That got me a flat look.

"No, really, thats the best thing to call it," I said, "Its tougher than leather and has properties that let it either absorb or reflect energy."

"That sounds useful," said Parian, looking thoughtful, "How much of this stuff can you get?"

I shrugged.

"How much do you want?"

Parian stared at me.

"I've got piles of this stuff laying around," I said, "But I don't have a use for it. Fashion isn't really something I'm into and I wouldn't even know where to start. You'll get a lot more use out of it than me."

Pairan looked thoughtful for a moment.

"So, all you want is a costume in exchange to access to this stuff?" she asked.

"Well, I might ask for more help later, but yes," I said, "Don't worry, it won't involve fighting, but I might request more costumes."

Parian tilted her head on one side, apparently thinking things over.

"Alright, keep me out of your fights, and you've got a deal," she said at length.

I nodded and offered my hand. Parian eyed it for a moment, before slowly shaking it. I smiled. This was the first step on getting what I needed. I let go of Parian's hand and reached into my bag, pulling out the potions and tools needed for working with Acromantula silk and Dragon Hide as Parian led the way into the back room to get started.


"So, what do you think?" asked Parian as I examined my new outfit in the full length mirror.

Parian is VERY good at what she does. Even working with unfamiliar fabrics and tools, she'd put her power to work, helped along with the few spells I knew that were intended for tailoring or whatever the actual term was, to put together a costume to my specifications within just a couple of hours.

The outfit consisted of a full length, hooded robe-like garment that fell to just below my knees with slits in the front, back and sides, making it more akin to a four tailed coat than anything else, to allow full freedom of movement made of dark red Acromantula silk with dark golden lining, a black, sleeveless jerkin made of Hungarian Horntail skin that matched the boots, which extended up to protect my knees gloves and bracers, the latter of which had a wand holster built in, a belt with pouches I intended to enchant with Extension Charms later and a pair of black silk trousers. Combined with my mask, which was now painted black, I struck a rather striking image. Maybe not the most heroic of images, but a striking one nonetheless.

"Very impressive," I said, "You do excellent work Parian."

"Well, there is a reason why I'm considered the foremost provider of Costumes for Capes," she said, smirk clear in her voice, "Plus, I'd say you've more than earned my best considering what you've given me access to."

She indicated to the fabrics I'd given her.

I smiled and tugged on my hood.

"A pleasure to be of assistance," I said, "Speaking of assistance, if you ever need it, feel free to give me a call."

I pulled a card with the number of the burner phone I'd claimed from Kayden's stash for use in my Heroic identity. Parian took it.

"Thanks," she said, "So, do you have a name yet?"

I grinned.

"Call me Avatar."

And done. You know, I'm sure I got the inspiration for Theo's costume from somewhere, but for the life of me I can't remember where. Oh well, its cool and thats all that matters.

So yeah, the ROB's in fine form here, although at least he's helping...sort of. Plus, he had the decency to warn Theo that the Nine would be gunning for him when they showed up in the future.

If you think Taylor's spider silk costume is a bit implausible, its got nothing on one made from Acromantula silk. Plus, there is a certain amount of logic about the fact that a magical spider the size of a carthorse would have silk thats pretty fucking strong.

Yeah, Resources is OP as hell. To be clear, there isn't a Wizarding world on Bet, its just that, since the Resources was taken mainly for use with his HP based powers, thats what its drawing inspiration from. The only magical elements of his many properties comes from Wards, the Floo and the Magical storms around the prisons, and the fact that they are Unplottable. Hogwarts is full of magic as in the actual HP world, but thats limited to whats actually part of the building itself. There aren't any Magical creatures or anything. No House Elves, no Dementors or anything else. Then again, having some House Elves running around could be rather helpful…

Anyway, I'm gonna leave this here. Next time, Avatar makes his debut by punching Nazi's repeatidly. Don't forget to leave a review!