Danny Hebert was a tall and thin man with a balding head and a weak chin. That was slightly different than what he'd imagined the man to look like.
For some reason, he'd always thought that Danny would be fat. Not to the point where you look down and can't see your own dick but fat in the sense of having a potbelly.
He also thought that Danny would look more intimidating, what with him holding such an important position in the Dock Worker Union.
Danny was anything but intimidating. In fact, the guy was pretty awkward. Or maybe that was just because Danny had no idea about how to deal with an orphaned boy that would now be living in his house.
He turned his gaze away from Danny and looked at Taylor who was standing at the other end of the Living Room, trying to avoid any eye contact.
If Danny looked thin, then Taylor looked like a wind would blow her away. When she mentioned her pencil-thin arms in the web novel, she couldn't have been more correct. Like, where was the meat in those bones?
But despite how thin she looked, Taylor was by no means an ugly frog that she saw herself as. Sure, she was not particularly beautiful by any means and her figure was as flat-as-a-board. But she had a decent face, nice legs, and beautiful hair. Easily a 6 on a 1 to 10 scale.
She could even reach 7 or 8 with some make-up, better clothes, and a smile. But with how fucked up her life has been so far, he couldn't exactly blame her for the dead-eyed look she was currently sporting.
He looked away from her in order to not make her feel uncomfortable and focused on the Living room they were in.
It was… decent. The furniture was old, the floor had a few stains here and there, the walls looked like they hadn't been painted in a decade. But aside from all that, the room looked homely enough. A place where he could live.
With nothing else to do, he finally looked at the 4th person in the room. An elderly stern woman who was his Case Worker from the Child Services.
He didn't know what his story was since ROB didn't give the memories of this new life when he sent him to this world. But from what little he'd managed to piece together, here's what he found out.
His name was Jasper Hebert. 15 years old. Son of Jason Hebert (second cousin of Danny Hebert) and Leslie Hebert. His parents died in a fight between Teeth Gang and Blasto's plant creatures in Boston. And since Danny was the closest living relative he had, he was quickly foisted off to Brockton Bay so that he could live with his uncle and cousin Taylor.
Not a bad background. Though since he didn't really know anything about Jasper Hebert's life, he spent most of his time remaining silent and avoided giving any answer to the authorities.
It won't do for them to find out that a 25-year-old guy from another dimension has taken over the body of Jasper Hebert, even if Jasper Hebert and his entire life were created solely for him by the ROB.
Or was it?
In the quiet moments of his new life, he often wondered if Jasper Hebert and his family had been a thing in the Canon timeline. And if ROB had destroyed that family just because he said that he wanted to be closer to the main cast like he'd seen happen in some of the fan fiction. If only so that he won't go full evil right from the start.
He knew that he had no way of finding out. And even if he did find out the truth, he couldn't do anything about it. But that thought kept niggling in the back of his mind.
Had he become a murderer before he even started his new life in this Death World.
He shook his head and focused on the conversation going between his Case Worker and 'Uncle' Danny. And as it so happens, they were just wrapping up their talk as well.
"That's everything. Now would you show us the room you've prepared for young Jasper?" The stern woman asked and Danny nodded before he led them up the stairs.
The second floor of the house had two rooms opposite each other. He could guess that one of them belonged to Taylor who was currently standing some distance behind him, looking like she had no idea what to make of the whole situation.
Danny opened the room to the right and led them inside. It was a fairly standard bedroom with a single-person bed, a table, chair, and an almirah to keep some stuff. Though he could've done without the Pink colors on the walls.
The room had a musty smell that often came from old houses and seemed a little damp from disuse. But he'd lived in far worse conditions back when he was in Hostel during his Highschool days so he didn't mind.
"Jasper, come and see." The old woman beckoned him forward. "Is this room up to your satisfaction?"
He pretended to look it over before he gave her a nod, and then a short bow to 'Uncle' Danny to show his gratitude.
Danny gave him a weak smile before they went down once again to sign a few more forms before he officially became Danny's ward until he reached adulthood.
After that, they took the few items he'd brought with him from Boston and dumped all of it into his room.
With that, the old lady bid him goodbye, discreetly gave him her phone number in case he was abused, and then left.
He turned and saw Danny who looked had the expression of a man who's really out of his depth. Like he had no idea what to do with the hot potato that'd been dropped into his lap and can't pass it on to others.
"Do you… do you want me to help you with unpacking your luggage?" Danny asked.
"That won't be necessary Uncle." He said.
Danny blinked at the first few words he'd heard from him but didn't think much of them.
"You don't need to call me uncle. Just Danny is fine." Danny said with a soft, compassionate smile "Are you hungry? Do you want me to make something for you to eat?"
He shook his head "We ate on the way here." Then he looked at Taylor who was standing near the stairs, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here right now.
"That's my daughter Taylor." Danny said, "Taylor, say hi to your cousin."
Taylor looked distinctly uncomfortable at being forced into this and gave him a blank look. "Hi," She said in a soft voice before looking away.
"Hello." He said.
It wasn't much of an introduction, but Danny didn't push them to talk with each other anymore.
"You might not know this but you two have met each other when you were about 2-3 years old," Danny said with a faraway look on his face. "It was a family gathering during Christmas. Before your parents moved from Brockton Bay to settle into Boston." Then Danny shook his head and beckoned him to come. "Come, I'll give you a short tour of the house."
—————
That night, he laid in his bed after a hearty dinner and stared out of the window at the suburban area the house was located in.
He closed the curtains and looked at the ceiling of his room, trying to spot any insects crawling around.
He noticed a spider hanging from the ceiling and wondered if Taylor was keeping a watch on him through the spider.
If he remembered the Worm story well enough then Taylor shouldn't be capable of looking or hearing through her bugs. Some sort of Sense disorientation problem that gave her a headache whenever she tried to see or listen through her bugs.
So despite Taylor being just a room away from him, he should be safe from her spying. Or safe as you can be when facing someone who can control millions of bugs.
Masturbating was definitely out of the window thanks to Taylor's sensing abilities.
Regardless, it was time, and now that he didn't have anything else to do, he could no longer avoid this.
So with a deep breath, he closed his eyes and looked deep within himself.
It took him a while but he eventually found what he was looking for.
6 glowing stars filled with enough energy to dwarf a sun. And another half-completed one.
He remembered ROB telling him that he'll start with 5 charges, and gain more whenever he did anything interesting.
Meeting Danny and Taylor must have counted as interesting otherwise he couldn't really explain the presence of the 1 and a half additional charges within him. The half charge was still growing at a slow yet visible rate.
Each charge could give him an equivalent of a 1 rated Parahuman power. More charges will mean more power. It was not a linear growth like it was with the original Power Manipulator but an exponential one instead.
Meaning… a power with 1 rating requires 1 charge.
A power with 2 rating requires 2 charges.
A power with 3 rating requires 4 charges.
A power with 4 rating requires 8 charges.
…
A power with 9 rating requires 256 charges.
And just to give an example of what power with 9 rating could do, the most simple example would be Leviathan which had a Brute rating of 9.
He shook his head and decided to focus on the 6 charges he has in front of him.
If what ROB told him was the truth, then each of these charges could be used to give him power.
He decided to keep 2 of them in reserve at all times. To be used in emergency situations.
If he is stabbed in an alleyway, then he could gain regeneration to recover and a Brute power to fight back or a Mover power to escape.
If he is captured by Coil or some other shady guy, he could use the charges to give him Intangibility to escape his restrictions and a flying power to escape whichever place he was kept in.
If he gets caught in a time stop bomb then he could use the charges to give himself Time Immunity or something along those lines.
And, if he was bitten by thousands of bugs then he could use a charge to give himself Venom Immunity and another charge to give him long-distance Teleportation to escape the bug apocalypse.
All in all, 2 charges for emergency cases should get him out of just about any emergency situation he could face.
But what to use the other 4 charges in.
He really didn't need to think about the first 2 charges as he already had an idea about what to do with them.
He used the 1st charge to create an Alternate Core.
He felt a cold sensation in his hands and opened his eyes to find a golfball-sized marble sitting in between the palm of his hands.
The Alternate Core was basically his Phylactery. Meaning that if he dies out there by accident, then the Alternate Core would recreate his body and bring him back to life.
Since he'd used only 1 charge in it, the power was not as impressive as it could be.
For example, it would take 3 days for his body to reform. And if someone destroys the Core during that time then he'll die once and for all.
And once the Core has been used, it would take 24 years for another one to be created.
So while this power was a rechargeable one, the recharge time was so long that he might as well consider it a Consumable item.
Still, it was a power that he needed in order to counter the 'Accidental Death Syndrome'. After all, he didn't want his adventure to end due to a car accident or something like that.
With that done, he now had 3 more charges that he could use. He used the 2nd charge to give himself the main power of Batman.
Money.
Or to be more exact, he used the charge to gain a power called Money Generation.
What this power will do is it'll scan the area around him. And based on which country/region he was living on, it would start generating a single note or coin of a random denomination every 12 minutes.
He was living in the USA, so it will generate pennies or dollars on a random basis. But if he lived in the UK, then it would start generating Pounds. Yuan if he lived in China, Rupee if he lived in India, Ryo if he lived in the Naruto World, Berry/Belly/Beli if he lived in the One Piece World, so on and so forth.
As soon as he used this power, he felt something in his pocket and found that it was a 2$ bill. Neat!
Since this power generated a random note or coin every 12 minutes, that's 5 notes/coins every hour and 120 notes/coins every day. So even if he gets 1$ on average, this power will give him 120 dollars every day. Though he was confident that he'll get far more than 120 dollars since the dollar denominations range up to 100$ bills.
Meaning that he would not have to work another day for the rest of his life. And he would still be rich.
Not that such a thing mattered in a dying world. But it will be useful until Golden Morning at the very least.
Now, onto the third charge.
He used it to create a power similar to the one used by Coil.
The power to split timelines. Or however, that worked.
This power allowed him to perceive the world in two different ways and make two different choices in both those perceptions before selecting the outcome that he wanted.
But since he'd only put 1 charge in this power, it was weak and only worked for 5 minutes before he'll be forced to choose one or the other outcome.
That was not enough for him so he used the 2nd charge in it.
The power's duration increased from 5 to 15 minutes.
Not great but good enough for now. Now what to do next?
He paused as he realized that while he had been using his charges to create new powers for himself, the half-completed charge had filled up and was ready to be used.
He thought about it for a moment before he decided to use it to buy a defense against Thinkers like Tattletale.
He already had defense against Precogs and Postcogs thanks to the Blindspot given to him by the ROB. But Thinkers like Tattletale can still see him and learn things about him.
That just won't do.
So he used the charge to create a power called Thinker Invisibility.
This power was created especially to combat Thinkers like Tattletale. And what it did was that whenever someone tried to use their Thinker powers to learn things about him, he'll become invisible to their powers.
With this, even if he stands right in front of Tattletale, she'll not be able to find out anything about him.
But before he could celebrate getting his newest powers, the room he was in suddenly started to buzz as insects of all types started to crawl out of their hidey holes.
He paled at the sight and wondered if he'll have to use the 2 emergency charges to escape.
But instead of attacking him, the bugs flew and crawled toward the door. And then he watched with fascination as the various bugs worked together to open the latch to the door of his room.
And then once the latch was unlocked, the door swung open, and there stood in all her glory, Taylor Hebert.
She saw him sitting on his bed and froze as if she had not expected him to be there at all.
Her mouth opened and closed for a few moments before she licked her lips and gulped.
"Umm… hello." He said, looking down to make sure that he was wearing all his clothes even as he regained his composure.
Taylor looked confused for another moment before suddenly, all her emotions shut down and she went from a confused and horrified teenage girl to the 'Skitter' that he'd read so much about.
He heard the bugs around her buzz and move around erratically and knew that she was offloading her emotions onto them.
The trick definitely wasn't as impressive if one knew how it worked.
Then she stared at him with her blank expression and asked "Jasper, are you a cape?"
He raised an eyebrow in amusement even as he wondered what could've given him away. Judging by her expression of shock when she opened the door, she definitely hadn't been expecting him to still be in the room. Why was that?
With no answers coming forth, he decided to go with the direct route and asked "I am. How did you know?"
"Do you have any plans to harm me or my dad?" She asked.
"No. Now would you kindly answer my last question?" He said but then he remembered the last power he created for himself and suddenly realized what happened.
Taylor's ability to sense other people with her bugs was given a Thinker sub rating of its own. Mostly because she could use her bugs to sense the location of every person within her range, tell what they're carrying and what they're doing by the movement of their arms and legs.
And the last power he created was Thinker Invisibility, which stops Thinkers from sensing him.
Was it possible that this power worked on Taylor as well?
If she was suddenly no longer able to sense him with her bugs then that would definitely explain her actions.
She would've probably thought that he used Teleportation or something like that to leave the house. So she decided to come to check on his room to see if he was really gone. And when she found that he wasn't gone and merely invisible to her senses, 'Surprise Pikachu face'.
Well, he hadn't expected to be found out this quickly but it was what it was. Frankly, he never expected or intended to hide his powers from Taylor for long.
"No. You're living in my house so you'll answer my questions." Taylor said as she crossed her arms. The insects buzzed around her for added intimidation. And he had to admit that he would've definitely been intimidated by all of it if he hadn't read about her life story on a Web novel and knew what kind of person she was. "So, what is your power?"
He hummed as he felt yet another charge complete itself. This whole confrontation with Taylor must've been interesting to ROB.
He thought about it for a moment and then used the charge to give himself a Master power called Persuasion.
It basically made his words more persuasive. That's all. A basic yet useful power.
With how stubborn Taylor was, this power would definitely come in handy.
With that done, he used his Coil power and split the timeline into two.
Suddenly, there were two of them in two different settings. With two different choices. Taylor was still glaring at him so he started speaking.
In the First timeline, he said…
"Well, how about this. You can either stand there and use your bugs to threaten me into giving you answers and destroy any chance of ever having any positive relationship with me. Or…" he gestured at the chair in his room "You can have a seat, so we can talk like civilized people and then see where this goes."
In the second timeline, he decided to be a little bit more aggressive.
He gave her an unimpressed look and asked "So just because I'm living in your house means that you can get away with barging into my room and threatening me? Tell me, Taylor, do you know what the Unwritten rules are?"
In First Timeline-
Taylor hesitated for a moment but then she nodded and sat down on the chair, her bugs circling around her on the ground and air. It made her look rather impressive. Like a Queen surrounded by her guards. Little as they were.
"Very well. But before we begin, answer my question. Do you have any powers that allow you to control or master other people?" Taylor asked seriously.
In the Second Timeline-
The buzzing of the bugs grew and Taylor's frown deepened.
"I will do with his necessary to protect dad and myself. Now answer my question."
In the First Timeline-
"No Taylor. I'm not a Master. I am in fact, a Thinker. Someone who can find out stuff about other people. My power also has a Trump aspect to it which makes me immune to other Thinkers. Though I didn't expect this power to work on you or your bugs."
In the Second Timeline-
"Or what. You'll sic me with your bugs?" He asked with an amused expression as he got up and walked toward her. "Go on. Do it. I dare you."
In the First Timeline-
"Prove to me that you're a Thinker." Taylor said.
In the Second Timeline-
Taylor hesitated for a moment before she firmed her expression and sent a few flies, right down his throat. He choked and gave her a look of shock, fear, and betrayal.
'What a ruthless bitch.' These were his last thoughts before he cut that timeline.
In the First and only remaining timeline.
He rested his cheek on his fist and looked at Taylor. "Well, let's see. You gained your power within the last 3 months." Pause. Pretending to think and use his power on her. "You have not gone out in a costume yet, but you are preparing to do so." Pause "You are being bullied at school and don't have any friends, either at school or at home." Pause "You triggered and gained your powers when your bullies took things a bit too far." Pause "You don't want to use your powers to punish the bullies since you think that doing that would drag you down to their level." Another pause and he took a deep breath. "Do you want me to go on or will this be enough of a proof?"
Taylor gave him a dead-eyed stare for a long moment before she nodded. "That will be enough." He wondered if she was embarrassed at her secrets being brought out in the open like this.
'Well, that's what you get for shoving your bugs down my throat, even if it happened in a discarded timeline.' He thought with some vindictiveness.
"Good. Then let's talk about you and your power. You control bugs, though that's pretty evident in and of itself. You have full control over them. Your range. What it is? About one… two blocks?" He said, making it seem like he was finding these things out with his powers when he was actually just reciting things from the web novel Worm.
Taylor nodded, looking a tad bit uncomfortable to be in the presence of someone who knew so much about her "Yes, about two blocks."
"A rather impressive power." He said, "Now let's talk about what we're going to do next."
"What do you mean?" Taylor asked, looking alert and suspicious once again.
"Well, you know. Do you want to join the Wards? Go the Independent route. Become Rogues. Vigilantes… We might not know each other but we're cousins and will spend the next few years under the same roof. It would make sense to team up and do whatever it is that we want to do as a team."
Taylor looked hesitant but his Persuasion power must be working if she didn't tell him to sod off.
After a few moments, she nodded "That… makes sense. Though I need to think on it a bit more before making any decision."
"Well, I don't have any other home to go to so I'm stuck with you for the foreseeable future. Take all the time you need to think on what to do." He said with a kind smile, even as he felt like a slimy salesman selling candy to young children.
Taylor nodded and got up to leave. But before she could leave the room, she paused and turned to look at him.
She looked hesitant for a moment before she spoke "I… I'm sorry for barging into your room like this. And for the sudden interrogation."
He shrugged. "We're two capes living in close proximity to each other. Sooner or later, we would've found out about each other's powers. Better that we deal with this sooner rather than later. And I forgive you."
Taylor gave him a nervous smile before she left the room and closed the door behind her, her bugs trailing after her as she left. Not that he really expected her to take all of her bugs with her. She was too paranoid to do that.
Once she was gone, he closed the door and let out a sigh.
Well, this evening definitely did not go as he'd expected. But then again, no plan survives contact with the enemy, and he believed that he handled the situation rather well despite the sudden interrogation.
And having Taylor as an ally would definitely help him in the future. Though with his presence on the board, he could say with confidence that the canon timeline will be fucked up beyond any recognition.