There were a lot of things I could have done on my second day on Earth Bet. I could have started my campaign on the Empire Eighty Eight, the vicious gang of neonazi's my interference in the timeline had allowed access to a significant amount of wealth while simultaneously provoking the hell out of.

I could have spent it training, honing myself into a razored weapon the likes of which this reality had never seen. Learning and refining the use of reality warping powers that were not god like, if only by virtue of technically belonging to an order of being which considered gods to collectively be their bitch.

I could have even gotten supplies, maybe a nice coat since I seemed to be rocking the shirtless look pretty well ever since I hit a level of physical ability that left a decent hunk of Olympic athletes in the dust.

Hell I could have just talked to Tattletale about lending me a few grand for the big tip off. She probably pulled in a lot more then that and I really needed the cash since Coil only kept a few hundred in his wallet, a significant chunk of which I'd blown on the hotel room.

But instead I sat back and watched funny clay motion episodes as I discovered to my unmitigated glee that these were not just Earth Aleph imports but also native counterparts though I didn't get even a third of the references.

I had had a long day yesterday. I was going to sit back, recharge, watch funny shit, eat Doritos and see if I could get a drink with one of those tiny little umbrella thingies. It didn't have the be booze, it didn't even have to be fancy. I just wanted the little umbrella thingy for the sheer sake of it.

I wasn't content. How the hell could I be? I was stuck on another world doomed to explode or something in a couple of years presuming I didn't ripple that into happening even earlier. I'd just come from someplace worse, I'd changed so much I wasn't even sure who I was, and was wracked with survivors guilt over getting a bunch of people I knew for less then twenty six hours killed.

...They were nice people. Any one of them could be where I was now, many deserved to be more then I did. Gav had been smarter then me, knew science I couldn't dream of. He'd been braver when the time came down to it, even if he'd been about as street smart as I currently was.

Plus he had blue hair. How cool was that?

But now he was dead because he had trusted an idiot, and I was the one offered a mantle of power. The irony was palatable.

And really... that was the nature of Exaltations. For all Exalts crowed about how they stood above everything as kings, they, just like most kings... inherited the title over countless more worthy people.

You didn't need to do something mythic beyond compare to draw one in. You needed to do something something big, probably the biggest thing in your life yeah, but... others did the exact same thing.

More still did something even more astounding.

To be exalted, above all things? Was just to be the lucky sap who was in the right place at the right time doing the right thing to catch it's attention. For all it was prettied up, it was just a damned lottery.

One with an entrance fee soaked in blood.

And I won.

Yay for me.

~Crawling In My Skin!~

...

~These Wounds They Will Not Heal!~

Some things were worth moping about.

~Like being bestowed with the might of the Titans of Creation?~

I sighed, my sarcastic companion was right. Even I knew it was stupid to be bitter over what I should be grateful over.

My newly made friends died, and I made a Faustian bargain to get out alive. The first part was sad, but Faust actually got a really good deal when he made it.

And so had I.

I was becoming something not entirely human. Big deal, what was so great about being human? People change all the time. I'd change what parts of me I wanted to give up, or was willing to give up in turn while holding on and refusing to change what parts of me I wanted to keep and reinforce. That's what people did, that's how they grew.

I'd just... be taking it up a few extremes then normal.

Besides the others would be pissed if I didn't at least try to live after surviving that mess... I wanted to believe that. I mean that's what people did right?

People also cursed those idiots who got them into the mess that got them kille-

~FEAR IS HOW I FALL!~

Right! Fine! No more angst! Fuck... I got sick of that back when I was a teenager anyway.

Okay optimism, got to look on the bright side of- did they just make a joke about Legend and the rainbow pride parade? Seriously? That got passed the censors!?

Props man, fucking props!

Okay now where to find that umbrella drink...