A/N 20 followers! Loving the love you guys! To clear up some confusion.
Traveller's worm CYOA v6
Queen shard, The Wanderer
Drawbacks: Unconscious Geas (Attention seeking). Wanted (PRT/E88-Recruitement) Tea party with the nine. Endbringer target. Entity Target. Case 53. Poor. Homeless. Corona Pollentia. Acclimation. Tin foil hat.
And a personal drawback I made. Childs mind. Essentially while Kitsu has the knowledge and reasoning capability of a young adult, her brain chemistry is still that of a six-year-old. She will be prone to poor impulse control and emotional outbursts, under extreme pressure she can focus through, but in normal situations she will lack maturity.
Skills: Parkour. Adaptable martial arts. Tactics. Inspiration. Presentation. Banter. Acting. Spatial Awareness.
Perks: Beautiful. Blindspot. Voice in my head. Mindblank. Mental barrier. Trumped the trump. Negentropy. Fan service. Peaceful vibes. Plot armor. Reputable.
World perks: Fair Kaiju fight.
Powers. Immortal. Hot wheels (Limited). Yang it! Self-Biokinesis (Limited). Stranger danger (Limited). Nice-Guy (Locked). Love at first sight(Locked) Panacea (Locked). Kitsune.
Alignment: Chaotic Good Rogue.
Draco0905: Don't be sorry! I thrive on this sort of interaction, it helps me think and honestly allows me to look back and fix any plot holes for the future, I honestly appreciate the reviews!
Also, just a heads up. After the initial contact Kitsu has, I plan to speed up the story until it gets closer to the main story canon. And spoilers in the A/N at the end
Now without further adieu ON WITH THE SHOW!
'I'm evil' I think to myself as I just keep singing the song that never ends. On the Bullhorn.
"Never. Having. Kids." Cop one says.
"C'mon man at least she aint crying her head off or throwing a tantrum." Cop two says from the passenge seat. I like cop two, he gets it.
"Can you please stop!" Okay I've overstepped a bit.
"I'm sorry." I say quickly. I'm still holding on to the bullhorn though. It's mine now! 'I really am developing the mind of a child, and I don't care. Kids have all the fun!'
"Chill man she's just a kid." 'That's right! It's not my fault I get bored easily and find enjoyment in annoying people. Ok that last bit might be a bit problematic.'
[Affirmation]
'And then there's you. What do you even want?'
[Data]
'Ok, that's a lot.' Essentially the [Manipulator] shard, yes that is its designation in human terms, or the [Transfer] shard works as well, or [Conduit] shard. Conduit sounds cooler so I'm using that, cuz I'm a fan of Infamous by sucker punch.
Anyway, the Conduit shard, REALLY isn't supposed to be here, but it is because it's a deviant shard similar to [Queen Administrator] in that it wants to experience [The Cycle] but never was introduced into it. So when [The Wanderer] was nearby, relatively speaking, it noticed a cycle going on and used that opportunity to break away from its gestalt to slip in. However, in the process of recalibrating into a corona pollentia/gemma it had encountered the [Answer]. Literally a one in 'number so large we don't have name for' chance. Now that wouldn't be a problem if this was a normal cycle, but it's not, this is a cycle that [Conduit] is trespassing on, if it gets discovered by [The Warrior] then it will be forcibly yanked and subsumed into the entity. Killing both me and [Conduit] in the process. So, in order to stay alive, I need to avoid those with loyal shards, like [Broadcast].
'Thinking about I don't even need to avoid Amy Dallon or Taylor Hebert, Amy's shard is, or rather will be, too frustrated with Amy's refusal to use it in interesting ways to really care. And Taylors shard is so smitten with her that I could probably announce to its face everything I know, so long as I don't pose any harm to Taylor it won't care.'
[Refusal; Action Ill-Advised]
'I was being facetious! Learn some human interaction!' I honestly don't know what to do. Canon is so far into the future that all I can do is prepare for what? Eight years depending on circumstances and whether or not my presence alters things? Honestly this world is FUBAR, I'd rather just enjoy what time I have, I have no confidence in my ability to change things for the better, aside from maybe preventing a few people from dying, like Gallant, Manpower, Aegis, or prevent certain people from ending up how they did, like Aisha, Rune, Glory Girl or. 'Holy shit there actually IS a lot I can DO!'
[Apprehension]
'Oh, hush you, it's not like this world could get any worse'
[Correction, Termination]
'If we let everything continue as planned then we wind in an all-out brawl against Scion as [Queen Administrator] grabs everyone. Got any better ideas?'
…
'Thats what I thought.'
[Reluctance]
'You got yourself into this mess when you decided to jump ship from daddy space whale and play super cops' n robbers with all the cool kids, deal with it.'
…
[Acceptance]
'I don't like it either [Conduit], but it's the best I got'
While I finished my inner debate with [Conduit] we pulled up to the PRT headquarters in, I still don't know. It's a rather impressive, if nondescript, building that looks like a mix between a court house and a police station about five stories tall. As I'm ogling the building, the van stops and an officer in the passenger seat takes the radio.
"Officer Dixie reporting in, Arrival without issue at nineteen-thirty-seven hours, subject is unrestrained and has remained docile and cooperative throughout transit-Over." 'Pfft, Dixie?'
"Copy that, Remain and await escort-Over" A female voice replies.
"Copy, Officer Dixie-Out"
"Your name is funny" I say. I probably shouldn't, but I'm bored and will take any form of interaction I can get.
"It's the name I was born with, What about you? What's your name?" Yeah, I should have seen that one coming.
"I'unno, It's not Pixie." I say mischievously. Messing with people is quickly becoming my favorite pass time, especially now that I don't think YouTube is really a thing yet. And if it is, it's probably still that failed dating site it was originally intended to be.
"At least he has a name." Driver said. I really don't like this guy.
"C'mon man" Dixie starts
"What?"
"That was uncalled for"
"She's being a brat!"
"She's being a kid"
"We don't even know if she is a kid, she could be a shapeshifting grown man for all we know!" You my irritable sir, will never know just how close to the truth you were.
As Tweedle Dixie and Tweedle Driver continue this back and forth the door to my right opens.
"Step out." Another uniformed officer says, backed up by two others behind him, one with a foam sprayer and the other with an assault rifle.
"Okay, Bye Officer Pixie! Bye Officer Meanie! Thank you for the loud voice thingy!" I say cheerily.
The Officer at the front just regards me holding the bullhorn to my chest and turns to the
"Why did you give her a bullhorn?" 'Oooh, someone's in trouble~'
"She wouldn't stop asking for it." The driver says.
"And you didn't think she might be a Tinker and giving her access to a piece of technology would be a bad idea?"
Did I do this? Yes, I think I did, but he was mean so I don't feel bad.
"Uh, She's just a kid?"
"..."
After a brief pause, he turns around to address the other two who came with him.
"I'm calling in a possible Master/Stranger containment, be on guard"
'WHAT?! Just cuz one guy fucked up and disregarded protocol I'm now about to be locked up!?' The panic on my face must be telling because the lead Officer looks down to me and immediately changes his demeanor.
"Hey can I have that for a bit, I promise I'll give it right back" 'LIAR!' I know he's just following protocol and trying to keep me from growing agitated, but I am getting agitated. I mean, I am right here and I am capable of using context clue. And, barring that I know what M/S protocols entail, roughly.
"But it's mine." I whine giving my best puppy dog eyes, I have no issue giving it back, but it might seem odd that a kid would be perfectly fine giving something away after they JUST got it. Paranoid? Maybe, but I don't doubt that these people record EVERYTHING and then spend hours going through it with a fine-toothed comb to try and determine all that they can about a parahuman for the possibility they turn hostile later.
It's what I would do.
"I know but you can't bring it in the building, if you do, they'll take it away. I just wanna make sure you don't lose it, okay?" Oh, he's good.
"Ok, promise you'll give it back?"
"I promise." I give him the bullhorn. To be honest, playing the part of a child is fun as all hell!
"Alright let's go." He motions for me to follow him. As I do so the two officers behind him move to march behind me.
'I feel so safe!' I think with false cheer.
-Time skip-
'This sucks.' After walking around the PRT building for a while, with people seemingly avoiding me on purpose, I was taken to a bathroom, washed up and given white baggy clothes to wear instead of the torn bloody ones I had. Then I was led to a nondescript pristine hallway lined with doors. And promptly shoved into one and told to wait. Oh! And if I stick my hand in the little slot that food is placed in, I'll lose my hand.
'And today was going SO well' I am well aware that I'll be here for two days with minimal human interaction to determine whether or not I have Master or Stranger powers. If I have master powers, then it would have worn off by then, or the Indviduals mastered will seek me out.
If I have stranger powers, then there will be inconsistences in which I am observed. Like if I have a 'notice me not' thing going on then people will disregard me, while the cameras will still focus on me, and it will be obvious that something is causing others to just ignore me. Or if the cameras can't focus on me, or people can't remember what I look like after interacting with me.
After a couple hours, it is genuinely hard to tell, the intercom sparks to life.
*KZZTNNG*
'OH GOD THAT IS HELL ON THE EARS!' This is old school early 2000's audio technology, so it comes with that static ringing sound when it turns on.
"Hello, how are you? I am here to let you know what's going on, and to just talk to you when I can." She Says in a calming voice.
"I'M BORRRRED! AND HUNGRY!" I whine, this one isn't even faked. I am absurdly bored, and have not eaten all day.
"Right, we'll try and get you some food, is there anything you really want?"
"Uhhhhh, Macaroni? OOO OO! And mashed potatoes! And Pizza!" What? I never claimed to have the healthiest taste, I just temper it with smaller portions and extensive exercise.
"We'll see. Is there anything else you wanna talk about?"
"Can I have my voice toy back?" Yes. I AM being petty and clingy, but it's mine! And I have another reason for this.
"You're what?" Oh? Didn't have that marked down in your notes? That either means their incompetent in their reports, as that was a significant interaction that saw a major protocol violation, seeing as an unknown parahuman was given a piece of tech they specifically requested not knowing whether they're a tinker or not. The Intercom lady is incompetent or lazy and didn't read the reports. Or they left it out for whatever reason. And by asking about it I show I am not trying to hide it.
"The mean officer gave it to me when I asked him, and the nice officer took it so I wouldn't lose it. Can I have it back please? I'm bored." Their response will let me know whether it's incompetence, or laziness.
"Um, I can't give you anything right now but I can see about getting it to you later, is that okay?" She says placatingly.
'Or they could give an ambiguous line that tells me nothing!' The way she phrased that sentence tells me not whether it is knowledge she has access to. I was hoping for something along the lines of, 'Oh, that, um not right now.' or 'Can you tell me more about this voice toy, and maybe I can find it.' the former would imply it IS in her notes, and she just didn't read it, the latter would tell me it's not written down. Of course, this all under a lot assumptions on how they operate, but I have literally nothing else to do, and just sitting here waiting would seem suspicious, seeing as I am small child. Heck I can't be older than 7, cuz Bonesaw was slightly taller than me and at this point in Worm she would only be five or six.
"Why not?" I have no reason to ask this other that I have nothing else to say and don't wanna be left in silence again.
"Well, we need to make sure you're safe. And that you won't hurt anyone."
"I promise I'll be good!" 'OBEY THE CUTE MORTAL'
"I'm sorry but I can't break the rules." Or not.
I just lay face down on the floor after this bunch up my shirt under my face and scream, I'm not upset or anything, I'm just finding that being dramatic is VERY enjoyable.
"MMMMMMMHHHHHHH!"
"I'm gonna gonna go now, ok? I'll talk to you later."
*KCHT*
'I'm just gonna take a nap.' I mentally sigh.
-Time skip-
After sleeping I don't know how long I am awoken to the sound of sliding metal.
"Wuh?" And then I smell it.
"FOOD!" I rush over to the sliding door and take the tray with a slice of pizza, a tall cup of water and a small cup of orange juice, and a small bowl of green beans. I don't even taste any of it as I practically inhale the first bit of sustenance in, I don't even know long.
*BURP*
"Thank you!" I honestly didn't think they give me anything that I asked for. So, the pizza was nice of them.
"Please put your tray back in the slot."
The little slide in the door opens up and I put my tray in the slot. I am about to do something I shouldn't but I REALLY wanna mess with these people. Reaching up and ticking my hands through the slot I face my palms up.
"More please." I say happily.
"DON'T-" the man says as the slot SLAMS closed down on my wrists.
*KRRRCHT*
And promptly bends and cracks around my hands like brittle tinfoil.
"AAAAGH!" It may not have bruised or broken anything but I still feel the force of impact as the energy transfers back into me.
'Holy shit, that's enough blunt force to slice clean through a femur! If I wasn't impervious to damage I'd call myself an idiot.'
Now my hands are stuck.
A few moments of silence and I don't even know If someone is still there.
"Um, am I in trouble? I didn't mean to break it! Promise! Can you let me go now?! Please?!" I really didn't think this through.
[Affirmation]
'I didn't hear you trying to stop me!'
…
I hate this, I did this, and I regret this.
After a few minutes of just being stuck there, forced to stare at my arms with how I had to reach up, I finally hear something.
"Honestly impressive." A nasally voice says.
"How so?" A smoother deep voice asks.
"The slider would normally stop after encountering significant resistance, instead it went all the way down, imply the shock detector didn't receive enough force back to activate."
"Meaning either the detector is faulty, or that the force didn't travel back to it."
"Precisely, If it's the former, then oh well. But if it's the latter."
"It implies the energy was either redirected, or nullified."
I might have fucked up more than I initially thought. Might as well diverge some of this.
"Hello? Is anyone there? My arms hurt and my legs are tired, please help. I promise I won't break anything else!"
"Right, first things first, let's get her out of there. Call a maintenance crew, and tell them to bring a blow torch." The deeper voice spoke. "Hi there. My name is Kamil, just sit tight, okay? Someone's coming to help get you out of there."
"Okay." I say diminutively.
"While we're waiting, why don't you tell me how this happened?"
"It's not my fault!" 'It is entirely my fault.'
[Affirmation]
'Not now, be quiet.'
"I promise you're not in trouble."
"And the other man promised to give me back my voice toy! He lied!" I have no excuse at this point, I'm just being petty and using my apparent age as an excuse to get away with it.
"I can get you the voice toy if you want."
"LIAR! All you people are liars!"
"How about I get you some more pizza? Will you tell me then?" I honestly cannot say no pizza.
"Promise?" I say quietly.
"Promise."
"Pinky promise!"
"Okay." As a gloved finger wraps my pinky. 'I better get that pizza, with stuffed crust, and mushrooms!'
"I was still hungry, so I stuck my hands out to ask for more food, and then the door tried to eat my hands!"
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"Weren't you told not to do that?"
"Uh, I forgot?"
"I don't think you deserve pizza if you can't listen." 'THE FIEND!'
"You promised!"
"I did. And I will get you your pizza, but I want you to know I'm very disappointed in you."
Okay that will never NOT get to me. I hate when people pull that card, get mad, upset, anything that doesn't make me feel like I'm responsible for you feeling bad.
…
"I'm sorry." I think I might actually cry. Why does this feel worse than someone being mad at me, at least then I can be mad back.
"Just make sure to listen next time okay?"
"Okay."
"Can you tell me something else?" 'Oh?'
"Sure."
"Why was there so much blood on your clothes." 'oh.'
"I was playing tag with the mean man, and he plays mean." I've already h
"The mean man? You mean the one who gave you the voice toy?" You know not being able to see the guy while knowing he is right in front of me is getting annoying.
"No, that's Officer Meanie." He chuckles at that.
"Where were you when you were playing?" That is actually a tough question, seeing as I don't know where I am NOW.
"Uh, down the road? The one with all the nine three numbers."
…
"Sweetie, little one." He just went from child talk to deathly serious in like .5 Seconds.
"Yeah?" Not gonna lie, the tone shift unnerved me a bit.
"Can you tell me his name?"
"I think the girl in blue called him Jack."
"... Oh, god."
Ok, in all fairness I see where his mind is going, and I too would shit a brick. I can turn this around, gain sympathy. Heck, if I can gain enough pity points, I might be able avoid the whole master stranger protocol!
-Time skip-
I'm in another cell. Yeah, not only that, but since I had extended contact with Kamil the whole Master/Stranger protocol has to restart to make sure I didn't master him. So, all I achieved from this was possibly revealing my main power.
'DAMN IT!'
{BONUS SCENE}
Boston PRT Director Kamil Armstrong POV
Today had been... unusual. Firstly, he awoke to reports of Leviathan attacking Newfoundland. Not the best way to start the day. After routing most of his capes help in either the battle or the evac, he got a report of Slaughterhouse 9 being spotted passing through Quincy of all places, last scene entering Adams Village. A veritable nightmare seeing as Adams Village was a major commute into Downtown Boston. With all his heavy hitters away in Canada, all he could do is put out warnings, effectively quarantine the area, and redirect the rest of the capes to monitor the area and prevent civilians from entering as best he could.
He refused to involve the wards, not only would the Youth Guard be up his ass eight ways from Sunday, he wouldn't be able to sleep at night, not with sending children after some of the most dangerous serial killers in Earth-Bets' history. At least the Endbringers were more akin to natural disasters and lacked any semblance of what might construe sentience.
Then just as a report made its way to him about a small 'blur' bolting trough a few buildings in the south of Adams Village headed towards the Southeast Expy, he got an emergency report of possible Case 53 in a Wendy's parking lot up in Revere. So, while he was preparing to deal with that, setting up the proper channels to detain a possible hostile, the individual turns out to be completely compliant. A saving grace in and of its self. So, while he was reviewing the reports of all interactions between the individual and his officers, two MAJOR things became apparent. One, the individual could not have been above seven years old at the MOST, which involved caused so many complications you could write a book on it. Two, their behavior is, off a bit.
For one they have a higher grasp of sentence structure for a child their size despite their lack of vocabulary. Children six and below tended to either speak in short, five-word sentences, or ramble on with 'ums' and 'uhs'.
Then there was the fact that despite being apparently inhuman, what with the tail and ears, slightly elongated canines, and slightly slitted pupils, there is no sign of an Omega mark on the her body, either it is on her head being hidden by her hair, or on the bottom of her feet.
And added to all that she has the occasional tendency to zone out, almost as if she were talking to someone in her head.
Unusual behavioral tendencies aside. She was a standard, if at times polite, child. In that she was impulsive, immature, and emotional.
Then there was the incident. Imagine his surprise when a secretary ran into his office panicking about a Master/Stranger cell breach in the containment ward. Only for an officer to walk in behind him and fully report the situation. He knew how those doors worked. Nothing short of a brute 5 ranking or above would save someone's hand from being sliced clean off, and even then, the door's shock detector would recognize the significant force and stop from trying to close. Because in all honesty, if they have the capacity to resist the force to rip open a car engine, then they had little hope of containing them, might as well save the door, those things were not cheap. It's why they only had four of those cells in the containment ward.
'Well, three now.' He thought sardonically.
It honestly didn't make sense, if she had a high brute ranking, then the slider would stop and the alarm would sound. If she could redirect the energy from the force, then why did she scream in pain when it shut? And if she absorbed the energy, why didn't she use it to break out? Either she is a brute and the shock detector malfunctioned, or there is a lot they don't know.
And to top it all off, the bit that slapped him in the face like a fish, she was targeted by the nine for their games. And this probably led to her triggering. A neat little fact that the PRT keeps from the public is that only certain people are capable of triggering, and only through extreme trauma. If that information got out, well, Kamil was certain people would be trying to get powers on their own.
'At least I figured out what the blur was.' He thought. 'Possible high-ranking brute, definite high rank mover capabilities, and possibly a striker with the powerset.'
Pouring himself a shot of whiskey he looks down once again at the file on his desk, containing the girl's picture in the top right.
"Honestly, I need a day off, or three."
Kitsu's POV
'Now that I think about it, I could have busted myself out of the door if I just used the energy I collected from the slam to enhance my strength.'
[Affirmation]
'WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING!'
[Reiteration- 'Not now, be quiet.']
…
'Damn it.'
A/N
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
for those that wanna know.
Ratings
Mover 3- eventual 7
Shaker 1- eventual 8 scaling to 11+ with enough energy stores (The illusions can be tactile)
Armor Brute/Breaker 12+ (Immortal plus Yang it! is busted like that)
Master eventual 2 (Love at first sight is really intended to be an extension of Nice Guy and isn't all that powerful or useful, only effecting one person at a time and even then, they can deduce they've been mastered. I only added it because I had points left and said 'why not?')
Blaster 1- eventual 4 as Hot wheels' limiter is lifted
Striker 5 eventual 7 as Hot wheel's limiter is lifted and eventual 12+ when Panacea is unlocked, Kitsu genuinely has very few effective long-range offensive capabilities, as even with the tactile illusions, they're only about as strong as Neo's from RWBY, where anything strong enough to break a normal bone will shatter them. Useful yes, but not very good when pitted against Individuals with enhanced durability, strength, or even armor.
Changer 1- eventual 3 as Self-Biokinesis' limiter is lifted, partially hard locked by Case 53.
Stranger 1- eventual 4
These are the ACTUAL ratings, not what the PRT might have down in the future, as while it may look impressive, containment foam and traps are a hard counter to Kitsu, as she has no inherent super strength or speed, only durability, her entire power set is dependent on either coming prepared with energy already stored in the tank, or getting the opponent to throw the first punch and, failing that, avoiding confrontation all together. A fight against lung would see Kitsu dominating as everything he throws at her, she can just throw it right back and possibly a little more. A fight against Uber and Leet, Taylor, Assault, or others with less direct abilities would prove to be a lot less clear cut, even Grue would be capable of taking her out if he got creative, and hell not to mention Panacea would almost certainly win if she broke her 'Heal Only' rule, though let's be honest, Panacea is a little busted.
Acclimation is the big one here as it limits Kitsus' powers and even locks them in some cases, like how she can't absorb the heat she generates from her own body to produce a feedback loop of energy to use. Or how people relax when she doesn't show hostility, but don't treat her that way outright due to Stranger Danger's limited influence, which is supposed to have people disregard Kitsu until she does something unusual to grab people's attention.
I also find it hilarious that at this point in the story, the way to defeat Kitsu is to not fight her and to simply restrain her, like, just pick her up and keep her from energy sources and she's harmless, assuming she doesn't have any energy stored up beforehand.