The lizard cocked his head at the cat. "You can do that?"
"As long as I use a major aspect to create a Device to do it, yes," said the Greater Being, which wore the form of a cat.
"Interesting, why a Device?" asked the lizard.
"Because it's a lot of fiddly bits adding other superhero tropes to a Worm universe," said Toltiir. "Spending a lot of time on the trivia and backstories and such? No, too much detail for too little reward. I'll let a few of those Random Otherworldly Beings throw their guys in there. It might be fun."
"Or it may be a complete clusterdump," pointed out Varga.
"Well, that too," said Toltiir. "But you've seen a baseline Worm universe, and you've seen how bad some of them get. Is this that bad when you consider the things that already exist out there?"
The Varga considered that, conferring with his own Taylor, who was apparently watching TV in the next room per her comments of finding a TV series that apparently merged "Bonanza" with "Bewitched" and had them trying to deal with some weird technology involving steam engines.
The Varga blinked at that summation. "Steampunk universe?"
"Probably," said Toltiir. "Let's see. Aliens, metagene, weird dimensional effects, sorcerers of some kind, ancient artifacts of power..."
"Don't forget 'ancient civilization of lizard people," called out Taylor from the next room. "That's one of my favorites."
"Atlantean, Lemurian, Silurian, Ur, or Antediluvian variety?" asked Toltiir.
"Why not mix and match?" suggested Varga. "Throw in a bit of Lovecraft?"
"So essentially what you were doing in your home cosm?" asked Toltiir. "They won't be nearly as powerful without the special materials, but still plenty tough."
"So occasional Monsters From The Deep, Things From Beyond, that sort of thing?" asked Varga.
"Has to be done," said Toltiir. "Now, the question is WHEN to put the eruption of metahumans."
"How about after the arrival of Scion and the Endbringers?" suggested Taylor, entering the room. "That way it can be implied they were always there, but just not willing to step out into normal society until things went FUBAR."
"Ellisburg?" asked Toltiir.
The Varga, currently in Saurial form, and Taylor in her base form shared a look and nodded. It DID seem appropriate. Still...
"How about that be the main reveal but having some of them show up earlier just to put their presence out," said Taylor. "Maybe Sao Paulo?"
"Second Endbringer attack so some deciding to come out of the shadows for that event?" Toltiir considered. "Have to be one of the 'big guns' if I understand the term correctly."
"Well, about that..." Varga grinned. As this was a Saurial form, many teeth were shown.
* Parahuman Response Team HQ, July 9th 1993 *
Doctor Mother put a thick folder on the table. "The examination revealed that this 'Fogo Dourado' was not and never was human. The DNA was completely wrong, including the use of different amino acids. The body shape was only superficially human and had a metabolism that would have put the average temperature at 150% of a normal human body temperature. As the newspapers and Brazilian government initially declared - this is an entirely alien species."
"How did it remain hidden?" asked Alexandria. "Surely someone should have noticed a six-limbed insect person."
"It didn't, at least not completely," said Legend. "There were those who recalled seeing in poorer parts of Brazil a mysterious human-mantis that healed wounds and preached a non-violence philosophy. It was an urban legend up until Behemoth showed up and this 'Gold Fire' wandered into a medical tent to help. Killed when Behemoth destroyed that area but several parahumans reported that their wounds were healed by the alien prior to that."
"So the Entities are not the only alien species out there," said Alexandria, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "There literally were 'aliens among us' or at least one. Do we know if there were others?"
"Medical scans of the cape known as Professor Fate, no relation to the Jack Nicholson character, show that he isn't a parahuman as he has no Corona Pollentia. Nonetheless has superhuman abilities and is tentatively rated as Tinker 3, Mover 3, Shaker 1 for his 'Curses' ability to restrict other people's movement. Minor villain all things considered, the worst thing he's ever done is stolen from an ATM." Doctor Mother looked at the second folder she'd just put on the table next to the file on the alien.
"He identified himself as a 'metahuman' and in particular as a 'mutant' whose ability is to 'nudge' probability," said Legend. "I've met him. He might have some sort of disassociative personality going as he is loud and bombastic as Professor Fate but when speaking one-on-one is actually very polite and soft-spoken. He referred to it as a 'stage presence' - possibly indicating he was an actor at some point."
"Professor Fate is over sixty years old," said Doctor Mother, tapping the folder she'd acquired from the medical facility where Professor Fate had been treated. "According to that - he was doing stage performances in the 1920s and he was born April 1st 1912. Has several health problems. I have instructed agents to keep an eye out for him appearing at which point we will acquire him and be able to get sufficient tissue samples to determine if there are non-parahumans with powers. I do not trust the MRI scans done under those conditions."
"I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea of kidnapping someone in order to verify their humanity," said Legend. "Do we even know where this person came from?"
"As near as we can determine, he was one of those picked up in southern Texas," said Doctor Mother.
"We'll have to put out an internal memo," said Alexandria. "To be aware and keep an eye out for non-parahuman capes. We need more information."
* Oslo, Norway. June 9th, 1996 *
"What the hell is in Oslo to draw something like this here?" asked Eidolon as he sent electrically charged bolts at the seven-eyed water creature.
"The maritime museum?" asked Legend before the two had to go off in different directions to avoid blasts of water being shot out.
"Maybe they were visiting 'Fly Chicken' at the 'Steen & Strom' and realized they didn't have the money?" asked an unfamiliar flying cape as she deflected another water blast with a glowing disc of energy.
"Legend," introduced himself as he fired laser blasts at the creature from the new level of protection.
"Sturm Heks," responded the woman, sitting on a broom as she used spread hands to generate the forcefield.
"How strong is your forcefield?" asked Legend as the woman managed to deflect another blast.
"It's a spell," said Heks. "'Shield of The Faltine' - and this is about as strong as I can make it. I'm only a mid-tier runic sorceress after all."
"Anything else you can do?" asked Legend.
"I didn't have anything major prepared, I was just here on a shopping trip," responded Sturm Heks after another blast was deflected.
Then Leviathan started firing specifically at the glowing gnat and further conversation had to be postponed.
* Fukuoka, Japan. November 2nd, 1999 *
Lung fought Leviathan and could feel his strength beginning to give out.
When a golden arrow slammed into Leviathan with the force of a cruise missile, Lung noticed and spent just a moment getting his feet back under him before throwing himself back into the fight.
A figure in winged golden armor smashed into the Endbringer and Lung felt a momentary flash of annoyance at the interruption of the battle before he noticed the figure was attempting to restrain the much-larger Endbringer. Holding his target still long enough for him to get some decent hits in sounded good at the moment. "Lung."
"Sagittarius Aiolos," said the gold-clad figure.
* Ellisburg. February 2nd 2001 *
"Taking heavy fire!"
"Where did our cape support go?!"
"They left!"
"Capes incoming! Different group! They're blasting away Nilbog's creations."
Squad Leader Emily Piggot fished out another clip as she dropped the spent one and began firing at another of the creatures. "Identities?"
"The only one I recognize is Gausshawk," came the radio reply.
Emily Piggot thought back to the sheets. Gausshawk, one of the non-parahuman capes who called herself a 'metahuman', electromagnetism control and flight. Tended to stick around Native American reservations in the Southwest.
A spray of buckshot sped past her, punching through one of Nilbog's creatures twice and then going into a second creature before that one was jerked around and used as a blunt trauma instrument against a third.
"Cover fire, controlled retreat," said Squad Leader Piggot. "Extraction Point Delta. Pick up any wounded and get them clear."
Ruby red beams of light struck creatures, knocking them down and dealing crushing injuries where she could see them.
"PRT squads, pull back!" said a voice she didn't recognize, someone yelling at a distance. "We're laying down suppression fire but can't win against these numbers."
"We're trying damn it!" yelled back Squad Leader Piggot. Damn capes acting all uppity. Not that she was going to complain about them coming in to give her a chance to pull her squad out before further casualties happened.
A golden disc stopped a dart-throwing creature's missiles from reaching one of her troopers. The trooper in question held her rifle out around the edge and applied a burst of bullets to the dart-thrower.
"Good shooting, Anderson. Now get back. Grenade!"
The grenade bounced once and then made a satisfying boom that caused another creature to come apart.
* Cauldron HQ. February 5th 2001 *
"So we have 'sorcerers' and 'mutants' and 'metahumans' and 'aliens' and 'mythological beings' in addition to nice normal parahumans," said Alexandria.
"We have managed to get tissue samples from several of these groups," said Doctor Mother.
Eidolon's fist hit the table, interrupting things. "You had allies killed to get tissue samples. If Keith even gets a hint of that..."
"He won't," said Alexandria. "And we needed the information."
Doctor Mother favored Eidolon with a cold look before continuing. "Metahumans and mutants have the same genetic aberration. 'Sorcerers' have a slightly different one. Both are located in what are commonly referred to as the 'junk genes' in their cells. Aliens are a different case, though admittedly I have not been able to acquire a sufficiently large test base."
"Look, I'm not squeamish, you know I'm not," said Eidolon. "But this whole 'killing people who are actively allies in order to figure out what they are' thing bothers me."
Alexandria let out a deep breath. "I'm not entirely happy with it either. Contessa has walked out of meetings where it is being discussed and she's certainly not shy about dirtying her hands."
"We have gotten useful information and I am ready to start attempting gene therapy to give chosen agents these other abilities," said Doctor Mother. "If it works out as it should - we will be able to put out our own metahumans."
Eidolon had started flipping through the metahuman report and stopped. "You're kidding. You ordered Sturm Heks killed? THAT is why she never showed up to our meeting with her after Naples?"
"The body has provided much useful data-" began Doctor Mother.
Eidolon did something completely unexpected from those who knew him. He got up, glared at Doctor Mother, and left.
"How unprofessional," stated Doctor Mother. "Now, onto these findings about the alien we managed to capture..."
* Eidolon *
There was getting one's hands dirty, and then there was betraying allies in order to kill them and desecrate their corpses.
To say he had problems with this was understating it. Yes, he had his own issues. He'd met Sturm Heks three times along with Legend. A "sorceress" who used runes to empower objects or make constructs. She had several limitations but it was about on the line with regular parahuman abilities and those limitations. She had been a fairly attractive, intelligent, and friendly face among those who gathered for Endbringer battles. They'd even gotten into comparing metal bands in the wind-down time after that fight in Madrid. And there she had been, shot through the neck from behind was his immediate impression on seeing the photos.
"The Path does not understand these metahumans, not directly," said a familiar voice.
"I know you can't predict much about them, because they're some sort of wildcard as far as the shards are concerned, right?" asked Eidolon, not looking.
"Correct," said Contessa.
"Now what?" asked Eidolon.
"Now, we do what we've always done," said Contessa after a pause. "We try to save the world. Except now we have to save it from ourselves as well."
* Docks, February 21st 2001 *
Danny Hebert looked over the two. "You're capes?"
"Not exactly," said the young red-haired woman. "We're metahumans, not parahumans. I think the operative term nowadays is that anyway."
"Hmph," said the big guy.
"Greek?" asked Danny Hebert.
"My accent?" asked the girl. "Yes."
"Heard about that, some sort of parahuman power struggle. Don't bring any conflicts here," said Danny Hebert.
"Understood, sir," said the guy, sounding to Danny's ears quite sincere.
"What are your abilities? If I understand correctly the NEPEA laws restrict you on a lot of things." Danny turned his attention to the paperwork.
"They are... very inconvenient," said the red-head. "I believe the Parahuman scale would show me as a Brute 2, Mover 2, Thinker 2 for minor clairvoyant abilities. For myself I have trained extensively in the martial arts and my parahuman talent is one of the more common ones - Reinforce Self or Enhance Physical depending on which source you're using."
"I am Brute 3, Mover 4, Thinker 3 especially for my eyesight," said the guy.
"Okay, Marin - you apparently have some skills with paperwork and that's something we can use right now," Danny turned his attention to the guy. "Aiolos - you'll be up for a position in Security. With some of our gang problems we could potentially use you. That's pending the second interview, background checks, and so on. Any questions?"
Neither did.
"Why Brockton Bay? It's not exactly the greatest location for refugees," asked Danny, almost as an afterthought.
"Because there is someone here we want to protect," said Marin after a moment.
* Outside Time & Space *
"You didn't," said lizarded-Taylor.
"He did," said the Varga with a grin.
"Mayyyybeeee," said the cat/Elder.
"So the native-to-this-timeline Taylor?" asked Taylor.
"The [Athena] shard," said the cat. "Part of the [Celestial] Server Network. Marin has the [Eagle] shard and Aiolos has the [Sagittarius] shard. They are there to guard Taylor of course. Not you, Taylor, the other Taylor."
"What exactly can the [Athena] 'shard' do?" asked Varga. "Something suitably dramatic, one hopes."
"Stages of ability," said Toltiir. "Starting with..."
* Hebert front yard. March 7, 2001 *
"Taylor, you can't do anything for it," said Danny Hebert, looking at the garden where Taylor was cradling a small bird that had apparently fallen out of a nest.
"Awww," said Emma, looking at the little fluffball. "It's a baby owl."
Six-year-old Taylor got a determined look on her face, concentrated. Silver light began pooling up around her hands, causing the two adults present to gasp.
"PRrrrt? Kuuu," said the baby owl, looking rather astonished.
The little girl holding him gave a very satisfied nod before her eyes closed and she slumped to the ground.
"Whoaaaaa," said a very impressed Emma Barnes. From the viewpoint of a six-year-old girl, this was very impressive.
"She's just exhausted," said Aiolos after checking her pulse and eyes. "That probably took a lot out of her."
"She's a parahuman?" asked Danny.
"Meta, I suspect," said Aiolos. "Have to check later, if you want. Right now she needs to rest."
* April 23, 2002 *
The parahumans weren't quite sure what to make of recent developments. In an Endbringer attack, the usual lines of combat were put aside by all but the most nihilistic of capes. Still, this was different. Alliances that had been made in previous battles were apparently not being kept.
"Where are the metahumans? The aliens? Why aren't they here?" asked Crisscross across the radios as they prepared for battling Leviathan.
"Haven't you heard? They're being targeted. Someone's been ignoring the Truce and killing them off in the period between fighting an Endbringer and getting back to their homes. A whole bunch of them were -"
"Everyone keep this channel clear. Use this channel only for coordinating with anti-Endbringer forces."
"- so that's why they aren't here."
Crisscross, a parahuman from Spain, remembered his alliances. Were they dead or just boycotting because they weren't safe here? That beggared the question, if the METAhumans and aliens were getting targeted - then would the PARAhumans be next?
One thing entirely to be put in the Dead Book by some giant city-killing monster, that was still proper hero-ing as he understood it. Someone taking a shot or something at you because you showed up and survived? Entirely different thing altogether.
Then Leviathan came up out of the water, heading at all speed towards Shanghai, and Crisscross had to put such concerns aside. For the moment. He'd come back to it later if he survived.
* August 20th, 2002 *
Behemoth struck the city of Bogota and destroyed half the city before it became completely obvious.
Less than a hundred capes had shown up. It could have wiped them all out without serious effort. It could have wiped the city clean off the map.
It was there to stir conflict and destroy things and it could only accomplish half of that with such a paltry showing of opponents.
That didn't keep Behemoth from wiping the city out and killing three-quarters of the capes that had shown up, but even the survivors seemed to pick up on it being a sort of half-hearted effort.
*August 30th, 2002 *
"Now we see the culmination of my research," said Doctor Mother. "Alien DNA, plus the 'magic' gene, plus the 'metahuman' gene."
"Right," said Alexandria. "How many hours have you been awake?"
"Who needs sleep when there is SCIENCE to be done?!" declared Doctor Mother.
"Uh huh," said Alexandria, looking over the lab. "When did you get a big knife-switch like that? And is that a pyramid made of Monster Energy Drink cans?"
"DETAILS!" said Doctor Mother. "Bwahahahaha!" (CLUNK!)
"I have a really bad feeling about this," grumbled Alexandria as she watched multi-colored bubblers bubble, arcs of electricity go arcing, multi-colored sparks go sparking, and somewhere in the mass of wiring and gauges something went "doot" in a particularly cheerful manner.
Silence followed a particularly loud crash that seemed to shift the ground underfoot.
"Uh huh. I think you need a nap, Doctor," said Alexandria.
(THOOM!) went something nearby as a panel swung partially open and then ground to a halt.
"It's alive. It is Alive! IT'S ALIVE!" declared Doctor Mother.
"And now you're channeling 'Young Frankenstein' aren't you?" asked Alexandria. "It's too bad Contessa or Eidolon aren't here. Now let me just take you to your nice room where you can get a nice nap..."
"GAAA!" yelled some little baby creature as it came out of the enclosure.
"Seriously? That's it?" asked Alexandria, flying over to the little bipedal creature. "I was worried for a -"
(WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM WHAMMITY WHAM!) went Alexandria as she was grabbed by the leg and then repeatedly swung into walls and floor and then thrown through three banks of very expensive machinery.
"They said it couldn't be done!" declared Doctor Mother. "They said it shouldn't be done! BEHOLD! BEHOLD THE POWER OF SCIENCE!"
There was a crack of a sound barrier being broken as Alexandria sped towards the baby thing.
There was another crack of the sound barrier as Alexandria was batted away through a mountain.
"Why you little-" growled Alexandria as she landed again on the floor next to her latest exit-hole.
(FWOOM!) went a volcanic vomitus as the baby thing upchucked towards Alexandria, melting a large section of wall and floor and ceiling.
"Hah! You missed!" said Alexandria.
(FWOOM!) went baby's other end.
"Ewwwww, I am NOT changing his nappies," declared Alexandria.
"Yes, yes, oh dear." Doctor Mother checked her notes, grimaced. "Oh. Well, damn. I may have miscalculated..."
Alexandria pointed at the baby, then the wreckage. "You think?!"
"There's a chance that-"
(BOOM!)
"The baby will explode like it just did," said Doctor Mother.
* PRT ENE HQ, August 9, 2010 *
"Look, the Dockworker Union has no PARAhumans. They do, however, employ four METAhumans and an alien." Deputy Director Renick explained to his new boss.
"The world is a strange place," said Director Piggot. "Whatever. Parahumans have that whole 'seek conflict' thing and have to use their powers. Metahumans try to blend in and not call attention to themselves."
"Some people tend to lump everyone with an ability together," pointed out Renick.
"I'm not James Tagg," countered Piggot. "I've worked with both. Parahumans all have that One Bad Day and get powers. Metas are born that way. Parahumans, with some exceptions, are less stable. The Unwritten Rules apply to both, so does the NEPEA once that amendment passes."
"So the gangs here are the Empire 88, which holds that mutants, aliens, and wizards aren't desirable. The ABB, which is pretty much the same unless you're their kind of spellcaster. Like that guy that does the origami but he's strictly West Coast. The Merchants are less discriminatory but don't have any aliens or magicky types. They do have two metahumans. Twitcher has a different power depending on what he's on at the time, though they're all low-mid-range."
"Think I read something on him," admitted Piggot. "Mover-3 when he's got meth in his system, LSD gives him a Shaker rating, and so on?"
"That's him. Usually only lasts for five to ten minutes before the other effects make him much less effective," said Renick. "The Merchant's other parahuman is the most dangerous one they've got. Shudder. She's sadistic, has drug injector needles under her nails along with glands that produce various toxins. Her favorite is a fear toxin that causes hallucinations and feelings of terror but she's also got paralytics and a nerve toxin that can shut a grown man down in seconds."
"She's a short-jump from a kill order if I recall correctly," said Piggot.
"Right," said Renick. "Other than that they've got Squealer, a tinker who makes tanks and enhanced vehicles. Mush, who animates trash into a form of armor around him. Skidmark, of course, a kinetic redirection ability."
"And the Nazis. The E88." Piggot made a disgusted noise as she opened the door to her office. "Why do I have an office with such big windows when the E88 has that sniper on call. Victor, I think his name is."
"Reinforced Tinker-material glass," said Renick. "There are steel shutters that can be lowered as soon as a threat is identified."
"Anyone else?" asked Piggot.
"No, absolutely nobody worth bringing up," said Renick, holding up a stick-it note.
Piggot raised an eyebrow and read the note before speaking. "Good. Let me check the paperwork and get back to me in about an hour. I'll meet with Armsmaster and Miss Militia at that time."
[Source from DWU says PRT offices have multiple moles and taps. Investigating.]
Renick tossed the crumpled note into a bin where an Armsmaster device promptly dissolved the fibers into goo which would later be recycled into plastic. Man was all about efficiency after all.
* Dockhouse Bar *
Kenta was originally Yakuza, one of the organizations that would accept someone of Chinese/Japanese heritage in pre-Leviathan Japan. The Yakuza had certain expectations regarding its internal culture. Some of that, he had thrown out when it no longer suited him.
He had fought an Endbringer. He would have regarded it as a force of nature that therefore couldn't be fought except for one thing. He HAD fought it and that Sagittarius person had been able to pin it and hold it in place for him to injure it enough that it retreated. Kyushu had still been lost but many had been able to escape the devastation because of his battle.
There were capes that were strong enough that he could respect them. Sagittarius was one.
Seeing him walk into a ramshackle little bar, that admittedly made a very good draft beer, was a bit of a surprise.
"Kenta," said the cape.
"Aiolos," said Kenta with a nod.
Old Erwin glanced over but like everyone else got the feeling this was something best not intruded on. It was one of those things about the locality that everyone would unite against a hostile intruder, but otherwise everyone left everyone else alone.
"Business?" Kenta eyed the other, who was apparently not here as a cape. Unwritten Rules applied if he had any respect for the individual. In this case he did. Besides, anything to disrupt the flow of good beer was to be avoided.
"Kind of. Working at the Docks," said Aiolos, the Greek man shaking his head. "Problem?"
"Don't mess with my business, I don't with you," stated Kenta, the head of the ABB and also the cape known as Lung. "Why here?"
"The one I'm to protect is here," said Aiolos. "Giri."
Kenta nodded. The Japanese sense of duty, particularly honor towards one's superior, was a major part of Yakuza culture. Not that they were alone in that, Kenta could recall a half-dozen tales where duty/giri and ninjo/conscience coming into conflict was a major part of the story. He'd heard something like that regarding other groups, but he was mainly concerned with his own territory nowadays.
"Good beer," commented Aiolos as he sipped at his own drink.
"Truth," agreed Kenta. "Others?"
"Just me and one other right now. There will be more later," said Aiolos. "The Docks only?"
"Borders my territory," said Kenta, thinking about it. "No. No problem. Yet. This one you protect, child?"
"Yes," admitted Aiolos.
"Guessed," said Kenta. "I'll put out the word not to mess with the Docks or the workers."
Aiolos nodded.
"In return, I want a fight," said Kenta.
"Away from people, not to the death," replied Aiolos. "Time limit?"
"Has to be enough time for me to ramp up," mused Kenta aloud. "An hour."
"Half hour," said Aiolos. "That's enough time for you to ramp up, but not so long either of us are exhausted if someone decides to try taking advantage of it."
"Who would dare?" asked Kenta.
"There are a couple who would," stated Aiolos.
Kenta snorted. "Let me know where and when." He paused. "I should meet your protected one."
Aiolos cocked his head a little to the side.
"Dangerous business I'm in. Can't avoid this one if I don't know what they look like." Kenta made an off-hand gesture.
Finally Aiolos nodded.
* A/N *
Was an idea I had for Worm Turns but it was kind of too complicated for what I'd originally planned as a fifteen-chapter mini-fic.
The idea of the Worm setting (and the Warrior Worm itself) getting confused by the existence of metahumans, aliens, and other comic book tropes running around their nice clean setting and confusing things seemed a natural add. The Saint Seiya/Knights of The Zodiac is also something i hadn't seen done and the idea of Taylor surrounded by bishonen warrior-guardian types amused me.