I don't own anything.
"Hey, I'm back. And I brought pants!" The singsong voice snapped me out of my musings as I turned to face the source. Purple met blue as I spun to face her, the sapphire chips twinkling with amusement at the way I covered myself. Awkwardly I stuck one arm out from the cocoon of black feathers my wings formed around me to grab the grey sweatpants she held out for me. She giggled as I struggled to put on the pants without giving her another free show, the scowl I sent her only amusing her further.
"You wouldn't find this so funny if you were the one who was stuck without clothes." I grumbled through clenched teeth. The girl, Vicky, I corrected myself, sent me a beautiful smile as I tied the drawstring tight making sure it wouldn't go anywhere. "Oh, come on, I saw it all earlier, and you've got nothing to be ashamed of 'big guy'."
Heat flooded my face as the words registered, I gave her another heated glare as she did her best to rile me up, though that only seemed to make her crack up more. A sigh forced its way through my lips as I realized that there would be no winning here. "Where were we going again?" I asked, hoping to distract her enough to make her drop it.
"It's called The Rig, it's the headquarters for the PRT and the Protectorate. It's the best place to get you some help." She kindly left out why exactly I needed help, but my mind sprung to it, nonetheless. No ID, no clothes on my back, no memories and not even a name to call my own. When I thought about it, that was probably the worst part. Unlike the homeless and the drug-addled junkies who had ignored me when I asked for help, I didn't even have that little shred of identity to cling to.
When I had woken up in that crater, I had been confused, I was still confused to be honest. But in those first moments, I had gone to ask the nearest people for help. A group of dirty men and women huddled around a burning barrel, quietly nursing brown bottles as the fire warded off the chilly breeze of the fall. When the first of them noticed me coming, they had backed away, their wide eyes locked onto me, or more accurately on the large, black-feathered wings hanging on my back. Before I could get close enough to ask them anything, they turned and ran as fast as their legs could carry them.
At first, I thought there was something wrong with them, until it happened again with the next person I approached, and the next. I was starting to think something might just be wrong with me instead, before Vicky showed up. She had seemed ready for a fight, fully prepared to take down the monster that had been scaring everyone around him into fleeing. But when she noticed how confused I had seemed, she asked me if I was okay instead.
She had taken me to this rooftop, listened, really listened to me. And she explained too, she answered my questions without reservation, seemingly an endless font of wisdom. She told me of capes, heroes and villains, and why civilians, especially those in a bad neighborhood like this one would be quite afraid of an unknown cape coming at them. She told me about the PRT and Protectorate, about the heroes who might be able to help me find my place in the world, about her own family who would, according to her, doubtlessly offer me the same should I need it. If I was totally honest, I could put up with a little teasing for all of that, even if I did swear to myself that I would get her back.
A smile crept onto my face as I saw her take off into the sky, her golden blonde hair fluttering behind her in the wind. I kicked off as well, my ears hearing the rooftop I had just launched from crack a little as my wings spread wide, bringing me next to Vicky as she led the way. The smile turned into a laugh as I drifted on the wind, propelled by the light pooling in my chest, pushing me forward to keep up with the girl that had saved me. Flying was a wondrous thing, the freedom, the exhilaration I felt as I blurred forward fed the pool of light in my chest making it bubble with glee.
We made it to 'The Rig' in short order, and I could see why they called it that. It looked like a new age oil rig, sitting in the bay with a blueish bubble around it, warping the colors and shapes inside of it. It saturated the colors of the structure hidden inside in such a way that it contrasted rather sharply with the drab blues and greys of the nighttime bay around it. In an odd way, it fit the theme, with capes standing out against the 'normal' world around it.
When we finally got to the rig itself, we were met by a couple of figures standing at the edge of the platform, waiting. The first was a woman who looked suspiciously like the companion who had brought me here. The same blonde hair and blue eyes stuck out to me, though the older woman wore her hair in a much shorter style. Her costume, too, looked to be the same style as Vicky's.
Beside her, there was another woman. In contrast to both Vicky and the other female cape present, she had dark brown hair and a naturally tanned skin much more similar in color to his own. She wore green fatigues in a military cut, the only pops of color being the scarves around her waist and the lower half of her face, obscuring her identity. Locking eyes with her as I began descending, I had to admit that her eyes were a rather stunning shade of green.
Slowing down on the descent, I looked to the last figure. I couldn't make out much about him other than the suit of armor he was wearing. The man was tall, around the same height as I was if I had to guess, though the armor he was wearing could be fudging that estimate a little. The armor itself was a solid midnight blue, with some silver accents scattered around. I had to admit that the armor looked incredibly advanced, I didn't even want to make a guess at the kind of tech that had gone into making it.
Before I could make any more observations, Vicky and I landed on the platform of the Rig. As I got my feet back onto the ground, I misjudged how fast I was going and the remaining momentum pitched me forward, my course set for a faceplant straight into the solid steel of the Rig's platform. A white-clad arm crashed into my chest, steadying me before I could make more of a fool of myself, though. Looking to my left, Vicky smiled at me in a way made something in my chest flutter. If it was the energy that had propelled me during my flight or something else, I couldn't say.
"Easy there, the landings are always the hardest." I gave her a shaky smile in return as she released me, and I stood up straight. Looking at the heroes arrayed before me, I tried my best not to let the nerves show on my face, though by the look in the green clad heroine's eyes, I wasn't as successful as I hoped.
"Welcome to the Rig. You need to come with us for power testing." My eyes snapped over to the hero shrouded in the blue power armor, who had already turned around and started walking towards one of the doors to the building. After a moment, I started after him, noting that the rest of the heroes, Vicky included were already walking. When I got to the door, I noted a small problem. My wings wouldn't fit.
Even folded behind my back, they were too tall and too wide to get through the relatively narrow opening. For a moment, I wished that they weren't in the way, I had already made a fool of myself with the landing, I did not need anything else going wrong in this meeting. Almost as if the universe was having me on, I almost pitched forward onto my face again, the comfortable weight of the wings on my back suddenly vanishing into nothing. This time, I managed to steady myself on the doorframe, though not without attracting the attention of the group walking in front of me. I could see more than one raised eyebrow, except for the metal man, whose visor hid any part of the expression on his face, though even if it didn't, I doubted anything I could do would faze the man.
Looking behind me, to see what had happened, I couldn't help but dread the sight of my wings, or lack thereof in this case. Frantic, I noted that the light in my chest was still there, and now there was a strange sensation on the back of my shoulder blades as well, where my wings had been attached to me. I don't know how, but I somehow knew that I could make the wings reappear just as easily as I had vanished them just moments ago, however unintentional that had been. The panic I had been feeling moments ago vanished as I realized that, no, I hadn't somehow lost my wings forever, and that I would still be able to fly around.
"Cool, you didn't tell me that you could retract your wings." Vicky, ever excitable, broke away from her conversation with the woman I could only assume to be her mother. "I didn't know." The mumbled response drew some attention from the three older heroes, though they didn't comment, simply leading them further into the building until they reached a plain wooden door which the hero in blue held open for us.
Inside, I found myself in a rather normal looking conference room, though I had no idea how I knew what a normal conference room would look like, since I couldn't recall ever being inside one. It had a large rectangular wooden table with black chairs scattered around it, a television screen on one end and a table with a water pitcher and glasses on the other end. At the table, a man was already seated. He had brown curly hair and brown eyes, hidden behind thick, round glasses set on a crooked nose. The man looked mousy, and like he spent too much time inside, his skin and unhealthy pale shade that only accentuated the dark bags under his eyes.
On the table in front of him, the man had a stack of papers ready. "Hello, my name is Hank Turin, I work with the PRT to register any Parahumans that come in for testing." The man stuck out his hand across the table and gave him a surprisingly solid handshake for someone of his stature and frame. "Have a seat, do you want anything to drink before we get started?" the man, Hank, I corrected myself added waving at the seat directly opposite him. Quietly, I shook my head as the two Protectorate heroes circled the table to sit by Hank's side, while Vicky and her mom sat down next to me. "Ah, Brandish and Glory Girl. It's a pleasure to see you again, how have you been." The small talk gave me a moment to center myself as Hank laughed at something Vicky was telling him. She seemed good at that, making people happy. My head snapped back up as the man in blue started talking again.
"Can we get started; I have other duties to attend to." Hank grimaced at the curt tone the hero used but got on with it anyways. Introductions were brief, but at least now I could put a name to the faces, or masks anyways. Armsmaster and Miss Militia from the Protectorate on Hank's side, Glory Girl and Brandish from New Wave on mine. Apparently, Brandish was a lawyer, specializing in Parahuman law, and Vicky had asked her mom for a favor in helping me out with my paperwork. After all, Vicky assumed that I didn't know anything about procedure, and she'd be right too, so I was all too glad to accept some pro-bono legal aid.
"Okay so let's get started then, shall we? First things first, what's your full name?" Hank started, and I couldn't help but smile bitterly as the first, and probably easiest, question already had no answer. "I don't know." Hank looked up from the stack of paper on the table, straight into my eyes. I couldn't help but flinch at the razor intellect hiding behind those thick glasses and cheery demeanor. "Could you say that again son?"
"I don't know, I don't remember anything from before waking up on the street." I told him, heat flushing up my cheeks as the whole table's attention came to rest onto me. Looking down, I noticed Vicky's hand snaking down into one of mine under the table. She gave it a reassuring squeeze, as she flashed me a smile. I tried to smile back, but I don't think mine came out quite as beautifully as hers.
On the other end of the table, Hank looked over to Armsmaster, who nodded at him. "Alright, did you notice any strange marks on your skin when you woke up." He looked something up on his phone and slid it over to me with a picture displaying on the screen. It was a tattoo, the Greek letter Omega, or perhaps a stylized C. I couldn't be sure exactly, but it seemed significant. Regardless, I hadn't noticed anything, and from the way Vicky was shaking her head, neither had she. "I didn't see anything like that, can't be sure though. I could have missed it."
"Alright then, I guess we can do the power testing first then, get it out of the way and then do the paperwork at a more convenient time." Hank added. He seemed mighty uncomfortable at the revelation, maybe there was some kind of stigma behind capes with memory loss? Regardless, we moved even deeper into the facility. The closer we got to our destination, the giddier Vicky seemed to get. When we finally got to the power testing room, she was almost hopping up and down in excitement.
"Okay, we'll start off with the physical tests. We need to see how strong, fast and durable you are before anything else." It was Armsmaster who had taken over now, standing behind a screen with the rest of the group. "There's a platform there, go stand on it and hold your hands up. The plate above you will press down, when it gets too much, tell us to stop."
I went to stand in the square outlined by yellow and black tape on the floor and stuck my hands up. As I did so, I could hear a machine whirring to life as the ceiling moved downwards, looking to squish me into the floor. With a deep breath, I resisted the urge to get out from under the plate. This is just a test, you're not in danger. Just stand there and hold. I told myself.
At first, it didn't feel like the machine was pressing down any when it hit my hands, though that quickly changed. After a couple of seconds, I grit my teeth as the plate got heavier and heavier, forcing me to push back into it. After nearly a minute of standing under the machine, it got too much. Sweat was pouring down my brow and glittering over my still bare torso as my muscles burned with exertion.
Looking up, I could see the group behind the screen glancing at the results. Vicky simply gave me a smile and a thumbs up while the others muttered to one another, discussing the results. "1274 kilograms, Brute for sure." It was the only bit of the conversation that I could make out, though I couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I didn't have too much time to worry about that, though, as I was moved over to a treadmill soon after.
"Just run as fast as you can and press the button when you can't go any faster. Stop when you can't run anymore." And so, I did. It took a while, but I had to admit that running was actually kind of fun. In the end, I managed to reach my top speed pretty fast, but I only managed to keep it up for about half an hour. Breathing at my feet, I listened for the results. "64 kilometers per hour, minor mover."
And the tests went on like that for a while longer. Reaction time, flight speed, maneuverability, everything was tested. They even pricked me with some needles to see if I had any particular form of toughness. In the end, they asked if I had any other powers beyond just my physical abilities. With Vicky's eyes excitedly watching me, I couldn't help but try to show off a little. I felt for the pool of light in my chest and tugged on it. Light flowed from my hands into a long thin shape, a spear, or a javelin perhaps.
"Could I get a target?"
A dummy popped out of the wall at the other end of the room, it was just a metal torso and head on a steel pole with bullseyes painted over the skull and chest. Heaving, I drew back and launched the glowing spear through the air as hard as I could. It was a little off target, but I don't think anyone could argue with the results. The spear had vanished into flecks of light as I stopped focusing on maintaining it, leaving a smoking hole in the metal dummy and the steel wall behind it.
"Ooh mom, he can make light weapons like you too. That's so cool!" At the excitement in Vicky's tone, I couldn't help it, I pulled on the light again, harder this time. Manifesting the light not in my hands, but around me. Glowing white spears dotted the air around me, hanging in mid-air as I kept adding to their number. I felt a burning feeling in my chest, almost like I had felt in my muscles when I pushed myself physically, when I got to the twelfth spear, and then I let loose.
The spears flew ever faster than when I had thrown that first one, each impaling a different part of the dummy, leaving it a tattered mess. When the spears vanished, the dummy and the piece of wall behind it were more scorched holes than metal after all was said and done. I couldn't help the beaming smile that formed on my face as I turned towards the astonished group of heroes behind the safety screen.
"So how did I do?"
"Blaster 6, Mover 2, Brute 3 and Changer 1. You really impressed them out there. And that thing at the end, shooting the spears, that was so cool!" That warm bubbling feeling was filling my chest again as Vicky gushed about the power testing that had just concluded. We had just made it to Vicky's house and were putting some sheets on the couch so I could sleep. The PRT had offered me a place to stay for the night, but Vicky's mom had assured me that I could just as well stay at their place. And if I was being perfectly honest, just having a friendly face around meant more to me than the increased comfort the PRT housing would have offered.
"Vicky, that's enough. You have school tomorrow, go to bed." I wished her goodnight as she trudged up the stairs, obviously too riled up to sleep, but eager to avoid a lecture from her mother. That just left me and Brandish, or Carol as she had told me to call her. "You too, get some rest. If you need anything all you need to do is ask. Tomorrow we can look at your options and what you want to do." She told me, the stern look on her face even more obvious now that she had taken off her domino mask.
"Yes Mrs. Dallon, and thank you for all the help. I can't thank you enough." The stern look melted away, and she shot me a sad smile as she moved towards the stairs as well. "Everyone needs some help sometimes."
A/N: Okay this is my first ever Worm story, and I'll admit that I don't remember much of the story. I read it once almost 3 years ago, but I really like the setting for fanfics so I'm trying my hand at it. Not everything will be canon compliant, but I'm doing my best with what I remember and some help from the Wiki to figure out some of the more complicated stuff. I would really appreciate any feedback you guys have for me, as I'm just making this up as I go.
If you guys are wondering, the MC (name coming next chapter) is a half-fallen angel from DxD. It will have just about 0 plot relevance, nor will this crossover at all. I simply saw the option to be a half-devil on a CYOA and wondered why you couldn't pick this option. Regardless, he will simply have the powerset, there's no one to teach him how to do magic, so he only has his innate abilities. But like in DxD he can grow overtime, it won't be fast or drastic growth though, so don't expect him to be taking on any endbringers alone any time soon.