~ Unwanted Friends ~
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Mid January
MC's POV
I need to run.
I gotta hide.
To think I'll be hunted today. I did all the preparations, I trained and I conditioned my body to the best as I could. Yet it wasn't enough.
But soon I found a safe space.
Diving into the small metal enclosure, I immediately locked shut the narrow door shut on myself. My breathing went silent, the breathing techniques used in Ki meditation coming in handy as I calmed my heart down after running away from my pursuers.
Suddenly, I heard her voice.
My enemy!
'Move along! Move along! Move along!' I repeated in my head like a mantra as she neared my position. I didn't dare look through the gaps of my safe haven in fear of being discovered.
A few seconds passed and finally, she left.
I sighed in relief.
*Bam!*
"FOUND YOU!"
I screamed like a lunatic, curses coming my lips like a chainsaw as I fought tooth and nail against my captor. All for naught as she held me up like a lioness and her cub to her group.
"I found our short king!" Victoria Dallon Aka Glory Girl announced to her group, holding me up by the scruff of my jacket as I tried to escape her clutches.
Damn blondes and their superior height!
Curse my 5 foot genes!
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Amy's POV
"I will have vengeance, it will be swift and all of you will woe the day you have met me." I shook my head at the shortest new member of our group, who is currently sulking and glaring daggers at everyone with his chin placed at the table.
"Knock it off. You already got your vengeance by biting Vicky." I gave him a small smack at the back of his head to reprimand him and to subtly check his condition.
Not good but nothing alarming.
It's been 2 weeks since Dean collapsed and got spooked by some Anti-Thinker effect that knocked him out. Surprisingly, he didn't report the incident to the PRT. He instead decided to recruit me and Vicky to find who is our mystery cape.
Of course I didn't accept and didn't want to tangle in his investigations or become the third wheel in their investigations but Dean laid down one very interesting piece of information about our mystery cape.
He sensed three distinct emotions coming from one person before he got laid out flat.
We didn't understand first which led to him explaining how his emotion sensing works. It's like receiving radio signals. Each emotion has a different frequency and is distinct from one another.
Then our mystery could be just feeling a lot of emotions in an instant.
Wrong, cause what Dean sensed was different.
If emotions are frequent for him, then the people sending them are channels.
And he felt three different channels in one person.
Multiple Personality Disorder.
It could be the answer but we needed more info.
So for an entire week, we helped Dean find who is our Anti-Thinker.
We found him and his a 5 ft tall midget.
Castilian Guerrero, Dean's classmate.
Further investigations led to discovering 3 possible identities.
First, Castilian's default personality.
Second, a silent yet malicious personality based on Dean's prodding. He said it's anticipating harm for everyone. Lethal harm.
Lastly, a pure rage personality that knocked Dean out a second time after discovering it.
I would be lying if watching him go limp and fall down face first and ass up wasn't cathartic. Heck, there's even a rumor running around about Dean's health.
Which died immediately in my presence.
But if I ever met the rageful personality of his, I would shake it's hand for giving me good blackmail material now sitting in my phone.
Still, Castilian or Cas' case is very unique. There's no Parahuman study on how MPD influences a cape's power and mental stability.
That's why Dean started to befriend the shortest boy in his class and dear God it was hilarious.
Cas already knew the entire Wards identity. Don't know how and why but the first thing he said to Dean is this;
'Fuck that shit, I'm not painting myself a target for your pleasure' before running away.
The rejection is God tier. Although, I'm curious how he found out Dean's a Ward.
As such, we had to send in the Cavalry.
My sister, Vicky.
And boy I hated how she immediately took a shine at him. Vicky liked cute things and Cas apparently counted as one with his shortness. She even decided that he is now her unofficial little brother.
Cas didn't take it well, so it became norm to Arcadia for the following week to watch him run around to escape my sister's clutches and pampering.
It should have been me! Not him!
Jokes aside, it was the best coverup for our investigations. A few smack her and there, a necessary grab here and etc. It's the very first time I had to use my powers illegally and repeatedly on one patient.
It kinda feels exciting.
Still, the investigation has to continue with Dean and Vicky as cover for me to examine Cas if he's a Parahuman with MPD.
Boy, did I find something!
Whatever powers (yes, it's multiple one) he has, it's changing him slowly.
His bones just got 1.4x denser, accelerated muscle growth and denseness, higher metabolism and enhanced organs.
If I had to compare it to something, it's like he took one of those super soldier serum from those old comics.
Except he has more surprises.
He had an extra system in his body. It looked like the circulatory system but I can't see what it is pumping through his entire body. That means it wasn't biological but something else.
Whatever it is, it's beyond my powers.
Luckily, his brain isn't altered. I might not work on brains but it doesn't mean I can't check on them.
The only concerning thing on his brain is its size. It grew to 1.2x of its original size from last week.
"Oh we got a runner!" Dennis aka Clockblocker suddenly called out with mirth, pointing at the shortest member of their group making a break for it.
I didn't even notice him running.
"I'll get him!" Vicky shot off to manhandle the runner.
"Hahaha! Should you be worried, Dean?" Dennis looked at Dean teasingly, pointing at the blonde hoisting up the small escapee like a mother cat.
"No, I don't. Vicky's just having fun." She does.
Vicky's powers are rather complicated with others. Due to her aura, which reflects her emotions to others, it's hard for her to socialize without turning anyone into her yes men.
Heck, I've been living with her and I can't deny her. The only one who can is Carol because she's the mom and Vicky's emotions are different when it comes to her. Dean is no exception to Vicky's Aura either.
That's when Cas entered the picture.
Absolute total immunity to her aura. We tested it.
From joy, love and anger, Cas is unbothered by Vicky's Aura. It doesn't affect him at all. It's why Vicky loved giving attention to the small guy. He was true and genuine around her and she liked it even though Cas announced his dislike of associating with capes. Too dangerous and a hassle, he said.
It's still true.
Nonetheless, Cas became part of Ward's group plus me and Vicky.
The dynamics are pretty… hilarious.
Dean is his most hated person for sicking Vicky on him.
Vicky adores him like a brother and he hates but tolerates it.
He isn't amused by Dennis' jokes.
Surprisingly, he and Chris aka Kid Win hit it off with interest in tinkering. Cas isn't a tinker but he likes programming which he and Chris discuss most of the time. Cas also took responsibility for helping Chris in his ADD, by smacking him on the head everytime it strikes.
Me and him? In his words; we are cool.
At least he's not turning into a villain.
For now, we still need to make sure he is stable. Both mentally and physically.
"Aaaah! He bit me again!" After I heal Vicky's bite marks.
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Castilian's POV
It's been two weeks now and life has become hectic.
Don't know why Dean of all people decided to pester and force me to join their group but it has some benefits.
Mainly, Glory Girl.
His daily runs and escape is basically training for him to escape a mover cape on foot. Obviously, I'm not getting much luck with how she's always catching up to me but it's fine. The only improvement I need for now is speed and distance I can cover before getting caught.
Another benefit in their presence is Ki control.
It took me just one day to feel Ki with the knowledge I noted down and a week to tap into it.
Then came Ki control. Lucky for me, I got Vicky.
Due to Vicky's bad habit of rough treatment, I have to constantly coat my entire body with Ki. A technique that both defends and protects the body from harm while sacrificing offensive power.
With this technique constantly up, I'm safe from Glory Girl's accidental mishaps of her strength (which happens a lot. Why do you think she's called the Collateral Barbie?) and train at the same time.
But the most important discovery I had through my two weeks is about my power.
It sucks.
You see, my power provides different powers a day that last 24 hours. What I didn't know is the sheer scope of what counts as a power.
So imagine my surprise when I woke up with the power of Jobless.
Literally the skills of a Hobo.
Useless to me.
What sucks more is that some power can be rolled again. I got the Jobless power about 3 times in two weeks!
As such, my power has 5 categories based on what power they provide based on my findings.
Rank 1 - Useless (knowledge)
Rank 2 - Useful (knowledge and skills)
Rank 3 - Professional (knowledge, skill and abilities)
Rank 4 - Super (knowledge, skill, abilities and optional item)
Rank 5 - Legend (All of the above with extra fragments left behind after expiration)
Rank 5 powers are the best. Death, King of Fighters and Voodoo Lord are the only Rank 5 powers I have rolled yet. I no longer have them but they left behind some useful fragments of their power.
Death gave me insight, the ability to sense danger. It's why I always avoid going out of the house because this insight is always alarming me.
The King of Fighters gave me Ki that I'm currently training.
Meanwhile, Voodoo Lord gave me the best fragment. A living shadow. Don't know how and when it happened but I just discovered him one day practicing my Katas with me.
Shadow became my sparring partner since then.
For the rest, meh.
Through the two weeks, all I got are Rank 1 to 3 which aren't useful.
What's the use of Dual Wielder if I don't even have a sword or something else to practice with?
Although the Medic and Ninja power provided some good information. Medic gave me notes on proper emergency medical assistance in case of injuries and Ninja gave me more avenues in using my Ki.
Just the thought of me walking on water is making me feel giddy. Too bad the only place I can practice that particular skill is my bathroom.
…Sigh, my current growth is still slow at the moment.
Voodoo Lord's notes aren't useful for now, I needed some materials to set up the spells and wards. Most importantly, can I even use Voodoo without Voodoo Lord?
Meanwhile, my Ki and physical training is rather slow due to secrecy and lack of proper practice area.
… I might need to debut as a cape to rectify that.
It will be risky but I can use my nights as a cape to practice far from home. Still need to practice my own version of the Ansatsuken (non-lethal) to live target's.
Hah, what a hassle.
Hope I'll get a rank 5 tonight because today's power; Gamer, isn't useful at all.
Author's notes.
To those wandering if Cas is OP.
The anwer is a big fat no. His growt and power is based on RNG which I have a wheel for it.
About Death, Akuma and Shadow (Disney's Paci
