Outsider Chronicles: Not Really an Outsider
Outsiders naturally have an obscene amount of potential. Simply by existing, they change lives with every breath they take. However, a lot of that potential also comes from their power to draw on other realities. Give that power to a normal teenager in dire need of power and chaos is inevitable. Of course it is, this is a ROBs doing.
Hoooo, this'll be fun! Its an idea I've been toying with for a few days, but now its time to put pen, um, fingers to keyboard and see what happens. I won't say anything else since I like playing with you lot, but I will say that this is NOT a normal Outsider story. You'll see what I mean shortly. Enjoy!
Prologue
What I wasn't expecting was to wake up. When I lost consciousness in that stinking prison, I genuinely thought that was the end. However, against all odds, when I next opened my eyes, it was to find myself standing in a perfectly circular chamber with a large number of mirrors and screens of various shapes and sizes covering the walls, each showing a different scene. In the center of the chamber was a swivel chair surrounded by keyboards and control panels, each of which was connected to an arm that allowed it to be moved.
Lounging in the chair, fast asleep with a string of drool leaking from his mouth was a man with short, brown hair that looked like it hadn't seen a brush in weeks, a five day beard, pale skin and a pair of square, black framed glasses that had fallen crooked. He was wearing tired looking jeans and a tatty shirt that had once been white, but had long since turned grey from to many washings.
I hesitated for a moment, before deciding that there was no point in standing around all day, so I walked over to the sleeping man and gently shook his shoulder. He snorted and tried to roll over, only to fall of his chair with a crash, before shooting to his feet with his glasses on upside down.
"I'm up, I'm up!" he shouted, "I wasn't sleeping on the job, honest!"
His accent placed his nationality as british and his awakening showed his eyes to be green.
"Wait, you're not the boss," said the man as he spotted me, "How did you get here?"
"Thats a very good question," I said, "Last thing I remember is burning to death."
The young man raised an eyebrow and turned in his chair to face his many control panels, bringing up a file on screen with my face on it. Upon seeing the file, his eyebrows shot up so quickly I'm surprised they didn't take off.
"Huh...thats...interesting," he said, "You aren't supposed to be here. Ever."
He turned to me.
"This is you isn't it?"
I nodded.
"Why is species on there?"
"There are more things between heaven and hell than appear in dreams of men," said the young man, "I watch over a lot of worlds and many different species so its kinda necessary."
"What do you mean?" I asked, "Who are you anyway?"
The man looked up.
"Oh, sorry," he said, "I should have introduced myself. I'm Dis Lexic, an Overseer of the Multiverse. Its my job to keep this segment of Creation working and making sure that any issues are dealt with before they get big enough for the man upstairs to get involved."
"So what, your an Angel or something?" I asked.
"Not exactly," said Dis, "I'm more like a technician. The Angels are the Almighties strong right arm, his police force if you will."
"Right," I said, not quite sure what to make of the explanation, "So why am I here exactly?"
"I have no idea, but your not dead, so I can safely send you back to your body," said Dis.
I blanched.
"Um, please don't," I said.
"Ah yes, your little...issue," said Dis, "Hmm, what to do…?"
He glanced at a screen that showed a large...something on a planet that looked half dead.
"Shards not connected for some reason," he muttered, "Hmm…"
He thought for a moment longer, before his face lit up and he gained a rather unnerving grin that literally went from ear to ear.
"Well, I need to do something about that golden idiot at some point," he muttered, "And I'm kinda bored...yeah, lets put those idiots to use for once!"
"Um, what are you talking about?" I asked, a little put out by the odd beings unnerving grin.
The grin somehow widened, making me shiver.
"Tell me kid, how would you like to be a hero?" asked Dis.
I blinked.
"A Hero?" I asked, "You mean...you could make me a Cape!?"
I gave him a look.
"Are you the one giving powers?"
"Nah, thats the omnicidal space whales thing," said Dis, waving a dismissive hand.
"Huh?!"
I was ignored.
"But since you ask, yes I could give you powers," he said, "Easily. I am the one in charge of your reality after all, fucking with it is easy. You technically won't be a Parahuman, but you'll certainly seem like it. You'll have to put some work into mastering the powers I have in mind, but you'll have more potential than any living being on your world."
I hesitated. I'd always wanted to be a hero, hell, what kid didn't, so I should have jumped at the chance, especially if it helped me with my current predicament. However, I couldn't help but think that Dis had something unpleasant planned. As if reading my mind, Dis' grin made another appearance.
"Oh, I do," he said, making me jump, "While you'll massively benefit from this, it'll also cause, solve and generally mess with your world on a fundamental level. I have no doubt that you'll manage to make a lot of people look very confused and say 'um' before your done. Of course, the end result will likely be better than it would be under normal circumstances. I'm not a big fan of letting my universe become all Grimmdark."
I frowned. That sounded...odd and just a touch worrying. Still, despite my misgivings, there wasn't really any reason not to say yes and something told me I could trust Dis, even if he was clearly completely insane. After a moment's thought, I nodded.
"Alright, I'll do it," I said.
Once again, Dis' face contorted into an unnatural grin and he clapped his hands.
"Excellent!" he said, "Now, this will feel a bit odd, but bare with it."
He spun around in his seat and started typing rapidly. I opened my mouth to ask what the hell he was talking about, but before I could the world did...something indescribable and my ears went pop.
"There, all done," said the Watcher, "Your now hooked into the Outsider Network. Congrats, you now have access to all the powers and skills of countless completely insane, obscenely powerful teenagers, many of whom could make the Endbringers cry. You'll have to learn what you can do on your own, but I'll give you a freebee with this."
He snapped his fingers and I felt my body and clothes change shape. I looked down and, for the first time in my life, I found myself staring at a pair of actual breasts.
"HEY, what did you do?!" I spluttered.
"Ohhh, I wasn't expecting that!" cackled Dis, "You turn into a female version of them! This is gonna be fun!"
He rubbed his hands together, still cackling like a loon and doing nothing to convince me that agreeing to this deal was a HORRIBLE idea.
"See ya around Taylor Hebert, do have fun with my army of headaches powers!" said Dis with a wave.
I opened my mouth to say...something to the idiot, only for a sensation like being flushed down the toilet to hit me and I found myself back in the stinking prison that was my Locker. Naturally, I did not take it well.
"SCREW YOUUUUU!" I screamed, somehow releasing a massive blast of fire that disintegrated the trash, bugs and disgusting sludge that surrounded me and melted the door into a pile of glowing slag.
Without the door keeping me in, I immediately toppled out of the locker, not helped in the slightest by the unfamiliar weight of my chest, but I managed to catch myself before I faceplanted in the burning mass that was eating its way through the plastic linom. As I did, I became aware of two things. One, I was suddenly wearing a very short skirt, and two, my hair was now bright red and apparently tied in pigtails.
I quickly glanced around. Fortunately, no one was in the halls, but I could hear a rather large amount of noise from the nearest classrooms that suggested that wouldn't be the case for much longer. Not wanting to be seen in a state that I'm pretty sure would instantly out me as a Cape, I quickly got to my feet and ran, intending to find a bathroom to see what I looked like and figure out how to change back. I stopped though when I managed to overshoot the nearest bathroom due to moving far faster than I was expecting. OK, so Pyrokinesis and super speed apparently. I quickly backtracked and ducked into the bathroom, just as the first of the classroom doors began to open. I stepped in front of the mirror and froze, my jaw dropping.
Staring back at me was not the gangle, wide mouthed and hunched over by the weight of the world Taylor Hebert I knew, but instead an impossibly beautiful woman with sleek, ass length red hair tied up in pigtails with flame shaped clips, reddish gray eyes, lightly tanned skin that suggested long hours outside, backed up by the lean muscles visible on her arms and legs, a splash of freckles across her nose and a set of massive boobs that looked like they had to be fake, despite some strange part of me insisting that they were real. She was wearing what looked like a school uniform that consisted of a white long-sleeved, button-down shirt with vertical linings, a black ribbon on the collar, a black shoulder cape and matching button-down corset, and a magenta skirt with white accents with a bronze coloured scarf around her neck.
I hesitantly lifted my hand to feel my cheek and watched in disbelief as the woman did the same. What the hell did that Watcher do to me?! This better not be permanent!
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, my reflection turned green and seemed to dissolve, leaving behind a much more familiar body...with blazing green eyes with eight pointed star shaped pupils and hair that looked like it was made of something between green fire and gas. I barely had time to blink in surprise before the glow faded and I was back to boring old Taylor Hebert again.
"This is...very peculiar," I muttered.
And THAT is an understatement if there ever was one. I probably won't keep with the first person POV, I just liked the idea of tossing out a completely out there twist on my normal formula.
So, Taylors power. Its basically Outsider mode in that she can tap into the powers and skills of an Outsider. Any of them. She can only access one at a time and will transform into a female version of said character for the duration of using said power, but she can do anything they can, including some things that I might not have revealed in the context of the story in question, so beware possible spoilers. She also has a between form, the one with the eyes and flaming hair, that serves as a low level Brute package.
Something tells me this will quickly get silly. Eh, thats kinda the point. Anyway, don't forget to leave a review!