Apprentice 2.1

"You can run, you can hide, but in the end, the wild hunt will come for you. You must grow in power, you must steel your will, and you must fight back. You will start early, but I will seal your memories of the deal until the dawn it begins, and in that morning's light you will remember the most important part. Do you honestly believe you will be smart enough to make smart decisions in your limited time, not knowing your time is growing short, that your life will be in danger very shortly?"

Thomas awoke with a start, trembling and panting, his body sweaty. The memories had began to rush in. The limitations on his mind snapping, except for the one he had been bound by. He was to remain in Brockton Bay, with enough 'give' in the leash to allow him to leave for up to a day, but other than that he was locked in to a single place.

He wanted to curse himself for wasting time, but knew there was little use in doing that. He had been little more than a pruned alpha fork, a splinter of his original mind that had been partially lobotomized by the bindings on his mind, and the sealed memories, while the original mind rested within waiting for its time. The merging of the memories from that forked memory had him shake his head in frustration and grit his teeth together.

'God damn it all, fucking hell, I expected myself to be paranoid and practice, but what is it with this slow and inefficient route I've been taking? As I am right now I am going to end up dead before the first day of the hunt. Should have known that taking the devil's deal would result in surprises'. He tossed the sheets aside and hurried off to the shower.

At least the mentally pruned copy of him that had lived out these early days for him based on limited information and understanding had been trying, and managed to do a few things right. He had enough money on a secure account to get by if he had to vanish for a while, and even if he did not personally think revealing as much to Faultline as he had done was a smart move, he could consider Gregor the Snail and Newter to be at least friendly towards him after all that.

Feeling the water flow over his figure he focused on cleaning himself up quickly, while going down a checklist in his mind. He would need to leave Palanquin, he would need to change to another appearance, he would need to secure himself another place to stay at. He would need to fight and train himself. He would have to secure power and prepare himself for a long war.

Facing the foes head on with no intel was a suicidal position, especially one against many. With any luck the enemies would be acting solo, rather than as a unified front, and he would have a chance to locate a chink in their armor to take advantage of.

Thinking about it, what other disadvantages was he working under beyond the enemies after him and his geas to stay in the city? The thought lead him to a quick answer, and made him grimace as he realized at least part of his behavior had been intentionally messed around with.

Wanted by PRT ENE, the Merchants, and Coil. He had picked three factions to be on the lookout for him, because he considered PRT ENE to be relatively safe one to choose to have interest in him, Coil because he genuinely wanted to kill the bastard anyway while he was in Earth Bet, and the Merchants because between the three gangs he'd rather deal with them than the Empire 88 or the Azn Bad Boys.

Heading out of the shower to get dressed, he quickly gathered up his new belongings in somewhat of a hurry. Several changes of clothes, a laptop in its bag with the charger and all the other additions like headphones, USB mouse et cetera, and certainly his wallet and 'Medic' costume as well.

He had a gamer power and he had not explored it further. True, it prevented his abilities from degrading over time or forgetting any of his skills learned, but it went beyond that. Not needing to eat or drink, he could potentially hide in isolation after some encounters without supplies if needed, without ill effects.

What he had forgotten was the ability to knock down enemies for loot. He had made a few bucks off the regular street thugs, but the way it was made, he had the feeling that fighting some opponents would provide additional loot beyond what he might be taking off their person, potentially things that were literally out of this world. Out of context problems for any foes coming after him.

The problem with that was it would be a random chance, and pure speculation right now. Still, he had made a few very important choices when preparing himself for a ten year stay that meant that his problem would be dealing with the hunters, rather than dealing with the Apocalypse.

The beauty of for Want of a Nail had been that a world-changing event could be paid for in power, and set in motion all without him having to move a single finger. A flick in the right direction, and the end-game would be different.

Still, for the rest of the world nothing seemed to have changed. Scion flew around, and Endbringers were pushing the world closer and closer towards the edge.

Feeling ready to leave, he glanced at the two bags he had. One for clothes and basic personal hygiene products, including an electric razor he had ended up not needing but had acquired prior to knowing that. The other holding the laptop he had acquired and already customized to his liking.

Considering it briefly, he left the laptop behind, along with the phone Faultline had acquired for him. Either one of them could be traced, he was paranoid enough to believe Faultline would have both prepared for him with the intent to keep watch over him. He did take a moment to write down the numbers to the 'door buzzer' as well as Faultline's personal line.

A short burst of magic had him looking like a somewhat older man in his late thirties, dressed well and his bag resembling a suitcase. The smaller dimensions meant his glamour had to basically make part of the bag invisible, but also meant having to be careful to not bump someone with it and expose the glamour.

Making his way to the club's side and out of the front door, he left the place behind with a touch of reluctance. He had enjoyed those days somewhat, the Case 53s and Faultline were interesting people if understandable wary given their choice in profession and pursuit of information on certain topics.

He had avoided the back door because logically, whoever might be watching for him would be hoping to see him make a break for it through that door and expect to trail and catch him soon after. The club was mostly empty in the morning, with a few people present doing a small clean-up. He had passed them only getting a brief glance in passing, puzzled but not too alarmed.

Walking away he slipped through an alley and walked out of the other end looking like a young woman out shopping, the briefcase further changed to resembled a handbag. Careful to keep some distance to people, 'she' continued walking along.

Waking up in a bedroom that was both familiar and yet unfamiliar, Andrea felt a moment of dizzy confusion, before she was fully awake. Her first morning came with a rush of memories to sort through, and a few minutes of unpleasantness as the trembling through her body, which had changed into that of a little boy. It could have been enough to cause gender identity issues or even body dysmorphia if not for the mix of old memories soon easing up that moment of adjustment.

The memories from the body were serving as an anchor for Andrea, now Antonio Zucchero, as (s)he let out a few long breaths, inhaling deeply and breathing out, sorting through the confusion inducing mess of entangled memories in her mind.

Ten minutes after waking up, Antonio's mind was clear and ready to get started. The airplane incident that had displaced him had been public news, and Antonio had already been accepted to the Wards program, his mother's signature already on the paperwork involved.

Inside the male body the female mind had considered the limitation of fixing up the body to a state she would have preferred, but unfortunately the drawbacks were locked in place. She would have to grow up over time as normal, and until she went home she would be staying as a boy. So she would have to also accept thinking of herself as a boy, for the moment at least.

At least Antonio was cute as a button and charming, and with the power of fixing things and people he would be a well loved figure not only for the local PRT office but to the general public. All he would have to do to keep that adoration going when returning to her original world was to kill the first person to make an agreement with that being that had brought her up.

That would let her restore her sister, and return to her perfect life, which would become even better once she was back home.

Looking around 'his' room, Antonio paused on noticing a suitcase that seemed remarkably sturdy and locked with a combination lock. Thinking back, he moved over to look at the four number lock and adjusted the wheels till it was a familiar four digit number, hearing a click. Opening the case, Antonio was greeted by the sight of those five precious vials that he had acquired, left waiting for him at his room when he arrived, along with a note to keep them secret and to keep them safe. The well padded, reinforced case to carry them in seemed to be extra.

Antonio was expected to visit the PRT ENE offices next Monday, and meet with the other Wards around that time. That would be the real beginning for him, but in the meanwhile, he had a computer in his room and access to PHO and other sites that might give him some idea of what to be on the lookout for.

The skies over Rhode Island were greeted by an unexpected sight that morning, as several small meteors were falling from the sky above. Burnt up in the atmosphere, they still caused momentary panic in Jamestown that lay at the center of the rather tightly knit bombardment.

The small stones struck down with enough force to cause an explosion of broken concrete in the air where they struck down on the road, shattering windows and walls hitting into buildings, piercing through roofs and smashing through several floors on some buildings, and scaring the hell out of the local populace.

Fortunately it seemed the pieces that had made their way down seemed to not have the mass to cause more widespread devastation, but the meteor shower still served as a very unpleasant start for the day, and this was before a fireball from the sky landed in the middle of the devastation, bursting apart into a ring of flames scorching the close surroundings in a sixty feet wide circle, a lone figure standing up straight in the middle.

"Tremble Mortals, and DESPAIR! DOOM has come to this world!"

A nearby police officer looked at the figure at the middle of the flaming mess and enraged at his partner bleeding out badly bruised by the earlier meteor shower he was now convinced was because of this lunatic, he reached out and pulled his sidearm before starting to empty it to the madman standing in the middle of his burnt out stage.

The gunshots sent the figure stumbling back and collapsing, but before the cop could even let out a breath of relief it had ended so quickly, and hoping his partner would make it to the emergency room, there was a burst of flame as the body vanished, amidst the creepiest cold laughter he had heard in his life.

It was hammy as hell, but it was also chilling given the backdrop this madman had chosen.

Out of sight, in a small alleyway nearby, the shadows gathered and coagulated into physical form, allowing the robed, half-masked figure to appear. A grin rising on their face, as they coldly chuckled at the sight of their first appearance, but certainly not the last.

Legion had arrived, and the first test had been a success. Convincing their 'benefactor' to send him in the game with style, they had landed somewhat away from Brockton Bay rather than in the city, in the middle of devastation they had taken in as part of their own arrival, and smirking slightly while considering how the news would react to this.

Unfortunately the arrival had already also inconvenienced Legion's departure from this point, because the small meteor shower had also specifically slammed down on the two bridges off the island, and rendered them in a sorry state. Crossing over might not be possible right away.

Inconvenient placement, but they had not shown their face yet, and Legion was certain they would manage, for they were many. Short snap of fingers saw Legion become two, then four, eight, sixteen. They were a gang and team all on their own, mind-linked and in agreement.

The Burning Legion would sweep through the nation, and the destruction of the Anathema would ensure their victory! The glory would be theirs, and this world would burn around them, fearing the name to the last dying breath.

Tattletale frowned silently while observing the figure walking down the street ahead of her. While appearing to be suitably paranoid, the man who had caused her power to disregard them as uninteresting had a lot to learn about subtlety and making a proper escape.

It had not been too difficult to spot the figure leaving through the front, and when her power responded with a few lines of observation but did not go any further than that she was convinced it was the man in question. They were improving, their ability to lie to her power had improved to seem less suspicions on a quick glance, but the limited information they provided to mask the truth was still insufficient when she knew the extent her power provided her with even unnecessary answers.

The change into a feminine form in the alley had caught her off guard, before her power's readings had changed to match, now indicating the figure appeared fully female. Yet there had been a blip on that false information. The bag had changed size, but not weight, the strain on the arm was unchanged, and the figure still avoided letting anyone too close to that side.

While the mystery cape could change appearance, it appeared to be some sort of illusionary power, not true changer rating. Stranger power to conceal their true appearance. She had to admit it could come in handy.

"We need to get on the move Bitch, we'll follow target on the rooftops." No need to contact Coil yet. The boss was paying to learn more, and capture if possible, but trying to convince them if given the chance.

She had not got much off of Coil earlier, but she was reasonably certain the only reason he would pay as much as he had offered and even come through with helping Brian get a lawyer start arguing the case of transferring the custody of his sister Aisha to Brian from their strung out, doped up mother, was that this cape had already somehow messed up with some of Coil's plans and was a potential spoke in the wheels or an asset to be acquisitioned, through means fair or foul whichever worked best.

"Man, no sense of style at all, I was sure he'd be coming out of the back door wearing a mask and all," Alec muttered annoyed at having lost the bet. He thought it to be too blatantly stupid to walk right out of the front door to have given any credit to Tattletale's opinion they would be waltzing out of the place there because they thought it would draw less attention to them.

Maybe if they had waited until the late evening when the club had clients around and looked like just another party-going rich brat already drunk and heading off hailing a cab for themselves it would have worked out better, but leaving this early, they had a long way to go to outsmart Lisa.

Author's Note: So it has began. All 3 Hunters have arrived, though only two were given a short introduction so far. Additionally, the main character is now unshackled from most of the mental limitations and bindings put in place. They have already acquired the Wanted Drawback's share of attention from certain parties, and are aware of the hunters and the situation they are in, now.

None of the hunters know what the first arrival looks like or what powers they gained, but they are aware of the fact they are bound in place in Brockton Bay. They do not know each other's choices for certain either, so they will be on the lookout for those who stick out, who arrived only recently.

The mention of forking and mental pruning are terms the main character borrowed from their experience with role-playing games, in this case, the Eclipse Phase futuristic survival horror game. They are relating their experience to what they remember from that game, referring to having a copy of their mind that has been altered and in some ways diminished to act as they would, but in lesser capacity, under instructions they have been left with. Finding it to be themselves but yet different, an unpleasant little headache and part of a side bet he'd be fine with a week's head start which the ROB made them regret by proving they were not clever enough to make proper use of it, for most part.

Given it still gave them one week head start and got their hands on some money, the main character is still going to consider it to have provided some benefits even if the trouble it caused him makes him wonder if the ROB messed around with his mind copy more than he had anticipated to set things up for him.