Apprentice 2.4

January 12th, 2011. Brockton Bay.

"So we proudly present, Miracle!"

The PRT announcer's proclamation was met with a loud cheer, as the audience was clapping and smiling eagerly at the new young addition to the Brockton Bay Wards. Walking up to the podium and waving to the crowd, Antonio Zucchero was enjoying the attention as he came to stand before the podium in his new costume. Andrea Smith loved the spotlight, and even if she was now temporarily trapped in a male body she could not fix to her liking due to the limitations of what the being that sent her there had set in place, she was getting more comfortable with it and of thinking herself as a he, albeit only temporarily.

"Thank you, Michael, it is a pleasure to be here. I am Miracle, named so because my ability seemed like it when I first learned of it. My abilities are well suited for healing, but also for helping fix things that are broken, and in joining the Wards I hope to be able to use them to aid in fixing what is damaged in this lovely city. I will be looking forward to helping people out and doing my best to bring a better tomorrow."

The speech was cheesy and while she had listened to Glenn Chambers about what she should say, they seemed to think due to her age a more elegant speech would seem fake, written for her, and they wanted a one that seemed more natural to someone of her age. Regardless, she was enjoying the show. In just a few days she had got her suit made for her, and was presented to the adoring audience who too quickly fell for her charm.

In the meanwhile the news had been playing reports of Firestarter's attacks around the East Coast, having struck at several places, sometimes simultaneously, starting to raise question if they were a teleporter mover, or if it was possible that they were actually either part of a group trigger of psychopaths, or possibly worse, a master with ability to create disposable minions that could not be differentiated from the original under their mask.

Regardless, Firestarter had already got fast tracked for Kill Order, and unofficially the Protectorate heroes had already been striking to either take them down hard or at least to cripple them for capture, but whenever damaged bad enough they seemed to vanish and reappear short time later.

That left Andrea wondering about the last one among them. The third hunter had seemed more thoughtful and careful when presented with the news, and her observations back then lead her to wonder if they were taking a route similar to her own, infiltrating some group and preparing to turn them against their foe.

Still, Andrea had found as Antonio that there had been not one but several recent arrivals to Brockton Bay scene which annoyed her. One of them was a low level brute that had seemingly come out of nowhere, agreed to be tested, but had then left and seemingly vanished into the Brockton Bay. Another arrival she had heard about had been Medic, another healer in the city but one that had gone either Rogue or Villain, working under the protection of Faultline's gang if not a probationary member of their group. Lastly there had been some reports about a vigilante by the name Blackjack recently, reported in by Shadow Stalker of all people.

Unfortunately, she seemed to be rather wary of Antonio and seemed to regard the little boy a pest rather than adoring him. She wasn't blatant enough to complain to the others about it but the other Wards seemed to be well aware that Stalker's personal relationship skills were quite blunt variety.

Watching the broadcast about the young boy added to the Wards that day, Thomas frowned quietly while considering their possible plans. It was almost guaranteed this was one of the hunters, and the fact they had chosen to go to the PRT and the Wards meant that they were likely planning to work against him in their ranks. Either thinking he'd go criminal, or believing he would be in the Protectorate or Ward rows as well and thus closer to strike against.

He did not know if the hunters knew where he had gone and how he had acted prior to their arrival, but he figured that going too close to any of them would be asking for trouble. Even if they didn't manage to strike him down, they would provoke some questions that might lead to trouble later on in the line. Part of him wanted to just walk away from Brockton Bay for a couple of months and return when the story was supposed to start, but that did not seem to be an option, given the nasty feeling he had when he thought of leaving for anything beyond a single day's time.

Still, it was Wednesday noon, and he was expecting to meet Shadow Stalker later to go out hunting for nazis. That was something he had not expected to be doing when he was told he was being sent to the formerly thought fictional world of Worm, using a build he had made to amuse himself, altered by the choices made by the random omnipotent being that had chosen to toss him in this mess.

Part of him cursed not having had access to the first version of the CYOA for game-breaking powers instead, or using the easy difficulty to load up on a top of powers, but the fact remained he had been given one of his builds and he should just be grateful his foes had been denied those world breaker powers as well. He supposed the entity responsible had purposefully avoided using any of those to make his stay more of a struggle. Irritating, but at least he had a set of powers he knew would grow in power and possibilities with some practice.

That much had already been proven. After meeting with Shadow Stalker he had attacked 3 more Merchant safehouses and drug dens, and grown in power to use the third level of spells, as well as push his strength to a level where it was low superhuman, past the human limit. His reactions had likewise increased, though his 'casting speed' was still a limiting factor. He had still began to maintain some spells regularly on his person. Mage armor could last five hours at a single casting by now, so there was no reason not to have it active through the entire day while he was awake, and casting it before getting to bed just in case someone tried to attack him at night seemed to go along just as well.

Leaning back in his chair in the apartment he had ended up renting for now, he wondered what to expect from the late evening. He didn't feel he could really become friends with Shadow Stalker, but she could be an ally for the time, especially when they were opposing nazis. She still went too far with the lethal bolts in costume and the bullying out of costume, but those were things he was not supposed to know anyway, and meta-knowledge was something he should not allow to show in his behavior around her without a very damn good reason.

Speaking of which, his disguise self now lasted nearly an hour, but the spell to actually assume a physically different body rather than a mere glamour lasted only minutes. Disguise Self and Alter Self were still useful together, especially as it appeared that despite the lack of fantasy races in this world, he could easily assume an elven form and gain the keen senses of one, being able to see through the night in dim light as good as a cat might. Hell, a bit of alteration and borrowing from a dark elf would let him see in pitch black darkness, though it would be in monochrome.

Faultline and her group were still not back, leading him to wondering if they were alright, and what their reaction would be when they did return. He had considered approaching them again, despite any awkwardness, but not intending to stay. Still, he had come to trust them somewhat, and working with them for protected healing sessions seemed to work rather well. Being able to leave the scene afterwards was the fact that worried him though. They had not treated him like a prisoner, but he had a feeling Faultline would insist on some answers he was not sure he was able to answer to her satisfaction.

Legion was enjoying himself, with four separate copies moving about. One was heading to Brockton Bay, after having secured some materials he wanted to have close at hand, while the other three kept striking out across the East Coast.

Twice now he had been incinerated by Legend, turned into an ice sculpture at least one, disintegrated five times and blasted with energy that made him burst on two occasions. Legend was not holding back, not after he had fireballed a group of civilians and made loud proclamations of being the doom of this world.

His power was growing steadily, and while the original had only been killed and improved once on returning from the dead, his three copies now held twenty seven, eleven, and six deaths accordingly. Every time coming back a little stronger, little smarter. The fact he didn't avoid deadly attacks was because they made him grow, though he had noted that they had to be through the actions of another. He had more or less walked right into his death twice, and had not grown at all from either case. Indeed, the second time his third copy had done that they had LOST a lot of strength and intelligence, but not enough to realize that the ROB that had thrown them in this world seemed to think suicides or practically suicidal moves would be somewhat penalized, if repeated. Occasional one went with no real loss, but repeated ones were harmful.

Well, if it had worked he might have killed himself a few hundred times to build up power and just take over the world afterwards, an unstoppable Hulk with a mind that would make the best scientists look like demented morons.

The harder the fight and the more challenging and impressive the conflict, the more he gained when he lost. Though it was the wins that made his magic grow, so he wasn't going to turn himself into a masochist for the sake of power either. The powers were interesting enough to experiment, but had their own little touches that the entity seemed to have put in place to frustrate him somewhat, but he supposed they were tolerable.

Still, a smile played on his lips as he headed over towards Brockton Bay in his current car, resting back with the goods stashed in the back. A simple charm person spell on right people had got his hands on what he needed, and a use of magic missiles had left properly ventilated corpses behind to prevent the people involved from talking.

The three copies would keep the PRT and Protectorate distracted, before he'd unleash hell on Brockton Bay and make his first try. And in his case, if first you don't succeed, try again. His combination really was the best, and he was going to prove it. He'd spank every last one of those incompetent filthy casuals and dominate this game.

It was not as if the people were real anyway. They were just pawns in the game, and this whole thing a game for laughs for the horrors beyond the stars. If he could play their game and benefit, hell yes he would, and getting to live out his power fantasies in doing so was just the cherry on the top.

Thomas headed out of his apartment and down the staircase. Having an apartment on the third floor was high enough that the street noise didn't bother him so much, but low enough that he could just take the stairs if the elevator in the building was busy. With six floors in the old building, there was one, but it was a sluggish old piece of junk so he preferred the stairs anyway.

Stepping out, he headed off towards Ugly Bob's place although not to meet Shadow Stalker, but to try and eat there. The place was described in a way that made it sound rather amusing after all, and he wanted to taste the food there anyway. Heading along in a swift step, he held up the phone browsing the threads on PHO while glancing up occasionally to make sure he didn't walk into anyone or step into traffic by accident.

People were already gushing about the new Ward, Miracle, and others were remarking how kids had no place in the Cape Scene and should know to stay out of it. Some were outright hating the fact that a kid as young as Miracle was brought in to be a 'child soldier' in their words, though it seemed they'd received a temporary ban for those comments rather quickly. Overall, it seemed Miracle had made a positive splash.

There was another thread mentioning Brockton Bay was supposedly now the highest concentration of healing capes in North America, with a list of Panacea, Othala, Medic, and now Miracle. There was some grumbling that Othala was a nazi bitch, and Medic a criminal, so the few comments wishing Miracle got a transfer elsewhere were quickly being overwhelmed by others showing some support to keeping Miracle in Brockton Bay.

One particular comment made him wince. "After all, Panacea offers healing for practically free but overworking herself, so Miracle's help taking care of Protectorate and PRT should be a welcome relief to her, while Othala heals only nazis and Medic only those who can pay."

'Well excuse me for wanting to make some money to live off of, not having qualifications to get a job in this world, and with people hunting for me so needing resources in somewhat of a hurry.' He quietly wondered if he should make an account and post, but decided against it. Satisfying as it might be, that would also get dangerous. Though he might consider visiting PRT to register officially as a Rogue Healer, and to clarify he had approached Faultline for protection while still nervous he'd end up forcefully recruited by some faction when he wasn't able to defend himself yet.

Still, he had a feeling they'd keep a very close eye on him, and he wasn't sure if Armsmaster or the others could connect Medic with Scholar all that easily. Even if the name he had given his 'Low Brute' persona probably still made the Protectorate and PRT wonder what had gone through his mind when he called himself that.

Reaching his destination relatively briefly, he pushed open the door and stepped inside. Seeing a short line he moved in to wait, continuing his browsing on his phone in the meanwhile.

Steven was looking out of the window while thinking back at what his minions had found out so far. It wasn't much, but each passing day saw more of the city under his watchful eyes, each reporting back to him whenever they spotted something of interest.

He had not yet found the location of the first one to arrive, but he had leads, and he had also checked out the locations that he had previously visited. That bit of information had come in handy, thanks to a minion he had managed to slip in to PRT.

It would take some time still, but things were proceeding well, for most part. Getting used to living in another body was one issue he was still working on, but he had improved a fair bit in the short while. Still, he was not rushed.

He already had a good idea who the other two hunters were, and had chosen to work alone after what he had seen so far. Firestarter, or whatever name he had chosen for himself, was drawing the ire of the entire Protectorate and the chances were that he'd end up hated just as much as Jack Slash and Heartbreaker in at least some circles, especially given his tendency to come back.

As for Miracle, he chose to observe and see what they would come up with. So far there had been very little to learn, and while there had been a few recent new names popping up in Brockton Bay, he was not able to point out where exactly the first one had got to so far.

He was also somewhat distracted by the new family he had gained, and the fact he needed to keep the illusion going that nothing was wrong. Revealing any powers to said family was an idea he wanted to avoid. That meant dealing with things quietly and keep in touch with his minions in secret.

Author's Note: Legion is heading to Brockton Bay, Miracle has made their public debut, and Steven is preparing in the dark. Thomas is skipping from one cape persona to another while plotting and preparing, and the factions in the city are riled up by recent hostilities anyway.

The buildup is there, but when will the lit match fall upon the gunpowder, and just how bad will it get? We'll see.

As for the builds, Thomas' build has been partially revealed before, not entirely but a fair part of it. As for the three hunters, 2 of them made their builds publically available in the thread, where as the last one was sent through Private Message. So the information could be sought out for those two at least.

Though I'll just say that Cauldron hasn't made any moves worth a mention, even though the presence of a cape with a thinker-confusing Stranger aura being present in the city and known to PRT since the MC first entered the PRT HQ for power testing briefly.[/hr][/hr][/hr][/hr][/hr]