1 Intelligence is not a superpower? [Rewrite]

This is a rewrite. Some things will change, so I suggest you read the chapter again.

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We all know the drill here. A poor soul with a tragic backstory dies suddenly and is given the chance to reincarnate ... this is old news and has been done a thousand times. And the reason is simple, it just f*cking works. 

This story is similar in that regard, but unlike other stories, it doesn't give a shit about the life the soul had before it died. Not even the particular way the soul died is important because who cares about that when he could have another chance at life?

So we just skip all of the tragic and boring backstory and go right to the moment the soul meets the one who twists fate. We shall not give him a name but rather call him the twister. So I guess we are giving him a name. I hope this tells you what sort of story this is going to be. Don't take a lot of it seriously. 

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(Soul POV)

I am currently drifting in whatever this is right now. And in front of me is ... nothing. I can't see it as a soul. But strangely enough, I can hear things. I can hear this voice that is calling me ... might as well see what it wants.

"Yes?"

"So you finally decide to answer. I am not used to being ignored. Good then ... Welcome soul, my name is-"

"Wait a moment. Would you mind if we just skip all of this introductory thing that no one cares about? We could just get to the part where you tell me what I get or what will happen now. Very simple, what do you think ... twister?", I ask the twister.

"Twister?"

"Yeah, twister. As in the one who twists fate or whatever there is to twist."

"I see ... Ahhhhh ... I guess we can do that. So here's the short version. You died, new chance if you want, a choice to be made. Is that short enough for you?", Twister asks.

"This is simply wonderful. Yes, I would like to get another chance at whatever you have planned. What is the choice I have to make?"

"The choice is simple. As you know there is this ongoing trend that R.O.Bs either give a reincarnator OP wishes or just weak ones. Or those where the reincarnator can choose himself. I will make it a bit differently and give you the choice to make either one wish that can be slightly OP, and that does not include the three O's ... or you can choose four templates."

"I see. Can I have a look at the templates first before I make my choice?", I ask him.

"Hmmm ... well sure. Go ahead. Those are characters whose template you could choose if you wish.", Twister says and I get a 'screen' with different names from all across fiction. There are different creatures like some mediocre Pokemon up to characters like ... wait a moment!!!

Is this for real? Why would a character such as Valeria Richards be available? This has to be checked. Let's insert a name and then ... oh boy. This is hilarious. All the characters here ... don't have "superpowers".

"Wait are you saying that all these characters don't have 'superpowers' and I can choose how many?"

"Yes these characters don't have superpowers, except some of the Pokemon that obviously have, but they are nerfed to make it reasonable. As for the others, they don't have superpowers, and yes you can choose up to four templates."

This guy has messed up big time here. Some of these guys are far too intelligent to appear here. That means that this Twister doesn't see intelligence as a superpower ... hahaha hahaha 

Oh, this is hilarious. What a beautiful twist of ... whatever.

"So you don't see intelligence as a superpower then?"

"No not really why?"

"Well, do I get the intelligence and their experiences?"

"Well ... wait why do you ask that?"

"Well you see, there are some characters like ... Azmuth from Ben 10 that have no powers per se but he is the creator of the Omnitrix and that alone could be considered multiple superpowers. That's why I ask whether I also gain their experiences ..."

"Oh ...", he says.

It seems he understood what I meant. Now he of course has the power to not grant me these wishes but then there is still the OP wish that I could choose. But why would I do that?

"Is this your first time?", I ask the Twister.

"... is it that obvious?"

"Haha, yes. But how about this, I'll do you a solid and forgo all the experiences that the characters I will choose have, if you allow me to keep the knowledge of the world I will travel to. You can have all the rest of my knowledge of my past life and whatnot, but just the experience, nothing else. I still want to know about different subjects and the like."

"Hmm ... that is acceptable. I will grant you that wish. You may choose four templates and have their intelligence and the rest and I'll take the experiences away. Your 'Meta Knowledge' you may keep as per the agreement.", the Twister said.

"Great! Well, then I guess I am finished and would like to begin with choosing the four templates. Who am I going to be reincarnated to? Or am I going to be transmigrated?"

"Reincarnated, and the character that you were going to is ... Bruce Wayne ... a tragic version where also Alfred dies and Bruce Wayne is all alone ... as for the outcome of this ... you may form it on your own. You will recover all your templates when your parents die ...", Twister says. 

"Hmmm, that complicates things. Eh, alright. A Batman is not a bad thing to be if you have a moral compass that allows killing. So then let me think about this for a moment...", I say and begin to think about my choices and my preferences. 

I want to choose smart characters, genius even that have achieved some pretty gnarly shit or are just that smart. As an aspiring Batman a detective or a character that has good deductive reasoning would be great. And an inventor and creator are also necessary. 

I guess the first one is an obvious pick. Rick Sanchez. And which one? Well, I guess there is either Rick Prime or Rick C-137 ... but there is also Quantum Rick and J19Zeta7 who created the central finite curve ... I wonder ... 

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"I have a question.", I ask Twister.

"Yes?"

"Is it possible to take a character and mix certain things? Like take Rick Sanchez but then change his intelligence to be able to achieve all the things different Rick's could do?", I ask. I don't believe this will be allowed but it never hurts to ask. 

"Something like that is not possible. You may however say that you are interested in fusing more than one of the same characters together to achieve something similar but you would have to sacrifice one template to do that, and you can only do it once.", he explains. 

"So that means, for each template I give up, I gain the chance to fuse different versions of a character together?", I ask him.

"Yes. So if you want to do that two times, you essentially give up two character templates."

"You know you are very generous."

"You were generous as well, in telling me this and since this is my first time, I'll even allow you to cheat a bit. But that is only if you don't go overboard. And I can tell that you are likely going to go overboard.", Twister tells me.

"Haha, well there is no going small when it comes to Rick. And the others I have in mind are also not bad. Well 'not bad' is putting it very mildly. They are also going to rock and I guess there is the matter concerning me going to be Batman. Why would I be Bruce Wayne but not become Batman? Especially if I have the intelligence of these people."

"So who are you going to take that will help you in your detective work? Bruce Wayne is already a good enough detective as it is. And since you are going to become Bruce Wayne that is also something you will get.", Twister told me.

"Hmm, well there are some obvious ones like Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot, but those are a bit too... normal if you will. There is also L, from Death Note or maybe another one of the detectives there. Maybe even Light Yagami ... I don't really know. What do you think?", I ask him.

"Well, there is also Detective Conan if you want to go anime. Or Heinrich Lunge from Monster."

"Yeah, those aren't bad picks either. But they do pale in comparison with 'L'."

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"What about the next character? Are you going to pick another inventor or creator? Or is it going to be something else?"

"I thought about Azmuth from Ben 10, honestly. I mean Galvans get smarter with age and that is quite the boon to have for me. Brainstorm could also work, I guess. But right now Azmuth is my top pick. There is also Valeria Richards to be honest. Or another comic genius. 

Brainiac is cool as his intelligence is said to be level 12, which is the highest in the DC universe. But since I already go to DC, I don't have a particular interest in having his intelligence if I can just capture him and then research him and find out what makes him so smart. 

No, I was thinking of maybe Kiyotaka Ayanokoji from Classroom Of The Elite, Senku Ishigami (Dr Stone) or Lelouch VI Britannia (Code Geass) would all be good ideas."

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In the end, I chose to sacrifice one of the templates to combine all the different Ricks and make them into one superior version of him. That was something I thought was best. I would become Bruce Wayne so my intelligence wasn't in any way average. 

Besides he was intelligent not just in IQ but also EQ. His talents apart from inventing and planning were also impressive. So I didn't have to worry about becoming a social outcast ... well ... never mind that. If Alfred would indeed die before I gain my templates ... then I would be a social outcast even worse than the original Batman. 

"Are you sure about this?", Twister asks me.

"What do you mean?", I ask.

"Well ... you see there is something that you should know. Even though you have sacrificed the character's experience, you will still get their 'character'. What I mean is that you will have to stomach everything that made them who they are. Normally this wouldn't be possible without memories or experience, but that is a sacrifice you chose to make.", Twister explained.

"Wait, then ... I don't gain their experience but still their emotional baggage?"

"Yes. That is why I ask you whether you are sure about this."

"That is a serious downside. I thought that I took care of that by giving up their experience. Now I feel cheated."

"Well I understand that, but it is what it is. If you feel more comfortable I could help you with something very important that you might not know about from your fanfictions."

"And what is that?", I ask.

"It's the integration with the templates. Since you will essentially get your character influenced by the templates, I offer you a chance to get to terms with everything. Their feelings, their emotional baggage, etc. And I will make it easier for you to truly make them yours. So that they wouldn't be just templates but it would be a new 'you'.", Twister said to me.

"That is ... generous of you. Thank you. I'd like that. You know ... you might be the nicest ROB that I have ever read or known about.", I tell him.

"Why, thank you. So who are the other two going to be?"

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"I have decided! For my second Template I will choose Azmuth from Ben 10. Please give me the oldest version of him. Older means smarter as Galvans get smarter as they age."

"A good choice for your second one. And the last one?"

"Well ... it wasn't easy to find one. I was wondering if ... I could choose ..."

"Yes? I think I was very reasonable and generous."

"True ... I was wondering whether I could get a Thanos template?"

"No. Thanos the mad titan has superpowers. I can't do that."

"Then how about you just take all of his physical powers away and just leave me with his intelligence?"

"Haaaah ... you do know why he is called the 'Mad Titan'? Are you sure you want that? It is going to be the same as it was for the other templates ... you will get his character, his ruthlessness... is that smart as a Batman?", he asks me.

"Well ... Thanos was influenced by Death when he was young. That won't happen to me. The ruthlessness will be balanced out by the righteousness of Bruce Wayne and give me good balance there. Just like Rick is chaotic and Azmuth is rather good. It would be balanced, but allow me to be ruthless and kill when it is necessary.", I explain.

"... Haaa, I feel like I am far too nice here. But I will fulfil your wish. I will also make sure to remove the hold that Death had over Thanos and give you the blank page. The one before he was approached by her."

"So I will get his child version? I mean ... this shouldn't change anything about his intelligence. Ok, I accept."

"Good. Now I will send you to a separate place where you will fuse with the different templates one by one and as soon as you have fully fused with them, I will send the next one. When you are all done, I will then fuse you with Bruce Wayne, to truly make you him and then you won't have any emotional crisis in the future.", Twister explained.

"Alright, I'm ready."