3. The Build.

"Ok so if I pick up this second trigger modifier I can alter my biology?" I ask what I wanted to know since the beginning.

"Yes, you would." Before I could start celebrating, she continued, "But using this power requires quite the amount of knowledge. The power itself gives you some knowledge and know-how, but you must still be careful; although maybe not as powerful as your beloved Kryptonian," I turn sheepish, "The human body has a very delicate balance. Even trivial things such as man-made vitamins can throw it off kelter, now imagine what the mindless alteration of its core functionalities would do."

She is not wrong. Even though I was a biology major student, I was barely into my second semester. Not nearly enough to be meddling this much with the whole body. Still, this is my choice and I will take it.

"I'll take it either way. Also, I did ask about that girl Tattletale. Can I take more than one shard?"

"Yes, you can. Interesting choices..." She seems to be evaluating me. I ignore her as I count my points. If I get both, it's 6 for Panacea's biokenesis modified so I can use it on myself as well as others and Tattletale's... precognition? Deep analysis? for 6 as well, since I want a more powerful and controllable version of it. That leaves me with 11 points.

"Damn, already down to 11..." My eyes roamed the book once again, and I noticed that there was a part under the perks that I hadn't read before. One of them drew my attention:

MODIFICATIONS

ADAPTATION (-1 Point per purchase, five maximum.)

You receive positive mutations, useful alterations, or particular skills, these mutations don't have to be externally visible and can provide physical improvements and mundane knowledge. The potential benefits cannot reach the power or versatility of a lesser power and grant only two to three related bonuses or a thematic skill set such as "Secret Agent". Examples are as follows:

Comic Book Pretty: You gain a model-like appearance as a 10/10 version of yourself, including being set to a younger age such as eighteen/twenty-five, and having a one-time change to your ideal type of looks within human limits, such as 'small and adorable' or 'tall and handsome'.

Charles Atlas: Your physical health and fitness are improved to Olympian levels in multiple areas at once, giving you professional athlete-level strength, speed, and agility; you can also maintain your physique with no training, and all physical ailments such as nearsightedness are cured.

Clarity of Mind: Eidetic memory, improved focus, and quickened learning of most skills.

Veteran Operator: You have a particular set of skills, including marksmanship, CQC takedowns, knife handling, first aid, small unit tactics, urban stealth, investigation, and survival training.

Well well well, Eidetic memory here we go...

"Hm, Lisa?"

"Yes?"

"It says here that "Examples are as follows". Does that mean that there are more options?"

"Yes and no. No, there are no other examples. Yes, there can be other options. You can make them."

"You know what? Don't mind if I do!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

These seem ok.

Potential Man: Your potential is increased.

Effortlessly Charismatic: You exude charisma that effortlessly enraptures others. People will look at you, what that may cause is up to you.

MultiTask-Master: You find that splitting your focus into different things is easier. One day you may be able to maintain multiple different thoughts at the same time. Your mental capacity is all that limits you.

Now this last one I even look at Lisa to check if it's ok. She makes a face, something between frowning and smiling. It settles in a forced smile.

"That one is a bit much, but it is allowed."

YES!

Adaptive Self: You adapt faster to different phenomena; physical, mental, and spiritual.

These four, made by yours truly, and Clarity of Mind because my memory sucks major ass and I'm down to 6 points.

Now I think my potential and foundations are ok. I need something to give me some oomph in the here and now. I look over at the Beetle Scarab. Now I know, I know. Blue Beetle is a very underrated character and not very popular, but the Beetle Scarab is strong. Imagine a Symbiote (I'm still looking at you) but technology-based and without any major weaknesses like fire and extreme noise. Look at this, it can even adapt and use the weaknesses of other people!

BEETLE SCARAB (-5 Points) GREATER ITEM

A beetle scarab created with advanced alien technology bonds to your spine, granting various passive and active powers and telepathic communication with its artificial intelligence. At will, or when necessary the scarab forms a distinctive suit of armor that can be quickly retracted. The armor provides protection, superhuman strength, and superhuman agility, and can reconfigure itself into a wide array of tools and weapons including an energy cannon, swords, shields, a grappling hook, energy blasters, flight-capable wings, etc. You can manifest parts of the armor without having to form the whole suit. The scarab can manipulate the energy it generates and stores for a variety of effects, including shield bubbles, sonic blasts, small-scale solid constructs, and 3-D holograms. It can adapt to foes such as using kryptonite radiation against a Kryptonian. It has utility functions, including a universal translator, waste disposal, healing, and modifying your body to an extent, two-way communication, creating temporary clothes, concealing itself from 21st-century technology, and shutting off nearby cameras and microphones. By shifting you out of phase with the universe it can also make you invisible and intangible, or attain instantaneous transportation. Lastly, the Scarab can track anything that produces any significant form of energy and anyone you've met since it bonds to you, from at least seventy miles. It can also scan and identify people you encounter, inform you of physical conditions, and detect empowered people and relatives from genetic analysis. You select the Scarab's color and personality, by default, it's sociopathic but will always be loyal to only you.

LOOK AT THAT LITTLE MONSTER!!! "Shifting you out of phase with the Universe" Like WTH!! Gimme gimme!!

"You have 1 point left. You can leave whenever you want, as long as you have 0 or more points. Whatever amount of points you don't use will be passed to the next one to choose."

"Nah, nope, not done yet. Now we see those Drawbacks."

Now, that's a lot of possible Drawbacks... Some things are pretty mild, like Extreme Age, which... you know what, gimme. Now, I know I'm gonna be a 10-year-old brat and I'm not going to be as strong as I would as an adult, but it says in the book that it's only for this World and even if I take a while in this world, I'll grow up normally. Plus 1 point.

Some of these Drawbacks are not that bad. There's this Geas thing that does have some pretty bad things, but also things that I either don't mind doing or things that obviously can be circumvented. Mystic Mentor, for example, is something that I don't mind doing. I plan to find the guys from Chronicle, maybe get me some telekinesis, and then teach them. Hmm, I might also heal that crazy one's mom. Maybe he won't go crazy if she's alive and well.

I am pretty hesitant about picking up too many drawbacks. Every little thing here is a kind of shackle that limits my actions in that World, but...

"Hey. You did say that this one package is quite good, right?"

"That is correct. This is one of the most comprehensive packages we have here. The other ones are usually more focused on a theme at a time, while this one is very diverse."

"How difficult is it to get this one again? Or another similar to it in versatility and with this many points."

"It depends. It could come as a bonus to an advanced agent, or maybe as one of the restricted assignments for an intermediate. I would say, do not count on it coming easily. Other packages may have parts of the content of this one, however, so do not fret."

"Still... getting this many things and powers right from the start is going to be very useful... You know what? Fuck it, let's take as many as it's reasonable."

That said and after many many minutes of back and forth (some of it discussed with Lisa) I finished my choices as follows:

Unknown World (+2): All Knowledge you have of the world will be erased.

This was a tough one. Eventually, I figured even though I may not know about the plot, since this is an Amalgamation World, I decided to take the risk. I don't know how much of each of these movies is gonna be kept the same, so maybe knowing is worse than not having it at all. Or maybe this is just me coping. Don't matter. It is what it is.

Without a map (+1): Upon your arrival, your placement is somewhere actively dangerous.

I took this one since I should be able to defend myself from a lot of things. But there's a catch here that even Lisa was surprised when I mentioned: Since I won't remember anything about this world, if I'm placed somewhere dangerous I might end up entangled in one of the plots. And I'll deal with it from then on.

Geas - Role-Playing (+3): You must act, think, and look the part of a specific character, organization, or set of tropes such as "Batman", "Team Rocket", or "The Mysterious Powerful Wise Mentor".

"Mysterious Alien Mentor" Chosen.

Geas - Mystic Mentor (+2): You need to teach other people.

From what I asked, it doesn't matter what you teach, only that you teach something meaningful to someone else. There's a quota per year, but it's pretty doable.

Conflict Drive (+2): This will cause your mind to subconsciously desire for, and pursue conflict. This does not have to be physical conflict, but it will still drive you toward direct conflict as a primary solution.

This is also one I don't like. Honestly, so much potential to fuck things over, but I trust myself to wipe my own butt.

Extreme Age (+1): You are de-aged to a specific extreme.

Pint-sized: You're a kid, 10-years-old. No one takes you seriously and your normal physical abilities are quite limited. Even Powers can only help so much.

Kid. Nuff said.

Mutation (+2): You look non-human and there's no way to hide it.

Deformed (Glowing Eyes and little Antenna on the forehead).

This and the Role-Playing and Mystic Mentor go well together I think. Good thing I should be able to escape in case of government capture...

And that's a wrap. It leaves me with a whooping 14 points... damn.

Welp, I did want a little Symbiote for myself... There goes 6 more points, 3 for base symbiote, +1 for no weakness, +1 for no need for sustenance, and +1 for enhanced tentacles. I have a pretty good idea of what to do with those...

It ain't nothing perverted, I swear. At least not when I'm in the body of a kid, anyway.

8 Points. I have physical aspects covered with the Symbiote and the Scarab and mental aspects covered with the adaptations. I do remember Lisa stressing the whole "Physical, Mental, and Spiritual" so having something to take care of the spiritual side of things.

Well, I do see Chakra, Nen, Jujutsu sorcery, and the like. From those, I think the one that would help the most would be Jujutsu Sorcery. But there's one Discipline that I like a lot and seems to have potential: Haki.

It is weaponized will and thanks to Invictus (my beloved) my will should be plenty strong, if not unbreakable. So, Haki it is. All forms of it, please.

4 Points. Oh Yeah! "Give me that Dramatic Entrance, please. I need it for Without a Map and that extra point is going to clutch here."

5 Points. I get EVO Nanites. Generator Rex is pretty cool and it should go well with the scarab. Both of those together should be able to bypass pretty much any technology.

3 Points. Now here I was stumped for a while. I could get Spider Physiology. I do love me some Spiderman. The problem is... if I ever get to meet one of the spider-men in one of these assignments, I may be able to analyze them and get that physiology "organically".

I don't know how the Web of Life and Destiny would react to this, but future me can take care of it.

I could get a Conduit Gene, but the same principle applies here.

Could get a Devil Fruit, but leaving it to luck seems wasteful.

The one Discipline I found that both boosts me physically and also deals with the soul is Aura. It is another power system from a work I never read or seen, but from the explanation, it's pretty cool. Plus I get to have big reserves of it and even if I don't know how to use it, it should work as an emergency shield.

AURA (-2) LESSER DISCIPLINE

Your "aura" is unlocked, and as such you can manifest the light of your soul, your "aura" for a wide range of abilities however, the strength of an "aura" degrades with continual use. Common usage of the aura is as a full-body protective shield, environmental protection, infusion into weapons, boosting striking power, enhancing physical strength and speed, minor healing, sharpened senses, activating and controlling dust, etc. The specific abilities and their strengths differ from individual and are dependent on several factors, such as experience, training, and innate skill. Once purchased you can develop an active power called a semblance which is a personal expression of your soul in tangible power.

MODIFIER

-1 Point for expanded aura reserves.

That bit about degrading with continual use worried me a bit, but Lisa said that it's just during combat. Bit of a weird wording if you ask me...

"It looks like the ride is coming to its end. Let's deal with the personality of the Scarab and the Symbiote. Keep the Scarab blue and make it a cold and pragmatic version of me. Can you do that?"

"We certainly can, but that would entail deeply scanning your personality."

"It's fine. For the symbiote, keep it... or rather, her black with blue accents in the transformed state. The symbiote can be a warm and playful 'woman'. If I must have voices in my head then it should be fine if they balance each other out."

"Good idea. The scan will be dealt with as soon as we finish here. Any other questions?"

"Yes. You mentioned something about a handler. Who is my handler? You?"

Lisa softly smiles, "I'm afraid not. The Handler is usually chosen after the first mission of an agent. That ensures that we pair them well and that no trouble sparks between them."

"Aww and here I thought you liked me like I like you, Lisa!" Better deal with someone you already know...

"While our time here was delightful, my time as a handler is long past. Nowadays my job is much more boring but just as important."

"Ah! One very important question: how do I go about searching for the anomaly?"

"Anomalies change the World they are in. Usually, you would encounter the most success looking into 'troublemakers' or the sources of conflict/chaos in your world. They should either be the anomaly themselves, have come into contact with it, or have it."

"So I go toward the trouble. Well, should've figured it wouldn't be just a walk in the park. So, hum, do you guys do any sort of sign-in bonus here?"

Lisa looks at me with a quirky face. "You already got a good package, got the bonus points from the Amalgamation, and got a lot of the drawbacks and you want more?"

"Power is never enough, darling. I should pay more attention and be on my guard especially when my life is on the line, isn't that right?" I say with a smirk.

Having her words thrown back at her made her hesitate for a moment but she soon looked at me seriously.

"We can not give you anything more as that would be favoritism." She says firmly.

"... Had to try. Well, can you at least say if the powers will mesh well together? I'm banking pretty hard on the idea that the EVO Nanites will be able to encompass the Scarab, but if the nanites fuse with me on a molecular level, then what about the Symbiote?"

"The EVO nanites will fuse with your molecules, the Scarab Beetle fuses with your spine and nervous system, and the Symbiote will fuse with your muscles and epidermis with some strands connecting with your nervous system. From these three, the Symbiote is the only one that normally and naturally can develop a deeper connection."

"Can the EVO nanites assimilate the Scarab Beetle?"

"Maybe. That is for you to discover." Very neutral, so very professional...

Damn it.

"Well, can I at least ask to be deployed transformed with the Symbiote and with the Scarab Armor? Because of Without a Map, I'm expecting a pretty grizzly entrance..." I say, feeling my face contort in a frown.

"That will be doable. Anything else, Matt?"

After thinking for a bit I look into her eyes and say in the most serious voice I can muster. "Do you think I have a chance?"

Lisa kept visual contact, "Yes."

"Then be my handler."

"It's not a-"

"The whole purpose of this Agency is to deal with these Anomalies, right?"

She looks a bit put off by being interrupted, "...Yes."

"So if you were to have some Agents that receive more of these 'resources' per world, then you would nurture them into stronger Agents faster. You would have more capable Agents faster and thus need less recruitment. Instead of working with a huge workforce, you would have a few elites.

You most probably can do both; a lot of grunts to deal with low-level worlds and a squad of elites that deal with the real serious stuff."

"Well, Mister Smarty, that already exists. And before you rudely interrupt me again," She emphasizes the interrupting part, "No, you cannot become part of the elite. Not yet."

"But think about it! If you started nurturing me from the start, how much stronger than a normal elite would I be??"

"You are asking the wrong person, Matthew. I work in the administrative area that deals with the Elites and as such am intimately aware of our resources. If I cave and sponsor you like you are asking, it risks my career and the safety of several of our agents."

"Even if it's just a little bit? Just a little scrap that wouldn't make a difference...?" I try making a pitiful face, but she is impassive.

Worth a try. I need to sharpen my Puppy Eyed Stare since I will be a kid for a while.

As I was ready to move on and prepare myself, she sighed heavily. Looking at her right now she seems tired.

"Man... Look I'm sorry I pushed so much. You must be dealing with a lot of shit right now and here I am bugging you. I'll just get going."

"Wait." She sighs again. She motions with her hand for me to keep waiting and a glass screen appears in front of her. She looks at it for a moment, swiping this and that way (is that a tablet?) until finally she smiles and turns to me.

"Well, I managed to push for a more severe punishment of the agents that caused the incident in your Universe. As a result, both of them will have a few less resources on their next mission." She wiggles her brow. Wait does that mean?

"Yes, you will get an additional bonus. Consider this your sign-up bonus. And don't ask again. This is more for my amusement than it is for you. In case you didn't notice, I really don't like those Agents." Wow, that is one face of disgust.

Anyway.

"So what do I get??" Not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited. Is it going to be 10 points? Even if it's just 8 I can get the Krypto-

In front of me appears a pyramid. At first, I was confused but then I noticed the numbers on it... is that a d4?

"Roll it."

"Wait, don't I get to choose?"

"No, roll it." She seems amused seeing my expressions.

"... it's not gonna be anything bad, is it?" I wanna laugh with her not be laughed at by her :(

"No, all the options are good. Now roll it."

Picking up the little die I appreciate its design; void with stars making the numbers. Recurrent theme huh? I toss it on the table and it bounces a few times before the number one is shown upwards.

Lisa looks pretty shocked. "How lucky can you be... well, I guess I gave you a 25% chance..."

"What? Is it good? Like very good?"

"Well, both options are pretty good. Here." She produces a coin and tosses it to me. It seems like a gold coin of some king, never seen it. "Flip it. Let's say heads is 1 and tails is 2."

Already going with the flow I toss the coin up. It spins fast making a crisp sound. It lands on the table and spins a few more times before settling firmly in the tails.

"Well, I guess your luck will now have a reason to be so high. This will boost your luck. In case you are wondering, the other option would boost your intellect significantly. This boosts your luck by the same amount." I'm lucky now?

"How much is 'significantly'?" I ask. She checks her iPad again (don't sue) and then looks at me. "Says here the intellect would increase to the level of Reed Richards or Lex Luthor. Although comparable, they're not 1 to 1." She shakes her head.

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it. Luck comparable to Reed Richard's intellect? Wouldn't that be a power in itself?

Before I can contemplate it, she snaps her finger and the plane is back to its white-eye aggression. "It is time now, Matthew. You got more than you should, but as a saying from your Universe states: The early bird gets the worm." She smiles at me.

I nod, keeping my reeling thoughts in check, "Thank you. Truly. I hope I can see you someday... maybe when I become an elite." I flash a cheeky smile.

She seemed fed up, but there's the smile I was looking for! Before I can tease her, she says. "Good luck, Matt."

And everything goes black. I prefer this blackness over that white any day.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Right, that's the first one. Now for the others..." Lisa looks at her wristwatch, even as it dissolves now that its form is no longer relevant. "... in a few days. sigh"