House of Brockton Bay by DeusExTranshuman

this is especially on home for the few splicers table top rpg game fans on the site biopunk anyone?

Words: 53k+

Links: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12838233/1/House-of-Brockton-Bay

https://forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/7100

Chapter 1: Birth

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes.

AN: Had a new idea a while ago, thought it would be interesting, so I posted it on QQ. Then I decided that it would be a good idea to post it here as well since I haven't really done a lot of cross posting in the past. Might start doing more of it, God only knows that I have enough stories to post on any number of sites. Anyway, this is a redo of another story that I am currently slamming into a brick wall with, might come back to said story in the future, but only after I figure things out.

Basic idea of the story is that it's an SI with the main character (Yours truly) getting dropped into BB with the an ability similar to a slightly watered down Panacea and a head full of designs from one of my favourite RPG backgrounds, if only because the lore is awesome and I'd highly recommend it.

Anyway, enjoy.

XXX

Ya'know, you never really knew how liberating it was to fly until you did it yourself. Speaking for myself, I could confirm this as I flew through the air above a city that, just a few weeks ago, I would have thought was a work of fiction. Then again, a few weeks ago, I should have been dead thanks to a car crash, instead, I woke up in the middle of a forest wearing only a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, no clue as to where I was and suddenly understanding any bio-matter that I was within ten metres of me. What made this even more crazy was that I could freely manipulate said bio-matter once it made skin contact with me, of course, I failed to notice this until after a good bit of time freaking out over what the hell had happened to me.

This, also, wasn't helped by the fact that I couldn't even remember my own fucking name!

Still, knowing what I knew as I flew through the sky, I couldn't help but thank whatever god put me here even as I cursed them out for it. Sure, I was alive, but I hated the jump, the loss of the familiar and being thrust into the unknown. With it being the unknown and my own paranoid streak, that meant that after calming down, I had bolted to try and find a location to call a base and had manipulated a few trees together into a small base hidden underground and safe from casual detection. From there, I spent a week learning about my abilities as I found out that I couldn't just manipulate bio-matter, I also had a broken tape in the back of my head that constantly leaked ideas through, into my mind, and informed me of some of the shit I could make if I allowed myself the time.

The results had been well worth the effort, as one could tell as I flew through the air in a 2.5 metre tall suit of biological power armor that had been made based on the information that seemed to shift around the inside of my head. Then again, the information that was currently shifting around the inside of my head also kept telling me to call it 'Host Armor', which told me rather easily where the information was from, but, for the life of me, I couldn't help but feel ecstatic about it.

After all, I had been a fan of Palladium Book's Splicer RPG before I suddenly found myself somewhere else.

Though, as I looked around the city below me and saw signs indicating the actual name of the city, I felt my joy turn to dread and trepidation as I finally realized where I was, suddenly very glad for the abilities I had and plans already moving through my mind for how best to further fortify my base of operations.

Sure, some might consider a few of my ideas overkill, but I had two responses to such a thing: One, overkill was a myth, much like the tooth fairy and anyone stupid enough to tempt Murphy. And two, I was in fucking Brockton Bay! I was in Fucking WORM!

In such a situation, I feel that everyone would agree with me, as well as generally, that I couldn't possibly have too many defenses.

Of course, just as I turned to fly away from the city of doom, death and depression, the enhanced senses of my Host Armor picked up the sound and flash of a distant explosion echoing over the city. Multiple different eyes covering my armor immediately zoomed around as other senses came into play, as I suddenly found myself looking at an ugly scene of carnage as I felt my fists tighten even as I hovered in mid-air, with both flaps of my wings and from the gentle thrust of the Bio-thrusters scattered over my armor.

I looked on to see a dozen men scrambling over an overturned truck, the word 'Medhall' printed on the side even as I looked at the men in question as smoke rose from the ruined engine block of the truck. The men were wearing little more than rags, carrying barely intact weapons coated in rust and carrying armfuls of glass and plastic containers that had been ripped out of the boxes within the back of the truck. Even then, most of it was being shuffled into a vehicle that could only be called an insult to decent engineering, looking like a truck made from scrap metal welded together and held together by duct tape, a few cannons hap-hazardly mounted on the sides. The entire thing was horrid, but the man standing on top of the vehicle caught my attention the most.

He was a dark skinned man, he looked like shit with oily skin, teeth that looked rotten to the core and bloodshot eyes that I could see through the bandana that he wore to conceal the upper half of his face. This, coupled with his attire of dirty and mostly ruined clothing, allowed me to guess that I was looking at Skidmark and his Merchants. Inside the Host Armor, I felt my eyes tighten even as the armor shifted around me, a low growl emerging from the throat of the living armor as I shifted my wings, suddenly going from a relative hover to a steep dive as I looked to cross the distance as quickly as possible.

Well... Since I was out, I may as well make an impact...

XXX

I will happily admit it, I was grinning like a loon as I made my impact.

As such, one can expect shit to happen when a fully armored and armed Host Armor comes crashing down on top of an unsuspecting vehicle, however heavily armored. The results of which caused the entire front half of the thing I'd only vaguely been calling a vehicle to crumple, it's engine block crushed under the sudden transfer of kinetic energy as I landed on my feet in a crouch, ensuring that as much energy had been transferred as possible.

The sound of my sudden landing was enough to draw silence over the area as the Merchants seemed to look at me with varying degrees of horror as I stood up fully even as I looked over and around to see the Merchants looking at me, more than one slowly edging backwards a step. Primal instincts seemed to be at war with drug-addled minds as the two directives warred against one another, only stopping as Skidmark jumped back out the hatch he had been standing out of the vehicle through. Upon my landing, I had taken great joy in seeing the idiot slip and fall down the hatch, and I still did as I saw the idiot was now sporting the beginnings a massive bruise on his face. He twisted to look at me with a nasty look as I just looked back at him through multiple sets of eyes even as his bloodshot eyes glared back with malice.

"What the shit are you cunt-guzzlers waiting for!? Hose the Bitch!" He screamed as he drew a side arm from the hatch, a clearly modified, if very rusty, Smith & Wesson Model 10. A glance down at my feet and I saw blue boundaries springing into life both in front of me and under my own feet as I looked back at the snarling Merchant. Other Merchants had already started moving as some drew weapons while others tried rushing me with rusted weapons as I felt myself smile at what I saw.

An instant later, the first bullet was fired.

A moment later, it impacted the Bio-Force Field that had sprung to life in front of my body in the path of said bullet, completely depowering it as it vaporized itself from the sudden impact. The Merchants weren't even offered the chance to try and understand what they had just seen as more bullets started flying, but that hardly mattered as I moved.

Enhanced muscle tendons, better anchoring points, better oxygenating blood and a better nervous system all meant that, by the time that most of them even had a chance to level their weapons at me, I was already moving as little more than a black blur. Skidmark suffered under my assault first, suddenly being launched into the air by a potent foot to the chin that sent him flying even as I moved onwards, jumping over the remains of Squealer's abomination and leaping into the rest of the Merchants. Bone blades extended from forearms along with claws along the end of each finger, all of which were either vibro-edged weapons or coated in a thin layer of weak acid that ate away at anything that it made contact with. Along with that, my wings came into play as blunt instruments, whacking Merchants left, right and centre as my enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of bones breaking, telling me that each of them had broken ribs that would work to keep them down for the time being.

The street was soon filled with a sprawling melee that was centred around me even as I continued advancing through the street. Grabbing another Merchant by the throat, I lifted him up and threw him at another one of his friends with enough force to cause several of them to collapse to the ground before I leaned forwards, releasing a roar from the Raptor-like head of my Host Armor that was potent enough to rattle some car windows that had yet to be smashed. More than one Merchant flinched back from that even as I stood back up, a bone blade retracting for a moment as I advanced once more, only to stop as my Bio-Force Field triggered once more, from behind. My focus shifted for a moment as I felt my eyes roll as I turned to see Skidmark standing behind me, another gun in hand as he glared murder at me.

Obviously, his landing had not been kind, his shoulder being dislocated and another bruise covering his face even as I spotted his unfocused look.

"What, ya think you're gonna take me down with a little bitch slap like that, ya Lizard-fucking hole sucker?! I'm fuckin' Skidmark, bitch! I ain't your whore of a Ma!" He screamed at me, seemingly trying to antagonize me as I glanced over my shoulder at him. A glance at the ground showed the multiple boundaries that were layered there as I glanced back at him for a moment even as I kept an eye on those around me with the multiple Compound eyes built into my armor, not to mention the other senses built into my armor. Still, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that even as another feature of my armor shifted on the back of my collar.

"And, ya know what, ya Gecko-shitting, whore basket?! We're gonna kick ya cunt in, ya fuck, cause we're the fucking Merchants, and this is our turf!" He shouted as I, once more, rolled my eyes.

"Talk... Too much..." I stated, mentally frowning as I realized something before checking it and cursing myself. The vocal cords hadn't fully developed, so they would take a bit more work, but the current message I had supplied was enough as I triggered the Super Light cell built into the back of my collar. Two beams of invisible light shot out from the organic laser projectors and hit the Merchant cape, one melting the pistol the idiot had been holding while the other grazed his thigh.

"Da fuc-ARGH!" Was about all Skidmark managed to say before a tail I had kept hidden until that point suddenly appeared, unfolding from between my shoulder blades and extending rapidly as the tip whipped against the Cape's chest, the crack of air was heard even as I turned back to the now pale Merchant gangers and looked at them with a flat stare, or, at least, what I could manage with my Host armor. The shouted call of 'Skids!' was silenced a moment later as a spike extended from the back of my shoulder and was fired off, hitting the female form behind me in the shoulder in turn even as she tried to reach her fallen leader. A second later, I heard and saw her hit the ground even as I allowed my Host Armor to smile slightly, showing dozens of razor-sharp teeth to the gangers as they seemed to fidget under my gaze. I held their gaze for a moment before I held out a hand and pointed to the ground.

None of them, even with as much of their brains damaged by drugs, needed anything else, as they threw their weapons to the ground before I gestured for them to gather around. I smiled at that.

It seemed that one really could teach a stupid dog new tricks.

XXX

Coming in for a landing, Glory Girl looked around the damaged street to, perhaps, the strangest thing she had yet to see from the Merchants as she looked over the various Merchant gangers, all bound together with their feet submerged in what looked like set, grey concrete. All of them seemed to be bound together with white threads while at least two people were suspended from a lamp-post nearby, looking at the, Vicky Dallon couldn't help the smirk that crossed her face as she saw Skidmark and Squealer both being held below the lamp-posts, both wrapped up to their necks by layers of white fabric that looked to be several inches thick. Absently, Vicky noted the presence of several people that looked to be unconscious, probably having been taken out of the truck and laid on the sidewalk, bandages made from more of that white fabric resting over certain areas of their bodies.

Crunch!

Suddenly, the flying Brute was broken from her observations by the sound of something snapping, causing her to spin around in mid air to see the source of the sound as she did so, her body tensing even as she raised her fists slightly. However, upon seeing the source of the sound, she was struck dumb by the sight before her. Then again, Vicky absently thought that anyone would have been surprised at what she now saw before her, even with the amount of weird ways that Capes tried to prove such sentiments wrong with weirder and weirder things.

This could apply to what she now saw as she looked at a massive figure, sitting on the edge of the overturned truck in the heart of the street, which she had only just noticed. Said figure was a sight to see, looking like a massive, Humanoid lizard covered in large plates of bone, from his back, she saw a pair of black, bird-like wings stretching out slightly even as they tried to tuck into his back while her eyes immediately zoomed in on the head. Said head looked like the head of some kind of Dinosaur that had been given a few extra pairs of eyes, a total of six eyes dotting the head while she looked to see a few of them looking back at her even as its head was turned partially away from her. In truth, such a thing would have been intimidating and terrifying for anyone, especially given the all-black colour scheme of the being before her.

Of course, the fact that it was currently holding a hunk of scrap metal, an expression that perfectly said 'hand in the cookie jar' written across alien features while it tried to chew on a piece of metal was enough to bleed such things off as Vicky could only laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of what she saw. Absently, she was aware of the creature as it seemed to pout slightly and glare at her playfully, grumbling to itself even as it huffed and crossed its massive arms, bending the forearms to avoid the large spikes on the top of each forearm from ripping into its own flesh.

"I-I'm sorry its... Ha... Ha... It's just that face..." Vicky tried to say even as she let out a few chuckles at what she saw, finding it funny even after the fact even as the being just huffed more at her.

"Oh, don't be like that!" Vicky said playfully as she moved a bit closer to the large bulk of the unknown Cape, her guard still up, but lower than her initial expectations of fighting the Merchants. The unknown glanced at her with three different eyes before huffing once more.

"Meanie..." It spoke, a rumbling voice coming from its mouth as it said the word even as Vicky allowed a giggle to escape her lips at the pronunciation.

"Hey! I said I was sorry, no need to go calling me names, Lizard butt!" She shouted with mock indignation even as the Cape turned more towards her with a slight curve to its massive lips.

"Am not... Lizard-butt... Am Dreadnaught..." It spoke, a rasping tone coming out of its lips as it hopped down from the truck with ease. Vicky smirked happily as the massive being finally gave her a name to work with as she floated down.

"So... Dreadnaught... This your work?" The Alexandria-lite asked, gabbing a thumb towards the various gangers and Merchant Capes as they lay around the area. Dreadnaught merely shrugged his massive shoulders at that even as he idly scratched his scaled chin with a clawed finger.

"Was out... Testing Host Armor... Wasn't looking... For fight... Saw the... Attack... Decided to... Step in..." He stated, his voice continuing to rasp and waver for some reason as Vicky relaxed slightly at that explanation. Her eyebrow, however, rose slightly when she heard the odd name of what he was testing as she looked at the being before her. The only thing she could see the could be called 'armor' on him was the plates of bone, and even that was pushing it. Still, the fact that he was a Hero, if only through his actions, was enough to cause her to relax a bit as she loosened the knot that was sitting in her stomach at the thought of picking a fight with the big guy.

However, even with that, Vicky felt herself smile as happiness grew within her. Heroes were rare to find in Brockton Bay, since most were snapped up by the gangs before they even go public, usually press-ganged into service. However, Vicky frowned a moment later in confusion as Dreadnaught's eyes narrowed and he took several steps back, her look of confusion was enough that his eyes narrowed further into slits as a forked tongue slipped out of his lips. A moment later, his eyes remained narrowed, but in confusion instead of whatever they were before.

"... What... Was... That..." Dreadnaught spoke roughly, his tone indicating that he wasn't sure what had happened, but it said something that showed he didn't like it. Vicky grimaced at that, forgetting about how people reacted to her Aura. Still, usually people were more disposed to fawning over her when they were exposed to her Aura for the first time, not that she minded a change of pace, especially with so many people wanting to get in her good graces just for being such an iconic Cape.

"Uh, sorry about that. Forgot you'd probably never felt my Aura, sorry. Though, got to say, nice to see a different reaction than the usually fawning or drooling..." Vicky stated with a groan as she added that last part thoughtfully to herself. Though, it seemed that Dreadnought heard her, since he raised a triplet of eye-ridges towards her, making her toss up another mark for him, making it apparent that the guy was a Brute, Mover and Thinker, given the muscles, the wings and the senses, respectively. Dreadnaught made to open his mouth, but was cut off by the approaching sound of police sirens and the grumble of an all-too-familiar motorbike.

XXX

I glanced around from Glory Girl, mentally telling her what she had just done even as I looked on to see the approach of Armsmaster, walking ahead of the waves of PRT officers, Paramedics and police that quickly followed behind him. I couldn't see under his armored visor, but I'd guess his eyes were locked on to me even as I saw his head twitch to the side as he watched the agents working through the various Merchants. A moment later, he was standing next to me and Glory Girl, having planted his halberd on the tarmac and was looking at me with a well worn frown curved into his face as he spoke.

"Who are you? Are you responsible for this?" He asked, as I had to stop myself from flinching back from the bluntness of his inquiry. Still, I allowed a frown to cross my Host Armor's features. Mentally, I considered what to say and what not to say, sticking to the truth was probably the best way to go. Especially since I didn't know if he had his infamous lie detected installed yet or not, especially since I still had yet to figure out the fucking date.

"... Dreadnaught... And that... Depends..." I stated simply as I looked down at the Tinker, my perspective allowing me to look down at him with ease since my Host Armor let me stand head and shoulders above him, along with over the heads of most of the other people present. I smiled internally at that, since it gave me a good idea of what was happening around me even as my other senses kept me up-to-date on the number of people around me. And, of course, that was without mentioning the stuff I was getting from my power.

Looking at Armsmaster, I could imagine him raising an eyebrow at what I had said, a subtle sound approached my ears, as I saw him shift his grip on his Halberd. I saw it through a set of compound eyes even as I noted the other sounds of him tensing up and his body's output getting ready for a fight, such smells were easy to pick up as I glanced over at Glory Girl. Said Girl was looking between the two of us with some level of worry, probably about if a fight started between us and considering what side to take if said fight did happen.

"Depends? On what?" The Tinker Hero interrogated as I glanced over to the Merchants I had left, their feet and hands bound in Resin while their Capes were unconscious, tied up and suspended from a lamp post, with spider-like threads.

"On... Perspective..." I remarked as I gestured to the damaged street and the upturned truck before continuing onwards.

"I... Was testing... Out testing... Host Armor... Wasn't planning... To fight... But saw this... Stepped in... Merchants attacked... Truck... Damaged street... I... Stopped them... Restrained them... Saw someone... Calling for... Help... Patched up injured... Put them... Aside... Waited for... First responders... See if I... Could help..." I stated, rather enjoying the slitted speech that I had going for me as I considered keeping the underdeveloped vocal cords as they were. Armsmaster, upon hearing my explanation, frowned slightly as he looked around again before looking back at me.

"... You said you were testing something? What exactly is it? This 'Host Armor'?" He asked as I allowed reptile-like lips to twitch upwards at the corners as I gestured to myself.

"This it... Power armor... Organic base... finished it... Recently..." I stated simply. I saw Armsmaster's stance go tense, his phenomenal output skyrocketed, his heart rate increased until he stubbornly suppressed it.

"... You're a Bio-Tinker, aren't you?" He asked, though, he probably had no reason to ask, given what I had just said. I merely nodded with a shrug.

"Two part... Am Tinker... But can... Manipulate... Bio... Matter... Doesn't work on... Humans..." I remarked simply. Honestly, revealing that information was no skin off my back, especially since it meant one less thing for them to worry about. Armsmaster frown deepened at that, clearly not liking the implications of that as he leveled a glare at me as I looked at his own biology absently. I could even see the signals travelling around his brain, making me slightly curious as to whether I could figure out a way to interpret them, letting me know, quite literally, what was happening in another person's head.

"And you know this, how?" He asked, more guarded as I shrugged again. To the side, Glory Girl looked more guarded as well, clearly not liking what she was hearing, enough to tense up, but not enough to attack me out of hand.

"... Accident... Cut off arm... During experiment... Tried to alter it... To reattach it... Didn't work... Haven't done... Anything with... Human flesh... Besides... That..." I answered simply as Armsmaster seemed to regard me for a moment as his eyes glanced over a section of his visor before his posture relaxed. I wasn't sure whether or not that meant that he had a lie detector and had just seen I was telling the truth, or something else, though, given the activity I was seeing coming from his ears, I was thinking it might have been someone else. Though, either way, it didn't matter. I was telling the truth, though, since that had happened when I was stupid and hadn't expected certain muscles to react as fast as they had, lost my arm from the forearm down before I regrew a new one through a few different methods.

"Alright, thank you for answer those questions. Now..."

And thus began the interrogation in earnest!

What followed was an series of questions as Armsmaster drilled both myself and Glory Girl for answers about what had happened, mostly directed towards myself. I mostly answered, but in general terms as I still wished to keep a number of abilities to myself. I didn't doubt that the PRT and Protectorate would find out eventually, one way or another, either through PHO or through the various Merchants they could interrogate for more information. Still, I was annoyed since the entire exercise took over an hour to complete as Armsmaster seemed to try and grill me for more until I put my foot down and told him that, no, I was not planning to tell him where I was based, if only because I valued my privacy.

Still, after the last question, I asked one of my own.

"Armsmaster... May I... Ask something..." I asked as he looked at me curiously for a moment before nodding. I nodded in thanks before continuing.

"I.. was wondering... The Bio-tech... I used... To regrow... My arm... would the... PRT... Be able... To test... It...? To make... Sure... It is... Safe... To use...?" I asked, partly curious since, if this worked out, I could be looking at a way of making income as well as helping one of my favorite characters out. Armsmaster considered the question momentarily before nodding.

"Depending on the technology in question, the PRT and the Protectorate are willing to test Tinker products in exchange for a cut of profits from any sales of said materials, should they be sold in large amounts. The initial testing is free of charge, but it will take a few days to several weeks or months, depending on the technology in question. Though, I am unsure as to how these tests would interact with your... Bio-technology, since the PRT and Protectorate rarely handle such things, outside of the aftermath of Villains like Bonesaw and Blasto." Armsmaster stated bluntly before he paused a moment and grimaced slightly. I noted that the signal volume coming from his ear had increased significantly at those words while Glory Girl glowered at the armored Tinker. I wasn't too bothered by it, since it was a comparison that I partly-expected, since there weren't many Bio-tinkers, or capes that dealt in biology, on the Hero side of things. Panacea was the most notable exception to that, but she kept her abilities hidden from the world while people like Bonesaw were more apparent comparisons.

"... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make that comparison, I meant that the PRT and Protectorate don't have experience in testing friendly Bio-technology, but I'm sure we can manage something." He corrected himself with a frown, slipping into a grimace at several points during his apology, telling me that he was probably letting Dragon talk him through this. Probably for the best, since he probably won't have bothered making that apology in the first place otherwise, since it was factual and true.

"No... Problem... I... Understand... Though... I confess... My Bio-tech... Isn't... As dangerous..." I stated as Armsmaster nodded at that, his chemical output saying much, mostly that he was thankful and relieved, probably at having not offended me in one way or another. Then again, I had thick skin.

"What exactly is this technology that you want to test?" Armsmaster asked, sounding curious as I glanced towards Glory Girl for a moment with different eyes to those on my head before I answered, returning my focus to the Tinker, who seemed eager for an answer.

"It is... A gel... Green in... Colour... And acts... As a soup... Of various... Components... Mainly... It is... Composed of... Undifferentiated... Stem cells... Quick clotting... agents... And specially tailors... Bacteria... Based on Deinococcus... Radiodurans... It works... By healing... Damage done... By cannibalising... Itself... To restore... An individual... to what... Their DNA... has recorded... Within area... Of use..." I explained. Armsmaster nodded along at my slitted speech while Glory Girl seemed suddenly interested in this, no doubt making connections in her mind as I continued speaking. Armsmaster and myself continued talking mostly, Glory Girl disappearing soon after that brief description even as I traded information with the other Tinker to work out the bare bones of a deal and a time to bring the substance around to the Protectorate base to test.

It would be another hour before I finally left the city and headed for home, plans already moving through my mind as I considered possible defenses for my hidden home in the advent of the knowledge I had gained.

If anyone learned of said plans, they'd probably question my definition of 'Non-lethal'.

... Meh, it wasn't like I couldn't just patch them back together.

XXX

AN: So... What do you lot think...?