1.8

1.8

When I wake up I realize I've had my powers for a week, and every single day something crazy has happened. Well, not Wednesday, maybe those are my free days? I shrug off the thought, I'll find out soon enough. "Alright, I have a free day today, what do I need to do? First I should probably call Taylor about the whole PRT thing, kinda surprised she didn't call me last night." I look at the clock "I'll call her when it's time for reasonable people to be awake. So, I need a list. gotta revise the one I had because I've managed some goals already." I go over and grab my notepad and notebook, lay them on the bed and flip them to appropriate pages. "Notepad for list" I mumble and start writing "First, complete number system to figure out total mana and how much mana has what effect, because I don't want to accidentally turn myself into paste." I add the William-paste note and underline it "That one is rather important." I start tapping the pen for the next item "I guess enchantments are really something I need, but enchanted spells will have to be more robust than before... a LOT more robust since I won't have direct control, some sort of breaker so I don't kill myself when someone shoots my shield. That'd be a hell of a note, bullet stops and I inexplicably fall over dead anyway. I'd prefer a bullet in the shoulder to being dead. Oh hell this is going to give me a headache, we're talking about levels of safety per zone, adjustment for it to deflect instead of counter on a toggle in case people are behind me, breakers, regenerating plates... hell let's add on a toggled dodge system using flight if we're going all out here. some sort of threshold though, my body jerking to the side because someone sneezed wouldn't be good. Ah, stack the astral shield with it so it's all one spell." I sigh and put down my pen, the excitement over making a new spell fading fast in lieu of the work involved "And here I wanted to try to make a pseudo telekinesis spell. This shield is gonna take forever."

I spend the next couple of hours working through some of the base mechanics I wanted to build with the shield enchantment. Around ten I pull out my phone, shove my notes onto the floor, "I know they didn't do anything but they represent work when I could be out -flying-" then I let out a breath and flop backwards onto the bed. I lay there for a minute because apparently the thing I'm best at is procrastination. Momentarily I wonder if Taylor is a church goer. "Eh, I'll find out. Worst case, she's embarrassed in church and I get the violent repercussions tomorrow, it's a worthy risk, besides, future me pays it, current me can just laugh at him for now." having now put off the phone call for another five minutes I finally dial Taylor's number when I can't come up with any more excuses.

She picks up after the second ring "Hey Will, what's up?" Well future me, you're one lucky guy, no beating for you.

I cough, because that's what you do when it's your turn to talk, even if I don't understand it. "T, oh pal o' mine -" She interrupts

"Oh no, what did you do? You didn't blow up Armsmaster's workbench did you? I haven't seen anything on PHO about it."

I blink "Why would you think that? These explosions are a new thing, I had -years- before with only the occasional explosion, like one or two a month, and they were small... ish..., well most of them were. With my current track record it's much more likely I got you involved in a political plot to get Intruder Deterrent Toasters into every household of Brockton Bay."

She seems to think for a moment "Did you sell a contract to manufacture toasters to the PRT? With how things are going I would -honestly- not be all that surprised."

"Huh, I should have thought of that... oh well. I did one better. Turns out my father knows me pretty well so he managed to work a deal to pass all responsibilities for deciding things in regards to this whole PRT fiasco over to you. Congratulations, the PRT is your bitch." I promptly hang up. She probably needs a moment and I want to try laying on air.

A quick(ish) spell and a few minutes later I'm floating myself up roughly in six inch increments then dropping to the bed only to let it bounce me up and I push up another six inches. I've gotten to four feet when Taylor calls back. I stop my bouncing to pick up the phone "Hey T, Wh-"

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" The phone is now a good two feet away from my ear. When I'm pretty sure she's done yelling I bring it back.

"I told you. I passed the buck. Well, technically my dad did it for me so I didn't have to even touch the buck. He's efficient that way."

She sounds like her brain hamster fell off its wheel. When she's able to talk again she sounds very lost, "Okay. Will, I'm still trying to wrap my head around what this means, help me out here. What does this mean?"

I shrug even though she can't see it "Pretty much what it sounds like. If you want Sophia burned at the stake as a witch, I'm pretty sure they'll ask what kind of wood you want to use. Though I wouldn't suggest that, you may inadvertently restart that whole 'Inquisition' movement. Oh and people fires aren't good for marshmallows."

Taylor lets out a breath, I think the brain hamster has started the wheel going again. "Alright. What would -you- do with her?"

I think for a moment "Parole officer, GPS implant, personal button to shock the hell out of her when I feel like it... probably move her to Arcadia to split her away from her cronies and eliminating her social power, weekly counseling sessions to -try- to make her an angry -human- instead of a rage monster... maybe a maid uniform and serving tea once a week until I get tired of the novelty. She's actually kinda funny with the whole 'impotent rage' thing going on and she does deserve some sort of punishment for outing me to the PRT - even if it is her job I'm still a vengeful bastard when vengeance is this easy." I hum for a moment "That's all I got for now, I'm sure I could come up with more later."... I hear writing. "NO! No! you do NOT get to take my ideas and-"

She interrupts me with a chirp "Thanks Will!" and hangs up.... Huh, I might get a weekly maid. I'd assign her to Wednesdays, they seem to be safe.

I groan to myself, "Well, at least she should be happy. Maybe she'll even be able to convince them to let her into the Wards, I mean they did seem pretty desperate. Then again 'explode Shadow Stalker' is kind of impressive as a resume versus 'control bugs', so maybe that was the reason." I shrug "Alright, obligatory phone call to Taylor complete. Now, work on the shield, or... hrm." I realize I've had these powers for a week now and all I've done beyond figuring out and developing new things was to pummel a few guys and blow myself and Sophia up. "I -really- want to go out and actually get some real practice in. I can't do that without... a... hell, I already have a costume."

A few moments later and I'm covered in light. I walk over to the bathroom to look in the mirror, the light just makes my body look teal and glowy, it obscures the details but it's not a blinding bright light. "Huh, I'll have to play with it later to see if I can modify it to make illusions. For now though..." I adjust the shape slightly outwards to encompass my clothing and shape it to muscles "Super heroes are muscular, it's not vanity if it's an unwritten rule" properly justified in the false six pack I look it over. The form doesn't look right, it's shifting, I turn my torso and it just doesn't move right. It takes me a moment to realize why. "Grah, stupid clothes are loose and it's moving the mana... I'm not wearing spandex just to look muscular. And I'm NOT going to naked again. Gotta come up with something at least -passable-"

I decide to take a shower, the best ideas come in the shower. While there I start making little light constructs and try different types of clothes, then clothes combinations... I had something to try now. I finish up my shower, and when I hop out I go grab a button-up shirt, a hoodie and two socks. "I hope I can make this look ok." I create a shell my size and shape and put the button up shirt on it (I have to destroy and rebuild the arms because sometimes I'm an idiot) I cut the hood off the hoodie using magic scissors, "Talk about convenience." cut off small strips of the hoodie to use as 'thread' to sew the hood onto the popped up collar. I cut off the sleeves of the hoodie and turn them backwards and slide them up the (new) arms of the construct so the stretchy material is at the bicep with the wider loose section at the wrist and sew it to the sleeves of the button-up shirt. Finally I split the remaining material of the hoody in half and sew it to the bottom of the shirt. The socks I cut apart to make fingerless gloves.

When I stand back and look at it, it looks like a really crappy hooded short trench coat. It comes down to the knees of the construct. It really looks like something a homeless person might wear, but only because it's not threadbare. Oh well, the shape is what's important, not the look. I coat the material in light which helps to obscure all of the sewing spots and the differences in the cloth, but it gives the light something to stick to so it moves right. Next I start creating brighter and darker shapes to make glowing runic symbols along the edges of the material and brighter lines around some of the sewed sections to further obscure them. By the time I'm done I'm almost out of mana but I step back and appreciate my work. "Eh... it's useable" I can no longer see the difference in materials unless I look very closely. It now looks almost like a teal trench coat, only with a hood and mystic writing along the edges and bands of light tied around the biceps. It even looks like it could be leather since I can't see the thread of the material. The 'gloves' follow suit. I -really- want to make a true costume, monochrome just doesn't do it for me.

I release the dummy and the coat falls to the floor. I sit on the bed to wait for mana to recharge, holding the dummy for that long really drained me. I'm still holding the light of the coat but it's fairly negligible so it lets my trickle of mana regeneration gradually refill my aura. Once full, I decide I can't have the spell accidentally dying on me -and- I have to test enchantments. I slip on the coat and add onto the spell to cover the T-shirt pants and shoes I have on, a slightly brighter color for my skin, and I expand out from my face a featureless mask with eye holes. It looks creepy, since its base is my face, if I smile the 'featureless mask' smiles "Heh, that'll freak people out".

Now that the light spell is complete I build a battery that'll die if I push a small concentration of mana into it, just in case things go wrong. Next I attach a 'leech' line of it to my core - I instantly fall to the floor gasping in blinding pain. when I can talk again and the pain starts to fade a second later I explain to the world how I'm feeling "SonofaBITCH!" I don't think the world understood. It felt about like swallowing something two times too large for your throat, only for it to be forced through within one second. That feeling, only in my brain and multiplied by about twenty. When I can think again I can feel a small trickle of mana along a line to the battery. The damn thing had forcibly filled itself through -me- all at once. Apparently mana surging backwards through your core feels like driving a railroad spike through your brain. "God -damn- that hurt. Note to self, link first, then gradually build battery" The battery, interestingly enough floats around after me, almost like it's a balloon tied to me with its string. Luckily I have really cool -glowy- balloons or I'd look really silly.

I take a look in the mirror again just to make sure everything is holding up and looks right - I don't even have to turn on the light, I'm glowstick man! I nod to myself, play around with making faces under the mask, it looks like making faces through a piece of really thick cloth, creepy as hell, but cool. "Alright, I have a temp costume until we make a real one. Awesome, now I can go flying around and finally get to throw a fireball at something!"

I create my shield, just held, not as an enchantment, that won't be ready for a long time. That gives me another orb floating around me. Next I set up my flight spell, giving me a third... maybe I -will- end up looking silly. Oh well, cool versus safe, safe wins.

Now I throw open the curtains and jump out the window, floating outside and to the next-door window. I knock and wait for a few moments before my dad opens the curtains and blinks for a moment then laughs and calls mom over as he opens the window. Mom is trying -not- to laugh as dad says "It looks like you found a cosplayer's magic trenchcoat on your way to school and just tossed it on. Come on Will, you didn't even change up your tennis shoes."

I give him a small glare which makes him lean back and mom lean forward with a twinkle in her eye. I say "Hey, it's a work in progress, besides, it's just temporary, I wanted to practice for real and I'm NOT running around naked through town again."

He nods but seems thouroughly creeped out by the mask. My mom turns to him "I want one." and points at my face.

Dad almost instantly replies then stops to think before he nods "I thought you wanted to stop at one" he turns to me while she tries to puzzle out what he means. He says to me "Well, get out of here, we're going to try to make another one."

I splutter and fly backwards quickly "Ack! Ew! no, you don't say things like that!"

My mother slaps him in the shoulder with a glare... then a considering look, then quickly slams the window shut and draws the curtains. And now I want to unhear the last few seconds. I wonder if mana can do that?... It would be useful, I could market -real- brain bleach. I turn away from the hotel and look down, we were only on the second floor, but it wasn't a very crowded neighborhood so I only have a couple of people that have just now noticed me. Probably would have happened faster at night what with the glowy. "Alright, time to get myself into some trouble." and I start to float off at a high jogging pace so I'm only eating my regenerated mana and not touching my aura yet.

I roll around in the air just to enjoy -flight- "Hah, this is so awesome!" then I decide to try for a burst, I focus hard and channel all I can into forward flight for a few seconds and I feel the wind resistance drag on my body as I burst forward roughly forty or fifty yards laughing, I let myself float forward on the inertia as I recover mana by just hovering, that ate over half my aura all at once, but wow what a rush! I idly float around, occasionally wave at someone who's pointing at me but it's still daylight, I doubt I'll find much gang activity. Then again, -I- was kidnapped in daylight so I guess that isn't saying much. Once recovered I go back to the jogging pace and start scanning down alleys.

I do eventually find some trouble. Three white guys, they look like E88, have a black woman trapped against the wall. At first I wonder why she doesn't have pepper spray in this town but I realize she -did-, one of the guys has it. I mumble to myself "Well, as good a chance as any..." I land a little away from them while charging up my fireball spell. By the time my feet touch the ground I'm holding a solid bright white orb that's practically crackling with energy. I cough, because that's how people know it's your turn to talk. They all turn and look at me. Now that it's my turn; "Boo." the white ball of pure energy rockets straight up into the air over the buildings then there's a huge explosion and a wave of pressure and fire rockets outwards in a ball of fire nearly thirty feet across lighting everything like a second sun. The wave of heat can be felt all the way down in the alley showing the roiling fiery explosion to be -incredibly- deadly.

I -almost- stagger at the cost of the spell, but manage to hold still. All of them, even the woman seem to pale. One of the guys shakily brings up his gun... actually it looks like he's the only one -with- a gun. I tilt my head. He fires a shot, which impacts my shield which flashes for a moment. The, now flat, bullet *tinks* on the ground. He took long enough the chunk of missing mana has recovered so I pump mana into my flight spell and blast forward, my three battery orbs following behind me leaving a trail of heatless fire in their wake. I spin and with a carefully applied boost to my leg I take the gunman's legs out from under him, I almost overdid it, he fell onto his shoulders, a bit more and it could have broken his neck... oops. Now that they're all in my aura I construct three very low power mana bolts and set the points to the chests of the men while righting myself and floating between them. "Backs against the wall and sit."

They all look at each other for a moment then put their backs against the wall and sit down, followed by the solid shards of mana. The lady poked a battery which just made it bob to the side. I use boost on the pepperspray the guy that had stolen, he dropped it when I startled them, and sent it towards me. And in spectacular fashion I missed the catch. There was an awkward moment when everyone was staring at me like I was an idiot, until I glared at the guys, then only the lady was looking at me like I was an idiot. Not wanting to embarass myself again I floated down and grabbed the pepperspray. "Ma'm, would you mind calling the police instead of playing with my... erm... orbs?" one of the guys snorted trying not to laugh and the lady looked embarrassed, well at least I'm not alone there. I'm tempted to use the pepperspray on Mr. Gunner just because of the idiocy. I turn to the other two guys while the lady makes the call. I hear her call me Oblivium... great, I need to officially change it somehow or that's going to stick. Anyway, looking at the two guys I say "So, why didn't you stop him?" I motion to Mr. Gunner. "I mean, that was stupid. Like, really stupid, what the hell? Do you just not like the guy or something?"

Guy# 3 shrugs and nods "Yeah, Phil's kind of an ass. He gets all sorts of pissy if we try to tell him what to do."

Guy#2 nods in agreement "Yeah, like that time I told him you can't just go rob a bank with a gun, half the people in there probably have guns and the capes watch places like that. Managed to talk him down but he was in a mood all week."

I walk over to Mr. Gunner "See this? these two are the smart ones, you should listen to them or shit happens." I spray the pepperspray into his face. Bastard shot at me.

I hand the pepperspray back to the lady just in time for... Tentatively Wards Leader to show up. I mentally sigh and dissipate the Mana Bolts I was holding on the guys while charging up my flight spell. TWL opens up with "We got a call about an explosion, what's-"

I interrupt "Look a Ward!, he's got this" and blast into the air, leaving five shocked people behind. Hey look a kid in a green super outfit on the roof, I wave... and I see the craziest thing I think I've ever seen, her aura reaches out and floods the area on the other side of me then GRABS FUCKING SPACE, not air, it just grabs... The only way I can explain it is it's like seeing in four dimensions, it reached in and grabbed something you don't even realize is there -to- grab. But no, that's not all, once it has a good strong hold it FLEXES. I can -feel- space itself stretch. I don't know how to explain the taste of the aura either, it was like tasting gravity, or maybe the color black.

Well, she obviously doesn't want me to leave so I use a small boost and some fine flight control to place myself quickly beside her... then I hear a squeak and she's now on another roof. She really needs to make up her mind, does she want to talk or not? I'll assume not for now, so I start to float off, I don't have any more bursts of speed in me unless I want to splatter on the pavement.

She looks a little confused when I wave and leisurely float away. The rest of the day was pretty easy, I stopped a couple of muggings, scared away a few suspicious guys tailing someone, stopped a small gang fight, maybe some sort of territory dispute and started practicing my aim by boosting rocks into the air and shooting at them. Oh, the police asked me to stop using my Fireball spell to cow thugs, apparently it works too well and scares the crap out of everyone in several blocks.

When I got back to the hotel it was dark, around ten or so. I landed on the roof and burst the costume enchantment. I was kinda upset I had to since so much of it was attached to -me- instead of the clothes. Just means I'll have to spend an hour or so building it up when I want to play around. I took off the coat and folded it up, made sure no one was around watching when I flew down into my room again. Based on what happened earlier, I do NOT want to speak to my parents.

I flop onto my bed, not bothering to turn on the lights. I had a good day, that was fun. And then someone coughed.

There was -almost- a new hole in this room 'See? I can learn, it just takes almost killing myself first'. I look up to see some guy has just come out of the bathroom. He hadn't bothered with a towel. I instantly hold up my hand "Dude, what the hell, and why are you in my room!?"

He splutters and moves back into the bathroom "This is MY room you punk!" I blink for a moment, then look around... my stuff isn't here. "Huh... sorry!" I run out the door and look at the number. "Um... this -should- be my room." I bring out my phone and call mom.

She picks up saying "Hey honey, they let us back into the house, we already grabbed your stuff, just fly on home, I have dinner ready."

I grumble "You couldn't have called earlier? I saw something I now want to un-see, that's your fault."

She brushes it off "Eh, it looked like you were having fun. It was actually a little fun trying to guess where you'd show up next, but very easy to see when you got there. There are even some videos of the guys you got on PHO." She laughs as she remembered something "Did you know a couple of them pissed themselves? There was also a theme of 'don't shoot at him' going on, did you really throw a guy in a trashcan and weld it closed for shooting at you?" she takes the phone away and yells at dad something about 'he's fine, you know that shield can take small arms easily enough' then brings it back to her ear. "The media is having a field day though, saying things like reckless endangerment or something, or maybe it was about false emergencies... I don't know. I was more interested in the stories from your victims."

I start heading towards home "Hey, trashcan guy deserved it, he shot at me -twice- then tried to run, when I caught him he tried to fight back, then he started insulting you. He's lucky I -just- put him in a trashcan. Anyway, I'm on my way home, see you there."

The rest of the night was uneventful, I jogged the rest of the way home, we had dinner and discussed my day, a good bit of laughter was had, some at my expense such as a broadcast that said 'don't mind the explosions', but mostly at the guys I stopped. I was a little surprised I hadn't gotten a call from Taylor, if this was all over the place it was probably all over PHO.

I did some work on the shield enchantment I was making after dinner, did my customary meditation, then went to sleep, preparing for the boring life of a highschooler on Monday.