"I'm Taylor," I spoke with the first breath I've taken since my death.
"As the god of dragons, I have a problem. Do you see any other dragons are here? The answer is no, because the Ethergaunts killed all the gods, except me. Without the gods, all the planes fell apart and everything died. There was no afterlive for the souls to go anymore, so I couldn't even raise the dead back to life.
I managed to prop up myself with my one good arm as I listened the dragon's rant.
"So that is where you come in. I give you a fragment of my power, in exchange you have a few kids within the next thousand years or so. Those kids will have kids on their own, and so on. Within a few dozen millennia, there might be enough of those with dragon blood in their veins that I'd back to full power.
"Okay here we go," as multicolored fire sprouted from Io's mouth. Pain wracked my body as I was both frozen and burned. The world turned back once again.
As I woke again, my body was pressed against metal on all sides. Both of the arms pressed against the wall, as two new limbs from my back pushed against the metal behind me. The horrible smell of the confines of the tiny enclosure filled my nose. The wall started to creak as I continued to push. A large snapping occurred, as the metal hit the floor outside on the container.
I tumbled back as I was finally free, and saw that my prison was the very locker I had at Winslow. The very school that bad been destroyed during Scion's rampage, restored to the point when I first triggered. God dammit it.
Down Time
(Автор: Coruscant Knave)
Alexandria stomped into the room, throwing her helmet at the floor with nearly enough force to dent it. Considering it was made from tinker-tech materials... actually, that spoke to a certain amount of restraint on her part.
The two men that had occupied the room before her intrusion paused in their activity, exchanging looks of confusion, concern, and frustration.
"Becky," one spoke with a bit of admonishment in his tone. "You know we created a schedule for a reason. Don't try to tell me you forgot."
She scoffed through the portion of her costume she was awkwardly pulling over her head. Removing or donning skintight articles was an elaborate affair, and one did not look dignified during the process no matter how empowered they were. She was likely lamenting the lack of a zipper, the pair thought in unspoken unison, as her struggles caused a bit of a frustration feedback loop. She was quite vocal about it, and they waited patiently for her to finish.
"Of course I didn't forget, Alexander," The three rarely used Legend's given civilian name due to the potential for confusion, but Rebecca oft chose to use it in jest or anger. "I have had a certain kind of day, and tomorrow promises to be much worse. Besides, I know neither of you truly mind."
The two men shared another glance. Alexander just shrugged, the motion causing David to grunt a bit from his position below him. David, after a visible effort to collect himself, tried to make eye contact with Rebecca. This failed since she was currently hopping around on one foot and trying to escape the bottom of her costume. He wanted to be unsure whether to laugh or not, but he was sure he shouldn't.
Instead, he cleared his throat and spoke. "Do... do you want to talk about it?"
She barked out a laugh that morphed into a shriek as she lost her balance and began tumbling. She would have landed flat on her ass if not for her flight. Now, hovering in place with her signature black and grey leggings half below one knee and above the other, she did her best to hide her embarrassment for not thinking of flying sooner. She probably would have fooled almost any other group.
Alexander was the first to break into guffaws — a boisterous and warm sound that had no chance of being mistaken for malice. David soon followed, though the movement of the man in his lap still demanded most of his attention.
When the moment had passed, Rebecca had finished removing the outer layer and had started on the under layer. She didn't really need it for the support or cleanliness thanks to her power, but she wasn't about to go without; even if the thickness of her costume would prevent the most shameful consequences from becoming apparent.
Now naked, she floated down to kneel at the foot of the bed her counterparts were sharing. It was a blessing, she'd long ago decided, that her power allowed her to be intimate at all. That it distinguished a handshake or caress from a bullet or explosion. She didn't let herself dwell, though, since that usually leads to thinking on the source of powers. A quick way to ruin the mood, if you asked her.
Just having her suit off, just being here with her friends, had quickly begun to sap the stress and fatigue from her bones. They'd started these little get-togethers because they recognized the need for down time and none trusted the others to manage themselves. The `schedule' Alexander had referenced ensured they got it. They had time as a group. Time alone. Time as pairs. It wasn't always carnal, but they cared deeply for one another and weren't likely to find such comforts elsewhere. Barring Alexander, of course, but he couldn't confide everything in his husband. No matter how much the two loved each other, there would always be an irrevocable distance between them.
The Triumvirate shared burdens both public and secret, and it was those hidden trials that strained them the most. Though Legend wasn't in on the worst that Cauldron got up to... No, Alexander needed the closeness of his friends as much or more than that of his husband. Hiding things from the one to whom you were supposed to bare all might be making things worse for him. Of course, Rebecca was also aware of his other issue and what he got up to during their scheduled alone time that didn't involve Arthur. She was happy to help.
Alexander let his eyes roam Rebecca's body hungrily as she knelt before him and his gaze lingered excessively on her generous chest. He became reluctantly distracted when David resumed the motions her arrival had interrupted.
Rebecca alternated her attention between the two men stacked in front of her while they vigorously enjoyed each other. She was calmed and somewhat entranced by the action — giving herself up to the meditative repetition and allowing their warmth and moans to replace her troubles.
Alexander, judging the time was right, erupted in a spray of color from his entire body. The trio were bathed in this light and convulsed with sudden pleasure. He needed to adjust the focus and intensity of his power several times, but they were soon basking together in a heap. Rebecca noted with some amusement that quite a bit of extra attention had been paid to her nipples.
The heroine slowly crawled up on to the bed, dragging her flesh as she went. The trick Alexander had pulled left every erogenous nerve in her body firing at the slightest provocation, and the trip evoked several smaller orgasms. She draped herself across and between the two boys and her lithe form fit perfectly into place. She absently busied her hands and mouth with their bodies.
"I don't know what is more ridiculous," Rebecca eventually said, "that you have a pleasure laser-"
Alexander quickly interrupted her "I've told you it's not a pleasure laser! I just use thousands of kinetic beams set to `very low' and-"
"-that you have a pleasure laser," she continued with a tone that invited no argument, "or that David refuses to use his powers at all during these times."
"You think I haven't been using my power?" David put forth tentatively.
"Have you?" Alexander asked in place of the stunned librarian.
"Sure. I mean, I use them all on me, but yeah."
The other two just stared at him in dumb awe.
He fidgeted a bit. "What? No one asked!"
Silverage Superwoman
(Автор: Adyen)
My name is Taylor Hebert and the world was not what I had believed it to be.
I recently gained Powers; I won't tell of the events surrounding how I got them, but I've heard that everyone goes through something similar during a 'Trigger Event'.
Honestly, if someone knew the full extent of my powers, they would think that I'm luckier than someone who won the lottery — but it wasn't long before I realized how much of a curse it was.
As I floated in front of the vehicle, I tried to pull open the door to the driver's seat, but my hands passed through the metal as if I wasn't there.
This is the second time I had tried using my powers like this. When I had found out that I could do so, I had been excited for the first time in many days — but reality was cruel. Even though I could see all of it happening, I could not influence it in the slightest. I cannot touch anything, I cannot warn anyone, I cannot protect any of those I wish to protect.
My breath cannot freeze the land to warn her away.
My body cannot block the other car from passing.
My glares do not melt the metal trapping her.
This was Hell.
With a thought, I floated up from the wreckage of where my mother died and returned to my own time.
I floated above my empty house and glanced at the city below me — a hive of villainy and corruption. My hair blew behind me above my red cape, and nothing covered my face as I have no longer any need of glasses. Crossing my arms, I welcomed the dawn and the refreshing feeling of sunlight across my body as I steeled my mind to what I must do.
The world has too long suffered under the threat of extinction. Villains who preyed upon normals, 'Heroes' that hid their dirty deeds behind polished masks, Endbringers that threatened to destroy everything people worked for.
With barely a thought, I flew to the cemetery where two graves were placed side by side. My heart once again clenched as I remembered seeing the vision of my parents' death, but I swear here and now that I will not stop until the world is free from all the things that threaten it. Just as Scion had become a symbol of what a Hero should be, I will become a symbol of what Hope is.
My name is Taylor Hebert. I will be known as Superwoman.
* * *
Taylor Hebert — having the powers of Silver Age Superman. Up against the world that has conspiracies of conspiracies.
HAIR
(Автор: hellgodsrus)
DISGUST.
The being known as the Simurgh is — not exactly pleased at the death of First Brother, but she is enervated. New siblings, new potentialities. She cannot see them precisely, not until they emerge, and even then she can only see their effects.
Now she has...this.
Third Brother at least teleports to make up for his dull shape and offence. The other of her two Sisters is at least smaller than her and thinks in interesting ways with its choices. But the Thin One? Ugh. Why is it so large a target? And spatial manipulation? What a worthless power. Being used really badly too.
She feels so frustrated. So much potential wasted.
Accessing one of the anomalies she could use to send messages to her new siblings, she vents her rage.
WORTHLESS.
INUTILE.
She searches for another good message to send. Ooh! ANOREXIC.
She spun above the planet below and sends one final message. TERMINATE.
Satisfied, she continues on her course.
* * *
In an area of space and time a little to the left in the multiversal index was a place that might be referred to as a `pocket' dimension. It was here that the Endbringers known as Tohu and Bohu had been `born', and here where they returned after their initial attack, and the recent attack on Los Angeles. It was barren — but it was theirs.
And Bohu was crying.
Well, as much as an Endbringer can cry. It was more accurate to say that her surroundings were slowly transforming into tears, her vast pillar form bent double and shaking, hair hanging down around it. Tohu, still with one of her faces as the dark helmet of Alexandria flew round her sister, arms gently brushing against her to attempt to calm her.
QUERY she sent.
A moment's silence, then a response. BITCH.
Confused, one of Tohu's faces began to morph into a doglike mask, body dissolving into a jacket made of threads.
SIBLING. DESIRE: TERMINATION.
Tohu felt blinding rage. Checked her energy levels.
Eh, she could waste a hundred or so years' worth. It wasn't like she was going to have to fight a god soon or anything.
Her faces began to transform. The bitch wouldn't even know what'd hit her.
* * *
A disturbance. Ripples from a thrown stone she can't see. A gap in space that opens before her — whatever comes through is something whose after-effects she can predict but not it itself. She positions herself to face the gap. It may be Father, the Beast. She is unsure what she will do in either case.
She uses her power to grab one of the few satellites in her range. Sees the flickers of electricity that pass through it in every iteration and have passed through it. Translates them. Herself, floating before a closing oval gap. A geryon-esque figure — three bodies and heads, four misshapen arms, torso devolving into spinnerets and wires in matching colours for each body. In every instant the heads are the same. The left blindfolded, features fading away into brown thread even as the portal closes. The right a flickering rounded mess of greys and blacks, stopping and starting in constant flowing motion, body containing the impression of shorts and blazer and tie. The centre face was the impassive silver green of Father, given femininity in its curves.
The Other New Sister.
Attempts to communicate fail across every thread. Attempts to grasp her and fling her away also fail — one of Father's options, providing energy for motion with every attempt at external motion. Flight also proves impossible. In some iterations she is simply grasped by impossibly swift arms, held in place by their grip, and in others the static flickers from her to form anomalies similar to those she uses to communicate with Third Brother. These seal her in place, trapping parts of her shell and forcing her to rip herself apart.
It is preferable to the alternatives where she does not and is eliminated.
This is not possible. She is not the necessary opponent.
CEASE. Short, imperious.
Second Sister does not cease.
Finally, little more than a skeleton with stubs of wings, she is caught by Second Sister. It is unavoidable — the only option where she does not die or become trapped for an unallowable period of time. A combination of a precog power that presents itself as a choice between world states and enclosing boxes of anomalies, limiting her motion. Her attempts at escalation are halted universally by the presence of Father in Second Sister, sealing them away from viable paths.