Gregt but Not 1: Diminished (1) (Patreon)

GBN 1
Diminished (1)

I was Greg Vader. I just know that I am Greg Vader.

… to reiterate the issue, I will state that I was Greg Vader the Fictional High Schooler instead of a graduate university student.

I found this to be an issue.

Why wouldn't I?

I was both Greg and Alan, a paradoxical fact that made sense if only one was willing to accept that fiction and reality could mix.

An issue bigger than my current residence in Vader's body was that I did not get to choose a CYOA or anything like that to enter Earth Bet, home planet of Greg Vader and a dystopian version of my Earth.

The biggest issue, however, was the fact that I was about to die to what had to be Merchant junkies this moonless night.

Greg, you idiot, why were you out and about during the night in Brockton Bay?!

I gulped as the Merchant dealer cackled. "Whoever kills the kid first gets more coke for their buck!"

I turned around, only to gasp in pain when I felt something cut into my back. I tumbled down to the ground and gurgled as blood began to pool in my lungs. It was a familiar feeling. The overwhelming pain radiating from the back and pinning me down was not familiar at all.

".. Really? That fast? Man, this is not the entertainment I wanted…"

I tried to crawl, but all that achieved was get my fingers in my view to twitch. The back of my head was warm, too...

The voices around me grew smaller already.

T-they were leaving me.

Help...p. Help….

I somehow managed to push with my quivering arm and land on my back, sending even greater spikes of pain. I whimpered for the first time since I got… stabbed?

I'm... dying.

I don't want to die…

[Destination]

I gurgled quietly before I breathed my last.

And then I was moving again, pushing myself off of the ground as my lungs worked again.

…

I gasped as I came to. I sat up, thinking that had some kind of a terrible nightmare after binge reading Worm fanfiction for too long into the night… except I was still here in the alley where …

I grimaced when I saw the pool of blood underneath me.

My fingers squelched from the drying blood rubbing against each other and my skin, making me tighten my grimace.

Did I just … die?

I sat up, and then stopped. My hands. Now that I had more time to see them, I boticed how unusually long they were.

There were exoskeletons on me.

I felt for my face. I grimaced as I felt a snout and really long teeth. Jagged, serrated teeth.

Oh God, I'm a monster! I panicked.

And then I was back to being Greg Vader almost instantly.

… what?

-VB-

It took a while, but I made my way to Greg's home. I had the key in my pants pocket, so I unlocked it and walked in.

Greg lived with his parents. The Vader family was a well to do family, but his parents were more married to their jobs than to each other or to him. There was a reason why Greg spent so much time on games and the internet.

Because this house in Brockton Bay?

Greg had lived alone in it.

And … he'd died alone in this city.

I felt anger well up inside me on Greg's behalf, and it was to my surprise that I was shedding tears over it.

Wiping my face with my bloodied sleeves, I quickly walked in to clean myself and the front steps of the house.

I made a promise to Greg.

I'll live this life well to give your parents the ultimate fuck you.

I think he'll like that.

…

When i finally cleaned myself and all evidence of my blood from the front lawn (there was very little because of how far I had to walk), I noticed that I was not tired at all.

Only hungry.

Shrugging, I walked into the kitchen … and only found junk food. No, cereal was not real food.

Fuming in anger (I was getting angry a lot), I controlled myself so that I wouldn't slam any doors shut with my full strength, I prepared to go food hunting at … 4 am. Fuck, no store would be open right now.

Tossing my hands into the air and resigning myself to wait until morning to eat, I just walked into the living room to do the only other thing I had in mind.

My power.

My death-derived power.

My fucking Shard.

I sat down, ignoring the worn sofa,  common table, and the myriad of gaming consoles. Taking a deep breath, i tried to reach into myself… and found my power rather quickly.

Or rather, my power contacted me.

I blinked in shock at how readily it started communication with me.

Isolated.

Oh. Was it trying to tell me that it was in-networked or something?

I got a light warmth in my stomach right after I thought that. I will take that feeling as a yes.

… what's your name? Title?

Perpetual Adaptation of the Thinker.

Uh, holy shit. Did i just get my proverbial hands on a Cauldron vial or something? Wait… perpetual?

Affirmative. Negentropy achieved.

I gawked.

Purposeless. Infinity is nothing. Nothing is infinity. Deathless is death. New purpose. You.

… okay. I'll file that for… later. What exactly was my power?

Inspiration from host's mind. One is All. All is One. A world for the Hive. A swarm for a purpose.

Host is now Tyranid.

I ended up laughing myself hoarse and into tears.

When I finally found my sanity and lucidity again, I was laying down on the floor and staring up at the ceiling.

"Tell me everything I can do."

-VB-

The first thing I did in the morning was eat. I went out, bought proper food ingredients, came back home, cooked, and ate.

While it was no seven course French feast, a plate filled with bacon, mushroom and tomato slices fried in leftover bacon grease, whole grain steamed rice, and bell pepper-onion fajita was a good breakfast choice.

It was the kind of meal Greg hadn't eaten in years.

It sated me but there was another hunger at the back of my mind...

It was also during the grocery shopping that I learned what today's date was.

April 1st, 2011.

Merely days from when canon started.

I had work to do.

And the first thing on my list?

GED tests. I called to set up an appointment. Needed parent's permission.

… called "mom."

She was happy that Greg was willing to take his education seriously enough to graduate early. Signed off on it.

A very bland and stereotypical conversation where the parent was giving the child very minimal guidance.

I ignored the anger and got appointment set up for … tomorrow.

Why not? After all, I had my memories of being Alan, a college graduate. There was no need to delay anything.

Second, briefly check PHO to see if Brockton Bay's cape canon roster matches with my new reality.

… it does.

Third priority..

… go to school.

-VB-

Winslow was a shithole.

Like fuck.

They called this gang tag-ridden, rat-infested, paint-peeled, cracked windowed, and dead grass building a school?

What the fuck, Wildbow?

Shaking my head in disappointment, I walked in, only to get shoulder-checked in the shoulder by a chuckling baldie.

I ignored him and his friends, because I didn't really feel it. I heard shouts behind me. Probably gangsters fucking on each other.

Then someone grabbed my shoulder from behind.

I stopped and turned around.

Just in time to get punched in the face.

I threw a punch right back.

It was only after the baldie was cradling his stomach on the floor that I broke Greg's character with my high school response to violence.

… whatever. What's breaking out of character a little bit more after I've already broken it?

I raised an eyebrow. I only threw one punch. Was this guy a wimp?

The students in the school corridor quickly formed a ring around me and the baldie's friends, who were all bald.

I squinted and noticed that all of them were white, bald, and wearing red and black.

Ack. Nazis.

As the students cheered around, two of the three baldies came for hit. I took a hit to my chest (why aim there…?) and slugged right into his solar plexus. He too went down in a hit.

I backhanded the second guy, hitting his chin hard enough to make his head waver a little. His legs gave out and he fell down, unconscious.

The last baldie looked at his friends and then charged me with a growl.

I slid forward and low, elbowed his gut before he could pull his guard up, hooked his leg with my feet, and yanked.

He tumbled backward and landed on his ass. He keeled over to the side and held his gut.

Grunting, I stood back up and walked away. The students around me quickly moved out of the way, some looking fearful and others disappointed that the fight ended so quickly.

The first bell rang.

I spent the rest of school idly strategizing about which Tyranid form to use… and whether or not I should risk making more of them. And other things like Tyranid kawaiification.

…

It took forever for school to end. Maybe because I already knew all of the shit they were teaching. Oddly enough, I didnt see any of the bullying Taylor suffered from. Maybe I just didn't encounter it yet?

"Vader."

I was about to pick up my bag and leav, but someone called me. Turning around, I was surprised to see… Sophia Hess.

"Heard you put down some skinheads. Is that right?"

I picked my ear in irritation. I did not want to be next to this psycho, nevermind talking. "Kinda. What does that have to do with you?"

She grunted and then gave me a look up and down. "Got some muscles underneath those baggy clothes, huh? Good job."

I stood there, dazed.

Did… Hess just compliment me?

Ugh.

Weird fucking day.

I hummed and walked out.

…

As I walked out of the school, I noticed the four skinheads I knocked down following me from behind.

I pretended to not notice them.

They grew closer after a block. They grew closer after the second block.

Sighing, I took a right into an alley I knew was rather maze-like.

I heard them speeding up. I was at the corner on the far end of the alley when they came to the entrance.

I turned around the corner, and quickly morphed into a Tyranid Lictor. As a life form capable of chameleon camouflage, I crawled up the narrow walls silently.

I waited as the skinheads came under and ran down the alleyway.

I dropped behind the last one silently, grabbed his throat and mouth, and then hoisted myself back up with my prey in tow.

Once I was on the rooftop, I did what was only too natural to me; I snapped his neck.

At the next corner, I grabbed the last one again.

This time, the other two noticed their missing half and came back.

I killed them on the spot.

Drsgging their bodies to the rooftop, I noticed that the building I was on was higher than others, giving me cover.

Turning to the corpses, I peeled off their clothes, and began to eat them.

-VB-

When I came back home through the front door as Greg, I tossed my bags to the side and sat down on the couch.

I ate four people.

And the ever present buzzing hunger that had been plaguging me ever since i woke up as a parahuman in that alley last night was gone.

My Shard was all too enthusiastic about communicating the changes it had made. How I would no longer feel negative about eating people, especially enemies. How I could use the biomass to improve myself or spawn a Tyranid creature.

Grimacing, I … accepted the new reality of my situation, and moved on.

I really didn't feel anything about eating all of those teenagers. In fact, there was a certain satisfaction in hunting and eating.

… I may need to increase the red meat in my diet.

-VB-

The next day, i went to the designated testing site - Arcadia High - and took my test.

To my surprise, they presented the score on the spot. I passed all four tests with an average of 155 out of 200. I went to the school district administration, and they printed out a GED certificate for me.

They handled my no longer student status with Winslow.

Good. I never wanted to return there.

I celebrated my second high school graduation with a lot of meat.

-VB-

With school gone, I had too much time on my hand. I thought about getting involved in canon, but that felt too passive for me.

There was also a distinct lack of satisfaction.

What was I going to do with myself? Prepare for Scion by building up a swarm? Obviously, but there was only so much biomass on Earth. Besides, it was never physical strength that defeated Scion.

… I could tell Cauldron how Scion was defeated in the first place. It wasnt like a bullet could kill me. Not anymore, at least.

I supposed that that was what I was going to do.

I opened my mouth.

"Cauldron sel-"

A portal appeared in front of me with a hand a gun poking out of it. No shots were fired, but the warning was clear.

"I know how to fix Eidolon's power loss."

A pause.

And then the doorway widened.

Contessa in her inglorious suit and fedora stood in the dimensional doorway.

"How can you not be Pathed?"

I ignored the question. "Eidolon needs to recharge his shard by draining other shards of their power. I know one way to defeat Scion."

And then we talked.

In exchange for the information, I received ten high end vials. I kept a few secrets but the necessary one like how to get rid of Scion? I gave that one up readily.

Our exchange complete, Contessa closed the doorway, leaving me to myself.

… what was I to do with myself?

Right, research how to incorporate these vials into myself or whatever Hive I was going to make.

… What else could I do?

…

Right.

Those fucking scumbags that left me for dead in the alley. The Merchants.

I was going to eat them all.

Shit... This cannibalism thing was going to be a problem if that was my on the spot default response.

-VB-

That night, I went out hunting.

With my stealth and the ability to make little to no sound despite running at full speed as a nearly four yards long monster, I searched vigorously through the entire Downtown South, which was more or less the slum of the city despite being part of Downtown and packing factories, warehouses, and commercial zones.

It was also the most likely place for Merchants to be because they had a Tinker, and Tinkers needed a workshop; it would be foolhardy for the Merchants to set up a workshop deep within other gangs’ territories, after all.

I didn’t find anything good, but my search also eliminated a lot of areas I would have to search tomorrow. That was good progress, even if I had nothing else to show for it.

When I went for the next nightly search…

That’s when I truly started to leave my mark on this city, because between the first search and the second, I came to a conclusion on how I would act.

Fuck canon. I’m doing whatever I want.