Word Play 1 (Patreon)

Word Play
Chapter 1

-VB-

Thank f-. No, thank you, God because somehow, I am in a fictional universe relatable to modern Earth and got transported with my truck and half of my stuff.

I knew where I was because I recognized the yellow and black crown logo as well as the name of the Medhall Corporation, an imaginary pharmaceutical corporation headed by a Neo-Nazi.

Oh God, why? Why did I have to get dropped into a world and into a city quarter-filled with racist fascists?

I was about to cry on the wheel when my entire head buzzed in pain and pleasure at the same time as something alerted itself to me.

It … was a mental instruction booklet on how to manage my superpower.

What?

I winced again as something welled up within my mind and opted into existence.

Nonchalant 1.

… oh. So that's what my power was; I received a random power at arbitrarily set times. The very first power I got helped me ignore the world.

It wasn't a great power at all.

I winced again as another power dropped in.

Horrify 1.

I did not expect to get another power so soon, but then again, the instruction booklet did state on page 2 (it had pages?) that I would get random powers at random intervals and that I could combine or sacrifice these individual powers for combined or an upgraded version, respectively.

Hmm.

Horrify allowed me to alter a bit of myself to become horrifying. A Changer power, then.

I didn't need Chalant. [Sacrifice].

It disappeared from my mind with a whoosh, and I focused back onto Horrify. I felt a "charge" to use for upgrading, and saw how I could upgrade Horrify. I could expand its execution method or make it stronger.

The booklet… 'for a power to get stronger, it must be a charge created from the same or higher rank power's sacrifice.'

So if I upgraded the power of Horrify, then I would need to wait for two more powers - one to sacrifice and another to be upgraded again before sacrifice - before I could upgrade it again.

I chose to expand the power's utility.

… oh, I can now induce higher than normal stress levels in a single target.

Interesting…

'I should also stop being awed by my power and start figuring out how I am going to survive in this grimdark deathworld.'

Yes, brain. I very much should. But have you seen this-?

'Shut up and find us a motel.'

-VB-

I found a motel quickly enough in Downtown.

Now, why did I choose Downtown? It was because it was safe and I was weak. The motel I found was expensive, yes, but it was also within an arm's reach of the PRT ENE headquarters.

If my circumstance fell to the point of needing some significant help, then I could quickly ask for it to the PRT and would be able to get it because I would survive getting there, probably.

So. What can I do with [Horrify] right now?

Nothing much. As it was, I could make someone stressed for no reason and become a caricature of a horrifying being. The latter limited me to very "human" changes.

Like temporarily taking on the form of Adolf Hitler.

Then I blinked as inspiration came to me.

Adolf Hitler in his full furred regalia was a horror to me because I saw the result of his actions as horrifying, but it wouldn't be to the Neo-Nazis that lived in Brockton Bay. What would be horrifying to those racists, however…

-VB-

"There was a naked Adolf Hitler riding a bicycle while shouting Mein -beep-. You have to believe me!"

Max Anders, otherwise known as Kaiser in his cape persona, stared at the TV while his white knuckles fist gripped the remote control tightly.

"Seriously, that guy had a fucking tiny -beep-, too!" the man being interviewed anonymously (Pixelmator face and altered voice) said animatedly, pointing to the street where the now infamous event had taken place. "But he could kick some mean ass. I mean, with a beer belly like that, he spun like a ballerina and dodged swinging bats so easily."

The remote control creaked one final time before it snapped in half.

"What was it like to have the front row view of that?" the reporter asked.

"... it was a real 'what the fuck' moment, especially when he was spinning and his -beeepp- was also -beeep- and -beeep-ing. And then he started locking their ears and eyeballs and…." The man shuddered at the end. "It was a show I never needed to see. I'm going to have nightmares about a naked, beer-bellied, and hairy Hitler sweet talking to me like he did them. And touching me. I never wanted to see that, man."

The censors only made it worse. It made a mockery of the Empire Eighty-Eight.

Max pulled out his phone from his pocket with maximum discipline and made a call.

"Krieg. I want a bounty out for the impersonator of the fuhrer." Max didn't care that the Stranger/Changer impersonated the furred, only that it had been a deliberate attack on him and the Empire. "Half a million dollar for his head with proof."

An obviously angered German replied and cut the call. Max let it slide. Krieg had to be angrier than he was.

-VB-

Parahuman Response Team East-North-East branch Director Emily Piggot stared at the lecherously lip-licking and blushing Adolf Hitler's face right before he descended upon painfully writhing E88 gangsters' ears and eyeballs.

Across the table, Assault, despite numerous embarrassed prods and calls from Battery, laughed uproariously on the floor where he'd fallen to from his chair.

Aegis looked disgusted, Armsmaster looked confused, Battery was embarrassed, Triumph looked traumatized, Miss Militia blanked out, Dauntless looked like he was about to join Assault, Velocity gawked stupidly, and Deputy Director John Renick groaned.

"The Empire is going to be on a rampage soon, if they haven't started already, and you lot are laughing?"

Assault couldn't be stopped but Dauntless quickly recovered. "Sorry, ma'am," the former officer apologized.

Emily leveled a glare at Assault but moved on. The man would surely get his punishment from Battery for embarrassing her. "I want double patrol and for all of you to come down hard on any E88 activity you encounter. Call for backup if you must. Wards are not allowed to patrol on their own. Understood?"

The room choruses out. "Yea, ma'am!"

Except for Assault. He was still laughing.

-VB-

I threw up after I snuck back into my motel room.

What I did had been exhilarating and disgusting in equal measure, and borne a deep-seated self-loathing at my own actions.

However, whatever I did must have fulfilled some kind of arbitrary requirement because I received two more powers, one during the locking and one while I made my escape after dropping the Changer form.

Flood 1 and Coach 1 both became sacrifices, and I added Master and Tinker expansions to Horrify 1.

I stood up and away from the toilet, and flushed it. I then made my way to the bed and fell down on it, back first.

So far Horrify 1 had four subsections: Blaster, Changer, Master, and Tinker.

Master part allowed me to summon a horrifying monster that was barely inhuman in both power and form. Tinker part imparted rudimentary knowledge on how to create weapons and devices specifically made to inflict horrifying and debilitating damages like a rusty and shit-smeared blade meant to shatter upon striking flesh to maximize shrapnel damage and infection chance.

Okay, I should go to sleep now-.

I blinked as another power settled onto my mindscape. Explicit 1, huh?

I sacrificed it immediately and, instead of expanding Horrify 1, upgraded it to Horrify 2.

I bolted up from the bed as it grew and became a much more menacing monolith.

The Master aspect that created a monster? The monster was now barely superhuman. The Tinker aspect allowed me to make fast-acting but short-lived bubonic plague from the edge of a blade instead of just imparting whatever disease regular shit might have.

This…

This had potential.

-VB-

Self insert, Worm 

Power: roll for a random word every 250 words. Gain power from that word with a threat rating of 1 as well as randomized power classification from Worm. Powers can be combined for a new meaning of the same tier or sacrificed for power-up of other powers, increasing the tier of the receiving power and threat rating. Powers can only receive upgrades from those of the same or higher tier.

SI has 2 sets of powers: active and reserved.

Reserved powers are powers that have been reserved and cannot be used. They can be switched out with active powers every midnight. There are 3 reserve slots.

Active powers are powers that can be used. There are 3 slots.

Example:
Domination(shaker), revival(striker), vague(shaker), mine(striker), achieve(brute), hunting(blaster), review(blaster), gossip(tinker) = 2k words
Sacrifice mine, vague, gossip, and gossip to empower other four to tier 2.
Sacrifice tier 2 hunting and review to upgrade Domination and revival to tier 3.
Combine Domination 3 and Revival 3 to get Necromancy 3
OR
Sacrifice revival to get Domination 4.