The Grimoire's Chosen Ch. 3 (Worm) (Patreon)

A/N: Just because Jason gets home safe doesn't mean he's gonna get a good night's rest...

-x-X-x-

No… no, he knew better. Of course he knew better. Jason shakes his head, dispelling his own idiotic thoughts. Go to the Boat Graveyard to practice his powers? Yeah, him and ever other new cape who had ever fucking triggered while living in Brockton Bay. Everyone had heard the stories. Hell, it felt like they couldn’t go more than a handful of months without there being some news report about a new trigger getting caught by the PRT destroying things with their powers out in the Boat Graveyard.

And those were the lucky ones, really.

It was sort of a rite of passage… if rites of passage had a tendency to get you fucking conscripted or killed by the cops or the gangs. Because yeah, if you were a new trigger, you tended to try and find a place to experiment. But also, you were liable to be caught by one of the movers and shakers in the city.

If you were really lucky, you’d be picked up by the Protectorate and the PRT, the two organizations in charge of trying to police parahuman crime and keep the peace in the city. Key word there being try. Most of Brockton’s new triggers who were caught by the PRT wound up being transferred to somewhere else in the United States.

On the other hand, if you weren’t very lucky, you could wind up being scouted by one of Brockton Bay’s shit-tier gangs instead. And considering your choices were between the White Racists, the Asian Racists, and the Druggies, it was a crapshoot either way. If the Empire or the ABB found you and you weren’t either white or Asian, you were usually fucked. If the Merchants found you, you were just plain fucked. Oh sure they might not kill you, but they’d do worse than that for sure.

Not many were fully aware of it, but Jason remembered a blonde tinker who’d named herself Gearshift posting a couple times on the PHO forums about her vehicle work a couple years back. She’d been a little shy, but also more than willing to throw profanity laced tirades at anyone who so much as questioned any of her work.

Gearshift had never shown her face or even appeared in public, but Jason wasn’t an idiot and he suspected the Powers That Be probably made the same connection he was able to make when Gearshift suddenly stopped posting pictures of her tinkering around the same time that Skidmark got a new vehicle tinker in the form of his druggie girlfriend ‘Squealer’.

So yeah, the Boat Graveyard was a death sentence, as much as Jason really, really wanted to go. And frankly, roof hopping without a proper costume and without some training in using Flash Air was just as bad.

As frustrating as it was, Jason had no other choice… he had to go home the normal way. With the coffee shop locked up nice and tight behind him, he tucks his hands into his pockets, keeps his head down, and follows his usual route through the city to start heading back to his apartment. With the sun not fully set yet, he doesn’t need to really worry too much. The route he’s taking is firmly within the territory of the Asian Bad Boyz but isn’t actually populated with mostly Asian people. This means that not only do the ABB barely patrol it, but the Empire isn’t likely to invade it to try and make a statement by committing hate crimes against its residents.

Basically, the only time Jason and his neighbors would need to worry about the gangs is if something happened to weaken the ABB. Because they were prime real estate if the E88 decided that they wanted to carve off some more permanent territory from their rival gang. However, doing that would only piss Lung off, which was probably why it practically never happened.

And today wasn’t the day that changed either. Taking the safe route home, Jason makes it back to his apartment with plenty of time to spare, letting out a long exhale once he has the door closed and locked behind him. Leaning back against it for a moment, he lets his head droop as he considers the day. Not only the strange increase in power offers, but also the whole interaction with Taylor.

Did he really just make a friends with benefits relationship with his coworker? Yes, yes he did. Did he really just pass on a blowjob and only avoid getting blue balled because Taylor insisted on jacking him off to completion? Yes, yes he had.

“Fuck… I’m a self-sacrificing idiot, aren’t I?

Yes. Yes he was.

Still, even with all of that… a small grin spreads across Jason’s face as he glances over to the refrigerator. A moment later and there’s a square space where the refrigerator door is supposed to be, a window opened into the refrigerator itself thanks to his power. On top of that… Jason reaches out and twists, managing to open up a second space in the fridge, replacing a small square on one of the shelves with air and…

As a chilled soda can drops into his waiting palm, Jason crows a little in delight. He had an actual power now! Not just some sort of lottery system that slowly fed him points and threw random shit at him until something stuck, but an actual honest to god power! Flash Air was definitely one of the more versatile things he’d heard of parahumans being able to do too.

… Though to be fair, his true power, the aforementioned lottery and points system… that was probably THE most versatile thing Jason had ever heard of. Even as he pops the tab on the soda can and takes a long drink, moving through his apartment to drop onto his couch, he can’t help but reflect on what he knew so far.

The shit that had been offered to him over the past few days since he’d triggered was… well, it was all very diverse. Some of it was useless, to put it bluntly. And some of it was out of this world and insane. Some of it was stuff he would have liked to have if he had other powers backing them up, and some of it was stuff that was just too expensive for his savings at the time.

All of it painted a disturbing picture though and raised some interesting questions. How many powers could he buy? If he bought too many, would he eventually lose the first ones he purchased or be forced to pick and choose? So far, Jason hadn’t seen any sign of any of that… but to be fair, he only had one power at this point in time.

Brow furrowing, Jason uses Flash Air to swap some things in his apartment back and forth. Just because he didn’t go to the Boat Graveyard or use his power to go roof hopping didn’t mean he wasn’t going to practice, after all. Just meant he couldn’t do any big scale experiments. Not if he didn’t want to destroy his apartment.

Though, Flash Air was pretty good about putting things back where it found them. His refrigerator was completely whole once he let go of those two uses of his power to get himself a soda. And even as he bounces things back and forth all across his apartment, everything is mostly fine.

With Flash Air alone, Jason thinks he could maybe be a hero. And… he thinks he wants that, after the conversation he had with Taylor. He’s not sure though, just yet. His life is already pretty full at the moment. There’s a lot on his plate. Trying to go out as a hero might be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Only… what about when he got more than just Flash Air? How could he justify not using his powers to help people once he was as strong as say… Eidolon?

Yeah, okay. So maybe that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. Eidolon was one of the strongest heroes in the world, only behind Scion. The Golden Man, as Scion was knowing, was said to have every power ever. But Eidolon could have any three powers he wanted at any time. They were both so strong that it was a little silly for Jason to ever think he could match them in power.

And yet… eyes flitting around his apartment as he continues to practice swapping items with Flash Air, Jason allows himself to dream… just a little bit.

-x-X-x-

“Jason! Where have you been?”

“S-Sorry… I stayed up too late. Passed out on my couch. Wound up missing my first two alarms.”

“Just… prepare yourself. My Aunt is furious.”

Jason blanches and hurries to sit down next to his fellow TA at the side table. While he had his own classes he was attending at Brockton Bay University, Jason was also far enough along at this point to start working as a TA for one of the Professors. It made for excellent extra credit… when it wasn’t driving him mad with the additional workload anyways.

There was one bright, shining spot in the madness though. He wasn’t this Professor’s only Teacher’s Aid. There was also Crystal… specifically Crystal Pelham. She was a year further in her studies than he was, and basically had one foot out the door already. However, back when Jason was a Freshman, Crystal had been his tutor for a class and they’d been friendly acquaintances ever since.

She’d been the reason he got this TA position in the first place after all, though whether he was supposed to thank her or curse her for that, Jason didn’t really know sometimes. Especially since-

“Mr. Allen. You’re late.”

Jason winces as Crystal Pelham’s aunt, Carol Dallon, glares him down, her arms crossed over her chest. He plasters the strongest smile he can on his face and bows his head in apology.

“Sorry Professor Dallon! I swear it won’t happen again!”

For a second, he thinks she might respond with something like ‘no it will not, because you’re through as my TA, get out of my sight’. And maybe if it wasn’t for Crystal, that’s exactly what would have happened. Especially since Jason catches Crystal giving her aunt a pleading look out of the corner of his eye, one that seems to save him, at least in the moment.

“… See that it doesn’t, Mr. Allen. If you truly want that internship with my firm when this year is up, you’re going to have to prove it to me. Tardiness is the exact opposite of what I should be seeing from you.”

… Fuck him. Even as the domineering, short-haired older woman turns on her heel and walks away, Jason is left letting out an explosive breath. Crystal reaches over and gives him a reassuring shoulder squeeze, prompting him to give her a weak smile of thanks.

Truthfully, he’d been working incredibly hard all year to try to earn that internship that Carol had been dangling in front of his face. Crystal had told him all about the situation when she’d gotten him this opportunity in the first place. Basically, her aunt was taking something of a forces sabbatical from not just being a lawyer, but also from active hero work.

Oh yeah, both Crystal and Carol were actually heroes. Independent Heroes, and maskless ones at that. Ninety percent of all heroes and villains were masked up and had secret identities and everything… but not New Wave, the Hero Group made up of the Pelham and Dallon Families. Their voluntary unmasking had taken place back before Crystal had ever even gotten powers, and had something to do with accountability if Jason was remembering correctly.

Regardless, while Carol Dallon was technically the heroine Brandish and Crystal Pelham was technically the heroine Laserdream… they were both on a heroic hiatus right now. Crystal was focusing on finishing up her studies and had hung up the Laserdream identity until she had her degree. And Carol… well, Carol had not taken the death of her husband Mark Dallon well. Hence teaching as a Guest Professor at Brockton Bay University for a year, rather than her normal vocation as a lawyer by day and a heroine by night.

Unfortunately for Jason, nothing he did was ever good enough for Carol. As hard as he worked, as much as he struggled… it was like the short-haired woman had it out for him in particular. He knew that was nonsense of course, Crystal herself had said that Carol was just like that with everyone, and he’d seen how she interacted with her students as well. Put bluntly, Carol Dallon was just a hardass.

… But when she held his entire future in her hands, the fact that she was ‘just like that with everyone’ didn’t exactly make Jason feel better. He was beginning to feel like nothing he did could make Carol happy. And if he couldn’t make Carol happy, what sort of future did he have after University?

Though, now that he had powers-

Ding!

Dust Refinery – Magitek – 100 Points

Able to infuse Dust with new life, the Refinery is the staple of Dust Enchantment. While Dust infused iron is common, it pales compared to the Dust enchantments this refinery allows. Allows for the crafting of Foci and magic rings, talismans, insignias, and tomes.

You now have 400 points saved up!

Speak of the devil. Jason tries not to stiffen too much as he suddenly gets another alert from his powers. To be fair, it’s not the first time that he’s been offered something while at school. Not even the first time he’s been offered something in front of Crystal. He was a lot less subtle the actual first time, and convincing Crystal that he was fine had taken some doing.

This time though, he’s able to keep his cool. Reading through this lates offering, he finds himself at a bit of a loss though. What was Dust in the first place? Why was a Dust Refinery so cheap?

… How big was a Dust Refinery? Fuck. He couldn’t take this power here. It was a building, wasn’t it? So even though it sounded cool…

Pass.

He tries not to let it get to him. Another roll he can’t take. But hey, he has Flash Air now! And four hundred points saved up as well. One of these days, he’ll get something else useful. And until then, he hasn’t even been able to deploy Flash Air in action just yet. So… so it’s fine.

“Hey. You okay, Jason?”

Apparently it wasn’t fine if Crystal could tell he was feeling downtrodden. Offering her a stronger smile than before, Jason nods.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine Crystal. Just gotta get to work, yeah?”

Indeed, they both had plenty of TA work to do for Carol, and he needed to get as much done before his actual classes came along or else it would just pile up more and more and Carol would consider him all the more worthless for it. Before Jason can really dig in however…

“Sure, yeah. Uh, before that though, I was just wondering… if maybe you wanted to go and get coffee later?”

… Wait, what? Was Crystal Pelham asking him out… on a date? Maybe… maybe he was reading into things too much. There could be plenty of reasons for why she was offering to go out for coffee. Maybe school-related reasons. Or maybe her aunt had decided he was never getting that internship and had conscripted Crystal to let him down gently.

‘Gently’ and ‘Carol Dallon’ didn’t exactly go hand in hand, so it probably wasn’t that last one. Fuck, he hoped it wasn’t that last one. Still… Jason finds himself at a loss for words as he tries to figure out how to respond.

-x-X-x-

A/N: Will try to keep this up to date at the end of every chapter, get on me if I forget please. Though if it gets too out of hand, might have to change it at some point.

Jason's current banked points:

400 Celestial Points

Jason's current powers:

- Flash Air (Gained in Chapter 1)