Adventures of an Employed Planeswalker

(Matt's PoV)

"What the fuck is that smell!?" I hear the general scream coming from behind me.

It is an incredibly foul smell sure, but the figure sitting down is more important for now.

'Maybe I can see if I can filter air through these barriers...'

I walk towards the figure with purpose.

"Matt, what are you- wait, what's that??" I hear Steve calling out for me.

The figure does not move as I get closer, but I can feel it clearer and clearer the closer I get.

This is the center of the Power being used in the house. 'That barrier was made by this person then.'

I reach out to lift their head and the figure simply... lets me. I see an incredibly terrible visage: sunken, skeletal cheeks, falling teeth hanging on rotten gums, crumbling gray skin. My mere touch made a small cloud of dust disperse... flakes of its skin falling off.

The power I feel around shakes, but steadies itself.

My touch on this humanoid figure made it clear to me that these outside problems are the least of its concerns: multiple organs are damaged or working so little it's as if they are not even there, and the blood is pumping so slowly it would probably be read as not running at all. The heart did not beat at all for the seconds I touched it. It looks like some weird mockery of what hibernation should be. 'Or maybe an uneducated attempt?'

I feel a hand strongly nudging my shoulder. I turn back to see Matthew and Steve looking at the figure, then at me. They both turn pale as they see it, Matthew putting his hand in front of his mouth and going off to the side.

"It's alive it's just... very fucked up. I don't even know if it's salvageable." Maybe if I stood here for a few days touching and fixing it, it might survive, but by any mundane methods, it's dead in a few more weeks at best, days at worst...

My eyebrows crease, "Wait, this thing... it has the same power we have that's for sure, but it's using it weirdly."

I gently touch its head this time, closing my eyes and focusing on all my other senses.

I draw especially from Power Sense. I can feel the waves emitted by its brain, but it's also using most of its power to... keep its own brain working. 'That's brilliant! Offsetting all the organic brain functions to its power makes it so it can save even more energy! But that would mean this person had great efficiency and experience using this power. More than even I have now.'

That realization stings. I shake it away; now's not the time or place.

"It's using the powers to keep its own brain working. The rest of the body is in a weird state of hibernation. Yes, like with some mammals. It's not working fully, though." I explain to the boys.

"Stop calling them an it, man. That's a person!" Steve admonishes me. I quirk an eyebrow at him, opening my eyes just so he can see the amount of doubt there is in them.

"I don't know if this person is... all there, Steve," I say.

Its synapses are not firing like a normal person's should. The state this 'person' is in now and the information on the package paints a picture to me: This was a drone made by that stone (maybe all three students were? Then where are they?) and when it died, the body returned 'home' and started to hibernate.

'Maybe it's waiting for further orders?' I could mess with its brain until it responds to my orders, but... I don't know if I want that.

"It doesn't matter! We need to call the cops here!" He says, taking a better look at the person - courtesy of Andrew and his camera's light - and almost gagging at the sight.

"Hm... we could, but should we?" I ask in a cynical voice. Steve looks at me in surprise, which turns to anger.

"What do you mean!? We need to help them, Matt!"

"Steve! Look at it!" I point at the thing. Steve is so shocked by hearing me raise my tone for the first time that it takes him a while to look at it.

He recoils at the sight again but forces himself to look at it. "Do you think a person would stay sitting in this place until they start to rot, Steve?" I say harshly.

To emphasize, I point to the door, that closes by itself. "Do you see any signs of struggle? Any signs that this 'person' tried to escape?" He follows my finger, not finding any signs of attempted escape. He sets his jaw in a way to suppress his frustration and irritation.

"If we say anything to the cops, they won't be able to help this... whatever it is now. And another thing: You guys are not feeling it because I'm covering you, but it's constantly keeping a barrier around itself. It's almost as if it's isolating this cabin." I hit him with another fact that leaves him reeling.

"Covering us? How?" He asks, bewildered and looking at his own arms and hands.

I facepalm. "Leave the cabin, Steve. I'll let you feel it for yourself." I walk outside too, to encourage him. "Andrew, film as much as you can of this place and that 'person'. We might want to take a look at it later."

Steve hesitates at first, but soon follows me outside, seeming ready to discuss further. I simply raise my hand, signaling him to wait. As we reach outside its barrier, I stop covering him.

"Go on ahead. Try to enter now." I prepare a huge hand to catch him, just in case the barrier reacts too violently.

He is more cautious than I thought, however, putting his hand before himself and trying to enter... said hand was pushed back so fast it slapped him in his chest. His look of shock is mildly amusing, even in such a situation.

"Wha- so you- they?" Steve very eloquently articulates, pointing to Matthew who is busy now opening a door to another room, helping Andrew film.

"Yeah, I'm giving them a barrier. For some reason, it stopped trying to push us back when I touched it with the power..." Damn, of course it would. It thinks I'm another drone.

'Whatever this thing tried to do, it looks a lot like instinct or a pre-programmed set of actions. Like a safety mode of sorts. Considering it's been two weeks since that thing died... can't say it worked flawlessly, but it's more than any normal human would survive in the same circumstances due to the strain on the brain.'

Steve gapes for another moment, then looks at me in a mix of defiance and resignation. "So you think it's best if we just... leave it there?" He asks in an almost defeated tone.

My face darkens, "I don't know if it's safe leaving it here like this at all, Steve."

"You don't mean-" He starts, in a startled voice.

"I don't know about... killing it, but we need to either stop it from projecting this barrier," The look I give him implies that the only way I know of doing it is by killing it, "Or close this place for good until it dies by itself."

"Can we not try to communicate with it? Maybe something will wake them up." Steve corrects the way he was calling it in the middle of his sentence, shaking his head.

I shrug, not knowing for sure. I don't know if I can undo whatever the MOGO did to this one, especially an Anomaly-powered MOGO. Strangely enough, I don't feel anything wrong with it. 'Maybe it's too weak to support the Corruption?'

"You can try, Steve, I'm not going to stop you. I just... wouldn't harbor too much hope." I look to the sky. Today is a cloudy day, but it's still midday at the latest. "We have some time yet if you want to try."

He nods, and almost slams into the barrier. Likely he forgot about it. He sports a look of concentration before his hand slowly goes in and then suddenly he pops in. He beelines to the thing, giving it touches here and there, calling it, and generally trying to get its attention.

I just shake my head at the futility ofit.

"We got the whole place. I'll... wait outside. This smell is making me sick." Andrew says and leaves, covering his gagging mouth.

Matthew stays by my side, though he already has his jacket over his face like an improvised mask.

That reminds me of my idea. Because I don't have to breathe, I first make my barrier impervious to any gas and particles. Then, slowly I try letting different kinds of gasses pass by, like hydrogen, carbon, argon, and oxygen.

By the time I got my barrier to pass only the gases in the air and no longer any other particles, I stopped smelling the foul odor... but I also stopped smelling anything at all.

Concentrating further, I got my telekinetic hold smaller and smaller, all the more precise until I got a hold of a single odor particle. I brought it closer to me, analyzing it to the best of my abilities (even asking MecMe to scan its composition), until I knew exactly what it was made of.

After that incredibly complex few seconds, my barriers started being impervious to this particular odor. My head hurts slightly and there's a snag in my stomach, but I feel the smile on my face.

'Using this power is so much fun...'

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(Matthew's PoV)

'Why is this guy smiling like that now? Is he not smelling this pla-' Wait.

I can't smell the odor anymore.

I tentatively get my jacket out from my face and wince, before taking a deep breath. Surprisingly, I breathe well. Like, very well.

Matt notices me doing this and gives me a thumbs up, "You're welcome." He says,

"Huh? Why?" I ask. He only raises an eyebrow, before deliberately taking a deep breath.

After a moment, I realize what he means. "You did this?? How!?"

'How did he block the smell? What!?' My mind is reeling.

He makes a few motions with his hand, "The limits of your power are your own imagination, Matthew~" He says in a mockery of a wise mentor voice.

"No, seriously, how?" I insist.

He sighs, "I slowly let only the gases go through the barrier around you guys."

Barrier? "Barrier?"

"Did you not hear me before? I'm keeping a barrier around us here - now only you and me, as Steve is keeping his own." He looks at Steve and I turn to look at him too. "He's doing a good job."

"But... why?" I... look, I was really shocked when I saw what appeared to be a dead body, ok!? I might have only snapped out of it when Andrew nudged me to help him open some doors.

Matt rolls his eyes, "Long story short: that thing is keeping a barrier isolating the whole cabin and it only lets in people with a power similar to its own, so us." He explains like this is a normal situation.

"How are you so... calm? Why did you get in here first and even made a barrier around us?" Some things start to snap into place.

He's the one who woke us up, the one who noticed the power first, he's the one who got us together to tell us about the power... in these situations today, he was always the first one to get into places-

"Are you the one who gave us powers!?" I point at him, exclaiming.

It would explain everything! He knows how it works and is trying to train us into it. Is he an alien!? A retired superhero?? But I've never heard anything about real superheroes before...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Matt's laughter made me jump, so loud it was. I almost felt the place tremble, but that must have been my imagination.

Matt is... leaning into a wall, holding the sides of his stomach as he tries and constantly fails to hold his laughter down. I can feel my cheeks heating up.

"come on dude, it's not funny..." I mutter, elbowing him.

He only laughs harder. I sigh, hard.

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After five full minutes of this dude laughing, he recovered enough to talk.

"Ok, I'm not an alien, retired superhero, or government experiment. I just... took to the powers more easily I guess?" 'Took to it more easily', he says. I can barely throw rocks the size of my fist across the street and here he is, making barriers like they're nothing.

He seems to catch onto my thoughts, "Hey, I figured pretty early that the more you use this power, the faster it grows."

"Like a muscle..." Hmm, I think I get it.

"So if I train harder everyday..." I start and he smiles.

"The harder your power will grow, that's right. Just be careful: like any muscle, you need to push to its limits so it breaks, but you must give it time to rest and grow." He finishes with certainty.

"That still doesn't answer how you are so calm about finding... that out." I point at the sitting corpse-looking person. Looking in that direction, I also notice Steve kneeling and the traces of blood on his nose. Matt puts his hand on my shoulder.

"He overexerted himself with his barrier; I got him covered, don't worry. Just give him some time." He assures me with confidence.

"See!? This is what I'm talking about! How are you so chill?"

He looks me in the eyes, "I'll be honest, Matt: I was always like this. I'm chill on the outside, but I just keep it all inside. Nowadays it's easier to control it all and stuff, but there's no secret, it is who I am." He squeezes my shoulder once, before patting it twice and going toward Steve, who is now trying to get up.

'That still doesn't explain all the right timings... the hole, the diner, now with Steve...'

There's something to this guy, I'm sure of it.

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(Matt's PoV)

"You alright there, man?" I ask Steve as I help him to his feet.

"A little... dizzy is all." He says, slurring his words.

"I'll take you outside, ok? To get some fresh air." No need to go outside for that, but the feeling will help.

He nods his head, letting himself get guided there.

We get to his car and I leave him to lean on it. I nod towards Andrew as a greeting.

"What happened to him?" Andrew asks.

To shorten it, I say. "Spent too long in there."

Matthew comes out of the house as well and I make the conscious effort to dispel the barrier around him. Making powers passive is never not going to be a fucking broken thing, I swear.

Matthew throws some looks my way, but just leans onto his car in silence.

Ten minutes pass by. Steve finally seems to have recovered enough to walk and talk normally.

"Any luck?" I ask him, though I know the answer.

He frowns, "No. They didn't seem to hear, feel, see, or smell."

I raise an eyebrow, "Smell?"

He pulls out a free sample bottle of perfume from his pocket, "Why do you think Steve Montgomery is always smelling nice?" He can't help the smile on his face at that comment, though it vanishes quickly.

He sighs, looking at the cabin. "Ok, we seal it then."

I look at Andrew and Matthew and they both perk up, "Everyone in agreement?"

Andrew only nods, not looking particularly bothered. Matthew looks at me for a few seconds longer than necessary but nods either way.

"Let's do it, then." I raise my hand in the cabin's direction.

They all stare at me.

"What? You want me to do all the dirty work alone? No! Chip in here, you lazy bums!"

They share a look, chuckling a bit and all raise their hands towards the cabin.

The door closes, and the wooden planks return to their places in front of it with the nails sticking there firmer than before, tree branches here and there get snapped and thrown in the open windows, blocking them as much as the barrier would allow. Damp earth gets thrown on top of it before fallen leaves are added to the mix, creating a disgusting wall-like thing.

Similarly, we all make the place as impenetrable as possible, using the materials around it. I even ask for their help to fall a whole tree so we can use it as a blockage for the door.

Their help wasn't needed, but Matthew was already looking at me funny enough.

"A job well done! I'm starving, what about you?" I ask them all. Andrew grunts in affirmation, even as his stomach growls. Matthew nods, cleaning his bloody nose. Steve, who worked the least in this last endeavor due to his previous fatigue, also nods.

"Great! I've wanted to eat at a particular restaurant for a while now. Eating with good company is always better." I say, heading to my car. I pull it with part my body part telekinesis and get in.

Soon enough, we all make our way out of the dirt road and away from the cabin.

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"... When are we going to talk about that thing?" Andrew asks, as we are just lazing around at Matthew's home.

The atmosphere was calm, a comfortable silence until that statement came and dropped a shit ton of tenseness into it.

"I... I don't know what else to say. It was using a similar power to ours but it was... braindead or something." I say.

Steve hangs his head, "I tried whatever I could to get their attention, but they didn't so much as twitch." His tone, defeated.

"You think that happens if we... use it to much? Like if we don't stop after the nose starts to bleed?" Andrew asks again, his curiosity about the power showing itself.

I shake my head, "No, that thing was too far gone. I think if you push this power too much, you die of a brain hemorrhage before that happens to you." I shake my hand in a pondering motion, "That or you become a vegetable, but I don't think you'll be doing that if you mess with your brain that much."

He seems to stop to absorb what I said.

"That at least has got to be that girl... uh, what's her name again?" Matthew adds.

"Gina Norman." I supply him with the name.

"Yeah, that girl. That is her, right? It's too much of a coincidence if it isn't." He finishes his thought.

"I agree with you there: who else would go there and just... stay like that? Until they rot?" I say, adding to his theory.

Andrew and Steve give their own forms of confirmation, not feeling like giving a verbal one at the moment.

"Do you think the Mavis house may have someone inside as well?" Steve says after a moment thinking.

I shrug, "I don't know."

Matthew looks at me with narrowed eyes, "Wasn't it you who said there was something wrong with the cabin? You didn't mysteriously know anything about the Mavis house?" He asks with some heat.

I raise my hands in surrender, "I know just as much as you guys, man. I just felt some-"

He gets up and stands in front of me, "That's the thing, though: You feel, you think, you hear, so much better than us all, don't you Matt?"

As I am sitting on an armchair, he towers over me as he rants. I keep his stare, as he draws breath to further disparage me.

"You are better at everything! You woke us up, you discovered the powers, and you gave us tips to use it better. Why don't you go out there and solve the problem, man!?" He yells, pointing at me. "Or are you hiding something else?" He finishes with some venom.

"Matt, loo-" Andrew starts trying to deescalate the situation.

"No, Andrew. I'm Matthew because the better man is in the room." He scoffs and starts to leave.

I sigh, raising my hand and stopping him in place.

"And I was trying to play nice, too," I mutter.

I keep myself seated as they all float in front of me, stuck in their last positions. I let enough leeway so they can breathe and move their eyes, but that's about it.

"I woke up on that Saturday able to do what I told you. The remote story, it happened on the morning of the day after the thing happened." All of their eyes widen.

"I have been practicing this power day and night - sometimes literally - for the last two weeks. I don't even know what would make me bleed from my nose anymore." I keep my voice steady, my stare changing from one to the other, staying more on Matthew's eyes.

"When I showed my powers to Steve, I was making a huge gamble. I'm glad it paid off and I'm not the only guy with powers around, but I am still better than any of you in its usage. If that is to be an issue, say so now." I release them all: Andrew and Steve in their seats, Matthew standing in front of me again.

They all take a while to get used to being free again before all eyes snap to me. I hold my stare at Matthew, not even blinking.

"I- you-..." He stumbles over his own words. I guess being right and getting called out for it was not in his plans.

"Yes, me, Matt?" I say, smirking at him.

He glares at me, scoffs, and turns to leave again. I shake my head. He doesn't know what he wants with this discussion, so he runs away when the ball is in his court.

"Now that I no longer need to hide anything: I've been thinking about trying to fly soon. I'm usually more focused on many small things at once, but I want to diversify." I comment to no one in particular, just throwing the idea in the air.

"By the way, Andrew, I hope you like the gift I'll give you later." I look at the guy in question, who widens his eyes.

"W-what gift?" He asks, probably thinking this is some sort of powerplay I'm doing.

"It's a surprise gift, so I can't say, right?" I say, with a smile. "I just promise you'll like it. It is something pretty important in your life, after all."

He still seems nervous about it after the display right now.

Looking at Steve and seeing him on guard too, makes me sigh and get up. That also makes them flinch.

"I guess I shouldn't have expected anything else. Bye, guys." I head to the door, opening and closing it behind me without a touch.

Let's make some real progress then.

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(Steve's PoV)

As Matt left, I could feel my body relaxing slowly. I look at Andrew and see the same reaction.

"Do- Do you think he could do that since he met us?" Andrew asks, gulping down in fear.

"I don't know, Andrew... that was scary as shit, that's for sure..." I take a few deep breaths, recalling the situation and trying to understand it better.

He seemed done with what Matthew said, but more than that he... did that to show us his hand.

He's always having to go out of his way to show us something: be it telling or showing it to us...

'Is he that desperate for power? Or is he just that good?' I look at Andrew, who also seems to be in deep thought.

'I thought Andrew was good and Matt was just... I don't know, better than me and Matthew but practiced for longer? But... I don't know anymore.'

Matthew too, noticed some key things I never bothered paying attention to before. He seems oddly aware of his surroundings, is always moving with some purpose in mind, and never seems that tired of using his powers... I widen my eyes.

'But his nose bled when he lifted the pens on my dad's office!'

If he bled then but not since... how much harder is he pushing himself since he knew we also had powers? Is it a dick-measuring contest for him?

I'm snapped out of my thoughts by Andrew getting up and going to where Matthew went, urgency in his steps.

"What's up, dude?" I ask him.

He turns to me, breathing ragged and eyes wide, "The gift! I don't know what it is, but the only thing I care about is...!" He hesitates to say, but I can see it's something very important to him indeed. "Can you give me a ride, Steve!? Please!"

I quickly get up, "Sure! Just guide the way." And we jog to my car.

I can't help but notice that Matt's Camaro is still here.

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(Andrew's PoV)

What did he mean by gift? Why me!? I never did anything to him!

'He's like every other bully! He's just like Wayne! They pick on me just because they can! Because they think it's funny. If he so much as touches my mom, I'll show him what I think is funny.'

If he had all that power, why even bother asking for their help with the cabin?

'Why bother lying?'

If I had all that power, I could certainly do whatever I wanted. I could punch the hell out of Wayne, I wouldn't need to ask Matthew- Matt. for rides. I could go to Tibet, I could... get money to treat my mom and get rid of my dad.

'Yeah, if I had that much power I would-'

"Dude, we're here," Steve says, breaking me out of my downward spiral.

I get out of his car, not even bothering to take my bag or thank him for the ride, and run into the house. Richard is sleeping into the afternoon like usual. I find a note on the first step of the staircase.

{She's waiting for you! ;) }

The only thing I could hear was the blood rushing through my being, my vision turning red.

I climbed the stairs three steps at a time, running into my mom's room.

When I get in, my eyes widen.

I fall to my knees.

In front of me is my mom but... from before that damn disease took hold of her.

Her brown hair was shining and long, her skin rosy and glistening. She was up and by the window, admiring the view. She was standing on her own, without crutches of any kind. She breathes so easily, smiles so brilliantly, and-

"Andrew? Is that you, sweety?" She turns to me, her smile turning even brighter. My vision started to blur.

"M-Mom?" I mumble after trying and failing to say anything else through the lump in my throat.

She walks over to me, with a look of happiness I haven't seen in anyone's eyes but hers, kneels in front of me, and hugs me.

I don't think I've ever cried this hard in my life.