Hero Super

Super Information

Super Name None Super Attributes

Super Status Alive,Slight-Fatigue(Physical, Mental), Spirit-severance Super Body 2

Super Quest Road to Heroism III, A True Hero's Name Super Mind 1

Super Points 0

Super Spirit 2.7 (-0.3)

Super Powers

Impervious Pebble Gourmand's Insight

Color Control Jumper

Vigilant Aegis

“Five, it’s definitely five, I know there’s five,” He muttered, closing the Super information screen before digging into his inner self and re-counting the number of white orbs. “One, two, three, four, five, six. I’m not tripping, there’s an extra one. How is there an extra one?”

Excitement and curiosity in equal measure, he started studying each of the two orbs that were left untouched. One of them was, if the pattern adhered, [Gourmand’s Insight]: a power he got alongside the pebble. The problem was, all six orbs were indistinguishable without poking them, metaphorically speaking.

And so he poked.

“It’s not budging… wait,” he summoned a granola bar from his pocket and bit into it. The whitestuff he poked started pulsing as information on the ingredients streamed into his thoughts. “Hmm, so that one’s [Gourmand’s Insight]. What the hell is the other one?”

He felt a bit wary, but, he started feeling out the extra ‘power’ sitting in the void, noting everything he could without activating it.

“It’s light?” He muttered.

It was one way to describe how the extra whitestuff felt as he started examining. It was a feeling comparable to when you wake up and find out you accidentally left your arm underneath or in a weird position, minus the pins and needles, or when you leave your tongue out to dry outside of your mouth and start touching it. A weird feeling of numbness, lightness, and wrongness. It’s there, but it shouldn’t be— a reverse phantom limb.

Compared to the other whitestuff, this one was borderline evanescent. Like fluff about to fade away, but still holding on for an unknown.

“Let’s see…”, he muttered as he did what he usually does out of curiosity.

He poked.

He screamed.

He fainted.

“Ugh… cold,” Calvin groaned and shivered as he came to, sitting up to find a dull pain in every fiber of his being. His head, his body, and everything else throbbed their own versions of muscle pain. “What the fuck just happ— ow.”

The sound of his own voice was too much, making his head spin just from tiny mutterings. He laid back down on the cold floor, taking a minute to have the agony somewhat subside and let the mocking existence of hindsight rear its ugly and annoying head.

’Stop poking around soul stuff. Noted.’ He thought, regretting the borderline moronic thing he just did.

Three minutes, or three hours, Calvin had no idea how long he lay unmoving and in pain, but the dreadful ache radiating everywhere on his body had somewhat subsided after a while. And after a while more, completely transformed into an all-encompassing numbness and stiffness.

His mind finally cleared from the haze of pain, he sat back up and started staring and the empty wall in contemplation.

“I poked the whitestuff, not even stretching it or anything, and it immediately activated. What did it even do— wait, where’s my bed?” He asked, now just realizing he was on the floor. “What? Why am I naked?”

He wasn’t completely naked, his eye-pocket thing was still around his neck and his sneakers were still on his feet, but everything else was just as gone as the bed that should’ve been underneath him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the bed.

He spun around, still sitting on the floor, looking at the empty shoebox of a room. Four walls, a door, and nothing else. The same situation as when he first entered the a few days ago, “Empty… was this the power? Is that why I fainted?”

As if to answer him, a panel appeared.

Super Quest

An Unknown Power Find the broken piece 0/1

Mend the power

You have discovered the remnants of a superpower inside of you. Unfortunately, the power is uncontrollable in its current state. Discover what was taken and make whole the fractured shard.

Quest Rewards

+10 Super Point(s)

Potential for awakening

“Hello again, Super Quest,” He muttered, re-reading the panel. “Ten points?! And potential for awakening… like, my own superpower? Or is that broken one the thing that’s going to awaken? Ugh… this is too much without breakfast. First—”

He pulled on his will and tried to activate the [Automatic Wardrobe] function of the [Eye-Socket Pocket Locket].

“Hmm?” He tried again, only to be stunned. “Where is it?”

Usually, there was a feeling, an extra muscle, like a superpower but in a different way. If a power was a finger to flex, activating Tinker Tech felt like a trigger to pull. There was not much variation in how you could pull it, it was just something to be pulled.

That feeling wasn’t there.

“That’s… Super Help,” He willed the panel to appear.

Super Help

Eye-Socket Pocket Locket

A functional bionic eye connected to a rusty chain, designed to contain a pocket dimension that is accessible to its wearer. Contains a 10.3 meter-cubed pocket dimension. Accessing the pocket dimension has a delay of at least a second. Additional functions include; Minor Bio-decay reduction.

“Functional bionic eye… blah blah, where is it?” Calvin’s brows furrowed as he read it again, “The bio-decay thing is still there. Where’s the wardrobe? Damn it, I need some clothes first.”

He took out the [Plain White Shirt], a normal pair of jeans, and undergarments the normal way, and put it on the normal way.

“Even my socks are gone,” he grumbled, taking off the shoes and putting on socks. He grabbed the shoes again to put them on and paused, “Hmm?”

He let go of the shoes and grabbed them again. And again. And then a third time, but with more confusion plastered on his face. The usual panel wasn’t popping up.

“Uh, Super Equip? Super Help? What’s happening here?” He asked the Super System, only to get nothing in reply. “Are these not the [Comfortable Red Sneakers]? No… I’m pretty sure they are? I was just jogging with them…”

He put them on normally and stomped. What should’ve sounded like a tap of the finger sounded like a stop of the foot, because it was a foot stomp. Whatever stealth effect the tinker tech used to have, it was now as gone as his clothes from earlier.

Helpless, he sat on the ground and stared at the sneakers, trying to summarize and rationalize everything that was happening, “So… it ‘poofed’ my furniture, got me naked and afraid, and un-tinkered my tinker tech— at least the ones I was wearing. Is it something like making things disappear? That's overpowered as hell… no wonder I fainted.”

Although he was complaining, a small smile appeared on his face. The grief from the disappearance of his stuff was balanced out by the realization of what the power might be. Most things that were gone would be replaceable anyway, so it wasn’t a huge loss. Even the tinker tech, although that would probably take more money.

The most annoying one to replace would probably be his holowatch.

“Okay then, I just need to find out whatever was stolen, look for it in this completely gigantic city, if it even is in the city, then somehow repair or combine it with what’s inside me, and finish the vague quest— all without a single clue. Easy,” He said, chuckling darkly. “Damn… I need a bed again. At least the walls and the door are still there.”

He stood up, stretching his aching body, before walking a step and opening the door. Immediately, he stopped in his tracks, shoulders sagging in frustration at seeing what was behind the door.

A wall.

Not bricks, cement. But still a wall.

“Oh for the love of…”

“So, how did that happen?” Quinn asked as they ate dinner in Ina’s room.

It took until dinner time for Calvin to be found in the underground area where the dormitory rooms were being held physically. How it apparently worked was that the doors, the ones in the castle and in every dormitory building, were more or less portals to an underground area— like an underground apartment with no doors or windows.

They weren’t at all expanded spaces like the workshop room back in Vanguard HQ.

Calvin was stuck with no way out. Each room was suspended inside a mass of a cement-like substance that would contract and expand as needed, presumably when the rooms were upgraded from the store. There were ventilation shafts on the ceiling, but those were as wide as his head at best.

He was only found because Maxine, the dorm manager and arena receptionist, couldn’t find him on campus when he someone challenged him around noon time. This led to getting reported to the administration office, who couldn’t ping him with the holowatch, and then finally checking out his door in the castle, which they found had somehow become a normal door.

Although it took a few hours, he was still found relatively sane.

“I thought you were just tired or sleeping in,” Quinn said.

Ina shook her head, “She was nervous, thought you ran away or got kidnapped.”

“Ina!” Quinn pouted at her.

“I— I don’t know, really. I just felt that new power there. Who knows how long I actually had it or when I got it?” Calvin said, feeling annoyed at the unanswered questions. “I just tried it out, then bang, darkness.”

Ina paused her munching, “You fainted?”

“From the pain,” He nodded.

“You okay now?” She asked, concern in her tone.

“Head’s still throbbing, but it’s not as bad as the first time you berserked. Almost, though.”

“Oof,” It was Quinn’s turn to wince since she was there. “So you have another cheat? You cheater.”

“Says the organ-melter,” He smirked. “I don’t even know what it is. For all I know I got lucky and managed not to make myself disappear like my furniture.”

“Be careful next time,” Ina said.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a next time anytime soon,” he said, head already aching from the impossibly vague quest. “By the way, do you think I can get permission to go out? I need a new watch and furniture.”

“You can get furniture from the rec building. There’s a floor for that, remember?” Ina reminded him.

Calvin’s eyes widened, “Free?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “They’ll be boring and normal, but that suits your aesthetic, right?”

“It’s called minimalism,” he chuckled, “still need a watch.”

“Here,” Quinn summoned one from her pocket and threw it to Calvin, “just use that.”

Calvin caught it, his brows furrowing, “It’s pink?”

“Of course it is?” She said, looking at him as if it shouldn’t even be asked.

He shrugged and used [Colour Control], turning it black as he put it on, “Thanks.”

Since he was a registered citizen, everything on his previous holowatch should’ve been re-downloaded through the city’s network and reconfigured to his preferences. Unfortunately, his previous watch was heavily modified. All that information was encrypted, corrupted, or plainly deleted.

“Damn,” he cursed. “All those movies, gone.”

A vibration immediately came, a message from someone familiar.

p4rad0x: Good afternoon, my dear friend. I noticed your watch’s signal had disappeared and your presence in the Academy’s network has similarly vanished since earlier this morning. Are you well?

A smile bloomed on his face, reading the little girl’s message. ’She’s still using Sebastien to text.’

Calvin: Something happened, but I’m fine.

Calvin: Watch got destroyed. Can you modify the new one?

p4rad0x: It is good to know your health is sound, my friend.

p4rad0x sent coordinates

p4rad0x: Come to these coordinates at the usual time. Apply the same precautions as usual. I assume you remember the code?

Calvin: I remember the code, but I can’t go outside.

Calvin: Campus rules.

p4rad0x: I believe that should be of no inconvenience, my friend.

His brow raised at the last message. The little girl had probably already infiltrated the Academy’s network. At least, he could only hope that she had, or else he’d be five hundred points in debt for trying to go out of the campus.

’The semester hasn’t even started and I’m already trying to sneak out,’ He smirked at the thought.

“What are you grinning at?” Ina’s voice took him back to reality.

“Nothing, just… thinking about getting back my movies,” he answered, pointing to the new holowatch. It vibrated again with another message.

p4rad0x: Fair warning, there are cameras and detectors inside the campus. I believe I can disable them, but some of the cameras and audio devices are using an analog network I’m currently incapable of invading. They are likely using a human interface to interact with the devices, which means it’s neither automated nor assisted remotely.

p4rad0x: I cannot help you much there outside of updating your map to show their locations. However, I do believe you are capable enough to pass through undetected.

Calvin: I’ll make do. See you later.

p4rad0x: Good luck.

Academy CCTV Room

“A jug of caffeine, a box of sugar, and a comfy chair… man this job is the best. Medium pay, but still,” Chunk sat his full weight heavily on the springy office chair, making its metal creak despite the reinforcement.

He then reached over to the coffeepot on the table by the side and poured a fifth of its contents into his largest mug, a mug he goes nowhere without. A smile crept on his face as he remembered his son giving him the mug and showing him the little button on the handle, the one that made a tiny whirlpool to mix the drink inside.

It was a raffle prize he won from some workshop back in the day, although he couldn’t remember the name of the workshop, he remembered his smile as he gave it to him as a gift.

“Heh,” Chunk took a sip and let out a satisfied sigh, putting down the cup to grab a donut and start his job.

He looked at the collection of screens around him, the various holographic displays showing different views of different key areas in the Academy’s campus. They were video cameras, but there’s so little activity this late in the night that they may as well be showing still images during his shifts.

He looked towards the clock on his desk, “Almost midnight. Seven more hours to go— hmm?”

A red light flashed from the corner of his eyes, a signal that movement was detected on one of the cameras.

“Huh?” He blurted out, swiveling his chair to face the screen. “What the heck?”

Colourful artifacts like digital glitches appeared on the display. The night vision appeared to be malfunctioning, turning the entire area vivid pink.

“That’s new,” he muttered, pressing a button on his holowatch. “Hey, Mike. Uh, sorry to bother you, but can we get someone to check— uh, Area B4? Camera’s malfunctioning.”

A moment later, the sound of laughter and clinking glass came through his earpiece before getting shushed by someone, “Ahem— evening Chunk, did you say B4? That one’s… where is that one again? Ah, the small kissing area behind the recreation building, right? The one with all the vending machines.”

Chunk paused, “Kissing area?”

“You know it’s going to be a kissing area,” the person on the line chuckled, “it’s secluded, it’s small, there’s plenty of shadowy spots. It’s a kissing area.”

“They’re minors, Mike,” He replied, a bit creeped out by his colleague.

“I was a minor too, bud. That’s why I know how they think. Anyway, wait a moment—”, the person paused, typing rang for a moment before they came back, “—yeah, nothing there. Lance ain’t saying nothing.”

“Lance?”

“Surv-AI-llance? You know? The A.I. doing your job,” the other person’s eye roll was practically audible for Chunk, “Anyway, probably just a glitch on your side. Those analog stuff is probably finicky.”

He knew they had a point, but looking at the display, there was a nagging feeling that it might not be a glitch, “Can’t you get someone to check?”

A groan came, muffled as the person probably covered his mic to moan annoyedly, “Look, if you want to check, go check yourself, bud. The boys are tired from their patrols a few minutes ago. Just ping if you see something. Mike out.”

“…”

He laid back on his chair, glancing back at the ‘damaged’ camera’s display. All the other cameras were fine, it was just this one. His eyes went back to the open box of donuts on the desk, its enticing smell being carried by the waft of coffee vapor in the air.

“It’s only a minute, I should check it out,” He stood up, grumbling as he separated from the chair.

Towards the side of the security room, a few steps away from the exit, was another door that was as simple as a door could be. It was markless, made of wood, with a knob of stainless metal.

What made it different was the holographic keypad right beside it.

“How do they make this stuff?” he muttered, punching in the code ‘B4’ on the keypad. A click rang out, the sound of a door unlocking, and Chuck gulped before he opened the door to step through. “Pink?”

The entire area was coloured pink, exactly like what he saw on the monitors.

He blinked, rubbing his eyes for a moment before checking again. “What the heck? Did I just… no, I’m sure I wasn’t just seeing things?”

Rustle

The feeling in his gut deepened. Remembering his training, he immediately took out a stun gun and sent a ping to the security team. After that, he took out a flashlight and started shining it into the darkness.

“Who’s there?!” He asked, immediately muttering to himself after, “Who’s there? Stupid, why would they answer… wait, unless they’re just students? Hey!—”, he shouted, “—if you’re a student— I— you’re not in trouble! Just come out and go back to the dorms, it’s a bit late to be out here!”

Suddenly, a shadow,

Fast and silent, fleeting across his vision like a hawk in flight.

“Who—”, he aimed, following the shadow’s direction towards the other side. There was no one there. Now sure that there was someone else here, he called for backup instead of pinging. “There’s an intruder on the campus. I need some backup!”

There was silence for a moment, no one answered him until a few seconds later when he heard uproarious laughter from his earpiece, “Hah! We see you in the cameras, Chunk! Fancy yourself a hero now, eh? Securityman— ha! You go get that invisible intruder— pft…”

“I’m serious here! There’s someone else—”

“There’s no one there, man,” Mike interrupted, “As fun as it is watching you, I think you should relax a bit or try changing shifts, you’re seeing things. There’s nothing in the cameras, drones, and whatever else here. All we see is you pointing at a bush.”

Chuck’s brows curled, “But I definitely saw something…”

“Look, man, no one can infiltrate this place. We can’t even hide from Lance if we tried our best, and we’re supers,” Mike chuckled, “Just, go back to your office or whatever, if something comes up, then we’ll call on you… Securityman— pft.”

Laughter came and was cut off as their communications ceased. Chuck felt embarrassed and confused, but more than that he felt relieved.

“I guess if they can’t see it, how can I?” He muttered, pocketing the gun and walking back to the door.

“That was close…” Calvin whispered, collapsing behind one of the trees in the area. “[Colour Control]’s manipulation is doing my head in…”

He forgot how utterly dry his spirit stamina was since the incident this morning and just started walking towards the coordinates, dodging all but this one camera. That camera was pointing down the path towards his destination. No easy way around it. So, as per usual, he used ol’ reliable and made the scenery mimic what you would see through a broken camera.

Usually, or at least from his experience working as Dox’s courier, people were too lazy to go outside and check. Even villains from Villainopolis never bothered. The security guard was unexpected.

’Is it just villains that are lazy?’ He entertained the thought for a moment. ’Maybe because he was mundane? Why do they even hire mundanes for security? That’s just dumb…’

He managed to create the tiniest blot of black on the guard’s eye and move it towards the other direction, but the Manning Effect made even something as small as a speck of dust that much draining.

“Haah… how is it that I can change normal skin but a goddamn dot in the eye is so much harder?” He muttered, smiling at his improvisation. “Although, in hindsight, I could’ve just kept hiding… eh, whatever.”

He briefly peeked out of the tree, making sure the guard was gone before turning the whole area pink again. A moment’s wait, just in case the guard was trying to pull a fast one on him, before finally walking out and heading past the camera’s field of view.

“The coordinates point here…” He whispered as he read his holowatch, brows furrowing as he looked around. His mouth gaped in realization, seeing one of the vending machines glowing lightly on the side of the building. “No way…”

‘This is not a vending machine’ was written on a sticker plastered at the top of the machine, at the top of every machine that Dox uses as a ‘door’ to her place.

“How did she even…”, he walked closer, looking at the contents of the machine. “There it is. Unjuicy Juice.”

It was another signature. A drink item that’s impossible to get using the normal code. Even custodians who would fill up the drinks inside the machine would find it a gimmick, a fake drink literally glued to the coils.

Smirking, turned to the keypad and started typing the ‘passphrase’. ’S, 4, M, 1, S, 4, L, 1, 4, R…’

The passphrase took a bit of time to type, around a couple of minutes, but eventually, a click rang out as the lock. The machine rumbled, the items retreated, and a movie-perfect airlock sound whispered from the seams.

He stood back and prepared himself as the door swung open to reveal a couple of mechanical grabbers that rushed, hugged, and dragged him inside, closing the door soon after.