Jay stared at the glowing tablet, feeling something he hadn't experienced in years - genuine excitement about making choices for his own future. The interface was sleek and intuitive, with categories that expanded smoothly as he touched them. At the top right corner, a counter displayed: [Points Available: 0]
"Zero points to start?" Jay asked, looking at XYZ with confusion.
"That's right," XYZ confirmed with a smile. "ROB believes in earning your power, not getting it handed to you. You'll need to make some tough choices to gain the points necessary for abilities and advantages."
Jay nodded, understanding the game now. He tapped on [INSERTION] to start building his new existence.
The category expanded to show two options:
[Drop-In (Gain: +2 Points)] - You'll be inserted into the world without any background, history, or family.
[Insert] - You will come into awareness in the world at your chosen age. You will have family, background, and history which will, where applicable, incorporate your chosen talents.
Jay didn't hesitate. Having a family meant having people who could be used against him, obligations he didn't choose, and expectations he'd have to meet. He'd spent his entire previous life being weighed down by other people's plans for him.
"Complete freedom," he said, selecting [Drop-In]. The counter updated: [Points Available: 2]
XYZ raised an eyebrow. "Interesting choice. Most people prefer to have some kind of support network."
"Support networks come with strings attached," Jay replied, scrolling down to the next section. "I've had enough of people thinking they know what's best for me."
Jay immediately tapped [POWERS] with a note saying he can only take one power. This was what he'd been waiting for - the abilities that would define his new existence.
The list that appeared made his heart race:
[Power Thief (Cost: 10 Points)] - You can drain the powers of those you make physical contact with. Brief contact will allow you to use a weaker version of their power and leave them exhausted. Should you drain them completely you will take their power from them and gain a copy for yourself. There is a limit to how many powers your body can hold, depending on the strain of the ability and your own capabilities, but any stored power can be passed to another. Others for whom you grant power can only hold two unique powers before their bodies start giving out from the strain.
[Babylon (Cost: 4 Points)] - Can create mid-air portals around yourself that can launch volleys of melee weapons of your envisioned shape and size. The amount of force and power instilled in these weapons scales depending on the user's own overall power. These weapons will fade away minutes after launch.
[Hyper Regeneration (Cost: 6 Points)] - Your healing factor is further amplified. You'll now recover from all but the most severe injuries in mere moments, and severed limbs will slowly regenerate in a matter of days. You are effectively immortal unless you are reduced to ash or less than an arm's worth of solid biomass.
[Omni-Kinesis (Cost: 15 Points)] - In a radius of 100 meters around you, with nothing but your will alone, you are capable of shaping the physical world. Moving objects, generating and manipulating all forms of energy or matter, or even creating constructs of everything the physical world has to offer.
[Timestop (Cost: 10 Points)] - Your power has the ability to suspend the subjective sense of time of anyone within 30 feet of you. Those under its effect are frozen in place for the duration of its activation.
[Kinetic Absorption (Cost: 7 Points)] - Your body can absorb up to 95% of kinetic force to stockpile for your own attacks. Your natural durability is not enhanced, but due to the nature of your power, most attackers will struggle to harm you.
[Vibration (Cost: 5 Points)] - You can control and generate vibrational forces on objects you make contact with or in condensed and focused directional waves.
[Gravity (Cost: 8 Points)] - You can control the gravity within a space of thirty feet around you up to twenty times or even nullify its effect.
[Avatar (Cost: 12 Points)] - You can not only bend all four of the elements, but you can also Energybend. With training, you can give and take away, bending to others.
He saw Babylon, the power to summon phantom weapons from thin air - a brawler's power, flashy but limited. He saw Hyper Regeneration, a near-immortality that promised survival. Survival was for the victims. He was done being a victim. He saw Omni-Kinesis, the raw, godlike ability to reshape reality in a hundred-meter bubble around him. The fifteen-point cost was staggering, but more than that, the limited range felt like a golden cage with him needing years of mastery to even begin to do the basic stuff, top heroes in Marvel do on a casual basis. He saw Avatar, the mastery of four elements, powerful and iconic, but still a defined, limited set.
His gaze passed over Kinetic Absorption, Gravity manipulation, and Timestop. All were incredible, game-changing abilities that could make a man a king. But Jay didn't want any of them cause of their control over a single concept with no scope of broadening their applications
Jay's eyes immediately locked onto [Power Thief]. His mind raced with possibilities. "It's like All For One from My Hero Academia," he whispered, "or Rogue from X-Men, but way better because I can actually control it."
The more he thought about it, the more perfect it seemed. Why limit himself to one ability when he could eventually collect dozens? In a world with Spider-Man, Storm, Iron Man, and countless other powered individuals, this was like having access to an unlimited arsenal.
"This is it," he said with certainty. "Why be stuck with one power when I can have them all?"
Without hesitation, Jay selected [Power Thief]. The counter immediately went red
[Points Available: -8]
"Bold choice," XYZ observed. "You've gone into debt for power. Very ambitious."
Jay grinned. "Some investments are worth going into debt for. This one's going to pay dividends."