MCU/WORM OC Insert: Chapter 2

"Hi welcome to Fugly Bob's, what can I get for you today?" A black haired boy slowly asks in a tone that's only a small step above monotone, eyes half-lidded. He looks a bit out of it, frankly. 

The blonde watching him closely- using her natural deduction for once- simply decides that he is just disassociating. 

She never thought that coming to Fugly Bob's for a quick in and out fast food grab would be so... interesting! 

She can't sense anything about him at all! 

Not a thing! 

It's like he doesn't exist at all! 

A cape! 

A blindspot cape. 

"Yeah. You can give me all of the money in the fucking register!" The druggie in front of him pulls out a gun and sticks it in his face. 

The teen doesn't even flinch, offering a slow almost meandering blink. "Is that for here or to go?" 

"What?" The robber seems genuinely caught off guard. 

"What?" The cashier blinks, seemingly rocketing back into focus, blinking down at the gun in front of his nose. 

"Here. Take it." He scoffs. "I'm not dying for five dollars an hour. I hope you didn't expect much. You're the third person to rob us... today." 

"ARE YOU FUCKIN MAKING FUN OF ME? TURN OUT YOUR POCKETS SHIT STAIN!" 

A long sigh leaves his lips, glaring at the junky. "Would you like to order something?" 

Suddenly the robber is elsewhere, reality seems to bend, the blonde's power seems to scream at her that something is wrong. 

A girl in green with a green visor about the same age as the boy behind the counter has appeared behind the robber, taking the gun and disarming him. 

He is thrown to the floor a moment later with a perfect judo throw. 

She twists the man's arm back, quickly zip-tying it to the other. 

She brings a hand to her ear. "Console. I've stopped a robbery at Fugly Bob's." 

The blonde can make guess as to what they are saying. Something along the lines of 'police are on their way'. 

"Hello, welcome to Fugly Bobs, can I get you anything today?" The person behind the counter questions, now sounding at least mildly alive. 

"O-Oh!" Vista squeaks. 

Huh. 

She has a crush. 

Well, the guy behind the counter is quite nice to look at, the girl's got some taste at least. Even she, who's power ruined dating for her has to agree with the... Hero... There? 

Couldn't she date a blind spot cape without her power giving her way too much information about them? 

Vista finally seems to get control of herself, but her face is a little red. "Can- Can I get a number two? And-" 

She casts a gaze over her shoulder, looking at the other hero in the restaurant. "What do you want, Gallant?" 

The observing girl finds her gaze straying to the power-armored figure who seems to just be staring. 

"Ah..." His voice echoes out. "A number five?" 

He knows. 

If she remembers correctly, Gallant is some sort of emotion thinker. 

He can likely sense the blindspot just as much as she can. 

Shit. 

Shit shit shit! 

She's fairly certain the boss is a thinker as well. He could be her one way out!  

She's also keenly aware of how many moles are in the PRT. Even she, the recruited at gunpoint mook of a supervillain has some. 

Damn it! 

Looks like she'll have to wait till he gets off to have a word with him as soon as possible. 

[Split] 

"Here you are." I sit two trays down on the table. 

"I hope you enjoy." I offer a sole wave as I turn to walk away. 

"Vista'd like your number." The guy in the mechanized suit begins. 

"GALLANT!" The blonde hisses, reaching across the table and punching him in the chest, only to let out a small cry and cradle her knuckles as she did kind of just punch solid metal. 

"Sorry, my phone's broken." I admit, pulling out my phone. I push a button but it doesn't turn on. "I was going to drop it off at a tech place before I came in today, but they were closed when I got there. Oni Lee hit the building across from them or something. So that sucks." 

Vista's as red as a tomato, seemingly glaring down at the table. 

"Have a good meal." I walk away. 

Well. Vista's kind of cute, and If I remember correctly, she's also a 'Shaker Nine' which uh... puts her nearly at the maximum for the 'how dangerous is this power' scale. 

Work ended pretty quickly after that. I got my final pay check- as I had put in my 'I'm not going to fucking be here' notice- and left out the back. 

I fix my backpack, a breath leaving my nose as I turn my phone back on. 

Vista's cute, don't get me wrong. She's my age, and capes are typically an eleven out of ten appearance-wise. Buuuut the second she finds out I've got powers, it'll be all 'Hey! Why don't you join the PRT' and stuff. 

"Awww... Vista's probably going to be so disappointed to be rejected like that." A voice calls out from behind me. 

My eyes close for a long moment as I take a deep breath. 

"Can I help you?" I ask slowly as I turn, gazing at a quite attractive blonde in a hoodie, she has two emerald green eyes, a knowing smile on her lips. 

"You sure can!" The girl smirks, hands clasping together like she's some sleazy used car salesman. "You see... I'm in need of your services." 

"Come now. I'm sure a woman like yourself could find a boy who's shallow enough to bed you without you having to pay them or your smug know-it-all personality running them off. Besides. I'm not for sale." 

"Funny. Reaaaal funny." The girl states. "No. I need your help beating someone who's going to be a reaaaal big thorn in your side soon. Someone who doesn't give a shit about those little unwritten rules. But. If you hear me out... we both could come out on top." 

I blink twice and turn. "Go on?" 

"Hmm... maybe this isn't a conversation we should have here." The girl hums. "Your place?" 

A long sigh leaves my lips as I look to my phone. 

"I already know where it is, by the way." She hums. "So, no need to worry." 

"And how, pray tell, do you know that?" I hiss, eyes narrowing slightly. 

"I broke into your boss' office while you were on shift and found your job application forum." She admits proudly. "Heeey don't hate me. I'm too cute to be hated. The name's Lisa Wilbourn" 

"Whatever. I don't fucking care. Come on." I deadpan. 

[Split] 

"So. What do you want." I frown at the girl now sat across from me at my table. 

"Well, there's tons of things I want. A good job. Knowledge I'm not supposed to have. Money. My power to not give me a headache or disgusting information on my colleagues and friends... but. At the top of that list. What I want now more than anything... is my dick of a boss to get a bullet to the head." 

Ah. 

Shit. 

Coil. 

Forgot about that timeline-splitting fuck. 

"And how does this relate to me?" I ask blandly. 

"Well. I'm going to tell you this bluntly. My boss is a thinker and total control freak. His goons grabbed me at gunpoint and forced me to work for him. Something he won't be doing for you... he'll be putting a bullet in your head the second he notices you... and he will notice you. It's not a matter of if, only when." 

"So you're going to tell him?" 

"Tell him about the one way I can get out from under his thumb? Are you fucking crazy? But. He'll know all the same." Her lips thin as she raises her hands. "You see. You met Gallant today... a thinker as well..." 

"..." 

"And?" 

"Wait... do you not know you're a blindspot?" The girl asks slowly. 

"What?!" I gasp, eyes widening. 

"You really had no idea?" She asks slowly. 

"Well, it's not really a fucking power I can TEST, now is it?" I ask rhetorically. 

"Touche." The girl shrugs. "Regardless. Gallant noticed you. Gallant will likely write a report on you. Your neighborhood will probably be getting some nicely worded 'if you've got powers join the PRT' fliers in the mail in the next couple of days. But my boss? After he gets the report directly from the PRT's servers... First. He'll check to see if your blind spot works on him. If not. He'll recruit you. If it does- which it is probably going to as I don't mean to brag but I'm a thinker seven and I can't even get a hint of anything from you- he is going to kill you. As soon as possible. So you don't mess up his plans." 

I rub my forehead a sigh leaving my lips after a long moment. "Alright. Is he the schemer type?" 

"Ohoho absolutely. Tons of intricately crafted plans lain out machinations behind machinations. Typical bond villain shit." 

"I have a power... that might help in this situation, then." I admit slowly. 'Fucking hell. I haven't even mastered black bones yet. Am I going to have to start from scratch after I swap it out? Uuuugh. That'll push my superhuman plans back by at least a month.' 

"Do you know who he is. Do you know what his power does?" 

"Oh. I figured it out a bit ago. He can basically split the timeline, do whatever he wants in both and keep the one that benefits him the most... for example. In one timeline, he tortures you for information then murders you, in this timeline you are having a lovely chat and you're none the wiser." 

"..." 

"Any limitations?" I ask slowly. 

"He has to drop them eventually. He can only ever have two. And if you catch him shortly after a split there's not much he can do to stop you. Being a foot to the left or ducking down probably won't save him from a grenade, after all." 

"Do you know his civilian identity." 

"No. Regretfully not. But if I did there's not much I could do with it anyways. Shoot him in the head? Yeah, and in the other timeline he knows he just got killed and is now going around asking questions." The girl grumbles. 

"Do you know where his base is?" I continue. 

"Oh? Why would you want to go there?" She asks. 

I mentally swap out my powers for the one that'll be the most helpful in this situation. 

"His power is troublesome to deal with. Basically, any attack he does on you will be successful because he never keeps the failed attempts. It's rather lacking on the defensive aspect, though. One way to kill him would be to simply decide on an exact time a week from now and simply stalk him for a day or two leading up to that time... then promptly shoot him in the head no matter where you are. But for that you'd need to have a really high stranger ranking. Which I don't." 

"Another way... is some sort of delayed poison. Get him to ingest it and just... wait... eventually he'll close the timelines at which point he's fucked as both new timelines will be poisoned." 

"Are you a poison tinker?!" The girl's eyes glint. 

"No." 

"Now. There's a third option... it's gonna get cold tonight and, well..." 

I walk over to the fridge and pull out a bottle of water. "What if I just pour this out in front of his door and he just slips and falls when he leaves the house." 

"..." 

"Are you being like... serious?" 

"Now. I'm going to go for a walk. You can stay if you'd like, but if you could tell me the general area of your boss' base that'd be niiiice." 

"U-Uh sure... but there's several of them. The closest one should be under that supermarket downtown?" 

"Oh, so I can buy some groceries as well while I'm down there. Neat." I hum as I make my way to the door, checking my phone. 

I look back. "Oh. And you have no idea how much you fucking owe me for this, Lisa." 

She lets out a weary sigh, rubbing her face and looking absolutely exhausted, likely believing that her one way out is a fucking idiot. "If this somehow works out, I'll blow you or something." 

[Split] 

I look at my phone quietly scrolling through the files I've downloaded. 

I've done a few things... firstly, I set up a mini camera outside Coil's house pointed at his front door. Next? 

I got a chocolate cake. 

What? It looked good and was marked down. 

Oh, I also poured some water on Coil's doorstep. 

I briefly looped the nearby cameras so he should have no idea. It only took like a minute. 

I sure hope my 'masterminds get beaten by a brain-dead solution' power works.

"Hey hey." I call out into my apartment. "Villain girl. I'm back if you're still here." 

I see a blonde head poke out of one of the side rooms. "Your computer is... tinkertech..." 

"And?" 

"You're a tinker?" She asks slowly. 

"Who knows. I'm certainly never going to the PRT to get myself rated." I roll my eyes. 

"You... You're Wrench!" She accuses with a point. 

"And you're Tattletale." I shrug as I sit the groceries down on the countertop. "And Coil... is Thomas Calvert. Prt consultant." 

I turn my phone around, showing her the photo of the man. He has dark skin and looks... well, a little spindly. Not what you'd expect a supervillain to look like. 

"Wh-" the girl whispers, eyes scanning the screen as I shift it to a recording of a security camera outside his house one of the ones that weren't mine that caught him going home in the evening. "That- that's him. I can tell from the way he's walking... you- you figured him out in an hour?!" 

"Mhmmm." I hum. "I also poured some water on his doorstep so all we need to do is wait!" 

"I am both mortified and kind of curious if you think this'll actually work." The girl whispers. "But damn it. It makes so much sense now! I should have been able to figure it out ages ago!" 

"We'll both see in the morning I suppose." I grin as I sit down on the couch and turn on the Tv. "So like, are you spending the night or are you going to fuck off back to wherever you live." 

"Telling a girl to walk home... alone? At night? In Brockton Bay of all places? You really are heartless." The girl gives me a smug fox-like grin. "Frankly I'm probably safer next to the living blindspot when it comes to Coil even if said blindspot is kind of a fuckup." 

I give her a half lidded stare and pull out my phone. 

A recording of what she said earlier plays back at her. "If this somehow works out, I'll blow you or something." 

Her smug smirk freezes for a moment. "It'll be the 'or something'. If you try anything tonight I'll know. You might be a blind spot... but I'm not." 

"Whatever. I've got Vista begging to get my number. Why do you think that I'd molest you. What would I actually gain from that? Why would I cast aside my morals to be a genuinely deplorable human being?" 

 "Who knows what boys think." The blonde grins. "Maybe you'd just want to pop your cherry." 

My hand twitches slightly. 

"Ooooh how cute, a Greek Adonis yet never had a girlfriend." The girl snorts. 

"You know. This is why you're single." I point out.  

She pouts slightly. "Come now. Let's not be mean." 

"Kind of hypocritical to call me a virgin when you yourself are one as well." I continue as my gaze turns back to the Tv, idly noting her eyebrow twitch slightly. "What was it you said earlier? Wanting your power to not give you disgusting information about your colleges and friends... and boy or girlfriends? Your herlock sholmes powers make you practically Asexual hmmm?" 

The corners of her lips turn downwards. 

"But oh. Here comes the blindspot. The one person you could actually fuck without your powers saying 'oh, he hasn't brushed his teeth this morning' or something equally as disgusting like..." I pause. "You know... I'm actually having a hard time thinking of anything... well besides the obvious of STDs, but I'd imagine that'd be kind of helpful to know." 

"Unwashed. Fetishes. The last time they went to the bathroom. That they plan to knock you up and leave." She deadpans. 

"Mhn." I hum. "Anyways. So. Can we either just stop being jackasses to each other for like five minutes... or just get to hatefucking each other?" 

"I'm not a floozy who puts out to some random guy I met like five hours prior." She scoffs, crossing her arms as she sits on the other side of the couch. "But... you're right. I could do soooo much with a hacker tinker at my beck and call~" 

"Beck and call? Are you forgetting that you know literally nothing of my limits and your power doesn't work on me at all? Frankly the only reason as to why I haven't tossed you out for your sass is that your kind of my type and don't seem to be the type to get on my ass about not being the picture perfect 'hero'." 

"Partners?" She asks offering a hand. 

"Sure. Whatever. I could do worse than a thinker seven as backup. I'd imagine that giving you access to the resources I hack would make you nigh omniscient." I shake her hand. 

She gives me a vulpine grin. "So. Mr hacker tinker, what can you do?" 

"Isn't it common curtesy for you to go first when you're asking a cape to divulge his powers?" 

"Hm. Well... fair enough, you probably know more about me from the PHO wiki as well so I might as well clear some things up... no, I am not a clairvoyant, I can just come to conclusions with the smallest bits of data. From where they have been for the past hour judging by the mustard stain on their sleeve, to how much sleep they've got and why, maybe a family emergency from the sterilized hospital smell, or a new puppy judging by some pet hair. Sherlock Holmes is a pretty good example of my power. Inconsequential details which rapidly form a bigger picture." 

"I'm a tinker-thinker-trump."

"..."

"Wut." She whispers.

"I'm a tinker-thinker-trump. If I had to make rough estimates I'd say tinker four, or so, thinker one- with a situational advantage that kind of improves my tinkering, and trump five."

"My main limitation with my original tinker powers is that they're more... defensive than offensive. I've got software, shields, and a mish-mash of Stark-tek bullshit to fill the gaps with."

She's silent for a long moment. "huh... so a grab-bag. That is... fairly strong for a grab bag, though. Probably the strongest to date."

There's a small glint to her eye. "But you said a... trump power?" 

"I can grant pretty much anyone a single power and they keep it until I either die or I don't want them to have it anymore." I state. 

"Y-You can grant powers? Like Othala?! But- but they don't wear off in a couple of minutes?!" 

"Weak powers, but yes." 

"Do me!" The girl grins. 

"..." 

"..." 

"..." 

Her eyebrows wiggle slightly. 

"What do you want? Brute? Thinker? Tinker? Maybe some sort of shaker or striker?" 

"Y-You can grant tinker powers?!" She hisses. 

"Weak ones. Like making medieval equipment. Or like... a PR thinker-tinker combo... or cosmetic tinker so like... makeup and stuff." 

"Can you grant trump powers?!" 

"They're not that useful. Want a heads up display? Or like... the ability to detect parahumans and have their powers described as a 'word'? So like... Sherlock. Or Hacker." I gesture to the girl, then myself. 

"That- That breaks like soooo many of the unwritten rules." She whispers.  

"You don't seem to care about that... nor Coil." I point out 

"Do you have anything that'll make me more dangerous?" 

"Do you use guns?" I ask. 

"I'm not a brute. Of course I do." She scoffs. 

"Hand." I command. 

She reaches out and with a small flash of power she blinks twice and slowly looks around the room, a smile slowly spreading across her lips. "Huh? This is... wow... yeah, I can make this work." 

She is looking around my apartment, gazing at the walls, seemingly noting how a bullet would bounce off them and what direction they would go.  "I can certainly make this work." 

"Anyways, I'm going to make my mask. I don't really sleep so I've got a lot more free time." I admit with a small shrug. "My sleep schedule was already fucked before I triggered but now?" 

"At least I have more than enough time to do my assignments." I scoff. 

[Split] 

Pov: Elsewhere 

A dark skinned man straightens his tie, a smile on his face. 

Thomas Calvert is a simple man. He is forty five years old, an ex PRT field commander. He lives towards the north of Brockton bay just south of the boardwalk. He works as a consultant for the PRT and owns a construction company by the name Colter Constructions. Most days he returns home at no later than eight PM at the latest. He doesn't smoke, but occasionally drinks. He is in bed at no later than eleven PM and makes sure to get at least eight hours of sleep each day. 

But. He has a secret. 

Thomas Calvert is actually the supervillain Coil. 

His power is quite useful in these situations. 

An undefeatable power. 

One which has allowed him to carve out a portion of Brockton Bay all to himself... but. He wants more. 

He wants all of Brockton Bay under his thumb. He is going to become the leader of the light... and the darkness that hides in its shadows. 

Ah. He should probably collapse the timelines, then. 

He turns to his front door, adjusting his cufflinks. 

He ponders the new information he has received as he goes to collect his mail. 

A blindspot? 

Intriguing. 

If he could get them under his thumb... he doubts that the PRT or anyone else for that matter could ever stand in his way. 

His power is different. There is no way such a power would work on his, regardless of the fact that it is technically a thinker ability. 

He opens the door, stepping outside. 

His feet slide out from under him as he lets out a squawk of surprise. 

The timeline splits. 

Thomas Calvert's head smacks into the sharp corner of his stone doorstep. 

The supervillain Coil's neck snaps as he twists in the air, trying to right himself. 

[Split] 

Pov: Returned 

I look to the blonde rubbing her eyes as she sits down at the counter behind me. 

This little apartment isn't that big. One bedroom with a connected bathroom, and a kitchen that is connected to a living room. 

That's it. 

She lets out a quiet yawn as I go back to my work. 

"What's that?" 

"Mask." I answer. 

"Oh? Pretty high tech." She observes. 

"Coil's dead."  

"..." 

"Huh?" She squeaks. 

I grab my phone and turn it around. 

There's a video of a man in a well pressed suit stepping outside... then with a slide whistle effect and a comical bonk- that I edited in while waiting for the girl to wake up- he slips, falls, and cracks his head open on the corner of his doorstep. "He slipped and fell... where he laid for about an hour before his neighbors called nine one one. He was pronounced dead on-scene by paramedics." 

She stares for a long moment, a bright grin slowly crossing her lips. 

She turns around and rushes back to my room causing me to blink as I follow after her. 

"Uh... what are you doing?" 

She sits at my computer. 

"Stealing Coil's assets!" She grins victoriously. 

"Oh. You'll probably want to use my hacks, then. I left tons of back doors in like... all of his shit" I note as I turn and return to the kitchen. "I did some organization. You'll find Coil's stuff labeled under 'Coil's Stuff'." 

I also left a file under the name of 'Lisa don't touch this'. 

I pull out my phone a grin on my lips. 

Of course the second she notices it, the nosy bitch can't help herself. 

She pauses, looking over the screen, mouth slightly ajar. 

On the screen is a meme of a children's Tv show. 

There's a search bar up above that has the words 'How to tell your bitchy roommate that she's just a bad Lexi and Lottie cosplayer?' And below that is the main characters for said tv show. 

Blonde, pale, with freckles. 

Yeah. They look almost exactly like her. 

Judging by how her nose crinkles and her eyes narrow she can see the resemblance. 

She turns her head. "If I find porn on this you're NEVER going to hear the end of it!" 

"Lisa... Lisa Lisa Lisa." I shake my head as I tab out of my webcam. "Porn is a bathroom type of thing. I'm not some kind of savage who'd jerk in front of a webcam, even one that's off. You never know what type of pervert could be watching through it." 

She turns to the camera, eyes narrowing, then she promptly flips it off causing my smile to grow. 

Ah. This is the start of a beautiful partnership.