The Protagonist System

Let's do this. I thought and chose the 'skip unconsciousness' option and resumed the world.

The world faded in around me and I found myself on a hospital bed in a private room. I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was the startled face of a mousy brunette with curly hair. She also wore heavy white robes and looked really tired.

“I've died and gone to heaven, for I see a beautiful angel before me.” I said as I stared into her eyes.

Amy Dallon blinked those eyes several times and then blushed. “You actually believe that.”

I glanced down at her hand touching my bulging bicep and back up to her face. “I don't let just anyone touch my voluptuous body, Miss Dallon.”

Amy looked surprised and then let out a soft snort. “Women are voluptuous, Mister Veder. Men are well built or stocky.”

I had to smile at that and looked down at her chest, her robe hiding almost everything, and I looked back at her face. “I humbly request more proof of that concept, Miss Dallon.”

Amy laughed and shook her head. “At least you're feeling better. You had a lot of nasty things in your system after being in that locker.”

I raised my eyebrows at that. “How did you know about... no, wait. Who got me out?”

The door of the room opened and I couldn't see who it was.

“You got yourself out, about half an hour after Sophia Hess locked you in there.” A male voice said from behind Amy. “A few of the students skipped class to keep recording the locker with their cell phones.”

“To see how long I'd last before going crazy?” I asked.

“No, to record that you died in there.” The man said and stepped into view to stand beside Amy. He wore a Parahuman Response Team uniform and had several file folders in his hands. “They were all shocked when your body expanded to what it is now and busted the locker door right off the hinges.”

“Oh.” I said and Amy's face showed sympathy, because no one had tried to help me.

“Miss Dallon?” The man asked and she nodded slowly. “Thank you for the confirmation.”

Amy sighed. “It's not like you needed it. He's pretty much all over the news and ParaHumansOnline, so everyone already knows he's a cape.”

“Don't worry about that.” I said and they both looked at me. “I wanted to get a haircut today and no one will recognize me without the bowl cut.”

Amy looked surprised for a moment, then her hand gripped my bicep as she let out a soft laugh. “You really do believe that.”

“Yeah, no one I know has ever looked past what they can see or bothered to get to know me, so why should I put any effort into how I look? It wouldn't make any difference.” I said and then huffed. “Then again, it will now.”

Amy nodded and left her hand on me, probably to keep being a living lie detector.

“Being publicly outed isn't going to be good for you.” The PRT officer said. “Or your family.”

Amy's eyes narrowed at the man. “Excuse me?”

The man coughed and looked embarrassed. “I meant to say his parents aren't capes and they can't protect him and handle the gangs like your family can.”

“Gangs?” I asked, just to keep the conversation from going where I knew it was going to go.

“You were a born and bred blond-haired white boy before today, Mister Veder. Now you're about a foot taller, muscular, and have unknown powers. The Empire 88 will come after you to recruit you with both your trigger event and your identity going public.” The PRT officer said. “On the plus side, I doubt the other gangs will make a play for you before the Empire does.”

I had to think about that. “Why would Lung try to recruit me? He only takes in Asians.”

“You're a cape.” The man said and didn't elaborate.

I glanced at Amy and she gave a little shrug of her shoulders. “Okay. Why would the Merchants want me? If I'm what you just said, a good ol' white boy, I wouldn't fit in at all.”

“They'll get you addicted to...”

“No, his body isn't affected by them.” Amy cut him off. “Even the knock out drugs in the saline solution aren't working on him. It's why he's awake.”

“So, that's why you were startled when I woke up.” I said and she nodded. “I'm sorry about that. I'll pretend to stay asleep in the future and you can feel me up without me disturbing you.”

Amy made a sputtering sound and her face went red. She didn't let my arm go, so she totally knew I was telling her the truth. I would pretend to sleep if she wanted to feel me up.

The man let out a sigh. “If you can stop flirting with the healer, we can move on with the interview.”

“Wait, that was considered flirting? I thought I was making a pass at her.” I said, being completely honest, and Amy's blush burned brightly. “I think I need to work on my seduction game if that was only flirting.”

“No, you don't.” Amy whispered and I smiled.

The PRT officer opened the top file folder and clicked a pen. “I already have other witness statements. Can you tell me, in your own words, what happened this morning?”

“Just this morning or the whole build-up to it?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” The man asked.

“Well, this was just the top of the shit pile that Sophia, Emma, and Madison have been dumping onto Taylor for the last year and a half, ever since high school started.” I said and then explained everything.

Some of it I had seen personally, thanks to Greg's memories, and I included myself being bullied to leave Taylor alone and to not snitch about her bullies. I still did, reporting it to both the teachers and the principal, and they ignored me and I was beaten up more. Taylor never knew and when I had tried to talk to her, she ignored me.

Today had been the culmination of everything, the three girls had tried to kill her, and I couldn't let that happen. I rushed in and pushed her put of the way, just as Sophia lunged to push her in. Since I was there instead, I was shoved into the locker and locked in... and left there.

Both Amy and the PRT officer stared at me with disbelief on their faces. It took them several moments before they blinked and visibly shook themselves.

The man wrote down a few more things and gave me a pointed look. “Are you claiming the girl you saved didn't try to save you in return?”

“I was unconscious at the time, so I'll have to look at the footage you said several people posted online.” I answered and he wrote that down. “I'm sure Sophia wasn't too happy about me ruining their murder attempt. Then again, she caused my trigger and would have caused Taylor's. She definitely knew what she was doing.”

Amy still had her hand on my arm and she knew I had spoken the truth the whole time. She nodded at the PRT officer and he wrote that down, too. Her hand moved slightly to almost pet my arm before it settled again.

I was asked a few more questions, mostly to clarify what I had already told the officer and to give a few more details. Of course, he questioned how I could give him so much information after I had such a traumatic event, and I recited his badge number, the serial number on the pen he held, and that Amy's hood was starting to fray and a single thread had let go near the upper right side by her face.

My words surprised them enough that they backed off and checked what I mentioned, confirmed they were true, and Amy pulled the loose thread out. She put her hand back on my arm and let out a quiet sigh.

“Normally, one of the Protectorate capes would be here to give you the recruitment speech...” The PRT officer started to say.

“No, thanks.” I said and he looked surprised.

“Mister Veder, I assure you that the PRT are fully experienced with providing a save environment and can protect your family.” The man said.

“It's too bad Amy's not touching you to confirm how big of a lie that was.” I said and the man's mouth snapped shut. “Do you really think the PRT are going to babysit my parents at their jobs? At our home when we're asleep? When we go out to eat on the weekends? When I'm at school? All day, every day, to stop any and all threats against us?”

The PRT officer tried to not let the questions get to him. I didn't say anything else and just stared at him without blinking. He broke first about 30 seconds later and let out a sigh.

“We don't have the budget for that.” He admitted.

“Then you have to sequester them, right? They'll lose their jobs because they can't go to work and compromise their security. Then what? Keep them? For how long?” I asked and he didn't answer. “Your own argument for me to join up stops me from joining up. You can't protect them and lying about it doesn't help you convince me.”

The man closed the folder and tucked it and the others he had under his arm. “We will contact you later about the investigation and how things turn out.”

That wording rang an alarm bell in my head. “Did you just tell me you are not going to arrest the girl that accidentally tried to murder me while trying to murder someone else and failed, Mister PRT officer that I know your badge number and name? Sir?”

The man opened his mouth, closed it, then he did an about face and left the room at a fast walk without answering. Amy stared at the closed door for several seconds, probably too stunned by what happened to react.

“At least I have an angel as a witness.” I commented and Amy turned back to show me the shock on her face. “That was pretty heavy handed of him, wasn't it?”

Amy just kept staring at me and looked like she didn't know what to say.

“I've always wondered if New Wave was a family only thing or can any cape join up if they choose to reveal their identity and accept public accountability?” I asked her.

Amy's mouth dropped open and no words came out.

“Can I get Photon Mom's phone number from you? She's the team leader, isn't she? I wonder if there's an application form I have to fill out. Maybe a face-to-face meeting instead or after that. I'll need a costume that fits in with the rest of the team if I'm accepted, too. Do they still do full patrols or is it just Vicky and Laserdream?” I asked her.

Amy just kept staring at me with her mouth hanging open.

“GREG!” My mother's voice yelled as the door burst open and she rushed into the room. Surprisingly, she didn't shove the still stunned Amy out of the way and went around the bed to almost lay on top of me to hug me as she cried. “My poor baby!”

I used my free hand to pat her back. “It's okay, mom. Thanks to Panacea, I'm okay.”

She lifted her tear-streaked face from my chest and looked at Amy. “Thank you for helping my boy, Panacea. You're a godsend.”

Amy finally closed her mouth and nodded. “You're welcome.” She said and took her hand away from my arm. “I should leave and give you some privacy.”

I reached out and took her hand to stop her and her eyes widened. “At least give me your number so I can call you later about joining up.”

Amy closed her eyes for a moment and nodded, because she knew I was being serious about it. I was an outed cape and I didn't have a lot of options. She let my hand go and pulled out a tiny crumpled notepad from under her robes and wrote out her number. She tore the small page off and handed it to me.

“I should be out by tonight and I'll call you tomorrow. What time is good for you?” I asked and she looked surprised that I asked.

Amy let out a sigh and took the paper back and wrote a few things on it. She gave it back to me and glanced at my cuddling and crying mom. Her face showed envy before she could stop it and then she walked towards the door. She opened it and glanced back, just like I knew she would, so I awkwardly waved at her to make her smile. She did and shook her head as she left and shut the door behind her.

I consoled my mother for quite a while and she asked about what happened. I told her and that I had powers because of it. That didn't reassure her and she cried harder. She had lived in Brockton Bay her whole life and knew what the cape scene was all about. With me as one of them, our lives were going to change.

*

Max Anders, aka the villain known as Kaiser that ran the Empire 88, sat at his desk in the Medhall building and watched the video clip again. His gang owned a full quarter of the city in an iron grip and he hated that they were known as the neo-Nazi gang that terrorized the city's minorities and bred fear and bigotry. He wasn't going to give up what worked, even if he didn't believe his own rhetoric.

He picked up his phone and called one of his trusted lieutenants. “Hello, Brad. Yes, it's about that.” He said and listened. “No, we should give him a day or two after he's released from the hospital. Let him think we aren't coming for him.”

There was a little rant from the other end of the line and he chuckled.

“Take Rune with you if you want. Tell her to go for the soft sell at first. If the boy refuses, let your blades out near his mother and he'll come around to our way of thinking.” Max said. “If not, then only near his mother will not be close enough.” He paused and nodded at the response. “I'm glad you understand. I'll leave it to you to handle it.”

Max hung up the phone and started the video again. He saw the scrawny kid going into the locker and jumped ahead and saw his body bust out without even using his hands. His body alone had freed him, which gave him a Brute rating of 3 at least. Yes, Max could use more impressive muscle in the Empire and just hoped this Greg Veder wasn't as simple-minded as his other brutes.

*

I made it home after my mother very reluctantly signed me out of the hospital. I had only convinced her because I had promised to stay in bed for the rest of the day and wouldn't leave her sight. So, that's where I was, back in my bed, in my room, and I stared up at the ceiling.

The bed was surprisingly comfortable and I went over in my head what had happened to me. I had blamed myself for choosing to come here and causing myself problems, only it wasn't really my fault. How was I supposed to know the method of insertion my system used would conflict with whatever it was that cut this section of the multiverse off? I wasn't omnipotent.

Then again, now that I had encountered it, maybe my system wouldn't be hampered by such things in the future. There was no popup or anything confirming that, so my revelation wasn't really noteworthy, and then I felt a reassuring presence in my mind.

Ah, they're working on it. Good to know. I thought and that feeling faded away.

I looked around my room and didn't see my backpack. I sighed, because it could have been left in the locker, cut off and tossed in the garbage, or collected for evidence. With the way that PRT officer acted, I doubted the last one and suspected it was the second one. Why keep evidence of a crime they want to cover up? Sophia was one of theirs, after all.

I closed my eyes and thought about what I had to do, what I should do, and what I could forget about. There were so many things I could change in the story and almost none of it reached past the local level, thanks to Cauldron's experiment with cape feudalism and keeping nearly everything localized to the bay.

My eyes went to the clock and I picked up my cell phone. It was a crappy model, so I used a few powers on it to enhance it and made it better. It was stronger, more powerful, and had a phenomenal data rate. I had a while before the time that Amy said I could call her, so I laid back and closed my eyes again.

It was only my first day and I already encountered three pivotal capes that affected the story. Then again, I stopped one of them from becoming a cape and replaced them. It made me wonder why Taylor didn't try to get me out, so I opened my eyes and looked up the video on PHO. I watched myself become a cape and it was not that impressive.

In fact, I looked like a dork going in and a muscular and filthy dork coming out. Yeah, I am definitely cutting my hair tonight and changing out some of my clothes after watching that.