1.19 Ascendance Part 2

Leo wastes no time as the black-clad Adonis comes crashing through Joan’s bedroom wall. With one swift motion born of inhumanly good reflexes and battle-honed instincts, he summons Reinkal to his hand as he aims the halberd at the intruder.

Still charged from the mop-up after the battle with Apocalypse, Leo fires off a beam of black energy at the hostile parahuman.

These people are dangerous and mean business.

They just casually killed Abigail. We can’t risk them doing the same to Joan or us.

And we have to take things extra seriously with that woman involved.

The energy beam rips through the head of the parahuman and man topple over, his corpse falling forward with the head half gone.

Whatever his powers were, they weren’t enough to protect him from Reinkal.

With a single stride, Leo stabs Reinkal into the corpses to restore some of the power he just spent.

One down, four to go.

“D-did you just-” stutters Joan, not even finishing her sentence as she stares at Leo in shock.

“Yes,” replies Leo as he looks at the cameras and other sensors via his phone so he can track the other invaders.

One of them is a black haired woman with pale skin, most likely a Bellator. She can phrase through walls and fly.

Then we got Jane Smith in her black catsuit with a thin, tall, hunchback man with razor sharp one foot long claws instead of fingernails. Probably an Abnormal given those deformities. Given how he slew Abigail, he has long ranged invisible razor attacks. Capable of tearing through high level nigh invulnerability with pin point precision.

I doubt that is much width to such as an attack so dodging is still an option.

But looking at the footage, he seems to have some good reflexes. Definitely superhuman and most likely superior to our own.

That is a problem.

And the last guy?

Tinker or Gadgeteer with power armour and a large variety of equipment.

Could be worse.

We still don’t know the full extent of their powers.

True.

We must be wary.

“Follow me Joan,” whispers Leo, “Take your phone out and use the camera function.”

“How do-oh, Ceta has got it,” replies Joan as she begins to pull out her phone, “She is going to use the nano-bots in me to give me HUD.”

“Good idea,” agrees Leo as he pulls out some modified sunglasses that will give him a HUD of his own, “Give me a moment.”

Moving swiftly since he doubts they will have much longer, Leo heads over to Joan’s bed and pulls out a emergency utility belt that he has stored away along with a couple of handguns with Hunter bullets.

Maybe I am paranoid, but I’m sure glad I’ve prepared for a situation like this.

It isn’t paranoia is they really are out to get you.

Damn right.

“Here,” says Leo as he tosses a handgun to Joan, giving the other for himself as he places Reinkal down for the time being.

I can also summon it again later. This way I get a surprise weapon up my sleeve in addition to having additional hand free.

As he spots the Abnormal stop moving on the floor below him and begin to raise his hand upwards, Leo quickly steps back. He barely moves out of the way in time to avoid the Abnormal using an invisible ranged attack to tear a hold through floor.

The Abnormal points a finger at Leo and smirks even as Leo aims his pistol. But while he doesn’t vaguely feel some mental discomfit and his emotional state heighten, Leo is unaffected by whatever the Abnormal is trying to do.

Idiot doesn’t realise that we are immune to mental attacks.

He doesn’t give the Abnormal a chance to realise his mistake before firing off a single shot. The Hunter round lodges itself within the Abnormal’s skull and explodes a split-second later, taking most of the head off in the process.

Did you see him begin to regenerate before the Hunter round went off?

That would have been troublesome.

Good thing we used explosive rounds.

Leo glances as the ammo counter on his HUD. The number has gone down from twelve to eleven.

It feels like I am in a video game. Despite everything I’ve done in Gears.

Probably because things like this aren’t supposed to happen to us while we are home and when we do things like this, we’re supposed to have our power armour on.

True. Somehow the compromise of having some gadgets rather than having all of them or none of them just makes this feel less real.

“*&%£ you $%@#ing *&@#%£$!” screams a woman and Leo turns around just in time to the black-haired phrasing woman phrases straight through the floor and into Leo before he can do anything.

As he feels a sudden surge of agony and stress, Leo staggers backwards, clutching his head before toppling over.

“Leo!” shrieks Joan, but Leo can’t hear. 

1.19 Ascendance Part 1

“Come on Leo,” says Joan with a rush of joy in her voice as she pulls him down the corridor.

Leo doesn’t resist as his girlfriend pulls him along, just going along with whatever she wants from him.

It’s the least I can do. I don’t think I’ve been a good boyfriend to Joan lately.

We have been rather busy these last few days as Gears.

And as a result, we have been neglecting Joan.

At least we spent time with her last night.

But even then I can’t shake the feeling we left her feeling disappointed.

Probably because of how we ignore her new appearance and body shape when she has wanted them for almost as long as we have known her.

We can’t help that. We just really don’t care about those sort of things.

I know and so does Joan. And that just makes things worse.

Yeah.            

“So what are we going to do dear?” asks Leo as Joan heads towards her room.

“Well,” says Joan excitedly, “With Dad, Bree, Iris and Marcy out at work, our Mums starting their new business together and Allison, Legacy and Bel hanging out together, I think this is the perfect time for us to have some time together as a couple. We can watch a romantic movie or something up in my room whilst we snuggle together. One of Abby’s dups will the only other person in the house.”

“Sounds good,” replies Leo.

“Really?” asks Joan as they enter her room, “You’re not just saying that are you?”

“No,” answers Leo firmly, “If I’m honest with myself, I haven’t been spending as much time with you as I should be. Recently, I’ve been too active as Gears to give you the proper time that you deserve.”

“Oh Leo,” replies Joan as she pulls him into a hug, wrapping her arms around his waist, “You don’t need to worry about that. I completely understand that you had more important things to deal with. I mean, I don’t expect you to abandon your teammates or let countless innocents die at the hands of monsters just so you can be with me. Frankly, after everything you have done for me over these last two years and a half, I’m not exactly going to complain that you spent a few days saving the world.”

“I knew you would be understanding,” says Leo as he smiles down at Joan.

“You bet I am,” replies Joan as she grins back at him, “Honestly Leo, I’m certain you don’t even begin to understand how many brownie points you have built up with me.”

“Apparently not,” replies Leo before letting out a laugh, “Come on dear, let’s go and pick out that movie.

***

Joan sighs internally as she follows Leo into her bedroom.

Despite possibly being the smartest person on the planet, Leo can so dense at time. He may be a total genius and all, but he can really suck when it comes to relationships at times.

Joan glances down at her new assets on her chest and gives them a slight squeezes with her arms as she crosses her arms over her chest.

“Are you okay?” asks Leo, glancing back over his shoulder at her.

“Yeah,” replies Joan, “Just getting annoyed at the major difference between my super high libido and your superpowered total lack of it.”

I bet most girls would have to worry about getting boys to look them in eyes rather than in chest and yet here I am struggling to get my boyfriend to even glance at my breasts. This is so frustrating and worst part of it is that I am the one that has changed, not Leo.

“Sorry,” apologies Leo, “Romance is one of my weakest points.”

“The only thing that you are worst at is being a jerk,” jokes Joan as she closes the door behind her.

“I can be one if I want to,” protests Leo and Joan just can’t tell if he is being serious or just joking about like she is, “I just don’t see the point. What is the benefit of being mean to people anyway?”

“Satisfaction?” guesses Joan.

“What sort of person gets satisfaction from treating others badly?” counters Leo, “I just don’t get why somebody would be mean. For starters, it is impractical and counterproductive in the long run.”

“I totally agree with you on that one,” agrees Joan, “So what movie do you want watch?”

“I thought you were picking dear,” replies Leo.

“While I suggested a romantic movie-what is wrong Leo?” asks Joan as she notices Leo suddenly go alert.

“Something isn’t right,” answers Leo sharply as he pulls out his smartphone, “Damn. A sphere of an unknown material has encased the building and the surrounding land and I have lost all outside contact. Including Jaylyn.”

“That is bad, very bad,” whispers Joan as Leo furiously taps away at his phone.

“I still got the local net-” starts Leo before going silent as they both hear Abby scream in pain, “Five parahuman intruders. Just took down the Abigail duplicate lethally. Led by our friend Jane Smith. Activating all local defences.”

Time to put my superhuman physique and Guardian’s combat training to use. I might not be as a good as a professional vigilante like Leo, but I can hold my own.

Just as Joan turns around to open the bedroom door, the wall next to it comes crashing inwards as large man comes barrelling through.

Interlude - Ragnarok

“You are a fool Ragnarok,” states Amaterasu as his second in command and newest member of the Harbingers stares at him.

The second strongest of the Dozen Harbingers of the End Times is the most curious of their number.

She has a four metre tall white ethereal body with four arms and four feathery wings. Her eyes are pure black and she has black electrical energy covering her entire body. A lightning blue crown is inbuilt in her head with a forehead pillar that has a red and blue gem in it.

Amaterasu, also known as the Fallen Angel, has electromagnetic powers as her primarily abilities in addition to being an A Class Brick according to the human ratings of this Earth.

Or a 7^th Grade Warrior by the ratings of her former people.

A small smile forms on Ragnarok’s face as he muses over that thought.

Ragnarok himself looks far more mundane than the Fallen Angel. Three metres tall, he looks like a mix of human bodybuilder and business man in a classy suit.

We are both reflective of our origins...

“Why do you smile?” demands Amaterasu, her powers flaring as she glowers at him.

“Do you remember what happened on the world of your people?” replies Ragnarok, answering a question with another question as is usual for him, “In particular the fate of your predecessor?”

“Of course I do,” snap Amaterasu.

“Then it should be obvious why we restrain ourselves,” says Ragnarok simply.

“This world is nothing compared to my own!” snarls Amaterasu angrily, electricity pooling in her fists as she clenches them, “These primitive monkeys are nought when stood up against what my people were!”

“And yet your people are no more,” retorts Ragnarok, “Their world, their nations, their legends, their gods and their greatest accomplishments are gone with nothing remaining. What does that say?”

“Then why didn’t we stay to see that with our own eyes,” sneers Amaterasu, “Or is there a reason we fled with our tails between our legs before we could receive such evidence?”

“Don’t question me!” shouts Ragnarok, his patience beginning to fray as this topic comes up once again, “We both know how this goes. Amaterasu, just admit it. He is no more.”

Rather than responding with words, Amaterasu hurls a massive barrage of untamed lightning at Ragnarok, who simply ignores it as his power nullifies all supernatural power around him.

“The Honourless Hero was not my equal,” drawls Ragnarok as Amaterasu pants with rage.

“You’re right,” agrees Amaterasu as she starts to calm down, “He isn’t your equal. He is far greater than you can possible hope to aspire to.”

“Do not taunt me!” warns Ragnarok as he gets to his feet.

“I do nought, but speak the truth,” says Amaterasu in a calm and gentle voice, “I shall enter our current world. Do not try and stop me.”

“It isn’t your turn yet,” Ragnarok warns her, but the Fallen Angel has already teleported to Earth.

Not willing to go to the effort of retrieving her, Ragnarok sits back down.

She really knows how to irk me. A shame that she still holds to that false belief that not all of her people were destroyed. Her power and martial prowess are near perfect. Still time should break that troublesome spirit of hers. It has broken all of the others.

And yet she has found loyal followers in Behemoth and Leviathan. They are loyal to her just as Armageddon and Apocalypse are loyal to me. The rest of us are undecided and will simply follow the strongest and victorious.

Perhaps recruiting Amaterasu was a mistake after all. No matter. If she proves too troublesome, I will crush her personally. She couldn’t best him and he is certainly not my equal.

...

And I’m definitely more powerful than he is. More skilled too. And more experienced.

1.18 Family Part 8

“Here we are!” declares Mum as Leo steps out of the car.

The trip to the Fowler Mansion feel surreal to Leo. Dad driving with Mum in the passenger seat as he and Belinda were sat in the back. It just... well, so normal despite all of the obvious oddities.

It feels like a long time since we had normal.

Indeed. We don’t bat an eye at weirdness and yet, it is the normal and mundane things of life that catch us off-guard.

That about sums it up.

Sadly.

“I’ve been here before Mum,” says Leo as he gets out of the car and holds the door open for his sister, “Probably more times than you.”

“I been here a lot too,” mutters Belinda as she gets out of the car, “Sort of.”

Leo gives his twin a sympathetic look.

I know all too well what it is like to have your life turned upside down with everything being different, yet also the same all at the same time.

Yes, we do.

As do Legacy and Allison.

Not to mention Joan.

We know plenty of messed up people.

As if we have any right to talk.

Yeah.

Besides, most of them aren’t actually messed up themselves, they just have messed up pasts.

“Just think of everybody as being the twin of the person you know with the same name,” says Leo as he closes the car door in an attempt to give Belinda some advice.

“I’m already doing that,” replies Belinda sullenly, “But thanks anyway.”

“Do Legacy and Jaylyn have counterparts in your universe?” asks Leo as he decides to take a different approach to cheering up his sister.

“Well, no,” admits Belinda as she looks over at Leo, “I never built Jaylyn because I’m not a Gadgeteer like you and from what I’ve been told, there is only one Guardian in the multiverse and Legacy isn’t native so it makes sense that she would have a counterpart in my world.”

“So befriend them if you don’t want to hang out with people who look the ones who have at home,” says Leo, “Legacy is a good friend. Just ask Joan about that. And Jaylyn will be thrilled to hang out with you.”

“I suppose,” grumbles Belinda.

Okay, this method of cheering her up isn’t going to work.

Let’s try being blunt then.

“Hey sis,” says Leo, taking Lion’s advice, “I know you got the whole ‘forcible and involuntarily yanked out of your home universe and are now surrounded by strangers who look and act like the people you know except when they don’t’ vibe going for you, but while I am working on ways to get you home, I can’t guarantee you that it will happen anytime soon. So therefore I strongly recommend that you try and build a life here as best as you can. And you can start by accepting what family you have here.”

Belinda stares at him, stunned by directness while Mum and Dad just hang back and watch from afar.

“Now let’s get going,” says Leo as he strides past Belinda, “The Fowlers will be waiting and I know for certain that Joan is looking forward to seeing the two of us Bel.”

***

“They’re here,” says Bree as she enters Joan’s room mere minutes after leaving.

“Really?” asks Joan eagerly even though she is certain of the answer.

“Yep, Leonard, his parents and some girl I haven’t met,” replies Bree as Joan runs over to the mirror.

“If she is a blonde Aphrodite, it will be Belinda,” points out Joan as she looks at herself in the mirror.

Showing off her new curves is a green silk dress with sleeves that reach down to her elbows and a skirt that does just past her knees. A darker green ribbon is wrapped around the waist of her dress with a cute little bow.

“Right, I forgot about her,” admits Bree.

“Well, she is new and pretty much appeared out of nowhere,” says Joan as she turns around with a slight twirl, “Quite literally. Now let’s get down stairs.”

“Right,” agree Bree and in a flash, she steps forward and touches Joan before teleporting them both of them downstairs into the entrance hall.

“Was that really necessary?” asks Joan as she gets her bearings straight.

“It just seemed more convenient,” replies Bree with an indifferent shrug, “Honestly, I think it would have taken me more effort to do it the old fashion way. Huh, I can hear them talking from back here.”

“What are they saying?” asks Joan eagerly.

“Mostly just Leonard trying to cheer up Belinda,” answers Bree, “Nothing of interest. They are just approaching the front doors now.”

“Great!” exclaims Joan as she darts towards the doors in question.

Joan pulls one of the doors open just as the Gearys are coming up the steps. With the exception of Leo, they look surprised to see her.

Or at least my new appearance. I’m sure Mum told them about Bree’s powers, but they probably didn’t know that Bree used her powers on me. Except for Leo. Jaylyn would have told him.

“Hey Leo!” shouts Joan as she waves at him, “Look at me!”

While he does look at her, Leo gives her that look rather than that look, much to her disappointment. Which is to say, Leo gives her an analytical look rather than one of appreciation.

Dang it.

1.18 Family Part 7

“You know more than one AI?” Bree asks Joan and Joan sighs in annoyance.

Gonna have to tell Bree about Jaylyn now. Just great Mum, just great. I wonder how Bree will react to finding out that she is an aunt now.

“Well,” says Joan slowly, drawing out the word in her reluctance, “When Leo first got his powers, they were overcharged. Because of that, he sort of built an AI. She is basically a little girl and her name is Jaylyn Geary because she considers Leo to be her father because he is her creator.”

“Wow,” says Bree blankly, once again catch off-guard by a revelation, “Just wow.”

“Why don’t you tell your sister about Jaylyn’s mother Joan,” says Mum with an innocent face as Joan glares at her.

“Wait, this AI has a mum?” asks Bree, “I thought it was built by Leo.”

At Bree calling her daughter an it, Jaylyn stiffens in annoyance at the insult to Jaylyn’s humanity, frowning at her sister silently.

“Well Breanne,” says their mother as she continues to keep a straight face about the whole affair, “Let’s just say that my expectations about you being the one to make me a grandparent were wrong.”

“What the £$%@!” exclaims Bree as she snaps around to face Joan superhumanly fast and grabs her sister using inhumanly quick reflexes, “You’re the mother of an AI?”

“Hey!” protests Joan in response to the violent motion that Bree grabbing her put her through.

“Sorry,” apologises Bree in a quieter voice before raising it again, “But that thing thinks you’re its mother?”

Joan slaps Bree.

“Don’t call her an it,” says Joan in a quiet, but angry voice as Bree stumbles backwards, clutching her face more out of shock rather than any actual pain, “Jaylyn might be an AI, but she is also my daughter and I will treat her as such. And I shall expect the same of you Bree.”

“Umm, sorry?” replies Bree as she takes another step away from Joan before turning and leaving the room.

Still furious with her older sister, Joan looks away from Bree as she leaves the room before stamping angrily as she lets out a wordless noise of rage.

Mum just sighs as she gets out of her seat.

“Hold this dear,” says Mum as she hands her empty cup of tea to Joan as she walks past her, “I’ll speak to Bree. I’ll explain the situation to her so she’ll understand it better.”

“Okay,” mutters Joan quietly as her mother walks out of the way using the same exit as Bree.

With a weary and angry sigh, Joan decides to head to kitchen to wash up the teacup in her hand.

It isn’t like I have anything better to do.

***

“Bye!” says Joan before logging out of Eldrim Online.

With a sigh, she removes the virtual reality helmet from her head and places down beside her. Joan sits upright from where she is lying on her bed and glances at the time.

Leo and his family should be getting here anytime now.

“Hey Joan,” says Bree and Joan looks up to see her older sister in the doorway to her room, leaning against the frame, “Can we talk?”

Joan hesitates. She really doesn’t want to talk with Bree after their incident earlier in the day, but at the same time, she also wishes to resolve things with her sister.

“Sure,” replies Joan after a moment and Bree swiftly strides into the room and sits down on the bed next to Joan, moving so fast that Joan can barely see her even with her own inhumanly good senses.

“So, Joan, I’m-I’ve spoken to Mum about Jaylyn after our falling out,” says Bree as she fidgets, not looking at Joan, “I’ve also spoken with Jaylyn herself. Plus I had a chat with Alison and Abby. Dad as well and well, I sorted of realised that I was wrong. You know, about calling Jaylyn an it and not treating as a real person. Something I particularly realised after actually speaking with her. In her case at least, Jaylyn is actually a person. Which makes senses when you remember that she was built due to Gadgeteer powers. So, you know, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, don’t worry sis,” says Joan as she wraps her arms around Bree, relieved to have the situation sorted out so quickly and easily, “I forgive you! Will you forgive me for slapping you?”

“Of course Joan,” replies Bree as she hugs Joan back, “You didn’t really hurt me anyway. I was more stunned by what you did more than anything else.”

“I know,” mutters Joan under her breath, “You have no idea how annoying it is. I know I shouldn’t complain given my state a few months ago, especially since I now outmatch any normal person. But it is still super frustrating that while I am superior to any normal person, I am still helpless when compared against my family. I am even the only one without a famous and successful career in addition to not having any superpowers! Heh.”

“Yeah, I can see how that is frustrating,” says Bree soothingly as she gives Joan a friendly squeeze, “On the bright side, you are probably better set up for a happy and successful life than any of us were at your age.”

“True,” whispers Joan in agreement, “I do have Leo and Jaylyn.”

“That’s the spirit!” says Bree encouragingly as she gets up, hauling Joan to her feet, “Now let’s go and get ready for the Gearys. They’ll be arriving anytime now.”

1.18 Family Part 6

“You can change her back right?” inquires their mother.

“Yes,” replies Bree as she checks her body, Joan’s body, whosever body, out, “I’ll do that in just a moment. I’ll give Joan a chance to try out my body.”

“Mhmm,” mutters their mother silently as she puts her cup of tea down before speaking up, “I was speaking to Danica earlier about her manifestation.”

“Leo’s mum?” says Joan with Bree’s voice and body, “Wow, that felt weird.”

“Anyway,” says their mother, “It ended up with me inviting Danica and her family over. I felt it would be a good opportunity for our families to get to know each other. Especially they have just added Belinda to their ranks and both Breanne and Danica have manifested.”

“When are they coming?” demands Joan as she darts over to their mum and sticks her face in her mum’s, catching her mother completely off-guard.

“Settle down dear,” says Mum as she recomposes herself, “The Gearys will be coming for dinner so they’ll spend the evening here.”

“Don’t worry Joan,” says Bree, using Joan’s body again, “You’ll have plenty of time to spend with your boyfriend.”

“I want to spend time with-oh that is just weird,” starts Joan before being creeped out by hearing her words said with her sister’s voice, “Hey Bree, turn me back now please.”

“As you wish,” says Bree and Joan feels her body tingle as it returns to its normal self.

Wait a moment...Bree left my breast another cup bigger. I know because I’ve been keeping track of their size since Bree improved them yesterday.

“Hey Bree...” says Joan, her voice trailing off as she isn’t sure how to phrase her question.

“If you’re wondering why you are a C cup rather than a B, it is because I know about your perverted thoughts from overhearing you checking yourself out last night,” explains Bree.

“It-it isn’t my fault,” protests Joan as she blushes at being called a pervert, “I have a naturally high libido and you only increased it when you improved my body last night.”

“So you’re not even denying it,” muses Bree with amusement in her voice, “Just justifying it. Don’t sis, I won’t judge you.”

“Can we stop this now?” groans Joan.

“Sure,” replies Bree, not using Joan’s mouth, but her own as the green dress morphs back into Breanne Fowler.

Joan goes red as her sister appears in front of her as Bree has left her only in her underwear.

“Bree!” exclaims Joan as she attempts to cover herself, “Don’t just leave me in my undies!”

“Sorry Joan,” replies Bree as she attempts to smother a laugh, “I didn’t-it didn’t occur to me that turning back would leave you with nothing on. Besides, wouldn’t a pervert like you not mind being in their underwear?”

“Stop calling me a pervert!” yells Joan as she grabs a hold of Bree.

As she catches her big sister off guard, Joan uses her skills, knowledge and what is now an inhumanly good body to toss Bree over her shoulder and into the floor behind her before pinning the stunned Bree to the ground.

“Holy %$£@!” exclaims Bree as Joan grins smugly as she gazes down at her big sister, “How the hell did you learn to do something like that?”

“My best friend is Guardian,” explains Joan dryly with her smugness clear for all to see as Bree uses her superpowers to break free of Joan, “Fighting and technology are her two main things. You can’t hang out with her for a long period of time without picking up a thing or two. Besides, I got her to give me some training so I am capable of defending myself.”

“You’re best friends with Guardian?” asks Bree blankly, “How on Earth did that happen?”

“Don’t change the subject,” retorts Joan as she and Bree both get up, “I’m still in my underwear.”

“Oh yeah,” says Bree, sounding confused as she reaches out to Joan and touches her.

A pink t-shirt and brown trousers grow out of Joan’s bra and pants respectively before splitting off so that Joan has both proper clothing in addition to her underwear.

“To answer your question, Guardian and I have been friends ever since she saved me from Darkness,” says Joan as she answers Bree’s original question, “It turns out that Guardian considers saving someone’s life good grounds to start a friendship. Of course it helps that she was Gears’ partner and my boyfriend was secretly Gears. And since I didn’t have any friends outside of Leo at the time, I wasn’t in a position to be picky about who I was friends with. Anyway, I’m glad that Guardian and I are friends. She has been nothing, but kind, caring and helpful to me. You know Eldrim?”

“Yeah,” replies Bree with a nod.

“Well, Guardian make that virtual game solely because I asked her to,” continues Joan with a giggle, “She even let me pick the genre and type of the game.”

“Guardian sounds like one good friend,” says Bree.

“Oh she is,” agrees Joan with a happy smile.

“So sis,” says Bree as she changes the subject, “How come you were able to throw me like that? I know you have skills and training by Guardian, but I could tell you were stronger and faster than a normal person during that throw.”

“Oh yeah,” replies Joan with a dismissive wave of her hand, “That is easy to explain. First of all, when I got properly healed, Ceta also increased me physically. Sort of like supersoldier boosts in a manner of speaking. Weak, low level ones. Combined that with Abby’s boosts and I was at lower higher Bellator levels. Even though I was and still am just a normal person. So when you used your powers to improve me last night, it boosted me even further. So now I am basically an A Class Bellator according to Ceta.”

“Who is Ceta?” inquires Bree.

“An alien AI,” explains Joan, “Basically Guardian’s equivalent to a parahuman’s Companion.”

“Oh,” mutters Bree, now sounding worried, “But isn’t an AI on the loose a little dangerous? Hasn’t Guardian watched any movies?”

“Actually she hadn’t watched any before I introduced her to them,” admits Joan thoughtfully, “Anyway, Ceta is an alien AI. You can’t define her the same you would a human or a human created machine.”

“Besides, Ceta isn’t the only AI that Joan is close to,” says their mother with a sly grin as Joan flushes red, “Or even the closest one for that matter.”

1.18 Family Part 5

“That is your response?” inquires Ceta, the AI appearing to be surprised and Legacy takes some pleasure at the fact she caught Ceta off guard.

“Yes,” answers Legacy smugly.

“I just revealed why you shouldn’t focus on what could be considered your past life,” says Ceta as she stops pacing and looks Legacy in the eye, “And your reaction to decided that you want to learn how to dance?”

“As you said, it is pointless to focus on the person I used to be when nothing of that person remains within me,” replies Legacy, deciding to explain her response to what Ceta told her, “If anything, my only attachment is my enjoyment of dancing. As of such, I should avoid dwelling on what I used to be and instead focus on the one thing I have retained from that life.”

“That is a good approach,” agrees Ceta, “And while I won’t tell you about Charity Hector all at once, it will tell you about her over time. David too. You will enjoy learning about him and I wish you could have met David. Hmm, I suppose you could consider David to be your father Legacy. David Stark, father of Legacy of Guardian and Legacy of Guardian, daughter of David Stark. Yes, that sounds right.”

“That does have a nice ring to it,” agrees Legacy, smiling to herself, “David is my father, Scott is my uncle, Leo is my brother and Jaylyn in my niece. Allison can be my sister if she wants. But where does that leave you?”

“You’re wondering what our relationship is?” inquires Ceta and Legacy nods her confirmation, “Hmm, I suppose you could call me your mother. After all, it was I that made you from what little remained of Charity Hector.”

Legacy ponders that idea...for a split second. Almost instantly, Legacy decides to embrace her mother and pulls Ceta into a hug.

“Hmm,” Ceta hums quietly as she hugs Legacy back, “I had a few children before in my long lifetime. I loved every single one dearly and I expected this time to be no different my darling daughter.”

***

“Wow,” mutters Joan as she turns around in the middle of her home’s living room as her mother looks on as she sips tea from a comfy armchair.

Joan is wearing nought, but a forest green dress with her white underwear beneath. The dress has short sleeves, a tight bodice and a loose, flowing skirt that does down to her ankles.

And her dress is actually her sister Breanne.

When Bree asked Joan to help her test her new powers, Joan was more than willing to help out.

I enjoy exploring the powers of others. Just because I don’t have any of my own shouldn’t mean I can’t enjoy other people’s powers.

Suddenly Joan feels her body tingle and begin to move on its own.

Okay, don’t panic. It is probably just Bree and I trust my sister.

“Whoa,” says Joan’s voice from her mouth, but without Joan being the one that is actually speaking, “Sorry Joan. I didn’t realise I could do this.”

“Are you controlling your sister Breanne?” inquires their mother.

“Not intentionally,” replies Bree, still using Joan’s body, “Could just sort of sense her whilst she was wearing me the same way I sense things that I wear and I just wondered what would happen if I try to control the same way I control my clothing. And, well, I just took control of her body.”

But not my mind. Still, it feels weird just having your body move and your voice talk without you being the one behind them. I wouldn’t say I hate that feeling, but I do rather dislike it.

“I wonder if...” Bree starts to say before flushing with embarrassment, “I suppose I should let Joan control her body again.”

“Considering it is her own body, yes you should,” their mother agrees with Bree.

“Umm, sorry about taking over your body Joan,” says Bree and Joan feels her body returning to her own control a movement later.

While she does experience that moment of unsteadiness, Joan has felt it many times in the past as of such, she doesn’t stumble this time unlike the many other times when she regained control of her body.

“Don’t worry Bree,” says Joan as she rolls her shoulders, “The whole reason we are doing this is to find out what you can do with your powers. Speaking of which, I have a theory about how your shapeshifting works if you would like to hear it.”

“Go ahead,” says Bree, temporarily using Joan’s voice and mouth again.

“Well, I think that you don’t actually turn into an inanimate object,” says Joan, “Just a pseudo-inanimate object. So while you appear to be one, you aren’t actually one in a technical sense consider how you are still sort of animate and sentient. That is my first theory about your shapeshifting. The second is that your shapeshifting extends to whatever is in contact with you at the time. So when you’re in a human form, it includes clothing and other items such as jewellery and gadgets. And when you are being worn, you can change and manipulate whoever is wearing you along with anything else that may be touching you, like other clothing. You can try changing me if you want Bree.”

“Since you’re letting me...” says Bree using Joan’s voice and a moment later, Joan feels her body tingling all over as it changes.

She grows taller, her hair becomes longer, her body restructures itself and, to Joan’s great delight, her breasts grow larger as Bree reshapes Joan’s body into a copy of her own.

Oh my. I just want to grope one of these big delicious boobies. But that would be wrong because while this is technically my body, it is basically Bree’s. And I will treat my sister and her body with respect.

It doesn’t matter anyway because Bree is the one in control right now.

It could ask her to increase the boob size of my normal body, but that would just be vain. And if I was the vain type, well, I would already have gotten myself a better body.