#because tmx angels only use their powers for murder

[salty-dracon]

stupid things my characters do with their powers

me: i’m learning redstone and i play logic games i guess

lily: cooks popcorn over her hand using her salt flame. also eggs and chicken. she also boils water and makes tea, though sometimes that doesn’t work out because her salt flame absorbs water

michy: yells at dogs and cats using her echolocation ability. jumps off buildings at night, goes ghost hunting

ares: turns into a crow and attempts to communicate with other crows. how do you do, fellow crow? 

venus: turns into a dog and tries to get people to pet him. if the dog catcher or pound guys show up he turns into a human while he’s in the cage. and then kills them. hey it’s their fault for kidnapping him

laurie: turns everyone in the room white or puts everyone in a dress. or fill the entire room with spikes and plays the floor is lava. sky’s the limit really

narcissa: spy on people. possess people. scare people. set entire acres of woodland on fire

damian: mostly killing a lot of people for no discernable reason and causing thunderstorms

august: turning into a big fucking dragon and invading people’s dreams as a big fucking dragon is pretty much the coolest thing about being a god

luke: keep antarctica frozen. freeze castles. freeze the world. freeze my toes in the middle of fucking october

giselle: not use them

flynn: cause people to question their faith in reality and the chemicals in their brains. for short periods of time, of course.

verona: unleashes stampedes of fluffy animals upon an unsuspecting populace

ivy: gives people cancer with the power of the sun. strangles them with the power of life. 

palea: leaves people to suffer in the cold. sends ravens to eat their live flesh. 

bridget: shake things in front of the camera like a ghost is making them float. build obstacle courses and dive through them while flying. sneak up on birds in the air. 

allie: yeet herself off buildings. the farther the better. cleans up her room super fast. messes up her room super fast. spin really fuckin good until she starts a small tornado

val: climb trees that no ordinary person could climb. stick to the bottom of things. stick to walls. there’s just so much stupid shit he could do with them

jake: tell his friends he can lift anything. lifts anything. lifts two of his friends at once. planks for two hours at a time. yeets his friends off buildings

kat: charges her phone while it’s in her hand. she has blown up two phones this way. also that thing where you shock someone while shaking their hand

angel: does pin ups. starts barfights. hugs people with the three hundred knives on his back. indulges his many kinks. 

tiffany: extreme acupuncture

nick: hack the accounts of people he doesn’t like and doxxes them on twitter. he tried to do this to angel once, but angel fucking caught him 5 seconds later

layla: spy on people in the street. spy on dogs in homes. analyze people’s clothing and their fabric sources. 

miss t: heals her own paper cuts. heals her friends’ paper cuts. heals everyone’s paper cuts

vince: spies on people from like a mile away. doxxes them on twitter. 

arthur: shapechanges into any weird thing julie tells him to shapechange into. shapechanges into objects that people can interact with and then scares them by changing back into a person. 

julien: breaks your computer in half and calls it tech support. literally tears apart any vaguely unused metal they see. does not fix said metal. 

brooke: tries to start a fire by using the plants they have available. tries to build a tent with those same plants. tries to survive in the wild on just plants. 

grey: he’d insist it’s not ‘stupid’, but he explores memories of random people. though sometimes he practices by making people try to steal illusory things

amelia: creates a sea anemone made out of human tongue and sticks it in her pussy for three days

thaumas: two words: ice dildo

typhon: attempts to hang from high places using his tail, which is in no way prehensile and often results in him falling

larkspur: shoves his arms and legs into the dirt and tries to be one with nature for a bit if he’s sad or if another girl rejects him

viviel and thana: converse with someone while bouncing their lines off each other like a ping pong ball to confuse them

livia: flies with birds. just migrates south with birds. just t-posing with the birds

adrian: binge drinks the blood of drunk people to get drunk. summons a giant pile of shadow creatures and sleeps on top of the pile. 

mai: goes to the beach and risks bad sunburns to store power

narin: throws things with astonishing accuracy

larke: makes his scarf and clothes ripple in the wind that he creates to look cool. it doesn’t look cool, it looks uncomfortable

tawny: there’s just. so many fuckign things you can do with four hands. you can juggle things. you can do it to em and t pose at the same time. you can double dab. sky’s the limit dude

[salty-dracon]

SECRET Heroes- Paradise

Val comes in contact with GREY, an AI that takes him through the depths of his mind. 

“Let me go.“ Val attempted to fight against the restraints. He couldn’t move his head around, no matter how hard he fought against the metal bars, and he couldn’t even rock his way out of the restraints. 

“Sshhhhhh.“ Thana pressed his fingers over Val’s lips while Viviel typed some words into a machine. 

A voice spoke- one that Val didn’t recognize.

“Good morning, Viviel.“

“Good morning, GREY. I need you to do something for me.“

“Yes?“

“There is a subject here I want you to analyze. I want to know everything about him. But keep it very non-invasive.“

“Of course.“

“We���re hooking him up now.“

“Hooking me up?!“ Val shouted. “What are you hooking me up to?!“ He felt a needle being pressed into his forehead and fastened with tape. “What is this?! What’s GREY?!“

“You’ll see,“ Thana giggled. 

“GREY, you may begin,“ Viviel shouted, to the computer. 

“No! No!“ Val shouted, fighting the restraints. His head began to hurt, and the rest of his body grew numb. “No! No. No.... no... “

A few seconds later, his eyes closed completely. 

----

Val’s eyes opened. He felt a breeze over his face, and cold air. He saw a canopy of trees and a blue sky filled with fluffy clouds. 

He realized he was lying down. 

As Val went to sit up, he realized he was shorter than usual, and that he was sitting on a patch of grass. 

He turned around. Behind him, he saw a blue house, with a statue of a gargoyle out front. 

I’m... home again?

“So, this is your home.”

Val turned around. A man was floating in front of him, clothed in white, with red and gold accents that fluttered in the breeze. 

“You’re GREY.“

“Yes. I hope you like the paradise I have created. It was created with you in mind, of course.“

“But why am I home? Why is my paradise at my home in Columbus?“

“Why?“ GREY asked. “We shall soon learn. Why don’t we go somewhere else?“

Val carefully followed the path through the woods out to the front. When he saw what was out there, he froze. 

A silver car. A teenage Jake leaned out of the driver’s seat and waved his hand. He watched one of the back seat windows roll down, and a girl lean out. Bridget, also a teenager. She smiled at him. 

Val realized he was taller. He stared at his hands. He still wasn’t an adult. 

“Do you know them?“ GREY asked. 

“Jake and Brid.“

“Why did they appear?“

“Because they’re the ones I really want to see again. Wait, but your organization captured Brid!“

“Yes, but that was not my doing.“ GREY closed his eyes. “Now, where shall we go next?“

Val hesitated before climbing into the car. He was greeted with a hug from Brid. Neither Allie or Kat were in the car, just him and Brid. 

Val blinked. Jake was gone. It was like his presence had vanished completely. 

Brid squeezed him tighter. Val felt the sensation of something wet on his neck- Brid was crying. 

“You’re okay,“ she said. “Val, I’m so glad you’re okay! We can go home now!“

Val reached his hand out. He realized his fingers were longer. He was an adult- his own age. As Brid came into focus, he realized, so was she- clothed in a white t-shirt and jeans. 

“GREY, what’s going on?“ he asked. 

“All humans have a paradise.“ GREY’s voice rang in his ear. “All humans dream of paradise. This is simply yours.“

“But it’s all weird!“

“A paradise is but a reflection of a person- their experiences, their thoughts, their desires, and their hatred. Your paradise is complex compared to the average person’s. It takes place throughout multiple stages of your life. These stages are the most important to you- may I ask why?“

“I’m not telling,“ Val grumbled. 

“Then I shall find out myself, by tapping into your memories.“

With a snap, everything disappeared. Val found himself floating in utter darkness before the world reappeared in front of him. His back found a cold ground before gravity pressed him against it.

“I’m sensing particularly high concentrations of fear.“ GREY said. “By the way? You’re twelve years old again.“

“Angel,“ Val breathed. 

“Yes, the Dark Angel. Your years before your thirteenth birthday were full of childhood innocence and the carefree notions of a boy. Because one day, they were taken away from you.“ GREY’s golden form floated over him, casting light on his body. “I won’t torment you with the memory. I was told to be minimally invasive.“

Once again, the area was filled with almost total darkness. When Val blinked, he found himself sitting on a red couch. In the air, he could hear computerized sounds and cartoony voices, along with those of his friends. 

“God, Brid, you’re like a gatling gun!”

“Try me.“

“Which character has the most topple resist?“

“Um, that would be Slime, I think... why do you ask?“

“Because you’re kicking my ass.“

“Sorry.“

As Val’s vision came into focus, he realized he was sitting in Jake’s living room, on his couch. The room was dark, and the curtains shut, save for a holovision screen glowing in the dark. Allie was sitting next to him, mashing buttons on her controller. Brid was doing the same, on the floor. Kat was pressing buttons with one hand, and Jake was sitting on a chair. They were playing BattleAv 3. 

“A well-loved part of your childhood. This is a very strong happy memory.“ Grey was sitting next to Val on the couch. “You have many friends here.“

His friends were all chattering amongst themselves.

“Paleoball, go!- I got Cavewurm?“

“Ha.“

“Allie, will you stop targeting me-“

“Why are your cooldowns so freakin’ fast?!“

“Oh, come on, the guard/smash combo is just-“

“A good counter to Goliath.“

“My Lyrican build is literally so OP.“

The game announcer shouted. “Game! The winner is... Lyrican!”

“Yes!“ Brid shouted. 

“Can I have a turn?“ Val asked. Kat handed him her controller. Immediately, he took it. 

“Do you wish to take a step deeper into the heaven of my illusions?“ GREY asked, as Val took the controller. “If so, I will be happy to lead you there. That is my duty.“

Val paused and fondled the controller in his hands. It felt authentic, like the plastic it was. It even had a Blackbox controller’s joystick’s level of resistance. “Can I stay here for just a little bit?” he asked, turning to Grey. “Play one game?”

“Of course.“ GREY smiled. “A human is always welcome to enjoy their paradise. I will facilitate all I can.“ He closed his eyes. “I’ve never simulated a video game before.”

Val smiled, gripped the controller, and focused on the screen. “Get ready for my Valkur loadout!”

Val’s eyes opened. He screamed as blood poured in front of his face, banging his head against the cage. 

“Whoopsie!“ Thana laughed. He dangled the bloody electrode in front of Val’s face. “I pulled it out a little early.“

“I wanted to play with them!“ Val shouted. 

“Thana!“ GREY’s voice shouted from the monitor. “I never gave you permission to pull the electrode from his forehead.“

“Sorry.“ Thana shoved the electrode back into Val’s forehead, causing it to bleed even more. “There, I fixed it!“

“No. The bond is broken. Viviel, why did you order him to-“

“I told him not to touch the subject while the therapy was going on.” Viviel groaned and turned to Thana. “Thana, this was important.“

“He’s not that important.” Thana pouted. 

“We need to understand the roots of his power. He can effortlessly travel through spatial rifts. It sure sounds important to me!”

“Val, we will finish this another time.” Grey’s voice spoke from the computer. “I was looking forward to helping you relive your happy memories.” 

“Grey, you’re dismissed for now. Thana, we will talk about this later.“

Thana only laughed. 

Behind Viviel, Grey gazed at Val with a wistful longing on his face, and then disappeared. 

(AN: Viviel and Thana are a pair of twins that serve under Genetika. They haven’t been altered in any way with animal DNA, nor do they have any clones. Instead they are made to be as survivable as possible, with numerous skills that make them near-perfect assassins. They have the ability to psychically read each others’ minds, which is especially important as a part of their skill sets. While Viviel is the more logical one, Thana is like an animal who gives in easily to murderous or sexual desires. Thana is arguably the most “evil” of Genetika’s minions, as he revels in the harm he causes to others. He enjoys toying with Val because he can “sense” Val’s insecurities. Viviel often has to act as Thana’s handler.

GREY on the other hand is a lot like his TMX version, Grey de Aur. He is an AI, programmed to have almost the same personality that TMX Grey did. He wants to act as a Matrix-like program to entrap all humans in their paradises, if that were possible at all. Until he can achieve that goal, he is happy to lead his various victims, including Val, to their paradises momentarily. He considers it practice and a way to enjoy the experiences of humans. Unlike TMX Grey, however, he avoids killing if he can help it, and would rather help humans reach paradise and die peacefully rather than painfully. He is much happier when he doesn’t cause pain to anyone, and would rather have not subjected Val to a memory of Angel’s torture anyway. He was excited about simulating BattleAv (my equivalent of Smash Bros) since he’d never done it before, and would have a fun time reconstructing the game from Val’s memories. He is still, however, a neutral character, as he once used his powers to kill, both under Genetika’s orders and of his own free will.)

[salty-dracon]

TMX- Your Fate is Absolute

Grey discusses the nature of humans and angels with Brooke. 

“You’re up early,“ Grey said, glancing up from his book as Brooke crossed the library. “Come here. I want to talk to you.“

Brooke groaned and rolled her eyes. “No.“

She heard Grey sigh, and the quiet fluttering of wings, before something heavy landed on her shoulder. It was a barn owl with a golden tinge on its wings. 

“I want to ask you a question, Brooke.“ The owl spoke.

“What?“

“Do you believe in fate?“

“If you know so much about me, then what do you think?“

“I don’t know what you think. I can’t see into your mind. I only know what you tell me.“

“… I believe we have at least some power to change our own fate. In America, it varies with how rich you are… whether you’re destined to stay rich or become rich if you’re poor varies. But we all can control our own choices.“

“I see.“ The owl cocked its head. “It makes sense.“ It paused for a moment. “Do you believe we all share a fate?“

“The only truly sure thing is death, isn’t it?“ Brooke sighed and allowed the owl to hop to her other shoulder. “You might die in a car crash or get murdered or something. Or you might die of old age.“

“Is love a sure thing? Sure as death?“

“No.“

“Why not?“

“You can grow up without anyone around you. Anyone loving you. Your existence might just be hated by everyone.“

“What about self-love? Isn’t that a love all humans share?“

“People hate themselves sometimes.“

“Do you believe it’s okay for humans to live without love, Brooke?“

“I don’t know. I’m not the kind of person to judge. If someone wants to live completely unloved, that’s their problem, not mine.“

“You kept few people in your life. Your father. Your mother, when she was still alive. A few friends. Why did you abandon them? Why did you choose to seclude yourself?“ 

“Because I didn’t like myself.“

“Was there anything about yourself that you could change?“

“Nothing I really wanted to. I liked myself… not liking myself.“

“Would you have minded dying with people mourning you?“

“I don’t think I would have cared, really. My dad was nice, though.“

“Do humans… know they are loved by someone? Even if no one exists in their minds?“

“I don’t know.“

“Then why do humans stay alive if they believe no one loves them?“

“I guess it differs from human to human. Some just have a duty to live. Some are like, fuck the world, I’m gonna live in it and show it who’s boss. And some live for the hope that someone will love them someday.“

“I met a boy yesterday. His angel, as she should, adored him. Yet the boy was terrified of him. When I inquired as to why, he said he didn’t want to be loved. Yet he himself insisted that his angel had done absolutely nothing to hurt him. I couldn’t understand them at all.“

“Did you ask anything about the boy’s human family?“

“I deemed it irrelevant.“

“Well, that was your first mistake. Humans are a product of their society. If society hurt the guy so bad that he didn’t want to be loved, that should have been a warning sign. And wouldn’t his angel know about this sorta thing?“

“You provide good insight, Brooke. You should accompany me on reconciliation missions. I would be grateful for your help.“

“No thanks. Listen, is that it? I wanna grab breakfast.“

“Go ahead.“ The owl hopped off her shoulder and flew back to the library. 

—

Brooke wiped the oatmeal off her chin. She was about to stumble back to bed when the owl landed on her shoulder again. 

“I have more questions.“

“Why do you keep asking questions?“

“I need to know more about humans. Can you please help me?“

“Sure.“ Brooke sat down on a couch while the owl hopped on the table in front of her. 

“Do humans believe in immortality?“

“Define believe.“

“Do they believe in immortal beings?“

“Yeah. They believe in immortal gods and shit.“

“Do immortal humans exist?“

“No. Well, we all know that any sort of immortal human doesn’t exist anyway.“

“Would humans like to be immortal?“

Brooke cocked her head. “I’m sure some would like to be. But the general consensus is no.”

“Why not?“

“It differs from person to person.“

“Do you want to be immortal?“

“No.“

“Why not?“

“Because immortality means that at some point, you’ll have seen everything. You’ll be bored until the world ends. I want to live a life full of adventure. A finite life.“

“Heaven grants all of its children youth and immortality. Humans dislike immortality because they will become bored. Is that why humans hate angels?“

“No.“

“Then why?“

“I don’t think humans hate angels on principle. I think it’s because angels- like you, and my friends’ angels- want to confine us, when what we really want is a life of adventure. Xero gave us that.“

“So if angels allow humans more adventure, their humans will be happier in turn.“ Grey ruffled his feathers. “Is that correct?“

“For the most part.“

“What do you know about angels, Brooke?“

“Well, everyone has one. They’re connected to our souls, and… yeah.“

“Do humans believe we love them?“

“That depends on the person.“

“Do you believe I love you?“

“Not really, no.“

“No?“ For the first time, Grey sounded a little surprised. “Why not?“

“If you knew everything about me like you say you do, you’d know that I don’t like being confined and I hate libraries. I’d rather be outside, with my friends or some shit. Also you’d know I like girls.“

“I took this gender because I do not wish to be a romantic partner. I want to be family. An older brother, if you will. As for your confinement… “ The owl sighed. “We have none of the adventure which you seek.“

“Don’t you have control over this plane?“

“Yes, I do.“

“Turn it into a forest.“ Brooke stared out the window, into the pool out back. “A big one.“

The owl closed its eyes. Brooke watched as full-sized trees grew out of the ground in an instant, changing the once regular landscape into something more organic. 

“Does this suit your needs?“

Brooke didn’t answer him. She immediately ran out of the mansion and towards the backyard. Her eyes gaped with wonder. 

That fresh smell… that feeling under my feet… this is a forest, all right. 

She immediately ran into the woods, hopping over a fallen log until she reached one she thought she could climb. She grabbed the lowest branch and pulled herself up. 

“Brooke?“ She heard Grey call for her. “Brooke, come back here!“

“No!“ Brooke exclaimed. “This is awesome!“

“Come back here! I can’t see where you are!“

“I’m in a tree, dumbass! Turn into an owl and come get me!“

“I’m scared of the forest.“

“What? How can you be scared of the forest?“

“Brooke, please come back… I’m scared you’ll be hurt… “

“I won’t be hurt! And if I am, I’ll know how to treat it.“

“No, my dear… “ 

Brooke heard rumbling under her feet. The trees were all shortening in height and turning into saplings again. Brooke let go of her tree before it broke under her weight, and turned to face Grey. 

“Why did you take it away?“ Brooke asked. “It’s your forest! You know what’s inside it!“

“Make no mistake, Brooke Malone… “ Grey whispered, almost in a trance. “Try to escape all you want, child… but your fate is absolute. You will return to me, and to this plane, no matter how far you go. Heaven knows what is best for its children.“ He touched her shoulder. “Heaven knows the power of our bond. Heaven knows how deeply I love you. Do you understand, Brooke?“