“Goooooooood Evening Augments! Can you feel it? That electric feeling coursing through the air? For those of you looking to scoop up an extra F:Tier, the next wave is on the way and the selection process is winding down. No new news past that though. You guys should really try to make things more entertaining. It’s been at least a week since one of you took a territory from each other! Where’s the motivation!? You guys just don’t have the drive that real superheroes should have. Perhaps these newbies will come in and show the lot of you up. Maybe a few of them will start to show a little spunk. Because that electric feeling Augments? Well something is coming… Keep those tights fresh and start shaping up, because there’s change on the horizon.”
Axio’s voice died off as he signed off of his regular evening announcement, his attention moving from the broader array back down into his more minor job acting as Christopher’s direct P.A.I.
“You okay Ax? That was a little more… condescending…? Yeah, that feels like the right word… it felt a little more condescending than you normally are… What’s up?” Christopher asked, standing on the balcony that overlooked Central Park from his squad’s New York base.
“I’m feeling… I guess jittery would be the word for it,” Axio replied with a sigh. “I just have this feeling that most of the Augments just aren’t getting strong enough… we aren’t doing something right…”
“I don’t know about that… But it would be nice to know why we need to get stronger. Are the files done? Or… how close are we?” Christopher asked.
“Uncertain. We are in the final percentages and it’s more of a… once it’s done, I’ll know, sort of thing. I believe you’ve referenced it before, how the last five percent of a download always seems to take longer than the first ninety-five. While the last few files have been particularly difficult to recompile, I do believe we are finally on the last leg of the project.”
“Well that’s good at least. Feels like it’s taken ages,” Christopher said, looking toward the setting sun in the distance. It seemed a bit brighter than it should have been and he found himself activating the Sun Shade Visor he had added to his mask. It was only then that he noticed one part of the sun was far brighter than the rest of it and he let out a tired sigh. “Is that-”
“Yup. My apologies for not warning you, although… that said...”
“Crime Alert! Fiery Passion! You know the drill T.F., some schmuck thinks he can waltz into your city and cause trouble. The others in the city can deal with the small fry he has tagging along, but Firefist needs your personal attention. Reward: Variable based on outcome of battle.”
Christopher immediately dismissed the Crime Alert, taking a few steps back from the edge of the balcony as he started to gather power under his feet. With a single crouch, he released the gathering energy and shot himself up and into the air.
Contrary to popular belief, Christopher, as The First, couldn’t fly. What he did was more akin to causing a constant stream of pressure bubbles to explode in key spots around his body. With minor changes to where he did it, he could shoot himself around in a rough but effective pseudo-flight. He held himself aloft a few hundred feet over the base, isolating the areas he was going to have to be most careful of before he activated his connection into the dispatch system for the NYPD.
“This is a report for all Precincts west of 7th Avenue and Central Park, this is The First. I have eyes on a dangerous Augment flying inbound using the sun to mask his approach. Begin placing roadblocks in two block segments, I’ll report when I have taken the enemy into an isolated area.”
“Target has entered authorized scanning range,” Axio announced. Since he was both the System A.I. for the game and Christopher’s P.A.I., not to mention the fact that Christopher was a stickler for the rules of the game and refused to have an actual advantage over the others, the pair had settled on a separate set of rules for just what and when Axio could tell him things.
“Let’s hear it, although… not exactly that many fire Augments that would be stupid enough to come here.”
“Firefist. Level 172 Black Belt Pyromaniac. Squad: The Unnatural Disasters.”
“How many times does that make this?”
“Are we counting the time he tried to fight you in the Roman Coliseum even though you were in Tokyo helping Brightburst?”
“No.”
“Then with today included we’ll be at nine.”
Christopher let out a sigh as he focused on the man’s approach, trying to gauge just what part of the city he was going to make landfall. If he wasn’t mistaken, it looked like he’d be coming in just over Hell’s Kitchen. With that bit of information, he reoriented himself before gathering a large burst of pressure that exploded with a minor sonic boom that sent him hurtling across the sky.
While there was a lot about the world and how things had gone that made him incredibly tired and frustrated, he still loved his form of flight, even if he did still slightly envy those with more precision control. And the truth was, when he was high enough above the buildings, he didn’t have to be precise. The reports from police departments were just coming through the comms systems in his head when he collided with Firefist midflight, catching the man by surprise with an Empowered Pressure Punch.
Firefist was sent hurtling backwards, only slowed by two twin jets of flame emitting from his hands as he stared across the gap at his target. He might have said something, but Christopher wasn’t too sure since he was at least a block and a half away. And, contrary to what some people might think, you can’t actually hear each other if you’re trying to have a conversation from that far apart, especially half a mile above the ground.
Finally realizing that, the man partially made of fire came roaring after Christopher again, throwing a wave of flames out before bursting through it, striking him right in the chest with a fist coated in so much fire, it looked like it was bigger than his head. The blow was perfectly placed, hitting Christopher back and across the sky in a retaliatory show of power. While he did catch himself, the constant use of his flight was a drain on his Stamina and he’d rather not go plummeting down into the pavement… again.
There was a difference between surviving a fall and enjoying surviving a fall.
“10th Precinct, I’m over Hell’s Kitchen; what streets are blocked off?” He asked over his comms, dodging out of the way of several fireballs tossed his way, only for Firefist to rush back in close, his blazing fists leaving trails of smoke that ignited several seconds afterwards, causing Christopher to have to move a bit more rapidly than his flight would let him to dodge.
He took a deep breath in and then activated Maximum Pressure, a sudden wave emanating outward with a crushing force that almost completely extinguished Firefist’s flames as he was sent tumbling end of end, completely at the mercy of the invisible attack. It was one of Christopher’s strongest crowd control moves, but it also drained his Stamina faster than almost anything else.
“Good evening sir, we’ve got blockades on every street along 44th and 42nd; residents have been alerted to stay indoors. You are clear to land; please let us know when the area is clear,” the 10th precinct dispatch finally reported. Christopher let out a sigh of relief before he released Maximum Pressure and shot himself forward once again.
Before Firefist could right himself from his downward tumble, Christopher hit him with a powerful shoulder, wrapping his arms around the man’s waist. He ignored several powerful blows from Firefist which struck his back with a heat that might have burned him if not for the flame resistance built into Christopher’s costume.
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Following a path that Axio pulled up on his mini-map, he forced the man across the sky and down into a wide alley splitting between two streets. They hit the ground with a powerful BOOM as Christopher released a massive wave of pressure to cushion his landing. In the moment of impact, Firefist finally broke free, only to be once again swept up in the sudden pressure and blown back against a wall.
“How many times are we gonna do this, Firefist?” Christopher asked. His hands turned into fists and he placed them on his hips as the Heroic Pose feature of his cape activated, quadrupling his Stamina Regeneration for as long as he held it.
“As many times as it takes to take this stupid city from your grasp,” Firefist spat, shaking off the attack and flexing his hands as he stepped forward. “You’re a puppet; you know that, right? All of you goody two-shoes are, but especially you First Wave assholes.”
Christopher was about to respond, always willing to have at least a bit of banter with his enemies since he gained bonuses from his Ring of Taunting whenever he kept an enemy talking for more than fifteen seconds, when Firefist took another step and launched a torrent of flame in Christopher’s direction. Without pulling his hands from his hips, he jumped to the side and let out another wave of pressure to extinguish the blaze.
“Guess we aren’t talking today,” Christopher muttered, planting his feet again and holding the pose for just another few seconds until his Stamina topped back out.
Christopher could see Firefist was just about to launch another attack and while they were in an abandoned alley, that didn’t mean the buildings didn’t have people in them. In a flash, he pressured off the ground with a concussive BOOM that echoed off the walls around him. He pulled a single fist back and then punched forward with another Empowered Pressure Punch. To his surprise, Firefist didn’t try to dodge. Instead, he coated his fist with a bright, rippling wave of fire before stepping forward and meeting his blow with one of his own.
There was a powerful wave of air, heat, and pressure that burst outward. Several bikes, bags of trash, and random dumpsters seemed to shake and scatter from the wave. Christopher even had to plant his feet with just a bit more force. For the briefest of moments, he thought he had seen something out of the corner of his eye, but as Firefist tried to throw another punch, Christopher was forced to dodge backwards.
“You’ve gotten stronger, Firefist. I’m impressed. But how many times do I have to make this clear: this city is Paragon territory; you’d be better off trying to take over a district,” Christopher said, trying once again to taunt Firefist into talking. A stupid joke came to mind as he looked around at the settling trash. “That seems more up your… heh… alley…”
“It’s nearly done!” Axio said suddenly, his voice hopping up several octaves like a kid on Christmas. “The recovery process is finalizing!!!”
“That’s nice and all that, but maybe hold that thought for a few minutes,” Christopher said through gritted teeth, failing to dodge as Firefist rushed in close again. Several quick flame-coated jabs made contact with Christopher, forcing him to step back and dodge as he started to work in attacks of his own.
Even though he had a solid thirty levels on the man, one thing had become very clear to him in the last few years. The higher level he went, the less the levels really mattered. A few extra points in Strength or Dexterity certainly might make you incrementally stronger, faster, or sturdier, but with enough training and knowing your enemy, most anyone could overcome at least some form of a gap.
That wasn’t necessarily to say Christopher was worried though. He could already feel Firefist’s attacks weakening as the man’s Stamina presumably neared empty. If he was going to want to stay in the fight, Firefist would have to retreat to use a Stamina Injector, and Christopher knew he could end it in that moment.
He was positive that retreat was about to come, when there was another flash of motion on the far side of the alley, distracting Christopher just long enough that a powerful fire coated fist hit him and sent him stumbling backwards, actually succeeding in knocking him down and onto his ass.
“Axio is that…” Christopher started to ask when he caught Firefist look over at the young man cowering behind a dumpster. The Miscreant’s smile grew malicious as he briefly looked back at Christopher… then erupted into flames of green-and-blue. Christopher scrambled back to his feet and pushed off with all the force he could muster… but he wasn’t fast enough.
Firefist, blazing hot, burned a path straight through the dumpster to hit the young man, one that Christopher’s display labeled as “Nate Mercer. Sapient NPC” square in the chest, a wave of fire coating the boy’s body before Firefist reformed on the other side. Nate collapsed to the ground, his body covered in burns and melted fabric. Firefist said something, but Christopher wasn’t listening, his eyes focused on the young man wheezing and gasping in pain.
Christopher rushed forward, but Firefist launched himself up and into the air. That didn’t matter to him though and he dropped to his knees next to the terribly burned body.
“No… no no no no no,” Christopher mumbled over and over. He materialized a Full Restore Injector from his B.E.L.T. and immediately jammed it down and into the boy’s chest. He let out a gasp of air followed by a shriek of pain, but nothing happened as he wheezed once… twice… three times more… and then… stopped.
He shouldn’t have been surprised. While the injectors could heal regular people, they couldn’t quite reverse life threatening damage for them. If they could, he was sure there were more than a few Augments that would have just been going through hospitals and clearing them out. But it still filled him with a level of rage and disappointment that he just couldn’t quite explain.
He was The First. The protector of New York and much of the world. He didn’t let people die. He… he couldn’t let people die…
“Umm… The First…? I… uh… I thought you should know that the files have been restored. Will you be okay if I take a moment to-”
“Wait a minute,” Christopher said, cutting Axio off as a desperate idea came to mind. There was only one thing he hadn’t tried yet and at this point, he was willing to throw a Hail Mary. His Hidden Power activated as he felt the core ember of Nate’s Personal Array flickering with life, barely holding on as the last of his energy departed his body.
Jack of All Trades was a powerful Hidden Power, even if it did have a good bit of limits. For other Augments, he could pretty freely borrow each of their Hidden Powers as long as he was close enough to them, activating them at similar but slightly weaker levels. But with people not in the game, the effect was much, much weaker. Their powers were only ever theoretical, and therefore not fully accounted for in the system unless he specifically scanned them or they were added into the game. Even when he did scan them, he could only use their specific power once per day since they simply weren’t calibrated for continual use.
Maybe it was luck. It had to be in fact… It was the only thing to explain why, of all of the people that Christopher could have accidentally let die… it would be someone who’s Hidden Power was time control.
“Wait, I would be careful, I have not calibrated the array for temporal manipu-”
Axio didn’t finish as Christopher took a deep breath in and activated Timekeeper’s Control. He couldn’t rewind things that far— the power only allowed him a thirty second window— but it was hopefully going to be more than enough. The world flashed around him as Christopher found himself with his feet planted and Firefist rushing toward him. His eyes were still locked with Nate’s, but knowing that Firefist was coming, this time Christopher activated his Pressure Hold, firmly planting himself in place even as he was struck with a powerful blow to his face.
He was still on his feet, eyes turned toward Nate. The strike had left him rattled, but he was at least in a position to react. Unfortunately, Firefist still noticed where he was looking, his eyes following Christopher’s gaze over to Nate. There was only a beat of a moment before Firefist erupted into flames and went barreling toward the young man.
Christopher reached out to stop him but his hand passed through formless fire. He didn’t have time to think, instead launching himself in a powerful leap right toward Nate. He came to a stop, the wave of pressure rattling the dumpster behind him as he got into position and then punched up and into the air, sending a torrent of pressure upward that forced Firefist’s ephemeral form to follow the powerful trail until he was nearly launched into the atmosphere.
Christopher let out a sigh of relief… for all of two seconds before he heard a gasp of pain and his eyes went wide. He turned and saw Nate crumpled against a wall, a large dumpster pinning him down as blood leaked from his mouth.
“No… oh god no…” Christopher said as he rushed over. This was so much worse. How had he… how could he be so damn stupid?!
“What is… where are we?” Axio asked, though Christopher ignored him and activated his Hidden Power again, scrambling to grab for Nate’s ember once again only to find the access was denied. Of course he couldn’t do anything; the boy wasn’t Augmented and… wait that was the solution.
“Ax! Add him to the new wave! DO IT NOW!!!”
“What? But the selection process just ended… umm… wait… how long has it been?” Axio seemed confused, his attention scattered as Christopher looked up toward the dim array and back down to Nate with panic in his eyes.
“No… No no no… there has to…” he started to say before stopping, the barest hint of an idea coming to mind. It was stupid… some part of him logically knew that… but something about seeing Nate laying there, his life slipping away broke Christopher… He was so tired… so tired of the constant fights… the constant enemies threatening him and the places he loved… and for what?
“Um… what are you doing?” Axio asked as Christopher walked over to Nate, stepping forward and placing a hand on his head before he closed his eyes. “The First? What happened? What’s going on? Where are… wait the files! They are… oh… oh no…”
Christopher wasn’t hearing Axio, at least not in that moment even if he would recall the A.I.’s panic when he thought back on it. No… Christopher was reaching deep for the Administration Key that he knew was hidden inside of his head. It was a risky thing to use, mostly because changing things in the system this late could have a butterfly effect on the rest of it… but Christopher wasn’t thinking about that.
No… he was only thinking about the fact that it was directly his fault that this young man was about to die, and that was simply unacceptable to him. If Firefist was still close enough, maybe he could have done it differently. But Nate’s breathing was getting weaker and he was nearly out of time.
So… Christopher did the only thing he could think of… and he modified the system. All to save a young man that was in the wrong place… at the wrong time.
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Book 1: Secrets, Serpents, and Superpowers
Book 2: Like Clockwork
As a note, I have noticed that Trustfall has been used for other books, but nothing within the LitRPG genre so I believe it should still work if it's the one I end up going with. Fractured is not one that was included in the original poll that I did on my discord but I had a few people point out that it alone could work as a title as well.
Come on over to my Discord to talk about the story, see advanced news, and just talk nonsense!
https://discord.gg/4sSUCQewa3
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