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Rating:

Mature

Archive Warning:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category:

Gen

Fandoms:

Parahumans Series - Wildbow나 혼자만 레벨업 | Solo Leveling (Webcomic)

Relationships:

Greg Veder/Other(s)Greg Veder & Sparky (Parahumans)Aisha Laborn | Imp & Brian Laborn | GrueGreg Veder & Aisha Laborn | Imp

Characters:

Additional Tags:

The System (Solo Leveling)Alternate Universe - Canon DivergenceCanon-Typical ViolenceButcher Taylor Hebert | Skitter | WeaverGamer Greg VederClonesClone banterClone BrotherhoodParahumans Online

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English

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Fanfics I Wish Were Canon 3000

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Published:2025-05-14Updated:2026-02-14Words:90,632Chapters:15/?Comments:132Kudos:201Bookmarks:125Hits:13,910

Ready Player Greg

KingVessel

Chapter 6: Guild 2.1

Summary:

KingVessel: Buckle up, there're things to be done!

Chapter Text

Sunday, April 17 2011

Greg Veder

I was almost tempted to blow the morning exercise off, my old laziness rearing its head.

Almost.

I still had little desire to find out the 'penalty' that the System would give me if I skipped it, especially with it being able to create or link with pocket dimensions of whatever kinds. After exercising together again, Mum had gone out with a few of her friends from the docks, only leaving me with a few chores to do before I would be free to do today.

Luckily, that just gave me a motive to experiment with {Double} after I'd gotten it from Spree last night. Calling it forth, I marveled as mud-like fluid pooled off my outstretched and rapidly grew into an identical copy of me.

"...huh." Other me muttered as we tilted our heads at each other, sounding as mutely bewildered as I felt. "I can kinda see how girls might now be attracted to us now."

I frowned. "Is that really what comes to mind for you? I mean, me?"

"It's just a thought. Sparky didn't react and I think Aisha probably already liked us a little after saving her, but I've- Sorry, we've still been growing more since Friday. School's going to be a pain come Monday." Other me sighed, me joining him in agreement. If the mall had been any indication, school really would be troublesome. An ideal superhero's civilian identity was supposed to be easily overlookable!

Wait, this was the whole reason why I needed to experiment with {Double} in the first place! "So how real are you? Flesh and blood, or just an illusion?"

Other me slapped my hand away when I tried to poke him. "Real enough. We share the same memories, so I know that I'm a clone and me potentially dying will just have me reunite with the original Greg."

"Right... 'a living copy will have it's accumulated experiences transferred back'." My eyes widened in realization. "Wait, so can you use the System too?"

I blinked when a {Status} screen immediately popped up before other me's face. "Looks like it... No wait, there's a prompt that says that half of my EXP always gets redirected towards you. But other than that, everything else seems good."

He raised up his hand and had a mild explosion blast off from it. "And I can use our Quirks, too."

Perfect. This would allow me to preserve my superhero identities with plausible denials... as long as 'Void Cowboy' was never shown being capable of creating copies of himself. "You'll need to be going out as Void Cowboy."

Other me, or rather Void Cowboy, shrugged. "Fine, but does this mean that I'll have 'sole ownership' of {Warp Gate}?"

"...sure, why not?" I shrugged. "Capes with similar powers get plenty of attention, and I've already spoken out on PHO to be a teleporter. And with us meeting Weaver and her minions last night, we've kinda had your debut already."

Void Cowboy frowned. "Does it count as a hero's debut if I don't save a person first? Or even have a proper costume?"

That... was an excellent point. Frankly, I really would need costumes for my superhero identities. The hockey mask could only work as a beta outfit for so long before people would (wrongfully) start associating him with that look. "...so Parian, then?"

"Makes sense." Void Cowboy agreed before frowning once more. "But can we afford her services?"

-:|Asset Conversion|:-

This will allow to convert your in-game currency into the current denomination of whatever nation you are currently located in, produced and manipulated via planetary data so that serial numbers and other aspects do not cause economic chaos.

I blinked as this screen immediately popped up to answer my problem. And here I thought that all of my gold would stay as in-game currency...

-:|Asset Conversion|:-

Budget: 182,600 gold

Bank Account: $6,472.37

"...wait, that's my savings account." I realized before gulping unsteadily. "C-Convert 2,600 gold."

-:|Asset Conversion|:-

Budget: 180,000 gold

Bank Account: $2,606,472.37

My jaw dropped as my phone rang out an alert, showing a message prompt involving my bank account.

Acct: XXXXX

CR: $2,600,000.00

Desc: Ah-Jin Guild XXXXX

Bal: $2,606,472.37

"...holy shit." Void Cowboy and I droned in unison.

Group Chat: Bouquet of Madness

Player: Who's free today? I have cash and I'm going shopping!

Oracle: How much cash?

Imptastic: How much cash?

Player: CAAAAAAAAAAASSSH

Imptastic: Are you offering yourself up as a free wallet, Greg? 'cause I've got a lotta stuff I'd love to buy.

Oracle: Greg's a sucky liar to girls. Besides, your answer proves how little you know of him. I'm already heading towards his house.

Oracle: [Uploading selfie of herself outside, looking as perpetually stoic as she did.]

Imptastic: Huh?! Well, I'm ready to head out too!

Imptastic: [Uploading selfie of herself in what looked like her room, angled in a way that highlighted her cleavage.]

Player: Ladies, do not fight over me. I have enough to spoil you both and get a superhero costume afterwards.

Oracle: Were you just trying to be smooth? :p

Imptastic: He can be smooth however he likes. Also, you're a lot more expressive over the phone.

Oracle: I struggle to properly care about others, and Greg's so far been the sole one to pierce my armor. After all, Greg's my carer. He cares so I don't have to.

Player: Liar. You do care about others.

Oracle: Want me to reveal who you first beat your meat to?

Player: HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?! YOU SEE THE FUTURE, NOT THE PAST!

Oracle: Be sure to bribe me well, today. :D

Imptastic: You two are fucking hilarious. How did I not ever hear of you guys?

Player: Bottom of the social hierarchy.

Oracle: Bottom of the social hierarchy.

Imptastic: Wait, hold up. Superhero costume? You're gonna join the Wards or something?

Player: What? No way. No offense to them, but I'm going independent.

Imptastic: Phew! Almost lost a smidge of respect for you. Just a smidge. See you guys at XXX-XXXX.

"Looks like you're set for the day." Void Cowboy commented from over my shoulder. "Good luck today, mule."

Mentally dismissing the clone back into mud that (thankfully) faded away from existence, I got up to do the {Training Regimen}.

+Status Recovery!

+5SP!

+Random Gift!

-:|Random Gift: Flying Carpet|:-

This is a intricately woven carpet that has been enchanted to fly and is capable of carrying up to four people at a maximum of 200MPH.

Damnit. No Gate Key.

Aisha Laborn

It's almost sad how long since it'd been that I was this eager to leave the house, even if I lived with just Brian now that he'd quit the Undersiders. "Brian! I'm going out!"

"To where?" Brian called out just as he stepped out of one of the rooms in the back.

"My hero called and invited me to go shopping with me and his friend." I grinned as I showed off our recent chat. "Wanna come with?"

I almost expected him to refuse, my brother still pondering on whether to shack up with the Protectorate or not. Not that I blamed him. I wanted to be away from Celia as much as he did, and getting government-sponsored aid would help a lot in him getting custody of me. Brian was often too focused on what needed to be done that he ignored everything else.

But I'd apparently underestimated just how much he wanted to meet Greg when Brian immediately offered to drive me there.

Giving him the address, I hopped into his car and hummed an anime tune from one of Greg's Asian cartoons along the way. When we reached the mall's parking lot, I was already perking up at the sight of them and leaving the car as soon as Brian parked.

While Sparky still looked so androgynous as ever despite Greg confirming her to identify as female, Greg himself now looked slightly less recognizable due to how... attractive he looked. "Greg? Do you have the right to look that hot?"

Greg blinked with honest confusion in his eyes before turning towards Sparky. "Do I really look that hot? From a girl's perspective?"

Sparky had the audacity to shrug, as if her best friend wasn't the same model I'd gawked at after seeing his face on a magazine. "You look no different to me."

"So you must be Greg, then." Brian stepped forward, extending his hand for a shake. "I'm Brian, Aisha's brother. I've been wanting to personally thank you for saving her from those Empire goons for a while now."

"No prob." Greg cheerily accepted Brian's hand, shaking it. "Fuck the Nazis."

"Fuck 'em." Brian smiled in agreement. "If you ever need anything, just give me a call, okay?"

"What's next, bro?" I teased. "Gonna give him an awkward manly hug?"

"Haha." Brian responded with a roll of his eyes as he stepped back. "So you're all really just going shopping?"

"Just for a bit." Greg shrugged. "I'm planning to go catch Parian's show in the afternoon."

"I'm off to find a suitable spot for a superhero lair." Sparky added, rolling her eyes at the surprised looks we all sent her. "Even superheroes can have lairs."

"...I'll trust in your judgement, then." Greg hummed after giving it some thought. "Are you coming along, Brian?"

"...no, I can leave Aisha with you guys." Brian turned about and gave me a serious stare. "Just be sure to call me if something happens."

I gallantly resisted the urge to roll my eyes and instead waved him off. At this point, Greg was probably a lot stronger than Grue so calling him would be useless if they ran into a criminal or villain that Greg couldn't handle.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

...how strong was Greg again now? "Greg, what level are you?"

"27." Greg easily answered. And Aisha had no idea if that was a strong or weak number.

"Is... that strong?"

Greg looked back at me before casting a wary gaze around. Satisfied that nobody else was currently in the parking lot with us, he reached for the nearest car's bumper and got me to drop my jaw when he lifted up the vehicle by it's bumper, easily dragging it along with a single hand until he reached an empty spot a few steps away. "How's that for strong?"

"Aim to match Alexandria." Sparky dared. "You have no theoretical limit, after all."

"True, but I'd need to actually fight enemies for that EXP gain." Greg replied. "Maybe if I fight some villain higher-ups instead of just monsters, I'll get more EXP."

Greg's smile turned particularly dark for a beat. "Or maybe even an Endbringer."

Both Sparky and I lashed out to smack his bicep in unison, wincing at how my fingers throbbed at the impact. Damn, those muscles were tough! ""Don't joke about that!""

"..sorry."

Greg Veder

-:|Inventory|:-

Cellphone x3

Common Knife x1

Designer Brand Clothes x12

Fried Rice and BBQ Dish x3

Gaming Console x1

Grilled Chicken x3

Headphones x3

Parfait x6

Scarves x2

Stir-fry Spaghetti Dish x3

Wallet x1

Water Bottle x4

Gale-Force Reading Glasses x1

Flying Carpet x1

Light Pen x1

Return Runestone x1

"And this doesn't even cover the movies." I sighed as I looked over the copious amount of items in my Inventory, it being shamelessly taken advantage of along with my money by Sparky and Aisha.

There was a brief moment when I'd wondered if I was actually on a date, but I had to be realistic. If that had been a date, either of them would've let me know. Or maybe even give me a classic kiss on the cheek or something.

So that was just an outing between friends. Even if Aisha had gotten extra clingy whenever random girls stared too long at me. Even if Sparky had actually deigned to wear a pretty flattering sundress for the rest of the day after she'd asked my opinion on it.

Just an outing between friends.

Now off to Parian!

Sabah - Parian

I smiled in satisfaction at another show well done, the many spectators cheering while depositing donations into various depositories I'd set up in advance. Then I saw him, calmly approaching me while the crowd slowly dispersed. Black jeans and hoodie, capped with a hockey mask.

"...I have no idea who you're supposed to be." I nervously admitted, which thankfully just amused him if his chuckle was anything to go by.

"Yeah, that's fair." He sounded young, a teenager perhaps? "I'm... new and I was wondering if you took commissions?"

"...a commission for what exactly?"

"Superhero costumes! I had some designs earlier, but both my friends called them trash and made me delete them! Seriously! Which is why I'd like to pay you to for your expertise in crafting costumes for me!" The boy gushed, pausing to breathe. "Of course, I'm totally willing to pay. Name it, and I'll give you the cash straight up."

"Just to be clear, this isn't an attempt to recruit me?" I immediately regretted my words, cringing at how paranoid they sounded. Still, this was a reasonable worry I'd been dealing with for a while now.

"Huh? Why?" The boy at least sounded genuinely puzzled. "I'm a fan of your shows and I actually appreciate your efforts brightening up the gloomy days of this city."

Oh, he was a fan. Well, at least he wasn't offering a creepy team-up or something. "Okay, then. How much exactly are you willing to pay?"

"I've got about $5,000 cash on me right now, as a starting fee." The boy casually replied, causing my jaw drop when he raised his palm and caused a wad of cash to appear on it with a flash of electricity. "Finish my commission, and I'll add in $15,000."

"Wh-Who the hell are you?!" I exclaimed in shock. Had he robbed some bank or gangs to get this?! Or was he an extremely rich civilian? No, he'd probably have better contacts than me if he were the latter... And I did need the money, especially with the Empire cracking down more on me and scaring away some of my usual customers... "Tell me-"

"Well, what do we have here?" A deep growl resounded, interrupting me and causing the both of us to regard the Empire capes that had just showed up. Hookwolf, accompanied by Cricket and Alabaster, giving us both a menacing smirk as they strutted towards us. "Parian... and some Jason wannabe?"

"Parian, will you be able to get the civilians to safety while I deal with these three?" Putting the money away with another electrical crackle, the boy stepped forward so that he was the sole barrier between them and me.

"...if you can handle them." I carefully replied, relaxing a little when he sent a thumbs up over his back.

"You think you can handle all of us, baby cape?" Alabaster scoffed.

"You overestimate yourselves." That calm rebuttal was immediately followed by a sudden burst of ice that immediately engulfed all three of them in an instant. My jaw didn't have time to even drop before Hookwolf bursted free in a whirring frenzy of ice and steel spires.

"Heed your own words, hoodie brat!" Hookwolf roared before he slammed his claws against the boy's raised hand, only for a chunk of ice to burst free and smash into Hookwolf's limb, knocking it off-course. A second later, the boy's kick smashed into Hookwolf's jaw and sent him flying several meters back, skidding heavily across the ground until he came to a groaning stop.

"And next up-" The boy turned towards a particular spot in the ice just as Alabaster broke free. "You."

"You dirty-" Alabaster didn't even get to speak anymore when all of the surrounding ice burst into floating pieces, inadvertently freeing a gasping and choking Cricket. I immediately flung some threads to tie up her limbs just as the boy made a crushing motion with his hand, turning Alabaster into a miniature planetoid as all of the ice chunks chose him as the strongest gravitational force around.

Lethal move for a newbie, but one I ultimately deemed necessary if what I knew about Alabaster's power was correct. Sure enough, the marble-skinned man soon punched himself free with a roar.

"Is that the best you got?!"

"...no." Turning his head to regard Hookwolf as he was getting back up, the boy gestured towards him and flipped him off. This immediately Hookwolf into an angered charge, his claws gouging sparks along the way as the boy turned back to Alabaster. "Let's check your pain tolerance."

"Huh-" Alabaster muttered before the ice chunks rose up to cling to his waist before flinging him towards the charging murder blender. A second later, Hookwolf didn't stop quickly enough before Alabaster became almost shredded in half, blood splattering allover the two as the latter screamed in tortured pain.

I almost winced in pity before remembering the scumbags these two were. And to make this better, sirens began to fill the air. One of the civilians I'd herded away must've called the PRT.

"SHIT!" Hookwolf roared before sending a nasty glare towards the boy, who responded again with a raised middle finger I almost giggled at. "Cricket, I'll bust you out later! You're dead, hoodie brat! I'm gonna fucking kill you later!"

"You overestimate yourself." The boy simply replied, his repeated words earning a murderous snarl before Hookwolf bounded off with Alabaster in tow. Staring them down until they were out of sight, the boy towards Cricket and I, ice chunks flattening and wrapping around the former's bound hands and legs as he approached us. "You think I should go after them?"

"A-After what you just did?!" I exclaimed at the cape who just singlehandedly trashed three of the Empire's capes. "You just beat all of them so easily! Are you really some newbie?!"

"Well... I've been fighting much stronger opponents recently." The boy admitted sheepishly, giving Cricket a dismissive glare. "Much stronger. I was almost shocked that my kick back then might've blown Hookwolf's head off."

"Heh... Well, the PRT's gonna want a statement." I smiled briefly, even if I'd have to deal with even them trying to recruit me again. Seeing those nazi assholes getting absolutely beaten for once must've put me in a better mood than I thought. After they'd been hounding me and harassing my customers, it really felt nice to witness them humbled so thoroughly. "Come on."

Greg Veder

+6,190EXP!

+3,190EXP!

+6,090EXP!

+New Quirk(s)!

-:|Scalemail|:-

This allows you to reversibly form iron scales that are reminiscent of a dragon's throughout part of (or the entirety of) your body, dramatically increasing your defensive capabilities against physical harm and extreme temperatures. However, the scales will break off relatively easily after suffering sufficiently strong impacts.

-:|Earphone Jack|:-

This allows you to reversibly form long and controllable earlobes that work like headphone cables, being shaped like jacks at their ends that allow you to plug them into a variety of objects. The earlobes can further channel the vibrations of your own heartbeats, dealing internal damage to said objects. Moreover, faint sounds can be caught through the jacks even across extremely thick walls, making it excellent for scouting work as well.

-:|Rewind|:-

This allows you to reverse living beings back to a previous state, undoing or bringing back injuries or modifications from the present or the past. It is even capable of reverting people back to a point before they even existed, effectively erasing them from existence. Normally requiring the accumulation of a yet unknown element in order to be activated, this can instead be fueled by your NRG.

Ignoring my new Quirks for the moment(especially that terrifying last one), I gave my full attention to the PRT squad moving in to secure the area. A pair of troopers came forward and took away the bound Cricket before Miss Militia herself stepped forward with a notepad in her hands, her expression composed but scrutinizing. She was dressed in her signature dark green hijab and military fatigues, her ever-shifting weapon currently resting in a holster at her hip. "Hey, Miss Militia. Big fan."

"Appreciated." Miss Militia replied, clearly appraising me, Parian and then the subdued Cricket as she was loaded into one of the vehicles. "Was this an unprecedented team-up?"

"Barely." Parian gestured towards me. "Hookwolf and Alabaster were here too, and this guy took down all three of them by himself."

Miss Militia gave the frozen over surroundings another lookover before giving me much greater scrutiny. "Really?"

"Taking down Nazis is an American duty." I smoothly replied, keeping myself from gushing and being so... Greg in front of this superheroine. "You can call me... Cryomancer, by the way."

Better to get ahead of whatever name the Protectorate was going to try and slap me with. Parian and Miss Militia nodded in acceptance of my new cape name, the latter jotting it down on her notepad.

"Can you tell me why you were meeting with Parian today?" Miss Militia asked.

"I wanted to commission her for a costume." I gestured at myself. "As you can see, my beta outfit is immensely inadequate. I have no idea where her shop is so I was willing to wait until right after one of her shows. Unfortunately, it seemed that those three were waiting for her as well. Fortunately for Parian, I was here first."

"I see." Miss Militia noted that down as well. "May I ask about your powers?"

Right, for the Cryomancer image I was about to cultivate. "As the name implies, I can create and manipulate ice into many forms. Along with some enhanced physical prowess."

"What's the maximum amount of ice you can create or control?"

I beamed, even if she couldn't see it. "I haven't reached it yet. It's just a hunch, but I could probably freeze this entire city block and more."

Briefly pausing in her writing, Miss Militia hummed in consideration before coming to a decision. "I'd like to discuss your future."

"Ah, is this is the part where you try to recruit me?" I feigned realization.

"Yes. Yes, it is." Miss Militia, being totally awesome, didn't even pretend to deny it. "You are young, but clearly very capable and powerful. On top of being able to push back two of the Empire Eighty-Eight's most dangerous parahumans by yourself, you also subdued one of their high-ranking members, all without injury to yourself or any civilians."

Wow. It sounded like she was buttering me up, but the matter-of-fact tone Miss Militia spoke with just made it a lot more genuine than I would've expected it to be.

"Have you considered joining the Wards? Costumes are a part of the deal, along with access to training, resources, and legal protection. You'd be working with professionals, not against them." Miss Militia continued with her pitch. "Your actions today have surely earned you the enmity of the Empire Eighty-Eight. With the Wards, you would have adequate backup against them."

"And what if I said no?" I replied firmly. "What if I told you that I can actually handle them all by myself?"

"I'd call you arrogant, but accept your refusal." She said without hesitation. "I'm not here to force you. But the offer remains open."

I considered her for a moment. I planned on staying independent, but my rapidly growing ideas for the 'Cryomancer' persona needed him as a Lawful type to match Void Cowboy's Chaotic Good. Best to show her that 'Cryomancer' would consider her words at least. "I'll keep that in mind."

Miss Militia extended a small card, which I took and put into my pocket. The moment it was out of sight, I immediately Inventoried it just in case they had tracking bugs on it. One could never be too safe with governmental types...

Nodding in acceptance, Miss Militia me one last assessing look before stepping back. "Good luck, Cryomancer. Good day to you, Parian."

Miss Militia turned back and signaled the PRT soldiers to withdraw, me sighing as they left. "So..."

Parian chuckled wryly. "So, let's talk about your costume. Follow me."

Greg Veder(Double) - Void Cowboy

The city stretched out before me, bathed in amber sunlight and the chaotic hum of distant traffic as I stood on one of the many rooftops. It really shouldn't be understated how convenient {Warp Gate} was. With the power to create portals to wherever I wanted, distance was now an utter joke... as long as I had a set destination.

"Hey!"

I blinked and turned to my side as a streak of white and gold came to a stop just out of reach, Glory Girl herself hovering there. Even in some sort of combat stance, she was still that amazing mix of gorgeous and-

-:|Alert!|:-

An unknown mental status effect has been repelled due to {Compassionate Healer Lee Ju-Hee's Blessing} and {Tyrannical Helldrake Smaug's Power}!

-:Perk(s):-

-:Compassionate Healer Lee Ju-Hee's Blessing:-

Active Effect: This allows you to heal and regenerate all physical harm to yourself almost instantly. Any damaged area or lost anatomy will be completely restored with no lingering side effects in seconds to minutes, even forcing objects embedded out to heal properly.

Passive Effect: This automatically cleanses your body of any viruses, diseases, toxins and intrusive substances. Only the most potent of these will affect you and only for a brief period before you return to normal. Additionally, sleeping explosively boosts your regenerative capabilities.

-:Tyrannical Helldrake Smaug's Power:-

Active Effect: This allows you to manifest a massive draconic avatar out of your spiritual and elemental aura, surrounding you and fighting on your behalf.

Passive Effect: This automatically renders you highly resistant to most forms of supernatural phenomena, reducing their direct effects on you to a negligible threshold. This trait is automatically imbued into any impromptu defenses you can manifest.

'Intrusive substances'... While I marveled at the fact that the System, or perhaps my Perks themselves, apparently protected me from ever getting Mastered, why did Glory Girl have a Master power? Was it a power that she didn't want getting out? If so, I didn't blame her. Just like Taylor with the Butcher and me with Lung, any heroic Master would unfortunately be compared to the likes of Heartbreaker.

"So, who the hell are you?" Glory Girl demanded as she landed before me. "And what're you doing here skulking on some roof?"

"Void Cowboy." I smiled when her eyes widened in recognition. "New in the cape business and not sure where to start."

"...holy shit, this is real. Void fucking Cowboy actually got powers." Glory Girl muttered as she pressed her palm against her forehead. "So why the roof?"

"Just watching from above." I answered. "Gotta see what I'm getting into before teleporting straight into it."

That actually seemed to stun her. "Huh. That's... actually pretty smart."

I pretended to be offended. "Oi. I'm chaotic good, not chaotic stupid."

"Are you sure?" Glory Girl raised an unimpressed brow, giving me an appraising look. "Is this costume the best you could do?"

"It's currently in progress, but I couldn't help myself." I shrugged, wondering if my smile was obvious to her behind my mask. "I just had to get out there, you know?"

Surprisingly, Glory Girl nodded in understanding. "Yeah. If you can really teleport, I understand the feeling. As a fellow Mover. It's almost addictive to constantly know that you're no longer gravity's bitch."

Oh? So that was unassisted flight felt like?

Glory Girl studied me for a moment, then gestured toward the city. "You got a route you patrol, or are you just aimlessly rooftop-hopping?"

"Totally the second one." I honestly replied. "I'll let you know if the first one ever comes to pass."

"You better." Glory Girl asserted. "Maybe if you're serious about doing this and getting a feel for real hero work, you'll stop trolling us so badly."

"No promises." I immediately countered. "I've always spoke nothing but the hidden truth!"

"Bullshit!" Even as she said that, Glory Girl was grinning as she lifted off into the air. "One last thing. If you can really teleport, you up for a little race?"

"Bet." I quickly stepped towards the railing. "Where's our finish line?"

"Hmm... Medhall roof, as long as you're not teleporting straight to there." Glory Girl decided.

"Too boring." I turned around and leapt backwards over the edge, enjoying the gobsmacked look on her face before darkness swallowed me and spit out a bit farther away from her, whooping loudly as I controlled my 'fall' through varyingly angled portals, even posing at Glory Girl the one time I briefly next to her midair as she chased after me. "C'mon, Glory Girl! Keep up!"

"Oh, them's fighting words!" Glory Girl noticeably sped up, leaving a glowing trail while I rapidly warped after her. Then just as Medhall actually came into view...

My shoes touched down a second after Glory Girl nearly broke the sound barrier and barely prevented herself from smashing through the roof, dragging her boots across it for a long while she slowed down.

"Damn, that was awesome! See you on the PHO... or the streets, whichever comes first." Glory Girl waved me goodbye as she lifted up once more, soon vanishing into the metropolitan skyline.

Isla Wright - 'Sparky'

I stared down at the map of Brockton Bay in my phone, looking over the digital cartography of the metropolitan medley caught between debilitation and obstinacy. For every spot that still had significant affluence, there were at least five abandoned districts that were filled with either the homeless or gang members.

If I was going to establish a base of operations for Greg and I, I needed to be smart about it. Greg was essentially letting me be his tactician, leaving all of the planning to me. This... 'System' had accelerated the timetable for my own plans, but this was actually a good mishap. Not only did this fix a lot of issues I'd worried about Greg's safety regarding Zion's eventual breaking point, but it also allowed me to focus more on actually making our home city a place actually worth living in.

(The upcoming aftermath of the- If the others actually learnt of Zion's current state-)

Our future HQ had to be secure and practical, a place where we could both operate without drawing attention but still move freely. Greg couldn't do that from his own home, not with his foster mother. And my own home with my parents were no good either.

"So where to?" The interloper- "Her name's Aisha, Sparky. Don't be mean." -spoke up again, as if she hadn't asked those exact words five times now in the past twelve minutes.

Insecurity had used to be my life. Neither me nor my parents ever figured out why I could never trust my own judgement. For some reason, I could never make any decision that would affect myself or speak up to assert myself against others.

My judgement was permanently flawed, and suddenly gaining the ability to see the future amongst other powers hadn't changed that. I'd never had any powers back when I'd first started using tarot cards. I would simply just lay them out, pick one and would try to see how it fit the situation. Of course, my readings were rarely correct.

At least until I'd met Greg. Out of the twenty futures I'd seen regarding him, only six of them had come true so far but he'd never doubted any of my warnings for some reason.

(I studiously ignored the fact that he'd basically looked after me, refusing to leave me alone during my depression under the belief that I'd needed somebody never leaving my side. He was totally right of course, but seriously.)

And for that... for being my first friend, I owed him everything.

Including, unfortunately, tolerating Aisha Laborn's intrusion into our duo.

"...we have multiple choices with multiple drawbacks." I finally deigned her, handing her my notes while I kept my phone. I'd already memorized it all in case anything happened to them. "We can't use the docks because that's where Greg's mother works. Downtown is also no good as its too close to the busy activities of the city, making it too likely to be discovered sooner rather than later. The trainyard's got lots of hidden spaces and usable train cars I could repurpose, but there's also a lot of homeless over there that will do anything as long as they believe the reward to be worth it."

"So that leaves..." Aisha ruffled through the notes, frowning at the last spot. "The old boat graveyard?"

I nodded in confirmation. It was a bundle of imperiled boats and damaged docks, utterly isolated with very few willing to enter into the great wreckage willingly. The reason why was actually a disadvantage of its own due to it's unstable structures making it too unstable for anybody to consider building anything worthwhile there.

Unless they were us. No gang activity, no squatters, no unwanted attention. It was the kind of place people forgot existed, which made it the perfect hiding spot. "That's our best possible spot for the lair. Follow me."

I ducked down an alleyway with Aisha keeping close, uncaring of the group of thugs in our way. It certainly wasn't a surprise when they moved to block our path.

"Woah. On a hurry, girls?" One of the thugs, still in clothing that signified him as an ABB remnant, smirked at our apparently defenseless selves. He quickly thought otherwise when sand began to waft off Aisha's transforming arms and I pulled out a stack of cards that glowed as they levitated into a halo around me. "...nope."

I smiled as all four gangsters immediately did an about-turn in unison.

"What the hell? Sensible thugs?" Aisha muttered as her arms reformed back from the sand while I returned my cards back into the holder on my hip. "Weaver's thrashing of the ABB must've knocked some braincells into place."

"The ABB only now possesses a single cape, and she has neither Lung's brutal charisma nor Oni Lee's ruthless efficiency." I explained as I motioned for her to keep following me. "They are aware that they're dying out, and desperation will soon set in."

And the city's streets would once more be stained with the blood of powerless civilians. We needed to be ready. Finally reaching the boat graveyard after a couple of more minutes, I regarded the dumping ground for derelict ships and half-sunken wrecks. There was potential here; some of the abandoned boats could serve as secure hideouts, places no one would think to check.

I took a step forward-

Water smashed into the coastline and turned the ruined boats into something almost beyond ruin itself. Too powerful to be regular waves, too focused to be a regular tsunami, all at the behest of something large and reptilian.

-and immediately sighed in frustration. Damnit, Leviathan! How long did I have?

"What's wrong?" Aisha immediately cottoned on.

"...Leviathan attack." I answered. "I don't know exactly when... but this year, at minimum."

"Fuck!" Aisha was a lot less composed in controlling herself, kicking at a stone that noisily echoed after flying off into the distance. "So what now?"

"...it changes nothing." I decided. "Greg wouldn't have made that Endbringer comment earlier without basis, so I'm sure that he'll soon reach a point where he can actually drive it off. Meanwhile, I'll focus on prepping our lair to defend against incoming waves along with everything else."

It was all already structurally unsound, so this wouldn't really change much. So on top of my plans to make it all waterproof, fireproof, bulletproof, explosion-proof, acid-proof, decay-proof... I now had to make it Leviathan-proof.

You know what? Fine. I might as well make it totally Endbringer-proof. Did Greg think he was the only one with years' worth of bottled-up spite? I just hid mine better. "Watch your step and follow me."

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Chapter 1404 - ready player Greg 6