It took me some time to get my thoughts together. I was staring straight ahead, watching as people hurried past me, going about their day. Some spared me a passing glance, but most didn't even seem to care that I existed.

I paid them no mind. I was too caught up in my own thoughts. This was real. It was actually happening. A five-minute time waster had somehow ended with me standing in a world fated to die in 2-15 years. Was it fifteen? I didn't remember the canon events clearly enough. My entire view of this world had been tainted by fanon.

"Excuse me?"

I looked up at the portly black woman smiling down at me. I frowned as I realized the CYOA I filled out gave me everything I selected. I was a child again. If I had to guess, my current physical age was somewhere between nine and thirteen. I would wager I was closer to twelve though.

"Yes, ma'am?" I asked, nearly cringing at the squeaky voice that left my lips.

The woman grunted in discomfort as she slowly knelt down in front of me and placed a hand on my shoulder. Her knees were likely compromised in some way.

"Do you know where your mother is, sweetie?"

I didn't answer immediately. This was it – this was the turning point. Depending on how I responded to this woman and how I acted immediately thereafter, I would lead starkly different lives going forward. I could tell her my parents were dead and ask her for a phone to call the authorities, but then I would be beholden and known to them. The idea of surrendering my freedom to a corrupt, power-hungry authority didn't sit well with me. That left another option, but would I be able to live with myself if I walked that path?

Smiling brightly up at the woman as I made a decision that would damn my soul, I pointed towards a clothing store a short walk away. "She's in there. I snuck away from her and she didn't even notice! I'm pretty good at sneaking."

The woman frowned, pointing a finger at me in disapproval. "Your mother is probably worried sick about you, young man. What would have happened if she went looking for you and walked in the wrong direction?"

I made a show of flinching and refusing to meet the woman's eyes like a chastised kid was supposed to. "Mkay." I grumbled, scurrying towards the store with hung shoulders.

"Let me walk you." the woman called after me, grimacing in discomfort as she slowly began to rise.

This lady seemed like a genuinely good person. I didn't want her to be associated with me if I decided to carry through with my plan.

I turned into the store and started running the second I was out of the lady's view. I cursed my childish speed and gangly limbs as I weaved between different clothing racks towards the back of the store. I found the emergency exit and dashed through it, breathing a sigh of relief as no alarm sounded despite clear warnings that one would. Some stores were cheap and only put those warnings up as deterrents. It seemed I was lucky this was one such store.

I found myself at the back of a row of different stores with loading docks. I ran back around to the street and started looking around for a newspaper. While I knew from the CYOA I'd filled out what world I found myself in, I had no idea where I wound up in that world. I took the option that dropped me in a random location, but didn't up the ante to somewhere actively dangerous. That meant I would be safe so long as I dodged around any other caring humans who inquired about the small child walking down the sidewalk of a bustling city without their parents.

I didn't find a newspaper, but I did find something even better. Plastered against a light pole was an advertisement for an autograph signing complete with a small, rudimentary map in the corner of the page with directions on how to arrive at the signing. The image of a tall man in a black and blue cape with his hands on his hips stood prominently in the center of the page. The advertisement read, 'Former Protectorate Hero Strider Returns Home to Meet the People of Los Angeles'. I stared at the advertisement for a long time. Thankfully, no one interrupted my thoughts this time.

This was it. I could springboard into the public graces and work to become a beacon if I told this man who I was. Try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to have a lick of faith in that plan. I knew this world. Canary, Skitter, Blasto – the benefit of the doubt was not something people in this universe were fond of granting. It would be stupid for me to trust the Protectorate or PRT with knowledge of my power. But that only left the option to actually use it. Did I really want to open that can of worms? For the second time today, I made a decision that I was sure was the wrong one, but I didn't see any other way forward.

I memorized the directions on the advertisement and made my way to the small park where Strider was signing autographs and talking to fans. It didn't take me long to get there even with my small legs. The park was packed with people all pining for Strider's attention. Phones were out to take pictures and videotape Strider as he posed with fans. I couldn't do anything yet. I wanted to remain unknown for as long as possible. That meant waiting until the crowd died down. I would have to play this carefully. If I waited too long, I'd lose my chance.

I walked over to the park's playground and sat on a swing, keeping a close eye on the crowd around Strider. I didn't have a watch to accurately mark the passage of time, but it felt like I sat on that swing for close to two hours. The crowd had slowly scattered until there were just over a dozen people around.

"It's been wonderful meeting you all, but I have to go now." Strider announced.

There were moans of disapproval and declarations of love to the man in blue, but I ignored them. I hopped off my swing and ran up to Strider. "Mr. Strider, sir?" I asked as cutely as I could. "Before you go, can you show me your power?" I made a show of looking bashful.

Strider smirked down at me and laid a hand on my shoulder. "How about I give you a quick trip?"

I bugged my eyes out, and it wasn't even an act. If this worked it would be perfect. "Can I?"

Strider nodded. "Sure thing. We need to ask your parents if it's alright, but–"

"My dad went to the bathroom! One second!" I came up with a quick excuse, darting away towards the public restroom. I stepped into the restroom and twiddled my thumbs for a few seconds before I ran back outside and stopped in front of Strider. "He said okay so long as we don't go up any buildings!"

Strider chuckled. "I'll keep your feet on the ground. Take my hand and hold on tight."

I grabbed onto Strider's hand, unable to believe my luck had turned this good. There were a few phone cameras filming the event, but the notoriety gained would be worth it for this. By the time it mattered enough to hurt me, I would be too powerful to stop. I gasped as a fluid-like blue energy rose up around Strider and I in a rough perimeter.

"Wave goodbye to everyone!" Strider said with a smile on his face.

I pulled gently on his hand to position his arm in front of my face as the cameras turned to me as I waved. "Bye!"

The world twisted and a weird rushing sound filled my ears. The next moment, I was standing on the beach, staring out over the ocean with Strider.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Strider said smugly.

I looked around, and my heart sank. We were alone. It was now or never. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? You have nothing to–" Strider's knees buckled as he fell limply to the ground.

I was still holding his hand. I realized I was slightly trembling. It was so easy. I could feel the ability to claim him the moment our hands touched. All I had to do was gently pull on it and the one-time hero died. I looked over my shoulder and clenched my fist at the sight. A blue-hued, humanoid shadow stood behind me, staring blankly forward. I could feel it. I had complete control over it and its power. I couldn't wait anymore.

A blue energy rose up around the shadowy spectre to envelop Strider's body and me. The energy swelled and I felt the teleportation effect take hold of me once more. The ground dropped out from underneath me as my feet came to rest atop the surface of the ocean. I began to tread water as I looked around. We were in the middle of nowhere. Good. Strider's shadow activated its power again at my command, excluding me from the effect. Strider's body had slowly begun to sink. It was swept up by the teleportation and sent as far down into the depths as Strider's power could reach. Between the currents, water pressure that deep and Leviathan lording over the seas, I hoped the body would never be found.

My shadow's power activated once more at my command and I was standing back on the beach. The shadow immediately faded at my will, disappearing as if it were never there, but it was. I could still feel Strider. Calling him back to my side would be as simple as breathing.

I clenched my fists, fighting the trembling in my fingers. I lied to myself, saying the trembling was from the cold ocean. I'd just crossed a major line. I couldn't afford to back out now. I had to shore up my weaknesses. I could kill parahumans with a touch and take their spirits for myself, but I couldn't use their powers personally. I was still a weak human that could be killed by a bullet or a particularly well-placed hit with a baseball bat. I needed to find a way to negate that weakness – a parahuman I could take whose power would be able to protect me. The answer came to me almost immediately. I didn't have a large library of Worm capes in my head, but I knew everyone from Brockton Bay. One woman in particular had just the power I needed, a woman with a life like Strider had. I would need to snuff that life out to pursue my power.

No. I wasn't going to let myself despair like that. I'd chosen to be a monster the moment I killed Strider. I wasn't going to back down now. I would take whatever power I felt I needed, no matter what individual it belonged to before I took it. Hero, villain, rogue – it didn't matter. I would take what I needed to make myself safe, but I had to be smart about it. Strider teleporting with me was filmed, but no one would immediately leap to the true conclusion. They would think he was touring me around or something. I needed to remain subtle for as long as possible. I needed to keep what I could do secret until I was already too strong for anyone to stop. I had mobility from Strider. I needed to get a sufficient defense. For that, I needed to go to Brockton Bay. I'd find a map then have Strider take me to the city.

I was resolved. No matter what I had to do, I would do it. Elevating my survival's importance above all else may have been cowardly, but it was my decision, and I would not allow myself to regret it, to doubt the course I'd chosen. If I was to be the story's monster, I would be so great a monster that none could compare.