9 Chapter 9: The Power Heist (2)

<Damian POV>

Über & Leet were a duo of independent Capes, firmly in the category of Villains because of their many petty but ultimately harmless crimes (like harassing people, robbery, assault, etc).

But because of their many infamous antics (like cosplaying, streaming their crimes, hilarious Tinker Tech failures) they had gathered an reputation as Joke Villains.

And that wasn't a compliment.

I had managed to tag them with my bugs when they were coming back from a stream of theirs. And then it was just all too easy.

Because of my meta-knowledge, I knew that Über was the brawns of the group. With the power that lets him learn a high level of skill in any specific technique he wants, as long as he focuses and concentrates on it.

But once again, it wouldn't be Worm if it didn't put crippling limits on it's powers...

So when he learns a technique, he doesn't get the broader skill, balance and poise that a real user of that technique would have. Like he can do a Karate Chop, but in front of a real Karate Master his will be significantly lacking.

Of course, he could get around this by practicing and training with the technique so it wasn't too big of a limitation.

Another limitation was how no matter how many techniques he learns, he will always be limited to being better than an average 'normal' person...

Of course, there was no way to go past this limitation so the user just has to be smart enough to pick the fights that he can win... Fortunately, I possessed several powers so this limitation wasn't a concern for me.

But even with these restrictions, this was a pretty useful power to have, as the user can become like Daredevil or even Batman.

Sure, you won't be very powerful in front of the Big Threats but you would still be a valuable member of the team.

...

While many people admitted that Über had the potential to be a relatively strong Cape, the same couldn't be said for his partner.

Leet in particular was a joke in Cape community. Because of the crippling limitations of his powers; any Tinker-Tech made by him was only able to be created ONCE.

The more similar a creation was to something he had made before, the higher the chances that it would spectacularly misfire or just plain old fail. But not only this, the chance of his Tech misfiring increases the more he works on that idea or in that field...

But on the plus side, Leet was able to build ANYTHING (with sufficient blueprinting, resources and time). He wasn't constrained by the limits of specialization like other Tinkers.

He was what you called a Free Tinker.

Normally, with a power like that you would expect that he would be a super-powerful Machine god...

But for the reasons listed above, he was restricted to the life of a mere Joke Villain.

Because unfortunately, by the time he figured these drawbacks out, it was too late and now all his creations have big chances of failure, no matter what.

But his misfortune didn't end there...

Oh no, there was much bigger problem concerning his power itself.

Or should I say it's Shard.

For one, because of the Shard originating from the dead Entity, Eden, the Shard was disconnected from the larger Shard network (and by extension from the Entities) so it can't ask the network for any assistance or permission to alter itself in case of a Second-Trigger.

These type of Shards were considered by Scion to be "Dead Shards".

These Shards were still able to be connected to a host though, as seen by the many Cauldron Capes and also some Capes that naturally got some Eden Shards before the Entity's demise.

...

Well ignoring that complicated talk, the Shard hated Leet because of his passivity and general uncreative-ness.

I believe I've mentioned this before, but Shards are created so the users can explore their capabilities in battle and then the Shard could collect the information to better itself. They even mentally compel their hosts to seek out conflict.

But because of his methodical, risk-averse, and passive ways, he's too out of sync with his Shard.

His habit of staying in his workspace, maintaining lists of previous projects, and only going out on preplanned outings means that the ideas and assistance his Shard should be granting him are consequently restricted, compared with Tinkers that frequently get into fights.

So the Shard sabotages him in hopes that either Leet will kill himself with one of his failed Tech, or he will learn to be creative and go out to fight (it increases the chances of Leet's creations failing).

'Man... That's a hell of a petty Shard.' I winced even as I thought about it.

A dead Shard with a unsuitable host. It was a recipe made for disaster.

Well... this also made me feel slightly better about what I was going to do.

I wouldn't have been stealing Leet's power if I didn't know that [All For One] granted me total control over my abilities.

Cause' honestly? With all it's current restrictions, the power just wasn't worth it.

I mean, sure. You are able to create tech from any Tinker-Tech tree. But you will only be able to do so ONCE.

And the more similar your future creations are compared to your past ones, the more there is chance of failure.

Heck, even Wildbow mentioned once about how the fandom overestimates his power.

But...

I had a hunch that like all the powers that I had, this one will also grow more powerful and less limited after a while.

I hadn't been able to check that with Shadow Stalker, cause her power had evolved before I even took it.

And Dinah's power was canonically able to grow by repeated use, so trying to prove my theory using that was a foolish.

But Leet's power... It was the perfect guinea pig to prove my theory.

That all my stolen powers were growing stronger and less limited on their own.

By now, I've gathered that whatever it is, it's connected to the Shards of the powers I steal... Though I haven't got any proof yet.

...

After making sure that these guys were alone and didn't have any backup or weapon to help themselves, I attacked.

When I struck, they were sitting on their own one-person couches and were too distracted and busy playing some kind... PRT Mortal Kombat rip-off?

Whatever it was, they seemed really into it. And that was just what I needed.

First, I took out Über with a punch to the back of his head. Shadow Stalker's passive strength helping me in successfully taking him out.

-And as my punch connected with his head, I quickly used my Multi-Tasking skills and stole his power with [All For One].

First objective successful!

Then just as Leet heard the sound of an unconscious Über falling to the floor, I delivered a jaw-crunching uppercut that sent him sprawling and off to the realm of Morpheus.

*CRUNCH!*.

I took a moment to breath, and then quickly kneeled down besides the lean and lanky Leet to steal his power.

'And the moment of truth comes...' I thought in anticipation as I touched his hand and activated [All For One].

And-

"YES! YES!! I WAS RIGHT!" I yelled out in excitement.

Ideas flowed through my head as if I was a super-computer...

Knowledge of building all types of Futuristic Machines.

Vehicles, Energy sources, Power Armors, Teleporters, Miraculous Medicines, Futuristic Computers, Artificial Intelligence, Weapons of Mass Destruction...

It was as if... It was as if I could create any machine I put my mind into.

'Truly... Tinkers were such an Hax.' I thought as I calmed down.

And this... This proved that my theory was atleast partially correct.

The one-time limit had severely weakened and had grown to a five-time limit for the time being (so I could create a machine for upto five times unlike Leet's one-time limit... And I was sure that this limitation would only grow weaker by time).

So this proved it, without a shadow of doubt, that any power I stole, no matter how weak or limited, would grow stronger with me.

'It was as if... As if it's limits were Shattered...'

And for now... That was enough. I could think all about it after I was safe in my Lair.

Cause' my Heist still wasn't finished.

And my next target... Was the most high-profile and dangerous one of all...

It was not an overestimate to say that there was a big chance of failure...

Afterall, because of my actions tonight there was HUGE chance that she would be surrounded by PRT Capes AND New Wave right now.

And even if I got close to her... I couldn't touch her unless I wanted hundreds of tumors to suddenly burst out from my body.

So I was gonna have to heavily rely upon the suprise factor and miraculous luck...

"[What are the chances that I would successfully steal her power?]" I asked after activating Dinah's power.

During the time I spent traveling from Dinah's house and to Über & Leet's home, the power had recharged enough for one small question.

//82%//

'Hmm... It's higher than I thought.' I thought intensely. 'Is she perhaps not surrounded by Capes?... No, that's unlikely as I'm sure PRT would bring her in to quickly heal Shadow Stalker.'

'Hmm... Is this because of something I overlooked?' I thought and used my Multi-Tasking abilities to simultaneously think of a multitude of ways to defeat her and the other Capes...

-And then I promptly discarded them for one reason or the other.

Just then, I remembered a scene from one of the first superhero films that I had watched...

Batman Begins.

"-Bingo!" I exclaimed as I had finally gotten a way to easily steal her powers.

And for that...

I needed a... Sleeping Machine.

...

================

And Done!

Uber & Leet have a ton of potential that is restricted because of their power limitations, so it will be fun to write about their powers.

I also included some tidbits about the lore of this universe, like Dead Shards and Eden.

Think you guys have already guessed who his next target is. But for appearances sake, let's keep the mystery for now.

As for the Sleeping Machine... Mwahahahaha!!!

Till then, see ya later!