Preface: This story's main character is made with a CYOA(Create Your Own Adventure), but is a normal story other than the main character being made on a point-but based style. This style of CYOA ISN'T the normal definition where you choose your own path, just where an author makes a character with certain limits. The version I'm used for creation of the main character Squirrelly's Worm CYOA.

Shaping 1.1

When I got in my bed last night I didn't expect to wake up on a moving vehicle, more specifically a moving bus.

Nor did I expect to be leaning on some woman I'd never seen before.

"Are you ok sir? You nodded off for a bit." the auburn-hair girl asked. At least, I assumed she was just a girl rather than a woman since she looked around 17 to 18. I could easily be wrong though.

"Perfectly fine..." Jen "...Jen, just a bit tired is all." I say, pausing both to try to figure out her name and to mask my shock at my own voice. It wasn't like my own, sounding younger and a bit smoother.

Then my mind catches up to my mouth and realises where that name came from. The Create Your Own Adventure I had filled out the previous day out of boredom. I attempted to deny it, but the little details about my surroundings all pointed towards that being true.

It was at this point I stiffened in my seat on the bus, memories I was certain weren't mine rushing through my mind and giving me the background knowledge on who I was that I vaguely remembered writing as I filled out the CYOA. I probably shouldn't have filled it out in a fit of whimsy brought about by sleep deprivation from writing late into the night.

In this world I was named Arthur, with a mother who died recently, a father imprisoned when I was younger, and a younger half-sister who probably did remember I existed.

More specifically, I was Arthur Lavere, the 17 year old son of Andrew Lavere AKA Marquis, and brother of Amy Dallon AKA Panacea.

That is...hopefully not going to blow up in my face, seeing as Amy- no, Amelia. My memories of that time might be fuzzy, but I still remembered her as Amelia all those years ago and calling her anything else felt like a betrayal of those memories. Anyways, since Amelia was a few bad days away from snapping and turning into a terror to deal with, I needed to try to stop that. Before I'd dropped in, past-Athur had already been planning to contact her and it was a decision I agreed with. After confirming my main objectives, I mentally start digging up my memories and confirming that they fit with what I remembered writing the night before. Luckily it all seemed to match.

I pulled myself out of my recollections when the bus pulled to a stuttering stop on the outskirts of a city, with Jen moving to get off the bus with me off, both of us with suitcases in hand. The two of us stepped out into the streets of a city I knew, no matter how foggy my memories of it was.

Brockton Bay.

The place where in a matter of months- note to self: check the date and get a timeline prepared- that horrific events would be put in motion, and I was one of the only people who knew enough of what was going to happen to try and stop it. I also had no idea how accurate any of my information would be, or how long it would be until changes added up to make my knowledge useless.

"Arthur?" Jen said, speaking up hesitantly from beside me. (Unwilling to anger me? Most likely explanation after what I did.)

My name being called was enough to realise I had been standing still for… a minute or two? I hadn't been paying much attention to my surroundings.

I sigh before deciding to put it off until later, and start walking the familiar path away from the city itself.

"Come on, we should get there before we end up getting mugged." I mutter to her under my breath, and she nods and follows me silently.

She'd only known "me" for- what? Like 2 weeks at this point? - and had gotten a decent hold on my former personality, amoral brat that I had been. Guess lack of social interaction with equals can cause a whole heap of problems during development.

I halt that line of thought as my destination becomes visible to us upon a trek up a dirt road up into the mountains, clearly used only scarcely. After close to twenty minutes of walking deep into the woods, no signs of human life around us, a rusted gate stood out as the first sign of human habitation; the ornate curling iron of it worn down from age and lack of care. I walk right up to the gate before I rifle through my pockets, pulling out a dusty clearance card and swipe it through a worn-down old card reader. The gate before us slowly creaks upon, sounding at moments like its about stop but always barely managing to keep going.

We begin stepping along the cracked brick path leading up to the old-fashioned manor, crushing down the incredibly long grass that had grown all through every crevice it could over time. A glance around shows the condition of the yard we are in, with it being very large, walled-in, and completely overgrown. Of note in the yard was a shed that's roof had collapsed inwards, likely filled with rodents and insects, and an old tree that brought back fond feelings with the rotted rope hanging from it and an aging tire partially hidden in the roots and grass.

Finally getting up to the door, I began to rummage for the key, before realising it was unnecessary. The door's hinges had been destroyed, cut through by some incredibly sharp weapon(Brandish, no doubt).

The entranceway of the house showed no other obvious signs of the conflict that happened, but a few pictures had been knocked ajar and hung off kilter on the wall. My hand works along the wall, guided by the few beams of morning light that broke snuck through the door, reaching for the light switch. It flips pathetically with no effect on the lighting system. Of course the power would have been shut off, I don't know I thought it wouldn't be. Guess that's one more thing to deal with.

I begin striding through the halls of the building with purpose, finding and climbing the stairs towards the wing of suites on the second floor. As I got closer and closer to my objective more signs of the battle that once marred these halls became more evident, with scorch marks and destroyed furnishings.

Eventually I got to the hall where all the bedrooms were, along with Father's study. A single cupboard stood out in the hall, drawing my attention. Taken out of context, it likely would have appeared to be one of the most inconsequential parts of the hallway, ignoring the numerous scorch marks and faint signs of blood surrounding it.

I knew differently.

This was Father's motivation, the reason he fought so hard against the team currently known as New Wave. And the reason he lost.

This was where Amelia hid during the fight.

I turn away, finally noticing the presence of the silent girl who'd be following obediently since we'd entered my childhood home.

I pointed out a few rooms a bit down the hall from where I was standing.

"Pick out one and settle in. I have a few more matters to deal with before we go back into the town proper."

She nodded and carried her briefcase of borrowed clothes and belongings into the room to get set up. No questions were asked and my mood meant I wasn't sure I would have been willing to answer any if she had asked.

I braced myself as I stepped towards the end of the hall, ending up next to two doors, not knowing what I would find on the other side.

My fears appeared to be for nothing, as the master bedroom didn't have anything out of place. It was an opulent room, probably more expensive than all my belongings prior to ending up in Worm, but that was the case for every room in here so far. I desperately examined every nook and cranny, trying to learn my father's personality second-hand through his tastes. The room was obviously meant to show off, with wealth and prestige positively dripping off the walls even through the layers of dust, but it also was designed for comfort. I felt like my skeletal structure had spontaneously melted the second I touched the massive bed, it was that comfortable. But even through the tasteful, albeit in-your-face, display of wealth that you'd see from any rich bachelor signs of his true profession were hidden in the background.

Specifically the ornate, bone white masks hidden in the back of the walk-in closet. While the rest of the clothing in the closet could have easily been written of as specific tastes, with multiple copies of the same jacket and shirts, the masks easily tipped the balance into making it clear they were copies of a costume.

Pulling the masks out, I found one other thing out of place buried in the depths of the closet. A secret compartment hidden in the floor, barely visible even with me looking out for something like that. In it was a plain grey briefcase sealed by a shiny lock, with the key laying on top of the case, appearing untouched by time. I pick the key up and slide it into the padlock, before gently pulling it open with a hiss of a seal broken.

Inside the suitcase were 3 cylindrical metal canisters, each in its own recess in the case. I pick up the first of the three, turning it over and finding the stylized "C" marking the top of it. I gently unscrew the lid, pulling out a small vial of odd liquid stoppered by a black cork. I stare at it for a few seconds thinking of how innocuous it looked for what it contained.

It was cauldron vial, powers in a bottle. Something that could change the flow of fate, or ruin someone's life.

And now I had three of them, hidden in a closet.

I put the vial back in the canister, noting the number and "name" of that specific version of the substance, before I locked the case again and hid it again. I slip the key onto my key ring, where it could hide in plain sight

The vials would be important, but they were not immediately useful.

I walk out of the master bedroom, leaving my own suitcase of books and clothes in it, and head down towards the areas of the house I had not yet gone to deal with. There were a few more things to do before I walked back to the town.

The first was probably the most dangerous thing I'd be doing today, but I was uniquely prepared to deal with it.

Dealing with the kitchen.

Walking into the tiled room filled with expensive appliances that are currently completely useless, I turn my attention to the biggest threat.

The fridge.

I begin walking cautiously towards the possible biohazard sitting inconspicuously against the wall, before I suddenly pull open the fridge door.

The stench was horrific, and the sight wasn't much better. Greens, greys, and browns filled the entirety of the interior, remnants of possible meals never eaten, and probably filled with several strains of deadly bacteria. Ignoring all that, I grabbed a tupperware container that's contents were completely unrecognizable and carried it with me as I walked across the hall and down a set of stairs.

I end up feeling the difference in the area I was entering before I saw it, mostly due to the darkness of the stairway down from lack of lights and windows. The temperature dropped several degrees as I continued deep into the darkness, relying on touch to fumble my way down. After a minute or so the stairs stopped going lower, and my outstretched hand managed to prevent me from running face-first into the door at the bottom. I fumble for the handle for a moment or two, before managing to get a grip and push it open.

I walk forward for a moment before I slide out of my sandals and place my bare feet on the chilly concrete floor and take a few small, tentative steps forward, before transitioning to taking longer strides to cross the room.

I nearly faceplant when my feet attempt to step on air, having reached the edge of the concrete. Lowering my foot, I step down the six-ish inch drop to the feeling of the loose dirt squishing between my toes. A few more steps lead to me stopping in the area I felt was around the middle of

I flip the tupperware I'd been carrying over, dumping the mystery slop down on the dirt, before poking at the substance with my toe.

Why isn't this working? Is there a mental switch or…?

I end up close to dropping to the ground in shock at the sudden influx of information, as though some mental floodgate opened and let my power loose.

The images of improved retinas capable of seeing in the kind of darkness around me were...useful… but not what I was going for right now. Closing my eyes, I dug through the ideas and focused on the subject I had in mind.

Bioluminescence.

Finding a sufficient blueprint floating around in my mind, I once again stick my toe into disgusting goop in the dirt-while repressing the texture as much as possible- and flipped the mental trigger.

Opening my eyes, I begin blinking to adjust to the sudden light bathing the basement in a cool blue glow. The source was obvious, a massive glowing blue mushroom right in front of me.

A mushroom I had created, turning the mold and bacteria living all throughout the old food as material components.

Taking a moment to survey the room around me, I confirm my spotty memories of the basement were spot on. It had been in the middle of a renovation to expand it to twice its original size when Father got sent to the Birdcage, so half the room had a smooth concrete floor that was several inches above the other, dirt floor half of the room. Everything once in here was placed elsewhere while renovations were on-going, so I wouldn't need to move anything out.

It would make a good laboratory for me, once furnished. I would definitely need it, since even now I could begin to feel urges. Without me subconsciously holding my power back- most likely done to adjust to the sudden new memories with my power was just waiting to be called into action- the desire to create had come full force. To shape something to my will. If this was what Amelia had suppressed for… what? Around two years?... then I can definitely see how much of a toll that would take. The only reason I wasn't deep in building some new organism was lack of available biomass, which I hopefully already had a way to deal with.

Moving a hand to touch the...Glowshroom? No sounds too stupid… Bioluminescent Mushroom v1(shortened mentaly to BM1) and begin adjusting the biology of it.

First, lower the required resources consumed as much as possible by improving the efficiency in which it consumes minerals, allowing it to require less food in the long term. Hopefully this makes up for the extra consumption needed to grow at the enhanced rate

Second, increase their reproduction rate. I want them to quickly spread across the dirt. Not difficult at all.

Third, enhancing the maximum size they would grow to.

After finishing the tweaks, I run back upstairs and grab another container of rotted food. After 30 minutes, a few smaller BM1s had begun growing scattered throughout the dirt floor. Well, smaller slightly as even the biggest were barely an inch big despite the surprisingly bright light they produced.

I look around, confident that in a few days/weeks I'd have a sufficient field of massive mushrooms to work with. A whole massive clump of life to shape in any way I could require.

I just needed things to use it for.

I need data I think, frustrated. My power did grant the ability to make lots of things, but needed information to make them work. I wasn't a normal tinker,filled with ideas springing from nothing. I would need to come in contact with a few different species of life to pull off anything complex, or at least read some papers online. Enough to fill out the patchwork ideas in my head. My only saving grace was the vague memories of Worm canon and fanfiction that quite liked showing off Panacea and Bonesaw's possible creations. It was only through those that I was able to feed enough data to my shard to pull off any of the things I could currently do, other than the very basic info fed to me my biology classes and my eager mushrooms only were manageable because a mushroom is incredible basic as an organism, and bioluminescent genes were so easy to work with that non-parahumans could pull off the same thing relatively easily. Like those stories of glowing puppies.

I ignore the mental feeling like my shard had suddenly sat up to attention when I thought of puppies, giving several blueprints of creatures that could roughly be compared to dogs, resolving to visit an animal shelter of some kind and get some data.

I walk back up the dark staircase, barely more easy to navigate with the slight hint of light gleaming from behind me, and make it to the surface, with its ease of navigation and sunlight.

A few more staircases, this time ones I could move up without needing to doubt my every step, and I was back up to the rows of bedrooms. Seeing one slightly ajar, I move over and open it up.

Sitting on the bed in the white bedroom, furnished well but nowhere near as opulent as the master bedroom, is Jen. Which-to be honest- isn't that big a shocker. The more unsettling part of it was that she is just...staring off into space with a blank expression. I wouldn't even be able to tell if she was still alive if not for the fact she was still blinking. Even then she looks more robotic than living.

I clear my throat as loudly as I could. A few seconds of waiting proved enough as she breaks out of her trance.

"I'm heading back into town to get some information, Jennifer. Would you like to come with me, or stay here?"

She tilts her head as she thinks it over, face completely blank and unreadable. Had I seen her have any emotional response in the last two weeks?

No. No I hadn't.

She stands up and moves to follow me, so I begin walking out of the room and down the stairs towards the exit.

Stepping back outside I finally feel the chill that I had somehow ignored due to nerves and excitement, we begin the 20 minute walk down a mountain to get back into Brockton Bay proper.

This is gonna suck…

...And that it did, but once I got into the Brockton Bay Public Library and in front of the public computer terminal I put it out of my mind in favor of research. I needed information on the cape scene, and I needed it fast. Who knew how many butterflies I trampled just by existing? I sure didn't

I began entering a few key names I knew would be important in the future, accounting for those who wouldn't exist yet.

Date: January 8th, so a few days before Taylor gets let out of the hospital, I think. Too late to prevent her trigger at least, but enough time to try to throw off the other events.

Scion: Exists but prone to spontaneous vanishing acts for long stretches of time. Probably nothing good going on there.

Slaughterhouse Nine: Carving their way through the South at the moment. No surprises there.

Triumvirate: Exactly who I expected, no sudden survival of Hero to screw up the timeline.

Simurgh: Floating in space like the terrifying plotter I expected to find. Hasn't attacked Canberra yet, so maybe I could intervene? No wait- on second thought, not doing that, no way i'd be prepared enough and I like my mind where it is and so I will patiently wait for Leviathan to come to me instead.

Leviathan: Um...nothing...that isn't inspiring and confidence…

Behemoth: Nothing here either! I have a bad feeling here...

I quickly enter in the next term, dreading what I'd find.

Endbringers.

I quickly browse the first article, dread building with each paragraph.

The Endbringers first appeared in the 90s, with the appearance of the being known as Rhea in Maun, Iran. At first mistaken as a regular cape, that was quickly proved false as the 40-ft tall being crushed all opposition and went on to destroy the town in a matter of minutes. Taking the appearance of a wooden facsimile of a woman, with live plants growing off 'her' body, Maun quickly ended up being the first city forced to be destroyed by outside capes as it became the first of Rhea's 'Forests'. Wherever the being stepped sprouted plants completely alien to all that saw them, but it quickly became evident how dangerous they were. Then came beasts ,appearing completely distorted, and seeming to sprout out of the being's body that assaulted all living creatures they could. After only an hour the entire ecosystem all around the town, including the town itself, had become a lovecraftian jungle that was hostile to everything but the creatures Rhea created. International assistance was called upon, and within the week the entire area was destroyed beyond any and all attempts to repopulate.

And it became clear this wasn't a one time occurance, as every few months a new town would be targeted and warped beyond recognition by the Endbringer's Biokinetic abilities that were on a scale never seen before or after.

And then it became clear it wasn't alone, when another being appeared, appearing to rise from the deepest, darkest pits in the ocean. A gargantuan serpentine being, measuring a titanic 60 feet long from all accounts, and enough power to earn it the title of "Island Killer" when it's gravity manipulation lifted the island of Kyushu into the air before allowing it to crash into the depths of the ocean.

Records from this point on labeled the being Jörmungandr-

I close out of the window and shut down the computer with a few clicks, sitting back and exhaling deeply.

None of this is what I expected.. Why- Oh was I that stupid!

I remember the CYOA I filled out, and what I was forced to add to get enough points for everything.

I mutter under my breath, unable to keep my mouth from following by brain.

"It Gets Worse indeed..."

Author's Note: Wow, this was a lot longer then I expected for a first chapter of one of my fics! So... the build and some explanations.

Difficulty: Standard Mode. Means that I start with 5 point, and spend a total of 15 points if I earn extra points from disadvantages.

Powers: The Twins I get a copy of a Shard another character uses, and costs 2 Points. I chose Shaper, Panacea's power, which allows the biological manipulation of living creatures with a touch. There are some differences between the ways the two power's work, which should be explained as I continue, which are the result of other benefits I took. In this story the way Arthur's powers work(as explained in chapter) is he gets mental blueprints for creatures, but he requires data on biology to "fill out" the blueprints(doesn't require total knowledge, but the shard needs some to work with). Will be explained more in the next few chapters.

Perk: Jailbroken: A bonus to the The Twins, costing 1 point. A few of the restrictions the power would have are missing, which will be shown later.

Advantages: Other good things I bought the character.

-Companion(4): Build a second character that helps the first, which cost 2 Points. Is "Jen", but further information will wait a few chapters.

-Cauldron Vials: Costs 1 Point. Character has 3 vials that give people random powers. Cauldron doesn't know of these vials.

-I'M HALPING! Costs 1 Point, Shard is more helpful, and ?(TO BE REVEALED)

-Resources Costs 1 Point. Arthur is rich.

Disadvantages: Bad things happen, but you get more points!

-Wanted Target(?): I gain 2 Points, and the group ? wants to do something bad to me.

AU: Changes world from Canon.

-For Want of A Nail: Costs 1 Point. Adds the existence of Arthur Lavere.

-It Gets Worse: Gain 2 Points, something is negatively changed, such as different Endbringers.

... And that is it! No further bits of information for this chapter!