Allen took Chelsea to her parents, who cried tears of joy upon seeing her safe. They nearly knelt before Allen in gratitude.
Chelsea's gaze was downcast. But Allen promised to handle her problem the next day. Chelsea opened her eyes and smiled, deciding to trust in Allen's promise.
...
(Later that day)
Allen warned his chat that he had to visit an uncomfortable place in this world. This time, he didn't bring any of the girls along.
Red River Orphanage is a facility for superpowered children. In the best-case scenario, parents of a child with dangerous powers decide to send them there for care. In the worst case, the parents are unlucky enough to die from the effects of their children's powers.
Rick – What happens when you force a baby that spits lava into the arms of parents who can barely change diapers?
Superman – My parents went through a lot to raise me. My mom told me that I broke my dad's bones more than once.
Kara – I see... Allen, are you going to an orphanage for Supes?
Allen nodded.
Many, like Annie's parents, are reaping what they sowed by agreeing to have compound V injected into their children. Then there are the unfortunate ones who chose a hospital that administered fake polio vaccines donated by Samaritan Embrace.
Allen landed in front of the building, which looked more like a prison. When you have kids who can teleport and throw fire, it's necessary to make the place secure.
At the entrance, Allen was greeted by a woman on crutches, her leg broken. It wasn't hard to guess what had happened to her.
The woman recognized Allen and was about to scream, but Allen quickly used the Neuralyzer on her.
Bocchi commented, 'That thing is still terrifying…'
Nokotan asked, 'How does that light work? Is it magic?'
Rebecca explained, 'No, it's an electromechanical neural synaptic repositioner.'
Nokotan looked puzzled.
Rebecca continued, 'It can erase anyone's memory who sees the flash by isolating and editing certain bioelectric impulses related to memory.'
Nokotan nodded in understanding. (She didn't understand anything)
Harley joked, 'So it's like my 'dialogue' hitting you in the head really hard!'
Nokotan exclaimed, 'Nun! I get it now!'
...
"Good morning, I'm Allen Walker."
The woman looked blankly at Allen.
"You were about to show me all the children's files at Red River."
"Ah, yes, Mr. Walker, right this way."
Allen sat down in the office and began reviewing the files, ranging from babies to teenagers.
He noticed the children could be categorized into two groups: those with dangerous abilities and those with useless or weak ones.
Allen sighed upon reading some stories, like Samantha, who has sonic scream powers and ended up killing her parents during a tantrum. Marcus, who can release poison from his skin pores. One day, he woke up, but his parents and siblings never woke up again.
Rouge – That's... that's really sad.
Ruby – "It's so unfair; they were forced to have powers and lost their families just because of a company's whim!
Allen shook his head. It's natural, but the series can't cover every theme. Once, Hughie came to this orphanage looking for information about Victoria Neuman, who was once called Nadia. Here, he met Madelyn's son Teddy Stillwell, whose power allowed him to teleport glitch-like. But like Teddy, there were dozens of children and teenagers here, many with tragic stories.
The woman, noticing his gaze, commented, "Many of these kids lost their parents, and people don't want to adopt them for obvious reasons."
"Why are some classified as transferred?" Allen asked sternly. "Where were they taken?"
The woman, frightened, quickly answered, "Yes, they were sent to the Godolkin Academy!"
There's a third category for children with potential; unlike the others, they are taken to better orphanages or places where they will be raised to eventually go to Godolkin and start a career as Supes.
But what about those with "useless," weak, or dangerous abilities?
Allen stood up and walked towards the door.
...
Allen pulled out his phone...
"Walker? What do you need?"
"Ms. Mallory, I'm at Red River…"
Mallory paused before understanding the meaning of Allen's words. "...understood, we'll handle it."
Allen first visited the youngest children.
In a large room filled with kids under five, one child was climbing a wall, a little girl was levitating her doll.
Allen was greeted by a boy offering a stuffed toy. It seemed he knew Allen was coming.
"Hi, I'm Dennis Matheus... I saw you in a dream."
"I see..." Allen knelt down. "Tell me, Dennis, do you like your power?"
Many powers are harmless or just need a bit of practice.
The boy shook his head, "..."
Dennis has the power of clairvoyance; he has dreams about the future. His parents were happy at first but got scared when he predicted a relative's death.
The day of your own death is something no one wants to know.
"I see..." Allen patted Dennis' head before taking away his power.
[Skill Acquired: Clairvoyance – Premonitory Dreams]
Skills can have more than one variant, type, or specialty, such as telekinesis. While Kenji's is more about control, Cindy's is more about crushing and destroying. Another example is Pyrokinesis. Lamplighter could only control fire, but Crimson Countess, the ex-girlfriend of Soldier Boy, could generate fireballs.
Limitations, specifications, conditions—Supe powers often seem more like game skills that serve specific purposes. That's why Stormfront and Golden Boy were so powerful; their powers are extremely versatile.
Allen left the child and moved to the little Spiderman on the ceiling.
"Who are you?!" said the woman caring for the children when she finally noticed Allen.
Allen ignored her and looked at the boy on the ceiling, his name was Mason, a child with bad luck. His power wasn't dangerous, but his first-time parents, being victims of Vought, were scared of a child with superpowers and decided to leave him at Red River.
Ruby – Isn't it cruel to abandon your child... being scared of powers is one thing, but still…
Charles – I didn't want to bring this up, but fear is a very powerful fuel... maybe in a few years, Mason's parents will regret their decision, or maybe not.
[Skill Acquired: Adhesion]
Allen made the boy float gently down, and he laughed. The girl who was doing the same with her doll looked at Allen curiously.
"This is tough..."
Being watched by innocent eyes, Allen felt he was doing something wrong. What right did he have to deny someone else a gift?
He couldn't know if the future of these children would be better with or without powers. Sure, dangerous abilities are a curse, but many here had controllable powers.
Urahara – Young Walker, don't worry. It's not an easy decision, and few can make it.
Athena – You're either lifting a curse or a blessing. Don't pressure yourself to answer that question.
Hestia – I don't know the future, but these boys and girls are locked in an orphanage because no one wants to adopt them... perhaps it's not so bad that they lose their powers.
Gwen – We back you no matter your decision.
"Thank you all."
[Skill Acquired: Telekinesis]
Allen walked towards a girl holding a blue apple in her hand; suddenly, the apple turned green.
[Skill Acquired: Color Change]
Bocchi – So it just changes the color of things? What a simple power... like something I'd get in a world of superpowers...
Allen left the room and went to another area where the cribs for babies were.
[Skill Acquired: Bubble Emission]
Nokotan – How cute~ It wasn't necessary to take it away, but Allen can't know what powers they have if they don't use them.
Nokotan was right: Allen couldn't know what abilities they had, so it was better to simply take them all, regardless of how harmless they seemed. Allen moved from one crib to another.
[Skill Acquired: Slight Luminescence]
Emma W.– It's like the Lumos spell...
[Skill Acquired: Hair Modification]
MJ – Ehh, Allen, I want that ability, please!❤️~
Tearju remained silent.
Allen chuckled—not just MJ, many girls had asked Allen for that ability.
'System?'
[This power is a very weak version of "appearance change." If you wish, you can grant it to others just by using a fragment of destiny.]
[Skill Acquired: Ambient Music Generation]
Rick scoffed, "Seriously? There's a power for background music? Hahaha!"
[Skill Acquired: Exact Time Knowing]
Gwen – I need that...
Felicia Gwen is always so responsible~
[Skill Acquired: Water Detection]
Jack Sparrow joked, "That's the most unnecessary skill ever... if it were Rum Detection, it'd be different!~"
[Skill Acquired: Plant Communication]
Ivy – Huh?!
[Host, Ivy's affection just increased by fifty points.]
'What?... oh, right...'
Allen now shared something else with his secretary besides an ambiguous relationship.
[Skill Acquired: Shadow Control]
Aizen observed, "It seems you can simply control your shadow but with no effect in the real world... perhaps if you use this power with another, you could emulate Captain Kyoraku..."
Allen left the room satisfied that the abilities seemed very harmless, so even in the original story, these babies wouldn't have a bleak future.
...
Allen entered a room and immediately felt a chill. A ten-year-old boy was sitting on the floor, playing with letter blocks. He looked completely harmless, but Allen felt a sense of danger that no one had ever provoked in him before.
Instantly, Allen activated his power...
[Skill Acquired: Molecular Manipulation – ???]
Allen's viewers were alarmed by this sudden change.
'Was that... my death just now?' Allen smiled coldly, his heart chilled as he stared at the floor, unsure why he had seen his own death upon seeing the boy or if it was due to the boy's ability.
[Your clairvoyance activated upon seeing the boy.]
'Clairvoyance?... I'm not even asleep!... wait, what's going on with this skill?!'
[Host, the system currently cannot see the extent of a power like this. I recommend you do not use it...]
Allen thought for a moment and concluded that perhaps someone with a similar ability might kill him in the future.
Allen just got lucky in obtaining "Molecular Manipulation," or perhaps he has attracted unnecessary trouble.
"Tsk..."
Allen looked down the hallway; there were many individual rooms, likely housing several children and teenagers with problematic abilities.
"They come from all over the country; it's no surprise..."
...
Allen entered a room and saw a three-year-old girl. Before he could activate his powers, the girl disappeared and was already by his side.
Reven – Teleportation?
"No..."
[Skill Acquired: Time Control – Temporal Displacement]
Allen, having had issues with time travel in the past, could tell the difference. She doesn't teleport; she is capable of stepping out of time for a few moments.
Allen gave her a bag of candies and some gifts before leaving, not because he didn't want to do more for these kids but because Mallory would take care of them. Some could return to their families; others would find new homes.
...
Allen entered another room.
"Who are you?!" a teenage boy yelled before touching his forehead with one hand and pointing at Allen with the other.
[Skill Acquired: Invasive Telepathy]
The boy's eyes widened in disbelief as he noticed that his powers were not activating.
"What did you do to me, you jerk?!"
Allen is kind to children but has limited patience with rude teenagers, so he simply leaves.
...
In another room, he saw a girl with a stern face throwing knives against the wall; the knives appeared in her hands. She was listening to music and didn't notice Allen.
[Skill Acquired: Reality Alteration – Materializing objects from your imagination]
...
In another room, he saw a boy wearing something like virtual reality goggles over his eyes.
[Skill Acquired: Explosive Pyrokinesis]
No need to think hard to deduce that the boy explodes whatever he can see and that device prevented that.
...
Allen entered a room where a fifteen-year-old boy was chained to a chair, his gaze was sinister.
"Hey, you don't look like a nurse. Are you another one of those Vought guards, hehe?"
"Hello, Martin..."
"You know me?"
"Yes... tell me why you killed your parents?..."
"Heh, well it wasn't my fault I have this power; I just gave them a taste of what they got by giving me life... It's not my fault..."
"And your classmates, was it their fault?"
The boy's gaze turned cruel, "Tell me what you want, or get lost!"
[Skill Acquired: Life Force Absorption]
Steam began to emit from the boy's body.
"What did you do to me?! Hey!!"
As he lost his power, all the vitality that served to extend his life, strengthen him, and heal him in case of injury disappeared. The boy ended up looking like he had severe malnutrition.
Allen shook his head and went to the other isolated rooms.
[Skill Acquired: Weather Manipulation]
[Skill Acquired: Plague Control]
[Skill Acquired: Destructive Vision]
[Skill Acquired: Beast Transformation]
[Skill Acquired: Seismic Resonance]
[Skill Acquired: Darkness Manipulation]
[Skill Acquired: Poison skin]
[Skill Acquired: Sonic scream]
The last skills Allen collected were not useless or weak; the reason Vought did not treat them like Golden Boy was because their powers were in the early stages, making it difficult for anyone to know if these children had Golden Boy-level potential or not.
Allen gained many incredible powers but did not feel happy as he left the building.
Outside, Mallory was already there with a bunch of agents and medical staff trained to deal with minors and children.
Allen watched as the agents and doctors entered the building.
Allen returned to his apartment and had a quiet dinner with the girls.
...
(The next day)
Early in the morning, Allen called Chelsea. Allen decided to deal with her problem himself.
Allen's older followers knew that he had spent his childhood surviving bullying, which gave him a particularly negative view of such behavior.
Allen's older followers also witnessed the first IRL stream that turned out to be Allen kicking Flash Thompson's butt.
Of course, that stream is one of the most sensitive because it gives a big clue about who Allen Walker is in the Marvel world. However, the channel's veterans, having a strong relationship with Allen, reached a consensus never to mention anything about that, nor to investigate Allen's real identity.
(A/N: Allen's livestream kicking Flash's butt... oh god, that feels so long ago, hahaha this story is already over a year old)
Allen has an obvious distaste for bullies.
Chelsea is a pitiful girl, she did nothing wrong, but upon entering high school, a group of popular girls started harassing her.
This happens all too often, with many teachers and even parents taking it lightly, saying it's just kids playing, but they don't understand what can happen to a child or teenager in that situation.
In the worst cases, they end up like Chelsea, pushed to the limit.
...
(One hour later)
Chelsea stood beside Allen on the roof of one of the school buildings, looking at the school through binoculars that could see through the walls.
"Allen, she's Blair Waldorf, a conceited bitch!."
"Chelsea?"
"Sorry..." Chelsea realized she had let her feelings speak for her.
The girl in question was a black-haired girl who liked to wear makeup at her age and mini skirts. She did what she wanted because the principal was her father. She was surrounded by girls as she filed her nails.
"The second bitch is Alexis Carrington!," said Chelsea, biting her lip in frustration. "Her dad is rich so she thinks she can step on everyone!"
The blonde girl had two followers, one of whom pushed a girl, and Alexis threw a stack of bills on the ground. As if to say, "Sorry for pushing you, take some dollars and get lost."
"Look behind the school, she's Julia Vandenberg, a classic bully. If she's in a bad mood, she hits you; if she's in a good mood, she hits you too!"
The girl in question was very tall, had piercings in her ears, and had a bad attitude. She was beating up a skinny, small boy while taking his money.
Allen looked at Chelsea with pity; having one of them at your school is hard enough, having all three is hell. Judging by how Chelsea was grinding her teeth while trembling with fear, Allen could tell she had suffered abuse from all three bullies.
Allen smiled, knowing what he had to do.
===
A/N: My only concern is not to forget the skills Allen is gaining and to use them regularly.