SUPERPOWERED: Are YOU a Superhero or Supervillain? (Click Your Poison Book 3)

by James Schannep

  “I don’t think so. Just pick up the rifle, aim it at the Roman, and pull the trigger.”

  “Doesn’t work that way anymore. I had to do some intense programming to reverse the polarity on Widowsilk, and I need the glove to use it.”

  Nick looks to you, and you look to the weapon. The futuristic-power-stealing rifle known as Widowsilk is mounted on a tripod at the center of the room. Thick cables snake across the reactor floor, powering the rifle. Enabling it to return your powers.

  You step in front of the rifle. “Do it, Nick. Give her the glove.”

  A flash of inspiration darts across Nick’s face. “Can you give me both your powers?”

  She shakes her head. “The experiment, it… The abilities are bonded to your DNA or something. I used to know the explanation, but it’s like walking through fog now. I remember I could only steal your abilities; I couldn’t take them for my own. For better or worse, your powers are your own.”

  Nick, though severely disappointed, nods and telekinetically passes the tech-glove to Catherine, who takes the glove and slides it back onto her bare left arm. She types a series of commands on the glove’s surface, and Widowsilk hums to life.

  The interior workings of the rifle start to glow with an otherworldly energy. Your powers will soon be yours once more! Just as the rifle is about to fire, the tripod swivels and aims the weapon right at Catherine. Before you can react, the beam of energy blasts into her. She arches her back in a mixture of pleasure and pain. After only a second, the weapon stops. Her pupils dilate.

  She takes in a deep breath and smiles. “I’m back.”

  “You lying bitch! You tricked us!” Nick shouts, pinching the air and telekinetically choking her.

  The joy leaves Catherine’s face and she claws at her own throat for air. She falls to her knees and her face turns bright red, eyes bulging.

  “Nick, stop! Don’t kill her!” you cry, seeing your chances slip away. “Gods among men, remember?”

  Nick releases Catherine and turns to you. “What would you have me do?”

  “I’ll give you back your powers,” Catherine says in a raspy voice. “But if I do, I want your help. They have my son.”

  Catherine recovers and rises to her feet. Nick turns to you with panic in his eyes. “No way; you owe me, remember?” he says.

  “Are you kidding? I have all the leverage here,” Catherine scoffs.

  “How’s this for leverage?” Nick asks, taking her in his mental grip once more.

  You rush to stop him, but he blasts you away. A bolt of blue electricity crackles across the room. But that wasn’t Nick. He drops Catherine and when another bolt snaps in the air, the college student cowers in fear.

  Catherine darts inside the trailer. You and Nick sprint for cover. In the center of the room, the air shimmers. Not the shimmering that comes from heat waves, but more a distortion of reality. In fact, at the center of the shimmer, you see a seam start to open—a seam in the very fabric of existence. In the blink of an eye, this small seam expands to a portal ten feet high and six feet wide, with ethereal purple light shining through.

  The lightning stops, but the energy gate holds true. Catherine comes out of the trailer with the honeycomb device and it’s all you can do to sit still and stare in wonder.

  “What is it?” Nick asks.

  “A portal…to another dimension,” Catherine says, operating the scanner. “It’s a wormhole to an alternate universe, but it’s man-made. I’d say there are only three people capable of creating a device like this—on any plane of existence.”

  “You lost me,” Nick says.

  “In multiverse theory, every time you make a choice, it creates a new universe. So there are multiple universes in which each of us chose a different pod in the lab experiment. This portal could be the genius version of you, Nick, reaching out to us.”

  Catherine looks down at the future-rifle and her left eyebrow stands at attention. She continues, “That gives me an idea…” Before she can elaborate, a figure steps forth from the portal. It’s someone you know, but your brain freezes at the attempted recognition.

  In fact, it’s you who steps forward.

  Your doppelganger is slightly shorter, soft, and yet with a fierce intelligence behind those familiar eyes. It’s like looking into a mirror, but everything’s backwards because it’s not a reflection—it’s another flesh-and-blood person. You carry a bizarre-looking staff with one hand, and with the other, you wave hello to yourself. A gemstone at the top of the staff glints and the portal blinks closed in response.

  “Rock, Paper, or Scissors?” Catherine asks.

  “I’m sorry?” the other-you asks.

  “In this universe, I chose paper,” she replies.

  “So did I. Incredible. That means it worked!”

  Catherine turns from your doppelganger back to you and Nick and says in a low voice, “I can’t take your powers for myself, but you can. We can steal our own abilities from these alternate dimensions, if we work together.”

  “And then you can rescue your son yourself?” Nick says.

  “Exactly. What do you say? Team up, steal the abilities from ourselves, then we can each rule our own plane of existence as a god. What more could you want than your own universe, possessing all three powers?”

  “Using that portal?” you ask. “How will we know where to go?”

  “You’ll understand once you’re a genius,” Catherine replies through a grin.

  • “It’s a trap! Rush to warn yourself, then team up with your own doppelganger.”

  • “I’m in! But dibs on not ruling the world we’re in now; I’ve kind of made a mess for myself here.”

  MAKE YOUR CHOICE

  Chaos Reigns

  That’s it! You’ve won. You’ve conquered your enemies and now Mercury City—nay, the world!—is at your mercy. Never again will anyone defy you and you can rule over the powerless mortals however you please.

  Well done, but know this: the path you chose was only one of many. Now you can go back, try out the other powers, and make different choices. SUPERPOWERED has three unique storylines with over 50 possible endings, but only one best Hero or Villain ending for each power. So, if you’re ready to give it another go, click to RESET or go to THE END for the full chapter list.

  If you enjoyed the book, it would mean a lot to me as an author if you were to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. As an indie writer, word-of-mouth is the true source of my power, and reviews are the #1 way to help Amazon promote a book to new readers.

  When you’re done, don’t forget to check out the other exciting titles in the Click Your Poison™ multiverse!

  INFECTED—Will YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?

  MURDERED—Can YOU Solve the Mystery?

  SUPERPOWERED—Will YOU Be a Hero or a Villain?

  PATHOGENS—More Zombocalypse Survival Stories!

  MAROONED—Can YOU Endure Treachery and Survival on the High Seas?

  SPIED (coming in 2019)—Can YOU Save the World as a Secret Agent?

  * More titles coming soon! *

  Sign up for the new release mailing list

  Or visit the author’s blog at www.jamesschannep.com

  Confused, if not Curious

  The staff seems to have a hard time with your amorphous parameters, but after several internal shifts and calculations, something finally clicks into place. The purple jewel at the top shimmers, then projects an enlargement of itself as a gate through the heavens.

  You step through and into a different universe. The nuclear reactor looks the same, except the lab you set up isn’t here. It’s abandoned, just like you originally found it in your world. Does that mean it worked? Time to go find the Experi-mentor.

  * * *

  The taxi drops you off at the Mercury University campus, at the lab where this whole wild adventure began. Incredibly, the building is still there! You rush inside and are astounded to see a nearly identical setup—right down to the tarp-covered
“pillars” in the center of the room.

  “Can I help you?” a woman asks. You turn to face a professor in a lab coat. She has a reassuring smile and glasses that sink into silver-streaked hair.

  “I’m looking for the doctor in charge of this experiment,” you say, a cloud of déjà vu forming in your mind.

  “I’m Julia Petri,” she says. “But I’m sorry to say, the lab assistant positions have all been filled.”

  “Lab assistant?”

  She puts her hands on her hips, upset at this strange interruption. The shift opens her lab coat enough to reveal an “Ex” emblazoned on the shirt beneath; the symbol is ornamented to look like an element in the periodic table.

  “Do you have a brother?” you ask.

  “I was just about to ask you the same thing,” she says, brow furrowing in confusion. “Have I met a sibling of yours?”

  The back door of the lab swings open and a college co-ed pushes a cart through. Once she reaches you, she stops and stands up straight. She has thick black hair and brushes a lock of it behind her ear before she extends a hand in greeting.

  “Hi, I’m Nicole. Say, haven’t we met before?”

  “Nicole…Dorian?” you ask.

  “That’s me,” the student says. “Where do I know you from?”

  The realization hits you like a freight train. It’s a gender-bender universe! Your parameters turned the Experi-mentor into a woman, and you’ve entered a plane of existence where the only change is everyone’s sex. But the world isn’t all that different. Go, equality!

  “Lab assistants,” you say under your breath. To the doctor, you ask, “Does this mean you haven’t run your experiments yet?”

  “Heavens, no. We aren’t close to being ready for human trials.”

  “Do you by chance have…two other assistants?”

  As if in answer to your question, a man in his mid-30s steps through the back door into the lab. He wears a tank top, blue jeans, and Black Angus cowboy boots. Alligator is too feminine? Who knew?

  “Hey, there. I’m Kenneth Woodall. People call me Woody. Boy, do you look familiar.”

  “This is too weird,” you say.

  The door opens once more and you step through—the gender-bender you. Soft in places and hard in others. The strange feeling that flutters through you is reflected in your alter-ego. Maybe you should re-name The Staff: The Things You Wish You Hadn’t Seen Device.

  • Confess. Tell them who you are and how you got here.

  • You’ll never get another opportunity like this! Seduce yourself.

  MAKE YOUR CHOICE

  A Contagious Enthusiasm

  You input the parameters into your staff, telling the device to find you a world where humankind has conquered aging. Just to be on the safe side, you search for a world where this is a recent change, thus reducing the odds of some bizarrely incomprehensible universe. The staff stops shifting and clicks into place, having found a world that meets your criterion.

  Time to go live forever. Hey, why not rename The Staff as your Divining Rod? Get it? It’s a pun. You’ll essentially be a god once you claim immortality. The purple jewel shimmers and opens a seam, which then widens into a gateway. You step through and into another universe.

  The nuclear reactor is equally abandoned on this side. You press forward, but find no guards on duty outside the facility. At least that much is different. As you continue on, you’re surprised at just how silent everything is. No cars on the roads. No planes in the sky. Your buzzing metropolis seems abandoned on this side of the heavens.

  “Hello!” you shout, cupping your hands around your mouth. “HELLLOOOO!!!”

  Nothing. Curiosity gets the better of you and you walk deeper into the city—you’d kill for just one taxicab! A gas station appears around the corner; better stop and ask for directions.

  Strangely, this locale is abandoned as well. Even the power is turned off. At the front door, you see broken glass, shattered from the outside. You open the door, which lets out an automatic Ding! from the battery-powered chime. The whole place has been raided, like looters during a riot.

  Stacked by the door are several newspapers and adverts, so you check the Mercury Bugle. To further complicate the mystery, the paper’s dated three weeks ago.

  The headline reads, The End of Aging? Gilgazyme® Wonder-drug Hits Shelves Today. Okay, so you’re at least in the right universe. You open the paper and see a photo of two scientists below the fold. One is a candidate for a GQ model, despite a forlorn look on his face. The other is handsome as well, but older and grinning like a fool. Wait, is that…?

  Looking closer, you know that face. It’s—it’s the Experi-mentor, the scientist from your experiment. No glasses, granted, and his hair has been dyed to eliminate any traces of grey, but it’s him! You laugh aloud at the realization. The caption reads, Dr. Lewis Deleon and Dr. Richard Phoenix of Human Infinite Technologies, Creators of Gilgazyme®.

  Dr. Richard Phoenix; so that’s his real name? More of a playboy, less of a maniac in this world, but it’s certainly the same man. You take a copy of the paper—the others will certainly get a kick out of seeing the scientist’s vain doppelganger.

  A low, breathy moan draws your attention away from the newsstand. When you look up, you see the store clerk, but something’s terribly wrong. His skin is pale and his mouth and chin are spattered with gore. There’s a large wound in his abdomen, but it doesn’t bleed. It’s more like he’s a living cadaver.

  He moans again, louder this time. He stumbles toward you, his eyes cold and distant, but hungry. A Ding! brings your wits back and you turn. It’s a mother with a baby strapped to her chest in a Babybjörn. The two reach out and moan in unison, stumbling toward you. She’s wrong in the same undead way as the clerk is, and the little bundle is the spitting image of momma.

  Beyond, a small crowd gathers outside. Did they follow you here? No time for questions.

  You dash deeper into the convenience store, but your movement changes the ghoulish clerk from curious to feral. The man lunges and grabs at you with twisted fingers. He bites you, hard.

  The rest of the fiends pile in, ready for the feast. There won’t be enough of you left to rise again.

  THE END*

  * The man who helped bring about the zombie apocalypse in INFECTED also created superpowers in your universe—say whaaaat? Despite having your super-brains eaten, I hope your mind=blown. Congrats on finding one of two Easter eggs in this book.

  Contaminated

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” the agent says. “You know the police think you’re criminals, based on your…failed exploits. I won’t be able to protect you from them if you go.”

  “They’ll understand sooner or later that we’re heroes. You’ll get it too,” Nick says.

  “Good luck,” the man says, shaking his head.

  That’s that, time to patrol the streets.

  * * *

  “EBOLA!!!” a woman shouts when she sees your HAZMAT suits.

  “No, ma’am, we’re here to help!” You say, but she’s already running away. Several other bystanders look at you warily, their cell phones glued to their ears. Sirens wail and police cars head your way. Seems like that agent was right—you don’t have the best reputation right now.

  “We gotta get out of here,” Nick says. “C’mon, quick!”

  Yeah, you need to put out this public relations fire if you’re ever going to do any good.

  • Get off the streets before the cops try to arrest you!

  MAKE YOUR CHOICE

  Control Freak

  Baxter brings its metal hands around Dr. Mind-Control’s ears, then claps. There’s a splash and a squick, then all is silent for a moment.

  “You’ve lost,” you say. “Nothing else you’ve got can touch Nick. He and Baxter will destroy all of you if you don’t surrender.”

  But the Experi-mentor is smiling. “You think that’s all I’ve got? Dr. Hallucination, please use your sensory manipulation to
show the super-genius just how painfully wrong that assumption is.”

  Everything disappears. Your team, the lighthouse, everything. Fiery pain explodes through your body. The cavern system expands and you’re suddenly in a terrible nightmare of Dante’s hell.

  A hell that never ends because you lose all sense of time.

  THE END

  Cosmic Irony

  The Planet Mercury marketing staff bills your show as COSMOKENISIS—the greatest levitation act ever performed! Rebranding you as “Cosmo” because it fits with the casino’s galactic theme. Six performances a week with a nightly salary of $5,000. nets over $1.5 million a year. Beyond the salary, you’re given free room and board in one of the Royal Suites just below the casino’s owner. Some nights, you fly out your window, just for a glimpse of independence.

  Okay, you sold out, but so what? Well, here’s the problem—you sold out for far too little. Catherine, the woman from the experiment, earns your annual salary with each weekly issue of the comic book, based on her super-heroics as the masked avenger “Diamond.”

  Nick Dorian, on the other hand, becomes Emperor of Earth.

  And all you have to show for it is this penthouse and an endless supply of Cosmopolitans (your contractually-obligated signature cocktail) with which to drown your sorrows. Eventually, when you drop a volunteer from the rafters after showing up to a performance drunk, you don’t even have that.

  You spend the rest of your washed-up life wondering what could have been. Maybe you should write and direct your own Broadway show. That’d prove you’re somebody.

  THE END

  Cowardice and Avarice

  “Wait! I’m a victim here too. Nick manipulated me. I’ve been held here against my will. You’ve got to help me, please!” you cry out in your best victim voice.