A Leader? Nope, I Am More of A Follower Chapter 1: Better to Follow Than to Fall

“All prisoners move along in a neat, orderly fashion.” A guard said with a stern tone of voice that was in complete contrast to the bored look he was wearing.

Sebastian himself was not having a good time. He finally managed to get somewhere in life after waking up with superpowers.

He worked a nine-to-five job at a Burger King during and well after graduating high school. So what if he started using his powers to make a little money on the side? He didn’t go straight to super villainy with it!

He just would use his sight beyond sight-- he really needed to come up with a better name for it than that. When said out loud, it did sound kind of cringey the more he thought about it.

Getting shoved forward, he stumbled for a moment before glancing back and glaring at the inmate, who just looked down at him smirking. Something’s just never changed, Sebastian thought to himself.

“Prisoner, step forward and state your name.”

The guard says to Sebastian as he stares at what is going to be his new home for the next few years… shaking his head to rid himself of such thoughts before speaking, making sure to remember that guy's face who shoved him.

“Sebastian Lowman.” He muttered, loud enough for the guard to hear him before nodding and looking through his clipboard.

“Step into the hallway and follow along with the others, if you do anything, we will use force.” He said without any energy, not even looking up from his clipboard. The guy looks like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

Sebastian didn’t blame him. He didn’t want to be here either.

He was just using his powers to rig an illegal underground fighting ring only to have Luke Cage of all people come in and tear the place up.

To his misfortune, Sebastian got caught up in the fight when he was merely trying to leave, only to have himself get knocked around by the various thugs trying to take the hero down.

Which went about as well as one would think when a bunch of normies try to fight a guy who can shrug off bullets and toss around trucks and cranes like they were toys. He heard the stories people would toss around about the super scene and how strong he is had been argued a lot.

He may not be the most popular hero, but he has enough fans that you get a vague idea of what his limits were. Limits that Sebastian wasn’t about to test courtesy of seeing what would happen if he used any of his other powers.

The immediate future showed him if he did use his powers that he could take him down with great difficulty, but it would lead to less than desirable things after that. So Sebastian took his L instead of going through a pyrrhic victory.

Rubbing the back of his head as a line of inmates in orange jumpsuits like himself shuffled forward as several armed guards looked at us from the catwalks above. Seeing his fellow prisoners in front of him, several of whom eyed Sebastian like he was an easy mark.

While watching the visions play out before him, giving him ideas on what to do. One showing what is soon to happen after standing in the presence of those around him, with it becoming clearer the more he hummed. You would think seeing the future is broken.

You would not be wrong.

The issue is it required Sebastian at the beginning to stand around someone or something for about twenty seconds to get it past the present for a couple of seconds, and it was spotty and slow. Like running a movie with poor picture quality and then turning on another TV with the same movie that’s further ahead, but it was in slow motion with plenty of static that blurred things even more, which you couldn’t afford to miss.

After plenty of practice and getting into a depressingly one-sided fight with Luke Cage, of all people, it was much better. Counting in his head, seeing how far the vision went with each one of these inmates' pasts, which only went back to the drive here and the conversations they have had.

It doesn’t go too far into the past or future, but it is getting stronger, to his relief. The last thing he wanted was a worthless power that may as well be nonexistent with him still living a mediocre life.

He didn’t want a life of fame and fortune… well, maybe a little fortune, so he took the first chance he got. Sebastian would privately admit to himself the idea of being one of those cool minions to the big bad guy had an appeal to it when he first awoke his powers.

It always looked fun in the cartoons, and even more so with the villains battling the heroes constantly, so the guys working for them must have enjoyed it enough to keep doing it. He never viewed himself as the man in charge and would rather not deal with the stress that comes from such a position.

Watching various managers in dead-end jobs suffer as much as they did was more than enough for Sebastian to come to the decision he doesn’t want to be a leader. The money just wasn’t worth it, and he could only imagine how much worse it is when you're a criminal mastermind. Now being the grunts let you have some fun while getting paid.

So Sebastian had settled for at least getting enough money to coast by with until he could figure out what path he wanted to take in life. He still kicked himself for trying to do the stock market first when it didn’t exactly work with something like that. At least not yet.

He would have had to sit at a computer for potentially several weeks just to get an idea of what to invest in, and that was in the short term.

Drawn from his thoughts when the criminals in his line began to get sorted as several guards brought them to their designated cells.

Several gave him weird looks from him humming, making the picture clearer with him seeing what was coming. Now he lowered the volume of his hums, making his eye on the horizon go slightly fuzzy, while the guard that would have smacked me for making that annoying hum didn’t notice it walking past me going to pester other prisoners that got his attention.

Tapping a beat along my legs helped clear up the image while Sebastian looked for things to take advantage of and avoid anything that would be bad for his health. His cell was what you would expect from a prison like Rikers.

Not exactly completely awful but nothing great either. The prison had enough funding, and the head of the prison was professional enough to make sure the cells weren’t pigsties. His cellmates weren’t anything noteworthy beyond being your mundane, small-time criminal.

No hostility or wishing to do harm to him, but not someone who would come to his rescue. Not that he needed it, with whom he saw in this place, he wouldn’t need them. Seeing a few guards who some time ago had been talking about the big man himself locked up in this place.

The Kingpin. Rupert Fisk. If he could get on his side and prove himself to him, he would be safe… and maybe find a way out of this place. The more he scanned, the more he saw how many prisoners saw him as an easy target. None have acted on it yet, either due to other things they were doing that were more important or the guards around were the kind to not turn a blind eye to something that could cause trouble in general.

Not that they cared about any of them. They did it to avoid bigger problems that could crop up if they didn’t handle it. He just needed to do something to get them to back off. Something that would make it abundantly clear it was a bad idea to fight him.

Which would be more difficult with his options dwindling down the more he saw. Taking even a few of them wouldn’t prove anything, only making the scavengers near the bottom not mess with him but the bigger groups now wanting a piece of him.

His option by that point, seeing what would happen the closer he got to the time, filled him with dread. But what was a pasty white-skinned nerd with glasses and an unkempt mop of black hair going to do to the guy he had heard all kinds of horror stories about?

From the highest parts of the cape scene to the simple criminals on the streets to the everyday person, they knew the stories. The guy was freaking terrifying. But his sight gave him confidence. If he wanted the others to leave him be for a time and for the plan forming in his mind to work, he had no choice. Everyone always talked about how finding the biggest and meanest guy in prison and punching him was a dumb idea to make people not mess with you, but what was shown to Sebastian was that he was going to have to do the dumbest thing ever.

Not like he hadn’t already taken a massive risk that blew up in his face, landing him here. So he either could stay here for several years or go become a minion to someone and become something he had secretly dreamed of being when he was a kid.

The decision was an easy one. Avoiding different events that would have led to him getting into a fight and not ending well, whether it was from revealing his powers, which would land him in a specialized holding cell for people with powers or letting them kick the crap out of him.

A nerd he may be, but even he knew better than to let someone pick on him and show weakness. It would just give them a bigger reason to seek him out. A lesson well learned in grade school. Narrowly avoiding the coming possibilities was getting more and more difficult, like navigating a maze with the walls closing in around you.

But he managed all the same, making it to the cafeteria. Looking around the area, seeing various criminals, from simple street thugs to those that had made names for themselves even if they weren’t the top dogs. People like the enforcers who had people at their table, but they gave them a lot of room, with most of the others at one side while the three enforcers enjoyed their side.

What had his attention was the lone circular table that no one sat at. He walked over to it with more than a few criminals taking notice before getting their buddies' attention. They whispered and placed bets if he was stupid enough to take a seat at his table.

Sebastian’s heart beat faster and faster the closer he got. With each step Sebastian took, his mind screamed at him to go the other way. Even if he could see what was to come and what he had to do, a part of him questioned if his powers could be wrong.

If they were, he would die a horrific, visceral death, and that was if he were lucky enough to die. But he continued on and pulled the sole chair out and took a seat on the metal table with numerous claw marks carved into it. It looked like a rabid animal had used it as a scratching post, despite the fact the table was made out of steel and shouldn’t have been so easily cut into.

He sat his tray down, filled with slop and mush, toying with his plastic spork, knowing he would need it. Everyone was now watching him as he ignored them. Some of the inmates talked about how they hadn't had a good show in some time, while the more astute criminals like Montana and Fancy Dan watched him, noting how he hadn’t given any of the other criminals a second glance.

They knew he had a plan and was doing this on purpose. He took the only seat and stirred the mush around, questioning how anyone could eat this slop. It looked like something you would drag out of a drainage pipe and not food.

The entire room went quiet. It was time. Almost silent steps came up from behind him while Sebastian put on a calm act when he felt anything but that. This was either the dumbest or smartest idea he ever had. But considering the situation he was in, he worked with what he had.

“You're in my seat, runt.” A savage voice said that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

He slowly turned to look at the one who spoke. He forced himself to remain calm despite how he wanted to flinch away. But a few feet from him was none other than Victor Creed-- Sabretooth.

The stories people told about this guy made him realize how some stories are watered-down garbage when confronted with the real, genuine thing. The man had long, wild, dirty blonde hair. He was tall and well built, yet there was a wildness to his movements. The kind a wild animal had before it used excessive violence only nature knew how to do.

He gave him a savage smile, seeing some of his teeth had far sharper points than a man’s teeth should have. His eyes drilled into his own, and it made him feel small and insignificant, yet not so tiny that he would ignore him. Like a kid with a magnifying glass and an ant.

Sebastian, despite every sense of self-preservation he had, screamed at him to run away or beg, he instead followed what the visions showed him. What he had to do.

Putting on his best poker face and doing his level best to not break character. He looked between the large terrifying murder hobo that was the infamous Sabretooth and the table before smiling playfully at him, his eyes crinkling in amusement.

“Oh? It must be a tiny thing or hard to see since I don’t see your name on this one. I hear men of your age tend to easily forget.”

Sabretooth laughed at that. It was a deep chuckle as he shook his head, a pleased expression on his face. “You just made my day, runt. It has been some time since someone offered themselves up to me, and I have been getting frustrated with nothing to wrap my hands around.” He flexed his hands, making his claws glint ominously.

“Aw! That’s cute, the little puddy tat wants to play. Here I got something we can play fetch with!” Sebastian exclaimed, talking down to him. His smile only grew as he looked ready to jump at him.

Then everyone stared wide-eyed at Sebastian when he slammed his fist down onto the tray, sending his food flying into the psychotic supervillain's face and chest. Everyone froze and held their collective breath, staring wide-eyed.

Sabretooth breathed in and out, staring at Sebastian with a look that could kill him a thousand times over. A look that would make the devil pause and freeze hell over.

“I am going to take my time with you.” Was all the mutant said before he was about to pounce. Just when the muscles in his legs flexed, Sebastian was already moving. That fake smug smile still plastered on his face meant to irritate and make him less rational seemed to do the trick combined with everything else.

He was like a bull seeing red going in for the kill. Sidestepping his leap like a pro matador, Sebastian just continued insulting him.

“Wow. Just wow.” He said, chuckling to hide his fear. Subtly nudging some slop on the floor with his foot as he continued his onslaught.

Just like with Luke Cage, it was like his power was growing from the conflict. At the beginning it was just incredibly short-lived blurs. Then it gained some clarity with time. Then it had shifted for the brief moment he was stuck in that illegal fighting ring with Luke Cage, where it changed far faster than the time he had trained it.

Going from just one thing he could do to change the outcome of something to something in the immediate future. As in, it was just a measly couple of seconds and then changed to at least half a minute.

The best part was it showed him more than just a handful of things, with it becoming like a stack of dominoes. Not many of them but enough for them to be useful and something he could work with.

"You've got somethin’ to say?” He snarled, claws missing by inches, overextending. His other hand, that one thread, showed piercing and tearing out his throat, instead missing when his foot stepped into the slop purposefully placed in his way.

Slipping and sliding onto his knees, he hit a nearby table with several inmates rushing to move away or climb over the table.

“Oh, dozens of things.” Sebastian replied glibly, “Most of them are about your diet, grooming practices, and the tragic fact your personality is ninety percent resentful dog. The rest is just spite.”

He snarled, charging at him only for Sebastian to be several steps ahead as the future folded open behind his eyes. One thread showed a right hook. He avoided it by narrowly leaning out of the way, feeling the wind rustle his hair.

A second thread showed a double-handed slam that would kill him once it made contact with his head. His foot, stepping on the tray and using it like a skateboard, avoided the slam that dented and bent the table, sliding right off of it and onto the floor. The third showed him using the table as a weapon.

“You want to be an alpha male when you're nothing but a beta male. All that power and you're so weak you can’t handle a guy like me.”

A deep guttural growl escaped his chest before he hefted the table, with many of the inmates scrambling to get away, not wanting to be a part of this fight. Sabretooth lifted the table, and with a great heave, he tossed it.

To my fortune, my words had the intended effect of him focusing solely on that and not using all of his mental capacity to figure out better ways to kill me. The table sailed across the room, slamming into the other tables with a loud crash, sending food flying.

Sebastian just shook his head in mock disappointment. “See, that right there is what I am talking about. Sloppy. Impulsive. Like someone put a grizzly bear in a human suit and forgot to install a brain.”

Sabretooth's yellow cat-like eyes turned into needle-thin slits. He roared and lunged again. Sebastian just sidestepped him using his other gift the entire time in subtle ways to use everything in the room to his advantage.

Piles of food and conveniently placed spoons and forks that, with a simple tap or something knocking into them, sent the food into his eyes, making him miss or stumble around flailing blindly.

“Stop movin’!” He roared across the room with the sound of guards in the distance getting closer.

“Really?! That’s what you have to say? Not ‘I am going to rip your intestines out and force feed them to you?’ or something dumber like ripping me apart. Come on, man, this is just sad. And you call yourself a supervillain.” Sebastian just kept mocking him.

Sabretooth moved far faster than he had up until this point. Sebastian grit his teeth, concerned about this part, but he managed to avoid him like he had all the other times. It was just far closer than he would have liked. Especially when he almost slipped on some of the food on the floor, getting a cut on his shoulder that made him hiss.

Sabretooth smiled at the sight of blood. Joy danced in his eyes even if he hadn’t managed a lethal or crippling blow on Sebastian. His claws moved past him, embedding themselves into a steel table.

Whatever thrill he had at landing the cut was cut short when Sebastian saw several different threads, each with him using various insults and names, and then the one he saw that would be the best and most damaging. It put a sadistic smile on Sebastian’s face. He wasn’t normally the type to enjoy another’s suffering, but Sabretooth had it coming.

Leaning towards his ear and ignoring the stench from the man, he spoke, his voice soft enough only Sabretooth could hear.

“For someone who is supposed to be as old as you are and claims to be such a strong man, it’s amazing how long you’ve been holding onto a daddy complex that could fill an entire psychiatric wing.”

What happened next even made Sebastian pause. Sabretooth howled and ripped the entire table apart with a metallic shriek in his frenzy. The guards finally showed up but were taking their time opening the damn doors. The alarms were blaring, adding to the chaos with the tables getting knocked around like hockey pucks.

Whatever semblance of intelligence and humanity Sabretooth had was long gone. Sebastian never once took his eyes off of the man who was more animal now yet had such hate in his eyes. He walked backwards through the chaos around them as Sabretooth tore through anything and everything.

Tables were smacked aside or torn apart like paper. None of the other prisoners were stupid enough to even try to get in the middle of this. Unsurprisingly, they were all backed up against the wall, not even trying to start a riot.

Preemptively dodging several cuts, punches, even grabs, and an attempt to bite Sebastian’s right hand. Each attempt at his life was avoided by mere inches.

Despite his power carrying him hard, Sebastian was terrified out of his mind. His heart raced, beating a growing rhythm of dread. A cold chill had crept its way up his back, along with a cold sweat drenching him in it. But that fear helped him focus. Nothing quite like having your life hang in the balance while on a razor-thin tightrope.

It was becoming more and more difficult to keep up with the various threads as they changed and readjusted, becoming more accurate, but it wasn’t fast enough. Choosing another thread, Sebastian hopped onto a table to avoid two clawed hands tearing into the metal bench before jumping up and over his back.

Only to stop mid-air when a sharp tug was followed by something gripping his ankle. Sebastian didn’t need to look to know that Sabretooth had finally managed to grab him. Hefting him up like a ragdoll, his other hand gripped his collar before hurling him across the room.

A wave of vertigo and no balance washed over him before he crashed into a table. Pain flared down his ribs, followed by a hitch in his breath.

Not good, stupid plan. Really stupid plan. Sebastian thought to himself and many other things, cursing his rotten luck, especially at the sight of what looked like a feral bum running on all four limbs right at him. His face was pulled back into a smile that promised him plenty of pain.

Unfortunately for him, Sebastian had a parting gift as the big finale. His fingers weakly brushed against the plastic spork he had kept on him the entire time, waiting for the moment, and it had just arrived.

He held the piece of plastic, waiting for the right moment. Sabretooth just barreled forward. Why would he have to worry about a flimsy piece of plastic when he had been shot, burned, blown up, and any other number of ways that would have killed any normal man.

His other power flexed, but he lowered the power like a hand that was handling fragile glass. You didn’t use every bit of power for something like that. He didn’t need force, just direction and precision.

“Victor,” Sebastian gasped, panting, “I finally figured out what your mutation really is.”

Sabretooth slowed down mid-stride, just enough for what would happen next to be that much more satisfying. Sebastian smiled tiredly. “Overrated.”

Sabretooth shot forward like a cannonball, and Sebastian flicked his finger. The fork shot upward. Not too fast or flashy. It sailed on an invisible nudge, with an invisible hand guiding it.

Thunk. A perfect strike.

Sabretooth howled, falling on all four limbs, sliding across the floor, and getting on his knees. The man’s face was scrunched up in pain with the plastic fork sticking out of his eye. Clawed hands clutched his face, and before he could recover, Sebastian was already up with his telekinesis, like invisible arms and hands manipulated his injured body, giving it strength that otherwise would have been lacking, like a marionette.

Metal tray in trembling hands Sebastian slammed it into Sabretooth's face, where the impromptu weapon remained. A sickening crunch followed by a howl of agony with blood drenching half of his face. The weapon was driven deeper inside his head, frothing at the mouth, making a sound that was half rage, half pain.

Sebastian forced himself upright, coughing and cradling his side, where his ribs reminded him how they were not pleased with him. Sebastian dropped his tray, his visions telling him that it was over.

He turned and walked away but froze when a chuckle got his attention. “You're not going anywhere.”

The voice was filled with pain, but what Sebastian could only guess was madness. He turned and saw Sabretooth getting up, his face trying to heal despite one hand desperately trying to get the fork that was firmly stuck inside of his head.

It was sick and twisted watching him digging in where his eye was supposed to be, tearing apart skin, muscle, and flesh beneath it. Sebastian was almost about to use his telekinesis but stopped before a smile erupted on his face.

“I think we both are going places. It’s been fun, Victor. Wish you luck on fixing your daddy issues.”

Victor snarled about to leap at him before his metal collar activated, shocking him as he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Yet it didn’t stop him from clawing his way desperately towards Sebastian despite the collar inhibiting his powers and shocking him with enough juice he shouldn’t be able to move, much less slowly drag himself across the floor.

Turning to see numerous guards storm in with riot gear and various weapons from tasers and beefed-up cattle prods started shocking Sabretooth, making him scream and growl, but his gaze never wavered as he stared with such hate at Sebastian.

Oh well!

Not Sebastian’s problem anymore with several guards taking his wrists and cuffing him before dragging him off further into the prison. It was several hours later that his darkened, cramped cell, little better than a concrete closet, lit up, making his eyes wince at the sudden influx of light.

“Your time in solitary is up. Someone wants to see you.” A guard's voice said. Sebastian smiled and stepped out of the confined cell without the guard needing to drag him out, half expecting him to be confused and rooted to the spot.

He followed the guard along a hall devoid of other prisoners with only a handful of guards. They moved further into the prison, and by the time they arrived at their destination, Sebastian was both excited and filled with dread at who was waiting for him. Steel bulkhead doors opened with a hydraulic hiss with six guards stationed around the area. No other prisoners in sight or other guards beyond who they had on duty.

The room was big, with a steel table sitting right in the middle. But it wasn’t the room or the table that got Sebastian’s attention. It was the man that was seated on a chair reading a book titled The Prince.

“Thank you, Rubin. You may leave.” The man said with a deep but gentle voice to the guard, who silently nodded before walking away. “So you are the madman the other prisoners speak of who challenged and even managed to get the better of Sabretooth.”

Sebastian may not have been the most knowledgeable when it came to the cape scene or the criminal underworld. But even he knew who the man sitting before him was. He was massive. Easily taller than six and half feet, maybe seven feet tall if he had to hazard a guess.

Despite how he may appear fat, Sebastian knew better. No way he was that fat when he tangled with Daredevil, Spider-Man, and so many other heroes and was capable of fighting back while taking substantial means to take him down. Even in prison fatigues, the Kingpin was almost immaculate and carried a weight that felt like it pressed down on him.

Sebastian took a moment to find his voice, finding himself more intimidated by this man than he was by Sabretooth. Not that he believed he intended to harm him, it’s just not every day you meet someone as big as the Kingpin, especially when you're in prison nearly alone with him besides a few corrupt guards. It was almost like a scene from a horror movie or crime thriller.

“Yes, sir. I'm Sebastian Lowman.” He said to him, walking into his cell, nodding his head in respect before extending his hand.

Before he could take it back, realizing he may have made a blunder, Wilson Fisk gave a small smile, setting the book aside, taking his hand into his own with a soft but firm shake. His hand may as well have been a toddler's put onto a grown man’s with how he dwarfed it. Swallowing as he resolved to do his best to not screw this up.

“So I’ve gathered, Sebastian. You may know me, but since you were kind enough to introduce yourself first, allow me to introduce myself even if you already know my name. I am Wilson Fisk. With the introductions out of the way, I am going to cut to the chase.”

Sebastian’s build:

Starting World: Marvel [The Avengers: EMH (Standard)]
Starting budget 365

Walked-In as Sebastian Lowman of T1 -0 [365]

Bindings
Empty Hand free [365]

Talents
Martial -10 [355]
Soul -15 [340]

Defenses
Trace -40 [300]
Mind -20 [280]

Misc Perks
Template Stacking I x2 [Sebastian Lowman has Rudbornn Chelute (Bleach), Simurgh/Ziz (Worm (Parahumans))] -80 [200]
Template Stacking II[Sebastian Lowman [Simurgh/Ziz (Worm (Parahumans))]] -40 [160]