"So, builds," Vicky said. "Amy and I are going in as twin sisters with identical builds, because matching is fun, and also Amy could not be bothered to make her own build."

"I'm too cool and sexy to make character sheets for a game that doesn't exist," Amy said dryly. It was mildly worrying to see my influence already making its mark on her, but... eh. If I didn't want to have an effect on her, I wouldn't have adopted her.

"Bitch," Vicky said affectionately. "Anyhow! Rose, you picked those two global drawbacks that give us all nine hundred points, right?"

"Eyup," I said, nodding.

"Right, so... I cooked up something fairly Kryptonian-like, but with a little extra oomph," Vicky said. "So, first of all... Cosmic-tier Flying Brick, because, y'know. Then, we've got Cosmic-tier Ranged Blaster for the laser eyes, and then, to account for all the super-senses, I grabbed Mental Attributes- literally all of the powers are Cosmic tier, because it's really not that expensive of an upgrade- for Perception, but, since there was all that stuff in Intelligence and Wits that could be added on for a small, flat fee, I also grabbed Cosmic Intelligence and Wits, so... Hope that helps? And, rounding things out, Inviolate Body, and a drawback that makes our powers shut off around Kryptonite."

"Seems pretty solid," I said. "I guess you had some extra points to spend at the end?"

"...Kinda, yeah. Iunno, I kinda didn't want to just dump it all in my point bank," Vicky said. "What about you, Rose?"

"I have had this build in mind for quite a while," I said. "Multiple years. I am grabbing Cosmic-tier Versatile Power, because it can do literally anything, including permanently granting powers to people, and that alone has made me instantly capable of crushing pretty much any challenge before me underfoot. And since I already have a superintelligence perk from a prior Jump, I wouldn't feel the need to grab this one, even if I didn't have the ability to give it to myself whenever I wanted it. So... That's it. That one Perk is it. I don't need the points those Drawbacks gave me, I just took 'em because y'all would want them, and also they were Drawbacks that just caused the canonical setup and plot of Young Justice to occur." I shrugged. "I guess I can flip through the doc again and pick a few other little things that interest me? Might as well. In fact- how about you look through it, and tell me what you think I should grab with my remaining fifteen hundred points."

"Jesus fucking christ," Amy said.

"It's not that bad," Vicky promised. "Jumpchain starts you with a budget of a thousand points, but every option costs a clean multiple of a hundred, with a few of them costing fifty points. So really, it's like she's got fifteen points left, after spending ten of them on the only thing she cared about."

"And the reason the points are so needlessly inflated is because big number make nerd peepee hard," I said sagely. "Also, that's how the first guy to make a Jump Doc did it, and a lot of his design decisions have become legacy stuff that everyone else is just stuck with."

"...I see," Amy said, in the voice of someone who'd just learned something against her will.

Ah, the joys of burdening other people with Jumpchain bullshit.

---

"I think..." Dean began, slowly. "...Hrm. So, the point bank..."

"You can withdraw the points that you put in, but anything else, you'll have to barter from someone else," I said. "So... you've got an extra 1100 from Worm, basically, thanks to a weird interaction between the broader Companion house-rules of this Jumpchain and the specific Companion options from Worm."

"Duly noted. Alright, well, what about..." Dean hummed. "...I might be a minute. Eve? You ready to go?"

"I'm going for the full paragon build," Eve said. "Cosmic-tier Mental, Social, and Physical Attributes. Everything else, my power from Worm can cover-"

"I can't believe the book we're from is called Worm," Lisa muttered.

"Hey, at least you're not from a Roosterteeth cartoon where RWBY and Homestuck are real," I said. Dean only had access to Seasons 1 and 2 of Chain of Thorns, but I had managed to get the full eight season run in here, and learned that Homestuck was also fake and made up for a running joke in-show.

"Any reason you're not taking Versatile?" Dean asked.

"Because Versatile is good for having every power, and I can already do that with my power from last year," Eve said. "Even if I couldn't, well... Rose is taking it anyways, and I'm pretty sure I can just ask her to use it for me."

"That is true, I am your guardian and host, and it's my responsibility to ensure you're provided for," I said, nodding. "What's mine is yours, except for my wife."

"I'm going to withdraw from the Bank to add Social Attributes to my own build so I can fuck your wife," Lisa said.

"Good luck, she's into some real freaky shit," I said dryly. "Now what's your actual build?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Inviolate Mind, Mental Attributes, and Versatile, which I'm gonna be flavoring as psychic reality warping," Lisa said. "I saw a really annoying thinkpiece about how there's no such thing as a psychic, the other day, so I'm going to be a psychic."

"You are endearingly spiteful," I said. "I'm pretty sure I could trick you into trying to carve a perfect copy of Michaelangelo's David just by pointing out that you can't."

"Oh we'll see about that," Lisa said, adorably.

"Now... Dean?"

"Cosmic Versatile, technosorcery," Dean listed off. "One thousand points. Cosmic Mental Attributes, six hundred points. Aaaaand... I kinda wanted Slot Machine, but it's unreasonably expensive, and arguably worse than Versatile, so I'll just use technosorcery and cosmic intelligence to make a suit of power armor that does the same thing. Do a kind of Blue Beetle thing, except, not mind-controlled by The Reach."

"Understandable," I said, nodding. "You do, however, realize that your build is identical to your sister's, only with less resistance to mind control, correct?"

Dean blinked a few times, then turned to look at Lisa, who flashed him a wolfish smirk.

"...Fuck it, I'm leaning into it," Dean said, updating his build. "Congratulations, Lisa, you're getting a twin brother."

Lisa started coughing, and Eve thumped her on the back.

"Also, at some point, we need to get you guys the Essential Body Mod, along with some training in how to use its different features," Eve added, trying to make Lisa stop coughing. "Mom, you mind if I handle that part?"

"Be my guest," I said, nodding. "Feel free to get the Dallons in on it too, while you're at it. Or. Uh. Actually, maybe do these two first, then get the Dallons."

"I get it," Eve said, nodding.

"So, what next?" Dean asked, with grit teeth, trying desperately to push the conversation towards a less terrible topic.

"Right, that," I said. "What's next is that you guys go through Eve's Body Mod training, getting acquainted with that new set of powers, and then, once everyone's had enough time to mull over their builds and finalize the details, then we start the next Jump. It's also probably a good idea to start coming up with ideas for what you want your import identity to be, if you don't want to be at the mercy of random chance."

"Duly noted," Lisa said.

"Now... any questions? ...No? Cool beans, moving on."

---

"Hey boss," Clover said, walking into my office. "You got a minute?"

"Sure thing," I said. "Before we start, though- are you, like, the designated person the Red Hand sends to talk to me? It seems like I never really see the others these days."

"Something like that, yeah," Clover said, nodding. "Anyhow, here's my question: what's your plan for after you deal with Skip? I've looked at the text of your Drawback, and Jump-chan doesn't have any obligation to you after you win. What're you gonna do about her then?"

"That's... something I haven't thought about too deeply," I admitted. "I'm sure I can think of something, though. And, well, if I can't..." I shrugged, then reached out and patted her head. "Well, I'm not the only smart person around here. I'm sure one of you has an idea for how to handle that."

"There've been a few suggestions thrown around," Clover admitted. "Most of 'em hinge on the fact that, while you are a Prince of Void, Jump-Chan kind of isn't, and so isn't likely to have so blanket a defense against more conceptual slash idea-based attacks. There's disagreement on where you'd get the best idea-based attacks, although the current winner is some variant on Nobilis, so that you can pick up The World-Breaker's Hand."

"I would prefer to not play full-contact Calvinball with people who dress like fascist mall-goths while they attempt to murder the Power of Child Abuse."

"Yeah, my own vote is for Exalted," Clover said. "Which, admittedly, doesn't count for much, because I'm not a Companion, but..."

"I get it, yeah," I said, nodding. "Although... Although..."

"Although?" Clover prompted.

"I could probably make you into a Companion by letting you import into a Jump," I said. "So, how about it, Clover? Wanna go play in the sandbox that is the DC Animated Universe, and get godlike powers out of it?"

"You drive a hard bargain, boss. Consider me interested."

"Cool beans. Here's a copy of the Jump Doc, with all the Global Drawbacks I selected. Have fun with it."

"...You took nine hundred points worth of global drawbacks."

"Yeah, which mostly amounts to 'there's a major villainous conspiracy' which, well, there always is, and 'there's going to be a big climactic battle,' which, again, there always is. It's nothing we won't be able to handle, especially not with my build. After all, this is the first of the two big Jumps I was waiting for, to get my build really going."

"What is your build, anyhow?" Clover asked.

"It's just Cosmic-Tier Versatile Power," I said. "The thing that makes that so powerful is something in the footnotes, on the subject of power granting- namely, that Versatile Power is capable of granting powers permanently, but the powers granted will be a Tier lower. When combined with the fact that powers are capable of growing stronger with time and training, and also I have a Perk that makes me learn a thousand times faster when it comes to supernatural powers, that means Cosmic-Tier Versatile Power can very rapidly turn into Cosmic-Tier any power, and then, thanks to another Perk I have that uncaps growth, I can grow my abilities beyond that."

"...I see," Clover said quietly. "And... what comes next?"

I grinned.

"Allow me to show you the most hideous cheese I've ever been proud of," I said, pulling out a tablet with my build for the Jump after this already written out. "Behold, Clover, the sheer, inescapable girth of my number-dick."

"...As the Brits might say, that sure is Numberwang."