"Allow me to be frank with you, Nathan." The knight morph began, immediately seeking to communicate effectively and honestly with me. My eyes widened in interest as it spoke, its communicative abilities seemingly improving with every passing second. 

"I have been trapped in this world for thousands of years. When I first arrived here, there were still beings with powers, beings I could work for who'd keep me sustained. There have not been any such beings, in this part of the world, for literally millennia." The creature informed me, emotions sneaking into its voice, and with each word it uttered I could hear its voice slowly morphing and becoming more human, and I could sense that it was regaining its old memories from its time as a patron of other powered beings. 

"Nathan... You, and those witches, are the first powered beings I've ever even detected in millennia. And the interactions of all of your powers clashing together and radiating energy gave me the power I needed to be able to even manifest in this limited capacity. I need to eat." The creature confessed, causing me to relax. It looked like, for the moment anyway, that my decision to come here right away was the correct one. 

I was able to quickly theorize, from the creature's words, that if I had waited too long the morph might have been able to free itself from the tunnel just by the power of the witches. I stepped towards the creature and outstretched my hand. 

"Knight Morph, allow me to feed you. Tell me how to do what you need to happen so that you don't starve." I said, confidently. The creature's purple eyes filled with gratitude as I spoke, and I smiled at the morphic entity. 

"Can you please activate one of your elemental abilities?" The creature asked, its voice still sounding directly from within my mind. I rose a hand as if I was going to volunteer to answer a question and the creature's face shifted, curiously, until a small fire began to appear over my fingertips. That caused the creature's eyes to widen in delight. 

The fire that was being generated by my powers was a blue flame, and I watched it begin to die down even as the Knight Morph I was here to recruit began to grow in size. What's more, is that its body began to radiate more intense light than it had previously. I could even feel it beginning to increase in power, due to a mutation that had only rarely mattered until now; "Power Sense". 

"That feels... Incredible." The creature informed me, closing its eyes, revealing soft pink eyelids, all while basking in the glow of the heat of my fire. 

"Thank you, Nathan." The creature whispered, even as it began to read my mind again and begin to take on a more human-like form. It was able to read my mind quite thoroughly due to me allowing it in, which was quite simple for someone with telepathic abilities like me, but I sensed that the creature was a potent psychic on its own anyway. 

It began to take on the form of someone a bit surprising; a fairly young American English teacher I had had a few years ago, back when I was in middle school and still living in the United States. Its new form was that of a fresh-out-of-college teacher, down to the professional clothing. 

"Now Nathan... Since I read your mind, and I owe you for saving me from starvation, let's have a longer-term conversation. Is there anywhere we can go where we can chat privately?" The creature asked, its voice a bit disconcerting since it was now an exact replica of that teacher. I chuckled and with a single blink opened a portal into The Sanctuary which manifested before us in the form of an unopened door.

I opened the door, and all of us, my clone included, stepped through it. I then immediately manipulated the earth around us to reseal the tunnel we were in. The morph's statue vanished the instant it stepped through the door and when my companion was through I shut the thing behind us, causing it to vanish, with a laughably simple usage of telekinesis.

We found ourselves in the bedroom of the area somewhat jokingly referred to as "The Owner's Suite" in my mansion within The Sanctuary. The Knight Morph smiled at me, which was still weird to look at since its face was a perfect replica of my old teacher's face, and sat down atop the soft king-sized bed which was something I had never bothered to use. I didn't need to sleep, and I had refused to use the bed for more "recreational" purposes, due to some of my powers having elements that made me a bit uncomfortable.

"So this is The Sanctuary..." The morph whispered as it gazed around the room, and then out the window. The creature had read my mind and it had done so quite effectively. It hadn't been super invasive in its search, but since I gave it permission it at least a basic level of understanding of the memories stored away in my brain, including and especially the more recent ones. 

It spent a few moments looking around before turning back to me. And when it did it had a smile on its face, a confident, knowing smile. 

"I can sense that life with you would be far from boring. And I'd be well-fed. I... don't think I'd hate it." The creature informed me, its now green eyes filling with excitement as it mulled over more and more of my memories. I chuckled and nodded at it.

"I can promise you that life with me, as one of my patrons, would not be boring at all. It'd be a lot of things, but boring? Never." I replied, smiling at the creature. My eyes made the creature's eyebrows raise in curiosity.

"As... 'one' of your patrons?" The being asked, curiously. Without hesitation, I nodded at it. 

"As one of them, yes. I intend to acquire the patronage of each kind of symbiotic patron. Though to be fair, I wasn't sure of that until I met you." I explained, as always opting to be honest. I also looked at the creature and studied its form curiously. 

"Are you... a female? Because that is a curious form you opted to adopt." I asked the being, only to cause the creature to audibly laugh for a moment, before smiling sweetly at me. 

"Oh, this? Sex and gender don't really exist for morphic entities. We subconsciously opt to adopt whatever forms we feel will most please those we bond with. To be honest, I didn't really think about the form I adopted, so the fact that I adopted this form is more a reflection of you than it is of me." The creature quipped, with a gentle smile on its face. That caused me to chuckle lightly but the truth is if blushing were still an unconscious thing for me and not something I had control over I suspected that my face would have been beet-red.

I had once had a crush on the teacher that the morph was imitating. I wasn't often one who had crushes, or ever really experienced much as far as romantic or sexual attraction went, so the fact that I had had a crush on her was remarkable. A small part of me hated that the form the morph took was of her, but seeing her again, with my enhanced eyesight and senses really was something. 

Martha Rose, or rather the morphic entity imitating her, was a fairly short brunette woman who wore her hair up in a bun and was dressed in a polka dot dress-shirt combination outfit. She had tan skin, due to an early childhood spent on North Carolina's coast, and despite the fact that when she had been my teacher she was living in Ohio, she had never lost her affinity for the outdoors. Seeing a creature imitate her was something else, and it made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

I was a somewhat frequent shapeshifter myself, but I preferred not to imitate people. When I shapeshifted, as long as I didn't have a purpose in imitating someone else, I always used an original form I invented for myself. It seemed, at the moment anyway, that my attitudes were not shared by others. And to be fair, even now I could gain a pretty nasty ability that was perfect for imitating others. 

A "Type-Black" superpower in the "Deception" camp of that family of superpowers known as "Doppelganger" was on sale since it belonged to the second tier of such powers. That ability allowed me to take on the exact likeness of anyone I had ever touched, to the point that it was impossible for things like DNA tests and more to tell me apart from anyone I was mimicking. The only weakness it had was that it would not give me someone else's powers on its own, but to counter that if I killed someone after taking their form I would receive all of their memories. That said, to me that was not much of a benefit since I could very easily steal someone else's memories and leave them alive.

"Doppelganger" had actually been one of the abilities I had considered taking for free since when I shapeshifted into someone I, at the moment anyway, could not actually mimic their DNA. The ability to mimic someone down to their very genetic structure, so long as I, a clone, or something like a knight morph of mine managed to touch them would have been a very handy ability. The usefulness of it was even greater than it might have otherwise been since it was also retroactive and that meant that I could have easily been incredibly mischievous with it if I wanted to be.  It was one of the few enhancement abilities that I considered a solid priority as far as purchasing went.

"I'll be the one to take the first step... Morph, will you bond with me?" I asked, after momentarily thinking about the potential power of "Doppelganger". The morph smiled at me and began to think about my offer. And then it spoke. 

"I can sense your vast power. You aren't a human are you?" The creature asked me, causing me to smile as it revealed that it hadn't done an in-depth scan of my memories. I shook my head at it and began to laugh gently.

"I am actually a 'Changeling'. I am the offspring of two extra-universal superpowered beings and thus am a fully non-human entity. That's why I am able to do so many diverse things." I explained, honestly. This caused the morphic entity's eyes to widen.

"I see... That explains why you could go toe to toe with those witches given their age." The creature replied, as it began to reassess me in its mind. 

"Well, that I stole some of their powers. Powers which I can now share freely." I added, revealing that I had an ability that I knew was extremely rare since I now knew dozens of powered beings and none of them had the power to share their powers. And it was upon hearing that that the morphic entity began to laugh as it read my mind and confirmed what I had just revealed.

"Now that is incredible! What an ability..." The morph uttered, legitimately astounded by my revelation. I chuckled and then shock my head slightly to indicate that I disagreed with the creature, at least a little.

"It's not all good. When I bonded with The Sanctuary it... It pranked me. Not every power it gave me was beneficial." I explained, cryptically. The morph's eyebrow raised as it looked at me curiously. I fell silent for a moment, before looking at the creature and opting to explain something I had never told anyone. 

"One of the powers The Sanctuary gave me made me a creature of lust. I did not agree to get that power, partially because I wasn't asked by The Sanctuary and if I had been I would have said no. That power made my bodily fluids, and especially my sexual fluids... addictive." I informed the creature, causing its eyes to widen in shock. I nodded at it.

"When I first gained powers over sin I could initially only influence greed, pride, and gluttony. My soul was a little... too compatible with The Sanctuary and it gave me every single power it could bestow, without asking me first. Which resulted in me gaining entry-level power over lust. I have a number of sex-based powers that I refuse to use, but I can feel them within me." I added, before chuckling gently. 

"That... Whoa." The morph replied as it took a second to understand the powers I possessed. And then the entity began to laugh.

"You are so lucky! The powers you wield, already, are... Amazing." The creature uttered, as I saw its mental gears beginning to spin in its mind. I nodded at the creature, in agreement.

"I am. I fully agree with you. And my powers... They are actively growing. Even now I can feel them within me, slowly maturing and increasing in potency and versatility. So, what do you say? You wanna come with me? Bond with me, and become the first morph I have recruited? You'll never go hungry with me, that's for sure." I replied, before chuckling. My words made the creature go silent as it began to study my mind again. I didn't resist, aware that the creature was probably going to say yes. 

The creature studied me for a moment, and that moment turned into a few moments, which turned into a few minutes. During that time the odd being studied my mind, carefully and powerfully scanning my memories. I sensed it judging my actions, even ones I made when I was a child. I sensed it studying my soul, and my emotions. Before long I sensed that it knew me like a person might know their best friend. And then the creature began to nod, slowly but visibly. 

"Nathan... I can sense the strength of your resolve. I can sense the strength of your spirit. And more than that I can sense the potency of your mind." The entity began. 

"I have come to the conclusion that your desire to be a hero who protects life everywhere you can, and who gains the power to be a shield to protect people who possess less strength is a sincere and noble desire. I deem you... worthy. If you'll allow me, I'd be honored to bond with you." The creature continued, a smile on its face. And after it finished speaking I watched a notification fill my mind's eye.

[Alert: Morphic Bonding

A morphic entity of the "Symbiotic Patron" class has approached you and asked to bond with you. This is not merely a question as you are used to. Whatever answer you give this question is one that will have an immediate consequence. If you say yes, you and this being are bonded for the rest of your life. Be cognizant of that.]

I chuckled and nodded at the creature. I then stepped towards it and took a deep breath. 

"I would like to bond with you. I want us to form an alliance, a partnership, a friendship even, that we use to protect people." I uttered, shortly before I fell to my knees as a potent amount of information flowed into my brain. I was also annoyed to realize that as I said yes the creature's more human traits began to vanish from its mind as it momentarily staggered as well and fell to its knee in a manner mirroring myself. As it fell its knees hit the ground hard causing a sound that resounded throughout the room and beyond, which caused a flurry of motion that my sensitive ears picked up easily.

"Status... Rebooting, in the wake of acquisition by a new master." The creature uttered, mechanically. That said its form didn't change, and neither did the languages it knew. A moment later it spoke again.

"Status update... Scanning subconscious of master... New directives acquired." The potent being whispered as my unconscious mind and its unconscious mind were suddenly being linked by a powerful mental tether, one that ensured that we'd never be separated again as long as I lived. A second later, while both the Knight Morph and I were on our knees my door flew open, and Olivia stepped into the room, glancing at me and at the creature concernedly. 

"Nathan! What's wrong?!" She asked, as she dashed towards me and kept her eyes on the morphic entity. I chuckled and caught my breath.

"Sorry, Olivia... That asshole didn't give me any warning." I explained as I kept my eyes on the creature. Olivia's gaze turned from it back to me and she looked at me with concern visible in her soft eyes. 

"I... don't know what that means, but are you okay?" She asked me, causing me to nod at her as I slowly got back up. 

"I... I ought to catch you up." I explained, as I turned to look at the commander of The Sanctuary. As I said that her eyes filled with curiosity.