With a long-suffering sigh, the figure slumped down against a nearby building whilst trying to catch their breath.

It was pointless now. No catching up to him anymore. Not when he had already sped off in his cool expensive car.

“I’m so stupid…” the person murmured.

It couldn’t be helped though. With powers like these, it was bound to happen one day. Even after swearing to never ever use them, the temptation to knock the cocky popular guy off his high horse was too high.

“What do I do now…?”

Head slumping to meet the wall, eyes on the starless night sky, it almost felt like nothing mattered anymore.

Sure, from how he had acted, the guy probably hadn’t even noticed his powers were gone, but eventually, he would. And when that inevitably happened…

They were destined to become a villain feared by anyone and everyone. After all…

There was nothing more villainous than having the power to steal other powers.

They looked down on their hand, idly testing the stolen power by having it grow scales, turning it into a claw, transforming it into a jelly-like substance…

Shifter. A hero.

Not only had they stolen his power, but also found out his civilian identity. Dangerous information.

They felt sick to the stomach.

Literally.

Maybe not just because of what they had just done, but because of the drinks they had at the party.

“Fucking knew it…”

Without a doubt, caving in and coming to the party was the biggest mistake they had ever committed. And this time, not just because they had failed to socialize in any way.

With great effort, they stood up and dragged themselves in the direction of their home.

On the way, all the worst-case scenarios rolled through their head and their mood got worse and worse.

To add salt to the wound, they passed by the park near their place and saw a mother with a stroller smiling without the care in the world.

It reminded them that they were nearing their thirties and having kids was still just an unreachable pipe dream.

They ran the rest of the way, bumping into their neighbor who was smoking by the entrance.

“Hey, dude! Watch it!” He shouted.

They ignored both him and the way he called them. No point in getting even more upset.

Once their apartment door slammed behind them, they stumbled to their bedroom and slumped on the bed, holding their stomach.

When the painful sensation didn’t pass, they got up to go to the bathroom…

They didn’t get very far.

Something moved. A flash of light shot out of their body and landed on the bedroom floor.

Not even noticing the pain was gone, they stared at the white blob jiggle and shape itself into a humanoid form.

“W-what…?”

The light subsided as the blob ended with the form of a little girl lying on the ground. A girl with a rainbow for hair, apparently.

The naked girl opened her eyes -- one green, one blue --, rose up and her eyes met with theirs. Then they lit up with joy.

“Mama!” she flew at them and gave them a hug.

“W-w-w-w-w-whaaaaat?!”

The odd feeling of having a stolen power was gone.

BottledChaos

Fun fact: Originally, I was planning 2 spin-off stories, but eventually decided to incorporate both into the main one. The first one was called 'Power mama'. What does that mean? Who knows! Maybe you can find out by reading ahead on my patreon!