Hero Complex

The author is very apologetic. He had this ready yesterday afternoon, but inexplicably forgot to post it. Fortunately, it is still Thursday somewhere. He hopes.

Hero Complex is the standard name for a specific set of superpowers. It is gained through unknown means, but all recorded cases seem to include the choice to not betray one’s principles. All known cases of Hero Complex have the same ability.

Hero Complex grants the ability to phase matter the Hero is in contact with, including their own body, and by extension rapidly reshape it. Phasing is accomplished by the Hero touching something solid and activating the effect, allowing the Hero to shift either themselves, their targets, or both into a completely light absorbing state that is then automatically counted as part of the Hero. The process can be reversed with roughly equal ease.

All matter in the altered state is preserved on a chemical scale, even if compressed or reshaped massively while in the altered state. If it is left in that altered form when it reverts to normal matter, however, chemical bonds usually stretch far beyond the breaking point, causing rapid combustion in almost all cases. While it is theoretically possible to force nuclear fusion or fission with this process, in practice it requires the same force to keep an object in a different shape than it was when first converted as it would to reshape it manually.

Anything in the affected state can be reflected off solid matter instead of phasing either party, and this is actually the default. The only restrictions on what can be subjected to the altered state are that no object can be altered, or even phased through, (as phasing is a subset of the alteration) if it is glowing, and an unknown mass limit per Hero, strongly suspected to be a result of the human brain being unable to properly comprehend more.

As all objects glow in some spectrums, one of the more notable quirks of Hero Complex is to annihilate small amounts of matter in the altered state while removing all radiation from the target of alteration. It is unknown what happens to the matter and energy that is seemingly destroyed in this process, but it is suspected to involve a similar and probably parallel mechanism to how Overlord Complex is supplied with energy.

A notable side effect of the phasing and shapeshifting is the ability to make what are, in essence, perfect cuts and grafts, usually paired with ridiculously thin blades. Heroes frequently use their powers for construction, vastly speeding the process and replacing the need for most heavy equipment.