Cubby-Hole

Cubby-Hole (minor) by Senator Cybus

The hero can summon what is effectively a tiny pocket dimension that overlaps our reality. This strange little compartment is barely big enough to hold the character within its confines, and is visible and tangible only to him. So it cannot be used to hide (the super being can be clearly seen while inside) and does not shield against any attack (projectiles, people, forces and weapons pass straight through it). However, attuned as it is to the character who summons it, for him it is both perceptible and as solid as a brick wall, which provides some interesting advantages.

The Cubby-Hole is a transparent, rectangular box, its exact dimensions determined by the super being’s size. It is always two inches (5 cm) larger than the hero at his tallest, widest and deepest point; for example, a character six feet (1.8 m) tall would have a Cubby-Hole that was six feet and two inches (1.85m) high. As the Cubby-Hole conforms to the character’s dimensions, he can adjust its volume by simply positioning his body correctly, e.g. holding his hands above his head before summoning the pocket dimension would add approximately 18 inches (45 cm) to its height, or holding his arms straight out to the sides could add up to 4 feet (1.2 m) or more to its width. The floor of the Cubby-Hole is relative to the character; if he is stood up or sat down, the floor is directly beneath his feet, if lying down, it is right under the full length of his body. The super being can summon or dismiss the Cubby-Hole with just a thought, so quickly as to be effectively instantaneous.

Access to this miniature dimension provides the following benefits:

• The super being cannot be moved from his location once the Cubby-Hole is in place, its walls preventing his removal; opponents will discover that they cannot pull, push or lift the hero more than a couple of inches in any direction, no matter how strong they may be.
• The character cannot be thrown or tripped in combat. As the hero begins to fall, he can instantly summon the Cubby-Hole, brace himself against its wall and right himself immediately, a manoeuvre that will catch a lot of opponents off guard.
• The hero cannot fall uncontrollably: he simply summons the Cubby-Hole as he begins to drop and lands safely on its floor. Using this trick, he can safely lower himself down from any height - fall a couple of feet, summon the Cubby-Hole, land, dismiss it, fall a couple of feet and so on - until he is safely down on the ground.
• Using this same technique, the character can jump over dangerous obstacles (deep chasms, mine fields, lava flows, etc), using the Cubby-Hole as a series of stepping stones; jumping, summoning, landing, jumping just as he dismisses the compartment, summoning, landing and so on. He can even employ this method to jump up to great heights, but this is painfully slow: raising himself up in this way, the hero can only travel at 5% of his normal Speed.
• The Cubby-Hole can be maintained indefinitely, even while the super-being is asleep or unconscious, giving him a resting place or vantage point even in uncertain or unsafe terrain.
• While other people cannot be contained by or even touch the Cubby-Hole, they can hang onto the hero as he is held by the strange compartment, benefiting from his immovability.

Vulnerabilities: The super being cannot summon the Cubby-Hole if unconscious, meaning he can fall or be moved around normally. Equally, he cannot dismiss the Cubby-Hole if he loses consciousness, which could be a problem if he requires medical attention but cannot be moved beyond the boundaries of his pocket dimension.

When the Cubby-Hole is summoned, it is fixed in place and its walls are, for the super being, as solid as a rock - this makes it very dangerous for the hero to summon the compartment if traveling at high speed, as he will slam straight into the immovable side of the box. For the same reason, the character may prefer not to use this power if grappling with a superhumanly strong opponent, who can slam him against the walls of the Cubby-Hole with enough force to be damaging or even fatal.