Deryl, Michael and Jake are very interesting characters and depending on how the player views MC, they have different feelings about them.
Deryl can be a bit of jerk. He owns it and we know about it. I won't say that his attempt to beat MC even under the influence, wasn't a surprise, but I also think he made his point and he won't cheapshot MC like that again. He has more to gain by working together and he knows it. Deryl can be unhinged, but even under Jake's spell, I don't think he wouldn't let things go too far. We have seen his regrets, we have seen his aspirations. Yes it's possible that he may try to cheapshot MC in the future once he gains his new power up, but I welcome the challenge. I always doubted that Deryl never felt jealousy about MC's powers. The fact that he went all in and did his best to help is not something that my MC is ever going to forget. Deryl was there when MC was alone and had no allies. He protected his secret, helped him and was at his side throughout the story.
Michael has done similar things for MC. He has always been a trusted and very capable ally, he trained the MC in combat and taught him his warrior philosophy. If he wants to use MC to challenge himself further, I will welcome it. Even through all this foreshadowing, I don't expect Michael to intentionally threaten MC's life. He may challenge him "no holds barred" style, but this will be good for both. After all MC's life is one of conflict and if he can't beat Michael, who is currently lagging behind, then he won't survive what's to come.
Now Jake. His problem is that he has too much power for such an unstable character. While there are more dangerous people than him around, like Bernhardt and Nico, Jake has the capacity to turns friends into enemies and I don't want him to force MC to fight his friends. I don't care if he decides to challenge MC again in the future and it's likely that I will let him live, but if he ever tries to use his powers on MC's friends he is done for. Power is good and all, but even being a God is lonely and I want MC to be happy. Jake has the capacity to fuck this all up while trying to prove a point and it would suck if a decision made in good faith ended up causing so much grief. So for the time being, I support HERO's decision to keep him in a short leash. He has the potential to be a friend and a great ally, but he has to prove that he is trustworthy.
But enjoyed it thus far, and thank you.
