Chapter 6 – Revelations:

Routine.

It made people predictable. Made them vulnerable.

Every night at exactly 12:00 a.m., Miss Militia sat down at her desk and browsed the internet to further expand her knowledge, making wonderful use of her 'Noctis Cape' capabilities.

Panacea ran rounds at Brockton General every single evening for at least 2 hours, coordinating with the staff and healing anyone they sent her way.

On Friday nights, Kaiser held a meeting with all his capes, making motivational speeches and generally handling them to make sure his Empire ran smoothly.

Every single person of interest in Brockton Bay held some form of routine, even Skidmark, the chaotic drug lord followed certain patterns in his daily life.

…And Coil had files containing all of their habits.

It was painstaking work that had taken him much time and effort. But it was all worth it in the end.

While he looked down on others for their predictability, it wasn't that he didn't follow his own routine.

However,…unlike others, Coil had the power to control his destiny.

A single person, existing in two Timelines. One to gather information, another to attain victory.

To those on the outside, Thomas Calvert's life was one that followed a perfect schedule. Yet, unseen, countless possible world lines were witnessed and discarded, never truly following a pattern, never truly giving anyone a chance to defeat him.

In the event that someone took advantage of his perceived patterns, all they would do was play into his hand and give him the information needed to bring about their demise.

After all, in another timeline, Coil was always waiting, always watching.

----------------------------------------

It was Sunday.

Normally, Coil would use these days to scout for useful additions to his forces, however, recently most of his attention had been captured by a single individual.

Dinah Alcott. 7th-grade middle-schooler, mayor's niece, lover of zoology, avid manga reader,….and possibly one of the most powerful precognitives on the East Coast.

She'd given him quite the scare when he first found her. Her power interacted with his in a strange way. Sometimes making it so he able unable to close a timeline when he wanted. Forcing him to continue until he met certain conditions. He almost considered eliminating her in the beginning.

A single interrogation session with her as he threatened to kill her parents and friends revealed enough to him to abandon any thoughts of killing her. Not only was she a powerful precognitive, but the number of times she was capable of using her power seemed to be growing! Under his employ, she would reach her full potential. Paired with his own power, they would be unstoppable!

He was almost tempted to keep her then and there…but he'd made too much noise to acquire her in that timeline and there were simply too many unknown variables to take such a big risk. He had already thought of certain dates when taking her would be optimal. Patience and paranoia were key after all.

Regardless, he'd learnt to work around her. He wouldn't be able to make some of the more high-risk moves he normally made use of under the insurance of his Power until he acquired her, but simply killing her in a throwaway timeline was enough to stop any interference from her power.

Every weekend he created throwaway timelines where he had his mercenaries capture her and gather more information. Today was also one of the times when she was alone at home, another opportunity to discover previously unknown information.

If he was going to take his Pet in permanently then there could be no mistakes, no loose ends. He strived to know everything about her and everything around her no matter how mundane. Whether it was about her hobbies, her family, her friends or her school.

…Thinking about her school reminded him of his latest headache.

Another young Parahuman had entered the board in Brockton Bay. Coincidentally a classmate of his Pet. One whose perceived usefulness deteriorated every single time Coil interacted with him…

The PRT files had already flagged him as a potential recruit, that was how he'd found the child in the first place. Piggot or Armsmaster would probably bring it up in the next meeting where he'd be present to provide his consulting services. It would most likely prove to be an inane conversation where they would discuss how to go about approaching the boy.

As was customary for him in regard to easily reachable independent Capes, Coil had 'invited' young Daniel Hill for a 'discussion' soon after finding him. Well, he had tried to invite him for an actual discussion and extended the possibility of recruitment…but he'd been turned down, cursed at, and ignored at every turn.

On his first 'physical' try, his mercenaries had discovered Daniel's Brute rating in a rather painful way, forcing Coil to abandon said timeline. On his second, they'd discovered that lethal weaponry proved too much for the child to handle. Discounting their mounted Tinkertech lasers, even standard rifle ammunition had no problems penetrating his flesh.

His Brute power was exactly powerful enough to make capturing him annoyingly difficult and tedious without a Brute of his own. Fortunately, they still had a supply of Brute-rated sedatives and restraints.

After many tries – truly, he wasted a surprising amount of time on this for a low-level Brute – Coil finally figured out the perfect way to command his troops to capture the young Parahuman with ease and bring him in. After all, he couldn't bring Daniel Hill to his base and create new Timelines without committing to capturing him, so he had no choice but to capture him every single time he wanted to speak to him anew.

Finally seeing him in person made it obvious to Coil that the child was a Parahuman. His appearance was simply too 'supernatural' to be thought of as normal. Carrying a sense of majesty and regality…despite his behaviour.

Others might not reach the same conclusions, but he was a PRT veteran, spotting such oddities was well within his capabilities. Naturally, he had already made sure that it was simply a power-based change in appearance and not a Master effect, before meeting the boy in person.

Actually speaking to him had made it clear that it would take many, many tries to get anything of value out of the child.

"I am the Chosen One of Eldrich Entities beyond your comprehension, foolish mortal. Release me lest you wish to be at the mercy of forces that would imprison your soul and torture you till the end of time."

"…"

Physical violence, which would normally be the standard method to make prisoners talk, wasn't an option against the Brute, proving to be useless against Daniel. Lethal weapons once again proved to be too much, forcing Coil to capture him. All. Over. Again.

"We Americans don't negotiate with terrorists!"

"…We aren't terro—"

"Quiet, Al Qaida scum!"

It was unnatural, how his responses to the same situation differed each time. Oh, his uncooperative and unhelpful nature was certainly a constant…but somehow, he managed to do it in a different way each time.

"I'll tell you everything! My social security number is 82974299! My Club Penguin password is 'Damn!Daniel420' !"

"…We're talking about your parents' accident right no—"

"My parents didn't have any accidents! They were chosen by Truck-kun to be glorious Isekai Adventurers!"

"…"

Simply hearing him speak after the second try had given Coil the beginnings of a headache. He had already been convinced that this was proving to be a waste of his precious time, yet perhaps the child had irked him more than he'd thought possible…because he kept trying again and again.

He'd thought about calling his Tattletale and letting her handle the interrogation, but he'd already given her plenty of assignments, enough to last another 2 months.

He also hadn't crushed her sense of guilt yet. She would probably be reluctant to interrogate a kidnapped child, especially the kind that didn't care for their own lives. That would end with even more time wasted. He didn't think of this as important enough and decided not to call her…Though he still didn't give up on trying himself.

"You'll never take me alive!"

"…We already have you here."

"Oh right! W-well then you'll never take me uhh…willingly?"

"…"

By the 5th time, Coil noticed that every time the child was captured, something in his demeanour shifted. Almost as if he couldn't care less about what happened to him, those close to him, or anything really. Coil wondered if that was his true self. One the boy kept hidden from the world.

"Hahaha! Nice prank bro!"

"This isn't a prank!"

"Uhuh sure~. So, what kind of movie am I gonna star in? Or is it a YourTube video? You came to scout me for a role after you saw how good-looking I am right?"

Coil was tempted to say he was suicidal, but the child never attempted anything of that nature when given the opportunity.

"No one knows you're here! If you ever want to see the light of day again, you will spe—"

"Predator! Pedophile! Someone call Chris Hansen! I'M IN DANGER!"

It wasn't that he didn't feel fear. He did. Yet when he found himself in Coil's hands, the child adopted a certain…devil-may-care attitude that made Coil's brain itch. But that could just be the headache that had progressively been getting worse after each attempt. It was bad enough that he was beginning to sympathize with his Tattletale. He did after all enjoy making her push the limits of her power and watching her expression slowly contort in pain.

Of course, he still took some pleasure in knowing that her headache would have been much worse than his, all while trying to maintain that smug smile of hers. He didn't get Thinker headaches after all.

(A/N: He's definitely getting a Thinker Headache lol. Coil's shard's been putting in extra juice to simulate Daniel. For the uninformed, Thinker headaches are a shard's way of stopping its host from using too much power, since apparently, Thinker powers are the most energy-intensive.

In the end, he'd simply cut the timeline and commanded his mercenaries to pull back and return to base. This not being the first time they were deployed and effectively been on nothing but standby, none of them questioned his orders and complied, his power had given them too many victories without casualties to doubt him. Unlike their target, they were easily manageable.

The boy, Daniel Hill, was too chaotic to interact with.

The worst part was that he wasn't even all that important. He wasn't a powerhouse of some kind. He had no reason to have any special information. He didn't even have contact with anyone important, just some sad sack DWA hiring head.

The only reason he'd even bothered to do this personally was because of the boy's proximity to his Pet. Yet he still couldn't help but feel like he'd wasted a better part of the day for nothing.

The only truly special thing about the boy was his appearance. Something that was essentially useless, or an outright liability in the world of masked capes.

Thinking about how much pain the boy had caused him, Coil couldn't help but release a giggl—evil chuckle as a malicious thought came to him.

The boy would probably end up in the wards, but just his low-level Brute capabilities wouldn't really make him useful unless he was equipped with Tinker tech. Then again, the Wards were meant to look pretty and present themselves to the public for PR.

If the mask was what was stopping Daniel Hill from utilizing all his assets…then Coil would help him out and strip him of it!

He'd think of a perfect plan and engineer a situation where he was 'accidentally' outed, preferably on the same day he permanently took his Pet home just to add to the confusion. Of course, he would also instruct his Undersiders to create a distraction, but adding even more confusion to the situation would further obfuscate the kidnapping.

Then he'd have to make sure the boy ended up in the Wards and didn't just join New Wave since his identity was exposed.

Once the boy was in the Wards, he would effectively be under Coil himself. It was only a matter of time before the PRT ENE was under his control.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Nevertheless, thinking about the boy made him feel like his headache was returning, and so with a shake of his head, Coil set aside his thoughts about the young Parahuman and focused on the task at hand. He had to find out more about his Pet and prepare for when he truly took her after all.

The frosted ground was an inconvenience, but his pawns were well-trained, and this was only a test run. At least it wasn't actively snowing.

He waited as one of his best marksmen, Jon, perched himself on the roof of a nearby building with a sniper, alongside his spotter.

A squad of 4 mercenaries disguised themselves as homeless men and split apart, moving to cover all stray alleys.

Two different teams of six in stolen and refitted vans drove up to the neighbourhood and parked themselves in front of properties that weren't currently occupied.

All of them awaited his orders. Like buttons waiting to be clicked.

All while Coil himself was safely located within his secured room in a heavily guarded fortress of his own. It was still uncomfortable to be in the same place in both timelines, but the thought of being a step closer to taking his Pet soothed his worries.

And so, with a mental flex, Time was split in two. His consciousness spread across two worlds.

"All teams go. Just as we practiced." His voice was smooth and slick, not unlike a snake. Just as he'd practised.

"B-1 to Team A. Move together in 10 seconds. S-1 provide cover. S-2 keep visuals and watch for unknowns."

In one Timeline, his soldiers remained on standby, while in the other they moved like well-oiled machines.

Coil couldn't help but hum in satisfaction and relish in the feeling of commanding his troops.

It was truly unfortunate that his men couldn't keep the experience they'd gained in discarded timelines. They would've truly been a force to be reckoned with if they could.

Alas, in the World of Split Time, only he, Coil, could coexist.

(A/N: I don't know when, but at some point, I believe Dio says something along the lines of: "In the World of stopped Time, only I Dio, can move!". So, a little bit of JoJo reference there for you guys. Honestly, Coil feels like the perfect mix of Dio's ambition and pride, and Kira's precaution and tactics.

Coil also thinks that he has some great Time-based ability like Dio, even though he's technically a precog. I'd like to think that at least some components of Coil's power mess around with Temporal science, after all unlike other Thinkers, It takes a lot for Coil to get a Thinker Headache, so something must be different right?

If someone can find where exactly Dio's line came from I'll be grateful. It's been eating at me for a while, and I can't seem to find it.)

He would have to continue making up for it by creating training exercises enacting the battl—

A spike of pain lanced through his head.

Like breaking glass, one of his Timelines shattered, leaving Coil staggered.

Frozen in disbelief, Coil did not act immediately. Completely unable to comprehend his current circumstances.

"All troops! We've spotted multiple unknowns! They seem to be aware of our presence but are unmoving! Commander, orders?"

----------------------------------------

The time was 5 p.m., and it was almost sunset.

All the lights in the Alcott residence were already switched on, but contrary to what that may imply, there was only a single member of the family present.

"I knew it!"

Lying on her bed, with her legs kicking back and forth, Dinah Alcott focused on the Wikipedia page on the screen of her laptop with a triumphant grin.

Today was another one of those days when her parents were out late.

There was a time when being left alone at home had terrified her, to some extent she still was, but she'd learnt to distract herself from her fear with hobbies. She had to, lest she be reminded of the time when they'd been especially late; when she'd been less independent, and when she'd gone through her Trigger event…

The memory of that time dimmed her smile.

It was just another Friday. She'd given away her packed lunch to a friend who'd forgotten theirs. She'd gone home starving after a particularly long after-school baseball session and come home to find the house empty without a notice from her parents.

They hadn't left her any money for takeout. No notes to explain their absence or food in the fridge. Even though they always made sure to tell her before they left her alone at home.

Although it hadn't been particularly long since then, Dinah could distinctly remember herself being a lot more innocent and naïve. And so, with the patience uncharacteristic of a little girl and all the naïve hope of one, Dinah had elected to freshen up and wait for her parents on the couch. She could use the house phone to call them, but she didn't want to disturb them, so she'd simply wait. Cooking something for herself never even occurred to her.

Within an hour, despite the gnawing hunger, she'd fallen asleep in her fatigue.

When she'd woken up, it was to a particularly loud crack of thunder, a storm raging outside and an empty feeling in her stomach.

She wasn't particularly scared of lightning, so she'd been pretty calm as she'd gone to start the lights so she could actually see in the then-dark house.

When the lights didn't respond to her fiddling with the switches and she'd realised that the electricity had been cut? That was when the fear set in and the hope began waning.

Her only way to contact her parents or other family, the landline phone, was one that would not work in such conditions and venturing out into the storm seemed like a death sentence.

Dinah had been raised in an affluent household, she'd never gone hungry for more than a couple hours.

Additionally, she hadn't taken a real interest in 'nerdy' things back then. Biology happened to be one of her worst subjects, with her lacking knowledge of things that, to others, might have been basic knowledge or common sense.

Which was a nice way to say that she didn't really know how long she could go without food. Instead, she used the pain in her stomach as a gauge…and concluded that she was probably dying after not eating for a day…

It was a stupid, childish thought, for which she had absolutely no basis. But the important thing was that she believed it.

The absence of her family, the gnawing hunger, the darkness of her home, the storm outside, and the thought that she might die all alone in the dark all culminated in her blankly staring at the grandfather clock, silent tears running down her face, as its hands ticked and tocked along.

At some point, she kept focusing on the seconds and minutes to come, hoping, anticipating that when the hand struck a certain point, her parents would come home.

Again and again, she kept trying to predict their arrival. Every time, she failed.

Eventually, she'd blacked out, feeling like she'd seen the stars and impossibly huge crystalline objects among them.

When she woke up for the second time that day, it was to the worst headache she'd ever experienced and an answer to only one of the many questions she might have asked herself before going unconscious.

She'd woken up with a parahuman power.

It turned out that the chances of her dying of hunger anytime in the next dozen hours were [0.0034…%].

Of course, trying to ask whether it was the headache that was now going to kill her simply increased the pain to the point that she blacked out all over again.

She'd gotten used to the pain of the headaches over the next few weeks, as stray questions made it to her ears, causing her to instinctively ask the same questions to her power, overusing it.

It had taken her a while to really figure out her ability enough to live normally.

She understood that she was a Thinker who could predict the likelihood of something happening in terms of percentage.

Focusing back on the Wikipedia page, Dinah set aside her gloomy thoughts.

She'd learnt to cook for herself after that. She'd also hounded her parents to get her a mobile phone.

More importantly, she'd started taking her studies seriously. Shoring up on everything a girl her age ought to know, and more.

She didn't regret it. The internet happened to be a wonderful place to learn interesting things. Without it, she might not have ever figured out that she loved watching scientific documentaries from Aleph, or ever discovered Japanese comic books, which were so much better than the trashy 'cape' comics the Protectorate peddled to the masses. Dinah was particularly looking forward to the JJBA Part 1: Phantom Blood anime adaptation that was getting released at the end of the year, created under the attention of both the Aleph and Bet versions of the author's collaboration! She was so glad that the Bet version of Hirohiko Araki survived Leviathan's attack on Japan!

Things were generally getting better for her, though she was never the same as before her Trigger, she simply thought of it as widening her horizons…or becoming a little more mature.

She'd already begun to get good at ignoring questions she'd heard, or at least not subconsciously using her Power when she heard one.

Then everything changed at the start of the week.

A boy walked into class. A transfer student. A good-looking transfer student. Like a cliché from a Shoujou Manga.

A transfer student that everyone was talking about…well they were mostly talking about his looks in the beginning but somehow it had devolved into discussing whether he was an alien…

And somehow that was when her control slipped and she asked her Power the question.

But instead of pain and cryptic numbers…she just got the feeling that her power was preparing its answer…for the next hour, at which point it simply fizzled out without giving her anything.

It wasn't that she couldn't ask questions about the boy, Daniel Hill. She could. It was just that extremely open-ended questions ended with her power trying to find a solution…and eventually giving up without causing her any pain!

After she'd asked her current limit of questions, if she tried asking for more, instead of pain her power simply refused to work.

She'd found the perfect way to deactivate her power!

Simply asking her current limit of questions about Daniel every morning, like "Chances that Daniel will strive for world domination and succeed?" or "Odds that Daniel will turn into a magical girl?" meant that she didn't have to worry about headaches ever again!

Honestly, at that point, it was obvious he was a Parahuman of some kind.

Dinah didn't really have to talk to him. Didn't even have to interact with him. But somehow, perhaps because of the gratitude in her heart, after seeing him sitting around in the corner of the playground alone, her legs had carried her to him, and the rest was history.

Well, he turned out to be a lot of fun so it was worth it in the end. Even though she was a little scared to approach another Parahuman, him screaming like a girl when she surprised him was enough to dispel any fear.

She'd thought that he was a Trump of some kind since her powers didn't work right on him, but after seeing Flower Fox Ferret (Although it is cute, what kind of name even is that?) she was leaning towards Bio-Tinker or Mover with interdimensional capabilities.

After all, the Bet-Aleph Collaborative Wikipedia she was looking at right now says that the Black-Footed Ferret species had long since been confirmed to be extinct on Earth-Bet. Only a hidden population being rediscovered on Earth-Aleph had seen a movement to repopulate them there. So he either created little Fox or he brought her over from Aleph.

Well apart from being fun and a fellow Parahuman, he was also pretty good eye candy.

Convincing him to sit still so she could take photos had been the best decision ever! Her Instagram account was absolutely booming with likes!

Thinking about her account, she excitedly whipped out her expensive DragonTech phone, began checking its status and went to sit by her window—

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

—Only to almost fall over as she saw the very boy she was thinking about knocking at her window.

Maybe it was because she was mentally off-balance and Daniel was clearly asking to be let in, Dinah's instinctively set good manners kicked in and she hurriedly opened the window to let him in.

Up until the point he walked in, he'd looked confident. As if he was completely sure of what he was doing.

Then he opened his mouth with a smile…and froze.

D38 Roll Result: 36

D63 Roll Result: 33

He continued imitating a fish for a few seconds before Dinah sighed and went to close the windows and curtains.

"…Why don't you sit down and relax? Take a moment to calm down, then you can explain why you're here so late in the day…and why you didn't ring the bell and come through the front door like a normal person."

Nodding his head, he followed her instructions, and though he lost some of the surety he walked in with, he was still noticeably more…confident(?). Resolved (?) than normal. Something along those lines.

Well, Daniel was a little odd like that.

Sometimes he acted a lot older than he was, and other times he acted even more childish than anyone in class. His confidence fluctuated similarly.

Well, it was part of the reason why he was so interesting, so Dinah didn't mind!

Once they were both sitting at the tea table she had in her room (Ohmygod! Why the heck didn't I get rid of it! He's gonna think I'm a little baby who still has tea parties with dolls!), Daniel took a deep breath as he looked around the room for the first time.

She couldn't help but get self-conscious as he stared intensely at the very table she was lamenting keeping after so many years.

"…This is good wood."

'Really! That's how you start the conversation?!'

"What are you, a carpenter?! Gah! Stop looking around my room and tell me what's going on already?!" Red-faced, Dinah couldn't help but shout.

Okay, maybe she was a little more embarrassed and overwhelmed after having a boy in her room for the first time.

"Y'know I kinda am a carpenter…, but whatever…Uh right…So, uhm…..You'regoingtogetkidnappedbyaSupervillainMastermindandIcametosaveyou!"

"What?"

Taking another deep breath, Daniel looked into her eyes for the first time since he came here, fixing an extremely serious expression on his face. Dinah couldn't help but sit a little straighter.

"Dinah…I know you have powers." At that, she stiffened. Completely forgetting to try and parse whatever he'd said earlier.

'What?! How?!'

At the start of the week, she had almost decided to tell her friends and family about her Power when her headaches had been getting particularly painful. But after Daniel had arrived she'd found a solution and hadn't felt the need to.

"Did you find out after using your own powers?"

"Wha—How do you know I have powers?!"

"…Shouldn't you already know what my Power can do? Also, I haven't told anyone about my powers, if I hadn't confirmed it with my own Power your reaction would've been enough."

"Oh right! Precog! I guess I forgot why he wanted to kidnap you in the first place. I was just thinking about the fact that you were gonna get kidnapped!"

Daniel had whispered the last part but Dinah had heard it clear enough.

"I'M GETTING KIDNAPPED?!" Panicked, she stood up from her chair.

"Yeah! That's why I'm here! I can explain everything once we're in my uhh…base? Yeah, base! To be honest, I really didn't know what to do in the beginning, cause the guy that wants to kidnap you has ties in the government, so going to the police or PRT is useless. I also thought of many other things, but with Coil's capabilities, none of them would've kept you safe for long. BUT! I've got the perfect plan to save you!"

Hearing that the person who wanted to kidnap her had some influence with the very people she might have thought to go for help caused a sinking feeling of hopelessness, but when she heard that Daniel had a solution she couldn't help but have some hope.

With eager eyes, she waited for him to speak.

"Since we can't keep Coil away from you, and defeating him is kinda impossible right now, the perfect plan is to…KIDNAP YOU MYSELF!"

Mouth hanging open Dinah just stared at him.

"…Your plan to stop my kidnapping…is to kidnap me yourself?"

"YUP! If we use my uhh…ability, then he'll never get to you!"

"That…That's…"

Instinctively…Dinah wanted to rush over, slap him upside the head and yell 'STUPID!'.

Instead, she waited for a beat and thought.

She thought back to how she'd theorised that he had a dimensional Mover power that could take him to Aleph.

She thought about all the places she wanted to visit on Aleph, but could only ever see on the internet. How she might not have to go to school. How she wouldn't have to stay alone at home, forever waiting for her parents to come home from work to stave off the loneliness.

'Akihabara, here I come!'

"—THAT'S GENIUS!"

'Hm…That's a nice smile there. I approve.' Mentally she nodded at his expression after her own approval of his plan.

"Hehe, glad you like the plan! I'm also glad you believe me about the kidnapping, but you don't just have to take my word for it you know? Can you use your power anymore today? Try asking 'Chances someone other than Daniel kidnaps me within 5 months, without Daniel's warning?' or something like that."

Inwardly she winced. She hadn't even thought about whether there really was a kidnapping. She supposed Daniel coming here had really thrown her off her game.

Then again she wasn't used to really using her power for anything important, so she couldn't be blamed for not trying.

Regardless as soon as Daniel worded the question, she'd asked the same to her Power and it went to work. And by the looks of it, excluding Daniel from the equation must have made it easier, since she had the answer almost instantly.

'[98.65321…%]' (!)

She hadn't used her power today at all, so there was no headache yet. Her current limit was 3 questions after all. But, seeing such a high chance of getting kidnapped…well she hadn't questioned Daniel before, now, however? She'd probably believe anything he said for a while.

Despite the extreme danger seemingly on the horizon, she chose to stay optimistic.

So, with a smile, she turned to Daniel, preparing to ask him for more specific information, instead she froze as she saw him standing up with a guarded expression, looking to and fro.

"W-What is it?" Carefully, she asked.

"I-I don't know. It's just…I have a bad feeling. Say, Dinah, you can answer another question, right? What are the Odds that someone other than me will try to kidnap you within the next couple of hours?"

She could, and she did. And she didn't like the numbers at all.

With a pale face, she spoke.

"[93.38731…%]"

"What?! This is bad! I didn't think he would act so soon! Did he somehow find out about me?! Wha—NO! It doesn't matter! I can still get you away from here easily, it's my unseen escape that I have to worry about."

Saying so, Daniel walked over to…the bathroom door(?) and opened it.

"What do you mean?! I thought you could teleport?! And you can pee after we escape!"

"Wha—I'm not going to pee! Just look inside the door!"

Hesitantly, she did, and instead of her bathroom, with an expression of surprise, she saw the inside of a wooden corridor of some kind. From the windows of the corridor, she could see one of the most beautiful beaches she'd ever seen, even compared to the ones on the internet.

"This is my Personal Reality. It leads to a completely empty alternate Earth with no human civilisation. You know how you asked if I was a carpenter, well I certainly have the skills of one, so you get to stay at my personally built Wooden Beach house! It's called 'Le Wood'."

"Well, then what exactly are you waiting for, let's go?! Then we can both escape!"

"Not exactly…I can't close the door as long as I'm on the other side. But that shouldn't be a problem for you! So go!" Saying his piece, Daniel stood on the side of the door and gestured for her to get inside.

Dinah for her part, just stood stock still, staring at him.

"H-how are you going to get away?" She questioned quietly.

"Hey don't worry about me! I'm really strong you know!" He patted his arms as he flexed them.

"Don't be stupid! You can't fight a Villain with a Door power when you can't close it for yourself!"

"No really, don't worry!" At this point, Dinah already had tears in her eyes, wondering whether this was really happening.

"*Sniff* Y-you'll d-die!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Look at this. I have more than just the Door alright?"

Blinking the tears out of her eyes, Dinah watched as Daniel picked up a single water bottle from the corridor in his Personal Reality. Seeing for the first time that he has dozens of them kept there on the floor.

Taking a sip of water, she watched as Daniel breathed in through his nose, and spit the water out from between his teeth towards a tree outside his wooden beach house.

Well, it couldn't really be called 'spitting' when the water was propelled at insane speeds and could cut through a tree, leaving a hole behind.

Tears forgotten, Dinah stood stock still once again. Only this time because she saw Daniel do something she'd been reading from the pages of one of her favourite manga.

"D-did you just…"

"See! I can do more than just the Door! In fact, I can do a lot more, but we don't have the time right now. Regardless, I'm sure seeing my Hamon Cutter Technique eased your worri—"

"YOU HAVE JOJO POWERS!" Grabbing him by his collar, she shook Daniel while squealing, even as she herself vibrated with excitement. All her fears and worries faded for an instant.

"Wha-How do you know what that is?!"

"W-what is it? Girls can watch action anime too you know!" She spoke a bit defensively.

"No, no! It's jus—Nothing, I have a lot to think about…WTF, JoJo exists in this universe….. All right! Now stay here! I'll escape from your house and open a Door elsewhere. Just sit tight and wait for me. You can look around the house if you want, but don't go outside without me!"

Daniel was already walking backwards towards the Door, back to her house as he spoke, leaving her inside his beach house.

"Wait!"

"Don't worry! I'll be back soon. Trust me when I say no one can catch me when I want to escape! Se—*poomf*"

Dinah couldn't let him leave with just that. Besides, she needed to get the last word in. So she jumped at him, hugging him and squeezing him as tight as she could.

"Well, I'm starting to doubt that now. But I guess you never stood a chance at escaping from me, huh?"

As she was now she couldn't see his face, but he didn't say anything for a good while, so she was pretty sure she could count it as turning him speechless.

"L-lemme go, y-you brat!"

Running down the corridor of the beach house, refusing to face him, she stuck her tongue out and shouted without looking back in a parody of their first meeting.

"*Bleh* M' not a brat! If I'm one, then so are you, pretty boy~! Get back safe or you'll have a lot more to worry about than some silly Super Villain! And I'll make good on my promise, or my name isn't Dinah Alcott! Better remember that!"

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Remaining CP: 0

Total Word Count: 6099

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Perks Gained from this Chapter:

* No Monsters Were Harmed in the Making of This Product (Monster Girl Encyclopedia) (300CP): The bodies of monsters are useful resources for all sorts of things (Dragon scales make nifty armor, Slime substances can be used for various potions/elixirs, Demon Realm Boar meat is incredibly healthy and invigorating, etc.), so now that monsters are friendly (sometimes too friendly), it's become easier to obtain these once-rare ingredients. However, this leads to a dilemma: how to extract the items without hurting the innocent Mamono. At the lowest level, this perk helps you sense what parts of a creature's body could be useful/profitable (it won't help you exactly identify their use, but it will at least let you know if they're worth taking a look at). But more than that, the perk enables you to easily extract things from a subject's body without actually harming the individual, even if doing so would normally hurt or even kill the person. The subject will generally heal any scars without trouble afterwards, and any removed parts that are irreplaceable will regenerate (*This effect can be toggled ON/OFF). Plus, you gain increased skill at preserving the extracted materials for extended durations until you can find a good use for them or hawk them off to buyers. *EDIT: I decided to make a little change here. Just to give more control over the Perk.

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