Chapter 9 – Gotta Catch 'Em All_Hashoku Tensei (Worm/Celestial Forge SI)

Chapter 9 – Gotta Catch 'Em All

It'd been an odd couple of days.

Too many things had been happening, to the point that I still handn't properly reacted to it all.

You'd think that rescuing Dinah by whisking her away to my Personal Reality after fighting off mercenaries with lethal Tinkertech, meeting a Dark Elf and watching someone die would have been the height of my week, right?

Wrong.

Somehow, while I was leading my own adventures…The Simurgh had disappeared.

One of the greatest obstacles to me saving Earth Bet, one that I sometimes had nightmares thinking about was just gone, no longer floating in the skies and no one knew where she was.

Well…that isn't quite right…the PRT clearly know something, but they haven't deigned to inform the public yet, citing something about S-class secrets and how disseminating information about the Simurgh was something they always had to be cautious about.

There was no question about it. This was 100% my fault.

I have no idea what butterflies I'd prompted to start flapping, but somehow, indirect as it may have been, I was responsible for this.

With this news I was both elated and terrified.

The Sword of Damocles hovering over my head was gone. Although…how much of a danger she was to me was still debatable considering that I was in constant contact with Dinah who, if I remembered clearly, was a Blindspot to most Thinkers including the Simurgh.

Another more personally relevant bit of news was how the dockworkers who'd accompanied Danny and Taylor to school had been attacked by a cape.

The PRT once again hadn't given any proper response to the incident.

Instead, it was PHO where I'd found some people theorizing that it was a new Trigger who'd freaked out and attacked anyone close by. In the end the cape was unofficially named Poltergeist and was thought to be a Stranger/Shaker of some kind since object were thrown around without anyone really catching a hint of the them.

Both the news about the winged Endbringer and the attack on my…family (even though it wasn't much of an attack), had been a sobering realization about how unpredictable Earth Bet had become with my insertion.

A new Trigger from Winslow High honestly wasn't all that surprising…but the fact that I might have been indirectly responsible…well I wasn't really blaming myself, but at the same time, I couldn't feel completely absolved.

At the very least, no one seriously injured…and most importantly Taylor seemed to be in a better mood and didn't seem nearly as lost as she used to which resulted in Danny also looking more chipper, so I didn't freak out about it too much. Although, I couldn't help but feel that Taylor's smile was a little sharp.

Unable to really do anything about these things other than wait for the Forge to give me more to work with I'd instead defaulted to some of the plans I'd made before, namely, creating a Videogame company to make the foundation for the plan involving [Programming Miracles (Alterworld 2.4)].

While I'd initially thought I'd need to go out to buy a computer and develop software to even begin creating a game…the Forge had given me an alternative.

While I was busy fighting off Coil's mercs, I'd ended up getting a copy of freakin' Castle Doom from Marvel and it was honestly really, really convenient. Not only did I not need to go looking for equipment, the Castle also came equipped with everything Dinah would need to live comfortably—

My mind flashed to the memory of Dinah sitting on an ornate red cushioned chair next to a fire-place as she stroked Fox's fur while drinking orange juice from a champagne glass.

"Hoho hoho ho~. This is how being rich is supposed to feel! Let's see that stupid sewer-dwelling snake try and act more like a super villain than me!"

—A little too comfortably if I was being honest…

I'd already started working on a version of Flappy Bird and almost finished making it.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It would be the first game I'd launch from my company, Celestial Works! Once I figure out how to actually start a company that it…

I knew I'd have to approach Danny and get his help for the business aspects, but I hadn't exactly told him about what I was doing. In fact, I'd only really been working on the game for short amounts of time when I could sneak into my Personal Reality.

Mostly I was just lamenting the fact that despite having the Celestial Forge, I still didn't have a proper Technological power or ability—

D38 Roll Result: 18

D35 Roll Result: 33

Tinker Copycat (Scooby Gamers) (600CP): You have a tinker power, but start without any sort of specialization, instead having the ability to permanently copy specializations from other tinkers you encounter. In worlds without something as specific as Wormverse tinkers, this ability will activate whenever you run into 'super scientists' or similar, giving you an affinity for whatever sorts of inventions or technologies that individual would normally make. Line of sight proximity is required for activation of this power. This power is not connected to any shards, nor will using it on an actual Worm-verse tinker connect you to a shard.

—Out of nowhere, a massive amount of Celestial power made itself known to me, and before I could react the Forge ate away at it all and sent a powerful star my way. One that was comparable to [Programming Miracles].

"T-that—THAT'S AMAZING!"

I didn't quite understand how the new Power would work, after all how could it be a Tinker power without a Shard? Did I have the same limitations as normal Tinkers? Regardless, that was something to consider after I'd nabbed myself a copy of a Tinker Power.

Excitedly, running over to Taylor's shitty laptop, I booted up Spyder-Finder and started searching for any Protectorate meetups, and lo and behold there was one scheduled to happen today at the Boardwalk, and it was none other than Beardmaster.

I felt a grin creep up onto my face at the thought of copying his Power.

It was something I'd noticed about myself only recently, but I'd come to acknowledge that I was quite the spiteful person. The fight at Dinah's house was one I probably could have avoided entirely, and yet it was my desire to beat the crap out of the ones that dared to threaten my friend that really drove my decisions that night. And it was the same here. Armsmaster might not have done me or mine any wrong, and would definitely not now that I'd probably demolished any chance of the world following the canon timeline, but I still remembered how he'd treated my cousin. Now I wasn't going to be unreasonable and cause him any harm…but if I took his Tinker specialty and one-upped him in every way possible, then the resulting psychic damage wouldn't be my fault now, would it?

I jolted as a hand came to rest on my shoulder and I nearly blasted Danny away with a Hamon powered punch.

"Hey kiddo, I heard you shout something. I didn't quite hear you. Did you need me for something? Also, you look a little jumpy, you alright there?"

With adrenaline surging through my veins, I gave Danny a startled look before remembering what I was doing. "D-don't scare me like that Uncle Dan! And no, I didn't call you, I was just—Actually, say can we go to the boardwalk later in the day? Armsmaster'll be coming for a meet and I-uh, I kind of want to meet him? See I've never seen an actual Parahuman up-close or ever talked to one—"

Danny gave me an odd look, before speaking with a placating gesture. "Hey, hey! Its fine, we can absolutely go…see a Parahuman. In fact, I had some work around the area, so if you're willing to wait, we can take the car there. Why don't you go look for anything you want signed by him in the meanwhile, I've seen him do it for kids before. And…I'm sorry for startling you bud, I'll uh be careful next time. Taylor's out with her friend so we might as well spend the day out together."

"Alrigh—wait! Taylor's out with her friend? Who is it!?"

'That sounds like a classic Taylor-excuse for 'I'm gonna go be discount Batman so don't worry about me'! What the heck, I thought I'd already derailed canon with how happy Taylor looks these days! If she's using Emma as a cover then could it be that she already out there as Skitter?! It's way too early for that, heck it's even earlier than canon!'

"Haha, you don't have to look so surprised! It's the same person she's studying with recently. I've met the kid myself, so there's no need to worry about it. He is a boy, but I'm 100% sure he isn't anywhere near Taylor's type so we won't need to give him a visit with some baseball bats."

"…A boy?"

'If she didn't use Emma as an excuse then she probably isn't out Caping…but a boy? Could it be that the reason why she's been smiling so much is because of that? Or rather because of 'him'?' Danny says not to worry about it…but I've never had a sister before but this sudden urge to break some knees at the thought of some Teenager creeping around her can't be denied...'

"Yes, a boy. But like I said, don't worry about it. You can ask Taylor to have a study session while you're at home and meet him yourself if you want. He's usually been here when you're at school. Regardless, you can get back to what you were doing, I have to take some calls, alright?"

By now my racing heart had already calmed down but I still took a steadying breath, then nodded quickly and went back to Taylor's laptop to look for other Tinkers I might be able to target in Brockton Bay as Danny went up to his room.

Thinking about it, the latest power from the forge also made it so there was a really convenient explanation for anything I got from the Forge. Thinking of me as a Tinker/Trump who copied all specializations would make it easier for me to hide my nature as an Outside Context Problem.

Imagining everything I could get up to with Tinker Powers had me grinning all over again. Sure, they might not completely be actual technology, but Tinkertech would still let me build devices that would do work for me as opposed to me doing everything on my own! Combining the specializations might end with me making some really cool stuff. Heck, maybe I could even use the Tinker Specializations to affect actual technology I gained from the Forge! Using Armsy's Efficiency component might even make my code for my games better! Of course, I would have to scrap the idea if it made it necessary to keep maintaining the code or suffer breakdown, but if I was making something like a bomb or a device I specifically didn't want to last long or reverse engineered, then combining the Tinker power with actual tech would be a viable solution, not to mention how using the dimensional fuckery would make actually building the tech a breeze if I wanted to make Tinkertech as opposed to actual replicable tech!

'Ohhh boy, this is gonna be epic! Hmm, should I get anything I want signed by Halbeard? Isn't Taylor a fan of his or something? I could maybe—wait, didn't she have that thing? It could be fanon but, what if its real…Hehehe, pulsing Hamon should make it easy to look for, but…ughh its embarrassing for me, but it'll be 10 times more embarrassing for Armsy, so I'll do it!'

With an evil smirk on my face I looked towards Taylor's room, knowing that she was out of the house.

As I tip-toed my way there, I considered how the Japanese had fetishized the act. But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't think of it as lewd whatsoever.

I mean it was just a piece of fabric at the end of the day. It should only be embarrassing for Armsy to sign it in front of a crowd, but shouldn't be a much bigger deal. It would also make sure to cement the whole thing as an 'encounter' which should hopefully be enough for [Tinker Copycat] to work if the line of sight isn't enough without clear view of his face.

'It'll still be hella funny tho lol!'

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Remaining CP: 0

Word Count: 2037

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Perks Gained this Chapter:

Chapter 9 – Gotta Catch 'Em All

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