Gonna admit, this is not my best work. However, I knew I had to get this chapter out so here it is. Enjoy! xx
[You Have Died]
[Reincarnate?]
-Yes
-No
I selected 'yes' without an ounce of hesitation.
[Reincarnation Selected]
[Loading…]
[Stats, Skills, and Talents Successfully Imported]
Oooooooooh, so perks and disadvantages DIDN'T cross over then.
It would have been nice to know that BEFORE I stumbled into an anime and got myself brutally murdered by one of my favourite characters!
I'm looking at you, System.
[Selecting World…]
Honestly? At this point, I was happy with anything as long as it wasn't another anime/manga.
Five minutes in a 2D world was enough for me thanks.
[Alex Rider]
The teenage spy series? Wasn't that world full of psychotic billionaires hellbent on destroying the world in one form or another? And which version of the series would I be entering? The Books, Movie, or TV Show?
Ah well, I guess I could work with any version so long as I wasn't the main character.
(Dear God, please don't let me be the main character!)
[Perks And Disadvantages]
[You must choose 1 Disadvantage for each Perk chosen. A maximum of 4 Perks may be selected.]
P1- Shinigami Eyes
In exchange for half of your natural lifespan, you will gain the ability to see the lifespan and true name of every human being you see in person. This ability cannot be turned off and you will not be able to view your own true name and lifespan.
P2- Aphrodite's Blessing:
You are always airbrushed to perfection. Anything you wear will always complement your perfect complexion. After battle, your clothes are artfully torn and any wounds you sustain will only leave aesthetically pleasing scars.
P3- Redo
You get to relive a past life to change it for the better. Your current soul will assume control of your past body, allowing you to keep your current memories in exchange for your past life's memories. Past life memories cannot be regained, ever.
P4- Body Clock
You possess the innate ability to always know the time and date according to your location within time zones and the Gregorian Calendar.
D1- Like A Duckling:
You will imprint on the first person of authority you encounter in your new world. You are compelled to obey them but may learn to resist this with practice. You are not compelled to remain within their vicinity and will not be compelled to follow orders you do not physically hear.
D2- Hero Complex
You will be put in a position where the safety of multiple individuals and/or the entire world relies on you. No one but you can eliminate the threats to the universe's safety, whether that be by your direct or indirect intervention.
D3- Headhunted:
Every shadow organization in the universe will hunt you down for one reason or another. They will not stop their pursuit unless you are captured by one of them or you reach unstoppable levels in your stats.
D4- Mnemosyne's Blessing
Your memories up to this point will be erased from your mind. The memories cannot be recovered in any shape or form. Motor skills and language function are excluded from the memory wipe.
You know what? All those options sucked.
'Shinigami Eyes' practically guaranteed I'd die young, 'Aphrodite's Blessing' was next to useless, without my memories of my past life I wouldn't be able to tell if I was improving my past life or making it worse, and a watch could do Body Clock's job for me.
If it was up to me, I wouldn't choose any of them!
But… since I had to choose one… I guess I'd have to go with 'Aphrodite's Blessing'.
Out of all the options available, that one seemed the less likely to get me killed.
[Perk: Aphrodite's Blessing Selected]
Straight up, all the disadvantages were terrible. I mean, 'Mnemosyne's "Blessing" (Yeah, right) sounded like a nightmare, I'd avoided 'Headhunted' the first time around for a reason, 'Hero Complex' was just begging for trouble, and knowing my luck the first person of authority I would come across would be Alan Blunt of a Board Member of SCORPIA.
A nightmare scenario in anyone's book.
However, seeing as 'Mnemosyne's Blessing', 'Headhunted', and 'Hero's Complex' threatened to make me break out in hives, 'Like A Duckling' was shaping up to be the lesser of two evils.
A person of authority didn't have to mean a person of narrative importance, right? It could be referring to a parent or school teacher or something. Stranger things had happened after all.
Yes, 'Like A Duckling' would just have to do.
[Disadvantage: Like A Duckling Selected]
[Selection Complete!]
[World Loading…]
Here's to hoping I didn't die within the first month!
My eyes snapped open to the sound of a doorbell chiming.
[Game Saved]
[HP- 100/100]
[SP- 100/100]
Instinctively, I stood up and began surveying the room for threats within the darkness.
There was a single bed resting behind my knees pressed up against the wall. A nondescript door stood opposite me with a football poster tacked on. A standing wardrobe and a matching set of draws lined the wall on its left. A neglected white desk was tucked into the opposite corner, one side touching the end of the bed. A hastily chucked backpack lay on top of it, books sliding out. Blinds were drawn across a horizontal window spanning the length of the wall above the bed and desk. A faint yellow glow of a street lamp shone through the gaps. A digital clock on top of the nightstand read '3:02am'.
The room reeked of Lynx body spray.
I appeared to be standing in the middle of your average boy's bedroom.
But if this was a boy's bedroom, then…
I put my hands on my chest -My boobs were gone.
I put my hands on my head -My hair was now short.
I put my hands on my crotch -A penis had replaced my vagina.
"Oh. My. God." I shuddered in a horrified British accent, "I'm a BOY!?"
A second chime rang through the house.
Panic began to set in as I pulled up the Main Menu.
[Main Menu]
[Quest Log] - [Stats*] - [Summoning] - [Inventory] - [Load Save]
I went straight to 'Stats'.
[Stats Selected]
[Loading…]
My heart thumped wildly in my chest.
This couldn't be happening to me; it just couldn't be!
[Name: Alex Rider]
[DOB: 13/02/1996]
[Age: 14]
[Nationality: British]
[Gender: Male]
[Hair: Blonde]
[Eyes: Brown]
[Skin: Caucasian]
[Affiliation: Jack Starbright]
[Family*]
[Status: Healthy]
…This had to be a coincidence, right?
I couldn't be that Alex Rider. I must be another Alex Rider. There was plenty of fourteen-year-old boy's named Alex Rider in Britain, right? RIGHT!?
Against my better judgment, I expanded the Asterix.
[Family Selected]
[Father: John Rider (DECEASED)]
[Mother: Helen Rider (DECEASED)]
[Uncle: Ian Rider (DECEASED)]
"…"
OF F *KING COURSE, I'd be reincarnated as the MAIN CHARACTER!
What else could I possibly have expected at this point? A normal life? HA!
…Oh God.
I was the main character… in a young adult action thriller series… about SPYS!
Dismissing the screen, I dropped onto the edge of the bed and rested my head in my hands.
Meanwhile, down below, unknown voices started up a conversation.
"Mrs Rider?" A deep male voice with a British accent asked.
"No, I'm the housekeeper. What is it? What's happened?" A light female voice with an American accent answered.
'Jack Starbright,' my mind whispered.
"This is the home of Mr Ian Rider?" A different British male voice asked.
"Yes?" Jack replied, hesitant.
"I wonder if we could come in."
It wasn't asked as a question; the men were going to come in whether Jack wanted them to or not. I heard the men's footsteps follow Jack's lighter tread further into the house and start up a new conversation.
I continued to sit on the bed in shock as snippets of "Car accident,", "Called the ambulance,", "Intensive Care,", "Nothing anyone could do,", "So sorry," floated up through the floor and into my ears.
One blink, two blinks, and I was pulling up the Stats Menu again.
[Stats Selected]
[Name: Alex Rider]
[DOB: 13/02/1987]
[Age: 14]
[Nationality: British]
[Gender: Male]
[Hair: Blonde]
[Eyes: Brown]
[Skin: Caucasian]
[Affiliation: Jack Starbright]
[Family*]
[Status: Healthy]
A part of me refused to believe it, but the evidence was irrefutable.
I was now Alex Rider.
Which meant I was currently living through the first scene of the first book 'Stormbreaker'. Thus Ian Rider was dead, Yassen Gregorovitch had killed him, Herod Sayle was on his way to poisoning every Elementary School kid in Britain, and I was about to get blackmailed into working for MI6.
Excellent. Absolutely splendid. Truly, a better set of fortunate events could not be devised.
NOT!
Tears sprang to my eyes and my noes started to clog.
Good god, now I was crying!?
Crying! ME! The girl who hadn't shed a tear since she'd died in HYDRA custody. That girl was now crying over getting saddled as the main character in a popular fiction series!
Arguably I should have been celebrating. After all, this was every young boy's wet dream, to become a teenage super spy.
But no.
Instead, I was weeping like a little girl. Well… boy, I guess.
"Damn it," I hissed, "Get yourself together, Chrissy. You asked for this!"
I mean, technically I had chosen to reincarnate as an already established character. But nowhere in the fine-print had my reincarnation talent say I'd become the MAIN CHARACTER!?
Why couldn't I have been Sabina Pleasure? Or Tom or James? HECK! I'd take being Jack Starbright over being Alex Rider any day!
Sometime during my freak out, the conversation downstairs had stopped and now Jack's footsteps were marching up the stairs. A bolt of panic swept through me then. Jack Starbright, arguably one of the few people in the world who knew Alex best, was on her way to wake me up… the random girl who'd just high-jacked his body…
Oh no.
Without needing to think, I dived back into bed and pulled the covers over my head, playing possum.
"Knock, Knock, Knock!"
I held my breath.
"Alex? Alex, are you up?"
When I didn't answer, Jack turned the door handle, pushed open the door, and flicked the light switch on. Light spilled across the bed, bathing my hair in a blonde glow and revealing the duvet to be a sky-blue monstrosity covered in footballs.
A boy's bedroom indeed.
"Alex? You need to wake up, Alex. There are people here to see you." Jack approached the bed and gently laid a hand on my shoulder.
Knowing that the jig was up, I pretended to groan before rolling onto my back and squinting through the blinding light.
A young woman with sad blue eyes and rusty red hair gazed down at me. She was neither the blonde actress who played Ms Starbright in the Alex Rider movie, nor was she the black actress who played the housekeeper in the TV series. She was completely unknown to me.
Meaning she had to be the Jack Starbright from the books.
Wonderful.
"Jack?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes of non-existent sleep. (Someone should give me an Oscar. I was nailing the sleepy boy act!)
She smiled sadly at me, "You need to get up. It's about Ian. There's been in a terrible accident."
I groaned out my best confused "Waaah?"
Jack stood up and gestured for me to follow. Not really having a choice, I pushed myself up and stumbled after her. The change in height immediately came apparent when I shoulder checked the door frame and misjudged where the stairs were.
I'm sad to say if it wasn't for Jack's reassuring hand on my arm, I would have tipped headfirst down the flight of stairs.
"Are you alright?" The American asked when we reached the bottom.
"I'm fine," I said, "Just tired."
To emphasise my point, I yawned loud and wide then rubbed my eyes again.
(Seriously, someone give me a Tony!)
Following Jack down an unfamiliar hallway, I noted the lack of photos hanging on the wall and the boring beige carpet on the floor. Apparently, Ian Rider had preferred his house looking like a show-home rather than an actual place human beings resided.
"They're in here," Jack stepped through the first door on the left, leading me into a very 2000's styled lounge.
Again, the lack of photos or any personal touches struck me as very show-homey.
Two men dressed in British white and black uniforms stood up at my arrival. The first man, a short middle-aged fellow with an unflattering moustache nodded to me once.
"Alex Rider?" he stated more than asked.
I was tempted to say something like, "No, I'm the errand boy. Samuel Jackson." But considered the situation and went with a more formal, "Yes." Instead.
"Right," The man cleared his throat awkwardly, "Why don't you take a seat."
I did so and proceed to sit through the most painfully cobbled together cover-up I'd ever heard in all my lives. The police claimed Ian Rider had collided with a truck at a busy roundabout and been killed instantly due to a lack of a seatbelt.
To clarify: It's not that his car didn't have a seat belt, he just hadn't been wearing one.
Of course, thanks to my meta knowledge, I knew this to be a lie. That didn't stop me from pocking holes in their story though. When I asked if I could I.D. the body, they claimed a close associate had already done so.
Even though I was Ian's only next of kin.
When I asked to see the car, they claimed it had been impounded as evidence for, and I quote, "The Investigation."
An investigation into a cut and dry car crash.
And finally, when I asked for the name of the truck driver who had collided with Ian, they claimed the man had done a hit and run and that the surveillance cameras supposed to be monitoring the area had been down due to a power outage the night before.
Apparently, there were no other eyewitnesses to a car crash on a "busy" roundabout.
Fishy? Beyond belief.
By the time Jack escorted two twits out, I was relatively convinced MI6 had purposefully created a faulty cover story in the hopes of tipping me off somehow. Either that or their cover-up department was severely overestimating the general public's gullibility.
"I'm going back to bed," I shouted to Jack, before making a beeline for the stairs.
Back within the relative safety of Alex's bedroom, I sat on the bed and let the true scale of my situation sink in.
I was Alex Rider.
And I needed a Game Plan, ASAP!
First of all, did I want to follow the plot? Not really, no.
But then again, if I didn't, a whole bunch of crazy rich terrorists were going to take countless lives and cause innumerable damage to the environment. Also, SCORPIA might just take over the world and all those brainwashed kids in Nightshade would remain slaves.
Could I really stand by and allow all that to happen when I knew for a fact that I was the only one who could have prevented it?
No, no I couldn't.
So, the plot was happening then. Despite my reservations about becoming a spy for a morally corrupt government. A government, might I add, that wasn't even my own. Well, it was Alex Rider's. But not mine mine, ya know?
Oh, forget it.
THE POINT IS, I was going to become a teenage spy because this world would be screwed if I didn't.
(I better get oodles of Talent Points for this)
Second of all, how much of the plot did I want to change?
Well, if I could snap my fingers and get rid of all of the book's antagonists, I would but…
Wait.
If I used my Fictional Summoning Talent… I could summon the Death Note… and do just that!
HA! I could summon the Death Note and kill off every single bad guy the book series had to offer within minutes!
… But could I live with myself afterwards?
As much as I wanted to say yes, I knew from my time in HYDRA's cells that I couldn't. As it was, I could barely think about the massacre and all those times I'd killed the HYDRA guards without feeling sick.
Even though they had arguably deserved it.
At the end of the day, I knew myself and I knew I couldn't handle having any more blood on my hands than there already was.
That meant I'd have to find a way to complete Alex's missions without bloodshed. A monumental task if there ever was one.
Thirdly, now that I was going to be more or less following the plot, I was going to need a way to ensure I survived each assassination attempt upon my life. Book Alex had nearly been crushed, drowned, poisoned, burned, dismembered, and shot multiple times. One time, he actually was shot. If I was going to be going through all that, then I would need to get some serious upgrades.
Guess it was time to put my Fictional Summoning Talent to use then!
Now if only I knew how to use it…
"Hmm," I tapped my chin in contemplation. Perhaps summoning worked like summoning the Menu Screen did? It was worth a shot.
Taking a deep breath, I pictured the MCU's Time Stone in my mind's eye and firmly stated, "Time Stone!"
Nothing happened.
I huffed, "Okay then."
Perhaps I needed to say 'Fictional Summoning' first? Picturing the Time stone in my head again, I loudly pronounced, "Fictional Summoning: Time Stone!"
Again, nothing happened.
"I, Christina Gardiner, hereby summon the MCU's Time stone!"
"I summon the Time stone into my hands!"
"Come forth, Time Stone!"
"I hereby command the Time stone to appear in my hands!"
"By the powers vested in me, I hereby command the MCU's Time stone to appear in my hands Right. Now!"
Nothing worked.
"Argh!" I threw my hands up in the air, "What the heck! Why isn't this working?!"
I felt like I was missing something, something crucial. But what? What could I possibly be overlooking? I flopped onto my back and sighed, "Lani would know what to do…"
Lani Chen always knew what to do. She was a regular whiz kid like that. I had no doubt that if she were in my shoes, she'd have figured out how to summon fictional objects within seconds and would be well on her way to ruling the world by now.
Too bad she was stuck in the MCU.
"Haaaa," I sighed, blowing a strand of blond hair out of my eyes.
Feeling lost and exceptionally stupid, I pulled up the Main Menu Screen just because.
[Main Menu]
[Quest Log] - [Stats] - [Summoning] - [Inventory] - [Load Save]
Hang. On. A. Minute.
Since when had Relationships had been replaced with Summoning?!
[Summoning Selected]
[Loading…]
Anticipation stirred in my stomach.
[SEARCH BAR]
I shook my head in exasperation, "I should've known."
Tapping the search bar with my finger, I was pleasantly surprised when an English International Key Board with white keys and black lettering materialised in front of my chest.
"Alrighty then. Let's do this!"
I typed in 'Time Stone' and hit ENTER.
[Time Stone]
[Searching…]
Five seconds later, a holographic list of icons rolled out underneath the search bar. Accompanying each picture was a short description stating what the icon was and where it was from.
-Time Stone (MCU)
-Time Gem (Marvel Comics)
-Time Turner (Harry Potter Movies)
-Time Turner (Harry Potter Books)
-Time Tape (Gravity Falls)
-Time Machine (HG Well's Movie)
-Time Displacement Machine (Terminator Franchise)
-Time Jump Device (Men In Black iii)
{Expand}
Wow.
That was… a lot of time travel devices.
And if the 'Expand' button was any indication, there were plenty more to choose from.
Gingerly, I raised my hand and tapped the 'Time Stone (MCU)' icon.
[Time Stone (MCU) Selected]
[Loading...]
In a flash of light and a tug in my gut, a glowing uncut green stone materialised in my lap.
[SP- 80/100 (-20 for Talent Use)]
Doing the math… 2 divided by 10 = 5… So I could potentially summon up to FIVE ITEMS in one day!?
"No way," I stared at the Time stone in awe, "This is AMAZING!"
There were so many things I wanted to summon; I barely knew where to start first!
Giddy excitement overpowered my anxiety in a heartbeat. "Okay, Christina. Let's think logically about this," I said to myself, "What can you summon that will enhance your body?"
My first thought was to just summon a wish-granting object. Except everyone knew wishes were tricky things. Depending on the genie/dragon/jinni/wish-granting-being, my wording could be interpreted unfavourably.
A risk I wasn't willing to take on a task as important as this one.
So, I'd need to summon what I wanted directly.
Brainstorming, I eventually settled on the super-soldier serum. Specifically, the serum the flag smashers took in Falcon and the Winter Solider. That version of the formula was supposedly refined and didn't beef up your muscles to bodybuilder proportions. While also making the recipient stronger, faster, and smarter than the one given to Steve Rogers.
Also, this version didn't require vita rays to work (whatever those were).
[Main Menu]
[Quest Log] - [Stats] - [Summoning] - [Inventory] - [Load Save]
[Summoning Selected]
[SEARCH BAR]
[Super Soldier Serum from Falcon and the Winter Soldier]
[Searching…]
I bit my lip.
"Come on, come on!"
-Super Soldier Serum (Abraham Erskine)
-Super Soldier Serum (Arnim Zola)
-Super Soldier Serum (Howard Stark)
-Super Soldier Serum (Bruce Banner)
-Super soldier Serum (Wilfred Nagel)
From what I could recall, Abraham Erskine's serum needed Vita Rays to work, Arnim Zola's had been given to Bucky Barnes, Howard Stark's had been given to the failed Winter Soldiers, Bruce Banner's needed Gamma Rays, and Wilfred Nagel's was the one given to the Flag Smashers and discount Captain America.
I knew which one I preferred.
[Super Soldier Serum (Wilfred Nagel) Selected]
[Loading…]
In a flash, I had a capsule of electric blue liquid sitting in the palm of my hands.
[SP- 60/100 (-20 for Talent Use)]
Not stopping to think, I immediately pulled the cap off the microsyringe and stabbed the capsule into my thigh.
[HP- 95/100 (-5 for Damage)]
Aaaaaaaaand instantly regretted it.
You see, I'd conveniently forgotten the fact that taking the super-soldier serum, no matter the version, was the equivalent of lighting your body on fire for 24 hours. Carly and Bucky had even talked about how they thought they were going to die while it was in their system.
But like an idiot, I'd only remembered after it was too late.
"ARHHHH!" I screamed, collapsing on the bed, "AHHHHHG! MAKE IT STOP! Mummy!"
All-consuming agony shot through my veins.
I can't fully describe to you just how painful it was, but if you can imagine being roasted alive from the inside out while a thousand blades stabbed your skin, then you'll have some idea of what I felt at that moment.
Thankfully, it wasn't long before my vision whited out, my vocal cords shredded, and my world faded into sweet oblivion.
My last conscious thought was along the lines of, 'Good lord, what have I done?!'
[Game Saved]
[Status: Healed]
[HP-1000/1000]
[SP-100/100]
I woke up the next day feeling FANTASTIC! WONDERFUL! Positively AMAZING!
And no, that isn't sarcasm.
For the first time in my life, I felt completely and utterly healthy. There was no stiff neck, no achy knees, no slightly blurry eye-sight, no headache, no bone-deep fatigue, NOTHING.
It was as if I'd just had a full body massage, a good workout, AND downed fifty energy drinks all at once!
"Alex?"
I turned my head to see Jack hovering in the doorway. "Are you alright?" she asked, concern evident in her voice, "You slept all through yesterday and wouldn't stop thrashing and crying out in your sleep."
Oops.
Operation: Avoid Suspicion COMMENCE!
Clearing my throat, I mumbled out, "Sorry. Nightmares. I'm fine now."
In fact, I was more than fine! I was TERRIFIC!
"Okay…" she sounded hesitant, "Do you want to talk about it?"
I shook my head a tad too quickly, "No, no! I'm fine." I tried to flash her a reassuring smile, but it came out a little too bright and bubbly for the situation.
Jack frowned. Clearly, my excuse wasn't working.
I was just too darn happy! (Wow… There was a thought I never thought I'd have)
[Siren Talent Activated]
"You are no longer concerned about my nightmare. In fact, you will forget you ever heard me scream and will assume I was sleeping up until this moment because of emotional exhaustion from yesterday."
[Siren Talent Deactivated]
[SP-80/100 (-20 for Talent Use)
Jack's face turned passive.
Nailed it!
"Oh, morning sleepy head! How are you feeling?" she asked as if she hadn't just asked me that question two minutes ago.
I shrugged a shoulder as casually as possible, "Okay."
Jack looked at my alarm clock, then back at me. "Why don't you hop in the shower, and I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast in ten?"
"Sure."
"Oh! And put on something nice. The funeral is at 10 today."
With that, Jack was out of my hair and disappearing down the stairs.
I let out a sigh of relief. That had been close. Any more questions had my cover might have been blown.
Not that I really needed to maintain my cover. Reincarnation had specified that no one would be able to discern my true identity. But there was something about this situation that made me hesitate to act completely like myself…
Was it instinct? A gut feeling? A compulsion?
I didn't know and I doubted I was ever going to find out.
Getting out of bed, I stood up and stretched my limbs. My entire body felt lighter and looser than it had yesterday. I also felt a tad taller, though that could have been my imagination. Taking a few experimental steps around the room, I found my hand-eye coordination had improved to the point I was no longer feeling a sense of body dysphoria or vertigo either.
Feeling chuffed, I dropped onto the ground and did a few push-ups. They were so laughably easy, I ended up adding a clap in between each bend!
"This is insane," I sat back on my heels in awe.
I could probably run ten kilometres and not break a sweat! And my HP! 1000 HP was nothing to sniff at!
"Best. Decision. Ever!"
"ALEX! ARE YOU TAKING A SHOWER OR NOT!?" Jack yelled.
"IN A MINUTE!" I fired back.
Locating the bathroom was as easy as checking every door upstairs before I stumbled across the right one. Showering in another person's body, however, was a completely different story… I wasn't sure what was considered appropriate or not.
Was it okay to look at Alex's/my penis? Was it okay to touch it? Was I allowed to be weirded out by not having boobs and long hair anymore? Was I supposed to care either way?
I had a thousand and one questions, yet no answers.
Still, despite my reservations, this… body… was in desperate need of a shower and I was the only one capable of giving it one.
"Welp here goes nothing!"
Stripping off, I made a point to keep my back to the mirror and closed my eyes once I was safely under the warm spray. I slathered every inch of my skin with soap, lathered my short golden hair in shampoo, and scrubbed it all off with a washcloth in record time.
I only felt brave enough to exit the shower cubicle once the steam had fogged up the mirror.
A cup with three toothbrushes sat next to the sink, one blue, one pink, one green. It didn't feel right to use any of them, so instead, I squatted down and poked around the drawers beneath the sink looking for a spare.
When all I found was spare soap, hand towels, a hairdryer and a hair straightener, I gave up and just summoned one instead.
Or well, tried too anyway.
[SEARCH BAR]
[Toothbrush]
[Searching…]
I minute passed.
[ERROR!]
[No fictional toothbrushes could be found in your memory]
Ahhhh, what?
How could I NEVER have some across a cartoon character brushing their teeth or something!? Surely, I would've come across somewhere along the line?
But no, apparently not.
"Great," I huffed.
Side-lining that for now, I plugged in the hairdryer and blow-waved my fair till it was soft and fluffy. That done, I ran back to Alex's bedroom and went straight for the drawers.
I was not one for wearing boxers (The very concept was uncomfortable in my eyes), so instead, I pulled on a pair of plain black underwear, black dress pants, a black polo shirt, a matching black blazer, white socks and fancy-dress shoes.
Also black, because of course.
Not wearing a bra was both freeing and disconcerting.
(I feared I may never get used to the sensation)
Showered, dressed, and newly recovered from the super-soldier serum, I idly wished I could preserve my body as it was at this very moment. I doubted I was ever going to be in better condition than I was right now, after all.
Then I realised something… I ABSOLUTELY COULD!
[Main Menu]
[Quest Log] - [Stats] - [Summoning] - [Inventory] - [Load Save]
[Summoning Selected]
[SEARCH BAR]
I typed in 'Baccano's Immortality Potion'.
[Baccano Immortality Potion]
[Searching…]
-Grand Panacea (Baccano)
-Failed Liquor (Baccano)
-Cure All Elixir (Baccano)
Hmmm…
I was pretty sure the Grand Panacea was the first Immortality potion the first round of Immortals drank while the Cure All Elixir was exactly the same but made a few hundred years later.
Meanwhile, the Failed Liquor was… Sziard? Svilard? The main antagonist's imperfect Immortality potion that only granted the drinker prevention against all manner of death bar old age.
That was the question then: Did I wish to age or not?
Surely someone would notice if I stopped aging, right?
Then again, I could always summon a device to age me up or alter my appearance. And if I ended up wanting to die at some point, which I honestly would considering how many other universes were out there to explore once I reincarnated, then I could either make someone else immortal and have them kill me. OR I could go with the simpler option and just create a fictional device that killed immortals such as myself.
Besides, who knew what other side effects that Failed Liquor had? Best not to find out, I reckoned.
[Cure All Elixir (Baccano) Selected]
[Loading…]
Five seconds later, a half-full 1920's style wine bottle flashed into my lap.
[SP-60/100 (-20 for Talent Use)]
Unlike before, I didn't instantly drink it. Why? Because another thought occurred to me. I wondered, 'What if you're not completely healthy right now? Is there a way to guarantee you'll get stuck in absolutely perfect condition?'
And honestly, there was.
[SEARCH BAR]
[Tangled's Drop of Sunlight Flower]
[Searching…]
-Sundrop Flower (Tangled Movie)
-Sundrop Stone (Tangled Cartoon)
-Rapunzel (Tangled)
I didn't really want to summon an autonomous being and I wasn't equipped to house a flower so… The Sundrop Stone it was!
[Sundrop Stone (Tangled Cartoon) Selected]
Another flash and I had an amber stone with a sun carved into one side faintly glowing on my bed.
[SP- 40/100 (-20 for Talent Use)]
Straight away, I started singing the healing incantation.
"Flower gleam and glow,
Let your power shine,
Make the clock reverse,
Bring back what once was mine.
Heal what has been hurt,
Change the fates' design,
Save what has been lost
Bring back what once was mine,
What ooonce waaas miiine."
The stone's light grew in intensity while I sang. By the second line, a warm, buzzing energy began to fill my body. When I reach the last line, every inch of my skin was glowing golden with faint magical sparks pinging of the stone.
As soon as I stopped singing, the light faded back down till the stone was nothing more than an innocent pebble. Albeit a faintly glowing pebble.
"Daaaamn," I whistled.
I felt GREAT! Even better than before! And that was really saying something.
There was no doubt in my mind now. I had officially done everything I could to ensure Alex's body was in tip-top condition and was ready to be preserved as such indefinitely.
"Bottoms up!" I yanked off the wine bottle's cork and guzzled the liquid inside.
At first, I didn't feel any different. So, I did the smart thing and yanked a few strands of hair off my head.
To my utter delight, the strands began fighting my grip. When I released them, they zoomed back to my head as if it was a magnet. The strand reattached themselves. It was as if nothing had happened.
"Yes!" I cheered, "Yes, yes, yes!"
I'd done it!
I was now an immortal fourteen-year-old super-soldier!
How'd you like me now, HYDRA? Muahahaha!
"ALEX! BREAKFAST IS READY!"
Right. Breakfast. Did I even need to eat now? Probably not. But appearances were everything, as they say.
[Main Menu]
[Quest Log] - [Stats] - [Summoning] - [Inventory] - [Load Save]
[Inventory Selected]
[Loading…]
I gathered up the empty Wine bottle, the Sundrop Stone and the Time Stone I'd left abandoned on my nightstand.
[Item Counter: 000]
[Weapons: 0] – [Armour: 0] – [Food: 0] – [Materials: 0]
So my inventory didn't carry over either?
Good to know.
[Materials Selected]
[Loading…]
The handy dandy X-cell Spreadsheet showed up. My finger circled the first empty box in the top left-hand corner.
[EMPTY]
-Store
-Remove
I chose 'Store'.
Duh.
The static box appeared, and I slipped the Wine Bottle inside first.
[Cure All Elixir Identified]
[Item Counter: 001]
[Weapons: 0] – [Armour: 0] – [Food: 0] – [Materials: 1]
Two repeats of the same procedure later, I dismissed the screen and waltzed down the stairs with a spring in my step. Finding the kitchen was as easy as following the sounds of light swearing and the smell of burnt toast.
Jack the redhead stood behind a floating kitchen island, trying and failing to juggle burnt toast out of the smoking toaster.
I chose not to comment.
Padding over to the island, I pulled out one of two grey metal stools and perched on it.
"Alex!" Jack chirped, only now noticing my presence, "Breakfast will be done in a minute."
Sure enough, one minute later, I had a plate of four slices of burnt toast sitting before me. Jack slid a knife, a jar of raspberry jam, and a plate with a wad of butter on it my way.
"Thanks," I said, catching the spreads unnaturally gracefully. Enhanced reflexes for the win!
Jack popped in two more slices of toast, then turned around to lean against the counter and hit me with a solemn look. I sensed an inquiry coming on…
"You missed quite a few visitors yesterday," she started
"Oh?" I said, not looking up from my methodical slathering of butter on charcoal.
She hummed, " was a Solicitor, A Funeral Director, A Vicar, Mrs Doyle from across the road, and a man from the Bank."
Funny how a death in the family made one popular.
"The Banker, a Mr Crawley, offered to give us a ride to the funeral today."
I finished buttering my toast and moved on to the jam. Several large dollops were lathered across each, to the point the entire plate was positively swimming in it. I figured the more the merrier; anything to mask the taste of burnt bread.
"I accepted his offer," Jack went on, "He'll be stopping by any moment now."
A funeral before lunch? What was the world coming to!
Out loud, I nodded solemnly.
At my lacklustre reply, the housekeeper sighed and turned back to monitor her toast. Meanwhile, I took my first big bite of my own. The instant the sweetness of the raspberry jam hit my tongue, memories of my first life flooded to the forefront of my mind.
[HP- 1000/1000 (+20 for Nourishment)]
Unbidden, tears sprung to my eyes and leaked down my cheeks.
I hadn't eaten raspberry jam since I was home… with my mum and dad… and my sister and brother… back when I was twenty-two and safe and didn't know what it felt like to have innocent blood on my hands…
"Alex?"
My head shot up.
Jack's concerned face saw my tears and instantly crumbled. "Oh Alex," She manoeuvred around the table and effortlessly pulled me into a hug, "It's okay, let it all out."
When was the last time I'd been hugged like this? When was the last time I felt safe enough to cry?... Not since I was at home, with my family…
Out of nowhere, a sob ripped itself from my chest, initiating the waterworks.
I cried as I'd never cried before. It all just came rushing out, ya know? HYDRA, the loops, dying powerless, BNHA, getting burned alive, and now this? Throughout it all, I hadn't even stopped once to think about what I'd lost.
My family was gone and I was never going to see them again…
My old world was gone and I was never going to see it again…
My old self was gone and I was never going to be that same innocent girl ever again...
I had lived three lives already and it was only now I was even considering what I'd lost along the way. Did that make me a bad person? Was it normal to not stop and grieve?
The doorbell chimed, ending the moment.
"God, I'm sorry," Jack pulled out of our embrace and wiped at her face. Her massacre smudged all across her eyes, causing them to resemble a racoon more than a human.
"Uhm, Jack, your makeup…" I indicated to her face.
"Oh, oh!" The woman pulled further, gazing at her hands before touching her cheeks. "Damn it. Cars here. Give me a minute and I'll meet you outside, okay?"
I moved to nod but she was already disappearing down the hall, tangled rouge curls bouncing against her shoulders.
The ride in Crawley's car and the subsequent funeral passed both painstakingly slowly and much too quickly. Let me tell you, if you've ever waltzed up to a stranger's funeral and pretended to act like you knew them, then you'll know exactly how I was feeling in that cemetery.
It was awkward, to say the least.
'Is this what Imposter Syndrome feels like?' I wondered, 'Because it's oddly anxiety-inducing.'
The Vicar, a grey twig-like man who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else but there, droned on and on about how amazing Ian Rider had been.I believe his exact words were, "A good man, a patriotic man. He will be missed."
A bubble of laughter escaped me when I heard that.
Patriotic indeed.
Creepy McF *k Face, a.k.a. John Crawley, evidently heard my snort because he swivelled his head around like an owl and raised an eyebrow.
I shuffled uncomfortably in my seat.
In a completely inconspicuous move (NOT) a black Royals Royce chose that moment to pull up to the curve directly in view of the service and parked. Two stereo-typical bodyguards with suits and sunglasses got out and held open the back door for the personification of the colour grey to step out.
All three proceeded to stand vigilantly in front of the car and stared directly at the coffin like a murder of vultures waiting patiently for an animal to die so they could feast on its carcass.
Creepy- sorry, Crawley- noticed me noticing the man, leant down, and whispered intimately into my ear, "That's Mr Blunt. He's the Chairman of the Bank."
Huh.
So the grey man was actually the infamous Alan Blunt.
I thought the head of MI6 would've looked more intimidating, to be honest.
Turning away, I caught the end of Twig the Vicar's horrendous speech before he clapped his hands and ended the service. The dozen or so strangers who'd shown up rose to their feet and began to mingle. I, on the other hand, began snaking my way through the crowd towards the road.
The sooner I got away from the posey of spies in disguise, the better.
Unfortunately, I'm-About-To-Ruin-Your-Life Blunt stepped into my escape path out of nowhere and struck up a conversation. The man towered over me like a spectre, narrow eyes inspecting every inch of me as if in search of a flaw.
My hackles rose unconsciously.
"You must be Alex," he said in the most monotone voice ever, "My name is Alan Blunt. Your uncle often spoke about you."
"Oh yeah?" I snapped rudely, "He never spoke about you."
Blunt carried on like he hadn't heard me. "We'll miss him. He was a good man."
I smiled brittlely in mock politeness, "Funny. He never seemed like a good man to me. What with his work and all..."
Suddenly, Creepy Crawley was pressed up against my side. "Your uncle was overseas finance manager, Alex. He was responsible for our foreign branches. Surely you must have known that?"
Interesting how the spy felt the need to specify what Ian's work was.
"Overseas finance manager. Of course! How silly of me," I deadpanned, "I never would have guessed."
Blunt's lip twitched in a blink and you'll miss it movement. "Yes, well. We at the Royal and General will miss him dearly," he continued, "You have our deepest sympathies, Alex"
"I doubt that."
Had I said that out loud? Oops.
"I hope we'll meet again," Blunt stated more than said.
And with that ominous declaration out in the open, the man spun on his heel and slunk back to the car. As he walked away, I got the feeling that I'd just passed some kind of test. What kind was anyone's guess, but I had the sneaking suspicion it had something to do with my potential for espionage.
I watched, arms crossed, as Guard B stepped into the driver's seat while Guard A moved to open the back door. It was as he was opening the door that he, in a rather dramatic move, swept-back his blazer and revealed the gun holstered to his belt. Guard A made of show of looking embarrassed while Blunt watched me watching him.
I raised a single eye, unimpressed.
Blunt's eyes narrowed behind his spectacles, then he was shutting the door and driving out of sight.
"Nasty twit," I huffed.
"Who's a twit?"
Jack appeared at my side. She had the aura of a nervous gazelle waiting tensely for the moment a predator finally showed its face. With all the side eyes and not so subtle staring we were getting from Spy Day-care, I didn't blame her.
"Nobody," I replied, "You ready to go?"
She nodded, "Yeah. Cemetery's give me the creeps."
On the drive over, I'd made it a point to stare out the window so I could memories the route. This came in handy now as Jack and I walked back to Ian's house on foot. The journey took no less than fifteen minutes. I actually felt rather proud of myself for managing it without tripping. I may have gained increased coordination, after all, but this body wasn't my own and thus I still wasn't completely used to it.
When we turned the final corner onto our street, I caught sight of a white moving van pulling out of our driveway. I just managed to catch the words, 'Striker & Sons' painted on the side before it sped off.
[Quest: Striker & Sons]
[Track down Striker & Sons and discover Ian's impounded car.]
[Rewards: More quests and plot progression]
[Time limit: NONE]
-Accept
-Decline
I remembered vaguely that this exact scenario was a plot point in the books and movie. Alex Rider, suspicious about the Police's cover story, made the decision to track down his uncle's car to discover it riddled with bullet holes.
Oh, and at one point he nearly got crushed in the car compactor. Because why not.
If I was going to preserve the plot, then in my best interest to accept the quest.
[Mission: Striker & Sons Accepted]
As soon as Jack and I stepped through the door, I was bolting up the stairs, racing down the halls, and slamming my bedroom door closed.
I was alone again, just the way I liked it.
Now to get started on that pesky plot… Ugh.
The quest had stated that I needed to track down Striker & Sons and locate Ian's car. From what I could recall of the book, Striker & Sons had been a car graveyard of some kind. If this were 2020, all I'd have to do is google the place and get an address. I could then look it up on Google Maps and apparate there in a snap.
However, seeing as the year was 2001, that wasn't going to happen.
Alex didn't even have a laptop, for goodness's sake!
So, that meant I needed a device that could give me a visual of Striker & Sons to allow me to apparate there as soon as possible. Or better yet! Transport me there instantly.
Sitting at Alex's desk, I wracked my brain thinking about all the tracking/transport devices I'd come across in media. After a good half an hour of brainstorming, I eventually came up with a list
1. The Third Hokage's Crystal Ball
2. The Beast's Magic Mirror
3. Yu-Gi-Ho's Millennium Ring
4. Jack Sparrow's Compass
5. Once Upon a Time's Will-o-the-Wisp
6. Hutch's Power Rod
7. The Space Stone
8. Anywhere Key
9. Dimensional Scissors
Aaaaand that's all I could think of.
I was positive that I was missing some, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember.
The Millennium Ring, Jack's Compass, and the Will-O-the-Wisp pointed you in the direction of the thing you desired, while the Third Hokage's Crystal ball and the Beasts' magic mirror were scrying devices that showed an image of whatever the user requested.
The problem with all those devices was that they didn't give me a clear enough image for me to draw on to apparate.
The Anywhere Key, Dimensional Scissors, and Space Stone required me to have a mental image of where I wanted to portal to, making them a step up against the other devices. But they would only be used, again, if I had a solid mental image to draw from.
That just left Hutch's Power Rod.
Sadly, I hadn't watched all of Jupiter's Legacy. But from what I did watch, I knew that Hutch's alien tech allowed him to teleport to any place he wished as long as he gave command out loud. I know at one point he'd just said, "Safe Space", or "Safety" or something and it had instantly teleported him out of danger. Another time he'd said, "Shark-infested waters", and teleported a dude God knows where, only to call the device back by physically saying, "Home."
I'm guessing from context Hutch didn't have any idea which shark-infested waters he'd sent that guy to, and yet it had worked anyway.
Now that was the kind of fictional object I could use!
One problem… the Power Rod only obeyed Hutch… A.K.A. Not me.
Perching my chin on my fist, I tried to recall exactly what my Fictional Talent had said I could summon. I was pretty sure it had specified that I could summon things from my own imagination, but I couldn't be sure.
Could it be as simple as imagining Hutch's Power Rod with the exception that it obeyed me instead?
That sounded too easy.
I sighed, "Only one way to find out."
[Main Menu]
[Quest Log] - [Stats] - [Summoning] - [Inventory] - [Load Save]
[Summoning Selected]
[SEARCH BAR]
I tapped the search bar and the holographic keyboard pooped up.
[Power Rod from Jupiter's Legacy that obeys me, not Hutch]
[Searching…]
I crossed my fingers and prayed to God this worked.
"Come on, come on."
-Hutch's Power Rod (Jupiter's Legacy)
-Christina's Power Rod (Imagination)
"Ha HA! It worked!" I cheered, grinning from ear to ear.
[Christina's Power Rod (Imagination) Selected]
[Loading…]
One flash of light later, a thirty-centimetre-long baton in gunmetal grey and swirling carvings sat innocently on my desk.
[SP- 80/100 (-20 for Talent Use)]
"Huh. I thought it would be shiner," I mused.
Honestly, the Power Rod looked positively tarnished. It was in serious need of a polish or two. I wonder if Jack had some lying around the house?
Knowing my luck, MI6 had probably confiscated that too. (The bastards)
Now for a test drive.
Holding the rod with both hands, I cleared my throat and pronounced, "Bathroom!"
Crackles of electric sparks twitched between my fingertips before several bolts of lightning shot out from the carvings and wrapped me in a cocoon. Pins and needles lit up my skin like a live wire, then in a blink, I was standing in the middle of Alex's bathroom.
"SNAP!"
The tendrils of blue electricity zapped back into the carvings as quickly as they came, leaving behind the faintest tingle in my hands and feet.
"Ho. Ly. Crap." My jaw dropped, "IT WORKS! IT FREAKIN' WORKS!"
Joyful excitement filled my chest. I could now teleport anywhere I wanted and I wouldn't even be wasting SP! This was a game-changer. An absolute game-changer.
"Oh yeah, I could get used to this. BEDROOM!"
Lightning cocooned my being and zapped me back to my room.
"SNAP!"
Flopping on Alex's desk chair, I sat staring dazedly out the window. The possibilities were endless now. I could go anywhere, be anyone, and no one could stop me. Was this what it felt like to be free? Was this what it felt like to have a fighting chance?
Because I loved it!
"Haaa…" I blew out a breath and put the rod back on my desk, "Stop focused, Chrissy. You've got a quest to complete."
Right.
Getting back on track.
I had my mode of transportation down. Now all I need was a more inconspicuous outfit than my funeral get-up to snoop around the car yard.
A quick exploration of Alex's drawers later, I wore a pair of knee-length shorts, a plain white polo (Seriously, what was up with Alex and his polo's?) and blue and silver sneakers. All I need now was a watch and maybe a cap and I'd just be your average British teen.
Suddenly, an idea struck me.
[SEARCH BAR]
[Clockstoppers Watch]
[Searching…]
-Hypertime Watch Prototype (Clockstoppers)
-Hypertime Chamber (Clockstoppers)
A grin spread across my lips.
The 2002 movie had been a favourite of my sister and I's. We had always loved the idea of being able to stop time, and the Hypertime watch did just that!
Okay, technically, it sped up the wearer's molecules to a point that they were moving so fast the world appeared to be moving in extreme slow motion, but SAME THING!
[Hypertime Watch Prototype (Clockstoppers) Selected]
[SP- 60/100 (-20 for Talent Use)]
A yellow digital watch with black plastic straps and the words '5UUNTO' stamped under the screen materialised on top of the dresser. I wasted no time securing it around my right wrist, as I was left-handed.
WAIT!
If I was left-handed but Alex was right-handed, which hand was now my dominant!?
Frantic, I dived at the desk, snatched up a pencil, and proceed to write with it using my left hand then right hand.
Huh.
Alex was ambidextrous.
Good to know.
Where was I? Oh yeah. The watch.
Looking at my wrist, I catalogued four buttons. Two on each side at the top, and two on each side at the bottom. The digital screen read '16:58', so I assumed it was a twenty-four-hour clock.
Not my favourite, but it would do.
Not really knowing what the hell I was doing, I pressed buttons at random.
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"
Suddenly, the screen flashed green, a sense of vertigo swept over me, and the words 'Hypertime Engaged' with a stopwatch running by the seconds took the place of the clock.
My left hand flew out and grabbed the dresser, stabilising my sudden wobble.
"Wow," my voice echoed like I was in an empty theatre. "What the?" That too echoed.
Weird.
Checking the watch, I experimentally hit the top right button again; seeing as that had been the last button I hit before the watch beeped.
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"
The screen flashed green, I felt my stomach do a flip, and the clock reappeared.
"Neat." This time, my didn't echo.
So I was no longer in hypertime… That seemed simple enough!
This was gonna work wonders in my stealth trip. BUT! I could go one step further.
[SEARCH BAR]
[Annabeth's Invisibility Cap]
[Searching…]
In the Percy Jackson book series, the demi-goddess Annabeth Chase had been given a Yankee's Cap that turned her invisible by her mother, Athena as a birthday present.
Out of all the invisibility granting devices in fiction, the baseball cap sounded the best when it came to snooping about. Don't get me wrong, Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak worked just fine. But when it came to mobility, cap trumped cloak.
-Yankee's Cap (Annabeth)
-Invisibility Cloak (Harry Potter)
-The One Ring (Tolkein)
-Cloak of Invisibility (Naruto)
Yankee's Cap it was.
[Yankee's Cap (Annabeth) Selected]
[SP-40/100 (-20 for Talent Use)]
With Annabeth's Invisibility Cap on my head, my Clockstoppers Hypertime Watch on my wrist, and my Power Rod in my hand, I felt ready for anything.
Was this a bit much for a measly infiltration mission? Yes, yes it was.
But let it be known that I was NEVER going to go in underprepared ever again!
(BNHA had taught me that)
Hitting the button to activate Hypertime, I waited for nausea to pass then said, "Striker & Sons."
"SNAP!"
I opened my eyes to find myself smack bang in the middle of a messy office inside a tin shed. A man in a yellow high-vis jacket sat conked out on a chair, a book on his chest balancing precariously on his chest. One good jolt and the poor book would clatter to the ground, lost amidst discarded wrappers and trampled newspaper.
"Ew," I said. He stunk like B.O. and vodka.
The man didn't stir at my comment, frozen as he was.
Turning on my heel, I twisted the door handle and stepped out into a yard.
Gravel crunched beneath my feet as the smell of petrol assaulted my nose. The car yard was filled with rows upon rows of stripped car carcasses. A crane with a wicked claw hand stood frozen in the distance, a sad-looking punch-buggy clutched in its jaws.
"Lovely," I sniffed. The sooner I got out of here, the better.
Finding Ian's car when I had no idea what it looked like turned out to be a time-consuming task. (No pun intended) I must've walked up and down the car husks for hours in the hopes that simply laying eyes on the car would summon a quest notification deeming the mission over.
Sadly, I had no such luck.
"Argh! This is taking too long!" I yelled, "Ian's Car!"
"SNAP!"
The rod deposited me in front of a giant metal hole in the ground. It had two forked doors standing straight up on either side. This had to be where the crane dropped the totalled cars and crushed them into spaghetti.
To the left of the pit, the giant orange digger sat proudly. A man with a lumberjack beard sat in the operating seat, sunglasses sheltering his eyes from the neon yellow safety vest he wore. A cigarette perched loosely between his lips, a trail of wispy grey smoke rising sluggishly out the window.
On the other side of the pit, was a lone grey BMW.
Ian Rider's car.
Bingo!
At first glance, the car seemed fine. There was honestly nothing special about it. But as I walked around to view it from the driver's side, I was delighted to find the windows smashed and a stray of bullet holes dancing across doors.
"Car crash my ass," I scoffed.
No wonder MI6 had refused to let me view the thing. One look at it would've given the game away.
"Hmmm," I ran Alex's hand over the bullet holes. Each one was no bigger than my pinkie finger. Curious, I swung the unlocked door open and squatted down to see the exit holes.
They were roughly the size of my fist.
I whistled, "Daaamn. Ain't no one surviving that."
Now you might be thinking at this point, "Why hasn't the quest completed itself yet? Surely you've met its requirements now that you've physically seen the car?"
Well, that's what I was thinking too. Why wasn't a notification popping up to end the quest?
Mayhaps the Quest Log would tell me.
[Main Menu]
[Quest Log] - [Stats] - [Summoning] - [Inventory] - [Load Save]
[Quest Log Selected]
[Loading...]
I brushed the stray glass off the driver's seat and sat down.
The dark brown bloodstains left me unbothered; I'd seen too many to care anymore.
[Quest: Survive The Night!] - [DECLINED]
[Quest: Hide & Seek] – [DECLINED]
[Quest: Striker & Sons] - [ONGOING]
"Uhm… Ongoing? Striker and sons?" I tried.
[Quest: Striker & Sons Selected]
[Track down Striker & Sons and discover Ian's impounded car.]
[Time limit: NONE]
[Rewards: More quests and plot progression]
[Requirements: Gather evidence of a cover-up/Leave proof of presence for MI6 to find]
That was it? I either had to waltz through a camera's line of sight or gather pictures of the bullet-ridden car?
That sounded simple enough.
If it was photo evidence they wanted, then it was photo evidence they were going to get.
Main Menu]
[Quest Log] - [Stats] - [Summoning] - [Inventory] - [Load Save]
[Summoning Selected]
[Loading…]
[SEARCH BAR]
Now what to summon.
The only camera I could think of off the top of my head was the disposable camera's Dipper Pines had used to try and photograph the Gobblewonker. That, and Collin Creevey's super old fashioned wizarding camera. But I didn't have a way to develop the photos, so Dipper's Camera would have to suffice.
[Dipper Pine's Disposable Camera]
[Searching…]
-Disposable Camera (Gravity Falls)
Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Selecting the only option on the screen, I waited for the flash then caught the yellow and purple camera before it hit my lap.
[SP-20/100 (-20 for Talent Use)]
Straight away, I snapped a photo of the bullet holes on the inside of the door. Then I got up and got photos of the blood-stained driver's seat, the smashed windows, and the hail of holes along the length of the car.
Also, just to be safe, I took a photo of the front of the car, making sure to capture the license plate.
[ALERT!]
[Quest: Striker & Sons]
[COMPLETED!]
"Finally!"
Squeezing my newly acquired camera into my back pocket, I held up my Power Rod and said, "Bedroom!"
"SNAP!"
With my first successful quest finished, I figured I had a bit of free time before the next one popped up. Crawling on top of my soccer theme covers, I made sure to click the button on my watch that ended Hypertime, before safely storing the Power Rod, Disposable Camera, and Yankees Cap, in my inventory.
[Item Counter: 006]
[Weapons: 1] – [Armour: 1] – [Food: 0] – [Materials: 4]
The watch I kept on. I doubted I'd lose it while it was strapped to my wrist. Not even I was that clumsy.
"ALEX!" Jacks yelled from downstairs, "LUNCH IS READY!"
"COMING!"
Things were starting to look up.
Songs: Healing Incantation from Tangled