And thus we return again. Just got back into Hacker's Memory to clear up the last few trophies, mostly collecting those stupid medals, but it's still pretty fun. There are few power-fantasies as memorable as late-game Digimon. But I digress. We're here to see REAL WORLD adventures, not digital ones!

Spoiler: The Winning Votes

[X] Take the Long Way Home: Gain Time to Do Activities, Create Items, and Potentially be Closer to other Awakened Wu. Will Cut into Day Plans.
- [X] You Stared at the pile of Jackbots...and felt Bubbly. Maybe the Vodka, Maybe Inspiration
-[X] Volcano Lairs you say...

...Wait, really? Okay then. Now for some Bot building and land management for a stupidly dangerous area, I guess.

Well, it undercuts my point but here we go!

FI-IRE! FIRE, ON!

After your ass was carried back to the yacht, you spent a few hours simply lying on one of your sunchairs, chewing half-mindedly on celestial chicken as you alternated between staring at the sky and the robot carcasses around you.

In every regard, you had been outdone. By quirks of fate, grand designs just leading to better results, or just a matter of having better backing from a higher power, you had near literally been blown out of the water as soon as a competition started. Sure, you were drunk at the time, but would anything have changed if you weren't?

Just that thought alone was enough to sober you a bit. Or maybe that was the chicken, you didn't know.

One way or another though, you felt too buzzed to to really focus on something and too sober to try and think about your inequity regarding superior firepower.

"Welp! Guess I'll just do some magic hands for a while. HEY! KOGA! Start funneling me Bots! I'm TINKERED over here!" You shouted off to the side where Koga was busy setting up a tanning system for Cyclops, using what looked like a trio of professional grade solar panels.

"AT ONCE YOUNG SIR! ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR?" He shouted back once Cyclops gave a goofy grin and smile, rays shining into his face bright enough to blind any bird going over him. They were swiftly swallowed as they dipped into his open mouth, making his smile even wider.

You didn't really care at the moment, so long as he didn't eat anything that talked or wasn't too annoying.

"SURPRISE ME! I KNOW I'LL BE!" You replied even as you reached over to the nearest casing and began to tear apart.

Roll 1d100 plus 20 due to Innovation. Total Score determines Creation. Rolled...37! and 20! 57!

The hours rolled by as Bot after Bot was left at your feet, the Third-Arm holding items in place as you welded, varnished and attached newly fitted parts into place.

There wasn't much you could do about the beam struggles that seemed to be a thing that happened in reality at the moment, as much as it pained you to admit. Right now, what you needed was speed. Or, at least a way that could get you places generally faster, because the seemed to be something you REALLY needed to work on. If you had dodged faster, who knows how far you could have gone in the race. If you dodged more, you wouldn't be hurt as often. Hopefully.

So, since power armor was out of the picture for the moment, you made a suit to take the hits for you. Or rather, a decoy.

What stood before you was a solid Jack, a statue not out of place in a Grecian workshop, and it looked fuckin identical to yourself. Filled with the processor units of all the Crew Botz scrubbed clean and factory reset, the computational power in it was blazing to go to look pretty and tank everything that'd hit you. All it needed now was some facepaint for that final touch, and you'd have a body double without all the Hollywood.

It wouldn't help you in every case, but damn would it be useful. More so than the half-made Land-Boat that walked around on Jackbot hands you had started to craft anyway.

Maybe some day... but not today. Now you were going to pass out in a comfy boat bed and wake up hungover as all get out before devouring as many fats as possible, chugging watermelon, and scouting volcanoes. Maybe painting yourself too, who knows.

-NEXT DAY-

Like the living dead, you pried yourself from the depths of sleep and looked straight into the eyes of Koga, who was standing over you locking eyes.

You didn't even bother reacting, taking the water and Tylenol he had in his hand and swallowing both, even as he got up with a much quieter than normal chuckle and skipped out of the room.

"I hate morning people..." You muttered as you dragged a hand down your face, Third-Arm ruffling your hair down to a semi-messy state even as you swayed for a minute, before remembering you were on a ship.

A few hours, some french fries, and plenty of fluids later though, and you were feeling like a person again. Just in time to see some of the local pits into Hell the people of Earth called Volcanoes.

Wuya was especially keen on seeing them, saying something along the lines of getting in touch with old friends the night before when you haphazardly threw out the suggestions, but that just seemed vaguely threatening enough to be the usual for her, so you didn't think much of it.

Cyclops was excited at first, but at this point looked closer to a cherry red, and was thus resigned to being kept at the ship until his sunburn faded. You'd have felt guiltier if not for seeing him try to roast a medium sized octopus over his tanning mirrors.

The less time you spent around that, the less likely you would be blamed for any random fires or sea-life extinctions.

Roll 1d8 for Volcano Selection! Rolled...7.

Mauna Loa was a massive Volcano, constantly spewing forth the molten lifeblood of the Earth, and you were trying to make a base in it!

Or at least...you WOULD be IF IT WEREN'T FOR EVERYONE ELSE ALREADY HAVING ONE IN IT!

This was apparently the timeshare of super-villain lairs because as soon as you passed the slop of its ridge, as far as the eye could see were bases of different makes and shapes! It looked like a village in the treetops, rope bridges connecting them all over the burning rock, and it made you want to pull your hair out!

You even recognized some of the people in it! There was done by the South ridge, calmly sitting in a rocking chair polishing his sugar-beamer! Over to the side was Final Surge, who was in a loud debate over what soft drink was the best with Killa Magilla while they sat in hammocks on either side of their 'fence'!

You had all assumed these guys, former villains, had died to competitors or just gotten caught, but no! Here they were! Living it up like this was a fucking retirement center!

WHAT THE HELL!

That was it. You were going home, where things made SENSE.

END OF CHAPTER

CHAPTER...CLEAR!

Congratulation folks! We've finished the Hawaii Arc! A fine job! My next posting will be us receiving our EXP, Rewards, and sharing what could have been had things gone differently, if anyone ever wants to do a Negaverse omake or some such. Every little bit counts now! See you soon~