Outsider Chronicles: Full Metal Worm
You know, there were a lot of things I was expecting when I got reborn into a world of traumatized Superheroes. Becoming one of those heroes was actually pretty high up my list, but when your a Tinker whos main trick only needs a bit of chalk, thats Bullshit on a whole other level!
And we're back. Since Buso Renkin desperately needs more love, I decided to continue this idea, even if Buso Renkin is mostly peripheral. Oh, and fair warning, this chapter has Skidmark in it. And Hookwolf. I'm gonna need a shower after this. Enjoy!
Chapter 3
"Hey, who the fuck are you ya cum sucking dickhead?!" yelled Skidmark with his usual complete lack of anything resembling manners.
I scowled behind my collar. I was going to enjoy this far more than I probably should.
"My name is Flamel," I said cooly, "And I'm afraid...no, actually, I'm ordering you lot to clear out. If you want to kill each other, go do it somewhere without anyone around. If you do it here, someone will have to clean up the mess."
The drugged up Cape went red and launched into a string of profanities that would make even the most hardened of sailors blush. I quickly lost patients with the coked up Cape and placed my hands on the ground. There was a spark of Alchemical energy and a fist made of stone shot out of the ground and punched Skidmark in the chin, sending him pinwheeling over his goons heads to land head first in a bin. A deep belly laugh from behind me made me scowl again and turn to glare at Hookwolf.
"HAH, you got spunk kid!" he growled, "You really showed that ni…"
That was as far as he got before another fist shot out of the ground and slammed into his crotch. There was a moment of complete silence as everyone stared at the Nazi Cape, wide eyed as he went completely still. There was an oddly loud gust of wind, before Hookwolf slowly toppled over, clutching his crushed nads with a wheezy gasp of pain.
"I have even less tolerance for racism than I do for drugged up morons," I growled, "Now, are you lot going to bugger off or…"
I threw the wires still in my hand into the air where they immediately twisted themselves into a flock of glowing blue birds.
"Do I have to get rough?" I finished as the chests of the birds began to glow an ominous red.
My answer was Skidmark managing to free himself from the bin with a loud crash, his face now purple with rage. He pushed himself to his feet, a rancid banana peel dripping off his head as he pointed at me.
"SOMEONE KILL THAT…"
And the rest of the order was basically swears. I took a moment to mentally note a few of them down for later before ordering the Storch Ritter I'd created to attack. I still had no idea exactly how I'd managed to replicate the von Einzbern Mystery, but considering I knew exactly how to make an Einzbern Homunculus, I imagine it probably came from that somehow. My version fired bolts of energy that hit with the force and shock value of a taser, making them handy for dealing with random mooks. They quickly proved that by dive bombing the E88 goons and drugged up Merchants in a hail of red light and zapping sounds.
I ignored my simple constructs in favour of charging Squealers rig, dancing around Skidmark's attempts to trap me with his energy bands. With Hookwolf out for the count with crushed testicals, she was the main threat. Oh, I doubted she could bust my Silver Skin, but it couldn't protect me from everything and if she missed (which considering the fact she was probably high as a kite at the moment, was rather likely), she could well end up hurting the bystanders, even through the walls I'd made. As I ran, the right glove of the Silver Skin dissolved, revealing the white glove that I wore underneath. I jumped to avoid a bolt of blue light from the gun mounted on the Tinker rig and smirked as I lifted my hand, revealing the blood red circle picked out in silk thread on the back.
"HAH, I GOT YOU NOW!" yelled Squealer as her gun spooled up.
"No, I've got you," I said.
Then I snapped my fingers.
BOOOM!
My eyes went wide. Maybe I should have practiced with these things before I actually used them. That explosion had been a lot larger than I had been expecting, although it definitely took the Tinker rig out for the count. Along with Skidmark and a good number of Merchants. I really needed to practice with my Ignition gloves.
A heavy blow from behind made me stumble and I spun around to see that Hookwolf had recovered and he was pissed. Not that I really blame him of course, but if he didn't want me to go for the low blows, he shouldn't be a murderous Nazi.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" he roared as he charged me.
Its surprising how much a high voice could take an edge of a threat, even when its backed up by a swirl of deadly metal. Before I could react, a massive blade shot out and hit my stomach with enough force to shear me in two...only to be stopped cold as the surface of my coat turned into a layer of silver hexagons.
"What the fuck?!" spluttered Hookwolf, "How did…"
"Heh, Buso Renkin of the Metal Jacket, Silver Skin," I said, "The surface both turns into hard metal and instantly regenarates when something strikes it. It is one of my greatest creations. You think I wear this because I think it looks cool?"
Hookwolf scowled.
"Fucking Tinkers!" he snarled, "Still, its just a defencive bit of tech, not a real weapon! I'll tear that jacket off you and turn you to mush!"
He let out a horrible, screeching roar and lunged at me in a swirling mass of metal.
"Did he miss what I did to the truck?" I muttered as I lowered my stance and lifted my arms, "Whatever, I've got just the thing to deal with him."
Hookwolf slammed into me with a shriek of metal on metal….followed by a crackle of energy, a flash of light and an almighty crash as the metal covering Hookwolf shattered into a thousand pieces. Thank you Scar. The Nazi Cape's eyes went wide at the sudden loss of his main form of protection and attack, right before I slammed a fist into his back as he sailed past, slamming him into the ground with enough force to crack the concrete. Since most of Hookwolfs Brute rating came from the metal under his skin, the same metal I'd just shattered, he was out like a light. I took a moment to Transmute some extremely solid and skintight bonds out of the concrete, before turning my attention to the rest of the fight. If it could be called that. My Golems had already taken out most of the mooks and those that were still up were rapidly falling as the blue birds ganged up on them and rained even more red bolts down on their heads. Skidmark was back on his feet and looking like he was about to keel over as he glared at me, but apparently he still had a few brain cells left because he didn't move to attack me.
"YOU'LL REGRET THIS!" he screamed, albeit with a lot more prophanaty, "YOUR DEAD YA BASTARD! YOU HEAR ME!? DEAD!"
And with that, he turned and fled through the hole Squealers Rig had blasted in the walls when I'd blown it up. I would have gone after him, but he really wasn't worth the effort. I'd taken down Hookwolf, Squealer and a whole load of mooks and kept anyone from getting hurt. That was a win in my book.
I was just about to go and remove the walls, when a clatter from Squealers truck drew my attention. I tensed, ready in case the Tinker was still battle ready. Instead, the door opened and fell off its hinges, allowing Squealer to slump out of the rig and to the ground. She didn't look good. Apparently, I had been WAY to aggressive with my Flame Alchemy or had underestimated her Rigs defences because she was covered in third degree burns. A good chunk of her hair was gone and her clothes were on fire, but the worst of it was a jagged shard of metal through her gut.
I immediately sprinted over and skidded to a stop beside the injured Tinker. Merchant junky or not, I wouldn't allow anyone to die on my watch. Besides, according to most of the information I had, most of Squealers crimes were either traffic violations, drug possession and violating good taste in her vehicle designs, dress sense and taste in men, none of which were worthy of death. I quickly checked her over, putting my training in first aid to good use.
It didn't look good. The burns alone would have her down for months, but the chunk of metal through her gut had definitely done damage to her digestive system, enough that she'd need either extensive surgery or Panacea to survive. Thats if she actually made it to the hospital and I somehow doubted that whatever concoction of drugs she had in her was helping.
I bit my lip. If I didn't do something, she'd die. I had a couple of options to heal her, but the basics of Medical Alchemy I had access to wouldn't be enough, I only had one Kakugane and it was currently my Silver Skin and most of the other options I had either took to long or resources I didn't have. That left only the health potion I'd made by complete accident. I reached into the pouch on my belt and pulled out the crimson vial. It...would work, there was no doubt about that, it would definitely save her life, although I had no idea if it would heal all her injuries or just keep her alive. Squealer coughed, spitting out more blood as her breathing started to slow. Fuck it.
I quickly turned her on her back and hoisted her up into my arms, ignoring the blood, oil and other filth that covered her as I pulled the cork out of the vial with my teeth.
"I really hope I don't regret this," I muttered as I opened her mouth and tipped the healing potion down her throat.
Squealer choked slightly, but the potion was already in her stomach and beginning its work. Already the burns were starting to look a little better and her other injuries were starting to heal. I took hold of the metal spike and pulled it out, making the unconscious Cape whimper in her sleep. A quick check revealed that the damage was already starting to heal.
Once I was sure she wasn't about to die, I got to my feet and pressed my hands to the closest wall. There was a brilliant flash of light as Alchemic energy surged out, taking the walls apart and reforming them into a road covering that looked brand new. I kept my hands pressed to the wall, keeping an eye on the process to make sure I didn't fuck up...right up until the wall directly in front of me vanished and I found myself staring at the sharp blade of a halberd.
"HOLY…!" I yelped, jumping back in shock.
Fortunately, the Transmutation was well underway and self maintaining by this point, so I didn't fall pray to my powers malfunctioning. Apparently I'd either been really distracted by everything that was happening or Armsmasters bike was really fucking quiet because the leader of the Protectorate had apparently managed to arrive without me noticing, along with Assault and Battery, who looked like they were charging up to try and break down my walls.
"Well, that makes things easier," said Assault.
Armsmaster ignored him
"Identify yourself," he said, pointing his Halberd at me.
"Flamel, I'm a hero," I said, a little shortly.
I didn't exactly have the best opinion of Armsmaster considering some of the things he got up to in canon. Besides, I just knew he was going to judge the hell out of me when he found out I was an Alchemical Tinker.
"Your the one Vista and Kid Win reported," said the older Tinker, lowering his weapon, "What happened here?"
I shrugged.
"I arrived, made sure the fight couldn't hurt any bystanders and took down the hostiles," I said, "The thugs are all down, Skidmark got away, Squealer was injured and I wouldn't recommend moving her until my...medicine finishes fixing some of the damage and Hookwolfs bound up over there."
I pointed at the lump of concrete that held the Empire Brute.
"I'll let him out when your ready to pick him up," I said.
Armsmaster frowned as he indicated to Assault and Battery to start gathering up the goons to be foamed as soon as the PRT arrived.
"Medicine?" he asked.
I twitched.
"I'm a Tinker," I said, "One of the things I've been able to make is a pretty effective healing potion, although getting hold of the ingredients is gonna be a pain…"
Armsmasters lips turned down slightly and I got the impression he was frowning under his helmet.
"A medical Tinker?" he asked, "Thats...rare."
I snorted.
"Not even close," I said, "The potion is just one of the many, MANY things I can do. Oh, and before you pull that shtick about Tinkers not lasting long before someone either kills or forcibly recruits them, I wouldn't worry. My...tech isn't something that's easy to counter."
"YOWCH!"
I turned around to see Assault running around as a flock of Storch Ritter bombarded him with bolts.
"GET EM OFF ME!" yelped the red clad hero.
"Oops, sorry," I said and snapped my fingers.
The constructs immediately broke off and flew over to me where they unravel back into the wires they were made from as they landed in my outstretched hand.
"Need to work out those IFF glitches," I muttered.
"What were they?" asked Assault.
"Storch Ritter," I said, "Their very basic golems I created for dealing with non-powered goons. They still have a few bugs to be worked out though."
I slipped the wires into my pocket. By this point, a couple of Vans baring the PRT logo and an ambulance had pulled up and the troopers were taking the still dazed gang members into custody. I turned back to Armsmaster to see that his lips had got even thinner.
"You took untested equipment into battle?" he asked.
"Of course I didn't," I said, "I'm not that stupid! Besides, even if they were untested, its not possible for them to do much more than give a bad burn."
I decided not to mention my Ignition gloves. Armsmaster opened his mouth and I readied myself for a poorly thought out demand to accompany him to the PRT headquarters that in any other story would have resulted in the hero legging it. Instead, he paused, took a visible deep breath and relaxed slightly.
"Alright, thank you for your assistance in this matter," he said, although he sounded like he was forcing himself to do so, "Would you be willing to present yourself at the PRT HQ to give a statement?"
I raised an eyebrow. I wonder if he was talking to Dragon under that helmet? I shrugged off that thought in favour of looking at my watch under my Buso Renkin.
"Ah, not tonight I can't," I said, "I have a curfew to meet. I'll come down tomorrow if thats acceptable?"
Armsmaster visibly twitched and nodded jurkally.
"Great, in that case, I'd better get going," I said, "See ya."
I turned and left, pausing only to free Hookwolf so he could be foamed. Well, that had certainly been an interesting experience.
And done. I'm not...entirely pleased with the ending, but I've rewritten it about four times, so this will do. I did have fun smacking Hookwolf and Skidmark around though.
Just to be clear, the only reason he had such an easy time against them was because Hookwolf massively underestimated him and had no idea of what he could do. Skidmark was because hes an idiot and drugged half out of his mind. Next time, you can bet he'll be in for a far tougher fight.
Yes, the fact he gave Squealer the potion will play a role in the future, although maybe not for a few chapters.
The next chapter might take a while because I plan to make it a PHO interlude. I'm using a handy wizard, but I still need to make the posts sound reasonably. Plus, real life is giving my arse a good kicking, so I don't really feel like writing anything as often as usual...eh, I'll get over it
Anyway, this is done so I'm signing off. Don't forget to leave a review!