Holding up the little thing I just constructed, I smirked to myself. In the end, it wasn't that difficult to construct Ikit's warpfire thrower with the little modification of not replacing my hand.
On the other hand, I ran out of starter tinker materials and what remained of the warp stone I got. I just hope it will be worth it.
Now, the next thing on the agenda was to orient myself in relation to canon. Especially, when I am and if the queen of escalation has already triggered.
The Last thing I want is for Taylor to discover my underempire, as small as it might be for now. Looking at the glowing green PC I was supplied with, I scratched my chin.
"System, can-can you answer questions?" I asked the empty air around me.
Yes. I can, and it is not necessary for you to speak aloud during communication with me. All you need to do is merely think the message, and I will respond.
'Sweet, tell me, is this computer immune to outside interference?' Because the second-last thing I wanted was for Dragon to get involved.
Sitting down, I started my research online. After a few searches, I hit the desk with my forehead. "Ugh, great-fantastic."
I groaned. 'Well, that's what little knowledge of this place I had thrown out the window.' Reading the headline article again, I sigh.
"Great, fantom thieves-stealers, What else?" With my frustration voiced aloud, I began scrolling down to see what else was different.
I can already feel that this has become way harder than I anticipated. Thanks, you overgrown flying lizard.
"Alright, settle down, everyone." As the noise of chattering capes grew to the minimum, Emily Piggott nodded to Armsmaster.
A second later, the lights in the room were switched off, and a projector started casting an image on the wall opposite all those gathered there.
"As you well know, we have a new cape in town." Surprisingly enough, they all stayed blissfully silent, letting the director continue.
"Yesterday evening, approximately around 7 p.m., Glory Girl faced this new cape on the border between the docks and the train yard." She looked back at the people in the room to make sure they were listening.
The moment she confirmed that yes, they were listening, she returned to the explanation. "The cape, according to both Glory Girl and Miss Militia, who arrived later at the scene, is most likely a case 53." She clicked a button on the remote she was holding, switching the image to the only photo they had of the cape.
"As you can see, the cape in question is some sort of mutated rodent. The biologists we contacted had ascertained that its gender is most likely male. Therefore, henceforth, we shall use the pronouns he/him when referring to this cape. Any objections?" Hearing no one speak up, she continued.
"From what we were able to gather, he has at least the rating of brute 5 and stranger 1, although we allow the possibility that he merely used a Tinkertech smoke bomb of some kind. If that is the case, though, we do not know who might have supplied him with something like that. " At that moment, one of the wards raised a hand.
"Yes, what is it, Vista?" With The floor given to her, the 13-year-old stood up and asked the question.
"Director, how are we supposed to respond to him?" Emily nodded. Vista might have been the youngest ward. But, despite that, she was the most experienced one.
"For now, if you spot him on any of your patrols, try approaching him with no hostile intentions. If he is committing a crime, make sure to wait for backup before engaging him. We can speculate on his powers, but I do not want anyone to get pointlessly killed only because they didn't take him seriously." The teenage hero nodded and sat down.
"Now, are there any other questions?"
"Ugh, I hate this city already." It turned out I landed in some weird mashup between worm, persona, DC, MHA, and a few other weird things.
The most annoying thing was Brockton Bay's number one hero, Lady Might. And I don't know shit about My Hero Academia. All I was able to find out online was that quirks were a thing here too.
Although, instead of everyone having powers, they were limited to the children of capes. Therefore, to stop them from being walking, talking middle fingers to the unwritten rules, they have all been cramped into these so-called hero academies.
From what I was able to find out, the wards were still a thing here, but unlike the academies, the wards are for the teens who trigger naturally.
And it just happened that UA was rebuilt here in America, right between Brockton Bay and Boston. Why was UA rebuilt, you ask? Oh, nothing major, just Leviathan deciding to sink Tokyo instead of Kyushu. And apparently, UA was close enough that it was destroyed as well.
Most students and teachers who remained came here, to America. No rest for the wicked, huh? Mostly me, I guess.
From the map the friendly strangers online man aged to create, I was a few months before the start I would vaguer. What? I don't remember when the canon started.
There's at least one thing to be thankful for. Taylor hasn't come out to play yet.
Now, for my next course of action: While yes, more heroes means higher risk, it also implies a higher potential reward. Since we speak of new heroes, let's see the villains.
The Empire roster, surprisingly enough, hasn't changed. Like, at all. The Merchants seem to have gained one new cape. No one knows who he is—a drug tinker, presumably.
Of all the main gangs, the ABB seems to have been bolstered the most. No Bakuda yet. Lung and Oni Li are in place. An invisible case 53, most likely that invisible girl from MHA, A few more, but nothing concrete.
It's a good thing I am in merchant territory. It will be way easier to oust them than the empire, the ABB, or the PRT.
Now, I've gotten a little bit off track. Going forward, the first chance I get to swipe Bakuda from under Lung, I will take it.
But before all that, I need subordinates. Which means I need more warp stone. Where do I get more warp stone? Well, I steal it, of course.
Putting my warp fire tank in place on my back, I grab the Glaive I left leaning on my workshop desk. Now, where was that Merchant warehouse I passed retreating from the PRT?
She sat in one of their warehouses, leaning on a pillar, watching as the normal merchants unloaded the cargo of Tinkertech drugs she had just arrived with.
With a grin, she took one more swig from the bottle of booze she was given by one of the merchants when she arrived.
Suddenly, a loud bang resounded in the warehouse. Snapping from her musings, she looked back in the direction of the huge doors she just drove through and saw...a giant, man-sized rat.
Looking back at the label of the drink in her hand, she determined that, for once, she wasn't drunk. Perhaps someone threw some drugs into it.
The moment the screams of her men and the smell of badly burned meat filled the warehouse, she turned back to the spectacle, definitely sober now.
The rat she just saw was spraying down the merchants in front of her with some sort of sickly green flame from his left hand.
Taking a few steps back in horror, she grabbed for her gun. Her eyes widening, she realised that she had left it in the van's glove compartment.
As she realised that the screams had stopped, she slowly looked back. She saw that what was just a second ago a few merchants unloading drugs turned into so much still steaming and bubbling human gore.
Right there and then, she fell to her knees and retched, the lack of mind-dulling drugs in her system being a curse for once. As the smell grew in volume, so did the empty contents of her stomach and the tears falling from her widened eyes. After a while, there was nothing to puke up, so she started crawling away from the disgusting remains of human meat and the synthetic fabric of their clothing.
As she somehow managed to get back on her feet, she started running for her life, with the back door in sight. Unfortunately for her, the sliver of hope was mercilessly crushed as a dull object impacted the back of her head.
Laying there, all she could see was the terrifying visage of what remained of her comrades as the edges of her vision begun growing dark.
She watched as the thick green smoke lifted from the abandoned warehouse. Putting her binoculars back on her belt, she shadowed down onto the street level.
Piggi was a fucking coward; it was just a rat. What could a single overgrown rat do against a true hunter like her?
Entering what remained of the warehouse With her crossbow at the ready, she looked around. As the smell of burned meat reached her nose, she grimaced. Was it the merchants doing or the rats?
The moment she happened upon what remained of the gang members, she scawled. So, the rat could emit fire somehow, which is extremely potent too.
As her hunter instincts, honed from years of hunting, alerted her to the stream of fire coming her way, she threw herself back.
Looking up, her eyes widened as the wall next to which she stood a second ago just melted. Snapping her head to the side, she managed to stop the attack at the last minute by covering herself with her weapon.
As her crossbow fell to the ground, now useless, she grabbed her combat knife. Swiping it in a graceless arch, she winced at the whiplash from hitting the extremely resilient weapon of her adversary.
Shadowing back, she caught her first look at his face. As the beady red eyes stared at her and the fanged jaw set in a grin snapped at her, she flinched back. OK, maybe it wasn't just a rat.
She might have been a hunter, but she knew she stood no chance in a prolonged engagement with a perceived prey.
Shadowing out the same way she came, she tried getting away. Once again, her senses alerted her to the jab coming her way. Dodging, she attempted a jab of her own with her knife.
Unfortunately, her opponent was ready. With a single swing of his weapon, her knife went flying, cutting a distant power line in the process.
As swing after swing came at her, she was pushed back. In the end, the rat kicked her in the chest, sending her back.
Getting up, she didn't have the time to react to him grabbing a dangling power line and jabbing her right in the stomach with it.
She screamed as kilowatts of electricity coursed through her body. It wouldn't kill her; she was a parahuman, after all. Which didn't change the fact that she was out for the count as her eyes fluttered close.
She...failed.
"What the fuck-shit am I supposed to do with these two idiots-fools?" I slid a clawed hand down my snouted face. 'It's just my poor skaven luck, huh?'
'Well, for now, I'll take the drugs, money, and guns. Later, I will...' At that moment, I remembered a line describing my master power. "Alternatively, for half the price, you can turn captured humans into Skaven."
'Huh, that's an idea, I suppose.' Grabbing all the useful stuff, the two capes and Shadowstalker's weapons I slid into a nearby sewer entrance.
Raid completed
12000$ in drugs gained
578$ in cash gained.
Bonus objectives:
Kill all regular merchants: Completed
Kill Squealer: Failed
Capture Squealer: Completed
Steal all the tinkertech drugs: Completed
Face Shadowstalker: Completed
Kill Shadowstalker: Failed
Run away from Shadowstalker: Failed
Capture Shadowstalker: Completed
Escape before the PRT arrives: Completed
Avoid grivious injury: Completed
500 XP gained
127 Warp stone gained
'Status'
Ikit Claw status
Level 4 (300 xp/400 xp)
Health: 957/400 (600 Changer state)
Warp stone: 127
Warp fuel: 0
'Ah yes, she wasn't the only one who got whiplash from that hit. And that power cord too. Eh, whatever. Now, let's see what I can do with all that delicious warp stone.'