The next morning, after an admittedly unrestful sleep, I was with Davy and co as Marrianne was looking over our newest resident. Former weapon turn person, Ragdoll the Nokori.
"Nokori biology is bullshit." Marrianne said as she scanned and analyzed Ragdoll, the still newly alive/self aware being just stared blankly at everyone.
"As I've been told." I said honestly.
"Yeah. Doctors back home said that all the time too." Davy shrugged.
"Don't even get us started on the medical fields thought on the tech based ones." Shift chuckled.
"Well, as far as I can tell Ragdoll here is perfectly healthy. He doesn't have any Abilities so all that stuff he did while under control was from the code within him. I knew Code could be used in ways similar to abilities and all kinds of ways but to hear what happened and see… this, really doesn't do it justice." She said, motioning to Ragdoll, who just looked at her feathered hand.
"Well…yeah." I said sheepishly. "So, at the moment we just have to…teach the poor guy how to do thing's…"
"Physically he looks… maybe mid twenties?" Davy offered.
"His cell maturity data does show he's in prime adult age." Marrianne nodded.
Seriously? I thought he could have been a teenager!
"Right…thought he was a teenager…" I frowned.
"That's not an uncommon mistake." Shift said. "Nokori age physically… rather oddly. Take Magnolia as an example. She's seven yet she's barely bigger than a toddler." Huh… yeah she is rather small… "Nokori age physically in relation to the animal biology. Birth til age five or so a Nokori will stay rough infant size then undergo a growth spurt, from five til age thirteen they are as Magnolia is now in terms of height, from thirteen til eighteen to twenty one or so they'll be bigger than Magnolia but just shy of Ragdoll here. Then from that til age forty they keep the youthful looks til forty, then physically they start aging and looking older some get it really bad…"
"Yeah…" Davy sighed. "But I guess in this reality that past forty issue isn't an issue so, eh."
"Bullshit biology…" Marrianne growled.
"Ri~ght…" I said carefully. "So…just gotta teach Ragdoll here how to do thing's…"
"Yes. I'm sure in time his magic will develop into something. Until then while the five of you are here I guess I should examine you as well."
The five shared a look with one another, then all but Bigs laughed.
I sighed. "Really guys?"
"Look, we don't really do doctors… plus, immortal, plus, no." Davy said.
"You can trust Marrianne." I said carefully. "She won't be doing anything…invasive or bad, plus even if you're immortal, a good doctor always helps."
"Yeah. Especially the girls. When was the last time any of you went to a gynecologist?" Marrianne asked.
"Never!" Meg declared, a finger pointing up to the ceiling dramatically. "Flashbang!"
My eyes then got assaulted by what felt like the equivalent of getting stabbed by the sun as I covered my eyes and tried to rub out the white and see something other than spots.
"Mother-fucker!" I heard Marrianne call out.
"I'll drag them back if I have to." I growled.
I managed to finally see again, and yeah, they were all gone. Even Ragdoll. Must have grabbed him too.
Once I could see fully I got up and ran after th-
My feet slipped across the suddenly slick ground and I slammed hard into the kitchen table… ouch. What the-
I paused, seeing Davy pay my boys in what looked to be Plasmids…
Those little traitors!
"You are all so Grounded!" I snapped, getting myself to float and using Engine to fly myself towards them.
The grounded quintuplets booked it, and Davy ducked down just in time for me to miss.
And I slammed head first into a wall of light… ouch…
"Flashbang!" I heard Meg call out.
Agh! Fuck! Again!?
"I'm going to make Alex's bullshit look like a walk in the park compared to what I'm going to do to you fuckers!" I shouted in anger, rubbing my eyes. "I really fucking hope I won't go blind from this…"
"That's a pretty high bar!" I heard Davy call out.
"Think we should stop now or start trying?" I heard Meg asked.
"You all know Marrianne wouldn't do some insane nonsense to you, can you all stop being cowards for five seconds?" I asked, preparing to make a reflective surface if they try to flashbang me again so they can be blinded for a change.
"We're aware, but at this point it's become a tradition!" I heard Shift call from elsewhere.
Tradition?!
"Being a pack of jackasses is Tradition!?" I asked incredulously.
"I'm not involved in this!" I heard Bigs cry out.
"Avoiding doctors!" I heard Squeaks say from… everywhere… somehow…
"No one has caught us yet!" I heard Davy again… above me! He's flying!
"I am having none of this right now…" I growled, before shaking my head. "Well…only one of these chucklefucks that wouldn't act like petulant children…hell, the only one that didn't laugh was Bigs so…" I groaned, getting back up and using my new Legendary Ability, Township, to literally teleport to Bigs.
Once I was, I saw him, starting to cook something. He then saw me… and screamed. "Don't sneak up on me!" He cried… are those… puppy dog eyes?!
… Now I feel guilty for the accidental spook…
I sighed, gently putting a hand on Bigs. "Two thing's, one, I am very sorry for the spook, I didn't mean to…and two, I caught one of you." I said.
"Really? Wow, which one?"
"The only person that didn't laugh or act like a child when it came to getting a check up." I said, using my Light elemental gem to surround him in a cage of light. "I caught you, and that means I win."
"Eeep!" He yelped. "The cage is very unnecessary…"
"Sorry," I said sheepishly. "Thought I would have to considering I don't want to get flashbanged for a third time and learn I'm about to get permanent eye damage…plus, would the other's believe me if I didn't put up the cage?"
"Yes, because I'd tell them." Bigs said, giving me a rather flat look.
I nodded and put away the cage of light. "Alright, again, sorry for the cage, just uh…all the others." I admitted.
"Heh… yeah. They were having fun too." Bigs said as he walked over to the door and opened it. "Hey guys! He found out the loophole!"
"Son of a protestant whore!" Meg yelled.
"I knew you were binge watching Hellsing Abridged!" Davy's reply yell came.
"It took seven thousand years for someone to figure that out?!" Shift's reply yell came.
"About time someone did." I didn't scream I swear, as Squeaks appeared behind me. "Nice job."
"Well…thanks, I guess." I said honestly. "Considering Bigs was the only one that didn't react like this…I understand you all hate Alex and other doctor's like him…but Marrianne isn't like that deplorable jerkwad."
"Again, we know." Davy said as he flew in through the door, Meg and Shift behind them. "But it's been a few thousand years since we got to get into a little prank battle."
"Heh, it was fun! I haven't used my flashbang in years!" Meg said.
Out of instinct now I covered my eyes… that thankfully nothing happened. I brought my arms back down and sighed.
"Kinda surprised you even have a doctor with you." Shift said.
"Firstly, she's the second spouse I got in this reality, and secondly not all of us are lucky to be immortal and not give a rats ass about basically anything." I frowned. "And I know, Immortality sucks, but now there are places that take your Immortality and shove it off a cliff in a burning semi-truck."
"Hey!" Meg said, suddenly in front of me with a finger pointed at my nose. "We don't talk about that."
I looked over at Davy.
"Don't ask, long story, just know that it involved a sex-death cult and many hours of body burning…"
"Ri~ght…" I said carefully. "So! To the Doctor's with all of you."
"Goodbye, seven thousand year win streak. We hardly knew ye~" Meg said dramatically.
"Yeah yeah." I rolled my eyes.
Once we were back in Marrianne's office, and she finished verbally assaulting them, mainly Meg, for the Flashbang trick, they let her get to work.
First off was Bigs, since he was the only one not participating and the reason they're here. At least they had enough decency to leave a loophole in their stupid game.
"Alright, while the machine reads your Assistant data mind if I get some blood work?" Marrianne asked.
"I mean… Can you?" Bigs asked. "Nothing has ever broken or pierced my scales before."
"I'm sure she found something from Greed." I said honestly.
"Well, first let's see how strong they are." She said. She then walked over to the machine, checking the data it did have and… I didn't like the look on her face. "You've got to be bullshitting me…"
"Uh…so what's the new's doc?" I asked nervously.
"He's a Dark Zenextro Dragon!" She yelled.
"We… only ever knew it as a Darkness Dragon… the Zenextro is new." Bigs said.
"I like it. Sounds dragony." Davy said.
"Zenextro Dragons are some of the most dangerous, volatile, hostile and above all biggest pain in the ass dragons to exist even in this reality, they're the fourth strongest dragon species!" Marrianne stated.
"Only fourth? Surprising." Squeaks said.
"So… is that bad then?" Bigs asked.
"Well, it just means we now know how strong you are." I said honestly. "Which…is kind of bullshit…" I scratched my head in bitterness.
"It's complete bullshit because Zenextro Dragons all have a naturally forming Triutm-T9 scales." I gave her a blank look. "The tenth strongest metal in existence currently."
"Okay that explains a lot." Davy said, the others all nodding.
"Alright…" I frowned. "And that's just…the scales so far…"
Sighing, she looked back at the data. "Well… everything else here is more or less normal for a Zenextro Dragon… abnormally… no, absent aggression hormones, but given Bigs' personality not that surprising. Claws are the same as the scales, teeth, bones… well as far as I can tell everything here is normal for you. And I am also unable to get any blood work because of your scales."
"Really? I can go buy some medical supplies from Greed if you need them to give everyone an actual good lookover." I said readily.
"David, trust me, what I'd need just to have a single use needle that will work on him would cost more rem than we have, and such a rare and valuable metal is definitely not being used to make needles…" She sighed.
"Well, what's the metal?" I asked, considering I don't know the full scope of…well, everything here, I might as well ask. "Cause I'm pretty sure Davy can just make it with his reality warping powers."
"Bitch thinks I can do what now?" Davy asked, confusion over his face.
I looked at Davy. "Are…are you joking right now?" I asked. "Like…are you forgetting your own abilities or do you not understand how stupidly powerful you are?"
"I've never just made something with only my flames! I just reshape shit! Plus I've never even heard of this metal before!"
"I'm sure we can find said metal in the Greed shop's, and two, how the hell have you never tried to create things with your flames when you have shown you're able to 'reshape' thing's by adding more to it from nothing?"
"I did not add it from nothing I pulled the atoms out of the air- don't give me that look I can barely reshape shit I ain't gonna be some magic cheat to free stuff! Especially when I don't know how to make stuff from just raw atoms!"
"Okay, Bigs, you're good, off the table. Davy, you on the table." Marrianne said.
Bigs got off the table, and with a shrug Davy got on the table. The machine she had already scanning his Assistant.
"So what's the verdict before I go into a rant about how none of them know what overpowered bullshit they can do that just…annoys the ever loving hell out of me." I said, cause literally seeing five people that are so outrageously strong also not know just how deep their bullshit goes is also rather upsetting for me who's been trying to get strong all this time…
"The data is coming in now- Oh. My. Mother…"
"Well that's an odd phrasing…" Davy chuckled.
"The Mother is basically The Creator God, above anything and everything…and I believe their husband is Belief?" I asked, wondering if I remembered that bit of 'religious lore' correctly.
"Right… anyway so what's up?" Davy asked.
"You… you're a living Galaxy!" Marrianne said.
"I believe I did tell David two I was fused with a Galaxy Phoenix." Davy shrugged.
"Yes, he did and I…most likely forgot since I was busy dealing with an assload of other things." I admitted. "So, Squeaks is a Void God, Shift is some Shapeshifter I don't know what species, and Meg is a Celestial Deer, or whatever the creature is that's born from a God's corpse."
"Right… that will help when I get to them but right now uh, Davy, I don't think you know exactly what I mean when I say you're a living Galaxy." Marrianne said.
"Which goes into me being upset that he looks confused on what he's really capable of doing." I frowned. "So how deep is this 'living galaxy' bit? Like, he has an entire galactic civilization in his system or something?"
"Well, I wouldn't say he has a civilization." Marrianne said. "Okay, so, Phoenix Biology is unique in that not only does it embody the power and force of the thing that birthed it. Volcanoes, suns, a Galaxy… but as they grow older each of their cells begins to develop this power as well, increasing the overall power the Phoenix can have the older it gets. Davy. Your cells divide at the same rate as humans, and as such each division has a chance to create a cell that has its own Galaxy level of power. Add to the fact the Phoenix you were fused with was apparently already ancient, this just made the cells double in power each time they divided. In short, your body can and has enough energy to… to fucking split Armageddon in half…"
I just stared at Davy, who in turn looked… confused. "So what you're saying is… I'm the bomb?" He asked with a smirk.
I facepalmed.
"Davy…you're an idiot…"
"And you're just now figuring this out?" He chuckled.
"Right, so unless Hacker's show up and literally rewrite your powers and strength, there is literally fucking nothing on this planet that can hurt you, and that's pure fucking dogshit." I said, and now I'm just…fucking done…
"I mean, Squeaks and Shift can." He shrugged.
"Only Squeaks can, you just let Shift hurt you." I said honestly. "And that's purely because you don't understand a single damn thing about your powers and true strength, and this is personally both hurting and infuriating me…"
"Well so~rry coach. But we didn't exactly ask to be made into this. Yeah, maybe when it first happened I was the happiest Nokori in all the Labs, but it came at a cost we were ready to pay for before suddenly ending up in this reality where Death is as meaningless to everyone as it was to us."
"And unlike you, there are actually three different ways for immortals like you and ageless people like us to die…and Squeaks is one of those people." I answered.
"Actually she's not." Marrianne said. "Void Admins Perma kill. Void god's can't."
"And I'm certain Squeaks actually can do it cause if Davy's anything to go by, Squeaks probably understands less considering her only Title was 'Void God'." I said honestly, rubbing my temples bitterly.
"It's not like we needed to understand everything our powers could do." Squeaks said, crossing her arms. "After the Volatile Nokori were exterminated things quieted down. We didn't need to always use our powers or even fight."
"I mean, weren't you at all curious about what you could do? I mean, Davy, you are a Galaxy made manifest, how did you not think 'hmm, I wonder if I have the same creation abilities as that galactic explosion of creation?'." I said, actually surprised that none of them cared to even try out what they could do.
"I was a little busy burying my friends, children and family to try…" He frowned.
"This is going to be a whole thing…" I sighed, rubbing my temple. "So, anything else doc?" I asked, not wanting to start a bigger argument here
"Well… not really. Despite the admittedly insane power capacity and capabilities, everything here seems normal for a Galaxy Phoenix." Marrianne said.
"Good." Davy said, getting off the table and leaving the office.
"Alright…" I frowned. "These fuckers had, if involving all the burying and fighting, 5,500 years to learn their powers and they all decided 'eh, fuck it'..." I thought to myself bitterly.
"Welp, that's awkward." Meg said. "My turn I guess." She said as she sat on the table.
"Yeah yeah." I said simply. "Let's see what brand new things we're going to learn."
Marrianne's machine began scanning Meg. She just sat there waiting, whistling.
"Alright, now then let's… huh." Marrianne hummed.
"What up?" I inquired.
"Well, based on these readings, Meg here is a Divine Remnant."
"Ooh! Sounds fancy." Meg smirked.
"Oh, so that's what it's called." I nodded. "Well, from what she explained it was Doe and…well, considering she can bend light and gravity to her will…"
"Yes, well divine remnants take many forms David. They are born when a God level entity or stronger dies. See, unlike other beings, God beings are one of some beings that's corpses won't rot after death. So, if there is still enough power left behind the body bursts out something new using whatever from the body and taking on a new shape and being. Sometimes animalistic, sometimes sentient. It just depends really." Marrianne explained.
"Fair enough." I nodded. "Sounds…the simplest of the bunch so far."
"Psst. As if." Marrianne huffed. "The strength of a remnant is based on the type of god they emerged from and according to these readings, Meg here was fused with and now is the remnant of an Elder God."
"Is that the same as the Old Gods?" She asked.
"I'm gonna say yes given these readings."
"Oh. Guess those old stories did have truth to them." Meg hummed.
"What old stories?" I inquired.
"Remember? I told you where Star Beasts were said to come from. The old stories about them bursting from the corpses of the Old Gods?" She asked.
Right… right! I remember.
"Yeah, I remember." I nodded. "Sorry, just…a lot on the mind after all."
"So, that all?" Meg asked.
"Hmm… well, interestingly only your fur and skin seem to hold a sense of… invulnerability. Likely inherited from your Old God. While your muscles and bones are indeed strong the organs and flesh appear almost no different in durability to a normal humans. I'm actually detecting scars along… your…" Marrianne stopped. She then looked over to Meg. "I am… so sorry…"
"... It was a long time ago…" Meg said, standing up. "Not like those sickos did it for perverted reasons either… it was just their only way in to study my insides…" She said, hugging herself as she walked out the door as well.
"Uh…is this a bad time?" Tony asked nervously, poking his head around the door to have let Meg walk past.
"Depends. Are you gonna try and flirt with her right now? Cause if I were you, I wouldn't…" Squeaks said, motioning to Meg as she left.
"I wasn't, and I'm genuinely hurt that you'd think I would." Tony frowned. "I was asking cause I think I should get a check up and was told Marrianne was the 'family doctor'."
"Yes but I'm still checking on these two." Marrianne said, motioning to Squeaks and Shift.
"Alright, I'll be out here waiting." Tony said as he went out to the waiting room.
"There's a waiting room?" Shift asked.
I looked out, and noticed that Tony was…sitting in a chair and for some reason I could only find the sight cute. "Well…there's a chair and Tony's looking cute just sitting there."
"Pft. Furry." Shift chuckled. "Welp, my turn I guess." They said as they jumped onto the table.
"Alright, shapeshifter." Marrianne said. "I assume gender fluid?"
"Yes actually, before becoming a Nokori too so it works out." Shift nodded.
"A commonality amongst shapeshifters. Any identity crisis or dissociation from your original form in the past?"
"Nope."
"Good." Marrianne nodded.
"And I am happily a furry." I huffed.
"Hmm… according to these scans you are a Symbiotic Mimic." Marrianne said.
"What? Like Venum?" Shift chuckled.
"No, it's different from symbiotes. Technically they're parasites."
"Really?" I asked in surprise.
"Yes. In nature this breed of mimic infects a magic rich host and in exchange for the food acts as an… eighth sense in detecting predators to the host. Once the host is drained of magic they eat the corpses and move on. Normally they can only change into the forms of beings they've eaten, but Shift here is unique in that they can also shapeshift at will into anything organic or not and without needing to devour a blueprint beforehand. This is likely a mutation due to the Chaos Magic."
"Chaos Magic, always unpredictable." Shift shrugged.
"And is there anything special about them being a Royal Mimic?" I inquired.
"No, but the Chaos Magic has made them far more durable. So long as there is just a cell of Shifts somewhere they can regrow from it." Marrianne said.
"Yeah, we found that out by accident and it was an… interesting day." Shift said.
"I can imagine when you recover from near total atomization."
"Where I recovered was also… heh…" They said, rubbing the back of their head.
"What did you do?"
"... Better question is who did I do…" They chuckled weakly.
"Oh dear…" I said worriedly.
"On the bright side, I start off very small when regrowing and was able to be barfed up before I got… too big…"
"Makes sense, if you're regrowing from a single cell or even a pre-existing climb then you would be rather small for a while. How long does your regrowth take?" Marrianne asked.
"Well, if I have lots to eat, I can be full sized in a day. Without or with regular meals three days to a week." Shift informed.
"That sounds fair." I shrugged. "Can't regenerate fast on an empty stomach."
"Regrettably I am not Wolverine." They sighed. "So, anything else?"
"Just one. You and Davy are a couple, have you ever conceived a child before while you were female?" Marrianne asked.
"No. Not for lack of trying either but his high Nature Base Magic affinity and my Chaos Magic so heavily counter one another it made us infertile to one another." Shift sighed.
"Hmm, interesting. And since coming to this reality?"
"We haven't really been… physical in a while. Before coming here well, no alone time and after, well, we kinda were just trying to figure stuff out. So, no real time."
I suddenly remembered my conversation with The Phoenix….
Damn it I hate not being able to tell!
"Well…if given the time, try it out…you might be pleasantly surprised." I said honestly, given that that part of mine and The Phoenix's conversation was me answering his question.
"Hm?" Shift asked.
"In this reality, races that are considered incompatible are actually fully compatible. So you and Davy could definitely have kids. When you have the right equipment." Marrianne said.
Shift was… rather quiet. "I… need to go… think…" Shift said, getting up and walking out rapidly.
"Well, this will be interesting." Squeaks said, walking over and taking a seat on the table now.
"Yeah…learning a whole lot today." I said honestly.
"So, what's my health and biology at?" Squeaks asked.
Marrianne looked at the machine. "Well… I'm not an expert in Void, but it looks like the creature you were fused with was an Alpha Void Mouse."
"Well…that makes sense." I shrugged. "Is that why she has a penchant for being…wherever she wants?"
"No, as far as Void beings are concerned, it's pretty normal. But it would explain why whenever she does everyone around her gets the sudden need to scream." Marrianne said. "An Alpha anything is the strongest of any species it's part of. Take Tony out there, he is a True Alpha Zinogre."
"Even he jumped at me." Squeaks smirked.
"Well, Void is kind of cheating all things considered." I said honestly. "When just the mere existence of such an energy, unless you're accustomed to it, literally hurts you…it's a whole thing."
"It's never hurt when I used it." Squeaks shrugged.
"That might be due to your biological affinity for it." Marrianne said. "People who are genetically or magically more attuned to Void are often immune to its negative side effects."
"Fair." I nodded. "Would be cool if I was magically attuned to Void…shit hurts…"
"Jealousy isn't a pretty color on you David two." Squeaks smirked.
I huffed. "You know we have the names thing down, I'm David, bird David is Davy."
"Yeah, but I've known my David longer."
"Heh. Hmm, well, biology wise you seem fine… there are a lot of cracks in your bones and tears in your muscles that seem to have reattached and mended basically at the moment of the injury." Marrianne said.
"Makes sense. I usually just reattach or… unfold from my injuries."
"Well, that is one way to do regen." I shrugged.
"I guess regen might be right…" Marrianne said.
"Wrong way to explain it?" I inquired.
"Well, it's more like reattaching at the damaged points and somehow the body functions as if the injuries never happened. Do you feel pain when you have injuries?"
"Sometimes… Magic and Nothingness based attacks I still feel, I've gotten pretty numb to physical attacks and damage, same as David… Only recent exception has been the fight against Ragdoll. I guess Code can hurt me too."
"Code can damage anything so, yeah." Marrianne nodded. "Well everything as far as I can guess is normal, so you're free to go."
"Alright." She said, getting off the table.
Once she was out of the door Marrianne got to looking over all the data she just got.
"What's the news doc?" I asked, seeing her mull over everything she could get here.
"... It must have been hell." She sighed.
I sighed. "From what they told me…only reason it was semi-okay is because they had each other…"
"I don't just mean that… These readings… the process that turned them into what they are is an illegal transmutation magic."
"I'm not surprised in the slightest." I said honestly. "So…considering it's illegal, sounds like it's pure pain from having your soul ripped out and shoved into a blender with whatever nonsense the mad bastard could grab."
"As far as transmutation magic goes, I'd hate to say it but this process is actually genius… but extremely painful. Their bodies were torn apart in strands like unwinding thread. Skin, muscle, bones, it was all just unwound and merged together physically with the other items or creatures present on the altar, then the soul, exposed, would be susceptible to taking in all the new magic the body has been exposed to and changing. Transmutation of the soul is something that has a sketchy success rate. Still, this process seems to have made it a ninety percent success rate. After that, the body's flesh is reconstructed and takes on the new form the altered soul finds comforting… All the while, the person is conscious and aware, and unable to even black out from the agony. It's amazing none of them went insane or died from shock after the fact. If this is similar to how their world's normal Nokori were made… Not even a god could have undone this…"
"And considering they have stated god's exist and…were either captured or decided to willingly go through this because they were bored…" I trailed off, shrugging helplessly at this.
"You know, you were a bit rude. I mean, my shock as a doctor to their biology is understandable… but you were mad they just lived life?"
"Excusing whatever war's they were in and however long they needed to grieve for lost loved one's…they had five thousand, five hundred years out of the seven thousand they've lived so far…and not once did they go 'Hmm, I wonder what I can do?'."
"Not everyone is as curious. They didn't come from this reality David, they were just… tired. Tired of being alive. They didn't care to learn how much they could do because they had loved ones and family, and when all those people were gone, they had to keep on living… and when it was just them, they chose to wait out the death of their own earth's sun just to hope they passed on. They didn't want to be some all powerful gods… they were and are just people. Powers were irrelevant to them."
"Ya know…I realized something…" I said, seeing my birb spouse raise an eyebrow. "Before…all of this…I could excuse all this…because back then, I was happy to live a life I never thought I could, being more than the mundane, actually just…doing something…but when I learned who Three really was…I felt like I suddenly had to play catch up cause something bad would happen if I'm somehow the personal rival to a Time Runner from that old ass War…and now…we meet all these Nokori, and they're all practically god like beings by design…sure, fine…but then to literally hear they are holding back, not because of some thoughts on wanting to be normal, but through sheer ignorance…it's…" I shook my head. "What's infuriating to me doesn't matter, I have shit to do, and you have Tony waiting for his check up." I admitted.
"There's a difference between holding back true strength and not knowing true strength." Marrianne said as I walked out.
"Yeah, they get to live in ignorance because it won't affect them." I shook my head bitterly.
"Are…are you upset because them being ignorant of their powers could get your family killed?" Tony asked me.
"Congrats, you figured it out." I rolled my eyes. "Blissful ignorance, and they can live in it forever while I have to truly deal with Alex's bullshit…because I have thing's to lose…they're all immortal and invulnerable cause fucking why not…I'm not, my family isn't…I don't want my family to lose me, and I don't want to lose my family, but boy does it suck when I neither of the time, energy, or resources to even get to the starting line of what bullshit is going to happen…" I teared up. "Things were…so simple…I can excuse a lot…but all those excuses is going to get everyone caught in the crossfire because of…of someone's fucking HOBBY!" I snapped angrily. "Not even some personal vendetta, not revenge…just some passing fucking interest that is now endangering everyone I love and there's not a damn thing I can do about it…cause those five can't be everywhere at once…Alex can."
"Well Squeaks might be able to, but the rest of us are pretty stuck in one place." I turned, seeing Davy and them were all standing in the hallway just a bit away from here. "Ya know, coming from me it's gonna sound really rich, but you need some therapy to actually say what your problems are rather than bottling it all up and letting your anger do the talking for ya." Davy said as he walked up to me. "If you want help protecting your family you just had to ask."
"That…still doesn't stop my point though…" I wiped away my tears. "The hell am I supposed to do when I barely did a thing against Ragdoll, a basic ass test…"
"You did though. You realized he had that invisible lock, and you are the one who gave him life. A Heart and Soul. Because of you, he's not some mindless tool, he can become a person now. That's not nothing, that's a miracle."
"Even though my new Keyblade felt a little too convenient when I unlocked his heart…but any of you could have found it, you just needed to use your Keyblades."
"That you gave us." Davy added. He then lightly tapped his knuckles against my forehead. "Stop comparing yourself to us. We're bullshit. So stop focusing on what you can't do and start focusing on what you can do, and we'll do the same. We never bothered to learn the full extent of our powers because we didn't want to and didn't need to. As is we were basically the strongest things back home, so why would we? But it is different here, besides, this turtle is pretty cool, and Magnolia loves it here. So you aren't the only one who has stuff to protect here. So, how's about a deal. The five of us, well, probably four, Bigs is still a pacifist, can work on learning what our powers can do, and you can save whatever Hollow Nokori or whatever Alex throws at us and work on getting stronger until you can meet us on what bullshit level we're all apparently on. Sound fair?"
"Yeah…that…that sounds fair." I sighed. "Just…everything went to hell too fast…like, faster than being thrown to Armageddon against our will."
"Yeah, you'll learn to roll with the punches." Davy smirked. "Plus, you're stressed as all hell, so, how about Bigs makes you something to eat and we can work on celebrating."
"Well…some food would be nice…" I said honestly.
"Good, Bigs, do your thing in the kitchen, the rest of us, let's plan a party!"
Davy and them left, save Bigs who walked with me to the kitchen.
I sat down at the table and Bigs got started cooking.
"Sorry…" I sighed.
"About?" He asked, starting a pot to boil.
"Just…all this." I motioned.
"All of what?"
"I suppose me just being mad about…a whole host of crap…"
"It does help to talk about what's on your mind. Even if you feel like it's not important at the time. There's nothing wrong with wanting to protect what you care about."
"I know…" I sighed. "Too many things are happening…"
"Well, how about you take your mind off it. Have any questions for me?"
"Mind if I ask why none of you ever…got curious about your powers?" I inquired. "Like, you're in a world of magic and monsters, you had a lot of time outside of…war's or grieving…just curious cause that's something that confuses me here."
"... Well, for me, I was always a pacifist. Most of what I can do I learned by accident. Life was hard enough for me before becoming a Nokori, after getting this body and these powers… Well, I didn't want people to look at me and see a monster…"
"I understand." I nodded. "But…well, I suppose this is just me thinking about how you could have used your Darkness and your natural tankiness. You could have been the Shield people needed, you protecting others through non-violent guarding."
"Assuming I stayed conscious…" Bigs laughed weakly.
"Even if you literally have the title 'Scaredy Cat', you are a lot braver than you'd think."
"Heh, you clearly don't know me well enough…" He sighed. "Hearing what Marrianne said about me and all that… even so, doesn't change who I am. I'm a coward, I always have been… ironic since everyone always thought of me as something I'm not."
"Well, have you gone and tried to defend your family when they were in need or did you immediately run?"
"Well, I've made walls, barriers… Teleported people out of danger if there was enough darkness in an area. Still, I usually pass out a little after it's done."
"Well…we can work on that, instead of passing out immediately…but you have the right thought process, be a Shield Mage, it'll help you be a pacifist while also protecting people."
"... Maybe. Still, I can't do much in a fight… yes I know what Marrianne said about how strong my scales and apparently claws are but… I just… can't."
"Like…if someone tries to be confrontational you just fold over or something?" I asked.
"Yeah…" He sighed.
"Alright." I sighed. "Well, do you have a question for me?"
"Well, any food allergies? I am making you something and I don't want you to get sick."
"Just a mild peanut allergy, nothing special." I said honestly.
"Alright then." Big said. He cooked for a while and eventually gave me a bowl of what looked to be fish soup. It smelled really good.
I took the spoon and ate a bite…
I have seen the face of god and he is a dark scaled giant dragon man!
"Bruh, how are you this good at cooking?" I asked in awe.
"Back when I was human, I didn't have many friends. My face looked mean no matter what I did and I was pretty large already… so, I helped my mom cook. I tried all kinds of recipes. After becoming a Nokori, our friend Silver let me cook something for her and her kids since I mentioned I could and she wasn't the best cook. Heh, she practically begged me to be her house cook after that… Eventually the place David and I were staying at, we managed to set up a kitchen and from there I was the group's cook."
"Well…" I hummed. "I think I know what you can do, and it's from this handy dandy thing in your Assistant called a Skill Tree." I said with a smile.
"I was looking at those. What even is all that?" Bigs asked as he sat down next to me.
"Have you ever played any RPGs like Diablo 2 or Borderlands?"
"Uh, no. I usually play more… peaceful games." He admitted.
"Right…so city builders and farming sims…you've played…well, have you played something like Stellaris?" I asked, considering that can technically be a 'Peaceful' game
"I think David might have played it?"
I sighed. "Trying to give some examples here…" I frowned, thinking of how to explain this properly. "Screw it, the Skill Tree is something you invest Skill points in to gain new abilities or make what you can do better, some examples of stuff is a skill that turns your bones into metal, starts with copper and goes up from there, or let's say you can breath fire naturally, there are things in the skill tree to make your fire breathing better."
"Okay… but I don't breathe fire."
"I used fire breathing as an example." I said. "It could be literally anything, like cooking could be a skill tree."
"Is it?"
"Maybe, there's skills for practically everything."
I brought up my own, showing Bigs as I looked around. I actually found several Cooking based branches of some Skill Trees. One in the Magic Skill Tree, there was a branch for Enchanted Cooking, there was a branch for cooking in the Alchemy Skill Tree, and there was a branch for Cooking in the Hunting Skill Tree.
"Well, there are a lot more Cooking skill trees than I thought." I said honestly.
"Cool." Bigs said as he displayed his own Skill Trees. Hmm, looks like he has some abilities too. That makes sense… hello?
[Humble Chef: Wherever someone enjoys your cooking and finishes their meal, you gain a Skill Point.]
Huh.. heh, that's actually perfect for him.
"Right…so you have the best cooking skill ever, as you passively just…gain skill points just from people eating and enjoying your food."
"Oh is that what those are?" He asked, pointing to the amount he had. So far there was only thirty seven.
"Yes, and those skill points can help you be a better chef."
"Okay… so, how should I plan it out?"
I blinked… he wanted… my help planning his abilities?
"Uh…I…haven't really planned stuff out before." I said honestly. "Let alone my own skills cause I still have an asston of Skill Points that I haven't used yet…"
"But you seem to know the most about this, and you seem to know what you are talking about. I'm sure you can figure out which I should get that would work best."
"Well…to be perfectly honest, I haven't really delved too deep into this." I said, bringing up my own Skill Tree and showing more of a slap dash of skill's I thought were cool, but also still having million's of skill points. "But let's just look at what thing's are in the later stages of the cooking tree's your in and work towards that."
"Alright. You're the teacher here. Still know more about it than me anyway." Bigs chuckled.
As I ate, Bigs and I checked out what was ahead, what they did and he even got some since most in these branches seemed fairly cheap too. All in all, this was fun. I really should do this more often for myself…
Once I was done talking to Bigs, I went outside where…
Wow. There were some lights and lanterns hanging. Streamers and it looked like I could see Meg setting up a makeshift stage area.
Wow, they really are making a party.
"Well then…" I blinked. "Surprised at how fast you all made this…"
"Heh, when it comes to throwing a party, we go big." Davy said as he walked by with a box.
"I can see that." I said readily.
"The folks from Greed are helping a lot to. They haven't had a real party in way too long." He chuckled. "Plus Meg is planning on singing some songs… heh, not looking forward to her dragging us to play the instruments…"
"Oh boy." I chuckled. "But fun times all around.'
"Heh, yeah. Anyway, I think your daughter Luna was looking for you earlier."
"Where's Luna at right now?" I inquired, wondering why she was looking for me.
"She went up to that huge mountain top lookout thing." He said, pointing to it.
"Alright." I nodded, using Township to teleport off to Luna.
I popped into the observation tower. From the three-sixty windows I saw lots of ocean, and the entirety of the turtles back.
I also saw Luna, leaning back in a rolling chair looking off at everything.
"Hey Luna, you were looking for me?" I inquired.
"Yeah." She said, sitting up. "Come over here." She asked. I did, and she handed me an interesting pair of binoculars. "One of the Greed Merchants gave this to me. They can zoom in for up to a whole lightyear of distance, letting me see what's around far beyond my normal eyesight."
"Cool." I said, taking the binoculars and testing them out, trying to see what things I could look at.
"Keep it straight and look directly forwards." She said.
I did, the… whatever these things had working and zooming in rapidly. They stopped and I was surprised… another Turtle. It was big, and on its back was a giant mountain.
"Huh, there's another Turtle over there.'
"Yeah. I got to thinking… what if we go there, catch up to it and when we do, if it's empty, maybe you can use that Township Ability to maybe merge or connect the two together, or if there are people there, maybe we can join up with them."
"That is a great idea Luna." I said with a smile.
She smirked. "I have my moments. Plus, the more manpower the better if this Alex jackass throws another thing at us. Frankly I hate that I missed the action."
"It's best you did." I sighed. "That thing was…very powerful, literally ripped Tony in half…"
"And I missed it?! Damn it!"
"You could have been killed, and I'd rather that not happen." I frowned.
"I mean, so could you but you didn't run away."
"I was needed on the front line." I said carefully.
"Right… but using a gun at range would have been much more dangerous than being up front with the bastard…"
I sighed. "Luna please…"
"I get you want to keep me and everyone safe, but so do I and it's a little hard when you never even test me. Yeah you got the five wonder monsters down there but you need more than just them and yourself."
"Tony is also here." I pointed out.
"Right, your second fluffy fuck boy…"
"Listen…we'll figure something out soon…I just…have a lot of things to think about and do."
"Sure… same excuse as always." Luna sighed.
"Except this time, there actually are a lot of things to think about." I huffed. "I know you want to help…and I do want you to help, but there's…a lot happening all at once here…"
"Fine, I get it. You can go now." Luna said, looking back towards the windows.
"I said that I wanted you to help." I frowned.
"Yeah… you want my help when you're strong enough to no longer need it…"
"I never said that." I stated. "Why do you think I would drop you at the slightest chance I'm strong enough?"
"Because then you can say 'you're not strong enough for this fight' and just say it's to protect me…" She frowned.
"I can, but you make it sound like I will." I pointed out.
"Because you will…"
"Then I'll prove you wrong then, and you can prove me wrong." I said simply.
"... Can I get that in writing?"
I chuckled and brought out a piece of paper and pen. "Listen, I do this because I care…you're my daughter, and I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt…"
"I know, I know, you only tell me every time." Luna chuckled. "But you can't expect me to get stronger without also getting hurt and getting battle experience. I mean, you used to tell me all about your dungeon runs and how you got hurt a lot. I mean shit I heard you broke your leg fighting Ragdoll. I'm not a child anymore, I know I'm not an adult either but I need to learn to keep up in a fight."
"Yeah, and I don't like how you're growing up." I said, lightly ruffling her hair.
"Heh, well get used to it. Besides, you have four troublesome little monsters to look after, plus others on the way here and there. Don't go crying about empty nests when you still have lots of chicks and eggs in there dad." She laughed.
"Yes yes, I know my silly little pony." I chuckled, giving her a hug. "You, and our entire family, mean so much to me…"
"Yeah, I know. So, are you gonna do anything at the party later? I'm looking forward to hearing them play some live music."
"Probably just mingle, eat, drink, just try and have a good time." I said honestly.
"Sounds like fun, maybe you can get spit roasted by papa Vais and Tony~"
My blush turned my face ruby red and I immediately jumped in shock.
"Sh-shush you!" I said quickly. "No talking about that kind of lewd stuff, you're too young." I said
"I'm sixteen, were it not for the fact every other male here is either a Lover of yours, a sibling of mine or gay I'd be shanking it with a boyfriend if I could!"
My Ears!
"What blasphemous nonsense are you speaking!?" I asked incredulously, not believing my own daughter would say such vile things.
"Oh please, we both know you have no place to say anything with your literal thousands of lovers. Were it not for me being Sixteen, Tony would have railed me too…" She huffed. "Damn it a pervert showed up here with a good body and willing to fuck anything that moves but he has to have standards!"
"Better for him to have standards than not." I huffed.
"Yeah… just means you get to slobber all over him yourself." Luna huffed. "And don't say you won't, I saw you drooling at him several times."
"You saw nothing." I said, blushing even brighter at her finding out.
"You are so predictable." Luna laughed.
I huffed, leaving the lookout tower but happy Luna isn't so pissed. Still… now I have to keep my promise and let her join the next battle…
"Why did I have to agree to that?" I mentally groaned.
Making it back down into town-
"David Two!" I yelped as Meg was suddenly in front of me. "Can your Township thing make an outdoor stage?"
"Uh…maybe?" I said, deciding to bring up my Assistant to check Township and see if I could do the thing.
I did indeed find an option for a stage. It was a basic wood/log one but I can make it as big or small as needed, add some walls and such to help with sound quality. "Yes." I nodded.
"Perfect!" She said, picking me up and throwing me over her arm like a sack and running back to town with me like this.
… The fuck?
"Uh, excuse me, what the hell?"
Meg just ran with me like this until we arrived at the spot and she put me down. "Now do the thing!"
"I…could have gotten here by myself…" I frowned, as I did the thing she so desperately wanted.
"Maybe, but I couldn't wait!" She said, once the stage was made and appeared before us she jumped onto it and hugged it's floor. "Hello old friend, it's been too long~" Meg said, almost with a pur.
Wow, she really is… enthusiastic…
"Wow…you really like theater don't you?"
"Well it's only been my life long passion." She said, flipping over and sitting on the edge, looking down at me. "When I was human my parents despised my theater dreams and actively tried to keep me from it."
"That's weird, why would they want to do that?"
"They were lawyers, whose parents were lawyers and so forth. They wanted me to join the family legacy and all that. Heh, jokes on them because once I turned eighteen I filed a legal disownment of myself from the family, changed my name, got a restraining order and was off to chase my dream." She chuckled. "Jokes on them I weaponized their own legal knowledge against them."
"I mean…you could have also made lawyering into a musical or some other theater stuff, I mean, look at My Cousin Vinny, best lawyer movie ever made."
"I do Theatre not movies!" She declared. "Movies were killing live theater and I spent all my life before we were left alone keeping it alive! I'd be damned before I let myself be in a movie." She said, enough venom in her tone at saying 'movie' to possibly kill the turtle…
"Alright, alright jeez." I said with raised hands.
"Now then, are you gonna join in the singing? I'm leaving the mic open for anyone willing to. Can you sing?"
"Uh…not really." I said sheepishly.
"Oh come on, let me hear it, if you want I can always give you lessons-"
"NO!" Suddenly all four of her friend's were in front of me.
"Uh… David Two has had a day… they don't need to deal with anything extra right now…" Davy said.
"Yeah, he probably has training and stuff starting tomorrow so, no need to fill his schedule more." Shift added.
"Yeah, and uh, they're still gonna help me with looking through the Skill Trees." Bigs spoke up.
"And… I'm sure David Two just isn't cut out for the stage." Squeaks threw in.
"Hm, I guess." Meg said, rolling her eyes as she got up and walked over to start putting things on the stage.
All four then sighed in relief.
"Is she…really that bad?" I asked nervously.
"Well, she gets results and every student she ever taught is a master of whatever she taught them in. Piano, Violin, Acting, Singing, all that… but…" Davy took in a deep breath. "When I tell you that I'd have rather gotten crotch shot by Holy for a full month, every hour on the hour, then tossed into a wood chipper, that tossed me into an acid vat, that dumped my melted body into a metal canister, that sank to the bottom of the ocean than endure Meg's teaching methods again… I mean it…"
"She's very… intense…" Shift shuddered.
"The only things I fear are Meg's teaching methods…" Squeaks said.
"On the bright side, I can sing in an excellent baritone." Bigs said, he had a weak smile that told me even he suffered.
"Oh…right…" I said slowly. "Thank you…"
"Yeah, trust us when we say she once tried to teach a god to be a master musician… I didn't know gods could commit suicide until that day… I'm not even sure how that worked but we found them the next morning…" Davy said with a distant haunted look in his eye.
"Uh…right…" I said slowly. "So anyways, while during the party I was indeed thinking of trying and do some stuff with my Skill Tree…" I said honestly.
"Oh yeah those weird things the Assistant has been yelling at me to check out since you gave it to me." Davy asked.
"Yes, with Bigs he is putting his skill points into Cooking, which means his food works on RPG logic where a good meal can heal and boost your capabilities." I said honestly. "Plus he get's a skill point whenever someone finishes a meal he makes."
"Oh, that's kinda cool." Shift smirked.
"Sounds like an excuse to keep him in the kitchen making rations for people." Squeaks chuckled.
… Huh, actually… That could work…
"So, what about you guys? What are your skill trees like?" Bigs asked.
"I…haven't really thought of what I wanted to do to be honest." I said.
"Do as in what?" Davy asked.
"Like what Build I'm going to do, cause the Skill Tree is really big and don't want to just put points in all willy nilly. While I did upgrade a lot of my Quirks, and that'll help out, it's not really a 'build'." I said honestly.
"Well, if you're talking game logic your best bet might be to practice how to swing a blade. No offense but your swordsmanship was… bad." Davy said. I just eyed him. "You live as long as I do, you learn how to fight in various ways. First teacher was my boss Holy's uncle. Ex marine turned mercenary… fucker made me his punching-stabbing bag for years… and target dummy for longer… And on and off years later I took up other various combat classes and such."
"Right…" I frowned. "Well…I'm sure Greed has some tutor's I can hire…I probably have enough money for it though…"
"Bullshit, I tell you I have experience in combat and you go 'I'll hire a tutor'." Davy huffed. "Unlike Meg, I'm not Psychotic." The others gave him a look. "Right, I'm less Psychotic. Meaning I can train you without also making you crave death."
"Well, better than paying." I admitted. "So tomorrow for sword training?"
"Sounds like a plan. But tonight we enjoy music, food, beer and sleep late." He chuckled.
"True." I nodded. "Tonight's gonna be real fun."