My head felt like someone shoved it into a blender… my tongue and throat were dry and sandy. Ugh… crap… how much did I drink last night? I usually don't but after that talk with Saw… agh… crap! This hurts.
Stupid Phoenix regeneration can recover me from everything but still gives me a headache…
"This…is why I come prepared…" I grumbled, weakly pulling up my assistant and bringing out a hydration drink. "Hail Hydrate…" I groaned, popping the cap as I sipped the wonderful hydration.
"You did not… just reference Marvel Nazis…" I heard Saw groan from nearby. I looked and saw he was laying on a table. I blinked and looked around, realizing we were in what looked like a cafeteria, but none like back home… and there's a lot of… blood all over the place…
"No, I didn't reference Marvel Nazis, I'm just happy about hydration." I answered. "Also…the fuck happened?"
"I have no fucking idea…" Saw groaned again. "Why does my back feel like I slept wrong and on rocks all night?"
"Well…we are somewhere…with a lot of corpses and a lot more blood." I said slowly, shaking my head as I tried to remember last night. "Alright…so we went to the bar after the both of us just kinda…had a fight and broke down on each other…I'm not wet or sticky down there so we didn't fuck which is something at least…"
"Thank whatever God has mercy in this reality… you are so not my type… and Scotch would kill me." Saw groaned as he sat up. Various pops and cracks as he stretched. "Right… I remember we started off with the usuals… but then somehow we got to talking about our childhood traumas… and that's when the Whiskey and Vodka popped out…"
"Ugh, I'd remember drinking that crap if that was the case." I shook my head. "So…where the hell are we?"
"No idea, and you had them in Screwdrivers and Rum and Cokes." Saw said as he looked around. "Fuck why it's it all a bright white paint color? Hell even the blood looks too bright…"
"We're still hungover so thing's…" I said, handing Saw a hydration drink as I sipped some more of mine. "So…once we started having our drinks…uh…fuck, what did we do? Cause I doubt we had some dumb drunk make out session…" I groaned, my head still feeling like I had very aggressive drummers bashing against it.
"I hope not… again, Scotch would kill… me…" Saw said. I then noticed he was looking at me… he then burst out laughing, clutching his head as laughing seemed to make his head hurt more but he kept laughing still.
"I better not have been shaved…" I grumbled, creating a fully body mirror and looking at myself.
My hair and feathers were untouched. Messy as hell but fine. Looking down….
…
…
I felt my heart drop out of my ass…
On my right thigh, tattooed was an arrow pointing at my male genitals with the words… Property of Delilah…
On my left thigh… was an arrow pointing a bit further back… the words, Property of Three… tattooed upon my flesh…
I turned red, screamed and tried covering my legs.
"Why do I have these tattoos on my legs!?" I shouted in panic. "How do I get these off!?" I asked, ready to just burn them off at this point. "And stop laughing!"
"I-I-I can't!" He said, clutching his head. "Agh! Hurt! Agh! Worth it! Hahahahahahaha!"
"Why in Mother's name would I get these stupid tattoos!?" I asked, trying to remember why I would get these stupid fucking thing's and readying a ball of fire to burn these thing's off my flesh.
"The drunken mind is an uninhibited, unhinged bitch where your darkest thoughts and desires break free…" Saw said, rubbing their head. "Mine usually ended up either in a dumpster or under a table."
Crap! My fire resistance isn't helping me here! Damn it Phoenix Biology!
"Fine." I said, creating a blade and starting to carve a bit of the tattoo out and hiss as the part I cut out regenerated…"Please don't let the tattoo regenerate as well…"
As the flesh regenerated I saw nothing on the area. I sighed… then felt once again my heart sank out my ass as the Tattoo began reappearing. I looked at the chunk I carved off myself and saw it vanishing from there. It's a Magic tattoo?! What the fuck was drunk me thinking?!
"This is some bullshit!" I snapped, hearing Saw laugh harder before shoving the piece of my thigh into his mouth. "Shut it ya overgrown fluff ball!"
He spat it out. "Yeesh. I know the phrase is 'Eat me' but it ain't supposed to be that literal." He said, spitting out some more. "Ugh. Gross."
"That's what you get." I huffed. "God why are these magic?" I groaned. "What was drunk me thinking?"
"... Were I to wager a guess, that you really love Delilah and this Three guy."
"I mean…yes, I do love them both dearly but still…" I sighed, drinking some more of my hydration drink. "Ugh, this sucks."
"Right. Well that aside… can you even cover that?"
I pulled out a spare pair of pants and put them on. "There…done…"
"... That looks… uncomfortable." Saw said as my armored parts poked and stretched the fabric and wanted to tear them.
"Okay, what the hell…" I grumbled. "This should fit fine…"
"... I'm not gonna say anything. But we should check to see if there are any others in less obvious places." Saw pointed out.
"Let's just…focus on where the hell we are and who we murdered…"
"The fact you said 'We Murdered' actually has me concerned." Saw said as he slid off the table. I turned around and tried to find a door- "Has that button always been there?" Saw asked.
"What button?" I inquired.
"The one on your back right there?"
What?!
I tried reaching around, not being able to touch it but I went back to the mirror and sure enough, there was a button that seemed to be part of/fused to my back. Between my shoulder blades, just above where the wings are.
"Uh…just…press it just to see what this stupid thing does…"
"Alright." Saw shrugged. He walked around behind me. I heard him jump and felt him hit the button-
Immediately I felt a very strange sensation… almost like putting on a full body suit but on the inside…
… why can't I move?!
"What the?" My body said… then I looked down… uh? "What the fuck Midoriya I'm in your body?!"
Saw?!
"Okay, what the fuck?" I thought worriedly, wondering what the hell is going on and why this is happening. "What did that button do!?"
"I don't know but get me out of your body!" Saw yelled, speaking in my voice. "I can feel your tits bounce and your all… down there get me out of this!"
"I don't fucking know! This is the worst thing to happen and I have no fucking idea how this is even happened!"
"Okay. The button on your back… When I pressed it, there was this light that flashed and I felt like I was putting on a body suit… okay well now I know what that feeling was…" Saw said, gagging.
Okay, a light-
Right! I was fused with my Keyblade armor… Wait so I can just become someone's armor?! As… kinda neat as that is, it sucks I'm at my wearer's mercy in regards to movements!
"Right…so I figured it out, I fused with my Keyblade armor, so that button was the armor button, where I'm now a sentient suit of armor that you have full control over…most likely all my abilities and strengths as well…while it's a bit neat as a concept it sucks because I'm now at the mercy of the person wearing me…"
"Don't care, get me out, this is seriously freaking me out!" Saw yelped. "So, I just push the button again?" He asked, managing to fall back right onto the button.
In a flash I was back in control. Looking around I saw Saw scramble back up and shake himself off. "Oh god that was uncomfortable…" He shuddered.
"You think it was uncomfortable for you? Try being a skin suit my guy!" I shuddered
"Yeah yeah, you always got it worse…" He heaved.
"Yes, that tends to fucking happen to me." I frowned. "And oh don't be a baby just because you know what tits feel like."
"Fuck off…"
I turned, giving Saw a glare then… saw he was semi curled into himself… is he… having a panic attack?
"Uh…are you okay?" I asked worriedly.
"Pfft. Heh, nope. Never." He said, taking deep breaths. "Just… some old memories came up during that I'd have preferred to stay buried…."
"Want to talk about it?" I asked.
"... Let's just say in the work I did, lot of crazy chicks digged killers… some didn't like being told no…" He breathed.
"Ah, Yanderes." I nodded.
"... God damn rapists…"
Oh… I forget Saw has… been through hell… repeatedly…
"Oh…I'm sorry…" I said sadly.
"Just… give me a minute. Go check the hallway or something."
Without saying a word I got up and walked out the doors. I was in a bloody hallway filled with frozen, burned and saw blade riddled bodies.
I walked to the wall a few steps down and hit my head against the wall. Of course he freaked out so much… Knowing him, he didn't let those women live after doing that to him… is it wrong I don't feel bad he killed them? That's just… vengeance… that's all he's ever done really… get vengeance for all the wrongs that he's been through…
I sighed, not liking how I'm thinking like that but those people did a horrible thing to Saw…also these hallways are rather small…
I decided to check the bodies. Most were in… bad shape. Managed to find one that was just in chunks… let's see… please don't be good people…
I looked the body over, then paused. I recognized this mark. On his shoulder was the tattoo of a hand with a blue dot in the middle of it.
Nexus… this is a Nexus Base…
Holy crap we drunkenly slaughtered a Nexus Base?!
"How in the fuck did we just demolish this entire base while so black out drunk!?" I asked incredulously.
"Spite?" I turned, seeing Saw had walked out from that cafeteria. "Cause we were wasted so…" He took another breath. "Maybe they weren't as tough as we thought?"
"Yeah…cause I remember what that Time Walker said, and if we were black out drunk, not knowing what the hell we were doing then there's no way in hell we would have lost while coherent." I admitted.
"Maybe this isn't that base we were supposed to raid?" Saw offered. "Might be a different one."
"Well…let's head outside and see if that's the case." I said honestly.
"If we can find it." Saw said as he walked ahead.
I followed behind… Well… this is… a bit awkward…
"Seriously…the hell did we do last night?" I asked, looking around at the bloodshed and destruction as I kept trying to remember.
"Killed people it looks like." He shrugged. "Bad people so try not to be too upset by that…"
As we walked through the hall, we then heard a sound… is that… snoring? Saw and I shared a look and picked up the pace, arriving at a door where the snoring was coming from. Opening it showed…
…
…
…
…
What the hell?
Sleeping upside down on the roof of this broom closet was a guy. He had green hair, and wore some kind of jumpsuit with numbers… a… prisoner?
"Well, you don't see that every day…" Saw hummed.
"Uh…huh." I said carefully, moving over and lightly nudging him to try and wake him up to figure out who they are and why they're here.
"Huh, what? Oh, you two! Hey!" He said, giving a wave and a smile. "What's up…" He then looked around. "Oh… me apparently."
"How are you even up there?" Saw asked.
"She touched me and I started floating." The man motioned to me.
"Well…I do mostly look like a she." I admitted. "So…who are you, and where are we?" I asked.
"Uh, I'm Nate and this is Nexus Base Theta 4." He said. "Mostly just a pit stop along the road, place for the troops to sleep, rest, eat, stock up on munitions."
"And you… work here?" Saw asked.
"More or less." He said, showing us his wrist. Where his Assistant was, there was a mark over that. "I'm a Slave. Can't use my Assistant and my owner just has me clean the place up."
"How long have you been a slave?"
"Whole life." He shrugged.
"And…what would happen if we killed your owner in a drunken rage?" I asked nervously.
"Oh pfft. My owner doesn't live here. He just left me here to clean the place up and forbids me to leave otherwise my Slave Binding will send me into a state of total catatonic agony the likes of which would make me crave the sweet release of death." Nate said.
"Wow… you said that just… so casually…" Saw said.
Nate shrugged. "Kinda used to the hopelessness. So, I just clean and keep my head down. Most folks don't bother me much so at least I'm not abused."
"I'm…really sorry to hear about your situation." I said sadly, wishing there was something I could do to help but Code is…horrible.
"Eh. Could be worse. Could be a Serf, Or the other Slave types."
… Wait, other?
"What do you mean other?" I asked carefully.
"Oh, well there are two types of Slaves and Serfs. Those like me that were branded with this mark by somebody with a Slave Master Dark Skill Tree, and then those that are made into them from some weird Code nonsense. Met one of those guys before. No personality whatsoever."
"Hmm…I have an idea." I said, bringing out Second Chance. "So…I don't know how this will work, but if it works the way I think it should you'll be free from your Slavery brand."
"Cool… can you at least put me down?" Nate asked. Oh yeah… I must have used Zero Gravity on him…
I flipped the man over carefully and then released Zero Gravity on them. "Sorry about that."
I gently tapped his Slave Brand. The mark then glowed for a moment… then broke, fading away in glowing lights until his Assistant Mark was uncovered.
"Woah… is this what it's like to have one of these things actually work?" He blinked as I imagined the Hud was now operational and activated. "Wow… how do you all deal with seeing all this stuff?"
"You get used to it and also can…turn down the HUD's UI to be more bearable." I admitted. "So, you are now free, what's the first thing you want to do?"
"I don't know. What do free people do?"
"Well, you can do anything you saw everyone else do for starters." I said. "Eat when you want, sleep when you want, whatever you can think of doing you can do…but best do it in a safer place, we can bring you back to our settlement if you want."
"If you insist, boss." Nate said.
"Well…we'll work on that." I started. "Do you know where the exit is?"
"Yeah, this way." He said.
Saw and I followed.
"So… you good?" I asked Saw.
"I… don't really wanna talk about it…" Saw sighed.
"Just…take your time my friend." I admitted.
Nate led us outside. The entrance was hidden inside a building within the Leto City area of The Nightmare. In what I imagine was once a nice little potion shop.
"Wow. We passed right by this place…" Saw said.
"That's kinda Nexus's style. Hide everything in plane sight." Nate said.
"I suppose that's fair." I nodded. "But now it can be our outpost." I said. "Though, gonna need to find a better spot for it…"
"As you wish boss." Nate nodded.
Heh… right.
I looked around, realizing Saw wasn't here and I then saw him walking down the street. He walked right into a cafe.
I followed, Nate following me as I walked inside this Cafe, Saw already seated at a booth. I sat across from him.
"I'm sorry Saw…" I sighed.
"It's not your fault. We didn't know what that was gonna do… Like I said… just brought up bad memories I want to forget."
"Still…you shouldn't have had to suffer all that."
"Pfft. I feel like at this point you should know that Suffering has been my whole life." Saw sighed. "I guess we got that in common. Just in different degrees."
"Yeah…just a whole lot of suffering for no good reason…" I sighed.
"Heh… ya know… in a way, it's fitting we ended up on this planet. Everyone here suffers. Even Scotch has been through some stuff…"
"And I'm trying to stop the suffering cause suffering sucks and nobody deserves that." I admitted.
"Yeah… I know…" We sat there for a while. The silence broken only by the occasional monster noise in the distance. "...Has anyone ever… done that to you?"
"No, thankfully…they just wanted to abuse me in every other way." I admitted.
"Guess you're lucky then." Saw sighed. "... It was after my first job…"
"That's…that's not good at all." I said weakly, fearing that Saw's life would become those 'I can fix him' posts I saw on some 'meme history' sites.
"When I first got into this gang, the boss knew about me being gay. He didn't care since I did my work, but in the…culture of the work we do, lot of people looked at me as the weakest link, and demanded proof I wasn't. So, boss told me I had a target, and if I took them out, I'd get some respect and a bonus on my next pay. I was given a photo and an address, and the method was up to me."
"I…suppose that makes sense…so what happened?"
"I took him out." Saw said. "Quick, easy, quiet. Boss was impressed, said I had opportunities in the future. People still talked crap but backed off for the time being… save… Cassidy." Saw growled. "She was a drugged up prostitute that always hung around the hideout. She was a loaded daddy's girl with an ego that did not work for her. Only reason she was allowed was her basically endless cash."
"I…can sadly see where this is going…"
"She got me in a corner, went on and on about 'Killers are real men' and 'I should act like such'. I shoved her off… tried to leave and she put… something in my arm. Not sure what the hell it was but all I know is that everything was somehow muffled but louder and I saw things that freaked me out but at the same time I knew exactly what was happening… When whatever she gave me wore off she left a note and a kiss of her overpriced lipstick on my neck… Heh… I got her back though. Spiked her last dose with some poison, and the dumb bitch shot it right into her veins. Far as anyone in the hideout was concerned, she just finally OD'd. Only was who ever suspected anything was the Boss, and he said 'We take Vengeance into our own hands' and left it at that. I liked my boss. One of a handful of people who never treated me like crap."
"Well…I suppose that makes sense." I said honestly. "And she probably injected you with some of her own drugs…lucky it was a clean needle at least."
"Bitch was a professional junkie, and rich. She could afford clean needles and a few pre-made doses…So yeah, the whole feeling of your body as my own, tits and… all that down there… just brought back those memories…"
"I understand." I nodded.
"So yeah, I got problems and trauma. You got problems and trauma… If half of what Luna's told me is true, she, Sam and Dean all got Trauma and Problems… Heh. Feels like we belong together. Well, then there's your mom. She seems nice at least. Caring yet also pretty badass." He chuckled.
"The fact that she mentioned none of that is really confusing to say the least." I admitted.
"Well, I don't exactly have experience in having a mom or any form of parenting… but if I were to guess, she didn't tell you because she thought it was keeping you safe. The whole classic super hero secret identity trope or something."
"I mean…what she was doing was keeping me safe as we had one of the safest block's in our area…I didn't say anything cause I didn't want mom to worry more…"
"Heh. Guess it goes both ways then." Saw chuckled.
"Yeah…just a lot of mistakes happening…" I sighed.
"... What was it like?"
"What was what like?" I inquired. "Cause we're talking about quite a few things here."
"... Having a mom?" He clarified. "I… my memories of my mom are all of her being beaten by my old man, and her just leaving for work without even saying goodbye. What was it like to have someone there for you that cared?"
"I…felt safe, protected…wanted, she was always someone that, even if I was hiding thing's from, she was always there to make me feel better, my rock in a horrid world…whenever it was a special day she always made her special Katsudon and it helped me feel like all the world's troubles melt away…it was nice, simple…"
"Heh… that does sound nice…" Saw said, a small smile on his face as he looked down. "Heh… ya know… I feel like if I was born in your world, or you were born in mine, maybe we could have been friends. I know for a fact I'd have beat that Kacchan jackass up for ya." He chuckled.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you two started to date with how much the both of you would fight and argue with each other." I chuckled.
"Oh trust me I'd probably have teased and flirted with the prick, but from how you talk about him, I get the feeling it would just piss him off more so, it at least would have been fun." He laughed.
"Oh yeah, that would definitely have pissed him off." I laughed. "I was thinking like you two were going to act like an old married couple half the time and I found that funny."
"Pfft! Maybe… maybe in another life." He sighed. "Can't change our past… but at least we can work for better futures. I have Scotch, you're building up the town, you have your family and your mom back… All we gotta do is build it up."
"Yeah…just gotta build up." I nodded.
"Well, let's see what's in that base. Nate did say it's where they rest, resupply and eat." Saw said as he got up and out of the booth.
"Yeah, let's go see what stuff we can take from Nexus." I agreed.
We went back down to the Nexus base, Nate giving us a tour.
There was only really a few rooms. Cafeteria, Longue, sleeping quarters, Bed bay, Armory and Storage. We woke up in the Cafeteria, and checking the kitchen it all seemed to be automated.
"Huh. Weird…" Saw said, looking at what looked like a normal large home freezer, but was hooked up to some pipes and wires, and the lid was a huge touchscreen.
"Yeah…" I hummed, gently tapping the touch screen, wondering if this acts more like one of those food generators or something.
A menu came up, showing all kinds of meat cuts of all kinds of animals and even monsters… woah there's a lot here. There's even frozen veggies and fruits in here… There's enough in this crazy thing that it could supply the town for years…
"Okay…so we're taking this and all of their supplies cause this can supply the town for years."
"Sweet! We're Robin Hooding this place! I'd say I call dibs on the green spandex but you're already green so, just need some tights and a bow for ya." Saw said.
I actually laughed at that.
"Wow, you finally made a decent joke." I admitted. "So, just gotta grab all this before any Nexus bastards show up."
"... Or…" Saw started. "This place is pretty fortified… not sure how we got in here but maybe you can make this whole place an outpost, and fortify it."
Huh… Well there is the one entrance only… these walls seem to have held up… Still, wish I could remember how we even found this place… was it just dumb drunk luck?
"Well…yeah, making this an Outpost would be a good idea…just wish I knew how the hell we found this place." I frowned, setting up an Outpost in this place cause we were going to need it.
I put the outpost and the portal opened in the lounge. From there I got some info on this Outpost… pretty high defense, even the barrier is a level six by default. Hmm, let's see what else- what in the hell?!
[Township Resources: 4.9 Million various Crafting Materials.
Food Stock: 1.5 Million Pounds of Raw Food Stock.
Additional Food Fabrication Serum: 2.2 Million Gallons.
Weapons Supply: 33,590,430 Firearms. 21,502,300 Melee Weapons. 504,450 Magical Weapons. 3,00,500 Full Armor Sets.
Medical Supplies: 4.9 Million Various Assorted Medications.]
How… is Nexus THIS stocked up! And this is just the ONE base of theirs that's for RESUPPLY and REST?!
"This…this place should effectively be a Truck Stop…why is it this stocked!?" I asked incredulously, showing Saw the same numbers I'm seeing.
"... What in the SHIT?!" Saw yelped.
"Heh. Yeah, Nexus always hoards resources." Nate said, gaining my and Saw's attention. "They make bases like this, hoard and stockpile and steal supplies. Good stuff goes to their main bases. Rest is either kept here or shipped to other bases."
"How?!" Saw and I yelped.
"Hm, Nexus has been around since before the War for Creation, and after when they came here they just… stockpiled it all the time. Spent a lot of time using their own tech and abusing respawn and world systems in place. Not to mention all the Hackers under their control. They just always have an over excess of stuff."
"... Fucking Cheaters and they oppress people trying to just get by?!" Saw yelled, voicing my outrage.
"Yeah, that's some fucking bullshit right there." I frowned. "If they have in their grasp anything and everything why would they even need to mess with people like this?"
Nate shrugged. "Dunno. Some say it's part of the job. Some say it's for fun. Then there's the folks saying it's all for Armageddon's Entertainment or whatever."
"Ugh, they're religious nutjobs…" Saw groaned. "Hoarding wealth and such while oppressing others not them… why are some things a universal constant?"
"Yeah…it's really fucking dumb…" I grumbled.
"... You said some stuff get's shipped elsewhere right?" Saw asked Nate.
"Yeah. Food, raw materials, sometimes weapons and munitions." Nate said.
"They don't happen to keep shipment records do they?"
"Oh yeah, in the Security Office. That's in the Armory."
"Midoriya… We have a hitlist…" Saw said, grinning.
"Oh this is going to be fun." I said with my own grin.
"So you two took out two other nearby Nexus Pitt Stops, made them Outposts, used the raw materials in them to fortify them to a ludicrous degree, and now the town is loaded, and you also expanded your hit list locations of bases to attack…" Delilah said.
"And it was epic! I think Midoriya didn't hold back at all against these jackasses." Saw smirked.
"No, I was holding back, the places we were fighting at aren't smoldering crater's of an obsidian/diamond like compound." I admitted.
"Yeah, plus you did use those Keyblades of yours and turned them all into newborns." Saw chuckled.
"Heh, you two make a very good duo." Luna said.
"I think in the beginning there Midoriya and I were sharing a brain cell for a while." Saw chuckled.
"It's shocking to say the least." I admitted. "But we have now obtained from the three outposts…around fifteen million worth of crafting materials, food, food fabrication gel, weapons and medicine." I admitted.
"From…three Pitt Stops…" Dean said slowly. "Aren't Pit Stops supposed to be more like Truck Stops? Not the National Reserve for everything?"
"Nexus apparently has a Hoarding problem." I admitted.
"And we're helping fix their 'problem'." Saw added with a smile.
"Alright… I get all that and it's very good for the town… but I don't get one thing… Why are you wearing sweatpants?" Sam asked me.
I tried not to blush.
"Okay so…I have a question…what the hell did me and Saw do last night?" I asked worriedly.
"Well, you two started drinking, then kept drinking and talking, then tried some various mixed drinks, then at some point you two slipped out." Scotch said.
"Awe, my baby's first blackout drunk night." Mom chuckled.
"You two did much that night." We all turned and saw The Saint walk over to our table. "I saw you giving Saw a ride as you flew around. But that was when I was returning. You two looked like you were having fun."
"Ugh…alright, we're gonna have to…look around town then."
"Yes. But I have some news." The Saint said. "Sadly, my contacts don't recognize the face of The Nokori God we got from Saw's memories. But, you two seem to have made a name for yourselves." The Saint added, putting two sheets of paper on the table- Oh god no!
They were wanted posters.
Saw's showed him, looking rather druk, covered in some blood with his buzz saws out along his body and grinning widely. The amount given was 4.7 Million Rem.
Then there was mine… Mine was a full body shot… I was crouched down, my new… tattoos were on full display in the photo as my drunken expression had me slightly blushed, smirking and one arm coated in green fire, the other ice, my wings spread out…
The price on my head was 6.3 Million Rem…
Everyone looked at the photo… then at me…
… Someone kill me now…
"So… that explains the sweat pants…" Sam said.
"Awe, that's so hot Midoriya~" Delilah said with a grin.
"Heh… yeah, that's a blackout drunk tattoo alright…" Mom chuckled weakly.
"... I'm a bit pissed your bounty is more than mine…" Saw huffed.
"Saint, do you have some weapon to permanently kill me?" I asked weakly, not wanting to suffer this mortal coil after everyone saw this…
"Nope." He chuckled. "That is one thing I can't do. Nexus is putting these up all over their compounds most likely, and most likely paying Greed to distribute them."
My head hit the table… the whole planet… is gonna see this…
"Do you know where someone is that can kill me?" I asked. "Cause that would be preferred than having the whole planet see…that on me…"
"Heh, we all make mistakes. Living with them is part of life." The Saint said. I could hear his smirk though…
"This is a massive mistake, especially when it comes to the tattoo's…"
"What I wanna know is, who took this photo and how the fuck did they managed to capture you looking deadly and slutty?" Dean asked.
"I don't know who, I don't know why…" I shook my head.
"Well, I can say this much." Luna spoke up. "There will be two kinds of bounty hunters that are gonna be coming after you."
"One that wants my head for the money and…I'm pretty sure some would see the…provocative stance as a form of bounty…" I sighed.
"Saw, mind keeping tally of how many hunt Midoriya for the money and how many wanna fuck them?" Delilah asked.
"Can do." Saw nodded.
I groaned. "Don't you dare."
"He will because I said so." Delilah said firmly.
"You heard the lady." Saw chuckled.
"I will shank you with Memory Stealer to erase these memories." I said, my embarrassment reaching astronomical levels at this point.
"You will not!" Delilah snapped.
I rubbed my temples. "So while I'm going to be the laughing stock of everywhere, I'm going to figure out what the hell we did last night." I said, turning around and leaving, deciding to start with the Tattoo shop cause I want to especially know why I did that.
"Heh, you really need to learn to laugh at yourself sometimes." I looked down, seeing Luna walked next to me.
"Considering I look like some two bit whore and people will be after me because of that I'm more embarrassed than in a joking mood at the moment." I admitted. "Especially when I was so black out drunk I managed to not only find a hidden Nexus pit stop but also killed practically everyone there."
"Pfft. At least you have a body that can be sexualized. Look at me, I'm a winged horse with a horn. Few people I met like me before ending up here I also watched all die, and all I ever wanted was to be looked at as beautiful." She said, following next to me. "And in a family with two brothers and a dad, the word 'Pretty' was reserved for birthdays when I was a toddler."
"I mean, you are beautiful." I admitted. "And while I can understand why your world wouldn't…see you as such, this world is different and kind of surprised no one hasn't said that to you yet."
"Dunno. Maybe they all prefer bipeds. Haven't met another talking quadruped since moving here. At least they treat me like a person. Back home Hunters wanted to kill me, my own people, Monsters wanted to see what kind of version of them I'd become if they infected me, and one very rude government agent tried to dissect me thinking I was an Alien… which to be fair I was." She shrugged.
"I suppose that's fair." I nodded. "But you are still a sentient being with your own hopes and dreams, and people shouldn't treat you like some monster or alien."
"Heh. I wish. Even during my world's genocide via monsters from the darkest reaches of hell with God, Satan The Horsement and even Death itself all killed, people still found the time to try and kill me. Granted I think it was more for food than a general hatred but eh." She shrugged.
"Well you shouldn't have had to have gone through that." I frowned. "And…also from your statement and now that I think about it…I think I'm the only one dating any quadrupeds…" I said, thinking about all of my spouses and remembering there were a few.
"Seriously? Heh, into bestiality I see~" She said, making me red a bit before chuckling. "See, now that is a situation in where learning to laugh at yourself can help. I mean, I'm one to joke… Heat for my species is a real thing… and humans would not take me so… I'm not proud of it, but I was with a few horses back before my world went to shit."
"I can only imagine how much Heat sucks and…having to do that." I said sheepishly. "
"Yup. Not proud of it. But I'll admit it, and laugh thinking back. Is it embarrassing, yes, very, but if you own it then it's less embarrassing and frankly, you're too hot looking like that to be shy and bashful about a sexy photo."
"I'd be a little more fine with it if…it wasn't because I was drunk, these silly tattoos that are magically bound to my skin and it now being paraded to everyone…" I admitted nervously. "Like, if I made the conscious decision, I might be embarrassed as shit but at least I could own up to it…I was black out drunk when that happened…"
"True, but at least now people know that the people you got those Tattoos for aren't to be messed with." She said. I gave her a raised brow. "You have a many millions bounty on your head and the names of two of your lovers are listed very clearly. If a bounty Hunter came after you, it's clear they would consider Delilah and whoever Three is since anyone who fucks you, and that you consider those down there their property, they probably won't want to mess with them."
Well… Delilah has gotten really strong and her Ability makes her constantly able to rejoin a fight… and Three is… Three…
I hate that she has a point.
"How dare you have a point." I said, though there was no malice in my tone as I pouted at that.
"Heh. I'm used to having hard headed older brothers. Trust me, I know how to calm someone down. You might have nice tits, hips for days and an ass that won't quit but you are still very much a male mentally." She chuckled.
"And from one of my tattoo's I am still very much male…just annoyed that this Nokori form made everything…bigger…" I grumbled, cause while I do enjoy bigger the amount of jiggles and having to go up an entire clothing size, plus not being able to wear half of my favorite clothes was a pain in the ass. "Seriously, can't wear half of my favorite clothes now…"
"Why not get some custom tailored? Your thighs, part of your body here and there and chest are still all flesh. Mostly. Might be tricky but I bet you can get something custom made to cover those tattoos if you're that embarrassed by them."
We arrived at the town's only Tattoo Parlor. We walked inside where a being made from clockwork gears and springs sat at a desk reading a book. They looked up, their lightbulb looking eyes with small shadow pupils somehow widening as they saw me. "Oh, it's you again." He said.
"This is technically our first meeting cause I was so black out drunk I don't remember what happened." I said carefully. "It's nice to officially meet you sir."
"Heh, well it's nice to speak to you without having to decipher your slurred speech." He chuckled. "So, I take it you're unhappy with the Tattoos?"
"Yes, and I want to know if you know why in Mother's name I did such a thing."
"Well, you and that Sheep Man thing came in here, laughing like loons, and after a moment you realized you wanted a Tattoo, then jumped yourself on the chair back there and said 'I want to give my Man and Woman something fun next time I fuck 'em'. And that is a direct quote. You then spent a few minutes writing down some things and finally settled on saying you wanted to have one leg say 'Property of Three' and an arrow pointing towards your female parts, and the other day 'Property of Delilah' with an arrow pointing towards your male parts. You then paid me almost three times what I charge and asked if I had ink that won't easily be damaged or will respawn with you and I did and you said 'I'll take that shit' then chugged from a bottle of Apple Whiskey you had with you."
"Wow. Drunk you has zero fucks to give." Luna said.
"Why~!" I groaned loudly as I put my face in my hands. "Ugh…okay…did Saw get something?"
"He looked like he was gonna once you were done but you picked him up like a sack of potatoes and then walked out singing an off-key take of the Pokemon Theme Song." He said. "I do have some good news for ya. The magic in the ink in that tattoo don't last forever. It wears away over time and once it's gone that's just a normal tattoo you can burn or rip out."
"Oh thank Mother…while it might be something to show Three whenever the hell he gets back I'm…not pleased that I got these while Drunk…" I said carefully.
"So, how long does it last?" Luna asked.
"A hundred years." The synthetic man said.
I facepalmed. "Of course…"
"Oh, and due to wording, you would have gotten these tattoos if you weren't drunk?" Luna asked me real quick, which made me turn red again.
"I would have made a more informed choice in the matter." I tried to defend myself here.
"Heh. So, know where this drunk went after?" Luna asked the clockwork tattoo artist.
"Think you headed towards the movie theater." He said.
"Thank you sir." I nodded. "Let's hope we didn't destroy the Movie Theater…I like that place…" I muttered, having spent a few dates there with many of my significant others.
Luna kept following, soon we were at the Theater where- "Woah there bird brain." I was stopped by a tall, slender female humanoid fox. Her uniform had the same name as the theater and her name tag read 'Ashley'. "Heh, boss says you are not allowed back in."
"Ah what the hell did my drunk ass do now! I love this place." I frowned.
"Well, and this is from my boss, he said that last night you came after ten. After ten we switch to a more… mature film showings. You walked up here, drunk singing the Pokemon Theme Song, dropped your Sheep friend like a log. He then groaned and while you were inside he was out here with one of my co-workers helping him vomit some. Meanwhile inside you bought tickets for 'King's Queen, The Breeding of Royalty'."
"You bought tickets for a porno!" Luna laughed.
"Oh…oh please tell me I didn't do what I think my drunk self did…" I groaned loudly.
"Well, according to the boss you mostly just watched maybe half an hour of the movie, made quite the stain in the seat you were in. Both to the chair and the back of the chair you were in front of. Co-worker said you stole the show from the film, you then left the show, smashed the candy display shelf, ate five bars of caramel chocolate, saw an All Might arcade cabinet in the arcade area and then blew that up shouting 'I am a hero you old dementia riddled bastard' then walked back outside, grabbed your sheep friend and walked off towards the harbor."
"Oh my god I am so sorry about that." I said in pure embarrassment. "How much does it cost for the broken All Might Cabinet and…the clean up?" I asked, cause while I am still upset at All Might…that was probably a limited All Might Arcade Cabinet! How fucking dare I destroy it!
"We dunno. Boss bought it on the cheap side from Greed for like, fifty rem? He was just buying stuff to fill that area. You don't really owe anything but I guess come back later when the boss is here cause she's the one you'll want to hash out details with."
I sighed. "Alright, I understand." I nodded. "Again I'm really sorry, I was…as you could have seen, completely black out drunk." I said carefully.
"Yeah, we got a lot of drunks like that. Some cause a scene but your whole exploding the arcade thing is why boss banned you. But like I said, talk with her later when she clocks in to hash out details and maybe get back into the theater if you're lucky."
"Alright." I nodded. "Then you said I dragged Saw off to the harbor?"
"Yup." She nodded.
"Can't wait to see what problems I caused there." I rolled my eyes. "But what time would your boss be in?" I asked.
"Usually by seven."
I checked the time real quick to see if I could head to the Harbor and had enough time to see the boss cause I really needed to apologize.
I had more than enough time. I gave the lady a quick bow and another apology then booked it to the harbor with Luna following still.
We arrived at the harbor, one of Luna's builds here that was mostly full of some remade boats and some fishing piers for the people. The first thing I noticed was the giant stone middle finger flipping off the ocean.
The second was the stone statue of what I think was supposed to be a person using that finger like a pole.
"Well… I didn't make that…" Luna said, looking up at it.
"Okay…that either means my Creation abilities are in such an asinine degree that my drunk self figured it out…or I can somehow transmute matter on the molecular level which…with my powers of All for One and One for All and my new Divinity…oh no…" I trailed off in a mild panic at realizing how much bullshit I can do now. "Okay…so someone has to be here to help explain this nonsense…"
"That would be me." I jumped, turning and seeing the nearby rocks move and become humanoid and open some rather organic looking eyes. "Hi."
"Wow… So, what did Midoriya do?" Luna asked.
"Oh well he came by here late in the night, he and Saw singing sea shanties. They then sat down right next to me, and talked about life, people they hated and stuff they went through, had a good cry, then Midoriya here stood up, shouted some profanities, declared they're gonna kill gods who would dare stand in their way, stomped on the ground, then there was this huge tornado of green fire that erupted from the ground, and then that thing was there. Looked like some Molecular transmutation and reshaping. Likely taking enough energy on par with a sun."
… Holy crap I can do that separate from my Divinity and Creation because of the Phoenix!?
"Oh…oh dear…I was afraid of that." I said worriedly. "Okay…so I'm glad to know I didn't accidentally blow up some of the harbor and yes I…am fuzed with a Sun Phoenix."
"I figured." The rock man said.
"Right. So, where did you see him go next?" Luna asked.
"Hm, Saw said 'Let's go fuck up Nexus' and Midoriya said 'Fuck yeah' and then you picked him up by the coller and flew right towards the exit."
"Huh. Well, from there how you got into that Facility and all that runs cold. No one outside this place could have witnessed you go there."
"But that doesn't make any sense either cause there's no way in hell our drunk asses could have found that Nexus pit stop." I pointed out.
"Maybe you just got lucky?" Luna shrugged. "Some things we might never have the answers to."
"I mean…fair but still…" I sighed. "Hate how this all started cause I got drunk…" I frowned. "It's the fact I got drunk is what get's me…"
"It happens to everyone, let it go." Luna chuckled as we began walking back to the town proper.
"Right…so I went to a tattoo parlor and have a hundred year long magic tattoo's…I need to apologize to the Movie Theater's boss and try to figure something out…I can do Molecular Transmutation with my Phoenix powers…" I groaned. "Alright…so I have a lot to think about and need to cut back the drinking…"
"Or gain a better alcohol tolerance." Luna offered. "Either way, this was fun."
"Well, things have been going well." Saw said as we were reaching another town here in The Nightmare.
It's been some months since Saw and I started taking out Nexus bases using their own logs and records to find more and turning them into Outposts. Some have been harder than other. It seems like Nexus has two things, Numbers, and Supply. They have a lot of manpower and a lot of supplies, but not many who are very powerful. Sure, some have good gear that gave us a few close calls, but they're still weak and easily taken out.
With all these supplies and fortifications and additions and weapons, we've been busy. Still, I noticed that for Township to upgrade the Planet Room, I need a minimum population of one million. Currently even with all these former Nexus grunts I've turned into infants that the Breeders and even my own mates have been helping tend to, we are lacking the numbers for that by… a lot… not to mention there aren't enough people around to actually care for these new infants. Each base I end up turning anywhere from thirty to fifty.
"Yes, things have been going well so far." I admitted, going through all my skill trees and even new race skill trees as over the month's I've been gaining new races and racial traits from Genetic Lottery, ranging from the ordinary of gaining Photosynthesis from the Dryad race, or Echo Location from Bats, to the more out there like being able to shift into the Etherial Plane due to Force Dragon, able to do Sky Control due to Cloud Giants, and then there was this new creature I've never heard of, the Nobody race, where it gives me complete access to the power of Nothingness which that's a whole new can of worms I need to figure out…though on the plus side it does give Sharp Shooter's a boost and now I was currently trying to figure out what to grab from the tens of thousands of skill points I obtained from all those raids and Memory Stealer… "So many new choices, so many skill points…and while I can still follow my build guideline there's all these new racial trees that give me some really good shit…especially the Nobody Tree…"
"Too bad you can't take those forms anymore." Saw added. "I mean, at least you can use them but still, sucks you lost what was essentially a shapeshifting ability."
"Yeah that's kinda bullshit, as when I looked at Genetic Lottery it said I was no longer able to obtain Shapeshifter abilities either…I don't know why I can't shapeshift because this is a Soul thing, not a biology thing…"
"From what I know about it, Nokori bodies are kind of like, a reflection of the alterations to the soul that happen during the fusion process. I don't know much other than that Magic comes from the soul and some other magic and science and ugh… just trying to remember gave me a headache…" Saw huffed. "So, think this new town will be open to joining ours?"
"Hopefully, cause if they learn that we've been raiding Nexus bases and have our own 'safe zone' technically, they'll either be open for negotiations or downright begging for our aid like the Darkness Town that's connected to our town."
"Yeah. That reminds me, we should consider exploring that place more too. It's still part of Armageddon and The Nightmare." Saw added.
"And then there's the Ethereal Plane, which the brief stint I had there when I first got the ability it's basically where all the 'Etheric' races are, like Ghosts, Force Creatures and other things like that reside…scared the crap out of a poor couple just minding their own business." I admitted. "New layers of Reality and so much more to explore…already this huge as shit planet just got more huge…"
"Heh, all that exists here but apparently alternate Timelines are where they draw the line." Saw chuckled. "Kinda funny when you think about it."
"Yeah…that is a little weird when you think about it." I admitted. "I…think I remember hearing that 'There are no Timelines' line from somewhere but…I don't remember where."
"Huh. That is odd. Well, whatever the case, I guess in the end it's less work for us… since we apparently always have a mountain ton crapload…" Saw sighed.
The part of the Nightmare we were in right now was called The Decayed. While The Nightmare was the name of the zone, it has various little segments, each named, or so my new Hunter Shadow parts tell me. The Decay was home to various types of nightmarish undead enemies, ghosts, and stuff that looked like it crawled out of a flooded sewer.
Saw had a blast hacking apart Zombies. I just wish he didn't accidentally soak me in blood when he started.
Still, that was some days ago now. I could see the familiar signs of a town ahead. A wall built high using metals and such in the area the locals collected, a gate, guards, the works.
Saw and I were met halfway to the gate by a guard. "Which Guild do you come from?" The guard asked me.
"...Well…I am a Mother's Daughter now that I remember it…" I admitted.
"Heh, sure. Bring up your Guild Listings." The guard said. I did, letting my Assistant display that info on a floating screen. There was Heroes, Mother's Daughters, and Isekai. "Huh… Well I'll be damned. You don't look like what they say the Mother's Daughters look like though, but I guess that's better to hide from Violence and Nexus." He shrugged.
"My wanted poster probably won't help…" I thought to myself. "We'd like to meet the leader of this town please, I have a rather important offer for them."
"Well, we don't really have one leader per say. We have a council of representatives for the three main districts." He said.
"Wow. Democratic?" Saw asked.
"No, representatives are selected via contests their districts hold. Winner becomes the new representative."
"Huh… Well, good as any other system I guess." Saw shrugged.
"Better than nothing." I shrugged. "So may we pass to meet your council?"
"Well, so long as you aren't gonna cause trouble you're allowed in, council, you'll have to see about making an appointment with them." The guard said.
"Fair enough." I nodded. "Thank you, and we'll be on our best behavior."
We followed the guard and were let inside. It was rather populated. I noticed there was a lot more beasteal and anthro beings here than in the last town.
As we walked we learned that the three main Districts were the Agricultural District, the Security District, and the Residential District.
I felt an elbow hit my hip, and looked down to see Saw was the culprit. "Hey… isn't that your brawling baby mamma?"
I blinked, then looked where he was looking and… holy crap that's Kelly! And she's… looking round…
"Kelly?" I asked, walking over to the doggo.
"Huh?" She said, then looking at me. "Holy crap, Greenie? That you? The actual fuck happen to you?"
"I got jumped…by the Nokori God and turned into this…"
"Ah. Alright." She said, then went back to the box she was going through.
"I'm…surprised that's your reaction." I started. "But I see things are coming along well?"
"Yeah, aside a constant craving for fried pork, it's alright." She said, pulling out what looked like some machine part from the box and looking it over.
"That's good." I nodded. "Have things been going well besides the pregnancy?" I inquired.
"Yeah. Making sales, getting stuff, selling more, usual merchant crap." She said as she handed the seller some rem for the part and put it away in her Assistant. "So, what do you want a blowjob or something?"
I turned red. Saw snickered a bit.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing and if everything was alright…and also yes, that also got bigger because of my Nokori transformation." I admitted.
"... Well damn, about time you grew some balls." She laughed. "You look more… relaxed to. Less high strung and like an edgy bitch. I mean, with that look you got you still look like an edgy bitch but more of a cosmetic thing."
"I mean…that's what happens when you fuse with a Sun Phoenix, a Shadow Hunter, Keyblade Armor and Darkness armor all at the same time." I admitted. "But…I've had enough venting on my personal life and other…things over the past five months…" I got a tinge of red at how I basically iron manned my entire harem army and…then did the crater level fucking with Delilah…"It's…been a massive thing."
"Even soundproofing didn't last long with how loud this bitch was." Saw admitted as I blushed brighter at that.
"Ha! Nice. And how have you been Saw? How's Scotch?" Kelly asked.
"Good. Moving in was different, but we're happy. Midoriya was able to give Scotch some access to his special ability and add that with a special book, He's been very excited with all he can now craft and make, especially after Midoriya and I have been taking out some Nexus pit stops and taking their stuff for our town."
"... Holy shit…" Kelly blinked.
"Yes, a lot has happened in the past five months." I admitted. "And who knew Nexus has a massive hoarding problem."
"Anyone who's lived here and traveled." Kelly said. "Huh… well I'll be damned… And this all keeps your main settlement safe?"
"As…far as I know, Nexus doesn't know where I am or the settlement is, either because Saw murder's any stragglers and I use Second Chance and Memory Stealer on those I get to…I also believe the Saint has been keeping our settlement hidden as well but I'm not a hundred percent sure."
"Huh… Well fuck you're actually doing well for yourself with this crazy goal of yours."
"Yes, and it's going great…even with a population problem being constantly inundated with infants…" I sighed.
"Hmm…" Kelly hummed. "Second Chance turns the target into an infant, and Memory Stealer rips away all the targets Abilities, Skill Points and erases their memories… but you need more willing people to take care of this huge ass influx of them…"
"You thinking of something that can help?" Saw asked.
"Maybe… Stop by my RV later tonight. I'm parked in the Residential District in lot nine." She said, then quickly headed off.
"Wow. Support from her. Guess things are going well for us." Saw chuckled.
I blinked. "Huh…it is surprising, but this is some good surprises." I admitted.
Saw and I managed to find the council office thanks to some signs that pointed the way. I spoke to someone that said that given I am a member of the Mother's Daughters that they could make room for me tomorrow morning.
So, Saw and I killed some time looking around the town, and when Night came around we found Kelly's RV. It looked like the really old fashioned RV's you'd see in comics or cartoons. I knocked on the door, Kelly opened it and quickly let Saw and I inside.
Inside the RV almost reminded me of the house, with how much bigger it was inside. There was the entrance/livingroom, Kitchen, hallways leading elsewhere.
"Sit." She said, motioning to her couch.
Saw and I obliged.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" I inquired.
"Your issue with needing people to care for all these infants you're… saving, for lack of a better word, I might know a way that can help you get the… Mothers you need and also take a blow to Lust." Kelly explained.
"Are we going to be raiding a Lust facility or something?" I inquired.
"Not just a normal Lust facility. It's one of their Manufacturing Plants. They make their Breeders there. Well, at least some of them."
"Now that is something more interesting." I said. "Though this is a Named Guild's main facility, not Pit Stops so this'll probably be a pain in the ass to do."
"The area it's in isn't sunshine and rainbows either." Kelly sighed.
"And how do you know this place and it's location?" Saw asked.
"Scotch told you about me, that I used to be a slave? Well the guy who owned me would do cargo trips there, working as transportation for Lust to bring their products to Greed Markets and their pop up locations."
"Yeah, that makes sense." I nodded. "So what's the area like?"
"It's still within the Nightmare. The area is called Moon's Wrath. It's notorious for always being night, always having Moonlight boosted monsters, and people who go there say the area can cause hallucinations that after so much time become real and will attack you."
"Gee… that sounds fun…" Saw sighed.
"I hated going there back when I was a slave but I didn't have a choice. After I was let go I swore I'd never go back there." Kelly sighed.
"And in a Sunless realm, a Sun will finally rise." I said. "How do we get there?" I inquired.
"I can mark it on your Assistant." She said, tapping her Assistant against mine and I got the notification that the Location Data had been received. "Look… Midoriya, I don't like you romantically. You're a good fuck, but if you can pull this off, take that place out and make it back from Moon's Wrath, I'll settle in your town and you can see your kid whenever."
"Well…that's better than I expected, and we still be friends with benefits if that works for ya." I admitted.
"Heh, sure."
"So, why the change of mind?" Saw asked.
"Because I've seen a lot of towns, settlements, one day they are doing well, the next they're wiped off the map. It isn't safe to settle anywhere, that's what my life has taught me… but you pull this off… then you'll prove me wrong." Kelly explained.
"And that's one of the few things I am happy to prove wrong." I admitted. "Proving that life can change for the better in this insane world…"
"Save the speech you're making the baby kick in annoyance." Kelly cut me off, chuckling.
"Oh…can I feel?" I asked, wanting to feel my child kick.
"Oh… uh, sure. Never had that asked of me before." She said.
I reached a hand down, putting it on her belly. The fur felt thin, and then I felt it. A small kick, a light thump that didn't even show from the outside but it happened. Baby kicked.
I smiled, my heart filling with joy at feeling my child's kick. "They're going to grow up strong, just like their mother." I chuckled.
"Damn straight." Kelly laughed. "Ultrasound from the med bay says they're gonna be a boy. Thinking of naming him Whiskey."
"Gonna keep the alcohol theme with names?" I inquired.
"That's the plan." She grinned.
"So, the plan is to take this place out and… take the Breeders?" Saw asked.
"Well, any that are there yes but this isn't the same as a Conversion Production Facility. This is a facility where they grow Den Mothers of various species from cells, I hear these machines can grow a Den Mother of any available genetic samples, so any species, from cells to an adult body within a week. From there I believe they receive the Code Programming at a different facility. But I do know they give them some brain washing by directly inputting information into their minds. It's not code but a freshly alive being with no knowledge of anything suddenly receiving information will follow it, I think if you can take those machines and the brainwasher you can basically populate your town with an army of mothers willing to care for all these people you're trying to save and such."
"That makes sense." I nodded. "But…literally vat growing Breeders? I mean…it's better than turning people into Breeders but…still feels weird."
"Not really. They're brought into the world and their whole existence is to just… get fucked, birth kids, care for kids, repeat…" Saw said.
"It's what Lust does. I do also know for a fact their brothels take the babies the Den Mothers have and if they're male, send them to Violence, and Lust takes the females and makes more Breeders." Kelly sighed. "Either way, if they come from Lust, they have no choice, their fate is sealed… at least, until you or someone like you can change that."
"And I'm going to change it." I said readily. "With some help of course."
"You already know I'm in. I plan on taking this whole thing very personally…" Saw said.
"Right, you're a Nokori. Guess you would also have beef with Violence and their Y Labs division then?" Kelly asked.
"Nokori God douchebag did that to Midoriya and I… have a personal vendetta against the fucker…" Saw nodded.
"Yeah…a lot of things are happening all at once, but at least we're able to handle it." I nodded. "And we'll deal with that rat bastard Doctor."
"Heh, well, good to know you guys have a hitlist. You two can spend the night, I got some spare rooms here so feel free to pick one. And Midoriya, if you slip into my room trying to either get frisky or be romantic, just a heads up I keep a fifty cal under my pillow and it's loaded with enchanted Monofilament bullets so it will hurt."
"So no cuddles." I raised my hands defensively. "Wouldn't be the worst thing I've been hit by but still."
"Heh, well, let's get some sleep then. You have a meeting with these leaders tomorrow and for this job I think it's best we try and bring The Saint with us." Saw said.
"Yeah, getting the Saint would make this job a whole lot easier, plus he would understand the tech we're trying to take as well."
The next morning came and Saw and I quickly headed out, making the meeting with the Leaders. It was interesting. They eventually agreed, only after hearing about the various Nexus locations we've taken out and all the resources we've gathered. Plus the portals.
With that done, I set up the Outpost, this town and everyone here added to the Township, and everyone got to work fortifying and sharing supplies and such.
I went out and found the Saint, who seemed to be enjoying a meal out in one of the parks Luna made.
"I see you're enjoying a nice picnic." I commented. "And…I want to ask for your help with taking down a Lust Manufacturing Plant."
"Hm? The one in Moon's Wrath? Hmm… That does sound possible if we all worked in a group."
"Yes, the one in Moon's Wrath…if we can take that down, it's a big step in shoving it to the Chaos Guilds…oh and uh…I wanted to ask, how has Nexus or the like not found or location yet?" I asked carefully. "Cause…from what I believe, the Game master here could just…hand them our location and there's not much we can do about it…"
"Part of it is because our main town is hidden within a planet room. It's similar to their own bases and hide outs. Easily hidden, less obvious. Actually, almost entirely hidden like this is thanks to the Planet Rooms. Pocket Dimensions held together by magic can be detected, but the Planet Rooms and Special Expanding Technologies fueled by Elemental Gem engines, much trickier to detect because the engine shields itself within a pocket dimension."
"Okay that is really good to know." I sighed out thankfully. "But want to help us take out the Lust facility?"
"I shall." The Saint said. "I've never taken out a Lust Production Facility before. This will be interesting."
I nodded. "Thank you, and considering how strong I've gotten both from…my Nokori form and all the Skill points I've gotten getting so many new skills and boosting already existing ones…oh actually, I just…thought of something, does Jaku…look like me right now?" I asked. "Cause Jaku might…technically be apart of my Soul so he should have also become Nokori…"
"Yes but he's not a hermaphrodite. Where I to wager a guess this happened because while he now has his own Heart, you two must still be sharing a soul."
"Well…I suppose that makes sense, he is the physical manifestation of All for One, he would be at minimum like me on a genetic level…hmm, this is getting a tad more complicated…"
"Many things in this world are, and too few ever try and discover these truths. Ignorance is bliss, as they say."
"Well, I'm willing to learn." I admitted. "Cause what others might take for granted, I could use to help the cause…I mean, I'm going to be traveling the Ethereal Plane and figuring out what Nothingness really does so I might as well learn some of the truth's of this reality."
"I see. That will take a long time." The Saint said. "But, if what I imagine you will be doing during this attack is true, I suppose you will need it in the end."
I nodded. "Knowledge is Power after all, and sadly…Nexus have a lot more Knowledge than the vast majority."
"They are the oldest Chaos Guild in reality."
"As I have heard." I nodded. "Also…what is the Nobody race? I thought Nobodies were a creature type made of Nothingness?" I asked, remembering some of Tomura trying to explain whatever the hell Kingdom Hearts was.
"... What do you know of Hearts and the Soul, Midoriya?" The Saint asked me as he took a bite of his meal.
"Not as much as I really should, especially given part of the journey I'm on to get Izukie's Soul back and…the fact you brought my Mom back to life…" I explained sheepishly.
"Hearts are… special. They are the manifestation of ones memories, and the emotions attached to them. Positive and negative, light and dark." He started. "If one lives a dark, hard life then one will usually have a very darkness aligned heart. Usually. This is not always the case, as some can have a Heart more aligned to the Light, and in some rare cases, the Heart can be balanced with it's Light and Darkness, taking all their pain and misery in equal with their happiness and joy."
So… that's why mine is so… Darkness affiliated…
"Well…I suppose that's why I'm so filled with Darkness…" I sighed.
"Yes." The Saint nodded. "This doesn't mean that one with a heart of Darkness, be it majority or pure darkness, can't be kind, or caring. Nor does it mean one with a heart of Light can't be cruel or evil. Their Light and Darkness is based entirely on their emotions, and the memories attached to these emotions. This is why Memory Stealer is such a deadly, sought after weapon by those looking to establish power. It erases their memories, the light and darkness within them, returning the Heart to an infant-like state. Which is why I gave you Second Chance."
I nodded. "Which is a great thing to have and it'll help solve so many problems."
"I know. Now then, what do you know about Souls?"
"Again…less than I probably should, but I believe a Soul should be the culmination of a Being's Existence, a reflection of their physical form like how my Nokori body is…which the whole Nokori thing throw's what I knew out the window…"
"I suppose all count." The Saint said, taking another bite of his meal, then taking a drink before speaking again. "Truth is, souls are interesting. One can create one if they have the magic and the know how, or the right Primal Energies. A soul can hold memories, like the Heart, but the Soul can forget, or maybe suppress these memories. If someone's Echo was to inhabit a new body, with the same Heart and a different Soul, but is the same genetically, their Skill Trees are actually reset."
"Wait…that…sounds kind of like what's happening between me and Izukie…" I pointed out.
"Yes. You and Izukie both share what is known as an Origin ID. This is used to identify where in the old reality from before the War a person came from, their reality, planet, ect. It's mostly just used for how the Assistant can tell two Reflections of people apart. In your case, taking Izukie's quirk when you share an Origin ID with her, the system thought for a moment you were her, hence your change in appearance. But, you are still you, an independent being not her. So, the system fell back on a failsafe, and locked you out of all but the basics of Izukie's powers, since you do not have her soul. In a way, you are like a Reborn Echo, but also not. Now tell me, why do you think that not having the soul is enough to reset ones skill trees all the way to the basics of a person's existence?"
I scratched my chin in thought…"I…suppose because she's not 'fully there' it's not sure how to work, the full 'essence' of her being can't be registered so it just kind of goes to a middle ground?"
"Perhaps. When an Echo gains a new body, a new Heart and a New Soul, their Origin ID is different. If they are in a body that is genetically the same as their prior one, and even the same Heart, the ID looks far more similar, but still different. You need to remember that all things in this world come from The Machine, made from the building Blocks we know as Code. So, tell me, what happens when fragmented code in a program tries to execute something when it's got holes in it?"
"It would either corrupt, not run or just take a wild guess with the information it has." I said.
"In other words, a glitch." The Saint nodded. "To prevent this, this reality has failsafes in place, filling in the empty or missing code fragments and treating what would otherwise be an error, as a new entity with basic functionality. So tell me, since you and Izukie are more or less the same in every way, what do you think will happen when you do reclaim her soul?"
"Uh…I don't know and that kind of scares me." I said nervously.
"Neither do I." The Saint said. "It's gonna be interesting. Perhaps even a first for this reality."
"Let's hope it doesn't cause some catastrophic event…" I admitted nervously.
"I doubt it."
"And I hope you're right in that doubt." I nodded.
"If The Mother didn't want such a thing to happen, then you would never have been able to receive her Heart."
"Well…I guess that's fair." I nodded. "Still…so much to learn…"
"There is always something to learn. Something to grow and something to improve." The Saint said. "How is up to you."
I nodded. "And I'll use it for the betterment of this reality."
"Very well. When are we heading out?"
"As soon as we can I suppose, need to prepare, I need to put all my skill points in the proper spots to give myself the best chance of fighting…oh dear I forgot to plan…" I grumbled, feeling my wing's start to flutter as a mutter storm was about to come on.
"Hm." The Saint nodded, then I noticed them smile. "I would go see your mother before you head off."
"Yeah…I'm gonna have to see her before I go and some others." I nodded. "Thanks, I was so preoccupied with all the work that…I forgot to talk to mom about this dangerous mission."
"She has a surprise for you when you see her. It's gotten her very excited."
"That could mean a lot of things." I admitted, as my mind went to the most reasonable of her somehow getting really strong powers…and the most outlandish of her and Saint are dating. "But I'll head off to see what she's excited about."
"Take care then." The Saint nodded.
I headed off, finding mom at the House holding one of her many grandchildren. My latest newborn with Poppy, Gabby. She was like her siblings, my green hair, her mom's cat ears and tail. Her eyes though were a pinkish red color, and her skin tone was a light shade or orange.
"Hey Mom, hey Gabby." I said with a warm smile. "How you doing?"
"I'm good. Heh, still can't believe you fathered so many children… heh… and once upon a time I worried you'd never find someone special given…" She sighed. "Can't believe Rin is here too. Her parents were devastated when she vanished…"
"Yeah…it's all definitely something." I said honestly. "So the Saint mentioned you had an exciting surprise for me?" I asked.
"Oh yeah! Earlier last night I got this neat thing called a Title, and it came with four neat abilities!" Mom smiled.
"What kind of title and abilities?" I inquired.
"It's called Perfect Custodian, and it gave me four Legendary Abilities. Final Thanks, Super Nanny, Who's A Good Boy/Girl, and As The Twig is Bent So Grows The Tree." Mom said.
… FOUR?!
"What do you mean four legendary abilities?" I asked in shock. "How does a Title give you so many legendary abilities?"
"I dunno. I asked The Saint about it and he Said Titles can bestow abilities to the people who earn them and that some abilities are linked directly to Titles, so they don't appear on the Skill Trees unless you actually have the Title they are bound to." Mom said. "But now I can use a Trigger Phrase to take people under my Custody. I get to give them a hefty stats boost and it makes getting Skill Points for you all much easier. I already took Sam, Dean and Luna under the Custody and they felt the differences instantly."
"And…what's the trigger phrase?" I asked.
Mom gave me a smile. "Love you kiddo."
"Love you to mom." I said with my own smile.
"And done!" Mom cheered. "You're now under my custody and you get a two hundred percent boost to all your stats."
"T-two hundred?" I asked incredulously, trying to keep my tone level and not shout so Gabby didn't fuss.
Mom nodded with a smile. "Yup."
"That's…wow…" I blinked. "Uh…okay, so what do the other abilities do?"
"Well, Final Thanks says that should anyone in my Custody die, I get their stats and abilities and such copied to me at double effectiveness for the two hours it takes them to respawn. Unless they are immortal, in that case I get them at face-value for thirty minutes."
"Well that seems…rather strong." I admitted.
Nodding, mom continued. "And then there is Super Nanny that let's people under my Custody gain Skill Points three times faster and I can apply healing magic, potions and other items to you all directly from my Assistant."
"Well that's really helpful." I nodded.
"Yeah. Then there is Who's A Good Boy/Girl. It says if I cheer someone in my Custody while they are in Combat, you'll get a temporary Double Boost to your stats, and it increases the boost by two for every five people that witness the cheer."
"That's cool." I nodded. "That way you can help out if you're apart of our group no matter what."
"Yup. And the last one, As The Twig is Bent so Grows The Tree, let's me see all your Skill Trees and apply Skill Points to any ability on them regardless if you are near that Ability or not and I can even see your Legendary Skill Tree. Those seem to take certain tasks or trials to complete in order to get though. Some are reasonable but others are really weird and random."
"Well, what's one reasonable and what's weird and random?" I inquired.
"Well, for this one called Amplify that boosts your Abilities power based on your total MP as a percentage, it says for you, you have to Eat something called a Devil's Fruit." Mom said. "And a crazy one… well, for this one called Generation… it uh… it says you have to Clear a Level four dungeon… naked while pregnant…"
… What in the fuck?!
"Okay so…I think I've heard of Devil Fruits before…but the second one is…so out of left field it doesn't make any sense…"
"Yeah, there are a lot of weird ones like that but that's what they say." Mom said. "But I did want to ask you something."
"What do you want to ask?"
"Well, you have a lot of extra Skill Points, I was wondering if I could use some to help power up Sam, Dean and Luna since they're the weakest and I can actually take Skill Points from people in my Custody and use them for others."
"Well, that's fair." I nodded. "I have more than enough skill points to share and can easily get more." I shrugged. "But…part of why I'm here is that I'm going to try and take down a dangerous Chaos Guild facility."
"Oh really? Is it… the place that made Poppy what she is?"
"No…it's a manufacturing plant…where they are making vat grown Breeders…" I said. "Then…just perpetuating the cycle more…"
"I see… almost like the Nomu back home…" Mom sighed.
"I…sadly wouldn't know that, but I can imagine." I said honestly.
"They were people once, but some bad people made them into weapons, altering their body and DNA and forcing quirks stolen from others into their bodies to create super soldiers." Mom explained.
"That…sounds like what Violence is doing…"
"Guess some things are a constant huh?" Mom said, sighing as she gently cradled Gabby closer to her. "A lot of people died back then… I'll be coming with you."
"Are you sure mom?" I asked. "I know the new title let's you cheer and double our strengths but…I don't want you to get hurt."
"... I spent to long not knowing what you've been going through. A long time even now, worrying about you because I have to work to get strong. This new title and such makes you all stronger but it doesn't affect me, but I don't care. I can grab some useful items from the Armory and such you took from Nexus to help myself, but from now on, I'm going to be there for you. You've been putting yourself in danger, you all have, for so long, so I'll put myself in danger to look after you. All of you. Someone has to look after all you kids. So, I'll be the one to do it."
I gently moved over and hugged mom. "Thank you mom…I'm sorry for…for so much…"
"It's alright sweetie… I'm here now. We're together again." She said, leaning into me.