January 19th, 2011 Collins Home, Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, 11:00 PM EST- SP:2000

Lucky could not, apparently, repair the drone. He had an innate understanding of futute tech, but it was just that, innate. He had no actual machinery knowledge, or he'd probably have cost way more. It was annoying but not unexpected, so I decided to do something I'd been needing to do for a long time anyway. I picked up a repair item.

It took me like two hours, but I finally tracked down the item I wanted. In an old manual for something called "Divinity: Original Sin", a game that seemed weirdly advanced for Earth Bet, and made me think maybe Aleph was further along the timeline than us or something.

Regardless of that possibility though, the book contained reference to a relatively low value (in game) tool called a 'Repair Hammer'. The repair hammer fixed items when you hit them with it. The item itself was pretty low level, and the cost seemed to be offset by the mechanics, which from what I could tell meant you had to hit more powerful things harder and more often to fix them, but that wouldn't be a problem for the current me.

[Sufficient point total! C-class repair item. Repair Hammer: An item made to restore lost durability from other items. Effects vary based on force and number of blows.]

That left me at only a thousand points, but it was worth it. This would help fix not only the drone, but my fucking BOOTS too, though I would save that repair session for later. For now, I looked up at my cat, who was in the process of preparing to create gems. "Set me up an EM field. This is going to get loud.

I hefted the repair hammer, a surprisingly large warhammer type item, and once I was sure that sound was taken care of, I smashed it into the drone. I felt…something. A twitch maybe? I hit it again. Another twitch. I hauled off, and with every ounce of strength in my ridiculously powerful body, I SMASHED the hammer into the robot. There was a rumble and the thing shook and upon asking Lucky, he confirmed some of the connectors in one of the arms had reattached.

Grinning, I hauled back again, and then swung. I didn't stop at one this time, I wailed on that thing, letting the heat build in my body as the Extremis inside me ramped up. I wasn't Lung or anything, but the hotter my body got the more completely I could tap its potential. I wasn't running at full blast all the time, thankfully.

The crash of the hammer became like a song, alternating with the beat of my heart and then joining with it as they both sped up. It felt fucking amazing, and I was so excited and entertained it took me a minute to notice the damned thing was completely repaired.

I was bummed to stop, but sadly there was no time to waste on this nonsense. I'd have more fun fixing the boots later, and then maybe some old cars at the junkyard. There was a lot of trash in the Bay, this Hammer could be an amazing purchase, at least combined with my physical upgrades.

Lucky, who had finished condensing his gems, meowed and floated lazily past, dramatically announcing his boredom and how slow I was. I flipped him off, and he meowed smugly, nodding his head to the three gems on the bed.

I read them all into the book to get an idea what they could do, and they were…kind of a mixed bag.

D-class story element incorporated. Cat Gem: All that Glitters. One hundred Silvertongue points gained.

D-class story element incorporated. Cat Gem: Catalysis. One hundred Silvertongue points gained.

D-class story element incorporated. Cat Gem: Sea of Rust. One hundred Silvertongue points gained.

Once they were part of my story, I got a much better idea of what they did. I wasn't sure if that was something I could always do or if it was because they came from Lucky, but I was going to look into it. If I could learn about things by reading them in that might be useful.

Still, I knew what they did, and while one of them was impressive, the other two were…mostly just pointless. First, All That Glitters. That gem undoubtedly came from eating lots of gold and gems. It made the surface of any object inset with the gem shiny and appealing. Basically it made any item you used it on seem buffed and polished to an absurd degree.

Second was Catalysis. That one had probably been made with whatever was left of the Catalytic converters. They let the object suppress its presence for a minute. Not invisibility, but just sort of…becoming beneath notice. That one was decent.

Sea of Rust was probably the one that was the hardest to pin down. It was MOSTLY useless, but potentially gamechanging too. Basically, it made the object in question more powerful when it was surrounded by scrap. The more scrap, the more power, though there were obviously limits with a D-class gem.

I glanced at my cat. "Didn't exactly put your back into these, huh?"

He hissed, meowing angrily, and I rolled my eyes. "Well fine, then we'll need to find you better materials I guess. These aren't BAD exactly. Except the gold one, that one is just shit. But the other two might be useful. Now, do me a solid and cut the face of this thing open. I need to insert the scroll."

I cut myself, writing my name out in blood on the item, and was intrigued to see my blood begin to glow on the scroll. Not like magic, like Extremis. I wondered if the golem would be stronger. Lucky slashed the face with his laser claws, and I dropped the scroll in before whacking it once with the repair hammer to fix up the cosmetic damage. While we waited, I pried out the three orbs in the face of the unit and replaced them with the gems, using the repair hammer to brute force them, both driving them in and repairing at the same time until they fit snugly and aesthetically.

As soon as the last gem entered the item, the golem scroll erupted, light flashing across the body. The previously normal metal began to shine and refract like crazy, light spilling from the gems in multiple colors.

Lucky meowed excitedly, and I nodded in shock. "You're right. That's…that's a Masterwork. Holy shit, how does that even happen? I guess Metal Knight is as good a designer as people say. What does that actually mean?"

In the book Lucky came from, there was a sort of hierarchy of crafting. Lucky's gems could bump things up it slightly to make Masterworks, unique items with a presence that made them more than the sum of their parts. It was sort of complicated, but apparently the gems, the scroll, the hammer, and the original design had been enough to push this…thing, up to the next level.

I couldn't just call it a thing though. Or a golem. I stared down at it solemnly. "I name you…Epsilon."

The gems flashed, and the golem lurched to its feet. It took a second but finally, it dropped to one knee and bowed its head. I was half expecting it to talk, but it didn't. Masterwork or not, golems weren't sentient. It would be good at following instructions, given its processor and hardware, but it had no soul.

Still, I wasn't going to mistreat my new buddy. "Welcome to the family, Epsilon." I told him with a grin, slapping him on the shoulder. "You can get up." He did, standing stock still in front of us, not moving at all. I sighed. "Lucky, can you like…show him the ropes or whatever?" My cat meowed at me. "No I do not think all machines LOOK THE SAME. You just know more about what he needs than I do. That is NOT racist! No, that's already a word, a machinist is someone who fixes machines."

I rolled my eyes at my drama queen cat. "Just handle it. Once you're done I can read him into the book. We don't have room for him to sleep here."

Lucky complained a bit more, but still did as he was told. I started to consider my options about getting him some new metal. I could read it out, but if I did that it would cost points every time. I wish I could read shit into the book from other places, then I'd GET points for finding new shit rather than lose them.

I thought about that. Why did I gain points reading things in here but had to spend them to read from other places. Based on the way the book worked, it had to be something literary. After considering it for a while and rereading the book up to this point for clues, I decided it was the setting that made the difference.

That seemed important. The book was incredibly internally consistent about these kinds of things. The only exception was the very first time I'd opened it. The Silvertongue system had addressed me directly. It had even answered a question, but from the first time I'd used it, and had become PART of the story, it had stopped responding. I'd tried several times to get more information from it, but not only did it not work, the book didn't even consider the attempts to be story worthy.

If the logic was consistent though, it implied some interesting things. I could read other people out of books, and read things INTO books. I could read people into MY book, but I'd only tried it on a dead person.

I picked up a book, focused on it, and flexed my will as I read the title aloud. "The Last Rune." I very carefully didn't focus hard enough to actually read anything in or out, just the kind of vague semi focus I used to check pricing on things by ALMOST reading them out. It was a trick I'd picked up almost instinctively early on, and it came in handy now.

[Insufficient point total! A-class world. Ten thousand points required to enter.]

I froze, staring at the message. That was…holy shit. That was big. I had no desire to abandon my mom or Kim or really this world now that I had my powers. But this was a way for me to gain large amounts of points and resources at the same time, and then bring them back here to massively improve my survivability and capabilities.

Based on the way the book worked, I could intuitively feel I'd still need to pay to bring any people I met back with me. But it seemed like entering a world was one rank cheaper just like reading a person out was one rank more expensive. It made a weird kind of sense, given the danger I'd probably face in there.

Part of me wanted to leave now. To grab a book and drop into another world and steal everything that wasn't nailed down. But I took a breath. I needed to wait. I didn't know how time passed in a book, and I needed to deal with this Coil bullshit.

Forcing myself to put away my books, I read Epsilon into the book. I'd introduce him to Shego tomorrow as a summon, and we could plan out how to use him. The golem scroll linked him to my blood, which meant the snowdrop should protect him from coil like it did me. I was really looking forward to seeing what he could do.

With all this craziness happening, I could hardly sleep as I lay down and closed my eyes. My heart was pounding like a war drum, and not just because of the still churning engine of my powers. My whole life had changed in an instant. Again. And I had a feeling this time things would be even more interesting.

January 20th, 2011 Abandoned construction site, Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, 11:00 PM EST- SP:1500

"Meow." Complained my cat as he floated next to me. I was invisible, as was Epsilon, courtesy of a loophole in my invisibility stone that treated 'items' on my person as part of me. I'd just had to suffer a small heart attack and die and then I woke up right as rain and completely invisible.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I trust your information. But there might be active traps you didn't set off because your stealth was too good. We need a trial run on Coil's base, and this serves the dual purpose of checking his defenses and distracting him. Metal Knight has a very distinctive engineering style, and until Epsilon is better known, anyone we hit is going to assume he's responsible."

He responded sulkily, and I sighed. "You're still playing an important role here. On the completely plausible chances that he gets scrapped, you get to drag him back here so I can repair him." I glared at my gluttonous feline. "And no snacking on Epsilon. I'll KNOW."

The first thing I'd wanted to do after getting Epsilon was call up Shego and invite her to raid Coil's base. Or just go with Epsilon and Lucky. Both options however, left me feeling…off. I knew that Lucky had mapped Coil's base, but something about the direct approach seemed too easy. I'd debated sending the monkeys, but they would probably just die.

Epsilon solved all my problems. His golem scroll gave him protection from Thinkers through my blood (the Snowdrop counted him as part of me) and he could be easily repaired with the hammer. Not to mention he was sturdier by far now, the Masterwork transformation elevating every part of him qualitatively.

So I'd come up with this genius plan. I'd have him attack Coil's base, with Lucky providing silent backup. The appearance of a "Metal Knight" variant robot that Coil's Thinker mojo bounced off of would cause him to focus on that asshole for a while and hopefully give me more time to get shit ready, and I got to do a dry run through Coil's security with a metallic and not me body that could be easily repaired.

"The only question is how to watch." I mused. Lucky meowed at me. I turned to stare at him incredulously. "What do you mean you can project images from remote accessing cameras?" He turned and looked at the wall, light spilling from behind his eyes and forming a screen on the flat surface of the building next to us. "Well that would have been useful to know." He meowed in annoyance. "Oh, well I guess we didn't have a camera to use before. Fair enough."

I turned to my badass shiny robot. "Alright Epsilon. I want you to break into the underground base down there and try to find…" I turned to Lucky. "Did you happen to SEE Coil when you were down there? Because I have no clue what that dude looks like." He paused, then shook his head, and I sighed. Right, because that would be too easy. "Try to find something valuable and steal it." I finished lamely.

There wasn't much chance of that working, but I had to at least put it out there. If I wasn't worried about Coil I could send the monkeys in to clean the place out, but this couldn't link back to Vagabond. Epsilon would stay under wraps after this until we managed to take Coil down.

With the plan being mostly to "get as deep as possible" I sent Epsilon ahead. With Lucky leaving, I had no way to watch the screen, but luckily he could broadcast as well as pick up. I talked him through bluetooth connecting to my phone, and once we got past his derision at the antiquated technological mode of communication I was able to watch their progress through my phone screen.

So, still invisible (and the stone made me REALLY invisible, like thermal proof and shit) I sat down on a girder and started watching my phone to see how the test run went.

Epsilon was a Metal Knight unit, which meant he could fly. He had rocket jets and while they were cool, they were also loud and obvious. Lucky (somehow steering him remotely) convinced the robot to walk, and as the two of them approached the entrance, they stopped just far enough away to see the door leading down into the bunker.

Rolling my eyes, I reached for my connection to Lucky, shooting him a hurry up through our bond. There was a brief pause and then Epsilon launched an attach at the doorway, literally shooting rockets at the thing.

The rockets smashed into some sort of force field, but it cracked under the explosions. The launchers on his back reloaded with a nearly silent click, and he advanced, slowly prowling toward the door.

A pair of men ran out through the smoke, snarling at Epsilon to stand down as they raised a pair of assault rifles. Epsilon did not, obviously, he just kept walking. I had Lucky let him know to attack them back as the bullets pinged off his shell. There was a pause and he lifted his arms, gun mounts emerging from the wrists as he fired back.

Bullets punched into the limbs of the two guards and they dropped, screaming. I had Lucky leave them alive.

As Vagabond, killing them probably would have been faster, but it also meant less of a mess for Coil to clean up. He'd either need to kill them himself and waste the time disposing of the bodies or waste money on medical care. Either way was a win for me.

This was awesome, it was like piloting an ACTUAL drone. Except Lucky was doing the hard part, all I had to do was think it and watch. Epsilon stepped into the corridor, eyes (or I guess face gem orbs?) roving over the hallway. I let Lucky know to record this if he wasn't already (he was) and then spurred them onwards to battle.

The first few corridors were pretty easily passed. Lucky had found the traps on his last run through, so Epsilon took out the turrets easily enough. But in the fourth, he stumbled on the first active defensive measure. Claymores.

No, not the medieval swords, the anti personnel mines, they were on a laser tripwire Lucky had missed because the damned thing was so low tech. Epsilon took a claymore point blank to the face, and the ball bearings tore into his head, luckily not damaging the gems.

The scroll was gone, having become part of Epsilon when he'd become a golem. The Masterwork enhancement had made it even more thoroughly a part of his makeup too, so there was no chance of losing it. But if he was ever totally destroyed it would be gone. I winced as the shrapnel from the claymore tore through Epsilon, and as he came around the corner, a fucking bouncing betty leapt up from a hole in the ground at ANOTHER tripwire and burst, tearing him apart.

Lucky swept down, phasing out with the pile of scrap and fleeing from the bunker. When he arrived back I read my robot back into the book and sent my cat back in to watch the spot where things had gone down, broadcasting to my phone directly.

After about fifteen minutes, a troupe of armed guards arrived, sweeping the hallways, and when they confirmed their emptiness, a man stepped from the darkness. A man in a fullbody black suit, the only relief a trailing white snake wrapping around his body.

He stepped forward, knelt down to touch the damaged ground, then looked around. He stared off into the dark for a bit…but eventually shook his head. "Nothing." He said slowly. "How interesting. Show me the security footage."

One of the soldiers stepped up, offering him a tablet, and he tapped the screen, watching for a moment.

"Bofoi?" He muttered. "That can't be right. But that's one of his. The Metal Knight models have been updated a bit since then, but the craftsmanship is unmistakable. Better than anything I've seen him make before even. A custom job." He stood, flipping through the tablet. "Someone is playing games. The question is, who might that be?" He was talking to himself, and the others around him ignored the words.

Sighing, he handed the tablet to one of his man. "Reach out to our black market contacts. I want to know if anyone has bought a Metal Knight series drone recently. It'll be recent. That one had highly advanced software, it was reacting real time."

"Sir." Said the man with the gun, and he turned and left.

Coil (because who the fuck else could that be) scanned the wreckage. "This…" He said thoughtfully. "Should not be possible. It bears further study." He reached into a pocket, pulling out a phone. He dialed a few numbers and it rang. When the person on the other line picked up, he chuckled. "Well if it isn't my sweet little Tattletale. I have a job for you. Yes, another one. I'm moving up my timetable. Something interesting is happening, and I won't be put off schedule."

He gave her a quick run down of the assignment, then hung up. "Mouthy little bitch." He muttered. "Next time that smart ass doesn't get any lube."

I froze. Tattletale. She hadn't mentioned sex with Coil. In fact, based on her hatred, I was pretty sure the thought would make her ill. Was that some aspect of his power? He could see the future and what? Change variable inputs. "What happens if I buttfuck Tattletale?" Maybe? I would have to tell her about this.

I suspected she had a lot more information about his ability than I did, and this might be enough to help her figure it out. Granted, it wasn't super pleasant information, but hey, it wasn't like anything had REALLY happened to her. For as much good as that did.

Calling Lucky back, I had him upload the information packet into a video file and use my phone to transmit it directly to Tattletale. Of course, I also had him encrypt the number so it wasn't traceable. Just in case.

There was a ten minute wait, and then I got a text. 'Thank you.' Was all it said. I assumed she didn't feel like talking more right now, I got that.

Sighing, I headed home, making it back to my room in good time. Once I did, I read Epsilon out and had Lucky ECM shield us while I got started with the hammer. It took like…a hundred slams to fix Epsilon, and I made a note to upgrade him or be more careful.

Then I turned my attention elsewhere. I decided I wanted to find a more powerful upgrade than the Cheerleader Serum for Bonnie. She'd need powers soon if we were going to work together. I briefly considered saving to ten thousand and getting her the spider powers, but that seemed too far off. I would get her some kind of magic item to use until I could afford that.

I had sixteen hundred points, about to be seventeen. I needed something powerful, but not too powerful, and with defensive applications.

Flipping through books, it took me about an hour to track down something C-class that would work.

[Sufficient point total! C-class utility tool. Cosmic Rod: An alien artifact that enables the wielder to fly, put up shields, shoot laser blasts, and tone their glutes.]

The rod was finicky and required a strong will, but Bonnie was yandere crazy for approval, so that should work. Plus it was cheaper since you had to be holding it to use it. It was perfect for her. I grinned internally at that last part. That was a nice bonus too. I couldn't wait to give it to her.

January 21st, 2011 Trainyard, Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, 9:00 PM EST- SP:1700

"I officially call to order the first meeting of the harem of evil." I announced pretentiously as Shego, Squealer, and Bonnie all crowded into the train car. Lucky was jamming, so we were free to speak, and every girl in there shot me a withering look. "What? Too on the nose?"

Squealer snorted. "I refuse to be considered a member of your harem. We haven't even fucked yet."

"I don't want her in the group." Said Bonnie bluntly. "You can do better than trailer trash with meth mouth and a fucked up face, daddy." She was dressed in a black leather outfit that looked like a cross between fetish wear and lingerie, a black domino mask across her face and the Cosmic Rod I'd gotten her twirling between her fingers.

The Tinker whirled on her. "You want to go, cunt? I'll bust your worn out ass. You ever been run over by a monster truck?"

"Enough." I said firmly. Squealer looked dubious, but Bonnie shut up immediately. My girl knew where her bread was buttered. I gave her a pat on the ass as a reward and she all but purred. Issues thy name is Rockwaller. Stupid hot though. I reached into a pocket, withdrawing a small bottle of red liquid. "First off. Squealer, this is for you. I'd down it quick, it's supposed to taste unbearable."

She took it, looking dubious, but on seeing how serious I was seemed to weight her options. With a sigh, she tossed it back.

Nothing happened for a minute, the woman just standing nonplussed, and then she gagged. Her knees buckled and she started hacking and coughing. Teeth fell from her mouth, blood gushed along with them as she puked up dark bile, and for the next five minutes she lay shuddering and puking on the ground, tears streaming out of her eyes.

When she finished, I passed her a wet rag, and she washed herself off as best she could. Aside from the damage, the washing removed her makeup, and I had to say…Squealer was kind of cute.

I'd expected a bit of a whore face, to be honest, DSL and that look that makes it clear she'd hop on a dick with a bit of convincing, but weirdly, she was like…girl next door pretty. She had big angel eyes and slightly pudgy cheeks and a cute button nose. She looked like someone's innocent little sister…if you attached her head to the body of a porn star.

"Wow." Said Shego. "I can't tell if that was worth it. Like she's hot, but that looked horrible."

The Tinker glared at me. "You could have warned me, asshole." She spat. Literally, she still had some fucked up teeth left in her mouth. "But…thanks. I feel really good. My back doesn't even hurt, and that ain't stopped aching since my tits came in at the beginning of middle school."

She stretched, showing off her surprisingly toned body. All her skin imperfections, blemishes, and even scars were gone. That healing potion had done its job and then some.

Bonnie studied her skeptically. "I guess she's ok." She said with a pout. "Fine, TInkers are useful, she can stay. I still don't think she's good enough. At least the green one looks like she can suck a dick."

Shego barked out a laugh. "You don't have a bit of filter, do you princess?"

"Gotta make sure you gold digging sluts don't take advantage of my daddy." She growled, spinning the rod faster. Golden light sparked in her eyes and on the golden staff. She'd taken to that thing really quickly. It seemed to run on willpower, and Bonnie had a shocking amount of that when she was motivated.

"Anyway." I continued. "This is Ishtar. She's my partner, and I trust her. Ishtar, this is Shego and Squealer. They're friends, and they're helpful. They're also NECESSARY for my plan on how to take down he who shall not be named."

Shego perked up. "We're going to kill Voldemort?"

"If he's around." I shrugged. "But I meant another guy. Also, you've read those books? THey're super popular on Aleph but that's kind of a deep cut here."

She blushed a bit. "Doc got them for me for Christmas a few years ago, ok. Don't make a federal case out of it. I've already been charged in six of those, and they didn't do any good anyway."

"Regardless." I said with a sigh. "Squealer. If I give you existing tech to incorporate into a car, could you do it?"

She paused from where she'd been looking into the mirror. "I mean…maybe? Depends on the tech. Is it tinkertech? Because probably not. Tinkers can't usually disentangle each other's tech like that."

"Stay here." I said. Hopping down from the train car, I walked around to an empty spot, then pulled out a book I'd brought. I burned a thousand of my last seventeen hundred points pulling out a piece of tech that I knew would be the key to this operation, if the damned thing could be made to work at a larger range.

[Sufficient point total! C-class utility device. Jammer Backpack. A specialized machine designed to jam paranormal and extrasensory perception abilities. Creates an anti thinker effect around the wearer while active. Unstable and prone to failure, jammer degrades quickly.]

I winced. Yeah, that was what I'd figured. No way it would be C-class if it worked properly or long term. But that was fine. I didn't need it to be perfect. Because it WAS just tech, not tinkertech, which meant Squealer SHOULD be able to mount it on a car. The backpack came from the novelization of a Batman game called "Arkham City", and was made to defeat his "Detective Mode" which I'd correctly deduced counted as a thinker power.

I'd actually considered getting a car for her to mount it on, something awesome sciency with like a nuclear engine…but I couldn't afford anything like that. They were all C-class at least and I had seven hundred (eight hundred by the end of that sentence) points, two hundred short of what I needed.

Easily hoisting the backpack up, I carried it back inside and set it down. "This." I said proudly. "Is an anti-thinker machine. It usually only works on the person wearing it. But if you can extend the effect to a whole car, maybe mount some turrets or some shit, we could take out our target with a head on assault.

If Tattletale's understanding of Coil's power was valid (she'd used the video of him as context to complete her profile) we had a huge advantage. If we busted in with the car shielding us, his entire operation would be in shambles. Once the girls were out of the car they would be vulnerable to his Thinker ability again…but I wouldn't.

Lucky was still up in the air, so I'd leave him with the girls, and Coil himself would only see their direct assault as I snuck around back and ganked that asshole.

Plus I could rob the bastard blind while I was in his lab. Who knew if he had anything worth stealing on hand, but he WAS a criminal mastermind. I was sure he had to at least keep come gold bars nearby or something, or what was the fucking point?

Squealer approached, her facial reconstruction (the meth mouth had apparently warped her face more than I though, because she looked totally different) forgotten as she studied the machine. "This…I can work with. It's weird, but I can use it. I don't need to understand something completely to include it in a car. Like cannons and shit. I have no clue how those work but I can use them."

I grinned. "So you're in? Our target is a big shot. We take him out, and we've got a serious feat to our names. I'm talking start your own gang level shit. Which is what I intend to do."

"What? You mean you're not sticking with the Merchants?" She said in faux shock. "But I thought you liked us so much." Snickering, she shook her head. "I don't know Vagabond. That's a big ask. I don't even know who we're going after."
I grimaced. "Alright, I'll tell you, but to be clear, we are NOT going after him now, or at a defined time. I will decide when it's time to begin, and contact you directly. His thinker power has a chance of picking up any plans from anyone but me. We THINK we've got a bede on how it works. But we aren't sure, and we have to be damned careful. We're taking out Coil."

She raised an eyebrow. "Coil? The bottom feeder who snaps up abandoned territory between the Empire and ABB? No offense boss, but he's not exactly a kingpin."

"That's EXACTLY what he is." I corrected her. "He's got fingers in dozens of pies. He just plays shit close to the vest. He's scary connected and his power makes him dangerous as hell. Which is why we take him out. Not only will we be cleaning out his base, if all goes well, I plan to keep the damned thing. It's pretty fucking secure."

I needed a place to hang my ugly gold hat. Kim and I could worry about Nightfall (though we hadn't gone out in a while, she'd been busy with some big social studies project, and of course she needed straight As) but Vagabond could use a base.

Coil had been so generous as to perfectly outfit one, and I wasn't planning to spare any of his people. They were all going into the book. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I was betting I'd get at least ten if not a hundred points from some of his security. Squealer looked unsure for a minute, but eventually she nodded, eyes firming.

"I…I hate the Merchants. I hate them so much. I hate the way Skidmark treats me, the way he treats the other girls. I hate the smell, the drugs." She smiled wryly. "Pretty sure that potion detoxed me, that was part of the puking. I don't want to ever go back. If you have a safe place for me, and you can really watch my back…I'll do it. I'll leave."

Shego grinned. "I'm down to clown. I mean, I'll still work for the doc on a part time basis, but he's been going out less and less. He's obsessed with proving some crackpot theory about Dragon being a hyper advanced AI created by someone named Void Cowboy. Honestly if you offer him some tech to play with he might come work for you. He's not a Tinker but he's wicked smart."

That hadn't occurred to me, but having a scientist on staff might be helpful. I'd considered reading one out, but it was always tough to pick who to get, and they all cost one rank higher than they were, so even a C-class scientist would cost me ten thousand.

"Alright." I said with a grin. "So we're in business. Shego, you're with Squealer. Take her to her garage and watch her back while she installs the module. I don't want Skidmark of the others getting a whiff she intends to bail and trying to steal it. Ishtar, follow and keep an eye out at a distance."

She nodded, as did the other two. "You want me to call you when it's done?" Squealer asked.

"Sit tight." I told her. "I'll know when you're finished. Just bring it to the trainyard and await further instructions. My decision to begin the attack needs to be completely independent of your own experience. In fact, if you can, wait INSIDE the car after you drive it back. I'll know and decide when to reach out." I'd have Epsilon on overwatch through Lucky, which should be enough to prevent Coil from catching any hints.

I hoped I was being paranoid enough, but I knew I couldn't wait too long. Once Squealer finished, we'd hit that bastard tonight, while he was still rebuilding from yesterday's attack and had his attention on Metal Knight. This was our perfect window. Once we had the base..well, it was time to start planning my first offworld trip.

January 22nd, 2011 Trainyard, Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, 2:00 AM EST- SP:900

As I'd planned, Lucky let me know about the new car when it was done, and I headed for Squealer's garage to meet up with my team. They were inside the car when I got there, but I was pretty shocked by the thing, and I took a minute to enjoy the sight before I rapped on the window.

I'd expected another monster truck, or a van, or maybe some kind of SUV. I had NOT expected Squealer to retrofit a hearse with the jammer, building the thing into the hood like some kind of engine mod.

"Squealer." I asked patiently. "What have you done?"

Her window was down, which concerned me, but she BUILT the car, so I couldn't complain too much. She hadn't noticed me though, busy playing go fish on the center console with Shego while Bonnie napped in the back.

Her head jerked up, along with the other two, and she beamed at me. "Isn't she a beaut? I really outdid myself this time."

I took in the car with trepidation. It was…interesting. The hearse had been armor plated with some kind of chromatic purple alloy. The alloy wasn't welded together or affixed to a body, it seemed to be pretty much CHAINED together, with some sort of glowing green fire flickering between the plates, though somehow not affecting the inside.

The fire glow was emanating from every screen or display on the car, seemingly leaking out, and pouring from the jammer outputs too. The car had massive purple fins, with red spikes that I quickly realized were missiles, and I could see a variety of weaponry loaded into the vehicle, ready to pop out and blow a hole in anything we needed it to. In short, the thing was a fucking abomination that didn't follow the laws of nature, though at least it looked kind of cool.

"It's…something." I said encouragingly. "Does it work?"

She gasped at me. "Of COURSE it works! All my babies work. I got EXTRA inspired with this one. Something about working with such a weird piece of tech made my power go into overdrive." She frowned down at the flames leaking from between the plates. "That green fire isn't as weird as it looks by the way. It's just positronic flames. It's only a thin layer, so it's not breaking any actual laws of physics."

I squinted at it, and that seemed iffy, but I just waved it off. "Let me in." She unlocked the door and I slid into the back, pushing Bonnie aside. "And NOW." I announced. "Take us to McDonalds."

They spun to stare at me. "I told you that you can't be involved in the decision making process. We need a buffer of an unknown number of activities so it's really MY decision, and he can't get a read off you guys and see us coming."

It wasn't going to be an unknown number, it was just the one, but they didn't know that. Lucky appeared on my lap from nowhere, meowing imperiously. Bonnie squealed and snatched him up, snuggling the metal cat happily.

We went to McDonalds, and everyone got Big Macs. Even Lucky got a Big Mac (he insisted) and we all ate them relatively quickly. Once that was done, I took a deep breath and gave Squealer the address. We drove there directly, and I prepared myself for the next part, taking deep breaths as I stoked the fire in my chest, maximizing the power in my body for the fight to come.

"Epsilon is following above." I gestured behind us to my robot. "So here's the deal. We attack. I want you to drive this fucking car right through the froont door and punch out the defences. Once you're in, stay inside and empty out the damn weapons. Only when the car is broken down beyond repair do you get out and start fighting in person."

I palmed the stone in my pocket. "I'll be vanishing, but I'll leave the monkeys to back you up. Use them as shields if you need to, I can always summon more. Just make sure to keep each other safe. Your mission is to find and kill Coil. You WILL hunt him down and murder him as soon as you get past the defenses."

This part was tricky. I needed Coil on the run from a perceived threat. The girls being on his tail would mean he wasn't paying attention to me. Or Lucky, we would close in and I would finish this shit personally. And then I would shove his ass into my book, because I wasn't losing out on what I could only assume was B-class points. Or close to it. Thinker powers were bullshit, and his had a ridiculous range in some ways.

Squealer nodded, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Finally, she opened them, and then held down the brakes as she gunned the engine, rolling up her windows to prepare for our assault. Throwing back her head, she howled "APPLE STRUDEL!" And released the brake, gunning us straight into the entrance to the bunker at top speed.

The car hit the doors like a battering ram, smashing down the barriers as we exploded into the long concrete corridor. It's fixed, or at least mostly, and the turrets have been refilled and repaired. Hails of bullets pepper the car, but we streak through them, the spears and bladed weapons bouncing off as we hit the first of the chambers where the guards waited.

Squealer hit a button and the weapons deployed. She rolled down the windows again, Bonnie taking potshots with the Cosmic Rod and Shego hurling knives coated in her green energy, which I thought was clever. Clutching the stone, I activated it, dying of a heart attack and then fading from sight as I came back.
That was really unpleasant, but I ignored it as I climbed out the window, maneuvering Bonnie aside so I could leave. I took a laser blast to my coat, but the combo with my shirt was too much for me to take much damage (heat is kinetic energy, so it just made the mithril shirt hotter, but my body was pumping Extremis so that meant jack shit to me), and I got shot in the throat by accident, but the wound repaired itself quickly. I whipped out my book unleashing the monkeys, and then I was gone.

Lucky and I took off in the direction of what he was sure was the escape tunnel, trying to get there before the girls emerged, so we could make sure to get the drop on Coil. When we arrived at the right location, I grinned at how well the plan was going. I heard an explosion as Epsilon missile barraged the upper corridors to keep things crazy. I'd have to do a shit ton of work with my hammer after this, but it was worth it.

Sure enough, seconds later, a figure emerged, dressed in a dark jumpsuit with a white snake on it. Coil. Grinning, I bent my knees and then LEAPT forward, aiming to tackle the bastard and possibly break his spine…only to fucking miss.

I spun in the air, feet coming up to stop my forward momentum on a dime as they hit the wall on the other side of the corridor. I popped up onto my hands and then vaulted back up, spinning to glare at Coil. "My mysterious enemy, I assume." He sighed. "How obnoxious."

"How did you dodge that?" I demanded. "You shouldn't be able to see me."

"I can't." He admitted. "But I can see me. I've been constantly checking my future since the attack last night. I suddenly developed a severed spine a second ago, so I moved. I am fascinated by how you managed to avoid my detection, however. I look forward to studying you to understand your abilities."

I laughed. "That was a fluke. I'm stronger and faster than you'll ever be. You can't possibly beat me."

"I dodged you once. I can dodge you aga-" And his head exploded. I lowered my plasma pistol. "Being able to predict something doesn't mean you can avoid it." I said cheerfully. I paused. "And I'm talking to a corpse. Fantastic."

The plasma pistol had been my easiest workaround. Coil seemed to be constantly checking his future, and using his injuries to deduce where the attack would come from. Which for a physical attack from so far away meant he could avoid it…but dodging a plasma bolt was much less feasible.

I tucked the gun away, walking over to the body and, with a quick double check to make sure no one was around, I read it into my book.

Checking my points, I found them at ten thousand. I grinned, a B-class item. I had so many uses for that, or I could use it to enter a B-class world where I could stockpile points even faster. Not to mention I still had the rest of the lair to clean out.

"Lucky." I told my cat. "Do a search for me. Find me anything of value. Paintings, metal, gems, just find me some lucrative shit." He meowed. "Yes you can eat the metal after I read it it. Just do it."

Sighing at my backtalking cat, I turned and regarded the room Coil had come from. I frowned. I hadn't gotten to use my muscle the way I wanted on Coil. Smarter was better than harder, but damn it I was all keyed up. Walking up to the reinforced steel door, I hooked my fingers around the frame and, with a mighty heave, tore the thing clear out of its mounting.

I stumbled a bit, letting the door clatter to the ground as I stepped into the room behind it. A surprisingly tasteful office with a nice desktop computer sat inside, with a couch off in a corner and a TV seemingly taking up a whole wall.

"Nice." I muttered to myself. "And dibs." Through the door in the back I found a bedroom, subtle and understated, lots of black silk and good leather. I nodded to myself happily. This was a solid lair. I could see myself chilling here. But now wasn't the time for that, I turned and headed out, making a note to have Lucky hack the computer. His software was good for shredding firewalls even if he didn't know what to do after.

Heading back up the tunnel, I blurred into the fray, bouncing off monkeys and walls and crushing skulls as I helped the girls finish cleanup.

Between all of us, it didn't take us long at all to clear the place out. When we were done, I let them all slump to the floor, exhausted. Personally, i felt amazing. "Well. That's Coil dealt with. Our new base acquired. Our organization is now officially formed. Shego, you down to help Squealer get her shit from Skidmark?"

She shrugged. "Sure, I'm game. I've always wanted to kick that guy's ass."

Squealer looked torn, thrilled but also heartbroken as she stared at the wrecked pile of purple scrap metal that use to be her newest car.

I patted her on the shoulder. "We'll get you some other toys to play with. Being able to build tech into a car is impressive. I can think of lots of interesting uses for that ability. I'll make sure you make tons more cars like that."

She beamed at me, and I turned and headed for the office bedroom combo. "Ishtar." I called. "Follow me. After I repair the front doors I want to break in my new bedroom." She squealed in excitement and raced after me, with Shego deciding to tag along, and I grinned at how successful tonight had been. With Coil gone, things were looking up. I mean, he was the biggest immediate threat. What were the chances something bigger and more terrible would show up so soon after I dealt with him?

January 22nd, 2011 Coil's Base Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, 6:00 PM EST- SP:15,100

Thank the gods it was saturday. I got plenty of points from the spare bullshit around Coil's base. Some guns, paintings, and even a small safe Lucky found with a bag of flawless diamonds in it. Altogether I got a few thousand extra points, plenty for emergencies on my trip. Shego and Squealer were touring the base, trying to decide on their rooms in the former's case, and checking out the garage in the case of the latter.

Which left me alone with Bonnie, as I'd anticipated. I had something to talk to her about, and she wasn't going to like it.

"What do you mean you'll be GONE?" She demanded. "We just got the base. We were going to lay low for a bit, sure, but vanishing? Where are you even going? Why can't I come with you? Why are you telling me this?"

I grimaced. That last question was the right one, and also the one I least wanted to answer. "I'm telling you because it IS dangerous. And because there's a chance something will happen. If It does, I want someone to tell my mom what happened. Not the whole thing, obviously, but that I might not be back for a while."

I was pretty positive nothing could kill me or even seriously injure me for long, but I was also sure that there was a lot of ways to stop something that didn't involve death, and if I fell into a bottomless pit or got frozen in crystal for a thousand years, I didn't want my mom wondering what happened to me forever.

To make that less likely, I HAD picked a relatively tame universe in grand scheme of things. Strong people, but not much stronger than I was now, and there were a few bits of bullshit, but they were mostly offset by fat bottomed catgirls who liked to binge read porn in their all girl dorms.

"I don't like this." Bonnie said worriedly. "What do you mean you might not come back?"

"For a WHILE." I reiterated. "Getting stuck is possible, but nothing is going to kill me. I'm not even sure that's technically possible at this point. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but chances are good it might be through the week. Don't freak if I'm not back by next Saturday. I'll be making excuses for my mom and school, so you don't have to worry your pretty little head about it."

She sneered. "Bite my ass Collins, I'm not some weeping daffodil pining for your return. Don't confuse me with your ginger bottom bitch."

"Oh trust me." I grinned at her. "You're not a bitch I'd confuse with anyone, princess. But nice to know you'll miss me." She only got snitty when I embarrassed her, and it was still adorable. "Keep an eye on the base. I'm leaving you Epsilon, he has orders to follow your instructions. Do NOT blow up any of my shit without a reason. And no solo jobs. Though if Shego agrees to take you out I guess you can go out to play."

She beamed at me. "Thank you daddy." She chirped, then pecked me on the cheek and ran off. I transmitted the necessary instructions to Epsilon, then took Lucky with me back to the house to get ready to leave. I left a note for mom about my 'trip" called the school, and then prepared for my first big trip.

I had a shopping list in mind for this particular trip. I was going to a place called Remnant, which was relatively low level at the high end of the power scale, and they had some very useful materials I was excited to get my hands on. Dust, which was basically crystallized magic, was functionally useless to 90% of the people on this planet…but those people didn't have a gem cat.

"You ready, bud?" I asked my feline accomplice. "One small step for me, one giant leap for our net worth." He meowed at me. "You're such a pig, calm down. You can eat as much as you want soon enough. Oh, I want to bring some books, I had a few ideas for you that I think will be really awesome." I winked at him, then pulled out my book, read a quick description of my room, and one of my bookshelves vanished.

Once that was done, I picked up the copy of the manga I was using to enter remnant. I'd grabbed the first one, but I had no clue if that affected where I ended up in the timeline, or if the timeline would sync at all. This new aspect of my powers was one big question mark.

[Sufficient point total! C-class world: Remnant (RWBY)- access available.]

"Hold on tight bud, and remember the directions so we don't get lost." I grinned manically. "Second star to the right, and straight on till morning." I mentally accepted, and I felt a tug behind my navel as I was JERKED forward.

The sensation of falling into a book was…weird. I felt like my soul had been pulled into my body and was disintegrating into letters, the letters were pouring onto the page, mixing with the story, and my entire being was suffusing the book as I became a part of it. I experienced light and noise, I tasted color, felt smell, and I heard the violent intensity of a thousand supernova rainbows…and then I fell into a pile of trashbags.

I stood up, scowling down at my outfit. I was wearing normal clothes, but they were soaked with…something. I pulled out my book, did a quick read through, and suddenly my outfit was gone, replaced nearly instantly by my vagabond clothes, minus the headgear.

A thick long sleeve shirt over my mithril mail, my jacket over that, and a black pair of cargo pants over my boots. I cracked my neck, feeling ready to take on the world.

I heard a meow from one side of me. I turned to glare at my cat. "I look fantastic." I told him sharply. He meowed back. "No I don't look like an edgelord. Leather coats are timeless and never go out of style." His response was snide. "Of course they were IN style at some point. Shut up."

Emerging from the alley, I glanced around, trying to get a bearing as to where and when I was. I heard the growl of a motorcycle approaching, and turned to look at the bike as it ambled up. A girl got off, removing a helmet and shaking out her long blonde hair.

Long, toned legs, thick thighs, tight bubble butt in tiny brown shorts, and toned midriff leading up to a truly momentous rack. Yang Xiao Long. Probably my second favorite member of Team RWBY. The manga did NOT do her justice. Behind her was a blue haired preppy looking dude, who was pretty obviously Neptune. I wasn't impressed.

That would make this…I searched my memory, the one where Blake had run off with Sun to infiltrate the White Fang. Shame, I'd been hoping to feast my eyes on the legendary Bellabooty, but there'd be time for cat butt later.

"Come on." I sighed. "They're running into Roman soon I think. I'm playing hero, and you'll be going stealth to follow the ginger back to his treasure trove of magic crystals. Which you WILL NOT EAT until I've had a chance to stash them away. I'm rationing your intake because you have zero self control." He let out a disdainful meow. "Shut up, I only have two fuck buddies and one girlfriend. I'm very disciplined."

Ignoring his cat sneer, I strolled out onto the road, drawing my plasma pistol with relish. In Remnant, both my identities were unknown, or I suppose all three, which meant I could mix and match power sets. I was looking forward to throwing down with someone tough hand to hand, of course, but my future gun should make quite an impression.

Ahead of me, I noted the doors of the club hanging off their hinges, blown open by the blonde with the coke bottle body standing just inside among a crowd of loaded guns.

"Wow." I said as I entered. "Where I'm from, clubs usually WANT pretty girls to stop by. This seems counterproductive."

About half the guns whirled to point at me, and the blonde shot me a dazzling smile. "I know right? I guess I'm just too hot to handle." She winked, and her hair sparked to life, flames flickering over her mane.

I grinned at her, stoking the flames inside me from extremis as my body heated up, doing something I'd only realized I could do after my fight (if it could be called that) with Coil, making my eyes blaze through the iris like hot coals. I'd practiced it in the mirror, and it looked awesome.

She raised an eyebrow in interest. "Hmmm. Maybe you could handle me."

"Excuse me!" Shouted a guy in a vest in the back, who I was pretty sure was Junior, the owner of this club. "What are you doing here Blondie, and whose your friend with the…is that a lightning dust handgun?"

I glanced at the green lightning flickering across the muzzle. "Nope, but I could see why you'd go there. I'm here looking for a guy name Torchdick. Rudeman Torchdick." I paused. "Wait…no that seems wrong."

Yang was giggling (know your audience folks, especially if they have F cups) and gestured at me. "Apparently he's a new friend."

"I'd love to be friends with you, firecracker." I said with a grin. She blushed a bit, and I smoothly turned away to look at Junior. "So, why don't you tell us where…the guy with the hat is, and we'll all be on our way."

It was really kind of cool to talk shit to a bunch of gun wielding mobsters when I knew I couldn't die or even really be injured. I'd heal from bullet wounds almost instantly, I wouldn't even need to die. The mobster stared into my still glowing eyes and rolled his own. "Fuck it, I don't even LIKE Torchwick. He certainly isn't paying me enough for TWO of you lunatics. He's at the White Fang meeting downtown."

Yang gasped. "That's where BLAKE is. Shit, we have to go." She nodded at me. "Nice meeting you hot stuff, hope we can talk again later, have to go save my kitty."

She turned and burned, hair blazing as she sprinted to the bike and roared off into the night. Neptune was left standing there, eyes wide. "Where…am I supposed to go?" He asked nervously, staring at the rest of them. "She was my ride."

I neither knew nor cared, they wouldn't kill a tournament contestant anyway, so I took off at a sprint of my own.

I was all revved up, the bellows in my chest roaring on all cylinders, so I could use my body at top speed. I leapt up at an angle, foot planting on a roof ledge before I pushed off, rocketing after the blonde on the bike. I didn't know my way around, so I needed to keep up.

The combination of my amazing physical abilities and the boots was…intoxicating. Basically I was flying. I didn't even need my bat cloak or form.

Yang's bike was fast, but I was faster, able to keep pace by taking straight lines where she had to turn. I actually had to slow down so I didn't pass her, but I made sure I was right on that perfect ass. This next part would be fun, and once that was done…well, I wasn't one of those little bitches who stuck to the script. I was going to burn Cinder's little plan down around her ears, and maybe tap that egomaniacal ass while I was at it. This world was going to be fun.

As uaual pat-reon has the advance chapters on that site /malcolmtent hope everyone enjoys.