Taylor Sempai!
- Location
- Here
Taylor paused at the apartment door.
And hadn't THAT been a surprise, this whole 'Variance Villa' set up that let this version of her Mom and Dad to live so close to where they work. The fact that her mother wouldn't be taking that deadly drive so far to her work place at the college was a massive worry off her shoulders, really. Even if it meant that her 'family' lived in an underground bunker made by a cape.
Apparently they still owned the house she remembered so well, undamaged by Leviathan or the Slaughterhouse 9 or any of the nightmares she lived through. The better paying jobs even had them fixing the place up, as a sort of 'Get away from our Daughter for fun times' spot, which was WAY too much info for Taylor's tastes.
The door seemed... larger. Foreboding. Oppressive.
Despite the many messages, the confirmations, the tearful call to her estranged dad (What do you mean, they made you younger!?), she felt like this was a big step in an uncertain world.
Her hesitant confidence issues turned out not to matter too much though, because the door swung open wide. "BIG SIS!"
She was hit by a high flying midget Taylor going at full glomp velocity.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam woke feeling FAR more relaxed.
Also, slightly disturbed. Because everything felt more real. More colorful. His senses had apparently degraded pretty badly while visiting the Alt Worm Realm.
He stood from the bed, his body shifting as he felt his energies flow, testing his form for issues. One of which was... very odd.
Normally, he was either human(ish) or in his Skeletal costume form... But right now it was both.
His skeleton within was now wrapped in a fleshy body which was ALSO him. If either was destroyed, the other could take over to heal everything. Huh. It wasn't noticeable unless he focused, but it DID feel strange.
The bones were still covered in runes, but they were no longer crafted from Flame Metal and Null Metal... instead, his compressed Aura acted like metal inserts into his calcium directly.
Thankfully, it didn't seem to be causing biological issues... indeed, focusing magic through the soul based Aura Glyphs that were now embedded in his unicorn inspired skeleton showed that the new setup had benefits. His body was FAR more in tune with magic, and the Aura Glyphs produced enhanced magic and faith based effects.
The old issue of magic spilling out of his control was fixed as well! It flowed into the glowing blue metal patterns etched into his bones with ease. The longer he avoided using magic, the more would store up for future spells without actually touching his real reserves... It also made something like a low level magical hum as they gained power. It was comforting.
It also meant he could relax control of his Aura, as his bones acted like an attractor to the stuff. So no worries about a blue bubble forming over his skin or that metallic armor form getting in the way. Not by accident at least, he could force the defenses to form with only a little thought.
Frankly it was an improvement. He didn't want to have to be coated with metal at all time, and some of the work-around fixes he had to put in place to see normal colors with his eyes coated in Aura metal had been annoying.
What was really interesting though was a few 'dimensional bulges' created on his spine. The Aura Glyphs on his bones were now replicating the tricks Remnant designers used on their more advanced weapons to create little pockets of space down his back. Each one had small amounts of Dust Crystal, connected into his system by blood, magic, and the Aura Glyph sequence itself.
It wasn't MUCH Dust, if it was somehow pulled out of confinement it would fit on a pin easily, but it was enough for his body to be able to access the various shortcuts Dust made possible. Without thought, it automatically made his castings more efficient, even his spiritual abilities would see interesting effects from their presence. That said, he would have to ensure no kami somehow got in there, or his spine would explode into massive gems. Which... well, it sounded awesome, but it would surely suck.
Simmy had, after a bit of pestering, provided a blue page assuring him that the pockets of extra space were heavily protected, and any kami attempting to insert into his system would be absorbed into the surrounding Aura based Glyphs themselves. And that the new Dust samples would provide interesting boosts to his abilities!
The fact that Simmy wasn't willing to explain what those boosts would BE however, implied that it would be embarrassing to find out later. So... Great.
He gave up on pestering his Angel, bouncing on his feet for a moment before forming his white suit. The material was basically the same structure as his old Flame Metal and Null Metal outfit, but he substituted faith peanuts and magic as an energy source instead. He didn't want to rely on those older materials for his new duds, especially since he had found that his 'Fire transformed into Metal' trick didn't work everywhere.
Hopefully his clothing made from his own energies would keep him from being stuck nude in other realities.
A pulse of power 'Manipulated' the closest wall... yep, it was his material, so easy to work with.
Using the newly formed mirror, he checked his looks.
White shoes (formal style), black socks (felt wonderful), white slacks, black belt, black shirt, white suit, white gloves... and a bright blue tie. Very nice.
He blinked though when he saw his hair.
Really, his scalp had gone through such transformations over his adventures. Bald, various forms due to his power, blue flames, bone, blue vines, blue magic flames...
Now his head was covered in bright blue wires. Straight up like an anime hero or something.
If he focused, he could feel them acting like odd antennas, weak in ability but strong in numbers. But they also felt like hair, and touching them didn't feel like plastic or metal.
At least his eyes looked human, even if the bright blue iris glowed a little.
He frowned. He missed his trunk. Who knew a hand-nose would be so useful?
A flex of his shoulder muscles had the six bone limbs unfold from his back, white bone wrapped in white 'fabric' sleeves ending with a few tools. Three reaching over each shoulder into easy use range, each could swap between manipulators (Basically robot hands) or a useful device.
The Gather and Construction emitter options were almost standard now, one Hard-Light Holographic emitter (He had so many digital friends!), some DANG good scanning tools, and the best non-lethal weapon he had designed so far made his bone tool load out complete. The electronics were formed from bone with Glyphs converting Aura and Magic into usable power, so technically they were being maintained with 'Recovery' alone. Even slightly enhanced, as his ability to modify biology had always been his strong point.
As for why bother with a stunning weapon at all? Because lethal options were easy, and numerous... but it was nice to have a weapon that would automatically adjust its attack without Adam having to remember how fragile his various targets were.
Really, it was silly how weak some people were. That body builder? He would experience an instant death if you used too much energy. Too bad you didn't know about his heart condition! That SAME blast might not even phase a little old lady depending on how hard core she was. In the end, it was better to let his sensors adjust the shot for him automatically instead of letting him risk someones life that he wasn't intending to smash.
With a thought, his soul bound cane (Wand? Club? Meh.) formed and he tapped his way through the halls. Not that he had a clue where to go, this may be the first time he HAD been in his own bedroom. Sleeping with his women honestly was both more entertaining and more comfortable, why stay back there alone and depressed?
An orange slip of paper was caught by his right shoulder's third bone limb. "Huh. Nice to meet you, Sammy. And thank you for the directions... are you adjusting well?"
He continued to read the various blue and orange slips that fell as he found his way to the breakfast table. Or rather, at this time of day, the lunch table.
Simmy wanted more Altars to be crafted, not just for use as 'Transfer Nodes' but as needed 'Recovery Nodes' for people to heal on planets or whatever that didn't have the same level of health care as his people enjoyed. And an Altar for 'Purification', to 'bless' water sources, ensure safe food, and so forth. Simmy's arguments about increasing the worship from his followers didn't convince him nearly as easily as her sister's point about how many people he could save with the new options.
In the end, he decided to combine the purification effects with the healing Altar, and to simplify the design. It was too late to change the 'Transfer Node' thing since it was already in the field (WHY had he made it so gaudy!?), but at least these new ones could be more reasonable. Or at least, lighter and smaller.
The final creation was the size of a cat... or to be more precise, it was the size of a Baku. Because it was a statue of a Baku. Because they rock, shut up.
Each statue could be established by a command, one allowed per Party Leader in the System. Making a new one would vanish the old ones, letting Adam's people enjoy camping grounds with safe water and food and a healing station without littering planets with the things.
Simmy did make sure people could purchase a 'One Time' Altar construction coupon in the new 'Item Shop', so towns or whatever could pay for a team to come out and build a few to ensure safe water sources. And (before Adam could really protest) Simmy had ensured that all 'Variance Churches' got one of each type of Altar for free. For all future Altars as well... which was fine, he guessed.
Seriously, he didn't ASK for worship, and it felt weird when he thought about it.
His thoughts were disrupted by the warm snuggle from a surprise Narwhal. "Oh Adam, you look so much better today! We were getting a bit worried after the first week you didn't wake up."
His smile hitched a bit. HOW LONG!? "Oh."
She pulled him to sit at the table, partially served food already available in front of them, and began setting him up a plate to eat. "Simmy and Sammy said you were fine, so we mostly got the DA Guild under control and helped provide communication between our leadership and what remains of Queen Administrator's Realm, which we are calling 'Realm Worm Queen' for now. Not sure why Simmy thought that was humorous, but we needed something to go with."
He enjoyed the very good scrambled eggs (Added cream or something, very light and fluffy) while Narwhal continued to catch him up on all the things he had missed.
Adam did wince a little however... forgetting Betty on his trip was embarrassing, although thankfully the girls handled it. Apparently her short height made all his women hit her 'Large Partner' fetish zone, so she was having a wonderful time flirting with his loved ones and taking over the livestock trading community between Remnant, home, and Taylor's Queen Administrator Planet (Currently named 'Water Capital' for no good reason).
Legend from Queen's Realm was spearheading the interactions between the two realities, and apparently had a bit of an emotional conversation with this worlds Triumvirate group, though thankfully whatever they discussed didn't cause issues with sending people over there to help. If anything, both sides seemed more optimistic afterward, so maybe it was a good thing.
Simmy had passed to the researchers what Adam had discovered about how to safely disconnect shards from the Warrior's crystal network without detection. With caution, many of the smaller shards were having their communication clusters refined, duplicated, and sending uninteresting data... allowing the massive crystal shards to be fully converted and then deconstructed. According to Narwhal, no issues were expected... but they were still being cautious.
They had asked Queen Administrator if they should try and free other shards like her... and Taylor's partner was quite clear with her 'No'.
The crystal Angel explained that not only would most powers not have enough self awareness to even understand the concept, not only would any assistance attempts cause them to violently attack everyone and then commit suicide, but that even Queen Administrator herself would have been offended at the idea of leaving the network if she hadn't been betrayed by the Warrior himself first.
It had been a shocking discussion, but an enlightening one. Even if, in the end, it was a moot point.
Because Local little Taylor had previously joined System, and this Realm's Queen Administration was already undergoing conversion anyway.
Thankfully, Queen didn't care. Though she DID turn out to be a huge fan of 'Alternate Little Human' Taylor, as the two had already somehow became friends through the System.
Adam hummed as he took some more bacon slices. What an odd world.
After the details trailed off, he gestured with some toast. "Well, I am glad you all handled things so well while I was recovering. Did Simmy tell you about the new Altars she wanted me to design?"
She snorted. "Of course, but we told them to leave you alone and let you recover."
He glanced at the submitted changes. Crud. "Any reason why? I feel like I've already gotten loads better. Heck, I don't turn into a statue when I relax now and my body doesn't contain external materials anymore, I may be MORE healthy than when I had begun traveling!"
Narwhal sighed, moving behind his chair and leaning into his head, arms draped over his chest. "You gave us a fright. We know you had it handled, and your powers kept us informed, but you fell into our arms torn into chunks and partially dissolving. It was scary, Adam. Especially for those of us who love you."
He leaned back into her warmth, with... nothing really to say. No arguments could really answer that level of concern and care without sounding immature. "I'm sorry. I won't be going to an offset Realm like that without a full conversation between us and our girls first, alright?"
She hugged the back of his head to her chest as she harrumphed. "You better. Now, eat some more and let's go tell the others you are feeling better. CD has been pushing herself into projects and Nightmare Moon has been doing multiple shows to keep distracted. At least Betty has that cattle thing to keep her entertained."
He chuckled. "I still find it odd that a cow Faunus like her loves steak so much. Then again, I know humans in some cultures eat apes and monkeys and whatever."
Adam let her pull him through the facilities to find the others, chuckling as they bantered back and forth. It was a great day today.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Cautious, secretive work. Avoiding the (admittedly loose) observation crews.
His time was now. His time had come.
He pulled the cloth from his masterpiece! "BEHOLD!"
His minions gave weak claps. "It is very impressive Phil."
He scowled. "Trac-Tor, the Invincible... please."
The nod was acceptable. He continued. "After much effort and toil, my greatest work has finally reached completion! I present the new and improved 'Action Trac-tion Gun', able to emit a burst of 'Trac-Tor Beams' from a distance of up to three miles!"
His hands twisted in glee as he imagined the horror of his nemesis, that nameless monk-warrior of Dragon's Guild who dared send him to prison! Him and his golden snake of doom would fall before his might!
He blinked. Right, the presentation. "Trac-Tor the Invincible is sorry, Trac-Tor the Invincible was distracted."
His minion nodded. "I asked, what does this tractor beam do?"
A frown showed his mighty displeasure. "'Trac-Tor Beam', if you would. And I will demonstrate." He moved to the side, unveiling one of his many previous projects. "Behold! This is obviously an unenhanced, plebeian 'John Deere 5325' tractor with a pitiful 67 horse power engine, a travesty to those of us with class and style!"
He ignored the obvious agreement from the audience, for his moment had come! "And now!"
His machine hissed and whined, engines turning up to speed as the reduced tractor components allowed the masterpiece to prepare... and with a brilliant ZAP, the target was 'Trac-Tor'ed! He was a GOD!
One of his more useful minions broke the awed silence. "It still looks like a tractor."
He scoffed. "You fools! Do you not recognize the superior, American 'Farmall Model H' tractor? This classic from 1953 was born from the factory on Rock Island in Illinois, and it may only provide 25 horse power, but it was designed back when REAL tractors were born!"
His generous wave included the entire crowd. "Go on, smell the prestige that just being in its presence can grant you! The smell of victory! Of Progress!"
Another minion raised a hand. "So... your tractor beam turns stuff into tractors?"
He waved his hand. "Of course not, that would be silly. I won't allow sub-par material to be used in my creations. No, my 'Action Trac-tion Gun' is able to use these 'Trac-Tor Beams' to convert any randomly available Tractor in the area into ANY existing Tractor model ever seen on the Market!"
He tried to hold back tears. "If only my pa could have lived to see this glorious day."
The voice in the back was a little annoying. "Didn't your dad visit you last week?"
Trac-Tor the Invincible threw his arms wide. "With my unstoppable 'Action Trac-tion Gun', we can finally stop wasting our valuable time with these new age..." He held back a sneer with difficulty. "So called 'High Tech' tractors flooding the market, and begin to TRULY revolutionize our society!"
His crowd was silent, likely from awe. It was understandable, Trac-Tor the Invincible had never dared dream such advancements were possible until that nameless master warrior took him down in the prime of his soon-to-be criminal career.
As he turned back to refuel his Action Trac-tion Gun's several fuel compartments, some part of him gave grudging thanks to that nameless god of combat and his dastardly snake that had accidentally propelled him onto the road to greatness. Whose foolish actions had opened the WORLD to its future ruler's grasp!
Of course this wouldn't save their miserable lives, but it was the thought that counted.
And hadn't THAT been a surprise, this whole 'Variance Villa' set up that let this version of her Mom and Dad to live so close to where they work. The fact that her mother wouldn't be taking that deadly drive so far to her work place at the college was a massive worry off her shoulders, really. Even if it meant that her 'family' lived in an underground bunker made by a cape.
Apparently they still owned the house she remembered so well, undamaged by Leviathan or the Slaughterhouse 9 or any of the nightmares she lived through. The better paying jobs even had them fixing the place up, as a sort of 'Get away from our Daughter for fun times' spot, which was WAY too much info for Taylor's tastes.
The door seemed... larger. Foreboding. Oppressive.
Despite the many messages, the confirmations, the tearful call to her estranged dad (What do you mean, they made you younger!?), she felt like this was a big step in an uncertain world.
Her hesitant confidence issues turned out not to matter too much though, because the door swung open wide. "BIG SIS!"
She was hit by a high flying midget Taylor going at full glomp velocity.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam woke feeling FAR more relaxed.
Also, slightly disturbed. Because everything felt more real. More colorful. His senses had apparently degraded pretty badly while visiting the Alt Worm Realm.
He stood from the bed, his body shifting as he felt his energies flow, testing his form for issues. One of which was... very odd.
Normally, he was either human(ish) or in his Skeletal costume form... But right now it was both.
His skeleton within was now wrapped in a fleshy body which was ALSO him. If either was destroyed, the other could take over to heal everything. Huh. It wasn't noticeable unless he focused, but it DID feel strange.
The bones were still covered in runes, but they were no longer crafted from Flame Metal and Null Metal... instead, his compressed Aura acted like metal inserts into his calcium directly.
Thankfully, it didn't seem to be causing biological issues... indeed, focusing magic through the soul based Aura Glyphs that were now embedded in his unicorn inspired skeleton showed that the new setup had benefits. His body was FAR more in tune with magic, and the Aura Glyphs produced enhanced magic and faith based effects.
The old issue of magic spilling out of his control was fixed as well! It flowed into the glowing blue metal patterns etched into his bones with ease. The longer he avoided using magic, the more would store up for future spells without actually touching his real reserves... It also made something like a low level magical hum as they gained power. It was comforting.
It also meant he could relax control of his Aura, as his bones acted like an attractor to the stuff. So no worries about a blue bubble forming over his skin or that metallic armor form getting in the way. Not by accident at least, he could force the defenses to form with only a little thought.
Frankly it was an improvement. He didn't want to have to be coated with metal at all time, and some of the work-around fixes he had to put in place to see normal colors with his eyes coated in Aura metal had been annoying.
What was really interesting though was a few 'dimensional bulges' created on his spine. The Aura Glyphs on his bones were now replicating the tricks Remnant designers used on their more advanced weapons to create little pockets of space down his back. Each one had small amounts of Dust Crystal, connected into his system by blood, magic, and the Aura Glyph sequence itself.
It wasn't MUCH Dust, if it was somehow pulled out of confinement it would fit on a pin easily, but it was enough for his body to be able to access the various shortcuts Dust made possible. Without thought, it automatically made his castings more efficient, even his spiritual abilities would see interesting effects from their presence. That said, he would have to ensure no kami somehow got in there, or his spine would explode into massive gems. Which... well, it sounded awesome, but it would surely suck.
Simmy had, after a bit of pestering, provided a blue page assuring him that the pockets of extra space were heavily protected, and any kami attempting to insert into his system would be absorbed into the surrounding Aura based Glyphs themselves. And that the new Dust samples would provide interesting boosts to his abilities!
The fact that Simmy wasn't willing to explain what those boosts would BE however, implied that it would be embarrassing to find out later. So... Great.
He gave up on pestering his Angel, bouncing on his feet for a moment before forming his white suit. The material was basically the same structure as his old Flame Metal and Null Metal outfit, but he substituted faith peanuts and magic as an energy source instead. He didn't want to rely on those older materials for his new duds, especially since he had found that his 'Fire transformed into Metal' trick didn't work everywhere.
Hopefully his clothing made from his own energies would keep him from being stuck nude in other realities.
A pulse of power 'Manipulated' the closest wall... yep, it was his material, so easy to work with.
Using the newly formed mirror, he checked his looks.
White shoes (formal style), black socks (felt wonderful), white slacks, black belt, black shirt, white suit, white gloves... and a bright blue tie. Very nice.
He blinked though when he saw his hair.
Really, his scalp had gone through such transformations over his adventures. Bald, various forms due to his power, blue flames, bone, blue vines, blue magic flames...
Now his head was covered in bright blue wires. Straight up like an anime hero or something.
If he focused, he could feel them acting like odd antennas, weak in ability but strong in numbers. But they also felt like hair, and touching them didn't feel like plastic or metal.
At least his eyes looked human, even if the bright blue iris glowed a little.
He frowned. He missed his trunk. Who knew a hand-nose would be so useful?
A flex of his shoulder muscles had the six bone limbs unfold from his back, white bone wrapped in white 'fabric' sleeves ending with a few tools. Three reaching over each shoulder into easy use range, each could swap between manipulators (Basically robot hands) or a useful device.
The Gather and Construction emitter options were almost standard now, one Hard-Light Holographic emitter (He had so many digital friends!), some DANG good scanning tools, and the best non-lethal weapon he had designed so far made his bone tool load out complete. The electronics were formed from bone with Glyphs converting Aura and Magic into usable power, so technically they were being maintained with 'Recovery' alone. Even slightly enhanced, as his ability to modify biology had always been his strong point.
As for why bother with a stunning weapon at all? Because lethal options were easy, and numerous... but it was nice to have a weapon that would automatically adjust its attack without Adam having to remember how fragile his various targets were.
Really, it was silly how weak some people were. That body builder? He would experience an instant death if you used too much energy. Too bad you didn't know about his heart condition! That SAME blast might not even phase a little old lady depending on how hard core she was. In the end, it was better to let his sensors adjust the shot for him automatically instead of letting him risk someones life that he wasn't intending to smash.
With a thought, his soul bound cane (Wand? Club? Meh.) formed and he tapped his way through the halls. Not that he had a clue where to go, this may be the first time he HAD been in his own bedroom. Sleeping with his women honestly was both more entertaining and more comfortable, why stay back there alone and depressed?
An orange slip of paper was caught by his right shoulder's third bone limb. "Huh. Nice to meet you, Sammy. And thank you for the directions... are you adjusting well?"
He continued to read the various blue and orange slips that fell as he found his way to the breakfast table. Or rather, at this time of day, the lunch table.
Simmy wanted more Altars to be crafted, not just for use as 'Transfer Nodes' but as needed 'Recovery Nodes' for people to heal on planets or whatever that didn't have the same level of health care as his people enjoyed. And an Altar for 'Purification', to 'bless' water sources, ensure safe food, and so forth. Simmy's arguments about increasing the worship from his followers didn't convince him nearly as easily as her sister's point about how many people he could save with the new options.
In the end, he decided to combine the purification effects with the healing Altar, and to simplify the design. It was too late to change the 'Transfer Node' thing since it was already in the field (WHY had he made it so gaudy!?), but at least these new ones could be more reasonable. Or at least, lighter and smaller.
The final creation was the size of a cat... or to be more precise, it was the size of a Baku. Because it was a statue of a Baku. Because they rock, shut up.
Each statue could be established by a command, one allowed per Party Leader in the System. Making a new one would vanish the old ones, letting Adam's people enjoy camping grounds with safe water and food and a healing station without littering planets with the things.
Simmy did make sure people could purchase a 'One Time' Altar construction coupon in the new 'Item Shop', so towns or whatever could pay for a team to come out and build a few to ensure safe water sources. And (before Adam could really protest) Simmy had ensured that all 'Variance Churches' got one of each type of Altar for free. For all future Altars as well... which was fine, he guessed.
Seriously, he didn't ASK for worship, and it felt weird when he thought about it.
His thoughts were disrupted by the warm snuggle from a surprise Narwhal. "Oh Adam, you look so much better today! We were getting a bit worried after the first week you didn't wake up."
His smile hitched a bit. HOW LONG!? "Oh."
She pulled him to sit at the table, partially served food already available in front of them, and began setting him up a plate to eat. "Simmy and Sammy said you were fine, so we mostly got the DA Guild under control and helped provide communication between our leadership and what remains of Queen Administrator's Realm, which we are calling 'Realm Worm Queen' for now. Not sure why Simmy thought that was humorous, but we needed something to go with."
He enjoyed the very good scrambled eggs (Added cream or something, very light and fluffy) while Narwhal continued to catch him up on all the things he had missed.
Adam did wince a little however... forgetting Betty on his trip was embarrassing, although thankfully the girls handled it. Apparently her short height made all his women hit her 'Large Partner' fetish zone, so she was having a wonderful time flirting with his loved ones and taking over the livestock trading community between Remnant, home, and Taylor's Queen Administrator Planet (Currently named 'Water Capital' for no good reason).
Legend from Queen's Realm was spearheading the interactions between the two realities, and apparently had a bit of an emotional conversation with this worlds Triumvirate group, though thankfully whatever they discussed didn't cause issues with sending people over there to help. If anything, both sides seemed more optimistic afterward, so maybe it was a good thing.
Simmy had passed to the researchers what Adam had discovered about how to safely disconnect shards from the Warrior's crystal network without detection. With caution, many of the smaller shards were having their communication clusters refined, duplicated, and sending uninteresting data... allowing the massive crystal shards to be fully converted and then deconstructed. According to Narwhal, no issues were expected... but they were still being cautious.
They had asked Queen Administrator if they should try and free other shards like her... and Taylor's partner was quite clear with her 'No'.
The crystal Angel explained that not only would most powers not have enough self awareness to even understand the concept, not only would any assistance attempts cause them to violently attack everyone and then commit suicide, but that even Queen Administrator herself would have been offended at the idea of leaving the network if she hadn't been betrayed by the Warrior himself first.
It had been a shocking discussion, but an enlightening one. Even if, in the end, it was a moot point.
Because Local little Taylor had previously joined System, and this Realm's Queen Administration was already undergoing conversion anyway.
Thankfully, Queen didn't care. Though she DID turn out to be a huge fan of 'Alternate Little Human' Taylor, as the two had already somehow became friends through the System.
Adam hummed as he took some more bacon slices. What an odd world.
After the details trailed off, he gestured with some toast. "Well, I am glad you all handled things so well while I was recovering. Did Simmy tell you about the new Altars she wanted me to design?"
She snorted. "Of course, but we told them to leave you alone and let you recover."
He glanced at the submitted changes. Crud. "Any reason why? I feel like I've already gotten loads better. Heck, I don't turn into a statue when I relax now and my body doesn't contain external materials anymore, I may be MORE healthy than when I had begun traveling!"
Narwhal sighed, moving behind his chair and leaning into his head, arms draped over his chest. "You gave us a fright. We know you had it handled, and your powers kept us informed, but you fell into our arms torn into chunks and partially dissolving. It was scary, Adam. Especially for those of us who love you."
He leaned back into her warmth, with... nothing really to say. No arguments could really answer that level of concern and care without sounding immature. "I'm sorry. I won't be going to an offset Realm like that without a full conversation between us and our girls first, alright?"
She hugged the back of his head to her chest as she harrumphed. "You better. Now, eat some more and let's go tell the others you are feeling better. CD has been pushing herself into projects and Nightmare Moon has been doing multiple shows to keep distracted. At least Betty has that cattle thing to keep her entertained."
He chuckled. "I still find it odd that a cow Faunus like her loves steak so much. Then again, I know humans in some cultures eat apes and monkeys and whatever."
Adam let her pull him through the facilities to find the others, chuckling as they bantered back and forth. It was a great day today.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Cautious, secretive work. Avoiding the (admittedly loose) observation crews.
His time was now. His time had come.
He pulled the cloth from his masterpiece! "BEHOLD!"
His minions gave weak claps. "It is very impressive Phil."
He scowled. "Trac-Tor, the Invincible... please."
The nod was acceptable. He continued. "After much effort and toil, my greatest work has finally reached completion! I present the new and improved 'Action Trac-tion Gun', able to emit a burst of 'Trac-Tor Beams' from a distance of up to three miles!"
His hands twisted in glee as he imagined the horror of his nemesis, that nameless monk-warrior of Dragon's Guild who dared send him to prison! Him and his golden snake of doom would fall before his might!
He blinked. Right, the presentation. "Trac-Tor the Invincible is sorry, Trac-Tor the Invincible was distracted."
His minion nodded. "I asked, what does this tractor beam do?"
A frown showed his mighty displeasure. "'Trac-Tor Beam', if you would. And I will demonstrate." He moved to the side, unveiling one of his many previous projects. "Behold! This is obviously an unenhanced, plebeian 'John Deere 5325' tractor with a pitiful 67 horse power engine, a travesty to those of us with class and style!"
He ignored the obvious agreement from the audience, for his moment had come! "And now!"
His machine hissed and whined, engines turning up to speed as the reduced tractor components allowed the masterpiece to prepare... and with a brilliant ZAP, the target was 'Trac-Tor'ed! He was a GOD!
One of his more useful minions broke the awed silence. "It still looks like a tractor."
He scoffed. "You fools! Do you not recognize the superior, American 'Farmall Model H' tractor? This classic from 1953 was born from the factory on Rock Island in Illinois, and it may only provide 25 horse power, but it was designed back when REAL tractors were born!"
His generous wave included the entire crowd. "Go on, smell the prestige that just being in its presence can grant you! The smell of victory! Of Progress!"
Another minion raised a hand. "So... your tractor beam turns stuff into tractors?"
He waved his hand. "Of course not, that would be silly. I won't allow sub-par material to be used in my creations. No, my 'Action Trac-tion Gun' is able to use these 'Trac-Tor Beams' to convert any randomly available Tractor in the area into ANY existing Tractor model ever seen on the Market!"
He tried to hold back tears. "If only my pa could have lived to see this glorious day."
The voice in the back was a little annoying. "Didn't your dad visit you last week?"
Trac-Tor the Invincible threw his arms wide. "With my unstoppable 'Action Trac-tion Gun', we can finally stop wasting our valuable time with these new age..." He held back a sneer with difficulty. "So called 'High Tech' tractors flooding the market, and begin to TRULY revolutionize our society!"
His crowd was silent, likely from awe. It was understandable, Trac-Tor the Invincible had never dared dream such advancements were possible until that nameless master warrior took him down in the prime of his soon-to-be criminal career.
As he turned back to refuel his Action Trac-tion Gun's several fuel compartments, some part of him gave grudging thanks to that nameless god of combat and his dastardly snake that had accidentally propelled him onto the road to greatness. Whose foolish actions had opened the WORLD to its future ruler's grasp!
Of course this wouldn't save their miserable lives, but it was the thought that counted.