My sapling was now nearly full grown. It was about the same size roughly as the other one, and had beautiful leaves showing. Yet still none of the blossoms. Soon though. Soon.
“Soon it’ll be fully grown…” I muttered. “Let’s hope the next trial won’t take forever…”
As I rested next to the tree I began thinking back to my fight with Void Key… with Coco in a coma because of it… they know we can hurt them but they can't truly hurt us without targeting our family. We can't hurt them that way because A, we are not monsters like them and B, they likely Don't have any to begin with. So what can we do right now?
“God I hate this…” I muttered. “Well...they can target our family but our family is getting stronger...maybe we can target all their production and powers?” I muttered. “Production, probably, powers, hell no cause Jericho is just handing it out like candy.” I groaned. “The fuck am I supposed to do against these fucks?”
The more I pondered about it the less I could think of. Cript likely won't help anymore, maybe Lord? He's an asshole yeah but someone like him has to have a few tricks up their sleeve.
“Maybe someone here could help?” I muttered curiously, wondering if they would even bother at this point. “Maybe Belief and Mother could help me out a bit more cause seriously I need help…”
"Never thought I'd hear you ask for serious help?" I looked up, seeing Player there… how did he? "I'm a Dirty Hacker, remember?" He asked with a sly smirk.
“Yeah well, either way.” I said. “So, I suppose you’ve heard all the wonderful things about Jericho and all the shit he’s been doing?”
"Yes. And I have to say he's a lot more tactical about it than his first attempt. He's definitely learned from failure."
“I can imagine…” I muttered. “So, you know full well I need help, and I have a feeling you know what I need help with correct?”
"Allies mostly, as well as a means of increasing their, and your own strength correct?"
“Also what their main weakness is because currently they have the worlds biggest crutch of targeting my family…” I sighed out.
"Hmm… for Nexus that's likely their Water supply. Unlike normal water, Nexus filters theirs through the Cup of Code, an Admin who was very weak with their code, so they shifted themselves into a cup, allowing those who drink from it to use code for a short while."
“So either destroy the cup, or fuck with the water enough that it can’t work anymore right?” I asked.
"Something along those lines yes. Another thing that can help us is some of the things from Cript and Lord's armories. A surplus of Admin tier weapons could even, if not tip the scales here."
“And how much you want to bet Lord isn’t going to give it up?” I asked honestly. “And now that I think about it, given that I’ve actually faced a Delete using their abilities...how many of them did Lord fight?”
"Not sure. Supposedly none were ever killed before Cript, but I find that highly suspect. Every Admin has a delete, even when the Admin passes away the Delete remains, but there are very few Deletes just like there are very few Admins. It doesn't add up."
“There’s probably something there that we don’t know.” I said honestly.
"Most likely. Whatever the case that's irrelevant to our current issues. Shall a clone of you join me to ask Lord this favor or shall I go alone?"
"I'm doing trial stuff at the moment." I said honestly before just making a new starfish clone. "So take a clone."
"Alright. Off we go then."
Lord's home was… interesting. It was a white void for as far as the eye can see, an old school Western town with all kinds of random odds and ends laid or floating around. Lord himself was at a desk in the center of it all. Which was very very strange.
"Well then...this is interesting." I said honestly. "And a bit strange."
"Lord." Player said with a nod.
Lord looked up, a large set of incomplete blueprints on the table. "What you need Player?" Lord asked.
"The keys to your armory." Player stated bluntly.
"Oh. That? I gave the keys to Cript the other day."
“Cause of course you did…” I muttered.
"He said he was going to train soldiers. I just told him not to use what's locked up in the black vault door. Shit in there can hurt us and kill the one using it if not ready."
“Well I was going to ask to do...basically the exact same thing because Jericho is being a douche.” I frowned.
"Cript has my keys so likely he is already in the armory. It's that building over there." Lord pointed over to a saloon looking building.
“Um...you sure it’s the saloon looking building?” I asked curiously. “And are you sure you didn’t accidentally give him the keys to your wine cellar?”
"I don't drink. I hid the armory. Your response justifies its camouflage."
“Alrighty then.” I said while heading off towards the saloon in hopes Cript is there.
Upon entering we were now in a room with white, green, blue, purple, orange, red, and black doors. The white door was the only one open still.
“Alrighty then…” I muttered while walking into the white room given it was open.
I walked into a massive warehouse that I can't see the walls or even the ceiling of. Just shelves in lines towering with crates each with something in them. I saw… Mother? No, her hair is longer and has a pregnant gut… Cript?
They were female, short hair and wore they're same outfit from when Jericho appeared. They look just like the Mother.
I shook my head. “Cript, why do you look like a chick?” I asked honestly, trying to make the distinction between the two cause that shit hasn’t happened yet.
"Wives wanted a way for us to bond even closer. So we all fused into one body. Den's in here too. She says you're even more beautiful than from the figurine point of view." Cript answered, looking through a list of sorts.
“So...your already starting that transformation then?” I asked honestly, Cript probably knowing but I’m not fully sure.
"Seems so. Though in all honesty this isn't the first time we've done this, though we do plan on it being the longest. So, what brings you two here?" Cript asked, turning to look at Player and Myself.
“I’m here to get all this and train people so we can maul everything Jericho throws at us.” I said honestly.
"Can you even handle the stuff here? And far as I know this place has no ceiling, or walls. Just goes on for about forever."
“Have you really checked if it goes on forever? Also I’m pretty sure I could given all the crap I can do and have done.” I shrugged.
"I have and never found a wall or ceiling. Saw some neat stuff though. So, I heard Nexus finally broke into civil war. Took that time bomb forever."
“Yes, and apparently a shit ton of the ‘good nexus’ part is being slaughtered and Coco is in a coma cause Void Key did something to her heart and I’m furious, depressed, and I really just want to start doing something to make Nexus and Jericho pay for every little transgression...also I still haven’t found our kids and I’m very emotionally enraged and upset at the moment.” I ranted as tears formed in my eyes.
"Clearly." Cript said. "I should check on Krot and the others at their safehouse."
“Which Manehatten are they under?” I asked honestly. “Cause...I went through Coco’s memory’s trying to stop Void Key from controlling her...and learned a lot about that.”
"Yours. Duh." Cript stated.
“Kinda thought that.” I muttered. “Well...I’ll make sure they are also protected…”
"So Ben, do you know my relationship with Krot?"
“I barely know the guy.” I said honestly. “I only know tidbits from Coco’s memories, nothing much else besides that.”
"He's my Uncle, on my mother's side."
“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “Good to know.”
"So, anything here you want before checking on them?"
“As much as I can.” I said. “Plus I have clones to check up on the people in Manehattan, cause I have been using, and kind of abusing, that starfish cloning you taught me oh so long ago.”
"Clearly. Well anything specific?"
I took a moment. “Does ‘everything here’ count as specific?” I asked.
"Again, you don't even know what any of this stuff does, and this is just the white room."
“Well then what would you recommend cause this is literally my first time here and I was just going to grab as much as I could.” I said honestly.
"Here. Try this." Cript said, taking a small handgun looking weapon and tossing it to me. "Shoot it."
I pointed it up and fired the gun, wondering how it would work or how strong it would be.
The bullet that shot out was somehow the size of a cannon ball, and the recoil broke.both arms of mine. I fell on my back from the kick. "Huh. Thought you could handle that." Cript said, the bullet hitting something and exploding with the force of a hydrogen bomb.
“I call bullshit on me not being able to handle it, but I suppose the writers just like to sign wave on my durability harder than a schizophrenic on five kinds of crack.” I said bluntly while my arms healed from that.
"Considering, You only ever shot Sharpshooters before, an energy weapons with no recoil, I'm not surprised."
“It’s Great Bow form has an ass ton of recoil.” I said honestly. “Also, durability isn’t that fucking nit picky, it’s a general thing, not just ‘hey, you didn’t do this so your not durable to it’.” I frowned.
"Maybe in your realm’s, not in Lord's. He has very specific rules set here. As a visiting Admin, you have no control here so your code abides by his rules automatically. Normally your real stats are in a mass general of a few sections. Lord's has a stat measurement for everything. It's worse than World of Warcraft and SAO."
“So yet again, it’s a ‘fuck you’ kind of deal right?” I asked honestly. “Seriously, it’s getting a little annoying that, even without Code boosting me, which I have literally never done, I’m having shit say ‘no, your not as tanky as you are and or should be so piss off’.”
"That's Admin life for ya. You can do whatever in your own realm but enter another's with different rules applied and you're entire style needs work."
“Oh no, it’s been a consistent thing both in my realm before I became an Admin and after I became an Admin.” I said honestly. “I can understand if I was constantly using Code and going into another person’s place Code wouldn’t do much, but the fact of the matter is that I barely use Code for any self buffs, I have mostly been doing what I’ve normally done with the powers I have, no Code involved.” I brought up.
"Then there is your problem."
“No.” I said, honestly confused by that. “That’s not my problem, I know I’m breaking the fourth wall a bit much here, but again my durability as a whole has been inconsistant as fuck no matter what I am.” I told him.
Raising an Eyebrow, Cript took a look at my stats in my assistant. "Huh… let me see." I looked at them and…. That's a LOT more than what I normally see. Lord's realm adds THAT much more?! It's sixty pages long!
“Didn’t fully expect there to be that much…” I muttered.
"Lord loves an excuse to grind." Cript muttered. "If it's damn near anything it's here."
“I can imagine…” I said. “He may have overdone it to be honest…”
"That's all he ever does." Cript said. "See look, there is even a sex stat. Yours is at eighty out of a hundred and fifty! A fertility stat… that you maxed out… and a sexual attraction stat!"
“Okay I call bullshit on the sex stat being that low, but the firtility thing maxed and...jesus my sexual attraction stat is also maxed?” I said nervously. “Jesus…”
"Okay here is your resistance stats. Let's see. Blunt force, blade strike, pyromancy, frostimancy, bla, bla, bla… Recoil resistance. Sixty out of a hundred and thirty. Let's check something else… Joint strength. Super human. Now let's check this weapons stat requirements." Cript said, holding the weapon as the same sixty pages opened for the weapon. "Required recoil resistance one hundred, joint strength, Adamantine. That's a rank up from yours currently."
“Cause that makes sense, go through fight after fight and bullshit after bullshit, your only ‘superhuman’. What, did all my progress through literally everything just garner one level?” I asked. “I know this isn’t the same thing as my world but...come on.”
"Consider this. You don't always fire Sharpshooters in it's great bow form, otherwise you would have a higher recoil resistance, and Joint strength."
“Okay cool, what about literally all my other weapons that actively need me to have this shit stacked to hell?” I frowned. “You don’t just swing Lunatic or Skysplitter really fucking hard with paper thin joints or muscle, especially when the fuckers block it.” I brought up.
"Remember, the laws in your realms work different. You can probably shoot this gun fine in yours but as shown, not here. Same could even apply to your current weapons here, as they will shift to requirements here, and shift back when you go back to yours."
“But...my point would still stand against that though…” I brought up. “Wait, what’s with the asterisk near the Durability tab?” I asked curiously while pressing the tab.
Subject is under constant fluxuations of strength. Several causes are listed below
-Reflections
-Own Power
-Mental State
“Huh, that’s curious.” Cript said, looking over it.
Reflections and Own Power can be intermingled, either from Subjects own Reflections are causing his powers to rise or fall due to outside interference is questionable, and Own Power can also be attributed to other Reflections being too similar and causing it to panic and choose.
“And...I can already tell by Mental State…” I muttered while clicking on that as well.
Subject’s Mental Health can also affect his powers, when he’s strong, confident and sure of himself Subject’s powers are at what Subject’s powers should be, while the opposite can also affect his powers, if he’s upset, depressed or other negatives his powers diminish, or increase depending on the negative emotion.
“Not surprising…” I muttered
I looked over to Cript, who was now at a table having Coffee with Player drinking Coffee. “So what do you think our main issue is then?” Cript said, taking a sip.
“It could be any of the three to be honest.” I said honestly.
“Ever consider therapy? I hear Eclipsa and Zeke both speak with a therapist.” Player said, adding some more creamer to their drink.
“Does it look like Therapy can help this hot mess?” I asked honestly.
“Maybe? You've experienced a lot of trauma in life, Zeke was raised like a living weapon and seen enough death to scare Hitler so…” Player said, taking a sip. “I’m just saying, actually TALKING about things with someone trustworthy can help. Helped me.”
“Maybe…” I sighed out. “But well...none of you have actually died and then had half of your life completely cut off from you, and then it just spiraling out of control from there.” Both Cript and Player gave me a plain stare, I then remembered who I was talking too… Player killed himself to come here and Cript… went though a lot of shit… “Yes yes I know.” I sighed out.
“In any case I’ll see what the issue is. Now you will feel a numb sensation across your entire body.” Player said, raising a hand to me as he...hacked me. I felt… I think this is the Admin equivalent to Rape considering I could feel him scanning around all my code… and I did indeed feel numb all over. After about two minutes he stopped. “Well that’s interesting.” He said, creating a tablet of sorts and looking over it.
“Never do that again please…” I muttered worriedly. “And what’s interesting?”
“According to this you have one Reflection whom you and the share over Ninety six percent of your entire code structures. this means your code as an Admin and Nothingness, given they also have the same Nothingness, are confusing the two of you as each other. This is likely why you’re defences and resistances fluctuate dramatically.”
“Is it just that or is it more than that?” I asked. “And how do I solve this?”
“If I’m reading the data correctly, then this also states that unlike you, this reflection is extremely suicidal, has no Joy whatsoever, and actively tried many times to end themselves, failing because when he does, both your codes swap, meaning he gains your healing factor as the moment of impact, surviving. This is likely some kind of failsafe in your own Code as a means of keeping you from killing yourself, likely programmed by KH when the first King of Nothingness emerged, looks like that Admin wanted him around for a long time.”
“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “So...what, I go out and help the poor bastard not try to kill himself and get him help or something?”
“You're kidding, you two are so similar just touching him would cause your code to fuse, you’d both become one person and frankly I don’t think you and HIS emotional baggage. You’ve got enough as is…”
“Well I can’t just let this keep happening ya know?” I said. “And it’s not like I haven’t worked through those things before.”
“I highly advise against it, but if you insist. He’s in a reflection within Zeke’s part of your combined realms. Reflection ID:000R5U7, World Equis #334Y6… Did you even understand that at all?”
“You literally could have just told me where he was without the numbers.” I deadpanned.
“Excuse me for trying to help you utilize your code to travel specifically.” Player grunted.
“I’m sorry, but to be honest besides making my world bigger and making my doppelganger Nobody...and maybe when I was Infected by a Delete...I haven’t used my Code for literally anything.” I explained. “Oh, actually I should probably bring up that I can negate a Delete’s Infect ability.”
“Neat. Finally figured that out?” Cript said.
“That is invalubal- Wait what you knew?!” Player yelled in shock at Cript.
“I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing.” I said while raising my hand as what looked like little bugs made of numbers appeared in my hand. “I think it’s because of my Code that can do it...like an Anti-Virus or something, not whatever you do to stop it Cript.”
“Eh.” Cript said. “Here, take this.” Cipt said, tossing me a flyer.
Come one come all to the Tournament of Champions!
Heros and Villans from all around gather for the chance to win Admin Cript’s Soulblades Darkest Hero and Biohazards Curse!
“I’m retired so I don’t really need them.”
“Wait.” I said while pulling out the Biohazard Keychain. “I thought you gave me Biohazards Curse.”
“I have several. The ones I’m giving here are my originals. Much stronger. check the stats on the ones I gave you, and check the ones I have.” Cript sid, summoning both. Looking as Darkest Hero… it looked a lot like Void Key, only more tendrils and looked...sad?
“It looks sad…” I brought up.
“I know. I used to hate this weapon… and then, it became my best friend.” Cript said with a tone rich with nostalgia.
I checked the stats on the one I had.
Biohazards Curse (Remake)
Att: 50
Def: 30
Mag:25Grants complete resistance to diseases and chance status effects instead affect opponent when equipped.
“Cool.” I said. “Can’t wait to enter a tournament to get the real ones and make sure Jericho doesn’t get his grubby little paws on it…”
“Now check the originals.”
Hesitantly, I checked the real Biohazards Curse.
Biohazerds Curse.
Att: 5,980
Def:3,650
Mag: 1,790Total resistance to diseases and status effects, any diseases infected with in or outside of battle will be cured and white blood cells can be extracted to create anti-viruses.
“Well then.” I said. “That’s...quite a lot stronger really.”
“Now check Darkest Hero.” Cript asked.
“Alright…” I said while checking Darkest Hero.
Darkest Hero
Att:???
Def:???
Mag:???This Soul Blades base stats will always Equal that of your opponents current stats in battle, stacking with your own.
“Well that’s not broken at all.” I rolled my eyes.
“Yup. Care to see how it feels?” Cript asked, raising the grip of it towards me.
“Um...sure.” I said while taking the hilt carefully.
I felt a SURGE of power the second I took it, the stats changing on my Assistant.
Holder: Ben
Opponent: CriptAtt:999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,9999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,9999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,9999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,9999,999,999,999,999,999, 999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,9999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,9999,999,999,999,999,999,
Needless to say, I never did see when Def popped up...
“Excuse me what the fuck.” I said honestly. “Too many fucking nines.”
“As it said, equals your opponents current stats, plus stacks with your own.” Cipt said, taking it back as I felt that power leave… I fell to my knees… shit that was intense… “It’s also Unbreakable, a special hidden ability of it.”
“Okay so literally no one is allowed to have that…” I said. “Even if I get it...well maybe I would use it, but only under very, very dire circumstances cause that’s just cheating.”
Cript shrugged. “Eh. Tournament is in a month, bring Eclipsa and Zeke with You too. I’m curious to see how they hold in this.”
“Alrighty then.” I said honestly. “So besides having to hunt down literally every hero in existence, need to also train a lot...deal with those trials, hunt down Void Key so Coco can get out of her coma...find my other self and calm him the fuck down for like, ten seconds, and then a lot more shit that just keeps piling up…” I groaned.
“I can have Someone help you and others train, as well as Player here can actually help you more with Code stuff.”
“I wouldn’t mind.” Player said.
“Now then, before you take off to find your other you… care to see my armory?” Cript asked.
“Sure.” I said. “Might as well, even though I have clones nearing the billions at this point...why not add more to the laundry list of shit I have to do.” I said honestly.
“My armory consists of things not sold on the market, which contrary to beliefs, is a lot.” Cript said, tossing me a small box with a button. Pressing it made a single backpack appear. “My entire armory, within a pocket dimension inside that backpack.”
“Unlimited cosmic power...itty bitty living space.” I said while opening the backpack.
Inside was like looking into a literal twister of… stuff. Everything was floating about and the first thing I reached for was what looked like a bo staff. “That is called Kurth. Wood fibers infused with Dark Monofilament gives it flexibility and strong durability. Unlikely to break, and acts as a repeater. Place energy inside it and it will hold, and amplify it so when it’s released it gives quite the kick.”
“Cool.” I said while putting it back, knowing full well I can’t just take whatever I want as I reached in to grab another item. This one was a suit of armor. It looked like recon armor from Fallout but had a glowing blue chest piece with special sections reaching across the torso and limbs. “Well then, what is this thing?” I asked curiously.
Cript saw what I had, then looked saddened. “That… was, Autumn’s Armor.” He said, teleporting it to him. “The strongest armor I ever crafted…”
“I have a bad feeling about the backstory to this…” I said worriedly.
“It was a long time ago. She just… gave up.” Cript said with a sigh. “Here.” He said, handing it back to me. “It’s best if it gets some use after all. It automatically adapts to the wearer, and can change its appearance to whatever for blending in.”
I gently took the suit and nodded. “I understand, thank you.”
I looked through the bag one more time, this time pulling out a revolver that glowed with a blue energy, much like Autumn's Armor chest piece, and seemed to look like any normal revolver but clearly was designed with some advanced technology hidden within. "Electronium shooter. One of my higher grade prototypes. Anything not wearing an inch thick rubber suit gets quite the electrical shock to it."
“Cool...so I suppose it’s Electronium that’s used for the suit?” I asked curiously.
"Yeah. Special cycle system built in the suit, powers it, all the features, a city if you wanted and never needs a recharge. It also sends special signals into your body, allowing for faster healing, speed, etc." Cript said with a solemn tone. "It's got a built in AI that can react faster than you. It'll keep you safe as best as it can, if needed it can pilot the suit if you are unconscious to fight or escape."
“Cool.” I said honestly. “That is rather interesting...now question...is there anything I should know about what Jericho could use that I haven’t seen yet? Or are you just gonna have me figure that out for myself?”
"Nothing I say would help much. I do know for a fact Jericho won't be after my Souls Blades, but he won't stop anyone he recruits to try and claim them."
“That’s gonna be a pain...got a list that Consequence hasn’t tried making yet?” I asked curiously.
"Sure. This is everyone who's gone missing from every realm and reflection." My Assistant beeps after Cript tapped on his...and I got a ten million terabyte sized Document file….
“Jesus christ…” I muttered. “And...it’s only going to get bigger, isn't it?”
"Most likely."
“Crap…” I muttered. “Well...at least I’ll have a start in my search based on all these fuckers…”
"I'll update it as news reaches me. Also I'll be sending three of your Siblings to help you and others with training, and one specifically to help you, Eclipsa and Zeke learn and deal with some of the field stuff you will be facing in the near future."
“Alright.” I nodded. “So...given your plan of fusing all reflections together...does the Jericho thing put a massive wrench in it?”
"Not really."
“Really? Even though we’re about to destroy a lot of everything?” I asked curiously.
"Can't rebuild when nothing gets broken."
“I mean, wasn’t it going to be ‘rebuilt’ because everything’s being put together or something?” I asked. “But...understandable I suppose.”
"So, if that's all there is one last thing I want to show you." Cript said, standing up. He lead me over to a doorway near the entrance. "Haven't been here for a long time."
“Oh?” I asked curiously. “What’s behind the door?”
Cript actually began chuckling. "Heh. Oh you are about to find out."
“Well then open the door.” I said. “Unless I’m the one that’s gonna have to.”
Cript opened it, and I walked inside, it was a weapons shop… and I was greeted by an overly beefy guy that looked like Doom Guy and The Terminator had a kid. They wore a buzz cut, suit with no name tag and Jacky jeans. "WELCOME TO TORK! WHERE YOU'LL DIE IF YOU DON'T MEASURE UP" He then hit my head with his forehead, gashing both his and mine.
“Yes, hi.” I said. “The actual fuck was that for?”
"ANYONE WHO DIES OF FAINTS FROM MY HEADBUTTING IS IMMEDIATELY KICKED OUT! YOU STAYED AWAKE, YOU GET TO BROWSE OUR SELECTION OF DEATH BRINGERS!" He then walked over to the register and stood motionless.
“Um...sure…” I muttered, honestly confused here as I started to look around the shop.
Walking around I saw everything here was expensive… but also very, very cool. Also everything here explodes… really. Every weapon and armor has an explosion feature for attacks or counter attacks. Even something as small as the Swiss army knives explode on contact with something!
Cript was chuckling. "Lord found this place way back, no idea who owns it or where these weapons came from but it's not a bad place to get good gear, if you can afford it."
“And how much do these things cost to begin with?” I asked curiously.
"The cheapest thing here is one trillion rem… and you're holding it." Cript said… I'm holding a tiny switchblade...
“I have problems with the price tag.” I frowned. “Each one has an Explosive enchantment to it that I could put on for a literal fraction of the cost.” I said honestly. “Then what’s super special about it besides the explosions?”
"Each kill with these weapons evolves them into stronger versions of themselves. That switchblade for example as max evolution looks like this." Cript pulled out theirs. It looked normal… til he flipped the blade out and a Dark Souls Ultra Greatsword popped flaming ICE fire covered the blade as I swear it was growling. "No weight, perfect balance from.any point along it, and for a sword this big it's speed is on par with a chainsaws rotations per second."
“Well then…” I blinked. “That’s...still gotta take forever to make...oh also, quick question I forgot to ask, how the fuck does Copy work? Cause honestly it feels like my Copy ability hasn’t really done much even after everything.”
"It levels up ridiculously slow. It's only five levels to it and most people who do have it die before maxing it out. Either from old age or combat related death."
“And how does it level?” I asked honestly. “Cause I have the time to level it.”
"Copying abilities. Duh."
“Okay fine, how many things does it need to copy to level?” I rolled my eyes.
"To reach level two… 9,000 I believe."
“Isn’t that a little...no more like extremely excessive?” I asked honestly.
"Not my rules. It's just like that."
“Alright, and they all have to be through combat or what?” I asked curiously. “Instead of me just copying literally anything and getting past that part?”
"Copy any ability and level it up at least once. If it can level up, if not it's automatically a single point of exp towards leveling Copy Cat."
“And how many things would I need to copy to fully max this thing?” I asked. “Cause funnily enough I could probably solve that problem in my search for hero’s.” I asked curiously.
"To level two is 9,000, to level three 20,000, to level four is 50,000, and to level five it's a wapping 100,000 abilities. So in total 179,000 different abilities."
“Well..thankfully that’s not a big enough number all things considered…” I said honestly. “And what can each level do?”
"Well level one is just the abilities. Level two allows you to completely change a weapon you have equipped into one of your opponents. Temporary. Level three lets you copy special energies of your opponents. Level four lets you near perfectly imitate their combat style. Level five let's you give the base version of your copied abilities to another, maxes out automatically all copied abilities, allows you to craft a superior replica of their armor or weapons, and perfectly replicate their energy and combat style. Basically at level five is the most overpowered thing ever."
“And Jericho has all of that...wonderful, can’t wait to see how that backfires on him.” I rolled my eyes.
"There are some abilities it can't copy though. Mainly Generation, and Amplify. You already know about Generation, and Amplify is it's other half, a booster that the more energy made by Generation the more it boosts and amplifies it."
“Okay, so can the bastard copy the fact I own whatever Nothingness Power he’s handing out to people at the moment?” I asked.
"Yes but copied energy not like copied abilities. It's bound to the person, meaning if I used Nothingness you wouldn't have the power to command it because it's bound to me."
“Um...that’s not really how it works when, again, I am the King, and literally own that power, even if it’s ‘bound’ to someone...it still falls under my jurisdiction right?” I asked, not really sure how that makes any sense.
"Before you came along there was just a king of Nothingness, not an Admin of Nothingness, and before there was a King of Nothingness it still existed without ownership. One can not claim ownership on energy, but can claim right to said energy if it comes from them, which is what you are, but only the energy that comes from you, which in your realm is all of that, but in mine is none."
“But...I’m sorry I’m just trying to understand.” I said honestly. “But their copying my power, so wouldn’t that mean I’m still in the right or no?” I said.
"Think of it like this. Your nothingness is like your kids, it has your code, or DNA in it, but they copied only the energy part, not the DNA or code part, apply it to another and their Code/DNA takes your place."
“They already kidnapped three kids, you don’t need to remind me.” I frowned, not sure why my fragile motherly instincts immediately rushed to that but still. “But...I’m not gonna get anything for trying to make a point against it…”
"I've told you before, these things don't always make sense and rarely seem fair, but it's just how it is. Accept it or go insane trying to get an answer that suits you."
“And we aren’t insane already?” I asked in mock surprise.
"You keep wanting answers so, clearly not."
“Not my fault that people are either too scared or too blinded to ask questions.” I said. “Not my fault I actively try to figure stuff out instead of just having the answer thrown at me all the time...even though that happens all the fucking time…” I sighed out. “Sorry just...small peeve of mine…”
"Seems like it's more of a Trigger than a peeve." Cript chuckled. "Word of advice for Copy Cat, abuse Starfish Cloning until it gets scary."
“I have nearly a billion starfish clones at the moment, and that number isn’t stopping.” I said honestly. “The moment I got that power, I have slowly went from zero to absurd at a very scary pace.” I said. “One ability I have used and abused to hell and back, and I won’t stop.”
"Heh… You know, if You, Eclipsa and Zeke all had the Generation and Amplify abilities you could possibly be on par with Jericho."
“I’m sensing there’s a ‘you can get that power but’ coming.” I said honestly. “You gave Copycat freely so…”
"I can give it to Eclipsa and Zeke also, but those two… they can be extracted from someone who has them, and knowing Nexus they might have some pre-extracted."
“And they magically haven’t done that to you why and how?” I asked honestly, given this new development it was needed.
"They need a corpse first."
“As in they need to kill the user or they just take the power from a living host and shove it into a corpse?” I asked.
"Kill the prior owner. Old school method of taking an ability but still effective."
“So what’s the problem?” I asked honestly. “While that is a good thing to be concerned about...do you really expect me, Eclipsa or Zeke to die suddenly?” I asked honestly.
"No, Nexus already killed prior owners, they have vaults for high value items like that. Find where the vault is and you three can get each and whatever else is there."
“And where would this high value vault be?” I asked. “And has my future self not already burned it straight to the ground?” I asked, feeling like my future self would have done bad things to Nexus at this point.
"Unlikely. They keep it in a very secure place. Where I'm not sure, never actually bothered looking for the thing."
“Of course…” I muttered. “Well...do you know where they get all their water?” I asked curiously. “Might as well start with fucking with their water supply right?”
"Pure aqua Crystals. Just one can fill an ocean and overflood a planet. Depending on needs it can give fresh or saltwater forever."
“Pure Crystals?” I asked curiously. “That sounds like an interesting thing to know about.”
"Huh. I guess you've rarely been in my realm so you'd likely never have known. Here there is a large… how to put it… each reflection in this realm has multiple of itself, each bound to a specific element, of which there are too fucking many in my opinion, and in them exist these special crystals. They are an infinite source of that specific element. For example Electronium is energy/electricity. Most crystals can only be used for a set amount of time before they lose their 'charge' and have to self recharge to be used again. You know that happens when their colors turn into a shaded darker than normal time and, obviously, they stop working. Pure elemental crystals are very rare and never lose their charge, so they can be used without rest."
“And...can you make them?” I asked curiously. “Like, turning the metric fuck ton of elemental crystals I have at the moment, and turnign them into Pure Elemental Crystals?”
"Your realms Synthesis stuff? I don't even know if they can. You're talking about items from two completely different realms here, and not all of them even exist in yours."
“You said that they are pure elemental crystals.” I said while bringing out a Fire Crystal. “The way I think of it is...well, ‘purifying’ them as it were, getting rid of all the imperfections and making it what those Pure Crystals are ya know? Would make sense given that, as far as I can think of, they are the same material just a different quality that let’s it do what you talked about.”
"Yes but my realms do this " Cript said, pulling out a red glowing crystals the size of my hand and as it glowed and fire covered his arm. "And yours can't."
“Okay, but I can make it do that if I know how to actively make it.” I said honestly. “Would take a while to learn the process but I have time to research it all and then make them.” I shrugged. “They maybe rare naturally, but…” I chuckled. “Literally Nothing is saying that I can make Pure Crystals.” I said, finding that little saying a little apt and funny considering who I am.
Cript rolled their eyes. "Alright but between all the elemental crystals, their color variations and mutations… that's 720 in total for all the pure crystals."
“Jeez that’s a lot.” I said honestly. “And I wonder how long it’ll take before I can figure out the right process to do it all…” I hummed, my mind already working through all the possibilities.
"Your clear lack of a social life." Cript said in a monotone voice. "I'll have some expertise help you but if you want to ensure this process you want to invent works best do it in my real, yours might not even work."
“Alright.” I said. “And how long did it take you to figure that part out Cript?”
"Never bothered. I can do this." Cript said, a bright red gem with a blue glowing center appearing in their hand. "Because my realm."
“Well I mean you figuring out my clear lack of a social life.” I brought up. “Also lucky, you can just make shit from thin air, I have to do it the old fashion way of hard work and a lot of trial and error.”
"So in other words you want to do this to prove yourself?"
“Either that or get a thing that Jericho would obviously have because the fucker already has a lot of shit why not give him some more things.”
"Eh. Again, your ego. so, let me guess. Clone for weapons, clone for research, clones for gathering allies."
“More like thousands for each of them and millions doing other shit like taking care of my family, making sure my world is safe, hunting down Nexus, my kids, and Void Key, and a whole host of other laundry based bullshit I still need to do.” I sighed out.
"So you just want to do all the work yourself? What about Zeke and Eclipsa? You don't want their help?"
“At the moment…” I sighed out. “I need to break the news to those two about Rune and Butterscotch…” I sighed out. “Yet again...I’m trying to distance myself so I hold all the problems so the ones I care about don’t have to worry…” I muttered. “I’m not Atlas damn it, even if I’m god knows how much stronger than him at this point.”
Cript slapped me. "You're an idiot. Besides they already know. They were in the crowd of your family. They saw everything."
“Sadly wasn’t focusing on where they were in the massive crowd...and how long did it take you to figure out I’m an idiot?” I asked honestly, rubbing my cheek a little from the slap.
"Same day I met you."
“Then you should have already known I would do something stupid.” I said honestly. “So...I’m gonna have hundreds of clones try and help those two out emotionally, as well as all their wives/husbands…” I sighed out.
Cript slapped me again. "They don't need clones dumb ass. They need you. I gave you the Starfish Cloning Ability to help you train and do small tasks, like this research. Not to do everything for you, because you are learning what you need to. You can't actually spend time with loved ones when your mind is stretched between all of the clones."
“I’ve kinda got a hive mind going with the clones actually, figured that out off screen and while it’s a bit of a bitch sometimes it’s been working out fine.” I brought up. “But that’s not important. What’s important at the moment is that I have too much shit to do, and no it’s not ‘sending clones to do everything for me’, I’ve been doing things to, a lot of things, but the shit I have to do keeps piling up.”
"And where is it said or written you HAVE to do everything at once? I'm going to give you three options. Either disbant all but three clones, meaning there are only four of you at the current time, use them as this ability was meant to be used for. Give up the ability and learn how to deal with things one at a time as ASK for help. And lastly, if you refuse both I'll make you."
“Can’t fully make it just three other clones cause I have a shit ton of clones hunting Void Key and my kids, and no I’m not going to give this power up cause honestly it’s helped me do a lot for my family...you know, actively spending some fucking time with them while I’m off doing shit...like I should have done originally but oh no I’m always fucking busy…”
"Then it's option three?" Cript asked with a raised eyebrow?
“Hold on, just doing some math in my head…” I said while thinking through everything. “It can’t be three clones, I would say...maybe three thousand, a majority of them would be for literally all my wives and kids, so that would be about twenty five hundred, then the other five hundred would be for literally everything else like research, training, making sure my realm is still running, and a lot of other things. Sound better?” I asked honestly. “I’m trying to compromise here.”
"Three clones, or I take the Ability away."
“You said this is to help me mentally…” I said slowly. “But it’s not if it’s only three...I already failed my family twice...I can’t fail them again…” I choked back a sob. “I know you want to help...and billions of clones won’t help me…” I sighed out, knowing Cript won’t budge on this. “You won’t budge no matter what I say will you?” When Cript shook his head I took a deep breath. “Yeah...of course…” I muttered, feeling my clones start to fade away, except for five left of me, myself and four clones since one of them I can’t really get rid of cause I’m still busy with that trial in Mother’s domain. “There, I’ll get rid of the fourth one when it’s done with all those trials alright?’
"Alright. Make any more clones until I say so and I'll eliminate it."
“You do know this will make my paranoia and fear worse right?” I asked bluntly.
"Then seek help, you clearly can't carry this burden alone Atlas."
“Well are you going to help my researching clone out?” I asked honestly.
"I'll have my expertise on the elemental crystals help you. They made a lot of books about things involving their magical and atom structure."
“Alright.” I said. “Well…” I sighed out, rubbing my temples. “Den mother instincts already shouting at me for not being with my kids...still don’t know where my kids Jericho kidnapped are...I hate you for making me go through this...and no, asking help for other things won’t really help my mental state.”
"Hate me all you want, but get working on what you can do now. It's not everything but it's still something."
“And if bad shit happens that I could have stopped I can easily blame you.” I brought up. “So, anything else I should know about before...doing whatever at the moment? Cause right now the laundry list I had is still there.”
"No. Go on."
“Wait, actually that fourth clone is needed, training Code with Player.” I brought up. “Just...randomly thought of that. So anyways...how do I actually get home? Cause this is the...what, second or third time I’ve left my Realm to another’s? So it might work differently.”
"Use your DTN, but infuse code with it so it opens up."
“Alright…” I said while opening a DTN, but also trying to infuse Code with it to get me back home.
After a but the DTN opened and lines of code ran up along it. "Good."
“Alright...now to drown my pain in ice cream…” I muttered while entering my DTN, knowing I’m going to need something to calm myself down. When I got back home I immediately wondered which one of my wives would appear and question everything.
To be continued...