JollyHippo's Snippet Thread

[Skirata]

"With all due respect, Master Windu. If you send me away from the temple, ending my path to be a Jedi. There is no republic law that states I have to accept the Agricorps referral. At that point I could simply make my own way, be a Jedi on my own path, even if not allowed the title." Soren said firmly, apparently more well versed on order rules and republic law then Mace would have expected from an initiate.

Mace felt a shiver of pure horror at the idea of this troublesome youngling out alone in the galaxy without any limiting influence or supervision. The consequences of that... "It will not come to that." He said quickly, "I was simply bringing up examples of consequences for your actions. We simply mean to guide you to a better path."

Click to shrink...

I just imagine him being dragged back to the temple every six months to a year by yet another ancient Jedi that he found to teach him before they inevitably attempt to pass the problem child on. Ikrit, Celeste Morne, Dagan Gera, Ood Bnar, etc...

 

[JollyHippopotamus]

I just imagine him being dragged back to the temple every six months to a year by yet another ancient Jedi that he found to teach him before they inevitably attempt to pass the problem child on. Ikrit, Celeste Morne, Dagan Gera, Ood Bnar, etc...

Click to shrink...

Mace wishes other Jedi would take him on. Instead it seems the entire council has decided this is entirely his problem.

 

[Skirata]

Mace wishes other Jedi would take him on. Instead it seems the entire council has decided this is entirely his problem.

Click to shrink...

I was thinking more in line with him getting sent off to the agricorps, then wandering off and finding the various sealed/hibernating/lost Jedi scattered around the galaxy. With the Jedi he wakes up bringing him back to Mace in an attempt to get rid of the kid. The ones I listed are, in order; hibernating, sealed by a friend for her own good, sealed away because he was obsessed, & sleeping like a log. With Ikrit being the youngest at only ~400 years missing in action.

 

[JollyHippopotamus]

I was thinking more in line with him getting sent off to the agricorps, then wandering off and finding the various sealed/hibernating/lost Jedi scattered around the galaxy. With the Jedi he wakes up bringing him back to Mace in an attempt to get rid of the kid. The ones I listed are, in order; hibernating, sealed by a friend for her own good, sealed away because he was obsessed, & sleeping like a log. With Ikrit being the youngest at only ~400 years missing in action.

Click to shrink...

That would indeed be hilarious. But in this case, throwing him to the corps is an empty threat. Mostly due to him being literally a shining beacon of goodness in the force. Despite his... light heresy.

(Also because every youngling in the temple would defect)

Also because a lot of Jedi Masters (Mundi, Windu, Rancissis) fear what will happen to the galaxy if Soren is let loose without a minder.

Yoda and Yaddle are mostly just amused.

 

[ArcanaVitae]

Basically he's a good person, but he's more the classical do good works, be kind, fight evil type of good rather then the lawful good the modern jedi order is and unsurprisingly his approach is actually pretty popular amongst kids and likely some of the younger generation of Knights as well.

 

[JollyHippopotamus]

Basically he's a good person, but he's more the classical do good works, be kind, fight evil type of good rather then the lawful good the modern jedi order is and unsurprisingly his approach is actually pretty popular amongst kids and likely some of the younger generation of Knights as well.

Click to shrink...

He's also low key preparing everyone for the clone wars.

Talking about the Mandalorian wars. How the Jedi who left the order (Revan) was really manipulated by a Sith. How the other side full of Mandalorians was also manipulated by a Sith to have both sides fight so the Sith could swoop into an exhausted galaxy...

 

[Amonwight]

He was also wearing an initiates tunic, that had the text, not a Jedi, spray painted on it.

"That is obviously not a Jedi."

Click to shrink...

This line made me audibly laugh.

I love this snippet. I felt that him going out and causing a ruckus also helped the jedi image more than any thing theyve done in a while. It Made them seem more like beings and not distant uncaring children kidnappers.

 

[0bi-Kun]

Guess who found the local Hippo's snippet thread!? (Me!)

Thanks for shouting this out on the DxD multiverse thread. I'll check all the snips you made, figured they'll be interesting.

 

[JollyHippopotamus]

---

"Tch, this is so troublesome…"

Could he really complain about a second chance? A second life?

Yeah…

You fucking betcha he could!

What kind of dollar store isekai adventure let's someone else choose where he ended up, what skills he had available, what perks and disadvantages came with him?

Where's his damn character creation, huh?

… Some fucker somewhere was just having a fucking blast at his expense, he could feel it.

Being a gamer was completely hax and a quick way to become a god anywhere, it was that versatile of a system - except of course if some chucklefuck pares it down into almost nothing to be funny!

Gamer's mind? Hah, not for him, fuck that gamer's body too… That is literally the basics of the basics and it's been cut out. Create spells and shit just by doing things, nope. Observe people and get that skill, hah, that would be easy wouldn't it?

What he had was the inventory. Which… Okay, that was really fucking useful considering what world he'd ended up in, but not quite the break reality gamer system that everyone else seemed to get in these things.

Why is his afterlife done on a shoestring budget? No dungeon creation, no crafting system, no Gacha, no nothing.

To get spells or skills or gain extra bonuses in strength, endurance or any of the things a gamer could do easily… He had a hero system instead of the usual system.

Fancy name, which basically from his understanding meant that to gain anything he'd have to do a great deed, or at least a noticeable one - to get ahead.

To just completely add to this shitty system, (and really, how could he contact customer service, because what the hell?) What power he did have was only bought through chosen disadvantages, obviously chosen to make his life interesting.

Whoever decided these things was an absolute prick.

…He really hoped this wasn't one of those scenarios where it turned out it was a future him or something that was messing with him.

He'd totally do something like this to someone else too… Fuck, karma exists, huh?

Not to say he disliked the power he'd been given - the powers of Trafalgar Law from One Piece.

He thankfully did not get the weakness to water transmigrated with the power, but oh, what a useful and dangerous power it was…

Even with his weak ass gamer system, the Ope Ope no mi and his inventory would do him well here.

Just… The cost of his power…

He glared tiredly at his screen again, fruitlessly, as the text still refused to combust and disappear forever.

Curse of Jusenkyou

When you come in contact with cold water you will transform into your female half, while hot water will turn you to your male half. Cold water has a tendency to find its way to you no matter the situation. This curse is irreversible.

Whoever chose his adventure was a fucking Ranma fan, or just hated him, one of the two.

Why?

Because he was in Danmachi.

With the gods playing their games with their children, entertaining themselves with mortal champions and familias, fascinated by new experiences and stories - he couldn't think of a single thing that would draw more immediate attention.

And it was such a ridiculous ripoff, all of this too… With Danmachi being the setting, a gamer system would have just broken the bank more than it would almost anywhere else.

It was built to thrive on something like that. He could have been a god himself in a year tops.

Except he didn't get it, did he?

Not to mention… He had gods be damned fox ears and a tail - so to add to his specialness and ensure the divine would never leave him alone…

He sighed, rubbing his face, he supposed he was being whiny. He had great power already, something much better than most could claim in the setting. But he really couldn't say he was thrilled about the whole gender change curse.

He wouldn't mind a hot fox girl at all, but being one whenever cold water came into the equation…

Don't get him wrong, he was a full-blooded male, and of course there's some curiosity over… Certain things as a female, but for this setting it just sucked.

Pull aside the gods' interests and games for a moment. Now imagine yourself wearing a steel breastplate as a man, and then suddenly you're a woman in the middle of battle? Unless this curse would affect equipment as well, which to be fair he had no idea about, things would get really bad, really quick in the Dungeon. Unless he was as flat as Loki.

That's not even touching having to suddenly fight with a completely different reach and balance, because he doubted he'd be exactly the same size as a female.

"If it was the only thing… Tch." He clicked his tongue, watching the sun rise over Orario. The home of the dungeon, and the multitude of gods and familias who's entire lives revolved around it, and around entertainment, uncaring how mortals' lives get ruined in the process.

He swiped away his screen, his ineffectual glare at the second disadvantage that had been picked up afford him the Ope Ope no mi apparently.

Or maybe it had been a prerequisite to be reincarnated as a Renard.

Curse of an interesting life.

The game is on, if the player goes too long without doing something interesting or spectacular, the game will craft a challenge for the player to ensure life remains interesting. What constitutes too long of a time is entirely arbitrary and can change at any time or come concurrently.

…He was going to get fucked at all the wrong times, wasn't he?

He closed his eyes, grinding his teeth together. Fucked was so not the word to use…

This setting had gods like Apollo and Ishtar after all. Being special alone was bad, being a gender changing Renard was just…

He was basically catnip to a whole pantheon of starved cats.

Heh.

He snorted, before sighing, putting his dark mood aside.

He was done being a little bitch, whining and crying about it, he'd have to play the hand he'd been dealt. He steeled himself, before marching onwards towards Orario.

If he hadn't been further fucked by being dropped in a time he had no clue about, at least he should be able to find Hestia.

With his skill he'd probably get into any of the familias who didn't have requirements he couldn't meet - like being an elf, or being an Amazon. But a larger familia also meant more oversight, more nosieness, and less freedom.

Hestia was bestia, and she'd allow him to pretty much do whatever the fuck he wanted, while also having at least somewhat good ties with some of the other gods. It also wouldn't hurt to be near the protagonist in Bell Cranel, because if shit was going to go down anyway, what better place to grow stronger than next to the guy who's pretty much destined to overcome it all?

Never underestimate bullshit protagonist power in an anime.

Now… Where the fuck would he find that little potato cart, or should he look for the church?

…

Couldn't even give him a map function, huh?

God damn cheap ass system…

A pop up appeared right then, startling the hell out of him.

Quest: Get a blessing from a Goddess.

Find the Goddess Hestia and get her blessing within 5 hours (+1 luck) 4 hours (+2 luck) 3 hours (+3 luck) 2 hours (+4 luck) 1 hour (+5 luck)

At least quests gave him something, although he had no idea if they'd continue to be this easy to prompt. But really, it was in no way an easy quest.

Orario was huge. 1 hour to find Hestia would require he already had all that luck the system was dangling in front of him.

He wasn't sure five hours would be enough even, he certainly couldn't search the whole city in just five hours, hells he couldn't search half of it in that long!

He thought hard for a moment, looking for a solution.

… Hostess of Fertility, that's an easy landmark to find, and then he could beg Mama Mia or the waitresses for directions, surely they'd get enough gossip in the premier eatery in Orario that they'd know where Hestia was?

It was better than randomly walking around.

He set off.

Luck was definitely something worth getting.

Now if only he'd been reincarnated in more than a pair of very tight pants and a pair of boots…

He was already drawing looks… He'd have to make sure to avoid Amazons.

---

Approaching 4 hours later he was in a terrible mood.

Mia Grande, the retired Freya captain now running an inn/tavern, had not been able to tell him shit.

Why? Because of something he had not noticed until he arrived and attempted to communicate with the tavern keeper and her staff.

He didn't speak or understand the fucking language.

Really system? Really?

He didn't want to fall back into a spiral of whining like a bitch, but again, really?

Not even the language of the setting he was in? Now that was just cruel.

He wasted way too much time trying to get what he was looking for across to them, and eventually he'd been forced to give up, taking to the streets again, only able to hope and pray that the goddess Hestia could understand him due to divine bullshit.

They could understand all languages right? Otherwise… Life was going to be really shit for the next little while.

Knowing his system was not going to be as easy going about rewards as a normal gamers system, he felt more and more aggravated as time ticked down, as he searched main thoroughfares, looking for the cart.

Something which he'd now given up on, making haste to the poorer district of Orario. He'd gambled and lost, but if he could find the broken down church Hestia was practically squatting in (Albeit with permission from Hephaestus as she'd given/rented her the place) then at least he could get a +2 or +1 in luck.

Luck wasn't even a status for the falna in this setting, so bringing up something like that could only be worthwhile, which is why he was practically running down dilapidated streets and buildings trying to catch a glimpse of that damnable church.

He already had the gamer system from the bargain bin - he refused to also be such a shit gamer that he'd fail his first quest.

He ran as he navigated the dilapidated streets of the old temple district of Orario - when the divines descended, religion took on a different meaning, and the district was obviously abandoned at some point. He knew he must be close, so he ran harder, fully focused on finishing the quest. The cobblestones underfoot were uneven, many cracked or missing, revealing patches of dirt and weeds pushing through, forcing him to watch his steps more than he would have liked, slowing him down.

The buildings lining the narrow streets were a patchwork of aged stone and crumbling brick, their facades marred by time and neglect. Some structures lean precariously, supported by makeshift wooden beams, while others are missing entire sections of walls or roofs, exposing darkened interiors filled with debris.

Hephaestus hadn't exactly given Hestia anything of much worth when he'd tossed her a bit of land in this district, he thought.

Despite the decay, some signs of life persisted. Here and there, small signs of abodes and stalls clinged to survival, their owners hawking wares under faded awnings and tattered banners, with none of the glitz and glam of the adventurers you'd find further into the city.

Stray cats dart in and out of shadowed alleys, their eyes gleaming in the dim light cast by sporadic, flickering lanterns.

He finally arrived at Hestia's broken-down church, a once humble place of worship now reduced to near ruins. The structure definitely needs some work, with large sections of its roof collapsed, stained glass windows shattered, and the wooden door hanging askew on rusted hinges. Despite its sorry state, he only felt a rush of exhilaration.

He still had ten minutes for a +2 in luck, he didn't even slow down as he rushed into the church, come on, be here!

His eyes disregard the broken altar and the debris around him, as he zeroed in on the door that led to the basement. "Goddess Hestia, are you here?" He called out, not quite so brazen as to just rush into a goddess home without as much as a knock.

"Eeeh?" A voice called out, and he immediately turned around, a breath of relief escaping him, as entering the church just behind him, was Hestia herself.

Despite the dilapidated surroundings, she exuded a radiant presence - not until you saw a divine up close could you understand, but just being in her presence, he could feel that she was a goddess. Hestia was standing at only 4'7, which made her look like a child against his own 6'4 frame. Her long, raven-black hair cascaded down her back in luscious waves, adorned with a white hair tie styled into a twin-tail ribbon.

"You're looking for me!? But I was just kick - I mean I was just moving in!?" She exclaimed excitedly.

Oh thank fuck she understood me! Was my first thought, the second was, holy fuck she was a short stack, emphasis on stacked. He knew, but seeing it in person…

Her large, sapphire-blue eyes sparkled with warmth and excitement, full of an unyielding spirit that belied her small stature as she lit up the room with her cheer. Her skin was blemish free, pale and smooth, almost porcelain-like, contrasting beautifully with her dark hair and bright eyes. She wore a short, white dress trimmed with blue, which hugged her figure snugly, highlighting her curves - it was really indecent actually.

Not that he minded the view.

Her attire was completed with a ribbon under her bust, with white gloves that reached up to her elbows and matching thigh-high stockings, giving her an almost ethereal, doll-like appearance.

He bowed his head, "Hestia-Sama, please take me into your familia!" He cried out with determination and, he had to admit, some desperation.

5 minutes to go! Come on! Come on!!

He needn't have worried.

Hestia immediately lit up like he'd hung the stars and the moon, her eyes glittering, tears in the corner of her eyes, "YES!" She shouted, tackling him in a flying hug.

Quest completed:

Reward: + 2 luck.

Phew, just in time…

---

Hestia had not been enjoying her day at all.

Hephaestus had told her to grow up, that she'd never get a familia by lazing on her butt, and then kicked her out.

Hestia had at least been given somewhere to stay, and the church was cute, if a bit… Of a fixer upper.

Feeling like she needed to get a familia immediately, she'd headed out right away, feeling like her life was about to take a turn, heady with optimism and the thought of the many familia members she'd get… And then she'd faced ridicule all day.

Eh? No valis, no other adventurers? No equipment? Why would anyone ever join you!?

How many level two do you have? Hah! Don't waste my time you little shit!

What kind of goddess are you? You've got nothing to offer!

She didn't even want to think about the men who'd… Told her to offer the only thing she had. She shuddered in disgust as she crossed her arms over her torso. Today had decidedly not been a good day at all.

She moped as she walked up to her broken down little church, just wanting to go to bed and hope a new day had something better in store. Even if it meant working the part time job Hephaestus had set up for her. Maybe she'd find more adventurers through her job?

That thought perked her up a little.

"Goddess Hestia, are you here?" She heard a growly, slightly grumpy voice calling out as she stepped up to the entrance of her new home.

"Eeeh?" She questioned, rushing up the last step as she entered, and got a good look at the adventurer who was looking for her.

Oh wow… She thought, eyes sparkling as she took in the towering figure of the Renard, even as her nose wrinkled slightly at how tall he was, unfair, she thought, huffing inwardly.

He was at least six feet, she thought, and that gruff masculine voice definitely fit his look, as he looked wild, and… Pink dusted her cheeks, muscular…

He had a wild mane of blood red hair that fell down his back, with two adorable fox ears twitching slightly on-top. Before he turned her way, she saw his fluffy red tail and had to hold back a squee, I have to hug it and love it and hug it! She thought, having never seen anything of such superior fluffiness before.

She didn't know why he wasn't wearing a shirt, but if his back had been toned with tan delicious muscles, his front was even better. Definitely an adventurer, she thought, eyes trailing his body until she reached his face, the masculine jaw, the almost roguish sharp face, and eyes like molten gold. She inwardly eeped, just barely remembering to ask him,

"You're looking for me!? But I was just kick - I mean I was just moving in!?"

She almost kicked herself for revealing too much, she didn't want to look sad and pathetic in front of what must be an experienced adventurer. She eyed the muscles again appreciatively, very experienced, to have worked so hard…

Falna kept you as you were for the most part, so huge muscles weren't really necessary to become a good adventurer, the falna would still ensure strength, muscles or no muscles. It sure looked nice though…

He suddenly bowed, "Hestia-Sama, please take me into your familia!"

Hestia felt like her entire world lit up in a bonfire of happiness, her eyes widening, tears springing into the corners as she launched himself at the adventurer, no! Her adventurer, "YES!" She shouted, holding on to him for dear life, afraid he'd change his mind if she let go.

"Yes, yes, yes!" She repeated, face slightly red as she felt those muscles press against her, releasing him and jumping back slightly, face red, don't scare him off silly! She scolded herself, looking up at him shyly, "I mean, I would be glad to have you join my familia." She said somewhat more composedly.

She grabbed his hand, and quickly led him down in the basement, rushing into the bedroom, only slightly flushed as she asked him to lay down on the bed.

She climbed on top of him, pricking her finger, allowing her divine ichor to fall into his back, to bind him into her familia, giving him a falna.

She was exhilarated, squirming on top of him, eyes shiny and bright as it began to form. My first child! My own familia! Take that Hephaestus! First day!

Then…

"EEEEHHH!?"

---

He winced, his ears going flat against his head, the piercing shriek of the goddess on his back really drawing attention to the fact he had much better hearing than he was used to.

"Is everything okay, goddess?" He asked, already having an inkling.

If the game showed up on the falna, it was bound to be very odd, after all.

"You have two skills! How do you have two skills!? I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to work like this." She said, hands tapping on his back nervously.

"Maybe because I'm a Renard?" He said, if he remembered correctly they were supposed to have an innate magic of some kind.

He definitely didn't want to start things off by bringing up the whole other world thing. There were limits to how accepting a goddess could be, he was sure. Even Hestia.

Hestia made an agreeing noise, still seemingly too shocked to speak.

He decided the best way forward was to shock her out of it, "Does the falna give you my name? I'd like to know in that case."

Cue a shocked gasp from the goddess on my back, who immediately hugged herself to my back, "You don't know your name!?" She yelled, making his ears twitch flat to his head again.

"Noise level, please, my goddess." He winced, she immediately made a quiet sound of realization, patting his back in apology. He could feel her pleased squirming too as he'd called her his goddess, the sound of soft giggling reaching him.

"And no, I don't know my name…" He grumbled, irritated.

Even his character sheet in his barebones system didn't display a name. Only his meager stats and level, coupled with an HP bar and another bar he assumed was Mind due to the setting.

"H-how do you not know your name?" Hestia asked softly, putting something on his back, being extra gentle suddenly.

How to do this and still speak the truth… He wondered for a moment, "I have no memories of my life as a Renard before today…" He tried.

The whole couldn't lie to a divine thing was going to be cumbersome going forward, he could already tell.

Her hands stilled, before she slowly continued to copy over his falna, her voice gentle and caring as she spoke up quietly, "I see… Your name is Reynard Kuzuryu."

"I see…" He said slowly, wanting to bang his head against something, he was literally Reynard the Renard, this was entirely made up by whatever fucker decided everything else wasn't it? "Then please call me Reynard, Hestia-Sama."

She slid off his back, holding the copy of his falna, her gaze curious as she tilted her head, studying him as he slowly sat back up. "If you don't have your memories, how come you were searching for me?" She asked, puzzled.

Ah… Fuck, he really wasn't good at this whole subterfuge shit, he was too straightforward usually.

He rubbed the back of his head, his ears twitching slightly, as he averted his gaze, "I don't remember anything about this life from before today, but what I do know is that the goddess Hestia is fair, caring and loving, and deserving of my service."

Hestia blushed slightly, but beamed at him, his statement obviously coming across as truth to the goddess, because truly in this life he knew nothing before today, and he does know these things about her."

"My first child has a way with words." She said with a pleased curl to her lips.

That reminded him, and he slumped slightly, "Funny you should say that, but I… Don't actually speak the language here, I had no idea what anyone was saying until I met you."

Hestia frowned worriedly, "I hadn't even noticed, to us gods, language is just language." She looked down at the copy of his falna, realizing he couldn't read it, "Ah, I can read it to you, but…" She deflated slightly, "I can't teach you the language because to me it's all the same."

He smiled gruffly, despite everything, he was buoyed by her concern and care. It was really hard to feel bad about anything with Hestia so earnest and ready to help, despite not knowing him at all.

He wasn't Bell, he wasn't nearly as innocent and without means. He'd pay back her faith in him a thousandfold as he grew stronger with her blessing.

He refused to allow his goddess to continue to live in a broken down church and work part time as a fried potato puff seller. He'd find a way to improve on that situation rapidly, which he admitted was also out of his own selfish desire to have an improved lot in life.

"I can find a teacher somehow I'm sure, my goddess, don't worry overly much." He said, patting her on the head gently, amused at her pouty glare that was all put upon with how eagerly she accepted the head pat.

"Right then, I'll read you the t-two skills you have, but… Please don't tell anyone else you have two skills already, alright, Reynard. I don't want anyone to steal you away." Hestia said quietly, hands crinkling the paper she was hiding.

"There's no other god or goddess I would serve, no matter what." He told her seriously, and she visibly perked up as she took his honest statement in.

She cleared her throat, smoothing out the paper. Before telling him the two skills and what information was available on them.

Loot Goblin:

Bending over and picking up scraps is for scrubs. When you kill a monster or harvest a resource it goes straight into your inventory.

The second was his Ope Ope no mi, showing up on his falna as the skill Surgeon, with the message the world is your operating room.

Hestia seemed confused, but was happy that he was happy, and he was very happy.

The gamer system wasn't on his falna, so that was great, a hidden little secret. And his inventory just got a thousand times better with the fact that he'd literally have magic stones and drops appear straight into his inventory.

Who needed supporters? Not this guy!

 

[0bi-Kun]

Loot goblin is such a cheat tho. Early game is ought to be smoother and faster if not for Interesting Life.

 

[Rehcra]

Loot goblin is such a cheat tho. Early game is ought to be smoother and faster if not for Interesting Life.

Click to shrink...

lol it's even better for high level battles where due to environmental factors or level of monsters around make it hard to take any loot.

 

[NotXana]

while the white pillars goddess of hearth fire, home, and virginity is a bit naïve and excitable she is one of the elder goddesses with a long history of kindness.

So she can probably conclude relatively quickly and easily from his statements that someone she probably did a favor to up in heaven most likely wiped his memories, blessed him and sent him her way. Or something along those lines.

Thanks for the story it's great!

 

[ProjectVojack]

Hang on. Between Loot goblin and the Ope Ope, can't our OC just instantly harvest the Magic Stones out of basically anything short of a Rex for an instant-kill for dungeon monsters? As for more conventional enemies, again the Ope Ope should more or less instantly disable or kill anything short of a level 3 if they're not specced into some sort of magic resistance (depending on if the Ope Ope works like it does in One Piece or if it scales with Mind offensively). Later on, Shambles and Gamma Knife will let him shred almost any foe as well.

That said, aren't floors 25-27 pretty water-intensive? If he has the Standard Devil Fruit Weakness that might become an issue, especially if he wants to do things with the Xenos.

 

[JollyHippopotamus]

Hang on. Between Loot goblin and the Ope Ope, can't our OC just instantly harvest the Magic Stones out of basically anything short of a Rex for an instant-kill for dungeon monsters? As for more conventional enemies, again the Ope Ope should more or less instantly disable or kill anything short of a level 3 if they're not specced into some sort of magic resistance (depending on if the Ope Ope works like it does in One Piece or if it scales with Mind offensively). Later on, Shambles and Gamma Knife will let him shred almost any foe as well.

That said, aren't floors 25-27 pretty water-intensive? If he has the Standard Devil Fruit Weakness that might become an issue, especially if he wants to do things with the Xenos.

Click to shrink...

That is why he is irritated. Grumpy. But not running around crying. Because the Ope Ope skill alone will make him the best Adventurer in town. The inventory will make them rich, because the biggest issue is actually transporting resources back from deeper floors. And Loot Goblin of course just makes all that easier.

But... he's still not enthused with the gender switching which will absolutely draw godly attention. And other attention. And the whole, dropped in a new world witjout even the language.

Being Reynard the Renard will annoy him for a long time too.

 

[JollyHippopotamus]

Fair warning. This is Worm. A Taylor going off the reservation a bit. So if you don't like bugs crawling up your everything, and dark stuff. This snippet might not be for you.

---

She supposed it was inevitable.

That there would be an eventual line in the sand, one last line to cross before everything became just too much.

The locker hadn't been enough, somehow she'd retained her sanity. Somehow she'd kept a slight spark of optimism, buoyed by her new strange power and childhood dreams from a better time, silly ideas of heroism.

The locker should have broken her, but funnily enough it was the aftershocks that finally did her in. Not the horrendous assault on her, but the way it got twisted afterwards.

The trio hadn't been pleased at all, when her father had raised a stink, trying to find out who assaulted his baby girl, trying to hold the school accountable - trying to get the perpetrators punished.

During the days while she was in the hospital, the trio apparently went on a campaign across school, collecting statements, bullying people into saying what they wanted, getting the teacher's onboard, some of them anyway, but it was enough of them to matter.

Enough to completely control the narrative.

She shouldn't have been surprised. Blackwell was entirely useless and those like Mr Gladly were all too eager to listen to the popular kids.

So she'd survived the locker. Survived her dad's disappointed face as he realized she'd been lying to him for so long. Survived getting powers.

But the final injustice… Just… had been one step too far.

The trio had managed to get her charged with vandalism, making a false police report, and lastly, assault, for how she'd swung at the janitor who'd gotten her out in the end.

Blackwell had given the police a whole file on what she'd called 'false' reports and acts of embellishing and lying, signed off by most teachers, to explain everything that had happened at Winslow. The trio managed to get dozens of witness statements claiming she had set up the locker herself as a way to try and gain sympathy!

It was all bullshit, but it was only her voice against many, and as usual, her voice didn't fucking matter.

The BBPD, previously so sympathetic, promising to look into her allegations of bullying, had turned on her completely, treating her like a criminal, asking her if she was working for the E88! Trying to position her locker prank as an attack on Sophia to look good to the skinheads. Like Taylor had shut herself in the locker to be able to make Sophia look bad!

She'd felt more sickened at that accusation then she'd felt surrounded by disgusting waste.

They didn't have the money to fight, with the school placing the entire blame of everything on her, with so many witnesses painting her out as psychotic… The medical bills were all on her dad, and with no good options left to them to get the school to pay for them. A lawsuit geared towards the school might end up cutting through the bullshit, but would cost money they didn't have, and take so long it was utterly pointless in the first place…

So no, they did not have the money to fight the charges in court. Not that the idea of having Emma on the witness stand, spinning her tales, was one that would likely end well for Taylor…

With tears of rage in her eyes, and her father slumped uselessly next to her hospital bed, all the light gone from his deadened eyes - Taylor had signed the plea bargain, taking responsibility for the locker. In exchange for signing that, the assault charge was to be dropped, and she'd be receiving probation instead of any time in a juvenile detention center.

Maybe with a lawyer they could have fought it all, could have tossed the schools and trio's bullshit to the side. But they couldn't afford one good enough to make a difference. Especially not with Alan Barnes poisoning the well, spreading the story as concocted by Emma, further hammering in Taylor's guilt.

She was discharged from the hospital, sent home, expelled from Winslow, no chance of becoming a hero, the trio managing to ruin her dreams before she could even try.

Her dad drifted through the house like a ghost. If he'd been lost to her before - he might as well have died for all the use he was now. She hated to think of it like that, but he barely spoke to her, could barely look at her without feeling guilty and shameful. He started spending more and more hours at work, avoiding her. Avoiding the situation he hadn't been able to do anything to help with, to protect her from.

Just like when her mom had died, he abandoned her because things were tough.

It only made her break further, nothing left to her. The trio had taken everything, even the small kernel of pride she'd held onto, for returning to Winslow day in and day out, for still struggling for an education, despite it all - was now smothered.

As she sat once again in her room, the house silent as the grave, she felt the swarm of bugs around her house, allowing herself to sink into it, not feel, for a moment.

If she couldn't be a hero…

That left being a villain.

As a villain, there was absolutely no reason to hold back against the trio.

They'd regret it.

They'd regret having destroyed her.

Because now…

She had nothing left but their destruction.

---

Having no school anymore certainly helped her newfound outlook on life.

Oh, technically she was being homeschooled, but since her dad couldn't be arsed to check if she was breathing, let alone doing schoolwork, she had all day and night to do whatever needed doing.

Eventually the program she was enrolled in might send him something about the nonexistent coursework, but honestly, odds were he wouldn't even notice a letter, if he even happened to be home when it arrived and wasn't simply destroyed by her.

A phone call wasn't going to be a threat, he left before she got up and came back long after it was dark outside - no one was going to catch him with a phone call to the house - and she had no trouble erasing the messages if necessary.

She had no friends, no life, and no more care for literally anyone or anything other then for revenge on those that had fucked her over. So she'd immediately began working on her power, researching everything she could about insects, quickly finding out about the power of spider silk.

Everyday she'd practice with her power, hours on end, getting better and better, beginning to be able to make sense of their senses, beginning to really understand her power. The basement of their house turned into a black widow sanctuary as she began construction on a cape uniform.

At night…

At night she began collecting money.

Because she needed things, mainly better exotic bugs, she could control other arthropods as well, so she was interested in buying scorpions and seeing if she could do something with them, not to mention there were plenty of more dangerous spiders around the world that she could see doing something with.

Yet again she felt the bugs in the basement hard at work, spinning silk for her, as she was walking down the stairs close to midnight, not having to bother with being quiet. Her dad now worked so many hours he was basically unconscious the minute he stepped in the door, she had no reason to suspect her nighttime activities would be found out anytime soon.

With her cape uniform still some time away from completion, she wore a simple hooded sweater, with a black scarf covering her features, her hair tied up in a bun, and blocked with a bandana over her head. Coupled with a ratty pair of jeans, she looked like any other lowlife out after dark - until you got close enough to see her face was covered anyway.

As she stepped up to the backdoor, she sent her widows into their separate enclosures, not wanting to trust that they'd continue on working while she was gone, not having enough of them to want to risk losing them to infighting.

She'd only been going out for a few nights, and even with her bugs for help, she'd noticed how… Helpless she really was.

Something she intended to rectify tonight.

And once she had some more cash - self defense courses were an actual possibility during the day.

Slipping out the backdoor, a couple of quick strides brought her to the bushes where she'd hid the bike she'd stolen last night.

One last glance back at the house, and Taylor took off into the night.

She no longer even felt guilty, most of her feelings now so numb, she barely registered them.

Except for the hate.

That never numbed. But at least she told herself. Except for the trio. She'd be one of the good villains. Doing good from the other side.

---

30 minutes later,

She dumped the bike in an alley close by to her target, hiding it under several bags of garbage to hopefully keep it from being immediately stolen.

Spotting no one around, the swarm she'd gathered searched the entire block and confirmed there was no one out and about - so she snuck up close to the Pawn Shop, butterflies covering the camera out front as she approached the door.

The building was alarmed, but here in the docks, no building was so well put together that bugs couldn't get in. A veritable army finding every crevice possible to infiltrate the building. Her sight wasn't the best with most of her swarm, especially flies gave her a headache inducing vision, but she did have other insects to utilize.

She had been studying (not schoolwork) looking up things like alarm systems and the like, (at the library, not her own computer) so that she'd be able to identify the particulars. So shortly after she'd stepped up to the Pawn Shop, her bugs were able to eat through the connection between the alarm system and the power system, the internal cameras already covered up completely in bugs as well.

Safe from the alarm going off, and fairly certain that a place like this didn't have the extra security of a secondary alarm system to warn of sudden power outages - not in the docks where actual power outages actually could happen fairly regularly - she formed a bug clone on the other side of the door, the construct having just enough force to unlock the door for her.

She slipped inside, no one the wiser, making sure to spread her bugs around the block to keep watch, not wanting to be caught off guard in case they did have a secondary alarm.

First thing she went for was the safe in the back office, having already spent two days casing the place with her bugs during the day, sitting in a small cafe half a street down, watching the manager utilize the safe, to be sure she had the code right.

It clicked open without an issue after she punched the code in, and she felt a small thrill of exhilaration, pocketing around five thousand dollars, slipping them inside her clothing in already prepared pouches.

Money taken care of, she began shopping, looking around the Pawn Shop, grasping two backpacks and beginning to fill them up. The best laptop she could find went in, as well as the highest end cell phone they had, and a dozen burners.

She hesitated at the guns, before violently snuffing out any hesitation, reaching forward and grasping one, looking it over, before placing it back, she was not a hero - she could use all the protection she could get. She rummaged through the drawers, using the keys she'd taken from the manager's office - swiping enough ammunition for her new gun, having picked one that had its serial number filed off, hidden in one of the drawers behind the counter, rather than those on display.

Finding a holster, she put it on her belt and moved it to the small of her back for now, the gun loaded inexpertly and placed in its proper place. She'd have to learn how to use it another night.

She added some other interesting things, before grabbing a taser, and a baton, to give her something else then her bugs if she was in trouble.

All in all she felt pretty pleased about her first real outing.

It wasn't revenge against the trio and Winslow, but it was the start of her journey there.

She made sure to destroy the recording equipment in the manager's office before she left, hopefully they didn't have online backups, she'd prefer to not let even a single sign of her presence loose, but knew eventually someone would find out.

She made it back to her bike fine, tossing the garbage aside, hanging one of the backpacks around the handlebars, as she tossed the other one around to her back, just as she felt her bugs warn her of a flying presence crossing over the block!

Fuck it's fast, she felt, panicking slightly as she stepped away from the bike, grabbing her newly stolen taster in one hand, feeling more than seeing, the cape slow down as it flew just past her, above.

By the time she looked up, the cape was floating above her in the alleyway.

What is my luck…? Taylor thought resignedly, staring up at Glory Girl in all her splendor.

There wasn't anyone more obviously a hero in Brockton Bay then Glory Girl, respondent in gold and white and with the kind of looks only belonging to a true hero, full of confidence, as evidenced by the fact she was a flying girl wearing a skirt.

Taylor was straight as an arrow, and yet even she couldn't help but glance at the tight bicycle shorts underneath. Damn...

Glory Girl crossed her arms, an unimpressed eyebrow raised high as she floated down slightly, "Two fully loaded backpacks and a masked face, you wouldn't be up to no good would you?"

Taylor didn't answer, knowing there was nothing she could say, and on the off chance she actually got away, she really didn't want to give anymore clues about herself than absolutely necessary.

Glory Girl sighed, eyeing her taser with something like scorn, floating down almost all the way to the ground, "Do yourself a favor and just put that down and put your hands on your head. You really don't want to make this difficult." She warned.

Taylor couldn't do that. The BBPD already knew her, as fucked as it was she was already a criminal, there was no way she'd be treated well if caught here. She stubbornly raised the taster, pointing it towards Glory Girl, even as her heart beat a thousand miles a minute, and her swarm began converging on this spot from all over the block.

Glory Girl chuckled, shaking her head, "Don't say I didn't warn you." She said, cracking her knuckles.

Suddenly Taylor couldn't feel herself breathe, her hand shaking wildly as her eyes widened in fear, Glory Girl was terrifying, she was going to kill her! She needed to run! She needed to…

Taylor dumped it all into her swarm, clarity coming to her immediately, she had no idea what the hell that had been, Glory Girl was still just floating there, but either way she fired the taser, not wanting whatever that was to hit her again.

Glory Girl shot forward, the taser doing nothing, as the New Wave cape closed the distance faster than Taylor could react, pushing her up against the wall, one hand around Taylor's throat, just holding her up, eyes bored, as she reached into a pocket with her other hand, bringing out a phone.

Holding Taylor like she was nothing but a child, boredom exuding from her, like this was nothing.

Like Taylor was nothing, reminding her uncomfortably of both Emma and Sophia, something deep inside of her beginning to burn with rage.

Taylor kicked and struggled uselessly as Glory Girl placed a call. She hadn't wanted to reveal herself yet, but she couldn't be caught, she couldn't lose again! She went still as Glory Girl finished up the call, her swarm moving in - she wouldn't let another Emma or Sophia break her!

"- we're on the corner of Westwood and Pine, yup, I got the perpetrator just hanging around." Glory Girl said cheerfully into the phone, winking at Taylor, who blankly stared back, her swarm coalescing behind the hero.

Glory Girl finished reporting in, and Taylor struck, the swarm falling over the hero in one great wave - Glory Girl shrieked in fear and disgust, throwing Taylor down the alleyway hard, either as a knee jerk reaction or to protect her from the surprise swarm, Taylor couldn't tell.

With her experiences so far, probably the first one or something worse.

She noticed to her dismay that even though the hero was panicking slightly, the swarm wasn't actually touching her, some kind of force field blocking access.

Her hand reached for the gun behind her back, but before she could do anything, Glory Girl was before her, kicking her into the wall, and she let out a choked scream, feeling her ribs creak, as she bounced off the wall, her vision dizzy for a moment as her ears rang.

"Is this you, bitch? Call them off!?" She screeched at her, slamming a fist into the wall next to her, crushing the brick like it was nothing, the dust falling down over Taylor.

Taylor scrambled away, calling in more bugs to block her vision, to form a screen between them, only the fact she was crawling on the ground saving her as Glory Girl let loose another shriek and flew forward, smashing into the wall, most of her bugs dispersing in the dust cloud, losing their position around the heroic cape.

She twitched, sending a bug clone forward as she scrambled backwards, just in time for Glory Girl to reappear, looking angry, and grossed out, her nose wrinkled in disgust as she slammed through the bug clone, crushing bugs in her wake, "A bug villain? What a joke! Just give up now before I break something!" She said haughtily, glaring at Taylor.

The swarm flew back again at Taylor's prompting, but Glory Girl just hung there, ignoring it, over the immediate fear factor now that she knew they couldn't touch her. One again Taylor felt an aura of fear slam into her, the terrifying consequences of standing against Glory Girl beating against her psyche.

But Taylor had faced fear so many times and for such a long period of her life, that all she felt was rage, hand drawing out the gun from the small of her back, firing blindly into the cloud of bugs covering the hero, until the gun clicked empty.

She blinked in shock right after, as the screaming heroine fell to the ground, rolling around, desperately trying to fight off the bugs that could now touch her. Most of them were still outside the forcefield, but she could feel hundreds that had somehow passed through when she'd fired the gun - all of them attacking her.

She quickly got up and ran to her bike, giving another look at the heroine, ordering her bugs to crawl into her nose and mouth and choke her to unconsciousness. She didn't know when help would arrive, but she didn't want to be here long enough to find out.

As soon as she saw Glory Girl stop struggling, she recalled her bugs, not wanting to kill her, and immediately set off as fast as she could on her bike. Praying the hero wasn't allergic to bees, because killing Glory Girl was definitely not going to help her cause right now.

She should really carry an EpiPen, something she hadn't considered in her anger before heading out.

She left Glory Girl behind, praying there would be no other unexpected encounters on the way home.

Taylor didn't know, and hadn't realized…

That calling her bugs back, didn't matter for the mass of dead or stuck/crippled bugs in Glory Girls throat and nose.

By the time Taylor was checking on her cracked ribs, poking the bruises in her side with a grimace.

Glory Girl was long dead.

Taylor went to bed, mostly satisfied with her day.

---

The next day,

It said a lot about Taylor's mentality, that when she woke up the next day, and heard a quarter of the city was under quarantine due to some sort of plague or monster situation, her first thought wasn't about her dad. Who apparently hadn't found the situation important enough to wake her.

Her thoughts were on her revenge.

Like hell some biotinker is getting the Trio before I do!

She had intended to wait. Run a campaign of harassment that would make those bitches suffer slowly over weeks. But this was too much. What if they got killed? What if they moved?

No… nooo…. Nonono. They were hers!

She didn't have enough to finish her outfit, but at least her torso, arms, and head could be costumed in her bug themed villainous outfit. It would have to be enough.

The heroes would be busy with whatever was going down with that plague stuff. It was mostly in the better areas of town anyway, nowhere near Winslow. Although she doubted school was in session, she knew the Trio all lived close enough to Winslow they should still be alive for her to deal with.

She began organizing things, idly noting Glory Girl had died, according to the reports, as had Brandish and several other New Wave members. She felt a flash of guilt and shame that Glory Girl had died to a Biotinker right after encountering her. Perhaps if she'd been strong enough to put her down better, she'd still be alive…

Taylor needed to be better. Yeah, she was a villain, but she wasn't a bad person.

She didn't want to hurt the heroes, just… deal with the monsters that flew under the heroes radar. Like the trio and others like them. Maybe the junior E88 scum from Winslow or the ABB brats who followed girls everywhere.

She put her helmet on, yellow lenses flashing as they caught the glare of the sun through the window.

Yeah… She would clean up the trash.

She'd be a good villain.

---

Emma sat cross-legged on her bed, phone pressed to her ear, one hand idly twisting a strand of her hair. The house was quiet. Her parents were out, stuck in the quarantine. Safe, but unable to leave until everyone was cleared downtown.

Her dad had told her Legend himself had dealt with the threat. So obviously everything was going to be okay.

Sophia was busy for obvious reasons.That left Madison, whose voice crackled through the phone in the middle of some story about a guy from Winslow who'd tried to bribe her to get a kiss.

Madison was such an attention whore.

"- and then he just stood there with his mouth open, like a fish," Madison said, laughing. "I swear, Emma, you should've seen his face. Total loser energy."

Emma smiled, small and automatic. "Sounds like he deserved it. What did you say to him after?" God this was boring…

She shifted, tucking one bare foot under her thigh. The window was cracked; a soft evening breeze moved the curtains. Outside, the street was empty. Normal and boring.

Madison was still talking. Something about weekend plans. Emma half-listened, half-watched the dust motes drifting in the sunlight. She was that bored. A fly landed on the edge of her dresser. She flicked a hand at it without looking. It didn't move.

Another landed on the windowsill.

Then three more, crawling along the frame. Then even more.

Emma frowned. "Hey, Mads, hold on a second. There's like… a bunch of bugs by my window."

Madison's voice sharpened with disgust. "Bugs? What? Do you like, not have pest control?"

Emma leaned closer, weirded out. More flies. A couple of moths. Something darker skittering along the baseboard near the door finally told her this was not normal. She stood, phone still to her ear, and crossed the room. When she reached the window she stopped. The crack wasn't wide enough for this many. They were already inside, clustered on the sill, wings twitching. One crawled onto the back of her hand.

She jerked away with a sharp breath. The fly clung for a second before dropping to the carpet.

"Gross," She muttered. "I think I need to close the -"

The words cut off. Because she'd looked up. Her entire ceiling was covered in a carpet of insects just silently sitting there.

A line of ants crawled under the door. A steady stream, black and glistening, pouring across the threshold like spilled ink. Behind them came beetles and Emma stopped caring what kind, finding breathing difficult as panic set in. Emma took one step back, lips trembling. The phone stayed pressed to her ear, Madison's voice distant and confused.

"Emma? You still there?"

The ants reached her bare foot before she could answer.

They climbed. Tiny legs pricking across the arch, then up over the ankle bone, under the hem of her pajama shorts. Emma made a noise - half shriek, half startled gasp - and kicked. The ants didn't scatter. More came. They poured over her toes, into the spaces between them, up her calf in a living sleeve.

"Madison," She screamed, voice high pitched.

"Something's… There are bugs. A lot of them. They're attacking me. Call Sop-" She screamed, dropping the phone to the carpet as she felt the swarm of bugs crawl inside her panties.

"Nononono! Please oh gross, eww, away!" She begged, tears running down her face.

She slapped at her leg and crotch in a panic. Some ants became smeared. More took their place. A centipede, long and many-legged, wound itself around her ankle and began to climb. Emma's stomach turned. She stumbled backward, bile on her lips.

The voices started then.

They rose from the swarm itself, thousands of tiny mandibles and wingbeats and clicking legs aligning into words. The sound was wet. Layered. It filled the room and she immediately wet herself hearing it directed to her.

"You lied."

"Madison," Emma shrieked, hoping the girl could still hear her. The phone was still on the floor. Madison's voice was saying her name, sounding panicked and worried, but Emma could barely hear it over the chorus.

"Pay for your sins."

The bugs came faster. Cockroaches the size of her palm skittered down the walls and dropped from the ceiling onto her shoulders. One landed in her hair. She felt its antennae brush her scalp as it burrowed deeper. Emma screamed and clawed at her head. Her fingers came away sticky with crushed bits and pale innards.

They were under her clothes everywhere now. Crawling up the inside of her thigh, across the soft skin of her stomach, into the band of her bra, violating her down below as she vomited again, screaming in fear and agony. Tiny legs and sharper legs. Some bit. Small, precise pinches that left hot points of pain. Others simply moved, endless and deliberate, mapping every inch of her. A beetle forced itself between her lips when she opened her mouth to scream again. She gagged, tongue thrashing against the hard shell, and spat. It didn't fall far. More insects surged into the space her breath made.

Her knees hit the carpet. Madison's voice was a thin, panicked thread on the floor. "Emma? Emma, what's happening? Are you-" And then the speaker was covered in a crawling mat of bugs. The sound cut off.

Emma tried to crawl toward the door. Her hands sank into the carpet and came up coated in insects. They filled the creases of her palms, they were in-between her fingers. When she opened her mouth again the swarm answered with one voice.

"You made me. This is your reward."

Something thick and segmented pushed into her ear. She felt it scrape the canal, felt the wet pop as it forced past the eardrum. The pain was bright and immediate. She shrieked, the sound high and broken, and the bugs answered by pouring into her open throat. She choked. Coughed. Felt legs and wings and soft bodies sliding down her esophagus. Blood welled where something sharp had torn the inside of her cheek; she tasted copper and the bitter disgusting taste of crushed insect.

Her vision swam. The room had gone dark with bodies. Only her eyes remained clear - two wet, wide circles of white in a shifting mass of black and brown and iridescent green. She could still see the door. It opened.

A figure stepped through.

Yellow lenses. Black armor panels stitched with what looked like silk. A cape that moved wrong, because it wasn't fabric. It was insects, thousands of them holding the shape of cloth. The figure's boots left no tracks through the carpet of bugs as they all parted before it. Emma's muffled scream bubbled out around the mass in her mouth. Flecks of blood and pale flesh erupted from within the cocoon, Emma's skin being burrowed into as she gurgled in pain and absolutely mindbreaking fear.

The figure bent. One gloved hand reached up and unsealed the helmet. It lifted away.

Taylor's face was pale. Her eyes were flat. There was no triumph in them. Only a quiet, exhausted certainty.

"Bye, Emma," She said with melancholy, Emma just staring in incomprehension, no longer able to hear anything, her mind broken anyway.

The swarm answered. It rose in a single, crushing wave. Insects flooded over Emma's eyes, into her nose, under her eyelids, into every opening that still drew air. The last thing she felt was the weight of them pressing her flat to the carpet, the wet slide of bodies filling her lungs, and the distant, fading sound of her own voice being swallowed whole.

---

Taylor "I'll be a good villain, taking care of the stuff heroes never get to."

Taylor in 24 hours. Kills Glory Girl, Panacea goes bananas turning a quarter of Brockton into crazy shit and gets taken out by Legend.

Brandish dies (so a plus there)

Then she murders Emma in a way that will have her be considered S9 material.

Taylor "Yep, I'm a good villain, just looking out for the little guys."

 

[NotXana]

this is perfectly unhinged 10/10

 

[Top Sun]

That's a big oopsie from the trio lmao. I mean, when you live in Worm, isn't it basic common sense to not give someone reasons to go apeshit ?

Thank you for writing !

 

[JollyHippopotamus]

That's a big oopsie from the trio lmao. I mean, when you live in Worm, isn't it basic common sense to not give someone reasons to go apeshit ?

Thank you for writing !

Click to shrink...

You'd think so, but then Sophia, a ward, is part of bullying the shit out of Taylor and doing the locker in canon anyway.

And she should definitely know about trigger risks. Although she probably just thought Taylor was too weak to ever trigger anyway.