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A Mage's Guide to the Multiverse (Celestial Grimoire SI, Worm Start) by Throwaway1971

Books » Private Rated: M, English, Romance, Words: 202k+, Favs: 160, Follows: 196, Published: Jan 17, 2024 Updated: Mar 20, 2024

25Chapter 10-5 - Bonus Excerpt

(( I just realized that I forgot to put in the little excerpt that was supposed to be the intro to the chapter. It bridges over the gap between Chapter 10 and 11. Holy shit guys. It's not much so take this little excerpt. ))

Before The Fashion Show

The next couple of days seemed to pass by in a comfortable blur of reconnaissance and ass-kickery.

I kept up my nightly patrols, busting Merchant crack houses and then calling up the BBPD to clean the drugs out after I raided the buildings for cash. I stopped bothering with genial conversation after the third time the dispatcher tried to pass me over to the Parahuman Response hotline, instead rattling off the address and situation before hanging up and leaving. Apparently I lucked out with the female officer on my first night as Avalon, because the other officers were pretty much pussies. Not that I could blame 'em - I'd probably be afraid of me too.

I still wasn't too familiarized with the online cape scene despite Cassie overhauling my new smartphone, but word was getting out about the new vigilante making the Docks his stomping grounds. At the very least, druggies were screaming about 'Avalon showin' up' whenever I busted their doors in. Security in their little hideyholes was getting tougher too - more guns, less sloppiness. Common sense hinted that I'd be throwing down with their big boys soon.

Honestly, a big part of why my self-imposed D.A.R.E campaign against the Merchants was going this smooth was all thanks to the incredible talent of my partner-in-crime, Cassie - super cool hacker codename pending. It was crazy what information a software Tinker could find out with the looted phones of dozens of gang members, and she was able to get me times and addresses on the bigger drug deals and cooking spots.

In reality, I really wanted to start bringing the hurt Downtown - shove a fireball up some nazi ass, but doing it this early would be jumping the gun and just getting plain arrogant. Patience was a virtue, and I was still…'sharpening my claws', so to speak. The Merchants were cockroaches, and I was honestly a bit confused on why they hadn't been hunted down to the last man already. The gang was small, fairly weak when it came to firepower, and it wasn't like taking them out would introduce a vacuum that could spark a city-wide gang war. Sure, they didn't have a Kill Order or anything so it wasn't like I could just slaughter them all, but finding Skidmark and his 'lieutenants' and delivering them straight to the slammer couldn't have been too hard.

When I asked Cass about this, her response was fairly deadpan. "Most independent heroes are not ballsy enough to launch a one-man aggravated attack against an entire gang a day after becoming a cape, Jay. You're crazy."

Which was fair…but also pretty disappointing. What else would they be doing with their lives? Actually going out with friends and being pleasant and normal human beings? Psh.

I didn't like doing things half-assed, and since my gut was telling me that my usual Merchant hunting hobby would be getting a bit more complicated soon, I decided that it was probably about time I got an actual costume. Ideas had been floating in my head for a while now, mainly because I had a veritable treasure trove of professionally-designed outfits in my memory bank from the different games and anime I inhaled in my past life. The only issue was properly getting it put together on paper, and finding someone who could make it all happen without completely breaking my bank. I was sitting on about ten thousand dollars in total because stealing from criminal drug dealers really did pay off, and the money was starting to burn a hole in my pocket.

Fortunately, I knew just the woman who could help. Whether or not she actually would was up in the air, but I found that getting straight to the point and staying unflappable helped a lot when it came to dealing with capes. Tattletale and Cassie in particular, maybe, but they still counted!

I was going to seek out Parian, drop a few grand in her lap, and hope for the best. And then, I would shake the hornet's nest a little with the Merchants and see if I could bait Skidmark and friends out of hiding.

After all, If I wanted Brockton Bay to take me seriously as an independent hero, it was imperative to make my own entry into the cape scene. Doing so by imprisoning the meth head drug fiend who attributed to teen dope addiction had to be good for PR, and I'd blow up anyone who said it wouldn't.

Chapter 75 - 12