Gacha God: Hero in Action (ch. 17) (Patreon)

Grenades were pretty handy, I decided, jury-rigging a daisy chain of grenades along the walls of my apartment. Everything of value was already inside of the Cave of Wonders, though Past Me didn’t know that yet. As far as he was aware, everything was as it should be -- he would meet Black Cat, make a deal with Tony Stark, and then he would head here to get some sleep while Ned tried to figure out exactly where Shield was keeping the Rising Tide hacker. As well as where Dr. Hall was being kept after he had been kidnapped.

Proximity triggers were rare but also pretty useful if you knew how to use one. The one I had was currently duct taped to the top of the doorframe because the super glue that I used didn’t work, the sensor pointed down and it was connected to a trigger with a two second delay to make sure Past Me would be inside of the room when the first grenade had the pin pulled.

No one knew how to kill me better than I did. I was keenly aware of my weaknesses -- mostly so they couldn’t be used against me, but that didn’t make me perfect. When you spend a couple of weeks in a place, it was only natural to get comfortable. When you were comfortable, you didn’t need to have your guard constantly up. And when your guard slipped… you were open. It was part of why I lived on the streets. People were always looking to take what you had, so no matter how comfortable I got, I could never really let my guard down.

All the same, I did. And now Past Me was going to pay the price for it.

“Let this be a lesson to you, idiot,” I told Past Me with a shake of my head, putting the finishing touches on my trap that would fill the entire room with shrapnel. “This is what happens when you lose your edge,” I added to myself before heading to the window. I would miss my neighbors. Their arguments were always entertaining, if ill-timed because they happened in the middle of the night. But, all things came to an end and this was the end of my stay in this apartment.

With a last glance to make sure all the grenades were hidden well enough, I leapt out of the window and dropped down into the back alley below. Taking out the notebook that I used to keep inventory, I marked off a dozen grenades that I had taken out of the Cave of Wonders. And, with that, I set off to my destination a little early. Humming to myself, I tucked the notebook away and flagged down a taxi. Sliding into the back seat, I said, “Airport, please.”

The taxi driver grunted in response before speeding off towards the airport, leaving me to look up tickets for Malta. First class was like six thousand dollars, but it wasn’t like I didn’t have the money. I was more annoyed with the fact it was going to be a fourteen-hour flight. Totally lame, but what could you do? Well, I suppose I could use the Tesseract. But, that would screw up the conversation that Past Me would be having with Tony Stark and I wanted my eye transplant machine.

So, I booked the flight and prepared for a day of monotony and boredom. Luckily enough, my lessons with Jessica Jones prepared me for it rather well. And it wasn’t even that bad -- first class got access to wifi. Which allowed me to keep track of the order of events on my way to Malta. News reports of the giant totems smashing into the streets was a big headline because people had no idea what the fuck was going on there. In comparison, the explosion that took place in my apartment, an abandoned and condemned building, was hardly noticed.

Sucks to suck, Past Me.

The rest of the flight was spent watching shitty movies until we finally touched down in Malta, disembarked, and made our way through immigration to make sure our papers checked out. I didn't have papers though, so I ended up getting creative and sneaking into the country, but other than becoming an illegal alien things worked out perfectly for me.

"Dude. Can you teleport?" I heard Ned ask me the moment I turned my phone off of airplane mode while I took in the sights. Malta was pretty as a painting, I decided. A real tourist trap. White sandy beaches, colorful buildings, long winding roads that took full advantage of the beautiful sights. It was radically different from New York, the only city I had ever been in. Well, technically speaking. It was a pretty wild change, and I couldn't say that I didn't like it.

"Something like that," I answered Ned, sliding into the back of a taxi and flashing some bills. "Did you figure things out on your end?" I asked him, tempted to reveal the truth but I swallowed it down. Something that made me frown as the taxi started moving, taking me to my destination. My Time-Turner was one of the greatest items that my ability had ever given me. It didn't start out that way. At the start, it was just a glorified time manager that let me be in two places at once. But, when you started to stretch or  break the rules of the Time-Turner, it became something incredible.

It just came with consequences. Like getting scrubbed from the timeline or occasionally having to murder myself.

They wouldn't get it. I knew that. So, I found myself hiding the truth. Something I never usually bothered with.

"Kinda? Maybe. We have Quinn's address, and Shield seems to think that Dr. Hall is being kept there. And I found out the hacker's name -- she goes by Skye. Shield is mounting a rescue for Dr. Hall and it seems like she's going to be part of it." Ned explained, making my brow furrow as I reached into my pocket to take out the Golden Scarab. Piecing it together, it came to life and flew off through the open window.

"... I thought they kidnapped her?" I asked, making my cab driver glance at me through the rearview mirror. "Are you sure she wasn't a plant? Because that sounds like some fast acting Stockholm Syndrome," I remarked, glancing at my GPS to see that the Golden Scarab had come to a stop, opening up the Cave of Wonders. I flashed the taxi driver the phone, letting him know I caught him eavesdropping, and he headed in the direction of the marker.

"They did? Well, that's what Rising Tide thinks? I'm not really sure. They know that Shield nabbed her, and she went dark for a little bit, and now she seems to be using Rising Tide connections for them. It's how she got an invite to Quinn's rich guy banquet thing. So-" Ned gasped as if he just considered something, "Do you think they're mind controlling her?!"

Possibly. "Maybe. But, if they had easy access to mind control, then the Scepter wouldn't be such a big deal to them. I'm sticking with my early-onset Stockholm Syndrome theory until proven otherwise. Beyond that, do we actually have a plan here or am I kicking ass and taking names?"

This time, it was Peter that spoke up and I noticed that the taxi driver looked more than a little nervous as he took me to my destination. "Quinn has a banquet today. Invitation only. Ned and I managed to steal the invite from one of Quinn's long-standing investors that you can use. So, you should be fine to walk through the entrance and do your thing there." Peter failed to muffle his mic completely because I heard the next bit, "Dude, we're secret agents."

"I know right?!" Ned returned, sounding like he was bouncing off the walls with excitement.

I just chuckled as I gestured to be let out, paying the cab fare an extortionate amount of money considering that it was a five minute ride. But I paid it all the same and got out. "Heading into the Cave, hold up for a minute," I remarked since the phone signal couldn't reach to a pocket dimension. I had everything set up, but when I entered the Cave, I immediately saw something was off.

My Audacity bag was missing.

In its place was a tux.

Frowning, I stepped forward and grab the post-it note on the cover for the tux, seeing two stick figures. The symbol for cooperation. Meaning that there was currently a Future Me running around and he snagged my Audacity bag after I opened the Cave but before I arrived. I didn’t see a notebook of any kind that outlined what Future Me would be doing, though. Which was a little alarming, but that was fine. So long as one of us progressed, it didn’t really matter which one got erased by the universe.

"Thanks, Future Me," I remarked, shrugging off my clothing to take the tux out of the bag. It was tailor fitted for me. Expensive looking too. Complete with a set of dress shoes that had no right being as comfortable as they were. A Future Me must have commissioned the tux so I could blend in better. How thoughtful. Reaching into my breast pocket, I pulled out a sheet of paper to see that it was a map of the villa I would be going to. There were some markings on it that I recognized -- like a fence that was marked with invisibility and certain death. But it capped off at ten feet.

Details that would make the mission go smoother, but nothing about Skye or Dr. Hall. Did future me not get to them? Or did he find them unimportant to mention? Or was it the expectation that I was in trial-and-error mode?

Or, and I think this was the most likely case, this was just me flexing my investigation skills to myself.

"I'm back. I just need to steal a car real quick," I told them, seeing an address on the paper with a shitty drawn car underneath it. "For appearances," I added, making my way to the vehicle that should be waiting for me. Though, not before grabbing the Golden Scarab and pocketing it. Some people glanced in the direction of the clearly dressed-up man walking on the side of the street, but they didn't bother me any. Even if I did see some eyeing my pockets, expecting that they'd find something.

"I guess that makes sense. Just leave a note or something," Peter instructed. Rounding the corner, I saw the car that future me wanted to see. Parked on the side of the road in front of what looked like a coffee shop, I saw a cherry red Bugatti. Nothing but sleek curves. I didn't know much about cars, but the thing looked expensive, especially when surrounded by mundane cars. That told me whoever owned the thing had enough money that it was just an ordinary car to him so they shouldn't miss it too much. All the same, I left a note on the sidewalk with an apology for stealing his car.

Cars were shockingly easy to steal when you knew the right tricks. They were basically keylocks -- the presence of a lock was more of a deterrent against stealing than an actual preventative measure. So, opening up the door and sliding in was pretty simple. Hotwiring is also pretty simple. Within fifteen seconds, I heard the engine roar to life and I was shifting it into drive, hearing it purr underneath me. Putting on some tunes, I drove to the villa in style.

"Do we have an exit strategy?" I asked the two of them, humming along with the beat and taking in the shoreside sites. I seriously picked the worst city in the world to pop up in, huh?

"Uh… kinda? I rented out an Air BnB in the city that you can use as a safehouse to regroup at. And I'm coordinating with the Rising Tide to get you out of the country -- we'll probably have to do a plane ride to Italy, and there you can pick up some fake IDs that can get you back into America." Ned informed, and that wasn't the exit strategy that I meant, but still, good to know. I guess I was just winging it on getting Dr. Hall and Skye out. I could work with that.

"Alright. Shoot me the address. I'm about to head in," I said as I reached the villa. It was picture-perfect, really. A large white building, with sculpted hedges surrounding a roundabout that had a huge fountain in the center. Oh, a mermaid. I saw boobies. Cool. Pulling up, a valet was there when I opened the door and I saw the exact moment that he saw that I had hotwired the vehicle. "Lost the key," I told him, slipping him a hundred.

"It happens all the time, sir," he returned, taking the bribe without missing a beat. Nice. Continuing on, I flashed the invitation, and just like that, I was led to a back garden that had a pretty good view of the ocean. There were a good couple dozen people that were all milling around, talking amongst themselves. A server walked by and I snagged a flute of champagne before she moved on, taking a sip of it and decided I didn't like it, so I left it on a table.

"This party is pretty lame," I remarked, looking at them all. All of them carried themselves with total blowhard energy. That air of thinking that they were more important than others because of some zeroes in a bank account. No one was created equal, and there were those that were better than others, but that wasn't measured by money. "They're just standing around and talking. I don't see any dancing or hear any music. What a let down."

What I did see was an old fat bald man treating a server like shit. Guess who was getting robbed of their worldly possessions after I kidnapped these people? That guy. Whatever his name is.

"They're stuffy old people. I don't think that they can dance. They're, like, fifty," Peter pointed out, and fair enough. Wouldn't want anyone to break a hip. "Just keep a look out for Skye and Quinn. Quinn should be doing some presentation, but I don't know-" Peter started just as I caught a glimpse of hot pink. She stood out, I would give her that much.

"Found her," I said, looking at Skye. She was pretty. Early twenties, tanned complexion, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. She wore a tight-fitted hot pink dress that highlighted her figure and she strolled into the party with an air of fake confidence. 'Fake' confidence because it was pretty easy to see that she was a bundle of nerves. Her gaze darted around everywhere, lingering on me because I was looking at her. I tossed a wink and a smile that had her looking off and moving on. "Came alone."

Ned made a humming noise, "She could be playing them. Or it could totally be mind control," he added, not dismissing the theory just yet.

"I'll go check," I said, moving on and heading directly for her. Something she seemed to notice because she seemed determined to shake me off, glancing over her shoulder as she did so. That was pretty weird. Did she know about me? I'm not sure how she could-

Skye stopped, awkwardness shining in her eyes, "I'm sorry, but you're a little young to ask me for a dance. How old are you, sixteen? Seventeen?" Skye brought me up short, rejecting me. "Should you even be at a party like this?" She added, crossing her arms and trying to give the impression of a responsible adult.

"Technically speaking, I'm a thousand years old, and there is no dancing at this party. It's pretty lame. Also, would you happen to be mind controlled by Shield at the moment? Asking for a friend with the initials R and T." I asked her point blank, making Skye sputter as her eyes went so wide that they just about fell out of her skull. She suddenly twitched, as if she heard something, and it looks like I wasn't the only one with a mic on me.

Skye shook her head, "What- no, I'm not being- I'm not being mind controlled," she whispered the word, glancing around as she said it to make sure no one was listening to us. Skye seemed panicked and caught completely flat footed.

"That sounds like something a mind controlled person would say," Ned pointed out. I agreed.

"Sure, like I'm going to take the word of a potentially mind controlled person that they're not being mind controlled. You can tell the Shield agents on the other end of that comm that they'll need to do better than that if they want to fool me," I remarked, making such a genuinely  panicked look flash over Skye's face that I almost believed that she was being mind controlled for a moment.

"I'm not being mind controlled," Skye stressed, grabbing me by the lapel and dragging me to a pillar that flanked the house, offering the illusion of privacy. "Who are you? You're with Rising Tide? How did you know that I'd be here?" She shot off questions, her eyes narrowing when I shook my head.

"Not with Rising Tide. Just have a friend that's in it," I told her, hearing Ned go 'awh' through my mic. "They reached out to me to reach out to you to rescue you from Shields' evil and nefarious clutches. Or to see if you've flipped over to Big Brother, but that last bit was implied," I told her and I saw the fear growing in her eyes. Huh. So I guess that answered that. "Seriously? They had you for like three hours and you imprint on them like a duckling? Are you sure no mind control was involved because that shit can be insidious."

A flash of annoyance, "Shield doesn't use mind control. They're… look, I'm working my own end on things. And this is a mission. Tell Rising Tide I'll reach out to explain, but you really need to go-" Skye started to usher me towards the exit, trying to not cause a scene. Too late for that, because we caught sight of a white tux and a charming smile.

Ian Quinn was in his late forties but he looked to be in his thirties. Dark hair, dark blue eyes, and a pale complexion with just a hint of a tan. A practiced smile was on his face that didn't reach his eyes, his hands clasped in front of him as he was flanked by two musclely guys. "Miss Skye. And Mr. Callhoon. I have to say, you look about… sixty years younger than when I last saw you." Ah. Caught red-handed.

I smiled back, "Ah, you know the old tricks. Botox, hair plugs, bathing in the blood of infants -- moisturizing really washes the years away," I replied without missing a beat. His eyes narrowed at me, his smile becoming more strained. I guess he knew who his shareholders were. I honestly just figured that he just kicked his feet up and let people give him money for whatever bullshit he was selling. But, I guess even a billionaire had to wine and dine other billionaires.

Skye sounded like she was choking on a laugh while Quinn leveled a narrow eyed glare at me, "Skye, I do hope you can explain this. I was surprised when your organization reached out to me, but it was a welcome one. I believe we hold a number of similar values and we can help each other. This," he gestured to me, "is an unwelcome surprise."

Ah. He thought that I was with her. It made sense from his point of view -- what were the odds that his party would be infiltrated by two separate groups at the same time? Us talking probably helped that impression along.

"Trust but verify," I spoke up, confirming his suspicions before Skye could answer. "That was the plan, at least. Looks like you got me," I said with a dismissive shrug, glancing at Skye. Her expression was conflicted for the briefest of seconds before she nodded.

"It was a surprise to me too," Skye admitted, "but some members of my organization wanted to ensure my safety." She vouched for me and Quinn paused, the glare fading away. He seemed to ponder that for a second before inclining his head to us.

"I understand," Quinn decided. "Can't say I blame anyone for taking measures to protect themselves, but I do hope that you know that you have nothing to fear from me. Please, enjoy your time here. I have to go make an announcement, but I do think we would have a lot to talk about after the party is over." He said, offering a smile that oozed charm.

Skye threw on a smile of her own, "I'm sure we will." She agreed, and Quinn's gaze lingered on me for a few seconds longer before he walked away. Almost as soon as he turned his back, she rounded on me and punched me in the shoulder. "Are you-  look, you need to leave. This is a Shield mission and a lot of people are in danger without you screwing things up."

"Things must be pretty desperate if they're sending the rookie with literally no training into the fray," I agreed, walking off. Taking out the little map, I saw the landmarks and started to follow the dotted line that would lead me to my destination. "Honestly, you're better off leaving things to me."

"You think you could do a better job than Shield?" Skye questioned, her tone doubtful. Wow. She really hit that kool aid hard, huh? She followed me, mostly to keep an eye on me to make sure that I didn't jeopardize her mission. I let her because it was pretty convenient to have the person I was going to be rescuing attached to my hip.

"I imagine that it'd be pretty difficult for me to do a worse job," I corrected, coming to a door with a keypad. Looking on the back… I punched in the code and the door opened up for me. I love it when Future Mes gives me cheat sheets. We stepped inside of the villa, seeing that it was lavishly decorated. And pristine. The kind of way that made it look nice, but no one actually lived here. Following along the dotted line, I saw a warning of two guards and security cameras. Looking at the cameras, I saw them go dead as Ned hacked them. Sweet.

Side stepping the guards was easy when you knew their pattern. I don't think Skye noticed that there were even supposed to be guards as we headed deeper in the villa. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said," I told her, coming to another door and punching in the code for it and giving her a pointed look. "I bet that you had this great heist scene planned out -- get in, steal the codes, save the day. Real professionals have that stuff in advance." All blatant bullshit, but I was riling her up mostly to see how she would react. Mind control wasn't perfect. It usually fell into two categories -- simple and elaborate. Simple mind control to make someone be a hundred and one percent loyal, and they'd be hyper defensive. Usually to the point that they'd lash out at the mildest of comments because they would perceive them as personal attacks.

If Skye really was being mind controlled then they hit her with the good stuff because she looked away, "Yeah, well… It was short notice." She made a lame excuse. "Plan B was sending in a highly trained monkey," she admitted and I nearly tripped down the stairs as we descended into a basement. Brightly lit and I could hear the hum of electricity echoing down a hallway.

"... They have highly trained monkeys?" I breathed, looking at Skye with wide eyes.

Skye looked deeply amused, "Absolutely. And they have truth serum."

"I'm taking one," I decided, reaching the bottom of the stairs. The map got less precise, probably because I hadn't figured out how to convey lower levels on a single sheet of paper. So, instead, there was a note that it was the fifth door on the right.

Skye scoffed, "You're seriously going to piss Shield off for a monkey?"

"I would piss Shield off for literally any reason, but I'd especially do it for a trained spy monkey. It could be like my sidekick." I could picture it now. I had no idea how highly trained a Shield monkey might be, but I'm guessing pretty well trained. Holy shit, if it knew Kung Fu… I would take back every bad thought I had about Shield the moment I adopted a monkey that knew Kung Fu. I needed to talk to Peter about making a little cape for it. And a mask. Holy shit, it was going to be the cutest fucking thing in existence. "But we're here," I said, punching in the last code and the bulkhead door slid open.

Dr. Hall was the same age as Quinn, but he aged with less grace. His hairline had long since receded, his hair was gray and white, while his face reminded me of a mouse. But, where Quinn made you want to punch him in the face just by looking at him, Dr. Hall looked like the kind of guy you wanted to tell you a story about something. "Dr. Hall?" Skye spoke up, rushing forward and making him look up from a table that controlled what I was looking at.

"Cool," I remarked, seeing the Gravitonium. It was in a funky looking sphere thing that had two rings spinning around it. The Gravitonium itself almost looked like mercury. Peter claimed that I only needed a little bit of it to make the upgrades to my ATs, but I coveted the rest. It would look so cool on a shelf in the Cave of Wonders. It was all… wibbly.

"Who- who are you people?" Dr. Hall spoke up, sounding alarmed, his gaze flickering to the Gravitonium that he was doing something with. Too early to tell what it was, though.

"I'm with Shield! I'm here to rescue you," Skye started with confidence, throwing a reassuring smile at Dr. Hall. It had the opposite effect, I noticed as I stood in front of the wall that separated me from the Gravitonium. The lab was fairly small, this was more of a control room than a testing one. Dr. Hall's face went bloodless and he looked more nervous than he did before. "Dr. Hall?"

"It's too early," he muttered, continuing to work on the table with a renewed sense of urgency. "I didn't think you'd find me yet. I'm so close-" he started to mumble to himself. I really had no idea what was going on until I heard Peter exclaim in my ear.

"You have to stop him!" Peter shouted, making me wince at the volume. "He's trying to create a gravitational field and it'll be big enough to take all of Malta with it!" He shouted, sounding genuinely alarmed. "You have to cut the power!"

Huh. Maybe this was why Future Me didn't have an exit strategy.

"Wait- You're the one that leaked your location?!" Skye exclaimed, and I had no idea what was going on there. Not really my problem, though. I saw the fly drone buzzing around, landing on a cable wire. I went unnoticed as I crossed the room to it. "What-"

I yanked the wire out and instantly, the hum of electricity stopped. The spinning thingamajig stopped spinning and the Gravitonium stopped looking so jiggly. Dr. Hall rounded on me, as if he just realized that I was also here. "Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!"

"Not really, no," I admitted. Peter sounded freaked, and that was reason enough for me to pull the plug. So to speak.

"You- Do you have any clue how dangerous this substance is? The havoc that it can cause across the world? The atom bomb would look like a joke in comparison to the destruction Gravitonium can cause in the wrong hands! Quinn's hands. Shield’s! They're the same! They want to use it because they fear what their enemies will do with it. So, I'm burying it." Dr. Hall spoke, his voice desperate and frustrated.

Oh. "Don't think you're wrong there," I admitted while Skye looked poleaxed. "But I also need Gravitonium. I'm going to make some sick roller skates with the stuff, so I'm gonna borrow some." I told him, letting go of the plug and Dr. Hall stared at me for a moment.

"What?" He asked, sounding like he couldn't wrap his head around it.

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could utter a word, an alarm started blaring. I looked up at it with some annoyance -- really? They had to notice that we were here now?

"Uhh… Sebastian? Did you make a clone?" Ned asked me, and I was caught a little flat footed by the question.

"Why?" I asked, tilting my head. I didn't make a clone to my knowledge.

"Because Audacity is attacking the villa right now," Ned informed me, making me blink in surprise before understanding dawned on me.

Ahhh… so that's what my play was.