NOVEL WEB Arc 1: The Meeting – Chapter 8
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Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
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"Speech"
Arc 1: The Meeting - Chapter 8
I hate this world so much. It has been an hour since we came here, and things are crazy. What is worse is that Nyarla and I end up in the central location of the storyline for the first part, aka Brockton Bay, and I nearly had to beat up a few gang members due to how unrestricted they are making a ruckus openly the moment they see Nyarla.
In addition, rumors have already begun about us so fast that I'm damn confused about why that happens. Since we have done nothing that caused the sudden interest other than Nyarla's appearance—fuck, it is because Nyarla's appearance is the main reason for the sudden interest. Furthermore, I can't forget how Nyarla's existence alone draws all the bad things everywhere she goes.
"So, you're being chased by bad men?" Nyarla asks the little girl that's tagging along with us for protection.
The little girl in mind is Dinah Alcott, the niece of Brockton Bay's mayor and a powerful precognitive. She has the ability to see the likelihood of something occurring in the future, which her power resolves into a percentage chance. She does this by perceiving trillions of possible universes and sorting them into groups based on a single event.
If someone asks Dinah a question, she does not have to answer that question. However, she could instinctively look at assorted futures in response to a question. For this reason, she appreciates if other people can avoid phrasing things as questions. If Dinah lies about an answer provided by her power, it messes up her power for a while, likely because actions relating to this answer affect the results.
Her power was not absolute; it could be affected by "stoppers" likely Thinkers who have powers that can cause the actions of others to change.
"100% chance of me being captured if I leave you two and lots of bad things will happen to me afterward." Dinah replied instantly. "Please, help me. I don't want to be taken away by bad men."
"I see." Nyarla nods and then looks at me with excitement. "This is like a quest in one of the video games I played."
I sigh; of course, she would treat this as a game because, in her eyes—it is.
"Okay, Dinah, was it? How long until you need to stick around with us until the bad men go away?" I ask Dinah, and I know that Coil will be a pain in my butt unless Boss take the matter into their own hands or Nyarla's original ego does something. Otherwise, I will have to go full-on blazing glory on the guy with everything I got.
Besides Nyarla's appearance, Dinah is another major factor for people spreading rumors about us. Okay, I could be wrong about that part since not many would know about Dinah's background of being the mayor's niece.
I notice the stares Nyarla is getting. Yup, it's definitely Nyarla's appearance alone that's causing rumors to fly around so fast. Unless this is Coil's doing?
If I remember correctly, Coil's power grants him the ability to 'split' the world into two timelines. He can then do whatever he likes in either timeline, collapsing the least ideal timeline and keeping the timeline he wants. In actuality, his power does not create multiple timelines but is instead a powerful form of precognition. His power simulates the two possible timelines he would go through in vivid detail, then predicts which timeline he would choose to keep. Coil's power then 'autopilots' him through the actions he takes in the timeline that he chooses, lasting until the end of the timeline, at which point he can use his power again.
However, one of the major downsides of this power is the fact that time still moved forward in his timelines, preventing him from simply simulating the entire day ahead of time and proceeding from there. No matter what, Coil is forced to pick one of his timelines.
"I... I don't know?" Dinah spoke up, snapping me from going deep into a monologue as she stared at me like I was something exotic and not human.
Hey now, why are you looking at me when you should be looking at Nyarla?! She is the one that isn't human!
"Okay, let me rephrase the question. How long until you're safe if someone were to take care of the cause of your problems with the bad men?" I ask Dinah, curious to see what would happen if I, or someone, dealt with Coil before I left this world with Nyarla.
I have a guess why Dinah doesn't know the answer to the previous question. Since Nyarla and I aren't staying in this world for that long. But also the fact that we're an anomaly in this world.
"100%; I'm safe from the bad men if someone takes care of the cause within an hour." Dinah replied straight away.
"What is the chance of me surviving after an hour if I deal with the cause of your problem?" I asked because I'm not quite comfortable that I'm on a time limit, especially within an hour from now.
"I don't know." Dinah replied, but now she was looking at me weirdly. Then wince, causing her to grab her head in pain.
Well, that answers the question of whether Dinah's power works on me or if it's just related to Nyarla.
"Hey, are you alright?" Nyarla frown as she looks at Dinah, not out of concern but something else that I can't place my finger on.
"80% fine. Gah..." Dinah answered straight away again, but this caused her more pain.
Ah crap, I forgot Dinah's power limits her from answering how many questions. Especially the number of questions she could answer in the early stage, and right now, it's the 4th question she answered. Compared to a few years from now, when she can answer around 40 to 50 questions per day with her power.
"How-" Nyarla was about to ask another question, but I stuffed her mouth with a cookie that I quickly pulled out of my shadow. Shutting her up instantly as she happily ignores Dinah to focus on eating the cookie.
I extend my En's range to find the mercenaries under Coil's payroll, and to my surprise, upon discovering all of them are driving further away from where I am right now. Also, I see the Undersiders running off after raiding the bank and facing off the Wards and some help in the forms of Glory Girl and Panacea.
Oh, today is when Dinah gets kidnapped by Coil's men while Undersiders are used as a distraction.
Weirdly, Coil didn't make his mercenaries continue pursuing Dinah. I honestly thought I had to fight them, possibly kill them, depending on how loaded they were in firearms. Then again, it's a high possibility something happened in a different timeline that caused Coil to react this way. That's my only guess right now.
Huh? How come the Undersiders are heading over here? Did Coil not tell them to get far away as possible?
It didn't take long before they appeared before us, which was plenty of time for me to distract Nyarla by giving her a small bag of cookies to snack on. I will have to make her something healthy later to balance out the sugar in those cookies. No matter how much she says all the fats go to her boobies. There should be a limit, but I could be wrong.
Seeing those large monstrous dogs mentioned in the novel and seeing them before me in person could easily tear the average adult man to pieces. I should be afraid but after just 2 days of being Nyarla's caretaker. They weren't that scary at all. Although, I can't say the same for Tattletale. She is shaking like a leaf; even the large monstrous dogs, including their master: Rachel Lindt, known as Bitch by her allies and Hellhound to her enemies, have scared looks on their faces.
Everyone on the Undersiders' side is too frightened at the moment. I don't need to know whatever they were told on the way here from Coil to understand; I, or Nyarla, must have done something crazy scary in the other timeline and maybe different possible timelines to scare Coil nearly to death in this main timeline we're in.
Even so, I better take care of Coil as my good deed for the year or something on that line.
"Divine Dogs." I form the familiar hand sign to summon the two wolves, causing Hellhound to let out a whimper with her dogs upon seeing Divine Dogs. "Hunt and devour." I made sure to lock onto Coil's aura and use that to help the Divine Dogs to find him straight away as they melted into the shadow and rushed over to Coil.
Tattletale begins to sob, which is weird; everyone looks more scared than ever. While Nyarla, on the other hand, is enjoying her cookies without a care about what's happening around her.
Not even 3 seconds later, the Divine Dogs returned and didn't come back empty-handed. In their mouths are Coil's remains; a head with a horrifying look on its face and a half-eaten heart.
Nearly everyone in the Undersiders threw up on seeing what was in the Divine Dogs' mouths. Hellhound and her dogs look at the Divine Dogs in awe and respect.
Dinah, I made sure to block her vision. No need for her to experience more horror in this world; well, not at her age. Then again, her life will never be the same since she triggered and became a Cape.
"Holy shit, that's hardcore...!" Regent, the one with a Venetian mask, was among that who didn't throw up and looked at the Divine Dogs in awe. If anything, the fear in Regent's eyes from before didn't even last that long.
I can't say the same for the others. Especially Tattletale, she is already at the point of fainting if it wasn't for her holding onto the large dog she is riding with dear life. Though, I'm curious if her power would work on me. I know it wouldn't work on Nyarla; no question about it. However, I shouldn't underestimate Tattletale, as her power are deadly when used in the right situation.
"So, what did you guys need from us?" I ask the Undersiders while handing Nyarla another small bag of cookies, but this one is less sugary. Yet, she gladly ate them still, with how she snatched them right out of my hand before I said anything.
Grue, the supposed leader of the Undersiders, also included among that who threw up a few seconds ago, has taken a few steps forward in front of his team.
"Our former boss told us that we're under your control now." Grue reported with a shakenly voice. One could tell he wasn't happy with this news, nor could he do anything about it, going by the hint of despair in his tone.
"So bossman, you look like someone who doesn't hesitate to kill and is not afraid of others coming after you with you being unmasked and everything. Do we have to unmask ourselves or what?" Regent asks the most important question for the Undersiders, causing nearly everyone to break into cold sweats.
Well, I forgot about the whole mask thing in this world. Then again, it hasn't even been a day since Nyarla and I came into this version of Worm.