Just a Guy and a Gate to the Multiverse - Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Chapter 4 - First Blood

— Central City, Autumn 1914 —

Solf J. Kimblee POV

"Hmm, I wonder what's going on today?" His relaxed voice reverberates through the room as he sits in a dark cell, musing with his eyes closed while he listens to the air.

A sudden BOOM shakes the room.

"Oh, how pleasant. That sound resonates with my body!"

It is such a nostalgic sound, too. It reminds him of a different time, before he ends up in here.

He can see it in his memories as if it happened yesterday. The beautiful sound of a collapsing building caused by an explosion, burying those Ishvalian devils beneath tons of rubble. Even if they survive the explosion, the weight of the building materials crushes their bodies.

"Such a pleasant noise. Didn't something like that happen a few months ago? Central City seems to be getting really wild these days." He chuckles, letting his bound hands rest in his wooden shackles as he begins to hum to himself.

It is a crude method meant to keep his limbs apart so he cannot activate the transmutation circles tattooed onto the palms of his hands. "It's much closer than last time, too. Why would someone blow up the neighboring building, I wonder?"

"What are you mumbling about again, Kimblee?" a voice calls from outside his cell as the viewing hatch on the door is pulled open. "Didn't we tell you last time to shut up, Mad Bomber Kimblee?"

"Pardon, how rude of me! Yes, the guards did indeed," Kimblee confirms with a smile. "I wasn't aware you were present, too. I can't quite place your voice. I don't think I've heard it before. Are you a new guard, Mister…?"

"You could say that," the voice replies nonchalantly. "I've heard about you."

"A new hire, then. I hope only good things." Kimblee laughs while listening to the sound of hurried footsteps a few floors below, followed by dull noises. Something is hammering against a solid surface. "You guys seem to be quite busy tonight. Is everything alright?"

Kimblee cannot help but wonder why the air in his cell feels so familiar.

"Don't worry about that. Everything is going as planned. Someone just blew up the empty building across the street, but it doesn't affect us. The guards are busy making sure it has nothing to do with us in here," the voice replies.

It takes a moment before Kimblee realizes the truth. "The guards? Are you not one of them?"

"Sorry about that."

There is a snap, a spark, and then the cell turns into fire.

———

Matt POV

Shit, shit, shit…

I have just killed a man. I have just killed him, just like that. I have turned him into a crispy corpse.

Fuck, what am I even thinking?

Sure, he is a mass murderer, but he is still a human being. I only keep telling myself that he is a mass murderer to rationalize my kill. This was never about justice for me.

He never did anything to me. In general, he is more morally gray than pure evil. A psychotic but rational realist.

Still, he is going to end up assisting the Homunculi just to see what the world looks like after the conflict between humans and Homunculi.

I do not have time for second toughts right now. I am in a dangerous situation here.

This is hostile territory, a military prison. The guards will not hesitate to shoot me, and the walls I transmuted to block them will not hold forever. I can already hear them trying to break through.

After all, I waste enough time hesitating and talking to Kimblee while filling his cell with concentrated oxygen. I need to complete what I came here for in the first place, or I will have killed a man for nothing.

As soon as I transmute the cell door into dust with the deconstruction array based on Scar's brother's research, which I wear on my right arm, I hurry into the cell toward Solf J. Kimblee's burned remains.

The first human I have killed.

That smell… like grilled meat… This is…

I have to focus to not throw up from the smell. It doesn't even smell bad, just charred.

Fucking hell, get over it, stupid me.

I am planning to travel the multiverse, so killing is not something I can avoid. While many stories are portrayed as happy and full of adventure, the implications in the background have often nothing to do with peace.

A lot of the fiction I enjoy is designed for a relatively young audience, especially Shonen anime or Harry Potter, but the implied reality of those worlds is far darker and will be far deadlier and more dangerous.

Death Eaters in the Wizarding World will not hesitate to throw Killing Curses at me. Shinobi in Naruto will not give me the Talk-no-Jutsu. Only Naruto avoids killing. None of them will hesitate to kill me in a dangerous moment.

The next world I am about to head to, is much deadlier too. Almost everything in the Wild will try to kill me. I will have to kill there to survive.

Yet here I am, staring at a burned corpse instead of doing what I am here for, while every moment that passes puts my life at risk.

I slap myself.

Go, Matt. I do not have time for this. If I hesitate here, I might as well give up and end this whole multiversal journey in some soft world.

Grabbing the charred remains with my deconstruction arm, I turn them into mush without hesitating again.

Where is it? Quickly, there is no time left.

Holding back the bile, I start scooping through the grilled organic sludge while ignoring the smell filling the cell. I cannot think too much about what I am doing right now. Not here, not while I am in danger.

Just keep searching. It has to be somewhere in there.

Where is it?

Did I burn it? No, it cannot be. It cannot be that fragile. Can it?

If i remember right it's supposed to be indestructible.

It has to be here!

Where? Come on, come on, come on!

Suddenly, I feel something hard brush against my dirty fingers, which are covered in organic mush and blood. It is a small object, slightly long and crystalline in shape.

I hold it up. It is a dark, blood-like red.

A Philosopher's Stone. Everything I do today is for this small Philosopher's Stone.

Coldblooded murder to get...

No, I cannot freeze up again.

Ignoring the gory sight staining my hands, I hurry toward the cell wall while putting the Stone into my pocket. As soon as both my hands touch the wall, alchemical lightning begins to flicker.

The deconstruction array on my right arm and the reconstruction array on my left arm work in tandem, turning part of the prison building into a bridge to the building right beside it.

It does not take long for me to be noticed.

"There is the intruder! He is trying to escape!" a voice warns the others.

One of the voices sounds more authoritative. "Wait for him on the ground floor. Cut off his escape routes. Did you alert HQ?"

"Yes, sir. They are sending reinforcements immediately."

"Good. We just need to keep him here. Do not let him escape. Occupy every building around this one! You three, keep trying to break down the wall, then go after him. Use lethal force if it looks like he is getting away," the man who seems to be the commander orders.

This is exhausting. I really need to do something about my fitness.

A Super Soldier Serum or something similar would be really nice. Unfortunately, it is not easy to get one, and I cannot come up with many easy options that would make me stronger without a World Attunement.

At least I have some ideas.

For now, all I can do is rely on my current physique.

Too bad for them, I am as good as gone.

Covered from below by my bridge, they have no clear shooting trajectory at me as I climb up the building. I have transmuted a small ladder into the side of the wall, and sweat drips down my back with every movement.

Soon, I reach the top of the building and finally let out the sigh I have been holding.

I am safe. I have already transmuted the stairway to the roof shut before I even infiltrated the State Prison.

My cart, along with my things, is already waiting for me on the roof.

Yes, it is time for me to head to the next world. After all, it has been almost two years since my arrival in Amestris to learn alchemy.

That is what I have spent most of my time doing here. Still, I have gained and learned a lot.

I considered attempting Human Transmutation to take a look into the Gate of Truth and gain the ability to perform transmutation without drawing a Transmutation Circle first, but in the end, I decide it is not worth it.

Even now that I have a Philosopher's Stone.

I am still only human, after all. Even with such a powerful ability that allows me to travel the multiverse, human is what I am at the end.

Meanwhile, Truth is a being I cannot predict or sway. It is one of the most powerful beings in all of fiction. I have no idea how it would react to me attempting to gain power for the sake of power.

If I attempt Human Transmutation on myself, I have no way to tell what price I will have to pay to look into the Gate of Truth. If it is something like my eyesight, as it is for Roy Mustang, or a limb, as it is for Edward Elric, I will be fine, and I can heal myself with the Philosopher's Stone.

After all, I knew the locations of multiple Philosopher's Stones. Even if that means gaining the attention of the Homunculi in exchange.

But I am not the one controlling the price of looking into the Gate of Truth. The Gate may be mine, but Truth is in charge there.

There is no way for me to tell what it will do. It could simply be offended by my attempt to play the system and take something like my heart, my brain, or even my whole body. Then I would be dead immediately.

It is not worth the risk.

After all, the Transmutation Arrays created by Scar's brother do pretty much the same thing.

They even remove the need to clap my hands together to form a circle with my body. Instead, I can complete the whole transmutation process with a simple touch.

For more specific alchemy, I can just create some gloves.

It may not be perfect, and the fact that they are made of fabric is a weakness. A weakness that only exists because of my own vanity. I simply do not want a tattoo. For now, they are enough as they are.

"There are no stairs to the roof!"

"He didn't leave the building. He must be up there!" loud voices call from the floor below me.

It seems to be time for me to leave. Still i feel a bit sad.

I may not have made many human connections here, but I still have a teacher and her family. My relationship with Scar is also relatively friendly. As often as possible, he collected the research papers and books of the State Alchemists he kills just for me.

There are people I have not met, like the Elric brothers or Hohenheim, because I do not want to draw the attention of the Homunculi to me. I am not confident that I can handle them. Still, the Brothers have heard of me from Teacher.

Hopefully, my help is enough to bring a better end to their story. I know I have already saved a few lives. Nina has not turned into a Chimera, and Captain Hughes did not die.

Thanks to me, all of them are aware of the truth and act more discreetly. They are gathering a secret resistance to fight the higher-ups and Father's plan.

I believe I have done good in this world, even if I do not get involved in the final fight.

Taking one last long look over Central City, I begin to focus.

A new image forms in my mind, but this time, I add a bit of variation to the original universe. As soon as that image solidifies, I once again summon the energy of my [Multiversal Gate] Skill.

Once again, that rainbow-colored energy swirls to life in front of me, forming a circular portal.

My backpack is on my shoulders, and my cart is packed to the brim with goods, especially more food and water this time.

I transmuted it bigger after hiding it up here on the roof, spending the last few days packing, sneaking up supplies, and observing the prison.

With where I am going, fresh food and clean water will be rare, after all.

"Good luck, everyone! I believe you will win!"

With one last glance over my shoulder toward Central City, I step through the portal.

Bright light immediately blinds my vision.

— Unknown Location, Unknown Date —

It takes a few seconds for my eyes to fight off the blinding light and adjust to the darkness of my new surroundings. Yes, it is quite dark and... dirty.

There is a bit of light above me, but not enough to truly illuminate the room. And of course the room is dirty. What else would I expect when nobody has cleaned it for over two hundred years?

On a U-shaped desk in the center of the room stands a computer, or rather, a terminal. Below it is a skeleton, one of the former inhabitants of this complex.

What are those crawling and clicking sounds?

Oh, right. I am not entirely alone in here.

My glance falls toward the open metallic door leading into a long corridor. It stretches down some stairs toward another heavy metal door, though this one is closed.

What catches my eye are the three giant bugs crawling on the floor right beside those stairs. Cockroaches, to be precise. Three fucking big-ass cockroaches, in the size of small dogs.

They have not noticed me yet.

If this were me from two years ago, at the start of my journey, I would be in trouble. I would outright panic.

But I am different now.

I carefully activate the transmutation circle printed onto my glove. I do not want to go overboard.

The last thing I want to do right now is burn this place down.

Snap

In a flash, a spark forms at my fingertip and travels down a corridor of pure oxygen before burning those three roaches into ash. The flames are not too large, just big enough to engulf those abominations.

It is still strong enough to kill them and not leave much behind.

They are considered a source of food in this world, but yeah, no. That is not going to happen. There is no reality where I will consider eating cockroach meat. No matter how big they are.

I prepared enough food for that possibility to last me for a while, and I am ready to produce more. Not only do I have food and water ready, but I also have seeds for new plants.

Those will be valuable trade goods here.

"Fucking giant roaches…"

Seeing that they are no longer moving, I make sure the room is empty and that no other roaches are hiding somewhere else before leaving my cart here. The only other door out of this room is still sealed and can only be opened from the terminal on the desk.

There is also a gun beside the terminal, along with a pack of ammunition and three syringes. I leave all of them there for now.

These syringes are one of the main reasons I came to this world in the first place, but I can always loot them later. Nobody is going to come in here. Almost nobody has done so for two hundred years, with only a single exception, so there is no reason to assume anyone will today. For now, I have a complex to clear out and something to check.

I begin moving down the same corridor the roaches came from, heading toward the closed door.

Behind that door is the reactor room, where more of those monstrous cockroaches are waiting for me. But I already know that and dispose of them with a quick snap of my fingers.

Flame Alchemy really is one of the strongest forms of alchemy.

As long as I do not get wet, I always have an explosion ready to fight with.

The roaches are not the only danger in that room. After two hundred years, the reactors have broken down and are now shooting deadly electricity around the center of the room. But as long as I keep a wide distance from them, they are no danger to me.

Behind the reactor room is the recreational area, with quarters for the personnel. And, of course, more skeletons. It is a sight I will have to get used to, especially in this world. They are quite common.

How long do bones even take to decompose? Since they are still around, at least a few centuries. I also tought it would be messier with all that decomposed flesh.

Maybe the cockroaches ate it?

Ignoring the recreational area with another terminal, I head down another corridor, roast a few more roaches, turn a few corners, and open some doors until I finally reach the large room I want to take a look at.

Opening another door, I enter a long room that looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. It is dirtier and more run-down, but still relatively intact.

In the center is a corridor between rows of large machines sitting against the walls on the left and right. Big, bulky cryo-pods, each large enough to fit a person inside and place them into cryogenic sleep. And inside each of them is a corpse wearing a Vault 111 suit.

Not because the pods failed. No, it is because someone shut down the opening mechanism and life support while unfreezing the people inside.

Yes, I choose to come to the Fallout universe. While it is one of the more lawless worlds, the upper limit of power is still manageable. As long as nobody aims a nuke or a superweapon at me, I should be fine.

This universe does not have a power system that requires me to use a World Attunement.

And there are a ton of things here for me to get.

Arriving at the back, one row away from the last pod, I see a woman in the right one. She has a bullet hole in her head.

Finally, in the left one, is the Lone Survivor. The main protagonist of the Fallout 4 game.

He is dead.

[ End of the Chapter ]