VT - Chapter 2 : Fuel? Getto! (Patreon)

Disclaimer - Worm belongs to the one and only absolute chad, Wildblow. Enough said.

Earth ?

—Simon–

He felt the urge to slap himself repeatedly at the realisation. To think he had been so stupid. If he could build any vehicle, then it stood to reason that he could build something that could help him go back home as well?

He focused on his power and, after asking the question, waited with bated breath, only to end up disappointed.

He got a resounding NO from his power at that. He had nothing in his mind or with his power that could help him cross dimensions, let alone actual universes or multiverses to reach his home universe.

Shaking his head, he opened his eyes and began walking forward, to see if making the dangerous climb of this hill using the SUV was even worth it or not.

After another hour or so, he finally reached the summit, and that was without stopping for water or caring about his exhaustion, as the sun was still out today, so he did not feel thirsty at all.

He wondered what exactly the conversion rate was from sunlight to water/food. He supposed that he would find out soon. If things did not go his way and he found no hint of civilization here, then the power to be literally solar powered would come in handy, right up until he went mad without anything to do and killed himself.

Slumping on the spot, he heaved for a few minutes before looking up at the scenery in front of him and found just miles upon miles of forest, with no roads visible. No sign of a body of water that he could follow to reach the nearest sign of civilization or something else. 

It was as if he was in Canada or America, what with the vast swathes of forests. After all, he had only seen this scenery back home in movies or series. He had dreamt of one day leaving his home country and at least visiting the Americas, simply because of the lush landscape they were blessed with.

Sighing, he just sat on the ground, basking in the sunlight above, and enjoying the view ahead of him, not knowing what to do. This area seemed a much better place to camp in than risk entering the forests below, only to find out that the forests here were home to some kind of mutated beasts.

So, he passed time like that for quite a while, before he finally felt that it was enough sunbathing for the night and began the vastly more dangerous trek down to the car. The sun was getting real low, as he finally reached the car and entered the cabin, turning on the AC this time as he had spent a long time out in the sun, and began the ascent.

He was not proud to admit that he let out a few girlish screams as the car came dangerously close to tipping over, potentially destroying the one good thing he got from whoever sent him here, but ultimately, he managed to make it. If he happened to scuff the car’s gorgeous paint and ignored a few bumps here and there, then no one could really blame him for it.

Parking the car on the flats, he got out and looked at the gorgeous views all around him before climbing back into the car. He had a camp looking thing on the top of the car but he was far too paranoid to sleep in something that separated the elements only with some cloth.

No, thank you. He would much rather sleep inside a metal box, with no AC, obviously. He was not going to waste what little gas he had left in the tank for mere comfort. Bringing all four windows down a bit, he was able to confidently say that he would not suffocate during the night, and that was fine for him.

Then, he took out the air mattress, and after inflating it using the pump, he hastily dumped it back in the trunk before putting down the seats properly, before closing everything and laying down on the makeshift bed.

The first thought that came to his mind when he switched off the lights and plunged everything around into darkness was: The mattress is not comfortable.

Then, he slapped those thoughts away and closed his eyes, willing himself to go to sleep.

He had a big day tomorrow, and he wanted to greet this Brand New World with a set of fresh eyes and a brain that was flushed of all its negative emotions.

As he closed his eyes, he found his thoughts going back to the form he filled out, and at the end was an option to tick. The option was - 

Would you like a one time assistance, to be called upon at the most opportune time(determined by <<<<>>>>)

The odd thing about that was that he remerbed that option existing but he could not recall him ticking that option or not, on account of being that drunk, that he entertained an anonymous CYOA form on his phone, despite having read multiple works that described this exact fucking thing happening multiple times.

Shaking his head in his sleep, he dismissed those thoughts and began counting sheep, a tried and tested method to go to sleep. Thankfully, as he yawned, he noted that bathing in sunlight did not restore his stamina, physical or mental.

He couldn't imagine having to stay awake all night while being separated from the wild world outside with just a sheet of metal. He might just have gone mad if that had been true.

As he went to sleep, another yawn escaped him, as he snuggled deeper into the thin blanket.

__xx___

His eyes opened, a bright light assaulting his eyes, forcing him to squint. His hands covered his eyes to let himself get acclimated to the sudden onslaught of sunlight as he struggled to get up, being mindful of the limited space he had for movement inside the car, only to find nothing of that sort happening.

Hell, he couldn't even feel the mattress below him or the blanket on top of him. Nothing that would indicate that he was in that god forsaken world of Worm.

Sighing in relief, he chuckled to himself for getting scared that easily and getting so stressed for a mere dream, and set his arms down, blinking to let his vision get adjusted to the bright sunlight in front of him.

It was odd, though, as he did not have a window that opened directly to the sun. That was a privilege he hadn’t unlocked yet. He had a window, yes, but it opened to yet another window of the next door apartment. He didn’t have open views like that, which is why he questioned himself. Just how was this intense direct sunlight hitting his eyes?

Blinking a few more times, he found his vision clearing, only to find the source of sunlight to be…

“AAAAAAAAAAAaaaa—” His screams, shrill as they were, cut off abruptly as the eldritch humanoid monstrosity in front of him, face open in a screaming expression, twinkled with the force of multiple exploding stars.

Wait, how did he know what specifically?

“Greetings, Player.” A voice boomed in his ear, making him flinch as he looked at what could only be the ROB who sent him to the world of Worm. Either that, or he was just having a dream while asleep inside the world of Worm, or having a dream within a dream, however unlikely that might be.

Before he could reply, the voice boomed once more, “Your assistance request has been granted. A boon has been granted.” As the voice finished speaking, one of the twinkling parts of the humanoid monster broke off and aimed straight at him. He tried to run, lean away, do whatever to dodge, but ultimately was unsuccessful.

The twinkling star smashed right into his head, making a dull ache ring in his head, as the voice boomed once more, “Farewell, Player.”

Wait! If this was the ROB, and this was the boon he was getting, then shouldn't he have a choice in that?  

___xx__

He woke up to the sound of birds chirping, the glow of early morning searing into his eyes. This one was considerably less intense than looking directly at some ROB or Eldritch monstrosity.

He hastily rolled down the windows and began taking in greedy gulps of air as the events of last night repeated in his mind.

“A boon?” he muttered to himself. So, that Level 5 ticket was not the end of the things he got for his trip here?

Before he could question himself about that boon, he felt something inside his mind. Something that was not there before. Something that—

He stopped breathing, freezing entirely as he touched what that ability was, and the feedback told him precisely what it was.

“Limited Matter Manipulation.”

A wide smile adorned his face as he all but stumbled out of the car, uncaring of the mattress or the dangers that might be outside, as he placed his hand on the grass below him, his smile dimming a bit at the lack of feedback. So, he was not going to be a biokinetic, which was expected but disappointing.

With that, he whirled around and instead of experimenting on the one thing keeping him alive here, placed his hands on the nearest piece of stone he found. His face must have lit up with a thousand watt smile as he finally felt something.

“Hahahahahaha!” He laughed heartily, only to pause abruptly as he realised that he was still inside a forest and not at home, so he hurriedly climbed back into the car, stone in hand, and began experimenting with it.

Within just a few minutes of rudimentary experimentation, he found a couple of things about the power. He supposed that there was a reason it was called Limited.

First of all, he could only affect a limited amount of mass, which was fine.

Secondly, he couldn't turn it all in one go. The ability consumed stamina like anything, as he found out, but he guessed that with his sunlight ability and constant practice, he should be able to get pretty good at it.

Thirdly, he needed to know what he was transforming the thing into. He couldn't just think of Vibranium and have an ingot of the mythical material in his hand.

Thankfully, his Tinker Power came with plenty of useful secondary information sets, so that was fine.

And lastly, he couldn't use it on any organic matter, including himself so no self healing which was a bummer but then again, he now had the ability to RESHAPE MATTER with his bare hands so he supposed that it was a more than fair trade. More than just that, it was an ability that synergised perfectly with his primary Tinker ability, and that made a world of difference immediately.

Before this boon, which felt a little too convenient for his suspicious mind, he would have been all by himself driving around in a Car that had a limited amount of gas, with no sign of civilisation in sight.

But now?

Now, he had something that would turn him into a very big powerhouse. He only needed time for that. And fuel. Can’t forget that.

His eyes gleamed as he looked at the rock in his hand, and after climbing out of the car and laying down on the bonnet just in case this knocked him out completely and his body needed fuel, he poked his power for the formula and make up of something that had the potential to permanently solve a very important issue for any vehicle he might make.

Fuel.

He closed his eyes, holding onto the piece of rock in his hand, and concentrated. It was a little confusing, navigating his power. Sometimes, it worked instantly, giving him answers the moment he thought of them. Other times, he had to dig deep through the sheer amount of information his power provided to him because it did not understand just what he was referring to.

Case in point, fuel in the case of vehicles meant many things.

In fact, he was pretty sure that in the deluge of information he got, he saw what looked like an actual Arc reactor, but he reserved that for later, when he had a workstation or something, before looking for the traditional dino fuel required to run this car.

It might be ancient and leak exhaust gases into the atmosphere, but it was all he had right now. He was pretty sure that once he took a look over and had some practice with his Matter Manipulation power, he would be able to upgrade the whole thing into a far better off road machine.

Either way-There! 

He finally found the thing he was looking for. Pure Petrol, without any additives, and yoinked the information from the repository of data his power had access to, before focusing on his secondary power. Keeping that information in his hand, he tried to mold the rock beneath him into gas.

He felt his stamina starting to drain as the power kickstarted and…

SPLASH!

His eyes opened slowly, looking down at the now soiled pants, as well as the apparent pure petrol slowly falling down the bonnet of the car.

He raised his hands and found the entire rock to have turned into fuel, and somehow with startling ease as well. While it was indeed very good news, as it meant he should be able to go on and on for thousands of miles without ever having to worry about fuel, his pants were now drenched in petrol, with no spare in the car.

“.....Damn.”