Power Fantasy

by Scottie Futch

  “Out of what? Patience with these theatrics?” asked Scott as he rose to his full height. “I’ve done nothing but try to help your entitled ass, but it’s getting a little annoying for you to keep acting like a fucking two-year-old who didn’t get his way.”

  “We’re leaving! You’re not coming with us,” snapped Tosh.

  “Really? You’ve convinced the entire group that they are going to leave me behind?” asked Scott. “I guess I’ll just go ask them about that.”

  “No!” shouted Tosh. “We’re done with you.”

  “That’s for the others to decide,” said Scott.

  He started toward the door, but Tosh stepped in front of him. “We’re not done here!”

  Scott sighed at him then said, “I really tried, but you know what? This was a long time coming.”

  Tosh started to say, “Oh yeah? What’s—” only for Scott’s massive ham-like fist to shoot forward into his abdomen. Even injured, the force he could produce was enough to cause the mouthy little turd to buckle.

  He dropped to the floor gasping for hair then promptly threw up even as he desperately tried to catch his breath. Scott watched him for a moment then said, “Fish your guts out of your asshole, and clean yourself up. We’re having a family meeting.”

  “F-fuck—” snarled Tosh. He could say no more as he immediately threw up once again.

  “For the record, this was pathetic,” said Scott coldly.

  “I might have believed you had I woken up here alone, but damned near everyone was crowded into the room hoping I would wake up.” Scott walked out of the little clothing store and headed back to where he had spent the last few days resting.

  Scott made a quick save along the way. He did not want to undo what had just happened. His patience with fake-Tosh had run its course. By this point in the series the guy whom Tosh resembled was incredibly devoted to keeping the group alive, but he had been firmly in charge. In this world, Tosh was just a passive-aggressive supporting character and it was making him crazy.

  “I see now why the option to find parody worlds where the main male protagonist wasn’t involved was on the world selection options…” said Scott quietly to himself. “If it’s like this every time, it would be best to actually avoid worlds where the original protagonist might lose his shit if he isn’t the center of attention.”

  He could not entirely blame the guy. Some random dude had showed up, stolen his thunder, and basically usurped his harem king destiny. He might even have had good intentions given his desire to protect the girls. The thing was that Scott no longer gave a damn. Lord Slap-a-Ho had overstepped for the last time.

  Scott found some of the gang hanging out in his sick room. His expression set them on edge. He asked Otakun to round up everyone. Soon, they were all in attendance. Tosh eventually wondered into the room while clutching his stomach.

  “You son of a bitch!” snarled Tosh.

  “My parents never did anything to you,” said Scott with a sneer.

  “You two shut up a moment!” snapped Momoko.

  Tosh started to say something, but she rounded on him. “That especially goes for you!”

  Tosh glared at her, but she cut him off before he could speak. “You do not speak for everyone!”

  “Oh? So, you like this guy molesting you in public?” shouted Tosh.

  “Whether I love it or hate it, it’s none of your business!” shouted Momoko in reply.

  Tosh trembled in barely constrained anger. Couldn’t these people see that Scott was a scum bag?

  “This guy just does whatever he wants, and we’re all just following along! We were stuck here for two days because of him!” Tosh crossed his arms over his chest and glared darkly at everyone.

  The various members of the group looked back and forth at each other. Otakun was the one who spoke up. “What were we supposed to do. Leave him here?”

  “The world’s gone to hell. We can’t drag an injured person around.” Tosh grumbled loudly then acted like he had wanted to do Scott a favor. “He would be better off somewhere safe so he can recover.”

  “If he’s staying, I’m staying,” said Summer.

  “Waifu for lifu?” asked Scott with a grin.

  She giggled at him then attempted to acquire an air of sophistication. No one was buying it because of her expression, however.

  “I’m still not sure about the waifu thing, but I will not leave him behind,” said Saiko.

  “You need to learn to share,” said Scott with a smile.

  She offered her a predatory grin of her own. “Maybe I want my own apocalypse harem? Hmm?”

  “With those stockings I think you could get it,” agreed Scott readily.

  Everyone, even Tosh, turned to look at Saiko’s outfit. She wore the same clothing overall, but she had replaced her stockings with a fresh pair that lightly pressed inward against her thighs in a manner quite pleasing to the eye.

  She ran her hand through her hair then tossed it over her should in a cool manner. “Someone will try. I’m sure.”

  Scott nodded at her. Summer pouted a little then frowned. She walked over to Scott, stood up on her tiptoes and stared into his eyes.

  Before he could say anything, she reached over and gave him a good pinch. Surprisingly, it actually hurt!

  “Hey!” cried Scott.

  “Compliment your wife’s outfit, before you compliment your mistress!” exclaimed Summer in a scandalized tone of voice. “You got that soldier!”

  He saluted smartly. “Yes, ma’am!”

  Everyone except for Tosh could not hold in the laughter and let it loose. Saiko laughed louder than anyone due to the absurdity of the situation.

  Tosh’s fingers curled into tight little fists of impotent rage. This entire group was taken in by the guy. It was almost like they liked Scott more than him!

  “Are you serious?” asked Tosh. “The world’s gone to hell. People are dying all around us. Yet, you’re all in here acting like this?”

  The mood thoroughly killed, everyone looked toward Tosh now. He blinked then stepped back a little due to the scrutiny. “You know this guy is going to get us all killed! He just does whatever he wants, and we’re stuck dealing with what comes next.”

  “So, we should be doing whatever you want instead?” asked Scott in a casual tone.

  “No! We should make decisions as a group! That means your missions as well,” said Tosh.

  “You think so?” asked Scott with a curious tilt of his head. “Even if I agree to being restricted like that… What if I decide to go do a mission, and everyone but you agrees with it? You still going to act like a jealous bitch?”

  “You!” snarled Tosh.

  “Yeah. Me,” said Scott. “Whether you like it or not. This protagonist-like lifestyle happened to me. Not you.”

  “We’ve gone over this a few times,” continued Scott. “Right now, at least half of this group would go with me no questions asked. I’d be surprised if most of the rest of them won’t want to stay with that half even if they also disagree with what I do.”

  “That’s—” began Tosh. He looked around at everyone then bit his lip in frustration. From their expressions it was obvious that what Scott said would prove to be true.

  “As far as your latest excuse to try to abandon me… If I am being too free with my hands, I’m sure one of them will tell me,” said Scott. “In fact…”

  Scott stood up then walked over to his sick bed. “Now is as good of a time as any.”

  “Who here thinks I’ve been too free with my hands?” asked Scott. “It’s cool. If it’s a problem, let me know now so I can self-correct and keep things from getting even more awkward.”

  “What are you even talking about?” asked Jade. “When have you put your hands on anyone other than Summer?”

  Summer spoke up, “A husband and a wife should be physically intimate. So, I have no problems if that’s what anyone is thinking.”

  A few people looked toward Saiko. She shrugge
d. “It’s no secret that I’m considering his waifu offer. If anything, I wouldn’t mind a little more intimacy.”

  Summer pouted at Saiko then sighed in an exaggerated manner. “My husband’s mistress is so bold…”

  Saiko flashed her a dark smile. “Who knows, maybe you’ll be the mistress soon.”

  Summer gasped then placed her hands to her cheeks. “Oh no!”

  This brought a round of needed laughter from almost everyone. There was, of course, one detractor.

  “He’s never put his hands on me at all other than that hug, and I needed that…” said Jade.

  Once everyone looked to Momoko, she shrugged. “That was just an accident. He’s never even stood that close to me before.”

  Tosh growled. “You’re all just trying to excuse it! You know what this asshole is trying to do with you!”

  “Start a harem and fuck like rabbits?” asked Scott seriously. “I admit it. I’ve always admitted it. Hell, I’m looking forward to it.”

  Jade’s face reddened considerably, while Momoko took on an incredulous expression. It was not something that either of them had never heard before, but he had spoken it so brazenly!

  “For that matter, I was in that clothing store itemizing things while looking for gifts for Summer and Saiko,” said Scott. “I was trying to loot them something pretty.”

  “Really?” asked Summer. Her expression was one of pure excitement and starry eyes.

  Saiko’s face became a little flush. “Why would you loot something pretty for me?”

  “Well, I figure you deserve to have me spend a few points to make you something to use as equipment since you actually helped me with that mission,” said Scott. “Summer as well, since she has already agreed to the waifu lifestyle and deserves nice things that I don’t have to pay for.”

  Jade glanced over at him. “Hey… Why just gifts for them?”

  Scott shrugged at her. “They’ve been more or less completely on my side since the beginning.”

  “It’s not like you or Momoko want to be waifus, and I don’t know if I have enough equipment points to give Otakun an awesome gun since I need them to upgrade my costume,” he continued. “As far as Tosh… Well, he’s made it clear that he wants nothing to do with me.”

  Tosh snorted at him in a surly manner. He did not say whether he wanted equipment, but he’d pretty much screwed himself out of ever getting any at this point.

  “How do you do it?” asked Otakun. “The costume upgrade?”

  The thought of having a cool gun had excited him! If the road to ultimate firepower meant that Scott needed to upgrade his costume, he was all for it!

  “Ah. Currently, I need a soul gem and equipment points. I have some of both, but I need to make my backpack into a mobile storage container,” said Scott. “I had planned to do so but got derailed by most folks being so happy that I was alive.”

  Otakun spied the backpack in question, as it was tossed in a corner near the cot Scott had slept on. “There it is…”

  “Ah. Let me see what I can do then!” Scott retrieved his backpack then checked his status. “This’ll eat most of my world points, but it’ll help out a lot in the long run.”

  He converted the backpack for one thousand world points then checked its information. He was not surprised by what he saw but did appreciate it.

  Small Inventory Storage Pack

  You have unlocked a storage box. You may store items in this storage unit, and they will be available to you from any other storage container that you unlock.

  Size: Small

  Capacity: 20 lbs.

  He told them what the blurb said, and Momoko wrinkled her nose. “Why is the capacity in imperial numbers?”

  “I’m a filthy barbarian,” said Scott with a grin.

  She smirked at him, but in a teasing manner. Otakun saw the little interplay, but he seemed strangely subdued. Perhaps Salami was a bit more on his mind of late than a certain pink haired genius?

  “It’s going to take about half an hour for the gems to arrive,” he told everyone. “Is there anything else to discuss?”

  The group went over their current goals, mostly helping Jade and Tosh to find their parents. Scott was happy to do the former, and still willing to do the latter, so there was little tension in that discussion. Though, Tosh remained surly the entire time.

  “New business. We need to loot this place for useful items before we leave,” said Scott. “Flashlights and batteries, for instance.”

  “We have some of that in the truck, but more wouldn’t hurt,” said Momoko. “We probably won’t be able to take any food with us, but we still have plenty in the truck. It’s not like anyone here was brave enough to go out and check.”

  “You brought in enough to keep them happy, but not enough to leave us strapped for supplies?” asked Scott.

  “Yeah, something like that,” said Momoko.

  Scott decided to wear his backpack, as the team was about to head out to loot the shops. However, upon doing so the backpack disappeared.

  “The hell?” Her felt around at his back but could not find the backpack.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Jade.

  “The backpack disappeared when I put it on,” said Scott.

  “Maybe you can’t wear it when your costume is active?” asked Otakun.

  “Wait. What’s that?” asked Momoko. She pointed toward Scott’s lower regions.

  “A good time had by all…” said Scott.

  “Not that, you moron! The bag!” exclaimed Momoko in exasperation.

  Scott reached down and grabbed his bag. “Hey, that’s new…”

  He removed the bag from his waist belt, and it morphed back into the backpack. Everyone stared at the scene that had just happened. A few of them called for him to do it again.

  Scott wore the backpack on his back. It disappeared. A bag appeared attached to his belt. He took it off and it became the backpack again.

  “I haven’t really had much that I could do in the way of adding equipment to this thing. I guess stuff I try to wear will either disappear or change to match the costume’s theme,” said Scott.

  The team dispersed in pairs, leaving Scott as the odd man out. Jade chose to run off with Momoko. Summer and Saiko seemed quite keen on being a duo on this Scavenger hunt. That left the three guys. Otakun went with Tosh as an obvious peace keeping move, but no one mentioned that fact specifically.

  Left alone with his thoughts once more, Scott wandered out into the mall to see what he could find. There were not a lot of survivors in the mall, but they did appear here and there in small groups. He avoided any stores that had someone hanging around, and instead found himself slowly herded into a bookstore by his own decision to be anti-social.

  Scott wandered through the fiction section as that was the part of a bookstore that always drew his attention most. There were a lot of interesting titles, and he picked up a couple of them and put them into his bag. There would be a lot of time when he went back to Nowhere. It was possible that after a long day of skill training, he might be able to put enough effort into a book that he could finish at least one of them before the end of the mission period.

  As he left the fiction section, he wandered into a section of the store devoted to new age woo-woo bullshit, as his grandfather used to call it. Scott chuckled at some of the titles, most of which were basically just an attempt to convince lonely housewives that rubbing a crystal on their tits would make them more spiritual.

  He nearly left that section in search of more useful information when he noticed something in a little side-section set apart for foreign books. The lighting in the store had made it hard to notice, but there was a soft white aura around one of the books.

  Scott pulled it out and looked at the cover. “Witchcraft for the Ancient Modern Soul.”

  “Why does it have an aura?” he asked curiously.

  The cover was of a busty woman dressed in a low-cut black robe and a stereotypical witch’s hat. Curious,
he opened the book and a message screen popped up.

  Tome of Knowledge

  Would you like to consume this tome? You will receive one point of spirit and obtain basic knowledge of the information contained within its pages.

  Cost: 50 Trait Points

  “Damn right I would…” he said excitedly. The book dispersed into motes of light which flew into his forehead.

  There was a brief sharp pain behind his eyes, but it was soon replaced by a general sensation of warmth. Knowledge about basic modern witchcraft practices proliferated inside his mind. He had no idea if any of it was worth a damn in this world, but it could be worth something in an urban fantasy style world he supposed. Either way, it did not produce a skill. He did gain a cheap boost to his spirit attribute, however.

  Once he realized that books could do things for him, he moved through the store earnestly. There was only one more book with an aura, however. It was a book about weightlifting, but it had a blue aura.

  Tome of Skill

  Would you like to acquire a new skill?

  Skill: Weight Training

  Cost: 1200 Skill Points

  “Yes. Yes, I would,” he said with a grin. Skill points were the second easiest points to acquire after all.

  The book put on a light show just like before and he soon had a new skill. Scott read it eagerly in anticipation.

  Weight Training

  Your tireless efforts toward self-improvement have paid off. You are now blessed with the knowledge of how to effectively increase your strength and endurance by utilizing training weights.

  Level: Max

  - Your maximum lifting and carrying power are permanently increased by [50%].

  - Your strength and Endurance development speed will be doubled if you train by using weights.