Carl opened his eyes once more in between worlds. He found he was laying in his bed in his house in the Warehouse.
"I can see why people love the Pokemon series now. They are pretty cool critters. I'm going to miss Serena, Clark, and Claire." Carl spoke aloud, while thinking fondly on his time in the Pokemon world.
Carl got out of bed and casually strolled through his house on his way out to find out how much time he had before his next jump. After making it down the stairs, he almost made it to the front door before he noticed what was wrong.
There was someone sitting in his kitchen.
Carl froze in shock.
There shouldn't be anyone in his kitchen.
Feeling the blood run cold in his veins, Carl started to gather his magic, preparing to strike first if needed.
"There will be no need for that." Came a sing song voice from the impossible person sitting in his kitchen.
The moment the person talked, Carl felt his magical energies dispersed, as if he had never gathered it. Carl gulped. Obviously this was a very powerful person.
"Come on over, we have some things to talk about." The figure said.
Carl cautiously edged his way into the kitchen. He kept a wary eye on the figure who was sprawled in one of his chairs, his feet kicked up onto his table. He was dressed in what Carl would describe as army commando gear. Green camouflage pants, black boots, a green wifebeater, and a red bandana around his head, keeping his long black hair out of his eyes. He was casually sipping a mug of Carl's root beer.
"No need to be so nervous. I'm not here to mess with you." The figure stated as Carl warily sat down across from him.
"So…who are you?" Carl asked.
"What? No introducing yourself first, before asking who I am? That's not very polite." The man chided Carl with a grin.
"Yeah, how forgetful of me." Carl sweat dropped. If this guy was powerful enough to find his way into his warehouse between jumps, how could he not know who Carl was? "My name is Carl. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Good. The proprieties must be observed, if we are to have polite interaction. Man is a social animal, after all, and when the…niceties…are not observed, who knows what else might fall by the wayside? We might drop the social part, and just become animals."
The man showed way too many teeth in his wide mouthed grin for Carl's comfort, his eyes glinting with an underlying hint of madness. Carl was somewhat relieved when he realized that hint of devilry wasn't really focused on him, so much as it was just, always there.
"It's good to meet you too, Carl. You may call me…Spere 037."
The man, Spere 037, dropped his feet from the table and abruptly stood, causing Carl to jump a little bit. Carl was still very nervous around this unknown man. He wasn't sure what to make of him.
"I've come to visit you today, because I find that you are in an unusual position." The man began pacing back and forth as he gestured with his mug. "Usually, someone in your position has an overseer to watch over your jumps. To answer questions, offer advice, or even just to watch you flail around and laugh at your antics. They like to title themselves Jump-chans. But you, my little friend, have somehow lost yours."
"Lost mine? But I've never met anyone named Jump-chan since these jumps started."
Spere 037 barked a laugh. "No, you are quite right. It wasn't you who lost their Jump-chan, it was the previous jumper. There was an *̸̠̬̈́̑̑̀4̸̠̖͑,̶̧̭̭̦̀̋̒́$̷͈̱̉̓̕2̵̗̼̦̬̇̐͋x̴̱̹̰͗̎͛x̷̰̌́!̶̢̛̩̕l̷̢̺̦̄̏͜ó̷̤͔̘͐͘ơ̶̠̗̱̌́͋p̶͍̠͈̔̎ "
Carl cried out in agony, clutching his head as he fell from his chair. His ears and mind hurt.
Spere 037 paused what he was saying, looking at Carl more closely.
"No, I don't suppose you are ready for that level of knowledge, just yet." Spere 037 finally said.
Panting as if he'd just sprinted a marathon, Carl could only think, 'No shit, Sherlock.' But he thought it very quietly, not sure if Spere 037 could read his mind.
Eventually Carl felt the pain lessen, dulling to just a pounding headache instead of the brain twisting agony of only a few moments ago. Carl pulled himself back into his seat gingerly, only to find a fresh mug of root beer waiting for him.
"Drink, young Carl." Spere 037 commanded. "You made a most excellent choice in your first jump, obtaining this blessed keg of liquid ambrosia. It is actually the most valuable thing you could have purchased."
Carl was skeptical at that claim. While he loved root beer, the keg was only 100 cp. Heck, his magical ability had cost 600 cp and did a lot more to keep him alive through that world than the root beer did.
Stuffing his doubts deep down inside, Carl gingerly picked up his mug and took a mouthful in. As the root beer slid down his throat, he could immediately feel the lingering headache simply disappear. Eagerly, Carl took another large mouthful, and felt himself being refreshed, calming down, and his attention sharpening.
"Yes, it is cleverly disguised as just a mere bauble, a party favor." Spere 037 laughed. "But it has healing properties for soothing the pain lower beings feel from coming into contact with something so much...larger than themselves."
"How do you think you managed so well in a world of demons and gods? How do you think you learned magic so quickly? Your keg of root beer kept the microdamage caused from studying the mystic arts as a normal man from accumulating. Not to mention how much time you spent on the Hellmouth."
Carl swallowed nervously. The implications of what Spere 037 was saying gave him some decent amount of fear.
"Usually someone with such an ordinary body as you had, that delved as deep as you into the arts, would have long since lost themselves in madness and magic addiction. Because your friends also partook of your blessed Root Beer, they too avoided much of the damage of practicing magic as mere mortals."
"That healing ability is what allowed you to actually research the rituals you performed to end those old ones. Not to mention it kept you sane after you performed such dangerous rituals."
Carl felt a shiver of fear run down his spine. "So, if I didn't have the Root Beer, what would have happened to me in that world?" Carl wasn't sure he wanted to know, but he was sure he needed to know the answer.
"You remember the warlock Rack?"
Carl nodded. "Yeah, the dark magic pusher."
"Indeed, that's the one. You would have either ended up as one of his most loyal customers, or, more likely, become him within a few years."
Carl gulped. He was only saved from becoming an addict or drug pusher from his whimsical desire to have a comfort item. Close call.
"Or more likely, you would have fallen afoul of the magical covens after a time, and been executed for your crimes, ending your jump in your first world."
Looks like his decision to pick up that Perfect Harmony complication in order to afford the Root Beer keg was the best decision he'd ever made. He would have to do something nice for Harmony when he next saw her.
"And that leads me back to why you are where you are, and why that's unusual." Spere 037 commented. "Some…accident" Spere 037 cautiously began "befell the Jump-chan and the jumper just before the jumper entered the Buffy the Vampire Slayer world. Since the Jump-chan had set things up on their end on…automatic…the Jump Chain, with no jumper present, reached out and snagged you, since you were close and available."
Carl could tell that Spere 037 was being more careful with his words in order to avoid giving him brain twists again. Carl was suddenly very appreciative of Spere 037's efforts to use smaller words. Words that weren't multi-dimensional.
"So, you're saying that I'm a last minute substitute?" Carl asked in disbelief.
"Indeed, you have the right of it." Spere 037 cheerfully agreed. "Bad things would have happened to the…balance…if the Jump Chain didn't have a jumper when a world started. And since the Jump-chan had already started the process on automatic, since they were lazy, the process couldn't be halted."
Spere 037 paused for a moment until he saw that Carl was ready to hear more.
"Normally a Jumper's first world isn't Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That world is usually reserved for after the Jumper has a few worlds and abilities under their belt. The Jump-chans found, after some trial and error, that sending the Jumpers into such dangerous worlds first rarely ended well for the jumpers. And all the energy they spent on picking up a Jumper in order to…charge their battery? Yes, that analogy will work. Premature death on the part of the Jumper before they could fully charge their battery meant that the energy spent outweighed the energy gathered."
Now that Carl thought about it, it did make sense that the people in charge of Jump Chains would get something out of the deal. Most people weren't altruistic enough to grab a random person and personally hand them a million dollars out of the kindness of their hearts. Let alone gifting away a method of gaining abilities and powers straight out of fiction.
No, Carl was sure they had enough of their own issues and concerns for such creatures of their power and abilities for them to waste time and energy finding "lesser beings" and giving them wish fulfillment abilities. The fact that they got something out of the deal actually made Carl relax a bit, since a reciprocal relationship made much more sense to him, and he wouldn't always be wondering when the bill would come due for the goods they were serving.
"No, the world that Jumpers usually start off in is the Pokemon world. But your first jump was the Buffy the Vampire Slayer world due to that error. When the Jump Chain scanned you after you finished the Buffy world, it noticed that you hadn't been tagged with completing the Pokemon world, so it sent you there next. Usually you wouldn't have gotten access to the Warehouse or Body Mod until after the Pokemon world, but since you had already been tagged with a Jump World count of one world, the Jump Chain went ahead and applied the Warehouse and Body Mod package to you before the Pokemon world jump."
"So, did you come to explain that to me and take over the jump?" Carl tentatively asked when it looked like Spere 037 wasn't going to continue talking after falling silent.
"No!" Spere 037 started laughing deep belly laughs. "Definitely not. The idea of me being a Jump-chan is just too funny." Spere 037 continued laughing for a good minute. "Oh, that was just too funny. The absolute chaos that would cause." Spere 037 wiped a tear from his eye.
"No, the reason I'm here is Up Up Down Down…" Spere 037 said before falling silent and waiting expectantly.
"Left Right Left Right B A Start." Carl finished speaking the Konami code when it looked like Spere 037 wasn't going to.
"Excellent." Spere 037 clapped his hands. "Looks like I didn't waste a trip, after all. You would be surprised at the number of people who don't know the code to get access to my wares." Spere 037 grinned hugely. "Usually I have to do this all clandestinely, in order to avoid the attention of the Jump-chans. But what they don't know won't hurt them, now will it?" Spere 037 conspiratorially commented.
Spere 037 then snapped his fingers and a terminal appeared against the kitchen wall.
"Now, usually I don't show up until after the 10th world a jumper has completed. But it just so happens that with the absence of Jump-chan I can twist the rules a bit. Using the energy accumulated from the last jumper, added onto the energy from your past two worlds, and I can offer you 600 cp and a list of perks you can purchase with it. Now, why don't you take a gander, and see if anything takes your fancy." Spere 037 gestured at the terminal.
"Some of these purchases will loosen the restrictions you operate under, making things easier for you. Take your time deciding." Spere 037 sat back in a chair, putting his feet up on the table and kicking the chair back onto two legs.
Carl first refilled his mug of Root Beer. Now that he knew that his root beer addiction was justified by the amazing brew he had purchased, he was definitely going to drink it more often, if that was possible. He then made his way over to start reading the available options.
The Cheater's Manual Supplement
Jump Chain Supplement
By "Spere"
[Tell me, Jumper, are you tired of dealing with some of the restraints imposed on you by the Jumps? Well see, I've got a list of perks here that are a bit of a workaround, cheats if you will, to all those pesky limits and they're all technically legal. How you ask? It's actually a real simple loophole, Jump-chans like to claim that they have you Jumpers all to themselves but there's actually no rules against third party meddlers so long as we don't get caught at it. A lot of us like to do little things to mess with you but I'm a bit more direct than most, I like to…make things interesting.]
Carl could now see why Spere 037 had laughed his ass off when he had asked if he was here to replace his Jump-chan. Carl shrugged to himself and moved on to reading the list of perks.
Power Storage (600 cp): Tired of your powers being shut off due to nerf drawbacks? With this handy perk you get an internal storage space plus five slots to keep all those powers at hand while your benefactor gets some very convincing copies…The five slots allow you to use any five powers from your storage and you can seamlessly transfer them around…comes with a built in toggle switch…
Perk Storage (600 cp): A perk storage and five slots to keep your perks from being messed with by drawback interference and other things, as well as a built in toggle switch…
Drawback Storage (600 cp)
"Why would anyone want to keep drawbacks?" Carl thought aloud as he read about storing different drawbacks.
"Didn't that Perfect Harmony drawback turn out pretty good for you?" Spere 037 casually answered his rhetorical question. "There are some jumps where if you choose a certain combination of drawbacks and perks, they actually synergize with each other in such a way that they are almost an instant win in that world. It's up to you to use your intelligence to figure out how to make it work."
Spere 037's words lit up a light bulb in Carl's head. He hadn't even bothered thinking too hard about the drawbacks as anything other than BAD THINGS TO AVOID. He vowed he would take a more open minded approach in the future. The two successful worlds he had under his belt were also bolstering his courage to be willing to take a bit more of a risk.
Next on the list were several perks that allowed him to exchange powers, perks, and drawbacks with companions. Since he didn't have any companions for now, he skipped those.
Carl continued to read the list. Perk Discounts Rollover and Item Discount Rollover offered discounts on perks and items, when choosing for a jump world, that were similar or the same to what he'd already purchased in the past.
"Why would I want to buy the same perks in different worlds? If I already have it, why buy it again?" Carl wondered out loud.
Spere 037 sighed. "And this is what happens when you don't got a Jump-chan to explain things for you. You should already know this by now, but I guess I'll spend the time to tell you. Most Jump-chans will limit your powers growth. So if you purchase a perk in one world that lets you lift one ton, then in a second world you purchase the same perk of lifting a ton, the second perk you purchase would only be three fourths as effective. So instead of lifting 2 tons after buying two perks, you could only lift 1.75 tons. Then if you got a third perk that was the same as the first two, you could only lift 2.25 tons. Diminishing returns."
"But you are exceptionally lucky. Since you don't have a Jump-chan imposing rules like that on you, each 1 ton lifting perk you get would just add on the amount that you could lift. So after buying three perks of being able to lift 1 ton each, you could actually lift 3 tons. No diminishing returns."
"So, as you can see from that example, buying the same perk multiple times will always improve your abilities. It's just, in your case, it's more effective with no artificial restrictions."
Carl nodded his thanks to Spere 037. That was very valuable information to have.
He continued reading the different available purchases until he got to the Beneath The Mod (600 cp): The improvements that Benefactors give have a tendency to overlay your base body without actually changing it. Bodymods do this automatically, which means if it were ever stripped from you, you'd be left with that ugly sack of flesh you had before. It is their own subtle version of control to grant you gifts that they can easily take away. If you want real improvements that will stick even to your base body you now have the means to make those adjustments yourself. You can apply the traits from your perks to your base form and that will be your new default. However, I should warn you that nothing shy of the Great Architect themselves can reverse these changes once made, so you better be really certain you want a vampire form as your base body because even time travel is not going to remove any decision you may regret in the future.
"About this Beaneath The Mod perk. Is it saying even the changes I did to my body in the Body Mod before the Pokemon world are not permanent?"
"Oh, no, everything you changed about yourself in the Body Mod perk made real, unalterable changes. But everything you bought as a perk is only temporary. There are some Jump Worlds that will strip you of every perk you purchased and you will just be in your base form. The magic ability you purchased in Buffy the Vampire Slayer world? Gone. The perfect memory, calculator-like mental math, better spatial awareness and firearm aim that you got from the Savant perk in the Pokemon world? Gone. At least while you are in those restricted worlds."
"And I get to pick and choose what perks and abilities becomes part of my actual base form? It won't just randomly add what I don't want to my base form?" Carl asked intently. He really didn't like the idea of losing everything he'd worked hard for the past 20 years. If he suddenly lost all the abilities and skills he had already trained and relied on while in some random dangerous world, he would end up being a sitting duck, and likely dead shortly after.
"Exactly. If you pick that perk, I'll leave this terminal in your bedroom for you to decide what to add to your base body. I'll even set it up so it asks for verification several times before making the change." Spere 037 promised.
After reading through the rest of the perks, Carl didn't see anything he wanted more than the Beneath The Mod perk, so he went ahead and purchased it. Once he finalized the transaction, the terminal in front of him disappeared.
"I've gone ahead and moved it up to your room." Spere 037 commented before Carl could say anything. "A few more things to note. Every 10 jumps, you earn another 600 cp that you can spend buying my perks. You can just access them from the terminal in your room."
"There are certain jump worlds that act as a kind of Gauntlet challenge. You don't get any cp to spend initially, so you have to take drawbacks in order to buy any perks. A failure in the Gauntlet world does not end your Jump Chain, but if you fail those Gauntlet worlds, you don't get any of the perks or special prizes from those worlds. So it's in your best interest to give it your all."
"And finally, after each Jump World you'll notice that you will accumulate 10 cp that can be used on your Warehouse. My suggestion would be to hold on to those until after your 15th jump. I can't spoil it for you what it is, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."
"Thanks Spere 037."
"Don't mention it. Later, kid."
And Spere 037 disappeared from Carl's kitchen.
Carl plopped himself down on a kitchen chair. "Well, that was…something alright." Carl was talking to himself again. "At least now I know more about my situation. Drawbacks that can be helpful. Stockpile my cp. Changing my base body. Gauntlet challenges." Carl got up and poured himself another mug of Root Beer. "I don't know just what that guy or the Jump-chans get out of their "services", but at least it is beneficial to me too. I just hope I don't find out later that I'm giving away the equivalent of pure gold for the price of glass beads." Carl laughed.
"Even if I am accepting glass beads for gold bars, with my current level it's not like I have the ability to go to the multidimensional market and sell the gold myself. And who knows but if someone else would just rob me without even giving me the glass beads. But hopefully these purchases will one day get me to the point where I can go to the market on my own." Carl trailed off in thought at the analogy.
Carl continued to ponder on all he had learned, while trying to cement the advice he'd been given in his mind, as he opened the fridge and started pulling out the makings of a sandwich. He was too preoccupied to make himself a decent breakfast, so a sandwich would do for now.
After finishing off the sandwich, Carl made his way outside his house, into the warehouse. First he looked over the terminal that governed his jumps. He saw that he had 6 days and 20 hours until his next jump.
"It looks like I'll have a week between each jump. The body modifying will probably knock me out for a couple days at a time." Clicking on the screen to check it, he saw a popup that queried if he wanted to jump early.
He quickly selected no to abort the early jump.
Carl then moved over to his Pokemon Organizer. Carl selected Fiona's pokeball and retrieved it.
He tried to bring Fiona out of her ball, but nothing happened.
"So, I really do have to have a stasis bed for anyone to join me." Carl was a little disappointed he hadn't found a loophole. "But if what Spere 037 said was true, nearly all Jumpers go through the Pokemon world, so they probably have very few loopholes to take advantage of. Or at least everyone is so new at that point, they don't know how to take advantage of opportunities."
Sighing at not being able to have his pokemon keep him company, Carl put Fiona's pokeball back into storage. He then double checked all the storage units. The expanded space in each storage unit seemed to be working fine, so Carl was happy with that. It would give him a lot more space to store things he would pick up on his jumps.
Now that Carl was assured his pokemon were alright for now, and that everything he'd installed in the Warehouse was fine, he moved back to his room. He stood gazing at the terminal, thinking about the benefits this perk would give him.
The thought of having all the abilities he'd come to rely on being stripped from him in some of these worlds, making him easy prey, really scared him. Carl realized in that moment, that while he could be brave and bold under certain circumstances, he still had limits and moments of fear. Fear that these abilities were easy come and would be easy go, leaving him vulnerable.
Fear that he'd never see the people he'd come to care for again.
"Fear is the mind-killer." Carl intoned, thinking of the Litany Against Fear from the Dune books. "Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
Carl laughed at himself. The fear was still there. Just reciting the litany did nothing for him.
"Easier said than done. Especially when I'm safe in my house. The true test will be when I'm face to face with something that causes that fear. If I can still remain level headed at that time, then I can start bragging." Carl sarcastically said to himself.
Operating the terminal that Spere 037 left him, Carl soon selected to upgrade his base body with the High Stakes Fighter, Cunning Linguist, and Sorcery Savant perks from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer world, and the Suvival Training and Savant perks from the Pokemon world. He didn't want the basic knowledge, skills, or abilities he gained from any of those to disappear on him. Especially his perfect memory from the Savant perk.
He then had to click that yes, he was sure. Yes, he was positive. Yes, he understood that it was final. He hit the complete transaction button, only to get one more popup to confirm his decision.
"Well, at least he was true to his word. I doubt I'll accidentally add anything I don't want to my base body with this many confirmations." Carl snorted before clicking yes.
Carl blacked out.
Carl woke on his bed once more. Getting up, he didn't feel any different from before he blacked out.
"I suppose that's a good thing. I was already operating under the perks, they are just permanent now." Carl realized after a moment.
Nodding in approval at the terminal that stood in the corner of his room, Carl soon took care of his bathroom needs, showering, and shaved. He felt good.
He descended to the kitchen and soon had a decent breakfast spread cooked up for his breakfast.
"It seems like I'm only ever eating breakfast between worlds." Carl chuckled in realization. "Even if it's only a sandwich for breakfast."
Carl pulled out his laptop and spent the rest of the day writing down his thoughts. From the beginning of the Pokemon world Jump, he had been writing daily logs on training activities and thoughts on how to maximize the pokemon's potential.
It was a habit he decided he would continue. It helped him clarify his thoughts when he saw it written on paper.
When Carl was finished writing his thoughts down in the afternoon, he decided he would have one more meal. Not a breakfast meal, before starting the next jump. Carl fixed himself a nice steak dinner with salad and baked potatoes.
After polishing off the meal, Carl felt he was ready. He didn't need any more downtime at this moment, so he might as well get started. The sooner he could get through the jumps, the sooner he'll gather enough points to gather his girls and friends.
Carl exited his house, and clicked on the early jump option.
"Farmville?!"