Author's note:
Ya know, I often find myself looking over my unfinished chapters and thinking "When is this dumb fuck going to finish writing this?" Then, I realize that it's me, and that I need to get my shit together and write already.
Some things I want to clear up., which have been brought up by comments:
Kevin is the only one who can use the Bag of Holding. Others can open it, and even steal it, but it acts as a normal backpack for anyone but him.
Also, his base Eevee form was affected by the downgrade. He is going to have to find either an artifact with Normal Type Energy, or a boss that qualifies as a Normal Type in order to become overpowered. This also means that incredibly powerful moves, like Arceus' [Judgement] move or Hyper Beam, are technically usable, but are just as likely to knock him out and/or temporarily cripple him directly after use.
Finally, evolving mid-battle does not heal him. If he is injured somehow, his injuries carry over with his transformation.
Anyway...
ON WITH THE STORY!
***
"Now, the question is: how the hell do we get to the bottom of the sea without the [Ball of Guidance]?" Kevin asked, looking out at the ocean.
Alice raised an eyebrow at him. "Didn't you gain new powers after absorbing it?"
"Yeah, and it was a good one too. Unfortunately, it didn't give me the ability to breathe underwater," the boy sighed. "I can summon a glowing trail of light to find literally anything or anybody, but only for thirty seconds per hour."
The Monster Lord blinked twice. "That's…absurdly useful."
"I know, right?"
"But, not for our current circumstances," she continued. "Can't you just transform yourself into your Water-Type form?"
"I would, if I didn't know that the monsters we'll encounter are also going to be Water-Types, with the possibility of one being a dual type that is super effective against other water types," he argued back. "Also, how would that help you as well?"
The lamia's lips quirked upward in a smug smirk. "As the Monster Lord, I not only have magic that will make breathing underwater no problem, but I also can grow gills if I want to."
"A least I only have to worry about myself," the Eevee mumbled, before switching the target of his questioning. 'System? Is there any way I can do this without my Vaporeon form?' he thought.
[There is one option available to the host!] the irritating voice replied.
'Does it involve taking the ball back out of my body?' he questioned, hoping the answer was no.
[Reversal of the Assimilation of artifacts is not a function built into the Eeveelution System. Once an artifact is assimilated, it is gone for good. However, analysis of the artifact [Ball of Guidance] before absorption into the system revealed that its main purpose was to give off a specific aura which would resonate with the magical formation woven into the water.]
[If the Host were to activate the Clairvoyant Path, the magical signature produced by the ability would act as a substitute and activate the path.]
'Hm…neat,' he internally mused with a hum. Seeing no reason not to try it out, the teenager opened the System Settings and activated the Clairvoyant path.
At first, the only thing that happened was a wispy trail of what looked like ethereal white smoke appearing in the air. It unsurprisingly led directly into the water, and presumably continued in a straight line to the sea floor. What made Kevin's eyes widen a bit was the sudden corridor of light wide and tall enough to fit two double-decker busses side by side that manifested around the smoke.
"What did you do?" Alice asked, slithering closer to the water as he walked beside her.
Kevin shrugged. "Had a hunch that if I released an aura similar to that of the [Ball of Guidance], it would activate the way down. Looks like I was right."
The Eevee trusted the System's judgement enough to not think twice about entering the water. It didn't lose its consistency, requiring him to swim after submerging up to his shoulders, but it did become as breathable as air. Even the salty taste he was expecting was surprisingly absent within the magic tunnel. As an added bonus, his clothes somehow still remained dry.
"All that's left is to get to the ocean floor," Alice commented, effortlessly keeping pace with the swimming teen. "Which, at your current speed, should take about two days."
Indeed, despite his mastery over all things water-related in his Vaporeon form, Kevin's Eevee form had the same swimming prowess as he had in his last life. i.e: nearly non-existent. He knew how to float on his back, cannonball into a pool, and wave his limbs in a chaotic way that would propel him in the general direction of where he wanted to go. It was a result of never really caring about swimming in the first place.
In this situation, though, he refused to take the jab at his speed lying down. Giving his companion a blank expression that slowly morphed into a smug grin, he used the 25% control he maintained over the water in his base form to form a current that swept him ahead of her. It wasn't fast or powerful enough to rocket him forward along the path, but it was sufficient to make Alice put forth more effort to keep up with him.
"Why am I not surprised?" she asked rhetorically, once again swimming evenly with him.
"Because, unlike the other moronic humans and monsters I've met, you have a brain between your ears instead of a black hole," he casually replied. 'It's too bad that it was apparently moved to your stomach,' he thought to himself.
Ignorant to his thoughts, Alice turned her attention to the surrounding tunnel. " I recall learning about these undersea paths. They are supposed to remain open as long as the [Ball of Guidance] is active. Are you capable of producing that aura all the way to the bottom?"
"I'm pretty sure I can," the boy shrugged. Once again, he trusted the System's judgement. "Even if it disappears, I have my Vaporeon form as a backup plan."
As it usually did, silence settled between them as they swam diagonally down. The Clairvoyant Path disappeared rather quickly as its thirty seconds was exhausted, but the road of light didn't fade away with it. It seemed that the Eevee's body was continuing to produce the aura of the [Ball of Guidance] without any issues, likely having adapted to the need to constantly produce it to keep from drowning. Even though he hated how short and adorable he was, Kevin was slowly learning to love the adaptability of his base form.
He was brought out of his musing by the sound of Alice mumbling to herself. "Reaching the bottom of the sea on this road…" she mumbled. "The trial of a couple that wishes to marry…knocking down every monster that challenges them to show their courage…"
"It just reaffirms my belief that marriage is more trouble than it's worth," Kevin commented, drawing her eyes to him. "I mean, why go to all of this effort? I get the whole 'proving your love' thing, but literally risking life and limb for someone to acknowledge that you love each other? Are all monster marriages this stupidly complex and dangerous?"
While the lamia did raise an eyebrow at the boy's unhidden disdain for the concept of marriage, she felt obliged to answer him, as she was likely the only monster he'd be able to ask without ending up traumatized for stepping over the line. "It's different depending on the type of monster. Some don't care at all who their partner is, and others have extremely detailed restrictions and requirements."
"Exhibit 'A,'" the Eevee interjected, gesturing to the complex magic that formed the path of light and breathable water around them.
Alice nodded. "Some other examples include the dragon kin who will only marry those who have undergone the Dragon Seal Trial, and the Kitsunes who only need to make a man orgasm three times for them to be declared a married couple."
"Hmm," Kevin hummed, tilting his head to the side. "Let me guess: the Monster Lords have an even more complicated set of conditions?"
"Yes, and no," the lamia replied. "My family requires two conditions to be met before a man is allowed to marry the Monster Lord. First, the man has to be strong. Second, the man has to want to get married. Only a man stronger than the female is allowed to marry someone of my clan. That's our law."
"That's…actually pretty smart," the boy conceded. "Considering the fact that the number of men in this world that can even look at a monster without either fainting from fear or succumbing to their lust can probably be counted on two hands with a few fingers missing, let alone are strong enough to fight back, you're pretty much free to do whatever you want without being pressured into marriage by your position."
His companion nodded in silent agreement. She, too, saw this as a boon attached to her position and bloodline. While other Queen-Class monsters were pressured to either take a husband or mate with as many men as possible to maintain the future strength of their race, she was free to do as she pleased without anyone breathing down her neck about giving birth to the next Monster Lord.
"By the way," the boy began, switching the topic. "There's a suspicious lack of monsters so far down here. Plenty of fish, but I was expecting more from the warnings Meia gave about how dangerous this quest was."
"The deep sea is the monsters' domain. They will attack you without mercy once you're noticed," the lamia explained. Shortly after ending the sentence, her head jerked to the side. "See…of course, right as I said that something was going to come."
Turning back to look at him, she raised her left hand and snapped her fingers. For a solid second, nothing happened. Then, starting from the right side of her body, she rapidly dissolved into particles of dust that floated away, as if carried by a current. Within moments, even the dust ceased to exist.
"…" Kevin stared at where the Monster Lord had just been floating, his expression one of mild disbelief. "Did…did she just Thanos Snap herself?" he asked himself, half surprised and half impressed.
Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to ponder on her method of disappearing before the monster she was hiding from showed up. As expected, it retained the bare minimum of a female torso and head, making it undeniable that it was a monster girl and not some other freak of nature. The rest of her body was made up of over a dozen long, semi-transparent tentacles that floated around her main body, and a large pale dome on her back.
[Jellyfish Girl]
[Type: Water/Poison]
"A human this deep under the sea?" the aquatic monster questioned, her expression remaining completely blank. "How strange."
Kevin maneuvered himself so he was treading water vertically instead of horizontally. "Yeah. About as strange as what I'm going to do to you if you attack me," he replied with a glare.
Like most wild monsters, the Jellyfish Girl didn't have enough common sense to think over the warning. Instead, she licked her lips and eyed him with a mixture of hunger and lust. "You look delicious. I'll wring all the semen from you and savor it."
The Eevee sighed. "Someday, I will find one of you who isn't a moron and is willing to back the fuck off when I threaten you," he grumbled, rolling his shoulders. "Today isn't that day, apparently."
Ignoring whatever useless words her next meal was mumbling, the monster girl lashed out with one of her tentacles. Now that the teenager could get a better look at them, every single one seemed to be tipped with a stinger, perfect for injecting her prey with whatever combination of aphrodisiac, paralytic, and straight-up poison she desired to inflict at a moment's notice.
It took a split second for Kevin to push himself aside using the water around him and come to the conclusion that he didn't want to fight her in his Eevee form. In fact, only one of the evolutions currently available to him was suitable for this battle, and it wasn't Vaporeon. The only way his Water Type transformation would be able to resist poison was if it was raining, and he didn't want to gamble on whether or not he could make game logic apply here and make it rain underwater.
Coming to his final decision, he selected one of the three evolutions he'd never heard of before coming to this world, and hoped that its complete immunity to Poison Type Moves would be enough to make up for whatever form it would take. Light burst from his body, stopping the Jellyfish Girl in her tracks as she reached up to shield her sensitive eyes from it.
After five seconds, it died down enough for her to lower her tentacles…and promptly stare in shock and incredulity.
What floated in the place of the adorably bite-sized snack she was about to help herself to was neither small, nor a boy. Instead, what took his place was a six and a half foot tall girl with long silver hair that flowed out of a helmet, glowing amber eyes that held no pupils, and paper-white skin. Aside from her face, she was decked from head to toe in futuristic armor reminiscent of both a machine and knight, its base color being silver and having dark purple lines highlighting various parts.
Sticking up from her helmet were a pair of metallic fox ears that matched the color scheme of her armor, with silver on the outside and purple on the inside. The same went for the blade-shaped tail that protruded from the base of her spine, its edge looking sharp enough to make sashimi out of any fish that swam to close to it.
And, of course, this metamorphosis was accompanied by a magical aura so powerful that it immediately drove any thoughts of surviving the next few minutes from the Jellyfish Girl's mind.
[Name: Kevin]
[Age: 17]
[Form: Galveon]
[Type: Steel]
[Ability: Battle Armor/ Light Metal]
[Weapon: None]
"You should have backed down when you had the chance," the armored girl stated, her voice lacking any emotion and containing a distinct metallic tone. "Do not resist. It will only make your suffering worse."
Panic instantly gripped the monster girl's heart as it finally sank in just how badly she fucked up. Most sane individuals would take this opportunity to swim away as fast as physically possible in an attempt to avoid the overpowered juggernaut about to rip them limb from limb. It should be noted, though, that jellyfish have no brains, and thus their monster girl counterparts don't have much rattling around in their skulls either. This is important, because instead of fleeing in terror, she decided to go all out and launch herself TOWARD her enemy.
"You may not be a man, but I can still digest you," she proclaimed as all of her tentacles wrapped around the armored girl. "All I have to do is give you so much pleasure that you can't think of fighting back."
Confident in her plan, she jabbed every single stinger in her arsenal into the Galveon's body.
*CL-CL-CL-CLANG!*
To her horror, not a single one managed to pierce her foe. Even the one aimed at the silver haired girl's face bounced off as if striking solid metal. A few of them were bent at odd angles and throbbing in pain.
Throughout this attack, Kevin didn't move a muscle. She just floated there and waited for the opportunity to show the monster girl the error of her ways. One would expect being made entirely out of metal was impair her ability to swim and cause her to sink like a stone, but the ability [Light Metal] halved her body weight upon entering a battle.
Upon noticing that the Jellyfish Girl was paralyzed with fear at the realization that she was well and truly screwed, Kevin grabbed her by the throat. "I see that you have decided to resist. How unfortunate"
The Galveon then clenched her free hand into a fist and, in the blink of an eye, delivered a punch to the poor monster girl's chest that shattered multiple ribs and ruptured an organ or two. If it weren't for the Sealing ability still being turned on, the monster would've been crippled for life from that strike alone. As it was, she was in an immense amount of pain.
[Bullet Punch – Steel Type Move]
[Description: The user strikes the target with a tough punch as fast as a bullet. This Move always goes first.]
The Jellyfish girl coughed up dark mist, a result of having her organs sealed while the rest of her body remained whole. She looked at the being she offended with wide eyes, wondering what crime against the gods she had committed to deserve this. If she actually cared to remember all of the sailors she had digested whole in the dome on her back, she might have understood that this was just karma coming back to bite her in her non-existent ass.
Not satisfied with the amount of damage delt to the monster girl yet, Kevin let go of the girl for just long enough to spin in a circle on the spot. Her tail glowed brightly as it came around, striking the Jellyfish girl with the flat side of itself instead of the blade, and swatting her a few yards away with the force of a speeding train.
[Iron Tail – Steel Type Move]
[Description: The target is slammed with a steel-hard tail. This may also lower the target's defence.]
If the monster had any bones in her body, all of them would surely be broken at this point. Instead, she was stuck with a surplus of internal bleeding in the form of her magic rapidly draining away. It was finally time for the 'flight' side of her 'fight or flight' instincts to take full effect. In her pained and half-conscious state, she surmised that giving up and swimming away may make the terrifying monster she pissed off leave her alone.
It didn't. Instead, the calculative and emotionless mind now present within Kevin's head was determining the best way to finish off this adversary. Chasing after her would bring the Galveon out of the breathable water provided by the light corridor, which would lead to her either drowning or having to shift forms again. That left her with the task of deciding which long-range move to use.
Two seconds of deliberating later, she had her answer. Raising her right hand, a change started to happen. The armor on her arm retracted to allow more metal and wires that shouldn't have been able to physically fit inside the appendage to unfold from within. Chambers slotted into place, cables connected various parts together, bolts tightened themselves, and the whole shifting sequence was accompanied by a series of clicks, whirrs, and releases of steam.
By the time the Jellyfish girl reached fifty yards away, Kevin's arm had been replaced with a giant futuristic cannon with twelve barrels, all of which were glowing as they powered up. A holographic scope positioned itself before the teenager's eye, allowing her to aim at the fleeing target. Luckily for her, the charge time for this move didn't take that long, and she was ready to fire within seconds.
"Goodbye," she said emotionlessly as she gave the mental command to fire.
[Magnet Bomb – Steel Type Move]
[Description: The user launces steel bombs that stick to the target. This attack never misses.]
Twelve spheres of concentrated destruction rocketed out of their chambers with the force of a tank cannon. They cut through the water as if it wasn't even there, seeking the Jellyfish girl and plowing through any fish unfortunate enough to find themselves in the way. They reached the monster girl just as she was turning back to check if the metal nightmare was following her
Her eyes widened in utter terror a moment before they collided with her and all exploded at the same time. The shockwaves of the detonation could be felt from up to a mile away, leading many monsters to wonder just what kind of beast had unleashed that kind of power. They also subsequently decided that they didn't want to find out, and hastily adopted the 'mind your own business' mentality.
Nodding to herself at the completion of her objective, Kevin went about dismissing the overly complex weapon back into the space inside her arm. After pondering for a brief moment on the nature of the displacement of mass, she performed a quick self-diagnostic and discovered that this form was the most complex one yet.
Within her current body lay an endless foundry. Machines worked tireless to shape every metal, from carbon to platinum, into an infinite number of shapes. Tubes of coolant snaked their way between gears, plates, and circuit boards, all the way up to just below her skin where they acted as veins. Even the place where her heart should be was replaced by a near-infinite series of reactors, generators, and batteries that powered the impossible factory that was now her body.
If she could feel anything, she would be impressed.
As she distracted herself with the inner machinations of this form, a snap came from behind her. Similarly to how she vanished, the particles swept in from nowhere and rapidly reconstituted themselves into the shape of Alice, the Monster Lord. Upon being fully formed, she approached Kevin with a raised eyebrow.
"Another female form?" she asked, eyeing the outlines of breasts shaped into the armor.
Drawn out of her self-inspection, Kevin turned her attention to the lamia. "it would appear so."
"And you're not surprised by this?"
"Do you remember when I told you that the gift of the upgraded backpack was quote 'completely fair with the other shit I was subjected to' unquote?"
"Yes, I recall."
"As a punishment for asking for the Sylveon Evolution to either be taken away or changed in some way, eight of my evolutions that were originally male were changed to be female," Kevin explained. "It would appear that this one is one of them."
The lamia tilted her head to the side. "Is there a reason you're being more forthcoming about this right now?"
Kevin nodded. "Yes. In my current evolution, I lack emotions and am motivated primarily by logic. Not only is there no reluctance or exasperation to get in the way of me revealing this piece of information to you; I have also calculated that it will stop you from asking about further female transformations in the future."
Alice stroked her chin in thought. That did sound like a logical action to take. By answering her question now instead of later, Kevin eliminated her need to ask more questions about it in the future, as the general 'why' of it all was automatically answered. It wouldn't stop her from teasing him about it, though.
"Are you going to transform back?" she asked.
The Galveon shook her head. "No. My calculations predict that the Jellyfish Girl will not be the only Poison Type enemy we will encounter on this mission, so it is best to stay in the form that is immune to every form of poison in existence to be safe."
Once again, the logic was impeccable. Instead of discussing it further, the duo silently returned to the quest they'd been given and started swimming along the light road again. Well, Alice swam. Kevin unfolded a pair of propellers from her feet to propel her forward in the same way she had used the water in her base form.
Half an hour later, as they were reaching the darker parts, Kevin felt something coil around her leg and stop her from descending.
"Oh," Alice commented, eying the tentacle that now had a firm grip on her companion's ankle. "That looks like a Sea Anemone Girl's Tentacle."
A few strong tugs let the teenager know that the monster this appendage was attached to was not keen on just letting her swim by. However, it wasn't powerful enough to completely overcome the strength of the engines powering her feet propellers.
Without batting an eyelash, she reared back her hand and swiped it at the tentacle. Halfway to its target, the fingers of the hand morphed into razor-sharp claws that sheered through the rubbery flesh like butter. Both traveling companions heard a cry of pain from below them as the part of the limb that wasn't brutally severed was retracted, leaving the dismembered half to lifelessly float away and leak magic until it dissipated.
Instead of immediately moving on, Kevin stared down into the darkness and called out. "Are you going to stop me again? If so, I would recommend preparing yourself for levels of pain you've never experienced before."
No sound, other than a light whimper of fear, came back.
Kevin looked at Alice again, nodding. "We should be okay to continue."
While the Monster Lord wanted to reprimand her traveling companion for scaring a monster like that, she determined it was the better alternative. Enough monsters were already scarred for life by the teenager's various forms, and more were still to come. Lightly frightening one into not attacking was the lesser of two evils, in this scenario.
***
Galveon form: Emotionless and Logical
And that's a wrap for now! Next chapter, we see what happens when Kevin and Alice meet the Queen!
I'm approaching 100k words on this, which will be a big milestone for me as before this story, the longest fanfic I've ever written reached around 20k. And I'm not even close to being halfway through! I like to think the encouraging words of you scrubs, and the hateful words of the morons, are what inspire me to keep going. Thank you, and curse you!
Comment what you like, leave memes, and correct my grammar if you find mistakes!
Gambler out!