Chương 3: Chapter Three
Water: one of God's greatest gifts to mankind.
A quench to parched throats. Irrigation to dry fields. An ingredient to the world's natural beauty...
Water is that and much more.
Eh~ then again, Manny won't be starting any lecture on the importance of water. To Manny, at that moment, water was one thing alone; a source to cool off and enjoy—that is if he wasn't a 9 ft. behemoth, currently bathing by gathering the H2O on his cupped palms and spraying it upon himself.
"Should have figured my size would come to bite my ass, sooner or later."
Grunting, Manny squatted beneath the spray. Careful not to knock it off, as Manny let the water cascade down his body.
It could have made quite an amusing sight... That is if Manny hadn't been the subject of the laughter.
"Ah... That's it."
Standing up, Manny retreated back and looked at the shower with a scowl.
Giving up on the opportunity to get rid of the blood on his person would be the highest level of asininity, and Manny is not asinine.
Besides...
"It's not like I'm entirely out of options."
A familiar feeling of a liquid fire coursed through Manny and his lips widened an inch.
This time, he would be using 'it', deliberately.
The power that came from that dimension called, the Warp-space...
Yeah, Manny knew what he was currently doing was the epitome of madness.
If this was Warhammer's reality, and any loyalist to the Imperium -Inquisitors and specialized forces- caught hold of what Manny was doing, they would have come to with lasguns blazing and chainsaws cackling...
Barring his Demigod heritage of course.
The Warp must not be so carelessly tempered because doing so makes you subtle to its influence... Or stuff like that.
Hmm... Not like Manny cared either way.
To Manny, there were only two options available; either hate his rather powerful connection to Wrap and never again utilize his Psyker's abilities for his benefit, being like his more physical-inclined brothers, OR accept and love this power—this capability that made him more Sentry than Superman.
So, what's there to think about?
This power is his for better or worse.
Besides, Manny has always been more of a 'Million Exploding Suns' fan than a 'Truth, Justice, and the American Way' fan.
Flexing his will, Mannny commanded and the sprinkling water froze midair. It was as beautiful as it was eerie; the sight of water droplets frozen airborne as soon as they exited the faucet.
It was certainly quite the marvel...
That is if one does not consider that such a thing is only made possible through the Wrap.
With an outstretched finger, Manny pushed away a frozen droplet watching it drift and meld with another droplet. It triggered a chain reaction as the now slightly larger droplet of water floated toward the other suspended water drops, merging and growing in size.
Soon enough, the droplet swelled up to a size larger than a watermelon.
But Manny wasn't done yet—more like why should he stop? Especially, when this is his chance to experiment with an actual freaking superpower.
The orb of water wriggled and bubbled changing shape. An orb became a square. A triangle. A cylinder. A hexagram. A large runic decorated sword. A fantasy looking spear. A plas-gun. A neighing mythical seahorse. A roaring western dragon...
... Sasha dying as rain fell and Night City burned.
"... ..."
The orb of water violently exploded on Manny, petering him with futile blows while leaving a small but deep depression on the walls. Blinking, Manny looked at the water that unceremoniously dropped to the ground and shook his head.
'What the hell was that?'
That felt too... Real.
Unlike his other water constructs, Manny knew that the last structure felt entirely different—and strangely familiar.
It's like Manny had seen it somewhere but the 'where' is the problem.
Sighing, Manny made to move out of the shower—only to pause and regard the state he had left it in.
Manny clicked his tongue.
"Yeah, leaving here like this would leave a bad taste in my tongue. So..."
The liquid fire stirred.
"... Let's try this one more time."
ᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥ
Manny let out a relieved sigh upon exiting the shower.
Fortunately, fixing all that damage was easier than Manny had expected. Or rather, utilizing his Psyker abilities to fix the walls had been easier than Manny had expected it to be.
Of course, Manny knew of the dangers in utilizing power from the Warp space—source being from the Warhammer edition books and notifying the denizens of the Warp of your existence and becoming susceptible to the corruption that ' ridikulous' could bring.
There was a reason for the forceful conscription of human Psykers. It was either be left alone and become mad or a meal to some Warp demons or be conscripted and be trained for you to fight for the Emperor.
Either way, it is a loss-and-loss situation—which shouldn't be a surprise considering that it is Warhammer.
In a way, Manny considered himself lucky that such a situation hadn't been thrust at him. But that could be attributed to his Primarch physiology or this place not being related to Warhammer in its entirety.
Manny hoped for the former and prayed for the latter.
In the small space just outside the bathroom, a set of clothes was arranged on top of an old-looking washing machine. Manny walked, picking it up only for him to balk at the size.
'It's too small.' Manny thought with a grimace.
The clothes articles were a black long-arm shirt and brown pants. They were simple but nice outfits, now if only they weren't the wrong sizes. Manny wasn't sure he could even fit his head through his shirt and he felt like just one of his legs could rip the pants into shreds.
... There's only one thing left to do.
"Yeah, I'll just consider this as an emergency." Manny promptly called upon the precarious power of the Warp. "Besides, I'm kinda' curious if I can expand matter."
The clothes were bathed in a white glow which acted exactly to Manny's intentions.
'Is being a Psyker really this easy?' Manny couldn't help but ask himself.
There were many uses for the Warp, but it is commonly used for destruction. The seemingly perpetual war is to blame.
Nevertheless, Manny felt like he had broken a lot of records as he could be the first Psyker who had used his abilities to expand clothes so that they could be of his size.
'Yeah, I'm never telling anyone about this.' Manny solemnly and silently swore while dressing. 'To the grave you go, heretic memory.'
Manny gave himself another once over and nodded satisfied. The shirt was still slightly tight as it showed his abs and muscle lines, on the other hand, the brown pants were freer giving him the chance to make more movement.
Still not as comfortable as his former wear, though.
After putting it on, Manny gave some light stretches and nodded in satisfaction.
"Hm. This will do for now. Either way, I better thank Sasha for lending me these."
Upon the thought of Sasha, Manny paused as that image once again suffused his mind.
Manny has seen that image somewhere, before—maybe not the burning city, but certainly of Sasha dying with a smile on her face, while the rain wiped away her tears.
There was singing in the background.
A song that spoke of struggle. Of pain... Of a story that would have a painful, unfulfilling, yet happy ending.
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They will finally feel the flames.
Flames that run down through my veins.
I will make the city burn.
We're not planning to return.
Trying so hard to be free.
To make you see what I see.
Hold on to your wishes, if you can't hold on to me...
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Fists capable of rending steel balled up into fists.
"Yeah, it can't be possible... Right?"
But despite saying that, there was no confidence in Manny's tone.
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I'm about to ask a kind of 'hypothetical' question. However, your answer is up to you and you alone, that is to say; whatever you say is the right course of action is the right course of action?
Understand? Good.
Now, you come from a world where physics is well... Physics.
What goes up must come down. Running fast does not create sonic booms. Punching hard does not explode people or feel like a C4 had just gone off...
You know what? Let's not go that far.
You come from a world where things like flying cars or exchanging one's body for cybernetic parts were still more of a consideration of the future than a present happening. Then suddenly, you're transmigrated (read dumped) in a place that seems to give everything you know about the world the middle finger.
Here comes the tricky part.
Everything about that world seems so familiar; the environment, the events... The people. It's like you have been placed in a situation similar to all those Japanese troupes; the Isekai type.
Now here is my question; even if the answer is staring at you right in the face, can you confidently be able to pinpoint the kind of world you have been taken to?
That was the kind of situation I had been back then.
This world I had arrived in had always felt familiar. Hell, the mega-buildings situated across town and even the name, Night City should have been more than enough for me to recognize the place I had been taken to.
There's also the fact that as a Primarch, I had this physiologic characteristic called 'eidetic memory'. So it's not like I hadn't run the comparison in my head.
It's just that I couldn't bring myself to come to such an implausible conclusion.
Like seriously?
It was just too fantastic to believe.
Then again, when evidence upon evidence is thrown to one's face at alarming speeds. The issue of whether you believe or not becomes a non-factor.
⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎
ᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥ
Manny had many questions and a budding suspicion, but he kept it to himself deciding that now was not the best to go about finding answers -not when he had just promised Sasha to help her go rescue her sister.
'There's also my attitude back then.' Manny bent a bit to avoid hitting his head on the wall and exited the bathroom while looking troubled. 'Why was I so annoyed back then when Sasha told me that I couldn't handle those Gangs...? Could it be pride or something?'
Manny was a lot of things, but being that assertive wasn't one of them.
The 'you' of before cannot be compared to the 'you' of now.
Grunting, Manny shook his head ignoring the whispers for now.
Just like his budding suspicion, Manny's new sporting emotions would be dealt with at a later time.
Besides, judging from the voices in the background, it seems Sasha's crew has finally arrived -which is a good thing by the way.
If Sasha is who Manny is beginning to suspect she is... Then.
Then what? What will you do, Manny?
'Well, I don't know. I'll cross that bridge when I get there.'
Manny walked back into the living room—only for his breath to hitch at the sight.
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Forgive me for letting you down~
Forgive me for letting you down, again~
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"Whoa~ atta' girl. I've always been telling you to go get yourself an Output and enjoy life more. Seems you've gone and done beyond that!"
Sited comfortably on the cushion was a girl—no, a woman (?). Short in stature, and garbed in an extra-large hoodie, the famous pale-lime gremlin in Cyberpunk; Rebbeca, said with an impish grin on her face.
"Fuck, how I wish Pilar is here to see this."
"Fuck off," Sasha said, flipping Rebecca off. "Manny is not my Output."
"Manny huh~" Rebecca wiggled her eyebrows—only to wince at the sudden bonk. "Ow! What the fuck, Dorio?!"
The muscled female Russian blonde relaxed her clenched fist.
"How would you feel if I did that to you at your place, then?"
Rebecca huffed, turning her head, and folded her arms with a pout.
"It's just fucking ribbing among chooms. Ain't no big deal about it."
Dorio sighed and turned to Manny. "Sorry about our little package here—"
Unsurprisingly, Rebecca took offense to that.
"Who the fuck are you calling little, blonde gorilla?!"
With any pause, Dorio smoothly ignored the raging imp and continued. "So, tell me. You're Sasha's Output, right?"
Groaning, Sasha threw Dorio an exasperated glare. "Not you too..."
"Hey, don't blame me." Dorio shrugged. "You've got to admit it's the only logical explanation. I can hardly think of a time when I've ever seen a guy in this house."
"Well, what of Maine, Falco, or even Pilar?"
"Those three don't count." Dorio sighed. "Hah... Stella has the excuse of wanting to be a rockstar despite our grievances about that. Still, there's no denying the time and dedication she's put into achieving her dream. Not much chance for her to screw around. You, on the other hand, don't have much of an excuse."
Rebecca cackled. "I swear I'd almost pegged you as a Les if you hadn't thrown off that * bitch's advances."
"Yeah, fuck off." Sasha flipped her off and turned to Manny. "You tell them. Seeing you coming out from the bath seems to have flipped their brains upside down."
Manny had thought whatever conclusion he had come to regarding Sasha, and well... The planet in general could be easily dealt with. If this is truly Cyberpunk reality, then with the rudimentary information Manny possessed from the game and anime he could—no, would survive and thrive -which is a given considering what he is.
But looking at them now...
Rubbing the base of his neck, Manny breathed and quickly fixed up a light smile.
"I'm Manny and I'm not Sasha's Output... Yet."
Sasha threw Manny an affronted look, although her face was beet-red.
"Manny-you... Fucking gonk."
Rebecca on the other hand merely grinned wider.
"Yet, huh~ well, good luck with our cat, here."
"Rebecca, I'm seriously this close to frying up your chrome." Sasha punctuated by bringing her thumb and index close.
"Oh, how scary." Rebecca stood up and ran behind Manny—whose frame funnily enough swallowed her own. "Save me, prospective Output with these bulging muscles of yours…"
Rebecca trailed off, touching Manny's legs before looking at him with eyes filled with awe.
"Know what, Sasha? If you aren't interested in him then I am..."
Sasha raised a brow. "Huh? I thought innocent and boyish looking are your type."
"A lady's gotta branch out once in a while, choom." Thumping Manny with her elbow, Rebecca
Manny, of course, said nothing. However, Dorio, who had noticed the look he threw at Rebecca who hadn't noticed due to the immense height difference let out a raucous bout of laughter.
"Hah... Alright, alright, before I die of laughter here. We've gotta' delta. Maine and the others are waiting for us back at our place and time's wasting considering what's at stake."
"Oh..." Whatever perkiness Sasha had on her face was replaced with solemnity. "You're right..."
Sasha stood up—before pausing and regarding Manny ambivalently.
"Manny's coming with us."
Dorio blinked. "Wha... Sasha, you sure about that?"
"Yeah..." Sasha nodded while still looking at Manny. "Yeah, I am."
Rebecca pumped her fist. "Nova! Now I can show you my preem bursting head skills."
Sasha cryptically chuckled. "Don't be so sure of yourself, 'Becca. Manny's got some serious preem skills of his own."
"Really, huh~" Dorio hummed.
Manny shrugged. "Well, I aim to impress."
Grunting, Dorio stood up. "Can't tell what Maine and Pilar will say considering this addition, but the fact that with all that chrome and juice you're packing and can still speak normally, I'm sure they can give you a pass."
Sasha's lips parted—before closing with a huff.
Then again, Manny couldn't blame her. Sasha lived in a world where despite it being all bloody dangerous still had its own set of rules. So, seeing Manny going all brrr-brrr eyes on her without any sort of cyberware must have been quite the shock.
'Well, not as much as mine, considering that I'm talking to characters from an 18 anime.'
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I guess I'm not strong enough~
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Manny lightly clenched his fist as that image reappeared once again. This time it had a whole new meaning to it.
'I'm Manny and I'm a Primarch. I'm strong enough—powerful enough to make a difference in this world, talk less of Night City... And right now…'
Unseen to everyone, lightning flickered at Manny's fingertips.
⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙
Right now~
⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙
'Right now... I'll start by changing her future.'
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