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The Celestial Roulette by The Dark Wolf Shiro

Books » Worm Rated: M, English, Humor & Fantasy, Panacea, Words: 122k+, Favs: 3k+, Follows: 3k+, Published: May 23, 2024 Updated: Oct 11, 2024

1,727Chapter 5: Glory

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.

Betad by Priapus, Marethyu, Mike God of Lore, Beans

The Celestial Roulette

Chapter 05: Glory

Armsmaster seems almost impressed as he secures the pair, but I don't miss the way his eyes stick to my Grapplehawk.

"It was reckless to take on two known villains, even if it was just these two, on your first day out, though I have to admit you performed satisfactorily. I have to confess, I didn't expect you to be able to use 'cake creation' in a combat situation," Armsmaster praises and I know enough about him to know he wants something. He doesn't say anything, but his interest in my buffs is obvious.

Given what Amy has mentioned about him, he seems obsessed with maximising the amount of time that he has in the day, so I imagine he wants access to my Energy Eclairs, plus my Mind Muffins could help with Tinkering (according to the scientists who studied them).

"Are you still determined to remain independent? Once word spreads of your ability to create consumable trump buffs, every gang will come looking for you," Armsmaster warns, but I just nod calmly.

"I am, for now at least. I have my reasons," I say, getting an understanding nod from him. He's not a social person, and he's known for being a bit of a glory hound, but I don't think he's a bad guy. He seems genuinely worried about the chance of me being forced into a gang.

100cp gained, 100cp total

Again? Well, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

[Deuyivan Construction] - 400cp

Gravity is a drag. Good thing you've learned quite a lot about anti-gravity. With this knowledge, you are capable of building ships, structures, and even colonies capable of ignoring the pull of gravity. Want to set up a proper colony, not a bunch of orbital platforms, around a gas giant? No problem. Want to dip your toes into an event horizon? Now you can, for a little bit. Ignoring the majority of issues brought about by gravity is very, very important when it comes to space-faring. If you don't believe me, well, you don't know shit about space travel.

Man, space travel would be cool, but there are several issues. I'm not close to being ready for that, and the fucking Simurgh put a stop to the last guy who tried that.

"Are you okay? You seem distracted?" Armsmaster says, making me blink behind my mask. I guess I reacted, but he's more observant than I thought. Or maybe he just has a good social program in his helmet.

"I'm fine, thank you. I just got some feedback from my power, nothing unexpected," I explain, making him pause before he nods. I mentally reroll, I should start saving eventually but I want as many powers as I can get in these early days.

[Backyard Handywork] - 100cp (purchased, 0cp remaining)

Who needs a massive machine shop or specially crafted equipment when you have some plywood and a toolbox? No matter how complex or intricate the project you might be making, you'll find that you can easily figure out how to substitute commonly available tools and resources for more complex equipment and still have the final project come out fine. Also comes with a decent understanding of engineering, architecture, and a few other material science fields to help you get started on whatever projects you might want to work on.

Well, I won't complain about any future projects becoming easier to make. It won't help me immediately, but the flood of knowledge will only make everything I do in the future much easier.

He goes to speak again, but a shadow from above distracts us both, and his exposed mouth turns downward to a frown as he spots the figure descending down upon us.

Funnily enough, my smile does the same, but for very different reasons.

"Glory Girl, everything is wrapped up here. There's no need for your aid," Armsmaster says, very diplomatically telling my little sister to fuck off, but she just grins.

"Oh, I know. I caught the stream and thought I'd fly over and say hi," Vicky says with a grin, landing between us. Armsmaster's frown grows deeper, and he gives me a look. Ah, he's worried that New Wave wants to poach the newest healer before the PRT can?

An amusing thought, given who I actually am. Still, what does she want, and why does she already look so victorious?

– Victoria Dallon (Glory Girl) –

Okay, credit where it was due…

If she didn't already suspect it was him, she'd never have assumed the brightly coloured food-based cape was her brother.

"Nice work, Sugar, by the way," Vicky praised, looking towards dumb and dumber as they were put in the back of a PRT van, Leet whining about the unfairness of it all. "So, how long did you work on the puns?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Sugar laughed, his voice altered somewhat by his mask. It made him sound higher-pitched than usual, but not enough for it to be unpleasant to listen to.

"Sugar Rush, are you prepared to make a statement?" Armsmaster cut in, seeming annoyed at her presence as Sugar agreed easily. In some ways, he was blowing his own cover with how relaxed he was about this because this wasn't Felix's first time giving the PRT a statement due to him escorting Amy so often and the occasional kidnapping attempt.

Armsmaster didn't miss how easily Sugar gave his report, a thoughtful frown on his lips.

"How did you get to the scene so quickly?" Armsmaster asks, making Sugar smile.

"My power is a little more than just cakes, and I recently gained access to another power that lets me manifest a vehicle that is… efficient, to say the least," Sugar admitted. "Once I confirmed the location from their stream, I was able to get here within a minute."

She whistled, getting Sugar's attention. A trump? She was deadly curious how his power actually worked and from the look on Armsmaster's face, she wasn't alone in that.

"Is that also where you got your… bird?" Armsmaster asked, looking at the somewhat menacing mechanical bird on Sugar's shoulder. The white and pink paint job didn't make it look that much less intimidating, with its beady mechanical eyes staring at them both.

"It is, my Grapplehawk is one of my summons," Sugar agreed, reaching up and stroking the bird. It didn't react to his touch, but after a moment, it vanished from existence.

Armsmaster clearly wanted to ask more, but a glance at her told her that he didn't want to give New Wave any more reasons to want to recruit Sugar. If it really was Felix, then that was highly amusing.

"One last thing for now, though we may be in touch through the phone we gave you when you signed up as an Independent. I noticed that you captured their Snitch. Are you willing to turn it over to the PRT? Leet's technology is advanced but highly unstable, and I can't recommend a non-tinker trying to keep it," Armsmaster stated, but Sugar just laughed.

"Then it's a good thing I am a Tinker. I know what I'm doing, and one of my powers needs access to Tinkertech for me to study," Sugar replied, making Armsmaster freeze.

"Is there any reason you did not display any of these powers during power testing?" Armsmaster asked, his tone stilted.

"Because I only wanted to get a license for my healing and buffing creations. With all due respect, I don't owe the PRT every one of my secrets and tricks," Sugar replied cooly, which was even funnier given his mask.

Armsmaster went to respond but then stopped, Dragon no doubt advising him. She'd long since learnt that Dragon basically babysat Armsmaster through Ward gossip.

"I shall see to Uber and Leet, they have a long list of minor crimes to answer for. We will be in touch," Armsmaster said, clearly displeased even as he looked towards the captured villains.

"So, Sugar, wanna do a joint patrol? Us independents should stick together," Vicky said, landing and moving into Sugar's space as she gave him a grin. He looked taller than Felix, but she hadn't missed those boots.

"I'm not sure that would exactly work. My method of transport isn't good for patrolling, and I can't quite fly like you can," Sugar replied.

"You know, your name makes me feel like I'm giving you a pet name. You know, like Honey or Babycakes?"

"...I pity your boyfriend if you ever actually use Babycakes," Sugar deadpanned, making her laugh.

"Fair, Sugah," Vicky teased, drawling his name. "So, what's a girl gotta do to get some sugar? I have a bit of a sweet tooth, you know."

Sugar stumbled, catching her flirtatious tone. She gave him a sly smile, batting her eyes at him as she could feel the gears in his head grinding to a halt as he tried to work out how to defuse the bomb that had just fallen into his lap. She was a very attractive girl, and any guy would be thrilled to have her flirting with them, even innocently, so Sugar's borderline panic made her internally smirk.

"If you want a snack, just ask; I'm not going to run out anytime soon," Sugar replied, ignoring the flirting altogether as she clapped her hands together. As they walked along the boardwalk, she snacked on the eclairs and very nice doughnuts he was creating for her.

"You know, I think the biggest threat to your hero career is going to be obesity because I'd be the size of a truck if I had your power," Vicky joked, wondering if he had Amy burning his calories for him.

"Ah, but you underestimate me… for the Strudel of Slimming keeps me fighting fit," Sugar boasted, making her blink before she burst into giggles. "Yes, I'm serious. Since my buffs require me to stuff my face with buns every fight, I had to think of something. Cape work doesn't burn that many calories."

"Oh, and here I was thinking we'd have to find another way to burn off all those calories, Sugar," Vicky said, once again causing him to misstep and almost fall at the clear implication in her words. "So, how does your ride work? Why can't you patrol in it?"

Keeping him off guard, she grinned mentally at how jumpy he was from how close she was walking. If this wasn't Felix, this could get awkward, but she was almost one hundred percent sure it was him, and messing with him was just too much fun.

"I don't drive it, I can summon it and tell it to take me basically anywhere. Then it gets me there very fast, so fast that I can barely see the world fly by outside," Sugar explained, happy to change the subject. "It's great for getting anywhere I need to go, but we could drive past Alexandria fist-fighting Behemoth, and I wouldn't be able to tell, nor can I stop the ride once it starts."

"Huh, that's kinda weird, but then, cake powers, so I guess you started weird and just stuck with it," Vicky teased, but he just laughed.

"We deal with the hand fate deals us, and it dealt me super-cake powers and a magic bus," Sugar joked. "Capes are always weird, but I suspect I'm going to be a special kind of odd."

"I don't suppose you wanna give a girl a ride? I've got to meet my sister at the hospital soon and it sounds like your ride is faster than my flying," Vicky asked innocently, watching him pause.

She wasn't the one looking after Amy today; Aunt Sarah was. Felix was there at breakfast when Mom told Amy that… but he couldn't call her out on her lie.

"Sure, I owe Panacea for arranging my meeting with the PRT and confirming that my powers weren't dangerous anyway," Sugar said, reluctance clear in his tone. Moving to the side of the road, he casually held out his hand and she jumped back as a fucking triple-decker purple bus just zoomed towards them and stopped, the doors opening. "It can be a bit of a bumpy ride."

"Oh, don't worry. I don't mind a rough ride," Vicky flirted again, watching him miss the step onto the bus, nearly faceplanting. Bet he was regretting not telling her about his little act now, wasn't he?

There was no one in the driver seat, but as Sugar told it to take them to the hospital, the doors slammed shut, and she realised that she'd vastly underestimated just how bumpy it could be.

Or how fast it was as the bus zipped through traffic, weaving and winding between cars as it casually spat in the face of physics. She had to take flight to try and stop herself from falling, to the amusement of Sugar as he held onto the railing. The moment she took flight, she splatted against the back of the bus, landing again as the bus came to a sudden stop.

Which obviously launched her forward, but with an internal grin, she used her flight to take aim, hitting her far too amused brother and taking them both to the ground.

"Whew, you weren't kidding. I don't mind a little rough, but that's one wild ride," Vicky gasped, looking down at her brother, who she was now sitting on. "Thanks for the soft landing, Sugar."

She had gone a little too far, now essentially mounting him as she sat on his crotch, but she was not one to back down and decided to do the only thing that made sense to her.

Double down.

"Or maybe not that soft; guess you don't mind a little rough either," Vicky teased; she couldn't actually feel an erection, but the implication was enough to make him sputter. Standing up, she helped him to his feet. "So, wanna come meet Panacea?"

"I'm a little busy, but thanks for the offer," Sugar said awkwardly, clearly desperate to escape her.

"You sure? You know, I'm pretty sure she's got a crush on you… want me to set you up?" Vicky offered, once again seeing him freeze.

"That won't be necessary, and I don't think Panacea would appreciate you trying to set her up, from what little I know of her," Sugar said, but Vicky just grinned.

"Nah, she's just a little grumpy. She's so anti-social that she needs her loving big sis to help her out, or she'll probably die alone with seventeen cats," Vicky joked. "Come on, you'll see!"

Grabbing his arm, she pulled him out of the bus and watched it zoom away, the giant bus somehow going unnoticed despite moving at the speed of sound. She was being gentle, well aware that her casual pull could dislocate someone's arm, but Sugar was forced to get dragged along with her as she grinned. Oh, he wasn't getting away that easy.

– Emily Piggot –

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?" Emily asked, staring at Armsmaster. The fact that Uber and Leet had been taken down wasn't a surprise; they'd been arrested half a dozen times each, but they always managed to bust out eventually, and neither was a serious enough cape to warrant the Birdcage.

"Sugar Rush appears to be a Trump of some kind or claims to be anyway. He has somehow acquired a Tinkertech mechanical hawk, along with a summonable transport," Armsmaster reported. "I saw the hawk myself, but the transport I couldn't confirm."

"It seems to have some level of Stranger power applied to it, as both Sugar Rush and Glory Girl just vanished from a fairly busy street and reappeared at the general hospital forty seconds later. It certainly suggests that they travelled very quickly instead of just teleporting," Dragon added.

"I'm sorry, I thought Sugar Rush was the cake-summoning cape. Some kind of food tinker? Where did the rest come from?" Emily asked, feeling the vein in her head ready to burst. She very carefully didn't use the words 'bio-tinker', and if he hadn't volunteered to show off his creations, she'd have had a very different response.

"He is. If his power is indeed growing as he hinted, then it may be that he started with the cake powers and themed himself around them before he got the rest. He didn't use his transport to get to the power testing; he may not have had it yet. I did notice that he briefly seemed to zone out, which he claimed was due to 'feedback' from his power," Armsmaster reported, sounding not exactly thrilled himself. "It appears New Wave are interested in recruiting him, given Glory Girl's actions."

Oh, Brandish, you bitch. She enjoyed having the only non-villainous healer in the city in New Wave because it gave them a lot of leeway when the PRT was basically reliant on Panacea putting their heroes back together every other day.

Sugar Rush's cakes were not as effective as Panacea, but unlike her, they could be stored and carried around. She'd seen the report on his creations and assuming that heavy use of the cakes he left didn't reveal any deadly side-effects, they could be a power multiplier for any group that had Sugar Rush.

She already had the Chief Director breathing down her neck about acquiring his goods for Endbringer fights, with orders to get him into the PRT ASAP, but once she found out that Sugar might be another Dauntless? Damn it, she hated her job sometimes.

She could understand the interest in his cakes. Trump effect in a snack, edible brute, thinker and mover ratings, healing that you could carry around with you and didn't need the cape to be anywhere near the scene? The 'heart cookies' were small, and if he could truly make them in great numbers, then every hero could carry one into an Endbringer fight and have a way to at least mitigate their wounds.

She could have every PRT agent carrying one, so the next time Hookwolf decided to blender his way through one of their vans, the agents had a way to heal if they weren't killed immediately.

"There is one more thing, a claim by Leet that seems plausible, for once," Armsmaster added, making her turn to him. "He claimed the mechanical hawk was a 'Grapplehawk', specifically a 'Subrique Pattern' that is used by the Arbites to hunt criminals."

"Are those words meant to mean anything to me?" Emily asked, making Armsmaster shake his head.

"Grapplehawks are from an Earth Aleph sci-fi series called Warhammer 40k, and after some research, I have to say that Leet seems to be correct. Grapplehawks are a type of Servitor, mechanical creations with the brains of avian predators placed inside them. Sugar clearly tried to paint the creation rather recently, by my estimation, but its appearance is uncannily like the artwork I found. I don't know if he made it or summoned it, but I suspect the latter since he was able to de-manifest it after he noticed I was paying a little too much attention to it," Armsmaster explained. "The 40k series is known for being extremely dark; from my brief investigation, the Grapplehawk might be the least horrifying thing I found. I did discover something curious, from the stream no-less. When Leet told Sugar Rush that he knew what the Grapplehawk was, he was clearly shocked and confused despite his mask. He didn't seem to understand how Leet was able to recognise it, and Dragon believes that Sugar doesn't know about 40k himself."

"So, what? He's summoned a fictional abomination from some Earth Aleph series without ever learning about the series himself? Could it just be a coincidence?" Emily asked, making Armsmaster nod.

"The only way to be sure would be to study the 'Grapplehawk', and see if it truly does have biological components. But Sugar referred to it in the same way, so either he heard the term and adopted it, or he was already calling it a Grapplehawk before then," Armsmaster explained.

"There is another thing. After defeating Uber and Leet, he used the Snitch to announce a charity event tomorrow at the Bayview Gardens Park where he'd be giving away free food. He wasn't clear whether he'd be offering his buffing cakes, but it has gained considerable traction," Dragon explained, making her once again rub her forehead as she tried to calm herself down.

God, she hated independent capes because they were always doing dumb shit. This was bound to get Cape attention. He'd just publicly shown off his ability to make food that granted people buffs, like a tastier Othala, and now he was telling everyone where he was going to be?

Why not wear a neon sign saying, 'Hey, come kidnap me' and go for a stroll through Empire territory?

Looking at the pictures of Sugar Rush, she reminded herself of why she hated new triggers.

"If he is summoning from this 40k series, how bad is it?" Emily asked, watching Dragon and Armsmaster pause and share an awkward look.

An hour later, Costa-Brown emphatically told her that, no, they couldn't grant a kill order on Sugar Rush just because he might be able to summon Tyranids, Orks, Chaos, or literally anything else from 40k.

They'd regret it; she swore it on her pension. Sugar Rush was going to be a problem.

– Felix Dallon (Sugar Rush) –

Escaping Vicky was not easy, she's a very upfront girl who can be hard to say no to. Amy once again proved she's a far better actor than me, and I swear that Aunt Sarah suspects something given the look I caught her giving me.

Still, I managed to escape her clutches and get home so she wouldn't notice that Felix wasn't around when Sugar Rush was, once again, making a meal for the family. I'm glad the PRT gave me a second phone because it meant that I actually had a new number to give Vicky when she bugged me for my contact details since Amy already had it.

Fortunately, I can put my cape things away in my new pocket dimension with the heart-shaped herbs.

Focusing on my cooking as the others get home, I pull out my cape phone as it vibrates in my pocket (after checking nobody was watching, of course), spotting a message from Vicky, which already fills me with dread. I have no idea what to do about Vicky. I've always known that she's a very extroverted girl, but she was taking every chance to flirt with me today.

Opening the message, I freeze as I look at the contents.

'All those eclairs are bad for my hips lol'

Attached is a picture of Vicky standing in front of her bedroom mirror, pinching her hips to show off some imaginary fat. That isn't the problem; what is my issue with this picture is her attire.

Of lack thereof.

Her Glory Girl outfit is laid out on the bed behind her, dressed in only a pair of matching lacey white underwear that covers far too little, and immediately I frown in realisation.

Oh, that bitch. She knows.

Despite their rocky relationship, Vicky is not the kind of girl to cheat on Dean by flirting with a new cape she barely knows. She's pissed I didn't tell her and is using it as a way to mess with me to get even.

That sneaky bitch.

Now, the reasonable thing to do would be to back down. I know how stubborn she can be, but we both get that trait from Mom. If I back down, I lose.

I don't reply immediately, and during dinner, I ignore the way she watches me for any reaction. She does try to message me again from the way she's typing under the table and glancing my way, but I've put my phone on silent and turned off vibrate, so she can't even hear that.

Finishing up, I make my excuses and head upstairs (being petty and getting Mom to make Vicky do the pots since she keeps dodging her chores). Sending a message to Amy, I look down at the heart-shaped herb in my hand.

"Are you going to do something stupid again?" Amy asks, looking at the plant curiously.

"...yeah," I admit, making her snort quietly. "Long story short, this makes people stronger, faster, basically better in every way, but I want you to be there when I take it since apparently I'll be going on a fucking vision quest. I'm thinking tonight, we can sneak into my pocket dimension, and you can make sure I'm not killing myself with weird herbs. Thanks, by the way; love ya."

"Love you too, now go back to the pocket dimension spirit journey part," Amy demands with a long-suffering sigh. "I miss when my main concern was Vicky bugging me to heal someone she put through a wall. At least then Vicky wasn't risking herself with whatever weird shit she found. Are you planning on eating everything your power gives you?"

"...mayhaps," I admit, making her laugh again.

"Well, you might be a dumbass, but at least you're honest about it," Amy says, giving me a grin. "You're lucky your power does cool shit because I kinda wanna see this myself."

"If I don't get mutated by the alien meteor herb, do you want to try your own vision quest?" I ask, making her freeze and stare at me, seeing the seriousness in my eyes.

She could use the increased physical stats herself, and I'd be a dick to not offer it to her after all she's doing for me.

— Quest Options — Voting Concluded!

How should he deal with Vicky?

[Confess the Truth]

[Dodge her as often as possible]

[Double Down, flirt back]

Who does Felix see during the Vision Quest?

[Nobody]

[His Ancestor (They're very confused since they weren't capes)]

[Bastet (Panther Goddess, also very confused since she's not supposed to be real in this world)]

[?]

What does Amy do?

[Accepts the Heart-Shaped Herb]

[Refuses the Heart-Shaped Herb]