Chapter 88 Growth Spurt Activated!
The Great Tree spat me out into a wooden hand and threw me like a javelin over the city to the north. I could see the massive sixty-foot tall green, tree man version of myself, and I was headed directly at it.
I hit the side of it and was sucked inside, where I found four copies of myself and Gaia.
"We made it!" Melody cheered from one of my bodies; I was going to have to change that.
"I will give you full control now, but it will take a moment for you to integrate with this... thing," Gaia said, looking over at one of me that took a drag of an invisible smoke.
"Don't call it a thing. This is Daniel two-point-oh! Just wait till you see what this bad boy can do! We are going to be your turret controllers, and we also are your main weapons. You will understand more when you get inside," Sofia explained, taking another drag.
"Don't you think you have had enough?" Amy asked, and Sofia shrugged.
"This is stressful! Plus, I work better like this! You don't mind, right, Papi?" Sofia asked, but I couldn't answer.
I had my vision and mind overwritten, and I was no longer inside with the girls. I was looking out over the city, but I still couldn't move.
"Papi! Orphus says to use your System to scan it!" Sofia called, and I nodded to myself.
[Growth Spurt Activated!]
Suddenly, before I could even finish scanning, the message popped up, and my massive body became an almost identical version of myself. A massive wooden armor set grew over my body, making me look like a gigantic wooden knight.
It felt like I was in my own body, and the world had just gotten small, not the other way around. I reached out to the side with both hands, and two massive wooden Katanas grew from my palms.
"Alright, this is more like it!" I roared and leaped at a Great tree, planting my massive feet that stuck to the side and then jumping to the next.
I could see my target in the distance, but I could also see a little glowing figure running at the creature. What in hell's name was Firaga doing?
I was going as fast as I could, but she was going to reach the Sluggasuar before me, and it had noticed her. I wasn't sure what was going to happen here, but I wasn't about to lose Firaga.
"Girls, what do we have for ranged?" I called out, and the Katana's retracted back into my hand.
"You got me! Your little Machine Gun!" Melody called; my arms turned into a pair of machine guns that started to spin.
I didn't ask what the bullets were. I just fired, and seeds spat out of my arms in a hail of bullets, but they didn't do much damage and just fell off.
Then they started to proliferate, making Firaga stop and look up at me coming her way. Trees grew up extremely fast and grabbed onto the Sluggasuar, stopping him in his tracks.
As I jumped at the creature, my hands, along with the Katanas, grew back. I slammed both blades down in and through the creature, and then the blade burst with thorns that stabbed out of the massive body.
The Sluggasaur instantly turned into the same shiny metal as Kratos had, and the blades grew back into my hands. I stepped off the creature and looked down at Firaga, who looked very excited, so I started to shrink.
Gouts of steam poured off my body as I got smaller, and then once I was back to my standard size, the four girls emerged from me, one at a time. I made sure to edit them to look good and proper like themselves, not copies of me.
"Can I eat that?" Firaga asked me after the steam had cleared, and I looked over at the massive metal statue.
"Possibly, but you and I need to talk. I don't sense more Villain's yet, but that doesn't mean more aren't coming. Melody, you should be able to use your powers and the rest of you. Can you all go help the city out? I need to have a good soak, and I am taking this one with me," I asked, and Melody gave me a look.
"Oh, you are making moves now?" Melody smirked.
"Testing a theory. If it works, then we might really have something. You just leave this to me, this time. This one is not like the others,'' I said, and Melody nodded.
"I can see that, but just be careful. She is a Villian, don't forget that. Until you can safely say, you know what will happen, keep your guard up," Melody warned me, to my surprise.
"A woman that even you are worried about. I am really going to have to put my A-game on," I laughed, but Melody shook her head.
"Call it women's intuition, but I don't think she is going to fall into your arms like most of us. Remember, she is basically a robot killing machine with no memories," Melody warned again, and I nodded, taking her seriously this time.
I really never seen her get like this, so it was probably a good idea to listen to her. This Firaga was a bit of a rogue, but I really didn't have a good way to get control of her.
I could try to improve her, but that would only connect me to her, and I couldn't stop her. The other option was the one I would prefer to go with because I wanted to test something.
"I got it; I love you all, and I will see you in a bit!" I said and then turned back to Firaga, who was still staring at the metal.
"This metal looks really tasty. I think that I will really like it. You are going to let me have it." Firaga said, and I nodded.
"I will, but not yet. Do you think that you can wait until we have a talk? Do you also mind cooling down your body? I would like to fly you up to the top of that tree," I explained, pointing over at the closest Great Tree.
"Flying is good. I can wait. I will cool myself." Firaga said, and her body started to dim.
I watched the heat fade from her body until she was cooled to a bluish-gray color. She walked over to me, and now I could see that she was naked, but that didn't seem to bother her.
I placed my hand on her chest, and she watched me; I couldn't tell what emotions were going through her mind at the time. Her eyes got bigger when I dragged my hand down, and a dress appeared on her body.
"What is this?" Firaga asked, looking down at the simple white dress I had made for her.
"Sorry, I am not very good at making stuff like Amy is. I should have asked her to make you something cuter," I said, scooping Firaga up.
"I want to know what the reason for doing this is? I will just burn them off," Firaga said, and I nodded.
"Ture, but then I can just make them for you. I just like you better with clothing on. Not that you don't look good naked, but having some clothes to cover you up is good too. Plus, you look good in the dress," I explained.
"Pointless. If this is your request, I will comply, but I do not think it is necessary," Firaga explained, and I nodded.
Wings and roots burst from my body, launching me into the air with more force than ever before. I flapped my wings and brought us higher into the air, up the side of the Great Tree.
Scanning and integrating the Mega-Me had earned me another Growth Spurt, and I was much stronger now. I was going to need that strength for what was coming. My location had been revealed, and now it was only a matter of time before more Villains started showing up.
It was almost sure that the AI would send this info to all, but that would be good in its own way. I would just have to keep getting stronger, discovering new things.
I would have to start growing not just myself but everyone around me. The stronger my girls were, the better, and I would have to start scanning more of their creations.
Firaga stayed silent the entire time until I reached the top of the tree and set down at the edge of the pool. I set her down, and my wings retracted into my body.
"I will have a soak in here, but you can join me if you want to. It will recharge your body, but not as good as consuming metal, I suppose," I said after putting Firaga down, but she just stared at the water.