15 Ch 15 – The Weird Neighbor
As Braun stands in front of a white door with a key in hand, he takes a quick glance inside his wallet to see the copious amount of cash he has in store for the future, nodding, he inserts the key into the keyhole and turns the nob with his right hand.
As the white door opens, he glances inside the dark barren room for his new apartment that he now owns in this apartment complex, with neighbors in tow, he could lower his presence from the public eye.
'So, this would be my new house for a long time, or maybe a short time.' He thought, entering the apartment through the door and closing it once he was inside.
As the door closed shut, the whole room was enveloped in pure darkness that would have blinded any man but with his modified Eldian body, he was able to have minor night vision, but it was still too dark to be practical, so he props his hand on the wall and flick open the light switch, turning on the light bulbs on the ceiling, illuminating the whole room that made it much more appealing to the eye.
Continuing his exploration around the new apartment, he went to the living room, the kitchen, his bedroom, and finally the bathroom.
Nodding his head in appreciation, he went to the larger bedroom and drops his bag down on the ground, and glance around the place, crouching down on his knee, he opens the bag and takes out a futon that luckily fitted just right inside his bag and rolls it out on the wooden floor.
"Phew, bed set!" he shouts, lying on his back while on top of the futon that was on the ground and closing his eyes, taking a quick break from the shopping trip he went on a few hours ago.
"Sigh," he lets out of his mouth, pushing his hand off the ground to sit down, and grabs his large bag to take out a plastic bag that holds some assortment of items along with his newly bought laptop.
Booting it up, he glances at the GlassPane OS showing itself to him and he rips open the packet of his new USB and inserts it into the laptop.
Quickly connecting to the internet, he went to download a Linux OS and after a few minutes, he changed from one operating system to another.
'This would do for a while, but I'll change it later once I learn coding which should take me a day or two. Then I just alter some of Rick's code and make Braun OS.' He thought, glancing at his new OS, and went to download some internet browsers and other apps.
Now that he doesn't have to worry too much with his survival, he guesses he could take things a little slow, for now, to not make his mind too fatigued with the things he will have to do in the future.
After finishing the business he has to do to his laptop for today, he rips open a second-hand watch along with taking some wires, solder, screwdriver, and other materials he will need for this minor tech he finds useful right now.
Putting in some magnets, copper wires, some batteries, and locking the case, he looks at this new tool that would be useful for him right now.
'A watch that could make a forcefield by using the electromagnetic fields around me in the form of a malleable shield that could take any form I want, so I could not only make a shield but a weapon.' He thought, putting the watch on his right arm and watches a glowing, translucent blue mace appear in his right arm with spikes shooting out of its head.
'And the energy requirement is pretty low with it using the natural electromagnetic field around it. But I need to make a miniature nuclear reactor fast to power most of my gizmos early on. Maybe I can make my own miniature universe later like Rick or I'll just resort to the classic black hole battery/bomb.' He thought, watching the spiked mace zap away back into his watch and stand up with a groan.
Now that he used all of his materials for today, he rubs his chin and decides on what to do next.
'Hmm, I still have a few things need to check off on my list. Build a miniature nuclear reactor, maybe a power armor, a better forcefield generator, and get a buttload amount of portal fluid.' He thought, turning his body around, he grabs his laptop and went towards his living room.
Putting down his laptop on the table, he nears his door and turns the doorknob, walking down to the ground floor to buy some food in the convenience store along with some quick snacks to ease his stomach.
'Hmm, should I greet my new neighbors? It doesn't hurt to be on good terms with them, I'll just take my chances when I finally see them.' He thought, crossing the street while rubbing his hair and entering the convenience store, getting greeted by the gust of cold air once he was inside the store that was filled with rows upon rows of white shelves that holds an assortment of goods from tissue paper, to lotion, and even some ramen.
Taking a basket, he walks up to the food section and buys some meat, vegetables, and snacks. After that, he buys some stuff that he needs for everyday life like tissues, soap, SHAMPOO! HAIR CONDITIONER! And more filthy hair products, you scummy piece of shit Freidrich Braun.
Here I thought you were a gigachad, but in the end, you're just another sheep in the horde of hair product users.
NO! I SHALL NOT LET THIS BE!
(TIME REVERSAL!!!)
Taking a plastic bag, he walks up to the food section and buys some meat, vegetables, and snacks. After that, he buys some stuff that he needs for everyday life like tissues, soap, not shampoo, no hair conditioner, and no filthy hair products.
Nodding his head, he goes back to the food section as he saw that there were some protein bars and decides to buy them.
Raising his hand up, he reaches for the protein bar that was high above the shelve and went to grab a handful of them.
"U-uh, m-mister, can yo-you pass some of that protein bar, I-I can't reach the top of the shelves you see," a meek voice said right beside him that catches his attention.
Glancing down, he finds a short, young boy right beside him with fluffy dark-green hair and irises.
"Sure kid, how many do you want?" Braun said, stretching his right hand out that holds his protein bars.
"F-five please!" the boy said, his face blushing to show how embarrassed he was.
"Here you go," Braun said, giving the boy some protein bars as he nods his head in appreciation.
"Thank you sir!" the kid said, bowing his body as Braun chuckled.
"No problem, I'm glad to help," Braun said, grabbing more protein bars for himself and putting them inside his basket just like the boy.
And as they both simultaneously walks towards the counter, the boy stayed deathly silent, probably a bit shy from his flushing face, not expecting that he will have to stay with the man he just asks for help further than he expected.
As they both put their baskets on different counters, they simultaneously finished having their orders scanned and paid, both walk out of the store at the same time, both walk the same street and as the charade continues, buckets of sweat drip down the boy's forehead.
'Ahh! What do I do?! Do I say hello? Do I ask for his name? Is he going to kidnap me?!' the boy thought with chaotic thoughts.
And as they finally reached the boy's apartment, he breathes a sigh of relief now that he leaves the man, but soon, his heart and brain exploded from sheer shock and despair when they both went up the same set of stairs and as they reach his apartment's floor, he watches the man go to the apartment right beside them.
"Oh, I guess we're neighbors!" the man said, causing the boy's mouth to open agape as he watches the man opens the door that resided beside theirs.
As the man leaves his door, he nears the boy with an amicable smile and as he felt like his body was about to wane unconscious, the man pats him on the back, shocking him back to the real world.
"H-hello, sir! I-I didn't know that you were our neighbor!" the boy said with a wry smile.
"Oh, don't worry about that, I just moved here a few hours ago. And I've been planning to introduce myself to you guys for a while, so let me go first, the name's Freidrich Braun, what about you?" Braun said with a wide smile while ruffling the boy's hair.
"I-I'm Midoriya Izuku! It's nice to meet you!" Izuku said, bowing his head causing Braun to chuckle.
"No need to be so tense with me kid, I don't bite. So, are your parents here? I want to say hello to them," Braun said while peeking inside their apartment to see that no one else seem to be home.
"Oh, my mom went to visit her friend so I'm currently alone," Izuku said while rubbing his head with a wry smile.
"What about your dad?" Braun said.
"He's currently abroad, out of the county," Izuku said, a bit of a sad tone coating his voice but it seems like their relationship is still fine so they must talk through the internet from time to time.
"Aw, well cheer up kid. I bought some ice cream for me but I think you need it more," Braun said, running to his plastic bag in the distance and taking out some ice cream that he forcefully puts in Izuku's hand.
"T-thank you," Izuku said, flustered at how upfront the man was.
"No problem kiddo, have fun! And don't act recklessly without your mom while all alone okay!" Braun said, walking back inside his apartment while picking up his bag along the way.
'Huh, he's pretty nice.' Izuku thought, watching the man's visage disappear once he walks through the door, slamming it shut, leaving Izuku all alone with a weird gaze, looking at the ice cream in his hands with a smile.
As he joyfully enters his apartment, he enters his room and rips open the ice cream, eating it with a happy smile as his day went a lot better with this new neighbor of his.
Back to Braun, he puts most of his food inside his refrigerator and went to take some protein bars to munch on, plopping his ass down on the couch in the living room, he turns on his laptop and went to see what the internet culture is like in this world.
"Hmm, heroes, heroes, heroes, villains, heroes… So heroes are like the main e-celebs of this world, and discrimination runs rampant between those who have quirks and the quirkless. Maybe I'll do a revolution for the shits and giggles in another world by making the quirkless superior through advance tech. Hmm, maybe I'll even find one later on once I get more portal fluid and could travel from one universe to another with more ease of mind," he mutters, browsing through the web and seeing what the general trends are right now.
"But the memes, they're pretty unfunny without any context. Like, "When you're a villain and All Might appears" is pretty eh if you weren't brainwashed since childhood to idolize All Might, I guess Rick did experience this moving from one universe to another and feeling out of touch with other cultures' version of the internet, sigh, so much left to experience for myself, I wonder what it would be like once I reach the level of gods just like Rick, to create universes, travel through time, use black holes as mere bombs," Braun wonders with stars shining in his eyes, his goal to reach the peak is a long one, but he is willing to spend eons to even get a chance at reaching that goal.
'But before I daydream like last time, I need to see how the movies are like in this world, is it going to be rampant with lame superhero movies?' Braun asks, the truly important questions now finally getting solved through one man who is currently eating protein bars.
AN: This is 2102 words, you're welcome.
So let me explain to you dumb readers of mine about Braun's more chillax attitude. Basically, it's a combination of new memories, a safer status, and a new worldview now that he can virtually achieve Godhood in a few billion eons cooped up inside his bedroom sifting through Rick's memories and turning his knowledge to his own.
But yes, this is more of a front due to some spoilers, the possibility of time manipulators and precogs existing and if he was as vicious as before and speedrun his rise to power, he knows he'll get killed by a time traveler sooner or later. He's still the sociopathic monster we all know and love with their paranoia set to the max.
(May 20, 2022 – 177th day of writing)
