Chapter 15 - Explanation and Skill Progression

"So...let me get this straight," Scootaloo said as she ate a bite of chocolate cake.

Micro had went into Sugar Cube Corner and bought a small party platter to go. After meeting the others in an alley, he created an empty ID and they went inside again.

"You were working on a project, and after a malfunction you gained some weird ability to view the world as a video game?"

"Basically," Micro said eating a donut. He had neglected to tell her about the other adventures they had so far. One, that would expose Frida and Zecora. Two, that would expose Spike and while he figured Celestia was ok to know, he wasn't about to make that call with Scootaloo.

Spike and Micro briefly debated with each other whether they should just go straight to Celestia but Micro convinced him to let him try and see if she would tell anyone. Spike gave him another scathing lecture...until Micro pulled up his Detect Lie skill. Spike reluctantly agreed.

"That sounds...amazing!" Scootaloo shouted.

"Wait a minute," Sugar said shocked. "After That Chaos… after nearly dying...you say it was amazing!"

"Well yeah!" Scootaloo said excitedly. "I mean sure it was dangerous but that was mostly just the Event Dungeon right? Normally you have a much easier time right Micro?"

"True," the Gamer said. "Though when we were first learning about the ability it was still dangerous."

"Even so!" Scootaloo said. "Oh I never have felt such a rush! Wait until I tell Applebloom and Sweetie Belle!"

"Ah! See, there's the issue," Micro said. "This ability needs to remain secret. You only know about it because I was a bit careless. This is something I want to keep between only a select few."

"But…" Scootaloo seemed depressed. She wanted to share this adventure with her friends, but who was she to spill this fact.

"There is another option," Spike said. When the girl was looking at him he continued. "Well, we know someone who can erase your memory. If you feel it would be too hard to keep it a secret we can have them remove it from your head."

"What!? No!" Scootaloo shouted. "I don't want to forget all this!"

"Well…" Micro said finishing his pastry. "Do you agree to keep it a secret?"

Scootaloo bit her lip. On one hand, she didn't want to forget, but on the other she would rather not have to keep it a secret from her friends.

"I...I agree," she muttered eventually. "I won't tell anyone."

Micro looked at the air in front of him, waiting for a notification to pop up. Nothing.

"Seems like she is telling the truth," Micro said.

"Well then…" Spike started, still a bit reluctant to agree. "I guess that leaves the only thing left to take care of is the rewards from the quest."

"Rewards!?" Scootaloo shouted in joy. "We get rewards?"

"Of course," Micro said smiling. "What game would my life be if it didn't give you rewards for completing quests?" They all chuckled at that. "Well, first thing is first. We all gained levels so let's distribute those bonus points."

"Bonus points?" Scootaloo asked. The boys sighed. Looks like they were going to be giving a crash course in levels.

Micro and the boys told Scoots about their strategy of putting at least one point in LUC every level and she agreed, dropping three in there. She instantly knew what attributes she wanted to put hers in. Micro listened to her idea and nodded.

"DEX And STR…so basically a heavier hitting Scout?" He said referencing Team Fortress 2. "Sounds like a good idea. Dodge damage and deal it hard."

He thought over his team so far. Spike was a bruiser with his powerful attacks, Sugar was support, and now he had a dodge tank. This was turning into a regular adventure group.

"Ok," Micro said. "With the points dealt with, time to discuss the money."

"Mon...money?" Scootaloo choked.

"Yep," Sugar said excitedly. "Sometime dungeons give money. Lots of it! Why do you think Micro treated us both times...oofff!"

Spike elbowed him under the table at a look from Micro. Too bad the beans were already spilled.

"How much?" Scootaloo asked excitedly. How much money did we get?!"

Micro put his head in his hands and groaned.

"Not so nice when someone else spills your secret huh?" Spike said a bit smugly as he lifted a cookie to his mouth. It broke as a small Magic Arrow shot through it. He chuckled. "Sore loser."

"We got $5000…"

"$5000! That's like...over a thousand each. Oh what I could do with that…"

"Each."

That stunned the others into silence. Not even Spike and Sugar knew how much they got.

"What was that?" Sugar said.

"We got $5000 per person," Micro responded, drinking a sip of milk. The others all looked at eachother.

"$5000…" Sugar said. "With that much…" he thought of all the different things he could get. Imported candies just for a start. Games, systems, and the rest would even work as a good start toward a car when he got older.

Scootaloo thought along the same lines, though she was thinking sports gear and maybe a motorcycle.

"Hold up!" Micro said. "Before we get ahead of ourselves let's remember something. No one else can know about my ability…"

"So?" Sugar said.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo continued. "What does that have to do with the money?"

"Where will you tell your parents you got the money from?" Spike asked, having caught on. The other two were about to respond when they realized what he meant.

"Oh…" They echoes each other.

"Don't get too down about it," Micro said. "I can hold onto it. I will keep yours aside and if there is something you want I can order it and gift it to you. After all, I get money enough from my inventions and can explain away the purchases."

His friends looked at him like he was a deity in human form.

"Really!" Scootaloo shouted and got a nod. She practically tackled him in the booth. "Oh thank you thank you thank you!"

Micro blushed at the immense contact with the girl and nodded. It was a few moments before they separated.

"Well," he looked down at his phone. "I have to get home and prepare some stuff. I have plans tonight."

"Oh," Scootaloo looked disappointed, as if she was expecting another adventure right away. "Ok. I guess I will go home now."

As she got up and started for the door, Micro tapped her arm.

"And how do you expected to escape the ID without me?" Scootaloo blushed. She forgot that part. "Don't worry about it, I'll walk you home."

"It's ok," Scootaloo said. "You don't have to."

"I know," he said. "But we are friends now. It'd be my pleasure."

The group made their way to the alley and got out of the ID. With a nod to his friends, Micro walked off with Scootaloo.

"He is going to get in so much trouble if he isn't more careful with his ability," Spike sighed.

"Maybe," Sugar said. "But then again we did get a new friend."

"This time."

A While Later

Micro grinned as he entered his lab. While he was annoyed at himself for letting his secret be discovered three times over now, it seemed like it was working out just fine.

He did have to lightly tease Scootaloo though when they were close to her home.

They had just gotten to her street, not too far from Micro's own when she stopped.

"Well, I think we should part here," she said. "My dad might not like a boy walking me home so soon after we just met."

They both blushed a bit at that but Micro nodded.

"Ok, just remember, not a word about my ability."

"Hmmm," she seemed to be thinking about it as she turned around. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't. What are you going to do about it?"

With his Detect Lie ability popping up, he knew she was joking, but he smirked as an idea formed. Micro reached into his inventory and pulled out the last reward from the quest.

Scootaloo didn't see what made the noise when a loud slapping was suddenly heard. She panicked and turned around, seeing Micro holding a ruler and slapping it against his palm.

"I can think of a few things I could do," he said with a grin.

"Wha...what the...how did you…"

"Last reward of the quest." He smirked as he looked at it under Observe again.

Baldi's Ruler

(Unique)

The ruler used by the mathematical obsessed Baldi.

-25% chance to inflict fear on enemy when struck

He stowed it away with a laugh at Scootaloo's expression. Eventually she started chuckling to right before they parted ways.

Back in the present, Micro went down and saw a few of his clones all finishing up different games.

"So boys," Micro said smiling. "What can I look forward to getting skills from tonight?"

He was happy to finally be making decent progress through his backlog. Way too many games came out in quick succession for him to make any decent headway on his own.

"Just finished Ultra Moon," the 3DS clone called out.

"Credits of Sly Cooper Thieves in Time rolling now," the PS4 clone shouted.

"Just finished Huniepop," the one on computer said.

"Undertale Genocide route done," the Switch clone said sounding depressed.

"Awesome," Micro said. "I can't wait to…wait." He turns to look at the computer clone. "What game did you just say?"

"Um...Huniepop…" the clone said nervously. Micro just stared at him for moment.

He never bought the game. A guy at the school he, Spike, and Sugar went to before had decided as a prank to gift everyone he knew the Steam profile of Huniepop.

"Wha...why did you play that game?" The clone shifted.

"Well, it was always something we thought about. It doesn't take too long. It would be a waste to leave it unused…"

Micro rubbed his temples as the notifications started popping up.

You have completed the game

Undertale: Genocide Route

Do you want to sacrifice your save file in order to gain a skill/weapon?

Yes/No

You have completed the game

Huniepop

Do you want to sacrifice your save file in order to gain a skill/weapon?

Yes/No

You have completed the game

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

Do you want to sacrifice your save file in order to gain a skill/weapon?

Yes/No

He waited for another one and raised an eyebrow when it didn't come. He looked over at the clone who held up the 3DS.

"The rumors of this credits scroll taking forever were real."

With a roll of the eyes, Micro hit yes on all the menus...forgetting for a second what one of them was.

Huniepop's Skill conflicts with current Gamer ability setup. Would you like to modify Gamer ability to fit skill or modify the skill to fit Gamer?

Micro looked at the screen for less than a second before hitting the second option. No way was he risking his arsenal of awesome powers for something from Huniepop!

...though what if that would've given him a higher chance of…

He pushed that thought away as another notification appeared.

Modification of Huniepop Skill will take some time. A notification will let you know when the skill is available.

Skill Created!

Summon Gaster Blaster (Lv1)

Active (MP Cost Variable)

The ability to summon the weapons of the underground's weakest monster.

Summonable Blasters (Current Cost Limit 1)

-Small (Cost 1) (MP Cost 25 per blast)

Micro smirked at that. Then he turned to the clone on the Switch.

"Delete the game and all save data. I do not want to have Chara pop up if I ever play that again." The clone nods and does so as Micro turns his attention back to the screens. He feels a weird chill across the back of his neck but dismissed it.

Skill Branch Created!

Thieving (Lv1)

Stealing, Pickpocketing, Lock Picking. These are just some of the many techniques of thieves around the world, and now you can gain them

Skill Created!

Pickpocketing (Lv1)

Active (No MP Cost)

The ability to steal items right off a person's body.

Chance of Success= Your DEX- Their DEX- Their Awareness

He had mixed feelings on that but he expected as much from Sly Cooper. It wasn't his plan to become a thief, but the skills might come in handy at some point.

Well, he had a while before the Pokémon credits were over and about an hour before he had to go to see Frida for training. Bouncing with anticipation, he began cycling his body through many changes. His height, weight, hair length and color. He was trying to get it to a high enough level to…

New Addition to Modification!

By leveling Modification up to Lv10, you gained a new possible change.

-New Change: Gender (this comes with all female body changes available at level 10, such as breast size)

An almost evil chuckle escaped him. This would be a whole lot of fun to prank his friends with. He went into the bathroom in his lab and stood before the mirror. With a deep breath, he imagined the form he took when Discord flashed them through different universes.

The first thing to change was the hair, suddenly reaching down to the center of his back. Next he felt his chest grow heavier and looked down to see his shirt straining to contain the now C cup breasts that were now beneath it. "Her" rear suddenly became a bit plumper as well. With a deep breath, he decided to check the final thing. I'm a quick flash of movement, "She" pulled "her" pants out a bit and looked down. After staring for a minute, she let loose a short scream.

'Holy crap! It worked! Oh my…I'm actually a girl! Twig and berries officially MIA!' A brief moment of perverted thought came to her as she started reaching for a breast. 'This could technically be the first breast I intentionally touch…'

Before that could be continued, the last game notification popped up.

You have completed the game

Pokémon Ultra Moon

Do you want to sacrifice your save file in order to gain a skill/weapon?

Yes/No

Micro was a bit happy that the action was stopped, but also a bit disappointed...oh well, if she wanted to she could do it later. Her full attention was now on the notification.

This was it. She got Arsene from Persona...would she…

After hitting yes, the world seemed to freeze. Suddenly, three pokeballs were thrown in front of him. Out of them appeared three familiar creatures.

The first was a blue seal. It was adorable and clapped its flippers together. Micro was sad to look away from it.

Same with the second. A small round owl with brown feathers and a green bow tie like leaf around its neck. It was cute...but Micro knew what she came for and turned to the last one.

"Come here kitty!" She said in a now much higher voice from her male form one.

A black cat with red facial markings, muzzle, whiskers, and paws jumped from the group and right into her awaiting arms. It snuggled into her chest as the world returned to normal, a pokeball appearing in her inventory. A quick Observe gave him the details.

Litten Lv1

The Fire Cat Pokémon

Relationship: Excited to have a new trainer

Ability: Blaze- When low on health, Fire moves are boosted

Moves:

-Scratch

-Ember

Micro smiled and twirled around with the cat. After a moment though, a panic flowed into her before Gamer's Mind could swat it down. She started looking through the menus and finally came across the information update about Pokémon.

Pokémon:

Like in the games they come from, Pokémon will not die, instead, they will simply faint and return to their pokeballs. Any skills or items that would restore your health can be used to do the same to them.

That ended the worry that came up. Now he knew he could train Litten up as much as he wanted without risk.

"So little guy," Micro said as she leaned down. "You want to go meet a friend of mine with me?"

{Written by Twistedphoenix1}

{Edited by SpedaHooves/KenKanekiTheCat/Me}