Higher!

It takes some trial and effort, but after getting down the visualization of it I could feel my magic circuits activate, a light buzz of energetic power flowing through me waiting to be used.

Opening my eyes I look down at my hands and flex them. Maybe because I was unused to feeling my magic so intensely I could feel a prickling sensation all across my body, like feeling pins and needles everywhere.

All I need to do now is figure out how to actually cast some spells... From what he remembered Magecraft was different to actual magic in that it could only accomplish things that science could through mundane means. How this would interact with the imagination magic of the DXD devils or that of the DMC demons was another thing to worry about.

I let the magic flow out of me and rub my face in thought. Magecraft was literally just you running a 'program' through your magic circuits, meaning any random attempt to cast something would be like rolling some wild magic dice centred on my insides... The idea of me blowing up like the blueberry girl in Willy Wonka and exploding was the most immediate thought.

Thankfully, the next major upgrade in the skill tree was 'Structural Grasp', which would allow me to analyse and understand objects alive and not. The limits of this weren't really stated but I imagined it'd be from the atomic level to the conceptual level... After all, Shirou was able to see and learn from those who'd previously wielded swords from the blade themselves... Something to keep in mind if I ever got Yamato.

Structural Grasp wasn't very expensive BP-wise so it should come fairly quick. The only other thing in the tree that was cheaper was 'House-Husband', which was basically the totality all of Shirou's cooking, repairing, and cleaning abilities.

The other new one was 'Nerve Transition', which would make me able to turn my nerves into temporary magic circuits... Incredibly painful and fatal for anyone who didn't have Avalon. But, for me who would eventually be able to shrug off getting cut in half, it would probably be very, very overpowered.

Making myself one giant ball of magic circuits like Illya sounded like a painful way to go super saiyan...

...

That said, with beings like Alexandria-definitely-not-superman, and Eidolon, I wasn't growing fast enough.

Well, I couldn't kill any more ABB grunts so soon without raising suspicion so... Since the Empire is still hunting my ass, I guess the Merchants will do.

--------------------------

As afternoon rolls around I receive a text from my handler about my request to head into Merchant turf. Mr Kiyoshi apparently thought it a 'fantastic' idea and gave the go-ahead without bothering to inform Nishihara... Maybe he wanted to surprise the old man with something 'nice' to elevate his position? Regardless, I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

In my cat form it was all too easy to traverse the city. And now that I didn't have to worry about anyone spotting me on the roof, I could go as fast and conspicuous as I want. Twenty minutes later I reached the compound of ruined warehouses where the Merchants 'supposedly' made their headouts.

 The back alleys and trash-filled streets were empty of regular folks, leaving the homeless, drug-using leftovers to their lonesome. Under the Merchants the area had become so rife with crime that no business dared to open, and anyone ballsy enough to walk down the street was either a cape or had a gun in his back pocket... The less said about any women who carelessly walked here the better.

Not that the authorities gave a shit of course, I'd already seen two cops taking handouts from two Merchant goons who looked like they slept in shit on the daily. ABB and Empire territory was bad to live in because of the extortion and violence, but I'd rather live there than a place that smelled like shit, musk, old oil, and mouldy cum twenty-four-seven.

My sensitive nose twitches irritably but I ignore it and deftly make my way to the street and start wandering around, listening intently for anything of interest. It was too early to make a move, but once night fell I'd kill enough of these fucks that they'd be scared to leave their shithole homes.

I don't take long on my patrol when I discover a lead. Three Merchants talked and joked with one another as they walked down the street, one pushing a moped next to him while she laughed at some inane joke.

"Say, what's the word on that cape bitch boss got?" the chick suddenly asks as she fingers the fanny-pack on her front for what appeared to be a crack pipe. "Heard myself that the usual shit ain't quite doin' it."

"Ha, you're wrong there. Mix works fine but boss wants her useful sooner than later. You know how it is, even the shittiest Tinker can make some crazy tech."

"She confirmed a tink then? What kind?"

"Dunno, alls we know is someone found her snooping around a workshop swiping spare parts. 'Parently found some kinda weird R.C car in her pack too, so if she ain't a Tinker then she's at least close with one... Bitch like her ain't exactly rolling in dough to afford fresh tech-like."

The woman scoffs, "Bitch? If she a bitch then I's a skank. You see the tits on her? Shit, Tink me up double Ds like that an I'll go cold turkey for a week!"

"Reckon boss'll let me have a go at her when she's finally in? I know he love 'em train parties if ya'know what I mean."

"If she really a tink I doubt he'll let anyone but him touch her. So bad luck you horny creep."

The conversation became increasingly sex-fueled from there, but I already had what I needed... Apparently, I was going to rescue some Tinker girl from the Merchants. I was of half a mind to ignore her given what'd happened the last time I tried to help someone, but after listening to these retards I was willing to act out of spite alone.

I duck into an ally and return to my human(ish) form and immediately leap at them. My claws easily cut the Achilles tendon on two of them before they could even react, and as they fell the last one tried to draw a dirty-looking Glock from his waistband.

He isn't able to raise it since I'd already stabbed my claws through his joint, where the arm met his shoulder. My attempt to tear it off only results in a dislocation however, a disappointing yet still effective alternative.

"A-agh! I-it's that fucking cat!?"

"S-shit! My arm!"

"MAH LEG!"

They all start to scream but some swift kicks put their lights out, allowing me to drag them away... Hopefully no one heard the commotion, I doubted anyone would be looking for them either. Now, to get them somewhere quiet so I could 'extract intel'.

----------------------

POV Sherrel Bailey :

She didn't even know where she was anymore. One moment she was scavenging parts to make a better life for herself and the next she was in a permanent mind-haze in which a kaleidoscope of violent colours assaulted her senses almost constantly. To put it in words, she was tasting colours, and the colours were having a red-room orgy.

The blood in her veins felt like spicy double cream and her mouth was somehow dry and overflowing at the same time. The dampness she felt below probably meant she'd pissed herself again... She'd run off to the bathroom if her legs... Or arms... Or neck was working, but as is it she could barely find the energy to collect her thoughts for more than a few moments, let alone generate enough will to force herself to her feet.

She tries to exhale, ask the colours for help, but all that comes out of her mouth is a drawn-out moan/groan.

"Heh, likin' the mix then? I can tell by ya' squealin'." an English/Jamaican-accented voice grouses as it approaches... Sherrel was pretty sure she'd heard it before but... It was getting hard to remember things...

She tries to respond but all that comes out is a gargled whimper, causing the voice to release an annoyed sigh.

"Dumb fucking bimbo-cunt, let's take you off the tap and see if you wanna go again."

She hears a click, and then a couple minutes later a cold wave washes down her brain, clearing her mind of those incessant colours and allowing her to see just where she was...

Sitting on the floor in piss-stained panties and a dirty bra, she untucked herself from the ball she'd inadvertently crawled in and looked around to find a masked emaciated black guy in desperate need of a dentist, standing next to an I.V that was attached to her arm.

"Whaaat..." she starts, her voice awkward and slurred from whatever he'd been pumping in her. Finally her brain catches up however and she recalls the last few days... This piece of shit had been drugging her off and on trying to extract information out of her. Every time she'd kept her silence, knowing that if she told him that she was a Tinker death would be the least of her troubles.

The Merchants were one of the weakest gangs, so a vehicle-based Tinker like her would be worked to death like a slave... Unfortunately, the more time she was under the drugs the more she felt she was losing herself, like a painted wall being scraped clean, leaving nothing but a scratched blank canvas.

"Now you listen here, love. I've given you enough chance. If you don't start fucking talking to me soon the next sesh will be two days straight. You're already sitting in your own piss and shite, but if you want I can hand you off to the boys to get your mouth workin' that way." the man, Skidmark threatened.

"Fff... Fffuck yooou..." she mumbles out, drawing an ugly laugh from the man.

"Haha! That's the spirit! Now you sit here and think about your options, I'll be right back to get your answer. Don't try to leave either love, even if you manage it you'll be running 'round my turf in shit-stained knickers." she glares at him but he ignores it and leave the room, locking the door behind him.

Finally lucid and alone her tears begin to fall, milky ones that smelt strangely sweet as they flowed near her nose. She felt like shit, like she was covered in oily filth that extended under her skin.

Shakingh her head, she firms herself and begins looking around the room for an escape... Unfortuantely, the place was barely bigger than a single bedroom, with no windows and a door she was more likely to break her foot against than actually break open.

Despite how dirty the place was, there wasn't any trash to try and Tinker with either... All she had was a stained matress and the almost empty I.V, which she only now realised was still hooked into her arm. She tears it off but finds herself sitting on the matress to conjure up a plan out of the ether... To no avail.

"Guess this is it, then... From one shit situation to the next." she hopelessly sighs.

"Maybe not..." another voice says, this one unlike Skidmark's in its youth and smoothness.

Her head shoots up and spots a new hole in the roof, and a... Cat? white-furred gold-eyed cat looking down at her. Okay, maybe she was still high because it almost sounded like that cat just talked.

"No, no, that's stupid... Stop being stupid." she grips her head with both heads, "Think of a plan already!"

*Pah*

"If you don't want to be saved then say so, I've got better things to do than save some worthless junkie."

...

"Are you real...?" she questions while fluttering her eyes to see if it'd vanish with the next blink.

"As real as you are. So, you want help or not?"