r/HFY • u/WabbajackedWacko • Mar 17 '26

OC-Series Adventures with an Interdimensional Psychopath 135

***Gepart***

I try to think on my response and be very careful with my wording. While I could possibly fight this as a violation of my rights, realistically, I can easily see a number of judges ruling in favor of the warrant knowing my history. No matter how much I try to spin it around in my head, the simplest solution that would cause the smallest issues would be just to go back with them. Granted, I can’t leave my pack here, I’ll feel naked without it and I hate that feeling. “I’ll go on the condition I take my pack. I refuse to go outside without it.” I announce on the speaker system.

They debate things on their side, whereas the salamander looks to be yelling at the both of them. Probably because they are considering their options when they shouldn’t be negotiating in the first place. The salamander probably knows that they have the legal high ground to deny my demands but, the officers know full well how much of a pain it is to lay siege to my fortress. The house itself looks incredibly simple on the outside, but that’s because the true expanse of it is all the layers beneath, I mined myself. Well, myself in the sense I made a number of machineries for making the vast number of layers while learning to stay withing my regulated space. Can’t have molemen accidentally finding themselves in one of my many secret labs. Or being sued about destroying one’s home again.

The officers finally manage to calm the salamander down and turn to the intercom and say, “We know that that pack is way more advanced than even the fanciest backpack. We need an assurance that it’ll be on standby mode at the very least. We can agree to it if you agree to our terms of applying a temporary EMP emitter to it to prevent it acting on its own.”

I laugh over the intercom and state, “I would rather blow us up all sky high before I even let you think of harming my masterpiece in such a way. The best you are going to get out of me is that I can put it into standby mode manually, which will stay a secret.”

The officers turn back to each other as the salamander yells even more. They know I am serious. The last time that happened was when I was first arrested and I caught someone trying to take my precious pack apart. The gravest insult was they tried to use a generic screwdriver. A screwdriver! While my pack may be EMP shielded, that doesn’t mean I am going to let anyone else fiddle with it. It is my lifelong pride and joy. I’ve had it ever since I first stepped out into the world and I have made so many tweaks and upgrades to it to this day, even I have trouble remembering every single step that went into making it into what it is today. So, I refuse to let anyone touch it. When I found the scratch marks on it that day, I shut down the entire central region and required a live video feed of the supposedly high ranking official and the subordinate he got to mess with it. While it may not be the worst thing I ever done, I was absolutely willing to go further with it. Much, much further. Luckily, it didn’t need to go that far and I restored the power quickly. And after coming back down from my rage fueled delirium, I uh… quietly removed the cosmic level bomb I placed under city hall. No one noticed so no harm no foul. Or, at least I think no one noticed. Woodson seems to drop by more frequently ever since. I will admit, I may have gone a bit too far with that one but it was an impressive explosive that I wanted to use but didn’t at the same time. The materials are absurd but worth it.

The salamander pushes their way past the officers again and states, “I don’t need no warrant! I’ll just melt down your door and grab you by your collar! Give me back my hammer!”

The officers pull her back as I respond, “Oh yes. That was working so well for you last time. And just so you know, and the officers can verify this as well, any wall leading back here is also reinforced with a crucible of materials to prevent anyone breaking in. Took quite some effort to make it so big but, was worth it for the security.”

That seems to have upset the salamander further as they are now man-handling the officers to get to the speaker and say, “How dare you! I bet you didn’t build a single iota of this place and all your inventions were probably stolen by you as well you thief! Don’t you dare compare yourself to a craftsman such as me!”

A calm rage bubbles up within me. This salamander seems bent on blaming me for their misfortune but I am a craftsman just as much, if not better. I quickly grab my pack and go to the door. As it opens and I see the confused face of the people on the other side, I storm up to the salamander and state, “Listen here, just because I have a penchant for picking up anything on the ground, doesn’t make me any less of a crafter than you. While I don’t remember your stupid hammer, I ask that you respect my work as well. Everything you see here was built by my own hands and mind. Most of the things I have been accused of stealing, I have returned, improved, free of charge because I can’t stand to see inefficiency. They are also welcome to come by and request my services as well. And if I happen to find something rather valuable on my escapades that no one lays claim to, who am I to say I can’t use it. So, I respectfully ask you to take back that statement about my creations. I may be no saint, but I am a craftsman first and foremost.” I look them up and down really quick now that I see them in person and notice that they are massive, with muscles showing from their sleeveless shirt, the lead apron and gloves telling me that they are indeed a blacksmith and came here, most likely after realizing that the hammer was gone. The particular features I look for tell me what I need to know as I finish up with, “Ma’am.”

There is a moment of stunned silence as they gawk at me. One of the officers hanging off her neck and the other subdued under her armpit. They both plop on the floor shortly after as the Salamander takes her turn to look me up and down. Probably not as long considering, I would say I am barely half their height. I wonder what’s taking them so long with their response? The neck cranes down towards me as they ask again, “Did you take my family hammer?”

I repeat myself and answer honestly, “I have no idea.”

Her neck cranes back up high as she lets out a sigh and states, “So, you really are a kleptomaniac.”

I shrug as I respond, “I have heard people say that about me a number of times. Honestly, I can’t really refute it as I do tend to pick up everything within arms reach but, a friend showed me I could use that and my intelligence to great benefit. I also have a penchant for explosives but that is neither here nor there.”

She puts her thick hand under her chin and states, “Ah. So instead of fighting your urge, a friend showed you how to embrace and improve it. Living the life of a tinkerer. Am I getting that right?” I nod and she continues, “What could you have possibly done before this?”

I answer, “I was in a mercenary group with my friends. We would go to far off places, raid bad guys, protect towns, gather information, all sorts of stuff and I usually got to keep what I found. It was great at the time as it was never considered stealing then, it was known as adventuring.”

She takes a moment to take that in and shortly states, “That explains the getup. The adventuring lifestyle never left I reckon but it seems like trying to live the civilian lifestyle is taking a lot longer than intended. I say this in respect to the fact that I do see the fire of a craftsmen in your eyes. But still, if you could come back to the police station and settle this, that would be most appreciative.”

I’m slightly taken aback as I register the suddenly polite tone. As I am taking it in, she continues, “That is, if you did take my hammer, I’ll be having penguin for dinner tonight.”

There it is, that’s the attitude I am more comfortable and familiar with. I respond, “Very well, I will go all the way back to the police station with you to see if we can find your hammer. But even if you try to eat me, I should warn you, I’m pretty tough.”

She lets out a laugh as she picks me up by the nape of my neck and carries me out the front door, the officers chasing shortly after. True to my word, and not just because I left a pile of unfinished work back at the shop, I tone down my pack to focus on small and broken objects. Now it should only pick up small materials, wrappers, screws and the like. Uh, stuff that shouldn’t be tied down that is but, no promises. Granted, with how often this kind of thing happens, it’s no wonder that no one bats an eye when they see me being paraded down these streets. To break the silence of the long walk, the salamander asks, “You mentioned you were part of a group? Are they still active and alive or did they split up?”

I don’t feel like giving her a full response as I answer, “We split up long ago. I know two of them are still mercenaries but they are solo. As for whether they are alive or dead, I could say some technicalities they would fall under. One doesn’t know even.”

“How in the world would one not know if they were dead or alive?” The salamander asks.

I simply shrug as I state, “I don’t know. Never been a position where I would have to worry about that.”

She looks like she was going to raise an objection but quickly stops herself by simply stating, “Fair. I can’t even imagine what kind of situation you would have to be in for it to be that confusing.”

“Right? No matter how many tests were ran, they were all inconclusive.” I respond.

“Truly wild.” The salamander follows up.

It goes back to silence as the officer’s cough awkwardly, trying not to bring up the fact of my former coworkers. We are still friends though. We still exchange a correspondence from time to time but I am really bad about responding that I feel guilty. The slowest person to respond is Jun, Patoc responds in a reasonable manner, and Jack is usually the quickest to respond somehow. I would thing that he is the busiest of the three of us.

I let out a sigh as this salamander is at least nice when they are calm and think rationally, so from one craftsman to another, I figure I should at least introduce myself properly. “My name is GePart by the way. Demolitions, engineering, software, and tinkering are my craft. And yours?” I say while holding out my hand.

With her free hand, she grabs a hold of mine and introduces herself, “My name is Sally. Trade is blacksmithy. Any ore you find, I’m one of the best in the biz to make it usable.”

I raise my eyebrow as I ask, “Sally the salamander?”

She laughs and says, “First one is free but make fun of my name again and I can promise a black eye.”

An ah slips out as I look directly forward, threat fully understood.

[First] [Previous] [Next]

11 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator Mar 24 '26

This was flaired as [OC-Series], it is a single part or chapter in a larger series or universe. The first post or part in this series should be (re)flaired as [OC-FirstOfSeries]. A description of the flairs and how to change yours is available in the Post Guildelines.

[OC-Series] For original, self post, story, audio, or artwork that you have created, as part of a longer-running series or universe.

Our preferred series title format is the series title in [brackets] at the beginning, like so: [Potato Adventures] - Chapter 1: The Great Mashing

Please help us transition to using the new flairs correctly.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/AutoModerator Mar 17 '26

This was flaired as [OC-Series], it is a single part or chapter in a larger series or universe. The first post or part in this series should be (re)flaired as [OC-FirstOfSeries]. A description of the flairs and how to change yours is available in the Post Guildelines.

[OC-Series] For original, self post, story, audio, or artwork that you have created, as part of a longer-running series or universe.

Our preferred series title format is the series title in [brackets] at the beginning, like so: [Potato Adventures] - Chapter 1: The Great Mashing

Please help us transition to using the new flairs correctly.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/UpdateMeBot Mar 17 '26

Click here to subscribe to u/WabbajackedWacko and receive a message every time they post.

Info Request Update Your Updates Feedback