"That was fun, you guys aren't half-bad," Remarked Kilella with a grin, "I might have even lost if your teamwork was sharper...but that's not something that can be improved on overnight, most X-Warrior teams aren't much better than you guys when it comes to teamwork."

"Right, thanks!" Exclaimed Mitchell with an awkward smile.

"Yeah, that was a bit frustrating, but it gave us a good idea of where we can improve on," Added Seila, with a polite bow.

"So, when did you figure out how to use Manifestation Overdrive?" I inquired curiously.

"Well, I actually haven't fully mastered it yet, but I figured this was a good opportunity to try it out and see how practical it is in a fight...and it's probably not a good option to use if there are any allies close by," She replied with a sheepish grin.

"How do you make the flames burst out so fast?" Asked Katie, her eyebrows slightly scrunched...looks like she's pretty unhappy about a fire attack being faster than her lightning.

"Hm? Oh, I think I get what you mean...I don't just fire it out, it's more like I force it out. Let's see, how to better explain it...oh, I know, have you ever tried holding your breath? You know that feeling where you really want to exhale and breathe in again, but you try to push it for as long as possible and it kinda feels like you're about to burst? It's like that...so basically, put more pressure onto the output, if that makes sense," Explained Kilella in response.

"I think I understand...," Mumbled Katie, "Thanks."

"Sure, no problem! Well, anyway...how about we take a few minutes to rest and then head back?" She suggested stretching her arms up with a slight wince...she'd definitely taken a bit of damage in that fight, and I'm sure that the Dark Attribute poisoning is pretty unpleasant, though at the very least, it should be far from lethal.

The others all voiced their agreements to her suggestion, so we decided to take it easy for a bit before going back. I then strolled over to the large puddle of Lube guts or whatever...it really was just one big, colorful liquid puddle, it didn't have a smell or anything. As I reached the edge of the puddle, I tapped it with my foot...it feels all slimy and thick, kinda gooey like...shampoo, I guess?

I don't know, I haven't exactly felt that many slimy things in my life, so shampoo was the closest thing I could compare this too, based purely on how it feels. Though I can say that this feels a lot slimier than shampoo.

"Hey, um, does this stuff evaporate or will it stick around?" Inquired Seila curiously, walking up next to me.

"Well, from what I've read, it evaporates a bit slower than water does-...," I began, before trailing off in horror as I realized who was next to me...but I was too late.

"Woah!" She exclaimed in alarm, as she took a step forward...and tripped on nothing, grabbing my shoulder and dragging me down with her as she fell backwards onto the puddle with a splat, and I fell face first onto it...ughhh, this feels horrible!

"This is so gross...," I groaned, as I turned around and desperately began to try and get up...I need to get away from her before-!

"I'm so sorry, I-...!" She exclaimed apologetically, scrambling to try and get up...but slipping and landing on top of me instead...I failed to get away in time.

"H-hey, what are you two doing!?" Exclaimed Suri, the others noticing what had just happened.

"I-it's m-my fault, I-I'll get up now-...woah!" Began Seila, before falling onto me again, making it hard for me not to notice her boobs pressing onto my chest.

This stuff is way too slippery, that paired with her clumsiness and curvy body was a terrifying combination. I need to get out of this ASAP!

"Trying to get up won't work, try rolling off-...," I started to suggest, before being interrupted as her thigh pressed onto my crotch, "A-anyway, just get off of me quickly, please!"

"I-I'm trying!" She exclaimed, continued to try and fail to get off me.

"Oh, man, this never gets old," Chuckled Mitchell in amusement, as the others watched with bemused looks on their faces.

"This, uh, happens often?" Inquired Kilella with a look of bewilderment.

"It happens often enough," Sighed Suri, sounding irritated.

"I'm so sorry!" Cried Seila, her face red with effort and embarrassment as she frantically tried to roll off me but kept slipping and falling onto me.

Crap, each time she falls back down, her body slams onto mine, which is...distracting, to say the least. And the more she struggles, the more she rubs up on me...this is bad...

"Hey, maybe I should record this, this is some great content," Remarked Mitchell with a grin.

Oh, that's how you wanna be? Fine, in that case, I won't feel bad for doing this...

I focused my vision on and 'selected' him, along with myself simultaneously, quietly reciting the activation chant for Cut, and then reversing the 'selections', before activating Paste...and instantly swapping places with Mitchell. Huh, I wasn't sure if that would work...I'm really glad that it did.

"Free at last," I let out a sigh of relief.

"Huh? H-hey, what just-...not cool, man!" Exclaimed Mitchell in disbelief.

Whenever I activate Cut, I have to 'select' my target...how to explain it...my eyes kinda work differently after I unlocked Tier Three, I can focus on objects or people or whatever better and 'select' them, which is kinda like cropping a picture in an editing app. Normally, I can only 'select' something that's in my sight...the exception to that is myself.

I can 'select' and Cut myself even with my eyes closed, though there's not much point to that, since I need to see where I want to teleport to when I activate Paste. Anyway, I can also 'select' myself and something in my sight simultaneously, though I can't 'select' two things if one of them isn't me.

Normally, if I 'select' and Cut someone, they disappear until I use Paste, as I'd found out while hunting down those criminals. But if I 'select' someone while also 'selecting' myself, they don't disappear when I use Cut, and then, if I switch the 'selections' and activate Paste...I swap places with the person or object I 'selected'.

I'd tested it out with random objects at my place, but this was the first time I tried it with another person. Though my main concern had been whether or not Seila would also get teleported with me since she was in physical contact with me. But no, it looks like if I select something and Cut it, that won't affect anything that's in contact with what I Cut.

So, yeah, bottom line...switched places with Mitchell and freed myself. I was now standing by the others, well away from the puddle, while he was now where I was, under Seila and struggling to get up.

"Why didn't you just do that right away?" Inquired Suri with a frown.

"Well, two reasons. First, because I wasn't sure if it would work, since this is a newly unlocked ability. And second, because I'd have to screw over someone else in order to do so...so I needed to not care about screwing someone over before I could use it," I replied with a shrug.

"You can end this if you teleport Seila out of the puddle," Pointed out Katie.

Oh, right, good point...

I used Cut and Paste on Seila to get her out of the puddle of sludge, as Mitchell crawled out of the puddle with a groan and stood up with a look of disgust, covered in slime.

"Wow, that was, uh...," Began Kilella, before trailing off as she couldn't think of any adjectives that fit the description of what just happened.

"I'm so, so sorry!" Apologized Seila profusely, keeping her distance.

"Well, it's not like you're clumsy on purpose, so it's fine," I sighed in reply, "Anyway, how about we all head back now? I don't feel like hanging around here any longer."

"Yeah, I second that...I so need a shower," Grumbled Mitchell, trying to wipe the sludge off of himself.

The others all voiced their agreement to leave now, so we headed back. It was pretty smooth sailing, we didn't run into any Mutants or anything. And I had to admit...this slimy stuff worked great as sunscreen, I couldn't even feel the heat from the sun, in fact, I felt nice and cool. I mean, yeah, it feels gross as hell, but it doesn't have an odor, so it's bearable.

And from the looks of it, Seila and Mitchell were also feeling the same way, which the others looked a bit sweaty and tired. Well, I guess something good came of this whole situation, though I definitely do not want to ever go through that again.

Like, okay, it was kinda hot, but it was super awkward and uncomfortable with everyone watching. Not to mention the fact that all that sludge was basically the insides of a Mutant, which was really gross and kind of a turn off.

Well, anyway, it didn't take too long for us to get back to the underground bunker that we set out from, and as we entered it, Mitchell, Seila and I hurried for the bathrooms...fortunately, there were several bathrooms here, so we didn't have to fight for it.

X-Warriors on long-term Missions sometimes stay in the bunkers for extended periods of time, so each of the several bunkers outside the Sanctuary had about twenty rooms with beds and stuff, and each room had its own attached bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, I was back with the others, having showered and changed. The rooms also came equipped with some basic, simple combat outfits. Not exactly stylish, but I couldn't care less about that, I just wanted to wear something dry and, more importantly, not slimy.

"Alright, then, shall we head back to the Sanctuary?" Inquired Kilella, as all three of us who'd gotten slimed up finished cleaning ourselves up.

I voiced my agreement along with the others, letting out a quiet sigh of relief...Mission complete, though it definitely got messier than I'd anticipated, very literally. Well, at least it's over...and next, I have the upcoming tournament to look forward to, just a few days from now...

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP