The Wanderer's Library.

I exited the portal into a series of hallways lined with endless shelves of different kinds, making my way across the vast library, walking past that one line of rosewood shelves for the fourth time this trip, and through the main hall again.

While my Traveler clone slept, and my Monster clone was busy clearing the seven great labyrinths, I had come with my first infiltration ckone to the SCP universe for a little research material on gods and godhood. After all, all the good stuff in the Magicians verse was locked away by the library or straight up unwritten to protect the natural order.

So what better place to look for research material than the place with all books written and unwritten.

The Wanderer's Library.

Passing through the main hall, my eyes were drawn to the ornate and gilded symbol of the Serpent adorned with rainbow hues this particular ocassion.

Guess even the Wanderer's Library celebrates pride month, eh?

"It's not for pride month." A soothing voice informed me from the side.

I turned around to see a woman of gigantic proportions, over 7 feet tall, her pale rigded head an oblong like those of bound heads, sages depicted in myth and emulated by god kings and emperors in a failed bid for legitimacy.

She was dressed in vermillion and jade, gold and flowing silk, her emerald eyes shining golden with a great power behind them.

Behind her I could see my surroundings had changed, a subtle shift in the spatial features anchored to this plane of existence.

"You can read minds?"

"No. Well yes, but in your case I didn't need to. It was plenty obvious what you thought of that."

"I meant no offense." I assured in a hurry.

"Worry not, god touched child. I took none." She giggled, her sweet voice echoing throughout the corridor.

Heh. Good thing I covered this body in god power before I came over.

I knew she had worked for the gods before.

Figured it'd give me some brownie points with her if I smelled like her okd bosses.

I doubt she'd have been discourteous either way, she was too noble for that, but better safe than sorry.

"Thanks for that, I guess? I am Jay Walker, scientist and adventurer." I bowed.

"An odd name. Not your real one, I take it?"

"No. It is not." I admitted.

No point lying to a celestial. Not in my mortal form anyways.

"So if I may miss....?"

Of course I knew who she was. That was why I had come here. But sometimes it pays to not reveal your hand prematurely.

She looked at me and gasped.

"Ah, where are my manners! Let me introduce myself." She smiled softly, "My name is Tianhong, the one who scribes. But you already knew that, didn't you?" She gave me a smug teasing smile.

"Yes. But I didn't want to presume."

"Good. You shouldn't. Presumption is the death of knowledge!" She said, like a parent turning a fun tale their kid told them about into a fifteen minute lecture.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

It did not go unnoticed.

"Young ones these days...." She huffed cutely, "Are you here to find a tale of the past?"

"As much as I'd love to, that is not the purpose of my visit today. I was hoping for something else."

"Pray tell, what might that be?"

"Instruction. On forming a divine core."

"Ah, trying to grow a god are we?" She asked with a mocking sternness, but let up quite easily.

"You know, had it been but 20000 years ago, I would have called you out on such heresy. But the days of the gods are now long gone." She sighed with nostalgia as she picked through her jade shelf for my request.

"No longer am I an emissary of heaven. Just a humble scribe."

Ouch.

I could feel the lower case 'h' in that heaven.

She sounded like a sexy office lady letting off steam passive aggressively.

Which, I would find all hot if she wasn't y'know, a seven foor tall immortal lady with a rugby ball shaped head.

But those basketball sized boobs.....

I didn't quite mind her face either. She was pretty. Very much so.

"How rude!" She huffed.

"So is reading my thoughts but it doesn't stop you, now does it?" I said with a cheeky grin.

"Cheeky brat." She pouted.

"Hn? Yes. There we go." She thumbed a worn straw exercise book.

"This is a recipe for a ritual that instigates immature apotheosis in preformed energy systems. I got it from a heretical cult back in the day. The materials however are hard to find. Quite a few are extinct now. Some are even paradoxical. And it's not a precise art. There's a reason it was a cult and not a religion. Then again, making your own homegrown gods isn't exactly a new pursuit."

"I'll take it." I said.

Extinct materials can be bargained from the questing creatures or collected from other worlds.

With the portal gun, that was no issue.

"And this..." She pulled out a jade slip, "is a basic guide to tennin cultivation and core formation. Won't make you a god but it can help with condensing energy into a core that is close enough to a demigod to suit your purposes."

I looked over the two and pocketed them.

"I'm afraid this is all that is left of that golden age. In my collection at least. Mayhaps you will have better fortune looking elsewhere." She said lost in thought, "Though, I suppose if you ...no. But maybe with....." She wondered, mumbling to herself.

"Aha! There is one other text on the matter. The Herculean Method. Let me lead you to it. Follow me."

She led me through the labyrinthine paths of the library till we came upon the book we wanted.

Trouble was, we were a bit too late.

There were already two people there before us, a young man and a hooded figure with a thin presence that I almost missed, reaching for the book just as we arrived.

"Oh boy..." I muttered, my hand on my laser pistol when Tianhong stopped me.

"Oh worry not. I'm sure we can talk it out."

She walked up to the two but I remained at alert regardless.

I could hazard a guess at who the hooded figure was. That dagger on her belt was a dead giveaway that she was a part of the Serpent's Hand. And her unnaturally thin presence, it was as potent an identifier as any.

There was only one character like that in the SCP mythos.

"Alison Chao." Tianhong called out.

Alison Chao.

Otherwise known as the Black Queen.

One of the most fanatical members of the anomalous anarchist group the Serpent's Hand, and it's subgroup, the Little Sisters, made up entirely of parallel universe versions of her, she was one of the few recurring antagonists in the SCP mythos, once even helping the Chaps Insurgency kill the entire O5 council in one of my favourite SCP tales, the Ouroboros Cycle.

Her power varied from incarnation to incarnation, from supersoldier to the ruler of space and time itself. She was a highly variable and reality bending entity.

After being neglected by her psychopathic father, the SCP Foundation researched Richard Gears who walked out on her and her mom, she developed a deep hatred for the foundation and blamed them for stealing her father away. And as she grew grew up and gained power that hatred turned to anger as she lashed out against the SCP Foundation, vowing to take it down in all it's forms across the multiverse.

She was dangerous to say the least.

"Might I ask that you share the text with us. We need it for a project." Tianhong requested politely.

"You may. But I think we both can agree this young man needs it far more than him."

Hearing that, Tianhong grew curious.

I could hear it in her voice and the glittering of her eyes.

"Why is that so?"

A sucker for tales as always, she who scribes immediately went to the heart of the matter. The heart that mattered to her at least.

"This man, Rudra, he is lost. He stumbled into the library by accident. Nearly died."

"Would have died if Miss Alison hadn't found me." He said with gratitude.

"He wants to return home. But the multiverse is a dangerous place, as you well know." She said.

His face twisted in pain and longing as he remembered the tragedy that had brought him here, something I could relate to.

"Indeed. It is no place for the weak and faint of heart." Tianhong agreed.

"I feel you. I too was ripped from my home just like you." I confessed, patting his shoulder.

"Thankfully, I ended up in a much better place." I said, showing him the portal gun under my jacket.

A test to see his reaction.

"Rick's Portal Gun!" He recognized.

So he was from an Earth woth Rick and Morty huh?

Good to know. At least he would survive if he had watched the show.

No, not because it made you smarter or anything. I wasn't that sort of retarded elitist.

It was because it featured sone of the common pitfalls and the attitude necessary to take on the multiverse.

If course, gauging his reaction and empathy weren't the only reasons I revealed it.

It was also to see Alison's reaction. Would she try to steal the gun?

Possibly.

But it wasn't as if I could hide it from her anyways. By revealing it in everyone's presence I figured the social pressure would at least keep her in check.

I had already set it to auto destruct, just in case that failed.

"If you have the portal gun, can you send me home?" Rudra asked hopeful.

"I... I'm sorry. Even I haven't found a way back home yet. And I'm currently plotting a war against a race of higher beings so... really got my hands full here." I shrugged, dashing his hopes in an instant.

"Is it hopeless then?"

"Nothing is hopeless in the multiverse!" Alison slapped his back.

"Yeah. I can't help you right now. But trust me. Once this is over, if you are still here and you still need help returning home, I will do my best to help you out." I assured him, giving him a hug.

He was like me. A victim of circumstances. I could relate to his situation. I pitied him really, getting lost here. I was lucky I found myself on the citadel of Ricks. Otherwise I might have ended up like him too.

Just out of that camaraderie, I'd do whatever it took to send him back home. Just not now.

And totally not because I wanted to reduce the potential number of multiverse travelers that could oppose me.

No. Nope. Not at all.

"Now about this way you came here. Could you elaborate on-" Tianhong asked when I interjected.

Clearing my throat, I brought the topic back on track.

"Back to the book...."

"Yes. As you can see. We really need it. He needs to become strong. Fast."

"No. I get it. But if you could just let me look through it for a moment." I tapped my glasses.

"These will just scan the text and be done with it. Then once I have a copy..." I gestured for the book.

"Of course." She agreed and handed it over.

How well natured of her!

Very reasonable.

From the SCP stories I read, she seemed like one of those radicals, you know the type.

Young, hip, and brainless, just filled with directionless passion.

Or what the communists call 'useful idiots'. Just this one had an absurd amount of power.

I took the book from her and went through it, page by page before returning it to her.

"Thanks." I said genuinely.

I really did appreciate civil contact across the multiverse.

Even if half the time I was the aggressor in the situation.

What can I say?

I just assume the worst.

Not this time though.

I reached into my jacket and pulled put my laser pistol.

Immediately I could feel Alison tense up, eyeing me with suspiscion.

"Here." I flipped the gun in my hand, giving it to Rudra, "My nine gauge laser pistol. It's a decent weapon for self defence. You can charge it from the back port when the ammo runs out. Just uh... don't point it at the librarians. Or the books." I chuckled as he looked at me with moist eyes.

"Thank you." He replied.

"You're welcome. Now relax, gain some power while you're here. And word of advice, magic and superpowers seem cool and all, but remember, tech is always reliable. Don't ignore magic, it's useful in it's own way but focus on tech if you really want to get ahead. And loosen up. No matter how bad the multiverse seems, it's only still here because not everyone is evil or out to kill you. Don't make the same mistakes as....me."

Rudra looked at me confused and I shook my head.

"Nevermind. Just.....I'll finish up with my stuff and come back to get you home, okay?"

Rudra nodded.

"I'll take my leave then, Lady Tianhong." I bowed.

"Yes. Looks like you are done with your foray into the library. Be well. Do come back to visit." Tianhong noted, "As much as I would have loved hearing your story as well...."

She turned to Rudra.

"I'll settle for yours for now." She smiled, pulling out her notepad and quill.

I smiled and shook my head, opening a portal to leave.

Maybe I will visit her again.

I liked passionate people. There was just something about them. Especially when they were pretty ladies in my strike zone.

I don't mind that freakish height. I'm almost 6'9 in my true body myself so a seven foot stature wasn't too bad.

And I'm sure I can do something about that oblong head of hers.

Besides, maybe she'll be looking for a new god to serve soon enough.

For now, let's grow one myself!

Always wanted to own a pot of god.

I chuckled as I left.

But first, since I am technically in the neighborhood....

Maybe a little visit to the SCP foundation itself was long overdue.

I smiled.

Time to pay them back for their help with Lady Death.

Let no one say, Jay Walker is an ungrateful wretch.

__________________

The extra chapter for 200 powerstones as promised!

Let none say Goldfinger doesn't keep his promises lol!

Next extra chapter at 400 powerstones.

See ya then.

Next up is an interlude chapter with multiple povs and a cameo from everyone's favourite, Dr. Bright!

Bye~