Alright, my dear ROBs! Settle down, settle the fuck down… I've heard your complaints loud and clear, and I will not stand for this "Blue Ball" Slander.
Now, I'm not about to treat you all like Spoiled Brats.
But… I am a gambler who lives for chaos. So, I'll play along.
Here's the next chapter of ALL IN (INVINCIBLE).
Watch Johnny sweat, place your bets, enjoy the ride.
And while you're at it… put in a good word with Lady Luck for me, yeah? I could use it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just as I was about to start rolling my tickets, really commit to the gambling addiction and see if I could pull something that would help Nakime survive the Viltrumite currently demolishing my pocket dimension, a beep interrupted me.
Even through my blurry vision, I could make out the door to my cell sliding open with that pneumatic hiss.
A man in blue clothes walked up to me, but I couldn't make out his face through the combination of broken glasses and blood in my eyes. Just a vague human-sized shape, moving with purpose.
Panic spiked through me. I was chained up, half-blind, with no idea who this was or what they wanted.
'Fuck it. When in doubt, gamble.'
I mentally tore my first Bronze ticket, feeling that familiar rush of anticipation as the gacha spun.
[Charming Eyes]
|Common Trait|
Not to be confused with the mystical eyes of charming, instead of hypnotizing people your eyes are just really pretty.
Heat flooded my eyes, intense enough that I had to squeeze them shut as tears formed just to cool them down. When I opened them again, everything felt... normal.
'Could be useful,' I thought, 'if only I could actually see my targets.'
Great. Pretty eyes. That would really help me against a Viltrumite or whoever had me chained up in this cell.
I tried to move my hands to wipe my eyes, but the chains clinked loudly, stopping me short.
The man spoke, his voice rough and authoritative. "Don't even try. Those are tungsten alloy cuffs used to contain supers. You're not breaking out of them without help."
He stepped closer, his face coming into rough focus as he leaned down to my eye level.
And just like that, I knew exactly who this was.
Those scars on his face were deep and ugly. The shoulder-length white hair that had probably been blond before stress and trauma turned it silver. And most importantly, that attitude in his voice - the tone of a man who'd seen everything, done worse, and wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
Cecil Stedman.
Director of the fucking Global Defense Agency.
The man who in canon would cut deals with supervillains, clone heroes without their permission, and generally do whatever morally gray bullshit necessary to keep Earth safe.
And he was personally interrogating me.
'Yeah,' I thought, 'I need to get out of here. Right now.'
I ripped another Bronze ticket mentally, desperate for something useful.
[Musk]
|Uncommon Trait|
Your smell is really good, a bit arousing even.
'What the fuck am I even gonna use this for?!'
An itch spread across my entire body, blooming from my pores, only to vanish the next second as the trait settled into place.
Pretty eyes and sexy smell. I was turning into a dating sim protagonist while chained up in a GDA black site.
He pulled up a chair and sat down, the movement casual but his eyes sharp.
"Look," I finally said, my voice coming out rough. "I don't know what you think you saw, but—"
"Kid." Cecil's voice didn't change tone at all, but somehow cut through my bullshit. "I've been doing this job for a very long time. I've dealt with aliens, demons, and the worst of them all, politicians. All of them tried to lie to me. All of them failed"
He leaned forward slightly.
"So let's skip the part where you insult my intelligence, and get to the part where you tell me the truth. Because right now? You're the prime suspect in the murders of Earth's premier superhero team. An unknown stranger with no ID, records, or history of even existing was found in a restricted space. Not to mention minimal injuries compared to the rest of the heroes."
The way he said it, cold and clinical, made my stomach drop.
"You see how that looks, right?"
I stayed silent, my mind racing. How much did he know? How much could I admit?
"The GDA spent the past day and a half feeding you glucose drips to bring you back from near-starvation," Cecil continued, his tone still flat. "We patched up your injuries. Cleaned the blood off. Made sure you didn't die from shock or internal bleeding."
He paused.
"We didn't have to do any of that. We could've let you die and saved ourselves a lot of trouble. So I'd appreciate it if you didn't waste our efforts by lying to my face."
My eyes went wide with shock as I gulped hard.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm the victim here! One moment I'm just minding my own business," I started, the words tumbling out, "next I'm in the Guardians' HQ getting threatened by people in costumes, and just as I'm trying to figure out what the hell is happening, this flying brick in red and white starts his blitzkrieg, butchering heroes left and right!"
My voice cracked slightly, part truth and part desperate improvisation. The visceral memory of watching those heroes get torn apart flooding back.
Cecil's expression shifted. Shock flickered across his scarred face, quickly replaced by grim understanding. "So it really was him."
'Huh, the spymaster, believes me? Thank Lady Luck for the NO ENEMIES Trait'
He muttered to himself, like he'd been hoping for a different answer.
While he was processing that, I tore my Silver ticket, hoping for something better than pretty eyes and sex pheromones.
[Soul Solid]
|Uncommon Item|
One Piece - A cane sword belonging to Brook of the Straw Hat Pirates. This sword is extremely sharp and durable, not having dulled even after years of use. It is also extremely dapper.
I felt the cane sword appear in my mental storage space, the same place that had held the Modified Compound V before I'd chugged it.
'These are some seriously shitty rolls,' I thought bitterly. 'Did RNGesus curse me or something? Is this payback for surviving when I should've died?'
"Get on with it, kid." Cecil recovered from whatever thoughts he was having. "Tell me exactly what happened in that room. And if you ever want to get out of this cell and see the sun again, you'd better tell me the truth."
Even though I wasn't particularly worried about being locked up, genuine worry filled my expression. This was new territory for me. I'd been an heir to the 'Strange' fortune before the disownment. People used to respect me and bend over backwards to curry favor.
Now I was chained up, being interrogated by a scarred spymaster who probably had contingency plans for contingency plans.
I dismissed the spiral of thoughts and mentally tore my Gold ticket, hoping for something actually useful.
[Steam Emission]
|Rare Ability|
Allows the user to conjure, control and emit blasts of hot steam from their body.
My breath turned hot, scorching hot, like I'd just inhaled from a boiling kettle. The sensation settled into my lungs, ready to be unleashed.
'Not as good as straight-up flamethrowing, but I could work with this.'
Especially if my target was as close to me as Cecil currently was.
But I held back. I was in his cell, in his facility, probably surrounded by GDA agents with weapons that could put down supers. And Cecil's skin was already artificial from that terrorist attack; steam damage would be minimal at best.
"Get on with it, kid," Cecil said, clearly impatient. "I don't have all day."
So I began narrating my side of the story, with a healthy dose of fabrication mixed in with the truth.
"Look, I was just a normal kid, going about my business, when suddenly I saw this golden light. Next thing I know, I'm in this weird metal room with gadgets and computers everywhere. I called for help, that's when these people in costumes appeared."
Cecil's eye narrowed slightly, watching me.
"At first, I thought they were cosplayers or something, but then they started using actual powers. Threatening me, demanding to know how I got there."
My voice shook a little, remembering the sudden hostility. "That's when I realized they were real superheroes, Guardians of the Globe, they called themselves."
I paused, swallowing hard.
"But before I could even explain myself, before I could say anything, this guy in red and white appeared and just... started attacking them indiscriminately."
Cecil's expression was unreadable, but I could see his mind working behind those distrusting eyes.
"The others were yelling, trying to defend themselves, calling out his name. The Omni-Man was killing them." My words came out strained "I saw him split the guy in blue completely in half and turn the fish guy into paste against the wall. Then my glasses got broken and everything was just blurs, but I remember seeing this white and red blur come up to me, grab my throat..."
My neck unconsciously itched around my bruises.
"He called me a bug. Asked what I was doing there. And then... then I passed out."
Tears started forming in my eyes. The memory of that grip, the absolute hatred in Omni-Man's eyes amplified by the curse, the certainty that I was about to die...
I started sweating, my body reliving the terror.
'I'm... I'm seriously too weak. I need to get stronger. This can't happen again.'
I tore the Platinum ticket to distract myself, to give myself something to focus on besides the memory of almost dying.
[Glowing One]
|Epic Trait|
You passively absorb radiation with your body like a sponge, using it to fuel your body and energy and consuming it in the process. Absorbing enough radiation, such as Gamma Radiation, X-rays, and even ultraviolet radiation, will have an effect of permanently increasing your physical stats and energy reserves proportional to how much you absorb. You are also immune to the negative effects of radiation and recover stamina and energy faster when exposed to it. While sunlight would have a negligible effect, eating some radium chips would probably act like cultivation pills for you.
Fire erupted through my veins. I bit my tongue hard enough to taste blood, barely holding back a groan as the burning sensation consumed me from the inside out.
Then it faded, replaced by... awareness.
I could feel radiation all around me. From the fluorescent lights above, to the radiator systems in the walls and even from whatever power source was running this facility.
No matter how minuscule, my body was absorbing it.
'This... this is really good,' I thought, the fear fading slightly as excitement took over. 'All my abilities require massive amounts of energy. I can't just pass out after every attack. This solves that problem. This is...'
The good roll did wonders for my terror. The addictive rush of getting something actually useful.
'Ah fuck, I'm gonna get really deep into this addiction, aren't I?'
-x-
Cecil cut into my thoughts. "That's a nice sob story, kid. But it still doesn't explain your survival when two of my Guardians are dead."
Irritation flared through me, from the cold tone of his voice. "Then don't fucking believe my words! Go check the footage! Those heroes aren't cheap enough to not have at least a couple of decent security cameras!"
The moment I said it, I knew I'd hit the mark. Cecil's expression didn't change, but I saw the minute tightening around his eyes.
The surveillance had been disabled, just like in the show.
It was my word against his suspicions, and he knew it.
I rolled my second Platinum ticket, the anticipation building.
[Summoner]
|Elite Trait|
You are a summoner, summoning and commanding creatures, familiars, spirits and summons come naturally to you. All Familiars get enhanced stats and consume less energy. The potency of all projection-type abilities and spells is increased, it is easier to build affection and loyalty with summons and contracted entities.
I almost gasped out loud.
This... this was perfect, a perfect roll.
Whether it was increasing Nakime's strength or making my energy blade more potent, this trait was tailor-made for my build.
'Is my luck finally turning around?' I thought, barely containing my excitement. 'Has Lady Luck finally blessed me? I used to pray for times like this!'
"It's very hard to believe your survival story," Cecil suddenly said, his voice cutting through my excitement, "when you're sitting there smiling like you just won the lottery."
Huh. Was I smiling? I didn't even realize.
"I'm a person who has gone through intense trauma," I shot back, "only for it to be aggravated by you fuckers interrogating me instead of helping. Give me a break."
Cecil cleared his throat, surprised by my claim.
I quickly changed the topic. "You said two Guardians were dead, right? Then just ask the others what happened instead of torturing a victim, you asshole."
Cecil's expression shifted slightly, something almost human flickering across his face.
"The surviving Guardians are alive, but they're barely hanging by a thread. They need intensive care just to stay stable, let alone recover enough to give statements."
He paused.
"Aquarus is confirmed KIA. The Immortal..." Cecil's voice took on a strange tone. "The Immortal is complicated."
"Complicated how?"
"He was decapitated and torn in half. We found his legs and head at the scene, but his upper body is still missing."
I kept my face neutral, even as my mind raced.
Nakime had taken the upper body. She was using it to feed, to cure her demon hunger.
I couldn't tell Cecil that. Not without revealing Nakime's existence, which would open a whole other can of worms.
"So someone took it?" I asked, trying to sound confused instead of guilty.
"That's the working theory." Cecil's eye narrowed. "Any idea who?"
"How the hell would I know? I was unconscious!"
Cecil watched me for a long moment, that calculating look in his eye making my skin crawl.
Is he testing me?
"You mentioned Omni-Man grabbed you by the throat," Cecil said, his voice taking on a different tone. "But you said you passed out. How do you know you didn't see something before you lost consciousness? Maybe saw who took the body?"
'Yup, it's a trap, alright.'
"I don't know what I saw," I said carefully. "Everything was blurry. My glasses were broken and without them, I'm as good as blind. All I remember is the red and white blur, the grip, and then nothing."
Cecil leaned back slightly, his expression unreadable.
Then, to my surprise, he reached and snapped his fingers.
The cuffs around my wrists clicked open, releasing my hands.
"What-"
"You're not a prisoner, kid," Cecil said, his voice still flat. "You're a person of interest. There's a difference."
I felt air on my sweat-soaked skin finally, my hands free for the first time since waking up.
Cecil, on the other hand, flared his nostrils slightly. "Weird."
Probably smelling the Musk trait.
Great. My sex pheromones were affecting the scarred spymaster.
He stood up, gesturing for me to follow.
I followed behind him, my legs shaky from disuse. "Can I go home now?"
"Kid, first start by telling me your name."
"It's John Strange F..."
I stopped mid-sentence, remembering my father's final words to me.
'From henceforth, you're disowned from the Fake Family. Never sully that name with your tongue!'
The memory stung, even now.
"Kaisen," I finished. "John Kaisen."
arTdBWoFVfGzEIgKBvI36xjGfc4YDw9xQGB3G0YTqZY.webp
TING-
A notification dinged in my vision, but I ignored it.
I had one more ticket. The big one. The Diamond ticket.
'Come on, baby. Come on to Papa!'
The gacha rolled with that familiar rush of anticipation.
As the roll came to a stop, it showed:
[Greater Headpat]
|Rare Trait|
You were born with hands made for patting the heads of all that is cute. Targets feel much more pleasure from you petting their heads, giving a comforting and comfortable feeling when you do, maybe even arousal if they are kinky. This also helps dispel negative mental effects and build affection. Even the most frigid emo won't be able to fight the power of your palms.
I just fell to my knees, legs going weak beneath me.
"Wallahi, I'm cooked," I muttered. "You RNG bastard… I'mma killll you."
Of course I got head-patting powers from a Diamond ticket.
A Diamond fucking ticket.
I could've gotten a dragon. A demon lord. A fucking Servant from Fate.
But no. I got the ability to comfort lollies.
"Sir, is he..." A concerned voice came from outside the cell.
I looked up to see a man in a suit standing in the doorway. Brown hair, clean-cut and a stoic face perfect for being a Government Agent.
That's Donald Ferguson, alright. Cecil's right-hand man in the show.
Cecil sighed, hand going to his forehead. "Apparently, that's just how the kid processes trauma."
I stayed on my knees, staring at nothing, the weight of my terrible luck crushing whatever hope the Summoner trait had given me.
RNGesus was laughing at me somewhere. I could feel it.
And I was stuck with pretty eyes, sex pheromones, a cane sword, steam powers, radiation absorption, being really good at summoning, and the ability to be the world's best creep.
What a fucking power set.
"Kid," Cecil said, his voice almost sympathetic. "You gonna get up, or do I need to call medical?"
I slowly stood, my legs still shaky, and looked at Cecil through my blurry, admittedly now very pretty eyes.
"Where are we going?" I asked, my voice hollow.
"We're still in the Himalayas, kid. Unfortunately, we can't run the battery of tests we want as we need to take you out of here before you contaminate the crime scene. We need to figure out exactly what you are and where you came from."
This was fine.
Everything was fine.
Who am I kidding?
I was so fucked.
-x-
What, one more? Now you're being needy.
…but I've heard the whispers. Seems you did put in a good word with Lady Luck for me.
Can't have that goodwill go to waste, can I?
Alright then, my dear ROBs.
Just this once... RNGesus won't disappoint.
-x-
The GDA jet's engines hummed beneath me, a constant reminder that I was thirty thousand feet up with nowhere to run.
The GDA jet was surprisingly nice.
Not private-jet-with-champagne nice, I was used to, but government-budget-actually-spent-on-comfort nice.
I was sitting near the back, surrounded by a team of GDA agents in full tactical gear, their rifles resting on their laps like they expected me to spontaneously combust or some shit.
Donald Ferguson sat across from me with a tablet, occasionally glancing up to make sure I wasn't doing anything suspicious.
The silence was oppressive as hell.
Nobody was talking. The agents were just staring straight ahead like good little soldiers. Donald was focused on his tablet. And I was sitting here with my blurry vision, unable to even see their faces clearly, let alone make conversation.
I shifted in my seat, trying to get comfortable.
Three rifles twitched in my direction.
Fucking hell.
Still not used to this level of silence, I decided to break the ice.
"Hey, Donald, right?" I gestured vaguely toward the armed agents. "What's with the band? Seems like overkill for one teenager who can barely see."
Donald looked up from his tablet, his expression perfectly stoic. "They're here to ensure your safety as much as mine. You're still an unknown and unpredictable variable, Mr. Kaisen. Until we understand where you came from, precautions are necessary."
"Right," I said. "Because I'm such a threat. Can't even see past three feet without squinting."
"Mr. Kaisen"
Donald reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a case. He leaned forward, offering it to me.
'Kaisen,' I muttered. 'Yeah. Still getting used to that.'
Confused, I still took and opened it.
Glasses.
Brand new, sleek-looking glasses with thin frames that looked way more expensive than anything I'd expect from a government official.
Excitement surged through me. I practically yanked them out of the case and shoved them onto my face, not even caring if I looked desperate.
Yet, the world was still blurry.
"What the fuck?" I started to complain, reaching up to adjust them. "These don't even—"
Then my vision started clearing.
Slowly at first, like someone was gradually turning up the resolution on a TV. Then faster, sharper, until suddenly I could see everything.
I could see the stitching on Donald's suit. The scratches on the rifle barrels. The straps on the tactical gear.
The mountains outside the window and snow-capped peaks stretching into the distance.
I could SEE.
Actually see, clearly, after a long time.
"Finally," I breathed, turning my head to take in every detail. "I can see clearly."
Donald smiled with just a small upturn of his lips. "Those are our standard-issue smart glasses. They automatically adjust their prescription according to the wearer's needs. Took a moment to calibrate to your vision."
I was too busy staring at everything to respond immediately.
This was amazing.
"You can keep them, Mr. Kaisen," Donald said, his smile widening slightly. "Think of them as compensation for the Director's... interrogation."
I just nodded, still overwhelmed by the clear vision.
Then I remembered something. "Hey, where's Cecil? Thought he'd want to personally escort the 'unknown variable' or whatever."
Donald's expression shifted. He scratched his cheek, adjusting his own glasses in a way that seemed almost embarrassed. "Director Stedman teleported directly to Washington. He's arranging the testing facilities and coordinating with the medical team."
I was about to ask the obvious question when Donald continued.
"And before you ask, no, he can't teleport with passengers. Each teleportation costs approximately five million dollars. The GDA's budget is... constrained. Flying commercial is significantly cheaper when transporting multiple people."
His cheeks went slightly pink as he said it, like he was embarrassed by the budget limitations.
Five million per teleport. Not bad, actually. If the technology were there in my previous world, my siblings would use it just for the fun of it.
'Blushing aside,' I thought, squinting at Donald's face, 'why can't I see your eyes past those glasses, motherfucker?'
I stretched my neck at various angles, trying to get a better look, but the glasses had some kind of privacy tint. All I could see was my own reflection in the lenses.
The agents were starting to look uncomfortable with my weird neck-craning, so I stopped.
This was going to take some time anyway.
Might as well check my notifications.
I pulled up the gacha interface in my vision, the familiar glow appearing as notifications scrolled past.
[Feat Achieved! New World, New Name]
[Reward: +1 Bronze Random Gacha Ticket]
[Feat Achieved! Prime Suspect of Mass Murder]
[Reward: +1 Bronze Random Gacha Ticket]
[Feat Achieved! Cleared of Charges (Temporarily)]
[Reward: +1 Silver Random Gacha Ticket]
[Feat Achieved! Fooled the Spymaster]
[Reward: +1 Gold Random Gacha Ticket]
[Feat Achieved! The Worst Diamond Roll in History]
[Reward: +1 Silver Random Gacha Ticket]
[Feat Achieved! Made Cecil Think You're Mentally Unstable]
[Reward: +1 Silver Random Gacha Ticket]
I whistled low under my breath, earning a glance from Donald.
'Damn,' I thought. 'The quality is pretty low, but the quantity is nothing to scoff at.'
Six tickets. Two Bronze, three Silver, one Gold.
Not the best haul, but after that disaster Diamond pull, I'd take what I could get.
I rubbed my hands together and cracked my knuckles, which made several agents tense up.
"Relax," I said quickly. "I felt crammed in this tin box, so I just stretched."
They didn't relax.
Whatever.
The itch was back, that familiar craving that came with every new ticket.
The rush of possibility, of chance, of gambling everything on a single pull.
My hands were shaking slightly.
Addiction. Pure and simple.
But I didn't care.
I mentally tore both Bronze tickets at once, feeling that familiar rush as the gacha spun.
[Tank]
|Common Item|
A large indistinct military tank with infinite fuel and tank shells inside of it. Fuel and shells cannot be taken out of the vehicle.
A whole-ass tank materialized in my mental storage, sitting there like the world's most ridiculous lawn ornament.
'The tank is obviously useful,' I thought, 'especially with the infinite ammo and fuel. But in a world where people punch through mountains? This thing is basically a very expensive paperweight.'
Still, infinite ammunition had to be worth something. Maybe I could sell it to Cecil for spare cash.
The second Bronze ticket finished spinning.
[Flash]
|Common Ability|
You can emit a bright blinding light from your hands or use it with less intensity for utility, does not work well outside of close range.
My hands suddenly warmed up, tingling like I'd touched something electric. They turned unnaturally red for a second, glowing faintly, before the light faded and they returned to normal.
I flexed my fingers experimentally. Nothing visible, but I could feel the ability there, ready to be activated.
Flash-bang hands. Could be worse.
'At least it'll increase my ability count,' I thought. 'Now I just need one more to get another ability slot.'
I took a deep breath, trying to calm the anticipation building in my chest.
'You can do better than this,' I told myself. 'Lady Luck is on your side. RNGesus wouldn't fuck you over twice in a row. Right?'
I tore the first Silver ticket.
[Buffout]
|Common Item|
Fallout - Buffout is a pre-war chem created as a very potent and temporary physical effort enhancer and steroid, capable of allowing the string bean joe punch through wood and take a baseball bat to the face thanks to the increased endurance, strength, and reflexes it provides. Restock Timer: 76 Hours
A small pill bottle appeared in my mental storage, labeled with faded pre-war Vault-Tec branding.
'Steroids from Fallout,' I thought. 'Could be useful in a clutch situation. Or I could sell it to Cecil and let the GDA reverse-engineer the compound. Bet they'd pay good money for super-soldier drugs.'
I tore the second Silver ticket.
[XIV - Temperance]
|Common Item|
Tarot Card - Allows you to attain complete mental clarity and focus, dispelling all negative mental conditions. 48 Hour Cooldown.
A tarot card materialized, glowing faintly with some strange mystical energy.
'A tarot card?' I frowned. 'That means there are twenty-one others somewhere in the gacha pool. This one's kind of useless for me though. My Chaos Response trait already gives me immunity to mental manipulation. And the cooldown is way too long.'
But it was an item, which meant I could give it to someone else to use.
I tore the third and final Silver ticket.
'Please be good. Please be good.'
[Gradual Transformation]
|Rare Ability|
You can gradually transform your body into any shape, but due to the transformation being slow, it must be used carefully. It would take roughly 3 hours to slowly turn into a cat and you cannot increase or decrease your mass by more than 500%
Heat spread through my body uncomfortably, like my cells were rearranging themselves. Then it settled into background awareness.
'Shapeshifting. Slow as hell, but shapeshifting.'
And then another notification appeared.
[10 Abilities Collected! 3rd Ability Slot Added]
"Hell yeah!" I fist-pumped the air in sheer excitement.
Everyone in the jet turned to stare at me.
The agents raised their weapons halfway, fingers on triggers.
Donald looked concerned. "Mr. Kaisen, are you alright?"
"Ah, sorry, everyone!" I said quickly, lowering my hand in embarrassment. "I'm just excited to see the Himalayas for the first time. They're beautiful from up here."
I gestured toward the window.
The agents slowly lowered their weapons but kept watching me like I might explode.
'I really need to get my act together,' I thought, face heating with embarrassment. 'Stop celebrating gacha pulls out loud. You lunatic.'
I calmed myself, forcing my breathing to even out.
One ticket left.
The Gold Gacha ticket.
I'd already rolled Gold tickets before. Even higher tiers like Platinum and Diamond. But that last Diamond roll had really put me in the dumps.
This was it.
My chance to get something actually useful to deal with all this bullshit around me.
To maximize my chances. I pressed my palms together in prayer, closing my eyes.
'Our Lord and Savior, RNGesus,' I thought reverently. 'I was a fool to have cursed you out. I spoke in anger and desperation. As repentance, I'll spin this roll in your honor. Please bless this lowly gambler with your divine grace.'
I mentally tore the Golden ticket, feeling it dissolve in my mind as the gacha wheel started spinning.
Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.
The sound echoed in my head, each tick stretching out for what felt like hours.
The wheel slowed.
Slower.
Slower.
And finally stopped on:
[Gambler]
|Elite Trait|
Lets go gambling! Ah dangit. Every time you would roll the ticket, you roll a D20 first, depending on the roll you get, {20}= Ticket Rank Up, {19 - 17}= Advantage, {16 - 13}= Change Ticket Type, {12 - 8}= Nothing happens, {7 - 2}= Ticket rank down, {1}= Ticket is destroyed. This trait can be rerolled or toggled.
My mind short-circuited.
I stared at the description, reading it once, twice, three times.
'This... this is...'
I couldn't even finish the thought.
Tears started forming in my eyes, running down my cheeks.
The sheer possibilities. The stakes. The rush.
Every single gacha pull would now be a gamble on top of a gamble. A meta-gamble. Gambling on whether my gambling would be good or bad.
It was beautiful.
It was perfect.
It was exactly what a degenerate gambler like me deserved.
'I thought you were just a slimy bastard,' I thought, my mental voice choked with emotion. 'I thought you were adamant on ruining my rolls and making my life as miserable as possible.'
I fell to my knees right there in the jet, pressing my forehead to the floor in a full kowtow.
"I'm sorry," I sobbed out loud. "I'm so sorry I doubted you. I promise... I'll be the best gambler. The absolute best. You beautiful, beautiful R.O.B."
Around me, I heard the distinctive click-clack of multiple weapons being armed.
"HOSTILE MOVEMENT!"
"Target is on the ground!"
"Is he performing witchcraft?!"
"DON'T SHOOT!" Donald's voice cut through the chaos. "Stand down! All of you, stand down!"
I ignored them, continuing my prayer to RNGesus.
'All hail the God of Chance! All hail the Lord of Probability! I am your faithful servant! I will roll with honor and gamble with pride!'
"Mr. Kaisen!" Donald was crouched beside me, hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright? Are you in pain?"
"He's clearly up to no good!" one of the agents said. "Should we sedate him?"
"No!" Donald snapped. "Nobody touches him without my authorization!"
I finally looked up, tears still streaming down my face, my vision blurry again from crying.
The entire jet was staring at me.
"I'm fine," I said, my voice hoarse. "I'm completely fine. Better than fine, actually. I just... I just realized how beautiful life is."
Donald helped me back into my seat, his expression shifting from concern to something like pity.
"He's clearly traumatized," Donald said to the agents, his voice low but not quiet enough that I couldn't hear. "Acute stress response, probably PTSD from witnessing the massacre. He's lost some mental stability, so we need to handle him carefully."
The agents lowered their weapons slowly, but now they were looking at me with pity instead of suspicion.
They thought I was insane.
And honestly? Maybe I was. Maybe getting a trait that turned every gacha pull into Russian roulette with extra steps was a sign of mental illness.
But I didn't care.
I had the Gambler trait.
Every pull would be an adventure and a risk.
A real gamble where I could lose everything or gain more than I dreamed.
"All hail RNGesus," I whispered, wiping tears from my eyes with my new smart glasses.
Spoiler: The Holy One
Donald sat back down across from me, watching me carefully like I might have another episode.
"Mr. Kaisen," he said gently. "We'll be landing in Washington in approximately an hour. When we arrive, you'll be taken to a secure medical facility for evaluation. Standard procedure for unknown individuals with potential superhuman capabilities."
"Sure," I said, still grinning like an idiot. "Whatever you need."
"We'll run some tests. Blood work, brain scans, physical examination. Nothing invasive without your consent. The Director wants to understand what happened to you and how you survived."
"Uh-huh."
"Are you listening to me, Mr. Kaisen?"
"Absolutely," I lied.
I wasn't listening at all. I was too busy thinking about the Gambler trait and all the possibilities it opened up.
I pulled up my mental interface again, looking at the Gambler trait sitting there, glowing with potential.
Toggle on or off.
I could turn it off.
Play it safe and roll tickets normally without risking destruction.
Or I could embrace the chaos.
Live up to my namesake.
My finger hovered over the toggle.
Then I grinned.
"All in," I whispered.
The trait stayed active.
Donald looked up from his tablet. "What was that?"
"Nothing," I said. "Talking to myself."
'Nakime,' I thought, reaching out. 'Hang in there. I'll figure something out.'
I was ready to gamble everything.
One more time.
MARK GRAYSON'S POV
Flying used to clear my head.
Used to be the one thing that made everything else fade away, you know? Up here, above the city, with the wind rushing past and nothing but open sky, all the bullshit on the ground just... disappeared.
Not anymore.
Now I was flying in circles over downtown Chicago, and all I could think about was the conversation a few hours ago.
Mom hasn't slept in two days. I could hear her pacing downstairs at three AM, making coffee she wouldn't drink, picking up her phone to call Dad and then putting it down again.
Dad was missing.
Now, this wasn't new. Dad had been on missions for days without contact before. I'd grown up with it. Week-long disappearances, fighting Kaiju or stopping alien invasions or buried under a mountain somewhere. It was normal for me.
But this time felt different.
Some scarred government spook named Cecil had shown up at our door.
"Mrs. Grayson. Mark." His voice was compassionate, but there was something underneath it that made my skin crawl. "I need to know where Nolan is."
And when it became clear we had no fucking clue where Dad was, Cecil had dropped the bomb.
"Mrs. Grayson," he'd said, his voice flat. "I need you to understand the gravity of this situation. The Guardians of the Globe were attacked two nights ago in their headquarters."
The Immortal and Aquarus were dead, while there was very little chance for others to even make it through the coma.
Most surprisingly, they found Dad's blood at the scene.
A lot of it.
"We believe Omni-Man was at the scene of the murder and was heavily injured before being abducted."
I'd been about to deck this asshole right there in our living room, but Mom grabbed my arm.
The way she looked at Cecil, the way her voice changed when she spoke to him, there was history there. Old history that I didn't know about.
She believed him.
My dad. Omni-Man. Earth's greatest hero.
Abducted?
No way. There had to be an explanation. Dad was the strongest person on the planet. Who the hell could abduct him?
I didn't know.
And that's what was eating me alive.
I'd put on my costume and left before I had to see Mom cry.
I needed to hit something.
Needed to feel useful instead of helples-
The portals suddenly opened.
Red swirling tears in reality itself, and out came an army.
Green-skinned aliens in futuristic armour, carrying energy weapons that hummed with power.
Three portals, spitting out soldiers in organized formations like this was a planned invasion.
Flaxans.
Dad had fought them before. Dimensional invaders that had shown up to try and conquer Earth before getting their asses kicked and retreating back to their dimension.
But this time they came back and went straight to slaughter people.
Energy blasts tore through storefronts as a woman's scream cut off mid-breath as she vaporized along with a kid, who couldn't have been more than ten, running for cover before a tank shell turned him into red mist.
All that anger, all that frustration, everything that had been building since Cecil's visit just... erupted.
I shot toward the nearest tank like a missile.
"HEY!" My voice cracked halfway through the shout. "You want someone to fight?! FIGHT ME!"
The Flaxan tank's cannon swivelled smoothly, locked onto me. I saw the energy building in the barrel, saw the red glow intensifying, and I had maybe half a second to realize I'd fucked up.
The blast hit me square in the chest.
I flew backwards through a coffee shop, through the kitchen, out the back wall, across an alley, into an office building, and finally cratered into the street hard enough that the asphalt spiderwebbed beneath me.
My ears were ringing. My chest hurt like someone had hit me with a sledgehammer, and my vision was swimming.
Yet I could still hear screaming.
People had been in that coffee shop. People I'd just gotten hit through, people who'd been in the blast radius when that energy cannon fired.
I pushed myself up and saw the charred and mangled bodies.
This wasn't anything like stopping a bank robbery. This wasn't catching car thieves or breaking up gang fights.
This was war.
And I'd just made myself a target without thinking about who was behind me.
An old woman was running, just trying to get to safety.
But she was slow, stumbling and terrified.
Another energy blast charged up, aimed at her.
I moved on instinct, grabbed her mid-run, tried to pull her out of the way.
But I wasn't fast enough.
The blast caught her anyway, burning through her side, even as I tried to shield her with my body.
She looked up at me with these wide, confused eyes. Like she couldn't understand what was happening. Like she was asking me why I didn't save her.
And then she just... stopped as her arm went limp.
I'd failed. She was right there in my hands and I failed to save her.
"INVINCIBLE!"
Spoiler: INVINCIBLE
Atom Eve descended in a burst of pink energy, her power forming a force field around me just as another barrage of shots came screaming in.
"Get your head in the game!" she yelled, hands glowing as she deflected blast after blast. "You're gonna get killed standing there!"
Robot's voice crackled through comms, mechanical and calm like always. "Invincible, evacuate that civilian to the nearest hospital immediately. We're engaging the hostiles but civilian casualties are mounting. Move!"
I wanted to argue. Wanted to stay and fight and prove I wasn't useless. Wanted to make these bastards pay for killing her.
But the old woman's blood was soaking into my costume, and Eve was right, I was just standing here like an idiot while she did all the work.
I took off toward the nearest hospital, the woman's body getting colder in my arms with every second.
Behind me, I could hear the Teen Team engaging the Aliens.
Rex's explosions blast away the incoming Alien march.
The wet crunch of Dupli-Kate's coordinated strikes, as she tactically sacrifices her clones who threw themselves at enemies to create openings.
Eve's Energy Construct became adamant on stopping all alien attacks and pretending to be as many people as possible.
Finally, Robot's voice came again, and this time there was actually concern in its robotic tone. "Correction. We may not have an adequate force to repel this incursion. Enemy reinforcements are coming at a staggering rate. Requesting immediate GDA backup and... Director Stedman, are we authorized for tactical nuclear deployment if the situation deteriorates further?"
Nuclear! They were talking about nuking downtown Chicago!
I was about to turn around and give that metal man a piece of my mind.
Then I heard it.
Metal screaming and something massive hitting the ground.
An impact that shook buildings three blocks away.
What the hell was that?
JOHN KAISEN POV
The agents had finally stopped treating me like a bomb about to explode after my little prayer session to RNGesus. They'd collectively decided I was retarded, which fair, I had literally prostrated myself on the floor of a military aircraft sobbing about the beauty of gambling.
That probably didn't scream "sound mental health."
Donald was back to his tablet, the agents had their rifles down, and I was just starting to think maybe I could survive this flight without further embarrassment.
Then every alarm in the jet started screaming.
Red lights flooded the cabin. The agents went from zero to combat-ready in half a second, weapons up, scanning for threats like they expected aliens to teleport into the plane.
Donald looked at his tablet, and his expression shifted from bureaucratic calm to military focus so fast I got whiplash watching it.
"Everyone, we have a Flaxan incursion in progress," he barked, voice cutting through the baring alarms. "Dimensional breach in downtown Chicago. Three portals confirmed with hundreds of hostiles. Teen Team is engaged but taking heavy civilian casualties. We're rerouting for immediate combat deployment."
He yanked open a locker, started pulling out gear. "All personnel, prepare for hot zone insertion! This is a rescue and extraction mission! No need to be a hero! Arm up and prep for drop!"
"Roger, sir!" they chorused as the agents moved like they'd done this a thousand times. Securing equipment, loading weapons, and strapping on jetpacks that looked way too flimsy to actually work.
Meanwhile, I was sitting there in borrowed glasses trying to process what the absolute fuck was happening.
Flaxans. The decaying green assholes from another dimension who aged rapidly on Earth and had to retreat after like twenty minutes or they'd literally rot to death.
I remembered this from the show. This was Mark's first big fight. The one where he almost died because he didn't know what he was doing yet.
And suddenly, a terrible and absolutely idiotic idea formed in my head.
This was it.
My chance to get out of all this bloody mess surrounding me.
Donald turned toward me, and I saw it coming before he even moved. Those tungsten cuffs appeared in his hands like a magic trick.
"Oh, come on!" I protested as he snapped them around my wrists, completely encasing my fists. "We literally just played this game! I even surrendered for those tests. What's the point?!"
"Emergency protocols insist on unconventional actions, Mr Kaisen." Donald's voice was apologetic but firm. "We cannot have an individual in your current mental state unsupervised during active combat operations. It's for your safety as much as ours."
"My mental state? I AM NOT A R-"
The rear hatch of the jet opened mid-flight, drowning out my frustrated scream.
"GO! GO! GO!" Donald shouted.
Wind screamed into the cabin as I watched the agents jump out one by one, activating jetpacks as they fell, descending toward the warzone below in perfect formation.
Through the window I could see the chaos.
The buildings were on fire. Energy blasts lighting up the sky, and green heads swarming through streets.
And worst of all, I could see People running, screaming and dying.
These Flaxans were tearing Chicago apart.
I remembered from the show. They only stayed for a limited time before their rapid tachyon signature made them age and decay in this dimension. Maybe twenty, thirty minutes tops before they had to retreat.
I had very little time to act.
Which meant I needed to do something monumentally stupid right now.
I stood up.
Donald saw me moving toward the hatch and his eyes went wide. "Mr. Kaisen, sit down! That's an order!"
I ran.
"MR. KAISEN, NO!"
And jumped.
X-
I ran.
"MR. KAISEN, NO!"
And jumped.
Okay, so maybe throwing myself out of a government jet thirty thousand feet up while handcuffed was not my smartest decision.
But in my defense, I'd just pulled the Gambler trait, and I was riding a high.
Also, I'm a gambling addict with impulse control issues, so this was basically on-brand.
The wind hit me like a wall pushing against my chest, ripping the air from my lungs, tearing at my clothes. The ground was rushing up way too fast, buildings getting bigger, and streets became clear.
This was fine. I had a plan. Probably.
The GDA agents nearby were gaping at me in shock as I plummeted past them.
Mid-air, I activated my abilities.
Steam Emission in slot one, Zero Gravity in slot two and Blademaster in slot three.
The energy blades formed inside the tungsten cuffs, growing with the Summoner trait boosting their potency, and I felt them slice through the metal restraints from the inside out.
The cuffs sliced open, pieces spinning away into the air.
My hands were free again.
Zero Gravity kicked in, and suddenly I wasn't falling anymore, Weightlessness hit me like a switch flipping. I was floating, drifting like a balloon in a hurricane, spinning uncontrollably with no way to orient myself.
Agents were flying toward me with their jetpacks, trying to grab me, probably to save me or worse, arrest me.
I projected steam from my palms like the world's shittiest Iron Man repulsor, using the force to push myself away and change direction, trying to control my movement.
Scalding steam erupted from my palms in concentrated jets. The force was immediate and brutal, and I shot upward like a rocket, completely overshooting my intended trajectory and nearly colliding with the plane I'd just jumped out of.
"FUCK!" I yelped, cutting the steam and immediately starting to fall again.
The rush was incredible.
I was flying in the Open sky, a rush of winds hitting my face, and most importantly, I was flying…I was fucking flying!
And then the panic hit.
I was thirty thousand feet up. Flying on steam propulsion with no training at all.
I fumbled the steam projection, shot too hard in one direction, spun wildly, overcompensated again and went spiralling in another direction, nearly colliding with an agent.
My heart was hammering so hard I thought it might explode. My hands were shaking. The world was spinning and I couldn't tell which way was up.
'Fuck fuck fuck this was a bad idea this was such a bad idea why did I jump out of a plane-'
I remembered something as I pulled the Temperance tarot card from my mental storage and activated it.
The Tarot card glew white and immediately, everything went quiet.
My mind was assaulted with complete silence. Every emotion, fear and anxiety just got... muted and shoved into a box so I could think clearly.
All that remained was total and sharp focus.
My movements smoothed out instantly. The steam hissed from my palms, and I could actually control my descent now. Not graceful, not even close to flight, but I was managing a controlled fall instead of a death plummet.
Much better.
'Nakime,' I thought, reaching for our mental connection. "Are you alright? Did Omni-Man get you?'
Her response came through strained, and she sounded exhausted. 'This one... is managing, Master. The monster is weakened as his injuries are getting worse, but he refuses to cease his rampage.'
'Can you hold him for a few more minutes?'
'As long as Master commands, I will fight. Even unto death, I will drag the monster into oblivion with me if I must.'
'Yeah, no, let's not do the dramatic sacrifice thing,' I thought. 'New plan. Start agitating him. Taunt him. Rage bait him if you have to. I want him absolutely consumed with rage. And be ready to open a portal on my signal.'
There was a pause from Nakime.
'Master... that strategy seems exceptionally dangerous.'
'I know. But I've got a plan. Kind of. Maybe. Just trust me.'
'...This one obeys.'
The connection went quiet, and I focused on the battlefield below.
Downtown Chicago looked like a warzone from a video game. Flaxan soldiers everywhere, organized formations firing in coordinated volleys. Energy weapons firing indiscriminately, and Tanks rolling through streets, crushing everything in their path.
And worst of all, civilians caught in crossfire.
Running. Screaming. Dying.
And there, right in the middle of the worst of it, was Invincible.
He was on the ground, crouched an old woman, trying to shield her with his body while a Flaxan tank's main cannon charged up.
The energy building in that barrel was ready to vaporize them both.
I had maybe three seconds.
Fuck it.
I pulled the tank from my mental storage right there and then.
M1A2 Abrams, forty tons of American steel and infinite ammunition, materialized in the air above the Flaxan tank.
Spoiler: M1A2 Abrams
And gravity, that beautiful bitch, took over.
Forty tons accelerating at ten meters per second squared.
The impact sounded like the warhead detonating.
My tank came down like the fist of an angry god, pancaked the Flaxan tank flat, crushed the crew inside, and the resulting explosion from the crash sent a shockwave through the street that shattered every window in a three-block radius, charring all nearby alien soldiers.
I touched down on the ground, steam still venting from my palms to control my descent, and immediately felt devastated.
My tank! My gorgeous tank with unlimited fuel and ammunition. Reduced to unrecognizable scrap metal in one glorious suicide drop.
Worth it, obviously. It saved lives and gave the heroes an opening.
But still. RIP tank. You were too beautiful for this world.
Robot was hovering nearby, his mechanical voice crackling through speakers, as he landed near me. "...Unexpected variable detected. Please verify your identity."
The five-minute cooldown on Zero Gravity hit, and I swapped it out for Call to Arms.
My energy blade materialized, rapier-like and elegant, silver light condensed into a killing edge. The fencing training from my old life came flooding back. Muscle memory of the piste, the advance, the lunge, the riposte. This wasn't a brawler's weapon, thus the only weapon I was forced to learn.
The Summoner trait boosted it, made it sharper, lighter and more durable.
I felt my stamina drain as calories burned to power the ability, and I felt hunger starting to gnaw at my gut.
But the Temperance card kept me in total focus and kept the discomfort at bay.
A Flaxan soldier nearby was staring at the crushed tank instead of watching his surroundings, his face slack with shock.
In a single action, I performed a 'Rapid' through his eye socket.
The blade went in smoothly, punched through the orbital bone, pierced brain matter, and came out the back of his skull in one fluid motion.
He dropped instantly; the alien was dead before he hit the ground.
As I watched the dead body, I was momentarily uncomfortable.
I should've felt something. Horror? Guilt? Remorse for taking a life? Anything, but I felt nothing.
But the Temperance card had muted all that, and honestly? These fuckers were killing innocent civilians. This was self-defence.
I approached Robot, who was still analysing the dead alien and in the middle of giving commands to his team.
"Sorry about this," I said.
And sliced his metal head off.
The Teen Team screamed in unison.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Rex Splode's voice hit a pitch I didn't think was humanly possible.
"HE JUST KILLED ROBOT!" One of the Dupli-Kates shrieked, all of them turning toward me with murder in their eyes.
But I ignored them, shoved my arm into Robot's severed neck, and yanked out the advanced battery reactor that powered his drone body.
The Glowing One trait activated instantly.
Radiation flooded into my body, pure energy absorbing directly into my cells.
The hunger magically vanished as my stamina reserves filled to maximum.
I could even feel my physical stats ticked up slightly from the dose.
This battery was basically a cultivation pill for me.
Perfect.
Rex landed in front of me, fist cocked back, his face twisted in rage. "You just destroyed my friend's body, asshole!"
He swung.
I dodged effortlessly. Enhanced focus, letting me see the punch coming from a mile away. I stepped inside his guard and headbutted him directly in the nose.
His nose crunched as blood sprayed. He staggered back, cursing and and clutching his face.
"Robot's fine! " I shouted over the chaos. "It's a remote-controlled drone! He's not even here!"
But they weren't listening, too shocked and angry to process words.
Whatever. I'd apologize later. Right now, I need to end this invasion and terrify them enough to force them to retreat.
I had three ability slots active. That meant Call to Arms would pull from the Gold Familiar pool.
Time to gamble everything on one pull.
I activated Call to Arms for a blind summon.
The gacha wheel spun in my vision, and I felt the heart of the cards.
'Okay that's cheesy even for me,' I thought.
And I finally saw the roll:
[Blue Eyes White Dragon]
|Elite Familiar|
Yugioh - A dragon of the legends known as an engine of destruction. This dragon, while being very physically powerful with exceptional toughness, is also capable of unleashing a devastating lightning breath and capable of flying at fast speeds.
And then as if something took over.
Maybe it was the gambling high or just the sheer absurdity of the situation.
Or just maybe it was because I'd always wanted to do this as a kid.
But I threw my arms wide and screamed at the top of my lungs:
"WITH THIS SACRED POWER, I SUMMON FORTH! MY PRIDE, MY SOUL, MY ULTIMATE CARD! BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!"
Majestic Blue flames erupted from the summoning circle that appeared beneath me, so goddamn extra that I almost laughed.
The dragon finally materialized.
Spoiler: BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!
White scales that gleamed like polished steel, each one the size of my hand. Crystalline blue eyes that glowed with inner light. Wings that spread fifteen feet from tip to tip, each feather-scale razor sharp.
It was massive. Four and a half meters long, not counting the tail. Big enough to carry a car. Small enough to maneuver through city streets without destroying everything.
Just like the card art. Perfect.
"RROAAARRGH!"
Its roar shook the entire battlefield.
Buildings trembled, windows shattered in cascading waves, and all sorts of alarms went off across six city blocks. I could see the fear on their faces, the sudden recognition that they were no longer the apex predators on this battlefield.
The Flaxan soldiers stumbled, looking up in primal terror at the massive predator that had just entered the food chain above them.
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon spread its wings, opened its maw, and lightning crackled in its throat.
The Summoner trait boosted its traits making it stronger, faster and more connected to me.
The crackling energy built in its throat, white-blue lightning condensing into a beam of pure destruction.
And then it fired.
"Burst Stream of Destruction"
The words came out of my mouth without even trying. Muscle memory from a childhood spent watching anime and dreaming of having my own Blue-Eyes.
The lightning breath weapon carved through the Flaxan lines like a laser through tissue paper.
Soldiers vaporized instantly, armor melting and bodies turning to ash before they could even scream. Tanks became molten slag, superheated metal running like water. The beam swept across their formation in a wide arc, and everywhere it touched, there was only death.
A dozen Flaxans died in the first second. Two dozen in the next. The beam swept across their formation like a scythe, and everywhere it touched, there was only destruction.
The Teen Team stood frozen in shock.
The GDA agents hovering above had stopped mid-flight, staring.
Even Invincible was just... staring at the dragon with his mouth open.
I stood there covered in Flaxan blood, Robot's battery clutched in one hand, my silver rapier still glowing in the other, with a fifty-foot dragon hovering protectively behind me.
"Yeah!" I shouted at the remaining Flaxans. "That's right! We've got a fucking dragon! You see this shit?! THIS IS EARTH, MOTHERFUCKERS! WE DON'T PLAY!"
Author's Note:-
Don't forget to check out my latest chapter of MARVEL: CYOA
I have advanced chapters on my Patreon if you wanna read ahead.
Last edited: Apr 5, 2026
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Threadmarks Chapter 18+19: Fusion! New
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Max_Striker
Max_Striker
Not too sore, are you?
Apr 7, 2026
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#668
I'd done it.
Finally pulled something decent from the gacha, and by decent I meant fucking phenomenal.
I'd summoned the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
The most iconic card in all of Yu-Gi-Oh, the legendary dragon that every duelist dreamed of pulling, and it was mine for the next hour.
The Flaxan commanders started screaming orders in their guttural language.
Even through the Temperance card's emotional dampening, I felt a spike of satisfaction watching them panic.
"Reinforcements! Bring the heavy armor! Surround the lizard! Concentrate fire!"
Within thirty seconds, the entire invasion force pivoted toward me and my dragon.
Flaxan tanks rolled into formation, energy weapons charging up, and soldiers scrambling to surround us from all sides.
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon circled overhead once, its massive wings creating downdrafts that sent loose debris scattering across the street, then roared again for dramatic effect.
"RRROOAAARRRRRGHHH!"
Then it descended to land beside me, its claws scraping grooves into the asphalt as it settled into a protective stance.
It lowered its massive head toward me, crystalline blue eyes meeting mine with intelligence.
I reached up without thinking and patted its scaled snout.
"Good dragon," I said, my voice soft despite everything happening around us. "You're such a good boy. Yes, you are. Who's a good apocalypse beast? You are."
The dragon rumbled deep in its chest, mixed with a cat-like purr, as I felt the vibration through my hand.
Somewhere, I heard Rex Splode's voice carrying over the distance, cracking with disbelief.
"What in the actual fuck just happened here?!"
I looked up at the hovering GDA agents with their jetpacks, at the Teen Team still staring at me like I'd grown a second head, at Invincible floating there with that dead civilian still cradled in his arms.
"I'm saving the day!" I offered with a shrug. "You're welcome?"
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon nudged my shoulder gently with its snout, and I absently scratched under its jaw where the scales were slightly softer.
It made that rumbling purr sound again.
"All right," I muttered, patting its neck. "Let's fuck them up."
I jumped onto the dragon's back between its shoulder blades, gripping the ridge of scales to maintain my balance while my other hand clutched Robot's battery, still absorbing the last dregs of radiation.
Blue Eyes White Dragon took flight with a powerful downstroke of its wings, and suddenly we were airborne, climbing fast.
Looking down at the Flaxan army felt like watching insects scatter.
They were so small from up here, just green dots scrambling around their tanks.
The dragon opened its maw and unleashed Burst Stream of Destruction again.
White lightning carved through the alien formation like a scalpel, vaporizing soldiers and melting tanks into slag. The energy beam swept across their lines in a devastating arc, and everywhere it touched turned to molten metal.
I tried to contribute by creating silver throwing knives with Blademaster, enhanced by my Summoner trait, launching volleys of them at the aliens who were hiding among civilians or ducking behind cover.
But my throwing skills left a lot to be desired.
The knives clattered uselessly against pavement or embedded themselves in walls instead of alien flesh.
"Fuck!" I growled, creating another batch. "Why didn't I get a throwing skill?!"
I looked around mid-flight and saw Mark still floating there in a trance, holding the old woman's body in his arms like he couldn't process what to do next.
"Hey, Invincible!" I shouted over the sound of dragon wings. "Get your head in the game! Leave her and help the living!"
But the kid was clearly too traumatized, flying closer to my level while muttering, "I... I failed her. I let her... die in my arms and I couldn't..."
"Hey!" I fired back, sharper this time. "Now's not the time to be an emo bitch! Leave the dead and go save the dozens of living humans that actually need rescue!"
Pink light flashed near Mark as Atom Eve appeared in a burst of energy.
She looked at the dragon with this weird expression, but then turned to Mark with urgent focus.
"Leave her to me," she said gently, her hands glowing pink. "I'll make sure she's properly buried and laid to rest with dignity. But I need you, Invincible. You're the strongest flier we have right now. I need you doing fly-bys to hospitals, helping Dupli-Kate with evacuation. Can you do that for me?"
Mark looked around at the chaos unfolding below.
My dragon was keeping the Flaxan army at bay, his lightning breath obliterating their formations, though they were firing back now with concentrated volleys of energy weapons. Blue Eyes White Dragon was too fast to get hit by most of them, dodging with surprising agility for something so massive.
But the dragon still couldn't pick off individual aliens mixed in with human crowds on the ground.
Mark gave the old woman's corpse to Eve carefully.
"I…yeah. Okay," he said roughly. Then dove down with renewed focus and went on his evacuation mission, carrying multiple people at once with his superior strength.
Eve looked at the old woman's body for a moment, then conjured a simple coffin around her using her matter manipulation, placing it gently on top of a nearby building away from the fighting.
She looked up at me and my dragon, her eyes narrowing when she saw Robot's battery still clutched in my hand, and scoffed before diving down to join the evacuation efforts.
'Rude,' I thought.
After ten more minutes of fighting these aliens, I was getting impatient.
The GDA agents kept flying around trying to establish contact with me, their voices crackling through speakers, which I mostly ignored, not to mention I couldn't quite hear over the wind and dragon roars, but they stayed well clear of Blue Eyes White Dragon like they were worried he might eat them.
Even another Robot drone appeared to help coordinate rescue efforts, but it stayed very far away from me.
Smart.
And then I saw it.
The scarred Flaxan commander that Invincible had injured earlier started turning grey, his skin taking on an ashen quality as he aged visibly, years passing in seconds.
He looked surprised as his body began to wither.
Like a cascading effect, the shade of grey spread across the rest of the aliens. Their movements slowed. Their formations broke down as soldiers stumbled, suddenly decades older.
They were decaying, experiencing Earth's slower timestream on their accelerated biology.
Either way, they were decaying.
Now's the time.
I mentally slotted Polymerization into my second ability slot, replacing Steam Emission.
The fusion energy surged through me immediately, and I felt the connection to my dragon solidify into something more, our energies intertwining, preparing to merge.
"Feast your eyes on my most powerful form!" I announced, committing fully to the anime protagonist bit. "In its fully evolved glory! Fusion!"
Blue and orange light swirled around me and the dragon, forming the distinctive Polymerization symbol as our bodies began to merge and energy built to a blinding crescendo.
Everyone on the battlefield had to squint and cover their eyes from the brilliant flash.
When the light faded and they looked back up, they witnessed my new form.
Spoiler: Fusion
I was flying under my own power now, feeling the lift and pull of large wings on my back, massive draconic appendages that caught the air with each powerful stroke.
Looking down at myself, my entire body was covered in stylish medieval armor from head to toe, white and blue plating that gleamed like polished steel with draconic motifs etched into every surface. Gauntlets covered my hands, ending in razor-sharp claws.
But the most surprising thing was the senses.
I could hear for miles in every direction, individual conversations, screams and the hum of energy weapons charging. I could see in nearly every spectrum, infrared, ultraviolet and most importantly, I could see the flow of electrical current through every living thing below, their bioelectric signatures painting the battlefield in my enhanced vision.
'Thank god for the Temperance card,' I thought distantly. 'Otherwise I'd be freaking out from all these new senses flooding my brain at once.'
But as my power grew, so did the energy requirements to maintain this form.
I was burning through my reserves too fast, the battery in my hand already drained completely empty. I could feel the hunger starting to gnaw again.
I needed more fuel
I looked around with my enhanced vision and spotted another Robot drone coordinating rescue efforts about two hundred feet away.
With a single tug of my draconic wings, I appeared behind the drone in an instant.
"Sorry about this," I said.
And bisected the poor thing with a single slash of my new claws.
The metal shrieked as I tore through its chassis, yanking out the battery reactor before the pieces had even hit the ground.
I broke apart the casing with my armored fingers, extracted the radium core, and ate it.
The radiation flooded my system immediately.
"Ahh, that's more like it," I said in satisfaction as my energy reserves suddenly replenished to maximum capacity.
Now I could move and expend power freely for at least a few more attacks before I'd need to refuel again.
Atom Eve sent a pink energy blast toward me from below, her face twisted in anger.
I deflected it casually with the armor on my hand, the construct shattering against draconic scales, and watched as the deflected shot veered off course and hit a Flaxan tank instead.
"Stop destroying Robot's drones!" she screamed up at me, launching another volley of attacks.
I deflected most of them, letting a few slip past deliberately so they'd hit Flaxan targets instead of wasting energy.
"Shut it, potential girl!" I called back. "It's wartime and I'm just rationing supplies!"
I flew higher above the battlefield, and now with my new senses and energy problems temporarily solved, I formed energy daggers in the air above me.
The Summoner trait with my Fusion made everything easier to control.
Dozens of them, each one crackling with electrical current from my draconic power.
I sent them down as a volley, targeting individual Flaxans even when they were mixed in with human crowds, my enhanced senses letting me pick out their alien bioelectric signatures with perfect clarity.
The daggers flew true this time, no more amateur throwing, just perfect guidance through my connection to the blades.
They stabbed down with lightning-enhanced piercing power, destroying Flaxan soldiers whose bodies were already aging and decaying from the timestream effect.
Feeling a bit chuunibyou from the sheer spectacle of it all, I let my inner Gilgamesh come out to play.
"Rejoice, green mongrels!" I announced to the battlefield below. "Witness my glory and begone from this realm!"
The lightning-infused daggers rained down like divine judgment, stabbing and electrocuting the invaders whose withered bodies couldn't withstand the assault.
The injured Flaxan leader finally gave the order to retreat, his voice cracking with age and defeat.
I didn't let up, increasing the intensity of my attacks as the Teen Team and GDA agents followed suit, ramping up their own assault to maximize the damage and force the aliens into full retreat.
'Nakime,' I reached out through our mental connection. 'It's time!'
As the aliens started retreating toward their red dimensional portal on withered legs, a golden tatami door suddenly materialized directly in front of the portal.
The heroes immediately went on guard; weapons raised toward this new unknown threat.
I prepared to pour everything I had left into one final attack.
I drained all remaining energy from the reactor core's radiation and fully channeled the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's draconic lightning power through my Blademaster ability.
It all condensed into a single straight longsword that formed in my hands, crackling with white-blue electricity.
The blade crackled with white-blue electricity, power building to critical mass.
I pulled it behind my head in a classic overhead slashing stance, every muscle tensed for the strike.
The tatami door finally slid open.
And Omni-Man himself stumbled through, still heavily wounded from his fight in the Infinity Castle.
His iconic costume was shredded and burned, more red than white now from all the blood. His skin showed exposed muscle and bone in places, covered in dust and debris like he'd been smashing through walls for days. The wound on his ribs was still bleeding, refusing to close. His own exhaustion clear in every movement, barely standing.
Below me, I heard Mark's voice crack with desperate hope.
"DAD!!"
But Omni-Man didn't even notice his son.
Those blood-red eyes were focused solely on me with hatred so intense I could feel it physically, the Mortal Enemy curse radiating off him like heat.
Even through the Temperance card, something cold slithered down my spine.
Primal fear. The look of a predator that had found its prey.
My mind snapped back to that room and suddenly Nolan's hand was around my throat again, crushing my windpipe until I couldn't breathe. The pressure built and built, his fingers digging into my neck like I was made of clay, and all I could think was that I was going to die again, right here, right now while he looked at me like I was nothing. Tears started forming in my eyes fear and helplessness in that moment.
Yeah, I needed to get rid of him right fucking now before he recovered enough to kill me.
"Get fucked, you Inbred Viltrum! And that's a promise from John Kaisen!"
So, I put everything I had and everything beyond into this final attack.
"DRACONIC EXCALIBUR!!!"
A dragon's roar filled the air, drowning out every other sound on the battlefield as I brought the blade down.
The slash attack tore through the air, a crescent of pure blue draconic energy that carved a glowing arc toward Omni-Man.
It struck his already-burned skin and cut a line across his chest, the edge biting through Viltrumite flesh that was too weakened to fully resist.
But more importantly, the massive electrical charge stunned him completely, his muscles seizing up from the lightning coursing through his body, preventing him from dodging or flying away.
The sheer kinetic force of the attack launched him backward through the air like a ragdoll.
Straight into the red Flaxan portal.
My attack followed him in, the energy blade continuing its destructive path into the dimensional rift.
There was a sound like reality tearing.
The portal collapsed from the inside out. My attack overloaded whatever machinery the Flaxans were using to maintain the bridge between worlds.
Dimensional energies imploded as the rift sealed itself violently.
Then, absurd silence followed.
Everyone on the battlefield was either too confused or too awestruck to speak.
The attack had carved a massive valley into the road itself, the pavement gouged out in a gaping maw-like trench that was easily fifteen feet deep and stretched for two city blocks.
Buildings on either side showed stress fractures, damage from the shockwave.
I'd just carved a scar into downtown Chicago that would take months to repair.
I was completely spent, my energy levels bottomed out, every muscle trembling from exertion.
The fusion was dissolving. I could feel it coming apart, the connection to Blue-Eyes severing as Polymerization's effect ended.
I saw Nakime's tatami gate still open below me.
I let myself fall toward it, the armor starting to crack and dissolve into motes of light.
Right before the gate closed above me, I heard a shrill roar of anguish.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY DAD?!"
I looked to my side and saw Mark, bruised and bloody from his evacuation efforts, launching at me at full speed with tears streaming down his face and fury in his eyes.
Our eyes met through my dissolving helmet.
I could only mouth one word.
'Sorry.'
The gate slammed shut above me.
Mark was left attacking nothing but empty air, his fists passing through the space where I'd just been, screaming his rage and grief at a target that was already gone.
I hit the wooden floor of the Infinity Castle and the impact drove the air from my lungs. The fusion dissolved completely, armor shattering into blue sparks that faded into nothing.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon reappeared beside me in a flash of light, the temporary fusion ended. It settled down, clearly exhausted.
I went to my knees, gasping for breath, every nerve in my body screaming from energy depletion.
Nakime's voice came from nearby, soft and respectful as always, but the exhaustion was clear in her tone.
"Welcome back, Master."
Right.
I was finally home.