Kunar Province, Afghanistan
Three military Humvees roll across a desert road, the immediate vicinity nothing but dense, dry shrubbery and small, rocky hills, with mountains in the distance suggesting they are in a valley of sorts. Upon closer look you can see large, mounted machine guns atop the first and third vehicle, and you can hear the sounds of 'Back in Black' by ACDC coming from the middle vehicle.
I jolt awake with a start, finding myself in the back of a vehicle surrounded by soldiers. Quickly and rather discreetly, I glance around and try to understand the situation I have found myself in.
Looking around the cabin of the Humvee, the first thing I notice is the rather loud music blaring from a small, portable radio in the middle of the floor. The second thing I notice is the man in the suit right next to me, sipping scotch from a glass.
His side profile seems incredibly familiar, but all I can really make out is a very nice suit, probably way outside of anything I could have ever been able to afford, and a neat but roguish goatee and red-tinted sunglasses.
But honestly, I'm more concerned about the four armed soldiers who seem very tense..
Luckily, not a one of them seems to have noticed my brief shock.
The next thing I notice is that I feel amazing. Genuinely, absolutely, amazing. A lifetime of rough work has left me sore, scarred, battered and bruised, and I cannot feel a single one of those former injuries.
Looking down at my hands in shock, I see not the hands of a hardened mercenary but the soft, delicate hands of a man who has never felt discomfort. They are uncalloused and well maintained, with not a scratch on them.
That discovery is quickly pushed to the back-burner when I see what lies on my wrist. A nice golden watch with an elegant black face, with the words Patek-Philippe etched right in the dial.
The Patek-Philippe Golden Eclipse. A watch worth 50 thousand dollars. Conservatively.
Well now I am very confused. How does this possibly count as a 'Horrible Night'? Maybe the curse wheel really is bitch-made. If that's the case, I can take more curses with impunity. After all, I rolled a 3 and all that happened was I became ric-
"I feel like you're driving me to a court marshal. This is crazy, what did I do?' The rich man says. "I feel like you're gonna pull me over and snuff me. What, you're not allowed to talk?"
As the man says that he looks over to the soldier on my other side and I finally see the rest of his face. A very familiar face. One that I could never forget. After all, being a degenerate and being a nerd are not mutually exclusive. Of course I recognized the face of Superhero movies.
Robert Downey Jr.
"Hey Forrest!' he shouts.
"We can talk, sir." the soldier replies. He sounds young, probably no older than 20.
"Oh I see. So it's personal?"
It was at that moment a spike of pain lances through my head, and with it came a flood of memories.
The young man I'm currently occupying was also named Percival, with his last name being Graves-Santiago instead of just the latter like my own. He's real young, just a couple months over 18, playing the role of Tony Stark's second personal assistant.
Apparently the only way he/I got the job is because Percy's parents have been Stark's bodyguards for the past decade or so and Percy got in close with Tony during that time-frame, becoming something like a younger brother to the billionaire/playboy/philanthropist so he was given the job out of hand because of their pre-existing relationship.
Another tidbit of information that came through is that apparently Percy's parents are here with them, His father keeping watch from the first Humvee ahead and his mother from the last behind.
Which doesn't really make sense to me, because I also rolled the Orphan curse, so I shouldn't have parents in this new life.
At this point all I need is for the Perverted Curse to be disproven and I will basically confirm that the Curse Wheel didn't work. After all, I'm a rich kid with two living parents, an amazing pseudo-brother and surrounded by armed infantry here to protect us.
It now makes sense why the soldiers are so tense, they're literally escorting the richest man in America through a semi-hostile nation. I'd be on edge if I was them too.
Realising that I'm completely safe, I let out the breath I had been holding for however long and leaned back in my chair, completely relaxed, just listening to one of my favourite songs playing from the personal radio. After all, everything is coming up Percival.
Some stray chuckles remind me that I am not, in fact, alone right now and I tune back into the conversation happening around me.
"Sir, I have a question to ask." This time it's the soldier in front, who turns around and looks at Tony.
"Yes, please."
"Is it true you went twelve for twelve with last year's Maxim cover models?" the young man asks, incredulously.
Realising that I could be doing much more productive things with my time than listening to Tony brag, I thought Status.
___/Status\_____________
Name; Percival Graves-Santiago
Race; Human
Tickets: None
___/Abilities\_____________
-Active (0/1)-
None
-Storage-
[Rare- Suggestion]
[Rare- Oni]
[Rare- Sharpshooter]
[Elite- Daily Grind]
___/Items\_____________
None
___/Traits\_____________
None
___/Skills\_____________
[Rare- Intermediate Total Concentration Breathing] (Requires 'Download')
[Elite- Expert Teaching] (Requires 'Download')
___/Familiars\_____________
None
Noticing the active ability slot was empty, I immediately slotted in my highest level ability, [Daily Grind]. After all, I'm surrounded by allies so theres no need for [Suggestion], and if it comes to a point where I need [Oni] or [Sharpshooter], while surrounded by heavily armed soldiers, then I'm fucked anyways.
___/Abilities\_____________
-Active(1/1)-
[Elite- Daily Grind]
As soon as I equipped the [Daily Grind] ability, a strange feeling spread across my body, like all of my muscles, joints and tendons had tightened up just a little bit, as if they were all being wound up. In the span of a breath or so, I got used to the feeling.
After taking a second to admire the beautiful sight of my system in front of me, I furrow my brow and think 'Hey system, what's up with having a single ability slot? Am I going to have to keep switching out anytime I want to use a different ability?'
Explanation: Ability Slots
Active Ability Slots can be increased by either reaching a milestone in the amount of abilities you have or through quest rewards.
'Oh.' I decide, letting my face relax into a more neutral posture. 'Thank you system. Very cool.'
You're welcome, host.
I'm brought back into the current situation when both the young soldier to my left and Tony to my right both scoot towards me, the soldier in the passenger seat pulling out a camera.
Realising what was happening, I quickly swapped places with Tony, leaving me pressed against the window and Tony in the middle of the Humvee.
"I don't want to see this on your MySpace page." Tony says to the young man, who is throwing up a peace sign.
Looking at my skill panel, I noticed something strange, so I asked the System. 'So what does the (Requires 'Download') mean?'
Explanation: Skills
Skills earned from the Chaos Gacha must be downloaded into the host's mind before they can be used. Since this process can be both long and painful, it has been turned into a manual decision. Automatic Mode can be toggled on/off.
'Makes sense.' I decide. 'Alright. Begin download for [Intermediate Total Concentration Breathing].'
As soon as the thought is passed I feel a sharp pain in my skull, similar to when I integrated The Kid's past but not quite as intense. Instead of a railroad spike impaling my temple, it's more akin to a needle. Still rather unpleasant, though.
Accompanying the lance of pain through the skull is a deep, intense burning that starts in the deepest wells of the lungs and gradually floods through the body, spreading throughout my circulatory system. It feels like five years of dedicated practice in [Total Concentration Breathing] is being dropped on my body at once.
After the pain though comes a different, euphoric feeling of strength and resilience, like I'd been reforged. I feel my own breathing start to surge with the now familiar rhythm as my lungs expand and contract with never before seen force.
*KABOOM*
I'm jostled out of the system by Tony slamming into my side, the soldiers in the Humvee screaming around us. I look out the window and see what caused the explosion.
The burnt out shell of the Humvee that was in front of us. The one the Kid's father was in.
The Soldier in the driver seat pushes open her door and climbs out of the car, instantly taking a bullet and going to the floor. The passenger turns around and yells at Forrest beside us. "Jimmy, stay with Stark!' and exits the Humvee himself, leans over the hood of the vehicle and starts returning fire. A second later and he's gone too.
I turn to my left and see Jimmy/Forest messing with his rifle, and then he climbs out the door as well, completely disregarding the other guy's order.
"Wait wait wait! Give me a gun!" Tony shouts, desperation clear in his voice, but Forrest just shuts the door in his face. "Stay. Here." he demands, before running off into the firefight.
The entire side of the Humvee he just climbed out of is blasted to shit by rounds, making the fate of the young man quite clear and leaving just Tony and I in the vehicle.
Deciding that i want to live even if it means showing Tony that i now have powers, i call out to the system. 'Replace [Daily Grind] with [Oni]!'
Error! Ability slot on cooldown. 4/10 Minutes remaining.
Notice: Cooldown can be shortened and increased by a variety of factors such as-
'Fuck! I don't care right now!' I yell in my head. Deciding that relying on the system is a lost cause I turn to Tony. "Alright, We're sitting ducks right here. I'm going to open this door and you're going to crouch as low as you can and sprint for that little rock right there, ok? Do you understand?"
As soon as he nods at me I pull the door open and jump out, hugging the side of the Humvee. Crawling over to the corpse of the Soldier slumped on the hood of the vehicle I grab his sidearm, a Beretta M9. A little old for my tastes, but a gun I've at least used before.
As i turn back around to cover Tony's retreat I see the burnt out husk of the Rear Humvee as well, signifying that the [Orphan] curse has come to fruition. Noticing that Tony has made it safely behind cover, I bravely turn around to face the enemy Soldiers.
And instantly catch a bullet in the shoulder. And another in the ribs. A third in the thigh. Overwhelmed by pain, I hit the ground hard. Turns out that while this new body of mine has none of my severe mental disorders and defects it also has none of my muscle memory or pain resistance.
As I lay on the roadside bleeding out, I turn around to check on my sorta employer, sorta new brother and see a mortar shell land right next to him.
That's the last thing I see before passing out.
⬘⬗⬘⟢⬘⬗⬘⟣⬘⬗⬘
And there it is, Chapter 5. You didn't really think he'd get away without his Curses applied, did you? Hell no.
I like the backstory I've given the new Percival, or as he will be going by now, Percy. I think making him the Nepo-Baby friend/little brother figure for Tony Stark is a good relationship and might have some really fun influence on his character development.