"YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME?" I yelled, hunkering down in the convenience store I was in.
All I wanted was some goddamn Reese's Pieces, and it seemed like I was going to die for my troubles. I didn't expect a fight between powered criminals and powered heroes to happen right outside of the place I was at, but my luck was grand, and they were right above us. With the force of their blows shaking the air, and the power of their powers clashing together, none of them could be any lower than A-Class. And me? I was just a normal unpowered human, so even a glancing blow from one of their attacks would kill me.
"Come the fuck on, man." I said, then I screamed as I had to dodge to the side to avoid the broken ceiling above me from crushing me like a bug.
Having super powered heroes was nice and all, but what did it matter if civilians got killed in the process? I'd already seen a couple of people get crushed to death from falling debris already. Those images would never leave my head. In this world, you have a roughly 25% chance of being born as a powered, and yeah, while the chances were low, I was really wishing I would have been born as one.
That's when I looked up through the broken ceiling, and I saw her...
"Victoria..." I muttered, watching as she summon a volley of giant ice spikes, and shot them towards the powered criminal she was fighting.
Victoria Marshall, better known as the Glacial Queen, was the top A-Class hero in the city, and even some of the other bigger cities around the world. She looked like a literal goddess of ice as she flew around, artic chill and ice following her path through the air. I wished I could be up there to fight alongside her. Why couldn't I have been born like that? I'd always wanted to be a hero ever since I was young, ever since I read the stories about how it all began.
The world had changed a lot in the last 100 years. After the world had almost been destroyed by multiple governments trying to gain control, most of those at the forefront had died, and a new world order had been established. Oddly enough, people that cared actually got put in the right positions this time around.
There was no rebuilding the world as we knew it, so it was time for something new. I lived in a city know as Haven's Peak, a city far to the North of what was once know as the United States. A few dozen cities existed in this area of the world, although they were much bigger than anything that had come before. And what did the fallout of the old world bring?
Powers, sudden and unexplainable. Some people claimed it was an after effect of nuclear weapons, while others claimed it was God offering us a new weapon to use at our disposal. Truthfully, no one truly knew, but I myself knew one thing. Super powers were fucking cool. And yet, here I was, screaming and crying as I watched the woman I had fallen in love with so long ago fight some asshole that was shooting dark energy balls at her.
We had both grown up together, had went to the same schools, had been best friends. My pansy ass had never been good with women, or explaining my feelings, especially to her. I had never told her how I felt about her, had never told her how beautiful I thought she was... hell, I never ever held her hand, or kissed her, and fuck did I want to. I had been there when her power first showed itself. How we were hanging out one day, and got attacked by a weak D-Class powered criminal that figured we'd be easy pickings for some quick cash. I had gotten punched in the face and had my jaw broken trying to protect Victoria, and the next thing I knew? He was a frozen block of ice.
She had been taken away and trained to be a hero ever since that day, and I promised to join her one of these days. That I would become just as strong as her... and now? That was 10 years ago. Now, at the age of 21, she was one of the strongest heros in the world. And me? I was 23... and without a shred of power to my name. I had broken my promise to her, and all I could do was lament in my own bad luck. I tried not to let it show that it bothered me, but it did. The only power I had was my mouth, but given how much trouble it always got me in, it was more of an annoyance towards people that pissed me off.
I pulled out my phone as I watched Victoria battle the crazy lunatic in the sky, and called my mom. She answered after two rings.
"Gideon! Honey, how are you? Are you- hey, what's that loud noise? Are you at a party?" She said, and I couldn't help but smile given the situation.
"Hey mom, I'm fine. Well, not really. I currently have a front row seat to a battle of crazy powered, and I was just calling you to tell you that I love you. I don't want to die here, but anything could happen."
My blunt and to the point response left her silent for a second, and then I grimace and had to hold the phone far away from my ear as she began screaming.
"YOU ARE AT THAT FIGHT? RUN! GET OUT OF THERE! YOU HAVE TO-" She said, and then a strong attack sent a gust of wind through the store, and it tore my phone from my hands, where it disappeared up and out of the store.
"Goddamn it." I groaned, and as I looked up to check out the fight again, I couldn't help but grin with pride
The man Victoria was fighting was now panting, and I assumed he had used too much of his power, and his reserves were quite low. Then, I became a little panicked as he began to create a another ball of dark energy with his outstretched palm. Then, two shards of ice slammed into his chest, and erupted out of his back in a spray of blood. The man visibly wheezed, but the ball of energy he was creating did not slow down in its creation. In fact, it actually became larger.
"This dude is fucking insane!" I yelled, just as two more ice shards pierced his guts.
That definitely seemed to do it, as he began to sag, but the energy ball did not disappear. It actually chose that moment to fire off, but it did not fire towards Victoria as he had intended. No, because I was here, and my luck was apparently in the negatives, it flew out of his sagging hand, and where was that hand currently pointed? Right here, baby.
Victoria's eyes snapped to the ball of energy, and then towards its destination. Right towards me. Well... if I was going to die, at least let me see her one last time. I looked right at her as her gaze met mine, and I saw recognition dawn on her face, and then horror as she screamed, but she was too far away for me to hear her. She began blasting off towards me at a speed even greater than I've ever seen from her before. I didn't think it was going to be fast enough.
"Well... screw it." I muttered, before I cupped my hands in front of my mouth and yelled, "I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU, VICTORIA! THAT WAS A BADASS FIGHT!"
I actually didn't expect her to hear me, but she must have, because she sped up even faster. Still not fast enough, though. The ball of darkness reached me, and the last thing I saw before my world went black, were two crystalian tears falling from Victoria's face. I didn't expect that, but it felt nice to know that I was a fucking idiot before I died.
◇ ◇ ◇
Okay, so I should be dead. Hell, I pretty much had VIP tickets to watching myself die, but unfortunately I was still stuck here with my thoughts, so there was something odd going on here. I couldn't see anything, so either it was super dark, or I was blind now. Hell, maybe this was the afterlife or something. I've heard stories about it, but it would kinda suck a lot of balls if I was stuck here in the dark for eternity.
"Is anyone there?" I said, or more so, I think I said.
I both felt that I spoke, and yet I didn't speak at the same time. Now, that's a weird feeling, I'll tell you. The same feeling happened each time I tried to say something, so decided to just shut the fuck up and try to figure things out for now. After a few minutes, or hours, or maybe even years, time m felt weird so I didn't really know, I heard a voice speaking to me, and it sounded like it was coming from everywhere at once.
"Child of Infinite potential, welcome." It said, and I blinked rapidly, or at least, I got the impression that I was doing that. I still couldn't see a damn thing.
"Uh... hi?" I responded intelligently.
"Hello, Gideon, he who has the potential for infinite growth. Welcome." It said simply.
"Um... where am I? And what's going on?" I asked.
"You are in the realm between right now, and I am in need of your aid, and no one can do for me what I need expect for you." It said, and that sentence got a laugh to bubble out of... well, wherever my voice was coming from.
"Me? I think you got the wrong guy, or I'm having death hallucinations. Not sure which yet, but I'm definitely not the person of you want helping you. I'm a weak nobody who loads packages into trucks for way less money than I think I should be getting. There are plenty of A and even S-Class heroes to choose from."
The voice didn't say anything for a moment, but once it did, it stopped me silent.
"You do have power, though, it's just not one that can manifest. While those people are strong that you mentioned, their power js fixed, and they would stagnate." It replied.
"Wait, what??" I asked, both excited at hearing that, and pissed that I found out after I died. Actually, was I really dead?
"Your power is what I have said. The potential for infinite growth. The issue is that you can not use it on your world, as there is no way for you to train and cultivate new powers and abilities. In my world, however, that is very possible." It replied, and what it said made my pause.
"Your... world? As in, not my world?" I asked, and I got the mental image of some nodding. That felt weird as hell.
"Indeed. Your, "power," as it is called in your world, is much more similar to a skill from a skill crystal from my world, although none with your skill has come along for many, many years. I believe... there has been a mix up." The voice said, causing my non existent head to spin.
"Wait, wait, hold on. What the fuck are you talking about? Like, from a video game, or one of those old world animes?" I asked, perplexed.
Video games had never died off, even after the world had changed, but the country that was once Japan had been wiped off of the map, and while a lot of people from there still lived, it was rougher on that side of the world than here due to an abundance of Power Monsters in that area. Obviously, making cartoons weren't their priority anymore. Still, the old stuff was everywhere, and you could find catalogs of all of it online. I liked watching a lot of it, as it was a ton of fun, and there were quite a few I could think of that were similar to my current predicament.
"Is this... really happening?" I asked, and I actually heard the voice talking to me chuckle. I also couldn't tell if the voice was a man or a woman. It sounded more androgynous than anything.
"Something like that. A few people that we have brought over here said similar things... however, none of them were able to complete the task given to them, but you." It said, the voice becoming almost reverent, "I believe you can do what no one else has been able to do before. You, Gideon Astier, have the potential to finally kill and put an end to the corrupted Gods once and for all."
I sat there, or floated... no, I existed for a long moment without saying a damn thing. That didn't last forever, but I didn't know what to say, or how to respond, so... I just went with my gut.
"The fuck are you talking about?"
The voice responded a moment later with a small laugh.
"I like you, Gideon. You speak your mind to any and everyone, even a God like myself." The voice said, stopping me short.
"A...God?" I asked carefully.
"Yes. I have many different names, but for the sake of this conversation, I am known simply at Creta, God of Creation. The world I wish to send you, is one I have made myself." The voice said, and I instantly became skeptical.
"If this is your world... why do you need me?" I asked, and I got the feeling that the God thought that was a good question.
"That's a good question." It said, and I had to stifle my laugh, "My power lies in Creation, not destruction, and a God cannot be killed so easily. The other Gods of my world have all been corrupted by an inter dimensional parasite of divine origins, and have all turned against me, and the people of my world. I am their own bastion, and yet, all I can do for them is create walls and safe places, but not for long. It won't be long before everyone and everything I have made is gone... and I can't bear the thought."
The voice actually sounded choked up at the end, and suddenly, my thoughts of comebacks, jokes, and stupid remarks flew out the window. Isn't this what I've always wanted? To help people, to be a savior of those who couldn't save themselves, and to have power? I was being offered that right now, and by a very earnest sounding God no less. I had a power, but one I couldn't use on Earth. But according to this God, I could use it here. It sounded wonderful, and yet...
"But... my mom, and the people I left behind... will they be okay? I don't want to leave them." I said somberly, but what I heard next perked me right the fuck up.
"Oh, that won't be a problem. Once you help me, and are done with your task, I will end you back. And fret not, time in my world works much differently in my world, so I'm sure that by the time you are done and I send you back, not even that much time will have passed. And, you even will be able to keep the power you acquire."
I wasn't sure if I had a face, or if I could grin, but the thought of helping an entire world and a God, gaining power, and being able to go home with said power, had me metaphorically grinning like a loon.
"Sign me the fuck up."