Sentinel - Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Chapter 1

[Chaos Gacha System Online!]

“What the fuck?”

[As a native to your world, you have been granted a choice of the following: 3 Bronze Gacha Tickets, 2 Silver Gacha Tickets, 1 Gold Gacha Ticket. Please pick one.]

Adam stared at the words floating in front of his face. He'd just woken up, and today was his eighteenth birthday. He was expecting a nice dinner with the family, a few small gifts, and to have a little fun with his friends at an eighteen-and-over club. He was not expecting to wake up with some weird system thing that was now pumping information on itself into his brain.

He groaned and closed his eyes as the information informed him about the system and what it was capable of. It gave him the context he needed to make choices. It also let him know that his entire life was about to change, and possibly not for the better. That was the problem with living in a world filled with superpowered beings and excess government surveillance on such beings.

If it wasn't some superpowered villain that got him, it would be the government locking him up in some black site to poke and prod him. He scowled and opened his eyes, hoping that it had all just been an illusion. Instead, he was greeted with the message still sitting in his sight.

He sighed while his whole body slouched, “Not good.”

He pushed his blanket off and climbed out of his bed while trying to ignore the words still floating in his vision. It was actually fairly annoying since they blocked a lot of his vision. Still, he managed to make his way to his dresser and pull on some boxers at least. The words stayed no matter how much he wished they would go away.

Alright, he had to think of this logically. Bronze was the lowest tier in the gacha and contained junk and common rewards with a low chance of a rare one. Nothing was supposed to be complete garbage, but the odds of getting something that could keep him protected seemed unlikely. Silver was the next tier and slightly better, with the possibility of getting Elite tier, which supposedly contained some powerful things. Gold tier got all the way up to epic rarity rewards, which could be the best he could get, for now.

It all came down to the odds, and odds were he wouldn't get the best result from a single Gold roll, but two silver rolls gave him two chances at something rare that could be useful rather than just a single chance.

Adam let out a long sigh, “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I choose silver.”

[Two Silver Gacha Tickets Granted!]

[As a new player, you have the opportunity to accept up to three random curses in exchange for additional gacha tickets. If you would like to take the gamble, say yes followed by the number of curses you wish to roll.]

Adam scowled and stared at the message. He was highly tempted to take his chances with the curses. More gacha tickets would never be bad. Except, the information in his head on curses said they could be mildly annoying, like suddenly needing glasses, to apocalypse-level deadly. Considering that kaiju liked to randomly show up and terrorize cities, something a magical bullshit system called 'apocalyptic' could be infinitely more terrifying.

His world was a death world where monsters and super villains popped out on an almost monthly basis. If he was going to be thrust into that world, he needed as much power as he could get. Hell, most superpowers had some kind of drawback of some sort, so this was just his drawback. Two silver tickets were unlikely to give him the power needed to survive; five tickets though? Much better odds.

“Yes, roll three curses.”

Stupid? Definitely. Worth it? Hopefully.

Or it was random fucking chaos, and he was totally screwed.

[ROLLING!]

[Animal Antagonist, Major Curse, Animals really hate you, they really do. Any feral animal that sees you perceives you as an active threat, a competitor, or prey to be hunted. Resolve: Acquire 3 traits that increase your rapport with animals]

[Excommunicated, Medium Curse, Clergy and Divine naturally take a dislike to you; all holy and divine effects are weakened when used by you, and you are vulnerable to exorcisms and effects that would otherwise hurt the unholy. Resolve: Acquire a pardon from an individual with a very high rank in the clergy or from a divine entity.]

[Celebrity, Minor Curse, You are great at drawing attention, whether you like it or not. People tend to notice you, and if you ask them to pick out someone random in a crowd, they would pick you more likely than not. Can be useful for gathering fame, but the downsides edge out the positives. Resolve: Get 3 stranger class powers or traits.]

[+1x Gold Choice Gacha Ticket, +1x Advantage Gold Gacha Ticket, +1x Gold Gacha Ticket]

[System Setup Complete! Welcome to Chaos!]

Adam stared at the curses he'd gotten with a frown. They didn't seem... horrible. He'd never been a huge animal lover, but he did love a nice fluffy doggo, so that was kind of disappointing. The Excommunicated curse though... That one scared him. He knew, for a fact, that hell existed. How? There was literally a demon detective that went around solving murders all in a bid to keep himself out of hell. And he was a DEMON! Hell should have been home to him! If even the demons wanted out, how bad was hell itself?!

That one was bad, but Celebrity, despite being the weakest and lowest tier of curse, was by far the worst of the three. He needed to perform 'feats' in order to get more gacha tickets to get more rolls, to get more powers, to get stronger and hopefully survive whatever hell was coming. He didn't want his civilian identity to be out there, but with that curse, his odds of keeping a secret identity seemed unlikely.

His only hope was a full face mask.

He took a breath and focused on the system, “Roll a silver ticket.”

[ROLLING!]

[Web Fluid & Shooters, Rare Item, Spider-Man - "Don't forget the hyphen!" A vial of Spider-Man's patented web fluid and a pair of webshooters you can equip to your wrists. You get one full vial every 24 hours.]

“The fuck is Spider-Man?”

He'd never heard of Spider-Man before, sounded like the name of a supe. With a thought, he pulled the items out of the inventory that came with his system and looked them over. They looked like a weird mutant wristwatch of some sort. Just holding them gave him minimal knowledge on how they worked and honestly?

“Fucking AWESOME!”

In the right hands, the web shooters alone could make someone a decent street-level hero. They had it all: mobility, weaponization, and even the ability to bind people. All in a nice biodegradable package that was stronger than the steel equivalent. Shit, if he could learn how to make the fluid and shooters, he could patent them as a non-lethal weapon for police forces.

He quickly strapped the Web Shooters to his wrists and looked them over. Each came with one fluid cartridge installed, and the daily free one was sitting in his inventory. He spun around and did silly poses while pointing at the walls with the shooters. Activating them required him to use his middle and ring fingers to depress a switch that sat over his palm.

He had no idea how iconic that hand position was in a million other universes. He performed a quick spin, his fingers moving to the firing position. He chuckled until his fingers accidentally brushed the trigger. With a gaseous-sounding 'Thwip!' a stream of fluid shot out and immediately hardened into webbing that struck a picture hanging on his wall and shattered the glass from the force of the impact.

Adam jerked his hand back, which ripped the picture off of the wall and sent it flying right at his head. With a loud yelp, he ducked and let the picture fly over him and slam into the wall behind him, where the frame broke and fell to the ground.

He slowly stood up and looked at the mess he'd made. A web string, broken glass, and the shattered frame all rested on the floor of his bedroom, “Uhm.... Maybe I shouldn't play with the highly advanced superhero gear in my bedroom...”

He stored the web shooters back in his inventory. He'd get more practice with them later, preferably in a place where he wouldn't be breaking his own stuff.

“Alright, roll a silver ticket.”

[ROLLING!]

[White Tiger Form, Rare Ability, You are able to transform into a snow tiger or a hybrid, giving you enhanced senses, predatory instincts, natural weapons, and increased physical stats as well as the traits a white tiger might otherwise have]

The second roll was also fairly impressive. He could feel the ability in the back of his mind, like a switch he could flip to activate it whenever he wanted. He couldn't restrain his curiosity and flipped the switch to the middle position.

He jerked as he felt a sharp sensation, then his body expanded. He grew taller while his muscles thickened. White fur with black stripes erupted over his entire body. The hair on his head grew longer and turned white while his face transformed into something significantly more feline in appearance. Even his teeth transformed so that he had large fangs.

His hearing, sight, and sense of smell were all amplified. He could smell things he couldn't identify, but he was pretty sure one scent was the Italian food Mrs. Scallini, who lived above him, liked to cook. He had a habit of helping the single mother carry her groceries anytime he saw the chance. His willingness to help her had nothing to do with the fact that she was a Grade A one hundred percent genuine MILF.

He looked at his now massive clawed hands in awe while he could feel the new strength flowing through his body.

“I gotta see what I look like.”

He walked to his bedroom door and grabbed the handle. Metal screeched as his much larger and stronger hand accidentally crushed the doorknob. He scowled at that, “Right... stronger. This is going to take a little to get used to, isn't it?”

He didn't let that stop him, though. With the doorknob crushed, it no longer actually worked, so he just had to pull a little to get the door open. When he got to the bathroom door, he very gently used only his index finger and thumb to turn the knob and open the door. It took a little more time than normal, but he got inside and finally got a look at himself in the mirror.

Golden eyes and the face of a tiger greeted him. It was a little disorienting to look at, but he didn't focus on that. He focused on how badass he looked, “Dude, I'm total furry bait.”

He chuckled at that realization, but didn't let it distract him for long. There was more for him to experience still. He pushed the mental switch again and flipped it to 'full animal' mode. The same weird sensation flooded his body while he fell down to stand on all fours. He looked around from his new, lower perspective. The whole world seemed so... different. Even his vision was different, a level to it he'd never experienced before.

He carefully hopped up so he could place his front paws on the edge of his sink and look into the mirror. Staring back at him was a large Siberian tiger. He looked... magnificent.

He also couldn't go out in public looking like he did. People would panic at the sight of a massive white tiger just casually walking down the street. No matter how weird things in the world got, wild animals walking down the street was still way out there.

He flipped the switch back to the human setting and watched as his body swiftly shifted back to what he'd looked like when he went to sleep. He rolled his shoulders and grinned at himself in the mirror, “Alright, time to move on to the next amazing new thing in my life. Roll the gold ticket.”

[ROLLING!]

[Fishman Form, Rare Ability, One Piece - Allows you to transform into a fishman, a race of humanoid fish that can live on both land and sea. As a fishman, you possess greatly increased physical abilities compared to a regular human, and your physical abilities are further empowered when submerged.]

He blinked, “Another transformation ability? That's... that seems unlikely. It's also kind of annoying that I can't equip both at the same time. Stupid slot limitations. On the other hand, now I have an excellent ability for underwater work. Never have to worry about drowning again!”

He swapped out White Tiger Form for Fishman Form. Unlike White Tiger Form, Fishman Form only had an on/off switch. He switched it on and watched as his whole body transformed. The biggest visual change was his skin color as it transitioned from Caucasian to light blue. His dark hair grew longer, his lips thickened, and gills appeared on either side of his neck.

Oh, and he was now at least nine feet tall and covered in muscles that would make gym bros weep with envy. His fingers and toes had become webbed, and his teeth had become shark-like. Other than that, he still looked like himself.

As he flexed his now much larger biceps, he wondered how he now compared in strength to Aquarus of the Guardians of the Globe, the world's premier superhero team. He wasn't a hydrokinetic like the creature from the sea, but he was significantly stronger than the average human now. Well, if nothing else, the sea creature couldn't drown him! Not that he was actually worried about that.

He flipped the switch off and allowed himself to shrink back to his normal size. He jerked in surprise as his boxers, which had managed to stay on during his tiger transformations, fell off. The fishman form had stretched them beyond their limits. Right, he'd need stretchy clothes if he was going to use that form in the future. The same went for the tiger form.

He put those thoughts aside for now and looked at his last two tickets. Advantage would roll twice and let him pick one. Choice let him pick the category he would roll the ticket from, rather than it being completely random. His choices were Abilities, Items, Traits, Skills, and Familiars.

He had no interest in gaining a person, animal, or other as a slave, so Familiar was out. He didn't want any items that could possibly be taken from him. They also required skill to use properly, which he didn't have. Case in point, the broken picture frame in his bedroom. So items were out. Traits could be helpful, but they were all pretty passive, and he couldn't think of anything off the top of his head that would instantly be powerful. So they could wait. That left Skills and Abilities. He had two abilities already, so...

“Roll my Gold Choice ticket for a Skill.”

[ROLLING!]

[Thunder Breathing, Elite Skill, Demon Slayer - Thunder Breathing is a specialized swordsmanship style and breathing technique that mimics lightning, specifically swift strikes and movements akin to lightning ripping through the sky, and replicates it with the user's movements, techniques, and abilities. Most, if not all, known techniques and forms involve utilizing blinding speeds and immensely fast attacks to overwhelm the enemy in an instant. With magical power, thunder can be manifested to further augment the power of the style.]

Adam paused as information flooded his mind and gave him muscle memory and all the knowledge he needed to use Thunder Breathing as if he'd been practicing it for years. He immediately changed the way he breathed and felt an instant difference. His veins bulged with strength as he slipped into using the breathing technique without having to focus on it. Even without transforming, he was now superhuman and extremely skilled in the use of a katana.

He stepped out of the bathroom and into his living room, where he slowly went through several of the Thunder Breathing forms with the ease of a master. It actually felt really weird to be performing the katas without a sword in his hands. Still, he made his way through all of them and smiled at the feeling of accomplishment that came with it.

“At least now I know how to fight... with a sword. That's weird. Using a sword in the modern day is weird.”

Now he just needed magic to summon thunder and lightning to use it in style! Magic... he knew, intellectually, that magic existed. He'd just never thought it would have anything to do with his life. But now there was a chance of him gaining actual magical powers. Super weird.

Moving on.

“Roll the Advantage Gold Ticket.”

[ROLLING!]

[Metal Kaiser, Elite Ability, Worm - Allows you to create metal from any non-organic surface such as giant blades, walls, and pillars. The more energy you expend, the more metal is created.

-OR-

Super, Elite Ability, Probably the most median powerset in existence. You have super speed, super strength, super durability, and flight. If you are in a superhero world, you already probably saw at least 60 of these guys going around. You don't excel in any of those qualities, but you are better than average in all aspects.]

Well... those were interesting choices. Metal Kaiser was unique. He didn't know of any current heroes or villains that controlled metal as it did. However, it was just metal and against the vast majority of supes? Metal that wasn't some sort of super-powerful alien metal of impossible chemical composition was pretty much useless against any strong supe.

Super, on the other hand, was fucking common as hell. Two of the strongest heroes in the world had that exact same power set! The Immortal and Omni-Man were the two most well-known to have that exact power set. But he could think of others, such as Bulletproof, that fit into the flying brick category.

So, yes, Super gave powers much more common to the world, but it was a GOOD package of abilities to have.

Though, if Adam were being one hundred percent honest... There had never been a debate all because of one single thing...

Super let him FLY!

“I pick Super.”

The moment Adam felt the ability slot into place, he swapped out his equipped Fishman Form for it. It would be five minutes before he could change his active ability again, not that he would, EVER. So, he'd have to wait until he got two more abilities since he got one more active slot for every five abilities he had.

None of that mattered because the moment he felt the power kick in, he gained a basic understanding of how to use them, but it would take practice to learn their limits and all the ins and outs of Super. Again, none of that mattered because he had enough knowledge to do what he wanted!

He slowly began to lift off the floor until, at last, the tips of his toes could no longer touch it and he was officially flying in the air. He looked around with wide eyes as his heart hammered in his chest, his excitement clearly palpable.

“I'm flying!” He floated up until he touched his ceiling, “I'm fucking flying!”

He lowered himself and slowly flew in a small circle in his living room, laughing the entire time. He felt so free! Part of him never wanted to set foot on the ground again! Every human dreamed of flying, literally, and now he could with just a thought!

He floated down and righted himself, but he refused to let his feet touch the floor. He casually floated back to the bathroom, though he remained excited the entire time. He paused when he came in front of the mirror. He looked at his reflection with quite a bit of shock.

When he went to sleep, he was a normal guy, fit but not a gym rat, dark hair, bright green eyes, and sitting at five foot ten inches. Now? Now he was an Adonis of physical perfection. His muscles were sculpted like marble without being big enough to be gaudy or unattractive. His face had thinned, and he could see his cheekbones. He hadn't been ugly before, more average, but now he looked... fucking hot.

His other transformations had been extreme differences in appearance, but Super was always on, so he would always look like he currently did as long as he kept it equipped. That was kind of a rule for being a superhero, wasn't it? He couldn't think of any truly ugly heroes that weren't aliens or mutants of some kind.

Huh.

Was he expected to be a hero? Not that he had any intention of being a villain! But did his power make him hot to encourage good guy behavior? Eh, it didn't matter. It was time for him to get ready for the day. He floated just an inch or so off of the ground as he went about his business.

-----Line Break-----

Adam groaned as he pushed the door to his apartment closed with his foot. It had been a long day. As the door clicked shut, he looked at his apartment and grimaced. So, it turned out that just suddenly having super strength was a bit of a problem. After his morning shower, he'd accidentally crushed the doorknob to his bathroom, shattered his favorite coffee mug, bent the spoon he used for breakfast, and then proceeded to crush his TV remote when he wanted to watch the news.

No one ever mentioned how much of an annoyance super strength could be! Even so, he refused to remove the Super ability and replace it with one of his transformations. If he did, he'd never get used to the changes it made to him. It was also going to be the very basis of his superhero identity. Something he wanted to get started on as soon as possible!

Which was why he was grinning so much when he put down his bags. After dinner with his family, he'd gone shopping for a few things. If he was going to be a hero, he needed a costume. He had no idea where the hell heroes got their costumes, so he'd have to make one himself. The problem was, he wasn't much of a seamstress and had no experience sewing. He had a plan for that though: YouTube!

His plan was simple: he was going to find some cosplay makers with how-to videos and watch them, then emulate them. There were definitely plenty of people he could watch and learn from so he could make a kick-ass costume. He already had a few ideas he was going to sketch out. Seamstress, he was not, but he was one hell of an artist!

That was how he could afford to live on his own already. Sure, the apartment was small and not in the greatest part of town, but it was all his. Naturally, his mother hadn't been thrilled that he had moved out at seventeen, but he made almost as much money off of art commissions as she did as director of operations at a factory. His last commission had earned him ten grand and would pay for his rent and utilities for months.

It was some of that commission money he'd used to buy the stuff he'd brought into his apartment, clothing. Clothing he was planning to use as a disguise until he could make a real costume for his heroic persona. He also needed to think of a heroic name. That... was proving difficult. He wanted something simple, but iconic, like Bulletproof's name.

At the moment, he planned to just stick with using Super as his power base as a hero, though the Web Shooters would see use as a tool to restrain his captured targets. That... was an odd mix. Basic flying brick package and spider webs? Spider-Brick? He snorted at that. Fucking stupid name.

So, what should his name be? There was no way he was going to leave it to the public or news agencies to name him! His name should probably address his ever-growing list of abilities too. He frowned as he thought about it while pulling out the cheap black jeans, tight white shirts, and black ski masks he'd bought to act as a simple outfit until he could make a better one.

He pulled out his last purchase, a replacement photo frame. He looked over to where the frame he'd smashed that morning still lay. He walked over, being careful not to step on any glass so he didn't crush it into his carpeting. He picked the photo up and stared at it. His amazing good mood faded a bit as he looked at the picture.

It was a pretty standard family photo that could be found in most homes. A man and woman, both obviously parents, stood behind a pair of children. He smiled at the old picture of his mother and sister. The pair of them looked a lot alike with auburn hair, green eyes, and a slim appearance. The man was ruggedly good-looking with a well-maintained beard, dark hair, and dark eyes. Adam and his twin sister, Eve, got their eyes from their mother.

He gently stroked the image of his father, “Hey dad, you wouldn't believe the day I've had. I've got super powers now! I can be a hero and protect people so other families don't lose their fathers. Or anyone, for that matter.”

His desire to be a hero that morning was pretty shallow, honestly. He'd planned to do it just to get more feats and more power to use to protect himself and his family. Not a terrible thing, really, but it felt shallow. Now though? Now he didn't want other families to have to go through what he had. Losing his father at ten had been the worst moment in his life. If he could keep others from feeling that loss, then he should do his best to do that, right?

He thought about how Omni-Man had shown up to his father's funeral to apologize for not being fast enough to save him from the monster that had attacked the city that day. Adam clenched his fist at the memory of one of, if not the, strongest heroes in the world consoling his mother. His father had been the only victim of the attack, using his own body to protect a child from falling debris. Omni-Man said he respected him for that.

That was the kind of hero Adam wanted to be. Someone the world could rely on. He wasn't there yet, but he knew he could get there someday.

He calmly went about putting the picture in its new frame and hanging it on the wall once more. He glanced at the broken glass and wood still on his floor and shook his head, “Later.”

After all, he had something much more important to do. The giddiness came back as he changed into the jeans, shirt, and mask that made up his temporary outfit. He dug out an old pair of biker boots to match the outfit. Looking at himself in the mirror, he grinned. Sure, the ski mask kind of made him look like a stereotypical bank robber, but the jeans and tight T-shirt looked damned good with his new muscular physique.

He made his way to his window and slid it open; he fully intended to fly out of it until he caught a look at his bare hands. He frowned at that. Fingerprints. It would be the ultimate level of stupidity to cover his face but leave his fingerprints all over the place. He needed gloves!

He spun around and dug through his closet; it took a few minutes, but he eventually pulled out a pair of thick winter gloves. They were a necessity living in the north, but it was currently summer, so they'd been buried in the back of the closet after his recent move. They really didn't match being thick and heavily insulated against cold weather, but they would do until he could buy a better pair later.

After pulling the gloves on, he patted himself down to double-check everything. No wallet? Check. He didn't want something stupid like his pocket getting ripped and it dropping at a crime scene. Hidden face? Check. Covered hands? Check. Only his eyes, mouth, and his arms were visible.

Time seemed to slow at his approach to the open window. He looked out into the dark sky and slowly began to smile. His heart rate kicked it up several notches at the sensation of his feet leaving the ground. He slowly floated through the window and out into the open air. He looked at the street three stories down, then rotated until he was looking up at the lightly cloudy sky above him.

Laughter bubbled out of him as he instantly accelerated and shot up into the open air. Wind whipped past him, ruffling his pants. The choice of stretchy tight shirt looked to be a good one because the flapping jeans were pretty annoying. Even so... did he want to wear spandex from head to toe?

Questions for later!

After clearing the rooftops of the nearby buildings, he really poured on the speed. He jerked in shock when the world around him exploded from him breaking the sound barrier. He threw his head back and laughed in sheer joy. He could fly faster than the speed of sound!

He slowed as he reached the clouds and looked down at the world below him in sheer awe. Seeing the way the lights of the city spread out below him was a unique experience. He jerked out of his reverie when a 747 came barreling out of the clouds directly toward him.

Adam's eyes shot open in shock, “SHIIIIT!”

Adrenaline slammed into his veins as panic set in. He scrambled, his arms and legs flailing around uselessly while he forced himself higher into the air. The plane flew directly under him, the air currents buffeting his body and sending him flipping head over heels through the air while screaming at the top of his lungs.

It took him nearly a minute to regain control of himself while floundering around uselessly in the air. By the time he had, he was just a dozen or so feet from crashing into the roof of a skyscraper. He shuddered from the harrowing experience.

“Right... planes. Forgot about those.” He shook his head to try and clear it while taking deep breaths to calm down. Once he had, he looked around, “Now, where the hell am I?”

He recognized nothing about his surroundings. The buildings didn't look familiar at all. He slowly flew up a little higher into the air to try and get a better look at his surroundings.

“So... I'm totally lost.”

The sudden sound of tires screeching, a heavy impact, and metal shearing grabbed his attention. He turned toward the direction the sound came from and took off like a shot. It was only a few seconds before he found himself flying over a highway where he saw a turned-over tanker truck with a sedan buried in its middle. As he got closer, he could see liquid leaking from the tanker, and it smelled weird. He couldn't place it, but luckily it wasn't gasoline. That would have been one hell of a cliché.

Traffic was already backing up behind the accident, their headlights lighting up the accident scene. Adam looked the scene over and desperately tried to figure out what he needed to do first.

“Uh.. uhhh... Right! Sedan buried in the truck. That first!”

He dove down and landed next to the sedan with a heavy thump. He looked through the broken windows and saw a woman behind the wheel and two kids in the back seat. All of them were unconscious. Being so close, he could tell why. From the sky, the smell of the fumes from the leaking truck had just been weird. Up close, they were stifling and making it hard for him to breathe.

Whatever chemical it was, he'd definitely label it as hazardous. He didn't want to waste any time, so he did the most efficient thing he could think of: he grabbed the driver's side door and ripped it off of the car. The sound was deafening, but he didn't stop. He tossed the door aside and reached into the car. He ripped the woman's seat belt apart and gently pulled her out of the car.

With her cradled in his arms, he ran away from the leaking truck until he got far enough away to be breathing mostly fresh air. He gently set her down, double-checked that she was still breathing, then took off back toward the truck. As he ran, the world seemed to slow down in his perception. He realized this was his first time actively using his super speed from Super. Even though to him it felt like he took nearly thirty seconds, the blast of wind that erupted off of him when he stopped clearly implied otherwise.

He ripped the driver's side rear door off the car and removed a little girl from her seat belt. He moved around to the passenger side and repeated the procedure for the slightly bigger young boy. Thanks to their small sizes and his super strength, carrying both of them was a piece of cake. With a child on each arm, he swiftly, but carefully, turned and ran back to where he'd left their probable mother.

As he got near her, he could see that others had gotten out of their cars and were checking her over. He quickly came to a stop, scaring some of the people, until they noticed the children in his arms. He looked at the people, “Please, take the kids; I need to go back for the truck driver.”

A middle-aged man and young woman came forward, each taking a child and moving them closer to their mother. Adam spun around and ran back toward the truck, once again moving at super speed. As he got close, he jumped up onto the side of the rolled truck cab and looked down through it to the driver's side, which was on the bottom and pressed into the asphalt.

The driver looked in bad shape, crumpled against the door with blood leaking from his head. It looked like he hadn't been wearing a seat belt. Adam grabbed the truck's door and ripped it off of its hinges to toss aside. He carefully dropped into the cab and used his flight to slowly move down toward the driver. As he got close, he could hear the man moan.

“Hey! You conscious?”

The man groaned, coughed, and then replied in a choked voice, “Y-yeah. I-I think m' arm is broken.”

Adam looked around to try and figure out how to do this best. His gaze landed on the shattered windshield. He kicked it out, completely giving himself a door out of the cab, “Alright man, this is going to hurt, but I need to get you out of here. Whatever you were carrying is leaking, and the fumes are getting bad.

The driver, a large, heavyset guy, nodded slowly, “Do it.”

Adam got closer to the man and slipped his arm under the man's shoulders and lifted, slowly. The man grunted and gritted his teeth from the pain of his arm being moved. Adam carefully pulled the man through the kicked-out windshield. The moment they were clear of the truck, he got a gentler, better grip on the man and lifted into the air. He didn't want to jostle the man's injured arm by walking.

When he got close to the other accident victims, he lowered the man to the ground, where the guy sighed and carefully cradled his broken arm. The trucker looked up and gave Adam a yellow-toothed smile, “Thanks kid, what's yur name?”

Adam rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, “Oh... Uh... I don't exactly have one yet.”

“Well, whatever, thanks again.”

Adam nodded and flew over to the overturned truck and crashed sedan to make sure he didn't miss anyone. Everyone else had cleared the area, and he could see emergency vehicles making their way through the traffic. He didn't just sit around; the tanker was still leaking, so he decided it was a perfect chance to try his new toys. He aimed his hands at where the car had damaged the tanker, and it was leaking whatever it had.

He depressed the switches on the web shooters, which sent out streams of white webbing that stuck to the surface of the tanker. He sprayed the webbing all around the damaged area to the best of his ability. He also took the time to practice with the different firing modes the shooters had to get as much practice as he could.

When he felt like he was done, rather than fly off, he stuck around and waited for the police, firemen, and ambulances to arrive. It took a while for the emergency services people to talk to the civilians and find out what happened. Eventually, an officer and a fireman approached Adam where he was floating and waiting for them some distance from the wreck.

The officer was the one to speak first. He was a younger man, probably only a few years older than Adam, with dark skin and an impressive mustache. The officer studied him for a moment before speaking, “You're the hero that pulled the four people out of that mess, right?”

Adam nodded, “That's right.”

The Fireman, a middle-aged man with a beer belly and a gray beard, spoke up, “Thank god. That tanker is carrying potassium hydroxide. That shit is lethal as hell. Just a few minutes of breathing those fumes would have killed everyone. If you or someone else hadn't pulled them out before we got here, they'd all be dead or close to it by now. Good job, kid.”

Adam was very thankful for the mask as it completely hid his blush, “Thanks.”

The fireman continued, “Here's the problem, we can't clean that shit off with water. It'll react and produce enough heat to seriously damage the road and possibly start chemical fires, not to mention the fumes and other shit that we'd have to deal with. Is there anything you can do about that?”

Adam slowly shook his head, “I'm just your standard flying brick. Though I did use a gizmo that fires webbing to cut off as much leaking as I could find. So the leaking is either stopped or severely slowed. You'll need to work fast though; the webbing biodegrades in hours.”

The older fireman whistled, “Damn, I wasn't even expecting that much. Well done, kid. Alright, can you at least move the tanker and sedan to one side of the highway so we can at least get a small flow of traffic going so we can get more folks here to deal with the mess?”

Adam nodded, “Yeah, I should be able to do that.”

The officer spoke up, “Should?”

Adam was once more thankful for the mask hiding his face as he blushed, mildly embarrassed. He gestured to his outfit, “First night, powers are kinda new so I dunno what all my limits are.”

Both the officer and the fireman nodded in understanding. Adam turned and flew over to the crash site. He started by getting behind the sedan and grabbing it in a tight grip. He pulled, ignoring the screeching of metal and tires, and found the process to be fairly easy. He couldn't stop smiling at the fact that he was moving over three thousand pounds, at least, without any strain at all. He pulled the sedan free of the tanker and spotted some more leaks. He let go of the car and went to town on the leaks with the web shooters to make them stop.

Once the leaks seemed to all be stopped, he grabbed the sedan once more and began pulling it to the side of the road. The next part looked like it would be harder. He flew to the bottom of the truck cab and got a good grip on the frame. As soon as he started to push on it, he felt the weight of the truck. A fully loaded tanker truck could weigh up to eighty thousand pounds, or forty tons. This one had lost some weight but was still mostly full.

Adam was forced to use all of his strength, and even then it was a struggle to drag the whole tanker truck out of the road and clear it up at least a little bit. It took significantly longer than moving the sedan, and when he was finished, Adam was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. That meant his strength topped out somewhere around the weight of a tanker truck, good to know.

When he turned back to make his way to the emergency vehicles, he heard cheering from the crowd of people stuck in traffic. The same policeman and fireman broke off from the others and approached him. The officer took the lead, “Well done new guy. With this, we can get to work on clean up.” He offered Adam his hand, “Thanks for the help, it's nice to see a hero who doesn't just smash and grab then take off leaving a mess behind.”

Adam shook the officer's hand, “Uh, sure, no problem. Is there anything else I can do to help?”

The fireman spoke up, “Not with a chemical spill, unless you got another trick up your sleeves?”

Adam shook his head. None of his stuff would help with that issue. The fireman nodded in understanding, “Then you've done all you can. We'll take it from here. Thanks for the help, kid.”

Adam smiled, the only expression they could see with his ski mask on. Not knowing if there was anything else he should do, he hesitated for a moment before taking off into the night sky. Once he got a fair distance away, he jerked to a stop as words appeared in front of him and blocked his vision.

[Feat Achieved! First successful rescue operation. +1 Silver Gacha Ticket.]

[Feat Achieved! Save a life. +1 Bronze Gacha Ticket.]

[Feat Achieved! Impress local law enforcement. +1 Bronze Gacha Ticket.]

[Feat Achieved! Debut as a Superhero. +1 Gold Gacha Ticket.]

Adam dismissed the messages after reading them and carefully landed on the roof of a skyscraper. The rewards weren't spectacular, but they were a lot better than nothing. He supposed, considering the work he did, that the reward matched. Not like he expected a Divine ticket for the rescue. He'd probably need to singlehandedly save Earth to earn something like that!

The gold ticket for his debut was a nice surprise though!

He looked around, then shrugged. There was no need to wait, “Roll a bronze ticket.”

[ROLLING!]

[Induce Baldness, Trash Ability, "A power so cruel" allows you to induce baldness within a target by making contact with them, whether that is making them lose hair over the course of a long time or instantly making all of their hair fall out. Beware, using this may make you the mortal enemy of most.]

Adam stared at the result of the roll in abject horror. His new power... it was horrific. If the men of the world ever found out, they would hunt him down relentlessly and murder him in his sleep.

“Such a dark and evil power... I must seal it for the safety of all for all eternity.” He shuddered and swore to only ever use his new power on the most evil and vile of beings, “Roll the other bronze ticket.”

[ROLLING!]

[Sticky Icky, Trash Ability, Your skin is uncomfortably sticky to other people, as if you were soaked in glue or soda, but you won't feel the difference.]

“...”

He didn't even want to address that roll. The only good thing about it was that it was his fifth ability. That meant he now had two slots for abilities. He immediately slotted in White Tiger Form in the second slot. He chose it since it had the most drastic change on his appearance, just in case his mask was lost or damaged.

“Just, roll the silver ticket.”

[ROLLING!]

[The Rock, Common Item, King Arthur pulled a sword out of this bad boy. And you got the rock in exchange. This rock is magically enchanted to be utterly indestructible to all effects below Mythical level.]

Looking at the roll, Adam hummed to himself, “Looks like I used all of my luck with my first rolls. Still...” He looked over the description again, “Unbreakable punching bag. I'm sure I could find a few uses for something that can't be so easily broken.” He shrugged and dismissed it, “Roll the Gold ticket.”

[ROLLING!]

[Expert Kama Sutra, Elite Skill, You are an expert in the carnal, being intimately familiar with picking up signs of arousal and pleasuring your partners in bed. Unless your partner is completely frigid, no one will leave your bed unsatisfied. Your skill in bed is unmatched by most. If you were given magic, you could probably create Eromancy.]

He blinked and read the result several times. It was... something. As was the sudden flood of carnal knowledge he now had rattling around in his skull. He wasn't a virgin, but he wasn't far away from being one. He'd lost his virginity to his now ex-girlfriend a few months ago. It was the only time he'd ever had sex, but it counted for him not being a virgin! He'd thought he'd done pretty good for his first time, but now his world had exploded in ways he previously couldn't have imagined.

“I need a goddamn girlfriend, I want to try some of this shit out!”

Sighing to himself, he took off into the air. Maybe he'd find something else to do or someone else to save.

…

Also, he was still lost and needed to figure out where he was and how to get home. Ugh, what kind of superhero needed to ask for directions?! So embarrassing.

-----Line Break-----

“What am I looking at, Donald?”

Donald Ferguson was a middle-aged man wearing an impeccable gray suit with a white shirt and blue tie as well as a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses. He gestured to the screen as he answered the speaker, “A new hero. He appeared out of nowhere and helped with an accident on a highway. A chemical tanker rolled and began leaking potassium hydroxide meant for a nearby factory. He saved the civilians involved in the accident, then helped clear the road at the request of the local emergency service workers.”

“You mean he didn't just fly off after doing the glory work?”

“No, sir.”

“What do we know about his powers?”

Donald used a remote to pull up a closer image of the new hero and his 'outfit', “According to reports, he described himself as a basic flying brick. Given the work he did, that seems accurate. We estimate his strength to be somewhere around twenty-five to thirty-five tons given the weight of the tanker. Eyewitness reports say he was breathing and sweating heavily after he finished dragging it.”

The other man snorted, “Flying brick, eh? Good enough description, I suppose.”

“Yes, sir. But he also displayed a usage of unknown technology. According to reports, he called it webbing. Unfortunately, it seems to biodegrade extremely rapidly, and what few samples we had were heavily tainted. Testing was almost useless. What little we could learn leads our scientists to believe the webbing has a tensile strength greater than steel, similar to real spider webbing would be.”

“That's unusual. Most heroes with similar powers seem to shun any sort of technological assistance. Almost as if it's beneath them.”

Donald nodded, “True. He also used it to good effect, stopping the majority of the leaking long enough for better measures to be put in place until the tanker could be emptied. By all reports, his work was amateurish, but well-meaning and well done regardless.”

The other man nodded, “Keep an eye on him and find out his identity.”

“Already on it, Director.”

AN

8k words, a little short but it felt like a good stopping point.

So, I recently started watching Invincible, and I gotta say, I fell in love. It distracted me about halfway through the next chapter of Stark White Chaos. I plan to write Chapter 2 for this, I've already started it, actually. I've got ideas for how to have things go all the way through to the end of Season 1 of the show.

I also really liked how the rolls for this turned out. I only rerolled one that was a familiar, and I wanted to avoid that early in the story. Familiars will come later. It'll be an interesting thing to deal with as a development process of being a hero.

Let me know what you think of this so far!