Sentinel - Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Chapter 4

Eve let out a relaxed sigh when she stepped out of the team's showers in a cloud of steam. Technically, she could use her powers to clean herself and her clothing to a level a shower with soap could never accomplish. It was something she often did. On the other hand, nothing felt quite as good as a long hot shower sometimes.

It was late; everyone else had already split up for the night, but she'd had trouble sleeping all due to the earlier spar with Sentinel. The newbie was an absolute monster that actually pushed her limits during their spar. That was something she hadn't experienced in a while, and she'd missed the thrill of growing stronger and learning more from combat.

She wrapped her hair up in the towel while a crackling circle of pink energy flowed up her body from her feet to her neck. She simultaneously dried herself off while wrapping her naked body in a comfortable pair of pajamas. She, like most of the Teen Team, was going to spend the night at their tower. It was a great way to avoid her parents and any lecture her dad might want to give her.

Stepping out of the shower, she padded through the base, her bare feet slapping on the floor. When she entered the main area on the way to her room, she paused at the sound of a TV set on low volume. Wondering who else might still be up, she turned toward the living room-like area they had set aside to relax.

When she arrived, she didn't see anyone sitting on the couch or any of the chairs. Someone could have been lying down, though, so she softly called out, “Rex? Is that you?”

Hearing no response, she sighed and made her way around the couch to find the remote. She planned to turn the TV off and send whoever it was, most likely Rex, off to bed. Stepping past the couch, she picked the remote up off the table and turned to wake Rex up.

Only, it wasn't Rex lying down on the couch. It took Eve a few seconds to really register what she was seeing because it was so completely and utterly out of place. Lying there on the couch, lounging really, was a gigantic white tiger. She'd been to the zoo on school trips years ago and seen tigers there, but this tiger put those to shame with its sheer size. Seeing it lying there, on her couch, obviously asleep, caused something in her mind to snap. Gone was the brave superhero who stood between bad guys and civilians, leaving only a teenage girl confronted with a giant predator in the middle of the night.

Her scream hit such a high pitch that the tiger was startled away with a surprised yowl. It violently jerked from its sleep and accidentally threw itself over the back of the couch, where it landed on the ground and proceeded to cover its ears with its paws.

Shouts soon joined the high-pitched screams when Rex charged out of his bedroom in only a pair of boxers, and Kate ran out of her room in a pair of shorts and a tank top. Both shouted questions until they spotted the massive white tiger cowering behind the couch with its paws over its ears.

Rex immediately pointed at the tiger while shouting, “What the fuck is that?!”

Kate was the one to answer him, though she sounded confused, “It's a tiger?! The fuck is a tiger doing in here?!”

Eve, still in a bit of shock, blurted out, “It was sleeping on the couch!”

Everyone, including Eve herself, paused at her answer. Only then did it register just how strange it was for a giant white tiger to calmly be sleeping on their couch with the TV on in the background. Just as the tiger gingerly lifted its paws off of its ears, the calm mechanical voice of Robot addressed everyone in the room, “There is no cause for alarm. Sentinel, perhaps you should change back to your human form.”

The tiger, Sentinel, seeing that there was no more screaming to hurt his delicate ears, pushed himself up so he was sitting on his haunches before shifting back into his human form. There was a beat of silence before Rex's inevitable, “What the fucking fuck was that shit?!”

Sentinel, still in his full costume, rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, “Uh, sorry. Didn't mean to scare anyone. I was just having a little trouble sleeping, so I came out here to watch some TV and relax.”

Kate chimed in, “But you were a tiger! I thought your powers were flight, speed, strength, durability, and all that jazz.”

Sentinel looked mildly embarrassed, “It's complicated, but I have a wide array of abilities. I can shapeshift into a limited number of things, one of which is a white tiger. I can also do a hybrid form, like a were-tiger.”

Robot interjected, “I prepared a dossier on Sentinel and his abilities and sent it to everyone's email. His abilities, all of them, have been listed and described in detail there.” His eyes flashed green, and his tone somehow conveyed annoyance, “Though judging from this incident, no one bothered to read it.”

Two of the three other Teen Team members looked slightly chastised while Rex shouted, “I didn't think I needed to read that shit! What the fuck are you to have so many different powers?!”

Sentinel sighed, “It's complicated. I really only have one power; it's just a power that grants me a lot of different abilities.”

All of Teen Team stared at him, though Rex summed up the feelings of Eve and Kate nicely, “You're pure bullshit, and I'm going back to fucking bed!”

Having said so, Rex turned on his heels and stormed back to his bedroom. Kate looked at Sentinel for a bit before she shrugged her shoulders, “He's not wrong; you are indeed bullshit, Sentinel.”

Seeing that he was no longer needed, Robot turned around and left the room as well. Though no one knew if he actually slept or what he did all night long. That left just Sentinel, Eve, and Kate in the living room area.

Eve took the initiative, trying to push past her embarrassment at the screaming in fear. Rex would definitely be making fun of her for it in the near future. She stepped around the couch and looked Sentinel over, “So, you can change into a white tiger at will?”

Sentinel nodded, “I can.”

Eve smirked, “Good.”

“Good?” Sentinel repeated.

Eve nodded, “Yes, good. Now turn back into a tiger. I want to pet you!”

Kate's eyes widened at Eve's suggestion before a mischievous glint entered them along with a fair amount of excitement. Who wouldn't want to pet a friendly tiger?!

Sentinel looked between the two excited girls and considered his options. He did feel bad about scaring Eve. The Teen Team had graciously offered to let him stay the night after their friendly spar with Robot suggesting another after they woke up. He'd accepted, because who the hell wouldn't?! And now he felt kind of guilty for scaring the hell out of Eve in her own home.

On the other hand, he could very easily escape the likely embarrassing situation of being pet by flying like hell to get out of there...

The guilt won.

With a heavy sigh, he activated his ability while dropping onto all fours and changing back into a large white tiger. He looked up to see both girls looking at him with stars in their eyes. Eve was the first to approach with her hand held out like she was trying to approach a new dog or wild animal. Sentinel huffed in amusement at the action. It didn't take Eve long to get over her nerves and place her hand on Sentinel's feline head.

Apparently that was all it took because the next moment she was on her knees with her arms wrapped around him in a hug and her face buried in the fur on his side. One of her arms wrapped around his chest while the other stroked his back and side. She squealed like an excited little girl, “You're so soft!”

The next instant, Sentinel's discomfort doubled as Kate dove to the floor and wrapped herself around his other side. She buried her face in his fur and let out a deep sigh, “Oh, he so is!”

As if that wasn't punishment enough for scaring Eve, the way she and Kate were stroking his fur felt really, really good. He tried to focus on something else, anything else, but the sensations were too strong. In just a few short moments, his chest began to rumble deeply as he started to purr.

Both girls froze for a moment, looking at him with shock and delight, then redoubled their snuggling slash petting actions. Kate giggled, while Eve exclaimed, “He's purring! That's so cute!”

Mortification. Horror. Sheer embarrassment was all Sentinel felt as the two girls used him for a cuddle toy. Part of him regretted shifting into his tiger form to relax and watch TV, but there was seriously nothing better than relaxing as a cat! It wasn't called a cat nap for nothing! As a cat, he could stretch and relax in ways a human couldn't imagine. Once he'd discovered just how comfortable it was to sleep as a cat, he hadn't slept as a human since.

Now the bill for such divine sleep had come due.

Sentinel endured nearly twenty minutes of the girls' non-stop affection. He was especially glad they couldn't see him blushing when they both began to coo at him and use baby talk voices while asking if he liked the way they were petting him.

This... This would be a nightmare that revisited him in his sleep for years to come.

But it was finally over as both girls released him and stood back up. Even though he was larger than a normal white tiger, he was still much shorter than them in that form. He quickly shifted back to his human form, much to the clear amusement of the girls.

Eve unwrapped the towel from around her hair and let her long red hair fall down past her shoulders, “Thanks for the snuggles kitten, I really needed that.”

Her amusement only grew now that she could actually see the blush on his face from her wording. Kate, not to be outdone in the teasing department, ran her fingers across the back of Sentinel's shoulders, causing him to tense up, “We'll definitely have to do this again soon.” She leaned in to whisper into his ear, “Just the three of us.”

Sentinel shuddered as a shiver raced down his spine, Kate's wording putting all kinds of pleasant thoughts in his head. Until both she and Eve giggled at the effectiveness of their teasing. Seeing the look on his face, or at least on the half she could see, Eve finally took some pity on him, “Come on, Kate, let's head to bed. We can tease the newbie more later.”

Kate, still clearly amused, nodded in agreement, “Alright.” Though she had one final tease in mind as she poked Sentinel's cheek, “Goodnight, kitten.”

Sentinel flushed bright red, which sent both girls off while giggling. As they walked away, he couldn't help glancing at the pair of them and noting the way their hips moved while they walked. He hadn't had the ability to notice before, but Kate's sleeping short where so short that the bottom of her cheeks peeked out with every step. As for Eve, she had wide hips and thick thighs that even the loose pajama pants she was wearing couldn't hide.

It was only once both girls were completely out of sight that his shoulders slumped and he let out a deep sigh of relief, “Those two are going to be the death of me.”

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

The next morning was awkward for Sentinel, due to the looks he was getting from both Eve and Kate. The pair had somehow, without communicating it to each other, decided that teasing Sentinel was their new favorite pastime.

The four humans all ate a high-calorie breakfast that would put most hardcore athletes to shame. Superhero work burned a ton of calories, and they were preparing for another spar against each other. Sentinel was looking forward to it and planned to use different powers this time.

As he was considering which ones to use, he paused and looked up at Eve, “Eve, you can make anything, right?”

She nodded, “Anything non-living, yes. Why?”

A grin slowly spread across Sentinel's face, he'd decided to de-mask since everyone else had. Also, it would have been really awkward to try and eat breakfast with his mouth completely covered. He looked directly into Eve's eyes, noting they were similar to his own. It was also strange to speak to someone with the same name as his little sister sitting at home with his mom.

“I have an ability that lets me absorb radiation. Absorbing it gives me more energy to use. Absorbing a lot of it can permanently increase my energy reserves.”

“What the fuck?! You OP motherfucker!”

Sentinel ignored Rex's outburst and continued, “Cecil promised to let me go around using my ability to clean up radiation sites, but he hasn't followed through on it yet. So, I was wondering if you could create some plutonium or, even better, some polonium I can absorb the radioactive energy from to test out the power.”

Robot, ever the voice of reason, chimed in, “I don't believe that such a course of action would be prudent. While you might be immune to the radiation, Sentinel, Eve doesn't share the same resistance.”

Sentinel immediately blanched, “Oh. Oh shit! Forget it then! That was so stupid. I'm sorry I even asked.”

Eve, who'd been looking excited a moment ago, joined Sentinel in blanching. Even she hadn't thought of that and had been excited to see what would happen. Now she really wasn't, “Y-yeah, maybe we don't play with highly radioactive elements.”

Sentinel quickly nodded his head in agreement, “Yeah, definitely.”

Kate giggled at the interaction, while Rex rolled his eyes and exclaimed, “It's too fucking early for this shit.”

His piece said, Rex went back to eating cereal from a box with a cartoon mascot Sentinel didn't recognize. The whole table lapsed into silence while they ate, though Kate kept glancing at Sentinel and looked to be lost in thought when she did.

As the meal was winding down, she finally spoke up, “So, what other abilities do you have?”

Sentinel shrugged, “The main ability I use is called Super. It's what gives me my flying brick package.”

Rex snorted at the 'flying brick' descriptor. Sentinel continued, “Then there's the radiation absorbing and white tiger transformations. I can also transform into a fishman...”

He was cut off by Rex, “What, like that freak Aquarus from the Guardians of the Globe?”

Sentinel shook his head, “Nah. More humanoid, blue skin, and gills. The form also makes me stronger underwater. It's not much use outside of the water, to be honest. After that is my last transformation, Minotaur, which does as the label says plus gives me good regeneration. Though it also drastically lowers my inhibitions, so it could be dangerous around people. I don't have any experience using it yet.”

Kate jumped in, “Wait wait wait! You can transform into a giant cow-man from the myths?”

Sentinel nodded, “Yup. Anyway, my last ability is called explosive sweat and is also exactly what it sounds like. I can sweat a substance similar to nitroglycerin from my palms and detonate it in explosions. The more sweat, the bigger the boom.”

“Fuck you man! Explosions are MY THING!”

Everyone with eyes, minus Rex, rolled them at his comment. Kate hummed before speaking, “That's quite an array of abilities.”

Sentinel nodded, “It is, but I'm limited to only using three at a time. I can change them, but there's a five-minute cooldown every time I do.”

“Why?” Kate queried.

Sentinel shrugged, “Beats me, that's just how my power works.” He paused and slowly grinned, “I also have a skill that's pretty awesome. It's called Thunder Breathing, and it's a martial arts style.” His gaze snapped to Kate, “Which is right up your alley, right?”

Kate slowly nodded, “Martial arts is what gives me my edge in hero work, otherwise, all I could do would be splitting into clones. What kind of martial art is it?”

“It's a specialized swordsmanship style and breathing technique that emphasizes lightning-swift strikes and movement. The breathing style is known as Total Concentration Breathing. Using it essentially turns a normal human superhuman. And that's just the basics.”

“Hold the fuck up! Are you telling us you know a way of BREATHING that makes people superhuman? That's bullshit! Pure bullshit!”

Sentinel grinned and looked between Rex and Kate, “It's not. I can't teach both of you the breathing method. But I'm only willing to teach Kate the sword forms.”

Kate looked surprised, then asked, “Why only me?”

Sentinel pointed at Rex, “Because he's an asshole. Also, he already has an offensive superpower. Just the breathing technique should be enough for him.”

Rex scoffed, but notably didn't argue. Kate looked interested, “So, how does it work?”

Sentinel looked toward Robot, who'd been silent the whole conversation, “I'll need your help.”

“How can I be of assistance?”

“The traditional method of learning the breathing technique uses specially treated gourds. The trainee breathes out into the gourd in an attempt to break it open. Obviously, we can't get those, so I was hoping we could make a simulacrum together. I know the strength needed to break them, so we should be able to do it.”

Robot's eyes flashed, then he nodded, “We can do that. I'm curious to see the results of this breathing technique. We can retire to my lab after the morning spar.”

After that, it was just normal chit-chat around the table interspersed with some innuendo from the girls about getting their tiger cuddles in.

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

Sentinel stood back and watched as Robot worked. After the spar, which ended the same as the first, though it was more fun, Robot had led Sentinel into his private lab. Together they'd been working on an artificial gourd. After Sentinel had explained his requirements for it, Robot had quickly designed a system that would use electromagnetism to hold the object together. That way the fake gourd could be broken multiple times without any actual damage.

It also made scaling it up to bigger gourds in the future much easier.

Some basic testing, which consisted of Sentinel breathing into the fake gourd, left them with the perfect starter gourds for Kate and Rex. Eve wasn't interested in learning the breathing technique, so one wasn't being made for her.

Robot finished putting the final touches on the device, which looked like a high-tech rectangular box with a spout to breathe into. Breathing into the spout with enough force would break the electromagnetic seals on the device and cause it to 'break' open.

Sentinel accepted the device when Robot offered it to him. He didn't need to do anything special before breathing into the gourd substitute. Due to his skill in Thunder Breathing, he was always using Total Concentration Breathing. He never stopped using it because it had multiple benefits, including passively making him stronger over time and accelerating the speed his wounds healed. Not that he got hurt often.

Breathing out into the gourd, he paid attention to the feeling of how hard he needed to breathe out until he heard the 'pop' of the magnetic seals breaking. It was roughly the same as the memories from his skill told him it should be.

Robot tilted his head slightly as he observed the event, “Impressive. Though, I must admit to some doubts about this being an effective training method for a normal human being.”

Sentinel stopped breathing out and looked at Robot while the gourd automatically repaired itself for another use, “I understand your doubts. It will take some time and effort on their parts, but Kate and Rex should see some results fairly quickly given their experience as heroes.”

Robot paused, then slowly nodded, “I look forward to seeing the results.”

Together the pair left Robot's personal lab and made their way to the common area. Rex wasn't there, but Kate was, so he approached her, “Kate.” When she faced him, he held out the synthetic gourd, “Here.”

Looking slightly confused, Kate reached out and accepted it, “What is it?”

“This is the first part of your training. Step one is to massively strengthen your lungs. To do that, you need to take the deepest breath you possibly can, then exhale it into the gourd. The goal is to force enough air pressure into the gourd to break it open. I'm not going to lie, it's a literal and metaphorical pain to do, but the results are worth it if you push through.”

Kate looked at the device and then back to Sentinel, “That's it?”

He snorted, “That's step one. Once you can reliably break that gourd, you'll move onto a larger one, then another and another, until your lungs are strong enough for the real work.”

Kate scoffed, “That's impossible!”

Sentinel sighed, “I hate doing this...”

Kate looked concerned, “Doing what?”

“I'm disabling my Super ability. That means no super strength, speed, durability, and so on. All I will have active will be my breathing.”

Sentinel went through the process of changing all of his abilities out for his three transformations. None of the three enhanced his base form, meaning that the only strength he currently had came from his base and Thunder Breathing. That wasn't enough, though, he stopped his Total Concentration Breathing to make himself completely normal, just like he was before he gained the Chaos Gacha System.

He let out a deep sigh, “There. I'm currently only as strong as a teen my age should be.”

Kate and Robot stared at him. He looked between them, “What?”

Kate smirked and stood up from the couch. She was wearing the same thing she'd slept in, short shorts and a tank top, only these weren't so thin or quite as skimpy. She walked over to the dining table and sat down while setting her elbow on the surface in a typical arm wrestling position, “Prove it.”

Sentinel chuckled and took the seat opposite her and placed his hand within hers and gripped it. Kate did the countdown, “On three. One. Two... Three!”

Both of them pushed against each other's hands. Kate was fairly strong due to all of her training and would have easily manhandled the average athletic teenage male. Sentinel was not that. Although he did all of his training with his abilities active, it still helped to strengthen his base form. He wasn't superhuman, but he was stronger than the average teenager.

With that being the case, it soon became clear who would be the winner of the arm wrestling match as Sentinel slowly pushed the back of Kate's hand toward the tabletop. Just as he got her halfway there, a second hand came from behind Kate, quickly followed by a third, as Kate summoned a pair of clones to help her. Seconds later, the back of Sentinel's hand hit the table top.

He immediately pointed at her in accusation, “Cheater! You're a cheating cheater cheaterton!”

All three Kates giggled, “Cheaterton? The hell is that?!” one asked.

“You! That's what it is!” He chuckled, “Anyway, are you convinced I'm just regularly strong now?”

Kate nodded, “Yeah. I'm kind of annoyed that you're still stronger than me, but you're not super strong anymore.”

He snorted, “If it helps soothe your ego, I'm pretty sure you'd kick my ass in a one-on-one right now.”

The Kates perked up, “Really?”

He paused and tilted his head, “Well, as long as I didn't have access to a sword, yeah.”

The other two Kates slid back into the original, leaving just one who seemed lost in thought for a second, then asked, “Thunder Breathing?”

A nod from Sentinel was the reply, “Yup. Now that you know I'm not super and can't be for another three minutes. Watch closely.”

He got back to his feet and walked a little ways away from Robot and Kate. The machine and teenager watched as he took a basic horse stance. It looked normal, until it wasn't. They watched, Kate clearly looking shocked, as Sentinel inhaled. It wasn't just a simple breath in; he was sucking in air with more force than an industrial vacuum cleaner.

Kate and Robot, through his sensors, could feel the air in the room moving around them and toward Sentinel as he continued to inhale. They were further shocked when the veins on his body clearly stood out on his skintight suit and his muscles visibly expanded in size. It only lasted for a few moments before both his muscles and veins returned to normal but there was now an air of danger around him, something that had been missing earlier.

The next moment, faster than Kate could actually see, Sentinel threw a punch hard enough to send out a small shock wave into the air.

“Most impressive. Your strength has increased by a considerable margin.” Robot observed.

Sentinel smiled, “Not just my strength, but my speed, stamina, durability, endurance, and even my processing speed are all increased while the breathing method is maintained. With practice, this state can be maintained indefinitely. Once that state is reached, you really begin to see the benefits as you slowly grow in power over time. Permanent growth that stays even without the breathing.”

Kate was practically drooling. She looked at the device she'd set on the table and snatched it up, “Right, so step one is breathing into this thing hard enough to break it open?”

“That's right. After that we can move onto something more difficult. Only after you can break all the gourds will we move onto the actual breathing method. Trying to do it before then will just lead to your death.”

Kate stared at him with wide eyes, “Seriously?”

Robot interjected, “I believe he is very serious. From my calculations, if you were to attempt to do what Sentinel just did, you would cause your lungs to explode.”

Kate blanched and looked at the synthetic gourd with more respect, “I see. I'll make sure to get as much practice as I can with this in my downtime.”

Sentinel nodded, “Take it at your own pace. Just remember, you need to push yourself even if it hurts. If you don't, your lungs wont grow stronger.”

Kate nodded, looking very serious and planning to take his advice to heart.

With that taken care of, Sentinel felt his cooldown timers were done and quickly swapped Super back into his first slot. He'd felt completely naked without it. The feeling of weakness without it should have worried him, but he had no plans to take it off again anytime soon. It was the very basis of his superhero persona.

He watched, amused, as Kate made her first attempt at blowing on the gourd hard enough to break it. It would take time and effort, but she was on the path to gaining some level of superhuman strength. It... kind of made him proud that he had something to do with that. He was kind of looking forward to teaching Rex now.

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

Adam sat in his apartment, it was the day after he'd started Kate and Rex on the path of learning Total Concentration Breathing. He'd spent the day hanging out with the Teen Team and getting to know them better. Once night came again, he decided to head home, though he did sneak off to New York for a nice pizza for dinner.

Now, he was finally alone and ready for a new day and to finally use the shiny golden ticket that he hadn't used since he got it. Cecil had informed him that he tended to zone out when rolling a ticket, and it was fairly obvious. It was suggested he only do it in places where he didn't need to worry about that.

“Roll the gold ticket.”

[ROLLING!]

[Vampire, Rare Trait, Race(JoJo) - You are a vampire born of the Stone Mask created by the pillar man Kars. As a vampire you have amped physical stats, the ability to create ghouls and vampires as well as manipulate your flesh. But you are deathly vulnerable to sunlight.]

“Yeeeaaaaah no, re-roll that right the fuck now!”

[ROLLING!]

[Mana Substitution, Elite Trait, Whoever said you needed paltry things such as blood, food, water, or air to breathe were liars. You can substitute any of those things with your own mana but don't depend on it for too long, or else you may instantly die when you run out of mana.]

Adam hummed as he looked at the result of the re-roll. He was extremely thankful that race changes could be re-rolled for free. Being stuck as a vampire would have been the absolute worst. While most of it was fine, if weird, the deathly allergy to sunlight would absolutely destroy his ability to help people. A vast majority of villain attacks actually happened during the day.

The new ability, while a higher rarity, wasn't quite as interesting and was more mundanely useful. It was at least helpful in situations that might leave him cut off from access to food and water. Oh! He could also now fly in space without having to wear an air tank...

Wait...

Adam shot to his feet and was in his Sentinel costume moments later. He whipped his window open and blasted out of it and into the sky, where he went straight up. His heart hammered with excitement at what he'd realized moments before.

Solar radiation!

He swapped Radiation Absorption into his second slot, leaving Explosive Sweat in his third. With Mana Substitution he could head into space with no need for support equipment. He could literally hover in space and bathe himself in solar radiation. Not only could he do it, but he could do it practically indefinitely now!

Radiation Absorption gave him energy or mana, in this case. They were interchangeable within the Gacha System. On top of which, his Thermal Balance trait would protect him from the heat. The moment he broke through the atmosphere into actual outer space, he felt the difference. While on Earth, the ability would get a slow trickle of power from sunlight, but it was nothing compared to the stream of energy coming from the solar radiation.

Without the atmosphere blocking so much of it, it was so much stronger. He spread his arms and closed his eyes to just float in the sun's rays and drink in the power. The heat was warm and pleasant enough that he was beginning to drift off.

“Sentinel!”

He violently jerked at the sound of Cecil's voice in his ear. Scowling, he turned around and blasted back into Earth's atmosphere so he could actually speak. Mana Subsitution didn't help with that. Once he was in the atmosphere he replied, “What?”

“What the hell are you doing kid?! We tracked you heading up into space and then you just stopped and floated there. We thought you were dead for a moment there!”

Sentinel grimaced, “Sorry, Cecil. I honestly didn't even think of that.” He could feel Cecil's unimpressed glare over the line, so he rushed to explain, “I just gained a new power; the feat was beating the whole Teen Team in a spar. I just rolled it and got an ability that lets me substitute my own energy for food, water, blood, and air. I realized that, with it, I could go into space without needing air and could use Radiation Absorption to drink in solar radiation.”

The line remained silent for a while before Cecil let out a resigned sigh, “Kid... look, we've been holding off on sending you to radiation zones because we felt it was best for you to get completely used to your current abilities and strength. I can understand why you might want to get stronger, but it's alright to take your time with it, you know?”

Sentinel considered that then sighed, “Yeah, but Cecil, it's not just about getting stronger. Radioactive waste is one of the deadliest things on our planet. It gives people cancer Cecil! How many people could I save just by getting rid of it all?”

“Alright kid, alright. We'll schedule a visit to a repository within the next week.”

“You promise?”

“I promise kid. Now, maybe go hang out with Teen Team or something instead of scaring the crap out of us old folk.”

Sentinel sighed but nodded in agreement, even if Cecil couldn't see it, “Alright. Still, it was really comfortable up there. I might go up there to sleep occasionally.”

“Fine kid, just say something before you do.”

That ended their conversation. Sentinel tilted down toward the Earth and took off like a bullet. He cut through the air with a wide grin behind his mask and made his way toward the Teen Team's tower. He was interested to see if Kate was still trying to blow up her synthetic gourd.

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

Sentinel grinned as he spun the handle on the Foosball table to get one of his little players to kick the plastic ball toward Rex's goal. Rex wasn't going to go down easily, though, and stopped the ball with one of his players.

Rex sent the ball back down the field, where Sentinel reached for another handle to intercept, but a loud alarm blared through the Teen Team's base. Sentinel looked up, missing the block and letting the ball slip into his goal. Rex threw his arms up in the air, “Fucking SCORE!”

Sentinel looked back at Rex and rolled his eyes, “That doesn't count! The alarm went off!”

Rex pointed both hands at him and fired finger guns, “It totally counts, loser. Now let's fucking go see what's up.”

Sentinel sighed but floated into the air with a smirk while looking down at Rex, “Fine, I'll meet you there since you have to walk like a pleb.”

The words, “FUCK YOU!” trailed behind Sentinel while he flew toward the central meeting area. It was where Robot had built a giant screen and led all the team briefings. Sentinel touched down to find Robot, Kate, and Eve already waiting. After he landed, Eve looked over at him, “Where's Rex?”

He smirked, “Walking.”

Less than a minute later, Rex joined the rest of them at the console. Rex made sure to give Sentinel two middle fingers for good measure.

“Now that everyone is here.” The screen turned on and showed a bank with four people charging into it.

Everyone watching, minus Sentinel, groaned at the four familiar people on the screen. Rex summed up their feelings, “These fuckers again?!”

Robot's answering tone somehow sounded dry and disappointed, “Unfortunately.”

Seeing Sentinel's confused look, Kate decided to fill him in, “They call themselves 'The Renegades' and...” She sighed, “They think of themselves as our arch-rivals.”

Robot picked up from there, his monotone voice somehow sounding exasperated, “They are led by Mastermind; he has a slightly enhanced intellect and minor telekinetic abilities. Brute is their super-strength muscle. Mimic can transform himself into anyone, gaining their physical attributes but not their powers. He's mildly annoying to deal with due to his ability to blend in and disappear. Lastly, we have Volt. She is the only member with a truly powerful ability, Electrokinesis. She's also the only one that's mildly competent.”

Eve sighed, “Are we really the only ones who can take this one?”

Robot nodded, “Unfortunately.” He moved on with the briefing, “They are currently robbing Central Bank and have taken hostages. The police can't handle the situation, so we've been called in. Teen Team, move out!”

Robot, Rex, and Kate all ran to a large vehicle that looked like a cross between a jet and a motorcycle. Eve and Sentinel flew into the air under their own power. The roof of the tower opened, allowing all of them to fly out in formation, Robot in the lead with Eve and Sentinel flying to the sides of him. Thanks to how fast Eve and Sentinel could fly, Robot didn't have to hold back on the speed of his bike; they arrived in less than five minutes.

When they arrived, it was to an expected scene. Police cars were arrayed around the bank to block off all exits but had made no attempt to get into the bank. Protocol when dealing with super villains was to wait for superheroes. The simple fact of the matter was, the police just weren't equipped to deal with superpowered individuals.

Robot flew his vehicle over the roof of the bank and hovered above a massive skylight. On the away his calm monotone informed the others of his plan, “Atom Eve, open the window, everyone drop when she does. Dupli-Kate, attempt to locate and subdue Mimic. Rex Splode, subdue Brute. Atom Eve, subdue Volt. I will handle Mastermind. Sentinel, sit back and observe; please do not interfere unless necessary.”

Sentinel nodded in understanding while Eve waved her hand and caused the skylight to peel open without damaging it. Teen Team, as one, jumped from the hovering vehicle and fell or flew into the bank. Sentinel followed a few seconds behind them to stay at the back.

As he flew in, he got his first look at three members of The Renegades. Mastermind, their leader, was wearing a matte black skintight suit with crimson accents and a stylized jagged R on his chest, a long black coat, and a domino mask on his face. His eyes were locked on Robot, and he was grinning happily.

Not too far from him stood the main muscle of the group, Brute. He was a mountain of a man standing over nine feet tall and covered in thick corded muscles. His costume was almost identical to Mastermind's but with no cape, all designed to show off his physique.

Further in the bank was the last visible member of the group, and the only female, Volt. While her costume maintained the matte black and crimson theme, her crimson markings were lighting bolt shaped and instead of a jacket, she had a short cape. Her blonde hair stood up in sharp clumps thanks to a constant electrical charge coming from her body.

Mimic was known to wear a similar costume, but his power not only changed his looks, but his clothing as well, making it impossible to find him when he was transformed into someone else. Seeing as he couldn't be spotted, he was most likely hidden among the hostages.

The moment they touched down, Kate split into dozens of copies and moved to guard the hostages while trying to figure out which one could be Mimic.

Eve flew directly toward Volt, throwing up pink shields to intercept the lightning bolts Volt fired at her. Robot blitzed toward Mastermind, but was caught in the villain's telekinetic grip and tossed backward. At the same time, Rex began tossing small glowing disks at Brute that hit the giant in the chest and detonated with enough force to shove him back.

Sentinel casually floated in the air with his arms crossed in front of his chest and observed as Robot commanded. Upon spotting Sentinel, Mastermind paused in his attack on Robot. He stared at Sentinel for a moment before turning a furious gaze on Robot, “What the hell, Robot?! Since when has Teen Team had five members?!”

Robot paused in his movement toward Mastermind, “Sentinel is not a member of Teen Team.”

“That's even worse! You brought in a fucking ringer, you cheater!”

Rex flew between them in a parabolic trajectory after Brute smashed a fist into his face. Both Robot and Mastermind's heads turned to watch Rex pass by before they focused back on each other again. Mastermind pointed at Robot in accusation, “It's not fair for you to bring in an outsider like this!”

Robot's head tilted to the side as he processed that statement before responding with, “I fail to see what fairness has to do with the situation. You are criminals committing a crime. We can bring anyone we wish with us to put a stop to your crimes.”

Mastermind threw his hands up in the air just in time for an explosion to go off behind him, “It's the principle of the thing!”

Bright light from a massive burst of electricity flared behind Robot as he calmly replied, “I am sorry you feel that way, but your feelings are irrelevant to this matter.” He raised his arms and aimed his blasters at Mastermind, “Might I suggest you surrender?”

Mastermind raised his hands, lifting up a dozen rolls of coins with his telekinesis, “That's not going to happen!”

Before Mastermind could launch the coin rolls, Brute's heavy body slammed into the ground next to him, blood leaking from his nose and mouth while his torso was covered in burn marks. As he looked at Brute, Volt landed on top of the giant, wrapped in conductive chains that shocked her every time she tried to use her power. Mastermind's gaze moved to her twitching body. Slowly, he turned to face Robot while dropping the coin rolls and raising his hands into the air, “Maybe you're right, just this once.”

Robot produced a pair of restraints and slapped them around Mastermind's wrists. His green lenses swept the room and focused on the nearest Kate clone, “Any sign of Mimic?”

The clone shook her head, “No. He could be anyone among the hostages, if he's among them at all.”

Robot nodded in understanding, “It is possible he has a different role in this crime.”

While they spoke, police flooded into the room along with GDA agents meant to take super's into custody. Robot turned to face them and briefed them on events thus far.

Sentinel slowly floated down to stand next to Eve. When she looked at him, he gave her a bright smile, though it only showed in his eyes, “You were pretty awesome.”

Eve laughed gently, “The Renegades aren't much of a challenge usually. Though, sometimes, Mastermind can come up with a decent plan. I think you being here completely threw them off their game.”

Sentinel chuckled, “So, is that my role in future encounters? Hover in the air and look menacing?”

Eve giggled and shook her head, “No. I'm sure Robot will give you something to do next time.”

One of the Kate clones strolled over and gave Sentinel a wicked smirk, “I dunno, I kind of like how Sentinel looked just hovering there all menacing-like. It's like having our own min-Immortal or micro-Omni-Man on the team!”

Sentinel chuckled and looked between the pair, “Well, as fun as this was, I wouldn't mind being able to participate next time.”

“Noted.” Robot stepped closer to the group, “After assessing the situation and the known capabilities of The Renegades, I felt having you as backup in case Mimic or Volt managed to pull any tricks was the best use of you and your abilities.”

Sentinel shrugged his shoulders, “It's fine. I'm here to learn. If there's anything I can do to help in any situation, just let me know.”

“I will.”

With that, Robot called his bike down from the sky, and the non-fliers climbed aboard. Together the group took off and made their way back to the tower. Sentinel glanced at the message his system had given him.

[Feat Achieved! Participate in your first heroic “team up”. +1 Bronze Gacha Ticket.]

He rolled his eyes at the feat, it felt like it was mocking him with the quotes. Not that he disagreed. He hadn't lifted a finger, and that kind of annoyed him. Hopefully, he would get to do more to help in the near future. He was starting to get a little antsy at not helping people right then and there. Hopefully, Cecil would prove his claims, and he would get to do some real heroic work.

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

Shortly after landing at the Teen Team tower, Robot paused, his eyes flashing. Rex, having spotted it, sighed, “Those shit heads got away again, didn't they?”

Robot turned to face the group, “Indeed they have. It appears that Mimic was hidden among the hostages, after all. He managed to subdue a GDA operative and take their place. Once they left the scene, he took over the transport and freed his companions.”

Rex threw his head back and let out an explosive sigh, “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I hate those guys.”

Kate nodded in agreement with Rex, “They're an annoying pain in the ass. But we'll get them next time.”

Sentinel looked between all of them, “So, now what?”

Rex pulled off his goggles and head cover, “Now? Now we relax until we're called for the next emergency.”

Robot chimed in, “Rex is right. Rest is an important part of the job.”

Just as Robot finished speaking, a new voice spoke from Sentinel's GDA-issued earpiece, “Sentinel, I've gotten clearance for you to enter a radioactive waste storage facility. You still interested?”

Sentinel held his hand up to his ear with a smile growing on his face at the news, “Awesome news, Cecil. How about now?”

“Sure, kid. Say when and I'll teleport us to the entrance.”

Sentinel nodded, even though Cecil couldn't see it, and looked to the Teen Team, “I'll be back later. Cecil is taking me to a radioactive waste storage facility so I can absorb all the radiation and render everything there inert.”

Everyone looked surprised, though Eve grinned broadly, “That sounds awesome. Why didn't I think of something like that? I could easily convert the materials into something more useful.”

“She can do that after you remove the radiation. I've got an idea about it too.”

Sentinel nodded at Cecil's message and relayed it, “Cecil says he has an idea of what you could turn the stuff into once I'm done. Cecil, do you want both of us now?”

“No. Just you for now.”

“Alright Eve, he'll talk to you when he is ready for your help. I'm going to head out now. I'll see all of you when I'm done, alright?”

Getting nods from everyone, he addressed Cecil, “I'm ready for that teleport now.”

Bright white light filled his vision before Sentinel found himself somewhere else. Directly in front of him was a thick concrete and metal structure with a solid steel door that looked heavy as hell. Cecil, standing next to him, reached out and began typing a long number sequence into the control pad by the door.

It was at least twenty digits before the door let out a loud wailing alarm and began to slowly open. Sentinel made sure Radiation Absorption was active while watching it swing open.

“Alright, Sentinel, this is where we part ways. There are ten floors in this facility. The deeper you go, the more radioactive the materials.” He paused and looked slightly put off, “Have fun?”

Sentinel chuckled, “I don't know about fun, but this feels like the first major positive thing I could do for the world.”

Cecil nodded and took a step back, “I understand.” Then he vanished in a flash of white light.

The sirens continued to wail even after the thick steel-reinforced door opened to reveal a massive industrial elevator platform. Looking through the door, he could also see another much larger door that was likely where deliveries were made. Stepping inside, he saw a large pad with the floor numbers listed. He stepped up and hit the button for the first floor.

He sighed in mild annoyance as another siren began to wail and yellow flashing lights filled the platform. With a loud mechanical groan, the platform began to lower itself into the earth.

The ride took several minutes, and when it stopped, he was faced with another thick door, though this one opened like a vault; all he had to do was spin the wheel to disengage the locking bars. Pulling the door open, he immediately felt the wave of radiation coming out of the opening. His lips curled into a wide smile as his body drank it all in. He stepped into the room and pulled the door closed behind him.

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

Cecil stood in the main control room for the facility where everything was monitored. He, as well as a bunch of GDA eggheads, watched in real time as the radiation levels dropped like a stone on floor one. Granted, it was where the least dangerous materials were, but it was still astonishing to see it happen.

Cecil let out a low whistle while Donald, standing right next to him, stated the obvious, “He's really doing it. I know we didn't doubt he could, but seeing it is strange.” His mirror glasses turned to face Cecil, “Are we sure this is a good idea? We don't know how much stronger he will grow from this.”

After crossing his arms over his chest while watching the readings continue to plummet, Cecil nodded, “That's true Donald, we don't. I think it will be worth it. He's done nothing to cause suspicion, has worked with us to the best of his abilities, and isn't some alien from another planet.”

Donald frowned, “You intend to use him as a potential weapon against Omni-Man?”

Cecil sighed deeply, “If necessary. It's been nearly twenty years, and Omni-Man seems to be on the level, but I still don't trust him. World Betterment Committee my ass.”

They lapsed into silence and watched as the radiation levels on floor one dropped to zero. Sentinel had rendered everything stored within inert. Ten minutes later, they watched the radiation levels on floor two begin to drop.

Watching through the cameras, they could see that Sentinel was perfectly fine. In fact, he looked to have a certain pep in his step while he went about his work. Clearly, draining radiation from the vaults was working wonders for him.

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

Sentinel stood on the tenth and final level of the waste facility, drinking in the last dregs of radiation from the most dangerous sources possible. A normal human placed in the room with no protective gear would have died in minutes or less. Sentinel, on the other hand, had never felt better in his life! He could feel his energy reserves had grown at least five times larger. It wasn't a direct increase in his strength, but it gave him more energy for things that required it, like Mana Substitution.

His grin widened until it was almost painful as he felt the last tidbit of radiation sink into his body, leaving the room completely clean.

[Feat Achieved! Render 1,000 metric tons of radioactive waste inert. +1 Diamond Gacha Ticket.]

Sentinel stared at the feat, then started laughing. That was an amazing feat! He quickly left the room and made his way back to the lift. In his mind, it took forever for the lift to get him back to the surface. He frowned when he was met by people in yellow radiation protection suits and Geiger counters. Fortunately for everyone, the Geiger counters registered nothing, not even background radiation, as Sentinel was absorbing that.

After he was pronounced clean, he was led to the main area where Cecil and Donald were still waiting for him. The moment he spotted Cecil, Sentinel spoke, “Sir, I think it would be wise if we could get me into more facilities. I got 'one' for cleaning this place, and it's potentially the biggest one yet. If I do more, I should get one with even bigger potential.”

Cecil's eyes widened. He'd been expecting Sentinel to get a chance at a new power for cleaning the facility, but to learn it was the biggest potential boost yet? That he had not expected. Without showing too much of a reaction, he reached up and pressed his fingers to his ear, “Donald, prep site two and bring us into a secure room.”

While Cecil lowered his hand, both he and Sentinel were covered in white light and teleported to a DGA safe room. Cecil immediately turned to Sentinel, “How big?”

“Diamond!”

Cecil's eyes widened in a show of true surprise, “Just for cleaning the site?”

Sentinel nodded, “For cleaning one thousand metric tons of waste. If I'm right, I should get another even bigger one at ten thousand or one hundred thousand.”

Cecil crossed his arms over his chest and contemplated that, “I see, for now let's see what you get.”

“Hell yeah!”

It was seeing how Sentinel behaved in moments like this that made Cecil feel like the kid could be trusted. It also didn't hurt that the kid had agreed to teach Kate and Rex his Total Concentration Breathing technique, which Cecil had naturally copied. Granted, he only had copies of the technological gourd that Robot had designed, but it was a start. He already had fifty agents working on trying to break the gourds.

'Roll the diamond ticket!'

[ROLLING!]

[Progenitor Demon, Legendary Trait, Race(Demon Slayer) - You are a progenitor sharing all of the powers of Muzan Kibitsuji. Allowing you to freely shapeshift and have extremely powerful regeneration as well as the ability to turn others into demons with your own blood in addition to your superhuman physical abilities. But sunlight is extremely lethal to you.]

Sentinel read over the description, his eyes widening. Once he got to the end, he had only one reaction, “Reroll! REROLL NOW!”

“Kid? What the hell?”

[ROLLING!]

“Sorry Cecil, it was a race change; I can reroll those. This one would have turned me into a progenitor demon and made sunlight lethal to me. Forget that!”

Cecil looked shocked; he hadn't realized there were options like that. He supposed the kid hadn't known either.

[Divine Cooking, Mythical Skill, Your cooking talent is on the level of the gods, the food you cook can give someone an epiphany and change their lives. You can get gods to form a queue outside of your restaurant to taste your cooking.]

Sentinel read, then reread the description of his new skill before he slumped with a defeated sigh. Seeing his reaction, Cecil reached out and gently patted him on the shoulder, “Got something of low rarity, eh?”

Sentinel sighed and looked Cecil in the eyes, “No. It's Mythical rarity.”

Cecil's eyes widened in shock, “Then why are you so down?! According to you, that should be amazing, whatever it is.”

“It is.” Sentinel agreed, “It's so good gods would queue up for it...” Sentinel was not pouting, no matter what the smirk Cecil was giving him said, “It's Divine Cooking, a mythical skill.”

Cecil snorted, “Your first super rare 'high powered' gain is the ability to cook really well?”

He stared at Cecil, “Hey! I'm now the greatest chef on the planet! I can now cook at the level of GODS! My food is now so good it can give people epiphanies or change their lives! If gods existed, they would form a line to wait for just a taste of my cooking!”

Cecil actually laughed while patting Sentinel on the back, “It's fine, kid. That's the nature of randomness.”

Sentinel crossed his arms over his chest and looked away while pouting. Cecil tapped his earpiece, “Send us to the next site, Donald.”

White light filled their vision and revealed another waste disposal facility when it cleared. Cecil gave Sentinel a playful shove, which did nothing, toward the door, “Let's see if your next one won't be better.”

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

[Feat Achieved! Render over 100,000 metric tons of radioactive waste inert. +1 Legendary Gacha Ticket.]

It took nearly three weeks, some intense international negotiations, and time spent with Teen Team, but Sentinel had finally done it. When nothing had happened after draining roughly ten thousand metric tons, he'd almost given up. Now he was extremely glad he'd persevered.

Cecil chuckled at the look on Sentinel's face, “So, you going to see what you get or what?”

“Yeah.” 'Roll the legendary ticket!'

[ROLLING!]

[Power Mimicry, Mythical Ability, You can touch a target and add their ability to Power Mimicry. At any time, you can change Power Mimicry to any power you have stored inside of it. Power Mimicry can only mimic one ability at a time.]

Sentinel tilted his head as he read over the ability. Slowly, he frowned, “I... don't think I like this ability.”

“Explain it to me.”

Hearing the commanding tone in Cecil's voice, he sighed and did so. Cecil thought for a moment, “So, you can basically copy the power of any super you touch?”

“Yeah, though I can only use one at a time.”

“Still, kid, that's pretty useful.”

"Yeah, but it also feels like I would be taking what makes them unique. Rex already dislikes my Explosive Sweat ability just because it causes explosions. If I actually copied his power, I think he would be fairly pissed off."

Cecil rubbed his chin, “ I could see Rex being like that, but not every hero would be. I should get you to meet and shake hands with some of the stronger supers.” He paused, a strange look flittering across his face before he continued, "I need to arrange for something. For now, head back home. You've done a hell of a lot of good, and you deserve a break.”

Sentinel nodded and left the GDA building, then took to the air. He climbed high into the atmosphere, then poured on the speed while heading for Chicago. Cecil said to go home, but Sentinel had a much more interesting idea. He flew directly toward the Teen Teams base, landing gently on the top of the tower.

He pulled out his phone, but before he could dial Robot, the roof began retracting. He hopped down and floated to the floor where he found Eve and Robot waiting for him. Robot was the first to speak, “Sentinel, we weren't expecting you today.”

Eve cut in, “Though you're welcome anytime.” Her eyes narrowed at Robot, “Right, Robot?”

“Of course. Anytime. May I ask what brought you by?”

“Actually, I came by to see Eve and Kate and ask something of both of them.” He turned to Eve, “Is Kate around?”

Eve, looking curious, pointed toward the door to Kate's room, “She's in her room.”

He glanced at the door, then back to Eve, “Join me? I'd rather talk to the pair of you at the same time to save a little effort.”

Eve shrugged, and both made their way toward Kate's door, where Eve knocked, “Kate, it's Eve, Sentinel is here and wants to talk to us.”

“Coming!”

In about a minute, Kate opened her door. She looked a little flushed but curious about what was happening, “What's up?”

“I wanted to talk to the two of you because of a new ability I got today.”

Sentinel began, only to be interrupted by Kate groaning, “You're such bullshit.”

Feeling a little sheepish, he pushed on and explained Power Mimicry to them. This prompted Eve to join Kate in giving him a deadpan as she muttered, “Kate's right, you are bullshit. Still, I take it from you talking to us that you want to copy our powers?”

He nodded, “I do. Both of your powers will let me do a lot of good.” His gaze shifted to Eve, “With your power, I can show you some really interesting things.” His gaze shifted to Kate, “And I can make you a plethora of tools to use with your clones.”

He was thinking about all the Star Wars tech he could instantly create with Eve's power and his massive energy reserves. Draining one hundred thousand tons of radioactive waste had made his reserves truly monstrous, so he could make lots of things. Things that both of them could put to good use.

Kate tilted her head slightly, “I'm not sure if you can copy my power. I mean, technically it's a curse.”

Sentinel peeled off one of his gloves and held his hand out, “Only one way to know for certain.”

Kate seemed to hesitate for a moment before she offered her hand and they shook. He felt the moment he copied her self-replication. With a thought, a second copy of himself slipped out of his body and stood there, “Whoa!”

Sentinel looked at his other self and felt a bit of vertigo at seeing things from two points of view due to the telepathic link between himself and the copy. Kate laughed at how green he was turning, “Stop looking at yourself, that makes it slightly better until you're used to it.”

Sentinel shook his head, and the clone stepped back into his body, ending the split vision, “That is going to take some serious effort to get used to.”

Kate nodded, “I can train with you to help you get used to it. It takes a lot of practice but, eventually, you'll be able to handle it.”

“I'd really appreciate that, Kate.” He turned to Eve and held his hand out, “No pressure, but I hope it helps to know I don't really plan to use your ability in combat. I actually want to use it with another ability of mine.”

Eve looked at him curiously, “Oh? And which one might that be?”

Sentinel grinned playfully, “It's a secret. But I know you're a nerd, so I know you will love it.”

Eve bit her lip for a moment, then she sighed. A pink energy wave went down her hand, removing her glove. She shook his hand, and Sentinel felt her power slot into place. His eyes widened as he felt the FULL RANGE of her power. He'd never seen Eve use her power on people, but she could. He wondered why she didn't, then realized how messy it would be and how much it would terrify the public if they knew she could. He'd keep a lid on it himself.

“Thank you, Eve.”

She crossed her arms under her bust and started tapping her foot mock impatiently, “Well? I'm waiting for my prize.”

Sentinel laughed and focused on the new ability within Power Mimicry. He looked at the world with whole new eyes. He could see and understand the very atoms that made up his reality. It was a heady thing. Nascent Esper came in clutch, letting him gain a good understanding of Eve's Molecular Transmutation.

He closed his eyes to focus while swapping Tinker – Star Wars in for Radiation Absorption. He focused on what he wanted to create to get as much detail on it as he could. He held his hands in front of each other and began channeling his energy. A bright pink light filled the air between his hands as he transformed the very molecules of the air into the desired item.

It took him nearly five minutes, but when he was done, he was holding an iconic item in his hand.

“No. Fucking. Way. Is that really...?” Eve trailed off while Kate was too stunned to speak.

Sentinel grinned and held the plain, smooth silver cylinder in one hand while thumbing the activation switch with the other. There was a distinct snap-hiss as a bright pink blade was ignited from the emitter of the Lightsaber. All three heroes stared at the deadly pink blade in sheer awe.

Eve's eyes finally moved from the Lightsaber to stare into Sentinel's, “Bull. Shit. That's all you are. Your superhero name should be Captain Bullshit.”

Sentinel and Kate laughed at the comment. Removing his thumb from the switch disabled the Lightsaber, which he held out toward Eve, “I left the handle plain so you could decorate it however you liked.”

Eve quickly, greedily, but still politely, snatched the Lightsaber from his hand and held it to her chest like he might try to take it back from her. Kate grabbed her shoulder and tugged to make him face her. She held her hand out with the palm facing up, “Gimme!”

Five minutes later, he passed over a second plain Lightsaber hilt that emitted a dark purple beam. Kate, just like Eve, cradled her new deadly weapon to her chest, “You're the best!” She stood on the tips of her toes and placed a kiss on his cheek.

Sentinel froze as his brain stuttered to a stop at the shock of the moment. It didn't last too long, but it was long enough for Eve and Kate to notice and giggle about it.

Before anything else could be said, a loud klaxon alarm began to ring through the base, followed by Robot's voice, “Teen Team, assemble. A portal of some sort has opened in downtown Chicago and aliens are coming through. They're firing on civilians without prejudice.”

All signs of playing around vanished. It was time to be heroes.

AN

10k words

So, this chapter was a ton of fun to write. Time has passed, and we've come to one of the first major public events in the Invincible show, the Flaxan invasion.

Up until then, Adam/Sentinel had been making friends with Teen Team and making some big inroads into being the kind of hero he wants to be. It's been a lot of fun writing all the interactions.

As for his rolls... The legendary ticket wanted to be a pain in the ass. The first roll was Mythical Tinker - Taimanin. From what Isaw it's some ecchi game series I've never heard of, so I decided to reroll it because I couldn't write something I didn't know about at all. The second roll wanted to break the world, The Darkness Logia. Yeah, not happening. The next roll was actually WORSE, the Light Logia. I mean, really?! Either of those Logias would basically make him unbeatable in the Invinscible world since Haki and Seastone don't exist.

So, yeah, the last roll was Power Mimicry. The best part of that one is it's firmly limited by the power of the setting. He literally can only copy existing powers, so he can't use it (alone) to just copy Viltrumite Physiology and beat the snot out of Thragg.

Still, what the hell is up with this guy's luck?

On the bright side, he now gets to have a ton of fun with Star Wars tech. Nothing like conjuring up a fully functioning spaceship from thin air, literally. Oh so much cool shit to play with!

Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter!