Don't Own Anything in this fic, Only The Oc.
'thought'
"Speech"
"Speech through phones and Text via book, notes, or newspaper... when those are around..."
"Powerful Creatures Speaking"
System
(Mid Chapter Authors Notes)
Welcome to your very own maddening adventure!
I blink at the screen slowly.
You, random human #481075071 have been selected for reincarnation! And what's this? You even get a special power to go along with it? That's right! In this scenario we have given you the gacha system! The way this works is simple, we send you into a world that is random, for every month you are in a world, you gain one 'low rank gacha', these gachas, like normal gacha, can be almost anything, people, items, skills, racial powers, and more! Additionally, you may gain more rolls depending on your actions.
Low rank gacha typically is 'weighted' to a 1 star or 2 star rarity, but you could be exceedingly lucky and get a 5 star, or even a 10 star (When those are unlocked for you.)
Next, comes the world jumping. When you 'complete a story' or 'complete a certain number of arcs' in certain series which are exceedingly long you will gain the option to world jump. You can choose to go back to worlds you have 'completed' when you reach the potential to progress to a new world, so keep that in mind, at which point you may automatically proceed onto a new world at any point or return to your other realities.
Your current reality was chosen to be of reasonable power for someone with low powers. Yet before long the power ceiling will rapidly rise.
"Huh." I blink. "Well okay."
I'm going to roll with this. Much better than my old life's monotony.
Why don't we see your starting abilities!
First your monthly roll!
Pistol: 1 Star Item
Your average semi-automatic low powered handgun, it also comes with 2 free clips of ammunition, each of which holding 15 rounds, and a holster. Lucky you!
With a flash a pistol appears in my grasp, causing me to blink at it and let out a low hum.
I guess it's alright to have some form of protection... who knows what sort of thing I'll be facing... who knows, I might just be placed in medieval times and have a weapon that'll cause people to call me some form of deity.
Now for your premium roll!
Child Prodigy: 3 Star Skill
You are now a child. But that's totally a benefit! Pick 3 things, ANYTHING, and you will suddenly be far superior at those things than someone who has trained their entire life at it. In addition, you pick up new things at twice the speed of a normal person.
'Pick three things?'
I wince as my body quickly shrinks, luckily my clothes follow along, I am suddenly enveloped in a blinding flash.
As I blink away the spots from my vision, I appear in some form of back alley, dust hangs in the air, several large buildings are being built in the distance.
It appears my clothes have shifted, I now wear a slightly oversized dirty white hoodie- despite the fact that it is like ninety degrees out, I can feel my pistol holstered at my side hidden by the long hoodie.
Instead of the sweatpants I was wearing before I wear kid jeans.
Judging by my size, I shouldn't be older than fourteen... definitely older than ten at least.
I should hold off on picking what I want to be good at until I know where the hell I am.
I am in some form of city alley, I put my hands in my pockets and slowly look around as I step out of the alleyway.
Cars line the streets, long sidewalks lead in all directions, dozens of people walk along the sidewalks, large skyscrapers are on all sides.
Am I in New York or something?
I look around slowly before slowly wandering down the street.
I pass store fronts, calmly glancing inside with a bored frown.
I pause mid step as something catches my eye. 'Robert Downey Junior?'
"Tony Stark Returns"
Oh, son of a bitch.
I sit within a large dilapidated white van with a frown on my face.
No, I didn't get kidnapped.
I took a swift trip to the junkyard, snuck in, and got in one of the older cars to hide.
The car itself is totaled, it looks like it crashed face first into something, the front is bent and crushed, the engine block is missing, and all the wheels are gone, but back half still has a door, and is fairly clean and undamaged. There's a few holes here and there, but that's nothing I can fix within time.
I crack my fingers and let out a low hum.
I struck a deal with the owner of this little junkyard, I gave him five hundred dollars for this piece of shit, and gave him a bit more to allow me to keep it at the junk yard.
Luckily this man was in debt and respected my wishes in not questioning me.
I need to give him one hundred dollars a month for this hunk of junk, but a majority of that is buying his silence.
Where did I get all this money?
I broke into an Atm and stole some money after breaking the security camera.
How did I do all this?
My new proficiencies.
Martial arts, Hacking, and Robotics.
I had of course tried to learn 'mystic arts' as my first choice, but sadly that didn't work. I'll have to learn that on my own sometime in the future... but luckily, my times two learning speed should work on that.
I pull a laptop into my lap and look to the large car-like battery to the left, a router sitting atop it.
I quietly skim through the internet
The year is two thousand nine. Tony Stark was kidnapped three months ago and has only recently returned to America.
That means that in a certain amount of time- who knows how long, really- Tony Stark will create the iron man suit.
It'll probably take more than a month. Tony's a genius, but he's not THAT smart. I on the other hand, need to work on something like an ironman suit as well.
I doubt it'll be ready, but if I am allowed to use this scrap yard, and can buy pieces I need, I should have it ready by ironman two.
I'll need some time, and I'll need some privacy, and I'll need some tools, but I've got this! All this headache inducing knowledge will finally be useful!
I let out a low hum as I look to a gauntleted hand.
A cobbled together glove with wires on it sits on my hand.
I clench my fist and watch as the metal gauntlet in front of me follows along.
"Holy shit." I whisper.
The lights in the back of the van dim slightly as I re-open the hand.
I let out a quiet sigh and
Turn off the setup, watching at the lights brighten again.
I need some way to generate power.
I'm not tony stark. I can't magic up some form of mystical reactor that can fit in the palm of my hand.
I have a general idea, but it'll be bulky, and it'll be a wee bit dangerous... practically a 'shoot me right here' target.
Luckily, I'm not going to be in this thing.
I look to the large crate beneath me.
And luckily I just so happen to have gotten some weaponry to slap on it.
Three disposable rocket launchers.
Hell yeah, baby! That two star Gacha was good to me!
I look to the hunkered robot sat with its knees up to its chest.
I finished it.
It should work... theoretically.
I just need a way to power it.
The back of this van is getting a little bit crowded.
I look to the large box holding the unassembled pieces of the Lego Colloseum, a lego set that apparently has over nine thousand pieces.
Sat atop that is a stack of coupons held together with rubber bands.
An unassembled sofa with large cushions sits in the other corner.
The Gacha gods have stopped being nice to me.
Dishwashing King: 1 Star Skill:
The dishes are your bitch! With this special ability you clean dishes 400% faster than you would originally.
About six months have passed since I have entered this world.
A little under that, in fact, but it'll be six months soon.
Currently I am waiting for a certain event. Tony takes his suit out of his mansion the second he sees an eastern village getting blown up, I'll be using this time to one: hack into Stark industries and download the file of Tony being held at gunpoint, then Two, a far more dangerous scheme... hack into Stark's house and leave the file.
Why?
We do a bit of trollin'. I wanna cause some chaos.
If Tony knows about the Iron Monger, boom, he's got a heavy suit ready and prepared.
And if Tony Stark just so happens to track me down, discover I am a child, and gives me a place to stay, and resources to mess around with? Well, I just don't know if I'd be able to say no!
I crack my knuckles as the nightly news turns on, all I have to do is wait now.
I turn around and return to working on the gas-powered generator I have in the floor.
It looks like I'm going to have to give my boy a little backpack.
Extract the files.
I drum my fingers on the bottom corner of my laptop as I sit with my legs crossed on a strewn couch cushion, my lego set beside me.
Waiting... waiting... waiting. Done.
Only now do the security systems notice me, I quickly log out, swiftly prevent them from tracking my IP, then turn my eyes elsewhere. I swiftly make a copy of the Ironmonger file, then move on. the pathway I had left open to Stark's house beckons, so I simply oblige.
Iron Monger is done copying, now to leave a Datacache... and hell, might as well leave a small message for fun!
Pov: Elsewhere.
A man in a red and gold mechanical suit flies through the air, the ruins of a village left behind him.
He hadn't attacked the village, of course, he had in fact saved the place from terrorists who were using women and children and hostages.
Now he's flying back home to perhaps buy a victory hoagie? The suit works far better than he thought it would.
"Sir." A slightly posh sounding male voice begins from the suit.
"What is it, Jarvis." The Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist mutters as he rolls his shoulders slightly.
Taking a tank shell to the face and falling several hundred feet was not good for his body.
"It appears that we have been hacked." The Ai hums.
"What?" The genius scoffs. "That's ridiculous. I coded most of that myself."
"He left a message for you if you would like to read it." Jarvis supplies.
"Go ahead."
"Wait, sir, it appears you are being followed. Perhaps it would be best for you to take care of those two F22 raptors."
A small screen appears in the top of his vision, showing the face of one of his good friends, Rhodes.
"Ah shit." The man growls as he quickly dives downwards
A Goatee'd man winces as several mechanical arms try to pry his suit off of his body. "Ow ow, easy!"
"Sir. Shall we return to the earlier subject?"
"Hn? Oh right right, what did our little hacker want? A ransome perhap- agh! This is my first time! Be gentle!" Tony goes to respond, but a small robotic arm tries to free the crotch piece. "I'm bruised!"
"I shall begin reading the message."
"*Ahem* Hello Tony, I was just doing my normal hacker thing, breaking into Stark Enterprises, just to see if I could. Parenthesis, I did, Scarily Easy, you need to update the user verification Assapp, close parenthesis. And I found something that you may just want to see. Stane is trying to murder you. Tilda. And he is building a robot to do it based on some junk he found in Afghanistan. Anyways, Toodeloo. Dash An extremely bored hacker who is fighting desperately against your AI as he realizes something's wrong."
"…"
"What?" The genius mutters.
"He has even left a data cache which I have left unopened as there is a fair likelihood that it holds a virus."
"No, no, what's that about Stane trying to have me killed? And what's with the robot thing? Did someone find the mark one?"
"I do not know, Sir."
"Order me a disposable laptop, I guess the only way to know for sure is to open the file." The superhero sighs.
"Sir. Pepper is here to see you. She looks a little frantic."
"Shit." Tony curses under his breath. If someone did hack into Stark industries, of course she'd be frantic.
Tony slips a hand into his pocket as he adjusts his sunglasses, he stares out across a scrap yard, a frown on his face.
This dump is where they tracked the hacker to?
Sad. Looks like this is just another false lead.
His eyes lock onto a simple white van with a satellite dish on top of it.
"You have got to be kidding me." The man deadpans, allowing his glasses to fall slightly.
The hacker that was able to pierce HIS systems lives in this sort of dump?! That's SO sad. With their skills they could have easily worked for the government and made an absolute killing... but here they are, slumming it away in the middle of a scrap yard.
He slowly approaches the van, carefully stepping over the bits and broken glass and strewn bolts and scrap on his way there.
He pauses in front of the door and he can faintly hear music on the other side.
He looks to the front of the van, it looks as if it smashed head first into a light post, it's missing all of its wheels, and has grey duct tape in sections across the outside, presumably to cover holes.
He reaches up and knocks on the door. Nothing happens for a moment, he can hear the music within the van abruptly stop.
A pre-pubescent voice eventually rings out. "I swear to god Ted, stop bothering me. I already paid you this month for your frankly illegal setup here."
It eventually cracks open, revealing a black haired... child?
He wears a black eyepatch over his right eye as he looks up with dark circles under his revealed eye.
His visible eye narrows as he takes in the sight of the suited billionaire. "May I help you?"
"You might... I'm looking for the crazy brat that hacked into Stark Enterprises and my home shortly after that, you know em?"
Pov: Returned, the day before.
My shoulders slump as I log out of my computer, I allow my head to fall back onto the cushion and let out a long sigh.
It's done.
I fucking did it.
I crack my fingers and glance around my little van slowly.
I've got my battle borg up and running to a point where it could fight for a grand total of about a minute before the car batteries run dry, and, if all goes extremely poorly, I could always flee while setting it to attack movement.
"…"
Wouldn't it also target me, then?
Shit.
Ah well, no plan survives contact with the enemy.
Congratulations on altering the plot! You have gained a single Medium Tier Roll.
Medium teir rolls are a nice middle ground to the Low rolls and the High rolls, hence their name. Like a high-tier roll, you are more likely to get better stuff, however, unlike the high tier roll, it is still completely possible to gain a 1 or 2 star item/skill/ability.
'well, roll it.'
CONGRATIULATIONS! You have rolled your first 5 star!
'hn?'
Magic Eye: (5 Star Body Modification)
One of your eyes has been replaced with a special magical eye which allows you to view the magical auras of creatures, spells, and items. Plus it's just a better eye in general, night vision, incredible focus and clarity, you can even see through fog as if it wasn't there! Note: this is hereditary. Good luck.
"Huh?"
I blink slowly, reaching for the nearest reflective surface, the world seems a little distorted, it's making me a little nauseous
I stare into my reflection.
Short Black hair, pale skin, dark circles under my eyes, a brown eye... an eye that looks like a fucking rip off sharingan.
The Iris is a deep blue, almost lapis color, the pupil is oddly shaped, looking similar to a plus sign that is light blue in color, the longer I look at it, I realize that it slowly spins.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
I let out a long groan as I bring a hand to my head.
Another uncomfortable night of sleeping.
I reach over and grab the last slice of pizza in a nearby pizza box and take a bite of it.
It's a little stale, but pizza can sit out a day and be fine the next.
My laptop quietly plays some tunes as I kick my feet up onto the nearby box holding a majority of the unassembled sofa I own. "Do you like how I dance; I've got zirconium pants"
I bring up a hand and touch my new eyepatch.
"Consequential enough to slip you into a trance."
It'll draw attention, but probably less than a SHARINGAN.
I let out a quiet click of annoyance.
"Do you like how I walk? Do you like how I talk? Do you like how my face disintegrates into chalk?"
My fingers drum against the sofa cushion as I take another bite of pizza.
"I have a wonderful wife; I have a powerful job. She criticizes me for being egocentric~"
*Knock Knock Knock*
I let out a sigh and reach over and press the space bar on the laptop, pausing the music, I lay down the half eaten piece of pizza in the pizza box and get up slowly. "I swear to god Ted, stop bothering me. I already paid you this month for your frankly illegal setup here."
I open the door and freeze at the suited man on the other side.
'Ah. I see'
My eyes narrow, one just behind an eyepatch. "May I help you?"
A slightly arrogant smile crosses his face. "You might... I'm looking for the crazy brat that hacked into Stark Enterprises and my home shortly after that, you know em?"
"Never heard of him." I deadpan with a half-lidded glare.
"Somehow I doubt that." The man smirks. "Can I come in."
"Do what you want." I scoff as I walk the foot or so back to the large sofa cushion and flop down on it.
He takes a single step up into the van and looks around the room slowly, his eyes stray to the large tarp in the far side of the room, he looks to the flat crate with the word 'Weapons' on it.
He doesn't comment for a moment as I grab my half-eaten piece of pizza.
"Are you... allowed to have that?" He rhetorically asks.
"Oh, absolutely, I have a rocket launcher owner's license, but I left it in my other wallet along with my driver's license and proof that I legitimately exist."
"Hn." He hums as he slowly approaches the large tarp. "I don't know if I can let you keep those."
"Stealing from homeless children are we?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. "What's next. My sofa? My pizza hut coupons? My priceless one of a kind lego set from the mystical year twenty-twenty that proves time travel exists?"
He looks over his shoulder for a moment as he peers under the tarp.
He appears caught off guard for a moment. "What the hell is this?"
"Medieval full plate. I made it for a cosplay." I respond easily.
"You made this?!" He asks with a calculating look.
"I have many talents, most obscure and very situational." I begin with a slightly smirk.
"Oh? Like what?"
"Well, I hack into heavily guarded used to be weapon manufacturers and build robots, that's two things." I shrug. "Anyways, I wouldn't worry about that hunk of junk. I never could get it to run for more than a minute before losing power, and even then, I never had the chance to stick any weapons on it. At most you'll be looking at something that can dent extremely thin metal. Maybe break a few bones with punches. Hell, it'd even get destroyed by regular gunfire... it's nothing like that behemoth that I sent you."
He lets out a small huff and turns around. "Well, I must say I am impressed. I came here expecting some form of supercomputer, but all I find was a brat, who's not even a teenager, with a laptop."
"That's about right." I shrug.
"Wanna job?" He asks
"Sure." I agree instantly.
"You're going to agree just like that?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Have you SEEN the place I live?" I ask. "Frankly if you can give me a place to stay, and solve the issue of me technically not existing, I'd see this as an absolute win."
"I see." The man whispers slowly. "So, what's your name, kid?"
I knew I was forgetting something.
I prop a phone in between my ear and shoulder as I silently screw in a bolt.
"Why do you need so much metal plating?"
"Oh. I'm bombproofing my home." I answer easily. "I'll also be using some of it for a project I'm working on."
"I see... paranoid, are we?"
"Oh, absolutely. But better paranoid than dead."
"That's certainly a motto. But there's something I need you to do right now, a few shipments of Stark weapons haven't reached the location to be disassembled, it appears someone hacked into our systems and changed the destinations. I want you to find them and tell me how they broke in."
"Oh, the Tellor Propellent Rifles, right? Yeah, I had noticed something strange in their shipment and was going to bring it up to you later today."
"Why are you in our systems still? I thought I locked you out of them."
"Tony, Tony, Tony, I can't exactly do my job unless I have access to your resources and information." I state.
"Fine." The billionaire on the other side of the line huffs in amusement. "I was going to give you access, but if you want to keep breaking in, go ahead, how'd you do it this time?"
"Sent an email to one of your company's higherups and datamined her passwords." I shrug. "it's not all that different to what I did the first time, but I will admit, the new logins are definitely harder to break into. I couldn't even brute force it."
"Let's see here." I mutter under my breath as I turn away from what I was working on and wheel my chair over to my new legitimate computer. "It looks like the shipments in New York were diverted to... the docks. They should be awaiting a ship to a destination right now."
"Do you know the warehouse they are being held in?" Tony questions.
"From what I can see, it seems to be that J.P Murphy warehouse on thirty-ninth street? Oh, and it looks like they are set to be shipped to Genoa Italy. Can't tell you much beyond that, though. You might be able to figure out where they are taking them by sticking a tracking device on the shipment and following along. But that's just my opinion. Go gung-ho if you want... oh, and can you give me back my rocket launchers."
"I can't let a twelve-year-old have a rocket launcher. That's too irresponsible, even for me."
"Damn." I curse.
"Language!" The billionaire amusedly chastises. "Anyways, thanks for the location, Noctis, I think I'll just blow it up and take a swift trip to Genoa."
"Do what you want." I shrug as I wheel myself back to my current project. "Just be aware that people will probably find it unsettling that there are metal men blowing up buildings."
"Yeah yeah, I've got it covered." He states as he ends the call.
I put the phone down and let out a low hum. "Well, someone's certainly arrogant today."
I look to the small object I am currently working on and silently finish screwing in the bolt with my miniature wrench.
A small metal disk that's roughly the size of a clay pigeon sits on the desk.
I slowly tilt my head and reach to the side and push a button.
The outer rim of the disk turns, splitting into four even pieces, the four parts suddenly gain two cracks and bend as the ring stands on four small legs.
I push a button on the controller and watch as the miniature robot takes a slow step forwards, then another, then another.
I calmly pilot it around the table before turning it back into a disk.
Well, now all I need to do is slap some small cameras on it, then weaponize it.
I'm thinking... explosives.
Maybe an Emp.
I crack my fingers and blink as I realize something. 'oh, doesn't my monthly gacha refresh today?'
Roll that, please.
Rolling Gacha
Deadly Dealer: 2 Star Skill
You are a king at card tricks and sleight of hand, going up against you in poker is a death sentence as you can control the entire deck easily, you can fling cards with pin-point accuracy, and you can fling them hard enough to SEVERELY sting anyone in the card's path.
"…"
Well, now I guess I have to make some metal playing cards.
Metal playing cards that can be controlled my magnetic fields.
Metal playing cards that can be controlled by magnetic fields and have dozens of cool customizations like explosives, high pressure foam, emps, high frequency edges.
I just need to figure out how to contain all that fancy mumbo jumbo in a card.
*Ping*
"Hn?"
The cameras out front are detecting movement.
I click on the tab to see several men creeping around my door, all of them holding a weapon of some kind. Ak47s, pistols, sub machineguns.
The ten rings? Hn. They must have discovered my connections to Stark.
I open my messenger app.
"Heeey Tony, it looks like a bunch of terrorists are breaking into my house with guns. Sure wish I had an RPG right about now." - N
I close it and calmly walk over to a cabinet across the room and open it.
Sat within are a bunch of things I bought from various army surplus stores, gun shops, and pawn shops. Guns, bullet proof vests, helmets, grenades of all kinds, ammunition, and more.
A quest has been received:
First Quest:
The Ten rings are breaking into your home to use you as leverage against Tony, who knew that they'd be so bold as to try and complete their missions in broad daylight, in the middle of one of the largest cities on the planet. Perhaps you should show them that it would be best to pick on someone their own size... as the smaller ones can sometimes be far more vicious.
Objective:
Survive: [ ]
Reward:
1 Free Monthly roll.
"Oh?"
I grab several smoke grenades with a small smile. "I think I'll be doing a little bit more than surviving."
Pov: Elsewhere.
A man in millions of dollars' worth of equipment lands with a crouch in front of a large bungalow, quite a few unmarked vehicles sit within the driveway, the door is kicked off its hinges. Smoke billows from the windows and out the door.
"Shit." He curses under his breath. "Noctus."
A figure bursts from the smoke, its some older dude with a hockey mask on his head, he screams as he shoots a handgun behind him wildly. "GET AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER-"
An item flies from the smoke, a... bola?
It wraps around the man's ankles and promptly trips him down the concrete stairs, he falls down the five or so steps, with loud thumps and growls of pain.
His head cracks against the sidewalk, knocking him unconscious.
"Eight for eight baby!" A childish voice cheers. "Hell yeah!"
"Noctus?" The man in metal armor blinks.
A child walks out onto the porch, adjusting his eyepatch, he has blood splattered on his face. "Oh, hey Tony. How's it hanging?"
He brushes his hands off on his shirt, seemingly ignoring the blood splatters. "So, like, I took them all down easy peasy. In fact, most of them shot each other when I tossed in a few smoke grenades. Oh. And I found out I can see through smoke. That's pretty cool, right? It made it really easy for me to sneak through the smoke and dick kick everyone."
"You are honestly such a problem child, Noctus." The billionaire sighs.
"So, like, I'm gonna go grab my things, then I guess it's off to somewhere with a little more security, eh?"
"That'd be safe." The iron man states. "Grab your things. I'll have someone sent over here to pick you up... after I figure out why the police haven't responded to numerous gunshots and a smoking building."
A quest has been completed.
First Quest:
Objective:
Survive: [x]
Bonus Objective:
Put the fear of god in them: [x]
Reward:
1 Free Monthly roll.
Bonus Reward:
Improve the rarity of whatever you get by 1 step.
"Hn?"
'roll it, then.'
Psi-Amp Collection: 4 Star Item(s)
Within this collection is a completed Psionic Amplifier, a special device which allows a wielder with psionic potential to easily mold their psionic power into devastating attacks. This allowed the resistance to fight back against their alien overlords and drive them off their planet. This collection also includes the blueprint to make this device, and the blueprint to create a portable machine to test to see if someone is 'Psionically Capable'.
"…"
"a device about half the size of a keyboard appears on my desk, it looks like a large D shaped ring of metal with two prongs on the flat side that point inwards, it has a handle on the far side with a large trigger."
"…"
I quickly scan through the blueprints.
"Holy... shit."
I wipe my desk off completely with a grin and sit the Psi-amp nearby.
I crack my fingers as I pull out the tester blueprints. 'lets see if this works'
"I am Iron man."
I blink at the Tv in the corner of the room, dozens of spare parts litters my desk.
"Huh." I mutter.
It's about a month late, but he really did it.
Something about his identity being stolen. He took a trip to Italy, beat up some ten rings goons- or rather, the fake ten rings- then extended some form of celebration that his hacker was sponsoring under his name. That, of course, led people to question why this extremely high tech 'Iron Man' weapon was where previous weapon manufacturer Tony Stark was, so he called a press conference to debrief what happened, then seemingly decided at the last moment to declare himself iron man.
I shrug and go back to working on my 'Psionic Potential Detector' and screw one of the final pieces into it.
Just a little more... then I'll see if I have the capability for psionic powers!
That'd really make me feel a little bit more secure about my life in Marvel.
'Screw in this last piece of metal plating annnnd done!'
It looks like a mix between a blood pressure checker and a gauntlet. There's a large metal plate with an open gauntlet on it, up by the fingers are several lights in a linear pattern, they are all turned off at the moment.
'Welp.'
I slip my fingers into the hand part of the gauntlet, then flip the fore arm piece over and click it into place.
I push a button on the side and watch as the machine hums to life, a single green light lighting up in the top left of the panel.
I wait for a moment as the humming intensifies, then in the next moment a purple bulb lights up.
I'll need at least four to wield the psi-amp.
A second lights up, then a third, then a fourth, causing me to let out a sigh of relief.
A fifth lights up... then a sixth. Seventh. Eighth. Ninth... and finally... a tenth. The maximum it can go.
"…"
"Huh?" I blink owlishly.
I turn the power off and slip my hand out of the device.
I silently stare at the Psi amp.
This doesn't make... much sense... the only reason as to why I have so much psionic potential I can think of would be... my eye? But that's magic. Not psionic.
I slowly reach out and grab the Psi-amp, then pull the trigger.
A purple orb appears in between the two prongs, and instantly I feel a slight drain to myself.
I release the trigger and watch the purple orb disappear.
"Hn." I let out a low hum and stand up.
I'll need to test this out...
I look around slowly.
I have that robot I worked on hanging up over there. And it's not like I'm going to be using it- No! I spent six months on that. I'm going to order a test dummy. I won't let my lack of patience kill my boy.
"Tony Tony Tony. Are you in New York?" I hiss into the phone.
"Hn? Yeah. I was just completing a couple meetings in the stark tower. What do you need Noctus?"
"When you have time come down to my lab. I've made a tremendous breakthrough in something comparable to your suits."
"Hn?" He seems mildly interested by that. "That big, huh? Well then. Alright. I'll be down in five."
I hang up and swiftly move about my workshop, cleaning up as much as I can. I place the psionic capacity detector on the forefront of my desk, and the Psi-Amp a short distance away.
I stuff an empty pizza box into the trash and take a seat at my desk, only to quickly stand back up and wheel a chair to the opposite side of the desk.
I steeple my hands in front of my face and wait... and wait... and wait.
Five minutes elapse, then ten, finally Tony enters the room after the eleventh.
By this point I am boredly scanning through the internet on my phone.
I look up with a small smile. "Oh good, you're here. And I've got some news for you. One set of bad news, one scientific advancement, one 'huh, well that's neat' sort of news, good news, and an ominous warning."
Tony tilts his head slightly. "What?"
"Which do you want to hear first?"
"What did you do?" He asks with a slightly disappointed expression.
"So the bad news, then?" I question.
He lets out a sigh. "Yeah, let's get that over with first."
"You're dying."
"Wait... what?"
"Your chest reactor is slowly poisoning you to death. You have maybe... half a year left to live. More if you don't use your suits."
"…"
"How... do you know this?" He asks with a small frown, now deathly serious.
"That leads me to the 'Huh, well that's neat' news. Time travel is real. I finally took a look inside that lego set from twenty twenty- no I was not making that up- and it had a list... and a couple blueprints."
I gesture to the psionic capability tester and the Psi amp behind me.
"Wait what-"
"It also included the cure for your palladium poisoning... or rather, how to make it. we'll get that in a few minutes."
I gesture to the two devices nearby. "These are what I wanted to show you. Oh, and if you wanted to see the note I put it back in the box."
Ah yes. A worthy use of the 'imagination paper'.
I got a single sheet of it for a three star roll in the gacha. Its special quality is that it can take the appearance of whatever you imagine, but only once. Say for instance... a note written by my future self and kept in a lego box for an unknown amount of time.
"There's quite a bit of information to digest on it, so we're going to do that last."
I gesture to the testing in front of me. "Say hello to the P.C.T. please insert your hand into the device."
"Kid, you just told me two ground breaking things and you want to move on, just like that?"
"Psh, yeah." I scoff. "What? Are you dying or something?"
He gives me a half lidded stare, clearly not being impressed with my joke.
"Look. Tony. PLEASE humor me here. The second you open pandora's box behind me, it'll be all work for you and you won't have time to look at my- or technically future me's- invention." I plead.
"Fine. This could just be a cruel joke as well. If it is you're about to be kicked out." The iron man states.
"That's fair. I'd to the same." I nod. "Now, please insert your hand into the tester."
"Tester? For what?"
"ohoho you'll see." I grin. "Put your hand in the gauntlet Tony."
He takes a seat and slips his hand in the gauntlet. "If this pokes or jabs me, you are so grounded."
"Don't worry, it shouldn't. it didn't poke or jab me when I tested myself.
I push the button causing the device to whirl to life.
"So... what's this thing testing exactly." Tony asks as it rattles slightly.
"Your capability." I answer.
"For? Your intentional vagueness is sort of pissing me off."
"It's testing your capability to wield powers, Tony."
"Powers?" He huffs. "Seriously?"
A single purple light glows, then a second, then finally a third glows... then nothing else happens, no more lights glow, the machine stops humming and powers down.
All of the lights flicker off as it completely shuts down.
"Welp. Sorry Tony... The number you were looking for was four, and you were close, but not quite."
"But what exactly, Noctus, is it that you are testing?!"
"Psionic power." I shrug.
"You expect me to believe this psionic power mumbo jumbo?"
"…"
I pull off my eye patch and glare into his eyes, causing him to flinch. "DEAR GOD- *Ahem* well, uh... that's... certainly unusual... what sort of contacts are you wearing?"
"None." I deadpan. "I am wearing no contacts. My eye is just like this."
I slip the eye patch back on and gesture to the other device. "This is a Psionic Amplifier. You may not have potential for psionic bullshit, but even if you did, you'll still need one of those to channel it.
I grab the amplifier and pull the trigger, causing a purple orb to appear, my revealed eye glows purple as I gain a slight purple outline.
I stop holding the trigger and flip it around and hand it to Tony. "Give it a squeeze."
He narrows his eyes and grabs the Psi-Amp and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens.
He lays it down on the table. "Psionic power, hn?"
"You fly around in a fucking mech suit, Tony. Captain America, a person who used to be an anorexic guy a handful of other disabilities before he got serum that made him into a six foot tall giant who can dent metal, fought against nazis with LASER WEAPONRY. Is psychic power REALLY where you draw that line in the sand? Pfft, you'll really enjoy the coming years, then."
He rubs his temple. "Can I see that box now?"
"Go ahead." I shrug.
He goes to stand up then pauses. "Wait... what was the ominous warning, then?"
"When you see the thunder god tell him to aim for the noggin when he's facing the jolly purple giant with a ballsack chin wielding a bedazzled oven mitt. Fucking obliterate his skull. He can't use the thing if his brains are paste."
"Alright. You're fucking with me at this point." Tony deadpans. "I'm going to go open that box."
"Nothing's stopping you." I shrug. "oh, and can I have a bomb range for a bit to test the lethality of my psychic powers? I got a ten on the scale."
"Hn, maybe."
He opens the lego set and grabs the folded papers atop the several baggies of lego pieces.
*This is where i stopped writing*
hey all, i just thought i'd give you all something fairly short. i haven't touched this in like more than a month, so i wouldn't expect it to ever be updated... but it might be possible for other 'Gacha system' fics to appear here... maybe?
who knows! anyways, i hope you all enjoyed!
also, Dear Soggyballs/Sage Advice. stop wasting your time. you clearly don't like my fics, so why do you continuously sift through them all, just to act like an annoying little cunt? are you well and truly so insignificant that you allow me, guy who seriously has and wants nothing to do with you, live rent free in your head? and speaking of your reviews, let's look back to a segment of your first ever review on Dragon Ball IAT. 'I'd tell you what you should have done; but, I'll refrain from giving you any ideas for you to steal.' you are off your fucking rocker if you think that YOUR ideas are good. like, do you know how utterly insulting that statement is? you, a nameless dickhead guest, think that you are the PEAK of all writers and that the mere thought of uttering your brilliant ideas would cause every writer in a hundred mile radius to clamber to your feet to steal your ideas. grow up. write an actual fic first before talking shit you little troglodyte rat boy.