The realm of dreams felt extra joyous tonight. I walked down the cobblestone pathway with a smiling, happy water fairy on my arm. We both woke up here while we rested in the waking world and walked aimlessly for what felt like, and might have been hours. "This is nice." Abby said with a smile. "Care for a movie?"

"They- heh, silly me, I almost asked a dumb question. So, what movie should we watch?"

"A good action or comedy movie will do."

"No romance?"

"I'm not a teenager, besides, those movies are always predictable. Guy gets the girls, vise versa or whatever. I know a good theater nearby, they play good classics."

"Classics like?"

"Shrek, Hunger Games, Elder Scrolls Five Skyrim."

"That last one is a game though?" I asked.

"Maybe in your world, but it was a movie on others."

"Let me guess… on that world, Bethesda was a movie company, not a videogame one?"

"Bingo. If it helps It is still animated."

"Ether way. How long is it?"

"Depends on if it's the Original version of the Special Edition or the-"

I laughed. Bethesda, even in another reality where your games are movies, you re release Skyrim to death. "Maybe Shrek would be better. Followed by The Hunger Games."

"Sounds perfect." Abby said, taking my hand and leading the way. The theater was cheap. Five rem a person and snacks were also cheap. Most expensive thing on the menu was a five gallon bucket of popcorn. Twenty rem.

"This is amazing." I said, taking a bite out of the twenty gallon bucket of popcorn I got.

"I take it theatres were expensive back on your world?" Abby asked, her popcorn and soda were more reasonably sized.

"Stupidly so. And they did not have this many options." I said, now taking out my hot pocket. Two rem.

Abby just laughed as the movie began.

It was Shrek, all it's classic comedy. I found it kinda weird a movie this old was in a theater but, eh, this is the dream realm, guess stuff here doesn't make anymore sense than in the waking world. When that movie ended we moved onto the Hunger Games. Still say the book was better. "There's actual Hunger Games here, right?" I asked.

Abby nodded. "Yup. You thinking about entering one?"

"Well, my combat against Beldona kinda showed that fighting people is harder than fighting monsters, so might as well practice in a free for all."

"Wouldn't taking combat classes be better first?"

"Do those cost an arm and a leg?"

"Free. All education in this reality is free."

"... Well shit, I'm going to college then. What do you actually pay for here?"

"Food, rent, mortgage, and for adventures like yourself, weapons, ammo, repairs, but you are completely capable of making and keeping yourself self sustainable. Lots of people do it."

"Huh. Cool."

With the movie over we headed out to a park. Not the giant theme park, just a park where we walked along a brick pathway under street lights. "You have a lot you wanna do here, huh?"

"So much." I answered. "And I have so much time to do it all. Back on earth… I survived, but I wasn't living. I had given up on being anything other than another cog in the machine… here, I can be whatever I want to be, and I want to be an adventurer…"

"Is that your goal?"

"My goal?" I asked.

Abby just smiled, walking in front of me and looked right into my eyes. "Everyone who takes part in the dungeons and explores this reality has a goal. Be it collection, profit, or Adventure, everyone has a goal that drives them to get stronger so they can keep to their goal. To be an Adventurour, is to always explore this world and everything it has to offer. It's a goal with no end. Think you're up for it?"

I smiled, looking at Abby, my Assistant, and summoning the Starlight Keyblade that Time Walker gave me. I remembered what he told me… "Yeah. Bring it on."

When Abby and I woke up feeling a million times better we quickly ate some food and began practicing in the new training room. I did not know that it could also be a sorta simulation room cause we were now inside the room but it has e the appearance of the beach. "Okay, ready?" Abby asked me.

"Yeah." I nodded. I was a little bummed there was no swimsuits but, eh, later.

"We're gonna start off with some basic attacks." Abby said. With a movement of her hand some water from the ocean near us flowed to her and with a slash she sent out a length of water that cleanly cut a nearby palm tree in half. "Water blade."

"Okay… useful, any other variations of that?"

"Well, you can use it to coat your weapon in water to help deal extra damage to fire based enemies. Make sheilds, and paired with an ice gem can shoot it out then freeze it into projectiles."

"Sounds about right." I said, trying to Mimic what Abby did. Pull the water, slash, shoot out the blade and… that's not a clean cut.

"Not bad. Takes a few tries before you get the water thin enough to make it cut like a blade."

"That's still pretty effective. So what else can I do?"

"Well there is the basic manipulating the water like tentacles, aquatic copies, and lots of other stuff. Including fine tuned manipulation when overlapping elements."

"Like?"

She formed a large ball of water in her hand, then from I side the water I looked baffled as fire began burning inside the water. "Woah… how?"

"One of several ways. Easiest is to increase the amount of oxygen in the water to a point where a fire can burn it without extinguishing. Another is to make a fire so hot it can burn underwater, or manipulate the water so it is never actually touching the flames while giving the illusion that the fire is burning inside water."

"Cool!"

"You can also use the water to create platforms to walk on, wings to achieve flight with, and armor and weapons."

"Okay I have to learn the armor part."

"It's fairly easy, you just need to learn to flow the water onto your body and compress it to the point where it acts less like a liquid and will even appear like ice, save it's not actually ice just super condensed water. Maintaining that can be a pain but some practice and it will be like second nature."

"So I'm gonna need to learn water bending better, got it." I nodded.

We practiced for several more hours before heading out and John got us all in a meeting. "So, after that quest we now have an elemental energy reserve for each type. At least the mainstream elements." John said. "This includes Void."

"And why Void specifically?" I inquired. "Wouldn't have pointed it out unless it was super special in some way."

"Remember, using it is painful and constant use overtime can mutate the body." Cassidy said. "If you do use it, just be careful."

"Yeah...that sounds like a problem." I nodded. "

"In short just be careful if it comes to having to use it. Now, since David started his own list I've written up other things we all want to do and put them into a shared list we can all access from our Assistants. Firstly is David's TF2 trip, which we will be getting back onto shortly. Before that we are gonna get some payback on that Dog boss that beat us last time. After that it's directly to Homeworld to see all that."

"Sounds like a plan." I nodded. "Bastard won't know what hit him this time."

As we were on our way back to that dungeon I was sitting replaying TF2 in my room. After a while I wondered… how much can it hurt? I raised my hand… okay… void- FUCK!

I barely managed to get a trail of it out and my whole arm felt like someone took a super heated razor blade and stabbed it through every inch of skin and bone on my arm. Fuck why would anyone use this?!

"Okay...who the hell would use Void if just trying to make it would hurt so much?" I groaned in pain.

I got up and just sat on my couch. My arm just felt numb after a while once the pain ended. I sighed, turning the TV on. Apparently there's a lot of varied shows and movies. I stuck with a classic. Lilo and Stitch.

"Even in this new world, nothing beats a classic movie like Lilo and Stitch." I chuckled.

As I relaxed, getting the feeling back into my arm and when the movie ended desired to switch to a history channel. It showed a documentary on Chaos Guilds. Basically they are guilds not registered by The Family. People who do bad things to be bad rather than because it's just a job. They were actually very common in this reality's early years until something called The Morgan Incident happened. After that the vast majority were hunted, arrested and either imprisoned or even executed.

"Damn…" I said in surprise. "That's...quite an incident if that guild was hunted to damn near extinction."

"Guilds." Abby said, jumping over the back of the couch and next to me on it. "There were thousands of those fucking guilds back in the day. Was total chaos, which is what those guilds were called, Chaos Guilds."

"And they were hunted to extinction from what this history thing says." I said honestly. "Must have been something terrible...what, did one of those Void Admins I heard about go ape shit or something on something amazing or something?" I took a guess, mostly understanding that Void Admins weren't the...best of people.

"Nope. They captured one, melted him down alive into a dagger that tricked the code into believing it was the void admin who killed them, not the psycho holding the blade made of a void admin. Hundreds were slaughtered and when the leader of the guild responsable was captured, she and every member of her guild were executed. Mother returned the Void Admin to his original form, but he went Mad shortly after. The act of doing that was erased from Code itself and the recipe that they used to make that Void Admin into a weapon died with the guilds members." She stated, quickly turning and resting her head on my lap.

"Jesus…" I said in shock. "That's...horrible…"

"Back then a lot of the merged multiverses still tried to take over and do things their way. These days, their dead, their reflections still alive are nothing like them, or they are in hiding." She said with a nod, looking over at the TV. "The Morgan Incident is a stain on what this world was meant to be."

"When you have a new world where it's tagline is 'anything's possible'...someone was bound to take it to its logical extremes." I sighed out.

"I guess. Still, it doesn't make it right. So, we'll be arriving in that dungeon in a bit. You happy to get some Payback?"

"You have no idea." I chuckled. "Bastard won't know what hit him when we get back."

"Dare I ask how bad it was?"

"Did you see DJ sulking?" I inquired to my symbiotic fairy friend. "It's that bad cause she didn't bark in his face."

"Dog allergies. I can't get close enough to her to notice without sneezing my brains out. Actually did that once; was not a fun dungeon trap…"

"Sounds like a thing from Psychonauts." I commented. "But...also seriously, in a world with possibly the most advanced medicine ever...they can't fix basic allergies?" I shook my head. "But to give proper context...we got our asses handed to us...and I'm pretty sure he wasn't even trying."

"Ouch. Also, The Family fought to escape that machine. This reality is built outside it, hence why it's infinat. The machine was large, but everything within it was finite to a degree. Out here, nope. So, who was the boss that killed you?" She asked, and I showed her the photo. "Oh I know him! Nice guy, blew him once."

"Considering how...casual everyone is to sex, I'm not surprised." I said honestly.

"Eh, it's not like it was good. He had size but lacked any umph. So, I was wondering…
" She said, sitting up. "Since I am… well, we are dating now, right?"

"That depends." I asked, looking into her eyes. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" I asked carefully, knowing it's going to be more cheesy than a cheesecake factory, but damn it I couldn't help myself as I softly put my hand on her cheek caringly.

"Well, yeah. I like you. And, I don't mean it but typically when I take a nap inside someone, par symbiote, I can get glances of their memories and such so… I know a few things about you. I don't mean to look, it just happens."

"It's alright." I shrugged. "It was gonna be talked about sooner or later if we date."

"And onto that note, I was hoping you'd also let me be your symbiote. A lot of people have them, and since I have my own body I can still pop out and we can keep up our sex lives. I just… Always wondered what it was like."

"Well...of course." I said honestly.

"You sure? Having a symbiote means, well, I'm always with you in your head anyway. I'd instantly know everything about you… and given I'm a hybrid, you'd know everything about me. Which in all honestly will mostly just be sex memories among other stuff."

"It's the best way to show trust in each other right?" I asked.

"It's a big thing though… plus I am older than you so, I have a lot more memories than you do."

"We'll figure it out together." I smiled.

"Okay… Okay just, give me a minute. Dad told me how to do this but I never have before. I mean, hitching a ride on someone is one thing but merging with them is another. Okay. Give me your hands." She said, holding both her hands out before me. I took them. Water soon flowed out of her and around my hands and into my arms. We sat like this for barely a minute before all that water flowed inside me, and Abby fell back on the couch.

"Don't panic! That's supposed to happen!" I heard Abby from inside my head like one hears their own thoughts. "I just moved my symbiote half over to your body, mine's just left behind. For now. I can get back to it either through concentration or by leaving your body and flowing back into it."

"Uh...okay, that's new." I said honestly. "But...this doesn't feel too weird."

"Maybe not for you but this is a first for me, so definitely different. Okay I am about to start the rest of the merge. Just, get ready for a slight headrush."

I blinked, feeling like my life was flashing before my eyes, only, it wasn't my life. It was Abby's. Wow… she was not kidding about the memories being mostly sex… okay now I know how that feels from the girls side of it… Shit this girl is gonna get me into some freaky stuff I just know it. When it ended I felt very light headed, leaning against the couch now as I looked up… seeing Abby… standing above… Abby?

"Wow, so this is how Mom and Dad always saw one another." She said, looking down at her unconscious self. "Not as hard as I was expecting."

"Okay...I'm a little light headed…" I groaned softly. "Also...you need a hobby...that's way too much sex.."

"Oh and your masterbation to every Not Safe For Work image on the internet was any better?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at me then back at her unconscious self. "So… what do we do with my body while I'm merged with you? Keep it in the bed? Closet… I have no idea what to do here."

"Neither do I…" I said worriedly.

"... Well, if you wanna get frisky with my body, I won't mind as long as I can watch~"

"That...sounds weird and I don't know why…" I said sheepishly, picking up the unconscious fairy's body. "Are...you sure I can 'get frisky'?" I asked, wanting to double check on this.

"Sure, and if I get a good enough show I might just pop back into my body to join in." She said with a smile. "I guess you can just put my body on the bed and I can jump back in for cuddles, sex or days we aren't dungeon jumping. Oh! That reminds me, check your Assistant, I wanna know what I give you as a Symbiote."

"Sure." I nodded, bringing up my Assistant and checking what I got from my new symbi-girlfriend.

[Symbiote Abby: This Symbiote grants you a ten percent boost to energy reserves, and a forty percent boost to water energy reserves. She can passively use this energy to heal you from minor Injuries and use it for offence.]

"Huh. Makes sense. Dad gave more basically double the energy reserves everytime she absorbed an elemental gem." Abby said with a nod.

"Interesting." I nodded. "And it looks like I got a new skill tree."

"Oh, yeah. Symbiotes have their own skill trees but our host chooses how to upgrade us. Since I'm half my normal skills and such are in my body. I'm not sure if that affects what kinds of skills I can get and when."

"Well, let's check it out to make sure." I said, checking the skill tree in .

There wasn't much. At least, not much I can get for her right now. Three, actually. Boost Speed. Boost Attack, and Boost… Signal?

[Boost Signal. Your Symbiote is a hybrid. While inside you they can not move their own body without excess focus or leaving you as their host. This ability makes your Symbiote able to controls their own physical body while residing within you as their host at the cost of cutting their energy reserves and stats in half.]

Oh. Convenient.

"Thank you whoever controls convenience." I sighed out thankfully as I took the Boost Signal.

Blinking Abby's body began moving around and feeling herself. "So weird. I can see through both your eyes and my eyes."

"That's good." I nodded with a smile. "Feel any different besides eyesight?"

"Yeah… kinda off. That halfing on my energies and stats feels like when you have one of those headaches where your whole body is just weaker, yet your brain is working just fine."

"It did say you would be at half power while the other half is powering me up." I brought up.

"Heh, so, what else is there for later?"

I looked it up. Huh, next after Boost Signal was Sound Mind. Allows me to also view through Abby's eyes, ears, ect at will. After that it's Two in Two. Allows Abby and I to control one another's bodies, basically swapping bodies at will.

"Well then, this line of skills is rather interesting." I said honestly.

After telling Abby about them we decided a quick 'snuggle' was in order and afterwards we got ready for the dungeon coming up. "So… your family looked nice." She said. "Saw all your memories and all…"

I sighed out. "I just...hope one day I can see them again."

"... Wanna meet my parents?" Abby asked.

Memories of her Mom killing a snake the size of my old world's moon, and her Symbiote dad taking over her mom's body doing the same to armies of Shadow Creature Giants the size of the empire state building.

"Uh...are you sure?" I asked nervously. "Cause they...have a pretty impressive monster killing record…"

"You have my memories. Mom and dad will be proud I'm dating the person who is also my host. If anything I know mom will just be wondering when we'll have kids and Dad will wanna be there for the births."

Kids… when… kids as in plural?!

"Excuse me but Kids plural!?" I slightly panicked.

"You forget how long you are gonna live now? Families have kids. Lots of kids. I have two hundred and fifty seven siblings." I stared at her.

"Excuse me...the fuck…" I started.

She shrugged. "Lot of people just kinda followed The Families example. Fill up reality, how else can you populate an infinite reality? They don't call them The Family for nothing."

"Who is 'The Family's?" I asked. "I've heard it tossed around, but I don't think I was given the details about them."

"The family of heroes who made this reality. They have kids like rabbits on steroids."

"Damn." I blinked in surprise. "Talk about Horny on Main."

"That aside, I would like you to meet them."

"Well...I guess it wouldn't hurt to meet them." I said honestly.

"That's the spirit."

After a bit we headed back out to the dungeon, dealing with these enemies was much easier now than before. Abby, even now at half strength is still a beast and definitely won MVP.

Finally we were outside the boss room. "Everyone ready?" John asked.

"Ready." Cassidy said, her ion cannon arm glowing.

"Yup!" DJ barked.

I cracked my knuckles. "Ready."

With weapons ready we headed inside. Hank's boss room was a large storage area filled with boxes of weapons, ammo, gold and cash littered around. The large suit wearing hound sat on a wood create. He easily dwarfed us all in size. "So the rag tag team comes back." He said, looking at a bullet he was twirling around in his hand. "And you brought a new girl."

"Sup Hank." Abby said.

Hank looked up. "Abby. Long time no see. Still the best BJ I've ever had."

"Can't say the same for you though." She retorted. Abby raised a hand as a stream of water flowed out from her and between us and Hank.

"Heh, ever the pervert." Hank replied, standing up as he brought out that damn Minigun. It was larger than I think a Minigun should be, and had twenty barrels.

"Compensating for something?" I joked.

"You wish." He said, the gun starting to spin as we moved.

John set up rock walls for cover, Abby and Cassidy began to keep Hank busy by distracting him on two sides while DJ and I charged in, the pup barking off various energies at the larger hound and I shooting off my shotgun.

Needless to say Hank's HP was shrinking fast, but he got his gun shooting, rapidly eating through the defences John made and mowing down John and taking out Cassidy's cannon.

Abby quickly locked Hank's arms with water and got his aim off us long enough for me to summon my Starlight and throw a Strike Raid. The stun gave DJ enough time to bark fire. Right in his face. That last hit dropped his HP to zero. His body faded and we got the victory.

"Well, damaged is better than scrapped." Cassidy said with a laugh, her shot up cannon arm looking bad.

"Glad that worked out." I said honestly. "Now, what's our loot for this boss fight?"

[Dungeon Boss Rewards:

5,000x 12.7mm Ammo.

1x Hank's 12.7mm Minigun

1x Armored Tuxedo

22,000x Rem

2.9 tons of gold.

Explorers Guild Bonuses:

57 Methane Grenades

5x 12 gauge shotguns.

900x 12 gauge Buckshot, Birdshot, Plasma, EMP, Coin, Grenade, Spiral, Electroshock, Trickshot shells.

20,000x rem

1x Unicorn

300x Skill Points]

All that look spawned around us. Before I could, Cassidy grabbed the Unicorn by the harness and led them off. "Still selling the unicorns." She said as she walked off with it.

"Alright, so 300 Skill points split between our group?" I brought up.

"Sixty each." Cassidy said.

"Cool...and given that it's all one to two skill points each...that's a whole lot of skills." I said honestly.

"Save for later, stronger abilities and stay upgrades." Abby said with a sigh.

"Why are you sighing?" I inquired the fairy. "And save for later? Is there anything specific about skill points I don't know?"

"Mostly it's just the cost of higher tier abilities and stat boosts. One to two is how everyone starts. Then they got to five, ten, twenty, fifty, you get the idea."

"That's strange, don't say that for normal and rare abilities." I said with a frown, remembering both my brief run down on skills before and the little info tab the assistant gave for it.

"The stronger you get, the more Skill Points you get so long as you are going into level appropriate dungeons. To make sure you spend a lot of them and such the prices can increase the more you go into the trees."

"Sounds about right." I nodded. "But just to make things a little easier, gonna spend a bit on important skills."

"I already blew them." DJ said, now sprouting wings and flying around. "Weeeeeeee!"

"That is adorable." Abby said.

"Yes it is." I chuckled at my dog's adorable antics.

The place we arrived in on Homeworld was called, fittingly, Gravel Pitt. Here Mann Co. Advertisements were everywhere. I got a soda and saw the ingredients on the back. Koala blood, hard whiskey, citrus juices, and 2,000 grams of sugar and caffeine. A Mann's Drink!

"Pretty sure this should kill whoever drinks it." Cassidy said, popping open the can and sniffing it, then gagged. "Christ that's terrible!"

"So basically what an old man would think is a 'man's drink'." I shrugged. "Pure garbage in and out."

John took the soda, barely tasting a drop. His HP went to 10,000 for two seconds… then zero. He fell over dead. "Well, guess that's to be expected." DJ said, sniffing John's corpse.

"Guess he'll meet back up with us later after he respawns." Abby said.

"Isn't that...illegal or something?" I asked nervously. "Literally selling poison to people and telling them to drink it?"

"Laws vary." Abby said. "Every town, city, ect, has their own laws. Hero and Police guilds just help enforce them. So this stuff is legal in this city." She then kicked the can off. "Come on, the school for your TF2 visit is this way."

"Alright." I nodded. "Let's go see the Gravel Pitt...wonder if it's like in game or changed because of all of this?" I wondered to myself.

We headed down the way, John's old body got picked up by some crew so we didn't have to worry about that. As we arrived at the school I barely dodged a flying Boston Basher that struck the wall next to me. "Found you!" Ah crap, I know that voice. I turned, seeing the young brat that I still hate to this day. Toro.

"Still can't hit for shit can you?" I frowned.

"If I was aiming at your head I'd have hit that pretty easily." Toro said. "Hey Abby."

"Hey Toro." Abby said with a wave and a smile.

"So what are you doing here Toro?" I frowned.

"After I respawned I got to thinking and, well, I had fun. Messing with you lot was great, and honestly I was impressed. You didn't hesitate to shoot me when you me, most people take a few seconds since I am a kid. So, I filed my application with the Adventures Guild and it was approved. As of today I joined the Ember Rose Rivals Guild and I am officially the rival and enemy of David Alchem and his party."

"I hate you…" I groaned.

"I know. And I look forward to making your lives as close to hell I can without sending you all there." Toro said with a shrug. "I have a team to gather up first, so til then, chow." He said, jumping and already was ten miles away.

"How do you know him?" Cassidy asked Abby.

"Was his mentor when he joined the Adventures Guild to be a quest boss." Abby said. "Nice kid."

"So how many times will I have to beat him for him to finally piss off?" I frowned.

"He became your personal rival David, that means he won't stop being your rival until it gets boring." Cassidy said.

"So keep him chained up in the basement, got it." I nodded. "Unless that's illegal."

"Your rival, your method of dealing with him." Abby said.

After that we headed inside, but I did take the Boston Basher. Mine. Once that was done I was asked which class I'd like to start with, so going in order I started with Scout. We all sat in the class, John showing up just in time. "So, rival now. Damn, can't die for two hours without missing big news." He said while petting DJ, who sat on his desk.

"Whoever deemed that 'drink' was safe for consumption needs to both be fired and have their licenses to create food products revoked." I frowned.

"You think that's bad you should see the stuff available where Cannibalism is legal." John said. "So weird…"

"..." I looked at John real quick. "Why?" I asked slowly.

"Independent laws for each town and city. Oh yeah that reminds me." John handed each of us, save for me, a Mann Co. Weapon. Mostly just basic handguns. "This city, illegal to not have a Mann Co. Product. Better this than the soda."

"That's capitalism for ya." Cassidy said with a laugh.

"That...sounds a tad stupid if it's illegal to not own a thing from this place?" I pointed out.

"Lesson one of these independent laws, Don't think too hard about them." Abby said, looking the gun over.

DJ sniffed hers. "I don't have fingers." She said, pawing it.

"And whoever thought giving a puppy a gun is also stupid." I huffed as I softly pet DJ.

"Alrighty, listen up people!" Yelled Blue Scout as he walked in. "You lot are here to learn how to be me, and since that's impossible I'll at least teach ya how to fight. Now, in my class you got three basic weapons. Shotgun, Handgun, Baseball Bat. All easy to use and all use common ammo. Shotgun is twelve gauge, the handgun is a 9mm, and the baseball bat is basic aluminum with a rubber grip."

"Good to know." I nodded.

"Now then, before you get to practice with them on the field, you will learn how to load and shoot them." Blue Scout then pulled a box of Stock Shotguns from behind his desk, tossing them to everyone. Once everyone had one, even DJ, he pulled his own out. "This is a basic Mann Co. shotgun. Twelve gauge buckshot, shoots six rounds before needing to be reloaded, reloads from the ammo in your inventory. How… I honestly still have no idea." He said, looking at it before shrugging. "If you don't have twelve gauge rounds on you, you can pick some up either from the cabinet in the back or the vending machines in the hallways. Once you got them loaded head through the door to the left to the shooting range."

"This is oddly less… chaotic, than I was expecting." Cassidy said as we got the shotguns loaded and headed to the shooting range.

Once there I got to fire this iconic gaming weapon and holy fuck does that recoil hurt!

"This has a lot more recoil than it should." I groaned.

"It does fire two shots at once." John mentioned, shooting his off and getting the recoil to whack the gun into his head. "Ouch…" He groaned, still standing at least.

"Yipe!" A single shot went off, the sound of the gun flying off and DJ hiding under a chair. "It threw me off…"

"Awh." Cassidy said, picking DJ up and petting her. "Should get you a Levitation spell, that will make this so much easier for you."

Abby sneezed, covering her face. "Ugh, damn allergies…"

"How am I even making you sneeze? I'm part Yorkie, I don't have normal dog hair, it's mostly like human hair." DJ asked.

Abby sneezed again. "It's the dander, not the hair…" She said, quickly taking more allergy pills.

"Again, how there isn't an allergy cure…" I muttered as I shook my head. "So anyways, these shotguns have...a whole lot more kick than they should."

"It's Mann Co. I'm amazed their stuff even works." John said, rubbing the bruise on his face. "Even by this reality's logic… these guns don't make sense."

"You just learn to go with it." Abby said, blowing her nose into some paper. "So, how did you used to play the TF2 game back on your world David?"

"Depends on the team really." I shrugged. "And I'm pretty sure these weapons actually make sense in some capacity in this world to be honest."

We kept up the shooting for a while and once that was done we moved onto the handguns. Much easier but they did not shoot like a normal gun. Normal guns shoot the bullet in a pretty straight line… these shoot like in game so after a certain distance they went up, down, left, right. Yeah…

The baseball bats were, well, yeah nothing much to say there we just hit them against some punching bags.

Next was some basic physical stuff. First, speed. I got a speed of 15 MPH. Which is much faster than what I used to do in school for the gym. These dungeons are helping a lot. Dj was the same at 15. Abby was… 97 MPH. Cassidy… 120 MPH. John was a flat 20 MPH.

"So…" I started. "I shouldn't be surprised that the fairy that used to be a boss and an android would be a whole lot faster than me..."

"And yet you… are?" Cassidy asked.

"I'm more surprised at how much of a difference there is than you two being faster." I said honestly.

"Well, I am still at half stats so…" Abby said with a laugh.

"I am an Ally Class Prize Person, so I'm built for combat. I don't typically go at my full speed cause it pulls power from my cannon." Cassidy said.

"Maybe you can make up the difference with some electronium?" John offered.

"Maybe."

Next was strength. I was able to just lift about eighty pounds. DJ… ten. John was at eighty too. Abby… 450. Cassidy… 2,500…

"What?" Cassidy asked.

"You lifted a ton… a literal ton…" John said.

"That's more than even I can at full power." Abby added.

"Good lord…" I sighed out. "So why do you need guns when you can bench press cars on the regular?"

"You have fists, why don't you punch all your enemies to death?" Cassidy replied. "I prefer range. Simple as that."

"I can't punch through solid steel like I'm pretty sure you can." I countered. "And...fair. Each their own."

Next was the parkour part and yeah, John and I were… okay, not the best but okay. DJ was oddly better here and as expected Abby and Cassidy did well. Abby mostly because she can fly.

With all that done we moved onto the next part… hats.

"Ah, yes, what we all came here for, instead of getting new maps, weapons, or other actually important things time and time afuckingain." I growled in pure animosity, being scorned by Valve too many times.

I did not take a hat. Once that was done I began enjoying some more shooting practice. Finally we got to see the arena. I loved seeing the Sawmill map in person. "Now remember, in an arena like this you respawn shortly after death, typically ten to twenty seconds rather than the usual two hours and you respawn in your team room over your bed." Blue Scout said as we toured into the sawmill building itself. "Any questions?"

"How painful is this going to be?" I asked carefully, knowing how most TF2 corpses end up.

"You been in a dungeon and get killed there before?" Many of us nodded. "Basically the same like that."

"Goodie." I muttered. "Anyone else have a question?"

Since no one else had anything to say we went back home. Our base was parked in one of those long term parking places you rent by the day or week. Given our length of stay we paid for the week. Once back inside we waited around for dinner, Abby and I cuddling on the couch watching TV.

"So, have fun?" She asked.

"It was fun." I said honestly. "But uh...sorry for getting a little heated back when they showed us the hats...Valve fucked up one too many major patches just to fuel more hats…"

"Heh, well I guess it's a good thing that these classes and hat game are two different things here now isn't it?" She said.

"Yes it is." I nodded.

"So, got anything in mind for the rest of the day after dinner?"

"Spending time with you." I smiled.

"Oh? Well, you've seen my memories, care to try some of the more fun ones yourself?"

"Well…" I blushed. "I don't think I can bend that far for some of those memories." I said sheepishly. "But...I'm willing to try some of them."

"Well, in that case, we best go shopping. I'll need certain equipment and oils to pull them off." She said, getting up and quickly running off. I sighed, sitting up and following her.

I've been in a sex shop before back on earth. Was weird but you expect to see things there. Sex shops in this reality were basically a walmart and… just… wow I am pretty sure now my blush is permanent. "Oh it's not that bad David." Abby said. I was happy she stored her purchases in her Assistant. A lot I will be happy to see on her, others she will be happy to see on me. Some of those things we both have to wear together at the same time. Others I have no idea if you wear them or… what.

"I'm pretty sure it's that bad…" I said nervously.

"Oh, so you don't want me to have those special undies you kept eyeing while we were in the underwear aisles?"

"Now I never said that." I said quickly. "Just uh...some of the things I don't know how to wear them or...what."

"I'll tell you how to wear what. Til then I wanna try those undies with the special portal in them."

Once back after dinner Abby and I… well, let's just say I did things that are normally impossible back home. It was fantastic.

The next morning We were getting ready when there was a knock at the door.

"Weird, we paid for the week." John said.

Abby just smiled and rushed to the door, opening it and her smile grew. "Mom! Dad!"

Fuck!

In walked a… well. She was very similar to Abby. About the same general looks just taller by about four inches and her eyes were green, not blue. Hair was cut short too. "Hello baby!" Abby's mom said, giving her a hug.

Suddenly, Abby's mom's hair changed color from blue to black and her eyes were completely silver. "There's my sweetie." Her voice was different too. Now way more gravelly.

"Yes dad." Abby said.

"Well, good luck." Cassidy said. She, John and DJ were gone by the time I looked for them.

"Don't abandon me~." I whined.

Abby and her parents… parent? Walked over to me. "Mom, Dad, this is David. He's my boyfriend, and my host."

The two in one parents eyes shifted back to green, hair to blue. "Hi. I'm Angelica."

Back to black and silver. "Luthor. So, Abby tells us you are Isekai then. Heh, Abby did always have a soft spot for you lot."

Back to blue and green. "Yes, growing up she loved hearing about their worlds and watching their faces when she showed them ours." Angelica said.

"Well...she's certainly been excited about a lot of things." I said sheepishly. "But it's nice to meet you both."

Back to black and Silver. "And you are her host too. I've always wondered if she'd get to experience life like I have." Luthor said, taking a seat next to me. "Heh, I remember when Angelica won me in a dungeon."

Back to blue and green. "Yes, I was in a level two tower dungeon. Enemies all around were giant hawks and skeleton angels and I grabbed a random chest. Inside was Luthor's capsule and from there we've been together since. Five hundred years later we were married, though we did have fun before that… and our first ten kids before we married too." Angelica said, smiling.

Back to black and silver. "Heh, yeah. Sixy kids later Abby was born." Luthor said.

"Damn, talk about love at first sight." I said honestly.

"Well, more like love at first merge. So, have you and Abby been… active? We know Abby has had an active sex life since she was seventeen but she never really called any of them her boyfriend or girlfriend."

Back to blue and green. "Not true, there was Edger, and Hanna." Angelica said.

"Mom…" Abby whined. "Don't talk about my prior relationships to David, it's embarrassing…"

"Ah, yes Edger and Hanna, I would love to hear how you two would explain them instead of Abby's memories." I said honestly.

"Well, as you can see Edgar was an anthro fox. Abby's first anthro actually now that I think about it. They dated for a year but broke it off when Edgar got into some trouble with gambling. Shame too, he was such a nice man." Abby's blush was adorable. "Hanna was quite the little punk. Hated everything and frankly I don't know why. You'd think a Sugar Elf would be more positive about life."

"Mom…" Abby whined.

"Sugar Elf?" I asked curiously.

Black and Silver. "An elf with an affinity for making candy, be them normal or magical. If it's got sugar in it, they can make it a candy." Luthor said.

"They...kind of sound like those Keebler Elves if that's not racist." I said sheepishly.

Luthor shrugged. "Eh. So, tell me about yourself David. What kind of person are you?"

"Well...just your average joe I suppose." I shrugged. "Nothing really special about me compared to who I'm dating or what I'm doing."

"Oh that's a load of crap and we both know it." Luthor said. He leaned in, looking me right in the eyes. "Do the names Michel Kelver, Nancy Ginger, or Richerd Nirvana mean anything to you?"

"And...who are they again?" I inquired to the symbiote, trying to remember those three names and if they meant anything to me.

"Like you, they're isekai. Just appeared here for no reason. Each of them arrived here being 'average joe's'. Nobodies in their own eyes and in the eyes of their world. Here, Michel Kelver is the founding father of the Alchemist Guild and their top alchemist. Nancy Ginger basically invented thousands of spells everybody uses. Richers Nirvana owns the planet Palace Luxury, the largest growing resort in existence. My point is, you were nobody back there, in that world where you had no possibilities. Here, you have them all. So, David, what kind of person are you?"

"I don't know yet." I said honestly. "I've only been here for...not a lot of time, and all the time walker said was that I'd do great things if memory serves."

"Well, if a Time Walker says you'll be great, then you'll be great." Luthor said simply. "Even if it takes time, many years pass, it will happen."

"Hopefully." I shrugged. "And….well I hope Abby will stick with me through it all."

"That's the plan." Abby said sheepishly.

Back to Blue and Green. "Well I have enjoyed meeting you David. I hope you don't mind but I sent Abby's siblings the news so don't be surprised if any show up." Angelica said.

"And...how many will we be expecting?" I asked nervously.

"Hard to tell." Abby said. "Probably only the immediate siblings. So, ten, twenty of them. After that most of the siblings acknowledge one another as family but don't know much about each other."

"Sadly, the only downside to having so many kids. Heavens know how The Family keep tabs on each other." Angelica said.

"Magic, technology, and a whole lot of caffeine?" I joked.

"Well, it's been a pleasure to meet you David." Angelica said, giving me a hug- Yipe!

"Mom!" Abby yelled.

"What? Can't I see one of the reasons you made him your boyfriend for myself." She laughed, letting me go as I hid behind Abby. "Til next time you two." She said, taking leave.

Once she was gone Abby sighed. "Sorry about that David, but, I do get my friskiness from her…"

"I can...see why." I said sheepishly. "But it went...a lot smoother than i thought it would."

"Well, what did you expect? Worst thing that could have happened is she got in your pants."

"Your dad could have attacked me." I said honestly.

"Please. If dad was that possessive I'd have never gotten laid." Abby said, the two of us taking a seat. "So, ready for the lessons today? Gonna be some basic training then a mock battle in the arena."

"Sure." I nodded. "Whenever you're ready Abby."

"Cool… before we fetch the others, want a morning quickie on the table?"

"My horny little fairy." I chuckled, wrapping an arm around Abby and pulled her in close.

So far this training felt more like gym class. I was running laps to build up speed and endurance and… ouch… Well, at least I can keep moving unlike back home where by now I'd be on the ground in a pool of my own sweat. With a grunt I finished my ninth lap before heading for a drink.

"You're doing well." Cassidy said. She was by the drinks enjoying a soda. A non Mann Co. Soda.

"It's still a pain though…" I grumbled, filling a cup with water and taking a sip..

"Think of it this way, the more fit you are the more fun we can have." Abby said, giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

"That is true." I admitted with a smile.

Cassidy rolled her eyes.

Finally after training and a rest was the mock battle. Half the class was playing for the red team and the rest were blue. Abby, DJ, and I were with three others on the blue team while Cassidy and John were on the red with four others, so we were an even five. Our goal was to capture the point and keep it for five minutes.

One minute til the door opens. "Why is your dog wearing a helmet?" Asked one of the other classmates. She was an Anthro cat, orange and white fur with amber eyes.

I looked over, seeing DJ walking around wearing the Soldier helmet that definitely fit her too big.

"Cause….she picked soldier?" I asked sheepishly. "Why are you wearing a soldier helmet DJ?"J.

"I can't get it off." She said, bumping into a wall. "Bonk."

I chuckled, walking over and taking the helmet off her head and tossing it.

Once the arena door opened we started running but stopped when someone shot off their gun. Turning it was a cyclops guy. "Are you all seriously going to run out without a plan?" They asked.

"It's TF2, nobody ever has a plan in this game." The Cat lady said.

"Unless it's competitive...which this isn't." I said honestly. "So don't be surprised if people just suddenly start being friendly with each other."

"Still, you wanna mess around or do you wanna win?" Cyclops asked.

"That depends on the arena." I said honestly. "Remember, the fifty fifty rule." I brought up. "If half or more people want to win, then we try to win, if half or more is just dicking around and being friendly, than we dick around and be friendly, simple as that."

Cyclops guy took a can, throwing it out and immediately it was shot at. "We're already being spawn camped." He sighed.

"Assholes!" Yelled the cat girl.

"Well that's not very kind of them." I frowned.

"So what do we do?" Abby asked.

"We need a distraction. In this arena powers are locked to keep it fair for everyone. But the environment can still provide." Cyclops said, motioning to the ammo cabinet. "We can use the grenades in there to get them to run if not take them out."

"Sounds like a plan." I nodded. "Now...who's really good at either shooting grenades or just throwing them?"

The third, silent member of people whose names I don't know raised a hand. She was short, about… four feet, and looked like a tiny panda. "I have a lot of experience with grenades."

"Give the cute panda girl a grenade." I said readily.

"Cute huh?" Abby said, giving me a teasing grin as the panda girl got the grenades.

"Am I wrong?" I asked simply. "She does look cute and you can't argue that."

Abby just hummed as the panda girl carefully rushed out and tossed grenades like mad, the explosion went off quickly.

[Jessica (grenade) Elizabeth, Scott, John, Maple]

"Wow. She's good." DJ said.

"And John is out fast… this is gonna be a trend I just know it." Abby said with a laugh.

"Poor bastard can't catch a break can he?" I chuckled, readying my shotgun. "Alright, let's get moving."

We rushed out, Immediately Cyclops and Cat girl were killed.

[Cassidy (Shotgun) Joseph, Mina]

I turned to fire at my ally/friend, but she was fast and dodged rapidly. She rushed back around and took cover. "Somehow I know Cassidy would be the biggest threat here."

"I'm not surprised." I rolled my eyes. "But there has to be something we can to stop her from just dominating this whole thing."

[Cassidy (Baseball Bat) Kipo]

So that's Panda girl's name.

[Cassidy (Caged) DJ]

No!

Bang!

[Cassidy (Shotgun) Abby]

Oh for fucks-

I growled at Cassidy. The battle was over and, of course, she dominated everyone. Save DJ who she kept in a kennel with dog treats the whole time. "What?" She asked.

"That was legitimately unfair." I frowned. "Also you caged my dog damn it."

"I was not going to shoot DJ. And she had treats."

"And a blanket." DJ added.

"It was still massively unfair." I frowned. "It was basically all you until we had to deal with spawn campers...again."

"You did good with the grenades." She said as we headed back inside the base. "Besides, tomorrow is the first official battle so we'll each be assigned to different teams to play as the scout. Hopefully you'll win."

"Considering Cassidy is going to be on a different team...it's gonna be Cassidy…" I sighed out. "Unless somehow everyone else can deal with her before she can go buckwild."

"Depends on the team you get." John said. "I'll see what we can have for dinner. You all wait around."

Abby and I headed for my room, DJ hers and Cassidy watched TV in the main room.

Once we were in my room Abby gave me a kiss. "So, about as frustrating as the game itself?"

"I...don't normally face what's equivalent to a silent pub stomper but...yeah." I sighed out.

"Heh, some people just have an advantage in these things. So, we have some time to kill. Shall we enjoy one another's company or shall we get your prepared for tomorrow?"

"Let's enjoy each other's company...today was bad." I sighed out.

We enjoyed one another til dinner came and once we ate I headed out, Taking a look at everything around and more or less getting in the sights. Most everything was Mann Co. This or that but thankfully I found a bar that wasn't Mann Co. Owned. Walking in the strong smell of wood polish and oil for leather hit my nose, accompanied by the scent of liqueur.

It was empty, oddly, only the Barkeep stood in the room. He wore a snazzy red suit, his hair black and race human. At least he looked human. "Welcome to Independence Bar." He greeted me as I walked up to the bar. "What's your poison? Literal or metaphorical?"

"Well, what do ya got?" I asked curiously.

"Anything and everything mostly." He said, eyeing me up. Without saying a word he grabbed a cup, putting it in front of me and pulled a golden bottle decorated with leafs and tree branches in the glass… or maybe it was actual gold? The liquid he poured out was as gold colored as the bottle and smelled like how one can describe everything nice about the fall season. "Try this one, on the house."

I took a sip, the taste was like caramel and cinnamon baked into a pastry then liquidised and then spiked with liquor. Whiskey if that burn means anything.

"Wow, this is pretty good whiskey." I said in surprise.

"Hollow Grains Whiskey, aged for two thousand years and brewed and fermented in kegs made from Divine Trees. Not much can compare to it in terms of flavor." He said. "So what brings ya here? Not just anybody walks into my bar."

"I wanted to go somewhere that wasn't run by people that don't understand basic health and safety laws." I said honestly. "Mann Co's fine with guns, but anything else is just...ugh."

"Heh. Fair enough. So, got any other problems or is it just the local grub got you pissed?"

"There's the fact that I got my ass handed to me by Cassidy...I know she's an Android and also was an Ally Prize person but...come on, I expected to do a little better against her…" I grumbled.

The Barkeep chuckled. "Synthetics are built with a purpose behind their designs. She sounds like she was built to fight. Can you expect her to be bad at combat?"

"Not at all, I just didn't expect her to single handedly stomp everyone in our match today." I brought up.

"Heh. Maybe she just has a natural talent for arena combat. Lots of people have their talents resting here or there. Just a matter of when ya find it."

"I...sadly don't know my talents." I sighed out, taking another sip of this really good whiskey.

"Well nobody knows what their talent is. Most folks find it but pass right by it. Unless you're an Equestrian, your special talent magically tattooed on your ass and all." He laughed. "Lucky little shits."

"I...didn't know that." I said honestly. "And Equestrian? Haven't heard of them yet."

"Ever heard of some tv show called My Little Pony? Those Equestrians. About as colorful as a fifty pack of crayola and names that are more often just two words put together rather than any actual name. Good folk, majority of them are. In any case, so your friend whipped you good and what, you're upset about that?"

"I'm more upset about how...I could basically do nothing to stop that honestly." I shrugged. "I know I'm still new to this...but literally nothing?"

"Heh. Yeah, I get that. Humans are good at many things, but starting off there Is only so much one can do In a fight against the majority of the other races here. My advice is to try and gain a Super Power Ability. They help even the battlefield, and most humans grab one before even going into a dungeon."

"How would I gain one of these abilities?" I inquired.

"There's lots of ways." He said, filling my cup back with the amazing whiskey. "Some people sell them, you can win one in the sleeping realms, those prize places have one or two, some give them out specifically. Dungeons can drop them, but nothing too fancy unless you're in a powerful dungeon. Hell you can even just get cybernetic augmentations and the tech can mimic super powers pretty well. Take your pick really."

"Damn, quite a lot of diversity in this." I said in honest surprise, having been told anything was possible but not having really much of a bench mark for it.

"So are the powers. Ever wanna be like Superman? Go for it. The Flash? Get running. Iron Man? Can buy the collection of his suits for a fair price."

"But...isn't Superman overpowered as shit though?" I asked curiously.

"On his world, sure, here, he can still bleed and get his bones broken. No kryptonite necessary."

"Jesus christ." I said in surprise. "Okay...that's a really good benchmark for...how nutty this place can be."

"Ah, but still it's home." He said, pouring himself a glass of the drink. "And you still just love it."

"Here here." I said, raising my glass in agreement.

We both took a drink. Once we finished the Barkeep continued talking. "Speaking of, where are ya from? What world and territory do you call home?"

"I'm an Isekai, I come from the humble ball of dirt called Earth." I said honestly.

"Heh, like many others. You'd be surprised how common a name that is for a planet. So tell me about this ball of dirt then? I've heard this and that about various earth's. What's up with yours?"

"It's pretty standard, 2020 could suck a fat one though." I grumbled.

"Heh. Sounds harsh, but I don't have much to compare that too. So, if your going to go after a super power Ability, which one will you start off with?"

"There's...way too many to think of." I sighed out.

"Then don't think." He said, leaning on the table now. "In a fight you can't spend all the time in the world, you have to make choices before you can really consider the options or even make a plan. Acting before thinking or even thinking while acting is better at saving your own skin than taking time to stop."

"What is this, Ultra Instinct from Dragon Ball Super or something?" I joked. "But...I understand."

"You laugh but you can learn and get that here." I rolled my eyes. Of course you can. "So what does this Cassidy have that's better than you?"

"She's an Android for starters." I said honestly. "Ten times better at...well everything physically, but that comes from her being an android and apparently an Ally Prize Person...so off to a great start comparing myself to someone that's supposed to be strong."

"Heh. Well if you can't match her in the field then maybe you should counter her where it matters." I raised an eyebrow. "She sounds built for offense if her strength and speed are her dominant features, what you need is an ability that tanks out your defense and from there you can worry about offense. If you can tank what she throws then you can focus on just dealing with her speed, which will even out the battle a lot."

"So...basically become Colossus from Marvel?" I asked.

"Or something similar." He laughed. "Countering strength is easy, speed is more of a hassle. Both together is a pain in the ass, but once you deal with one the other becomes clear."

"Sounds about right." I nodded. "Thank you...now I just have no idea where to go to either figure out how to get that ability or if I could just buy it apparently."

"You can, if you can find a seller. Best chance is in the realm of dreams. Can make one even."

"Dream world is still full of surprises." I chuckled.

"So, something that makes you a tank and maybe can help you deal with her speed. Maybe a two for one? Or one that can deal with two?"

"True." I said, thinking about what could do such a thing.

"How about one that's an elemental gem as well?"

"Got any in mind?" I asked. "I still don't know much about elemental gems and the like."

"Some super powers come from elemental energies, such as," the Barkeep pulled up a bottle. It was a glass bottle seemingly filled with lightning. "Speed Force."

"I didn't think an elemental crystal could give you that." I said in honest surprise.

"You'd be surprised what these gems can give ya. Now, typically gems like that won't spawn in dungeons unless it's a level three or higher and even then it's gotta be a specific kind of dungeon. But, you can make one. Take about a thousand electronium gems and they can make one Speed Force Gem."

"Sounds like a pain in the ass to get all of them." I said honestly. "But...maybe worth all the trouble."

"With that gem you can match or even outrun her and with your speed comes punches like bullets."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." I nodded. "Speed Force is a hell of a thing."

"So you got it settled then?"

"As figured out as it could be at the moment." I shrugged .

"Heh, fair. The best and fastest place to get a thousand electronium gems is in the mines. Ones that make high amounts of electronium in them. There's one about sixty miles north of here. Mann Co. Owns it, and charges the general public five hundred rem to mine it for as long as they can stay down there. It's good money, given most people want their metals refined and gems cut, on top of that all kinds of other ores and gems spawn there. By yourself might take a while, get a few friends with ya and you might have all the gems you need in a day."

"Well...never thought mining would be a possible dating activity with my girlfriend." I chuckled.

"Heh, make of it what you will, but if you don't get your thousand electronium gems you'll at least find a large haul of premium raw ore."

"Which will be better than nothing that's for sure." I nodded.

[Hr]

"So we're just gonna mine here and hope to find a thousand electronium gems, or whatever we dig out?" Cassidy asked.

After I left the bar, finding it gone and I was standing in front of a vacant lot when I wanted to ask that barkeep's name, I ran back to grab everyone and we headed for the mine he told me about. Muscles Mine. Five hundred rem per person, keep whatever you find.

"Either way works for me since I manage and maintain our gear." John said.

"I've never gotten to dig before." DJ said happily.

"Still don't know where that bar disappeared to." I said. "Didn't learn the barkeeps name...or where to get more of that whiskey." I muttered. "But yes, gonna be looking for a whole lot of electronium."

"Alright. Abby and I can take one rout, given this cave has a shot tone of tunnels, and you, John and DJ can take another."

"Why can't I be with David?" Abby asked.

"Because the second one of you digs a hole large enough for you both to fit in you will both just start rutting." Cassidy stated matter of factly.

Abby simply shrugged and nodded as the girls went one way and I, John and DJ went another.

"So, I take it you never bothered to learn about how mining in this reality works huh?" John asked me as we were looking for an empty spot to dig. Cave seemed fairly busy and popular.

"Well...it shouldn't be anything different than back home right? Just grab a pick axe, pick a good stable spot, and get to swinging?" I asked curiously.

"More or less but ya know how stuff spawns in dungeons? Same principle applies to under the dirt." John said. "In safe zones like this you'll just find ore and geodes and caves and such like that, maybe some buried treasure or things like that, but you can also find things like an old buried car, trash, a city, you get the idea. Same for Hazard zones but you risk a chance of tunneling monsters attacking. Fun fact, tunneling monsters eat whatever they find while digging so when you kill it it drops everything it ate. And I mean everything."

"Damn." I said in surprise. "That's...quite a thing." I said. "So...anything else I should know about before getting to swinging?"

"Well, mostly just expect anything." John said. Looking down we saw DJ digging, and then pulling out a box of bullets. John picked it up, opening it, the bullets glowed a bright gold. "Huh, Australium Bullets."

"It's...a brighter gold." I said honestly. "What is it really?" I asked.

"Australium is, well, think of it uranium but colored as gold and not as radioactive, acts more like something magical and… It's just a really weird metal that's easily weaponized or utilized for energy." John said, pocketing the bullets.

We got to digging. The first thing I found was an old rusty axe. John some iron ore, enough for ten ingots once smelted, and DJ found a tiny chest with some gold coins. After half an hour DJ ended up finding the first electronium gem. It was a small once but it worked. Abby and Cassidy called in ten minutes later with a haul of ten so far. It was slow progress but it was progress.

I found a Lost Memories Keyblade Keychain I immediately put on mine. The flash as it changed form was cool, and I could feel how this was not just all the stronger.

Aside from old weapons, ammo, bones and ect after a good two hours, John, DJ and I had fifty Electronium Gems and Abby and Cassidy had sixty. Hundred and twenty down, eight hundred and eighty to go.

"Well...so far a good haul for two hours of work." I said honestly.

"Yeah, plus all the other stuff, it's been profitable on top of that." John said.

"Found another halo fossil." DJ said, the pupper covered in dirt and pulling out a fossil of a glowing ring and putting it into a pile with five others.

"Wonder what those could be restored into?" I wondered about the six halo fossils. "And you're going to need a bath after this DJ, you're covered in dirt."

"Halo's." John said simply. "Can be used to heal you, give you wings for an hour or even give a fast resurrection to a fallen party member, so long as their body is at least on once piece, not crushed to a stain or burned to ashes, things like that."

"Neat." I nodded.

We took a break for a while before continuing. The sun was setting at this point and Cassidy called us, telling us it was a blue moon. "Oh thank the Mother we just lucked out." John said happily, digging faster now.

"Blue Moons are...super lucky stuff or something?" I asked, trying to remember the finer details of the moons besides 'blood moon bad, blue moon good'.

"Yes! Blood Moons make everything harder but also make the rewards way better. Blue Moons make you stronger, enemies weaker, and the spawn rates of items are on about doubled." John said. He hit something. It was a single iron ore chunk. Once he pulled it out it dropped… and suddenly there were four of them. "See."

"Damn, well then let's pick up the pace!" I said happily as I started to dig faster.

The haul was amazing. I'd find one gem, four to ten would drop once I pulled it out of the dirt. Definitely mining is easier money and such than dungeons. As I was digging the wall before me collapsed, revealing the entryway to an old cave of sorts. It was filled with old dusty weapons, and a… what is that? It was white, a glossy glass cover over the top and the image of a feather over an X on it. "Wow, a Prize Person Pod." John said as we entered.

"They can just...randomly spawn like this?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah." He said as we approached the pod. See that symbol on it, that's a servant class symbol. Maid, buttler, cook, things like that."

"Dog walker?" DJ asked.

John and I laughed. "Yes, dog walker too." John said.

"Cool." I nodded. "So, does it open for someone specific or no?"

"Not servant Class. Only Lover Class does that. Servant Class opens for whoever touches the pod. So, go on."

"Cool." I nodded, walking over and softly touching the pod.

With a hiss of something akin to steam, the pod opened, the top part lifting up into three parts as the person inside climbed out… oh...my...god. "It is a pleasure to meet you, my lord." Sebastian said to me with a bow. "Servant Class Sebastian, at your service." He was just like from the anime, from the suit to the calm, stern demeanor across his face.

"Uh...huh…" I blinked. "And...no demon contract involved at all?"

"None at all, my lord. I am your servant until the day you fall to madness, are slain in a level five dungeon, Void admin or Time Walker attack, or if you decide to release me of my services." Sebastian said.

"Alright." I nodded. "Um...how are you with dogs?" I inquired to my new butler.

"Well, personally I despise them, if I am ordered to care for one I will do so." He stated.

"Why do you despise dogs?" I asked curiously, kneeling down and petting DJ. "Dogs are dependable, strong, adorable, and all around reliable...is it the shedding or do you have allergies like Abby?"

"My Lord, keep in mind I am a denizen of hell. Tell me, what creature do you think populates the domain more so that the damned and demons alike?"

"Hellhounds." John answered.

"Correct. They are many and attack siner and demon alike without prejudice or preference on taste."

"Well that sucks…" I frowned. "But...well dogs here are a whole lot different than in Hell."

"As kind as your intentions are my Lord, I regret to inform you that not all dogs go to heaven. No matter how kind, they follow their masters. To heaven or hell."

"Well my little pup is a good girl, and there's nothing that can change that." I said honestly, softly scratching behind her ear.

"As you wish. Now, what are my orders master?"

"Hmm…" I started. "Might as well start simple, help me and my party mine, your main priority in mining is Electronium Gems, but if you find anything else make sure to collect it as well."

"As you wish, my Lord." With that, Sebastian grabbed a pickaxe and exited the room. We heard a collapse of rocks and dirt. We all ran outside and… oh my God… Sebastian stood before us. A pile of countless electronium gems, ores, other gems and all kinds of things. "I present to you my Lord, one thousand electronium gems exactly. Among the spoils are four hundred fire Gems, six hundred and fifty water gems, for hundred and sixteen terra gems, six hundred and two pounds of iron, nine hundred and fifty six pounds of copper, four hundred and five pounds of diamonds, emeralds, opals, rubies and sapphires, and many other finds."

"Jesus fuck…" I said breathlessly.

"... One moment." John said, pulling up his assistant. After a while he closed it. "Okay. So in the list of repeat servant class people who can spawn in those pods… Sebastian Micalious is ranked second best in a list of ten trillion."

"Then who's the best?" I asked in shock.

"Someone named Alex. No other name and no photo, only two other confirmed masters."

"And...who was their masters before?" I inquired.

"Alice the Bastard and Jericho the Undead." John said. "Both members of The Family."

"Neat." I nodded.

"Yeah. Well, let's call Abby and Cassidy and head back home and make you that Speed Force Gem."

Ouch…

Getting Speed Force, I felt like every cell in my body was in overdrive and every sense was set to eleven. Running and moving at this speed was easy, I just need to feel like I need to run, move, and fast. Stopping though… different story.

Abby pulled me up, my wrist twisted and yeah, ouch… thank you for fast healing but still takes some time and pain still sucks...

"Still hurts…" I grumbled. "Also...Speed Force is still a hell of a thing."

"According to the speedometer you are clocking in at three hundred and fifty two miles per hour." Cassidy said. "At that speed you're faster than most normal people but not as fast as most Speed Force users."

"I literally just got this ability but...that's still really fast." I said honestly.

"Well with that gem you already out speed me, the trick is stopping at those speeds… also shoes…" She pointed to my… feet. Shit my shoes burned away.

"I...don't think speedster shoes will come cheap." I said nervously.

"Clothes too." Abby said, splashing water on a few still smoking spots on my clothes. "I'll order some through the Assistant."

"In the meantime, you get back to running. Try and learn to control your speed." Cassidy said, giving me a healing potion I drank rapidly.

"Well...it's kind of hard to just guess on how to control it." I said honestly. "But...won't figure it out just by standing here."

"Good. Now, try and keep at my speed." Cassidy said, my arm healing up and Abby taking her leave. Once we started running time around us looked slower, but not by too much. Cassidy was moving as fast as I was and when I was moving ahead she pulled me back, helping me learn to slow down my speed. "Key to stopping is slow in steps till you come to a stop." She said.

"That...sounds about right." I nodded. "Just kinda...hard to relearn that when your going that fast."

Nodding, Cassidy showed me the slow steps til I was able to stop. Thankfully my first attempt I didn't fall down, caught myself. Second time was thankfully easier.

Cassidy and I kept at it until I was getting it down instinctively.

"Well...progress is going swimmingly." I said honestly. "Also...quickie question, how fast can you actually go Cassidy?"

"Well, if I focus all my power to my engine… five hundred and thirty miles per hour and I'd explode from overheating after a minute of it." She stated.

"Damn." I said in honest surprise. "That's really fast...too bad it would be suicidal for ya."

"Yeah. I can probably make or get upgrades to change that but I honestly don't care about speed."

"Fair enough." I nodded.

"So what do you prefer?" John asked as he walked into the training room, handing us each water.

"Big guns mostly." Cassidy said.

"Is that why I sometimes see 'bitches love cannons' whenever I go through the internet or on a billboard or two?" I inquired.

Cassidy just nodded while John chuckled. "Targeted advertising." He said.

"Hey, I like large guns. I do have a list of ones I'd like to get." Cassidy said, taking out a notebook from her assistant.

"Is one of them that Fallout Nuke Gun or something?" I asked curiously. "I don't remember it's name but...always remembered the fact you can have a nuclear rocket launcher in Fallout."

"Fat Man, and yes, among several other various guns of that place." Cassidy said, opening it up. "Part of why I'm keeping that minigun we got from that last boss."

"Which reminds me, you're gonna need a lot of bullets for that and probably all your other guns so I best get started on ammunition fabrication." John said.

"It's probably gonna be stupid expensive though." I frowned. "Even after the haul we just got thanks to Sebastian but...making enough bullets is gonna be a pain in the ass."

"Well, among the ore Sebastion dug up was a hundred and two pounds of brass ore so I can smelt that into the bullet casings easy enough. Lot of flint in that haul too so the primers will be easy. I can make the bullet itself out of copper, iron, ect. As for the ignition source I will see what I can do there."

"You really learned just about everything while in that library huh?" Cassidy asked.

John shrugged. "Books and practice."

"Time and patience can work wonders I suppose." I admitted.

"Well, so far you're doing well. Give it time and you'll be able to join the Speedsters Guild." Cassidy said.

"And what? Do they drink Powerthirst and kick Mother Nature for telling them to slow down or something?" I joked.

"You joke now." Cassidy said as she and John chuckled. "But mostly they race, bets, and work with the adventurers and explorers guilds to rapidly map out unexplored areas without having it take, well, forever to do it. Mostly they just get paid to run across unexplored areas til they register they are in a Safe Zone, put a portal there then map the safe zones area out for expansion."

"The best even get contracted by the Time Walkers when dealing with slippery targets." John added.

"Time travel through running too fast works here?" I asked. "Kind of thought that wouldn't be a thing considering how...the FlashPoint happened."

"It doesn't." John said. "It's… something different but I doubt a Time Walker will bother trying to explain it and any Speedsters who have worked with them are sworn to silence about the job."

"Yeah. One guy tried to say it, write it down, anything to tell it and he was completely physically unable to speak it. Not even a psychic could get the memories out of him." Cassidy added.

"You don't mess with Time Walkers unless they tell you to." John said with a nod.

"I mean...I don't know how time travel even works in this reality, so I'll just take your word for it that it's not a good thing."

"In any case, let's call it a night. Tomorrow you got the real fight going so you'll need the rest." Cassidy said, giving me a pat on the back. "Oh, and you best head over to the kitchen first before sleeping. Speedsters need way more food than most normal people."

"If materials aren't going to be a money sink, it's probably gonna be my new diet that's gonna be a bitch on money." I sighed out.

"Maybe not. Follow me." John said. I followed him to the kitchen where he quickly used his assistant to buy something and in a flash there was in his hand. It was… something. It was in the shape of a lightning bolt and looked like a fruit? "Speed Fruit." He said, handing it to me.

"Little...on the nose with the shape at least dontcha think?" I asked curiously.

"Well it grows inside the Speed Force. Most Speedsters eat these before or after a run, while it doesn't actually help recover your speed it does have an insane calorie count. At fifty thousand. I hear it tastes like peaches."

"Jesus, quite a calorie count." I said in surprise. "But...might as well try it out." I said as I took a bite out of the fruit.

It did taste a lot like peaches. It was really juicy, a bit slimy too. When I finished it I gave a burp and felt like I just ate an entire texas style all you can eat buffet. Woah that's fast acting… heh, wow. "You good?"

"Talk about a speedy recovery." I joked. "But yeah it did taste a lot like peaches."

"Cool. There's all kinds of other foods from the Speed Force that you can get, most don't cost all that much extra from normal food so won't break the bank getting them."

"Alright, good to know." I nodded. "I know I shouldn't worry about money but...well, going on adventures is gonna cost a crap ton sooner or later."

"Fair enough. Alright, let's head to bed then."

With a nod and a yawn I headed off to bed. Once in my room and up to my bed I spotted Abby, sitting atop the bed in that sexy night gown that barely covers up her crotch and is ready to slip off her breasts at a good stretch or a wrong move.

"Hey, had fun?" She asked.

"A whole lot of running that's for sure." I nodded.

I disrobed just to my underwear and got in bed, cuddling my sexy girlfriend. "Wow, all that running and you aren't even sweaty. Surprising." Abby said.

"Well...that's what Speedsters do I guess?" I guessed.

"Heh, makes me wonder what else you can do with those fancy Speedster powers~" She shuttered, giving me a kiss.

Waking up the next morning Abby was firmly latched around my neck. Last night she found out what my new Speedster powers could do for us in the bedroom and, well, yeah she isn't walking much today. Still even as we ate she kept firmly latched around my neck with her arms and a more than satisfied smile on her face. I had to dress her considering that lovely night gown now needing a good washing.

"You two seriously do it every night?" John asked.

"It's a new couples thing I think?" Cassidy shrugged.

"It's not my fault Abby is horny on main half the time." I said sheepishly. "But...I guess it's a new couples thing? I don't know… I'm not 'experienced' in dating… let alone the dating in this place that's for sure."

"I'm more surprised she hasn't tried to set up a three way for you at this point." Cassidy said.

"In time…~" Abby said blissfully. That made John and Cassidy laugh a little.

"Well, that aside I wonder how the teams are gonna be? We'll be working with one member from the other Class classes and go against another team of people." Cassidy said.

"Most likely it will depend on who either organizes one another best or who can solo carry the team." John said.

"Question, given I have Speedster abilities, even if lightly getting there, do I have to reign it in or just run as fast as I can?" I asked curiously, remembering one of the rules was 'no outside abilities'.

"In an arena like that it depends. When I was running I noticed it kept my max speed at about thirty miles per hour and even pouring more power into it I wasn't able to get any faster. It's most likely part of the power restrictions. Keeps it fair for the other players in the arena." Cassidy said.

"Sounds about right." I nodded. "Still expect one of the matches to end up being friendly."

I was on the blue team and my team was interesting. I was a scout. Soldier was also a human looking guy, but he barely was able to lift his rocket launcher, really skinny, black hair. Pyro was, well, in full Pyro get up so I wasn't able to tell anything about them. Demo Man was a… insect looking person. Maybe part… roach? Heavy was a girl with a green haired afro and yellow eyes. Engie was… a pony… An actual pony, red mane, blue coat and had a… what did the barkeep call them, one of those magic butt tattoos on them, a wrench. Medic was an anthro bird lady… not saying any more. Sniper is, funny enough, a bat anthro guy. Spy is a silver skinned looking person with many thorns on their head for hair.

The gates opened and I ran out, running the flank and testing what Cassidy said. Yeah, my speed is maxed. I can't go faster than this. At least that makes stopping- ouch!

"Oof!" I hit someone. Looking up and seeing the shotgun in their hand it was the other teams scout.

This guy was in a full body ruby red jumpsuit that met at a mask that was charcoal black and hid their face completely.

"Uh…" I started. "Look over there! The Enemy Team!" I shouted and pointed behind the guy quickly.

They just looked at me. "Do you think I'm an idiot?" They asked, jumping back some distance. "Honestly." He readied his gun.

"You personally? No." I said, readying my shotgun and my past experience playing Scout in game. "But...well I've at least played against plenty of stupid people in game...god that sounds so weird now that I'm personally experiencing it."

"Oh, so your Isekai then? Should have guessed." He said, putting his gun across his back. "Go play hero elsewhere." With that he started walking off.

"Uh…" I wasn't sure what was his problem. "Okay...have a nice day...whoever you are."

He stopped for a moment. "It's Three. Now, go do everyone a favor and go get shot at. Tourist."

And just like that, I got a good clean meat shot to his back before he could react. "Now maybe instead of being a douche, think before saying something stupid."

He was still standing, I could feel his eye roll as he was suddenly airborne, backflipping above me and taking shots with the handgun to my arms… ouch! He landed right as the shotgun fell from my grip, the holes in my arms starting to mend themselves. "I'd say to go home, but unfortunately we're stuck with you useless orphans." With that he rushed out, gone by the time I was able to pick my gun back up. Oh he is mine!

"Gonna ring that fuckers neck." I growled as I bolted after him, legit furious at how this guy just openly hates me because of some random fucking chance.

I rushed back into the fight, the teams were going at it quite well. I spotted the ass hat shotgun decapitating the engineer and his equipment. I rushed at him. He spotted me and again I felt that eye roll as he lead me on a chase across the map, despite our speeds being matched he was using his own team to make me stop or detour around. As I was catching up with him around the corner, he whacked me with a bat when I turned, hitting me in the lower ribs and again to the head, making me roll across the ground.

"Predictable as always. You come into this world with tears and sorrow hoping to drown it away in our world of unlimited possibility. You all think you can do whatever you want, but the one thing you all want to do more than anything you can never have." He said, kicking me back to the ground and raising the bat. There was a gunshot as he turned then ran. The team medic put that medi gun on me and sweet relief hit me as she helped me up. "Hey, you good?"

"The fucks his problem." I grunted, getting up and rubbing my head where he hit me. "Haven't met him for more than five minutes, and he's already acting like a piss ant because random chance and whatever the hell else decided to kidnap me from my perfectly fine life back home."

"Infinite possibility means infinite varieties of the good and bad." She said, giving me a healing needle too on top of her medi gun. "Some people just hate the Isekai for some reason."

"So basically he's just a supremacist dickwad that thinks any and all people that aren't born here are bad?" I asked. "Gee, I'm sure a whole lot of people in very high places would be rather put off by that fact." I stated bluntly, knowing there was several Isekai that have done outstanding things in this world before.

"Something like that I guess." She sighed, looking me over. "Alright, you look good. Now go put one between his eyes."

"That's after I blow his legs off." I said, reloading my scattergun. "Thanks doc, let's go win this."

I rushed off, Doc giving me some overheal before tending to others. I spotted him, this time putting holes in our heavy. I rushed in, shooting at him. Again, I felt that eye roll mixed with annoyance as he finished our heavy off before dodging my shots with, I hate to admit this, expert agility

"Why can't you be like the other depressed little orphans?" He said with a groan, throwing his bat at me. I side stepped it only for him to grab my gun, the two of us wrestling for it now. "I hate when your kind are persistent."

"Cry me a fucking river." I growled. "I don't know what stick up your ass is about random chance and Mother knows what else ripping people from their own lives into this one, so don't you get high and fucking mighty on me." I said as I pulled out my pistol and put it underneath his chin. "Cause it'll only come to bite you in the ass." I growled as I started putting bullets into his skull.

He backed up, not dead but to my surprise he pulled his helmet off and spat out the bullet… he's a Synthetic. His skin all chrome and metallic, hair more of a gold color and his eyes were like cameras. "Now you pissed me off." He said, putting his helmet back on and pulling his shotgun out, shooting at me as I ran to stay ahead of his shots.

"So which are you pissed more about? That you were built to be a piss ant with nothing better to do than bitch about things outside anyone's control, or were you just born a prick?" I asked as I jumped up once, and using the scouts whole thing of double jumping, using it to jump around his shots as I fired at the Synthetic.

He did the same. "I was born here, unlike you." He said, taking out his handgun in the other hand and shot at me with both.

"Okay I didn't think that was a legal move." I said worriedly, wishing I could run faster as I pulled out my pistol and tried to fire at the guns in his hands to try and get him to drop them or to damage them in some way. "So when anything can happen, unless Mother states otherwise, you'd sooner be a waste of space because you hate people who...are effectively kidnapped or thrown here without any rhyme or reason?" I asked, even though I hated this guy for being a dick to me for reasons outside my control, I at least wanted to know why he was being a dickbag.

As he was shooting his shotgun ran out, rather than reloading he tossed it and focused on shooting with the handgun, getting me in the leg. I fell, hitting with a hard thud he quickly kicked my gun away and brought a foot to my chest, keeping me down. "I don't need a reason to hate trash."

He took aim at me and-

Bang!

His head exploded.

His body fell over, and I got out from under the corpse. Thank you Sniper!

I raised my hand and gave a thumbs up to the Sniper. "Alright, so gonna have to figure out what the fuck his deal is...cause I have a feeling this shit isn't entirely tolerated…"

The rest of the match Three and I spent it basically trying to kill each other and only each other. We managed to stay pretty even in the amount of times we killed one another and when the match was over and we headed out I didn't find him anywhere.

I have a feeling it won't be the last time either.

Our next Class Classes don't start for another week so I sat in the living room playing TF2 on the computer. "Such a different experience compared to the pc game huh?" Abby asked as she walked up next to me.

"It most certainly is, especially when Three can suck a dick for being a supremacist douche."

"Yeah, but sometimes you run into people like him. Best you can do is ignore them and if you can't do that then, well, you are tied with him in shooting one another so I'd say you've proven yourself as the opposite of what he said."

"And yet he can't realize that people like me have done outstanding things?" I asked. "He said I was a tourist, and I'm sorry I was effectively kidnapped from my home and plopped down into this world. He bitches and moans like a fucking toddler about shit outside our control, but he dares say I'm the one that bitches and moans like a toddler?"

She gave me a quick kiss. "Don't worry about it. Odds are you at least bruised his ego so if he does show up next Class classes you can show him up properly. Til then I have a surprise for you~"

"A surprise?" I asked, immediately perking up from my anger due to that synth prick. "What surprise?"

Abby simply smiled at me. "Oh Marianne~"

Walking from the upper half of my room was my team medic from today, the female bird lady now that I was looking at her squeezed into underwear too tight and exposing to be called that… I really noticed her figure and… her rather lovely blue and gold feathers. "Abby tells me good things Scout. Wanna help me practice medicine~"

"Hello~ nurse." I was...immediately smitten with the beautiful bird in front of me.