Prologue
Arise from the dream, oh dreamer.
I am Iron Man.
That is the first noise I hear breaking through the total blackness and fog of a deep night's sleep. I moved my hand blindly towards my bedside table searching for my clock to silence the alarm. After several blind slaps I successfully found it hitting the snooze button. I turned over to enjoy a last fifteen-minute snooze before I truly woke up. Then it's off to get ready for another day of thankless work at my boring office job. However the alarm did its job like always making sleep impossible forcing me to open my eyes slowly and reluctantly. As light starts to enter my eyes as the world takes shape, I turn toward the wall to the right of my bed to see a strange thing.
Overlooking my bed on my beige wall is a poster for an anime that looks like Dragon Ball Z. I glanced away from the poster and saw the next strange thing. My bedroom has strewn across the floor in numerous small piles of wrinkled and worn clothes. The strangeness continued to grow as there on a well-worn oak desk near the door were several plastic take-out boxes that sort of stink. The mess in the room was appalling like I was back in teenage me's room. I got up from the bed confused before I bent over picking up a wrinkled shirt. The smell hit my nose making me soft gag from the smell while making my way to the hamper that was next to the open closet door through the mess. As I passed the closet door I caught sight of something and froze.
There looking back at me from a mirror on the door was a stranger. The person staring back at me was not the person I knew well. This reflection didn't have my short raven black hair with the ever-encroaching white creeping in. Now it's medium-length green that is spikey towards the back. The eyes were not the hazel of my mom. Staring back at me are eyes of pure red. The scar over my right eye that had been with me since I was fifteen from a fireworks accident was gone. I raised my free hand and waved as the reflection did the same. I moved my hand to flip myself off as did the reflection. The sight unnerved me making me turn from the mirror to clean up the room while being confused along with the beginning of panic.
Cleaning the room took only five minutes and all the while I'm slightly freaking. I went to the bathroom connected to my bedroom to take a shower to relax. As I stepped inside the bathroom, I saw a small shower that was to the right of a toilet with a countertop sink and a full mirror above it to the left. I stare at my reflection again for half a second before moving to the shower opening the door and starting the hot water. As the steam rises and the heat hits me, I finally conclude that this is a dream, and I should just follow it till I wake up. Ten minutes later I reentered the room and looked at my desk expecting to see a computer. A frown crossed my face as there was not a computer on the desk. That fact made the frown deeper as I made a dream mission to find one. That mission made me quickly get dressed in a black shirt and jeans that looked like they were from the early 2010s.
As I am about to leave the room I out of a long-established habit check for my wallet and don't feel it. After looking for three minutes, I found it in an old pair of pants near the top of my hamper but what it contained confused me further. Inside the leather wallet was an ID card with the name Alex Mason next to a picture of my current strange appearance. This small thing shouldn't have bothered me since this was a dream but my name is Gregor Williams, not Alex Mason. I put that up to weird dream logic despite a seed of doubt being planted as I exit the room and begin to look for a computer.
It soon was apparent that there was no one else in this place besides me. As I walked out of my room down the short hallway I glanced down at my ID card again. I look seventeen in the photo and in my mirror yet the card says I'm sixteen. My investigation of the place shows it's a small modest house that was sparsely furnished. The house consisted of my room/bathroom, a living room, a basement, and finally, a kitchen that was fully stocked with food. I don't find notes or anything else in the house that shows hints of the person living here. I'm so damn confused, and the confusion keeps mounting. Yet despite seeing the entire house I didn't see a computer. My quest to find a computer continued and I prepared to find one outside the house. I moved to the front door opening and exiting it after locking the door.
Outside is an early morning with a beautiful blue sky overlooking a middle-class neighborhood. The homes look weirdly old-fashioned and not the sleeker modern designs I'm used to. Where am I? I slowly walked down the sidewalk from my home towards a signpost at the end of the street. It's thankfully for my very bum American self in English. However, something was off as the homes looked Japanese. Was this Japan or somewhere else?
This big conundrum must also be dream logic but it bothers me further. I look around and see no one out and about in the neighborhood yet. It's still mid-morning and it's horrible being a night owl. I walked down the street normally for a bit before something else struck me. I'm not fatigued or wheezing much. I was not horribly out of shape but I would be wheezing by now with my lungs being shit after two extremely strong cases of pneumonia in my childhood back to back. This bugged me further as my walk continued. It was a peaceful walk with no other people out and about on this summer day. After fifteen minutes of walking the buildings changed from houses to small businesses with colorful signs everywhere advertising stuff. I look around again and sigh in relief seeing a building that was a library. I moved past an exercise shop to the old building and entered through old worn blue wooden doors. It's inside the library that I finally see another person.
It's a kind-faced middle-aged woman who is very clearly Japanese, but her hair like mine is extremely weird being magenta-purple. That hair and my own makes me wonder if I am in an anime universe dream. Her eyes are thankfully a warm brown and once they see me, she smiles kindly and greets me.
"Good morning, young man. How may I help you today?"
I nervously looked around the entrance room and freaked out a bit more because that was said in English. More dream logic as she is not American. That's made abundantly clear by several other things in the room including a mini flag of Japan on her desk and a traditional Japanese art piece on the wall behind her. I met her eyes, which had grown a bit worried seeing how nervous I was, and I replied with a smile.
"Good morning, librarian-san. I'm wondering if you have a computer I can use by chance. I promise to be quiet and quick."
The woman is less worried now. She is however surprised by the manners. She must not be used to that from people my age. She smiled softly and got up from behind her desk. I noticed she was wearing a conservative white dress and blue skirt, and she answered my question while gesturing me to follow.
"We have several computers I'll show you to them."
I followed behind her from the greeting area into an old but well-maintained and clean library room. The woman led me past multiple ceiling-high bookcases to the open center of the room. There on four desks in two pairs facing each other are the computers. I eyed them and saw that there are disk drives in them. That is not a standard issue thing anymore.
"Here they are and if you have any other questions, dear I'm happy to answer them."
I smile still nervous, but bow my head in thanks
"I have a few librarian-san. What year is it and what town or city am I in?"
The woman looked at me strangely before she tilted her head.
"The year is 2012 and we are in the city of Kuoh, Japan."
I had been sitting down on a well-worn chair when she replied, and that saved me from losing the strength in my legs as my suspicion was confirmed. Yet how is it 2012? I vaguely remember a place named Kuoh but I can't put a finger on where I remember hearing that name before. I turned the computer on and let it boot up as the woman looked at me worriedly.
"Are you okay, young man? You seem like you're not well."
I opened up the computer to the main screen but turned to the woman and faked it till I made it.
"I am I just have had a weird morning. Thank you for helping me librarian-san."
The woman was not buying that, but she also was not too worried about me. However, she kept looking at me strangely before she heard the bell above the entrance of the building go off. She eyed me once more before she went to help the next person. I in a dream haze of shock absentmindedly clicked the internet button and opened a tab beginning my new quest for information.
I started off easy with a search about the United States. Things I know still happened such as Nine-Eleven and the Iraq war. However, there are also lots of weird things too such as the fact the country has another state called Vancouver. Yet that state and its land are in Canada. The weirdness continued to mount as I learned that the Cold War ended a decade earlier when the Russians overthrew the Soviet Union. They now have a Tsar again, but he's like the queen of England in being a figurehead. That's very concerning in multiple ways given I was born only a few years after the Soviet Union fell in the nineties. More and more things don't make sense like how France was currently in the sixth republic not the fifth. We didn't have a reunited Ireland till much later in my life. We most certainly did not have many other things that are being mentioned in my searches treated like they are facts. Each discovery helped me get more and more lost as I looked up more things.
Russia having a Tsar again and the state of Vancouver is bugging me badly Russia never had Tsars again and the United States only had fifty states not fifty-one. I'm getting more and more convinced this is a very realistic fever dream. Or is it? The doubt that had been growing in me made me consider that perhaps this wasn't a dream at all. I pinched myself and let out a quiet yelp. That made me look up from the computer screen and catch something out of the corner of my eye. A young woman wearing a strangely familiar school uniform of white with a black skirt looking at a book in her hands near a bookshelf. She is close to my age with long slick black hair with her back turned to me. Something about that uniform is raising alarm bells in my head as it looks so familiar. I go back to searching for information and decide to look up the city of Kuoh. I swear I have heard that name before.
I opened another tab for one of the history of the city and there is nothing special about here. It's just another city, but my unease continued to grow. I was nearing the end of my search when I finally clicked on a hyperlink to the city's most famous attractions and locations before I froze. There on the screen was the picture of a school that I know and a name.
Kuoh Academy. Oh no, oh no, oh no. That finally kickstarted a memory in me. That's the name of the center point of an anime series my friends had urged me to see. They said it was good, and the fuckers had left out it was an almost hentai. It had a very cool world and concepts, but such a crap protagonist. Fucking pervert with his stupid power-ups. This can't be real. Yet as I stare at the image of the school my doubts from today begin to boil as I finally ask the question. Was I not dreaming? As I consider that I froze badly remembering more of that series. There was a supernatural world in it with humans at the bottom of the pole. Kuoh is the territory of devils. Creatures of magic and sin with many stupid quirks like being a fucking magic girl devil king that's also a massive sis-con. Oh, fucking shit this might be real. I look out of the corner of my eyes to see the schoolgirl putting her book away and turning back towards me. I froze completely as I caught sight of her two different eye colors along with glasses. I recognized her and it made me start shaking. There standing there living and breathing is Tsubaki Shinra the Queen of Sona Sitri's peerage. She doesn't notice me and continues down the bookcase hall till she's out of sight.
Oh shit. I'm possibly in a weird similar yet not similar reality with a supernatural world that is hostile towards humans like me. I froze harder than ever before as I again pinched myself and it felt real along with not waking up. Everything had felt real today I realized. My heart beats faster as if this is not a dream Ophis is real and thus the Chaos Brigade is real along with Great Red. I gulped badly remembering something vastly worse than Ophis and Red. Trihexia being real makes the dread reach a breaking point. I log off the computer and get up from the chair before slowly moving toward the library entrance. I passed by the front desk and bowed to the librarian before thanking her.
"Thank you for your help today, librarian-san."
The purple-haired woman was looking at me extremely worried.
"You're welcome, young man. Have a good rest of your day."
I smile again, turning and backing up to the door. Opening it and closing it. As soon as the oak door closed I took off in a full-speed run towards my home as the dread and ultra fear broke out. I might be in a fucking almost hentai universe with things that are beyond my strength to even have a hint of a chance to win against! If this is all real how the hell am I going to even stand against a single pawn devil if they decide to go after me? I get to my home unlock the front door and quickly barricade said door with my modest couch and chairs. As I panted from that I realized that it won't do anything against a devil. My fear grew again before I clamped down on it reassuring myself that this was a dream and that I would wake up soon. Yet as I ran to my dream room each step and sensation continued feeling real.
Inside the room I again barricaded the door with a chair before I took several breaths to try and calm down. I looked around this strange room again before something caught my attention. Underneath my desk was a cardboard box. I kneeled and grabbed the box. It was a regular medium-sized box that was slightly heavy. I focused completely on the box while sitting on the bed to focus on something besides the ever-growing fear that this was real. I saw a picture of three people standing together. There was my dream version self next to a Japanese-American couple. I got the hair from the man and the beautiful black-haired woman gave me the eyes. That stumped me before I dug deeper into the box glad to have a distraction. These were apparently my parents according to a small text box in the picture frame. I found another picture of the two in a tuxedo and a wedding dress with a date showing they had gotten together when the Cold War ended. There are several other pictures of them and then I found something that made me wince. They died earlier this year leaving my dream self with extremely limited money held in a trust fund.
Digging deeper into the box netted a folder with official-looking stamps and papers saying that I was on a stipend from the government. I also found that my dream self was emancipated, but that could easily be revoked. The money my family had was being held till I reached a majority and fulfilled certain conditions from my mom's will. I don't like the thoughts I'm having about this situation. Where was my dad's will and why was he seemingly absent? I don't like the sudden bell-like thought that crossed my mind. If this is real and not a dream did I kill the original person of this body? That troubled me badly bringing up more horrible questions. As I learned more about who I am apparently in this dream the dread continues to grow. Finally, after learning all I could easily from the box and folder I'm left with even more questions. I sat on the bed for two minutes of fear and worry before my stomach rumbled. I put the items away on my bed and go make myself breakfast.
I make a ham and cheese sandwich in a slightly zombie state having had plenty of it in the fridge. As I am eating I'm still freaking out as I consider my big possible problem. I'm possible in a universe where everything is vastly stronger than lowly humans. Gods, angels, devils, dragons, and more are very likely real along with probably the most horrific thing I can think of. That fucking idiot pervert who powers up from breasts is real. The world is so fucking screwed as he had fucking plot armor out the ass up to his eyeballs. We are not a TV show or book series where he can be the dumb hero he was safely. What was I supposed to do be that hero? I am not a hero and who can't save shit. If I couldn't save the best relationship of my life with my girlfriend of ten years, what hope would I have in saving this universe? I'm not special being a devil, pure angel or fallen angel. I'm not a hero descendant, and I hope I don't have sacred gear as that is what got the pervert killed in the first place. This has to be a dream yet the dread builds again further.
We are so boned if his plot armor doesn't apply here with huge numbers of foes. Kokabiel is a disgusting person who wants a new Great War yet there are worse things out there than him. I shiver thinking of the worst thing in Trihexia which is a pure destructive force that takes gods, the Satans, and more to keep it at a standstill in a time loop never truly defeated. Then there are the pricks in the Chaos Brigade some of whom want to find Trihexia. Rizevim the ultra arrogant man child, Cao Cao the 'hero', and especially Euclid, the fucking degenerate that wants his sister. Ophis the damn emotionless lizard who is incredibly powerful and dangerous. We are so fucking screwed and I don't know how to feel, hoping the fucking idiot can save us. His goals are so damn stupid unless it's that social dragon thing, people speculate he has. This must be a dream I'll wake up soon just wait it out and I consider the pervert.
I don't want a harem unlike him. Yeah, I like sex, but you shouldn't be peeping on people dude. That's more plot armor bullshit that makes me nervous. The three of them should have been removed after the second peeping, yet that was so well known that the kendo club kicked their ass constantly. Oh god, we are so screwed if the plot armor isn't real. I am extremely worried as I'm here in a city with the two major pillars of team DXD. I'm not a huge fan of Rias as Sona is and was my favorite character in the series. Yet Rias's peerage is the powerhouse while Sona's are the strategic minds. Everything happens here and I want no part of that. I'm not going to that school unless I have to, which, if this isn't a dream looks incredibly likely because that's a condition of my emancipation. We are in so much trouble if this is real.
I finish my breakfast then go to a corner of my home sitting in the corner to freak. Oh, how this dream day is cursed. We are in so much trouble, and I'm a year early to the boat paddling up shit creek. I'm going to die it's as simple as that. Death is coming for an entire world in a very vivid dream. I still have no idea why or how I'm here and not in my real home. I stayed there for about three hours as with each hour the dread increased. I finally found the barest hint of courage and went out again to buy things like food along with a computer to do more research. The GI Joes are right knowing is half the battle as I prepared for a worst-case scenario.
I jogged back to the business district till I found a computer store before buying a laptop. Then I hit a grocery store nearby and get the cheapest stuff I can find that is easy to make at home. I carried it all home while jogging and once home ran to my room sitting at my desk. I began to look for everything I could about this world I might be in if this was real. This task takes me to the early evening of this Friday according to the laptop.
I only take a break from research to make another ham and cheese sandwich for dinner all the while my panic continues growing. The dream hasn't ended making my hope slowly leave me in a trickle. I am trying to think of anything that can help me here and can't come up with a potential plan. I finally after eating the sandwich got off the computer and then hid in the bathroom. I look at myself again closely in the mirror ready to faint. This must be a dream it can't be real I must wake up!
I slap myself multiple times to try and free myself from this nightmare of unequal proportions. I'm horrified even more when I don't wake up in my old apartment. I'm still here and the terror made me try one last thing. I jab my knee into the counter in an attempt at a hypnic jerk. I again didn't wake up to my now very very overwhelming horror. That finally made me accept that this was real. I'm so fucking screwed and terrified beyond reason. I'm so boned dude as I'm not a gamer where I could become overpowered ultra quickly. I'm just some boring dude who has no clue how I'm going to survive this. The dread boiled over the sides and that finally does something that is another strange thing on a day of strange things. A ghostly white hammer and anvil suddenly appeared in front of me along with a ring on my right hand.
Only one thing makes even a hint of sense. Do I have sacred gear? I hope to God not as that paints a target on my head. I know that Asia has something similar with twilight healing regarding rings Yet as I studied the ring harder it, the hammer, and the anvil disappeared in a quick flash. I frown and then say screw it trying to summon it again. It took twenty minutes of pure focus and gritting my teeth before they returned. I studied the ring again and finally saw something that I recognized after a morning of not recognizing anything.
On the ring that was the color of silver with a red ruby in the center was a motif I knew. Staring up at me is the emblem of the Cult Mechanicus with its skull split down the middle with half machine and human. This is extremely weird as another strange part about this world is that there is no Warhammer fantasy or Warhammer 40k. There is no Games Workshop just a very interesting World War One company that fills that niche based in France. I look at the anvil and then the ring. Today is a ride of pure horror, and now shit makes even less sense. Why the fuck is that there. The ring and anvil disappeared again. I am seriously considering not trying again for the anvil and ring. But maybe this could help? Probably get me killed, but I'm very likely in a dark forest, like 40k just with more tits and magic girls. I shiver thinking of Serafall. Oh, by the Machine God, I might actually die from cringe if she is that insane. That's probably the least painful way to die here but the ring makes me refocus.
I concentrated on the feeling that had summoned the objects in building. The ring and anvil returned faster this time. I look at the anvil and wonder. Is this sacred gear? Yet despite my confusion and worry about this being gear I imagine something from the hobby that saved me from a serious permanent depression. I moved my hand to the hammer picking up the ghostly white object. It was lightweight and it made me consider something. made me swing the hammer against the anvil.
There is a brief bright light that blinds me, making me close my eyes before it disappears. I open my eyes again. I look in wonder at the new item on the anvil. It's a chainsword. It's not ghostly like the anvil and the hammer. My other hand reached for the sword and picked it up. It's real and lightweight with the sword having the symbol of the Mechanicus on both sides of it near the grip. The anvil and hammer disappeared but the sword didn't. I hold the sword up looking at it in pure amazement. I kept touching it and in almost a haze I moved my free hand toward the teeth. I touch it and feel cold hard steel there. I withdrew my hand from the blade before I moved my thumb and accidentally hit the activation button.
The sword roared to life making me flinch hitting the activation button again while dropping it. The sword hit the floor with an audible thud. I look at the sword as its spinning teeth start slowing down in complete shock. The shock continued for another two seconds before I let out a massive whoop of joy! Despite being a loose agnostic on the best of days I'm now down with the Machine God completely as this is a fucking miracle! Praise the Omnissiah I have something to defend myself against them! I'll probably still die quickly, but it's better than nothing! How long does the construct last, can I make anything I want? That and more questions pop into existence for me at a fast rate. The possibility of anything from a universe that was fucking stupid and over the top might save my ass here in another universe that also was stupid and over the top. It might save the fucking world if the stupid pervert doesn't have plot armor in a world that is looking more and more likely to be real. I need a possible plan and by the Omnissiah and Machine God hallowed be thy names, I might have something that can help me.
I quickly hide the sword in my closet while thinking I need to find another way to hide it more effectively. I was now wide awake hopped up on adrenaline. People are so right it's a hell of a drug. I sat down and started making a possible plan along with a list of things I needed to do or make. I finally passed out around three in the morning when the adrenaline rush finally died. My head hit my pillow and my last thought before the sweet darkness was that this might not be totally hopeless after all.
