Disclaimer!
I don't own anything from DC Comics, and I don't claim any money from this Fanfiction. The only thing I own are my OC's/Original Characters.
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Issue #1: Game On
4th of March/2024
Gotham City
Neo Rangel is a mildly successful videogame streamer for YouTube. He covered various RPGs of interest like the dark soul's series, Skyrim, Fallout, Dragon Age and so on. The genre didn't matter as long as the game was fun, so one day he goes from fantasy themes to sci-fi or even retro Final Fantasy.
He had enough of a following to get paid regularly which helped him out since he was living on his own in Gotham after his parent's tragic death. His uncle was helping as well and always checked in on him, but Neo lived on his own.
It sounded childish when he admits it to himself but sometimes he wishes that his life was that of a RPG and despite how unrealistic that wish was, it was something he held onto after losing his parents as he dived into games as an escape from the cold and harsh reality he faced and much to his surprise and confusion, Neo had woken up two weeks ago and discovered that his life had in fact changed into a real life videogame itself.
It was early in the morning when Neo woke up with a yawn as he saw a familiar green tinted videogame screen appear before his eyes.
[You have fully recovered your HP, Energy and MP. You have gained the 'Well Rested' perk.]
Neo dismissed the screen before he got out of bed and cleaned himself up before looking at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.
Dark skin. Average height and weight for a seventeen-year-old. Brown eyes with black hair cut low to his head and hovering above his dome was his name, title and level.
Neo Rangel, Level: 3
The Player/Professional Streamer
"My life actually became a videogame…What a mess." Neo said to himself before brushing his teeth and finishing his morning routine before he got dressed in Gotham Academy's school uniform of a long-sleeved white button up underneath a velvet vest with a matching tie. Tan khaki pants with black dress shoes and his backpack firmly placed on his back.
Making it to the bus stop and getting to school took no time at all and Neo couldn't help but stare out at Gotham during the entire ride wondering what he was supposed to do with his weird newfound abilities.
A status sheet, stats, levels and skills were all things Neo had access to during his makeshift tutorial as he messed around after first learning about this new ability but despite what he had learned, he felt stuck and confused about it all.
"What's with the gloomy look, Neo?" A familiar voice asked while Neo was in his desk near the back of the class and the voice belonged to Neo's closet friend Timothy Hunter. The two of them had been friends since elementary school and Neo even taught Tim how to play videogames and become a bit computer savvy, but now with his newly awakened gift; Neo couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed by what he saw above his friend's head.
Timothy Hunter, Level: 28
The Merlin/Prince of the Faerie
"I just have a lot of stuff on my mind." Neo replied with a sigh and calmed himself in order to put on a brave face while his friend sat down next to him.
Timothy honestly reminded Neo of Harry Potter in terms of looks but without the scar. His skin is fair, and his hair is slightly curly atop his head. Neo couldn't help but wonder just what exactly his friend was hiding from him for all these years.
"Like what? You've been like this for days. You know you can talk to me if something is seriously bothering you, right?"
"Alright, something is bothering me, but it has to stay secret. I honestly don't even know how you'll take it, but if I tell you my secret you have to tell me your secret."
"I don't have any secrets." Timothy replied.
"That's not true. I want to know why you're called the 'Prince of Faerie' or whatever." Neo said and Timothy had a shocked and serious look on his face.
"Fine. One secret for another, but don't talk about that again. It's dangerous." Timothy warned before he moved seats, and Neo knew his friend well enough to know that he just crossed a line. Accident or not, he just pissed off Timothy and that made Neo feel worse because now he was just stepping on people's toes.
The class had been awkward to say the least and for the rest of the day, Neo ended up gaining some stat points in his INT and WIS stats during his periods of study and test taking. Now, lunchtime had rolled around, and Timothy and Neo made their way to the roof of the school where they ate their lunch and basked in the sunlight, which provided the perfect relaxing environment for Neo to explain his newly acquired and bizarre powers.
Timothy's previous anger was replaced with pure confusion and shock after Neo proved his point by taking out his packaged lunch from his Inventory which appeared to be a grid-based screen to Neo's eyes while Timothy simply saw Neo pull the lunch out of a light blue and tiny portal of magic.
"Y-Your life has become a videogame?" Timothy asked in shock while trying to figure out how to properly understand this bizarre ability.
"Yeah, this is like some anime or comic book shit, but in real life. I don't know what to do with this, also since your high level and stuff, I was hoping you might have some advice." Neo said to his friend who simply sighed before taking a bite of his sandwich.
"And you figured out my title by seeing typical name, level and a title screen floating above my head?" Timothy asked between bites of his food.
"Yup. Sorry if I pissed you off earlier. This weird power is just messing around with my head…Not literally but you get what I mean."
"I got you. So, now I have to tell you my secret…My mom is the Queen of an alternate dimension known as the Fair Lands. From her genes and my father, I was born as a conduit of pure magical energy and as a result I am destined to be the strongest magic user on earth." Timothy explained sadly.
"It seems like you aren't as excited about that as you should be."
"I hate it. I don't want to be the strongest magic user or anything like that. I just want to live a normal life and have a family and a good career with a few degrees to my name."
"Your mom is cool with whatever you want to do, isn't she?" Neo asked while his friend nodded his head.
"Yeah, but my whole family is a different matter. Not to mention the fact that there are a few magical organizations that would pay mountains of gold to try and brainwash me for their own purposes or something." Timothy said before finishing his lunch. "It's frustrating. I didn't ask for this power, and I don't want it. I don't even want to rule the Fair Lands when I'm older."
"Wait, you're literally a prince?"
"Yes."
Neo finished his food as well before focusing himself again.
"Well, you know you can always hide out at my place if you want." Neo offered, making Timothy smile a bit.
"Thanks, but you shouldn't get mixed up in my family drama. Anyway, your ability is dangerous so you should causally bring it up. You don't want people trying to target you or anything."
"Fair enough, but I can't exactly ignore it either since it's something I'm going to be dealing with for the foreseeable future. So, do you think you could teach me a bit about real life magic? I could probably use my powers to strike it rich as a magician in addition to being an awesome streamer." Neo partly joked making himself and Timothy chuckle as both teens felt the mood lighten afterwards.
"Normally I'd say no but considering the fact that you might end up getting in trouble without someone teaching you the basics of the supernatural, I'd be more than willing to give you a few pointers." Timothy said with a smirk.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, besides having you helping me out wouldn't be a bad idea right now."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's just say that the world of magic is similar to the politics in Game of Thrones." Timothy admitted, causing Neo to give him a flat look.
"Welp, I guess this is another mess I'll have to help you out of." Neo said before lunch period ended and the two of them continued with their school day.
1
Hunter Residence
Timothy and his mother lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods of upper Gotham with a large backyard and space around the house along with a few neighbors and even a community garden. Neo stood across from Timothy in the spacious backyard where Timothy started to explain the basic information of the supernatural.
"First you need to understand that monsters are real but things like goblins, trolls and dragons don't reside in this dimension and instead exist within the Fair Lands. Beings with the proper knowledge can cross the dimensions which is bad because fairytale monsters aren't always as…Reasonable as you'd think they were from children's stories or games."
"How bad are we talking?" Neo asked.
"Imagine the goblins from Goblin Slayer and demons from Diablo or the DOOM franchise without scientific interference." Timothy replied, making Neo lower his shoulders with a worried look on his face.
"Oh."
"Yeah, but that's where Hunters come in. And I'm not talking about my family but people like vampire slayers, demon hunters and the like. People like my mother and I are exceptions to the rules since we can co-exist with humans without murdering them or going crazy. Unlike things like Trolls or Goblins that murder, rape and cause chaos on sight." Timothy explained in detail as Neo took in the words of his friend and realized that the magical world isn't for the faint of heart.
"What are you and your mother if you're not human?"
"Well, my mother is an Elf and by extension I am half-elf. My human appearance is all natural and with no illusions needed but my mother hides her true appearance with illusion magic."
"If that's true than why don't you have pointed ears?" Neo asked with a smirk.
"First of all, that's a myth from DnD and other fantasy stories. Half-bloods always resemble humans since human genetics are more…Dominant compared to that of other races. Secondly, that's a bit racist." Timothy replied making Neo drop his smirk.
"Sorry."
"Just don't talk like that to any other Half-Bloods. Now, let's start your training in magic. Magic can be an awesome and frightening power that abuses and twists the laws of physics and reality into simple playthings, but magic has a cost. Mystical beings are born with magic abilities, but normal humans pay something to use magic. Spiritually, physically, mentally or emotionally. Magic comes with a price so, I'm not going to simply teach you spells and instead I'm going to teach you how to notice the warning signs of a magic user, so you can run away." Timothy explained seriously before Neo spoke up.
"But I already have an MP bar and magical power available."
"What?" Timothy asked with a shocked voice.
"Yeah. I have my health bar, energy bar and magical energy bar all ready to be used and enhanced thanks to my Gamer powers." Neo explained himself before Timothy thought to himself for a moment before speaking.
"Wait here for a minute." Timothy said before he quickly returned to his house for a few minutes while Neo simply waited until Timothy returned with his mother next to him as they both carried several books and like always, Neo couldn't help but check out Ms. Hunter aka Titania.
Curvy, shoulder length blonde hair with sharp facial features, large breasts and posterior with a kind personality as well.
She is dressed in a simple short-sleeved blue shirt with jeans and slippers. Titania was never bothered by the cold like most people.
"What's going on?" Neo asked.
"You have gamer powers, and you taught me all sorts of things about gaming. So, were going to put your powers to the test and see if you can learn skills via skill books and if you can, we can see if you can use magic properly." Timothy said before he and his mother placed the books down onto the nearby picnic table.
"Are you sure you're okay with this? If I can learn skills through skill books, that means the book will most likely be destroyed in the process."
"It's fine Neo. These books are cheap replicas and frankly they are not important or all too serious ones. Simple books on magic and weapons written by normal people who either stumbled into decent magical theories or just made things up." Titania explained.
"So, these might not even be real skills?" Neo asked.
"Not for us, but for you they might become real. Your power by all accounts shouldn't exist normally. Even with magic in the equation, your power is essentially making fantasy into a reality and if that's the case, it might make these books useful to you at least and give you some actual spells or abilities." Timothy said before handing one book over to Neo who grabbed it and sure enough; Neo was presented with a videogame screen alert.
[Would you like to learn 'Long Sword Mastery' from this skill book? Y/N?]
Neo mentally said yes and the book in his hands burst into blue digital looking particles that flowed into him as he was now granted the information and skill of how to wield a long sword.
[Long Sword Mastery, Level: 1
From the classic steel long sword to the exotic Estoc blade. Long swords of various styles and cultures have been used to do battle and now you are skilled enough to do the same with the proper blade.
Deals additional 2 Slashing Damage.
Deals additional 2 Thrusting Damage.]
"Incredible." Neo said to himself. "It worked. That book was about long swords through history and know I know how to use one."
"Let's keep going." Timothy said before Neo learned a series of new skills.
[Short Sword Mastery, Level: 1]
[Mana Manipulation, Level: 1]
[Blocking Mastery, Level: 1]
[Parkour, Level: 1]
[Carnal Magic Mastery, Level: 1]
[Lesser Healing Hands, Level: 1]
[Protective Ward, Level: 1]
[Ward Crafting, Level: 1]
[Magic Missile, Level: 1]
"I think that's all I can do right now." Neo said as the process of learning several skills had unexpectedly taken a mental toll on his mind.
"I'm surprised you learned as much as you did. We can take a break from magic until you feel like putting what we learned into practice, but for now, let's move onto some physical training." Timothy explained before he reached into his pocket and took out two little sword charms the size of toothpicks and with his magical abilities, he charged them with magical energy causing his hand to glow a bright blue before he tossed them into the air where they magically transformed into two steel long straight swords that impaled themselves into the ground.
"You take a sword, and I take one. They're enchanted to not deal physical damage and instead deliver a nasty little sting if they connect with the body." Timothy said before Neo grabbed one of the swords.
"You seriously want to use swords against me? Even if they don't; hurt us, it still seems dangerous to not be using any safety armor or anything."
"Well for starters we aren't fighting each other. I'm teaching you the basics and I will give you a tiny jab if your form is off and wrong. If we do spar in the future, we will be doing so properly and with safety guards in play."
"I guess that's all I can hope for." Neo said in slight confusion but decided to roll with it.
"Good. Now let me teach you the art of fencing and sword play." Timothy said before spending three whole hours drilling the proper forms, strikes, guards and parries of swordplay into Neo's mind.
Admittedly, Neo assumed that his slightly nerdy friend wouldn't have been such a drill sergeant, but boy was he wrong. Timothy takes training seriously and by the time Neo made his way to his house it was past eight o'clock. After swordsmanship, Neo learned about Ward Crafting which was something essential for any magic caster because it is not only defensive magic, but it is also used to hide magical energy from others.
A safety net to avoid other magic users from finding you or trying to fight you or anything. At the end of the training, Neo was exhausted physically, mentally and spiritually. He didn't even have energy to stream any game content tonight, so he sent out a tweet to his followers before changing into his pajamas and calling it a night.
2
Unknown Location!
"How have the preparations been coming along?" A woman, clad in an all-white officer themed outfit asked from behind her desk as a man in matching white fatigues spoke nervously.
"Project undeath has been coming along at an incredible speed. The artificially generated zombies met our anticipated expectations however, cognitively they lack higher brain function which was expected…However, subliminal messaging has also proven useless." The man in fatigues said while the woman scowled.
"What?"
The woman's tone was sharp and annoyed while the man cleared his throat and continued.
"Our original plan for the subliminal messaging was to ensure that project undeath soldiers would recognize Odin's chosen as their master's and not attack, but that has failed as several chosen members have been hurt. Thankfully, this isn't the walking dead or a zombie movie, so we don't have to worry about more undead coming around after the bites and scratches." The man tried to joke but a single glance of the woman's scowl killed the chuckles in his throat.
"What about the shock troops?"
"Yes. Training has been no issue, and our soldiers are more than prepared to enter battle with the so called, law enforcement of Gotham and the response from the heroes of the Justice League."
"And of our weapons and armor." The woman asked and the man once again cleared his throat.
"Our weapons of technomancy have yielded…Limited success and…Our mechs have only reached a 4% success rate during trails." The man said and this time when he looked at the woman his eyes rolled into the back of his head as a loud gunshot rang out through the facility they were in.
A bullet through the forehead was all it took, and the man fell to the ground while the woman held her smoking revolver before placing it on her desk and pressing a button on her desk mounted phone.
"Tracey, promote a new member of the technomancy division to head of production and maintenance and send a cleaning crew to my office. Also, inform the division that more failures will not be tolerated."
"Of course, madam Viperion." The assistant said before the now identified Viprerion removed her finger from the button and kept a scowl on her face as she glanced at the soldier she had just killed with disappointment in her eyes.
END!
A/N: Revamped this story baby with new things going on. The plot remains the same, but the execution is much cleaner and skilled in my opinion. Please remember to fav, follow and review.