If the chapter felt a bit off, it might be because I twisted my ankle and spent a while not thinking clearly about what I was writing. I was more tired than usual while writing. But by the final part I was already improving. Enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OCs, and this is my first fanfic. English is my second language. I welcome constructive criticism, but please be kind to me!
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Max POV
'Hum hum, I almost fried my brain trying to build this Mauler Twins machine. The original Mauler must have been as smart as Rudy, just in the field of biology.'
It wasn't just cloning. I could add a certain level of genetic improvements to the body, with the side effect of a partial loss of intelligence in certain areas, something very similar to the Mauler Twins from the original material. Geniuses in biotechnology, but at the same time strangely naïve and socially clueless, as if the technical genius had come at the cost of other cognitive abilities.
Finishing the construction of the machine, I could already start training the Hercules Method (from the Luther Strode comic) and try to refine it. Since the slaughter method only served to help synchronize mind, body and soul, theoretically it was possible to find another path to reach the same result. Only this was one of those cases where you need real experience with the thing before you can create a reliable alternative shortcut.
I planned to work around that massacre stage by extracting whatever I could use from three different sources. From the Authentic Shaolin School Book I already had almost complete mastery, so that would be the main foundation. From the Water Polo Carbonated Fist I had only scratched the beginning of the technique, but I could already pull a few useful fundamentals. As for the Holy Man Moral Cultivation Code, it was barely useful for now, that method required such a high level of power to actually start teaching anything relevant that, at my current stage, it was basically decoration.
'Alright, while the final touches are being made, everything is ready for me to summon the first two soldiers.'
...
Summoning Room, Sanctuary
I was sitting on my throne, until then nameless, which I decided to baptize The Convergence Throne, making the final adjustments before summoning Floch Forster and BT-7274.
The adjustments consisted of building Floch's background in this world. I decided he would be a young second lieutenant, graduated in Military Sciences, with real decorations for bravery, who ended up receiving a dishonorable discharge after disrespecting a corrupt authority, someone who was later exposed and investigated on their own. His discharge was eventually reviewed and turned into an honorable one, with the possibility of returning to his own post, an offer he refused.
I also made it clear that, in addition to personal belongings like a photo of his already deceased family, he would come equipped with his own ODM Gear (Omni-Directional Mobility Gear), including a reserve of Iceburst Stone to power the equipment's gas. Good thing that was possible, it was an excellent new mineral.
'I think it turned out well. Since my clean money is flowing properly into the account, this will pass as a young newly-rich guy hiring a private security with a solid military background.'
It was surprisingly easy to bet on the stock market, or on anything involving probability, with [Laplace] helping me. Before I did that with Nano, but [Laplace] was far superior in that regard. The only thing I would avoid was going to a casino, it's the easiest way to attract unwanted attention if someone wins a lot of money there.
That's why I preferred focusing on the stock market, where millions to billions of dollars circulate every day. A teenager managing to make a few million would pass practically unnoticed, seen as a one-in-a-million stroke of luck.
So why not sell gold or diamond bars directly, then? Simple, that kind of sale requires documentation of origin, where the ore came from, which refinery processed it, which company certified it. Not to mention that, to raise the amount I wanted, I would need to dump a huge quantity of gold on the market over a long period of time, just so I wouldn't crash the price itself with the sudden supply.
So instead of going through all that work, it was much simpler to bet on charts on a screen, backed by American military and economic power, not physical metal.
As for BT, he didn't need any elaborate background, since he was a machine. In the future I would create more Titans (the mechs from Titanfall 2) based on him for my clone army.
'Hehehe~ clones inside mechs. My goons are going to be absurdly badass.'
With that, I decided to summon the two of them now.
The cards in my hand turned into a multicolored light, concentrating in two different areas in front of the throne. After a few moments, Floch appeared in his own Eldian soldier uniform, equipped with the ODM Gear and the Thunder Spears. He looked a bit confused at first, but, probably because of his own life experience, he quickly seemed to have an idea of what had happened.
BT, being a technological mech, simply stayed still for a while. Even having some level of consciousness, he was still a robot, he wouldn't get confused or stunned by the transition.
3rd Person POV
Shingeki no Kyojin World
Nation of Hizuru, Odiha City, Port
Floch tensed up. Mikasa had just cut his throat with the hook of her ODM Gear when glowing letters appeared right in front of him. He barely paid attention to that, too busy choking on his own blood at that moment.
As soon as he lost consciousness and died, he appeared in a completely dark place. There was no more pain at all. The body felt light, almost nonexistent, as if he had left behind not only the wound, but the very weight of existing physically. Only he remained, the total darkness around him, and those floating letters suspended in the void. For half a minute he stayed paralyzed, just reading that, deciding what to do.
[Compatible entity detected.]
[Match found: Floch Forster.]
[Do you wish to accept a Bond of Servitude, escape this death and continue existing as a soldier once more?]
[Accept] [Refuse]
He decided to accept in the end. After all, it was a new chance to live, even having given his own heart to Paradis Island and decided to die for it until his last breath. If there was a real chance to keep existing, even if in a completely different place, why refuse? He clicked [Accept], and after being swallowed by a myriad of colored lights, he disappeared from that dark place.
A few moments later, Floch appeared in front of a throne, next to… a train with arms and legs? He had no idea what that thing beside him was, but decided to leave that doubt for later and also looked at the person sitting on the glowing throne, which kept changing colors nonstop inside that dark room, probably the one who had given him the second chance.
"Hello to both of you. I know it might seem strange, but I believe both of you died, or came very close to it, before ending up here, right?"
'This is really the guy who brought me here!'
Floch, despite looking composed on the outside, was a mess of emotions on the inside.
'[I just sacrificed myself destroying the Fold Weapon. When a screen appeared in front of me, asking if I wanted to continue serving on mission.]' BT answered first, the voice coming out mechanical and direct through the built-in speaker.
"Hum, interesting. Thank you for the services rendered, BT. Your pilot survived the explosion and managed to escape safely."
BT had a small reaction, a robotic imitation of relief, as if his own shoulders had been carrying an invisible weight until that moment.
Max then turned to Floch.
"And you, Floch? Did you die or come close to death? Was it Gabi or Mikasa who killed you?"
'He knows!'
Floch had already found it strange that the man knew the name of the talking machine beside him, which had already scared him on its own since he had no idea machines could talk, but now that man knew his name as well.
'Actually, wouldn't it be expected that a being capable of bringing me back from the dead would also know who I am?' With his own capacity for adaptation, he started quickly accepting that absurd reality, and after a few seconds of silence in the room, he finally spoke.
"I… Mikasa used the hook of her ODM Gear to cut my throat, right after I shot the fuel of the plane they were going to use. Some letters appeared in front of me, and after that I was in a dark space, just me and the screen. After accepting the terms, I ended up here."
"Oh~ just so you know, apparently Paradis wasn't attacked by the rest of the world after that. Mikasa and her group were delayed, but not stopped, and Eren was prevented from completing the Rumbling in the end. That gives me mixed feelings, because part of me, when I was younger, wanted that outside world to be destroyed, but today I think another path could have been chosen."
Max told what had happened out of courtesy. Floch felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Apparently he hadn't managed to stop Mikasa and Armin from killing Eren, but at least Paradis hadn't been attacked in the end.
"Th-thank you!"
He made a bow in the Eldian style, one hand closed over the heart, the other extended behind his back, the gesture of loyalty and respect he had learned to make since the first days of training.
"Alright, you can rest, soldier. I summoned you two because I need competent subordinates. I already have a few under my command, but none of them were ever real soldiers. I think you two are the most experienced in that regard, especially BT."
Floch looked again at the talking machine that moved on its own, still not understanding exactly what that was. He decided to ask.
"Hum, boss, what is that?" He pointed at the robot.
"That, my dear, is a Titan called BT-7274, or just BT for short. It's an armored combat mech, equipped with heavy weapons, including a long-range particle cannon and a guided missile launcher, and inside it is a complete pilot suit designed to synchronize the movements and reflexes of whoever is operating it."
"Wow! A metal Titan!"
Floch hadn't understood almost anything, but from that explanation he realized it was high-level war machinery.
BT just looked at Floch and gave a thumbs-up.
"You're going to learn how to pilot it later. Give me your ODM equipment so I can make an improved version, along with the Thunder Spears and the Iceburst Stones from the bag on your waist."
Floch looked at the bag and immediately handed the equipment to Max. He also received back a bag with his new belongings, even a photo of his family, which positively surprised him.
"BT, I'm going to invade your systems to analyze them from the inside. Don't resist, okay?"
"[Yes, sir!]"
With that warning given, Max started using the power of the new assimilation, Neo.
In the next moment, the world seemed empty, and all he saw were lines of code.
'This never stops surprising me.'
It was really cool to see the world that way. The only problem was that, since they weren't in a simulation, he could only affect technological things, without having divine powers over everything, but just that wonderful technopathy power was more than enough.
'Dawn, can I analyze the Tech-Jacket with this power? Where is he when I need him?'
While Floch looked confused, not understanding why Max kept staring at BT for so long, he was using Nano and [Laplace] to quickly analyze BT's code, how it worked and how to create a new one.
He didn't need to be that fast, but Max got excited with the possibility of analyzing something so technological, which ended up making blood run from his nose when he finally stopped.
'Damn, I overdid it, but it was worth it.'
Now he already had an idea of how to build a new Titan from scratch. All that was missing was manpower and components. At his own pace alone he wouldn't be able to make Titans en masse like he wanted, but a few were already great. Even the pilots' armor was already very good, and could serve as a base for the army, or even to improve his own hero suit.
Max took the chance to check the amount of his own assimilations.
In Progress:
[Ferris Bueller - 98%] [Neo - 24%]
'I barely finished the armor and I already have more ideas on how to improve it.'
"You each have a room. There are two women living here as well, but they prefer to stay alone in their rooms, so I don't think you'll meet them anytime soon. By the way, take care of BT, Floch. He has an artificial intelligence and is already connected to the internet, you can ask him whatever you want about this world and he'll answer you. This world is about seventy, eighty years more advanced than your previous world, so you can go ahead. I have someone else to summon."
With permission given, the two left the room, with Floch wondering what the internet was.
'Alright, now I'm going to call who will help me with Aurora's summon.'
...
The Legendary Mechanic World
Galaxy, Planet Aquamarine, Germinal Secret Base, Valkyrie Lab
In the corridors of a laboratory, there was a girl with short white hair, malnourished, wearing patient clothes and tied to a stretcher.
"Aurora, are you ready for the last experiment? Don't worry, after this one, your sister Hila is coming to pick you up."
A doctor spoke in a gentle tone.
Aurora didn't answer, because she was gagged, and only managed to grunt a little.
'No… I don't want to die!'
She had overheard the doctors when she woke up earlier, after they had sedated her. This last experiment would kill her, and not even her own sister knew about it.
Then, in the middle of the despair, a message appeared in front of her.
[Compatible entity detected.]
[Match found: Aurora.]
[Do you wish to accept a Bond of Servitude, escape imminent death and continue living? With chances of finding your sister again in the future?]
[Accept] [Refuse]
She looked at that in disbelief. It looked like the screen of an electronic device, only suspended in the air. After reading the content, which seemed to go unnoticed by the doctor who was taking her toward certain death, she tried to touch the screen, but was tied too tightly for that.
'Damn, am I going to die before I can even save myself?'
Aurora wanted to cry, feeling that salvation being denied to her like that, so close.
[Physical restriction of the entity detected. Acceptance or refusal can be manifested by speech or simply by the user's will.]
Aurora then screamed in despair.
"I WANT TO LIIIIIIIIIVE!!!"
Still gagged, her muffled scream came out sudden enough to startle the doctor. In the next moment, Aurora started dissolving into colored lights in the air.
"WHAT!? Alert! Alert! Aurora escaped using some teleportation method, code red!"
The doctor reported immediately, bringing chaos to the base, with all the soldiers going out to search for Aurora.
The information of her disappearance reached her sister, Hila, who didn't know Aurora was being taken to her death.
'No… it can't be… where did she go?'
When she arrived at the base, she saw the footage of the moment Aurora disappeared into the air, turning into lights after a muffled scream.
'Who is this Esper who kidnapped my sister!?'
She was extremely angry and sad inside, promising to hunt that person down and find out where her little sister had been taken, no matter the cost.
…..
Summoning Room, Sanctuary
After accepting that message and being engulfed by a bright light, Aurora finally opened her eyes and saw a beautiful flower field, with a throne made of what looked like swords changing colors, and a pretty cherry tree behind it, with an elegant man in a white suit sitting on it.
On his lap was a cute little girl with white hair and a small horn looking at her, with two more smaller girls on each side of the throne, one with red hair and the other with a black bob cut.
Looking at that white-haired girl made Aurora feel a little more at ease, because she reminded her a bit of herself when she was younger.
"Hello, how are you? You're Aurora, right? You don't need to worry, you're safe now."
She was still wary. Max had only said that so she would know he already knew her, not as an attempt to get closer, but the one who really went to help her open up got down from Max's lap and approached her.
Seeing Eri approach, Aurora didn't feel threatened. Eri opened her arms to Aurora, who also opened her arms to her and hugged her.
"It's okay, Nee-chan. The bad guys won't hurt you now."
Aurora's eyes filled with tears. Even without understanding anything Eri was saying, since Eri wasn't a summon and spoke Japanese normally without adapting to the language of whoever summoned her, she felt what the little girl wanted to convey.
"It's kind of strange that their stories are so similar."
Rein spoke from the right side of the throne.
"Not only that, they look alike too. They could easily pass as sisters, even with Eri having a horn."
LaBrava completed from the left side.
"Hum, more or less. Actually, in infinite universes there must be several cases like this. One is probably happening right now in my own city."
They nodded. Max had already told them about the case of Mr. Hiles, how he turned students into living bombs while being just a high school teacher, and what college professors might be up to in this world.
Max then stood up and approached Aurora, who was still hugging Eri on the ground, and placed his hand on her head, giving her a gentle pat.
With time, she stopped trembling and crying. Still holding Eri, she raised her gaze a little to look at Max.
"…Th-thank you…"
She said quietly, still processing what had happened.
"It's alright. Her name is Eri. She went through the same situation as you, suffering experiments. She's here to help you return to society."
"Alright… but… when will I be able to see my sister again?"
She asked Max, worried. Her sister had always protected her, until the Germinal Organization found them. Even in that situation, she still tried to protect her, but the Organization had lied to her, saying the experiments would end at a certain point and that Aurora wouldn't suffer anymore, she just had to work for them and wait.
Without having much she could do against a giant terrorist organization, Hila decided to accept, with no choice but to trust Germinal. But now they were separated.
"That… is going to take a little while…"
Since she was a Gacha character, he decided to tell her how that could happen. Even if difficult, it was at least a possible path.
"So… I can really meet my sister again!"
She smiled, her face still marked by drying tears, looking like a ray of sunshine, probably the effect of her own Esper ability. Since her body was no longer malnourished, her power wouldn't need to spend years healing her from the inside like in the original story, so it would be free to grow much faster from here on.
Max also didn't create a background for her, since there wouldn't be much past to forge while she was still a teenager. He could easily invent a story as a distant relative using Neo's hacking power, the same way he had already done with Eri in the Invincible world.
"That's the spirit, Aurora! As long as there's a possibility, there will be a path!"
"That's right, Aurora-nee-chan! Gambare!"
Aurora looked at Eri and smiled, then looked at Max and asked.
"What did she say? I don't understand her language, but she's cute."
Max just gave a sideways smile and answered.
"I'm going to teach her English, so you two will be able to understand each other, okay?"
"Hum… okay… but… what is English?"
"*Sigh*"
'Alright, now I'm going to have to become a teacher. I have to teach the basics to these two. At least I think [Teaching Presence] will help now.'
.....
Max then decided to take Aurora and Eri to walk around a park with other children. Even in a dangerous world, it wasn't every day that a Conquest appeared and destroyed an entire city. The world was still relatively safe.
Rein and Manami came along to help Max with the children. Floch and BT-7274 stayed at the Sanctuary, with BT teaching Floch about that new world so he wouldn't feel too out of place.
Aurora marveled at that new world. Planet Aquamarine, where she came from, was a post-apocalyptic and polluted planet, marked by wars between nations, with only 6 nations left at the end of the conflict. Coming from a poor region destroyed by war with her sister, a clean city by the standards of someone of her origin was as impressive as seeing a fairy-tale city, let alone that playground, something she had never had the chance to know.
"WOW! So pretty!"
Aurora exclaimed. Eri found it a bit strange that she was reacting so much to such a basic playground, but didn't mind.
"It's kind of weird seeing a teenager having so much fun in a kids' playground… but it's also not like she ever had the chance to do this before."
Rein commented.
"A part of her childhood was kind of stolen, so I understand her acting like this. And with her power, I doubt she'll stop being this energetic when she grows up."
Manami answered, and then followed Aurora and Eri closely, acting as a translator so the two could understand each other despite the language barrier.
Rein also took a look around. She and Manami had stayed the whole time in the Sanctuary, and now that they had finally gone out, they saw that the world seemed pretty normal, aside from some large-scale terrorist attacks per week and the fights between heroes and villains that appeared on the news.
"By the way, Rein, why are you slowly distancing yourself from me?"
Max asked, with an expression of innocence, as if he didn't know the reason.
"Don't talk to me much while you're dressed like that in public."
Rein said, embarrassed. Max was still wearing his elegant and flashy white tuxedo there in the playground, and she could feel the looks "judging" the two of them. Even though Max was drawing more attention because of Unparalleled, that didn't reduce the judgment from others. They still found him a handsome man, but no matter how handsome he was, the collective judgment of eccentric crazy person weighed more, which only made Rein distance herself further from him.
"Hum, you need to learn to be independent, Rein. I wear this tuxedo in the playground because it's elegant and I want to. Don't bend to social norms to please strangers. Be yourself."
"Sorry, Boss, but I myself wouldn't do that."
"Rein, Rein… you wouldn't, or you wouldn't because others would judge you?"
"…"
Rein was already tired of Max trying to convince her that the world was wrong, and not him.
'How could someone so intelligent spout the most absurd nonsense out of nowhere?'
Meanwhile, Aurora and Eri played and drew the attention of anyone who passed by. White hair was still exotic in that world, and Eri had a cute horn on top of that. Children and parents stopped to look, as if they were taking an overdose of cuteness just from watching them play.
And that was why Rein ended up not distancing herself so much from Max, his exotic tuxedo wasn't the most eye-catching thing in that playground.
They stayed there, watching Aurora play with Eri until nightfall.
...
"Marie, let's go to the playground nearby? I heard there's a clown there!"
"How old are you, Wendy? Are you being serious?"
Marie and Wendy were on a hangout, since they hadn't done that in a while, because Marie always said she was helping her dad with something. But today was the day she was convinced by Wendy and some friends to go out with them. They had already separated from their friends and were just walking around. The only bad thing was that this time it was Max's turn to make up an excuse.
"Come on! You've been ditching us with excuses for a while. You're also being a bad influence on Max. He started making up excuses now too. So you're stuck with me."
Wendy didn't care about her friend's complaints and dragged her to the playground.
'My dad told me to live my adolescence before diving headfirst into the world of heroism. He must think I'm going too fast.'
Marie had already learned how to fly and how to use her strength without destroying everything and everyone around her, even if it wasn't perfect. She had also defeated her first villain yesterday, a man who could create a layer of concrete around his own body.
She defeated him while wearing her provisional hero costume, still without a hero name, but she continued very excited, unable to decide on her identity.
'Speaking of hero names, Max has powers. Does he plan to become a hero? Or… is he already one?'
Marie was thinking about sharing her problems involving heroism with her other friend who had powers.
'I need to find some time to ask him alone.'
With that thought, Wendy and Marie arrived at the playground, with Wendy looking for where the attraction she had heard about was.
"Over there, Marie! People are looking that way! Let's go see what it is!"
Then the two went to see what the crowd was looking at.
"Come on, Wendy, it can't be that-"
"FWOOSH!!!"
A roar of fire cut through the air, coming right from where the crowd was looking.
"HYAAA!!"
"KYAA!"
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"
Marie and Wendy got startled by the sudden jet of fire coming from where the crowd was looking. That reaction wasn't only theirs. Some people screamed in fright, others in excitement, and some parents didn't even know if they should worry or applaud.
For a second Marie almost flew over there, thinking the crowd might be in danger, but when she saw everyone clapping, she only got more confused.
'What is this?! Is there really someone putting on a show?! But if this person can do that, why not have their own circus and charge the crowd for tickets?'
Marie had many questions to ask the playground attraction.
"DAMN, MARIE!!! Let's go! We can't miss this show anymore!"
Wendy didn't waste any more time dragging her friend to the spectacle. When they got there, they saw a familiar face.
"That's… MAX!?"
The two said his name together. They didn't have that reaction because Max had used powers, they already knew that. The problem was something else.
'This… why is my heart beating like this!'
For some reason, today's Max looked like a prince compared to what they had seen yesterday at school. The subject of how to deal with the rumors had left things between the three of them a bit ambiguous, and even though the gossip had decreased, everyone still had some fanfic about them in their heads, it just wasn't trending at the moment.
The two didn't even notice the strange clothing for the environment that Max was wearing, and they didn't approach or pay attention to the show itself. They just stayed still observing Max from afar, in the crowd.
Max was juggling flaming chainsaws while spitting fire upward and making some children fly for fun.
Obviously, people knew he was using telekinetic powers and something related to fire, but they didn't mind. Seeing someone use their powers for live entertainment didn't happen every day.
The crowd simply enjoyed the show, which ended when Max made Rein, extremely embarrassed by the exposure, hold a sheet on one side while he held another a few meters from her. He threw his upward. When the sheet fell to the ground, there was no one there anymore. At the same instant, Rein's sheet fluttered, and Max came out from behind it, as if he had gone through the fabric.
"Wow!"
"How did he do that?!"
"*Applauses*"
The crowd cheered while Max accepted it by bowing to the audience. He made an exaggerated bow, one hand on his chest and the other extended upward, as if he were used to performing on a stage much larger than that playground.
Because they were 2010 cell phones, even the more advanced ones of that world compared to Max's original, they still recorded in low quality. Some people filmed anyway, but he didn't mind, he had already altered his face in the recordings using Neo's power.
"With that, I bid you farewell! Think fast, chucklenuts!"
Then Max threw a flashbang into the audience.
A few short screams of surprise echoed before the flash.
It was a flashbang with a powerful effect, yet one that wouldn't permanently damage the retina, which was on Max's utility belt. He used [Shadow Mimic] to protect the eyes of the children and the friends and subordinates accompanying him.
After that, Max, Rein, Manami, Aurora and Eri disappeared from the crowd.
"Ah! I'm blind! I'm blind! Marie! Help me!"
Wendy had been hit full-on, while Marie, who was there, had covered her eyes before the flashbang exploded, and ended up seeing where Max had fled.
'Who were those girls with him?'
Marie got confused. She hadn't noticed those girls near them before, and didn't know why Max had taken them with him, but they seemed to know him well.
"That bastard! I'm going to skin him alive! Where did he go!?"
Wendy was furious about what happened.
"Come on, Wendy! I saw where he went."
It was Marie's turn to drag Wendy, who was still recovering.
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Hello folks. I just started a Patreon. This is both to keep me motivated to write and to help me make some side income while I'm studying. If you want to read ahead and support my work, you can find me on Patreon searching for WorldHunger.
Lastly, please send me your ideas for Characters, Items, Perks, Gacha Mechanics, Powers/Abilities/Skills (Especially this, I need it), Consumables, and Worlds (for Travel Tickets). Even semi-useful powers are welcome!
Thanks for reading this far. Now, give me your Power Stones! They were promised to me 3,000 years ago! (And remember, everyone gets a free stone daily, for those who don't know).