Chapter Text
I see, so you too have met an unfortunate fate.
…
However, your circumstances are different from mine, but still tragic.
…
Oh, come on! I’m trying to build a little camaraderie between us! Two souls at the end of the line, but still wish that things were better. That things happened differently…
…?
I… messed up, a lot. Everything bad that happened was all my fault and I didn’t realize it until it was too late…
…
H-hey, don’t give me that look! I can still fix things! It’s just… a very complicated process. I may not even know if it will work in the end, but I have to trust in Sensei.
…?
Who’s Sensei? Well, he’s a bit of a weirdo. Says and does the strangest things. Not what you expect from a teacher…
.̶͖͌.̵̱̎.̸̦͛!̸̟͑
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down! I can see your halo cracking! If it breaks, you may never get another chance at life!
.̶.̷.̶?̷
I’m going to do something reckless, but necessary. Something that can give everyone another chance. And I’ll make sure to help you as well!
…?
What kind of Senpai would I be to not help a kohai in need? Although, I won’t be around to help you later… But Sensei will be able to help you in my stead!
.̷ ̸.̴ ̷.̵ ̸
Hey, stop that. Sensei is the most reliable and hardworking person I know, despite their eccentricities. They always help out any student they can.
…Does such a person truly exist?
Can you prove the truth of those who reached paradise? Can you prove that paradise actually exists when those who found it would never leave, or those who turned it away if it was not the paradise they expected.
…?
Eh, nevermind that! So, I’ll make sure to get things set up for you when you arrive to Kivotos! That thing inside you is strange, but it also seems useful!
!?!
Don’t worry, everything will be fine, even if it won’t look that way at first…
Enjoy your youth, and have fun and make friends in school…
Even if you won’t remember these words, even if it would take a miracle for us to meet again…
I wish you luck.
“We are sorry for the delays. Due to the current incidents, we ask all passengers to depart at the next station. We thank you for choosing Highlander Academy for your transportation needs!”
With bleary eyes, I slowly open them and let them adjust. I look around the empty train car I seem to find myself in.
“Where… am I?” I ask this to myself as I squeeze the underside of my forearms, noting the lack of pain that I expected to feel there. As the train begins to slow, I try to stand up only to bump into a large black case by my feet. There is also a manila folder on top of it as well labeled “Student Information: McDonald Ian” that I pick up. On the other side seems to be an address for a “Sanctum Tower” in the District of Utnapishtim? What kind of name is that? I bend down and pick up the large case, it's pretty heavy. I make my way out of the train, nobody in sight for me to ask questions.
“What is this place?” I say aloud when I take a look around the station. The city looks a bit futuristic, but also damaged? Like it's in a warzone, and what's with the sky! There are ring-like haloes scattered in the sky reminding me of the flowers in Spongebob. As I turn my head I notice my reflection in the nearby glass window from a building. Standing at 5’11” and nearing almost 300 pounds, a rather sad looking 15 year old boy stares back at me. His chubby body and round face that shows how unhealthy he is, black shirt with black jeans with a lightweight gray zip-up hoodie and large black sneakers just giving off low effort emo vibes. Black glasses on his face covering tired hazel eyes right below light brown hair that is short and a bit messy. And to put it all together, a halo in the shape of a rusted compass rose pointing in 8 directions is floating above my head.
I blink and refocus my eyes. I look again to see an off white halo floating above my head. I moved my head around as I saw that it moved with me, and is not a trick of the light. I even wave my hand through it and felt a weird feedback from it. “What the hell is going on…”
[Congratulations! You have been chosen to be the next user of the Chaos Gacha!]
What.
[The Chaos Gacha will give out Tickets that the user can roll with in order to gain many things from across the multiverse!]
What.
[You gain Tickets by achieving feats! The greater the feat, the higher in quality the Ticket will be! To begin with you get 3 Gold Tickets.]
Ok, screw it. Might as well go with this so I can ignore that thought in the back of my head. Let’s see how deep this rabbit hole goes…
Rolling 1 Gold Ticket, you have gained:
[Meet Cute]
|Uncommon Trait|
As you go about your daily life, you are much more likely to encounter romantic interests in favorable positions.
Wow, way to kick me in the dick immediately. This is definitely evidence for the I’m insane pile. No way that would ever happen for me. Fuck it, roll the second one.
Rolling 1 Gold Ticket, you have gained:
[Adept Drawing]
|Rare Skill|
You are great at drawing at the level of a seasoned illustrator, you can make very realistic paintings and very stylized ones too. In addition, you draw extremely fast, far faster than someone of your skill level should without suffering from a decrease in quality.
Well, I do like drawing, but was always unable to get what’s in my head on to the paper proper and got demotivated. Maybe this could be something I can actually enjoy. Ok, last one, show me potato salad.
Rolling 1 Gold Ticket, you have gained:
[Seek Guidance]
|Elite Ability|
When this ability is active, you are able to view commentary of those who were, could have been or would have been. The commentary can be helpful or even deceitful. You might find text written on the ground in front of a treasure informing you it's trapped, or text showing you the location of a hidden wall, or a text telling you to stand in front of a trap. Basically the messages from Eldensoulsborne Games.
Wait, isn’t this that message system from that super hard game people have been talking about recently, Dark Souls? The one where people leave a message of something like “Try Jumping” and put it in front of a bottomless pit? What the hell can this do to help me?
“What the hell am I thinking? Is any of this for real or not?” I lean my head against the glass. Thoughts starting to boil over in my head.
I want to scream.
I want to cry.
I want to go home.
I want to d-
BOOM! RATTATATATA!
I jump from the sounds of explosions and gunfire. What the fuck is this place! Is this actually Detroit or some shit? I fall to the ground and cover my head in my hands. I have no idea what to do. Suddenly, I felt something click into place, and then I heard some sort of hissing sound. My head snaps up and I see a bunch of orange messages appear on the ground.
Train’s late again.
Crap, left my wallet at home.
Those damn brats! I’ll sue!
What the hell is Valkyrie doing?
Why is SRT sitting on their asses?
Where is the GSC President?
I see a bunch of messages scattered around the station. Many of them complaining about the cops and about the president is supposedly missing. In my head I can feel the Seek Guidance inside an Ability Slot, the only slot I have. Guess this is all I have for now. Great. Still doesn’t change how fucked this situation is. I then hear another hiss near me. I look to see a message appeared near the large case. Instead of orange, its letters are pink with a blue outline.
I believe in you.
Don’t give up.
Why is this one different? The message disappears as soon as I finish reading it. Should I look inside the case? Maybe it has something useful inside? I go over to the case and open it up. I froze as soon as I saw the contents of the case. It's a gun, a rather big gun. I slowly back away, my mind spiraling again. Why do I have this? It's one thing to appreciate guns for how they look from a distance, but having one sitting in front of you is intimidating, especially when it was practically dropped into my lap for no reason. I gulp audibly and slowly make my way back to the case. I look and see a folded paper on top of what looks like a phone and a manual. I open up the paper and read it.
Consider this a welcoming gift from me to you! This is a Troy Pump Action AR 15! A rather modern, but unique design for a rifle that I thought you might like! Included is the manual and 10 magazines full of ammo, that’s only 100 bullets though. Sorry, I couldn’t get any more for you in such little time I had. But I did have the time to look into that thing inside you that is definitely not your Mystic. I tried to activate it myself, but all I was able to do was make a really advanced cell phone and an indestructible music player with a pair of headphones and earbuds appear. I messed around a bit with them and, well… I somehow combined the phone and music player together. Congrats! You are now the proud owner of the best phone in all of Kivotos, one that can’t be broken or hacked! Trust me, I tried. Anyways, just make your way to Sanctum Tower and ask for Rinny to help you. She may be a bit scary from time to time, but she’s my best friend!
-From Your Favorite Senpai
After reading the letter, I found the super phone and closed the case, not ready to take that gun out.
You got:
[Indestructable Omni Phone]
|Elite Item|
Not just an ordinary mobile phone. It has everything you need, being able to connect to a network regardless of distance, more storage space than you can count in numbers, a firewall that would take a machine an aeon to crack and enough processing power to make a supercomputer blush. It has a music player app that is capable of playing any song the holder has heard before and records it inside its archive. This phone is indestructible and has excellent sound quality, with built-in speakers and headphones and earbuds. There seems to be a lot of songs you’ve never heard before in here already.
I turn on the phone and it boots up immediately. A generic home screen greets me as I swipe through it a bit. Man, this looks way better than anything Apple could make. Hell, those things would shatter from a 5 inch drop, while this phone could get nuked and not receive a scratch, supposedly.
I open up a navigation app and punch in Sanctum Tower as the destination and the most optimal path is given to me. As I face the direction I need to go, I notice that it's pointing me in the direction of the large building with a pillar of light coming from it. Yeah, should have seen that one coming. I pick up the large case holding my(?) gun. Man, Mom and Dad are gonna kill me if they find out I have this thing…
I push those thoughts away and focus on the path the navigation app is giving me. It seems to account for the war(?) that seems to be happening. Hopefully I won't run into any hostile soldiers. I start to pick up the pace as soon as I finish that thought. Going down streets and cutting through alleys to get to the tower in the distance.
As I stalk through the streets, I can hear the occasional gunfire and explosions. The noise keeps making me freeze up and try to hide in nearby alleys in hopes that I don't get attacked. Twice I had to take a detour from what the nav was telling me due to seeing messages on the ground warning me of potential ambushes. I listened to them since that is not a risk I'm going to take. My detours led me to an open plaza with an abandoned police cruiser in the middle of it. The white and purple vehicle is riddled with bullet holes and dents, singed, tires stolen, and graffitied with an image of a fat pig with tiny wings eating doughnuts.
Curious, I approached the cruiser. As I did, my big dumb feet kicked a discarded crowbar on the ground. It caused a loud noise as I hit it.
“Hello! Is anyone out there! We need some help please!” A voice suddenly shouted from nearby. I whipped my head around looking for the source.
“Um, is someone here?” I asked, still looking around.
“Yes! We are right here citizen! Officers Kirino and Fubuki at your service!”
“Ow! Kirino, don't salute! There's barely any room in here.”
“Oops, sorry Fubuki-chan.”
Hearing two female voices that supposedly belong to cops means I might get some protection on my way to Sanctum Tower. But first, “Where are you two anyways?”
The more chipper of the two girls laugh nervously. “Um, hahaha, funny thing you should ask…”
“We got beat up and stuffed into the trunk of our car.” The other girl said plainly.
“We would really appreciate it if you could open the trunk for us citizen! Just look around the driver's side for the release switch and we will be back on the streets helping to resolve these riots!”
“You can do that, as soon as I get out of here I'm going back to my dorm room to sleep.”
“What! How could you say such a thing Fubuki!”
As the girls squabble, I go around the left side of the car to find the switch to let the two out. As I get there I see that the driver side is actually on the right. But that detail doesn't matter right now as I head back to the trunk.
“Ok, some bad news. The front of the car is pretty messed up. Like, I don't think the switch would even work if I found it.” I relay this to the cops.
“Great, looks like we're stuck here until another Valkyrie officer comes by and uses their keys to open up the trunk,” Fubuki laments.
“And with our cellphones out there we can't call anyone to come get us,” Kirino whines. I do look around for their phones, but there are no signs of them. I do, however, notice two messages in peculiar spots. The first is right by my feet.
Those idiots would never think to look in the tailpipe!
I blink and crouch down and look for the tail pipe of the car. When I find it, I can easily see the keys only an inch inside it. I slide my fingers in and fish the keys out. Standing back up, I go through a couple of keys until I find the right one to open the trunk. I open it up to see the two cops look at me owlishly.
[For saving Nakatsukasa Kirino and Nemugaki Fubuki, you have earned 1 Silver Ticket!]
Being a good samaritan counts as a feat? I don’t like the implications of that.
“Oh, wow, you actually picked the lock to get us out!” Kirino chirped this as she got out of the trunk. I saw Fubuki reach out her hand that I grasped to help her out.
“Actually, I found your keys in the tailpipe, just took a second to find the right key.” I answered as I got Fubuki out. She then did a double take at me.
“Why was it in there? By the way, how did you… even… know that…” Kirino trailed off as she seemed to notice something.
“There’s something bad behind me, isn’t there?” I deadpan, and then turn around to find - an empty courtyard, not even a trace of Chuck Testa. I turn back around and see the two cops, who I now notice are probably around my age for some reason, are looking right AT me. “Um, is there something wrong with me?”
Fubuki drawls out, “Uh, yeah? The problem is that you’re-”
“A BOY! A BOY AROUND OUR AGE! HE EVEN HAS A HALO!”
As Kirino shouts that to the next star system I take a quick look over the two. Kirino has white hair done in two tightly braided pigtails and blue eyes. Fubuki has long dark hair of varying shades of blue with two long twin tails and red eyes. They are wearing what I assume is their cop uniforms, although Fubuki seems to be wearing casual shoes. Both of them also have halos floating above their head, but theirs is pure white compared to mine. I also notice new messages appear by their feet.
Kiana Kaslana?
The best-worst shot in all of Kivotos.
Sleepy brat.
Doughnut Lord.
Oh, right, that reminds me. I pick up the crowbar and head over to the sewer grate I saw a message near.
Those idiots would never think to look in the sewer!
10/10 thug dialogue right there. Completely original and never before seen in the history of thuggery. I use the crowbar to pry up the grate and retrieve two, thankfully pretty clean, cellphones. I walk back over and hand them back to the girls. “Here you go, got you your phones back.”
[For finding and returning their phones, you have gained 1 Bronze Ticket!]
I guess that answers how low these tickets can go. Doubt there is anything lower than Bronze. I decide to roll the two tickets as the girls are fussing over their phones.
Rolling 1 Bronze Ticket, you have gained:
[Dream Mirror]
|Common Ability|
Allows you to view the dreams of anyone in your sensory range like a live stream, you could probably influence their dreams by whispering in their ears too.
Useless, next.
Rolling 1 Silver Ticket, you have gained:
[Water Bubbles]
|Trash Ability|
Allows you to blow harmless water bubbles from your body.
FUCKING BUBBLES! WHAT IS THIS SHITTY LUCK OF MINE! THIS THING GOES AS LOW AS TRASH!
Unaware of the massive amount of rage inside me, Kirino and Fubuki approach me. “Thank you for helping us out citizen! We have just reestablished contact with HQ and updated them on the current situation, as well as received new orders! Which is to escort you back to Valkyrie Police School!” Kirino happily shouted this to me. Yeah, as much as being holded up in a Police Station would probably be safer for me, I am just a couple of blocks away from the finish line.
“Look, I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to have to decline.” I told them. “I was on my way to Sanctum Tower, and it's right over there,” I then pointed to the building before continuing. “I made it this far without running into anyone but you guys.”
“Wait, seriously, you haven’t run into any delinquents this whole time?” Fubuki questions me with a shocked look.
“Guess I’ve been lucky.” I wish my luck gave me better shit from this gacha though.
“Uh, well, I guess it should be okay to escort you to Sanctum Tower,” Kirino then starts to fumble over her words.
“You never asked for his name, you just kept calling him citizen.” Fubuki said cheekily. I’m starting to see why she’s called a brat, not sure about the sleepy part yet.
Before Kirino starts her apology, I interrupt her. “My name’s Ian,” I then remembered that last names were being put first from both my file and the gacha notifications, “I mean, McDonald Ian.”
“Nice to meet you McDonald-san! My name is Nakatsukasa Kirino, and this is my partner Nemugaki Fubuki”
“Yo.” Fubuki gave me a lazy salute.
“Nice to meet you both. Please call me Ian, I’m used to be addressed by my first name.”
“Okay Ian-kun! You can call me Kirino!” God, can this girl turn the volume down just a tiny bit?
Fubuki then whispers something in Kirino’s ear. Kirino’s face turns red and can’t look at me directly. What’s up with that? “I’m fine with being called Fubuki. Nice to meet’cha.” She gives me some sort of smile I can’t decipher.
“Well, off to Sanctum Tower then?” I address the girls. Kirino slaps her face a couple of times before she recomposes herself. With a nod from the both of them, we make our way to Sanctum Tower, and hopefully I will get some answers as to why I’m here…
Who am I kidding, I know this is going to lead to more questions.
And that is it for Chapter 1! To be honest, the biggest problem I’m going to have writing this is that my ability to type is starting to go to shit. Also doesn’t help that my keyboard is not working properly. You could tell from any double spaces that I miss when editing. (This one I left in to showcase it.) It's also hard to remember stuff from 2012 for me to reference.
Anyways, see you next time!