Author's note: Like I said feel free to correct me and comment. Enjoy.
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The moment I thought about accepting the offer, the void disappeared. The transition was not a gentle leap; it was a violent, jarring displacement. One moment, I was nothing more than a drifting thought in an infinite sea of grey nothingness. The next, I was slammed into a reality so blindingly bright it felt like a physical assault on a body I didn't know I had. The absolute silence of the void was gone, replaced by a low, rhythmic thrumming—a deep, tectonic vibration that whispered of power, ancient and entirely indifferent to my existence.
I had a body again. Or at least, something that mimicked the concept of one. I looked down at my hands; they were translucent, shimmering with the pale, cold light of liquid diamond. I had no skin, no fingerprints, no warmth—only what seemed to be a temporary shell provided by the entity to facilitate my 'choice'.
I found myself standing in a chamber that looked startlingly mundane compared to the void. It resembled a high-end office: rich wood parquet flooring, clean white walls, and a pristine ceiling. It was too normal, which made it all the more eerie. In the center of this office stood three massive slot machines, their chrome surfaces gleaming under the artificial light.
"Let's begin," the Voice resonated. It was no longer a mere whisper in the back of my mind; it was a booming, omnipresent authority that made the very air tremble. "You chose the risk. Now, pull the lever. Let the multiversal gears decide what remains of your existence. These three machines will decide your world, your race, and the bonus I promised you."
I approached the first machine. A heavy, golden handle materialized on its side, intricate and biting cold to the touch. This was it. My first roll of the cosmic dice in a game where the stakes were my very soul. I grabbed the lever. My translucent fingers gripped the cold metal, and with a sharp, desperate tug, I pulled it down.
The reel erupted into a blur of motion. It was exactly like a slot machine from a high-stakes casino, but instead of cherries and sevens, it was names of worlds, coordinates of galaxies, and fragmented timelines. They flashed by so fast they became a single, blinding streak of neon light. My mind raced. Not a dying world, please. Not a horror setting. I thought of the books I had read and the movies I had seen—the only anchors of a life I could no longer fully remember.
Click. Click. Click.
The spinning slowed. I held my breath, watching as names like "Warhammer Universe," "Marvel 616," and "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" rolled past. Finally, with a heavy, metallic thud that echoed through the office, the symbols locked into place.
[LOCATION: EARTH-199999 — THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE]
A mix of relief and pure, unadulterated terror washed over me. I knew this world. I knew the heroes, the villains, and the cosmic genocides waiting in the wings. It was a world of wonders, but for a soul with no protection, it was a slaughterhouse. I wasn't just a fan anymore; I was going to be living there. Fuck, I thought, the weight of reality finally hitting me.
I didn't give myself time to spiral into a panic. I moved to the second pillar. This lever felt different—organic, textured like wet silk or cooling lava. This was the roll for my "Race." I prayed for something sturdy, something with a cape or at least a human face. I pulled.
The reel started spinning, displaying icons of Asgardians, strange bovine creatures, Skrulls, and Celestials. I watched the images blur, my heart—or the phantom sensation of one—hammering against my chest. The machine groaned, the gears grinding as if the very concept of "randomness" was fighting against the constraints of reality.
CLACK.
[RACE: KLYNTAR — SYMBIOTE (ANOMALOUS VARIANT)]
I froze. A symbiote. A living ink-blot. A parasite that needed a host just to stay stable in a world of oxygen and heat. My mind immediately flashed to the weaknesses: fire and sonic frequencies. But the "Anomalous" tag hung there, flickering in a strange shade of violet. It suggested I wasn't going to be a typical member of the hive.
The final pillar was smaller for some unknown reason, yet its light was the most intense. This was the "slight advantage" the Voice had promised. I approached it with a grim determination.
I pulled the lever one last time, pouring every ounce of my will into the motion. The symbols spun: Super-Strength... Pyrokinesis... Poison Resistance... The machine began to spark. The white room flickered, shadows dancing wildly on the walls as the 'uncertainty' I had chosen pushed the system to its limit.
The reel slowed down, skipping over "chaos magic" by a hair's breadth before landing on a symbol that looked like a broken chain intertwined with a glowing neural network.
[PERK: ASSISTANCE INTERFACE]
"An interesting result," the Voice whispered, its tone almost amused. "Well, it is a goodbye."
Before I could ask for a manual or a map, the floor and the rest of the room vanished. The office disintegrated into white noise, and I lost consciousness.
When I woke up again, I wasn't in an office. I was in waht seemed to be a shuttle, well if I'm a klintar it only logical that I arrive on a planet like tha, because yes, I was falling, and rapidly at that.
[INTERFACE INITIALIZED]
[STATUS: SEVERED FROM HIVEMIND]
[ALERT: ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY DETECTED]
[SUGGESTION: COMPACT FORM TO REDUCE DAMAGE]
The interface. You came in a handy little system. Following the prompt, I tried and willed my liquid body to pull inward, forming a tight, compact form. I felt the heat thougt the thin shuttle.
Below me, the lights of a massive city began to twinkle through the clouds. New York. The center of the Marvel universe.
I closed my non-existent eyes and braced for impact. no pain no gain, I reminded myself.
The pavement rushed up to meet me, and then, there was only the crash.