Chaos Gacha Chapter 2

***

“What next?” I asked, feeling dead inside. 

I just felt drained at this point. After a long explanation of the containment measures of this new and improved box, I knew precisely what my chances of escaping were. 

To be fair, even last time, if I had stopped for a moment and actually used my head, I would’ve known not to try my luck. 

It was a miracle I wasn’t shot to death, which that woman also reminded me extensively about.

Afterwards? The handcuffs were removed, just detached by themselves, and I was directed for… tests, I guess?

“Next, stand there.” An area to the far side of the room lighted up.

“Why?” I asked, suspiciously. 

“You are in no position to ask questions here, lab rat.” The woman answered, her voice suddenly growing arctic cold. 

“Alright,” I said cautiously. No reason to tempt fate here. 

I approached the area and stood inside. 

Again, the voice of the woman spoke up.

“Now, use this power of yours.”

I blinked slowly, staring towards the obviously one-sided mirror in the far side of the room. A new addition lacking in my previous cage. Worst part? I wasn’t even sure if this was a real one-sided glass. Maybe it was a trap, and no one was there. 

Anyhow…

“Which one?” I clarified, stretching my shoulders a bit, this place was damn cold. “There is my shadow control, and there is my ability to change matter I touch.”

“Hmmm…” The voice rang out melodically. “Let’s start with the shadows. It’s the ability that wasn’t observed up close.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, but nodded. Luckily, I already slotted the ability in from the moment the handcuffs were off. Just so I could try to defend myself if something goes south.

I reached for the energy in me, then moved it just so, and shadows coiled around me slowly, shaping into the familiar armor.

The voice didn’t speak for a while. 

“You said you control shadows. Why did you make it into an armor?” 

I sighed, knowing this would take a while. 

So, I answered her question. Got a new one, answered that too. That continued for a while.

I didn’t bother trying to ask my own questions or say more than she strictly asked, because I had a feeling that wouldn’t go well. 

The woman didn’t elaborate on whatever conclusions she arrived at, just kept asking about my shadow armour and what I could do with it.

“...we will conduct the testing of the durability of your shadows later.” She eventually decided. “Now return to the containment area, and strap yourself back in. My assistant will arrive with some objects you will transform for us.”

I paused for a moment.

I wanted to say something witty. Like, ‘are you sure it’s safe?’, but that would be too idiotic. 

If I want to escape, I should just look for an opportunity. That being said… I wasn’t sure the opportunity would arrive. 

See, this containment place? It didn’t just look modern. It looked Sci-Fi. My armour was bulletproof, but I still felt the impacts. If they had lasers here? I was relatively sure it might burn through me. 

Not to even mention that I can’t punch through solid steel in my armour. And without it, I was mostly a normie, so transmuting stuff to escape enough wouldn’t work. 

Basically, I saw no way to escape. But the shitty part? Whatever batshit insane evil black ops scientists were running the show here, just like in any comics, they were in no hurry to assure me that I would be safe, or free, or that I would get anything good for cooperating. 

I didn’t resist only because I wasn’t the bravest guy around. Getting tased was fucking horrifying. My whole body is still sore from all my muscles contracting. I want to avoid it at any cost again. Getting any other torture to force me to comply on top of that? Yeah, thanks, no, I’d rather be a lab rat for now.

Eventually, I proceeded to do as she asked. 

Putting myself back on the ‘cross’ on which I woke up, and feeling the cuffs mechanically lock around my arms, was an exercise in both absurdity and a touch of humiliation.

There was a hiss. And a part of the wall just moved aside. 

A robot on a tank chassis rolled in, holding a huge plate, on which a variety of materials were placed… and a few small animals. 

This will take a while.

Sighing, I rested my eyes for a moment.


***

Surprisingly, being the so-called ‘rab rat’ wasn’t nearly as invasive or painful as I had initially been afraid of. 

Some machines were brought in to take my blood samples regularly. Also urine. 

My abilities were tested in a variety of ways. Some bulky equipment that looked like radar grids was also brought in and positioned to… eh, observe me I guess?

The woman who gave me orders briefly mentioned that she was trying to get a feel of the energy I used for both the transformation of matter and my shadows. So far, she was unsuccessful. Which didn’t surprise me. Magic, my power was magic. 

It felt right to call it that. 

And, well, if magic was so easy to detect with technology, they would’ve detected it long before I showed up. 

It’s been about two days now, I believe. Hard to judge without a clock, but I was given two nights' worth of sleep and five meals.  

There were a bunch of restrictions about what I could and couldn’t do. If I didn’t follow them, I got a warning, and I didn’t want to see what would happen if I didn’t correct myself.

It was basic things, really. Get myself secured before food, props, or anything else is brought in. Comply with testing. 

Nothing too unreasonable, aside from, you know, forceful containment. 

“Attention,” A familiar female voice rang on. Not the one that usually did the testing, but another. An assistant, I guess? “Please secure yourself in the containment.”

I did so with almost routine precision. Stood up, walked up to this stupid cross, hooked my arms and legs into special niches that clicked, fixing me in place. 

Soon, the door opened. Robot wheeled in, holding the familiar tray… except, instead of food or props for testing, or even heavy equipment, it brought giant cuffs. 

I studied it curiously, as it left the tray on the floor and retreated back.

A second after the doors closed, the assistant once again spoke up.

“Please secure yourself with the provided device.”

I couldn’t help it; a weak chuckle escaped me as the restraints on the cross released with a hydraulic click. Rubbing my wrists, I slowly stood back on the ground, stretching a bit in place. 

“That’s unusual. Ms Assistant, what’s going on?” I asked, feeling curious. 

The Researcher, I found, was almost impossible to talk to. Lab Rat this, genuine pig that, I am asking questions here, all that crap. The Assistant, however, was more chill. She was there when my food was brought in and actually listened to my complaints about the food they served. 

“Someone wants to talk with you,” The assistant answered. I nodded after a brief moment. I guess I… well, expected that somewhat? 

In comics, there are two types of government-sponsored research labs. One is people’s wet dream about Auschwitz turned up to eleven, that exists purely for torture porn, and one exists where good guys temporarily contain someone dangerous. 

Judging by the fact my ass remained unprobed as of yet, I figured this was the second type.

“Please don’t use your abilities. Please, don’t antagonize the man who wishes to speak with you, don’t make sudden movements, or anything else that may prompt a response,” Ms Assistant said softly.

I just flashed a thumbs-up towards the one-sided glass.

“Gotcha.”

I approached the tray, picked up the cuffs, placed them on my wrist, and… with a familiar hydraulic click, they closed.

Damn, those are heavy. Fuck, this is tight, my wrists fucking hurt.

“Hey, Ms Assistant, please configure those things properly! I feel like my wrists are going numb.” 

A second of silence. 

“Please stand by.” With another soft hiss, the cuffs relaxed just a little bit. 

Once again, I brought two of my hands up with some difficulty and flashed the double thumbs up.

“Thanks again!”

As I did so, the door started to open with the familiar sound. 

There was a corridor on the other side. Deceptively empty. 

Just some lighting, and a few suspicious circles in the metal on top. I’ll fucking eat my bowl of spaghetti (the actual item) if those aren’t turrets. 

Well, if they want to shoot me there… wait, they won’t. They could probably just gas me in the main chamber, like what the Researcher woman suggested initially. 

Sighing, I walked in. 

The corridor was surprisingly long, and I was pretty sure it had a bunch of sections that would close in, in an attempt of a break out.

Can’t believe they built me a Magneto Prison. That’s how moving up in the superhero world looks like, eh?

Eventually, I approached the furthest end of the corridor, and a door opened. 

On the other side?

A clean metallic table, a pair of chairs, and a dozen armed guards with rifles. They also had a military-like uniform, slick but not overly menacing. 

Are those guys S.H.I.E.L.D. or some other retarded acronym?

“Greetings.” The man said in perfect English, he was the only one who didn’t look like a grunt, and sat at the table. “Please, sit.”

Mh-mm, woof woof. 

Still, holding my sass to myself, I approached and did as instructed.

“You look tense.” He said, after studying me for a moment.

I studied him back. He was a middle-aged man with graying hair, a thick, rich mustache, the type you only really see in movies, and piercing green eyes. Otherwise, he looked mostly unremarkable. 

Except for one thing.

This dude was absolutely fucking jacked. Like, holy shit, he looked like a final boss in a fighting game. 

He also wore a nice suit that looked more expensive than anything I ever owned in my previous life. Which seemed like it was desperately trying to contain all that prime beef, and failing.

If I closed my eyes, I am sure I could hear his suit begging for its life.

“Getting kidnapped does this to you,” I said, unable to hold back my sarcasm. “The researcher lady was also pretty intense.”

The man chuckled awkwardly into his thick mustache.

“Yes, and I am sorry about that,” He said, actually managing to sound sincere. “I am Hulk Alexanderson, Head Chief of Operations, here in M.O.T.H.” …fucking called it.

Also, is his name a fucking superhero reference, too? 

This was probably a queue to introduce myself. A polite person would’ve surely done so. 

“‘Sup,” I said instead, waving both of my hands energetically despite the handcuffs. 

He studies me for a long second. It was hard to decipher what exactly he was thinking.

“I’ll cut straight to the chase,” He said slowly, putting his hands on the table in a Gendo Pose, “Your apprehension wasn’t a normal procedure. But it was also an inevitability, with what you were doing.” 

He opened the folder on the table before sliding a couple of photos across. 

It was my form clad in the bad-ass shadow armour, jumping across rooftops, and one of me holding a man by his neck. One of the muggers I stopped. Did someone actually take a photo?

“Wasn’t easy to stop this from being leaked,” He confessed, “What was your goal exactly?”

For a moment, I considered him. I was… well, preparing myself for something like that for a while. A recruitment pitch from the U.S. government? Basically, one of the most obvious things that could happen in the superhero world. 

But, well, most of the witty responses I thought of either weren’t appropriate and were a touch too brave for me right now, or I simply forgot them. 

Fuckity fuck.

“To be a hero,” I said simply, slumping a bit in my chair. 

He lifted an eyebrow. 

“Look, I am not exactly asian, you see?” I said, pointing at my eyes with both of my hands, “You guys probably did some background checks on me already, and found jack and shit, right?”

The man nodded. 

“You do not exist, as far as the world is concerned.”

I snapped my fingers, nodding. 

I also really wanted to greet my teeth because a tendon in my wrist got jammed into the cuff. It fucking hurt. 

“See, that’s what I thought too.” I shrugged a bit. “That’s because, as far as I know, I am not from this world.”

The man slowly blinked. 

“Are you claiming to be an alien?”

I paused for a second. Then chuckled weakly.

“Man, I wish,” I shook my head, “No, I am from Earth. Just, not this Earth? Listen, I know this may sound pretty insane, but it was 2025 back home. We were just done with Covid, and had a few local wars going, nothing I found even mentioned in the history book. Also, the Mu continent? Didn’t exist on my Earth.” I was rambling, I realised. 

Still, after a short pause I continued.

“So about two weeks ago, I found myself on the bench in Jaju in my pajamas.” I leaned forward a bit. “As you can guess, with superpowers.”

The man studied me for a moment. 

Suddenly, the familiar voice rang out across the room.

“This isn’t quite as fantastical as you think, lab rat.” Before my disbelieving eyes, a hologram appeared.

Mommy. Sorry. Mommy. Sorry. Mommy. Sorry…

“The sea of quanta is a known quantity to us, even if it’s still theoretical. The existence of parallel worlds is solid theoretically.”

I blinked, staring up at the woman. She was voluptuous, dressed in a lab coat, and was… well, insanely beautiful. Like, I don’t think I saw a woman that pretty in my life?

Damn, the comic superhero world is amazing. Shame all the women here tended to be MJ-level of rabid bitches. 

“That being said, it does not explain your abilities.” She said, looking at me… I mean, her hologram did. 

“You mean my magic,” I said drily.

“Your abilities. Stop avoiding the question, lab rat.”

I gestured towards the hologram theatrically, looking at Hulk, mouthing ‘do you see this shit’.

“Dr. Mobius, please control your language,” He asked, looking more tired than angry, “Don’t demean this young man.”

The woman looked like she really wanted to roll her eyes. 

“Back to the matter at hand, please.”

I considered her question for a moment. 

“Well, I can’t explain much about my abilities,” I said after a moment, shrugging, “I just have them? You guys researched them, maybe it’s the honkai radiation that changed me and gave me, like, mutant powers?” X-men, please exist already! I don’t want to tell them about the Celestial Super Hyper Strings… of Chaos!

Dr Mobius shook her head.

“No. Your chamber was constantly monitored for Honkai radiation, and we took plenty of your samples. Your body contains traces of the Honkai, most people do after the Eruption, but it didn’t seem to change you significantly. Besides,” Her eyes once again zeroed in on me with pretty scary focus. “Even when you actively transmuted matter or controlled shadows, there were no Honkai energy emissions. Whatever your abilities are, they are not related to Honkai in any crude manner.”

Fuck you X-Men, you boring ass race-war analogue of a comic series. I relied on you one time in my entire life, and you flopped like all your movies aside from Wolverine!

“I wasn’t here during the Eruption, though,” I said, raising my arm like a good school student, “How is that I too have magical cancer?”

Mobius’s eyelid twitched.

“You really are annoying when you are allowed to talk. Answering your question, Honkai is not magic, and you don’t have cancer. It’s a trace amount of Honkai, unlike normal radiation, Honkai is not dissipating by itself, and has no physical substance that creates the radiation via its decay. Instead, the radiation itself lingers and builds up. You have some in you, I do too; all people on this planet are contaminated to some extent.” Seeing something on my face, probably because I went pale as I understood that magical turbo-cancer was building up in my body and could turn me into a zombie, she smiled, “You are right, however, that the Eruption itself was the main cause for spreading the initial wave of Honkai contamination. What you are missing is that there were plenty of smaller Honkai manifestations around the globe. They aren’t usually made public, so you might not know… but they happen constantly.”


That did put some good old fear of god in me.

“Wait, are you saying humanity is on a timer?!” What is this dramatic rise of the stakes?! “If no one knows how to cure Honkai contamination, tiny eruptions happen everywhere all the time, and it affects people across the world… doesn’t it mean it’s a matter of time until everyone is a zombie?”

What the hell kind of setting is this?!

“Smart Rat,” Mobius cooed, “But no, zombies require the Honkai energy reaching a certain threshold while the subject is still alive. You, me, and all of humanity will just die before that can happen, provided no other complications arise.”

This isn’t any fucking better you scary sexy woman!

“This is why M.O.T.H. exists,” Hulk spoke up, making me remember he existed. 

It took me a moment to process that I had managed to forget the existence of this mountain of muscles somehow.

“We are the organisation assembled from the brightest and best in the world to combat Honkai.”

I squinted a bit suspiciously. 

“By the ‘best in the world’ do you mean, like, the collective west, Europe, USA, without China and Russia or…?”

“Everyone,” He said grimmly, “Every country on Earth supports us at least on paper. Though some can provide no contributions because…”

“They are Zimbabwe, yeah, yeah, I get the idea,” I waved away the boring politics talk, “But back to you, dear doktor,” I said, trying to imitate Raiden. I wish I could be a cool cyborg child soldier. “I have no idea how my power works or where it came from.”

When I spoke, she looked somewhere down before herself. Rude. 

“There is a lie detector in your cuffs,” She said in a bored tone, “Mind repeating yourself Lab Rat, I think my hearing isn’t what it used to be.”

I swallowed. Then, I cracked instantly. 

“Okay… there is… something that I am connected to,” I explained slowly, as my shoulders slumbered. I blinked, realizing that… there was a new string! 

I licked my suddenly dry lips as I inspected the connection… wait, it summons a FUCKING WHAT?!

“I can’t really explain it. There are those strings that connected me to it. I can feel them. Like with a sixth sense I can’t explain. Each string, when I pull on it, turns into a knowledge, or an ability… or an item.”

Do I tell them? This still won’t let me escape. Even if I escape, those guys can probably hunt my ass across the world. Besides, the Honkai story is… fucking scary. 

I don’t actually mind working for those guys, as long as that would help me and the rest of the world not die from Turbo Cancer! Especially considering they are the bootleg S.H.I.E.L.D.

Okay, this is decided. 

I AM GOING BALLS DEEP!

“Initially, I had four strings connecting me to this grand something. I got one when I got into my first fight… and I have one more now. I can… pull on it, if you want.” I said, finally looking up.

About twelve muzzles were looking me in the eyes, with very nervous-looking soldiers.

Eh…

“Is that so?” Why… why did Dr. Mobius sound so scary? I feel scared… but also why am I geting a bit aroused?

Scaroused?

A moment of clarity appeared in my head as I reached the next level of consciousness. 

I need an adult. I am an unsalvagable idiot. 

A moment later, it’s gone.

“G-guys?” I said nervously, very carefully not moving, “Please don’t shoot me?” I said, for some reason, phrasing it more like a question. 

“Stand down,” Hulk said, gesturing with his hand, “False Alarm,” He added, studying me. 

For a moment, it felt kinda awkward. 

“Excuse us for that,” He said, after a moment, “As for the demonstration… Mobius?” He asked, turning to the hologram. 

The woman waited for a moment, studying me. 

“I’ll be there in ten minutes. I need to bring some equipment.”

With that, the hologram winked out. 

For a moment, no one said anything. 

“Women, am I right?” I said with an awkward smile, trying to discharge the tension. 

No one laughed.

Pretty sure one of the female guards was imagining gunning me down, seeing that her trigger finger twitched. 

Damn, feminism ruined women even here, huh?


***

Twenty minutes later, I stood between, like, ten different machines with antennas and radar grids, all of which were pointed at me.

“What do we expect here, son?” Mr Alexanderson asked, “Give us one last briefing.”

I shrugged. 

“Honestly, nothing much. I have no idea why Dr. Mobius got this excited,” I said, gesturing with my neck towards the woman near a bunch of control panels. “Basically, what will happen is that a shield will appear in my hands. No flashes of light, no explosions, nothing.”

The man lifted an eyebrow.

“Did you summon any objects before, then?” He asked politely.

I nodded and waited with my answer for a second, seeing that an Ms Assistant just brought Mobius her coffee. 

Mr. Assistant was also insanely cute, by the way. Shame she was a kid. 

She also looked like a smaller Mobius. Is Ms Assistant’s natural evolution - Mobius? What type of Pokémon are they, poison?! Is this the Chansey situation, where you'd better off avoiding evolving it?!

“Sure did. A bowl that produced infinite spaghetti on demand.” I explained, with great relish, seeing Mobius choke on her coffee. “I was eating from it when I was flashbanged, tased, and drugged. Thanks for that, by the way. It may have broken.”

Alexanderson blinked, looking at the man next to him, and gave a sharp nod. 

“We will check. Most of the items from your place are in our possession.”

I simply nodded. 

“You can begin,” Mobius said, eyeing me suspiciously. Did she think I was low enough to make her spew coffee on purpose?

Nah, no way, a hero would never.

“Sure,” I said, reaching out and grabbing the string. 

Then, I pulled.

In my hand, it appeared. I couldn’t help it, I exhale in shock. 

It was… so light. Not a feather, mind you, but still. 

The shield was relatively small, blue, red, and white, with a star in the middle. 

Truly, it begins now. With this? There is no way anyone can deny that I am a superhero.

“What is that? Just a shield?” Hulk asked, his voice curious. 

I didn’t answer immediately. 

“No,” I denied, grinning like a loon. “It’s a sign.”

In my hand, a shield made of Pro-Adamantium rested. A weapon that belonged to one of the most OG superheroes to ever OG. 

Captain America’s shield. From the comics. 

“Hey, Dr. Mobius,” I called out to the woman, who was busy with some readings, yet she still looked up, “How about that, I’ll let you borrow a shield from an indestructible super metal from another universe, and you will quit calling me a Lab Rat?”

It’s quite unfortunate that I can’t actually unsummon items. 

It’s also unfortunate that I decided to resist her when she ordered some soldiers to take it.

Dear Mom, today I got tased again. 

A lot. 

------------------

Author Notes: This isn't even my final form. I will write one more chapter today LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Also, yes, the fucker rolled Capitain Amerca's shield from a Golden Ticket. This kino writes itself.