Chapter1:
I opened my eyes to a dull ache stinging my brain, the hum of fluorescent lights overhead filling my ears as the blinding brightness made it impossible to see straight.
Where was I? What time was it?
I shifted, or tried to—anything to escape the harsh white glare stabbing through my skull. But nothing moved. My limbs felt like lead, completely unresponsive, no matter how hard I pulled or thrashed. My back arched instinctively, only to press against something cold and metallic.
Eventually, the blur in my vision faded, and I caught sight of the sterile medical lights hanging above, their glow framed by a high rocky ceiling with exposed piping and steel rafters.
Was I kidnapped? The last thing I remembered was the bar. Drinking, talking to some old man? My thoughts scattered, panic climbing as I cursed under my breath.
"Shit, shit, shit."
I forced myself to breathe deeply and focus.
The sound of footsteps on metal cut through the haze, crisp and deliberate. Instinct kicked in before thought could catch up—I slammed my eyes shut and stilled my body.
"Hmmm. It seems the subject is stable." The voice was male, elderly, and analytical. "Curious. The fact that the energy hasn't killed him yet is a good sign. Still, the absence of mutation or even new readings is… unexpected."
There was a pause, then a woman's voice joined in. "Should I contact the Baron Strucker, Doctor List? Having proof of another success—especially one beyond the Maximoff twins—might lift his spirits."
"Hold for now, Cheryl. Let's not be too hasty. The Baron's been in a foul mood ever since the Stark incident. Better not to stir hope without something concrete."
"Understood, sir."
Their conversation trailed off as the footsteps faded into the distance, leaving me alone once more in the silence and glare.
This time, I opened my eyes and didn't flinch. The light was the least of my problems.
Stark. Maximoff. Baron Strucker.
It didn't take much to put the pieces together. Somehow, impossibly, I was in the Marvel Universe.
And more than that, I recognized the other name. Baron von Strucker. Not just a villain—an actual Nazi archetype lunatic. A high-ranking Hydra leader. That meant I'd landed straight into the hands of one of the worst factions the Marvel universe had to offer.
Some part of me wanted to scream, but before I could even process the weight of that, something else hit me.
[Congratulations! Welcome to your New Life. We hope your transmigration experience was a smooth one. Your contract with Chaos Inc. is now in effect!]
[You have received 3x Gold Gacha Ticket!]
[Good Luck and Have Fun!]
What the actual fuck.
I was too overwhelmed by the sudden influx of information to notice the needle hitting my skin. My thoughts swam in confusion, my vision blurred, and I barely registered the feeling of restraints being unbuckled. Two burly men in tactical gear loomed above me, moving with practiced efficiency as they pulled me away.
Even as my body gave in to unconsciousness, my thoughts lingered on the image burned into my mind—three golden tickets floating at the center of it all.
—
When I woke again, relief washed over me. I wasn't strapped to a cold metal slab anymore. But the situation hadn't exactly improved. I stood slowly, body still sore, and took in my surroundings.
A sterile room, featureless and claustrophobic, barely large enough to pace in. The walls were a dull white, smooth and lifeless. The only source of light came from the transparent wall in front of me—reinforced glass looking out into a narrow corridor. Across the hall were more rooms just like mine. Dozens of them. Maybe more.
Most were empty, save for one. Directly across from me, a girl lay curled on the floor. Her body still as a stone.
I knocked on the glass, hoping to get her attention, but as expected, no sound carried through. She didn't even flinch. There weren't any guards in sight, either. Nothing to do but wait. Or...
My thoughts turned inward.
The golden tickets were still there, hovering at the edge of my consciousness. It didn't take a genius to figure it out—they were my power. My cheat skill. Or maybe the bait on a hook.
I hesitated. No idea what kind of cosmic bullshit came with "Chaos Inc." and their generous welcome package. But did I really have a choice?
Work with the unknown cosmic corporation or get experimented on by Hydra.
Not really a good set of choices here.
I steeled myself, reached into that inner space, and tore the first ticket.
[Rolling Gold Gacha Ticket]
[Protection From Arrows]
Elite Trait
You have a natural instinct to avoid projectiles, you always have a sense of where they are coming from and instinctually try to dodge them like a sixth sense.
Something in my brain clicked. It felt like a veil lifted. My awareness sharpened, as if a new layer of my senses was humming just beneath the surface. Not sight or sound, but something deeper—directional, reactive.
No point in waiting. I pulled the second.
[Blessing]
Rare Ability
Allows you to bless yourself with holy energy, bolstering all attributes for one hour. Also increases resistance to curses and all ailments when active.
The moment it settled in my mind, I activated it. Energy flooded through me like lightning in my veins—my muscles tightened, my senses heightened, and my thoughts became clearer. My whole body felt lighter, more alive.
Time for the last one.
[Lightsaber]
Rare Item
Star Wars - A classic textbook lightsaber made from a Kyber Crystal that projects a blade of energy, no, you do not need force powers to use this one.
The handle appeared in my hand, cool and solid. I didn't hesitate. My thumb brushed against the trigger.
A beam of brilliant blue surged to life with a familiar hum anyone who watched the series would know, and I couldn't help but let out a low whistle.
Every Star Wars fan's wet dream.
An alarm wailed through the facility, loud and shrill, echoing off the sterile white walls like a banshee's scream. I figured that summoning a literal lightsaber in a containment cell wasn't exactly subtle. Still, I felt unnaturally calm—mind sharp, thoughts snapping into place like a machine. Blessing was still in effect, keeping my mind unnaturally steady. No panic. Just focus
I turned toward the glass wall without hesitation, raised the saber, and slashed.
The blue blade was nigh-silent as it tore through the reinforced glass like it was butter. Two quick, deliberate strikes carved out a clean rectangle, and with a light push, the pane shattered and fell forward in a solid sheet.
The hallway beyond was empty for a heartbeat. Then footsteps. Two men in tactical armor rounded the corner, weapons drawn and locked on.
"Return to your cell!" one of them shouted.
I didn't respond immediately. My eyes flicked over their gear.
The first one carried a standard-issue assault rifle—basic, but still lethal.
The second held something far more distinctive. Sleek frame, silver finish, a barrel humming faintly with residual energy. I couldn't recall the exact model, but I remembered the type. Definitely an energy weapon—maybe a prototype Tesseract weapon or something Hydra cooked up from Chitauri tech, depending on when this was. And I had no idea if my "Protection From Arrows" trait applied to beam weapons, so I kept my eyes locked on it.
So I stepped forward.
"Hey, just a heads up," I called, lightsaber angled low at my side, "your glass security kind of sucks."
They opened fire.
Muzzle flashes flared as bullets tore through the corridor, but my body was already in motion. Instinct drove me. My limbs twisted, ducked, and bent with unnatural precision, every dodge guided by that quiet pressure at the back of my mind. I didn't think—I just moved. The world slowed around me, each round tracing a visible arc through the air as I slipped past them, tilting just enough to let them pass.
Halfway down the hall, and I could feel the streams of bullets cutting through the space around me, brushing past like gusts of wind. Dozens of projectiles—and not one found purchase.
The first guard faltered. His aim wavered. "What the hell—"
The second didn't stop. His weapon charged with a rising whine, then fired.
A solid beam of light tore through the hallway, fast and blinding.
I dropped low, sliding under the blast. The beam skimmed overhead, searing the air, but my saber came up just in time to deflect the tail end of it, scattering the light with a sharp, resonant crack. The floor buzzed beneath my back as I skidded between them and came up hard, lightsaber already cutting through the air.
The first guard didn't even get the rifle fully raised. My blade carved through it—and through his chest—in a clean upward arc.
The second turned, trying to bring the energy weapon down on me at point-blank.
Too slow.
I stepped inside his reach and swept the saber across his waist in a horizontal slice. The armor split with a flash of sparks. His body followed, crumpling before he could even scream.
Both of them hit the ground. Smoke rose off the edge of my saber as the weapon settled into stillness. The only sound left was the shriek of the alarm echoing down the corridor.
"Holy shit."
I exhaled sharply, only then realizing I'd been holding my breath through the entire fight.
[Feat achieved! Double Kill!]
[1 Silver Gacha Ticket]
The notification popped up in the corner of my mind, bright and triumphant. Tempting as it was to sit and ponder the implications of being rewarded for just casually killing two people with a laser sword, I didn't exactly have the luxury of introspection right now. Hostile base, armed enemies, and probably a dozen more coming my way.
I ripped the ticket without hesitation.
[Durable]
Common Trait
You are fairly tough, granting you a slight increase to your defense and letting you take more punishment.
A weight settled into my body—thicker skin, tighter muscle tension, like my entire frame had been quietly reinforced. Hard to say how much punishment that actually translated into, but I wasn't going to complain. I'd take every edge I could get.
I was just about to bolt when something tugged at me. I turned, heart still racing, and saw her.
The girl was still lying in her cell. Unmoving. Forgotten.
My grip on the lightsaber tightened until my knuckles went pale. I didn't have good odds getting out of here solo, and dragging around an unconscious girl certainly wasn't going to improve them. But then my mind went back—images I didn't even want but couldn't stop. The things Hydra did to people. The slow mutilation of inhumans, chemical chambers disguised as labs, the way they peeled open minds until there was nothing human left inside.
Ah, fuck it.
I ran back and brought the saber down. The glass dropped in a clean slab, and I crossed the threshold in a single step. She was light in my arms—way too light—and even without Blessing active, I could feel the bony frame beneath her skin. Her face was drawn, starved.
[Feat achieved! No One Left Behind!]
[1 Silver Gacha Ticket]
No time to dwell. I tore the next ticket mid-sprint, the girl's weight cradled against my shoulder.
[Mimic]
Uncommon Familiar
A curious shapeshifting bloodthirsty creature, the Mimic can turn into the shape of any creature or object as well as being able to manipulate its texture and density. Being able to turn into a chest, or a woman with a large chest, or maybe even a mount. They also get larger and stronger the more you feed them flesh, especially human flesh, they may even get smarter if you feed them brains.
I barely had time to process what I was reading before the hallway split—and just ahead, a full squad of guards in black tactical gear came pouring around the corner. They were armed with the same silver-edged energy rifles as the last guard, and one of them was already raising his weapon.
A beam snapped through the air toward my head. I twisted to the side, the shot grazing past as I felt something suddenly form in my hand—instinct took over and I hurled it forward without thinking.
It landed with a loud wooden thunk.
A treasure chest.
A literal pirate-style, brass-bound, wood-paneled treasure chest the size of a dog sat proudly in the middle of the hallway. The soldiers stopped. I stopped. We stared at it together in mutual confusion.
"The fuck…?"
The chest twitched.
A tongue snapped out—thick, wet, wrong—and coiled around one of the guards before anyone could react. He barely had time to scream. There was a crunch, and then half his body was gone, swallowed up like a snack.
What followed was a pause—less hesitation more sheer, stunned disbelief.
"OPEN FIRE!"
The hallway lit up with concentrated energy blasts as every rifle targeted the mimic, beams searing into the wooden exterior and leaving scorched, blackened patches that hissed with heat. I caught the sharp tang of burnt flesh, foul and unmistakable, and then everything spiraled into chaos.
From the warped seams of the chest, tentacles exploded outward—slick, black, impossibly long—and immediately set to work. One snapped a rifle from a soldier's hands and hurled it down the corridor. Another coiled around a man's leg and slammed him sideways into the wall. A third wrapped a neck and lifted its victim high before crushing him against the ceiling with a brutal crunch.
The tentacles spread out in all directions, nearly blotting out the corridor with its strange wooden flesh. Screams followed, garbled by gurgles as more tendrils lashed through the air, carving through tactical gear like paper.
With every guard it devoured, it swelled—becoming a monstrous parody of its original form, now the size of a small truck, still bearing that same ridiculous wood-and-gold aesthetic like a twisted children's toy.
"Oh shit…"
[Feat achieved! Minion Mimic Massacre!]
[1 Silver Gacha Ticket]
I watched a half-second longer than I should have and then ran the other fucking direction—girl on my shoulder, letting the nightmare chest buy me precious seconds.