2 Systems, Superpowers, and a New World

"My head stings like a bitch!" Trent, upon waking up, had a splitting headache. Propping himself up from the ground, he felt around his head to check for any injuries when he realized, he was laying in a forest.

"Where the hell? How the hell? What the fuck!?!" Panicking from being somewhere he didn't remember, Trent back all the way up to the tree behind him. While panicking, the memories of what happened began to flood back into him.

'Wait, am I dreaming? Is this like, one of those things where I have a trauma dream but I'm actually in a coma?' Speculating on what's going on and speaking to no one in particular, Trent began to look himself over. He was still wearing his clothes from that morning. He even had his phone in his pocket.

'Is this like one of those reincarnation stories I read once or twice? Is my phone gonna be super OP or something?' Joking aside, Trent focused on his surroundings. This was a forest, after all. So he had to be careful, cause there's probably all kinds of wildlife out here. Sighing, Trent began to plan what he was going to do now. He had to figure something out, dream or not. There were more important things to do other than speculate because this was real for him.

"Where do I begin?"

[System interface booting up]

Shocked from the sudden voice in his head, Trent looked around him. There wasn't anything in the area.

'I'm not going crazy am I?' Trent was starting to doubt his own sanity. Only crazy people hear voices. Unless...

[Host is in slightly unhealthy condition and heartbeat is irregular. Host not suffering from mental instability.]

'I was right! It's one of those systems isn't it? God hasn't abandoned me yet!' Excited over his new discovery, Trent wanted to immediately see what he could do. But how?

"Do I just say something like, open sesame?" Nothing happened. Racking his brain for ideas on what to do, the system responded.

[System Menu Operation can be activated through host's thoughts.]

'Does that mean that I could just will it open?' Thinking as such, Trent thought about opening the system menu and a prompt appeared in his vision.

[System Menu Operation Program initialized.....

Welcome Host! You have started your journey onto the path of a superhero! Or villain if that's how you do things. Nobodies judging! I am a Digital Interface System created for your personal use and to help ease you into getting out there and surviving! My system product key is b3RN13! You can call me Bernie!]

With the startup of the DIS, the voice changed from a mechanical one to a happy one. The voice actually reminded Trent of a certain steward bot from one of the games he played before. Deciding that he needed more information on what kind of system this was, Trent decided to ask "Bernie" about itself.

"What kind of system are you Bernie?" Asking an obvious question, Bernie immediately replied.

[I'm so glad you asked host! This system was designed using the information from your own mind to set up a system tailored specifically to you! This system pooled information from something you call "comic books". This system allows you to assimilate with the powers of some of your favorite heroes or villains from the Marvel and D.C. Universes! Isn't that great? But be warned. Host current body is unable to handle assimilation of more than two heroes or villains! Host may suffer from a mild case of explosions if warning is ignored!]

That's terrifying! Taking the information given to him one piece at a time, Trent began to get excited, even with the warning from Bernie, Trent still felt excited.

I can get superpowers! I could have a secret identity and everything! Micah and Arielle wouldn't believe it. Wait a minute. Pausing a little from his happy trip, Trent began to realize that he hadn't asked the important questions.

"Bernie, am I still on Earth?" Fearing the answer, Trent still felt that the way things were progressing, he would be disappointed.

[Unfortunately, Host was transported away from Earth using a convenient spacial tear near him before the car crushed Host into a patty! Host current location is unknown so Host will have to acquire information so that I may have more knowledge!]

As he thought, Trent was no longer on Earth, which means that his family thinks that he died. Standing up from his spot near the tree, Trent felt a sharp pain shoot up his leg, causing him to sit back down. Realizing that he was still injured, Trent thought about what Bernie had said about a spatial tear.

Does this mean that I didn't die but instead was pulled through that spatial tear or whatever? So I didn't leave a body? That's good. My brother and sister are very skeptical and nerdy. They'll probably come up with an answer that's as close to accurate as possible.

Feeling depressed thinking of his family back on earth, Trent made a decision. He will get back to his family by any means necessary. But first, he has to figure out how and he knows the perfect way to get started.

"So Bernie, how do I get this system thing started?"

[Well host, all you have to do is use your IMAGINATION! If you think it, it will come!]

Thinking hard, a large amount of words spread across his vision.

"Holy shit, I'm getting dizzy. Is there an easier way to handle this, like an app?"

A light suddenly shined in his pocket and his phone floated to his face. The words were absorbed by the still floating phone. As the letters, numbers, and symbols continued to float into the phone, a stinging pain shook his mind. The characters converged into a single point of the phone and became an app.

[Using the app, Host can access the power shop.]

"So I have to pay for these powers?" Trent felt sad that he wasn't gonna have a super cheat experience like he thought. Well nothing in the world is free. Trent clicked on the app and it opened to features similar to the AppStore itself. There were many powers to choose from with a lot of major heroes on the front like Superman, the Hulk, and many others. Something else also caught his attention in the store.

"Hey Bernie, what is this static and growth definition supposed to mean?"

[Well in the case that host buys a power at static, you can choose from Beginner level, Intermediate level, and Advanced level. Static levels are unable to grow from the strength level it is bought at. Growth levels go from Beginner level thru Intermediate level, Advanced level, Expert level, Master level, Lord level, and finally God level. The cost of a growth type power is equal to the static Expert level cost of the same power.]

So I can either pay for a power at a stronger initial level but lose the ability to grow or buy a power starting off slow for the same price. Well that's a no brainer! With this new information in order Trent asked one more question.

"Now Bernie, there has to be more to this static and growth thing, otherwise I wouldn't buy the static at all."

[Thank you for your attention to detail, Host! We can only thank my genius intuition to pick you! Growing your power has great benefits, but also comes with some pretty pricey demerits! You're powers also come with the same demerits as the person who's power it belongs to. As your power gets stronger, their weaknesses become even more apparent, except for the God level of course! God level has the same strength as Lord level except, God level takes away your powers' weaknesses! A God has to have no weaknesses of course! Buying powers at static also voids the weakness of the power. Of course there are powers without weaknesses but there are more with than without!]

"Oh shit that sucks." As he took in the information that was so happily given to him, Trent realized what the Static powers had over the Growth powers. While the Growth powers could grow him to the level of a God, it also came with all of their weaknesses, and he knew quite a few of them had some terrible weaknesses, like Superman. Although this place most likely didn't have Kryptonite, His second biggest weakness was everywhere here, magic.

Although he would have to deal with quite a few of the weaknesses as he got stronger, the Growth stages seemed to be the best bet for Trent.

"Two more questions Bernie and I'm done. First, how do I earn money for the system and how do I level my powers?" As any gamer would do, Trent wanted to learn everything he could so he can power level.

[That's easy! As long as you give me this worlds mana to the great I, then I can change it to currency to use! Although you can't use this worlds magic, you can still absorb it yourself, although it would give you a negligible amount of money! The best way to earn money is by taking mana from objects or people! The people of this world are able to filter the mana around, making the mana richer and giving you more money! That only works for no-attribute magic, by the way, so don't think of jumping head first into a fire ball or you'll diiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee! As for your growth, just take some monster crystals!]

Taking all this information into account, Trent once again looked at through the store for the power. He had twenty thousand crystals, which is the money the system used. Although the seemed like a lot, it was actually enough for two high level growth power. Looking through the long list of powers, one name finally caught his eye.

'Looks like fate has brought us together again', he thought as he pressed down and the twenty thousand crystals became ten.