Marvel: An American Vampire

"Huh, this is fucking weird," I muttered as I looked down at a screen of choices. I'd been briefed on what to expect but suddenly losing all sensation of my body as soon as the pod closed was gonna be disconcerting regardless of what I'd been told, and then to enter a character creation screen straight away? Yeah, I felt like a baseball being flung through the air right now, hardly able to get used to my surroundings before they changed.

My body was somewhat see-through and the tanned skin I was so used to was gone, replaced by a blueish hue like a goddamn Force Ghost.

Turning my attention away from my odd appearance, I looked back to the screen.

[Choose your new race.]

...Well, ain't that ominous.

I pressed a ghostly finger against the option bar below and was stunned to see so many races. Kree, Skrull, Asgardian--Hell, even Dwarf. Seeing as this was a game, I wondered on what type of build I wanted to have. My favourite Marvel hero would have to be Punisher, followed closely by either The Hulk or Spider-Man...and they were human. Well, the last two started off as humans, anyway, before they became Mutates. Which are still technically human.

And I'd always been a bit obsessed with the idea of a human character kicking the asses of people like Thanos or MODOK. Far-fetched, sure, but this is a game. A game with, supposedly, limitless opportunities and pathways for the player to take.

If I started off Human, though, the base stats are terrible. But a bit of extra scrolling showed me the perfect option.

[Genetically Engineered Human - A genetically engineered human, brought into fruition with the best genes possible to be the best they possibly could be. As such, even with no other enhancements, they would be far beyond the human baseline in strength, speed, stamina, senses, vitality, intelligence and durability.]

A good starting point to push myself off of.

I clicked on it, setting the race of my character. Then, the background changed and showed a baby being grown in a tube. A new screen appeared.

[Choose your background.]

Pulling open the options, I perused them before picking one that I felt was best for my chances of survival. [Made For Purpose Of Becoming A Master Martial Artist's Student]. It was an odd background but I could only guess that whoever could produce such a genetically engineered student would be rich beyond most people's wildest dreams and also extremely strong. So strong and skilled at Martial Arts that any normal students they took in wouldn't be able to live up to their incredibly harsh standards.

Soon after, another screen appeared.

[Pick an affliction.]

...What the fuck? An affliction? I looked through the options and quickly understood that it didn't just mean purely bad things. Certain afflictions gave beneficial bonuses. Like Battle Maniac which increased combat skills or Apathy which dulled emotions but gave an incredibly rational mindset which was very resistant to fear or being charmed.

But I also found other more...supernatural afflictions. I saw Lycanthropy. I even saw Divine Curse. Both of which gave heightened physical stats but also obscure weaknesses like being allergic to silver or not being able to touch wood. Odd stuff.

Then I saw it. An affliction from a comic I'd once read.

[Homo Abominum Americana - Otherwise known as the American Vampire, they're the newest and baddest breed of Vampire. Compared to the vampires before them (the Carpathian Vampires) they are thirty times stronger than when they were normal humans compared to the ten times stronger of their earlier cousins. This spreads to their speed, senses, durability and even their resistance to elemental effects making them the physically most adept out of all the Vampires. They're also completely capable of withstanding sunlight, silver and wooden stakes have zero effect on them but they do become weakened on a moonless night, though they're only weakened to half their strength and their healing factor is massively reduced.]

...A risk, sure, but come on. A genetically engineered martial artist who's also a Vampire? A type of Vampire which is massively enhanced compared to even other Vampires? That's just perfect. And it should open up an entirely new skill tree.

If I count the ones I have so far, I'd have a skill tree for my Genetically Engineered status, my martial arts skill and now a Vampire skill tree. So, I picked the American Vampire affliction.

With that done, as I suspected, three skill trees appeared in front of me.

Genetically Engineered was purely to do with my baseline abilities. The skill tree was pretty bare and just gave me enhanced physical abilities. Martial Artist was pretty much the same but included Chi Manipulation and actual skills. American Vampire was much like Genetically Engineered - it took my baseline physicality and improved upon it. But it was much more in depth. I could pick certain paths on the tree to improve certain things and each of them gave me buffs to their respective physical stats.

There were four pathways. Potence, which enhanced physical strength. Fortitude, which handled overall durability, resistance to both physical and mental attacks and healing ability. Celerity, which was based around my overall speed, agility, reflexes and dexterity. And finally, Auspex, which had everything to do with my senses - both physical and spiritual.

Genetically Engineered had three pathways. One was called Health, which is pretty self-explanatory. Another is called Enhanced, which gives me augmented muscles, bones and nerves while also giving me back-up organs in case primary ones fail. And finally there's one called Higher Life-Form which gives odd powers not usually found in humans, like Telepathy and Telekinesis, and also increases my learning ability.

Martial Artist also has four pathways. External Martial Arts has everything to do with martial arts which would be considered hard - hard meaning something that relies on the muscles and bones. A martial art that relies on brute force. An example would be Muay Thai. Then there's it's opposite, called Internal Martial Arts which is to do with technique based martial arts. Aikido would be the best example. The next pathway was an odd one and was simply labelled Killer Moves. It contained knowledge of acupuncture, nerve strikes and manipulating other people's muscles and bones through your attacks. Oddly enough it said it could be used lethally or for healing, despite the title of the pathway.

Finally, there was Chi. It was the life-force of the body, something even a Vampire would have even if it'd be twisted and dark, and it could be manipulated and used to speed up healing or used to enhance attacks or even to enhance your defense against attacks.

Every pathway had ten levels and each level enhanced whatever the pathway was about. Potence level two would make you physically stronger than you were at level one, External Martial Arts level two would make you better at fighting with that particular style than you were at level one, etc, etc. At level five and level ten, you'd get a specific ability for that pathway and once you'd completed two pathways, you'd get a specialised skill from the skill tree they belonged to which depended entirely on the two pathways you maxed out.

Each skill tree was given ten skill points to allocate and I quickly did it. I knew what type of character I wanted and it was the character I always played. Skilled meathead who punched stuff really hard and really fast.

My character build was like so.

[American Vampire Skill Tree]

[Potence: Lv4]

[Fortitude: Lv3]

[Celerity: Lv3]

[Auspex: Lv0]

[Genetically Engineered Skill Tree]

[Health: Lv4]

[Enhanced: Lv4]

[Higher Life-Form: Lv2]

[Martial Artist Skill Tree]

[External Martial Arts: Lv4]

[Internal Martial Arts: Lv0]

[Killer Moves: Lv1]

[Chi: Lv5]

And as such, I gained a skill because I reached Lv5 in Chi. I'd already been told that Beta Testers would be given more points then what other people would actually get - they wanted us to enjoy the game and explore it without having to go through the tedious process of grinding levels for skill points. No doubt so we'd have a good opinion on it and spread said opinion to people we know.

[Dragon Heart Chi - Due to reaching Level Five in Chi, you've gained the same amount of Chi as a mighty Dragon and the control needed to use it. 200% boost to Chi Offence. 200% boost to Chi Defence. 150% boost to Chi Healing. 100% boost to Chi efficiency.]

Huh, nice. I'm pretty much a Genetically Engineered Vampire who's very physically strong, very durable, very fast and with very little weaknesses who also knows kickass martial arts and has enough Chi to match the Iron Fist. That should be enough to enjoy the game and check out the smut focus of the game without having to worry about getting swatted by some passing supervillain or superhero.

[Do you wish to see your character's appearance? Changes are available.]

I nodded in the affirmative and a Greek God looking motherfucker just popped into reality. Jesus Christ, if my character were a few feet taller he'd look like a goddamn Primarch. Just look at those muscles! And damn, they got the dick size just right. Basically the same as me outside the game but that's still more than enough. Nine or so inches and thick enough that most women couldn't wrap their fingers around it.

Glad I didn't need to change any of that - last thing I need is to stand here for a few hours and look at sliders while trying to get my cock just the right size and thickness.

The rest of the appearance was pretty stellar though. Blond hair, yellow eyes and somewhat pale-ish skin. Good looking too. It looked like a beautified version of the me outside the game which was kinda freaky to look at but oh well.

Adonis body? Check.

Though I saw an option that read 'Vampire Form'. Clicking on it, I nearly outright pissed myself when the handsome form in front of me turned into a walking nightmare.

The arms lengthened a little and the hands got bigger as the fingers elongated into literally goddamn claws. Tools purely for murder, obviously. But that wasn't the worst part - the mouth and face took that award. The mouth elongated open, showcasing two rows of sharpened fangs and each of the canine teeth on the upper and lower jaw became incredibly similar to a rattlesnake's fangs. The mouth opened way more than a normal human's mouth did as well, giving it a look of pure uncanny valley.

The eyebrow ridged got more pronounced and the overall features of the face got sharper and slightly more snake-like. The pupils of the eyes turned to slits and the overall look of the face became just different enough that it looked like a completely different thing when compared to before.

I would say person but...there's no way that face could be called a person's face. It's damn ugly.

[Are you done with the character creation? Yes/No]

Pressing the 'yes', I watched as the character in front of me turned back into it's normal, more human-looking version and spun around so that it's back was facing me. Then it moved toward me and I moved toward it before merging with it. Everything went black for a second before my vision returned to me and everything felt...great. The power flooding through my body was genuinely intoxicating - I wonder if I'll ever be able to go back to real life after experiencing this. Aches and pains I didn't know I felt in my real body were gone and near forgotten.

This felt brilliant.

Before I could spend any more time basking in my avatar's power, I saw the black surroundings lighten up and show cutscenes of my character's background. His creation, his birth, his training, completing the last test of his mysterious master and then being turned into a Vampire by said master.

I saw the master explain what he was, what my character was, and how he was a new and improved version of a Vampire. I watched as they continued training but this time with Vampire-based abilities and then I watched the master take his own life while telling my character, his student, to master his abilities and then take on a single student. Only one student. It gave me massive 'rule of two' vibes from Star Wars but whatever.

Then I saw the character fall asleep for an undetermined amount of time. Locking themselves in a self-inflicted coma for meditation. A classic cliche for protagonists - the ol' 'wake up after *insert measurement here* amount of time and just in time to save the world or start the main quest'.

Then everything faded to black as I felt something...change.

It's hard to explain what I felt but suddenly I felt more connected to my new avatar. Far more than before. It was like I'd become the avatar.

...This wasn't in the briefing. They said no matter how realistic it felt, if I thought about it I could separate myself from whatever my avatar was feeling. But right now, as I tried that, it didn't work. What the fuck is happening?

Even odder, it wasn't just the cutscenes I remembered. I remembered actually being trained by a mysterious and eccentric master. Memories poured into my head and my levels of confusion skyrocketed from there as my vision went from cutscenes, to blackness and then finally to bright and blinding light. I blinked my eyes, covering them with a hand as I tried to figure out what was happening.

Keener senses than I was used to told me something was trying to hit me and my body acted on pure instinct as I deflected a sword strike coming right at me.

The metal and my flesh sparked against each other, my supernaturally resistant flesh easily withstanding the sharpened edge of the blade, "What the fuck," I gasped as I backed away. That had felt all too real. I felt everything about that edge, when I should only be feeling a fraction of it. I mean, who wants to play a game where you can actually feel the pain of your avatar? The game creators had assured us we wouldn't feel too much to overload us. They even gave us a demonstration.

But this...this felt real. Too real. The air, the bright light bursting through cracks in the ceiling, the surrounding dust kicked up by my sudden movement prickling my eyes and making me want to blink--all of it felt too real.

Another sword strike and this time I grabbed the offending weapon and pried it from the hands of my attacker, crushing the weapon in my hand like it was made of wet cardboard. I looked to my hand with wonder and a little bit of fear. Either this was a bug in the game and they'd pull me out any second...or something had gone very, very wrong when the VR pod closed.

A bullet impacted me, crushing itself against my chest and doing no damage. It dropped to the floor and it clinked against it, being the only sound in the surrounding silence.

"What the fuck are you?" a female voice asked, firing more shots which I barely even felt.

I focused my eyes and looked through the dusky room, the only light coming from the aforementioned cracks in the ceiling. But my eyes worked perfectly, even with the dimness of the room, and I saw the origin of the voice. A redhead, dressed in leather and wearing a choker with a blood-red gem encrusted in it. She wore a thick trench coat, black in colour, with all sorts of weapons hidden on the inside.

She looked strikingly similar to Lindy Booth, if not slightly more curvaceous and filled out a little more. The kind of physique and body you'd only ever see in a comic book.

But she looked familiar beyond just looking like an actress from the real world.

That choker...ah shit. I'm a Vampire and she's wearing a blood-red choker while trying to kill me. She's Elsa Bloodstone, isn't she?

"Wait!" I held up my hands, my voice much deeper and smoother than before, "Just...hold up, okay?" I begged as I tried to focus my mind beyond the oddness of my circumstances. The woman I suspected was Elsa Bloodstone did indeed stop and gave me a raised eyebrow as if to say 'go on then'. So I did. "Why are you trying to kill me?" I asked in sincere confusion.

If she is who I think she is, I get why she'd wanna hunt me. I'm a Vampire, of sorts. But she usually hunts Vampires who do bad shit and from the mystical memories I just gained, this body hasn't done anything other than train and sleep. It just doesn't add up.

"Really?" she asked, a quirk to his full pinkish lips, "You're gonna play the dumb card?" the slight smirk to her lips changed to a scowl and she pulled out a repeater rifle covered in odd runic shapes, "You kill dozens of innocent people and you wanna act like you've done nothing wrong? Fuckers like you make me sick," she finished and before I could say anything to refute what she'd said, I got a face full of bullet.

My head didn't move and neither did it damage me, despite the mystical explosion of flame that covered my face and singed the martial arts gi I was wearing over my herculean physique.

...This is definitely a misunderstanding. I haven't killed jackshit. Either someone's pointed her in my direction or she's being mind controlled to think I did something.

[Quest Started.]

[Break Elsa Bloodstone from the Psionic Vampire's curse. Rewards: Level Up (x2) + Unique Romance Route.]

Okay, lucky guess. So, a Psionic Vampire is controlling her. Probably the Vampire who's been going around killing people. And they dumped their kills on my head? Why? What the hell did I do? Ah, don't tell me they had some odd blood feud with the master who trained this body. That'd be too cliche even for me, man.

Another bullet impacted my face, followed by a second and then a third. The top half of my gi was on fire now but I barely even felt the heat as I turned my attention back to Elsa.

How she was controlled when she's wearing the Bloodstone, I've got no clue. Probably means the Vampire was a Psionic before they were ever a Vampire. I dodged the next few shots from Elsa and charged at her with a speed that caught even myself off guard. I guess Celerity at level two plus my base speed as an American Vampire makes me real fast, huh?

I collided with Elsa before even she, empowered by the Bloodstone, could react and picked her up by the throat and landed two brutal punches to his midsection, aiming for a cluster of nerves that made her spasm in pain.

But true to her training and heritage as a monster hunter, her rifle was soon pointed down at my face. Slapping the rifle away with enough force to snap it in twain, I returned to slamming my fist into Elsa's stomach before following up with a chest punch and then a punch to just under the middle of her jaw. Despite her training even she couldn't resist that and she went limp within my grip. I dropped her to the floor and made sure she was unconscious before a new screen popped up.

[Quest Completed.]

[You Have Levelled Up!]

[You Have Levelled Up!]

Whether this was still a game or not and regardless of the odd feelings I had in my head and chest, I opened up my status and added two skill points to Fortitude which brought it up to Level 5. If I was gonna be going up against a Psychic Vampire, I needed as much mental defence as I could get.

[Unbreakable Body - Due to reaching Level Five in Fortitude, your external and internal body structure have become crystalline in nature massively increasing your durability. This unique structure also gives a benefit to your mental defences as well. Changes Fortitude increase per level from ten times, to fifteen times. Retroactive.]

I felt my body shift uncomfortably and I grit my teeth as my bones and flesh creaked unnaturally. When it was finally over, I felt more sturdier but also a bit heavier as well. Touching my flesh, it did indeed feel harder, even to my superhuman strength.

Oddly enough, however, that was only felt when you really tried to push against it. It seemingly reacted to force. If touched gently or softly, it felt almost like human flesh. Just a little colder.

If it was retroactive, then that meant with my five levels in Fortitude plus the thirty times increase from being an American Vampire...goddamn! I was about one-hundred and five times more durable than I was as a human. And that's as a genetically engineered human who was already more durable than a normal, baseline human.

Looking to Elsa, I saw she was still out like a light. I wasn't worried - I could hear here heart hammering away in her chest and her breathing wasn't shallow or rough or anything like that. She'd be up and about in no time.

Sitting on the floor, I tore off the top of my black gi and meditated for a little bit. I wanted to see how extensive these memories were.

If they were as real as much surroundings, I was in some big doo doo.