It was a blast!
He never had fun like that ever before. Finally, he was finally able to defeat the strongest enemies of the Solarium Empire, the Demonic Infernium and the Eldritch Hive.
Wartopia was a game like no other, the largest tabletop war game in the world by a mile. Although its player base was enormous, it was extremely exclusive, its lore was extensive, and its merchandise was the talk of gamerkind and geeks.
While the majority of people play video games, not everyone does. Tabletop RPGs are another, but no matter how complicated and vast they can be, nothing holds a candle to a tabletop war game. You don't just control a character or a miniature, you control an army of them. You buy them, assemble the paint them, and sometimes you 3D-print them, and once they are deployed, organized in formations, and sent to battle, it is peak satisfaction.
But Adam didn't stop there, his game wasn't like anything a casual normal game was like. It was almost 10 years long, elaborate, and each side had multiple players, even Adam with all his might wouldn't control an army like that alone.
But after all that pride and exclusivity and years of geeking together, the publisher decides to make an Action RPG video game and ruin the secret club. With that, a ton of lore was dropped and hordes of normies stormed the stores to buy the new LEGENDARY miniatures as if they were some collectable figurines.
It was all too difficult to collect all the new cool stuff on his tight budget but the Lore Books, they were easier to get a hold on. They were what set apart the normies from the die-hards, and Adam and his group were total die-hards. Even better, since the miniatures were based on the factions of the world, and were mostly personal property, as each player would usually commit to their favorite factions, lore books were something every true tabletop war gamer would lust over and so even with the help the rival parties to Adam's, collecting them was a mutual effort built upon respect, camaraderie, and beneficial exchange.
But still miniatures held a significant role and when Adam got his Captain Creed miniature, his whole party was worshiping in awe. Nothing was as cool as the protagonist of the Action RPG game, of course.
The role of painting that miniature fell upon the shoulders of Adam, who was a master of his craft. He holed himself up in his apartment for 24 hours, not eating, not sleeping, and not performing his biological duties, only to get that minature painted to a meticulous degree and missing the world's end in his sweet slumber afterwards.
And the result?
Captain Creed came to life!
Actually, (read that part really fast) it was due to the reason that Adam has absorbed the Puppeteer Rune by touching the Gobzkin Shaman's club which the latter used to cast magic on his puppets causing him to be able to summon Captain Creed as a high quality puppet that a crude Gobzkin's craft would never ever match but he will come to know all that later.
Now, face to face with his hero, Adam was having the shock of his life. He thought he has gone mad and lost all sense of the world. He uttered the name as his eyes met with the man's eyes behind his helmet's visor.
"Captain… Creed?!"
How shocked the citizen in his arms was nothing to do with the pragmatic Creed as he replied:
"That is correct. I am Captain Solomon Creed of the Slayers, the 22nd Doom Company. You bear the gaze of one who knows me, citizen. So be it. Recognition hastens purpose."
The shock was one thing, the realization was another, and the thing these words glowing right in front of his face...
——————————
≪ Captain Creed ≫ < Familiar, Unique >
Hero of the Slayers Legion. Captain of the Doom Battalion. Solomon Creed is a 150 years old Star Paladin who stopped the Demonic Incursion of the Infernium despite being abandoned and left for dead. He devastated the Demons from behind enemy lines and bought enough time for Solwoken Orlion the Hammer to lead the Legions of Star Paladins and end the threat of demons in the Scared Solar System. He is armed by his basic gear, a Plasma Pistol for long range combat and a Solar Saber, as well as donning a Slayer-grade MK-III Power Armor with Solymer plates.
— Sunforged: Captain Creed possesses superhuman strength, endurance, and agility as well as enhanced reflexes, perception, and healing factor.
— Golden Fiery Eyes: The Eyes of Sol Imperius that can discern Truth and Evil.
——————————
That was nothing like he has ever seen before in his 25-year-young life.
A System Window!
A Star Paladin and a System Window!
A System Window and a Star Paladin and a System Window!
At first, he thought he was tripping but now he sure is.
He looked around himself, looked back where he was supposed to be standing, and looked around at the dead Gobzkins that were brutalized at a time he wasn't conscious at.
Adam then looked at the Star Paladin standing in front of him, trying to process all that at the same time. He waved his hand at the System Window and it disappeared like swiping a notification off a smartphone's screen.
"This is not PTSD, right?" He spoke and looked up at the towering Star Paladin while holding his head that was banging with headache.
"You are disoriented, citizen. Remain seated as I signal Command."
The Paladin spoke in his deep mechanical voice and as he turned, Adam felt the air move with terrifying height and the ground vibrate from his heavy steps.
That was… intense. It is the only world Adam would use in a situation like this.
He just had a brush with the Grim Reaper, then a figment of fantasy materialized before his very eyes. Unless he was lost in a dream, or his mind was making things up because of trauma, there simply had to be a rational explanation.
The first thing he would do was run after Captain Creed before he left the garage, and maybe this fantasy he was imagining would be broken. Hastily, Adam collected his backpack and his M16, which was shot and clearly jammed, and kept looking around for his miniature that he used to wear on his vest, but he couldn't find it.
He then ran and ran, his heart racing. When he reached the street outside the parking lot, he found himself alone in the middle of the ruined city he once called home.
To the right, there was a long street of burnt-out cars and ruined buildings, and to the left, a pulverized line of what was once a military blockade. This long street of a once-prosperous city was now nothing but an abandoned battlefield.
All that with no Star Paladin in sight.
"Fuck! I'm fucking tripping, aren't I?"
No matter where he looked, there was no nine-foot-tall metal giant wandering about.
Then what killed those Gobzkins in the garage building just now?
Adam looked desperate, still grateful that he was alive, but as he sucked in cold air, he realized that he was all alone and the fight just now would soon attract more Gobzkins.
They will come in droves.
He needs to run. He needs to…
CRUMP!
Too late!
The earth shook as something landed behind him with a deafening impact.
"OH, GOD!"
Adam's heart almost jumped off his chest. He stumbled forward, catching himself on his hands just before they scraped against the rough asphalt. Luckily, he had his gloves on, and in an agile move, he held his rifle and aimed at whatever was behind him.
Click! Click!
The gun was surely broken; the trigger was stuck for some reason, and he was no gunsmith, so whatever it was…
"Citizen! You will answer my questions now."
But from that rising dust cloud, that familiar metallic voice from a couple of minutes ago spoke to him, and he was no less surprised than he was before.
"Holy shit! You're real!"
The scene was too clear. The dark, humid garage might have obscured things, but now, with the sun reflecting off the Slayer-grade MK-III olive-colored Power Armor, complete with red pauldrons and winged-sun crest, there was no more room for doubt.
It is a Star Paladin!
The Star Paladin!
Captain Creed!
And he was not happy.
"I. Am. Real!"
Impatient, the Star Paladin took two steps as his shadow covered Adam, who looked up at him like a two-year-old looking up at his father—a certified moment of pure horror once he remembered the lore about the personality of Star Paladins.
Ruthless immortals with sophisticated personalities. While under 100 years of age, most of them are considered warriors of justice and heroes of hope, but those of them who exceed the limit of mortal life become easily irritated, irrational, and quickly prone to violence.
Captain Creed is no exception to that; he's a menace that solely roamed the harrowing pits of the Infernium, killing demons with extreme prejudice, ultimate zeal, and unending passion.
While more lenient than most paladins with the poor Men-at-Arms, he is no Banneret.
He is a Slayer!
Driven by survival instincts, Adam dropped his rifle in surrender.
"Please. Ask away!"
The Paladin's pressure never ceased as he looked down at Adam, and once he analyzed the puny citizen, he held in his anger and, with his left hand, tapped on the side of his helmet.
PSSSS!
Pressurized gas was emitted in four white trails from all sides of the helmet as its front piece was lifted up by two hydraulic arms, and the face of the man underneath it was revealed.
The ashen skin, the platinum brows, the golden fiery eyes, the crack-like scars around his eyes. He was too real.
A human the size of an ogre, if ogres are now a thing in this monster apocalypse. Captain Creed took a deep breath of the outside air and looked down at Adam.
"Everything is strange to me, citizen. By Sol's light, where have we been cast?" Captain Creed asked, and before Adam could rack his brain for an answer, he pointed at Adam's rifle, "That relic… it is ancient. Speak! How did it come into your possession?"
Adam's chest was gripped by fear, but as soon as his eyes started looking all over for an answer, he noticed something on the Paladin's armor that made him frown and tilt his head.
"Is that…"
Those patterns…
It can't be, can it?
In those exact same spots, he added some touches to the miniature he had. By the side of his mini-drill, he made what seemed to be a large round that was deflected by the pauldrons, and over the thigh, he made a small hole with the said drill.
Actually, he added a few more battle scars to the armor in order to make it look cool, but that was merely a miniature. He didn't even replicate the battle scars from the game's poster.
This was his own craft.
Adam looked up at the Paladin, unable to fathom the idea that just crossed his mind.
His miniature!
It came to life!
"Citizen! Are you testing my patience?"
Maybe not as mechanical as before he removed his helmet's mask, but the man's voice was no less terrifying than then. His power radiated from his eyes as he stared at Adam, but the latter was more baffled than unnerved.
"Sir," Adam spoke, "You don't seem to recognize this world."
"And you know something of it, do you not?" The Paladin asked.
"Well… that is hard to even explain to myself… let alone to you, sir," Adam replied.
"Is that so?"
The Paladin looked doubtfully at Adam, but there was no falsehood in his words, just vagueness and obvious ignorance.
The puny citizen was shifty and suspicious, especially when he kept looking at the Paladin's armor with such eyes.
"You have knowledge of who I am, Citizen. You probably know more. Speak all that you know. Leave nothing unsaid."
"Yes, sir," Adam gulped as he started to rack his head on what to say and what not to say. "My name is Adam."
"Irrelevant!"
"Ouch! Alright," Adam said, almost laughing at the typical response from a Star Paladin, then decided to start with the basics. "This is BH… Brighthaven, I mean. The city."
"The ancient city?" Creed narrowed his eyes.
"Does it look ancient to you?" Adam asked and shrugged his shoulder while looking around. "Three months ago, this place was as modern as they come."
"You claim this is no mere ruin of the past?"
"Yes. I mean… where you are from, is there even a place that looks like this?"
To Adam's question, Creed's face became distorted in anger.
"Enough obfuscation. Speak plainly. This is your final warning."
Adam almost jumped from fright and held up his hands.
"I swear, I have no idea how you are here. I am not hiding anything. I am not even sure how you are real!"
As Adam stepped backward in fear, his back hit a ruined car that started to make an alarm all of a sudden. Annoyed, Creed grabbed his Plasma Pistol and shot a hole in it so big that the car moved five feet away.
BEW!
"Mommy!"
Adam jumped to the side and fell, covering his head before seeing the Paladin's heavy stompers land right next to his head.
He was lifted up from his clothes like a kitten and came face to face with Creed. He could feel the powerful breath and the heat coming from his face, even from three feet away.
Creed spoke in broken words that made Adam shudder:
"Answers. Only."
Nodding like a chicken, Adam answered.
"Totally."
"How do you know of me?" Asked the Paladin.
"…"
Yep, that was the paradox. Adam averted his eyes, not knowing what to say.
Would the Slayers' Hero accept the fact that he is a fictional character from a fictional world, let alone a miniature or a toy turned man by some heretical means?
Adam knows the lore well. If that Paladin was to think he was in some sort of an illusion, he'd kill everything that walks. He'd not only end up killing every monster, he'd even kill all survivors.
That's the kind of monsters the Paladins are.
What else could he tell him? That he is from the future? But a man from the future is usually the one telling others that he is from the future, not the people of the past telling him he is from the future. If so, how do they know things from the future?
Still, if a paladin was to hear that, he'd still think he's in some sort of an illusion and kill every man, woman, animal, plant, and monster.
"SPEAK!"
Creed's shout was so loud it made Adam's ghost escape his body for a second, and when it returned, his mouth started yapping like a recorder on double speed:
"Okay, okay, okay, just listen! You're not real—I mean you are real, now, but you weren't! You're from a story—Wartopia—from another place and time! I swear! We had books, rules, lore—everything! You're Solomon Creed, Captain of the Doom Battalion, the Slayers Legion, I know all of it! I didn't make it up! I just read it! Had a memento before the monster invasion—a mini… a statue—yours! This isn't supposed to be possible! I don't know how you're here or still alive! You had a last stand at the Pale Gate and died stopping Asmodeus until the Solwoken arrived!"
The way Adam spilled all his beans at once was enough to make the unfeeling Star Paladin have his angered face soften little by little, displaying the rare emotion of shock that hardly graced his features before, and as a final blow to his ginormous pride, he was left dazed.
Eyes wide, staring into the distant space, and facing reality as it hit him like a reincarnation truck, his mouth opened and he spoke two words.
"All… checks!"