MADMAN APOCALYPSE

Brock — Level 8

Pick one of the following level-up skills:

Purple Ultra

Purple3

Purple Ultra

Purple3

Purple Ultra

Purple3

“It will never go away…” I muttered in defeat, as I looked at the pop-up that would literally not move from the center of my vision, no matter what I did.

“I don’t think All-Mommy will like her gift to Gambit being overpowered like that.”

Panda cringed at her nickname for the Absolute, before saying, “Normally it shouldn’t be able to trump the power of an Absolute, unless…”

“What?”

Bee, for some reason, seemed clued in to his thoughts as she said, “Unless it is the power of another Absolute, right?”

The plushie nodded solemnly.

“Guys, it’s just purple. No way it’s some manifestation of a deity.”

Then I thought about it for a moment longer.

“Eh, what am I saying, it probably is…”

“Brock is feeling blessed.”

“I wonder how the All-Mother will punish you,” Panda muttered.

“Why would she punish me?? It’s not my fault!”

“She won’t care about that,” he replied.

“I’ll ask her for leniency on your behalf,” Bee said, trying to cheer me up.

“Why are you both acting like she’ll definitely punish me!?”

“Brock is ready, do that thing with your magic fingers, Gamby!”

I sighed loudly and just clicked the middle option.

The balloon gauntlet immediately turned purple, though it seemed a slightly darker hue than in the past.

An anxious moment passed, as I expected to barf up some purple critter like with the previous iteration of the curse.

But nothing came.

“Huh, it seems better than la— Wait a minute!”

“What!?” Bee asked, worried.

“I can’t taste the synthetic grape anymore!”

“That’s great!” she replied. “You’re finally free!”

“No… it’s a different flavor now.”

I ran my tongue along the inside of my mouth, swirling my saliva around to get a proper taste of the new curse I’d be living with.

“I think it’s eggplant.”

“That’s kind of underwhelming,” Panda commented.

“It’s pretty boring,” I agreed.

“Your eyes are a different color now,” Bee then said.

“Oh, you’re right. But his right eye is still weird.”

“How are they different? And will you please tell me what’s different about my right eye!?”

“Look at this,” Bee said, lifting up the ‘Announcer’s Microphone’ that had dropped along with the wing.

“Oy! Don’t ignore me!”

“The irises are purple, that’s all,” Panda said to placate me.

“But what about my right eye!?”

“Maybe Steve can use this,” Bee said, sharing the inspection.

“You two are bad friends,” I told them.

“Just find a mirror if you’re so curious,” he said.

‘Announcer’s Microphone’ x

Sing your heart out!

(Auto-tune not included)

Amplifies both the range and volume of your voice by four times their normal values.

Increases Aural Damage by 35%

Weight: 3.2 Pandas

“I wonder if I should fuse my new Ability with something else,” Bee considered.

“You should hold off until you’ve used it first,” Panda advised.

“Maybe Beetle Bomb and Brawny would go well together,” I suggested.

‘Beetle Bomb’ x

Ability

Bumbling Beetle Bombs blast brightly, blowing blazing black billowing blossoms!

Create a ball of flechettes that grows in size and Mana cost for every second spent charging it. Once thrown, it will explode after 5 seconds or if struck.

Mana Cost: 4 (+2 per second)

Bee clapped me on the shoulder. “Great thinking!”

Then she stopped.

“I’m out of Fusion Gum…”

“See, you might as well wait,” Panda said, though neither of us heeded his words.

I still had the one from the Legendary armor achievement, so I pulled it out of my inventory and handed it to her.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course,” I told her.

Bee immediately unwrapped the gum and threw it in her mouth, wriggling in glee at the taste.

“Combine ‘Beetle Bomb’ and ‘Brawny Helper(s)’!” she exclaimed as soon as she finished chewing.

She rocked back and forth on her feet, as she waited on the system messages I couldn’t see to finish.

Then she smiled menacingly as she shared the resultant combination.

“It’s amazing,” she muttered in awe. “Gambit, you’re a genius.”

Panda let out a loud sigh.

‘Beetle Brawler Bomber’ x

Fusion Ability

Flinging parts of your soul at enemies like improvised explosives is probably not conducive to long-term good health. But it looks cool.

Grow two additional spectral limbs from your soul that have a Strength value equal to your Intelligence attribute multiplied by three.

The size of the limbs increases for every three points of Intelligence.

By uttering ‘Bomb!’ while the Ability is active, one of the fists will detach from your soul and fly at a target of your choosing, before exploding in a shower of spectral flechettes that penetrate all forms of physical armor.

While active, other Abilities cannot be used.

Fists utilized as bombs do not regenerate and the ability is still considered active even if both fists have been sacrificed.

Duration: 15 seconds

Mana Cost: 7

Activation Cost: 3

“That is very strong,” he then admitted.

“I need to get more Intelligence,” she said.

“You can’t wear armor, right?” I asked her.

“No… but I think I can use hats! And jewelry! Wands too, of course!”

“Maybe we can find something like that which gives you a boost. I also need to find something to increase my punch damage.”

“Onwards and down!” Bee said excitedly, lifting off and flying to the elevator.

I looked between her and the exposed floor.

“Touching that will still kill me, right?”

“Pretty sure,” Panda confirmed.

I turned around and ran to the wall opposite the elevator doorway, spotting the Otter Mascot on a monitor. He was using fish-based attacks to beat up some Police Fiends near a small Police Station that I knew lay on the outskirts of the city. In the background were a few other Players, but they were too far away from the camera’s perspective to recognize. I briefly wondered if he was another Team Logan fanboy. I hoped not, since I’d always wanted to be friends with a Mascot character.

With large strides, I ran towards the elevator, leaping off the floor an inch before where it was stripped away from my Pow. As I sailed through the air, the screaming tapestry exposed around me seemed to follow me with its creepy hair-woven faces and static yells.

My forehead slammed into the top rim of the elevator doorway, but the damage was reflected thanks to my passive.

‘Reflective Shell’ x

Passive

Your skin has a 25% chance to reflect impact damage.

Don’t ask me how it works, it just does.

Sidenote: you’ll also start to smell a bit like seafood.

Still, the sudden shift in momentum spun me around so I landed inside on the metal floor back-first, with a loud oomph.

“You okay?” Bee asked, looking down at me.

I raised a thumbs-up. “I’m good. Onwards and down!”

She inserted the new keycard wafer and the doors slid shut.