3'rd POV - Unknown Location
Three beings stood in a space outside their known universe looking on as centuries passed in seconds, whole bloodlines perishing by the half minute. Two looked almost identical in their manifestation, both shaped as humanoids but covered in bubbling, active energy. The only difference being that one's energy was yellow while the other was blue. The third was far more human-like, with long dark hair, fair skin, a blue cape, a white suit, and an orange cloth on his chest featuring a white symbol. After an indeterminate amount of time and countless replays the blue being finally spoke.
"If we do nothing the main universe will be left as a devastated husk. We know the results of this."
The more human man kept his eyes shut, but his expression shifted into a grimace, "Must we personally act? Can we not simply nudge one of the abstracts to bring about the necessary change?"
The blue being turned to the yellow, seemingly curious of their thoughts.
"You know we can not. In order to circumvent it we need a being without ties to the fate of this timeline."
The man sighed, but nodded nonetheless, "Well what do you suggest then? If you're saying this now it means you have a person in mind."
The yellow being's 'head' tilted in acknowledgment before speaking in a voice that seemed to shake the surrounding space, "I do. Details will not be provided to prevent future exposure. Their arrival will happen after we depart."
The blue being remained silent in tacit agreement, while the man opened his eyes revealing shiny gold light from their sockets, "If you're doing this I have no doubts. My only hope is that whoever you choose has a will strong enough to face the challenges that are no doubt ahead"
The three of them stood in silence, simply watching the universe's past, present, and future as it flew by.
Eventually, the only one left in the space was the yellow being. Looking around, it eventually plucked a strand of cosmic energy from the surroundings. Staring deeply into the strand the being finally spoke the only words it would say to its creation.
"Grow. The only way to prevent the future we have seen is to grow stronger than the concepts you previously knew. So go now. Adapt fruitfully, little one."
The being then flicked the cosmic strand into the universal time stream, watching as a vibrant gold spark jettisoned through time and space, into a universe that knew not of concepts, abilities, and cosmic terror…
3'rd POV - Earth 1218 - Washington D.C.
A warm sunny day could be seen outside through the glass windows of a Downtown D.C. apartment complex lobby. Cars went by far too fast for the roads they were on, pedestrians went by regularly, and residents came through every once in a while and were greeted by the concierge. A standard Tuesday by all accounts.
The concierge himself, a man with short black hair, a body that had seen a few too many large fries, and a frown on his face.
If you looked past the desk itself, you would be able to see that the man had WebNovel open as he scrolled endlessly.
'I can't spend any more money on coins and I've already read through everything up to the halfway decent ones.'
He sighed while putting his phone down, glancing out the window while running a hand through his hair, 'I wish something interesting would happen. This repetitive shit is getting annoying.'
His chair leaned back as he stared at the ceiling, contemplating what had led him to this point, rotting away at an apartment desk. He graduated college and hoped to get into politics, but the world jaded him from that lifestyle. Still, with a degree you'd expect a decent job to pop up, but alas after 80 applications the only job he could manage was a concierge.
Deciding to take a smoke, the man flipped a sign to let the residents know he was gone before stepping outside and enjoying the spring air.
It was a couple minutes into his smoke break when a couple shouts drew his attention, causing him to glance up and see the celestial act that would change his life forever.
A yellow/gold ray of light was shooting through the sky in a zigzag pattern, almost like it was searching for something. The surrounding people pointed and pulled out phones to record.
"Is that a solar flare?!"
"What is that thing?"
"Someone call the police!"
'Like that would do any good' the man scoffed, dropping his cigarette and stomping it out. He squinted, eyes widening as a key detail finally hit him.
'It's going to land.' With that thought came a burst of adrenaline he hadn't felt in years as he bolted towards the doors for the apartment complex, loose rock shooting backwards as he made a last ditch scramble to dodge whatever chaos that light would bring. Three steps into his run an overwhelmingly hot feeling enveloped him as shouts and gasps filled his ears.
Looking down, he could see his body was glowing yellow with bursts of orange bubbling all over. All sound seemed to fade from his peripherals, the only sensation he could feel being that of warmth all the way to his bones.
'God when I said I wanted something interesting to happen I didn't mean to immolate me.' He thought while gritting his teeth through the pain.
As his thought ended a new feeling began to settle, a pull. His stomach dropped and the light pulsing through his body began to shine brighter and more continuously. Finally, with a loud clap like thunder following lightning, the man disappeared from where he stood, the only indication that he had ever existed at all being two scorched indentations of feet remaining on the sidewalk.
As the people of Earth reeled in response to the freakiest cosmic event of the century the man, Vance, found himself in the most painful spot he had ever been in.
1'st POV - Vance
Pain was the only thing I could feel. Well technically that's not true, pain and an overwhelmingly powerful pull was all I could feel.
'God something make this pain stop.' If I could've seen at the moment, I would've seen what appeared to be a river of gaseous color. All around were colors that mankind had never seen before, all blended into a cosmic river that was carrying me at breakneck speeds towards an unknown location.
All the while through this universal rumble I simply screamed and tried to retain my sanity. I was able to mostly do so due to the fragmented words that reached my ears, "Grow - strong - only way - adapt." With that final word something seemed to finally settle into place as I heard a soft echoing,
Clink.
With that the pain I was experiencing eased up a bit and finally allowed me to open my eyes, which immediately basically shot out of my head, "What the actual fuck!??" I tried to shout but I realized that no sound could escape while at the same time realizing, 'I'm in space? Did that yellow thing teleport me somehow?' With that thought came even more questions, 'how?' being the most predominant.
'How the hell am I alive and breathing?' I briefly thought before the memory of the odd sound is heard hit,
'Didn't that kind of sound like-'
Before that thought could be finished the pull on my body intensified once again forcing me to close my eyes as I shot further again into the unknown.
If you were in that area of space at that time you would've heard one sound in the empty vacuum of space…
Clink
3'rd POV - Earth 616 - New York City - 2006
No matter the date or time New York City will always be New York City. The sum was up so that meant the streets were packed and people were everywhere. Cars were honking, tourists were eating some of the best hot dogs in the world, and the NYPD were hot on the heels of a criminal.
The only major point to discuss here is the criminal himself, an 18 year old mutant who had used his admittedly weak powers to snatch a purse and was now making a speedy but clumsy getaway.
"Stop!"
"Get back here freak there's nowhere to run!"
As the young man rounded a corner into a back alleyway system he couldn't help but lament his bad luck,
'How unlucky do I have to be for there to be a police blockade at the end of the street? If I knew they were there I would've just climbed the building!'
The young man, who went by the alias 'Sticky Fingers' had a very simple ability, his hands and feet could stick to anything. He'd used the ability for minor crimes for several years without being caught since he always had an ability for an easy getaway.
"Easy until today" he grumbled under his breath as a right turn at a split brought him to a dead end with a ten foot chain link fence at the end of the strip.
'There's my out!' He thought as he jumped to his left, sticking his feet to the wall as he sprinted and leapt over the fence. Ducking behind a trash can, he was finally able to catch his breath as the police could be heard running in the opposite direction.
With a last exhale he sat up, reaching into the purse and pulling out a wallet that was quickly pocketed and a watch he inspected briefly before shrugging and pocketing as well. Tossing the purse behind the dumpster, he scoped out the alley one more time before standing and stretching.
"I've gotta plan my escape routes a bit before snatching next time" he muttered to himself, beginning to walk back out onto the street, until a bright flash from behind lit up his sides and a loud crash echoed from where he'd just been sitting.
"Fuck!" He yelled before jumping to the wall and sprinting up as fast as possible. After twenty feet he reached a roof, peering down the brick siding he spotted what looked like a teenager sprawled in the dumpster.
'Did God just deliver me another mark?' He threw the thought out quickly, no way he was that lucky after what had just happened, but nonetheless he crept slowly down the wall to see if there was anything valuable on the kid.
The teenager appeared to be unconscious, slow and steady breathing meant he was alive at least. A head of white hair could be seen, and his clothes were sweatpants and a sweatshirt that were pretty normal clothing for anyone to be wearing around.
What caught the thief's eye wasn't the clothes, however, but instead was the bulge of a wallet he could see in the boy's pocket.
'Don't mind if I do,' he thought as he dropped to the ground quietly, before reaching out and-
'What?'
The man froze as his hand was stopped just before the pocket of the boy, and to make matters worse a groan sounded as the boy inside the dumpster stirred.
'I gotta get out of here!' Sticky Fingers thought as he once again jumped up and sprinted up the wall, deciding to peek down again to try and understand what was going on. 'If he's a mutant maybe I can convince him to join up with me. A spotter would do me wonders.'
Down in the dumpster, blue lightly glowing eyes finally cracked open blearily as the boy's mind was in chaos.
System Initializing…
Reboot in progress….
Reboot successful!
Welcome, Vance, to the Cursed Progress System!
Due to attempted harm while the host was unconscious, an ability was used automatically. Thai will not be the norm for the host.
The boy blinked before hoarsely muttering, "system?" With a ding he received a response,
Yes, host! You do not need to speak, simply think of a reply and I will understand. I suggest you think the word 'status' to understand your current situation better.
With another groan Vance first went to fully open his eyes before shutting them again immediately when they began to burn when opened. That got his brain working quickly as the memories of what felt like a few minutes came rushing back and with a sharp inhale he rolled out of the dumpster, tumbling to the ground before leaning back against the cold metal.
'System status' he thought to himself as in his mind's eye he saw a light blue screen appear.
Name - Vance ?
Age - 15
Race - Cursed Human
Cursed Energy - Grade 2 sorcerer
Cursed Techniques -
Adaptation and ??? - The ability to adapt to any and all phenomena and to ???? - Basic
Adaptations - Space, ???, Pain (1 turn)
Limitless - Bring the concept of infinity into reality and control space at will - Below Basic
Other techniques/abilities - Rikugan
Vance breathed sharply after reading through the parameters, before his thoughts began spiraling, 'What do you mean cursed human!? How- no what happened? Where am I? What even…' but before he could continue, the system lunged again before speaking in an emotionless tone.
Host please try to calm down. In order of query, a cursed human is a human who utilizes cursed energy. After searching your memories I believe the closest approximation to what occurred would be you being isekai'd. Lastly, after a scan we appear to be in the Marvel universe.
Vance's blood ran cold at that, 'Marvel?! Oh man I'm just fucked aren't I. Ok. Ok. System I can't see when I open my eyes. Any suggestions?' He thought as he scrambled to his feet, almost slipping on a newspaper that was below.
Host just needs to keep his eyes open. After a few seconds your body should naturally adjust.
'Oh just enjoy the painful feeling then. Awesome. Sick. Thanks system. Must be made by Ubisoft' he thought as he took a deep breath before opening his eyes wide. Very quickly it felt like a bad idea. Everything was bright, he could see particles of dust flying through the air, and a splitting headache began assaulting him. His nose began dripping blood as he hunched over while holding his head, forcing his eyes to remain open.
From above, Sticky Fingers watched in shock as what looked like a glowing gold wheel appeared, flickering at first before solidifying, above the boy's head.
'What the fuck is that thing?' He thought before a creaking sound made him pay even closer attention, the wheel vibrating briefly before-
Clink
- the wheel turned.
After that first rotation Vance felt a rush of energy first in his brain, but quickly flowing through his body. It was a strange sensation, akin to shower water running along his body but instead it was inside.
He briefly closed his eyes, realizing in shock he could 'see' his surroundings. Not visually of course, but there was a glowing blue energy that seemed to flow everywhere. 'This is what Gojo saw all the time?' He could make out the objects around him, the details in the brick wall, and the dumpster without opening his eyes at all.
'Ok so the six eyes and Mahoraga's power. That's strong. Really strong. Though, why am I here? System, do you know anything? Is there any way back?'
I do not know why you are here nor why I am with you. Theoretically there is a way back, but it involves strength far beyond current parameters.
That managed to dampen Vance's enthusiasm about his six eyes a bit, 'Ok then so either be able to go there myself or find the space stone or something similar. Got it. Fuck.' He paused briefly to consider that. How long it would take him to do either, brief images of his parents and siblings flashing by. 'I'll get back. I swear it. Stay strong out there guys.'
As these thoughts were spinning around he tilted his head back, breath hitching as he spotted a human shape watching him from above. Freezing, he slowly opened his eyes to see the person likewise with widened eyes, staring directly at him over the rooftop edge of the building he was on.
They simply stared at each other for a solid minute, before Sticky Fingers came down with a dry chuckle. Vance backed off a step when he landed, but the man quickly held up his hands,
"Not gonna hurt you kid. Where'd you fall from? I didn't see anything above me, but given I couldn't touch you before I'm guessing you're a mutant like me. You can call me Sticky Fingers!"
With a two finger salute and a goofy smile he hoped was friendly enough he waited for a response while Vance simply stared for a short while before shaking his head.
"Honestly, I have no idea how I got here, where is here by the way, also kid?" As he said so he realized with a sinking feeling how young he sounded, and that he was looking up at someone he himself would've called a kid twenty minutes ago.
"Well yeah" Sticky Fingers said with a laugh, "You can't be older than 16 right? Also you're in New York, you are from New York right?"
Vance dug in his pocket, pulling out a wallet before freezing for the third time in the short while he'd been awake, his ID was a high school ID. His name read Vance Gojo, and the ID itself was for Midtown High School. Luckily his wallet also had another ID card with an address on it.
'Well at least I'm early' he thought dryly as he realized it was 2006, a couple years before the timeline he knew about would come up. 'That gives me time to work with but if this is Marvel and I have cursed energy will that mean cursed spirits will show up or-'
He was brought out of his thoughts as a cough from Sticky Fingers reminded him that he was mid conversation.
He put his wallet away quickly, inclining his head in apology, "Yes I'm from New York. I think it was a training mishap, and I'm very sorry for disturbing your day Mr... Sticky Fingers."
The man waved him off, "No problem no problem, you should probably start heading back home, but take this."
He pulled a small card out of his pocket, with a quick glance Vance saw that it just read Sticky Fingers with a phone number below.
Seeing Vance's curious look, he quickly explained, "If you ever are looking to make a quick buck I could use some help with my, er, projects. Feel free to give me a ring!"
He scratched his head nervously at that, realizing it was a bit awkward to let a child know that.
Vance pocketed the card, but before he could reply a loud yell of "There he is!!" Made him whip his head to the left, seeing four cops sprinting towards the fence at one end of the alley.
"Ah shit. Kid, run!"
Sticky Fingers ran up the wall for a third time, taunting the police as he went up, "Good luck getting up here! You pigs might have to fly to make it happen!"
A loud laugh was all that was left behind as he vaulted over the rooftop out of everyone's sight before the cops turned their attention to Vance.
'System any advice?' He thought as one of the cops reached for the fence.
Run, host.
With that sagely advice Vance bolted towards the alley opening, ignoring the police shouts from behind. Ahead was the unknown and a future of potential peril, but what is one to do except…
Adapt?