Chapter 1 - Marvel (2)

"Hm? Where am I?" I asked aloud, suddenly regaining consciousness.

My eyes scanned the empty room, failing to recognize anything even though the dimly lighted room was filled with some unidentifiable pieces of furniture.

Seconds after my 'awakening', my mind was much clearer as the sleepiness disappeared and my thoughts came to their regular speed.

Fortunately, I didn't have time to speculate any longer on the reason for my presence where I could only imagine being out of any human reach, as a disembodied voice echoed around, pulling me from my thoughts.

[Welcome, champion.] It welcomed me in a neutral tone, with no specific gender attached to the synthetic voice.

"Hello? Whe— no... What am I doing here?" I asked, unsure of if an answer would reach my ears. Knowing my location was useless, if I couldn't even comprehend my surroundings there was no way to escape the place.

[Chosen to be a champion of the Unseen Readers, you will be transmigrated into a body uniquely made for you.]

I frowned, they don't seem to be giving me any choice here... nor do I like being observed by these probably omnipotent beings. Not that I have many options anyway.

"So... why don't I remember anything from who I was before? And more importantly, why me?" I asked, slightly anxious about the answer.

In this situation, I was completely at their mercy, not even able to verify if what they say is the truth or not. For all I know, I could be a simple product of these 'Unseen Readers' boredom, not even a real person.

[Your memories were taken away, diminishing the threat you represent for the universe you will be reincarnated in. As for the reason you were chosen... You accomplished a feat that greatly pleased Him.] It answered with the same unchanged tone.

''Him'? Is there someone even beyond these 'Readers'?'

"Can I ask what exactly did I do?" If I could do something that impressed omnipotent beings or beings that come close to that, I was quite curious about it.

This time, however, the voice didn't immediately answer which was proof enough that it required some kind of agreement, beyond my scope of understanding.

[You were partially responsible for the end of your Universe.] It echoed once again, unbothered by the weight of these words and their significance.

"Wha—?!"

'It is... surprising. Frightening even but I don't remember how and why I could have done such a thing and I doubt that such a question would be answered this time. More importantly, whatever beings that were watching, didn't seem to be bothered that much that I was the co-author of the worst act that was ever made in... my old Universe I guess.

Perhaps, this transmigration is simply a punishment supposed to make me suffer? However, I doubt it as they not only consider me a 'champion' and they wouldn't just wipe my memories if that was the case. The most probable situation would be that I simply serve as a divertissement... Or at least my life will be one.

Anyways, I couldn't stay here pondering these words much longer as I had no idea if there was some kind of time limit here. I had to gather as much information as possible before being sent into my new body.'

"About that transmigration and my new world... Do I have to do anything specific other than live my life? Such as missions or goals to achieve?"

[Affirmative. He commands you to do something worthy of his attention. To ease and accelerate your adaptation, some gifts were prepared for your awakening. Make your life last as long as possible... They will be pleased.]

Before I could fully comprehend its last words, I felt the world spin around me, forcing my eyes to close in an attempt to prevent nausea.

Thankfully, it didn't last much longer as I suddenly was assaulted by my senses... enhanced senses.

I didn't need any memory to understand that it was far from normal.

The noise of everything around the city easily picked up by my ears was causing me a mild headache that hopefully wouldn't last long.

Lifting myself from the ground of the room, I could easily identify and even locate the source of the different vibrations traveling through the ground and even some stronger ones through the air.

My vision was equally enhanced, with shades of colors I never could have imagined before. It was like putting on a pair of glasses for the first time after being almost blind. Everything was so much clearer.

Currently standing in the middle of the room stark naked, I was thankful for my lack of neighbors, my house strategically placed in the middle of a forest. Perhaps one of the 'gifts' the voice talked about.

Though, it was better to wear clothes as I wasn't completely accustomed to this new body.

-*-*-

As expected from an omnipotent being, it easily made anything a human needed.

The clothes were just my size and of various types. I also found a wallet filled with several hundred dollars and a black credit card with a code that I instinctively knew.

It was great to know that money was not a problem even though I am not particularly materialistic.

They probably knew as the house was furnished with the bare necessity.

I also found an ID with my full name on it.

"Markus Bright..." I whispered to myself.

I don't know why but I feel slightly melancholic... Is it linked to my past? Probably. They seem to be the type to like any kind of divertissement. Perhaps they want me to figure it out by myself?

Anyway, I put everything back into the wallet before sliding it into my blue jeans' back pocket.

There is also a bunch of documents with information about me and whatever I own.

Mainly this house, several apartments in the United States and France generate some revenue each month as they are rented to a bunch of celebrities.

There are some diplomas in science and engineering that are in line with my current knowledge.

It's quite suspicious to have that many diplomas at the young age of 18... Or perhaps the presence of geniuses was not that rare in this version of Earth. That or they did some magical shenanigans to not make anyone question the absurdity of such a thing.

Either way, it was far from the most curious thing I found.

As I was aimlessly wandering around the two-story house, I stopped in front of the painting of a woman with similar facial traits to mine, her eyes however were locked straight ahead, looking past me at the empty wall.

The only reason I noticed it was because it is one of the rare decorations present in the house, as everything else was left devoid of any fancy item.

Turning around to look at the whole, I frowned as my eyes easily noticed the slight gap in it... the same size and shape as my right hand.

Without further hesitation, I put my hand on it before a dim light visibly encompassed my hand, the same way things are usually scanned.

Silently, the wall opened to an elevator, big enough to house about ten people.

There was no need to be careful about it as there was no doubt that this was one of the 'gifts' the voice talked about.

The ride was quick but by the light decrease of the nearest's city noise, I was for certain quite deep underground.

The doors of the elevator opened once again, this time to a dimly lit cave with several powerful-looking computers and other scientific accessories.

Walking through the futuristic-looking cave, my gaze stopped and my mouth lightly gapped in surprise at what the window mannequins were wearing.

There were 5 of them, each wearing a different costume that would only be seen in superhero comics.

Three of them had capes while the remaining two didn't. The colors vary too even though the general design of the costume didn't.

On the chest, the logo of something I knew too much to not recognize, consisting of a disc surrounded by three-sixths of a truncated disc.

The costumes, the secret cave, and the various computers connected on several news information throughout America were the exact stereotype of a supervillain's secret lair... or a superhero base of operation.

Now that I think about it... There is not much difference between either of them. Hell, in this one there are even the perfect tools to become a crazy scientist too.

Anyway, before I can think about becoming either one, I have to gather some information about the world and its history.

Though I have basic memories about my body's life before I take over it, I don't plan on relying only on it.

Thankfully, there is plenty of computers here that should be protected from anyone's spying... at least I believe so? Hard to say, I am not a computer genius. Either way, I will only watch some documentaries about the most important actors out there and see how it goes.

Selecting the first documentary I could find [The Stark Corporation, Death Merchants?], my eyes went toward the costumes once more as a sigh escaped my mouth before I focused back onto the documentary on one screen, the Wikipedia page opened on another screen, my attention going back and forth with ease.

"Let's get to work. There is plenty to do."

-*-*-*-

[New York, North Salem : Xavier Institutes]

Wheelchair rolling through the large mansion's corridor, a bald man was hurriedly pushing the wheels of his chair, two fingers at his right temple, telepathically communicating with several people in the mansion.

"Everyone, gather at the jet in your X-Men uniforms, there is a newly awoken mutant in Green Mountain, not far from here. If we are fast enough, we won't even cross road with Magneto's Brotherhood."

Not even awaiting for a reply as he had full faith in the young and older X-Men, Xavier cut the telepathic link before penetrating someone else thoughts.

"Hank? Can you do some background checking for me?" The older man asked, each words chose to not make the man question the reason for such an invasive procedure.

"Another newly awoken mutant I suppose? What is his name?" Unsurprised by the sudden voice in his mind, the blue man replied, sitting in front of his computer.

"Markus Bright."

-*-*-*-

[Unknown location]

"Heh." An aged man scoffed, removing the metallic device from his head before putting on his own helmet.

"Mystique... Tell the kids that we have another brother to bring back to our cause. A very, very powerful one in fact."

Without answering to the old man words, the blue woman silently exited the room, her steps precise and unhesitant.

"I can feel your power child... Wait for us." The man said to no apparently no one, his gaze focused on a direction.

-*-*-*-

[Somewhere above New York]

A tall woman carrying a bundle of papers hurriedly walked through the long corridor of her organization's operation base, clutching at the items with an hint of worryness in her brown eyes which was enough for some of the people she walked by to walk away, even more nervous than their job usually makes them.

Minutes later, she stopped in front of a door before opening it and closing behind her before facing her one eyed boss, the ever so serious Nick Fury.

The black man had an eternal frown on his face, but seeing one of his best agents nervous was a good enough reason for his expression to darken.

"Agent Hill, what did the scientific department relayed?" He asked, his only functional eye locked onto the approaching woman.

"I think it would be better for you to see it yourself."

Without hesitation she handed him the first paper of her stack which he unceremoniously read.

Seconds later, the black haired woman observed the rare sight of the Director of Shield, almost losing his mind on the energetic reports.

"Motherfucker! What the fuck is that? Who the fuck is responsible for that?!" He asked, half panicked, half-furious at what he had read.

"The equivalent of fucking Fat Man unleashed into a national forest?!" He continued, looking at the seemingly random peaks of energy they registered during the last hour.

"Our satellites didn't relay any change in the forest and no civilians did neither. We are ready to send some agents there to see if there is no anomaly that is responsible of these energy readings. However if such a thing is weaponized anyhow, I doubt that our weapons will be enough to do much." Agent Hill said, looking at her boss for further commands.

The man already calmed himself a few moments ago, his two hands massaging his temples.

"Very well, for now just observe the situation and then report anything out of the ordinary. We won't send the Captain yet, we have too little information on the situation." He said, reviewing the different options they had for now.

"Understood, I will send them immediately."

She then proceeded to leave the room, leaving the man silently sighing at the amount of headaches the source of this frightening phenomenon will bring him.

"I am not paid enough for this..."

-*-*-*-

Ignorant of the various organizations and groups he unadventely attracted, a young man was looking at his closed fist, a light smile on his face.

His fist was wrapped into a greenish semi-transparent sphere that seemed to scream 'Dangerous' to anyone but Markus himself.

The low noise, sounding like a pulsation was almost imperceptible by even Markus' heightened hearing capability however there was no doubt that what he was actually doing was way beyond anything most humans are capable of.

The nuclear energy held into his hand was frightening. More than capable of giving anyone exposed to it heavy radiation poisoning, it would simply melt them before they are capable of understanding what happens.

Curiously enough, he was capable of modyfing the caracteristics of the nuclear energy. From the deadly untangible one, to one capable of melting anything to a more concussive oriented one.

Making it have a purer energy based caracteristic makes it lose its radioactive features somehow.

Anyway, he has time to figure it... At least that's what he thinks.