Chapter 01:

I groggily open my eyes, awakening from what must be the worst hangover of the last decade. Taking in my surroundings, which honestly smell like piss and shit, I mutter annoyed and in pain, "Damn, why is my head aching so much?"

I notice that I'm inside a toilet stall, hardly the cleanest place for a nap, and fortunately, my pants aren't down to my ankles. Otherwise, I'd have to assume I'd either been raped or fallen asleep while taking a shit.

Upon leaving the stall and routinely looking into the mirror, I freeze because the man staring back at me isn't me.

I was, well, I am—or rather, I should have been—a short Middle Eastern dude around 30, looking normal. But now, I'm a bald white male.

I hurriedly check my pockets to see if I have an ID or something to clarify who I am and if I'm where I'm supposed to be.

I find my ID, along with some other stuff, including some money and a letter.

"Francis Freeman?!" I mutter my new name, checking the ID for further information. I'm still 30, but I'm British now, and somehow living in the States.

"What the fuck is going on?!" I question out loud, before I hurriedly open the letter, hoping it will give me some answers.

[Dear ****,

I assume you are quite shocked about what is going on, but that is pretty normal. Your mortal mind cannot process meeting me, and so I have decided to leave a letter for you.

In hopes of shedding light on your current circumstances, it seems you find yourself within the Marvel Animated Universe. Moreover, you've inhabited the body of Ajax, a mutant who has yet to manifest his powers. However, there's a twist: should you succeed in awakening his latent abilities, they may undergo alterations owing to your presence and influence.

Finally, I have fulfilled your two wishes, and now you need to prove to me that with powers you would not be a failure as you have been.

Your first wish was to have all the powers, abilities, and knowledge of Ancient Ogre from the Tekken franchise, well, now you have access to all his forms making you basically a low budget uglier version of Frieza.

Which, honestly, is in my opinion a wasted wish! You could have asked for being Superman, having Reality Warping Powers, or something truly insane. But you said yourself that you want to work your way up, and not start completely OP.

Which is a sentiment that I can respect, and it fits into my idea of an adventure pretty well, so I have nothing to add to that wish.

Your second wish was to have all the powers, knowledge, and abilities of Shang Tsung from the 2nd Timeline of the Mortal Kombat franchise, but without the curse that is inflicted upon him.

This one was complicated to do because it is in fact multiple wishes, and not a single one. This is one wish that I granted happily. Well, I could not give you the full scope, but I made it possible that you achieve that level pretty easily.

I wish you all the best, and remember that I am watching.

Sincerely, The failed God Bailed.]

The letter started burning and disappeared, and as soon as it was completely burned, I felt a surge of knowledge that hadn't been there before.

"Interesting," I say before I start making a mental list of the Powers I now own, and from whom do I own them.

[Ancient Ogre — True Ogre — Monstrous Ogre]

— Combat Techniques: Various moves taken from other fighters

— Immortality*

— Flight

— Super strength*

— Telekinesis*

— Telepathy*

— Soul absorption

— Shape-shifting (limited)

[Shang Tsung]

— Mastery of martial arts

— Sorcery*

— Shapeshifting (not limited)*

— Soul absorption

— Flight

— Teleportation*

— Soul empowerment*

Titan Powers (Limited):

— Time manipulation*

— Multiversal-Portal creation*

— Multiversal travel*

"Why would I take two characters with the same power template?!" I asked aloud. I mean, these two characters basically have the same powers.

The only benefit that I see in doing something like this is that I get Immortality, Super strength, Telekinesis, and Telepathy from Ogre.

While from Shang Tsung, I get Sorcery, Shapeshifting into more than an ugly monster, Teleportation, Soul empowerment, and limited Titan Powers, which is basically just giving me the ability to jump through the Multiverse and manipulate Time in some form.

Oh, and apparently, I am now extremely proficient in Martial Arts because whether it's the Ancient Ogre or Shang Tsung, they both have extensive knowledge about Martial Arts.

Just as I finish my thought, I hear people shouting and crying outside the toilet!

*Sigh*

"Can't a person take his time on the Toilet in peace?!" I shout, annoyed as I remember that in my last life my siblings never let me take a shit in peace.

As soon as I leave the toilet, I see some sort of giant, big-ass robot standing in front of me, stating in a robotic voice, "Do not panic and stay calm! I am your friend and helper."

"Da fuck is this?!" I cuss out in a mixture of annoyance and fear.

I know this ought to be the Marvel Animated Universe, but when exactly were big-ass robots a thing in Marvel?! After all, I was not a real avid watcher of each and every cartoon Marvel produced over the decades.

Next, I see the robot walk me by and move on further into wherever the hell I am, and suddenly it starts attacking a teenage girl in a yellow coat and pink glasses.

"What is this, the '60s?! Who goes out wearing neon-colored clothes?!" I ask, shocked at her sense of fashion.

"HELP!!" she starts shouting, bringing me back to the real issue here.

But before I could act, I see a black woman suddenly raise her arm, and lightning starts raining down, transforming her clothes into a whole different outfit.

"Damn! Did this turn into Sailor Moon now?" I mutter. Next, I see her throwing bolts of lightning toward the metallic tendrils that are holding the girl.

'Idiot,' I cuss, annoyed. Metal is conductive; she could have fried the girl. But luckily enough, something inside the tendril overcharges and explodes. I see the girl falling and instinctively freeze time, flying in to catch her.

My assumption is that they're all one group, so I fly toward the two women that have attacked the robot and decide to allow them to take care of the girl.

As soon as I land, I stop slowing down time. All three of them look shocked, for to them it looks like I used some kind of super speed, probably.

"Hello there. I thought you all could use a hand," I say as I softly place the girl I am holding onto the ground, helping her get out of the metallic tendril that is still binding her.

But before anyone can react, the big-ass robot speaks up. "Mutant, stay down!" it says while pointing its hand at me and the others. I see it is loading some sort of energy to fire at me and the others, but before I can react, one of the women grabs the escalator and rips it out of whatever is holding it, using it as a shield.

'Damn, GIRL!! That is property damage!' I think, annoyed. I literally moved at the speed of light moments ago, so why the need to destroy property when I can get us all out of the way with ease?

After blocking the laser, the girl jumps up and flies straight towards the robot, punching it in the head. I don't know why a robot needs a head, but it has one, and the girl decides that's where she should deliver her punches.

"Well, this is something one does not see every day!" I mutter, surprised as I witness a robot vs. sexy female boxing match.

Meanwhile, the other woman has closed in on me and looks at me suspiciously.

"Did you see what she's doing?!" the girl wearing the yellow coat asks, surprised.

"Yeah, Rogue knows how to take on a man," the black woman says with a threatening tone, not taking her eyes off me as she pulls the girl into her arms.

"Haha.." I laugh out at the unintended joke.

'Well, if the flying one is Rogue, then this beauty ought to be Storm, seeing how she was flying and throwing around lightning bolts,' I think to myself, coming to the conclusion way too late.

'But what is this big-ass robot?' I question.

While I'm thinking, Rogue suddenly executes a maneuver where I can see her panties, and next, she punches the robot so hard that it loses balance and falls backward, destroying a part of the second floor of the place.

'Now that I have time to take in my surroundings, I realize I'm inside some sort of mall,' I assume. I haven't seen many malls, only knowing them from movies and TV shows, but this ought to be one.

"You!" Storm suddenly says.

"Me?!" I ask, shocked at being addressed suddenly.

"You protect her!" she says, pointing at the girl.

"Sure, I'll look after our child, Darling. You go and have fun!" I say, waving at her and taking a step closer to the girl. Storm lifts into the air by using the air to form some sort of current under her own body, and I can see her smirking at me.

"Wow!!!" I hear the girl say excitedly when she sees Storm fly away.

"Right!" I say, equally excited at witnessing a human fly. It's one thing to see this on screen or in some cartoon or anime, but a whole different thing when you see it happening in front of you.

But the next thing I see is both Rogue and Storm getting blasted outside the building by the big-ass robot dude, firing a laser at them.

"Stop, mutant!" it says, while targeting the girl.

"Who's a mutant?" the girl throws back.

"I assume it means you," I add, trying to be helpful, and I get a stink eye for my help.

"I didn't need to hear that!" she says before dashing away, trying to escape from the robot.

"Hey, stay here!" I shout as I dash after her.

*Sigh*

'Why is this kid running away?!' I ask myself. Does she have so little trust in me?

As expected, the robot fires another beam at her, but I manage to catch her before she falls to her doom, and we land in front of some dude who is way too good-looking for my taste. He's wearing a leather coat and some kind of helmet or mask or whatever it is, and his eyes are black and red. Stupid asshole.

"Hello there, beautiful," the dude says, stealing my line, which I stole from Obi-Wan.

"Hello..." the girl replies, blushing heavily.

'Damn, girly! I've saved your ass two times and you didn't blush once!' I think, annoyed at her reaction. And I'm not ugly or anything; I even look better than I did before ending up in this universe.

"Step back, I have to take that girl into custody," the robot says.

"Yeah, I don't think so," the pretty boy says.

Next, I see him pulling out a playing card, and his hand glows for a second before the card starts glowing and his hand returns to normal. When he throws the card, I know who he is and look forward to seeing what happens next.

The card connects with the robot's chest and explodes. I see the dude throwing out several more cards with both hands, each one exploding upon contact, making the robot slowly take a few steps back.

"How did you do that?" the girl asks.

"Excellent! I'd say I did it excellent," he says.

"I am out of here!" the girl says as she resumes her go-to strategy of running away.

"Wait, Gambit is trying to help you! I am also a mutant," he shouts after her.

"Well done, mate!" I say, throwing salt into his wound.

"And who are you?" he asks as he turns around, only to get blasted by the big-ass robot halfway across the mall.

"Uhh, that one's gotta hurt!" I say, flinching, not wanting to imagine the pain.

Meanwhile, the robot is walking past me as if I am invisible and closes in on Gambit's location, scanning him.

"Not registered mutant! Expendable," it says, aiming its hand at him, preparing to fire another laser beam.

"Leave him alone!" I hear the girl shout as she aims her hands toward the robot and fires a beam at it.

"Well, this is like sitting in the first row inside a 3D movie," I say as I watch all this.

"Run, girly! RUN!" Gambit shouts at the girl.

"Idiot! Now we have to first catch up to her in order to protect her," I say as I reach where Gambit is. The dude is holding his side, but I don't see any blood, so I assume it's just badly bruised.

"And who are you?" he asks me once more.

"I'm Ajax. Nice to meet you, pretty boy," I say, helping the dude out of the remains of the car in which he crash-landed.

Just as we get out of the mall, we see another dude blasting the robot with a laser beam, cutting off its head from its torso. He's also holding the unconscious girl in his arms.

*Whistle*

I can't help but whistle in amazement. After all, he's one of my favorite characters.

As we close in on him, I see him look me up and down. In the next moment, Rogue and Storm fly over to us from where they've landed after being blasted away.

The End.