16. Jerry's Birthday

The next day, Jerry slowly opened his eyes. A smile automatically formed on his face as he recalled that he was free from Thanos and could obtain himself a new body, and live his life the way he wants from now.

Inhaling deeply, he sat up and ambled towards the bathroom, commencing his morning routine. After completing his rituals, he emerged from the bathroom draped in a comfortable bathrobe. Heading to his closet, he retrieved his usual attire.

'Hm, maybe I should renovate my living quarters to look like a 5-star suite, rather than whatever alienistic aesthetics it bore currently.' He pondered and made his way to the command center.

En route, he observed thousands of Chitauris diligently engaged in the reconstruction of bridges. The Chitauris could be really versatile and industrious.

Arriving at the command center he started the first order of business, information gathering.

He hacked into the Earth's system and got access to the data on their internet from Mars itself. The ship's technology and software made this challenging task really easy.

The first thing he searched for was X-Men, Charles Xavier, and mutants. And luckily, he discovered several articles related to them, which confirmed their existence.

'So, I'm definitely not in MCU. But the power levels of most people I've met are roughly around their movie counterparts. I'm not sure about the mutants though.'

He then searched for articles and footage related to the invasion in New York. However, none of them showed any mentions or glimpses of the X-Men.

'Did they not interfere with the incident? Eternals much?'

But after reading several more articles, Jerry got a better picture of the scenario on Earth. However, the full picture was unlocked when he managed to get into the S.H.E.I.L.D's archives.

Simply put, Charles, Nick Fury, and the government had done a really good job of painting the mutants in a better light. And X-Men were now a well-recognized and decently loved superhero group. 

'I guess Fury employs mutants for his dirty work and in return helps them manage their public image.'

It was the second superhero group that the public came to recognize after the Avengers. 

However, as much as they tried, they still couldn't completely suppress particular industries and certain not-so-friendly higher-ups in the governments to encourage enmity against the mutants. 

'I see, so the events of X-Men: Apocalypse and Loki's New York invasion happened on the same day, huh.'

From the files he read, most of the things turned out the same as in the movies, save for a couple of events. 

In the movie, the moment Apocalypse got to know about Charles's existence, he got into his mind and then destroyed all the missiles, the weapons of mass destruction built by humanity.

In this reality though, Apocalypse destroyed the missiles several hours after kidnapping Charles. In the meantime, the invasion in New York happened. And then, a few hours after Tony Stark redirected a nuke to destroy that Chitauri Mothership, En Sabah Nur did what he did in the movies.

Fury and Charles strategically concealed the X-Men's adventures of that day from the public eye. 

Of course, Charles Xavier wouldn't want the public to hear that the global apocalyptic magnetic anomaly that shook the entire world and the destruction of all the weapons of mass destruction and last defense was done by Eric and himself (technically).

The blame for the catastrophic incidents was attributed to invading aliens, deftly diverting suspicion from mutants. And thus May 2012 spotlighted the Earth's mightiest heroes—the Avengers.

While X-Men were recognized by the public eye, a few months later, in late November 2012. They stopped Magneto's random mass-murdering campaign and saved the president. 

Even though X-Men fought against a mutant, their own kind, they were overly glorified nonetheless. The public loved them, all thanks to the power of media and social networks.

'Shit, if they have already dealt with the Apocalypse, then it means that the technology he used for transferring consciousness from one body to another also went away with him.' 

Indeed, to cover up the incident and to make sure Apocalypse never returns, they destroyed his pyramid...

'No, I should go to Earth to dig deeper into that technology, maybe they kept some parts of it. I doubt Fury wouldn't want to take advantage of that technology.'

And also, Jerry got literally no information regarding the Inhumans.

'Oho, so Mystique works for S.H.I.E.L.D. huh...', he thought as he stumbled upon a file showing her stats.

Both The Avengers and the X-Men were a recently formed group of superheroes. While Avengers were formed seven months ago, the X-Men's debut was just a month ago.

'Oh, today is 31 December, huh... 2013 is coming in just a few minutes... My birthday in my previous life was also on 1st Jan...' Jerry snorted.

A wave of nostalgia hit him as he reminisced about his previous life. Thoughts of his family—parents, brothers, niece, and friends—stirred a deep sense of longing.

His father was a farmer in the countryside, while his mother was a housewife. Jerry had two older brothers and the eldest one even had a daughter, but his wife was passed on while giving birth.

On his birthdays, Jerry would return to his parents' place and so would his brothers. Jerry recalled the warm contentment that permeated such occasions, where familial bonds were cherished above all else.

Overall, it would be a wholesome and joyous occasion. It wasn't his birthday that Jerry would be so eager for, but the company of his family. 

Jerry sighed and shifted his attention back to the screen where the people were partying, celebrating New Year's Eve, gathering up in Times Square, and doing the countdown to the new year. 

'I guess, I'll be enjoying my birthday alone this year, huh... oh well, at least, I have Chitauri...'

A few seconds later though, Jerry heard strange sparks behind him. He turned to find an orange sparkly portal and a mysterious figure in a yellow hooded robe emerging from it.

"Is she The Ancient One?", Jerry murmured, suspicion rife. 'Why is she here? I can't be a world threat, can I?'

"Indeed, Mr. Anderson, I am known as The Ancient One," she answered, removing her hood to reveal a small smile. "And happy birthday."

Encountering her here was a surprise and he was wary of her, but at least with her tone, it didn't seem to him that she was here with ill intentions. 

Besides, Jerry wanted to meet her on his own and ask for help in the near future anyway, if she wasn't here to kill him or cage him in some alternate dimension then it'd be beneficial for him to form a good relationship with the Sorcerer Supreme from the start. 

And there was this interesting fact that she knew his real name and birth date of previous life already. 'I might've told her about it in the future then... or is it through something else?'

Thinking so, Jerry showed her a welcoming smile in return, "Thank you, Ancient One. While I'm pleased by your visit, did you come for more than a birthday greeting?"

The bald woman stayed silent for a moment, scrutinizing his appearance with her mysterious gaze, and then nodded. "Yes, I also wanted to wish you a happy new year. That's everything."

Jerry furrowed his brows, 'Yeah, I don't really buy that...'

The lady giggled, "I can't help but notice the wariness and apprehension etched in your face. Do you doubt my words?"

Jerry sighed,  "While I appreciate the gesture, it's just that knowing you, I didn't think you'd meet someone on your accord unless it was something really important."

The Ancient One smirked, "I may not be as unsocial and unfriendly as you think, Mr. Anderson." 

He couldn't understand her but he didn't need to. He just needed her help. And so, he spoke.

"Anyway, now that you're here and if you don't mind, I need your help." Jerry shot the shot. 

When she was already here then why not beg for her help? Jerry'd do anything to get a new body.

"I'm aware of what you need, but transferring your soul to another body... no mortal, including me, or gods of any pantheon can help you with that..." she stated with an apologetic tone and paused, causing his heart to plummet.

But the bald bitch was just aiming for a dramatic buildup. As she noticed his devasted face, she added, smiling, "And you don't even need anyone's help... What you need to help yourself is already within you.... That's everything I can tell you. Now then, I bid you farewell..."

"Wait!"

Jerry tried to stop her but she just waved, smiling, before portaling back to Kamar Taj.

  =============

Okay, so, there have been too many complaints about the mc's name.

Should I change it after he gets a new body?

1. Yes (Suggest)

2. No

3. Don't care

4. 

5.Deep throat.

6. Loli

7. Anal

8. Blackmail

9. Amputee

10. Emotionless

11. Stomach Deformation

12. Incest

Thanks for reading!

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