Mundane

I finally sat down. My cubicle surrounded me. My place of comfort, of peace, and of ignorant silence. My stubby hands tightened around the hamburger gripped tightly in my hands. My stomach gurgles out a pathetic noise of hunger and impatience. I could almost hear Stacy, the new intern, scrunch up her nose in disgust. The grease oozes out of the burger patty, past the bread, and onto the napkin I had carefully placed below.


Drip-drop, drip-drop, drip-drop…..


The more I chewed the more I forgot. The more I ignored them. These gracious cubicles. Walls. A prison all but in name. It was my fault I knew. Never paid attention in school. Never had the urgency to see teachers after class to learn more. I was content with my simple life. To put 10 minutes of effort into my homework before booting up any gaming console or PC I could get my addicted hands on. I didn't doubt I had more hours on Minecraft than I did studying for my senior year calculus exam.


A normal, simple Highschool life. Which led to a normal, simple college career. To now… a normal, excruciatingly simple… Existence.


"Hey, Mercer!"


"Huh?" I grunt out a sound of confusion. My mouth quickens its chewing motions. In a hurry, I swallow down my piece of lunch and turn to just one of the many annoyances in my life.


"Yes, Brad?" Setting down my burger onto the napkins below I grab a few before wiping off a large amount of oil and ketchup from around my mouth.


"Did you get the email from HR?"


"HR? No sorry I haven't opened up my inbox since lunch started."


Leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone…


"Oh, no biggie. They just sent out a notice for lunch, we're gathering in the annex hall to… say our goodbyes. A moment of silence type of thing if you get my drift. His family set everything up."


"Everyone's still hung up over 𝘩𝘪𝘮 I'm guessing…" I mumbled.


"I'm sorry I couldn't hear you?" The idiot turns his head to the side. Cups his hands over his ear and leans in close just to "hear me" better.


"Nothing. I'm kinda busy so I probably won't be able to make it. Send his family my condolences if you could." Even if I hated him, momma didn't raise an asshole.


"Aww, that's a real bummer. I'll pass along the message. Lord knows they need the support." With that, Brad walked away from my spot in the office. Right at the corner where no one could accidentally stumble through. He throws back a lazy wave. I watch his back as he disappears into the sea of coworkers making their way to the stairs.


Everyone was heading over to the annex it would seem because of course everyone cared.


One of the most beloved guys around. Found missing nearly 2 months ago. Disappeared without a word. Not a trace to be found.


He was so nice, they said. So loving. So caring.
We'll pretend like his overly attractive looks and built like a brick shithouse frame weren't a factor in his oh-so-kind persona.


Fucking Lancaster.


All though… I do miss talking about comics with the guy…


I huff out a sigh.


Grabbing my burger I go back to one of the few things I enjoy in life.


Food.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
The darkness. I notice it first. Its suddenness forcefully tears my eyes away from my work. I take a quick glance outside, and then at the clock on the wall.


My time here is up.


I pack my things fairly quickly. It's not like I owned much. My satchel straps stretch obscenely as my arm strains them. Their gluttonous mass ruined the hand-stitched leather.


With effort, my legs extend. The mass they were cursed to carry day in and day out put them through stress they clearly couldn't sustain. My body screamed at me. With every step. With every breath.


Why? My body raged at me. Why had I allowed myself to get so out of shape? To live the life of a degenerate with not so much as a regret in sight. How could I have possibly reached this level of negligence?


I didn't care. It was that simple. Food tasted good. Therefore I ate it. It's the same logic that led me to where I am in life now.


I accepted that fact and continued on the laboured walk to the bus stop.


The elevator was suffocating. The 2 women who shared its small space with me pushed themselves against its walls. The germ-filled surface was much more likable to them than the scenario where they may or may not touch my arm by accident. They treated me worse than a disease. More like a cancer to be avoided with extreme prejudice.


It hurt. I wanted to speak out. Tell them how their actions made me feel. Tell them something, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.


My mouth sealed itself shut. My suffering was no one else's burden but my own. I allowed my feelings to stew inside my heart. Hurt, turned to hate, turned to denial, turned to acceptance.


The elevator opened and they rushed out before I even had the time to blink.


This was my life. I caused this. I know my faults. I just couldn't be bothered to fix them.


Feeling myself nearing an emotional state I sat myself down on a nearby bench. Almost as if in a trance, I stared into open space. My inner mind wanders toward memories of my parents. Of my brothers and friends of the past. Good memories. They always overcame the bad.


Cars zoomed by. People walked past, both fast and slow. Urgent and uncaring. Lives so far apart yet experiences that seemed so similar.
Before I knew it time had long since passed. Seconds of thinking and reflecting turned to minutes turned to hours.


It's time. I tell myself once again.


I stand up, an arduous task as per usual.


"Look, Dillon… I can't do this anymore. We're done."


My head turns toward the feminine voice. Further, down the path near an alley, I could see two figures.


I couldn't read body language but even with my subpar knowledge of human interactions I could tell their conversation wasn't going well.


"Come on Jasmine, we can work this out."


"You don't get it, do you? We're over. Done. Finished. Goodbye, Dillon. Have a nice life."


The more she talked the faster my steps became. Granted I had already passed them but you could never get far enough from weird situations.


"Jasmine! Don't you walk away from me!"


"I said good—mmph!"


My head perked up. With a reaction time that was laughably slow, I turned back to just barely catch a glimpse of the aforementioned woman being dragged into the alleyway.


Hand around her mouth. Look of utter fear in her eyes.


My head spun. The possibilities of what could be happening back there went through my head. I considered my intervention. The positives and negatives involved with me putting myself in a situation I had no business being in.


I could walk away, slip past this and file it away as another memory to be forgotten. It wouldn't be too hard, I've probably unknowingly done the same thing more than once before in my life. Most people have for that matter.


Every passing moment is filled with ever-increasing doubt. Flashes of emotions stormed my face. It was only until a mental image of my mother looking down at me with scorn and disappointment did I scold myself for questioning what I should do.


I hurriedly made my way to the sounds of struggle I could hear. Each hastened step puts an ever-growing pressure on my body.


As I approached the alley, my heart raced with fear and adrenaline. I could hear muffled screams and the sound of flesh hitting flesh. All thoughts of avoiding this conflict ceased. I knew I couldn't just stand by and do nothing.


I cautiously peeked around the corner and saw what I assumed to be her (ex)boyfriend holding Jasmine against the wall. Her eyes widened with terror as she struggled to break free from his grip.


Without thinking, I charged toward them and tackled the man to the ground. Years of locking myself indoors came back to haunt me. My lungs burned. My knees creaked. The lunge toward "Dillon'' strained them to their utmost limit. However, my physical inadequacies were covered by my large pudgy frame. I was tall, add that to layers upon layers of heavy blubber and it became quite obvious that Dillon wasn't going to be moving anytime soon


Breathless and shaking, Jasmine stumbled backwards and collapsed against the wall. Tears streamed down her face as she tried to catch her breath.


"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I was saving every molecule of oxygen I could at this point.


She nodded, still too shaken to speak.


I turned my attention back to the man beneath me. He was struggling to break free, but I held him down with all my strength.


"What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded, my anger boiling over.


He snarled at me, his eyes filled with hatred. "Mind your own damn business, loser."


"She's your girlfriend. You should love her enough to respect her choices." I cringed at myself. Both at the cliche aspect and my inability to come up with anything on the spot. I tried my best at adding a bit of authority to my voice. A sorry attempt to mimic Captain America.


"I do love her shithead! Get your fatass off me!" His arms nearly broke my hold. He definitely did a fair bit to keep his body in shape. I don't know many people who could handle being pinned by me.


I didn't know whether to think of that in a good way or not.


Personal insecurities aside, I finally let him go. Removing my hands from his wrists I watched as he rolled himself out from under me. I was convinced he understood what he did was wrong.


People get emotional, they do stupid things. I'd be the last person to judge someone for having an emotional outburst.


'Damn you Elden Ring'


I mentally seethed at a wasted 100 hours of my life.


I regretted nothing.


Who pulls up to the final boss unprepared?


Noobs. That's who.


I had fully enchanted diamond gear when I was just 8 years old. That ender dragon received the whooping of its life. Like hell I'd walk into a fight half-assed.


That ironically couldn't be said about my current situation.


'Sometimes life just finds a way to circle back huh'


"Thank you." A voice cries out. Barely audible over my own inner thoughts.


"Hmm," humming in acknowledgement I give her a look over. She was pretty. A brunette with light blue eyes and soft facial features. They were a hard contrast to her boyfriend's rough, conventionally handsome look.


As always I could see the oh-so-familiar look of disdain. The disappointment in her eyes was a telltale sign. Her fantasy of a rugged attractive man in shining armour coming to her rescue.


What she got instead was me.


However, beneath all that, there was something that shocked me. For the first time in my life, discounting my family, I could see something else. Something other than discontent.


Happiness.


Relief.


Hope.


While her eyes dimmed at my appearance, her appreciation and joy of being safe were clear as day.


Something in my chest ached with a certain feeling. Unfamiliar to me. I quickly realized… that it felt good.


There were about four seconds. Four seconds of the greatest feeling I've ever had. Right before it came crashing down at a speed that I really should've seen coming.


Metal cutting flesh. Tearing it apart as easily as a child swishing around sand at the beach. I saw something wrong before I felt it.


Jasmine's look, which I had been admiring all up until now, replaced itself with one of horror.


I could feel a cold sting in my back. My body was paralyzed. My mental commands of movement were ignored as I went into shock.


A rotten breath passed by my ears. "Anyone ever taught you to mind your own business?" The words whispered. They tainted me, filled with glee, ringing in my head as a constant pain. As constant as the one radiating from my back.


In a cold sweat, I realized all the energy in my body had left me. My knees buckled, gravity swiftly taking a hold of my nearly 300-pound mass. My legs cried out in pain as with a crash I fell onto the cold pavement below.


Clutching my satchel which had been with me throughout this whole ordeal, I use it as a pillow of sorts to protect my head from the eventual fall.


With a tired sigh, my assailant pushes past my downed form. I can hear his shoes lightly tapping against the floor.


Looking toward the noise I see Dillon's back as he approaches Jasmine. He throws his arm around her shoulder and roughly pulls her toward him.


She resisted at first, but that quickly dissipated after each failed attempt. I watched as the hope she had blessed me with the sight of seeing rapidly dwindled into nothingness. The realization that it was over, that there was nothing she could do to escape.


Accepting her fate she threw one more cursory glance toward me. I could almost feel her emotions. The words that hung on her lips, refused to be said in fear.


'I'm sorry'


They walked away from the alley. Leaving me to sit and wallow in a pool of my own blood.


Blood?


Oh yes. That must be the smell. The aroma of iron infiltrated my nose. I cringed at its intensity. Saddened that my last moments would be further stained by its memory.


'As if I'll have any memories after this' I reminded myself pitifully.


I really just got killed because… of love?


Am I missing something here??


The absolute idiocy truly stunned me.


'I was literally about to let you go. It wasn't a big deal. I'm not a cop. I stopped you from assaulting someone… and you KILL me?'


Attempting to rationalize the minds of criminals really wasn't doing much for whatever was left of my mental health.


Not like my mind would be lasting long anyways.


My hands scrambled around my back. Attempting to pull out whatever weapon was lodged in there. The rolls of fat obfuscated both my ability to look back there and my capability to reach what I assumed to be a blade.


I don't know why I even tried. I stopped being able to scratch my back years ago. Long wingspan or not my mobility was horrendous.


If this was Fallout my mobility stat would be in the negatives. I guess I could take solace in the fact my gamer knowledge would be up there.


Like that would help me at all…


I wish it would rain.


I know real life rarely has cliche moments but... I really did enjoy the rain.


It always did give me comfort in my life. The sound. It's vibrations. Water falling from the sky. Sounded almost magical. I could understand why stories of gods existed. What would our ancestors have thought back when you couldn't google how rain was formed?


My body had all but stopped its movements. My satchel was soaked at this point. I went from disgust at just a single whiff of blood to accepting its unpleasant stench as a reminder that I was still alive.


Soon though. Its smell wasn't enough to anchor me to this world.


I could feel it.


Or rather… I couldn't feel it, or anything for that matter.


My body was cold and unresponsive. Soon my mind was much the same.


How could you see the bright side in a dim world without hope? What I had done for Jasmine, I realize would not be done for me. There would be no hero to my story.


And I accepted that.


Drip-drop


'Hmm?'


Drip-drip


Drip-drop, drip-drop, drip-drop…..


The pitter-patter of rain.


'I wish I could smile, one last time…'


My eyes dimmed. From full, to crescent moons.


Until finally, I took my last breath, and my eyes finally came to rest.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Somewhere out there, amongst the stars of our world. Fate prepared itself for a new story. Its sisters weaved a new cloth. Its harbinger received a new vessel of change. An ambassador to invoke its ever-changing will.


For while on one Earth a life of untapped potential and regret ends, on another greatness awakens in jest.


And the fates knew his ability. For they had foreseen it the day he was born. A man of no equal. Dangerous true, but with risks came the ever-glorious possibility of reward.


At that moment, the universe erupted with energy, surging with anticipation at the arrival of its newest story. The strands of fate pulled and twisted, weaving together a tapestry of destiny as the harbinger prepared to deliver their vessel to the world below.


High above the planet, the stars twinkled and glimmered with excitement. Why would they not? Had Fate not wed Destiny to grant them a new 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯?


He who had lived a life of meaninglessness.


He who would carve a place in this multiverse of 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴.

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Out in the universe. The future had been set.
From deep within its prophecies. One voice spoke out amongst the rest.


"Interesting. Quite an interesting development indeed."


Sat upon a throne crafted from technology unknown to the vast multiverse, a being sat in silence.


It had been long since something had piqued his interest. For him, his eyes were the only gateway to interaction. For not many knew the Blue Area of the moon.


A 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦.


Larger than what could be allowed. Removing his gaze from Earth-616 Uatu took notice of another timeline.


Earth-200012


No, this world was not the cause. There was a disturbance, but its spread would not affect this world's conclusion. The invader wielded power that much was certain. However, his power was nothing of importance. The boy was nothing but an idealist. Never the less a great hero he would become.


No, this world was not the one. His sight reaches ever further, into the world which had caused this disorder.


Here. He had found the source.


Uatu's mind was… confused. A mistake it must be, that was what his mind told him.


But his eyes could not lie. He looked and saw a human male unconscious in an alleyway. His body recently moved beyond temporal space. He had nothing now… but the potential was there. It was palpable almost. Power beyond mortal capacity.


He shall not interfere.


Thus was his people's way.


However… that did not mean he could not 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩.


His eyes saw all. For before him, no world was unknown, no past forgotten. No future unseen.
And so he saw the man's future. His trials and tribulations. Tests. Both failed and passed. A hero's journey all but in name.


These visions remained, until he saw… 𝘩𝘪𝘮.


A suit of black armour. Golden light permeated through its plates. Pure power pulsed through its golden veins. A cape, resting on his broad shoulders. It's alluring darkness, nothing more than a replica of empty space. Yet Uatu saw its fibres. He knew its secrets. Metal woven, meticulously crafted for battle.


His helmet was white as snow. It revealed no secrets to those who gazed at his form. Its expressionlessness haunts those who wished to oppose him. Hope to those searching, and a phantom to those who met his might.


Yet Uatu was no ordinary adversary. His ability would not be impeded by a simple mask. He willed his eyes to see past it all. To gaze into what did not want to be seen.


With a smirk, the man behind the mask turns to space. His eyes stared with an intensity outmatched. Instinctually Uatu's body shook. He could feel himself vibrate with an uncomfortable sensation. He knew what it was. How could he not?


It was the purpose of his people after all.


He was being 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥.


With an outstretched hand, the man covered in midnight darkness called forth one of his powers. Jewels Uatu had just realized shone brightly across his body. Six stones of incredible power.


He paid them no mind. They were sealed by their realm. Powerless in the face of the wider multiverse and his near-endless power.


Eager to see this masked individual's intent he waited with bated breath.


And with but a 𝘚𝘯𝘢𝘱, that universe locked itself from him.


His power attempted to connect to it once more, but its effort was for naught. His power, eon's old. And yet with the guidance of experience, the truth of his failure came to him.


He could no longer see it. No longer see 𝘩𝘪𝘮.


A feeling graced Uatu with its presence. One he had only known twice before.


The tragedy his people had caused with the Prosilicans.


His greatest failure… allowing the rise of 𝗛𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀.


And for the 3rd time in his long, immortal life.


Uatu knew 𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧.