Dark Heir

The Dark Heir Issue 1

- Bronx, New York January 1, 2000-

[ Beep, Beep, Beep ]

In a large 15000 sq ft British manor in the Bronx, New York, a 14-year-old is asleep. He was recovering from a dreadful nightmare under two heavy quilts. The short black dreads stuck to his forehead, covering his brown eyes as he kept tossing and turning around in his sweat-covered bed when the alarm rang, startling him awake.

I wake up with a gasp, reaching over to stop my alarm and grab my glasses when I notice my glasses are not where it was last night. I open my eyes to look around for my glasses on the bedside table stand when I freeze in place.

I clutch my head as a powerful migraine hits me, feeling like I just got tossed upside down and landed on cement. I clenched my jaw as I got hit with a lifetime, 14 years of memories that weren't his own come crashing down on his head. I realize I took over a kid's body, not just anybody but Dwayne Taylor, whose superhero identity was Night Trasher. I remember reading New Warriors when I was a kid back in 2009. The comic opens up with a man holding Richard Rider by the throat on a tall building before dropping him and telling him he didn't know if he had his powers. Previously I have been a Batman fanboy since I watched Batman Beyond, The Batman Animated Series, on Saturday morning on TV. Still, after reading that comic, the New Warriors First issue, it has opened me up to Marvel and made me a vivid comic book reader. I remember getting each Volume as he found out who killed his parents, getting a superhero team together, and then working to take down Terrax, a former herald of Galactus. He was the black Batman of Marvel. He trained his body and mind to wage war against crime after he watched his parent get killed in front of him. He was a fantastic character to read, but now I was him.

I got up from the bed and walked down the room to open the bathroom door in a haze.

I looked at myself, really looking, taking his new features in. He has black dreads and sharp cheekbones instead of the short wavy hair and chubby cheeks I had since I was younger. I still have the same brown skin, the same dark brown, about 5'7, even though I'm 14.

I caught myself in the mirror; it was around 7 in the morning; Dwayne, or is it me, usually goes on a morning run every morning like clockwork ever since his parents' funeral two years ago and him swearing vengeance for his parent's killers. I brush my teeth before grabbing a towel to wipe my face, exiting the bathroom to get dressed and jog. I jog whenever it's nice out or when I have a lot on my mind or want some peace and fresh air.

As I head out to the spacious 3-acre yard, with a blanket of snow covering the ground and a slight breeze, I notice how beautiful the Taylor Manor is.

I start my jog, losing myself in my surroundings, putting more and more pieces together.

I can't focus too much on my past life, and I don't remember my old name; I can only remember what I did, what I remember of marvel comics, movies, and tv shows. It's probably a good thing, though; if I remember too much, I won't be able to move on and accept this new reality.

From Dwayne's memories or at least mine now. I currently live with my godfather, Andrew Chord, a man whose been with me since my parent's funeral two years ago been loving and caring for me as a son he never had, training me in martial arts and pushing me in school to keep me distracted from finding about he's the one who killed my parents, all the shady shit he's doing with the Taylor Foundation, and his mother in law Tai, a strict grandmother who taught me French, Chinese, Siacong, whose currently teaching me a spiritual practice like meditation, different medical herbs, healing, tai chi, kung fu, how to control my body and senses, she is secretly a sorceress from a cult in Asia who messed with my head to cover up the fact she and Andrew killed my parents and plans on using my body as a sacrifice. I also know I have a half-brother somewhere from when my father cheated on my mom with a one-night stand, who grew up hating me for years because their father abandoned him and his mother. Last night was a vast charity gala for a new free clinic the Taylor Foundation opened up in Harlem. I'm on winter break as a freshman working on dual biomedical and computer science degrees with an early graduation track at Empire State University. I just finished my first semester with straight As, and I don't have to return until the move-in day on the 9th. I still have a week and a half before to get ready. I spent this winter break so far reading, getting ahead for next semester, and training with my uncle after he gets back from work. In my previous life, I finished a biomedical engineering degree and got my master's from Wentworth Institute of Technology. At the same time, I interned and later worked at a biotech company in Boston. I loved my job, as I was currently working as a project lead. Heading a new line of pacemakers that last longer with minimal surgery, with an app that tracks your vitals, and physical activity, with a note section to follow symptoms and messages from your physician so you and your doctor can monitor your process. So I don't have to worry about my degree program, and since it's the 80s, I have 40 years ahead in computer programming language and development. It also doesn't hurt since Dwayne is a 14-year-old and already a freshman at college. Ever since I woke up, my thought process and mind have been way better, and the from when I looked up Dwayne Taylor on the Reddit respect thread and marvel wiki, he's considered a genius on par with Dr. Strange and Peter Parker Spider-Man. I'll ace my classes and speed through college. I might have to go all the way and get a Ph.D.

I stop running to catch my breath, sitting on a fallen tree, I'm in a marvel universe now, and I won't know which one I'm in until later. In a world of wonders and disasters, I can't be a regular civilian like I was in my previous life with all the shit that I know with all the different alien invasions and battles in New York from superhero and super villains battles plus Andrew and Tais plans on sacrificing me to an evil cult I can't be weak. I have to train and push myself to improve since I don't have the same anger issues as he did since I was never traumatized, nor was my mind fucked with shortly afterward. If I'm going to be a superhero, I don't want to be known as Night Trasher, and I want to be known as Nightwing. He's my favorite superhero of all time. He has the same laid-back and funny personality that I have, all the training that both Batman and Night Trasher have, but he moved on from his parent's death and didn't lose himself to the darkness and anger as Dwayne or Bruce did. He was a symbol of hope, and I also prefer his black and blue suit way better than the black and red armor that Nigh Trasher had. Maybe I can create a Batman Beyond suit but change the red to blue. I'll have to think more about it later.

As I head back to my room after taking a shower and changing, I find a Stark laptop that reminds him of the early 2000s. He pauses and thinks that makes sense with all the different super genius and shit that happens in Marvel. I'm not surprised that technology is this advanced for the 1980s. He starts looking through websites and the internet and finds out his in the 616 main marvel verse or a verse close to it. Iron Man and Avengers, the Fantastic Four, X men all exist and have been for a few years. He looks up the history, and aside from a few noticeable differences, it's similar to how it was back on my earth and looking up what the Taylor Foundation does and finds out it's a financial conglomerate that has its fingers in different industries like Biomedical, Pharmaceutical, Insurance, and Banks, and also runs a charitable organization that caters to veterans, the homeless, diverse minority group, the entire foundation is worth 2 billion dollars. I stopped when I realized in a few years, when I turn 18, I'll get my parent's shares of the foundation, and I'll be on pace to be a billionaire by the time I am 21. He keeps scrolling through the internet and discovers a few new elements. However, chemistry is still the same, and biology for humans is the same when he stumbles on Dr. Charles Xavier's research paper on the X gene, which leads to Dr. Hank McCoy's research and gets lost in reading when he hears his name.

"Dwayne!" Knocking is heard by a fierce women's voice he knows to be his grandmother, Tai

"Dwayne get down to the dining room; I made lunch."

He freezes and looks at the time, and notices it's 2 pm. He's been sitting and reading different research papers and understanding them for the past 4 hours.

" yes, give me a moment. I'll head down there right now," I yell back and wait for the steps in front of my door to leave before getting my thoughts back in order, stretching as I get up and start walking down.

" I can't let her or Andrew catch on that I'm any different, so I have to keep up appearances till I slowly mellow out in a few months; I can blame college as a way I'm less wound up. " I think to myself as I walk out of my new room and head first on to my new life.