Chapter 1 - Different Reality

"Hey listen, listen! I know that I'm late but-"

"Again! You're late again, Ethan! Can you just show up on time at least once?!"

"Look, in my defense, it took me a long time to get all the stuff," I said over the phone, trying to find a way to make a valid argument. "Not to mention the long lines, you know how long those take."

Several seconds passed with nothing but silence. "You used that same excuse last week when we were meeting up with Frank, remember? We were supposed to meet up at his place, and you said you had to go out to get "errands" for your mom last minute? Think that I forgot about that?"

"I-ughh…" I tried finding a valid response but failed. "Alright, look. I may have stayed up a little longer last night and woke up barely thirty minutes ago. You know I can't just stop watching when a movie begins. Oh, and by the way, Nightcrawler was just amazing. One of the best performances I've seen in a while. See? I told you I would get around to watching it."

"You jackass," Was all he said before chuckling. "Alright, just please, please tell me you're on your way. Kind of getting impatient over here you know."

"Yeah, I'm on my way right now," I answered, glad that the conversation is moving in the right direction. "About ten or fifteen minutes away. Before you ask, don't worry, I got everything we need for the marathon."

"Thank god, least that is taken care of. Everything is ready on my end, just bring the food over so we can cook something before we start. Haven't eaten anything since yesterday."

"Awesome, I'll be there soon."

I hung up and had a long, desperate sigh of relief. Seriously though, I need to manage my time better. I swear, one of these days it's gonna screw me over, like now for instance. Still, being a few minutes late doesn't mean it's the end of the world. While walking, I tried my best to ignore the cold. It started snowing just a week ago, not that I was complaining but still found the low temperature to be a bit irritating.

I stopped for a moment to look at my left and my right, making sure that no car will pop up out of nowhere while I cross the street.

As I re-entered a steady pace, my attention turned to the screaming children that were in a nearby park, happily playing in the snow. They appeared to be at least four or five years old, something like that. As for the parents, they weren't that far away from the kids. There were three pairs of them, just chatting without a care in the world. My eyes jumped back to the children, unable to stop the smile forming on my face. I remember way back when I was their age, winter was always the best time of the year, for obvious reasons. Hours and hours of just wandering in the snow, building a fort, snowball fights and so much more.

Is it weird that I want to just throw myself into the snow? Just once? Eh, why the heck not, can't remember the last time I did anything when it was snowing.

Hoooooonk!

A loud noise snapped me out of my thoughts. Looking for the source of the noise, I looked around and spotted a speeding truck up the street that seemed to have no intention of slowing down. Why was it doing that? I trailed down the path it was heading, only to see a boy running into the middle of the street to retrieve a blue board, unaware that a truck heading his way.

Then everything clicked.

"…Kid! Get out of the way!"

Letting the bag drop to the ground and with all my strength, I dashed forward. The snow on the ground, which was at least a few inches deep, suppressed my feet from gaining a fast start. The parents, that were completely oblivious to the danger the child was in, all turned around after my sudden cry. A woman, which I presume is the boy's mother, shouted his name at the top of her lungs, high enough to break glass even. She broke into a run, rest of the adults following suit, but the chances of them making it in time were very thin.

While there was some difficulty running in the snow, I got to the boy faster than I would have thought. Just as I expected, the boy was frozen with fear and probably didn't even hear his name being called out countless times. I grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him off his feet, then throwing him off several feet away. Since the snow was thick enough and the boy landed on his side, I doubt he would have any injuries.

"Now all that's left is-"

I didn't even get to finish the sentence in my head when I saw that the truck approaching at a speed my mind could barely comprehend. I couldn't help it, I just had to close my eyes and hope this ends quickly.

The truck hit me, I was sure of that. But then… why didn't I feel any pain?

I opened my eyes, ever so slowly. And I was shocked at what I was seeing. I was in space! In the literal void of space, not a single planet was nearby, only thousands of little white dots.

Suddenly, I could feel my body starting to move, and quite fast. The speed increasing more and more. Out of nowhere, around my whole body appeared a blue sphere, it felt like it was pushing me even further.

"Aaaaghhh!"

Just like that, I was hurtling through space, with no intent on slowing down. It felt like I was a comet shooting through space.

In the far distance, I realized I was heading towards… Earth?! I wasn't quite sure where I was headed, everything was so blurry and moving way too fast for me to even process. Before I even blinked, I was falling through the clouds. This phenomenon ended with me hitting a brick wall and falling to the ground in pain.

"O-Oww!" I winced, unable to figure out what specific part of my body hurts the most.

I tried with whatever strength I had to stand up, but had great difficulty doing so. It took several minutes at best for my body to feel anything at all. After about a dozen attempts, I pulled myself up with my hands, which have only now stopped shaking. My feet got a good feel of the ground, making sure I don't lose my balance upon standing up. Another problem seemed to present itself, my back.

Placing my hands on my back, mentally preparing for the painful ordeal that's just moments from happening. On the count of three, I attempted to fix my back-ache. When I heard the "cracking" sound, I let out a long groan of satisfaction and relief. While the pain was still present, it was less bothering now.

Ignoring the pain in the rest of my body, I scanned my surroundings in the hopes of figuring out what the Hell just happened. From the looks of it, I ended up in an alleyway, a long one at that. Even though it seemed like it was day time, the alleyway was barely lit, accompanied by the loud noise of traffic in the distance.

I searching my pocket for my phone, and to my surprise, it was still in one piece, considering it was on the side where I smacked the wall. The screen was heavily damaged, cracks everywhere, but it seemed salvageable. I tried turning it on multiple times, but it was dead.

"That's just perfect…" I said in frustration, slowly feeling a migraine coming up. I rubbed my eyes, another dilemma added to the list.

In the corner of my eye, I noticed a faint reddish glow. Now fully focusing on the glow, the source of the light was hidden behind a small and damaged cardboard box. I started taking small, but cautious, steps towards it. Crouching down, I moved the box to the side, the red glow radiated from a book, only this was no ordinary book. The book was fairly large, what I only could identify to be a tome book. The cover was made out of what I assumed was vintage leather, a big ruby gemstone embedded in the center, with four smaller ones located in the corners, topped with gold assets around them.

The book was relatively heavy when picking it up, which is to be expected. Once it was in my hands, the glow on the gem died down. Upon opening the book and flicking through some of the pages, they had one thing in common, they were all blank.

"What…?"

I asked in confusion, continuing to flip through it. Page after page of blank space, no writing, no drawings, no nothing. I could only assume this was custom-made for decorative purposes. But how does that explain the red glow? The idea of my eyes playing tricks on me is a high possibility.

Deciding not to dwell on this matter further, I just closed the book with a sigh. Right then, the ruby started glowing slightly, lower than the first time. Out of curiosity, I started examining the gemstone in the center, slowly trailing my finger around it. When my finger reached the tip, I didn't expect for it to sharp as glass, instantly cutting my finger.

"Ah!" I winced, waving my hand for the sting to go away.

Suddenly, the gem started glowing once again, the same intensity when I first saw it. Above it, the small drop of blood expanded exponentially. After that, the book opened with the pages rapidly starting turning. I jumped back in shock at the sudden occurrence and landing on my butt, the book now floating. This process continued until the pages were even on both sides. The now inflated bubble of blood dropped dead center on one of the pages. At first, the surface absorbed it all, then appeared thin lines of blood that ran across the two pages. After some time, the color changed from red to yellowish gold, then the lines started forming into strange symbols, with some additional drawings of some sort. Once the pages were all full to the brim, the book closed itself and feel to the ground with a loud thud.

What… was that? There is no logical explanation of what I just witnessed, delusional, or not. I got back on my feet and approached it once more, more cautious and scared this time around. The book had a different appearance that's for sure. The five ruby gemstones were now transformed into what appeared to be emerald stones, each of them letting out a faint glow, the middle one brighter than the rest.

I picked it up a second time, only now it was significantly lighter. It could be easily mistaken for a notebook for its current weight. Opening to the first page, I was greeted with unreadable symbols that circled a hexagonal drawing. Further studying the markings, I can't quite recall ever seeing anything like them before, not like these anyway. My finger trailing the markings until I reached the center of the hexagon, then the whole page suddenly lit up. The drawings radiated with a golden color, slight streams entering my hand until they died down.

Then something… weird happened. The symbols, I understood them, only little that it. I can't explain it, it was like learning a new language and getting accustomed to the basics. While I could barely understand the writing, I couldn't make out what word meant what.

"Enough of that!" I closed the book with a huff. "None of this makes any sense! How did this happen? The moment I pushed that kid away, the truck hit me than all of a sudden I'm in space?"

I'm not going to get any answers if I just stay in this damn alleyway. I started walking towards the end of the alley, book in hand. I had no idea why I even carried the thing, but I couldn't just throw it away. Was it responsible for why I ended up here? Maybe.

Getting closer towards the light, the noise growing louder and louder with each passing second, black silhouettes of people passing by from each side. As I was about to step out of the alley, I had to shield my eyes from the intense light. With my eyes slowly adjusting to the sunlight, I withdrew my hand and I can't say I was glad about what I saw.

"Oh… dear… god…"

I uttered lowly at the sight. An endless sea of cars was put to a halt, seconds later they started moving again, only a little though before stopping once more. The sun was just about to set, but the heat felt like it was. All sorts of people passing by, not an inch of space on the street was empty. A few that passed by gave me strange looks, presumably because almost everyone I saw wore t-shirts and clothes you would normally wear in the summer. Then you see someone like me, dressed in winter clothing and looking around like a lost puppy. Most of them probably thought I was crazy.

"Hey, kid!"

I wouldn't exaggerate when I say I almost had a heart attack from that.

"Y-Yes?!"

Turning around in less than a second, my focus landed on the man who called out to me. If I had to say, the man was in his forties, a bit on the larger side, wearing a construction uniform carrying a toolbox.

"What are you doing wearing that oversized coat on ya?" The man asked, confusion on his face. "It's like what? 90° degrees out here!"

"O-Oh, this?" I blabbered instantly, my brain working overtime for an excuse. "I have a cold! Yeah, that's it. I can't stay outside for too long if I'm not wearing something as big as this."

The man just looked confused, like I spoke in a different language. The man just shook his head. "Aright, whatever you say kid."

Was all he said as he walked past me and began to leave.

"Wait, Sir!" I quickly called out to the man. He turned around and look annoyed. "Where am I? I mean, what's this place called?"

While it seemed like a very stupid idea to just ask the first person I come across. At this point and time, I honestly didn't care. I just wanted to figure out where I am.

"Mead St." The man answered.

I blinked. I motioned with my hand for a more detailed answer. "As in?"

"As in what?"

"As in what… city, I guess?" I asked. "Honest to God, I seemed to be a little lost. I can't properly remember where I ended up. Can you be a little more… specific?"

This is just humiliating and pathetic. Was that the best thing I could come up with?

"Kid, are you stupid?!" The man asked with a mocking tone. "You're in Mead St., which means we're in Bronx, you idiot. And as in "The Bronx" in New York. There? Does that jog your memory, dumbass?"

The man turned and walked away. I could still hear him cursing about today's youth or something.

"New York…"

Well, this is just perfect. New York, of all places to end up I get sent here. Now I know that I have vanished from part of the continent to another. I took off my coat, just now starting to register the intense heat. With no plan in mind, and still not fully believing that I was now in one of the largest cities in the world, I just started walking mindlessly along the street, blending into the array of people.

I noticed a swarm of people down the block, they seemed to be looking through a glass window. Shortening the distance from myself and the small crowd, they appeared to be standing in front of a TV store, numerous screens having the same blond woman wearing a gray suit, a NEWS logo on the bottom right. Without a second thought, I decided to see what all the fuss was about, have to start somewhere at least.

[And now, following up on the very, "controversial" debate that surfaced this morning at the Senate Armed Forces Committee.] The reporter stated. [The center of attention is Stark Industries' CEO, Tony Stark, also known by his alter-ego, Iron Man. Ever since his shocking reveal to the world, Senator Stern has demanded that Mr. Stark hands over the Iron Man armor so that the United States may use the same technology for military application. Senator Stern also claims that the existence of such technology possesses a threat and should not be in the hands of one man and one man alone. Stark, however, bluntly refused. He then proceeded to show evidence of foreign countries attempting to copy the suit, with all of them failing to come close to Mr. Starks' design. Among the footage shown, it also displayed fellow weapons manufacturer, Justin Hammer.]

The screens then changed to a courtroom. The camera was focused on TV that was entirely black, lines and lines of code appeared that displayed "Welcome Back, Mr. Stark", before shifting to low-quality footage of what seemed to be an oversized humanoid robot that fell to the ground while repeatedly firing a machine gun. It changed several times, showing similar footage, all attempts failing miserably. After that was over, a Senator and a man with a goatee in a well-tailored suit stood up and exchanged a few more words, before turning around and praising himself, a wide smirk visible on his face.

"Wait what?"

Did I just saw Robert Downey Jr.? It… it has to be, there's no way I couldn't recognize his face. I remember this scene, it's from Iron Man 2! Now I'm completely lost. Why are they showing a scene from a movie that was released in 2010? Why is the NEWS even mentioning this? I pushed through the crowd, ignoring their complaints. My mind could hardly keep up what I just saw and heard.

Let's go over this again. I'm positive that truck hit me, there's no way it had enough time to hit the brakes, I know for a fact that the driver didn't since I couldn't hear them. Hypothetically, let's say he did, the truck would still hit me nonetheless, and the impact would just be weaker. Still, aside from the adrenaline and fear, I didn't feel any sort of pain then. Speaking about time, why did I feel like everything slowed down, then ending up in space.

Then it hit me. I was in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Either that or I somehow survived that hit from the truck and I ended up in a coma and all of this is just a crazy dream. I'm not sure of what option I should be fonder of.

I slapped my cheeks several times to regain focus. First things first, find a place to spend the night. A place where I don't have to pay, without worrying about a stranger lurking around while I sleep and can, hopefully, use until I figure out a better plan.

Now… where do I find that?

---

Numerous hours later, I found what I was looking for, sort of.

It was an old abandoned warehouse. Not the most ideal place but I'm just glad I managed to find something. By now it was already night time, my feet were literally on the verge of breaking. Entering the warehouse, I was honestly surprised that the inside wasn't all that bad, machines that were out of order and tons of boxes, some of them broken to pieces. I climbed up the flight of stairs and hid behind a large crate, using my coat to soften the hard surface.

At first, I had difficulty falling asleep. How could I? I was slowly coming to terms with that I might have ended up in a fictional world. I just kept staring at the ceiling, my mind refusing to think properly.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'll go out and find some answers. Yeah, that will do.

Eventually, I drifted off to sleep

---

When I woke up, I was able to deduct two things. The first, I was still in the same spot when I fell asleep the previous night. And the second, my back was killing me, way more than when my body was thrown against a concrete wall. Now that I think about that contributed to my back pain. The only upside was that since it was warm outside, the need to cover myself was nonexistent. At least there's that.

For the first thirty minutes or so after waking up, I just sat in the same position, still not yet fully believing my situation. The only thing I could do is rub my temples while trying to come up with a decent plan. Then I decided, sulking here by myself won't do anything. I'm far from home with no idea how to get back. If I really am in the MCU, that NEWS report was true and it's safe to say I'm in the timeframe of Iron Man 2. So that means things are moving relatively slow, might as well and try to dig up whatever I can. But the question was where?

Before leaving, I glanced at the mysterious book that was right next to me. I still haven't opened it since yesterday, finding a place to sleep was the main priority. I contemplated taking the book with me, but it would only be a nuisance to carry, whether it be its original weight or now that it's lighter. Ultimately, I decided to hide the two items behind a crate, adding a few smaller ones to the sides to block any view of seeing them.

Was I paranoid? Ridiculously so. Especially when hiding in a warehouse of all places.

With that taken care of, I left the docks, sneaking away from some construction workers that were not too far away, but they didn't seem to notice either way. Since I didn't have a goal in mind, walking around is all I could do for now. It took me about an hour to actually get anywhere, with the help of strangers that I asked for directions. With my phone being practically useless, finding a way to access the internet was key. To do that, finding a tech store somewhere was the easiest way of doing so.

After another half hour of walking, I stood in front of a fairly large shopping center, this will have to do. Stepping inside, I scanned every store as far as my eye could see.

"There it is."

I muttered to myself. A small sense of relief and joy when I saw a tech store at the far back. It didn't take long before I reached the said store. There were ten or so customers inside, all of the workers that I could see we're occupied with by helping the customers, the only exception was the one behind the register.

I walked the short distance towards the section that provided laptops. Luckily, no one near them might see what I was up to. This paranoia is starting to irritate me, I'm just going to google a few things, nothing out of the ordinary. Then I shouldn't be this paranoid. I used the touchpad to open the browser…

What should I type in?

This part hadn't occurred to me before. Come on, think of something. Something simple should do. Guess it's worth a try, I typed in "Tony Stark" and hit search. Immediately, I clicked on the first one at the top and skimmed through it. Yup, I'm in the MCU alright. How did I come to this conclusion you may ask? Simple, when searching upon a fictional character, it will most certainly be a Wiki page that contains dates of its release, its publisher, its powers (if they have any that is) and that kind of stuff.

Instead of being all the things I just mentioned, it was a well-detailed page that a historical figure would have. It listed the hospital he was born in, praise for his intellect and numerous achievements at a very young age, graduating MIT at the age of seventeen, the disappearance of his parents, continuing his father's legacy when becoming CEO of Stark Industries and last but not least, his announcement to the world of him being Iron Man.

Going further, I decided to try again to make sure this wasn't a fluke, typing in "Bruce Banner" this time. My hunch was correct. Just like Tony's, it had no mention of his alter ego, just his research on Gamma Radiation. After looking through the two pages, I decided to see what the NEWS sites had to offer. Won't be as near as useful when I now fully know where I ended up. Nothing worthwhile was there anyway, except for Tony and his court fiasco. I scrolled the page, just minor incidences here and there. But then something caught my eye, an article at the top of the page that included a name of a very important individual. I made sure I re-read the name properly at least five times.

Reed Richards.

The article was still relatively fresh, it was a picture of a man in a lab coat (which I assumed was Reed himself) shaking hands with an elderly man in business attire, an announcement for the renovation of a building that would soon be transformed into the Baxter Building somewhere in New York. That was just the first half, the second half consisted of basic info on Reed, Ben Grimm, Susan and Johnny Storm. It also listed an unauthorized test flight into space using an experimental rocket, which was made by Reed's design that launched close to a year ago. It said all pilots survived with no injuries after the rocket crash-landed back on Earth, but anyone who knows the history of the Fantastic Four knows that this is where they obtained their iconic powers.

He exists in this world as well? How can this be? This can't be the MCU if the Fantastic Four are in it. Or maybe… maybe everything is the same and they are just added in, RDJ's and Mark's faces were just like in the movies. A simple deduction, yet highly plausible. It also wasn't the actor that portrayed Mr. Fantastic in the movies, he looked different.

Then an idea popped into my head. Let's see if a certain Professor also exists. Lo and behold, he does, with very limited information available. I knew the X-Mansion was real, but the exact location was unknown. If my memory serves me right, it just outside of town. There has been some mention of "paranormal sightings" involving people doing all sorts of weird stuff, it's easy to assume that they were talking about mutants. So the X-Men, alongside the Fantastic Four are present in this version of the MCU. If the circumstances were different, I'd be jumping up and down like a madman knowing that an even better version of my favorite franchise existed!

Well, this certainly was an eye-opener. At least I now I know where I ended up, in my favorite fictional world, full of gods, monsters, aliens. I mean, it could have been worse. I tried searching numerous other things my mind could think of, sadly, there were no results this time, nothing of importance that is. Still, I can't be too dissatisfied with what I got, so I consider this a win. Alright, that being taken care of, we move to our next problem.

How do I get back to the warehouse?

---

"Finally!"

While the search helped immensely, finding my way back was almost impossible. I did use the same route that got me to the shopping mall, but due to the size of the city, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. By now, the sun was slowly setting and I was dead tired. I climbed up the stairs and was tempted to just fall down and sleep through the next three days. My mind refusing to work properly altogether. Food and water were a big issue. Going through the last few days with no food was horrible! I was so close to passing out from hunger. I had no money left since I spent everything I had when buying the supplies for the marathon. Still, after figuring out where I ended up, sleeping in an abandoned warehouse, a lack of food, wandering the endless streets of one the largest city in the world, alone, none of those things (believe it or not) were my biggest concern. There was only one thing I wanted to know, and I fear I may never get an answer…

How do I get back home? Is it even possible to get back? What will mom and dad think? Oh crap, I forgot about them. They are probably freaking out right now, the worst part is that even if I do find a way back, how am I supposed to explain this to anyone?

"Oh, right. The book." I muttered, stopping right in my tracks, I forgot about it. I moved the boxes aside and found the emerald engraved tome and coat right where I left them.

"Wish there was a way to mark this place somehow." I sighed, rubbing my temples. "If only my phone was in my other pocket then it just might have-"

In the middle of my small rant, the book suddenly opened with its pages rapidly turning. I jumped back in surprise, the wall preventing me from going further as I watched the book in shock and amazement. Its speed started to decrease drastically, it stopped entirely after a few moments. When it stopped, golden lines began forming on the page, then they started moving in every possible direction. I can't describe what it was, a drawing of some sort, it closely resembled a compass. Once it was finished, a beam shot out of the circle and landed a few feet away from me. In a blink of an eye, the beam disappeared, leaving a glowing symbol on the ground that also vanished moments later.

"... Okay, that's new." I pondered in disbelief. To be honest, after confirming I'm in the MCU, on my way back I started thinking for what was the use for this book, or when it absorbed my blood and changed the color of the gem.

I just couldn't wrap my head around this whole thing. All my life I could only dream of living in a world like this. When I grew older I just accepted that these are the type of things that we use to escape our daily lives, a way to entertain ourselves. Nothing more than that. But now actually seeing something like that happen before my very eyes, I couldn't describe the feeling with just mere words.

After finally composing myself, I began thinking of a way of using it. Was it on command? Only one way of finding out.

"Umm, find... the warehouse?" I asked it. Since it responded to my command to mark the place, maybe it would work again.

Right after saying those words, the lines lit up once more. Some of them started to surface from the page, interlocking with one another until it resembled an arrow. When it was complete, it started rotating slowly, moving slightly back and worth, directly pointing at the marked spot.

This is going to be a long night it seems.

---

Wandering the streets of New York only proved more tiresome. Another day wasted just walking and trying to come up with a plan. If I had stayed in that warehouse a minute longer I would have gone crazy. Deciding to walk in one of the biggest cities in the world, at night of all times, maybe one of my worst ideas yet. Truth is, I honestly didn't care, I won't get anywhere by just sitting around. Relying on people is a no go. The only ones I would even consider are beyond my reach, so that pretty much narrows things down.

Speaking about the book, the progress with it is a dead end. What I originally thought was thrown right the window. Nothing seemed to work, the small sliver of hope on figuring out the damn thing vanished. The only It only worked if I asked it to navigate to the place I marked, besides that nothing. The thing was still a complete mystery to me.

I was contemplating going to Karma-Taj, or to simplify the trip, find the New York Sanctum Sanctorum. The Ancient One would surely know something to help me, maybe even possibly find a way to return home. She most likely noticed when I entered the MCU, it's the Ancient One for crying out loud. Turning towards her for help was one of the only options at my disposal. For that, I need to think of what to say and make sure that they believe me.

An alternative was getting on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar but quickly dismissed that idea. The whole thing could backfire. S.H.I.E.L.D in Phase One was all over the place, trying to their hardest to keep things on the down-low, not to mention Nick Fury isn't the most trustworthy person right now. They have information on everything, the moment they spot me, I'm dead. A person who has zero info on them and practically acts like a ghost? They'll hunt me down in less than an hour.

With an exhausted sigh, I looked up to the clear sky. Why does this have to be so complicated?

"Help! Someone, please help us!"

Then I heard it, a loud and terrifying scream that echoed across the empty streets that could most likely be heard from a radius of a few blocks. I looked around in quick successions to find where the scream was coming from, it belonged to a woman. Not even a few seconds later, another scream was heard, louder this time. I felt a surge of adrenaline hit me as I started running, was someone getting mugged? Either that or someone is already injured. That's when I spotted it, an entrance to the alleyway, that's most likely the source of the screams.

I leaned onto the cold brick wall, peaking from the edge.

"I'll say this one more time, hand over all the cash you got and you two just might walk away all in one piece." A thug said bitterly, playfully swinging a small pocket knife in his hand.

"H-Hey man, I don't want any trouble!" The cornered man said hesitantly, protectively using his arm over the girl right beside him. "B-But listen, I swear I don't have any money on me! Honest to God!"

"Well then…" The thug slowly crept closer. "The hard way it is."

A mugging, five guys in total, I wouldn't be surprised if all of them had a knife. They were at least a couple of years older than me, all dressed in black clothing with punk aesthetics. Nothing more than just a bunch of junkies. The two unfortunate victims appeared to be a couple with no chance of escaping, the gang surrounding them.

"I'm getting a sense of Deja' Vu over here..."

What am I supposed to do here? I got no phone so I can't call the Police. Even if I did, those guys would be long gone before they even get here. Not to mention severely outnumbered, five to one, making things more complicated. I wasn't that particularly strong, I don't think I could hold my own in a one-on-one scenario, let alone against all five of them.

The thing I'm supposed to do is just turn around and walk away. I can't do anything that might help them and it shouldn't be any of my concerns. Unfortunately, they ended up in this situation, but the last time I tried to help someone resulted in me dying, actually it was getting sent to a fictional world where Gods and superheroes are real, which is just as worse. I'm sure if they just give them what they want they'll leave the couple alone.

Then why doesn't my body respond when I tell it to? Why am I still standing here? I got too many problems to worry about and I honestly don't want to repeat the same stupid mistake that got me here in the first place. But I can't just leave them like this.

Damn it.

"Hey!" I yelled as I made my presence known, stepping into the alley.

All of them turned to the sound of my voice, one of them was the first howl back. "Beat it, kid!" The thug with the knife in his hand yelled, obviously annoyed. "Can't you see I'm busy!?"

"With petty theft? Alright, look. How about this. You just put that knife down, leave the couple alone, and we all go our separate ways. That way, nobody gets hurt."

The punk just scoffed. "And let me take a guess, you're the one who is going to stop me?"

"Umm… yes?"

"Fine then…" The thief fully turning towards my direction, a wicked smile present. "Your funeral."

The one with the knife charged at me with full speed, quickly closing the distance between us. Here I am, going to fight a thief who has a knife, while I had what I believed was a magical relic, and I didn't know how to use it.

So what do I do? I smacked him across the face just as he tried to stab me, sidestepping his assault in the last second. It may be just my imagination, but I'm sure I heard a "cracking" sound when the book vibrated slightly from the sheer force of the impact. He didn't expect that fast of a reaction time with a book this heavy, which of course he didn't know it's felt like swinging a small notebook. At least now I know this same effect doesn't apply to other people.

The mugger stumbled backward till he fell to the ground, clutching his nose as his screams echoed in the now-dead silent alleyway. I could faintly see huge lines of blood running down his hands, staining his sleeves and upper side of his shirt. His hands started shaking uncontrollably as he attempted to uncover his face. Oh yeah, his nose was definitely dislocated, it should never go that far to the right. When he looked at the amount of blood on his hands, his eyes widened and instantly balled his fists, the look of shock changing to one of anger and rage.

"You're…dead!"

And that was my cue to run! I swiftly turned and made a run for it, I felt my muscles hurt from how fast my body reacted. The road was empty, not a car in sight. While running, I looked behind me, only to barely see the one I hit run out of the alley and started chasing after me, the other four not far behind. There was no way to go but straight, which is when the road reached its end and was divided into two separate paths. Deciding against going left or right, I continued going forward, running through a small gap in-between the two buildings. The whole area was dark, for me it was a good thing.

There were three ways to move from here, I opted to take the path to my left, hoping that the others take the other two. Choosing this path may have been a bad idea, it looked exactly like the street I just passed by, that and I don't even know where I'm going.

I made my way into another alleyway, turning my head slightly again to see if they were still on my tail. Unaware of where I was heading, I felt my foot slip on something, which sent me falling to the ground.

"A-Ahh, damn it." I groaned from the pain, as well as the hot air hitting me directly in my face, trying to block it with my hands. While doing so, something bizarre happened. Some of the

Crawling to the book, I noticed something… strange. It was still closed, but there was a slight glow coming out of its side. Opening it, I flipped through the pages until I found where the glow was coming from. It didn't take that long since it was within the first ten or so pages. The first sentence on the page, it was now fully completed.

"There he is!"

Looking behind me, I saw the man I hit standing at the entrance. Shortly after, the rest of them appeared as well. A malicious grin plastered all over his face as his hand trailed to his pocket, taking out the small knife from before. At first, all of them slowly started walking towards me, until the thug with the knife started running at full speed.

"Do something! Do something!" I pleaded while shaking the book desperately, nothing happened. Without even realizing it, I started hitting it with my fist, my head jumping back and forth from it to the attacker that was vastly approaching. Seeing as my attempts did nothing,

The text sparked slightly as it started to fade away, the tip of my finger absorbing it, gold lines briefly appeared on my hand. There was no time left to figure out what just happened as the man lunged himself towards me. I tumbled slightly back, throwing my opened hand out to try blocking the knife. Just when the knife was about to come in contact with my skin, fear took over me, my eyes closing before he could strike me.

But the pain never came. I opened my eyes just in time to see the man, who is now a few feet in the air and pushed all the way back to his friends, who caught him before hitting the ground. Looking back at my hand, it was clear that some kind of effect happened when I tapped the completed text.

"What the fuck was that?!" The thug yelled, a mix of confusion and anger in his voice.

"How the Hell did he do that?" The one next to him asked.

"Don't know, don't care, just grab him!" He yelled back.

All the other four charged at me, the two smaller ones had the upper hand as they were much faster. The closest one was on left, mimicking the same gesture as the first time, I got to see how the "spell" looked like. It was like a miniature whirlwind, a long cone of wind released from my hand, pushing my attacker back until he hit the wall. The one on the right got even closer, managing to repeat the action just in time, this one flew until he hit the trash cans, groaning in pain. Not gonna lie, this is the thing I wanted to avoid at all costs, but this feeling was exhilarating. If anything, it feels like I was mirroring the way Iron Man uses his Repulsors!

My moment of awe was cut short by the third thug who flung himself towards me, managing to sidestep him by the skin of my teeth. Still, he was behind me now which automatically results at a disadvantage, especially when he quickly turned around with the effort of grabbing me. I positioned my hand slightly upwards, releasing another cone that hit him in the chest from bellow, sending him flying back. He managed to land on his feet but still skidded backward grasping for air, moments later falling.

I didn't have time to react to the fourth one, who was significantly larger than the others, grabbed me from behind, locking my arms in a tight bear hug, pulling me off my feet. My arms being locked meant I couldn't properly aim for a good hit. Feeling the air in my lungs vanishing, I struggled to break free, the grip only tightens. Then an idea popped into my head. I wasn't yet quite sure how to properly use this newfound power, it's still worth a shot nonetheless. Positioning my hand in the desired spot was difficult because his grip only got tighter, however, this should work. I swung my arm as far as I could, managing to hit him in his abdomen. It seemed to do the trick as I felt his whole-body vibrate rapidly, following with a strong push that knocked him down to his sides with a grunt.

I gasped for air as I fell to my knees, taking deep breaths repeatedly. My eyes scanned the small area around me, four of them were still down, only one left. Hearing what sounded like a war cry, I turned to see the leader charging at me, a lengthy distance separating us. Repeating the same gesture as before, a problem came to my attention that I didn't account for beforehand, the ability's range distance. Instead of getting flung back as I anticipated, he was only slightly pushed back which took him by surprise, his anger returning in a blink of an eye, continuing his assault.

There wasn't much time to try again as the two who were on the ground, one on each side, quickly got up and lunged towards me. Running past them is a no go, I can't push them all away. Plan B it is then, run the other way! It wasn't long till I reached the far end, coming to a halt.

Turning around, only four of the thugs were standing, the big guy seemed to be knocked out. They weren't huddled up close up in a group, instead, they were separated. If I were to try knocking one away the rest will beat me up before I get to the next one.

"Think! There has to be a way out of this!" I thought urgently, my mind working overtime to figure out a plan. With each passing moment, they all crept closer, the devilish grin on the leader's face only growing wider. I turned back to the brick wall, then looking up. It wasn't like the two buildings beside it, it was at least above ten or so feet, most likely a garage or some sort of storage unit. Whatever it was, there was no way of climbing up.

Unless…

Ah, what the Hell, it's the only plan I got and it's worth a try, not like my situation can get any worse at this point. Hearing the leader's demand to jump me, which was my cue!

Acting quickly, I positioned my arm so it faced the ground, slightly tilted so instead of just, hopefully, pushing me upwards, but a little forward as well. Before I lost my chance, I fired at the ground. Upon doing so, I felt my whole body being pulled up almost instantly. Before I even knew it, I landed on the edge of the small building.

I couldn't believe it, it worked! I turned to see the four thugs, all having the same shocked face. I couldn't help but laugh victoriously, only pissing them off even further. That didn't sit well with the leader, turning around and racing out of the alley, signaling the rest to follow. Time for me to do the same.

"That was so cool!" I thought in-between breaths while running as fast as I could, all the while smiling like an idiot. "The looks on their faces were priceless! It took a while for it to finally do something, but it definitely paid off. Didn't think it would give me superpowers for crying out loud!"

I have all night to geek out, can't get sidetracked right now. Running down the long storage unit was kind of a hassle, I could barely see anything, and right next to the edge didn't help either. With that being said, I failed to notice a hatch in my way, which resulted in me tripping and nearly falling off. In the split second where my body wasn't touching the ground, I threw my hand out, using the miniature cyclone to shoot me to the other side. I tumbled a few times before coming to a full stop, now lying on my back.

"D-Damn, close one… but still cool." I uttered getting up, feeling slightly sore on the left side of my body. "Wish I knew what else this book could do."

I jogged till I reached the end, and conveniently, I saw a ladder that was embedded in the concrete, perfect. Right then, I heard footsteps, very loud footsteps and they were getting closer. Taking a peek, I spotted one of the thugs running, instantly stopping when he noticed me, while I just took a few steps back. There honestly was no point in running back, all I had to do was wait a little. When he climbed to the top, I simply send him flying back, hitting a nearby wall and landed on the ground with a loud thud. I can't believe he really fell for that.

Right when I climbed down, another one appeared around the corner, coming to a stop at the sight of his friend on the ground. His eyes landed on me, immediately coming close as possible then throwing a punch, barely sidestepping it. Moving back till I was in the desired position, I blasted him back, his head hitting the iron bar.

He groaned in pain, using the ladder to prevent himself from falling. I did the same thing again, this time to disorient him completely, his head hitting the bar once more, now he was barely standing. This was my chance! I got close enough to swing a punch, hitting him across the face. Since I couldn't use my left arm for anything, I proceeded to kick him several times, his sides and stomach to be more precise. Before he had a chance to do anything, I threw my hand out, aiming at his chest, his body hitting the wall from the sheer force, at the same time, knocking the breath out of him. He just flopped to the ground, fighting to stay conscious.

"Three down, I think?" I thought looking over the unconscious men. "Where are the other two?"

As if my question was answered, I could faintly hear footsteps, rapidly getting louder. Was it coming from the left or right? Right, these two came from the left so we'll go there. This path didn't lead very far either, to a side entrance of a junkyard to be more specific. When I entered, I stopped and hid beside several burn barrels, the closest one to me still has a spark of fire in it. I positioned myself so I could stay out of sight, a small gap from the barrels allowing me to see if they would come.

Just as I thought, the last two came through the entrance and looked around. I couldn't hear them too clearly, but I could tell that they decided to split up. So much for that, wish they just kept running. I could sneak my way out when they wander far enough or take care of them right now? The first option it is.

I slowly stood up, using the barrel for support. In the second that my hand opened, golden strings started radiating from the barrel, flowing into my hand. Right after witnessing that, I noticed one of the pages started glowing. I immediately began searching for the page that had the familiar text.

"Please, please give me something good," I said flicking the pages rapidly. "Come on, come on, where are you…!"

"I found him!"

I looked up to see the other guy pointing at me. I rushed towards him and threw my hand out, sending him flying back, his body hitting the pile of flattened cars. His body just fell to the ground, clutching his back. I looked around for the last guy, spotting him running up quickly from the right. Just as he got close enough, I tried sending him back.

Only for it to have no effect.

"What?!"

There wasn't any time to fully react because before I knew it, a fist collided with my right cheek. I skidded backwards, dropping the book as a result. Regaining my balance carefully, I rubbed my cheek,

"Not so tough now, are ya, freak?" the thug taunted with a grin, cracking his knuckles. "Time for payback."

With that, he lunged toward me. Being inexperienced when it comes to fighting, that and never actually participating in a fight, I just moved backwards to avoid the hits, his fists barely out of reach. This is bad. Just dodging won't win me the fight. I can't get close to the book, let alone find the page that I needed. There's a good chance that his friend might get back up soon and then I'm really screwed.

Oh well, here goes nothing.

I held my hands up in a guard, deciding to not move as much. He wasn't that skilled either, that much was evident. His hits were sloppy, uncoordinated, no clear fighting style, just mindlessly trying to punch me. Even so, he showed no sign of slowing down any time soon. When I dodged his punch that was aimed at my head, I tried going for an uppercut, which he avoided with his other arm.

In one swift motion, he kicked me in the left abdomen with his right leg, resulting in me stumbling backwards, while at the same time clutching my sides.

Then the thug charged towards me with his head down, slamming directly into me. That resulted in both of us falling to the ground, him being atop of me.

Ignoring the pain as best as I could because immediately after landing onto the ground, the man above bombarded me with attacks. I tried blocking them, but a few managed to get through. They were weak but still, my head started to feel a little fuzzy from the repeated hits. I spotted a metal pipe on the ground next to me. The moment his fists went up, I dropped my guard in an attempt to grab the pipe. Upon grabbing it, I swung as hard as I can at my attacker, hitting his elbow. He retracted both his arms to block the next few hits, giving me an opening to hit him wherever I could.

It was just enough to get him off of me, with him falling onto his back. I jumped to my feet, quickly running to my book. Grabbing it, I ran as fast as I can towards the other exit, all the while flicking the pages to find the glowing page.

As I was running, and looking down at the book, I failed to notice the man I threw to the ground jump me from behind. Both of us fell to the ground, with myself ending up lying on his chest. Before I got the chance to get up, he grabbed me in a chokehold.

He was choking me. I tried breaking out of his hold, but no such luck there. I tried punching him several times, hoping that he would loosen up his grip. My hits weren't strong enough to make a difference. Looking down briefly, I saw the book opened on the exact page I was looking for. A line of text that was similar to the one I touched not even ten minutes go. I tried to touch it, only to be a few inches short.

"C-Come on… just… a little… more."

I was so close to touching it. With all my will power, I managed to move us both closer to it, finally tapping the spell. I watched as my hand absorbed gold strings, then my skin changed pigments. It changed to a dark silver-like color before returning to normal.

On the verge of my breaking point, I knew I had to act now. With whatever strength I had left, I pushed back into him as much as I could, aiming for one last punch.

The moment my fist collided with his face, his hold on me broke instantly.

While gasping for air, I immediately scrambled away and stood up after a certain distance, making sure I wasn't going get jumped on again. Whatever that did, it seemed to do the trick. His screams echoed across the whole junkyard, clutching the left side of his mouth. I looked over my left hand, it seemed normal, but I could feel something else as well. When I hit him, I didn't feel any pain. Besides that, it wasn't that strong of a punch, to begin with. Does my hand have the same density from the metal I absorbed from that barrel? I'm positive that's the case here.

The two of them were on their feet again, one in front and the other behind me. Two at the same time, just great. I tried paying equal attention to them both, waiting for them to make the first move. The leader charged first, his friend quickly following suit. Stepping slightly closer so I have some room to not worry about the one behind me, I dodged his punch and a punch of my own with my left hand, which he blocked.

Even though he blocked it, the thug stepped back while hissing in pain, tightly holding his forearm. Turning around, I saw the other one attempting to punch me when he got close enough. I positioned my hand to block it, wanting to see if my theory was correct.

While it was a risky gamble, it certainly paid off.

I didn't feel anything from blocking it, while he clutched his hand as hard as he could. While he was doing that, the leader charged at me again. Instead of moving back, my body went into a defensive stance. He didn't try at throwing mindless punches this time. He managed to land a few punches to my sides. I blocked some of his hits, the pain was getting more and more noticeable. After tiring himself out, it was my turn. My attempts weren't any better, but I still had the upper hand.

Each time he blocked my punches, he had to step back. Since my left hand was enhanced, he hissed when my hand hit his arms so many times. His guard was getting more open, that's when I saw an opening to hit him in the stomach. Just as he fell to the ground, I turned my attention to the other one.

Right as I turned my head, a fist hit my right temple. While feeling slightly dizzy, I wasn't going to give up here. When he tried going for a similar attack, I ducked below and aimed at hitting his knee. With that one hit, he fell onto his knees, trying to hold in his screams. One final punch across the face was enough to take care of him for good.

I turned around just in time to spot the leader attempting to grab me, to which I grabbed him by the wrists, now becoming a game of both us pushing back and forth, with me losing. I barely had any strength left to go on, one more minute and I'm done for. Then an idea popped into my head. With my left hand, I began squeezing his wrist as hard as I could.

"Aghhhh!" The thug screamed at the top of his lungs. "You bastard!"

In a fraction of a second after his outburst, he kicked me in the stomach.

That knocked the breath of out me for sure, making me loosen my grip by a little. Even still, I wasn't going to let up. Powering through the pain, I stood my ground and tightened my grip on his wrist. The same action went on a couple of more times. All I had to do is hold on for a little bit longer. After a certain point, he had no other option but to back up and clutch his wrist, now was my chance. I ran up to him as close as I could and punched him across the face.

That's when I dropped to my knees, the last bit of strength I had gone. All I could do was breathe in and out, my eyes still on the leader who just as well fell to the ground.

Out of nowhere, the one I knocked out rushed to his aid.

"Dude, let's get out of here!"

The other guy came quickly to aid his friend, pulling him off the ground and motioning to run away. With some difficulty, and the leader rejecting the idea of running, finally grabbed onto his companion and made their exit, almost falling down while doing so.

"H-Heh, that went better than I expected." I groaned while clutching my stomach while trying to stand up. Slowly moving forward, making sure my moves weren't too drastic to increase the pain, I bend downwards and picked up my book.

"I change my mind about you, you're amazing. I only wish I knew that the ability expires after a certain period. Still, you got me out of that mess so I can't complain."

In the corner of my eye, I spotted a brown wallet on the ground. Making my way towards it, examining it when I picked it up, it was that thug's wallet, must've fallen out when he tried choking me. I was stunned to see almost a few hundred dollar bills in there. I'm positive that the money originally belonged to him, I can't imagine a thief stealing money then immediately putting it in his own wallet right in front of them.

There's only one thing to do with this.

---

"Holy mother of God that definitely hit the spot!"

I commented the second I scoffed down on another sandwich, instantly grabbing the next one. Going on without food for the last two days was insufferable. I got a dozen or so sandwiches with a couple of water bottles for later. After getting them I sat in a small park that was nearby, thankfully it was empty, so I could eat in peace.

Thinking back to everything that happened tonight, I came to the conclusion that… I have no idea what to do. No idea, no plan whatsoever, still nothing. I mean, I'm glad I stopped that couple from getting mugged and all, but still, I almost got my ass kicked. Well, I got beat up nonetheless. I'm not cut out to be the hero.

But at the same time, it felt exciting to use actual superpowers to save someone. I would be lying if I didn't find it kind of fun to use them in general. Plus I liked helping people, so yeah, maybe it was worth a few bruises. The powers were so simple and straightforward, but very effective. It makes me wonder, can they be amplified or work differently? The absorbing was reminiscent of how Rogue's power's worked, only watered down.

Taking the booking with my other hand, I observed its features once more. Magic always one of my favorite powers, solely because there were so many ways to use the simplest of spells. But the question was, how do the spells work? I know that magic can be divided into different categories, three to be exact.

It needs a proper name after all, right? Hmm, how about… the Codex of Magic! Or just simply "The Codex", yeah, that works too.

If I figure out how this thing works and everything it can do, I just might, hopefully, find my way back home.

In the meantime, I could do the same thing I did tonight. In a world where everything is possible, ranging from a psychotic sentient android to an actual God. Not to mention all the new additions to the MCU, things just might get a little hectic down the line. If I'm going to be stuck here, I just might end up doing some good in this crazy world. I might be a little too ambitious, but still, if I want to survive, I need to be on par with whatever comes my way.

Being able to handle a few thugs won't be enough, I need to get strong and fast.

Thankfully, I could use my meta-knowledge of the MCU to make things easier, but I'm not quite sure if that's a good idea. Things might not go actually like canon, due to the Fantastic Four, X-Men and who knows what else present in this universe, they might not follow the same order. I'll put a pin into that for later if the MCU as I know it plays out like it should, it would be enough.

Ivan Vanko and his army of drones will make their debut at the Stark Expo in the next few days. Not much time to figure this thing out. Still, there will be collateral damage, lots of it. People are bound to get hurt, or worse, killed. There's no way I can prevent all that chaos from happening, hell, I'm not even sure what I should do. But there has to be a way to stop him, or at least sabotage his plans.

After that, I'm definitely going to have to visit the Ancient One. Guess learning magic will be the most logical step to take. I'll be able to better understand the book, after tonight, I'm sure this isn't even scratching the surface of what this thing could do.

Then it's decided. It's not much but it's a start, we'll figure everything else along the way.

Now then, let's get to work.

And that's it for Chapter 1.

Honestly, it was fun writing this, for multiple reasons. First off, in most SI-OC stories on this site (and in general), the SI dies and is reincarnated to their desired world. I wasn't a fan of going this route. It gives a lot of time for the OC to plan everything out, a quick recap on their life in "X" amount of years and all that. The idea of just being dropped into the MCU without much planning and quick thinking of a possible way to survive. I do have to apologize if the Chapter is slow or dragged out, thought this would be a good scenario for the start of the story. I promise, the next few Chapters will have action but one step at a time to establish how

Same goes for the ROB (Random Omnipotent Being for those who don't know), I decided it was better to skip that part, for now, it will be explained later down the line (or maybe not) when the plot develops. For spoiler sake, we'll just have to get to that point for it all to make sense.

Another thing I want to address, The Codex won't always give free powers/stronger powers/give powers without drawbacks. Feel like I need to address this right off the bat. The powers are supposed to be creative and simple, for the basic ones that is. Magic will be the main focus, but so will obtaining various other powers located around the MCU. It will also take time to fully understand and figure out how some powers work and how to use them.

As I mentioned at the start, this version of the MCU will include the X-Men and Fantastic Four. While the story will follow the main plot, it gives a lot of room to come up with other ideas and plot ideas to make it more exciting and how the MCU will be changed because of them.

If you have an idea to further develop the plot or for some kind of power, let me know. Tell me your thoughts on the first Chapter by leaving a review. Until next time.

P.S. For those wondering for my other story, don worry. I will update it soon.