It was that bad. It was very very bad. It was…to be expected. Something I had realized as I traversed the galaxy in Marvel World over the last 6 months. This was how it always was. Despite what I thought in my other lives, on my other versions of Earth, all over the universe there was drama going on. People trying to get stronger by subverting people to their will, taking resources to use those for their own gain, all of it was just another step in the entropy of life as we each headed toward oblivion. 

“Captain Weston! What do we do?!” Shadree yelled. The shadows clinging to her it was the first time she called me captain. “That other blue fuck is coming down here!” 

“I-I can take him,” I said. I didn’t sound or feel confident with that statement. I remembered Ronan from the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. He had beaten all of the Guardians one on one, and only succumbed to a dance off. I sucked at dancing. 

Jokes aside, it was a fight with the inevitable. He had far too many ships and people on his side. If Nebula and her people were scared of his power, then I doubted I had any chance at beating any of them. All I had was a ragtag group of prison escapees, an all female pirate crew, some twigs, and…

“Ego,” I got out. Pulling my eyes from the space battle happening above our heads. The Betelgeuse working with Shippie to try to keep back the Osiris. Lasers instantly shooting this way and that between them I worried we might have to watch out for space debris falling onto the planet. Pushing yet another worry away I focused on the avatar of the planet. 

Ego was more like the comics than the movies. Just a living planet he hadn’t spread his seed across galaxies to find an heir, but rather stayed secluded. Though he was the entire planet we were on, he did have a much smaller twenty foot tall avatar that I usually interacted with. The giant of a being had six fingers on each hand and seven toes on each foot, wearing basically a living metal toga he had gray stone for skin that made him look more rock than man. A massive gray beard and long braided hair, he stood near the edge of the dome building. 

“Ego!” I yelled again. This time the massive avatar stirred.

“Weston, it seems you have brought visitors to my space,” the massive giant avatar yelled. 

“Yeah, yeah, be pissed at me later. That guy up there is coming for my friends.” Nebula and I weren’t exactly friends yet, but I wanted this drama to end. If there was much more going on I would have to escape the world again, and I really didn’t want to do that. 

“I cannot help,” he said in a long drawn out tone. The avatar looking slowly upward as a huge chunk of the Betelguese was lasered off. Sections of the ship drifted away and exploded before the ship disappeared then reappeared behind the Osiris fleet. 

“The bitch better not try to escape,” I muttered but turned back to Ego.

“Come on, there have to be other living planets out there. I’m sure you fought them. Thats why you got so old and big, right? You have got to have a way to attack them,” I pleaded. “Use that.”

“I…do,” Ego said, speaking slower somehow. Each word sounded like the last word in a sentence and I had cut him off more than once, causing him to start his statement over. “But I used my reserves some time ago to fight off that…thing. I don’t have enough power saved to-” He cut off as I opened a Rift and pulled out my most recent prize. The object made Ego stop his slow speech, the avatar and the planet itself focused on it like a dog to a bone. 

It was simple in design. A circlet, it had a platinum chain that would rest on your head, with a blue gem hanging from it that would sit on the forehead of whoever wore it. I had found it hidden away on the Betelguese, most likely the very thing Ronan, and ultimately Thanos, wanted from their estranged family member. Nebula had it hidden away nicely, but thanks to my Observation Haki, massive reserves of energy were easy to sniff out. 

“I think this is an Infinity Gem,” I admitted, and I felt Shadree stiffen and give the object her full attention. “I’m not sure which one.” Because I didn’t want to risk messing with it. “But this has all the power-” I cut off as the floor at my feet began to open up. Stepping back, rocks began to protrude from the ground, like plants reaching toward the sky. The rocks rose up and up, directly under the blue stone and the circlet was soon sitting on them. 

“The…power,” the avatar said, then crumbled away to become loose stones on the ground. I stepped back, freaked out since he hadn’t done that yet, but soon the blocky rocks holding the stone began to rise higher and higher. The floor of the building breaking away to make room for them I looked to Shadree.

“What did you do?” She asked. 

“I don’t know,” I admitted. It was my last option, and Ego had been trustworthy thus far. Suddenly a pulse escaped the stone. The blue gem emitting a deep white light that only got brighter. It wasn’t long until it was as bright as the sun, too strong to look directly at. 

“What are you doing-” I yelled to the planet but was cut off as the sound of an avalanche echoed around us. 

“LONG HAVE I DREAMED OF TAKING THAT WHICH WAS THERE BEFORE EVEN I!” The voice proclaimed. “INFINITY IS BEYOND ALL, ABOVE ALL. NO LIMIT. NO RESTRAINTS. JUST POW-!” And the voice cut out as the gem let out a tidal wave of energy and it all turned black. 

—

I didn’t need to be told what to do. There were presents in front of me, and I ran toward them. The green tree overtop like some protector of the gifts, I shredded the paper in a massive frenzy. Appreciating each for a split second as I moved to the next.

There were voices behind and above me, but I paid them no heed as I ravenously attacked every present handed to me. There was writing on some, but I didn’t care to understand it, all that mattered was what was hidden away. 

When the floor was a mess of toys, paper, ribbons, and junk I finally turned back to the voices. They were love incarnate. A man and a woman. The only two people in my life that mattered. My protectors, providers, teachers, and words I couldn’t understand, but they said often enough for me, mom and dad. 

Suddenly I was whisked away to a campsite. A fire in front of me, I stared into the flames, mesmerized by them. The sun setting the majority of light was from the fire. Warm and safe I looked up to see my dad next to me. He too stared into the fire. A stick in hand he mumbled something and pulled a stick back to reveal a white glowing ball at the end. 

“A little crispy,” he said and blew out the fireball to show the once white cube was now black and charred. “Trust me, it will be good,” he said as he squeezed it between crackers. I was hesitant, but he was right, like he always was. 

Suddenly I was falling on the sidewalk. A sharp pain in my arm and people were helping me up. Then flash and I was on a swing as I moved back and forth, then sliding down a slide, then climbing up a ladder. 

Little flashes of memory here and there, all coming at me one after another. I could tell there was a great length of time between many of them, but some were from the same day. All were memorable, searing into my mind as I felt almost disembodied from it, but part of it at the same time. A silent passenger to just enjoy as it all played out in front of me. 

Then the events became longer and more boring. I started school. Taken from my parents, I cried and raged, but eventually made friends. Then my circle got bigger and I learned. I learned letters, shapes, colors, all of it over years that felt like it took seconds. One memory after another hitting me until I eventually met a girl. 

I wasn’t sure why she stuck out to me. Maybe it was her long hair, or the fact that she had matured faster than the others. But I was fascinated by her. Eventually we kissed, and my memories locked onto that feeling of excitement. So wonderful to share something like this. No pain, just closeness and pleasure. Then she moved schools and I was sad, only to make more memories, but always I longed for that feeling with her. 

Eventually I met more girls. Made more friends. Learned new things. All of it in flashes of memories that extended into what felt like hours. Sitting down studying, reading, watching movies, all of it added up, filling in spaces that had been blank. Or maybe they had always been there and my mind was merely a puzzle blacked out. The memories wiping the darkness away to reveal the light. I didn’t know. I merely experienced, watched and waited. 

Eventually I met her. The first girl that made me feel like the first had and beyond. Someone that made me forget everyone else. A woman I met through mutual friends and hit it off with. She was fun, exciting, adventurous, and she was my first for a lot of my life. We lived life together and eventually married. 

An ache came to my stomach as I watched it unfold. I didn’t know what it was, but I guessed I knew this would eventually end in tragedy, to my surprise it didn’t. We had a nice wedding, our first apartment, jobs we both hated and loved, and eventually kids. Two of them. 

Nothing could prepare you for the love you had for parts of you. Everything that made me up, made up half of my kids, and luckily the other half was made up of the woman I loved. They were perfect in every way and I would have done anything for them. 

I found myself crying as I experienced it all. Not with tears in my eyes, but a deep ache that reached my entire body. Like I wanted to sob but couldn’t. Watching them live their lives, learn and grow as I had once done decades or seconds ago, I couldn’t remember. Either way, this would end, and I prayed I wasn’t there to watch it. 

An eternity later it did end. Well I guessed it was an ending as everything turned black. I had lived my life to its meager fullest. Working a day job, watching my kids make their own families, live with my wife as we rekindled our relationship when it was just us left at home. 

I sat in the darkness, accepting that the life I lived had been worth it. The pain, anguish, tears, and joy had all been a part of who I was, and it had reached it’s end. Everyone happy, no tragedies as I watched more loved ones die. Simply there one day, and gone the next. I had died, and my memories were playing back for me in a semi-conscious dreamscape. Able to watch, experience, but not touch, which was better than I could have hoped for. 

Letting go I drifted into the darkness, but then suddenly a red glow appeared around me. Confused, I looked around to find twelve doors standing in front of me. Red lights over top of them I was in somewhere I had never been before. Scared and lost I waited a long time but eventually stepped through a door, as I did, more memories filled me to the brim. 

—

Crawling on the ground I laughed uncontrollably. My mouth simply letting the laugh out, unable to stop or start it. I turned around to see two giants chasing me. They felt warm and comforting as they used exaggerated hand movements to catch me. I crawled on all fours, laughing as I escaped. 

Then I was going to school. Learning as I had before. The memories of my first life still there I made new ones as I still wasn’t able to interact. Some of the same experiences happened, school, friends, a girlfriend, but eventually things got dark. Bullying became an ever present threat and I became sad and withdrawn. Then suddenly I was sitting in class and it all began to fade away. 

Memories, life, death, all of it, and the original me was sitting there. Confused about what was going on I stood and ran to the bathroom. The same memories flooded in once more, filling in gaps, giving me new memories, new ideas, knowledge that hadn’t been there before. And I knew where I was, High School of the Dead. 

A manga and eventually an anime I had watched the buxom beauties as a kid and adult. Memories and ideas playing through my mind I watched in horror as a zombie broke into the restroom. Hiding in a stall I escaped the world back to the room with the doors, and to my horror entered another, causing yet more memories to ebb and flow in my mind.

This time as my original self awoke in the body, he was killed, only to be 3-D printed from a large black sphere. 

It was all memories, all experiences, all nightmares as he tried to remember it all and escape. But no, it wasn’t a him, it was me. All of it was. I watched in horror as I killed the main character, only to promise to bring him back. Then he escaped again. Bringing on yet more memories. This time it was a life about death.

Trained to kill, I ran hours on end, meditated, learned history, politics, and eventually ninjutsu. A life I dreamed of finally came to me, and it wasn’t long until I was taking on another after another. The puzzle pieces of my memory coming to life one at a time as I fought, trained, swam, ran, trained more, sexed up, and had far more notable experiences for the first time in my entire existence. 

I watched it all in rapt fascination. Feeling for some women the same way I had felt for my first wife. Probably more so as these women and I fought side by side. Creating memories and experiences my first wife and I never would have. 

It was a little bitter sweet to see it all play out in front of me. I had lived by all means a normal life. No tragedies or sorrows, merely existing. But I hadn’t truly lived until whatever room this was. I judged my own thoughts and actions sometimes, but as it all unfolded, I knew it was the right choice for each as I would have made the same, because they were all me. 

Slowly I watched as we changed. More and more memories filling my mind like a waterfall fills a bucket, much of it spilling out, but some making it into the bucket. I changed with each set of memories. Unable to know which memories were truly my own, and accepting all of them by this point. No longer was I the weak Weston from Earth, now I was the pirate ninja super hero alien slayer seduction machine. I had killed, maimed, and somehow came out on top for worlds destined for destruction. 

I had friends, loved ones, goals, and plans. Ideas that I never thought possible filled my mind. All that mattered was training and keeping those girls beside me. Protecting them from the dangers that would take over their worlds, and experiencing all life had to offer. 

Then it was all taken away. I died again, which somehow led to the same memories filling my mind once more. Then I became cautious. Hesitant to act, scared to take on too much. I hated myself for that. The short bout of weakness that wanted to enjoy my time in these worlds, and not rush to the end. 

Which somehow led me to hating myself. Scared for the first time in a long time it took effort to push the fear back. So I took risks in One Piece World once more. Which…of course led to a loss to my strongest foe yet. Mikhail. 

I didn’t blame him for winning, he had gone to harder worlds, and was simply better at this whole thing. I was just a bystander in his path to winning, and he did me the great dishonor of letting me live. I had wanted death. Failing over and over, too many memories rolling around in my head, I thought death was the answer. Finally I could rest after the centuries worth of memories I had experienced and lived, but Mikhail pushed me to keep going. 

Which led to a new Hall. Comics, a new life, and eventually lives as I opened more doors. The memories slowed down, no longer feeling like flashes that took years, but I was beginning to see everything in real time. Experiencing it all as I met Anne Marie, Rogue, and Wolverine, Cyclops, and the whole cast. 

“Weston!” A voice yelled in my mind. Confused, I waited for the voice again as I experienced talking to Professor Xavier himself. 

“Weston!” A girl’s voice echoed in my mind again. 

“What!?” I yelled back somehow. My body and mind still experiencing my walk, or stroll, with Xavier I waited for another response. 

“Weston! What is going on!?” The girl’s voice asked. 

“I don’t-” I mentally thought but was whisked away as my memories escaped the Marvel world. It wasn’t long until I was opening another door. More memories poured in and the girl’s voice talked, but I wasn’t listening. Sucked into the world of Invincible I experienced my life as a young man, and eventually a super hero like my father. 

Eventually pulled to a world by some abomination of a physic Cthulhu. I experienced more and more. The voice always trying to reach me, I ignored it. I got stronger, training again as I had grown to enjoy over the last many years in these worlds. Always changing, learning, and striving for greatness. 

I watched it all. Getting into a groove as I rode the rollercoaster of my life. Making and receiving new memories as I jumped worlds. Helping with zombie outbreaks, Persians, even the mafia and aliens. Sucked away to the far reaches of space by the Shi’ar we were pitted up against one alien after another.

Which made me finally recognize someone I knew. Shadree. A very pale skinned Shi’ar, she had been one of the people to attack me and cut off my arm back during the tournament. I also recognized her from Nebula’s crew and…I suddenly remembered Ego and the Infinity Gem. 

“HELP!” I roared in my mind as I escaped Marvel. Jumping into DC world, I couldn’t help but realize something was very very wrong. I had been in this weird dream-like playing of memories for far too long. Perhaps stuck in a time loop or any number of other issues, I yelled out for help over and over until I was back where it all began. 

Accepted by the Amazonians, I was led to a dais and given a drink of wine, and it all turned black. I was once again floating in the middle of the ocean without memories. 

Mystery solved, I finally had my memories back, and they were raging inside of me that I had been so scared to let them out. 

I roared internally, hoping some of my magic or psychic resistances would help. But nothing did. I watched it all again as I met Constantine and Raven, befriended them, and lost them. All to come back to a hotel room where Raven was about to be sacrificed and all I could do was run away. 

That was what angered me most. If I died right then, Raven would be screwed as well. Stuck in time until my death. I had the strength to beat them, but my memory-addled self had run away. Sick of it all I watched as he went to a sex world. Trained very slowly and sexed up an entire factory full of women. 

“Weston!” The voice said again. I could almost recognize it, but there was too much going on. The disembodied head was nothing to me but a fading voice. 

“What?” I mumbled this time as I left the Kink World and stepped into the hall. This time standing in front of the Marvel door. 

“Get to the stone! The Stone!” The voice yelled. 

I felt it then. An immense spiritual power leaking close to me. Gritting my imaginary teeth I took a step toward the power and as I did, time slowed down further. I experienced the memories far stronger than most of the others memories I had received. 

Dasart

around this time in the story is when I stopped writing. I don’t know what it was but I had a lot of trouble with this part of the arc. Just not as passionate about it. I will submit most of this arc. Sorry if it’s confusing. I did a lot of rewrites and came back to it a half dozen times.