The sound of screeching brakes on wet pavement was the last thing Lucas heard before the impact.
But let's rewind a bit…
Lucas Santoro wasn't someone the world would call "special." At 27 years old, he worked as an electronics technician in a small repair shop in Santiago. His days were filled with motherboards and capacitors, his mind constantly wandering through impossible worlds. When he wasn't fixing outdated TVs, he was devouring comics, anime, and movies. His favorite obsession: Marvel.
He knew every corner of the Marvel Universe like the back of his hand—from the dark alleys of Hell's Kitchen to the far reaches of space with the Guardians. His favorite hero wasn't even from Marvel, though: Orsted, the Dragon God from another story. He always thought that if he were to reincarnate in another world, it would be with his powers.
But life rarely asks what you want—at least, not in the way you expect.
That afternoon, rain poured down relentlessly. Lucas was walking home from work, soaked, headphones in, his thoughts drifting between fanfic ideas he never dared to write. That's when he saw her—a little girl, maybe seven years old, frozen in the middle of a crosswalk while a speeding car approached with no signs of stopping.
Without thinking, without calculating, Lucas ran.
—"Move!" —he shouted, throwing himself at her.
The world went white after the impact. There was no pain. Just a whisper… and then, silence.
He was floating.
That was the only way to describe it. A void with no time, no up or down. Lucas opened his eyes—though he couldn't remember closing them. In front of him, a figure of light slowly began to form, as if the sun itself had decided to take human shape.
—"Where… am I?" —he asked, his voice echoing softly.
—"In the threshold," —answered the figure, its tone calm, ancient, as if it spoke with the weight of centuries—. "Between the end of one life… and the beginning of another."
—"I'm dead?"
—"Your body, yes. But your soul resonated deeply within the multiverse. Your final act was a selfless sacrifice—done without expectation, without hesitation or fear. A heart like that… does not go unnoticed."
Lucas swallowed hard. Everything felt so real and unreal at once.
—"Who… are you?"
—"A messenger. I need no name. You only need to know that I've come to offer you a gift. As a reward for your kindness, you may choose a new life—wherever and however you wish. Your soul has earned it."
Lucas blinked. For years, he had dreamed of a moment like this. And now it was here.
—"I want… to go to the Marvel Universe. That incredible world where gods walk among men, where science and magic intertwine. But I don't want to go as an ordinary human."
The figure tilted its head slightly.
—"What do you wish to become?"
Lucas smiled wistfully.
—"I want to be reborn with Orsted's powers. His immense strength, his mastery of magic and mana… even his appearance."
The figure of light was silent for a moment, as if weighing the magnitude of the request. Then it nodded.
—"Granted."
The void began to fade. Lucas felt his body unravel—and then rebuild. Energy… power… memory… all began to mold into something new.
—"Remember," —the figure said as everything began to dissolve—, "the power you will carry is vast, but the world you are going to is far from simple. There are darknesses even you may not yet understand. Walk carefully… and choose your allies wisely."
A flash of light.
And then… Lucas was no more.
But a new star had been born in the Marvel Universe.
His name was still unknown, but his power… his power would make even the mightiest tremble.