(free version)
Yep, a free version.
Good quality and more info on the story including several scenes that has been trimmed is present in my patreon.
So join the patreon. It is definitely worth it.
A simple 3$ is all I ask for.
patreon.com/MrFlashXO
This is the link. Be sure to join the family for advanced chapters. I would post the 6 chapters probably on Patreon. And 3 times a week here?
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Chapter 1 — Reincarnation Blues
My death was… well, disappointing.
Not in the "tragic romance" or "noble sacrifice" kind of way.
No. I died like a dumbass.
One moment, I was 24 years old, sitting in my cramped apartment with an open bag of chips, deep into a Marvel movie marathon and halfway through a Spider-Man/X-Men crossover fanfic.
The next, I realized I'd run out of soda. Naturally, my priorities in life dictated that I needed to fix that immediately.
So there I was — hoodie, pajama pants, slippers — crossing the street to the 24-hour corner store. It was late. The streets were empty. And that's when fate decided to give me the lamest send-off possible.
HONK.
A delivery truck, completely silent until that exact moment, barreled around the corner. The headlights flashed in my eyes. My brain processed exactly one thought:
If this was a fanfic, I'd wake up with a golden finger… guess I'm not protagonist material.
Then everything went black.
---
When I opened my eyes, the ceiling above me wasn't cracked and yellowed from years of neglect.
This one was pristine white, with a sleek ceiling fan spinning lazily overhead. The sheets under me were soft — too soft. My apartment bed had springs that could stab a man to death.
I sat up groggily. The motion felt… weird. My arms were thinner, my hands smaller, my voice higher when I muttered, "What the hell…?"
A flash of movement in the mirror across the room caught my attention.
I froze.
The reflection wasn't me.
Instead of my average, mid-20s nerd face, I was staring at a skinny teenage boy. Messy black hair. Pale skin. Dark circles under the eyes, like he'd lost a fight with an all-nighter. He looked… maybe sixteen?
I turned my head left. The mirror kid turned left. Right. He turned right.
"…Puberty speedrun?" I whispered.
No facial hair. Smaller frame. And unless my brain was playing tricks on me, my voice had cracked halfway through that sentence.
That's when I heard it — voices outside the room.
"…Danger Room's booked for 3 p.m.," someone said.
"Storm's leading today, you better not screw up again," another replied.
My entire body went still.
Danger Room? Storm?
The Danger Room… Storm… That wasn't random chatter. That was X-Men chatter.
"No," I whispered. "No, no, no, no—"
I stumbled to the desk in the corner, spotting an ID card lying there.
Name: Ethan Cole
Age: 16
Status: Student — Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
Mutation: Regenerative Factor (Low)
The card slipped out of my hand.
I laughed. It came out high-pitched and a little hysterical.
"Great," I said to no one. "I got reincarnated into Marvel… as a healing NPC."
Not Wolverine-level healing. Not Deadpool immortality. Just "Low." Which probably meant "survives paper cuts" and "recovers from colds faster."
Marvel, my brain reminded me, the place where the power scale goes from "guy with a gun" to "literal gods with planet-busting beams."
Yeah. I was going to die. Again.
---
The day didn't get better.
Breakfast in the cafeteria introduced me to the mutant high-school pecking order. Flashy powers got you the good table. People who could fly, shoot lasers, or throw cars? They were celebrities.
Me? With my "low-level healing factor"? I was basically a glorified bandaid.
"Hey, lizard boy," a redheaded kid with minor pyrokinesis called as I walked by. He grinned, holding out his tray like a waiter. "Spill my juice so you can heal my shirt?"
I ignored him.
Unfortunately, his friend — a bulky guy with super strength — didn't. He shoulder-checked me hard enough to send my tray spinning. Eggs and toast hit the floor.
The pyro kid clutched his chest dramatically. "Oh no, he's wounded! Quick, heal me with your… what, spit? Tears? Oh, wait, you have to bleed on it, right?"
A few students laughed. I bit back a retort, mostly because I knew damn well I couldn't back it up physically.
But I couldn't stop my mouth from muttering, "Hope you enjoy your next cameo before the Sentinels kill you."
"…What?" he said.
"Nothing," I said quickly.
Marvel knowledge was my one advantage here, but blurting out spoilers would get me labeled insane at best, villain at worst.
The rest of the day was a blur of classes, roll calls, and stares. I kept my head down, thinking over the details I'd picked up.
Post-Magneto's first attack. Iron Man existed — I'd seen him on the news in the rec room — but no Avengers yet. The Mutant Registration Act was a hot topic.
Translation? I was living in the calm before the storm. And I had the survival odds of a mayfly in a hurricane.
---
By evening, I was done with social interaction. I wandered out into the gardens behind the mansion, hands in my pockets.
It was peaceful here. The moonlight spilled over the grass, the air cool and quiet. I passed by the hedges and flowers, ignoring the distant hum of mutant training somewhere inside.
I muttered to myself, "Okay, survival plan… stay away from world-ending events, don't attract attention, maybe fake a different power…"
My own voice sounded unconvinced. Marvel was full of random crap that could kill me. Street-level? Muggers with mutant powers. Mid-tier? Terrorist groups with laser weapons. Top-tier? Literal alien gods.
And the worst part? Without plot armor, even the good guys were dangerous to be around.
"Maybe I'll just become a gardener," I said, kicking a pebble. "Plants don't explode."
Somewhere overhead, the clouds parted briefly.
I glanced up.
For a fraction of a second, the night sky flashed red. A streak — like a shooting star — cut across the heavens before vanishing.
I frowned. Probably a mutant training exercise. Or maybe a satellite. Definitely nothing to—
The air around me felt… odd. A faint hum, like static electricity on my skin, prickled for a moment before fading.
I shook it off. "Paranoid much?"
Still, my gaze drifted back up.
Way, way above, far beyond what normal eyes could see, a crimson comet burned across the void, its trajectory locked on Earth.
I didn't see it.
I was too busy humming the Avengers theme sarcastically under my breath as I headed back to my dorm, ready to collapse into bed.
Tomorrow, I decided, I'd figure out how to survive in this world.
I had no idea that survival would involve a crimson-skinned alien woman crashing into my life. Literally.
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[End of Chapter 1]
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