- Midtown High-
Peter despised school at the moment; he had better things to do instead of becoming the new hot topic for his classmates to gossip about. Whether it was their fake sympathy or irritating whispers that everyone could hear, he couldn't decide which was more annoying.
Walking through the school gates felt like a chore, his bag slung lazily over his shoulder and hands tucked into the pockets of his hooded coat. Every high school had its share of drama, and Midtown High was no exception. Only now, Peter was the talk of the town, and he couldn't care less. The attention got more annoying as the day dragged on.
He was just going through the motions, and the sooner it was over, the better. The only upside was the space everyone was giving him. Everyone walked around him like he had a contagious disease, avoiding him like a plague.
"Works for me," Peter sighed to himself as he navigated the halls.
As long as Gwen, Flash, and their entourage left him alone, this day would go without a hitch. He didn't need or want any more drama in his life right now, and nothing spelled drama more than a group of teenagers in the same room.
...
- Location Unknown -
Outside of all space and time, a single human found himself amused and annoyed within his castle. Very little could surprise him anymore, but for the first time in eons, he was taken aback.
"Tiktok, Tiktok, Time waits for no one, no one else but me~" Kang the Conqueror sang to himself in an offbeat tune as he reviewed the data on the new anomaly that popped up on his metaphorical chessboard. Something had changed, a change he neither planned for nor was aware of.
A completely new branching timeline had appeared. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, as branching timelines got trimmed faster than the average hormonal teen's attention span. Only this wasn't normal. Normal timelines didn't merge with others instantaneously, consume and alter neighboring timelines, or disappear from detection as soon as they appeared.
And normal timelines most certainly couldn't completely separate and isolate themselves from all others, rendering all interaction, including travel to and from it, impossible. Not unless he willed it so. That or something absurdly more powerful took action to ensure this outcome.
Though Kang was aware of many higher beings in the universe, most remained observers, and very few could perform such feats—altering reality across all of time and influencing entire alternate universes and timelines. This required more than just power.
There was one detail he was sure of after looking into the anomaly: Whatever caused this wasn't one of those beings. It was new, alien to this world, a complete unknown.
He hated that word.
"Unknown, huh… Well, well, even now, you learn new things every day," he mused.
He was getting too old for anything to be considered unknown. Living in a mansion located at the end of time was a testament to that, but this unexpected development was interesting enough that he found it funny.
Right near his end, something new shows up as if to tell him, yeah bro, you have no idea what coming.
This was an unexpected development, but he was expecting not to expect something when he put his plan into motion, so this didn't count, not to him.
He was being petty but his is Kang the Conquerer so who would tell him otherwise? No one that's who.
Right, his grand plan.
"Guess it's around that time now too," Kang glanced out into the abyss beyond the end of time and space. With Loki's chaos and the birth of the new Scarlet Witch on the horizon, he should have anticipated something like this.
"Well, this just goes to show, you can't plan for everything," he let out a tired sigh. He felt like death was the only thing left for him now. What amused him, though, was the fact that he was sure he wasn't the only one feeling like change was coming.
....
Deep within the golden city of the Norse gods called Asgard, a one-eyed god-king felt unease on his golden throne.
....
Within the New York Sanctum, an ancient magi found it increasingly difficult to view alternate timelines or the future, especially when trying to identify the cause.
....
A professor within his school of gifted children discovered occasional glitches within his machine while searching for others like him.
....
A witch within a forest felt fear for the first time in centuries. Many others shared this feeling of unrest, like everything had just changed somehow as if this world was supposed to be vastly different than it was now.
All the while, the cause of all this change remained blissfully unaware of the consequences of his actions, lost in thought within his classroom.
...
- New York City: Midtown High School -
Events were unfolding throughout the high school that Peter was blissfully unaware of. High above the clouds, a certain Ancient One remained afloat, invisible to the naked eye after tracking the cause of her recent problem.
Below her, a bus carrying exchange students from Xavier's School for the Gifted Youngsters made its way through the gates. Peter watched the bus enter the gates lazily only to blink in surprise from the familiar feeling of a rush of information being forced into his mind.
{Eminent threat to host detected}
{Sequence 23: Unique Predator Class inheritor_ confirmation pending full system-wide scan}
{Current Power levels inadequate}
{Special Trait gained: Mask of Innocence
-Allow the host to fake a state of normality, making him seem as 'normal' as expected of an average human, in this state, all of his abilities will be sealed until he chooses to actively use them. However certain abilities will activate on their own accord in response to the host's needs or protection.
-Active ability under this trait:
Ajin}
"OK, what?" Peter questioned aloud. He had to figure out how his powers worked, and soon. He had to get stronger faster. Little did he know how right he was.
...
- Location Unknown -
Deep within the void that surrounds the edges of the universe, a lone figure faced the dimensional wall that separated the Marvel Universe from other worlds.
"Found you," it spoke in a monotonous voice, neither male nor female, as if a small group of people were talking at the same time.
{Fragment Resonance in progress)
{Fragment Identification-
Fragment Tire: Transcendent_Higher+
Fragment Type: Precursor
Fragment Class: Inheritor
Fragment Unique trait: Predatory Consumption
}
{Resonance identified}
{Fragment Tire: Beyonder_Zenith+
Fragment Type: Progenitor
Fragment Class: Origin}
"Yeah, just wait in there. Once I get through this wall, I'm coming straight for you, Origin," the figure said, placing its hands on the dimensional wall in wonder. It would take a few months, maybe years, to get through the wall, but it could make it. After making it through, the Origin fragment would be theirs. Besides, it always wanted to visit the Marvel Universe anyway.
- The End -
A little sneak peek at our mystery figure just because.
{Kevin/Kelly Mcgrath - Host to Fragment of the Ozomundas Chapter
-The Hybrid Conqueror-
Abilities:
The Extra Loved by the Stars
Enheritor of the will of the Conquering Vitrumite
Barer of the White Divine Dragon Emperor
He who blinds gods and fools demons
Self-Insert Extra
World Forger of the Fake Domain
Fragment name: Erubus
Fragment Tire: Transendent_Higher+
Fragment Type: Precursor
Fragment Class: Inheritor
Fragment Unique trait: Predatory Consumption}