A/N: So...I finally settled on this after creating a template I would be taking for this new Fanfic, a sequel to Omniscience in Marvel. It'll be about the end time which had been orchestrated by Leucadius long ago.
Obviously, it will be of biblical references, so put aside your religious prejudice and read for the fun of it. I'm still in the beginning phase but I just thought to get your opinions on it before I continue writing.
...
Chapter 1: A World on the Edge
—
Asher Kent was your average twenty-seven-year-old guy living in Brooklyn, New York. Life wasn't glamorous, but it wasn't bad either.
He rented a modest one-bedroom apartment in an aging brownstone near Prospect Park.
His morning commute to his mid-tier corporate job at AmeriTech Solutions, a company specializing in energy-efficient technologies, was nothing out of the ordinary.
A crowded subway ride, the sound of conversation mixed with the screech of metal on rails, and the occasional entertainer busking for change.
Brooklyn had its charm. The smell of freshly baked bagels wafting from corner delis, the ever-present street vendors selling hot dogs and pretzels, and the diverse crowd that made the city feel alive.
But for all its vibrancy, Asher couldn't shake the feeling that Brooklyn, and by extension, the entire world, was stuck in a loop. People went to work, paid their bills, and tried to make sense of a system designed to keep them in their place.
The system was what it was. The government had carefully crafted a society where people were incentivized to stay productive, to keep the wheels turning, and not ask too many questions.
The financial structures, the corporate monopolies, even the news cycles, it all seemed calculated to keep the average person too busy or too complacent to think about the bigger picture.
Asher, being smarter than most, saw through it. But what could he do? He was just another cog in the machine.
Even in a world that had witnessed the Battle of New York, the Sokovia Accords, and the Blip, life had settled into a strange kind of normalcy.
People still talked about the Avengers and what they'd done for humanity, but most were more concerned about rent hikes and job security.
For Asher, those concerns were all too real. The excitement of living in a world with superheroes had long since faded, replaced by the monotony of daily survival.
---
Asher leaned back in his desk chair, staring at the spreadsheet on his monitor. It was another tedious day at StarkTech, where his primary job was analyzing energy consumption reports.
He knew his work contributed to something bigger, cleaner energy solutions and reducing carbon footprints, but most days it felt like a never-ending cycle of emails, meetings, and deadlines.
He glanced out the office window at the Brooklyn skyline, the late morning sun casting long shadows across the streets below.
Somewhere out there, a billionaire in a metal suit was probably tinkering with the future, or a super-soldier was saving the day. But for people like Asher, life was simple: work, eat, sleep, repeat.
As he sipped his lukewarm coffee, his thoughts drifted to The Event. It had happened twenty-five years ago, long before he could even remember.
The official explanation was that it had been a government experiment, a test gone wrong that resulted in a freak atmospheric disturbance.
The news back then had downplayed the incident, calling it an anomaly with no lasting effects. But even as a child, Asher had picked up on the unease in the adults around him.
His parents had rarely talked about it, brushing it off as nothing important. But Asher had always been curious. As he grew older, he dove into online forums and conspiracy theories, piecing together fragments of stories from people who claimed to have seen strange lights in the sky, heard whispers in their dreams, or felt a shift in the air.
Most dismissed it as paranoia or superstition, but Asher couldn't shake the feeling that The Event had been a prelude to something bigger, something the world wasn't ready for.
---
The buzz of conversation in the office snapped him back to reality. His coworker, Jenna, leaned over her cubicle wall, a concerned look on her face.
"Did you feel that?" she asked.
"Feel what?" Asher replied, frowning.
"The floor. It just shook."
Before he could respond, the ground beneath them trembled again.
This time it wasn't subtle. The lights flickered, and a low rumble reverberated through the building. People began to stand, their chairs scraping against the floor as they looked around in confusion.
"Is it an earthquake?" someone muttered.
"This is New York. We don't get earthquakes," another replied.
Asher stood and moved toward the window, his heart pounding. Outside, people were pouring onto the streets, looking up at the sky. He followed their gaze, and froze.
The sky was splitting open.
It started as a faint line, barely noticeable against the pale blue sky, but it grew rapidly, tearing across the heavens like a jagged scar.
The edges shimmered with a strange, iridescent light, and through the cracks, Asher could see... other worlds. Massive floating islands, towering cities of glass and steel, and vast deserts stretching into infinity.
The scenes shifted and blurred, each one more impossible than the last.
"What the hell is that?" Jenna whispered, her voice trembling.
Asher didn't answer. He couldn't. His mind raced as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Was it another alien invasion? Some kind of Avengers-level threat? Or was this something else entirely?
The ground shook again, more violently this time, and the cracks in the sky grew wider.
A low hum filled the air, vibrating deep in his chest, as though the very fabric of reality was coming apart. People in the streets screamed and ran, while others stood frozen, unable to look away from the unfolding chaos.
Asher's instincts screamed at him to move, to get out of the building, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. Even if he left the building, where would he run to?
The worlds beyond the cracks weren't just appearing, they were descending into theirs…merging. The boundaries between realities seemed to be dissolving, spilling into each other in a kaleidoscope of light and motion.
---
In that moment, Asher knew. This wasn't an Avengers-related incident.
It wasn't an alien attack or a freak experiment gone wrong. This was something bigger.
Asher Kent's heart pounded in his chest as he stared at the impossible sight unfolding in the sky. The shimmering cracks widened, spilling radiant beams of light onto the city. Buildings trembled, car alarms blared, and terrified screams echoed through the streets. It was as if the very foundation of reality was unraveling before his eyes.
Around him, the office was descending into chaos. People were scrambling for their phones, shouting over one another as they tried to make sense of the situation.
"Is it a terrorist attack?" someone yelled.
"No, it's gotta be aliens again!" another voice responded.
Asher ignored them, his eyes glued to the sky. The floating islands and alien landscapes seemed closer now, almost tangible. He felt a strange pull in his chest, like gravity itself was shifting.
It wasn't just the world outside that was changing, something inside him stirred, an instinctual awareness he couldn't explain.
"Everyone, evacuate the building!" The voice of their floor manager, Mr. Callahan, rang out above the panic. He stood by the exit, waving people toward the stairs. "Move! Now!"
Asher joined the throng of people pouring out of the building and onto the street.
The normally bustling sidewalks were packed with panicked crowds, all staring upward in shock. The cracks in the sky were no longer confined to Brooklyn; they stretched far beyond, fracturing the horizon in every direction.
He turned to Jenna, who had followed him out. Her face was pale, her hands trembling as she clutched her phone. "What's happening, Asher?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I don't know," he admitted, his tone grim, but calm. "But whatever this is, it's definitely not good."
The ground shook again, harder this time, knocking several people off their feet. A deafening roar filled the air as a massive fissure opened in the street ahead, swallowing cars and streetlights whole.
People screamed and scattered, their fear reaching a fever pitch. Asher grabbed Jenna's arm, pulling her back from the edge.
"Stay close," he said. "We need to get somewhere safe."
"Where? Everything's falling apart!" she cried.
Asher didn't have an answer. The city he had called home his entire life was crumbling around him. Skyscrapers swayed precariously, chunks of concrete raining down as the tremors grew stronger. Above it all, the cracks in the sky continued to expand, their light casting eerie shadows over the chaos below.
Then, it happened. The cracks stopped growing, and something began to emerge.
From one of the largest fissures in the sky, a colossal landmass drifted into view. It was a mountainous island, its peaks shrouded in mist and its surface covered in lush, otherworldly vegetation.
Rivers of glowing blue water snaked across its surface, cascading down the edges in shimmering waterfalls. Behind it, more islands appeared, each one unique, a vast desert with golden dunes, a crystalline city that sparkled like a diamond, a dense forest that seemed alive with movement.
Asher watched in stunned silence as the islands descended, their edges fusing seamlessly with the Earth below.
The process was eerily smooth, as if the worlds had always been meant to fit together. The ground beneath his feet shifted, expanding outward as the new landmasses integrated into the planet.
Brooklyn itself began to change. The streets stretched and twisted, buildings rearranging themselves to accommodate the sudden influx of space.
In the distance, he saw towering spires rise from the earth, their architecture unlike anything he had ever seen. It was as if the city had been swallowed by a fantasy novel.
"What the hell…" Asher whispered, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing.
Before he could say another word, the sky darkened. The radiant light from the cracks dimmed, replaced by an ominous red glow. A deep, resonant hum filled the air, vibrating through Asher's bones.
He looked around and saw people clutching their heads, their faces contorted in pain. Jenna dropped to her knees beside him, her hands pressed against her temples. "Make it stop!" she screamed.
Asher felt it too, a pressure in his skull, like a vice tightening around his mind. But more than that, he felt a presence. It was vast, overwhelming, and ancient, as if the planet itself had awakened and was bearing down on him.
And then came the screams.
All around him, people began collapsing. Some convulsed violently before going still, while others simply dropped as if a switch had been flipped. Asher stumbled back, his breath coming in short, panicked gasps.
"What's happening?" he thought, his mind racing. "Why are they dying?"
A memory surfaced, unbidden. A fragment of a conspiracy theory he had read years ago, about how The Event had been a harbinger of biblical proportions. Something about a third of all living beings…
His blood ran cold. This was it. The First Sign of the End Times.
The chaos around him began to subside as the screams faded, replaced by an eerie silence.
Asher looked around, his heart sinking at the sight of lifeless bodies scattered across the street. It wasn't just humans, birds had fallen from the sky, and stray dogs lay motionless on the sidewalks.
But not everyone was dead.
Here and there, people were stirring, their eyes wide with confusion and fear. Jenna was one of them. She sat on the ground, breathing heavily, her hands shaking as she looked around.
"Asher…" she said, her voice trembling. "What just happened?"
"I…don't know," he said, helping her to her feet. His own hands were trembling, but he forced himself to stay calm. "But we're alive. That has to mean something."
As he spoke, a strange sensation washed over him. It was warm and electric, like a current running through his veins. He looked down at his hands and saw faint lines of light tracing across his skin, forming intricate patterns that pulsed with a soft glow.
"What the…?"
He wasn't the only one. Around him, the other survivors were experiencing similar phenomena. Some had glowing lines like his, while others had marks that resembled runes or symbols.
One man's hands erupted in flames, though they didn't seem to burn him. A woman nearby gasped as her body flickered, becoming partially translucent.
Asher's mind raced. This wasn't random. Whatever had happened during The Merge had changed them, awakened something inside them.
Asher's breath quickened as he stared at the glowing lines on his hands. The warmth spreading through his body felt alien, like a foreign presence forcing its way into his very being.
He flexed his fingers instinctively, and the light flared in response, casting a faint glow on Jenna's face.
"Asher…" Jenna whispered, her voice trembling. She pointed to his hands. "What's happening to you?"
"I don't know," he said, his voice uneven. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the patterns. They pulsed in a rhythm that felt oddly familiar, almost like a heartbeat. Was this energy his? Was it coming from him?
Around him, other survivors were starting to notice their own changes. A young man in a tattered hoodie gasped as his skin shimmered like polished metal, reflecting the dim red glow in the sky.
An older woman screamed as her body levitated several inches off the ground, her hair standing on end like static electricity was coursing through her.
"It's not just me," Asher muttered, his voice barely audible over the murmurs and cries of the crowd. "It's happening to everyone."
He clenched his glowing fists, a mixture of fear and determination rising in his chest. The world had changed forever, and he had a feeling this was only the beginning.