The streets outside were always full of life—the sound of honking taxis and the murmurs of crowds. 'It's always so busy,' I thought as I put on my shoes, a worn pair of sneakers that had seen better days, and grabbed my backpack from the floor.
"Thanks, Gramps," I said, throwing the bag over my shoulder as Harold handed me my lunch. "I'll be home by five."
"Be careful out there, Liam. You know the drill," he warned with a smile. The familiar sight of his caring face was something I never wanted to miss in my life.
"Yes, yes. Be careful of cars, don't go into dark alleys," Liam repeated as he left the door, waving his grandfather goodbye.
To everyone else, this was just another Monday morning. But for me, it was different. It felt like a countdown was hanging above my head, ticking down each second. The universe I was reincarnated into wasn't an ordinary one, of course.
It was the Marvel Universe, and this city was New York City—the most notorious and dangerous city in all of America.
I still vividly remember the first time I realized where I was. I had been young, around five or six years old. Gramps had taken me to a nearby bookstore to buy some extra history books and supplies for school.
Once there, I walked past a bookstand with the latest technology updates on display. The bright colors and massive characters immediately got my attention. But the name that the characters spelled froze me in place. It read: Stark Industries.
My stomach dropped for a moment as I realized what world I was in.
'This is the Marvel Universe?' I thought. 'The one with Tony Stark and the Avengers?'
'I'm living in this dangerous, fucked up world?' I asked myself.
This was a universe where the lines between fiction and reality were literally invisible. One day you could be fine, and the next you might end up fist-fighting aliens on your doorstep.
'And I'm pretty sure I know exactly how this story is supposed to go,' Liam thought.
The memories of my previous life were still fresh. In that universe, Marvel was just fiction. But here?
'This is real,' Liam thought. 'Or at least, as far as I'm aware.'
Somewhere in the universe was the Mad Titan, searching for the Infinity Stones—a being capable of massacring planets.
It was a lot to take in at first, but over time, Liam accepted it. He hadn't told Harold, of course.
'How could I even explain it to him?' Liam thought. 'Knowing the future because of some movies I had seen in my past life?'
'That sounds crazy,' he mused. 'I would be locked in a psych ward or beaten to death by his slippers, maybe even his belt.'
He knew how Harold worked. Whichever one was closer to him was the one he would reach for. 'For now, I will just be an ordinary teenager going to high school while living in my grandfather's cramped apartment.' He thought, shivering at the thought of the belt.
The day passed without anything particularly interesting happening. Liam sat through class after class, trying to focus but quickly growing bored. There were too many things going through his head that were more important to him, such as his future goals and figuring out how to reach them.
Who could blame him? He had already gone through this process in his previous life. He had tried applying for early graduation, but that had gone wrong. His school added additional fees, which he and his grandfather just couldn't pay in order for him to graduate.
Was it Legal? Most likely not.
Was there anything he could do about it? Nope.
'One bribe, and the police look the other way,' Liam mused as he walked out of the school building. 'Not enough money to take it to court either.'
The final bell had just rung, meaning Liam could go home again. He started walking to a nearby park. The fresh air there was far better than the streets of New York. He always went there to clear his head, but the more he tried to do so, the more the thoughts came back.
In a world filled with superheroes, literal gods, and universal forces, there had to be hundreds of ways to become .... not ordinary. That was the only thing Liam hated about his life up until now.
Sure, there were plenty of years left until shit hit the fan. But he had no money, no way to develop something to protect himself. He was a historian, not a scientist and outside of many years in school, there was no way for him to become one.
He had gone to libraries many times, hoping to find clues about ancient artifacts that might not have been covered in the movies or comics but he hadn't found anything yet.
'There's no way Stan Lee could cover the entire universe down to every detail,' he thought. 'Oscorp still hasn't started the spider project, so there's no path there either.'
He sighed, standing in front of the library.
'Let's hope I find something today,' he thought, heading inside.
A few hours passed. He hadn't found anything today either. Annoyed, he cursed as he jogged home, not wanting to be late for his grandfather's dinner.