Saitama Municipal General Hospital, Japan.
"Waaahh"
A high-pitched baby cry suddenly filled the pristine delivery room. But just after the nurse finished cutting the umbilical cord, something unusual happened.
"Crack"
A small burst of yellowish electricity flickered from the newborn's body, zapping the nurse's gloves. Within seconds, a large amount of golden electricity surged from the baby's body, lighting up the room in a flash of gold. The entire delivery room was suddenly awash in a bright electrical glow.
Despite the shocking display, neither the doctor nor the nurses seemed fazed. They continued their tasks calmly, as if they'd expected something like this to happen.
Oddly enough, the electric surge didn't harm anyone or disrupt the medical equipment in the room. It was as if the electricity was entirely under control.
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
The black-haired woman lying on the delivery bed, glancing up at the flickering light on the ceiling, asked in a tired voice.
"Congratulations, it's a very healthy boy."
The experienced doctor, recognizing the unspoken question in her eyes, added with a warm, reassuring tone, "But you can't touch him just yet, and you'll need to keep your distance. His Quirk appears to be lightning-based and quite strong. Without insulated clothing, it could be dangerous."
"Lightning, huh… just as expected… Alright then," she sighed, her disappointment clear, but she understood the situation. Her nerves, strained by the delivery, began to relax, and she quickly grew drowsy.
"Baby… I'll see you soon…"
She didn't fight the exhaustion. As the sound of her baby's cry echoed in her ears, she closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep. She was utterly spent.
Meanwhile, the nurses expertly placed the newly born "thunderbolt" baby into an incubator designed to block electricity. The doctor, wiping his hands, stepped out of the delivery room to speak with the child's father.
***
Inside the incubator, the baby's cries suddenly stopped. Not because he was soothed, but because Aoi the consciousness inside the baby had calmed down.
"I... I've time-traveled… No, technically I've been reincarnated… as a baby, a baby that can discharge electricity?!"
As Aoi processed this, excitement began to rise. "I really ended up in a world with superpowers! And they're completely normal here!!"
Earlier, he'd been terrified when the electricity burst out of him, but the casual reaction of the doctors and nurses to his powers told him everything. He didn't know how he'd generated the electricity, but the fact that no one was panicking meant it wasn't out of the ordinary.
This was good news. It meant he wouldn't be hunted down or feared as some kind of freak. That was a huge relief, especially since he had no way to protect himself right now.
"What kind of world is this?!"
As he was wheeled into a room full of other newborns by a gentle nurse, Aoi's mind raced with possibilities.
But instead of crying again, he stayed silent, his attention drawn to the strange babies around him. Some of them didn't even look human.
There were babies with long horns, tails, and red skin, which were strange but still somewhat human-like. But what was going on with that black-and-white panda-looking baby? Or the one that looked like a giant ant?!
"Could this be a fantasy world with multiple races?" Aoi wondered, his curiosity piqued.
But then he reconsidered, looking at the advanced technology around him the high-tech incubators, the medical equipment, and the cameras mounted on the ceiling.
"No, this place has to be a sci-fi world. The tech is too advanced for just magic. It's probably a world where superpowers and advanced technology coexist."
With the limited information he had, that was the best conclusion Aoi could come to. But one thing was certain: he was excited about the life ahead of him.
"Here's hoping my luck from the last life carries over."
Time flew by, and before long, Aoi had turned three years old. However, his new name was no longer Aoi.
Now, he was Kaminari Denki.
He didn't mind the new name at all. His old name had little meaning to him, and the fact that he now had real parents was something he was immensely grateful for. Over the past three years, he had experienced their unwavering love and care. To him, his new name imbued with his parents' hopes and affection was something precious, something to be cherished.
Of course, he hadn't spent the past three years just basking in familial love. Despite his young age, Aoi, now Kaminari Denki, had been busy gathering information.
Since he couldn't do much physically, he'd focused on what he could do watching, listening, and absorbing everything around him. The TV had become his best source of information.
While there was a computer at home, it would have been far too suspicious for a toddler to start typing and searching for information. Even in a world where superpowers were common, being a three-year-old computer whiz was asking for trouble. He was cautious enough to avoid drawing unnecessary attention.
So, what had he learned?
First and foremost, superpowers, or "Quirks" as they were called here, were everywhere. From the moment he was born, he realized that his lightning ability wasn't something unusual in this world. As he grew, he confirmed that he was now living in Japan, his parents were Japanese, and they seemed to live an ordinary life in a parallel version of Earth.
While it was a bit unsettling that this wasn't his original world, it was reassuring to know that countries like the United States, China, and Russia still existed. The geography of this world was nearly identical to the one he knew. That was comforting, in a way. He wasn't entirely lost in some unrecognizable place.
Even more important was what he'd learned from TV this world had Heroes. And not just a few. Heroes were everywhere, and they were celebrated.
This revelation made Kaminari's mind spin with wild possibilities. He had a theory one that was crazy, but not impossible.
"This might actually be the Marvel universe... but with more than just superheroes. Mutants, Inhumans, all sorts of superpowered races… it's all here!"