"Mario."
Erik looked up from his workstation as Mario approached with Darcy in tow. Relief and happiness washed over his features. He set down his pen and stood, the tension that had been coiled in his shoulders finally releasing.
"Darcy, welcome to the company. I promise this is the best decision you'll ever make."
Darcy nodded and pulled Erik into a quick hug. "Thank you, Dr. Selvig."
Mario watched the reunion. Being able to help his people felt good. Really good.
"I'm putting Darcy in your hands. As of today, she's officially part of your department. If there are any problems, you know where to find me. For now, let's head back to the lab."
Erik nodded. "Sounds good."
The three of them walked toward the waystone in the company basement. Darcy glanced around at the busy workers.
"Where are we going? I thought we'd be working here?"
Mario caught Erik's eye, clearly, he hadn't told her anything about what she was really getting into. He smiled. "You'll see soon enough. I guarantee you're about to have your mind blown."
They descended to the company's underground level, where staff members bustled about with equipment and materials. He led them to a specific room and pushed open the door.
A blue circular portal dominated the center of the chamber.
This was the Tesseract portal. After months of research, Erik had mastered the ability to open stable gateways to any location with known coordinates.
"Whoa..."
Darcy's eyes went wide. "Oh my God. What is that?"
Erik's explanation carried quiet pride. "A spatial portal. Also our primary research project from here on out."
Darcy couldn't help herself, she walked right up to the portal and circled it slowly, studying the shimmering energy from every angle.
"I can't believe this. If this ever went public, you'd win the Nobel Prize. Hands down."
Erik chuckled and waved off the suggestion. "If the public knew half of what we're working on here, nobody else would ever win a Nobel Prize again. Come on, let me show you your actual workspace."
He stepped through the portal, which led directly to his private laboratory on the other side. Mario followed close behind.
Inside the lab, Darcy transformed into the model student, sticking close to Erik's side as he explained the equipment, safety protocols, and research parameters. Mario hung back, content to let the professor work his magic.
"My primary focus right now is researching applications of the Tesseract itself."
Erik led Darcy to the glowing blue cube. "You need to be extremely careful around this. Never, under any circumstances, touch it directly with your bare skin. The radiation alone could cause serious problems, and direct contact could be fatal."
He demonstrated how to adjust coordinates and open portals to different locations.
Darcy watched everything with shining eyes. "I feel like I'm dreaming. This is all unbelievable."
A satisfied expression crossed Erik's face. He'd expected exactly this reaction.
Mario cleared his throat. "Looks like you've got this under control. I'm gonna head out. Can you open a portal to the Afterlife for me? I could use some downtime."
Erik, who'd been completely absorbed in his teaching, snapped back to awareness at Mario's voice. He blinked in surprise.
"Huh? You're still here?"
Mario's expression went flat. "You trying to get fired, Erik?"
Realizing what he'd just said, Erik gave an awkward laugh and quickly moved to the portal controls. The blue gateway twisted and distorted violently.
Mario frowned. That wasn't normal behavior. Usually, when switching destinations, the portal would close completely before the Tesseract fired a new beam to activate the gateway again. Before he could voice his concern, the twisted portal stabilized, but instead of showing a clear view of the destination, it displayed only a blue haze.
"The portal's out of control again. But the energy's draining fast. It'll shut down in a minute, tops."
Mario's mind flashed back to the very first time Erik had opened a portal with the Tesseract, when he had accidentally ended up in a parallel universe.
"Hold on. You two stay back, I'll check it out."
Maybe this was another parallel universe. He had nothing else pressing on his schedule anyway. What was the harm in taking a quick look?
Though seriously, Erik, are you cursed or something? Every time I visit your lab, something goes sideways with the Tesseract.
Or maybe I'm the one who's cursed.
The portal shuddered again, its stability clearly failing. He made a split-second decision and sprinted toward it.
Compared to the first time Mario had jumped through an unstable portal, Erik remained remarkably calm. He'd seen this before and knew Mario would be fine.
Right before diving through, Mario shouted over his shoulder, "I don't know when I'll be back! Tell the cafeteria they don't need to make me meals for the next couple days!"
His figure vanished into the blue haze.
The portal flickered once, twice, then collapsed entirely. The Tesseract's brilliant glow faded to nothing, leaving only the faint energy signature of the gem at its core.
Darcy stood frozen. Even though she'd never operated a portal herself, she understood the basics. Using an unstable gateway was essentially gambling with your life. Best case scenario, you emerged somewhere random in the universe. Worst case? Instant death.
"He just—"
Erik didn't even look up, his hands already flying across the control panel. "Oh, he left for a bit. Once I finish logging this data, I'll take you to the employee cafeteria and let them know they don't need to cook for him."
Darcy stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
---
Meanwhile, Mario materialized in a narrow alley in some unfamiliar city. The only other occupant was an unconscious homeless man sprawled against a dumpster.
"Where am I?"
He walked toward the mouth of the alley. The surroundings were dark. Thick clouds covered the sky, creating a heavy, suffocating atmosphere. A fierce wind whipped through the street, scattering trash and debris like nature's own cleanup crew gone rogue.
BOOM.
Thunder rumbled across the sky.
"Great. It's about to rain."
The words were barely out of his mouth when the clouds opened up. Rain came down in sheets, soaking him to the bone within seconds. He didn't really mind. Once the rain stopped or he found shelter, his clothes would dry instantly thanks to Minecraft physics.
First things first, find somewhere to set up a base.
He returned to the alley. The homeless man had already disappeared, probably seeking shelter from the downpour. He walked straight to the corner wall, pulled out his diamond pickaxe, and started digging. After about six or seven meters down, the ground beneath him suddenly gave way. He instinctively activated his gravity armor's flight function, hovering as he took stock of his surroundings.
He sealed the entrance above him and pulled out a torch. Orange light flickered across damp stone walls and...
"A sewer? Seriously?"
The sewer system was massive, occupying almost all of the underground space beneath the city. The environment wasn't terrible, aside from some rats and other small creatures, it was relatively clean. Though with the rain, the central water channel looked like a raging river.
"This'll work for now. I'll set up a waystone and come back up tomorrow to figure out where I am."
Mario found a suitable wall and carved out a small room with his pickaxe. He sealed the entrance behind him, from the outside, there was no trace of the hidden chamber. He placed a crafting table, furnace, and chest, then added a bed and activated waystone. He pulled out his phone. No signal. That wasn't because he was underground, Tony had modified this thing to get reception in a submarine. If there was no signal, it meant either this world didn't have cell phones at all, or his number simply wasn't registered on this reality's network.
Given the cars and clothing he'd seen on the street, this was definitely the 21st century. So option two seemed more likely.
"Whatever. I'll figure it out tomorrow."
He lay down on the bed and immediately fell into deep sleep.
---
At precisely 6:30 AM, Mario's eyes snapped open. He sat up, stretched luxuriously, and felt completely refreshed.
"Damn, I love this bed. Wonder if the rain stopped. Should have... with how hard it was coming down, if it kept up all night, even a sewer you could drive a truck through would've flooded."
He stood and dug his way back to the surface.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
The pickaxe made short work of the blocks, and soon he was back in the sewer. The previously raging water channel had calmed to a gentle flow.
"Rain definitely stopped. Time to see where I landed."
Under the surprised stares of several pedestrians, he pushed open a manhole cover and climbed out of the sewer. He ignored the looks, closed the manhole, and walked away like nothing unusual had happened.
Thirty minutes later, he sat at an outdoor café table with a laptop he'd just purchased from a nearby electronics store. His brow furrowed as he scrolled through search results.
Nothing. Stark Industries doesn't exist. Is this just a pure mutant world? Or maybe a standalone universe for some other hero?
Before his transmigration, he had watched plenty of Marvel content. If you counted all the standalone films and alternate continuities, there were dozens of separate superhero universes. Spider-Man alone had countless parallel versions.
"Ah well. If there are no superheroes, that's fine. I can treat this as a pure resource world. Might be nice for a vaca—"
The words died in his throat as a news headline caught his eye.
[Wayne Enterprises Charity Gala a Success, Bruce Wayne Pledges Millions to Gotham Youth Programs]
Mario's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "Wayne Enterprises?"
He frantically typed "Batman" into the search bar. Thousands of articles about the Dark Knight flooded his screen.
This is the DC universe... How did I end up in DC?
He quickly checked which city he was currently in. The name appeared in bold letters: Gotham City.
He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of coffee, processing this new information.
Superman...
A quick search showed that Metropolis existed, but there was no information about Superman himself.
Wonder where we are in the timeline. Is there no Superman yet, or is Clark still wandering around trying to find himself?
In Man of Steel, Clark Kent had kept his powers hidden until he found his Kryptonian ship and communicated with his father's AI. Only then had he donned the suit and become Superman.
Mario closed the laptop and stood. Since he was already in Gotham City, not visiting Batman would be a complete waste of an interdimensional trip.
"Let's check out Wayne Enterprises. Maybe I'll catch a glimpse of Bruce Wayne himself."
---
Twenty minutes later, Mario stood before Wayne Tower, craning his neck to take in the massive building that dominated Gotham's skyline.
"Taller than Stark Tower. But not nearly as flashy."
Wayne Tower's design was classic and understated, clearly reflecting its owner's preference for function over form.
I should bring Tony here someday and set up a Stark Industries branch in the DC universe. That would be interesting as hell.
Compared to Stark Industries, Wayne Enterprises was absurdly wealthy. If there was money to be made in an industry, Wayne Enterprises had a stake in it.
He arrived too early. The main doors were still locked, so he sat on a nearby bench and continued researching this new universe.
"Daily Planet... Lois Lane... So Superman definitely exists. Just not sure where he is right now."
Before long, Wayne Enterprises employees began arriving, starting their workday with the practiced efficiency of people who worked for one of the world's most powerful companies.
He tucked away his laptop and walked straight into the building. The receptionist was an attractive young woman in her twenties, radiating professional friendliness.
"Good morning, how can I help you?"
"Hi, I'd like to make an appointment with Bruce Wayne—"
Mario trailed off, realizing he had no legitimate reason to request a meeting with one of the world's richest men.
"Actually, is Mr. Wayne in today?"
Her smile didn't waver. "I'm sorry, I'm not privy to the chairman's schedule. If you need to meet with him, you'll need to make an official appointment through our system."
"Uh..."
Mario scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh. "Right. Never mind then. Thanks anyway."
He turned and walked out of Wayne Tower, found a secluded spot with no cameras or witnesses, and activated his invisibility.
Should've just done this from the start.