Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OCs, and this is my first fanfic. English is my second language. I welcome constructive criticism, but please be kind to me!
֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎֎
Marie POV
The shift was already winding down when that strange customer showed up in my line. I had already served a bunch of people that night, most of them ordering the usual combos, some complaining about the change, one old man who insisted on paying everything in coins. Nothing particularly memorable until that moment.
'What a weird guy… but at least he's handsome and funny.'
That's what I thought while writing down his order. Buying that many burgers would be normal if it was for a party or something, but to donate them to homeless people, that was new to me. I had never seen anyone do that before, at least not in the spontaneous way he did, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
'And he wasn't one of those guys who keep trying to flirt with me the whole time instead of just placing the order.'
That was one of the bad parts of the job, besides having to work, obviously. It kept happening, some customer standing in my line more interested in forced small talk than in deciding his own order, asking my name, if I had a boyfriend, if I worked late every night. Earlier that same shift, a guy had spent a good five minutes trying to get my number while a line formed behind him, and I had to smile politely the whole time, because complaining could mean losing the job.
In moments like that, I wished I was as powerful as my dad and could just punch them in the face. It wouldn't even need to be with force, one finger would be enough to send them flying.
'One day…'
Maybe that kind of thought was too familiar, because I quickly shook my head and came back to reality. My dad would probably say something about "using strength responsibly" or whatever speech he loved to give, so there was no point dreaming about it while I was still just Marie Grayson, the ordinary girl behind the Burger Mart counter.
I finished packing the strange guy's order, handed it over with a genuine smile saying "come back anytime," and as soon as he left the store, I let out a sigh. Only one more hour until the end of the shift.
After the shift ended, I got home exhausted. I went straight up to my room and locked the door behind me,the sacred ritual of every end of shift. I sat on the bed and grabbed the latest issue of Seance Dog from the shelf where I kept my collection.
The cover showed the humanoid dog in a red coat, blue shirt and a yellow star on his chest, surrounded by some sparkles. These latest issues were at the beginning of a multiversal war, exactly the kind of story I needed after a whole shift of being hit on by strangers and packing enough burgers to feed an army of homeless people.
'Just one more chapter and I'll sleep.' I promised myself, knowing perfectly well I wouldn't keep it.
.....
The usual happened, I went to bed kind of late and woke up destroyed to go to school. I hated Sunday shifts because of that, but my stuff and my comics weren't going to buy themselves.
I decided to brush my teeth and use the bathroom right after, finishing the chapter I hadn't managed to finish the night before. When I was getting to the climax of the issue, someone knocked on the door.
"*Tok* *Tok* *Tok* *Tok* *Tok*"
"Mom? What! I'll be out in a minute!"
When I said that, my mom opened the door, started looking for something in the drawer.
"I don't have a minute."
"Mom!"
"My bathroom's out of soap. Get over yourself. I used to change your diapers, kid. There's nothing going on down there I haven't seen before."
She stood up holding the soap she was looking for.
"Just get out! I'm not a kid anymore! I'm a grown woman now!"
Then she chuckled at me and said.
"Alright, alright, 'grown woman', just don't forget to put the comic back in the corner. Last time it got wet and you kept complaining that you'd have to buy a new one for your collection."
After that she left, and I stayed looking at the floor, a bit embarrassed, remembering that.
The awkward scene didn't seem to bother Mom at all, but I was still red when I went downstairs to eat cereal with milk while watching TV. That was when a news report came on, with scenes of the damaged White House.
"[As you can see, the scene is absolute chaos as the Mauler twins…]"
Mom came down the stairs and I started talking.
"Looks like Dad's saving the White House."
"Alone?"
"Guardians are there, too."
"Who are they fighting? Ugh, Mauler Twins. Looks like we won't be getting breakfast together this morning. Bummer."
Then I looked at her, raising an eyebrow, incredulous at her indifference when saying that.
"It's the White House, Mom. Kind of important."
My mom shrugged and opened her palm, waving it lightly, like someone dismissing an unimportant subject, while heading to the kitchen.
"Oh, they rebuild that thing twice a year at this point. If it's not Doc Seismic, it's the Lizard League, or someone else. I doubt the President still lives there."
Then Dad landed in the backyard and came inside.
"I'm not too late! I'm gonna shower."
Then Mom approached him.
"Not so fast. Come here first."
'Arg, why did they have to do this in front of me?'
Then Mom and Dad started kissing behind me in the kitchen. I felt that weird sensation of when parents start making out in front of their kids, totally unnecessary.
"Don't make me get the spray bottle."
They looked at me raising an eyebrow, then Mom pulled Dad toward the stairs.
"Now, let's get you out of that costume."
"Boundaries, people!"
Then I stood up to speak.
"Bathroom doors are closed for a reason, and parents should never, ever talk about sex in front of their kids!"
I said that while walking past them and going to my room to grab my bag.
"You should be overjoyed to see your parents passionately expressing their love for each other." She said while affectionately running her finger on Dad's nose. "Now stop griping. Get ready for school."
"Couldn't you at least wait until I leave the house… for college!"
I said while going up the stairs. Then they went back to talking.
"What were you thinking? Paris?"
"Actually, I was kind of pulling for that little cafe in Berlin. I've been jonesing for those sausages."
Then I stopped when I heard that and turned back to them.
"Aw, man, you guys are going to Best Wurst? I love that place!"
"Not this time, sweetie. This one's just for the two of us." Mom said, giving Dad a wink, who just shook his head, resigned.
Dad then said.
"You've got school. When your powers kick in, you can go on your own."
When I heard that, I frowned, making a fake angry pout, and answered in a dry tone.
"Salt on the wound, Dad."
That had already been something on my mind for a long time. I also wanted to fly, be super strong and be a heroine like my dad, but so far my powers hadn't manifested.
"They've gotta be due any day now, kiddo. Even the latest bloomers on Viltrum would get their powers before what would be their 18th birthday. You'll see."
From there I had already grabbed my bag and was going down the stairs again, ready to leave, when Mom called me from the kitchen.
"Oh, I almost forgot, did you see that crazy news from this morning? A bunch of people swearing they saw an angel and a demon giving Burger Mart burgers to homeless people all night."
"Really? That's kind of… random." I answered, adjusting the strap of the bag on my shoulder.
'Giving burgers to homeless people? Could it have been that guy? But what do angels and demons have to do with him?'
I got a bit confused thinking about that.
"Random is an understatement. They say they're already calling him The Midnight Deliveryman on the forums. Your generation invents the weirdest things." She laughed, shaking her head, and went to the backyard where Dad was waiting for her. "Go on, hurry up or you'll miss the bus."
"Ok, ok. Bye! Have fun! I'll just be walking… on the ground… with my feet."
"Whooshing"
I watched them flying from behind the house with a bit of envy. Flying is so convenient. I looked at my hand, closed my fist, raised it high and jumped.
"Eep!"
Nothing happened… but I wasn't going to give up now.
"Come on! Go up, go up, GO UP!"
"…Please?"
"ARGH!"
I jumped one more time, already out of breath, almost falling backward on the last attempt.
Unfortunately it was all in vain. I looked at the mailman across the street, staring at me with an expression of someone who had just witnessed something very stupid.
A bit embarrassed, I raised my hand to greet him.
"Morning, hahaha." I said, awkward.
He just kept looking, which made me feel even more embarrassed.
"I… was just trying to… stretch my legs before class. Morning yoga, you know how it is."
...
Already at school, I was messing with my locker when I heard a familiar voice behind me. I turned and came face to face with Wendy, leaning against the wall next to the hallway window.
Wendy had short hair, shoulder-length, of a light golden-brown tone, cut in a soft bob, with straight bangs falling just above her eyebrows. Her eyes were a light and vivid blue, slightly upturned, with an attentive and calm look. Her face was delicate, with soft features, rosy cheeks and a discreet, almost shy smile that rarely opened completely. She was wearing a tight orange V-neck t-shirt, and carried a blue backpack hanging from her shoulders.
"Mauler Twins attack the White House? Nuts, right?"
"I saw."
I said while grabbing what I needed from the school locker.
"I can't believe the Guardians of the Globe let them get that close to killing the President."
"They didn't even get into the building." Then I turned my head a bit toward her. "And Omni-Man was there, too."
"You're such an Omni-Maniac. Way to root for the underdog. Big fan of the Yankees, are you?"
I shrugged at that.
Then Wendy continued.
"Sure, he's hot and all, and that mustache…"
I sighed deeply.
It was strange seeing my friend simping for my dad.
"What, I thought you liked him… or do you want him all to yourself?" She asked in a more suggestive tone, raising her eyebrows.
'How was I supposed to tell her we're talking about my dad.'
I just rolled my eyes at that.
"By the way, did you hear about the guy giving Burger Mart to the beggars? Hahaha, I couldn't believe it, a guy pretending to be an angel and a demon, delivering burgers to homeless people. Every now and then one of these gems shows up."
'Again with this? I think I'll have to watch the report later. Could it really have been that guy?'
Thinking a bit, I decided to share this story with my friend.
"Actually, Wendy, yesterday a guy ordered forty Mart Classic burgers at my job. Do you think it was that guy who did this?"
Wendy listened to that, laughed and said.
"Of course it was you, the protagonist, who made those burgers, for sure. Hahaha, I wish I had that self-esteem of yours."
"It's true, a guy ordered that at my job… and I only packed the order, I didn't make them."
I pouted, a bit unhappy that my friend thought I was making it up.
While we were talking, someone approached me.
"Hi, Marie, right? I heard you like Omni-Man?"
The guy who approached me, Todd, started showing off his muscular arm.
"So? Do you like buff guys?"
He started posing, like part of a ritual to impress the female.
'Ah, just what I needed.'
Why did this have to happen to me? I glanced sideways at Wendy, silently hoping for a rescue, or at least for a convenient earthquake.
.....
Max POV
Some time before the events above.
There I was, deciding what to wear to approach Mark.
'At least we have one thing in common to talk about.'
I thought that while grabbing a shirt with Seance Dog printed on it. In my head, as soon as I somehow started a conversation with him and he saw the Seance Dog shirt, he would get interested and start talking to me, just like he had done with Amber's new boyfriend.
'The previous owner of this body also liked comics, and considering the time period we're in is 2010, liking comics is still kind of a nerd thing, it hasn't become real pop culture yet like it will later.'
I had already researched the name of my school and looked for photos of it on the website. I recognized the principal right away, that same face that appears in the original story, so I knew this was the right school. I kind of expected something like this to happen, it's not like it's guaranteed in transmigration stories, but I had to confirm.
I also wondered how much help I should give him. After all, if this Mark was an evil one, that would be a problem. At least I could take refuge in BNHA until I got strong enough, or even flee to other worlds, I just didn't know if the Gacha would let me run away forever. Maybe it would detect that I was trying to permanently abandon the Invincible world and lock my Gachas until I came back.
'Damn! That's actually a possibility. Especially if there's some kind of Random Omnipotent Being watching me and expecting me to provide entertainment.'
I stopped for a bit and brought my palms to my face.
'I shouldn't be thinking about this right now. The future is built in the present. Until then, if it's an evil Mark, maybe I can change his mind with talk-no-jutsu.'
Planning how to approach the one who would be an important piece of my life in this world, I put the Seance Dog shirt under a dark blue dress shirt, the kind that can stay unbuttoned showing the shirt underneath, and black jeans.
'Well, it's now or never. If he's already evil and irredeemable, Voice of All Things will help me know, and if that's the case, it would be good to think about how to erase him without his father destroying the world in fury.'
With that, I got up to go to school and decide what to do with the protagonist of this world.
…
Already at school, while looking for Mark, I remembered something important.
'Since there are comic elements here, is that teacher who creates biological bombs around?'
The physics teacher, David Hiles, or Mr. Hiles as he was better known, was a former weapons engineer from a military government-sanctioned research company.
He was the first villain of the original story, he even got cut from the animation, but now, where would he be?
I easily hacked into the school systems and discovered that Mr. Hiles did exist, but was missing.
'Hum, I'll check his address later. Right now I have something more important to do.'
I then started searching for Mark's name, but strangely, I didn't find it. There were a few Graysons at the school, but no Markus Sebastian Grayson.
'Strange, Eve is here, and they should be in the same class. What happened?'
It seemed my plans had changed, the protagonist wasn't following the script. Had he moved? Or even died before the story started?
'If he moved, the only way to get close is by becoming a hero, which doesn't bother me, but what if he died? Should I keep an eye on Eve? She was supposed to be Kirkman's backup protagonist in case Invincible didn't work out, so would the plot armor transfer to her, and would she end up unlocking all her powers?'
Questions, questions and more questions, that was all I could do now in the face of the unknown. All that was left was to go to Eve's classroom, which was near mine, and take one last look there.
I was standing straighter. I had thought about staying hunched over so I wouldn't raise suspicions about my sudden growth, but I quickly discovered that no one really cared. The original body only had internet friends anyway.
I also received a few looks from girls while walking past, which didn't bother me much, since I had bigger problems on my mind.
Then something caught my attention, loud voices and what seemed like a fight between a man and a woman.
'I don't have time for this right now… but a few minutes of delay won't change much anyway.'
I diverted a bit from my original path and got closer to the sound, finding its source as I turned the corner.
"Come on! What's this? No need to play hard to get. I know you're liking it." I then saw Todd hitting on a girl who had an expression of contempt and helplessness, while the other one next to her tried to help.
'Hum, isn't that the girl from the Burger Mart counter? Marie, right? So she studies here… WAIT! THAT OUTFIT! AND THE OUTFIT OF THE GIRL NEXT TO HER! COULD IT BE WHAT I'M THINKING!?'
The gears in my head seemed to have reached a conclusion I hadn't considered before. It wasn't that the protagonist had disappeared, it was that "he" had turned into "her".
Not only the protagonist, apparently Mark's friend William had also been genderswapped.
'And they're pretty too…'
"Ahem." I stopped the thought right there. I couldn't let my libido get the better of me. If I only thought with the lower head, what would be the difference between me and a wild animal?
'Looks like she's arguing with Todd. I think she inherited Amber's role from the animation, so I'll be her knight in shining armor, only without getting beaten up like in the original.'
Making the decision, I decided to step between them, already preparing for whatever Todd might do, which, for my current self, was absolutely nothing.
"Hey! Sorry to interrupt, Todd, but the girl's looking at you like you're the biggest scum in the world. How about you stop bothering her and go after a guy for yourself?"
I placed myself between the two. Marie looked a bit surprised and recognized me, she seemed to want to say something, but Todd spoke before her.
"Hey, stay in your lane, don't ruin the mood, you…" Todd looked me up and down, seemed not to know what to insult me with, then, seeing my Seance Dog shirt, went for his default insult. "Nerd!"
"First, thank you, I am pretty nerdy. Second, only if it's a rape mood."
"Pfff! Hahahaha!" After all that tension trying to help her friend who was being harassed, Wendy burst out laughing.
"Pff." Marie also smiled a little, but quickly put her hand over her mouth, since she was still mad at Todd and didn't want to seem friendly right now.
"Why you little…" Todd then charged at me, big mistake. I kind of understood it, it had been a pretty heavy joke, but he really had no sense at all.
"Take this, you nerd!"
I think he thought it would be cool to punch someone in front of the girl he wanted to get with, just to show strength, pretty beastly thinking.
When he punched me, Marie and Wendy got worried, they didn't want me to get beaten up because of them, but before they could shout or say "wait," Todd's punch was already millimeters from my nose.
Then an impressive scene happened for the two of them and for the people watching from afar. Without moving from my spot, I just shifted my face a little to the side, and the punch went past me without hurting me, almost grazing the skin.
It doesn't sound that impressive when told like this, but seeing it was like watching a child who knows nothing about fighting try to face a martial arts master. No movement seemed wasted, everything seemed precise in a natural way, not mechanical.
'Honestly, I thought about breaking his nose before, but now, with our power levels so far apart, I didn't think it was worth putting in that much effort, even if that "much" is actually nothing, hehe.'
"Urg!" He stopped the punch a little after missing, took a step back and said to me. "You got lucky, nerd! You got so scared you could only move your head, but I'm gonna stop going easy on you."
No one who saw the scene believed that, but maybe, with Todd's impaired intellect, he thought his own speech made sense.
'This guy is really retardmaxxing. I was wondering if he was a bit evil, but he's just really dumb.'
Not that stupidity couldn't carry its own built-in malice, but it was kind of weird thinking about hitting an incapable person, I almost felt sorry for him. But the key word was almost.
"Take this!" He seemed to aim for my solar plexus this time, using all the strength in his body.
This time, instead of staying still, I just turned sideways to him. I didn't even need to put my foot in front, his legs crossed by themselves, he lost his balance and fell to the ground, breaking his nose.
'I keep wondering if it would have been less humiliating to just hit him right away.'
Everyone was looking, some laughing, others taking photos with cell phones a bit more advanced than they should be in 2010, some even felt pity.
Todd then got up, covering his bleeding nose with his hand and pointed at me.
"You're gonna see! You're gonna pay for what you did!"
"Dude, I didn't do anything. You tripped over your own legs and broke your nose."
"That… uh… f-forget it, I'll forgive you for what you did… for now." He said, a bit awkwardly, and headed toward the nurse's office.
'What a humiliation that was. He's probably going to be psychologically damaged for a while.'
While thinking about that, Marie called me from behind.
"Hey! H-hi, it's me, Marie. I forgot to ask your name yesterday. Thanks for dealing with that jerk for me, I don't know how to thank you."
She said, running her hand beside her hair and tucking it behind her ear.
"Don't mention it, I'm glad you remember me. You can call me Max, and it wasn't hard at all, he practically defeated himself."
"Hahahaha!" She gave a beautiful laugh, then her friend came out from behind her.
"No way! That was awesome! You looked like one of those martial arts masters from the movies, like 'don't make unnecessary movements, only do what's enough'!"
"Well, actually it was kind of exactly that, haha~." She had hit it right on the mark. That came from Nano, who had already analyzed various martial arts on the internet, so the knowledge flowed naturally through my brain.
"Man, Marie, when were you going to introduce me to your handsome boyfriend?" Wendy asked, suggestively, with a fake sadness.
"What!? He's not my boyfriend!" Marie answered, blushing with embarrassment and a bit angry. Before Marie could continue, Wendy interrupted her.
"So he's available!? Alright! Hi, Max! I'm Wendy, Marie's best friend. What do you think about us going to Burger Mart after school? So we can get to know each other better!" Wendy said, very excited.
'What's this? She's pretty extroverted, a bit different from William, but you can still see the essence of the character in her.'
I wasn't going to reject this approach, of course, it was exactly what I had already planned.
"Hey, I thought we were going to Burger Mart after class, Wendy!" Marie said, pouting before I could answer, indignant at having become the third wheel.
"Of course you're coming too, Marie! Someone needs to hold the candle, after all." Wendy answered smiling, leaving Marie even more irritated, that kind of irritation only a friend can provoke, more affectionate teasing than real anger.
Marie then turned to me and said.
"Sorry about my friend, she's usually not like this. She's more playful than usual."
Seeing Marie nervous, trying to control the situation, I could only give a smile to calm her down a bit.
"Don't worry, Marie, she doesn't bother me."
"Hehehe~ don't worry, Max, you're going to have a date with two beautiful girls. You're paying, of course." Wendy seemed like she wasn't going to stop being suggestive.
"*Sigh*" Marie didn't know what to do with the friend who kept flirting with Max in such an insistent way.
The bell rang for the students to start classes.
"Aw, just when the conversation was getting good. Anyway, we'll see each other after class at the Burger Mart nearby. Come on, Marie, I don't want to be late. Bye, Max!" Wendy then linked her arm with Marie's and dragged her away.
"Argh, wait a second, what's the hurry? Bye, Max! See you later!" She used her free arm to wave at me from afar.
I also stayed waving at them from afar.
'Well, this turned out better than I could have predicted, actually. I have the impression that I won't have problems with Marie's moral alignment, and even if I do, I think I can fix her.'
I then went to my classroom. Nothing interesting happened. I ended up leaving early because of a surprise test that I finished quickly. The teacher looked disappointed, he must have thought I had scribbled anything just to leave as early as possible.
Instead of waiting for Marie and Wendy's classes to end, I went to deal with the human bomb-creating teacher. I didn't know what had happened to him, so I decided to take a look at his house.
...
There I was, in front of his house. There were still some police tapes on the door. From what I had read in the files I found, the police had already ransacked the house and investigated the case, but hadn't managed to find the teacher.
I had also already seen reports of some missing students, so he had probably already started the experiments.
I used [Permeation] to pass through without needing to remove the police tapes from the door. Inside, everything was accumulating dust and smelling of mold, as one would expect from a house abandoned for a few months.
'He had a basement where he created the biological bombs. Maybe the police didn't find it.'
Instead of looking for a secret entrance, I simply sank into the ground until the basement. When I got there, I found a normal basement, without people turned into living bombs tied to operating tables.
'When Mark and Eve entered the basement, that's where the experiments were happening, but if it was here too, the police would have already found something.'
I started looking around the basement more, until I decided to sink even deeper into the ground, to see if there would be any hidden laboratory, as was common for an intelligent villain who did inhumane experiments to have in comics in general.
After a few seconds of rapid descent, I arrived at a huge underground laboratory.
"That's it! Good to know that superhero logic works in this universe!"
I was excited, not because it was something I really wanted, but because it was a branch of technology different from what I already had.
The biological bombs that Mr. Hiles turned his victims into were a promising branch of biotechnology, and if the biological energy used to explode the people was used to strengthen them instead, of course. Maybe it would even be possible to strengthen someone biologically without needing to turn the person's torso into a machine.
I easily accessed the laboratory cameras. The interesting thing was that, even though the laboratory was under the house, the real entrance was somewhere else, which is why the police hadn't found anything.
'Interesting, I found his research. It was already complete and was in the final testing phase, but he ended up blowing himself up. That was pretty anticlimactic, actually. He simply blew himself up in the final part of the experiment because of a small mistake that a bit more attention could have avoided… and now, this research is mine.'
It was a sad end for the man who went crazy after his son killed himself because of the bullying he suffered. At least he wasn't going to hurt anyone else now.
'The guys he kidnapped died too. These walls are also impressive, they haven't even collapsed yet.'
With that thought, I left Mr. Hiles' house and went back to school to wait for Marie and Wendy.
'I think I should pay more attention to this. Even though he didn't appear in the animation, he existed here, and this is a somewhat mixed world. The butterfly effect could make some strong villain appear that didn't exist either. I need to start networking with the heroes and find out which powers I can copy and which ones I can't.'
I had thought of Tech Jacket right away, he got the armor around the same period that Mark… well, Marie, actually, got her powers.
The problem was that I didn't have an exact location of where he lived, only that it was in a small town in the United States. Do you know how many Zack Thompsons there are in small American towns? It's pretty hard to find him, and his face was kind of generic too, changing according to the comic's art style.
Unfortunately I couldn't find Angstrom Levy, but he basically appears in a corner and disappears again, probably traveling between different dimensions, realities or universes, whatever you want to call it.
'So I think that's it. Now I have a "date" to go to.'
Then I waited for them at the Burger Mart near the school.
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Hello folks. I just started a Patreon. This is both to keep me motivated to write and to help me make some side income while I'm studying. If you want to read ahead and support my work, you can find me on Patreon searching for WorldHunger.
Lastly, please send me your ideas for Characters, Items, Perks, Gacha Mechanics, Powers/Abilities/Skills (Especially this, I need it), Consumables, and Worlds (for Travel Tickets). Even semi-useful powers are welcome!
Thanks for reading this far. Now, give me your Power Stones! They were promised to me 3,000 years ago! (And remember, everyone gets a free stone daily, for those who don't know).