Chapter 1: Live and Uninvited
Danny Garcia was broke.
Not metaphorically. Not "college-kid-struggling" broke. No. This was staring into the void of his ramen cup and wondering if he could microwave it without water broke. A junior in college with zero scholarships, a barely working laptop, and dreams bigger than his bank account, Marlon existed like a glitch in the system.
No girlfriend. No car. No internships. Just debt, vibes, and a Twitch channel with seven followers — all of whom were bots. Probably.
His last memory was falling asleep at his desk, headphones crooked on his head, his phone buzzing with some dumb meme from the group chat. Then — nothing.
And now…
Now he was waking up on a crusty-ass dorm bed that was not his. The mattress was firmer. The ceiling had cracks his room didn't. The air smelled weird, like cinnamon and regret.
Danny sat up slow, clutching his chest. His body felt… lighter. Not different necessarily, but newer. Like it had been factory-reset.
"What the hell…" he whispered, blinking at the unfamiliar room. There were posters on the wall — physics equations, a tattered Yankees banner, and a half-torn Iron Man comic cover. A cheap fan buzzed overhead.
This wasn't his room. It wasn't even his face staring back at him from the mirror across the bed.
"What the f—" he started, then stumbled backward as a flood of images slammed into his head.
You are live.
Streaming has begun.
Viewers: 0
Camera Angle: Third-Person Follow
Wait. Huh?
He spun around. "Who said that?!"
Nobody answered. But the voice — it wasn't out loud. It was in his head. Or above it. Or through it. Like a livestream overlay… but mental. And then, just as fast as it hit, it faded into the background, like background noise you forget is playing until someone mutes it.
Danny breathed heavily, palms on his knees. "I'm tripping. I'm bugging out. This is… I'm dreaming. Right? I've been up for like… 30 hours straight. Kai Cenat 24-hour stream. I'm hallucinating. Right?"
He stood, wobbling a little, then grabbed the phone off the desk. The lock screen opened with Face ID.
The name at the top? Ryan Garcia.
Different name. Same face.
The hell?
There was a knock at the door. Some random white dude poked his head in, hoodie up, nose red from allergies or weed. Or both.
"Yo, Ryan, we still hitting that calc lecture? You been MIA all week, bro."
"Uh…" Danny blinked. "Yeah. Nah. I think I got… food poisoning."
The guy just shrugged. "Aight. Respect."
The door shut. Silence returned. Danny exhaled like he'd been holding it in for years.
"What the hell is going on, bro?"
Then he noticed it.
The camera.
Not a literal one. But something in the air. A presence. He could feel it hovering just behind his right shoulder, floating. He blinked and suddenly—
Camera Angle: First-Person POV
His own eyes. No delay. No lag.
He blinked again.
Camera Angle: Third-Person Wide (Overhead)
The world zoomed out slightly, like a drone shot from an action movie. The ceiling fan spun above him in perfect symmetry.
He didn't say anything. It was like the stream was reacting to instinct.
Cameraman never dies.
That phrase hit him again. Loud. Clear. Almost like it came from a cosmic narrator with a booming movie trailer voice.
"Okay. Cool. Great. Love that for me."
⸻
It took him a few hours, some pacing, and one deep, philosophical conversation with the bathroom mirror to figure out he was in a new universe. Not just another city, or another dorm. A new reality.
The Marvel Universe.
He confirmed it when he turned on the dusty TV in the corner and saw a news report from "The Daily Bugle" clowning on a masked vigilante named "Spider-Man."
"Holy shit… this is real. I'm really here."
His heart beat faster than a Kai Cenat stream during a haunted house event. This was it. This was insane. The MCU was real, and he was in it — a broke college kid again, but this time with a power.
Kind of.
The stream.
That damn stream.
He was live. Constantly. And somewhere — somewhere — people were watching.
⸻
Back on Earth-121 (our world)
A guy named Dev clicked into a strange new stream while scrolling late at night. No overlays. No notifications. Just a weird title:
"CAMERAMAN NEVER DIES: LIVE FROM THE MCU"
"Yo, what the hell is this?" he muttered.
The stream opened. A guy was walking through Times Square, hoodie up, phone in hand, muttering to himself about Hulk and Abomination and how this looked "too clean to be real."
Dev watched for a minute. Then two. Then he typed in chat:
[dev__dawg]: You good bro?
No response.
Weirdest part?
It looked real. Too real.
⸻
Marvel Universe – New York
Danny (or Ryan — he hadn't picked which one he preferred yet) had taken a bus straight to New York the second he realized where he was.
"Texas was dry as hell anyway," he mumbled, stepping off at Times Square. His backpack was strapped to his back, filled with a toothbrush, two shirts, and a box of Pop-Tarts.
He was here.
The lights. The sounds. The sheer chaos of Times Square hit him like a punch. Everything felt amplified. Screens showing Stark Industries commercials, people with Avengers merch, food trucks, cameras, tourists, and…
He froze mid-step.
The ground trembled.
"Was that…"
Another tremor.
Then — BOOM.
A tank flew across the intersection like it was a soccer ball. Screams filled the air. People scattered in every direction. A green blur smashed into the pavement across the plaza, sending chunks of concrete flying.
"Ohhh HELL no," Danny said, backpedaling into a hotdog cart.
Then came the roar.
Hulk.
Ten feet of pure rage, muscle, and gamma radiation, grappling with a snarling, bony beast with spines and glowing yellow eyes.
"Abomination… oh my God. This is that Harlem fight! This is that fight!"
Chat:
[dev__dawg]: GET CLOSER BRO WTF
[lurker942]: dude move up we can't see!
[spid3rwifey]: is this a modded VR game??
"Y'all crazy," Danny snapped, ducking behind a cab. "Y'all want me to die? I ain't got health bars! I ain't got plot armor! I'm just a dude with a hoodie!"
The camera snapped into a low, smooth angle as he peeked around the car. Hulk slammed Abomination through a billboard.
Camera Angle: Cinematic Tracking Shot
"Bro, BRO," he muttered, phone still in hand. "I'm not doing this! I just got here! I don't even know my blood type in this universe!"
[dev__dawg]: LMFAOOO this man said plot armor
[spid3rwifey]: ok wait this might actually be real
[hellaspiderfan]: he kinda fine tho??
Then the cab next to him exploded.
Danny flew backward, rolling, coughing through smoke. His ears rang. He stared up at the sky. Concrete dust rained down.
And the camera hovered calmly overhead.
Unshaken.
Unburned.
Still streaming.
Danny groaned, sat up, and winced. "Okay. Cool. Cameraman never dies. Love that. Thanks for the trauma."
He stood, limped toward the chaos, and pointed the camera toward the fight. Hulk was roaring. Abomination threw a truck. Somewhere, a helicopter circled.
[lurker942]: BRO YOU'RE TRENDING RN
[hellaspiderfan]: 254 viewers and climbing
[mod_senpai]: man's built diff
Danny looked into the "camera." "Hey. If I die, cancel my student loans in all universes, aight?"
Then he ran — straight into the chaos.
Not because he was brave.
Not because he was a hero.
But because the stream was watching.
And Danny (Ryan) Garcia was finally going viral