I woke up with a start, floating in some kind of orange liquid. Instinctively, I tried to move, to swim to the surface—only to realize I was restrained. Panic spiked. Minutes passed before I noticed I wasn't suffocating. I wasn't drowning at all.
Where the hell am I?
The thought barely formed before a flood of memories—vague, hazy, yet brutally clear—slammed into my head.
I saw myself as a baby pulled from the body of a dead pregnant woman. I saw my body aged at an unnatural speed, from weeks old to late teens in days. I watched my captors work on me, implanting obedience directly into my brain. They thought they'd succeeded.
But that wasn't all. I glimpsed beings beyond comprehension, their forms shifting endlessly. I couldn't understand their language, but I understood their intent: they wanted a disruptor, a chaotic element. They'd plucked a soul from the greater Omniverse to throw into this reality like a living experiment—a way to mitigate some looming threat.
They sent me here with only words burned into my mind:
Crown Above All Things. Prevent. 7th Cosmos.
Evolution. Peace. Coexistence.
It should've meant nothing, but I understood—and it filled me with dread and frustration.
So, let me get this straight: I was ripped from my life, shoved into a slave/servant, and now I have to save the world or they'll wipe out the Multiverse? What the hell.
Before my thoughts could spiral, another packet of information opened in my mind—a "gift" from them. The sheer weight of it knocked me out cold.
---
I came to falling out of the upper atmosphere, plummeting straight toward Earth.
Shit. Did my pod get shot down?
Panic set in—until I felt a "muscle" I'd never used before flex, and a wave of force and heat burst from me. My eyes widened. What the…?
I flexed again and felt it: energy inside me, growing as I absorbed and converted the kinetic force of my fall. It slowed me, but not enough for safety.
Mutant powers. Of course. That's what destroyed my pod, isn't it? A classic: powers manifesting at the worst possible time. And if I've got Omega-level potential, then sure, my life should be on the line too. Thanks, Beyonders. Real funny.
I needed a plan. Flying was the obvious answer, but trying only destabilized me—I had no control. So, option two: absorb more. I reached for that inner "muscle" again. My whole body strained, but it worked. I absorbed more and more until I was hovering a few meters above a forest.
Now what?
I had no idea how to land. My powers had just manifested; it was already a miracle I could do this much.
Biting the bullet, I tried easing the absorption rate. Bad idea.
It cut off completely, and I dropped like a rock.
"SHIT!" I yelled as the ground rushed up. Branches whipped me, one even slicing my skin. I shielded my head as best I could but still hit hard. Pain blossomed and my vision swam.
Voices echoed in the distance as darkness swallowed me. With my last thought being cursing at the assholes that dumped me here.