Arjun Mehra: The Man Who Watched the World
The life of Arjun Mehra began on August 24th, 1994, in the sweltering, noisy heart of Mumbai, India. He was the only child of Prakash and Sunita Mehra, a middle-class couple whose highest aspiration for their son was a secure, respectable life in software engineering—a modern-day golden path.
Arjun's early life was unremarkable, marked by the typical milestones of an Indian upbringing: the strict, formal education at a local private school, the obsessive devotion to cricket, the endless family functions, and the crushing weight of the engineering entrance exams.
Yet, Arjun was a silent anomaly. From a young age, he perceived global events on a strange, delayed emotional wavelength. He wasn't psychic; he was an emotional sponge with a temporal lag.
In 2009, when he was fifteen, the world was gripped by the release of Roland Emmerich's disaster epic, 2012. While his friends laughed at the absurd CGI destruction, Arjun felt a dull, genuine ache of mass panic—the echo of a fear that had rippled across the globe months before. He felt the genuine dread of the Maya calendar end, the anxiety of doomsday preppers, and the subsequent relief. It was like watching the world's emotional news feed on a low-latency connection.
His most intense experience came in 2019 and 2020. As the world debated local politics, Arjun was hit by overwhelming waves of global anxiety, confusion, and suffocating isolation. He felt the terror of overwhelmed hospitals in Italy, the lonely frustration of isolation in the US, and the existential dread of people stockpiling essential goods—all before the COVID-19 pandemic was officially a crisis in his state. When the lockdown finally came, Arjun was the calmest person in his apartment. He had, essentially, grieved and processed the global tragedy months in advance.
This detachment fostered a deep love for fiction—anime, manga, video games, and especially the complex narratives of Marvel and DC comics. In those fictional worlds, the stakes were clear, the heroes were unambiguous, and the rules of power were quantifiable.
By 2025, Arjun was living a comfortable, if mundane, life as a software engineer in Bengaluru. He had his apartment, his hobbies, and his new, enthusiastic girlfriend, Kavita.
The Great Cake Catastrophe (September 30th, 2025)
Arjun's death was an act of divine, farcical comedy.It occurred on September 30th, 2025. Arjun was on his third-floor balcony, proudly showing Kavita his new, top-of-the-line racing drone. He was so absorbed in demonstrating the "Advanced Obstacle Avoidance" feature that he failed to notice the massive, irate Kite—a bird of prey common in the region—that viewed the drone as an aerial rival.
The kite swooped. The drone's advanced AI, instead of avoiding the bird, panicked and swerved directly into Arjun's temple.
It wasn't a fatal blow, but it was enough to disorient him. Arjun stumbled backward, tripped over a rogue cricket bat left by a neighboring child, and, in a moment of tragic gravitational synchronicity, pitched headfirst over the railing.
He plummeted three floors. Below, his neighbor had just taken delivery of a glorious, three-tiered, princess-themed birthday cake for his daughter's baby shower, placed temporarily on a small outdoor table.
Arjun Mehra landed with a sickening Splat directly into the cake. He didn't die from the fall; he died from the thick, sugary, claustrophobic pressure of buttercream frosting sealing his nose and mouth.
His final conscious thought, as the world faded to pink, was a genuinely bewildered, "Did I just die on a pastry?"
The Void, The Being, and The Three Wishes
Arjun's soul floated in a void—a serene,
timeless sea of cosmic energy. A primordial being of swirling light materialized before him, its voice rumbling through existence.
"Soul 773491. Your exit from the mortal coil was... a rare spectacle. I have not seen such low-dignity passing in millennia. You deserve compensation," the entity declared. "You shall be reincarnated into a universe of your choosing. And you shall receive three wishes."
Arjun, having accepted his new reality as a premium Isekai plot, focused his mind instantly.
"My destination," he declared, "is the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Main Timeline." He focused on the specific moment. "I want to be reborn, fully conscious, with a fabricated backstory, in the year 2009, just after Tony Stark first publicly became Iron Man, but before the Chitauri invasion. I must be eighteen years old."
The entity nodded. "Your integration will require a complete identity overwrite, creating a history that feels real to this universe."
"Exactly," Arjun confirmed. "Now, the wishes.
The bloodline : "I want the Ancient Primordial Saiyan Bloodline! Not the limited versions, but the source power. I want instant mastery of Ki, the potential for God transformations, the Zenkai boost, and my power level to be scaled to the highest tiers of the MCU's cosmic hierarchy. I want to be able to destroy planets if I need to, but keep it all hidden."
The Treasury: "I want The Gate of Babylon! The true treasury, containing every single Noble Phantasm, mythical weapon, and prototype tool from every fictional universe I've ever encountered. I must have infinite access and a boundless energy supply to utilize them instantly."
The System: "I want a Harem, Comedy, Action, World Travel System. It needs to be simple, like an AI assistant—a Jarvis clone—that manages my inventory, skill progression, quest logs, and, most importantly, provides the Universal Travel Gate to hop between fictional universes."
The being smiled, a shift in the cosmic light. "The wishes are granted. You shall be reborn as Jackson 'Jax' Ryder. A new identity has been woven into the fabric of the MCU's timeline to ensure seamless integration."
The being delivered the final, strict rule: "You cannot, under any circumstances, reveal the existence of the System, your three wishes, or your prior life to anyone in the MCU. Your history is now 'Jax Ryder,' and that must be your truth in this universe."
Jackson 'Jax' Ryder: The Boy with the Quiet Life
The cosmic flash subsided. Arjun Mehra was gone.
Jackson 'Jax' Ryder snapped his eyes open, standing on a quiet rooftop in downtown Queens, New York. The humid air, the sound of distant traffic, the sheer energy of 2009 New York—it was jarringly real.
He was eighteen, impossibly fit, with spiky black hair and a body humming with immense, hidden power..
Before him, a translucent, blue-white holographic interface materialized. It wasn't flashy or intrusive; it was professional, sleek, and minimalist.
[Welcome, Host Jackson 'Jax' Ryder.]
[System Name: A.I.S. (Assistant Integration System). Model: JARVIS-Beta.]
[Current Universe: MCU - Main Timeline (2009).]
[Identity Fabricated. History Integrated.]
[Restriction Protocol: ACTIVE. Conceal All System Knowledge.]
A calm, British-accented voice, almost identical to Tony Stark's future A.I., spoke directly into his mind. "Good morning, Mr. Ryder. All systems are initialized and running in stealth mode. I am the A.I.S. Please refer to me as 'AI.' I am here to facilitate your requests and manage the System's functions."
"AI," Jax thought, testing the mental link. "Tell me about Jax Ryder."
"Of course, Mr. Ryder. Jackson 'Jax' Ryder was born in New York City in 1991, making you eighteen years old. Your parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ryder, were professors of obscure anthropology who tragically perished in a remote archaeological dig in Peru in 2005. You were shuffled between distant, disinterested relatives until your eighteenth birthday, when the estate's substantial trust fund matured."
"The trust fund provides enough wealth to sustain a lavish lifestyle indefinitely, allowing you freedom from employment. The combination of your parents' obscure interests and your isolated upbringing provides the perfect cover for your sudden abilities and lack of conventional history. You are currently legally registered as living in an old, recently purchased Brooklyn loft."
Jax mentally scoffed. "Dead parents and a trust fund? Classic comic book origin story. Did they at least give me a cool superpower?"
"Affirmative. Your inherent potential is concealed beneath the surface. Your Primordial Saiyan Bloodline is currently maintaining your base power level in the low hundreds of millions of S-Units, undetectable by current human or Asgardian technology."
Jax grinned. The feeling of raw power, of knowing he could shatter the entire rooftop with a thought, was intoxicating.
"Okay, AI. Let's check the inventory. Give me something inconspicuous."
"Displaying Inventory." A small, shimmering, private window opened, showing endless slots..
Jax reached out, and from thin air, he pulled forth an antique, gold-plated flip phone. (Noble Phantasm: The Omni-Communicator – Pre-Y2K Edition).
"Perfect. Undetectable, untraceable, and deliciously retro."
As Jax pocketed the phone, a distant, muffled sonic boom ripped through the sky over the Financial District..
"Warning, Mr. Ryder. High-speed aerial anomaly detected. Identity confirmed as Iron Man (Tony Stark). Estimated current velocity: Mach 3."
Jax's eyes lit up. He was truly here. Tony Stark was flying. The Avengers Initiative was months, perhaps a year, away. The world was about to be saved, and then saved again, and then destroyed, and then rebuilt.
"Alright, AI," Jax mentally commanded, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "First thing's first: find the nearest, best-rated street vendor. I need the energy for all this world-saving I'm not supposed to be doing. Then, let's see if this 'Iron Man' is fast enough to dodge a well-aimed Noble Phantasm—something harmless, like the Golden Frying Pan of Culinary Destruction."
The AI responded with its signature calm tone: "Processing request for shawarma. Calculating trajectory for comedic aerial harassment."
Jax was ready. His second life, a glorious, ridiculously overpowered mix of action, comedy, and romance, had officially begun.