The void was gone. The silence was gone. Only the lingering scent of lemon-scented floor cleaner remained.
ARGH!!
My head throbbing with a rhythmic violence, as if it were being used for a home-run derby. Over and over again.
"Damn it..." I groaned. I was in a room sparse, but clean lying on a thin old mattress. I tried to sit up, but a wave of weakness crashed over me. I willed myself upward, fighting the dull ache in my limbs.
"Seems I'm in my room," I muttered, looking around. "It's not bad. It'll do for now."
But then it hit me. I didn't feel any different. No strength, no heightened senses. "Wait, where the hell is my cheat? Did that ROJ lie to me? Fuck, I feel cheated! How am I supposed to survive in this world now?"
A wave of despair hit me. In the MCU, a normal human was basically background noise for an alien invasion. "I'm doomed. This world is too dangerous. There's no point if I'm just a sitting duck."
As I scanned the room for a way out or a way out my eyes caught something. A syringe was lying near my bed, tucked into a bottle with a rolled-up piece of paper. I grabbed the bottle, pulled out the note, and felt my heart skip a beat.
So, kid, it's me again. ROJ.
A glitch happened while transferring your powers. To fix that, I had to send you a personal assistant what you humans call a 'System.' She'll help you grow and improve.
Also, the syringe is basically your entire power codex. Use it quickly before Peter or anyone else gets their hands on it. Be warned: She's a feisty one.
Good luck and enjoy your life.
— Yours sincerely, ROJ.
"So you left me with a System and a goddamn syringe?" I barked at the empty room. "What if someone else had found it?"
Tch. "No time to dwell. Better me than someone else."
I didn't hesitate. I rolled up my sleeve and plunged the needle into my vein. At first, nothing happened. Then, the world exploded into agony. It felt like a million white-hot needles were stabbing every inch of my body simultaneously.
"FUCK!"
I collapsed, my muscles convulsing violently. My heart gave one final, agonizing THUMP... and then stopped.
Ten seconds of absolute, terrifying silence. Then
THUMP!
THUMP!
THUMP!
My heart restarted like a cold engine, pumping blood with the force of a landslide. Each beat sounded like a war drum in my ears.
"Damn you, ROJ... you forgot to mention the pain!" I wheezed, sitting up as the agony faded into a dull heat. I reeked. A thick, black liquid was oozing from my pores, staining my clothes.
"This must be the 'impurities' those cultivation novels always talk about," I muttered, bolting for the bathroom.
CLICK.
I locked the door and cranked the shower to full blast, scrubbing frantically to wash away the sludge. As the steam filled the room, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My skin was flawless not just clean, but tougher. The athletic build I had customized in the void was here, rippling under the water. I wasn't just a kid anymore. I was a living weapon.
[System Initialization: 100% Complete]
A sharp, sarcastic voice echoed directly in my cranium.
"Oh, good. You're finally decent. I was starting to think I'd been assigned to a swamp monster. Hello, Host. Try not to die in the next five minutes; it would be really embarrassing for my resume."
"Who said that?" I spun around, nearly slipping on the wet tile. My reflexes kicked in—Deathstroke's balance and Taskmaster's spatial awareness working in tandem—as I caught myself with a grace that shouldn't be humanly possible.
"Relax, Muscles. I'm the 'feisty' assistant ROJ mentioned. You can call me Eve. And before you ask—yes, I can hear your thoughts. And no, I don't care about your internal monologue regarding the Parker family tree. We have work to do."
I stared at my reflection. My icy blue-green eyes glowed faintly for a moment before settling back into their natural, piercing hue.
"Eve, huh? Fine. What's the status? Did the codex work?"
"Work? You're currently a walking miracle of science and magic," Eve replied. "You have the tactical mind of Slade Wilson, the muscle memory of Tony Masters, and a healing factor that makes Deadpool look like a hemophiliac. But right now, you're just a very fit teenager in a towel. You need to test your limits."
A loud bang on the door made me jump.
"Hey! You okay in there?" It was Peter's voice. "You've been in there for forty minutes. Aunt May's worried you passed out, and I really need to brush my teeth before we head to the Expo!"
I looked at my hands, feeling the raw power humming in my veins. I felt like I could punch through the brick wall if I wanted to.
"Yeah! Yeah, I'm good, Pete!" I called back. "Just... had a lot of 'dirt' to work through. Give me a sec!"
"Smooth," Eve snickered. "Real smooth, 'Cousin of the Year.' Get dressed. We need to see if your Taskmaster ability can mimic Spider-Man's movements before he even gets bitten, or if we're just going to watch him get bullied by Flash Thompson all day."
I tightened the towel around my waist. The MCU was about to get a lot more complicated.
"Alright, Eve, enough with the snark," I thought, leaning against the damp bathroom wall. "Show me what I'm actually working with. Give me the rundown.
"A translucent, neon-blue interface flickered into existence before my eyes, pulsing with a low hum that only I could hear.
[Host: Eren Parker]
[Template: The Mercenary Codex (Deathstroke / Deadpool / Taskmaster)]
[Physical Status: Peak Human+ (Evolving)]
[Healing Factor: Level 1 - 'Tis but a scratch (Currently regenerating cellular fatigue)]
[Combat Arts: Taskmaster Mimicry (Active - Zero Data Recorded)]
"There you go, Boss. Try not to drool on the floor," Eve's voice purred in my head. "Right now, you're basically a Ferrari with an empty tank. You have the hardware, but you haven't 'recorded' any software yet.
You want to fight like a god? You actually have to watch someone fight first."I scrolled through the sub-menus with a flick of my mind. The 'Tactical Awareness' tab was glowing. It felt like a HUD from a high-end shooter, highlighting the structural weaknesses in the bathroom door and the exact trajectory Peter was pacing outside.
"What about the 'Deadpool' side of things?" I asked. "Am I going to start seeing yellow boxes and breaking the fourth wall?"
"Don't get your hopes up, Wade Jr.," Eve snickered. "You got the 'not dying' part, not the 'insanity' part. Though, looking at your life choices so far, the jury's still out on that one. Oh, and Eren? Peter's about to knock again. If you don't move, he's going to think you're doing something weird in here. "I sighed, closing the screen. "Fine. Let's go see if my cousin is ready to become a superhero."