Location: Unknown
Date: Unknown
---
Unknown P.O.V.
He could feel the strength draining from the girl as her life faded, and as she died, the now familiar sensation of absorbing power from his kill filled him.
It was so easy to lure her away from the eyes and ears in town.
The Fire Nation had done wonderfully to make the villagers of this Earth Kingdom town compliant. Just wear a Fire Nation soldier's uniform, show a little fire bending, and everyone is bowing and scraping like good little servants.
The helmet even meant his actions reflected onto the Fire Nation with no consequence for himself.
He could not help but chuckle.
He looked at his status in the system as he casually left the area. Needing to use the serial killer routine and target isolated individuals he could kill quietly was easy enough, but so tedious.
However, seeing Earth Bending finally join his powers next to Fire Bending, along with the usual increase in his chi from a low level bender, he gave a faint, cold smile.
He could also feel the uncomfortable, agitated buzzing in his body when he killed a bender and absorbed their power, but it was only just detectable. He would be able to kill more than one bender per day soon. Then his strength would truly start growing.
But he was not ready to test double kills just yet.
He almost died very painfully after killing his first target, who was nearly too strong for him to survive the power absorption process. He did not want to go through anything like that pain ever again.
No. He would be patient, and not make the same mistake again from his first kill.
Step-by-step he was growing stronger and soon he would no longer need to hide his actions in this little town.
He had sworn to himself that he would become the most powerful person in this world and transcend all others. He would not accept any rival powers, least of all the weak, pathetic, pacifist of an Avatar that Aang turned out to be.
Most of all, he would never be powerless again, not like in his passed life.
However, the low level fire benders he had been able to catch alone so far were starting to give diminishing returns. It seemed his power growth was based on the strength of the targets he kills.
Making up the difference with other low level benders was difficult. Earth benders were hard to find, keeping their head down to avoid the Fire Nation, and water benders were very rare in the Earth Kingdom.
No matter.
He had meta knowledge of this world, was aware of the events to come and soon the start of the show would begin.
The Hundred Year War was still ongoing. Iroh had failed to take the city of Ba Sing Se years ago, and prince Zuko had been banished for at least a year or two, but Avatar Aang had not yet appeared.
The feeling that came with knowledge of future events, it was simply intoxicating.
The only sour part of his situation is he had no way of getting to the South Pole and killing Aang in the iceberg. Even if he could get there, he had no way of actually locating him.
Although that was probably a good thing. Right now he would probably die instantly if he killed the Avatar, though it still felt like a missed opportunity.
But he still questioned why he was even in this world in the first place. He had died, and the next thing he knew, he was simply laying on the ground in the world of Avatar.
Given a choice, he would have picked a world with more advanced tech.
Well, in the end it did not matter. This world belonged to him now and he had a system that suited him perfectly. And oh did he have plans for this world, even if he had to burn it down first.
He smiled again just thinking about everyone who would try to stop him, only to fall and make him stronger.
-----
Earth: New York City
Date: November 1, 1988
---
Mark P.O.V.
Mark's alarm for school slowly brought him out of a deep sleep.
Laying on the couch and looking up at the peeling paint on the ceiling he felt around until finally shutting off the noise.
He was dead tired and his body was aching.
By the time he got home last night, he was covered in purpling bruises. His chest, back, arms, right hand and both legs all had evidence of his encounter.
The shredded rag in the trash that was once his jacket had fortunately been thick enough that he was not missing chunks of flesh, but things could have been very different. That creature could have killed him in seconds if it was not so feral.
'What the hell was it anyway?'
Mark's instincts said vampire, or at least vampiric. Blade was apart of the Marvel world after all, so there are vampires here but he would not survive an encounter with one right now.
He considered everything he could remember about the encounter. How it looked, how it moved, its strength, the disgusting blood. That thing was either, not a real vampire or it had been starved until it reached that state.
'But why, and how did it end up on the street? No, if it was a starved vampire it would have attacked the first person it saw. Thinking back, it had been looking at everyone with intensity, until it zeroed in on me specifically, it ignored everyone else after that.'
He could remember the creepy look in its face when it saw him. Like he was food.
Mark let out a sigh. He was not going to get any answers laying on his couch, and ignored his body's protests as he slowly, stiffly sat up.
'Ow'
He decided to quickly check his status screen before trying to stand.
Name: Mark Smith
Race: Human(Numenorean)
Age: 17
Equipped Template:
-Aragorn
Traits:
-Keen Mind
-Fair of Face
Powers:
-Grace of the Valar: 5%
-Aura of Majesty: 0%
Disciplines:
-None
Skills:
-Weapon Mastery: 3%
-Wilderness Survival: 0%
-Elvish Language: 0%
Items:
-None
"Oh?"
'The blessing jumped up by 2%, and Weapon Mastery increased by one as well. Perfect, but why?'
He went back in his mind and ran through everything that happened last night.
'It had to be the fight, but why was it so much more effective than weeks of training? Do I just need to face danger to grow faster?' He closed his eyes and carefully replayed every move through his mind, comparing it to his visualization method.
'Hmm? Wait, is that the difference?' His eyes snapped open and he instantly stood to try the new idea. Or he tried to, but he did not make it very far before his sore body loudly protested at the sudden movement and he fell back onto the couch.
'Hehe. OK, maybe no training until tomorrow.'
This time he moved slower until he was standing.
'Now I just have to get through the school day.' but just then he thought to check the store.
Current Points: 1 ____________ Time Until Restock: 1 month+
1. Character: Morrigan Aensland(1/3 Power)(Darkstalkers) - 32 points
2. Discipline: Psyker(Warhammer 40K) - 8 points
3. Power: X-Gene(Marvel) - 8 points
4. Template: Mr. Hercule Satan(Real Name: Mark)(DBZ) - 2 points
5. Template: UNSC Marine(Halo) - 2 points
6. Item: Spell Scroll: Hypnotic Pattern(D&D) - 2 points
7. Item: Potion of Healing(D&D) - 2 points
8. Item: Beretta 92FS Pistol x2(Silvered Bullets) - 2 points
9. Mundane Object: Long Sword - 1 point
10. Mundane Object: Key to an Abandoned Building - 1 point
'A store point, finally! Hmm, still over a month before the store restocks but...'
Mark looked the store over. It was very straight forward.
10 store slots, all items of which are replaced after 3 months unless he marks them to be held. But every item he chooses to be held reduces the restock. Holding 5 old items in the store means only the other 5 items of the old stock is replaced with new options.
'Interesting. This system really suits me. I like having the options and choosing what I want. But this first selection is not that great. The Potion of Healing may be the best item, though that could just be my injuries talking.'
'Oh yeah, Aragorn has some healing abilities. Maybe I can speed up my recovery.'
Mark considered that, but he did not have any Kingsfoil, and he did not know if marvel had an alternative magical plant.
'Oh well.' He did not have any more time right now anyway, he would just have to heal the normal way.
He gingerly got ready and headed to school.
The morning passed as usual.
Mark had even recently started to enjoy watching everyone as they went about their day. But as time passed he had started to feel like he did not belonged here. At first it was just at the school but now that he considered it, Mark did not really feel like apart of the world either.
The thought started bothering him until lunch.
His line of thought was interrupted when Mary Jane slid into the seat across from him like she had been invited.
"Hey, Tiger. You ghosted Flash's big Halloween bash. That's practically a felony around here."
Mark was confused for a moment, Flash had said something to him last week. If that was a party invite he had been distracted with finishing his mask and forgot. Not that he would have wanted to go to a high schooler's party anyway.
She tipped her head, eyes flicking down to his bruised hand.
"…and wow, you look like you lost a fight with a blender. What happened?"
Mark looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. "Got in a fight with a vampire."
MJ blinked once, then smirked.
"Uh-huh. And I missed it? Rude."
He smiled at that. Whatever else you might say about MJ, she was certainly charming.
She gave him a more careful look this time, the humor softening just a notch. "You okay?"
"You should see the other guy." he said, deflecting.
MJ huffed a quiet laugh, but her eyes did not quite leave his hand.
"Yeah, I bet he's telling a way better story than you are."
"If you say so." that thing was not going to be saying anything anytime soon.
MJ leaned back in her chair, studying him like she'd just decided he was more interesting than lunch.
"Mm-hmm. Vampire fight, mystery injuries, dodging parties…" she ticked it off on her fingers. "You're either the worst liar I've ever met…" She tilted her head, a slow smile creeping in. "…or way more interesting than you let on."
Mark snorted softly. "You always interrogate people you barely know?"
"Only the ones who look like they walked out of a different movie from the rest of us." She nudged his hand lightly with her finger, gently but deliberate. "Seriously, Tiger. You don't have to tell me the truth…"
"…but at least make the lie entertaining."
He opened his mouth, but she cut in, softer this time.
"You don't have to explain it to me. Just," she gestured vaguely "maybe pick a story that doesn't sound like you're playing off almost getting seriously hurt. Or at least let someone patch you up next time. Anyway, I'll see you around."
With that she went over to sit with her usual group.
Mark sat with that for a while. Something about what she said had connected with his earlier thought. It only took him a few hours for the obvious to sink in.
'I'm lonely. That is why I do not feel connected, I need to find people who can connect me to this world and make it feel like home.'
---
It took Mark several days before he could start training seriously again. But even at 5%, he could start to feel the Grace of the Valar's effect on him, accelerating his recovery.
And he could finally test out the insight he had gained from his fight.
Before in his training, he would feel and follow the guidance of his template. But he did not have that luxury in a real fight and that was the key. He needed to act first and adjust when he was guided to do so until he had achieved mastery himself. Looking back now, he could see that he was trying to use the system to hand-hold him into getting stronger.
'I was being pathetic.'
No more. He knew what to do now.
Visualizing the vampiric creature, he ran through the fight again and again, fighting it, seeing his mistakes, experimenting to make more and new mistakes, then correcting.
His growth after all the slow grinding from before was simply wonderful.
As the days passed, Grace of the Valar steadily grew from 5% to 8% and the effect on his stamina was particularly notable. He could train continuously for an entire hour, take a five minute break and then do it again, and again.
But Weapon Mastery was improving even more. From lagging at 3% it had jumped to 7% with his new method.
He had even increased his store points up from 1 to 2 at some point.
Mark was starting to really feel like things were moving forward. However, he also was beginning to feel like he was being too lax.
The shop was foremost on his mind.
He needed to know if the items it sold were just random, or if it could be more capricious. The only way to learn was to start interacting with it, his eye being drawn to the only item that could serve as a safe test.
Mark selected item #10 from the store and confirmed his purchase for 1 point.
A faint light appeared before him surrounding a keychain that floated for a moment before falling to the floor.
It looked like just a normal key with a tag on the keyring that had a New York City address.
'Time to go hunting for another random building.'
He quickly changed into an all black outfit including a new replacement jacket and tucked his mask into an inside pocket, just in case.
When he stepped outside it was late afternoon and the November wind was signaling the approach of winter.
---
Many hours later.
Dusk was falling when Mark found the "abandoned building" and immediately put his mask on in a dark ally around the corner.
The building was decidedly not abandoned.
It was an old warehouse in a rundown industrial area and there were several men standing guard around the door. After a few minutes of observation Mark did not think they were professionals.
'So, do I take the safe route and leave, letting my point go to waste?'
He was feeling confident, but not bulletproof.
He decided to circle around the building but every door had at least two guards and he did not know if they had guns.
After a little while more he looked up to judge how long until full darkness when he saw a catwalk connecting to the building next door.
'Well, I should at least see what this place is being used for right?' he thought.
The neighboring building was actually abandoned and reaching the unguarded catwalk was a breeze. The door on the other end however was locked before Mark pulled out his key.
The door opened with a click and he started getting serious. He did not know what he would find but chose to go forward.
The door was surprisingly silent as he entered. He was on an elevated catwalk looking down into the darkened warehouse. There were crates filling most of the space, forming something of a maze.
But what drew his eye was someone tied down in a lone chair, motionless, with blood pooling on the floor under them.
'Damn.'