So… apparently, I died.
I know that's a weird way to start whatever this is, but I can't exactly say it any other way.
I don't remember how I died exactly, but I do remember I was inside a restaurant, so f*ck you, truck-kun.
Anyway, I guess you're wondering how I know I'm dead if I don't remember what happened. Well, it's pretty simple. It's because I'm nowhere.
Literally, I'm floating in an empty void of nothingness. It's not even black or white, just grey fog everywhere.
I can see myself, obviously, but nothing else. If this is the afterlife, then religious people have wasted their lives for nothing.
"You're not in the afterlife," a voice suddenly said causing me to start looking around. "And, by the way, all those religious people haven't wasted their lives for nothing."
Okay… I'm either crazy, or there really is a voice somewhere here with me. Honestly, the first one sounds more believable.
"Hello!" I call out to whoever was out there.
"Maybe I should have shown up before I started talking," the voice said making me deadpan.
Suddenly, someone appeared in front of me in a flash of blue light. When the light vanished, it revealed a man wearing a white suit with matching shoes and a white undershirt. He wasn't actually wearing anything but white. He had short black hair and… not that much notable features.
"Hey, this is a lot prettier than my real form," he said, sounding insulted. Wait, can he- "Yes, I can read your mind."
"So… are you God?" at this point, I'm just thinking out loud, since there's no point at keeping my thoughts to myself since he can read them.
The question made him laugh. "No, I'm not. I'm powerful, but nowhere near that guy," he said.
Okay, so there is a God, if I take what he said, but if he's not God. "Who are you?"
He seemed more amused. "Come on. I've seen your life. Do you really not recognize me?" he asked making me tilt my head.
Now that I think about it, he definitely looks familiar. And, since he knows God and brought me here despite me being dead, that means he's powerful.
Come on, think. I started trying to remember all the powerful, all-white-wearing beings from both mythology and fiction.
After a few moments, I finally got a good idea about who it is. "The Beyonder?"
He smiled before clapping. "We have a winner!" he said cheerfully.
Honestly, I didn't know how to feel. The Beyonder is a character from the Marvel universe. An entity that was close to the Living Tirbunal, the direct agent of the One-Above-All.
In fact, when Mephisto described the multiverse as a schoolyard, he said that the Living Tirbunal was the biggest kid in the playground, and right now the Beyonder, who was actually close to such a being, was standing in front of me.
But wait, doesn't that mean- "I know what you're thinking, and yes," the Beyonder says cutting me off. "The Marvel universe is real, so is the DC universe. I'm actually good friends with Mr. Mxyzptlk."
That's… not really surprising. Both the Beyonder and Mr. Mxyzptlk are beings from high dimensions who enjoy visiting earth for amusement and curiosity.
What's really surprising is that both universes exist. I mean, I don't think there's plenty of people who don't know about the multiverse theory at this point but are they together?
"Not really. The DC and Marvel have their own sides of the multiverse, very far from each other. Which is why they haven't had any encounters yet," the Beyonder explained, reading my mind again.
I guess that makes sense. I mean, I don't really fully understand the multiverse. And, personally, I don't think any mortal does. Not even Reed Richards. No matter how smart he is, he was still a human, and his brain had limits to how much knowledge it can contain or comprehend.
"It's nice to see that, while you believe in human potential, you still know it has limits," the Beyonder said, reading my mind… again. "I guess you're wondering why you're here."
"Well, yeah, along with wondering if you actually have permission to speak to the dead from Lady Death… or is it Endless?" I said hesitantly. I know he's from Marvel, but he also confirmed that DC exists, so Endless is also a thing.
"Both of them exist, and no, I don't have permission. But, thankfully, Lady Death and Endless has too many limitations to actually do anything since I'm in the mortal realm," he said answering my question.
It actually makes sense. From what I know, Lady Death and Endless are all-powerful. They can easily end everyone who claims immortality since they hate them, with the exception of Deadpool for Lady Death. However, they also have limited influence in the mortal realm. So, as long as you stay there, they can't touch you.
It's like they're cops without permission to enter your property. They can do it, but they'd be breaking the law and getting into trouble with their superiors.
"Anyway, back to why I brought you here," the Beyonder says as he started pacing back and forward. "You see, there's a little problem with the Marvel universe. Kang, as you humans put it, screwed up."
Kang… Kang the conqueror? To be honest, I'm not surprised he screwed up. Anyone who knows Kang also knows he's a narracistic mad man with God-complex. He can talk about saving the time-line all he wants, but doing it by killing all kinds of people is not a good idea.
"I know, right!?" the Beyonder seemed to agree with my opinion. "Anyway, Kang screwed up. And, the timeline of the Marvel universe is in chaos now. There's actually no telling what could happen at this point."
"Can't you fix it yourself?" I ask a little confused. "I mean, you obviously have the power."
"Normally, that wouldn't be a problem," he said before he started scratching the back of his neck. "But, you see, my last… 'visit' to earth has been a little chaotic, so the Living Tirbunal is now keeping an eye on me."
Basically, he was telling that he pulled some prank that the other cosmic entities didn't approve of, and now he was on a tight leash.
I know he's powerful and all, but that still didn't stop the deadpan look I was giving him.
To be perfectly honest, I'm surprised they haven't already done that, or that Michael and the Specter from DC haven't done that to Mr. Mxyzptlk. But I guess both he and the Beyonder were dubbed as 'harmless pranksters'.
"Hey, we don't actually hurt anyone. Well, no one important," the Beyonder said. "And yes, I'll keep reading your mind until we're done with this meeting."
"So, what exactly happened with Kang?" I asked, hoping to get back to why I'm here.
"Well, Kang had the 'smart' idea that he should erase humanity from ever existing because of how many heroes stop him. He sent a time bomb to the past to kill humans when they first showed up. Obviously, he was stopped. But, the bomb managed to explode right in the middle of a time portal," he explained making me flinch imagining that. "So, long story short, the timeline of the Marvel universe is now messed up, and now there are many wrong events happening. For example, no one might be able to stop Thanos from doing the Snap, and half the universe is gone for good."
"What does this have to do with me?" I ask.
"You see, I really like the universe, especially the Marvel one. So, I'm sending you there to fix it?" he replied.
…………… what?
"So, are you-"
"Wait, wait, wait! Time out!" I immediately cut him off, doing a time out motion. "You want me to save the Marvel universe? How am I supposed to do that?"
"Well, obviously I'm going to give you some kind of power. I can't send you there without anything but the clothes you're wearing," the Beyonder replied, obviously having thought this through.
"Why did you pick me?" I asked confused.
I didn't have an exciting life. There's really nothing worth noting. I wasn't overly smart, athletic, or had any real talent to speak of. My family was also very normal. My life didn't have fights, no deaths, abuse, neglect, or even a cheating girlfriend. Heck, I never even had a girlfriend. I just didn't stand out.
"No real reason," the Beyonder shrugged his shoulders. I gave him a look that said 'I don't buy that bullshit'. "Okay, so I might have been interested in how you died."
"How did I die? I can't remember," I pointed out.
"I think you know why you can't remember," he replied.
Thinking about it, I finally knew why. I heard once that ghosts of living people who had a tragic death stay bound to the mortal realm, forgetting how they died, and can only pass on when they finally remember.
Honestly, I immediately gave him another deadpan look. He's basically taking advantage of my tragic death to talk to me since I'm technically still in the mortal realm, and Lady Death and Endless can't say anything about this meeting.
"Hey, they're pretty scary, so stop giving me that look," I guess he had a point. I mean, Death was scary enough that Thanos himself fell for her. "Anyway, I'm going to send you to the Marvel universe with your own power, and I expect you to keep things from going out of control. And, no, it won't be a gamer ability. Between you and me, that ability doesn't actually exist in any part of the multiverse. It's pure fiction."
It was kind of awkward to talk about fiction with someone you always believed to be a fictional character, but it's okay. I didn't want the gamer ability anyway. It never really made sense to me. It doesn't exactly fit into any universe no matter how much I think about it. Maybe SAO, but I can't think of anything else.
"Anyway, I'm sending you to a mixture of the cinematic and comics, so be ready for a messed up life," the Beyonder cut off my thoughts as he raised his hand and my body began to glow.
"Wait! What power are you giving me?" I asked. Going in blind was never a good idea, especially in a place like Marvel.
"Have you ever seen Star Wars?" he asked, before smirking as I nod my head. "What I'm giving you is like the Force on crack."
My eyes widen in horror recognizing that phrase. Before I can say anything else, vanished into nothing in a flash of light. The last thing I saw was the Beyonder's shit-eating grin.
I gasp as I shot out of my bed, breathing heavily and sweating.
"Easy, son, you're not fully recovered yet," someone says as they put a hand on my shoulder and push me back down.
Looking at who was talking to me, I see a man in his late thirties wearing a doctor's coat over a green uniform with a stethoscope around his neck. There's a name-tag on his pocket with his name along with saying 'New York's central hospital'.
Looking around, I find that I'm in a patient's bed in a hospital room. "Where am I?" I ask confused.
"You're at the hospital," the doctor replied as his other hand was holding a clipboard that he looked at. "We found you at the door of our emergency entrance. You were in pretty bad shape, but you seem to have a remarkable recovery."
Getting my breath under control, I look at the doctor again. "How long was I out?" I asked.
"Nearly a week," if his hand wasn't on my shoulder, I would have probably bolted out of bed hearing that. "I was just checking on your status when you woke up. I know you must be confused, but we'll have to do some testing and ask you a few questions. Is that alright?" he asked and I nodded. "Wonderful. I'll be coming back with a nurse and a few papers."
When the doctor left, I took a deep breath as I finally start comprehending what happened to me.
I apparently died, met the Beyonder, and then got sent to the Marvel universe, a mixture of the cinematic and comics from what the Beyonder said, and lastly was given a power.
Now, here's the bad part. That quote that the Beyonder said? I recognize it, and I know what power he gave me now.
The Darkness… the Mother f*cking Darkness!?
Now, I'm grateful that it's something powerful, but did it have to be literally the darkest being in the multiverse!?
How did he even do it? From what I know, even the Beyonder shouldn't be powerful enough to control the Darkness.
The Darkness is a Primordial and eternal entity, like Lady Death, both the comic and video game version. This is most likely the comic version. But, that doesn't make it any less powerful.
The Darkness helped god(in this case, the One-Above-All) create the universe along with the Angelus. In a way, the Darkness is actually older than Lady Death, since it was around when there was nothing but void.
This is bad. This is REALLY bad! Something powerful like the Darkness would undoubtedly draw all kinds of wrong attention because of its nature.
Alright, calm down. I just have to look at the pros of this situation. The Darkness is powerful, so I don't have to worry about 80% of the beings out there, including the ones on Earth.
As a host of the Darkness, I should be powerful enough to go against God-like beings and win with time. I just need practice.
I'm not stupid enough to believe that I can fully control the Darkness, I just need to make sure it doesn't consume me.
Even Jackie Estacado, one of the most powerful hosts, has admitted that the Darkness always had him where it wanted and that he was never free from it for a second.
If I remember correctly, I was 20 years and 9 months old, which means I have 3 months before the Darkness awakens. And, when it does, it's going to be a shit show, I just know it.
But, I have to wonder, does the Angelus exist in the Marvel universe now that the Darkness does? And, if it does, does the Syphon exist as well?
The Angelus is something I don't have to worry about since it takes time to confront the Darkness' host from what I know. It's the Syphon I'm worried about.
Now, most would be glad if the Syphon exists, since it was technically a way out of the Darkness, but that's actually terrible news.
First, that would mean that the Brotherhood is also here, which means that psychotic maniacs with God-complex are going to try and kill me.
Second, I noticed something while playing the second game of the Darkness: Why was the Darkness so desperate to get the Syphon? Why would it want the thing that imprisoned it and could actually kill its host?
Here's the theory I came up with: what if the Syphon can actually grant the Darkness its freedom? What if it can unleash the Darkness from its human host and let it out fully?
That would be terrible for the entire multiverse. If the Darkness was free, then its powers will no longer be limited because of a human host.
Without limitations, the Darkness can probably go against beings like the Living Tirbunal or Lady Death, and still win. It was just that powerful.
The Darkness helped create the multiverse. So, naturally, something that created the multiverse would be more powerful than the beings that inhabit it.
The Darkness has the power of true creation. It can create actual living and sentient beings, something that only God can do.
Not to mention that the Darkness managed to toy with souls in the past and not once got in trouble with Death, both the Lady and the Endless.
Which means it's powerful enough to do that stuff without their notice, or simply that it's too powerful for them to do anything about it, both thoughts are scary.
Johnny Powell was right. If the Darkness gets a hold of the Syphon, we're all f*cked.
I have three months to prepare, so I'm going to make use of them. I wasn't an athlete back in my world, but I was still in healthy shape, which means that it shouldn't be hard to train my body in these three months.
I also need to make sure I don't get attached to anyone. It's going to be lonely, and I'm definitely going to come out as some edgy emo, but that's the smart thing to do.
The Darkness used everyone Jackie was close to against him. From letting him see them get killed, to torturing their souls. I can't let that happen to anyone.
First, I need to know where I am in the Timeline of the Marvel universe. The Beyonder said its a mixture of the cinematic and comics, so it's going to be confusing.
I don't know exactly what the Beyonder sent me here to do, but one thing for sure, I'm going to make sure that the Darkness doesn't get its way, and stop whatever is going to happen.
(A/N: Thank you for reading this.
Like the summary said, this is for adoption. How it goes from now on is up to whoever adopts it.
This is a Marvel and Darkness crossover. Either reader insert or self-insert, it's up to you.
If you're adopting it, please tell me, I'd love to see it continue.)