-Prologue-
"Everything I want to do is illegal" grumbled a tall but young blonde man as he sat in front of his computer on a black reclining office chair with a tall back. He wore no shirt and his only clothes on his body were a blue pair of boxers riding up around his waist due to his constant shifting of the chair.
Turning off the computer with a few simple clicks, he sat in front of the large black desktop monitor and looked at his reflection on the slick screen. He wasn't overly in shape, but he wasn't excessively fat either as evidenced by his firm but slightly expanded stomach. Slouching back on the chair he let out a long sigh.
"Why did I have to grow up so normally?" He asked seemingly no one other than some unknown audience made available only to him.
"I wanted to be a villainous mastermind. A Professor Moriarty, or a Nikolai Dante. Perhaps some extraordinary Gentleman, Not some Joe Schmo that lives a normal, albeit successful life" he continued to his imaginary raptly attentive audience.
Getting up from his chair, the young man walked across his white walled room, quickly passing by a poster of the Spectre from Detective Comics as he made his way to the window across from his computer setup.
Twirling the blind stick the blinds slowly raised up, letting the moonlight shine through the window.
"It's still nighttime. I guess I haven't researched for that long..." He trailed off as a few ideas crossed his head.
"Guess I'll take a shower before I nod off" He though as he stripped off his boxers and walked over to the bathroom that was connected to his bedroom. It was light blue tiled with little waves painted on the walls. It was like that ever since he was a young boy. He had always liked the water, be it from Jet Skiing, Bogey boarding, Swimming, and snorkeling.
Sliding aside the glass door, he stepped over the water barrier and into the shower. Letting the cold water wash over him as he turned on the shower. The summer was always hot, and a cold shower really helped him feel good. Still, for the past three years, he had felt that something was missing in his life. Apart from his work at the machine shop and his average social life for a twenty three year old, he didn't have a wife or kids, and he still lived with his family at home. Very much not villainous or interesting.
It was not like his home life was bad. His mother and father loved him very much, and he wasn't estranged from his two brothers who were much older than him.
"If only I could move from this small town and con some city folk" He mused as he washed off.
When he finished showering, he dried off with a towel and his blue electric hair dryer, the heat from the dryer expediting the process. Tossing on a new pair of boxers, he brushed his teeth and drank a cup of water before dropping to his bed. Quickly letting sleep overcome him, he dozed off.
When he next opened his eyes, he was sitting in a bright white waiting room like one might have in a doctor's office. He sat alone on a white chair facing a receptionist's desk not to far away. It was cool here, as if it was cooled slightly by an air conditioner. However, when he looked around the small room, he saw no such machine, nor did he hear the rumbling one would make.
Looking down at his body to make sure he wasn't still in his boxers, he was happy to find out that he was in fact wearing clothes. They were a simple white dress shirt tucked into black slacks with casual black dress shoes. Around his neck was a thin steel rope attached to a clear pouch with a plastic pass like card. It had his picture and name with a big red VIP underneath it.
Was this a dream? He did vaguely remember going to sleep, but couldn't recall much else.
Cutting him out of his thoughts, he heard a soft woman's voice call out to him from the reception desk.
"Gareth Smith. Please come to the front desk" The woman requested. She sounded somewhere in her early thirties and was nice on the ears. Her voice gave me the feeling of one returning home after a long trip to be greeted by their friends and loved ones.
Getting up, Gareth walked over to the high reception desk and had to look slightly down to see who spoke.
It was a short woman with a full figure and a well pressed and ironed business suit. Her silver hair was tied in a tight bun and her face portrayed a soft but serious expression.
"That's me" Gareth replied when he was looking at her.
Standing up from the seat at the desk in front of her computer the woman greeted him properly.
"Greetings Gareth Smith. I am Sophia Ward. I am a Goddess of rebirth and I will be processing your reincarnation. As a VIP you will be given proper compensation and adjustments for your unique situation. Please feel free to ask me anything you wish to" The woman now known as Sophia informed him.
"So I'm dead?" Gareth asked, curious as to what exactly was happening right now.
"Yes, Two angry Gods happened to be fighting nearby and your local cluster of universes were completely erased. Quite upset by the situation, Your Patron Deity destroyed both Gods and spared no expense in making sure your next few lives would be less unfortunate. So look forward to them!" She beamed brightly at him, her smile genuinely brightening his mind.
"Right. This is a lot to take in" Gareth responded, taking a deep breath.
"Take as much time as you need. Is there anything you would like at the moment? Nothing is off limits for you as a VIP" Sophia informed him.
Not sure what exactly the extent of 'Nothing is off limits' was, Gareth thought for a few moments.
"Can you make this place into a warm tropical beach and bring my family for a barbecue there? You know, with food and drinks of course" Gareth asked excitedly.
"Of course I can" Sophia responded, and instantly the lobby was gone and replaced by a soft sandy beach at the foot of a jungle mountain, his mother and brother lying on soft reclining beach chairs while his father and second brother worked on the charcoal barbecue grill.
"Hey Gareth, do you want franks or a burger?" His older brother called over from the grill. He was as tall as Gareth and more built. While Gareth had paler light skin, his brother was sporting a summer tan, and it worked well with his athletic build. He also had short blonde hair like his two younger brothers.
"One of each, John. Put some pepper jack and ketchup on the burger, and Get me a Guinness too" Gareth called back.
"You got it!" John replied before putting a burger and a frank on the grill.
His second brother James, who was lying on a chair next to them as the sun softly shone down on the beach above the lapping waves spoke to him.
"Gareth, this is the last time we'll be seeing each other sine I'm planning on reincarnating somewhere I've wanted to go to for quite a while now. Thanks for everything lil bro" James leaned over from the chair and ruffled his younger brother's hair.
"Where are you going?" Gareth asked curiously.
"I've always wanted to see what it was like in the Marvel multiverse ever since I started reading comics. Thanks to this VIP status, I've been given the chance to start my life there as a superhero" James wistfully said, his eyes alight with excitement.
"Where are you planning on going?" James asked, curious about his younger brother.
"Well, I'm not quite sure now, but it definitely won't be somewhere like Marvel or Detective Comics, as there's way too much that can go wrong there. And don't even get me started on places like Warhammer or Wheel of time. Way to much war and people out to gut you like a fish. Though I'd prefer it not be too much like regular Earth. I want to explore. To create. To be what I was destined to be" Gareth grinned as he pumped his fist in emphasis.
"So what? Like a book or video game world or something?" James asked.
"Ideally, since those worlds always have some cool backstory and secret society controlling the world. Think about it. You could help the main characters from the shadows, or be a villain that hinders them from afar without them knowing you exist. Especially in a swords and sorcery world" Gareth shot off at his brother, his eyes glinting with ideas.
"Well, yeah, but wouldn't that get boring after a while. At least for me it would. I like the more straightforward black and white stories" James replied, hoping to stop his brother before he began ranting about the state of modern storytelling.
"That's the thing. Everything that I want to do is illegal. There's always laws getting in the way of my machinations, but if I was a mastermind behind the scenes, laws wouldn't apply to me" Gareth chuckled as he pictured himself as a power in the shadows slowly supporting the heroes in their times of need only to show up from time to time and make some sort of cryptic reference or warning that would come true sometime in the future.
Then when the hero's party members remembered it, they would wonder who I was and go look for me. A game of cat and mouse is always amazing to me" He continued before taking a deep breath.
"Yep, that's you alright" James laughed.
"What about you? What's your plans in Marvel?" Gareth asked his brother.
" Nothing much. I just want to save a few people who have died in the various conflicts, and maybe even meet The Sentry or Owen Reece. I also want to visit the Savage Lands at least once" James informed him.
"That sounds a bit risky, but if that's your dream, I'm not going to stop you" Gareth returned the thought and the two talked till the food arrived with the cold beers.
The family ate their final dinner and afterward they said their goodbyes before Gareth returned to the waiting room.
"That was rather touching" Sophia said, giving Gareth a warm smile.
"So, I've decided on where I want to go and what I want to bring with me" Gareth informed the goddess who clapped her hands.
"Wonderful. Let's hear it. Would you like to hear my advice after you tell me, or is that not needed?" Sophia offered.
"Sure" Gareth agreed. Not like it would be harmful for a second opinion.
"There is a universe from the books of Danmachi. I want to go there. However, send me to a world where Hestia never descended, and Bell Cranel was given a horrible life. I am a wealthy adventurer sent from an overseas royal house. I will be level twenty, or well as close to a god as one can be without being a divine being. I want to look like myself, and be as proficient in all the crafting and alchemical disciplines as one can be with out being a God of said profession. Be it Enchanting, Magic, Crafting, Blacksmithing, Alchemy, Leatherworking, Construction, Merchanting, and all the other disciplines you can think of. After all, I don't want to be the main character. I want to be a mysterious benefactor of the real main character, and how could I be that without being the absolute best second only to the gods?" Gareth explained, ending with a question.
"I understand. Being a God would have it's advantages, but it would also be outweighed by the responsibilities and restrictions. Not to mention the beuroratic work and paperwork of a Familia. Very well, I will arrange that. Would you like me to create your royal family to any specifications, or just do it on my own?" Sophia asked.
"I'll put my trust in you" Gareth agreed, mostly out of laziness and anticipation to enter the world of the anime he had watched a few episodes of before.
Very Well. Good luck!" Sophia said before Gareth's world went white.
Author's note: Well Hello there. Thanks for reading this prologue. The chapters from here on out will be from Bell's perspective and only rarely will it be from Gareth's.
See you later.