From the Ashes - 001 (Patreon)

Chapter 001 – Choice

Eyes opening wide as tearing pain shot through my chest and midsection, I tried to scream but only managed to cough up blood.

The sound of distant and nearby explosions, as well as pleading screams and cries echoed in my ears as I opened my eyes with difficulty.

My mind was hazy and I couldn't fully comprehend what kind of situation that I had found myself in, but even those things hardly mattered as my eyes fell on the foot-long shard of glass that had pierced my chest and the metal rod that had perforated my intestines.

I wanted to react with panic but I didn't even have the strength to lift my arms, let alone move and do something about my current predicament, anything.

I could hardly breathe and it felt as if I was drowning in my own blood. The pain was still immense but I also felt a certain numbness encroaching on my senses.

And as relieved as I was about the fading agony, I knew that this was a bad sign as it meant that I had probably lost too much blood already and that my body was slowly shutting down.

Shifting my eyes away from my mutilated upper body, I tried to inspect my surroundings. I tried to understand how I could have gone to sleep after a day of work in my carpentry workshop only to wake up with seemingly lethal injuries.

When my line of sight followed along my body though, I also saw a gigantic slab of concrete resting unmovingly on my feet. I didn't even have to guess to know that my lower limbs had most likely been crushed beyond recognition, even though I felt absolutely nothing.

Another bad sign, I realized.

I didn't linger though as I hastily moved my eyes away from my probably-crippled legs. As hazy as my mind was, I knew that I didn't have the luxury to waste time dwelling on my miserable state.

I needed to understand what was happening around me and hopefully manage to attract help as I understood very well that I couldn't save myself, the chances of surviving at all being rather slim.

I knew this on an instinctive level after having been a soldier for more than a decade before I quit my service.

Unwilling to go there, I pushed those thoughts aside as I started to inspect my surroundings with my limited movements. What my eyes told me though didn't make sense as I was lying near the entrance of an alley, surrounded by sky-high concrete buildings.

I couldn't understand how I ended up here when I was living on the outskirts of a small town in Pennsylvania. I rarely went into the city and I most certainly hadn't gone to bed in an alley last night.

Worse though was the fact that from my position near the entrance to the alley, I had a view of the whole street. My brain nearly short-circuited as I saw humanoid creatures fly around on some strange vehicles while shooting their energy weapons at everything that moved.

The gigantic flying beast that looked like a mixture of an eel, a shark, and a turtle didn't make it any easier for me to comprehend what was going on.

And when I caught a glimpse of a hammer-swinging man flying through the air and a blue-tights-wearing guy throwing around a red and blue circular shield with a star on it, I nearly thought that I may have lost it.

The pain in my chest and the encroaching darkness on my vision made it clear that I wasn't just dreaming though, which could only mean that something rather outlandish and unbelievable had happened to me.

Suddenly a panel made out of light seemed to appear inside my mind, the information on it entering my brain seamlessly.

…

[Congratulations on gaining a second chance at life!]

[Due to the sudden rupturing of an aneurysm while sleeping, you died peacefully and without pain in your sleep. Seeing as your life ended before you could really exert your full potential, the L.O.R.D. has decided to grant you the opportunity to make up for your regrets in a whole new reality, if you so desire.]

[In case you accept, you can choose between three familiar character templates and gain their abilities, experience, and potential. (Note: You will not gain their appearance.)]

[Here are your choices:]

[1. Might Guy of the Village Hidden in the Leaves]

[2. Robert Louis Drake of the X-Men]

[3. Marco the Phoenix of the Whitebeard Pirates]

[If you do not want this second chance, do not feel obliged to make a choice.]

…

It would be a lie to say that I wasn't shocked, though I wasn't excited or jubilant.

From my survival instincts to something akin to pre-death clarity, my mind calmed down.

If, for whatever nonsensical reason, I had really been thrown into the MCU on the exact day that the Chitauri launched an invasion, then maybe it was better to just let go.

I wasn't sad or angry that I had been taken from my Universe after my death, only to end up dying alone and in pain in this one.

My life had long since become dull after I had lost her and left the Army, so maybe it was okay to stop struggling for every breath.

I had nothing to return to even if I could, and there wasn't much to look forward to considering that the one that I yearned the most for had been taken from me a long time ago.

Gaining power and having to find a way to deal with all the crazy stuff that was just waiting to happen didn't seem to be a very attractive choice to me. What use did I have for power, besides satisfying some childhood fantasies?

And so, I didn't try and call for help as the city around me was in chaos, nor did I make a choice.

I simply sat there in pain, my lifeblood slowly leaving my body as I tried to recall all the beautiful moments that I had shared with her before her death. I was at peace even as I was running out of time.

That was until my gaze fell on the thin woven bracelet around my right wrist.

I tried to resist but I couldn't help but remember what she had said to me the day that she had gifted it to me.

…

“It's a charm that I made for you.”, she said while her head rested on my bare chest, her deft fingers placing a black woven bracelet around my wrist.

“What's it for?”, I asked curiously, not resisting as my other hand held her close.

“It will bring you back to me.”, she said with quiet conviction

Somewhat surprised, I couldn't help but inquire: “Did you make one that will bring you back to me?”

A gentle smile, deep love in her bright eyes, she shook her head.

“As long as you love me, I will always come back to you.”

…

Two days later, her unit had been sent out to a village near the base where we had been stationed, and she never came back to me. Her convoy had been ambushed by some local rebels, no survivors.

Four months after that, I had quit my service.

This bracelet was the most precious thing that I possessed, and yet, the memory attached to it was the most painful. Even mutilated as I was, the pain in my body couldn't compare to the agony of my heart.

I knew that she would want me to live, which was the only reason that I hadn't put a gun in my mouth and pulled the trigger years ago.

I also knew that she would want me to move on, to have a life and be happy. Her loss though had left me broken. Incomplete.

But as I was feeling the last embers of my life slowly dying out, death only a moment away, it was as if I could hear her whisper from beside me.

Gently, she called out to me, her hand brushing over my cheek like she had done a million times: “One last time, Tiger.”

I couldn't say if it was just a hallucination because of the blood that I had lost, or if she really was beside me, watching over me with a pair of loving blue eyes. I wanted to believe the latter as it was a more comforting thought.

Either way, she saved me and gave me the strength and the will to stand up once more, to try my luck at fighting against gods and immortals.

So I made my choice.

And as blue flames consumed my surroundings and me whole, my whole world turning into supernatural flames that gifted me with life and strength, I rose from the ashes.

[A/N: It's just a prologue but I have been thinking about this piece for months. I always wanted to write a FF that involved Marco's Devil Fruit as it is my absolute favourite out of all the Devil Fruits. Not to mention that I think that his powers in the MCU would be rather nice.

Anyway, I am not sure when I can write more chapters for this story but Ieven if I did, it will be pure MCU for the most part and probably similar in length to Silverfire.

Also, I have no idea with whom to pair up this main character though, so leave a few comment if you have any suggestions that might fit.]