The Wanderer - 209 (Patreon)

Chapter 209 – Choice

[2009 – October]

Dr. Marshall, a Chinese middle-aged man, Lightforce and Darkforce control.

These 'hints' were enough to jog my memory, which made me aware of the sedated man's future identity as Mister Negative.

Originally a member of a Chinese gang, he took part in a human trafficking operation, though the ship had an accident which led to him stealing the identity of one of the people that he was trafficking.

I couldn't remember the name that he took up as part of this identity theft, but I know that in the original timeline, he was later kidnapped by a criminal organization called Maggia, which was an international crime syndicate that had its origins in the Italian mafia a few hundred years ago.

The Maggia though didn't exist in this timeline. I was sure about that since they were not mentioned in the intelligence reports that Emma had given me access to and it was impossible for an organization like this to slip under the Hellfire Club's radar.

I also vaguely remembered that it was Dr. Marshall who was developing a drug for the Maggia that was supposed to be some kind of 'hybrid' version of heroin and crack.

Marshall had used homeless people and runaway teens to test this drug, which ultimately led to Mister Negative awakening his latent mutant abilities during his time as a test subject.

Though it wasn't only him but also Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen that awakened supernatural abilities as a result of being injected with this newly designed drug, the former awakening the ability to use Darkforce while the latter gained access to Lightforce.

This duo was better known as the vigilantes 'Cloak' and 'Dagger' in the Marvel Universe.

Now, it seemed as if Hydra had managed to pull Marshall into its ranks in place of the Maggia, and they were providing him with the necessary resources for his 'research'.

The fact that Mister Negative still hadn't escaped their clutches, even though this was a different timeline, spoke volumes of this guy's rather horrible luck since Hydra was much better at subduing and controlling enhanced individuals than Maggia, which didn't spell good news for his future.

Hydra's involvement in this matter wasn't very surprising though since they had always sought ways to create enhanced soldiers that they could use for their cause, and drug addicts seemed comparatively easier to control even if they had superhuman abilities.

This though led me to ponder what might happen if Hydra got their hands on Tyrone and Tandy. Would they be able to escape Hydra's clutches if they got caught? Or maybe they would be forced to work as Hydra's Super Soldiers since the organization was very good when it came to controlling people through various means?

Still, that was just a bit of curiosity as the problem that I was faced with at the moment was a different one.

Looking at the future 'Mister Negative', I could sense that a faint trace of Darkforce inside him was slowly merging with a silver of Lightforce, producing a new type of energy that seemed wholly unique.

More importantly though, the tiny bits of the Darkforce, which had fused with the Lightforce, no longer reacted to my commands, which meant that his mutant ability basically allowed him to take Darkforce from my Realm without paying the price for it.

As the Realm Lord of the Darkforce Dimension, this was not something that I could allow.

In the original timeline, the Darkforce Dimension was 'ownerless', so there had been no repercussions for Mister Negative by doing this, but things were different in this reality.

Even if the amount of Darkforce that he 'stole' was minuscule, how could I allow him to do such a thing?

I was the incarnation of Darkforce, the living embodiment of the life-stealing, light-devouring dimension that I ruled over. Letting him 'steal' Darkforce was akin to letting him 'steal' parts of me.

And even if he did so without consciously meaning to, it was impossible for there to be no repercussions for slighting a higher being.

His actions, willingly or unwillingly, drew me here and made our paths intersect, and now his fate would have to prove itself tenacious enough to survive this encounter.

To be honest, I naturally did not fancy letting him live since I could not allow someone to just break the law of exchange that made the Darkforce Dimension thrive. I was a Realm Lord, not a charity.

But while I considered killing the man, I also understood that his existence might be important when it came to Tyrone's and Tandy's survival since I remembered that in the original timeline, the trio managed to escape from the laboratory by helping each other out, i.e. working together.

Should Hydra catch the two teens after I killed him, it was very likely that they would not be able to escape since Hydra was already more dangerous than Maggia anyway. But if I just used an ethereal shield to seal his abilities, it might turn out the same way.

On the other hand, if I turned the whole facility to dust, the duo might never awaken their abilities naturally but still find themselves in some kind of danger that would depend on them possessing supernatural powers to survive.

Alternatively, I could also do nothing to Mister Negative and wait and observe if Tyrone and Tandy would ever find themselves in this laboratory before acting, or find the two of them and help them awaken their powers in advance.

All in all, no matter what I decided to do, I seemed as if I would inevitably change and influence their fate. This would naturally cause a butterfly effect as without Cloak and Dagger, some people might die and some criminals would roam free.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but smile faintly.

This moment was a pure and unadulterated reflection of fate, a visible consequence of my actions, and a point of inflection in my 'cycle'.

I had done my best to not interfere with the ongoings of the world up until this point. I had consciously chosen to not involve myself in conflicts that had nothing to do with me even though I had the strength to overturn the world.

But in my pursuit of strength, I had chosen to become the Realm Lord of the Darkforce Dimension, turning myself into a higher lifeform that had nothing human about it besides my 'spirit', which I tried to preserve to the best of my abilities.

And now, I ended up here in front of an unconscious man, whose death would most likely end in a tragedy for many others, despite the fact that he was an ambitious and vengeful individual, pondering about taking his life.

So, my smile wasn't one born out of ignorance since I understood very well what kind of decision I was faced with.

I smiled because of how unpredictable fate was. I had not thought that becoming the Realm Lord of the Darkforce Dimension would place me in this position, even though I rationally understood that there was a consequence to everything, however vague it presented itself.

Experiencing for myself how even a Realm Lord could not escape the 'Cycle', the obscurity of fate holding true even for beings of unimaginable power, it made me feel more 'human' – more 'alive'.

I didn't feel restricted by the rather elusive construct of fate since I wasn't so weak-willed that I wished to live without facing any difficult choices.

I understood that one could only be free when it came to making a decision.

But resenting the very fact that one sometimes had to make a difficult decision was a coward's way to live. And not just that, it was a meaningless sentiment since life was about making difficult choices.

Only in death, in a state of non-existence, were there no more choices, no more decisions to make.

I was free because I understood that even faced with such situations, the choice of what to do was mine alone. I had the power to deny others any and all control over me, which meant that I could freely choose to do as I desired, I would just have to live with the consequences of my choice.

This was the path that I had chosen to walk, the reason why I desired strength.

I wanted to be free when faced with difficult choices. And I wanted to possess the inner strength to accept the consequences of my choice.

The former required immense power while the latter required an iron will that would not collapse in the face of truth.

So I smiled, a roar echoing in my heart as if declaring its unbound nature. For a single moment, I reveled in the realization that I was free.

And then I made my choice, the faint smile turning into an impassive expression.

Darkness blooming, something demonic awakened as I devoured all life and all light in my surroundings, the whole base disintegrating into ashes in but a moment.

I stood on the lifeless piece of land while a nightly breeze caused the ash to drift around my figure, a serene light shining in my shadowed green eyes.

There was no mercy for those that hindered my path, no matter how trivial their existence seemed in comparison to myself.