Marcus sat on the beach, watching the sunrise over the Pacific, and pulled up his system interface.
[ Movie Plundering System o]
Host: Marcus Reed
Age: 23
Items: Clothing, miscellaneous supplies
Abilities: Telekinesis, Soul Protection, Telepathic Suggestion, Super Brain (NZT-49 permanent), Enhanced Physique (T-virus), Accelerated Healing (T-virus), Super Strength (T-virus), Super Speed (T-virus)
Origin Points: 98
Ninety-eight points.
The number had skyrocketed after he'd released the antidote and the global zombie population started dying en masse. Every infected creature eliminated added to his total, and with billions of zombies across the planet...
Resident Evil really is an excellent world for farming points, Marcus thought with dark amusement.
He reviewed his abilities list. Most of the enhancements came from the Perfect T-virus—the Prometheus Strain that Dr. Ashford had developed. Strength, speed, healing, physical resilience—all superhuman now, all permanent.
The Super Brain came from the perfected NZT-49 formula. He didn't need pills anymore; his enhanced cognition was his default state now. Perfect recall, pattern recognition that bordered on precognition, information processing that made ordinary humans seem like they were moving through molasses.
Soul Protection was something he'd developed himself using his telekinesis—a mental shield that protected against psychic intrusion. In the Marvel universe, there were too many telepaths, too many entities that could invade minds or steal souls. Charles Xavier, Emma Frost, the Shadow King, demons like Mephisto... He needed protection before he went back.
And he was going back. Soon.
Three years. He'd been in the Resident Evil world for three years total. Three years since that helicopter had lifted him out of Raccoon City's ruins, since he'd started this whole insane journey.
One month since he'd released the antidote and ended the apocalypse.
Now he sat on a private island —technically still Umbrella property, though "Umbrella" didn't really exist anymore. Just a name attached to facilities and technology that Marcus had systematically dismantled or repurposed.
The island was perfect. Self-sufficient, well-equipped, isolated. The kind of place where you could live comfortably without anyone bothering you.
Currently residing on the island:
Marcus
Alice
Jill
Ada
Forty-seven Alice clones (the Legion)
Alicia Marcus
Dr. Charles Ashford
Angela Ashford
Matt, Kaplan, Ryan, and the others had returned to human society. They had their own lives to rebuild, families to search for (or mourn), futures to figure out. They were welcome to visit anytime, but Marcus didn't expect them to stay on the island permanently.
The Alice clones stayed mostly because going into public with forty-seven identical faces tended to cause panic. Some of them did venture out in disguise—wigs, colored contacts, different styles—to experience normal life. Marcus didn't restrict anyone's movement. This wasn't a prison.
Alicia and Dr. Ashford stayed because they had no desire to return to human society. Too much history, too much guilt, too many ghosts. The island was peaceful, and that was enough.
But Marcus... Marcus was ready to leave.
The question was: should he go alone, or bring the others?
System rules were clear: one Origin Point let him carry an extra hundred kilograms of matter through dimensional transit. Three women—even enhanced, they each weighed maybe 120-140 pounds—would cost him two points total. Easily affordable with ninety-eight in reserve.
The real question was simpler and infinitely more complicated: Should he tell them the truth?
That he wasn't from this world. That he was a dimensional traveler who'd come here specifically to acquire the T-virus and Umbrella's technology. That he'd saved the world, yes, but partly because it served his goals and partly because... well, because letting billions die when he could prevent it seemed like a dick move.
And the bigger question: Should he take them to Marvel?
The Resident Evil world, post-apocalypse, was relatively safe now. The biggest threats were human—looters, warlords, the occasional survivor going crazy. Enhanced humans like them could handle anything the world threw at them.
Marvel was different. Marvel was dangerous.
Aliens. Demons. Gods. Super-villains with city-leveling powers. Cosmic entities that could snuff out stars. Hell, depending on when he emerged, Thanos might already be planning his little finger-snap genocide project.
Was it fair to bring Alice, Jill, and Ada into that without warning them?
Marcus stared at the ocean for another ten minutes, then made his decision.
He'd tell them. Not everything—the whole transmigration, system, video game mechanics thing was maybe too much—but enough. He'd frame it as a superpower, a unique ability to travel between worlds. They'd already accepted telekinesis, accelerated healing, and zombie apocalypses. Dimension-hopping wasn't that much stranger.
And he'd let them choose.
Marcus called them to the island's main facility—a converted research building that now served as their primary living space. Alice, Jill, and Ada arrived within minutes, their expressions curious.
"What's up?" Alice asked, reading his serious expression. "You look like someone died."
"Did something happen?" Jill added, immediately on alert. "Is there a problem?"
Ada just studied him with those sharp, assessing eyes. "You're planning something."
Marcus gestured for them to sit. "Yeah. Something big. And I need to be honest with you about... well, about me."
Jill smirked. "Oh God, is this the 'I want all four of us at once' conversation? Because we already said no—"
"What? No!" Marcus felt his face heat. "Jesus, Jill, can you not make everything about—"
"You brought it up that one time," Alice pointed out, fighting a smile.
"I was joking—"
"Were you though?" Ada's expression was perfectly innocent.
Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can we be serious for like five minutes?"
The three women exchanged glances, then nodded, their amusement fading.
"Okay," Alice said. "What's going on?"
Marcus took a breath. "I haven't been completely honest about my background. My... identity."
Alice frowned. "I thought you were an agent? For China?"
That had been the cover story he'd used early on—easier than trying to explain the truth. And it had fit well enough; his preference for protecting Chinese survivors, his knowledge of Umbrella's operations, his combat skills.
"No," Marcus said. "I'm not an agent. I'm... something else."
He paused, choosing his words carefully.
"I have a power. A unique ability, separate from the telekinesis and everything else. I can..." He gestured vaguely. "Travel. Between worlds. Different realities, different dimensions. This world—your world—isn't where I'm originally from."
Silence.
Alice stared at him. Jill's eyebrows had climbed toward her hairline. Ada looked skeptical but thoughtful.
"You're from another dimension," Jill said slowly.
"Yeah."
"Like... parallel Earth? Alternate timeline?"
"Sort of. Different universe entirely. Same general physics, but different history, different people, different... everything."
"And you came here for...?" Alice asked.
"The T-virus," Marcus admitted. "Umbrella's technology. Artificial intelligence. My world has... threats. Dangerous ones. I needed better tools to survive. So I came here, acquired what I needed, and—" He shrugged. "Then the apocalypse happened and I couldn't just leave while billions of people died."
"So you saved the world as a side project," Ada said dryly.
"I mean... yeah, kind of?"
More silence. The three women processed this, glancing at each other occasionally, some silent communication happening that Marcus couldn't quite read.
Finally, Alice spoke. "This explains a lot, actually. Why you always seemed like you knew things you shouldn't. Why your backstory never quite added up. Why you treated the apocalypse like..." She waved a hand. "Like you'd seen worse."
"Have you?" Jill asked. "Seen worse?"
Marcus thought about the Battle of New York. Chitauri pouring through a portal, Leviathans destroying buildings, Iron Man nearly dying in space. "Yeah. I have."
"And now you're going back," Ada concluded. "That's why you're telling us."
"Yeah. I've been here three years. It's time. But..." Marcus met their eyes one by one. "I don't want to leave you behind. I can bring people with me. You three specifically. If you want to come."
"To your world," Alice said.
"To my world."
"Which is more dangerous than this one."
"...Yes. Significantly more dangerous. Not zombies dangerous. More like... aliens invading cities dangerous. Literal gods fighting in the streets dangerous. Bad people with powers that make the T-virus look tame."
Jill whistled softly. "And you want to bring us into that?"
"I want to give you the choice," Marcus corrected. "You can stay here. Live peaceful lives, help rebuild the world, be normal for once. Or you can come with me, face new threats, probably get into fights that'll make the Umbrella war look like a warm-up." He paused. "But you'd be together. With me. We'd face it as a team."
"Like we always have," Alice said softly.
"Like we always have," Marcus agreed.
The three women looked at each other again. More of that silent communication. Then they turned back to him in unison.
"I'm in," Alice said immediately. "This world... it's healing, but it's broken. I helped break it. I don't know if I can stay here and just... live with that. Besides," she smiled slightly, "someone needs to keep you alive in your crazy dangerous universe."
"Same," Jill added. "What, you think I'm going to let you two run off into dimension-hopping adventures without me? Please. I didn't survive an apocalypse just to retire at twenty-eight."
Ada was quiet for a moment longer, studying Marcus with that calculating expression. "Your world. Is it interesting?"
"Very."
"Will I be bored?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then I'm in too." She smirked. "Besides, someone needs to be the smart one in this relationship."
Marcus felt something tight in his chest release. "You're sure? All of you?"
"We're sure," Alice said firmly. "We don't have anyone else here. No family, no real ties. Our friends have their own lives. And you—" She reached out and took his hand. "You're our family now. Where you go, we go."
"Cheesy," Jill commented, but she was smiling.
"True though," Ada added.
Marcus nodded, throat suddenly tight. "Okay. Then we've got some prep work to do."
It took two weeks to wrap up their affairs on the island.
Marcus destroyed the last of Umbrella's sensitive research—backup files on the T-virus, cloning protocols, anything that could be weaponized if it fell into the wrong hands. The Red Queen's core programming was dismantled, her code scattered across disconnected servers. The Alice clones were given the choice to stay on the island (most did) or venture into the world (some did).
Alicia, Dr. Ashford, and Angela chose to remain. They'd build their own lives here, peaceful and quiet, away from the world that had hurt them so badly.
"Thank you," Alicia said when Marcus said goodbye. "For everything. For saving me. For saving Alice. For giving us all a second chance."
"You did most of it yourself," Marcus replied. "You survived. That's not nothing."
They hugged—carefully, because Alicia was still getting used to having a body that didn't hurt all the time—and then Marcus joined Alice, Jill, and Ada near the beach.
"Ready?" he asked.
They nodded.
Marcus pulled up his system interface one last time, confirmed the cost (two Origin Points for three passengers), and activated the dimensional transit function.
Reality rippled. The beach, the island, the blue Pacific sky—all of it folded in on itself like origami in reverse. Colors inverted. Gravity became a suggestion. Marcus felt the familiar disorientation of dimensional travel, the sensation of being stretched thin and compressed simultaneously.
Then, with a sound like the universe taking a deep breath, they returned to the Marvel world.
(End of Chapter)