Location: New York City
Date: Saturday, January 14th, 1989
Mark POV:
As he slowly awoke from a restful sleep, Mark took stock of himself.
After his spar with Gwen last night he had been bruised up one side and down the other, and maintaining constant Force enhancement just to mostly keep up had drained what he had thought was his exceptional stamina. Compared to Gwen, not so much.
She was a physical powerhouse in the form of a beautiful girl, just inexperienced. But he would not be underestimating anyone with spider powers again.
She did not seem to know that her wall crawling power could be used for inescapable grappling. Otherwise Gwen could have ended the fight the moment she touched him.
The lack of web shooters was an enormous weakness as well. He had not realized just how much capability the web shooters added, and she would need a ranged option soon.
That is, if she was interested in embracing her powers or being a part of the metahuman world. He told her if she wanted to meet him again she could find him on the some rooftop next Saturday. The choice would be hers.
Regardless, while Mark did need to get stronger, being near the Spider-Man tier was reassuring. If anything, he was surprised at his strength. He had never sat down and compared what a Jedi Padawan's capabilities should be relative to people in another universe, but Force users were actually really strong.
It made him reflect on his abilities and just how much he liked them.
He would not trade his powers. Sure, being a Numenorean was not flashy, but it was a great all-around enhancement, and he was positive it boosted his Force powers. As for the Force itself, even though he seemed mostly restricted to the basic powers for now, those powers were invaluable to him.
But where those thoughts truly led was to the question, 'If something appears in the store that is objectively the best choice, a powerful, useful ability of some kind, and it is something I do not actually want, should I buy it anyway?'
It was probably not something he needed to worry about unless it happened, but the thought remained as he checked his status.
Name: Mark Smith
Race: Human (Numenorean)
Age: 17
Equipped Template:
-Jedi Padawan
Traits:
-Keen Mind
-Fair of Face
-Force Sensitive
Powers:
-Grace of the Valar: 52%
-Aura of Majesty: 3%
Disciplines:
-Force Fundamentals: 90%
Skills:
-Weapon Mastery: 10%
-Wilderness Survival: 1%
-Elvish Language: 22%
Items:
-None
The guidance from his Padawan template was becoming less frequent the closer it got to 100%, and it seemed to be absent with the external abilities he had been focusing on. He was just glad it did not prevent his other abilities from growing at the same time.
Unlike learning Elvish, which was impossible without the Aragorn templet equipped, Grace of the Valar continued to grow the more he exerted himself. The enhanced physical abilities it gave were becoming more pronounced as well.
His body was not only becoming more defined, but the relatively slow growth was allowing him to adapt to his growing strength. He had barely damaged anything on accident so far.
The main reason he opened his status however, was to give Cortana his numbers. He wanted to know what the source of store points were and she suggested that the ability percentages were the most likely in system source. So she was modeling whether a correlation existed.
After quickly covering the increases, he switched to the store to check his current point total.
Current Points: 3
Time Until Restock: 2 Months+
1. Discipline: Spiral Energy(Gurren Lagann) - 256 points
2. Character: ★ Morrigan Aensland(1/3 Power)(Darkstalkers) - 32 points
3. (Empty)
4. Item: Saiyan Space Pod(Dragon Ball Z) - 16 pts
5. Item: Bludgers x2(Harry Potter) - 4 points
6. (Empty)
7. Template: Shino Aburame(Naruto) - 8 points
8. (Empty)
9. Power: Quirk(Earphone Jack)(My Hero Academia) - 2 points
10. Mundane Object: Spider-Man Suit(Marvel) - 1 point
Mark spent a few minutes considering the current store offerings.
After acquiring Cortana he knew what to expect from character purchases, and a talk with her about the available items had led him to a few decisions.
First he decided to unfavorite Morrigan. She cost a lot, took up a store slot, and he was not sure if she was someone that he wanted around.
In her place he favorited the Saiyan Space Pod.
When he told Cortana about it she had been absolutely uncompromising, and Mark had to agree with her reasoning. The technology level of Dragon Ball was incredible, from FTL drives small enough for one-man pods, the Capsule Corp technology, to the sheer insanity of the androids. Cortana wanted her digital hands on it as soon as possible.
Her reaction to some of that world's details had made him laugh, especially when she learned that if you could not blow up a planet you were basically a nobody.
Closing the system he laid there for a few more minutes, still enjoying the feel of a real bed. Eventually though, he pulled himself up, despite the complaints of his bruised and sore body.
His recovery speed from injuries was also enhanced and he noticed several of the smallest bruises were already mostly yellow. But his worst was a massive purple bruises across his left forearm from blocking one of Gwen's punches head-on. A mistake he did not repeat again.
Going through his usual morning routine, he was soon facing the worst part about enhanced senses so far, as room service delivered his breakfast. He could taste artificial flavors, chemicals, and all the random additives that went into the food. It was disgusting.
Fortunately it was also mostly avoidable if you were willing to pay extra, but some things had become permanently inedible.
After breakfast Mark would have the weekend to himself and needed to find a solution for Cortana's data chip. It is normally plugged into the back of Chief's armored helmet when in a dangerous, or combat situations. And she was able to see via the helmet's cameras and sensors.
But if she wanted to see what was going on at the moment, her data chip would be exposed. That was a major problem.
He still needed to find the right place to live as well, and after sharing his idea with Cortana she suggested something large. It made Mark think of the Fantastic Four's base in the Baxter Building, or the building the Avengers would eventually operate from and he wanted to find something similar.
---
The days passed and Mark started his last week of high school.
He was very confident in passing the graduation tests next week and even with the occasional problem that he needed a little help, he could ask Cortana for a hint. He did not think she would do his homework for him, and it was better if he learned the material regardless. Either way, he did not ask her to.
While Mark worked on his own projects, Cortana kept half an eye on the news feeds. Tuesday brought something that actually warranted talking about.
"Mark. Reed Richards just finished speaking at the United Nations." her voice carried its usual dry edge, "Namor has issued an ultimatum. He's claiming the seven seas and the airspace above them as his exclusive imperial domain. No surface ships or aircraft are to trespass."
With a brief pause, she added, "It seems he has all the subtlety of a tidal wave."
He snorted at that. Namor was may things, but subtlety was very much not his strength. His demands were also not going to happen, so the question was what Namor would do when his demands are not met. The Fantastic Four were already involved, but until something else happens he could see little reason to get involved.
"For now just keep an eye on the situation. The Fantastic Four may find a solution before it escalates." he said.
"I'll watch it," Cortana replied, "Just so we're clear though, Namor seems the type who's prepared to enforce any ultimatum he issues."
Mark did not disagree.
---
Thursday morning found Mark in class when he felt an odd buzzing in his pocket from Cortana's data chip. He quickly excused himself to go to the bathroom and stepped into the hall, pulling out the chip.
"Something interesting is happening," Cortana said the moment he was alone, "I'm picking up multiple reports of a ship of some kind that just landed in Times Square."
He paused at that. He knew aliens were real this could be a real problem, "Just one ship?"
"Yes."
'Hmm, that could be good or bad.' he thought.
It only took another moment of consideration before he was heading for the exit. Missing his second to last day of school was not that important. But if going meant lives saved, there was no choice at all.
Getting out of the school, Mark put on his mask and moved across the city as quickly as he could. Meanwhile Cortana was giving him updates from the landing. It was not encouraging.
"There's just a single individual so far, green skin, large pointed ears." she reported, "It just claimed the planet and everything on it in the name of the Skrull Empire."
'Oh shit. The Skrull... Susan said the Fantastic Four had some run-ins with them. Why send just one and declare ownership of the planet? They are not that strong individually.'
"It just planted a flag in the sidewalk." continued Cortana, "Used some kind of fire ability to melt a hole first. It's calling itself a Super-Skrull."
A cold feeling ran through him the moment he heard the name, 'Not good.'
A few minutes later, as he closed in on the area, she added, "It was waiting for something, arms crossed. Just knocked back the crowd after several people told it to leave."
He could not help but sigh, "Damn. Well you were not wrong, this is going to be interesting, and dangerous. The Super-Skrull has all the powers of the Fantastic Four. If it is waiting for something the Four would be my guess. How long until I get there?"
"A minute or two. The human torch just arrived."
The crowds were already fleeing the area when a massive flash lit the sky several streets ahead.
By the time Mark reached the last corner, the Torch and the Skrull were both ablaze, streaking through the air in tight, violent arcs above Times Square. For a moment it was hard to tell them apart, two living comets of fire carving bright scars across the skyline, but the Skrull quickly distinguished itself.
It was faster, and slipped past the Torch's plasma bursts with almost casual ease. Never once stretching, or turning invisible, it was fighting with fire alone, and the heat they were putting out was incredible.
With little alternative, he reached out and tried to slow the Skrull with the Force as they fought. Then Johnny Storm shouted something Mark couldn't make out over the roar of the flames and launched a large fire blast. The Super-Skrull simply moved to the side and answered with a concentrated lance of fire that blasted the Torch out of the sky.
Mark's jaw tightened beneath the mask, 'It was playing with him.' he thought as he grabbed Johnny with the Force. It would not stop his fall but he would survive.
However, the newly arrived Reed stretched out from the other side of the street and grabbed him, bringing Johnny safely to the ground.
Looking over, only the Thing had yet to arrive, and Mark had a sinking feeling the rest of the Fantastic Four were about to walk into the same problem the Torch just had. But he could not do much but wait for a moment to act.
The Skrull had landed on a nearby rooftop and Reed was already stretching up to it. He wrapped the Super-Skrull in a series of rapid coils with his entire body and for a moment it looked like it might work.
Then they started expanding, and ballooned outward in a bizarre sight, stretching Reed's form past any safe limit as his coils slipped free. Reed recovered quickly and was able to attack with a hand formed into a hammer.
The Skrull in turn, stretched with terrifying speed, snatched a parked car off the street below and hauled it up to the roof in an instant.
Reed's strike slammed into the vehicle that was suddenly interposed in front of his attack. The impact rebounded through his elastic frame hard enough to make him stagger.
The Super-Skrull immediately used the car like a hammer, swinging it down in a crushing arc that would have flattened Reed against the rooftop if Ben Grimm hadn't arrived in a roar of orange rock.
The Thing smashed the car aside in a single blow, metal screaming as it crumpled. "Alright, ya green peanut-"
He never finished the sentence. The Super-Skrull hit him with a full-powered stretch-punch that sent the Thing tumbling off the edge of the building in a spray of broken concrete.
Before it had the chance to reengage Reed, Mark did the only thing that he could think of that might work. Reaching out with the Force he tried to attack its mind. But unlike the last time he did something like this, the Skrull's mind was not weak and its attention instantly snapped to him.
Precognition and Force Speed together were barely enough to jerk his head aside as the Skrull's fist passed through the space where his neck had been, as a wave of goose bumps spread across his body. Before he could gain more distance, the Skrull launched a fire blast at him, then turned back to Reed.
The fireball detonated on the sidewalk where he was standing as he dashed. While he was able to move across the street before being engulfed in flame, his apparently poor choice of outer material on his mask was not so lucky. It could not take the heat, and ignited.
He ripped it off as quickly as he could and tried to save it, but it was in bad shape.
"Mark?"
He looked up to see Susan just in front of him, staring in surprise.
"Hi there." he replied with a little wave and looked down at his mask. The left side of the face was a melted mess and he just stuffed it into his jacket, before turning his attention back to the Skrull.