Chapter 3: The Otaku Goes to Midtown
The morning after his dream about the Ancient One, Meliodas woke to the sound of Tandy pounding on his door.
"GET UP! POPPY NEEDS YOU!"
He stumbled out of bed, still half-asleep, and opened the door to find Tandy already walking away, her blonde ponytail swinging with purpose.
"Breakfast first?" he called after her.
"NO TIME! POPPY SAID NOW!"
Meliodas looked down at himself. Sweatpants from the safehouse donation bin. A t-shirt that said "I Survived Harlem" with a picture of a cockroach wearing a crown. His hair was doing that thing where it looked deliberately styled even though it was just messy.
He toggled {Adorable} on as a test.
A woman walking past the open door to the common area did a double-take, smiled warmly, and kept walking.
'Useful.'
He grabbed his swords—never leave home without them—and headed downstairs.
---
Poppy was in the kitchen, drinking coffee like it was the only thing keeping him alive. Mama Rose was knitting something that looked like it might actually be a small blanket. The card players were already playing cards at 7 AM, because of course they were.
"You're up," Poppy grunted. "Good. Got a job for you."
Meliodas slid into a chair. Mama Rose pushed a plate of toast toward him without looking up from her knitting.
"What kind of job?"
"Delivery." Poppy pulled an envelope from his pocket and slid it across the table. "This needs to go to an address in Midtown. Can't be traced. Can't be tracked. Can't be opened."
Meliodas looked at the envelope. Plain white. No markings. Sealed with wax that had a symbol pressed into it—something that looked like an eye inside a triangle.
{Knowledge Mage} activated.
[ITEM IDENTIFIED: WARDED CORRESPONDENCE]
This envelope has been magically sealed. Any attempt to open it by unauthorized means will result in the contents self-destructing. The sender is a practitioner of moderate skill. The recipient is... unclear.
"Magic mail," Meliodas said.
Poppy's eyebrow rose. "You can tell that just by looking?"
"I can tell a lot of things by looking." Meliodas tucked the envelope into his coat. "Anyone I should avoid?"
"Everyone. But specifically, there's a group calling themselves the Purple Dragons have been asking questions about a kid with three swords. Word spreads fast in this city."
Meliodas winced. 'Magnet' drawback already doing its work.
"Anything else?"
"Yeah." Poppy's eyes hardened. "Don't open it. Don't lose it. Don't die. Come back."
"That's a lot of don'ts."
"Don't argue either."
Meliodas grinned. "On it."
---
Midtown Manhattan was everything Harlem wasn't.
Cleaner. Busier. More glass and steel and less brick and soul. Suits power-walked past tourists who power-walked past street vendors who power-walked in place because they had to be somewhere but also had to sell hot dogs.
Meliodas blended in surprisingly well. His coat was dramatic but not insane. His swords were hidden under {Moonsing}'s shapeshifting ability—currently all three were in dagger form, tucked into his waistband and boots. His face drew occasional glances—that {Adorable} perk was hard to completely suppress—but nothing too suspicious.
The address was a brownstone—not unlike Poppy's, but in a neighborhood where brownstones cost more than most people would earn in a lifetime. Iron gates. Security cameras. A door that probably weighed as much as a small car.
He knocked.
Nothing.
He knocked again.
Still nothing.
He was about to try a third time when the door cracked open and an eye peered out.
"Password," a voice hissed.
"Nobody gave me a password."
"Then you shouldn't be here."
"I have a delivery." Meliodas held up the envelope. "Magic mail. Warded. Important. From Poppy."
The eye studied him for a long moment. Then the door opened.
The man inside was thin, nervous, and dressed like a Victorian ghost who'd gotten lost in the wrong century. His fingers twitched constantly, and his eyes darted everywhere at once.
"Come in quickly before someone sees."
Meliodas stepped inside.
The interior was... not what he expected.
Books. Thousands of them. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall, stacked in precarious towers and organized shelves and random piles. Candles burned everywhere, filling the space with the smell of wax and old paper. Strange symbols were painted on the walls—wards, {Knowledge Mage} supplied, protective and obscuring.
In the center of it all, seated at a massive oak desk, was a woman who looked like she'd been old since before America was founded.
"You're early," she said. Her voice was dry as parchment.
"I was told now, so I came now."
"I meant you're early in general. The timeline. You shouldn't be here yet." She squinted at him. "You're the anomaly. The one everyone's talking about."
Meliodas blinked. "People are talking about me?"
"Mystics. Seers. Oracles. Anyone who tries to look at the future keeps getting headaches." She gestured to a chair. "Sit. Show me the letter."
He sat, produced the envelope, and slid it across the desk.
The woman—her name, he learned from {Knowledge Mage}, was Madame Web—studied the seal without touching it. Her fingers hovered inches above the wax, tracing the eye symbol.
"Poppy's gotten bold," she murmured. "Using magical couriers now."
"I'm not a courier. I'm just... helping out."
"Same thing." She broke the seal with a whisper and a flicker of energy. The envelope opened itself, revealing a single sheet of paper covered in handwriting so small it looked like ants had marched across it.
She read.
Meliodas waited.
She read some more.
Meliodas fidgeted.
Finally, she looked up. "You know what this says?"
"No. Poppy said not to open it."
"And you didn't? Even with your abilities?" Her eyes narrowed. "You have the power to see through magic. To identify anything. You could have read this without breaking the seal."
Meliodas shrugged. "Poppy said not to. So I didn't."
Madame Web stared at him for a long, uncomfortable moment. Then she laughed—a dry, crackling sound like paper being crumpled.
"Loyalty. How refreshing." She folded the letter and tucked it into her sleeve. "Tell Poppy his information is received and his price is acceptable. He'll know what that means."
"That's it? I came all the way to Midtown for 'price is acceptable'?"
"You came all the way to Midtown to deliver a message that could have gotten you killed a dozen different ways." She waved at the door. "Go. Before the Purple Dragons find you. They've been circling this block for an hour."
Meliodas's {Third Eye} flared.
Red. Multiple sources. Outside.
"How many?"
"Six. Armed. Waiting for you to leave." Madame Web smiled—a thin, unpleasant expression. "I'd offer to help, but that's not how this works. You're on your own, little anomaly."
Meliodas stood, checking his weapons. Reflection in dagger form. Moonsing ready to shift. Siren heavy against his back.
"Thanks for nothing."
"Thank me by surviving. It's more entertaining that way."
---
Outside, the street looked normal. Tourists. Traffic. The hum of city life.
Meliodas's {Third Eye} told a different story.
Red auras clustered in doorways, behind vehicles, on rooftops. Six of them, like Madame Web said. Waiting. Watching.
'Okay. Six guys. Armed. Probably expecting me to run or fight.'
He could run. With his {Agility}, he could be gone before they even reacted.
But then they'd follow him back to Harlem. Back to the safehouse. Back to Tandy and Mama Rose and Poppy.
'Can't have that.'
He walked toward the nearest cluster—three men pretending to look at a phone in a doorway.
{Rush} was ready. {Chitin Slayer} hummed beneath his skin. {Regeneration} waited to patch up any mistakes.
He was three feet away when one of them looked up.
"That's him!"
Meliodas moved.
{Rush activated.}
Time slowed by 90%. The three men froze mid-reach for weapons. Meliodas stepped inside their guard, tapped nerve clusters in precise sequence—neck, shoulder, temple—and stepped back.
{Rush ended (5 seconds).}
Three bodies hit the ground simultaneously.
The other three, across the street, stared in disbelief.
"What the—"
Meliodas was already moving.
Five levels of {Agility} meant he crossed the street before they could raise their weapons. The first went down with a tap. The second tried to swing a bat—Meliodas ducked under it, spun, and tapped his kidney. The third dropped his gun and ran.
Meliodas let him.
'Let him spread the word. Let them know I'm not an easy target.'
He looked at the five unconscious men scattered across the sidewalk. Tourists were staring. Someone was already pulling out a phone.
'Time to go.'
He ran.
---
Back in Harlem, safehouse secure, Meliodas reported to Poppy.
"Delivered. She said 'price is acceptable.' Then six Purple Dragons tried to kill me."
Poppy didn't look surprised. "How many left standing?"
"Five unconscious. One ran."
"Good. You're learning." Poppy tossed him a protein bar. "Eat. Rest. You've got training in two hours."
Meliodas caught the bar. "That's it? No 'good job'? No 'thanks for not dying'?"
"Good job not dying. Thanks for not dying." Poppy's lips twitched. "Now eat."
---
Training with Tandy was becoming a ritual.
Two hours every afternoon in the basement gym, learning to fight. Not just move—fight. Use his abilities with purpose. Read opponents. Control the flow of combat.
"You rely too much on {Rush}," Tandy said, for the hundredth time. "It's a crutch. What happens when you're against someone who can also slow time?"
'Then I use something else,' he thought. 'Probably.'
"I'm working on it."
"Work faster." She threw a punch. He dodged. She threw another. He dodged again. "You're getting better at reading me. That's good. But reading isn't reacting."
She feinted left, went right, and caught him in the ribs.
He stumbled back, gasping. {Regeneration} kicked in immediately, the bruise fading.
"See? You react to the feint, not the real attack. Your eyes follow the movement, but your brain hasn't learned to filter."
Meliodas nodded, catching his breath. "How did you learn?"
Tandy's expression flickered—something dark passing through her eyes. "The hard way."
She didn't elaborate. He didn't ask.
After training, they sat on the mats, catching their breath.
"So," Tandy said, "what's your deal anyway?"
"My deal?"
"Your powers. Where'd you get them?"
Meliodas hesitated. This was the moment. The truth? Or something plausible?
'Can't tell her about reincarnation. Can't tell her about the system. She'll think I'm crazy.'
"Mutation, I think," he said, with his best guess. "I woke up a few days ago with all this. No memory before that. Just... powers. And swords."
Tandy nodded slowly. "A mutate. Like me."
"You're a mutate?"
"Light daggers." She held up her hand, and a shimmering blade of energy appeared. "Got them after... an accident. Few years ago."
'Cloak and Dagger,' his otaku brain supplied. 'She's Dagger. Where's Cloak?'
"That's rough," he said. "The accident part."
"It was." The light dagger vanished. "But it made me who I am. Can't change it, so I learned to use it."
Meliodas nodded. "Same. Well, minus the accident. Just... woke up like this."
"Must be weird. Suddenly having powers, no memory, no explanation."
'You have no idea.'
"Yeah. Weird."
---
That night, Meliodas sat on the rooftop again.
The city glittered below him, a million lights from a million lives. Somewhere out there, Tony Stark was probably in his mansion, tinkering with the Mark II. Steve Rogers was still frozen in ice. Thor was being a prince on Asgard. And Thanos was... somewhere.
He thought about the Ancient One's words. "You will cause chaos. You will create misunderstandings. You will stumble into situations far beyond your comprehension and somehow come out the other side."
'That's... actually pretty accurate so far.'
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[NEW QUEST AVAILABLE]
Meliodas blinked as a new menu appeared.
---
[CHALLENGE: City Explorer]
{Visit all five boroughs of New York City within one week.}
Reward: 3 Destiny Shards
[CHALLENGE: Information Network]
{Establish contact with at least three different information sources in the city.}
Reward: 5 Destiny Shards
[CHALLENGE: Dragon Slayer]
{Neutralize the Purple Dragon threat in Harlem.}
Reward: 8 Destiny Shards
Warning: This will escalate conflict.
[NORMAL: Meditation Master]
{Complete 30 days of uninterrupted {Recharge} meditation.}
Reward: 3 Destiny Shards
Progress: 2/30
[NORMAL: Weapon Bond]
{Spend 20 hours practicing with each of your three swords.}
Reward: 3 Destiny Shards
Progress: Reflection (2/20), Moonsing (2/20), Siren (1/20)
---
Meliodas read through them carefully.
'City Explorer is doable. Information Network—I already have Poppy and Madame Web. Need one more. Dragon Slayer is tempting but risky. Meditation Master is automatic. Weapon Bond is just training.'
He accepted all of them.
[QUESTS ACCEPTED: 5/5]
---
The next morning, Meliodas woke to the sound of arguing.
Again.
"You can't just—he's been here THREE DAYS—"
"And he's already done more than you've done all year."
"That's NOT FAIR, I've been—"
"Playing cards?"
"I've been BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS."
Meliodas stumbled out to find Tandy and one of the card players—Danny, the phasing mutant—going at it while Mama Rose calmly made pancakes.
"Mornin'," Meliodas mumbled.
"Ah, the miracle worker arrives," Danny said with a grin. "Tell her, man. Tell her you're not trying to steal her spotlight."
Meliodas looked at Tandy. Tandy looked at him.
"I'm not trying to steal her spotlight," he said dutifully.
"SEE?"
"That doesn't prove anything," Tandy muttered.
Mama Rose slid a plate toward Meliodas. "Eat. You have a busy day."
"I do?"
"You're going to Brooklyn."
Meliodas paused, fork halfway to his mouth. "I am?"
"Poppy's got another delivery. This one's less magical, more dangerous." She finally looked up from her knitting. "There's a man there who needs to see you specifically."
"Me? Why?"
"He didn't say. But he knows about you. Knows you're new. Knows you have powers." Her eyes were sharp. "Be careful, child. Not everyone who knows about you is friendly."
---
Brooklyn was different from Manhattan and Harlem both.
More residential. More spread out. Less glitter, more grit. Meliodas took the subway—an experience in itself—and emerged in a neighborhood of brownstones and small businesses and kids playing in the street.
The address was a laundromat.
Not a front, not a secret base. An actual, working laundromat. With washing machines and dryers and a guy behind the counter reading a newspaper.
Meliodas walked in.
The guy didn't look up. "Help you?"
"I'm looking for someone."
"Lot of someones in Brooklyn."
"A specific someone. Who asked to see me."
The guy lowered his newspaper. He was older, maybe fifties, with a face that had seen things and a body that had done things. His eyes were calm but assessing.
"You the kid from Harlem? The one with the swords?"
"That's me."
"Huh." He folded the newspaper carefully. "Back room. Through them. Don't touch anything."
Meliodas walked through the laundromat, past rows of washing machines, to a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY.
He opened it.
The room beyond was small, cluttered, and occupied by a man who could only be described as built. Not bodybuilder built—fighter built. Compact. Dense. The kind of muscles that came from practical use, not gym mirrors.
He was Black, bald, with a goatee and an expression that said he'd seen everything and was bored of most of it.
"Meliodas," he said. Not a question.
"That's me."
"Name's Cage. Luke Cage." He gestured to a chair. "Sit. We need to talk."
---
Luke Cage.
Meliodas's otaku brain supplied the information immediately.
{Hero for hire. Unbreakable skin. Superhuman strength. Former convict, wrongfully imprisoned, experimented on in prison, gained powers. Works as a bodyguard and investigator in Harlem. Connected to almost everyone.}
"You know who I am," Luke said. It wasn't a question.
"I've... heard the name."
"From who?"
"Poppy. Mama Rose. People at the safehouse."
Luke studied him for a long moment. "You're new. Really new. Like yesterday new. Am I close?"
Meliodas's heart skipped. 'Does he know?'
"I... woke up a few days ago on in the street. No memory before that. Just powers and swords."
Luke's expression didn't change. "A mutate. Happens more than you'd think. Experiments, accidents, weird radiation." He leaned back. "The question is, what kind of mutate are you?"
"The confused kind."
That got a grunt that might have been a laugh. "Fair enough." Luke reached into his pocket and produced a card. Plain white, no markings. "There's a man in Queens. Name's Wilson. He runs a body shop. He's going to need help soon—someone with your skills. When that happens, give him this card and tell him Luke sent you."
Meliodas took the card. "What kind of help?"
"The kind that involves people trying to kill him." Luke stood, signaling the conversation was over. "You'll know when. Until then, stay alive. Stay low. And stay away from the Dragons for a few days—they're regrouping, and they're pissed."
Meliodas stood. "Thanks. I think."
"Don't thank me yet. Thank me after you survive."
---
Back in Harlem, Meliodas processed the day.
Madame Web. Luke Cage. Two new contacts in two days. His {Information Network} quest was now 2/3.
He sat on the rooftop, watching the sunset, and thought about the card in his pocket.
Queens. A man named Wilson. A body shop.
'Wilson... body shop... in Queens...'
His eyes widened.
'No way. NO WAY.'
He pulled out the card and stared at it.
Wilson's Auto Body — Queens
'Wilson. Auto body. In Queens.'
'As in...'
'As in WILSON FISK?'
'As in KINGPIN?'
His heart started racing.
'Luke Cage is connected to Kingpin? Or is this a different Wilson? There are a lot of Wilsons in the world. It could be anyone. It could be—'
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[POTENTIAL CONTACT DETECTED]
[INFORMATION INCOMPLETE]
[CONTINUE QUEST TO LEARN MORE]
Meliodas took a deep breath.
'Okay. Okay. It might be Kingpin. It might not be. Either way, Luke said he'd need help. Help from someone with my skills.'
'Which means...'
'Which means I'm about to get involved in something WAY above my pay grade.'
He laughed, because what else could he do?
'Classic protagonist syndrome.'
---
That night, he meditated.
{Restless Nights} meant he couldn't sleep alone, so he'd moved his mattress into the common room. Tandy was on the couch, reading by lamplight. Mama Rose was in her chair, knitting. The soft sounds of the safehouse at night surrounded him.
He closed his eyes and focused, as {Recharge} required. Two hours of meditation, every day, or his powers would fade.
At first, it was hard. His mind kept wandering—to Kingpin, to Thanos, to the Ancient One, to the woman in his dreams.
But slowly, steadily, he learned to quiet the chaos.
To just be.
To exist in the moment, without worrying about the future or regretting the past.
When he opened his eyes, two hours had passed. Tandy was asleep on the couch. Mama Rose had gone to bed. The safehouse was silent.
And Meliodas felt... calm.
Really, genuinely calm.
'Maybe this meditation thing isn't so bad.'
He lay back on his mattress, stared at the ceiling, and smiled.
'Four days in Marvel. Four days alive. Four days of chaos and comedy and near-death experiences.'
'Not bad for a dead otaku.'
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[QUEST PROGRESS: Meditation Master — 3/30 days]
---
The next morning, Meliodas woke to the sound of his theme song playing in his head.
He'd forgotten he had that perk.
He toggled it off quickly, but not before Tandy gave him a weird look.
"Did you just... hum something?"
"No."
"You totally hummed something."
"It was the wind."
"We're inside."
"Indoor wind."
Tandy stared at him for a long moment, then shook her head. "You're so weird."
'You have no idea.'
---
Poppy had another job.
Not a delivery this time. Something else.
"There's a man in the Bronx," Poppy said, sliding a photograph across the table. "He's been asking questions about the Purple Dragons. Questions that could get him killed. Find him, warn him, and if he's useful, bring him here."
Meliodas looked at the photograph. A young man, maybe early twenties, with dark hair and intense eyes. He looked familiar in a way Meliodas couldn't place.
"Who is he?"
"Name's Reyes. Miguel Reyes. He's a journalist—or wants to be. Been poking into gang activity in the boroughs. The Dragons caught wind of it. They're looking for him."
"And you want me to find him first."
"I want you to save his life." Poppy's eyes were hard. "He's got potential. Smart kid. Connected. Could be useful down the line. But only if he's alive."
Meliodas took the photograph. "Bronx. Any idea where?"
"Last seen near Fordham Road. After that? Your guess is as good as mine."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[NEW QUEST: Save the Journalist]
{Find Miguel Reyes in the Bronx and bring him to safety.}
Reward: 3 Destiny Shards
Time Limit: 24 hours
---
The Bronx was the fourth borough Meliodas had visited in four days.
Manhattan. Harlem (technically Manhattan, but it felt different). Brooklyn. Now the Bronx.
Each one had its own personality. Its own rhythm. Its own dangers.
Fordham Road was busy—students from the university, shoppers, commuters. Meliodas walked the streets, {Third Eye} active, searching for any sign of his target.
Red auras everywhere. That was the problem with cities. Lots of people, lots of bad intentions. Hard to filter.
He needed more information.
He ducked into a coffee shop, bought a drink he didn't want, and used the Wi-Fi to search for Miguel Reyes online.
The results were... sparse. A few blog posts about local politics. A column in a small community newspaper. Nothing recent.
'He's gone underground. Smart.'
Meliodas sipped his coffee—terrible, but caffeinated—and thought.
'If I were a journalist hiding from gangsters, where would I go?'
Somewhere public. Somewhere with exits. Somewhere I could blend in.
He looked out the window at the street.
'Library. Park. Campus. Anywhere with crowds.'
He started walking again.
---
Two hours later, he found him.
Miguel Reyes was sitting on a bench near the Bronx Zoo, pretending to read a book while actually watching everyone around him with paranoid intensity.
Meliodas approached slowly, hands visible.
"Miguel Reyes?"
The young man tensed, ready to run.
"Poppy sent me. From Harlem. He said you need help."
Miguel's eyes darted around, looking for an escape. "I don't know any Poppy."
"You will. Come with me. It's not safe here."
"How do I know you're not with the Dragons?"
Meliodas considered this. Then he toggled {Adorable} to maximum.
Miguel blinked. His tense expression softened slightly, despite himself.
"That's... that's not fair," he muttered.
"It's a power I have. Useful for situations like this." Meliodas toggled it off. "Seriously. The Dragons have people looking for you. I can get you somewhere safe. But we need to go now."
Miguel hesitated for another moment. Then he stood.
"Lead the way."
---
They made it three blocks before the Dragons found them.
Six men, blocking both ends of the street. No civilians in sight—they'd cleared the area somehow.
"Well, well," one of them said, stepping forward. He was bigger than the others, with a scar across his face and a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "The sword kid. We've been looking for you."
Meliodas positioned himself between Miguel and the gang. "You found me. Congratulations. Now leave."
"Leave? We've got six guys. You've got one sword and a reporter."
"Three swords, actually." Meliodas drew Reflection and Moonsing simultaneously, letting Moonsing shift to its greatsword form. Siren stayed on his back—backup if needed.
The gang members laughed.
They shouldn't have laughed.
{Rush activated.}
Five seconds of slowed time. Meliodas moved through them like a ghost, tapping nerve clusters, disarming weapons, positioning bodies for maximum impact.
{Rush ended.}
Five men hit the ground simultaneously. The sixth—the leader—stared in disbelief at his unconscious comrades.
"That's... that's not possible."
"It's very possible." Meliodas pointed Reflection at him. "Run. Tell the Dragons that the sword kid isn't someone they want to mess with. Tell them that every time they send people after me, I'll send them back in body bags. Not dead—I don't kill—but definitely embarrassed."
The leader ran.
Miguel stared at Meliodas with wide eyes.
"That was... that was amazing. What ARE you? Some kind of mutant?"
Meliodas sheathed his swords. "Something like that. Mutate, probably. Woke up like this a few days ago."
"A few DAYS? And you can fight like THAT?"
"Apparently." Meliodas grinned. "Come on. Let's get you to Harlem before more show up."
---
On the subway back, Miguel couldn't stop asking questions.
"So you really don't remember anything before a few days ago?"
"Nothing useful. Just instincts and powers."
"And the swords? Where'd they come from?"
"Found them. With me when I woke up."
"That's crazy. That's literally crazy."
"I know."
Miguel leaned back in his seat, processing. "So you're like... a blank slate. New person. No past, just powers."
"I guess?"
"And you're using that to help people? To save random journalists from gangs?"
Meliodas shrugged. "Seemed like the right thing to do."
Miguel stared at him for a long moment. Then he laughed.
"You're insane. You know that? Completely insane."
"So I've been told."
---
Back at the safehouse, Poppy greeted Miguel with a firm handshake and a room assignment.
"You'll be in with Danny and Frank. They'll show you the ropes. You work, you train, you pull your weight. Questions?"
Miguel shook his head, still looking dazed. "No. I mean... thank you. Really."
"Thank the kid." Poppy nodded at Meliodas. "He's the one who found you."
Miguel turned to Meliodas. "Thank you. Seriously. I owe you."
"Just do good work. That's payment enough."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[QUEST COMPLETE: Save the Journalist]
Reward: 3 Destiny Shards
Total Destiny Shards: 4
[NEW CONTACT UNLOCKED: MIGUEL REYES]
{Journalist. Connected. Curious.}
Information Network Progress: 3/3
[CHALLENGE COMPLETE: Information Network]
{Established contact with three information sources.}
Reward: 5 Destiny Shards
Total Destiny Shards: 9
---
That night, Meliodas sat on the rooftop with Tandy.
She'd followed him up, claiming she wanted fresh air, but he suspected she just wanted company.
"You're different," she said, not looking at him.
"Different how?"
"Most people who show up here... they've got baggage. Trauma. Anger. You've got... nothing. Just this weird optimism."
Meliodas considered that. 'If she only knew.'
"Maybe I'm just good at hiding it."
"Maybe." She was quiet for a moment. "Or maybe you really are just... new. Fresh. No scars yet."
"There's still time."
That got a small laugh. "Yeah. There's always time."
They sat in comfortable silence, watching the city lights.
"Tandy?"
"Yeah?"
"What's your story? How'd you end up here?"
She was quiet for so long he thought she wouldn't answer.
"Accident. A few years ago. I was on the street, got involved with some bad people. There was an experiment—some kind of synthetic drug. It gave me these." She held up her hand, and a light dagger flickered to life. "Killed some of the others. I survived. Ran. Poppy found me."
"That's... heavy."
"It is what it is." The dagger vanished. "What about you? Really? No memory at all?"
Meliodas looked at the stars. 'Can't tell her the truth. But can't lie either.'
"Just... feelings," he said. "I feel like I should know things. Like there's something important I'm supposed to do. But I don't know what."
"Maybe you'll figure it out."
"Maybe."
---
High above New York, in a dimension that existed between moments, the Ancient One watched.
The boy was interesting. More interesting than she'd expected.
His soul didn't belong here—that much was clear. It had been... inserted. Placed. Like a seed in foreign soil.
But the soil was accepting him. The timeline was adapting. And his presence was creating ripples she couldn't predict.
She'd seen many anomalies in her centuries. Visitors from other dimensions. Time travelers from the future. Beings from beyond reality.
None of them had this effect on the timestream.
It was like trying to predict the weather when the wind kept changing direction randomly.
"He's not a threat," she murmured to herself. "Not intentionally. But intention doesn't always matter."
She would watch. She would wait.
And if he became a problem... well, she'd dealt with problems before.
---
[END OF CHAPTER 3]
---
Current Stats:
Name: Meliodas
Race: Human (Mutate — as far as anyone knows)
Class: Chitin Slayer + Knowledge Mage
Traits: Fit, Champion, Rush, Third Eye, Regeneration
Free Perks: Adorable, Smouldering, Well-Adjusted, Plot Armor, Conflicted Prediction, Theme Song
Items: Reflection, Moonsing, Siren
Hero Shards: 7
Destiny Shards: 9
Broken Shards: 5
Completed Quests:
· Tutorial: First Blood ✓ (+1, +1 bonus)
· Tutorial: Making Friends ✓ (+1)
· Normal: Storage Sweep ✓ (+2)
· Normal: Save the Journalist ✓ (+3)
· Challenge: Information Network ✓ (+5)
Active Quests:
· Training Montage (5/100 hours)
· Knowledge Seeker (28/50 identifications)
· Wall Crawler (0/10 miles)
· Urban Explorer (4/20 locations)
· City Explorer (4/5 boroughs)
· Meditation Master (3/30 days)
· Weapon Bond (Reflection 3/20, Moonsing 3/20, Siren 2/20)
· Challenge: Dragon Slayer (0/1 — optional)
Promises Made:
· Owner (buy/build a home)
· Title (earn title from high position)
· Completionist (solve five quests) — 4/5
· Smart (solve five quests without violence) — 4/5
· Integration (become citizen)
Drawbacks:
· Restless Nights (can't sleep alone)
· Magnet (twice as likely to encounter danger)
· Recharge (2 hours meditation daily)
· Unarmored (cannot wear armor)
Contacts:
· Poppy (Harlem Safehouse — Mentor)
· Tandy (Dagger — Fellow Resident/Training Partner)
· Mama Rose (Witch — Knows Something)
· Madame Web (Midtown Mystic — Information)
· Luke Cage (Brooklyn — Hero for Hire)
· Miguel Reyes (Journalist — New Contact)