After the plea for help came the darkness, followed by a slow, creeping light. I forced my heavy eyelids open.
Above me stretched an endless tapestry of stars—as breathtaking as they were distant. I wondered if an alien civilization lived among them.
Some hyper-advanced extraterrestrials, perhaps, watching my life like a crowd, tracking every episode and every struggle? Whatever. I was getting carried away.
"You're awake."
A teenager. That was my first thought. The voice wasn't a man's, but not a child's either; it lacked gravity, yet lacked softness—it had that cracking quality unique to adolescence. Darwin was a teen. Pinpointing his exact age was a tall order; it would be easier just to ask.
"Thank you for bandaging me up."
From the moment I woke, I could feel it: my body was tightly wound in strips of cloth. The robes of the dead cultivators had been repurposed to fit my exhausted frame.
The kid had decided to stop the bleeding, and well, it worked. I went back to staring at the stars in the heavens. Such distant heavens.
"Where are we?"
He asked. It came out louder than intended. Much louder, the voice echoing against the silence.
"We are on the Dragon Continent, in the Pisces Region. Unfortunately, I don't know our exact location."
"What is the Dragon Continent? There's no such continent on Earth."
"Darwin, it's your name yes, this will be hard to grasp, but... you were summoned from another world, teleported here by my will. I think you've already started to realize it, or at least suspect: the Dragon Continent isn't on Earth. It's likely not even the same universe you originally lived in. Maybe another dimension. You've moved from one reality to another. Like an anime, you know? An isekai. A 'portal fantasy.'
I saw his tall silhouette looming over me.
The boy's gaze grew heavier, more oppressive. His hulking frame leaned in, as if trying to crush me through the sheer weight of his existence.
"What are you talking about?"
"Look, let's start over. My name is Tian Lin. Darwin, you can just call me Lin. If you're interested, I'll tell you everything. I'll give you the whole truth."
Of course, I was going to lie. What "truth"? I'd lie to save my miserable life. But my lie would be for the greater good. Why did I do it? To survive. Yes, exactly. No one in their right mind accepts death; no one wants to vanish forever.
Especially not me. No. This is my second chance. I'm going to claw onto it. I have to.
"I'm a mutant, Darwin. Just like you. My power allows me to randomly displace myself or any other person into a random universe. Years ago, I used it foolishly and plunged into this world. I survived here for years until something horrific happened. This world was struck by a catastrophe, Darwin. A catastrophe, do you understand? In my final moments, I decided to summon someone. It was a leap of faith, a desperate, mad act, but it worked. You're a mutant too, aren't you? A strong one. Very strong. If you're wondering how I knew your name—it was on the back of your jacket. You're from Earth, right? So am I. We're Earthmen, and mutants to boot. We have to look out for each other."
I pointed a finger upward at the infinite sky, acting as if I knew exactly where that tiny blue marble was located.
"What kind of nonsense is this?"
"Forgive me, Darwin. I had no choice. I didn't want to die. I didn't want to be devoured. I don't know what you're feeling—I can't even imagine what this is like for you—but I can't send you back yet. I... I need to recharge, you see? If we reach the city, I can use local artifacts to gather enough power to return you home. I can see you are powerful, and I hope you can understand me."
I lied, but not the way I originally planned. If I had met an adult mutant, I would have told him the path back was closed forever—a one-way ticket.
But I couldn't.
This was a kid. Just a regular teenager. He shouldn't have to face a world like this. I'll summon someone else next time. Someone else, and then... No, I'm not sure of anything. Why did I say that? I should have cut him off immediately: "I can't send you back." Conscience is a strange thing. Fine
.
"Who were they? Who... who did I kill?"
"You didn't kill them, Darwin. You purged this world. Those creatures were Cultivators. But not ordinary ones—demonic ones. Evil mages who worship demons. They rape, they kill, they sacrifice humans and eat them."
I watched as shock seized Darwin's mind at those last words, only to vanish instantly. How convenient to possess "Instant Adaptation": in a blink, his brain had accepted the teleportation, the world, and the slaughter.
"So, if I help you get to the city, and you... don't die at the hands of cultivators, you'll send me back?"
"I promise: if you ask me in the city, I will send you back."
He looked at me, and his oppressive gaze softened. He was a hero at heart. Just like Spider-Man or Tony Stark. And that adolescent idealism... when an adult asks for forgiveness and calls you "strong," it hits the mark. His outstretched hand shimmered under the light of a billion stars.
"I agree. I'll get you to the city, and you send me back."
"I promise you."
**********
The massive five-story estate was in a state of total chaos. The teachers of this extraordinary institution were frantically searching every room. After some time, the verdict was delivered: one of their students, Darwin, had simply vanished.
"Charles, please, tell me you feel him within a few hundred meters of us!"
Beast was terrified. Darwin was his personal pupil, showing magnificent progress in biology. And now he was gone.
"I wish I could believe that, Hank, but it's not true. Darwin is nowhere on the planet Earth. I've interfaced with Cerebro: I've scanned not just the planet, but the locations of Inhumans and even nearby cosmic fleets. Nothing. Absolute void."
A fist slammed into the wall, vibrating through half the room. Wolverine was breathing heavily, his nostrils flaring. He crouched slightly and unsheathed his claws. Nothing like this had happened in years: a mutant just evaporating. Was it Stryker's people again? Unlikely.
"I will contact Magneto,"
Charles said, his gaze turning to steel.
"I know many of you see him as a psychopath, the cause of so much suffering. But he commands a much wider network of mutants and agents within humanity. Whether you like it or not, we need his help. No one has ever stolen a mutant from inside the mansion so cleanly that their biosignature vanished from existence."
"Maybe he was killed."
Logan's words made the teachers flinch.
"Shut up, Logan!"
Cyclops voiced the thought of everyone in the room.
"You're talking big, Four-eyes. I don't like the thought any more than you do, but we have to consider every possibility."
"Don't be so pessimistic, Logan. I will try Cerebro once more."
**********
Tony Stark's gaze, fixed on the holographic screen, flickered with life. There was Spider-Man—or rather, the thing calling itself that—standing with hands on hips, staring down one of his suits.
"Listen, I know you're depressed and all, but I need your help."
Perfect. It pronounced the words perfectly. Yes, slight interference and a strange rustling betrayed the non-human nature of the voice, but even so, it was much clearer than during their first meeting.
"Get out."
That was all the Spider heard. Tony's voice, raspy from cigarettes and isolation, crackled through the suit's speakers, booming across the street. A massive crowd had already gathered below, gawking at the scene: the "psychopath" Spider-Man wanted by the police and the billionaire recluse chatting as if nothing were wrong. The Spider reached for his mask. The police leveled their rifles.
The Spider removed the mask.
Screams, retreating footsteps, camera flashes, someone falling. A policeman fired a shot—it passed straight through the Swarm, hitting nothing but air. A cacophony of spiders—everything descended into a blur.
"I'm begging you, Tony."
A deep, scratching voice echoed in the hall on the top floor of Stark Tower. Tony's eyes widened in disbelief. Did he say "I"? The Spider reached out, thrusting a hand directly into the "swarm" where his head should be. He pulled something out. A crystal. It took J.A.R.V.I.S. only a second to analyze it.
"Unknown energy signature, sir."
Tony tilted his head slightly. His greasy, unkempt hair obscured one eye. He smiled, for the first time in his months of solitude.
The doors to the tower opened.
The hulking, unmasked Spider-Man stepped inside. The security guards froze, unable to move against such a powerful and alien creature, and simply let him pass. The staff tried not to look at the endless roar of insects where a face should have been.
"Thank you,"
Peter's voice whispered as the elevator slowly carried him to the summit.