A young man opened his eyes and found himself standing on top of something strange—giant fragmented panels of glowing glass, floating in a void and stitched together by strands of cosmic thread.
"…What the fuck? Where the hell am I?"
"Watch the language, kid," said a voice. It wasn't male. It wasn't female either. It just… was. Calm, casual, and annoyingly smug.
Adrian turned in every direction, but there was no one there.
"Hello? Anybody there?" he called out, heart racing. "Where the hell am I? And who the hell are you?"
A shimmering figure materialized ahead of him—tall, ethereal, wrapped in swirling strands of stardust and cosmic embroidery. The figure smirked.
"Well, I can answer that much," the being said. "I'm the God of fade. Known by many names. The Weaver of Cosmos. The Winding of Fate. But you? You can call me Fyber."
"…Fyber?" Adrian blinked. "That's kinda a stupid name."
"Hey," Fyber said, crossing their arms, "I chose it. Deal with it."
Adrian just stared.
Fyber coughed, then continued. "Right, let's get back on track. You're in the World Fragment. It's a place where I can access multiple dimensions and tie them together like a cosmic quilt."
"Okay," Adrian muttered, still trying to process it all. "But why am I here? Last I remember I was—uh…"
"Taking a shit and got transported to the backrooms," Fyber interrupted.
Adrian's eyes widened. "What?!"
Fyber chuckled. "Kidding. You died. Stroke. Heart stopped mid-sentence."
"…That's not something you should joke about."
"Yeah, yeah. Relax. You're here now, and there's a reason. I'm offering you a choice."
Fyber raised both hands. In one palm: a glowing red pill. In the other: a shining blue one.
"You take the red pill—you go to the afterlife. Reincarnate. Start over as a beetle or whatever fate rolls. But take the blue… and I'll send you to a world of heroes, gods, monsters—and give you something powerful. Something worthy of legend."
Adrian raised a brow with a deadpan stare. "Seriously? The Matrix?"
"Just pick a goddamn pill," Fyber grumbled.
Adrian snorted and grabbed the blue one without hesitation, tossing it into his mouth. "You really need better writing."
"Good choice. Now… I'm sending you into a world filled with aliens, mutants, gods, cosmic threats… the whole buffet. You're going to the Marvel Universe."
Adrian froze. "You're sending me where?"
"Marvel. That Marvel," Fyber said, casually. "Where a purple raisin can snap away half of all life. Where AI wants to wipe out humanity every summer. Where guys in spandex punch holes through dimensions."
"You—do you know how many ways people die in Marvel? Bro, there's like fifty different genocides before breakfast. That place has Galactus! The living planet buffet man!"
"Yeah, yeah. Settle down," Fyber said, waving their hand. "You're not going empty-handed. I'm giving you a power from another universe. Something not native to Marvel."
Adrian's eyes lit up. "Wait. Really? Do I get a system? A Noble Phantasm? Gate of Babylon? Maybe a class card template thing?"
"Nope," Fyber replied.
"…No?"
"But you'll get the power of the world's strongest hero. A quirk passed down through generations."
Adrian leaned in with growing excitement. "Ohh? Which one?"
Fyber grinned. "One For All."
Adrian's smile cracked. His eye twitched. "Seriously?"
"Don't look at me like that."
"OFA is great and all, but in Marvel? That's like bringing a baseball bat to a nuke fight."
"Fair point," Fyber admitted. "Which is why I'll let you choose eight additional quirks to go with it."
Adrian perked up. "Wait, eight?"
"With two restrictions," Fyber said, holding up two fingers. "First: No quirks from All For One, past or present. No 'New Order' shenanigans. Too broken."
"Damn, I wanted that."
"Second: No movie-only quirks. That includes Nine."
"Alright, fair enough." Adrian rubbed his chin. "I choose—"
"Hold on. There's a catch. You'll remember you have eight quirks, but you won't know what they are. They'll unlock over time, depending on your growth."
"That's gonna be annoying."
"Adapt or die," Fyber shrugged.
Adrian thought for a moment. "Still… yeah. I've got a good list."
—
[Time Skip: 30 Minutes Later]
"So," Fyber said, "you confirm you want those quirks?"
"Yes. They're perfect."
"Good. Now, one last thing." Fyber leaned closer. "One day, I'll appear to you in a dream. I'll give you a task. Complete it, and you'll earn something special."
"Why the dream sequence? Couldn't you just, I don't know, text me?"
Fyber smirked. "Because I'm dramatic."
"Figures."
"Oh—and one more thing," Fyber added. "Live your life. Be who you want to be. And remember…"
Fyber struck a pose, voice echoing like an old war trailer. "Live on, Stay Frosty Soldier."
"…That was a dumb reference," Adrian muttered with a slight.
And then, the world blinked out.