Disclaimer - I don't own anything. As the corporations say these days, you will own nothing & be happy. I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or Disney or any of its characters. With that out of the way, let's goooo!
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"Urgh," he grunted, feeling something hard impact his body, sudden flashes of pain wracking his body as his eyes snapped open, feeling as if he had all of his muscles pulled simultaneously.
To his confusion, all he could see was darkness, vision blurry as he lay on his back, multiple sharp objects stabbing him in the back. He blinked furiously, trying to get up, only to freeze and fall back on the stabby ground as his entire body lit up in pain, with additional pain coming from the stabby parts trying to get into his body.
He took in deep breaths as the pain became manageable, as his vision finally cleared up enough to adapt to the darkness all around him. The sound of wolves howling had his entire body shivering, and not just because of the cold that was starting to seep into his body.
He looked up, his back slightly lifted so that stones were not poking holes in his back, seeing a full moon, that, at any other point in time in his life, would have been an alright thing to witness since he didn't live in a place that had such a clear and light pollution free sky but at this time?
It just amplified the ominous feeling he was getting here.
He looked all around himself and his eyes widened as he saw snow and trees, the moonlight glinting off of snow, and the lean trees all around him, with a lack of any humans nearby, created a rather pant-shitting experience for him, especially since he did not have a lot of experience with camping anyway, aside from a single trip he was forced to go in school.
So, he did something that was totally not stupid and could only come from a mind that was very calm and collected when faced with such an absurd scenario.
He froze and lay back down, closing his eyes, counting to ten, ignoring the pain from his back, and hoping to all the gods–any gods that would listen- to wake him from this nightmare.
Seriously, in all his life, he had never had a nightmare this realistic and frightening, or well, none that he could recall.
He counted to ten before opening a single eye, finding himself in the same place. He promptly closed it and resumed counting to the next multiple of ten, desperately hoping that his life had not just turned upside down.
A treacherous thought arose from the depths of his mind that he promptly squashed down with extreme prejudice, not wanting to think of the implications of that being true. It arose from the corner of his mind reserved for the guilty pleasure he regularly partook in.
Fanfiction.
Awesome and Glorious fanfiction. Of all kinds, of spanning fandoms.
Alas, after counting well into the hundreds, he finally sighed, and sat upright, still afraid, still shivering a bit, both from the cold and from the fright, but now somewhat collected and capable of rational thought.
The first thought that came to his mind, after he disregarded the thoughts that came roaring back about what this could potentially be, was that he needed to move, and move fast.
It was night, cold, and not that dark with the moon above but certainly not as bright as he wanted it to be. The howling did not help, at all.
It was basically the perfect scenario for becoming wolf food so he tried to stand up and then and only then, did he look at his hands, his legs and his body...
"AAAAAA!"
The next moment, he slapped both of his now tiny hands on his mouth, swallowing the screams, eyes darting left and right frantically, in desperate hope that his childish scream had not alerted any predator nearby.
Because, yes, he was a child now. A wee bit of a child, most certainly not suited to go camping in the woods in the middle of nowhere, solo.
He patted himself down, finding his now tiny body dressed in a tiny version of formal wear, which would have been adorable had it been any other time. Only this time, he was desperately hoping that pinching himself would do the job but it did not work.
After having resigned to this new reality he had found himself in, he patted himself down and found himself a note.
He promptly opened the note and began reading it, hoping it had something that would help him not be killed by wolves here. It read :
Greetings, Fellow Traveller. If you're reading this, it means you survived re-entry. Congratulations!
You are in a mystery universe, the specifics of which you shall have to find by yourself. For now, I give you two gifts, both very spectacular.
High Magical Talent & Expert Enchanter
Now, both of these things are great on their own but together? Together, they will be the only thing you will need, even in the world you are in.
To note, High Magical Talent also accompanies the mental acuity needed, along with corresponding physical changes.
Expert Enchanter does as it says. It makes you one of the foremost experts on all kinds of enchantments in the universe. Dwarves from Nidavellir got nothing on you, my boy!
Anyway, good luck with the wolves.
CIAO!
….
The note began flaking away in his hands but his attention was somewhere else.
"It's true." He whispered, to himself, completely still, the reality finally settling in for him. He looked down and as soon as the last of the note disintegrated from his hands, a warm feeling began flowing from both his hands to the rest of his body, and bringing with it a feeling not unlike that of a spot being particularly itchy.
Itchiness that only increased over time, as he squirmed in place, feeling the heat in his body getting stronger, right up until he felt as if his entire body was placed in a bathtub full of water beyond his usual temperatures..
He resisted the urge to scream, knowing that it would only increase the chances of his demise, even before he could explore the superpowers he was presumably in the process of getting.
After a while, his eyelids began drooping heavily, as the pain became too much, grunts of pain leaving his mouth, even as both his hands were firmly placed on top of it. He fought off the wave of magic as much as he could, getting the energy to barely move a couple of feet in the direction of the trees, to get somewhere with even a little bit more safety than out in the open, but alas….
His vision darkened a couple of seconds later, making him land face first in the snow.