Alley 28, off Park Avenue, New York City.
A small figure emerged from the shadows.
It was just a kid. An average-looking boy of about ten, wearing a faded red t-shirt and scuffed sneakers. He had a mess of brown hair and a face dotted with a light spray of freckles.
"Where am I?"
Ethan Chase blinked, his expression one of pure confusion as he turned his head from side to side.
Ding! Welcome, Ethan Chase, to the Marvel Universe!
Ding! The Essence Devourer has been successfully activated!
This system allows the host to devour any form of matter, with a probability of awakening the powerful abilities or traits inherent within it!
"Damn it!"
Not only was he in the Marvel Universe, but he was a kid again—a literal elementary schooler.
Before… all this, his name had been Ethan Chase. He'd been a college junior. Last night, he'd been out with friends, and then—a blinding flash of lightning. When he opened his eyes, he was staring at the world from about three and a half feet off the ground.
"Hey, kid. You shouldn't be here."
The voice cut through his daze—cool, edged with warning.
Ethan turned. At the mouth of the alley stood a woman, her silhouette framed by the city glow. She wore form-fitting black tactical gear, her hair a striking cascade of deep auburn. Her eyes, a shade of dark emerald, assessed him with a sharp, unnerving focus.
Black Widow.
Ethan's breath hitched. He knew that face from a thousand movie posters and comic panels. Natasha Romanoff. In the flesh. And she was looking right at him.
Of course he knew her. Natasha Romanoff. One of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most formidable operatives, the legendary Black Widow. On screen, her cold, lethal efficiency had always been weirdly compelling. He'd seen the forums, the fans who'd follow her into any firefight.
The woman now crouched in front of him, bringing her eyes level with his. Her expression was softer now, a professional mask of concern. "What's your name, kid? Where do you live?"
"Ethan," he said, the name feeling strange on his new, smaller tongue. "I… I don't remember."
As if on cue, a loud gurgle echoed from his stomach.
Natasha's lips quirked, almost a smile. The sight of him—a lost, hungry child in a too-big shirt—clearly triggered a protocol deeper than any S.H.I.E.L.D. manual: basic human decency. "Alright, Ethan. Let's get you somewhere safe and find you something to eat."
Before he could process it, she moved with effortless efficiency. One arm slid under his legs, the other behind his back, and she lifted him off the ground as if he weighed nothing.
"Hey—wait!" Ethan yelped, his face flushing.
She ignored his squawk, adjusting him securely against her hip. It was a purely practical maneuver, but for Ethan, it was a whirlwind of tactical gear, auburn hair, and sheer, embarrassing helplessness.
This is not how I imagined meeting an Avenger, he thought, mortified.
"Put me down!"
Ethan squirmed in her grip, his face burning with a mix of indignation and sheer embarrassment. He knew the legends—that Natasha Romanoff's history stretched back to the Cold War, that her life had spanned decades thanks to the Red Room's treatments. The math was unsettling.
But right now, she was just a stranger carrying him, and he felt utterly powerless.
"Hold still. It's faster this way," Natasha said, her voice calm but leaving no room for argument. She moved with a fluid, superhuman grace, darting through the labyrinth of alleys with Ethan secured firmly against her.
In moments, they emerged onto a different street.
The world opened up.
Before them stretched Park Avenue in all its imposing glory. Towers of steel and glass soared into the sky, their facades gleaming in the afternoon light. Limousines glided past doormen in crisp uniforms. It was a vista of pure, concentrated wealth and power.
New York. The heart of the Marvel Universe
Ethan stared, the reality of his situation cementing in his gut. This wasn't just any New York. The skyline, the energy—it was the New York.
Then, the world changed.
One second, the sky was a clear, brilliant blue. The next, a colossal beam of energy lanced up from the distant Stark Tower, piercing the heavens. The air cracked with ozone as a vortex of dark, swirling clouds erupted around it, thunder rumbling like the drums of war.
Oh, no.
Natasha stiffened beside him, her grip tightening for a fraction of a second before she swiftly set him down. Her professional warmth vanished, replaced by the razor-sharp focus of a soldier.
"That's our signal," she said, her voice low and urgent. She pointed down the street. "See those police cars? Run straight to them. Do not stop. Do not look back."
Before he could even nod, she was already turning, her gaze locked on the growing storm over Midtown.
Loki had the Tesseract. The portal was opening. The Battle of New York had begun, and she had an alien army to fight.
It confirmed everything. Loki had the Tesseract, and he wasn't wasting any time. The invasion was starting now.
In a blur of motion, Natasha was gone, melting into the panicked crowd surging away from the vortex.
Ethan stood frozen, not with fear, but with a surreal sense of recognition. He tilted his head back, his mouth slightly agape.
Above him, the silent rip in the sky birthed others. With a series of deafening WHOOSHes, the wormholes disgorged their payload. Sleek, metallic Chitauri skiffs swarmed out like angry hornets, followed by the hulking, leviathan-like forms of the flying beasts, their shrieks tearing through the air.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Lances of blue energy slammed into skyscrapers. A building several blocks away shuddered, its upper floors exploding in a cloud of glass, steel, and concrete. A deadly rain of debris began to hail down onto the screaming streets below.
"HELP!"
"GOD, SAVE US!"
"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"
Pure, unadulterated chaos erupted. The orderly bustle of Park Avenue shattered into a nightmare of running, screaming, and collapsing infrastructure. New York was under siege.
A relentless siren wail underscored the symphony of destruction. The lethal energy beams intensified, falling not in single shots now, but in a scorching, indiscriminate downpour.
Holy crap. I get isekai'd into Marvel and the Welcome Wagon is an alien invasion?
The surreal shock solidified into cold, nauseating certainty. This was it. The climactic battle from The Avengers. The Chitauri. Loki. The end of the world, NYC edition.
Chunks of masonry the size of cars smashed into the intersection ahead. A beam of plasma vaporized a taxi, leaving only a smoldering crater. The air itself was turning to poison, thick with dust and the smell of ozone and fear.
Desperation clawed at his throat. He was a child in a warzone. His short legs wouldn't carry him a block before he was trampled or blasted.
Think, Ethan! You can't just stand here!
His frantic gaze swept the chaotic street—and locked onto a familiar golden arches logo, about fifty feet away. The McDonald's was being evacuated, people stumbling out of its shattered windows in a panic.
It was cover. It was a known space. It was… potentially, food.
He had to move. Now.
There was no outrunning this. The logic was brutally simple: if he was going to die, he wouldn't die on an empty stomach.
Ethan ducked his head and scurried across the shattered sidewalk, dodging falling grit, and dove through the broken glass door of the McDonald's. Inside was a scene of abandoned chaos—overturned chairs, trays scattered on the floor.
On one such tray sat a large, cold order of fries, forgotten in the stampede.
He grabbed them and shoved a handful into his mouth, barely chewing. Greasy, salty, and utterly perfect. Survival instinct and his new system's drive merged into one primal command: Consume.
He scarfed down the entire pile in seconds. The dry, starchy lump in his throat made him cough. Man, I could really use a Coke or something to wash this down.
Ding!
Congratulations, Host. You have successfully ingested sufficient mass. Awakening trait from matter: [Samadhi True Fire].
Trait has automatically integrated to [Initiate Level].
[Samadhi True Fire - Initiate Level]
A primordial flame that exists within the spirit, capable of immense destruction and purification. It can be advanced by consuming matter imbued with fire or spiritual energy.
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