So, I've been considering this for a while. I always wanted to do an MCU story of some sort- this is that story. I always wanted to do a fusion of two universes, and explore that fusion. This is that story also. And I also wanted to do a Self Insert with Psyren powers. Now, if you haven't read Psyren - don't worry, basically all you'll see of it is the first chapter, and the SI's powers. I have planned this out... Decently far, but I'm just getting back into writing, so please, feel free to point out any mistakes!
Without further ado, I give you...
Drifter Adrift
A Psyren SI into an MCU/X-Men Fusion
"Question 30: Have you ever killed a living thing larger than a human? Dial Yes or No."
I sighed, already regretting having started this, and pressed '2' for No. At this point I just wanted it to be over, but I'd already spent too much time on this shitty phone quiz to give up now.
"Question 31: Have you ever poured water hotter than 80 degrees Celsius on your face? Dial Yes or No."
The fuck kind of question is that?! I thought, pausing in bewilderment for a moment, before shaking ym head and pressing 2.
"Question 33:" The female operator on the other end began again, and I barely kept myself from groaning aloud.
Your shitty quiz is way too long, lady!
"Have you ever wanted to press your feet into someone's face without stopping? Dial Yes or No." I pressed 2. Honestly, I didn't know why I was surprised any more. These questions had only been ramping up in weirdness as they went on, but I wasn't going to give up now, dammit!
The questions continued, and at this point I was half-tempted to just start randomly pressing 1 or 2 without listening to the question.
Why did I pick up that ringing payphone in the first place? What kind of weirdo calls a payphone and expects someone to pick up?
Well, I had picked up, so maybe I was the idiot. After all, I'd just taken that weird red card without even thinking about it - it probably belonged to the guy who'd just used it, and forgot to take it back. There were no distinguishing marks though, what was I supposed to do? Just leave it?
Stop making me feel guilty, damn conscience!
"Question 61: You don't think anything of the future. Dial Yes or No."
What's there to think of? We'll all be underwater or dead in a couple of years, anyway... I dialed 1.
"Question 62: You're going to sneak out to that party tomorrow, despite your parents explicitly telling you not to."
I paused.
"You constantly worry that you're wasting your life by staying at home so much, and are desperate to get a more active social life. You want nothing more than to be like every other teenager, and spend time with people your age instead of doing things that will help your future career."
What... What the fuck is this?!
My eyes were wide, my mouth was open, wordlessly forming questions that I could never answer.
What the fuck is going on?! What is this crazy fucking quiz?!
"You would do anything to have a girlfriend to spend your time with, even if you get mocked for it."
I carefully, slowly, placed the phone back on the box, hanging up. I took a step back, and then another, my back now pressing against the glass door of the payphone. I deliberately and glacially pushed it open, keeping my eyes on the phone, still talking, for as long as possible.
Then I was gone, racing off into the distance and away from that fucking payphone, ignoring the glances from the few people still out at this time.
What is this... Is this some kind of hoax? Are there hidden cameras filming me right now? What the fuck?!
I ran until my breath came short and ragged, until I felt like throwing up and I
was as fucking far away from that payphone as possible!
I bent over double, resting my elbows on my knees, and trying to catch my breath in desperate, heaving gasps.
I am far enough way now? Because I would really like to know what the fuck is going on!
*RRRRING! RRRRING!*
I stopped. My breath caught in my throat. I swallowed thickly, feeling bile build up at the back of my throat, and hesitantly, gradually, turned my head to the side.
A payphone. The door open. And...
*RRRRING! RRRRING!*
It was ringing.
I straightened up.
There... There's no way... There's no way it's that same person, right? It has to be some other random person... Right? So... There's no harm... In picking up the phone... Right?
Right?
*RRRRING! RRRRING!*
Entranced, I moved towards the payphone. My legs moved of their own accord. I looked down, blearily.
Am... I... Doing that? I... Don't remember... Telling them to walk over here...
I walked into the cubicle. The phone was still ringing. My hand moved out to answer it.
Wait... No... Stop, don't do that...
I picked up the phone, and brought it to my ear.
"Question 63: Do you want to go to Psyren? Dial Yes or No."
My finger hovered before the keypad.
--------------------
When my eyes opened, it was to a vista of horror.
What the fuck is this...?!
A wasteland stretched out in every direction. Sand, mountains, rolling dunes and rocky outcroppings were the only features of this dry and dustly landscape.
Where the fuck am I...?!
The sky was covered by smoke and ash in every direction, the barest vestiges of light protruding through the cloud cover to provide a gloomy, dirty illumination over everything.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" I screamed as loud as I could.
Everything that had happened finally caught up to me- the weird red card, the questions, the lady on the phone, and now
this?!
I couldn't take it.
I collapsed, huddled into myself and curled up into a ball. Tears leaked form eyes and snot ran down my nose.
"Why... Why is this happening to me?" I muttered, as sobs wracked my form. "I didn't do anything... I didn't hurt anybody... Why..."
...
I lay there for a while, numb, waiting for my body to tire itself out. I didn't have an exact duration, but it was at least an hour. Surely.
I only came out of it when I heard a voice, faintly. A male voice-
not that fucking operator, thank god.
"Oi!" They called, from a distance. I uncurled and rolled into a sort of sitting position, wary of anyone I might encounter in this horrifying place. "Hello! You there!"
I stood up, looking at the figure walking towards me from a couple dozen meters away. He was tall, brawny with a short scruffy beard. He was wearing some kind of martial arts robe - a
gi, I think? - and a pair of sandals, as well as sunglasses atop his head. I waved, cautiously.
*WHOOMPF*
"Gah!" I yelled, and stumbled back, falling onto my ass. "What the fuck...?"
The man had blurred forward, reappearing with an audible
BOOM right in front of me.
Jesus Christ, can things get any weirder?!
"Shit," he said. "Another newbie? Dammit, Q, we don't need any more fucking drifters..."
"I-I'm sorry, but I would really appreciate a
fucking explanation right about now!" I yelled, my voice cracking halfway through as tears threatened to reappear.
Dammit, you fucking crybaby, stop being a pussy! Man up!
"... Right. I suppose that's the least we can do." He sighed and looked around, a strange hardness in his eyes. "Alright, let's get somewhere safe, and then we can talk."
"Okay, where do you- woAAAAHHHHHH!" I was cut off mid-sentence as the man threw me over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, and
leaped 20 feet into the air.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I'm sure he didn't appreciate the constant wail in his ears, but
you don't just grab someone and leap away!
We landed without much ceremony, though I did feel like throwing up as my whole weight was slammed into the guys shoulder, and slammed into the roof of a half-sunken skyscraper, the bottom half of the building swallowed by sand.
I dropped onto my side, wheezing uncontrollably as the guy skimmed his eyes over the horizon, staring deeply into the distance.
Stop trying to look cool, you asshole! I feel like my guts just got a baseball bat all over!
"Alright," he spoke up finally. "We should be safe here."
"You gonna-" I broke off to deliver a coughing fit. "You gonna explain this shit now?"
"Okay." He said, sitting down and crossing his legs, before cracking his neck. "I'm Vito, by the way."
"... Adam." I replied, after a brief pause.
"Okay, Adam." He smiled slightly, the scruff on his chin writhing briefly. "It's nice to meet you." He closed his eyes and released a deep, heavy sigh. "Okay, how to explain this... Alright, let's start from the beginning. A few days ago, you got a red calling card that said 'Psyren' on it, didn't you?"
I nodded, cautiously. Mostly I was watching him - he seemed extremely tense, his shoulders tight, and his whole body ready to leap up at a moment's notice.
"Recently, you put the card into a payphone, and started a phone quiz, right? And then the operator started asking some very odd questions, before she got more and more specific to your exact situation?" Both questions were accompanied by a nod from me, even as my horror grew - this was a fucking replicable occurrence? It had happened to this guy, too?
"After you finished the questions, they lady asked you whether you wanted to go to Psyren - no matter what you answered, you then ended up here." By this point, my mouth gaped open, my eyes were wide and staring, and a frown was deeply embedded on my face.
"You're telling me... This has happened before?!" I all but yelled, and I could feel my body flush with indignant - and impotent - rage.
"Yes. The one who did this - the one who brought all of the Psyren drifters here - is Nemesis Q. Some mysterious creature, that can travel anywhere without difficulty, and calls at random for drifters to return to Psyren." He pauses, then holds his arms out wide, gesturing to the wasteland around us, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. "This place... All around us... Is Psyren." He stopped. "The future."
...
What?
You're kidding. This isn't the future. There's no way my fucking city can go from bustling capital of England to this.
"You think I'm joking." He chuckled, wryly, but I could see both resignation and sorrow in his eyes. "I wish I was. But I've seen the landmarks, sunken and broken beneath the sand."
*screeeeee!*
He leaped to his feet as a distant sound broke the momentary silence between us. I jumped as well; both from the sound, and from his movement.
He moved way too fast for a human... That was supernatural speed, his body blurred
it moved so quickly.
After a moment of staring, he heaved another sigh, and collapsed back to his seated position. "That..." He murmured. "Is the other thing you need to know about Psyren. Monsters called Tavoo roam the place, looking for any human stragglers to pick off, kill or take back to their towers. Where... We think that humans are being turned into more Tavoo."
I was speechless. This was just too much information, all at once. I couldn't-
"There's more." He continued, and I practically
gaped at him. His constant stream of information was fucking
physically exhausting me. "Now that you've been to Psyren, you've been exposed to the atmosphere. Pretty soon you'll have a fever, you'll feel ill, your nose will start bleeding, and you'll pass out."
"What the fu-"
"It's nothing to worry about-" he cut in, a slight smile tugging at his lips.
Nostalgia I'd bet, you old fart. "It happens to all the drifters when they first come here, it's how they awaken their PSI."
"I'm sorry, can I just- cut in here?" I asked, getting to my feet. My stomach was bruised, I was sweating like a fucking
pig, and I was absolutely exhausted, both mentally and physically. "Do you not think that maybe we should be figuring out how to get back to our own fucking time?!"
He sighed, but levered himself to his feet - albeit clearly reluctantly - and placed his hand on my shoulder. He smelt much like I imagined I did, sweaty and gross. "Believe it or not, there is a point to everything I'm telling you. We'll be able to leave once we find a payphone, that'll tell us where we need to go to get back to our own time. But, Q
will call us back to Psyren again and again - this is my eighteenth trip to this place, and it only gets worse over time."
I felt tears well up, and I quickly scrubbed a hand over my face, to clear it of any excess moisture.
You fucking wuss, crying's not going to change a damn thing, except make Vito think you're a worthless weakling!
"When you come back, we may not be close. And you may be found by Tavoo, and if that happens you'll need to defend yourself. Once you've awakened your PSI, you can use it to fight back - it's a power that can grant you so much power, and you
need to learn to use it. Okay?"
"... Okay."
For now.
"Okay, I'm going to run over the three basic types..."
Vito went through everything step-by-step, explaining it as he'd been taught when he first came to Psyren. The three basic types were Burst, Rise, and Trance, which I mentally dubbed 'Spiritual, Physical, Mental.' Burst was to do with using PSI to affect the outside world - manifesting energy, using telekinesis, any number of uses, including bizarre specialties that people could gain. Rise used PSI to affect your physical body, enhancing your senses - i.e. Sight, hearing, etc. - or your physical attributes - strength, speed, and so on. A vital use of Rise was enhancing your reaction times and healing factor, which would let you fight so much more effectively against the mindless, unrelenting Tavoo. Trance, meanwhile, used PSI to affect the mind, whether it be your own or someone else's. Telepathy, Mind control, Remote viewing, Prediction, Illusions - the list went on. Trance, Vito said, was the most difficult aspect to learn.
"Using PSI is about three things." Vito told me, holding up three fingers. "Concentration, Visualization, and Projection. So you want to Concentrate on your intention, Visualize what you're trying to do, and then Project the energy within you into completing that task. So first we'll focus on- Oh."
"What?" I blinked, startled out of my enraptured state.
Hey, it's not every day someone tells you how to become a wizard. "Is there something on my face?"
"Yeah." He smiled, softly. "Blood."
I touched my fingers to my face, and they came away with a thin layer of wet crimson. "Huh." I said, and collapsed.
--------------------
When I woke up, it was to see Vito standing and arguing with another woman, decked out in a ragged dress, torn sleeves and bare feet. I blinked wearily - it looked like we'd changed location as well, we were inside now, rubble strewn across the room and the roof slanting down fairly severely.
"We don't need some kid tagging along, Vito!" The woman was yelling, her arms crossed in a clearly confrontational manner. "W.I.S.E. is out there! They are hunting for us right now! If we have to take care of another inexperienced drifter then they are
going to catch us."
"Yoko, we can't just abandon him. If the Tavoo don't get him, W.I.S.E. will, and if they don't, then he'll die of thirst." Vito explained, his hand touching her upper arm.
That's some emotional manipulation shit right there, Vito. "If we leave him behind, we're giving him a death sentence."
"So what do you want to do with him then, huh?" 'Yoko' seems to be losing patience.
Kinda callous, lady. It's not like I asked to be put in this fucking nightmare! "Take him to the Root, introduce him to Granny Tenjuin? What if he's a humanoid Tavoo, huh?!"
"Do you see any Illumina on his body? It's kinda hard to miss a giant, glowing sphere embedded in someone's skin!" Vito retorted, growing a little more irritated. "I just want to brief him on PSI - he's already awakened, we just need to teach him how to use it, and then he can practice the rest on his own!"
"..." She was wavering. I could tell.
Please... Please... "Fine."
Yes! "But if he slows us down, we drop him
immediately."
Vito smiled at her. She remained stern. "You get all that, Adam?"
!
"Oh, um, yes, sir, ma'am." I blurted out, jerking into a seated position from where I had been, apparently unsuccessfully, been trying to appear asleep. "... Sorry. I didn't want to interrupt, and screw things up."
Yoko sighed. "It's... It's fine. I'm just stressed out because we've had a W.I.S.E. on our asses the last few times we've drifted." She cleared her throat, looking embarrassed.
Because she was so resistant to helping me out? Or... Vito? "I'm Chiyoko."
"Adam," I replied, clambering into a standing position and shaking her hand. She nodded.
"Well, Adam, I hope you're ready." She smiled slightly. "I've taught a lot of drifters and PSI users how to use Burst successfully, and that ain't gonna change now."
It wasn't a nice smile.
--------------------
Concentration.
The rubble fixed itself in my mind. The world around it disappeared, that one chunk of jagged stone becoming the only thing I knew.
Visualization.
In my mind's eye, the stone wavered. The top corner lifted, and the whole thing stood upright on a single point. Then, slowly, it lifted into the air, trembling like a leaf in the wind as it did so.
Projection.
I saw the power in my mind. It suffused everything. It flowed out of me, along the sharply defined path I had visualized, into the specific pattern I had envisioned- and enforced it's will upon the world.
The stone rose eight centimetres into the air.
I remained in my position, half-kneeling on the floor, gaze focused utterly on that single stone, sweat pouring down my face like a waterfall.
Then Yoko let out out a cheer of happiness, and I fell to my hands and knees. "Oh my god! It worked! It actually fucking worked!"
"Well done, Adam! That was pretty fast - you sure you're a newbie?" Yoko said, grinning. The stress lines on her face had disappeared, and her whole visage was so much softer.
She could forget about the constant stress whilst she had a specific goal to focus on... ... ... She's actually very pretty.
"You did well, kid." Vito smiled, resting one massive hand on my shoulder. "You did good."
I sighed in relief. "Alright what's next?"
"Next," Vito straightened up, stretching out his arms above his head. "Is-"
*BOOM*
Instantly, Yoko and Vito were on the defense. I was backed up against a well, both of them facing out, looking through the various holes dotting the walls to get an appraisal of the situation. Vito had fallen into a martial arts pose, while Yoko had her hands raised in front of her, some kind of weird vapour crystallizing before her.
The front of the building was shorn entirely off, torn from the rest of the building by enormous talons, that cracked the stone between them. The talons were connected to an enormous hand, an enormous arm, a body shaped like a whale but much, much bigger - supported entirely on what looked like
fins.
"Adam," Vito said lowly, dangerously. "Stay back. Yoko and I will take care of this-
don't try to help."
"O-Okay..." I murmured, my gaze fixed on the enormous thing before me.
Please... After all this... I don't wanna die!
And then Vito was gone, blurring before my eyes and darting towards the thing. He left an audible sonic boom in his wake, and I caught sight of a punch landing on things torso - he left a visible dent, and I could
feel the force of his blow vibrate through my entire body.
Is this... The power of PSI?
"It'll be okay, Adam." Yoko smiled at me softly. "Vito is a strong Rise user, he won't be beaten by some giant Tavoo."
I nodded, still shaken- but reassured. "He'll be fine..." Yoko murmured, continuing but looking now at Vito, as though unsure. "He'll be-"
*pop*
She was gone.
Yoko was gone. She'd just disappeared. She was just- just-
gone.
No... Yoko...!
"Hm." A new voice mused, behind me. "She looked strong. It's a good thing she was too focused on the other maggot to notice that I was preparing my teleportation."
I froze, my joints locking up. Then, inexorably, my head creaked round to stare at the voice in wide-eyed horror- a tall blond man, in flowing silver and black robes, wearing bizarre, angular headphones, a look of apathetic disdain locked upon his features.
"You, on the other hand, look
very weak." The man said. "How have you survived so long without strength?" I said nothing, remaining still and frozen as the man stared down at me. "Well, whatever. I don't care, so goodbye."
He raised a hand in my direction, and all I could do was stare at as I
felt power begin to gather around him, his hand beginning to glow softly-
And then he stopped.
"You know..." He said, casually, conversationally. "There is a little trick I've been considering for a while, but I haven't tested it out." He shrugged. "Just stand still, I don't want you to mess this up."
He held both hands out straight in front of him, palms facing each other. I watched with growing trepidation as a hexagon of pure energy grew between his hands, almost meeting his hands. The sheer, metaphysical
weight of the thing was immense - I could practically feel it tugging at my PSI with it's gravitational pull.
And then it cracked, and everything
changed.
Reality ruptured, time ceases to exist -
everything ceased to exist. The world blurred and shifted, and I along with it, morphing into 4-dimensional shapes unfathomable to the human mind.
And in the midst of it-
"
Dimensional Rift"
Darkness-
Light-
Fear-
Anger-
And everything snapped back into focus, just in time for me to double over and void my guts over the
gorgeous red carpet, dizziness and nausea hitting me like a fucking
truck.
Jesus Christ, will this nightmare never end?!
I straightened up slowly, awkwardly. Two men in dark suits were facing me, alongside a scantily-dressed blonde woman.
Damn, this is a nice clubroom. Is that a bar?
"S-Sorry there, gents..." I mumbled. "I think I... Might be a bit lost..."
I didn't get a chance to hear the woman's reply, as the ground rushed up to meet my face and darkness clouded my vision.
--------------------
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
I awoke in a bed, my entire body one big aching mess. I groaned in pain as my senses came alive, sending messages to my brain that I imagined were along the lines of,
AAAAAAHHHHHH! IT'S ALL ON FIRE! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
Well fuck you, body, I'm getting up!
I began to try to sit up, but the strain placed on my poor, poor muscles was too much, and having barely reached a forty-five degree angle, I collapsed back to lie flat once more.
Okay, maybe I can lie down for a little longer.
I closed my eyes, and contented myself to rest.
...
I was dreaming of darkness. Absolutely nothing. A totally empty void - except for one teenager floating in the night.
Me.
I couldn't see depth. There was no light, but I could see my own body. There were no shadows cast - everything was perfectly lit in the same brightness, despite the lack of light sources.
No, wait, there was light... Behind me...
My body turned, heedless of whatever logic applied in this place. Behind me lay a sphere of pure white, perhaps the size of my head, glowing faintly in the darkness. It gave off an odd sort of... Pressure, as well, pushing up against my body in whatever this magical dream place was. It felt almost like a buffeting wind blowing against me, despite the lack of sensation here.
I floated towards it with a thought, a strange sense of wonderment filling me up inside.
Could this be... PSI? It's... Incredible...
How impressive. A woman's voice said from behind me. Not the phone operator - no, this was someone else. I whirled, and before me stood a crystalline, diamond-like figure of a woman, smiling at me.
Maybe. The transparency made it hard to tell.
What... What's going on? Who are you? I asked, feeling frantic. My day today had just been a constant stream of weirdness, so at this point I wasn't even surprised.
The glass woman observed me for a moment, then shimmered and became a normal, flesh and blood person. She was wearing a white robe draped almost
haphazardly over her body, blood hair immaculately positioned to look simultaneously beautiful and accidental.
A property of this weird dream? Or was just the kind of person who actually did that?
A little bit of both, I think. The woman smirked. Her mouth didn't move, but I heard the words loud and clear.
Emma Frost.
What the fuck? I thought.
Fucking hell, I just want to know what's going on!
So would I. She replied, drifting closer.
Oh, shit. You heard that? I blinked wildly, waving my hands in front of my face.
Um, I mean, uh, sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude, I just-
You can't hide your thoughts in this place. Emma said, smiling and gesturing around her.
It's why we're here, after all. I want to ask you some questions.
I started.
She can... I mean, you can read minds?
Yes. My mutation grants me telepathy and the ability to transform into living diamond.
Mutation?
Yes. I'm surprised you don't know - my colleagues and I are all mutants, the next stage of human evolution, having been granted extraordinary powers.
Wow...
Eloquent. Emma smirked, and I felt a momentary flash of indignant annoyance, before a rush of guilt.
I had to remember this lady could read my mind.
I can't let my temper get the better of me... Um, I mean-
Don't worry about it, she said, her smirk softening into a smile.
I don't want to antagonize you- I just want to ask you some questions.
Okay, okay. I replied, letting out a heaving sigh.
Go ahead.
To start with, who are you? What's your name?
I'm... A guy who's very, very lost. I replied with a heavy heart.
Adam.
Adam, then. Emma smiled.
Welcome to the Hellfire Club.
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