[Lone Wanderer] 1 - A ‘Jumper’

Synopsis: Bored, very bored. What happens when a guy cursed with ADHD is given the ability to freely travel the Omniverse at will? Being able to travel anywhere he wished? The answer? A chaotic journey filled with conflict.

[A/N: I had an idea floating in my head and wrote it on break at work]

[Start]

Boredom. Exhaustion. Desperation. Annoyance. 

Negative emotions flooded my mind as I received a text from my boss.

John quit. Added 15 hours to your schedule until we find a replacement.

‘As if he will find a replacement,’  I scoffed with a thought.

Ever since I got out of the hell known as high school, I entered a new hell called work. Yet, despite how much I hated my current job, it was far better than working in the fast-food industry and was one of the better-paying jobs available in my area. Not to mention, it was just helping me afford rent, and if I had to get a new job, I'd have to get more than just one.

Not to mention the mind-breaking headache I've been dealing with since my twentieth birthday a few days ago that seemed to be growing worse with each day. No amount of medicine seemed to ease my throbbing mind, and even my usual distractions could no longer distract me from the headache.

I couldn't help but sigh as I leaned back into my chair, my eyes flickering toward the many posters hanging on my bedroom walls.

My walls were covered with posters of countless things that intrigued or interested me, including games, anime, TV shows, movies, comics, and more. I was, without a doubt, a huge nerd, not that I hid it. 

Sighing further, I couldn't help but compare myself to some of the figures lining my walls. I was just above average height, standing at exactly six feet, yet despite my height, I was not exactly attractive regarding looks...or physique. I was overweight by a lot, and despite working on losing weight for over a year, for the life of me, I couldn't lose much of any of it. Working out four times a week for two hours resulted in me losing only ten pounds, and no amount of measures helped me lose more. 

I felt cursed. Why couldn't I have been born in one of those worlds? Why couldn't I have been born different? 

I knew that my boss was planning on firing me soon, and I was just...exhausted. Like many others of my generation, I knew that no matter how hard I worked or if I climbed some corporate ladder, there was no feasable way of me ever obtaining a house for myself outside of this apartment unless I worked myself to death or schemed and fought for a high paying job that countless others would be eyeing.

I just...I am so sick of it all. I just wish I could be there.

With that last thought, the chair and everything around me faded from existence as I fell through what looked to be a portal and straight onto the rough grounds of an...alley? 

Groaning from a mixture of pain and getting the air knocked out of me, I instantly noticed the lack of my glasses as I gazed at the incredibly bright and neon world around me.

What just happened?

'Who the fuck puts ads in an alleyway?' I wondered to myself as I looked at what appeared to be blurry screens above me.

"Shit, choom, you alright?" I heard someone call out.

"Breath knocked out of me," I panted out before rolling onto my stomach and trying to climb up onto my knees.

"Shit, man. You get mugged?" The man asked, not sounding like he moved at all.

"I...I don't think so?" I spoke hesitantly, stumbling to my feet and right into a wall a moment later.

"Do you see my glasses?" I asked the blurry figure standing at the edge of the alleyway.

"Glasses?" The man asked, confused.

"Yeah? My glasses? The things that helped me see?" I bitterly and sarcastically told the man, gesturing towards my face.

"Shit, you a 'ganic?" The man asked, surprised.

"'Ganic?" I asked, "You mean organic, yeah? Isn't everybody?" I sarcastically replied with a wave of my hands, showcasing my entire body.

The guy didn't seem to get the joke and went awfully quiet.

I kept him in my peripheral as I searched for my glasses.

Much to my surprise, they didn't go very far.

"Ah ha! Found 'em," I said happily, as I slid them on and my eyes adjusted to see the world around me, only causing me to freeze as a figure stood not far from me, leaning against a garage door.

The rather large man with a biker jacket, metal embedded within his face, and the relatively large strange pistol strapped to his waist...I couldn't help but say, "You are the most realistic Jackie Wells cosplayer I have ever seen."

That seemed to surprise the 'Jackie' look-alike before me, but I began muttering to myself before he could talk.

"Did I black out or something and end up near a convention?" I muttered, looking around before the man spoke up, catching my attention.

 "You've heard of me? Only good things, I hope. Also, what's a convention?" The man asked, seemingly not having heard of the word before.

That's when my eyes caught the distant sky scrappers that towered in the sky many of which covered in obscene and violent ads that no modern company would have ever allowed, outside of a few.

"...Night...City?" I asked allowed, my gaze unmoving from the distant buildings.

"Yeah? You alright, kid?" the Jackie look-alike asked, concerned.

"I...am I hallucinating? Am I dead?" I asked the Jackie look-alike.

None of this could be real...but it felt so...unbelievably real. I felt the air on my skin, the ground beneath my feet, my heart beating in my chest, and I could hear the bustling city around me.

If this was a dream, it was the most realistic and vivid dream I have ever had, and no dream has ever seemed so complex. So...why not go along with it? At least until I wake up.

"I think I am?" I answered his question, "Do you happen to know someone named V?"

"V? Like the letter? No, don't believe I have met a choom with that name before," Jackie informed me with a scratch of his head.

"Ah...well, when you meet him or her in the future, be wary of Dexter Deshawn. The ex-fixer is bad news and will end up getting you killed and V terminally ill. It's better to just put a bullet in both his and his buddy's heads so they don't cause future trouble. Also, while you're at it, tell Misty, Vik, and your mom I said hi," I told Jackie without interruption before turning around and slowly walking out of the alley.

While I liked Jackie, he wasn't exactly my favorite character. Sure, he was a loveable guy, but with how fast he ended up dead in the game, it was hard to grow attached. If anything, I liked Misty, Vik, and Johnny more. 

It's not like my words would do anything, and while Jackie tried talking to me, I sort of just ignored him as my eyes trailed over the massive city around me.

Night City was an independent but not really city that was overrun with Gangs and mega Corporations. There was so much crime that it was probably even worse than the notorious Gotham City, home of Batman in the DC Universe.

Suddenly and without warning, I tripped and ground to a halt as a purple tear, in reality, appeared before me. 

Just through the tear was yet another city I recognized, that city being Gotham...

Just what was happening? Was this some sort of lucid dream? If that's so...what about Brockton Bay? 

With that thought, the portal closed and reopened.

Having fun with it, I started experimenting, finding that I could open such a portal to variations of worlds as well, such as the MCU or Marvel Comics. 

I could even transport myself to separate dimensions such as Marvel's mirror dimension, or DOOM's hell, though that last one I closed instantly when I found myself opening a portal straight before a literal horde of demons.

"Nope!" I shouted out, instantly closing the portal before me before the Demons could react.

Opening another portal to another world, I stepped through, and the portal closed behind me. I didn't even notice the dozens that saw the scene and the many cameras and recording devices that recorded everything.