1 - Mastery [MAV]

[ St. Peter's Orphanage, London ]

[ 30 July 1986 ]

Matteo groaned as he stirred, his face scrunching up as sunlight reflected off the window straight into his squinted eyes. He yawned, taking in his surroundings. Worn out clothes. Peeling Drywall. Four beds in a single room. He let out a helpless sigh. As an orphan with nothing to his name, he definitely wasn't living a life of luxury... but even if he was dirt poor, Rachel Myers more than made up for it, the lovely caretaker that she was.

Matteo would take her over most parents, not that he had a choice.

Despite wearing nothing but hand-me-downs, splitting everything with three other kids, and occasionally being picked on for being an orphan... his life wasn't all that bad.

No, it could certainly be worse.

"Eight years..." Matteo muttered, slightly exasperated.

Tomorrow was his eighth birthday.

Now, this wasn't something that he had asked for. In fact, Matteo STILL had no idea as to why he had reincarnated. One moment, he was Matteo– 19, slightly above average college student– and then after a very inopportune house fire, he was, well, Matteo.

Having the same name in both lives was convenient. In fact, he had the same black hair and blue eyes, and the same overall appearance. It was a bit hard to tell, but Matteo was pretty sure that he had also been 'beautified.' His skin most certainly wasn't this flawless last time around.

'...Almost like someone purposefully reincarnated me.'

But even so, Matteo didn't have any cheats. No quests. No 'message from God.' Nothing.

Well, it wasn't all bad. Even if he was a penniless orphan without cheats, and he was British of all things, time was quite literally on his side. Instead of being born in the early 2000s like in his previous life, Matteo had been born in 1978.

He hadn't exactly memorized the future, but he was still certain that he could use being born in the past to his advantage, somehow. Investing in Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, just to name a few. And if that didn't work out somehow, having the mental constitution of an adult would certainly give him a headstart.

Well, two crucial pieces of information had brought that plan to a screeching halt.

Stark Industries and Wayne Enterprises.

When Matteo first learned that he shared a world with both of these companies, he nearly had a panic attack. Marvel and DC were both death worlds on their own, but he had ended up in a combination of the two. He honestly didn't know how that was going to work– 'Are Thanos and Darkseid both here? Are there 52 universes, or are they infinite? Or is there just a single one? Do I have to worry about the New Gods, the Celestials, or both?'

Matteo eventually decided just to not dwell on it. He didn't have any powers, (besides reincarnation, apparently,) and if he was being honest, he wasn't that talented. Matteo wouldn't stand a chance against the likes of Hydra or The Light, or even just... Robin. By himself.

Not to mention that, there were so many different fucking versions of both Marvel and DC, that his knowledge of what might maybe happen was most likely worthless, if not downright detrimental.

No, Matteo was just a background character, in the background, doing background things. He just had to not think about how fucked the world probably was, and just live his own life.

Graduate early, get a degree, buy the right stocks, and settle.

That was the goal.

'And maybe, hopefully, don't get snapped out of existence in the next few decades.'

"Kids! Breakfast!" Ms. Myers called from down the hall.

Sophie, Quinn, and Ryan started to stir. They were 5, 7, and 11 respectively– it was just the four of them, with Ryan being the oldest, technically. Matteo gave them each a shake, to which they groaned, before heading down the hall and into the kitchen himself.

Auburn hair, hazel eyes, and well-endowed, Matteo was greeted by the sight of their caretaker almost done with making breakfast. 'A lovely woman indeed.'

"Morning Ms. Myers."

"Good morning Matteo," she started warmly, "would you mind setting the table?"

"Sure thing."

Matteo absentmindedly reached for the napkin roller, tore himself a napkin... and then immediately stopped. 'I could've done that better,' he thought. However, even though he had just thought that, Matteo didn't know WHY he had thought that. He just instinctively knew how to do it better.

Which he did.

The second napkin was a much cleaner tear. The third napkin was just as clean, but it was snappier, faster. Matteo knew that every subsequent napkin that he would tear would only be perfect... and he had no idea as to why.

'The fuck is this?'

"Matteo?" Ms. Myers asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Right, sorry," he muttered, continuing.

Matteo continued to set the table. Sophie, Quinn, and Ryan entered not to long after. It was a perfectly normal breakfast between the five of them, the kids and Ms. Myers helping themselves to a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast and waffles.

To Sophie, Quinn, Ryan, and Ms. Myers, nothing was out of the ordinary.

But for Matteo... it was surreal. Every action was followed by an immediate realization of how to better that action, and so on and so forth. Every task, every movement, every breath, blink, swallow, everything that made him him... would only improve. It was almost like a drug, the way that he constantly got better and better, even at the most mundane things.

Them his sight, hearing, and smell improved. His ability to decipher the information his sensory organs provided improving right alongside his ability to think. The very rate at which Matteo saw the world slowing down as his neurons reconfigured themselves, instinctively knowing how to process the world more efficiently.

Even as the realization of what the nature of his incredible power was hit him, not an inkling of Matteo's surprise and fascination showed on his face. For Matteo's newfound prowess in all things extended to that of his facial expressions, and it could let him move through breakfast as if nothing had happened.

'The ability to quickly improve and master, in all things...' Matteo recited the nature of his ability in his mind, perfectly concealing a feral smile.

It wasn't the coolest power, no, but after eight years of having nothing...

He was downright ecstatic.

Matteo had already come to terms with being mediocre in a world filled with the extraordinary, but that didn't mean that he had happily reached that conclusion. He had been envious, angry even, that he was being teased in such a way– having the wonders of superpowers thrown in his face, just to never have them for himself. So after Matteo learned that he was truly special, aside from his reincarnation, he celebrated.

For all of three seconds.

'Wait, fuck, am I a mutant?' he thought, immediately panicking.

All of the sudden, Matteo found himself having to worry about Hydra, Sinister, Apocalypse, Trask, and so on and so forth. That wasn't even mentioning the DC side of things. Even if he never used his mutant ability ever again, technology would eventually develop to the point of passively detecting mutants, which could very well lead to his death, or worse.

The image of people stripped down to just their brain stem, nervous system and eyes, only able to watch as they were experimented on through hell and back came to mind.

Matteo would've shuddered if not for his mutation.

Even if Matteo became a prodigal martial artist– the best martial artist– he would still be a baseline human, maybe a peak human. Sure, Matteo's senses had improved slightly, and if he mastered his muscle movements, there was a chance that his strength would too... but that didn't mean that his potential was endless, or even all that high.

After a single meal, Matteo felt like the entire world was after him.

'Fuck.'

***

[ St. Peter's Orphanage, London ]

[ 30 July 1986  ]

Matteo was currently sitting on one of the few patches of grass in their backyard, meditating.

Yes, meditating.

After the startling discovery that was his possible mutant-status, Matteo had immediately tried a few different things, most of them subtle.

For example, walking.

The floors of St. Peter's Orphanage were notoriously loud and creaky, but that was no longer the case for Matteo. Not because he memorized where to step, but because he had perfected stepping. Instantly applying the correct weight to prevent the floor from whining in protest, all in an effort to counteract the sounds that the floor should be making.

Then he flipped a penny... and after just a handful of tries, Matteo could now perfectly flip a penny, having it land perfectly upright every time. Not very useful, but certainly impressive.

Then of course, there was his ability to aim. It only took Matteo seconds for him to be the better Hawkeye. His ability to throw, along with his ability to calculate trajectory already magnitudes higher than the 'powerless' Avenger.

Now, though, the three brats were playing in the backyard while he meditated. When he first started, Sophie had asked him what he was doing. After Matteo explained what meditation was, she joined him... for about ten seconds, before going right back to tag.

As for why he was meditating?

Magic.

Mana, Chakra, Chi, Ki, Lifeforce– hell, Willpower even– were all sources of energy in the comics. With his supposed mutation, which he had dubbed 'Mastery,' allowing him to master whatever he put his mind to... Matteo had decided to look within. Literally.

'If I have even the slightest potential for magic, that would mean that there is a very real chance that my ability to master everything would apply to it... and I could very well be the greatest mage to ever live.'

The thought nearly made him laugh manically, but his face didn't so much as twitch.

It took Matteo 11 minutes to feel it.

An endless river of possibility, flowing through his veins, sparsely flowing through everything else, and spread ever so thinly through the air– it was every color, as well as colorless. Every odor, but odorless. An indescribable melody that encompassed anything and everything.

It was the power to bend the world to one's will.

It was Magic.

"It's beautiful," he breathed.

"What's booty-full?"

He very nearly jumped at Quinn's question– she had a knack for sneaking up on people. Matteo let out a sigh, before saying, "nothing, I was just looking at the sky."

"Wanna play tag?" she asked, ignoring his answer.

But he didn't care, since he was far too happy with himself to take any offense from a child.

"Sure, why not."

Matteo grinned. For he was a goddamn magical mutant.

***

***

***