Marvel: The Rise of Paragon – Chapter 1

Chapter 1

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Late February, 2008

New York City, America

.. .. .. .. .. ..

Pain.

A headache slammed into Alexander as a world of memories rushed into him, stunning him back into bed.

It was his 17th birthday.

He was 28.

‘What?’

A wave of confusion rolled over Alexander as two sets of memories began to merge, the biting pain that had overwhelmed him slowly starting to fade.

He was both 17 and 28 years old.

‘My… my past life?’ As the pain went down, his mind began to clear, and he found himself able to think once more.

Just now, he had awoken the memories of his past life.

A life of a man also named Alexander, who lived on a different Earth, set several years into the future from his own.

‘That Alexander… no, that’s me.’ Alexander paused for a moment as he fell into an identity crisis.

Abruptly, the two sets of memories finished merging, and suddenly, that crisis was no more.

‘I am me. The same me as I was then.’ The thought struck Alexander with a sense of profound surety.

“I reincarnated.” Alexander’s mouth fell open.

He had reincarnated.

“No freaking way.” As he struggled with this realization, he took in his surroundings.

A small, private room with a plain brown dresser, a small desk and chair, and a bed. There were a few posters up on the walls, of superheroes like Superman and Batman. On the desk sat an old, beaten up laptop.

“Ah. Right. I live in an orphanage.”

He shrugged.

“Some things never change, huh?” As he came to terms with his new life, he couldn’t help but reflect on the adventures his past life had gone on.

Alexander Hoffman, his namesake from his previous life, was born and raised in Alaska in a small orphanage. He never got adopted, but that fact had never really bothered him – he had always been rather independent, living life by his own rules.

That version of himself had died in a freak accident just after he turned 28 years old. The ship he was on ran aground in the midst of a fierce winter storm, up in the Eastern Bering Sea.

Before his somewhat tragic demise, that Alexander had been an avid outdoorsman. He’d even obtained a Degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Management and worked for several years as a park ranger.

“Wow. I really lived it up, huh?” Alexander grinned as he looked back on his memories.

Bungie jumping, skydiving, wingsuit flying, he had done it all, hobbies he took up in his free time off work. He even learned how to fly a paramotor, a giant fan strapped to a seat that you flew with a parachute on. Truly, he had lived life to the fullest.

He had no regrets.

“Man. This is…” A normal person would probably go into shock around now. Remembering how you died wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience, nor was the deluge of memories that had threatened to overwhelm Alexander’s sense of self.

However…

“Freaking awesome!”  

Alexander wasn’t exactly normal.

“This is superhuman? No freaking way!” Adrenaline spiked in Alexander’s veins as jumped up, clapping his hands together.

“That’s incredible!”

A real, true-blue supernatural experience!

It had actually just happened to him!

‘I’ve got an entirely new life ahead of me!’ He thought with a huge smile.

It definitely sucked, losing all the friendships he had formed over the years. But those memories, he reflected, were something he could keep close to his heart, of a life well lived.

Was it worth it, giving up everything he had known in his previous life, to be reborn again in the past?

‘Absolutely.’

His old reality was dreadfully normal. Supernatural events like this just didn’t happen, ever.

‘I know what’s going to happen in the future!’ Alexander’s grin widened as the realization sank in. This earth, just from a brief view of his new life’s memories, seemed similar to his own.

Bitcoin, the stock market, the advancement of the internet and AI.

His grin lessened as he paused.

‘COVID. The invasions and wars that break out in Ukraine, and in the Middle East.’ He took a moment to think.

“I… huh.” He frowned.

He had knowledge of the future.

And with that, came a level of responsibility that was only now hitting him.

“Maybe this Earth will have a different, less depressing future?” He muttered as a sudden urge struck him.

He walked over to his desk and sat down, powering on his laptop. It was one of the pride and joy’s of his new life, an old, beat-up laptop he’d managed to buy from a pawn shop, after saving up cash from summer days spent mowing lawns.

“Come on, come on…” He tapped on the desk, waiting for the computer to start up.

‘Damn, these machines really were slow back in the day, huh?’

Finally, after what felt like forever, the computer turned on.

Alexander logged into his account and opened up the internet.

‘Let’s do some research-‘ He froze.

He had just opened a news website, in preparation to research this new Earth he had arrived on.

However…

The headline, emblazoned on the news article, instantly shifted his entire mindset.

“Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries, still missing after one week – Obadiah Stane steps up to lead in his absence.”

‘Oh my God.’ He stared at the headline in shock, leaning back in his chair.

He checked several other news websites, and they all read out similar stories. He even checked Wikipedia.

“I’m in the MCU.”

This wasn't just a prank or a social media stunt - it was real.

‘This changes everything.’

“Holy tahito.” He whispered.

It was a paradigm shift of monumental proportions.

He hadn't just been reincarnated into the past...

He'd been reincarnated into a comic book world.

‘I’m in a world of Superheroes. And Magic. And Gods.’ The revelations slammed into him like a train, shaking his entire worldview.

“…”

“What am I going to do…” He ran his fingers through his hair, blinking as he realized the relevant bits of his future knowledge had shifted a great deal.

He’d seen most of the MCU movies, at least up to Endgame.

‘I can still work with this.’ He nodded, his excitement slowly starting to build back up.

‘If I play my cards right, I might even get superpowers.’ Surely there had to be a way he could leverage his knowledge, right? He wasn’t exactly a Marvel buff, but he’d seen the movies!

“Man, this would be so much easier if I had a superpower. Isn’t that what all those other protagonists that get reincarnated are supposed to get?” He muttered. Surely, he had to be one of those, after all – he just got reincarnated!

“Status?” He asked the air hopefully… and…

The air responded.

A blue screen flickered into existence in front of him.

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— - Status — -

Name: Alexander Sky

Level: 0

Class: [selectable]

Perks: -

Abilities - (0/5)

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[Please select a Class]

— - Class Selection — -

1)      Warrior

2)      Wizard

3)      Rogue

4)      Cleric

“…”

“…”

“…”

“WOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

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