My name is Roland Cooper, and I am a transmigrator.
To make a long story short, I died and was given a chance to go to the Marvel universe. I jumped at the opportunity. I was even given a template system to help me.
Now, I’m a recent 18 year old that was kicked out and told to “stop being a waste.” Some parents, huh? I still have High-school to complete!
‘System?’ I think to myself.
‘Roland?’ the system cheekily replies.
‘Great! You’re here. Now, roll me a template!’
[Rolling template… Dream of the Endless succ-ERROR!
Nigh-Omniscient characters cannot be selected!
Re-Rolling… Mystique(Raven Darkholme) successfully acquired.]
‘Aww, that could’ve been so cool. At least I got a cool shapeshifter.’
“I wonder what I should do now?” I ask myself.
Currently, I have one more week of summer, then I have to go back to school.
“But do I? I can be anyone I want to. Do anything I want to. But I guess the question is: what do I want?”
Walking through the streets of New York City was calming. Sure it was smelly, noisy, chaotic, and bright, but I felt like that was what I thrived in.
At some point I activated the Mystique template. Keeping my hands in my pocket, I morphed them constantly to build up the completion percentage, and to learn how the power worked.
The feeling of morphing, of changing, was so unique and exciting. I couldn’t do individual cells yet (to gain a form of immortality) but I knew I’d get there. For now, I was happy to just change the structure of my hand. Small to large. Wrinkled to Baby smooth. Painted nails of every color. It was nice to have power, small as it may be. But, of course, this power would grow. I knew the movies nerfed it (as they always do) but in the comics Mystique was a certified bad-ass.
I would get there in time.
===
‘Say, system-’
‘I prefer to be called Cee.’
‘Uh, okay. Can I ask why?’
‘No.’
‘Right. Well, Cee, I was wondering-’
‘Don’t strain yourself.’
‘...I was wondering what happens once I reach 100% with a character.’
‘It’s a surprise.’
‘...Okay. Well, what do you think I should be doing?’
‘You should work on your completion percentage and get some money.’
‘I get the first one, but why the second?’
‘Besides the fact you’re broke? You’ll need a lot. Trust me.’
Figuring this might be a hint to my earlier question, I decided to gain some money.
===
How was I going to gain untolds amount of dollars? Well, I don’t know, but I didn’t want to steal it. At least, from someone undeserving.
“Hands in the air, lady!”
A masked man points a gun at an old woman near a dark alleyway. The woman appears frightened and holds her hands up.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Please don’t hurt me!” the old lady says.
“Shut up and give me your jewelry!”
“Please no, anything but that!”
The masked man ignores the old lady’s plea. He reaches for the pearl necklace. But as he tries to pull it off, the old lady grabs his hand, twists it inwards, kicks the back of his knee, gets behind him, and chokes him out.
“W-What a-are y-you?”
“Just an old lady, dearie.”
“D-Damn m-mutie.”
After the man loses consciousness, the old lady morphs into a young man.
Taking the gun and the little money the robber has, I walk away, into the night, thinking about what I’ve done.
On the one hand, I’ve got a gun I can sell and some cash with me. On the other hand, it was a bit anticlimactic. Apparently, the template came with some muscle memory, so I know a bit of hand-to-hand combat.
Besides that, I’ve been thinking. Still about what I want to do, but also about how to get there. I’ve established that I need money, and while robbing robbers sounds okay it’s not great. But what I also need is a place to stay. And I’ve just figured out a perfect place.
===
Selling the gun was a hassle, especially so late at night. But the money I had all together was enough to pay for a cab to deliver me upstate.
*Ring Ring* I click the telecom button at the gate.
A few seconds go by.
I notice the security camera moving to me. It’s still dark out so I wonder if they can see my face.
Then a woman answers the com.
“Xavier’s School for the Gifted, how can I help you?”
“My name is Roland Cooper. I’m a recent ‘gifted’ and looking for a place to stay.”
“One moment.”
“...” A minute goes by.
Then the gate opens.
“Proceed.” The woman says.
I walk down the path and up to the front door.
The door opens before I reach it, and I see a young asian woman meeting me.
“Hello Roland, my name is Xi'an Cao Mạnh. You may address me as Shan.”
“Hello Shan, it’s nice to meet you.”
“A pleasure. Follow me.”
I walk through the darkened halls. Silence all around.
We quickly made it to a double-door room.
Shan opens the doors and steps inside. I follow.
The room is a large office area, with chairs and a table, and a large desk. Behind the desk, sitting in a wheelchair, is none other than Charles “Professor” Xavier.
He is looking a bit tired, and judging by the pajamas, just awoken recently. But he still looks at me with a genial smile.
“Roland, was it? Welcome to my school. Do you mind explaining why you are here?” Xavier says.
“Not at all, sir.” I say, then proceed to tell my story, different in some places so as not to seem crazy. I don’t think anyone would believe I have something only I can see that grants me powers from all of creation.
So, I simply say, “My parents kicked me out, I found out I was a mutant, and I sought to come here.” Just longer.
“I’m sorry to hear all that. Can you tell me your gift and how you thought to come here?” Xavier says.
“Of course. I am still understanding my gift, but I am a shapeshifter of some kind.” I say, changing into Xavier, then back into me. “And as to how I knew about this place; my father works at the FBI and he periodically tells me to stay away from here.”
Xavier raises an eyebrow, “Interesting. Yet you still came?”
“The man who kicks out his own son is not someone I want to listen to.”
True story actually. My father in this life has a military career and is trying to work his way up to be a high official. Also in this life, I was a lazy bastard that didn’t care too much about what he thinks. Kicking me out is still a douche move though.
“Hmm. What is his name, if I may be so bold?”
“Joshua David Cooper.”
“Yes, I see. Well, just a couple more questions and we’ll get you tucked in for the night.”
I nod.
“Good. Now, you seem to be young and I would like to know if you’ve completed your studies?”
“Not yet, sir. I only just turned 18 yesterday and still need to complete my last year at Midtown Technical High School.”
“I see. I can certainly help out with that, especially so since school starts next week. But I do have a final question if you wouldn’t mind?”
I nod.
“Thank you. I was just wondering if this,” he motions towards me, “is your base form?”
I take a moment to think. What to say?
“Well, sir, I’ll be honest: I have another form that feels more natural to me, but considering the change happened recently I don’t think of it as my ‘base form.’”
“I see. I apologize.”
I wave my hand. “No need, sir. I can understand the need to understand more about me and what I may look like considering I’m a shapeshifter.”
“Quite.” He nods. “Well, that’s all for now. I’ll see you tomorrow, most likely. Breakfast is at 8, but it’s not required if you want to sleep in.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“It’s no trouble, my boy. Shan will show you to your room.”
I nod and follow Shan toward my room.
Before going to sleep I think of a game plan.
‘Obviously I’ll continue with school. Maybe I’ll join the X-Men. But to get my completion percentage up I’ll need to change into a lot of different folk. Also money. I’ll need to come up with something regarding that. But, I have a place to sleep so that’s good.’
[Template: 14%]