From The Ashes - 002

[A/N: Hey guys!

Sorry for being absent for two days, I was on a flight to Spain and then had to take a three hour bus ride. I was simply too tired to write anything and just took the next day to settle into my new home for the next few weeks.

Things should settle down greatly now that I arrived and settled in nicely!

Also, I decided to write a few chapters for this story and work out the plot a bit. I will probably spent the rest of the week on it before going back to 'The Wanderer'!

Enjoy!]

Chapter 002 – Appearance

[2012]

As soon as I made my choice by mentally selecting the third option, I lost any sense for my own body for a moment while a veritable flood of knowledge entered my mind, a storm of blue flames enveloping everything in my vision with myself as the eye and origin of the storm.

It took me a few long moments to realize that I hadn't lost feeling for my body as my physical form had just dispersed into blue flames, vaguely taking on the shape of a giant fiery egg. And even though I had never experienced anything like this, something deep inside me recognized the fire, found it familiar on a level that could not be described with words.

The knowledge pouring into my mind also helped me gain some awareness as to what was happening to me while the very origin of my life was undergoing an incredible transformation.

Still, it wasn't a long process as only a few seconds after the transformation had begun, my body reformed inside the storm of blue fire while the blaze died down almost completely.

Standing in the alley, broken slabs of concrete, shards of glass, and bent metal all around, nothing much seemed to have changed outwardly as whatever power was responsible for my transformation had somehow not affected the area around, the trinity of my existence being the sole focus of what had just happened.

The world looked the same, with explosions still going off in the distance while monstrous roars echoed in the city, but I knew very well how much I had just changed.

My lean, athletic figure was simply overflowing with strength, uncontainable power seemingly flowing through my veins while my muscles felt like steel ropes that were tightly wrapped around a set of titanium bones.

My brain was filled with detailed knowledge of anatomy, medicine, poisons, and a whole lot more surgical knowledge, as well as hundreds and thousands of treatment plans for different diseases.

It was clearly Marco's knowledge and expertise as one of the greatest doctors of the One Piece World that had appeared in my mind.

But besides this information, there were even more 'memories' about his fighting experience, though it was blurry and I couldn't even make out a single face or figure from his memories.

The only thing that was clear in my mind was how to utilize the incredible strength and speed of my body perfectly while drawing on the extraordinary powers that I had gained besides my massively enhanced physique.

I could feel it. With every breath that I took, I could feel the blazing blue flames lying dormant in my flesh, bones, and blood. I could sense the existence of a phoenix inside myself, not as a foreign entity but as a part of who I was now.

And in the depths of my mind, a place that I had never even known existed before, I could feel a well of strength that originated from the 'spirit' of my will.

I knew that this was Haki, Marco's ability to consciously utilize his spiritual energy for various purposes.

Taking a deep breath and looking down at myself, I saw my ripped shirt with unblemished flesh beneath. My pants weren't any different as they were in pieces just below my knees, my bare feet directly touching the ground covered by glass shards and pieces of broken metal.

It was just that my durability had increased so drastically that such things would probably never bother me again.

My hands and feet looked still the same to me though, even if my muscles seemed a tad bit more pronounced.

I stood still for a moment as I tried to come to terms with the new reality of my existence.

I wasn't sure what would become of me now that I had accepted the offer given to me by this mysterious 'L.O.R.D.'-character, though I was sure that my life would never be the same, and not just because I was in a totally different Universe than the one that I had been born into.

I felt a bit lost as I knew that I had to strive forward to fulfill my promise to her but I didn't even know in which direction to go.

“ROOAARR!”

Once again hearing a roar from one of the flying monstrosities, this one only a few buildings away from me, I pushed aside those thoughts as a murderous spirit rose within my heart.

I had been a soldier for a good part of my life and the one thing that I learned while on various missions in the Middle East was to not doubt yourself while in combat, and that doing something was always better than doing nothing.

The reason for such was rather simple, since not doing anything would not change anything, and only through change could one achieve victory, only when fighting could one win a battle.

Not to mention that being static in a dynamic battlefield with enemies all around was a very very bad idea.

Naturally, with my current strength many things were different as I doubted that anyone in this city had what it took to really kill me, but I still choose to let myself be guided by my trained instincts.

Taking a single powerful step forward that caused the asphalt and glass beneath my foot to crack and shatter, I shot into the air as blue fire erupted from my form and a flaming phoenix took my place.

It didn't matter that I didn't know what to do with myself at this moment, having already lost everyone and everything that I had ever cared about.

The only thing that mattered was the fact that those aliens owed me a debt of blood for nearly killing and crippling me. And I certainly wasn't a merciful person, so intended to collect this debt. With interest.

…

Looking at the armored colossus of an alien that ripped through skyscrapers like wet paper, Tony's thoughts spun fast after his attempt to pierce its defenses with the in-built laser on his suit did practically nothing to stop the beast's rampage.

“Sir. We will lose power before we will penetrate that shell.”, Jarvis' voice sounded out calmly in his helmet, informing him of something that he had already known.

Recognizing that his weapons would not be able to overcome the defenses of the flying beast, a rather crazy idea started to form in his mind.

"Jarvis … You ever heard the tale of Jonah?", Tony asked his virtual butler and closest confidant, though it was more of a rhetorical question as he had already altered his course and was just about to fire up his thrusters to dive in the maw of the beast, quite literally at that.

Though before he could do that or receive an answer from the advanced AI controlling his suit, a torrent of blue fire ripped through the atmosphere and appeared above the giant alien's head.

“ROOoa--!!!”

What followed was a broken roar of unadulterated bestial anguish as a lance of pure blue fire pierced through the alien's head, causing its eyes to explode in a gory shower of flesh, blood, and ocular fluid, blue flames scorching the insides of its head.

The 'lance of fire' though didn't disperse, instead, it seemed to transform into a giant blazing bird that spun around and flapped its majestic wings in the direction of the plummeting monstrosity.

A storm of fire erupted from those enormous wings in response, which started to consume the smaller humanoid aliens clinging to the formerly flying beast.

Hovering in mid-air, Tony, who thought that nothing could surprise him anymore after the events of the last few days, looked on speechless as the fiery avian tore apart the air and hunted down every alien in its path.

It was only when Barten's incredulous voice reached him over the comlink that he woke up from his momentary daze.

“Stark?! Stark, did you see that?! What is that thing?!”, the archer asked aloud.

Suppressing the urge to curse due to the shock of what he had just witnessed, Stark answered, "I have absolutely no idea … "