Chapter Text
What do you remember about your past life?
Screams. Wild screams from people nearby.
A white flash that burned through skin and bone until she wasn’t sure where her body ended and the void began.
For a moment, she thought she had died. For a moment, she wanted to. But death never came. Instead, she was pulled like a thread yanked from fabric, dragged through an endless dark where stars bled into rivers and time stretched thin. Somewhere in that silence, something attached itself to her. Something that wasn’t human, that wasn’t supposed to have a name. Her whole body trembled, every nerve screaming with a current she couldn’t control. It felt like her mind had slipped from her grasp, scattered into the shadows that wrapped too tightly around her. Breath came shallow, uneven. Fingers twitched against her will. It was moving through her, using her, and she no longer remembered what it meant to be in control.
Raven remembered the sound before anything else — the echo of her own heartbeat in a universe gone silent. It is her consciousness that jokes, consciousness is alive, but the body seems to be not.
Was it scary to die, to think about the end of your life? No, it was scarier to feel, to let in the pain that tears your body to pieces, and know that if you survive, it will stay with you.
Eyes opened abruptly… Her mind seemed unable to process what she saw. The sky split like glass under pressure — one universe pressed against another, and the joint between them bled light and darkness all at once. A colossal crack stretched across reality, humming with a sound too low for human ears.
She was caught in its seam.
Her lungs refused her, every breath clawing at a throat that felt strangled by nothing. The void pressed down, crushing, suffocating. Pain laced through her bones as though her body was being rewritten line by line and cell by cell. Her skin burned and froze at once, blood boiling under the weight of two worlds refusing to let her go.
Her mind spun, scattering into the noise, until she wasn’t sure if she was trapped in the fracture between universes, breaking apart with it.
[ EARTH-828 ]
The day had begun like any other in the bustling city of New York, with the familiar hum of traffic and the lively chatter of the people filling the streets. But as the hours ticked by, an eerie stillness settled over the metropolis, a palpable tension that seemed to permeate the very air. Suddenly, a deafening crack rent the sky, as if the very fabric of the universe had been torn asunder. People gazed upwards in awe and terror, their eyes widening as a gaping, black maw opened in the heavens. From this ominous rift, a figure began to plummet, tumbling and twisting through the air, consumed by a writhing, dark energy. Raven, whose once green eyes were now swallowed by darkness, hurtled towards the ground, her body enveloped in a swirling, black matter that seemed to pulse and flow like some malevolent entity. Panic broke out among the residents, they began to flee the scene, their cries of horror echoing through the streets. Despite the whole situation, New York reporters, newspaper photographers, and a local news crew were already there. All the TVs started broadcasting from the scene of the event. A pretty woman stood with a microphone in her hands, commenting on everything that was happening.
The 35-story Baxter Building — home to the «Fantastic Four», local super-heroes.
Reed was sitting in the lab developing new suits, he wanted something special and safe, including the anomalies of all four. The radio was playing softly in the background, but some jazz song suddenly turned off, after which a warning about danger came in. The man took off his glasses and went down to the others. Sue walked up to the panoramic window, looking in horror at the crack that stood in stark contrast to the peaceful blue sky. — hurry up, there's…problems, — she shouted, sharply turning around and running towards the team. Ben and Johnny, who were in the kitchen preparing dinner, looked at each other. Johnny hummed painfully,
— not a single quiet day, seriously.
Raven's body shook slightly, trying to fight the power she had received. The streets of the city were empty. She propped herself up on her elbows, breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Gaze caught four silhouettes against the fractured skyline, walking towards her. Raven crawled back weakly, hissing softly from the pain tearing through her head. The blonde looked down convulsively, breath catching in her throat. Her hands didn’t look like hers anymore, veins drowned in something thick and black, liquid shadows crawling beneath her skin like spilled ink. The darkness pulsed, alive, slithering over her wrists and up her arms in jagged streaks. It spread across her body with a terrible patience, tracing the fragile bones of her collarbones, coiling up her neck like it wanted to claim her identity. Every twitch, every tremor made the black seep faster, blooming under her skin like a spreading bruise. Her chest tightened as though the void itself was learning how to breathe through her, pulling her further away from everything human she once was.
Sue's invisible force field shimmered faintly as she moved to shield the others. Johnny burned, fire trailing from his fists. Reed glanced towards the team, then back at the unknown, squinting slightly.
— Tell me who you are, — his voice cut through the silence. The man stepped forward slightly. She didn't answer. Everything was blurred, there was noise in her ears.
They thought she was a threat. Maybe she was.
The shadows rushed at them before Raven could stop them, black matter rushing forward, knocking Reed back and slamming into Sue's shield with a flash of light. Johnny responded instantly, flames rushing toward her, sparks dancing as the fire met the void and hissed. She staggered back, clutching her head and screaming in agony, causing waves of darkness to rush towards the group, striking back again. The black kept spreading, feeding on her panic. Johnny flew to the side, his blue eyes catching her face. He frowned, trying to understand the situation.
— she.. — he muttered to himself, a million thoughts racing through his head.
And then.
— Wait! — he shouted while the team was fighting. Ben, who was trying to break free from the grip of the force, looked up. «What, wait!? They're killing us here, matchstick!» Johnny was staring at her face, not her powers, at the tears in her eyes and the way her hands shook as if she were fighting herself more than them.
— She ain't in control! — he said, — Can't you see? — Johnny flew sharply through the shield of darkness that was gradually building up around Raven. Landing on the ground, he ran up to her. As he was about to get closer, a line of matter hit him and he hit his back against the wall of the nearest building.
«Dammit..» the man muttered in a hoarse voise from the sharp blow. Storm licked his lips and rose to his feet.
— Sue! — He called his sister, after which she, having caught the hint, directed her power at him, making him invisible. He walked up to the frightened Raven, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her close. His hands slid down her icy arms, trying to somehow block the possibility of attacking. The girl inhaled sharply, throwing her head back. Johnny's hands set on fire, which caused her to be suddenly hit with heat. Pain lines began to move into the man's chest, causing him to grit his teeth.
– C’mon, do something.. — he hissed to the others, squeezing the girl's hands.