The Multiversal Brawl

Bright, infinite and yet bereft of warmth, such was the vastness of space. A bright corner of infinity where those misleading dots of the firmament became brighter than ever.

Stars and galaxies were never discernible, only bright dots a human eye was unable to decipher. Such was the scenery Ray woke up to.

'All hollow' was all he recalled before manifesting in this world, in the form of a shallow shape of emptiness, no different than the very space that held those countless galaxies and stars that he was able to discern. 

Next to him, stood hundreds, no... thousands of shallow empty shapes just like him. All looking sideways in confusion, their mouths moved, but there was no sound. 

While confusion prevailed, one of those dots... a single one of those stars or galaxies became brighter and brighter, gaining all of their attention. A gigantic explosion ensued in front of their shocked eyes, so bright that they had to cover themselves from it. 

Even from this infinitely humongous distance, the rush of energy washed their pores as that explosion expanded in size, like the most primal of fireworks. An explosion that redefined concepts of life, obliterated everything in its path and yet created new matter in its wake. 

This explosion took shape once it was big enough, transforming into what they believed were three massive heads that converged in a single sock. They were golden in colour with shining eyes and the membrane of space itself served as a mantle.

A cosmic entity they couldn't help but fix their eyes on, Ray included. 

'Where am I?' He thought, but in front of the magnificence of existence, his thoughts were empty and shallow. 

"Welcome to the Multiversal Brawl, contestants. All of you have been chosen from your respective universes as unique dots of the endless axes of casualty with endless possibilities. You have been summoned here for one and one purpose only: The Multiverse needs a ruler".

The voice, contrary to the entity's grandiose, sounded simple yet charismatic. It made no sound across the endless expanse of space where sound had no part. Instead, it talked straight to the 'contestants' heads.

"To choose a fitting ruler is the responsibility of us all. Don't think for a second you are capable of avoiding this fate. The same way stars shall be born to perish; you must compete and what awaits is either victory or damnation, no in-betweens, only one of you must ascend to the throne multiverse and rule above existence itself".

"The rules are simple, contestants. Once the matches are decided, lots shall be drawn for two contestants to fight each other. Lots shall be drawn again to decide who invades and who is invaded... the date of the battle shall then be decided and when the time is nigh, fight." 

"Once the conflict begins, both parties are forbidden from leaving the battlefield. Doing so would mean an immediate disqualification and also..." His eyes shone, glaring at all the contestants, "An automatic erasure from the multiverse's plane of existence".

"Destroy your competitor, claim everything that belongs to them, and move to the next round. Twenty rounds in total, each opponent stronger than the previous... defeating an opponent implies increasing in Tier. You shall be matched with opponents of your same tier and if you're unlucky... higher".

"To surrender is an option. Those who surrender have the chance to keep fighting one more time while remaining in the same Tier. Those who are defeated but not executed also have the chance to fight again; but as for their belongings, that is up for the winner to decide".

"Without further ado, let the games begin~".

The entity's eyes started shining brighter and brighter... it was at that moment that Ray felt someone placing their arms around his shoulder, he turned around with a heartbeat and immediately felt corroding poison in his heart. 

'Oblivion!'

It wasn't only him, looking around. There were those who were qualified to be more than empty shallow shapes in the endless expanse of space, each one was together with a contestant, and Ray wasn't the only one. 

Those selfish beings called themselves 'Cosmic' in nature.

"Don't look at me like that, Ray. I'm looking forward to seeing how far you will reach up the multiveral ladder. Don't disappoint me or Lana, that beautiful and loyal little girl. It would be a pity if her soul was wasted for nothing, don't you think?"

'I'll murder you! I WILL KILL YOU!'

"Entertaining thought for a pitiful mortal such as yourself, but I guess not anymore, I made it possible for you to be qualified to hold those insignificant thoughts, I made you stronger, Ray. The more hollow you are, the stronger you will be".

The bright light covered all of those shallow shades and they began to depart one by one. 

"If you wish to kill me, go ahead and reach the eighteenth round, can you do that? I hope you can... don't make me wait up there for you. It will be either you or me, but nothingness will shroud this multiverse, one way or another, we must show them what the true beginning is".

Oblivion pushed Ray towards the bright light, chuckling malevolently with anticipation, the latter cursed, growled, and showed the middle finger, anything he could do to denigrate and sate the ire in his heart. 

'I WILL KILL YOU! AHHH!! I WILL KILL YOU OBLIVION!!'

**

**

15th of April, 1993 - City of New York.

In an unknown hospital in the city of New York, a lady was giving birth. She was by herself, the father wasn't around. The woman was exceptionally beautiful, but if one were to look at her countenance, something wasn't quite right with her... as if that beauty was just external. 

The baby was born successfully and without any hitch, pulled out and carried by one of the nurses. 

'I WILL KILL YOU!!!'

"UWAAAAA!!!"

*RUMBLE!!*

When the baby started crying, the lights in the facility started flickering. The nurses sweated and almost dropped the baby, wondering what was going on. He only continued to cry harder and harder.

*CRACK!*

The windows cracked as if it were a bad omen. The mother didn't pay attention to any of this, she looked at her child with a gaze that a mother shouldn't have for her children, one of pure greed. As if that was a bag of money instead of a kid. 

The nurses slapped the boy's butt a few times and he finaly calmed down. He didn't have much hair, but the few strands he had were pitch-black like the abyss. 

"Your name is Ray from now on, Ray Stark".

Usually, mothers would hold their babies the moment they gave birth to them. The nurses tried to hand the baby over to her, but after saying the kid's name, she groaned, waved her hands in decline and went to sleep as if she had done a month's worth of work. The nurses looked at one another before focusing on the light bulbs of the nursery that never went back on. 

Later they would know... there was a mysterious power shortage in the whole block.