Wraith [MARVEL x Invincible Crossover]

MADRIPOOR | 1990

This wasn't a hospital, that Rebekka was sure of, and those people were not doctors. The last thing Rebekka remembered was being put to sleep by her parents whose faces were now a blur to her, along with their names, and the sound of their voice, and by their family doctor. It was a long and heavy sleep, probably the best she ever had, there was no pain, no urge to throw up, just a peaceful sleep, then she woke up and found herself in a different place. She was no longer in her hospital room in Kyoto, she didn't hear her mother humming the lullaby she would always sing to pass the time, nor did she see her father sitting on the chair beside her bed reading the newspaper to monitor the stocks. It was a small room, with walls covered in blue wallpaper, a table full of documents that scattered around, an old-looking computer by the wall, and then a silver double door that had a keypad at the side.

Like any normal child finding themselves in a strange place without their parents, Rebecca was panicking, but her body still felt fuzzy, and so did her head, her eyes were seeing doubles of everything, something was terribly wrong. There were footsteps approaching, someone was in the room, Rebecca lifting her arms but they were restrained. The person stood by the bed, looming over her. she couldn't see their face due to the blinding light on the ceiling creating a shadow and because her sight was still spinning, but she could see that they put on a stethoscope and then placed the cold pad on her chest.

"She's stable," it was a woman's voice. She was speaking to someone. "Her body adjusted to the serum, another good candidate."

"Her illness?" The other voice sounded like an old lady speaking, it sounded hoarse.

"It's cured... she seems to be very different from the other children, may I ask where you found her?"

"No, you may not. You're brought here to study these children and to unleash their full potential."

"Of course, my apologies, Ms. King."

Heels started clinking on the floor that came closer and closer, the doctor earlier stepped aside and lets the woman see the child. The angle of the woman's place gave Rebecca the chance to see her face, she was elegant looking, probably around her mother's age due to the wrinkles that they similarly have, short brown hair styled to perfection, brown eyes, and she wore clothes that Rebecca would only see in the business magazines her father would read, and longed to wear someday. The woman reached out a hand and then patted her head softly, flattening the few locks that created loops over her head.

Rebecca tried to speak, she tried opening her mouth, which required so much energy like pushing a heavy box, but only managed to open it slightly ajar. Next, she tried speaking, letting out a sound was harder than opening her mouth, she had to push air from her diaphragm and up to her throat that had her heart beating faster because of the effort she had to use, and the only sound she managed to make was.

"Haha," she tried repeating the word, calling for her mother.

The woman, Ms. King, bent down and caressed her face. "This is your new family now."

"Haha," Rebecca tried calling again but with so much energy she put into calling the last time, she couldn't do it again. Instead, a tear fell from her eyes and the woman wiped it away.

"There, there, child, all will be good," Ms. King said. "Sleep, and by the time you wake, you will meet your new family.

She felt a piercing pain in her inner elbow, she was already familiar with the pain of injections but never got used to it. It was one of the many things she didn't like every time she was admitted to a hospital. Not long, everything around her spun and the faces of those two women slowly merged in the darkness, until everything turned black.

Rebecca woke with children looming over her, some were older some young, some with dark skin, some with light, some with slanted and narrow eyes, some with large almonds, they were all different, but there was one thing they shared in common. They all looked sick. Skin and bone, sunken faces, it looked like if they were to walk, they would collapse on the ground. Slowly getting up, the children moved away to give her space, then she saw the place she was in. The room was large, larger than the last, the walls had gray wallpaper, the floor wooden, and multiple beds were inside, all aligned in like a platoon. There were children watching her, while some minded their own business in their respective beds.

"Give her some space!" One of the boys spoke and made his way through the crowd and dispersing the others. He was older than her, taller, lean with a bit of meat in his built, but still have that sickly pale skin, damp black hair cut short, and then blue eyes that reminded Rebecca of the wallpaper in the room she was in earlier.

"Haha?" Rebecca called out.

One of the children spoke, it was in Mandarin, she would know because her father would speak Mandarin when talking with business partners, but she didn't understand what they said.

"She's not laughing, you idiot!" The boy with blue eyes punched the one who spoke. "She's calling for her mom." He then turned to her with a solemn look. "They left you too, huh?"

Rebecca wanted to say 'no', but the boy suddenly reached out and took her hand. "It's okay, you got a new family here, and this family is way better than the last," he chuckled. "Promise – I'm Michael, by the way."

Rebecca looked down and saw his hand held out. She didn't shake it but she gave her name. "R-Rebecca."

"Rebecca... doesn't sound Japanese," he muttered the last part, then shrugged. "Well, welcome home, Becca."

Home, she thought. This wasn't home, home was in her family ancestral house in Kyoto with her mother and father. Many questions came to Rebecca's mind, the boy said that her family abandoned her but why? They were good people, why would they leave her? Why would her mother leave her? As more questions came a sob escaped Rebecca's mouth, she curled into a ball, pulling her knees to her chest, and hid her face in her arms. Many of the children backed away in surprise at her reaction, especially when she started speaking in rapid Japanese calling for her parents, but Michael didn't, he sat there beside her, and once her crying lessened, he reached out and placed a hand on her head.

"It's okay, you won't be alone anymore. You got us now – we're a much bigger family," he said.

His statement only made her cry even more. They thought that it was tears of joy, but they were frustration, fear, sadness, she didn't need a new family, she needed her old one. She needed her mother and father.