Hello! I love reading your scenarios of Marvel Rivals. I had an idea so it could interesting you. What if the ''presence'' get somehow inside the game and the characters are happy to see them, but when they try to touch it (shaking hands, hugging, hi-five, etc) it goes transparent, they can't physically touch them breaking their hearts. Just some inspiration, have a nice day
Marvel Rivals Self-Aware AU: Transparent Soul
“…Hey. Hey." A gentle voice called out to you. What was going on?
You scrunched your face. That was a stupid question to ask in a hospital. Weren't doctors supposed to know you weren't okay?
"Can you hear us?" another voice asked, this one softer and distinctly feminine.
Something warm brushed against your face.
You frowned, your brows knitting together as you slowly pried your eyes open.
For a brief moment, you were blinded by brilliant rays of sunlight. You instinctively squeezed your eyes shut again before trying once more, blinking away the white spots dancing across your vision.
Above you stretched an endless blue sky, the sun hanging high overhead.
Which wasn't possible, because A) you had been inside your apartment and B) the last thing you remembered was an absolute downpour outside your window.
"What...?" you mumbled weakly, your voice rough as your eyes drifted around your surroundings.
"Oh my God! You woke up!" The first voice practically burst with relief, and only then did you remember you weren't alone.
Leaning over you were a young man and woman. Except...
The man was dressed in a Spider-Man suit. And the woman had enormous insect-like eyes and a pair of delicate antennae protruding from her forehead.
Just like Mantis. No— exactly like Mantis.
For a brief, hopeful second, you assumed they were simply incredible cosplayers.
Then the woman's antennae began glowing with a soft green light.
Not blinking. Not powered by tiny LEDs. Actually glowing.
"What?" you repeated, this time much louder.
"Try to take a deep breath," the Mantis woman urged, her face pinched with concern. "I can feel your confusion."
Ignoring her warning, you struggled upright, your pulse quickening. "What's going on?!"
"Uh..." the Spider-Man guy scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I know this is gonna sound really weird... but you kinda fell out of the sky."
"What?!" Your shout made him flinch.
Without saying another word, he slowly pointed upward.
Still breathing hard, you followed his finger.
High above, the sky itself had a crack running through it—an actual crack. Like someone had smashed a gigantic pane of glass stretching across the heavens.
Even stranger, it was already repairing itself.
Brilliant orange geometric energy stitched the fractured space back together, glowing in intricate hexagonal patterns.
Your eyes widened. Chronovium...?
The design looked eerily familiar. Hadn't you seen effects like that in the teasers for upcoming Marvel Rivals characters?
"W-What happened...?" you whispered.
Only now did you truly look around.
You definitely weren't in your apartment anymore.
Towering trees surrounded you on every side, their trunks impossibly wide and their leaves painted in every shade of emerald imaginable. Strange flowers bloomed beneath the canopy, filling the warm air with sweet, unfamiliar fragrances.
The jungle itself seemed... alive.
Not metaphorically. Actually alive.
Several thick vines and branches were slowly inching toward you. Yet instead of looking threatening, they hesitated. As though they were curious, or… shy.
Your gaze wandered farther.
There, standing proudly in the distance, was the unmistakable statue dedicated to Professor Xavier. And even farther beyond, a colossal tree with a face.
Your breath caught. Krakoa.
Your favorite map in Marvel Rivals. Mostly because you were an absolute sucker for the X-Men.
Except it wasn't a map anymore. The breeze carried scents you'd never smelled before, rich with flowers, damp earth, and something almost electric. The grass beneath your fingertips bent naturally under your touch, cool and soft against your skin.
Everything felt real. Far too real.
Looking back toward your companions, you studied them more carefully.
They weren't merely dressed like the characters. They looked exactly like them.
Mantis wore her default appearance down to the smallest detail. Spider-Man, however, was wearing the Disco skin. The exact skin you'd equipped on him last time you played.
That tiny detail shattered the last thread of hope that these were simply talented cosplayers. Because unless someone had figured out how to make glowing orange particles continuously float from their eye lenses, these were the real deal.
"Has the Presence awakened?" Another familiar voice spoke from nearby.
Stepping out from behind one of Krakoa's massive purple trees came Captain America himself.
"Yup," Spider-Man answered with a nod, standing alongside Mantis while you remained rooted to the ground in complete shock.
"Y-You're..." you stammered, pointing uselessly toward the newcomer. "You..."
Captain America—Steve Rogers—smiled.
It was warm. Steady. The kind of reassuring smile that made it feel like everything would somehow be okay simply because Captain America had arrived.
"Steve Rogers," he introduced himself, extending a gloved hand toward you. "And may I say... it is truly an honor to meet you."
An honor? To meet... you?
You were nobody. Just someone who'd had an unbelievably awful day before apparently waking up inside a video game.
And what had he called you? The Presence? You had absolutely no idea what that meant.
Still, you didn't want to leave Captain America awkwardly holding his hand out.
"That... thank you," you said politely.
You reached forward to shake his hand.
Your fingers passed straight through it.
You froze. "What the...?"
Looking up, you found the other three wearing expressions that perfectly mirrored your own confusion.
Slowly, you reached out again.
Once more, your hand slipped harmlessly through Steve's. No resistance. No warmth. Nothing.
Heart pounding, you tested your sanity and you poked experimentally at his thigh.
Your hand phased through that, too.
You completely missed the faint pink flush creeping onto Steve's face.
"Uh..." Spider-Man coughed awkwardly. "Why don't I try?"
He extended his own hand.
You reached toward it. It passed through him just as easily.
Mantis quietly offered her hand as well. The exact same thing happened.
Silence settled over the four of you.
A knot tightened in your stomach. Because this… this wasn't normal.
"Hm." Steve slowly flexed the hand you'd failed to touch. "Curious."
"You think it has something to do with the fact that they're..." Spider-Man began before subtly tilting his head toward you. "You know."
"What do you mean by that?" you asked immediately.
The three heroes exchanged uneasy glances. None of them answering.
You folded your arms, frustration beginning to outweigh your panic. "Can someone please tell me what is going on?"
Mantis was the first to speak.
"Would you care to accompany us?" she asked gently, gesturing toward the path behind her. "Everyone is waiting."
"Everyone?" you repeated quietly.
The three heroes nodded. None of them looked particularly eager to explain.
Which somehow made you even more nervous than before.
Still, you ended up following the three heroes down the lush jungle ravines of Krakoa. It wasn't easy to keep up—not because they were walking particularly fast, but because you kept getting distracted.
Towering trees stretched high into the sky, their branches woven together into a living canopy that bathed everything beneath in emerald light. Strange flowers bloomed in impossible colors, while enormous vines curled around ancient stone formations. Every so often, the island itself seemed to breathe, the ground subtly shifting beneath your feet as if Krakoa were quietly aware of your presence.
You had seen this place countless times in comics, trailers, and lore videos. But seeing it in person...
You still couldn't believe it.
You were actually here. In Krakoa.
Eventually, the three heroes led you to what you recognized as the Grove—the sacred chambers and central meeting place of the Quiet Council.
Except the Quiet Council wasn't waiting for you.
Instead, every single character from Marvel Rivals was. All fifty-two of them. And yes, you had counted.
They stood scattered throughout the Grove in small groups, quietly chatting amongst themselves. Heroes stood beside antiheroes, rivals tolerated one another, and even villains seemed content to keep the peace for the moment.
Then, piercing through every conversation like a siren, came an unmistakably familiar voice.
"Oh my God, it's them!" Wade Wilson stood frozen in place with both hands pressed dramatically against his cheeks, eyes sparkling behind his mask like he'd just met the celebrity of his dreams.
The conversations instantly dissolved into excited chatter as dozens of heads turned toward you.
And then they started walking. Toward you.
Within seconds, you found yourself completely surrounded.
Voices came from every direction, overlapping into an incomprehensible wall of excitement.
"It is wonderful to finally meet you, dear Presence!" Luna Snow greeted warmly from your left, practically glowing with excitement.
"Glad you were finally able to join the party!" Johnny Storm added from somewhere on your right, flashing his trademark grin.
"Mrrr!" You looked down just in time to see Jeff the Land Shark rubbing affectionately against your leg like an oversized puppy.
Your brain completely stalled. Why... Why were they acting like this?
You looked around at the crowd in utter bewilderment.
These people weren't supposed to be real. They were comic book characters. Video game characters. Characters you'd spent years reading about, watching, laughing with, crying over...
Yet here they were. Surrounding you.
Looking at you with smiles, excitement, admiration, almost... reverence.
For someone who had spent most of their life being overlooked, ignored, or quietly forgotten, the attention was almost suffocating.
It didn't make any sense.
Even the villains such as Hela and Ultron looked intrigued.
Hela stood with her arms crossed, doing an admirable job pretending she wasn't interested despite the subtle glances she kept sending your way.
Ultron, meanwhile, wasn't even pretending. The crimson glow of his eyes remained fixed on you with unsettling intensity, analyzing every tiny movement you made. It felt less like being watched and more like being studied.
"Enchanté." Gambit stepped forward, wearing his usual effortlessly charming smile.
Instinctively, he reached for your hand.
"Wait!" Spider-Man's voice rang out just as Gambit's fingers were about to make contact.
For the briefest moment, heat rushed into your face. Oh God... was he about to kiss your hand?
But instead, his hand passed straight through yours. Like mist.
Gambit froze, his smile faltered just enough for one eyebrow to rise. "...Quoi?"
The lively atmosphere immediately lost some of its energy.
Confused murmurs spread throughout the crowd. Several heroes exchanged uncertain glances. Others began quietly theorizing amongst themselves.
"Rogers," Tony said, folding his arms. "Mind sharing with the class?"
Steve let out a quiet sigh.
"I'm not entirely sure myself," Captain America admitted. "But when we secured the Presence... none of us were able to physically interact with them."
Before you could fully process what that meant, someone suddenly appeared behind you.
A hand brushed toward your shoulder.
You jumped nearly out of your skin.
Black Cat smirked apologetically.
"Sorry," she purred. "Couldn't resist."
Her clawed fingertips continued forward, passing harmlessly through your shoulder as though your body wasn't there at all.
She blinked. "...Now that's interesting."
Withdrawing her hand, she tilted her head. "Can you phase through walls too? I've heard of a certain X-Man who does that."
"...Uh..." You stared at her blankly.
"It's more than that." The calm, measured voice immediately drew everyone's attention.
Daredevil stood quietly near the edge of the gathering, his head tilted ever so slightly as though listening to something only he could perceive. Or... couldn't perceive.
"I can't hear their heartbeat." Matt frowned beneath his mask. "It's like trying to listen through empty air."
"Can't smell 'em either." Logan folded his arms after taking another discreet sniff. "Nothin'. Not sweat. Not skin. Hell, nothin' but oxygen."
That statement somehow made the entire situation even stranger.
Then Emma Frost approached. The sharp clicks of her heels echoed through the Grove as she confidently walked toward you.
You instinctively swallowed.
She was... intimidatingly beautiful. Somehow even taller than you imagined.
Standing this close made it feel impossible to meet her icy blue gaze.
Emma barely acknowledged your nervousness. She simply lifted one elegant hand beside your temple, closing her eyes in concentration.
"Hm." Her expression remained perfectly composed. "No thoughts. None that I can read, at any rate."
"You think the Presence sent us an astral projection?" Moon Knight asked from somewhere behind the crowd, his white eyes never leaving you.
"It is certainly possible," Bruce Banner replied, thoughtfully adjusting his glasses. "Stephen? Care to share your expertise?"
Doctor Strange stepped forward.
Without saying a word, his hands began weaving intricate golden sigils through the air.
Ancient symbols rotated around his wrists as the Eye of Agamotto slowly opened and the gem pulsed with mystical light.
You instinctively held your breath.
After several moments of careful examination, Strange finally lowered his hands.
"...Curious. It resembles an astral projection..." He frowned. "...But only partially."
The Eye of Agamotto dimmed. "It's as though whoever attempted the spell abandoned it halfway through. Or, they simply didn't know how to finish it."
Just a few hours ago, you had been having what was easily the worst day of your life. Now, you were standing in Krakoa.
Surrounded by fifty-two fictional characters who apparently already knew who you were. Who were discussing magic, astral projections, your complete lack of a heartbeat, your inability to be touched.
Nothing about this felt real anymore. Yet...
Among all the confusion, one detail refused to leave your mind.
None of them sounded disappointed because you were some mysterious cosmic anomaly. They sounded...
Heartbroken. Like the realization that they couldn't touch you genuinely upset them. Why?
You slowly raised a timid hand. "E-Excuse me...?"
Every conversation stopped.
Fifty-two pairs of eyes turned toward you.
The sudden silence was somehow even more overwhelming than the noise had been. Apparently, this was the first time any of them had actually heard you speak.
Then quietly asked the one question that had been bothering you ever since arriving.
