Reborn as the God-Emperor in Marvel

What was happening in New York certainly hadn't escaped Nick Fury's watchful eyes. Although Solomon had ignored his calls, Fury had long prepared a plan by assigning his most trusted agents—three identical, chubby brothers from S.H.I.E.L.D.—to be Solomon's teammates in Call of Duty. Fury believed that Solomon might be less guarded around people he thought of as just gaming companions.

Solomon had no idea who his gaming teammates really were. He only knew that Koenig, Sam, and Eric were triplets who looked exactly alike. Don't get it wrong—Solomon had never actually met them in person. After playing a few matches together, the brothers had mentioned their shared identity, and Solomon thought their voices sounded indistinguishable, almost as if coming from the same person.

Nick Fury instructed Koenig, Sam, and Eric to casually mention that they lived in New York and to probe Solomon about the strange occurrences in the city—like why an entire street's worth of cars had turned into taxis. However, Solomon's lips were tightly sealed. As a sorcerer, he instinctively avoided discussing anything magical with ordinary people, even claiming he was in London and knew nothing about what was happening in New York. This was a habit instilled in him from a young age.

Solomon wasn't the only one dealing with frustrations. The culprits, the Merlin school, were also entangled in their own mess, which began ten years ago when Dave first met Balthazar.

At that time, Dave was just a fourth-grader on a school field trip. The teacher had taken the students to Ellis Island and the opposite shore of the Statue of Liberty to teach them about its history. Among the students, Dave had passed a note to his first crush, Becky, a cute blonde girl, asking if she would be his girlfriend.

Becky wrote her answer on the note and placed it to the side. But as the teacher organized the students to board the boat, and just as Dave reached for the note, a gust of spring wind swept it away. The note stuck to the tire of a passing bicycle, which crossed the street and several blocks until the rider finally noticed it, peeled it off, and tossed it aside. Little Dave ran after it all the way, only to see the note get stuck to a golden retriever's paw. The dog's owner found it, and judging by her smile, she had likely read what was written on the note.

Dave kept chasing the note, eventually finding it stuck to the door of a store called "The Arcane Shop." When he reached for it, the note slipped through the door's mail slot.

Cautiously, Dave pushed open the door and entered the cluttered shop, where he met Balthazar. Stammering, he explained why he had come in, but Balthazar took the series of coincidences as a sign of fate. He handed Dave Merlin's ring to wear.

As it turned out, Balthazar's instincts were correct—the ring reacted in Dave's hand. He was the person Balthazar had been searching for. However, a rather embarrassing event followed. Curious little Dave accidentally released a wizard named Horvath. Although Balthazar managed to trap both Horvath and himself in a magical artifact, during the struggle, a fish tank tipped over, splashing water onto Dave's pants.

When the teacher found Dave, she didn't believe a word about wizards fighting in the shop, especially since everything was eerily quiet when she arrived. Meanwhile, the other students noticed the wet stain on Dave's pants and began teasing him, shouting that he had wet himself. Becky stood silently in the crowd, watching Dave without a word.

In that moment, young Dave experienced true social death. He transferred schools and underwent therapy, to the point where doctors even named a new mental disorder after him, one related to glucose metabolism. Dave had almost forgotten about what happened in the arcane shop until ten years later, when he ran into Becky again while working as a teaching assistant in physics. At the same time, the magical artifact released both Balthazar and Horvath.

Now, Dave had reunited with his first love. The time he cast magic in the subway was also because Becky was mugged, and Dave used magic to retrieve her family heirloom bracelet. Balthazar wasn't pleased, as Dave clearly hadn't fully committed himself to magical training. Instead, he was using their training space as a date venue.

Even so, Balthazar allowed Dave some time for his date, taking a "walk" outside to give them privacy. Meanwhile, Dave was using magic to clean up the lab and prepare for Becky's arrival. But due to his lack of skill and oversight, all the cleaning tools at the subway transfer station went haywire. Mops, brooms, sponges, and cleaning fluids sprang to life, scrubbing everything in sight—plates, floors, wires, even Dave's dog.

Thankfully, the chaotic magic triggered alarms in the New York sanctum's planetary defense system, like a blaring, distorted siren. Already annoyed, Solomon immediately pinpointed Dave and Balthazar's hideout. He threw down his controller, quickly donned his sanctified robe, and followed the signal to their location.

"Hello, ma'am," Solomon said as he descended the worn cement steps leading to the underground subway transfer station. On the stairs, he encountered a blonde woman—Becky, Dave's first crush. Before Becky could ask any questions, Solomon spoke first. "Are you looking for someone?"

"Me?" Becky pointed to the door and then to herself, confused. Soon, she understood and smiled. "You're here to see Dave too? Does Dave have tutoring today? I just knocked, and he should be opening the door soon."

"I'm sorry, ma'am," Solomon shrugged. "I'm here to see either Dave or Balthazar. But regardless, I'm afraid they won't have time for you today. They have quite a mess to clean up."

"A mess?" Becky raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. "What do you mean?"

"Well, they'll be busy answering some questions," Solomon said as he passed Becky on the narrow stairs and reached for the door. He smiled and added, "They've caused a bit of trouble, and someone needs to take responsibility for it."

"Excuse me, what?" Becky was thoroughly confused. She didn't understand what Solomon was talking about. "Did someone die in there? Who are you? Are you with the FBI or something?"

"If I don't go in there, that might happen," Solomon replied. "As for who I am… let's just say I'm with S.H.I.E.L.D. Hey, Dave, can you deal with this mess?"

"Hi, Dave!" Becky called out as Dave opened the door. "This kid says he's here to see you."

"You're right on time," Dave said awkwardly, glancing at Solomon. "Oh, it's you!"

Becky noticed something off about Dave and quickly asked, "Do you have other plans today? Are you okay, Dave?"

"What, me? I'm fine. How about you? Ah!" Dave suddenly yelped as a broom jabbed him in the backside. Solomon narrowed his eyes, immediately sensing the magical disturbance. He had rushed over as soon as he detected the mishap. Although he didn't know exactly what spell had gone awry, one thing was clear—no ordinary person should witness this.

"Sorry, ma'am," Solomon stepped in front of Becky, blocking her view. "Dave and I have some things to take care of."

"But you said you were here to interrogate him..." Becky was even more confused, not understanding what was happening.

"That's for later. I'm here to help him fix this mess," Solomon replied, giving Dave a swift kick to the leg. "Isn't that right, Dave?"

"Yes, yes, that's right. Becky, I'm sorry, but I've got some things to deal with here," Dave muttered through clenched teeth. "You should leave. Ah! What am I even saying..."

The apprentice wizard groaned, unable to believe he was saying such things. Becky frowned, shocked by Dave's sudden unkindness.

"Okay, I'm leaving," she snapped, glaring at both Dave and the innocent-looking Solomon before stomping up the stairs in a huff.

As soon as Becky was gone, Solomon pushed Dave back inside and shut the asbestos-covered door behind them.

"Oh no..." Dave groaned, burying his face in his hands. He felt like he had just been dumped again. The last time had been ten years ago, and the girl was still the same.

"What are you doing?" Solomon barked, noticing a mop mimicking Dave's gesture of facepalming. Lowering his voice, Solomon scolded, "Your magic is out of control! All of Kamar-Taj knows what you've done! Can't the Merlin school keep it down for once?"

Dave didn't respond. He was still lost in the agony of losing his first love. Solomon shoved him down the stairs, and as they reached the bottom, Solomon realized just how reckless Dave had been. Nearly everything in sight had been animated, the floor was flooded, and all sorts of random objects floated in the water—including a dog.

Solomon grabbed Dave as he tried to adjust a sparking coil. One look at the electrical sparks was enough to tell him that thing was still live.

"Where's Balthazar?" Solomon shouted. But Dave only sighed at the chaotic scene before him. After a quick slap on the back of Dave's head, the apprentice finally admitted that Balthazar wasn't around.

"Fine, let's stop this disaster," Solomon muttered, rolling his eyes. "Afterward, you and Balthazar are coming to Kamar-T

aj's New York Sanctum for questioning." Solomon extended his hands, preparing to cast a spell. He quickly analyzed the distribution of magical energy in the area, then focused his gaze on Dave. Solomon didn't know what kind of transformation magic Dave had used, nor did he need to know. What mattered was that only one spell had gone out of control here.

To resolve the problem, Solomon didn't need any special magic. All he had to do was disrupt the spell structure and counter the magic Dave had unconsciously cast. In a few moments, everything stopped—except for the still-spraying faucet.

Dave stared blankly at the mess before him, then collapsed onto the steps, burying his face in his hands. Finally, he closed his eyes in despair.

"Oh God, what have I done?"

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