Marvel : the Author

Hello everyone ! I hope you're all well !

Let's get out the self-publicity out of the way. You can read advanced chapters or discover some of my other stories on my Patréon page. Look for Cathbel on their search engine ('cause I'm still too small time to be found on google). Also, please tell me what you think of the story in comment and reviews please. I like to exchange with you guys, especially when you present good arguments for some of the stuff you disagree with ! Also, if you still have some stones, I'll be glad to take those off you ! ;)

Now, for the minute culture ! Two weeks ago, I talked about something from my home country : France. Today, I want to talk about one of our author : Bernard Werber. More specifically, his Ant trilogy. I think they were some of his earliest works. Basically, and since it's been forever since I've read it, I might not remember all that well, but it's part about a scientist discovering how to communicate with ants through pheromones, part epic about a worker ant's adventures. Add to that a couple of (pseudo-)scientific excerpts from the scientist about all sorts of stuff. Anyways, if you're interested, I suggest you check it out or some of his other works (the angel/god trilogy is also worth a read).

Enjoy !

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I look at myself in the mirror with satisfaction. Gone is the skinny bald kid reminiscent of a cancer patient. Left in his place was a teenager with a sculpted body : not overly buff, but with a swimmer's build as if created by some artist. In a way, I was… Sculpted, I mean. The series of rituals I conducted to turn my body into this, had been rather challenging to say the least. Body tempering is so~ painful… I'm not sure anyone will want to go through that in a dream. Much less in real life.

« This makes me, what ? Some kind of deviant ? » I comment as the thought crosses my mind.

Of course, I know I'm not a deviant. Pain is not something I enjoy or seek. However, given the alternatives are to end up crippled, dead or simply erased from existence, I can handle pain ! Oh, I forgot other possible bad ends for me : locked up or tortured for eternity.

I avert my eyes from the vision in the mirror and get in the shower. Since I just got out of a ritual session, I'm quite sweaty and smelly. Don't want to go out like this, especially given the fact that it's hot today.

After the shower, I join Cory in the living room who's lounging on the coach watching the TV. One of those soaps was on… At first, she tried to hide the fact that she likes those sorts of shows, changing the channel when I came into the room, playing it like she's just browsing or something. However, dad soon realized that they shared this interest and invited her to join him to watch them. It became kind of a bonding father-daughter time between the two. Now, she watches those even without my dad present, and doesn't bother trying to hide it.

I plop beside her with a notebook and start to draw, half paying attention to what I'm doing, the other watching the show. It's about the tenants of a hotel and its employees living their day to day lives and adventures. It's full of sordid innuendos, the occasional steamy scene with clothes on, and even criminal activities. I don't find it very well played, it heavily revolves around dialogs that repeat themselves from one episode to the next, with different characters… And yet, I find the concept, the original idea pretty well thought-out.

Since it's a rather prestigious hotel in New York, there are a lot of guest stars. Sometimes rather famous ones. They play either their own identity, or a character created for the story. As for the current episode we're watching ? It's a conclusion about a stolen kiss shared between two housekeeping women. One of them, who had always dated guys, was surprised and confused about her own feelings toward her colleague. After the two discussed and exhausted the subject with pretty much all recurring characters, they finally returned toward one another…

« … All this to say… I'm ready to give us a shot. » Rita opens her heart.

Sophie, her counterpart, looks at her in silence for perhaps, a second or two before she says :

« I have something to confess to you… » And then, the episode reaches the end, the credits roll and Cory groans, frustrated by the cliffhanger. Idly, I guess :

« Sophie's already in a relationship with the receptionist, Prudence. »

She whirls and reacts strongly :

« What ? How do you know ? And it's Prue ! »

I shrug. That's how it usually goes with those things. There's almost always a love triangle while the other stories run, to keep the watchers entertained and interested in the romance. At least, I think so… Every time I'm watching these things, there's one woman with two men competing for her hand, one men whose heart flutters between two women… Back and forth, they date, break up, marry the other, divorce. And again. And again.

I stop my train of thought and gaze back at Cory, who's frowning at my declaration and lack of explanation. I realize that it's been some time… I don't even know when's the last time I had a chance to really relax. Frankly, I might have been putting too much pressure on myself. What's the alternative, though ? Inwardly, I shake my head : I can't put my work in question. That'll only discourage me and possibly revert me back to my lazy-self.

There's something oddly satisfying about feeling the fruits of your efforts bear, even if it's not as instantaneous as I would have liked. Suddenly, I realize that… I'm kind of glad that I was reincarnated in this life. Despite the danger, or perhaps thanks to it, I'm a much more serious person. I don't treat everything as a joke, unlike the way I acted as my former self. I put in the work, I build and maintain my relationships. I'm even being proactive, like when I decided to save Peter's uncle !

Who knows, maybe I'll even find fighting crime to not be such a bothersome task…

Suddenly, I hear my cellphone ring in my room, and a feeling of dread almost roots me in the couch. I don't want to pick up : I just know it'll be trouble ! However, I stay silent since I'm afraid I'll jinx myself if I speak. Cory looks at me after the third ring and asks :

« Don't you hear that ? It's your phone, isn't it ? »

I nod, still silent.

« Well ? Then go pick it up ! » She orders the last, with frustration in her voice.

For just a moment longer, I try to disappear into my sit before, with a sigh, I get up and head for my room. Each step echoes in the sudden silence of our home, as if the world itself was holding its breath. Of course, it's probably just all in my head…

« Hello ? » I greet.

« Great ! The Artist finally picked up ! » Peter's sassy and slightly winded voice answers in response. And then, in the background, the sound of metal being folded, glass shattering and rumble crumbling. I knew it : trouble ! I go to end the call before Peter… or rather Spider-Man's voice urgently continues :

« The nutjobs are doing it again ! Teaming up. We need everyone here, like Pronto ! »