Taylor arrives in a new world.

Taylor stumbled onto the ground, spit flying out of his mouth and onto the pavement. It hurt to breath, every gulp of air burning his lungs. He glanced around, sweet dripping down his brow and cheeks. His head pounded, but it didn’t feel like a headache, merely pressure at the back of his skull.

Taylor groaned, pulling himself up. He winced, just as flashes of something went through his mind. Snippets of a conversation he couldn’t remember having, the person he was talking to strangely absent in his mind. He had been angry at the person, then subdued and finally accepting.

What the hell happened? Taylor thought, getting control of his haggard breathing. He blinked feeling another flash of emotion. Of Hunger.

Taylor surveyed the area and found himself on a deserted street. A fast food shop with a large ‘W’ on top of the main doors was to his left, while on the other side there was a beauty salon. Wait, it wasn't deserted. There were people in the distance, running away from him.

A loud bang echoed from a building farther down the road, the windows on the shop front exploded outward, showering the road and pavement with glass and debris. The walls crumbled in on itself and the roof collapsed without the support.

Taylor winced, stumbling backwards, his heart pounding in his chest as he glanced around him. There were a number of screams and shouts in the distance, likely coming from the people running away. Which was what Taylor should be doing. He didn’t know where he was, but he knew it wasn’t safe here.

Taylor turned around, ready to sprint to somewhere safe but stopped. A tall, broad shouldered man was stalking toward him. The trenchcoat, messy brown hair and completely black eyes with only a pinprick of red in them told Taylor he was bad news.

“Hehe, guess there will be a few injuries.” The man said, his voice gravelly.

“Wait, don’t hurt me.” Taylor said, eyes widening as the taller man raised his hand. Taylor eyed the hand and strangely found a card in it. “I don’t know ....where I am, please don’t hurt me!”

“Sorry bro, but the boss wants no witness while we conduct our search. You just happen to be in the wrong place at the right time. The name’s Gambit, you can at least know who killed you.” Gambit said, flinging the card at Taylor.

Taylor’s eyes widened, not at the name and appearance finally registering in his mind. But at the card, and how his hands went to protect himself from the shockwave that he knew would come. He didn’t want to die. Time appeared to slow down for him as the card came closer. He couldn’t dodge out of the way, if only the card would miss him.

The air shifted around Taylor just as the card was within a few feet of him, it swerved in the air and flew past Taylor’s head.

“Wha?” Taylor asked, gasping for breath. He winced as the card exploded behind him.

“What, how did I miss? Nevermind I - hey, wait a minute!” Gambit shouted.

Taylor ignored the taller man and sprinted down the road. He now knew why the people were running away, and he needed to follow suit. He wasn’t the best runner, but with his life on the line did his best to put some distance in between him and Gambit.

Taylor didn’t want to believe the man’s words, but his actions certainly added to some credibility. The only Gambit he knew that could fling exploding cards was from the Marvel comics, and he went from being a hero to a villain and back again fairly often.

He didn’t look back, but tried to judge the distance by how far away the shouting was. Out of the corner of his eye another card flew past his head and impacted a lamppost a few metres ahead.

Taylor’s eyes widened, unsure at what to do. It hadn’t exploded yet, and he likely still had time to run past it. His eyes widened as a flash of something went through his mind. The card was on a timer, if he attempted to go past it then it would explode automatically.

Taylor didn’t know how he knew that information, but he didn’t ignore it. He jumped over the hood of a car, and ran to the other side of the road. The timer on the card went off a few seconds later, a boom and then followed by shards of the lampost. The debris went in all directions, Taylor trusted his instincts and zig-zagged along the pavement, the debris hitting the ground around him.

Taylor glanced behind him and found Gambit farther down the road, not attempting to follow after him. He sighed in relief and as he turned the corner, hiding behind a car a few moments later. He didn’t know how long he waited there, all he could do was get his haggard breathing under control. His mind raced at the implications as he stared at the building in front of him.

The Taco Bell sign dominated the store front. It was slightly singed on the corners, maybe an explosive had struck it.

“I’m in America, but how?” Taylor asked, the last thing he remembered was going for a walk in cloudy London, an ocean away. But the bigger issue was Gambit, how was he here. Taylor didn’t believe in magic, but had he somehow been transported to the Marvel universe. “The first thing I need to do is find the police, or someone that can help me figure this all out.”

Taylor stood up on shaky legs, grabbing the car for support. He crept back along the wall and peered around the corner. The street was a mess, from Gambit and whatever fight had taken place here. Gambit had disappeared, but Taylor was sure he had fought someone. There were scorch marks, destroyed cars and asphalt.

“I need to find,” Taylor paused. If he was in the Marvel universe then he needed to figure out which one. Did he need to go to the Xmen, Avengers or somewhere else.

“Excuse me, are you okay?” Said a soft, melodious voice.

Taylor spinned round, expecting to find Gambit or another mutant ready to attack him. Instead he found a redhead woman, slightly taller then him. She wore a jumpsuit with an X etched onto the chest, a red cloak billowed behind her. She was beautiful, with large breasts and wide hips framed by the bodysuit.

“I...err...you!” Taylor was gobsmacked.

“I guess you have heard of me, my name is Jean Grey.” Jean said, smiling slightly as she walked forward. “I am here to save you from the Brotherhood.”

“Save me?” Taylor said, blinking before he realised what she meant. “Yes, I saw Gambit in the other street, I think he may hurt someone.”

“There isn’t anyone else in the immediate area, now that you have escaped.” Jean said. “They were after you, a powerful meta-human.”

“What?”