Chapter One: Michael Morbius

Michael gazed at the newspaper with a complex expression. It carried the news of playboy Tony Stark’s disappearance.

“As expected,” he sighed.

When he saw the statue of Captain America, he had a vague sense that he had entered an extraordinary world. Coupled with his peculiar blood disease and his own name, he could more or less deduce whose body he had transmigrated into.

He was now Doctor Michael Morbius, the Living Vampire.

“Michael, dinner’s ready.”

“All right, Mother.”

Still a minor, Michael was particularly frail, so much so that he needed a cane to walk. Martha looked at the boy, unable to suppress a pang of pity in her heart.

There were two others at the table. One was a middle-aged man whose bearing was somewhat authoritative, though his hair had already turned white. His name was Jack, Michael’s adoptive father. The other was a girl about the same age as Michael, his nominal sister, though the two never spoke.

“Michael, do you need my help?” Martha asked.

“No need, Mother.”

In truth, Martha was not his biological mother, nor was Jack his blood father. This was not his original family. He had been born with an extremely rare blood disorder that caused his blood cells to die off, weakened his immune system, and left his body frail to the extreme. Even the slightest bump could injure him, possibly even threaten his life.

As the blood cells died, their capacity to carry oxygen diminished, failing to meet the body’s needs. Now, numbness had already set into his limbs, especially his legs, making movement difficult. With no cure in sight, his parents had abandoned him at an orphanage.

Michael, however, had shown remarkable talent for medicine from a young age, which caught the eye of this family’s man, who adopted him as his own child. But to Jack, he was merely a tool for making money; it was Martha who offered him true warmth.

“Michael, how’s the new stroke medication coming along?” Jack asked, looking up.

He admired Michael greatly. If only Michael were healthy—never mind being his son, he’d gladly accept him as a son-in-law. Thanks to Michael’s medical talent, Jack had risen from a minor businessman to the upper echelons of American society, even rubbing shoulders with politicians. Everyone knew that medicine was Michael’s stage; for years to come, he would be a leader in the field.

“It’s not going well.”

Jack saw Michael frown and continued, “No matter, you must be patient.”

“Mm.”

In truth, the research was already complete; Michael just wanted a bit of free time. He needed to be sure whether he really was the Living Vampire. With such a blood disorder, he longed for health too—but it seemed only Morbius could achieve that by becoming a living vampire.

Unfortunately, the timing of his transmigration was not ideal; the Morbius film hadn’t even been released yet, so he had no idea of the specific plot. In the trailers, Morbius was scruffy and middle-aged, far from handsome, and his vampiric form was even rather grotesque.

Yet Michael himself was strikingly handsome—were it not for his frailty, he’d be considered a top-tier beauty. The movie had yet to be released, but driven by curiosity, he’d looked into Morbius’s comic history. In the comics, Morbius was born in Greece, raised by a single mother, with two close friends—one became a doctor and was killed by him, the other joined a villainous organization to hunt him down.

Michael, though sharing Morbius’s name and illness, had been abandoned and adopted in New York. He’d had no close friends to speak of, spending all his time in the lab wrestling with his illness.

Moreover, Morbius was an anti-hero, unable to control himself—those bitten by him also became vampires. There seemed to be a strange connection between him and Spider-Man; when Spider-Man mutated into the six-armed monster, it was Morbius’s blood that cured him, and Spider-Man’s blood seemed to stabilize Morbius. Only Spider-Man, it seemed, could be bitten by him and not turn into a vampire.

Whether or not he truly was Morbius, it was best to start making preparations.

“Father, Mother, I’d like to transfer schools.”

Martha and Jack exchanged anxious glances. Martha asked, “Is someone bullying you?”

“No, I simply want to transfer.”

“Which school do you want to attend?”

“Midtown Science High, I think.”

“Very well,” Jack agreed, turning back to the news. “A great genius has vanished. Who knows what kind of waves this will create in politics.”

Michael said nothing, quietly eating his lunch.

Seeing his indifference, Jack spoke again. “Oscorp would like to recruit you. You know, they’re the leaders in pharmaceuticals, with ties to the military. Their technology is top notch.”

“You agreed?” Michael was surprised. Hadn’t this man always treated him as the family’s golden goose? Was he really willing to let go?

“Yes. We can’t advance any further.” Though they’d connected with politicians, Jack knew he’d reached the peak of his ascent. Any further and he risked losing everything. In New York, the blood on capitalists’ hands ran deep.

“All right. When do I start at Oscorp, and what are they offering?”

“A private lab, a sky-high salary, and the best medical resources.”

Michael smiled. “Not bad.”

“Oh, and what’s that?” He glanced toward a box in the corner. It was draped in a black cloth, but faint sounds and cries suggested something alive within.

A bold guess crossed his mind—could it be the vampire bats that transformed Morbius?

Martha shot it a look of distaste. “We found it at the door this morning. Supposedly a gift for you. Looks more like a prank to me.”

Michael walked over, lifted the cloth, and sure enough, bats.

A rare blood disorder, Michael Morbius, a genius biochemist, and bats—all the elements converged, pointing straight to that anti-hero—the Living Vampire, Morbius.

So, he truly was Michael Morbius.

But the timeline was off: the Morbius movie’s events were supposed to take place after Spider-Man: Far From Home. Right now, everyone’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man was still just a high schooler and hadn’t even been bitten yet.

He couldn’t quite make sense of it, but life had to go on.

“These are just what I needed. Have them sent to my lab later.”