MU’s Moon Knight|| Inner Mind PT One

This story contains violence, swearing, brutality, alcohol, and severe depression. If these are triggers for you I advise you to turn away from this story. You have been warned.

Jake opened his eyes to find himself in a black room, nothing else but him. The room felt like an endless void but for some odd reason, it comforted Jake. He looked around and found nothing for minutes until suddenly he heard a voice.

“Welcome home, Jake” the voice of Khonshu echoed throughout the room as he turned to see the god standing hovering over him. “This place feels better with you back here…more warm.”

“I don’t have time for this shit, Khonshu. Where am I?” Jake asked as he looked around so he didn’t have to see the god of the moon. “We are inside Marc’s mind. The place you and Steven stayed while you all inhabited the same body.”

“This is Marc’s mind? It wasn’t like this before… last time it was so cramped.” Khonshu chuckled before lifting the palm of his hand to conjure a projection showing Marc’s mind and how it used to be when Steven and Jake inhabited it. “Whoa…so without us it’s just empty?”

“Not entirely. Our minds are like rooms. You just need to find a door to open to lead into the other room.” Jake slowly turned to look at Khonshu showing his annoyance toward the god. “Speak in fucking English.”

“Use your mind to create the door, you prick,” He commented, slowly fading away as Jake scoffed at the bird's comment. “Use your mind to create the door. Fucking…ugh forget it.” After mimicking the old god, Jake closed his eyes and pictured a wooden door with, a silver knob with scratches on the wood and once he opened his eyes, it appeared.

“Oh great. I already hate it here,” He said quietly, turning the knob to push the door open and walk through. Jake then found himself at a park with the sun shining from above, the birds chirping as they flew by and families throughout the park. “What in the… Marc wants to go to the park?”

A couple of kids brushed past Jake, slightly knocking his arm to the side. He grunted in annoyance but he watched the kids play and run on the grass and suddenly this felt familiar to him. He doesn’t recall anything that he lived but the more he thought about it never made sense. Until suddenly he heard a voice.

“Marc!! Randal! Lunch is ready!” A woman screamed out as the boys quickly turned around to rush towards a table. Jake slowly turned to see Marc’s mother and father setting the table as the children ran towards them. “Shit… Marc, I thought you got over this.”

“The scars may fade but the wound is never really healed,” Khonshu said, slowly fading into existence beside Jake as they watched the family eat and chatter. “I guess that’s probably the one truth you’ve ever told me.” Khonshu sensed Jake’s resentment and placed his bony hand on the man’s shoulder.

“I may have taken things too far and pushed you all beyond your limits, even made you do things that leave you lying awake at night but I never lied to you. I never have, nor will I ever lie to you.” Jake looked up at the old bird and slowly nodded his head as the children in the background laughed.

“So Marc thinks about his family, I don’t see why that’s the reason he’s stuck here.” Khonshu carefully lifted his hand off Jake’s shoulder and pointed toward Marc's younger brother, Randal. “Maybe it’s not about who he’s lost, Jake Lockley.”

Jake looked at Randal and thought about it. Then he thought about Steven and how they treated him as their younger brother. The realization hit him quickly as both Khonshu and Jake turned to each other and said their idea in unison. “It’s about who he can lose.”

“He doesn’t want to lose us… but that doesn’t make sense! Marc hated us from the get-go and he couldn’t be happier to get away from us!” Khonshu sighed as the area around them faded away and in its place was a bedroom where young Marc was on the floor crying. “Maybe in the end that’s how it seemed, but that’s not how it always was.”

Jake knelt and examined the boy and noticed red marks on his arms and his face. This boy was just abused and hit with a belt recently and the shouting in the other room confirmed Jake’s suspicions. He growled as he rushed to the door but then he felt a familiar presence within the room. He turned to see two white silhouettes made of mist sitting beside Marc, holding him tightly and hugging him. Jake stepped closer as the details of the silhouettes took form and then he saw that they were actually Steven and Jake’s younger self comforting Marc.

“I… I forgot about this. This was the first time Marc let us help him.” Jake fully sat down as the young boy in front of him cried, seeing his younger self hug his brother tightly in an attempt to comfort him. ”Randal was lost due to his bravery but your mother didn’t see it that way.”

“Marc always blamed himself for Randal’s death, but I never thought it ran this deep… in this point of our lives I thought he found some closure.” Khonshu scoffed and sat on the edge of the bed, twisting his staff as the steel reflected the sunlight through the window. “Some things are hard to forget, Jake. You should know this.”

The area faded to black and then suddenly the floor below them was encased in sand. Then Jake looked up to see the pyramids of Egypt and he immediately knew where they were. He turned to see Marc standing beside Bushmaster and the mercenary, Bengal. Bushmaster hired both Marc and Bengal for their service in the military but it was this night that changed everything. Bushmaster was about to kill an innocent girl to extract info from a simple trader of a nervy terrorist cell but Marc hesitated. He knew that this was wrong and he gave a look to Bengal to aid him in his attempt to convince the Bushmaster that there’s another way.

“Raoul… maybe we should back it up? She’s just a kid and it seems like he doesn’t know Jack.” Bushmaster laughed as he pushed the barrel of the gun against the girl's forehead. “Oh please! This sand breather knows something and he’s going to tell me!” Marc growled and kicked Bushmaster’s arm, causing him to launch it forward which sent the gun flying as it fired a shot into the air.

“What the hell, Spector!? I’m paying you for this, ?” He said, pushing Marc roughly as he pushed Bushmaster back. “I didn’t sign on to kill kids or torture innocent people for information. I’m out!” Then Bushmaster started laughing like a psycho as both Bengal and Marc looked at each other before staring back at Bushmaster.

“There’s only one way out of this, Marc. So if you want out… then I’ll gladly take you out!” Bushmaster lunged at Marc only for Marc to quickly slam his fist into his employer’s face and the sand. Suddenly Bengal attacked Marc and they began to counter each other’s moves. “I thought you were the good guy?!”

“You’re both a disgrace to the army! I don’t know how you got in anyway! From now on I’ll target those who dishonor their title in the Ar-“ Suddenly Bengal was riddled with bullets and Marc watched as his new and now dead foe dropped to the group lifeless. He turned to see Bushmaster, his bloody nose dripping as he smirked, pulling the trigger and filling Marc with lead.

“Marc Marc Marc. I thought you understood the mission. I need better people to rely on… see you in Hell, fucker.” Bushmaster said, turning around and firing the weapon on both the man and girl in front of Marc before vanishing into the night.

Marc watched in horror as the innocent was murdered before him and lay there injured with no ability to do anything. Suddenly the wind blew harshly, picking up the sand and it almost blinded Marc. He noticed a refuge so he crawled through the sand, his blood mixing with the pit below him and he finally arrived inside the temple, resting against the stairs as he slowly bled out.

“Who dares disgrace my memorial with their bodily fluids?” A voice spoke out as Marc chuckled, coughing up blood and spitting out into the sand. “Great… I’m dying and I’m hearing a voice in my head. Maybe I really am going crazy.”

“Ohhh a mortal? An insect losing its life…well considering your situation I’d say you're rather fortunate,” the voice echoed as Marc looked up at the statue he laid before and saw a bird with a moon on the top of its head. “Oh…a bird. Cool.”

“I think it would be a waste if you just simply died. You have fire and a sense of justice others do not…I shall make you an offer.” Marc scoffed before resting his head on the step below, the blood from his mouth dripping onto the concrete below. “Just let me die..”

“Hear me out. You tried to protect those people but you failed…with me, you never will fail again. All you have to do is swear to me. Swear to my oath!” The wind picked up again and Marc grunted in pain as he looked up to see the eyes of the statue glowing. “I’ll never fail…I want to live and protect them.”

“Then rise, Marc Spector! You will be my hands. You will be my eyes. My vengeance… My Moon Knight!” Khonshu roared as Marc’s eyes glowed as the first suit he ever wore slowly formed over his body and all his wounds were gone.

Jake and Khonshu watched the origin of Marc Spector and Jake was more than ready to leave. He turned away to sigh and bang his head against the wall in frustration as Khonshu simply watched. The moon god watched as his past self easily turned Marc into his agent of Vengeance and felt…sick. He finally now understood why the boys hated him so much. His cruel words, his twisted sense of reality.

“I see now. At the time I merely thought you all were whining but now I understand.” Jake lifted his bruised head from the wall and looked at Khonshu as the god continued to stare at his past self standing beside Marc. “I saw an opportunity to fulfill my desire to deliver justice to those who threaten the night…but I didn’t realize that I was a threat to you as well.”

“Well…it wasn’t all you, bird. We were getting sick of each other as well. It doesn’t exactly bundle up well.” They both shared a laugh as Khonshu scratched the back of his skull. “All the same…I am truly sorry, Jake.”

Jake felt a sense of relief…all that pain that he felt as the Moon Knight was suddenly gone. His anger dwindled and a smile cracked on his face as he nodded in response to Khonshu. Just before he could say anything else the area was covered with mist, the temple morphing into a staging ground with cobwebs hanging from the dark abyss above. Jake looked at the statue and saw Marc still there, now wearing a black suit replica of the Moon Knight armor. His eyes glowed white as he slowly stood up and turned to the two behind him, wielding his staff and aiming towards Jake.

“Uh…Khonshu?” Jake asked for the god, turning to see him shrug in confusion as he turned back to look at Marc. Suddenly Marc was right in front of Jake and slammed his staff across his brother's face, tossing him across the strange realm. “M-Marc!! It’s Me! Jake!!”

Jake rubbed his face and quickly dodged Marc’s staff, watching as the steel plunged into the ground below. Marc released the weapon and lunged towards Jake, his hands wrapped around Jake’s throat as they both struggled to maintain control over the other. Just as his vision was starting to go blurry, Jake delivered a devastating blow to Marc’s side and tossed him off.

“Fine…you don’t wanna talk? Then let’s fight!” Jake screamed, pulling out his crescent darts and gripping them tightly as Marc ripped his staff out of the ground. The two charged at each other as Jake’s suit formed over his body, the two representing their opposite. The light and the dark.

To Be Continued…

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of Moon Knight and are excited for many more to come!! ~ William

Title Card was made by Daisy

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