Nexus - Into the Marvelverse

3rd POV:

We all know how it goes.

Backstory.

Philosophical Diatribe. (Maybe)

Sad or hilarious Death.

Roll Credits.

Oh, look. The Afterlife, Limbo or whatever.

Meet ROB or God.

Philosophical Diatribe. (Again (Maybe))

Something, something, something about mistakes or entertainment or saving, yada yada yada.

Wishes or Gifts.

ROB or God sends you off and gives one last mysterious One Liner.

And before you know it, you come out screaming from the vastness that is the void. Aka the womb.

1st POV :

Yep that is me. The Protagonist of this story. You are probably wondering how I got here. That is unimportant for now.

 What's my name? Who knows? Its certainly not my old one. 1 Minute old and getting his buttocks slapped by a nurse. Its good to be alive (again). Only needed to kill trillions. But then again, I cheated.

But you know what they say. If you don't cheat to win, you're doing something wrong. Or something.

Rest in Pepperoni my brothers and sisters.

After being tossed around and who knows what else they do when a baby is born, I'm tucked in warm clothes and being laid in my mothers arms, at least I think that is what they do.

Being blind sucks.

''Welcome to the world my little Bell,'' whispered a feminine voice. Obviously my mother.

''Wait I thought, we were gonna call him Rex,'' complained a male voice. Obviously my father.

At least I'm not deaf too.

Also sweet mother of Jesus. NOO! Do not call me Rex. Sounds to close to T-Rex. I shuddered, having narrowly avoided years of bullying.

Waaait, a second.

...Bastard's probably an archeologist.

''No,'' deadpanned the woman. You tell him woman.

The male voice whined but then cheerfully replied: ''Fine. But it seems our little bell must be defect. It is certainly quiet.''

Groan.

''Ha, even Bell seems to agree with me. Worst dad joke I ever heard,'' the woman laughed.

''I can already tell you two will team up on me a lot,'' joked the man.

''But seriously do you agree? Is Bell a good name? We haven't signed any papers yet, we can still decide otherwise. I memorized the entire list,'' asked the woman, apprehensively.

My position shifted slightly. Probably the man settling on the bed to hug his wife.

''Of course it is. Our little Bell O'Quinn,'' a smooch was heard, '' I am proud of you. Both of you.''

Guess I got my new name.

Huzzah.

I zoned out when I noticed they were only going to talk about mundane stuff.

I can already tell I'm going to hate the next few years.

A nipple was put into my mouth.

...

Well I certainly won't hate that.

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Would you look at that. I was right. My father is an archeologist. My mother works as a doctor. Which means they will be absent. A lot.

The exception to that was the last three years. We are not obscenely rich. But their jobs pay good cash and my father has his inheritance, meaning they could spend time with me. 

But now their parental leave is over. And obviously no sane parent would let their three year old son alone at home.

The dreaded 'You're not mature enough'-argument would have been deployed, so I didn't even try to argue otherwise. Which honestly, yeah. Completely reasonable thing to do. But bad for me 'cause I'm on a mission and I needed to scheme.

Which means a sitter. After asking around for a bit they settled for one of our neighbors. A stay at home mom. They are not rich enough to afford a sitter, had no other family, barely making ends meet and living paycheck to paycheck. But they had good rep and someone my age. Only one year older than me.

I sniffed. Agh, good old America.

Bad for them for living like that, but good for us because suddenly a sitter was available close by. And suddenly good for them, because now they are getting paid a good amount of money. In Cash. Non-Taxed at that too.

Don't let the IRS catch wind of that.

My father already left for his job. There was crying involved. I'm a good actor and liar. And now my mother is accompanying me two houses down the road to my sitter before she leaves for work.

DingDong. The bell rang. The door opened and my sitter stepped out.

''Melina,'' she greeted warmly, then she looked at me and bowing down a bit, '' And you must be Bell. Hello little one.''

''May, good morning. I'm here to drop Bell off. Remember that I will come back at 19 o'clock to pick him up and that I will pay you at the end of the week,'' repied my mother, the part about payment being more forceful.

''Melina, I told you, you don't need to pay us. I would look over him for free. All I would want is for Bell and Peter to become good friends, '' May assured my mother, also rather forcefully. Clearly they had a debate turned conflict going on here.

Hold up. May? Peter? My eyes whipped over to the door bell.

Parker residence.

Aaaaaaaalright universe.

Gotcha.

Subtle.

My mother rudely ignored May's remark. But honestly understandably so if they have being arguing about payment. She bowed down to my level.

''Alright, my little bell. I know you like to act mature, but could you please listen to Aunt May here. If for nothing else, but to give me peace of mind, knowing that you are safe and in good company. Mhm?,'' she kindly asked smiling at me.

I nodded with all the adorable seriousness I could muster.

My mothers smile widened and gave me a kiss on my forehead:'' I'm proud of you my little bell. Now remember...''

''Yes, 19 o'clock is when you'll be back. Don't climb into a strangers car. Don't accept sweets from strangers. The whole skeddadle. You only gave me the speech 13 times. I counted by the way,'' I interrupted. In the corner of my eyes I saw Aunt May quickly hide her confusion at the way I talked.

Look I may be a good liar and actor, but I'm not gonna talk like a three year old. I will get brain damage from all this broken speech.

Traces of tears formed in my mothers eyes. Look, I get it. I'm her only son. A son she is now forced to part from for a long period of time. That is hard on first time parents. She worries. I get it. But any more of this and she is gonna be late.

''Don't cry. Stay safe,'' I told her seriously and adorably.

My mother gave a small chuckle. Before swallowing and nodding. She rubbed her eyes and gave me another kiss on the head. Before standing up and walking some meters away towards back home where our car was parked. She stopped at the side walk and turned around to blow me a kiss and wave at me. I saluted her.

Enough of this soap opera performance. Just go already woman. When my mother turned around to continue her path towards the car, I turned towards Aunt May, simply starring at her.

Aunt May looked at me quickly realizing she needed to uphold decorum: '' Oh, where are my manners. Come in, come in. Make yourself at home.''

She guided me to the living room, closing the door behind us on the way and gestured me to sit on the couch. 

''Peter can you come down here. We have a guest,'' the 4 year old came down the stairs. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Completely unremarkable. That is of course until his spider bite. Or not. Don't know which Universe this is. The knowledge I have is useful, but I'm not gonna take it at face value.

May rested her hands on his shoulders, standing behind him.

''Well, won't you two introduce yourself?,'' asked May.

I hopped from the couch and stretched out my hand for a handshake: ''Bell O'Quinn''

Bastard gave me a low high five instead of a handshake. You telling me his social awkwardness started this early? Nah, I'm probably to harsh on this little runt.

''I'm Peter ... Parker,'' he tried to match my serious introduction, slightly pausing to remember his surname.

''Peter why don't you show Bell around the house, especially the kitchen and the bathroom. Then you two can play something,'' May tasked her nephew, rubbing his shoulders.

Hold up woman, are you seriously letting two toddlers unsupervised roam through the house? Peter began dragging me to the kitchen, but I payed attention to Aunt May from my periphery. She took a key and closed the door, then she went away. Probably the back door to close that one too. Nevermind I retract my statement. Which also means that she might have baby proofed the rest of the house, if she showed such consideration. Detergent high on the shelves, that kind of thing.

I didn't pay too much attention to Peter babbling away while showing me around his house. It's a single family house. They are all the same.

Finally we finished the tour in his room.

We talked a bit... Oh who am I kidding, the boy rambled. I let him and at other times indulged him. I thought his parents would die when he is older, like when he is five or something. But to lose them this early? It tells me nothing about which universe I'm in. Did he lose them recently or was it when he was one year old? Does he even feel their absence or does it not register in his brain? Certainly not a conversation I could open on our first meeting. Probably not for many years either.

We began playing. He may be a genius, but I cheated by being an adult in a kids body. He lost badly, multiple times in a row.

He started bawling.

Sore loser.

May burst into the room, looking at us to quickly assess the situation. When she couldn't find any evident wrongness around us she hugged Peter trying to comfort him while asking: '' Oh my little baby boy, what happened?`Why are you crying?''

The snot nosed brat choked and buried his face in her shoulder, bawling something incoherently that could only be understood by aliens.

May looked at me helplessly and I decided to spare her Peters drivel: '' We played Wood Tower Block Stacking. He lost, badly. Multiple times.''

Unseen by Peter she gave an amused smile before making her face neutral. She put him down and began to impart words of wisdom upon him: ''Oh, Peter. There is nothing wrong with losing. It happens to everyone. All that matters is to learn from them and pick yourself back up and try to do better next time.''

She rubbed his cheek and Peter began slowly calming down. He finally nodded, putting on a brave face. Yeah, buddy, that doesn't really work when snot is running down your mouth. God, children are disgusting.

''Tell you what. Why don't I make you two some Wheatcakes? I was just about to make you two food anyway,'' suggested Aunt May coyly, taking out a tissue to wipe his snot. What? Does she just carry them around with her constantly. Is this a reoccuring event?

Peter immediately cheered up and dragged me behind Aunt May.

Several minutes later we stuffed our faces with Wheatcakes while all of us were watching cartoons, specifically Tom and Jerry. That is to say, May and I ate with decorum while Peter was stuffing his face as if his life depended on it.

May put her plate down, after being done. Looked at us for a few seconds and said: ''Well despite what happened. You two seem to go along swimmingly. You must have had a lot of fun.''

Peter nodded, his cheeks bulging with Wheatcakes, like a squirrel.

May looked at me and I nodded as well. It was the least troublesome answer.

''Well I am glad you two became friends. I mean you two are friends, right?,'' May asked hopefully.

Jesus, woman. You wouldn't know subtlety if it would explode in your face. Could you make it any more obvious what you are trying to do here. Then again she is talking to 3-4 year olds. They are dumb as fuck.

Peter nodded enthusiastically and both of them turned at me. ''Sure,'' I replied.

Both smiled.

Fine. I will roll with the punches for now, universe.

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A few years passed. I'm 6 years old now. Peter is getting seven years old in two months. He could technically start 1st grade already. But my parents and his aunt and uncle talked and they concluded it would be best if we are all in the same grade. So next year its back to school for me. 

I want to kill myself already.

Not much else happened. There is currently a war going on between my mother and aunt May. Its about payment, of course. I'm sorry, but is the Parker family allergic to getting helped in turn. Do they have a messiah complex, that they insist on helping others, but refuse to let others help them in turn? No wonder Spider-Man suffers so many tragedies. He was fucked up by his parents/ aunt and uncle.

I'm trying to convince my parents to buy me a computer to make bank. Currently this mission is on hold, for not much progress was made there. I hope to change that so I can start businesses and ventures that were successful in my old world. Better for me to possess some of these businesses than others. At least I won't abuse the workers or the money.

Surely.

Surely, I don't plan to use the money I make to finance my extracurricular activities.

Surely.

Aside from that I practiced my magic in the dead of the night. Not much progress there. I was told by ROB that i have nearly infinite reserves, I just need to learn to control it. What type of magic? Limited by my imagination.

Imagine it like the ocean. Can you control the ocean? With great difficulties you can at least guide it, but not control. Well I can control it. Its just the task of leaning how to control it is ... enormous. And I have no system or anything of the sort to help me. Although thank god for that, it means I have to do everything myself manually.

I can at the very least conjure some fire balls. They are weak as fuck and disappear quickly if I don't shoot them, but hey at least its progress. I'm sure Thanos, Galactus or anyone else is gonna be intimidated by that.

It is not a X-Gene. So no mind raper at the door for me. Huzzah. Not that anyone under any circumstances could read my mind anyway. That is the only blatant interference ROB allowed himself. 

Aside from that I have an enhanced body, super healing and I'm immortal aka I don't age, if I don't want too. Honestly, these boons are only intended as crutches, the real magic is ... well, my near unlimited magic only limited by my creativity. I could have achieved all those things with my magic as well. So again, crutches. Nothing more than that.

And that is it. All my gifts from ROB. Now one might think I was scammed, but (and I can't reiterate this enough) my near unlimited magic makes me practically God. At least when compared to beings of this universe and its variants. It is just a matter of getting there.

And my mission? Entertainment. 

Which honestly, yeah, I get it. The Multiverse exists. it is infinite. 'Aliens' exist too and humans are not the center of the universe. The people that keep the universe running have seen it all before. They don't care if one universe ends. But they do try to squeeze just that little bit of feeling out of everything. You know, THAT feeling.

I specifically asked. If I do a poor job, they will just leave me alone and rope someone else into their schemes. In other worlds I can keep my powers and go ham.

And honestly? I dig that. Sounds like chill people to me (assuming they spoke the truth, not that I have any way of verifying that anyway.), so I can at the very least try to entertain them as thanks.

I wasn't granted any superior intellect or super brain, so on that front I either need to learn through studying or socialize. In other words I need to play nice with Peter and others of his like.

Which brings me here. In front of the Stacy residence. The family moved just two weeks ago. And today is the day my family (minus my father who will only come back next month) and the Parker family will welcome them into our neighborhood. 

Gotcha, universe.

Subtle.

I can already tell who is going to move into the second house between the Parker residence and our residence.

A man stepped out. You know how it goes.

''Good morning, can I help you?''

''Greetings, we are your neighbors and these three are friends of ours. They live just one house down the road. We wanted to welcome you into our neighborhood.''

They introduce themselves. The man is George Stacy. Gifts are exchanged. We all are invited into his house. We meet his wife, Evelyn Stacy. And his daughter Gwendolyn aka Gwen Stacy. The adults talk and we all eat.

They ask exactly one question about my winered eyes. Mother tells them its because of a mutation, like when green or blue eyes joined the genepool. I do not suffer from albinism. Yes, I know. I look like an edgy anime character. You think I chose this appearance?

The children are bored out of their minds.

The man is a police man, the woman a nurse. Their daughter will start school next year. The woman began talking about their jobs, mother and Evelyn hitting it of immediately and doing their best to include May in their conversation, who is feeling slightly excluded.

The men drink beer and talk about their wives, their kids and their jobs. George talks about his experience as a police man. Ben about his experience as an electrician. Then the talks switch over to politics.

And now the kids are getting really bored. We are let out into the backyard to play. Peter gets jealous for having to share his first and only friend. I get to play peacemaker. Nothing gets resolved. Peter just puts on a mask and pretends everything is fine. Then all three of us play. Peter subtly tries to make us two team up against her. Honestly not a bad attempt at subtlety. I'm having none of that and force them to team up against me, cause I'm too good to take on alone. By the end all three of us become friends. And Peter like the child he is, forgot about his fear and jealousy about Gwen stealing his friend away.

We went back inside. Some more conversation. The adults continue to talk for 40 minutes at the door, before we finally go back home. Gwen will join us now in our sitting sessions with May. 

On the bright side Evelyn and mother have now teamed up against May in regards to payment. Ooooh, it's not looking good for May Parker. Can she manage two frontal assaults? Find out in the next episode of Dragon Ball Z.

There we go. A summary of the past 10 hours. I was not about to recount every single shit about that experience, especially since I only half payed attention.

Mother tucks me in bed, kisses my forehead and leaves my room closing the door behind her. I sleep for three hours before waking myself up. I check if the blinds are down. Check if my mother is sleeping. And then resume my magical training.

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2010 happens. Tony Stark gets kidnapped. We are 8 years old with Peter being 9. He is already displaying his genius intellect.

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2011 comes. Evelyn gets cancer and dies. Gwen loses her mother at the age of ten. We cry. There is a funeral. We try to comfort Gwen. No success there, obviously. She is devastated. 

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2012 arrives. The Watson move in next to the Stacy's and the Parker's. No surprise there. We all greet them like we greeted the Stacy's. The father tensing and quickly relaxing, when he learned that George is a police officer. Pity George didn't catch that. 

We didn't make friends with MJ.

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New years eve is over and 2013 is now here. Peter begs us all to go an expo where Justin Hammer tries to display his armored drones. 

I have suspicions about what is to come.

There is no way I can refuse without raising eyebrows. Mother wants to go and I was always healthy, so being sick won't fly with my mother. MJ was not our friend, but she was still invited. She won't come, cause her father won't let her citing money issues and George and Ben have to go to work. It's only mother Aunt May, Peter, Gwen and I. 

Alright then Plan B. Cause a mess and drag my feet so we will arrive late. If we will be let in then at the very least we will be far to the back in the crowd and closer to the exit.

My mother was frustrated not understanding why I would behave like this when I was normally so 'obedient'.

But we make it into the expo. As I suspected it went to shit. People run around. We get split up. Say what you want about them, but those people grew on me. Like fungus. I was willing to cause some subtle magic should the need arise. Was it smart? No. Was it risky, because someone could see me *cough* S.H.I.E.L.D *cough*? Absolutely. Was I going to do it anyway? Oh, for sure.

I cast some unseen magic to sense my surroundings. Hm. Mother and Aunt May are bigger than us children who can weave through adults legs. I guess I should not be surprised that they were pushed far to the back away from danger. If nothing else it is a testament to their character that they were trying to push back to save us.

Peter was just saved by Iron Man and only a few armored drones remained throughout the expo. And Gwen?

I immediately run in her direction, which wan't to far from me. Seems one armored drone (=AD) wasn't properly destroyed. If nothing else it seemed to have lost its repulsor blasts. It was trying to clumsily grab Gwen. Looking around the area, I was glad I didn't have to use any more magic. I unzipped my hoodie and jumped on the back of the AD, putting the hoodie around its head and gave a normal kick to the back of his knee while simultaneously letting my body drop while still clinging to my hoodie, letting gravity do its work. The AD fell backwards into a rebar piece that pierced through his chest.

I grabbed Gwen by the hand and we both run away towards mother and May.

We are reunited and go back home. Peter is now a fan of Tony Stark. Great. Gwen stays with us. Until her father can come home from his duties. 

He arrives frantic and disheveled and hugs Gwen to the point she probably experienced some pain. She tells him what happened. Traitor. George thanks me profusely and tells me I'm always welcome to come to him for help with anything. We say our goodbye and they leave.

''Bell....,'' my mother calls after me when I was climbing the stairs to go to my bed.

I stop and turn around with a raised eyebrow.

She stands there. Uncertainty on her face. Then quickly it gave way to shame and finally settled for determination.

''Nothing. I just wanted to wish you good night,'' she told me finally.

I played it cool and shrugged, as I have done so the past few years whenever she wished me good night and wished her good night in turn.

I climbed in my bed after turning off the light. 

Fuck. She suspects.

I was too 'obedient'. Having concluded that it was the path of least resistance until I'm older and can have more autonomy, I decided to play the part of a child that listens to his parents. I mean what parent wouldn't like to have a child that behaves and acts mature. It means they won't get as many headaches. I was also hoping that this behavior will give me benefits, like a computer or something else. But noooooo, some people just can't be pleased.

My behavior before the expo was out of the norm. Damn it. I have no one to blame but myself.

At least no one else knows or suspects that I can use magic. At best they will find it unusual how a child remained so calm in that situation, but nothing else.

If nothing else my mother seems to trust me. Going by her expressions, she must have had suspicions about me, but then came the shame for daring to think badly of me and suspecting me of something and then finally determination. Most likely scenario is either that she resolved herself to wait for me until I tell her my secret myself or she will try to find out the truth in another way.

Just in case I decided to play it extra safe and didn't practice today. What I did do, was expanding my magic to see what my mother would do.

So far nothing unusual.

In that case its time to scheme some more.

I could get myself involved in the criminal underworld. Two problems with that. One my build. For all that I have vastly expanded my repertoire in the last few years, shapeshifting and illusions are not among them yet. Even with a voice modulator, from my height alone, everyone will know I'm a child. And one thing I learned in my 81 years of living (70+11) is that humans are way too fucking shallow. I could wield the power of a black hole at my finger tips and the adults in the underworld would not take me seriously just cause I'm a child.

Second problem. Power. I needed more of it. Yes I have more skills, but they lack in intensity. And until I make my attacks more powerful, I just don't feel ready. Here is the caveat to that. I can no longer practice in my house. I can develop new techniques inside the house, but adding power to them is a whole other matter. I needed more space. Like the sewers.

No clue how I would go about solving that though. My mother still won't let me out of her eyes. Can't blame her since I'm only 11, but still.

I sighed in frustration. I guess in a way my parents are starting to become a liability. Well, more so my mother than my father.

Damn it, I needed to think of something.

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A week later my mother bought me my computer. While I'm thankful, it is a little to late for my purposes. Most of the businesses already got started. Then again YouTube is a thing. And hey would you look at that. I majored in IT and my hobbies were drawing and playing music.

Good memories, good memories.

Pity the war tainted them.

Guess I'm gonna have to put those old skills back to good use again. Seems I'm getting my money for my extracurricular activities anyway.

After some arguing I managed to convince my mother to also make a bank account for me. Now granted I'm a minor so I can't access it by my lonesome. I had to be accompanied by my custodian aka my mother to withdraw money. But still, major progress.

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I knew what my first venture would be, in regards to money making. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. It doesn't exist yet. Good for me. Bad for the audiences heartstrings.

After easily doing my homework, I got to work. I was alone for once, having convinced my mother I'm finally mature and old enough to be alone at home. I think it was more so what happened last week than any argument I made that convinced her. Still, you lose some, you win some I guess.

I get to drawing digitally, before suddenly stopping, an idea creeping in my mind. There is NO limit to my powers, except my creativity. I mean .... there is no reason to at least try it. My control should be good enough for that and I do know how computers work. Besides, if I'm successful my identity will remain all the safer when I make my debut as my alter ego, for no camera will catch me.

I put my hand on the PC and closed my eyes. I concentrated trying to will my magic to accomplish what I wanted.

I opened my eyes slowly when my senses felt different. 

It was .... like an entirely different world. Not one only made out of binary codes as I expected but also of so much more. I was .... aware in a way.

I shook my 'head'. Time to get to work. If nothing else work will also suffice as practice. It wasn't strictly Technomancy. At least not in the way I knew of, from some of the literature in my old world. This was more like hacking programms and stuff on steroids. But still, if nothing else this serves as proof of concept and it is a matter of time until this ability of mine evolves.

I was sluggish at first. Very much so. It was like I was a baby again and needed to walk again (again). But still I was getting there. Slowly but surely. First I crawled, then I stumbled along. I began walking, running and then sprinting. Getting more and more familiar with this ability of mine. I was now executing commands in nanoseconds and before I knew it I was done.

All ten episodes of Edgerunners. Hell I even got around to using some programms to create sound removing the need to find voice actors. You could barely tell the difference. After quickly dipping my toes in the internet I created and added all the relevant songs as well , seeing as none were released yet.

Ach, thank god for photographic memory. An ability I always had and one that carried over. Both a blessing and a curse, seeing as I can't forget anything even if I wanted too.

And thank god for my magic. I just did in a few hours, what would have otherwise taken months of work.

I exited this world. Now it is only a matter of releasing the content. I decided to release it every two weeks. Giving the impression one episode would require two weeks of works. Hell, as an intermission I can even release the songs as standalones and trademark them for free use. Fuck the corpos who would have just patented it and copyright striked everyone that wanted to share these songs.

I looked at the time and my heart sank. 21 o'clock. I quickly cast some sensory magic. My mother was in the kitchen, making food.

Fuck!

First thing she does when coming from work is to take me from the Parker's back home, then she takes a shower and begins making food, usually at 20 o'clock. Getting to the bathroom requires walking past my room and I forgot to lock the door. Why? BECAUSE I'M A FUCKING IDIOT!

I closed my eyes forcing myself to calm down.

OK, Bell. Go down there, assess the damage and play it cool. Play. It. Cool.

''Evening, mom,'' I greeted after climbing down the stairs.

She turned around and smiled when she saw me: ''Bell. Good Evening. Take a seat. Just a few more minutes and I'm done. I'm making your favorite.''

Spaghetti Bolognese. Bribery?

''You need help?,'' I offered taking a seat.

''Oh, that would be kind of you. Take out the plates and and the silverware, please,'' she instructed me. Nothing in her voice. Hm. I did as instructed.

She took the plates and put down the food, then she took out the cheese and grated it over the sauce, just how I liked it. We sat down and began eating. We weren't big on prayers and the like.

Delicious.

I subtly observed her. I looked at her hands and at her face. Nothing that indicates anything. Either she didn't see anything or she is one hell of an actress. I COULD cast some mind reading magic. But not only have I not practiced the skill, but felt disgusted about doing it. Don't get me wrong, to an enemy I would do it immediately. But to allies? So the skill was a little down the priority list. 

''Sorry, about not greeting you back when you came home. I was with my nose in my computer,'' I apologized to mother. Alright, it was a little bit on the nose. But i saw it as my last viable option. And obviously I'm not gonna outright ask her.

''Oh, it is fine. Why do you think I held off from getting you a computer for so long. But I don't want it to happen again, you hear me? What were you even doing? Were you playing one of these Steam games I heard so much about?,'' mother questioned, giving nothing away. Damn she is good.

''No. It was a Flash Game, which is different from Steam Games. It is run by a programm named Adobe Player. Anyone can make games with it and market them, but most of them are free. Besides to buy games on Steam I'd need to create an account and link it to my bank account or buy a Steam Gift card and input a code. And seeing as I have neither of these,'' I casually explained at times taking a bite out of my food. I shrugged in a *what can you do* manner at the end

''Well, I want none of that. If today was any indication, more games are just gonna distract you more and they will ruin your future. I want you to focus on your studies and become successful in life,'' she sharply commanded.

Yeah, no, I immediately discarded her command. I already bought into this lie in my last life. Studying is important, true, but there are so many more factors that play into being successful that are never mentioned. Besides I'm immortal, money will be no issue for me. And if it will, I will throw myself into the sun out of shame.

Still I nodded and said:'' Right, sorry. I will do better next time.'' I looked down for extra measure, just to really sell my shame.

Mother sharply nodded. Then we ate some more. Finally when we were almost done she inquired something:'' By the way. You told me you wanted to open a YouTube channel. The entire point of why you made me open a bank account. Remember? Did you do anything with it? What do you even plan on uploading on it?''

Play it cool. I swallowed and drank the rest down before answering:'' I haven't completely decided yet. I mean, I was thinking about uploading Let's Plays about the different games I was gonna play, but you made your wishes clear on that.''

''People really watch other people play video games? Why? Can't they play it themselves?,'' she asked in confusion, interrupting me before I could tell her more about my plans.

''Oh, yes. Lots of people do that actually. I don't know why. Maybe it is the charm or the humor the YouTubers bring to the table. Or maybe its entirely unrelated to that. Maybe they are disabled and can't play themselves. Could also be that they are not financially stable, so they do the next best thing. Watch others play. YouTube is free after all,'' I explained.

''If it is free, then how do the YouTubers make money?,'' she asked in confusion.

''Advertisement. The more views you have the more money you make. That or sponsorship. Where you get money to advertise and sell one product specifically by relying on celebrity fame to convince your audience. Making money is merely a matter of understanding the algorithm,'' I continued to explain. Granted there was more to it, but this was the biggest part of it.

''And do you? Understand the algorithm that is?,'' inquired mother casually, putting her fork and spoon on the plate finally being done with her food.

We both knew that question was layered.

A few emotions were going through me. Pride. I was trained in interrogation and still she played me beautifully and directed the conversation towards this question. One of my superiors back home during the war would have praised her potential for a good interrogator and then promptly shot her in the head, cause he was paranoid like that.

Frustration. At myself. It was a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. I talk too little, I give off the impression I have something to hide. I talk too much and well ... here we are.

I played it cool giving nothing away with my face or my body language, thank you you paranoid bastard for teaching me acting, and calmly replied:'' I think I do. I have watched some videos explaining how this algorithm functions and how to exploit it. If not video games I was thinking at trying my luck with music''

''Music? I didn't know you were musically inclined. Seems there is much I don't know about you. Well, when you do create your YouTube channel and upload you first song, tell me. I want to be you first subscriber,'' she demanded, before putting the dishes in the sink. Her shoulders slightly slacking with clear disappointment. 

She gave me a kiss and rubbed my black hair before going to upstairs to her room. Using my magic I sensed her sliding down the door and hugging her knees before shaking, suppressing her cries.

Ugh, she thinks I don't trust her.

I uncomfortable rolled my shoulder, then I stood up, put my dishes in the sink as well, took a shower and threw myself into my bed.

For fucks sake. I got complacent. The peace was getting to me.

Also what the fuck was that at the end woman? You were doing so well on the matter of subtlety too. You didn't offer to buy me an instrument. You did not instruct me to put the dishes in the sink or wish me good night.

Fine, then. Guess tonight is no night to practice.

...

...

She was still crying.

Ugh, woman really knows how to pull at your heartstrings.

Worst thing is I can't go behind her back. When the bank account is gonna fill, she is gonna know and then feel doubly betrayed.

I mean, I could tell her. Not everything, I'm not dumb enough for that. Enough to make my life easier, but not enough to make any connection between me and my future alter ego.

I have been paying attention to my parents. I observed and snooped around and poked and probed them with my magic (minus mind reading). They are not part of S.H.I.E.L.D, HYDRA, A.I.M, The Hand or anything else of the sorts.

In this world of ours where no one seems to be who they seems they are, they are exactly who they seem to be. An archeologist and a doctor.

Hm.

I will sit on it.

....

Jesus. Stop crying woman.

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I release the first episode the next day and tell mother about it. She subscribes despite not liking the dark themes. She is not impressed when the first 100$ trickle in. Or the next... or the fifth.

She cries every night. She cries more with each episode and cries the most at the final episode.

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I'm twelve now. After school I go to the sewers to train my magic further. I lost track of time and when I came out it was night. I had my phone on me, but no missed calls.

When I arrive home, I find mother waiting on the porch. When she sees me, she runs and embraces me for all I'm worth. 

She drags me inside. And heats up the food. She talks about mundane stuff. She talks about her day asks me about mine. She tells me how father is doing. She does not ask me where I was. What I was doing? Or if I was doing something dangerous. She does not ask me if it is a reoccuring event.

She asks none of that.

The next day I arrive before night sets, to make her worry less. But its still late into the day.

She does not ask questions.

She doesn't do it the next day. 

Or the day after that.

Or the day after that.

Or the day after that.

She stopped kissing my head and rubbing my hair.

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One month before December, my father dies in a plane crash on his way back.

There is a funeral.

Mother cries inconsolably. The Stacy's and Parker's cry too. I cry the least. 

I only manage a few genuine tears while starring at his grave yard. Out of respect for him I was not going to shed fake tears.

He may not have been always there, but when he was, he grew on me. Like fungus. He certainly proved himself a better father my last one. He was a good man.

Huh. I haven't felt such loss since the end of the war.

Some strangers came to wish us condolences. The Parker's came next. Ben gave me some innane drivel about good memories and what makes good people. May guides him away. Peter apologizes and tells me he understands. I nodded. True enough, I suppose. Gwen hugs me the tightest. George lays his hand on my shoulder in comfort before patting it and departing.

Mother ignores me.

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2015 comes along and the Chitauri invasion happens. I could have made my debut as my alter ego. I was more than strong enough.

I did no such thing. I allowed things to play out as canon.

I don't know why I did it.

Maybe the loss was still too fresh?

I really don't know.

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I get around to animating Arcanes League of Legends Season 1 and 2. I also write the script. But I don't add the music, sound effects or the voice acting. I thought about it. But LoL already exists in this world. I was not gonna risk getting copyright bombed into the sun.

It was a bitch and a half but I managed to set up an appointment with Blizzard. Despite my continued deteriorating relationship with mother she accompanied me as my custodian.

I present my animation and my script. They are impressed but pretend not to be. They try to underhand me. We negotiate and talk and negotiate some more and then we sign a contract. They offer me a position in the future and make it clear the door was always open for me. I decline citing that I still wasn't sure about my future. Call this an artists epiphany I said.

Now I'm an almost a hundred millionaire with a steady income of cash. Pity I didn't have this money when Stark came back from his vacation from Afghanistan.

Blizzard went to this worlds Arcane for the sound, voice acting and music.

Oh, the Irony.

I decided to have my YouTube name published in the credits. It was good PR and also a form of prank. My name occupied any position aside from anything related to sound. It looked as stupid as it was hilarious.

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In 2016 George got a promotion in the police department as a captain. With some reluctance he decided they needed a residence closer to his workplace. They were moving out.

Gwen and Peter were crying. I tried comforting them by reminding them that we saw each other at school each day. It was not the same, they complained. We will visit you whenever you want, I said pointing at Peter and I. It was not the same, Gwen complained.

She was right. It wasn't

I cried a little bit too.

Gwen hugged us tightly and both individually and then she said her goodbyes.

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''I have magic,'' I say one day to mother after checking for surveillance devices.

She dropped the plate she was just about to put into the sink. It shattered on the floor.

With a trembling body she comes back into the living room. She sits in front of me at the table, puts one of my hands in both of hers and gives me a shaky yet encouraging.

I swallowed visibly, slightly paling. ''I... have ... magic,'' I said more slowly. As if the previous sudden burst of confidence left me. Only now realizing what i just said. My darkest secret laid out bare for her to see. Make yourself appear vulnerable. Sell it. Make her think you tell the truth.

My mouth moved no sound coming out until:'' Well, that is to say.... I mean.... You probably wondered.'' I nervously stammered.

Mother applied some pressure on my hand in a comforting manner and tried assuring me:'' Bell, you don't need to tell me everything tonight. I'm willing to wait some more.''

I starred at her. Before shaking my head. Let her think that this is something I struggled with for a while. That tonight is the night I will tell her else I'll never find the courage again. I began nodding my head after a while of shaking it, as if to embolden myself.

I took a deep breath and began slowly:'' I have magic. Or... well... a specific type of magic. I can hack computers and execute programms with but a thought'' (no reason to tell her about what I dubbed the digital reality)''That is.... you know how I make my animations and music so quickly? I imagine it and then will it into existence so to speak. Sorry I don't really know how to explain it in a way you can understand. 

As for where I go after school, only to arrive so late.... Well I think its better if I show you.''

I took out my hand from hers and put them together horizontally, palms touching. Flames began flickering inside, I pulled my hands slightly apart, the flames forming into a ball. For extra measure I let some sweat develop on my forehead, to sell the impression of a struggle. Finally the ball formed into a small dragon, it flew from my hands dancing slightly across the living room before dissipating.

I starred at her uncertainly. She starred back, before tentatively asking when she saw I was not going to be more forthcoming:'' What about the Hammer expo? You knew what was gonna happen didn't you?''

I cringed visibly, hopping she would have forgotten that. '' You're gonna think me crazy,'' I murmured. 

''I won't. I promise you,'' she insisted.

I released a long sigh and finally revealed:'' I tried, I really gave it my best tries to try and control it. But I can't control it. I think... I can see the future or at least possibilities of it. I knew nothing about the Chitauri invasion or fathers death. But I knew about Hammers expo fiasco and hell, even the animations I made are stolen from the futures. They are like uncontrollable bursts of knowledge without any rhyme or say. 

I... I'm sorry. From withholding all this from you. It's just ...I thought you would think less of me.''

At the end I made extra sure to make my voice smaller. I let my head hang and looked down on my lap.

For a second she looked as if she wanted to dive over the table and hug me to death. Instead she just quickly went around and hugged me while rubbing me all over in comfort. She whispered assurances and comforts and other stuff, that I didn't bother paying attention to. I buried my face in her stomach and hugged her back.

''I could never think less of you. You are my son,'' she told me affectionately.

We hugged some more until finally she sharply commanded me that I'm not allowed to go out superheroing and put myself in danger. I promised I wouldn't do that, citing I was too lazy anyway and was only going to use my powers to protect my family or for utility purposes. She didn't believe me but let the matter drop, because of the time and the fact she needed to go to work tomorrow. She promised we would talk more tomorrow and went to climb the stairs. But not before kissing my head again, rubbing my hair, instructing me to put the dishes in the sink and watch out for the shards and finally wishing me good night.

I sensed how she walked with a small enthusiastic skip until she laid on her bed.

I sighed, cracking my neck. Well, that was certainly one of my more Oscar worthy performances. Thank you, you paranoid bastard for teaching me how to act.

Granted I gave up fire as an attack type, but if push comes to shove I can just use electricity as my alter ego to generate heat. As for the other two, they were way to hard to prove.

I resumed my meal.

I chewed a bit. It tasted like bile.

Look it was a necessary sacrifice, but god damn it. That Woman can really pull at your heartstrings.

I sighed and quickly ate the rest of the meal. 

Fuck it. Let this be my penance.

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FINALLY!

2017. Gwen and I are 15. Peter is 16.

The prophesied day has arrived. The Oscorp excursion.

Look, I may be 85 years old but I still couldn't help but feel like a giddy child.

Spider-Man is an icon. He is THE icon. He is him. You think of a superhero, you think of Spider-Man first. AND I WILL ANNIHILATE EVERYBODY WHO SAYS OTHERWISE!

I subtly watched Peter like a hawk desiring to see the birth of Spider-Man with my own eyes.

Alas for all that I love Spider-Man he needs to get rid of his no-kill rule and make some smarter choices. Because I always argued that May and Ben fucked Peter up. He doesn't know how to accept help. And Ben especially fucked him up twice over. First with his innane drivel disguised as wisdom. Idiot, you didn't even define what power and responsibility was. Leave the philosophizing to the experts. And second the subsecuent feelings of guilt he developed at uncle Bens death, especially with that dreaded line at the back of his mind. Bro probably thinks he deserved the suffering as a form of punishment.

But if nothing else, this Peter seems on the right track. He is more confident and more assertive than in canon. Both because I tricked him when he was younger into taking charge and because I tricked him into humiliating Flash.

Once he is Spider-Man I'm gonna trick him even more and turn him into the best Spider-Man.

A slap was heard, but not from the one I was watching. I whipped around. Gwen was rubbing her hand, looking down for what I could only strongly assume was a dead spider.

There was no dead spider.

Using my senses, I found the bastard trying to sneak away. I levitated him into my backpack and into the container I brought with me specifically for this. What you thought I was not gonna get a souvenir (though now it's more of a consolation prize)? Hell, it even has small holes for oxygen, cause I wanted to keep this fucker alive for as long as possible. Radioactive Spider. Original Edition.

No one noticed anything. How I could they seeing as I messed with their occular receptors. Thanks to my technomancy the cameras also didn't pick anything up.

Peter and I went towards Gwen. The excursion is almost over and we did not want to get separated.

Look, I know of Spider-Gwen or Ghost Spider is a variant of a Spider-Person. If I couldn't watch the birth of Spider-Man I at least wanted to watch the birth of a Spider-Person.

But i missed it.

I sighed in frustration.

I hate my rotten luck.

Well, if nothing I'm gonna join the game soon.

Yes please, sir. I will take the whole course. Political subterfuge, manipulation, trickery and deceit, humiliation, etc, etc.

Heh, feels almost familiar.