Chapter 3: The Rules Are Different Here
"Here's your money for today," the manager said, handing me my payment.
I counted it real quick, just to be sure. "Alright," I said. No funny business, so no problem.
Stepped outside, and immediately—
"Did you see the Human Torch take down those robbers?"
"Yeah, he was so cool!"
"He's so handsome!"
"I wanna marry him!"
"Shut up, he's mine!"
I sighed, tuning them out as I walked.
But one thing stuck with me he didn't look like Chris Evans. Didn't look like Michael either.
Fantastic Four was different from the movies, but some things never changed. Susan Storm? Still super popular.
You get what I mean, right?
Same deal with Stark. He wasn't RDJ. Not even close.
And me? I didn't look like any of the MCU Peter Parkers. Closest was Tom Holland's body type, but the face? Nah.
And it wasn't just them. Hank Pym? Different. Wilson Fisk? Still terrifying, but not Vincent .
Didn't matter, though. What mattered was that this world was real, and I was in it.
And that meant any random hero-villain fight could level a city block, and I could end up in the crossfire.
But at least now? I wouldn't die so easily.
The Grayson template alone gave me a massive survival boost. And once I got Spider-Man's powers? Yeah, I'd be fine.
Not that I was planning on being a superhero. Nope. At least not yet. Maybe one day, when my conscience couldn't take it anymore, when that little spark of humanity in me finally kicked in.
Because let's be real if you actually wanted to stop crime, you'd have to go all the way. No half-measures.
You'd have to take out all the criminals. Or at least enough that no one else dared to try.
Make them afraid.
Because fear? Fear stops crime.
And no, I wasn't planning on being a villain either. That'd just put a giant target on my back.
Not that it mattered. Even if I played it neutral, I knew I'd end up with enemies.
And honestly? I didn't even see world domination as some evil, villainous thing. Capitalists and politicians were already doing that.
And I wasn't against it.
Was it bad? Maybe. Some people would say yes.
Others would just say, That's how the world works.
Would I do it?
I'd try.
Not like I'd declare myself emperor or some dumb shit.
But I would try to be one of the voices that mattered both the one people saw and the one they didn't.
Why?
For survival.
For control.
And, yeah. For fun.
Honestly? Already had some ideas.
Most fanfics have the MC go straight for Kingpin or Justin Hammer.
Some hit AIM.
Sounds easy, right? Yeah, no.
SHIELD's got eyes everywhere. If I made a move, they'd notice.
And HYDRA? They were deep. Real deep. All over the place.
Wouldn't even be wrong to say they had roots in every major country North America, South America, Europe, everywhere.
One dumb move, and boom. Unwanted attention.
And I wasn't about to sit around doing nothing, either.
Gotta start somewhere. Just… somewhere further away. If nothing happened, then I'd move to the spot I had in mind.
"That bastard Magneto. How dare he attack the military?"
I glanced over. Some guy was cursing Magneto out. He wasn't alone, either.
Looked like Magneto hit another military base.
No one could deny he was the mutant leader. Hell, for a lot of people, he was the only one.
Some thought he was the reason mutants were hated. That his actions made things worse.
But that was the point. He wanted people to fear mutants. He wanted them to understand what happens when they messed around.
Not that it was getting mutants any closer to peace.
Not that Xavier's way would, either.
They were two sides of the same coin.
Even if they worked together, it wouldn't fix anything.
The government wouldn't let it happen.
And the other groups out there? The ones that wanted mutants gone? Yeah, they weren't gonna let up, either.
And since I was going to be a mutant soon, that meant I was also about to be part of this whole mess.
Great.
I unlocked my door, stepped inside, and shut it behind me.
Didn't do anything, just flopped onto the couch.
Even if I tried not to think, my mind wouldn't shut up.
My future.
My actions.
Who was gonna be against me.
Who was gonna be with me.
…How big my harem was gonna be.
Yeah, no. Ignoring that last one.
Point is, I wasn't in some normal world where countries just try to outdo each other, getting richer, getting stronger.
This world was way more than that.
Sure, all that was still happening, but on a way bigger scale.
There were families out there, centuries old, running businesses that shaped the entire world.
Companies that looked normal but were deep in some real shady shit.
And superheroes? Supervillains? They weren't just people in costumes throwing punches.
They were players. Power pieces in a game way bigger than any one person.
Peace? Balance? Way more fragile than people thought.
And now?
I was in it.
I was part of the chaos.