Marvel : Copycat System

Chapter 6: Hell's Kitchen



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After Natasha entered the restaurant, she ordered two dishes and sat quietly, occasionally sneaking glances at Kai Vale, observing his actions closely.

When Kai's grandfather called him over to serve the dishes, Natasha subtly adjusted her posture, making calculated movements designed to draw Kai's attention with her charm.

Kai immediately realized why Natasha was there — this was clearly linked to what had happened that morning. Nick Fury must have suspected something and sent Black Widow to investigate.

But Kai, well aware of Natasha's background, wasn't about to fall for her tricks. Black Widow had a notorious reputation, and Kai had no intention of getting involved with her or SHIELD. Ignoring her suggestive gestures, Kai focused on his work as if she wasn't even there.

With other customers in the restaurant, Natasha couldn't be too obvious, so her attempts to engage Kai failed.

Outside, Nick Fury observed the situation from a surveillance van. Seeing Natasha's unsuccessful attempt, he spoke into his headset.

"Alright, if he's being difficult, withdraw for now. No need to draw attention."

The first attempt to contact Kai had ended in failure.

Later, as Kai and Ethan discussed Kai's short video platform idea, Kai noticed Natasha quietly leaving the restaurant.

"I really hope they get the message and leave me alone," Kai muttered to himself.

Ethan, still buzzing with excitement about the business idea, continued pressing Kai for details. He eagerly recorded everything on his phone.

"I'm gonna write this all down, organize it tonight, and we'll finalize the plan tomorrow," Ethan promised.

Before heading out, Ethan reminded Kai to get up early the next day.

That night, after the restaurant closed, Kai went upstairs to his room — only to find Gear and Turbo pushing and shoving each other for reasons unknown.

To Kai, it barely looked like a fight — more like two kids roughhousing.

"Alright, knock it off," Kai called out.

The two bots stopped instantly. Kai nodded approvingly — they'd followed his rules perfectly. No destruction, no weapons.

"Hey, Gear," Kai said. "If I'm not home, how can I contact you quickly?"

"You're not expecting me to *call* you, are you?"

To Kai's surprise, Gear actually nodded.

Then, transforming back into his laptop form, Gear displayed a string of complex code on the screen. Kai couldn't understand it, but he watched closely anyway.

Moments later, the code vanished — and Kai's phone rang.

When he answered, Gear's voice came through the speaker.

"Master, I hacked your phone. Now you can contact me anytime. I also modified your Bluetooth headset, so you can talk to me through that too."

Kai was stunned. The Cybertronian tech was leagues ahead of Earth's technology.

After testing everything, Kai felt reassured — he could now contact Gear easily, no matter where he was.

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The next morning, Kai was jolted awake by a knock on his door.

When he opened it, Ethan stood there with dark circles under his eyes.

"Bro," Kai groaned, rubbing his face. "It's only 5:30. I barely got any sleep, and clearly, neither did you. Go home, sleep, and come back later."

Without giving Ethan a chance to argue, Kai shut the door.

Ethan stared at the closed door, sighed, and shuffled back to his own place to finish writing the business plan.

It wasn't until after 7 a.m. that Kai finally dragged himself out of bed.

Thinking about Ethan's dedication, Kai couldn't help but smile. He knew his friend had probably spent all night working on the plan. It reassured Kai that Ethan was the right person to manage the company.

Kai imagined a future where he'd simply relay his ideas, and Ethan would handle all the hard work. The perfect hands-off boss life.

His thoughts were interrupted by yet another knock on the door.

Without looking, Kai knew it was Ethan.

Sure enough, when he opened the door, there stood Ethan — those same dark circles under his eyes.

"I know you're excited," Kai said, "but you didn't have to pull an all-nighter."

"Are you kidding?" Ethan shot back. "A great idea like this needs to happen fast before someone else beats us to it!"

"Fair point," Kai muttered.

They sat down, and Kai repeated everything he remembered about short video platforms, ensuring Ethan caught any gaps from yesterday's notes. They refined the details until the plan was as solid as they could make it.

However, Kai had another idea — one he didn't mention to Ethan yet. Once he got to know some of the superheroes personally, he planned to ask for their permission to feature superhero content on their platform. He was confident this would become a major attraction for viewers.

But since Iron Man's public debut was still a few months away, Kai kept that thought to himself for now.

With the plan complete, the next step was starting the company.

"Neither of us knows much about legal stuff," Ethan pointed out.

"I know a lawyer in Hell's Kitchen," Kai said. "He helped me out with my tuition loan when I got into college. He should be able to give us some advice."

"Perfect!" Ethan jumped up, ready to leave immediately.

"Whoa, whoa," Kai said, holding him back. "We haven't even had breakfast yet. Chill."

After a rushed breakfast — thanks to Ethan's constant urging — Kai barely set down his chopsticks before Ethan dragged him out the door, heading straight for Hell's Kitchen.

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