When the world refocuses, I find myself standing in a grimy alley behind a large brick tenament building, startling the hell out of a scruffy homeless man sitting half-dozing against the rusted husk of an old car, which looks to be from the 20's at the very least. The man blinks blearily at me, looking between me and the bottle he's holding in his hand.
"Whut th' hell..?"
"You know, you should probably cut down on the drinking, then you wouldn't be seeing crazy shit like this!" I dig into my pocket, pulling out a dollar bill that I toss him before stepping behind the wall, and out on the bustling streets of New York City.
For someone who has only ever seen the city in movies and TV, it's an odd experience actually walking down the street here, it looks like the New York I've seen in pictures, atleast for the most part, but there's enough differences that remind me I'm in a completely different decade. There's the occasional person dressed in jeans and t-shirts like I am, so I don't stand out too much, but there's far more people wearing suits and long dresses than in modern day. It's crowded, but again, not quite as badly as I always imagined it to be, I don't know if it's because the city was slightly smaller at this point, or just because this version of New York is less densely populated. Even the cars driving by look different, many of them look brand new, but they're the kind of models I remember Dad talking about every now and then as "vintage".
The city just feels...new, in a way the decaying near-ruins I remember seeing in old 70's movies where even the rich part of town looked like Escape From New York on a bad day. It probably helps that I'm seeing it in person and not through grainy photographs or old film.
With no particular goal in mind, I simply follow along the crowd as I drift down the street. As a man not only out of time, but from another continent entirerly, I really don't know much about the streets and neighborhoods of New York other than what pop culture taught me, and I'm fairly certain I'm still somewhere in Manhattan, albeit away from the mansion and Fifth Avenue, which I vaguely recall being a rich neighborhood. The street I'm on now doesn't look like a slum, but it's definetly middle class at most, the buildings consisting mostly of townhouses and brownstones rather than the glitzy manors that Stark had as neighbors. The buildings are cast in a golden glow as the last rays of the setting sun shines down between the highrises deeper into the city, and neon signs and lights are beginning to turn on as New York switches to night mode.
There's a slight chill in the air as early fall is setting in, but even before I got my powers, cold never bothered me much, and now, it's like I can barely feel it at all. Still, I'm going to need to extend my wardrobe a bit, especially if I'm going to fight crime in street clothes, and t-shirt and jeans just ain't going to cut it. Once again, my mind wanders back toward my money issues. How does a man out of time earn some quick money?
An upbeat melody interrupts my train of thought, and I look across the street, where a man, dressed in what appears to be a simplified Uncle Sam costume, including a flag-patterned vest and the iconic hat, along with a fake white beard, is standing on a small courtyard in front of a coffee shop, strumming on a guitar, the case lying open at his feet with a few coins and bills inside it.
Hmmm.
.....
A shower of stars explode from behind Uncle Sam as his guitar reaches a high note, earning a collection of gasps, followed by whistles and applause by the small audience that's gathered around us to watch our impromptu concert. I'm no musician myself, I can't even sing without my voice going false, but my new powers do allow me to give an actual musician a bit of an upgrade to his performance. Streaks of light bend around his costume, making the colors of the flag glow, while pulses of sparks and stars flow with the melody he's playing behind him. I'm standing on the alcove just above him, my hands glowing as I project the lights around him to the beat, and with my own flag bandana, we actually match pretty well. I got no idea what the song he's playing is, though I do recognize a few notes as being from You're A Grand Ol' Flag.
I don't even remember why I know that tune.
Finally, Uncle Sam strums out the last few notes on the song, and I pull my powers back, letting the glow fade away as he bows to the audience, who immediatly break out into applause. The spectacle has even drawn out some of the customers from the coffee shop behind us, and a few of the surrounding stores, and a quick glance back I see them even watching us through the window.
"Thank ye, thank ye!" Uncle Sam says as he kneels down by his case, gathering up some of the money that has spilled outside from the sudden, unexpected influx. "And don't forget to give a hand to my assistant in charge of special effects" he motions towards me and the onlookers keep applauding as I give an awkward wave back. I never was good at dealing with praise, as little as it might have happened.
Finally, the crowd begins to break up and I jump back down from the alcove, walking over to my temporary partner who smiles at me as he begins counting up the money in his case.
"Ah tell ya, that was the best damn night I've had in this business! Thought you were trying to pull a scam on me when you walked up with that offer of yours, but you're the best partner a busker could ask for! I don't suppose you'd want to make this a more permanent arrangement."
I shake my head "It's tempting, but I don't know how much time I'll have availible for it in the future, I was just in the need for some quick cash. I mean, it's not IMPOSSIBLE, but..."
He nods "No no, it's alright, I understand this ain't exactly most peoples idea of a dependable gig. Still, if you're ever in the neighborhood, and the mood strikes ya, why don't you look me up. I'm usually here, and if I'm not, you can just leave a message with the bartender inside the coffee shop, just tell him it's for "Uncle Sam", and... say, I don't think you ever did give me your name?"
"Oh, I go by Mr. Sunshine these days."
He grins "That's a pretty groovy gimmick you picked up there, no idea how you did all that glowy stuff, but I ain't complaining. Speaking of no complaints, here's yer cut!" He presses a fold of bills into my hand and a quick flick through them reveals that it's damn near 400 bucks!
"Holy crap!"
"I know, not too bad, right?"
"Considering that 30 minutes ago, I had less than 50 bucks, yeah, this is pretty good."
He stashes the rest of the money in his vest before placing his guitar into the case and closes the lid tight "It's New York, pal! Ain't no other city like it! Well, I'll see ya around!" He shakes my hand before walking up the steps to the coffee shop, giving me a final wave and stepping inside.
Well, that should keep the wolf from the door for a little while. I stash the money into my wallet, before heading back up the street, getting quite a few looks from some of the people who were watching the performance as I pass by. Realizing walking out of here is probably a bit unecessary at this point, I give a wave to my former audience before I disappear into a streak of light that zips up the closest wall and up over the ledge of a brownstone.874