"..."
A man is lying on a hospital bed with both arms and legs broken.
His complexion is anything but good—if anything, it's horrifically pale.
"Umm... Patient? Would you mind if we—" a nurse asks as she approaches.
"Get lost."
"But—"
The guy grabs a nearby plate and hurls it straight at her head.
Of course, the doctor standing nearby catches it effortlessly.
"Doctor?! Why are you here?!" The nurse is shocked to see him here instead of in the operating room.
"Taking a break. Plus, there've been a few cases lately of surgeons having sex with nurses mid-operation, so hospitals across the entire U.S. are under pretty strict scrutiny right now," he says matter-of-factly.
Then he turns to the patient.
"Besides... I wanted to see which patient was rude enough to disrespect someone trying to help him. Looks like that's you."
"...Got a problem with that?" The man glares at the doctor.
"Oh no, no! I don't have a problem at all! After all, criminals never listen to reason anyway, do they?" The doctor looks at him with open contempt.
"YOU—"
"Keep acting up and this bed won't be yours anymore—it'll be a jail cell," the doctor snaps back, warning him.
"...grr."
"Yeah, keep growling like a muzzled beast. I don't deal with scum like you. Nurse, go check on the other patients in the next room."
"Which patient, sir?"
"That asshole—the alcoholic journalist. He's back in the hospital again after picking a fight with a wife-beater. Ended up disfiguring the guy's face."
"Ah! Eddie Brock, right? I'll go check on him right away!"
The moment she leaves, the doctor turns back to the man in front of him.
"Know your place. If you can't pay, I'll put it on your tab without touching your house. Consider that your lucky break."
Then the doctor leaves too.
"...Just some two-bit surgeon... And he dares talk down to me!! I'll... I'll definitely chop off both your arms!!"
Yes, this is Emma's father.
It seems after Peter and Tony broke one of his arms and legs, he's extremely bitter.
He even wants to kill someone just to vent his rage!
Of course, he's not crazy enough to mess with Tony. And that kid—Peter—just kicked his leg and shattered it, so he knows how strong the brat really is.
"Goddamn it... GODDAMN IT!!!" He slams the table.
And right at that moment, someone knocks on the door.
"GET LOST! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR COMPLAINTS ANYMORE!"
"Mr. Butcher."
A voice he doesn't recognize makes him raise an eyebrow.
Slowly, the door opens, revealing a person dressed head-to-toe in concealing clothes—nearly impossible to identify.
The stranger walks over, pulls up a chair, and sits right next to his bed.
"...Who the hell are you?"
"No need to know. I'm just here to help you."
"Sounds like a scam."
The stranger smiles, then pulls out a vial and places it on the table.
"Know what this is?"
"Poison?"
"Serum."
Serum? What does he mean?
"Right now, I need two test subjects. We've looked into you, and you're the perfect candidate."
"You think I'm a lab rat?"
"Yeah."
He grits his teeth, clearly not okay with this.
"Well, you don't really have a choice. Your arms and legs will take months to heal anyway, so you'll need this."
"You think I'll just—"
A thick stack of cash slams onto the table.
"Of course you'll agree, right? This serum is still experimental, but it'll make you many times stronger than a normal adult man."
"...How do I know I can trust you?"
"Hmm... How should I put it? Just keep this a secret, okay? Or I'll eliminate you right now."
He pulls off his hoodie, making the man flinch when he sees the symbol on the shirt.
"So? Credible enough?"
"..."
"Silence means consent."
Then he draws the serum into a syringe.
"Once I inject this, you'll feel some pain as it restructures your muscles. And since your bones are broken, it'll hurt more than usual—but you'll think it's worth it."
Sweat drips down his face as he stares at the needle, then at the man in front of him.
"...Easy on me, okay?"
"...You're scared of needles?"
"No?! Of course not!"
"...Don't worry, it's just like an ant bite."
The needle pierces his arm, and tears stream from his eyes from the agony.
Then his entire body begins to transform.
"AGHHHHHHHH!!!!"
He thrashes in pain—muscles bulging and contracting, his eyes bloodshot as he feels every fiber in his body shifting violently.
After one minute, he collapses, panting exhaustedly.
His flabby stomach is now a chiseled six-pack. He's more muscular and powerful than ever before.
He flexes his arms and legs—no pain.
"Amazing... This is incredible!"
"Haha, of course it is! Even if it's just a prototype!"
"I can't thank you enough—and you even gave me money!"
"No need for thanks."
The stranger then hands him another vial.
"What's this?"
"Aphrodisiac."
"?!"
"Well, since it's experimental, it has one side effect: uncontrollable urges. So use this to manage it."
"...You're too good to me. I swear I'll give you my daughter!"
"No need. I've already seen the results of our work. Goodbye for now."
The stranger stands and leaves, abandoning the man on the hospital bed.
"..."
A twisted smile creeps across the man's face.
"I... With this body, I can finally get revenge... But first—"
His eyes darken completely.
"Emma... That little bitch."
Moments later, a patient disappears from the hospital.
***
"Ugh..."
"What's wrong?"
"So bored..."
Harry and I are preparing for the school sports festival.
Harry was picked by the teachers to build the welcome gate for visiting students from other schools, so he dragged me into it too. The others got different tasks from him.
Since the event is coming up soon, I've had to pause game dev to focus on this.
Ding ding.
"Hm? Oh, it's Lee."
"You've been getting a lot of texts from her lately," I say.
"Yeah... Kinda weird. Suddenly a girl is texting me."
"You didn't have that before?"
"Nope. I used to just block or ignore them."
Wow, based.
"Hey, Peter! Don't hammer yet!"
"Huh, what—" I swing the hammer down onto the nail, instantly splintering the wood.
"..." I stare at the wreckage, speechless.
'Forgot I can bend iron bars like toothpicks now.'
"I told you not to hammer it yet! This wood is leftover scraps we grabbed from the park nearby, and it's old, so it's pretty brittle."
'No, Harry—it's just that I'm way too strong.'
"...Huh? Isn't that Emma?" Harry says, glancing out the window.
"?" I turn to look too. Emma is standing in front of a group of girls.
And among them is the pink-haired girl!
"Ahh, damn it—not again! Harry, quick, let's go save her!"
Harry and I drop everything and rush outside to protect Emma.
But we've barely taken a few steps out of the school gate when we both freeze in shock.
Emma raises her hand and slaps the pink-haired girl square across the face.
"?!" Harry and I stand there stunned. The other girls are just as dumbfounded.
Then Emma's voice rings out:
"You can insult me all you want—call me a whore, a gold-digger, whatever—but if you dare badmouth my friends, I won't stand for it."
She slaps her again.
The girls, furious, charge forward to gang up on Emma and stop her.
BEEP BEEP!
A sudden blaring horn startles them, and they turn toward the sound in confusion.
The pink-haired girl, still clutching her cheek and not understanding what's happening, gets *rammed* and face-plants straight into the dirt.
"???"
They finally recognize the shopping cart "vehicle" and the two very familiar faces inside.
"OH SHIT! It's Peter and Harry! Don't mess with them!"
They yank the pink-haired girl up and bolt.
"They run just from a little bump?" Harry scoffs, hopping off the cart.
I turn to look at Emma.
She stands up, brushes the dust off herself, and meets our eyes.
"...Thanks again."
"No need... And you just defended us when they were talking trash about us, right?"
"Uh... yeah..." Emma scratches her head awkwardly.
Harry and I exchange a glance and grin.
"You're tough! Standing up for your friends like that? That's a great quality!" Harry flashes her a thumbs-up.
"Emma, want something to eat? We're busy prepping stuff, but money's no object."
"Ah, no thanks. I was planning to head home and rest. I'm kinda tired today."
"Really? Need us to give you a ride?" Harry extends a hand to help.
"...No?"
"No refusing! Come on!"
Harry and I grab Emma and drag her along before she can protest.
And just like that, she gets home safely.
As she waves goodbye, Peter waves back, and Harry gives her a big smile.
'...Having friends... is really nice.'
She smiles back at them.
'I wish things could always be like this..'
For the first time, she starts looking forward to the future.