"Morning, Jessica."
Vincent Hall gave a lazy wave as he stepped into the hallway.
"Morning, Vincent," Jessica Jones grunted. She sported heavy dark circles under her eyes and radiated an aura of pure death, clearly a victim of the neighbors' nocturnal activities.
Vincent looked at her with genuine concern. "You look terrible, Jess. You should go back to sleep. Wish I could, but duty calls. School."
"Nah." Jessica shook her head, leaning against her doorframe. "Vincent, I really think you should move closer to Midtown High. Hell's Kitchen... it isn't friendly to kids like you."
Vincent offered a bitter smile.
"I need the reminder. Living here keeps the hate fresh. It helps me focus on finding the people who killed my parents." He paused, his expression hardening slightly. "My offer still stands, Jessica. You find them, I pay you. Five thousand dollars."
Jessica hesitated. The money was tempting—she always needed cash for whiskey and rent—but she shook her head again.
"It's too vague, Vincent. I checked the precinct. The case files for your parents' murder were lost in an 'accidental' fire in the archives. Without leads, I can't investigate."
But Vincent knew the real reason. Jessica Jones had a conscience, buried deep under the sarcasm and leather jackets. She saw him as a poor, struggling orphan student. She knew he needed that money for college, not for a vendetta that would likely get him killed. She didn't want to bleed him dry only for him to end up homeless under a bridge before graduation.
And perhaps, she wanted to spare him the darkness of revenge. If he knew who the killers were, he'd go after them. That was a one-way trip in this city.
Plus, Jessica had her own demons right now. Big ones. Keeping distance was her way of protecting him.
"I have to go, Jones. Offer stands. Find them—or even just get me a solid lead—and the five grand is yours."
The elevator dinged. Vincent stepped in, dropping his skateboard as the doors closed, heading for the subway.
"Morning, Vincent."
A girl with glasses greeted him as he slid into his seat in homeroom.
"Morning, Hannah."
Vincent's desk was close to hers. He glanced at her for a second longer than usual. He recognized her. Hannah. In The Amazing Spider-Man movies, she was a background character with maybe two shots, but her beauty was memorable even through the "nerdy glasses" disguise Hollywood loved so much.
"Do you have a date for the Homecoming dance?" Hannah asked, keeping her voice low.
Vincent blinked, taken aback. It took him a moment to process the question.
"Who would want to go with the quiet Asian kid?" he asked with self-deprecating humor.
In this school, he was invisible. A ghost. Aside from Hannah, barely anyone spoke to him. The cliques were impenetrable, and the local tough guys knew his history—orphan, parents gunned down by gangs—so they either pitied him or ignored him like he was bad luck.
Hannah didn't push it. She didn't have feelings for him; it was just polite conversation between outcasts.
"You're not bad looking," she whispered. "I think Julia has been checking you out."
She nodded toward the cheerleaders. Julia? The redheaded rich girl?
Vincent looked over, then shook his head rapidly.
Impossible. To them, he was a freak. A bookworm who never spoke, never partied, never engaged. A non-player character in their high school simulation. The only people who knew his name were Hannah and the teachers.
The bell rang, signaling the start of class, but Vincent's mind drifted.
Graduation was looming. To get into a top-tier university, grades weren't enough. He needed a recommendation letter from someone with weight. His target was MIT, and for that, he needed heavy artillery.
Voices from the row behind him drifted into his enhanced hearing.
"...Tony Stark..."
Vincent froze.
"Yeah, they found him. Stark is alive."
Just one sentence, but it changed everything.
Stark is back? Is the plot starting?
Vincent knew mutants existed here, but the media suppressed it. Even the Hulk's rampage in Harlem against the Abomination had been covered up as a "gas leak" or "terrorist attack." But Stark...
Stark Industries was currently based in Los Angeles. The Avengers Tower in New York had been bought but wasn't the HQ yet. That wasn't the important part.
"Stark returns... the stock will rally briefly," Vincent analyzed, his eyes narrowing. "But then he'll hold that press conference. He'll shut down the weapons division."
"The stock is going to freefall. It's the perfect time to short Stark Industries."
If he played this right, he could leverage his 44 million into a fortune massive enough to buy a seat at the table. Maybe even become a minority shareholder.
Money was just a number, but numbers bought power. And power bought upgrades.
"After Stark... there's Oscorp..."
His gaze shifted across the room to a boy sitting alone—Peter Parker.
[Ding. Mission Branch Detected.]
[Option 1: The Mentor. Help Peter Parker become Spider-Man and guide him on the path of heroism. Reward Tier: White.]
[Option 2: The Thief. Steal Peter Parker's destiny and engineer the birth of Ghost Spider. Reward Tier: Blue.]
[Please Choose.]
Ghost Spider?
Gwen Stacy!
Vincent's eyes involuntarily darted to the front of the class. To the girl with the signature blonde headband and the radiant smile. She looked like Emma Stone, but younger, fresher.
Hannah noticed his stare and smirked. Of course. Every guy likes Gwen Stacy.
"System," Vincent thought, his face impassive. "I choose Option 2."
Altering the timeline. Stealing the protagonist's fate. Would the Time Variance Authority come knocking?
[Mission Accepted: The Birth of Ghost Spider. Note: The subsequent chain mission is available. Would you like to "Blind Accept" the next stage now? Reward stacking active. Multiplier: +200%.]
Vincent's eyes lit up.
A chain mission. Last time, stacking Blue and Cyan gave him a Purple reward—the Devil Fruit. Now, with the Ice-Ice Fruit in his veins, he had the power to take risks.
"Accept."
His mind began to race, calculating the variables. Making Gwen Stacy into Ghost Spider?
In Vincent's eyes, it was simple.
All I have to do is throw Gwen Stacy into the spider nest at Oscorp.