New York, Sunny. Humidity: 33% UV Index: Low Wind: Northeast, Level 3 Feels Like: 15% Comfortable Sunrise: 6:15:18 AM
Today is Spider-Man's debut day.
Atop the Empire State Building.
Look closely—this red-and-blue Spider-Man is called Little Handsome.
As the sun rose, he quietly scaled the antenna tower.
Warm sunlight chased away the night's gloom. Charlie Parker found a spot to sit, pulling off his mask.
The wind tousled the teen's hair. He gazed over the city of opportunity and grind, took a deep breath of fresh morning air, and pulled his phone from his crotch pocket.
Anyone who's been Spider-Man's friend knows: Spider-Man's suit has no pockets.
He opened his phone.
[Peeping Tom: Spider-Man, I know who you are.]
Charlie: "???"
He tapped the screen, firing back.
[New York's Best Neighbor: I'm your daddy!]
[Peeping Tom: …]
Charlie pocketed the phone back in his crotch pocket.
"Nutcase. I've got you in my contacts, and you're still playing mysterious? Absolute genius."
Muttering, he leaped off, wind howling as he locked onto a nearby building, shooting a web to latch onto its wall.
Whoosh!
The web held firm, and Charlie swung through the city with its tensile strength.
Whoo~~
After a few swings, he zipped over the street, snatching a newspaper from a passerby.
"Thanks for the paper, good guy!"
"Oh, shit! Who was that?!"
The bald man yelled, looking up as the red-and-blue figure vanished into the skyline, eyes wide.
"My God, what was that?"
He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he'd seen wrong.
On a nearby building, Wanda and Pietro watched Spider-Man's every move.
Seeing him stoop to stealing newspapers, Pietro facepalmed.
"This guy's such a jerk. Who'd believe this shameless bug would save the world over and over?"
Wanda shook her head. "That's his style. But as his fame grows, he'll probably tone it down."
"What's he up to?" Pietro asked, curious.
Wanda thought. "He's been obsessed with Brooklyn robberies lately. Probably off to do some good."
Pietro nodded. "Looks like he's getting the hang of his powers."
"Of course. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be out here."
Wanda glanced at Pietro's phone.
"You still haven't explained why you texted him. You're already friends—he knows you."
Pietro looked sheepish.
"Uh, I forgot. But I'm curious what he'll do to us 'good neighbors' now that we know his identity." He smirked wickedly.
"Probably try to silence us," Wanda said, deadpan.
Pietro: "???"
"That bad?" He gave a nervous laugh, unsure of this Spider-Man's temperament.
But it wasn't impossible.
Wanda side-eyed her idiot brother, rolling her eyes. "Kidding. Everyone knows Spider-Man doesn't kill."
Pietro nodded. "Yeah, common knowledge."
Half an hour later, gunshots rang out in an alley, leaving Pietro and Wanda speechless.
In the alley, the future invincible Spider-Man toyed with a black handgun, surrounded by dead robbers.
Charlie was just as baffled by the outcome.
"Whoa, why're you all down? I haven't even started!"
He tossed the still-smoking gun, crouched, and shook a twitching robber, slapping his face.
"Hey, hey, don't die! I was joking! Okay, I was curious about your gun, but I didn't mean it! If you die, who'll prove the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man did a good deed? Don't die, I'm begging you, stay alive!!"
In the alley, Spider-Man wailed in despair. The dying robber, staring at this weirdo, suffered more mentally than physically.
If this guy didn't keep shaking him, he might've lasted a few more minutes.
But now, he was done for.
"Urgh~"
The robber twitched one last time and went still, eyes open in death.
Charlie glanced around guiltily, then tiptoed to erase his traces and fled.
Pietro and Wanda saw it all.
Staring after Spider-Man, they exchanged looks.
"Spider-Man doesn't kill, you said."
"Yeah, but that was an accident."
"Is this his dark history?"
"Probably."
"Now what?"
"Go home."
"Got it."
Soon, they returned to their Bleecker Street apartment, right next to Charlie's place.
Shortly after, the future invincible Spider-Man rang their doorbell.
Ding-dong~
"Open the door. It's me, your friendly neighbor," Charlie said in a low voice.
Through the peephole, Wanda saw Charlie with his head down.
Pietro frowned. "What's with his voice?"
Wanda thought. "Probably not feeling well."
She opened the door.
Charlie looked up, his face unprecedentedly serious, and brushed past Wanda into the room.
"Spill it. Why're you stalking me?"
His gaze sharpened.
Wanda quickly explained, "Sorry, we mean no harm—"
"No need."
Charlie cut her off, waving. "Wanda, Pietro, you're Hydra's goons, right?"
They exchanged glances, wondering how he knew their identities.
In the original timeline, Spider-Man was just a normal superpowered kid at this point, too weak to know such secrets.
But considering his powers, they relaxed.
"As expected of Spider-Man," Pietro said, grinning. "Your powers are insane, scary from the start. No wonder you save the world repeatedly."
Charlie turned, staring at them.
"My powers? Saving the world repeatedly?"
"Yeah, your powers can even sense poop. That's like precognition," Wanda said seriously.
Charlie's face darkened.
"What are you talking about?"
Pietro explained, "We're from the future. If you don't believe me, I can—"
"No need."
Charlie cut them off again, eyes grave.
Pietro and Wanda felt uneasy.
Spider-Man wouldn't buy their story. If a fight broke out, they'd have to go easy—he was super weak right now.
But then Charlie rushed forward, hugging them excitedly.
"Hahaha, I knew I had more than one cheat code! You must be the system's reinforcements!"
He pushed Pietro aside, grabbed Wanda's hand, and said eagerly, "Tell me, what's my first mission? What's the reward? …What's with that look? Okay, you might not get me, but just give me missions. I really don't wanna die. Who knows if the Resurrection Match is legit? I'd rather level up with a system…"
Charlie rambled, leaving Wanda and Pietro dumbfounded.
Their eyes met.
[Is this Spider-Man nuts?]
[Definitely. Look at him.]
[Study stress?]
[No way. I checked—he skips class all the time.]
[So what do we do? Actually give him missions? He's not trying to join Hydra, is he?]
[Doesn't matter. I told him who we are, and the timeline didn't warp. This won't change the future.]
Pietro thought. [Wanna try more?]
Wanda nodded, then pulled her hand from Charlie's grip.
"Classmate Charlie, how long have you been like this? What kind of mission do you want?" she asked.
Charlie's eyes lit up. "I get to choose?"
He glanced at his head. "No system prompt, though!"
"Forget missions. Reckless chaos is easier."
He grinned at Wanda and Pietro, now bound by webs. "Dear villains, time to surrender."
Wanda: "…"
Pietro: "…"
"Dear sister, I got careless. Didn't dodge."
"Dear brother, me too. I thought he was crazy."
"So we got ambushed."
"Yeah, but he doesn't know how strong we are."
Scarlet energy crept from Wanda's fingers, melting the webs.
Seeing this, Charlie's face changed. He leaped for the window.
"Damn! My debut, and I get a big boss? That's not fair!!"
Buzz~
As he complained, scarlet energy wrapped him in midair like silk.
His web-shooters sealed, with no leverage, Charlie turned to face Wanda and Pietro's wicked grins.
He couldn't take it anymore.
"Can't win, no way I can win! I need a retry! Retry!!"
Charlie screamed. Wanda flicked her fingers, grabbing a homemade bomb he'd hidden by the door.
"Didn't know you had this skill," she chuckled.
Charlie's face fell as his distraction was foiled.
Done for. These guys are sly.
How do I fight this?
He flashed a self-proclaimed charming smile. "Since I'm this handsome, can you go easy? At least don't hit my face—I need it for clout."
Wanda rolled her eyes. "We already said we mean no harm."
"We're from the future," Pietro said earnestly. "We're friends."
Charlie grinned. "Sure, sure, friends. Let me go."
"You'll run."
"I swear I won't."
"Not a word from Spider-Man is trustworthy."
"Sob sob~ Now I believe we're friends. You know Spider-Man so well."
Charlie pouted, unconvinced by their "future friends" spiel.
Who meets time-travelers this early?
In a novel, this is endgame stuff.
Fine, stall them.
"Ahem, Ms. Wanda, Mr. Pietro, how did future me meet you? I'm dying to know. Tell me."
Seeing his eager curiosity, Wanda relaxed.
"We met during that incident…"
She began recounting.
…
Future Wakanda
"Damn it, again!"
In the room, Charlie clutched his head, freaking out. "These memories come in chunks! They make no sense!"
Future Jade explained, "If I'm right, the butterfly effect of time travel shouldn't affect you. But you're reacting, so the Book of Ages must've caused unexpected changes in this universe."
As Charlie's headache eased, Future Jade continued, "Your discomfort means their time-travel impact isn't permanent. It might just be false memories. Time will auto-correct, and the future won't change."
"I know."
Charlie rubbed his temples, taking a deep breath. "But they're torturing my soul, tricking my feelings, trampling my body, and insulting my intelligence. I really want to take them out."
Future Jade ignored his rant, continuing, "If they stay in that timeline, they can't change much, but as long as they're there, you'll keep feeling it. That's a big problem."
"Can I travel to them?" Charlie asked.
Future Jade, an encyclopedia, seemed to know everything.
She nodded. "Yes. Per Einstein's relativity, time isn't absolute. High speeds cause time dilation, mass bends spacetime, and gravity is spacetime's geometric distortion. Extreme celestial events provide a basis for time manipulation. We can use shortcuts like wormholes' negative energy or quantum entanglement…"
"Stop!"
Charlie waved, serious. "Say something I can understand."
Future Jade shrugged. "Fix the Time Tablet and use the Web of Life and Destiny's power."
"Too much hassle. Other ways?"
"Yes. Find an active wormhole, use the All-New-All-Different power in you to locate their timeline, take the Rabbit Talisman, and kick them out."
"Still a pain. Anything else?"
"Yes. Fix the Time Tablet and use All-New-All-Different's void power."
Charlie: "…"
She's got an answer for everything.
How does she know all this?!
"Fine, third option. First, we find Mephisto."
"Wait."
Future Jade stopped him. "Dealing with Mephisto will cause messy consequences. I suggest collecting all Twelve Talismans first, then using the Eight Demons' power to swallow his hell dimension. Simpler and brutal."
Charlie: "…"
Swallow Mephisto's hell?
Ruthless Jade.
Big thumbs-up!!