The next day, Gan woke up; the first thing he did was shower before sitting back in his bed. He needed to furnish his room before doing anything else.
Gan opted to move in with his grandparents, so he felt that ordering furniture was pointless. However, he would come to visit his parents during the weekend and stay the whole summer.
Indeed, Gan had talked to his parents about it, and his father had asked his parents about it. They happily agreed, especially Gan's grandmother, who was all in favor of it.
Gan ordered some fairly decent matching furniture sets to decorate the place.
"Gan! Breakfast is ready!" He suddenly heard his mom knocking at the door as she spoke in a high tone.
"Alright! I'm coming!" Honestly, Gan could make his own food with his abilities, but his mom knew how to cook.
Once he arrived in the kitchen, his mom, dad, and brother were present.
"You've been in your room a lot lately, you must really love that room, huh?" Irelia, Gan's mom, turned with a smirk and narrowed eyes.
"Of course, he loves it; he played a little trick to acquire that room." Galen really wanted that room, but unfortunately, he knew nothing about it.
"Hahaha! Do your research next time, that's on you. You snooze, you lose!" Irelia laughed before taking a seat and eating her breakfast.
Galen's mouth twitched, but she wasn't lying. Gan simply did his research and knew that there was a bigger and better room.
"Why did you decide to go live with your grandparents in Queens?" His dad, Gary, was curious and asked.
Gary couldn't ask yesterday because he had to go pick up a rental car until their cars were sent to them.
"I have friends who go to Midtown High School. I want to go to that school instead of Bayville." Gan's answer was simple; nothing was waiting for him at Bayville High.
"Oh, right, you did live with your grandparents in the past—you must be talking about those little friends."
Suddenly, Irelia spoke. She vaguely remembered Peter Parker, Harry Osborn, Maryjane, and Lucas. However, there was one friend she could never forget, but she came later.
"Speaking of which, aren't you going to get ready to see your friend?" Irelia sighed softly, she was also aware of that girl's condition.
It wasn't getting any better, it may even be getting worse.
"Of course, that's my priority today, how could I forget?" This was the main thing Gan wanted to do; it was something he had to do!
"Alright! Be ready in an hour. I'll take you there personally to visit her." Gary nodded and continued to eat. He commended Gan for not giving up on his friend, even if it was too late; he was there in her last moments.
Gan saw that his dad was looking at the newspapers, which he found funny. His grandfather used to read the newspaper often back in the day for information. What surprised Gan was what he glimpsed on the newspaper's front page.
The images featured Flint Marko, also known as the Sandman. There were visuals of Spider-Man battling Sandman without a definitive victor. The headlines read: 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗢𝗳𝗳 𝗜𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘀.
The pictures were a little too perfect, the timing and angles.
'A Menace?' Gan chuckled when he saw the headline. This was obviously done by that person who loved to 'dig' into Spider-Man often.
Some people believed what the Daily Bugle wrote unconditionally, like Peter Parker's Aunt May.
"Are you guys ready for school next week? Are you ready to meet new people?" Gary placed the newspaper down and asked with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm ready, but I don't see much to be ready for. It's always exciting when meeting new people, but it dulls over time." Galen was indeed excited about the new experience, but he knew what would come after.
Gan just nodded and agreed, but he already had friends at the school. The only thing on Gan's mind was getting some powers. He knew the things soon to be and the end of this world in [Time Runs Out]!
"Damn son, you really know how to kill a mood, huh. You keep talking like that, and everyone will avoid you." Irelia laughed as she stood up and took their plates away.
Irelia made them egg, bacon, and pancakes. It was something heavy, which was enough to satiate them until lunch later. Irelia was fairly tall for a woman, as she stood at 181 cm.
"There's no way I would talk like that in front of people. I'm self-aware, Mom, I have some common sense."
Galen wouldn't dare talk nonsense in front of new people. He had to create a good first impression of himself.
"That's good. It looks like we didn't raise a fool then." His mom always had somewhat of an outspoken mouth.
Irelia was most happy about this new house, it was certainly the best and biggest house on the block.
Gan could read his mother's thoughts, so he knew her mood was boosted because of this house.
Gan's mother wasn't American; she hailed from Wakanda. Irelia's parents had largely distanced themselves from her due to her choice to marry an American rather than someone from their culture.
"Speaking of school. What school will both Garen and Grace go to?" Gan asked before taking another bite of his sub.
"They were both enrolled in Bayville Intermediate School." This school was an extended branch of their high school.
"The names they use for their school seem more professional. Back in Michigan, they called it something, middle school or whatever. Intermediate sounds way better on paper than Middle."
Galen couldn't help but say. He felt a bit better about this move when he learned this.
"In the end, it means the same, so it doesn't really matter. What matters is that you both go to school and get good grades to secure your futures."
Gary spoke behind the newspaper as he continued to read.
"That's true." Gan nodded and said.
"That newspaper, the headline looks like slander in a way. It seems they're calling Spider-Man a menace as well."
Gan had been staring at the newspaper for a while now. He saw the perfect shots of Spider-Man and the Sandman fighting. These pictures were likely taken by Peter Parker, who was selling them to the Daily Bugle.
The kitchen was silent for a second until his dad flipped the newspaper. He checked the headline and thought for a moment.
"Spider-Man is indeed a hero, and most people know that. Jameson is probably doing this for attention and to bring in sales." Gary spoke with confidence.
"He should sue him for defamation or something, this is wrong," Irelia added.
"He's a hero, why would he risk his identity being discovered?" Gan knew this Earth's Spider-Man would not sue Jameson, but on some other Earths, he had done it.
"I wish I had superpowers. I would definitely be one of the best heroes there was." Galen sighed, his tone full of longing.
"Being a hero isn't as easy as it seems. They may love you at one moment and in the next, they may resent you. As a hero, you can't save them all; there will be times when you will fail. What would they think of you then? Wouldn't they blame you for that loved one's loss?"
Gary shook his head; their dad seemed to know a few things.
"Oh, stop, Gary, don't stomp on their dreams like that." Irelia laughed as she wiped the counter.
"... ..." Gan
"... ..." Galen
.... ....
Gan grabbed the ring he had created before heading out the door with his dad. His father told him how respectable he was for not giving up on his friend.
Some people would have stopped visiting people whom they deemed to be doomed to the grave. Within twenty minutes, Gan and his father arrived at the hospital.
They both had to sign their names for visitation, but the nurse recognized them from last week. Upon walking into the room, they saw a man sitting next to a sickly figure sitting upright on the bed.
Gan naturally recognized the man as the sickly figure's Father. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, with fair skin.
This man was tall, with a towering figure, just slightly taller than Gan's dad, Gary. He had well-kept hair with bangs covering his left and right eyes.
He was no doubt a handsome man.
The girl had eyes the color of magenta, with skin as pale as powder. Her hair was naturally silver white, but due to chemotherapy, she naturally didn't have any. She wore a cap on her head to hide her bald head.
She was clearly an albino from what Gan knew. He had never seen a Caucasian albino in his previous world that was this pale. This didn't matter, as Gan's attention could see thickening dark spots under her eyes, which was a clear sign of kidney cancer.
'They've grown thicker, at this rate...' Gan's heart raced; he was determined to save her.
Her name was Aria.
"Gan, you're here!" Aria expressed her enthusiasm and joy, though it was not as vibrant as it had been the previous week.
Last week, she had little energy as well, but her vocal intensity had diminished significantly. Gan was just happy that he could do something about her condition. Unfortunely, she didn't only have cancer, but she was a crippled.
Paralyzed from the legs down due to a hit-and-run. Fortunately, the hit-and-run perpetrator had been caught and sentenced.
"Yes, how could I miss coming to visit you? I won't miss my visitation day, and will come every week to see you."
"Thank you, Gan, thanks for always coming to visit me." Aria was almost in tears hearing this since all of her friends had abandoned her.
Aria and her dad used to live in Queens, but her father's business took off, and they moved out.
"Okay, you two are talking like a married couple, and you're not even of age." Aria's father, Arthur, smiled a smile that wasn't a smile.
He wanted to be happy, but he simply couldn't feel this way due to his daughter's hopeless situation. The doctor already told him that her cancer had advanced to stage three and was growing rapidly.
Arthur was told to prepare for the worst-case scenario. In simple words, prepare a coffin ahead of time.
"Arthur, right? How about you and me talk for a bit, and leave the young'un to it." Gary waved and called out to Arthur.
"Hmm, yeah..." Arthur stood, then looked back at his daughter before exiting the room with Gary. His eyes almost looked lifeless, and even his answers were short and somewhat vague.
Gan's expression also didn't look so good, as he had read Arthur's mind.
Stage three Kidney and Liver Cancer at the same time! This was no different than Deadpool's situation, right?!
"Gan...are you alright? Your expression looks similar to my dad's."
"No, no, no! I have something to discuss with you, but you can't tell anyone about it. It'll be a secret between me and you."
"A Secret?" Aria smiled and said. "Of course, I wouldn't tell anyone our secrets, especially those between us." Aria didn't hesitate and agreed.
Gan had already read her mind and found that she wasn't aware of her advanced condition. This was for the best because if she found out, she would probably feel high levels of grief. If that happened, it may kill her even quicker.
Gan secretly altered reality to cancel any escaping sounds.
"Aria, I met a mysterious guy three days ago. He told me he knew what my greatest desire was." Gan continued. "He said my greatest desire is to find the cure to your condition."
Gan pulled out the ring he had created.
"This ring is something I bought for one hundred dollars. He showed me his powers, which were similar to what some of the Avengers could do. This man had abilities such as flight and the ability to control lightning."
Aria gazed at the ring because of its stunning appearance, but she was taken aback when she heard Gan's words.
"What? He could fly and control lightning?" Aria's eyes widened, and she thought she was hearing things.
"Yes, he sold me this ring and said it would heal your cancer. I tried asking him who he was and where he got the ring from, but he refused to tell me. He told me he would sell me another interesting item two days from now.
"... ..." Aria
Gan was silent, but he could already tell from her thoughts how she felt about this. Aria believed Gan had gotten scammed by a special effects actor. He didn't blame her, who would believe a ring could heal cancer?
"Okay, I'll take it. I would have taken it anyway, it looks so beautiful." Aria placed the ring on her right-hand index finger.
"What?" Aria's mouth widened as she gasped. The moment she placed the ring on, she felt something tingling around her stomach.
'Could it be that this ring is capable of healing me?' Aria looked at the glowing ring in shock before turning to Gan with wide eyes.
Soon, the ring's glow subsided.
"Remember, this is a secret. There would probably be ends to trouble if anyone found out about this item." There would surely be people wanting to snatch an item capable of curing cancer.
People would surely sneak into the hospital to steal this from her. The government might even get involved; Gan couldn't rule out this possibility.
"Of course, I will never say anything; not even to my dad and sister." Aria did a lip-zipping gesture to display that her mouth was sealed.
Simultaneously, she felt immense gratitude towards Gan. Aria wished to repay him in some way; maybe she could offer him some cash since her father was fairly wealthy.
"... ..." Gan could hear her thoughts, and was speechless.
He wouldn't require any money from her; his talents would enable him to become the wealthiest person on the planet.
"Tell me more about what you've been up to. Also, tell me how this guy looked. Was he the typical anime character, looking old man with a long grey beard who acted mysteriously?"
Aria described the man jokingly. she often read comics and anime to kill her boredom.
"Hehe, I'll tell you the story then." Gan smiled and began to make up a story.