Chapter 2: The Street Becomes Home
The orphanage window opened silently at 3 AM, Enhanced Reflexes helping Ben avoid every squeaky floorboard he'd memorized over the past two days. The January cold bit through his thin jacket as he dropped into the alley, but freedom tasted sweeter than warmth.
His breath came in visible puffs as he made his way through the maze of Manhattan's side streets, ten-year-old legs carrying him with more confidence than they should have possessed. Enhanced Reflexes warned him of ice patches, guided him around broken glass, and kept him moving at a pace that would eat up distance without exhausting his small body.
The adult mind trapped in this child's form waged constant war with physical limitations. He knew where to find shelter—maintenance alcoves in subway stations, 24-hour diners that wouldn't immediately call police on a lost-looking kid, the blind spots where security cameras couldn't see. But knowing and doing were different things when you weighed seventy pounds and looked like you should be home doing homework.
By dawn, he'd found a hiding place in an abandoned building near the Hudson River. The structure had been gutted by fire years ago, leaving behind skeletal concrete and empty windows that let in knifing wind. But it was invisible to authority, and that mattered more than warmth.
Ben huddled in a corner where two walls met, using newspapers as insulation. His small body shivered uncontrollably, but his mind stayed sharp. Time to see what the system could offer.
[3 STANDARD TICKETS AVAILABLE]
[ACTIVATE ALL THREE PULLS? Y/N]
Three chances. In mobile games, he'd learned to manage expectations—standard pulls meant mostly garbage, maybe one decent result if he got lucky. But this wasn't a game anymore. This was survival.
He selected 'YES.'
The first pull materialized with slot machine fanfare. Icons spun past—abilities from across the Marvel universe flashing in a hypnotic blur. It slowed, then stopped.
[PARKOUR (C-RANK, LEVEL 1)]
[ABILITY DESCRIPTION: Enhanced understanding of urban movement and environmental navigation. Grants improved climbing, jumping, and spatial awareness.]
The knowledge flowed into him like muscle memory downloading. Suddenly, he understood the fire escape outside not as a ladder but as a pathway. The gaps between buildings became distances to calculate rather than barriers. It was still weak—Level 1 of anything barely scratched the potential—but combined with Enhanced Reflexes, it made him more than human.
Second pull.
[NIGHT VISION (C-RANK, LEVEL 1)]
[ABILITY DESCRIPTION: Enhanced low-light vision. Allows clear sight in darkness up to 50 feet.]
His pupils dilated as the ability integrated, the dim interior of the abandoned building suddenly clear as grayscale daylight. He could see rats scurrying in the corners, the exact layout of debris, the structural weak points where the floor might give way. Another C-Rank, but useful.
Third pull. He held his breath.
[HAWKEYE'S AIM (B-RANK, LEVEL 1)]
[ABILITY DESCRIPTION: Instinctive understanding of trajectory, force, and timing. Grants supernatural accuracy with thrown objects and ranged attacks.]
"B-Rank." The adult in him felt a surge of genuine excitement. Uncommon tier. His first real power.
The integration was more intense this time. His eyes automatically began calculating distances, wind resistance, optimal angles. When he picked up a piece of broken concrete and hefted it, his hands knew exactly how much force would send it to any target within sight. At Level 1, it was barely above human peak, but it was a foundation.
"Hawkeye's aim. Parkour. Night Vision. Enhanced Reflexes." He catalogued his abilities as he experimented with small movements, testing his new capabilities. "I'm like a low-tier vigilante now. A very small, very cold vigilante who needs food and shelter."
The system's quest reminder pulsed in his peripheral vision.
[QUEST: FIND SHELTER - PROGRESS: 25%]
[CURRENT LOCATION INADEQUATE FOR LONG-TERM SURVIVAL]
[RECOMMENDATION: SEEK SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND WARMTH SOURCES]
Ben spent the day exploring his new capabilities. Parkour let him move through the abandoned building with fluid efficiency, finding handholds and pathways that would have been invisible before. Night Vision turned dark corners into clear reconnaissance. Enhanced Reflexes kept him from making noise or leaving obvious traces.
But Hawkeye's Aim was the revelation. He set up a makeshift target practice range using empty bottles and debris, throwing chunks of concrete with increasing accuracy. Each successful hit granted tiny amounts of EXP—maybe 5 or 10 points—but the progression was addictive. Numbers going up meant he was getting stronger, and strength meant survival.
As evening approached, hunger became a problem his abilities couldn't solve. The adult mind remembered seeing a soup kitchen on the news—something associated with a charity that worked with Stark Industries. If he could get there, act like a properly lost child instead of a fugitive...
The soup kitchen operated out of a church basement six blocks away. Ben approached carefully, Enhanced Reflexes reading the volunteers for threats. Most were genuine—tired people trying to help tired people. But one woman caught his attention: professionally dressed, too clean for this environment, watching everyone with calculating eyes.
He got in line behind other street kids and homeless adults, trying to blend in. When his turn came, the server—an older woman with kind eyes—ladled soup into a styrofoam bowl.
"First time here, honey?"
Ben nodded, not trusting his voice. She added an extra roll to his tray without being asked.
He found a corner table and ate carefully, savoring each bite while observing the room. The professionally dressed woman—the one who didn't belong—kept glancing his way. Not with suspicion, but with curiosity. Like she'd noticed something off about him.
After finishing his meal, Ben helped clear tables, another institutional survival skill. Act useful, don't make trouble, become invisible through compliance. But as he carried dishes to the kitchen, raised voices from the alley outside caught his enhanced hearing.
"—wallet, lady, or things get complicated."
"Please, I just volunteer here. I don't have much—"
Two men had cornered the professionally dressed woman in the alley beside the church. Ben's adult mind screamed to help, but his child body froze at the thought of confronting grown men. Until Enhanced Reflexes kicked in, bypassing conscious thought.
He slipped outside through the kitchen's rear exit, Parkour guiding him to a position above the confrontation. The woman was pressed against the brick wall while two thugs demanded her purse. Standard mugging, probably drug-motivated.
Ben picked up a chunk of broken brick, Hawkeye's Aim automatically calculating trajectory. His small size was an advantage here—he could throw from an angle they wouldn't expect. The first rock struck the lead mugger's hand with surgical precision, sending his knife skittering away. The second hit the other man's knee, dropping him with a howl of pain.
"What the hell—"
Ben was already moving, Parkour guiding him down the fire escape and between the confused muggers. His small size let him slip through their attempts to grab him, creating chaos and confusion. The woman escaped during the distraction, running toward the street where people and lights promised safety.
Ben followed a different route, Enhanced Reflexes warning him away from dead ends and guiding him through passages too narrow for adult pursuit. By the time he stopped running, several blocks away, his heart was hammering with adrenaline and something else—satisfaction. He'd helped someone. Made a difference.
But as he caught his breath in a doorway, he didn't notice the woman pulling out a phone three blocks away, or the very specific call she made to Bishop Security.
[ENHANCED REFLEXES GAINS 50 EXP FROM COMBAT USE - LEVEL 3 ACHIEVED]
[TUTORIAL QUEST COMPLETE! REWARD: 3 STANDARD TICKETS]
[NEW QUEST AVAILABLE: FIND SHELTER (REWARD: 1 PREMIUM TICKET)]
Ben found his way back to the abandoned building as snow began falling again. Three more tickets waited in his interface, three more chances to gain power. But exhaustion from his child body's limits was dragging him toward sleep, despite his excitement.
He curled up in his corner with newspaper insulation, abilities making him more aware of every sound, every shift in temperature, every potential threat. But also more capable of responding to them.
Tomorrow, he would pull again. Tomorrow, he would get stronger.
Tonight, dreams mixed MCU movie scenes with his current terrifying reality, while somewhere across the city, Bishop Security forwarded a very interesting report about a homeless child with impossible reflexes and supernatural accuracy.
The war for Ben Parker's future had begun, though he wouldn't understand the players for years to come.
Outside his broken window, snow continued to fall on a city full of heroes who didn't know they were heroes yet.
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