Marvel: Terror Stream

Chapter 18: Ch 18: Murphy’s Law

A few days later, in the Dunphy house.

Luke was seated at the dining table, staring at his laptop screen with the dead-eyed expression of a man who’d spent three hours debugging code for a freelance project.

Dropping the golf paddock job had been satisfying and time-saving, but he still needed money. Still needed to create a career for himself. This was just a start.

There was also an option to use TP to get real money.

1 TP gave $500 in cash or even to a bank account.

But there was no way he was going to waste TP like that. It was reserved for power-ups and Terror Stream preparations.

Speaking of Terror preparation, he has almost finished planning for his next stream. The only thing making him wait was for the train to leave the station.

Yeah, it really was a train.

He called it Operation: Confession Train on Bridge. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

So between terror planning and training, he was... Freelancing. Missing the hell out of Claude code, antigravity, and other LLMs.

"And then the heroine, her voice trembling with passion, cries out: ’Francisco, you cannot do this! You cannot sacrifice your life for me!’"

Luke’s eye twitched.

Manny stood in the middle of the living room, one hand pressed dramatically to his chest, the other extended toward an invisible lover.

He was a chubby guy with the soul of a 19th-century poet and the fashion sense of a retired art professor.

Technically, he was Luke’s uncle—long story involving Luke’s wealthy grandfather and a stunning Colombian woman who happened to be Manny’s mother.

Gloria was great. Manny was... a lot.

"And Francisco, torn between duty and love, falls to his knees and says—"

"Manny," Luke said, not looking up from his code. "I will pay you actual money to be less passionate right now."

Manny ignored him completely. "—’My life is worthless without you, Consuela!’"

Before Luke could bang Manny’s head against the table, his laptop screen flickered.

Incoming FaceTime. Alex.

He accepted.

His sister’s face filled the screen.

"How lazy are you? You’re facetiming me from your room upstairs?" Luke said.

"I’m at college, dumbass. I’ve been back here for two weeks." Alex’s tone was sharp, but there was something off about it.

"Oh," Luke said. "Well, you’re very noticeable. So what’s up?"

Alex hesitated. That alone was weird. Alex never hesitated. "Things aren’t going well with Sanjay and me."

Manny materialized beside Luke’s shoulder like a concerned, cologne-drenched ghost. "Relationship troubles? Tell me everything."

Luke shoved him. "Dude, boundaries."

But Alex was already talking. She explained the situation—something about Sanjay being distant, about her feeling ignored, about a date he’d canceled last minute.

Luke listened. Manny listened harder.

"It’s just," Alex sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I don’t know if he’s losing interest or if I’m overthinking it, but—"

Behind her, a door swung open.

A girl walked in. Asian. Cute. Clearly, Alex’s neighbor or dormmate.

She was wearing a towel and holding a bundle of clothes against her chest. She didn’t notice the laptop as she turned around to face the cupboard.

She didn’t notice Alex was FaceTiming.

She dropped the towel.

Luke choked on air. Manny’s eyes went wide as dinner plates.

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Luke gripped the passenger door handle. "Manny, we really don’t have to drive to Alex’s dorm. She’ll be fine. It’s just a breakup."

Yes, Alex broke up with her boyfriend right after she ended the call with them. Sanjay, the boyfriend, was apparently in love with someone else, he admitted it very quickly. She told Luke in text.

Manny kept one hand on the wheel, "It’s not just a breakup, Luke. It’s the breakup. Her first. She needs someone to listen to."

"I doubt you want to hear her breakup rant."

"Of course, not," Manny said, serene. "This soul is for Brie. You’re the brother. You handle Alex."

Luke’s face went flat.

Brie. The cute Asian dormmate. Thank god she’d been wearing undergarments under that towel.

"Any other day you’d wrestle a bear to meet a girl like Brie in person," Manny mused. "What’s different?"

Luke stared out the window. ’Because that’s where Gwen goes. My secret identity’s enemy. And I really don’t want to stumble into her.’

He said none of that. "I just wanted to finish that freelance gig. They’re paying five grand for a basic web app."

Manny was quiet for a moment. The car hummed.

"You’ve really grown, Luke." His voice was thick. "As your uncle, I’m proud."

Luke snorted. "Uncle my ass."

The boys were the same age, btw.

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Luke sat on the bench outside the cafeteria, a tiny cup of overpriced ice cream in his hand.

Alex sat beside him, eyes closed, savoring a spoonful of butterscotch ice cream like it was enlightenment.

After dumping a 90-minute breakup rant on him, Alex had dragged him here despite his protests.

"This is exactly what I needed," she murmured.

"Sure. Stuff bought with other people’s money always hits different." Luke had paid.

Alex smiled, "Thanks for today, Luke. Really. For listening and for that great suggestion. Calling Sanjay, cursing him out, mocking his size, and absolutely nuking his self-esteem... actually helped. I’m gonna post an Insta story. Expose him for cheating. Maybe add a note about how—"

"Whoa. Stop." Luke held up a hand. "Let’s keep your private life private, yeah?"

Alex pursed her lips, then nodded. "Fine. You’re right." She took another bite and smiled wryly. "But honestly, you really understood me today. You’re a good brother, Luke." She ruffled his hair like he was a golden retriever.

"You’re welcome. You’re not the first human to experience a breakup."

Then a voice drifted over.

"I’m telling you, Gwen. Veritas’s methods are wrong, but the guy makes solid points. And Spider-Woman? She doesn’t deserve the hate she gets."

Luke’s spine went rigid. ’Murphy’s fucking law.’

A girl’s voice replied, bored. "Peter, I don’t care about either of them. Talk to someone who does."

Peter spotted Alex and walked over, waffle in hand. "Hey, Alex! How’s your neutrino research in cryogenic temperatures? Did the application go through?"

Luke resisted the urge to facepalm. ’Of course she knows them. Just my luck.’

Alex sighed. "It got rejected, Peter. They told me to come back next year when I have solid results."

"That’s a total shame," Gwen said, joining them. "You’re probably the only person on campus who could actually make that research work."

’That short blonde hair... and an accompanying nerd Peter. It’s not any Gwen. It’s The Gwen.’ Luke thought.

They were holding waffles, and to Luke’s horror, they looked like they were looking for a place to sit.

Alex gestured. "Luke, these are Peter and Gwen. First years. My juniors. If you’d actually studied, you guys could’ve been batchmates."

Luke stood up immediately, ignoring the jab. "I see. Nice to meet you, Peter and Gwen. I’m Luke, the ’uneducated’ brother. Well, since your friends are here, Alex, I’ll head out."

"Oh, stay!" Gwen interjected with a friendly smile. "You don’t have to leave on our account."

’Trust me, dear, you don’t want me here.’

"Yeah, Luke, stay a bit longer," Alex added. She was usually the first to kick him out, but the breakup loneliness was clearly hitting her hard.

Luke sighed and sat back down.

The four of them settled around the bench. For about 45 seconds, they talked science. Then Peter pivoted the topic to supes and villains.

He looked at Luke and asked his opinion on Veritas.

"Hm, welp, all I know is this Veritas guy is batshit crazy." Luke kept his face neutral, eyes landing on Gwen for a moment, "But Spider-Woman should stay ready. He must be planning his next big attack. Probably planning something that’ll break her completely."

Peter went quiet. "Well. That’s hard to argue with, but Spider-Woman won’t break. She’s strong."

Peter had a reputation of being a hardcore Spider-Woman fan in college... his whole personality revolved around nerding out about Spider-Woman... Peter was even bullied because of this.

Despite that, he couldn’t quit nerding about her. And now his nerding list even had Veritas, too. So of course, Peter defended Spider-Woman.

But Gwen looked grim. Just for a moment.

Then Manny appeared, beaming, "Luke! There you are!"

Luke didn’t like that smile one bit. But he grabbed the excuse and stood. "Gotta go. Bye, Alex, take care."

As they walked away, Luke muttered, "Please tell me you didn’t propose to Brie."

Manny’s grin widened. "Not yet. But she touched my beret."

’Knowing him, it really must be his that cap.’

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Exactly one week later, the nightmare returned.

What Luke had said came to pass. The reason for Gwen’s anxiety finally showed itself.

The hijacking was instantaneous. From the towering billboards of Times Square to the tiny, glowing screens of smartphones in people’s pockets, every display in the city flickered and died.

When they blinked back to life, the image was the same everywhere. A man in a sharp black suit and a haunting, brand new Jester mask stared into the camera.

VERITAS

"Greetings, New York."

He was back on air, and the city held its breath.

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