Free Web NovelChapter 2: Ch 2: Slightly Modern Family
After a quick morning routine: shower, clothes, teeth... Luke made his way downstairs.
And there it was.
The most dangerous part of his day.
Family time.
Luke paused just before entering the dining area, hand hovering near the railing.
Alright, he told himself. Act natural.
Which would’ve been significantly easier if he had even a single memory of these people.
Or this house.
So the only thing he had to work with was his phone—photos, videos, random bits of digital evidence left behind by the original Luke.
Apparently, the original Luke wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.
He even found a report where his mom had taken him to a child psychologist once.
’Thank god it was just regular dumb-kid stuff,’ he thought, shuddering at the mental image of himself consciously acting like a drooling gremlin with his tongue hanging out. Hard pass.
He stepped into the kitchen and immediately took in the scene.
Dad was already suited up for work, humming to himself while spreading butter on a piece of toast with way too much enthusiasm for 10 a.m.
His younger elder sister—the middle child, the studious one—had her face buried in a textbook at the dining table, clearly running on pre-exam anxiety. She was usually at her university but today she was home.
"Luke, buddy~ Morning!!" Dad greeted him with a bright, salesman-grade smile.
"Morning, Dad," Luke replied, sliding into his seat and grabbing a plate. "Leaving for work soon?"
"Yeah, today’s gonna be packed," Dad said, still attacking the toast like it had personally offended him. "Did Haley leave for her interview already?"
"Yeah... she’s already off with... Dylan," Mom answered from the oven, her voice carrying just enough bitterness to pickle a cucumber.
Luke filed that away: Mom hates Dylan. Noted.
"Hm," he said aloud, offering nothing. His face stayed neutral. His ears stayed open.
He was mid-bite when his father’s phone buzzed. The man picked it up with the smile of someone who genuinely enjoyed talking to clients.
"Yellow, Phil Dunphy this side," Dad answered brightly. "Mrs. Parkinson, yes, I have already found the perfect house for you. I’ll send you the property’s location in a bit."
Across the kitchen, his mother was already suited up for work too. So was his father. The sister was buried in books. Everyone had somewhere to be, something to do.
Perfect.
No one was looking too closely at the son who’d supposedly lived here his whole life.
As far as Luke could tell, nobody suspected a thing. And he planned to keep it that way.
After breakfast, Luke excused himself and started heading upstairs when Phil’s voice stopped him.
"Luke, walk with me,"
Luke tilted his head, keeping his face carefully blank. "Uh... sure."
The two of them walked out of the house together at a casual pace. ’We’re just going to the garage,’ Luke thought.
They walked in silence for a few seconds. Then Phil glanced over, casual as anything. "Is there something worrying you, buddy?"
Luke’s heart did a little drum solo against his ribs.
’Surely,’ he thought, ’I can never fool a parent’s eye.’
From what he’d observed, this family was genuinely close — especially the father-son duo. They had clearly noticed that something about him felt a little off these past two days. No wonder.
Luke let out a small sigh. Dodging the question would only make them worry more.
So. The truth. Or at least a carefully curated version of it.
Luke sighed. "Well..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I’m just... trying to figure out my future career path."
Phil raised an eyebrow. Not suspicious. Impressed. "Wow. That’s great. What are you thinking right now?"
Luke allowed himself a small, mysterious smile. The kind that said I have thoughts without actually sharing any of them. "I’ll tell you when I think it through."
Phil’s face did something complicated. The corners of his mouth twitched upward. His eyes got that dad proud sparkle. Honestly, Luke dreaded a hug and a single manly tear. Thankfully, it did not come.
They’d reached the garage. Luke pressed the shutter button, and Phil slid into his car like a man who had places to be and clients to sell houses to.
"Good talk, buddy," Phil said through the window.
Luke nodded. "Yeah."
The car pulled out. Luke watched it go, then stood there for a moment in the driveway, hands in his pockets.
He smiled.
’They’re nice people,’
Luke finally made it back to his room. The moment the door clicked shut behind him, he let out a long, tired sigh and dropped onto the chair at his desk.
There was way too much to do.
But...
No pressure.
He rubbed his face with both hands, then pulled his phone closer. Time to do some proper research.
Yesterday, he’d only scratched the surface.
Today, he needed to understand the kind of Marvel universe he’d been dumped into on a deeper level.
From what he could tell so far, it was mostly MCU-flavored, with the Battle of New York having happened about a year ago. The Avengers were real. That much was clear.
But there were other pieces that didn’t quite line up with just the MCU.
Luke leaned forward, scrolling through news articles and fan sites (carefully avoiding anything that looked too conspiracy-heavy).
"Hm..." he muttered, eyes narrowing.
Charles Xavier was scheduled to give a guest lecture at Columbia University next week — the same university his sister Alex attended.
Interesting. And just a few days ago, the X-Men had apparently stopped a derailed train caused by some villainous mutant. So the X-Men were operating openly enough to make the news.
He kept digging.
Then came the real curveball.
Luke blinked at the screen, staring at a blurry photo someone had snapped of a white-and-pink-suited figure swinging between buildings.
"Okay... didn’t expect her here," he said under his breath.
Spider-Gwen existed here, too.
Luke glanced at the time on his phone. 11:30 already.
"Well... gotta head out now," he muttered.
Apparently, the original Luke had been working part-time at a golf club. Something about boosting his college application and "gaining experience." Classic high school resume padding.
The new Luke, on the other hand, had zero interest in sticking around.
With his old corporate IT experience and a head full of future Marvel knowledge, college felt pretty optional. He planned to quit as soon as he could figure out a better way to make money without drawing attention.
Still, he’d already called in sick yesterday. And since he needed some cash to keep things running for at least a couple of months, he had no choice but to drag himself there today.
The commute took a painful forty minutes. Thankfully, the job itself wasn’t rocket science. Handing out clubs, helping with carts, smiling at rich golfers who tipped like it physically hurt them.
He got the hang of it quickly enough.
There were a couple of minor screw-ups — mixing up the wrong set of clubs once, nearly sending a cart the wrong way — but he played the "I was sick yesterday" card, and everyone let it slide.
The day passed without any major disasters. No one asked too many questions, and no one seemed to notice that the Luke they knew felt just a little... off.
Things were going surprisingly smoothly for Luke so far.
One of his colleagues was kind enough to drop him off a short distance from home, leaving him with just a peaceful fifteen-minute walk. The sun was setting, painting the sky in soft oranges and pinks. The neighborhood was pretty ordinary as well, with tall apartment buildings, general stores, etc.
For a moment, everything felt almost... normal.
Honestly, the family he’d landed with in this new life was better than he could have hoped for. In his previous world, family had been a depressing mess — divorced parents, a dad buried in work just to pay alimony for his drug-addict mom, and no siblings to share the weight.
Here, even though he’d only spent a couple of days with them, the warmth was real. The cheerful dad, the stressed-but-caring mom, quirky siblings... it was the kind of home he had quietly yearned for in his old life.
He was already starting to get attached...
He didn’t want to risk any of it. Not for power and definitely not by turning himself into a wanted criminal.
The heroes could handle saving the world.
As for Thanos and the Snap... Luke pondered as he crossed an intersection, maybe there was a smarter way. If he could just rescue Ant-Man right after the Snap and tip off Tony and the others about the time heist... maybe even warn Nebula in advance so 2014 Thanos never makes it to this timeline. That way—
Sirens suddenly split the evening air. freēwēbnovel.com
Luke’s head snapped up. Two police helicopters were flying low, chasing something fast-moving across the buildings. A human figure with massive mechanical wings was weaving between them.
"That’s Vulture," Luke muttered, eyes widening.
Before he could process it, Vulture slammed into one of the helicopters.
The rear exploded in a bright orange fireball. The damaged chopper immediately began to spin out of control, trailing thick black smoke.
Luke’s stomach dropped.
It was heading straight for his house.
"Fuck— fuck fuck fuck fuck—!"
His mind went blank with panic. Everyone would be home by now — Mom, Dad, Alex, maybe even Haley. If that burning wreck slammed into their roof...
He broke into a desperate sprint, legs pumping as fast as they could.
’No no no no no—’
It was useless. He knew it even as he ran. There was no way he could reach it in time. There was nothing a normal person could do.
’Please... someone... anyone... save them...’
As if the universe had heard him, a white streak shot across the buildings.
’Gwen.’
Luke’s eyes lit up with desperate hope as Spider-Gwen swung in at amazing speed, firing webs from her wrists towards the crashing helicopter.
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