Free Web NovelChapter 8: Ch 8: Quirk Awakening in Marvel
It was Saturday, a pleasant weekend day.
TV was on, some afternoon news program, and no one was really paying attention—until the anchor’s tone shifted.
"—a truly bizarre case out of New York last night. An armed psychopath held six people hostage in a small convenience store for about half an hour. His demand? He just wanted to talk."
Phil paused mid-chew, a peanut halfway to his mouth. "Wait, what?"
The reporter continued, her expression a careful mix of professional concern and barely-hidden disbelief.
"According to police, the masked man—wearing a clown mask, no less—used a dummy bomb and a handgun to force his victims to... have a conversation. He reportedly knew intimate details of their personal lives, leading investigators to believe he stalked them for at least a month."
Luke, sprawled on the armchair with a bowl of cereal balanced on his stomach, kept his eyes fixed on the screen. The faintest smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
’30 minutes? The audacity to inflate the time so much!’ He, of course, buried the thought inside him.
"The suspect remains at large; no footage or traces have been found. Authorities are urging the public to report any suspicious individuals immediately. If you notice someone following you, watching your routine, don’t dismiss it."
Phil shook his head, reaching for another peanut. "Man. It seems the male loneliness epidemic is real after all. There are guys out there forcing people at gunpoint just for a conversation?"
"Yeah," Luke said, spooning a mouthful of cereal. "Imagine the kind of screws you’ve gotta have loose to pull something like that."
Phil pointed the peanut at his kids. "Alright, everyone. New rule. You see anyone strange, anyone stalker-ish, you tell me immediately. Haley? Claire?" He looked around. "You too, Luke."
From the corner of the sofa, Alex lowered her book just enough to peer over the pages. Her brows furrowed. "Seriously? You don’t think I could get a stalker?"
Phil blinked. "No, I just—"
Luke snorted. "Chill out, Marie Curie. He doesn’t think you’re immune to stalkers. He just forgot you were even in the room."
"I’ve been sitting here for forty-five minutes!" Alex snapped, chucking a throw pillow at Luke’s head. "And since when do you know scientists?"
He caught the pillow in the air, "Well, you have nerd disease, and it mutated to become infectious, what can I say?"
Haley gasped as she backed away from them, especially Alex, "Wait, has it really become infectious??"
Luke buried the urge to roll his eyes. Alex didn’t; instead, she replied, "Don’t worry, it only affects people with a quotient above 35."
Haley sighed in relief, "Phew, thank God, I guess."
Haley looked relieved, not realising she had been made fun of just then. Did she think Alex meant age or something?
Luke was really surprised by the vast difference between the mental capacities of his two older sisters.
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Officer Jefferson Davis sat at his desk, head in his hands, looking like a man who had aged ten years in a single night.
His coffee had gone cold an hour ago. He hadn’t noticed. He was too busy replaying the disaster over and over in his mind.
Captain Stacy’s voice still echoed in his head.
Earlier...
"A clown mask, Davis. A clown mask. You had six officers on scene, both exits covered, and you let a guy in a clown mask hop away across the rooftops like a deranged Easter bunny?"
"Sir, I understand how it sounds—"
"Do you? Because Channel 7 ran the headline ’Wannabe Psycho Vanishes Into Thin Air’ and now the commissioner wants my head on a stick. Explain to me again what you saw. Slowly."
Davis swallowed. "After we breached, the suspect fled to the roof. We pursued. He jumped off the edge of the building—"
"Jumped off the edge," Davis repeated flatly.
"Yes sir. And then he... kept going. Upward. He was stepping on something. Like he was climbing invisible stairs."
Stacy stared at him for a long, painful moment. Then he turned to the other officers standing at attention. "Does anyone else want to add to this report? Did he also have a magic carpet?"
No one uttered a word.
Captain Stacy sighed, the sound heavy enough to fill the room. He waved a tired hand at the other officers. "Everyone else, leave. Officer Davis , you stay."
The room emptied fast. No one wanted to be in the blast radius.
Stacy slumped into his chair and rubbed his temples. When he spoke again, the anger was gone. Replaced by something worse. Disappointment.
"Jeff, listen. You know why I’m this angry?" He looked up, and his eyes were tired. "I know you. You’re a good cop. Capable. Sharp. Hell, I put your name up for lieutenant last month."
Davis stood rigid, jaw tight. "Sir, I—"
"Let me finish." Stacy leaned forward. "This incident is troubling. I don’t care if he has supernatural powers or not. And heck, even if you let that shit get away. You should’ve done something to prevent it from blowing this news in the media like this. The commissioner is breathing down my neck. The news is having a field day. And on top of everything else, we’ve got mutants, vigilantes, and God knows what else making the whole force look like a joke. I can’t afford to have one of my future lieutenant’s losing even against supers. At least not to psycho bunny hopping level disturbances."
Davis said nothing.
"Now, I don’t know if this air-hopping clown of yours will surface again. Maybe he will. Maybe he vanished into thin air for good."
Stacy tapped a finger on the desk.
"But you need to give me something. Clean this mess up, or solve another big case... so, I can push your promotion so that you can finally take some real work off my back. Haha."
Davis straightened his shoulders. "Understood, sir. I’ll keep that in mind moving forward."
"You’d better." Stacy picked up his coffee, grimaced at the cold, and set it down. "Dismissed."
Davis turned to leave, hand on the doorknob, then paused. "Sir? That clown... whatever he was... he’s still out there. And I don’t think his motive was really as simple as he let on. My gut tells me he was setting up for something. Something big."
Stacy didn’t look up. "Then figure out what that something is. Before Channel 7 gets another headline."
Davis nodded once and stepped out.
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Luke was in an abandoned garage on the outskirts of town—a grimy, forgotten place he’d stumbled across while scouting locations for the stream.
He leaned against a workbench and pulled out his phone, thumbing open the T-Stream app. A notification glowed on the screen.
[Beginner’s Quest: Live Terror Stream]
Objective: Conduct a live-streamed terror operation using the Start Stream feature within any commercial or public facility.
Conditions:
—15+ minutes duration
—5+ hostages
—Zero casualties must occur during the quest duration by the user.
Achieved:
—18.1 minutes duration
—6 hostages
—0 casualties
[ Status: Accomplished successfully. ]
Luke scrolled down. Bonus rewards.
[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]
—Exceeded total duration by 3+ minutes — Bonus +6 TP awarded. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
—Exceeded hostage count by 1 — Bonus +10 TP awarded.
Available Rewards:
Quirk — Explosion
— 50 + 16 Terror Points
[Accept Rewards] [Reject Rewards]
[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]
Luke didn’t even blink. His thumb came down on Accept like he was squashing a bug.
He braced himself.
This was it.
The moment every comic book and anime had prepared him for. Searing pain. Blinding light. Maybe some dramatic screaming.
That was the whole reason he’d dragged himself out to this dusty hole in the first place—so he wouldn’t accidentally blow up the living room.
He waited.
Nothing.
He looked down at his hands. Still normal.
He flexed his fingers, trying to activate the powers, but nothing.
"What the hell? Did I get scam—"
His fingers twitched.
Now he could feel it.
Something was changing inside of him.
He stuffed a clean cloth in his mouth and clenched his jaw. Hard.
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Luke cracked his eyes open. The concrete floor was cold against his cheek, and for a solid ten seconds he had no idea where he was or what year it was.
Then it hit him. The garage. The phone. The quirk. He’d passed out somewhere between the bones cracking and the muscles rewiring, and honestly? Fair. That had been a lot.
He pushed himself up, and the weirdest thing happened—he felt... good.
Like he’d just slept for twelve hours and woken up on the best morning of his life, even though the sun was already down.
Energy buzzed under his skin, a low, pleasant hum, as if his blood had been swapped for soda pop.
He raised one hand. His palm was sweaty, just a little...
He focused. Just a tiny mental nudge, like flexing a muscle he’d never known he had.
Pop. Pop-pop.
Tiny golden sparks crackled to life above his palm, fizzing out almost as soon as they appeared. They were small.
But they were his.
He was excited!!!
And he expressed it!!!!!!!!!
"Yes! This is POWAAAAHHH!"
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Next Quest Details:
[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]
[ Quest: Live Terror Stream]
Objective: Conduct a live-streamed terror operation using the Start Stream feature within any commercial or public facility.
Conditions:
— 20+ minutes duration
— 10+ hostages
[ Reward: Terror Shop Gacha (Rare Guarantee)+100 Terror Points ]
[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]
Bonus Condition:
— Engage in battle with a superpowered Individual.
— Bonus Reward: 100+ Terror Points
(Extra Points shall be awarded depending upon the strength of the enemy superpowered individual).
[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]
"Spider-Gwen, yes, she’s the best to pick a fight with."
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