Gwen had just finished taking a shower and wanted to talk to Alex, but after asking his mother, she found out he had gone to work. So she headed to the guest room and started organizing her things to settle in.
At that moment, her police radio suddenly crackled to life.
A hostage situation.
A child.
The moment she heard that, Gwen didn't hesitate. She pulled her Ghost-Spider suit out of her backpack and quickly got dressed. As soon as she was ready, she jumped out the window, shooting a web and swinging through the city toward the scene.
But when she arrived—
What she saw made her freeze.
A man, over two meters tall, was approaching a little girl… while another man, covered in cuts, screamed in agony on the ground.
Without thinking, Gwen dove between them, landing protectively in front of the child.
"Stay back!"
She felt uneasy the moment she landed. Now that she was face to face with him, she realized just how massive he was… and there was something else—
A weight.
As if the very air around him was… heavier.
"Don't come any closer to this child, you monster."
She expected him to react—yell, attack, anything.
But instead—
The giant simply stared at her for a moment.
Then crouched.
And in the next instant—
He jumped.
'Wait—if he did all this, he has to be stopped!'
Without hesitation, Gwen fired a web at his foot mid-air—and hit perfectly.
"Uh?"
With all her strength, she pulled him down toward the ground.
But just before impact, Alex sliced through the synthetic web and landed smoothly—almost gracefully—before turning to face her.
"You don't want to pick a fight with me, Spider-Woman… it's a losing battle."
As he said that, Alex released his cursed energy, trying to intimidate her just enough to stay in control—without looking like a villain on his very first day.
But—
He overdid it.
Way more than he intended.
Instead of just scaring Gwen—
He terrified everyone.
Some people collapsed instantly from the sheer pressure.
Others lost control out of pure fear.
Only a few managed to stay conscious.
Gwen—
Was not one of them.
Cold sweat ran down her body as the overwhelming pressure crushed her senses. It felt like she was being sliced into thousands of tiny pieces, like fish on a cutting board.
'This is insane… I feel like I'm going to die at any second!'
Her spider-sense screamed like a constant alarm, sending waves of pain through her head. She dropped to one knee, clutching it tightly.
'Damn it… I overdid it!'
Realizing his mistake, Alex immediately suppressed all his cursed energy. Guilt hit him instantly, but he forced himself to stay in character. Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, he approached her slowly and extended his hand.
"Hey… sorry. I went too far. Didn't mean for that to happen. Come on—I'll take you somewhere the police won't find you."
"Stay away!"
"So you'd rather stay here alone?"
Gwen was still barely able to move. Her body continued reacting to him like he was some kind of walking disaster.
But—
He hadn't killed her.
And being caught by the police would be worse.
After a moment of hesitation, she reached out and grabbed his hand.
"You're not trustworthy… but I've already pissed off a lot of people, so… fine."
Without warning, Alex pulled her into his arms in a princess carry and crouched down.
"Hold on tight. I haven't figured out how to control my strength yet."
"Wait, wha—"
Before she could finish—
He launched forward.
"AHHHHHHH!!!"
This time, he hit the building properly.
This time.
Because earlier, he had already slammed face-first into a few buildings while trying to figure out how to move faster by jumping over them instead of running below. Eventually, he got the hang of it… mostly.
Still room for improvement.
When they landed on a rooftop, Gwen looked like she was seconds away from passing out—or worse.
Meanwhile, back at the scene, the police finally snapped out of it and rushed to secure the area, help civilians, and arrest the criminal. Some witnesses claimed the hooded man had flown away, but with so many conflicting reports, no one could agree on what actually happened.
Now far from the scene, Alex set Gwen down in a quiet corner. She immediately stepped back, trying to calm herself—still shaken, especially remembering how he had almost slammed into buildings during the jumps.
"Look… sorry about earlier. You just looked like the villain… and there's something about you I can't explain that makes you feel dangerous."
She extended her hand cautiously, still uneasy as her spider-sense continued going off around him.
"It's fine. Happens more often than you'd think. You have no idea how much people freak out when they see me."
Alex shook her hand, already questioning whether being a hero was a good idea. He couldn't even use his cursed energy properly without nearly knocking everyone unconscious.
"So… can I ask your name? Your hero name, I mean."
Gwen asked, deciding it would be better than just calling him "that giant guy" if they met again.
"Yeah… I don't have one yet. Can't really think of anything good."
That surprised her.
Someone this strong—
And no name?
No appearances in the news?
Then something clicked.
"How long have you been doing this? Being a street hero, I mean."
"Uh… I think today's my first day. Why?"
When he said that, Gwen froze in place—out of sheer embarrassment. In a way… she had almost bullied a rookie hero.
Good thing he wasn't weak.
"Ah—okay, let's split up here. I need to keep going with crime-fighting. See you around… if possible."
Realizing she had been standing there for too long, Gwen quickly decided to move on instead of dragging the conversation further. She shot a web at a nearby wall and pulled herself forward, giving him a quick wave.
"See you, friend."
Alex watched as Spider-Woman disappeared into the city, then stretched his body before heading off in another direction. He needed somewhere quiet.
Somewhere isolated.
To train.
Because today had made one thing painfully clear—
He wasn't ready to be a hero yet.
He could barely control his cursed energy without leaving traces, and worse—he didn't even know how to use it properly. There was no way it was meant to be just for attacking.
A few hours later, far from the city, in an abandoned area—
Alex sat on a half-broken barrel, looking completely defeated.
'It's useless for anything other than attacks…'
Over the past few hours, he had been experimenting with the cursed energy he inherited from his previous self. He had discovered some interesting things.
For example—
If he coated his fists with it, his punches became significantly stronger. Normally, he could already punch through a wall with ease… but with cursed energy, he could destroy a solid wall without much effort.
Another thing—
If he covered his entire body with it, his durability increased, and his overall physical performance improved across the board.
But what really caught his attention was something else.
If he focused hard enough, he could recover part of the energy he had already used. Not completely—but enough to make a difference.
It was especially useful for hiding traces.
And he was sure—
It had to do more than that.
The problem was…
He had no foundation.
No idea where it came from.
No idea what its limits were.
All he knew was that it enhanced his body and fueled his technique.
Another interesting discovery—
Cursed energy didn't only work on his body.
He could coat objects with it too, improving them.
But there was a catch.
He had to constantly feed energy into the object to maintain the effect.
So—
Goodbye, cursed machine gun idea.
The other thing he tested—
Was his own body.
And the results were… absurd.
He could easily lift a ten-ton container.
Bending metal was effortless.
He didn't know his exact jumping limit yet, but his best estimate was around forty meters at full power.
As for speed—
He could run as fast as a car.
Somewhere between 150 to 200 km/h.
The worst part?
He didn't know if he could get even stronger—or if this was his limit.
But he believed he could improve.
After all—
He was still young.
And he had never trained his body before.
So he started doing basic exercises, trying to push himself further, even though he knew that was a long-term problem.
But the most effective training he found—
Was meditation.
Control.
While meditating, Alex guided multiple threads of cursed energy throughout his body. If even one of them slipped out of place or leaked too much energy—
He stopped.
And started over.
"Alright… I'll call this control training."
He made significant progress.
And through that, he discovered something crucial—
If he controlled it precisely enough, his cuts wouldn't be "infectious," so to speak. They would just be normal cuts—like Sukuna's, but far less problematic.
Something he could use—
Without killing everyone.
"Looks like this consumes less energy… but it's also way weaker than my normal cuts. Still… it's all part of the path of a hero."
He trained until late in the day before finally heading back home at high speed, not wanting to make his mother worry.
'Hm… I've been thinking. I could probably get stronger, but I still don't have a clear path. I'd have to think outside the box—try something completely different that I haven't attempted yet. But that's going to be difficult, given how hard it is to manipulate cursed energy… and the fact that I don't even know its limits or what it can really do beyond what I already use.'
As Alex made his way back home, he kept thinking about how to improve his control over cursed energy. But out of everything on his mind, one thing stood out the most—the other energy inside him.
The one he couldn't use.
The one he didn't understand.
The more he tried to reach it, the less it responded. As if it simply didn't want to answer him.
So, for now—
He ignored it.
Not long after, realizing he was close to home, Alex sped up. He was starting to feel tired… and lately, something else had been bothering him. Ever since that fight with those teenagers who were after him, there was a strange numbness lingering in his body.
As if something inside him wanted something.
But he had no idea what.
'Maybe I'm just afraid they'll find me.'
Alex still didn't understand what was happening to him. Ever since he spoke with Sukuna, he was sure of one thing—this wasn't a mutant thing.
This was something else.
Something unknown.
And that only made him more nervous.
'Damn it… more questions and almost no answers.'
Sigh.
Standing in front of his door, Alex let out a long breath before stepping inside.
Trix was sitting on the couch watching cartoons, while Gwen was in the kitchen with Nora, helping with dinner. The two of them were laughing together, clearly enjoying themselves.
Hearing the door open, they all looked toward Alex. Seeing the scene, he felt a bit relieved—things at home were starting to feel normal again, even with Gwen living there now.
"Good, you're back, Alex. Gwen and I just finished dinner—come eat."
Alex sat at the table and waited. Since it would take a bit, he pulled out his law book and started reading to pass the time.
A few minutes later, Nora and Gwen brought the food and set it on the table. Noticing it was almost time to eat, Alex helped arrange everything.
Soon, they were all sitting together, eating and talking like a family—until Trix suddenly asked:
"Gwen, how are you so good at cooking?"
Gwen smiled gently at her.
"Whenever I had free time, I used to help my mom cook. Since I'm here now, I figured I'd help Ms. Nora… it kind of makes me miss her a little less."
"Oh… sorry."
"It's okay. I didn't lose her—I just won't be able to see her for a while."
Alex had already finished eating. Seeing that they were enjoying themselves, he quietly got up and went to his room.
As he lay down, he started organizing his thoughts for the next day—training, staying hidden, everything he needed to handle.
It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.
___________________
Alex found himself once again in that endless darkness—the same place where he had met Sukuna.
But this time…
What he saw made him freeze.
A small humanoid figure—tiny compared to Alex—with green skin and a strange body structure sat curled up in a fetal position, staring into nothingness.
And then it spoke.
"I miss Komugi…"