Gwen and Peter rambled on about the struggles they faced.
"So the lack of manpower is making it a problem to cover the entire city?"
"Hm! The Fantastic Four don't really help. The Avengers obviously don't help. They are too big to worry about neighborhood problems!"
"In fairness, both are probably dealing with more world-level threats."
"Duh. We aren't complaining about them; we are just stating the facts."
Felicia and I played with our locked hands. Unbeknownst to the two in front of us, we were having a serious match.
'Thumb war!'
I split my focus between keeping an eye on her with my Six Eyes and the conversation.
"If you are fine with my side of things, I'll gladly help. It gives me stuff to do after school."
Gwen looked at me with stars in her eyes.
"As long as your parents don't need you, we'll gladly accept it!"
"Parents, huh."
[Host. You have no such things, nor do you have any blood-related relatives in this world. As you already know, you're an anomaly.]
"Hah! I won- oh."
"You did indeed."
I'll admit that I held her hand tighter. It kind of just hit me that I wouldn't be able to see my original family again. I got caught up in the wow factor of everything; I completely forgot about the connections.
'Oh, man.'
I covered my eyes with my left hand, feeling the tears fall. I didn't sob or choke up; they just fell as my mind tried adjusting.
"It's okay."
Felicia didn't play this time. Despite just meeting me, she gave me a warm hug that really did wonders, but it couldn't wash away the pain from losing such people from my life.
"I-I'm sorry for-"
"No need. You didn't know."
My voice came out so weak. It felt a bit disgraceful, but what could I do? I could try and find solace in the wonderful body of the woman hugging me, but that was such a scummy low that I didn't want to reach.
"Thanks." If I couldn't feel the warmth through her hug, I could definitely feel it through our hands. Felicia was super nice; even I didn't expect this.
"No problem~" She separated while I removed my hand covering my eyes.
Gwen looked very off.
"Seriously, it's fine. Come on, Peter, help our partner here."
"You heard him, Gwen."
"But still…"
I chuckled.
"No wonder you're a hero."
I ate another nugget and just enjoyed Felicia's hand as the two went slowly through more details.
The large-scale disasters that the Avengers and Fantastic Four handle cause too much destruction. Then there were rogue mutants that the X-Men missed. Plus all of the normal Spider-Man villains. Adding all the small-time criminals around New York.
It was no wonder they were struggling, but my problem was Peter.
"Hey, have you two been approached by anyone yet? Like the Avengers or…"
"We wouldn't be having this problem if we had."
"Wait, is this the rise of a new superhero team?!" Felicia seemed to enjoy the fun. I knew deep down she was going with her whims. If she found this boring, I had no doubt she'd leave.
Peter found her words amusing. He seemed to enjoy the thought. Slowly but surely, he was warming up.
Felicia wiggled our hands.
[Host has gotten Felicia Hardy attached.]
'Huh? You're joking?'
[No. I can't joke if I tried.]
'How??? Isn't this too fast? I didn't even do anything, by the way?'
[You clearly did something.]
I didn't mind this at all, but I was just stunned. I never would have thought such a thing would happen, honestly. The playing around was surface-level, and we both knew it.
"So do you two have a secret hideout or something?" Felicia asked.
"Y-yeah, if you can even call it that."
"Then what are we waiting for!"
…
..
.
"It's… unique!"
Felicia put it nicely.
What she really meant to say was that it looked like sh-
"We know, it's bad, okay?!"
As long as they knew.
There wasn't much of a tour; it was just an abandoned building that they turned into their little hideout. Fortunately, no one came here and would think to come here, but it was only a matter of time until someone bought the land.
Maybe in the future, I'd buy it, but I doubted it. I actually had no money, which was embarrassing when I realized it at McDonald's. Thankfully, Felicia bought the nuggets.
'Oh, wait. Then I guess she wasn't stealing.'
It hit me. She bought it, so I definitely didn't have the right to call her a thief!
I tugged at Felicia's hand, feeling the softness of her skin against my palm. "Sorry about earlier. I was distracted by the conversation. That I completely forgot, you bought the nuggets, so saying you were stealing was stupid."
She covered her mouth and turned her head away. I could feel her trembling through her hand. This girl definitely wanted to let it out.
My face flushed, a sudden heat creeping up my neck.
"Just laugh."
"N-no. Not when you're so sincere about it," Felicia managed to get out, her voice muffled by her hand. She finally looked back at me, her emerald eyes shimmering with suppressed amusement. "You'll just pay me back later, right?"
"Sure, on a proper date."
"My~ my~ Getting asked out twice in one day makes a girl feel butterflies!" She gave a playful little shimmy; her childish movements added to her unique charm.
"Now I don't feel as bad."
"Pfft. You shouldn't have in the first place, stupid."
She rolled her eyes, leaning her weight slightly against my shoulder as we watched Peter and Gwen go through their only computer in the base. It was a nice one, but the monitors flickered under the strain, the low hum of the tower echoing through the dusty, cave-like space of the warehouse. It definitely couldn't handle much stress.
'System.'
[Yes, Host?]
'How much KP have I recovered since my purchase?'
[You had 2,000 left over, and you've gathered 1,000 since then.]
'I actually had some left over?'
[The only reason you had to spend 10,000 was mainly because of the Six Eyes; the rest of the abilities are easily replicable in this plane, which would have only cost you 2,000 in the first place.]
'Makes sense.'
[By the way, just a reminder of what I said earlier. When you buy an ability, I'll update it to this plane's rules, so any new strengths or weaknesses are up to you to find. I only give you the knowledge of the original ability/template you buy.]
'Noted, once again.'
[What did you want, though?]
'Are there any cash rebate abilities?'
[Oh. Uh. Yeah, but those are way too expensive and unnecessary. You can buy a cash pile from the shop.]
'What's the exchange?'
[1,000 KP = $100,000]
'Damn.'
I did the math in my head. I had already made substantial KP in a few interactions, so it seemed easy. However, it could also be because of WHO I was interacting with.
'Exchange a- I don't have a bank account…'
[I'll handle that free of charge if you purchase it.]
'Goat! Exchange a 1,000!'
[Confirmed.]
[Bank: Bank of America]
[VIP: Black card level]
[User: JMont040126!]
[Pass: ^}**#}#^}]
'B-black card?'
[You're welcome.]
"Julius~ Julius~" Felicia's voice was a playful song, her breath ghosting against my ear as she leaned in close enough for her white hair to tickle my cheek.
My eyes snapped back to attention, the blue holographic text of the bank confirmation shattering like glass as the grainy, low-light of the warehouse rushed back into my vision.
"What's up?" I asked, refocusing on her expectant face while her gentle hand remained in mine.
"Pick a spot!"