A few weeks had passed since that whole mess with the Hulk.
And honestly? I was still trying to understand how my life turned into… this.
The world definitely didn't go back to normal. Quite the opposite—it changed, and changed drastically.
The X-Men, for example, skyrocketed in popularity. And not just because of their flashy looks or the ridiculous charisma of the women on the team… but because their quick actions saved dozens—maybe even hundreds—of lives during the attack. Now they were viewed as true public heroes. Finally, the recognition some of them had deserved for years.
And as for Gwen…
Well… she gained attention in a way that left me with mixed feelings. She had faced the Hulk alone. Even if only for a moment, even if she had nearly been flattened into a decorative stain on the pavement, the fact that she stood her ground at all was already impressive enough. But unfortunately, that also came with some unpleasant consequences.
Consequences that left me furious.
Thanks to a certain contact, I found out that there was a massive bounty on her head—or more specifically, for her capture alive.
Some bastard wanted to kidnap her to run experiments on her. Turn her into a lab rat.
I don't even need to say that this was enough to ignite something extremely dangerous inside me.
Let's just say that this particular individual is feeding the worms now, after a personal visit from me. A visit far bloodier than I would ever brag about.
And let's just say Charles now has a few more kids to take care of as well.
That same contact, the one who warned me about the bounty on Gwen, told me something else too.
Apparently, a tournament is being organized by an old enemy—a weapons and drug trafficker—and it's already expected that I'll receive an invitation to participate in this charming little event.
Looks like I'll be paying a visit to my homeland in the near future.
And then… there's me.
Yes, me. Even with the mask covering half my face, I ended up getting a bit of fame. Let's be honest, it would've been weird if I didn't. I was literally punching the Hulk in the face.
Videos, photos, dramatic angles, people narrating the fight like it was the finals of a championship… everything spread online faster than I could even think about controlling.
And thankfully, because of the mask, somehow no one has figured out my real identity. But I know this won't last. I'm almost certain that a few annoying acquaintances—or psychopaths with too much free time—will eventually connect my appearance and fighting style. But for now, I can breathe easy.
Meanwhile, people on the internet are already trying to give me nicknames that honestly sound like they were ripped straight out of a shounen anime:
"Divine Fist,"
"Blond Reaper,"
"Black Mask,"
"Phantom,"
and my personal favorite:
"The Guy Who Slapped the Hulk."
(At least that one is straightforward and honest.)
Sometimes I catch myself sitting at the edge of my bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out when everything became this absurd. At what point did I stop being just me, and turn into… something the whole world gossips about in forums, theorizes about in videos, and turns into memes?
You have no idea how viral the scene of me punching the Hulk while saying "sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep" became.
Maybe I shouldn't have gotten involved. Maybe it was destiny. Or maybe… I'm just really bad at staying still when someone I care about is in danger.
Either way, the point is: life changed. The world changed.
And like it or not… I ended up changing with it.
Somehow, Natasha just… got a lot closer.
Not physically glued to me, but present. Present in my home, present in my peripheral vision every time I turned a corner expecting to see Saeko, Gwen, or Jean.
It was strange.
Three days ago, I opened the living room door and found Natasha sitting on the couch, running her fingers through Saeko's hair while the girl laughed at a joke that wasn't even remotely funny. Yesterday, she was helping Gwen make pancakes and—for some reason—they turned it into a deadly competition.
And today, when I went to look for a screwdriver in my own workshop, I found Natasha talking with Jean about… books.
Books.
The Black Widow discussing literature like she hadn't spent her whole life taking lives.
Before I noticed, she was just… there. A constant presence.
And I didn't know if that was good or bad.
Despite everything, I'm starting to miss her now that she's gone back to her previous mission.
---xXx---
Jean, on the other hand, finally had that conversation with Charles. What she described to me… well, let's just say it was so intense they nearly destroyed his office in the process.
That's not a metaphor.
According to her, his desk flew. Literally. The carpet caught fire because of a tiny psionic slip. And the window glass melted.
All I managed to say was: "At least you didn't end up punching each other in the face." She laughed. I think that was a good sign.
---xXx---
While everyone else dealt with their emotional chaos, I was here, in my corner, staring at that damned bracelet, trying to figure out a way to bring A2, 2B, and White into this world.
And failing. Miserably.
Thanks to some information Saeko gave me, I had an idea.
She told me about a device capable of traveling through different points in time and space in any timeline, generating a Temporal Portal for its users, and even working as a communication tool.
It'll take a while, but I can create something based on that concept—something that might let me slip into other dimensions.
Obviously, this was insanely difficult work since I didn't actually have one of those "Tempads," as she called them, and had no idea how dimensional travel even worked.
That's why I was reverse-engineering the dimensional bracelet that brought me back.
I'm sure I'll make real progress soon.
But aside from that, one thing did work.
I connected that artificial intelligence 9S finished before… well, before I returned.
She's still in her boot-up phase. The system is slowly waking up, like someone opening their eyes after an extremely long coma.
The lines of code are stabilizing. The neural layers are realigning.
Soon she'll be fully active.
And when that happens… either my life is going to get a lot easier—
Or it's going to explode in the most spectacular way possible.
With my luck, probably both.
(End of chapter)
I made a public poll about the next arc (Fairy Tail), anyone who wants can go there and vote