บท 23: [23] In Look for An Assistant for Work
Chapter 23: In Look for An Assistant for Work
—
Ava Ayala has been a part of their little group for over a few weeks now. So her sudden leaving left a gap in the residents—namely on the two other girls.
However, over time, as the day grew, the two girls came to realize and accept that it was better for her to leave. For Greer, she would rather have Ava away than force her to stay here. More so since her plans have failed once already. It was better for her to approach life in a more casual manner, attend her college and all that.
Anna too felt guilty since it was she who received the Amulet from Ava. Was this the right thing to do?—a part of her asked.
At this point, she had come to accept that Enrique wasn't your typical 'Hero' and some might not even consider him a hero at all. So asking if this was the right thing to do may not be the smartest question to ask. Anna accepted in the end, that yes, Ava was better away from here, for both parties, and that she would use the Amulet in a more responsible way.
That day much didn't happen in the house. It was a silent day. Enrique focused on his computer work while the two girls spent their time doing mostly nothing.
Then the next day came, and Enrique woke them up in the early morning. It was time for them to train.
"Alright, you two have to stop with this depressed air around you. We need to get stronger, and fast. An unimaginable force is approaching, I believe, and it might just kill us if we aren't ready." Enrique let them know as he stood in his gym clothes in front of them.
Greer and Anna both were wearing their sports bras, and they frowned upon hearing him. Both girls were aware that his source of worries was always reliable, so he mustn't be joking here. Something was coming?
"Let's start with Anna," Enrique turned to her. "Now that you have the Amulet, it should be easy to spar with us since our strength level is much closer than before. Tell me, how does the Amulet feel?"
"It feels great, actually," Anna told truthfully. "It's as if I am full of energy, which is a good feeling. I feel similar when I suck powers out of people, but that lasts momentarily while this is lingering and stasis."
"Huh. Is that so?" Enrique reached out a hand. "Here, let me take a look."
"Sure," Anna took it off and reached out her hand to give it to Enrique. "You never touched it before, right? I am curious how it would react with you since you have White Tiger powers-"
Anna's words were caught in her throat when the Amulet touched Enrique's hand and, in the next instant, he was thrown flying with a burst of explosion. His back hit the wall, and as he fell down, he was already transformed into his full beast form.
"W-what? I- I am sorry! Enrique, are you alright?!" Anna yelled and ran to the unconscious Enrique, followed by an equally worried Greer, as they crouched down beside him and shook his body.
However, Enrique didn't move a muscle.
****
First, it was The Great Weaver, and now this. Enrique was getting tired of being pulled into these dark realms.
"…A human? No, not exactly, it seems." An ethereal voice said, belonging to this huge glimmering white tiger looking down on him as if he were some bug. "I see why you're here. An accident, it seems."
The white tiger was a few times bigger than Enrique himself, even as he was transformed into his 7"3 beast form. Its appearance wasn't like the normal white tiger either. It had two large teeth like a Sabretooth.
Who the fuck was this?
"Humans and their profanity," the Tiger chuckled deeply. "I am the Tiger God, the one who created the White-Tiger Amulet."
"Ah-huh," Enrique hummed, noting it might not be such a big shot.
The Tiger chuckled as if hearing his thoughts, but then its voice went serious.
"When humanity first looked into the night, my eyes looked back. When they learned to fear darkness, it was me they feared. When they learned to fight for their lives and their children—I was their first enemy." The Tiger's earlier chuckle was nowhere to be seen as it glared dangerously at Enrique. "Lay your claim to a thousand worlds, for I am the arch nemesis of The Phoenix, FOR I AM THE TIGER!"
…Oh for fuck's sake. That weak Amulet was made by one of the Four Directional Beasts of the universe? [1] No, right, Reid said something about Chi. It wasn't really weak; he had just not seen its true powers yet.
For some reason though, Enrique didn't feel fear. Unlike with the Phoenix, this one didn't feel so dangerous—or even unfamiliar, really.
"That would be because you are a part of Darkness, as am I." The scary attitude vanished into thin air as the Tiger spoke casually. "Your connection to Demiurge makes you similar to me. I am the bringer of dark, the counter to the Phoenix who brings light, so we two are quite similar."
"Aha," So the 'White Tiger' bought Darkness? He didn't know that.
"Don't worry, we may be siblings, but I am not so mentally unstable like that horny bitch." The Tiger scoffed. "I will return you back to your home since this was a simple accident. I will fix the Amulet to not react so strongly if you touch it next time."
Enrique just gave the nod.
"Speaking of the Amulet, however," The Tiger lowered its head further to look at Enrique closely. "It acts as a vessel for my powers and makes the wearer my Avatar. I don't like choosing a permanent avatar, so having this amulet allows me to change my avatars every once in a while since it gets snatched or stolen by others."
…It was smart, to be fair. Real slick, too.
"But seeing you has made me change my mind," the Tiger kept staring down. "I smell the scent of the Phoenix from you. You two clashed not too long ago, it seems? Come, become my Avatar, a permanent one, and we two shall go fight the fire chicken for all it's worth!"
"Ahm, excuse me," suddenly, a new voice flowed within the plane and the white form of Mut formed beside Enrique. "Sorry for intruding, but he already has a sponsor. It's me, Goddess Mut, honorable Tiger."
"Ugh…" the Tiger tilted his head with a groan before its eyes lit up. "Ah, you're Bast's stepmother, Ra's wife. I see. So you have taken him in already."
"Say," the Tiger ignored the Goddess and looked back at Enrique. "You agree to become mine, and I kill her right here—so she won't bother you after this. How does that sound?"
"Uh…" Mut began to sweat, stiffening in her spot.
Goddess Mut had come here to save Enrique, but this… She recalled what sort of human bastard Enrique was all of a sudden. What were the odds that he would take this offer? The odds were really high; she realized.
"I decline." Enrique shook his head, looking at Mut for a moment and then back at the Tiger. "This person saved my life. I am obliged to help her. I don't mean any offense, but I can't leave her for you, even if I am sure you'd provide me with better powers."
Goddess Mut sighed in relief as her eyes locked on the back of his head, looking at him in a new light. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all…?
Unfortunately, Mut had no idea Enrique only did what he did because he wasn't comfortable being the Avatar of the Phoenix's counterpart. He didn't want to live the Jean Grey sorta life, filled with pain and suffering. Enrique only said he was grateful and all that to make the best of this situation and come off as a nicer guy in Mut's head.
"Eh," the Tiger shrugged. "That's boring. But fine, if that's what you want." Then it leaned down to rest its chin on its front feet, closing its eyes. "Whatever, it's not as if I care. Leave."
"If you don't mind me suggesting," Enrique knowingly pushed his luck. "There is this girl, Anna Marie, who is the current wielder of the Amulet. She has the power to absorb other people's powers. I think that should be a sort of darkness-related thing, so why don't you take her as your Permanent Avatar?"
Hearing him, one of the Tiger's eyes slowly opened to peek at Enrique.
Enrique sweated as the silence stretched until the Tiger just scoffed.
"No, I am tired of sponsoring girls—they're too timid for my liking. I don't have a preferred gender; my existence is beyond such simpler terms. But I am more used to choosing female Avatars. However, now I miss the male mentality that craves power. Like that Ayala child's older brother."
"...I see. Sorry for wasting your time," Enrique apologized and stood up, while Mut took his hand.
"It's fine. I am bored anyway, so the talking felt nice. I will put more thoughts into your suggestion, though. Perhaps if she manages to fascinate me, I might just do what you said. For now, leave." The Tiger closed its eyes again, and Mut sighed in relief before she teleported them away from here. "…Bunch of fools."
Thus, the lonely Tiger God entered its slumber again, as if this interruption had never even happened.
X-x-X
"Enrique – Enrique! Come on, wake up! Y-you can't leave us like this!"
Waking up to a girl yelling and crying with a southern accent didn't really help the slight buzz Enrique was already feeling in his head.
"Ah-! You're up!"
The same voice gasped, as Anna herself on top of him, hugging him tightly.
Anna Marie was surely worried; and when Enrique looked around, he realized Greer was the same. However, seeing him wake up, both were greatly relieved now.
"You two, I am fine. Nothing bad happened, it was just… some spiritual deity who called upon me." Enrique told the truth, yet Greer's relieved expression turned deadpan. "Hey, stop giving me that look. This god and magic stuff is actually real. Don't you remember how Emma Frost couldn't read your mind?"
"Sure."
"Anna, get off me slowly. My claws are out, you'll hurt yourself." Enrique didn't move his hands and waited for her to get off him by herself. Greer pulled her to the side while Enrique began to take calculated breaths. "Wait a few minutes, let me re-transform."
Enrique laid straight on his spot and began to meditate, coveting to retract his claws and return to human. A few minutes passed while the girls fully calmed down, and he returned to his natural form right in front of them.
"Whew." Opening his eyes when done, Enrique sat up with a whiff of breath. "That was straining."
["Why do you attract Animal Gods every other Tuesday?"] Goddess Mut's voice rang out in his head, to which he just gave an innocent shrug.
"How would I know? It's not my fault that every God wants me." Enrique talked to the air as Greer deadpanned once again. "You better stop this, Greer, or I will send you to my Goddess' heaven tonight to see things for yourself."
"Alright, sure. You don't have schizophrenia." Greer chuckled dryly. "Anyhow, why did the Amulet react so explosively with you?"
"Similar powers, too similar, so it's like a glass of water overflowing," Enrique explained in short. "That accidentally sent my consciousness to the creator of the Amulet, who is the Tiger God."
After meeting the Tiger and talking with it, Enrique theorized it wasn't a coincidence that he attained White Tiger powers from the Mutant Machine. He got this power because the biggest White Tiger in the universe was related to darkness and the void, just like him, so the wheel of probability gave him the same powers as the Tiger.
Enrique wondered if this brought him some powers he wasn't aware of yet.
Until now, he only thought this beast form provided physical benefits. But what if it gave supernatural powers as well? Like some edgy darkness or void powers, or even some sort of chi-related powers?
It wouldn't be weird for him to discover them later on, to be fair. After all, Enrique only learned how to return to human form a few days ago—and even that still took him minutes to do— so it wouldn't be surprising if he didn't yet know of more powers that this form provided him with.
'Whatever. It's not as if I can just try to shoot black webs from my wrist or dark laser from my eyes and succeed. Let's leave it alone and see it unfold naturally.' Enrique sighed in his heart and stood back up.
"Anyhow, let's not waste any time sitting around. We still have training to do." Enrique stretched his body and reminded the two girls. "Let's start."
Greer was still a bit out of herself because of the incident yesterday, but Anna was excited to train with Enrique. The girls were calm by now and nodded easily.
****
Just like that, weeks passed by easily, and two months later Christmas came knocking on the door.
The two girls were living the life; such luxury was only in their dream before. Over time, Ava became a distant memory—as the girl had cut contact with them since that day. Greer tried to talk to her over call or text, but the younger girl simply wasn't interested.
Life was going great for the two girls, and so was Enrique, who was bagging money from his game. Subway Surfers was doing great, and Enrique officially had a million in the bank.
Now, he was aiming for something bigger; he didn't lack funds, but he lacked employees. One could only do so much on his own.
It was midnight, 26th December, and Enrique was sitting at his work desk after putting the girls to sleep, who were tired after his Christmas gift to them.
With a notepad in his hand, he was scribbling down the next plans for his company.
'The problem is with the Chitauri incident.' Enrique chewed on his lips. 'I know it will happen in 2012, but I have no idea what month. I can't hold back the other things from progressing in fear of this. I need to hire some employees.'
Enrique shook his head off his other worries once decided that. He went to some popular websites to post announcements about job recruitment.
"That should be enough… Huh, should I put some notices in newspapers too?" Enrique contemplated and then shook his head. "No, I am in search of tech-savvy people. If they don't know how to check the internet for jobs, there's no need for them in my company."
There was only one problem. While new employees were no problem because of this, he still needed a reliable assistant. Enrique could always choose one from the candidates who would apply for jobs, but he rather wanted a person he was familiar with instead of some nobody.
Suddenly, something that'd make him forget about this happened. Mut's voice rang in his head.
["Oh-!"]
"What now?"
["The Faith Points passed a threshold just now! I can allow you a new power."]
"Ohh."
This would be the first time such a thing happened since he got [Lightning Cloak], and he gained that nearly three months ago.
"That's good." Enrique nodded. "After the newest game comes out, we will grow faster."
["Really?."] Mut sounded curious. ["What will be the next game?"]
"No idea. Either Clash of Clans or Genshin Impact. It depends on how many employees I get." Enrique yawned while stretching his arms. "Anyhow, what is the new power?"
["Let's see… let's call it Heat Vision. You can now release extremely concentrated beams of lightning, turning it into plasma, from your eyes. It can only travel in a single straight line, as of now. Since it is plasma, it doesn't shock like electricity. It's just hot and burns through anything it comes into contact with. Though rather than the usual red, it's golden in color since that's my theme."] Mut explained, all to Enrique's delight.
Heat Vision. Now that would be very useful. From warming up a cold cup of coffee to cutting off large constructs—all should be possible by this.
"That sounds explosive," Enrique said. "What's the toughest thing it can cut through?"
["No idea, really. The last time I used this on the mortal plane was millennia ago. Earthly constructs have changed, some are more durable and some are weaker. I am sure it can cut through trees and rocks, but no idea about the other stuff."] Mut answered rapidly. ["You just have to test it out yourself."]
"Fair enough. Thank you." Enrique gave her a nod and stood up. "Anyhow, I can't sleep. I need a beer."
He walked over to the fridge, opening it, to find no beer there.
"...."
What was Emma Frost doing? Where was the refill for the beer supply?
Sighing and deciding to not annoy her on the night after Christmas, Enrique just decided to go take a stroll in a nearby bar. Bars should be open, but he doubted there would be any customers on this night.
****
Enrique had gone to bars a few times in the last few months. There, he had noticed the few suspicious bums that seemed too interested in him.
SHIELD agents, if he had to guess. Fair enough, he too would be interested in him and investigate him if he was in Fury's shoes. Since they didn't bother him a great deal, he let them be.
However, tonight he wasn't willing to deal with them if they were in the bar at all. He was tired after spending time with the girls just a while ago, so he decided to just fly to some other area.
Queens was nearby, and he knew that place better. So he just went there.
– Creak!
Walking into a bar, Enrique's previous hypothesis was proven wrong. There indeed were some people in the bar other than him. Precisely, one redhead.
'She feels familiar.' Enrique couldn't help but think. 'Redhead… Natasha? No, hair is too long and body type is different.'
It probably was just some nobody.
Enrique walked over to sit beside her, in front of the bartender's long table and gave the man a smile.
"Welcome," the bartender, a black middle-aged man with curly hair, spoke while polishing a glass. "What do you want for a drink?"
"A simple beer please," Enrique said with a smile, as his deep voice vibrated across the room. As if the person beside him hadn't noticed him before, she flinched, hearing his voice. "Sorry, did I startle you?"
"N…no, it's fine." The girl, a stunning redhead with droopy, drunk eyes, said. A glass of wine rested in front of her that she was just staring at until now. She picked up the glass and poured the liquid down her throat. "Haaah… another, please."
"You should stop drinking now," the bartender said as he returned with a glass of beer, serving it to Enrique. "Been a few hours since you started. Now nobody's left at the bar. I am gonna have to close."
Enrique took his beverage and drank it, while his eyes were on the drunk girl who hicced. She really did look familiar.
"I- alright." The redhead sighed. "W-what… bill?"
"Let's see," the bartender tilted his head and tried to recall. "Should be $220."
"Ah…" the girl blinked, then sighed. "Alright."
She grabbed her purse and then went through it. Soon, her expression paled, and she slowly looked up at the bartender.
"Ahm… I only have $80." The redhead said in a nervous voice that made the bartender sigh.
Soon, the man shrugged his shoulders a little. "Well, you can always… pay me in another way."
"...Huh? What was that?"
"I am gonna close. After this mister leaves, you can spend the night in the bar with me." He smirked and said. "Simple, right?"
The redhead blinked, tilting her head to the side. She looked confused as she parted her lips to say something.
"Excuse me," Enrique spoke first with a sigh as he took out his wallet. "Here's $250, her cost, along with mine. I'll be taking her from here."
"Huh?" The middle-aged man frowned. "Ugh, kids these days. Looking forward to taking advantage of drunk girls? Leave your cash only and fuck off."
"Sir," Enrique put a hand on the man's shoulders and his eyes shone goldenly. A 'fiss' sound came from his eyes, while his face began to glow from within. "I am being very respectful here."
"Ah- you f-freak!"
– Chiiihungggg!
Two thin beams of plasma shot out of Enrique's eyes that barely avoided the bartender, moving to hit the wine bottles behind him. The glasses shattered with an ear-splitting sound, making the bartender shriek in horror.
Enrique moved to cover the girl in the meantime, with his costume changing into his hero suit, as he put his cape around her.
The glass shards that came flying next couldn't hurt her, though the drunk girl didn't seem to notice anything abnormal, while the bartender had fallen to his ass by then, somewhat bloody.
"Let's go." Enrique picked up the girl in his arms, gently moving her red hair from her face to take a proper look at her face. "Miss Mary Jane."
Without waiting for her response, he walked outside the bar, and then made a long jump.
– Boom!
****
Enrique broke through the air and reached above the clouds in seconds. The girl, whose eyes were dazed, regained clarity as seconds passed, and she began to scream in fright at one point. Taking that as a sign, Enrique landed back a few yards away from the bar.
He dropped the shaken girl to her feet and watched her barely stand before he helped her with an arm.
"Huh- ah." the girl blinked and looked around, quickly rubbing her eyes and then taking a step back when she saw Enrique in his full costume. That flight above the clouds brought her sober. "Super…"
"Supernova. Another day, another safe citizen." Enrique reached out a hand. "Nice to meet you."
Though surprised and a bit confused, the girl quickly accepted his hand and shook it. "Ah. I-I just remembered a bit… Thanks for paying for me."
"I want to say you're welcome, but that was just a dumb mistake. It's not smart to stay in a bar alone as a young, beautiful girl. I am sure, if not me, then our Spider-Man would have saved you. But you ought to take responsibility for your own safety." Enrique said his true thoughts and watched her thin her lips with a guilty expression.
"Ah… sorry," she sighed. "I just lost my job, after I broke up with my boyfriend. Since… I was working in his company. Couldn't handle all that, so I came here to relieve myself a little. I am sorry to waste your time."
Enrique's eyes twitched, hearing her first words. "No need to apologize, it's my duty to keep people safe. Miss, may I know your name?"
"Ah…" she blinked. "Mary Jane Watson. Why?"
'So I was right.' Enrique thought. 'By boyfriend, she probably means Harry Osborn. Weird timeline, but she seems to be in her early 20s. By her earlier words, she used to work in the Oscorp. That's a pretty big one.'
"That's what I thought," Enrique nodded. "I have heard about your genius," he hasn't. "That's how I recognized you earlier. Mary Jane Watson, what do you think about a new job at a game company?"
The heroine of Spider-Man who didn't exist in the MCU, the iconic MJ, blinked as she straightened her clothes, standing tall, and looked at him in confusion.
"Really?"
Every evil businessman needed a hot assistant to do work in his stead, Enrique had one in his last world. In this world, this grown-up Mary Jane Watson should be a good enough candidate.
**
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[1] Shocked me too when I found out, but this Amulet truly was made by the universal White Tiger; the counter of The Phoenix Force. These two have clashed quite a few times across the comics.
Author Note: Also an oopsie-daisy situation. I forgot that I changed Lydia Hardy's occupation from the original novel, where she was an entrepreneur, to a lawyer. She owns a lawyer corporation, not a simple entrepreneur company. I fixed that again.
Read the next chapter right away along with this entire month's, on my Patreon.
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