Alex POV:
A few hours before, at Neds house. (a/n I wrote this before writing the last chapter, so this takes place a few minutes before Peter meets them to talk about his powers.)
I wondered why Peter wanted to talk to us so suddenly.
I was in Ned's house, planning to infiltrate Shield to learn their tactics.
Ned looked like a mess. He was sprawled out on the floor with his laptop lying on his stomach, with a fully exhausted look on his face. It seemed like he didn't sleep much, spending all his time on trying to hack the Shield servers, with enough cans of monster sprawled around him to be classified as a biohazard.
Ned had already hacked into the shield servers, but since they were a secret government organization, a newbie hacker like Ned couldn't get full access.
According to him, he was on his laptop practically 14 hours a day for the last week and could still only get us level one clearance as an employee- something about firewalls and Captchas.
Honestly, I was still amazed, as he was only hacking for like 6 months, and this was shield that he hacked into.
I suddenly remembered that Peter and Ned were supposed to go on their stark expo field trip sometime between the fighting tournament and today. I quickly get in my system, which I barely check, and go to party members.
[Status]
[Name: Peter Parker]
[Stats]
[Strength: C- -> B]
[Agility: C+ -> B+]
[Durability: D+ -> B-]
[Skills: Spider Totem (Passive)]
looks like he got bitten by the spider. Or whatever it was. Seeing how there isn't an Oscorp in the MCU, I'm not actually sure where he got his powers. Maybe nanobots or something? Nah, it's too early for that type of tech...
As I was about to start going down the rabbit hole, I had to do a double-take on his stat page.
Spider Totem? what in the world was that? I saw the word "Spider" and just skipped past it as I thought it was "Spider Sense", but I was wrong?
"Expand: Spider Totem" I think really hard at the system, and it complies.
[Skill: Spider Totem (Passive)]
[The wielder of this skill becomes the Spider Totem. A Totem is a being in each reality, tied to a specific aspect. For example, all of the Spider people are Spider Totems, and all of the Deadpool(Plural) are M̴͇͓̟̯͉͂̈́̔͗́͜e̶̹̙͆̒͆̇̿̃̏̓̐̑̚͝t̴̨͔̦̭͔͛́̈́̎̚͘͠͝a̴̛̹̗̫̻̒̏̔̈́̐̎̅̇̈́̅̓͝͝Totems.]
-o-
Somewhere in Hell's Kitchen, a certain bald mercenary's ears twitched, and looked directly up towards- okay what the fuck I'm changing the pov again
-o-
Back with Alex
So that's what it was...
That means like the Hulk is like the Gamma Totem, BP is the Bast Totem, and Wolverine is what, the Wolverine Totem? Right, I remember seeing something about that in a clip from the Deadpool and Wolverine movie. I'm not sure, though, since I haven't really watched much Marvel after Endgame.
Wait, if the Totem beings exist in every multiverse, why aren't the X-Men in the MCU? Why isn't Deadpool in the MCU? I think towards the system tab really hard, hoping for it to give me some kind of answer. Surprisingly, it did.
[All Totem beings exist in all multiverses, whether their powers are active or dormant. They always exist at any moment, whether in the past or future.]
That made a whole lot of zero sense. I sigh. Ned looks up from his laptop and gives me a look.
So, these fundamental aspects of the multiverse are just waiting to be unlocked? Or has been already been unlocked and is just lying dormant? This could explain some things, like how Quicksilver unlocked his X-factor when there aren't any mutants in the MCU. Maybe the powers have just been lying dormant, and all across the world, there are important characters from the comics that are completely oblivious to their dormant powers.
That idea sends a shiver down my spine.
That was when Peter finally decided to arrive. He then makes us put away all of our stuff, so that he could have an important discussion with us. He told us about the field trip and the bite, his new powers, Tony Stark showing u-
Wait, Tony Stark? What the hell? This wasn't really a part of my plan-
I mean, it should have been obvious that somebody would find him, but not so fast. I need to change my plans a little, then.
Ned, of course, reacts like ned would, going all crazy about it. Then, Peter talks about how dangerous it is, and how weak he still is even with the powers. Ned still tries to convince him, so I cut into the conversation.
"The choice is up to you, Pete. It's not something that we can decide upon. This is your life, your future. But get one thing clear. We'll always support you, no matter what choice you pick. If, and only if, I end up not getting superpowers, I could be your sidekick or something. If Daredevil can be a hero, just a regular blind guy, I can definitely be one too, even without powers."
"What do you mean only if you don't get powers?" He asked back, confused.
"I got something planned."
I actually didn't. I was bluffing. I was just hoping that the system would help me with that, hitting me with a well-timed quest or something. If all else fails, I guess I still have the "Get stronger until Avengers 1!" Quest reward to look forward to.
Honestly, I could probably go out right now with my new vibranium gauntlets and be a decent vigilante. But, like Pete said, it's a little dangerous, as I don't even have powers yet, and I have even less professional training.
I might seem strong since I won the whole tournament and stuff, but that was just hand to hand. I have no idea what to do when faced with a gun or a knife. That's why I'm tryna get my hands on some Shield training. There has got to be some secret if regular people like Nat and Clint can keep up with the other Avengers.
I zoned back out of the conversation as the conversation began to sway from the hero stuff to geeking out about the Lego Death Star. I sometimes forget these guys are high schoolers.
-o-
I was brought out of my daze as I felt the conversation steering back towards something important. These two nerds have been talking about Star Wars for 45 minutes.
"So, I might not be able to join you guys in infiltrating the strategic homeland thingy..." Peter hesitated. "If I go to what you're describing as the anti-supernatural government organization with my clearly supernatural powers, I might end up in a cage forever. Sorry, guys."
"It's completely fine, broski," I reassure him. "I'm infiltrating this organization to get myself someone to teach me how to fight. Seems like you already have one."
"Wha-?"x2 Peter and Ned wonder what I mean by that.
"You have Tony, don't you?" I tease.
"I didn't accept yet!" Peter exclaims.
I laugh, as I have already read chapter 19.
(a/n Did that guy just break the fourth wall? I didn't write him to know how to do that? Seriously, i mention the merc with a mouth once in the story and this shits happening.)
I stare up at the corner of the room subcontiously.
(a/n okay how do they keep doing that I'm gonna timeskip now fuck this)
-o-
After another few minutes of geeking and glazing Tony Stark, Peter left, leaving me and ned remaining.
Sure, I liked Tony Stark when I watched the movies, but not to this level. These guys are on a whole other level. They're on some religious level stuff.
Ned turns towards me. "Okay Alex, with your level one clearance, I managed to sign you up for a few basic classes from this organization. I signed you up for hand to hand combat, infiltration, advanced mobility, defense against firearms, Defense Against the Dark Arts- Okay why the hell do they even teach this stuff."
I chuckle. "And how might I participate in the classes in question?"
Ned pauses.
I look at him, waiting for the answer. "Don't tell me you didn't think of this."
Ned stays quiet.
"Ned, I'm gonna crash tf out if I need to infiltrate the main base of the best spies in the world to take some beginner lessons." I give him a dangerous look.
"O-okay, it's not that bad. It's a branch, not a main base." Ned tries to reassure me.
I facepalm.
[Ding!]
I unbury my face from my palm and look up at the floating blue screen hovering in front of my eyes. A grin slowly makes its way to my lips.
[Quest Alert! Spying On The Spies!]
[You have signed up for SHIELD combat classes, However, you are not a SHIELD employee! Infiltrate a SHIELD branch base, learn their techniques, and live to tell the tale!]
[Reward: Skill: ??? Totem (Passive)]
I burst into full-on evil villain laughter.
Ned looks at me wierdly.
(a/n Dont worry the 4th wall is a one-time bit.)
Between the evil villain laughs, I manage to sneak out a "no, it isn't".
(a/n I use my ultimate ability! End Chapter!)
"NOOOOOOO" I scream into the impending dark abyss
(a/n okay i wrote that whole chapter at like 3am yesterday, and now rereading it, i don't even know what kind of stuff i was smokin writing that.)