Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Do we have a deal?"

"Yes."

In an unknown location, two individuals were having a conversation. One was a man dressed in all white and the other had an odd appearance that was very hard to describe. The two of them were floating with no ground below them or walls around them, in a place with no form or color. Their voices had a a strange echo that was exceptionally hard to hear, but.

"Good, so when are you going to start?" The man dressed in all white spoke.

"It's done already." The one with an odd appearance spoke in return.

The man just smiled and said. "Don't tell me that you're not even a little bit curious."

"Not really." The odd one spoke with an obvious disinterest. "I already know everything that will happen."

"If that's the case, don't spoil the surprise for me." The man said in return. "I think I'll be going now then, I'm looking foward to see how will it all play out."

"Farewell." The odd one spoke before after the men dresssed in white disappered out of nowhere. "Of all of the foolish things you ever did, this must be the strangest one." 

Saint Agnes Orphanage.

The same dream again, he thought. He's been having that dream for as long as he can remember. He doesn't know either of the men or what they were talking about. He wakes up in the same room that he lived in for most of his life, trying to understand the meaning of that dream. He lays in bed a little while longer before finally getting up.

His name is Nero. He's ten years old. Nero has a somewhat strange appearance. He has a sickly looking pale skin and his hair is white as snow, his eyes have an unnaturally vivid shade of pale gray making his eyes almost appear as white. But even with the odd appearance, he's considered a very beautiful child.

As soon as he got out of bed, Nero changed his clothes. A gray long sleeved t-shirt with black sleeves, blue jeans and white sneakers. As soon as he finished getting dressed, he left his room and made his way to the entrance.

"Nero." He heard someone calling him. He turned around and noticed that it was Sister Maggie.

"Good morning, Sister Maggie." A lot of nuns took care of Nero since he was a baby, but Sister Maggie always seemed to be the one that paid the most attention to him.

"Where are you going?" But she could be a little overbearing at times.

"I was going to go for a walk." Nero replied.

"Well, you have a visitor." She told him.

Nero already knew who his visitor was. "Matt's here? I thought he was busy with law school." Matthew Murdock was a boy that Nero grew up with, though the two are ten years apart in age. Matt kind of became a big brother to Nero while the two stayed in the same Orphanage.

"He did promise that he'd visit, didn't he?" She replied. "He's at the entrance."

Nero just nodded and continued on his way. But as he walked, he kept thinking about the dream, he's been having that dream for years and he still couldn't figure out what it was about. Who was the man dressed in all white and why couldn't he see the other guy properly. He kept asking himself the same questions every time he had that dream.

As soon as he walked through the main door. He could see Matt waiting out front with his glasses and cane, like always.

"Hey, Kid." Matt said as he moved forward to hug him.

"Hi." Nero quickly returned the hug. "How's law school?"

"It's difficult but a fair kind of difficult." He tells Nero. "Me and my roommate are helping each other in every way we can."

"Oh, what's his name?" Nero asked. He always had a tendency of asking too many questions. Like when he asked Father Lantom about a lot of scientifically impossible stories in the Bible.

"Franklin Nelson but I call him Foggy." Matt tells him.

"Foggy?" Nero asked in confusion.

"He snores super loud, the sound reminds me of a foghorn." Matt explained with a shrug. "The nickname stuck."

Nero chuckled a bit.

"You want some ice cream?" Matt asked.

"Sure."

Matt took him to a park and the two sat on a bench and ate their ice cream. Nero stood there watching some of the people passing through while Matt just listened to them. It was a sunny day in New York City. There were some old people doing Tai Chi, an old lady throwing bread to some birds and a couple walking together.

"How are things in the orphanage?" Matt asked him.

"Ok..." Nero said in a very unconvincing manner.

"What's wrong?"

"Some of the boys are picking on me because of my appearance." Nero was sort of considering telling him about the dream he'd had. But he quickly decided against it because he was sure that he wouldn't understand it either.

"Have you been fighting them?" Matt had taught Nero a bit of boxing. The boy was a natural and learned super quickly, it had shocked Matt a little bit. "You promised me that you wouldn't start fights when I taught you."

"I never start them." Nero defended, while looking away from Matt. "I just wanted to be left alone but they wouldn't leave me alone."

Matt just stayed quiet for a bit. "Look, things will get better." Matt said to him. "Trust me."

Nero just ignored him and looked up at the sky, watching the birds fly around. He always wondered what flying was like. There was also a plane passing overhead and he wondered where it was going.

"I did make a friend." Nero said, ending the long lull in their conversation.

"Really? Who is he?" Matt asked.

"Frank, Frank Castle." Nero told him. "I call him FJ though."

"Why FJ?"

"His full name is Frank David Castle, Jr." He explained to Matt. "FJ is just an abbreviation of Frank Junior."

"So that's why you used to call me MM." Matt said with a smile.

"It's not my fault you first and last name start with M." Matt chuckled a bit, teasing Matt.

The two of them talked a bit more, but after a while Matt had to take Nero back to Saint Agnes.

Matt said goodbye to Nero, and went back to the law school he was attending, as soon as they arrived at the orphanage. But Nero didn't go inside, he waited until Matt was out of sight and made his way to a different destination.

A rooftop of an apartment several blocks away from the orphanage. He goes there sometimes, to find some peace. He listens to music on an old radio he found. He could take the radio back to the orphanage but they would just confiscate it because of the noise. But that wasn't the only thing that Nero had or did while at the apartment.

The apartment wasn't in very good condition. It was located in Chelsea. Nero saw it as a place that only a person with no other option would be willing to live in. Which saddens Nero to think about, because he was born in that apartment. He found out about it after reading some of the files in the orphanage. Nero went there to see if he could find anything out about his parents. He did, but he wished he hadn't. Apparently his parents were two deadbeats that did nothing but drink and use drugs in the apartment. The landlord didn't hold back on trash talking them. Nero felt bad because the man was very kind to him, apparently they left Nero in the apartment as soon as he was born and the landlord found him after several complaints were made about noise coming from their apartment. Nero actually visited the landlord from time to time. But most times, he would only go there to spend time on the roof, because of the decent view.

He once saw Matt jumping across that same rooftop one time. He was thinking about trying to do it as well, but his fear always stopped him. Every single time he goes to that rooftop, he challenges himself to jump. But he always cowers in the last second. Today he was, again, trying to convince himself to go through with it.

"Matt did it, and he's blind dammit." Nero told himself in frustration. He was standing on the ledge of the building, challenging himself to jump onto the other building that wasn't that far from the one that he was currently on. "C'mon, you can do it." He kept repeating to himself. But unfortunately, the fear out-weighed his courage. He closes his eyes in frustration and turns around to leave.

He walks towards the radio and turns it off, and makes his way to the door.

But then.

He turns his gaze back to the ledge. He stares at it for a few minutes. He then takes a deep breath and runs as fast as he can at the ledge. In all the times he's tried to do this, he would stop at the last second. But this time, he doesn't think about it, he just jumps. He reaches for the other ledge but he's unable to get a hold on it.

He falls down the side of the building at full speed.

Nero breathes deeply as he opens his eyes, feeling an agonizing pain throughout his entire body. He can't move anything and there isn't a single part of his body that isn't hurting. With all his strength he moves his head to see the damage. He can only move it enough to look at his arm. It was very crooked. He could see a bit of bone sticking out of the middle of his arm. He then moved a bit more. To his horror, he saw that his legs were bent in a way that no one's legs were ever supposed to be bent.

Unable to move his head anymore, he tries to move his head to look around for help, but he doesn't see anyone. He was deep in an alley with absolutely no sign of anyone who could help him.

When he was about to use all of his strength to ask for help. Something happens, he starts to feel a strange sensation in his body. He feels his entire body become warm and cold at the same time, he didn't know how to explain this sensation. He closed his eyes a bit to focus on the feeling. The sensation wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. For a second he starts to think that it's death approaching him, he was just waiting for the pain to stop.

But then... Both the pain and the sensation he couldn't describe stopped.

Nero opened his eyes. He was still laying on the ground but when he moved his head to the sides, he could see that his arms weren't broken anymore. He uses them to lift himself up and to his surprise, his legs were fixed as well. He stands up without any problems and he looks up to see how far he just fell. No one could have survived that fall, Nero thinks, as he just stands there trying to process what just happened to him.

Nero was laying on his bed at night unable to sleep. It's been two days since his failed attempt to jump off that building, but it wasn't his failure that bothered him. He was sure that he fell from that building and that he broke every bone of his body in the fall. He remembers the pain he felt, but how is it possible that he's in perfect condition after a fall like that. That strange sensation he felt when he was on the ground was one of his theories of how it happened. It was strange, his entire body felt warn and cold at the same time then a tingling sensation came and before he knew it. He was ok. But how, that was the question stuck in his head.

He raises himself from his bed because he knows that sleep wasn't going to happen tonight. He opens his drawer to grab some clothes. His blue jeans and white sneakers, but he put on a Black Puffer Jacket this time. Nero didn't have many clothes, two pair of jeans, one pair of shoes and few t-shirts and a jacket.

Nero opened one of the windows in his room. His room was in the second floor, there were two windows there and in the middle there was a pipe that he uses to slip down since he was eight. He uses it when he wants to get in and out of the orphanage at night. His night activities are nothing remarkable. He can't wonder too far from the orphanage he needs to be back before Sister Maggie, comes to check on him like she does every morning. Nero was aware of why she payed the most attention to him.

Since he can remember, Nero always received weird looks from people due to his appearance. No one can tell why he looks like that, he wasn't ugly or deformed but he looked different. But it never really bothered Nero, he liked to look different. He always like to think that it made him unique.

Nero was just wondering what he was going to do for the rest of the night. The first thing he did was stop on a basketball court that was not too far away from the orphanage. Nero got into a fight there a few days ago, he won and the boy ran away leaving his basketball ball behind. Nero kept it on a hidden spot that he found on a building that was beside the court, he could have taken it back to the orphanage but Sister Maggie would have asked how he got it. He grabbed and started to toss it a bit. He does it for sometime until he hears someone calling him.

"Hey." He heard someone calling him from behind. He turns around to see who was it.

"Carl?" It was a friend of Nero, Carl Lucas. "What are you doing here?"

"I was passing by." Nero doesn't really believe him. "Didn't I tell to not come back here."

The fight that Nero had in the basketball court didn't exactly ended after the boy that started it ran away. He came back with six other boys and Nero would have been in deep trouble if Carl wasn't passing by to help him. The two kinda became friends afterwords. Similar to Matthew, Carl was much older then Nero. Nero never asked how old he was but he suspects that he was three or four years older than Matt.

"You did, I just chose to ignored it."

Carl gets close and takes the ball off his hand. "You're a stubborn little shit, you know that."

"Yup." Nero said with a smile.

Carl also smiled at that before shooting the ball at the ring. The two started to play together for sometime, though Carl was better then Nero. But it was fair comparison because Carl was much taller then him. Not to say that Nero was bad, he managed to land several times which impressed him a bit.

The two kept playing for an hour and half, until it was time for Carl to leave. He said something about having a encounter with someone named Shades, which Nero has no idea who that was.

Nero decided to go back to the orphanage cause it was almost sunrise. He walked back to the orphanage, climbed the pipe and entered the window.

Soon enough, it was time to wake up. Even though he didn't sleep. He left his bed and went to eat breakfast. The food at the orphanage wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. Not that he cared. He ate quickly and then he left the orphanage. He wanted to see if FJ wanted to do something today. Nero took a train to FJ's neighborhood and got there quickly enough.

He knocked on his door. The one who answers it was his mother Maria Castle.

"Oh, it's you Nero." She greets him.

"Hello, Ms. Castle." Nero greeted her in return. "Is FJ home?"

"He's having breakfast, you can come in." She answers while signalling him to come in.

Nero obeys her and walks inside the house, then he sees FJ and his sister eating at the dining table.

"Nero is here." FJ's sister Lisa Castle said.

"Hey Nero." FJ said as soon as he saw him.

He just waved at them before approaching the table.

Nero couldn't resist and ended up eating a bit of the waffles that Ms. Castle made. After they all finished with breakfast, Nero asked FJ if he wanted to play with on the park. He quickly said yes and the two left the house together.

"My dad is coming home next week." FJ said as the two walked beside each other.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Mom wants to have a picnic at central park while he's home." FJ said to him.

"Oh, that's good." Nero didn't really care about that very much. He never saw FJ's father.

The two kept on walking towards the park that was not too far away from FJ's house. His neighborhood was very calm and clean, definitely a far cry from hell's kitchen. Nero was a bit envious at times, but he often heard that it was no use to feel envy cause it could consume you.

Nero and FJ arrived there quickly enough.

The two friends played hide and seek for a while which wasn't really Nero's favorite game. Mostly because he wasn't very good at hiding, but he was pretty good at seeking. The two played until it was time for FJ to go back home. They said goodbye to each other and went on their separate ways.

Nero walked towards the train station to go back to Hell's Kitchen. But the moment he arrived there, the station was closed for some reason. There was a few people standing there.

"Excuse me." Nero pulled a woman's shirt. She turned around and gave Nero a look that he was used to it. "What happened in the station?"

"A man running away from the police entered it and the police closed down to catch him." She quickly answered before turning her back to him.

Nero knew that there was no use waiting around. It could take some time for them to catch the man and reopen the station. So he will have to go to a different station. But that will be a bit difficult, since Nero doesn't know the place very well. He usually goes from the train station straight to FJ's house, so he will have to look around a bit. He could go back to FJ's house and ask his mother for help, but that would cause a few complications since doesn't exactly has permission to be here.

It turned out to be a bad idea. Nero walked for hours looking for another train station, but he moment he found it. It turned out to be closed as well. Apparently, the fugitive that the police was chasing got into the train tracks and ran all the way to this station. If Nero didn't know better, he would say that someone was playing a joke on him.

He had to walk and walk and walk, to try to find a third train station for him to go home. But then his hunger just got worse. He decided to have something to eat, he starts to look for a diner. He walks a bit more until he sees one in the end of the street.

Nero quickly walks towards there. The street was kinda of empty which was strange, he could see a few people but this looks like the kind of place that it's usually crowded. Nero wondered if something happened or if there was a event going on. He arrived at the end of the street and was waiting to cross it. He looked around and saw a few people.

An old man that was beside him, a man wearing a nice suit and in the other side of the street he saw a family. Well he assumes that they are a family. A man with a receding hairline and a nice mustache,a slightly overweight blond woman with glasses,a browned haired little boy that looked like a miniature of the man, a blond girl that looked just like the woman and a red haired girl. They looked like a very beautiful family. Nero wondered what it felt like sometimes.

The blond girl was the oldest, the red head one was the middle and the boy was the youngest. He could assume that he was close to age to the red head girl.

Nero chuckles a bit. He was analyzing a bunch of people that he probably never will see again to distract himself from his hunger which is pretty stupid. He kept on observing the family. He noticed that the small boy was holding a ball at one hand and his mother's hand with the other. The couple looked like they were discussing something and the older daughter was trying to get something from a vending machine.. Nero really needed to eat something and stopping worrying about other people's business.

Then the boy dropped the ball that he was holding, and was trying to reach out but his mother was holding his hand tight. The ball rolls to the middle of the street, the boy better say goodbye to it because Nero can see a car coming.

But then, to his shock.

The red head girl started to walk towards the middle of the street to get her brother's ball. Nero then looks at the car and notices that it was coming at her direction at full speed. He quickly starts to run towards the girl as the car rapidly approaches her. She looks at the car but doesn't move, her parents noticed where she was.

"Jean!" The father screams as the car is near her.

Nero ran exceptionally fast, it felt like time has slowed down as he ran. He could hear police sirens coming from afar, and people screaming. When he got close to her, in a split second. He pushed the girl out of the way.

She looked at him with her green eyes. Nero took a good look at her with his white eyes.

Until.

He felt the pain of the impact of the car.

Pain. Nothing but pain, that was all that Nero was feeling in the moment. Pure and agonizing, it was the best way that he could describe. He didn't know what happened. He saw the car coming at the red head girl and a sudden impulse came, he ran and time felt like it stopped, before he knew it. He had pushed the girl of the way and the car hit him instead.

Is this it? Is he dead? That was all that he could think about, he was very afraid of that being the case. It didn't look like, whatever saved him that day, when he fell from the building was going to work again. If that was the end, at least he died doing a good thing. He was hoping that girl was OK. Jean was her name, he heard the man that he assumes was her father say.

Some thought's passed his mind at that moment. He was thinking what would be Matt and Sister Maggie's reaction to his demise. He was thinking if FJ would cry for him. He was thinking if his parents were ever find out that he died or if they would care. Lots of things that he wanted to do, things he wanted to experience. All gone.

"Well, at least a family didn't got destroyed today." Nero told himself while he waited for something to happen. It was all dark, the pain was gone and he couldn't move for some reason. He was sure that he was dead. "A unwanted orphan over a middle child of a family, that's a fair exchange."

"Don't say that!" Nero heard a girl's voice. He looks around to see where was it coming from. But the complete darkness didn't allow him.

While he was still searching. He started to hear a bunch of loud noises and some voices but he couldn't understand what they were saying. As the sounds got louder, Nero covers his ears to try to muffle the noises but as soon as he did that, things started to lighten up, the darkness was going away and things became clearer. Strangely he sees a image from afar, he didn't know how to describe. It looked like a giant, wild, flaming raptor. Nero felt like it was staring at him, but he wasn't scared. It felt familiar.

Suddenly, he could move again. Nero approached the creature and the closer he got, the warmer he felt. It wasn't burning, it was a comfortable type of warm. He looked at the giant flaming creature in the eyes, then it pointed at something. Nero turned around to see what it was. From afar, he saw that girl that he save, Jean was her name. Standing there, in the darkness. He turned to the creature again, and it looked at Nero in the eyes one more time before extending it's wings. As soon as it does, it starts to fly on the girl's direction. As the creature got closer, but as soon it got near her, it disappeared.

The girl started at him, but her green eyes were replaced by the creatures eyes.

"He's waking up!" Nero heard someone yell. He opens his eyes and everything was a blur.

Out of nowhere, the dark placed and the loud noises were replaced. The loud noise became a siren and the darkness was replaced by a blur of the color white. Soon, his vision became clearer and he looked at his surroundings. He was in a ambulance. There were two people around him, paramedics for sure. A man and a woman. Nero tried to stand up a bit but his movement turned out to be a bad idea because the pain came back as well. Not as badly as early but still bad.

"Don't move." The male paramedic calmly told him.

"What happened?" Nero asked the man.

"You got hit by car." The female paramedic bluntly told him. "But don't worry we're almost at the hospital."

Nero looked down a bit and noticed blood on his shirt. He decided not to ask how bad his injuries were because he really didn't wanna know. Though he knew that it didn't hurt as much as it did when the car hit him. Was it the same thing that saved him when he fell from the building? He was asking himself that. But he wasn't completely sure because, his injures healed completely after the fall and right now, he can feel the pain of the injures he just received.

He decided to ask a question to the paramedics. "Who's car hit me?"

"A man that was running away from the police, apparently he tried to escape through the subway but the police cornered him. " The woman explained to him. "He manage to escape the subway and steal a car, and he ran you over while trying to get away from the police."

So it was the guy that kept him from taking the train back to the orphanage. Nero though it was a very cruel irony. "Did they catch him?"

"Yes, after he... ran you over, he hit the car he stole on a traffic lamp." The man explained to him.

"I see." Good riddance, that's what came to his mind.

Ten minutes later, the ambulance arrived at the hospital. Nero was taken in quickly and was put through a few examinations. His injures were two broken ribs, a few cuts that two required stitches and his left wrist was broken. The doctor told him that he was lucky, because his injures should have been much more severe considering the speed that the car that ran me over was.

They warned the orphanage about what happened, which means that he will probably get a lecture later.

He was now on a hospital room laying on the bed and watching TV, not like there was anything worth watching. But he couldn't get the image of that giant flaming creature off his mind. He kept on trying to understand what it was or what exactly happened. Whatever it was, Nero was wondering if the girl he saved was OK.

Three days later.

Three days have passed since he was hospitalized, nothing really happened in the last two days besides a visit from Sister Maggie who lectured him about going so far away from the orphanage and one from Matt who saw what happened on the news. Besides them, no one else. He was hoping that maybe FJ would pay him a visit but he didn't really mind if he didn't. There was a chance that he doesn't know about his accident.

Nero has spent the last three days either watching Tv or reading a book that Sister Maggie brouth for him. Only one thing that caught his attention on one of the books that she bring. One of the books was about Greek mythology, and while Nero was checking the book, he found a bird that greatly reminded him of the creature he saw when the car hit him.

A Phoenix. He was sure of it. Why would he see something that he never saw before on a dream? He never even heard of this kind of creature before yet he saw it on a dream after passing out from the car hit. He didn't know what to think of it. All that he could think about was the feeling. When he was close to the Phoenix, he felt good, familiar, it felt like the two already knew each other. But something that he could not understand was, what did that girl had to do with it?

Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupts his thoughts. It was odd, Sister Maggie wasn't going to visit him today and Matthew wasn't going to visit him either because he has a lot of work to do in law school.

"Excuse me?" The door opened and on the other side was a man. Nero recognized him, it was the man that he suspected was the red head girl's father. Suspect, he still not sure.

"Umm... Hello" Nero was asking himself what was he doing there.

"I'm sorry, you probably don't know who I am." The man spoke to him.

"You're the girl's father aren't you? The red head girl with green eyes that almost got hit by the car." Nero said it bluntly to him.

"Yes, that's correct." He replied to Nero before extending his hand to him. "I'm John Grey."

"Nero Carnby." He introduced himself while shacking the man's hand. "Not to sound rude but... What are you doing here sir?"

"You see, my daughter wanted to thank for saving her life." The man told him. "We would have come sooner but, we were having problems with the moving."

"Moving?" Nero asked out of curiosity.

"We used to live in Annandale-on-Hudson but there was a problem at my work, and I..." The man was hesitating a bit. Something bad must have happened. "I got another job here as a teacher."

"Oh, you're a teacher?" Nero decided to change the subject since he looked unconformable.

"I'm a Professor of History." He told him. "I used to teach in Bard College but there was a problem and I had to quit my job there."

"I see." Nero could tell that something bad must have happened.

"Well... My daughter is outside, do you mind if she comes in?"

"Umm... Ok."

John Grey then turned around and walked outside closing the door behind him. As soon as he left, Nero wondered if he should ask the girl if he saw the phoenix as well.

A minute or two later. John Grey reentered the room with the red head girl beside him. "Jean, this is Nero." He presented her to him.

"Hi." Jean shyly greeted him.

"Hello." Nero greeted her in return.

"Jean, I'm going to the hospital's pharmacy to get your sister's medication." John told his daughter. "I'll be back." He kissed her in the forehead before leaving her alone in the room with Nero.

A awkward silence starts as soon as he leaves the room. With Nero and Jean staring at each other without saying anything. Nero can't take it and decides to ask a question?

"What for?" Nero asked her.

"Huh?" She makes a confused look.

"Medication for what?" Nero asked.

"Oh, my sister has Panic disorder and she needs some medications to keep it controlled." Jean explained to him.

"I see."

"Does... Does it hurt?" She asked him while pointing at his wrist.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry." Jean apologized for it. "I should have payed more attention." She told him while looking at the floor.

"Nah, It's okay, It's not like I had anything better to do than to lay down all day." Nero decided to make a joke but it wasn't really funny.

"You shouldn't have said that." She told him.

"It's true, I don't have anything better to do than to lay down all day."

"No, not that." She said. "You said; A unwanted orphan over a middle child of a family, that's a fair exchange." She repeated the exact words he said while everything was dark. "That's not a fair exchange at all!" She yelled at him.

"Wait, how could you have heard that?" Nero asked her. "I though... I though I was dreaming."

"I... When the car... Hit you, I felt..." She was trying to say something to him but she couldn't find the right words. "I felt what you felt, you were afraid and... you thought about your friend Matthew and a Woman named Maggie." Nero just stood there wide eyed by the things that he was hearing. "You were thinking If you're other friend was going to cry for you and- " She paused before saying. " if your parents were ever going to find out that you died and if they were going to care."

"I.." Nero had no idea of what to say to her. Until he remembered. "Did you... Did you saw that giant flaming bird?"

Jean's eyes widened as soon as he mentioned. "You saw it too!?" She said and put her hands on the bed that Nero was.

Before any of the two could say anything else. The door opened again and John Grey entered the room again. "You too seem to be getting along." He said when he saw Jean's hand on Nero's bed. "Jean sweetie, It's time to go home." He told her. "We need to get this medication to your sister."

"But..." Jean was trying to say something. Nero had a idea.

"Mr. Grey, I told Jean that she could borrow a book that I was reading, but she's afraid that she won't be able to return it for me." Nero did his best to lie to him.

"A book? Well, I could bring her to visit again if that's a problem." Mr. Grey appeared to have fallen for the lie. "What is the book about."

"Greek mythology, I was just showing her the chapter that I was on." Nero grabs the book that was on a drawer besides the bed and show it to Jean. "It's about the Phoenix." He opens the book to a very confused Jean until she noticed the picture of the Phoenix.

"Yes... that's it." Jean was trying to go along with the lie. She grabbed the book to check. "Thanks Nero."

"See you soon Jean." Nero said with a smile.

She smiled back before turning around. "Bye."

As soon as the two walked out of the door, Nero lays down again.

He started to think. What exactly all of that meant? Jean, felt what he felt when he though he was going to die. They both saw that Pheonix.

"What it all mean?" Nero asking himself, with a annoying feeling that he won't be getting a answer any time soon.

How does it work? I never understood."

Nero was currently sitting down on a car with Jean and John Grey. A week has passed since the accident where Nero was run down by a car saving Jean from it. And also since that strange dream with the Phoenix. Jean kept her promise and actually came back to visit him, several times as a matter of fact.

"Don't ask dad about that or he's going to trap you for hours to explain it." Jean spoke inside his head.

The second time that Jean went to visit him. Something really strange happened, Nero could hear what she was thinking and so did she. Jean told Nero that since what happened, she was able to hear other people's thoughts. After hearing that from her, Nero then told her about the building incident.

What she did after hearing it was lecture him about being so reckless. Nero came to the conclusion that she was worse than Sister Maggie. But also something interesting that Nero discovered, was that the two could communicate even when they were far away, and for some reason, Jean could only do that with him. She told him that sometimes she hears other people's thoughts and sometimes even feel what they are feeling.

"But I'm curious." Nero answered her.

"Well, you see Nero, " Mr. Grey started to explain to him about Greek Fire. Unfortunately, he now understood what Jean meant by trapping him for hours to explain it, since they have arrived at the destination and he was still telling him about does it work.

Nero was finally released from the hospital and Mr. Grey offered Sister Maggie to drive Nero to the orphanage, saying that it was the least he could do after what Nero did for Jean. After a long explanation that Nero regretted asking for, he finally let Nero go.

"Bye Nero." Jean said as he exited the car.

"Bye Jean." He said in return. "Bye Mr. Grey, and thanks for the ride."

"It was no problem, I hope we meet again." Mr. Gray replied.

Nero nodded before making his way to enter the orphanage, as he entered, he saw Sister Maggie approaching him.

"What took you so long?" She asked him.

"Mr. Grey was explaining how Greek Fire worked to me." He explained to her. "Sorry, I lost track of time."

"Ok, then. How are you feeling?" She asked him.

"Fine, it's still a bit hard to move my wrist but besides that, it doesn't really hurt much anymore." He assured her.

"You never told me what exactly were you doing there to begin with." She demanded an answer.

"I was... visiting my friend." Nero answered.

"What friend? You never said you had a friend outside of the orphanage."

"His name is Frank Castle Junior, but I call him FJ." Nero told her. "As a matter of fact, do you mind if I call him?"

"No, go ahead but later we are gonna have a talk about this little trip of yours around the city." Sister Maggie addressed him.

Nero had an urge to slap his forehead in frustration, because he was sure that this lecture of hers was going to be long. He just nodded his head before making way to the telephone.

"Hey, you there?" He hears Jean voice in his head.

"Yeah, I'm here." Nero responded.

"I'm still sitting in the car with Dad." She told him.

It's fun to be able to talk to someone whenever you like. Nero didn't have a cellphone, so this was a good alternative. But, ever since he found out about this ability that Jean has, there was something that he was wondering.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asked her.

"Sure."

"How do you hear people's thoughts? Is there something you do or maybe a specific action?"

"Well... I just look at the person and concentrated on them, It's like when focused on reading a book." She explained to him. "Why do you ask?"

"Because... I was wondering if I can do it too."

"You think you can?"

"Maybe... Wait a second." He told her.

He arrived at the front desk of the orphanage, where the telephone was. Another Sister was in charge of it, Sister Vivienne. Nero didn't like her, at all. She was fat, smelled like cigarettes, and was constantly yelling at him and the other orphans. As he approached her, he attempted to do what Jean told him. He concentrated on her like he did when reading a book in a attempt to do it.

"Dammit, what does Carnby want?" He heard her thinking that.

That confirmed that Nero could do it as well. Which made him think something. "Do I have super powers?" He thought. Nero was already suspecting that, since he fell off the building. He was suspecting that he had some sort of fast healing ability or something, but now he just found out that he also posses telepathic abilities. He reads a lot of science fiction and fantasy novels, so he has a little of knowledge in this type of power but he still needs to know what is fiction and what is reality about this.

"What do you want Carnby?" Sister Vivienne bluntly asked him. "He's got to have some type of birth defect to look like that." Nero heard her thinking.

"Sister Maggie said I can use the phone." That was all that he said to her.

"Fine, but don't take too long, there's a lot of incoming calls." She stated to him. "Who would this little freak call anyway?"

Nero decided to ignore what he just heard and started to dial the number that FJ gave it to him. He waits for it until someone finally picks it up.

"Hello?" Nero hears FJ's sister Lisa on the other side.

"Hi Lisa." He greeted her

"Nero? Hi." She greeted in return. "We heard about your accident, sorry we couldn't visit."

"It's okay. Is FJ there?" Nero asked.

"Yes, hold on. Frank! Nero is on the phone!" He heard her yell.

"Hello." He heard FJ's voice.

"Hey FJ." Nero greeted him.

"Hey, is it truth that you got hit by car?" FJ asked him.

"Yes, I got released from the hospital today."

"Are you okay?"

"Some parts still hurt a bit, but yeah I'm fine." Nero replied to his friend. "Did your dad came home?"

"Yes, he's helping mom with the dishes." Nero noticed that FJ sounded happy on the phone.

"That's good," Nero was happy for FJ. He always wondered what having a father felt like.

"Hey, Nero... Do you wanna go on a picnic with us?" FJ asked him.

"The one on central park that your mother was planning?" Nero remembers that FJ mentioned the day of his accident.

"Yeah, mother said that I should invite you and Dad was okay with it."

"When?"

"Tomorrow at One PM." FJ explained.

"I'll ask permission for it and I'll call you later with the answer." Nero had to ask Sister Maggie this time.

"Okay, talk to you later." FJ then hang up the phone.

Nero puts the phone back into place and steps away from the front desk.

"Hey, Jean?" Nero called her.

"Yes?"

"I just found out that I can do the same thing as you."

"Really?!"

The rest of day was unremarkable at best. Nero had to hear a long lecture from Sister Maggie, but she did gave him permission to go on a picnic with FJ and his family. He mostly spend the day speaking with Jean about this new found telepathic ability that the two possessed. Nero explained to her what he knew from Science fiction novels, but he explained that he doesn't know if the information was reliable.

They spoke until it was late at night, she said goodnight to him and went to sleep.

After she did, Nero started to reflect on a few a things about himself. Mostly this discovery, he had already known that there was something off after the falling from the building incident, but telepathy, that was something really odd. He starts to think, what other things have happened that could point to this?

Nero then remembered something. The odd dreams that he has, with those two strange individuals. "Does it have any connection?" He asked himself. Unfortunately, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't come up with a explanation.

Soon enough, it was really late and he decided to get some sleep.

Nero overslept, waking up later than he should. Eleven AM was the time he woke up. He put on some clothes; his navy blue jeans, a white long sleeved shirt and his white sneakers, which happened to be his only pair of shoes, he thanked god, that they weren't damaged on the crash. He checked himself in the mirror of his room. His hair was straight and he always kept it brushed down. It looked okay, so he decided to leave it like that.

Sister Maggie has offered to drive him to FJ's house. Nero tried to refuse but she insisted so much that he ended up accepting. She drove him on a van that was used to bring donations and groceries to the orphanage. She left him in front of FJ's house. Nero thanked her for the ride and she drove off since she had to grab something for the orphanage.

Nero went to the front door and knocked. He was greeted by a man. He was sure that it was FJ's father because of the resemblance between the two.

"Hello." Nero greeted him. He had a strange, haunted look in his eyes. His face had a few bruises as well.

"You must be Nero." He spoke with a deep voice.

"And you must Frank Castle Sr." Nero replied.

"Correct, Junior is waiting for you inside." He spoke while stepping out of the way for Nero to pass.

Nero entered without saying anything else. He saw FJ, Lisa and Mrs. Castle on the kitchen packing up the things for the picnic. When he approached, the first one to say anything was Lisa. "Did you get any scars?" Lisa asked him like it was the most normal thing to ask.

"Lisa!" Mrs. Castle yelled at her.

"It's okay," Nero assured her. "Not really, but I broke my wrist and a few ribs."

"Ouch." FJ said while cringing.

He sat down with FJ and waited for his mother to finish packing the things for the picnic. He told FJ and Lisa that he got hit by the car because a girl was walking towards the street to grab a ball that her little brother dropped, so he pushed her out of the way and the car ran him over. Then he told them about Jean and how she kept visiting him in the hospital.

Unfortunately, the moment he finished telling them, both FJ and Lisa started to tease him about Jean. Luckily, the tease didn't last long as their parents called them to go to central park.

The ride there was peaceful and calm. Nero and FJ kept playing Rock, Paper, Scissors the whole ride while Lisa heard music on some headphones. As they got closer to their destination, FJ won on the game on a score of 10-12.

As Mr. Castle parked the car, Nero helped Mrs. Castle on carrying the things for the picnic. They found a spot on the grass and sat down to eat. Nero eat some beef sandwiches that Mrs. Castle made. After they finished eating, him and FJ decided to play a bit of football. Luckily FJ brought his ball to the park, so they played for a bit, but then FJ just threw the ball really far away.

"Dammit." FJ complained.

"Come on, Let's see where it went." Nero replied.

The two friends then decided to go look for the ball that FJ tossed. They walked around for a bit, passing through several trees and some small lakes. Nero and FJ finally ended up finding the ball on top of a tree.

"Oh man, how are we gonna grab it?" FJ asked.

Nero looked around and saw that besides the tree, there was another one but a bit smaller. Nero decided to climb it and when he was high enough, he jumped on the other tree and grabbed the ball.

"You got it!" FJ happily said.

"Pick up." He tossed the ball from on top of the tree into FJ's hand.

As Nero was about to come down from the tree, he saw something strange on his left. It looked like a man, hanging upside down on a tree. Nero came down from the tree and went into the direction of it.

"What is it?" FJ asked him.

"I saw something from the top of the tree." Nero explained.

"What?" FJ asked but Nero didn't answer and just kept walking in that direction.

As Nero walks closer and closer with FJ following behind him. The two friends started to hear people talking.

"You should have just done what the boss told you to do, Blackrad." They heard a man with a strong accent speak.

The two got a little bit closer and saw something horrifying. They saw a man hanging upside down on a tree, bleeding heavily from what looked like knife wounds. With several black suited men with weapons in their hands standing around him. FJ nearly screamed when he saw the bloody man but Nero covered his mount quickly.

"Listen, I can still get it don-" The man hanging tried to speak but unfortunately, the man standing on front of him. Stabbed him in the leg before he could finish. "AAAAAAA-" The man tried to scream but the man with the knife, put his hand on his mouth to muffle the sound.

"It's too late for that now." The man with the knife was the one with the accent. It was either Italian or Russian but Nero didn't know which one.

It was a bald man wearing sunglasses.

Nero makes a hand sign to FJ, for the two of them to get out of there. This was not their businesses as they will be in trouble if those men saw them.

"Kids, what are you two doing?"

Unfortunately, the moment that Nero and FJ turned around to leave they see that the rest of the Castle family came looking for them. The moment that Mrs. Castle spoke, the man with the black suits turned their gazes towards them. Which the rest of the family noticed what was going on.

The moment that the bald man with sunglasses saw them. He pointed at all of them and gave the other suited men an order.

"Dammit, take them out!"

Before any of them could say anything. The suited men started to fire at them. Nero felt the bullets piercing through his skin as he fell on the ground as soon as the first projectile hit him. He could only watch in horror as the rest of the castle family got gunned down by those man. He saw FJ getting shot in the head, he wanted to scream but his voice wouldn't come out. Soon enough, he closed his eyes while still hearing the sounds of the guns.

Here we are again, covered in darkness. It didn't took too long tO happen again. Was Nero cursed? That was a question that he was asking himself at the moment.

Suddenly Nero saw a light from afar. Was it the portal to the after life, or was it a hallucination? Nero didn't know or care, he just wanted to get out of the darkness. He walked in the direction of the light. Soon enough, the darkness was gone, the light just kept shinning even brighter.

"What is this now?" Nero asked himself as everything started to turn white. Like a giant empty room.

"You know, for someone who just died, you don't look much surprised." He heard someone talking to him from behind. He quickly turned and was greeted with a woman.

It was a very attractive woman with black hair and dark eyes with strange marks below her eyes and mouth and black lipstick on the lips.

"I think this isn't the first time I've died," He replied. "Who are you?"

"I have a lot of names, but the most well known is Death," She told him which made him widen his eyes.

"You're the Grim Reaper?" He asked.

"That is my least favorite name, don't even think about calling me that." She said in a sweet voice but with a face that would terrify anyone. "And yes, this isn't the first time you died."

"What do you mean?" He asked in confusion.

"When that car hit you sometime ago, you did died but that friend of yours with red hair made a telepathic link with you and kept your soul from passing which made me unable to collect you." Death explained to him. "Then the damn Phoenix force got involved and made things worse."

Nero was digesting what he just heard. So Jean was the reason that he survived that day. But with this answer, came another question. "What is this Phoenix Force?"

"The Phoenix Force is one of the oldest known cosmic entities, representing life that has not yet been born, as well as the forces of creation and destruction.p," She explained to him. "Basically, when your friend's mind was being dragged along to the "other side" with you. The Phoenix appeared, and made your soul return to your body and made the telepathic link between you two unbreakable."

"But... Why?" Nero asked in a deep confusion, why would a cosmic entity do such a thing.

"You'll find out soon enough." She said before she started to approach him. Suddenly she started to touch his face in a gently matter. "Why did they make you so... white. White hair, pale skin, nearly white eyes." She spoke as she was complaining of something.

"Ummm... who are you talking about?" Nero asked in even more confusion than before.

"The idiot that made you look like this, you would look so much better with black hair." She spoke as she touched his white hair. "If he pulls a stunt like this ever again, he better let me choose the appearance."

"What are you talking about?!" Nero asked again as he was getting tired of being so confused.

"What? Can't a mother worry about what her son looks like?" The moment Nero heard that, he nearly passed out. But he resisted and asked one more question.

"W-w-what?" Nero asked with the most confused face he ever made.

"I had same reaction when I was told, although I was pissed of just being one of them." She replied with a disturbing but pleasant smile. "I wanted to meet you before but the Phoenix beat me to it."

"W-wh-wha-what, you're my..."

Suddenly, very loud noises start on the room but Nero was way too shocked to say anything.

"Oh shit, times up. Next time you die, please stay dead so we can spend some time together," She told him while cupping his cheeks before kissing his forehead. "Bye son."

Out if nowhere, Nero felt an intense impact on his chest that made him fell into the ground.

"We got a pulse!" Nero heard someone yell.

He then opened his eyes slowly, only to be greeted by a very strong light in front of him. His vision was a little blurry but it slowly cleared up and he saw where he was.

He was laying on a table-a surgery table to be more precise. There were four people around him, probably a doctor and nurses. Nero then figured out what was going on, he was being operated.

"He's awake." He heard someone speaking.

"I guess... I was probably dreaming." Nero thought. "The Grim Reaper being my mother, what silly idea."

"What's that on his forehead?" Someone asked.

"It's... Black lipstick." Nero heard that and his eyes widened. "Wait, Where did it come from?! It wasn't there before."

"WHAT?!" He desperately thought as he remembered that she was wearing black lipstick and that she kissed his forehead before he woke up. "It wasn't a dream!?"

"His heart beat is increasing too rapidly, give a sedative." The doctor ordered the nurse. Who gave him a syringe and that injected in him soon after. "Don't worry kid, you gonna be okay." The doctor spoke in a soothing tone that calmed Nero a bit. Then Nero felt his eyes getting heavy before he was completely losing consciousness.

Five days later:

The Castles are dead. A nurse told Nero as soon as he woke up-he cried a lot after hearing it. Mr. Castle survived but he was in a coma with very low chances of waking up.

Apparently after what happened, Nero and Mr. Castle were taken to different hospitals. Mr. Castle was send to a better one since he had insurance due to his military career. While Nero was put in some public hospital somewhere.

They said that it was a miracle that he survived, but Nero knew that it was no miracle. It was this power that he had. Something that he couldn't stop thinking about was that woman. The Grim Reaper saying that she was his mother. "How is that even possible?" he asked himself. Though it would explain this powers.

Besides that, he couldn't get the horrible memory of FJ getting shot in the head. He was his best friend, and now he was gone. For what?

Suddenly, he heard someone knocking on the door of his room. Nero moved his gaze to see who it was. It was a blond haired and blue eyed man; he was wearing dark suit, with black shoes and a red tie.

"Good morning, Mr. Carnby." Nero observed him and noticed that he was carrying a gun and there was a badge on his belt. He deduced that he was a police officer. "I'm George Stacy, NYPD detective." He extended his hand.

"Nero Carnby." Nero replied as he took his hand. He knew that he was probably gonna ask him about what happened. "Let me guess, you wanna know who shot me and the Castles?"

"Precisely." He took a chair and sat besides the bed. "I know this is a terrible time, but you're the only surviving witness that can give a report." He took a notepad and a pencil out of his pocket. "Is it okay if I ask you a few questions?"

Nero just nodded as he would rather get this over with quickly, he really wanted to speak with Jean. He couldn't use his telepathy powers these last few days, he suspect that it was due to the medicine made him less concious.

"Alright, what exactly is your relationship with the Castles?"

"I was friends with Frank Castle Jr, they invited me to go on this picnic to celebrate Mr. Castle's return."

"I see... On what time exactly did you arrive at the park?"

"Two PM."

"How exactly did you and the Castles encounter the shooters."

Nero took a deep breath before speaking. "FJ and I were playing football, but FJ tossed the ball too far. So we went to retrieve it, it ended up on the top of a tree, and when I climbed to retrieve it, I saw something from far away."

"So you and Frank Castle Jr went to check what it was."

"Yes."

"Mr. Carnby, can you describe the people that shot at you."

"I can only describe two of them." Nero only took a good look at two of them. The man hanging upside down and the one that ordered the others to shoot. "One of them was hanging upside down on a tree, it was a fat man with short hair."

"His name was Paul Giacomo. He was death by multiple knife wounds when the police arrived.

"The other was the one that did those knife wounds. It was a bald man with tan skin, he was wearing a black suit with sun glasses and he had accent."

"What sort of accent?"

"Ummm... 'It's too late for that now'." he made his best impression of the man to Mr. Stacy.

"I see." He wrote in his notepad. "Do you think you could recognize the man if you saw him again?"

Nero just nodded.

Mr. Stacy then closed his notepad and put it back on his pocket. "That was all, thank you very much for your cooperation. And I give you my word that we will do our best to catch the people that this to you and the Castles."

"Before you go, can you answer a question?" Nero asked as Mr. Stacy stood up from the chair.

"Sure."

"Did anyone of the staff informed you about my state? Because no one tells me how bad is it." Nero had been stuck in this bed for five days and no one had told him about his situation.

"Well..." He spoke but paused a bit before continuing.

"You can tell me, it's not like I'm gonna surprised by it."

"Apparently, they don't know how are you still alive." Mr. Stacy told him with a somewhat reluctant expression.

"What?" Nero asked with a confused face.

"The doctor said that... some of your vital organs were damaged by the bullets and no one understands how exactly can you still be alive or how can you be recovering so quickly." After he said that, he approached Nero. "Do you mind?" He asked while pointing at one of the spots where the bullets hit.

"No." Nero then moved the blanket to show him one of the bullet holes on his torso.

"What the hell?" Mr. Stacy said in deep confusion after he saw the bullet holes on him. "I... I thought the doctor was exaggerating or something. At least nine bullets hit you!" He kept on checking. "At least some pierced one of your lungs, your liver and one of your kidneys." He told him with a very confused face.

"Welcome to my world." He thought sarcastically.

"What?" Suddenly, Nero heard a familiar voice on his head.

"Jean?" Nero asked inside of his head.

"Nero? Oh my god, are you okay?! I been trying to talk to you but you wouldn't answer." He heard Jean saying.

"I been trying to talk to you too, I think the medicine messed with my head and I wasn't able to use telepathy to talk to you." Nero replied.

"I heard about what happened, it was all over the news." She told him.

"Ummm... Mr. Carnby." Nero was break from his telepathic conversation with Jean by Mr. Stacy.

"Oh sorry, I was processing what you just told me." Nero quickly invented a lie, but in reality he was not even a little bit surprised of what happened. He was aware that his powers were the reason to why he was still alive and recovering so fast. "If this is all, I would like to be alone right now." He bluntly told the detective

He made a confused face before nodding and turning around to leave. "We'll keep in touch. You will be contacted in few days to check a few suspects." He informed him before making his way out.

"Hey? Sorry, a Detective was asking a few questions about what happend."

"Speaking of that, what happened Nero? You said that it was going to be at a picnic." Jean asked.

"I'll explain later, what's your address?"

"My address? Why?" Jean asked in confusion.

"Just tell me." Nero insisted.

"Ummmm... I live in Washington Heights on 97 Audubon Avenue." She told himyy

"Great, I'll be there as soon as I can." Nero told her as he started to remove the IV tube that was connected on him.

"Wait, what? Aren't you in the hospital?"

"Not for long, talk to you later." Nero finished removing the tube and other things that were connected to him and stood up from the bed.

Speakng frankly, Nero has been good to go two days ago. But since according to Mr. Stacy, none of the doctors could explain why he's recovering so quickly. Nero honestly is tired of hospitals.

When he stood up from his bed, and walked towards the closet on the room he was staying. Luckily, Sister Maggie left him some clothes. Nero felt bad for scaring her a second time but it's not like he asked for this to happen. As he opened it, he noticed that they were new clothes. Probably donations. Black Jeans, white t-shirt with a Anarchy symbol on it, black worn out sneakers and a white baggy hoodie. He put the clothes on and checked himself on the mirror. "Looks okay," he said to himself before putting the hood on. It blended nicely with his pale face. "Now... Time to get the hell out here." He spoke to himself again.

He went to the door and peeked outside to see if there was anyone in the hallway. As he did, he only noticed someone standing outside, which was a nurse looking at her cell phone. I wish I had a cell phone. He thought.

Soon as he turned to the other side, Nero walked outside of the room and made his way to the other direction where the elevator was located. He was on the fifth floor of the hospital and he really didn't want to take the stairs. He arrived and he noticed a blond boy entering the elevator. "Hold the elevator!" He yelled.

The boy heard him and held the elevator door for him. Nero entered and pressed for the first floor. As he waited for the elevator to decedent he noticed that the blond boy had his right arm was plastered.

"Is that why you're here?" Nero ended up asking.

The blond boy turned his gaze to Nero. "No... I broke a rib so they had to put me in observation." He answered.

"Ouch, how did it happened?" He asked.

"Bycicle accident." He replied.

"I never rode one, but it really doesn't seem worth it." He cringed as he once saw a boy breaking two legs while riding one.

"It's not bad once you get the hang of it." He told him before extending his left hand. "I'm Johnny, Johnny Storm."

"That's a cool name, I'm Nero Carnby." They introduced themselves while shaking hands.

"Hey Nero, how did you got in here?" Johnny asked him.

"Well..." He nearly tells him the truth but decides against it. "I fell down the stairs in my home."

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt." Johnny said while making a cringe face.

Soon enough, they arrive at Johnny's floor which was the second one. "I have to go, My Sis is waiting for me."

"Bye, try to be more careful with a bycicle from now on." Nero warned him.

"No shit." He replied before walking out of the elevator.

The doors close again and proceeded to descend on to the first floor of the hospital. When they finally arrived, the doors opened one more time revealing a group of five people. Which didn't seem to think anything of him as the hoodie helped him blend a little bit as his skin didn't look so pale with it. He walk past them with no trouble whatsoever.

As soon as he left the elevator, Nero noticed several people waiting to be examined. To his shock, he noticed several people in pain due to really drastic injuries. Sitting down and waiting to be called. Nero cringed at the sight, as he sees a man with a lump on his leg which appears to be his shin sticking out. He really walks faster towards the exit as he really wanted to get out of there.

But as he got closer to the exit. He noticed the detective from earlier, Mr. Stacy, speaking on the phone." Nero stopped in the middle of his steps and turned around for him not to see his face. He then couldn't help but overhear his conversation.

"I don't give a damn! You wanna be a fucking whore, be my guest, but you won't drag my daughter with you!" He yelled angrily at the phone." Get yourself a damn lawyer if you want, but we 're gonna solve this on court. If you try to take Gwen anywhere! I will find you and toss you in jail myself!" He just kept yelling and yelling. Nero could only guess that he was talking with his wife... or ex-wife about his daughter or something.

Soon enough, he turned off his phone and walked towards his car. Which Nero took as an opportunity to run for it.

"What do you mean by 'cosmic entity'?"

Soon after Nero left the hospital. He found his way to the address that Jean gave him. It wasn't very hard to get there, but he did steal the wallet of a guy in a suit and took a few dollars. It wasn't the first time that he pick pocketed someone, but he didn't tell that part to Jean.

Jean lived in a small apartment, it had three rooms which Jean shared one with her sister. Luckily for Nero, there was no one home. He and Jean were sitting down in the living room, Nero had explaining to her about what the Grim Reaper told him. "She said that it represented life that has not yet been born, as well as the forces of creation and destruction," he explained to her.

"But... Why would something like that care about us?" she asked.

"I don't know, but it created a link between you and me and made it unbreakable. Which is probably why we can talk even though we're both far away." Nero responded.

A small silence grew in the room after Nero said that. None of the two had anything else to say. A few minutes have passed until Jean grabbed Nero's hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Umm... Okay, the pain stopped two days ago." He responded.

"No... I mean, how are you feeling... about your friend?" Jean asked in a low voice.

Nero was paralyzed by the question, as in the last few days he did his best to not think about it. But now that Jean asked him, he remembered FJ getting shot and he looks down sad. "I...I saw him die." He told her in a even lower voice. "One moment we were laughing and playing... but then another." A small tear starts to drip from his eye. "I...I can't believe he's gone. " After he said that, Nero started to cry.

Jean moved almost immediately and hugged him. "It's okay," she said in a soothing tone.

Nero's tears started to drip onto her shirt, he felt bad for wetting it but he didn't want to let go of the hug.

The two just stood there, embracing each other. Even after Nero stopped crying neither of the two let go. Even after several minutes had passed. He didn't know why, but Nero didn't want to let go of her and he had a feeling that she felt the same way.

"You want me to let go?" Jean asked him.

"No..." he awkwardly denied. "Do you?"

"No," she denied too.

But unfortunately, their tender moment was interrupted when they heard a noise outside of the entrance door.

"My parents are back," Jean told him. "You have to hide, I'm not supposed to bring people here." Jean told him before grabbing his hand and dragging him towards her room. As Nero entered, he couldn't help but notice how divided the room was. One side was red while the other was blue. He could only assume that the blue side was Jean's sister while the red side was Jean's.

The blue side had a few posters on the wall, a computer, a very messy bed, and a drawer.

The red side had a closet, a few stuffed toys and the bed was cleaner than the other one.

Jean dragged him towards the closet. "Hide in there," she ordered him in a low voice.

Nero obeyed her and entered the closet. Jean closes it and signal him to be quiet.

"Jean? We're home." He hears a woman speaking. Probably Jean's mother.

"I'm in my room." Jean responds.

"Come here, we have something for you."

Jean looks back at him for a second. "Don't make any noise, I'll be back." She telepathically told him before leaving the room to see what her mother wanted.

Two hours later:

Nero was very annoyed at his current situation. Soon after Jean left the room , her sister entered and started to use the computer. Which meant that he was going to be stuck in the closet until she stopped. He had a few chances of leaving but Jean told him to not move due to her brother, who's room was in front of hers, playing with the door open and he could see everything from there. Jean was in the living room, trying to find a way for me to get away.

"Jean, I'm hungry." Nero complained to her using telepathy.

"So sorry, I'll find a way fo distract them." Jean replied. However, she told him the same thing an hour ago. Which did not reassure him a bit. "I'm gonna get grounded if they catch you here."

Unfortunately for Nero. His hunger was just too severe.

GGGGGGRRRRRRROOOOOILLLLLLLL

Out of nowhere, Nero's stomach made a loud noise due to his hunger. He moved his gaze to the left and he noticed that Jean's sister was now looking at the closet. Oh no, Nero thought.

"Jean! I think your sister heard me." He informed her quickly.

Jean's sister then stood up from the chair that she was sitting down and walk towards the closet. "Oh shit," Nero cursed internally as she got closer.

"What are you doing?! " Jean yelled at her sister and quickly ran to the front of the closet.

"So you are hiding something. I heard a noise coming from inside," she accused Jean. Which was not wrong.

"I'm not hiding anything," Jean denied the accusation while crossing her arms. "Unlike you."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Strangely, Nero felt a bit of hostility coming from her sister.

"You're still talking to him, aren't you?" It wasn't a question. He could tell that Jean was certain.

"You fucking touched my computer?!" The hostility increased. "Not a word to Mom and Dad or I'll kill you." That shocked Nero, as it really sounded like she was serious.

"We had to move here because of you. Mom and Dad are fighting every day because of you. And you still making things worse," Jean scolded her.

Nero has no idea what is going on. Mr. Grey said that they left because of problems at his work. Did his daughter have something to do with it?

"You don't understand Jean, stay out of it if you know what's good for you." The hostile tone did not change. "What are you hiding in there?"

"Nothing!" Jean yelled.

"What is going on here?" To make things worse. Mr. Grey appeared on the door as well.

"Jean is hiding something on the closet." Jean's sister spoke with a disgusting smirk.

"Hiding? What she's talking about Jean?" He asked.

"I'm not hiding anything." Jean kept on denying.

"Then open the closet."

"No!"

"Okay Jean, what's on the closet?" Mr. Grey asked.

"No-Nothing." Jean stuttered nervously.

"If there's nothing, then you won't mind opening it," her father said.

Jean stayed quiet and Nero didn't know what to do, he kept trying to think of a way out of this situation. "Dammit! I wish I was far away from here." Nero thought as he remembered the hospital room that he was stuck in it. Soon enough, Jean's father approached the closet and for some reason, he kept thinking about the hospital room. "I should have just stayed there, now Jean is gonna get in trouble because of me."

As Mr. Grey puts his hand on the closet handle. Nero closes his eyes to get ready for a reaction.

But then, Nero feels something strange. Like a hot wind blowing through his body. It only lasted a second, but where did come from? He opened his eyes to see...

"WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!" That was all that Nero could say. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw that he was back at the hospital room. "But... How?!"

Chapter Text

Left,right, left,right,dodge,jab,jab,strike.

"You want some more!" Nero yelled to the boy who he just punched several times.

Apparently, the boy did want some more since he stood up again, and tried to punch Nero. But Nero simply moved his head and evaded the punch before throwing a left jab into the boy's nose, then finishing him off with a right hook.

The right hook knocked the boy out cold.

Nero then turned to the boys that were watching the fight and approached them. "My Cash." He told them while extending their hand.

"Shit!" One of the boys complained.

Truth is, Nero made a bet that he could beat the biggest one of them for fifty dollars. He just won.

They handed him the money, which he gladly put it inside his pocket. "When you're friend wakes up, tell him to stop being a moron." Nero told them before turning around.

He walked towards the entrance of the alleyway that they were in. With his friend waiting for him.

"Was that really necessary?" The friend in question was Jean Grey. She was wearing blue jeans, black shoes and a red jacket.

"Now he will think twice before stealing money from little kids." Nero explained. "Wanna eat something?"

Jean nodded.

It's been several months since what happened to the Castles. It turns out, their case was dropped not long after Nero spoke with the police. Nero was very frustrated by that but there was nothing to be done. He also couldn't explain how he went back to the hospital that day. Was it telepotation? And if yes, how does it work? Nero kept on asking himself that question. He's still had absolutely no answer to the whole the-Grim-Reaper-is-his-mother business. Or what exactly was she talking about. He only know that it was real because of the lipstick on his forehead.

Nero's sudden disappearance and reappearance in the hospital caused a lot of confusion. With people wondering how he left and came back without anyone noticing. None of the doctors could explain how Nero survived the gunshots or how he healed so quickly. Although they kept him there for a time, they ultimately released him.

With FJ gone, Jean kind of became Nero's best friend since she didn't have any friends here and FJ was Nero's only friend. The two ended up spending a lot of time together as a result.

The two entered a small dinner that had a few people inside, four tables, a counter with a few chairs, and an old juke box. Nero and Jean sat on the table that was the furthest of the main door.

They checked the menu for a bit, until the waitress arrived. "What's it gonna be?"

"Can I get a burger and fries?" requested Nero.

"A sandwich and a milkshake," said Jean.

The waitress wrote their orders down and went to the kitchen. Both just sat there and waited for a bit.

But then Nero noticed something, Jean looked like there was someone bothering her. "What's bothering you?" he asked using telepathy.

Jean just looked at him with her green eyes before doing something.

"I'M DOING EVERYTHING TO KEEP THINGS FROM GETTING WORSE!"

"WORSE?! IT'S ALREADY WORSE! I KNOW SHE'S STILL TALKING TO HIM AND IT'S NOT JUST HER, JEAN IS ALSO ACTING STRANGE-"

Nero had to grab her hand to make her stop as he heard her parents yelling at one another like they were there. "When did it happened?" he asked.

"This morning," she replied.

"Is that why...you called me so early?" he asked. Jean had called him at nine a.m.

"I... When I was covering my ears to... not hear it, several things on my room started to float." Jean told him.

"Float? Like...flying?" He asked.

She nodded.

Nero was in deep thought after hearing this. Holy shit! Does that mean she has telekinesis too. He asked himself inside his mind.

"I can hear you." Jean spoke inside his head.

"Oh, right. I was just trying to understand." Nero replied. "I still don't know how I went back to the hospital." He spoke through telepathy.

Jean was about to say something to Nero but the waitress finally returned with their food and the two decided to just eat before continuing the conversation.

The two friends just finished their food and Nero decided to walk Jean home. The two walked down the street holding each other's hand and talking about the situation.

"I don't know how, I just wanted to get out of there to not get you in trouble and before I knew, I was there," Nero explained. "But no matter how much I try, I just can't do it again."

"There must be something missing, which is why it doesn't work." Jean suggested.

"But what could it be?"

"I don't know."

Nero and Jean just kept on walking while they were both thinking in conjunction. But neither could come up with a theory about it. It didn't took long for the two to arrive at Jean's home.

"I'll think about it and try to come up with something." Jean responded to him telepathically.

"Nah, you don't have to worry about that." Nero was quick to dismiss.

"I want to, I mean, what if you accidentally uses it again and it teleports you to a war zone or a volcano?" Jean suggested the possibility.

After hearing that, Nero instantly made a worried expression and started to conjure several disturbing images about the possibilities.

"Jesus! Those are worse than the ones I imagined." Jean thought in horror and she also saw the possibilities in Nero's head.

"If you think of something, please call me." Nero decided to accept her help. "I'm going back to the orphanage now, see you tomorrow?" Nero asked.

"Sure," Jean told him. "Wanna see a movie with me?"

"Sure," Nero replied before hugging her. "See ya." He waved as he turned around and left.

But Nero didn't really go back to the orphanage. He actually made his way to the apartment where his parents left him and decided to stay on the rooftop for a while.

Where did the time go?

Running scared for so many years

And now I'm here

I look round but I don't see anyone

Everything I love has come and gone

I walk alone with a loaded gun

What went wrong?

There's two sides to every story

The defeat or the pain of the glory

Nero listed to a song on the radio that he had hidden there as he practiced shadow boxing.

It all burns away

(Gone, gone)

But how did it go so wrong?

Now it's all gone

(The pain of remembering)

Where did my life go?

I look in the mirror but what I see

It ain't me

These streets are paved with fantasies

Of what the other half can be

But now it's flying in the breeze.

He threw combo after combo after combo as the lyrics passed through his ears.

There's two sides to every story

The defeat or the pain of the glory

It all burns away

(Gone, gone)

But how did it go so wrong?

Now it's all gone

(The pain of remembering)

Forget yesterday

(Gone, gone)

It ain't worth the pain

(Gone,…

The reason why he was at the rooftop killing his time like this was because something weird has been happening to him and he can't understand why.

Nero hasn't slept a single night since he came back from the hospital. Literally, he hadn't slept anything, not even a nap. Which shouldn't be possible, as he read that if someone spent the amount of time without sleeping that he did, they'll be dead by now. I don't understand any of this. He's not tired or anything, hell, he could keep doing combos all night and he wouldn't feel tired. Which he's actually done more than once already.

Another thing that he couldn't stop thinking about was the powers. Healing, telepathy, telepotation... is there more? He thought in curiosity.

After some time it was late enough that he had to go back to the orphanage. He quickly went to his room and pretended to be asleep until he was sure that it was safe to sneak out.

Nero just didn't want to spend the night laying on his bed for a sleep that wasn't going to come, so he decided to do something more productive, like walking around.

He started to do that every night, he managed to discover areas that he never knew before. Like an illegal fight club in the basement of a local bar that Nero actually sneaks in to watch some of the brutal fights. A strip club that he also sneaks in to watch the pretty girls dancing. He also found ways to enter closed arcades and play the games for free.

Nero was trying to decide what to do that night as he walks aimlessly through the streets. He has to hide when he sees cops passing through, because an eleven year old walking around at this hour is not exactly something that cops are okay with it.

Ironically, as he walked to the end of the street, he actually noticed several police cars in front of a building. What is going on? Nero asked himself as there was a lot of police officers in front of the building.

He looked up to see what building was that. Wait, that's the Osborn Penthouse. I saw it on TV once. Nero thought as he wondered what is going on. He decided to approach the situation to check.

Luckily, he saw two police officers leaning on their car, talking about something. He decided to approach and hide behind the car to eavesdrop. He could just read their minds but, it turns out that he has a headache every time that he does with someone that isn't Jean if he does it too much.

"It's been two hours, seriously, all of this because of a ring?" One of the cops complained, sounding extremely annoyed about the situation.

"A ring that costs more than everything we own combined." The other cop replied.

"There's no way the thief still on the building."

"There's dozens of cops checking the building, and Norman Osborn's personal security. They kept the entrance under surveillance, whoever the thief is, he didn't pass through there. They're also keeping an eye on all four sides of the building."

"Damn, I guess Osborn is the paranoid type."

"When you got as much money as he does, you need to be paranoid."

So... someone stole a very expensive ring from Norman Osborn. Nero thought. Well... as someone who's guilty of stealing from time to time, I can't really judge.

Nero decided to just sneak out of the area now that his curiosity was settled. But before he could do it, there was a gun shot coming from the left side building.

"What was that?!" one of the cops asked.

"A gunshot, let's go."

The two cops ran to check what was that noise, with several other cops and bodyguards wearing suits. Nero decided to get out of there as the last thing that he needs is another bullet hole in his body. He turned around to go back from where he came. But to his misfortune, he saw more police cars coming from that direction.

Shit, I can't let them catch me here. Nero thought. They all went to check the left side of the building, maybe I can sneak through the alleyway on the right side.

He decides to try to to get pass through the right side of the street to try to get on the street behind the building. He quickly runs there.

Okay, just pass through quickly and jump the other fence and get the hell out of this area. He thought as he walked quickly but silently to not make any noise.

But when he reached the middle of the way.

"Psssst, hey you?' Nero stopped walking when he heard someone whispering. He looked around but didn't see anyone. "Up here." He heard it again.

Nero looked up and saw someone on the window of the fourth floor. It was a girl, slightly older than himself. She was wearing a mask but Nero could see a bit of her hair which was platinum blond.

Before Nero could say anything, she said something, "Catch," before dropping something at Nero.

Nero ended up grabbing whatever she dropped by pure instinct. It was a small bag with something inside. He was very confused, so he asked. "What is this?"

"Try not to miss it." She told him, not answering his question.

"Who are you?" Nero asked.

She just smiled at him. "Let's make a deal, if you actually manage to help me out, I'll tell you." She left after saying that.

Nero was more confused than ever now. What the hell just happen? He then watched the small bag that she tossed him and he opened to check what it was. WHAT!? Inside of it, there was an very expensive looking ring. Which Nero instantly figured something out. She was the thief. He concluded. Wait, what the hell did she mean by helping her? "Hey! This is private property!"

You gotta to be fucking kidding me!

Out of nowhere, one of the police officer and a private security came back to the side of the building.

"What are doing here, boy?" The police officer asked.

The security guy on the black suit then pointed a flashlight on Nero, specifically at his hand. "It's the ring!" he yelled.

"Stop right there!" the police officer yelled at Nero.

Oh, hell no! The moment they started to approach him, Nero started to run as quick as he could to the other side of the building and jumped the fence covering the way to the street.

"Stop!" the police officer yelled as Nero passed through the fence.

Shit! I got to get of here. Nero thought as he started to run as fast as he could.

Fuck,fuck,fuck,fuck!

Nero probably said that word on his head more than hundred times by now. Because he was running non-stop to get away from the police.

Why the fuck does this type of shit keeps happening to me? Nero thought in deep annoyance as he ran. He didn't look back, even though he could hear the police sirens behind him.

He passed through several buildings and he honestly had no idea where he was going. Come on! Run, run, run. That was everything on his mind. He actually put the stolen ring on his hoodie's pocket. Mostly due to fear of what would happen if they caught him without it.

Nero sincerely didn't know what to do, though he was really trying to think of something. It was late at night but there were a lot of cars on the street, which was a good thing, since the police couldn't pursue him because of it.

Above him, he sees a train station, with a train arriving. Should I get that train? He asked himself. His doubt was short lived however, as he sees a police car at the end of the street. In a split second, he decided to make his way to the train station.

He climbed the stairs that led to the station and didn't care about buying a ticket, he just jumped the counter and ignored the guard yelling at him. Before running towards the train door and quickly entering before it took off.

Where does this train goes? Nero thought. He honestly has no idea how many hours has passed since he started running or why the hell he didn't got rid of the stolen ring already. The cops didn't saw my face because of the hood, I could just ditch the hoodie with the ring and get the hell back to the orphanage. He seriously considered doing that but quickly decided against it. Wouldn't work, they saw my pants and shoes too.

He decided to sit down on one of the train's seat. There were only three other people on the wagon that he was in. An old man wearing a brown suit and a black woman with curly hair and a little girl sitting next to her that was probably her daughter. Nero looked out the window of the train where he could see the city. New York City, home sweet home. He thought in a somewhat sarcastic fashion. Sometimes, I keep having this weird thoughts. That maybe, I'm not really human. Could I be an alien or even supernatural creature? I mean, what the fuck, the Grim Reaper said that she was my mother. But how the hell is that even possible anyway? My parents, for all I know, were two junkies that bail on me a week after I was born. Fuck, even my name is probably fake, Caligula Carnby was the obviously fake name that my presumed father used to register himself on the building that he left me on it. The name Nero was written on my arm with a marker when they found me and that's where my name came from. So they just named me, Nero Carnby.

Nero decided to reach the left pocket of his pants o grab something, that something was a joint that he has stolen from a stoner. During Nero's sleepless nights, he developed a habit of smoking cannabis which didn't really have the effect that he heard about. He then reached his other pocket and grabbed a box of matches, which he also stole. Nero looked to the left where the old man and the woman were sitting and decided to go to a different carriage. He stood and entered the door on his left. On that carriage, there was only one person there, a hobo looking guy sleeping that smelled like piss and alcohol. He sat as far away from the guy as possible and lighted his joint. Smoking is supposed to be bad for you, but I wonder if it would cause me any damage? It was something that he was wondering as he inhales the smoke from the joint. If it will or not, I don't really care. At least is a gooooooood type of damage... He thought before exhaling the smoke, feeling a wonderful sensation. But when he did, the smoke that he exhaled came out as something else. Instead of smoke from the joint, what came out of his mouth instead, was fire. Fire that engulfed the train seat in front of him.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" That was Nero's instant reaction as he quickly dropped his joint and stood up from his seat to get away from the fire. He tried to make his way to the other carriage, but there was only one problem. As he was about to make his way out, he noticed that the hobo looking guy was still asleep. "Hey, wake up!" He yelled at the guy but to no effect. The fire was spreading through the carriage in a very fast pace. What kind of fire is that? Nero asked himself as the fire was spreading in a speed that shouldn't be possible. "Oh, fuck!" Nero yelled as he sees the fire quickly approaching the hobo. He quickly ran to the Hobo and started to shake him. "Hey!" Suddenly, the fire gets too close and Nero decides to just pull the guy. "Come on!" Nero uses all of his strength to pull the guy off the seat away from the spreading fire. "Jesus!" He yelled as the fire got closer to him and the hobo. Nero desperately pulled him as fast as he could towards the door to the other carriage that he came from. But as the fire was nearly at them, the door to the other carriage opened, revealing that old man with the brown suit that was sitting there.

"Oh my god!?" The old man yelled when he saw the fire.

"Help me!" Nero yelled as the fire was close to the hobo's feat.

The Old man quickly approached the two and grabbed the Hobo's dirty coat and pulled him to the other carriage. Luckily, the two managed to drag the hobo to the other carriage away from the fire. But when Nero was about to close the door behind him, he noticed something on the ground. Which was the ring that was stolen. Oh shit! Nero thought as he saw the ring on the floor. Without thinking, he reentered the carriage.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" The old man asked him as he sees Nero running towards the flames.

I have no fucking idea! He internally answered the question as he approaches the flames to recover the ring. But unfortunately, the moment that Nero grabbed the ring, the fire caught the right sleeve of his hoodie. "Ahhh!" Nero yelled as he felt his hand and forearm burn.

Luckily, the old man grabbed Nero by the jacket and pulled him away from the fire before closing the door of the carriage. "AHHHHH!" Nero yelled as he desperately took off his hoodie which was nearly engulfed in flames. He took off quickly, and tossed on the ground and started to step on it to put out the flames. "Augh!" Nero winced in pain as he looks at his arm. He was burned by the fire as his pale skin was pretty red.

"Oh my god!" The woman that was sitting in that carriage with her daughter yelled when she saw the fire.

Oh goddammit. Nero thought in frustration as he saw the fire spreading and the smoke filling up the air. He put the ring on his pocket before climbing on one of the sits and grab on to the handles and kick the window in with both of his legs, breaking it.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" The woman's daughter yelled due to the sudden noise.

But Nero ignored and kept on kicking in the windows to release the smoke that was filling up the air.

Meanwhile, the old man was trying to wake the hobo guy up but to no success and the woman and her daughter were at the far end of the carriage, hugging each other. This was the final carriage of the train, so there was nowhere to run.

Nero kept on kicking in the windows to let out the smoke, but he really needed a different plan quickly. My fucking arm. He thought in frustration as his arm was hurting a lot. What the fuck was that anyway?! Why the fuck did fire came out of my breath?! He thought in a deep frustration as he kept on breaking the windows.

"What are you doing?" The old man asked him.

"Breaking the damn windows to let out the smoke." Nero replied. "AAAAAHHHH!" He yelled in pain because of his arm. Then he sees that the hobo guy was still unconscious. "That fucking hobo is passed out drunk, he ain't waking up any time soon!" He yelled at the old man.

"Dammit," The old man spoke before dragging him to the end of the carriage where the woman and the girl were.

Suddenly, very loud noises come from the burning carriage. Nero is terrified due to the noise sounding like explosion. I got shot, hit by a car, and fell from a high building. But I really don't wanna know what be caught in a explosion feels like. Nero thought as he gets away.

"The train stopping!" Nero heard the woman yell. He turned to one of the windows that he broke and saw that the train was indeed stopping it. We arrived at the station. Nero thought.

As soon as the train stopped, Nero made his way out of there. The Woman and her daughter got as far away from the train as possible and the old man dragged the hobo out.

What happened after that was pretty chaotic. The entire train station was evacuated as the fire was on the train was spreading like crazy. Nero didn't stick around to see it though as he heard sirens from afar and he remembered that he was on the from the police.

"Ouch!" Nero's was still hurting from the burn and kept on walking without directions. My fucking hoodie. He thought in deep frustration as he left his hoodie on the burning train. Which was bad since that was literally his only jacket. Extra bad right now as well, due to being a relatively cold night. Nero was now only wearing his white shirt with the anarchy symbol on it, black jeans and old sneakers.

I'm really tired, not physically but... WHY THE FUCK DOES THIS SHIT KEEPS HAPPENING?! SERIOUSLY, FIRE BREATH! WHAT ELSE!? Nero was seriously getting overwhelmed by this, not that he minds having super powers but this randomness is really starting to piss him off.

The White haired boy looked around to try to pin point his location. "I really need to get myself a phone." He spoke to himself as he could really use a map or GPS right now. The fact that the street was pretty empty didn't really help. Upside, no more police. He tried to be opmistic.

Nero kept on walking aimlessly throught a neighborhood trying to find a sign or something. As he passed through he noticed something, some clothes hanging at the backyard of one the houses. One of these clothes was a white hoodie that looked new. Jackpot! He thought happily as he climbed on the fence and passed through some of the other clothes that were hanging there, one was a football jersey that was the same size as the hoodie and had the Thompson written on the back. Sorry Thompson, but your parents can obviously buy you another hoodie. Nero thought as he put on the hoodie. A little baggy but that's how I liked. He lift the hood up. Much better.

Suddenly, he sees someone turning on the light from one of the windows. Oh, crap! Nero quickly crouched and made his way out of the backyard. He walked pretty slowly to not make noise as he passed through the side of the house and back to the street.

Nero sighed in relief before he continued to walk down the street with his hands on the hoodie's pocket. He walked passed several houses but then something made him stop. Dammit, I need to do something about this damn arm. He thought as his arm was hurting. No way I'm going to the hospital again. Nero looked around the houses. Maybe one of them have a first aid kit or at least something I could put on the burn. He considered sneaking inside one of the houses. This is bad, but I really need to do something about this.

After some more consideration, Nero decided to sneak into one of the houses. He was deciding in between two houses. One on the right and one on the left. Left or right, left or right. He was trying to decide. There's a car on the one on the right but no car on the left. Nero noticed that. Maybe the owner of the house on the left, already left for work or something. But there could be people there anyway. He then lift up his sleeve to look at the burn. Doesn't matter.

Making up his mind, Nero decided to break in on the house on the left. He decided to try to enter through the back, so he walks through the side of the house towards the backyard. Where just like that other house, there were some clothes hanging there. He walked towards the back door and tried to opened but it was locked. Figures. He thought.

He then checked on a window right besides the door that was slightly open. That'll do. Nero proceed to open the window completely and squeeze himself in.

Luckily, he didn't fall into anything. The window led to the kitchen of the house. A really nice and clean looking kitchen. The first thing that he did, was approach the sink to wash the burn. AAAAAAHHHHHH! He internally screamed. As Nero was about to check the place for medical supplies, he noticed a note on the oven.

M eatloaf on the oven.

Really? Nero thought as he read the note. He opened the oven to check and there was indeed meatloaf in there. God, I'm starving. He couldn't resist and ended up grabbing one of the cutted slices and eat. It's delicious! Nero thought before grabbing a bit more.

But then, he heard a noise on his left. He slowly turned his head to see what it was and, there was someone there. It was a boy around the same age as him, with short brown hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing red pajamas and glasses.

The two stared into one another for a seconds. Until Nero decided to break the silence. "Who made this?" He was referring to the meatloaf.

"Ummm... My aunt." He answered awkwardly. Before looking at something and cringing it. "What happened to your arm?" He asked Nero.

"A train that I was in caught on fire." Nero explained. "Speaking of which, I actually just came here because I need something to put on this."

"Why didn't you just go to a hospital?" He asked him.

"Because..." Nero had to come up with a good excuse. "No one can know that I been out this late." It was the best that he could come up with.

"I think, there's something in the bathroom for burns." He told him. "You want me to grab it for you?"

"Could you please, my arm really hurts." Nero was very thankful for that.

"Just don't make any noise or you'll wake my aunt up." He told him as he walked to the bathroom.

Nero on the other hand, just eat one more slice of the meatloaf. This guy is lucky bastard, I wish I had an aunt that made delicious food like this.

"Hey, don't eat it all." The boy came back carrying a few supplies with him.

"Sorry, I was starving." Nero apologized before he approached him to grab something to apply on the burn.

"What's your name?" The boy asked as he handed something to Nero.

"Nero, Nero Carnby." He introduced himself to him.

"I'm Peter Parker." He introduced himself back.

"That should do." The white haired boy spoke.

Nero managed to take care of the burn on his arm and wrapped on bandages. All thanks to the boy called Peter Parker that was nice enough to help him, even though Nero technically invaded his home. Nero actually asked where he was, he was in 20 Ingram Street, in the heart of Forest Hills Gardens.

I need to get out and go back to the orphanage. Nero thought as he checked the bandage to see if was well tied. "Thanks again for the help, and sorry for breaking in." He apologized once again.

The boy glasses just nodded. "It's okay, but... You really need to go before my aunt wakes up." He told him. "She's gonna be mad that you eat her meatloaf."

"Was it for a special occasion?" Nero asked in curiosity.

"No, but it's my uncle Ben's favorite." Peter informed him. "He's been working a lot lately and she wanted to make it to cheer him up."

"For a specific reason?" He asked.

"Our car broke down and he's been working extra shifts to pay for the repair." Peter explained.

Shit, and I ate guy's dinner. Nero thought feeling bad.

Suddenly, before Nero could reply. Both boys heard a noise coming from the front of the house. It sounded like two people talking to each other. Peter tapped his shoulder and signalled him to follow him. Nero, not having much of a choice decided to obey. So he followed the boy wearing red pajamas as he climbed the stairs.

Once they reach the top, they heard the front door opening.

"Thanks again for the ride, this night has been too problematic for one day." The voice was familiar to Nero.

"No problem, I honestly just wanted an excuse to get away." Yet another familiar voice was heard.

Nero decided to check to see who were the two, even though Peter was trying to stop him. Only to see that it was the same old man wearing a brown suit from the train that he accidentally set on fire, being accompanied by that NYPD detective from the Castle's case, George Stacy. What the hell? Don't tell that the old men is uncle Ben. Of every single house I could broke in... Nero kept trying to understand that unbelievable coincidence.

"I know the last thing you need is to go to a police station, so I'll just ask you what happened and be on my way." He heard Mr. Stacy say.

"I really appreciate that, I was afraid I was going be stuck on a police station all night." He heard the old man say.

Unfortunately for the two boys, they heard steps coming from one of the rooms upstairs. Which caused Peter to pull Nero into another room to avoid being seem. They both heard steps walking towards the stairs.

"Ben? I was worried." He heard a woman's voice.

Once the person descended the stairs, both Nero and Peter came out of the room again to eavesdrop.

"George? What are you doing here at this hour?" The woman called May asked Mr. Stacy.

"He gave a ride home, there was a problem on the train that I was in." The man called Ben told her.

"What kind of problem?" She asked them.

"I was coming back home on the usual train, quite a unremarkable ride. While I was sitting down, there was a kid, around the same age as Peter, that entered the train running and sat down on the train looking upset about something." Yeah, about being chased by the cops over something that I didn't even stole. Nero thought as he heard the man explain what he saw on the train. "Then the boy went to the other carriage, and after some time I started to sense the smell of smoke coming from the other carriage, and decided to go and check." I really need to get more weed. "But as soon as I opened the carriage, I saw that it was on fire which strangely was spreading very quickly like someone tossed gasoline on it. And saw the kid desperately trying to drag a homeless man out of the flamming carriage." He explained. That damn hobo was obviously drunk, but I can't say anything as I was little high myself.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" She was quick to ask.

"Yes, don't worry about it." He reassured her.

"Could you describe this kid that you saw?" Mr. Stacy asked.

Oh shit.

"He was very pale, his hair was white as snow and he had very bright gray eyes that almost seem to be white." He gave a pretty good description of Nero. Which Peter noticed and looked at Nero, who just gave him a thumbs up, confirming that he was talking about him.

"What? Him again?" Unfortunately, Mr. Stacy probably recognized the description.

"Him? Do you know him?" Peter's uncle asked.

"His name is Nero Carnby, he was involved in a case that I was working on." Mr. Stacy explained.

"What kind of case?" Peter's uncle asked in curiosity.

"The case of the Castle family." He informed him.

"Oh my, I saw that horrible thing on the news." Peter's aunt spoke.

"Yes, Mr. Carnby was friends with the son, Frank Castle Jr. He was gunned down alongside them." And it pisses me off, how he can about that so casually... But it's probably because of the job. "And no one understand how is he still alive."

"George, I think the boy got burned on the fire." Peter's uncle told him. "If you know where he lives, could you take look on him to see if he's okay?"

"I'll check on it later," Mr. Stacy replied. "But... What were you doing working this late?"

"Oh, the car broke a few weeks ago, and I been taking some extra shifts to pay for the repairs." Peter's uncle explained. "But, let's not talk about that, how's Gwen doing?"

Wait? Why the fuck am I still here? I can sneak out through one of the windows. Nero realised as he was not exactly interested in their conversation. He noticed that one of the room, which he assumed to be Peter's was open.

"Not good to be honest, she's been very distant lately and with the audience for the custody coming, I'm worried what is going to do with her and w-." Mr. Stacy was explaining something to Peter's uncle and aunt, but while he was at it, Nero signalled Peter for them to sneak into the room. The boy wearing glasses complied and the two sneaked inside the room and closed the door behind them slowly.

Peter's room could be described as a complete opposite of Nero's room. Peter's room was filled with stuff, there was a TV , a computer, some science equipment and a lot of posters of physics and science. But as opposed to Nero's room, Peter's was a mess.

"Do you guys know Mr. Stacy?" He whispered to ask Peter.

"He used to be our neighbor." Peter replied. "But he moved into an apartment after he got promoted."

"Oh, I see... Is Gwen his daughter?" Nero asked and Peter just nodded in response. I remember him yelling at someone on the phone about this Gwen, but that's none of business. "I'm gonna sneak out through the window, thanks a lot for your help." He informed Peter.

"Okay, but try not to make any noise please." Peter pleaded him.

Nero just nodded before making his way to the window. "See ya." He told him as he passed through it.

The sun is about to come up. Nero managed to get back to the orphanage after leaving Peter's room. It wasn't a easy task, he had to steal some cash from a vending machine and take a bus. The Bus ride wasn't particularly enjoyable as the bus was surprisingly full. So Nero had to be on his feet through out the whole ride.

But on the upside, he was able to arrive at his street quickly enough without any fire accidents this time. Nero climbed the pipe that lead to the window of his room. Home bitter home. He thought sarcastically as he entered his room.

What a shitty night. He thought as he took off his clothes to go to bed, even though he would just lay there as he still couldn't fall asleep. Just what the fuck was that?He pull out the expensive ring from his pocket. Why the fuck didn't I just ditched this back on the train? He sincerely doesn't know why. And how the fuck did that fire came out of my mouth? He couldn't understand how did that happened, alongside the fact that the fire wasn't normal as it was spreading like someone poured gasoline on it. AAAHHH! He tossed the ring to the side before taking off his black jeans.

"That's worth more than this entire building and you just tossed away like that?" Out of nowhere, Nero heard a familiar voice coming through the window. As he turned, he noticed a familiar face. It was the platinum blond haired thief that stole the ring and gave it to him. She was wearing some strangely clichéd burglar outfit that looked nice on her alongside a mask that covered the upper-half of her face.

Nero, who was standing there wearing white boxers, just stared at her.

She entered the room and looked around. "You got a pretty bland room, snowball." She commented.

Nero didn't know how to react to react. A part of him wanted to punch her because of the shit that he got him into. Another wanted to question her about the robbery. And there was s third part that really wanted to say something. "Don't call me snowball, that's nasty." He unfortunately found the meaning of it while he was watching porn once.

"But I never met a boy who fit the nickname so well." She argued with him while smiling. "I got to say, I wasn't expecting you to outrun the cops," She commented. "And when you sat that train on fire."

"You were following me?" He asked.

"I caught up to you on the fifth block that you ran into." She explained before sitting on top of his bed.

Nero took a deep breath, before walking towards the ring that was on the floor and grabbing it. Then he made his way towards his bed and tossed on the girl, who grab it with easy. "There, now just get out of here." He wasn't really on the mood to argue or even yell. All that the white haired boy wanted was to just lay down and maybe, just maybe fall asleep. So he just climbed on the bed and just covered himself with the blanket.

"Wait? That's it?" The girl asked him in deep confusion. "You're not going yell, attack or even ask what this is about?"

"Nope, just fuck off." Nero said before getting into fetal position.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

"Seriously?" She decided to spoke after a whole minute of him ignoring her. "You're not even a little bit curious?"

Nero then sat up on the bed looking annoyed. "What kind of thief are you? It wasn't really a question. "You already got the shit, why the hell are you so preoccupied in informing me about it?"

"Why the hell are you so cool with this entire situation?" She asked him in deep curiosity. "Most people would be freaked out or furious."

"Cause I don't care." Nero replied. "I got other shit to worry about." Like trying to figure it out this random super powers that keep appearing. He thought in deep annoyance. "Now... ummm..." Nero didn't know her name. "What's your name again?"

"Just call me, Black Cat." She told him her name.

"I'm Nero, Nero Carnby." He introduced himself to her. "Now, go away, Kitty." He flipped her off before getting back to the fetal position.

Another small silence ensured. "Okay, but just for courtesy, I'll give you a short version of why I did." She informed him.

"What part of I don't care, didn't you get?" He pointed out.

"My father is a Cat burglar and he was showing me the roots." She gave him a short explanation.

"Wait," That caught Nero's attention. "He made you steal that for your first burglary, what is he nuts?" He was quick to point out how crazy that was.

"This isn't my first burglary, dumbass." She input. "I did it several times already."

"What? In all those times there was a moron passing through to involuntarily help you?" He mocked her before turning to face her.

"That was... A oversight, the place was supposed to be empty." She quickly replied. "But Norman Osborn's son was there and he saw me."

"How do you know that it was his son?" Nero asked as he did got a little curious.

"He has the exact same awful hairstyle, and there's no way someone would voluntarily have a hair like that." She commented.

Black Cat was right though, Norman Osborn did had a horrible haircut. Which made him look like a Goblin.

"Alright, now go." He demanded while pointing at the window.

"You're boring." She told him in response.

"Well, excuse me for not enjoying the company of a thief that nearly landed my ass in jail." Nero sarcastically rebuffed before turning to the side.

"Not even if the thief gives you a reward for helping her?" She asked him.

"Unless it's half of the cash you're going get from that ring, I'm not interested." Nero quickly answered.

"That... Is impossible, Dad and I are gonna need the cash." She informed him. "But if there's anything else."

God, she's annoying. Okay, what else can I get from her... By the lower-half of her, I can tell that she's pretty... Maybe... Nero turned again to face her and sat up. "Fine, then give me kiss."

"What?" She's surprised by that request.

But while she was distracted by Nero's request, he quickly grabbed the ring from her hand. "Give me a kiss in exchange of the ring." I was going to ask her to show me her boobs, but she would probably say no , so I'll settle for a kiss. The white haired boy thought before deciding to read her mind.

What the hell?! I was just joking!? Nero heard her thinking that. He got the ring, now what? She thought in deep frustration. I should have just got the hell out of here.

Yes, you should but it's too late now. Nero thought humorlessly.

Maybe I could knock him out with the lamp. But I told him my name, why the hell did I do that? Nero was wondering the same thing. Is she that incompetent? Goddammit! I need that ring or daddy will not teach me his methods. Nero could tell that she was deeply frustrated by that and contemplated just giving her the ring. But quickly decided against it as this was a very shitty night and he was at least get something out of it.

Suddenly, the silver blond haired girl took a deep breath before removing her mask. Woah, she is pretty. By her face, Nero could tell that she was a year or two older than him. She had green eyes like Jean, though her eyes were a flashing cat-green eyes. "Fine, but just one." I can't believe this, daddy can't never know about this.

"Don't try to trick me, I want on the lips." Nero pointed out.

"Fine." She replied. That's what I get from trying to have some fun. But I was expecting him to try to hit me like the last guy.

So I wasn't the first moron that she used. Nero thought after realizing that he wasn't the first.

Shr then closed her eyes and parts her lips slightly. Nero looked at her pink lips for a second. My first kiss coming from blackmail, I should be ashamed of myself but... Chances are, no girl would want kiss me anyway. He then moved his face for it. Beggars can't be choosers, can they? The pale boy thought sadly as he pressed his lips on the silver haired burglar.

It was a simple chaste kiss, but it was sweat, very sweat. Nero ended up putting his hand on the nape of her neck, trying to make the most out of the situation, as he knew that she'll pull back and put an end to it at any moment. But, strangely, she didn't. Quite the opposite, she actually licked Nero's lips, asking for entrance. Which, without hesitation, he complied. Causing the chaste kiss to turn into a open mouth kiss, with their tongues touching one another.

What am I doing? He heard her thinking. I barely know him, why am I kissing him like this? She apparently was confused. It's intoxicating.

Intoxicating? Maybe it's another power. He thought humorously, but that was the last thing that was on his mind.

The two kept on kissing, for a considerable amount of time. None of the two seemed to want to pull back or push the other away. But soon enough, she finally pulled back, apparently to catch her breath as she was breathing heavily.

Both of them then stared into each other's eyes for a bit. Before Nero handed her the ring. "This night officially wasn't total shit." He told her as he put the ring on her hand.

Black Cat was still regaining her breath, but she took the ring from Nero's hand. "Of course, it's not every day that you get to kiss a girl like me." She spoke with a lot of confidence. Then she stood up from the bed. "Well, that was fun, but I got to get going." She made her way to the window. "Until next time, Snowball." She blew him a kiss before jumping out of the window.

"Don't call me that!" He yelled at her as she left.

Once she was gone, the white haired boy just lay it on bed again. Okay, today I had to run away from the police, accidentally set a train on fire because of another... superpower? I think. And got my first kiss from a pretty burglar through blackmail. Nero just stayed there recapitulating everything thathappened. So... What's next? That was his only opinion about that.

"...The uncontrollable fire in a train station at Queens was finally put to end after three hours, thanks to the effort of the Firefighters. There hasn't been reports of any injured, but the damage caused st the station wa-" The News Report was on the TV.

"See, no one got hurt." Jean reassured him as she held his hand.

Nero Carnby and Jean Grey were currently inside a theater in order to watch movie together. They agreed to meet while eating breakfast on their homes. Apparently, her family was going somewhere that she didn't want to go. Nero actually told her everything about what happened the previous day. The ring, the fire, and his first kiss.

Ironically, the only thing that seemed to bother her, was the kiss. Mainly because she couldn't believe that he would actually blackmail someone into kissing him, alongside the fact that she couldn't understand why she would want to kiss a girl that put him through what she did.

Though, she quickly forgave him.

"... The robbery that occurred at the Osborn Penthouse still under investigation, as the robber made out with a ring worth approximately..." The news report about the ring that the Black Cat stole. Which luckily, there's no suspect or description of him involved. For some reason, though as long as Nero is off the hook, he doesn't care.

Both friends were on a line, waiting to get some popcorn.

"How was it?" She asked him.

"What?" Nero asked in confusion.

"The kiss." She asked in curiosity.

"Umm..." Nero didn't know how to answer that. "It was... Sweet... But... Bitter too."

Jean looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"

Nero looked down, looking a bit sad. "Well... Sweet, because the kiss was good but..." He paused a bit. "Bitter, because I got it through blackmail."

"If it bothers you, why did you ask for it?" She asked in full confusion.

Nero paused a bit, still looking down. The truth was that, he genuinely didn't believe any girl would actually want to kiss him. So he decided to get it through blackmail.

"Why?" Jean suddenly asked him. "What exactly makes you think that no girl would kiss you."

The white haired boy widened his eyes. "You read my mind?" They read each other's mind all the time but it's usually for communication, not particularly to see what goes through their mind.

"Sorry, you were taking too long to answer." Jean apologized. "But, seriously... Why?" She asked him.

Nero just stared at her green eyes for a bit. Before he took a deep breath. "Read it again." He allowed her this time. He then, closed his eyes and thought about some memories that always upset him. Memories of families that were looking for a boy to adopt, but instantly changed their mind when they saw him. Because they all thought that there was something wrong with him due to his appearance.

A minute or two passed, before Nero opened his eyes again. Once he did. He saw Jean staring at him with a sad look on her eyes. Suddenly however, she put her hands on his cheeks and approached her face. "Listen, those people that judge you based purely on your appearance are a bunch of jerks, and you were lucky that you weren't adopted by people like that." She consoled him. "And if they can't appreciate the wonderful person that you are, it's their lost." Jean told him that with a lot of conviction in her voice.

Nero paused for a bit, not sure how he should reply to her. But he did something. He moved his head forward and connected his forehead with hers.

Jean didn't reacted to that. She just did the same and pressed her forehead into Nero's.

The two friends stayed like that for a bit. Until Nero finally decided to speak.

"Thank you, Jean Grey." Nero told her through telepathy.

"You're welcome, Nero Carnby." She replied while smiling at him.

"Next!" The guy serving the popcorn yelled at them.

Both of them blushed after they realized that several people were staring at the two them while they were having their little moment. "Umm... An large one please." Nero quickly ordered so the two could get out of there.

The two quickly choose a movie and went to take their seat. They watched an old movie called Excalibur as the theater was mainly playing old movies. Jean and Nero actually decided to do a marathon of films due to some money that she got from her father. Nero felt bad that she had to pay for him, but she kept reassuring him that it was okay.

"Those armors are really shinning." Jean spoke to him through telepathy.

"Duh," Nero spoke back. "Knight in shinning armor."

"Oh..." Jean understood what he meant.

Both watched the whole film together. They both decided to go into another one. "Come father, let us embrace at last." Nero made his best impression of the film as the two walked.

Jean giggled a bit. "You sounded just like him." Jean told him as they walk besides one another.

"So, what should we watch now?" Nero asked. "Your choice." He was the one that picked the other one.

Jean looked carefully, until she made her decision. "That one."

She pointed at a poster of the movie Casablanca. Nero grabbed some extra popcorn to distract himself as he saw that it was a romantic film. Ironically, it was much better than he expected.

"We'll always have Paris." Nero made another impression.

"With this whole world crumbling, we pick this time to fall in love." Jean also decided to make an impression.

Both laughed at each other in response. Nero then grabbed Jean's hand. "So, what now?" He asked.

"Let's watch one more." Jean suggested.

Nero nodded in response before they went to buy another ticket, but on their way there. The hooded boy noticed something, a familiar face on the line. "What the?" He accidentally spoke through telepathy.

"What?" Jean asked.

The familiar face, was someone he met yesterday. He looked at Jean before replying. "That's the boy that helped me yesterday." Nero then lifted his sleeve to show his bandaged arm.

"You mean that boy named Peter?" Jean actually saw everything through Nero's memories. "Let's go talk to him."

"Ummm, I don't thin-" Nero was trying to say that it was better not bother him. But Jean suddenly and without any warning, dragged him towards the line.

"Excuse me." Jean called his attention.

Peter was standing in the line wearing a blue plaid shirt and jeans. He turned his gaze to look at them and widened his eyes. "It's you," He instantly recognized him. "It's Nero, right."

"Yup," It was Nero's reply. "Good to see you again, and thanks one more time for..." He pointed at his arm.

"It was no problem, really." Peter said in return. Before he looked at Jean.

Nero noticing that decided to introduce her to him. "Peter Parker, this is Jean Grey, my best friend." He told him as he wrapped his arm around Jean, who smiled in response before waving at him.

She extended her hand and Peter shakes it. "Thank you very much for helping Nero." She sounded very grateful.

"Like I said, it was no problem." Peter replied while adjusting his glasses. "What are you two doing?" He asked in curiosity.

"Movie marathon." Nero answered his question. "So, which one did you come to see?" He asked as there was no other visible reason to why he was in the theater.

Peter then pointed at a movie poster of the movie Blade Runner. "I wanted to finally see that film." He explained.

Nero looked at Jean, without the need to say anything or use telepathy, she was easily able to figure it out what he was planning. She nodded in response before she spoke. "Fancy some company?" Jean asked Peter.

The hooded boy had a very fun time watching the movie with Peter and Jean. Peter watched the film with a lot of enthusiasm. Jean actually cried during a monologue scene. Nero himself adored the film.

"Like tears in the rain..." That quote strangely stood out in Nero's mind for some reason. The boy with white hair was standing in front of the door of the theater, looking at the street. He was waiting for Jean and Peter, mainly Jean as he's gonna walk her home. Although, he definitely wouldn't mind hanging out with Peter again. As he waited, he watched as several people enter and exit the theater. No one really worth noting though.

Well, except for a trio that just entered the theater. All of them were wearing letterman jackets. There was a blond guy, a fat guy, and a dark skinned guy. They were all laughing like idiots and as soon as they were in, they started to look at the movie posters, probably to decide which movie they want to see.

Nero didn't really care about them and was just waiting for Jean and Peter. Maybe we can invite Peter to hang out again, he seems cool. He thought as he looks around. Luckily, he sees Peter coming back with a cup of soda. But Nero noticed that as Peter approached him, the three guys wearing Letterman jackets, saw Peter and started to laugh. What's so funny? He wondered.

But as Peter passed through them, the blond guy put his foot forward and tripped Peter, making him fall into the floor right on top of the soda. They laughed at him like bunch of idiots.

Nero, however, didn't thought it was funny, at all. And he approached them as soon as he saw that.

"Puny Parker, always tripping on your own feet." The blond guy joked while laughing like an idiot.

"Come on Flash." Peter complained as he searched for his glasses that fell from his face at the fall. Unknowingly to Peter however, the fat guy that was besides the blond one grabbed his glasses.

The three idiots laughed at Peter as he searched for his glasses on the floor. As they laughed however Nero approached them and stood in front of the fat guy. Who after laughing like idiot a little more, noticed Nero's presence. "What do you want?" He asked as he saw Nero standing in front of him.

Nero extended his left hand. "Give me the glasses." He demanded.

"Nero, it's okay." Peter, who was still on the floor, told him.

"Hah! You already replaced Osborn, Parker?" The blond guy, who's name apparently is Flash, spoke in a mocking manner. "Where did you find this freak?"

Flash didn't know that, but he just made a huge mistake. Nero moved from the fat guy and stood in front of Flash. "Say that again." Nero dared him to do it.

The blond idiot just chuckled.

"Nero, please don't do it." Peter pleaded with him.

"Come on, go ahead, say it again, I dare you." Nero ignored Peter's pleads and dared Flash once more.

Flash, with a arrogant smug, decided to comply. "Freak."

With that however, in the blink of an eye, Nero delivered a very powerful uppercut at Flash's jaw. Once his fist connect, Flash was knocked out cold and went down instantly. The fat guy, in response of that, tried to charge at Nero. But as soon as he got close, Nero delivered a precise left jab to his nose, which apparently broke it due to the loud crack that Nero heard, before he fell on his ass. The dark skinned guy was smart enough to not try anything and just stayed back with his hands up, signalling that he wanted no trouble.

"AAAHHH!" The fat guy that was sitting on the floor, yelled in pain while holding his bleeding nose. But Nero ignored his pain and went to grab Peter's glasses from his hand.

"Nero, not again!" Suddenly, Nero heard a Jean's voice coming from behind him. He turned around to see his red head friend staring at him apprehensively.

"What?" Nero asked in confusion before handing the glasses back to Peter. "Here, put them back on."

Peter then stood up from the floor, and quickly put his glasses back on. "What the?" He noticed the two idiots on the floor. "How..."

"Boxing." Nero told him. "Let's bounce before someone notices." There weren't many people at the theater at that hour, and the ones that were there, were distracted. So Nero wanted to leave before someone notices.

Luckily, they all managed to get out before someone noticed what Nero did with those two. All of them were making their way to a train station that Peter is going to get to go home. Jean and Nero were accompanying him.

"Seriously Nero, you got to stop doing that!" Jean yelled at him with telepathy, retaining that apprehensive look from early.

"Doing what?" He asked.

"Beating up people! You gonna get yourself into deep trouble if you keep doing that!" She lectured him, as he did got into trouble for it on a few occasions. "I know that they were bullies but still."

"Sorry, I just can't help it." He apologized as he didn't want to upset Jean. "Please don't be mad."

Jean stared at him with the same look. Before she sighed. "I'm not mad at you, so don't worry."

Nero smiled before wrapping his arm on her torso and placing his head on her shoulder. Jean smiled in response before wrapping her arm around his neck.

While the two did that, Peter, who was walking besides them, said something. "Sorry, that you had to do that." Peter apologized.

Nero turned his head towards Peter. "You helped me, and I helped you, but watch yourself because he'll probably want some pay back later." He warned him.

"Who were they anyway?" Jean asked in concern.

"We go to the same school, they're football players." Peter informed them, but Nero was already aware of that due to the jackets they wore. "The blond guy lives nearby my home, his name Flash Thompson and he kind loves to mess with me."

"Thompson?" He remembered the name. "Ah, shit!"

"What is it?" Jean asked.

"He's the guy I stole this hoodie from, I saw his name on a Football Jersey." Nero explained.

"Speaking of which, didn't sister Maggie or anyone notice that it's a different hoodie?" Jean asked as she already chastised him over stealing earlier. "That other hoodie you used to wear was a zip-up and this one is a pullover."

"Sister Maggie has a lot of people to watch over, she might pay special attention to me, but she doesn't really notice this little details." He explained to her.

"Why don't you tell your family about it?" Jean asked Peter. "I can tell that he bullies you often." It was pretty obvious to both of them.

"I don't wanna bother my aunt and uncle with that." Peter replied while looking down. "Besides, it wouldn't really help, Flash would just stop for a time but then start to do it again after a while." He explained. Before any of the two could say something else, they noticed that they arrived at the train station. "Well, it was nice hanging out with you guys."

"Likewise, wanna hang out again sometime?" Nero asked him.

"Sure," Peter spoke. "Thanks again for... You know."

"It was no problem," He tells him again.

Peter waved at the two before entering the subway. Nero and Jean waved back at him as well.

"I wish there was more we could do to help him." Jean commented.

"Me too." Nero agreed before holding Jean's hand. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

With that, the two started to walk while each other's hand on their way to Jean's home. As they walked however, Nero wanted to say something to Jean.

"Sorry for... You know..." He told her through telepathy.

"I'm not mad, but, I really don't like it when you hit people like that." She replied.

"It's just... I really hate bullies. "

"Does anyone like bullies?" It wasn't really a question, she was just stating the obvious.

"Well... Maybe other bullies, but that's a different story." Nero replied with a bit of uncertainty. "I used to be bullied a lot before I learned boxing, so I kind of developed a deep hatred towards bullies."

Jean looked at Nero with a surprised expression. "Wait, what?" She asked. "You never mentioned that."

"It's not exactly something that I like talking about it." He explained.

"But still..." Jean sounded curious. "Was it that bad?"

"You tell me." Nero basically gave her permission to look into his mind as the two walk together.

Jean stared at his gray eyes for a bit. Before stopping him in the middle of the way, then she made Nero stand in front of her. Then, just like before, she pressed her forehead into his. He actually really like that. She closed her eyes, probably to focus. Nero did the same, it was probably not necessary, but he did not care.

For a minute or two, Jean looked a flashes of his childhood at the orphanage. Childhood mainly composed of some of the other orphans except for Matt, treating him badly because of the way he looked. The one that specifically messed with him was a big dumb kid that used to beat him up repeatedly. "Oh my god..." It was Jean's reaction.

"Nah, considering that I got the last laugh." Then a flash of Nero knocking some of his teeth with punches.

Jean sighed. "It's wrong but, I just can't feel bad for him." She admit it sadly. Both then separated and stare at each other's eyes once again. "Sorry you had to go through that."

"Things are much better now, so..." He reinforced her.

Jean seemed curious about that answer. "How so?" She asked.

Nero just smiled at her for bit, hoping that she'll figure it out. Which she apparently did. "It's... Because of me?" She asked him.

Nero looked away a little embarrassed. But it was true, things would be much, much worse without Jean around. Especially since his other best friend is gone. He moved his head up to look at her again, only to be met by a her beautiful smile.

"I... Feel the same way," She spoke a little embarrassed. "Honestly, you're the only thing I like about living here." She explained to him.

Hearing that caused Nero to wonder something, or at least wonder again as he's been meaning to ask her but he decided to wait until she'll tell him herself but. "Jean, can I ask you a question?"

"Anything." She replied.

"Why... Did your family moved here?" Nero has been wondering that for a while, Jean's father had a stable job as a teacher back in their old home but for some reason, he had moved here and it's now working for less. And Nero can't forget what he heard Jean's sister say, the day he accidentally teleported himself. But he didn't ask her out of respect for her.

Jean ,however , seemed bothered by that question as she looked down as soon as Nero asked. "Can we... Catch the bus first?" Both took a bus to get there.

"Okay." Nero nodded before grabbing Jean's hand.

The two of them walked the rest of the way towards the bus stop in silence. But once they arrive, Nero and Jean entered the bus that would lead them to her neighborhood. They sat down at the bottom of the bus close to the window.

Jean placed her head on Nero's shoulder as soon as the bus started to go. "Do you still wanna know why my family and I moved here?"

"If you don't wanna tell me, it's okay." He assured her. "But, as your friend, I really wanna know in case of it... Being something..." He didn't know how to say it.

"Serious?" She completed for him.

Nero just nodded in response.

Jean looked at him with her green eyes, before taking a deep breath. "It's because of sister." She revealed to him.

Nero looked at her before speaking. "What did she do?"

"My sister always was... Problematic." She seemed to be ashamed as she spoke. "She loves to disappoint mom and dad, by doing things like drinking, staying out all night and a lot of other stuff." Basically what Nero does, but he doesn't really have parents to disappoint for doing those things. "But, one of those things caused a lot of problems."

What could it be? He asked himself.

"My sister... Started to date... Two older guys, at the same time." That, surprised Nero. Causing him to widened his eyes at her. Jean looked away embarrassed. "One of them, was a teacher that worked with my father."

"So, you guys moved here because..."

"Their relationship was discovered and... That brought a lot of problems." She explained sadly. "So dad asked a friend here for a job and moved us all here."

"Damn," It was all that Nero could say. "Sorry that you family had to go through that."

"It's all her fault, I love Sara, believe me...But..."Jean was clearly upset, which made Nero regret asking about it. "She's so problematic."

Nero really wanted to end this conversation in order to not upset Jean any further. But unfortunately, his curiosity got the better of him as he had one more question. "Who... Was the other guy?" He wanted to know.

"A jerk..." That was all that she said about him. "I'm pretty sure she still talking to him, and I don't like it."

"Why? It's her problem." Nero told her in response.

"Yes, but... He's dangerous and he wasn't happy when he discovered that she was seeing someone else while she was with him." Jean explained.

"How so?"

"He set the teacher's house on fire." That surprised Nero.

"Why don't you tell your parents?" Nero couldn't help but ask.

"I did, but they haven't done anything about it and I can't understand why." She sounded deeply frustrated.

Nero was confused when he heard that. "Maybe they have their reasons." He suggested. "You already did what you could, if they don't act upon it, that's on them."

"Yeah, but..." She tried to argue but apparently, she didn't know what to say.

"But nothing," It was his response. "You don't have control over other people's actions."

Jean didn't say anything after that. She just hugged his arm tightly and closed her eyes with her head on his shoulder.

Nero decided to not say anything either, he just enjoyed the moment with her.

Unfortunately, for the two, their peaceful ride came to an end. It was going to be time for them to separate as soon as they arrive at Jean's home. The two of them walked their way there quietly and relatively slowly while holding hands as always. Nero always has the feeling that Jean doesn't want to go home, every single time he walks her there.

After a short walk however, they arrived.

"Thanks." Jean said to him.

"For what?" Nero asked in confusion. "I should be thanking you for paying everything for me." He was embarrassed by that.

"It was no problem, and it was a lovely day." She hugged him and he gladly accepted. "Except for the whole, beating up Peter's bullies but... I'm glad you helped him."

"Peter is cool." He would definitely like to be friends with Peter Parker.

Both separated, but once they did, Nero noticed something. "Is your family back?" He asked ad he noticed her door open.

Jean seemed confused by that question. She turned around and noticed the same thing as Nero but she looked around for a bit. "Our car is no here." Nero looked around and saw that she was right. The Grey's car was nowhere to be found. "They all left on the car after the drove me to the theater."

Nero was not liking this and he had a strange feeling about this. "Wait here." He told her before he approached the front door. What the fuck? The door's lock was busted. Did someone robbed the place? Suddenly however, the hooded boy decided to walk in. On his way inside, in order to check if there was some damage or if whoever broke in took something valuable. But, unfortunately for the pale boy, someone was still inside.

As soon as Nero walked in the living room. He saw someone, sitting on the couch watching TV. It was a guy around his mid-twenties, with black curly hair and a ugly moustache. He was wearing dark blue jeans, brown boots, a red T-shirt. While he was confused, the guy turned his head to face Nero's. "Who the hell are you?" He asked him with a deep voice.

The white haired boy stared at him for a bit before replying with another question. "Who the fuck are you?" The place wasn't damaged in any way and nothing seemed to be missing. So he probably wasn't a robber.

"That wasn't very polite." It was the man's reply.

"Breaking into people's home isn't polite either, asshole!" He instantly rebuffed.

While he was distracted by yelling at the guy. He did not heard the steps coming from behind him until it was close. Turning his head around, he saw that Jean actually entered. But as soon as she saw the guy, she widened her eyes and looked scared. "If it isn't little Birdie." The guy spoke to her as if he knew her.

"Do you know this guy?" Nero asked through telepathy.

"His name is Paul Bailey, he's the guy that my sister was dating alongside that teacher." She explained to him.

"What the fuck?!" It was Nero's reaction.

Jean quickly touched Nero's shoulder and shakes her head, signalling him to go to the door. "Let's get out of here, this guy is dangerous."

Nero turned his head to look at Jean. Her worried expression was enough to convince him to do what she said. However, before they could. Paul stood up and grabbed the two by their arms. "Why don't you two sit down."

"Hey!" Jean yelled.

"Let go of her!" Nero also yelled.

The two struggled to try to break free from his grip but Paul was stronger and dragged them towards the couch and pushed then on it. Both fell on top of the couch and quickly turned to face him. "Now, you two be good and wait until the everybody else comes home."

"Fuck you asshole!" Nero quickly stood up, only to be met by a hard back fist to the face that send him to the floor.

"No!" All he could do, was hear Jean yell in horror. "Please don't hurt him." She practically bagged the bastard.

"Then make your friend shut his dirty mouth while we wait for your parents, your sister specifically, to come home." The guy told Jean as Nero struggled to stand up.

Jean quickly got on her knees on the floor and helped him stand up. "Please, just sit down." She told him through telepathy as she helped him get to the couch.

Nero reluctantly obeyed as trying to fight this guy was suicide. Fuck! My cheek. He thought he got used to getting punched, but he was apparently wrong. His head was hurting and his vision is a little blurry. But he needed to know something. "What... do you... want?" He asked.

The guy just stared at Nero with his brown eyes. Before he reached for something on the back of his pants. To both Nero and Jean's horror, the guy pulled out a revolver. "Sara and I had some unresolved feelings that we need to solve." He pointed at the two of them, causing Nero to sloppily stand up and stand in front of Jean. "Beautiful, but you gonna have to wait until the rest get here for the show to really start."

Chapter Text

"It is recommended to stay indoors during the storm that should occur durin-" The weather report was speaking of a storm that will occur later at night, but someone decided to change the channel although Nero was watching.

"I was watching that." Nero complained, as he was sitting on the couch next to Jean, who grabbed his hand in an attempt to make him stop talking.

Nero Carnby and Jean Grey were in a very dangerous situation at the moment, being held at gun point by the ex-boyfriend of Jean's older sister. The two friends are sitting on a couch holding each other's hands while the one called Paul Bailey is sitting on a chair with the revolver at hand. It's been an hour since they have arrived and their just waiting for Jean's family to see what happens. Nero already had a bad feeling about this.

"Not anymore." The guy replied without even bothering to look at Nero.

Motherfucker. Nero thought in deep hatred while rubbing the bruise on his face.

"Please don't provoke him..." Jean pleaded Nero through telepathy.

"Jean, he's probably gonna shoot your family and us then kidnap your sister." The boy with a bruised cheek bluntly told his best friend. "We need to find a way to get the hell out of here before that happens."

"No, he just wants to take my sister." Jean told him in deep worry. Nero assumed that she read his mind to know that.

"That's only slightly less worse and it doesn't change the fact that we need to get out before your family comes." He replied.

"But how?" She questioned him.

Nero looked around the room but he can't find anything that can help. Fighting him is not a option, Nero is a great boxer but he can't beat a guy that's way bigger than him, especially since he has a gun. The Nero removed his hood and scratched his white hair. "Okay, maybe I can distract him while Jean runs for it." He considered for a second, but...

"Don't even think about it!" It was Jean's response to his plan. Nero didn't mean for her to hear that. "If you do it, I'm not running."

"Jean, I have an annoying habit of surviving near death experience-" Nero tried to argue but it was interrupted.

"A very annoying habit that I would prefer that you broke free from, because I keep fearing the day that one of this "near" death experiences will pass the point of being just near and actually lead you to your death." Jean told him in concern, and presented her disapproval of Nero's plan.

"Okay,okay, I got it." He replied in order to reassure Jean. "But we really need to get the hell out of here before your family shows up."

With that, Nero started to look around the room for a bit. Trying to formulate a plan to get the hell out of there. In front of him, there was a carpet, a TV, a small table in between the TV and the couch. But nothing that could be used as a weapon or a distraction. Okay... Nothing useful... Strange, compared to Jean's room, this living room is pretty bland, didn't they ever thought about decorating? He thought in annoying. I got to find a way to either get Jean out of here or knock the fucking pedo out. The boy with white hair thought.

Unfortunately, Nero couldn't think of anything, if there wasn't a gun involved, he could have just grab something to smash into the guy's face like he used to do with those big kids that tried to mess with him before he learned Boxing. But it wasn't really a option.

Holding Jean's hand tightly, Nero had a doubt on his mind and there was only one person in there that could. "How the fuck did you even found them?" That question, was for the guy that was holding them hostage.

"What are you doing?" Jean asked him.

"Your albino friend speaks too much Jean." Paul told Jean.

"I'm not a fucking albino." It was Nero's reply. "Don't fucking talk to her, you pedophile asshole."

That, however, caused Paul to stand up from his seat and grab Nero by the hoodie and point the revolver at his face. "NO!" Jean screamed out loud. "PLEASE STOP!" She practically begged. Nero however, barely flinched or even showed any fear. All the did was stare at him in the eye as the barrel of the revolver was poking his cheek.

"Go on, do it." Nero dared him. He did had a lot of questions to ask the Grim Reaper anyway.

"NERO SHUT UP!" Jean begged her friend while desperately grabbing on to his arm.

"You little plan, whatever the fuck it is, will be ruined because someone is gonna hear the shot but..." Nero pointed out while making a goofy face.

The guy was clearly angry, but heard what Nero said and let go of his hoodie.

Jean sighed in relief as soon as he took the gun off Nero's cheek.

But...

"AAHH!" Without any type of warning, Paul hit Nero in the temple with the gun's grip.

"HEY!" All he could hear was Jean's scream as he fell off the couch as soon as he received the blow.

"Shut up or you'll end up like him." Nero heard the guy say, though he was having a very hard time staying awake. "Now, move!"

That was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness.

Nero Carnby hasn't slept in a while. Not that he had s problem with it as he wasn't suffering any of the effects of sleeping depravation. Unfortunately for him, his insomnia ended up being cured by a very hard blow do the head.

But he didn't dream or had any type of meaningful experience. It was just... Dark. And that really annoyed him. If that's all, then there's no point in even sleeping anymore. Though, I'm strangely comfortable, even though my head hurts. What am I laying at? Oh, doesn't matter... Let's just enjoy it.

...

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...

...

Okay, now it's time to get up. I have a pedophile to beat and a red headed angel to protect. That was the thing that Nero thought before he forced his eyes open.

Only to get his answer on what he was laying at. As the first thing he saw, was the sight of Jean, crying right on top of him as she was sitting on the floor with his head on her lap. Nero's response to that, was to extend his hand and touch her face. "Hey," He called her attention while caressing her cheek. "Don't waste your tears with me, I'm not worth it."

Saying that however, caused Jean to look at him angrily with tears still dripping from her eyes. "Nero... Carnby," She spoke between sobs. "If you... Ever, ever do that... again..." Her sobbing just got much worse, to the point that she couldn't even speak.

"I promise to never scare you like that ever again and if I ever do it, you can punish me however you see fit." Nero was quick to tell her, while wiping the tears off her face with his hands and caressing her cheeks. "I really suck at being a friend don't I? But I didn't mean to upset Jean like that." He kept on wiping her tears, unaware that Jean is actually hearing his thoughts. "Truth is, she's the most important person in my life and making her cry like this is just a proof that I'm not worth it of having someone as wonderful as her as a friend."

"Saying... That is just gonna make me more upset." She decided to speak up.

"Oh... Didn't mean for you to hear that... I'm sorry... Though... It is truth." Nero then looked around to check where they were. Only to notice that they were on a bathroom. "Did he... Lock us in the bathroom?"

Jean just nodded as Nero wiped the remaining tears off her face. But he didn't stop caressing her cheeks.

The bathroom in Jean's home was pretty small. There was a the usual toilet, a shower, and mirror cabinet. Not much worth mentioning though. "How long was I out?" He asked.

"Probably a few hours." She answered him. Suddenly, a very loud thunder was heard by them. "Aahh!" The sound startled Jean and caused her to let out a small scream.

"You scared of lightning?" He asked her as he sat up, removing his head from her lap.

"Umm..." She looked away embarrassed. "A little..." The red head girl admitted with a bit of shame in her voice.

Nero only had one response to that. Which was wrapping his arms around Jean and give her a tight hug. "It's okay, there's nothing to be embarrassed about." He whispered on her ear.

Jean instantly returned the hug.

Nero then pulled back and affectionately pressed his forehead into hers, like they did earlier that day. Jean smiled at the gesture and the two friends stayed like that for minute. Despite their current situation.

The white haired boy then remembered something. "The news report said that there would be a storm later at night." He spoke to her through telepathy.

"You mean, it's night already." Jean replied. "Why is my family taking so long?" That question was more directed at herself than him.

"No idea, but the longer they take, the better is gonna be for them." He pointed out as it was clear that the guy was only after Jean's sister.

Nero then removed his forehead from Jean's and looked around the small bathroom. If Nero isn't mistaking it, the bathroom is pass Jean's room, which is in the corridor pass the kitchen which is pass the living room. Meaning that they might be out of the guy's field vision, which gives them more chances to escape. "Okay..." Nero stood up from the floor slowly. "Let's see." He looked at himself at the mirror. Alongside the bruise on his cheek, there was also one on his temple, that had a bandage on it. "Did you?" He asked his best friend while pointing at the bandage.

Jean just nodded.

Nero smiled and gave Jean a kiss on the forehead for being such a wonderful friend.

Jean smile embarrassingly while blushing.

But then he decided to open the mirror cabinet to search for something to use. Inside, there was toothbrushes, toothpaste, some pills that Nero assumed to for Jean's sister and some soap. "Nothing useful."

"There's a..." Jean called his attention. "There's a razor on top of the cabinet."

Nero looked at Jean with his gray eyes. Before he decided to check. He got on his tip toes and reached on top of the cabinet. Reaching a Razor that was on top of it. It was very sharp. "This will do it..."

"Nero..." Jean called him. "I only told you about that because I didn't know what you were looking for," She informed him. "You're not planning on..."

"No," Nero clarified as he put the put the razor inside his hoodie's pocket. "But I'm pretty sure that I reached his limit for bullshit, and I would rather not be unarmed if he decides..."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOIMG IN MY HOUSE!?" The worse thing that could happen, just did. As the two friends heard the voice of Jean's father.

"Oh no." It was Nero's response to that.

"Oh god, da-" Jean instantly tried to yell in deep worry. But Nero didn't know if that was a good idea, so he covered her mouth.

He signaled her to be quiet. "Your father may do something stupid if he hears your voice." He warned her.

Jean didn't reply, she just nodded in response while looking visibly worried. Nero was worried as well, he may not exactly be close with the rest of her family, but she would be devasted if something happened to them.

The boy with white hair then decided to look around to check for something to unlock the locked door. They could hear voices coming from the other side of the door but they weren't loud enough to heard clearly. Checking the door closely, he could see that it was a simple lock and he could maybe unlock it if he had a paperclip or something, but he didn't had anything. He leaned on the door and looked around in search for anything to get the door open.

"I don't think you gonna find anything to unlock it." Jean probably read his mind to know what he was doing.

"I have to try, there's got to be a way for me to pass throug-" His communication through telepathy was interrupted. "Wha..." By strangely falling back into the ground. "Ouch." He made a low grunt of pain on he hit the ground. What the? Nero thought as he moved his head up. Only to be paralyzed by what he saw.

"Nero..." Jean seemed to be just as surprised as he was. "Did you just passed through the door?" She asked him in deep confusion.

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"Nero?" Jean called him due to the silence.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?!" It was the boy's reaction to what just happened. Nero Carnby did passed through that door like a ghost passes through the walls. "Seriously, I can pass through wall now?" He thought in deep annoyance as he was really tired of this surprise superpowers appearing out of nowhere.

"Okay, this is really starting to get annoying." Jean told him, apparently thinking the same.

"Starting?" It has been annoying since the teleportation one.

"DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER!" Nero suddenly heard Jean's father yell.

"Oh god, what is happening?!" Jean asked him as she was still stuck on the bathroom.

"Stay put, I'm gonna see if I can help." Nero informed her.

"Nero, there's a phone in my parent's room." She warned him.

"Got it."

With that, Nero started to walk slowly through the corridor. There were three doors on sight. The first one on the right was definitely the room of Jean's parents. The second door on the right was Jean's room and the only door on the left was her brother's room.

"You thought you could make a fool didn't you," Nero slowly approached the first door on the right. "But guess what?" He reached the door.

"AAHH!" A sound of pain was heard and he assumed that it came from Jean's sister.

"You can't!" He heard the guy yell before he slowly passed through the gap of door.

"No, please don't hurt her!" That came from Jean's mother.

Nero entered inside the room right away. The room was as partially decorated, with some family photos on the wall, a desk with a computer on top of it that probably belonged to Mr. Grey, and two drawers on each side of the bed with yellow blanket. The drawer on the left side had a lamp on top of it and a bottle of pills. The right side, there was a cellphone recharging on top of the drawer.

"Shut up!" He heard the guy yell.

Nero quickly hurried to grab the phone. Shit, password... Having no idea who that phone belonged to, finding a password to it is not an easy task. "Umm, Jean?" He decided to as his friend. "What is the password of the phone?"

"What does the phone look like?" She asked him.

"It's nearly white as my hair and the screen has a small crack on it." Nero explained.

"Oh, the password is SEATTLE." She told him.

"Why Seattle?" He asked as he tipped the password on the phone.

"My mom and dad met there." She explained to him.

As he unlocked the phone, he started to dial to the police. "911, what is your emergency?"

"An armed guy named Paul Bailey is holding a family hostage at Washington Heights on 97 Audubon Avenue." Nero summarized the current situation on the phone in a very low voice. "My name is Nero Carnby, George Stacy unfortunately knows who I am." He hang up the phone, as he didn't had time to answer any questions. Speaking of Mr. Stacy, he hasn't questioned him about why the hell he was on the train with Peter's uncle.

The boy with white hair then turned around and went back to the corridor.

"AND AFTER EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING!" Nero heard the guy yelling in a nearly hysterical tone. "YOU FUCKING PLAYED ME!" Approaching the end of the corridor slowly, Nero took a peek while hiding behind the wall. Shit... Paul Bailey was grabbing Jean's sister by the hair while she had her knees on the floor. Jean's parents and brother were sitting on the floor, helplessly watching what he was doing. Both Mr. And Mrs. Grey were holding their son tightly.

"Paul, listen to me, you don't wanna do this..." Mr. Grey hopelessly tried to argue with the asshole.

"SHUT UP!" The guy replied. "IF YOU TWO JUST TAUGHT THIS LITTLE WHORE SOME RESPECT, NONE OF THIS WOULD BE HAPPENED!"

This motherfucker is crazier than I thought. Nero thought in shock. And why didn't he just shoot them already? Because if he planned on killing her, he should have done it already. Though it was very convenient that he didn't. A loud thunder came from outside once again and Nero could see the rain from the window. Reaching his hoodie pocket, he pulled out the razor. I might have to improvise until the cops get here. He turned around to get back into the parents room. I got to distract that fucker and I have an idea. He turned Mr. Grey's computer on. Okay, let's put on some nice soundtrack. Once it was on, Nero decided to search a song on YouTube. This will so.

Beyond true will
We seek the comfort in a broken heart
Now pattern shapes
An image of true life
(True life, true life)

As soon as the song started he decided to run quickly to hide under the bed. Most fucking cliché hiding spot ever but all I need is an opportunity.

Alone
Surrounded by a million faces
One by one
I see the judgment in their eyes
(I see the judgment in their eyes)

"What the hell?!" Nero heard the scream coming from the living room. Probably the guy noticing the loud music.

Like a disease
I'm always in the wrong
And now the numbness wearing off
Can't stand the pain
I get in line
(I always do)
I always do
Need to be patient
While perfecting death's design

Strangely enough, the guy didn't came to the room the check. What the fuck, why isn't he coming? Nero thought as he hid under the bed with the sharp Razor at hand. Come on motherfucker.

I cannot help it, can't decline
It's always better down the line
I'm in the wrong and I've done it all before

"Nero, what's that sound?" Jean asked him.

And I wish I'd never been
And I know it's just a dream
Now I'm blind I can open my eyes

"Not now." Nero replied.

Can't stay awake
Burning alive
I cannot breathe this poison air filled with lies
I cannot see
What's gone to me
Live in fear
The sun is falling from the sky
Can't stay awake

Soon enough, he entered the room. Yes... "What is this?" He asked out loud for some reason. Before he approached the computer and started to tip on it. "Hey!" He yelled at someone. "How do I turn this shit off!"

Nothing left to break
My life is in a thousand pieces, million reasons
Why should I keep myself away?
(Hard to define)
Hard to define
(It always is)
It always is
It's hard to scream with your throat full of glass
(Throat full of glass)

This loser doesn't know how use computer? Nero was actually shocked with how dumb this guy is.

I cannot help it, can't decline
It's always better down the line
I'm in the wrong and I've done it all before

Using the guy's confusion as he placed the gun on top of the desk and hopelessly types in a attempt to stop the music.

And I wish I'd never been
And I know it's just a dream
Now I'm blind I can open my eyes

Nero decided to use this opportunity to slowly crawl from under the bed and slowly approach him with the razor at hand.

Can't stay awake
Burning alive
I cannot breathe this poison air filled with lies
I cannot see
What's gone to me
Live in fear
The sun is falling from the sky
Can't stay awake

"Shit!" He angrily types on the computer while Nero slowly approached him from behind.

Can't stay awake
Burning alive
I cannot breathe this poison air filled with lies
I cannot see
What's gone to me
Live in fear
The sun is falling from the sky
Can't stay awake

About to close the distance, Nero prepared to slice him from behind.

Can't stay awake
Burning alive
I cannot breathe this poison ai-

To Nero's misfortune, before he could close the distance completely, Paul grabbed the screen and tossed into the wall besides the door in rage. The moment he did though, he noticed Nero's presence.

"What th-" Before he could fully react to his presence, Nero sliced his cheek with the Razor. "AAAHHH!" Using the advantage, Nero actually dropped the Razor and decided to grab the gun. Unfortunately, Paul, with his cheek bleeding heavily from the cut that Nero made, grabbed Nero from behind the exact moment that he grabbed the gun and tossed him into the side, causing him to trip on the left leg of the bed, making him fall hard into the floor right besides the bed, accidentally dropping the gun as his foot hit the leg of the bed. The gun flew out of his hand into the other side of the ved. So Nero quickly tried to crawl through under bed to grab it.

"YOU FUCKING FREAK!" Paul however, was bloodthirsty at the moment, and grabbed Nero by the ankle and tried to pull him from under the bed. Nero actually fell a lot of pain on his ankle.

"FUCK YOU!" But Nero responded by kicking his face, right on the nose, with his other foot. Which made a loud crack as he did. It was enough for him to let go of his ankle.

The boy with white hair then quickly tried to crawl as fast as he could to grab the revolver. Once he reached the other side of the bed and grabbed the revolver with his left hand, however. Paul passed through above of the bed and grabbed Nero's left wrist before grabbing him by the hair. When he pulled his white hair hard, Nero accidentally squeezed the trigger and the revolver fired. The shot hit the wall in front of them. Paul then tried to reach for the revolver with the hand that was pulling Nero's hair, but the moment he let go of his head. The boy approached his pale face and bite Paul's forearm, hard. "AAGH!" Carving his teeth deep into the arm of his attacker, caused him to let go of his wrist, but the other hand was still grabbing on to the cylinder of the revolver. By pure instinct, Nero pulled the trigger once again. "AAAHH!" Once it fired, the bullet hit the wall in front of them once again, but it clearly burned his hand when the bullet came out of the revolver, as he let go of it in pain.

Nero used this opportunity to turn around in order to aim the revolver at him. But once he turned around to face him, Paul jumped off the bed and fell on him back right on top of Nero. His weight was overwhelming and the two scrambled to get off each other, with Nero trying to get off from underneath him while Paul was trying roll to trying grab the gun from him. The blood coming out of his cheek was falling on Nero's white hoodie and the two scramble on the floor, with Nero doing everything in his power to keep the revolver out of reach as he tries to get off from under him. Paul eventually managed to roll around to get better reach but that was a terrible mistake as it gave Nero the space to get off from under him, which he used to crawl away towards the door. But Paul grabbed both of Nero's legs this time and fell a lot of pain on his ankle once again, suspecting that he might have twisted or something. The boy was pulled hard by the legs and he tried to aim the revolver at him once again, but Paul was just too close now and grabbed Nero's wrist once again which caused him to fire the revolver up, with shot hitting the ceiling.

Paul then grabbed Nero by his hoodie, and his response to that. Was to punch his face , three times, right on the cut that he made earlier with the razor. "AAAAHHH!" Which caused the bleeding to get worse. Using the opportunity, Nero passed the revolver to his right hand and shot Paul right on the shoulder.

"AAAAAHHH!" Paul screamed in pain we the bulled pierced his shoulder, allowing Nero to break free from his grip and finally put some distance between the two of them by crawling away backwards.

Once he was far enough, Nero sat up pointed the revolver at him. "Game over, motherfucker!"

"AAAAHHHH!" All that he did, was grunt in pain while pressing the shoulder that Nero shot.

"Ouch!" Nero stood up from the floor with a lot of difficulty as his ankle really hurt. "Shit!" He complained while still aiming the revolver at him. "Where the fuck is the bathroom key?!"

He didn't got and an answer, Paul just grunted in pain.

"Fuck it." Nero decided to leave the room, limping his way out. But as he reached the door, he took a final look at the guy. Before he spit on him. "Asshole." The boy with white hair then walked out of the door and closed the door behind him.

The first thing he did once he was out of the room, was approach the bathroom door. "Jean, please stand as close as you can on the wall on the left and cover your ears." He spoke out loud for her.

"Nero! What happened?!" She asked him in deep worry.

"Jean... Please just do what I said..." His ankle really hurts and he needs to sit down.

"Okay, okay." She decided to obey him. "Done," The red head informed him. "But wh-"

Before Jean could ask him, Nero pointed the revolver right on the lock of the door and pulled the trigger.

"AAAHH!" Jean screamed as she was probably startled by the sound.

It worked though, and the bullet destroyed the lock of the door. Nero then pushed the door open, in order to let Jean out.

Jean quickly opened the rest of the door. "Nero, what-" His red head friend was about to question him, but her question was replaced by a gasp, covering her mouth in horror.

Nero looked down on his hoodie to see the reason for his friend's horror. The reason was the fact that his white hoodie, was now red. As there was blood all over it. The boy with white hair, only has one thing to say about it. "None of it is mine, if that's what you're worried about."

"Jesus Christ, Nero." Jean touched his face, clearly concerned. "What happened?"

"Ummm... Ahhhh..." The pain on his ankle got worse. And he had to place his hand on the wall for support.

"Hey," Despite the hoodie that was covered in blood, Jean didn't hesitate to approach and grab Nero's arm to give him support him. "Are you hurt?"

"Read my mind." He really didn't want to talk right now.

Jean apparently did just that, because she made a shocked expression, probably because she watched the fight through his perspective. "You probably twisted your ankle when you tripped on the bed." It was the first thing she spoke after seeing the fight.

"No shit..." Nero didn't say it to be rude, but it really hurted. "Oww..."

"Come on." Jean helped him.

Both the white haired boy and the red headed girl decided to make their way to the living room. Nero had to lean on Jean to walk, limping as they passed through the corridor and the kitchen until they arrived at the living room. Where Jean's family was tied up. How the fuck did he tied all of them up so quickly?" It was the first thing Nero thought once he saw them.

"Jean!" Jean's mother yelled.

"Oh my god, are you hurt?!" Her father desperately asked.

"No..." Jean replied as she helped Nero get to the couch.

The boy wearing a bloody hoodie sat on the couch and observed as Jean walked to untie her family. Both parents hugged her daughter as soon as they were free. "What happened?" Her father asked. "Where's Paul?"

"In your room." Jean answered him, but she didn't specify what he was doing there. But then Jean's sister, who was tied up as well, stood up after being untied by their mother. Once she was up however, Jean approached her and to everyone's surprise, slapped her in the face.

Holy shit! It was Nero's reaction as he widened his eyes in response.

"Jean!" Her mother instantly yell.

"What are you doing?!" Her father yelled.

Jean however, seemed to be enraged. "YOU GAVE HIM OUR ADDRESS DIDN'T YOU!?" It wasn't really a question, Jean was downright accusing her sister of doing it. Nero was genuinely frightened as he never saw her this angry.

Ironically, both of her parents didn't seem to be trying to contain Jean's rage or defending their other daughter. They seemed to want to hear her answer as well.

Jean's sister just stared at them, not really answering or denying the accusation.

Before anyone could say anything else, the sound of sirens were heard from outside.

And Nero Carnby only had one thing to say.

"Now?"

"Let me get this straight," After the police arrived at the Grey's home. They quickly arrested Paul and they also called ambulance due to the bullet, broken nose and deep cut that Nero gave him. A paramedic also inspected Nero to check the bruises that Jean tended and his twisted ankle. Currently however, he was still sitting down on the couch, with Jean sitting right besides him while they were being questioned by the Police. More specifically, by Mr. Stacy, who came mainly because Nero said his name when he called the Police. "You, somehow broke out of the bathroom, attacked a man twice your age with a razor, managed to grab the gun from him and shot him on the shoulder with it?"

Nero, who was holding Jean's hand, wearing only the T-shirt that he had underneath his hoodie because he was told to take it off by the paramedics. "As far as summaries go." He replied while leaning on the couch.

Jean's father was talking with the police and her brother and mother were in his room, and her sister was being cared by one of the paramedics due to several bruises on her face.

Mr. Stacy sighed. "Mr. Carnby, I need to ask, why do I repeatedly find you in these kind of situations?" Now that was a very good question.

"How the fuck should I know?" That was the only response that Nero had for that question. "No offense Mr. Stacy, but a I genuinely do not enjoy our encounters, not one bit." Since they usually occur after something bad happens.

"None taken," For Mr. Stacy, this is their second encounter, but to him, it's their third. "Mind telling me where did you get that?" He asked while pointing at the bandage in his arm. Which was the burn from the train.

"Ask Peter's uncle, he was there." Nero replied.

"So it was you on the train." Mr. Stacy got the implication.

"Yes, it was me." Nero decided to admitted. "Before you ask, I don't know how the fire started." "Literally, because I don't know how the hell did it came out of my mouth."

"Speaking of which, we need to talk later about you passing through the door." Jean mentioned. That's something that Nero planned to do it anyway, as Jean is the only person that he could share his frustrations regarding this random superpowers that keep appearing.

"That's a shame, honestly , that fire was very intense and it took the firefighters several hours to stop it from spreading." Mr. Stacy explained.

"Yeah," Nero was very ashamed of that. "Truth is, that fire was really abnormal." He decided to mention. "It was spreading way too quickly."

Before Mr. Stacy could speak. They heard a noise, which sounded like a phone ringing. He reached inside his coat and pulled out his phone. "Sorry, I have to take this." He informed them. "There was all I needed to ask, the orphanage that you live in has been informed of the incident and they'll sent someone to pick you up."

Oh boy, another fucking lecture. Nero thought in annoyance as he sees Mr. Stacy stand up and distance himself from them to answer his phone.

"What a day." Jean decided to comment.

"What a fucking day." Nero commented as well. He turned his head to look at Jean's eyes. "But I'm glad I was here to help you and your family." He told her with a smile.

Jean smiled back before placing her head on his shoulder. "Nero Carnby, you're my hero." She announced to him.

Nero responded by wrapping his arm around her. He hated to ruin the moment, but he had to say it. "Can't believe you slapped your sister."

"She deserved," Jean seemed to have no regrets. "You got hurt because of her."

"Umm... Partially," Nero decided to take responsibility. "My big mouth was the main cause of it, if we have to be honest."

"Your big mouth wouldn't have caused it, if he wasn't here to begin with, and that's all on her." She pointed out.

Nero decided not to press it further. Jean was probably right about her sister being responsible, being able to read minds does give you that advantage.

They sat there for five minutes, until Mr. Grey approached approached them. "Hey kids."

"It's good to see you Mr. Grey, despite the circumstances." Nero spoke to him.

"Likewise," He knelled down and tenderly touched Jean's shoulder. "There's no words to describe how grateful I am for what you did Nero."

Nero just gave him a sad smile. "I... Already lost a friend because of a bunch of assholes with guns." He misses FJ every day. "Couldn't let another asshole with gun take another one." He looked at Jean as he said that, who just looked at him with her green eyes.

"Dad, what's gonna happen now?" Jean asked her father.

Her father sighed. "Honestly, we gonna have to wait and see."

"Okay..." Jean didn't pressed further as her father was clearly upset.

"Sit tight, okay..." He kissed his daughter's forehead. "I'm gonna... Talk with your sister." Mr. Grey then stood and moved towards Jean's sister.

Leaving both Nero and Jean by themselves. But none them said anything else, they simply sat there, enjoying each other's presence.

Nero Carnby then looked at the window and observed the heavy rain.

Why do I have the feeling that things are about to get worse?

A FEW DAYS LATER

This rain fucking sucks. Nero Carnby was looking out of the window of his room at the orphanage. There was a heavy rain going on outside, and he was bored as hell since he couldn't go out. Not because of the rain however.

Fuck... Standing up with a lot of difficulty, Nero made his to his bed while jumping on a single feet. Once he reached there, he places his leg on top of the bed which was in a cast.

After his confrontation with Paul Bailey. It turns out that after Sister Maggie went there to grab him. The Paramedics there informed her that Nero actually broke his ankle and that he would require a cast to heal it. So now he required the aid of crutches to walk.

Laying on top of the bed wearing white boxers and a white tank-top. Nero started to reach for something inside the drawer besides his bed to pass the time. On the inside, there was a large wooden box that was locked with a key that Nero has hidden on his pillow, on the inside there was, kind of a collection of things that Nero stole it. Which he seriously needed to find a better spot to hide them later. He reached for four items there, a silver metal cigarette case with an ornate scrolly design on the front, centered with a pewter stag's head, a blue colored Game Boy Advanced, a red iPod and generic looking black headphones. He first opened the cigarette case, which revealed that it was actually filled, not with cigarettes, but with joints that Nero made himself from some Marijuana that he stole from a drug dealer at the end of the street.

The boy with sickly pale skin had an urge to smoke joint. But he decided not to do it inside the room, otherwise someone might discover him. Instead, he placed the cigarette case inside the box and locked again. Then he covered himself with his blanket and connected the headphones on the iPod and put on some music while turning the Gameboy on to play it. He only had one game, The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap.

On a cold winter morning, in the time before the light
In flames of death's eternal reign, we ride towards the fight
When the darkness has fallen down, and the times are tough all right
The sound of evil laughter falls around the world tonight

No,no, use the bomb. He thought as he accidentally used the wrong item in the game.

Fighting hard, fighting on for the steel, through the wastelands evermore
The scattered souls will feel the hell bodies wasted on the shores
On the blackest plains in hell's domain, we watch them as they go
In fire and pain, now once again, we know

The tail is the weak spot. He was fighting one of the bosses.

So now we fly ever free
We're free before the thunderstorm
On towards the wilderness, our quest carries on
Far beyond the sundown, far beyond the moonlight
Deep inside our hearts and all our souls

Stupid hat, stop talking already. He thought as the long dialogue was annoying.

So far away, we wait for the day
For the lives all so wasted and gone
We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days
Through the fire and the flames, we carry o-

Suddenly, someone took the headphones off his head. Moving his head to check, he was greeted by the sight of beautiful green eyes. "Hey, Jean." Nero greeted her with a smile.

Jean was wearing blue jeans, a red sweater and black sneakers. He can also see a raincoat on the coat rack next to the door. "Brought some lunch." She announced while giving him a smile of her own.

After it was revealed that Nero actually broke his ankle, Jean was the person other than Sister Maggie that took the most care of him during his annoying recovery from his injury. Simple things like bringing him a lunch to eat,stuff to pass the time since he can't go out or just keep him company.

"Thanks." She brought him a hot dog from Nero's favorite stand. It was a Colombian-Style Hot Dogs, with topped with pineapple sauce, pink sauce, garlic mayo, and crushed potato chips.

As Nero took the hot dog off her hands, he wondered how things have been on her home. It has been a week since he kicked her sister's ex's ass. Since then however, Nero is completely clueless about what happened afterwards and he doesn't really want to upset Jean by asking about it. But the fact that Jean usually goes there early in the morning and usually leaves late night cannot be just because she enjoys his company that much.

"How is your leg?" Jean asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed and touched the cast.

"It hurts less than yesterday." Nero replied to her as he took a bite of the delicious hot dog. So good... He thought as he appreciate the taste.

"That's good to hear..." She said with a smile, before she looked at something behind him."Where did that TV came from?" Jean asked.

On top of the same drawer that Nero kept his stolen goods on, there was a old CRT TV with an inputted VHS on it, alongside a pile of VHS tapes on top of it. "Sister Maggie found it lying around and decided to give to me, it's still works." He reached his hand and turned on. Suddenly, it started to play an old cartoon that Nero was watching the previous day.

"You were watching Donald Duck?" Jean asked with a giggle as she didn't know Nero liked cartoons.

"Yeah..." Nero looked away embarrassed as he eat his hot dog .

"No need to be embarrassed, I like cartoons too." Jean reassured him while touching his shoulder.

The boy with white hair finished his hot dog, before speaking again. "If that's the case, do you wanna watch it together?" He asked as he cleaned his mouth with tissue paper.

Jean just smiled. "Sure." Then she started to untie her shoes to take them off.

Nero then grabbed the TV and placed on top of the bed, right besides his thigh. Jean then decided to join him on top of the beds, while also joining him under his blanket. The two best friends cuddled together with Jean placing her head on his chest and Nero wrapping his arm around her. The two of them then spent the remaining of the evening watching Donald Duck cartoons together.

Five or six hours passed by as Nero Carnby and Jean Grey laid on top of his bed cuddling and watching cartoons together. The white haired boy adored every second of it, but he noticed that it was getting dark and the rain was as strong as ever, but his red head friend didn't seem to be planning to leave. Not that he minded, but he found it weird.

Jean laughed a bit at the TV due to Donald Duck throwing a rage tantrum on the cartoon. Her laugh was adorable in his opinion. And she probably knows that he thinks that. But her laugh was short lived as a loud thunder was heard by them. Which startled Jean, causing her to hug Nero tightly.

Nero just chuckled a bit. "Still afraid of lightning?" He asked in amusement. She looked down embarrassingly in response, but moved her eyes back up once he hugged her tightly. "You're safe with me, there's no need to be afraid." He assured her as he patted her head.

Jean just smiled at him while gladly accepting the pat on the head from him. But he smile soon turned into a sulking face, with Nero immediately wondering what was the cause of it. "If you wanna ask me, just do it." She gave him permission.

The boy with white hair was quick to sigh in response. "Do I have to?" He asked. "You already know what I want to know." He kind of already expected her to have read his mind.

"I wanna hear you say it." The red headed gir stated before sitting up on his bed.

The white haired boy then sat up and stared deeply into her eyes. "What exactly happened after I kicked that padophile's ass?" He bluntly asked his best friend.

Jean just stared at his gray eyes with her green ones, before she grabbed his cheeks and affectionately pressed her forehead on his. And before Nero could react in anyway, flashes passed through his head. Flashes of very loud arguments between Jean's parents, flashes of strange behaviors coming from her sister and a flash of... "What the fuck?!" It was Nero's immediate response. "Your sister tried to kill herself?!"

Jean didn't responded him right away, she just kept her forehead connect with his. Then... "Two days after what happened." She informed.

"Jean..." Nero couldn't believe that. "Why didn't you tell me?" He immediately questioned her on that.

Jean didn't responded him this time, she just stayed silent.

...

...

...

...

...

...

"DAMMIT!" Jean yelled, which startled Nero. "IT WAS OVER, YOU GOT RID OF PAUL AND IT WAS FINALLY OVER BUT THEN SHE RUINS EVERYTHING AGAIN!" She was furious, not at the situation but with her sister. "WE MOVED HERE TO GET AWAY FROM HIM, TO "SPARE MY SISTER FROM THE SHAME", IT DIDN'T WORK!" She stood up from the bed and started to walk to left and right. "WHEN HE FOUND US, I THOUGHT IT WAS OVER BUT THEN YOU... YOU... YOU ACTUALLY MADE HIS GO AWAY FOR GOOD AND I WAS SO HAPPY, I... I THOUGHT, THINGS WE GET BETTER... BUT... BUT..." Nero could see tears starting to fall from her eyes. "But... It just stayed the same..." She was crying. "Is that... All that it will ever be now...?" It wasn't really a question.

Nero Carnby only stood there, listening to her outburst fully, until she just stood there crying. His immediate response once she was done talking, was to get up from the and approach her by jumping on a single foot. Once he was close enough, he embraced the crying girl, who accepted instantly. The boy with white hair wanted to tell her that thing would get better, but it was uncertain and he didn't want to lie to her. All he could do, was be there for her.

"That's all I want from you." Jean spoke, probably after she read his mind.

"Then you'll have it." Nero replied.

...

...

...

...

...

The two stayed on the quiet embrace until. "Ummm... Do you mind if I sit down?" He asked as he was on a single foot.

"Oh!" Jean seemed to have forgotten for a minute that Nero had a broken ankle. "So sorry!" She immediately placed him back on the bed and sat next to him.

Once they were sitting besides one another, Nero asked. "What is going on in your home right now?" He asked her bluntly as he needed to know.

Jean, who luckily calmed down, sighed. "My mother took my brother and left to my grandparents home." She looked down when she said that. "Dad is either... Working or visiting my sister, he's barely home to be honest."

Nero placed his hand on her shoulder gently. "Is that why you been... Spending so much time here with me?"

Jean then held Nero's hand. "It's one of the reasons." She admitted. "The main one is the fact that you're literally the only person in my life right now that doesn't make me wanna scream."

The boy with white hair let out a sad smile before he wrapped his arm around Jean and she immediately placed her head on his shoulder in response. The two stayed like that for a minute, until. "Wanna have a sleepover?" He asked her, as there was no way that he'll let her walk home at this hour with the big storm going outside.

Jean took a little while go respond him, but she had a question first. "What are you going to do if I say no?" She asked him while looking at him with a curious face.

"Put my outfit on and escort you home." He was not joking, he will indeed do that if she refuses.

That caused Jean to smile as she probably read his mind to know that she wasn't joking. "Then the answer is yes, because you can't wet the cast." She pointed out in a semi-joking manner. But then she remembers something. "Wait, I don't have anything to wear."

"Just use my hoodie," He suggested. "It's baggy enough, so it will cover..." It would cover her panties but he was a little embarrassed to say it.

"Ummm..." Jean probably figure it out what he meant by that. "C-could you..." She was clearly trying to ask him to turn around.

"Okay," He then moved towards the other edge of the bed and stood there looking at the opposite direction. "My hoodie is on the first drawer." He informed her.

With that Nero heard a Jean taking a few steps and opening his drawer. "How did you... Got the bloodstains off?" She asked as his hoodie was spotless.

"Sister Maggie wanted to throw away, but I managed to convince her in letting me try to take the bloodstains off." Nero explained as he heard the notice of the zipper on her Jean's opening. "So, I researched on internet and found a way to take the blood off."

"You really love this hoodie don't you?" She asked in curiosity.

"Not the hoodie itself." Nero scratched his head in response. "I don't... Have much so... I tend to be a little... Overzealous with my things."

"Hmm..." It was Jean's only response. "Well...?" He heard Jean speaking, causing Nero to take it as a sign that he could look now. Turning around, he saw Jean standing besides the edge of his bed, wearing his white hoodie, which seemed extra-baggy on her. Which did the trick perfectly as he couldn't see her panties as the hoodie went into her thighs and the sleeves covered her hands. "How do I look?" He could see her clothes folded on top of his drawer.

"Like a girl wearing a baggy hoodie." Nero said that with a smirk.

Jean smirked too in response. "Should I..." She pointed at the light switch.

Nero nodded in confirmation.

With that, Jean moved towards the light switch and turned off the lights. With the curtains close, the room was pretty dark, but Jean found her way to Nero's bed. Pulling up the blanket, and getting underneath, right besides Nero, who she was kind enough to cover as well.

Both Nero Carnby and Jean Grey then laid on their sides staring at each other despite the darkness surrounding them. Neither said a thing or use telepathy to read each other's thoughts. But the boy with white hair had an urge to do something, which was wrap his arms around her torso and hold her tightly. Something that the red head girl responded instantaneously by wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

Another loud thunder was heard by the two of them. But Jean had absolutely no reaction to it.

"Come on Nero..."

After a very peaceful and comfortable night with Jean Grey. Nero woke up from a very surprising sleep, since he usually doesn't sleep anymore. Once he did however, he awoke in a very tight embrace with the red head girl. An embrace that was quite difficult to come out of it without waking her up. But he managed.

Still raining outside, Nero put on some clothes and put Jean's raincoat to go out without being noticed. He did that in order to go grab breakfast for the two of them in a place not far away from the Orphanage. He managed to keep his cast from getting wet by wrapping around a trash bag.

"Hey, I'm just returning the favor." He told her as Jean was mad at him for going out to grab it.

Jean just stared at him apprehensively while her hair was messy because of Nero's pillow. Until she just checked what he brought for her. On top of the bed, there were two plates that he got from the Orphanage's cafeteria. The plates had two really nice looking egg sandwiches and two grape juice boxes. "I'm only forgiving you because it smells great." She told him before she grabbed her plate to taste it. "Mmm..." It was the only sound she made as she chewed the delicious looking sandwich.

Nero then took a bite of his own sandwich and it was delicious. But as he chewed, his gaze accidentally fell upon something. Jean took off the blanket off herself in order to not get it dirty, but by doing that, it exposed her legs which were in full display to Nero. Did... Jean always had those lovely legs? He wasn't really exaggerating, she had really nice looking legs. Moving his gaze up at Jean's face. Who am I kidding? Every single part of Jean is lovely. He thought as he watched Jean enjoy the taste of the sandwich that he brought for her.

Taking a sip of the juice box as he looked at the window. The rain doesn't seem like it's stopping anytime soon. But the orphan boy didn't really mind. Then he moved to the drawer where the small TV was on top of it and turned on.

"Several sources did confirm that a deal between the Stark Industries and Oscorp has been denied." The News Report was on. "Tony Stark himself quoted "Not in a million years" when asked about the subject by one of our-" Nero decided to change to another channel, the weather prediction. "Heavy rain can be expected for the next several days, though it will come in a smaller intensity, it is still suggested that you remain in doors in case of i-"

He turned off the TV as he already learned what he wanted. "More rain..." He commented to his friend.

"I like rain," Jean spoke up before he drinks a bit of juice from the juice box. "It's the sound of it calms me down."

"Me too," Nero agreed with her as the sound of the rain dropping on his window is really relaxing. "Especially if I get to spend the rainy day with you because of it."

Jean smiled at him in response. But then she got startled by the sound of something. Looking at her pants , which were folded on top of his drawer, she had a look of concern. She put down her sandwich and the juice box and moved towards his drawer. Only to grab his pants and pull cellphone out of her pants. "H-hello?"

Oh shit, it's probably her father. Nero was immediately concern as she was definitely going to get scolded for sleeping with him.

"Oh... Okay... Yeah..." Strangely, Jean seemed completely calm and even a bit disappointed. Which surprised Nero as he was expecting to her to be apologizing and being a bit upset for being scolded. Why... Wait... Don't tell me... Nero immediately figure it out. "Okay... Love you dad..." Jean spoke with a weak voice before she put down the cellphone.

Jean stood there unmoving for a bit, causing Nero to get up from the bed and approach her by jumping on a single leg. Hugging her from behind as soon as he was close enough. "He didn't even noticed that you didn't sleep at home." It was kind of obvious.

The red headed girl didn't reply, she just looked down sad, confirming Nero's suspicion.

""Check this out..."

After comforting Jean over the fact that her father didn't even noticed that she didn't slept at home. Both friends decided to hang out for a bit. Despite the heavy rain, they decided to go on a place because Nero needed to buy something. The place was a music store called Jinx TTS, because Nero was looking to buy an instrument for himself. With some money that he got from sister Maggie under the promise that he'll play in the at Clinton Church.

Nero while holding a really nice looking dark blue hollow electric guitar with Jean sitting on a seat of a drum set located in the middle of the store. And to Jean's shock, he starts to play the guitar perfectly in front of her.

"Wait, what?" Jean immediately questioned him with a smile. "Since when do you play guitar?"

"I play guitar, drums and keyboard ." Nero admitted to her, he did learned after only a few classes of each, which shocked many of his teachers."But, I more of a music listener than a music player."

Jean just smiled at him. "Play a song for me?"

Nero just smiled back in response, before he started to play the guitar.

You got me so wild, how can I ever deny?

Jean was admittedly dumbfounded as Nero had a beautiful voice and clearly wasn't expecting him to sing for her.

You got me so high, so high I cannot feel the fire

Some of the people in the stories noticed the boy wearing a white hoodie, singing.

And you keep telling me, telling me that you'll be sweet

The song was actually a dumbstep song, but he was singing like it was a rock song.

And you never wanna leave my side as long as I don't break these

He heard the door bell making noise, indicating that someone entered the story but he was too focused on playing the song to actually listen to.

Promises, and they still feel all so wasted on myself
Promises, and they still feel all so wasted on myself
Promises, and they still feel all so wasted on myself
Promises, and they still feel all so wasted on myself

He started an long and complex solo on the guitar as Jean and everyone else on the story was watching like they were the audience on a concert, with a few people even filming him.

And they still feel all so wasted on myself

And they still feel all so wasted on myself

The solo just became even more complex, as Nero was trying to turn a bunch of dumbstep noises into a guitar solo, and he was actually succeeding to shock of the few who apparently knew the song.

You got me so wild, how can I ever deny?

He stared deeply into Jean's eyes as he was singing for her.

You got me so high, so high I cannot feel the fire

Jean let out one of the brightest smile that he ever saw her make.

And you keep telling me, telling me that you'll be sweet

A loud thunder came from outside but no one was paid attention to since everyone was focused on the song. Especially Jean, who completely ignored despite being afraid of it.

And you never wanna leave my side as long as I don't break these

Suddenly, someone appear behind Jean, watching Nero play closely. It was a girl with short blond hair, wearing dark blue jeans, a black long-sleeved T-shirt with white sleeves, pink hi-tops and a really cool looking black a-2 bomber jacket that was pretty baggy on her.

Promises, and they still feel all so wasted on myself
Promises, and they still feel all so wasted on myself
Promises, and they still feel all so wasted on myself
Promises, and they still feel all so wasted on myself

He played the guitar very intensively with his eyes closed, just letting the music flow through his fingers.

And they still feel all so wasted on myself

And they still feel all so wasted on myself

And they still feel all so wasted on myself

With that, everyone around applauded the boy with white hair. With Jean being the first one to do it as she stood up from her seat and clapped loudly.

Nero just gave them a bow, like he was really playing on a concert. Once the applauding stopped, he just looked at Jean and asked. "So... .This one?" He asked as he displayed the guitar for her.

"One hundred percent." Jean said while giving him a thumbs up.

Before any of the two could say anything else. Nero noticed that the blond girl was still staring at them, with a weird look on her face. Jean also noticed and turned her head to look at her.

"Is... something in the matter?" Jean asked her.

"Umm..." She pointed at the drum. "Could you..."

Jean then noticed that she was blocking the passage of the seat of drum. "Oh, so sorry." She immediately apologized and stepped away for the girl to take her seat.

"Cool song by the way." The girl told him as she picked up the drumsticks.

"Thanks," Nero told her. "Promises by Nero, only that it was my own version of the song."

"Promises by Nero, Nero's version?" Jean pointed out, as it was indeed a little ironic since he has the same as the band that played the song.

The blond girl chuckled. "Wait?" She seemed confused. "You're name is Nero and you played a song of band named Nero?"

He nodded slowly in response.

"That's both funny and cool at the same time." She clarified.

Nero decided to respond by extending his hand to her. "Nero Carnby and this is my friend, Jean Grey."

She shacked his hand before speaking. "Gwendolyn Stacy, but you can call me Gwen." She introduced herself to them.

Nero immediately recognized her last name and decided to ask. "Stacy? Are you..." Before he could ask her the question, he got interrupted by someone calling out for her.

"GWEN?!" A familiar voice called out for her as they hear the front door opening. Oh fuck me... Nero thought while cringing as he turns around and sees George Stacy entering the music store wearing a dark blue suit. It didn't took long for the NYPD Detective to recognize him. After sighing, he spoke. "Mr. Carnby."

"Mr. Stacy." They awkwardly greeted one another after another random encounter between the two.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Gwen immediately questioned the two of them after noticing that they knew each other.

"Let's just say, I have a very annoying habit of getting into a lot of unbelievable and out of nowhere situations, that usually involves the police in one way or another." It was the best description of his odd relationship with Mr. Stacy.

"That's an understatement." Jean commented as she picked the guitar off his hands and handed him the crutches.

Mr. Stacy then, luckily, removed his attention from Nero and focused on Gwen, who's apparently his daughter. "You can't run off like that." He told Gwen apprehensively.

Gwen however seemed annoyed. "I just went for a walk." She spoke defensively while folding her arms.

Nero had an urge to just grab Jean's hand and get the hell out of there, because part of him still a bit paranoid to be around the Police after the whole thing with the ring and the fact that he set an train on fire while he was smoking pot. But then he looked at Jean, and she had a sympathetic towards Gwen for some reason.

As the father and daughter argued about something, Nero decided to ask.

"Did you read her mind?" Nero asked through telepathy.

She nodded. "Her parents divirced recently and her father received full custody after a... Very chaotic trial." Jean explained to Nero.

"Chaotic?" Nero had to ask what is that supposed to mean.

"Apparently... She overheard her mother saying that she was only trying to get her custody so she could get money from he father." Jean revealed to him.

"Shit..." It was Nero's opinion about the subject.

Both friends saw the father and daughter arguing about something that they were a bit clueless about it, since they were concentrated on communicating to one another.

"What is going on?" Nero asked Jean.

"Mr. Stacy is a bit absent." Jean pointed out. "Not on purpose but..."

"Oh..."

"You promised!" Gwen spoke angrily at her father.

"I know I did, but I told you, I'm low on money since the trial." Mr. Stacy spoke in a apologetic tone to her daughter. "Listen, I pr-" He was about to say something to her, but before he could say something to get, his phone ringed. The moment it did, she looked at him angrily. "Gwen..."

She looked away in response. "Just go, I know the way home." There was a lot of disappointment in her voice.

Mr. Stacy opened his mouth to speak but immediately closed once again. Then he sighed and just said. "Don't stay out until late, please?"

"Okay..." She replied in a low voice while appearing disappointed.

Mr. Stacy clearly didn't want to go, but he pull out his phone to answer. But before he did. "Despite the circumstances, it's good to see you, especially when you're not convered in bruises or blood."

Nero scratched his head in embarrassment. "And I'll pray to stay like this." He stated.

Mr. Stacy then nodded, before giving one last look at his daughter and then make his out of the store. Leaving the white haired boy, the red head and blond alone in a awkward silence.

The silence lasted for nearly a minute. Until Nero decided to break it by asking. "Do you play?" Nero asked as he approached her.

Gwen, who was looking down sadly, immediately moved her head up. It took her a couple of seconds for her to answer. "I'm... Learning, but I kind of suck."

"Let me be the judge of that." Nero told her. "Play a song for me?" He requested her.

"No way." She immediately denied. "After you rocked that guitar just now, it would make my music skills seem more mediocre than they already are." The blond girl spoke, demonstrating a clear insecurity of her musical skills.

"Come on..." Nero asked with puppy eyes. "Just one song..."

Gwen just smirked and stated at Jean. "Has that ever worked?" She asked his best friend.

"Sometimes." Jean admitted while looking a away embarrassed. "But, you really shouldn't out yourself down, especially when you're still learning." She reassured the blond girl. "Besides, Nero can play drum too, he could give you directions."

The girl with blue eyes then stared at the boy with vivid gray ones. "Oh really?" She asked.

Nero gave her a thumbs up.

She still seemed a bit reluctant, but she eventually sighed. "Just one..." She finally decided to give in.

"Awesome!" He said enthusiastically.

Gwen Stacy smiled in amusement before taking a deep breath and preparing the drumsticks to play. Both Nero and Jean watched as she play the drum. She was definitely a beginner but clearly had talent as she was playing in a slow but consistent pacing. Though Nero didn't recognized the song that she was playing. After two minutes, she stopped and the two gave her a small clap.

"You're indeed learning but clearly have talent." That was Nero opinion on her skills as a drummer.

Gwen's response, was a weak smile. "Thanks for the compliment." Nero assumes that she doesn't get complimented often.

"It's a genuine compliment." He affirmed. "So, you got a drum home?"

The weak smile immediately disappeared from her face. "No..." She was clearly disappointed by that.

"Oh," Nero scratched his neck before continuing. "Came here to buy one?" He asked.

Her disappointed seemed to grow even more, which immediately caused Nero to regret asking it. Gwen then twirled the drumsticks before answering. "I asked my father for one and he promised to buy it but..."

"Low on cash?" He remembered that part of the conversation.

"Yeah..." She was visibly disappointed.

"Hmmm..."

The white haired boy stared at his best friend for a second. Then he thought of something and waited for Jean's opinion on it. After a few seconds, he received a thumbs up in affirmation. Prompting the white haired boy to look back at the disappointed blond girl in front of him.

"Wanna make a deal?" Nero asked her.

Her predictable response was a confused look. "What... Kind of deal?"

"Well, more like an exchange." Nero corrected while moving his eyes up for a second.

Her confusion did not ceased.

Jean sighed before speaking. "Just say it already Nero."

Nero rolled his eyes before finally clarifying. "Fine..." He removed the hood on his head. "How about I buy you this drum in exchange of your awesome jacket?" That was his offer.

...

...

...

...

...

...

"Holy shit, are you for real?!" It was Gwen's justifiable reaction after widening her eyes in response.

A FEW MORE DAYS LATER

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Nero asked Jean in concern using telepathy.

Nero Carnby was currently inside a subway bathroom, smoking a joint inside one of the stools.

"Don't worry, I haven't seen my grandparents in a while so..." Jean responded. Jean Grey had left her grandparents home to spend some days there. Something that she was not exactly looking forward to, due to her family's situation. Which is why Nero was worried about her. "How is your leg?"

Nero inspected his leg, which thankfully didn't have the cast anymore. Since he went to remove it the previous day. "Thanks for going with me." He had to go there by himself since sister Maggie was busy caring for a younger girl that had pneumonia. Luckily, Jean was kind enough to go with him.

"You would have done the same for me." Jean spoke and it was true.

"Is going to get really boring without you around." He told her.

"It's just for a few days and I'm the one who's going to be stuck with my family." Jean was clearly frustrated. "I have to go, we're arriving."

"Good luck." Nero spoke one last time before they stopped communicating through telepathy.

The boy with white hair was now alone inside the stool with nothing to do other than to finish smoking his joint. He decided to reach inside the right pocket of his pants and pull out an iPod with cheap earphones wrapped on it. Time for some soundtrack.

I can't escape this hell
So many times I've tried
But I'm still caged inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself

As the song echoed through his ears, Nero reached inside his jacket for something, a Graffiti Marker.

So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one would ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
(This animal, this animal)

Then he wrote at the door that he was facing.

I can't escape myself
(I can't escape myself)
So many times I've lied
(So many times I've lied)
But there's still rage inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself

He wrote his last name on the door in a tagging style with the black marker.

So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one would ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal

Right under the graffiti, he made a drawing. The drawing was a Ying and Yang symbol, but the two circles were replaced by the symbol of anarchy and the symbol of peace, both upside down.

Somebody help me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
Somebody wake me from this nightmare
I can't escape this hell

Once the drawing was done, Nero completely inhaled the smoke of his joint before he tossed it inside the toilet and flush it.

So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
(This animal I have become)

The song ended and Nero left the bathroom stool while putting the marker inside of his jacket once again. Then he walked towards the sink to watch his hands, before he looked at the mirror.

Looking good... He admired himself due to his awesome outfit. It's basically a modified version of his usual outfit but it's still noticeable. A pair of black and white air jordan 1 retro high dior that he stole from a guy the previous day as he was getting kicked out of his apartment by his girlfriend, while she was tossing his clothes from the window, he saw the awesome shoes and just couldn't resist. His jeans, which were baggy in a hip-hop style, with three interconnecting belts in a Criss Cross belts style, one was a black military belt, the other was a heavy metal style bullet belt and the last one was a leather belt with a Lion head buckle. There were also golden belt chains on the left side of his pants. He also had some jewelry on it, a diamond earring in his left ear, a silver cross necklace and a nice looking golden watch on his left wrist. On his top, he was wearing a white tank-top as an undershirt, with the white pullover hoodie that he stole from Flash Thompson over it. And last but not least, his new leather jacket that got from Gwen Stacy, that he was wearing over his hoodie. It was a black A-2 bomber jacket that was a little baggy on Nero. He made a few alterations to it, he put on an American flag patch on the left arm and added a few badges of symbols on the right like, Peace, Chaos, Anarchy, Ying Yang, on the right side of the chest right below a name tag with N.C. Carnby on it and right above it, there was a World War II medal of honor that he stole from an old guy that was staring at Jean's ass and practically glued on the jacket. He also had a pair of fingerless combat gloves on his hands that he got from an army surplus store.

The outfit may seem exaggerated. But Nero Carnby considers himself an individualist.

Once he was done checking himself up, he decided to get out of the bathroom in order to catch a train. Upon exiting the bathroom, Nero moved towards the exit of the train station, mainly because he had something to do. But before he did, he went towards a vending machine to get a soda, a Pepsi. He drank as he made his way out of the train station and into the street. The rain stopped, but it could start again at any second. Nero thought as he looked at the cloudy sky while he drank his soda. Checking his watch, he noticed that it was almost the time that they agreed to meet. Walking down the street, Nero drank his soda and tried to figure out why. I mean, how the hell did she even get the Orphanage's number? He thought for a second, until he realized that the answer was pretty simple. Of course, her dad probably had the number. It was pretty obvious. Finishing his Pepsi, Nero crushed the can and tossed it on a trashcan before placing his hands inside his jacket's pocket.

Passing through a bunch of people that were too preoccupied with their lives to care about their surroundings. Though, Nero didn't really care about it either, nothing interesting to see anyway. Not that he was paying any attention either, he was busy thinking about Jean. He sincerely hopes that she stays okay around her family. She barely reacted when she heard that they were planning on putting her sister in a clinic, hell, I think she was actually relieved. Nero thought, as he was with her when she read her father's mind. Honestly, Jean is getting more and more distant from her family, both on her part and their part. Nero is doing his best to be there for her, but he's worried. Honestly, it really depresses him to see a family fall apart like that. Especially since he never really had one, the closest thing to a parent figure that he has it's Sister Maggie, but she does that to every other kid in the orphanage. Nero is just someone he pays extra attention to, because he has a painfully annoying habit of getting in trouble. A habit that is only partially his fault to be honest.

Turing left once he reached the end of the street that he was walking, he noticed a bus passing by him. Moving his head to the right to see the bus driving slowly next to him and noticing that the bus was empty except for the rider and a guy standing up, despite a painfully high number of empty seats around him. He doesn't know why, but that guy gives him a strange feeling, he had a weak build, a scruffy beard, brown messy hair, and brown eyes. He was wearing dark blue jeans and an orange hoodie that completely zipped up with the hood up as well and a black baseball cap alongside it, like he was trying to hide his face. Suddenly, the guy noticed Nero staring at him, but instead of turning away, he kept staring. There's something really off about that guy. It was Nero's opinion. He looks tired and by his appearance, he clearly hasn't rested or cleaned up properly during the day. And by the outfit, it's pretty obvious that he's trying to hide himself.

It took a few seconds for the guy to turn around in order to avoid eye contact with Nero. But his curiosity got the better of him and Nero decided to read his mind. Annoyingly, Nero can't read people's minds for long otherwise he would get horrible headaches. Jean on the other hand, can read people's minds infinitely but she told him that she usually gets overwhelmed when she does. Strangely, she never has this problem when she's around Nero and easily manages to read minds without getting overwhelmed.

"Come on, I just need to get off this bus and get to the train station and then walk a few miles and then I will arrive at Elizabeth's apartment." Nero heard him thinking and he was visibly anxious with something involving someone named Elizabeth. "This was a bad idea, why did she call me, what could she possibly have to tell me, she knows the danger." His thoughts were rapidly going on inside his head and it was clear to Nero that whatever this guy was nervous about, it had to be huge. Sadly, it didn't last as the bus sped up leaving Nero behind before he could get more information.

"Whatever..." Nero decided to let it be, whatever it was, it was probably bad and it would definitely backfire if he got involved.

After walking a bit more, the white haired boy finally arrived at his destination. Shit, even the street in front of the place stinks like privilege. Nero thought in annoyance as there was some really strange smell in the area. It wasn't bad or anything, but he really didn't like it. At the moment. Nero was standing in front of a place called Brooklyn Visions Academy, arguably the most prestigious private school in New York City, although Nero didn't really believe that. He could see several students from all ages coming in and out of the place, they were all wearing a similar uniform but he simply ignored them. Just by looking at them, he gets the idea that they're all from either rich or well-off enough families which was something that Nero preferred to be as far away from as possible. I'm certainly out of place here, considering that most of what I get is from either stealing or charity. He thought in a bit of shame, but it can't be helped. Nero doesn't like stealing stuff from people but sadly is either that or nothing for him at times.

Despite his attempts, several people noticed his presence. But he simply ignored them, not exactly caring about their opinions of him. Soon enough, he finally saw the person that he was supposed to meet, standing in front of the entrance, right beside the front steps that lead to the door. The person in question was Gwen Stacy, the former owner of the awesome leather jacket that he was wearing at that precise moment. She was wearing the Brooklyn Visions Academy's uniform though hers she was wearing black varsity-like sweatshirt with white sleeves over it, which pretty much confirms that she was a student there, but it was already painfully obvious since she called him to meet her in front of the place. As the white haired boy approached the blond, who seemed to be distracted with something. But once he got close enough.

"How the fuck did you got even got my number anyway?" It was the first thing that he asked her.

It startled her a bit. But she responded. "Apparently, my father has a file of you in his computer which includes the number of the orphanage that you live in." She told him with a cheeky smile that exposed her slight gap tooth before she returned to a bored expression. "Shot multiple times by a group of mobsters, suspected of setting a train on fire, matches the description of the robber of a very expensive ring, who had shot a pedophile in the shoulder." Suddenly, she started to list all of the things that happened since the day he met her father. But the information of him matching the description of the robber of the ring that Black Cat took and being suspected of the train fire made him freeze.

But he quickly recovered his composure and said, "What?" He gave her a sarcastic smile. "I like living dangerously."

"Yeah, right." She rolled her eyes. "But seriously, what really happened?"

Nero considered for a second in basically changing the subject. But honestly, for some reason, he liked Gwen. "I was having a picnic with my late best friend Frank Castle Jr, and we accidentally stumbled upon a bunch of mobsters executing a guy and they shot us, killing everyone but me and Frank Castle Sr." He explained the first one bluntly while doing his best to not think about FJ, since he really missed him.

"Shit, sorry..." She immediately apologized for bringing up that particular topic. But he continued

"I was smoking on that train and I accidentally dropped and that was the cause of the fire." It was a half-lie and half-truth. I never had that breathing fire problem again afterwards.

"Fuck... Are you serious?!" Gwen was immediately surprised by his response, clearly shocked by the bad luck that he had in that situation, which was kind of justified.

Nero nodded in confirmation before continuing. "I'm indeed the guy of the description but I didn't steal the ring." He admitted it was true. "I was literally just passing by the place until the actual robber gave the ring to me and when the guards saw me with it, I ended up panicking and running away with it." The hooded boy told her. "Then the actual robber found me later and took the ring." After making out with me for a considerable amount of time. He thought while images of Black Cat passed through his mind. Oh... I really want to repeat that.

While he was thinking about Black Cat, Gwen was staring at him with a weird look on her eyes. Like she was analyzing him, just like her father usually does. Until. "Wait, are you actually serious?" She asked him, probably not seeing any trace of lying on his face.

"Yes, that's how I ended up on that train, running from the police." He admitted to her. "The pedophile... It's kind of personal, it involves Jean's family so I prefer to not give much details about it." Since it already caused a lot of trouble for her and her family. "But I admit, I actually had a fight with him and shot him on the shoulder but it was after he knocked me by pistol-whipping me on the face with his revolver." He explained to the blond girl.

...

...

...

...

For two or three minutes, the girl just stared at him with a confused expression on her face. Nero just waited for her to say something, half-expecting her to tell him to stay the hell away from her.

"Either you literally just spewed a bunch of bullshit to me, or you are literally the most unlucky guy in New York City." That was her response to everything he just told her.

Nero lifted the cross on his neck and said. "May I be stroked by lightning if at least half of what I just said to the cool girl standing right in front of me are lies." He precisely chose his words carefully when he said that, luckily, despite excluding some details, it was all true.

"Ummm... I'm an atheist but I'll believe in the latter from now on." Gwen spoke in response to his gesture while giving him a smile.

"I'm not really religious myself, despite being raised in a Catholic Orphanage." Nero admitted as he let go of the cross and placed his hands on his jacket's pocket once again. "So, what was the reason for you to call me?" He asked the blond girl.

That caught Gwen off guard for some reason. "Ummm... Well..." She awkwardly spoke, apparently having difficulty with him. "I was... Ummm..." It was strange, since she has been speaking easily before but now. "I was wondering... If you would like to... hang out with me."

Nero raised a brow in response. Wait, she's asking a guy that she met once at an instrument store a few days ago to hang out with her? He thought as he analyzed her. "Sure." But then he just decided to go for it.

"Really?" She asked him in a strange enthusiastic tone.

He nodded slowly in response. "Though, are you asking me because you have no better options or..." It was his best theory about this.

"More like no other options to be honest." She revealed it to him until she realized how it sounded. "No offense, what I mean is... I don't really get along with people very easily and the people in this school usually fall into three categories." The blond girl explained to him.

"Which are?" He asked in curiosity.

"Either, rich idiots that think they are better than everyone else because they're parents have money." Yeah... I kind of expected that. He thought as he saw some of them staring at the two of them. "Or, hardcore nerds that you can't barely understand what they are talking about." I'm more of geek than a nerd, I usually attend D&D sessions in comic book stores and I know how hardcore some nerds can be. "Or, super boring people that are too afraid to do anything fun." Because fun usually means dangerous, not that I can judge it.

"Well, I'm poor, a geek that you can understand and I like to think that I'm actually fun to be around." He spoke while pointing at himself with his thumbs. "And I would love to hang out with you, Gwen Stacy."

She smiled in response.

"No! No! Left!"

Nero Carnby decided to follow Gwen Stacy to an old arcade that she knew and the two basically spent several hours playing the games there.

Currently, they are playing a light gun game in co-op.

"So, you got into that private school because you know Norman Osborn." Gwen was explaining to Nero about how she got into Brooklyn Visions Academy despite her father's money problem.

"No, I know his son, Harry Osborn." Gwen corrected him. "Harry spoke with his dad, who spoke to my dad and offered to get me scholarship there since he's one of he school's benefactors." The blond girl explained as she shot the targets in the game. "I didn't really wanna go, but dad thought that it would be for the best because that was too good of an opportunity to pass." There was a certain distaste in her voice.

"Hmm..." Nero heard her loud and clear. "Did you know Peter Parker as well?" He asked her.

"Peter Parker? He's like... The king of the dorks." Gwen told him. "We were more acquaintances than friends to be honest, but he and Harry are best friends." She pointed out.

Hearing that caused Nero to remember what happened when he was at the theater with Peter, and he ended up knocking out Flash Thompson, the guy that he stole his hoodie from. Remembering that the blond douchebag said something about replacing Osborn. He was probably referring to Harry Osborn, since he and Peter are best friends. "Are you and Osborn friends?" He asked her as he landed sloppy shots in the game.

"Nope, just acquaintances to a lesser degree than Peter." She revealed to him as they shot the same target. "Honestly, I can't really stand him." They rapidly pulled the trigger of their guns in order to finish the boss. "He has this annoying obsession with getting his father's approval and has a tendency to whine, complain and act envious of others just because they are popular." She bluntly expressed her opinion about Harry Osborn. "Worst part, I think he has a crush on me.° The blond girl was visibly repulsed by that.

"And I assume you weren't impressed with his wealth." He was joking of course.

"Do I look like a gold-digger to you?" Gwen was being sarcastic.

"Well, you paid for my game so..." A game that he just lost. "Oh fuck!"

"Should have paid attention to the life bar." Gwen lectured him before she herself lost the game.

"Should have aimed for the weak spots." Nero also lectured her.

Gwen angrily placed the light gun back at the holster before signalling him to follow her towards another game.

"So, how's the drum set that I gave you?" Nero asked as he followed her with his hands in his jacket's pockets.

"Being used at least twice a day if I can help it." Gwen proudly admitted. "When my dad asked how I got it, he was shocked when I told him that you gave it to me in exchange for my jacket." And I told Sister Maggie that I used the money that she gave it to me to buy and got super scolded for it. He thought internally after she said that. "He tried to force me to give it back, but I managed to convince him to let me keep it."

"Good, because it was a fair exchange." Because I really wanted this jacket and she really wanted the drum set. "Besides, how were you supposed to practice your drummer skills without a drum?"

Both arrived at a racing game, taking a seat besides one another and starting the game.

"But, I have to ask." Nero spoke to her as he spun the steering wheel to the left. "I know you don't like anyone in your new school, but... Don't you have friends from your previous home to hang out with?" He asked her in a little bit of confusion. She used to be Peter's neighbor before her father got promoted, but according to her, they weren't really friends. But I'm kind of wondering why she called me to hang out with her instead of some other friends.

"Nope." She bluntly responded to him.

He removed his gaze from the screen and looked at her. It took a few seconds for her to move her head and meet his almost white eyes with her dark blue ones. Neither paid attention that their cars went off road in the game, they kept on staring at each other's eyes until Nero finally asked. "Let me guess, it's because of something that has nothing to do with you?"

She gave him a weak smile before asking. "And what makes you assume that?"

"Oh..." He looked at the ceiling and made a goofy face. "I don't know..." He placed his index finger on his chin. "Maybe the fact that I barely know you and I already think you're awesome." It was his honest opinion.

The weak smile grew considerably, but then it disappeared and she looked back at the screen. A few seconds of silence passed by, until she took a deep breath and said. "Short version," The blond girl leaned on the chair as she spoke. "My mom is... She has Bipolar disorder and... Well..." She was clearly having difficulty saying it. "Let's just say that... during the episodes, she had a tendency of doing really,really,really stupid shit and..." Nero just sat there quietly, listening to her. "Well... Enough shit for people to want to stay away from her, and tell their children to stay away from me." She revealed it to him.

"I see..." Nero told Gwen , before he reached out and touched her shoulder. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Why the fuck did I asked? He thought in annoyance.

"Nah, you asked a question and I just answered." Gwen waved off his apology. "So, are we actually going to play this game or are we simply going to be sitting here?" She immediately changed the subject.

"Now, we're talking!"

Nero and Gwen played a few more games there, but eventually, it got late and the two were forced to leave the Arcade because it was going to close. Motherfucker. He thought in annoyance as the guy was super rude with the two of them.

"What time is it?" Gwen asked as the two passed through the front door after the guy that works in the front desk kicked them out.

Nero checked his golden watch. "Shit!" He didn't even pay attention to the hour. "It's Eight already."

"Damn, we played for that long?" Gwen asked him before looking at the dark sky. We literally went eleven rounds in the fighting game and you're actually asking that?

"Apparently." Since it was evening when they entered. "Isn't your dad going to be worried?" Nero asked her in concern.

But she waved him off in response. "The earliest that he ever gets home is eleven PM." She revealed it to him.

"Oh, okay..." Nero was relieved. "Then I'll walk you home, they won't notice my absence either."

"You sure?" Gwen asked him. "It's kind of a long walk." She warned him.

"Well, you paid for an entire gaming session." Nero pointed out. "Least I can do is walk you home."

She lifted her shoulders in response. "Heh, hard to argue with that logic." The blond girl spoke as she signaled him to follow her.

Nero placed his hands inside his jacket pockets and followed the blond girl down the unknown street. Both were walking besides one another like him and Jean often do, though with the slight difference that they weren't holding hands like they do. Speaking of which, he would have to speak to Jean later, see how is she doing. I'll talk to Jean when I get back to the Orphanage. He planned as he and Gwen arrived on a corner.

"Where do you live anyway?" Nero asked her.

"In an apartment a few blocks from here." Gwen answered his question.

"Is it nice?" He wondered.

"On the average side to be honest, not bad but can't call it good either." She explained.

"Hmmm..." As they kept walking, Nero looked around in order to see some of the differences between Brooklyn and Manhattan and honestly, he didn't found any so far. "Is there any difference between Brooklyn and Queens?" He asked her in curiosity.

"It's still New York City regardless, just with a few differences here and there." It was Gwen's response. "Let me guess, trying to figure it out the difference between Manhattan and Brooklyn?"

"Can you read minds or something?" That was a semi-joke.

She just chuckled. "Nope and I'm really grateful for that because I would probably end up finding out things about people that I definitely don't want to find out."

Yeah... Jean kind of has that problem at times. He thought in amusement.

"So, what happened to your friend Jean?" She asked him in curiosity.

"She-"

Before Nero could answer Gwen's question. Something happened, a very loud noise was heard from afar. They were noises of... Smashing. Both looked at one another in confusion, but the moment that they did, something else happened. Suddenly, the street lights went off, and not just the street lights, every single light around them, leaving the two in total darkness.

"What the hell?" Gwen spoke in confusion as she tried to look around.

"A blackout?" It wasn't a question, he just pointed out the obvious.

Before they could fully grasp their situation, they heard the noise of something breaking. Startling the two, they turned around to see where the noise came from but it was hard because of how dark it was. But then the noise was replaced by the noise of a car crashing into something. That noise caused Gwen to grab Nero's arm. More and more noises of glass breaking, cars crashing and people screaming could be heard from afar. Despite the darkness, Nero already could tell that something bad was going to happen if they stayed there.

"Gwen," He called her while grabbing her arm. "How far is your apartment again?"

"Ummm... A few blocks away." She answered his question.

"Let's go there before something bad happens, because blackouts are literally a giant sign for the free market." Nero joked as he slowly turned around.

"If by free market, you mean looting, then yes." Gwen agreed with him before she turned around as well and they started to move with very little visibility due to some of the cars in the street.

Luckily, they managed to arrive at the end of the street with no problem but once they turned right on the corner, they ended up seeing something terrible. Oh shit, they're looting the store. There they saw a group of people breaking into a closed store and stealing things from it. Normally, I'll probably join them, but... He thought as he gently pulled Gwen to stay behind him in order to pass through them. But then a guy with a baseball bat smashed the window of one of the places in order to enter, he dropped the baseball bat and entered through the broken window. Better be safe and sorry. He thought before grabbing the baseball bat and signalling Gwen to move forward. She didn't say anything because she was clearly a little frightened by the whole situation. Which turned out to be the right reaction, as suddenly two guys came out of the store fighting for an electronic device that Nero couldn't tell what it was. Luckily, they took their fight to the street, allowing the two to move through the sidewalk peacefully until they arrived at the entrance of the store that was being looted and saw several Cell Phone lights inside with people searching and grabbing electronic devices all around it.. But he didn't look for long and quickly moved past it.

"Fuck,fuck, shit..." Gwen cursed as more sounds of destruction could be heard from afar and they were not liking when this was going.

"Shit, shit, fuck..." Nero decided to curse too as he had the baseball bat ready for any incoming assault. Any sight of aggression, bash their fucking skull in.

"AHH!" Gwen let out a small scream as a car crashed into a wall from afar. It was a green Cadillac.

What a waste. It was his opinion as it was a really nice car.

They saw the driver coming out of the car and he didn't look so good as his head was bleeding, but there was nothing they could do for him so Nero just signaled her to move. Passing through the car what seemed like it was going to catch on fire at any second. Both moved forward as quickly as possible as the noises of destruction kept getting worse and worse. Jesus, what the fuck is going on? Nero asked as those noises didn't sound like a riot. Passing through an alleyway, they caught the sight of a bunch of people fighting each other, which they smartly ignored and moved pass it as quick as possible. The duo could only move forward with very limited lighting to guide them. But they could see some destruction going on from afar, with people breaking into stores and thrashing cars. Let us avoid that shit, because a cute girl like Gwen might attract the wrong kind of attention. He thought but didn't say anything as it would just needlessly frightened Gwen even more. Moving towards another street in order to avoid the one being thrashed. Which turned out to be a good decision as the street was relatively empty.

"How many blocks again?" He asked as he proceeded through the sidewalk.

"Tw-" She was about to respond, but then something helped.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Out of nowhere, a very loud roar was heard by the two of them, which caused Gwen to hug his arm even tighter. Both were paralyzed by that sound and before any of the two could ask the painfully obvious question of, what made the sound. The sound of very loud stomps could be heard from above them, like something was stomping into the building above them. Both Nero and Gwen searched what was making that sound for a few seconds.

Until their answer arrived.

By the form of something coming down from the sky and smashing into the ground like a meteor right on the end of the street that they were currently in.

...

...

...

"W-w-w..." Nero was having difficulty in saying what he was thinking, mainly because his eyes were completely widened and his mouth was completely open due to the horrible sight of the thing that just appeared in front of them. Gwen was the same, except that she covered her mouth in response.

The thing that just smashed in the ground in front of them. Was a hulking monster looking thing that appeared to be around eight feet tall and it was heavily muscled, with green skin, black hair, and green eyes that were so bright that he could see them in darkness, wearing only a pair of torn pants in a dark blue jean color.

That thing looks angry. It is an understatement as that green thing seemed to be fuming in rage as it stood up from the ground that it just completely smashed with a very angry look on its face.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

"RUN!" Nero yelled to Gwen as that thing roared loudly. With the two immediately running to the opposite reaction as fast as they could. Until they heard something that made the run faster.

"HULK SMASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Chapter Text

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!"

Those were the words that came out of the mouths of Nero Carnby and Gwen Stacy, as the two ran as fast as they possibly could down the street as a big green monster destroyed everything in its path. A path that the white haired boy and the blond girl were in the middle of.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" They heard a loud roar coming from behind them, which was followed by the noise of helicopters coming from the front.

Ah shit! No fucking way they gonna wait for the civilians to get out of line of fire. Nero thought as he made Gwen run faster. Looking desperately for a way out of the street, the boy wearing a hoodie found a solution in an alley on their right. "Come on!" He grabbed Gwen's hand and the two entered the Alley which led to a dead end. "Fuck." Nero spoke as he saw the dead end.

"We gotta-" Gwen was about to speak, but couldn't finish. Because loud noises of gunfire could be heard from the street that they just left.

"RRRRRROOOOAAAARRRRR!" They heard that thing roaring again, before they actually saw it, running towards the direction that the gunfire was heard. Followed by a loud explosion.

Nero desperately looked around since going back to that street was not a good idea. Luckily, he saw a fire staircase above them. Wasting no time, he handed the baseball bat to Gwen and looked to his right where a bunch of dumpsters were located. The boy with white hair immediately ran towards it as Gwen watched and he climbed on top of it, before he jumped and managed to reach the stairs. Once he climbed on top of it, he kicked the stair down for Gwen. The blond girl climbed it in order to follow him.

As soon as she got up, she moved towards the first window that she saw and opened to get inside. Nero didn't really have any better idea, but he decided to follow her. But as soon as they entered, they caught the sight of something way too familiar to Nero.

"Holy shit..." It was Gwen's immediate reaction. "Are they dead?" Asked while staring at him with her blue eyes.

"Nah..." He stared at her with his gray eyes. "They're just high."

Inside the room, there was a couple laying on a double bed. A very skinny black guy with a shaved head and a ugly pale woman with disgusting looking hair hasn't been washed in a while. Both were naked, which was a very unpleasant sight, because the woman was practically skin and bones, while the guy's dick clearly had an STD on it. But what called the most attention was the needle that was inside the woman's arm.

The room clearly belongs to a Junkie as it was relatively empty, as they probably sold all their stuff to buy drugs. It was also very dark inside and the only light there was a flashlight on the floor.

"Fuck..." Nero approached the junkies and decided to remove the needle from the woman's arm.

"What are you doing?" Gwen asked.

"I have no fucking idea..." Nero replied as he removed the needle from her arm and dropped on the floor. Truth is, these two are a perfect portrait of how Nero imagines his parents to be like. Which is depressing in so many ways. Then he proceeds to pick up the flashlight. "Come on..." He told Gwen as he walked towards the door.

The door led to a living room, which was just as empty as the bedroom. Gwen closed the door behind them leaving the couple of junkies alone. The loud gunshots could still be heard from outside. That plus the darkness made Nero very uneasy, but definitely not as much as Gwen, who held his left hand tightly. "It's going to be okay." He tried to reassure her.

"Are you telling that to me or to yourself?" She asked him.

"I'm pretending to be telling you that while actually telling it to myself in secret." He answered.

Gwen chuckled a bit, but another explosion put an end to it.

"Come on, the sooner we get away from this area, the better." Nero pointed out as he gently pulled her towards the door while holding the flashlight with his right hand. Opening the door Nero noticed that the corridor was empty. But it was dark as hell there and only the flashlight was illuminating the place. Gwen was visibly uneasy and was holding the baseball bat on her other hand tightly , not that he can blame because this is practically the type of scenario of a horror movie, that was only enforced by the big green monster outside. In order to distract her, he decided to tell her something personal. "It was because they remind me of my parents..." That was a topic that he really didn't want to talk about, but it was probably the only thing that could distract her at the moment.

"What?" It worked.

"My... Parents were junkies like those two." Nero told her as they moved down the corridors. "I never really met them, but, some people in the apartment where they lived in, told me that they were practically caricatures of what you'll imagine a junkie to be like."

"Shit, I'm so sorry." Gwen replied sympathetically. "Do you even know their names?" She asked him as they reached the end of the corridor.

"My.. supposed father was called Caligula Carnby, but I think it was a fake name." Nero admitted. "My name is Nero, because one of them wrote it on my arm with a marker before they dumped me and they basically went with that name alongside Carnby to register me." He explained the origin of his name to Gwen.

"Dumped you?" She asked that part.

"In their appartement a few days after I was born, but before you ask, I'm glad they did that." Nero immediately added that part for clarification.

"Why?" Gwen asked in curiosity as they arrived on some stairs that probably lead to the first floor.

"I probably would have ended up with two deadbeats assholes that would have probably mistreated me anyway." No matter how many times he tries, he simply can't picture a happy family. Every single time that he tries to imagine his parents, it's mostly either a weird scene involving his mother forcing him to steal cash for either drugs or booze, or an scene of his dad getting beat up by a drug dealer while Nero has go hide the cash that he owns him for him to use it later. Considering the fact that I can read minds, there is a high possibility that these weird scenes I imagine have some degree of truth behind it... Which makes this even more depressing.

"Take the advice of someone that does have one deadbeat parent that happens to also be batshit crazy," She was clearly talking about her mom. "One is bad enough, so two would be a total nightmare."

"Thanks for the confirmation." It was his response as they arrived on the first floor.

"Hey, I'm not implying that you're lucky for not having parents." Gwen immediately clarified. "Hell, I may complain about my dad a lot but I love him and wouldn't exchange him for anything in the world." The blond girl started with a lot of conviction.

"I believe you , Mr. Stacy is a solid guy." Nero spoke as he illuminated the area with the flashlight.

It was an empty lobby that didn't stand out in any way. But Nero could see the door, which led to the street.

"Ummm... Is going back to the street a good idea?" Gwen asked him. "It coul-" Whatever she was going to say, got interrupted.

"OH SHIT!" Out of nowhere, a red Chevrolet Monte Carlo came through the front door, destroying it completely while also blocking the passage. The two of them quickly walked back into the corner of the wall as soon as the car appeared with shocked expressions due to how sudden it was. They observed the car, waiting for someone to come out of it, Nero was sure that whoever was driving that car, was probably gone. But then, some smoke started to come out of the radiator. "Back upstairs..." Nero gently pushed Gwen towards the stairs, since the entrance was out of the question and that car could blow up.

"What the fuck..." Gwen justifiably cursed as she climbed the stairs in front of Nero.

Welcome to my world... Nero semi-joked to himself. Though, big green monsters are new.

As they reached the top of the stairs, more loud noise could be heard, from a distance. "Hear that?" Nero asked. "The Green Monster is probably far away now."

"That's good, but now we're trapped in here." She pointed out.

"Trapped?" It wasn't a question. "We just have to get out the same way we got in."

"Through the junkie's room?" She cringed as she probably didn't want to see two naked junkies and their STD infected privates.

"It's the only room that we know of that it's open." And certainly, neither did Nero but they may have no choice.

Gwen sighed as she clearly knew that Nero was right.

Both of them, although reluctantly returned to the room where the Junkies were. Room 103, which they opened once again to enter. But once the stepped foot inside, they heard an explosion that was followed by a tremor.

"What the fuck?" Nero asked her as he removed the hood from his head.

"I'm pretty sure that was the red car exploding, so let's hurry up please." Gwen spoke as she gently pushed Nero from behind with her free hand towards the bedroom.

But as soon as they opened the door, they were greeted by an unpleasant surprise. The junkie guy that was on the bed, was now on top of the junkie woman. But they weren't doing anything intimate, instead, he was strangling the woman with both of his hands. "BITCH! YOU USED ALL OF MY SHIT!"

They widened their eyes in response to what was happening in front of them. In a heartbeat, Nero reacted by grabbing the baseball bat from Gwen's hand while handing her the flashlight before he jumped on top of the and smashed the guy's head with the bat. The hit caused the junkie to fall from the bed into the floor. But surprisingly, it didn't knock the guy out and he stood up despite the heavy blow to the head.

"Stay down, dopehead!" Nero yelled before he swung the bat into the guy's face again. Only for him to simply stumble into Gwen's direction.

"AH!" Gwen immediately moved out of the way as the naked STD infected junkie stumbled towards the door, but he was still up after passing through the door frame. Only to Nero to jump down from the bed and smash his head a third time, and he was still up afterwards.

"Oh my god!" Nero yelled in annoyance. "The fuck is this dopehead on?!" He decided to just close the door and lock it from the inside. Then he dropped the baseball bat next to the pale woman. "Come on."

"Are we gonna leave her like that?" Gwen asked as he passed through the window.

"Yes, unless you wanna carry her around." It was his reply as he zipped his leather jacket up. He already did enough for her and he just wanted to get the hell away from that place.

Gwen took a final look at the unconscious naked woman, before she followed Nero through the window.

"Up." Once they were back at the fire staircase, they decided to go up this time. Mostly because they wanted to reach the other side of the building. They didn't say anything as they climbed, they simply focused on running as fast as they could until they reached the roof of the building. Gwen went in front of Nero, but she forgot a very important detail in that situation, which was the fact that she was actually wearing a skirt due to her school uniform. Ummm... Blue... Which allowed Nero to have a view of Gwen's panties. Considering that he needed to wash his mind up from the STD infested guy from earlier, that was a good start.

"Come on." Luckily, the blond girl didn't notice that he was staring under her skirt. Eventually, they managed to reach the roof of the building.

Once the two of them reached the roof, they noticed that there were a few helicopters from a distance. They could hear gunshots and explosions as well. "They're shooting that green monster's ass." Nero commented.

"And I don't think it's working." Gwen pointed out. Then she looked at a distance, apparently searching for something. "That's my building." The blond girl pointed at a building a few blocks from there.

"RRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" The monster's roar was heard by the two of them, but it was from a safe distance.

"I think we're good for now." Nero spoke in relief. Before he checked the street below from the other side of the building. The street was fairly empty though there were some cars down there. "Come on..." The white haired boy signalled his blond friend to follow him. This time Nero went ahead as they descended through the fire staircase.

"Do you think it's safe?" Gwen asked him.

"Nope." Nero decided to be honest.

"Didn't think so." Gwen added.

The two eventually managed to descend the stairs and get into the street. Though, Gwen once again didn't notice that Nero was once again looking under her skirt from below her as they descended through the final staircase. I think blue might become my favorite color now. He thought as he enjoyed the view of his friend's dark blue underwear as they reached the street.

"This way." Gwen said once she completely climbed down the stairs.

The two of them then walked down the street in order to reach Gwen's apartment, but once they arrived at a corner . They noticed that there was a massive fight going on involving dozens of people that were surrounded by cars on fire which lightened the street. "What the fuck?" Nero asked in confusion as he saw a bunch of people fighting each other. "Is that a gang confrontation?"

"Does that old lady hitting a guy with a chain look like a gangster to you?" Gwen pointed out as they watched from afar. There was indeed an old lady wearing a green dress beating a guy with a tank top with a bike chain.

"I once met a granny that was a drug dealer..." She sold me some really nice weed alongside a nice chocolate box. Nero thought as he watched the old lady bash a fat guy's face with the chain.

But then, out of nowhere, some big fat guy wearing a leather jacket pulled a handgun from his jacket's pocket and started to fire into the air, apparently trying to break the fight up. Unfortunately, it only led other people to also pull out guns and start to fire.

"Oh shit!" Nero said as he grabbed Gwen in order to get out of the street.

"There!" Gwen pointed at a subway station entrance.

The two ran as quickly as they could as the sound of guns being fired increased behind them. Entering the subway as quickly as they could with only a flashlight to illuminate the way. As several gunshots could be heard by them from the street, they decided to continue to enter the dark subway in order to get away from it.

"Seriously, what the hell else?!" Gwen asked as they descended down the dark subway.

"Do you really want me to tell you the possibilities?" There is a high possibility that they're going to find something else down there and that was a prospect that Nero did not enjoy. As they entered the subway, Nero noticed something upon they're way in. "Great!" He was referring to a vending machine that he was illuminating with the flashlight.

"Really? " Gwen asked. "Now?"

"Yes, I'm hungry." Nero said before he approached the vending machine, which was almost empty. But instead of putting money on it, the boy wearing a leather jacket simply charged into and delivered a sloppy jumping side kick into the machine.

"What hell are you doing?" Gwen asked as he grabbed two bags of Ruffles through the broken glass.

"I don't have any money." He spoke as he also grabbed some Snickers and put it inside his jacket's pocket. "Want something?" He asked as he opened a bag of Ruffles.

The blind girl stared at him with her blue eyes, but it wasn't in an apprehensive manner like Jean often does. "Lay's please." She requested.

Nero then reached for a bag of Lay's and tossed it to Gwen.

"Twix too." She also requested as she opened the bag and Nero tossed a Twix bar for her too.

As the two devoured their bags of crisps with only a flashlight to illuminate their surroundings, they looked at one another as they did. And ended up smiling at each other.

"What a night." Nero commented.

"Yup..." Gwen agreed as she ate a potato chip.

Nero's smile then disappeared. "I assume that you don't want to repeat this afterwards?"

Her response was to simply throw a chip on his face. "If by this, you mean running away from green monsters, almost getting jumped by junkies with STDs and eating chips in a dark subway... Then the answer is hell no."

Nero retaliated by also throwing a chip into her face, which she managed to catch with her mouth and eat it. "I meant, hanging out with me again."

That surprised the blond girl. "Why wouldn't I want to hang out with you after this?" It was clear that it wasn't really a question. "It's not like you asked for this to happen."

"Yeah, but I can't say that this is the first time that something like this happened." He couldn't help but comment.

"So you run away from roid up monsters and beat up junkies on a daily basis?" Gwen asked him in amusement.

"Well... No... But..." Nero didn't know how to respond to that.

"Look, I don't have any friends and I really would like that to change after today." Gwen stated to him. "So..." She pulled out the bar of Twix and extended her hand. "Friends?" The blond girl offered her chocolate as a token of friendship.

Nero responded by also grabbing his bar of Snickers and offering it as a token of friendship. "Friends."

Both then picked each other's chocolate bars from each other's hands, officializing their friendship. Then they dropped their empty bags on the floor and opened the chocolates to eat. "We should get fuck out of here." Nero pointed out the obvious as he ate his not so tasty chocolate bar.

"How?" She was visibly not enjoying her chocolate bar either. "There's a shootout going on in the street."

"Well..." Pointed his flashlight into the station, then he started to move without saying a word while chewing the chocolate with Gwen following behind him.

After looking around the station for a bit, they arrived at the tracks.

"This is a really bad idea!" Gwen spoke as Nero jumped on the train tracks.

"If you have any better ideas, please say so." The boy with white hair pointed out while he stood in the middle of the tracks.

"Where are we even going?" Gwen asked.

"That way." He pointed towards his right. "It will lead us to another station which is closer to your home." Nero actually studied the train routes and if he's correct, it should take them to a station a block away from Gwen's building.

Gwen, however, was still reluctant.

"Can you please trust me on this one, friend?" Nero tried to convince her while extending his hand to help her down.

Although still reluctant, Gwen took Nero's hand and jumped down the tracks. "Are you sure that no train is going to come?" She was clearly afraid of that possibility.

"Nah, not with the power out like that." Nero reassured her. "Come on." He took Gwen's hand and started to move forward.

As they walked down the dark tracks in a pretty spooky silence that was only enhanced by the darkness. Nero was trying to think of something to kill the silence. Until he remembered that he had something in his pocket. "Wanna hear it?" He asked as he pulled out his iPod from his pocket.

Gwen looked at him with a face that probably said "are you serious". But immediately sighed and asked. "What songs do you have there?"

"Take a look." He showed me the iPod's screen.

"Heavy Metal, Dubstep, Old School Hip Hop and... K-Pop?" She giggled when she saw it.

"What?" Nero asked. "I like it."

She giggled a little more. "You're just full of surprises aren't you, Nero Carnby."

"More than you can imagine, but you'll have to figure them out as our friendship progresses." Nero replied as she put the right earplug on her left ear.

"Alright." Gwen said as he put the left earplug on his right ear.

Beware a deal that is meant to be fair
Among the crowd at the feast
Where the prey is pleased to share
The same bench as the savage beast

Once the song started, the two of them kept on going with the soundtrack now occupying their ears.

Fed with the need to win the race
While remaining at a proper place
Until being struck by the late hour
As we shudder at the taste turning sour

The tunnel that they were in was pretty dark and the flashlight only slightly illuminated. But all they had to do was keep their eyes open for the other station.

We live as if time wasn't going by
Polite guests, not even scared to die
Forgetting to get back on the road
To leave behind all the truths we believed to hold

Honestly, his outfit probably camouflages him. Since his black jeans and black leather jacket allowed him to blend in with the darkness.

Settle for the chill of the forest stream
To quench your thirst, and go forward
Lightened by the faint undergrowth gleam
Rather than the dull shine of rewards

I wonder if Jean is okay, I highly doubt that a family gathering will be pleasant. Nero thought since Jean hadn't contacted him since morning.

Leave a sheltered easy life
To adventure into the wild
We might fail taking to the woods
But can't be bound by shallow goods

Eventually, the two managed to arrive at the station that they were trying to reach. Nero immediately put his iPod and the earphones away before he helped Gwen climb up the edge. He followed behind her and climbed.

"And... As empty as the other one." Gwen commented as she grabbed the flashlight off Nero's hand for him to climb up.

"Yeah, why would anyone want to leave a dark subway station during a blackout?" He asked sarcastically.

"Point taken." Gwen replied. "Come on." The blond girl signaled the boy with white hair to follow her.

The two of them then moved towards the exit of the subway station, with Nero actually following behind Gwen as he assumes that she knows the place since is so close to her apartment. The place fell like it was the scenario of a slasher film that he saw once, though he thought the movie was super lame. As he followed Gwen from behind, the two eventually found some stairs, which they climbed in complete silence.

Reaching the top, they were relieved to know that the street was pretty calm in comparison to the others. There were some people out there, but they seemed to be just waiting for the light to come back on. Luckily, they could see Gwen's apartment just across the street.

Gwendolyn Stacy then signalled him to follow her and the two crossed the street together. Both ran across the street and reached the entrance of the building. Which Gwen opened with a key from the pocket on her jacket. "Home sweet home." She spoke sarcastically.

As the two entered the apartment however, they noticed two boys hanging around the mail boxes illuminating their surroundings with the light on their phones.

"Oh shit." He heard Gwen curse as they passed through the door frame.

The two boys seem to be a year or older than the two of them. One had brown hair, fair skin and was wearing a gray T-shirt with a denim shirt tied on his waist. The other had black hair, dark skin and was wearing a brown hoodie and a black cap.

My shithead detector is ringing. Nero thought as soon as he saw those two. Which was made it worse by Gwen's reaction as she seemed worried.

Soon enough, the two guys noticed them due to the light of their flashlights. And as soon as they saw Gwen, they approached them, clearly with bad intentions.

"If it isn't officer Stacy's daughter, exactly who we were hoping to meet." The brunette guy spoke

"I highly doubt anyone hopes to meet you though." Nero rebuffed as he stood besides Gwen.

"What'd you say?" The other guy asked in annoyance .

"That he's an ugly motherfucker, but don't worry, you're even uglier than he is." Nero said in a very condescending tone. The truth is, Nero read their minds as soon as he noticed Gwen's worried expression and saw that they're fathers are a duo of con-artists and that they were both arrested by Gwen's father. And they have been messing with her in retaliation.

The dark skinned guy then pointed the light into Nero's face. "Man, look at this freak."

Hearing that, caused Nero to grind his teeth and close his hand into a tight fist.

"Where did you get him , did your dad brought him from an abortion clinic?" The other guy commented.

"What the hell with you?" Gwen asked the guy in rage after hearing what he said.

"My dad lost all of our cash because of your father, that's what is wrong with me." The guy said to Gwen while pointing the light on her face.

"Maybe your dad should get off his lazy ass and get a real job then." Gwen immediately rebuffed in rage. "

"Oh, the bitch finally has a voice." The guy insulted Gwen while he closed the distance.

"I didn't hear him say anything." Nero said while pointing at the other guy. "Hey, bitch, mind saying something so the ugly motherfucker doesn't get embarrassed?" He asked nicely.

"Shut the fuck up, freak!" The guy shoved Nero and he fell on the floor.

"Hey!" Gwen immediately reacted before she got shoved too.

"Hey man, chill." The other guy smartly stopped the guy before he did something stupid with the daughter of a police officer.

Sadly, for the two of them, the moment that the guy called Nero freak again, was the last straw. So as the dark skinned guy was holding the fair skinned guy, Nero grabbed the flashlight from Gwen's hand and stood up. Once he was up, Nero tossed the flashlight into the fair skinned guy's face and as soon as it landed on his forehead, Nero delivered a cross into the guy's balls, dropping him almost instantly.

"What th-" Before the other guy could properly react, Nero delivered a right hook into the guy's liver. He visibly felt the damage of the punch and fell on his knees. Then the boy with white hair , picked up the flashlight and smashed into the guy's head.

"Holy shit..." Gwen spoke as she stood up from the floor. "Are you okay?"

"Couldn't be better." He commented before kicking the fair skinned guy while he was down. "Asshole."

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" She asked as she picked up the flashlight since everything was still dark.

"Boxing." Nero told her. "I kind of go berserk when people call me a freak." He revealed it to her. "Like when I knock a guy out in a movie theater once."

Gwen signalled him to follow her, leaving the unconscious and the barely conscious behind. "Who was the guy?"

"I think his name was Flash Thompson." Nero remembered.

Gwen immediately widened her eyes in surprise. "You were the guy that knocked Flash out?!" She seemed deeply surprised by the information.

"I assume that you know the guy." Nero could tell.

"Know? I went to school with that asshole for years." She revealed it to him as they climbed up the stairs."I laughed my ass off when I heard that he got knocked out." You do have a lovely ass by the way.

"So, you're not mad that I knocked him out?" It was quite obvious but he wanted to be sure.

"Mad? If there was any doubt for our friendship, it's completely gone now." Apparently, she was the opposite of mad about that. Which kind of indicates that she really didn't like Flash Thompson.

"Good to know." It would have been incredibly awkward otherwise.

The two of them eventually arrived into the penultimate floor which apparently was the floor that she lived on. The floor was thankfully empty and Gwen walked down until the end of the small corridor that had several doors on each side of it. The final one on the left seemed to be Gwen's apartment, room 404, wasting no time, she unlocked the door and the two friends entered.

"No offense, but your apartment is kind of..." Nero spoke as soon as he entered.

"Dull, yes." Gwen agreed with him.

Gwen's apartment had very little furniture other than the standard ones, no pictures on the wall and the painting is a pretty dull color. The living room only had a blue couch and a table in the front but no television, there was a bookshelf with only a few books on it, an old looking red mat on the floor and not much else.

"Hold on, I'm gonna grab a lantern." Gwen spoke as she moved towards a room with the flashlight, leaving Nero in the dark. But she came back a minute afterwards with a green electric lantern on her hand, which illuminated much more than the flashlight. "There you go." She spoke as she turned it on.

"Ummm..." Nero noticed the rest of the apartment and it all looked incredibly dull. "Did you ever think about decorating?"

"Not really," She confirmed to him. "You see, my dad is actually being considered for a promotion to Police Captain, and if that happens we'll probably move into a better place."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense." Nero understood, it actually makes complete sense, it would be a waste of time to decorate something if it's only temporary. "You're dad is a solid guy, so he'll probably get it."

"Ah, I don't really c-'' Gwen was about to reply, but suddenly, they heard a phone ringing inside one of the rooms. "It's my phone, my dad is probably calling, excuse me." Gwen spoke as she grabbed the flashlight from Nero's hand and moved to the room to answer the call.

Leaving Nero alone in the living room of the dull apartament. Not really knowing what he's supposed to do, since Gwen is now home, he should just go back to the orphanage. But he was hungry, so he decided to take advantage of Gwen's hospitality and eat something in the kitchen before moving out. The kitchen was just as dull as the living room, there were a few cabinets , a stove, a refrigerator, a microwave and a sink filled with dirty plates and cups. Not much for cleanliness. Nero thought as he inspected the place to get something to eat. Ummm... Cup Noodle ... He thought as he found some inside one of the cabinets, deciding for the cheese curry flavored one.

Moving towards the stove, Nero turns it on in order to heat some water to put it on the cup. He had to wash a pot that was in the sink, but he immediately filled it with water afterwards and put a bit of water on. But as he waited for the water to heat, he noticed a window on his left and moved to see through it. No signs of damage or destruction anymore, I guess the green monster was contained. He thought as he didn't hear anymore gunshots or explosions, which was a good sign, though the energy was still nowhere to be seen.

"What are you doing?" Gwen, who has come out of the room, asked him.

"Heating some water for the Cup Noodle." Nero replied as he turned around to look at her, and noticed that she actually changed her clothes and was now wearing a Nirvana T-shirt and a white sleeping shorts. "Nice outfit..." He gave her a thumbs up.

"The uniform was sweaty." She informed him. "My father told me that the green monster disappeared, but the lights will continue to be out for a while and won't come back and there are a lot of riots going on in the city because of it."

"Great," He said sarcastically. "What else did you and your father talk about?" He asked in curiosity.

Gwen folded her arms and leaned on the wall besides the window. "He asked me why I took so long to answer the phone, which I said that it was because I forgot at home. Then he questioned me about where I was exactly and I said that I was hanging out with my new friend." Nero pointed at himself with both of his thumbs and gave her a proud smirk which caused her to chuckle a bit. "He kind of chastised me for staying home late, but then he said that he was glad that was okay and told me to lock all of the doors and not go out until morning, and that he would be stuck at work trying to help contain the chaos that the green monster called it." That was the summary of her conversation with her father.

"Umm..." Nero had to ask. "Does he know that your new friend is here?"

"Yes, and he told me to tell you to not go out until morning because the streets are in total chaos." Gwen informed him, before she moved her head to look at the stove. "It's ready."

Oh." He moved towards the pot and prepared to pour into the cup of noodles. "So, I'll take the couch and bounce once morning arrives." That was his plan.

"Pretty much," Gwen said as she opened the cabinet as well and grabbed a cup of the chili tomato flavor and opened it in order to make something for herself as well. "Some please."

Nero then poured some hot water inside the cup in order to prepare the noodles. Then they took it to the living room and placed them on top of the table in front of the couch. As they prepared, Nero took off his black leather jacket and his white hoodie, placing them on top of the couch before he sat down with only a tank-top covering his torso. Gwen sat besides him as they waited for the Noodles to get ready.

"What do you think it was that green monster?" Gwen asked him as she hugged her knees on top of the couch.

"Maybe some government experiment that went wrong or something like that." It was Nero's best theory. "Ever read about Captain America?"

"Saw some documentary about him, they injected him with sometype serum that gave him special abilities." The Super-Soldier Serum, a formula designed to create super-soldiers. Allegedly, the only working formula was used on a man called Steven Rogers, best known as Captain America. Though, Nero thinks that is a load of bullshit and they probably created more of this formula but just kept it a secret to avoid some unwanted attention. "You think that monster was something like that?"

"Probably..." Nero replied, then he remembered something. "I think his name was Hulk."

Gwen chuckled. "Who the hell names something Hulk?"

"Someone with a really bad taste for names." Nero chuckled as he also thought that the name was stupid. "They probably shot it down or blew him up with a rocket launcher."

"Wish I could have seen that." She commented.

"Me too..." He agreed.

After a few more seconds, they checked on the noodles and it was ready.

"Here we go..."

After Gwen Stacy and Nero Carnby had instant noodles for dinner together, they decided to call it a night. Gwen decided to land him a pillow and a blanket for him to use.

"Thanks." Nero said as he took off his shoes, before he took off his baggy black jeans which revealed his USA flag boxer shorts.

"Nice underwear." Gwen commented as he watched him undress.

"Thanks." He took off his tank-top and placed it on top of his jacket and hoodie. Then he turned around and noticed that Gwen had widened her eyes. "What?" He asked in confusion.

"Umm... nice abs." She was referring to Nero's six pack abs.

"Oh, thanks." I honestly forgot I had abs, I hadn't looked at myself shirtless in a while. "I'm gonna..." He pointed at the couch indicating that he was going to try to get some sleep.

"Oh, ummm, sure." She awkwardly responded. "G-good night."

"Good night." Without any type of warning, Nero actually wrapped his arms around Gwen and gave her a good night hug. She was surprised at first, but returned the hug after a few seconds. "Sorry, I have a habit of hugging my friends." He informed her while he was still hugging her.

"Mmmm... Cool..." She replied to that information, before the two separated from the hug. Then she walked towards her room. "Ummm... Thanks, for... helping me today."

"Would do it again without thinking twice." He assured her while giving her a thumbs up.

Gwen smiled, and gave him a thumbs up as well.

With that, Gwen closed the door of her room to go to sleep, leaving Nero by himself in her living room. The boy with white hair decided to drink some water before going to sleep, so he went to the sink and filled a cup with tap water. While he drank, he moved towards the window one more time to look at the dark city. It looks so fucking spooky like this. He thought as he saw some lights from afar. Moving his head down to look at the street in front of the building, Nero saw some lights from cell phones down there, probably from people that decided to stay put until the energy comes back. Finishing his glass of water, he was about to move away from the window, but before he did, he saw something.

"What the hell? " He spoke out loud as he saw one of the cellphones illuminating something strange. Looking closely, he saw that it was a man with torn clothes, running towards the subway that Nero and Gwen came from. "Mmmm..."

The couch was uncomfortable, there was a lot of noise outside and he had way too many thoughts in his head. He did manage to sleep for a few hours, but right now, he was simply laying on his ba Ick and staring at the ceiling while listening to some music as he waited for the lights to come back or for the daylight to become brighter.

I wanna rock!(Rock!)

I wanna rock!(Rock!)

I wanna rock!(Rock!)

I wanna rock!(Rock!)

That guy that I saw entering the subway... Before going to sleep, he saw someone stumbling his way inside the subway station that he and Gwen passed through to get there.

Turn it down you say

But all I got to say to you is time and time again I say No!

Despite being far away, Nero thought that was something familiar about the individual that he saw. But he was wondering if the familiarity was anything other than a coincidence.

No! No! No!

The white haired boy was still a little confused about everything that happened on the previous day. What started as a normal day, suddenly turned into a shitshow and Nero can't help but feel that this is becoming a strange pattern.

Tell me not to play

Well, all I got to say to when you tell me not to play I say No!

There were so many things that he still couldn't understand. Like his powers, the fire breath, the passing through walls, the teleportation. Those were things that didn't really happen again. And he couldn't understand why.

No! No! No!

The healing quickly, mind reading, and his ability to indefinitely stay awake were things that he also couldn't understand.

So, if you ask me why I like the way I play it

There's only one thing I can say to you

The healing quickly was pretty random, sometimes it works instantly, sometimes partially, sometimes it doesn't work.

I wanna rock!(Rock!)

The mind reading, he could do it with Jean constantly. But with anyone else, his head starts to hurt when he does it too much.

I wanna rock!(Rock!)

The sleeping was the oddest one, he could fall asleep normally, but it wasn't really necessary.

I wanna rock!(Rock!)

And Nero is afraid that another random power is going to show itself, mostly because he was afraid that it would cause some damage or hurt someone.

I wanna rock!(Rock!)

I wish I could get some answers for a change... He thought in deep annoyance.

There's a feelin' that

I get from nothin' else and there ain't nothin' in the world that makes me go!

Then thoughts about that green monster he saw yesterday passed through his mind. Hulk was it's name. Did they manage to kill that thing or did it just escape from New York City? He asked himself.

Go! Go! Go!

Also, how bad was the damage that he caused. Because the electricity will probably not be back for a while. Which is inconvenient for Nero since his iPod will need to be recharged soon.

Turn the power up

I've waited for so long so I could hear my favorite song so, let's go!

Also, Nero really needed to get out of there before Gwen's father comes back, because he really wants to avoid having one more thing on Mr. Stacy's list of times that he associated Nero with something bad happening.

Go! Go! Go!

Nero also wondered if Jean was okay with her grandparents, since her family situation wasn't necessarily at its best at the moment.

When it's like this I feel the music shootin' through me

There's nothin' else that I would rather d-

"Fuck..." Nero cursed as his iPod ran out of energy. Removing the earphones from his ears, the boy with white hair sat up on the couch and rubbed his gray eyes. What time is it? He asked himself as he reached for his watch, which was on top of his clothes that were on top of the chair next to the couch. Ten, already? Moving his head to look at the window, he noticed that it was actually pretty cloudy outside. Please don't fucking rain...

The pale boy then stood up from the couch and stretched himself. Feeling thirsty, he made his way to the kitchen and filled a cup with tap water. As he drank, he looked through the same window that he saw the man yesterday. What the fuck? He thought as he saw what was happening on the street. He actually saw several military cars driving down the street, he also saw several heavily armed soldiers walking around the area. Either, they are doing damage control... Or searching for the creature... Sadly, he strongly thinks that it's the latter.

Moving his head to look at the subway station, Nero saw that the soldiers were passing by it without bothering to search it. Or they already did and found nothing in there.

Putting the empty cup down, the orphan made his way to the living room to put his clothes on. His jeans, his tank top, his hoodie, his shoes, his gloves, his jewelry and his leather jacket. Once he was fully dressed, Nero Carnby made his way to Gwen Stacy's room.

"Gwen?" He knocked on the door. "Hey."

"Yeah..." She responded to him in a sleepy voice.

"I'm leaving." He informed her.

Nero stood in front of the door for a few seconds, awaiting for an answer. Until Gwen opened the door to answer him.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Gwen asked him, since the electricity wasn't back yet.

"Nope, but I genuinely don't think that the lights will be back any time soon and I really don't want to be around when your father comes home." He admitted to her. "And honestly, the longer I take, the harder it is going to be to get home." I will probably get scolded... If someone actually noticed... The pale boy wondered if someone noticed his absence, since things were probably messy at the orphanage due to the blackout.

"Do you think..." Gwen seemed like she wanted to ash him something. "The green monster is still around?" She asked him, clearly still recovering from yesterday's events.

"I'm pretty sure it is." He decided to be honest with her, because she really needs to stay put in case of the green monster appearing again.

"Shit..." She clearly didn't like his answer, despite being an honest one. "Shame the TV or internet is off, because we could at least get some information out of it." The blond informed him while looking slightly annoyed.

"Well, I could try to ask the soldiers down there for information." Nero suggested as he scratched his white hair.

"Soldiers?" She noted. He pointed at the window of the Kitchen, and Gwen immediately moved towards it to see. "Holy shit." The blond girl said in surprise as she saw the soldiers and military vehicles in the street. Nero approached her and stood behind her. "Are they searching for the green monster?" His friend opened the window to get a better view, but unknowingly to her, she actually bent over when she placed her head out. Which allowed Nero to actually get a view of Gwen's ass again.

"Umm... Probably." He responded as he stared at Gwen's cute butt.

The blond girl then pulled her head back inside and turned around to face Nero, who quickly moved his gaze up before she could notice that he was looking at her ass. "Look, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go out there." She immediately tried to discourage him. "And I really don't think you're gonna find any way to get home unless you walk." That was probably correct, since he highly doubts that he will find a train or bus working, especially with these militaries around.

Before Nero could reply however, he noticed something. "Oh great..." Gwen moved her head to look back realizing that it was starting to rain.

Gwen then moved her head to look at him again. "Still want to walk all the way in the rain?" She asked the boy with white hair. Who simply shaked his head in response to that. "Want some cereal?"

"And one, two... One, two , three, four."

After eating some pretty bland cereal. Nero and Gwen decided to find some ways to pass the time until the heavy rain stopped.

"Is that... Shout At The Devil?" Nero asked as he sat on top of her bed wearing only his jeans, tank top and socks.

Their way to pass the time, was basically play some songs on the Drum set that he gifted to Gwen. Currently, she is playing a Mötley Crüe song, Shout At The Devil.

"Shout, Shout, Shout." Gwen signed the song as she played the drum.

"Shout, Shout, Shout." Nero decided to sing along.

"SHOUT AT THE DEVIL!" They sang at the same time.

Gwen kept playing the song perfectly in her drum as Nero watched her. She's getting really good at it, she should be in a band or something. The white haired boy thought as he looked at Gwen's room. Her room was pretty bland, saving from a few items, but it's understandable since she hasn't lived there for long. There was a bed with a pretty cool looking blanket that had a star pattern, a wardrobe with a few clothes sticking out, a desk that had a notebook on top of it, a drawer next to the bed that had her cellphone, an alarm clock and a lamp on top of it. But the thing that stood out the most, was the drum that was located in the middle of the room.

Nero noticed that Gwen was making a few mistakes, but they could easily go away with some more practice. Suddenly, Gwen changed the song into a somewhat catchy beat that Nero never heard before. Shaking his head in conjunction with the tune. "What song is that?" He asked as he enjoyed the beat.

"None," She responded to his question. "I just came up with it."

"That's pretty awesome..." Nero complimented her as she enjoyed the song that she was playing. Until he stood up from the bed and started to dance to it.

Gwen smiled in response to him dancing to her song. "You're pretty good." She praised him.

Nero was actually doing some Street dancing in front of her drum. His moves matched the tune perfectly and the white haired boy was doing the moves flawlessly. Gwen herself seemed to have more affinity to that song then the previous one as well, since she wasn't making any mistakes this time. The boy simply allowed his body to go with the tune, and Gwen seemed to be doing the same. In a way, they were kind of feeling connected by their respective actions. The rain outside was going on at full force and some thunder started to accompany it. But Nero didn't really care, right now, only the sound of Gwen's drum mattered to him at the moment.

As he danced however, an image came into his mind. The image was of that guy running towards the subway before Nero went to sleep. Although he was considerably far away, Nero noticed that there was something very suspicious about that guy. Mostly, because his clothes were torn apart and it was kind of obvious that he was running away from something. But what exactly was he running away from was the question that Nero wanted to know.

Eventually, the song ended and so did his dance. "That was pretty awesome." Gwen told him.

"The song was cool too, did you really come up with it?" He asked her as he approached her.

"Yup, it's just a drum solo though." Gwen spoke in response.

"Well, maybe we can turn that into a full song." Nero proposed. "I would need a guitar and keyboard though." Sadly, he sacrifices the guitar in exchange for a leather jacket.

"Well, actually..." Gwen spoke with a strange expression before she stood up from the seat and moved out of the room. Leaving the pale boy confused. Until she came back a few seconds later carrying a guitar gig bag. The blond girl then placed it on top of the bed and showed it to the white haired boy. "Taa daa..."

"Holy shit..." That was his reaction as he saw the guitar that was inside. A flying V electric guitar in the color black. "Where did you get that?" Nero asked as he admired the awesome guitar.

"There is a guy that lives on the floor above, he is a failed musician and his girlfriend wants him to quit music and get a real job since she got pregnant recently." Gwen explained to him as he picked the guitar up. "To summarize, she gave up all of his instruments for free." Hearing that actually surprised him.

"That's... A real jerk move." Nero would be furious if someone gave his stuff up for free. "She could have just sold his stuff or something, because this is really high quality." And he can only assume that the other instruments were the same.

"I agree with you on that, but..." Gwen smirked.

"Free stuff is too tempting to refuse." Nero smirked as well, clearly having the same opinion as her.

"Exactly." Gwen told him.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity, he held the guitar and proceeded to play a song on it. So he played a guitar solo in front of Gwen. It was a simplistic solo that any amateur guitarist could play, he simply wanted to see how the guitar played. Once he finished the solo, he had to admit, he was a little jealous because that was an awesome guitar. "Can I borrow it some time?" He asked his blond friend.

Gwen's response was to giggle in response to what he just asked. "Nero," She folded her arms and gave him a smile. "I don't know how to play guitar." Then she highlighted the guitar and the case. "It's for you."

The boy widened his gray eyes in response to what he just heard. "Seriously?!"

Gwen bursted into laughter in response to the face that he just made. "Was that the face I made when you brought me the Drum set?" She asked him in response.

"Probably, but are you for real right now?" The boy wearing a white tank top needed confirmation.

"Yes, I am giving the electric guitar to you as a proper exchange for the drum set that you gave me, because an old leather jacket was far from being worth the price that you paid for that." Gwen clarified to her pale friend as he still seems dumbfounded by what she just did. "Okay, if I actually made that face when you gave me the drum as, I ac-" While she was making a somewhat jokeful remark in regards to his current facial expression, Gwen Stacy was surprised by what he did while she was speaking. Which was putting the guitar down and grabbing her into a tight hug. She seemed surprised for a second, until she actually returned the hug and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're welcome."

"Hmmm..." Nero had his arms wrapped around her torso in a tight hug, since he was overjoyed by the gift. "It means a lot..." Every gift he ever gets is to be honest. But this one certainly stands out.

"So did the drum," Gwen replied to him as she also held him tightly. "So... We're even... I guess..."

"I guess..." That was the last thing he said.

But neither of them even attempt to separate from the hug. Despite three minutes passing by and neither said a word afterwards.

"Are you sure you want to go under this rain?" Gwen asked him.

Nero stayed in Gwen's home for four more hours. The lights were still not back and the rain was still going on. But eventually, Mr. Stacy called Gwen and warned her that he was coming home, so Nero decided that it was time for him to leave. Because he really didn't want to add it to the long list of strange things that happened while Nero was around.

"Yeah, the rain got weaker, the military aren't around the block anymore and it doesn't seem like the lights will be back today." Nero pointed out as he pulled his hood up. "Thank you for your concern though." He said as he zipped his leather jacket up.

"Well, you're the one that lives considerably far away from her." Gwen pointed out.

"Truth." Nero then picked up the Guitar gig bag that had his new guitar inside and strapped it on his back. "Thanks again for the guitar."

"You can thank me by finishing that song you promised." They basically spend the time playing music together with him basically composing a song that fits with a drum solo that she played.

"It's a deal." Nero smiled at her after saying that. "Well," Then he approached her and kissed her on the cheek. "See ya, Gwen."

"See ya, Nero." That was the last thing she said before she opened the door for him and closed it once he passed through it.

That was really pleasant, despite what happened yesterday and the fact that I basically have no fucking idea of how I'm going to get home. Nero Carnby thought as he put his hands inside his jacket's pockets, before he moved towards the stairs to make his way to the first floor in order to leave the building. Getting a new electric guitar as a gift certainly made this whole mess worth it. The boy with white hair was very happy right now because of his new instrument.

The apartment was pretty quiet, probably because most people decided to pass the time doing something quietly, like sleeping. I'm probably going to take a nap once I get home and then play guitar for an unspecified amount of time. He already planned as he made his way out of the building.

The rain wasn't too bad and the gig bag protected the guitar from the water since it was waterproof. The street was relatively empty, but there were some cars driving around. Probably people who didn't get to have a day off even with a blackout going on. There's something... Exceptionally bleak about atmosphere today. Nero thought as he moved away from the apartment by crossing the street. Which is kind of understandable, considering what happened yesterday. Thoughts about that green creature called Hulk came into his mind. Something that was very convenient since he came face to face with the subway that he and Gwen came from yesterday, which also happened to be the place where he saw the suspicious guy entering yesterday.

Nero Carnby stayed there for almost a minute, ignoring the cold rain falling on him. He just kept looking at the entrance of the subway with a very confusing feeling. Why do I have the urge to go there? Nero asked himself. This isn't the first time I had this kind of urge, sometimes it feels like I'm being directed towards something. That was a feeling that Nero genuinely felt, every time something strange happened. I had this urge the day I saved Jean from being hit by that car. He remembers perfectly. I also had this feeling when I kept holding on to that ring that Felicia stole. To this day, he still doesn't understand why he kept it. The day where I beat that paedophile that was obsessed with Jean's sister... Was also a moment where he felt that weird urge, when they got there and noticed the door opened.

Taking a deep breath, Nero unzipped his leather jacket and pulled out the flashlight that he and Gwen were using yesterday, which he was keeping inside the inside pocket of his jacket. Well, that urge started my friendship with Jean, led to my first kiss with a very pretty girl and helped me save Jean's family from that asshole. So he decided to continue to follow that urge, despite not knowing if it's an actual thing that keeps directing him towards these events or if it's just him imagining things.

Slowly, he entered the subway, turning on the flashlight that was on his left hand once the darkness came. Wondering if he will actually find something inside. This urge could be another superpower for all I know and I wish this powers came with a fucking instruction manual. Nero still hasn't figured out how to spit fire or teleport, much less why he gets terrible headaches if he reads someone's mind for too long, or what is the ruleset behind the healing quickly thing since it apparently only works when it feels like it. I also still have no idea about the whole, Grim Reaper being my mother thing. He definitely doesn't plan on dying to ask her.

The place looked like the scenario of a horror movie. Looking around, he kindly half expects a monster to jump out of the shadows and attack him. Considering that he saw a big green monster yesterday, it doesn't sound too far-fetched. Arriving at the middle of the station, Nero couldn't help but notice that there was a trashcan on the floor and he's pretty sure that it wasn't there yesterday. Looking at the trash on the floor, it looked like someone stomped as they passed by it without knowing. Luckily, it left a small trail because he apparently stepped on something that stained the floor. I don't even wanna know what that is because it looks disgusting. That was his opinion as he followed the trail until he arrived at the door of the woman's bathroom.

"Hmmm..." Slowly, he opened the door of the woman's bathroom to see what was inside. The bathroom was relatively clean, at least by public bathroom standards. Entering it quietly with the flashlight at hand, Nero looked around the place to see if there was anything inside. Taking small steps into the middle of the bathroom, he saw something. What the fuck? It was a pair of skinny legs coming out of a stall. That's definitely the guy from yesterday. He was sure of it. He approached the legs slowly to see who the legs belonged to.

Once he got in front of the stall, Nero saw who was there. There was an unconscious guy, sitting on the floor right beside the closed toilet with his head on top of the closed toilet seat. He was only wearing a pair of ripped apart jeans that looked like shorts now. The lack of clothing really highlighted how skinny the guy was, clearly underweight. The last thing that he noticed was that he had something in his right hand. Fuck... It was a revolver. Okay... Unfortunately, the memory of his confrontation with that paedophile came back into his mind.

Which motivated Nero to grab that revolver before he woke up. Just... A... Little... Closer. Nero slowly reached out to take the revolver off his hand. Approaching his hand, he grabbed the weapon by the barrel and was ready to pull off his hand.

But...

"Mmmm..." Suddenly, the guy made a noise and Nero noticed that he just woke up from his sleep. "Hmmm..." Lazily, he opened his eyes and noticed Nero there. "What?" He asked with a very confused face, before moving his head and saw that Nero was actually grabbing the gun that was in his hand.

...

...

...

The two simply stood there, staring at each other with a poker face.

...

...

...

"OUCH!" Until Nero basically hit his forehead with the flashlight and pulled the revolver off his hand before standing up and stepping back.

"Hands up!" Nero held the revolver in his right hand and aimed at the guy.

The Revolver was a SmithWesson Model 500, he recognized due to seeing it in a movie once. It was chrome plated, had a 4-inch barrel and a custom rear sight. Nero held the revolver and the flashlight in a FBI Technique, which is employed by grabbing a flashlight with your support hand, wrapping the palm and fingers around the body of the light with the thumb on the tailcap. The hand is then extended out from the body, high and to the left of the support shoulder, angling the light toward the target. This method can be deployed in different distances from the body, bending the elbow slightly to adjust distance or conform to interior spaces.

Once he fully pointed the light at the guy, he noticed something. Wait, I saw this guy before. Recognizing the scruffy beard, the messy brown hair and the dark blue jeans. It's the suspicious guy from the bus... Nero actually remembered that he saw him while he was on his way to meet up with Gwen, mostly because he actually read the guy's mind due to how suspicious looking he was. Wait... Taking a good look at his ripped dark blue jeans, he noticed that they were identical to the one that the green monster was wearing. Could it be... I mean, I only manage to partially look at that thing because of the dark but...

"Look, please don't shoot." The guy requested as he put his hands up. "I don't know what you think it's going on bu-"

"You're that green monster that was destroying the city yesterday, aren't you?" Nero bluntly asked the man, since there was no point in beating around the bush. "Unless you have a really good explanation to why you're hiding inside a woman's bathroom in a dark subway station wearing the exact same outfit that the monster was wearing yesterday." He decided to point out everything that led to his conclusion just in case he tries to argue or give a half baked explanation.

The guy opened his mouth to speak, but immediately closed again, clearly because he didn't have a good explanation for him. "Please, it wasn't my fault." He spoke in an apologetic tone.

"Hulk smash..." Nero then made an impression of the monster as a counter argument for what he just said.

"No, listen, It wasn't my fault literally." The guy tried to argue. "I can't control it when he comes out." He told the boy that was pointing a revolver at him.

"He?" Nero noted when he said that.

"Hulk, that's his name." The guy then slowly stood up from the floor with Nero pointing the revolver at him, but ironically, he didn't feel like that guy was hostile in any way. "Listen, can you please put the revolver down, I'm not dangerous." He requested.

Strangely, Nero believes him for some reason, so he decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Alright, but I'm keeping the revolver and if you try anything, I'll shoot your ass like a dog, understand?" He said as he placed the revolver inside his jacket's pocket.

"There won't be a need for that... ummmm... W-what is your name again?" The guy asked him as he put his hands forward to signal that he meant no harm.

"You first?" Because Nero assumes that his name isn't Hulk.

"My name is Bruce, Bruce Banner." He introduced himself to him.

"Nero Carnby." He introduced himself to the man in return. "Now, Mr. Banner, would kindly explain to me what exactly you mean with "can't control it when he comes out"?"

"Well... It's a little hard to explain." Bruce moved out of the stall that he was in and moved towards the sink of the bathroom. He was limping, indicating that he was injured. "The best way I can describe it is that..." He washed his face in the sink. "Hulk is a type of transformation that I go through... but he is his own entity, I mean..."

"So, basically you're saying that the green monster has a mind of his own and that he completely takes over after you transform yourself into it." Nero actually understood easily.

"Yes!" Bruce confirmed. "Exactly!" He seemed thankful that Nero understood so easily.

"Okay..." Nero approached the wall and leaned on it. "Now, please explain how this transformation works." He requested another explanation from the barely dressed man.

"Ummm... I turn into the Hulk when... when there is an increased release of the neurotransmitter known as adrenaline into his blood, which normally happens when I'm angry." Bruce explained to Nero.

"So this is a rage induced transformation, great..." He really didn't like what he just heard, because rage is one of the emotions that are the easiest one to appear. If this guy turns into that green monster every time he gets angry, I simply can't fucking imagine the mayhem that he could cause next time he tranforms. "So, in order words, you're incredibly dangerous and you're currently in the middle of a highly populated city where you can cause an absurd amount of damage to everyone around."Nero bluntly pointed out the main problem with that current situation.

"Pretty much." Strangely, Bruce apparently agreed to what Nero just said.

"Mr. Banner, why shouldn't I deliver you to the military, who are clearly searching the city for you?" Nero asked with a poker face because it's kind of obvious to him that there is more to this story.

Bruce sighed before answering. "It would take too long to actually tell you the whole story, so I'll give you a summary." He took a deep breath before continuing. "What I went through was a complete accident, but they want to put others through this on purpose to use it as a weapon." That was a simple but effective explanation that immediately drove the point across.

Nero widened his eyes in response to what he just heard. "Wait, so they want to capture you in order to get whatever turns you into that green monster, so they turn more people into them to use it as weapons?!" That was the conclusion that Nero came across after hearing his simple explanation.

"Pretty much." Bruce confirmed.

"What the fuck is wrong with this people?!" Nero asked in deep shock, because the damage that one of them caused was bad enough already but if they make a whole army or even a small group of them, it would be the equivalent of a natural disaster.

"I asked myself the exact same question several times already." Bruce spoke, clearly relieved that Nero actually understood the situation. "Listen, Nero, if I thought it would be for the best, I would have turned myself in already, but I simply can't imagine what is going to happen if they manage to create more things like the Hulk." There was a lot of sincerity in his voice, which made Nero believe every word he was saying. "So, please, I beg you, don't turn me in." He literally begged the boy in front of him.

"Okay..." Despite not knowing the guy, he actually seemed genuine and Nero can tell that his current state is the result of being on the run for a while now. "But..." There was a problem. "The military are searching the streets for you and I still don't know why they didn't search the subway." He explained to Bruce Banner.

"Yeah..." He touched his head in clear frustration. "That was something that I was already kind of expecting." Washing his face once again and then scratching his head, just by looking at him, Nero could tell that he was tired and hungry, and probably hasn't showered in a while due to the smell.

Nero Carnby sighed, because he was about to do something really stupid. "Stay here, I'll be back."

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful but..." Bruce commented to the boy. "Couldn't you get something less, noticeable?"

Nero Carnby decided to help Bruce Banner. So he left him in the bathroom for a bit while he went to grab him some clothes to replace the ones that were destroyed. So he basically broke into one of the apartments around the area and stole some of the clothes that were found there.

"Probably, but I was kind of in a hurry." Nero responded sarcastically as he ate some Twinkies that he found inside of the apartment.

The outfit that Nero got for Bruce was a cotton white long sleeved shirt with a red trim, a colorful flower design vest, matching elastic waistband pants. Which he suspects to be some type of costume because he doubts that someone would actually dress like that. "Ummm..." Bruce finished putting the outfit on.

"You look like a fucking Hippie." Nero pointed out and he's pretty sure that Bruce thinks the same. "Thankfully, I got this too." The boy wearing a leather jacket then reached to grab more items for Bruce that were on the floor. A pair of work rubber boots and a long yellow raincoat. "There's some heavy rain going on outside, so you're gonna need it." He tossed the two things for him to grab it.

"Thank you." He wasted no time in putting the boots and raincoat on. Fortunately, the raincoat covered most of the ridiculous outfit underneath, so he was definitely good for now.

"Now, follow me." The boy wearing a hood told the man wearing a raincoat while signalling him to follow him.

"Huh?" Bruce was confused but he followed him anyway.

Nero then moved towards the main area of the subway station with Bruce following behind him, mostly because he was holding the flashlight that was the only source of light in the area. The two walked for a bit until they arrived at the train tracks, where Nero pointed to the right. "If I'm not mistaken, that way will lead us to Manhattan." The boy explained to the man. "Which is where I live and where you'll have a much better chance of getting the hell out of the city before the military catches on with you." He pointed it out to him. Unless they actually blocked the city entrance, but that's not my problem.

"Ummm... Yeah, good idea." Bruce was okay with tha plan, probably because he knew that he could maybe get to New Jersey from there.

"Come on then." Nero replied before jumping down the train tracks with the flashlight on hand.

Bruce, who's foot seemed to be injured, got down slowly. Once he did, Nero signalled him to follow him as they both went to railway on the right.

"A-are you sure this is safe?" Bruce asked him as he limped beside him.

"As long as the lights are out, but considering the damage that you caused, I don't think they will be back for a while." He actually went on top of the building to see the damage and he could tell from a distance that it wasn't pretty. "Or, the damage that "Hulk" caused." He clarified since Bruce already explained to him that he can't control it.

"Oh boy..." Bruce was not happy with what Nero just told him and he definitely shouldn't because it was pretty bad.

"Listen, I don't know you, but I actually believe what you said about the military wanting to use you to create more of those green monsters as weapons, which is the only reason why I'm helping you right now." Nero bluntly informed him, because he will get in deep trouble if he's caught helping a dangerous fugitive.

"And I deeply thank you for that." Bruce was very grateful for his help.

"You can thank me by telling me everything about this mess you're in." Nero wanted to know, despite having nothing to do with that, he really wanted to know the details because that sounds like one big government conspiracy.

"Ummm... It's kind of a long story." Bruce responded as the two passed through the dark subway tunnel.

"And this is kind of a long walk, so I think we got time." Nero responded sarcastically.

"I guess you're right." Bruce saw his point. "Okay, it all started when I was attempting something that many had failed before without even knowing it."

"What?" Now Nero was curious.

"Do you know who Captain America is?" Bruce asked him a very stupid question.

"Dude, Captain America is like... An American icon." Finding someone that doesn't know who Captain America is quite difficult.

"Yeah, you're right, stupid question." Bruce realized how dumb that question was before continuing. "You know what made Captain America special?"

Nero immediately realized that he was actually talking about the fabled Super-Soldier Serum that was given to the soldier called Steve Rogers, that turned him into Captain America. "You mean the formula designed to create super-soldiers?" He asked the man, despite already knowing the answer.

"Precisely that one." Bruce confirmed.

"You know, allegedly, the only working formula was used to create Captain America." He pointed out the common knowledge. "But, I always thought that was bullshit and they actually created more of this formula but just kept it a secret to avoid some unwanted attention." That was always his main theory.

"You couldn't be more wrong." Bruce told him. "The only working formula was indeed the one that was given to Captain America, all of the other samples were destroyed and they have been trying to recreate the formula since World War II." Nero heard that explanation, a little annoyed that his theory was wrong but the whole trying to recreate it since World War II actually made sense and they probably would have done what Nero suspected if they succeeded.

"And you're saying that this transformation you go through is a result of your own personal failed attempt at recreating the Super-Soldier Serum?" That was Nero's conclusion considering what he just said.

"Basically... Yes." Bruce answered his question.

"So... What... You're some type of scientist?" Nero could already tell that he was a scholar.

"Pretty much, my area of expertise is in biochemistry, nuclear physics and gamma radiation. " The man wearing a raincoat explained his credentials to the boy wearing a leather jacket. "The latter being the major reason for how I got into this mess."

"Gamma radiation?" Nero asked as the two arrived at another station but kept on moving since it wasn't the one that they were looking for..

"Yeah," Bruce explained as they passed by the station and continued down the subway rail. "One of the key components of the original Super-Soldier Serum, was Vita Radiation, an electromagnetic radiation with a specific wavelength that has stabilizing properties." Nero listened carefully to his explanation. " A device called Vita-Ray Chamber was used to house an individual to expose them to high concentration of Vita Rays, the device was used as a catalyst after the subject was injected with the Super-soldier serum, stabilizing the process." He finished his explanation. "Sadly, the device was destroyed and the creator was killed as soon as Captain America was made."

"And you tried to replace Vita Radiation with Gamma Radiation in your attempt to recreate the formula." It all made sense to Nero now.

"Exactly." Bruce confirmed his conclusion. "And you already saw the end result."

"Shit..." Nero cursed in response because the end result was pretty terrifying. "But, what do you mean with "without even knowing it"?"

"That is the worst part, you see..." Bruce clearly changed his demeanor before speaking. "I thought I was working on a serum meant to prevent radiation poisoning."

"Wait, what the fuck?!" Nero immediately reacted negatively to what he just heard. "Are you telling me they tricked you into this shit?!"

"To put it simply." He was clearly a little bitter about that. "The man in charge of the whole thing was General Thaddeus Ross, my..." There was some difficulty in saying the next part. "Girlfriend's father..."

"Wow..." Nero thought that was really fucked up.

"He invited me to work on his government project under the guise of it being used to render soldiers resistant to radiation." Bruce then finished his explanation. "Well, now he's completely obsessed with hunting and capturing me." Which explains why the military was searching for him.

Before Nero could say anything else, he remembered what happened when he saw Bruce before this mess started. He remembered that Bruce was heading to the apartment of a woman named Elizabeth. "What is your girlfriend's name?" He asked a very obvious question.

"Elizabeth Ross, but most call her Betty." Bruce explained with a sad face.

Why was this moron visiting Betty? Nero asked himself since this is some unbelievable level of stupidity, visiting the daughter of the guy that wants to capture you just doesn't make sense to him. "Umm... Bruce... What made you turn into the Hulk yesterday?" He decided to ask in order to get some contest for the situation of yesterday.

"I was..." He seemed a little ashamed to say it. "When I turned into the Hulk for the first time, Betty was there and..."

"Let me guess, it wasn't pretty..." Nero could only imagine how bad that went.

"She ended up in a coma because of it." Bruce seemed to be guilt-ridden over it. "When she woke up... I tried to make contact with her and..."

"And you had to go check on her after she contacted you back." Once again, Nero came to a conclusion. "And it was a trap."

"Yes..." Bruce seemed really upset about it. "I don't know if... She was a part of it or..." That seemed to be the part that was eating him the most about the situation.

"I'm gonna be very honest with you," Nero decided to speak. "If she knows that her father got you into this mess by lying and manipulating you, I'm pretty sure that she wants nothing to do with him or his little hunt for you." If she does, she is a bitch and you're better off without her. "Her father probably knew that you were going to try to contact her and decided to ambush you when you did."

"Ummm... Yes, she is aware of it but..." Bruce heard him loud and clear, which clearly minimized some of his worries.

"But..." He was waiting for a counter-argument.

"But... Maybe you're right." Bruce saw his point and seemed to be hoping for that to be the case.

"Maybe... Don't let your guard down though." Nero advised him.

The two basically stopped talking after that and kept on walking. With Nero reaching inside his pocket to grab another Twinkie that he stole, when he did that, he remembered something. "Hey, where did you get this revolver anyway?" Nero decided to ask, and he assumed that it belongs to the guy that is after him since this 500 S & W Magnum is enough to kill an elephant.

"Thing is... I don't really know, it was on the ground next to me when I turned back to normal." Bruce explained, with an expression of concern, probably because he's afraid to know what exactly he did to the owner of the revolver.

After eating the Twinkie, Nero pulled the revolver out in order to check it and it turns out that it only had one shot and the other four rounds were fired. "Damn..."

"What?" Bruce asked him in confusion.

"Someone shot this four times and either they were really bad shots or, the big green guy took four shots from one of the most powerful revolvers there is like it was nothing." Nero explained while unloading the fired cartridges and leaving the last bullet on. "And I strongly believe the latter." He pointed out before putting the revolver back inside of his jacket.

Bruce simply sighed in response, probably wondering who this revolver belonged to.

"There's no use dwelling on it, now come on." Nero told him as he kept moving forward and Bruce wasted no time in following him.

"And here we are." Nero could tell that they arrived where they were supposed to go.

"You sure?" Bruce asked as the two stepped on another subway station.

"Yeah, this is the station where I took the train to get to Brooklyn." He explained while pointing at a ugly graffiti that was on the wall. "Unless someone magically teleported that ugly graffiti into a different station." Nero explained how he knows. "Come on." The boy with a guitar on his back then proceeds to climb in order to get off of the subway tracks.

Then he extended his hand to help Bruce climb on as well. "Thanks."

The two of them were now in a dark waiting area of a subway station in Manhattan. Wasting no time, Nero simply signalled him to follow him again because he couldn't wait to get out of the dark. The boy and the man slowly moved towards the exit of the subway station, passing through the ticket booth and moving towards the stairs that lead to the exit. "Hey, once we're out, you're on your own alright?" Nero explained to Bruce.

"Alright, all this was already a big help and I really don't want to get you in trouble." It was understandable since Nero already helped him more than he should.

"Do you have a plan, or maybe somewhere to go?" Nero asked out of concern since he was a wanted man.

"Well, my cousin has been helping me but I really don't want her to get into any more trouble because of me." Bruce answered his question as the two arrived at the entrance.

"You may not have a choice but to ask her for h-" Nero was telling him something but stopped once they arrived at the exit.

The entire street was filled with soldiers, armored vehicles and even helicopters around. Apparently, they took their search for Bruce there as well.

"Hey!" Suddenly, a soldier saw the two of them and approached. With Nero and Bruce immediately making worried expressions in response to that. "What were you two doing down there?" A soldier carrying an assault rifle asked the two.

Fuck my miserable life... Nero thought as he stood in front of an armed soldier, with a wanted fugitive right besides him.

Fuck, fuck,fuck... Nero Carnby was in a difficult situation. A soldier carrying an assault rifle was standing right in front of him, and a very dangerous fugitive was standing right besides him.

"I said, what were you doing down?" The soldier asked the boy wearing a white hoodie

"We were just..." Bruce tried to come up with something, but Nero interrupted him before he could finish.

"I'm so sorry. When the blackout happened yesterday, I ended up leaving my guitar down at the subway." Nero made up a false explanation about why they were down there while pointing at the guitar that Gwen gifted him. "So I went down there to look for it, and my uncle went down there looking for me." Then he pointed at Bruce. "Isn't that right, uncle Bob?" Nero asked while doing everything to signal him to play along.

"Y-yes," Thankfully, he got the hint and played along with Nero's bullshit. "He really loves that guitar, and he refused to leave until he found it."

"The entire city is under complete lockdown, so I ask you to go back to your home and remain there until further notice." The soldier brought the bullshit, which made things easier.

"Sir, may I ask, do you have any idea how long the lights will be out?" Because he really wanted to recharge his iPod and maybe watch some TV.

"Unfortunately, I can't say; all I can say is that it will take a while." The soldier politely answered Nero's question.

"Thank you." Nero thanked him before grabbing Bruce's arm. "Come on, everyone else is probably waiting for us."

"Yes, all the family is gathering right now because of the blackout, and everyone is very worried over the destruction." Bruce then started to exaggerate his lie needlessly.

"Uncle Bob! " Nero yelled angrily because he would blow the lie if he kept talking. "Come on, I'm hungry!"

"Oh right, sorry, my nephew." Bruce seemed to have realized and moved to walk alongside Nero. With the street being completely overwhelmed by the military, with military vehicles and heavily armed soldiers everywhere.

The street only had a few civilians around, but mostly people were being guided back to their houses. The orphanage is just a few blocks away, so I could just ditch Bruce and be on my way. He seriously contemplated doing that. But he quickly shoved that thought aside. If they capture his ass and make more of those green monsters, it could really cause some type of major conflict. With that, Nero decided to think of a way to get Bruce out of the city. Okay, if I wanted to get the fuck out of New York City, how would I do it? He asked himself. I would probably go on foot, but that's not an installations because Because there are military all over the city. Another way... I would probably hide inside a car and take a ride, but that's not an option either. The boy with white hair couldn't come up with anything. Another thing I would do is try to hide inside a boat or...came to me Then an idea came. The North River isn't too far from here; maybe we can find something that will help him cross it and get him to New Jersey. That was the best idea that he could come up with at the moment. Maybe he can use the North River tunnels. The North River Tunnels are a pair of rail tunnels that carry Amtrak and New Jersey Transit passenger lines under the Hudson River between Weehawken, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan.

The two of them moved quietly down the street as the military passed them, with Bruce justifiably being very nervous, which worried Nero because he said that the transformation is induced by either anger or stress. As he saw an alleyway approaching, Nero grabbed Bruce's arm and pulled him into the alley.

"We need to get to the North River Tunnels; crossing it to get to New Jersey is your best bet to get the fuck out here." Nero bluntly told Bruce as the two moved slowly through the alley to get to another street.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? They could be monitoring the area as well." Bruce immediately questioned his plan.

"I am almost certain that they are monitoring the area, but where the fuck else can we go?" It wasn't really a question. Suddenly, a bunch of helicopters passed above them, with Nero and Bruce moving their heads up to look at them. "Scratch the almost." because one of the helicopters went in the direction of the North River.

"Still wanna go there?" Bruce asked.

"It's your best chance of escaping." Nero told him that, honestly, he would suggest that he lay low and hide somewhere until the military moves out of Manhattan, but Nero really doesn't like the idea of him staying in the city as the transformation could occur again, and with the damage he previously caused, the boy with white hair really prefers to not risk it and get Banner out of the city as soon as he can. Despite having a Smith & Wesson 500 on his jacket, he doubts that it will do anything with the Hulk. "Now, come on." The boy wearing a white hoodie told the man wearing a raincoat

"Lead the way." Bruce said, because he apparently doesn't know Manhattan well.

Both hooded individuals moved in order to reach the other street. with Nero looking out for soldiers.

The rain was still falling upon them, but thankfully, their coats protected them from the water. The alley was wet, and the ground was filled with trash, something that was relatively common.

Reaching the end of the alley, they came across another street, that was relatively empty in comparison to the other. Fortunately, it had more civilians than soldiers, which made it easier for them to blend in with the crowd. Jesus Christ, these guys ain't messing vehicle saw Nero thought as he sees an tank and several military vehicles descending the street. But, considering the damage that the Hulk caused, I can't really blame him. Several buildings were damaged, cars were destroyed and people probably died in the rampage. Not to mention that the electricity in the whole city seemed to be out, and the fact that they apparently aren't doing anything to fix that just showcases where their priorities lie. I don't even want to see what's going to happen when night comes; the number of people who will take advantage of the blackout will be numerous. He could already tell.

"THE CITY IS ON LOCKDOWN; EVERYONE PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR RESIDENTS AT THIS INSTANCE."

One of the soldiers spoke on what appeared to be a megaphone. Though Nero and Bruce mostly ignored her and kept moving along with the crowd.

Walking slowly, they noticed that some soldiers were stopping people one by one. Fuck... He noticed that they were identifying the civilians before allowing them to pass. And Bruce won't be able to pass this identification. Great, I need a plan. He thought as they practically got stuck in a line for identification.

Looking around, Nero tried to come up with an idea of what he could possibly do to create a distraction. The street was unremarkable, with nothing that could stand out. Shit. There's nothing here I can Nero was starting to get desperate as the line for identification moved and they get closer and closer to the soldiers. With Nero searching around for anything at all for him to use. until he came across something on his right. That could work. On his right, there was a liquor store that seemed to be closing down. "Don't panic," he told Bruce.

"What?" Bruce asked in confusion as Nero walked past him.

reaching the liquor store door, which was a glass door. Nero moved his head where he saw the tank moving past them, and as the loud noise came with it, Nero punched the glass door with his right fist that thankfully had a tactical glove on it and opened it, slowly entering as everyone was distracted by the tank. before he signaled Bruce to wait for him before he closed the door.

Once Nero was in, he saw a bunch of bottles that contained alcoholic drinks. Wasting no time, the boy with white hair grabbed bottles of vodka, rum, absinthe, and tequila, pouring everything on the floor of the liquor store.

Then he reached inside of his jacket and pulled out his lighter. This is the second fire I've ever started, but at least this one is intentional. He thought as he used the lighter to set the liquor store on fire, then ran back to the door.

Rejoining the line of identification and trying to reach Bruce, who was about to reach the identification post where the soldiers were demanding any sort of document that could confirm the civilian's identity.

"Sir, an document with identification please." The soldier asked Bruce.

"Ummm... Well, you see..." Bruce tried to awkwardly talk his way out of that.

"Uncle Bob!" But Nero interrupted him. "Someone set that liquor store on fire!" He yelled loudly for everyone to hear.

Fortunately, it had the desired effect, as everyone was now in a state of panic as the fire spread through the store, causing everyone to desperately step away from it. The soldiers, seeing the chaos, immediately stepped in to try to contain it. Leaving a confused Bruce behind, Nero, wasting no time, grabbed Bruce by the arm and pulled him past the blockage.

"Did you set the place on fire?" He asked the obvious.

"What the hell do you think?" He sarcastically pointed out. "Don't worry, no one got hurt, and the owner probably has insurance." Probably... He wasn't so sure about that. "Now, come on."

The two moved through the next street after getting past the blockage. That one was relatively empty, with nothing but civilians around, probably because they already inspected that street. which allowed me to walk by it more peacefully.

"Damn." Nero could see several helicopters roaming the city. "Your father-in-law really doesn't spare any effort."

"He's not my father-in-law." Bruce immediately shut down that idea.

"You were fucking his daughter; to some, that already qualifies him as a father-in-law." That was a very stupid thing to say, but Nero genuinely believes that.

"You're a nasty kid, you know that?" Bruce pointed this out.

"One hundred percent." Nero didn't even try to deny it. Then he signaled for him to turn left at the corner of the street. There were soldiers in there, but they were only covering the military vehicles that were riding down the street. The two of them moved slowly past the vehicles, and they didn't seem to suspect them. probably because of Nero's presence there.

"How much for the North River?" Bruce asked him.

"Not far; just keep moving." Nero responded as they reached the end of the street. Moving his head back, he sees the military vehicles going in the same direction they came from. Leaving out a sight of relief, Nero signaled Bruce to cross the street.

"Here we are." Nero spoke as the two of them reached the docks. "Good luck and take care." The boy with white hair then waved him goodbye and turned around.

"Wait a second?!" Bruce immediately responded. "You're just going to leave me here?!"

"Yes, jump into the fucking water and swim until you get to New Jersey." Nero did that once, which is how he got his iPod.

"Are you crazy?" Bruce asked in deep confusion. "I can't do that!"

"Oh for fuck's sake." Nero touched his face in frustration before he reached inside his jacket. "Then you just have to wait for a boat and hide yourself inside." The thing he pulled out of his jacket was a joint.

"Is that... marijuana?" Bruce asked him in clear surprise as Nero placed the joint in his mouth.

"No. It's grass wrapped in paper." He spoke sarcastically as he lightened up. "Now, Mr. Weapon of Mass Destruction, search around for a fucking boat." Nero instructed him as he smoked weed.

"Weren't we going to the North River tunnels?" Bruce asked in deep annoyance.

"We were, until we actually got there and saw that the entire place was filled with armed men." They attempted to get through the Pennsylvania Station, with Nero hoping that the place was empty like the subway that they came from. But unfortunately, the place was crawling with military personnel, forcing them to change their plans. That change of plan was going to the docks. The place only had a few people in sight, which made things easier for them.

"Come on, and stay cool." Nero signaled for him to follow him as he inhaled the smoke from the joint.

Moving slowly through the docks, the two individuals walked, looking around for any armed soldier or something that would want to capture Bruce. The place was wetter than usual because of the rain. I am so fucking tired of this fucking Nero thought in deep annoyance as he does his best to keep the joints light. "Look, once you get the fuck out of New York City, you better call that cousin that has been helping you." Nero suggested as he smoked.

"Listen, she has already been helping me enough; I don't understand." He tried to argue against it, but Nero immediately shut him up.

"You're wounded, you have no fucking money, there's a small army searching for you, and I'm pretty certain that you've never been in New Jersey before." He immediately pointed out all of his shortcomings. "Either you fucking call her or you are going to get caught, and she has been helping you all this time for nothing."

"Alright, alright, I get it." Thankfully, he got his point. "Maybe I can find a payphone somewhere."

"Maybe," Nero then searched around, and he noticed an area filled with containers. "Maybe you can hide inside one of those." He pointed at the containers. However, the moment he pointed them out, he noticed that there were soldiers passing by the containers. "Or not, move out," he told him as they turned around. "Fuck..."

The moment they turned around, they saw another military vehicle arrive at the spot that they came from. "Oh no." Bruce spoke in fear.

"Get down." Nero ordered him as he crouched and signaled Bruce to follow him.

Bruce obeyed and crouched before following Nero to hide behind a crane that was on their left. with the two hiding behind it and watching the soldiers.

"There is no way this is a coincidence." Nero pointed out. "They are probably tracking you or something." That was just a theory, but it made sense.

"Then why didn't they track me when I was in the subway station?" Bruce pointed out the flaw in his theory. "But, yes, the chances of this being a coincidence are relatively low." He also pointed out how it could be corrected.

"Doesn't fucking matter, we need to move." Nero spoke as he slowly moved to the left as the soldiers approached the crane that they were hiding behind. with the two of them slowly moving to the left side of the crane as they pass by it.

"Are you sure this is the place?" One of the soldiers spoke.

"The General ordered us to place men on every single dock in Manhattan." Another soldier confirmed that it wasn't a coincidence.

"Airports, train stations, and docks." Another soldier pointed this out.

"Do you actually think the green freak is going to be able to escape?" Another soldier spoke.

"In his human form, I doubt it, but if he turns into that thing again, definitely." Another soldier said

"What's this smell?" One of them seemed to have noticed something. "Is someone smoking weed here?"

Fuck... Immediately, Nero dropped his joint and stepped on it.

signaling to As they spoke, Nero signaled Bruce to follow him as they got to the back of the crane. Once the soldiers passed tpeered, Nero peeked to see how far they were. But then he noticed the stairs to climb the container crane. Letting out a mischievous smile, the boy with white hair began to climb the crane, signalling Bruce to stay down as he did. After less than a minute, he reached the top and made his way to the controls. What an irresponsible shithead. Nero thought as he saw that whoever was maneuvering the crane had forgotten the keys on it. probably got out of here in a hurry. That was the best explanation. Oh well...machine on The boy wearing a white hoodie immediately turned the heavy machine and literally pressed every single button and pulled every single lever he could find. Gotta get the fuck out of . He thought as he left the crane and slid down the stairs "Run..." He told Bruce in a low voice as he jumped out of the crane.

"What did you do?" Bruce was about to ask, but he stopped the moment he saw the crane move uncontrollably. "Holy..." He joined Nero in running away.

"WHAT THE HELL!" One of the soldiers yelled as the crane started to rotate at a considerable speed and crashed into what appeared to be another crane. Dropping a few containers on the ground

"Jesus Christ." Bruce spoke as the loud noise of the containers falling in the ground at full force. with Nero and Bruce running past the soldiers as they were all distracted by the mayhem that Nero just started. "Was that necessary?"

"What the hell do you think?" Nero sarcastically asked.

The two of them slowly moved through the empty docks, with the soldiers being too busy with the chaos to actually notice them. with Bruce and Nero moving to reach the spot where the containers were kept. quickly hiding behind one of them as the soldiers rushed to reach the spot where the mayhem was happening.

"Now, we-" Nero was about to tell him that they had to open one of these containers so he could hide inside of it. But before he could say it, one of the helicopters that they had seen earlier started to approach the area. Nero had the urge to slap his forehead in frustration. "Now, we need to hide... again." That was what he said in the end as he signaled Bruce to follow him as the helicopter approached.

to one Running as fast as they could, Nero and Bruce ended up making their way to of the warehouses in the docks. entering them in a hurry as the helicopter got closer and closer. Great, what in the actual fuck are we going to do now? There's no way they can evade that helicopter.

"We can just wait until it leaves," Bruce suggested.

"Think again." Nero shut down that idea as he pointed at the soldiers, who were approaching the warehouse. probably in search of who messed with the crane. "Move..." He spoke as the two slowly moved toward the end of the warehouse. which was filled with wooden crates.

"That junk must have simply malfunctioned or something." Nero heard a soldier speak as he and Bruce reached the end of the warehouse.

"With no one operating it?" Another soldier pointed out the flaw in his theory. "No man, someone did mess with it."

Nero and Bruce crouched as the two soldiers slowly inspected the house, with them having to move slowly by the crates to avoid them.

"Did you actually see the green freak?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Yes, it was massive and buff as hell." The soldier gave a simple but accurate description of the Hulk. "Ever see someone with roid rage?" The other soldier shakes his head. "That was practically an exaggeration of what it looks like."

While the soldiers were having a conversation, Nero and Bruce were able to hide from them by using the wooden crates.

"Chances are that we are wasting our time, and he has already escaped the city." The soldier pointed it out.

"If it did or not, that's not our problem." The other soldier responded.

The two soldiers moved towards the end of the warehouse, while the fugitive and the semi-fugitive moved towards the entrance. But Nero immediately signaled him to stop as he saw the helicopter flying by above the warehouse. forcing them to continue to hide inside. with the soldiers making their way back to the entrance. Oh sh*t, what now? Nero desperately searched for a way out of that predicament. But he unfortunately couldn't find anything, and the soldiers were about to reach them. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Nero cursed internally as the soldiers were five steps away from them. GODDAMMIT! He hammerfisted the floor in rage as he did all of that sh*t for nothing.

However, the moment he hammered, he heard an extremely loud thunder. followed by a considerably loud noise coming from above them. Moving his head up, he realized that it was because a lightning bolt had just fallen on the roof of the warehouse.

"What the hell!?" The soldier yelled in deep confusion.

"Where did that come from?!" The other soldier asked.

Nero looked at his hand in deep confusion while Bruce looked at the ceiling.

Maybe... Nero then hammered the floor once again, causing another lightning bolt to hit the warehouse from above. New superpower! With that, Nero proceeded to hammerfist the floor once again, before he grabbed Bruce by the arm and pulled him so they could make their way out of the warehouse as the soldiers were distracted by the lightning bolts, with the helicopter flying next to the warehouse but clearly being too distracted by the fact that a lightning bolt had just landed on the warehouse in front of it.

"What the hell was that?!" Bruce asked as the two ran away.

"Long story." He wasn't in the mood to tell.

The two moved to the left to avoid the soldiers that were running towards the warehouse that Nero just destroyed.

Making their way back to the containers, Nero moved his head back to see the soldiers, and they were all next to the warehouse in deep confusion. This should give us some time. "Choose a container to hide in." Nero instructed him.

"Are you sure this is going into a boat?" Bruce asked as he checked the containers.

"No, but the location they are in certainly doesn't seem like the spot where they would put containers that were unloaded from a ship." Since the location was right next to the water and there was another container crane close by, "Okay, you need to find one that isn't going to crush you with whatever is inside, so start opening to check." Nero spoke as he opened one of the containers to check.

Fucking hell, did everyone decide to transport heavy shit today? Nero thought in deep frustration as he and Bruce spent the next five minutes checking all of the containers to see which he could hide in. Unfortunately, all of the containers that they have opened so far had very heavy stuff in them that would crush him under turbulence. And Bruce preferred not to take the risk; judging his track record of bad luck, it was probably the right call.

"Come on!" Suddenly, they heard someone yelling. "The cargo needs to be ready to be loaded!"

"Oh fuck." Nero cursed. "It's the dock workers."

"This is good; it means the military left the area." Bruce pointed this out.

"Probably, but we can't get caught by them either." Nero replied.

"Hey, the blue container is top priority; someone paid good money to have that transported!" They heard a worker yell at another who was climbing into the crane.

Blue container? Nero searched for it and found it. It stood out from the rest as it was painted a light blue color while all the others were red. So the boy wearing a hoodie pointed at it and then signaled Bruce to help him open. Let's see what is so top priority. Nero thought in curiosity as he opened the container to check what exactly was inside. "What the fuck?"

There were an absurd amount of guns inside that container. enough to supply a small army. "T-this is... contraband, isn't it?"

"Yes," Nero replied. "Get inside." Then, to Bruce's shock, he ordered him to enter.

"What?!" He asked in deep confusion.

"The only ones who are going to open this container are the people that these guns are going to, which means you shall be safe until then." Nero explained his logic.

"How am I supposed to get out of there?" Bruce asked.

"Mr. Banner, I've been risking my motherfucking ass all fucking day to help you get the fuck out of New York City; can't you just figure something out?" Nero asked in deep annoyance, as he has literally been doing everything since he found Bruce. "I mean, you created something that turned you into a monster, but you can't figure out a way to open a container from the inside?"

Bruce just sighed before giving in. "Alright."

"Good. Now get inside." Nero spoke as he saw the guy that operates the train turning the heavy machine on.

"Okay..." The scientist was still a little reluctant, but he entered the container. with Nero closing it behind him.

"Good luck! I hope you find a way out of this mess you're in." Nero genuinely hoped

"Thank you, Nero." Bruce replied with a smile.

"Here," He reached inside his jacket and pulled out the flashlight. "You're gonna need it." He tossed it to him. "No offense, but I hope we never see each other again." Nero told him.

"I can't blame you for that." Bruce replied with a smile. "Goodbye, Nero." He told him before Nero closed the container doors. which was just in time as the crane was approaching the container.

Nero Carnby immediately stepped away from the container and crouched as some of the workers were approaching the area.

Slowly, Nero left the area by avoiding the workers using the containers.

Okay, officially, this day was a fucking mess. That was his sole opinion, as he couldn't fucking believe that he helped a guy who accidentally turned himself into a monster escape the military that wanted to turn him into a government weapon. Despite the danger, it was probably for the best, because Nero could tell that Bruce Banner was telling the truth, and the type of mess that more of those monsters would cause would be a calamity-level disaster.

Now, all that Nero could do was go back to the orphanage. walking slowly through the street, where the military that he saw earlier were nowhere to be found. They must have moved to another island. The boy wearing a leather jacket thought as he passed by a basketball court. Moving his gray eyes to see it, Nero got an urge to play some ball to forget about that day, and to his luck, there was a ball right in the middle of it.

I need some music first. Nero thought as he searched around the place for something to put on some music.

until he sees a car. a station wagon that was left completely unlocked. Nero approached the car to check. Definitely stolen, but the thief got out in a hurry. That was the most logical explanation. Oh well... He didn't really care; he just checked the car stereo to see if it was working. "Jackpot!"

I'm tired of being what you want me to be.

Yeah, that's it. He thought as he turned up the volume.

feeling so faithless, lost under the surface

Before he moved to the basketball court. But the moment he stepped in, he removed the guitar cascade from his back and placed it on a spot where rain wasn't falling.

I don't know what you're expecting of me.

Then he removed his jacket, hoodie, tank top, jewelry, watch, and shoes.

Put yourself under the pressure of walking in your shoes.

Once he took most of his stuff off, he ran to grab the ball and delivered a windmill dunk into the hoop.

Every step that I take is another mistake for you.
(caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow)

Nero slam dunked into the basketball hoop over and over and over again, and the cold rain fell on his torso.

I've become so numb.
I can't feel you there.

And he noticed that each time his feet touched the ground afterwards, a very loud thunder was heard by him.

Become so tired.
So much more aware
I'm becoming this
All I want to do

The truth was, Nero was trying to relax, so he didn't pay any attention because he was too focused on what he was doing.

Is being more like me
and be less like you.
Can't you see that you're smothering me?

The rain just got worse, but Nero Carnby just continued to play without a care in the world.

holding too tightly, afraid to lose control?

He performed an elbow hang. and held on to the hoop.

Everything that you thought I would be

As he held on to it, a lightning bolt descended from the sky and landed in the middle of the basketball court.

has fallen apart right in front of you?
Every step that I take is another mistake for you.
(caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow)

But he literally just ignored her and continued to play. letting go of the basketball hoop and running to grab the ball.

And every second I waste is more than I can take.
I've become so numb.

Maybe it was because he was trying to numb himself and forget about something in particular.

I can't feel you there.
Become so tired.
So much more aware
I'm becoming this
All I want to do
Is being more like me
and be less like you.

Because he simply can't understand why. Why was he sent there to help Bruce? There is no way that was a coincidence.

And I know
I may end up failing too.
But I know
You were just like me, with someone disappointed in you.

Now, he just found out that he can control lightning. which he was doing at the moment by jumping up and down and causing lightning to descend from the sky.

I've become so numb.
I can't feel you there.
Become so tired.
So much more aware
I'm becoming this
All I want to do
Is being more like me
and be less like you.

I don't know why, but I'm starting to get worried. He thought as he ran towards the hoop and performed a double clutch.

I've become so numb.
I can't feel you there.
(I'm tired of being what you want me to be.)

You know, sometimes I feel like someone is watching me; I never understood why, but... could it be connected?

I've become so numb.
I can't feel you there.
(I'm tired of being what you want me to be.)

"Fuck it." That was the last thing he said before he ran toward the hoop and performed a slam dunk.

Chapter Text

"Then I spent the rest of the day playing basketball in the rain while listening to the song, Numb." A week has passed by after the mess involving the Hulk. The city was back to normal but it was chaotic afterwards because it took nearly five days for the electricity to come back. But as soon as it did, Nero got some good news in the form of a news report regarding some contraband being found at the docks of New Jersey and the one behind being arrested in Manhattan. But the good news was that, no report about someone being found with it was said, which meant that Bruce managed to escape in time.

"Nero Caligula Carnby, I left you alone for a week and you managed to get yourself into such an unbelievable mess. " Of course, Jean was back from her trip, and after hugging her for a considerable amount of time, he decided to tell her about what happened. Luckily, there was no TV on her grandparents' home, so Jean didn't really see what happened in New York City.

"I guess that's part of my charm," Nero jokes. "Nero Carnby, the Doom Magnet." He spoke in a goofy evil voice.

Jean giggled in response. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Currently, the two were inside of Nero's room at the Orphanage. "Other boys may make fun of you." They were both on top of his bed, where Jean was painting Nero's toe nails with black nail polish.

"I don't give a fuck." Nero immediately rebuffed. "Besides, it looks really pretty."

"Agreed." Jean replied.

Truth was, Jean painted all of his nails black and made little drawings in the color white. There were little drawings on each of his fingernails. His index finger had an anarchy symbol. His middle finger had a Yin Yang symbol. His ring finger had an white flame. His little finger had a cross. His thumb had a smiley face.

"Almost done, but don't forget our deal." Jean agreed to paint his nails in exchange for him playing guitar for her.

"Would have done it anyway, I want you to hear the song that I wrote." Nero told her with a smile.

"Good, but you're gonna have to wait until your nails dry." Jean spoke as she finished, with all of his toe nails now having black nail polish.

"I love it!" Nero told her as he checked his nails up close. "Thanks." He gave Jean a kiss on the cheek as a thank you.

Jean blushed in response while smiling. "You are welcome." She replied before sitting beside him on the bed.

"Took my sweet time to ask but..." Nero decided to ask something that was probably a sensible topic. "How were things at your grandparents home?"

Jean was quiet for a bit, before she looked down for a few seconds. But then she moved her head up to look at him. "My parents... decided to put my sister in an institution..." It was clear that it bothered her.

"It's probably for the best..." Nero assured her before he wrapped his arm around her and she placed her head on his shoulder. "What is your sister's problem anyway?" He asked in curiosity.

"Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar disorder" Jean told him, she probably read someone's mind to know that.

"I'm sorry." He apologized for asking.

"It's okay, but let's change the subject." Jean moved her green eyes to look at him. "Did you try to use that new power again?" She asked him.

"Yes, but it didn't work." Nero answered her question. "My theory is that it only works when there's a thunderstorm."

"It seems like your powers either have some kind of prerequisite for usage or a limitation." Jean pointed out the obvious to him. So far, all of his powers seemed to have either a drawback or a prerequisite.

Healing: Only when it's fatal.

Telepathy: Migraine after using for more than two minutes. Except when it's with Jean.

Spitting Fire: Unknown.

Teleportations: Unknown.

Passing through walls: Unknown.

Lighting Control: Only when there's a thunderstorm.

Those were things that really annoyed Nero, because what is the point of having powers that you can barely use?

Before either of them could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. Causing the boy to sigh in response before he stood up to check.

"Ummm... Nero?" Jean highlighted his current state of clothing.

While she was wearing red jeans and a yellow T-shirt. Nero, on the other hand, was wearing nothing but his USA flag boxers and a white tank top.

"So?" Nero didn't see the problem. So he proceeded to open the door. "What?" He asked whoever was on the other side of the door.

It was one of the nuns of the orphanage, whom Nero forgot the name.

"What exactly are you wearing and especially with a girl in your room!?" The nun immediately asked in clear disapproval.

"Because it's my room and Jean doesn't really care." Nero bluntly anwered the woman. "Right?" He hopes that he's right.

"N-no..." Jean blushed for some reason.

"Carnby, did you paint your nails?!" That was the second thing that the nun noticed.

"Want to borrow nail polish?" That wasn't a serious question. "Those mummy hands of yours could definitely use some." Nero rudely replied with a sarcastic remark to the nun.

"Nero!" Jean yelled at him apprehensive.

"What?!" Nero lifted his hands up. "It's true, she could definitely use some nail polish." Then he moved his head to look at the nun. "What do you want?"

The Nun had an angry look on her face, but she seemed to contain herself. "Mr. Grey has called the orphanage looking for his daughter and requested that she return home immediately." She informed the two.

"Did something happen?" Jean immediately asked in concern.

"I have no idea, so I suggest you return to your home as quickly as you can." After bluntly saying that, the Nun left the two alone, with Nero sticking his tongue out for her and shutting the door.

Jean then moved to his drawer, grabbing her cellphone. Only to sigh once she checked it. "Dad called me five times..."

"Then it's probably important." Nero hugged her from behind. "Come on, I'll walk you home." He wants to be there in case of it being more bad news.

Jean touches his hand with her left hand and his cheek with her right hand in response to the hug while gently rubbing her cheek on his cheek. "Thank you." She clearly appreciated that.

Nero smiled at her and tightened his hug.

Nero put on his black jeans, his white tank-top and his black and white Air Jordans to accompany Jean back to her home, after his nails were dry, of course. With the two walking slowly while holding each other's hands. The climate changed considerably, so it was a considerably hot day.

"What do you think it's happening?" Nero asked. As he was already expecting to be bad.

"I don't know..." Jean tightened her grip on Nero's hand. Indicating that she was worried.

As they slowly walked, having little to no rush to get there, Jean asked him a question.

"What did you do with that gun?" Jean asked him with telepathy.

Nero sighed in response. "To tell the truth..." The boy with white hair decided to be honest. "I keep it, I wanna see if I can find some bullets for it so I can practice with it." Because he really wanted to learn how use it properly.

"Why?" She asked him out loud.

"Because I want to..." Nero had no good reason other than he wanted to do it.

"Sorry, but after what happened, I don't want anything to do with guns." Jean was quick to rebuff, because she probably still had nightmares about what happened.

"And I one hundred percent respect that." Nero was quick to affirm. "I'm mostly keeping that as a souvenir of my little adventure."

"Your little adventure with Gwen Stacy, you mean?" Jean spoke in a very strange tone of voice.

But Nero ignored it. "That would be the guitar that she gave me." Nero actually paid a visit to Gwen's home yesterday and the two spent the whole evening playing music together.

"Mmm..." Jean seemed a bit off over that.

Nero only had one explanation for that. "Are you... Jealous?"

Jean widened her green eyes in response to that . "What?" She immediately moved her head to look at him. "No!" Then she quickly denied while blushing. "Why would I be jealous?!"

"I don't know..." Nero looked away and smirked.

Jean grunted and looked away. "Idiot."

"I thought we established that already." Nero joked as he pulled his hand away and wrapped his whole arm around Jean.

"Yeah..." She gladly placed her head on his shoulder.

"You don't have to agree to it." He was quick to argue.

"But it's true." Jean gave him a cheeky smile.

"Yeah..." He gave the exact same response.

Eventually, the two friends reached the street where Jean lived. Slowly approaching their home, Nero noticed something.

"Who's car is that?" Right in front of Jean's home, there was a nice looking black car parked in front of it. He recognized the car as a Jaguar , a four-door luxury saloon car from the 60s.

"I don't know..." Jean seemed to be as confused as him since that wasn't her family's car.

"Ummm..." Nero thought that was a little too familiar. "Wai-" He was going to tell her to wait there, but she immediately shut down the idea.

"Not this time." Jean tightened her grip to hand.

Nero sighed in response. "Then stay close to me."

The redhead girl and the white haired boy made their way towards the front door of the home. Truth was, Nero hasn't been there since what happened and he wasn't necessarily pleased to be back there. Something that Jean clearly noticed.

Once they passed through the door, they slowly walked towards the living room, where Nero sensed a strange smell.

"What's this smell?" Nero asked Jean through telepathy.

"It smells like..." Jean seemed to have recognized the smell.

"It's Black tea." Out of nowhere, a third voice appeared on their heads, startling the duo.

"What the f-" Nero was about to curse, but before he could, Mr. Grey appeared in front of them.

"There you are." He spoke to Jean.

Jean, who was still a little surprised by the third voice, snapped out of it. "Hi dad," Then she greeted her father. "Sorry for answering the phone."

"She was busy painting my nails." Nero added while showing his nails to Mr. Grey.

Justifiably, Mr. Grey made a weirded out expression in response.

"What?" Nero asked. "I like it."

"Well... It does look nice." Mr. Grey admitted, despite clearly being weirded out by seeing a boy using nail polish.

"Thank you." Jean was glad to hear that. Since she was the one that painted them. "But... What is going on?" That was the question that she wanted to know.

"Well..." Her father scratched his balding head before answering. "You got a visitor."

Both Nero and Jean looked at one another in confusion as they neither knew who could possibly be visiting Jean. Until Nero decided to do something.

"You are the "supposed" visit?" Nero asked using telepathy, with Jean making a confused face.

"Yes." With the voice from early speaking once again.

Jean widened her eyes as Nero moved his head to look at the living room. The two took slow steps to reach the living room and strangely, there was someone there. It was a middle aged man, sitting on a nice looking wheelchair. He was an average looking man, with a bald head, but he was wearing some really fancy high quality suit in the color dark brown.

"Hello there." The man greeted the two of them.

"Sup." Nero greeted him back.

"Hi." Jean greeted him with a wave.

"Umm... Jean, Nero, this is..." Mr. Grey tried to introduce the man to the two, but he apparently forgot his name.

"I am Charles Xavier." He decided to introduce himself to them once it was clear that Mr. Grey forgot his name. "Professor Charles Xavier to be more precise."

"Nero Carnby." The boy with white hair placed his hands inside of his pockets after introducing himself.

"Jean Grey." The girl with red hair did the same as he did before touching Nero's shoulder. "My father doesn't know, you didn't say anything, did you?" She asked the man in worry with telepathy.

"No." The man called Charles responded. "But I personally think that it would be for the better that he is informed about it."

"No, he wouldn't understand." Jean was quick to rebuff. "And I don't want to worry him more than he already is."

"Yes, my condolences about your sister." Charles spoke, clearly indicating that he read Mr. Grey's mind.

"You read his mind?" Jean didn't like the fact that someone invaded her father's privacy.

"Not with the intention of invading his privacy, I was simply searching for events involving the subject of our conversation." He explained.

"Ummm... I know that it's none of my business but..." Nero decided to speak up as the whole conversation through telepathy was clearly confusing Mr. Grey. Thankfully, Mr. Xavier and Jean noticed. "What exactly are you doing here, Mr. Xavier?"

"Well..." Before Mr. Xavier could speak, someone else entered the room.

Wow... Nero thought as he saw a very attractive woman enter the living room.

"Here's your tea." It was an African-American woman with a tall and curvaceous figure. She had long and wavy white hair which she wears freely down her back and blue eyes. She was wearing a white blouse, a long purple skirt with reddish purple shredded ends, and tan open-toed sandals, with accessories with multiple gold and purple bracelets on each of her wrists along with matching gold hop earrings, a gold choker necklace and a single gold anklet. "Thanks for letting me use the kitchen, Mr. Grey." She thanked Jean's father.

"Honestly, that kitchen has been going unused for a while." Mr. Grey scratched his receding hair after saying.

"Because the house is mostly empty after what happened." Jean told Nero through telepathy.

"My condolences , I accidentally saw the incident involving your sister." Professor Xavier spoke to them.

"What are you anyway?" Nero asked him.

"The same as Ms. Grey and by the looks of, you as well, Mr. Carnby." He revealed it to them.

"Just Nero, I don't like being called Mr." Nero was quick to make that clear.

"Alright, Nero." Xavier accepted his request. "Ororo, this Nero Carnby and this is Jean Grey."

"It's a pleasure to meet you two." The beautiful woman greeted the two with a smile.

"Likewise." Nero waved at her.

"It's good to meet you." Jean smiled in response.

"Forgive me for my bluntness, but this is a private conversation that I need to have with Jean and her father." Professor Xavier explained to Nero. "Would you mind stepping outside for a bit?"

Nero simply gave him a suspicious look before responding. "It depends, what is the nature of this conversation?" He asked the man.

"An explanation and an offer." The Professor answered him.

Nero was confused, but Jean simply touched his shoulder and said. "He seems to know the origin of our powers, we better hear him out." The redhead girl told her friend.

"Are you sure?" Nero asked her and she nodded in response. He nodded back before saying. "I forgot something, talk to you later." With that, the boy with white hair kissed Jean on the cheek before unceremoniously moving towards the front door.

"Ororo, could you please go back to the car." Professor Xavier told the beautiful woman called Ororo.

"Sure thing, it was nice to meet you, Mr. Grey." She shaked Mr. Grey's hand. "You too, Jean." Jean just smiled and nodded.

With that, Ororo moved towards the front door just as Nero touched the doorknob and opened.

Once the two of them stepped outside. Nero asked. "Are you his driver or something?"

"Not exactly, but I do drive him around at times." Ororo answered.

"Do you have powers too?" He decided to be blunt and ask her.

"Yes." And she bluntly confirmed.

"What the hell are these powers anyway?" He was hoping that the woman could explain to him, since the Professor clearly knew something about them.

"Not here. "The white haired woman stepped away from the door and approached the black car. "If you want me to explain, please get in the car." She instructed the white haired boy.

Despite the whole situation being a little suspicious, Nero decided to comply and simply followed the woman towards the car. Entering the passenger's seat while she sat on the driver's seat.

"Seatbelt please." She instructed him.

With Nero obeying and putting the seatbelt on. "Where are we going?" He asked.

"Nowhere." She turned the car on. "Just a ride around the block."

"Okay..." He was a little confused but didn't complain. He simply leaned back on the car seat and waited.

Ororo then began to ride the car away from Jean's home, driving it slowly around the empty street. Thankfully, there was air conditioning there, which was more than welcome during that hot day. Moving eyes to the left, Nero couldn't help but admire the woman sitting besides him. She's so beautiful... Like, some weird exotic beauty that I don't know how to describe it.

She turned around the corner, passing by a few cars that were parked there. With Nero wondering what was the point of driving around.

"Before I tell you anything, let me first say," Nero moved his head to look at her as she spoke. "You don't have any reason to be ashamed of it."

"Ashamed of what exactly?" Nero asked in confusion.

"We will need to confirm first but..." Ororo moved her face to look at him. "If the professor is correct , you might be a Mutant." She told him.

"What?" He made a confused face. "What the hell do you mean by "Mutant"?"

"The Professor can give you a full explanation later, but to put it simply..." She moves her gaze back to the road. "You possess a special gene that grants you the powers."

"So... The powers are genetic?" He asked her in curiosity.

"It's a Mutation caused by something called the X-Gene in a mutant's DNA." She explained to him as she turned around the corner again. "Mutations normally manifest themselves during puberty, often as a result of a traumatic event."

"Like falling off a building and breaking most of the bones in your body or watching someone getting run over by a car after he pushed you out of the way?" Nero pretty much gave a summary of the supposed traumatic events that might have triggered the so-called "Mutation" on both him and Jean.

Ororo sighed in response to that. "I wish I could say that I'm surprised but believe it or not, I heard worse ones."

"And I'm officially disturbed and really rather not hear about them." Nero responded sarcastically, despite genuinely being afraid to hear about these worse ones. "What exactly are your powers anyway?"

" Atmokinesis." She responded to him, only for Nero to make a confused face since he had no idea what that meant. "The power to manipulate the weather."

"Woah?" Nero was surprised by that. "Seriously?"

"Yes, just don't ask me to demonstrate." She stopped the car once she reached a red light. "What about you?"

"I literally have no idea." Nero responded almost immediately. "The powers keep appearing at random."

"What?" Ororo apparently didn't understand what he meant.

Nero decided to check something. "If you can really manipulate weather, can you make a thunderstorm happen?" He decided to ask her. "There's something that I want to test."

Ororo simply stared at Nero for a second, before she replied. "Alright." Despite being reluctant to show him her powers early, she could clearly see that he wanted to test whatever it was.

So she parked the car next to the curb. Nero moved his gray eyes to look at her in deep curiosity. Only to watch her open her arms widely in the tight space that they were in, with the boy with white hair widening his gray eyes when a strange light appeared on her hands. But his gaze shifted from the beautiful woman to the sky as he caught the glimpse of a strange looking cloud forming itself in the sky, which was quite shocking since the sky was perfectly clean a few seconds ago. The sound of loud thunder came from the dark cloud that was above them, prompting Nero to try.

So he closed his hand into a tight fist and slammed the bottom of it into the car's dashboard. Which led to the result that he was looking for, which was a single lighting descending from the dark cloud and hitting the street in front of them.

"That was you?" Ororo asked the boy.

"Yeah." He confirmed with a smile. "It only works when there's a storm though." Nero then did it again, causing another lighting to strike the street, damaging it considerably.

"Stop!" Ororo then waved her hands and the dark cloud disappeared from the sky.

"Sorry..." He apologized while inspecting the damage that he caused. "I found out about that one last week." It didn't rain anymore after that day, so he couldn't really test it after that.

"You said that they keep appearing at random?" She turned the car on and decided to get away from the area as a crowd of civilians began to approach the spot where the lighting struck.

"I once set a train on fire because I spit fire out of nowhere." Something he hasn't been able to do again. "I once passed through a locked door." Another thing that he wasn't able to do again. "I once teleported myself from Jean's room to a hospital room that is several blocks away from here." Yet another thing that he wasn't able to do again.

"And you were only able to do those things once?" Ororo asked him as she got as far away as possible from the street.

"Yes." Nero confirmed. "I think there's a specific thing or circumstance that I need to do or be in for it to work." That was his theory. "For example, when I fell off the building, I probably broke every bone in my body in the fall and out of nowhere, my body just fixed itself." He really didn't like recounting that event, but in this case, it was a little necessary. "And when I got run over by a car after pushing Jean out of the way, the same thing happened." That was something that Nero had no problem in mentioning because something really good came out of that awful event. "But when I burned my arm or broke my ankle, it didn't do anything." Those were two injuries that he really didn't like thinking about.

"A healing factor that only works when the injury is fatal." Ororo was quick to figure it out.

"I can also read minds, like Jean and the Professor." Nero mentioned his last power.

Ororo seemed surprised. "Really?"

"But, if I read someone's mind for too long, I get a horrible migraine." Nero pointed out the flaw in his power. "Unless it's Jean and I'm assuming the professor as well."

"I see..." Ororo seemed to be in deep thought, but Nero really felt no desire to read her mind. She also seemed to be making her way back to Jean's home.

The rest of the ride was quiet as Nero awaited for the beautiful woman to say anything else. But she simply focused on the road as she rode all the way back to Jean's home. Once they finally reached the place, she parked in the exact same spot as before.

"You see, Nero..." That's when she finally spoke to him. "Professor Xavier is actually going to make an offer to Jean, an offer that extends to you if we actually confirm that you are also a Mutant." Though, by the tone of her voice, she seemed to be certain that he was.

"What kind of offer?" Nero asked in curiosity.

"Well..."

"How did your father react?" Nero asked.

"He was shocked and a little frightened." Jean replied.

Nero and Jean were currently sitting on the couch in her home, discussing the entire revelation that they might be something called Mutants. With Nero laying on Jean's lap with her caressing his head. Her father left and they had no idea where he went.

"I don't blame him." Nero couldn't help but comment that, because their family was already quite problematic thanks to her sister and this was not something to add to the table. "So, what do you think?"

"About the offer?" Jean asked and he nodded. "I don't know?"

"Me neither." Nero was just as unsure as she was.

The offer in question, was for the two of them to join a place called the Xavier'sSchool for Gifted Youngsters is a special institute founded and led by Professor Charles Xavier to train young mutants in controlling their powers. The place basically operates as a private academy in upstate New York

"I mean, I wouldn't mind a change of scenery..." Nero wouldn't mind moving to a different place. "But there's something a little off about this."

"How so?" She asked in curiosity.

"I don't know why, but... " Nero couldn't help but voice his doubt. "There's something a little off about the professor."

"Yeah, I think being someone that can read minds can create this kind of suspicion." Jean pointed out.

"You can read minds, but I know that you respect people's privacy..." Nero paused for a bit. "Most of the time..."

Jean softly slapped his forehead, with him laughing a bit in response. "I know what you mean, though." She then started to caress his head again. "His telepathic powers are way superior to mine."

"And that scares me, I'm pretty sure that he can go beyond just reading minds." Nero admitted to Jean.

"True," Jean seemed to share his opinion. "But he may be the only one that can help me learn more about my powers."

"Mine too, I saw that woman, Ororo, talking to him about me before they left." Nero revealed it to Jean.

"You told her everything?" She asked.

"Yeah." He confirmed.

"The Professor actually told me a bit about other mutants." She revealed it to him. "There's a student there that can shoot laser beams from his eyes."

"Now that's a cool superpower." Nero had to comment.

"It would be, if he actually could control it." Jean clarified that part. "According to the professor, he needs to wear special glasses at all times, otherwise he would shoot the lasers non-stop."

"Holy shit." That doesn't sound cool at all.

"Nero..." Jean looked at him with a serious expression. "We should accept." She placed her hand on his chest.

Nero immediately figured out what the serious look was about. "You're afraid that something similar could happen to me?" He held her hand before asking that.

"What if one of these random powers ends up hurting you or someone around you?" Jean pointed out the possibility that he has considered it a thousand times since the train incident.

"Yeah..." Nero agreed with her. But then a thought came to his mind. "Would you be okay with leaving your family?" Despite the problems that they had to endure recently, he could tell that Jean was very close to her family.

"Kind of..." Jean was clearly a little unsure but partially willing. "Don't get me wrong, it's a little scary but... I wouldn't mind a change of scenery." Then she smiled at him. "Besides... I don't think you realize the best part."

Nero raised his brow in confusion. "Which is...?" He wanted to know.

"Nero... We would be living together." She revealed it to him.

Nero immediately widened his eyes in response because he hadn't thought of that before. Then he sat up on the couch. "Holy shit, I didn't even realize that!" He confessed as he stared at Jean's green eyes. "That would be awesome!"

Jean giggled in response to Nero's sudden enthusiasm. "I guess I just added to the list of reasons to say yes."

"That made it to the top of the list." Nero pointed out before kissing Jean on the cheek.

Jean blushed in response to that. "Really?"

"Of course." The boy with white hair mean it. "You're my best friend, Jean Grey."

Jean smiled and said. "And you are mine, Nero Carnby." But then she made a serious expression. "But, there's something I got to tell you."

Nero also made a serious expression. "What is it?"

"I..." She seemed to be trying to find the right words. "Saw something in the professor mind by accident." Nero honestly, doesn't really understand what Jean means by accident at times.

"What?" Nero was curious.

"Something that he calls," She made a slightly confused face. "The X-Men."

"X-What?"

The sound of cries coming from the room were considerably unpleasant. Especially considering that they were all dedicated towards someone who was simply not worth it. Controlling his breathing and gripping his weapon hard was all that he could do as he awaited for the right opportunity.

"The years I spent with Alessandro in my life were filled with excitement and adventure. He showed up for life in the biggest way possible. From the moment he shared his cookie with me on the first day of kindergarten, I knew we would be best friends." Rolling his eyes at the incredibly lame eulogy that the fool was giving, was possibly the most unpleasant part."I can't imagine how empty it will feel to spend time on the basketball court without Alessandro by my side. Our relationship was built with a basketball in hand, and evolved to share many family gatherings and other activities together over the years. With his passing, Alessandro is leaving behind a legacy of kindness, compassion, and generosity." He literally had an urge to vomit when he heard that." Alessandro shared good humor and a big smile with everyone he met. Even though people often cursed at his practical jokes, he was an integral part of creating a solid foundation of friendship in our group. When times were difficult, he could always put a smile on my face. He held his head high until the end, showing what it looks like to finish strong."

That's it, I had enough of this shit! In truth, the place that he was currently in. Was a funeral, a funeral of a guy that he killed himself. Laying inside of the coffin, made a soft whistle in order to call the attention of whoever was near it.

"Huh?" The one giving the eulogy noticed something was off. "AAAHHH!" It only took him a few seconds for him to open the coffin and realize that the guy inside of the coffin wasn't Alessandro.

"Hi." Inside of the coffin, there was a male wearing a strange looking outfit in the color gray. Composed of a long sleeved shirt, a gray tactical vest with several pouches and a gun holster, tactical pants, combat boot, tactical sap gloves. But what stood out was a strange looking gray helmet that was covering his face completely. "Bye." Accompanying the outfit, was an assault rifle in his hand, a Smith & Wesson M&P15 Tactical.

Before the man could react, the one inside the coffin shot him straight on the head. Before he sat up and began firing at the guests of the funeral.

"It's the guy that killed Alessandro!"

"That's the fucking Gray Avenger!"

The one who just attacked that funeral was called the Gray Avenger.

Firing his assault rifle and being overwhelmingly careful not to hit anyone with it. It didn't take long for the rest of the scum to actually fight back and fire at him. Forcing him to jump out of the coffin and immediately running towards the wall on the left. Where he jumped towards it and passed through solid matter using Phasing. Ending up in the corridor just outside the room where the funeral was taking place.

Strapping the assault rifle to his back and moving his head to the left, he saw several of the people that were attending the funeral leaving in clear desperation due to the shots that he fired. However, among the crowd, two men wearing fine looking suits passed through the crowd and pulled their handguns from inside their coats. Unfortunately for them, the Gray Avenger charged at them in a dash, closing the distance in an unbelievable speed. Getting in the middle of the two men, where he delivers a right hook at the jaw of one of them, knocking him out cold. The other man tried to strike him with his pistol, but the Gray Avenger simply ducked and delivered a cross to his gut, followed by a left uppercut that knocked him out just as quickly as the other.

"The bastard that killed my brother is inside!" Suddenly, he heard the voice of the man that he was looking for coming from outside. "I want him dead now!"

Closing his eyes for a second in order to concentrate, he activated his Radar Sense. He could see several armed individuals making their way into the funeral home. Took your sweet time... The Gray Avenger thought as he prepared himself to face the bodyguards of the man that he was there to kill.

Kneeling down and grabbing the handguns of the two men that he just knocked out. Two Glock 19s that he held at each hand. As the bodyguards entered the corridor which he was standing in the middle of. The Gray Avenger charged forwards while firing both handguns simultaneously in order to create suppressive fire. As the body guards all took cover, he ran all the way forward until he reached a door that led into what appeared to be a Reposing Room.

Dropping both handguns after he wasted all the ammo and performing a dive roll to get into the room as the bodyguards began to fire their weapons at him. Once he was inside, the first thing he did was close the door behind him, before he actually began to crawl the wall and stick right above the door. Then he slightly pulled the left sleeve of his shirt up, revealing a web shooter on his wrist. Which he used to launch some web into one of the chairs inside and pull in order to make it collide with the lights of the room.

It didn't take long for the bodyguards to reach the door. Intelligently, instead of kicking it down, they simply opened fire with several 9mm going into the room, doing nothing but unnecessary damage as the Gray Avenger hid above the door.

Eventually, after a lot of wasted ammo went into the room, the idiots decided to kick the door down.

"Is he dead?!"

"I can't see a damn thing, the room is too dark!"

"The boss is gonna kill us if we lose him!"

"You think I don't know that!"

"What are you waiting for, get inside!"

"You get inside!"

"Bunch of fucking pussies!"

After a bunch of unnecessary bickering, one of the body guards entered the room. Pulling out a small flashlight from his coat. Illuminating the whole room from the door.

"What the hell!" The bodyguard cursed as he stepped in. "He's not here!" Holding his pistol and the flash light in a rogers surefire technique.

The rest of the bodyguards stepped into the room searching for the Gray Avenger. Who was simply crouching on the wall right above the wall. Pulling his assault rifle from his back, removing the empty clip and placing inside of one of the pouches in his vest, before grabbing a loaded one and putting into the rifle. He awaited with his weapon ready until they were all inside of the room.

"We're deadmeat!" The last one to enter the room said that.

"Couldn't say it better myself." The Gray Avenger finally spoke up.

The moment they all turn around to see him, illuminating him with their flashlights. Sadly for them, before they could all open fire, the Gray Avenger fired his assault rifle in full out in a horizontal line of fire, using all of the ammo but managing to hit them all before they could even fire back.

No more ammo. He thought in annoyance as he strapped the now empty assault rifle into his back and jumped. Then he jumped off the wall, but once his feet touched the floor, his Danger Sense tingled . "Shit!" With him having a split second to jump out of the way as a shotgun blast came from behind him.

"My father was always right, if you want something done correctly, you gotta do it yourself!" The man that nearly shot him was a sleazy looking middle aged guy with greasy curly hair, a ugly and bushy moustache and a big nose. He was wearing a fine looking black suit with leather french shoes and an expensive watch. "This is for my baby brother, you piece o-" He pumped the Winchester Model 1897 shotgun that he was carrying and entered the room to shoot the Gray Avenger.

However, before he could, the Gray Avenger pulled the gun that was holstered in his vest. A Smith & Wesson Model 500 revolver, chrome plated and heavily engraved, with a 8-inch barrel, a walnut wood grip and a custom rear sight. And blasted the man's head with the magnum revolver as he unnecessarily spoke. "When you have to shoot, shoot; don't talk." He commented as the man fell dead on the floor right away.

Holstering his revolver once again and moving in order to step out of the room, the Gray Avenger realized something. "Fuck..." He could hear more steps coming from outside. Why do I get the feeling that they knew that I would be here? Because it was kind of obvious. "Okay..." Wasting no more time, the Gray Avenger kneeled down and grabbed the shotgun that the man he just killed used to shoot him. "Got what you deserved, dipshit." That was all that he had to say to the dead man whose brain he just blew with his magnum revolver.

The Gray Avenger ran in the opposite direction of the front door in order to avoid the rest of the bodyguards that were coming his way.

"There he is!" Once they reached the corridor, several of them began firing at him from the end of the corridor as he ran towards the opposite direction.

With the Gray Avenger using the shotgun that he just took to fire blindly at them as he made his way towards the other end of the corridor. Where he made his way towards the door on the right, dropping the now empty shotgun as soon as he passed through. That room was clearly an office, probably belonging to the owner.

Not that he had any time to care about that, as the first thing that he did once he was inside that room. Was to jump on top of the large desk inside of that room and jump through the window that was right behind the desk.

Rolling on the ground as soon as he did, he realized that he was in the parking lot of the funeral home. He used the opportunity to run as fast as he could. With the bodyguards reaching the window and shooting at him right away. Causing him to immediately take cover behind one of the many cars that were in the parking lot. "Fuck!" Cursing as he slid across the hood of the car and crouched behind it in order to avoid getting shot.

Pulling his Magnum Revolver out of the holster in his vest, Only four fucking shots, I love this damn gun but the capacity really pisses me off. He thought in deep annoyance despite knowing perfectly well that it's his own fault for picking such an impractical gun. Oh well... Despite that, he wasted no time in actually standing up and single-handed aiming the Model 500. Firing all of the four shots at the bodyguards and landing perfect headshots on all of them.

Leaving only two of them left. Taking cover behind the car, he placed the Model 500 back on the holster. With the two remaining bodyguards continuing to fire at him. Goddammit! This would have been so much quicker if I had my equipment! He thought in deep frustration as this improvised gear that he had to use paled in comparison to his actual gear. Whatever, no time to think about that. Eventually, the bodyguards ran out of ammo, allowing the Gray Avenger to get out of cover. My job is done, the asshole is dead. He thought as he saw the bodyguards jumping out of the broken window and running towards him.

Seriously? It was almost comical that they thought they could take him.

The two bodyguards charged at the Gray Avenger. The first one to close the distance tried to punch him. "Aa!" With the dumbass remembering that he was wearing a helmet after he hurt his fist.

"Dumbass." The Gray Avenger responded by delivering a right hook to his liver, causing him to bend over in pain, before he grabbed him and placed him in a standing guillotine choke.

As he choked the bodyguard, he moved his head to look at the last one. Taking less than a few seconds for the one that he was choking to lose his consciousness.

The last bodyguard left, seemed to have gotten the message. So he put his hands up. "Look, I'm just doing my job!" He tried to speak as the Gray Avenger continued to choke the unconscious bodyguard with the guillotine choke.

"Yeah," He finally let go of the choke after he was sure that the bodyguard was dead. "I'm sure all the people you probably killed under that asshole and his brother's orders were simply for the sake of being a good employer." The Gray Avenger replied sarcastically before he delivered a Chassé Frontal kick to his face. With the damage being double due to the fact that he was wearing iron tipped boots.

"MMMM!" All that the bodyguard made after the kick landed on his face, falling backwards right away. Before the Gray Avenger stomped on his head over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, until his head was practically squashed on the ground.

After he did that, he moved his head to the right and realized that the guests of the funeral were all staring at him, photographing him with their cellphones and staring at him horrified with what he just did with the bodyguards.

His response was to stomp on the squashed head of the bodyguard one last time and give a middle finger to them. "You're all a bunch of fucking maggots!" That was the Gray Avenger's opinion towards those people.

Time to leave. The Gray Avenger then closed his eyes and conjured a mental image of a place he wanted to be at that moment. Which allowed him to teleport himself from the parking lot to that place. Disappearing out of thin air from everyone.

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"Nero."

Opening his vivid gray eyes, Nero realized that someone was standing next to his bed. A middle-aged woman with dark brown eyes and wrinkles on her face, wearing a black religious habit that covered her body completely. "Mmmmm..." Once he took a good look, he realized that it was Sister Maggie. "I just had a weird but... Awesome dream." That was the best way that he could describe the weird dream that he just had.

"Well, forgive me for waking you from that awesome dream, but today is the day, remember?" She reminded him of it.

"Oh yeah!" Nero removed the blanket that was covering him, and moved to check his belongings.

"You know, you got a perfect pair of pajamas, but you insist on sleeping in your underwear." She commented as the boy wore nothing but his U.S flag boxers.

"Just be thankful that I don't sleep naked." That was Nero's only response as he began to put his clothes on. "What time is it?" He asked the good nun.

"Eleven." She answered. "They'll be here to pick you up in five hours."

"More than enough time." Nero replied as he put his black jeans on. "There is someone that I want to say goodbye to before that."

"That blond girl that called you yesterday?" She asked him.

"Yeah, there's something that I want to show her before I go." Nero pointed out as he put his white tank-top on.

"Did you prepare your luggage?" She asked him.

"Yeah, it's over there." Nero pointed at a backpack and a bag that were filled with everything he wanted to take. "The backpack is filled with clothes, the bag is filled with my stuff." He gave her some unnecessary information as he put on his white hoodie. "Everything I didn't put there, you can give it to whoever gets this room."

Sister Maggie seemed surprised by the offer. "Are you certain?"

"This school that I'm going to is considerably fancy, so I'm not gonna need most of it." At least according to Jean's description of the place.

"That's... awfully nice of you." Especially considering that Nero had always been incredibly possessive with his belongings.

"Not really, most of it is either super used up or doesn't work properly." Nero confessed as he put his shoes on.

"And you should know that it doesn't really matter for some." She reminded him of that fact.

"Yeah..." He then puts his leather jacket on and proceeds to put on his jewelry.

Once his jewelry was on, he moved towards the mirror. Nero's appearance started to change a bit recently. With his now strong jawline, hunter eyes that made his vivid gray eyes slightly less prominent and perfectly straight nose. His sickly pale skin was now simply very fair skin, his hair was now medium-length.

"Why did you grow out your hair?" She asked, since Nero usually had his hair cut short.

"I don't know, I just felt like growing it out." He responded as he reached for a brush and used to brush down his hair, making his bangs partially cover his eyes. "How do I look?" He asked her.

"Honestly," The nun folded her arms. "Puberty is doing wonders for you." She confessed.

"I agree with you on that." Nero stared at himself in the mirror and realized that he actually looked pretty good now. Before he always had a weird appearance, but now, he looked great.

"Can't say the same about your choice of clothing, jewelry and make-up though." Then she sarcastically gave him criticism.

"Hey, I look cool!" He spoke defensively in response to his dressing style as he put his gloves on.

"Sure, you do." She once again spoke sarcastically in response to that. "At least the others got a good laugh when they saw you trying eyeliner the other day."

"Ah..." Neto grunted in response. "Don't remind me of that,it was difficult to put it on and even more difficult to get it off." The truth is, he saw one of his favorite heavy metal guitarists with eyeliner and wanted to try, but it was more annoying than anything. "I'll stick with just painting my nails though." He lifted his hand to showcase the art piece that Jean made.

"I admit, the nails actually look pretty good." That part was obvious. "But please, don't try putting on make-up again." She didn't need to request that.

"Roger that." Nero gave her a thumbs up in response. "I have to go, I'll be back before they arrive.'" The boy with white hair moved towards the gig bag that was located besides his bed. After strapping on his back, he made his way to the door. "See you later."

"Stay out of trouble." That was her only instruction.

"Easier said than done." And that was the last thing he said before he left the room.

The weather was pleasant enough, despite being a little cloudy. With Nero stepping out of the train station that he used to get to his destination. That dream seemed so real though. The whole way, Nero just kept trying to understand the weird dream that he had that morning. Gray Avenger... That's a pretty cool name. He couldn't help but think that. And he was doing so much cool shit, passing through walls, dashing in super speed, wall crawling and he could even see behind the walls. Thinking all that, made him incredibly disappointed. Why couldn't those be my fucking powers instead of what I got?

The boy with a hood on his head thought in deep annoyance as he crossed the street. But once he reached the other side, the thought. WAIT!? Due to realizing something. What if... That wasn't a dream... The possibility just came to his mind. What if it was a vision of the future... Since the idea isn't too far-fetched. I mean, yeah, seeing the future could be another superpower... but..

"Excuse me?" He was snapped out of his thoughts by a woman. "Could you..." She was pushing an elderly man in a wheelchair and Nero was blocking the way.

"Oh, sorry." He apologized before continuing to move forward.

But... If that was really a vision of the future... Why the fuck was I gunning down a funeral? That was the part that confused him the most. Wait... Then he remembered another detail. The Magnum Revolver, it was definitely the same but it seemed different. It seemed to be the same Smith & Wesson Model 500, but it had a longer barrel, the grip was different and it had really cool looking engravings. I need to make those modifications. He thought enthusiastically as it made the revolver even more badass.

Despite being in deep thought in regards to the supposed premonition, he noticed a news report passing through a TV that was on display in a store that he was passing by.

"The Stark Industries still hasn't come out with a statement in regards to the disappearance of President and Chief Executive Officer, Tony Stark. Who has been reported missing during a business trip to central Asia a week ago."

Nero rolled his eyes and kept moving. He was probably kidnapped for ransom or someone wants him to build a superweapon or some shit. Nero didn't really care about that anyway. Honestly, I can't say that I feel sorry for a rich douchebag. Considering that not long ago, he met a guy that was literally tricked into becoming a monster, and since the guy in question was clearly a nice guy, it only made things more tragic.

Thinking about Bruce, Nero wondered if he made it out safely. I hope he's okay, he clearly didn't deserve the shitty situation that he ended up in.

Moving his gray eyes up, he realized that he was about to reach his destination. I want to show her the song before I leave, since she helped me compose it. In truth, he was making his way to Gwen Stacy's apartment, because he actually finished the song that he was composing and he wanted her to hear it. He did show her before, but now he wanted to show her the full version.

"Oh, look what we have here." Suddenly, as he approached, he heard a voice coming from his left. Moving his head, he noticed two familiar faces.

"Bitch and ugly motherfucker, how delightful it is to see your ugly faces again." Nero spoke sarcastically as the two boys that cornered him and Gwen after they escaped the streets during the incident with the Hulk, crossed the street and approached Nero. "Now, excuse me." Then he turned around and continued to walk.

"Where do you think you're going?" Before the fair skinned guy stood in front of him.

"There." He pointed at Gwen's apartment with his index finger.

"First, we have some matters to resolve with you." The dark skinned boy stood next to the other boy.

Nero rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for this shit, get the fuck out of my sight before I beat your asses again." He threatened the two boys, because he didn't have time for that.

In response to that, the dark skinned boy lifted his hand up, revealing that he had a knife on his hand. A Smith & Wesson SW609. "Well, I think you're gonna make some time for us, won't you."

Nero simply gave a bored expression in response, before he reached inside of his jacket. "Please." Slightly pulled out the magnum revolver that was hidden inside of his jacket. He literally had to resist the urge to burst into laughter when the two idiots widened their eyes when they realized that he had a gun. Which allowed Nero to extend his hand and grab the knife off his hand by grabbing the blade in a swift move, that was only possible thanks to the glove that he was wearing. "Thanks for the knife." That was the last thing that he said to them before walking past them while he put the revolver back on his jacket and folded the folding knife. My lucky day. He thought as he placed his new knife inside of his jacket as well.

Moving towards the entrance of the apartment, Nero laughed quietly, because they were clearly unaware that the revolver only had one bullet. I got to get more ammo for target practice. Which was easier said than done as the ammunition for the Model 500 is hard to find.

Nero climbed the stairs and made his way to the floor where Gwen's apartment was located. Once he reached the floor however, he heard some loud shouting coming from one of the apartments. Upon reaching the door that wanted to reach, he realized that the shouting was coming from inside.

Oh shit... He thought in a slight worry as he placed his ear on the door to check what the shouting was about.

"I don't care about your problems!" He heard Mr. Stacy's voice. "We already solved everything when we signed the papers, now stay away from Gwen and I!"

"You think just because you got promoted into Chief of police, you can do whatever you want!" Then I heard a woman's voice. "I want what I'm entitled to!"

"You're entitled to shit!" Mr. Stacy replied angrily. "And I wasn't promoted to police chief!" He clarified that part. "I was promoted t-"

Nero decided to stop eavesdropping. It's probably Gwen's mother in there. It was his best guest. But I doubt Gwen is inside, so where... The boy with white hair then imagined where he would hide, if his parents were fighting like that. If he actually had any, that is.

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Worth a shot... He thought after thinking carefully about where Gwen could possibly be.

So he went back to the stairs and began to climb it until he reached the rooftop of the building. I was right. The moment he passed through the door that leads to the rooftop, he moved his head to the left and saw Gwen sitting on the ground a few steps away from the door with her headphones on. She was wearing blue jeans, red sneakers and a white zip-up hoodie.

Nero smiled at the sight of his blond friend and proceeded to approach her. Sitting right in front of her as she was too distracted with the song that she was hearing.

After staring at her for a bit as she shakes her head while listening to music. He extended his hand and poked her nose. Causing her to open her blue eyes and realize his presence. She smiled and pulled her headphones down.

"Hey..." Gwen greeted him.

"Hi." He waved at her. "How long?"

"About twenty minutes." She really didn't seem bothered by it, which makes Nero think that she's used to it.

"Hmm..." Nero decided to press it further since she's clearly trying to ignore it. "I'm moving today."

"To that fancy school?" He actually already told her about it, but she thinks that it's some fancy school that he accepted rather than what it really is. "Congratulations, but spoiler alert, if it's full of privileged rich kids..."

"Yeah, that's something I'm kind of afraid of, but I'll manage." Nero was hoping that he didn't have to live with a bunch of spoiled jackasses. "I'll come visit you whenever I can." That was a promise that he made, since he also would like to visit some other friends.

"I'll hold you on that, since I'm gonna need a music partner." Her drum skills have been improving, mostly thanks to Nero's help.

"Speaking of music." He pulled the gig bag off his back and placed it on the ground. Opening up and revealing the guitar that she gifted him.

"What's that?" She noticed something else inside of the gig bag.

"A mini amplifier." Nero actually stole it from a jerkass guy in the subway that was yelling at an old man.

"Does that mean..." Gwen clearly knows why he was there.

Nero placed his guitar on the hop of his lap and connected to the mini amplifier.

Then, just like that, he began playing his guitar. Doing an interesting but somewhat intense solo in front of Gwen Stacy.

Fight and shine like a warrior

Then he began to sing.

Fly, and persist, to overcome any barrier

Nero closed his eyes and allowed the music to flow naturally.

Face your destiny without fear

He sang as loud as he could, as it fitted the song.

And you will be a winner with the light that guides you

The lyrics was something that he has been working on for a while, and despite still having doubts about it. He thinks that they are coming out just the way he wanted.

The dangers face, your spirit elevate

He shakes his head a bit, making his medium-length hair flow . He thought about growing his hair long, but medium-length was good enough for him.

And victory will come with tomorrow

He opened his gray eyes and stared at Gwen. Who had her fists on her chin, staring at him with her blue eyes as Nero played the song for her.

Gray Avenger (Avenger)

It used to be just Avenger, but Gray Avenger just sounds cooler for Nero.

A heart that can reach

The lyrics are a little cheesy, but it's his first song.

The flame that ignites hope

I'm still trying to understand what that dream was about. Was it really a premonition of the future or did I watch too many John Woo films?

Gray Avenger (Avenger)

I mean, it's weird, why was I shooting up that funeral? I mean there's no way that guy with the gray armor wasn't me. Right?

Your wings in the sky will open

Honestly, the most awesome part was that weird device on my wrist that shot web. I want one of those.

And hearts will smile again

I already figured out that the "powers" have a rule and circumstance that I need to follow. I just have to figure out what they are, and Professor Xavier said that he was going to help me with that. Which was the second major reason why Nero accepted the offer to join his school.

The look shining in the darkness

Looking at Gwen, he felt a little annoyed that he would be moving far away when their friendship was just starting to grow stronger.

It will show your value and all your purity

Fuck it, I'll come visit her as often as I can. He already decided that.

And the warrior's dream is not over

Gwen seemed to be enjoying the song, though Nero could tell that she liked the instrumental more than the lyrics.

Who will be a winner with friends to help

Though, I can't say that I'm not happy to be moving away from the orphanage. Despite the fact that he lived there his whole life. Especially since I will be living with Jean. That was the best part of it.

Never think about stopping, every barrier you encounter

No more family problems, just me and her. That was something that he was more than happy about, since Jean's family have been bringing her nothing but discontent.

You can take it down, when tomorrow comes

I do hope things improve overall and her sister gets better, because they seemed like a nice family. It was mostly Jean's sister hooking up with a bunch of older men that caused those problems.

Gray Avenger (Avenger)

I still don't know what happened to that pedophile asshole, hell, I even forgot his fucking name. Not that it matters, they probably locked him up in a cell and his cellmates probably beat the shit out of him for being a pedophile.

Hero who will forever fight

Weird, I'm thinking about Jean's family problems when I'm literally playing a song to another girl that also has family problems.

Honoring everything you believe in

Looking at Gwen's eyes as she smiled at him. Nero could only smile back.

Gray Avenger (Avenger)

Gwen's family problems are different, but I personally think no problem is better or worse. Just a problematic mother and an overworking father, but those are easily manageable.

Your courage is your power

Gwen seemed to be able to get through her family problems quite easily. Jean probably would do it too if things hadn't escalated to what it did.

Get up and choose the path to win

Nero played an intense guitar solo that Gwen clapped alongside it which fitted perfectly.

The dangers face, your spirit elevate

Then he sang once again.

And victory will come with tomorrow

And Gwen joined him and sang together.

Gray Avenger (Avenger)

The two friends sang along with the song that they practically composed together.

A heart that can reach

The cold wind of New York City gave quite the pleasant background for the song.

The flame that ignites hope

Though, Nero wonders how the song would sound with Gwen's drums included as he played.

Gray Avenger (Avenger)

Hearing Gwen saying that name just sounds right for some reason.

Your wings in the sky will open

Both moved their heads up simultaneously.

And hearts will smile again

They sang the last part as loud as they could. And with that, the song ended.

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"So?" Nero asked her.

"Scale one to ten?" Gwen asked and he nodded in response. "Nine."

"Let me guess, it needs more..." He made a goofy face as he made an obvious implication.

"Drum, yes." Gwen confirmed with a smile.

Nero also smiled, before he moved a bit in order to sit beside her.

"Why Gray Avenger?" She asked him.

"I don't know." It used to be just "Avenger" but after that dream. The name changed.

"Considering your tendency of only wearing black and white, it kind of suits you." Gwen pointed out.

"I guess it does." Because she was right, though his underwear kind of contradicts that logic.

"It's a cool name though, it's like a superhero's name." It was her honest opinion.

"Hmmm..." Nero heard her words clearly. Superhero... That word echoed through his mind. Not in a million years. Before he completely pissed on the idea. "I still have a few hours before it's time for me to move." He pointed it out to her as a way to change the subject. "Wanna sing along some more?"

Gwen looked up and thought for a bit. With Nero reading her mind for a bit in order to see what song was she thinking about. And he started to play it on his guitar. "Did you read my mind or something?" It wasn't a serious question.

"Maybe..." He joked by telling the truth.

With that, Nero began playing the song Bring Me To Life by Evanescence.

After spending some quality time with Gwen Stacy until her mother left. Nero was forced to leave her in order to go make the final preparations for moving out of the Orphanage.

He managed to make his way back to the orphanage with an hour and a half left before it was time to go.

"All ready." He spoke out loud as he placed all of the stolen things that he had inside of his bag. Can't forget about any of it. Because if it got found, he would be in trouble.

Once it was all done, Nero decided to take a nap. Sister Maggie will wake me up when they get here. He thought.

Suddenly, someone opened the door. "Do you have a minute?" It was Sister Maggie, who entered his room without knocking.

"I guess..." He decided to let it slide, but only because he managed to hide his stuff.

"Sit down, there's something I need to tell you before you go." Sister Maggie sounded serious, and Nero really didn't like it. But he decided to comply, do he sat down on his bed.

"What is it?" Nero was curious to hear it, he could read her mind but he prefered to just hear it from her.

"Alright," She approached the bed and stood in front of it. "I was going to wait until you grew up to tell you this, but.. with you leaving today, I think it's time." Nero raised a brow in response as he was now very curious to know. "You already know a bit about your parents right?"

"Yeah," Knowing a bit was the right way to put it. "They were two junkies that ditched me in an apartment building." That was the only thing that he knew about them.

"That's the simple part, but..." Sister Maggie was clearly trying to find the right words. "The truth is... I actually knew your mother."

Nero widened his eyes in response to what he just heard. "What?!" He asked in deep shock. "All this damn time?!" Nero really had to control himself to not curse in front of her.

"I knew her even before you were born." She confessed. "You see, she actually had a part time job as a cleaning lady here in the orphanage."

"You got to..." Nero touched his face in deep frustration since that would explain why the staff always acted so differently towards him in comparison to the other orphans. The boy with white hair let out a sigh and asked. "What was her name?" He wanted to know that.

"Vesta," She revealed to him. "Vesta Carnby." Nero was surprised because he always assumed that Carnby was a fake name. FIgures, Vesta is the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. He thought about the irony.

Nero did his best to digest what he just heard. He always wanted to know more about his parents, but now that he finally did, he has no idea how to react. "What else can you tell me about her?" Despite that, he wanted to know more.

"She..." Sister Maggie made a sad expression. "Was studying to become a teacher, a-" She was about to tell him what kind of teacher, but Nero guessed before she did.

"History teacher." Since it was kind of obvious.

Sister Maggie smiled. "The Roman Empire was one of her favorite subjects." She explained with a weak smile.

Nero gave her a similar weak smile before continuing. "What happened?" Because he knows what he ended up becoming later.

Sister Maggie made a face that clearly indicated some spitefulness. "Vesta was a very shy and reserved young woman, not that there's anything wrong with that, but they usually fall prey for certain types of..." Nero could tell where she was going with this.

" Assholes." There was no other way to describe it.

Despite giving him a. apprehensive look for cursing. "Basically." She agreed with him. "I only saw him once, but I only needed to take one good look to know the kind of person that he was."

Nero had an urge to read her mind to see what his dad looked like, but he decided against it, mostly because he didn't want to invade Sister Maggie's privacy.

"Vesta was always a nice girl, respectful, responsible and hard working." Sister Maggie seemed to remember his mother fondly. "But after meeting that man, she just allowed herself to turn into a very repulsive person."

So, my mother was a nice girl that ended up with a good for nothing asshole and he managed to get her hooked on drugs. The circumstances behind what happened to her made him furious. Though, something came into his mind and he decided to ask. "Didn't she have any family." The answer was obvious, and he really hoped that it was the case.

"Vesta was an only child." Sister Maggie explained. "Her father left both her and her mother when she was eleven and her mother passed away a few months before she started working here." Nero was relieved to hear that, because the only other explanation is that they didn't really want Nero.

However, hearing that also made Nero even angrier. Because his mother was clearly not in a good place during that time and it made her an easy target for that asshole to take advantage of her.

Nero could only let out another sigh, before asking her a painful question. "Do you know if she's dead?"

"I have no idea, but that's probably the case." She didn't say that to be rude, she just knows that Nero didn't want to hear any lies right now.

Nero could only look at the floor, upset over the fact that he finally knows about what happened to his mother. Sister Maggie simply touched his shoulder affectionately before speaking.

"I... Have a photo of her." She revealed it to him and he immediately moved his gray eyes up. "You should have it." The num reached inside of her pocket and pulled out a photograph. "It was taken during an event that happened at the church.

She held the photo backwards for Nero to grab it. The boy with white hair could only take a deep breath and reach for it. Once he had it in his hands, he simply stared at it for a bit. Let's see what you looked like... Mom. He thought as he flipped the photo over in order to see it.

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"WHAT THE FUCK!" Those were the words that escaped Nero's lips as the boy widened his eyes in a state of deep shock after seeing that photo.

"What is it?!" His sudden outburst startled Sister Maggie.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" But Nero didn't answer her question, instead, he stood up from the bed and rushed out of the room, running as quickly as he possibly could.

"Nero!" Ignoring Sister Maggie yelling his name.

Nero Carnby could only rush through the corridors of the orphanage, passing by several of the staff and other orphans, who just stared at him in deep confusion as the boy ran incredibly quickly. Eventually, he reached the front door of the Saint Agnes Orphanage and once he was out, he ran even faster than he did before. Surpassing the speed that he ran when the cops were after him on the day that he got his first kiss.

FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! That was the only thing in his mind as he ran.

Nero was hyperventilating, but it wasn't from all the running that he made, but it was from the shocking revelation of what his mother looked like. Holding the photo in his hand, which was shaking quite heavily. He took another look at what his mother looked like.

Vesta Carnby, in the photo at least, had fair skin, shoulder-length jet black hair that she was wearing in a tight ponytail, with deep dark eyes that were behind a pair of glasses. Appearance wise, she was a rather plain looking woman, wearing a modest outfit composed of a white sweater and a long black skirt. In the photo, she was standing in front of the orphanage with an adorable smile.

The reason why Nero was so shocked with that photo. Was because he saw that woman before, in a horrendous situation.

Taking deep breaths, Nero placed the photo inside of his jacket's pocket and prepared himself. In truth, he was standing in front of a door with the number 103. The same door that Gwen and Nero passed through on the day of the blackout and the Hulk's attack.

No going back now... That was the last thing that he thought before putting the hood on his head and knocking on the door. Having both of his hands closed into a fist, Nero prepared himself for whoever was going to answer the door.

Only for the door to open and Tall and lanky, pine skinned man wearing nothing but sweat pants appeared on the other side. "Who are you?" He asked.

Nero didn't respond, instead, he checked inside the room and noticed three more guys inside. He recognized one of them, the very skinny black guy, who seemed to be cooking something in the kitchen. The other was an old man with a long beard wearing an army coat that seemed to be in his sixties or more. Once he finished checking the inside, Nero read the tall guy's mind and saw something awful.

Yeah, suck on it. The image that appeared on his head made him vomit on the floor in front of the man.

"Stupid fucking kid." The man said in disgust before he shut the door on him.

Nero spit the remaining vomit that was in his mouth on the floor. Before cleaning his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket. Then he grinded his teeth in deep rage and proceeded to reach inside of the right pocket of his jeans and pulled out his cheap earphones. Placing them on his ear in order to protect himself from what was about to happen.

Then, once they were on, he bashed on the door as hard as he could with the bottom of his fist. Reaching inside of his jacket as soon as he heard steps coming from inside.

"You again?!" The tall guy opened the door once again. "What the fuck do you want, you stupid littl-" Before he could finish what he was saying.

"SUCK ON THIS!" Nero pulled out the magnum revolver from inside of his pocket and pressed into the man's stomach. Pulling the trigger with no hesitation and firing a .500 S&W Magnum round at the guy. The very loud sound of the gunshot echoed through the corridor, but thankfully, the cheap earphone was good enough to protect his ear from the loud noise.

"Ah-" The tall guy could barely react as the bullet went right through him and came out and even managed to go all the way to the window of the kitchen.

Startling the black guy with the STD infested dick, who immediately turned around and saw the tall guy falling on the floor. With the old man, who was sitting on the floor with a cigarette in his mouth, opening his mouth wide open and the lightened cigarette falling on the floor right away.

Nero, on the other hand, stepped inside of the apartment and put the magnum revolver inside of his jacket once again since it was empty, then he pulled out his newly acquired folding knife. Walking meanancly towards the black guy who was clearly still in shock over what just happened, possibly under the effect of tinnitus due to the loud gunshot that echoed through the room. Showing no reaction whatsoever when Nero closed the distance and stabbed him in the stomach. Piercing the folding knife deep into his stomach, as he was consumed by a fury after he saw what he and the other man did.

Pulling the knife off his stomach, Nero turned towards the old man, with a look that resembled the face of a predator ready to slaughter his prey. With the old man looking at him with a terrified expression as he crawled backwards. The black man fell on the floor soon after, holding his stomach while grunting in deep pain. Which served as a motivation for the old man to run away as fast as he could, leaving Nero alone with two men that were in deep agony on the floor.

But Nero ignored the two junkies and made his way towards the bedroom. Taking slow and careful steps while placing the knife back on his jacket, as he was afraid of what he was going to find there. Having no other choice, he opened the door of the bedroom, where he saw someone laying on the floor beside the bed.

Slowly, he approached, and found who he was looking for. It was an ugly woman, with unhealthy looking pale skin, disgusting looking hair that hadn't been washed in a long time, she was abnormally thin and weak looking, clearly in a state of emaciation. Nero could only watch in horror as the woman has been beaten to a pulp by the two man, which caused him to vomit earlier as he watched the two beaten and raping her inside of that room. Her face was bloody and completely swollen. Her body was clearly some type of internal bleeding due to the bruises that he could see on her stomach, and if he had to guess, she had one or a few broken ribs.

"Fucking fuck... Just fuck..." Nero kneeled down beside the woman. Because he didn't know if she was still alive. Thankfully, she was still breathing. "What do I do?" He asked himself in deep confusion, because he didn't know what he was supposed to do.

As he was pondering in desperation on what he was supposed to do, the woman opened her eyes. Clearly clueless of what the hell is going on. Until she moved her deep dark eyes to look at him.

"Can you hear me?" He asked her. "You're gonna be okay." The boy with white hair tried to comfort her as he held her hand tightly.

The woman opened her mouth, in a clear attempt to speak, but Nero was forced to look away as he saw that the woman had several of her teeth knocked out.

Fuck! What should I do?! Nero asked himself in deep desperation. Closing his eyes, he tried incredibly hard to come up with a solution.

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Wait?! He finally thought of something. In that dream... The Gray Avenger teleported himself by conjuring a mental image of the place that he wanted to go. And now that he thought of it, that was basically what he did when he teleported out of Jean's room.

Opening his eyes, he realized that the woman had closed her eyes. "Hey!" Nero yelled at her. "Stay with me, don't pass out!" The boy tried to keep the woman awake. "Okay! Okay! Okay..." Closing his eyes, Nero tried to conjure a mental image. That hospital room that I stayed in, I remember... He imagined the room and wished to be there. Please... Please... Please... Practically begging, Nero held the woman's hand tightly as he tried to use his power.

Only for him to feel something familiar. A hot wind blowing through his body. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and realized that he was inside of the same hospital room. IT WORKED! Moving his head down, he realized that she was now laying on the hospital floor.

Nero wasted no time in standing up and making his way to the door. "HELP!" He yelled as loud as he possibly could. "SOMEONE HELP MY MOTHER!"

The woman that he just saved was none other than the woman from the photo, Vesta Carnby.

The cycle repeated

The music echoed through his ears as he quietly looked into the dirty ground as he tried to swallow the entire situation.

As explosions broke in the sky

Moving his head up, he saw some poorly made graffiti on the wall, with the image of a stereotypical gangster holding a pistol sideways. The image made Nero Carnby remember what he did.

All that I needed

SUCK ON THIS! The moment passed through his head.

Was the one thing I couldn't find

Suddenly, he got startled by the shadow of someone walking by. Causing him to move his head to the left. He was sitting in an alley, in between two trash cans.

And you were there at the turn

Moving his head back to the ground, Nero reached inside of his jacket and grabbed a Joint. Placing it in his mouth and lightning up with a lighter.

Waiting to let me know

As the smoke went into his lungs, he could only think about what happened. I did it again... I just left her alone again...

We're building it up to break it back down

After teleporting himself and the junkie woman that turned out to be Nero's mother, he bounced out of the hospital as quickly as possible as he had no way of explaining what the hell happened to the hospital staff.

We're building it up to burn it down

However, Nero couldn't help but feel like shit for doing that. Especially considering that he did the exact same thing the last time he saw her. That STD infested asshole...

We can't wait to burn it to the ground

All he could think of was what he did to her after he and Gwen left her alone with him while they were trying to escape the Hulk.

The colors conflicted

I... Didn't know it was her... At that moment, he didn't really care. She was just a fucking junkie to him and nothing else. Now, she was a fucking junkie that happened to be his mother. Fucking... Fuck... just fuck...

As the flames climbed into the clouds

His lip was trembling and so were his hands, as he could not believe that was happening. I... I killed those two... I actually did that... He was still in shock, there was no way those two actually survived.

I wanted to fix this

I shot one with one of the most powerful revolver calibers in the world and I stabbed the other in the stomach. And the worst part, he didn't feel a thing when he did it. Not a single ounce of regret, shame or guilt. I feel like I should be feeling... something, anything... I don't...

But couldn't stop from tearing it down

Honestly, he thought that they were just two pieces of scum that deserved way worse for what they did and nothing more.

And you were there at the turn

Unfortunately, the memory of what he saw returned. It wasn't just those two, that old man that ran away also participated.

Caught in the burning glow

And there were more of them, they have been beating and raping her since the day he and Gwen bumped into her. And that all happened because I left her there...

And I was there at the turn

Tears came out of his eyes as he looked at his hands, which had a bit of blood on it.

Waiting to let you know

After staring at it for a bit, Nero inhaled the smoke from the joint one last time, held his breath and took it off his mouth. Then he pulled the sleeve of his jacket up and pressed the tip of the joint on his wrist.

We're building it up to break it back down

It hurt him, but not as much as the guilt did. Dropping the joint on the ground, Nero pressed the burn with his index finger. With the pain pretty much doing absolutely nothing to him.

We're building it up to burn it down

Eventually, he exhaled the smoke from his joint. Only for him to expel fire from his mouth once again. Setting the wall in front of him on fire right away.

We can't wait to burn it to the ground

However, he didn't even react to that. He just sat there staring at it like it was absolutely nothing, despite the flames being extremely close to him.

You told me yes, you held me high
And I believed when you told that lie
I played soldier, you played king
And struck me down when I kissed that ring

"Hey!" Someone yelled at him as the fire spread around the brick wall that had the graffiti on.

You lost that right to hold that crown
I built you up but you let me down
So when you fall, I'll take my turn
And fan the flames as your blazes burn

Eventually, someone grabbed him and pulled him away from the alley.

And you were there, at the turn

"Nero?" The boy heard his name, but he wasn't paying attention to it. "Nero?!" Or anything for that matter.

Waiting to let me know

Until whoever was screaming his name grabbed his cheeks.

We're building it up to break it back down

"Nero!?" Finally making him focus. Catching the sight of pretty green eyes.

We're building it up to burn it down

"What?" He asked in surprise. "Jean?" Because the person that pulled him away from the flames was none other than Jean Grey.

We can't wait to burn it to the groun-

"Jesus, you scared me!" She yelled at him in response as she removed the earphones from his ear. "Come on." Then she pulled him away from the alley as the fire continued to spread and people were starting to notice.

Jean basically pulled Nero all the way to the end of the street. Once they turned around the corner, she stopped and spoke to him. "What's the matter with you?" She asked him in concern. "Why were you sitting down in that alley and where did that fire come from?" The redhead girl asked him in confusion.

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After a considerable pause where Nero didn't say a single word in response. The boy with white hair began crying in front of her.

"Hey?" With Jean being surprised by it. "Wha-" And before she could ask anything else, Nero fell on his knees and wrapped his arms around Jean's hips and buried his face on her belly. "Nero!" She wasted no time in hugging him in deep concern. "Shhhh... Shh... It's okay..." Speaking in a very soothing voice as she caressed his head gently.

"I... I... I..." Nero tried to speak but he just kept crying on her.

"Nero... I'm gonna read your mind now, okay?" She asked for permission as she wanted to understand what happened.

Nero didn't say a word as he had no energy to deny her. But a part of him was terrified of her reaction to it. Slowly, the boy lifted his head up to look deeply into her green eyes and Jean apparently took that as him giving her consent to look into his mind.

It took less than five seconds for her face to change from a worried one to a horrified one. Which made Nero let go of her and look down in deep shame as he was sure that she was horrified with what he did with those two men.

"Oh god!" With his shame only increasing after he heard her yell that. "No! No! No!" However, his feeling of shame was replaced with a feeling of surprise when Jean got to her knees and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck in an even tighter hug. "I'm so, so, so sorry!" Before she began crying as well.

Nero didn't respond, instead, he simply hugged her back and continued to cry. With Jean crying alongside him in response to what she saw in his mind.

That continued for a minute or two, until someone approached them. "You two better get in the car." Nero moved his head to see who it was, it turned out to be Ororo.

"What..." Nero was about to ask her what she was doing there.

"The Professor was the one that located you." Ororo told him as she gently helped him stand up.

"Come on..." Jean, who was wiping the tears off her eyes, helped Ororo as the two gently guided Nero towards the black car that was parked right around the corner. Once they turned around the corner however, he saw a considerable number of people staring at something, which turned out to be the alley that Nero unintentionally set on fire.

"Did you do that?" Ororo asked him.

Nero gave her a very weak nod in response as he looked into the ground.

"Come on, let's go." Jean soothingly told him as she guided him towards the back door of the car, with Ororo opening for them.

Nero simply entered the car without any complaint and sat behind the driver's seat. With Jean entering right away and sitting behind the passenger's seat besides Nero.

"What exactly happened?" Ororo asked in confusion as it was clear to anyone that something really bad happened.

"Don't ask." Jean was quick to reply. Then she grabbed Nero and gently pulled him in order to place his head on her lap. With him doing it without complaining. "Shhhh... There... there..." She began caressing his head gently in an attempt to make him calm down.

It partially worked, but Nero was still a little shaky.

Ororo noticed that it was better to just not say anything else and she began to drive.

"Nero..." Unintentionally, Nero actually fell asleep on Jean's lap. Thankfully, he didn't have any nightmares or anything. Slowly, he opened his gray eyes to look at Jean.

He was more calm now, but the situation was still overwhelming. "I'm sorry..."

"Shhhh..." He tried to apologize but Jean just shushed him and continued to caress his head. "You don't have to apologize for anything."

"Jean..." Nero's lips began to tremble. "I fucking left her with that junkie." Since Jean read his mind, she definitely already knew that the woman was his mother. "They... They..." He bursted into tears again in front of her.

"I know, I know..." Jean really had no words because that situation was beyond fucked up.

"I... I killed those men, didn't I?" It was a dumb question since he already knows the answer.

"I... I don't know..." She was clearly as distraught about that as he was.

"You think I'm fucking monster do-" Nero was about to ask her a painful question.

"No!" But Jean interrupted him by yelling. "I think you're someone that was in an overwhelming situation and that's that!" Despite clearly being disturbed by what Nero did, the circumstances behind it were too drastic for her to actually judge him.

Hearing that only made Nero more upset, so he flipped over and buried his face on Jean's lap.

"I... Told Miss Ororo about what happened." Jean informed Nero. "She told me that she would see if she could... check..." If his mother was alright.

"Fuck... just fuck..." He began crying again and Jean caressed his hair. "So many... So many fucking years telling myself that... She was just a good for nothing junkie and that I shouldn't care about her... But... But..." Knowing the actual circumstances behind how she ended up like that and seeing her in that awful state made him feel like complete shit for genuinely spending years talking shit about her in his head and imagining her being an awful person just to make himself feel better over being abandoned at birth.

The boy continued to cry on his best friend's lap. "Let it out..." Jean soothed him gently as he did.

It continued for a few more minutes. Until he heard the car door opening. So he removed his face from Jean's lap to see who it was. Unsurprisingly, it was Ororo.

"You're awake..." She sat down in the driver's seat and looked back.

"Hi... Ms. Ororo." He greeted her properly.

"Just Ororo is fine ." She declared in response as she touched his head affectionately. "Jean told me what happened."

"I'm sorry." Jean immediately apologized for it.

"It's okay..." Nero really didn't feel like getting mad at anyone.

"I... Checked the hospital." Ororo revealed to him.

Nero immediately removed his head from Jean's lap. "How is she?!" He asked in deep concern.

"I'm gonna be honest with you." Ororo made no attempt to hide it. "Her situation is critical, but she will survive."

Nero could only sigh, though, despite being happy to hear that, he still felt awful. So he could only quietly place his head on Jean's lap again. "What now?" He decided to ask since he didn't know what to do.

Ororo gently touched his head and said. "I'm gonna talk to the Professor, he'll make sure the medical expenses are covered." She suggested it to him. "Though, I think you should maybe call someone to check on her, if you know anyone."

Sister Maggie can do that... He was going to call her as soon as he could and tell her about it. If the Professor can afford the medical expenses, I'm not going to refuse. Nero got the impression that Charles Xavier was a wealthy man. "Are we going now?"

"If there's nothing else you need to do..." Ororo responded while running her fingers through his white hair.

"No..." Nero was ready, despite everything.

"Okay then." Ororo smiled at him before turning around and preparing to drive off.

Nero simply turned around so he could rest the back of his head on Jean's lap. Mostly because he wanted to look at Jean.

Jean smiled at him and began to caress his forehead in response.

Nero gave her a weak smile in response before he extended his hand and touched her cheek. With Jean holding that same hand and kissing it.

"I'm here for you, remember that." Jean stated to him.

"Always."

"You wrote everything?" Nero asked.

"Nero... What happened, how do y-" Sister Maggie was on the other side of the phone, clearly confused with all the information.

"I don't wanna talk about it, just please do what I asked." Nero bluntly told the nun. "I'll call later, but please..." With that, he cut the call.

After driving for a bit, Ororo had to make a stop in the gas station to fill the car tank and for them to have a bathroom break. Nero, however, just went to find a payphone in order to call Sister Maggie to inform her of Vesta Carnby's location.

Nero sighed and stepped away from the payphone. Covering his head with his hood and placing his hands inside of his jacket's pocket and moving towards the corner.

"Hey..." Jean was leaning on the wall waiting for him. "Wanna eat something?" She asked him.

Nero was going to refuse, but he didn't eat anything all day and he was starving. So he just nodded and Jean wrapped her arm around him and guided him towards the gas station.

The boy with white hair genuinely felt a little ashamed with how Jean was babying him, but he was not in a good place right now and he didn't have in him to complain. So he just went along with it quietly.

After a few steps, the two entered the station. The place was empty , but Nero paid no mind to that. Jean let go of his arm and went to fetch him something to eat, while he simply stood there. He did, however, move his head to look at one of the windows, where Ororo was filling the car tank. There was another car outside, a pretty busted one, but nothing that stands out about it. Not how I imagine this trip to be going, but beggars can't be choosers right? He thought, despite himself not understanding what the hell he was talking about since he had no expectation whatsoever for it.

"Ssss..." Suddenly, Nero remembered something. Why the fuck did I do this? The cigarette burn on his wrist was itching. "Fuck." He moved his gray eyes around to search for something to apply on it. Thankfully, he saw a refrigerator filled with cold drinks. He slowly moved towards it, opening the refrigerator and grabbing a can of Sprite. Which he used to press on his burn.

"What are you doing?" Only for Jean to actually appear once again.

"Ummm... Nothing..." He pathetically tried to hide it, but it didn't work.

Jean immediately grabbed his hand and saw the burn. "What happened?" She asked him right away in concern.

"I..." Nero looked away deeply embarrassed.

However, Jean took that as a sign of something and visibly read his mind to know the answer. With her making a very confused face afterwards. "W-why?" She asked him calmly despite her deep confusion.

"I..." He was still having trouble answering. "Have no fucking idea..." With that being the only response that he was able to gather. "Everything I did after what happened feels like a massive blur to me."

Jean sighed in response and gently touched his wrist. Before she grabbed the can of Sprite and pressed on it again. "Just... Please don't start harming yourself or anything like that." That was her concern.

"What?" He definitely didn't plan on doing that. "Fuck no."

Jean gave him a look, before letting go of the can and handed him something. "Not exactly a meal but..." It was a bag of HERSHEY'S COOKIES 'N' CREME Dipped Pretzels.

"I'm starving, so it doesn't matter." Nero was quick to rebuff as he held the can on his burn. "How much further until we get to the place?" He decided to ask since he actually didn't have time to search the distance on the internet.

"A few more hours, I think." Jean told him as he opened the bag for him. "Open up." Before she actually tried to feed him.

Since his hands were busy, Nero decided to comply, despite finding it a bit embarrassing. So he opened his mouth and she placed the pretzel on it. It tasted pretty good, so he smiled and opened his mouth for another one. Jean smiled too and happily complied.

Suddenly, the store bell rang and they moved their heads to see Ororo entering the place. She approached the two and smiled at them. "That smile suits you more in my opinion." The beautiful woman told the boy with white hair.

"No doubt about it." Jean agreed with her with a smile.

Nero blushed a bit in response. "Thank you for... everything." He really appreciated it.

"You are welcome." Ororo touched his head affectionately. "We should get going now, maybe stop to get some actual food since that doesn't look like an actual meal."

"No, but it tastes so good." Nero quickly grabbed another pretzel and put it in his mouth. "But I could use something made of meat." He declared after he swallowed.

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard the store bell ringing again, probably the owner of the busted car.

"I need to use the bathroom, then we can get going." Ororo told them as she moved towards the bathroom, leaving Nero and Jean alone once again.

"How much was this anyway?" Nero asked Jean as she fed him another pretzel.

"Abou-" Before she could answer though, someone interrupted him.

"Open the register kid, put the money on the counter!" By the sound of someone yelling at the counter.

The two of them moved their heads to see what was happening. Realizing that a robbery was taking place at that gas station.

The Clerk, a guy in his twenties with visible acne on his face, had his hands in the air.

The Robber was wearing worn out clothes and was wearing a sky mask. He was holding a sawed-off double barrel shotgun.

Despite the current situation, Nero barely reacted to it. Unlike Jean , who seemed worried.

"Wh-" Before she could say anything to him. Nero simply moved away from her. "What are you doing?" Jean whispered in a low voice.

Nero didn't respond, instead he casually walked towards the counter where the robber was aiming a shotgun at the clerk. "Are you fucking deaf, put the money on the counter!" He yelled at the clerk.

"Alright, alright, just stay cool." The clerk responded as he opened the register.

Nero just casually approached the robber from behind while reaching inside of his jacket.

"What the fuck is this!?" The Robber yelled. "Where's the rest of the fucking cash?!"

"Dude, only three people paid in cash today." The clerk explained.

"Don't fuck with me asshole!" But the Robber didn't like the answer." Where's the rest?!"

"That's it!" The Clerk replied in fear.

"Motherfucker, I'm gonna-" The Robber was about to threaten him again. But before he could.

"You're gonna put that fucking gun on the counter, or else I'm gonna blow your motherfucking brains out," While the Robber was distracted, Nero pulled the S&W Model 500 out of his jacket and pressed the barrel on the back of his head. "Right now." He pulled the revolver's hammer.

"Ah fuck!" The Robber grunted angrily as he placed the shotgun on top of the counter and put his hands up.

"Five steps to the left, now." Nero spoke calmly as he pulled the revolver away from his head. With the idiot complying right away.

"What the fuck?!" Once he took the five steps, he realized that Nero was just a kid. Nero then grabbed the sawed-off shotgun from the counter with his left hand. Then he extended his right arm and aimed the revolver at him.. "NO WAIT!" With him freaking out in response.

"Bang." Nero pulled the trigger and nothing happened. "Dumbass." He put the revolver back inside of his jacket and held the sawed-off shotgun with both hands.

"Motherfucker!" The Robber was beyond furious with how he just got tricked.

"Jesus, you scared me." Jean immediately approached him and stood behind him.

"Sorry." He apologized because the last thing he wants is to scare Jean.

Suddenly, Ororo came out of the bathroom and made a surprised expression at what was happening inside that gas station. However, she took a good look at the Robber and seemed to have realized what was happening right away. So, without saying a single word, she approached the Robber and to Nero, Jean and the Clerk's surprise. Swinged a really nice looking right hook into the Robber's face, knocking him out completely.

"Nice punch." Nero praised the woman as he opened the breach of the shogun and took the shells out.

"Nice job disarming him." Ororo praised him back as he took the shotgun off his hands and placed it on the counter. "Sir, I suggest you call the police before he wakes up." She told the clerk as she placed the shotgun on top of the counter.

The Clerk was still a little shaken up, but he apparently heard her and went to call the police.

"We need to leave before they get here, I'd rather avoid unnecessary setbacks." Ororo told the two before she reached inside her coat's pocket and placed the money on the counter.

Both Nero and Jean nodded, turning around and making their way to the door.

"I must say..." After leaving the gas station before the Police arrived. Ororo drove for a bit, before making a stop to grab Nero something to eat. Jean ate at home before they left so she didn't want anything. "The way you handled it was quite impressive." Ororo commented.

Nero was eating a bucket of hot wings with a large cup of Sprite. "It would have been impressive if I actually grabbed the shotgun off his hand and knocked him out with a right hook." That would have been impressive.

"Why do you keep that revolver on your jacket?" Jean asked him, since she clearly didn't know he had it on him. Despite the fact that she saw him shooting a guy with it when she read her mind.

"Considering how much of a doom magnet I am, why shouldn't I keep a revolver on my jacket?" Nero rebuffed by sarcastically asking her that. Not that he didn't have a point, Nero has a painfully annoying habit of ending up in complicated situations. "Besides, It's empty and I really can't afford the bullets for it." He only had one bullet and he used it on that junkie. 500 S&W Magnum is quite expensive.

"Even so, it was quite smart of you to use the empty revolver to trick the robber." Despite that, Ororo still thought that it was an intelligent way of solving the situation.

"What can I say?" Nero lifted his shoulders in response. "I'm good at improvising." It was true, improvisation was Nero's specialty. He ate another wing and gulped down his soda.

"With variable degrees of success." Jean pointed out, since she probably remembers the result of his improvisation when he fought her sister's pedophile boyfriend.

Nero just gave Jean a light frown in response. With her giving him a goofy smile in response. Causing him to also smile. "Yeah..." Because it was true.

Jean then placed her head on his shoulder as they laughed together.

I'm glad I have Jean in my life. Nero thought since despite everything, she managed to cheer him up.

"Same." With Jean saying in return, probably because she read his mind.

Nero took a deep breath. Despite the awful circumstance that he encountered himself in earlier, he genuinely feels that things are going to be okay. Though, a part of him still felt guilty over it. But nothing could be done about it. If I knew... I would have bashed that guy's skull in for putting his hands on her, that's for sure. All for a woman that ditched him at birth. Maybe... I could visit her sometime, with very,very,very low expectations but... Nero thought about it, though he was very reluctant.

A loud sigh escaped his lips before he stuffed his face with another wing. You know what? Let's just stop thinking about it for now and focus on the matter at hand. Which was seeing what his new home was like. I wonder what these other guys with powers are like. When the thought about powers came into his mind, he widened his eyes as he remembered something.

"Oh shit..." Nero spoke out loud. "I think I know how to spit fire now."

"It was you who set that alley on fire?" Jean asked him, despite the fact that it was pretty obvious.

"Not on purpose." He confessed.

"Okay, but how exactly did you do it?" Ororo asked him.

"I..." Nero was a little embarrassed to respond.

"He was smoking Cannabis and he held his breath while the smoke was still in his mouth." Jean responded to him while giving him an apprehensive look since she was more than aware of his habit of smoking weed.

Nero looked away embarrassed in response.

"Cannabis?" Ororo was clearly surprised by that revelation.

"It doesn't actually do anything to me, I never actually got high with it." Nero admitted he did feel very relaxed which is why he continued to use it. "But when I held my breath with the smoke still inside, when I exhaled, the smoke turned into fire."

"It supports the theory that your powers require a specific circumstance to activate it." Ororo pointed out, apparently taking note of that.

"You also teleported yourself to the hospital to take your mother there." Jean, mentioned, before instantly looking regretful for mentioning that sensible subject again.

"It's okay." But Nero wasn't bothered by it. "It's true, I simply closed my eyes and thought about the specific room that I wanted to go to and when I opened my eyes again, I was inside the room." Though, he probably had to have a specific image of the place otherwise it wasn't going to work. Nero managed to remember everything because that hopital room was quite a simple room with not much that would stand out in it.

"Okay, once we arrive, I'm going to speak with the Professor." Ororo informed him. "It's important that you actually learn how to properly control your powers so no more accidents occur."

"I hear you loud and clear." Nero agreed. "How long until we arrive anyway?" He asked as he drank his soda.

"About four hours." Ororo answered.

Nero sighed before eating his last wing and leaning back on his seat. With Jean resting her head on his shoulder.

"I just hope my new room is bigger than my last room." That was his main concern.

"Your room was fine, what are you talking about?" Jean had to comment since his room wasn't exactly small either.

"It's just that, I never got to decorate it the way I wanted to." He always hated the color, and he wanted to put some ponsters and maybe put some Boxing equipment there, but the nuns didn't let him.

"Oh, if that's the case, I can help you decorate it." Jean was quick to suggest it. "Just don't paint the walls black or white."

"What?" Nero was actually planning on doing that. "Why not?"

For the next few hours, Nero and Jean practically spent the ride discussing how they should decorate their new rooms. Despite the fact that they still haven't seen what they were like yet.

"I don't wanna sound cliché or anything but..." Nero, who was leaning on the backseat, asked. "How much longer before we get there?"

"Just a few more turns." Ororo, who was driving ,assured him.

Nero genuinely doesn't know how many hours have passed since they left the gas station. But it didn't actually matter as the ride was peaceful and that helped him relax, something that was necessary for him to put his thoughts in check. He made the decision to put the situation regarding Vesta Carnby behind him for now and just focus on what was ahead of him.

Jean was sitting besides him, with her head resting on his shoulders and their hands were locked together.

His head could only move to the left in order for him to look at the window, with the boredom getting to him, he accidentally did something that he didn't really want to do.

A painfully slow walk was the best that he could do. As a part of him was reluctant to reach his destination. With his right hand inside his jacket's pockets and his other hand holding a bouquet of amaryllis . The boy with white hair slowly walks around the St. Michael's Cemetery. Sighing as being there was quite difficult for him, but necessary.

You know, this isn't a scenario that I ever saw myself in, like... ever... Nero thought while looking at the ground. But I've been avoiding this for too long and I need to do this before it's time to leave. He assured himself of it since he wouldn't forgive himself if he left without doing this.

Looking around, he could see a few people there. An old lady cleaning up a grave. A boy a few years older than him, sitting in front of one, talking to it. A woman on her knees, crying in front of it. A man and a little girl putting flowers on one. They were all quite depressing sights, but Nero's reason for being there was also quite depressing.

It only took him about thirty more steps for him to finally reach his destination.

A grave.

CASTLE

MARIA ELIZABETH CASTLE

LISA BARBARA CASTLE

FRANK DAVID CASTLE JR

Nero didn't actually show up for the burial, nor did he come to visit a single time since it happened. He tried several times, but he always chicken out at the last second. But today, he forced himself to finally do it. Because he was going to leave tomorrow and that might be his last chance to do it for a while.

"I don't even know what the point of this is..." Nero wasn't speaking to himself. "I mean... I'm pretty sure that none of you can actually hear me, but maybe I'm wrong..." He hoped that he was wrong. "If so... I'm sorry for not coming earlier but... the truth is, I really ,really fucking hate cemetaries." That was true, but it wasn't the only reason.

He set the bouquet of amaryllis down in front of the grave, he always saw them around the house, so he imagined that maybe Mrs. Castle liked them or something.

Taking another deep breath, he continued to speak. "In a nutshell... It turns out that I'm a mutant, or something like that... I was born with a gene that gives me superpowers and that might be the explanation for my odd appearance, but I really don't think that is the case." A pointless and unnecessary explanation. "And... Mr... Castle... He..." Is in some kind of coma due to receiving a fatal shot to the head and if he wakes up, he might be a vegetable for the rest of his life. "Survived..." That was the kindest way of saying it.

...

...

...

...

"Fuck this shit..." Nero cursed himself for being so incapable of speaking. "Okay... Fuck, fuck and fuck..." Something was pissing him off and he didn't know how to express it. "The guy that was in the park, when you and I were looking for the ball." He was speaking directly with FJ. "I saw him on Tv the other day, he was arrested for some completely unrelated shit and got to walk away scott free." Nero took off his hoodie. "Nearly everyone completely forgot about what happened, the police, the news and even some of your damn neighbors." That infuriated him beyond belief. "I guess this is it... You're all get murdered like a bunch of fucking animals by some cocksucking mobsters and that's it..." That was unacceptable on every possible level. "Jimmy Cavella, that was his fucking name, an basically an Italian mafioso or some shit like that..." Basically, he was the younger brother of the head of a crime family or something like that, or at least that is what the rumors say. By the looks of it, what was happening in the central park was nothing more than an execution that they bumped into by pure accident, which makes the whole thing even more infuriating for Nero.

"Why the fuck did this had to happen, dammit..." His indignation was at it's highest peak at that moment. "What the fuck am I doing...?" He was supposed to be paying his respects for his dying friend and his family, not rant about the unfairness of the situation. "You were... My first real friend..." Despite being close to Matt Murdock, their age difference made him more of a big brother than anything. "Everybody else saw me as a freak because of the way I looked, but not you, I don't know why and I personally don't care, it was nice." Thankfully, he still had Jean or else he would be far worse off. "I wish... I could do something, anything, to make the bastard that did this pay." But there was nothing that he could do. "But I can't..." He looked down in shame. "Not right now at least." But he plans on doing something. "Once I actually get the hang of my powers, I'm going after the bastard." That was a promise. "I don't know how long that will take, and I don't care but one day... I will fucking avenge the three of you..."

Taking one last deep breath, Nero put his hoodie back on his head and turned his back at the grave. Even if it's the last thing I do, I will be your avenger.

"Nero?" Suddenly, the sound of Jean's voice snapped him out of the memory of what he did the day before. "We're here." Jean was standing in front of the car door that she opened for him.

"Finally..." Nero commented, despite the fact that the ride wasn't that long.

Stepping out of the car and closing it behind him, Nero was able to take a good look at his new home. Holy fucking shit... It was a three story Neoclassical mansion with large open fields, surrounding woods, and a beach.

"It's so..." Jean was trying to find the right words.

"Huge." With Nero finishing for her.

"Believe it or not, it's actually bigger on the inside." Ororo revealed to them as she opened the truck of the car to grab their luggage.

Nero only had a duffel bag and a backpack while Jean had a large and old looking suitcase.

Nero moved to grab his bags, placing one on his back and the other on his front. Before grabbing Jean's luggage.

"Hey, you don't have to carry mine as well." Jean was quick to tell him.

"Nope, but I want to." Nero was quick to rebuff as he closed the trunk. "Besides, what the hell did you pack on this?" Because it was considerably heavy.

"Clothes, some things from my room, etc." Jean explained to him. "That was the only case available, so I had to fill up completely."

"Put emphasis on the "completely" then." Nero joked as he struggled to lift the heavy bag up.

"You want me to take it?" Ororo offered.

"Nah, I got it." Despite the struggle, he was able to lift it up and hold it with both hands.

"If you say so." Ororo decided to just let him struggle. "Come along, it's time to see your new home." Before signalling them to follow her.

Jean followed her without question.

Fuck... Nero, on the other hand, moved considerably slower due to the amount of weight that he was carrying.

The three of them walked all the way towards the entrance. With Nero breathing the fresh air and watching the peaceful looking surroundings, feeling a little out of place since he was so used to New York City's polluted air and cramped up surroundings that it was kind of odd for him to be in a place like that.

Jean on the other looked around with a big smile on her face, clearly adoring the change of scenery. Something that made Nero happy since it might be good for her.

A few labored steps and Nero was in front of the front door of that big mansion with Jean standing besides him. Ororo touched the door and took a good look at the two of them before opening. "I'm gonna be completely honest with you two." The older woman told them. "I may not know the two of you very well, but I can tell that it will be very nice to have you here."

Both smiled at her in response to what she said.

"Welcome to the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters" She announced as she opened the door for the two of them.

"Woah..." It turns out that Ororo wasn't exaggerating, the mansion does look bigger on the inside. The central congregation and entryway for the mansion, located as a bridge between wings. Contains the central staircase. The whole place was really well cleaned and partially decorated in a manner that you would somewhat expect a place like that to look.

After taking a good look around, Nero and Jean slowly stepped inside. The air inside was different, not any less pleasant than the fresh air outside, simply a little more artificial. Stepping inside with the heavy luggage, Nero was still having trouble believing that this was his new home.

"Well, it is." Suddenly, Nero heard the Professor's voice inside of his head. "Could the two of you kindly make your way to the Lounge, there are some people that I would like to introduce to the two of you." The man instructed the trio.

"I assume that you heard it too." Ororo asked the two and they nodded in response. "You can put the bags down now, I'll make sure they get in your new rooms."

Nero responded by carefully putting Jean's suitcase down before unceremoniously dropping both of his bags on the floor.

"The lounge is that way, the Professor is awaiting the two of you." Ororo pointed towards the direction that they are supposed to go with her index finger.

Hearing that, Nero and Jean slowly made their way to the Mansion's lounge in order to encounter Professor Xavier. It only took a few steps for the two of them to reach the door frame, where they saw a bar in a dark blend of chestnut and black walnut accented by the core of oak that runs 25 feet through the lounge, set with brass rails and taps behind the bar. Behind it in a custom mirrored set of cases are a dazzling array of bottles, although many of them long empty and largely ornamental. The walls are dark inlaid wood and the stools and deep leather couches are clearly handmade. Upon entrance, they were greeted by the sight of Charles Xavier, wearing a fine looking dark suit. As they approached him, they realized that there were two other people standing besides him.

One was a tall, slim boy, with fair skin, dark brown hair in a side parted hairstyle. He was wearing a Clean-cut and serious outfit, like a typical preppy guy. A dark red collared button-up shirt, form-fitting brown-grayish pants, and brown running shoes. But what really stood out about his appearance were the strange looking shades that he was wearing, strange looking ruby-colored glasses.

The other one was a slightly short and skinny boy, with short and messy light brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a light blue, short-sleeved shirt with dark blue sleeves, green cargo shorts and grey trainers.

"I'm glad the two of you have arrived safely." The Professor told the two of them as they stood a few steps away from them.

"Not... So safely..." Nero scratched his head a bit as the events that transpired before they made their way to the Mansion reappeared in his head.

"Yes, words cannot describe how sorry I am that you had to endure such a thing." The Professor offered his sympathies since he was clearly aware of what happened.

"You paid her hospital bills and that honestly was better than any words of condolences." Nero declared while looking down, still a bit shaken due to the memory of the awful state that she was in.

Jean gently touched his shoulder in response.

"Still... You have my condolences." The older man said it anyway. "And I assure you that any medical care that your mother requires will be taken care of."

"Thanks..." Normally, this will be the moment where someone will act prideful and make a comment about how they don't need charity or some shit like that. But I ain't stupid enough to refuse free healthcare for a loved one.... Loved one? Is Vesta Carnby even that? I mean... Suddenly, his head became filled with doubts in regards to that.

Suddenly, Jean gave him a look, indicating that they probably read his mind right now. "Ummm..." Which prompted her to say something. "You two must be the other students?" She asked the two boys that were awkwardly standing there.

"Yes." Professor Xavier confirmed and decided to introduce the two of them. " This is Scott Summers." He signaled towards the boy wearing shades.

"H-hey..." Scott awkwardly waved at Jean.

"Sup." Nero greeted him.

"Hello." Jean waved back at him, which seemed to have caused him to scratch his head awkwardly in response.

"And this is Bobby Drake." Xavier then introduced the other boy to them.

"Hey, it's really nice to have new people here." Bobby declared.

"Good to know." Nero replied with a thumbs up.

"Bobby, Scott, these are the two new students that I have been telling you two about." Then the Professor introduced the two of them. "Jean Grey and Nero Carnby."

"So, you guys have powers too?" Nero bluntly asked the two of them in curiosity.

" That's kind of mandatory to study there." Bobby answered for him.

"Yeah." Scott added with a nod.

"Wait, didn't you say there were three other students?" Jean asked the Professor.

Now that he thought about it, she was right, the professor did mention that there were three other students but he only saw two.

"Yes, matter of fact, where exactly is Warren?" The Professor asked the two of them.

"He's on the beach right now." Scott responded . "I tried to call him like you asked but he just told me to leave him alone.

"I don't really know what exactly he is doing there but I didn't really want to bother him either." Bobby added.

"Warren enjoys his solitude, it's to just leave him be." The Professor told them. "He can introduce himself later, if he wishes." The man then turned his wheelchair around to look at Scott and Bobby. "Forgive me for requesting this but there is something that I wish to discuss with Ororo, could the two of you give them a tour around the Mansion?" He requested the two boys.

"Yes, of course." Scott was quick to accept.

"No problem." With Bobby also agreeing.

"Thank you." Xavier then turned to look at Nero and Jean. "Once again, I am very happy to welcome the two of you to my home."

"Thank you for having us, Professor Xavier." Jean gave him a respectful bow in response that made Nero chuckle a bit because it looked silly. With her giving him an annoyed look in response.

"And thank you one more time for... You know..." Then Nero had to thank him again for that. With Jean's annoyed look turning into an upset one as she knew exactly what he meant.

"If there is anything else that I can do for you, you only have to ask." The Professor stated to the boy.

"There were... two men... In the apartment with her... Could see if they are..." Nero had to ask that using telepathy so no one else will head. "I was so furious that I-"

"I will look into it and I won't pass any judgement on you because that kind of situation was incredibly overwhelming." The Professor was quick to respond. "But you must understand that despite the circumstances, you might have killed those men and you will have to live with that."

"I am aware of that." Nero spoke that one out loud while looking down on shame.

"I am glad to hear it." Xavier seemed satisfied with Nero's answer.

"Hey." Jean gently held his hand.

Nero smiled at her, before moving his head a the duo that was standing there, completely clueless about what they were talking about. "So, are we going to start that tour?" He asked them. "Because this mansion is huge and it might take a while."

"Got that part right." Bobby confirmed what he said. "I think we should start with the first floor."

"Lead the way." Nero said afterwards.

Nero was very right about the whole "might take a while" because it took them almost two hours for them to get a full tour of the place.

The Mansion has one and two-bedroom suites, as well as a few well-appointed guest rooms. Both bedroom layouts have a kitchenette and living space, although the ones in the singles are slightly smaller. Guest rooms are functionally a very nice hotel room, equipped with a bathroom, microwave, induction burner, and mini-fridge. The main entrances to the suites are secured by a combination key/electronic lock that can either be opened by a physical key, or electronically opened in the case of staff needing access or in emergency situations. Individual rooms are secured solely with physical keys.

The mansion has three incredibly well-stocked kitchens. The main kitchen is an expansive room with a twelve top stove, a flat top grill and six ovens with two walk-in pantries and enough cooking space to prepare regular meals for as many as 75 people at once. There are three industrial refrigerators for residents to use to prepare individual meals, while the larger refrigeration units that hold the food for the larger meals are located in the pantries. There is also a supply closet which holds a wide array of kitchen appliances. The second kitchen is a smaller kitchen in the East Wing which was originally used for mansion servant meals. Only a third of the size of the main kitchen, it is still well equipped. There is a third small kitchenette on the second floor, primarily used for morning and late night meals. There had been an industrial kitchen on the main floor when the school was functioning, designed to turn out three meals a day for 150+ people, but was mothballed and recently dismantled.

The mansion has a large and ample library, situated in the main building. While retaining much of the original old-fashioned decor, it has also been fitted with a modern cataloging system and a number of large tables and individual desks for the purposes of study. There are also a number of 'private study rooms' off one side, originally intended for use by senior students or those with special needs in terms of storage space and private study time. The library has been maintained for residents who are involved in continuing studies, research or simply enjoyment.

The first floor has a large rec room with a large-screen tv, video game consoles, and an extensive digital library. There are numerous couches, beanbags, and overstuffed chairs for the students' use. There are smaller TV rooms on the second floor and on the third floor, which includes the same entertainment options, a large screen television and sofas for group events.

In the East wing, the mansion has a medium-sized ballroom, used for entertaining guests before the mansion became a school, and since has been used for hosting parties, large numbers of guests, and graduation ceremonies. It is also used from time to time to host events in which all the residents are attending, typically for general announcements or for holiday events.

The school has a small gymnasium area in the west wing that can be used for basketball, volleyball, squash, or other indoor activities. One end of the gymnasium opens to the indoor/outdoor pool and various locker rooms. The other end contains a fully-stocked weight room as well as storage for athletic equipment. The pool area contains an Olympic-size indoor pool, with a connecting swim way to the outdoor pool area, which is drained and covered in winter.

Outside, near the pool, there is also a basketball court, a sand volleyball pit, and a number of horseshoe stakes. The basketball court is unique, in that it has a habit of sliding away to reveal the Blackbird's exit from the subterranean hangar.

The garage at the school is used both for the storage of individual- and school-owned vehicles, as well as containing a full auto maintenance bay, used by the Auto Shop class. There is also a fully-stocked machine shop accessible from the garage.

The infirmary complex is located in the basement of the mansion. It contains a full surgical operating theater, as well as a separate series of rooms for specialized treatment dealing with severe medical cases or those related to mutations. There are a number of private recovery rooms, as well as offices for the medical personnel on staff. There is a general examination room/waiting room that is accessible by all mansion residents, with the remainder of the medical complex generally restricted to staff or those students assisting the doctors.

Also located in the basement are a number of labs designed for scientific research and experimentation. There are labs set up for mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineering, as well as specialized areas set up to test mutant powers under controlled conditions. Labs are connected to advanced sensor suites and can replicate virtually any experimental conditions necessary. Labs are assigned based on need first and then a simple sign-out schedule as needed by residents who are conducting their own research.

The "front yard" of the mansion, with large grassy lawns divided by a semicircular driveway and fountain, bordered by the front gates to the mansion.

The "backyard". There are large patios on each wing, accessible from Professor Xavier's Study or the Sun room, as well as the back exits to the mansion. The back porch off the kitchen is a popular spot for the mansion's smokers, having a variety of seats as well as fire buckets for cigarette butts. A brick walkway extends to a large fountain, with benches surrounding it where students may converse, study, draw, or pass the time. Further back on the North Lawn there are stables to the northwest, a woodshed/tool shed off to the northeast and a six foot tall half-pipe skate ramp directly north of the mansion. A small grove of trees to the north conceals a cobblestone path leading off to the lake, to the north.

The Lake Area, located North of the mansion is a large kidney-shaped lake, fed by a stream from the northwest, and draining via numerous streams and tributaries to the west. Along the southeast corner of the lake is the boathouse. A dock extends onto the lake from the boathouse, and a small shed contains two rowboats and a half-dozen canoes.

Along the western boundary of the property, an access road leads up to an abandoned quarry, approximately three hundred meters across, and easily as deep, filled with rubble and crumbling granite and sandstone. Beyond this area to the north is extensive woodland.

The area around the mansion is bordered to the east, west, and north by mixed evergreen and deciduous forests. Small creeks and drainage tributaries form small gorges and ditches in the western woods, while the eastern woods are peppered with small glades and meadows. A packed-dirt jogging path traverses the outer borders of the property, winding through the woods before circling the lake.

Located near the quarry so as to be out of the way, the shooting range is comprised of several indoor lanes as well an outdoor area for skeet shooting

The archery range is located near the school's volleyball court - far enough away from the rest of the school to keep missed shots from being dangerous while still being close enough to be easily monitored.

Once the long tour was over, they all made their way to the kitchen because Jean wanted some water.

"Let me get this straight, this place is absolutely huge but we are the only people here?" Nero asked in a bit of confusion as he opened the fridge to see if there was something he could drink.

"For now, at least." Scott pointed out as he leaned on the Kitchen counter. "The Professor has been searching for people like us to join the school, we just happened to be the first ones that he found."

"Who was the first one?" Jean asked in curiosity as she drank her cup of water.

"I was." Scott revealed to them. "I began to live here a few months ago."

"I came here around three months after Scott and the other guy, Warren, began living here a couple weeks ago." Bobby added the explanation as he sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. "Ummm... What exactly are your powers anyway?"

Nero found a box of orange juice inside of the fridge and picked it up. "Jean is a telepath like the professor." Nero revealed to them.

"Whoa, seriously?" Bobby seemed surprised with that.

Jean nodded in response. "Professor Xavier also suspects that I might be a Telekinetic as well."

Nero knew that Jean could do that, but he never actually saw it, or at least he doesn't remember actually seeing it. But she did tell him a story of how she accidentally launched a lamp into the wall without touching it.

"That's amazing." Scott spoke in response. Despite the fact that he was wearing shades, he noticed several times that he had been eyeing Jean quite a lot, though he doubts that it was in a perverted fashion.

"What about you?" Bobby asked Nero.

"No idea," He opened one of the cabinets and took a glass. "My powers keep showing up at random."

Both boys seemed surprised by the answer.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked him.

"Nero's powers seem to only activate under specific circumstances. " Jean explained despite the fact that there's probably more to it.

"Such as?" Bobby seemed to be curious now.

"When there is a storm, I can make a lightning bolt descend from the sky and strike whatever is in front of me simply by hammerfisting the ground." Nero decided to use the most obvious one as an example.

"Seriously?!" Bobby seemed surprised by that power.

"He can read minds too, but he gets horrible migraines if he does for too long." Jean added, surprising the two boys even more.

"And by the looks of it, I can also spit fire if I hold smoke inside of my mouth for a few seconds." That one still needed some testing, but if he takes the train incident and the alley, that was the only similarity between the two times that Nero actually spit fire.

"Can you show us?" Bobby asked clearly, wanting to see if it was true.

"I rather not, the last time I accidentally set a train on fire." Memories of that event were still quite unpleasant for him. Then he realized that there was something that both him and Jean wished to know. "What about you guys?" Since they were mostly talking about him.

"Well..." Bobby watched as Nero poured the orange juice into the glass. However, once he did, Bobby extended his hand and touched the glass with his index finger.

Nero widened his eyes when he realized that the juice became completely frozen in a matter of seconds. With him flipping the cup upside down and even touching it with his tongue, "Holy shit..." He said with a smile as that was impressive.

"I can generate, manipulate, and control ice, snow, and cold temperatures." Bobby revealed what his power was to them.

"Now that's an awesome power!" Nero was very impressed by that.

"It would be, if I didn't have a tendency of freezing things without wanting to." However, Bobby immediately revealed the drawback of it.

"Such as?" Jean decided to ask as she genuinely didn't like his tone of voice.

Bobby sighed and said. "My aunt..." The amount of shame in his voice was painfully evident.

"Oh... Shit... I'm so sorry..." Nero apologized because his previous commentary was pretty inappropriate now.

"Umm... She's okay, but... She could have died of hypothermia..." Bobby was quick to clarify that part.

"It's okay, we get it." Jean assured him since he was clearly assuming that he accidently killed his aunt or something like that. "What about you?" Then she moved her eyes to look at Scott.

"Oh?" Scott scratched his head awkwardly after receiving the question from the beautiful redhead. "I..."

"You're the guy that shoots lasers out of your eyes." Nero actually remembered that Jean mentioned that the Professor told her that one of the students there could do that.

"Oh... I remember now." Jean made a sad expression on her face. "The professor mentioned that you have to wear those glasses at all times or else you would just keep shooting lasers non-stop."

Scott sighed in response. "It's true." Before he confirmed. "But... I don't actually shoot lasers, they are concussive blasts actually."

"Concussive blasts?" Nero asked him as he kept licking the frozen orange juice from the glass.

"Well, a laser beam would actually melt whatever it hits, while what I shoot out of my eyes pretty much just pushes things away as if they are being shoveled or punched very hard." Scott explained to them.

"So... Basically, instead of melting things, it just hits you super hard?" Jean simplified his explanation.

"To put it bluntly, yes." Scott confirmed that it was basically that.

"But, is it powerful or..." Nero was actually curious about the potency of his power.

"When I used it for the first time, I destroyed an entire building with it, so yeah." Both Nero and Jean sighed after hearing that, because they already half-expected that an accident would be involved.

"Is everyone going to be having these kinds of accidents when their powers appear ?" Bobby asked despite the fact that it was a considerably dumb question due to the fact that the answer was pretty obvious.

"It mostly depends on the kind of power." Nero answered as he placed the cup of frozen orange juice down. Then he remembered the third guy. "What about -"

Before Nero could actually ask what was the power of the third guy. The group heard the sound of steps approaching the kitchen. So they all moved their heads to see who it was.

"Hey Warren." Bobby greeted the person that just entered the kitchen.

The person that just entered the kitchen was clearly the third student. It was a tall, fair-skinned and handsome boy with broad shoulders, medium length light blond hair that was parted in the middle and dark blue eyes. He was wearing a white T-shirt that was tucked into dark gray chinos and black sneakers. He also had a watch on his left wrist.

"What were you doing at the beach?" Scott asked him, and Nero couldn't help but note that there was a bit of apprehension in his voice.

"None of your business, Scott." Warren replied, visibly annoyed by the question. Then he moved his blue eyes to look at both Nero and Jean. "Sorry, Warren Worthington." Before he introduced himself to them and extended his hand.

"Nero Carnby." Nero returned the favor and shaked his hand respectfully.

"Jean Grey." Jean followed suit and did the same.

"Pleasant to meet you both, it is nice to see new faces around here." Warren revealed as he continued to shake Jean's hand. "Especially one as lovely as yours, Jean." Then he basically flirted with her.

"Oh..." Jean blushed a bit, surprised by the bold comment. "Thank you."

Nero did not like what he just saw, but he wasn't really worried or anything because he could tell that Jean would never be interested in a guy like that. Just by looking at him, Nero could tell that he was some kind of rich kid or something like that due to the fact that he was wearing a Rolex watch and he could see the designer's logo in his pants.

Scott, who was standing on the other side of the table, visibly frowned when he saw his attempt at flirting with Jean.

Bobby just rolled his eyes in response, indicating that this is something that Warren does often.

"So, what is your power?" Nero decided to ask since that was the subject that they were talking about before Warren showed up. "If you don't mind me asking?"

Warren's face changed from a somewhat charming smile to a somewhat gloomy face. However, he sighed and took a few steps back. With both Nero and Jean looking at him, a bit confused, even more so after he took off his T-shirt in front of them. "Not really a power per say." Once his shirt was off, it revealed that he was wearing some kind of restraint underneath it, it was a very strange looking vest that almost resembled a straight jacket. "But..." He slowly removed the vest.

Jean widened her eyes in surprise.

"Holy shit..." Nero was even more surprised when he saw it.

Because the moment that Warren removed that restraint from his torso, a pair of beautiful angel-like wings spread on his back. Warren then turned around and showed that the wings were indeed connected to his back

"Are they..." Jean was about to ask as she looked closer. "Can you actually fly with them?"

"More or less, but not on high altitudes." Warren explained as he turned around once again.

Nero was about to ask if it was because of a lack of training or because there was something wrong with the wings. However, before the words could come out of his lips.

"Forgive me for interrupting this amicable gathering, but there is something that I must discuss with you, Nero." Professor Xavier spoke to him through telepathy.

"Me?" Nero asked in confusion.

"Yes, and it's rather important." Despite his voice being inside his head, he could hear that his tone of voice was quite concerning. "Scott, would you kindly guide Nero into the Lab." Before he requested the other boy to take him to him.

"Right away." Scott spoke out loud.

Nero looked at everyone and realized that they were all listening.

"What do you think he wants with you?" Jean asked, she seemed a bit worried.

Nero lifted his shoulders to signify his cluelessness. "Better not keep him waiting." He signalled Scott to get moving. But as the boy wearing shades moved towards the exit of the kitchen, Nero looked at Bobby and Warren. "It was cool to meet you two and I'm actually looking forward to whatever the hell we will be learning here.

"Likewise." Bobby smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"I just hope we get more people soon, this mansion is nice but it looks like a ghost house with only a few people living here." Warren commented while he began to restrain his wings once again.

"No kidding." Bobby agreed with what he said.

"Excuse me, the Professor is waiting." Suddenly, Scott went back to the kitchen and called out to Nero.

"He's going in a second, Scott." Warren responded for him. "Little warning, Scott has a way of getting into people's nerves." He warned Nero in a not so suddle voice.

"I heard that." Scott declared.

"You were supposed to hear that." With Warren sarcastically remarking.

Nero chuckled a bit before giving Warren a thumbs up and walking past him.

"So... Jean..." As Nero left the kitchen, he could actually hear Warren's attempt to hit on Jean.

Both Scott Summers and Nero Carnby moved through the mansion in order to see what exactly Professor Xavier wanted with him. Overall... I'm pretty sure I'm going to love this place.

"Ummm... What am I looking at?" Nero asked in confusion as he placed his hands inside his jacket's pockets.

After Nero was called by the Professor, Scott took him to what appeared to be a lab straight out of a science fiction movie. Where the Professor and Ororo stood in front of a computer screen that showcased very strange images.

"Remember after our meeting?" Ororo began to speak. "When we requested that you and Jean provide some samples of your DNA for testing." Right after the Professor and Ororo explained to Nero and Jean about what Mutants were. They asked if they could collect samples of Nero and Jean's DNA. Basically just their saliva and a string of their hair.

"Yeah... so...?" Nero wasn't following.

Professor Xavier then typed in the computer's keyboard a bit and then three images appeared. "This is a generated image that was created from the samples that we collected from each of you." All of the images were similar yet different, showcasing what seemed to be DNA profiles "Basically, this is an image of Scott, Bobby and Warren's DNAs in a detailed view."

"Okay... But why are you showing me this?" Nero didn't like where this was going. "Did you find something odd about mine and Jean's DNA?"

"Yes and no." The man in a wheelchair typed on the computer once again. With the screen showing an image that was similar to the other three. "This is Jean Grey's DNA." He pointed out. "As you can see, it is quite similar to the boys with only a few noticeable differences." It was true, while all of the images had noticeable differences, they were all overall similar.

Nero realized that this was going somewhere that he wasn't going to like it. "But that wasn't the case with mine, right?"

Both Ororo and the Professor looked at one another in response. Before the Professor typed in the computer again and another image appeared.

"What the fuck?" It was Nero's immediate reaction.

"What is that?" Scott, who was standing besides Nero, asked in visible shock.

The image that appeared on the screen looked like something straight out of an abstract painting. It was twisted in an unbelievable fashion and all over the place like someone blew it into pieces and then rearranged in the wrong order.

"Okay, I'm not a scientist but even I can tell that is not what DNA is supposed to look like." Scott speaks up, being visibly disturbed.

"My thoughts exactly, which is the reason I called you here." The Professor seemed concerned.

"That's mine?" Nero could tell but he wanted confirmation.

"I'm afraid so." Xavier was visibly concerned.

"But... How?" Nero was shocked, because it was completely different from everyone else and it made him slightly worried.

"Unfortunately, we don't have an answer for you." Ororo told him in a somewhat comforting tone. "Which is why the Professor and I would like to ask you for more samples of your DNA for more research."

"Like blood samples or something?" Nero asked.

"Yes, with your permission of course." Ororo clarified.

"Sure, I will help you find out why my DNA is so messed up." Nero decided to accept, not being able to take his eyes off the image of his DNA profile, which was right besides Jean's. The difference between the two was so much that it genuinely bothered him for some reason. "My blood type is O Negative, by the way."

"We requested the Orphanage for your medical information." The Professor pointed out.

"Ehhh..." A thought came into Nero's mind and he was sure that the Professor saw it.

"Don't worry, you were not born with any drug dependency, nor with a sexually transmissible disease." Xavier told the boy through telepathy. Which made him sigh in relief. "However, your habit of smoking cannabis is a bit concerning ."

Nero simply looked away embarrassed in response. "Ehhh..." Before trying to change the subject. "You wanna take my blood now or..."

"If it won't be a problem." Ororo replied before signalling him to follow her.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before?" As he walked however, he heard Scott speak to the professor.

"No, which is the reason why this is concerning." The Professor replied, with Nero looking back and seeing the two of them staring deeply into the image of his DNA.

After having his blood collected by Ororo, Nero decided to finally go see his new room in the mansion. Jean immediately accompanied him due to being visibly uncomfortable with Warren's behavior.

"It was a little cute at first, but he talks a little too much." Jean explained what was wrong. "And the way looks at me is kind of weird."

"Just tell me if he starts to bother you too much." Nero told Jean as he carried both of their luggage through the corridor. "So, can we pick any room or did they assign one for us?" He asked as he looked at the doors around them.

"They did assign rooms for us." Jean answered before extending her hand to point at one of the doors. "That one is yours." She pointed at a door that had the number two on it. "And that one is mine." Then she pointed at a room that had the number ten on it.

What called the most attention, was the fact that their rooms were literally in front of one another. "Sounds good to me." He smiled at her after saying that.

"Me too." She smiled back as they both reached their doors.

Nero carefully put their luggage on the floor before opening the door of his room. "Hm..." The size of the room was almost the same as his room at the orphanage, just a little larger which was definitely an improvement. The room was very simplistic with a single wooden bed, a decent sized wardrobe and a desk. The carpet was beige and the walls were painted in a dull brown color that Nero didn't like. "Excluding the shitty color, I like it." That was his overall opinion of his new room.

"I like mine." Jean also opened her door and took a good look inside her room. It was basically the same as Nero's, only with a red carpet and orange walls. Hers looked ten times better than his.

"Yours is way better." Nero commented as he approached her from behind and took a look inside her room. "These colors are totally you."

"We can change yours later, but overall, these are really nice rooms." It was Jean's opinion.

"Agreed." Nero turned around and grabbed his luggage to place it in his new room. "Well, we already established that Warren is a quacking creep, but what about Bobby and Scott?" He decided to ask her opinion about the other two.

"Quacking creep?" Jean laughed a bit at that. "That's a low blow, Nero."

"Which is why I hope he proves us wrong, otherwise..." Nero removed his leather jacket and his hoodie, placing both on top of the bed.

"Well... Bobby seemed like a nice guy and I genuinely hope that we can actually help him control his abilities better somehow." That was her opinion about Bobby.

"Agreed, I get a really good vibe from him." Nero shared her opinion.

"Scott seemed a little..." She was trying to find the right words.

"He looks like an uptight jackass to me, but I could be wrong." It was his initial opinion of Scott based on his appearance and demeanor, but like he said, he could be wrong.

"He seems a bit aloof as well, but I think he's a good person." Jean gave her own opinion as she pulled her luggage inside her room.

"We'll see, we just met them so..." Nero moved towards the window of his room, which gave him a good view of the woods.

"You... Wanna talk about what happened in the lab?" Jean read his mind to know what happened, with his permission, of course.

"Not really and I don't know what is there to talk about?" Because his DNA being so messed up was not exactly a normal topic of conversation.

"How about the fact that you are clearly worried about it?" Jean pointed out as she approached him from behind.

"Yeah... I mean... We pretty much established that we are not normal but... It looks like I'm more abnormal." It was Nero's opinion.

"Really?" But Jean didn't like it at all. "Abnormal?"

"You got a better word we could use?" Nero asked in hopes that she did.

"Try... Extraordinary." She suggested.

"Extraordinary?" Nero chuckled a bit at that.

"Yeah, because I think you are extraordinary, Nero Carnby." Jean declared.

"And I think you are extraordinarily awesome, Jean Grey." Nero declared as well as he turned to face her.

"Good." Jean smiled at him. "And don't worry about whatever is wrong with your DNA, I'm sure that if it was something bad, you would have already felt it by now."

"If it is something bad, I wish to feel bad now rather than later." Because the idea of something suddenly going wrong was pretty disturbing. "But I guess you are right." However, he was still planning on staying alert in case of something actually happening.

"Of course I am." Jean spoke with confidence.

Nero put the rest of his stuff on top of his new bed, he was planning on putting everything inside the room. But as he extended his arm to grab something, he realized that his armpit smelled really bad now that he took off his hoodie and jacket. Probably from all that running... Nero literally ran all the way to that dreadful apartment.

A sigh escaped the lips of the boy with white hair. "I think I'm gonna take a shower." He told Jean as he grabbed another pair of boxers and a black tank top from his bag before turning around and walked towards the door.

"The bathroom is there, at the beginning of the corridor." Jean pointed at a door that was right next to the entrance of that corridor. "You want some shampoo?" Before grabbing a bottle of shampoo that she had inside of her bag.

"I accept." Nero usually just wash his hair with soap but he won't deny free shampoo.

Jean tossed the bottle to him and he grabbed it before making his way to the bathroom. Slowly walking towards it as he appreciated the view of the fancy looking mansion that was now his home. When he reached the door, he opened and came across a fancy looking bathroom with an expensive looking shower. "Nice."

"Seriously, you didn't have to make me dinner." Nero told her right away.

"I made it for the two of us, so why are you complaining?" Jean was quick to rebuff.

After taking a nice shower and finishing putting his things inside his new room. Before he knew it, it was night already and was dinner time. Originally, he was just going to make himself a sandwich with whatever he could find in the kitchen. But Jean actually cooked dinner for the two of them before he could.

"I'm not complaining, I just didn't want to bother you." Nero spoke as he sat on top of the dinner table wearing a black tank top with his usual black jeans. The black clothing only made his pale skin more prominent though.,

"Nero, trust me, it will be a cold day in hell before you actually become a bother to me." Jean declared to him right away. "Now shut up and eat."

She put a plate of chicken with fried rice, that not only looked really good but smelled really good as well. "I didn't know you cooked."

"I usually help my mom make dinner." Jean revealed to him as she placed her own plate on the dinner table. "I just know basic recipes though."

"Mm..." Nero decided to taste Jean's food and unsurprisingly, it was delicious. "Simple, yet awesome."

"Thanks." Jean seemed happy to hear that.

Before they could continue their conversation however, someone entered the room. Moving their heads to see, they realized that it was Bobby.

"Oh hey." He greeted the two of them.

"Hi."

"Hey."

Jean and Nero greeted him as they ate.

"Sorry, I just came to grab something to eat." Bobby apologized and explained as he entered the kitchen.

"There is some of it left in the kitchen , you can have it." Jean offered him while highlighting her plate.

"How much did you make?" Nero asked in curiosity.

"The usual portion that we make at home." Jean responded. "Habit..."

"Well, that smells really great, so don't mind if I do." Bobby was quick to accept the offer.

"If that's the case, sit down and have dinner with us." Nero offered while pointing at a chair.

"Oh, okay." Bobby accepted.

Nero and Jean eat their food slowly as Bobby went to grab a plate for himself and returned to take a seat.

"Ummm... Do we all have to make our own meals or does someone cook here?" Nero decided to ask in curiosity.

"Most of the time it's us that have to make our own meal." Bobby answered his question right away before eating a bit of that delicious fried rice.

"Oh boy... I guess it's cup noodles, microwaved food and takeouts for me." Because Nero didn't know how to cook and he wasn't exactly planning on learning it.

"Forget it." Only for Jean to shut that down right away. "I'll cook our meals from now on."

"Suit yourself." Nero wasn't going to refuse a free meal everyday, especially if they tasted as good as the one he was eating right now. She would do it even if refused anyway, so it's better to just accept.

"You got that right." Jean confirmed through telepathy.

"Usually, Scott cooks for me and Warren, but his food is a little..." Bobby seemed a bit embarrassed to say it.

"Bland, tasteless and boring." Only for Warren to enter the room and finish for him. "Which is why I mostly eat takeout."

"It isn't... That's bad." Bobby tried to defend it, but didn't seem very convincing.

"Not that bad is still bad." Warren rebuffed before looking at their plates. "But that doesn't look bad at all."

"There are still some in the kitchen." Bobby informed him.

Warren immediately made his way to grab a plate of his own.

Nero drank a cup of water before eating some more rice. With a question forming in his head that he wanted to ask Bobby. "So, where exactly are you from?"

"I'm from Floral Park in Hempstead." Bobby answered as he ate some of the chicken.

"I was born and raised in Manhattan." Nero spoke next.

"I was from Annandale-on-Hudson," Jean decided to tell him next. "But I moved to New York City a while back due to... Family problems." The topic was always going to be a sensible one, but considering how awful it was.

"I'm from Centerport." Warren returned with his own plate of chicken and fried rice.

Since they were all basically having dinner together, Nero decided to get to know the two of them better and get some more information about what that place was about.

"So... What exactly have you two been doing since you got here?" Nero asked them.

"Mostly trying to get the hang of our powers, if that makes any sense." Warren was the first one to answer.

"We experiment with them in a safe environment, to keep us from getting into any accidents." Bobby added.

"Is it what the room that we passed through during our tour is for?" While they were showing them around the mansion, there was a specific room that they didn't enter because they were doing modifications to it.

"The Danger Room." Warren confirmed with a thumbs up. "I think Scott is there right now."

"Weren't they redecorating it or something?" Jean asked in confusion.

"They were actually doing some repairs, they finished an hour ago and Scott is testing it." Bobby clarified.

"Testing it?" Nero didn't get that part. "What exactly is the room for anyway?" He thought that it was a safe room for them to use their powers without the possibility of destroying their surroundings or harming anyone but he's getting the impression that is not really the case.

"You know those obstacle courses they put you through in training camp or something similar?" Warren gave an example and Nero nodded. "It's basically the same thing, only that it's specifically made for people with superpowers." He drank a cup of soda before continuing. "For me, it is basically a flight training with obstacles for me to get the hang of flying with my wings."

"Your powers are pretty straight forward." Since his powers are obvious due to the wings. "But what about Bobby and Scott?"

"Well, I mostly freeze stuff in order to try to control the potency of it." Bobby explained. "Sometimes I just freeze everything around me by accident and the Professor is trying to help me fix that."

"Is there a warning or do you feel it when that is about to happen?" Nero asked in concern. "No offense, but the idea of suddenly getting my ass frozen isn't exactly appealing."

"Nero..." Jean didn't like his choice of words despite clearly having the same feeling about it.

"None taken." Bobby seemed okay with his words however. "The warning is when the room suddenly becomes cold."

"I'll keep that in mind." Nero spoke after.

"What about Scott?" Jean decided to ask in curiosity.

"Scott can't control his powers properly due to an accident so he uses a special visor that allows him to control it." Bobby explained. "He mostly does target practice with it."

"Nah, calling it just ''target practice'' is stupid." Warren interjected. "The guy does an entire training regime inside that room."

"How so?" Nero was curious.

"Stuff like, dodging from projectiles, running laps, passing through obstacles while shooting his lasers and he also does combat training there."

"Hmm..." Nero was now curious. "Do you guys mind if we go there to take a look after dinner?" Since that was the only spot they didn't go to during the tour.

"The room is open for use any time, so it's not really a problem." Bobby didn't mind.

"Can you pass me the salt?" Warren asked.

Nero, Jean, Bobby and Warren had a pleasant dinner together where they mostly got to know each other better. Once they were all done, they decided to make their way to the Danger Room to actually finish the tour of the mansion properly.

"This looks exactly like the door that leads to the final boss of a game that I played once." Nero couldn't help but compare it, since just the door and that entire area in general looked like something straight out of a science fiction movie.

"Yeah, and I keep wondering how much all of this costs." Warren added a very good question.

"I'm easily the poorest person here, but I can tell when something is expensive." Nero pointed out.

"And I'm the richest one and I can tell for sure when something is expensive." Warren pretty much confirmed his suspicion. "My family could afford something like this, but not without a considerable loss." Him admitting that, only drives the point of how expensive that entire area was.

"You guys hear that?" Jean asked them.

Once they actually stopped talking, they could hear the sound of what it seemed to be explosions, but it was muffled.

"Scott is probably blowing things up with his lasers." Warren spoke up.

"Oh, can we see it?" Nero asked because he actually wanted to see Scott's powers.

"Sure, come on in." Warren decided to open the door so they could go inside.

As the door opened in a weird circular motion, Nero could only look into the interior with pure amazement. The interior of that room looked like some kind of alien ship, with everything being made of metal with several devices that he had no idea what it does. Stepping inside behind everyone, the room was considerably cold and it had a strange smell of melted metal. Each step made a noise that echoed around the room. Which was expected due to the room's length.

"Look." Bobby pointed at a door that was a few steps away from them. From there, they could actually see Professor Xavier sitting there, watching out a window.

"You all can come closer if you fancy." Suddenly, the Professor spoke to them without bothering to turn around.

They weren't exactly surprised by that, since they knew that the Professor probably read their minds upon entrance. So they all compiled without saying a word and approached the room. It was some kind of control room since there were a bunch of terminals inside.

"Sorry, but we were curious about what this room was all about." Nero decided to speak as he was the first that approached the professor from behind. "Holy shit." As soon as he stood behind the Professor, he was able to see the window that he was looking at as well.

On the other side of it, there was a very large room made of metal with strange looking flying spheres floating around it. And right in the middle of it, he could actually see Scott, wearing a strange looking visor in place of his glasses. But what really surprised Nero was the fact that he was shooting a powerful looking ruby-colored beam from his eyes. Blowing all of the flying spheres into pieces with it.

"The room was inoperable for the past week due to some modifications that needed to be made." The Professor explained. "Scott offered to test it, mostly because he wanted to get his training back on track. "

"I also want to get mine back on track." Bobby commented as he stood besides Nero. "I can feel that it's getting easier to control it." After he said that, he looked at his left hand and to Nero's surprise, his hands became completely covered in ice.

"I've been registering your progress," The Professor told him. "It has been considerably slow, but we are seeing results from it."

"Okay..." Nero was actually curious now. "But what about Jean and I?" He wanted to know how they would be able to control their powers.

"With Jean, I can help her develop her telepathic abilities and with some training, I think she can get her hang on her telekinesis." Jean's telekinesis was still something that Nero never got to see properly, despite believing her claims.

"I would definitely appreciate that, but what about Nero?" Jean asked since she was still a bit on the edge after hearing about the DNA profile.

"His case is a little more complicated." The Professor revealed to them. "I have my reasons to believe that Nero may have more dormant powers that we are unaware of."

"All of my powers, by the looks of it at least, either have a drawback or a prerequisite for me to use them." Nero wasn't really surprised and actually agreed with the Professor,

"Exactly." The Professor seemed pleased that Nero understood the situation. "I was hoping that we could run some tests and see if we can actually cause another one to reveal itself."

"It's not going to be anything dangerous, right?" Jean asked the Professor in concern.

"They might have a controlled risk, but nothing that could cause bodily harm." The Professor reassured her, but Jean didn't seem to like his choice of words.

Nero touched her shoulder. "It's okay, whatever it is, I can take it." He reassured her.

The Professor then touched his temple with both his index and middle finger. "Scott, that's enough for now." Nero heard him speak with Scott through telepathy.

"But I can still go on." Scott protested.

"This was simply to test if the room's functions were working properly after the maintenance." The Professor explained. "You can have a proper training session tomorrow."

Scott sighed but complied, as the spheres that he was blowing simply moved away from him and a door opened inside that room. With him stepping out of the room right away.

The five of them watched as Scott slowly entered the control room. "Huh?" And seemed surprised to see them there.

"Hey," Warren greeted him first. "Our new members wanted to see the Danger Room."

"You knew that the room was being tested and brought them here anyway." Scott spoke in a somewhat apprehensive tone towards Warren.

"Here we go..." Warren rolled his eyes in response.

"Come on, Scott." Bobby decided to interject. "The Professor knew that we were coming and would have warned if there was any danger."

"That's not the point, Bobby. " Scott was quick to rebuff.

"Then what's the point?" Jean was the one that spoke next. "It sounds like you are trying to scold people for no good reason."

"What?" Scott was surprised by that. "No, I'm not trying to scold anyone." Before getting defensive about it. "The Professor specifically instructed us to stay out of the room until it was approved for use."

"By that logic, you shouldn't be here either." Nero decided to add.

"I was testing the room to see if it was working properly." Scott continued.

"And by the looks of it, it is working properly, so why exactly are you giving Warren a hard time?" And so did Nero.

"This guy gives everyone a hard time," Warren said after that. "Usually for the dumbest reasons."

"Hey." Scott folded his arms in annoyance with Warren's comment.

The Professor decided to interrupt it by cleaning his throat. Everyone moved their head to look at the man in a wheelchair. "As I was saying..." Then he looked at Nero. "I would like to run some tests in regards to the powers that you are aware of."

"Now?" Nero asked him in surprise.

"It can be tomorrow if you prefer." The Professor clarified.

Nero thought about it for a bit, but then decided to just do it now. "What do you need me to do?"

"First; I need you to step inside the room." The Professor instructed him while pointing towards the room where Scott came from.

"Okay..." Nero complied as he silently walked past everyone and entered the room. It was warmer there and the smell of melted metal got stronger. The place looked even bigger from the inside, and it literally looked like an alien ship from the inside.

"One of the many functions of this room is collecting data that will help us analyse your powers and in turn, help us develop better methods of training for them." The Professor explained another purpose for that room.

"Got it." Nero gave a thumbs up.

"Now, I need to use at least one of your powers to check." The Professor requested.

"Well..." There was one that he could use. So he reached inside of his pocket and pulled out something.

"Is that what I think it is?" Hearing Scott's voice as soon as he held it in his hand.

"Yes." Jean was next and her tone of voice wasn't a happy one.

"Hahahaha!" Warren laughed for some reason.

"Wait, what is he gonna do with that?" Bobby asked in confusion.

Those reactions were because Nero actually pulled out a joint from his pocket. He was planning on smoking one after dinner, but since they needed a demonstration.

"Here we go." He put it in his mouth and lit it. Inhaling the delicious smoke that came from it and holding his breath for as long as he could.

"What is he-Woah!" Warren tried to ask what was happening, but was shocked when he actually saw it.

Because Nero actually spit an unbelievable amount of fire into the wall where the window was located. "Holy shit!" With the entire wall becoming engulfed in flames as a result.

Unfortunately, it didn't stay on the wall and began to spread around the entire room. "Fuck!" But before Nero could react properly, small gaps opened on the walls and several robot-like arms began to stick out of it and they all began to fire a fire extinguishing substance like the ones you see inside a normal fire extinguisher. However , even that was having difficulty putting down the fire that Nero started.

"Get out of there!" Jean yelled right away as the fire seemed to be spreading.

Nero didn't need it to hear twice and he immediately made his way to the door and back into the room. "Shit." He cursed as the door closed behind him.

"Okay, that is definitely not a normal fire." Scott pointed out the obvious as the fire was getting stronger and stronger.

"Hmmm..." The Professor didn't seem fazed by the fire spreading. He was observing it and typing something on a keyboard that was in front of him.

Suddenly, the entire room became engulfed by some kind of weird looking fog that Nero didn't know what it was, but it actually got the job done and pulled out the flames.

Nero sighed as soon as the fire was gone, before he unconsciously placed the lit joint back in his mouth to smoke again. Only for Jean to immediately grab it off his mouth, tossed on the floor and step on it. He was about to open his mouth to complain about that, but the looks that he got from her and everyone else made him know better to keep his mouth shut.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us." That was the Professor's sole opinion after seeing Nero's first demonstration of his powers.

After the little accident in the Danger Room, the Professor sent everyone back to their room and stayed there to collect some more data on the strange fire that Nero spit out his mouth.

So Nero made his way back to his room, stripped down to his underwear and laid on his back. He wasn't in the mood to sleep, so he just stared at the ceiling and thought about this situation. While I'm happy that there are people in the same situation as Jean and I, the whole deal with my messed up DNA is definitely making me worried. That was the thing that Nero couldn't stop thinking about.

I don't know anything about the subject, but that was definitely not normal, even by the standards of people like Professor Xavier. Nero attempted to ponder and come up with a possible explanation. Maybe my dad was an alien or some shit like that, that would explain my messed up DNA and my somewhat odd appearance.

...

...

...

"Are you eavesdropping?" Nero moved his head to look at the door and asked.

Only for Jean to actually open the door. "No..." She denied as she entered the room. "Not on purpose, at least." But then she confessed. "I just came to say good night."

Nero sat up on the bed and spoke. "Too much on my mind to actually fall asleep."

Jean sat on the edge of the bed. "Do you... Really think that your dad might have been an alien?"

"It's just an idea, but it would explain my messed up DNA." In truth, that was a long shot and was just a lame idea that he had, but it's probably not the case. "But... It's much more likely that my dad was a deadbeat shitbag that got my mom hooked on drugs and then ditched her after they ditched me."

Jean sighed in response to what he just said. "Nero, can we please talk about this, because pretending that it doesn't bother you a lot isn't really working."

"Hah!" Nero thought that was funny. "Of course it fucking bothers me, Jean." He genuinely doesn't remember pretending that it didn't. "But how do you talk about something like this?"

"You can start by talking about how you really feel about it instead of constantly joking or being sarcastic about it." That was the start.

"Oh... Let's see..." Nero rubbed his chin. "I am deeply angry, sad, guilt ridden, dumbfounded and a lot of other negative emotions that I'm having a really hard time processing."

"Good, that is the start." Despite the tone of sarcasm in Nero's voice, at least he admitted.

"No, it really isn't." Nero laid back down. "I really wish we could talk about this the same way we talk about your family problems, but this is totally different."

"I am aware of that." Jean laid beside him. "But I really think that trying to figure out a way to talk about it is better than just avoiding it."

"If you have any idea, I'm all ears." Nero didn't really wanna talk about it to be honest, but he knew that avoiding it wasn't a solution.

"Actually, I had one, that is why I came here." Jean declared.

Nero moved his gray eyes to look at Jean. "Let's hear it then."

"If you don't know how to put it in words, try to put them into thoughts." Jean suggested. "You know, when I read your mind, sometimes I can feel what you are feeling so maybe..."

"Jesus Christ, no." Nero was quick to deny that. "The last thing I want is to make you feel the same way as I do."

"It's a little too late for that." Jean confessed. "I already felt everything that you were feeling when you went into that apartment."

"Wait..." Nero was surprised by that. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, so I know exactly how you are feeling right now and that is why I want to try it." Jean declared. "So... Please... For me?"

Nero sighed. I'll do anything for you.

Jean just smiled at him, probably because she actually heard what he thought. So to Nero Carnby's surprise, Jean Grey slowly got on top of him. "You know the drill..."

Nero nodded and closed his eyes. And he felt Jean's weight shifting on top of him and felt something pressing against his forehead, which was obviously Jean's own forehead. He also felt her hands grabbing on to his.

"Now... Show me how you really feel."

Jean requested using telepathy.

...

...

...

...

...

...

"Huh?" Suddenly, Nero felt that something was off and opened his eyes.

"What?" Jean realized as well and she opened her own eyes.

Once their eyes were open they realized something, they weren't inside Nero's room inside the Xavier's Mansion anymore. But on the floor of an apartment.

"Wait... This is..." Nero recognized that place, several details of it were different though.

"Where are we?" Jean asked him as she stood up from the floor.

"This is..." Jean helped Nero get up as he took a good look around to confirm if that was where he thought it was. "Remember when I told you that I was found in a empty apartment?"

"This is the place?" Jean asked in disbelief.

"Sure of it, but..." Nero noticed that something was off, it actually looks somewhat different from the times he visited the place.

"It looks so dirt-" Jean was about to comment on how dirty the apartment looked. Until she actually turned around to face Nero and saw something. "Ummm..." Before she pointed behind Nero.

Nero looked at her with a confused face, before he turned around. "Huh?!" Only to catch the sight of someone there.

It was a woman, wearing blue jeans and white blouse , sitting on the couch, wrapping some bandages around her hand that seemed to have a small cut on it.

"Holy shit..." It took Nero a few seconds to realize who that was. "It's her, that's my mom." It was none other than Vesta Carnby.

"That's her?" Jean asked in confusion. "She looks so..."

"Healthy, or at least healthier than last I saw her." Nero wasn't exaggerating, she almost looked exactly like the photo that Sister Maggie showed him, although a little thinner and paler.

Nero, in his confusion, approached her and attempted to get her attention. "Hello?" He called her but she didn't answer. "Hey!" He clicked his fingers in front of her face, but to no avail.

"She can't hear us." Jean pointed out the obvious. "Nero... I think this is a memory."

"A memory?" Nero didn't understand.

"Yes, I think we... Accidentally entered one of your memories when you were trying to share them with me?" Jean proposed.

"Is that even possible?" Nero asked her since his knowledge on telepathic abilities was very limited.

"I'll have to ask the Professor later, but that makes the most sense." Jean wasn't so sure, but it did make sense.

Except for one detail. "But Jean, I didn't even know who she was until that day, so how could I possibly-" Before Nero could express why he thought that wasn't really a memory, something interrupted him.

The interruption came in the form of someone crying. A baby.

"Oh fuck..." With Nero realizing that right on his left there was a chair, that had a baby wrapped in a white sheet on top of it.

"Shhh... Shhh... It's alright, it's alright..." With Vesta immediately standing up to pick the baby up and cradle him.

"Seriously?" Nero rubbed his eyes in deep frustration since they might have been reliving a memory from when Nero was a toddler. "Jean, please, I really don't wanna see this." He turned around and told Jean.

"I swear that I didn't do this on purpose." Jean was quick to make that part clear. "All I wanted was to think about how you felt so you could share it with me."

"I believe you, but can you please make it stop." He practically begged as he avoided looking back.

" I don't even know how we did this to begin with." Jean was clearly just as clueless as Nero about it.

"That's it, who's a good boy..." He heard Vesta speak in a very soothing voice, which only made him more upset.

"What the fuck!" Nero yelled as he turned around. "You're going to ditch his ass anyway, why are you bothering being so nice?!"

"Nero..." Jean was quick to touch his shoulder in response to his sudden outburst. "Come on, are you seriously asking that?"

"It's just..." He always had an image in his head of what his mother was like and that image keeps getting more and more shattered the more he learns about her. "Come on..."

Vesta was simply sitting there, lovingly cradling the baby. An image that pissed off Nero since he knew exactly what was going to happen.

Jean sighed, since she had no words about that.

Before anything else could be said about that situation, however, the sound of the door being unlocked was heard by them.

Both of them turned around to see who just entered the apartment, only for Nero to be surprised.

"What the fuck?" With that being Nero's immediate reaction.

The one that just entered the apartment was a guy. That practically looked like an older version of Nero, with only a few differences. He has fair skin, dark brown eyes and black hair in a caesar haircut. He was wearing a black hoodie, brown cargo pants and old running shoes. Despite the physical resemblance however, he was very skinny, his face was considerably gaunt and there were heavy dark bags under his eyes.

"Nero... That's you-" Jean clearly realized as well.

"Don't say it!" Nero didn't want to call him that.

"Put the little freak down and help me here." He was carrying something that seemed heavy.

Nero grinded his teeth when he heard that word.

"Don't call him that, Cal!" Vesta was quick to reprimand him.

"What else am I going to call him?" The guy, who's name apparently is Cal, asked in visible annoyance. "He looks like a baby alien."

"A baby alien with your ugly mug." Nero commented sarcastically since the fact that he was the spitting image of the douchebag in front of him was quite unpleasant.

"If you got that abortion that I told you to get, we wouldn't be having this fucking problem." Cal spoke condescendingly towards Vesta.

"The only one with a motherfucking problem here is you, dickhead." Nero continued to speak despite knowing that they couldn't hear him.

"Or you could have worn a condom. " Vesta spoke sarcastically while continuing to cradle the baby.

"You know I hate rubber!" The guy complained as he dragged whatever the hell he was carrying towards the kitchen.

"Then you had it coming for your ass, fool!" Nero yelled in response to what he just heard.

Jean was just there, watching the whole scene quietly since she didn't know how to act in a situation like that. But then she moved her gaze to look at Vesta and the baby. Approaching her slowly and looking at him closely.

Nero noticed and did the same thing. "Damn..." Turns out, Cal was right, Nero did look like a bald little alien as a baby.

"You look so peaceful..." Jean commented.

"And she looks..." Nero didn't want to say it.

"Happy?" Jean commented since Vesta was smiling and didn't took her eyes off her baby.

"On the surface, maybe." Nero knew how that story would end, so he didn't want to feed some kind of illusion.

"But, it doesn't make much sense." Jean noticed something odd. "She doesn't... Looks like she has a drug dependency."

Nero, despite his reluctance, actually agreed with Jean. Vesta actually looked pretty normal, maybe a little too thin but nothing compared to how Nero saw her in the present. "She looks like someone that would use LSD or PCP at most , but not someone that uses heavy drugs."

Jean immediately moved her head to look at Nero when he mentioned LSD and PCP.

"I'm a proud Marijuana monogamist , thank you very much." The only drug Nero has ever used was Cannabis, and he doesn't plan on expanding his horizons in that regard. "If you ever see me doing anything else, you have my full permission to beat me to a pulp with a baseball bat." He declared.

"No, I would rather use a golf club." Jean was certainly willing to hit Nero with a golf club if she ever sees him doing any heavy drugs.

"Good choice." Nero replied sarcastically.

"Can you please help me out here for fuck's sake?" Suddenly, Cal called Vesta.

Vesta rolled her eyes and sighed, before putting her baby down and moving towards the kitchen.

With Nero and Jean watching her.

"Ah..." Hearing her making a grunt of disgust for some reason. "What the hell was that?"

Nero, in his curiosity, approached the kitchen to see what was going on. Immediately, he noticed that there was something wrong with Cal's leg.

"Ew." Jean saw it too.

Cal took off his hoodie, revealing a blue T-shirt with stains on it underneath. The guy was pretty scrawny but what really called attention was a very disgusting looking infection in his left arm which was filled with track marks with one that seemingly became an abscess that had pus on it.

"Cal, how long is your arm like that?!" Vesta was visibly shocked by the sight.

"A few days before you had the kid." Cal replied, and he was clearly in pain from it. "Help me with this."

Nero and Jean moved closer to get a better look at that and realized that he was holding a needle.

"What exactly is that?" Poor Vesta clearly did not like what she was seeing.

"Morphine." Cal responded. "It was the best I could get."

Nero was watching this scene and knew where this was going. "The stupid fuck is going to inject in the arm..."

"Ummm, his arm is becoming gangrenous." Jean pointed out.

"No shit, it's probably from all the dope he injected on himself." Nero could tell that Cal's arm was filled with track marks from injecting what Nero assumes to be heroin. Funnily enough, almost unintentionally, Nero actually checked Vesta to see if she had any and couldn't really find it. Were you even a junkie at this time? Nero was starting to have some doubts since the only clear junkie there was his supposed "father".

"Cal... I don't think it-" Vesta tried to warn him that it was a bad idea.

"Shut the fuck up and help me with this shit!" Cal angrily yells at her as he fills the syringe with the morphine. The fact that he was in pain was painfully obvious, but Nero had zero sympathy for that jackass.

"Fine." Vesta seemed to have little patience for him, which makes Nero wonder why she is still with him.

"Ummm... I don't think injecting that is a good idea." Jean was quick to say what poor Vesta was trying to say.

"It isn't." Nero just leaned on the wall behind him and observed the scene. His opinion about his parents was forming itself quite nicely right now.

Vesta took the syringe off his hand and prepared to inject it into his good arm.

"No, the other one." But Cal actually wanted in his infected arm.

Nero and Vesta made the exact same facial expression when they heard that.

"Are you insane?" Vesta asked him as she put the syringe down. "Do it yourself." Before she left him alone in the kitchen.

"Oh, so this is how it is going to be now?" Cal asked in deep annoyance as Vesta walked back to the couch and picked up her baby once again. "You've been treating me like dog shit ever since you popped the kid out."

"Your arm is infected from all that junk you've been injecting on it, and you want me to inject more junk on it." Vesta was quick to rebuff. "Hey, do you think your dad is being stupid?" She asked her baby in a clear attempt to mock Cal.

"Mental retardation levels of stupidity without the intellectual disability as a fucking excuse." Nero happily answered her question.

"Fuck you!" Cal angrily cursed at her before turning back. Where he impulsively grabbed the syringe and prepared to inject it in his infected arm. "Mmmm!" Where he grunted in pain as he pierced the needle into the abcess, which made Nero wonder whether he was actually retarded or something.

"Stupid motherfucker..." And the fact that it was his father only made it worse.

"Why are we watching this memory specifically?" Jean asked in clear confusion because she definitely doesn't understand why a memory of his father shooting dope on himself was what she managed to access.

Vesta, who watched everything, just rolled her eyes and watched as her boyfriend fell on the floor after taking some morphine. Her face of disgust was painfully obvious, but it immediately shifted into happiness one once she looked at her baby.

"Okay... I don't get it." Jean was quick to announce. "She looks..." She didn't know how to say it.

"Normal." Nero was having the same doubts as Jean. "I don't think she even does drugs, she just enables the jackass over there." Right now, Nero had the lowest opinion possible about his father since he is basically what he always imagined him to be, but his mother... So far, she was actually pretty normal. Which makes zero sense whatsoever, especially when you compare to the state she was in the present.

"What do you think happened?" Jean asked him since she really wanted to know as well as Nero.

Nero could only move his head to look back and see the guy that was supposedly his father. No matter how he tries to look at it, the only logical explanation is that he had something to do with her downward spiral since she didn't seem hooked on any kind of drugs during the time that Nero was born.

"Nero Caligula Carnby..." The woman spoke his name out loud. "I know that is a pretty unusual name, but I can tell that you're going to be an unusual little boy." She declared. "In a good way, of course." Before she kissed the baby's forehead.

Nero sighed. "Jean, can you please try to end this." Because it was making him quite depressed.

"I believe I can help you with that." Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard by them.

Out of complete nowhere, Nero and Jean opened their eyes. Realizing that they were both on top of Nero's bed, hugging each other very tightly with their foreheads connected.

"What?" Immediately, they separated in confusion.

"What the fuck was that?" Nero asked as he sat up on the bed.

"Apparently, Jean has accessed a memory from the time you were an infant." Both of them were startled when they noticed Professor Xavier sitting right next to the bed on his wheelchair.

"But... I didn't actually mean to do that." Jean was quick to point out that fact as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"You shouldn't be able to do it since it is an exceptionally advanced ability." The Professor revealed it to her.

"What?" Nero was confused. "But she sees my memories all the time."

"Seeing recent memories or memories that you are actively thinking about is quite simple since they are still fresh inside your mind, but a memory from when you were an infant when your mind wasn't beginning to develop yet..." He seemed to be deep in thought about this.

"Well, that was a very shitty experience and I would rather not do that again." Nero was quick to comment.

"How can you say that?" Jean asked him. "Aren't you happy that you saw how your mother used to be?"

"No." Nero admitted, although a part of him didn't actually believe it. " I'm way more confused than I was before actually." Because there was nothing even remotely wrong with his mother despite her horrendous taste in men, so he was wondering what the hell happened because she didn't seem like that woman that would abandon her kid.

"You're not the only one." Jean shared his confusion, because all she saw was a loving mother caring for her baby.

Nero touched the back of his head before moving his gaze to the Professor. "Ummm... Why are you in my room anyway?"

"I was trying to warn Scott that he forgot something in the danger room, but as I did, I accidentally ended up joining the two of you in viewing your memories." Professor explained.

"Accidentally?" Nero noted his choice of words.

"Yes..." The Professor looked at the two with an analytical expression. "I'm sure you two already noticed, but you both possess an exceptionally powerful telepathic link connecting the two of you." Something that he obviously wants to know more about.

"Yup, and the explanation for it is probably in another memory but I think I had enough memory sharing for the day." Nero wasn't really in a good mood at the moment, but he was trying to stay polite since Jean and the Professor had been helping him a lot and he didn't want to be rude to them.

Thankfully, both of them realized that Nero wasn't feeling so well and didn't press the matter.

"Alright, Nero." Professor Xavier told him in a calm voice. "I just ask that you keep in mind that this conversation will be necessary later since it might help me understand the nature of yours and Jean's mental link."

"I am aware of that and agree with you, but right now, I just want to be alone." He said that while looking at Jean.

"You sure?" Jean understood but was visibly worried about his mental state.

"Absolutely sure." He gave her a thumbs up.

"Okay..." Jean nodded in response, before she approached him and gently touched his shoulder. "If you need anything, just call me, okay?" She made sure to assure him that she would come running if he needed her.

Nero just stared deeply into her green eyes, before he did something unbelievably impulsive. Which was to kiss Jean on the lips, a quick and chaste kiss, but it was a kiss on the lips nonetheless. "Okay..." Surprisingly though, she didn't seem at all surprised and just smiled at him in response.

Afterwards, Jean and Professor Xavier quietly left the room, leaving Nero alone. With the boy immediately jumping into his bed and trying to empty his mind that was filled with a lot of questions and he didn't have the means of getting answers for them.

Actually, he did, but decided to just wait a bit until the coast was clear. Because he was planning on doing something and he wasn't in the mood to hear the cons of what he wanted to do.

As he waited though, he came to realize something. Fuck! I actually kissed Jean! Not that he was regretting it though but he genuinely doesn't understand why he did that out of the blue like that. I really need to get my shit together. Because he's been doing a lot of questionable stuff ever since this entire mess started.

He must have laid there for two hour or three hours, just waiting until he was certain that nobody was there. Although, Nero genuinely thinks that he was probably wasting his time since the two people he was worried about could read his mind anyway.

Even if that was the case, he needed to know.

So he stood up from his bed and put on his outfit. Just his white hoodie and shoes though, as this was actually going to be quick.

Once he was fully dressed, he stood in the middle of his room. Looking around and memorizing every detail of it. Before he closed his eyes and envisioned a different room entirely.

Feeling a familiar sensation, Nero Carnby opened his gray eyes and realized that he was in a different room entirely.

The room was the same hospital room that he had teleported himself and Vesta Carnby after finding her in the apartment. There was a patient there, sleeping peacefully.

"Okay..." Nero put his hood up and proceeded to move to the door.

As soon as he stepped out of it, he realized that the hospital was considerably quiet, with not much noise going around. However, there were two nurses walking around the corridor.

So Nero slowly exited the door and walked towards the opposite direction.

"Wait, are you serious?" When he reached the corner, he heard someone speaking.

"Yes, nobody understands what happened." A woman, who was probably another nurse, spoke. "I mean, I walked out of that room which was empty and out of nowhere, a boy started screaming for help."

"You seriously didn't see him or the woman inside the room?" A man, who was probably a janitor, asked.

"No!" The nurse declared. "Didn't you see the state that woman was in?!"

"Yeah... The doctor said that it's a miracle that she is still alive." The Janitor replied.

Nero sighed in response.

"She's staying on the floor above, apparently, someone already paid for her medical bills." The Nurse then gave a very important piece of information.

"What?!" The Janitor was surprised though. "Isn't she a homeless junkie or something?"

"I don't know the details, but apparently a very wealthy man called the hospital and requested the bill of her medical care to be sent to him." Nero was very grateful for that.

"Okay... But what about the boy that screamed? The Janitor asked in curiosity.

"A nun came here and identified the woman." Probably Sister Maggie. "When they told her about the boy, I overheard her saying that it was the woman's son."

"Jesus Christ..." The janitor was clearly disturbed. "Poor fucking kid."

You can say that again... Nero thought before he peaked and confirmed that it was a janitor and a nurse having a conversation. Once he realized that they weren't looking his way, the boy simply walked past them and continued his path. Floor above... That's what the nurse said, so he made his way to the stairs in order to go to the next floor.

Nero Carnby had a very simple plan. Try to read Vesta Carnby's mind and try to get some answers of what the hell really happened on the day she left him. His original assumption was that she was a junkie that didn't want him but after seeing his old memories with Jean, even a blind person could tell that wasn't the case, so Nero needed to find out what really happened.

Do I want some kind of closure or some shit like that? Nero asked himself as he climbed up the stairs. Or do I want an excuse to actually try to get close to that woman? Those were serious questions that he has been asking himself since he found out who she was.

Once he reached the floor, Nero slowly searched around. The floor was strangely empty, which probably shouldn't be the case since the patients there could need something. But that wasn't Nero's problem.

Unfortunately, he had no idea which room she was, so he had to search each room quietly.

That turned out to be an unpleasant experience. Because by the looks of it, that floor was filled up with serious cases.

In one of the rooms, there was a severe burn victim. In another there was a guy that had both his arms and legs chopped off. In another, there was a teenage boy that had his jaw bitten off by a dog. In another, there was a weird guy with an even weirder shaped head. In another, there was a guy that Nero was almost certain that he was dead.

Then, Nero came into a room where there was a woman that he recognized right away. "Fuck..." She was in visible bad shape, there were bandages all over her body, her leg was suspended and had a cast on it, her face seemed to swollen and there were some weird braces in her mouth.

Overall, the state she was in was awful and he was immediately regretting going there. But he took a deep breath and closed the door behind him.

The room was dark and cold, but that was probably him. He approached her bed as slowly as possible with her injuries becoming more and more apparent as he did.

As soon as he was standing beside her bed, the boy took a good look at the woman that gave birth to him. I want...

I want to hate you. That was the honest truth. However, that was turning into a near impossible task. Instead, I'm hating myself for trying.

The boy removed his hoodie from his head and slowly approached her. "You probably can't hear me but..." He could see central lines, arterial lines, IV lines on her "I really , really need to know the truth..." Her arm was exposed with lines on it.

Nero Carnby held Vesta Carnby 's hand, her hand was soft but a little cold.

"Please... show me what really happened."

The truth was, Nero had no idea what the hell was he doing. What Jean and him accomplished in his room was completely accidental and if he had to put it bluntly, he was definitely the worst telepath around.

So, he was trying to foolishly access Vesta Carnby's memories without Jean or the Professor's help. Which was proving to be a completely hopeless task because no matter how hard he tries, it just doesn't work.

Come on... Come on... FUCK! No matter how hard he tries, nothing happens. Is it because I'm that incompetent or is it because of the medication? Nero remembered that when he was in the hospital, Jean attempted to communicate with him but she couldn't and Nero suspects that it was because of the medication that he was on.

Fuck, fuck, FUCK! Nero let go of her hand and sat on the floor beside the bed. I came here because I need answers, and I refuse to leave without them! That old memory that he saw messed him up really bad and he needs to know what was the actual reason why she left him.

That dickhead was probably the reason, but did he drag you or something? That was the most logical explanation considering how she was behaving towards that guy in comparison to how she was behaving with Nero. If it was, what are you gonna do? He asked himself. Try to find that Cal and maybe stab him to death as payback for everything that happened to her?

Nero hugged his legs in response to the thought that he just had. Closing his eyes and the image of Vesta lovingly holding her baby and telling him that he was going to be an unusual boy in a good way kept replaying his head.

It's not far... Nero was furious. Why did this have to happen? He curled up into a ball, just sitting there in the dark. Asking himself why? Why did his mother have to suffer this awful fate?

He despises the fact that there is nothing he can do about it, not before and definitely not now.

He buried his face on his knees. Part of him wanted to cry but he didn't want to do that there.

The boy didn't know what to do. He didn't want to go back to the mansion without answers but he knew that he wasn't going to get them there either. So in the end, he just sat there in silence, trying and failing miserably to actually make sense of something completely senseless.

Would it be better if I never knew about you? He asked himself. I keep asking myself that, and the answer makes me sick, because I know that you wouldn't have survived if I didn't go there to get you.

Nero lifted his head and moved to the left to watch the machine that she was connected to. Her vitals seemed to be normal, which is a good thing, but watching someone being connected to machines like that was an awful sight. Even more awful when you're related to the person.

A sigh escaped Nero's lips. Okay... Okay... He stood up and once again held his mother's hand. One more try, if it doesn't work ... I'm going back to the mansion and I'm going to wait until you wake up, even if the lack of an answer drives me crazy. He was determined.

Taking a deep breath. The boy wearing a white hoodie held the poor woman's hand once again. He closed his eyes and thought about the image of her cradling him once again. The day that you left me in that room, I need to see what happened. He thought out loud, while he thought of the date. It was twenty-eight of September... That was the date that the landlord said it was the last time he saw his parents in the building when he asked him. He said that he was having lunch at the time, around mid-day. He thought of the hour and the date. Alongside a mental image of that dreadful room, in hopes that all of that would help Nero access her mind.

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After two minutes, nothing happened. Nero became very upset, but decided to give up. So he opened his eyes in order to take one last look at Vesta.

"Huh?!" To his shock and surprise. Vesta wasn't in front of him anymore. "Wait..." As soon as his eyes were completely open, he realized that he wasn't in a hospital room anymore. Instead, he was in the bedroom of that dreadful apartment once again.

The bedroom was as bad looking as it was at present. But Nero could tell that it was different because the painting was fresh, the bed looked better with sheets and had a nice flower design. The furniture was well-kept and there was a small purse on top of a drawer beside the bed.

Yes! He cheered internally because that could only mean that it worked. But, did I have the right memory? Only for that question to surface afterwards.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sound coming from outside of the room. Hearing that, prompted the pale boy to actually go and check.

Moving towards the door, Nero peaked through the door frame was spotted Vesta Carnby in the kitchen. Mmm... It smells good. Apparently she was cooking something.

Nero observed her from afar, partially contemplating moving closer. Only to decide against it because he would rather avoid looking at her like that, because it only makes the state that she was in the present even more difficult to bear.

"Never was and never will be." Suddenly, Nero realized that she was singing. "You don't know how you've betrayed me." It took him a second to realize that she was singing Everybody's Fool by Evanescence. "And somehow you've got everybody fooled."

A smile appeared on Nero's face. His mother being an Evanescence's fan was not something that he was expecting. If he had to make a list of his favorite bands, Evanescence would be the second, right behind Linkin Park.

After a few seconds, he realized that she was making some mac and cheese. From a distance, it actually looked pretty good.

After she finished, she put it on a plate and made her way to the couch, with Nero hiding himself to avoid looking at her. Then he peeked from the door once again, watching her after she sat on the couch and prepared to eat.

Nero was quick to realize that there was something wrong. She ate really fast and seemed to be frowning, visibly angry about something.

Mmm... I wonder what made her this angry. He wondered, although, considering the kind of guy that she is living with.

It took only a few minutes for her to eat everything. Quite impressive if Nero had to say so himself. Once she finished, she put her plate down and folded her arms. Looking around the room with a deep frown on her face.

Until she actually moved her head to the left. With Nero realizing that he was laying on the couch, wrapped around in pink colored covers, sleeping peacefully.

Vesta's frown immediately disappeared and she picked her sleeping baby up. Holding him really tightly as she stared at the ceiling.

"This is not okay..." Before she began to speak out loud. "Not okay at all."

You can say that again. Nero thought in agreement.

"I was kind of hoping that he would change, or at least mellowed down a bit..." At this point, he doesn't know whether she was talking to the baby or to herself. "But I can tell that he will always be like that..." Obviously, she was talking about her boyfriend. "I could handle that before but..." She looked at her baby. "You deserve better than this."

Nero just rested his head on the doorframe, because she was basically speaking to him.

"You know... I was really scared when you were born, because a nurse kept telling me that there was something wrong with you." She gently caressed the baby's head. "But then, the nurse that told me brought you to me." Nero was curious to hear what she was going to say. "I told her to go fuck herself in the ass for scaring me like that."

Nero had to cover his mouth to not burst into laughter after hearing.

"There was nothing wrong with you at all, they were just overreacting to your skin, hair and eyes." She declared. "I actually like it, it makes you look unique."

Nero smiled after hearing that. Because one of his assumptions over why his parents ditched him was because of his odd appearance. The pale boy was actually happy that wasn't the case.

"I guess what I'm getting at..." Vesta was clearly venting over something. "I...Was so lonely after your grandmother died that I... Just went for the first guy that showed interest in me and put up with his behavior because I thought that it was better than being alone." Which was ironic since she was basically alone now. "But after a while I just ran out of patience and was about to leave him."

Nero could tell where this story was going.

"Then I found out that I was pregnant and that derailed my plans." And he was right. "Now... After what he did yesterday, I'm one hundred percent sure that we need to leave."

Wait, what did he do yesterday? Nero has a feeling that she wasn't talking about injecting drugs into his infected arm.

"I can ask for help in the orphanage that I used to work at, they did say that I could have my old job there back if I wanted to." Vesta declared, which makes Nero wonder why she didn't do it yet. "I'm fine with being a single mother, my own mother managed, so I can too."

Nero then understood that she was trying to convince herself to do it.

Vesta seemed to be very anxious for some reason. Which makes Nero wonder once again what that junkie did to get her like that.

The woman bit her lower lip, before she hugged her baby tightly. Taking a very deep breath, she closed her eyes for a second.

Okay... What the fuck happened?! Seeing that only made Nero even more desperate to know what really happened.

That answer came in the form of a knock on the door, which called Nero's attention.

Vesta sighed. "Speaking of the devil." She gently placed her baby on top of the couch before going to answer the door. "That's the fifth key that you lost." She pointed out in deep annoyance as she supposedly opened the door for Cal.

However, to Nero's surprise, it wasn't Cal. Because as soon as she opened the door, a man barged in, pushing Vesta back.

"Close the fucking door!" It was a tall and fat guy, wearing a blue short-sleeve button-down shirt with a white long-sleeve undershirt, along with dark worn-out jeans and black dress shoes.

Right behind him, there was another man. A good looking black guy, wearing a black cap that reads "New York", a dark brown Windbreaker, brown jeans with black and white sneakers. He closed the door behind him and began to search around.

"W-wha-" The terrified Vesta tried to speak, but was shut by the man grabbing her and pushing her into the wall.

"Where the fuck is Cal?!" The man yelled at her while holding her by the throat with his left hand, then he pulled out a snub-nosed revolver and pointed at her face. The revolver was a Colt Detective Special that he saw in a movie once.

Nero almost got out of the room and rushed to try to help her, but he remembered that it was pointless. Fuck, just fuck!

"I-I-I don't know!" Vesta immediately responded in horror.

"Hey, don't bullshit me!" He slammed Vesta into the wall while yelling at her. "Search the fucking place!" He ordered the other guy.

Wait... As the other guy moved around the room, Nero was able to take a good look at his face. MOTHERFUCKER! And instantly recognize him as the STD guy that he stabbed when he rescued Vesta. Moving his head to get a better look at the other guy, he also recognized him as the guy that Nero shot with his revolver.

Both of them don't even look like the same people, indicating that years of drug use took a massive toll on their looks.

"Enough fucking around, Cal owns me cash for that morphine and it's time to pay up!" The man holding Vesta yelled at her face, with poor Vesta closing her eyes as spit fell on her face. "Where is he?!"

"I don't know!" She responded again. "I haven't seen him in-" As she tried to speak, he smacked her in the face with the back of his left hand, causing her to fall into the floor.

"Don't bullshit me, you fucking bitch!" Then he began to violently kick her on the torso.

That made Nero grind his teeth in deep rage. All he wanted to do was charge into that asshole and kill him again, but he knew that it was pointless, so all he could do was enter the room, pressed his back into the wall , slide himself down into the floor and sit down, trying to cover his ear so he won't hear his mother scream.

"Nothing here." The STD guy told him.

"Fuck!" The fat guy yelled angrily.

"What do we do?" The STD guy asked.

Suddenly, the baby finally woke up and began to cry with all that chaos.

"Ah... My baby..." Vesta spoke in a weak voice, with Nero just covering his ears even more as the pain in her voice was awful.

"Stay down!" The fat guy yelled.

"Ah!" And she let out a scream of pain, indicating that he hit her again.

"Maybe we should grab the kid and wait for him to come look." The STD guy suggested.

"No!" Vesta yelled in response. "AHh!"

"We ain't fucking babysitting Cal's kid!" The fat guy was quick to shut down the idea.

"Let's grab her then." The other guy suggested. "If Cal doesn't pay up, we can use her to get the cash instead."

Nero closed his hands into very tight fists, to the point where his nails began to pierce the palm of his hands. It was all his fuckin fault! He got the complete confirmation that it was his supposed father's fault that his mother ended up like that.

"This ugly bitch ain't even worth a dime."

"No, but I know a couple of nasty motherfuckers that would pay a good dollar for some rough stuff."

Blood began to drip from Nero's hands as he tightened his grip even more.

"Fine," The man agreed . "Get the fuck up." He apparently lifted Vesta up. "If you man doesn't pay up, then you're gonna pay up with your body, understand?"

"Ahh... Please don't..." Vesta practically begged.

"Shut the fuck up!" A sound of snacking was heard by Nero, indicating that he actually slapped her.

"Wait, did you checked the fucking room?" The man asked the STD guy.

"What for?" The STD guy asked.

"Because there might be some cash or some leftovers that Cal scammed off another sucker!"

"You just call yourself a sucker."

"Shut the fuck up and go check it!"

"Fine."

Nero stood up from the floor and stood in front of the door in anticipation.

"Ah! What the fuck is this shit?" The STD guy spoke up.

"I'm surprised that shithead could even get it up with the amount of dope that he uses."

"Got it up alright and the dumb bitch popped out a freak of nature." The STD guy appeared in front of the door. "Like, seriously, it looks like a fucking alien." His gaze was on the other guy and Vesta.

Nero drew his arm all the way back. Blinded by his rage, he ended up forgetting the fact that he couldn't do anything with those bastards.

"Forget about the damn kid, just check the fucking room!"

Baby Nero's cries were very loud and unpleasant.

"Fine..." He finally looked inside the room and his facial expression changed completely. "What the fu-"

As soon as the STD guy moved his face forward. Nero delivered the heaviest punch that he ever threw in his life. Even though his fist was going to go through him, his rage made him ignore that fact and do it anyway.

Except.

"Ah!" Nero's fist connected perfectly with the guy's face, causing to stumble backwards and fall, smashing the back of his head into a sofa table that was right behind the couch, knocking out cold right away.

"Wait..." With Nero reacting in absolute confusion. "What the fu-" Stepping out of the room in order to take a closer look at the guy he just knocked out.

The boy wearing a white hoodie wasn't allowed any time to actually understand what the hell just happened.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Because while he was looking at the STD guy that he just knocked out, the other guy actually shot Nero with the revolver. The bullet hit him in the arm, right on his left bicep, causing him to fall to his knees grabbing his arm in pain while releasing a loud scream that perfectly matched the baby's cries. "AAAAAHHHHH!"

"You stupid motherfucker!" The fat guy with the revolver yelled. "So you were hiding like a little bitch in the room while we smacked your woman around!" Obviously, he assumed that Nero was actually Cal. "You were always a fucking wimp, but this is just pathetic."

Before Nero could attempt to do anything, he was kicked in the back, hard. Causing him to fall head first into the floor. Getting stomped in the back multiple times afterwards.

"I'm gonna give you one last fucking chance, hand over my cash and I won't blow that container of dog shit that you call head of yours!" Nero could feel the gun barrel pressed against the back of his head.

"Ahhh..." Nero grunted in pain since he was too disoriented to talk. His arm was bleeding a lot and he felt like he was about to pass out. But he knew that he was going to be killed if he didn't do something fast. "Under... the bed..." That was the only thing that came to mind for him to say.

"Under the bed, okay." He grabbed Nero by the hoodie and dragged him into the room.

As he did, however, Nero reached inside his pants pocket. Where the knife that he took from those idiots that were messing with Gwen was.

After dragging Nero for a bit, he let go of him and walked towards the bed. Where he looked under the bed and saw nothing, then he violently pulled the mattress off to see if there was anything and once again found nothing.

As he did it, however, Nero noticed something. From the spot he was, he could see that Vesta managed to stand up from the floor and move towards the couch, visibly injured but pulling through it. Yes, yes, run! The woman picked her baby up and turned around, making her way to the door.

"You really wanna piss me off, do you?!" The fat guy then turned around and kicked Nero hard in the hips. "Do I look like a fucking jackass to you?!" He asked as he kicked Nero's face. Considering that he just shot a gun in a building filled with people that probably already called the police and he still didn't realize that he was actually beating up a teenage boy rather than a grown man. The answer was yes.

"Mmm..." Nero grunted in pain, but he couldn't resist. "No... You look more like a sack of shit." Unknowingly to the fat guy, he was holding the knife tightly on his right hand.

"Oh, funny guy!" The fat guy stomped on him again, then he got to one knee and turned him around. "Let's see if you're-" But then he removed Nero's hood. "Wait, what the fuck!" Finally realizing that he wasn't Cal. "Who the fuc-" And Nero took advantage of it.

By lunging the knife into the fat guy's neck, with blood falling all over Nero's face and hoodie. "Gahhhh..." However, once the knife was deep into his throat, he ended up pulling the trigger again. Thankfully, the gun wasn't aiming at him, but it was inches away from his face, meaning that the loud bang happened too close from his ear. Causing the boy to become even more disoriented as the bullet hit the wall. Made it worse since the fat guy fell on him as he desperately tried to breath as the blood continued to come out.

Nero, who was only conscious thanks to adrenaline rush, forced himself to pull his right arm from under the fat bastard in order to reach the revolver that was in his hand. Pulling it off his hand with ease, pulling the hammer back with his thumb and shoving the muzzle into the fat guy's mouth.

"Suck on this..." Before repeating the exact same words that he spoke when he shot him the first time. Before he pulled the trigger, and blasted his brains out with a .38 Special. With the fat guy dropping dead completely.

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"Oh my... Fuck my fucking..." Nero laid back into the floor, as the adrenaline rush ended, the awful pain from the bullet wound and the beating that he just took came full force. "Ehhh..." Grunting in deep pain as the fat guy's head was on top of his torso and the blood continued to stain his hoodie. Forcing Nero to push his head and use his legs to get the fat bastard's corpse away from him. "Oh god..."

As soon as he was off of him, the pale boy dragged himself towards the door. Because the only thing keeping him awake at the moment, was the worry about his mother. So using all of his remaining strength, Nero Carnby made his way to the door, reaching it and realizing that Vesta and baby Nero were nowhere to be seen and that the door of the room was open.

A smile appeared on Nero's face.

"Mmmm..." Only to quickly disappear when he heard a sound coming from his right. "Shit..." Because the STD guy woke up.

With the exact same murderous look that he had when he stabbed him, Nero pointed the revolver at him.

Sitting up right away while rubbing the back of his head. "Ahhh, what the..." Only to finally realize that there was a boy with a bloody hoodie pointing a revolver at him.

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"NO WAI-" And the moment he moved, Nero pulled the trigger. Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. Even after the revolver was empty and the STD guy dropped dead after taking four bullets to the chest.

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Eventually, Nero dropped the revolver and rolled over to lay on his back. Staring at the ceiling while trying to endure the awful pain that he was experiencing. "What... Just... Happened?" He asked himself in deep confusion.

"Huh?" Then he made a confused face when he realized something. That the ceiling seemed to be vibrating. It didn't take long for him to realize that it wasn't just the ceiling, because moving his head to the left, he realized that the entire room was also vibrating, like everything. And it wasn't a tremor since he wasn't feeling anything. Then he looked at the body of the STD guy and his body changed, as he now looked like he did when Nero encountered him for the first time, older and thinner. And similar to a flicker of light, he began to morph into his young and older version.

The perplexed boy could not comprehend what was happening. Making it even worse when he moved his head to the right and looked into the room, where he saw the same thing happening with the fat guy, who was morphing between his fat and lanky versions.

"What... the... Shit!" Nero yelled in complete bewilderment. "Ahhh..." But the pain took its toll and he realized that he must have lost a lot of blood from the injury in his arm. So as the room began to descend into complete chaos, he felt his consciousness slipping. "Fuck..." Those were his last words before he finally lost conscience because of the blood loss.

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"AHHH!" Nero Carnby abruptly opened his eyes and sat up. Gasping for air as his heart was beating really fast and he began to desperately look around him. "Huh?!" Only to realize that he was inside of his room in the Mansion. As he managed to recover his air and calm himself a bit, he realized what just happened. What the fuck, was that shit just a dream?! That was the only logical explanation.

Shit! He laid back on his bed right away as he tried to calm his heart, which was beating incredibly fast. I must have fallen asleep after Jean and The Professor left the room. Because he definitely doesn't remember leaving the hospital and coming back to the mansion, which could only mean that he never went there in the first place, he just dreamt that he did. Fuck... Shit... I'm so fucking pathetic... In the end, all of that was just a pathetic fantasy of his.

I still don't know what really happened. Those two bastards abducting her because his "dad" owed them money from the drugs was nothing but a dream, so he still doesn't know what really happened to cause Vesta Carnby to leave him. I guess her getting abducted was just my wishful thinking... A loud sigh escaped his lips because there was still a chance that she actually ditched him for completely different reasons.

"Fuck it." Nero decided to get up since there was no use moping around. So he stood up from his bed. However, as soon as he got up and took a step forward, Nero ended up tripping on something. "Ah!" Which caused him to fall on the floor. "Shit." He moved his head to see what he just tripped on and realized that it was on a large suitcase. Did Jean put that in here? He assumed that it was Jean's luggage since he didn't have any suitcase. "Whatever..." He didn't really mind anyway, Jean could happily leave all of her stuff in his room if she wants, and he certainly wouldn't mind her sleeping there with him like they did back in his room at the orphanage.

Ignoring the suitcase, he stood up from the floor and searched for his clothes since he was in his underwear. Finding his baggy black jeans and a white tank-top on the floor, he put them on immediately, alongside his shoes.

A sigh escaped his lips once again as he scratched his head and opened the door of his room. I'm hungry. So he decided that his first stop was going to be the kitchen.

As he walked down the corridor, a lot of thoughts appeared in his mind. That dream was so fucking real, I literally felt an awful pain. He touched his arm as he walked since the pain of getting shot was incredibly intense and it felt so real that it baffled him. Jesus, I never had a wet dream that was vivid. That was actually a small source of annoyance because he wished that a dream where he was doing something sexual had that same level of vividness as that awful dream that he had.

Let's stop thinking about it... Nero genuinely wanted to forget about it, so as soon as he reached the first floor of the mansion, he immediately walked towards the kitchen. As he did, however, he smelled something really good.

Making his way to the Kitchen, he realized that Jean was cooking something.

"Good morning." Jean spoke as soon as she noticed that Nero entered the kitchen. He was wearing a green sweater and blue jeans.

"Good morning." Nero approached her as he rubbed his eyes. Once he got close enough, he realized that she was making scrambled eggs and bacon. "Ummm..." He wanted to thank her for yesterday, but then he remembered how he impulsively kissed her yesterday and ended up blushing. We kissed yesterday, and I don't know what to say to her now. The boy hated feeling this awkward but he really didn't know how to talk about that.

Okay... Here we go... He took a deep breath and tried to speak. "Jean... About yesterday, when we-" Before Nero could actually finish what he was going to say. Jean, out of complete nowhere, wrapped her arms around Nero's neck and pressed her lips into his.

The pale boy widened his eyes in complete surprise, although it only lasted a few seconds before he actually wrapped his arms around her hips and returned the kiss. It wasn't a quick and simple kiss on the lips, it was an open-your-mouth-so-our-tongues-can-play kind of a kiss that took Nero completely off guard. But he wasn't complaining because he loved it.

They continued on for about a minute or two, until Jean pulled back and returned to cooking their breakfast.

"Ummm..." Nero scratched his head as he was a bit flustered. "A-are we..." He was about to ask her if that meant that they were dating now, but before the words could come out of his mouth. The music theme of the Rocky movies began to play.

After it played for a few seconds, Jean moved her head to look at him. "Nero?" She called him out. "Your phone."

"My phone?" Nero didn't have a phone. But he checked his pants's pocket and realized that there was something in pocket, so he pulled it out and realized that there was indeed a phone there. It was a Nokia smartphone with an anarchist symbol case. Wait, where did thi- Before Nero could properly ponder where the hell did that smartphone come from, his attention completely shifted by what was written on the phone.

MOM.

His face had an expression that was a pretty ugly mixture between shock, confusion and fear. Jean noticed that and moved to watch the screen and looked at him in confusion as well.

"Nero...?" Calling out for Nero. "It's your mom." And saying that like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Ummm..." Nero was about to ask her why she was so casual since she knows what happened to his mom. But before he could, Jean took the phone off his hand and answered for him.

"Hi Vesta." Jean answered happily, to Nero's deeper confusion. "No, he's right here." She spoke while giving Nero a look. "I'm just making some breakfast for him."

What the fuck is going on?! Nero asked himself in deep confusion as he watched Jean speak on the phone with a woman that was supposed to be sedated in a hospital that she never actually met personally.

Jean giggled a bit. "So what?" She asked. "Just because we started dating a week ago, it doesn't mean that it's weird that I'm cooking for him already."

WHAT?! Nero cannot believe his ears.

"Besides, we both know what he would be eating for breakfast otherwise." Jean gave him another look. "Don't worry, I promise that I'll make sure he doesn't have junk food or sweets for meals." She continued to cook as she spoke on the phone. "No, the rooms are very nice though Nero didn't like the color."

The boy with white hair just stared at Jean as she cooked his breakfast and supposedly spoke with Vesta Carnby on the phone. What... What... What... Suddenly, he recalled something very important. That... Dream... He touched the spot where he got shot and remembered how much it hurted it. What if... Nero widened his eyes in deep shock as a possible explanation of what the hell was going on appeared in his head. No way... Seriously?

"Nero, are you gonna pick it up or not?" Jean asked him as she held the phone in front of him. "She wants to speak with you."

Nero stared at the smartphone that Jean was holding for a second, before he decided to take a deep breath and grab it. Biting down his lower lip before he brought the phone to his ear. "Ummm... H-hello?"

"Hey Snowball, how was your first day in the mansion?" The voice on the other side was definitely Vesta's voice, confirming to Nero that it was really her.

"Don't call me Snowball!" However, hearing "Snowball" immediately caused a negative reaction. Jean giggled in response.

"I have called you Snowball since you were a baby and I ain't stopping now." Vesta declared. "Besides, it's a cute nickname, why do you always freak out like that when someone calls you that?"

"Two words," Nero was quick to explain why he hated that nickname. "Snowball kiss."

Vesta grunted in deep disgust in response. "I don't even wanna know where you learned that, but I can tell that not a single normal person would associate that with your nickname." Before she pointed that fact out to him.

"I don't care, I just can't think of anything else when I hear that." Nero declared.

"That's on you, Snowball." Vesta clearly didn't care and was going to call him Snowball whether he wanted it or not. He heard her sighing before she continued. "I have to go, I promised Sister Maggie that I would help with the educational program."

Nero remembered that Sister Maggie did mention that there would be an educational program in the Saint Agnes Orphanage that was marked to happen the day after he left. "Oh yeah... I remember..."

"Shame you had to leave yesterday, otherwise you could have helped too." Vesta pointed out, confirming that the day was the same. "I really have to go, but I'll call you tonight."

"Umm...Okay" Nero was thankful that the call was over because speaking with her was still very difficult. "Bye... Mom..." Calling her that was so awkward.

"Bye, Snowball." Especially since she keeps calling him that. "Love you."

"I..." Nero didn't know how to respond to that. "Love you too." But those words came out of his mouth automatically.

Vesta Carnby then hangs up the call, leaving a very confused Nero to ponder on what just happened.

"Your breakfast is ready." Jean snapped him out of it by calling him as she placed the scrambled eggs on a plate with some toast next to it. "Do you want some orange juice or milk?"

"Orange juice." He replied as he grabbed the plate and made his dining table.

Turns out, Bobby was sitting there, eating a bowl of cereal. "Morning." He greeted Nero as soon as he approached the table.

"Hey." He sat beside him with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast.

Jean then entered the room and placed a cup of orange juice next to Nero's plate. "I'm gonna go undo the rest of my luggage." She told him while running her fingers through his hair. "And you should do the same later." That was the last thing she said before walking out of the room.

Now that it was just Nero was left alone, not literally since Bobby was sitting besides him, he was finally allowed to analyze that situation. Okay... There is just one logical explanation for all of this. He thought as he grabbed his toast and ate it. That whole shit wasn't actually a dream, I actually went back in time and stopped those assholes from abducting Vest-... my mom. That was the only possible explanation for all of that, and it made perfect sense since there was no way that the awful pain that he felt when he was shot and beaten up by that fat guy was a dream. Wait... That means I changed the past, and if all those Sci-Fi films that involved time travel is anything to go by... As that thought crossed his mind, he looked down at the plate of the delicious breakfast that Jean made for him. Jean and I are dating and according to her, we started dating a week ago.

That was something that Nero... Had absolutely no problem with it. I mean... I'm not complaining, but what else did it change? That was the thing that genuinely terrified Nero, since if he learned anything about time-travel from watching movies is that, one little thing that you do in the past can alter the the changes have been painfully obvious already since his mother was clearly a part of his life and he had a girlfriend now.

The pale boy then remembered that he had a Smartphone in his hands. Okay, this could give me some answers. He decided to check his new phone and see if there are more things that he could discover about what may have changed.

First, he decided to check the internet for three pieces of important information.

Starting with the date that he came back in time to see if anything happened that day. Unsurprisingly, he found exactly what he was looking for in an old news report about two drug dealers that were found dead inside the apartment. The STD guy, who's name is actually Paulo Scorcese, died after getting shot in the chest four times with a 38. Special revolver. The fat guy, who's name is actually Todd Neiman, died after getting stabbed in the neck with a pocket knife and shot by a 38. Special revolver. To Nero's surprise, the entire case was ruled out as the two idiots killing each other.

Good riddance... Despite the fact that Nero did not feel good at all with the fact that he killed those two again, he also couldn't bring himself to feel bad about it either. But that confirms it, I actually went back in time and killed those assholes in the past. He unconsciously ate his scrambled eggs as he scrolled on his phone not really paying attention to the delicious taste.

Once he was done checking about that event, he decided to inspect something else entirely.

His phone's gallery.

Jesus Christ... It was filled with photos in it. Then he began to scroll to check after he took a sip of his orange juice.

There were too many photos there but a few of them stood out for him.

One was of him and Vesta that was definitely taken. Nero was hugging her tightly from behind and kissing her cheek while she smiled. Vesta looked a little overweight and her hair was shorter but she looked much, much healthier than the two times he saw her. Shit... I'm clueless of what to do now. Because he now had a mother and had no idea on how to interact with her.

One was of him and Gwen Stacy. Gwen was playing drums while Nero was playing guitar besides her, they seemed to be on a stage or something. At least I still met Gwen and since we're playing together. It looks like they are good friends and music partners as well.

One was of him and Peter Parker. They were both standing inside of a school gym, holding a science fair prize together. Wait, did I go to school with him or something?

One was of him and Matt Murdock. They were both inside of a Fogwell's Gym, a boxing gym located on the Lower West Side of Manhattan. Nero had a boxing glove on his left hand, while Matt had one in his right hand as they were posing for the photo. Oh good, Matt still taught me boxing here. That was one of the things that did not change.

One was of him and George Stacy. Nero was sitting on top of a hood, giving a peace sign for the camera, standing in front of him with his arms folded. When did this happen... The photo was taken from far away, like someone snatched his phone and took the photo.

However, he got his answer as soon as he checked the next photo. Which showcased a photo of a familiar platinum blond beauty holding a familiar ring and blowing a kiss to the camera. I guess I still had my unfortunate meeting with Black Cat. Except that by the looks of it, he actually got caught by Mr. Stacy.

The next one, shockingly enough, was one of a pass out Bruce Banner, indicating that he still encountered him.

That was enough for him and ironically, he finished his breakfast without even knowing and Bobby already left when he was distracted with his phone. Nero simply leaned back on his seat and thought of what he was supposed to do next.

It took him about ten seconds to figure it out.

"My god..."

"Yeah, I'm kind of freaking out here and I may be doing an exceptional fucking job in not showing it, I think you can understand how fucked up this is."

That entire situation was unbelievable, but thankfully, the entire purpose of the place that he was in was dealing with people with unbelievable powers. So Nero Carnby did the only logical thing, tell Charles Xavier about it so he could at least try to help him handle this situation.

Both of them were inside the Danger Room Master Control, where the Professor was making some final adjustments.

"Not my choice of words but it is indeed a pretty serious situation." The Professor told Nero in response. "You have memories of a completely different life in your mind and events that occured in completely different ways."

"How did we meet for the first time?" Nero asked. "Because originally, I met you at Jean's home with her father present."

"We met at your house with your mother present." Professor Xavier answered his question. "I don't recall seeing Jean there."

"Jesus Christ..." Nero didn't like that at all, it's clear that his whole life was altered but he has little idea of what changed in it.

"Calm down, you won't achieve anything by losing your composure." The Professor was quick to tell him.

"Professor, how am I supposed to calm down, my whole fucking life just got rewritten!" What genuinely bothered Nero was the lack of knowledge, because he certainly didn't mind the changes but not really remembering anything of his new life was something that he considered unacceptable. "I mean, it is mostly for the better by the looks of it, but not if I don't remember anything of it." He doesn't even know how he and Jean began to date which bothered him beyond belief.

"If that is what is actually bothering you, I don't think you need to worry." Professor Xavier reassured him.

"What do you mean?" Nero was confused by that.

"When I was accessing your mind, I noticed some... Anomalies with your memories." The Professor held his hands together with a somewhat analytical look in his eyes that indicated that he was processing that information.

"Anomalies?" Nero didn't like the sound of that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think it's better that I show you, with your permission, of course." The Professor didn't seem worried about it, but Nero really wanted to know what he meant by that.

"Alright." Nero moved to grab one of the chairs that he used to sit in front of the Professor. "I already know the drill." He closed his eyes and prepared himself.

"Very well." The Professor placed his hands on Nero's head and proceeded to use his telepathy to answer Nero's question. "Now, I am gonna need you to think of a memory, any memory but it needs to be one that you remember perfectly."

"Hmmmm..."

Nero opened his eyes again and realized that he was in a completely different place.

Professor Xavier was right beside him.

"Are we in Central Park?" The Professor asked him as he looked around.

"Yes, this is the day where one of my best friends was killed." It was an unbelievably painful memory to remember but it is the one that he remembers the most perfectly for all the wrong reasons. "Now, what did you mean by anomalies?"

The Professor pointed forward with his index finger. Making Nero look forward, he saw himself with a zipped up white hoodie with the hood covering his head, walking down the walkway while eating a cone of strawberry and vanilla ice cream.

"Wait?" A very confused expression appeared on his face when he realized that there was something off about that. "What?" It became even more confusing when he realized that someone was accompanying him.

The someone was Gwen Stacy, who was wearing a denim jacket and had headphones on her neck. Eating a cone of chocolate ice cream.

"Wait, I met Gwen way after this." Nero informed the professor.

"Originally." The Professor pointed out, reminding Nero that he changed the past. "Apparently, you two met much earlier than you did before you changed the past."

"But... She wasn't here when..."

"Thank you for letting me sleep in your house again." Suddenly, Nero and the Professor were in a completely different spot. A spot where they saw both Nero and Gwen leaning on a wall together,

"Anytime." Past Nero replied as he licked his ice cream. "I fucking hate your mom by the way."

Gwen chuckled in response. "Well, I fucking love your mom by the way too."

"Of course you do, she's awesome." Past Nero declared. "Look, let's go back, we'll just sit on the couch, eat a pile of junk food and watch movies all day, okay?"

Gwen just looked at Nero for a bit with her blue eyes for a bit, before she moved and pressed herself at him, resting her head on his shoulder. After a few seconds, she began to cry and Nero held her very tightly.

"What the hell is goin-" Present Nero watched the whole scene, asking himself what was happening. Until he actually remembered. "Gwen's mother left her father and told Gwen that she didn't even love her..." Nero actually remembers that, and he actually spent the whole day comforting Gwen. "I... Why do I know that?"

"That is what I meant with anomalies." The Professor explained. "Your memories seem to be altering themselves to match the past events that were altered by you travelling back in time."

"What?" Nero couldn't believe his ears. "Is that really how it works?"

"I never encountered someone that had the ability to travel through time, so I can only speculate and theorize." The Professor pointed out. "My theory seemed to be correct however since you actually remembered a certain event that hasn't occurred to you previously during this particular day." He actually agreed with him since that explanation made the most sense. "What else do you remember differently?"

Suddenly, Nero's attention returned to the memory. Because he started to hear a lot of gunshots. That startled Past Nero and Gwen, causing the two to run away towards the different direction of the gunshots

"I... Never met FJ..." Nero realized that. "Gwen and I have been friends since kindergarten, and I was with her on the day I was supposed to meet him." He closed his eyes as he felt something.

His head began to hurt a lot, but he realized that the Professor was right, some of his memories seemed to be altering themselves to match his new reality. Like he is remembering things differently than he originally did.

"Nero, I need you to focus, what do you remember?" The Professor asked him in a soothing but firm voice.

Some of the memories were basically the same, some were slightly different and some were completely different. It was going through his mind like when people claim that your life flashes through your eyes before you die. And it did feel like he was dying because his head felt like it was about to explode.

"It's going to be okay, you just need to endure it for a bit." The Professor assured him but it hurt like absolute hell.

"Ahhh..." His nose began to bleed and his body began to shake like he was having a seizure.

Suddenly, the pain stopped and Nero opened his eyes once again. Realizing that he was in a completely different place once again. He noticed that he was actually laying on a bed, staring at a white ceiling.

"Hmmm..." Thankfully, the awful headache was gone and he sat himself up to properly see where he was. Once he did, he realized that he was in the Medical lab that he saw during the tour.

"Oh good," Then he heard a voice coming from behind him, which he moved his head to see. "You're awake." Nero immediately widened his eyes as he realized that the one speaking to him was some kind of beast man with blue fur, both simian and feline facial features, pointed ears, fangs, and claws. Wearing a lab coat and glasses, holding a book.

Nero was shocked for a second, but his shock quickly dispersed when he remembered that he met a guy with angel wings the previous day. "Hello."

The beast man closed his book and approached his bed. "I am Dr. Henry Philip McCoy, but you can just call me Hank." He introduced himself as he extended his hand to him.

"Nero Caligula Carnby." Nero introduced himself to him and shaked his hand. "Before you ask, I don't know what was going through my mother's head when she picked my name."

"I cannot deny that it is a very peculiar name, but we are peculiar people by default." Dr. McCoy stated.

"Is this..." Nero had to ask. "Like... Permanent or you can actually turn it off." He assumed that his power basically is turning into a Beastman but he was wondering why he was like that now, unless he can't actually turn it off.

"No, I cannot turn it off." He revealed it to him.

"Jesus, now that's a shity power." Nero couldn't help but comment.

Hank laughed a bit before replying. "It isn't all that bad, I actually seem worse."

"Holy shit, are you serious?" Nero was actually afraid to know what could be worse. Because Hank looks like a werewolf straight outta a horror movie and with his size definitely, he doubts that it could actually pass as a costume. If he could actually turn it off, it would be an awesome power but permanently looking like that, not so much.

"There was actually one that-" Hank was about to tell him about a worse case than his. But before he could.

"Nero!" They were interrupted by Jean's voice coming from the door. Who entered the room and immediately rushed towards him.

"Hey Jean." He greeted his favorite redhead.

"You okay?" Jean immediately sat on the bed and touched his face to check on him. "The Professor said that you passed out."

"I did?" Nero asked before moving his head to look at Dr. McCoy.

"You did." He confirmed. "According to the Professor, your mind simply became overwhelmed but it's stable now." Apparently, he examined Nero and saw that he was okay. "Now, excuse me for a bit, I need to check a few notes." He decided to give the two of them some privacy.

"What?" Jean asked in confusion.

"I'll tell you later, because it's very complicated." Nero was going to tell Jean about it since he was really gonna need her help in adjusting to his new reality. More so since they are actually dating, which Nero was still unsure how it got started... Actually, he did know.

Now that he thought about it, the memory of how Jean and him started dating crossed his mind. It turns out, she was the one that kissed him first and asked if they could be more than friends. A smile appeared on his face once he thought about it.

"What?" Jean asked him while smiling as well.

"I... Remember the day you asked me to be your boyfriend." Nero told her with a blush.

Jean blushed a bit too. "I don't know what got into me that day..."

The same thing that got into Nero when he kissed her before going back in time. "Can we..." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment for wanting to ask that. "Snuggle a bit?"

"Here?" She had no problem with it, but it was weird to do it in a place like that.

"Just for a bit." He assured her as he laid back on the bed and opened his arms to embrace her.

"Ummm... Okay..." Jean smiled again before she lay on top of him, leaning her face into the crook of his neck. With Nero happily embracing her.

Once they were set, he stared at the ceiling, enjoying the peace and quiet, alongside the warm and softness of Jean's embrace. Nero Carnby was confused, a little lost and somewhat unsure of what to think of his current situation. In a nutshell, he went back in time by complete accident and actually saved his mother from years of being used and abused by those two assholes. Memories of her kept flowing through his head, remembering things like birthdays, injuries and difficult times. She was always there for him and each memory just made him love and care for her even more, in a blink of an eye, Vesta Carnby stopped being a stranger and became his dearest mother.

It wasn't just Vesta though, more memories kept flowing involving people that he knew. How he met Jean was the same, with the only different being that he wasn't visiting FJ. Instead, he was there because the bus that he was taking broke down. Not much has changed beyond that other than the two becoming a couple.

How he met people like Matt Murdock, Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker and a few others however was completely different. By the looks of it, he was childhood friends with Gwen and Peter now. Although Nero is clearly closer to Gwen. Memories of Nero getting into fights with bullies to defend Peter and him learning how to play guitar just so him and Gwen could play music together was just some of the new stuff that he was processing.

It's too fucking much... Nero decided to just try to forget about it for a bit and relax, maybe him and Jean can do the memory accessing later to help him get the full picture but right now, all he wanted to do was rest. So he closed his eyes for a bit in order to try to get some more sleep.

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"Gray Avenger." Someone called. "Gray Avenger!" Yelling at him. "GRAY AVENGER!"

The Gray Avenger opened his eyes and realized that Cyclops was calling him. He looked at what was in front of him and he realized that they reached their destination. As the Blackbird flew above it, he realized that it was time, so he stepped up from the co-pilot's seat and moved towards the cargo hold.

However, Cyclops grabbed his arm. "You're not helping anybody by acting like a idiot."

Gray Avenger yanked his arm away and yelled. "We fucking wasted too much time already!" He yelled while pointing his finger at him.

Before that could turn into a shouting match, someone grabbed his arm. "Sit down." Marvel Girl told him.

"We need-" He was about to argue but she stopped him.

"Please." She pleaded him.

Gray Avenger sighed but he listened to her, retaking his seat in the co-pilot's seat.

"Cyclops, what is the plan?" Marvel Girl asked him.

"I'm gonna need you all to listen carefully, because we only have one chance at this." Cyclops spoke in a very serious tone. "If we make one mistakes, there will be casualties."

Gray Avenger adjusted his helmet to listen to the plan properly, preparing himself for what was about to come. His hands were closed into tight fists and he was practically fuming with rage, something that only Marvel Girl's was able to calm by gently touching his shoulder.