"Morning, Jessica," Ethan Hayes greeted Jessica lazily.
"Morning, Ethan," Jessica answered, her eyes rimmed with dark circles, clearly exhausted from the noise next door.
Ethan looked at Jessica Jones and said seriously, "You look terrible, Jessica. You need to catch up on sleep, but I can't stick around—I still have to get to school."
"No," Jessica shook her head. "Ethan, I think you'd be better off moving closer to your school. Hell's Kitchen isn't the safest place for you."
Ethan offered a bitter smile. "I just want to stay here to remember the hatred and find out who killed my parents. Jessica, the offer still stands: if you help me find them, I'll pay you $5,000."
Jessica was tempted but ultimately declined. "Ethan, the information you have is too vague. I even checked with the police station, but their records about your parents' murder were destroyed in a fire. Without more details, it's nearly impossible to investigate."
Ethan knew Jessica didn't want him to keep throwing all his savings at a dead end. She saw him as just a poor student with a long future ahead, not someone who should waste all his inheritance on revenge. If he continued down this path, Ethan might run out of money before graduating, end up homeless, and be forced out of Hell's Kitchen.
Jessica knew Ethan's character well. If he ever found out who the killers were, he'd likely throw himself into a dangerous vendetta, which could get him killed. And right now, she had her own troubles—big ones—and didn't want to drag Ethan into more danger.
"Jones, I'm heading to school. My offer still stands: if you find anything useful, I'll pay you $5,000," Ethan said as the elevator doors opened. He left the apartment, grabbed his skateboard, and rushed toward the subway.
"Morning, Ethan," said a bespectacled girl, Hannah, as she greeted him.
"Morning, Hannah," Ethan replied, glancing at her briefly.
He recognized her—Hannah had only a few scenes in The Amazing Spider-Man, but her appearance left a lasting impression on the audience. She was the girl whose face was practically hidden by her large glasses.
"Got a date for the dance?" Hannah asked softly.
It took Ethan a moment to process her question. "Who do you think would want a Chinese guy as their date?" he laughed bitterly.
At school, Ethan was mostly invisible. Other than Hannah, there weren't many people he talked to. Especially in his class, where everyone knew his parents had been killed by black gangsters. They avoided him, unwilling to engage.
Hannah hesitated for a moment. She didn't have any romantic feelings for Ethan, only a sense of camaraderie.
"You're handsome, you know," Hannah whispered. "I've noticed Julia checking you out."
Ethan's gaze followed Hannah's toward Julia, a member of the cheerleading squad. The red-haired, pale-skinned beauty was one of the popular girls. Ethan shook his head quickly. To most of his classmates, he was just a bookish introvert—properly invisible.
There were only three or four people who knew him well enough to call him by name, and that included the teachers.
As classes began, Ethan found it hard to focus. His attention wasn't on the lesson. With graduation approaching, his sights were set on getting into a good university. He'd need a strong letter of recommendation to stand a chance, especially since his goal was MIT.
The faint murmurs of his classmates reached his ears. His enhanced hearing quickly picked up on the sensitive topic being discussed.
"Tony Stark," someone said.
That one sentence grabbed Ethan's attention. Tony Stark had been missing, but now he was found? The Marvel story was about to begin.
Ethan knew that mutants existed in this world, though news about them was heavily suppressed. A recent battle between the Hulk and the Abomination in Harlem had been similarly downplayed.
At this point, Stark Industries was still based in Los Angeles. The iconic Stark Tower had just been acquired, but the headquarters hadn't moved in yet.
None of that was important to Ethan. What mattered was that Tony Stark was back, and Stark Industries' stock would rebound. But once Stark shut down the weapons division, the company would be cut in half.
"If I play my cards right, I could even become a minority shareholder in Stark Industries," Ethan thought, his eyes narrowing. With $44 million in the bank, and some leverage, he could make serious money.
"In addition to Stark Industries, there's also the Osborn Group…"
Ethan's gaze drifted toward Peter Parker.
Ding!
[Please choose one of the following tasks:
1. Help Peter Parker become Spider-Man and guide him. Task level: White.]
[2. Capture the opportunity and create the birth of Ghost Spider-Woman. Task level: Blue.]
[Please choose.]
"Ghost Spider-Woman?" Ethan's mind instantly flashed to Gwen Stacy.
His eyes locked onto the girl with smooth blonde hair. "Emma Stone? No, she looks younger here," he thought. Gwen was a stunningly beautiful girl.
Hannah shot Ethan a knowing look and smiled. "Yep, all guys like Gwen Stacy."
"System, I choose option two," Ethan decided. If changing the plot and timeline made the task harder, so be it. He wondered if the Time Variance Authority (TVA) would show up to reset him.
[The birth of Ghost Spider-Woman task has been accepted. The follow-up task chain has been triggered. Do you want to blindly accept the next task? The reward will increase exponentially—up to 200%!]
Ethan's eyes lit up. The last chain mission had yielded a purple blind box after the reward surged from blue and cyan rewards, which led to him unlocking the Frozen Fruit. Now that he was stronger, he wasn't afraid of consecutive tasks.
"I accept," Ethan said, already planning out the next steps.
As for creating Gwen Stacy's transformation into Ghost Spider-Woman, it seemed straightforward to Ethan. All he had to do was throw Gwen into the spider lab at Osborn Industries.