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Telephone poles and cartoons

POV - Theodore Wellspring

"Don’t you have a game tomorrow, Theo?" Jane, my adorable little sister, exclaimed with delight.

"Yeah Janey." I replied back.

"You seem actually excited this time, though!" My mother asked me.

"Yeah, well, that’s because this time we're facing off against a pretty strong player!"

Even I had to admit, taking on Peter was gonna be fun!

For the longest time, I've played this game to ease my boredom. It also didn't help that my only childhood friend, Will, played it religiously due to his father's job.

Initially, that was all the reason I needed to play it.

Then I started getting attention from everywhere. Several schools even offered me a full scholarship ride.

It made my parents proud to see their son succeed at such a high level. Ever since then, I've been stuck playing this godawful sport. It was way too easy to win when I finally got a handle on my powers.

Day in and day out, I play this boring game, schooling every single one of my opponents.

Not tomorrow, tomorrow I face the legendary Spider-Man himself.

‘I really can’t wait for tomorrow!’

"Wow! You're really excited for this, aren’t you?" This time it was my uber-cool older brother David.

"You have no idea!"

"I thought Will’s team didn't interest you anymore. I mean, I like Will and everything, but isn’t his team lackluster?" My brother inquired.

"They have a new player. He’s really promising!"

"What are you saying, Theo? No one can beat you! Isn’t that right, David?" Janey despaired.

"Of course! No one, honey, can beat Theo... except maybe me!" Man he was such a sucker for her.

"That's right, Theo!! Don't feel bad anymore." She rubbed my hair.

"It'll make your hair fall faster!" Her words hit me like a truck.

"Why you... come here, you little devil!"

I started tickling her nonstop. My sister couldn’t help but break out in a fit of laughter.

"Stop that. You two! Where’s your table etiquette?" My mom hid her smile very well.

The scene put a smile on my brother's face too!

‘Life here is truly bliss!’

It wasn’t anything like my previous life. The one where I had to help my parents with backbreaking construction work. I couldn't remember everything, but I knew the basic picture.

I remembered the boy I was in the previous world.

The boy was unlucky to be born into a poor family in the Philippines.

That life was very different from the luxurious one he lives now.

The boy had to haul cement from a very young age, put up with insults from his alcoholic father, and protect his mother, who was as thin as he was. They didn't eat much, and they didn't have a lot of money saved up due to the boy's father's gambling habits.

His only source of comfort was watching cartoons on Sundays.

Of course, his family couldn’t afford a TV, so he hid near the rich kids' house to watch his favorite cartoons.

Spider-Man was a big favorite of his.

The little boy remembered thinking how big those houses were in comparison to the little hut he called home.

He would wake up early in the morning and climb a telephone pole to better see the TV.

Gripping it like a monkey, he would stay there until the rich kids turned off the television.

There were times where he pretended he was Spiderman while holding onto that pole.

It gave that little boy hope.

It was on one of those days, that the little boy slipped and fell to his death.

The next thing he knew, a strange woman was breast-feeding him.

I had been reincarnated, or transmigrated, as they call it on the web these days. That too in a wealthy family!

I was in bliss when I figured out that I could eat to my heart's content. I also developed a huge love for comics as a child, with many of them resembling The Amazing Spider-Man.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

No arduous work; no insults from my parents; and free food. Life was the best here.

At the age of ten, I discovered I had the ability to stop time. At first, I thought everyone was playing a prank on me. When I figured out that wasn't the case, fear struck me: 'Oh no, did I petrify them all?'

It puts a smile on my face just thinking about it now.

'Goodtimes!'

Then slowly, as I matured, I began to understand my powers better and used them to further my marks and social status.

It wasn't until recently that I discovered I was living in the exact same universe as Spider-Man. The existence of Peter Parker and his powers confirmed that.

I sometimes wondered what happened to my previous family. Did they cry when they saw the body of their eleven year old son? Did they act sad, but on the inside, were they happy to be rid of a burden? After all, I was just another mouth to feed!

I couldn’t know now, and I didn't want to!

‘I'm happy with the life I have right now!’

I stopped tickling my little sister,

"That's what you get for making fun of me!"

I sat back on the chair and resumed eating my steak.

"Is Hannah coming over for dinner, darling?" My sweet mother asked me,

"No mother…She’s…"

"Are you fighting with her, again?" David asked me, and I silently nodded.

"It’s not anything serious. She wanted me to bail on the game and help with her volunteer work."

My brother cringed.

"Her argument was that since I don't like basketball and it’s only a practice game. It shouldn’t be a big deal!"

"Well?" Mom asked me from the side,

"I can’t miss this match!" I say with complete certainty, gripping the fork tightly.

‘The chance to play against The Spider-Man, No… I’m not gonna miss this opportunity for anything.’

What were the chances of something like this happening!

"Well, just make sure to get her something nice, maybe a nice necklace would do the trick. If you want, I’ll send a maid to pick one out?" Mother kindly added,

"Of course, mother! I plan to fully apologize and make it up to her after the game."

"Good, because I quite like Hannah!" Mother beamed.

"Yeah, me too!!" My little sister jumped on the bandwagon.

"Sheesh, you’d think they like her more than you." David japed.

"Well, we both know who’s the favorite son!" I shot back with a huge grin.

‘Why--you---pesky!" We started boxing. It was play fighting really.

Janey was cheering for David, and our mother tried to calm all three of us.

It took another hour of riff-raff for me to finish dinner.

I went to the main balcony, the New York skylines were something else to witness.

'From climbing a pole to see cartoons to standing and watching this city at night. Boy I sure came a long way!'

Tomorrow I face off against Peter.

"Still can't believe I idolized that shrimp in my previous life!" I spoke to myself.

‘This isn't good. I can’t empathize with my opponent!’

Isn't that what Coach Sharpe taught me!

"So he’s that good, huh?" My brother’s voice startled me, but thankfully my power automatically activated.

Time stopped in a single second.

"Jesus!" I shouted, but no one could hear it now.

Everyone always said it was impossible to scare me, but that wasn’t true. In fact, it was the opposite. I was always scared and easily startled. It was just that my abilities simply concealed my aversion to sudden noises.

I let time run its normal course again.

I acted stoic.

"I didn’t hear you." I asked,

"I said: So he’s that good?"

"Yeah."

He walked closer and stood right next to me.

"Hmm... It's unusual to see you standing here these days! You always used to come here and stare at the sky."

"Yeah I remember those days…Jane was just a baby then. Now she’s what...ten, can’t believe time goes by so fast!" Even if I could stop time I couldn't completely stop its advance.

"You know I was so worried about you then! I was always so scared that you would just jump off the balcony. The way you looked at the sky was just so…sad."

"Davey--I'm-"

"Whoever this guy is, I know you’ll beat him. Even if you don't, know that you can always count on me to help whip you into better shape!" Davey patted my head, ruining my hair.

"Hey!"

"Go to sleep, kid," he said as he turned to walk away.

"Me and Janey are coming to see you play tomorrow!"

"Aren’t you busy helping dad!"

"I’m not going to miss my little brother kicking ass! Make sure you win in style, okay! Jane will be watching. Don't make her cry!"

"David.."

"Like I said, win or lose. You'll have us on your side, but don't you dare lose. Janey will throw a hissy fit."

I smiled and gave my brother a nod,

"You bet your ass I won't."

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POV - Magneto

The game had started in glorious fashion. He had helped break out some of the members of his brotherhood. Alas he couldn’t get everyone out fast enough.

He didn't want to have a run in with Charles and the X-Men yet.

Still, he had enough pieces to win the game. It wouldn’t matter if he couldn’t help everyone right now. If humanity perishes, then his species will have been emancipated.

As of now, he had Mystique, Pyro, Toad, Sabretooth and Juggernaut at his disposal.

Sure, they weren’t at their full strength, but they didn’t need to be.

"So by capturing this boy and using his powers we can rapidly age out all the humans." He said coldly to the open field.

He still had his helmet on to block Charles' psychic espionage. He knew that if Charles were to find out his plans then the game would become even more difficult.

"If I can convince the boy to join my side before Charles can get to him, that would be optimal!" He said it out loud again.

"Convincing him won’t work." The mysterious voice finally spoke.

"The boy has human parents and siblings. I guarantee you, he won’t join your cause! Force is the only way you will make him co-operate."

He grunted, he didn’t like to inflict harm on his kind. He would, if absolutely necessary, but he would like to avoid it if there was a better way.

"We have to try, first. I will not harm a child of the future because it’s inconvenient to me!"

The voice responded in its usual monotonous voice.

"He never had to fear humans like you did. He also seems to enjoy his relationship with his human girlfriend. Trying to convince him of your cause will only make him run into the arms of the professor that much faster!"

He gritted his teeth.

‘Dammit he’s right!’ He thought in frustration.

"Then what are my options?" his pride as a strategist stung when he had to ask for the voice’s help.

"The only way you win this, is if you capture him and use mind control! He'll take days to break, but he'll need them anyway to amass the power required to wipe out humanity!You will need to ensure that your enemies do not find him and free him until then."

"Mind control?"

"Yes… but not using mutant powers. I shall give you certain drugs that lower a person's inhibitions and make them, let's say--suggestible. Of course, the task will drain his life force and kill him, but all of humanity will die. along with him"

The voice made a compelling argument.

"So all of humanity will age out and die?" he concluded.

‘Yes. Irreversibly!"

"But the boy will die along with them?"

"Yes. It is impossible for him to live after such a feat."

"Then it is a noble sacrifice. One that I'm willing to make!"

He had his doubts about this plan, the motivations of the voice and the potential risk it could pose to his kind,

"So who is this boy? Where does he live?"

"I will not give you his personal details."

"What!!! And why the hell not?" He was tired of the voice's games.

"It’s not interesting if it’s that easy!" There was a hint of emotion hidden in that statement.

He kept quiet, waiting for the voice to speak again.

"I will not hand him to you on a platter. I will, however, provide you with useful information! I'll tell you where he'll be tomorrow. Finding and capturing him will be your chief task!"

'It's a game to him. He thinks we're his puppets to do his bidding!' Magneto thought to himself..

He grimaced. He didn’t like being played, but he kept quiet. ‘I need his powers and connections, at least for the foreseeable future!’

"Fine, where will he be tomorrow?"

He could somehow feel the voice's smug smile. The voice spoke again,

"Do you like to play basketball, Magnus?"