Chapter 4:

I hit up a hotdog vendor on the street as I headed towards the thrift shop. I’d never had a New York hot dog before, and I had to say it didn’t disappoint. Some people might say that it was weird to eat a hot dog first thing in the morning, but then again I had cereal and boiled water for dinner.

I tossed my used napkin in a nearby trash can as I passed by a newspaper stand. I doubled back because something on the stand caught my eye. It was today’s copy of the Daily Bugle Newspaper.

That was the paper that Peter Parker ended up working for. I bought a copy of it for 25 cents from the vendor and read it while I walked. The sidewalks around here weren’t crowded so I didn't end up bumping into anyone.

The paper had the date listed as Thursday, January 15, 2009! I now knew WHEN I was at least. If this world was similar to the MCU, then Iron Man 1 had not happened yet.

What caught my eye was the headline of the paper. “The Mutant Menace! How to Identify and Protect Yourself from the Threat!” I read the title out loud while frowning. I only had to read a few paragraphs into the article to understand this whole paper was completely worthless. It wasn’t even news.

It was a pure hate piece about Mutants being dangerous, and how we're out to overthrow America…

Of course, there wasn't a single sliver of evidence in the whole article. This should not have been allowed to be printed as genuine news.

Done with this trashy newspaper, I tossed it where it belonged in another trash can as I reached the thrift store. I had more important things to focus on. It was time for me to get out of these raggedy foster clothes.

I opened the door and walked inside. The interior was about what I would expect from a typical thrift store. Completely packed to the brim with colorful off brand clothing and knick knacks.

This whole store was a fire hazard and I loved it!

There was a kind looking older woman working inside who’s eyes widened when she saw me. “Oh, honey! What are you wearing!? That outfit is a travesty!” She said while critically looking me over. She obviously did not like what she saw.

I blushed in embarrassment. I know I look awful. It was embarrassing just walking outside in the daylight with these clothes. “I need a new wardrobe.” I told her.

That was all I needed to say. She grinned at me. “What colors do you like?”

I walked out an hour later carrying a few bags with my extra outfits. For around $50, I was able to get a lot more clothes than I would have expected. The dollar was A LOT better off in the Marvel Universe than it was back in my old world. I was also walking out of that store much better dressed than I had gone in. I was now wearing clothing that actually fit me and looked pretty good. I was wearing a pair of black jeans and a blue jacket since it was still winter in New York.

No wonder it had been so cold the night before.

Around my neck I had a large fluffy black scarf. It kept me warm and it doubled as a way to hide my face if I had to get into any fights. To be honest though, I didn't care too much about having a secret identity. I'd already resolved myself to not be like Spider-Man. I wouldn't go blabbing my identity openly, but I wouldn't go out of my way to really hide it either. I'd mostly bought the black scarf because I thought it would make me look cool as a ninja…

With a little over half of my finances spent so far, I decided to head back to the Loft before I impulsively ended up spending all of it.

At least, that was my plan.

On the way back to my new home, I walked by a small hole-in-the-wall pawn shop. There was one item in the store window that immediately drew my eye.

It was a katana!

A very real looking one, at that. Not a cheap factory made knock off. The price tag in the window had originally been $100. That had been crossed out with a red marker and was replaced by $75. I didn't have that much money left, but I felt like I could haggle it down a few more bucks.

I stepped inside the pawn shop and the man behind the counter actually smiled at me. “Welcome, anything you're looking for in particular?” He asked enthusiastically.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

People really treated you differently when you weren't dressed like an obvious homeless runaway…

“I'm just browsing,” I told him while glancing around. “I got some money for my birthday.” I added on. I didn't want him to know I was immediately interested in the sword, but I also wanted him to know that I was here to spend money. This was a haggling tactic I learned in my past life. I spent the next couple minutes pretending to browse around the small shop until I ‘happened’ to spot the Katana by the store window.

“Cool sword. Is that a real Katana?” I asked him.

He shrugged at me. “Mayb The guy who brought it in here pawned it two months ago. He claimed it was his family heirloom and had been passed down for hundreds of years. I felt bad for him having to pawn something like that, so I gave him a little extra money for it. He had 30 days to come back for it.” The shop owner then frowned. “He never came back obviously, and it's been two months. I'm pretty sure my bleeding heart got scammed and he sold me a cheap replica…” He finished with a sigh.

I grabbed the Katana off the stand it was sitting on and unsheathed it. The blade was flawless and looked incredibly sharp. I wasn't a sword expert by any means, but it looks pretty real to me.

I definitely wanted it. The blade length wasn't too long, and was perfect for my size. I wondered if it was originally forged for a woman in the first place?

“I'll give you 40 bucks for it.” I said casually as I sheathed the blade.

The shop owner sputtered. “Only 40?” He shook his head at me. “No deal, $70.”

I shook my head back at him. “You yourself said it's probably a fake. I'll give you $45, take it or leave it.” I said firmly.

The man looked reluctant before he sighed. “Fine, I might as well make some of my money back.” He told me. “I can't believe I gave that scammer 200 bucks…” He muttered to himself angrily.

I reached into my pocket and handed him the last of my cash. I was officially broke again, but I feel like I got an amazing deal. If this sword turns out to be real, it could actually be worth tens of thousands. Not that I was planning on selling it.

I was planning on learning to properly use it!

I left the pawn shop carrying my bags of clothing in one hand and my new Katana in the other.

I changed my mind from earlier and didn't want to head back to the Loft when it was still so early. The weather wasn't bad, and it was warmer than it was the night before. I didn't mind spending some more time outside.

I asked for directions towards the nearest park and headed there. The park was completely empty, as I would expect on a school day in the middle of winter.

I placed my clothing bags under a tree and unsheathed my new Katana. I gave it a few practice swings before going through a few practice katas that I recalled from youtube videos in my last life. My new sword was very sharp, so I was extra careful not to cut myself.

I was having fun just swinging it around to be honest. It made me feel like I was becoming a real ninja even if I had no idea what I was doing. I may or may not have also been making sound effects with my mouth whenever I swung my sword…

“Girl!? What are you doing!?”

I was halfway through another swing when a woman's voice came out of nowhere and startled me. I let out a squeak and almost dropped the Katana on my foot!

Thankfully it missed by a few inches.

“Careful! Why is a teenage girl swinging a real Katana in the middle of a park? Honestly…” The woman's voice said again.

I turned my head and saw a greek woman with dark hair walking over towards me. She looked to be in her 20's and she was in amazing shape! I could tell that she worked out a lot judging by how toned her arms and legs were.

I could admit to myself that I was slightly jealous of her physique. I also realized that I should have been using this time to exercise myself instead of just playing around…

I picked my sword off the grass and carefully put it back in its sheath. “Hi?” I said to her questioningly.

The woman was watching me critically. “You know that's not a toy right? Where did you even get a real Katana? And why aren't you in school?”

“I don't go to school.” I said bluntly. I already went in my past life, and I wasn't going again. That would be a complete waste of time. I'd just get my GED when I turned 16.

She raised an eyebrow at me. “You don't go to school…? Ok then…” She trailed off. “And your parents just let you wander around?”

“Why would they care? They're dead, or maybe they just abandoned me. I don't know.” I said again.

She looked more sympathetic towards me after I said that. She took a pause before she spoke again. “I happen to be a bit of an expert when it comes to blades. Watching you swing that Katana around like it was a lightsaber was a travesty.” She told me and I blushed.

“I wasn’t swinging it like it was a lightsaber…” I mumbled out.

She snickered at me. “Yes, you were. We've all seen Star Wars. Where did you even get a real Katana? Can I see it?”

I shrugged and handed it over to her. She unsheathed it and inspected the blade and the pommel closely.

“I bought it at a pawn shop a few blocks over for $45. I told her. The shop owner thought it was a fake and sold it super cheap.”

As the Greek woman was inspecting the pommel more closely, I noticed her eyes widened in shock! She was suddenly holding it a lot more delicately. “T–this Katana was m–made by Masamune!” She sputtered out.

“Is that good?” I asked her. I had no idea who that was.

She pouted at me. “Is that good!? He's one of the most famous blacksmiths of all time!” She sheathed the Katana delicately and handed it back to me. I could tell that she was regretful to do so, but she clearly had no thoughts of taking it and trying to run. “I can't believe a child bought this for $45…” She almost sounded like she wanted to cry there.

“Nice! A future awesome ninja like me deserves an awesome ninja blade!” I said with a big grin. Even if it was worth millions, I wasn’t selling it! Money was easy to come by in this world. Famous weapons were a lot harder to come by. I wasn’t giving it up easily.

She looked at me seriously after my declaration. “You want to be a ninja? Are you just a little girl playing around or are you serious?”

“Hmph. Not that it's any of your business, but I'm completely serious!” I retorted.

She looked a bit indecisive before she spoke again. “Fine then. Draw your sword again. If you're actually serious, then I'll give you some pointers on how to properly hold and swing it at least.” She said in a tone that implied I wasn't to argue with her.

I did as she asked. She did claim to be some kind of expert On blades earlier. She immediately corrected the way I held the sword and showed me the proper ways to hold it for when I was using either one or two hands. My new grip was a bit awkward at first, but I could tell it was much better than holding it like it was a softball bat.

“Thanks, I'm Satsuki Uchiha by the way. Who are you?”

“Nice to meet you Satsuki, I'm Elektra.”

“...”

Oh, wow…

XXX