In a Certain Bar at the Edge of Reality
The neon lights of Sister Margaret's Home for Wayward Girls cast long, blood-red shadows across the scarred wooden floor. The air hung heavy with cigarette smoke, cheap whiskey, and the unmistakable scent of mercenary desperation. In a corner booth away from prying eyes, a figure in red and black spandex lounged in calculated disarray.
"Invading other worlds as a mission... sounds super fucking awesome~"
Wade Wilson—better known as Deadpool—traced lazy circles on the condensation of his fourth glass of whiskey. The twin katanas strapped to his back gleamed dully in the bar's dim lighting, their edges promising violence even while at rest.
"There must be some serious bounty money involved..." he continued, his mask pulled up just enough to reveal a scarred chin. His head rested comfortably in the lap of a woman whose striking features suggested she could be cast as the lead in any number of action films.
His seemingly casual words belied the laser-sharp focus behind his eyes. Deadpool was many things—mercenary, lunatic, occasional hero—but never unobservant. Especially when there was money to be made.
"Crossing realities, punching alternate universe bad guys, stealing their stuff..." he mused, voice slightly slurred but mind racing with possibilities. "It's like a cosmic burglary road trip with extra violence. My specialties!"
The woman ran her fingers along the edge of his mask, either unaware or unconcerned that she was petting one of the most dangerous killers in the multiverse.
"You really think you could do it?" she asked, curiosity piqued.
Deadpool's laugh held no humor. "Sweetheart, I've died so many times I've got frequent flyer miles to the afterlife. Hopping universes? That's Tuesday."
What neither his companion nor the other patrons of Sister Margaret's could know was that Wade Wilson had already begun making preparations. In his apartment lay maps of known dimensional weak points, equipment suited for cross-dimensional travel, and a hitlist of targets worth pursuing.
The ripples had reached him. And Deadpool was nothing if not opportunistic.
The Aftershocks Begin
Although the first round of world invasion had concluded and the system's livestream broadcast had faded to black, the consequences were just beginning to unfold across the multiverse—expanding like concentric ripples in a once-calm pond.
It was like pouring a bucket of ice water into an already boiling pot of oil.
Instantly!
The delicate balance between order and chaos shattered. Reality itself seemed to shudder in response to the breach. Across dimensions, beings with the sensitivity to detect such disturbances paused, their attention drawn to the anomaly that threatened the established order.
Not only were traditional power brokers—governments, intelligence agencies, corporate titans—mobilizing their resources to investigate the disturbance, but individuals with more personal stakes found themselves drawn to the emerging crisis. Heroes accustomed to defending their realities. Villains sensing opportunities for unprecedented power. Cosmic entities watching with growing concern as barriers between worlds thinned imperceptibly.
Beneath the seemingly tranquil surface of daily life, countless currents of action had already formed, invisible to ordinary citizens but unmistakable to those with the means to observe. SHIELD helicarriers adjusted patrol patterns. Wakandan sensors recalibrated to detect dimensional anomalies. Deep within the Sanctum Sanctorum, ancient protective wards flared with renewed intensity.
The situation intensified with each passing moment, the butterfly effect of Su Xiu's arrival and subsequent actions multiplying exponentially. What had begun as a ripple was rapidly becoming a tsunami that threatened to engulf everything in its path.
However...
None of this registered as important to Su Xiu.
After collecting his substantial rewards and experiencing the euphoria of newfound power, his human body had finally reached its limits—not physically, but mentally. He'd collapsed onto his bed without even removing his clothes, surrendering completely to exhaustion.
Though his newly enhanced physiology remained unaffected by the extreme experiences of the past days, the psychological weight had been immense. The constant vigilance, the adrenaline spikes, the perpetual state of fight-or-flight—all had exacted their toll.
Now possessing powers sufficient for genuine self-protection—abilities that placed him firmly outside the category of "potential victim"—he could finally lower his guard for the first time since his arrival in this dangerous new reality.
So he slept deeper than he ever had before—a dreamless, healing sleep untouched by nightmares or anxiety. His breathing steady and even, face relaxed in a way it hadn't been since childhood. In this moment of vulnerability, he looked almost innocent—a stark contrast to the power that now resided within his cells.
Until...
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Open up! Hey, are you in there? Hurry and open the door!"
The persistent knocking shattered his peaceful oblivion, the sound reverberating through his apartment like gunshots. Su Xiu's eyes snapped open, his consciousness dragged unwillingly back to reality.
"What's happening..." he mumbled, struggling to orient himself. His vision blurred then sharpened as his enhanced metabolism rapidly cleared the fog of deep sleep. He glanced at the digital clock—3:47 PM. He'd slept for nearly sixteen hours straight.
His brain, still half-immersed in sleep's embrace, suddenly registered the implications.
"Something's wrong!"
The realization hit him like a physical blow, instantly banishing any remaining drowsiness.
"Someone's looking for me? How is that possible?!"
He'd been meticulously careful. Left no trails. Interacted with no one but his landlord.
"Could it be..."
His mind raced through possibilities, each more alarming than the last.
"Have I been discovered?"
Su Xiu's pupils contracted to pinpoints as adrenaline flooded his system, his body transitioning from sleep to combat readiness in seconds—a transformation that would have been impossible before his enhancements.
His analytical mind methodically eliminated possibilities. It definitely couldn't be his landlord—the middle-aged man had collected rent just three days ago and had no reason to return so soon. Besides, the voice was entirely different—higher, more energetic.
Since his arrival in this dimension, Su Xiu had deliberately maintained isolation, his apartment becoming both sanctuary and prison. Apart from brief, necessary interactions with his landlord, he had established no connections in this reality—no friends who might come calling, no acquaintances who would seek him out.
"Bang! Bang! Bang—"
"It's practically mid-afternoon! Don't tell me you're still not up? Come on, open the door already!"
While Su Xiu deliberated, the knocking intensified, becoming more rhythmic and insistent. The voice—definitely female—carried notes of both familiarity and impatience, as if the person on the other side had every right to demand entry.
Could it be SHIELD? Had their intelligence network somehow identified him as an anomaly? But the voice lacked the professional coldness he would expect from government agents. Too informal, too animated.
Su Xiu's heart hammered against his ribcage, his muscles coiling with tension. The Navy Six Techniques he had recently mastered hummed beneath his skin, energy gathering in precise pathways throughout his body, ready to explode into devastating action at the slightest provocation.
He didn't stop with physical preparation. His mind reached for the metaphysical interface of his system, ready to expend accumulated points to materialize a squad of T-078 Tyrants—bioweapons that could reduce this entire building to rubble in minutes.
Armed both physically and systematically, prepared for the worst possible scenarios, Su Xiu approached the door with predator-like caution. Each footstep was perfectly silent despite the apartment's creaky floorboards—another benefit of his recently acquired abilities.
He positioned himself strategically beside the door rather than directly in front of it—minimizing his profile as a potential target—and reached for the lock.
Click—
The mechanism disengaged with a sound that seemed thunderous in the tension-filled silence.
Su Xiu pulled the door open precisely three inches, enough to see but not enough to create a vulnerable opening.
What greeted him was not tactical gear or government badges but something that momentarily short-circuited his combat-ready mind.
"So big—no, I mean, so bright in here..."
The door was pushed wider as a young woman with a striking figure practically burst into his apartment, her arms laden with bags and packages that seemed too numerous for one person to carry comfortably. She moved with the confident familiarity of someone who felt completely entitled to enter the space.
A woman? A stunningly beautiful woman at that?
Su Xiu's brain scrambled to reassess the threat level, confusion temporarily overriding his defensive protocols.
But...
Her appearance matched no known SHIELD agent in his memory banks. She wasn't the infamous Black Widow—Su Xiu had carefully studied Natasha Romanoff's features during the system's livestream reconnaissance of this world's major players. Did the shadowy organization have other operatives of such caliber?
This stranger was different, though equally captivating in her own way.
Beyond her remarkably proportioned figure that would have turned heads in any reality, this woman radiated a kind of youthful energy that Black Widow deliberately suppressed. While Romanoff moved with the calculated grace of a predator, this intruder possessed an almost magnetic vibrancy that seemed to energize the very air around her.
She reminded him of... summer sunshine reflecting off ocean waves!
Brilliant, dazzling, and somehow both powerful and playful simultaneously!
"I'm Gwen. You must be Cousin Su Xiu!" She announced with breezy confidence, setting down her armload of packages with practiced efficiency. "Dad asked me to check on you since you've gone full hermit mode lately."
She tossed her head in a casual gesture, the movement causing her blonde hair to cascade around her shoulders in a way that momentarily caught the apartment's dim light, transforming ordinary strands into something that resembled spun gold.
The movement fully revealed her face—a study in classical beauty that could have been sculpted by renaissance masters. Her skin was alabaster-fair with a natural luminosity that cosmetic companies spent billions trying to replicate. Eyes like multifaceted gemstones—intelligent, alert, and somehow both innocent and knowing—were set in perfectly proportioned features above a nose that complemented rather than dominated her face.
She wore simple attire—a light blue t-shirt and dark jeans—an uncomplicated outfit that somehow highlighted rather than diminished her natural grace. The casual clothing projected an accessibility that contrasted sharply with her extraordinary beauty, making her seem both exceptional and approachable.
The fitted t-shirt curved over her impressive proportions in a way that was simultaneously modest and impossible to ignore—like trying not to notice a supernova in an otherwise empty sky.
However...
While his body registered her physical presence with the automatic appreciation any healthy young man might feel, Su Xiu's analytical mind was fixated on one word that shattered all his assumptions about his position in this reality.
"Cousin?"
Su Xiu's expression froze in bewilderment, his carefully constructed understanding of his situation crumbling like sand. Since when did he have family connections in this dimension?
He had physically transported to this world—his entire being shifted across the boundaries between realities. It wasn't a case of consciousness transfer or possession.
He was absolutely certain!
His current body was definitely his own original form, not some alternate reality version he had displaced or merged with. His memories were intact, his identity secure—though apparently more complex than he had realized.
Where had this "cousin" come from, and what did her existence imply about his own placement in this dimensional tapestry?!
And then another realization hit him as his enhanced mind processed additional details.
The name Gwen.
Combined with her striking appearance and the subtle but unmistakable energy signature he could now sense pulsing beneath her seemingly normal exterior—a power dormant but immense, like a sleeping dragon.
Could this possibly be... Spider-Woman?
Su Xiu had always operated under the assumption that he'd traveled to Earth-616 in the Marvel multiverse—the "main" timeline where Spider-Man should be the wisecracking Peter Parker. Had he instead landed in an alternate reality where Gwen Stacy had received the radioactive spider's bite? Or had the system's interference somehow altered the established timeline?
Spider-Woman, Gwen Stacy? The implications were staggering.
"Huh?"
"Yes, it's me!" Gwen's expression brightened with recognition. "You recognize me, Cousin? Have you seen my pictures before? Dad said you two haven't caught up in years."
She blinked in surprise, a delicate blush spreading across her fair cheeks like watercolor on fine paper.
Despite her outwardly casual demeanor and confident entrance, subtle signs betrayed her inner reaction to Su Xiu's appearance.
The slight quickening of her pulse—visible to his enhanced senses in the delicate motion at the base of her throat. The microscopic dilation of her pupils when they met his gaze. The unconscious straightening of her posture, a primitive response to an attractive potential mate.
Her heart wasn't just stirring; it was practically performing acrobatics.
She hadn't expected her supposedly ordinary cousin to be so... striking. The family resemblance she'd anticipated based on old photos was nowhere to be found in this specimen of near physical perfection standing before her.
Hmph, Dad never mentioned THIS particular detail! Had I known I'd be meeting someone who looks like he stepped off a magazine cover, I would have put some actual effort into my appearance, not thrown on the first clean clothes I found.
Gwen caught herself nibbling her lower lip—a nervous habit she thought she'd outgrown years ago—feeling uncharacteristically self-conscious.
Standing mere feet away from Su Xiu, something about his presence seemed to fill the available space in ways that defied logical explanation. It wasn't merely physical attractiveness—though that was undeniable—but something more fundamental. A quality that seemed to resonate on frequencies beyond ordinary human perception.
The sensation left her feeling strangely flushed, her skin tingling as if the air between them had become electrified.
Truthfully,
Before his interdimensional journey and subsequent transformations, Su Xiu's appearance had been thoroughly unremarkable—conventionally acceptable but forgettable. The kind of face that blended into crowds rather than standing out from them.
But!
The T-virus modification had completely rewritten his genetic code, optimizing every aspect of his physiology from cellular efficiency to symmetrical facial structure. The "perfect version" effect wasn't simply about enhancing strength or speed—it represented a comprehensive reconstruction of his being from the molecular level outward.
While traces of his original features remained—enough that he would still recognize himself in mirrors—every aspect had been subtly refined and enhanced. Imperfections erased, proportions idealized, even his pheromone production optimized for maximum impact on those around him.
He had transcended conventional attractiveness to become something that approached the platonic ideal of human beauty—not in a soft, pretty way, but with the chiseled perfection of classical sculpture given life and warmth.
Moreover!
The mastery of the Navy Six Techniques had added an entirely different dimension to his presence. These weren't merely combat techniques but ancient disciplines that reshaped the practitioner's relationship with physical reality itself.
An indefinable quality of mastery emanated from him now—a sense of contained power and absolute control that registered on subconscious levels. It was the difference between a house cat and a jungle predator—similar in form but worlds apart in essence.
For a young woman, even one with extraordinary powers of her own, this combination created an almost gravitational pull—not necessarily romantic attraction, but certainly impossible to dismiss or look away from.
...
"A randomized identity?!"
While Gwen's thoughts raced along emotional pathways, Su Xiu's analytical mind made connections with computer-like efficiency. His eyes widened as understanding dawned.
One of the auxiliary benefits of his system after crossing dimensions!!
Besides the modest amount of American currency that had allowed him to secure basic lodging and necessities, he had also received what the system had called a "randomized identity integration."
He had initially interpreted this as merely providing legal documentation—a social security number, perhaps a basic credit history—enough to prevent him from becoming an undocumented non-entity in this new world. A utilitarian foundation that would allow him to build a new life without attracting unwanted attention.
He had never imagined that the integration would be so comprehensive as to include pre-established familial connections and social relationships.
"Randomly becoming Gwen Stacy's cousin?"
Su Xiu's expression shifted through several emotions in rapid succession—shock, disbelief, and finally a kind of appreciative wonder at the cosmic coincidence.
THROW POWER STONES