3 Pops

So three weeks later I discovered that finding a job in nyc is not as easy as I thought. Even when I'm in my base state I'm still decked out in muscles and have a wild hairstyle. Another issue is the chickenshit people who can somehow tell that it's wise not to mess with me, some owners can feel that it would be troublesome to hire me so they don't.

I discovered it when a shop owners daughter warned me about it after I applied there. I still managed to acquire accommodations however, it's a hotel room that I'm paying for quite easily with the money I get from my "walks". Shop owners are smart but thugs seem to be mentally retarded in that area.

Maybe that's why no matter how many Spider-Man beats they go back to crime. I beat one group of six and walk three streets away only to find a different group claiming to be apart of some different gang. Five minutes later the cops would arrive to find several beaten thugs missing their wallets, the police also aren't like the ones from the nine nine unfortunately. One of them saw me and tried to taze me, so I anime'd her ass with a neck chop.

Yeah the neck chop works in this world for some reason. I blame ancient one! Onto other information I've begun training and testing just what it is I'm capable off. Here's the list:

Super strength, enhanced durability, enhanced dexterity, enhanced agility, enhanced reflexes, enhanced balance, enhanced speed, enhanced jumping, near endless stamina in both forms, quadrupedalism when transformed, wall crawling, instinctual use of wrestling (I know all the moves), can generate shockwaves with punches and kicks, the roar, strengthened teeth, claws, gas immunity, enhanced senses, temperature resistance, small healing factor and enhanced memory.

Yeah I know, Appoplexians are dumb but a hybrid isn't. A human mind with their biological advantages means an enhanced mind that can process things faster and remember more easily. The gas immunity was discovered when I slashed a pipe accidentally and sprayed gas in my face. I could breath easily which means I only have to worry about a flash bang.

In my human form I'm durable enough that a bullet leaves a bruise and not a hole. The bruise would vanish within minutes provided I'm well fed, takes calories to exercise after all. So when I'm transformed I reckon I can take either a tank shell or a repulsor blast and be fine.

My hair has managed to grow out rather quickly so I went for a haircut. I found a place I recognised called pops so entered without a second thought. Place was quiet with three old dudes in it. Two playing chess and one relaxing in a chair. "Hey I came for a cut" the one relaxing in a chair got up with a smile "well you came to the right place son, take a seat."

So I obliged him while the other two watched me carefully out of the corner of their eye while continuing their game. "What's your name son" "Nathaniel Apothos so just call me Nathan, what's yours sir?" "People call me pops though my name is Henry hunter. That's bobby fish and the other is Marty. Where you from Nathan?" He said while sitting me down and wrapping me in a sheet to cover my clothes from loose hair.

"Well I lived between places, first was Ireland then to Portugal before it became a ping pong between the two. Parents lived in both thanks to their work so I got to travel. I went to Japan for abit as a holiday before I ended up here. My parents.....passed away so I thought America might offer me a change. So far it's been nice, you got nice sandwiches and debatable pizza"

Booby fisher chimes in "debatable? New York has the best pizza in the world! You clearly been eating at the wrong places" which made the others chuckle. Pops got a good grip on my hair "well now, never seen natural stripes before, red must be from your pops hahahaha" I just smiled.

The rest of the experience was just joking around with the old timers while I got a short cut. Nothing fancy cause my hair already covers that. Then the TV changed and showed some wrestling, I instantly zoomed in on it. The old timers noticed "oh yeah, he's definitely Portuguese" "heyyyyy" which made them break into another fit of laughter.

"Your built solid Nathan, did you wrestle?" "Among other things yeah but my passion was cooking" "hoho this leading to another crack at our pizza?" Bobby questioned. "Depends if you want to try real stuff" pops just laughed. My senses were relaxed around him showing that he's a good man. Surprising for someone who used to be a gangster.

"I got a stone over upstairs, Bobby go gets some ingredients to see if Nathan can put his money where his mouth is" "a white boy cooking? Is this ratatouille?" These guys love to mess around but I can teach them a thing or three. A benefit of enhanced senses is a stronger pallet.

After my cut I paid out and waited for Bobby to come back, he brought good stuff. Plenty of spices, quality cheese, lots of garlic, fresh eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes that were the juiciest I've ever seen along with some prime deli ham. Oh yeah I can work with this.

"It cool if I use the oven too? Pizzas great but when you have it with some fries and the right drink you have perfection" Marty replies "at least he knows the best dish" "hey now nothing beats a burger!" Pops chimed in "I love pizza but hotdogs are the best".

So I busted out his oven and got to cooking. I made a ham and mushroom pizza topped with a garlic mayo that I made. I also made some french fires that I covered in left over cheese and more mayo. On the side I made chilli cheese fries incase someone else wanted some.

Next thing I know customers coming for a cut were also waiting for pizza. Eight hours later I made 60 grand in revenue with how busy it got. Pops cut me in with some tips from his cuts cause the smell was dragging people in. When kids came in and caught a sight of me they couldn't help but swear which went right into the jar thus adding to my wallet.

At closing time pops came up "kid you said you were having trouble with a job. How about you work here, I haven't been this busy in months hahaha. Bobby agreed to upgrade the kitchen and get a steady supply of ingredients. I can tell that you ain't staying anywhere permanent so you can have upstairs if you agree". I could tell he wasn't lying and was just being nice so I shook his hand without a second thought.

"Alright I'm in, so we still calling the place pops or we adding in something special" "I ain't calling my shop apothos that's for sure. I'm willing to add pops cuts to the title and maybe get the kitchen called tigers attic" "why do I feel like that was planned" "Bobby being petty over you proving him wrong" to which I laughed heartily.

"Anything else I got to worry about?" "Nah my place is a safe space and with you there no one would think twice. Though I'm gonna teach you hair styling if your cool with it. Inexchange teach me some of your cooking tricks. Some of the so sistas were asking about it". "Your a horny old goat ain't ya"

That was what led to me staying in pops for the next three months. Making pies and cutting hair. I even met luke cage which was dope though he chose to bartend more than sweep in the shop. He was still there frequently enough though, to socialise.

I didn't stop training at night, I can go with less sleep just fine so I trained against crooks and worked out in... you guessed it an abandoned warehouse. Seriously there's like hundreds at the docks just filled with junk and chop shopped cars so I started lifting them.

Three months of peace and quiet was what I had and I cherished it.... that was until plot kicked in