Thank &@%(&^*$#^^%, for Coffee
POV-Nathan Cross
Exiting the tunnel and jolting upright in a brightly lit, white-painted room I take the opportunity to observe myself and my surroundings. Blindingly bright lights. A room with multiple beds each accompanied by beeping machines with most occupied by a person of varied race and gender. My body, dressed only in a gown, was wayyy skinnier than it was before the spaghetti incident, and from what I can tell fairly tall too. Nothing extreme, but not below 6 feet. 'Hopefully, that means I might have a more successful love life. hihihi.'
Mr Cross, you're awake, excellent. How are you? Are you in any pain?"
"Umm. no? Not really, just hungry I guess. So how bad was I, you know? When I came in?"
"To answer your question, not that bad really, just a concussion after a head-on collision, and don't worry, your neighbour Ms May is fine too. I can tell you she was in a real panic over you, and if you'd like I can have some sandwiches brought up to you, seeing as you just missed lunch."
'No fucking way, May, like Aunt May? If this is the MCU, then she's an absolute MILF.' "Ah yes please, I feel like I'm digesting myself."
Getting up carefully, making sure not to lose the rest of the hospital gown covering me as I move, I head to the room's shared bathroom, checking out the reflection in the mirror. "Well fuck," 'I guess I won't be buying myself drinks anytime soon.' While I was right about the height of his new body, standing at 6'1, the youthful appearance showed he was no more than 15 years old, a teenager the same age as Peter Parker, based on the body's memories, which have been slowly coming to the forefront. Pale, but with dark shoulder-length hair and long eyelashes encasing my ice blue eyes. The face was pretty handsome, if a bit delicate, but looking at the multiple piercings across the eyebrow, lip and ears, I emanated an alternative, rocker that actually had a shower vibe. 'Lean framed though,' I notice, however, the crushed metal towel rack shows that the body possesses the inhuman strength I was promised, hopefully meaning I won't need to look like a roid junkie when I assimilate other powers.
*MC looks like Miyamura Izumi from Horimiya*
The memories finally merge together and I make a realisation. 'This body isn't new to me, I was reincarnated into the body at birth, but my memories of my past life only came to me at the same time as the abilities after I woke up from the concussion.' Having a choice to make I wash my face in the sink and get dressed again. "I am Nathan Cross, 15 years old, with the memories of a dead 25-year-old cripple stuck in my head. I will live my life and learn from the memories of the ex-living Nathan." It's currently 2016 so the Avengers are already a thing, not that they do much after the invasion thing.
A beep alerted me to a text from Peter saying they were on their way to pick me up from the hospital, reminding me that this body had a classic sad hero protagonist family, with no parents. They had both passed away 3 months ago when a drunk truck driver swerved into their lane, leaving him the house but having him put under the care of 'aunt may,' who had been like a second mother to him in a way but acted more like a mischievous older sister, with money provided from a trust fund covering the cost of raising me, and seeing as Martin and Alicia Cross had bought the house, allowed Peter and May to stay in the house until Nathan turned of age. I'd apparently been so distracted that I'd missed the hospital staff bringing me the sandwiches and as I take a bite I instantly recall the worst thing about being a ghoul, "I can't eat this shit, it tastes like a sponge." Running to go hurl it up in the toilet, I text Peter to bring me up a coffee to remove the taste lingering in my mouth.
"Nate, I was almost here when you sent that last message, making me go back to fetch it," Peter exclaimed, not tired at all from the long distance, just mildly annoyed.
"Whoops? How was I supposed to know?" Drinking down the coffee I revel in a taste I loved in my last life, and will have no choice but to love in this one, as coffee is one of the only things ghouls can have without getting sick and additionally, it even tastes like it was meant to. Deciding to tease the friend that had become almost a brother I look over at him, hiding my smirk with the cup. "So Spiderman huh?"
"WHAT?! WHAT ABOUT HIM?! He snapped, quite obviously startled by me bringing him up.
"Oh, I was just wondering what he was up to recently. Why? You seem a little jumpy about Spidey Pete. *gasp* Don't tell me you know who he is?" By this point, my smirk has spread to a wide grin and I'm desperately trying not to burst out laughing at his green complexion. Eyes pierced me for a moment, trying to determine whether I'd found out his secret before seemingly satisfied he turned on his heel.
"Whatever, May wants us back quick so she can finish dinner before that show comes on."
"The Korean drama, with the vampire doctor?" I said stumped by the revelation.
"Sounds about right," he chuckled as the doors opened, revealing May in the well-worn station wagon, waving brightly at me as we packed into the backseat.
"Hi Nate, are you feeling better? I'm making carbonara tonight. Your favourite," she said in a sing-songy way.
After two hours of helping cook, being coddled, and then forcing myself to eat what tasted like rancid Greek yoghurt and felt like a spoonful of butter with as straight a face as I could manage, I swiftly leapt up the stairs to the toilet, where I began to heave tonight's meal into the bowl. *sigh* "Never being able to eat human food again sucks. Never being able to enjoy a meal with those you care about again is arguably worse." Cleaning myself up I open the door, revealing Peter who was looking at me with concern.
"The food isn't staying down?"
Hiding a grimace behind a shrug I respond, "Not so far, everything tastes terrible and feels disgusting in my mouth and throat, but I'm sure it will pass." 'Hopefully,' I add to myself, 'maybe I can find someone immune to poison, eat them and then develop a tolerance to it.' Peter looked as if he was going to say something else, and I panicked momentarily about whether he'd heard me complaining in the bathroom. "Oh well, I'm having a coffee then going to bed, night."
"Oh, yeah night, Peter responded automatically, not really paying attention anymore as he stood in the doorway silently."
POV- Peter Parker
Having picked up Nate and brought him back home from the hospital, I couldn't help but feel something had changed about him. When I first saw him, I got a mild tingle through my body, like an instinctive shiver as my body alerted me to something dangerous, but apart from an old man undergoing knee surgery, Nate was the only person there. He was also acting weird. When he first saw me he had a moment of shock on his face as if surprised to see me, but I'd already sent him a text.
Getting home and making dinner was fine, Nate's little moments of ribbing me and teasing May like usual made the previous thoughts sink into the back of my mind. But what happened at dinner was way weird. Nate has loved Carbonara since we were like six, so for him to grimace in disgust was freaky. Hearing him mutter about 'human food' was somehow less disturbing to me as I recall the time when we were 8 and he tackled me because I took a piece of tortellini from his bowl. "Something's up with him. *Sigh* I'll figure it out tomorrow after I come back from patrol." Heading to my room and fetching my suit from the roof I climb out the window and begin my night job.
POV-Nathan Cross
Waiting for Pete to go on his 'patrol,' I throw on a dark hoodie, jeans and a pair of sneakers as they're comfortable to wear for long periods of time, and there's little chance of me getting home early today. Looking at my to-do list, I groan, knowing school tomorrow is gonna be a nightmare. "I need a place to store parts temporarily, some tools to gather it, a criminal to snack on and to come up with a hero name. If I don't come up with one myself the Daily Bugle will have a field day calling me 'Hannibal the cannibalistic demon menace." Using this time now to get more comfortable with my kagune, utilising the experience carried from the Kaneki Ken transfer to move the 4 arms in more dexterous ways, weaving them in and out in a number of patterns and practicing walking with them. Without the memories and experiences of the bookworm turned vicious monster it would have taken months of active training to develop to this point.
Searching for local butcher shops with low reviews, I mark them as potential targets from which I could steal a freezer and tools, and after a quick survey myself, I 'borrow' a large esky (cooler box) and several knives from the 'Central Meats,' whose owner argues with and berates customers whenever he is actually in the store, selling the meat at above the normal price because his shop is the only butcher shop for several blocks. 'He's not evil, but he is an asshole, so I guess I'll be 'borrowing,' from you.'
"Now I need a protein source because I can feel my hunger starting to affect my decision-making skills. If I'm not careful I'll end up like Kaneki chasing the smell of blood like a rabid dog." Walking around Queens, I focus on my hearing for the first time, allowing the 'background noise,' I've been ignoring for the sake of my sanity to become vivid. The cacophony of noise is startling, the cars, yelling, music and conversations around me swarm my mind. Ignoring the sounds of cars and music for now I listen for screams and shouts, and to be honest, I'm now sure that I won't have a food issue for a while, as there are so many criminals around. Drug dealers selling to kids, Domestic abuse and for my first meal, a parent that's acting a little too friendly with their child. Pulling the hood further down over my head I slip into an alley before releasing my kagune, the limb-like tentacles carrying me onto the rooftops in a matter of seconds, and then launching me towards the apartment where the oily bastard was residing.
*CRASH*
I had been aiming for the window, but it seems speed somewhat limits my accuracy, and despite having Kaneki's control and experience, my body is quite a bit taller, and I had failed to account for that, so instead of crashing through the window, I smash a hole through the surrounding wall, breaking several bones as I connect.
"Urghh fuck." Groaning through the pain, I realise that Kaneki's experience with his own rapid regeneration, being tortured by Jason, and beaten again and again by Arima, has drastically limited the pain I feel, which is nice. 'It'd be hard trying to look impressive if I was sobbing on the floor.' The regeneration of Kaneki showed him fully recovering from a horrific injury, his foot broken all over, with it being spun around and around as it repositioned itself, within three seconds. My fractured ribs and arms? Took less than two.
Looking at the predator next to his partially undressed son, bruising all over the boy's face and arms, I couldn't help but wonder how other 'heroes' did it, controlled themselves after breaking a few bones of the vermin that exist in our society. Grinning to myself, I mutter, "Though I would have killed them for food, at least I won't have to feel bad for doing it." The motto of Batman 'kill one killer and the amount of killers stays the same was always laughable,' after all, why would I kill just one? And additionally, if I kill rapists, predators and human traffickers, then the number will definitely go down. "Good thing I can eat bone huh? Saves me the hassle of hiding bodies." Holding the boy's father against the bedroom wall with my kagune I grab a blanket and wrap the kid up in it, covering even his head, before using their home phone to call the police, telling them the address to come to, and leaving a note, clearly visible on the front table, detailing what the father did to the kid and to run tests and provide counselling. Taking my meat bag I carry him down into an alley a few streets away, as moving unnoticed with a struggling kidnappee was surprisingly difficult, even with powers.
"Now, I would normally ask if you have any last words, but any who touch kids aren't human, so you will be treated like the livestock you are. Kapeesh?" Seeing the man continue to struggle and attempt to scream was interesting. Kaneki always hated killing, but in my time watching good characters let monsters in human skin live, only for them to resume their horrific deeds time and time again, I'm not going to make the same mistake. Yes. Technically I could just take an arm and a leg, castrate him and leave, but between my personal disgust for those who force themselves on others and my hunger, now so bad my left eye was a mix of black and red, the whites of my eyes a shade of black so dark it was merely the absence of light, and a blazing red iris, glowing as I controlled the urge to just feast on him like a vulture did Prometheus. (Face first, ripping out his liver while he was alive)
Pulling out my knives, I'm really appreciative of the kagune, as I have no idea how I'd have been able to do all this without their assistance with multitasking. Honestly, if they had fingers I'd be so much quicker as six hands are better than two, but shaking my head, 'No, that would look really disturbing, and I'd feel like a weird hentai monster. Using the limited knowledge I have gained from watching hunting shows on Netflix and such I hold him aloft with the kagune, drain him of blood and remove his bowels before they ruin the meat, then cut him into sections, stuffing them in the esky, all but his head and one forearm, which I'm now munching on as I continue to work.
Okay, based on the show, this should last me a while, but I'll need a freezer to put them in for a more permanent solution, maybe down in the basement, seeing as Peter and May don't have anything down there and May is too spooked to go there anyway. Adding another thing to do to my 'to-do list,' I start my journey home. 'One-eye? No, both Fury and Odin would have the same call sign. Ghoul? Maybe not. I don't want to be labelled as some undead monster that eats human flesh. After all, I'm not dead.' I stop, stunned. "Holy shit I am an undead," 'I died, was brought back and became a ghoul.' *sigh* 'Anyways, probably not, seeing how bad mutants got treated I'm sure undead monsters get worse. Beelzebub, nope too biblical. Leviathan, who is destined to eat the damned when the world ends? Maybe, it's a little cringe but it's better for PR than Cannibal Lecter or meat ripper. "Urghh this is ridiculous, I'll let the media name me and if it's bad I'll use Leviathan."
Making my way through my window, much slower this time, I pack the esky with ice and place it in the basement, but not before using superstrength and a screwdriver to drill a hole through the lip of the lid and the base, so I can put a padlock on it. Happy with my thoughtfulness I take a shower and run my shoes under a sink, seeing as they're the only things to get wet tonight, despite all the blood. Failing to sleep for another hour or so, I hear Peter coming back into his room right next to mine, and I get another dastardly evil idea to tease him, jumping out of bed and opening his door. 'What's the worst that happens, I've already seen him nude before, we were raised together.' Looking at the startled and panicking Peter, currently stuck in his costume as he tries desperately to pull it off quickly, I laugh at him.
"So, sneaking out not to get the babes, but to get arrested, nice choice," the amusement heavy in my voice if the smirk wasn't a clear enough indicator by itself.
"Wait! It's a costume, like umm, fancy dress." With an eyebrow upturned and my smirk still present I seriously wonder how he's so bad at lying despite being a literal genius.
"In March?"
"Uhh yeah, hehe," rubbing the back of his head.
"And the webshooters? They look pretty real to me."
"They're not, I bought them specifically for the costume... for the party."
"So how was it?"
Looking at me confused, "How was what?"
"The party you idiot. The one that you definitely didn't go to because you've never been invited."
Looking at me square in the face he sighs, stops and clenches his jaw, resolution clear in his expression. "You're not gonna let this go are you?" As I shake my head and start fiddling with his mask, he continues pleading. "Please don't tell May, I can protect myself but she won't understand that. Please, I'll do anything." Thinking it over I could have asked for several things, but as I'm uncertain as to how effective Peter's healing is I ignore the instant idea of taking his leg, and instead ask for something more, normal.
"A big freezer, and I want you to put it in the freezer." Honestly, the shock and confusion on his face was reward enough but as he agreed, finding out I didn't care if it was new, so long as it worked and could be locked.
"What's it for?"
"...Food. It's a freezer."
Disbelieving, he counters, "The food that you can't seem to keep down, or something else?" The implications of his question aren't missed. He heard me whining in the bathroom.
"Does it matter, so long as I can eat it?" Peter paused for a couple of moments then grabbed me suddenly by the arms, sniffing at my hands, the same hands that had just been carrying the blood-soaked sneakers back from the laundry.
"Is that blood?" Shaking me a little, he presses me, "Don't lie to me why do you smell like blood?" He stops then starts trying to open my mouth like a maniac.
"What the fuck Pete?" I exclaim, slapping away his hands.
"You're a vampire, right? The blood of your prey on your hands and a LOCKED freezer for the blood bags. You said you couldn't eat human food, which means you aren't human anymore. Oh my god, don't try and eat me. I'll smack you so hard if you do." The sentences seemed to blur into each other as he rambled before I showed him my lack of fangs.
"Not a vampire, and I don't drink blood."
As he goes to ask another series of questions I stop him, "I'm going to make us a coffee and then we can talk about our... issues, okay?" Walking down the stairs I recognise the dawns emerging light, creeping through the window, revealing my lack of sleep, which apparently doesn't bother me much. 'Maybe because I ate? Oh well, we've got school in like 3 hours, and neither has slept. Thank &@%(&^*$#^^% for coffee.'