After leaving Connors' lab, the sky had darkened completely...
Sean bid Gwen farewell and began his journey home.
The girl's reluctant gaze as she left stirred a strange feeling in him... 'Is this considered stealing Spider-Man's girl?'
Shaking off the random thoughts, Sean pondered how to secure a massive investment for Dr. Connors.
Norman Osborn was out of the question, the Green Goblin was too busy dealing with Oscorp's plummeting stock prices, and the company's finances couldn't stretch any further.
'Should I approach Tony Stark, that playboy?'
The idea flashed through his mind before he dismissed it with a shake of his head.
Stark Industries was a military-industrial giant backed by the Department of Defense.
Connors' research was in biomedicine, hardly something the future Iron Man would care about...
Besides, Tony Stark was an arrogant, narcissistic jerk with a sharp tongue. Someone like Sean had no chance of getting funding from him... more likely, he'd just get humiliated.
'What about Hammer Industries, another major defense contractor?'
'No, Justin Hammer is a greedy and short-sighted businessman. With our vast difference in status, he'd devour me without a second thought...'
After mentally filtering through all possible candidates, Sean finally settled on New York's infamous real estate tycoon... Wilson Fisk, the man the underworld dubbed 'Kingpin'.
This crime lord controlled 80% of New York's illegal operations, ruling a vast criminal empire. Even the justice system and FBI couldn't touch him.
Compared to other corporate giants, the seemingly untouchable Kingpin was ironically the easiest target.
SHIELD only cared about superhumans and heroes, they wouldn't bat an eye at a crime boss, no matter how powerful.
'Taking down an evil kingpin would count as doing justice for New York, right?'
Returning to his apartment, Sean ran into Mindy just as she got home from school. The little girl wore a light jacket, blue jeans, and a backpack, looking no different from any ordinary kid.
"You were definitely thinking about something evil just now!" Mindy declared confidently.
"Why do you say that?" Sean was slightly startled... 'Can this kid read minds?'
"Every time you think of something bad, you get this sneaky smile." She tossed her backpack onto the couch and immediately raided the fridge for ice cream.
Sean touched his face, 'Is my 'villainousʼ nature really that obvious? Even a little girl could see it?'
"I was actually thinking about doing a good deed, you know... like Spider-Man, being a superhero for once," he argued.
After all, he was planning to bring peace to Hell's Kitchen… and secure funding for Connors along the way.
"A superhero? Yes! Yes!" Mindy suddenly cheered, "I already picked my name, Hit-Girl! Doesn't it sound cool?"
Her inner violent tendencies flared up as she dragged out a black case from under her bed, filled with an arsenal of weapons: pistols, submachine guns, tactical knives, fragmentation grenades... enough firepower for her to storm the NYPD and walk out unscathed.
"Uh… you look more like a terrorist," Sean said dryly, watching as she quickly changed into a purple wig and matching jumpsuit.
He'd almost forgotten... this seemingly innocent little girl had once wiped out Frank D'Amico's entire gang.
When it came to killing experience and skills, Sean was utterly outclassed...
Lately, he'd even been undergoing Mindy's "training program"... learning combat, disguise techniques, and hacking.
His skills were nearing SHIELD agent levels...
"What terrorist is this cute?" Mindy pouted as she batted her eyelashes.
Sean had no rebuttal. Ever since starting school and living a normal life, Mindy had become harder to fool.
What used to take just a pizza to settle now required a strawberry sundae and a full Chinese feast...
"Girls shouldn't play with weapons. Why not learn dancing, painting, or piano instead?"
Realizing he couldn't win the argument, Sean resorted to force, yanking off her wig and confiscating the weapons case.
'Perfect timing... I needed these anyway...'
Mindy sulked, vowing to ignore Sean for a week. But by dinnertime, faced with a table full of mouthwatering Chinese dishes, she caved instantly.
Ever since discovering the wonders of Eastern cuisine, pizza and Mexican BBQ had been completely erased from her memory...
Sean watched with satisfaction as Mindy devoured her meal... 'Truly, cooking skills were a protagonist's essential trait...'
...
As night deepened, after making sure Mindy brushed her teeth and went to bed, Sean geared up (bulletproof vest, pistol, tactical knife) before slipping out the window in a dark hoodie.
From above, nighttime New York glittered like an endless party... neon lights, towering billboards, rivers of car headlights... a truly mesmerizing sea of light.
But this was only one side of the city...
While the Upper East Side's elite reveled in luxury, the poor struggled in crumbling apartments, harassed by gangs, drug dealers, and prostitutes... always wondering if today would be the day they got robbed.
If the Upper East Side was heaven for the rich, then Hell's Kitchen (the westside slum of Manhattan) was pure hell...
Being a notorious Irish immigrant ghetto, it was infamous for its squalor, racial tensions, and sky-high crime rates. Most of New York's gangs operated here... arms smuggling, drugs, human trafficking… all the evils "civilized" society forbade were just another Tuesday in Hell's Kitchen.
Cops barely made a dent in the chaos...
Hood pulled low, Sean walked through the district's streets...
As night grew darker, the crime-ridden area only grew livelier; streetwalkers in skimpy outfits, pickpockets eyeing passersby, gangsters swaggering with menace...
It was like stepping into a surreal underworld, brushing against New York's darkest corners...
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Read ahead on my P@treon...
p@treon.com/MayaMatengele01