Paintbrush in hand, Wyatt swiped side to side as he painted one of the recently restored walls within Luigi's restaurant. Once his brush ran dry of paint, he went to dip it in the paint pan beside him but winced when a shock of pain ran down his back.
"Wyatt, are you okay?" Luigi asked as he turned away from the chairs he was repairing. "You've been wincing all morning. Are you injured?"
"Yeah… I kinda threw my shoulder out when I was, uh, playing catch with some friends," Wyatt said.
"You have friends? Color me surprised," Serena grinned as she sprayed some more Windex on the restaurant's new glass windows. "Here, I thought I was your only friend."
"Hey, I have friends!" Wyatt gave Serena an annoyed look, causing her to stick her tongue out at him.
"Serena, stop teasing the boy," Luigi said with a smile. He placed his tools down and wiped his hands with a nearby towel. "Okay, I think we've done enough for the day. You two go on. I'll clean things up."
"It's alright, we'll help-"
"No! Young kids like you should be out having fun. Now go! I will clean up," Luigi all but pushed both Serena and Wyatt outside the restaurant. He even went as far as to lock the restaurant's front door and give them a wave.
It had been a week since the chaos erupted at the restaurant, and now the rebuilding process was well underway. Thanks to Luigi's meticulous insurance policy and the unmistakable evidence of vandalism, his claim was approved without delay. With the funds in hand, he eagerly hired a few close friends—talented contractors and skilled repairmen—who worked diligently to restore his beloved pizzeria to its former glory.
The air was filled with the sounds of hammers, drills, and the cheerful banter of workers as they tackled the larger tasks, leaving only the finer details to be addressed before Luigi's Pizzeria would be ready to welcome back its loyal customers.
Meanwhile, Wyatt mused over the situation. He could have easily tackled the repairs himself, expertly fixing and even upgrading the restaurant with his own two hands.
However, the thought of revealing his Vigilante identity made him hesitate. How could he explain the miracle of Luigi's Pizzeria being restored overnight without arousing suspicion? Instead, he opted for a more discreet approach, offering his assistance to Luigi's friends as an extra pair of hands. Whether it was carrying tools, sweeping up the end-of-day mess, or simply providing moral support, Wyatt was determined to contribute without drawing attention to himself.
When it came to Atomic, he made sure to fly over their home every other hour each night. He also utilized his power to enhance and improve various aspects of the restaurant in subtle ways.
"Well, that's that," Wyatt said as he stretched his limbs; as he did so, he held in his moans of pain from the bruises from being shot at by a shotgun. While his suit had adamantium plating to protect him, they weren't made to properly absorb the sheer force of the shotgun blows. "Wanna grab a burger? My treat."
"No, my treat," Serena said as they walked through the streets of Harlem. "If you think I'm going to keep letting you buy me stuff, you're dead wrong. Do that for your girlfriend."
"Fine. No Christmas presents for you then,"
"Hey, I didn't mean it like that!"
Once they arrived at one of their favorite burger joints, a small eatery run by some of Luigi's good friends, they sat down and waited for their order.
"While we're on the topic. Is there a girlfriend or girlfriends in my little Wyatt's life?" Serena teased as she played with the ice in her drink with her straw.
"Little? I'm, like, half a foot taller than you," Wyatt said and took a sip of his water. "And no, there's no one."
"Maybe a boyfriend, perhaps? I don't judge." Serena said. "I always wanted a gay best friend."
"Funny. I'll have you know I'm as straight as an arrow," Wyatt said as he leaned on his fist.
"Hoh? Then are you a tits man or an ass man? Go on, you can tell me." Serena leaned in and grinned.
"Like I'd tell you that. I know a trap when I see one," Wyatt pushed Serena back with a finger, causing her to pout.
"Aw, come on. You can tell me! I may have a friend I can set you up with,"
"No thanks. Besides, I'm too busy to have a girlfriend." Wyatt said as their food was finally brought to them.
At the sight of their burgers and the aroma of the expertly cooked and seasoned fries, Wyatt and Serena's stomachs growled in hunger. Without further ado, they both dug in and ate with gusto.
As they are, Wyatt eyed Serena from the corner of his eye. No matter how much she forced herself to act like nothing was wrong, he could see that she was scared.
When in the restaurant or their home, Serena would always look out the windows and jump at the slightest movement in the shadows. Even on their way to the burger joint, she stuck close to Wyatt. Her eyes shifted around through the crowds for a boogeyman who would come and take her.
Wyatt knew that as long as the threat of the men who attacked her father existed, she wouldn't be able to live comfortably. Luigi had even confided in him that Serena was having nightmares every other night. The older man had looked so defeated and ashamed when he had told him.
"This is all my fault." Luigi had said.
Despite himself, Wyatt couldn't help but agree.
With the Month timeline hanging over their heads, Serena and Luigi were both growing even more anxious. Talks of them leaving were shared, but Luigi refused to leave the restaurant his father had passed down to him. He would find a way to pay back the loan he had taken. Even if it meant that he had to beg his friends for help.
"Everything will be alright, Serena," Wyatt said, reaching out to grab her hand. It trembled lightly in his grasp. She looked up at him slowly; her faux cheerful expression melted into one of fear.
"I'm… scared, Wyatt."
"I know. But I promise you, no one will take you anywhere or hurt your dad," Wyatt spoke confidently and sincerely.
"How can you promise that?! These people… they're dangerous. They-they-" Serena stuttered, tears streaming down her face as all her pent-up emotions and sleepless nights exploded to the surface. "I don't know what to do…"
Wyatt stood up and sat next to her. He brought Serena in and held her close to his chest. She tried to wiggle out of his grasp at first, but she quickly gave in and let herself be held.
Serena would never admit it, but she enjoyed being held by Wyatt's arms. They were strong, and they let her feel safe. At least for that moment.
••o••o••o••
Sharp knives zipped through the expansive training facility with breathtaking speed.
This state-of-the-art space, measuring 30 meters wide and soaring 15 meters high, was carefully crafted by Wyatt and nestled deep beneath the lush expanse of Central Park. His decision to build underground was deliberate, a calculated move to keep his activities concealed from any observers.
He had implemented a complex, well-reinforced support structure designed to withstand immense pressure and prevent any risk of collapse from the park's upper layers. Wyatt had meticulously layered the walls with adamantium, while soundproofing materials absorbed every sound, ensuring complete secrecy. Additional barriers of lead protected against unwanted surveillance, and shock absorbers were strategically installed to dampen vibrations, further cloaking the facility's operations in silence.
Each corner of the facility was equipped with advanced workout gear that pushed the limits of what could be achieved in physical training. Yet, despite the impressive engineering and his pride in this remarkable creation, Wyatt faced a critical dilemma: he needed to secure a more reliable power source.
The industrial generators he had initially installed, while functional, were beginning to falter under the demands of the facilities expansive operations. He knew that without a sustainable and potent energy supply, even this marvel of construction could be rendered ineffective.
In the center of the facility stood Wyatt, his body encased in a suit of knight's armor made of adamantium. Steel knives flew around him, manipulated by his mind as he practiced one of his in-progress techniques.
Suddenly, two knives darted toward him at blinding speed. Just as they were about to reach him, they halted mid-air, stopped by an invisible force or barrier surrounding Wyatt's body.
Without warning, the remaining knives surged toward him, aiming to skewer him, but they, too, were frozen in place an inch away. Wyatt trembled with exertion as he concentrated on expanding the highly focused mass of space around him.
"Okay, I think I've got this part down. On to phase three," Wyatt said, commanding the knives to back away from him. Taking a deep breath, he began to run, with the knives giving chase.
Phase three of his training to master his own version of Gojo Satoru's Infinity technique involved controlling the concentrated mass while in motion. Although this sounded simple on paper, in practice, it proved to be a Herculean task. It had taken him three months just to form the barrier around his body while standing still, and that was without crushing himself into a pulp. He achieved this through his extreme precision in controlling atoms and his quantum computer-level thinking.
As he ran, the first two knives struck his developing Infinity barrier, freezing just inches away from him.
"Holy crap, yes!" Wyatt cheered, but that momentary distraction broke his intense concentration.
The rest of the knives flew at him and struck with incredible force. The loud metallic clangs resonated off his armor. He stood still in disappointment and sighed.
"…fuck me."
Wyatt continued to train his technique for another two hours. Still, after making little to no progress, he decided to move on to his next developing technique, inspired by another character from Jujutsu Kaisen.
Star Rage, Yuki Tsukumo's innate cursed technique, allows her to manipulate mass, which she can add to herself or Garuda, her Shikigami, to amplify their power. This virtual mass results in increased force, making her punches and Garuda's strikes devastatingly strong.
After countless hours of training to create his own Infinity technique, Wyatt was able to use his experience and knowledge to translate his control over the mass around his body to his fists. This was a much easier feat than covering his entire body in mass while on the move.
Although Wyatt could use his powers to attack in hundreds of different ways, he knew that someday, an opponent would bypass his constructs and engage him in hand-to-hand combat. With his own Star Rage technique, he would have a way to counterattack with incredible power.
After removing his armor and putting on some workout gear, Wyatt waved his hand, causing a replica of the Abomination to rise from the ground, made of stone.
In Newtonian physics, the mass of an object remains constant regardless of its speed. Speed affects the force of impact, which is related to the object's momentum and kinetic energy, but not its mass itself. With that in mind, Wyatt realized he had to calculate how much mass to use and apply the appropriate speed to his strike on each strike.
"Okay, let's use 6,800 kg of mass at a velocity of 50 km/h with an impact duration of 1 second," Wyatt said as he slid into an unrefined boxing stance, his powers working to execute the calculations. "Note to self: learn how to fight."
Stepping forward, he gritted his teeth and punched the stone statue of his first-ever opponent.
The stone statue immediately shattered into hundreds of pieces, smoke exploding around Wyatt. Seeing his technique work as planned, he pumped his fist in victory.
"Okay, let's find out how hard I can really hit."
For the next few hours, Wyatt practiced hitting with various combinations of mass and speed, leaving the training center filled with shattered stone and demolished steel. If a bystander were to witness him, they would have assumed he possessed super strength comparable to the Hulk due to the sheer power he could unleash.
By the end of his training, Wyatt's speed in using his new offensive ability had improved to three seconds. This was a significant reduction from the fifteen seconds it took him on his first attempt. Over time, he became confident that he could shorten this gap to nearly instantaneous.
Exhausted from the day's training, Wyatt cleaned up the mess and headed to the facility showers. Although he could clean himself instantly with his powers, he preferred the relaxation of a long, cool shower after training.
Once he was clean and dressed, he took one of the facility's elevators and exited through a tree in Central Park. After sealing the entrance, Wyatt looked up at the night sky.
"I'm feeling like sushi tonight," he thought as he began walking toward one of his favorite sushi restaurants.
As he strolled through the busy streets, Wyatt paused at a newspaper stand when he saw the headline:
Hammer Industries to Reveal New Cutting-Edge Weapons in a Demonstration Tomorrow at the Stark Expo—A Can't-Miss Event!
After buying a newspaper, Wyatt frowned at the picture beneath the headline. It showed Justin Hammer posing dramatically, with what he thought was an intellectual look.
"It's finally time. Let's go meet Iron Man," Wyatt muttered with a slight grin as he walked off, his hungry stomach growling in protest.
——
AN: Hello everyone, how are you all liking the story so far? If you could, please leave me a comment or paragraph comment. This lets me know you all are enjoying this story so I don't end up dropping it due to low interest. Until next time!