The Gray Avenger Chapter 22, a marvel fanfic

Chapter 5: X-What? (7/7)

The truth was, Nero had no idea what the hell was he doing. What Jean and him accomplished in his room was completely accidental and if he had to put it bluntly, he was definitely the worst telepath around.

So, he was trying to foolishly access Vesta Carnby's memories without Jean or the Professor's help. Which was proving to be a completely hopeless task because no matter how hard he tries, it just doesn't work.

Come on... Come on... FUCK! No matter how hard he tries, nothing happens. Is it because I'm that incompetent or is it because of the medication? Nero remembered that when he was in the hospital, Jean attempted to communicate with him but she couldn't and Nero suspects that it was because of the medication that he was on.

Fuck, fuck, FUCK! Nero let go of her hand and sat on the floor beside the bed. I came here because I need answers, and I refuse to leave without them! That old memory that he saw messed him up really bad and he needs to know what was the actual reason why she left him.

That dickhead was probably the reason, but did he drag you or something? That was the most logical explanation considering how she was behaving towards that guy in comparison to how she was behaving with Nero. If it was, what are you gonna do? He asked himself. Try to find that Cal and maybe stab him to death as payback for everything that happened to her?

Nero hugged his legs in response to the thought that he just had. Closing his eyes and the image of Vesta lovingly holding her baby and telling him that he was going to be an unusual boy in a good way kept replaying his head.

It's not far... Nero was furious. Why did this have to happen? He curled up into a ball, just sitting there in the dark. Asking himself why? Why did his mother have to suffer this awful fate?

He despises the fact that there is nothing he can do about it, not before and definitely not now.

He buried his face on his knees. Part of him wanted to cry but he didn't want to do that there.

The boy didn't know what to do. He didn't want to go back to the mansion without answers but he knew that he wasn't going to get them there either. So in the end, he just sat there in silence, trying and failing miserably to actually make sense of something completely senseless.

Would it be better if I never knew about you? He asked himself. I keep asking myself that, and the answer makes me sick, because I know that you wouldn't have survived if I didn't go there to get you.

Nero lifted his head and moved to the left to watch the machine that she was connected to. Her vitals seemed to be normal, which is a good thing, but watching someone being connected to machines like that was an awful sight. Even more awful when you're related to the person.

A sigh escaped Nero's lips. Okay... Okay... He stood up and once again held his mother's hand. One more try, if it doesn't work ... I'm going back to the mansion and I'm going to wait until you wake up, even if the lack of an answer drives me crazy. He was determined.

Taking a deep breath. The boy wearing a white hoodie held the poor woman's hand once again. He closed his eyes and thought about the image of her cradling him once again. The day that you left me in that room, I need to see what happened. He thought out loud, while he thought of the date. It was twenty-eight of September... That was the date that the landlord said it was the last time he saw his parents in the building when he asked him. He said that he was having lunch at the time, around mid-day. He thought of the hour and the date. Alongside a mental image of that dreadful room, in hopes that all of that would help Nero access her mind.

...

After two minutes, nothing happened. Nero became very upset, but decided to give up. So he opened his eyes in order to take one last look at Vesta.

"Huh?!" To his shock and surprise. Vesta wasn't in front of him anymore. "Wait..." As soon as his eyes were completely open, he realized that he wasn't in a hospital room anymore. Instead, he was in the bedroom of that dreadful apartment once again.

The bedroom was as bad looking as it was at present. But Nero could tell that it was different because the painting was fresh, the bed looked better with sheets and had a nice flower design. The furniture was well-kept and there was a small purse on top of a drawer beside the bed.

Yes! He cheered internally because that could only mean that it worked. But, did I have the right memory? Only for that question to surface afterwards.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sound coming from outside of the room. Hearing that, prompted the pale boy to actually go and check.

Moving towards the door, Nero peaked through the door frame was spotted Vesta Carnby in the kitchen. Mmm... It smells good. Apparently she was cooking something.

Nero observed her from afar, partially contemplating moving closer. Only to decide against it because he would rather avoid looking at her like that, because it only makes the state that she was in the present even more difficult to bear.

"Never was and never will be." Suddenly, Nero realized that she was singing. "You don't know how you've betrayed me." It took him a second to realize that she was singing Everybody's Fool by Evanescence. "And somehow you've got everybody fooled."

A smile appeared on Nero's face. His mother being an Evanescence's fan was not something that he was expecting. If he had to make a list of his favorite bands, Evanescence would be the second, right behind Linkin Park.

After a few seconds, he realized that she was making some mac and cheese. From a distance, it actually looked pretty good.

After she finished, she put it on a plate and made her way to the couch, with Nero hiding himself to avoid looking at her. Then he peeked from the door once again, watching her after she sat on the couch and prepared to eat.

Nero was quick to realize that there was something wrong. She ate really fast and seemed to be frowning, visibly angry about something.

Mmm... I wonder what made her this angry. He wondered, although, considering the kind of guy that she is living with.

It took only a few minutes for her to eat everything. Quite impressive if Nero had to say so himself. Once she finished, she put her plate down and folded her arms. Looking around the room with a deep frown on her face.

Until she actually moved her head to the left. With Nero realizing that he was laying on the couch, wrapped around in pink colored covers, sleeping peacefully.

Vesta's frown immediately disappeared and she picked her sleeping baby up. Holding him really tightly as she stared at the ceiling.

"This is not okay..." Before she began to speak out loud. "Not okay at all."

You can say that again. Nero thought in agreement.

"I was kind of hoping that he would change, or at least mellowed down a bit..." At this point, he doesn't know whether she was talking to the baby or to herself. "But I can tell that he will always be like that..." Obviously, she was talking about her boyfriend. "I could handle that before but..." She looked at her baby. "You deserve better than this."

Nero just rested his head on the doorframe, because she was basically speaking to him.

"You know... I was really scared when you were born, because a nurse kept telling me that there was something wrong with you." She gently caressed the baby's head. "But then, the nurse that told me brought you to me." Nero was curious to hear what she was going to say. "I told her to go fuck herself in the ass for scaring me like that."

Nero had to cover his mouth to not burst into laughter after hearing.

"There was nothing wrong with you at all, they were just overreacting to your skin, hair and eyes." She declared. "I actually like it, it makes you look unique."

Nero smiled after hearing that. Because one of his assumptions over why his parents ditched him was because of his odd appearance. The pale boy was actually happy that wasn't the case.

"I guess what I'm getting at..." Vesta was clearly venting over something. "I...Was so lonely after your grandmother died that I... Just went for the first guy that showed interest in me and put up with his behavior because I thought that it was better than being alone." Which was ironic since she was basically alone now. "But after a while I just ran out of patience and was about to leave him."

Nero could tell where this story was going.

"Then I found out that I was pregnant and that derailed my plans." And he was right. "Now... After what he did yesterday, I'm one hundred percent sure that we need to leave."

Wait, what did he do yesterday? Nero has a feeling that she wasn't talking about injecting drugs into his infected arm.

"I can ask for help in the orphanage that I used to work at, they did say that I could have my old job there back if I wanted to." Vesta declared, which makes Nero wonder why she didn't do it yet. "I'm fine with being a single mother, my own mother managed, so I can too."

Nero then understood that she was trying to convince herself to do it.

Vesta seemed to be very anxious for some reason. Which makes Nero wonder once again what that junkie did to get her like that.

The woman bit her lower lip, before she hugged her baby tightly. Taking a very deep breath, she closed her eyes for a second.

Okay... What the fuck happened?! Seeing that only made Nero even more desperate to know what really happened.

That answer came in the form of a knock on the door, which called Nero's attention.

Vesta sighed. "Speaking of the devil." She gently placed her baby on top of the couch before going to answer the door. "That's the fifth key that you lost." She pointed out in deep annoyance as she supposedly opened the door for Cal.

However, to Nero's surprise, it wasn't Cal. Because as soon as she opened the door, a man barged in, pushing Vesta back.

"Close the fucking door!" It was a tall and fat guy, wearing a blue short-sleeve button-down shirt with a white long-sleeve undershirt, along with dark worn-out jeans and black dress shoes.

Right behind him, there was another man. A good looking black guy, wearing a black cap that reads "New York", a dark brown Windbreaker, brown jeans with black and white sneakers. He closed the door behind him and began to search around.

"W-wha-" The terrified Vesta tried to speak, but was shut by the man grabbing her and pushing her into the wall.

"Where the fuck is Cal?!" The man yelled at her while holding her by the throat with his left hand, then he pulled out a snub-nosed revolver and pointed at her face. The revolver was a Colt Detective Special that he saw in a movie once.

Nero almost got out of the room and rushed to try to help her, but he remembered that it was pointless. Fuck, just fuck!

"I-I-I don't know!" Vesta immediately responded in horror.

"Hey, don't bullshit me!" He slammed Vesta into the wall while yelling at her. "Search the fucking place!" He ordered the other guy.

Wait... As the other guy moved around the room, Nero was able to take a good look at his face. MOTHERFUCKER! And instantly recognize him as the STD guy that he stabbed when he rescued Vesta. Moving his head to get a better look at the other guy, he also recognized him as the guy that Nero shot with his revolver.

Both of them don't even look like the same people, indicating that years of drug use took a massive toll on their looks.

"Enough fucking around, Cal owns me cash for that morphine and it's time to pay up!" The man holding Vesta yelled at her face, with poor Vesta closing her eyes as spit fell on her face. "Where is he?!"

"I don't know!" She responded again. "I haven't seen him in-" As she tried to speak, he smacked her in the face with the back of his left hand, causing her to fall into the floor.

"Don't bullshit me, you fucking bitch!" Then he began to violently kick her on the torso.

That made Nero grind his teeth in deep rage. All he wanted to do was charge into that asshole and kill him again, but he knew that it was pointless, so all he could do was enter the room, pressed his back into the wall , slide himself down into the floor and sit down, trying to cover his ear so he won't hear his mother scream.

"Nothing here." The STD guy told him.

"Fuck!" The fat guy yelled angrily.

"What do we do?" The STD guy asked.

Suddenly, the baby finally woke up and began to cry with all that chaos.

"Ah... My baby..." Vesta spoke in a weak voice, with Nero just covering his ears even more as the pain in her voice was awful.

"Stay down!" The fat guy yelled.

"Ah!" And she let out a scream of pain, indicating that he hit her again.

"Maybe we should grab the kid and wait for him to come look." The STD guy suggested.

"No!" Vesta yelled in response. "AHh!"

"We ain't fucking babysitting Cal's kid!" The fat guy was quick to shut down the idea.

"Let's grab her then." The other guy suggested. "If Cal doesn't pay up, we can use her to get the cash instead."

Nero closed his hands into very tight fists, to the point where his nails began to pierce the palm of his hands. It was all his fuckin fault! He got the complete confirmation that it was his supposed father's fault that his mother ended up like that.

"This ugly bitch ain't even worth a dime."

"No, but I know a couple of nasty motherfuckers that would pay a good dollar for some rough stuff."

Blood began to drip from Nero's hands as he tightened his grip even more.

"Fine," The man agreed . "Get the fuck up." He apparently lifted Vesta up. "If you man doesn't pay up, then you're gonna pay up with your body, understand?"

"Ahh... Please don't..." Vesta practically begged.

"Shut the fuck up!" A sound of snacking was heard by Nero, indicating that he actually slapped her.

"Wait, did you checked the fucking room?" The man asked the STD guy.

"What for?" The STD guy asked.

"Because there might be some cash or some leftovers that Cal scammed off another sucker!"

"You just call yourself a sucker."

"Shut the fuck up and go check it!"

"Fine."

Nero stood up from the floor and stood in front of the door in anticipation.

"Ah! What the fuck is this shit?" The STD guy spoke up.

"I'm surprised that shithead could even get it up with the amount of dope that he uses."

"Got it up alright and the dumb bitch popped out a freak of nature." The STD guy appeared in front of the door. "Like, seriously, it looks like a fucking alien." His gaze was on the other guy and Vesta.

Nero drew his arm all the way back. Blinded by his rage, he ended up forgetting the fact that he couldn't do anything with those bastards.

"Forget about the damn kid, just check the fucking room!"

Baby Nero's cries were very loud and unpleasant.

"Fine..." He finally looked inside the room and his facial expression changed completely. "What the fu-"

As soon as the STD guy moved his face forward. Nero delivered the heaviest punch that he ever threw in his life. Even though his fist was going to go through him, his rage made him ignore that fact and do it anyway.

Except.

"Ah!" Nero's fist connected perfectly with the guy's face, causing to stumble backwards and fall, smashing the back of his head into a sofa table that was right behind the couch, knocking out cold right away.

"Wait..." With Nero reacting in absolute confusion. "What the fu-" Stepping out of the room in order to take a closer look at the guy he just knocked out.

The boy wearing a white hoodie wasn't allowed any time to actually understand what the hell just happened.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Because while he was looking at the STD guy that he just knocked out, the other guy actually shot Nero with the revolver. The bullet hit him in the arm, right on his left bicep, causing him to fall to his knees grabbing his arm in pain while releasing a loud scream that perfectly matched the baby's cries. "AAAAAHHHHH!"

"You stupid motherfucker!" The fat guy with the revolver yelled. "So you were hiding like a little bitch in the room while we smacked your woman around!" Obviously, he assumed that Nero was actually Cal. "You were always a fucking wimp, but this is just pathetic."

Before Nero could attempt to do anything, he was kicked in the back, hard. Causing him to fall head first into the floor. Getting stomped in the back multiple times afterwards.

"I'm gonna give you one last fucking chance, hand over my cash and I won't blow that container of dog shit that you call head of yours!" Nero could feel the gun barrel pressed against the back of his head.

"Ahhh..." Nero grunted in pain since he was too disoriented to talk. His arm was bleeding a lot and he felt like he was about to pass out. But he knew that he was going to be killed if he didn't do something fast. "Under... the bed..." That was the only thing that came to mind for him to say.

"Under the bed, okay." He grabbed Nero by the hoodie and dragged him into the room.

As he did, however, Nero reached inside his pants pocket. Where the knife that he took from those idiots that were messing with Gwen was.

After dragging Nero for a bit, he let go of him and walked towards the bed. Where he looked under the bed and saw nothing, then he violently pulled the mattress off to see if there was anything and once again found nothing.

As he did it, however, Nero noticed something. From the spot he was, he could see that Vesta managed to stand up from the floor and move towards the couch, visibly injured but pulling through it. Yes, yes, run! The woman picked her baby up and turned around, making her way to the door.

"You really wanna piss me off, do you?!" The fat guy then turned around and kicked Nero hard in the hips. "Do I look like a fucking jackass to you?!" He asked as he kicked Nero's face. Considering that he just shot a gun in a building filled with people that probably already called the police and he still didn't realize that he was actually beating up a teenage boy rather than a grown man. The answer was yes.

"Mmm..." Nero grunted in pain, but he couldn't resist. "No... You look more like a sack of shit." Unknowingly to the fat guy, he was holding the knife tightly on his right hand.

"Oh, funny guy!" The fat guy stomped on him again, then he got to one knee and turned him around. "Let's see if you're-" But then he removed Nero's hood. "Wait, what the fuck!" Finally realizing that he wasn't Cal. "Who the fuc-" And Nero took advantage of it.

By lunging the knife into the fat guy's neck, with blood falling all over Nero's face and hoodie. "Gahhhh..." However, once the knife was deep into his throat, he ended up pulling the trigger again. Thankfully, the gun wasn't aiming at him, but it was inches away from his face, meaning that the loud bang happened too close from his ear. Causing the boy to become even more disoriented as the bullet hit the wall. Made it worse since the fat guy fell on him as he desperately tried to breath as the blood continued to come out.

Nero, who was only conscious thanks to adrenaline rush, forced himself to pull his right arm from under the fat bastard in order to reach the revolver that was in his hand. Pulling it off his hand with ease, pulling the hammer back with his thumb and shoving the muzzle into the fat guy's mouth.

"Suck on this..." Before repeating the exact same words that he spoke when he shot him the first time. Before he pulled the trigger, and blasted his brains out with a .38 Special. With the fat guy dropping dead completely.

...

"Oh my... Fuck my fucking..." Nero laid back into the floor, as the adrenaline rush ended, the awful pain from the bullet wound and the beating that he just took came full force. "Ehhh..." Grunting in deep pain as the fat guy's head was on top of his torso and the blood continued to stain his hoodie. Forcing Nero to push his head and use his legs to get the fat bastard's corpse away from him. "Oh god..."

As soon as he was off of him, the pale boy dragged himself towards the door. Because the only thing keeping him awake at the moment, was the worry about his mother. So using all of his remaining strength, Nero Carnby made his way to the door, reaching it and realizing that Vesta and baby Nero were nowhere to be seen and that the door of the room was open.

A smile appeared on Nero's face.

"Mmmm..." Only to quickly disappear when he heard a sound coming from his right. "Shit..." Because the STD guy woke up.

With the exact same murderous look that he had when he stabbed him, Nero pointed the revolver at him.

Sitting up right away while rubbing the back of his head. "Ahhh, what the..." Only to finally realize that there was a boy with a bloody hoodie pointing a revolver at him.

...

"NO WAI-" And the moment he moved, Nero pulled the trigger. Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. Even after the revolver was empty and the STD guy dropped dead after taking four bullets to the chest.

...

Eventually, Nero dropped the revolver and rolled over to lay on his back. Staring at the ceiling while trying to endure the awful pain that he was experiencing. "What... Just... Happened?" He asked himself in deep confusion.

"Huh?" Then he made a confused face when he realized something. That the ceiling seemed to be vibrating. It didn't take long for him to realize that it wasn't just the ceiling, because moving his head to the left, he realized that the entire room was also vibrating, like everything. And it wasn't a tremor since he wasn't feeling anything. Then he looked at the body of the STD guy and his body changed, as he now looked like he did when Nero encountered him for the first time, older and thinner. And similar to a flicker of light, he began to morph into his young and older version.

The perplexed boy could not comprehend what was happening. Making it even worse when he moved his head to the right and looked into the room, where he saw the same thing happening with the fat guy, who was morphing between his fat and lanky versions.

"What... the... Shit!" Nero yelled in complete bewilderment. "Ahhh..." But the pain took its toll and he realized that he must have lost a lot of blood from the injury in his arm. So as the room began to descend into complete chaos, he felt his consciousness slipping. "Fuck..." Those were his last words before he finally lost conscience because of the blood loss.

...

"AHHH!" Nero Carnby abruptly opened his eyes and sat up. Gasping for air as his heart was beating really fast and he began to desperately look around him. "Huh?!" Only to realize that he was inside of his room in the Mansion. As he managed to recover his air and calm himself a bit, he realized what just happened. What the fuck, was that shit just a dream?! That was the only logical explanation.

Shit! He laid back on his bed right away as he tried to calm his heart, which was beating incredibly fast. I must have fallen asleep after Jean and The Professor left the room. Because he definitely doesn't remember leaving the hospital and coming back to the mansion, which could only mean that he never went there in the first place, he just dreamt that he did. Fuck... Shit... I'm so fucking pathetic... In the end, all of that was just a pathetic fantasy of his.

I still don't know what really happened. Those two bastards abducting her because his "dad" owed them money from the drugs was nothing but a dream, so he still doesn't know what really happened to cause Vesta Carnby to leave him. I guess her getting abducted was just my wishful thinking... A loud sigh escaped his lips because there was still a chance that she actually ditched him for completely different reasons.

"Fuck it." Nero decided to get up since there was no use moping around. So he stood up from his bed. However, as soon as he got up and took a step forward, Nero ended up tripping on something. "Ah!" Which caused him to fall on the floor. "Shit." He moved his head to see what he just tripped on and realized that it was on a large suitcase. Did Jean put that in here? He assumed that it was Jean's luggage since he didn't have any suitcase. "Whatever..." He didn't really mind anyway, Jean could happily leave all of her stuff in his room if she wants, and he certainly wouldn't mind her sleeping there with him like they did back in his room at the orphanage.

Ignoring the suitcase, he stood up from the floor and searched for his clothes since he was in his underwear. Finding his baggy black jeans and a white tank-top on the floor, he put them on immediately, alongside his shoes.

A sigh escaped his lips once again as he scratched his head and opened the door of his room. I'm hungry. So he decided that his first stop was going to be the kitchen.

As he walked down the corridor, a lot of thoughts appeared in his mind. That dream was so fucking real, I literally felt an awful pain. He touched his arm as he walked since the pain of getting shot was incredibly intense and it felt so real that it baffled him. Jesus, I never had a wet dream that was vivid. That was actually a small source of annoyance because he wished that a dream where he was doing something sexual had that same level of vividness as that awful dream that he had.

Let's stop thinking about it... Nero genuinely wanted to forget about it, so as soon as he reached the first floor of the mansion, he immediately walked towards the kitchen. As he did, however, he smelled something really good.

Making his way to the Kitchen, he realized that Jean was cooking something.

"Good morning." Jean spoke as soon as she noticed that Nero entered the kitchen. He was wearing a green sweater and blue jeans.

"Good morning." Nero approached her as he rubbed his eyes. Once he got close enough, he realized that she was making scrambled eggs and bacon. "Ummm..." He wanted to thank her for yesterday, but then he remembered how he impulsively kissed her yesterday and ended up blushing. We kissed yesterday, and I don't know what to say to her now. The boy hated feeling this awkward but he really didn't know how to talk about that.

Okay... Here we go... He took a deep breath and tried to speak. "Jean... About yesterday, when we-" Before Nero could actually finish what he was going to say. Jean, out of complete nowhere, wrapped her arms around Nero's neck and pressed her lips into his.

The pale boy widened his eyes in complete surprise, although it only lasted a few seconds before he actually wrapped his arms around her hips and returned the kiss. It wasn't a quick and simple kiss on the lips, it was an open-your-mouth-so-our-tongues-can-play kind of a kiss that took Nero completely off guard. But he wasn't complaining because he loved it.

They continued on for about a minute or two, until Jean pulled back and returned to cooking their breakfast.

"Ummm..." Nero scratched his head as he was a bit flustered. "A-are we..." He was about to ask her if that meant that they were dating now, but before the words could come out of his mouth. The music theme of the Rocky movies began to play.

After it played for a few seconds, Jean moved her head to look at him. "Nero?" She called him out. "Your phone."

"My phone?" Nero didn't have a phone. But he checked his pants's pocket and realized that there was something in pocket, so he pulled it out and realized that there was indeed a phone there. It was a Nokia smartphone with an anarchist symbol case. Wait, where did thi- Before Nero could properly ponder where the hell did that smartphone come from, his attention completely shifted by what was written on the phone.

MOM.

His face had an expression that was a pretty ugly mixture between shock, confusion and fear. Jean noticed that and moved to watch the screen and looked at him in confusion as well.

"Nero...?" Calling out for Nero. "It's your mom." And saying that like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Ummm..." Nero was about to ask her why she was so casual since she knows what happened to his mom. But before he could, Jean took the phone off his hand and answered for him.

"Hi Vesta." Jean answered happily, to Nero's deeper confusion. "No, he's right here." She spoke while giving Nero a look. "I'm just making some breakfast for him."

What the fuck is going on?! Nero asked himself in deep confusion as he watched Jean speak on the phone with a woman that was supposed to be sedated in a hospital that she never actually met personally.

Jean giggled a bit. "So what?" She asked. "Just because we started dating a week ago, it doesn't mean that it's weird that I'm cooking for him already."

WHAT?! Nero cannot believe his ears.

"Besides, we both know what he would be eating for breakfast otherwise." Jean gave him another look. "Don't worry, I promise that I'll make sure he doesn't have junk food or sweets for meals." She continued to cook as she spoke on the phone. "No, the rooms are very nice though Nero didn't like the color."

The boy with white hair just stared at Jean as she cooked his breakfast and supposedly spoke with Vesta Carnby on the phone. What... What... What... Suddenly, he recalled something very important. That... Dream... He touched the spot where he got shot and remembered how much it hurted it. What if... Nero widened his eyes in deep shock as a possible explanation of what the hell was going on appeared in his head. No way... Seriously?

"Nero, are you gonna pick it up or not?" Jean asked him as she held the phone in front of him. "She wants to speak with you."

Nero stared at the smartphone that Jean was holding for a second, before he decided to take a deep breath and grab it. Biting down his lower lip before he brought the phone to his ear. "Ummm... H-hello?"

"Hey Snowball, how was your first day in the mansion?" The voice on the other side was definitely Vesta's voice, confirming to Nero that it was really her.

"Don't call me Snowball!" However, hearing "Snowball" immediately caused a negative reaction. Jean giggled in response.

"I have called you Snowball since you were a baby and I ain't stopping now." Vesta declared. "Besides, it's a cute nickname, why do you always freak out like that when someone calls you that?"

"Two words," Nero was quick to explain why he hated that nickname. "Snowball kiss."

Vesta grunted in deep disgust in response. "I don't even wanna know where you learned that, but I can tell that not a single normal person would associate that with your nickname." Before she pointed that fact out to him.

"I don't care, I just can't think of anything else when I hear that." Nero declared.

"That's on you, Snowball." Vesta clearly didn't care and was going to call him Snowball whether he wanted it or not. He heard her sighing before she continued. "I have to go, I promised Sister Maggie that I would help with the educational program."

Nero remembered that Sister Maggie did mention that there would be an educational program in the Saint Agnes Orphanage that was marked to happen the day after he left. "Oh yeah... I remember..."

"Shame you had to leave yesterday, otherwise you could have helped too." Vesta pointed out, confirming that the day was the same. "I really have to go, but I'll call you tonight."

"Umm...Okay" Nero was thankful that the call was over because speaking with her was still very difficult. "Bye... Mom..." Calling her that was so awkward.

"Bye, Snowball." Especially since she keeps calling him that. "Love you."

"I..." Nero didn't know how to respond to that. "Love you too." But those words came out of his mouth automatically.

Vesta Carnby then hangs up the call, leaving a very confused Nero to ponder on what just happened.

"Your breakfast is ready." Jean snapped him out of it by calling him as she placed the scrambled eggs on a plate with some toast next to it. "Do you want some orange juice or milk?"

"Orange juice." He replied as he grabbed the plate and made his dining table.

Turns out, Bobby was sitting there, eating a bowl of cereal. "Morning." He greeted Nero as soon as he approached the table.

"Hey." He sat beside him with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast.

Jean then entered the room and placed a cup of orange juice next to Nero's plate. "I'm gonna go undo the rest of my luggage." She told him while running her fingers through his hair. "And you should do the same later." That was the last thing she said before walking out of the room.

Now that it was just Nero was left alone, not literally since Bobby was sitting besides him, he was finally allowed to analyze that situation. Okay... There is just one logical explanation for all of this. He thought as he grabbed his toast and ate it. That whole shit wasn't actually a dream, I actually went back in time and stopped those assholes from abducting Vest-... my mom. That was the only possible explanation for all of that, and it made perfect sense since there was no way that the awful pain that he felt when he was shot and beaten up by that fat guy was a dream. Wait... That means I changed the past, and if all those Sci-Fi films that involved time travel is anything to go by... As that thought crossed his mind, he looked down at the plate of the delicious breakfast that Jean made for him. Jean and I are dating and according to her, we started dating a week ago.

That was something that Nero... Had absolutely no problem with it. I mean... I'm not complaining, but what else did it change? That was the thing that genuinely terrified Nero, since if he learned anything about time-travel from watching movies is that, one little thing that you do in the past can alter the the changes have been painfully obvious already since his mother was clearly a part of his life and he had a girlfriend now.

The pale boy then remembered that he had a Smartphone in his hands. Okay, this could give me some answers. He decided to check his new phone and see if there are more things that he could discover about what may have changed.

First, he decided to check the internet for three pieces of important information.

Starting with the date that he came back in time to see if anything happened that day. Unsurprisingly, he found exactly what he was looking for in an old news report about two drug dealers that were found dead inside the apartment. The STD guy, who's name is actually Paulo Scorcese, died after getting shot in the chest four times with a 38. Special revolver. The fat guy, who's name is actually Todd Neiman, died after getting stabbed in the neck with a pocket knife and shot by a 38. Special revolver. To Nero's surprise, the entire case was ruled out as the two idiots killing each other.

Good riddance... Despite the fact that Nero did not feel good at all with the fact that he killed those two again, he also couldn't bring himself to feel bad about it either. But that confirms it, I actually went back in time and killed those assholes in the past. He unconsciously ate his scrambled eggs as he scrolled on his phone not really paying attention to the delicious taste.

Once he was done checking about that event, he decided to inspect something else entirely.

His phone's gallery.

Jesus Christ... It was filled with photos in it. Then he began to scroll to check after he took a sip of his orange juice.

There were too many photos there but a few of them stood out for him.

One was of him and Vesta that was definitely taken. Nero was hugging her tightly from behind and kissing her cheek while she smiled. Vesta looked a little overweight and her hair was shorter but she looked much, much healthier than the two times he saw her. Shit... I'm clueless of what to do now. Because he now had a mother and had no idea on how to interact with her.

One was of him and Gwen Stacy. Gwen was playing drums while Nero was playing guitar besides her, they seemed to be on a stage or something. At least I still met Gwen and since we're playing together. It looks like they are good friends and music partners as well.

One was of him and Peter Parker. They were both standing inside of a school gym, holding a science fair prize together. Wait, did I go to school with him or something?

One was of him and Matt Murdock. They were both inside of a Fogwell's Gym, a boxing gym located on the Lower West Side of Manhattan. Nero had a boxing glove on his left hand, while Matt had one in his right hand as they were posing for the photo. Oh good, Matt still taught me boxing here. That was one of the things that did not change.

One was of him and George Stacy. Nero was sitting on top of a hood, giving a peace sign for the camera, standing in front of him with his arms folded. When did this happen... The photo was taken from far away, like someone snatched his phone and took the photo.

However, he got his answer as soon as he checked the next photo. Which showcased a photo of a familiar platinum blond beauty holding a familiar ring and blowing a kiss to the camera. I guess I still had my unfortunate meeting with Black Cat. Except that by the looks of it, he actually got caught by Mr. Stacy.

The next one, shockingly enough, was one of a pass out Bruce Banner, indicating that he still encountered him.

That was enough for him and ironically, he finished his breakfast without even knowing and Bobby already left when he was distracted with his phone. Nero simply leaned back on his seat and thought of what he was supposed to do next.

It took him about ten seconds to figure it out.

"My god..."

"Yeah, I'm kind of freaking out here and I may be doing an exceptional fucking job in not showing it, I think you can understand how fucked up this is."

That entire situation was unbelievable, but thankfully, the entire purpose of the place that he was in was dealing with people with unbelievable powers. So Nero Carnby did the only logical thing, tell Charles Xavier about it so he could at least try to help him handle this situation.

Both of them were inside the Danger Room Master Control, where the Professor was making some final adjustments.

"Not my choice of words but it is indeed a pretty serious situation." The Professor told Nero in response. "You have memories of a completely different life in your mind and events that occured in completely different ways."

"How did we meet for the first time?" Nero asked. "Because originally, I met you at Jean's home with her father present."

"We met at your house with your mother present." Professor Xavier answered his question. "I don't recall seeing Jean there."

"Jesus Christ..." Nero didn't like that at all, it's clear that his whole life was altered but he has little idea of what changed in it.

"Calm down, you won't achieve anything by losing your composure." The Professor was quick to tell him.

"Professor, how am I supposed to calm down, my whole fucking life just got rewritten!" What genuinely bothered Nero was the lack of knowledge, because he certainly didn't mind the changes but not really remembering anything of his new life was something that he considered unacceptable. "I mean, it is mostly for the better by the looks of it, but not if I don't remember anything of it." He doesn't even know how he and Jean began to date which bothered him beyond belief.

"If that is what is actually bothering you, I don't think you need to worry." Professor Xavier reassured him.

"What do you mean?" Nero was confused by that.

"When I was accessing your mind, I noticed some... Anomalies with your memories." The Professor held his hands together with a somewhat analytical look in his eyes that indicated that he was processing that information.

"Anomalies?" Nero didn't like the sound of that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think it's better that I show you, with your permission, of course." The Professor didn't seem worried about it, but Nero really wanted to know what he meant by that.

"Alright." Nero moved to grab one of the chairs that he used to sit in front of the Professor. "I already know the drill." He closed his eyes and prepared himself.

"Very well." The Professor placed his hands on Nero's head and proceeded to use his telepathy to answer Nero's question. "Now, I am gonna need you to think of a memory, any memory but it needs to be one that you remember perfectly."

"Hmmmm..."

Nero opened his eyes again and realized that he was in a completely different place.

Professor Xavier was right beside him.

"Are we in Central Park?" The Professor asked him as he looked around.

"Yes, this is the day where one of my best friends was killed." It was an unbelievably painful memory to remember but it is the one that he remembers the most perfectly for all the wrong reasons. "Now, what did you mean by anomalies?"

The Professor pointed forward with his index finger. Making Nero look forward, he saw himself with a zipped up white hoodie with the hood covering his head, walking down the walkway while eating a cone of strawberry and vanilla ice cream.

"Wait?" A very confused expression appeared on his face when he realized that there was something off about that. "What?" It became even more confusing when he realized that someone was accompanying him.

The someone was Gwen Stacy, who was wearing a denim jacket and had headphones on her neck. Eating a cone of chocolate ice cream.

"Wait, I met Gwen way after this." Nero informed the professor.

"Originally." The Professor pointed out, reminding Nero that he changed the past. "Apparently, you two met much earlier than you did before you changed the past."

"But... She wasn't here when..."

"Thank you for letting me sleep in your house again." Suddenly, Nero and the Professor were in a completely different spot. A spot where they saw both Nero and Gwen leaning on a wall together,

"Anytime." Past Nero replied as he licked his ice cream. "I fucking hate your mom by the way."

Gwen chuckled in response. "Well, I fucking love your mom by the way too."

"Of course you do, she's awesome." Past Nero declared. "Look, let's go back, we'll just sit on the couch, eat a pile of junk food and watch movies all day, okay?"

Gwen just looked at Nero for a bit with her blue eyes for a bit, before she moved and pressed herself at him, resting her head on his shoulder. After a few seconds, she began to cry and Nero held her very tightly.

"What the hell is goin-" Present Nero watched the whole scene, asking himself what was happening. Until he actually remembered. "Gwen's mother left her father and told Gwen that she didn't even love her..." Nero actually remembers that, and he actually spent the whole day comforting Gwen. "I... Why do I know that?"

"That is what I meant with anomalies." The Professor explained. "Your memories seem to be altering themselves to match the past events that were altered by you travelling back in time."

"What?" Nero couldn't believe his ears. "Is that really how it works?"

"I never encountered someone that had the ability to travel through time, so I can only speculate and theorize." The Professor pointed out. "My theory seemed to be correct however since you actually remembered a certain event that hasn't occurred to you previously during this particular day." He actually agreed with him since that explanation made the most sense. "What else do you remember differently?"

Suddenly, Nero's attention returned to the memory. Because he started to hear a lot of gunshots. That startled Past Nero and Gwen, causing the two to run away towards the different direction of the gunshots

"I... Never met FJ..." Nero realized that. "Gwen and I have been friends since kindergarten, and I was with her on the day I was supposed to meet him." He closed his eyes as he felt something.

His head began to hurt a lot, but he realized that the Professor was right, some of his memories seemed to be altering themselves to match his new reality. Like he is remembering things differently than he originally did.

"Nero, I need you to focus, what do you remember?" The Professor asked him in a soothing but firm voice.

Some of the memories were basically the same, some were slightly different and some were completely different. It was going through his mind like when people claim that your life flashes through your eyes before you die. And it did feel like he was dying because his head felt like it was about to explode.

"It's going to be okay, you just need to endure it for a bit." The Professor assured him but it hurt like absolute hell.

"Ahhh..." His nose began to bleed and his body began to shake like he was having a seizure.

Suddenly, the pain stopped and Nero opened his eyes once again. Realizing that he was in a completely different place once again. He noticed that he was actually laying on a bed, staring at a white ceiling.

"Hmmm..." Thankfully, the awful headache was gone and he sat himself up to properly see where he was. Once he did, he realized that he was in the Medical lab that he saw during the tour.

"Oh good," Then he heard a voice coming from behind him, which he moved his head to see. "You're awake." Nero immediately widened his eyes as he realized that the one speaking to him was some kind of beast man with blue fur, both simian and feline facial features, pointed ears, fangs, and claws. Wearing a lab coat and glasses, holding a book.

Nero was shocked for a second, but his shock quickly dispersed when he remembered that he met a guy with angel wings the previous day. "Hello."

The beast man closed his book and approached his bed. "I am Dr. Henry Philip McCoy, but you can just call me Hank." He introduced himself as he extended his hand to him.

"Nero Caligula Carnby." Nero introduced himself to him and shaked his hand. "Before you ask, I don't know what was going through my mother's head when she picked my name."

"I cannot deny that it is a very peculiar name, but we are peculiar people by default." Dr. McCoy stated.

"Is this..." Nero had to ask. "Like... Permanent or you can actually turn it off." He assumed that his power basically is turning into a Beastman but he was wondering why he was like that now, unless he can't actually turn it off.

"No, I cannot turn it off." He revealed it to him.

"Jesus, now that's a shity power." Nero couldn't help but comment.

Hank laughed a bit before replying. "It isn't all that bad, I actually seem worse."

"Holy shit, are you serious?" Nero was actually afraid to know what could be worse. Because Hank looks like a werewolf straight outta a horror movie and with his size definitely, he doubts that it could actually pass as a costume. If he could actually turn it off, it would be an awesome power but permanently looking like that, not so much.

"There was actually one that-" Hank was about to tell him about a worse case than his. But before he could.

"Nero!" They were interrupted by Jean's voice coming from the door. Who entered the room and immediately rushed towards him.

"Hey Jean." He greeted his favorite redhead.

"You okay?" Jean immediately sat on the bed and touched his face to check on him. "The Professor said that you passed out."

"I did?" Nero asked before moving his head to look at Dr. McCoy.

"You did." He confirmed. "According to the Professor, your mind simply became overwhelmed but it's stable now." Apparently, he examined Nero and saw that he was okay. "Now, excuse me for a bit, I need to check a few notes." He decided to give the two of them some privacy.

"What?" Jean asked in confusion.

"I'll tell you later, because it's very complicated." Nero was going to tell Jean about it since he was really gonna need her help in adjusting to his new reality. More so since they are actually dating, which Nero was still unsure how it got started... Actually, he did know.

Now that he thought about it, the memory of how Jean and him started dating crossed his mind. It turns out, she was the one that kissed him first and asked if they could be more than friends. A smile appeared on his face once he thought about it.

"What?" Jean asked him while smiling as well.

"I... Remember the day you asked me to be your boyfriend." Nero told her with a blush.

Jean blushed a bit too. "I don't know what got into me that day..."

The same thing that got into Nero when he kissed her before going back in time. "Can we..." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment for wanting to ask that. "Snuggle a bit?"

"Here?" She had no problem with it, but it was weird to do it in a place like that.

"Just for a bit." He assured her as he laid back on the bed and opened his arms to embrace her.

"Ummm... Okay..." Jean smiled again before she lay on top of him, leaning her face into the crook of his neck. With Nero happily embracing her.

Once they were set, he stared at the ceiling, enjoying the peace and quiet, alongside the warm and softness of Jean's embrace. Nero Carnby was confused, a little lost and somewhat unsure of what to think of his current situation. In a nutshell, he went back in time by complete accident and actually saved his mother from years of being used and abused by those two assholes. Memories of her kept flowing through his head, remembering things like birthdays, injuries and difficult times. She was always there for him and each memory just made him love and care for her even more, in a blink of an eye, Vesta Carnby stopped being a stranger and became his dearest mother.

It wasn't just Vesta though, more memories kept flowing involving people that he knew. How he met Jean was the same, with the only different being that he wasn't visiting FJ. Instead, he was there because the bus that he was taking broke down. Not much has changed beyond that other than the two becoming a couple.

How he met people like Matt Murdock, Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker and a few others however was completely different. By the looks of it, he was childhood friends with Gwen and Peter now. Although Nero is clearly closer to Gwen. Memories of Nero getting into fights with bullies to defend Peter and him learning how to play guitar just so him and Gwen could play music together was just some of the new stuff that he was processing.

It's too fucking much... Nero decided to just try to forget about it for a bit and relax, maybe him and Jean can do the memory accessing later to help him get the full picture but right now, all he wanted to do was rest. So he closed his eyes for a bit in order to try to get some more sleep.

...

"Gray Avenger." Someone called. "Gray Avenger!" Yelling at him. "GRAY AVENGER!"

The Gray Avenger opened his eyes and realized that Cyclops was calling him. He looked at what was in front of him and he realized that they reached their destination. As the Blackbird flew above it, he realized that it was time, so he stepped up from the co-pilot's seat and moved towards the cargo hold.

However, Cyclops grabbed his arm. "You're not helping anybody by acting like a idiot."

Gray Avenger yanked his arm away and yelled. "We fucking wasted too much time already!" He yelled while pointing his finger at him.

Before that could turn into a shouting match, someone grabbed his arm. "Sit down." Marvel Girl told him.

"We need-" He was about to argue but she stopped him.

"Please." She pleaded him.

Gray Avenger sighed but he listened to her, retaking his seat in the co-pilot's seat.

"Cyclops, what is the plan?" Marvel Girl asked him.

"I'm gonna need you all to listen carefully, because we only have one chance at this." Cyclops spoke in a very serious tone. "If we make one mistakes, there will be casualties."

Gray Avenger adjusted his helmet to listen to the plan properly, preparing himself for what was about to come. His hands were closed into tight fists and he was practically fuming with rage, something that only Marvel Girl's was able to calm by gently touching his shoulder.

Q and A:

Well I'll happily say it again so glad Nero and Jean meet and bonded so strongly when they did and they can help each other out

Anyway not surprised Nero reacted the way he did to the memory Jean showed him

Made sense that Xavier would pick up on the two memory diving and pull them out and glad he mentioned the very powerful link the two have to each other

Also couldn't be happier that we got a Nero and Jean kiss this chapter haha

Nice to see him get more of a handle on his teleporting power

Okay so if Sinister does clone Nero then the failure shouldn't resemble him in the slightest it should literally just be a blob of different bits of matter the main Beyonder we know was only able to create Nero because of his own power

Again so glad you like the idea that the machine part of Nero is specifically him being the one and only Prime Sentinel of this universe and there being no Nimrod or Bastion and the Sentinels before Ultron wipes all of their programming notes when they detected the Prime Sentinel part of Nero something their programming had perhaps only just started considering working towards they had the machine equivalent of a panic attack and mental break down haha

Yeah pretty much when it comes to using his machine side/Prime Sentinel side yeah just look up how Bastion uses his powers haha

So since Marvel Rivals became a thing in this I really hope your Squirrel Girl design if she appears in this is based on her rivals appearance because well frankly it's my personal favourite design for the character because dam haha

On a related note when Nero is in his twenties hope someone's music he likes listening to is at the time rising k pop star Luna Snow haha

Okay not going to lie after the time skip I really hope a pet we've seen Nero get is Jeffrey the Land Shark and he is very much Nero house pet say he got him when he first fought AIM he found him just in a lab and was immediately like this is my pet land shark I won't hear anyone question this haha

That is basically their relationship in a nutshell.

That's a understatement.

That will be discussed on the next chapter.

They gonna do more than kiss after the mission.

We gonna see how he handles his other powers in the next chapter.

Kind of, it will make sense when it happens.

Like I said, that was an idea that I had in mind, I was just trying to find ways to incorporate properly.

Yup.

Hahaha.

Ha!

You know, I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't even considering that until you actually mentioned.