Chapter 5: A well-deserved Victory

I made a mistake, being engrossed in my plans I forgot to focus on the people in my surrounding. 

"Peter! You can do it!"

Mary Jane screamed at the top of her lungs, awed by the performance of the newly awakened superhero. 

'No, he isn't a superhero yet. He is still in his selfish, proud boy phase."

The ideal phase. 

His uncle hasn't died yet, so he hasn't been through the trauma that turned him into a hero. 

This makes me itch, I can do so much yet I can also do so little. 

If I go overboard, Peter might never become the hero he is supposed to, the entire future will be turned upside down. The timeline will be screwed. 

But—

I can also do so much. 

He is a blank sheet. I can make him or destroy him according to my wishes. I can make him a hero, a vigilante or a villain.

The issue is the timeline. I could mess it up by messing with Peter.

However—

'I already messed up the timeline by becoming Harry and involving myself with Paladin worsened it even further.'

Just my mere existence is enough to cause a deviation in the timeline. 

So, what if I mess with Peter's future? The future already deviates, and whatever I do will result in further deviation. 

'It will be stupid to not take the opportunity when it presented itself in front of me.'

A smile formed on my face.

'I can mould him. I can have another person working for me, someone far superior to Paladin and I don't even have to spend a penny.'

…

…

It was an embarrassing loss for Flash and an astounding victory for Peter. The crowd had exploded in cheers and applauses, which seemed unreal to Peter. 

"I don't know how you cheated, Parker." Flash gritted his teeth. "But I will expose you."

Flash believed that Peter took some PEDs and he was dead set on proving it.

However, Dennish didn't want to go through any of Flash's bullshit.

"That's enough Flash, he beat you fair and square and if you cannot take a loss, you shouldn't represent Midtown High's Basketball team."

That stung Flash but in front of the crowd, he could do nothing. Anything he does, could and would be used against him. 

All he did was grit his teeth and stride away mumbling under his breath. 

"I will see you later Parker…"

'We will see, Flash.' Peter thought but didn't voice it out. 

"That was… quite unexpected, Peter." Dennish said, awed by Peter's performance. 

It wasn't everyday one could see Flash getting embarrassed in public. And although Dennish was just as curious and suspicious of Peter's victory, he didn't want to think about it. For now, all he wanted to do was enjoy his victory over the blonde bully. 

And surprisingly, Dennish was one of the guys that knew of Peter's crush on Mary Jane, so when he saw her approaching him. He decided to move out of the place. 

"I have to talk to the coach about today's match. Enjoy the rest of the day, Peter. You are the MVP, you deserve it."

Peter nodded and bid farewell but his focus was on a certain redhead. 

"Peter!" She rushed towards him. "That was amazing! When did you get so good at basketball?" 

She had never seen her friend being so athletic. And for him to win against one of the best basketball players in the entire school, she was shook but proud. 

"Well… Err…" Peter stuttered, unsure of how to react in front of his crush. "Oh, Harry!"

He felt relief in not one but multiple ways as he saw Harry.

One, he was very happy to know that his friend was there for him and two he had a way to not screw up in front of MJ.

"Hey, Pete." Harry grinned. "I have no clue how you did that, but you were badass." 

Peter scratched his head, embarrassed by the compliments he was receiving. 

"Thanks, Harry." He smiled. "I thought you wouldn't make it."

Harry laughed. "The moment I heard you were up against Flash, I knew I had to rush over. And as expected, my friend doesn't lose to that jock in any way."

"I knew you could do it, Peter." 

Peter blushed heavily as MJ ruffled his hair. 

"Have you grown taller?" She asked, a little confused. "I didn't notice this before but even your body seems better than before. Did you gain some muscles?"

You are reading story Marvel: Playing the Oldest Game at novel35.com

Harry smirked. "You have been hitting the gym, aren't you?"

Peter was at a loss for excuses but when Harry presented one in front of him, he knew that he had to take it. 

He nodded strongly at the comment. "Yeah, it's been a while." He smiled awkwardly, making Harry sigh inwardly. "Glad you guys noticed."

'You are a horrible liar, Peter.'

But surprisingly, MJ bought the lie. 

"That's great, Peter!" She smiled warmly. "I am happy for you."

Peter was barely holding onto himself, almost blushing like a madman. 

And noticing this, Harry decided to help the guy once again. 

"Why don't we go and celebrate Pete's victory? There is this new cafe just around town." He looked at MJ and then at Peter. "What do you guys suggest?"

MJ looked at Peter, waiting for affirmation. And as Harry hoped, it didn't take long for the boy to agree. 

"Ah, sure. But you have to guide us, Harry. I don't know where it is." 

Harry chuckled and nodded. "Sure mate. Let's go now and grab a seat, it gets crowded around this time."

"Alright."

…

…

That night, Harry felt disappointed. He knew that he had to be more attentive of his surrounding, he almost lost a diamond. 

However, what he was more disappointed about was his current state. 

"This is just pathetic."

His body was stiff, he didn't have any muscles and he was extremely weak.

He had money, way more money than in his previous world. 

But he was also weak.

Far weaker than before. 

"This guy had everything but he wasted it all running after his father's approval."

He pumped his fists in the air. 

"This won't do."

Saying this, he jumped off the bed and took out his mobile. 

"I need to find a way to remove all records of my searches. Just a simple clear history won't do. It would be troublesome if someone links my searches with the things that will happen in the future."

But he knew he had time before that, so he went back to searching for the information he needed. 

Now, there were many gyms where he lived. But it was not the gym he needed. He needed martial arts. 

'The martial arts of this world and mine would be like heaven and earth.'

He knew that if he wanted to learn martial arts it had to be a special one. Just your average styles won't cut it. 

"The best choice is without a doubt Shang-Chi but only a fool would hope to be taught by him or his father." 

He chuckled. 

"Kamar Taj is out of the equation… cause reasons."

He shook his head. 

"So is K'un-Lun."

Shang-Chi, Ancient One or the Thunderer would never teach him. 

But there was one person that he could learn from. Someone whose style didn't fall short from any of those guys. 

"She is affiliated with a clown group." He sighed. "Clowns with a very deadly ability. It's best to avoid them but since I don't have any powers, it should be fine making contact with her."

At least for now.

He took a deep breath and typed in. 

`Colleen Wing, Chikara Dojo.`

"I hope the clowns of Hand don't make any moves for the time being."

After all, Hand was the group that would help him get in touch with a few other people. 

"Can't afford to mess with them now… Without meeting those people."

But that was for the future, far into the future. 

"For now, let's build some muscles."

You can find story with these keywords: Marvel: Playing the Oldest Game, Read Marvel: Playing the Oldest Game, Marvel: Playing the Oldest Game novel, Marvel: Playing the Oldest Game book, Marvel: Playing the Oldest Game story, Marvel: Playing the Oldest Game full, Marvel: Playing the Oldest Game Latest Chapter