Chapter 1: 5-year plan part 1

A lot can happen in 5 years. But it depends on how fast you move. For the first day let alone the first week, I was moving quickly. First thing I needed was help, and while I couldn't get it from the sorcerers, there was a hero in my pocket waiting to be summoned.

It took a couple street blocks, but I found an alleyway that was empty. After checking to make sure no one would notice me, I went into my inventory and selected Oliver Queen's slot.

[Selecting Hero… would you like to summon or slot into your template?]

Summon. I had thought about it on the way here. Zuko wouldn't help in a city like this and while Oliver doesn't know about New York, he did live in a big city. He'll know what to do.

[Summoning Hero…]

Without fanfare or flash, Oliver Queen materialized in front of me.

"Yo," he says.

"Hi," I reply, a bit put off.

Maybe, like me, you were expecting the Green Arrow all geared up in green tactical leather with a quiver and bow. But that's not what I got. It was business casual Oliver in blue slacks and button up shirt. Wavy blond hair and charming smile. Older, but suave.

He must've read my mind or something because he says, with a smirk, "Gear costs extra."

"Right…"

"No, I can't read your mind."

"That's what a mind reader would say."

"All I got was a memory packet of your situation."

"Memory packet?"

"Just tells me who you are, how we got here, and all your knowledge of the MCU."

"So you know how screwed we currently are."

"Yep," he says, popping the 'p.'

"But you can help, right?"

"Well sure, but doesn't mean our situation is any less grim."

"You spent 5 years on that island though, and all those adventures. Surely this will be easier?"

"A lot of it, sure, but if you ask me to go against Hulk or Thanos or Thor, I'm out."

"What happened to loyalty?"

"Loyalty does not equate to blind obedience. I'm not a robot."

"Yea, okay, fair. But you can go do hero stuff at night though, right?"

"Yes, I can, but at some point we'll have to worry about the crime bosses, Shield, or Hydra."

"Those are problems for future me to worry about."

"Yea, that's what I thought you'd say."

…

"You sure-"

"Yes."

"Okay, fine. What do we do now?"

"Now we find the homeless population and find a spot to sleep."

"Homeless population?"

"You have no money, no ID, no nothing. It's really the only safe place to stay."

"Yea, okay, but what about the hero stuff, and making money."

"We'll pierce two birds with one arrow. While I investigate the criminal underbelly, I'll also be stealing from them and getting supplies."

"Here I'd thought you'd say you were going to go undercover and join them or something."

"Tried that, didn't work out well in the end."

"Oh, uh, sorry."

"'S fine."

After that we made our way through the city, passing people, cars, and billboards. New York was nice, I'd always wanted to visit, and although there was some unsightliness I was glad to be here.

"Hey," Oliver says to me.

"Yea?"

"I think you should sell Zuko."

I was quite shocked, but I decided to hear him out.

"Why?"

"Money, or credits in our case, is an invaluable resource to have. The more we have, the more we can buy, and the more we can do."

"Okay…"

"Listen, I know what's in the store currently and I know how much all my gear would cost."

"I looked too-"

He waved me off. "I know you have enough currently to pay for all my gear, but unless you plan to keep buying me arrows, we are gonna run out of one or the other."

What he said was logical. The outfit, bow, quiver, and arrows were all under 300, but there was an enchanted quiver in the store that was 600. It could replenish any arrow used in under a minute. Perfect for the bow user. But I didn't think that was all he thought of.

"What else were you thinking?"

"There's more to gear than just outfit, weapon, and ammunition. Consumables, recon, and communication are also invaluable."

I thought about that. "So like smoke bombs, drones, and radios?"

"Exactly."

"I see… I think."

"Don't worry, I'll go over all the things I'll need before I'm ready to head off."

"I hope you're right." I say while selling my Zuko summon.

"I usually am." He smirks.

—

-Oliver POV-

The kid was alright. Wet behind the ears, some might say, but alright. I could see the drive in him, to do good. It didn't help that I've seen kids like that before, and look where they ended up. No, he didn't know about that. Maybe he'd figure it out in the future. But for now…

"You sure you're all set?" Brian asks.

"Yea, kid, I'm set." For now. Could really use a base to hang up my cowl. I guess this 'Feast' place will do for now.

"I'm not a kid."

"Keep telling yourself that." I say, rubbing his head.

"I just haven't had my last growth spurt," he mumbles.

"HA, sure, kid. Just remember, some chicks like the small ones." I chuckle as I dash away, not failing to catch a glimpse of his red face. Ah, to be young.

It wasn't five blocks away that I heard a distressed call for help. I had been keeping to rooftops with a grappling hook.

"Quiet!" a voice yells.

"Please don't hurt me," another voice sobs.

I peer over the ledge to see a woman being held at gunpoint. The gun owner is wearing a ski mask and keeps looking over his shoulder.

I pull out my compact bow, quickly set up, pull out a standard arrow, and draw.

Breathe in… Breathe out… Release!

I had to wait until he was leaving, but I was quick enough to hit him in the calf.

I repel down as the woman looks on in shock and the robber yells in pain.

I walk calmly to the downed man, pick up his gun, then pick up her purse, then walk to the lady.

"Here you go ma'am." I hand her the purse.

She woodenly takes it.

"You best be headin' off now."

She nods and starts walking off. As she passes the robber, she kicks him in the stomach.

"Women, huh?" I say as I yank out my arrow.

"GAH!" he screams.

One down, however many to go.

—

-Brian POV-

I had to take a sleeping pill to fall asleep last night. After getting a point for a "heroic deed" I was worried for Oliver. But I guess I shouldn't have been, because when I woke up I only saw six more points awarded. When I asked him about it he explained why.

"What am I? The Flash? I can't be all across the city at once. Besides this was just first night, I was testing the waters, gettin' a feel for the land."

He was a bit testy.

Anyway, let's roll the gacha!

[Rolling…

3x D-rank: Abraham Whistler(Blade), Dario(James Bond), Izzy(Digimon)

3x C-rank: Tsuyu Asui(My Hero Academia), Lady Bullseye(Marvel), Huntress(DC)

1x B-rank: Spider-Man(Marvel: Earth-90214)

]

Score! Noir Spider-Man!

"Your smile is blinding me," Oliver says.

"I got Noir Spider-Man," I whisper to him.

"I don't know what that means."

"Oh, right. Well, it just means that the writers wanted a version of spider-man in the 1930's. But it also means I'll be able to shoot webs from wrists. Pew Pew." I motion web shooters.

"Right…"

"You'll see. It'll be awesome!"

"Well you have to wait for tonight, and we still have today to work out."

"What d'you mean?"

"We can't stay here forever, kid. We'll need our own place that's private and hidden away. Especially so before we get on someone's radar."

"I hear you. But what can we do?"

"It's like I said before, we need more money."

"I aint sellin' my Noir Spider-Man."

"And you may not have to, just don't use it yet and hear me out."

"...Fine."

"Alright, so, you can't buy or sell money to the store because the serial codes mess that all up, but what we can do is buy gold or gems and sell those to pawn shops."

"That doesn't seem safe."

"In the long run it's not, but we're just doing this until we have enough to pay for rent."

"What about IDs?"

"I'll find someone. May take a few days, but I will."

"Alright, what else?"

"Let's think. Say we've gotten money, a place to live, and IDs. What do you think we should do?"

"Fight crime?"

"And doing something heroic is important to gain more powerful summons, I get it. But there's more to it than that right?"

"Well yeah, I thought you knew."

"I'm not a mind reader, remember. I don't actually know what you want."

I take a moment to look at Oliver. I thought that being a hero himself would make it obvious.

"You know about what will happen in 2012, right?"

"Yeah, the aliens."

"How many do you think died that day?"

He ponders. "Hard to say, but I think it could reach hundreds of thousands."

"Exactly."

"You want to prevent that."

"I want to minimize casualties. The Avengers are a purely reactionary force. By the time something happens, someone is already dead. They try their best, and I respect it, but they could've been more, done more."

He looks at me differently. Whereas before he saw me as that kid with a power complex, he now saw the truth.

"You want to save people."

"With great power comes great responsibility." It was a bit corny, but it was true.

"Heh, we'll make a hero out of you yet, kid." He pats me on the shoulder.

"I'm not a kid."

"Maybe… maybe."