Conviction

The Jumper arc is only 3 chapters long. Hope you enjoy.

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Spoiler-Chapter 32's titled, The Eternals vs Valiant. Check out my Pat.reon for that.

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(Brian's P.O.V)

The next morning saw me stumbling down to the kitchen half asleep. I'd decided to go on a late patrol to clear my head and gotten caught in a drug deal. Leading to me staying out longer than I'd meant to. 

"Hey."

"You look like a zombie Brian. Were you playing games the whole night?"

Uncle Ben asked me while reading his newspaper. 

"I feel like one too. And no, games are more of Peter's thing. I just couldn't get much sleep."

He looked up concerned.

"Are you ok?"

I nodded. 

"Yeah don't worry about it. Where's Aunt May by the way?"

"She's out. Had to do a grocery run."

He answered and my brows went up in confusion.

"This early? It's 7 in the morning."

He scoffed and pointed that the clock on the wall. It was 9.

"Oh."

I poured myself some milk and cereal and dug in. 

"Peter up yet?"

Uncle Ben paused his reading.

"He… didn't tell you?"

I shook my head. Tell me what?

He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"He went over to Harry's. His father Norman is missing."

I kept my face totally empty except for a concerned look.

"When?"

"A couple of weeks now. Don't know why Harry kept the news from the public but its most probably because of the company. Peter is there because he currently needs a friend. May is planning to bake some cookies and send them over later too, hence the grocery run."

Damn. I really feel for Harry. However given the choice, I would still kill Osborn. The truth is, he was an irredeemable asshole who would stop at nothing to achieve his evil plans. Good riddance. Though I said that there was a bitter taste in my mouth. I'd never killed anyone before, so Osborn's death although different was still galling to whatever little morality I had. Despite that, I knew I could never be like other merciful heroes. If it was a choice between killing my enemies to make sure they wouldn't come back to hurt me then…I would do it.

"… Brian, Brian are you listening?"

My attention shifted back to the man who'd raised me.

"Sorry Uncle Ben, you were saying?"

"I was asking what you had planned for the day."

I paused. There was a lot that needed to be done really. For starters, there was the issue with gaining better control of my ki. It had been slow going thus far but effective. I had finalized the deal on purchasing the building, Osborn was down for the count and I'd made extra trips to both Oscorp and the Osborn loft to acquire any more samples if the enhanced Goblin serum.

Fortunately there didn't seem to be any left. I didn't want Harry to take on his father's mantle for any reason.

I was also yet to decipher the Watcher's means of dimensional travel. I had a taste of how to do it but the problem lay on the execution. I needed to get attuned to the space element first and lastly build the foundation of Parker Industries. Although that was a ways off still.

Last but not least, I needed to start cultivating again but this time I had an idea on how to bridge all those levels. It was sadly going to have to wait until I got dimensional travel down but after that…let's just say, I'd be planet buster very soon.

And…wow. That's it. Which is admittedly a lot but for now…I can afford to take a breather.

"Nothing. I'm free for a few hours."

Uncle Ben smiled in happiness.

"Good. I was thinking you could help out at the store for a while. One of my guys didn't come in today. A bad case of flu."

He explained and I found myself nodding.

"Cool."

A few minutes later we left for the store. 

(?? P.O.V)

"Sir, the priority target has entered a hardware store."

An update came in from the earpiece in his ears.

"Copy that. It belongs to his adoptive parents. Keep watching for a few minutes. We don't want to spook him just yet."

"Roger, out."

The earpiece went silent after that.

(Brian's P.O.V)

The day was slow going. Peter and I usually helped out at the store but it was more to spend time with Uncle Ben than work. He took it upon himself to give us advice and talk to us whenever we were stressing about something, during this time. I appreciated it a lot. I was wise in some ways due to my past life but getting reborn in another world brought with it many issues when I was growing up.

Turns out no matter how mature you are, child mood swings and adolescence were something you couldn't circumvent. I knew myself and the huge task I'd given myself. At times it weighed heavily on my shoulders. Which is why I liked the quiet times with my family. 

I was propping up the hammer tool section when somebody stumbled onto me. I felt something get shoved inside my trouser pocket. The only reason I didn't react was my instinct telling me the guy had no animosity. 

That instantly changed when I felt him disappear from my senses. I rounded up, my eyes wide and searching for him. Nothing. It's almost as if he'd… teleported.

My pocket started buzzing and I brought out a burner phone. I accepted the call.

"Hello."

"Act natural."

A male voice responded.

I let the tension in my shoulders flow out and adopted a small smile on my face.

"Ok. Who's watching me?"

There was a pause on the other end.

"A secret organization hellbent in destroying every superhuman on the planet."

I started walking towards the restroom steadily.

"And why are they watching me?"

He laughed.

"Don't play dumb with me. A little birdy told me, you like to play cops and robbers at night with criminals."

So he knows about my alter ego…

"Still don't know what you're talking about."

His tone changed to a harsh note.

"Listen here you asshole. I had to take risks to even approach you. They know who you are. You're lucky that I found that information out and warned you. The only thing stopping them from bursting in and killing you is that Roland likes to be prepared."

Roland? Who the fuck is Roland?

"What…"

My danger sense instantly went haywire. The phone slipped from my hand as a massive ki blast pushed me forward from my feet. My body flew past aisles of hardware materials towards Uncle Ben. 

Simultaneously, a large shockwave exploded from the bomb planted in a backpack at the entrance. 

He blinked at me, confusedly and I knew I couldn't reach him in time. Everything slowed down as my hand stretched out…if only…Then the concussive force hit me like a 12 wheeler truck. I was thankful for editing my spider powers to give me more durability. Without that, I would have been more than just knocked out. The last thing I saw before the dizziness hit was the blaze consuming Uncle Ben.

(?? P.O.V)

"The target was compromised. We had to go with plan b. The asset teleported in the bomb."

"Civilian casualties?"

" A little over 12."

There was a brief silence.

" The target."

"Dead most likely. The asset didn't find a body. He was too close to the blast zone."

Roland nodded. He wasn't so sure however. Roland was a man who dealt in absolutes. 

One might think he felt remorse for the deaths of over 10 innocent people but he'd long ago gotten rid of those sentiments.

"Move out. Let's pay a visit to the second target."

(Brian's P.O.V)

My head was killing me and my ears were ringing. I blindly reached out for anything. Trying to adjust my sight and get rid of the blurriness. I stumbled off the bed I was laying on and felt hands grasp me. 

"Hey, hey! You okay! Breathe!"

I forced myself to take in deep breaths and slowly let them out.

"Uncle…Where's my…Uncle?"

"Here."

The same voice I'd heard on the phone said to me, handing me a glass of water.

I downed it in one go and got up. The dizzy spell ended and I finally looked around. Everything was much clearer now. A guy not much older than i was, was infront of me. We were in a room that looked to be constructed inside a cave.

"Who are you?"

"Names Griffin. I brought you here after the explosion. Couldn't risk the Paladins finishing the job."

The Paladins? That rang a bell. 

"Where's my Uncle?"

I asked through gritted teeth. There was still a chance. A chance he was alive. I couldn't and didn't want to imagine my uncle dead. Griffin was content to let me stew for a bit but he let go of that idea when I grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him. He winced in pain but I ignored it.

"Where's. My. Uncle?"

"Ok! ok! I grabbed him too but he was badly injured. I jumped him to the hospital and left."

I let him go and he stumbled while holding his ribs. Relief washed through me. It felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I could finally breath. Griffin grunted in pain, while holding his ribs. He stumbled to the couch and fell on it.

"You're hurt."

He coughed.

"Yeah. Teleporting amidst an explosion does that to you."

He said.

"How badly?"

He didn't answer. I activated True Reveal and focused on his injuries.

A rib had punctured his left lung and he was having trouble breathing. I also noticed something else but decided to file that away for the future.

"We need to get you to the hospital."

I said getting up.

"No, no hospitals. Roland is probably watching those too. I'm sure he knows by now that I helped you escape."

"How?"

"When…cough…when Jumpers teleport an energy signature is left behind. Roland is thorough. He'll have feelers out looking for me. The only reason your uncle is safe is because he's a normal civilian. If it's you or me…"

He trailed off already having trouble speaking.

I finally got the picture from his explanation and slowly… details half forgotten were becoming clear to me from my memories. I could vaguely remember the plot of Jumper. A movie that stood out due to the unique power set of the characters, and 2 actors who played a role in star wars. 

The plot followed a young jumper called David who gets embroiled in a fight with the Paladins for possessing teleportation powers. He teams up with Griffin a disgruntled Jumper who seeks the death of Roland for killing his mom?…it was an okay movie but highly forgettable so I wasn't that knowledgeable on the plot. 

The story happens in 2008, and it was now 2002 looking at the relative age of Griffin, it checked out.

So he couldn't go to the hospital…I wonder. I had told Peter before that the chances of healing him again were impossible. That was mostly due to my atrocious control over ki. But I'd now gotten good enough that I could probably heal him.

So the plan was this...Heal Griffin, Group up with Peter because if they knew about me then they most likely knew about him too, Check up on Aunt May and inform her about Uncle Ben then fucking destroy Paladin.

Luckily, I had constructed a seal around our house to repel anyone with bad intentions. 

They tried to kill me and my Uncle. I wasn't going to show mercy.