Marvel: A Tale of Shadows

He walked out of his apartment and arrived at the sorority at exactly 8:56 am. He then pulled out his phone and texted Felicia, 'I am down stairs.' Not a moment later Felicia came outside with a blonde woman with a large rack following her out.

"Hello there! I'm Myranda, I was wondering if you would like to go out with me this evening?" Ethan raised an eyebrow and then looked her up and down. Momentarily stopping at her crotch.

He then looked at her and tilted his head, "Are you a slut?" The woman turned bright red in embarrassment. Felicia burst out in laughter. Before the blond could gather her thoughts Ethan looked at Felicia and offered her an arm to grab, "Shall we go get breakfast?" While laughing Felicia took it while the blonde shivered in anger while they walked further down the sidewalk until they were out of sight, ignoring the blonde.

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The blonde then stormed back into the sorority house where her friends were waiting at the door, "I'll get my payback one way or another." With a twisted and wicked smile gracing her face.

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As for Ethan and Felicia as they walked towards their destination, Felicia couldn't help but ask a question. "Why did you ask if she was a slut?" No matter what he said, Felicia didn't think he would say that. She thought he might get annoyed or angry. But instead he had asked that question. It honestly caught her off guard.

Ethan smiled and then leaned towards her ear and whispered, "because she was asking me out on a date while her crotch was literally leaking another man's cum through her sweater pants."

Felicia looked at him wide eyed, "well damn." Then she frowned and looked at him again. "Okay, where are we going for breakfast?" Ethan suddenly stopped and looked at a building, Felicia followed his gaze as she looked at a skyscraper, "I figured a low to ground place." Ethan chuckled then entered the building. Felicia followed him in.

When they passed the reception desk the receptionist waved at him, "good to see you again Mr. Hilt. The special today is a monte cristo with bacon and cinnamon raspberry dip."

"Thank you, Miss Christi. How's the puppy?" Ethan asked as they walked by.

"He is great, thanks to your recommendation he is getting some good training." The woman responded.

He then led Felicia to the elevator lobby. He pushed the button for going up. There was a ding as one of the elevators opened, they stepped inside and Ethan clicked the button labeled 'Turnover & Hilt'. "So your family owns a restaurant?" Felicia asked while looking at the button and frowning.

Ethan shook his head. He then pointed at Turnover, "uncle" then pointed at Hilt, "aunt."

Felicia nodded as she understood, "so you're just bringing me here because you know they will provide good service." Then she seemed to think for a moment, "and a discount."

Ethan smiled and nodded as the elevator arrived at the right floor. When the door opened a view of the city could be seen behind a restaurant area, with a podium and a thin wood wall blocking off a view of the entire restaurant. The hostess looked up from her podium, "welcome in. A pleasure to see you as always Mr. Hilt. Breakfast for two?"

"Yes," Ethan nodded as he responded. 

The hostess looked at Felicia up and down then smiled, "a date? Then in that case…" She looked down at something on her podium. "Please follow me." She then led the way to a two person table by the window at an inside section, it was too cold for an outdoor seating, with an incredible view of the city.

The city was dimly lit by the morning sun. While a cloud of fog blocked the view of everything below a certain level. It showed a view of the city when combined with the light that illuminated the roof tops and fog covered streets.

"Charles will be your server today, he will be here to get your orders in a moment." The hostess explained, while laying down menus. "And our special today for breakfast is a Monte Cristo with honeyed bacon and it comes with cinnamon and raspberry dip that has a hint of habanero for spice." She then walked away.

Felicia looked over the menu, "not that many choices." She looked over it before setting it down when she looked up he was looking at her and smiled. "Do you know what you want?" Ethan nodded. "Why is there such a low amount of choices?"

Ethan picked up the menu and pointed at one side, "these are this month's choices. The menu changes each month." He then flipped it and pointed at the other side, "and these are the yearly choices, they are picked depending on the favorites of last year. Same with the drinks."

"I see well in that case it is certainly a unique style but why aren't there that many people here?"

Ethan smiled then showed his phone which showed it was 9:26, "it opens 9:30."

"Really?" She was surprised, "for a breakfast place I thought would be open earlier."

Ethan shook his head, "Breakfast is from 9:30 to Noon. Lunch is from Noon to 2:30. Dinner is from 2:30 to 7:00. Closes at 7 pm."

Felicia was further surprised, "what a surprise! So they serve all meals here." 

A young man with blond hair walked up, "Welcome to Turnover & Hilt! I will be your server today! My name is Charles and are you ready to order your drinks?"

"Drinks and food." Felicia then glanced at the menu again, "I will have the Carribean Coffee with Coconut milk in place of normal milk. As for my dish I will have the Bacon Habanero Benedict with a side of salad instead of hashbrowns."

The waiter took the order quickly then looked at Ethan, "I will have hot raspberry tea and today's special and then add-on a side of fruit."

The waiter nodded, "I will get that started for you." He then walked away.

Felicia looked at Ethan, "tea?"

Ethan shrugged and smiled at her, "I don't like coffee." He then could hear more people entering. He looked over to see a man of rather large stature and a black haired woman enter. He then looked back, "so where did you live before coming to New York?"

Felicia countered with her own stunning smile, "I lived in Virginia in a small town. It was good for a time, my mom and dad were even happy. My Mom drove into the city for her work as a lawyer while my dad did his research and went on his business trips to sell invention ideas." Felicia sighed, "unfortunately that only lasted until I was 8 years old. When my father caught her sleeping with one of her clients he handed her divorce papers and now the only times he talks to her is when he discusses custody." Felicia looked sad when she talked, "how about your parents?"

Ethan shrugged, "deceased. They died when I was 16. Fortunately I was already in college so I just got my degree in Mechanics in two years then I studied programming for a year. Then I got a job that I currently still have, so it works for me."

Felicia frowned, "you got over it?"

Ethan nodded, "yup. I was sad for a while but while they were my parents I mostly grew up from various fighting instructors. So I only saw them as much as the rest of my family did. Which is to say only once or twice a month. I assume you lived with your mom after your parents divorced?"

Felicia rolled her eyes, "yeah, only because she had a stable job. We moved to Richmond where she was closer to work, she barely spent time at the loft she rented. Opting mostly to spend her nights doing one night stands." Felicia sighed, "fortunately because of her irresponsibility I learned to grow up real quick. So I can cook and I even learned chemistry for fun."

Ethan smiled, "for fun? That must have worried your mom."

"It did, she thought I was dealing drugs when she came home to my chemistry set up in the living room." Felicia chuckled, "she was surprised when my 'drug dealing' turned out to be me selling vitamin rich meal replacement bars. They tasted horrible but I made a profit from those athletes."

"Athletes? Don't tell me you pulled a scam on them?" Ethan asked while showing a smirk on his face.

"Yup, what I actually did is tell them that the bars had physical enhancing properties. They bought it, hook, line, and sinker. Of course they were pissed at me for the rest of the semester when they figured it out, only after I already made 1,000 dollars in profits off them. But unfortunately for them a quick combo of class room chemicals makes a killer pepper spray." Felicia started laughing towards the end of her story and Ethan joined in. "You must have a story from your high school days?"

Ethan nodded as he seemed to think of something, "being smart and tough I got bullied but never struck back because I thought I might accidently kill them, if I started to fight back. But they took that as an admission of weakness; so their bullying became more invasive. Well one day it just got annoying so I decided to skip class and then went and dismantled the bullies' cars and then just for the hell of it I also dismantled the principal's and a few of the less than amicable teachers' cars as well. I even did it in such a way that their cars wouldn't fall apart until they climbed inside and tried starting up their cars. The bullies became the laughingstock of the school when they went to start up their cars and they fell apart in front of the entire school who were leaving, mostly via buses."

Felicia started laughing at his story, "man that is so much better than just punching someone in the face." She took a minute to stop laughing, "that actually reminds me of this time…"

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At this point many more patrons arrived and their drinks had arrived but they were too deep into exchanging stories to even notice when their drinks arrived. Meanwhile at another table a couple was talking.

"How did you find out about this place Vanessa?" Wilson Fisk noticed his wife was looking at a couple laughing by the window. Wilson looked over as well to see that the woman was a caucasian black haired woman and a young man had dirty blond hair. "Do you know one of them?"

Vanessa looked at Wilson and smiled, "yes I think I know that woman but I can't remember how." Wilson looked over at them then nodded.

"In that case I will have her investigated and see what her connection to you is." Wilson then waved at a waiter to get the couple's information.

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Meanwhile at another table a man with white hair that appeared to be about 51 was watching the couple while another old man that was about 74 with a handlebar mustache. "So that's her? Your daughter?" The older man asked.

"Yup, do you think she has talent?" Walter Hardy asked the older man.

"Obviously she does, but I am just surprised." The older man continued to stare at the table. "When I talked to you last. I said I was already coming to this city to teach another student. But here I am, surprised that the two students I have come to teach already know each other. Not to mention they are out on a date." At the last statement Walter visibly flinched.

"Well then… when do you think you can start teaching her?" Walter nervously glances over at his daughter's date. Who is apparently another 'legacy' child.

"A month, maybe, but I will bring them to the site in about two weeks time to see if they want to walk the path or even if they see it as a path. But from what I can tell they both have the itch." The old man explained. After waiting for a moment he smiled, "an old man like me can sense these things."

"Whatever you say fox." Walter leaned back in his chair, "you're one of the few people in the world with the talent to train masters of stealth and combat."

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While back at Felicia and Ethan's table, "... and that is how I blew up the girls bathroom with a pair of scissors, an orange juice box, and a washcloth." Ethan was once again chuckling again but just then the waiter walked up with a tray of dishes in hand.

"Here is your benedict with a side of salad ma'am and for you sir, a monte cristo with dip and an extra helping of fruit on the side. Have a pleasant meal, call for me if you need anything else." Charlie then raced off as they nodded at him in acknowledgement and gratitude.

Felicia looked at her dish then at Ethan's and she frowned, "can I try that? It looks good."

Ethan chuckled and then pushed his monte cristo with dip towards her. While he pulled the fruits in front of him and started munching down on them. "How is it?" He asked after she saw her face light up after taking a bite of a monte cristo that was dipped in the sauce.

"This is really good, are all of their specials like that?" Felicia asked.

Ethan nodded, "yup they are always that good." Then he seemed to think of something, "actually the month of October gets a little funky but otherwise the specials are usually good."

Fleicia nodded in response while pushing his food back towards him, "I am really gonna need that recipe." She scarfed down the rest of the piece of monte cristo she was eating.

Ethan nodded his head in agreement as he took his first bite of cinnamon and raspberry covered bite of monte cristo, "agreed. I will definitely get the recipe from my aunt before we leave." Ethan looked at Felicia as she savored a bite of her benedict and smiled as she was especially excited. "As great as this place's food is, I only come here once in a while to avoid gaining weight, not to mention the complexity of my taste buds after a dish like this.."

"Hahaha, I agree with that. It would be depressing to go from here to eating a fast food burger." Felicia and Ethan continued to smile and talk throughout their entire meal when it was time to pay for the meal Ethan paid and then they got up to leave only for Ethan to run into his Aunt at the elevator.

She was a gorgeous woman with brown hair that only recently started to get gray hairs, probably due to Ethan's cousins. She stood with a smile on her face as she handed them a bag, "I would have brought them out to you but I noticed you were on a date with this lovely woman." She then reached out her hand, "my name is Christine Hilt but you can just call me Aunty."

Felicia reciprocated the hand shake while Ethan quietly took the bag and looked inside. "Hello Aunty, my name is Felicia Hardy. But you can call me Felicia."

"Well Felicia, I have never seen Ethan get so giddy and conversational before. So you must be something special so to celebrate I gave you a box of those monte cristo and a thing of that dipping sauce." Aunty walked away after saying her piece, while winking at Felicia as she left.

They then stepped in the elevator and pressed the button for the bottom floor. Felicia while smiling looked at Ethan, "so am I something special?"

Ethan blinked at her. Then Ethan opened the bag and held the open end in her direction, "special?" He also pointed at the monte cristo to drive his joke home.

"Hahaha!" Felicia laughed as she shook her head, "keep being adorable and you will be able to get away with stuff like that. Where are we going next?"

Ethan smiled, happy his ploy worked, "Hmm… Central Park, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Times Square. You get to pick."

"Hmm… in that case let's go see lady liberty." Felicia seemed to have a thought as she pointed at the bag, "we could even have a picnic with her."

Ethan closed up the bag and nodded in agreement. "Sal's."

"Sal's? What is that place?" Felicia asked but Ethan just smiled in response when the door opened and Ethan walked out. Felicia quickly followed behind him, "hey don't smile and run. That isn't a proper response."

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A few hours later they were sitting on a bench looking up at the statue of liberty. Ethan looked over to her, "are you mad?"

"No… just annoyed. You could've told me Sal's was a deli." Felicia then mumbled to herself, "Mr. Play-it-mysterious." Then she realized something while munching on her sandwich. "Where are we going next?" Ethan shrugged. "You don't know?" Ethan raised an eyebrow and pointed at her. "I pick? Okay. In that case we will go to the Empire State Building then Times Square. I feel like Central Park could be its own thing."

Ethan nodded his head in agreement, "Dinner at 5?"

"Sure, by the way you went to ESU right?"

"Yes, a Mechanics Degree and programming degree. Why?" Ethan asked.

"Well I am starting there next August but I am not too sure what I should go for in terms of degree. What do you think?" Felicia seemed genuinely curious about his opinion.

"I think you have 3 months to figure out what degree would be close to your chest." Ethan honestly replied.

But Felicia frowned and covered her chest, "perv." Ethan rolled his eyes and finished eating his sandwich.

"You know what I meant."

He then pulled out the monte cristo's and dip and started eating them. Felicia quickly noticed, "hey leave some for me." Ethan smiled in response and slowed down his eating. Eventually they finished their food and headed back into the city.

When they boarded the ferry to go back to the mainland they sat by a window that looked at the statue.

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As they were sitting there a blond haired man was standing next to an african-american who had an eyepatch over his eye outside by the railing on the ferry.

"Fury I told you this is no longer the world I know. Let this generation of heroes handle that 'Heroeing' stuff." The man chuckled as he drank a sip of coffee, "I need to figure out where I belong on my own."

The eye patch grunted, "fine but the spot will be open when you are ready." He then glanced over at the city, "apparently more and more oddities are appearing in the world. Not to mention they are no longer staying in the dark. We also have bigger headaches like those Asgardians that popped up in New Mexico. Tony Stark flaunting his Iron Man suit. Then there is even that vampire thing or Whiplash that is causing problems in public. Or even the mutants that went public within the last few years."

"Huh… well I am sure you have some new recruits you could use for that stuff in the city," the man asked.

"Yeah…well… Captain Rogers they would come along a lot better if you could train them at least." Fury suggested.

"Hmmm… that is… fair. I will think about it." Rogers smiled as he seemed to think of something. "Maybe."