Chapter 6 – "Five Percent and Cracks Beneath"
The morning sun cast a soft glow across the rooftops of Queens. Eli crouched low on the edge of his apartment's roof, sweat beading down his brow. He'd been up for over an hour, before Peter, before the noise of the streets, working through the final reps of his new routine.
A month ago, he could barely manage controlled jumps at 3%. Now, he could hold a stable 5% output across his limbs. It wasn't effortless, but it was familiar.
Golden lightning flickered across his legs in rhythmic pulses. Red veins of energy cracked subtly under the surface of his skin, like molten lines barely restrained. When he leapt now, he landed with precision, not force. The rooftop beneath him no longer trembled, he had learned to distribute pressure, to guide the storm.
At 5%, he was fast. Strong. Dangerous. But more importantly, he was stable. The energy still surged like a wild tide beneath the surface, but he could swim in it now, ride its flow without being drowned by it.
He took a breath and powered down. The light faded. The wind returned to stillness.
---
Back inside, Peter was scrambling to find his math notebook while Aunt May packed lunches. Uncle Ben sat at the table with his usual paper and coffee, glancing up as Eli entered.
"Morning, kiddo," Ben said, folding the paper. "You look like you ran a marathon already."
"Just needed some air," Eli replied, grabbing a piece of toast.
Ben's eyes lingered on him a second longer. "You're working hard. Just remember, even machines overheat."
Eli smiled faintly. "Noted."
---
At school, Eli blended in.
He kept his grades up, not stellar, but dependable. He listened more than he talked. He didn't raise his hand unless he had to. The teachers liked him for his manners. The students mostly left him alone.
He had a few acquaintances, classmates who sat near him often, or talked with him during group work. Two had started showing up more often lately: a girl named Jamie Tran, sharp-eyed and quick with a joke, and a tall, easygoing boy named Luis Moreno, who played basketball and offered half his sandwich to anyone within reach.
They weren't close friends, not yet. But something was building there.
---
Lunch was the usual: a small sandwich, fruit, and some juice. Eli sat under the shade tree behind the cafeteria building, notebook in hand, pretending to study. Really, he was thinking.
The body was adapting faster now. His control over energy routing had become more precise. If he was right, 6% wouldn't be far off, maybe a week or two.
But with each jump in percentage, the temptation grew. He felt it, how easy it would be to leap over buildings instead of walking around them, to stop fights, to make an impact.
But not yet.
He turned a page, scribbling out new goals:
> "Maintain 5% output for 30 seconds without fatigue. Improve directional control mid-air. Avoid unnecessary attention."
---
That Friday afternoon, as students filtered out of class, Jamie waved him down at the lockers.
"Hey! Eli."
He looked up from tying his shoes.
"Some of us are going to hang out up in Harlem tonight. One of Luis' cousins runs a place with a rooftop lounge, nothing fancy, just food, music, and decent company. You should come."
Eli hesitated. "I don't really..."
Jamie raised a brow. "You don't do anything after school. You disappear. You're either a secret vigilante or a monk. Either way, you could use some people time."
He gave a small laugh. "You think I'm a monk?"
She grinned. "Prove me wrong."
---
That evening, Eli found himself sitting on a rooftop in Harlem, a takeout box in his lap and music drifting around him. The rooftop lights cast a warm orange glow. Voices and laughter echoed from the far corner, where a group of teens argued over playlists and tossed snacks back and forth.
Jamie sat beside him, sipping from a can of soda, legs dangling over the edge.
"I gotta admit," she said, "you surprised me. I figured you'd bail."
"I almost did," Eli said. "Didn't know if I'd fit in."
Jamie glanced at him. "You fit better than you think. You just don't try."
They sat in silence a moment, watching the distant skyline shimmer through the city haze.
Then she asked, softly, "You ever feel like you're... holding back all the time?"
Eli didn't answer right away. He stared out over the buildings.
"More than you know," he said finally.
She didn't push. Just nodded.
---
A few blocks away, in a helicopter.
General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross is sitting with his daughter Betty and Bruce Banner.
"Hulk," Ross said "how dare you banner, to even erase The Hulk, it's military asset."
Betty became angry with how her father, treating banner as assets, as they were about to argue again a officer reporting sounded in his radio
"We've got a situation! Sir, something's tearing through the city!"
"It's Blonsky… something's happened to him. He's not human anymore."
The room went quiet.
---
Back on the rooftop, Eli looked up suddenly.
He felt it. Something, not close, but not far either. A shift in the quiet.
Jamie turned. "You okay?"
Eli blinked, then forced a smile. "Yeah. Just a breeze."
Because he felt bad, or danger is coming....
---