"Hey, Peter!" Ned Leeds's enthusiastic voice broke through the chatter of the students in the hallway.
Ned came jogging toward me, his backpack slung over one shoulder and a grin stretching from ear to ear. Behind him, walking with a slow pace that practically screamed money and status, came Harry Osborn. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his designer jacket, and his hair was perfectly styled, just as I remembered him from the Sam Raimi movies. And right next to them, adjusting the strap of her bag, was Gwen Stacy. The October sun caught the gleam of her blonde hair, and when her blue eyes met mine, my stomach did a strange flip. Damn, the Original Peter really adored her, a annoying hormonal residue I would have to learn to tame.
"Hey, guys," I said as I approached the group.
"Dude, are you alive?" Ned clapped a hand on my shoulder, scanning me. "Yesterday on the Columbia field trip, you looked like a zombie. I thought you caught some mutant virus in that lab."
If you only knew, CEO of Sex, I thought with an internal smirk.
"Just a passing fever, Ned. I'm back to a hundred percent," I replied. Ned raised his hand for our classic secret high-five. In that split second, my brain panicked. The strength! Control the strength! If I slapped his hand with the current power of my muscles, I was going to pulverize the bones in his hand.
I closed my fingers with extreme gentleness, measuring every single ounce of pressure. The high-five came off perfectly, smooth and without breaking any bones in my best friend's hand. I let out a mental sigh of relief. Checking my own strength was going to be a full-time job.
"You were so pale yesterday it actually scared us, Peter. I went to your place after class to drop off the advanced biology notes, but Aunt May said you were sleeping like a log," Gwen intervened.
"Thanks, Gwen. You shouldn't have gone through the trouble, I'll make it up to you someday," I told her, while thinking about how I had to go through high school all over again.
Gwen blinked a couple of times, visibly bewildered by my lack of shyness. A subtle pink tint brushed her cheeks, and she looked down at her books, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"It's nothing. That's what friends are for," she answered, her voice dropping a bit softer.
The first-period bell rang through the halls of Midtown High with a loud buzz that, thanks to my super-hearing, felt like a tiny needle piercing my eardrums. I subtly rubbed my temple as the sea of students began moving toward the classrooms.
"Well, time to suffer in algebra," Ned sighed, adjusting his backpack. "Pete, you coming?"
"Go on ahead, guys. I need to stop by my locker to drop off some books," I replied with a calm smile.
"I'll walk with you, Peter," Gwen offered immediately, looking at me with a curiosity she hadn't lost since I arrived, which made me wonder if she had noticed something. "You can tell me how you managed to get over that fever so fast."
"Genetics, I guess," I joked as we started walking down the main hallway.
Harry waved goodbye and headed to his class with Ned. Walking next to Gwen was a strange experience. My memories from 2026 kept reminding me of the tragic fate of every Gwen Stacy across the multiverse. But looking at her now, my perspective was entirely different from that of a tragic comic book hero. My mind had become subtly corrupted upon waking up in this place. To me, this still felt like a goddamn fictional world where I held all the cards.
Keep your distance for now, champ, I reminded myself. She was a great friend, but getting into romantic drama with fourteen-year-old girls while having the mind of an eighteen-year-old was out of the question for me. Besides, under my selfish view of reality, I was in no rush. In a superhero world, you perform two acts of goodwill and you already have a long-legged beauty in your hands.
In fact, I found myself mentally debating which romantic route would suit me best in the long run. Should I go down the classic path and secure Mary Jane Watson when she showed up, just for the pleasure of having the redhead actress? Or maybe it was better to play my cards with Black Cat? Hell, I could even ignore the script entirely and target someone completely off Spider-Man's radar, though it would be tricky to find one that hadn't already been bagged by Peter-616. That bastard really knew his way around women.
My thoughts were cut short when a tall shadow blocked our path.
"Look who showed up," Flash Thompson's mocking voice cut through the air. "Little Parker actually decided to get out of bed. I thought you passed out yesterday because one of the girls looked directly at you, genius."
Flash was leaning against the lockers, flanked by a couple of idiots from the football team. The original Peter surely would have let Flash intimidate him, but I wasn't going to take it. If I didn't allow it in my past life, I certainly wouldn't in this one.
Gwen frowned, taking a step forward to defend me like she used to do since we were kids, but before she could open her mouth, I extended an arm smoothly, stopping her, and stood right in front of Flash.
I looked him directly in the eyes with a calm so absolute that the idiots laughing behind him shut up instantly.
"Eugene," I said, using a mocking tone. "We're in high school. Are you really going to spend the next four years repeating the same cheap middle school jokes? Grow up a little, it's pathetic."
The hallway seemed to freeze. Flash blinked, completely taken by surprise. He never expected this. His face flushed with rage, and he lunged with his hand to grab my hoodie and slam me against the locker.
To my spider-reflexes, his hand moved at the speed of a turtle.
Before his fingers could graze my clothes, I snapped my left hand up and caught his wrist. I didn't use all my strength—not that it was even necessary—I just squeezed a little, and Flash's eyes widened as he felt the dull pain of his bones being crushed by an unreal force. He tried to yank backward, but my arm didn't even budge.
"Don't ever touch me again," I whispered into his ear, leaning in slightly. "Next time, I won't be so nice. Do I make myself clear?"
Flash swallowed hard, nodding slightly, his jaw clenched from the pain. I released his wrist with disdain and walked right past him toward my locker.
"Come on, Gwen. Let's not waste any more time," I told her, regaining my casual tone as we moved toward the science classroom.
Gwen walked beside me in silence for a few seconds, but the tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her face showing deep confusion.
"Peter... what the hell was that?" she questioned in a low voice, making sure no one else in the hallway could hear her. Her voice trembled slightly. "You almost broke Flash's hand. You're not like this. What happened to you on that field trip yesterday?"
Her words hit me like a splash of cold water, forcing my mind to update its Windows immediately. Shit, I got careless, I reflected internally, keeping my face serene. The adrenaline rush from my new powers and the transmigration had caused me to make a rookie mistake. If I kept showing such abrupt changes in Peter Parker's personality, someone would eventually put two and two together. I had to be smarter. Peter Parker needed to remain the brilliant, introverted, and submissive boy whenever necessary.
When I went out as Spider-Man, I would unleash the true monster upon the criminals of New York. I would break them, humiliate them, and leave them crippled if necessary, though obviously without killing them; after all, murdering common scum would draw too much police attention. No, that honor of ultimate death would be reserved exclusively for the most irredeemable supervillains, the ones who truly threatened my long-term plans, like the Green Goblin. Norman Osborn wouldn't know what hit him. Although if I get the Insomniac version, I'm not complaining.
I forced a soft smile, scratching the back of my neck with that classic awkwardness the original Peter used as a shield, and looked at Gwen with apologetic eyes.
"I'm sorry, Gwen" I apologized, completely softening my voice. "I guess yesterday's fever, I still feel this faint buzzing that's putting me in a bad mood, and I was just sick of Flash always bothering us. I crossed the line, didn't I? It won't happen again, I promise. Let's get to class before the teacher locks us out."
Gwen scrutinized me for a long second, searching for any trace of the cold threat from a moment ago. Seeing my usual facade of a harmless nerd, she let out a sigh of relief, and her posture relaxed. The manipulation had worked perfectly.