Hunter Zolomone disliked attention.
Attention created expectations.
Expectations created attachment.
Attachment destroyed peace.
Midtown High had lost all sense of normalcy after the alien incident.
Phones buzzed constantly. News reports replayed blurry footage of a hooded male figure floating in the sky. Social media had already created names for him:
Sky Phantom.
Angel Shadow.
Midtown Guardian.
Hunter walked through the hallway as if none of it existed.
Hood up.
Hands in pockets.
Measured steps.
Yet whispers followed him like wind.
"That's him."
"He looks too calm."
"Ask him!"
He ignored it.
He always did.
MJ leaned against a locker as he approached, watching him carefully. Not accusing. Not playful. Studying.
"You're trending," she said casually.
"I don't use social media."
"That's not the point."
He stopped beside her locker.
"What is the point?"
"The point," she said, lowering her voice, "is that the city thinks there's a new hero."
"I never said I was."
"Yeah," she muttered. "That's what makes it worse."
Before he could reply—
The ground trembled.
Not a small tremor.
A violent one.
Windows rattled. Lockers shook. Students screamed.
Hunter's expression didn't change.
Outside, metallic objects began lifting into the air—cars, fences, street signs.
A familiar presence.
Magnetra.
Her armored figure hovered above the football field, electromagnetic energy spiraling around her like a storm.
"Spider-Woman!" her amplified voice echoed. "Show yourself!"
Hunter closed his eyes briefly.
Peace lasted exactly three days.
Spider-Woman swung into view seconds later, landing between Magnetra and the school building.
"You really picked a school?" she called out. "Low even for you."
Magnetra smirked. "I go where I'm noticed."
She extended her hands.
Every metal object within fifty meters ripped from the ground.
Cars flipped.
Streetlights twisted.
Students ran in panic.
MJ grabbed Hunter's sleeve instinctively.
"Hunter!"
He gently removed her hand.
"Go inside."
"What about you?"
"I'll walk."
He stepped forward calmly as chaos unfolded around him.
Magnetra noticed him immediately.
Her eyes narrowed behind her helmet.
"You."
Metal debris shot toward him like bullets.
Hunter didn't dodge.
The shards stopped inches from his body.
Hung in mid-air.
Then dropped harmlessly.
A ripple of silence spread across the field.
Spider-Woman stared.
Magnetra's smirk faded slightly.
"You're manipulating magnetism?" she demanded.
"No."
Hunter continued walking toward her.
Every metallic object she launched froze before touching him.
Her power bent steel beams.
He bent space.
She clenched her fists, releasing a concentrated magnetic pulse meant to crush everything inward.
The football goalposts twisted violently.
School buses lifted into the air.
One bus spun out of control—directly toward a group of trapped students near the bleachers.
Spider-Woman's spider-sense flared.
She leaped—
But she was too far.
Hunter disappeared.
Reappeared beneath the falling bus.
Caught it with one hand.
The impact cracked the concrete beneath his feet—but the bus remained perfectly steady.
He lowered it gently to the ground.
Students stared in shock.
Magnetra felt it then.
That difference.
That gap.
She unleashed everything—an electromagnetic storm compressing toward him from all directions.
Hunter stood still.
The scars on his back faintly shimmered beneath the hoodie.
For a brief moment—
Golden outlines of folded wings flickered behind him.
The storm dissipated instantly.
Magnetra's breathing grew uneven.
"You're not human," she whispered.
Hunter appeared in front of her in less than a blink.
"I never claimed to be."
He tapped her helmet lightly with two fingers.
Her consciousness vanished instantly.
He caught her before she hit the ground.
Placed her gently on the field.
Spider-Woman landed beside him slowly.
Students watched from a distance in stunned silence.
"You didn't even try," she said quietly.
"I did."
She looked at him sharply.
"That was you trying?"
"I minimized damage."
She studied him carefully.
There was no arrogance.
No excitement.
Just… calm restraint.
"You could end most villains in seconds," she said.
"Yes."
"But you don't."
"No."
"Why?"
Hunter looked toward the frightened students slowly calming down.
"Because power isn't the point."
She didn't fully understand that answer.
But she felt the weight behind it.
Sirens approached in the distance.
Hunter adjusted his hoodie.
"I have class."
And once again—
He walked away from the attention he never wanted.