The hallways of Midtown High became a superhero show today. Peter, dressed as the Tenth Doctor, squinted as he stepped through the school gates, blinded by a kaleidoscope of colorful spandex. A Captain America shield-shaped backpack bumped his shoulder, and some student imitating the Joker was drawing smiles on the glass with a marker.
The large screen hanging in Midtown High School continued to loop the student council announcement: "By popular vote, all Homecoming Week activities this year will adopt a unified superhero theme."
Peter found it slightly strange but didn't pay much attention. In America, school student councils wield immense power, even capable of altering the school's organizational structure. Some student council presidents can initiate votes to change math from a compulsory subject to an elective.
Perhaps this was another facet of America's "happy education."
Peter, unfazed, stowed his bag. He instinctively felt a bit odd, a slight tingling in his spider-sense, but looking around, he saw nothing. Then he turned and saw Harry's Dalek shell locked onto his locker. Peter smiled knowingly, took out his books, and left.
Karl King, who had been hiding behind, dressed as the Hulk, finally dared to approach, tentatively touching Peter's locker. Discovering he couldn't open it, he left disappointed. He didn't notice Peter quietly turning back to glance at him from a distance.
"So Karl King is watching me. Is he planning to put something weird in my locker to scare me?"
After confirming that it wasn't a dangerous person observing him, Peter muttered as he walked into the classroom. Whenever he was being watched, his spider-sense would subtly tingle, but judging by the intensity, the person posed no threat.
Still, being constantly watched by Karl King wasn't good. He should definitely find a chance to teach him a lesson and stop him from bullying other students.
Peter entered the classroom, thinking, and greeted Harry: "I saw your Dalek shell. Did you really just lock it onto your locker door?"
"What else?"
Harry shrugged, sitting on a base modified from an electric wheelchair: "I kinda regret dressing as a Dalek. It's inconvenient to move, and there's no good place to put stuff. I should've dressed as a Cyberman. Look, everyone else is wearing superhero costumes, and I'm just... stuck in this thing."
"No, no, no, Daleks are cool! A pepper shaker with armor plating, a laser that looks like an egg beater, and a toilet plunger..."
"Man!" Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes: "The more you talk, the more I regret it. What about you? What did you bring? Doctor Peter?"
"I didn't bring anything."
Peter said half-jokingly: "I just wore a suit similar to the Tenth Doctor's. Don't have an exact match at home, so I made do."
"Oh, the one played by David Tennant. Cool."
After an awkward conversation for a while, they still hadn't seen Amadeus. Seeing that class was about to start, Peter pulled out his phone and made a call. Luckily, Amadeus sounded fine, just a bit congested, asking, "Hello?"
"Hey, Amadeus, you doing okay? You didn't come to school today."
"Oh, Peter, I asked the teacher for a leave. I have a bit of a fever today."
Amadeus's voice was a bit muffled; he seemed to have a pretty bad cold. Peter hung up, a little worried, and Harry also asked.
"Is he alright?"
"Just a bit of a fever... should be fine." Peter then looked at Harry: "Do you know where Amadeus lives? Maybe we can go see him after school."
"I don't know. I only know he's boarding with some local family. He's never said where he lives."
"I don't even know where you live. In fact... only you guys know where I live." Peter said, feigning unhappiness, looking at Harry. Harry immediately stammered, mumbled for a long time, then sighed: "My dad and I don't get along very well. He's really harsh on all my friends, always has been. So, I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize."
Feeling a bit more certain that Harry was indeed Harry Osborn, Peter comforted his friend slightly, watching Harry look at Spider-Man videos again: "I wanted to ask last time, why are you always watching Spider-Man whenever you have free time?"
"Nothing, just homework, I guess that's how you could see it."
As time passed, the scene in the classroom grew even more absurd. A girl in a Black Widow costume was collecting homework. And their math teacher—the middle-aged man who always wore plaid shirts—now walked in with a rubber-made elongated face: "Good morning, class, I'm Mister Fantastic, and today I'll be teaching you pre-calculus."
"Davos, teacher," Harry said in a resigned tone, beginning another boring, or rather, peaceful, day.
With the Avengers gone from New York, the entire city seemed to quiet down. After class, Peter walked along, checking his phone. Even today, there were no special cases requiring Spider-Man's intervention. Just as he was feeling a bit better, he saw Karl King and another student who looked somewhat unfriendly open his locker. Karl King seemed quite nervous, and upon seeing Peter, he immediately patted his companion's back, and the two quickly left.
"Hey! Karl!"
Peter, completely unaware of what had happened, came to his locker, opened his bag, and checked if anything was missing. Nothing had been taken by Karl. This made him frown. Was Karl King planning to put something weird in his locker to mess with him? Or was he looking for something?
"What did he think he'd find..."
"Find what? Smart kid? Or, what should I call you now? Suit Superman?" The opened locker door was tapped. Peter knew who it was by the sound. He stepped back and saw Gwen leaning against the locker. As expected, Gwen wasn't dressed as any superhero or villain; she was in her usual attire. Peter stepped back and adjusted the collar of his dark blue suit.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor."
"...Doctor who?"
"Just the Doctor. I knew you'd ask that." Peter chuckled again, with Gwen completely missing the reference, and after confirming nothing was missing, he closed his locker—his spider disc was with him, so it wouldn't be found by anyone.
Wait... could Karl King be looking for my old suit?
"Karl King had someone pick my lock. I suspect he was trying to put something weird in my locker. They're dressed as Thor and the Hulk, but doing something like that." Peter said, bringing the conversation back: "So, why are you dressed as Gwendolyn Stacy?"
"I am Gwen Stacy. To be precise, I hadn't thought about who to dress as, and Theme Day already started. What's worse is this darn theme lasts for a whole week." Gwen sighed. Peter, however, thought Gwen's blonde hair would be perfect for cosplaying Supergirl Kara, but she didn't seem to realize it herself.
After running her fingers through her beautiful blonde hair, Gwen finally spoke, explaining why she was there: "Speaking of Theme Day, Homecoming is this weekend. Have you found your dance partner yet?"
"Let me guess, you and your new friends had a competition to see who could find a dance partner first, and you ran over to me first, right?"
"Impressive, smart kid. So?"
Peter could only respond with a slightly self-deprecating smile.
"Nobody cares about Peter Parker, or the Doctor, so Gwen, I can confidently tell you."
"You're definitely going to win."
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