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A few days later — Midtown High School, New York.
With the end of the holiday, the once-quiet school campus was bustling again this morning.
"Hey, Peter!"
"Whoa, haven't seen you all break, how'd you get so tall?"
"Guess I hit a growth spurt or something…"
As Peter walked through the familiar school grounds, only a few classmates greeted him—but they were all shocked at how much taller he'd gotten over just one break.
He weaved through the crowd, passing couples who hadn't seen each other all summer and were already all over each other.
Finally, Peter reached his locker.
"Tch, same old lame pranks."
He opened it, and stared at the two dead rats inside without any reaction.
A second later, using the locker door as cover, a red glow briefly flickered in his eyes.
"Huh? Why didn't that coward freak out?"
Not far away, the two pranksters were watching Peter closely.
But the freak-out they expected—Peter screaming and jumping back—never came.
Instead, he looked totally calm, like he didn't even notice their little "present."
"Hey, you did put them in there, right?"
"Of course I did, boss!"
"Then why isn't he reacting?"
"No clue, maybe we scared him so much before he's gotten used to it?"
"C'mon, let's check."
The two of them watched Peter walk away like nothing happened and decided to see for themselves.
"What the hell, man? You said you put them in there! Where are they?!"
They opened Peter's locker secretly—only to find it completely normal, just some personal stuff inside. No sign of the rats.
"But I swear I put them at the bottom... Where the hell did they go?"
The smaller guy looked confused and honestly kind of wronged.
Trying to prove he wasn't lying, he stuck his hand into the locker to feel around.
"AAAH! HOT! SO HOT!"
The sudden scream drew everyone's attention.
He yanked his hand back like he'd touched a live wire. But even so, his palm was already red and blistering from the heat.
"Serves you right."
Hearing the screams and the laughter of students behind him, Peter just sighed quietly and walked into the classroom.
Once inside, Peter went straight to his seat, relying on memory.
"Damn. This spot doesn't get any sunlight."
He sat down, then immediately stood back up.
His desk was in the far corner, up against the wall—zero sunlight reached here.
Peter couldn't accept that. After all, he still had that solar-powered buff going on.
"Hmm... that spot looks perfect, right by the window."
He scanned the room and quickly spotted a prime spot—center of the windows, guaranteed sunlight all morning and afternoon.
Without hesitation, Peter walked over—even though someone was already sitting there.
"Hey, Flash. We need to talk."
Flash Thompson, chatting about football with some classmates, turned around and saw Peter.
The name "Flash" instantly reminded Peter of someone else who claimed to be the fastest man alive...
"Well, well, Peter Parker. School just started and you're already begging for a hospital stay?"
Flash, the school's resident bully, immediately flared up when he saw who had interrupted him.
He stood up with a sharp motion, clearly pissed.
"So, you hit a growth spurt and now you think you've got the balls to mess with me?"
But once he was fully standing, he realized something odd—Peter, once a scrawny little nerd, was now taller than him.
And judging by the way he carried himself, he didn't seem intimidated at all.
"Relax, I just wanna switch seats with you."
"Hmph, don't think just 'cause you grew a bit you can come challenge me. I'm the star of the football team, you know."
Seeing Peter wasn't backing down—and with his posse watching nearby—Flash felt his dominance being threatened.
Without thinking twice, he threw a heavy punch straight at Peter's chest.
THUD! CRACK!
"AAAH! My hand! It's broken!"
A dull thump and the sharp sound of a bone cracking filled the room.
Flash clutched his hand, screaming in pain.
"Someone get him to the nurse's office."
Peter looked at Flash, who was nearly in tears, and calmly addressed the shocked group of onlookers.
"Y-Yeah! We'll take him! Right now!"
At that moment, the guys standing around were completely stunned—when did Peter Parker, the kid who used to get pushed around all the time, become such a badass?
Peter, on the other hand, was just thinking to himself, Come on, I've got bulletproof steel skin now. You think your fists are gonna do anything to me? Not a chance.
As a few of the guys carried Flash, who was groaning in pain, off to the nurse's office, Peter didn't hesitate for a second—he just plopped down right in Flash's usual seat.
The sunlight pouring through the window felt amazing. His whole body instantly relaxed.
"Peter Parker, you've changed a lot over the break, huh?"
A girl with an Asian face and black-rimmed glasses sitting behind him looked at Peter with wide eyes, clearly finding it hard to believe what she was seeing.
Riiing…
As the bell rang for the start of class, most of the students were already in their seats.
"Looks like you all had a great vacation," the first-period teacher said as he strolled into the classroom, glancing around at all the cheerful faces.
"But now a new semester's started—and it's a big one for you all."
"For those of you who are still short on credits, this is your last chance. If you don't catch up this semester, you might not make it into college."
"Alright, enough talk. Let's get started—"
"Wait, teacher!"
Just as the lesson was about to begin, a girl's voice came from the doorway.
"Not a great look to be late on the first day of school, Miss Stacy."
"Sorry, sir. It won't happen again."
"I'll let it slide just this once. Go take your seat."
Gwen hurried into the room, heading for her desk while silently complaining to herself, If that bus driver hadn't totally spaced out this morning, I wouldn't have been late!
"Huh? Peter Parker? What's he doing sitting there?"
She blinked in surprise when she saw Peter sitting in the seat behind her—Flash's usual spot. Flash, the guy she couldn't stand.
"Morning, Gwen," Peter said casually.
"Uh… good morning, Peter," she replied, still unsure what to make of it. She sat down in front of him, a strange feeling settling in her chest.
Peter, meanwhile, just leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes again, soaking up the warm sunlight with a blissful expression.
Class? Screw class. Nothing was more important than getting his daily dose of sun.
"General, the Air Force and Army units are in position. Shall we begin the assault?"
"Good. Launch the attack. This time, we wipe that green monster off the map!"
While class was still going on, Peter—eyes closed and still basking in the sun—suddenly picked up a conversation through his massively enhanced super-hearing.
And it definitely caught his attention.
"....."