At six in the morning, the alarm rang promptly, shattering Peter Parker's sweet dreams. He raised his hand and gently pressed the snooze button, not smashing it to pieces again.
"Twenty-second day of conquering morning grumpiness, excellent." Peter patted his face, excitedly got out of bed, dressed, washed up, and went downstairs.
He saw Aunt May tidying the table in the dining room and asked, puzzled, "Did Uncle Ben oversleep today?"
"Perhaps Ben didn't oversleep." Aunt May was younger than Uncle Ben, not yet forty this year. She tidied the table, giving Peter a sidelong glance. "Someone else forgot what day it is."
"Oh! I forgot school started today." Peter suddenly realized, understanding why Uncle Ben hadn't gone for a run with him. "Is Uncle Ben in the garage?"
"Yes, could you go next door and call Gwen?"
Peter nodded, ruffled his hair, and headed next door. Gwen Stacy was his childhood friend. Because her father, George Stacy, was a single dad and a busy police captain, Gwen was mostly looked after by the Parkers.
However, in the few months since Peter became Spider-Man, Gwen had gone on a London trip for middle school graduates, spending the entire summer having fun in London, and only returned yesterday. Peter, needing to train with Uncle Ben and be Spider-Man, hadn't gone, which had made her quite unhappy before she left.
He hoped the London trip had put Gwen in a good mood.
"Hey, Peter." Peter hadn't even knocked when Gwen poked her head out from the second floor. Her golden hair was a mess. "What time is it?" she asked.
"Only six. This is the first time I've seen you up so early. Bad night's sleep?"
"Awful. Still jet-lagged. I basically didn't sleep all night." Gwen rubbed her messy long golden hair. "Just a moment, I'll be right out."
Peter waited patiently for about five minutes before Gwen opened the door and stepped out. Her formerly disheveled golden hair was now neatly tied back with a black hairband, falling naturally to her shoulder blades.
"High-necked long-sleeved shirt and jeans, huh. London must be much hotter than New York."
"Ah... Never mind, I don't feel hot anyway. High school doesn't have a dress code, right?" Gwen looked at her outfit, then tossed something over to him: "Catch, smarty pants, a gift for you."
"Wow, a deerstalker hat like Sherlock Holmes'. Did you buy it at a souvenir shop on Baker Street?"
"No, I just bought it from a random stall," Gwen joked as she closed the door.
Peter glanced at the Stacy family's living room: "Where's Uncle George? Already gone to work?"
"No, he didn't go to bed until early this morning. I guess he won't have time to drive us to school today. Let him sleep in. I'm coming to your place for breakfast."
"Perfect. Aunt May just finished breakfast, and Uncle Ben just went to the garage."
Gwen smiled helplessly: "Looks like Uncle Ben and Aunt May know he should sleep more, or go to bed earlier."
Breakfast at the Parkers' was simple: a few slices of toasted bread with lettuce and jam, and a fried egg. By the time breakfast was laid out, Uncle Ben had washed his hands and entered the dining room.
"Alright, young people. I'm driving you to Midtown High today. It's the first day of high school, after all." Uncle Ben sat down, a little helplessly. "I have to go to work, so I can't attend your orientation. I left a message for George; if he wakes up early, maybe he can still make it."
"It's fine, let him sleep more. He can sort out his own breakfast." Gwen bit into her fried egg viciously, and Aunt May and Uncle Ben exchanged smiles.
Peter didn't say much. He quickly finished his breakfast and sat there. Gwen ate while glancing at the clock in the dining room.
"Not even two minutes? When did you start eating so fast?"
"It's been like this since summer. Peter eats faster and faster; I thought he suddenly became a big eater." Aunt May said, making the sign of the cross over her chest. "Thank goodness he just eats fast."
"I need to save time to train combat with Uncle Ben..."
"Wait." Gwen paused. "You've been training combat this summer?"
Peter paused, then nodded, giving the excuse he'd prepared long ago: "Yeah, I have to avoid another bully like Karlkin in high school... The worst part is Karlkin is also going to Midtown High."
Karlkin was the biggest enemy Peter Parker had encountered since his transmigration. A hulking white male in middle school, over six feet tall, a typical football player type American school bully, who liked to pick on classmates, any kind of classmate, not limited to nerds.
Honestly, Peter thought he'd have to encounter Flash Thompson to experience bullying, but he met Karl in middle school.
Peter, who hadn't yet awakened his spider abilities, was naturally bullied several times. Of course, Peter managed to prank Karlkin several times with some inventions, and thanks to Karlkin's brain, he couldn't figure out who was messing with him.
In fact, Peter becoming Spider-Man was quite related to Karlkin. At the Oscorp Tech Expo, when the radiation device exploded and chaos ensued, it was this guy who still had the nerve to grab the radioactive spider and put it on Peter's neck.
He was originally debating whether to become Spider-Man, carefully considering the possibility of the spider appearing on his hand, when Karlkin just put it on his neck. He was forced to make a choice.
"You should still be careful. I don't think two months of combat training will be enough for you to beat Karlkin."
Peter laughed dismissively.
"Ha, I'll beat him flat."
"Remember, you learn combat not to cause trouble, but to protect yourself," Uncle Ben instinctively added, then realized that was probably the least of his worries. He smiled, wiped his mouth with a napkin, "Alright, kids, time to go."
The Parkers' car was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old Toyota, its engine turning over somewhat slowly. Luckily, Midtown High wasn't far, and it was at most a fifteen-minute drive in the morning.
In the car, the two still talked about Gwen's London trip, which places she visited, and what kind of photos she took. Uncle Ben didn't play music in the car, just drove along, listening to the two young people's conversation, and couldn't help but smile.
It seemed like another ordinary, uneventful day.
"Uncle Ben! Look out!" Peter Parker's sharp cry made Ben Parker slam on the brakes. Then, the wall of the building next to them collapsed directly, shattered concrete blocks falling in front of the car, missing it by only three or four meters.
Ben, who had narrowly escaped, let out a long breath and was about to turn around and take another route, but the road behind them was quickly blocked by falling wall sections as well. A huge chunk of rebar and concrete crushed the engine of the car behind them; the terrified driver opened his door and ran.
"Get out of the car, fast!" Uncle Ben immediately reacted, ushering the two kids out of the car and seeing a nearby subway station. "Hide in the subway station!"
Peter looked at the building nearby; its walls were cracking rapidly. He glanced at Uncle Ben and Gwen, then left them and sprinted away quickly.
"Uncle Ben, Gwen, hide first! I'll go see if there's a safe way out around here!"
"Be careful!" Uncle Ben urged, then grabbed Gwen's hand and pulled her towards the subway station for shelter. Gwen looked at Peter, who was still running with his backpack, and was about to say something when she was interrupted.
Why was he still running with his backpack?
"I knew becoming Spider-Man would eventually lead to something like this, but on the first day of high school? Come on!"
Sprinting with his backpack into a nearby alley, confirming there were no cameras or passersby, he pulled out his web-shooters and mask from his backpack, then directly tossed the backpack dozens of meters high, and then leaped onto the wall, running upwards while putting on his web-shooters and mask.
The backpack, which had reached its apex, began to fall, then was snagged by a web and pulled towards its owner. Peter stuffed his removed T-shirt and sweatpants inside, then took out the long-sleeved gloves and put them on, pulling them up to his shoulders.
The suit underneath the T-shirt only had short sleeves, which could be zipped together with these gloves. This design was made for easy costume changes during summer and autumn, and he hadn't expected to use it so soon.
First, one hand went into a glove, then he switched hands to hold the backpack and put on the other glove. Finally, he took out his utility belt containing spare web fluid and other small tools, holding the belt in his mouth. He zipped up his backpack, then tossed it up again, fastened his belt, pulled down his mask, and leaped.
Facing the morning sun, the red and blue hero leaped high from the edge of a tall building, sticking his backpack to the building's exterior with a web, then rushed to the other side, leaping down from a great height.
The entire process was faster than Peter had imagined. He even had time to check the digital watch on his left wrist.
"If I can solve this in half an hour, Uncle Ben won't be late for work!"
Uncle Ben and Gwen, who had just reached the subway entrance, realized something was wrong because they weren't the only ones seeking shelter there; a large crowd was pushing towards them, and the entrance was already congested.
The situation with the nearby building was already very bad; the sounds of cracking were clearly audible.
Accompanied by some screams, Uncle Ben and Gwen saw the falling concrete—but the screaming didn't stop.
Because the falling building debris didn't hit anyone; it was caught in a net.
Then, a small, rapidly moving shadow covered the crowd, and people curiously looked up.
"Is it a bird? Is it a plane?"
"No! Haha, it's Spider-Man!"
Spider-Man, answering his own question, shot countless webs between two buildings, weaving a large net over the street, stopping all the falling giant rocks. After accomplishing all this, Peter finally had time to land on the opposite building to observe the situation.
"Alright, let me see what's happening?"
His gaze swept over the heavily damaged building. Finally, accompanied by an explosion, Spider-Man saw plumes of thick smoke rising from one area.
It was a bank.