School Shooting.
No one knows exactly when it started, but most of the victims… were from schools.
Yes, that means the majority were under 18.
That's why whenever these incidents happen, they become tragedies that give governments (especially in the West, and most notoriously the United States) massive headaches.
Human lives turn to worthless grass in front of gun barrels.
And the perpetrator?
Could be a psychopath.
Could be someone from a terrorist organization.
Could be someone with a deeper, hidden agenda.
…Or it could just be a student.
And right now… it was happening right in front of Peter.
His eyes were like mirrors, reflecting every bullet that tore into the people around him.
It was slow yet terrifyingly swift, leaving him no time to react.
Bullet after bullet slammed into those nearby. They all shared the same expressions:
Terror. Confusion. Panic.
Some took shots straight to the head and collapsed, their faces barely changing before death.
Blood sprayed everywhere, splattering everywhere.
A drop landed right on Peter's cheek.
"…"
That's how easily human lives were stolen.
"…" Peter looked down, his face frozen in disbelief at what he'd just witnessed.
"…Harry?"
Harry lay motionless, blood pooling on the floor just like the other victims.
RATATATATA!
An endless barrage of bullets kept coming, as if this hell had no intention of ending.
"ARGGHHH!!"
Pietro—the speedster mutant, the fastest man alive—was furious beyond words.
After all, he could see everything in slow motion.
Yet he had let his guard down. He hadn't noticed. And now hundreds of lives had been snuffed out like a cruel joke.
In a blur he rushed the shooter, kicked the gun out of his hands, tied him up with cable in milliseconds, then unleashed a storm of punches too fast for normal eyes to follow.
But his eyes widened when the perpetrator snapped the cables with raw strength.
"Superhuman physique?! So he's not a normal human!"
Pietro stepped back, grabbed an iron bar, and swung it with all his might.
Of course, the shooter was unharmed; the bar bent instead.
What shocked him even more—the shooter's eyes were locked onto him!
"No way! I was moving at 50% speed!"
The shooter drew a long combat knife and slashed at him with terrifying velocity.
"That speed—?!"
Just before the blade connected, a cloud of black smoke appeared behind Pietro, wrapped around him, and both vanished.
The horizontal slash that followed created a gust strong enough to blow everyone's hair wildly.
Pietro broke into a cold sweat and looked at his savior.
"Phew, that was close."
It was Nightcrawler, another mutant.
"GET BACK!"
Someone stomped the ground. A wave of freezing air swept through the cafeteria, followed by pillars of ice that shot toward the shooter and encased him.
"Bobby! You okay?!"
"Do I look okay to you?! I just wanna go home and hug my bear right now!" Bobby clutched his bleeding arm.
Most of the mutants were still alive, but injured.
Most of them, anyway.
"Damn it! Lukas is dead!!
"NO!!!"
"Don't leave me! Open your eyes!!"
Heart-wrenching screams from the survivors—both regular humans and mutants—filled the air.
"Perfect. Nobody's gonna complain if I kill the bastard who did this, right?" Bobby gritted his teeth, glaring at the ice prison.
"Don't be stupid! Calm down, Bobby!" Colossus nearby was trying to treat the wounded.
"Ah shit! Welp, this guy's gone." Deadpool, who'd taken more bullets than anyone, was weirdly casual while half-heartedly patching someone up.
"Wade! Stop joking around!"
Lee stood up nearby, wiping blood from her forehead with a cloth.
She'd been lucky—the bullet had only grazed her.
Kitty didn't even need to worry; everything just phased through her.
"X-Force! Finish this fast or more people are gonna die!" Scott barked, staring at the ice encasing the shooter.
Lee looked around and noticed Peter standing frozen while Harry lay on the ground.
"What the—?! Kitty! I'm going to check on Harry!"
"Huh?! Hey! You're worried about your crush but not the rest of us?!"
Lee ran over, saw Peter's empty expression and Harry motionless, then rolled Harry over to check.
"Thank god—two bullets hit his shoulder and leg, didn't break any bones, and he's still breathing."
"…"
"Don't look so broken. He's not dead," Lee said bluntly to Peter.
"…Yeah."
"PETER!"
Gwen suddenly appeared, threw her arms around him, and frantically checked his face.
"Thank goodness! You're not hurt!"
"…"
Peter surveyed the carnage, then looked toward the shooter.
'Hey… did you know this was going to happen?'
[Of course I did. Why?]
'…Then why didn't you warn me?'
[Why would I warn you? It wasn't a threat to your life.]
'But my friends… innocent people… You could've at least told me!'
[Peter.]
Nyarlathotep's voice suddenly turned deeply mysterious and terrifying.
[I only care about you. This world and everything in it mean nothing to me. In fact, the more chaos, the better—that's what I want. Have you forgotten?]
'But—'
[Peter, I am an Outer God. An entity that delights in sowing chaos among humans. That's why mortals call me an evil god, and they're not wrong. The only reason I haven't touched this world much is because I know you wouldn't like it. The restraint I've shown is something no one else could ever demand of me. So you should understand just how much I value you.]
"…"
He was right. Nyarlathotep was an Outer God, completely unrelated to this universe.
This mess was something the people of this universe had to deal with themselves.
Besides, all Nya had ever done was grant Peter power when he asked. Nothing more.
And in the end…
Peter's universe had always been chaotic to begin with.
At that moment, the ice pillars exploded into fragments.
"Tornado—"
"Storm! Don't use your powers in here! You'll hit everyone else!" Scott shouted.
Storm clenched her teeth and held back.
Unfortunately Scott couldn't use his optic blasts either—too much collateral risk.
The shooter spun his knife and hurled it straight at Bobby.
Pietro blurred in and carried Bobby out of the way.
"Careful! That guy's got insane strength. We need someone to hold him off and buy time!"
"I've got it!"
"Bud, I'll do it."
"If the readers want, I'll do it!"
Colossus, Logan, and Deadpool stepped up to fight.
"Tell that Stark guy and his Avengers outside to get their asses in here!" Beast yelled at Kitty.
"Aren't you calling the other X-Men too? Jean and Rogue are right outside!"
"…Fine! Call them too!"
"Peter! What do we do now?!" Gwen grabbed Peter's shoulders and shook him.
Peter kept staring at the shooter trading blows with the three mutants, then stood up.
"You stay here. I'll stop him."
"Huh? Wait, Peter!!"
Peter fired a web-line, swung straight at the enemy.
"Kid?! What the hell are you doing—get back!"
Peter threw a full-power punch. The shooter raised an arm to block.
The impact was so strong the shooter slid back, smoke rising from his forearms.
"Oi, your enemy's right here, pal."
Peter glared at the shooter with pure menace.
"I hope you suffer every bit of pain you caused today."