"Nice to meet you too, and thanks for earlier." After shaking hands, Amadeus's gaze fell on the stun device on Peter's wrist. "This looks very elegantly designed. If you don't mind... could I borrow it for a look?"
"Sure, here." As Peter removed the device, he discreetly studied his new classmate. He was beginning to suspect that this matching name was no coincidence—if this Amadeus Zhao really was the seventh-smartest genius in the Marvel Universe, why would he obediently attend high school? Someone like that should have been pursuing a doctorate in the Ivy League at fifteen.
He vaguely sensed that his high school life was probably going to be full of superhero-style drama.
"The internal structure is simpler than I expected. Maybe I should make one for self-defense too." Amadeus examined the device carefully, offering an embarrassed smile at the same time.
So Amadeus was at least smart enough to replicate his stun device? Great. That was one more tiny piece of evidence supporting his theory.
"From my middle school experience, things like this only make them hit you harder." Peter took back the stun device, privately regretting that he could not modify it into his Web Shooter—at least not with the battery specifications he could get his hands on. "The best way is still to work out and get strong enough that they won't dare bully you. Like me. I was bullied in middle school too, but I practiced fighting with Uncle Ben, and I got beaten less and less each year."
"Alright, guys." Gwen's voice cut in at just the right moment. She nodded toward the surrounding area, where the onlooking students had yet to disperse. "Are you planning to talk here until dark? I don't like being watched like a monkey in a zoo."
"Got it. Oh, this is Gwen, my childhood friend, neighbor, middle school classmate, and guardian angel—responsible for chasing away bullies or taking me to the infirmary, that sort of thing."
"Hi, nice to meet you." Gwen briskly cut off their urge to keep talking where they stood. "If we keep chatting like this, we'll never get moving, Peter."
"Oh, right." Peter hurriedly changed the subject, gesturing unconsciously with both hands. "We were just talking about club recruitment. Want to go take a look together?"
"Sure. We're all freshmen anyway."
As the four of them headed toward the square, every club was enthusiastically recruiting members. The sports and social club booths were packed, but the three boys ignored those familiar sales pitches and tacitly bypassed the mainstream club area, heading toward clubs better suited for nerds.
"There really is a tabletop gaming club." Peter looked at the nearly deserted booth, which stood in stark contrast to the bustle elsewhere on campus. "And... it doesn't look like there are many people. I thought everyone liked Dungeons & Dragons?"
"Tabletop campaigns are good for passing the time at parties, but as a regular club activity..." Harry shook his head and walked on, clearly not interested in getting deeply into role-playing over the long term.
Peter looked thoughtfully at Harry. He had been so shocked by Amadeus's name earlier that he had only now realized: why was Harry Lyman standing beside Peter Parker instead of Harry Osborn? Thinking back carefully to the appearance of the white Osborn, the two really did look somewhat alike once he had the idea in his head.
Could Harry be the Osborn heir hiding his identity?
This was getting too good—one seventh-ranked genius in the world disguised as an ordinary student, and one Osborn heir living under an assumed name. Though none of it had been confirmed, Peter had already accepted these settings automatically. After all, he himself was Spider-Man. Even setting aside his own experiences, the storylines these two classmates might be tied to were fascinating enough.
"I'm already ridiculously excited about just how 'exciting' the next four years of high school will be," he muttered.
"What?" Gwen, who knew Peter well, raised an eyebrow. She understood that he was not genuinely looking forward to high school. "Because the school doesn't have a LEGO club? Or because there aren't enough fellow nerds, so you feel like you'll be an outsider for another four years?"
"I don't think I was isolated in middle school..."
"Wait, Peter, you like LEGO?" Harry's eyes lit up as he interrupted Peter. "Really?"
"Uh, yes? What's so strange about that?"
"I've always wanted to build the Millennium Falcon with someone! I bought it ages ago, but no one would build it with me. That thing's too huge—I can't put it together by myself!"
"Wait." Amadeus joined the conversation. "Is it the newest one?"
"No, it's the Ultimate Collector Series, UCS10179!"
"Oh my God! You actually have that one!" Amadeus cried out, startling Peter as well. That five-hundred-dollar LEGO set was completely beyond his means, and there was no way he could ask Uncle Ben for it.
Ironically, the cost of his two spare Spider-Man suits and all his equipment combined did not even match the price of Harry's LEGO set.
"Wow..." Gwen looked at the two of them, who had instantly become animated, then turned to Peter. "Looks like I should get going—rock bands are more my thing. I won't interrupt your LEGO conference. I wouldn't understand any of it anyway."
"Okay, see you later, Gwen. Oh... no, I have something to do after school today, so I might not be able to walk home with you? Guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Mm-hmm?" Gwen gave him a half-smile. "Why did you say that like a question?"
"That's it? Call if anything comes up," Peter added. "Uh, make some good friends, you know, new school and all. That's all."
"Don't worry, smart guy. I'll definitely be more popular than you."
After watching Gwen wave and leave, Peter turned around to find Harry and Amadeus looking at him with teasing eyes and mischievous smiles.
"What are those looks for?"
"You sure she's just your neighbor?" Harry waggled his eyebrows.
"Of course she is! And she's... a very good friend!" Peter hurriedly tried to cut him off, but Harry ignored him and turned to Amadeus. "What do you think?"
"He's way too timid around Gwen."
"I am not timid."
"Then is that girl Gwen just too controlling?"
"Fine, I'm timid." Peter decisively chose to avoid the subject. "Weren't you two talking about LEGO just now? How's that going?"
"Right, that's what I was about to say." Harry took over. "My house is kind of... inconvenient, and Amadeus lives with a host family. So we don't have anywhere to build the LEGO set. Can we do it at your place, Peter? Your family won't mind, right?"
"No problem. We just need to pick a time." Peter gave an affirmative answer. "Actually, Aunt May will be happy that I can bring friends home to hang out."
The three of them chatted as they passed one club recruitment booth after another. After lingering together for a moment in front of the anime club, all three left without anyone daring to sign up openly.
Harry was drawn to the tennis club, while Peter and Amadeus chatted with upperclassmen from the astronomy and geology clubs. But in the end, the two cash-strapped boys both chose to turn those clubs down.
"Astronomy requires expensive equipment, and geology doesn't even count as science." Peter finally sighed.
"Completely agreed. Geology is practically mysticism." Amadeus echoed him.
Harry, who had been rejected by the tennis club, looked speechlessly at the two of them and cautiously asked, "I'm pretty interested in science and stuff. Is geology really that bad?"
"Yes!"
After the two young geniuses answered in unison, Peter seemed to notice something. "Wait, is that girl... cosplaying Sherlock Holmes?"
At a booth some distance away, where hardly anyone had stopped, a pretty Latina-looking girl wore a classic dark Ulster coat and a standard Deerstalker Hat identical to the one Gwen had given Peter. She waved a club flyer in her hand. "Detective Agency recruiting! Interested? Anyone who can answer the entry question can join! Interested, you three?"
"What does the Detective Agency usually do? Take on jobs around the school?"
Peter asked with some interest, but his question seemed to deflate the upperclassman instead. "No. Almost no one at school asks the Detective Agency to do any serious deductive work. All we do is find a time to hold book clubs together, come up with mystery puzzles, things like that..."
"I'm joining." Amadeus answered the instant he reached the booth. Under his companions' shocked gazes, he explained, "Isn't that great? We don't have to do anything at all. We just read a few books, answer a few questions, and get credits."
"Sorry, I don't want to disappoint you, but!" Having heard Amadeus's explanation, the upperclassman clearly showed her displeasure. "You still have to pass an entry test. For example: a wealthy man who loved code games died unexpectedly. His will was locked in a five-digit safe, but nobody knows the combination. The only thing on top of the safe was a calendar with March fifteenth circled..."
"31415." Peter and Amadeus answered in unison.
"March fifteenth. Oh, Pi Day!" Harry understood after thinking for only a second, looking at Peter and Amadeus. "You two reacted really fast."
Yes, across the Pacific it might have been 12315, but this was America, so it could only be Pi Day.
"Alright, I think all three of you can join the Detective Agency. Here's our club registration form. Fill it out, and when you get to the clubroom, just say Jessica sent you. I'm the president."
The three silently nodded, then only began discussing it after walking some distance away.
"The club president personally recruiting people?" Harry muttered. "Is this club reliable?"
Peter did know of a detective named Jessica Jones, but unfortunately, she should not have been a high school student by now.
The three kept walking when Peter suddenly stopped in front of a large screen. It displayed various part-time jobs at Midtown High, and one listing for maintaining the Daily Bugle's website caught his attention.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"Nothing." Peter looked away. "I just saw something interesting."
PS: In Earth-616, Jessica Jones really was Peter Parker's high school classmate, but this novel's universe was not.
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