The remnants of the Grass Stain Gang were so frightened they could barely hold on to their drugs. Razor's corpse was still smoking, and the guns were already trained on them.
The Mexican man in a tailored suit crouched down and spat in Razor's face. "Remember next time, greed can get you killed."
He stood and swept his gaze over the trembling crowd. His voice was quiet, but carried an overwhelming pressure. "Now, which of you can still call the shots?"
The crowd stayed deathly silent for several seconds before a lackey with dyed blond hair forced himself to shuffle half a step forward, his voice shaking uncontrollably. "M-me."
"Good." The man straightened his tie. "Same time next week. Deliver on schedule. If anything goes wrong, you'll end up just like him."
Like the gang's remnants, Peter quickly left the warehouse.
He sat on the warehouse roof, watching the playback on his camera, utterly shocked. They had killed someone in the street, cold and merciless.
Peter pulled down his mask and couldn't help bending his head to dry-heave. He had never been able to stomach this kind of gore before, let alone seeing a mangled corpse with his own eyes.
But now he had to think. What should he do with this footage? Keep it? Destroy it? Could it be useful? He didn't know. But he understood one thing now: the world he was trying to challenge was cruel. One wrong step, and the people he loved could die.
He hurried home as fast as he could. As he passed through the woods, trying to sneak into the yard, he saw Harry standing outside Mary Jane's window. Mary's eyes were red, and her window was open. Clearly, she had sneaked out to meet him.
"What's so wrong with me?" Harry sounded as though he were gritting his teeth. "Why won't you be with me?"
Mary lowered her head, her voice soft. "Harry, I've told you. I only see you as a friend. I don't feel that way about you."
"You don't feel that way?" Harry scoffed, his tone full of mockery. "Am I not rich enough for you, or not handsome enough?"
"That's not it! Can you please stop thinking like that?" Mary looked up anxiously to explain, but Harry cut her off harshly before she could finish.
"Is it because of Peter Parker?"
The moment he said that, Mary froze.
Peter was stunned behind the tree too, his mind buzzing. ??? What the hell does this have to do with me? How did I get dragged into this conversation?
Harry stared hard at her face, his voice very low. "Is it? You like him, and that's why you turned me down?"
"No!" Mary immediately shook her head. "Peter and I are just friends! I just... I just think I was too mean to him before, and I feel a little guilty."
"Guilty?" Harry laughed, the sound grating. "So basically, you pity him, right?"
Mary pressed her lips together, hesitated for a few seconds, then gave a slight nod. "...Yeah."
Behind the tree, Peter rolled his eyes.
Pity me?
Who does she think needs her pity? Does she really think she's some kind of saint?
With his answer, the last trace of patience vanished from Harry's face. He stared at Mary for several seconds, viciously spat, "You really don't know what's good for you," then turned and climbed into his car. The engine roared, and the car shot forward.
Behind him, Peter silently grumbled, Driving that fast, you'd better not end up headfirst in a ditch. I'd get blamed for that too.
Peter circled back through the woods, climbed a tree to get home, took a hot shower, balled up his dusty clothes and stuffed them under the bed, then lay down and stared blankly at the ceiling.
Kingpin wanted the Grass Stain Gang to keep dealing drugs, while the Grass Stain Gang wanted to escape Kingpin's control. A gang war was inevitable, and a lot of people would die. How could he defuse it?
When Peter got to school the next day, he immediately noticed something was off.
Everyone in the hallway was staring at him. He stared back until they guiltily looked away.
He reached his locker to get his books for first period when his Spider-Sense suddenly screamed a warning. He immediately ducked, and a basketball skimmed his scalp, slammed into the locker door, and bounced away.
He turned to see Flash and Harry staring at him in astonishment. Clearly, Flash had thrown the ball.
The hallway fell quiet. Everyone was watching the show.
"My hand slipped." Flash recovered and shrugged, looking completely unconcerned.
Peter stared at him and sneered. "Your hand slipped? If you can't even hold on to a ball, you should quit the football team now, before you start handing the other team points."
With that, he opened his locker, took out his books, and turned to leave.
"Parker! Get back here!" Flash's face flushed bright red as he roared and started after him.
"Forget it." Harry reached out to stop him, a sneer curling his lips. "Why get worked up over him? All he can do is run his mouth. When it comes to an actual fight, he runs faster than anyone."
During first period, Peter could still feel the strange looks around him. Even Mary Jane seemed to have something to say but held back. He had no idea what was going on.
If he had already put on the red-and-blue suit, he might have paranoid suspicions that his secret was out. But what was this supposed to be?
By lunchtime, those looks were driving him crazy. He slipped into the chemistry lab to hide, only to open the door and discover someone was already inside.
It was Reggie, the chubby boy who, like him, was one of the school's "outcasts." He didn't talk much, but his grades were good.
"Reggie." Peter greeted him.
"Hey, Peter." Reggie looked up and smiled at him, then lowered his head and went back to his problems.
The lab was quiet. Peter sat on the other side, but still felt stifled. After hesitating for a long while, he finally spoke.
"Reggie, can I ask you something?"
"Hmm? Go ahead."
"Have you noticed... everyone acting weird today? Always staring at me?" Peter rubbed his nose. "Or has something sprouted on my face lately?"
Reggie stopped writing, looked up at him for a couple of seconds, and nodded. "Oh, that. They're all saying you and Mary are together."
Peter said, "...Huh?"
"Harry's been telling everyone." Reggie pushed up his glasses. "He says Mary rejected him for you, and then you rejected Mary too, saying... saying you don't date idiots."
Peter was dumbfounded.
*???*
When the hell did I ever say that?
"Just because of that?" He looked incredulous.
"What else?" Reggie shrugged. "You don't usually talk to anyone, and you know the answer to every question the teachers ask. Sometimes even the teachers can't answer your questions. Everyone thinks you're too smart, and they're a little... scared of you. Nobody wants to hang out with you anyway, so it's hardly surprising they'd spread a few rumors."
Peter opened his mouth but couldn't get a word out for a long while.
Fine. So the original owner's "loner top student" image really has sunk in.
If there were someone in his class who went everywhere alone and outclassed everyone in intelligence, he would have kept his distance too. If Bruce Wayne sat next to him, he wouldn't even have dared breathe too loudly.
"Thanks, Reggie." He sighed, got up, and left the lab.
As soon as he stepped outside, he came face-to-face with Mary Jane and Liz.
The moment Liz saw him, her face fell, and her gaze turned sharp as knives.
"Peter, we need to talk to you," Mary Jane spoke first, looking a little awkward.
"Oh, sure. What is it?" Peter leaned against the wall, looking indifferent.
"It's... Harry..." Mary Jane bit her lip. "He's been telling people at school nonsense about us dating. I'm sorry for the trouble."
Peter widened his eyes in feigned surprise. "Huh? Seriously? That's going too far!"
Mary Jane paused and looked at him. "You... you're doing that on purpose, aren't you?"
Peter snorted with laughter. "What else?"
"How can you still be joking at a time like this?" Liz couldn't hold back any longer, frowning as she spoke. "Harry's furious right now. He might come after you! He might even get the football team to corner you!"
"Corner me?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "It's fine. I'm a fast runner. They can't catch me."
He turned to Mary Jane, his tone softening a little. "Come on, it's no big deal. I haven't taken it to heart. Don't worry too much about it either. Once people stop talking about it, it'll blow over."
Without waiting for either of them to say anything else, he waved and left.
School bullying? School tough guys cornering people?
Honestly, Peter didn't think much of it.
If Harry behaved himself, they could simply stay out of each other's way. Unless he got himself a glider someday, put on the Green Goblin mask, and injected himself with a human enhancement serum, he really wasn't worth Peter's attention.
Compared to taking down the Grass Stain Gang, this little school drama was nothing but children playing house.
He walked up to his locker, intending to put back the books he didn't need.
The moment his fingers touched the handle, his Spider-Sense went off again.
Peter reacted extremely quickly, abruptly stepping back.
With a hiss, a huge mass of white foam sprayed through the gap in the locker door, splattering all over the floor.
"Well, Parker, lucky you. You even dodged that."
Harry strolled over from the side, his arms folded and a gloating smile on his face.
Peter looked at the locker full of foam, then at him.
"Did you see who did it?" he asked evenly.
Harry spread his hands, looking innocent. "Nope. I just got here and saw it go off."
"Really." Peter's gaze turned cold.
He wasted no more words on Harry. Raising his hand, he slammed the locker shut with a bang, squeezing foam out through the gaps and onto the floor.
Peter turned and walked away, his retreating figure betraying no particular emotion.
But he had already changed his mind.
Fine.
I wasn't going to stoop to your level.
But since you insist on asking for trouble, it looks like I'll have to get a little serious and teach you how to behave.