Leo's POV
How does Peter do it? I'm exhausted after just one night.
Last night's stakeout really took it out of me. I only got around four hours of sleep. The worst part? It's Monday, so I couldn't even sleep in and regain my energy.
"Leo!" Peter ran up beside me, coffee in hand.
"Sup, Pete. Mind if I have some?" Normally I don't drink the stuff, but I'm exhausted.
"Uh, sure," Peter responded, sounding unsure.
Weird reaction, but it's probably nothing. I took a sip, only to immediately hand it back. Now I remember why I don't drink coffee, I can't stand the bitter taste.
Peter chuckled as he saw my face squirm. "Not a coffee person?"
"Nope." And I'll never be one.
Peter took a sip. "You'll get used to it, or at least I've been told." He shook his head. "But that's not important right now. What are we going to do?"
I raised a brow in confusion. "About what?"
"About Flash." Peter was acting like we're about to face the Hulk. "He's probably still upset about Friday."
"Heh, I'm not worried about him." Why would I be? He's just some jock, and I know jiu-jitsu.
"I'm not worried about him; I can take him in a fight." There's a reason Flash only bullies the scrawny, no offense Pete.
Peter looked unimpressed. "Dude, he's three times your—" He trailed off, staring at me. "Wait a second." He started examining my body.
"Something wrong?" Crap, already?
"Did you get taller? Have you been working out?" Peter scanned me again.
Guess my hoodie did nothing to hide my new physique.
While the changes to my body were minor, the speed of change was noticeable. In one weekend, I grew a couple of inches, and my arms tripled in size.
"I've been working out more, maybe it's starting to have an effect." Hopefully, he believes my excuse.
"Makes sense, I guess." It didn't sound like he entirely believed me.
"Hey, Leoser!" Flash yelled what he assumed was a good insult.
"Oh no, it's Flash." Peter tried to pull me away, and surprisingly, he was succeeding.
With how weak he acts in gym class, it's easy to forget he's capable of ripping somebody's arm off.
"Pete, trust me." Peter stopped. "I can handle this." Despite his unease, Peter released my arm.
"You think you can just trip me and get away with it?" Flash slammed his fist into his palm. "There's nowhere to run this time. I'm gonna beat you till—" I walked past him.
Everybody just stared in confusion, they were expecting a fight.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" He grabbed my shoulder, prepared to pull me back and sock me in the face.
Too bad for him, I know freakin' jiu-jitsu. In an instant, I used a reverse elbow strike. Flash gasped as I hit the side of his ribs, a painful wheeze escaping his mouth. With a quick follow-up, I grabbed his wrist and swerved behind him.
Flash let out a pained yelp as I twisted his arm. I followed it up with a kick to the knee, forcing him to kneel on the ground.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Flash yelped in pain.
"Here's what's going to happen, Flash. You're going to leave me and my friends alone. If you don't, I'll snap your arm so many times your football career will be over in an instant." My grip on his wrist tightened.
"Um, Leo," Peter tried to cut in, but I ignored him.
"If you think about telling the teacher, well. I'm pretty sure Ned and Peter will back me up, and who do you think they'll believe? A starter player, or three honor students with perfect records?" With a quick shove, I threw him to the ground.
Flash struggled to get back up, clutching his arm. "You piece of—" He froze.
It worried me a bit, but Dexter's traits were surprisingly useful. "What? Finish the sentence. I'm a piece of what?" My face was devoid of all emotion, it gave off an eerie and unsettling energy
Flash looked terrified, just what I wanted. "Fuck this." He stumbled away.
With a quick glance around, I noticed the uneasy looks everyone was giving me.
Did I go too far? … Nah.
"Let's go, Pete. Ned's probably waiting for us."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Peter responded uneasily.
Peter's POV
What the hell was that?
Leo's always been a little different, but I've never seen him act like that.
He almost broke Flash's arm, I'll be the first to admit. I don't like Flash, buteI think he went a little too far. The way Leo looked, it was terrifying. That calm and empty expression on his face, he's different. I'm not sure why, but it makes me feel uneasy for some reason.
Maybe I'm just overthinking, hopefully it's just a one-time thing.
As we entered the classroom, I noticed Ned hovering around MJ. Watching a video on MJ's phone.
Hmm, I wonder what's so interesting.
"Watcha watching?" Leo asked.
"Fucking MRD," MJ responded , clear disdain in her voice.
The MRD, the Mutant Response Division, or as Uncle Ben used to call them, a corrupt, rotten, xenophobic group of mercenaries.
Before Uncle Ben passed away, he used to rant about the injustice of it all. Arresting people for something they couldn't control, no trial, not even a DNA test to prove they were mutants.
It's messed up, but there isn't much I can do. Sure, I'm stronger, faster, and more agile, but I'm not bulletproof. I'll save any mutant I can, but I can't rescue them all.
Biologically, I'm not a mutant. I'm not even sure what I am. The spider bite mutated my DNA, but that doesn't matter. Every criminal I've taken down has already called me a mutant or a freak. Probably the only reason I haven't shown up in the news yet, a 'mutant' vigilante probably wouldn't be a good look.
"What a bunch of assholes." I flinched at Leo's curse.
In my defense, I was raised by an elderly aunt and uncle. The first time I heard a curse word was in middle school, and Aunt May threatened to wash my mouth out with soap after I repeated it at home.
"Ditto. I still can't understand how this is a thing. They're taking people from their homes and locking them up in facilities. It's like—like…" MJ struggled to find the right word. "It's like they're modern Nazis."
"Whoa, can we throw that accusation around?" Ned asked.
"Yep," Leo answered nonchalantly. "Hell, depending on perspective, they might be worse. Right now, they're probably in a facility dissecting a mutant like a frog."
Ned flinched at Leo's explanation. "Fair point." He let out a tired sigh. "The world is seriously messed up."
"Alright, everybody," Mr. Harrington walked through the door. "I have good news, we have a group project."
In perfect sync, the class let out an exasperated groan.
Leo's POV
"Ugh." Group projects are the worst.
"I've assigned everybody a partner at random, and no. You can't trade or request a new partner," Mr. Harrington explained.
Damn.
Mr. Harrington began to list off random students and their partners. Most of them I ignored, but a few of them caught my attention.
"Peter Parker and Ned Leeds." Peter and Ned high-fived at their luck.
"Michelle Jones and Harry Osborn." Harry gave MJ a glance but quickly ignored her, turning back to look out the window.
MJ let out a sigh, probably assuming that working with Harry was going to be a drag.
"Leo Faith and Gwen Stacy." Now that's interesting.
Gwen was the shy, geeky girl, a massive difference from her punk rock style in Spider-Verse.
While we're aware of each other, I wouldn't call us friends. Either way, it made me curious. In some realities, she ends up as Peter's girlfriend… but we all know how that ends.
Which reminds me, I need to make sure Harry or Norman don't become the Goblin in this universe.
There's also the chance she could become this world's Spider-Gwen — aka Ghost-Spider. For now though, I'll just have to wait and see. That's the issue with the multiverse, you have no idea what's possible or impossible.
"So, any suggestions?" Gwen and I decided to discuss our idea in the library.
Gwen rubbed her wrist, she seemed nervous for some reason. She's not a very interactive person from what I can recall; maybe this version of her has social anxiety?
"I'm not sure, how about you?" she asked back.
Mr. Harrington doesn't like to limit us, so he gave us a pretty open concept: design and, if possible, construct something that explores and represents the laws of motion.
"Hmm." My hand tapped against the table in a steady, repetitive motion. "How about we construct a propulsion system, something that moves because of a motion. Like some sort of handcar, basically something that would require a gear system."
Gwen considered the idea. "While interesting, it's a simple idea that isn't easy to build. It'd probably take too long , and wouldn't be worth that much grade-wise."
"I could probably build it, but you're right about everything else. It's too simple. Mr. Harrington will probably give extra points for the effort, though."
An empty silence filled the room. The faint ticking of the grand wooden clock echoed through the library.
Kind of ironic, the library was so quiet that the only noise came from the library's signature clock.
Wait… there's an idea.
"I've got something! Pass me a piece of paper and a pen."
My outburst startled Gwen, but she still handed them over.
While my art skills weren't the best, they were good enough. "Alright, hear me out… we make a clock."
"A clock?" Gwen raised a brow.
"A weighted clock, to be precise — one of those that use counterweights and stuff to move gears and junk." My explanation was as graceful as it was descriptive.
"That's actually a pretty good idea, but we can't build something like that, not within our deadline at least." Gwen explained.
A smirk formed across my face. "For most people, that's true. Not for me, though. You may not know this, but I'm a master craftsman."
Well, technically Ron Swanson is a master craftsman, I just have his skill.
"Really?" Gwen seemed a little skeptical but tried not to show it.
"Yep. We can divide up the work like this: you design it, and I'll build it. Heck, I'll even start on the frame today."
Gwen hesitated but eventually relented. "If you say so. I'll make a rough sketch sometime this week. Do you have an email or something I can message you at?"
Email? Who uses email for a group project?
"I don't really read my email. I'll just give you my number."
"Oh, okay." She rubbed the back of her neck.
We briefly switched phones, adding each other's numbers to our contacts. After adding my number, Gwen's phone dinged in my hand.
Dad:I'm outside.
She got a message. "It's your dad."
Gwen quickly read it, a sudden look of realization appeared on her face. "Oh no, I forgot I have a doctor's appointment today!"
She packed up her stuff. "I'll talk to you later, bye!" She handed me back my phone and quickly ran off.
The phone was still open to her incomplete contact, it had her number and name, but it wasn't saved yet. With a quick tap, Gwen Stacy's number was saved in my phone. Something that most men would have killed for, we've seen the internet.
Instantly, a ding came from the Gacha.
[You have befriended Gwen Stacy. 25 XP has been earned.]
Oh. A smile crept onto my face.
After all this time, I've finally figured out how to grind.