After a while of tallying scores to determine the final rankings, the school called Harry and the representatives from the other schools up to the stage.
And of course, topping the list was our school.
Second place went to Xavier's school, represented by Scott, and third was Teto's school. Those were the top three.
The moment Harry, Scott, and Teto stepped onto the podium, the principal of our school—the one who organized this whole Sports Festival and invited the other schools—would personally present the medals.
To be honest, almost no one in our school had ever seen the principal's face before, so I was really curious who it was.
Hope it's a good person.
Right after that, the principal finally appeared.
[Oh wow]
Even Nya was shocked this time. (Yeah, that sounds totally fake.)
And me?
"…What?" My jaw practically hit the floor when I saw our principal.
The guy was massive, built like a brick wall, completely bald and shiny on top, wearing a white suit that made him look like some kind of angel.
It was Lex Lu—no, wait… it was Kingpin.
…KINGPIN??? THAT PSYCHOPATH?!
From what I remember (actually, it's the memories Nya gave me), Kingpin is the kind of guy who'll do absolutely anything to achieve his goals.
That means he'd throw away his own family in a heartbeat if they ever got in his way.
…Well, except in that one universe where he actually loved his family—the same universe where the Black Spider-Man (Miles Morales) replaced that universe's version of me.
"Of all Spider-Man's enemies, this guy is just as bad as Green Goblin!" Cold sweat started pouring down my back.
After all, this is the bastard who, even while in prison, ordered the hit on Aunt May—the whole reason the One More Day event even happened!
"No no, calm down, Peter. If Doctor Octopus can be a good guy in this world… maybe Kingpin is too?"
"Alright everyone, I won't waste time with speeches—I'll just hand out the medals real quick. I'm kinda busy with… uh, selling dr—I mean, busy with work. Being the principal and all, gotta hurry, ahaha," Kingpin said completely deadpan.
"This school is cooked," I facepalmed. Looks like confronting this guy is inevitable sooner or later.
"What's wrong?" Gwen scratched her head, looking at me.
"Nothing, just watch the medal ceremony."
Kingpin scanned the crowd below, then smirked.
"Oya oya? I didn't expect Tony Stark to show up. What an honor. Would you mind coming up on stage for a quick chat?"
"Ehh, I'm good. I came to watch, not to discuss business partnerships," Tony waved him off casually.
"Fine, fine. Still, thank you for visiting my school. Now everyone please wait—the other principal wants to personally award his own students too."
"Didn't you just say you were in a rush?" literally everyone thought at the same time.
Right after that, a man in a wheelchair was pushed onto the stage by a female student.
Oh, it's Professor X. Of course—he treats every mutant at his school like family.
"First of all, thank you, Principal Wilson, for inviting our school. That's extremely rare, considering we're mutants. I will never forget your kindness," Professor X said calmly, kindly, and gently.
"Ayy," Kingpin tilted his chin up, looking incredibly smug.
…No wonder he's on speaking terms with Tony Stark.
[Ugh, I hate him]
"What now?"
[He's reading everyone's minds right now—including yours. Lucky for you, I'm blocking him.]
"And to the students of Xavier's school: even if you lost, you all did your best. There's always next time, and I will always be proud of you."
"Okay, you talk too much—just hand out the medals already!" Kingpin interrupted.
Someone brought up the medal box. Kingpin grabbed the bronze medal and hung it around Teto's neck.
"Anything you wanna say?"
"I'd rather have a baguette."
"Then go buy one yourself? I asked if you had something to say, not to make requests."
Bro, how did this guy even become principal?? Bribery??
Professor X gently placed the silver medal on Scott and smiled warmly.
"You did great, don't blame yourself, okay?"
"I'm not blaming myself. I lost fair and square," Scott replied confidently, totally fine with the result.
"That's good to hear."
Finally, Kingpin went to Harry and put the gold medal around his neck.
"Alright my boi! Got anything to say? Say it loud!"
"Really? I can say whatever I want to the whole school?"
"Yeah, you won gold and you're my student—of course you can!"
"Awesome!"
Harry excitedly looked around the crowd, clearly searching for someone.
But after a while, his excited expression slowly turned… kind of sad and disappointed.
"Huh? What's wrong?" I raised an eyebrow at Harry.
[Guess who he was hoping to see the most?]
"…Ahh, I know who it is."
"Nothing to say?" Kingpin asked Harry.
"Oh right, ahem…"
Harry took the microphone, stepped forward, looked at everyone, and took a deep breath.
Yep, this is gonna be loud—better cover my ears just in case.
"THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR WORKING TOGETHER SO I COULD STAND HERE AS NUMBER ONE! ESPECIALLY PETER— I LOVE YOU MAN! AND GWEN— GIRL, YOU SCARE ME! AND DAD… I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE HERE OR WATCHING, BUT I HOPE YOU CAN HEAR THIS— I DID IT!!"
"Ouch, my ears," Kingpin winced, snatching the mic back from Harry.
"Alright, you're done. Get off the stage—I'm busy as hell."
Wow, what a legendary principal.
"Oh yeah, everyone who participated in today's Sports Festival, head down to the cafeteria. Our top-tier chefs will cook you a free all-you-can-eat meal. Non-participants… well, you gotta pay, duh."
…Actually, the principal's kinda nice?
"Alright, bye!"
And just like that, he walked off, leaving Professor X on stage and everyone else dumbfounded.
"Sooo… what now?" Gwen looked at me.
"Cafeteria. I'm starving."
And that's how the Sports Festival ended… just like that.