New York
August 17, 06:30 EDT
BE-
Peter turned off the alarm by his bedside before it could finish its first ring. He had been staring at the clock and waiting for it to go off for a few minutes. He had always been the type to wake up before any alarm he had set, and along with the fact that it was his first day of high school, in both lives, he was admittedly a little nervous and unable to sleep.
'Good thing I managed to get my strength under control or I would've smashed that clock and my bedside table.' he thought as he got ready.
Within the past four days, Peter's main focus had been getting his strength under control, and he had accomplished that to a satisfactory degree. Unfortunately, he had to skip out on his boxing lessons on Saturday because he wasn't satisfied with his progress at that point, but with it under control, he would be able to attend both Dragon's and Grant's lessons.
He was still worried that Dragon, and Grant as well, for that matter, might discover his secret or worse, tell his parents, but the lessons were too valuable to pass up, especially now that he had some actual use for them. The only thing he could do was take it as it came.
On the heroic side of things, every free second he had was spent swinging around the city and helping out where he could. He had stopped quite a few muggings, three bank robberies, a couple of grand theft autos, some drug deals, one kidnapping, and an escaped zoo animal.
Naturally, doing so much for the city had caused him to gain some notoriety, both good and bad. The good notoriety was obviously from those whom he had helped and those who thought he was doing a good thing for the city; they were the majority. The bad notoriety was from those who thought he was more nuisance than a helper, which did include many police officers.
He expected to receive some hate, after all, even Batman and Superman had their critics, and they were actually saving the world on the regular, so it didn't bother him too much. Looking at it from a different perspective, he could somewhat understand why his actions bothered the police so much, since it seemed like he was doing their job for them and leaving them to clean up the mess. As for regular people who didn't like him, no one was without their critics.
All in all, it had been a productive and fulfilling week as Spider-Man, but it was time for Peter Parker.
Showered and changed, he picked up his backpack and headed downstairs to eat some breakfast. As he entered the kitchen saw that his family was already seated and eating, including Dexter, who had a plate of his own on the table.
Dexter had quickly become an important member of the family. Teresa, in particular, had become quite enamored with Dexter, going so far as to use her allowance to buy him toys and clothes. Even Mary, who, while not against keeping Dexter per se, was not super into the idea either, had become enamored with Dexter.
It wasn't hard for Dexter to impress them, what with him being much more intelligent than a normal cat, and with his past experience with an owner, he was able to quickly bring them under his spell. But much to Teresa's chagrin, Dexter chose to sleep with Peter in his bed no matter what methods she used to coax him to her room, though Dexter spent more time with her during the day to make up for it.
As for Peter's promise to Dexter to solve the murder of his previous owner, there had been no sign of the culprit. No home invasions with similar MOs had occurred, leaving Peter with only the red substance as his clue. To his surprise, when he analyzed the substance, he discovered it was very similar to his web fluid. There were some differences between the two, but their overall purpose was the same. That little revelation also answered the question as to why the police hadn't caught the culprit yet. He was using web fluid to commit his crimes, making him practically uncatchable.
That fact only made Peter's goal to catch him that much more urgent. Whenever there was a report about a home invasion or burglary on the police scanners, Peter made his way there to check out the scene, hoping to find another lead. Unfortunately, nothing had come of it; likely the culprit was lying low, waiting for the heat to die down. Still, Peter was ready to catch them should they ever appear, both for Dexter's sake and the city.
"Morning, everybody." he said, sitting at the table and scooping food onto his plate.
They returned the greeting, and he noticed that the least amount of enthusiasm came from Teresa.
"Not excited for school, Teri?" he asked, smiling since he knew the answer.
"It's not fair. It's like I blinked and summer break was over." she said, picking at her food.
"I for one am glad." said Mary, looking happy as can be. "I'll have the house to myself again. I can finally focus on my writing."
Mary was a successful romance novelist, having been published a few times. Nothing had blown up and taken the literary world by storm, but she had a loyal following, and her books sold well enough for her to be called successful. Peter had thought about slipping her the idea for Game of Thrones, but unfortunately, he did not know a thing about the plot except that there were dragons, knights, and incest.
"At least Zatanna will be happy. She loves your books." said Teri.
"Really?" asked Mary, smiling. "I never knew."
"She loves all that lovey-dovey stuff. Thinks a knight in shining armor is going to save her and whisk her away." she said, looking at Peter, who was stuffing his face. "Too bad her crush is as dense as can be."
"Like father, like son." said Mary, looking at Richard similarly stuffing his face.
"Huh?" said both father and son, mouth full of eggs.
"Sigh."
~
Peter walked along with the throngs of students, looking at the school he would attend for the next four years, Bradley High School, located in Upper Manhattan. As a genius, he could enroll in any school in New York he wanted, public or private, but he decided to attend Bradley because it was public, quite reputable, and a little ways away from his old haunt.
He chose to go to a school farther away from his home because he wanted to have a fresh start with people who didn't already think of him as the guy with no friends. That's not to say he would change his personality to fit in, just that he would try to make friends.
'First day of school. You got this, Peter. Just yesterday, you were swinging around the city hundreds of miles per hour and dodging bullets from bank robbers. Compared to that, this is nothing. Walk in the park.' he thought, mentally hyping himself up and taking a deep breath as he entered the building.
The exterior of the building was as typical of a school in New York as there could be, and the inside wasn't any different. Fluorescent bulbs lit up the hallway as students hung around the red lockers lining the hallways, some decorated, others vandalized.
He had memorized his schedule and the layout of the school beforehand, so he knew where he needed to go, but first, he needed to find his locker to put his things away. He dodged students running and skating in the halls, balls being thrown around, as he finally found his locker. Unfortunately, it was being used by a couple making out.
"Excuse me." he said to them, only to be ignored as they continued. "Excuse me."
He was about to say something else, but before he could, a fist banged against the lockers, scaring the couple and causing them to look angrily at who interrupted them.
"You're blocking my locker." said the culprit, a tall, muscular white guy with short black hair standing at around 6' (183 cm).
Looking up at the tall culprit, the guy's anger disappeared. "Tch. Whatever." He said as he and the girl walked away.
"Appreciate the interference." said Peter. "Felt kind of awkward breaking up their make-out session."
"Sure." said the guy, opening his locker, putting his stuff in, and walking away.
'Looks like a football player.' thought Peter, curiously, before he similarly put his stuff away and walked to his class.
His first period was history, something he had little interest in, since his intelligence was more inclined toward the STEM fields. That didn't mean he had bad grades in non-STEM classes, but he just found them a little dull.
Walking into his class, which was as typical as a classroom could be, he saw that his locker neighbor was in his class, and the seat next to him was the only one available. As he went to sit down, he saw a group of nerdier boys watching a video of him, or more precisely, Spider-Man.
"Extraordinary velocity is a function of both mass and acceleration."
"Come on, you know better than anyone that the weight on any pendulum has no effect on speed."
"It doesn't affect frequency, but it's totally a factor in momentum."
He smiled hearing their discussion as he sat down; it reminded him of a very similar scene in the second Amazing Spider-Man. He turned to his right and saw that his locker neighbor was also looking at him.
"What are the chances?" said Peter, smiling. "Peter Parker, by the way."
"Sup. Ronald Raymond. Just call me Ronnie."
"Nice to meet you. So, are you new here?" asked Peter.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" asked a surprised Ronnie.
"Football player?"
"Yeah..." he said, looking a little creeped out, which made Peter laugh.
"Sorry. Just guessed. You look athletic but you're not hanging out with the other athletes." said Peter, motioning toward the back where a group of four jocks were. "So I assumed you were new."
"Oh." he said, looking not creeped out anymore but impressed. "Just moved from Montana. Haven't had a chance to try out for the football team."
"Montana? That's a big change. Got tired of the smell of methane and decided to trade up for the smell of garbage?" joked Peter.
"Haha. Nah, my dad's a journalist. Used to live in Manhattan when I was young, but we moved after my mom died. Just decided to move back this summer." he explained.
"Sorry to hear that." said Peter, expressing his condolences.
"Appreciate it."
Before they could keep talking, the bell rang and the teacher walked into class. He was a tall, muscular, tanned man with black hair set in a ponytail, wearing a white button-up and black slacks with black dress shoes. Everyone shuffled into their seats and looked forward, some already looking bored out of their mind.
"Morning." he said, to which he received a smattering of responses. "My name is John Ravenhair, and I will be your history teacher. Let's start with introductions, shall we? Say your name and two things you like."
The response to that was audible groaning from most of the class, but one by one, everyone introduced themselves and said two things they like. To get it over and done with, most people said very basic things about their interests, like movies and music.
"Next." said Mr. Ravenhair, as the student in front of Peter sat down.
"I'm Peter Parker. I like photography and skating." he said before sitting down.
"Next."
"The name's Clifford Carmichael. I already forgot all of your names, but if I were you, I'd remember mine. I'm the smartest student in this school, definitely smarter than all of you, and one day I'll be a genius, rich billionaire like Lex Luthor, but better." arrogantly said Clifford, a short, scraggly guy with curly ear-length hair and a patchy goatee, before sitting down.
"For the smartest student in school, you don't seem to be able to follow directions." said Mr. Ravenhair, causing a lot of the students to laugh. "Next."
Peter didn't laugh, but he did grin at the comment. He also heard Clifford curse the teacher under his breath while his face was flushed from embarrassment. Everyone else's introduction was normal and quickly done with.
"Very good. It's nice to meet you all. I hope my lessons are engaging enough to keep you awake. Let's begin."
~
RING RING RING
"I'll see you all tomorrow."
Before the teacher could even finish those words, nearly half of the students were out the door, happy that the school day was over.
'Day one, done. Not bad.' thought Peter as he took his stuff out of his locker.
The first day of school was uneventful, and Peter was okay with that. He enjoyed the mundanity of school as much as he enjoyed the high-octane activities of Spider-Man. It was a nice contrast that let him appreciate the good parts of both things.
"You trying out for any sports?" asked Ronnie, snapping him out of his thoughts, as he too was taking stuff out of his locker.
He and Ronnie had quickly become friends since they were both new to the school, which meant they knew no one, and they had three classes and lunch together.
"Nah, sports aren't really my thing." said Peter.
He had already decided that he wouldn't be joining any sports because it wouldn't be fair to the others. That and he didn't have much interest in doing so or taking time away from being Spider-Man.
"Are you joining the photography club then? Since you like photography."
"Definitely thinking about it, but I want to check it out first before I decide." said Peter, wanting to improve his photography skills.
"Sounds good. I got football tryouts, so I'll see you tomorrow." he said, closing his locker and fist-bumping Peter.
"Good luck."
Stuff in hand, he made his way to the second floor where the classroom where the photography club met was located. He entered the classroom and saw two people in the room. One was an average-height blonde girl talking to a taller, black-haired Asian girl with a camera around her neck. The black-haired girl looked up, her eyes lighting up in excitement as she saw him.
"Are you here to join?!" she asked.
"Thinking about it." replied Peter.
"Well, come in and I'll clear any doubts you may have!" she said, walking up to shake his hand. "I'm Linda Park, President of the Photography Club and investigative journalist for the school paper."
"Peter Parker. Nice to meet you."
"Peter Parker. Even your name sounds like a photographer." she said, really trying to sell him on the club.
"How so?" he asked, with a wry smile.
"Meh, don't worry about that right now. Let me introduce you to another prospective member." she said, trying to drag him before realizing she couldn't. "Whoa. Aren't you sturdy?"
"Just some pushups." he said, moving to where the other girl was.
"Anyway, this is June. June Moone." said Linda, pointing at the blonde who shyly waved. "She's a freshman interested in photography and wants to learn."
"Nice to meet you, June." said Peter, waving at June.
"So, are you a newbie? Or have you used a camera before?" asked Linda.
"No, I'm proficient."
"Good. That means I can pair you up with June so you can show her the ropes."
"Y-you don't have to." said June, blushing a little.
"I'd be more than happy to, but like I said, I'm not sure if I want to join yet. What does the photography club do exactly?" Peter asked.
"We take pictures of school events, sports matches, things like that for the Yearbook. We also do club stuff like galleries for fundraising and just share photos we like. Nothing too serious." explained Linda. "We don't assign anything to those who don't want to do it, so if you don't want to participate in taking pictures for the school events, you don't have to."
'That's good to hear. Would hate to have to go to football games and take pictures when I could be out swinging around the city.' thought Peter. 'Not like I won't ever do it though.'
"So what do you think? You joining?" she asked.
"Sure, sounds like fun."
"Alright!" she said, clapping her hands. "Clubs officially start next week, so I'll see you two then."
"See you next week, Madam President. June." said Peter, waving bye as he left.
~
Peter entered the kitchen, having swung home while stopping a few crimes on the way.
"How was your first day of school?" asked Mary as she prepared dinner. "Make any new friends?"
"School was school, but I did make a friend. Or at least, started making one." said Peter as he poured himself a cup of water.
"Oh, yeah? What's their name?"
"Ronnie. He and his dad just moved to the city from Montana. We have a few classes together, and we sort of hit it off." explained Peter.
"That's good to hear. Dinner's almost ready, so go wash up."
As Peter was about to go wash up, Richard walked into the kitchen, ending a call with a grave face.
"Something wrong, Dad?" Peter asked, causing Mary to turn around.
"Richard?"
"There was an accident in one of the labs." said Richard, sitting down and taking off his glasses to massage the bridge of his nose. "Dr. Crystal Frost was found inside the Thermafrost Freezer. She's dead."
~~~~~
AN
As of now, I'm unsure if Ronnie will become Firestorm. I'm leaning towards yes, but that is still up in the air.
The same for June, whether she will become Enchantress or not; I'm undecided.
After the Killer Frost "arc", I'm planning on a timeskip of a year to get to the Young Justice of it all. The plan is for his superhero career to really take off after Season 1 canon. That's when more of his rogues/villains will start to appear. Before then, he'll only be dealing with normal crime, except for Killer Frost.