Every school year, Homecoming came with a whole set of events. The main celebration usually happened over the weekend, but Monday through Friday of that week were treated as warm-up theme days. Each day had its own theme, and students were expected to decorate the school, dress accordingly, and take part in little activities like signature walls or graffiti boards. Friday meant the Homecoming football game, and Saturday meant the Homecoming dance. Officially, all of it was supposed to help freshmen fit in and give returning students a stronger sense of belonging.
In practice, it all just turned into an excuse to have fun.
"It's not like I was trying to stand out by not dressing up. I just had no idea who to go as. You know what happens when I search female superheroes or villains online? Half those outfits are ridiculous. Forget my dad, I can't stand them either."
As they walked, Gwen kept complaining about how revealing most female superhero costumes were. Just looking at those outfits was enough to guarantee Captain Stacy would never spend money on a cosplay costume for her.
She and Peter were among the few people on campus who still looked mostly normal. The only difference was that Peter's character wore ordinary clothes anyway, while Gwen just straight-up couldn't get a costume.
"And you know what people would say. I'd be standing there by myself in the middle of a bunch of people dressed in every loud color imaginable. It'd be unbelievably awkward."
"You could've asked me in advance. I might've been able to recommend somebody."
"Great idea. Why didn't I think of that?"
"If anyone asks who you're supposed to be, just tell them you're playing Wolf Girl."
"Who's that?"
"Uh... from the same series as the character I'm doing."
Gwen had absolutely no idea who that was, but didn't press him. Peter, meanwhile, glanced over his shoulder. He could feel someone watching him. His spider-sense hadn't stopped buzzing.
Carl again?
At this point he was definitely fixated on him. But why? Was he starting to suspect that Peter was Spider-Man? Carl had seen the whole thing from beginning to end, back when he put that spider on Peter's neck and it bit him.
If he was trying to prove that suspicion, then what next? Was he connected to some villain group or something...?
"Peter? Peter!"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was still thinking about Carl."
It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't exactly a lie either. Peter apologized and looked back at Gwen.
"What were you saying?"
"I said, after school, do you want to come help me pick out something to wear? I thought this theme thing was only going to last one day, not this long."
"Uh..."
Seeing his hesitation, Gwen raised an eyebrow.
"What, do you have somewhere else to be?"
"Hard to say. Depends if anything comes up."
He still planned to use Avengers Tower's computers and J.A.R.V.I.S. to analyze Carl's recent behavior. If Carl really was starting to suspect he was Spider-Man, Peter needed to figure out a countermeasure.
"So you are hiding something from me? Ever since high school started, you've been acting weird. We barely even walk to and from school together anymore."
Gwen looked at Peter as he drifted off again and finally asked what had clearly been on her mind for a while. Peter immediately waved both hands.
"No. Absolutely not. Seriously, don't worry. If something was going on, I'd tell you."
"Then it's settled. You're coming shopping with me after school."
"Fine..."
Having barely survived that conversation, Peter and Gwen kept walking, taking in the bizarre spectacle around campus. Thanks to how broad the superhero theme was and how many different kinds of costumes people could use, the whole school was bathed in this weird, joyful energy. Because aside from the skin-tight costumes and lunatics like Harry who had actually brought in a motorized wheelchair setup, there was another whole category of superhero cosplay.
Mascot suits.
Seeing someone dressed as Sonic was one thing, but why was there a Pikachu on campus? Since when did Pikachu count as a superhero?
There were familiar faces too. Like Jessica, who was dressed in what was very obviously a standard Holmes outfit: deerstalker cap, double-breasted coat, shoulder cape, the whole package. One look and you immediately knew what she was going for.
"Hey, Peter. Oh, hey, Doctor."
Jessica had clearly recognized who Peter was supposed to be. Peter, on the other hand, couldn't help asking:
"Are you sure that counts as a superhero? You're just dressed as... Holmes."
"Hey, Parker! Of course Holmes counts as a superhero. Why wouldn't he?"
After protesting, Jessica finally noticed Gwen and brightened at once.
"Hi, I'm Jessica, president of the Detective Club. Peter's one of our members."
"Hey, I'm Gwen. We're... friends."
As the introductions wrapped up, Peter felt Carl's gaze again. He decided to change tactics. He wasn't going to react to Carl at all anymore. Let him keep thinking his sneaking around was flawless. Peter wanted to see exactly what Carl thought he was doing.
But Carl was already starting to doubt his own conclusion.
There was nothing strange about Peter Parker. There was no Spider-Man suit in his locker. Peter hadn't noticed him. Nothing added up.
Carl, increasingly confused, had planned to tail Peter after school and see whether he really was Spider-Man, but then he unexpectedly came across a video on his phone.
It showed Spider-Man helping ordinary people and beating up some thugs. That part didn't matter. What mattered was that it had been uploaded just now, and Spider-Man was wearing a new suit. The movement, the angles, everything looked perfect.
All of it filled Carl with confusion.
So Peter Parker really wasn't Spider-Man?
Had he actually gotten it wrong? Had that spider not given Peter powers after all?
Of course, the one posting the video and acting as Spider-Man was Chameleon.
With Quentin Beck's help, he had pulled off another flawless performance, and this time he was fully playing the role of a superhero while doing it. To avoid the Punisher suddenly showing up and shooting everyone, this performance had actually been handled entirely by Quentin. Using projections, he turned a warehouse into a fake city street and sealed it off. The idea was to lure Spider-Man to the building tied to that model point.
And there, Spider-Man would die.
Every time Chameleon thought about the humiliation Spider-Man had handed him, he had to stop and take a deep breath.
Quentin Beck, however, had other concerns. He kept thinking about Spider-Man and why the man had known his name. More importantly, he kept circling back to one specific detail.
Leaning over that massive tank-like projector device, Quentin muttered to himself:
"Infrared vision... infrared... infrared light is still light, isn't it...?"
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]