I’m Not Becoming Spider-Man - Chapter 9: Comics! (Patreon)

"I've been thinking about you all along, my friend. You'll never guess what I came up with last night!" Peter announced, moving closer to Gwen. She instinctively took a step back.

"What?" Gwen raised an eyebrow. She was curious to see what this boy, who'd been ignoring her, had to show for himself.

"Ta-da! The first issue of my superhero comic! Batman versus..." Peter glanced at the cover he'd drawn. "Uh, the supervillain Riddler!"

"Hmm?" Gwen sounded skeptical, but she accepted the pages and took a look.

"Gotham City... a masked weirdo going around dispensing justice?" She leafed through several pages. "Interesting."

"What is it?" Harley wasn't much of a comic-book reader, but she wanted to join the conversation rather than stand awkwardly apart from the others.

Riiing!

"Hmm. I'll borrow this and give it back after class." Gwen tapped Peter's chest with the stapled pages.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?" Peter asked, spreading his hands.

"That depends on whether the rest is any good."

Gwen set off toward the classroom with the comic. Peter hurried after her, and Harley followed them both.

Without really thinking about it, Harley walked straight into their classroom too.

Peter and Gwen usually sat at the back, where nobody would bother them, though Peter deliberately left one seat empty between their desks.

There were rumors about the two of them, but those were just rumors. Everyone at school had something people liked to gossip about.

If he actually sat right beside Gwen, though, people would take it as proof they were dating. Gwen's father might tear him apart, and Mary Jane would almost certainly make a scene too.

Better to keep a little distance from his close female friend.

Peter had considered all of that. Harley hadn't. She'd been in a daze since their encounter with Thompson and only came back to herself when the teacher started the lesson.

Oh. She was already in a classroom.

Wait. Was this even her class?!

She'd followed Peter inside without thinking. But now that the teacher had begun speaking, it was a little late to go hunting for the room she was actually supposed to be in.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Harry?" Peter asked. "You look a bit shaken. Did Thompson hurt you?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine. Thanks for worrying. It's just... phew. I've never dealt with something like that before." Harley took a deep breath.

That wasn't quite true. Bullying was common enough in this country, where an invisible hierarchy always seemed to separate people.

It was just that bullying at expensive private schools tended to be less direct. People might throw water on someone or pull other nasty little tricks instead of openly beating them up.

Come to think of it, that wasn't much better.

"Well, don't worry. Thompson isn't exactly evil. He's just a little thickheaded, at least for now," Peter explained. "He bullies people because other kids cheer him on. He gets the same reaction when he runs a football across the goal line. But if you feel like teaching him a lesson, I wouldn't object. He goes too far sometimes, and somebody ought to make him pay for it."

"I couldn't do that."

"Sure you could. Here's an idea. I'll catch a few butterflies or other bugs for you, and you can slip them into his backpack. I guarantee he'll shriek like a little girl."

"Oh... um..." Harley looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Is there anything... simpler?"

"That is the simplest thing I can think of. But if you'd rather, I can build you a portable shock device. It would discharge electricity the instant you touched him. You could take him down in one move. How does that sound?"

"That sounds pretty good." Harley nodded. At least that proposal seemed practical.

"I'll bring it tomorrow, then."

"Mm." Harley rested her elbows on the desk and stared toward the teacher writing on the blackboard, though her mind had drifted elsewhere.

This was her first day at a new school. It had been strange and eventful, but somehow it was going better than she'd expected. She'd actually made a friend.

Well... this counted as friendship, didn't it?

Whatever the answer, she already felt more comfortable here than she ever had at her old private school.

She stole another glance at Peter, who was sketching in a little notebook.

"Hmm? Something wrong?" Peter looked up.

"Oh, uh... n-no. Nothing," Harley answered nervously.

"Ah, forgot your textbook? No problem. I don't need mine anyway." Peter rummaged through his bag, then discovered he hadn't brought his own book either. He lowered his head and called softly toward Gwen. "Gwen...!"

"?"

Gwen looked up reluctantly. She'd been absorbed in Peter's comic, which was far more entertaining than she'd expected.

"Textbook! Textbook!" Peter whispered, making frantic gestures.

"Parker! Stop whispering! Get up and answer this question!" the teacher snapped.

"Phew... all right, all right. Biological classification is based on..." Peter only needed one glance at the blackboard to begin answering effortlessly. Harley was amazed all over again.

It felt as though there wasn't anything Peter didn't know.

"Hmm. Why the sudden interest in actually paying attention today?" Gwen teased as he sat down again.

"Oh, Harry forgot to bring a textbook. I don't really need one myself."

"Don't you have your own?"

Peter blinked. Did someone with grades like his look as though he needed to bring a textbook to class?

"Fine." Gwen shrugged and pulled a book from her neatly packed bag. At home, she was still the dutiful daughter who kept her school things organized and ready.

Peter was different. He had much more freedom, and Uncle Ben trusted him to look after himself.

"Here, you can use Gwen's for now. Oh, and this is Gwen, a friend of mine. She's a really great person," Peter added by way of introduction.

"Thanks," Harley said.

But even with the textbook in hand, she had little interest in studying it. Gwen had filled it with clear, tidy notes from her own reading, the sort anyone could understand at a glance. Yet Harley was much more curious about the drawings taking shape in Peter's notebook.

At last the bell released them from class, and she immediately asked, "Peter, what are you drawing?"

"Your electric shock device, of course. I'm calling it... Palm Thunder." Peter turned the notebook around to show her his rough design.

It was a small gadget fitted with an electrode that rested in the palm. Switch it on, and it would release a powerful shock. Even if this universe's Harry looked as frail as a girl, something like that would make knocking Thompson down easy.

"It's not finished yet, just a preliminary sketch. But it shouldn't be difficult to build. I'll have it ready for you tomorrow."