Her hair was tied into a rather old-fashioned bun.
Her jeans looked dull and faded, and a pair of thick red-framed glasses sat on the bridge of her nose.
At first glance, she certainly didn’t look like one of the school’s popular girls.
In fact, her outfit concealed at least seventy percent of her beauty.
Beside her sat a small blue plastic bucket filled with blue paint.
On the other side of the gym, Flash was practicing with the basketball team as usual.
One of his teammates had just jumped for a layup when Flash charged over, leaped high into the air, and slapped the ball away.
“Not a chance!”
He grinned smugly, the corners of his mouth nearly reaching his ears.
Unfortunately, the basketball rolled across the floor and struck the paint bucket beside MJ.
With a splash, blue paint spilled everywhere.
Even the banner she had worked so hard on was smeared beyond recognition.
MJ sprang to her feet in anger.
“You did that on purpose, Thompson!”
Flash merely gave her a contemptuous smile and slowly walked over.
“On purpose?
No.”
He deliberately drew out his words, his gaze openly provocative.
“I did it intentionally.”
“You’d better watch yourself.”
MJ’s eyes immediately reddened.
She was clearly furious, but there was little she could do against someone like him.
Not far away, Peter witnessed the entire scene.
He walked over, bent down to set the fallen bucket upright, then stood and asked her,
“Are you okay?”
Before MJ could answer, another basketball came flying toward them.
Once again, it was aimed in their direction.
But Peter was no longer the same Peter as before.
His spider-sense reacted almost instinctively.
He raised one hand and caught the incoming basketball firmly in his palm.
Up in the bleachers, Jonathan was holding a bucket of popcorn and watching with great interest.
“Wow.
When did Peter get so fast?”
Gwen was startled as well.
Without asking, she reached into the popcorn bucket in Jonathan’s arms, grabbed a handful, and stuffed it into her mouth.
“Just wait.
It gets even better.”
Jonathan didn’t reveal anything else, but inwardly, he was already looking forward to the show.
Peter’s catch had an even greater impact on MJ.
She had personally witnessed him snatch the ball out of the air with an almost impossible movement.
The surrounding students were equally astonished.
Naturally, that only made Flash feel even more humiliated.
He glanced toward the bleachers. Get faster updates on g.com.
When he saw that Jonathan had no intention of coming down, another malicious smile appeared on his face.
He walked toward Peter.
“Put the ball down, Parker.”
He stopped directly in front of him, his voice brimming with provocation.
Peter looked at him, then at MJ, before lowering his gaze to the basketball in his hands.
“Come on!” Flash urged impatiently.
Only then did Peter look away from MJ.
At that moment, he suddenly realized that although this girl usually dressed rather unfashionably, she was actually quite pretty.
There was something about her that immediately caught his attention.
Peter handed his camera to MJ, then carried the ball forward a few steps.
After stopping, he turned back toward Flash.
“Why don’t you come and take it yourself?”
The moment those words left his mouth, the entire gym grew noticeably quieter.
Flash sneered and slowly walked over.
Peter balanced the basketball on one hand and deliberately extended it toward him.
“Come on.
Take it.”
Flash stared suspiciously at him.
What’s gotten into this guy today?
However, he couldn’t see any obvious trap, so he reached for the ball.
Just as his fingers were about to touch it, Peter moved so quickly that his hand became a blur, instantly transferring the ball to his other hand.
Out of everyone in the gym, Jonathan was the only one who could clearly follow the movement.
Peter then used his superhuman agility to toy with Flash mercilessly.
Laughter immediately erupted all around them.
Once again, Flash had been thoroughly humiliated.
After Peter had enough fun, he held the ball out again.
This time, he didn’t move it away and allowed Flash to grab it.
The problem was that the tiny spider-like bristles that had recently grown on Peter’s hand were firmly attached to the basketball.
No matter how hard Flash pulled, the ball remained motionless, as though it had been welded to Peter’s hand.
Some of the students even began urging him impatiently.
“Come on, Thompson!
Quit fooling around and take the ball!”
They had no idea that Flash wasn’t pretending this time.
He genuinely couldn’t move it.
He was already beginning to sweat.
The harder Flash pulled, the more he sensed that something was wrong.
As far as he was concerned, Peter must have learned some new trick specifically to get revenge for all the bullying he had endured.
In that case, Peter couldn’t blame him for getting rough.
Flash gave him a long, hard look before slowly backing away.
“Come on, Parker!”
“Bring it!”
Peter didn’t hold back.
Clutching the basketball, he charged straight at him.
As Flash watched Peter rush toward him, a faintly vicious smile even appeared on his face.
But events unfolded nothing like he had expected.
The next second, his vision went black.
By the time he regained his senses, he was already lying on the floor.
Peter, meanwhile, stood beneath the basket, staring blankly at the rim he had just broken with his dunk.
The impact had knocked Flash unconscious on the spot.
Everyone in the gym was stunned.
Everyone except Jonathan.
“Let’s go.”
Now that the show was over, Jonathan brushed off his pants, pulled the still-dazed Gwen to her feet, and left the gymnasium.
Later, in one of the school hallways, Peter was arguing with Ben Parker about something.
Jonathan and Gwen happened to pass by and noticed them.
“Hey, Peter.”
Jonathan greeted him first.
Gwen also smiled and waved.
When Peter saw them, he raised a hand and waved back.
Beside him, Ben Parker looked at Gwen, then glanced at his nephew.
Only after Jonathan and Gwen had walked away did he speak in a meaningful tone.
“Peter, you know getting involved with someone else’s girlfriend isn’t exactly ethical, right?”
He asked cautiously, as though worried that his newly eighteen-year-old nephew might be heading down the wrong path.
Peter immediately rolled his eyes.
“Of course I know.”
Ben added teasingly,
“Isn’t that the girl you have as your computer wallpaper?”
“Uncle Ben!”
Peter immediately bristled.
“I know she already has a boyfriend!”
Meanwhile, Gwen linked her arm through Jonathan’s and glanced back.
“So that’s Peter’s uncle?”
“He looks like a pretty upright man.”
Jonathan nodded.
Ben Parker was indeed upright—almost excessively so.
And that unwavering righteousness was also a major reason he eventually lost his life.
There was nothing wrong with being righteous.
But when righteousness became so absolute that it bordered on inflexibility, that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
At that thought, Jonathan once again remembered Spider-Man’s so-called sacrificial curse.
He instinctively turned and glanced at Gwen beside him.
Fortunately, she wasn’t the one who had become Spider-Man in this world.