Disclaimer: I don't own any of the series/cover art involved with this story.

davaskog040: Wonderful! Glad to have you on board.

Darkus and Z: Thank you, the support is appreciated.

ShadingWolf49: I'm happy you're enjoying it so far. Hopefully, this story takes off.

Harley Quinn-PsychoticAntiHero: Ah, I remember you from my last story. That name is hard to forget. Anyway, this story's symbiote does indeed come with its own array of negative side effects and weaknesses, but draining the host's life force is not one of them.

A/N: Heads up, the first glimpse of Peter's altered personality is inbound.

-Chapter 2: First Day-

The thought of packing up and leaving had crossed my mind a hundred times as we walked to the school. This was obviously a mistake, one that could lead to some bad situations, and I already had enough problems to deal with as Spider-Man. However, sheer curiosity drove me on. I was at a school for monsters for crying out loud! I was among creatures thought to be fictional, and while I had met vampires before, I was dying to see what else could be hiding in Yōkai Academy.

On top of that, I wanted to see if these monsters were planning anything. I knew that I was being a little paranoid, but nonhuman creatures bent on the destruction of this planet had become all too real in the past for people like me, and I wanted to make sure these monsters weren't planning a mass takeover. If they were, I might be able to warn the rest of humanity about what was hiding right under our noses, but only if truly necessary. It seemed as though these creatures wanted to stay hidden.

Next to me, Moka winced as she brought her fingers up to her slightly swollen lip. I watched with a small amount of regret as she repeated the action several more times. "Sorry about the kick," I muttered sheepishly.

Moka shook her head. "No, I understand. From your perspective, I probably looked like a crazy woman trying to attack you," she said with a giggle. "Fighting back would have been a logical response." She turned to look at me, squinting slightly. "You know, I've noticed that you have an accent."

I gave Moka a quizzing look as she strode alongside me. "And you don't look Japanese," she continued. "Are you one of those monsters that took the form of a foreigner, or are you actually a foreigner?"

"This is my first time in Japan," I answered while glancing around. We were very close to Yōkai Academy now, and up close, it looked a little less like a creepy old church, but it was still far from what I expected a school to look like.

"Oh, why that's wonderful!" Moka cried, clasping her hands together as she did so. "My first friend and he's from an entirely different country! What are you, European?"

"American," I answered hesitantly. What did she mean by 'first friend'? It seemed self-explanatory, but did she literally mean I was her first friend? Moka's eyes suddenly shot open in shock, a look of fear coming over her face.

"A-American? As in, you're from the U.S.A?" she almost whispered. I slowly nodded while wondering what could have possibly warranted such a reaction out of her. Did Japanese vampires hate America or something?

"That's terrible," she whispered. "I'm so sorry to hear that…"

What the heck was she talking about? "Moka, I'm not sure what impressions the world has of America, but I'm sure it's not as bad as you think," I said slowly. Moka's head jerked up to look at me, the fear still very present in her eyes.

"Not as bad as I think?!" she all but shouted. "Peter, have you been keeping up with the news at all lately? There are reports of humans with powers popping up all over the place, and most of them came from America! One of them evens calls himself 'Captain America'!"

I blinked at her. What exactly was her issue with humans with powers, with humans like me? "Yeah, I know about those humans. Why are you so scared of them?"

Moka shivered, grabbing her shoulders with her arms. "The idea of humans running around with super powers would terrify any monster. Humans would hate us if they found us, and now that some of them are gaining powers, we monsters are beginning to get more and more worried. What would happen if they discovered us?"

I had no idea, nor did I truly understand why Moka and others of her kind were so scared of us humans. "But the idea of living among them?! That's insanity!" Moka shouted. "How can you be comfortable walking down a street when you know that one of the humans around you might be capable of spitting fire or throwing cars?"

Because I'm one of those humans.

"You…get used to it," I finished awkwardly. "My family wasn't exactly rich, so traveling was pretty low on the priorities list. Though, if you don't mind me pointing out, you seem to strongly dislike humans."

Moka's head fell and she stared at the ground, taking a breath. "I do," she muttered. "I went to human school during my time in their world. The humans there…they could be so cruel, so disrespectful. They don't believe in monsters, and being among them; it was like I didn't belong at all."

I watched Moka as she recalled her experiences with my kind. The look of hurt in her eyes was real, and that meant that we had a problem. That problem being that not only was I a human, but I was also one of those humans with super powers, one of those humans that people like Moka feared. What would happen if she found out about me? Should I tell her what I am?

I regarded her once more. We had stopped walking, and in the stillness of the quiet day, I really had time to think about what I'd do.

No…no, I can't tell her. If she was serious about me being her first friend, finding out that I'm one of her greatest fears might drive her to suicide or leave emotional scars.

Moka's head slowly moved up as she made eye contact. Her eyes began glazing over, and the pale eyelids that covered them began sinking once more.

I'll wait. If Moka ends up hanging around me, I'll have a chance to earn her trust. That way, if I ever do reveal my nature to her, she'll be able to weigh my race against the way I had treated her, and hopefully overcome whatever prejudice she has against humans.

I was so lost in thought, I almost failed to notice that Moka's mouth had opened and her fangs were beginning to close in on my neck. Luckily for me, however, I had both my spider-sense and the symbiote around to snap me back into reality should I lose focus. The tingling in the base of my skull instantly alerted me to Moka's attempt to feed on me, and the symbiote's warning quickly entered my mind through our telepathic link. I responded instantly by reaching out and forcing my palm against Moka's chin, clamping her jaw shut.

"Hey," I growled. "Snap out of it." Moka's eyes quickly regained their focus and her face heated up.

"I'm sorry!" she cried as she scrambled back. "It was the instincts again! I haven't fed yet, and your blood smells so…so good!"

I frowned at Moka's feeding habits. Yet another problem presented by her presence.

The symbiote's thoughts filled my mind. It wanted to just leave this girl behind and move on. I retaliated with thoughts of what might happen if I just up and left her. Again, if she was serious about the whole 'first friend' thing, leaving her without giving a reason might drive her to suicide.

However, the current problem had nothing to do with that. The issue right now was her feeding habits. "Moka," I began. "You said I would have been your first, err, 'meal', right?" The pink-haired vampire nodded. "So what did you eat up until this point?" I asked.

"Tomato juice and transfusion bags," she answered without hesitation.

I nodded slowly in response. "Alright, tomato juice. Is there any here? Did you bring any with you?" Again, Moka nodded in response to my questions. "Do you think you could drink that to satisfy your hunger? We can't have you attacking the students or staff once we get inside."

Moka snapped her fingers as though she had just realized something. "Oh man, I had totally forgotten that I could drink the tomato juice! Your blood just smelled so sweet that I forgot about it!"

I gave her a deadpan stare before shaking my head, watching as Moka grabbed a water bottle filled with tomato juice from her bag and began gulping it down. "You good?" I asked as she finished her meal, to which she responded with an excited nod. "Come on then. We need to get this show on the road and get to our classes."

The two of us made our way through the entrance ceremony, much of which we had missed. We still managed to glean the necessary information and before long, we parted ways. We each went to our respective dorms—which were given to each individual student, thankfully. I dropped my backpack on the floor as I stepped into the room that I would call my own for some time, taking in the sight of my new home. It was fairly clean, prepared especially to house aspiring students—or the not so aspiring ones.

I stepped over to the closet, opening it in the process and glancing inside. It was empty save for a few extra school outfits that hung from the coat rack. Each outfit was a replica of the school uniform I had received, leaving no room for excuses when it came to following Yōkai's dress code.

Dress codes. Something that was basically nonexistent in the United States. I wasn't entirely used to it, but I had an advantage that most other students didn't have.

My suit was an alien.

Making my way over back to the backpack, I opened it and grabbed the neatly folded uniform that was given to me some time ago. It was the original outfit, the one that my symbiote had copied when it first came. So while every other student was stuck with a uniform that they might find uncomfortable, I had an organic one that could soften or harden—to an extent—to either provide comfort or extra protection.

I hung the original outfit on the coat rack alongside its clones and shut the closet before taking one last look around the room. I had no posters to put up or immediate things to do, so the only thing left was to head to class. Besides, I had been late to the ceremony as it was, so I already had less time to get everything done. Without missing a beat, I headed out the door, making my way to my assigned class. My teacher was to be one 'Miss Nekonome', and I found myself wondering what kind of monster she would be.

It wasn't long before I walked into my designated class and finally met my new teacher. The first thing I noticed was the fact that she seemed to have feline ears atop her head, both of which matched her blond hair. She looked up from her desk and greeted me with a wide smile as I walked in, to which I responded with a polite nod.

"Why hello there!" she exclaimed. "Nice to meet you! I'm Miss Nekonome, the teacher here. And you are?"

"Peter Parker, the new student here," I answered. "Pleasure's all mine. Do we have assigned seats?"

"Oh no, just go ahead and choose a spot," she said while gesturing to the mostly empty classroom. "Anywhere is fine."

I nodded and made my way to the back of the classroom, choosing a seat by the window. There was a girl with strikingly blue hair and brilliant purple eyes already sitting in the back, close to the seat I had chosen, and as I approached the desk, I glanced at her and offered a small smile. She blinked before giving me a hesitant wave as I sat down. My eyes wandered across the room, never staying in one spot for too long. There were a few other students in the classroom, and I found myself wondering just what they could be.

So that teacher isn't a human? And neither is that girl behind me? Or that guy in the front?

They certainly looked human, save for the teacher's catlike ears, but this couldn't have been it, it just couldn't. This was a school for monsters, and yet everyone I had seen so far looked perfectly normal except for some strange hair and eye colors. They must have had a way to hide their nature from others; otherwise, they would have been discovered long ago.

My eyes suddenly widened as a new possibility occurred to me. Had Moka lied? Had she said those things solely to get me to lower my guard and let her off with nothing more than what equated to a slap on the wrist? For all I knew, she could be out there draining a student of his blood in a bathroom stall!

The symbiote caught on to what I was thinking almost instantly, and its thoughts quickly flooded my mind, thoughts of how to defeat that girl in the fastest way possible. She had been scared of the water, so if anything, I could try to use that against her, but…

Stop. Calm down. If she lied and went out to hunt students, she and I will be having another little talk, but there's no point in jumping to conclusions. Just stay calm, keep a level head, and don't get noticed yet. If this is a school for monsters, getting noticed might be fatal.

The internal monologue was as much for the symbiote as it was for me. Both of us needed to remain calm if we were to get through this.

Slowly, the class began filling up as students of all sizes and appearances began coming in and taking seats. Eventually, Miss Nekonome made her way up to the front of the room, directly in front of the large green chalkboard. "Hello everybody," she began cheerfully. "My name is Miss Nekonome, and it's a pleasure to meet you all and to be able to teach you this year! Now then, I'm sure you all know this by now, but here at Yōkai Academy, we do things a little differently than in the average human school."

Moka's story was checking out so far.

"This school is exclusively for monsters," continued the teacher. "And as such, we expect our students to follow certain rules that you may or may not have had to deal with in human schools. I know, I know, you all hate rules, but they're there for a reason. And that reason would be humans. You see class, like it or not, humans are the dominant species on this planet, and it seems as though that's not going to change anytime soon. So, in order for monsters like you and I to survive, our only hope is to learn to coexist with them. That brings us to our first rule: except in special circumstances, all students and staff will remain in their human forms as long as they're on campus. This will help you all get used to the idea of hiding your true nature, and by the time you leave this school, it will have become second nature!"

Miss Nekonome smiled at her own slogan. "Rule number two: under no circumstances are you to reveal your monster identity to another student. Whatever monster you are, you keep it to yourselves; telling somebody is strictly forbidden. This too will help you keep your true nature hidden from the eyes of the humans. Can I count on everybody to follow these rules?"

Well, it looked like pinkie didn't lie to me back there.

Somebody snorted to my right, and I turned to find a large student with slicked back hair and a dirty grin on his face. "Heh, bunch of stupid rules," he mocked. I frowned at what seemed to be a Japanese Flash Thompson as he continued giving the teacher his grin.

To her credit, Miss Nekonome remained cheerful and calm in her response. "Ah, and you are…Saizou Komiya, correct?"

"If we do spot a human, why not just eat it? That seems like a good plan to me," he said with a shrug. "Unless it's one of those hot girls. With them, we can just tear off their clothes and—"

"That is quite enough," Miss Nekonome interrupted. "That kind of talk might have been tolerated some years ago, but as of now, that attitude needs to be put down." The teacher sighed and leaned against her desk, bowing her head slightly as her smile faded. "Class, I understand that many of you might dislike humans. I get that many of you might hate them entirely for something that may have happened to you or your family because of them, but now more than ever, coexistence is crucial."

She momentarily took off her glasses as the atmosphere in the room took a turn for the serious. "Those of you who have spent time keeping up with news in the human world probably know this by now, but as of late, reports of humans with super powers have become frighteningly common."

I heard a student swallow loudly, and a quick look around the room gave me a view of the other students, many of which looked…scared.

"Once, the humans outnumbered us, which was a problem," Miss Nekonome explained. "Then, their advances in technology drove their race to new heights, which caused even more problems for our kinds. Now, we have humans flying through the sky and shooting lasers while others sprint around at the speed of light or brainwash their enemies."

Hold on…

"Right now, we are at a severe disadvantage," the teacher continued. "The humans have superior numbers, superior technology, and now, they're beginning to gain powers of their own. I will restate that coexistence is becoming more crucial; it's more a necessity now than anything else. If the humans found us, they'd send the fastest, the strongest, and the smartest of their kind to face us, and with these new powers, many individual humans have become a serious threat to monsters of all sorts."

Saizou Komiya had quieted down and was now looking at his desk with a grim expression.

I understood now. Oh how I understood. These monsters were severely outnumbered by humans, and they held on to the hope of survival by telling themselves that, on an individual basis, they were stronger than any human could ever hope to be. Coexistence aside, what kept these monsters going was the idea that they were just stronger. And now, people like the Hulk, people like Captain America, people like me were coming along and crushing that hope.

People like me were these monsters' worst nightmares: powerful humans. We stood to fight for humanity, and that's what terrified these monsters, terrified them because they knew that we'd fight against them if they rose up against the human race.

"So what if a human showed up here, at Yōkai Academy?" asked a female voice from behind me. I threw a glance over my shoulder to the girl who has spoken up, quickly recognizing her as the blue-haired, purple-eyed student I had seen minutes ago.

"That's impossible," replied the teacher. "This school is protected by a powerful barrier, so as long as you all stay here, no humans will find you," she finished with a smile. "You're all safe here."

The atmosphere lightened a little as the students smiled. It was an odd feeling, seeing these students smiling at the realization that they'd be protected from, well, from me.

Were there any humans out there—innocent humans—that looked at Spider-Man and saw someone that they wanted to be protected from? Did some people really fear me like that?

"And if a human did end up on campus," Miss Nekonome continued. "They'd be executed immediately."

I promptly choked on my spit.

What?! The heck happened to 'coexistence'?! What, you look at a guy, find out he's human, and your first thought is, 'let's murder him'?!

This was bad. This was very, very bad. If somebody found out that I was a human, a human with powers no less, there'd be a manhunt for me. And if I was caught, the death penalty apparently applied.

I could feel the symbiote's emotions, feel its concern. It was by no means scared—in fact, it was ready to brutally beat down anybody who tried harming us—but it wasn't stupid enough to think that we were safe here. Powers or not, I was in a school full of countless nonhuman beings whose abilities I knew nothing of.

I needed to get out of here. Curiosity be damned, it wasn't worth losing my life over.

"Sorry I'm late!" cried a familiar, bubbly voice. I recognized it instantly and jerked up, eyes focusing on the door. A certain vampire rushed through it, her pink hair flowing behind her as sweat poured down her face. "I'm so sorry! I got lost on the way here, did I miss anything important?"

Miss Nekonome smiled. "See me after class and I'll give you a rundown on what you missed, though it's not much. Please, introduce yourself!"

Moka walked up right in front of the class, giving them all her innocent smile as she held her bag with both hands. "Hi! I'm Moka Akashiya, it's nice to meet you all!"

I noticed the change instantly. Where the students were once depressed and saddened by the news of humans with super powers, now they gaped at Moka, eyes wide and faces red. I could hear the girls whispering about how cute they thought Moka looked, while the males couldn't stop talking about how attractive they thought she was.

'Attractive', though, was a polite way of putting it. An actual quote from Saizou went somewhere along the lines of "sexy as fu"—you know what, I wasn't going to finish that.

Did people really find her that attractive?

Moka glanced around the classroom nervously while her cheeks flushed red, no doubt in response to the attention she was receiving, and I wondered whether or not she heard some of the less subtle comments from Saizou and a few of the other males. Her eyes suddenly settled on me, and I gave her a small wave. A massive grin broke out across her face and Moka was suddenly flying through the air.

Straight at me.

My jaw dropped at her advance and I held by hands up, catching her as she threw her arms around my neck and pressed her chin against my shoulder. "Peter! It's you! We're in the same class!"

Who the heck tackle-hugs people like this?! We just met!

"Uh, yeah, so we are," I said as I awkwardly patted her back. "Nice to see you too, Moka." From the corner of my eye, I could see the students staring at me with surprise and jealousy. The males in particular were glaring dagger at me, and Saizou Komiya was, well…

He looked about ready to throw daggers at me.

Class continued on fairly normally after Moka's scene, save for the constant death glares I was receiving from the surrounding students. Seriously, you'd think that Moka was the only girl on the planet what with the way all the male students were watching her.

When the hour was finally over, we set out to make use of the small amount of free time we were given. I was sure that the schedules would quickly fill up, but until then, I was being dragged outside by an excited Moka as she made her way to the vending machine with me in tow. "Oh, this is so cool!" she shouted happily. "We're in the same class and everything!"

"I noticed," I muttered. Great, what was I going to do about Moka? I needed to find out if I was really her first friend, and if I truly was, just packing up and leaving might seriously hurt her.

"Hey, Moka?" I began as we approached the vending machine. "You said earlier that I was your first friend. Were you serious?"

Moka had turned to look at me when I began speaking, but now she began fidgeting and nervously tapping her fingers together. "…yeah, I was," she said shyly. "I wasn't very good at making friends back in the human world. The other students always thought I was different and they always made me feel like it would be better if I had just left." Moka's face broke out into a wide smile. "But then I met you! And you were so nice, and understanding, and…and nice!"

Oh great. She was so happy that she was tripping over her words and repeating them. If she had gotten this attached to me this quickly, how would she react if I just left? This girl didn't seem too stable; she had faced prejudice from those around her for most of her life, and now she was clinging to the first person who didn't judge her.

And of course, that person just so happened to be me.

She needed help, but how would I tell her that? And who would help her? I certainly wasn't an expert in psychology, so I'd be useless.

And while all this was happening, the symbiote's desire to leave was ever-present. It didn't care for Moka—all it wanted to do was to get out of here with both itself and its host intact. I could understand the self-preservation instinct, and the sad part was that I was definitely inclined to just leave, regardless of the consequences. But a part of me would always look back at this girl that I'd be abandoning, and it would always wonder what happened to her.

What was I going to do?

"Hey Peter?" asked Moka. "You alright? You're zoning out over there…"

I snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about…stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Moka inquired.

"Personal stuff," I answered. My pink-haired companion regarded me for a moment before shrugging and making her way over the vending machine. I followed and purchased some soda that she had recommended while she bought tomato juice to sate her thirst for blood, and the two of us sat down on a bench, gulping down our drinks of choice.

We sat in silence as we drank, with Moka casting the occasional glance and smile in my direction. If I met her eye, I'd just smile and nod before returning to my drink, but most of the time, I pretended not to notice her wandering green orbs. "You know," she finally began. "You never did tell me what your monster form is."

I paused. "Against school rules."

Moka blinked before smiling sheepishly. "Oh sorry, I forgot. I was just really curious as to what you were," she explained before pausing awkwardly and waiting. The uncomfortable silence that followed saw her staring expectantly at me while I pretended to be oblivious. What the heck was she doing? "Like, really curious," she said. I didn't bother replying as Moka continued looking at me. "Like, reaaaallllyyy curious…"

I sat there wondering if she was going to stop.

"Like reaaa—"

"I'm not telling you what I am," I said with a chuckle. Despite the severity of the situation I was in, this girl could still crack me up. Moka giggled and finally accepted that I wasn't going to tell her anything and leaned back against the bench. I regarded her for a second, mentally comparing her to some of the vampires I had encountered in the past.

She was nothing like Michael Morbius. Sure, her skin was pale, but it wasn't paper-white, and her facial structure wasn't distorted or anything. But then again, she was in human for—

I blinked. "Hey, are you in human form right now or your monster form?" I asked.

Moka turned to me with a surprised look and cocked her head. "My human form. Why do you ask?"

"Why is it that some of the monsters here look exactly like humans, but others have certain characteristics of their monster form showing through? You've still got fangs and Miss Nekonome still has her cat ears, but others look totally human."

Moka smiled. "Well, I can't speak for Miss Nekonome, but I personally am a special case." She reached down, delicately grabbing the rosary around her neck and holding it up for me to see. "If this rosary were to be removed, I'd assume my true form, a powerful and terrifying vampire."

I raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You? Terrifying? I'm sorry, but you couldn't look any less threatening if you tried."

Moka pouted, completing the whole 'utterly harmless' look she had going. "Well, maybe I'm good at hiding my scary side," she said while sticking her tongue out.

I chuckled. "Appearances can be deceiving, can't they?"

I was living proof.

I was suddenly aware of a curiosity growing within me. The symbiote was taking an interest in Moka's "powerful and terrifying" inner vampire. What the symbiote heard was "hey, I'm an opponent that is challenging you", and it was getting excited at the idea of a challenger. Moka hadn't made any attempt to fight me, but the symbiote still saw a rival. It saw an obstacle to overcome.

But, unlike my partner, I was not one to jump at the chance to fight someone just because they were strong, and I most certainly wouldn't fight an innocent girl just for kicks.

"Hey sweet cheeks, you said your name was Moka Akashiya, right?"

Moka and I jerked in surprise before we both looked up to see Saizou Komiya casually strolling over to us. He took one shameless look at Moka's chest before looking over at me. "So what's a babe like this doing hanging with a numbnuts like you?" he asked with a grin.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I guess you were the alternative, so she cut her losses and went with the lesser evil."

The cocky grin vanished instantly, replaced by an angry glare. "What did you just say to me, punk?"

The symbiote writhed in a concealed manner. It saw a potential confrontation, and it wanted to fight. I, on the other hand, wanted to remain inconspicuous, but I'd be lying if I said that I would actively avoid fighting this guy.

My spider-sense went wild as Saizou's hand shot forward, but I let him have his way for the moment. His fist enclosed around the red tie I was required to wear, and he lifted me off the bench. He wasn't tall enough to lift me off the ground, so we ended up face to face with him standing slightly taller than me.

"NO!" Moka shouted. "Put him down!"

Saizou looked at her before his gaze switched back to me as he snorted. "You know, I think Moka here shouldn't waste her time on a smart-ass like you and go hang with a real man," Saizou said in a threatening manner.

The symbiote was getting more and more excited, and I could feel some of its more violent thoughts as it quickly began planning on the best way to smack Saizou around.

Alright, I won't swing first, but if he attacks, we'll fight back. Sound good?

Agreement. The symbiote was okay with this plan.

I began pointedly looking around, making sure my eyes roamed the surrounding area. Plenty of witnesses, and many were looking our way. Perfect. They'd be able to testify that Saizou swung first, if he swung. The jock in question grinned and raised an eyebrow. "If you're looking for somebody to save your sorry ass, you can give up. It ain't gonna happen."

"Oh no, I'm just looking for that 'real man' you mentioned," I replied in the most serious tone I could manage. "Where'd you say he was?"

For a second, I thought the insult went right over Saizou's head, but when his eyes narrowed, I knew he picked up on it. "That real man is getting ready to knock your teeth in," he growled.

"Stop!" Moka shouted before turning to those around us. "Somebody get a teacher!" she screamed to the surrounding students.

Crap. If a teacher saw this, I'd be on the school's radar. I needed to end this, now, whether with a quick fight or by backing down. I could tell by Saizou's attitude that he was a proud person, and if I beat him in a fight, he'd most likely keep it to himself and avoid telling the teachers, especially since he thought I was weaker than him. On the other hand, backing down might give this pervert a chance to try something on Moka.

Deciding whether or not he could hang around Moka might not have been my call to make, but backing down now might give him the courage to continue this, and I might end up being the push he needed to start oppressing other students. Bullying had been a big problem in the past, and I was not about to let some punk who thinks he's hot stuff walk around like he owns the place, not when I was Spider-Man, not when I had the symbiote.

It looked like Saizou wouldn't be getting a free target today.

"Don't sweat it Moka," I said loudly enough for the other students to hear. "He won't try anything. He's not that dumb."

I could see Saizou's fist trembling and his face getting redder. The symbiote would see his attack coming from a mile away, my spider-sense would see it coming, I would see it coming.

I was ready for whatever this guy would try.

So when the punch came, I was already moving to stop it. Saizou's fist rocketed towards my face, but my hand shot up faster than his could move. I caught his arm by the wrist, and before either of us could react, the clothing covering my chest shimmered and rippled as a black mass roughly the size of a fist shot out, slamming into Saizou's throat.

He coughed and fell backwards as my symbiote quite literally decked him in the Adam's apple, forcing him to relinquish his grip on me. The symbiote's makeshift fist quickly melted back into its form, instantly taking the same shape it had held before, making it seem as though I punched Saizou with an invisible force.

The crowd of students gasped as Saizou ended up flat on his back while Moka covered her mouth with her hands. My hands, meanwhile, went straight up to my tie to readjust it before I offered Saizou a small smile. "Good game," I said with faked cheerfulness.

I knew I was being arrogant, but it would set an example. This guy identified himself as a pervert and a potential rapist back in class, and knowing that there were people on campus that were capable of knocking him around might deter him from trying anything on the girls.

The only thing I had to worry about was if his monster form was some sort of demigod. But at the same time, if he was powerful and dangerous, his attention would be focused on me, not on the other students, so that at least drew the threat away from them.

"Let's get out of here," I muttered to Moka as Saizou began standing. "He might try something again, and I'd rather we didn't get caught up in an all-out brawl on the first day of school."

Moka nodded dumbly as she looked me up and down with what one could describe as shock and awe. We began walking away, and as we did, I checked over my shoulder to see Saizou rising to his full height as he glared at me in fury. He brought his hand up and dragged his thumb across his neck as a long tongue flicked past his lips. I smirked and winked at him, mouthing a simple message.

"Try it."

A/N: Another chapter up, and this has been the first glimpse of this Peter's slightly different personality. Once again, explanations for my choices are found below.

Explanations/Clarifications

Arrogant Peter?: I know that Peter isn't the type to boast, but when putting a pervert in his place, it seemed natural for the black suited Spider-Man to make it obvious that he's not someone to be messed with. Of course, the symbiote also influences Spider-Man's personality, as seen in the T.V shows, movies, comics, etc., where it makes him more aggressive. This Peter won't be aggressive to the point where he's actively searching out fights, but it's safe to say he won't take abuse lying down.

Serious Peter: He'll loosen up as time goes on. He's at a monster school that'll execute him if they know he's human, so he's being cautious for now.

Symbiote Punch: The symbiotes can generate a moderate amount of force independent of their host's power/will so that, when threatened, they can also fight back. Now, this story's symbiote (the Venom symbiote, in case anybody was wondering) is only capable of exerting a small amount of force on its own, so you won't see the symbiote smacking people around. If directed at a sensitive area, however, the symbiote can definitely harm an opponent. Getting punched in the Adam's apple isn't the most pleasant of experiences, so the symbiote's punch, while fairly weak, was enough to stun Saizou. Plus, it can harden itself to an extent, so it wasn't as though Saizou was getting punched by a liquid.