answers to reviewers questions or statements:
Boris Yeltsin: Sorta, he'll have his own issues to deal with when Riverdale's less than peppy history comes to light.
treyalexander63917: Aside from the Green Goblin, some of the darkest stories in Spider-man's history had Kraven as the main villain, Kraven's last Hunt for example, considered to be one of the darkest Spider-man stories ever.
rmarcano321: Aside from not dying, no not really.
CRUDEN: Or Rhino.
Chaos Sorcerer: No, Peter is going to be trying to keep a sort of low profile here compared to Midtown, mainly to keep some of his more intelligent villains like Otto to begin noticing that Spider-man is spotted near Spence and all of a sudden there's this well developed, physically superior student walking around. It'll be a bit of a leap, but Otto has figured out Peter's secret before and we all know how anal Peter is about keeping his abilities a secret. I swear even Batman doesn't go to the same lengths. It's possible that Black Cat and the Scarlet Witch will appear, the latter once I introduce Sabrina.
cornholio4: This is before the events of the show, so Archie and the gang are all at Riverdale.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Riverdale characters seen, mentioned or used.
"So Peter, I gotta ask ya something that's kind of been bothering me this morning" Ned said as he and Peter made their way towards their first class after meeting up outside.
"What is it?" Peter asked as he had his attention focused on a book that dealt with advance chemical compounds and isotopes, hoping to get inspired on either a way to enhance his web formula or modify for any sort of special circumstances 'Finding a way to mix molecular acid to my webbing would be pretty badass. Make fighting the likes of Sandman easier as the acidic properties of the web would eat away at his silicon composition'
"How do you get here from Queens?" the larger of the two asked with a curious expression "I mean, you have to get up pretty early to make the train, right?"
"Yeah, though sometimes Harry has for whatever reason sent me his limo to use" Peter said, the last part a small lie "Said it'll make me stand out less. Too bad he didn't tell me that half the kids here get dropped off in freakin sports cars from Europe"
"Hey, limo's a classic, plenty of guys here come in them" Ned said with a chuckle "Except MJ, she prefers to ride her bike to school"
"Really?" Peter said as he glanced at Ned with a raised brow "Why?"
"Something about helping the environment and not being sucked into the corporate black hole that is the auto industry" Ned said with a shrug "Or something like that"
Peter frowned at this "That's a thing?"
"With her, she seems to find a thing for anything, which is actually pretty impressive" Ned said with a snort.
Peter hummed at this "Guess all that reading is paying off for her"
"Yeah" Ned said in agreement before they both heard a loud shout and turned to see Kade and his band of goons corner a few students down the hall.
Peter's eyes narrowed at the scene and slowly closed his book and set it back in his backpack and took a step forward before he felt Ned's hand on his shoulder. Peter paused and glanced back at the teen with a raised brow "What?"
"Just wait" Ned said as he nodded towards the scene "Kade may be the biggest asshole in school, but he's not top shit"
"What?" Peter said with confusion.
"The skinny kid that Kade is backing up into the lockers, that's Manuel Enduque's little brother" Ned said just before they both heard a loud 'Hey' echo through the halls "And that's said man himself"
Peter watched as another teen, taller than himself push through several students and Kade's followers before he got right into the shorter teen's face with a dark scowl. Kade met the teen's glare with one of his own and everyone grew silent as they two stared one another down while Manuel's brother ran behind him.
"I thought I told your worthless ass to stay away from my brother" Manuel growled at Kade.
"You did?" Kade said in mock confusion before he shrugged "Guess I didn't hear you. Your voice was kind of muffled with your lips on my ass"
Manuel gritted his teeth in anger as he stared down the shorter teen and looked like he was about to hit him when the bell suddenly rung and various students began to quickly make their way to class. The sudden rush of students got between Kade and Manuel, forcing the two back before Kade signaled for his group to follow him while Manuel turned towards his shaking younger brother.
"Uh, who's that exactly?" Peter nodded towards Manuel.
Ned folded his arms across his chest as he and Peter watched Manuel escort his brother to class "Manuel Enduque, his family owns a number of casinos out in Vegas and a few night clubs here in New York. He's an okay guy I guess. Kind of snobbish and a dick, but he doesn't pick on you like Kade does"
"So, I'm guessing their mortal enemies or something?" Peter asked as he and Ned began to make their own way to class.
"Sorta" Ned said with a nod "Though Kade see's him as more of an annoyance then a threat, but Manuel has more peo0le backing him then Kade, so he tires to avoid any direct fights with the guy"
"Except for today" Peter said.
"Might be Kade testing the waters, he does that a lot with others here" Ned said with a snort.
"Seeing if he can be top jerk of Spence High?" Peter asked in a sarcastic tone "My how his parents must feel so proud of him. Instead of trying to go for leader of the Decathlon club or Quarterback for the Football team, he wants to be the biggest douchebag in the school"
"No one ever said he was smart" Michelle said as she suddenly appeared on Peter's left, causing the brunette to jump a little in surprise, unaware she had gotten so close.
"Holy crap!" Peter exclaimed as he stared at Michelle with surprise "What are you, a ninja?"
"I've been here for the past several minutes" she countered dryly.
"Have you?" Ned asked in a skeptical tone.
"Can you prove that I wasn't?" Michelle fired back with narrowed eyes.
Ned made to comment before he thought it over and sighed in resignation "Point..."
Peter snorted at Ned before he turned back to Michelle "So, how as your ride? See anything cool?"
"Peter, it's New York City" Michelle said with a blank stare "There's nothing cool about looking at hundreds of polluting vehicles, rude pedestrians, and clowns dressed like idiots running around with ridiculous names"
"Well, maybe take the subway next time then?" Peter said while trying to not frown at his alter ego being labeled as a 'clown dressed like a idiot with a ridiculous name'.
'Spider-man isn't a ridiculous name' Peter thought 'Also, my suit looks awesome!'
Michelle made a face at the idea of taking the subway "Peter, have you been on those things lately? Their filthier than whatever perverted thoughts run through Kade's pea sized brain, posses a high capital cost and if the city wants to maintain them, they tax the populace and do little to any sort of upgrades or refurbishing to the various tunnels and carts they have at their disposal. Instead, they'd rather waste it on new sports stadiums, strip malls or just pocketing outright for their own use"
"She does make a good point" Ned said with a nod "In fact, my Uncle is going to jail for doing something like that out in San Diego"
"Well, then I guess it's good news that Tony Stark is planning to introduce a fully automated rail system that runs on clean energy. Which in turn will decrease air pollution and decreases the time it takes for comminutors from the other boroughs to get into Manhattan and cut down on costs to run and maintain it since the tunnels will be looked after by automated drones and the tracks made of an long lasting self repairing nanometal" Peter said with a grin.
"Yeah" Michelle said in a dry tone "And costs hundreds of people their jobs as conductors, maintenance workers, inspectors, and shut down the companies that build and maintain the soon to be outdated subway systems which in turn will cost even hundreds more their jobs. Nice to see that Stark still ruining lives without having to build a single missile or gun"
"There's just no winning with you, is there?" Peter interrupted Michelle's light rant with a sigh, causing Michelle to smirk as she opened her book and walked past Peter.
"Nope"
Peter rolled his eyes at this and quickly made his way into class and sat down beside Ned just as the chemistry teacher strode in with a few books and a tablet in his hand.
"All right everyone, find your seats" the teacher said as he placed his books on the table at the front of the class and used his tablet to start up the projector "We have a lot to go over today and based on half of all of your test scores, some of you can't afford to miss what I plan to go over"
Several students grumbled as they brought out their text books and notebooks while Peter settled in his seat and looked down at his notebook as the teacher pulled up the first PowerPoint of the day.
Several rows behind Peter and Ned, Veronica sat in her chair and rubbed her temples as the teacher began to go over the first slide that dealt with several of the kinds of equations that she's been struggling with lately. No matter how hard she tried, what the man said wouldn't stick, even when he was literally walking her and the rest of the class through it.
'Well, almost everyone' Veronica thought with some annoyance as she looked up ahead towards where Ned and his new friend Peter sat. The two looked like they were barely paying attention to what was being said, at least Ned did. Peter looked to be jotting down a few notes on a page already filled to the brim with dozens of equations, formulas and a bunch of other big science words that made her head spin.
"Must be nice to be born smart" Veronica muttered as she did her best to write down what the teacher was saying while Kate, who was sitting beside her, was struggling even harder than she.
If Veronica was in danger of failing chemistry, then Kate might as well be signing up to retake the class over the summer. The two had tried to compare notes and do what they could to try and combine their limited brainpower on the subject, but both swore they ended up even worse off, assuming they don't get sidetracked by something else that to them, personally might be a little more important.
"I swear, whoever made chemistry something you had to learn in school better be getting ass fucked by a barbed wire dildo in hell" Kate said with a scowl of annoyance, causing Veronica to almost snicker.
"Somehow I doubt that's what's happening to whoever he or she is" Veronica replied as her wrist was already beginning to ache from writing almost nonstop half a page of what the teacher was saying through his presentation before he suddenly called out Veronica's name.
"Miss Lodge?" the teacher spoke up.
"Yes sir?" Veronica said as she returned her attention to the front of the classroom.
"Do you know what the four types of chemical bonds there are and what each one is?" the man said as he stared at Veronica with a raised brow.
Veronica fought down the urge to blush as she saw several students turn to look at her and waited. After several seconds, Veronica cleared her throat and shook her head "no sir, I'm... I'm not sure"
The teacher hummed at this "Well perhaps if you paid more attention to my lectures instead of gossiping with miss Bishop there, you'd know"
"Of course sir" Veronica said with barely hid annoyance as the man turned towards the new kid, Peter.
"Mister Parker, same question"
Peter sat up a little and blinked before he answered.
"Sir, the four types are Covalent bonds, Ionic bonds, Hydrogen bonds and Van der Waals force bonds" Peter said as he shifted in his seat and continued with the second part of the teacher's question "Covalent bonds are defined by the sharing of electrons in pairs called either sharing pairs or bonded pairs. Ionic bonds are formed when one or more electrons are donated to another compound, creating a Ion, be they cations or anions. Hydrogen bonds are created from electrostatic attraction between polar groups that occurs when Hydrogen atoms bind themselves to a electronegative atom"
The teacher nodded at this "And Van der Waals Force bonds?"
"It's a distance depending interaction between atoms or molecules that doesn't rely on chemical electronic bonds like Ionic or Covalent bonds sir" Peter answered with a shrug.
"Good, very good" the teacher said with a pleased nod before he drew the rest of the class's attention back to the PowerPoint while Veronica rubbed the ridge of her nose.
"Not only do I embarrasses myself in front of everyone, I get showed up by the new kid" the Lodge whispered in annoyance.
"Could have been worse" Kate said with a sigh as she held her head in her hand and wrote down the notes with her other.
...
Almost an hour and a half later, the bell finally rung and the class came to a merciful end for Veronica and Kate. The two dark haired beauties gathered their things and quickly made their way to the exit before the teacher spoke up.
"Miss Bishop, if you have a moment please"
Kate stopped and looked back to see the man looking at her with a expectant expression on his face. Kate mentally sighed as she went over to his desk.
"Yes sir?"
"Miss Bishop, do you know why I want to have a talk with you?" he asked.
"My grades, sir?" Kate said with dejected sigh as the teacher nodded.
"Indeed" the man said as he leaned back in his chair "Miss Bishop, at the rate things are going, you may very well have to either retake this class either over the summer, or even next year"
"Yeah... I figured" Kate said with a saddened expression 'Mom and dad are not gonna be happy about this... especially dad'
Kate could almost feel his hand striking her clear across the face.
The teacher, unaware of her dark thoughts nodded "Which is why, I want you to find a tutor. If you commit yourself and pass the next few tests I have coming up with flying colors, it'll raise your grade high enough to pass for this year"
"But who's going to tutor me? You?" Kate asked with a snort.
"No, I feel that you'll respond better to someone closer to your age" the man said before he nodded to where Peter and Ned still were, talking.
Kate followed his gaze and almost grimaced at the sight of the two "Them?"
"Well, I was thinking of mister Parker. My collogue at Midtown, Professor Miles, has spoken great things about him and after going over some of Parker's work, I have to say I'm impressed. Hell, he could be teaching this class with how advance he is"
"He's really that smart?" Kate asked with a frown.
"Gifted, in fact I'm putting in to have him advanced for next year" the teacher said as he stood up "I can't promise you he'll agree to tutor you miss Bishop, but it never hurts to try. And you most try, if you wish to pass my class"
And with that, the man made his way to the door, leaving Kate standing there for several seconds before she sighed in dread and wandered over towards Peter with a defeated expression before she inhaled deeply and raised her head to look the young teen in the eye.
"Mister Parker, would you be so kind as to tutor me please?"
"And I'm out" Ned said as he took this as his cue to bail out and head for his next class "See you later man"
Peter blinked at Ned's hasty departure before his attention returned to Kate and he began to slowly nod "Uhh, sure... yeah. I mean, if that's what you want"
"Well, it's not so much a matter of what I want so much as what I need if I want to pass this class and not retake it again next year or worse over the summer. I have better things to do" Kate said as she pulled out her phone "What's your number? I'll text you the time and place to meet so we can get this over with"
"Right, right, right..." Peter said with a nod as he gave Kate his phone number before he watched the girl nod in satisfaction before she turned on her heel and made her way to the door "Uh, see ya later I guess?"
He received no reply as Kate stepped out into the hallway, leaving Peter standing by his desk before he shook his head and finished packing his things before heading off to his final class for the day.
'All things considered, that could have gone way worse' Peter thought as his mind flashed back to his attempt to ask out Sally Avril.
Peter was sure that day would haunt him for the rest of his natural life.
'Well that, and Flash calling me Pasty Pete after he and the rest of the football team drenched me in glue with several gallons of glue' Peter thought with a scowl.
…
"So, what'd the great Kate Bishop heiress want to talk to you about?" Ned said as he and Michelle met up with Peter near the school's entrance a few hours later.
Peter sighed at this "Apparently I have to tutor because she's doing pretty bad in chemistry"
"And what'd you say?" Ned asked with a frown.
"That I'd do it" Peter said with a shake of his head "Though I doubt this will be as fun as when I tutored Liz"
"Liz?" Michelle asked with a quirked brow "Who's that?"
"Popular girl and head cheerleader back at my old school" Peter revealed, causing Ned to shake his head in wary amusement.
"Man, tutoring not one but two super hot popular cheerleaders, now that's the dream"
Michelle rolled her eyes at this "I still don't get the appear of dressing up in a skimpy uniform and dancing around before a large crowd of people. What, do they want us to start throwing cash at them?"
Peter chuckled at Michelle's comment while Ned waved her words off "Don't mind her Pete, she's just still mad that she got rejected when she tried out for them a while back"
"I wasn't rejected, me and the current captain at the time came to an understanding that-" Michelle began before Ned cut her off and gave Peter a blank stare.
"She told the captain, Veronica Lodge, that maybe if she wasn't jumped up on whatever half ass coke her dead beat boy toy had, she'd recognize talent when it was literally right in her face"
"That is not how it happened!" Michelle growled in annoyance.
"Your right" Ned agreed with a smirk "There was a lot more yelling and swearing too"
"UGH!" Michelle groaned as she turned on her heel and stomped away from the two chuckling teens "Idiots, both of you"
"Love you too MJ!" Ned replied towards the departing girl before he shared a look with Peter "She loves us"
"Yeah, she's gonna love us even more when she see's what we got her for her birthday next week" Peter snickered.
"That she will my friend, that she will" Ned agreed with a nod before they settled into a comfortable silence as they made their way out of the school as the final bell rung and other students began to flock towards freedom.
"So this Kate Bishop girl, what can you tell me about her?" Peter asked.
"Hoping to throw some moves?" Ned replied with a grin.
"More like what should I expect from her" Peter shot back dryly "And if there's going to be some big jock of a idiot boyfriend that thinks me tutoring her is my way of making a move and will want to set me straight or something"
"Ah" Ned said with a nod "Well, you don't have to worry about there being a boyfriend. She broke up with Manuel a few weeks back"
"Well that's a relief" Peter said with a sigh.
"Yeah, he was a real possessive guy, and he may or may not have been a borderline abusive guy to her" Ned said with a shake of his head.
"Hmm, sounds like most high school romances when the guy and girl are a cheerleader and a football jock" Peter commented.
"Actually, Manuel is Basketball" Ned corrected.
"Ah, my mistake"
"Eh, same thing really" Ned said with a shrug "Bunch a guys running around in jerseys throwing a ball to one another"
"Only instead of hiking the ball, their bouncing it around" Peter grinned.
"Pfft, I could run around and bounce a ball if I wanted" Ned said with a scoff "I just choose not to is all"
"That, and you'd probably make it halfway to the other end f the court before collapsing" Peter snickered.
"Hey, if there's a spicy chilidog at the other end, I'll run that birch to the other end of the country" Ned laughed before he frowned "And now I want a chilidog"
"Well I happen to know a good chilidog place by this coffee shop that me and a few others from back at Midtown hang out at" Peter said as he adjusted the strap of his backpack.
"Really? Where?" Ned said as he grabbed Peter by the shoulders and shook him "I will hand you over every Lego Imperial Star Destroyer and Dreadnaught that I have. Old Republic Era, if you tell me where this place is!"
"Whoa, easy there Ned" Peter said as he removed the shorter teen's hands from his shoulders "Your acting like a addict trying to get a fix or something"
"I haven't had a chilidog in months since my parents started me on this weird healthy diet thing they heard about on some retreat they went on a while back" Ned whined "Now every dinner is all salads and these weird fancy French named things that look good but taste like cardboard and plastic!"
"Ah, the troubles of upper class people" Peter said with a snort "Maybe that's why half of you guys are all snobbish and testy. You eat bad food"
"Exactly" Ned said with a clap of his hands "so, too prevent me from becoming such a person, you should take me to this chilidog place, or stand. I'm not picky"
"I could..." Peter said as he tapped his chin.
"I'll also give you my three meter high reconstructed Lego Star Forge" Ned said in a serious tone "With-"
"Deal"
And with that, the two shook hands.
...
And done.
Next chapter, awkward study session and a less than stellar day at the beach...