"Right..."
Peter stared down at his notepad. "Let's see here. Sports teams... Education system... Businesses in city centre..." He groaned. "All of which are taken."
Great. Great, perfect, just wonderful. Peter had been walking around Metropolis for a good two hours and had only found three aspects of the place that he could feasibly do a good project on. Unfortunately for him, each one of them were taken: Sally, Randy, and Glori had beaten him to the punch on them. And since the teacher wouldn't allow a student to do their project on something someone else was doing, he was still searching for a topic. If he didn't find one soon enough, he was probably going to be in a bit of trouble.
He looked around himself. Well, it was worth looking on the bright side of things. Namely how beautiful the place was. He had already been around the place since he properly arrived, both as Peter and Spider-Man, but he really did have to marvel at the infrastructure. What with its tall buildings, eye-catching shops, and a large building towering about them all, even 'The Daily Planet'. One with a giant 'L' on it. Though, if he was to be honest, that particular building didn't really please him. Probably because of reminding him of Oscorp, which, to be honest, he thought was silly of him. Don't be so paranoid, he told himself. Just focus on your project and-...
Peter stopped when he heard his stomach rumble. "Huh. Guess I'm a little hungry." He hadn't eaten since breakfast. He looked to see if he could spot a place to eat. That's when he noticed it: a pink dairy café, with the words 'SWEET JUSTICE' above its door as an unlit neon sign. Peter thought about it for a bit, before shrugging. Why not? Stepping in, hearing a bell ring above his head, he noticed that it was surprisingly empty. In fact, the only people in it were some girls talking about something at one table. Nevertheless, he walked up to the counter.
"Um..." He rang the bell. "Hello? Anyone there?"
After a few more rings, someone finally came to the counter. At almost supersonic speeds, for what of a better term. The boy smiled at him, adjusting the hat on his hat.
"Hi there! Welcome to Sweet Justice!" He talked a little fast, like he was excited just by what he was saying. "I'm Barry Allen!"
Peter just smiled back. "Cool."
"So..." Barry drummed his fingers against the counter. "What do you want?"
"Uh..." Peter looked up at the menu, reading over the potential meals he could pick. A few caught his eye, but before he could make a decision, he reached into his back pocket. He hadn't brought his wallet, so all he could get out was $2 and 50 cents. Looking up again, he started seeing which one of his choices he could actually afford. Eventually, he found one.
"I think I'll have a slice of vanilla cake," he said. "With a coffee on the side, please."
Barry's smile grew wider. "Cool! I'll be right back!" With that he dashed back into the kitchen. Seeing he had time to kill, Peter leaned against the counter, absentmindedly flipping his two dollar coin. Well, two times. The third time he flipped it, it shot off away from him. Before he could grab it before it hit the ground, the coin landed and rolled forward, before coming to a stop just under one of the tables.
"You're kidding me..." Peter muttered. The Parker luck sometimes really liked screwing him over in such minor ways. It was better then something, like, the entire Sinister Six ambushing him and trying to cut him into pieces, but still...
Whatever. He just needed to get it back. He quickly knelt down near the table and starting crawling underneath. Unfortunately for him, the coin had gone back pretty far. And just as he noticed where the coin was, he noticed the pair of legs dangling over it.
Peter felt his face grow red. Crap. This was going to be awkward if they spotted him. Shaking his head, he sighed. He was still good. He could just snatch the coin and crawl out before any the girls at the table noticed him and freaked out. He moved just a little closer, at this point nearly entirely under the table, which really didn't help with the embarrassment he felt. Just needed to grab it...
That's when the ground gave out beneath him. Peter didn't even have time to scream before he felt himself falling. After a few seconds, he started feeling something solid. Which, for some reason, felt like a slide. What was going on?! Was this some weird kidnapping thing? Where was he even going?
Eventually, he came to a stop, landing on a mattress before bouncing off to the side. Groaning, he placed a hand to his head. Right, just needed to take in his surroundings. Ground? Yeah, that was back. Location? Underground... maybe. Well, at least his Spider-Sense wasn't going off, so maybe he wasn't in any-
"Um, girls?"
Peter whipped his head up to face the source of the voice. It was... one of the girls who was at the table. One who wore a sweater and had her primarily brown (with a yellow streak in it) hair done up in buns. Her face was pale, and she was pointing an almost accusatory finger at him.
"What it is, Karen?" Another voice called out. "Is it a dead rat? Babs, I thought I told you to clean out the..."
The speaker soon stepped into Peter's view, her own eyes wide. Peter shakily got up, cracking his back into place.
"Um..." He smacked his lips, before awkwardly waving with a small smile. "Hi?"
That's when another girl came into view, this one wearing a purple hoodie. When she spotted Peter, she blinked. "Oh... uh..."
Then a blonde girl came into view. She looked angry. "What the-? How did you get down here?!"
Peter raised his hands up. "Look, I have no idea. I don't know who you are and I don't know how..."
He trailed off when he spotted something on a nearby wall. A newspaper clipping proudly displayed 'SUPER HERO GIRLS SAVE DAY FROM METALLO!' in large text. Below it were six girls, all of whom had been photographed celebrating. Peter squinted, walking over to the newspaper.
"Hey, what are you doing?" He heard the blonde ask. Peter didn't register it, instead examining the six heroes. Weirdly enough, some of the girls looked a little familiar. Where did he...
Hold up. He turned around to face the girls, who had gathered. He stared at the one with the purple hoodie. Then back at the newspaper, this time focusing on the girl dressed as a purple bat. The hair was the same, the height, and even the general face...
Wait a minute. He looked around the lair. It was decorated in superhero memorabilia. All dedicated to the 'Super Hero Girls'.
It only took Peter eight more seconds to connect the dots.
"Are..." He looked back at the girls, who stared at him back. "Are you guys... these 'Super Hero Girls'?"
This caused the girls to all awkwardly look away from him. Some of them went "Um, actually..." or "You know...", but no further than that. At least, until the blonde stepped up to him.
"Whatever, you don't know anything, dude," she said, folding her arms. "Just get out and-"
Peter raised his hands up. "No, wait! I won't tell anyone and..." He trailed off. This wasn't going to get him anywhere. But he knew something that might. It was risky, dangerous even. But they kept this secret, supposedly, and they were also heroes. Maybe they'd relate.
"I'm... actually a superhero too."
Silence. The girls continued to stare at him, their jaws slightly hanging open. Peter internally groaned. Crap, maybe this wasn't my best idea.
"Really?" The purple-haired girl asked, walking up to him. "How do we know you're not lying to stay here?"
At this point, Peter's mind was so muddled, he couldn't think straight. All that he could focus on was how he could prove his status as a superhero. So, almost automatically, he jumped onto the wall, sticking to it. It got no response. So, as much as that little voice in the back of his head screamed at him to stop, he climbed up the wall until he was clinging onto the ceiling. Looking down, he spotted the girls, who now looked really surprised.
"...Yeah." Using the web-shooters under his sleeves, he shot out a web that allowed him to lower himself to the ground. He stood up straight and folded his arms. "So, do you believe me no-"
He felt himself get the wind knocked out of him when the purple-hoodied girl ran up to him, accidentally slamming her hands into his chest. Her eyes were wide with excitement.
"No way!" She gasped. "Are you that spider guy?!"
Peter blinked. "Wh-why would you assume-"
The girl backed away, scoffing. "Come on! The sticking to walls, the web-like stuff... I read a few articles on you just a few minutes ago, FYI."
The girl in green rolled her eyes. "Okay, Babs. Give him time to breathe."
Babs chuckled. "Whoops. Okay, sure, sure..."
The tallest girl stepped up to Peter, making him shrink back as he realised that she was like a head taller than him. "Is it true?" She sounded curious. "Are you the spider hero?"
Peter clicked his tongue before sighing. Well, he already revealed himself. He was only hoping this wouldn't be a terrible idea.
"Yeah, I am. And the name's Spider-Man."
Babs looked back at him. "Wow! That's awesome!" She sat down. "Wanna tell us your backstory?"
Peter blinked. This one girl seemed pretty energetic. "Okay, fine," he said. "But on one condition..."
The girl in the sweater's eyes widened. "What?"
"You girls have gotta fill me in too."
