I'm working on Marvel's Spider-Man in American comics.

Chapter 13 Friendly Neighbor Daily Check-in
"What's the best thing about being Spider-Man? Hard to say!"

The morning sun shone across the New York skyline, and a red and blue figure sprinted along the glass facades of skyscrapers. If any office workers noticed a fleeting shadow on the ground, they would look up and see Spider-Man, backpack-slung, forgoing his signature web-swinging to run along the vertical walls.

“But not having to squeeze into the subway every day is definitely in the top three, woo hoo!”

Peter leaped onto the railing by the Hudson River in one swift step. Amid the roar of cars whizzing by, he leaped down like a diver. Just as he was about to touch the water, the spider silk shot out with a whoosh, carrying him in a perfect arc under the Queensboro Bridge.

Uncle Ben and George are both busy with work and generally don't pick them up from school unless it's a special day, like the first day of school.

"Spider-Man loves this hot dog! This is the hot dog Spider-Man loves! The only official Spider-Man hot dog in New York City!"

The owner of a hot dog stand on the streets of Midtown Manhattan promotes his hot dogs every day with a deadpan expression. After the New York War, he used to sell hot dogs to the employees of the Disaster Control Agency, but with the completion of the rubble cleanup, he now has a new business opportunity: Spider-Man has allowed the owner to use his image, and thus the only hot dog stand in New York with Spider-Man packaging bags came into being.

The most eye-catching thing about the hot dog stand is the plastic bag hanging on the top of the parasol - there is always a special hot dog in it.

"Boss, is this really the hot dog that Spider-Man likes to eat?"

Eugene Thompson, a freshman at Midtown High School, pushed his way through the crowd and came to the hot dog stand. He looked at the owner suspiciously, opened his wallet, and started taking out money. "Give me one, and if you put it on the parasol, can Spider-Man really get it?"

"He's Spider-Man, of course he can."

The boss looked at the customer expressionlessly and skillfully packed the hot dogs, but Thompson was still grumbling, "What if it's too early? What if it gets cold? What if your hot dogs get cold and Spider-Man gets sick? How can he fight—"

"Thanks, Paul!"

Thompson's chatter was interrupted by Spider-Man swinging on his web, passing by the hot dog stand and dropping two one-dollar bills, and the hot dogs on the parasol had disappeared.

Thompson was stunned until the boss held the hot dog in front of him. Then Thompson came to his senses and took out another five dollars and screamed almost deafeningly: "Give me two more of Spider-Man's favorite hot dogs! Thank you!!!"

"Good morning, Laurie! How's Carl doing today?"

"Karl said it was great, thanks for bringing it back for me."

A middle-aged man on the rooftop, preparing to release his pigeons, barely had time to utter a single sentence before the figure darting across the wall disappeared around the corner. The startled pigeons began to coo, and Laurie could only pet the old man again and again, "Calm down! He's just sending you home in a spider web, not roasting you."

This morning parade happens every day. While eating a hot dog, Spider-Man will high-five the newsstand owner, help an elderly woman carry her shopping bags, and even give directions to a lost puppy—after all, what kind of "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" is if he doesn't know every neighbor on the block?

Until a certain moment, the red and blue uniforms disappeared among the skyscrapers of Manhattan.

Peter Parker, dressed in casual clothes, "just happened" to emerge from the subway station. Of course, he hadn't come by subway—this was just a pretext for his sudden appearance near the school. Two blocks further was Midtown High, a top public high school in New York City that existed only in the Marvel Universe. Early in the morning, the Midtown High TV station was already operating, with two anchors broadcasting the news on screens dotted throughout the hallways.

"Good morning, students, this is Midtown High School. I'm your host, Betty."

"I'm the host, Jesse."

Peter glanced at the screen and went to his locker. He opened the locker and put his schoolbag in it, then took out the stationery he needed for several classes in the morning. Before he closed the locker door, he heard a familiar and extremely annoying voice.

"Parker!"

"Again? Carl?"

Peter's spider sense didn't react at all. He didn't even bother to pretend to be scared. He just closed the locker door and took a step back. Carl King walked over and punched the other people's lockers hard, trying to look fierce.

Peter pointed to the smashed cabinet.

"You know that's not my locker, right?"

Carl King hesitated and then threatened fiercely: "Listen, Parker, I won't bother with what happened in junior high. I won't bother with your bad friends either, but if you keep meddling, you're doomed."

After he finished speaking, there was another "bang" sound, and the cabinet was hit pitifully again. Carl King didn't give Peter time to react and just left, leaving Peter quite puzzled. "Is this a new type of school bullying? The person being taught a lesson turns around and threatens the one teaching him a lesson?"

Peter, who didn't understand Carl King's behavior at all, shook his head. A passing sweeper, leaning on his broom, sighed similarly, "These kinds of trashy students are common in every era. I've seen a lot of hooligans, kid. Don't be afraid of them. Be brave, resist them, and defeat them!"

"Thanks, Stan."

After thanking the father of Marvel, who could only be a sweeper in a universe without Marvel comics, Peter walked into the math classroom. He, Amadeus, and Harry were in the same math class, while Gwen was assigned to a different teacher.

And Carl King, you can't expect a muscled idiot to take the same math class as Peter Parker.

"Good morning, Peter." Harry sat down next to Peter and put his laptop on the table. Before class started, Harry turned on the computer and started searching for news about Spider-Man on the Internet.

"Spider-Man? Why are you interested in him?"

"Nothing. I heard people talking about Spider-Man, so I wanted to learn more about him. By the way, are you planning on going to the detective agency? I'm planning to check it out."

"You can go. I really like mystery puzzles. They're very relaxing."

Amadeus arrived late and, with an apology, sat down behind them. He wasn't tall to begin with, and was the typical skinny, easily bullied nerd. It wasn't clear if he could see clearly from the back. After Amadeus took his seat, Harry turned around and asked about the previous topic.

"Hey, Amadeus, we're going to go submit our application to join the detective agency after school. Wanna come together?"

"Of course, it's nice to go together."

Amadeus nodded. After a few seconds of silence, Peter looked at him. "Are you okay? Did someone bully you?"

"No, not really. It's just that I was probably shorter, so no one noticed me and I got bumped into a few times."

Amadeus casually passed over the topic. At this time, the teacher came in and interrupted their conversation.

High school is boring no matter the country. This class is pre-calculus—Midtown High School's required math material is significantly more challenging than other high schools, including advanced algebra and basic calculus. This is likely due to the partnership with Osborne Technologies and Stark Industries. In other high schools, math material can be much simpler. Peter has even heard of students organizing to make math an elective, something as outrageous as this.

Listening to the pre-calculus class which was not difficult at all, the bored Peter soon started spinning the pen and then writing and drawing on the paper. Then he switched to spinning the pen with his left hand and then writing and drawing on the paper with his left hand.

"Can you write with both hands?"

Harry seemed to have discovered something extraordinary and asked in a low voice, "Can you write with both hands at the same time?"

Peter's left hand wrote "yes" on the paper.

“Can you write different characters at the same time?”

This time, he wrote "No" on the paper with his right hand.

"Okay, guys. We need to find a good day to build Lego together."

Harry, who had endured the math class, seemed to have finally thought of something and smiled happily. It was obvious that he really wanted to build Lego, and he nodded with a smile.

"No problem, just find a time. I'll talk to Aunt Mei and she'll be happy to arrange dinner for us."

Several people were heading to the classroom for the next class. While walking on the way, the school news program was broadcasting the latest news.

"Based on this year's voting results, we've decided on the theme for the first day of Spirit Week before Homecoming - Superheroes! Every student who wants to participate must dress up as a superhero or supervillain!"

(End of this chapter)