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

Chapter 646 The Start of the Second Year of High School

A year passed quickly (though not really), and soon it was time for the new school year. Peter, unusually, didn't drive straight to Midtown High School, but instead rode in Uncle Ben's car. New York looked peaceful today—and it truly was.

There was no alien invasion or villains causing trouble on the streets. Uncle Ben and Peter chatted about what happened when he and Aunt May went to Pittsburgh. Time flew by, and Uncle Ben drove Peter to the entrance of Midtown High School.

“I’m glad you’ve listened to me ramble on all this way without seeming impatient, kid.”

Uncle Ben glanced at Peter in the rearview mirror as he spoke. Peter smiled and said goodbye to Uncle Ben, then got out of the car. He had only taken a few steps into the school when he was patted on the back—but he knew someone was coming, so he didn't react at all.

"It's nice to see you walking on the ground, buddy."

Harry walked over to Peter with a smile and said, "Why didn't you reply to my calls several times during the summer vacation? And then you said it was inconvenient to explain. Did you run into some trouble?"

"Strictly speaking, it's not just a little trouble, it's a lot of trouble. Earth must be under some kind of curse, to the point that very serious disasters are happening almost every moment."

Peter couldn't help but yawn, while Harry pondered, "I wonder if there's any other way to become a superhero."

Peter glanced at Harry: "Do you think your dad would give himself a vial of Green Goblin serum and beat you up if he found out?"

“How could that be? He destroyed all the Green Goblin serum a long time ago.” Harry frowned suddenly and looked at Peter. “He destroyed all the Green Goblin serum, right?”

"I do not know."

Peter shrugged, but he had thought about it. Considering Norman's previous actions, it was possible that Norman had cleared his name by blaming the Green Goblin and wouldn't actively try to become the Green Goblin anymore. However, it seemed unlikely that Norman Osborn hadn't left behind any Green Goblin serum at all.

Harry sighed helplessly upon hearing this: "Well, if only the Green Goblin serum didn't have those weird side effects, it would actually be pretty good."

"I think it's better not to be a superpowered person. With great power comes great responsibility. When you have great power, all sorts of troubles will come your way."

Harry looked at Peter with some confusion after hearing his words, then patted him on the shoulder: "I gave you a vial of super soldier serum, bro, so don't scare me anymore. Isn't New York perfectly peaceful?"

That's because you haven't seen anything outside of New York, buddy.

However, Harry didn't dwell on that. Instead, he looked around and started looking for another friend: "Where's Amadeus? I can't see him."

"I don't know what he's doing either. There's been no news of him all summer. He's probably been taken somewhere by Hercules again, so we can't find him."

Peter felt that Amadeus had a somewhat detached air about him. Instead of becoming the new Hulk, he was dragged around by Hercules every day, and his presence was almost completely gone. He didn't know why Hercules would drag around a high school student with zero fighting power.

Is it because I lack intelligence?

"Oh, he's here."

Amadeus arrived by bus. He looked severely sleep-deprived, but his glasses were missing, and it was unclear whether he'd been bitten by some kind of Greek radiant spider. He looked perfectly normal, though. He approached the two men, completely devoid of the excitement he'd felt after his adventure with Hercules. "What did you do all summer? Went on an adventure in Greece?"

"Huh? Greece, oh no, Hercules went back earlier. I spent the whole summer in my apartment reading, watching TV, or playing games. I didn't go out for three whole months except for necessary outings."

Amadeus's answer shocked the two men; it was completely unexpected. Just as the three were speechless, a shout from Lightning Thompson in the distance interrupted them. The three turned to see Lightning waving in their direction, then left with their friends.

Amadeus looked at Lightning with a hint of confusion: "Is it just my imagination? Why do I feel like that Lightning, who has nothing to do with us, has a good relationship with us? I mean, although it was pretty good before, but..."

"Lightning is Agent Venom."

After Peter finished speaking, Amadeus still looked confused. Peter looked at Amadeus speechlessly and asked, "Dude, are you alright?"

"Uh, I'm fine. What's Venom Agent?"

Peter suddenly frowned. He had initially thought Amadeus was simply a homebody, but now it seemed that Amadeus had completely shut himself off from the outside world for the entire summer, seemingly oblivious to everything around him. While it's true that people can be homebodies to this extent, Peter sensed that something was amiss with Amadeus.

"Are you alright? Did something happen?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, no, I'm just working on a really complicated math problem. I've been studying it all summer and I still don't have a clue."

"What, you're planning to take the prize money for the Millennium Mathematics Problem?"

Amadeus simply smiled upon hearing this and said, "More or less."

This kid is definitely hiding something from everyone, but the problem is, he doesn't seem to be planning to tell anyone. Peter isn't sure if Amadeus is in trouble or something else, but since the spider sense isn't reacting, it's probably not a very serious matter.

The three continued walking. Since their grades were similar, they were looking at the same schedule again this year. On the way to the schedule, Harry suddenly raised a very serious and important question.

"Guys, I'm thinking... Do you think a bunch of new superheroes will pop up in schools this year? Maybe Midtown High School is a lucky place, and we can produce a whole bunch of teenage Avengers."

Peter Parker fell silent, then looked at Harry after a few brief seconds of thought and sighed helplessly.

"I don't know much about it, but if that's really the case, then I think we should at least hurry up and gather all these teenage superpowered individuals together for training. You have no idea how much trouble they can cause."

Amadeus seized the blind spot.

"Wait, isn't Spider-Man one of them?"

(End of this chapter)