Peter had already deactivated his suit. As he followed Felicia downstairs, he voiced his confusion.
"You want to attend the Homecoming dance? And you're specifically designating me as your date?"
"Exactly. Is there some reason I shouldn't?"
Felicia acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "It's not like I don't have anyone else to ask, but since I have to invite someone anyway, I might as well invite someone I'm familiar with."
"What about previous years? Did you not have a date then?"
"Good question. I didn't even attend Homecoming in previous years."
Peter was stunned. "Not even once?"
"I attended as a freshman, but no one requires freshmen to join the dance, right? You've only been in school a month and don't know anyone. Sophomore year, I faked a fever and skipped. Junior year, I was in Europe investigating my father's whereabouts, so Homecoming was the last thing on my mind."
Peter suddenly remembered that at this time last year, Felicia had indeed been in Europe looking for her father and wasn't in New York at all.
"But this year—"
"This year, quite a few friends have been asking me. Things like, 'You've never gone before, are you going this year?' or 'High school life would be so tragic if you never went to a single Homecoming.' Thinking about it, they have a point. It's hard to refuse."
I think you'd be better off refusing—
Peter grumbled internally but didn't say it out loud. He was thinking—or perhaps trying to avoid thinking—about the situation, but Felicia clearly had everything calculated.
"Oh, right. If you're worried about how to break the news, I can tell the other girls that you've been 'pre-booked' this year. Don't worry, I have their contact info. Besides, I imagine S.H.I.E.L.D. is quite busy; maybe they won't even have time for Homecoming and will have to go help out instead?"
Felicia spoke as she stepped out in front. Peter hurried to keep up. "But—"
"Then there's little Gwen. Hasn't she been complaining that you're overprotective and don't trust her? Perfect. On the night of Homecoming, you can let her... be New York's only Spider-Woman. I'm sure she'll do a great job."
Peter: "..."
"I just had an argument with Gwen—"
"Isn't that even better? Believe me, a heart full of frustration is great for fighting crime."
Peter found himself at a loss for words.
"Besides, I don't actually need a date to stay with me for the entire event. Think about it: if something comes up that absolutely requires Spider-Man, you can just leave. I'll just tell everyone you had an emergency and had to go."
Peter seemed to catch on. "In short, as long as the blame doesn't fall on you, right?"
Felicia simply smiled.
"You can give Gwen a pager—oh wait, she probably already has one. You can tell her to notify you to save the day if there's something she can't handle alone. Who knows, she might intentionally say she can't handle something just to pull you out of the dance. Want to give it a try?"
Faced with Felicia's prodding, Peter had no intention of answering. He focused on the USB drive in his hand, letting his spider-bots begin the analysis while asking uncertainly, "Do you really only need me to be your Homecoming date?"
"Truly. Do you think you're getting a bad deal or a bargain? If it's a bad deal, I can throw in some extra compensation."
"Stop teasing me."
Compared to the risks Felicia had taken and the time she'd invested, this was undeniably an unequal exchange. Peter couldn't quite fathom her ultimate goal. But then he reconsidered; Felicia wasn't a career villain like a mob boss with clear objectives, nor was she a traditional superhero. Perhaps she really did these things just for her own amusement.
"Uh, I guess it's fine. No one has invited me yet anyway—"
"And you haven't decided if you want to invite someone, or which one?"
Felicia flashed a smile and waved her phone. "Alright, leave the rest to me. Oh, by the way, come here for a second."
She pulled the bewildered Peter over for a quick selfie together, then tucked her phone away. "Now all you have to do is wait. There are still a few days until Homecoming; maybe you can take down the Hand while you're at it."
"—You realize Cindy is in my class, right?"
"Then just tell her the 'bad woman' used intel to coerce and entice you. You're the victim here."
With a chuckle, Felicia left the building and headed toward the entrance of Midtown High. Peter sighed. Before he had walked more than a few steps, his phone began buzzing incessantly. He pulled it out, half-expecting an emergency, but saw it was the large group chat for the Detective Agency. This morning, his senior had added a massive batch of newcomers to the group.
The number of recruits this year was higher than last. He wondered how many would actually be active. Last year, before the incident at the Eye in the Sky, he hadn't realized that the Detective Agency, which usually had fewer than ten people online, actually had so many members.
After scanning the names of the new members and confirming there were no potential superheroes or villains among them, Peter walked into the school. The matter regarding the parents of the Runaways, which he had reported to Coulson previously, had been settled; the eccentric parents had been arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D.
However, since the children were still minors, they needed to be adopted by qualified families. Fury intended to find trustworthy adopters outside of Hydra's influence, but at that moment, Strange had swooped in and taken Nico Minoru away.
At Nico's request, the Runaways was still formed, though they were now living in the Sanctum Sanctorum.
"Aside from Nico, not a single one of them is a magic-user. In fact, most of them are tech-based characters. Strange definitely won't be good with kids; Wong is likely going to have a rough time."
Though he didn't know why the Runaways had "teleported" from Los Angeles to New York, everything seemed to become logical once it got tangled up with New York's affairs.
Oh, and there was the matter of Nova. Richard Rider had finally come clean to his parents about becoming a superhero—mainly because, unlike being a solo act, S.W.O.R.D. was a national agency with a formal organization. Once Nova joined S.W.O.R.D., the department had to notify his family.
He heard that Nova's parents were originally terrified of their child being a superhero. But once they saw Mar-Vell's laid-back, "dead fish" attitude and the benefits package S.W.O.R.D. offered, they actually felt relieved. S.W.O.R.D. had finally secured its first heavy-hitter.
Furthermore, Nova had captured the space pirate Zorr, and was now just waiting for the Guardians of the Galaxy to come pick him up.
Peter couldn't help but remark to himself:
"Things are looking pretty good."
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