CREEPIN

For Ultra parallel universes.

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•Other Day, Other Inferno•

I'm getting tired.

I don't want to continue.

I can't take it anymore.

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Peter had two paths he could take. One where he could turn on his heels and the other, where he would face the reality of the Institute.

His mind was screaming at him like never before to turn around. What could happen if he missed a day of classes? It would just be one day where he wouldn't have to face the constant abuse from others. So, he followed what his mind was telling him, but as he took a step to turn, someone grabbed the sleeve of his gray coat, causing him to stop.

"Where do you think you're going?" the person asked, not letting go of his sleeve. "The entrance to the Institute is on this side." She pointed to the front. "We have to go to class."

"I don't want to go," he replied, removing her hand from his sleeve. "I'm going home."

"Of course not, Parker," she retorted, grabbing the sleeve of his coat again. She pulled him as best she could until they were on the first step of the Institute. "Stop acting like a little kid," she pleaded, letting go of him.

"Listen, Michelle... I don't want to go into the Institute. I don't want to fall on the ground again because of others," he said, playing with the straps of his black backpack.

Michelle, a dark-skinned girl with a unique mind and an attitude that most people secretly wished they had, looked at her good friend, trying to figure out what to say to convince him to go into the prestigious COLDTWO Institute, one of the most important universities in Queens. Few have been able to enter, and those who do, either get in because of their parents' whims or because they have worked hard and are children of great minds... Peter, so to speak, was part of those great minds. Michelle bit the inside of her cheek lightly and sighed.

She spoke.

"You've been absent for weeks, Peter. You can't keep skipping school. The insufferable teachers keep asking why you haven't shown up and why Ned is turning in the work you should be doing," she said. Ned was that peculiar boy, Peter's best friend, who was always there and part of that group of students who suffered bullying but knew how to handle it. Something that Peter no longer wanted to do. And it was something she could understand. "You can't keep running away, and even less so, leave everything to Ned."

"Ned, unlike me, can handle more. I can't anymore. They do too many things to me there..."

His words were interrupted when he felt a gelatinous impact on his face that he didn't see coming. His face was covered in what he recognized as pudding, and as an added surprise, several eggs were cracked over his head. Michelle watched with a hardened expression as the perpetrator of the act against Peter was revealed. It was none other than Flash Thompson... The typical popular jock who thinks he's number one and everyone else is a zero beneath him, treating them in the worst possible way. And that's how he makes many, especially Peter, feel. If anyone ever thought that being outside the school would save them from Flash's aggression, they were mistaken. Michelle pushed Flash, who looked at her with disdain while Peter remained still and said nothing about what had just happened. In fact... he didn't want to say anything ever again. It wouldn't do any good; he had tried before and hadn't accomplished anything.

"You damn imbecile," Michelle ranted at Flash, slapping him in the face with a blow no one saw coming. "You're a tremendous imbecile. Pick on someone your own size."

"With pleasure," Flash replied, approaching Michelle threateningly. Apparently, he intended to return the blow.

"What the hell is going on here?" a voice asked from behind Flash, a voice even he recognized. "You're planning to hit back, stupid Asian?" he asked, turning Flash around to face him. "Answer me."

"No, sir," Flash stammered, his face pale and scared. "Of course not."

Most of the people outside stopped in their tracks upon seeing who was there, took out their phones, and started taking pictures...

Ned arrived on the scene after a brief run, standing in front of Peter and helping Michelle remove the eggs and pudding from his face. He had seen from afar what Flash had done to Peter and how no one had stepped in to defend him until now.

"Why do you bully Peter?" the person who now had everyone's attention asked.

"I'm not bullying him, sir..."

"King of Thunder," he interrupted, stating what many or all of us already know about who he is and what he causes in our lives. He fixed his intimidating gaze on Flash. "Don't mess with my friend Peter."

"Friend?" he asked, confused.

"That's right," he replied. "The kid you hurt out of envy is my friend. So I advise you to leave him alone," he said in a threatening tone. "Got it?"

"Yes, sir," he replied.

"Get out of here," he muttered through gritted teeth. Flash, like the coward he claims not to be, quickly left the scene. Thor then turned his attention to Peter, who was removing some shells from his coat without saying a word. The others took photos... He approached Peter. "Young man.."

"Now he's really going to kill me," he said, looking at him. "Now he's never going to leave me alone for what you said. Why did you tell him we're friends? He's just going to bother me even more now."

"He won't do that," Thor assured him. "And you are my friend, so I must defend you."

"Don't do it," he exclaimed. "I'm tired of others defending me, it only makes things worse. First Stark, then Scott, Natasha, and now... you?" He frowned. "I'm useless," he told himself, his voice trailing off and trembling. "I'm out of here." He said no more, quickly walking away from them.

Of all...

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