Spidey & Speedy - Central City Rush

Chapter 1 - Begin The Day With A Friendly Voice

***PETER***

For my first time outside of New York, I don't think I can do much better than going to California. Sure, it's not the sun-kissed, Hollywood-starlet-filled section of the state. But when your school is arranging a special tour of Central City University, one of the best schools for science in America, you want to be the first to sign up.

I was the second, though. Naturally, our class valedictorian was first.

That's right. Gwen Stacy's going to be better than me at everything, now and forever. Better at biology, at physics, at chemistry, and of course at kissing. Not that I'm complaining. Especially not about the last one. Unlike a certain cinematic race for the Holy Grail, the various "competitions" between me and Gwen are the sort of challenge in which there is, in fact, a silver medal for finishing second.

Okay, maybe there isn't a silver medal. But that's okay, I don't need one. I'm a superhero. I don't need more glory. The only reason I get the glory I do is because most people are unaware of who I really am. If they knew New York's most high-profile unofficial crime-fighter (otherwise known as a more polite way of saying "vigilante") was a kid who was still in high school (not to mention still a minor), there would be concerned parents all over the city demanding that I stop doing whatever a spider can.

I'd bet a gajillion dollars - and win - that Aunt May would be joining the ranks of those parents. Never mind that she's not an actual biological parent - since she's helped raise me since I was five, she definitely counts.

On the bus ride from the hotel to the campus, I sit next to Gwen, who's in the window seat. We'd had a Thumb War to determine who would get it - I'd suggested we do a tickle fight, but there was no chance of either of us would do that in public - and, as usual, I found myself coming in second best. But that's okay - if our places were reversed, Gwen would probably have a bit of trouble trying to appreciate the view while peering around my big, bushy-haired head. As it is, though, I still have to look around Gwen to get a really good look out the window if I want to. And by the time I do, whatever I'm looking for has usually gone by. For example, the row of blue-and-silver CCU flags lining the street.

"Look at that," Gwen says, pointing out the window.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?" I ask, cursing inwardly as I once again miss whatever it is I'm supposed to be looking at.

"There's another one," Gwen says. "Maybe it repeats itself every so often?"

I lift my head so I can look over hers a bit better. Then I see it - a piece of graffiti on the wall. It's a yellow lightning bolt inscribed in a dark red circle.

"Wonder what that means," I say.

"Maybe it's the logo of the school's sports team?" Gwen asks, laughing at her own joke.

"Totally clashes with the flags, though," I say, laughing alongside her.

When we finally get off the bus, we're supposed to gather on a grassy field on the other side of the Student Union Building from our bus stop. Along the way, Gwen and I spot a few little brand-name eateries, including Pizza Hut and Starbucks. Instead of stopping at any of these, though, we get our refreshments on the lawn, where a big blond dude (who looks like he could be Gwen's older brother or something) is serving ice cream cones.

To our delight, they have the incredibly hard-to-find sea salt flavor. Gwen and I thus spend the next ten minutes or so trying to eat up the delicious pale-blue ice cream before it melts out of our cones under the early-April sun. It's much warmer here than it is in New York at this time of year - unseasonably so, according to this morning's weather report, which predicted 75 degrees for Central City's daytime high today.