°○With My Own Two Hands○°

Chapter 7

"School's almost over, I should probably head home now." Ned sighed as he set the wii controller down on MJ's bed next to her leg. They had skipped school together and went to her house to relax.

"Oh okay, do you want me to walk you home?"

Ned did want her to walk with him, but he felt bad at the thought of her walking back by herself. "Er, no thanks. It's not that far."

"Oh, okay. Sounds good. Call me when you get home alright?" She smiled to him as she began turning off her TV and Wii, setting both the remotes on a charging system.

"Will do, thanks for skipping with me for the first time." He smiled as he grabbed his books and his backpack.

"Anytime, we should skip school more often."

"Probably?" Ned chuckled and began walking out into the hallway.

"Bye, Ned!" He heard MJ call from her bedroom as he walked to the front door. He waved goodbye to MJ's mom who stood in the kitchen cooking. Without looking up, she smiled and waved. Ned nodded to himself and exited their home, feeling a cool breathe rush up his back as he closed the door behind him.

He began to walk. He spotted other kids walking which meant this was good, it wouldn't be to suspicious that he skipped school. As he walked, he felt more and more nervous. He was worried his mom would notice he skipped school.

"What if she asked me how school was? Oh jeez..." Ned mumbled to himself with a sigh. He decided to speed up his pace. He saw buses coming from the other direction and watched the kids in the window as they went by. They were all chatting, talking about weekend plans even though it was Thursday. Ned figured that's what they would be talking about, he didn't have super hearing like Spider-Man.

The thought of Spider-Man put Ned's mind at ease. He knows Peter is safe now. Where? He doesn't know, but he knows he's not dead so that's great. Ned was to focused on his thinking he didnt see the rigged part of the sidewalk. He tripped, falling forward and colliding with the pavement. His books fell from his arms, and he was quick to get up and scurry after them. Once his books were safe in his arms he looked around to see if anyone noticed. He felt relieved to see no one was around anymore, and he was all by himself. He lifted up his leg and glanced as his leg. He had skinned his knee. Great.

"I'm just glad I didnt ruin my shorts.." Ned mumbled to himself as he stood. Before he could stand up, he stopped. He took notice of the dark alley next to him, that was being gently lit up by something purple. He turned the corner and glanced into the alley, feeling nervous.

"What the..?" He looked at the floor and spotted a purple glowing rock. It looked like a crystal shard, and it looked pretty. Ned set down his books and walked into the alley now. He bent down, and picked up the tiny shiny rock. He know this wasn't any normal rock, it was glowing, literally glowing. It looked like it had an LED in it.

Ned stood up and decided he would take it with him, but the rock began to glow a little brighter. He watched the little shard in his palm as it began to shake. It began to burn him, and he threw it down with a little yell in pain. He watched the the rock slowly stop glowing and shaking on the floor, returning back to how it looked originally. Ned shrugged his shoulders and turned back around to his books, but froze upon hearing something. He didnt dare turn around, he just stood there frozen. He heard someone landing in the floor behind him gracefully.

"I'd stay still, big kid."

Ned felt this voice belonged to someone behind him, obviously. He didn't look, he just put his hands up.

"L-listen, I'm a big kid, but I'm no fighter, if that's what you're looking for." Ned decided the man behind him was just some homeless guy pitching a fight for the rock he had.