Marvel: Quest System

Midtown High looked exactly like how it did in the movies. Well, mostly.

The front courtyard was busy with students hanging around in small cliques, chatting, messing with their lockers, or half-heartedly rushing to class. The school building itself had that classic New York public school feel—brick walls, big windows, and the occasional flickering hallway light that nobody ever seemed to fix. Just like in the Spider-Man movies, Midtown High had an air of casual chaos, a mix of nerds, jocks, and band kids coexisting in a fragile ecosystem of high school politics.

A few students zipped past me on skateboards because of course there are, while a couple of kids in letterman jackets laughed too loudly near the entrance. It was weird, seeing this place in real life instead of through a screen—like stepping into the set of a Marvel movie, except I wasn't just an audience member anymore. This was my life now.

Being 18, I fit in pretty well into the environment. I'm sure I turned a few heads on my way in though, due to my glowup. As I walked through the school's main entrance, I finally noticed a flaw in my plan. How the hell am I going to find Peter? This building is massive! I don't even know what he looks like right now, he should look like young Tom Holland, but I'm not even sure about that. I can't go and ask a teacher for his classes, cuz then they're just going to ask who I am, and then I'll be taken by the police or something.

As I mindlessly roamed the school, I heard a loud crash. As I look around for what caused the noise, I notice a bunch of kids grouping up by the lockers. I take a peek, being able to somewhat see past the crowd due to my tall frame.

...Well that was easy. There Peter was, being pushed into the lockers by Flash Thompson. 

[Quest Update: Friendly Neighborhood Aquaintence]

[On your way to befriend Peter Parker, you find him being bullied by Flash Thompson. Rescue him!]

[Optional: defeat Flash Thompson]

[Reward: {Party} Function, Double EXP Pill(24hr)]

Oh? I didn't know quests could get updated. And what is this? A double gain pill? I'm guessing since there's no actual EXP in this system, it's like a double physical growth pill. Too bad it's only for 24 hours. I guess it's still pretty generous for beating up a teenage wannabe jock.

As I was reading the quest update, I could hear Flash and his goons insult Peter, and continue to shove him. It seems like this is a pretty common occurrence, seeing how the teachers ignored Peter and just kept walking past us. Well, this is good. That means they won't notice whatever I'm going to do to flash.

I mean, it's not like I ever did any exercise in my past life, that's why I was obese, but I felt like this body was at least a little fit. Probably enough to beat up Flash though. Thank god this Flash isn't the buff white agent venom one from the comics, but the round and brown TikTok star version from the MCU.

That was when I heard something I thought I'd never have heard coming out of Peter's mouth. "I've had enough Eugene!" I heard I pin drop. Everything went quiet, with everybody's mouths hung wide open. After a few seconds, one by one, the crowd watching started laughing. Flash, or better yet, Eugene, completely red in the face, proceeded to lose control.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!" screamed Flash as he lunged himself at Peter, with his arm cocked back. Welp, It looks like it's time for my hero entrance. Quickly making my way through the crowd, I made my way in between Flash and Peter. 

Flash's fist was already mid-swing when I stepped in between them. Without time to react, I just put my guard up and blocked the punch with my forearms. The impact sent a strong quake through my bones. It stung. A lot. 

Again thanking the gods that this was MCU Flash and not the comic version, I whipped out my inner Spiderman and threw some quips at him. 

"Whoa there, Eugene—" I emphasized his real name with a smirk, which only made his face get redder. "You sure you wanna go through with this? Because, uh…" I glanced around the crowd, where phones were already being pulled out. "I dunno if you wanna be the dude who gets his ass kicked on 4KHD today."

Flash's face contorted in confusion—his slow-ass brain clearly struggling to process why his punch didn't land and why the hell I had just materialized out of nowhere. "Who the fuck are you?!? Move out of the way!" Snarled Flash, clearly angered by my intervention. He pulled another fist back and prepared to punch me again.

I wasn't sure if I could block again this time, and I wasn't trying to find out. Instead, I weaved my head to the right and closed the distance between us.

"Damn, dude. All that weight and none of it goes into the punch?" 

Flash, surprised that I dodged, and even more, so that I closed the distance, didn't have time to react as I drove my fist right into his gut. Luckily for him, it didn't do as much damage thanks to his... Well.. roundness. It did knock the wind out of him though. 

Out of desperation, flash started swinging randomly, forcing me to back out for now. "Damn, I'm doing pretty good for my first real fight!" I thought to myself, lightly hopping on my feet, getting ready to go back in. 

While Flash was gasping for air and clutching at his stomach, I decided to make my next move. I run straight at Flash, arm cocked back to throw a straight, forcing him to put his guard up in front of him, leaving him unguarded from the sides. Right as I'm about to reach him, I quickly brake, and wind up a right hook as much as possible within 1 second.

The next instant, I release the windup, pushing the rotational force from my ankles to my hips, to my shoulders, and into my fist, straight into Flash's unguarded jaw. I swear I could hear the breaking of the sound barrier as Flash went flying into the lockers. Well, not really. At this point, I'm still only human. It was more like Flash just stopped moving and fell to the side.

[Ding!]

[Quest Update: Friendly Neighborhood Aquaintence]

[Optional objective completed!]

Thank god I watched some boxing tutorials in my last life. That hook wouldn't have been enough to knock him out without all that rotational power. Damn, that guy has a thick skull. I could still feel a slight aching in my knuckles. Then, I heard a shutter going off. Then two. Then three. 

The crowd, which had been watching in stunned silence, suddenly erupted with laughter and whispers. The guy was supposed to be the school bully, and yet here he was knocked out on the ground. Everybody took out their cameras and started taking photos of the aftermath of the fight and sharing them on social media. Right, this guy was like a TikTok influencer. I'm cooked, aren't I...

Just then, the crowd parted like the Red Sea as an angry teacher bulldozed her way through, her face red in rage as she yelled something about school rules, zero tolerance policies, and how fighting is unacceptable, blah blah blah... Ya know, the usual BS teachers spout while completely ignoring the fact that bullying happens on a daily basis.

Fuck nah I'm outta here. There is no way I'm sitting through this lecture. And when they find out that I'm not even a student... A lone bead of sweat made it down my forehead. "Welp, that's my cue to leave," I muttered, turning on my heel and booking it in the opposite direction. (ts got me feeling like Jake from Subway Surfers like yk the starting cutscene)

"Hey, wait!" Peter called after me, but I didn't hear what he said. I was already weaving through the crowd like, well, Jake from Subway Surfers, making my grand escape before the opps(teacher) could get ahold of me. 

Perfect escape!!! I cheered myself on as I rushed out of the main entrance of the school. It feels like I'm forgetting something though. Oh, wait. I gotta befriend Peter. Wasn't that the whole point of coming here... Welp, I can't go back now. I guess I gotta find another way.

I could hear slow wheezing sounds behind me. Huh? Did the teachers chase me? I thought I got rid of all the stragglers... I look back, only to see it was actually Peter Parker, chasing after me. 

"Hey, thanks for saving me back there... What's your name?" Peter gasped out in between his wheezing breaths.

"Oh, no problem dude. I just don't like seeing kids get bullied. My name is Alex by the way. Alex Lee."

"Thanks again, Alex. I owe you one. But hey, can I ask you a favour?"

"yeah, what's up? I don't swing that way by the way."

"hell no! I like Liz- I mean I only like girls!!!" Peter stutters out.

Damn, this kid is really bad at social interactions. 

(A/N fuck no BL btw. Just because Peter is insecure and acting like a twink doesn't mean he wants it up the ass)

"A-anyways, can you teach me how to fight? I can't stand being bullied by Flash all the time, and I saw how you fought, it looked like you were experienced..."

"oh, I have no idea how to fight. I just followed a YouTube tutorial I watched ages ago."

"W-what? I thought- is there any way to get stronger?"

"Well, I'm going to start going to a boxing gym sooner or later... you wanna go with me then?"

"Oh, I've been putting off physical training though... B-but if it's what it takes to become stronger...! Is it okay if I bring a friend over though?"

"oh yeah. Don't sweat it, bro. Oh right, before I forget, give me your phone number so I can contact you about the gym."

I input Peters's phone number on my phone. 

[Ding!]

[Quest Complete: A Friendly Neighborhood Aquaintence]

[Reward received: {Party} System, Double EXP Pill(24hr)]

(a/n first action sequence! Not bad, right? Anyways, make sure to comment recommendations and stuff cuz I have like the broad outline of the story planned out kinda, but i dont really have the small events planned out. like how he trains, random side quests, character interactions and all that stuff. i dont really know what power stones do since im a new author but all the other ones are begging for it so- power stones please!)