Avengers High - Part 2 (Patreon)

Spidey leaped into the office, fully prepared to have some fun antagonizing Jameson. However, he was left reeling back in shock upon being faced with what looked to be nothing more than a standard college computer lab. Various students were simply typing away and scrambling around to work on what looked to be the school paper, only a few even bothering to acknowledge the superhero that swung in. Among these students happened to be a pretty young woman with a brown bobcut in a stylish formal jacket and tie combo. In fact, she looked kind of like...no...like, it couldn't be...oh crap, she noticed him! Now she was running over towards him!

"Heya there, Spider-Man~!" the girl chirped as she walked up to Peter and forced him into a cordial shake. "Jamie Joan Jameson, head of the Daily Bugle campus paper! And, might I add, a bit of a fan. Well, actually, I think you're more of an insecure vigilante that causes just as much harm as you do help, but eh, you sell papers, so who am I to judge?" The young lady then let out a hearty laugh that was undeniably Jameson. "Anyways, nice to finally meet ya! What brings you to our fine establishment?" She gave a knowing smirk. "This is about that editorial I wrote about ya, isn't it? It's some of my finest work, I'll admit, and that’s really saying something considering my body of work! I'm not surprised that you'd want to thank me for it."

"I...I.....wrong building. Sorry, I need to go now!" With his brain officially fried, Spidey darted back to the window and immediately jumped out. Instead of descending from the 25th floor of the massive skyrise he entered, he found himself falling a mere few feet out a second story window of a building at NYU. When did he get there?! Peter could have sworn he was in Manhattan a couple minutes ago. How much crazier was this day going to get?! Was Peter going insane? Even worse, he wasn’t sure if he was scarred by or turned on by this hot female bane to his existence. He hardly had time to notice all the rapidly altering photos he dropped on the ground.

"Alright, I’m calling Doc NOW,” he exclaimed as he took out his cell phone". "There is no way..."

The exact moment the call went through, there was a burst of smoke that eventually revealed the good doctor himself floating in the air. By look on his face, he was all too aware of what was going on as well. "I take it you have been noticing the copious dimensional anomalies as well?" Doctor Strange asked Peter. "Or am I still the only one?"

"I've been having a crazier morning than usual Doc," the Spider-Man groaned while cusping his masked forehead. "Any idea just what the hell’s happening?"

"In a way, yes...in another way, no," Strange replied in a deep sigh. "You are aware of the multiverse, ri...oh, who am I kidding, of course you do. Look who I'm talking to." He shook his head. "But I have reason to believe that a sort of load-bearing universe has been destroyed, leading to the surrounding universes merging into each other, ours included. Though, I have not quite been able to pinpoint the universes bleeding into ours."

"What kind of effects might it cause?” Peter asked with appropriate nervousness. “Because I keep having weird encounters with schoolgirls. I mean, one moment I’m giving Jamie the pictures she asked for, the next I’m panicking out of nowhere."

"Interesting...”  Strange muttered as the two slowly descended closer to the ground. Now Peter was a good few inches shorter than before, Strange now towering over him. “Perhaps these schoolgirls are the keys to all this. Could you try relaying all of these incidents for me? When did these strange feelings start?"

"Well, I woke up today after a weird dream where I was still in high school..."

"Aren't you still in high school?" Strange asked curiously.

"I...yeah, but it wasn’t only that!" Peter shouted as he tried getting back on track. "I remember feeling weird thinking about my neighbor Michael-kun, like my stomach was cold"...

"Your stomach was cold?" Strange asked, ignoring the boy’s casual use of Japanese honorifics. "I'm afraid I may require a better description. Did something seem odd about Michael? You two are awfully close, correct?" Little did either notice the muscles in the Spider-Suit gradually lessen until Peter's limbs were all lean and, although they couldn't see it at the moment, completely hair free. Even his hands looked a good deal smaller than before.

"I...we...what?” Peter awkwardly laughed, a blush forming underneath his mask. “I mean, he’s a good friend and all, and he keeps my identity a secret, but…that’s it, I swear! Anyway, something also happened at the museum.."

The doctor couldn't help but chuckle lightly. He could practically see Peter blushing underneath the mask. "I wasn't implying anything!" he insisted while playfully waving his hand. "But alright, what happened at the museum?"

"I was late and was going to talk with Joan-sempai and give her the photos that she asked for, but then I was suddenly in my costume at the museum sitting on Heather Schultz. She’s a girl from my class, by the way. But I have no idea why!”

"Ah...so there are gaps in your memory that you can't quite explain..." Strange muttered in contemplating as he rubbed under his chin. "This Joan-sempai is a college friend of yours, right?" He looked back at Peter, his mask now nothing more than one covering his eyes, letting an adorable pair of ribbon-tied ponytails flow free and bounce around as she nodded her head. "What's a junior high student like you helping out a college student like her?"

"I take photos of the ‘insecure vigilante,’ as she calls it. Which means....oh no, I'm late! Please Strange-san, uh…wait here just a tiny bit! I have to give her the photos super quick." Peter dashed away, frantically putting his sweater and pants over his suit. Strange was just about to call back out to Peter, telling him to come back, only there was yet another sudden wave of change that cut his warning short.

"Hurry back, alright?!" Stephanie Strange called out as she magically turned her stylish cloak into an inconspicuous school uniform. "We must figure this out before first period!"

Peter felt his sweater and pants press even tighter against his frame with each step up the stairs, his chestnut twintails blowing around as he dashed his way. Wasn’t long before he reached the journalism room and started scoping out for his college buddy.

"Ah, there you are, Petey-baby!" Joan cheered with her usual friendly grin as she ran up and gave Peter a big old hug before letting go and ruffling his hair. "You got those pictures I asked for?"

"Yes!" Peter enthusiastically exclaimed, his cheeks still red from Jamie’s surprise physical contact. "I just need to pick them...uh…" The boy began scavenging throughout his entire Fantastic Sailors backpack in search for the photos. Where the heck could they be?! Unless he…oh shoot. "S-Sorry, I think they’re...uh…" He awkwardly stared back into his bag, only to have the forgotten photos to turn up in a puff of smoke. No doubt the work of the Sorceress Supreme.

“Thank god for Stephanie-chan…” the boy muttered softly to himself before slapping the pictures onto Jamie’s desk. "HERE!" Still. Peter couldn't stop but notice how different those photos were from what he remembered. Looking back at them, they were really cute pics of her. It was hard to believe it was really her!

"Woah, hold it, partner!" Joan laughed at her little partner's tenacity before picking up the pictures. She proceeded to flip through them all, nodding and humming in approval with each one. After the last, she slammed the photos back on the table and let out a hearty laugh. "Penelope, baby, I don't know how you do it! None of my LOSER PHOTOGRAPHERS can get so much as a blurry Bigfoot photo of Spider-Girl. But you!” She grinned as she wrapped her arm around the young girl. “You oughta be taking pictures for the professional papers quite honestly! But your scholarship here is all but assured if you keep if you keep this up.”

Penny Parker couldn't help but break into a giant smile. “Th-Thanks you so much, Joan-sempai!” she happily gleamed despite her cheeks still running red with flattery. Joan-sempai was just so cool! Ever since Penny shared pictures of herself as the Spectacular Spider-Girl with the official NYU campus newspaper The Daily Bugle, Joan Jamie Jameson acted as the coolest big sister figure ever. The intrepid reporter often sent the high school girl on photography assignments that no one else at the paper was able to fulfill. She’d even pay her afterwards, like a totally for real photographer! “Maybe we can even work at a big paper together someday!”

‘Though, I already have a school…’ Penny wanted to say, but she knew that she couldn't dare reveal the massive secret of Avengers Academy. Most people thought that it was just an ordinary school for gifted young boys and girls localized at the Stark Tower, but it was truthfully an institution created in order to train talented young children into the heroes of tomorrow! Though, that train of thought made Penny’s mind wander off. Was there something she was forgetting? What did Strange tell her about? Dimensional alterations? Gaps in memory? Running late for the first period? Oh man, first period!

“Sorry Joan-sempai, but I need to go right now!” the young girl shouted as she headed out the door, her pants altering into a red pleated skirt in the process. “I can’t be late again!”

Joan couldn't help but laugh at the girl's antics. As great a photographer as she could be, she was still a bit of a ditz. Not that it was a problem. The girl had every right to enjoy her time as a kid. "Alright, see you whenever!" she shouted as she waved goodbye. "I'll letcha know whenever the paper's printed!" The young woman was left with a proud grin as she watched the girl leave. Not a second after she was gone, her grin immediately twisted a scowl towards all her other editors that were looking at her weird. "What are you looking at? GET BACK TO WORK!"

Penny ran down the stairs and out the building as fast as she could, nearly crashing into several along the way and only narrowly avoiding them thanks to her quick reflexes. Much more annoying was the pair of boobs that grew out little by little with each step. They weren’t much compared to her more…talented classmates, but she was personally very thankful not to be cursed with a Thorna-sized bust. ‘Stupid stupid Penny!’ she chided to herself in her internal monologue. ‘Jarvis-sensei is gonna put me in detention again! I’m barely hanging on a thread as it is!’

The person who left the building was now quite different from the person who had entered. Penny had long, and messy chestnut brown hair pulled into two adorable ponytails, black Mary Jane shoes with knee socks, and a plaid red and black pleated skirt. All of this was topped with a white sweater and the uniform vest from Avengers Academy that happily hugged her athletic form. She also expressed herself with fishnets around her arms that were totally cool no matter what everyone else said. Plus, it totally fit her spider theming, so how could she pass them by? But that didn't affect the matter at hand, which was the fact that the bell was set to ring in less than five minutes! Even thwipping across town wouldn't be fast enough at this rate! The girl began to panic, anxiously tugging at her pigtails until she happened upon her good friend Stephanie Strange still waiting around outside. Ah, good ole Steph! If anyone could get them to school on time, it was the Sorceress Supreme! Penny instantly regained her telltale pep in her step as she gave her friend an enthusiatic wave. “Heeeeeeeey, Steph-chan~!" she exclaimed as she skipped over towards her fellow classmate. 

"Sorry for taking so long, but super thanks for waiting! H-Hey, seeing as we're both running kinda late, maybe you could, uh...give me a little portal lift?" Her request was supported by what could only be described as hopeful puppy dog eyes and coupled with a bashful smile. Penny never was good keeping a poker face.

Stephanie could only sigh as she folded her arms in condescension. It was just like Penny to run herself and others so late over her own scatterbrained behavior. "You would think a webslinger such as yourself would have no trouble making it to school on time without the need of bending time and space.”

Penny simply groaned. Here came the standard Stephanie spiel about responsibility towards school and all that crap. Who was she to talk about responsibility anyhow? Spider-Girl was Miss Great Responsibility! “Hey, I was trying to do something nice for a friend and I got a little sidetracked!” the girl defended with a pout before looking off to the side. “Can’t remember what, to be fair, but I’m sure it was important at the time! Besides, you’re already here, aren’t ya? So I don’t have to be late anymore! Problem solved, right?”. In an act of desperation, she starred at her with giant, anxious eyes. “Sorry I’m so late! Please please please, Steph, you gotta teleport us there! Please, please!”

“Oh, there’s just no helping you, is there?” Stephanie groaned as she cupped her forehead. How the greatest overachiever in the history of Avengers Academy got along with its most scatterbrained student was a mystery for the ages. Not even Stephanie could truly explain why she and Penny were friends, even if she did greatly admire the girl’s boundless enthusiasm. Plus, the Spectacular Spider-Girl made a surprisingly solid Quiz Bowl partner. At the end of the day, the sorceress could only sigh and further instigate her friend’s reckless antics. “Okay, fine…but only because I hardly want to run late myself. I have a reputation to uphold, as you know.”

"C’mon, don’t act all aloof like that, Steph-chan~” Penny teased as she ran up as wrapped her arm around her friend’s, much to the Strange girl’s visual embarrassment. “You know you love me!”

“I…ugh…” There was truly nothing else Stephanie could say at this point. “Just hold on. Interdimensional travel can get a little bumpy.”

And so, the Sorceress Supreme nonchalantly sent them both hurtling through time and space.

As the two traveled through the rift, Penny couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. She had been feeling it all morning, and she was sure that it wasn't because of Michael’s surprise visit earlier. Maybe she could talk with Toni again after the class. This constant feeling of unease was getting really annoying.

A couple seconds later, the two were plopped out of a portal in front of…some type of giant tower? Penny scratched her chin as she looked up at the imposing structure that was merely labelled with a giant A on the front. It looked sort of like their academy and even appeared to be in the same place, yet she was certain that this wasn’t her school, even if it did feel somewhat familiar. “Are you sure you zooped us to the right place, Steph?” she asked over to the sorceress. “This doesn’t look like school to me.”

“I swear I did…” Stephanie muttered, rubbing her chin and peering around in just as much confusion as her peer. “I don’t understand. I’ve done this hundreds of times before. There…there’s no way I could have messed this up.” Such a failure in judgement was strictly impossible for the Sorceress Supreme, after all. “Maybe this is some kinda…hologram decoy. A security measure, perhaps?” She looked all around once more, even checking the nearby street signs. By all accounts, this absolute had to be the school. “We should go inside and see what happens.”

“If you say so…” Penny replied as she followed her friend through the revolving front doors. For a moment, the interior resembled that of an average greeting desk. Two seconds later, however, and the two were standing in their regular main hallway. The two stood confused for a hot second before the bell suddenly sound off and they were left confused as to why they were even confused in the first place.