Peter hurried downstairs, trying to act as normal as possible.
"Good morning, Mom," he said, forcing a smile.
His mother looked at him suspiciously.
"You're unusually cheerful today."
"Am I?"
"Either you got full marks on your test... or you're hiding something."
Peter laughed nervously.
"Nothing like that."
He quickly finished his breakfast and picked up his school bag.
"See you later!"
As soon as he stepped outside, he felt the cool morning breeze against his face. Every sound around him seemed much clearer than before. He could hear children playing in a nearby park, a dog barking several houses away, and even birds fluttering through the trees.
"This super hearing is going to take some getting used to," Peter muttered.
On the way to school, he passed a narrow alley.
Suddenly...
A strange tingling shot through his entire body.
His heartbeat accelerated.
"What is this feeling?"
Without thinking, Peter jumped backwards.
WHOOSH!
A flower pot crashed onto the ground exactly where he had been standing.
It shattered into hundreds of pieces.
Peter stared at it in disbelief.
"If I hadn't moved..."
He looked up to see an old man leaning over a balcony.
"I'm so sorry!" the old man shouted. "It slipped!"
Peter slowly smiled.
"So... this is my danger sense."
He continued toward school, now convinced his powers were real.
---
The school buzzed with excitement.
Everyone was still talking about the scientific exhibition from a few days ago.
"Did you hear?" one student whispered.
"They said one of the experimental creatures escaped."
"No way."
"My cousin works at the research center. He said the entire building was locked down."
Peter stopped walking.
"Escaped?"
His mind immediately went back to the strange insect that had bitten him.
"So they never found it..."
His thoughts were interrupted by his best friend, Harry.
"There you are!" Harry exclaimed.
"You disappeared pretty quickly after the exhibition."
Peter scratched the back of his head.
"I wasn't feeling well."
Harry shrugged.
"You definitely look better today."
"If only you knew..." Peter thought.
---
During physics class, the teacher asked a difficult question.
To Peter's surprise, he understood the answer instantly.
It was as if his brain was processing information much faster than before.
He raised his hand.
The teacher smiled.
"Yes, Peter?"
Peter confidently explained the entire concept.
The classroom fell silent.
Even the teacher looked impressed.
"Excellent answer."
His classmates stared at him.
Harry leaned over and whispered,
"Since when are you the smartest guy in class?"
Peter smiled awkwardly.
"I... studied."
---
School finally ended.
Peter decided to take a shortcut through an old abandoned warehouse district.
The streets were unusually quiet.
Then...
Crash!
A frightened scream echoed from inside one of the warehouses.
"Help!"
Peter's danger sense activated again.
Without thinking, he rushed toward the sound.
Inside, three masked men had surrounded an elderly shopkeeper.
One of them held a metal pipe.
"Hand over your money!" the leader growled.
The terrified man shook his head.
"Please... that's all I have..."
Peter hid behind a stack of wooden crates.
His heart pounded.
"What do I do?"
"I've never fought anyone before."
The leader raised the pipe.
Peter clenched his fists.
"I can't just stand here."
He took a deep breath.
"Time to find out what these powers can really do."
As he stepped out of the shadows, the three robbers turned toward him.
One of them laughed.
"Look, boys."
"A school kid wants to be a hero."
Peter swallowed nervously.
"Actually..."
He smiled.
"I was hoping you'd say that."
The leader charged straight at him.
Peter's danger sense flared.
Everything around him seemed to slow down.
The fight had begun...