I Think That's Pretty Scientific

Chapter 11: 011: The Insignificant Parker

“Go for it, Peter! Confess your feelings to Mary!” From the corner of the street, Ned poked half his chubby face out, watching Peter—who was frozen in place, at a loss—with frantic urgency, constantly cheering him on in a low voice. “Don’t waste your breath. That wimp Peter probably can’t even string a coherent sentence together in front of Mary.” Kraft, with his arms crossed over his chest and leaning against the wall, sneered. Things unfolded exactly as Kraft had predicted. After stammering for a while, Peter finally managed to calm down. “No, no, no! That voice just now was Kraft playing a prank!” Peter waved his hands frantically as he explained to Mary Jane, who was leaning on the windowsill with a beaming smile. “I don’t know how he did it, but I definitely didn’t do it!” “Kraft?” After listening to Peter’s explanation with a smile, Mary reached up to flick her long, fiery red hair, her smile growing even broader. Because of Aunt May’s relationship with Peter, she was fairly familiar with Kraft as well—especially since Kraft would occasionally use her name as an excuse to tease Peter. Far from being annoyed, Mary found it quite amusing. Mary Jane actually had some feelings for Peter Parker, but she really disliked his timid and submissive personality. Her childhood experiences had left her feeling very insecure, and no matter how outstanding Peter might be, as long as he remained that way, there was no way Mary Jane would ever become his girlfriend. That’s why, when Kraft used her to tease Peter, she not only didn’t get angry but sometimes even played along on purpose. “Yes, that’s him!” Peter nodded frantically, then finally remembered to take this opportunity to invite Mary Jane to Aunt May’s birthday party. “Actually, today is Aunt May’s birthday, and he’s here on my behalf to invite you to the birthday party.” Unfortunately, the timing of this invitation couldn’t have been worse. “So, if he hadn’t come over to play a prank, you weren’t going to tell me, were you?” Mary Jane furrowed her brow, putting on an angry expression—and in truth, she was a little upset. Regardless of her relationship with Peter, she’d always held Aunt May, as an elder, in the highest regard, and she certainly didn’t want to miss her birthday party for a reason like this. “Uh… no… it’s just that… I temporarily forgot to let you know. I was actually planning to stop by before the party started…” In a panic, Peter blurted out a flimsy, full-of-holes excuse, which only made Mary Jane even more upset. “I see. I’ll change and be right over.” Mary’s expression turned cold. Leaving Peter standing there looking completely bewildered, she walked away from the windowsill and back into her room. “Oh no!” Seeing Mary’s figure disappear from the window and Peter’s head droop in disappointment, Ned—who hadn’t overheard their conversation—knew Peter had chickened out again. Frustrated by his lack of courage, he punched the wall. “What a great opportunity! How could Peter just let that slip away?” As he said this, he ran over to Peter, who was shuffling back toward his room. “You idiot! That was such a great chance just now! Why didn’t you take the opportunity to confess your feelings to Mary?” “Ned?” Peter, who had been staring at the ground, looked up and saw his best friend glaring at him in exasperation. He scratched his head in confusion before finally realizing what had happened. “You saw it all!” The thought of his friend seeing him in such an embarrassing situation made Peter panic, but he quickly felt a pang of disappointment, because there was something even more upsetting than that. “I think I made Mary mad…” “How did you manage that?” Ned gasped, utterly amazed by Peter. Kraft, who had walked over a step behind Ned, was equally in awe of Peter. He’d sensed that Mary had some feelings for Peter, which was why he’d teased him like that time and time again. Logically speaking, even if Peter hadn’t taken the opportunity to confess his feelings, Mary shouldn’t have been upset. If she got angry over something like this, she would’ve been driven to her grave by Peter long ago. “I don’t really know why either…” Peter scratched his head in frustration and recounted his earlier conversation with Mary to Ned in full detail. Ned: “……” “So you’re saying you originally intended to tell Mary, but I beat you to it and used it for a prank instead…” Kraft, who was following behind the two of them, was thoroughly exasperated. He rolled his eyes and muttered sarcastically. This startled Peter. “Kraft? When did you get here?!” Shaking his head in exasperation, Kraft had nothing left to say to that idiot Peter. He walked past him and Ned toward the Parker house. Peter realized he’d said something stupid. He stayed silent for a moment before remembering to confront Kraft. “Wait! You’re setting me up again, you little jerk!” Peter quickened his pace to catch up with Kraft, grabbed him by the shoulders, and yanked him back. “I was clearly setting you up for a chance—it’s just that you’re too chicken to take it.” Kraft shook off Peter’s grip, his face full of contempt. “I don’t need you to set me up with any opportunities!” Peter retorted defiantly. “Oh, Peter, give it a rest. If it weren’t for Kraft, you wouldn’t even dare to talk to Mary.” But Ned, his so-called best friend, was also taking a dig at him. “If it were up to you, you’d never stand a chance with Mary Jane in this lifetime.” “Hey! Ned!” “Yelling at me won’t help. Admit it, Peter—you’re a coward around Mary.” “He’s not exactly a brave guy in general, either.” Kraft said mockingly, pursing his lips. “Oh no, I just… I just wasn’t ready…” Peter wasn’t in the mood to banter with Kraft right now. “If you keep putting it off, Mary’s going to end up as someone else’s girlfriend. I’ve heard that Lightning’s been making a big show of courting her lately.” After Ned said that, Peter felt even more down. He’d heard rumors about it too, but considering the gap between himself and Lightning Thompson, Peter had absolutely no confidence that he could win her heart. “Hey, Peter, would you like to go see a movie with me next weekend?” Just as Peter was feeling down because of Thompson, Mary Jane’s voice suddenly rang in his ear, instantly lifting his spirits. “I’d love to! I’d absolutely love to!” Overjoyed, Peter spun around—only to find no sign of Mary. Instead, he saw that rascal Kraft holding a little megaphone and grinning mischievously at him. “Well then, you’re in charge of the tickets. I want to see the latest *A Nightmare on Elm Street*!” Kraft continued to tease Peter, imitating Mary’s voice. Meanwhile, Ned was laughing so hard he was nearly choking. “Kraft!!!” At that moment, Peter finally figured out exactly how Kraft was imitating his voice. What an interesting invention—I wonder how it works. As Peter chased after Kraft, he thought to himself that even though he was seething with anger, he was still fascinated by the little megaphone in Kraft’s hand. Although Peter was several years older than Kraft, Kraft had already adjusted his strength-enhancing shoes well in advance. With Peter’s weak physique, there was no way he could catch up to him. After Kraft fled back to the Parker house, with Aunt May and Uncle Ben taking his side, Peter was completely powerless against him. Soon, Mary Jane, having changed her clothes, arrived at the Parkers’ house as well. Fortunately, Americans aren’t too particular about gift-giving; otherwise, with Mary Jane only being notified at this late hour, she wouldn’t have had time to prepare a gift. Even so, she didn’t give Peter Parker a friendly look and kept giving him the cold shoulder until the party ended, leaving Aunt May and Uncle Ben shaking their heads in exasperation. After the joyful birthday party, Kraft’s life returned to calm once again. With Martin Lee away from home, he could go to Fat Liao’s place every day for a bite to eat, living a life of pure comfort. The only thing troubling him was that he’d hit a slight bottleneck in his Dream Tech research. Since what he dreams about is beyond Kraft’s control, this has led to gaps in his technical knowledge. Even though he could teach himself while awake, many of the relevant textbooks and materials were simply out of his reach. As for the many things Kraft was now capable of creating, he either lacked the equipment or the materials—or they were simply too dangerous to attempt. Just as Kraft was considering whether to take this opportunity to rest for a while, a new character appeared in his dream. “This isn’t scientific…” Kraft woke up with a start from his bed once again, clutching his head as he began to question the meaning of life. This time, the figure in his dream was another Japanese person, and just like Dr. Agasa, she was simply addressed as “Doctor.” Judging by the technology she demonstrated in the dream, she certainly lived up to the title of “Doctor.” But the problem was… What the heck—she’s only eight years old? Are Japanese elementary school students trying to defy the laws of nature?! That “Shōta Detective” Kudo Shinichi—whom she’d only heard of but never met—was already outrageous enough, but an eight-year-old little girl like Dr. Shinonome building a human-like intelligent robot all by herself? That’s just too unreal! Kraft, who had been feeling rather smug about mastering quite a bit of science and technology through his dreams, was truly knocked off his feet when he saw Dr. Shinonome—this little girl who defies all expectations. “I must be dreaming… No! I *am* dreaming… So it was just a dream after all. Well, then, it’s all good!” Kraft was so shaken that his thoughts had become somewhat jumbled. In the end, he deceived himself by lying back down on the bed, pretending nothing had ever happened. When he woke up again, Kraft had fully accepted the fact that he was no match for an eight-year-old little girl. Only then did he have the time to recall every detail of Dr. Shinonome building the robot in his dream. And then he realized… “With my skills, I think I could actually do it!” Kraft suddenly became excited. A robot that was virtually indistinguishable from a human in both appearance and behavior could actually be built using such a relatively simple set of technologies. Dr. Higashikumo must be, just like Dr. Agasa, one of those “unconventional” scientists. And if he could truly replicate the same robot, it would prove that his dream was definitely more than just a simple imparting of knowledge. If he could replicate this kind of bizarre science, then surely magical arts couldn’t be far behind? Kraft couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild. I’ve been posting 3,000 words daily for ten straight days! I’m really something…<（￣ˇ￣）>