— "What do you mean, you're going to get what you need?" – Yinsen asked young Peter as he returned from his temporary room to the living room, notebook and case in hand
— "I'm going to create a device to launch webs, and that takes the webs directly from me…" - the boy said, opening the notebook on the coffee table before he started scribbling on a blank page in the chapter about himself – "The main idea is that it will create a direct path between the web I produce and the outside world."
— "But the reason you are able to launch the web is the pressure difference caused by your body; won't creating a path just get in the way?" – the eldest asked as he sat down in front of him, It wasn't in a mean way, though, but more so as a teacher encouraging a student to think
— "I'm going to create a kind of mill" – Peter already had the answer on his tongue, probably having already thought about that problem and coming up with a solution – "A pressurized air rotating at high speed with the web still liquid, with a sensor so I can release it whenever I want." .
— "But the web solidifies in the air…" - Yinsen tests the young boy once more – "Won't it just solidify if it comes in contact with nitrogen or oxygen."
— "Another gas then; Helium, it's lighter, and it will reduce the load even more" - the boy says with a smile as he draws these components and makes notes in the notebook.
— "Well, this is looking more and more like a real project…" - Yinsen says, getting up and going to a painting on the wall - "so we better be up to it…"
The man then removes the frame, revealing a small silver keyboard. Pressing some of the buttons, he turns around to face Peter, sporting a casual grin, even as the room starts to transform. The living room table is the first to change, slowly sinking into the floor. Peter quickly, albeit clumsily snatches his his notebook from the top before it disappears, sinking into the floor, only to make room for a much larger holographic table. Looking around the room, Peter noticed other things like the paintings had changed, entering the wall and being replaced by computer screens.
— "I didn't let Stark choose where I would live" – He says, rolling up his sleeves and turning on the holographic table, which now features several icons on its bluish electronic surface – "but I did let him add his touches. So, shall we get started?"
Peter went agape for a moment, but quickly shifted into a comfortable grin.
— Yea! – Peter says getting up and handing the notebook to the doctor, who puts it on the table, quickly scanning the drawing and projecting a 3D copy with incredible resolution that looked like a more realistic version of the drawing Peter had made.
— "Okay, first, let's solve the problem of collecting the webs." – the doctor says, rotating the image of the web launcher, which for now was a rectangular piece with two bracelets like a watch – "How are we going to get them?"
— "My web is produced in my modified sweat glands, under the skin, so anything that could reach the subcutaneous tissue would be enough" — the boy says
— "How about micro needles?" – the eldest asks, quickly displaying them on the hologram – "Several micro needles that will insert into the skin and create a path for the web to flow through."
— "Perfect, we could create a storage system too. Maybe capsules to make the launcher work faster!" — Peter suggested, getting excited.
— "Adding now!" — the doctor says, adjusting the hologram so the needles appeared at the bottom, in addition to the cartridges for storing the web separately.
— "A rotation system for these cartridges would be a very useful tool." — Peter adds, scratching his chin.
— "I dunno, adding that along with everything else might set us over the ideal weight and volume." – Yinsen says, looking at the design and considering such a system – "Fortunately, we can make the capsules easily removable and docked in the main part, setting it at and ideal volume. Although, loading it will be another step you'll have to deal with.."
— "I think it will have to do…" — Peter sighed, closely observing his modifications — "Now, as for the mill and the helium gas, would we have to make capsules too?"
— "I don't think so…"— Yinsen says, unsure. He added the mill, but noticeably didn't add anything on the helium gas yet, waiting until he had an idea — "If we make a separate chamber for the web to be released, we can recycle this gas back to the mill, so you could only recharge it when the mill has stopped. Not to mention that would make the launchers both lighter while simultaneously giving them more functionality." – He states as he types away on the keyboard.
— "Now, a trigger sensor. I usually press my ring and middle fingers into my palm, so we could put a sensor in that area." – Peter suggests.
— "Perfect, and the necessary distance from the launcher's motherboard to the place where your bent fingers are…" — The doctor stretches his arm, touching Peter's forehead again and then withdrawing it, his quirk finding the perfect measure.
— "7.5 centimeters, perfect." — He says, grinning in accomplishment, before adding the detail to the project.
— "And… We're done!" — Yinsen said, turning to Peter with a look of satisfaction. He was surprised, though, when he saw Peter looking displeased.
—"Hey, what's the matter? 'We're done' is usually seen as a good thing." —
— "I know, I know. It's just… something's missing…" — Peter spoke his mind, wracking his brain for anything else, only to draw a blank.
— "Do I already have your wrist measurements? Maybe I forgot to make the color scheme match your uniform. I know, I know, it sounds kinda vain, but trust me when I say that a good color scheme makes–"
— "A warning!" —.
— "Yeah, a warning, that's a nice way to put it! Shows the villains that your a professional that means business–"
— "No, no, not that!" — Peter shot down his statement, before clarifying — "It happened during practice, my body ran out of web and I had no way of seeing it coming. But with this, do you think the launcher would be able to warn me when the cartridge is running out?" —
— "Oh, uhm, sure. Just let me check..." — Despite his slight embarrassment at his miscommunication, The doctor turned back to the computer and got to work, typing away in search of a solution. Suddenly, a small red bar appeared on screen, bearing the text '5%'.
— "Sure thing, when the cartridge reaches 5% of full capacity, it'll flash red. That sound good?" – the doctor asked.
— "Perfect…" — Peter sighed in content, smiling as he observed the finished project — "When are we going to send it to be made?"
— "Now." – Yinsen replied simply, pressing some commands on his keyboard. Suddenly, on the wall near the kitchen, a hole opens and an extremely modern 3D printer comes out, shining and with all the internal parts already working
— "Wow…" - is all the boy Parker can say as he approaches the machine, admiring the mechanical arms as they start assembling his shooters.
— "It's nothing compared to what's in Stark's lab, but it gets the job done. It should take a few hours for both of them to get ready, so tomorrow morning we can pick them up and train." – Yinsen says and sees Peter fascinated by the machine – "Sound good?"
— "Yeah, yeah, training's cool…" — Peter responded distractedly, not even listening to what the doctor was saying.
Yinsen raised an eyebrow at the boy, before sighing to himself. — 'Yep, he's definitely Tony's boy.'—
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And like a child on Christmas Eve who's father asks him to go to sleep so he can wake up early the next morning to open his presents... Peter stayed awake waiting for Santa Claus to come down the chimney and give him his present. That, of course, if Santa Claus were a 3D printer that was designed to create highly advanced gears for pro heroes.
It was approximately four o'clock in the morning when the printer finished the first launcher. Even though it was quite advanced, being able to build several parts of different materials at the same time, it could only do one project at a time. It made some noises, before beeping and emitting a light that indicated it was finished. Peter, who had been dozing off on the couch, was startled awake by the pseudo-alarm.
BEEP*
— "I'm awake, I'm awake…! I won't miss the bus, Aunt May…!" — He slurred as he shot up from his position on the sofa. Groggily, he looked to his left, before suddenly springing to life as he saw the machine.
Springing up, he fought that fuzziness in his head as the approached the machine. He quickly opened the latch and pulled out the first launcher, then closed the machine again so she could continue her work. He took the launcher in hand and, using the flashlight on his cell phone, inspects the device.
— "It's definitely lightweight, although that may be because it looks more like a child's toy than an advanced piece of technology." — He said jokingly as he inspected the device. He flipped the device over, further inspecting it, before shrugging to himself.
— "Oh well. Beggars can't be choosers." — He mused to himself, before going to strap it to his scarred wrist.
— "Now how do I… Woah!" – Peter yelped in surprise, caught off guard as the shooter skimmed around his wrist, immediately fitting itself to his forearm like a glove.
— "Wow…" — The teen marveled at the device, amazed by how snug it felt on his wrist, almost like a second skin. It felt like he had it his whole life, even though it had only come to fruition mere moments ago. And even though he had never used the device before, he felt deep down in his gut that he instantly knew what he was doing when it was in his grip.
— "Huh… maybe I should put that feeling to the test." The brunette looked over to the windowsill, a grin appearing on his face.
'Y'know, if nothing else, at least I'm the only person in my class that can claim he stayed up until 4:30 a.m., just so he could climb a building in 30 degree weather in nothing but well-ventilated, un-heated spandex.' Peter half-joked, half-complained to himself.
After picking up some other components needed for the launchers to function—the helium that Yinsen had in some tanks, and the palladium batteries—Peter had scaled the nearest building and got down to business.
He did a quick once over of the other components; the circular part that contained the inner mill was above his wrist, with a thin plastic strip that extended to the middle of his palm, where there was, at the end, a piece of darker circular plastic: the trigger sensor.
Quickly clicking a few buttons, the boy put the device to work. A red light flashing on the side indicates the filling of the capsules, and Peter can't help but be amazed when he notices that he can't even feel the microneedles removing the web from his arms. He also has difficulty hearing the small mill rotating inside the device, having to bring the device closer to his ear to be sure the device was doing its job, but with a little more effort he is able to perceive.
Attempt #1
Peter turned his arm to look down the barrel of the web shooter, haphazardly inspecting the device. It didn't take long for him to realize his mistake, though, when his finger slipped and he ended up with white, gunky web all over his face. After an embarrassing minute of trying to tear the web off, Peter sighed to himself.
"Tonight's gonna be a long night."
Attempt #2
Aiming the launcher at the ground, and this time away from his face (he felt the need to still turn his entire face before firing), Peter lightly pressed the sensor. Immediately, a long string of web shot out, accompanied by a subtle whirring noise. After a few seconds, the brunette let go of the sensor, observing the pile of webbing it left on the floor.
'Impressive… but a pile of white gunk isn't going to cut it. I'm gonna need to enact another kind of test…'
Attempt #3
Heading to the ledge of the building, Peter observed the neighboring buildings and the alleys between them. Looking down, he takes note of numerous dumpsters and garbage bags.
"Well, I guess I'd rather smell like garbage than be dead." He groaned to himself, before pointing his fist at the other building and pressing the sensor. The web comes out with some force, but not enough to reach the other building, so as soon as Peter presses and releases the sensor, a strand of web shoots out and begins to slowly float to the ground.
"Looks like it'll need a little boost…" He muttered to himself, a string of ideas making their way into his head
Attempt #4
Putting his arm slightly back, bending his elbow, Peter makes a quick movement, stretching his arm with speed, and shooting the web again, which, with the speed of his arm combined with the device itself, is fired and attaches to the wall of the neighboring building easily.
"It worked!" Peter cheered to himself. However, Peter releases the sensor and the web breaks free, soon falling down; he tries to catch her, but it's too late and the boy almost falls off the top of the building, quickly regaining his balance, thankfully.
Attempt #5
Finally, mustering all his courage, Peter fires the web again at the neighboring building; he manages to make the web stick and as soon as he releases the sensor he is fast enough to take the web in hand and commit to the worst idea of his life–jump to the other building, swing on the web and stick to the wall.
'I'm such a genius.' Peter's tired brain told him sarcastically.
Positioning himself on the ledge of the building, he looked down, instantly noticing the great distance he had to the ground, before shaking his head clear of the nasty thoughts that came. Psyching himself up, he took a deep breath, and then jumped.
The trip is short, the icy wind of dawn blows across his face and his tired senses didn't even realize what was happening until he was right in front of a rapidly approaching brick wall.
"OH SHI–"
The boy was cut off as his body slammed into the wall, sending violent vibrations of pain throughout his entire body. Before he could even process the pain, though, he flopped helplessly into a dumpster below, which gave off a resounding clang at the contact.
After a solid minute of hyperventilating, the adrenaline wore off, and Peter was only left with an aching pain in his ribs and the staining odor of month old milk. Looking up to the slowly brightening sky, the teen couldn't help but crack a joke at his own expense, albeit a very sarcastic one.
"Well, Flash, whether I wanted to or not, I took your advice… not gonna lie, though, the result was pretty anticlimactic."
That morning (8 AM specifically), Dr. Yinsen came out of his room, feeling fresh after a shower and ready to prepare breakfast. That was when he came to the living room and noticed a few things: First, the 3D printer had finished the second launcher; Second, Peter was passed out on the couch and he was still wearing his hero uniform that stunk of rotten eggs; Finally, he had the first web launcher attached to his wrist. With a sigh, the Doctor took a blanket he had in the living room and placed it over the boy before heading into the kitchen. A brunch was in order, of course.
A little farther away, in Brooklyn Heights, Wanda was coming down from her room on the second floor of the agency, already dressed in her uniform and adjusting her red bow, ready for another day of patrolling. But when descending the stairs, the girl came across the intern heroine, but she was not wearing her standard heroine uniform. Instead, of her usual ass-kicking attire, she was wearing a black tank top, leggings, no shoes, and to top it all off, she had her hair up in a ponytail.
—"Good Morning!"— the heroine said as she gave Wanda a friendly smile.
—"Good morning…" — Wanda replied hesitantly, not fully understanding what was going on. — "I'm ready to leave and…"
— "Oh, we're not going out today, actually." – Sharon explains to the intern. — "You're going to help me with some self-defense classes for some new students. You knew we had a self-defense academy for girls, right?" — She asked, her eyebrow raised inquisitively.
— "Yes, yes, I knew… I just… nevermind, I'll just put on a more suitable outfit.
— "Oh, that's not necessary. You can just train in your regular uniform." — The heroine stated.
— "Are you sure? I mean, since it's martial arts practice, I thought it would be better–"
— "Wanda, I hate to interrupt you again..." – the heroine says, raising her hand to the girl – "but trust me, it's not just patrols I want to teach you about. There's a lot more to beeping than just walking around town looking for danger."
Wanda opened her mouth to protest, only to falter as she processed what her mentor was saying. After a few seconds of silence, she sighed in resignation.
— "Okay…" — The girl agreed.
— "Atta girl!" — She said, patting the young girl on the back as she led her to the training mat.
Soon the two were at the place where the martial arts classes of the "Carter Academy of Self Defense for Girls" were held, sitting and doing various stretches while they talked.
— "So what I'm getting at…" – the heroine started, touching her toes as she has her legs stretched out – "...is that what I'm teaching is divided into two parts: technician and personal."
— "The technician would be all the regulations and rules of the daily work of a professional right? — the brunette asked as she copied the older woman's movements.
— "Exactly!" – Sharon agreed, changing position, now opening her legs to stretch forward – "And the personal has to do with my work style, which is something you may or may not want to take inspiration from."
— "Is this your own way of handling things?" – Wanda asked as she sat down, already tired from stretching.
— Yep! I'm a much more generalist heroine than a specialist – she stood up – "so I like to do everything; rescue, investigation, fighting, the works."
— "Okay, but why do I need to be in uniform exactly?" – Wanda asked, still unsure of how those things connected
— "Well, you came here with a goal, right?"
— "Well, yeah. I'm mostly focused on learning about things I have more difficulty with, that way I can balance them out and become an overall better hero" - The girl shared.
— "That's where the money is! – the heroine exclaimed, to which the girl raised a questioning brow.
"Er, what I mean is, you have the thinking of a generalist." – She explained – "An expert seeks to improve the skills he already has, which is not a bad thing, it's just a different philosophy. On the other hand, a generalist focuses on several areas, so we are always valuable in an emergency, no matter what."
— "And this has to do with uniforms because…?"
— Because uniforms and equipment are the key for heroes, both for generalists and specialists, but even more so for generalists – she explains – an expert focuses all his equipment and uniforms on what his Quirk is capable of doing; like for example, let's say if I were an expert...
The heroine then walks to a training dummy, while Wanda stands up, she then starts hitting the dummy in different places, with kicks, punches, elbows, etc. But the doll barely moves, until at a moment, before a punch, the heroine's fist glows bluish and she punches the doll. Soon, all the points it had hit glow blue and quickly clump together at the point of the last impact and the puppet is thrown backwards with speed and force, until it hits the wall and falls to the ground. Wanda had already read about the heroine Quirk, it was called;
"Heroine: Agent 13, Quirk: Focus Strike. She is able to "deactivate" the damage dealt from multiple hits and then charge them in a single point as a much more powerful blow, perfect for weak spots and big enemies that only land with a lot of force.."
—...in this case, I would probably use gauntlets and other parts of armor with thrusters to be able to move faster and give more blows and less time to then send the enemy into the stratosphere... - She then lowers her arms, placing them on the waist – but being a generalist, I prefer a lighter outfit that gives me more agility and some other equipment that allows me to do things my Quirk can't, like smoke bombs for distraction and kits to unlock doors when we want to be more discreet
— So... - Wanda starts to reason - you're making me fight in uniform, so I can see, if I want to be a more generalist heroine, who has the ability to fight melee, I need to test to see if my uniform is able to do this or if I need to make any changes...
— You are a smart girl! – the heroine praises the girl who blushes thanking her – look, remind me later to give you some names of major generalist heroes in case you are interested in internships with them in the future
— Seriously!? Thank you! - the girl happily thanks
— Don't mention it, you're still going to help me a lot, so this is a way for me to reward you - the heroine says quickly pointing out, where several children's voices could be heard - ready for this?
— More ready, impossible! - Wanda says with determination
— So... - the general starts saying while he, accompanied by Eugene, walked through the corridors of the military agency/academy - how do you report your activities yesterday?
— I was hoping not to sit in a chair inside a room for hours - the boy says through a yawn; he even woke up early normally, hated to spend the day sleeping, but at 5 am with an alarm almost in his ear, that was asking too much - but the theme was kind of interesting...
The day before, after his conversation with General Ross, he had taken him to one of the classrooms present in the academy, where he had to sit and watch over the various weapons used by the army and even by some heroes, in different circumstances: civilian rescue, better weapons for different types of villains Quirks, etc. It wasn't the worst class the boy had ever had, Professor Piotr's Literature class was certainly the champion in that category, but he would certainly prefer to have more, let's say, practical classes.
— But I still don't understand why I took that class...
— Patience is something you lack Mr. Thompson - the General says to the boy - your questions will soon be answered, just obey me...
Not wanting to antagonize the general and hero number three, the boy continued his walk in silence. Soon, both enter a room where the door was written only "WEAPONRY" and Flash began to understand where all that was going.
Inside the room, there were what you'd expect, guns, lots of them. Rifles, pistols, shotguns, everything you could imagine in the black pattern of the American army. Placed on the walls as if they were decorations, the Thompson boy is stunned by it all. In addition, there was also a white table inside, where there were three rifles and two pistols, being carefully organized by a soldier, who as soon as he saw General Ross, saluted and left the room, being replaced behind the table by the professional hero.
— Very well Mr Thompson – the general says taking one of the semi-automatic pistols – as we discussed earlier, your power is very similar to your father's, but I believe you have some properties like your mother's. She manages to absorb and later release certain technologies if I'm not mistaken
— Yeah, like this... - the boy says trying to focus his memory on his mother's Quirk, she never used it so much - she can absorb small objects into her body, so she doesn't need a bag, she simply "keeps" things in her body of her, I think she dissociates the materials genetically something like that
— That's right, that's what her report showed...
— Do you have a file on her? - Flash says getting annoyed
— Boy I'm the only hero with government connections, pulling a civilian's file is easy – the general says ignoring Flash's anger – well, what I want you to do is absorb these weapons so you can become your best hero version
— How exactly? Turning me into one of your soldiers?
— Of course not – the general is unaffected by the boy's sharp tongue – You first need to understand that your Quirk is not flashy as you think it is: you don't fly, shoot a laser beam or create gigantic things. You have a power that is actually much better than that: a versatile power – the general says putting the weapon back on the table – you see, I train a lot more soldiers than heroes, and the best soldiers are the best men and the best women , with the best equipment...
— ... – Flash então começa a conectar os pontos – então as palestras foram para eu aprender sobre o manuseio das armas para que eu pudesse usá-las com mais facilidade depois de absorvê-las...
— I knew you were a smart kid – the general then looks Flash deep in the eye – shall we get started then? – Thadeus says pointing to the first pistol on the table as he takes a step back
Flash approaches the table and puts his hand over the gun, he didn't know how his mother did that; he simply watched her take a pen or her cell phone from her hand or arm. He closes his eyes and concentrates. Soon, the few black cells, invisible to the naked eye, scattered around his arm begin to multiply rapidly, "stealing" Flash nutrients to divide, until the boy's wrist and hand are completely black, and with the cell mass soon covering the pistol.
But Flash feels a blockage, he had covered the weapon with the cells, but for some reason he couldn't absorb it; he knew it was to dissolve the weapon molecularly, and he would be able to restore it... but for some reason, he couldn't.
He then lets go of the gun, the cells are soon absorbed back into his body and he takes a breathless step back, that had been more demanding than he anticipated.
Thadeus, however, says nothing. He just watches the boy; the same was the most stubborn and headstrong boy he knew, just like himself as a young man, he would find a solution to his problem, whatever the cost.
Flash's mind then starts thinking, what could he do/not do to make it work? He had to dissolve the weapon, but he had to do it himself, if he tried to dissolve it by other methods or break the weapon, some pieces might be lost and he needed it all...or not?
An idea comes to mind, and he soon takes the gun and starts taking it apart, removing the clip, and then the top, Flash would use some of what he had learned from Professor Connors in chemistry; for a reaction to run faster, you create a larger area of contact with the reactant, such as crushing, separating, or, in this case, dismantling.
With the weapon dismantled, Flash again makes his Quirk's cells multiply, covering his hand and wrist and then covering the weapon parts, and this time, even though he still feels the blockage, he finds a way to go, overcoming this barrier, he feels the pieces shrinking until they disappear, he opens his eyes and no longer sees the dismantled weapon. Concentrating again, he makes the gun pieces appear and assemble in his hand until the boy is holding the pistol, with a smug smile in the direction of the watching hero.
— Very well - the general says - finish absorbing the others until lunch and then we will have target shooting - he says leaving Flash alone so that the boy could do with the other available weapons what he had done with the pistol
Later that day, at the headquarters of the S.M.A.S.H. Agency, two boys met at the bar built in the locality, not as customers, but dressed in bartender's clothes and in their "hulk" forms, and listening to the last instructions of the hero with whom they were interning.
—...that's why I need the drinks to be perfect tonight, not the way you did yesterday – Joe Fixit says to the boys stiffly – do we understand?
— Yes sir! - the two boys say
— All right, I'll be back in a few hours with our guests - he says and then leaves the room, leaving the boys alone.
The two sigh, relieved that the pressure is gone, and start working at the bar.;
— The guy isn't soft at all… - Teddy says, removing the chairs from the top of the tables and arranging them – was he always like this? - he ask the partner
— Worse than that, he loves his family a lot, but he was always strict, being the oldest and all – Amadeus says as he washes some glasses, which luckily were bigger and thicker than the standards for his enlarged hands.
— It must be really cool to have a family full of heroes... - the blond boy says, thinking about himself and his "family"; he and his mother - all heroes, encouraging you, supporting you...
— Yeah, it's pretty cool... - Amadeus replies, but soon, flashbacks of his fight with Tyrone come back to his mind; a prison, his friends dead, his family turning their backs on him, the red of fury was all he saw and...
— You good? – Teddy asks when he realizes that the brunette was just static for a moment.
— Ah? Yes, I'm fine... - he says, going back to washing the glasses
— Is it about your last fight at the festival? When you went nuts? – Teddy asks, which makes Amadeus look up, surprised that the other boy guesses so quickly.
— I don't want to talk about it... - he answers downcast
— Be cool, I don't want to intrude – Teddy says raising his arms and respecting his colleague's privacy – but you should talk to someone; your family, your friends, or even me if you feel like it. Nobody should be ashamed to talk about what they're going through with another... - the boy Altman says this last part more silently - I also know that I'm glad that didn't happen sooner, you certainly would have turned me into teen puree
— Hmm... - Amadeus gives a slight smile - I'm sure you could stand it for at least a little bit
— You think so?
— I do! – Amadeus says smiling and then has an idea – hey, since our powers are similar, why don't we train together when we get back to M.A? We can help each other.
— Hey, I'm up! - Teddy says giving a thumbs up - Hulkling and Brawn, ready to...
— QUIT THE TALK AND GET BACK TO WORK!!! – The boys are startled when they hear Fixit's scream
— Yes sir! - they answer, but soon they let out light laughs and go back to work
Earlier that night, two heroines-in-training found themselves at that moment inside a limousine filled with models who laughed with each other, took pictures and drank champagne, while the two girls were secluded in the back of the luxurious automobile.
In addition to not being an internship as expected, Janet Van Dyne, the former Wasp, had still managed to get Ava and Sharon to change, and now both were wearing dresses from the heroine's spring collection.
Ava was dressed in a sleeveless natural fiber jumpsuit with thin but wide straps, with longer, flowing legs, and a pair of brown clog-like sandals, and her hair was pulled back in a tight bun at the back of her head.
Sharon, on the other hand, was wearing a more fitted dress, also sleeveless and with thin, wide straps, turquoise damask blue, that went down to her knees, but had a side slit on the left leg, revealing a little of her toned thighs. There were two openings in the back, a larger one in the middle of her back and one closer to the base of her spine, separated by a small piece of her dress. And her wavy blond hair fell to her shoulders as it had no ties.
— This is bringing back a lot of memories of the "hero dinners" I used to go to when I was younger – Ava says, more to herself, but at the same time to Sharon – the best part being talking to professional heroes, which I wasn't allowed to, for being a child
— Chat with the heroes? When my parents were invited to Buckingham Palace, what I really wanted was to get out of the dress my mother had put on me and jump in the mud - Sharon says soon laughing and being followed by Ava
— So in the end we are more alike than we thought – the latina says to the blonde who agrees
— Daughters of hero parents isn't it? But even so, I don't feel prepared for this… - Sharon says as she looks out the window and notices that they were parking.
— Alright girls, we're here! – the window to the front of the car opens, revealing Janet next to the driver and with a big smile – come on, everyone out!
— Ready? – Ava asks her colleague
— Not at all – she replies – you?
— Also no - he answers and then heads towards the door to exit the vehicle
Tony was back in his office at home. With Pepper running the Stark Industries office, he was all alone, and without much creativity to assemble, disassemble or build anything, he found himself quite bored.
With no classes to teach and the risk of a power failure in the armor, he kept himself at home, out of the public eye. But soon, a call changes all that.
— Hello? Who is it? I'm busy! - he says in a sarcastic and carefree way, since he wasn't busy at all and everyone who had that form of communication knew about his situation
— Stark! - Detective Mahoney's hologram appears in front of him looking unfriendly
— Detective! How is your mother? Did she get my gift? - Stark asks
— You and Nelson have to stop giving my mother cigars - he says wearily
— She'll outlive all of us, and I gave her a whiskey, not cigars - Tony says smug
— Whatever, but I didn't come here for that... The autopsy results of that big robot have arrived - the detective says more seriously, and Tony soon gets into a sitting position, taking his feet off the table and abandoning the relaxed pose, already that it had caught his attention - as you asked for updates, I asked SHIELD experts to speak;
Soon, two other people appear in the hologram; a woman and a man, of average height, the woman thin, fair-skinned and straight hair pulled back in a ponytail, and the man a little stronger, with a thin beard on his chin and short curly hair.
— Good afternoon Mr. Stark, it is a pleasure to meet you… - the woman starts to speak - we are…
— Hey! - Stark stands up catching the detective's attention - who let you bring people into the secret!?
— Relax Stark... - the detective says - it's a recording. - he says pointing to the frozen image of the two scientists, and as soon as Stark relaxes, the detective releases the recording again
—… those in charge of the studies of specimen S3865 "Sentinel". I'm the Quirks biochemistry expert; Simmons, and this is Chief Engineer Fitz… - she says introducing her colleague
— We heard of your interest in the individual's autopsy results - Fitz says holding up a tablet - the procedure was made difficult, given the individual's high resistance and energy absorption
— But after a while we came to two conclusions about the specimen - Simmons adds
— They like to say "specimen" - Stark says
— Shut up and pay attention - the detective responds
— The first thing we found were traces of DNA from two people, throwing that DNA into the database, we got to two criminals presumed dead who present the two Quirks presented; Energy Absorption and Body Temperature Control - Simmons says presenting two holographic images, likely of the two criminals
— And another thing we found by testing with x-ray and magnetic scan, getting a schematic of the central power core - Fitz complements by sending the holographic schematic to Tony, who takes it and analyzes it
It doesn't take long for the hero to recognize the scheme of that core, he knows that piece of technology way too much and it didn't mean anything good
It was the end of the day and inevitably the end of work for heroes, especially those focused on combat and rescue, that time was the beginning of the work of investigative heroes, but that is a matter for another time.
Shang was walking down the hallway of his agency's rooms, had a meeting with some other heroes at that time so he was ready to leave.
Passing Danny's room, Shang knocks on the door and opens it, watching the boy writing in a notebook on his desk, probably about the day.
— Hey Danny, I'm going out, you can get anything from the kitchen if you need it - he says smiling
— Okay thanks - the boy says thanking the hero
— All right, see you tomorrow! - the hero says
— See ya...
As the hero leaves, closing the door, Danny quickly takes out his other large notebook, opening it across the table, displaying various information about Taskmaster's appearances over the past few months, how he attacks, when, so that Danny has the best chance of meet him in the next few days.
But Shang was still at the door, watching the boy with all that sick focus on the villain. The hero already suspected another motive of the boy, but he did not expect that. He sighs and leaves.
It was the next day, after lunch, and this time Peter and Dr. Yinsen were not in the professor's humble apartment. But both had obtained permission to use the school gym where the eldest worked to train with the web-shooters.
At that moment, Peter was jumping, shooting webs at the ceiling and swinging, training with the launchers. He'd quickly gotten the hang of the launchers and swinging, as he'd done it occasionally before, when it hurt to do it, and now that he was able to do it painlessly and much faster, he'd gotten used to it quickly. He'd gotten used to the whole web-slinging, catching and swinging thing by now, but he was still amazed at how he didn't feel like throwing up, but he didn't want to speak ill; given horse doesn't look at the teeth, isn't it.
And on the ground, Dr. Yinsen monitored Peter's vitals and the launchers' diagnoses. The kid had improved a lot in his abilities in a short time with just shooters and Yinsen was glad the kid had an answer to his problems.
Soon, the launchers start beeping and flashing a red light, so the boy launches one last web, descending and rolling when he hits the ground, taking the pods out of the launchers and swapping them for clean pods, replacing them.
— Your evolution is great Peter - the Doctor says watching the vitals - but I think we'll have to find a way to remove your webs later - he says looking at the ceiling full of hanging webs, as if a giant spider had been there for weeks building her web
— Oops… - the boy says slightly embarrassed and taking a bottle of water from the table - I've been thinking about this for a while, maybe it's time to put it into practice
— That's for sure… - Yinsen agrees
— So, what are we going to do now? More web training? Shall we get the drones? Stress tests?
— None of that. - says Yinsen checking the notification he had received on his cell phone - go inside, shower and put on your uniform
— Why? - the boy asks, with no idea what they would do.
— Let's go to East Harlem, patrol!
