Midtown School
Arthur stood and switched on his rig, looking at the judges. Those had already given F-'s to several contestants, and that's too bad.
«Looks like I'm not going to find anything worthwhile here.... - Evans heard and looked at the judges again.
He scratched the back of his head before patting his ear.
«Why are you wasting your time on these untalented people! - Otto asked suddenly. - My project is much better - he pointed to his table on which there was something like a rucksack.And then the judges came over to take a look. Octavius put on the backpack and then put on futuristic glasses with no visible lenses. Four mechanical tentacles emerged from his backpack. With them he calmly took a bottle, opened it, poured it into a glass, brought it to his mouth and drank it.
«These tentacles will solve many problems, for example, they can be used to carry out delicate operations or dangerous work - said Otto.
Some rich men and scientists stopped by his installation.
«"And Tony's been harping on me for being an upstart...?" - Arthur asked mentally.
«'A poser,' he heard Evans say again and started looking around.
«Arthur, is something wrong? - Gwen asked.
«'No, I just heard it,' he replied.
«Oh, they're coming our way - Stacey went back to her project.
Arthur looked and ran back to his project too.
«What have you got here young lady? - Tony asked Gwen.
«Ah, a small modest project with gravitational forces - she replied, then put on her gloves and boots with sensors. By the look of it Gwen was clearly nervous and it was clear right away.
After that she walked over to the wall.
«My project will allow to increase the force of gravity and now not only spider-man will be able to crawl on the walls - the blonde put one foot to the wall, and then the other.
She calmly crawled along the wall like spider-man, climbed up to the ceiling and jumped back down.
«Ta-da!" smiled Gwen, and the judges applauded.
«What an interesting invention," said Norman, coming up to Gwen. - May I see it?
«Yes, please," she held out the glove.
Osborne scrutinised the invention.
«Well, I think you'll get a high mark," he said.
«What?! Otto asked.
«Someone's been killed," Arthur said quietly, smiling. He was preparing his rig at the same time.
«What's the rig? - Evans heard again.
«And what are your inventions? - Emma asked him out of the blue.
«'Huh? Well, I don't think it's anything interesting,' Arthur replied, smiling. - "Pretty..." - he thought.
«'Well, we'll have to see how it works before we can judge,' she replied. - I feel it will be more interesting than those third-grade experiments.
«"So, did I hear her thoughts?" - Evans thought, but then he came to his senses. - Okay, excuse me, may I have your bracelet - he pointed to the jewellery on Frost's wrist.
«Yes, please - she took it off and held it out.
Arthur put it in place of the orb and switched on the machine. The bracelet like the sphere lifted slightly into the air and current began to flow into it. The other judges noticed this and came over to watch. When the energy flow stopped and the bracelet lowered, Arthur calmly took the suction cup cable and plugged it in.
«Permission to use your mobile phone? - Evans asked Frost.
She held it out and Arthur switched on the charger, which worked and charged the phone.
«What?" asked Frost.
«'It's impossible... How? According to the laws of physics, the current should have gone out when you touched it - said Tony, coming over.
«I made it so that the current does not come out of the material object, or it does, but only through such a special cable - answered Arthur.
«Unbelievable, said Emma.
«In other words, thanks to my installation it is possible to make any material object a carrier of energy, or in short, a portable charger - said the brown-haired man. - It will make life easier, because you can't often carry a charger or a power bank, now any of your everyday objects, like a watch or a necklace, will become your portable battery.
«Interesting, but I have a question, what would happen if you did this experiment with a human? - Norman asked.
«Huh? I don't know, I haven't done it, in theory, a person could either die or....
«Become superhuman.... - said Osborne. - Arthur, you seem to be friends with my son Harry, where do you plan to go to school or work after school?
«Well, I haven't thought about it yet...'' - replied Evans.
«My company is developing an academy, I'll be glad if you join it," Norman pulled out a business card.
«You can study there, but I'll invite you to work as a trainee at my place - Tony also held out a card.
«My company needs young professionals too - said Frost, holding out her card, leaning slightly.
«"Jesus... I can't believe I'm saying this, but attack some bad guy!" - Evans thought. - 'I-I... I'll think-' He took three business cards at once.
At this time a small robot Trojan landed on Arthur's car and tapped into the system. Evans didn't notice it, for he was surrounded by three heads of three companies. For a moment, however, he looked back and saw the trojan. The brown-haired man wanted to catch it, but suddenly electricity came out of his rig and hit two of his neighbours on the other side.
«AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! - Both men were lifted into the air.
«Herman! Francine! - shouted Modell.
There was a sudden flash, but Evans managed to catch the Trojan and squeeze him in his hand so he couldn't escape. He managed to fire some chips at his two electrified neighbours. Those hit them in the necks. As the light settled, Herman and Francine changed. Johnny began to glow with a yellow light and yellow lightning bolts came from his eyes, the forearms of his hands became slightly larger. Francine, on the other hand, looked like she was made of lightning and had the outline of a human body.
«Really? - Arthur asked.
«Herman, Francine, what's wrong with you? Are you all right? - Modell asked.
«Max... We... - Francine looked at her hands, then suddenly the rank on her neck lit up red.
«Sister - the chip around Herman's neck also lit up.
Both of them grabbed their heads, but then suddenly started shooting lightning bolts. Everyone rushed to hide or run away.
«Shit... - Arthur looked over and saw that Lorna might have been hit by the gunfire.
The brown-haired man looked and saw the wreckage of other inventions, from which he began to quickly assemble something.
«Superhumans... Lightning elementals... I knew it was possible," Norman said, peering out from behind the screen, but then ducked from the lightning.
At that moment, Arthur threw a hastily assembled device that fell between Herman and Francine.
«Sorry, Electro and Shocker, but this is for you," Evans said.
«What?" The brother and sister looked at the device.
It began to draw current from them. Evans ran up to Harry, who was in front of his invention.
«Harry, what have you got there? - Arthur asked.
«A temperature changer - answered Osborn.
«Yeah, against two current-charged batteries it's useless, he said.
«Yeah.
«Now, wait, what did I just say? - Arthur asked.
«Useless thing.
«Before!
«Two charged batteries - he replied.
«Harry, you're a genius - said Evans, then looked around and picked up the large wires.
Really at this point his machine stopped working and Herman and Francine crushed it.
«Ouch... - said Arthur, then ducked from the current.
Suddenly metal debris flew in front of his nose and absorbed the current. Arthur saw that the debris was glowing slightly green and he looked around. True when the debris fell, Evans hurriedly jumped back. However, when Herman and Francine pointed their hands at him, they were suddenly embraced by mechanical tentacles. Arthur was saved by Otto.
«I don't know what you're up to, but do it! - Octavius shouted.
Evans hurriedly connected the wires to the Shocker and Electro, then connected the other ends to their batteries and switched polarity.
«Just don't let it go off," Arthur slammed his fist on the start button.
«Wait, what?! - Otto asked.
After that, electricity started to be pumped out of Hermann and Francine, and Arthur's machine started to collect it and redirect it into the batteries of the rescued. When it stopped, Herman and Francine returned to their former appearance.
«Phew... - Arthur sat down, wiping away the sweat.
«What happened? Did your car malfunction? - Tony asked.
«No, here's the culprit - the brown-haired man showed me a trojan. - I caught it on the computer.
«Is that it? - Tony asked. - Can I have him?
«Yes, please, the Avengers will find it much faster than S.H.I.E.L.D. or the police - Arthur handed the trojan over and put his other hand in his pocket.
«Of course - Stark hid the robot in his pocket.
«Excuse me, I need to check something else - Evans ran up to Lorna.
«Arthur - said the green-haired girl, lifting the rig back onto the table. - Are you alright?
«Yes, thank you - he smiled.
«For what? - She asked, a little startled.
«For worrying, why? - Evans asked.
«Ah, no, nothing - exhaled Dane. - 'You're welcome,' she smiled.
«There she is - heard Arthur and turned round. - 'Eric will be glad to hear the good news.
«"Eric...? Magneto or something?" - Evans mentally asked.
After that, Frost headed in their direction.
«Lorna, sorry, I'll talk to you later - Arthur smiled.
«Okay - Dane smiled.
The brown-haired man nodded and ran to his equipment.
«Ah, Miss Frost, you forgot to pick up your mobile and bracelet, let's go - Evans led the telepath to his car.
«Y-yes, of course, I completely forgot - she smiled, looking back at Dane.
She picked up her bracelet and phone, then was surprised to see a cluster of people near a rather inconspicuous rack, behind which Lena stood, smiling and explaining something. Artur went over to look. And he saw that she was presenting a translucent white liquid as her project.
«What the hell is that...? - Evans asked. - "Venom or something?"
«And perhaps a visual demonstration will show the effectiveness of my project. - Said Elena, then took out a knife and made a deep cut on her wrist, causing a shock to the audience.
Then she scooped up with her other hand a white liquid, which appeared to be similar to gel, and applied it to the cut. It almost immediately covered it completely and it literally began to heal before the eyes of the amazed spectators. And when the wound disappeared there was no trace of it.... There was no fluid on the arm either.
«As you can see, the medical properties of the liquid match the description. - Said Elena, exhaling heavily.
Arthur wiped his head and looked again. He put his hands in his pockets and headed for his rig.
***
Tony came up on stage with a folder and walked up to the microphone.
«All right, let me announce the top ten. I'll start at the end," Stark said. - Brother and sister Herman and Francine Schultz and their batteries - tenth place!
«Bingo! Herman and Francine gave each other high-fives.
«Ninth place, Adrian Tooms and his sound system.
And then everyone looked at a guy with dark blond side-swept hair, fair skin, dark eyes and nose glasses. He was dressed in a green shirt, trousers with a belt and shoes.
«Eighth place was Harry Osbourne, and his temperature changer.
Harry tsked, looking away.
«Seventh place - Donald Gill, and his cooling guns.
And then everyone looked at a guy with silver hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. He was wearing a short-sleeved blue shirt, white trousers with a belt and shoes. On his shoulder he had an armband with the Frost Industries logo on it.
«Sixth place was Peter Parker and his energy capacitor.
Peter, on the other hand, sighed, shrugging his shoulders.
«Fifth place was Lorna Dane and her magnetic wave rig.
Lorna smiled and Arthur gave her a thumbs up.
«Fourth place - Gwen Stacey and her attraction sensor.
Gwen jumped up, ending up in the top five.
«Third place - Otto Octavius and his mechanical paws.
Otto sighed, lowering his head.
«Second place - Arthur Evans and his rig.
Arthur sighed.
«It was close... - he said.
«And finally first place - Elena and her medical fluid.
And then everyone looked at Lena. She clapped her eyes shut.
«'Hats off to her,' Evans told her.
«I join in that metaphor too - said Octavius.
«Arthur, well done! - Laura suddenly jumped on Arthur from behind and started rubbing his head with her fist. - Not a victory, but still - she smiled.
«Save me... - Arthur said.
«Ah, Lena - Kinney got up and ran up and over to her friend. - Well done - she patted her friend by the hair.
«Congratulations on winning - Lorna smiled as she walked over.
«Thank you - Lena smiled.
«Eh... We lost... - said Peter.
«Yeah," Harry nodded.
«Well, at least our merry band is in the top ten," said Gwen.
«Congratulations on fifth place," Arthur said to Lorna.
«Thanks, and congratulations on second place," she said, smiling.
«Arthur, bro, well done! - shouted Flash. - I knew you were one of our brainiest - he caught his head under his armpit and started rubbing it with his fist.
«'Flash, let him go,' Felicia said as she came up and slapped the big guy on the back of the head.
«Ow, that hurt. - he said, letting go of his friend.
Arthur exhaled, scratching the back of his head. Suddenly his phone rang.
«Yes? He picked it up. - Hi, Mum... - Evans smiled. - Coming home with his mates to celebrate the victory...? - and then all of Arthur's friends looked at him. - Did you bake a cake?
And then Gwen, Peter and Flash smiled.
«Okay, I'll ask... - he said.
«Are you going to ask again? - Thompson asked.
«Everyone for cake, said Gwen.
«Miss Evans's cakes are really good.... - said Parker.
«Come on, let's go, I can't wait already - said Laura smiled, picking up Lena and Lorna by the arms.
«Okay, let's go Three L's - said Harry.
«What did you call us!
«Just kidding.
After that, such a merry bunch headed towards the exit.
Evans house
Arthur and friends sat at the table and waited for the cake. Aria put out a big cake with a sign on it. And the inscription was, "For participation."
«Well, come on," said Aria, smiling.
«Thank you! - Everyone shouted and took a piece of cake.
After that, everyone started eating the cake.
«Hee hee...! Yummy! - Felicia shouted.
«It's tastier than our chef's..... - said Harry.
«'It is,' said Miss Evans. - It's a shame my son didn't win, but he did his best.
«'My father would have such an opinion...' - said Osborne.
«'Calm down, Harry, you did your best too,' replied Peter.
«'Well, yeah...'
Arthur smiled, but then remembered about Frost looking for Lorna for Magneto.
«'Eh... I sense trouble' thought Evans, washing the cake down with milk.
At this time, the fractall that Arthur had stored in his possession glittered.
To be continued...
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