The abandoned gymnasium of Midtown High, long forgotten by most, was now Raj's proving ground.
Faint shafts of evening light filtered through the cracked windows. Dust motes danced lazily in the air. The walls were faded, the floor marked with time and scratches from a hundred forgotten games. But for Raj, this space had become something more: a hidden sanctuary where he could become who he was meant to be.
Standing in the center of the gym, Raj adjusted the collar of his new suit.
It wasn't perfect yet, but it was his.
Golden in color, the suit shimmered gently under the light. A fiery orange sun symbol pulsed on the center of his chest, radiating faint warmth. Red stripes ran from his shoulders down each arm, and across the sides of his thighs, giving him the look of a solar-powered warrior — not flashy, but impossible to ignore.
Peter whistled from the bleachers. "Okay, gotta say, Raj. You're officially cooler than me now. Don't let it go to your head. You're still the new kid."
Raj chuckled as he tested the flexibility of the suit, doing lunges and stretching his arms. "It doesn't glow unless I want it to. That's a win already."
Peter tossed him a lacrosse ball. "Show me."
Raj caught it easily with one hand, his movement smooth. He took a breath, focused, and let the suit draw in a sliver of light from the window. His body responded — just a soft shimmer. Golden lines beneath the suit lit up faintly, but didn't flare. Controlled. Calm.
Peter nodded. "Looks like it's regulating your energy. That lining we built into the suit is doing its job."
Raj grinned. "Told you all those science fairs would pay off."
They began testing.
Strength first. Raj lifted the old gym bench with one hand, then stacked weights on it until Peter had to hop up and add himself just for fun. Raj barely broke a sweat.
Speed next. He sprinted across the court, his footsteps a blur. The suit hugged him like a second skin, absorbing heat and regulating his temperature. Every motion felt cleaner, more stable.
"Okay, now try the light control," Peter called, notebook in hand. "Controlled pulse."
Raj inhaled. Held his hands out. A glow gathered around his palms — not blinding this time, but warm and steady. He released a pulse forward. It struck the stacked mats Peter had placed against the wall with a soft blast, knocking them down.
No scorch marks. No heat damage. Raj exhaled in relief.
"I'm not going nuclear anymore," he said, smiling.
Peter nodded, pleased. "You're getting there. That solar energy's not bottling up like before."
Raj's eyes flickered gold for a moment. He flexed his hands. "Feels like… this suit listens to me."
Peter smirked. "Or maybe you're just finally listening to yourself."
From outside the cracked windows, a pair of dark lenses watched.
In a surveillance van parked three blocks away, a Hydra operative leaned over a monitor.
"Subject Raj," the operative muttered. "Suit design: solar-regulation based. Self-reinforced. Glowing emblem likely channel point."
Another agent, tall and sharp-faced, tapped into a secondary monitor. "Still no full overload event since the last field incident. He's learning to moderate. That's not good for us."
The lead Hydra analyst zoomed in on the orange sun on Raj's chest. "The emblem's new. Possible conduit. Could be a stabilizer or energy distribution point. Either way, he's evolving."
A third voice entered the mix through the comms. Calm, older, precise.
"Shift your focus to the hammer."
The room fell silent for a beat.
"Yes, sir," the sharp-faced agent replied. "That hammer arrival is already in motion. We've detected minor shifts in electromagnetic readings across the New Mexico desert."
"Raj may be powerful," the voice continued, "but the hammer… it belongs to a god. And gods change the board."
"Understood. But the boy remains a variable. We're keeping the net around him."
The connections cut. The van returned to silence, except for the soft hum of surveillance feeds.
Back in the gym, Raj stood at the center of the court again. He had closed his eyes.
His breathing was steady. Slow.
Peter watched with silent curiosity as Raj began to test something new.
Raj focused inward, drawing solar energy from the faintest light around him. Not a pulse. Not a blast. Just… quiet strength.
His suit shimmered. Not bright — not at all — but alive.
Peter scribbled fast. "Okay, this is new. You're not outputting, you're absorbing without flaring. It's like you're syncing."
Raj opened his eyes. Golden irises glinted. "I'm trying to glow without scaring anyone."
"You mean like the cafeteria apple incident?"
"Exactly."
He took a single step forward, then launched into a low leap, flipping in the air and landing softly. His control was precise. The suit flexed with him, almost like it *moved* with his intent.
Peter clapped. "You're officially past the 'exploding fruit' phase."
Raj grinned. "Let's hope I never have to revisit it."
In the van, Hydra's sharp-faced agent leaned forward again. "Suit tested. Powers regulated. Physical control improving. Emotional state: stable."
He tapped a file. "If we want to push him, we'll need to destabilize the environment."
The analyst next to him frowned. "Too risky. The hammer's more important now."
"Doesn't mean we stop watching the sun-child."
The screen displayed Raj one last time before going dark.
As the gym lights buzzed above them, Peter and Raj sat on the edge of the bleachers.
Peter tossed Raj a water bottle. "So what's next?"
Raj looked down at his suit, golden and red, still warm from the tests.
"We find the materials. Upgrade it. Maybe build a better training space than a dusty gym."
Peter nodded. "And then?"
Raj didn't answer right away.
He looked out through the broken window, where the sun was setting in a wash of orange and red. It shimmered like the emblem on his chest.
"Then we stop being reactive. We prepare. We get ahead of whoever's watching."
Peter followed his gaze. "We're not just playing catch-up anymore."
Raj's voice dropped to a murmur. "No. Now… we learn how to win."