Chapter 9: Felicia Hardy
Ben returned to his seat.
In a place like America, teachers wouldn't punish students for arriving exactly on time. In fact, the school was just grateful these students showed up at all.
Just then, a blonde girl peeked her head over while the teacher's back was turned and whispered, "Hey, Ben, why are you late today?"
"Being a second late isn't being late, Hardy," Ben replied as he took his homework out of his bag.
Felicia Hardy.
She was a famous rich girl at school, and also very beautiful. But what mattered more to Ben was her other secret identity—Black Cat.
Of course, Felicia didn't know her father was the renowned Cat Burglar yet, nor had she become one herself.
"You always have an excuse," Felicia straightened up. She saw the homework notebook on Ben's desk and wasn't surprised.
Ben was quite diligent in his studies at school. Felicia had never seen him fail to do his homework or do it sloppily. Academically, Ben was hardworking, but unfortunately, in the Marvel world, which was full of geniuses, hard work alone wasn't enough.
Ben could handle ordinary academics, but when it came to competition-level knowledge, his brain wasn't quite up to par.
For many people in this world, being a genius was just an entry ticket. Even with Peter's intelligence, he would be criticized by Connors or Otto for not working hard enough, let alone ordinary people.
Felicia could completely relate to this, as she was the same: hardworking, but not that talented.
Felicia watched Ben take out his textbook, looking preoccupied, and felt they were in the same boat!
Maybe I should organize a study group and invite Ben to join. she thought. Just as she was about to lean over and tell him, the class teacher turned back around, startling Felicia into quickly retracting her head.
As for Ben, he hadn't noticed any of this.
Ever since he sat down, he had been thinking about the Iron Suit. Few boys could resist an Iron Armor, especially when the suit was the genuine article, directly salvaged from Tony Stark!
I can transform into Grey Matter and take it apart to study it! Ben thought.
Even though he had dismantled it once before, the disassembly of XLR8 could only be called taking parts, whereas Grey Matter could thoroughly study the suit's structure and technology.
"Unfortunately, the most crucial Arc Reactor can't be removed," he sighed internally.
The Arc Reactor was actually the most core technology of the Iron Man suit, essentially cold fusion.
Cold fusion, in Ben's past life, was a technology that was almost impossible to achieve, but here, Tony had done it. Not to mention, Tony managed to miniaturize such a vast energy source to the size of a heart.
Besides the energy source, other parts of the battle armor were filled with unachievable technology.
Ben wasn't actually very interested in science. He studied hard only to avoid disappointing Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
However, he was very interested in studying the battle armor and building one of his own. If he could fully understand the technology of the Iron Suit, he could research his own battle suit or build a batch of robot monsters.
While Ben was lost in thought, a slight prickling sensation came from his brain. Ben instinctively reached out and caught a piece of paper.
[I'm planning to organize a study group and invite Gwen. Do you want to come over to my place?]
Signed, Felicia.
A study group?
Ben blinked, then looked to the side and saw Felicia winking at him, her mouth forming words:
"You can bring your cousin, Peter Parker."
It sounded pretty good.
Ben mused.
Gwen and Peter were arguably the two best students in school, their grades consistently ranking first or second.
More importantly, Felicia and Gwen were both beautiful girls. If he brought Peter to the study group, maybe it would help him get to know Gwen, which would be better than Peter constantly talking about Liz Toomes.
But... what does this have to do with me?
I don't have time to attend any study groups! I still have to research the Iron Suit after school!
Ben thought.
He could transform into Grey Matter and study it thoroughly, or he could transform into Upgrade and possess the battle armor to see what changes it could bring. Perhaps, using the characteristics of the Galvanic Mechamorph, that is, the ability of Upgrade, he could upgrade the battle armor, or build a Spider Suit for Peter.
He couldn't let him fight crime wearing baby pajamas, could he?
He had so many things to do, and which one of them wasn't more interesting than attending a study group?
So Ben crumpled the note into a ball and shook his head at Felicia.
"Sorry, Felicia, I have plans after school. As for Peter, I don't think he has much free time lately either."
Ben was telling the truth. Peter had been preoccupied with thoughts of spiders, Osborn, Dr. Connors, and his parents these days, so he likely wouldn't be in the mood for a study group.
Moreover, if Ben remembered correctly, Gwen also had club activities after school. She, Mary Jane, and a few others had formed a small band.
"Fine, then forget it!" Felicia's tone was icy and a little angry. She clearly hadn't expected Ben to refuse her. She turned her head away, forcing herself not to look at Ben.
She clearly remembered that Ben hardly participated in any club activities and went straight home after school every day, saying he didn't have time. It was an obvious excuse!
If you don't want to study with me, just say so, hmph!
Damn Ben, once I invite Gwen and form a study group, and my grades skyrocket, you'll have plenty of time to regret it! It won't be so easy for you to join my study group then!
She thought through gritted teeth.
'Only if he begs me on his knees!'
Not only that, Felicia decided she wouldn't even acknowledge Ben until after school today, just to show him who was boss!
As for Ben, after rejecting Felicia, he hadn't paid her any mind and instead focused his thoughts on class.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but during class today, his mind felt a little clearer. Knowledge that usually took time and practice to understand now seemed to click instantly.
"Am I getting smarter?" he wondered, a little surprised.
"Is it the spider-powers stimulating my brain? Or maybe, after turning into Grey Matter, I was influenced by it?"
Ben suspected it was a combination of both.
The spider-powers had enhanced his entire body, so it wasn't impossible for his brain to become a bit more agile. And while turning into Grey Matter hadn't permanently altered Ben's genes, at least some of its physics knowledge had remained in his head.
Besides that, Grey Matter's way of thinking might also be influencing him.
Of course, no matter which it was, it wouldn't instantly turn Ben into a genius.
For the first time, Ben felt like class time was flying by.
This feeling of being completely immersed in learning felt wonderful. For a moment, he even thought he had truly become a genius.
But in reality, if he were a genius, he wouldn't need to put in effort to seriously study the material in class.
For a genius, that knowledge wouldn't even count as basic. Take Peter, for example. In middle school, he could develop spider silk materials that were impossible with the technology of Ben's original world.
In fact, let alone Peter, even Dr. Connors' intelligence was far beyond that of ordinary people. Even though his research failed in every world, and sometimes he seemed like a mere foil for Peter or Peter's parents, the technology to transform a person into Lizard Man surpassed reality itself.
Compared to them, Ben's intelligence level was still at the ordinary person's level.
However, he wasn't unhappy about that.
After all, he was originally an ordinary person. Moreover, he had now successfully activated the Omnitrix. Among the millions of alien genes, there were plenty of supremely intelligent species he could transform into. Galvan was just one of them; in addition, Brainstorm and Juryrigg were also species very skilled in technology.
And, of course, the all-powerful Alien X naturally implied omniscient and invincible wisdom.
After a full day of studying, Ben felt refreshed. Felicia was also experiencing pain and pleasure. On one hand, Ben sat right next to her, making it difficult for her to ignore him all day. The feeling of forcing herself not to talk to him was like a cat scratching her insides with its claws.
On the other hand—
'I ignored him all day, he must be devastated!' Felicia thought smugly. Now that school was over, she couldn't wait to see Ben's reaction. She guessed Ben must be feeling just as miserable as she was.
But when she turned her head, she found Ben's seat already empty.
Looking up further into the distance, Felicia only saw Ben's retreating back as he rushed out of the classroom without looking back.
"Benny!"
She stomped her feet in anger.
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