Bant slid into his seat without drawing attention. In America, most teachers did not care if a student walked into the classroom right as the bell ended. The fact that students showed up at all was often considered good enough.
Felicia Hardy leaned forward as soon as the teacher turned to write on the board. Her long blonde hair swayed as she tilted her head toward him.
"Hey, Bant. What happened? You almost missed the bell today."
"One second late does not count as late, Hardy," Bant said while pulling his homework from his bag.
Felicia Hardy.
Everyone in school knew her name. Wealthy family, striking looks, born with that effortless confidence that made people turn their heads when she walked past. But what interested Bant more was who she would eventually become.
Black Cat.
Of course, Felicia herself did not know that yet. She did not know her father had once been the infamous gentleman thief Black Panther. She had no idea that her own future would lead her along a similar path.
"You always have something to say," Felicia muttered, but there was no real annoyance in her voice. She glanced at Bant's homework on his desk and, as always, found nothing surprising there.
Bant was diligent. He never skipped assignments, never turned in something that looked rushed. He worked hard. The problem was that in a world filled with prodigies, geniuses, and people whose brains were practically supercomputers, hard work could only carry someone so far.
Bant could handle regular schoolwork just fine. But advanced competitions and scientific Olympiads? Those were different. In this world, intelligence was the entry ticket. Even someone with Peter Parker's brilliance would still get criticized by Doctor Connors or Dr. Octavius for not trying hard enough. Ordinary people had it worse.
Felicia understood this painfully well. She was one of those people. She worked hard too. Harder than most. But her results were only... okay.
So when she looked at Bant now, looking thoughtful, quiet, internalizing something heavy, she felt a sense of connection.
Two soldiers in the same trench.
Maybe, she thought, she should start a study group and invite Bant. The idea made her bright-eyed for a moment. She leaned just slightly toward him to whisper, but the teacher turned back around, and she snapped upright like a startled cat.
Bant, however, noticed none of this.
His mind was consumed by the Mark III armor.
Few boys could resist the idea of owning an Iron Man suit. Let alone one taken directly off Tony Stark's body.
"I can transform into Techrunner and take it apart properly," Bant thought. "Really study it."
Flashstar's dismantling earlier did not count as real study. That was just ripping components loose. Techrunner, however, could analyze structure, trace power circuits, understand material composition.
"Shame I cannot remove the arc reactor," he sighed internally.
The arc reactor was the heart of the suit. A form of compact cold fusion. Not only had Tony built a functioning reactor in a world where such a thing should have been impossible, he had miniaturized it to the size of an apple.
And the reactor was just one part. The suit contained flight stabilization tech, servo-enhanced strength output, kinetic dampening, advanced sensory systems.
Bant did not even like science as a subject. He studied only so his Aunt May and Uncle Ben would not worry.
But building armor?
That was different.
Creating his own suit, refining its systems, maybe designing mechanical creatures of his own?
That was exciting.
He was lost in thought when he felt a tiny crinkle of paper brush the back of his neck. His reflexes reacted before he did, and he caught the note between his fingers.
He opened it.
I am putting together a study group. I plan to invite Gwen. Do you want to come to my house after school?
– Felicia
Bant blinked, then glanced sideways.
Felicia stared straight ahead, but her lashes fluttered as she mouthed silently:
"You can bring your cousin. Peter Parker."
That did sound tempting.
Gwen and Peter were easily the top students in school, always trading first and second place. And both Gwen and Felicia were beautiful, sharp, interesting girls. Bringing Peter might help him talk to Gwen instead of spending every day mumbling about Liz Toomes.
But then Bant remembered something and sighed internally.
What does that have to do with me?
He had plans today. Big plans. Plans involving Iron Man's armor, alien technology, reverse engineering, and maybe designing something to help Peter stop running around in footie pajamas.
He had no time for study groups.
He crushed the note quietly and shook his head.
"Sorry, Felicia. I have something I need to take care of after school. Peter's probably busy too."
That part was true. Peter's mind was tied in knots lately. Spiders, Oscorp, Doctor Connors, his missing parents. He was drowning in questions and responsibility.
And if Bant remembered correctly, Gwen had band practice after school anyway. Her small group with Mary Jane and a few others had rehearsal today.
Felicia froze. She had not expected rejection. Her face tightened slightly, her voice gone cool.
"Fine. Forget I asked."
She turned away sharply, refusing to look at him.
She knew Bant rarely went to clubs, rarely hung out after school. Saying he was busy was clearly a lie. He just did not want to come.
If he did not want to study with her, he could just say so instead of acting polite.
Fine then.
When she formed her study club and her grades improved dramatically with Gwen's help, he could regret it on his own time.
He could come begging later.
She was sure of it.
Bant, meanwhile, had already moved on mentally. He forced himself to refocus on the lesson. And slowly, something strange happened.
His thoughts were sharper. Clearer. Connections that used to take him effort now came to him effortlessly.
"Did I... get smarter?"
He wondered if this was the lingering effect of Spider DNA strengthening his neural pathways. Or the influence of Techrunner's analytical thinking bleeding into his baseline cognition. Maybe both.
He was not suddenly a genius. Not like Peter, or Connors, or Octavius. But he could keep up. He could learn faster now.
For the first time in his school life, he felt like the classroom was moving at the perfect speed.
The school day passed quickly. Felicia suffered through it. She tried to stay cold and indifferent, but every second felt like someone was scratching lightly at her heart. It took all her willpower not to speak to Bant.
But she remained firm.
And now that the final bell rang, she was ready to revel in her silent victory.
He must have missed talking to her. He must have regretted it.
She turned toward him with the triumphant anticipation of a cat who believed she had conquered the world.
The seat beside her was empty.
She looked up just in time to see Bant already halfway out the door, sprinting down the hallway without a glance back.
"Hey! Bant Parker!"
She stomped her foot so hard the desk shook.