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Ben took his seat.
This was America. Teachers here weren't about to punish a student for being one second late. Frankly, they were just grateful the kids showed up at all.
Just then, a blonde girl peeked over from the next row while the teacher's back was turned and whispered, "Hey, Ben, why were you late today?"
"One second late isn't late, Hardy," Ben replied, pulling his homework out of his backpack.
Felicia Hardy.
A well-known rich girl at the school, and undeniably pretty. But what Ben found more interesting was her other, secret identity—the Black Cat.
Of course, this Felicia didn't know yet that her father was the famous cat burglar, The Cat, and she hadn't become anyone but herself.
"You always have an excuse," Felicia said, straightening up in her seat. She wasn't surprised to see Ben handing in his homework.
Ben was a pretty diligent student. Felicia had never seen him skip an assignment or do a sloppy job. He put in the effort, but sadly, in a world overflowing with geniuses like the Marvel universe, hard work alone could only get you so far.
He could handle the regular curriculum, but when it came to advanced, competitive-level subjects, Ben's brain just couldn't quite keep up.
For many people in this world, being a genius was just the entry ticket. Even someone as smart as Peter Parker got criticized by guys like Connors or Otto for not applying himself enough, let alone ordinary students.
Felicia knew exactly how that felt, because she was one of those people: hardworking, but not naturally gifted.
Watching Ben take out his textbook, looking preoccupied, Felicia felt a surge of camaraderie. They were in the same boat!
'Maybe I should organize a study group and invite Ben,' she thought. She was just about to lean over and suggest it when the teacher turned back around, making her duck her head back down quickly.
As for Ben, he was completely unaware.
From the moment he sat down, his mind was on the Iron Man suit. It was hard for any guy to resist the allure of a real Iron Man armor, especially one that was an authentic, original model he'd personally stripped off Tony Stark!
'I can turn into Grey Matter and take it apart, study it properly!' Ben thought.
Sure, he'd already dismantled it once, but what Fasttrack did was just taking off parts. Grey Matter could truly analyze the suit's structure and technology.
"A shame I couldn't take the Arc Reactor, though," he sighed inwardly.
The Arc Reactor was the most crucial piece of tech in the Iron Man suit. It was essentially cold fusion.
Cold fusion had been considered nearly impossible to achieve in his previous world, but here, Tony Stark had made it a reality. And not just that—he'd managed to condense that massive power source down to the size of a human heart.
The rest of the armor was also packed with incredibly advanced tech.
Ben wasn't hugely passionate about science itself. He studied hard mostly to avoid disappointing Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
But researching the armor, maybe building his own suit? That was intensely interesting. If he could master the tech behind the Iron Man armor, he could develop his own suit, or maybe build an army of robot drones.
While Ben was still lost in thought, a faint, tingling sensation at the back of his mind made him instinctively reach out and catch a small, folded note.
[I'm putting together a study group. Going to invite Gwen. Want to come to my place?]
It was signed by Felicia.
A study group?
Ben was taken aback for a moment, then glanced sideways. Felicia was blinking at him, mouthing the words:
"You can bring your cousin, Peter Parker."
That actually didn't sound too bad, Ben thought.
Gwen and Peter were arguably the top two students in the school, consistently battling for first and second place.
More importantly, both Felicia and Gwen were very pretty. If he brought Peter along, it might give him a chance to get to know Gwen properly, a much better option than him constantly mooning over Liz Toomes.
But... what was in it for him?
He didn't have time for a study group. After school, he had an Iron Man suit to research!
Ben could turn into Grey Matter and analyze it down to the last bolt, or become Upgrade and merge with the armor to see what enhancements he could bring. Maybe he could use the Galvanic Mechamorph's abilities to upgrade the suit or even build a proper Spider suit for Peter.
He couldn't let the kid run around fighting crime in his baby-blue pajamas forever, could he?
He had so many things he could be doing, every one of them more exciting than a study session.
So, Ben crumpled the note into a ball and shook his head at Felicia.
"Sorry, Felicia. I'm busy after school. And Peter... I don't think he has much free time lately either."
Ben was telling the truth. These days, Peter's mind was almost entirely occupied with spiders, Oscorp, Dr. Connors, and the mystery surrounding his parents. He probably wouldn't be in the mood for a study group either.
Besides, if Ben remembered correctly, Gwen had band practice after school. She, Mary Jane, and a few others had formed a small band.
"Fine. Whatever!" Felicia's tone was icy and clearly annoyed. She clearly hadn't expected Ben to turn her down. She turned her head away sharply, forcing herself not to look at him.
She distinctly remembered that Ben hardly ever participated in any club activities. He went straight home every day after school. Saying he was "busy" was obviously just an excuse!
If he didn't want to study with her, he should just say so! Hmph!
Stupid Ben. Just wait until I invite Gwen and form the study group anyway. Once my grades shoot up, you'll be the one full of regrets! And by then, it won't be so easy for you to join my study group!
She fumed silently.
'He'd have to beg me on his knees!'
Not only that, Felicia decided she wouldn't speak to Ben for the rest of the school day, just to show him how serious she was!
As for Ben, after rejecting Felicia, he didn't give it another thought and focused his attention on the class.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but today his mind felt clearer than usual. Concepts that normally took him some time and practice to grasp now seemed to click into place almost instantly.
"Did I get smarter?" he wondered, surprised.
"Is it the spider powers stimulating my brain? Or maybe some residual effect from turning into Grey Matter?"
Ben suspected it was a bit of both.
The spider powers had enhanced his entire body; it wasn't far-fetched that his mind had become a little sharper too. And while turning into Grey Matter didn't permanently alter his genes, some of the scientific knowledge and logical frameworks seemed to have stuck around in his memory.
Grey Matter's unique way of thinking might also be influencing him slightly.
Of course, neither of these things could instantly transform Ben into a genius.
For the first time, Ben felt like the class period flew by.
The feeling of being completely immersed in learning was incredibly satisfying. For a moment, he almost felt like he had become a genius.
But a real genius wouldn't need to put in this much effort to understand the class material.
For true geniuses, this stuff wasn't even basic. Take Peter, for example—back in middle school, he was already developing synthetic web fluid that defied the science of Ben's original world.
Honestly, it wasn't just Peter. Even Dr. Connors' intellect was far beyond any normal person's. Sure, his research always seemed to fail spectacularly, and sometimes he felt more like a supporting character to Peter or his parents' legacy, but the technology required to turn a person into a Lizard was still light-years ahead of reality.
Compared to them, Ben's intelligence was still firmly in the "normal" range.
But he wasn't upset about it.
He was just a normal guy, after all. And more importantly, he now had the Omnitrix. Among its millions of alien DNA samples, there were plenty of supremely intelligent species he could transform into. Galvans like Grey Matter were just the beginning. There were also Cerebrocrustaceans, and Planchaküles, all known for their technological prowess.
And of course, the ultimate example, Alien X, whose near-omnipotence logically included omniscience and unmatched intellect.
The school day passed. Ben felt mentally refreshed. Felicia, however, had experienced a day of mixed emotions. On one hand, having Ben sitting right next to her made it incredibly difficult to ignore him all day. The effort of not talking to him felt like having a kitten constantly scratching at her heart.
On the other hand—
'I gave him the cold shoulder all day. He must be miserable!' Felicia thought smugly as the final bell rang. She was eager to see Ben's reaction, certain he had been just as tortured as she was.
She turned to look, only to find Ben's seat already empty.
Looking up towards the door, all she saw was the back of Ben's head as he rushed out of the classroom without a single glance back.
"Ben!" she exclaimed, stamping her foot in frustration.
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