Midtown School
Arthur was walking through the school, eating donuts out of a bag. He stopped suddenly, hovering slightly. And the reason was the same green-haired beauty again, and she was chatting with Laura and Elena, to his surprise.
«Hey, what are you hovering for? - Peter and Harry asked, coming up from the side.
«Evans-" Osbourne snapped his fingers in front of his face.
«Huh? What?" Evans asked, coming to his senses.
«What are you hanging on for? - Parker asked, taking a doughnut from the bag.
«Oh... Oh, nothing..." he replied.
His two friends looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders. After that, the green-haired girl waved to Laura and Elena, and then left. The girl walked past the chestnut boy and he looked back at her. She looked at him too, but only out of the corner of her eye.
«Hey, Arthur! - he heard the chestnut and turned back.
Laura was running in his direction, followed quietly by Elena.
«'Hello,' said Arthur.
«What are you munching on? - Kinney asked, then reached into his bag and pulled out donuts. - Oh, donut, Elena, do you want one? - She asked, munching on one.
«No thanks. - Said Elena.
«Okay - Laura popped another donut into her mouth.
«Who were you talking to? - Arthur asked.
«This is Lorna. She recently transferred here from another school.
«I see..." he replied, taking a bite of his donut.
«And she also happens to be helping Lena get guys off her back.
«Oh, how? - Evans asked.
«Did you like Lorna? - Laura asked, poking him with her elbow.
«Did our tight Arthur have a meltdown? - Harry asked, resting his elbow on his shoulder.
«From his foot or from his elbow? - Chestnut asked.
«Oh, come on, come on. - Harry held up his hands conciliatorily. - I was only joking.
«You're a bloody joker..." he reached into the bag again, but it was empty.
The brown-haired man then looked at Laura and Peter. They started whistling, looking away.
«Though it was only our shy one who was the most social of all of them. - Laura said, nodding at Elena. - I don't know how, but they've managed to become really good friends.
«Oh, how? - Arthur asked.
«Yeah - nodded Elena.
«I'm going to go now," he headed in the direction Lorna had gone.
His friends looked at each other.
***
Arthur walked down the corridor of the school, looking around. Thoughts of the new girl kept him on his toes. There was only one girl in the comics with such an unusual appearance in his memory. He was distracted from his thoughts by the fact that he bumped into someone, causing that person to fall. The brown-haired man looked up and saw that it was Lorna.
«Ouch..." she rubbed her forehead because she had hit them too. The green-haired girl flopped down, dropping her books.
«I'm-I'm sorry... - Evans held out his hands to her, leaning over. - I was thinking a bit and didn't notice you....
«Better next time if you're thinking... Stay where you are..." she said unhappily, accepting the helping hand.
Arthur on the other hand helped her up and then helped her collect her books.
«Sorry again...' he said, holding out the books.
«'Okay... Bygones. - Said the girl, taking the books. - I'm Lorna. Lorna Dane.
«I'm Arthur... Arthur Evans - replied the brown-haired man.
«I've heard about you. You're quite the local celebrity. - Lorna said in a deliberately bored tone.
«Well... I guess...
«Although Elena speaks very highly of you.
«Well... I'm glad to hear that," he replied.
«I also heard that you stopped the killer who wanted to kill Graydon Creed," she said grudgingly again.
«Well... You know, whatever kind of man... To take a life... No one in the world has that right - Arthur scratched the back of his head. - Though I wanted to spit in his face when he thanked me....
«Hmm... I see... - Lorna replied. - Sorry, I have to go... - she headed on her way.
«See you later - said the brown-haired man.
«'Maybe...' she stopped, but then walked on.
Evans then looked at the floor and found a strange locket. In shape it resembled a very familiar helmet that Arthur had seen before. The boy picked it up and then looked after the girl.
A warehouse near the coast
Several vigilantes were standing near the warehouse along with the Hulk Woman.
«Fury, Captain America reporting, we're in position - Stephen said, putting his fingers to the communicator in his ear.
«Stand by, reinforcements are on their way, there may be Sigma agents there - Fury replied.
«How much longer? I want to crash," said the Hulk, banging his fists together.
«Hang on, cousin, what if there's an anti-Gamma gun pointed at us? - Jen pointed at the door.
«'I hope patience will be justified,' said the Hulk.
***
Spectre was flying around the city, looking at the medallion that Lorna had apparently taken from him.
«I'll have to return it..." he said, then flew up to a gargoyle on the street.
The silver-haired man took the communicator out of her mouth and switched it on.
«Spectre! Damn you! Where are you! - Fury shouted at once.
«What's with all the shouting? Here I am..." he replied.
«Get to the warehouse off the coast! There's avengers and a hulk woman. We found one of Sigma's bases.
«Arthur switched off the communicator and flew towards the warehouse at full speed.
***
The Avengers and Jen stood quietly waiting for backup.
«So where's the backup? - Captain Marvel asked.
«Probably another squad of agents who can't do anything, said Wasp.- Don't be like that, Janet, said Hank.
Suddenly the Spectre landed right in front of them, picking up the wind.
«Sorry I'm a little late," he said. - Did you call for backup?
«Oh, Spectre, it's good to see you again - smiled Thor.
«Hello," Arthur replied.
«A rookie hero with obscure powers? I'd rather have a SWAT team, Tony said.
«That's a shame...
«Indeed, Spectre fought the Destroyer bravely, said Odinson.
«So, can I get the gist of the problem? - Arthur asked, then pressed a button and the mask hiding his mouth settled.
«'Plagiariser...' replied Stark, putting the front of his helmet back on.
«'We can't get in, there's a powerful force field over the door,' Steve replied. - Can you do anything?
«What can he do if even the Hulk and Thor can't penetrate it? - Wasp asked.
Arthur then pressed a button on his goggles. Those scanned the barrier.
«It's an anti-strike force field," replied Evans.
«What? - asked the iron man.
«In short, the harder you hit, the stronger the recoil - answered Spectre, then walked over and calmly opened the warehouse gate. - And if you're not rough, there's no kickback.
«He's got you, Tony," said Jen.
«He was just lucky, I didn't scan the field," Stark replied, and then flew into the warehouse.
He got an electric shock in the doorway, but it was over in five minutes.
«Well, who enters without checking the situation? - Arthur asked. - 68% that there's an electro-magnetic trap....
«Couldn't you have told me before?! - Tony asked.
«You didn't ask.
«Hey, this kid's really cool, said the Hulk.
«Thor, can you hit me? - asked the silver-haired man, pointing at the iron man.
«Easy - the blond hit Tony's armour with a lightning bolt and it worked.
«Next time you go first - Tony pointed at Arthur.
Spectre shrugged and went in. When the vigilantes entered, they found containers and crates.
«What's so interesting? - Janet asked.
«I don't have anything," said Tony.
«I've got something - answered Spectrum and walked to the centre of the warehouse.
He covered his hands with black energy and started shooting at his feet. That's how the silver-haired man made his way to the mechanical hatch with the Sigma symbol on it.
«Tya-ya - he said.
«Show-off, said Tony.
«Is that what I've done to you? - Spectre asked, putting his mask back on.
«Took away his showmanship - replied Carol.
«All right, give me a couple of minutes, I'll break the door down - said Arthur and a black energy torch appeared from his index finger.
But at that very moment the Hulk tore the door off the concrete.
«Breaking in, he said.
And after that, robots and drones burst out of the crates.
«Oops - said the green one.
«Thank you - said Arthur, and then shot some robots with black energy.
Captain America also threw a shield and it blew the heads off three robots, ricocheting off their necks. Thor crushed several more Hammers. Carol, on the other hand, shot a dozen more.
«Okay, how about this? - Spectrum created a football-sized blob of black energy and kicked it upwards.
After that, a bunch of arrows from that energy flew out of it, shooting the robots.
«Phew..." the silver-haired man exhaled.
«You may be good for taking them all out at once, but how are you going to pay for the suit? - said Jen, whose costume had a couple of holes in it from the arrows.
Captain Marvel and Wasp also got hit.
«Oh," said Evans.
«What are you going to do now? - Tony asked.
«I'll patch it up..." he answered, covering his palms with white energy.
After that, the suits were patched up, though not very neatly.
«Unbelievable, complete destruction and rebuilding of matter - said Pim, examining how he patched the holes on the suit right on the wasp.
«Well, not really... It doesn't work on organics... - Arthur replied, then lowered his hands. - I'm done...
«It's a handy ability - said the Wasp.
«Can't complain - Evans shrugged, then walked up the aisle. - Shall we go?
«You first," Tony said.
The silver-haired man shrugged and jumped down. After that, the others came down.
***
Arthur landed right on the platform in front of a ten tonne steel door. He started looking for a panel to crack.
«I'm jumping! - heard the silver-haired man and suddenly Jen landed.
Spectre in turn clung to the wall and casually fumbled for the door panel.
«Luckily..." he said and pulled out the wire he used to connect the panel and the glasses.
Then an invisible keyboard appeared for him to work on.
«What are you doing? - Jen asked.
«I'm hacking into the panel using the holographic keyboard," replied Spectre. - It's only visible through these glasses.
«Shield's new-fangled glasses? - she asked.
«No... Mine... - he replied and the doors opened.
With that, the silver-haired man disconnected the cable.
«It's all right, come down! - shouted Spectre.
Then the vigilantes came down.
«How long did it take you to break down their door? All that time? - Tony asked.
«30 seconds. Give or take 40, Jen replied.
«What? He asked.
«Tony, stop messing with Spectrum's ego, Rogers said.
«Don't, it's all right, said Evans. - It's just... Mr Stark, can't you accept that there's someone smarter than you or better with technology?
«No. What? They just don't exist, he said.
«Dr Doom. The Black Panther. Shall I continue? - Spectre asked.
«He stabbed you - said Clint.
«Shut up, archer.
Spectre stepped forward at the same time.
«Is something bothering you? - Jen asked.
«Not really... Sigma took the guy who got Dormamu's powers through my fault, not only that I couldn't interfere because I was elsewhere..." he said. - Although I didn't know him very well.
«I think something like that is called conscience... I know," she said. - That bloke's name is Leo Morris, isn't it?
«What?
«That guy was taken almost right in front of me, so we're bound by our desire to save him - Halka replied.
«Is that it? Good - said Arthur, smiling.
With that, the silver-haired man stopped and started scanning. Abruptly the scanner stopped at one of the doors labelled E-001-Mecha. The scanner tuned to the door and saw the life indicators.
«Er, new how-" Evans walked over to the panel and reconnected the cable.
The invisible keyboard in action again.
«And what are you shamanising? - Tony asked.
«It's a holographic keyboard, if you're interested - I can sell the technology - answered Arthur. - Done...
With that, the door opened.
«He's got you guys..." said Wasp, looking at Tony and Hank.
«I wasn't even competing with him... - Pim replied.
«How long are you going to stand there? - asked Carol, who entered the room.
«For once a worthy opponent - Stark followed the others.
When everyone entered, they began to look around. Spectre, on the other hand, walked over to an all-metal cryo-capsule with the same lettering as the door. He removed the top lid and shuddered.
«What's in there? - Jen asked, walking over and shuddering too.
Leo was in the capsule and something about him had changed.
«Leo-" the silver-haired man ran over and started to switch off the capsule.
At the same second the serena roared and the capsule released the guy on its own. Spectre only wanted to fly towards him as he was thrown back by a fiery blast at Tony and Cap.
«Intruders prepare to be annihilated - he spoke like a robot.
«Now that's unexpected... - said Spectre.
After that Morris' hands were covered with metallic coloured sand, which took the shape of repulsors.
To be continued...
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