Bren sat back down in his seat.
In a place like America, teachers don't usually punish students for showing up right on the bell. Honestly, the fact that these students even bother coming to school is something to be thankful for.
Just then, a blonde girl leaned forward as the teacher turned away and whispered quietly:
"Hey, Bren, why are you late today?"
"Being a second late doesn't count as late, Hardy," Bren replied while pulling out his homework from his bag.
Felicia Hardy.
She was the well-known rich girl at school, and she was quite pretty. But what Bren found more interesting was her other secret identity—Black Cat.
Of course, Felicia didn't yet know that her father was the infamous Cat, nor had she become Black Cat herself.
"You always have a comeback," Felicia said, straightening up. She noticed the homework notebook that Bren had placed on the desk but wasn't surprised.
Bren was pretty diligent with his schoolwork. Felicia had never seen him skip homework or do it carelessly. He put in effort when it came to studying, but unfortunately, in this world full of geniuses, mere effort wasn't enough.
Bren could handle ordinary schoolwork, but when it came to more competitive subjects, his mind just wasn't sharp enough.
For many people in this world, being a genius was just the entry ticket. Even someone as smart as Peter Parker would still be criticized by Connors or Otto for not working hard enough, let alone regular students.
Felicia could completely relate because she was the same, she worked hard but didn't have the natural talent.
Felicia looked at Bren, who seemed to be lost in thought as he took out his textbook, and thought to herself that they were basically in the same boat!
Maybe I should start a study group and invite Bren to join, she thought. As she was about to lean in to tell him, their homeroom teacher turned back around, causing Felicia to quickly retract her head.
Bren didn't notice any of this.
He'd been thinking about the Iron Man armor ever since he sat down. It was hard for any guy to resist a full Iron Man suit, especially one that was the original, directly taken off Tony Stark himself!
I could become Ant-Man and take it apart to study it thoroughly! Bren thought.
Even though he had already disassembled it once, his version of Ant-Man had only taken the armor apart into pieces, whereas Ant-Man could really study its structure and technology in depth.
"Too bad I can't take the Ark Reactor," he sighed to himself.
The Ark Reactor was the most critical piece of technology in Iron Man's suit. Essentially, it was cold fusion.
Cold fusion had been a nearly impossible technology in Bren's previous life, but here, Tony had made it a reality. And not only that, he had somehow managed to shrink that massive energy source down to the size of a heart.
Beyond the energy, there were countless other advanced technologies in the suit that were nearly impossible to replicate.
Bren wasn't particularly passionate about science, and he only studied hard to avoid disappointing Aunt May and Uncle Ben. But when it came to researching armor and creating his own suit, he was very interested. If he could master the tech in Iron Man's suit, he could create his own or even make some robot minions.
Just then, a slight prickling sensation came to his mind. Instinctively, he reached out and caught a note that had been passed to him.
"I'm planning to hold a study group, and I'm inviting Gwen. Would you like to come to my house?"
The note was from Felicia.
A study group?
Bren blinked and looked over at Felicia, who was now winking at him and mouthing the words:
"You can bring your cousin, Peter Parker."
That didn't sound too bad.
Bren thought for a moment.
Gwen and Peter were easily the two smartest students in school, consistently ranking first or second in their grades.
More importantly, Felicia and Gwen were both pretty girls, so bringing Peter to the study group could give him a chance to meet Gwen. It would be better than him constantly obsessing over Liz Allen.
But... what does that have to do with me?
Bren thought. He didn't have time for a study group, he still had to go research the Iron Man suit after school!
He could turn into Ant-Man and study it thoroughly, or he could become a shapeshifting monster and inhabit the armor to see what changes it might undergo. Perhaps by using his Gavanian transformation abilities, he could upgrade the suit or even make Peter a new Spider-Man suit.
After all, he couldn't have Peter running around in baby pajamas while fighting crime, right?
With so many more interesting things to do, who had time for a study group?
Bren crumpled the note and shook his head at Felicia.
"Sorry, Felicia, I've got things to do after school. As for Peter, I think he's probably too busy too."
Bren was being honest. These days, Peter had been consumed with thoughts about spiders, Osborn, Dr. Connors, and his parents, so he probably wouldn't have time for a study group either.
Besides, if Bren remembered correctly, Gwen had some club activities after school. She and Mary Jane, along with a few others, had formed a small band.
"Fine, forget it!" Felicia said coldly, clearly a little angry. She turned her head away, forcing herself not to look at Bren.
She remembered how Bren rarely participated in club activities and always went straight home after school, claiming he had no time, which she knew was just an excuse!
If you didn't want to study with me, you could have just said so! Hmph!
She angrily thought to herself, I'll show him! Once I invite Gwen and the study group takes off, he'll regret not joining. Then, if he wants to join, it won't be that easy!
Felicia gritted her teeth.
Unless he begs me to let him join!
Felicia decided she wouldn't speak to Bren again until the end of the school day, just to show him how serious she was.
Meanwhile, Bren didn't care much after turning down Felicia. He was focused on the lesson.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but today, he felt like his mind was clearer than usual. Concepts that typically took him some time and practice to understand seemed to click immediately.
Did I get smarter? He wondered.
"Is it because the spider abilities are enhancing my brain? Or maybe, after turning into Ant-Man, I'm influenced by his way of thinking?"
Bren suspected it was both.
The spider abilities had enhanced his body, so it wasn't out of the question that they might have made his brain sharper as well. And although Ant-Man's transformation didn't permanently alter Bren's genes, some of the knowledge from the transformation could have lingered in his mind.
Not to mention, Ant-Man's way of thinking might have also affected him.
Of course, no matter what, it couldn't instantly turn him into a genius.
For the first time, Bren felt like the class passed by incredibly quickly.
The feeling of being completely absorbed in learning was great, and for a moment, he even thought he might actually have become a genius.
But the truth was, if he were a genius, he wouldn't need to put so much effort into learning the basics. For geniuses, those topics would barely count as foundational knowledge. Take Peter, for example, back in high school, he'd been able to create webbing materials that Bren's old world had never even imagined.
Actually, it wasn't just Peter. Even Dr. Connors' intellect was far beyond what an average person could achieve. Though his research often failed in every world, and he sometimes seemed like a sidekick to Peter or his parents, his ability to turn someone into a lizard was a breakthrough beyond reality.
Compared to them, Bren's intellect was still on a normal level.
But he wasn't upset by that.
After all, he was just an ordinary person, and besides, he had already activated the Omnitrix. With millions of alien genes at his disposal, some of them belonged to incredibly intelligent species. The Gavanian species was just one example, there were also the Krang, the MindBender, and other tech-savvy races.
And of course, the all-powerful X-Men implied unmatched intelligence as well.
After a whole day of classes, Bren felt energized. Felicia, meanwhile, was conflicted. On one hand, Bren had sat right next to her, making it impossible to ignore him all day. She had to restrain herself from speaking to him, feeling as if a cat were scratching at her heart.
On the other hand...
I've been ignoring him all day, and he must be miserable!
Felicia smugly thought, now that school was over. She couldn't wait to see Bren's reaction. She guessed he must feel just as bad as she did.
However, when she turned around, she was shocked to find that Bren's seat was empty.
Looking up, she saw his back as he stormed out of the classroom without looking back.
She stomped her foot in frustration.