Chapter 420: Civil War II!
"So, do you have anything else to say?" Tony snapped back to reality and turned to continue manipulating his virtual screens.
"You... you have nothing else to say?" Pietro asked, a little confused. Stark seemed unnervingly calm.
Tony swiped across the screen and turned around with a blank expression. "What should I say? Thank you all for the help?"
"I'm sorry, but I can handle this on my own from start to finish. I don't need anyone else's help," Tony said, tilting his chin up arrogantly.
Pietro stared at Tony, momentarily speechless. He didn't fully understand Stark's personality yet. If any of the original Avengers had been there, they would have immediately recognized this as Tony's brand of "Tsundere"—he was just bad at expressing his feelings.
"..." Pietro fell into a silent awkwardness.
Tony gave a faint internal smile, turned back, and continued his work. "If you have nothing to do, then make yourself useful and give me a hand."
"Huh?" Pietro was a bit dazed.
"There's a small screw-shaped component on the left. Bring it to me," Tony ordered.
"Oh." Pietro snapped out of it and quickly fetched the part.
Tony took the part, tapped it lightly, and handed it to a mechanical arm. "Do you believe the Scepter isn't with me?"
"I do. Because we all believe in you," Pietro said firmly and without hesitation.
Tony gave Pietro a meaningful look before pressing a button on the side. A silver suit of armor emerged from the floor.
"Here's some new clothes for you. Don't let yourself look too shabby," Tony said, leaning against the wall.
"This is for me?!" Pietro rushed over to the new suit in pleasant surprise, staring at it in disbelief. He never imagined Tony would prepare a new suit for him!
The suit Tony designed for Pietro was no longer primarily blue. It was changed to a sleek silver-white and included a high-tech visor. The goggles were made of a crystalline glass material designed to protect Pietro's eyes from wind damage during high-speed movement. Additionally, the suit could deflect small-caliber bullets, though it wouldn't stand up to heavy rounds.
"Hmph~ Who else would I give it to?" Tony pointed a control pad at the suit. "Put it on and try it out."
"Okay!" Pietro suppressed his excitement and quickly suited up. The chest featured a sharp lightning bolt emblem.
"Why give me a lightning bolt as a symbol?" Pietro asked, pointing at his chest in surprise.
"I forgot to mention, Silas and I designed this suit together. I was responsible for the materials, and he was responsible for the aesthetic design. That lightning bolt was Silas's idea. He told me he hopes you can run as fast as the Flash," Tony explained.
"Silas?!" Pietro was even more shocked. He hadn't expected Silas to have a hand in this. He felt a surge of motivation—Silas had such high expectations for him, comparing him to the Flash from the comics.
In the comics, the Flash was an existence that could cross time at will. Pietro knew he was a real person and couldn't possibly match a fictional character... but he felt more confident than ever. Since even Silas believed in him, how could he let him down?
"Yeah, that Masked Boy said he has very high expectations for you," Tony said with a shrug.
Tony actually thought quite highly of Pietro's potential too; he hadn't reached his limit yet. Who knew if he really could run beyond the boundaries of time? Regarding DC Comics, Tony had always wanted to know which cartoonist created them—they were practically a mirror version of the Avengers. So far, all Tony knew was that the comics were published by Parker Industries, and the author went by a single pseudonym: The Bat.
"Then I'll go get used to the new suit right now?" Pietro was eager to test it.
"Go ahead," Tony waved him off.
Whoosh!
Pietro vanished. The moment he moved, the transparent visor snapped over his eyes. Streamlined silver light flowed along the patterns of the suit; the faster Pietro ran, the faster the light pulsed. If he reached a high enough speed, he could even generate a halo of light to blur and confuse the enemy's vision.
"Woo-hoo!" Pietro cheered as he tore through the town. With the new suit, he felt lighter and more agile than ever.
As he ran, he noticed many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the area. To the agents, they only saw a streak of light flash by before nothing remained.
"Sir, suspected sighting of Quicksilver. Should we intercept?" an experienced agent reported into his comms.
"No need," the voice on the other end replied.
En Route to North Hempstead
Screech!
Peter was making his way toward North Hempstead, hitching a ride on top of a train.
"I hope I'm in time," Peter muttered, crouching steadily on the train roof, scanning the surroundings. Suddenly, he noticed someone in an alley below. It was Captain America—Steve Rogers.
"Cap?" Peter tilted his head. Shouldn't the Captain be at the rendezvous in North Hempstead? Why was he here?
After a moment's thought, Peter fired a web, leaped off the train, and landed silently above the alley.
In the alley below:
"Are you sure this isn't a trap, Captain Rogers?" Schultz (Shocker) asked, clutching a large crate suspiciously. He never expected the buyer for this deal would be the legendary Captain America! To him, this felt like a sting operation to round up his crew.
"Don't worry, friend. This isn't a trap. We are just here for the trade," the "Steve" in the alley said with a smile.
"Is that so? I don't buy it," Schultz said, eyeing him warily. Who would believe Captain America was doing black-market deals for alien tech?
"You're too tense. Give me the goods; the money has already been transferred," the "Cap" chuckled.
Ring, ring, ring!
Just then, the phone at Schultz's waist rang. Keeping his eyes on Steve, he answered.
"The funds arrived. You can come back, Schultz," Mason said on the other end before hanging up.
Schultz's eyes narrowed. He was stunned; Steve Rogers really was here for a trade. "Then I won't disturb you any longer, Captain." He stared deeply at Steve, then slowly backed away, disappearing into the shadows of the alley.
Above them:
"Go track him for me," Peter whispered, deploying a tiny spider-bot that followed Schultz.
Peter looked down at the "Steve" below. Something felt wrong. This Captain America felt... off. "Gaia, analyze him for me."
"Understood, Peter. Analyzing... I'm sorry, Peter, I cannot get a full scan from this distance. However, I am detecting a faint electronic signature from the target," Gaia reported.
"Then let's go see for ourselves." Peter leaped down.
In the alley:
The "Steve" in the alley watched Schultz leave and walked happily toward the crate. Just as he was about to crouch down and open it—
"Hey, Cap! What are you doing here?" Peter's voice rang out from behind him.
The "Steve" below widened his eyes and spun around quickly, finding Spider-Man standing right behind him.
"Uh... I..." He clearly hadn't expected to run into Spider-Man. As fellow heroes, they obviously knew each other, and Spider-Man had been all over the news during the last Civil War.
"I'm on a mission. Speaking of which, Spider-Man, why are you here?" the "Steve" asked, quickly regaining his composure.
"Oh, a mission?" Peter nodded as if he understood, then tilted his head. "But didn't you just give me a mission to go help in North Hempstead? You called me personally."
"Oh, right, yeah. I just had some other business to handle first," the fake Steve followed along with Peter's lead.
Peter's eyes narrowed behind his mask. "Who exactly are you?"
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