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"Build a space station? Capture the cosmic storm?"
Well, building a space station seemed kinda doable—after all, they did have Superman on their side.
They didn't need to waste billions launching rockets—just a few rays of sunlight, and they were good to go.
And with a portal device like the one they had, who needed space elevators? This was way more advanced.
But capturing a cosmic storm? Yeah, that didn't sound so easy.
"Superman, sir… it's not that we're thinking too small, it's just… that's a cosmic storm we're talking about. The radiation it gives off is insanely dangerous. Regular people probably can't—"
If it were possible, of course Reed would want to trap the storm and study it like a lab rat.
But the problem was… a cosmic storm isn't alive. It's not even gas.
It's just an enormous wave of invisible cosmic energy and radiation.
Even trying to observe it up close was already a huge challenge. Capturing it? That was a whole different beast.
"Even you, Superman, might not be able to—"
Reed didn't finish the sentence, but his hesitant look said enough—he clearly wasn't expecting Peter to actually pull this off.
"You think I don't understand cosmic storms… but really, you guys just don't understand Superman."
Peter gave a small smirk.
Superman's power was never fixed. It was always evolving.
"…Alright then, Superman. If you're set on doing this, we won't argue. But we'd really appreciate it if you let us do our observations first—before the capture part."
At this point, all Reed could do was try to secure his window of scientific opportunity.
"And to build a space station, besides funding and equipment, we'll need you to make several trips between Earth and orbit…" Reed added a bit sheepishly.
He did feel kinda bad—after all, they were basically treating the great Superman like a delivery guy.
"Don't worry. I made the plan, I'll handle the heavy lifting."
"In that case, Superman, what do you want to name this space station?"
"…Let's call it the Watchtower."
Peter said it calmly, sealing the name of their future outpost in space.
For the next while, the Watchtower construction project was top priority, above all other experiments.
The company kept hiring people and pouring in funds to build the Watchtower space station right on the ground.
Peter just had to wait until the space station was fully built, then he'd send it into space and get it into Earth's orbit. Once that was done, his job would be finished.
As for how he actually managed to capture that massive cosmic storm—something everyone was super curious about—Peter kept that completely under wraps.
He planned to put on a show for everyone when the storm actually arrived.
In the meantime, Peter had also joined his own company as an intern.
After all, he only had a few months left before graduating high school.
Soon enough, he'd have to start thinking about college.
Uncle Ben's watchful stare and Aunt May's nonstop nagging weren't exactly easy to deal with—even for someone like Peter, who was literally Superman.
And sure enough, right after school today, he headed to the company with Gwen.
"Who's that?"
Peter had just walked into the building when he spotted a familiar figure.
"What's the matter? Can't take your eyes off a pretty face?"
Seeing him suddenly freeze, Gwen followed his gaze—and her cheerful smile instantly turned cold.
"It's not like that," Peter said calmly. "She just looks kinda familiar."
Not far away, the curvy redhead was definitely drawing attention, but Peter kept his voice even.
"Oh really? Should I help you get her number or something?" Gwen said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Nah, let's just go."
Peter gave the woman one last glance, but didn't think much of it. He turned and headed for the elevator.
"She's called Natalie. She's here on behalf of Stark Industries to discuss a partnership."
Gwen hesitated a bit as they stepped into the elevator, then filled Peter in.
"Gwen, I swear I'm not interested in her."
Peter's tone was calm, serious.
"Natalie? You mean Natasha, right?"
Of course Peter recognized her—none other than the famous Black Widow.
"She's already infiltrated Stark Industries, huh? I wonder if she's gotten word that Tony's gone off to Kamar-Taj."
"If that guy finds out Tony ditched tech to go chase some mystical mumbo jumbo, he's gonna flip," Peter muttered.
He knew full well that in the original timeline, Natasha had gone undercover at Stark Industries not just to check up on Tony's health, but to spy on his armor tech.
And yeah, part of it was to see if Tony had what it takes to join the Avengers.
Too bad their plan might be going sideways—because right now, Tony was still stuck in Kamar-Taj, struggling to learn magic.
Thinking about Tony doing magic was just too funny, and Peter couldn't help himself—he used his super hearing to tune in to what was happening all the way over at Kamar-Taj.
Inside a grand hall at Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One was meditating silently. Her eyes opened for a moment, as if she sensed something, then she smiled faintly and went back to meditating.
Meanwhile, Peter's super vision showed him the scene:
Tony, dressed in monk robes, was sparring with the ever-stoic Kaecilius.
…
"Hey, old man! I might be the new guy, but I'm still gonna knock you on your ass!"
It had only been a few days, but Tony—being a genius—had already gotten pretty good with some of the basic spells.
He held his arms out in front of him, hands slowly separating—and in an instant, a glowing golden whip formed between them.
"Hmph. Rookie. You've still got a lot to learn."
Kaecilius responded coldly. With a flick of his hand, a staff about a meter long flew over from a distance.
He caught it smoothly and gave it a flick—under the shimmer of golden light, the staff extended like a long whip, lashing out toward Tony.
"That's cheating!"
Tony dove and rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the attack. He scrambled up and yelled in frustration.
"Your enemies won't care about fairness."
Kaecilius didn't let up. As soon as Tony dodged, he charged forward.
His golden whip suddenly morphed back into a staff, and he swung it down hard toward the still-prone Tony.
"Damn it! That's not fair play!"
Tony hadn't even managed to stand up yet. All he could do was raise his magical whip and block above his head.
BAM!
He successfully blocked Kaecilius's strike.
But he didn't get a chance to celebrate.
The staff morphed back into a whip again—CRACK!—and lashed across his back.
The hit was so strong it ripped a gash in his robes like a blade had sliced through.
"Ahh—damn, that stings!"
Tony winced as the searing pain spread across his back, face twisted with rage.
The next second, Tony suddenly whipped his magic whip forward, wrapping it tightly around Kaecilius' ankle.
"Stay down!"
With a roar, Tony yanked the whip hard.
The powerful force made Kaecilius stumble, nearly falling flat on his back.
But before Tony could even start to celebrate, he saw a golden glow burst from Kaecilius' other foot—like a pair of tiny wings.
In the blink of an eye, not only did Kaecilius recover from the fall, he actually gained even more momentum and came flying at Tony with a powerful kick.
"Damn, why does this guy have so many weird tricks up his sleeve?!"
Tony quickly dismissed the magic whip and tried to block the kick with a magic shield.
But his magic skills were still way too raw.
The shield had barely formed when Kaecilius' kick shattered it instantly, breaking it apart into golden sparks.
And with all that momentum, Kaecilius' foot slammed straight into Tony's face, sending him flying several meters back.
"Here's another lesson—this is called a magical artifact. Pour magical energy into it, and you can unleash its true power."
"Fuck! No hitting the face, man!"
At that point, Tony clearly lost his patience. He activated his nano suit without hesitation.
As he got up, the nanobots quickly morphed into a baseball bat in his hand, and he charged straight at Kaecilius.
Kaecilius didn't flinch at all. Just as Tony's bat was about to hit him, he opened a portal in front of himself.
"AHH!"
At the same time, another golden portal appeared in midair—Tony dropped right out of it.
But then, a golden light suddenly shimmered across his armor, just like those golden wings that had appeared on Kaecilius' foot earlier.
They gently flapped and hovered, holding Tony in midair.
"I get it now. You said pouring magical energy into artifacts gives them power…"
"Well, then my suit—technically—it's a magical artifact now too, isn't it?"
"....."