Marvel: King of Mythology Chapter 21

Chapter 21: That ain't a Brick!

“Something wrong, Michael?” Gwen asked, but how could I tell her that I tried playing the hero in front of an actual hero?


Did I make a fool out of myself back then?


No, right? I was just trying to help and I didn't know she was a hero.


Besides, I took down the thugs with ease.


Yeah, I didn't make a fool out of myself.


Definitely not.


“I am just trying to cope, aren’t I?” 


“Michael?” I finally looked at her, “You alright?”


Thankfully, Gwen didn't hear my mumbling.


“Yeah.” I said, “Just a little hopeful for the internship.”


I lied, but she didn't think that.


“I know right?” She was excited, “This is a once in a blue moon opportunity!”


Well, at least she was looking forward to it. And that was good enough for me. 


“They are coming this way.” I said as I saw them finally reviewing the projects.


Both of us looked at the projects, as it was the first time for us as well –looking at a few projects.


They first came to look at the project made by two people that hanged out with Peter just as often as Lucas did.


“Good morning, guys.” The judges greeted, and this made the two introduced themselves.


“Good good, sir.” They then looked at Susan, “And ma’am.”


The girl who clearly seemed like the brains behind the project said, “My name is Ava Ayala, and this is Samuel Alexander.”


She was rather pretty with tanned skin and glossy black hair. And even her physique, it looked trained. 


As for the boy, he looked a little younger with dark hair and a bright smile.


“Please explain about your project.” Coulson said and this made the two elaborate.


“This is a system we devised that could help to purify the carbon emission.” She said, “This devices can release a form of gas, mostly comprising of nitrogen that with the help of this system can free the carbon content and make it rain down like snow.”


Interesting concept and I was no chemistry expert, but doesn't nitrogen react with carbon to form cyanogen which is toxic?


“Wouldn’t that lead to the production of cyanogen?” Reed caught the issue just as quickly, “And how does this device help to freeze the carbon?”


“This device can help in accelerating the cooling property of nitrogen and that leads to it freezing the carbon, more specifically the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.” She explained and Reed added.


“Carbon freezes at -78°C to -79°C, so you mean the nitrogen chills down as it goes up in the atmosphere?”


At his question, the girl, Ava nodded. “Precisely. It freezes the carbon dioxide as nitrogen’s freezing point is way below nitrogen. So, it freezes the CO2 before it freezes itself.”


Quite the good idea, but that still leaves the main issue.


“And the formation of cyanogen?” Susan asked at which Ava nodded, not as confident as before.


“Because Carbon and Carbon Dioxide has different freezing points, it does sometimes lead to the formation of cyanogen. But we are working on it and it should be perfect with more research.”


Oh, so this was not a perfect or completed project.


“This is a very ambitious project.” Norman smiled, “While this is not perfected yet, it still gives us a hope for a pollution free environment in the future.”


“Exactly.” Susan smiled, “Good work, guys.”


The duo smiled as they then proceeded to demonstrate the current state of the model.


They had two glass chambers, one empty from where the freezing element entered and the other with CO2. As the freezing nitrogen interacted with the CO2, it formed snowflakes that fell to the ground before dispersing completely.


“Thank you for the demonstration.”


This made me feel a little good as while it was a good project, it was far from perfect.


The next they came to the X-ray screening device that could take perfect X-rays by just pointing a camera at a person.


It was prepared by a guy called Danny Rand who was often with Peter and another guy called Jacob who was Flash’s lacky.


Surprising duo.


“Is there a way to regulate the X-ray radiation in this device?” 


“That…”


Again, this wasn’t perfect either.


This was also a design with quite a lot of faults and while it worked and looked cool, in a commercial or medical setting, it was rather dangerous.


“Thank you for the demonstration.”


These were all passable projects, until they landed on the Volcano.


“Yeah, this won’t do.” Gwen commented from behind me and everyone had the same reaction as her.


The guests looked at Coulson, unsure of how to even talk to the person who made the baking soda volcano without sounding rude. 


“He is a basketball prodigy, and while our university had focused in only academics in the past, we are trying to change that.”


This was mostly a university for the branches of science and engineering but it also had a few less popular branches like journalism.


But I didn't know that sports scholarships were a thing here.


“I… see.” Reed said, unsure of how to express his disappointment.


I mean this wasn’t a Phineas and Ferb episode that a baking soda volcano would win over actual inventions.


Then they finally came towards a certain interesting person.


One that I had seen only a handful of times.


“Harry.” Gwen mumbled, which made me look at her.


“You know him?” 


She nodded, “I met him when I talked with Peter a few times. But I do not know him that well. Just that he is rich and quite popular.”


“Harry,” Reed greeted the boy, “Let's see what you have prepared.”


“Of course, they know each other…” Gwen rolled her eyes, “His father is one of the judges after all.”


“Ah, thank you.” Harry hurried to show his project. “I have prepared a drone that works on sensors and can be controlled with the movement of the hand rather than with a controller.”


Cool.


“And there is a thermal camera which can be used to either track hot or cold beings and things.”


Damn that’s good.


“It still is not perfect with its thermal setting as it is still in the testing phase.” He explained, “I mean it can notice the heat but the exact temperature tracking setting is still not perfect.”


I did not know that Harry was this good?


“This… this I like better than the carbon one.” Gwen said and I couldn’t agree more.


“Is that all?”


But of course, there was someone that wasn’t satisfied. 


“Y-Yes.” Harry said, his excited smile immediately falling off.


“I expected a bit more than that, Harry.”


Of course, it was Norman. I don't know why, but I could see him being a dick to his son even before he spoke.


He just radiated that aura.


“I… am sorry.”


Something was wrong with Harry. The last few times I had seen him, he didn't look this depressed.


“Thank you for the presentation.”


Finally, they came to us.


“Good morning, guys.” Coulson greeted, while I looked at Susan. Neither of us said anything, but we knew that neither of us forgot the other.


“Good morning to you all.”


We greeted. 


“I am Michael Moore.”


Instead of introducing Gwen, I let Gwen introduce herself.   


“And I am Gwen Stacy.”


“So, Michael and Gwen.” Reed looked at our project, “Tell me about your project.”


“That is a pretty bridge.” Susan commented and everyone seemed to agree.


“It is.” Norman said, “Looks aesthetically pleasing while maintaining a standardized look.”


It always feels nice when others compliment your work. Especially, the thing you were passionate about.


“Thank you, sir and ma’am.” I said, “As for this project. It is a shock absorbing bridge that can use the absorbed shock to turn into electrical power.”


This impressed them.


And even before we explained its mechanics, Gwen took the chance to advertise it even more.


“This is a miniature model that can be replicated in the real world scale.” She explained, “As most often a lot of property damage in done while heroes try to protect the innocent from the villains or even when the villains intentionally destroy such builds. But this bridge is made in a way that it can hold most explosive shockwaves without even cracking the bridge, much less destroying it.” She made me proud with that pitch, “And not only that, that shockwave can be redirected for our use.” 


She pointed towards the bulb, “That is to generate electricity.”


The judges looked at one another, before looking back at us.


“That is an extremely great idea as if it can be implemented in real life, billions could be saved in property damages.” Norman said, amused.


“But how does it work?” Susan asked.


And it was my turn to explain. 


“Instead of using basic concrete or tar, we used a substance that has recently been discovered and is slowly gaining popularity.”


“Which is?” Reed asked.


“Penta-enforced neoprene.”


This immediately made his eyes brighten. 


“The substance that does not lose its properties even if the state is changed?” he asked and I nodded.


“Exactly that.” I explained, “We used the liquid form of it and then mixed it with some pebbles and other construction materials before laying it down and letting it cool. In a way, it is similar to tar that binds most roads. But totally different.”


This made Norman look at me, “Is the addition of pebbles a way to cut cost?”


“Indeed,” Of course, the businessman understood the money issue, “This substance is rather expensive so using it entirely for the bridge could be a bit too high. And since it binds things perfectly and does not lose its properties no matter the state, the addition of pebbles does not cause any issue.”


I then pointed towards the pistons under the bridge.


“And the pebbles also work as conduits. Since this substance spreads the shocks equally in all directions, by concentrating the pebbles and other materials in certain amounts at certain levels, we managed to transfer that shockwave directly downwards without causing damage to the overall bridge.”


I pointed at the piston.


“These pistons then go down, releasing pressure before going back to normal. This shock wave can also be from trucks and vehicles so we always have these pistons moving and because of the design, the drivers don't feel any movement in the bridge either.”


This was when Gwen took over, “From here on it is even simpler.”


She smiled, “The pressure makes a few turbines placed underneath spin and that causes the generator attached to it start producing electricity.”


“Just like this.”


Like before, I dropped the weight on the bridge, and within three seconds –the bulb glowed.


“Amazing…”


This was the first time I had seen all the judges equally impressed.


“This is possibly the best project we have seen so far.” Norman said.


“Good job, Michael.” Susan said, staring at me before looking at Gwen to not make it too obvious that she knew me. “And Gwen.”


“Thank you, ma’am.”


We were quite proud of our project.


But this probably wasn’t the place to be proud.


Why?


Well because…


“Is that supposed to move like that?” I heard Lucas shout.


“N-No… I don’t think so.”


And by the time, I could turn to see what Peter and Lucas meant –I heard a girl yell.


“EEK! It's a monster!”


And that's when the building started to shake.


As what she was talking about was the brick that Peter carried.


If just wasn’t a brick anymore.


“What… is that?”


It was a brick headed monster.


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[[A/N: The brick is from Ultimate Spider Man Season 1 Episode 14. It's called Awesome Android or Andy for short.


You can watch that episode to understand better, or well I will explain quite a bit in the next chapter.]]