American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Chapter 258 What? Captain America wants to rebel?

Clark blinked, watching the strangely masked man swing down beside him like an acrobat on a silken thread.

"Oh my god, it's Spider-Man!" the other thugs screamed in terror and scattered in all directions. The thug leader breathed a sigh of relief and also tried to escape.

Being scared away by an unknown superhuman and being scared away by Spider-Man are two different things. Spider-Man's appearance at least gave the gang leader a way out. But for these ordinary people to escape from Spider-Man and Superman—that's a bit of a pipe dream.

Spider-Man fired several web bullets from his wrist, easily ensnaring three thugs. Superman, with lightning speed, grabbed the thug leader and his henchman, pinning their heads down and making them kiss each other. The thugs immediately fell unconscious.

"Silicon, wow, so fast!" The other person's big eyes on the mask squinted exaggeratedly. This cool change made Clark determined to ask Rune for a cool uniform, preferably one that was just like the other person's uniform.

While Clark was still pondering the suit, Spider-Man waved his hand in front of the other man: "Hey, friend, oh I mean, if you don't mind me calling you friend. Of course, if you care what I call you, you can tell me what you want me to call you—"

If this were in a comic book, the historic meeting between Superman and Spider-Man would likely end with Superman being blocked by Spider-Man's conversation window.

"Um, I don't mind." Clark nodded. "I mean, it's nice to meet you. My name is Clark, and yours is?"

"I'm your friendly neighbor, Spider-Man."

"Oh, I've heard of you!" Clark exclaimed immediately. Iron Man and Steve had mentioned Spider-Man's name before, recounting his heroic deeds and praising his character, but they had also mentioned some of his... well, perhaps flaws, such as his tendency to be a chatterbox.

But right now, Clark wants to know where Steve is. He has so many questions to ask, such as the origin of that huge, terrifying Earth in the sky that's trying to swallow another version of himself, and why Steve didn't stop the other heroes from destroying that Earth.

Clark was so excited that he grabbed Spider-Man's arms.

"Where's Steve? Where is Steve?" Clark asked, but Spider-Man remained silent for a moment upon hearing Clark's question.

Making a chatterbox silent is no easy task.

"He used an extremely powerful artifact to prevent the two Earths from colliding," Spider-Man sighed. "But look at the other Earth in the sky, Steve failed, and he paid a terrible price for it. We had to put him in a medical pod to keep him alive."

Upon hearing this, Clark's expression changed. Could it be that what Rune said was true, and that the only way to save the world beneath his feet was to destroy another Earth?

Seeing Clark's sad expression, Spider-Man marked the mission as complete and labeled Clark, this superhuman, as friendly.

"Could you take me to see Steve?" Clark made his final request. Although they hadn't spent much time together, Steve's character had won Clark over, and he wanted to visit him. This request, however, put Spider-Man in a difficult position.

Although Steve is no longer Captain America, many people still regard him as a symbol of American spirit. In fact, the best way to appease the public now is to let Steve say a few words on television. However, the problem is that he is seriously injured and in a coma. Whether for safety or confidentiality reasons, Spider-Man and other heroes are unwilling to reveal Steve's current location.

So, left with no other option, Spider-Man could only reply with the words S.H.I.E.L.D. required: "Uh, sorry, for security reasons we can't reveal Steve's location—"

"But I also learned how to become a superhero from Steve. He can be considered my teacher. Can't even I know where Steve is now?" Clark said, and presented a lot of evidence, such as Steve's daily habits, training time and training programs.

Clark's words were transmitted to an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. through Spider-Man's communicator, and the agent immediately notified Nick Fury.

The naive Spider-Man and Clark were unaware of the seriousness of the matter.

Although he used S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment, Steve never told S.H.I.E.L.D. agents about training Clark. On a smaller scale, it was Steve's personal matter, and he didn't need to tell S.H.I.E.L.D. that he had taken on a student. But on a larger scale, Steve was training a superhuman and kept it a secret.

Especially given that Steve has stepped down as Captain America, this behavior could even be interpreted as the man training a special force.

Nick squinted at his remaining eye, and after thinking it over, sent Spider-Man a private message, asking him to agree to Clark's request, but on the condition that he first work with Spider-Man to maintain the stability of the city.

He didn't think Clark was lying; the underground facilities of Avengers Tower weren't open to tourists. But the kid named Clark had even described how many kinds of gym equipment were in the training room.

"Steve, oh Steve," Nick Fury shook his head and sighed, looking at the man lying in the medical pod on the screen, "you feel so unfamiliar to me, like I've never known you before—"

He completely forgot about his own deal with the Skrulls and even the formation of a special super Skrull squad.

And Stark.

Fury got a headache just thinking about that damned man. Since Steve was training Clark in the Avengers Tower basement, he couldn't possibly have kept it from Stark. However, even Stark hadn't told S.H.I.E.L.D., which meant that Iron Man didn't trust S.H.I.E.L.D. either.

Yes, who would trust an organization that hands over its strategic weapons so early in the war? Even Fury himself doesn't trust S.H.I.E.L.D.; the organization is like a sieve, anyone can get in.

"Alright, let's see what this 'Captain America' disciple is capable of." Fury gestured for the others to adjust the New York security cameras.

Get ready to see just how capable Clark really is, that Steve is keeping it a secret from the entire S.H.I.E.L.D.

II

"Well, S.H.I.E.L.D. has agreed," Spider-Man glanced at his communicator, giving Clark the good news, then added the bad news: "But first, you'll have to join me on a mission to maintain stability in New York."

"Of course, I'd be happy to do that." Clark nodded; even if Spider-Man hadn't said anything, he intended to do it anyway. Then, he forced a smile: "Oh right, I forgot to mention my hero codename. Now, let me reintroduce myself."

Under Spider-Man's dismissive gaze, Clark floated in the air, puffed out his chest, and proudly declared, "Hello, Spider-Man. You can call me Clark, or—"

"Superman!"