Player profiles scrolled across the big screen:
Robbie Baldwin, codename "Speedball."
A somewhat nervous young man ran onto the stage. He wore what looked like a wetsuit converted into a combat suit, with strange spherical decorations on it.
"Uh... hi, everyone, I'm Speedball." Robbie rubbed his hands anxiously. "My ability is... kinetic energy absorption and release."
"Sounds like an inflatable punching bag." Tony gave his usual cutting remark. "Show us, kid. Don't tell me you're just good at taking hits."
Robbie took a deep breath.
Backstage, a staff member rushed out holding an ordinary baseball bat, the kind found everywhere on the street, and swung it hard into Robbie's stomach like a home run!
Bang!
The audience gasped.
Yet Robbie did not budge.
The next second, blue ripples spread out from the spot on his abdomen where he had been hit.
"Ha!"
Robbie thrust out his hands, and an energy shockwave burst from his palms, knocking the staff member holding the broken bat back three or four meters and sending him crashing onto his rear.
"Interesting." Tony raised an eyebrow and was the first to press the red button in front of him.
Thump!
The light pillar representing Iron Man's team lit up instantly on the stage.
"The kinetic conversion rate is around sixty percent." Tony studied the data JARVIS had sent over. "If you can raise that efficiency to ninety percent, you can serve as my backup battery when my reactor fails. I want you."
"He's not a battery, Tony." Steve Rogers pressed his button as well.
Thump!
"He's a guardian." Steve looked at Robbie with approval in his eyes. "You can absorb damage, which means you can become someone your teammates rely on, a shield for the people. You can save their lives. That's remarkable, kid."
Jessica glanced