Trouble at the Competition

Morning light streamed through the glass dome of Tony's home, dancing across the laboratory's metal instruments.

Lee Stark stared at the solar panel model that kept reporting errors before him. Intelligent Particles formed irritated wave patterns across the workbench. Only three days remained until the science competition, yet the "Self-Regulating Ecosystem" project he and Wanda were working on still could not solve the oxygen circulation problem. The green algae samples lay barely alive in their dishes, as if silently mocking his helplessness.

"Still distracted by that red-haired girl?" A familiar, cool female voice came from behind him. Helen Cho leaned against the laboratory doorway, the hem of her lab coat swaying gently as she walked. Her gaze swept over the faint dark circles beneath Lee's eyes, while her fingers unconsciously rubbed the Stark Industries badge on her sleeve. "Tony asked me to check in. He said the miniature energy storage device you've been tuning lately might bring a surprise to the competition." Her eyes passed over the cluttered workbench, where the remaining blue reagent in a beaker refracted an eerie light beneath the sun, carrying a trace of barely noticeable concern.

Lee's fingers paused over the scorching circuit board, and Intelligent Particles instantly gathered into a protective layer. He forced out a tired smile and flipped his lab notebook facedown on the table. "Dr. Cho, are you teasing me? At this rate, getting it submitted smoothly would already be a miracle, let alone a surprise." He deliberately nodded toward the drooping green plants in the incubator. "These little guys are tougher to deal with than Hydra agents."

Helen Cho adjusted her rimless glasses, her gaze behind the lenses sharp as an eagle's. She slowly walked over to the workbench, her fingers hovering above the Slavic Traditional Agricultural Wisdom Wanda had left behind. A dried rose petal tucked between its yellowed pages trembled lightly. "Using the principles of ancient irrigation systems to design a modern water cycle? That's an interesting angle." She suddenly turned, and the cold light reflecting off her lenses made Lee's heart skip. "You little brat, don't try to fob me off with lines meant to fool the judges. That girl named Wanda has something unusual hidden in her blueprints."

Lee's pupils narrowed slightly, and Intelligent Particles quietly gathered in his palm in the shape of a shield. Yet Helen Cho seemed not to notice his wariness. She took a miniature sensor from her lab coat pocket, its flowing blue light illuminating her thoughtful face. "This is the latest environmental monitoring chip. In theory, it can improve your circulation system's efficiency by thirty percent." She paused, then gently placed the chip in Lee's palm. Its icy touch mixed with the faint scent of disinfectant on her. "But in exchange, you have to tell me: could a high school student really derive the fluctuating curves hidden in those formulas?"

The laboratory air conditioner suddenly began to hum, and his Adam's apple bobbed. He remembered how Wanda had revised the blueprints beneath the moonlight the night before, crimson radiance leaking from her hair and spreading mysterious symbols across the draft paper. "Science is supposed to break boundaries, isn't it?" He shrugged as if unconcerned and sent the chip, wrapped in Intelligent Particles, into his toolbox. "Maybe Wanda really is a genius, like how Uncle Tony built the Arc Reactor while tinkering in a garage."

Helen Cho smiled meaningfully. Her gaze swept over the wrist Lee was deliberately concealing—where the activation device for the Nanotech Armor was hidden. "Let's hope so." As she turned, her lab coat stirred a gust that rustled the corners of Wanda's blueprints. "But remember, Stark, some 'innovations' beyond understanding may bring more than trophies." She looked back at the Slavic Traditional Agricultural Wisdom, where the image of the Hanged Man tarot card flickered faintly between the pages. "Friday, eight p.m., Stark Tower laboratory. Bring your 'genius partner' with you. There are some questions I'd like to ask her face-to-face."

Lee watched her leave, cold sweat beading across the back of his neck. Four hours remained until the competition. At that moment, the laboratory door was slammed open, and Gwen rushed in carrying a stack of lab reports, her ponytail sweeping out a graceful arc as she came to an abrupt stop.

Her gaze swept over Helen Cho, and a flicker of vigilance flashed through her sapphire-blue eyes. "Who is this?"

"Dr. Helen Cho, Stark Industries' chief scientist of bioengineering." Helen Cho adjusted her rimless glasses, her gaze falling upon the Slavic Traditional Agricultural Wisdom spread open before Gwen. Her fingers unconsciously brushed the book's spine. "Using the principles of ancient irrigation systems to design a modern water cycle? That's an interesting angle." There was a hint of surprise in her voice, as though she had not expected high school students to come up with such an idea.

Wanda entered the laboratory at that moment, morning dew still clinging to her hair. She politely nodded at Helen Cho, but when she met the other woman's scrutinizing gaze, the runes beneath her cuff heated faintly. "Dr. Cho, do you study agriculture as well?" Wanda smiled and pushed the lab notebook toward Helen Cho. "We're trying to use ancient concepts of ecological balance to solve modern energy problems." Her smile was sweet, but her eyes were wary, like a little deer ready to flee at any moment.

Helen Cho raised an eyebrow, and Intelligent Particles automatically flipped the notebook to the blueprint page. Her pupils contracted—those seemingly crude hand-drawn plans actually contained fluid dynamics calculations that could rival Stark Industries. "Perhaps I can help." She took a miniature sensor from her lab coat pocket. "This is the latest environmental monitoring chip." Her tone held a little more appreciation.

Gwen suddenly slapped the lab reports onto the table, making the beakers hum from the impact. "Science competitions rely on rigorous data, not farming proverbs!" She turned to Lee, her voice softening. "The smart flood-control system our team has been researching has already passed preliminary testing." Her eyes were full of expectation, hoping Lee would change his mind.

"But the judges emphasized interdisciplinary innovation." Lee rubbed his temples as Intelligent Particles gathered into the shape of a water droplet in his palm. "Wanda's ecological circulation model can solve the problem of resource regeneration after disasters." His voice was weary, but firm.

The laboratory air abruptly heated up. Wanda ran her fingers across the table, and a tipped-over ink bottle suddenly floated into the air, its ink flowing back into the bottle. Gwen grabbed a 3D printing pen and quickly drew a transparent barrier, cutting off the floating ink bottle. Helen Cho watched the silent contest with interest. On the sensor screen in her hand, two entirely different energy fields were colliding violently.

On the day of the competition, the dome of Madison Square Garden was packed with elite students from every school. When the judges announced the on-site challenge—"Urban Energy Reconstruction After a Simulated Earthquake"—Gwen clenched Lee's arm. "They're doing this on purpose!" Her voice held anger and unease.

"Stay calm." Lee activated the Nanotech Armor core in his wristwatch, catching sight of Wanda quietly clasping an ordinary seed in her palm. At some point, Helen Cho had appeared behind the contestants' seats and slipped a USB drive into Lee's hand. "An emergency power supply plan, but the real key..." She looked at Wanda. "...is elsewhere." There was a trace of concern in her eyes, as though she had sensed something coming.

Gwen was the first to activate her modified smart flood-control device. Its mechanical arms quickly assembled a temporary energy storage station. But when she tried to connect the solar panels, the equipment suddenly short-circuited and began smoking. "Impossible! We rehearsed this hundreds of times!" Gwen's voice cracked, and her eyes instantly reddened.

"Catch!" Wanda suddenly threw the seed, stained with crimson light, into the experimental chamber. In an instant, vines burst from the soil and wound around the energy station as they grew, their leaves converting the faint light into an endless stream of electricity. Gwen stood frozen, watching cold sweat bead across Wanda's forehead while she still forced herself to maintain the magic.

"This is..." Gwen reached for the glowing vines, but Lee grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Don't touch it! Wanda is overextending herself!" Lee's mechanical armor automatically analyzed the abnormal data. "She's rewritten the plants' metabolic frequency, but if this continues..." His voice was full of urgency.

Before he could finish, Wanda suddenly staggered and fell to her knees. Gwen almost instinctively rushed over to support her, but the moment she touched her, she saw the faintly visible runes beneath Wanda's cuff. "Who are you, really?" Gwen's voice trembled, her eyes full of confusion and wariness.

"Like you... someone who wants to win." Wanda smiled weakly. "In my own way." Her smile was pale but resolute.

Just then, the device in the neighboring competition area suddenly lost control, and the burst of energy shot toward their experimental chamber. At the critical moment, Gwen grabbed her 3D printing pen and drew a protective shield, while Wanda gathered the last trace of her strength and used magic to alter the energy's trajectory. The instant the two forces collided, the metal fruit inside the experimental chamber split open with a crack, releasing a stable current.

At the award ceremony, when the judges announced that the Midtown High School United Team had won, Gwen tightly held Wanda's hand. "Next time... I'll protect you." She lowered her voice. "But first, you have to explain what those glowing vines were all about." There was no longer any suspicion in her eyes, only curiosity and trust.

Wanda blinked mischievously. "A trade of secrets? I'll tell you about magic, and you teach me how to tune a 3D printer?" Her smile returned to its usual brightness.

At dusk, the three of them walked out of the venue side by side. Helen Cho watched their retreating backs and quickly typed on her phone: "Abnormal energy source confirmed, but an even more valuable discovery was made—the bond of trust." The recipient field displayed "Tony Stark."