Ben stared at the screen.
For once, he didn't have a clever answer.
The words were still there.
UNKNOWN OBJECT DETECTED
ORIGIN: EXTRATERRESTRIAL
STATUS: APPROACHING EARTH
Peter leaned closer.
"Please tell me that's a joke."
Ben didn't respond.
Peter looked at him.
"Ben?"
"Unfortunately, no."
Peter sighed.
"Of course."
Ben looked at him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Peter rubbed his face.
"I've known you for months, and somehow my life keeps getting stranger."
Ben smiled.
"You could always stop hanging around me."
Peter gave him a look.
"Yeah, that's not happening."
Ben laughed.
Eli and Marcus were standing behind them.
Neither seemed to understand what was happening.
Marcus finally spoke.
"Can someone explain?"
Ben turned around.
"Something just entered Earth's orbit."
Eli frowned.
"A satellite?"
Ben shook his head.
"No."
"A spaceship?"
"Maybe."
Marcus stared at him.
"Maybe?"
Ben nodded.
"We don't know what it is."
Marcus looked at Peter.
Peter shrugged.
"I've learned that when Ben says he doesn't know something, it usually means we're about to have a really bad day."
"Thanks for the confidence boost," Ben said.
The Observatory
Ben walked toward the dimensional core.
The enormous structure was still glowing.
Lyra stood beside it, watching the changing readings.
Ben looked at the core.
"Can you identify the object?"
"I am trying."
"Anything?"
"Not yet."
Ben waited.
Lyra continued scanning.
"One thing is certain."
"What?"
"It did not arrive through a conventional dimensional portal."
Ben frowned.
"So it came here normally?"
"Not exactly."
"Then how?"
Lyra looked at the readings.
"It appears to have entered this universe from outside its normal dimensional boundary."
Peter stared.
"I understood maybe half of that."
Ben nodded.
"Same."
Lyra looked at him.
"You understand more than half."
Ben smiled.
"I'm trying to make Peter feel better."
Peter pointed at him.
"Appreciated."
Ben looked back at the core.
"How far away?"
"Approximately four hundred kilometers."
Peter's eyes widened.
"Four hundred?"
"Yes."
"That's not far."
"I know."
Ben activated the Omnitrix.
The screen changed.
OBJECT ANALYSIS
MASS: UNKNOWN
ENERGY SIGNATURE: UNKNOWN
LIFE SIGNS: UNKNOWN
TECHNOLOGY: UNKNOWN
Ben stared.
"That's new."
Peter looked at the screen.
"What?"
"The Omnitrix can't identify it."
Peter became serious.
"Is that bad?"
Ben thought for a moment.
"Not necessarily."
"You're saying that way too calmly."
"I'm trying not to panic."
Peter stared at him.
"You're panicking?"
"A little."
Peter smiled.
"Good."
Ben looked at him.
"Why is that good?"
"Because you're usually too confident."
Ben laughed.
"Fair."
Eli's First Night
While Ben and Peter investigated the object, Eli sat alone in the library.
He looked around.
The place was enormous.
He had never seen so many books in one place.
He picked one up.
Advanced Electromagnetic Theory
He opened the first page.
Then closed it.
"Nope."
He put it back.
He picked up another.
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
He stared at it.
"Nope."
Another.
Interdimensional Physics
Eli slowly put it back.
"Definitely nope."
A voice came from behind him.
"You could start with something easier."
Eli turned.
Lyra stood there.
"Do you have anything normal?"
"Define normal."
Eli thought.
"Something that doesn't make my head hurt."
Lyra smiled.
She walked to another shelf.
After a moment, she handed him a book.
A History of New York
Eli looked at it.
"This is normal?"
"Compared to the others."
Eli laughed.
"Fair."
He sat down and started reading.
For the first time since his powers had appeared, he wasn't thinking about electricity.
Or Project Eclipse.
Or whether he was dangerous.
He was just reading.
And somehow...
That felt good.
Marcus
Marcus wasn't having the same experience.
He stood in the training room.
He looked at his hands.
Red energy flickered between his fingers.
He immediately closed his fist.
The energy disappeared.
He opened it again.
Nothing.
He smiled.
Then—
WHUMP.
A red spark exploded.
Marcus jumped backward.
"Okay."
He stared at his hand.
"Still working on that."
Peter walked in.
"You okay?"
Marcus looked at him.
"Yeah."
Peter sat on the floor.
"Mind if I stay?"
Marcus shrugged.
Peter leaned against the wall.
For a while, neither said anything.
Eventually Marcus spoke.
"How long have you had your powers?"
Peter looked at him.
"Not that long."
Marcus smiled.
"You're lying."
Peter laughed.
"Why?"
"Because you act like you've been doing this forever."
Peter looked down.
"I've had some practice."
"Are you scared?"
Peter didn't answer immediately.
Then he nodded.
"Yeah."
Marcus seemed surprised.
Peter continued.
"Every time I go out there, there's a chance something goes wrong."
He looked at Marcus.
"You get used to it."
Marcus looked at his hands.
"I don't want to hurt anyone."
"I know."
"What if I do?"
Peter smiled slightly.
"Then you learn from it."
Marcus looked at him.
"That's it?"
"No."
Peter shrugged.
"But you can't spend your whole life being afraid of what you might do."
Marcus was quiet.
Then he nodded.
"Thanks."
Peter smiled.
"Don't mention it."
Ben
Ben stood alone in the laboratory.
The others had gone to rest.
He hadn't.
The object outside Earth was bothering him.
Not because it was extraterrestrial.
That part wasn't surprising.
The Marvel universe had aliens.
He knew that.
But the timing was wrong.
Project Eclipse had just become active.
Twenty-three anomalies had appeared.
And now an unknown object had arrived.
It was too convenient.
Ben pulled up the object's trajectory.
It wasn't heading toward New York.
It wasn't heading toward Washington.
It wasn't heading toward any major city.
Instead...
It was slowing down.
Ben frowned.
"That's strange."
He zoomed in.
The object had stopped moving.
It was simply hovering above the atmosphere.
Ben checked the data again.
Nothing.
Then the Omnitrix beeped.
Ben looked down.
A single line appeared.
EXTERNAL SIGNAL DETECTED
Ben's expression changed.
"Someone is trying to communicate."
He opened the signal.
Static filled the room.
Then a voice appeared.
Broken.
Distorted.
Weak.
"...anyone..."
Ben froze.
The voice continued.
"...can you hear me?"
Ben immediately activated the communication system.
"Yes."
Static.
Then silence.
Ben tried again.
"This is Ben Stuart. Identify yourself."
Nothing.
Then—
"...Earth..."
Ben leaned forward.
"Yes. You're approaching Earth."
A long pause.
Then the voice whispered:
"...don't let them find me."
Ben frowned.
"Who?"
The signal crackled.
"...Kree..."
Ben's eyes widened.
The transmission suddenly cut.
Ben stood completely still.
"Kree?"
He knew that name.
He had read enough about the MCU.
The Kree were not exactly harmless.
Ben immediately opened the database.
But before he could search further—
The entire laboratory went dark.
Ben looked around.
"What?"
Emergency lights came on.
Red.
Then the dimensional core activated.
A powerful pulse traveled through the private dimension.
Ben's Omnitrix responded.
WARNING
DIMENSIONAL INTERFERENCE DETECTED
Ben stared at the core.
"Not again."
The Door
Peter ran into the laboratory.
"What happened?"
Ben pointed.
"The core."
Peter looked at it.
"Is that supposed to do that?"
"No."
"Great."
Eli and Marcus arrived behind him.
"What is happening?" Eli asked.
Ben didn't answer.
The dimensional core was opening.
Not a portal.
Something else.
A doorway.
The space in front of the core distorted.
Then a figure fell through.
Ben immediately moved forward.
The figure hit the floor.
Peter looked at Ben.
"Is that..."
Ben nodded.
"A person."
The figure slowly moved.
She was wearing a damaged black suit.
There was blood on her shoulder.
Peter stepped forward.
"Hey."
The woman suddenly raised her hand.
A weapon appeared.
Peter stopped.
"Okay."
Ben raised his hands.
"We're not going to hurt you."
The woman looked at them.
Her eyes were filled with fear.
"You're..."
She struggled to breathe.
"...the one."
Ben frowned.
"Who?"
"The one with the device."
She looked at the Omnitrix.
Her expression changed.
"You're the one they're searching for."
Ben exchanged a look with Peter.
"Who are you?"
The woman looked toward the dimensional core.
"They found me."
"Who?"
She whispered:
"The Kree."
Silence.
Peter looked at Ben.
Ben looked back at him.
Then the woman collapsed.
Ben caught her before she hit the floor.
Eli rushed forward.
"Is she alive?"
Ben scanned her.
"Yes."
Marcus looked at the core.
"Can she stay here?"
Ben looked at him.
"I don't know."
He looked toward Lyra.
"Can she?"
Lyra's expression was serious.
"She entered through the dimensional core."
Ben frowned.
"So?"
"So the core allowed her entry."
Ben looked at the woman.
"Meaning?"
Lyra looked at him.
"She may have been brought here for a reason."
Ben didn't like the sound of that.
He looked at Peter.
"Looks like we're going to have another problem."
Peter sighed.
"Of course we are."
Ben smiled faintly.
"At least we're getting used to it."
Peter shook his head.
"No."
"What?"
"I'm never getting used to this."
Ben laughed.
For a moment, the tension disappeared.
Then the Omnitrix beeped.
Ben looked down.
A new message appeared.
DIMENSIONAL CORE DESTINATION UPDATED
EARTH-616
Ben's smile disappeared.
He stared at the screen.
Peter noticed.
"What?"
Ben slowly looked up.
"The destination isn't somewhere we're going anymore."
Peter waited.
Ben looked at the unconscious woman.
"It's already coming to us."
Outside the private dimension, somewhere beyond Earth...
Something moved through the darkness.
And this time—
It wasn't alone.