Green light swallowed the street.
Ben couldn't see anything.
He couldn't hear Peter.
He couldn't hear the explosions.
For a moment, there was nothing.
Just silence.
Then—
THUMP.
His heartbeat.
THUMP.
Again.
Something moved beneath his skin.
Ben opened his eyes.
He was standing inside darkness.
Not the city.
Not his private dimension.
Not anywhere he recognized.
He looked down.
His hands were glowing green.
"What is this?"
No answer.
He turned around.
Nothing.
Then a familiar voice spoke.
Not Lyra.
Not the Omnitrix.
Something deeper.
"Adaptive countermeasure initiated."
Ben frowned.
"Against what?"
"Threat."
"That's not helpful."
"Threat classification: unknown."
Ben stared into the darkness.
"You brought me here?"
"No."
"Then where am I?"
Silence.
Ben sighed.
"Great."
The voice continued.
"Your current combat form has reached its adaptive limit."
Ben looked down at his glowing hands.
"So this is an upgrade?"
"Incorrect."
Ben frowned.
"Then what is it?"
A pause.
"A response."
Ben stared.
"To the creature?"
"Yes."
Ben's expression became serious.
"Can I control it?"
Another pause.
"Unknown."
Ben laughed once.
"That's reassuring."
The darkness suddenly cracked.
Green light poured through the cracks.
Ben looked up.
Something was approaching.
A silhouette.
His silhouette.
The creature.
Ben's expression hardened.
"So we're doing this here?"
The creature stepped forward.
Its body was almost identical to his Adaptive Combat Form.
Black metallic armor.
Green energy lines.
Glowing eyes.
Except there was something wrong about it.
It was too perfect.
Too smooth.
No hesitation.
No emotion.
No uncertainty.
Ben looked at it.
"You know..."
He cracked his knuckles.
"I really hate copycats."
The creature charged.
Ben raised his hands.
Their fists collided.
BOOM!
The darkness shattered.
Ben opened his eyes.
He was back in Manhattan.
Peter was standing in front of him.
"Ben!"
Ben blinked.
"What happened?"
Peter stared.
"I don't know."
Ben looked around.
The Kree ships were still in the sky.
Clark was hovering nearby.
Carol was standing on a damaged building.
Marcus and Eli were helping civilians.
And the creature—
was standing twenty meters away.
It hadn't moved.
Peter pointed.
"You disappeared."
"For how long?"
"Maybe two seconds."
Ben looked down.
His body looked different.
The armor was still black.
The green lines were thinner now.
Almost like glowing veins.
The Omnitrix symbol remained on his chest.
But something else had changed.
His eyes.
They were glowing green.
Peter stared.
"Are you okay?"
Ben flexed his fingers.
"I think so."
"That's not exactly convincing."
Ben looked at his hands.
"Give me a second."
He took one step.
The world slowed.
Not literally.
At least, he didn't think so.
He could see everything.
Dust particles.
Falling glass.
Peter's breathing.
The movement of the Kree ships.
The creature's muscles tightening.
Ben's eyes widened.
"Oh."
Peter looked confused.
"Oh what?"
"I can see everything."
Peter frowned.
"That's creepy."
Ben ignored him.
The creature suddenly moved.
Ben reacted.
He disappeared.
Peter's eyes widened.
Ben appeared behind the creature.
He stopped.
He hadn't even consciously decided to move.
His body had simply done it.
Ben looked at his hands.
"Okay…"
Peter smiled.
"That was cool."
Ben nodded.
"Yeah."
Then the creature turned.
Its fist came toward Ben.
Ben raised his arm.
The punch stopped against his forearm.
Ben didn't move.
The creature pushed harder.
Ben's feet didn't even slide.
He looked surprised.
"So…"
He pushed back.
The creature flew across the street.
Peter's jaw dropped.
"You just sent it flying."
Ben looked at his arm.
"I barely pushed."
The creature crashed into a building.
For the first time...
it stayed down.
Ben stared.
"That's new."
Clark landed beside him.
"What did you do?"
Ben looked at him.
"I don't know."
Clark raised an eyebrow.
"You don't know?"
"Not exactly."
Carol approached.
"The energy around you changed."
Ben nodded.
"I noticed."
She looked at the Omnitrix.
"Is that safe?"
Ben smiled awkwardly.
"Define safe."
Carol stared.
"That's what I was afraid of."
The creature stood.
Slowly.
Its armor was damaged.
Green energy flickered across its chest.
It looked at Ben.
Then at itself.
Then back at Ben.
Its eyes changed.
Red.
Then green.
Then red again.
Ben's expression became serious.
"It can't decide what to copy."
Clark looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
"I think the new form changed something."
Ben raised his hand.
Green energy gathered around his palm.
The creature did the same.
Ben stopped.
The creature stopped.
Ben moved his hand left.
The creature followed.
Ben moved right.
It followed.
Peter frowned.
"Is it copying you?"
"No."
Ben looked at the creature.
"I think it's predicting me."
Peter stared.
"That sounds worse."
"It is."
The creature attacked.
Ben dodged.
Another strike.
He ducked.
Another.
He stepped aside.
The creature's attacks became faster.
Ben kept avoiding them.
Not because he was faster.
Because he knew where they were going.
It was like watching the future a fraction of a second before it happened.
Ben smiled.
"I can read its movements."
Clark nodded.
"Then finish this."
Ben hesitated.
"No."
Clark looked at him.
"No?"
"We don't know what happens if I destroy it."
Carol nodded.
"She's right."
Clark looked at her.
"Right?"
Carol crossed her arms.
"We don't know what the Kree put inside it."
Ben looked toward the command ship.
"And that's exactly what I'm worried about."
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted in the sky.
Everyone looked up.
One of the Kree ships had been destroyed.
Peter stared.
"Who did that?"
A red-and-gold blur flew through the smoke.
Ben smiled.
"Oh."
Peter looked at him.
"You know him?"
Ben nodded.
"Not personally."
The blur stopped.
A familiar armored figure hovered above the city.
Tony Stark.
Iron Man.
His helmet turned toward the Kree fleet.
"Okay."
His voice came through the suit.
"I'm going to assume somebody has a really good explanation for the alien invasion."
Peter looked at Ben.
"Do you know Iron Man too?"
Ben shrugged.
"Sort of."
Peter frowned.
"That's becoming a problem."
Tony looked down.
"Hey!"
Everyone looked up.
Tony pointed toward Ben.
"You!"
Ben looked around.
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
Tony's helmet scanned him.
The suit immediately produced multiple warnings.
Tony's voice changed.
"Okay."
He paused.
"That's interesting."
Ben sighed.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?"
Tony landed.
The faceplate opened.
Tony Stark looked at Ben.
Then at the creature.
Then back at Ben.
"Did you build that thing?"
Ben shook his head.
"No."
"Good."
Tony looked relieved.
"Because if you did, we need to have a very serious conversation."
Peter whispered to Ben.
"He's exactly how I imagined."
Ben whispered back.
"You imagined him?"
"Everybody knows Tony Stark."
Ben nodded.
"Fair."
Tony looked between them.
"Are you two seriously whispering while aliens are invading New York?"
Peter immediately stood straight.
"No."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Okay."
He looked at Carol.
"You're Danvers."
Carol nodded.
"You know me?"
Tony smiled.
"Everyone knows you."
Carol frowned.
"That's not reassuring."
"Never is."
Tony's helmet closed.
"Now, who's the big guy?"
The creature turned toward Tony.
Ben's expression changed.
"Tony, move."
Tony didn't.
"Why?"
The creature raised its hand.
Ben shouted.
"MOVE!"
A green beam fired.
Tony's suit took the hit.
He flew backward.
"Tony!"
Peter jumped.
Ben grabbed him before he could move.
"Don't."
Peter looked at him.
"But—"
"His armor can handle it."
A second later, Tony flew back into view.
His armor was smoking.
He landed.
"Okay."
His helmet opened.
"That hurt."
Ben smiled.
"Now you understand."
Tony looked at him.
"I hate you already."
Ben laughed.
"Fair."
Above them, the Kree fleet suddenly stopped firing.
Every ship turned toward the command vessel.
Carol noticed first.
"They're retreating."
Ben looked upward.
"No."
Tony looked at him.
"What?"
"They aren't retreating."
The command ship began opening.
Its enormous weapons folded inward.
Power gathered at its center.
Carol's face changed.
"That's not a weapon."
Ben looked at her.
"What is it?"
"A gate."
Silence.
Tony looked up.
"You mean they're opening a portal?"
Carol nodded.
Ben's Omnitrix began screaming.
The new form reacted immediately.
Green energy spread across Ben's body.
The dimensional core inside his private dimension activated.
Ben suddenly felt something pull at his mind.
He staggered.
Peter caught him.
"Ben!"
Ben looked toward the sky.
His vision blurred.
For one second, he saw something else.
Not New York.
Not Earth.
A massive black void.
And inside it—
countless worlds.
Countless stars.
Countless realities.
Something was looking through them.
Ben gasped.
The vision disappeared.
"What did you see?"
Peter's voice sounded distant.
Ben looked at him.
"I…"
He couldn't finish.
Then the portal opened.
But nothing came through.
Instead—
something on Earth answered it.
The Omnitrix.
Ben looked down.
The symbol on his chest was glowing brighter than ever.
Tony looked at him.
"Uh…"
He pointed.
"Is that supposed to happen?"
Ben shook his head.
"No."
The Omnitrix suddenly displayed a message.
Not a transformation.
Not a warning.
A location.
DIMENSIONAL SIGNATURE DETECTED
SOURCE: UNKNOWN
ORIGIN: EARTH-616
Ben stared.
Peter frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Ben slowly looked toward the Kree command ship.
"I think…"
He swallowed.
"The Kree didn't come here just for me."
Carol looked at him.
"Then why?"
Ben stared at the portal.
"They were running from something."
The entire battlefield went silent.
Even the Kree ships stopped moving.
Then a voice came through every communication channel.
Not Kree.
Not human.
Something else.
"YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND."
Ben froze.
The voice continued.
"THE OMNITRIX WILL RETURN."
The portal began collapsing.
The Kree command ship turned.
And for the first time since arriving on Earth...
the Kree fleet began fleeing.
Tony stared after them.
"Well…"
He looked at Ben.
"I officially have more questions than answers."
Ben didn't respond.
He was staring at the Omnitrix.
A single line remained on the display.
WARNING: SOMETHING HAS ENTERED EARTH-616.
Ben slowly closed his fist.
Whatever had frightened the Kree…
whatever had made the Omnitrix react…
was now somewhere on Earth.
And nobody knew where.