New Mexico.
A dazzling rainbow descended from the sky once again.
When the light faded, Bant was left standing alone on a stretch of strangely patterned sand, staring out at the empty wilderness.
"No idea what month or day it is now."
After some time had passed, New Mexico, which had briefly been lively because of Thor's hammer, had returned to silence once more.
The first thing Bant did after returning to Earth was transform into Diamondhead and retrieve the Casket of Ancient Winters from several kilometers deep underground.
"Keeping the Destroyer's broken armor stored on Sakaar is fine, but leaving the Casket of Ancient Winters on Earth just feels like a security risk…"
He sighed.
Earth didn't have any especially powerful security system. The Casket's power was terrifying. If it was continuously released, it could freeze the entire planet. It was a world-ending weapon, and he couldn't just hide it somewhere casually.
"Forget it. I'll carry it with me. At least it can make some ice cubes in this heat."
After thinking it over, Bant stuffed it into his backpack.
If Laufey, King of the Frost Giants, ever found out that his people's most sacred weapon was being used by Bant to make ice cubes, who knew what he would think.
But either way, it reminded Bant of something.
"I need to invent a cross-space teleportation device as soon as possible."
The distance between Sakaar and Earth was unimaginably vast. Without the Bifrost, even with a Tazdroman-built engine, it would take a long time to travel between them.
The best solution was to invent a spatial teleportation device that could reliably open stable wormholes.
"Sakaar's space is already extremely unstable, with countless wormholes circling the planet. It'd be very convenient to research there," he thought.
But it wasn't urgent.
He hadn't forgotten that Plamos had only just been established on Earth.
"After all this time, the healing serum sales should be on track by now. And Harry's phone production line is probably running too."
Smartphones were child's play in the Marvel universe. Bant had all the tech. Once the production line was set, they could crank them out quickly.
In the ideal scenario, Plamos would first show its face alongside Oscorp through the healing serum, then immediately ride that momentum to launch the new phone.
If things went well, Plamos had probably already gathered a huge amount of funding through the healing serum.
Honestly, that serum would never lack buyers. Regular people were the smaller market. The real big orders came from S.H.I.E.L.D. or the military.
Bant didn't go to the airport. He transformed straight into XLR8 and ran all the way back to New York.
Another peaceful day in New York.
Of course, that was excluding the green Goblin riding a glider between skyscrapers, cackling like a madman, and Spider-Man, whose web was stuck to the glider, being dragged through the air while screaming…
Not long after Bant got back to New York, he heard Peter yelling in the sky.
But compared to Peter, Bant cared more about Peter's opponent.
"Is that the Green Goblin?"
"What's going on here?"
He frowned.
Logically speaking, Norman Osborn's genetic illness had already been cured by him. Oscorp was rising again. There was no reason for Norman or Harry to become the Green Goblin.
Yet the enemy fighting Spider-Man right now was undeniably the Goblin.
"I've only been gone a month. What happened?"
Bant slapped his forehead. The thought of going home immediately vanished. He flicked the wheel under his feet and left a blue-black streak between the high-rises.
However, he didn't rush to help Peter chase the Goblin. Instead, he turned and went back to Plamos.
When Connors saw Bant, he looked genuinely surprised. He was holding two bottles of pale green reagent, and a tiny lizard was slowly crawling along his shoulder.
"Your trip is over?" Connors asked, setting the bottles down. Then he excitedly held the small lizard out toward Bant. "Look, this is the first generation mutant lizard cultivated using the Variator. With it…"
"Wait, Dr. Connors." Bant cut him off before Connors could launch into a lecture that might last hours and spiral into future plans. "What's up with the Green Goblin? How's the Osborn situation?"
He slid to the lab computer. Eunice had thoughtfully pulled up the live view of what was happening over New York.
Connors understood immediately.
"Ah, you mean the incident where the Green Goblin attacked the Osborns?" Connors said. "Norman wanted to tell you for ages, but they couldn't reach you."
"My phone broke, wait…"
"Green Goblin attacked Norman Osborn?" Bant repeated, his expression turning a little ridiculous.
He knew every word individually, but strung together like that, it sounded absurd.
Me attacking myself?
"So Norman isn't the Green Goblin?"
"How could Norman be the Green Goblin?" Connors shot back. After thinking, he continued, "Norman and I both suspect the Goblin is likely Mendel Stromm."
"Who?" Bant scratched his head.
"Don't tell me you already forgot him. Most of Plamos's equipment was bought from him by you."
"Oh. Him."
Now Bant remembered.
Connors continued, "The glider the Goblin uses is actually an Oscorp product. The only people who could get their hands on it are Oscorp's original shareholders. Also, we suspect Mendel secretly injected himself with the Lizard Serum."
Back then, an early flawed version of the serum had been taken away by Oscorp's upper management. After the Lizard-Man incident at the Williamsburg Bridge, they abandoned the plan to bring the serum to the Brooklyn military hospital.
But the serum vanished without a trace.
"I'm guessing someone kept researching it in secret. There would be plenty of people willing to pay for it."
The Green Goblin didn't show many lizard traits, so Connors suspected Mendel had already modified the serum before injecting it.
"He thought Oscorp was finished, so he sold his shares immediately. But after the healing serum launched, he realized he'd been tricked…"
"Classic plot," Bant muttered.
Like so many villains, this new Green Goblin's origin was almost textbook, like he'd followed a checklist.
But Bant wasn't that interested in his backstory.
"What about Norman and Harry? Are they okay?"
"They're fine. No, I guess it's not that simple…" Connors corrected himself, unsure how to phrase it. "Norman's practically thrilled. That sudden attack was the best advertisement possible."
"Everyone saw Norman Osborn, the man in control of Oscorp, severely injured and on the brink of death. Then he jammed in a syringe, instantly pulled himself out of danger, and even stood back up and moved like a normal person."
Connors recalled the news from those days. The papers had nearly praised the healing serum as divine nectar.
But Connors knew the retail version didn't work as well as the one Norman used. The upgraded version still hadn't launched yet.
Still, the name was out there now. In a way, Norman should be thanking the Goblin.
Even so, the Goblin stealing Oscorp's old research equipment and serum, then attacking Norman, was also a fact.
It was just that Connors had suspicions, not proof.
"Alright. As long as they're alive," Bant said.
He changed back and walked toward his own lab, preparing to make a new suit.
No matter what, the Green Goblin was trouble. And once he clashed with Spider-Man, he could threaten the Parkers.
Bant had no reason to let him stay.
"I think you've got another problem too," Connors said.
"That Hardy girl came looking for you, the day after the serum release."
"Felicia?" Bant asked while working at the equipment.
Felicia knowing Plamos's location wasn't strange. After all, she'd helped him buy Oscorp equipment from Mendel Stromm at a low price.
"I'd say you've got plenty of trouble," Connors said with a laugh.
Bant disappearing for a month had worried more than just Felicia.
Aunt May and Uncle Ben had sensed something wrong too. Even if it was travel, how could he not make a single call?
Peter had to cover for him desperately, saying Bant happened to meet a famous scientist while traveling, and Bant joined them for research and couldn't check his phone for a while…
Honestly, it was a ridiculous excuse.
But Uncle Ben and Aunt May, not exactly academics, actually believed it.
There was also Mary Jane. Every few days she'd drop by to ask if Bant was back yet.
"It's not that much trouble." Bant shrugged.
Compared to what he'd gone through on Sakaar, this was nothing.
Besides, it was only a month.
He might disappear for even longer in the future.
The printer whirred as it produced a new suit. Connors glanced at it.
"New style?"
"So I won't overlap with Peter," Bant said.
Being mistaken in the sewers once was one thing. Bant didn't want to keep getting mistaken for him.
More importantly, Bant didn't operate like Peter. If people assumed Bant was Peter, then Spider-Man's already not-so-great reputation would get dragged even worse.
The new suit also incorporated some alien tech from Sakaar.
Bant put it on, and in an instant, a Spider-Man who looked shockingly evil appeared in front of Connors, like he'd been infected with a symbiote.
The base color was black, with white lines forming a spider pattern across his body. Black chains also wrapped around his arms.
Connors pointed at Bant's wrist and asked, "What are the chains for? Spider-Man uses webbing, doesn't he? Is this new tech?"
"Decoration," Bant answered.
Then he took out a few small discs and snapped them into place where the web shooters would go.
"This is the new tech."
The Red King's patent.
Neurotoxin.
Bant wasn't as softhearted as Peter, but not every criminal was unforgivable either.
"Okay." Connors nodded and stepped back, giving Bant space.
Bant clearly wasn't leaving through the front door. He opened a window and stepped onto the sill.
Before he left, he heard Connors ask one last question.
"So what do we call you now?"
Bant turned his head back.
"Hacker Spider-Man."
/-\
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