"Spider-Man is a public menace!"
Peter's face darkened. Standing in the middle of the bustling street, he lifted his head and stared irritably at the building looming overhead.
On the newly installed giant screen at Broadway, the owner of the Daily Bugle, Jameson, was leveling his accusations openly and without a shred of restraint. The new screen was so sharp it practically captured every last nose hair in Jameson's nostrils. The old man's voice, dripping with disgust, echoed through every street, drawing plenty of passersby to stop and watch.
Everyone knew this broadcast was aimed squarely at the clash between Spider-Man and Ultron a few days prior. Plenty of New Yorkers had witnessed Ultron chasing Spider-Man with their own eyes. The fierce battle had dragged on for a long time, feeding a steady stream of news to a city that had been slowly sinking into lifelessness.
The reporters had descended like sharks scenting blood, churning out coverage and tossing out the question on everyone's mind:
What conflict existed between Spider-Man and Ultron?
And from that question, a cascade of others followed: Was there a rift between traditional superheroes and Ultron? What crime had Spider-Man committed? Did Ultron have legitimate grounds to arrest him?
One after another, the questions poured out, igniting a firestorm of debate.
For historical reasons, public trust in Ultron ran extremely deep. Ultron had never apprehended the wrong person. Spider-Man must have committed a crime to warrant pursuit — the logic was as simple as that.
This line of thinking might as well have hit Jameson's G-spot. He immediately called a press conference, bought up the big screen, and launched a public crusade against Spider-Man. Ever since the web-slinger had first appeared, Jameson had been hammering the message that Spider-Man was a pest. Now, it seemed his view had been vindicated.
Peter, however, just felt deeply wronged. That guy had actually cooperated with him not long ago...
Venom was fuming too. "You actually worked for that old fossil? Taking pictures so he could trash you? I swear, you've got some kind of masochistic streak!"
"I say we teach him a lesson!" Venom urged. "Shave his head bald. Turn him into a walking solar panel!"
"Enough. Don't make things worse." Peter shook his head. He was angry, sure, but he knew the stakes. "Ultron is just waiting for us to cause trouble right now."
Besides, he was here for a date today. He didn't want extra complications.
Peter glanced down. He was still holding a bouquet of flowers. Ever since Flash lost his memory, Liz had broken up with him. And Peter, whose personality had turned a bit more assertive thanks to Venom's influence, had actually started attracting some attention. Gradually, he and Liz had begun flirting. Today was supposed to be their first date — except she seemed to be running late. He'd been waiting for a while already.
Peter scratched his head, doing his best to tune out Jameson's ranting.
"I wonder how Uncle Ben and Aunt May are doing on Sakaar..."
Sakaar.
Aunt May and Uncle Ben were setting foot on this planet for the very first time.
Bant had already left contingencies in place on Earth, and with plans to depart for a while, he decided to bring the two of them along to see the Plumbers' headquarters. Partly it was to satisfy their curiosity — to give them a glimpse of the universe beyond Earth. Partly, it was also Bant's way of ensuring Ultron didn't pull anything dishonorable and target Ben and May.
At first, Ben and May had wanted Peter to come along too, to lay low on Sakaar and ride out the storm. They didn't grasp the deeper philosophical arguments, but they understood the old saying: a gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. The whole spark of this conflict was Ultron's belief that Venom was a threat — that if left unchecked, Venom was bound to cause a catastrophe. If that was the case, then simply having Venom leave Earth wasn't a bad solution at all.
But neither Peter nor Venom agreed.
They both felt that leaving Earth would be like giving Ultron exactly what he wanted. It would feel like the two of them were running away with their tails between their legs. After taking this loss, Peter and Venom were both nursing a bellyful of resentment, and neither one was willing to admit defeat.
You, Ultron, say that I, Venom, am no good? Fine — I'll prove you wrong!
Bant understood that Ultron's next move was likely to center on leveraging Peter and Venom as a talking point. But instead of stopping it, he secretly bought out the Daily Bugle and specifically kept Jameson on to continue smearing Spider-Man.
That's right. At this point, Jameson was being paid to trash Spider-Man. It also explained why — even though he'd long since figured out Peter's identity — he was still going all in.
Letting Peter have a rough time for a while wasn't necessarily a bad thing. A Spider-Man who's too lucky is a disaster waiting to happen. Bant was worried that something much bigger was lurking behind the scenes — something that might cause Peter to repeat the same tragedy that befell his blond counterpart. A little adversity was good for Peter.
Besides, Venom had been with Peter long enough. The symbiote, originally full of bad intentions, had improved considerably compared to before. This was the perfect opportunity to let things run their course, separate the two, and then bring Agent Venom online.
Flash had stood up for Peter the year before, only to get injured by Kraven. He still hadn't recovered his memories.
As for everyone else, Bant had already made arrangements. No need to worry.
When Uncle Ben and Aunt May arrived at Plumber headquarters, they received an overwhelmingly grand reception — especially from Luma. The Tacsmadanians might have loved combat, but they were far from stupid. On the contrary, they were extremely sharp. The moment she understood who these two were, Luma switched into full-on ingratiation mode.
Under her intense enthusiasm, May and Ben quickly saw through Luma's intentions, though they still found it a little hard to accept... I mean, suddenly having an alien grand-niece-in-law of that scale was a bit much to process.
Both of them thought Mary Jane or Felicia would be a better fit, but they had no intention of meddling in Bant's affairs. Let the kids decide their own matters — they'd support him either way.
So Ben and May took up work at Plumber headquarters. Being the kind of people who couldn't stand idleness, they naturally signed up with the interstellar Plumber corps, traveling from planet to planet to keep the peace, and taking in various alien cultures and sights along the way. Bant let them do as they pleased. With Luma accompanying them, nothing was likely to go wrong.
Once Ben and May had departed, Kayla briefed Bant on everything that had happened recently within the Plumbers.
First, nearly a hundred inhabited planets had now joined the Plumbers and established branch divisions on their homeworlds. Some were former planets under Thanos's dominion; others were the homeworlds of the original Sakaar gladiators. Korg, the rock-man, for instance, had persuaded his planet's chieftain to join.
Additionally, Klyntar — the symbiote homeworld — had signed a cooperation agreement with them. Quite a few Plumbers were now in a coexistent bonded state with symbiotes. It was a win-win situation. The Plumbers needed combat strength, and the symbiotes needed hosts. Their interests were broadly aligned, and the Plumbers were working hard to maintain universal peace.
Bant nodded. Individually, these planets weren't much to look at. But gathered together, they represented a formidable force.
More importantly, the more Plumbers there were, the more frequently celestial energy would be used. Every single one of them was essentially working for him.
He pulled out a Plumber badge, flipped it over, and revealed a magical glyph etched into the bottom.
"This is the Celestial Rune. Regidomon now has a new form of energy that belongs to us. I've fused the activation method into the Plumber badge. Through the Pan-Universe System, we can distribute celestial energy and enhance a Plumber's strength."
Kayla took the Celestial Rune and examined it from all sides, amazed that such a tiny object could contain such immense power.
Bant let her experience it firsthand.
BOOM!!
In an instant, pink celestial energy surged into Kayla's body, merging with her Ancient Power — which blazed like pale blue lightning — and producing a terrifying roar.
"This..."
Kayla was astonished. She felt her strength multiply in the span of a heartbeat. The sheer force of her aura erupted in a shockwave, whipping the long lock of hair atop her head into the air.
"Not bad, right?" Bant looked at her, smiling with satisfaction.
He'd discovered some time ago that celestial energy could fuse with Chaos Force, enhancing both forms of power in a positive feedback loop, rather than conflicting or remaining indifferent to each other. This was crucial. Two different types of energy, if mishandled, could just as easily hinder each other — or even cause harm — instead of providing any boost.
While Kayla was savoring the surge of power that celestial energy brought her, Bant was also gauging the changes within Regidomon. But although Kayla was extremely powerful, the improvement she brought to Regidomon was faint — almost negligible.
Still, that wasn't surprising. Kayla might be stronger than the current Wanda, but ultimately, the two existed on different levels. Ancient Power could not compare to Chaos Energy.
Besides her, the other Security Officers also received the Celestial Runes Bant had crafted. Both Loki and Brunhilde were stunned. They'd never imagined that even the divine power within their bodies could fuse with celestial energy.
"Well now, my magic just got a whole lot stronger." After taking a moment to feel the power within him, Loki's entire mood lifted.
He styled himself the Greatest Sorcerer of the Nine Realms, but in truth, his reserves of internal divine power had never been particularly large. Especially after abandoning his hammer, Loki had essentially reverted to the relatively powerless stage of his earlier days.
But now, with celestial energy, everything was different.
He assessed it carefully. At present, his internal celestial energy reserves weren't massive, but the advantage lay in the fact that celestial energy could be increased through training — and its affinity with magic was superb.
"At this rate, it won't be long before I can become stronger — even without a hammer," he said, delighted.
Abandoning the hammer hadn't broken Loki's heart. But the feeling of losing his strength? That wasn't so pleasant.
Thankfully, he once again had a path back to the level of power he'd wielded as the Thor-empowered Loki.
Bant privately thought Loki was still thinking too small. The Thunder God power granted by Mjolnir couldn't even compare to a fraction of Loki's own potential. Bant had high hopes for Loki's future. The Loki who became the God of Stories might not be this exact Loki, but if a Loki from another universe possessed that potential, then there was no reason this one couldn't either.
And the stronger this celestial-energy-seed-bearing Loki became, the more feedback Regidomon would receive.
As for Brunhilde — well, she was more of a bonus.
Bill also received a celestial energy boost, which helped fill the gap left by not obtaining a hammer. It rounded out his combat strength nicely, ensuring he wouldn't fall behind in the future.
Celestial energy offered a new possibility to many — a chance to break free of their existing destinies, to shatter the shackles of their bodies, and to walk toward a far more glorious future.
Bill was overjoyed. Only with greater power could he better protect the things he wanted to protect. Once, that had been his giant battleship and his people. Now, it was Sakaar and the Plumbers.
"Loki, I'll teach you the method for crafting the Celestial Runes later," Bant said, without the slightest hesitation in drafting Loki as labor.
All told, the boost to Regidomon from granting these few Security Officers celestial energy hadn't been dramatic. Bant understood that this sort of thing needed time to be tempered and refined. As a dimension fiend, he was collecting long-term interest, not expecting immediate, double-digit returns. Even so, the current rate of improvement left him unsatisfied.
Relying on a small number of elite individuals wasn't enough. They needed to win by sheer numbers.
But he couldn't possibly spend all his time personally crafting Celestial Runes. And so, Loki — the one who was already proficient in sorcery — naturally became the best substitute.
Bant clapped Loki on the shoulder with the air of someone entrusting him with a monumental task.
"Making the Celestial Rune standard-issue equipment for every Plumber as soon as possible — I'm leaving that to you!"
Loki: ???
Are you insane?!
Do you have any idea what the total Plumber headcount is right now?
Loki shot him a glare that could wilt crops. He felt like the sky was collapsing.
The Plumber force on Sakaar alone already numbered in the tens of thousands. That wasn't even counting the hundreds of planets that had since joined the Plumbers. Even if every planet contributed only a hundred Plumbers, that was tens of thousands more. And the numbers would only keep growing.
At this rate, would he ever have time for anything else?
No. He had to find a way to slack off.
Loki figured he at least needed to build an automated production factory. Otherwise, he could kiss the rest of his life goodbye — it'd be nothing but slaving away for Bant, his black-hearted boss.
Bant didn't know what Loki was thinking. If he had, he probably would've remarked: Laziness is the mother of innovation.
He had other matters to attend to right now. Otherwise, he'd have probably worked with Loki to set up the factory immediately.
The Galactic Federation.
After leaving Sakaar, Bant took a Plumber warship here. Bill was at the helm.
The planet was a neutral world located in the cosmos — originally a completely unremarkable asteroid that had slowly evolved into a venue where numerous civilizations met to communicate and negotiate. Feeding off that role, the planet had gradually flourished.
But much like the United Nations back on Earth, the Galactic Federation in essence held very little real power and even less actual strength. It was little more than a negotiating table. If they'd had any real capability, they wouldn't have stood by and let Thanos destroy so many worlds back then.
This time, upon hearing that the Plumber leader — the King of Sakaar — would be attending, the three great empires took the meeting with the utmost seriousness. And it wasn't just them. Other civilizations also regarded this assembly with extreme gravity. There was a very real chance that the tripartite balance of power between the empires was about to be broken, and the entire structure of the universe reshuffled. For all anyone knew, they might soon be talking about the four great empires.
When a powerful civilization rises, no one can afford to ignore it.
However, the moment Bant landed, he spotted someone here who genuinely surprised him.
/-\
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