"You made it back safely. No one spotted you, I hope?"
Ben looked up from examining the genetic mutation device as Connors returned from his mission, the device balanced carefully on his shoulders despite his diminished size.
"No complications," Connors confirmed, setting the device down with obvious relief. "When I retrieved the equipment, Iron Man was conducting aerial reconnaissance over the eastern riverbank, presumably searching for you. There were also several teams cleaning up the battle damage."
Connors paused, recalling his journey through the ruins of Stark Tower and the various personnel he had encountered. One particular scene stood out in his memory—a man attempting to extract a woman who had somehow become wedged in a ventilation duct, which struck him as oddly unprofessional for a disaster response team.
"Those people didn't appear to be standard law enforcement," he continued with curiosity. "Who exactly were they?"
"SHIELD," Ben replied matter-of-factly. "It's a specialized agency that handles supernatural threats and unusual incidents."
He gestured dismissively toward Dr. Animo's unconscious form before transforming back into Grey Matter to examine the genetic manipulation technology. With his Galvan intellect, he could analyze the device's construction and programming far more effectively than in his human form.
"I managed to interrupt the activation sequence," Connors added helpfully, "but I wasn't able to determine how to completely reverse the modifications it had already made."
"Don't worry about that," Ben assured him, his tiny hands already working over the device's control interface. "I can handle the technical aspects."
Connors nodded, then voiced the question that had been troubling him since their mission concluded.
"What should we do with Dr. Animo? Turn him over to SHIELD for processing?"
Before Ben could respond, Dr. Animo stirred to consciousness and immediately began his familiar megalomaniacal ranting.
"No matter where you imprison me, I will inevitably escape!" he declared with undiminished arrogance. "The genius of Dr. Animo cannot be contained by any human institution!"
"Escape?" Ben's laugh was cold and completely without humor. "What makes you think I have any intention of letting you live?"
Before Animo could respond, Grey Matter leapt forward with surprising speed, delivering a precise nerve strike to the side of his neck. Animo collapsed, unconscious before he even hit the floor.
The suggestion of handing Dr. Animo over to SHIELD struck Ben as absurd for multiple reasons.
Even setting aside the organization's well-documented infiltration by HYDRA operatives, Nick Fury was hardly trustworthy. The so-called master spy was paranoid to the point of pathology, viewing every person and situation as a potential threat while simultaneously trying to control every variable in his environment.
More problematically, SHIELD had a documented obsession with super-soldier research. If Dr. Animo fell into their custody, Ben had no doubt that certain parties would view him as a valuable research asset rather than a dangerous criminal. The scientist's expertise in genetic manipulation would be too tempting for them to resist, and he would likely find himself in a laboratory rather than a prison cell.
Unlike Dr. Connors, whose transformation had been driven by desperation and whose fundamental nature remained ethical, Dr. Animo was a true sociopath who would continue pursuing his destructive agenda regardless of consequences. Even decades of imprisonment wouldn't change his core personality.
Ben had no interest in playing games with someone so fundamentally committed to mass destruction.
Besides, the Ancient One had instructed him to resolve the multiverse crisis but had been deliberately vague about methodology. That gave Ben considerable latitude in determining his approach.
Since Dr. Animo was so enthusiastic about evolutionary transformation, Ben would grant his wish—permanently.
As far as Ben was concerned, the only reliable solution for irredeemably dangerous enemies was permanent elimination.
Within a relatively short time, Ben had mastered the genetic manipulation device's operation and successfully reversed the process that had transformed Connors.
Unlike Dr. Animo, Ben genuinely valued Dr. Connors as both a scientist and a person. The man was brilliant, ethical, and had only made his mistakes due to desperation and external pressure. Those were qualities worth preserving.
"Now that you've seen what my technology is really capable of, I suppose my chances at keeping my freedom are pretty slim," Connors said with surprising calm.
Ben was surprised by the scientist's pragmatic acceptance of the situation.
"Actually, I'm planning to start a company," Ben said. "And I was hoping you'd consider coming on as head of biological sciences."
"Why wouldn't I?" Connors replied with a faint smile. "If you hadn't created that reversal serum, I would've caused unspeakable harm in that form. I owe you more than I could ever repay."
His expression turned solemn as he continued, "All of my research and inventions are yours—on one condition: they must be used to help humanity, not harm it."
"Of course," Ben agreed immediately. "That was always the plan."
Ben's expression became more somber as he addressed the practical complications of Connors' situation.
"Unfortunately, your connection to recent events is going to create some significant problems. The Lizard first appeared at Oscorp, and that fact is now public knowledge. Several members of Oscorp's board of directors are already working to shift all blame onto you to protect the company's stock price. If you surface now, you'll likely be arrested immediately."
"Those bastards!" Connors snarled, his anger flaring as he remembered the board's pressure to rush human trials before the technology was ready. "They were the ones demanding premature human experimentation when I specifically warned them the process wasn't safe!"
Despite his fury, Connors recognized the futility of his situation. The corporate executives had far more political influence than a single scientist, regardless of where the actual blame belonged.
"Don't worry about that," Ben assured him. "Once I have my company established, I can arrange for you to receive a new identity and legal protection. You'll need to stay hidden for a few days while I set up proper laboratory facilities, but after that, you'll have everything you need to continue your research."
Connors accepted this arrangement without complaint, though another concern weighed heavily on his mind.
"My wife and son..." he began hesitantly.
"They're under police protection and completely safe," Ben replied, having anticipated this worry. "Once your legal situation is resolved, you'll be able to reunite with them."
Connors nodded with obvious relief, grateful that his family hadn't become collateral damage in his mistakes.
Ben then transformed back into Four Arms and systematically destroyed the Canary Device, reducing the technology to scrap metal and electronic components. The genetic mutation device was more compact and potentially useful for future research, so he decided to confiscate it rather than destroy it.
Finally, Ben retrieved Dr. Animo's unconscious form and prepared to leave the sewer system.
His original plan had been to incinerate the man immediately, but the high methane concentration in the underground environment made open flames extremely dangerous. A single spark could trigger an explosion powerful enough to damage several city blocks.
He would have to find a more suitable location for Dr. Animo's demise.
Before leaving, Ben took a moment to contact Felicia and Mary Jane, confirming that both had survived the evening's chaos without injury. He also made sure to reassure Felicia that their planned date for the following day would proceed as scheduled—assuming the city wasn't still on fire by then.
Ben stood in the middle of a forgotten morgue, its walls slick with moisture, its air still and cold. The city had sealed this place off decades ago after a fire had gutted the building above. Now, it served Ben's purpose—a place that no one visited, no one monitored, and no one would ever think to search.
Dr. Animo's limp body lay on a rusted gurney, his wrists bound by restraints. Ben stared at the man in silence, his expression unreadable. He could already hear Animo's voice, could already imagine the inevitable rant if the man woke up again.
That would not happen.
Ben pressed the Omnitrix.
With a familiar hiss of shifting DNA, his body transformed—His hands became razor-sharp talons while his entire body structure shifted into something that defied conventional biology. He resembled a floating specter wrapped in tattered fabric, legless and covered with ominous cracks that revealed glimpses of something darker underneath.
A single eye wandered freely within the tears in his ghostly shroud, giving him an alien perspective on the world around him.
Ghostfreak
Ben floated forward, his body intangible, gliding like smoke until he hovered directly above the scientist. He reached out with one clawed, spectral hand and placed it gently over Animo's forehead.
"I'm sorry, Animo," Ben said softly, his voice layered and distorted, echoing like a whisper from another dimension. "But you're too dangerous to be left running around in this world."
He paused, his single, glowing eye narrowing.
"I have people I need to protect. A family. And I won't let someone like you come back to endanger them."
Then he phased his hand into Animo's skull.
The scientist spasmed violently, his mouth opening in a silent scream, but Ben held him steady, his body intangible and unmoved. He wasn't just reaching into the brain—he was disrupting it.
Ghostfreak's alien physiology allowed him to interact directly with the nervous system, bypassing the body's defenses. It took only seconds for Ben to find the synaptic centers responsible for cognition and identity. With a single burst of destabilizing spectral energy, he unraveled them.
Animo didn't die in pain. He simply... ceased.
No brainwaves. No soul to speak of. Just a husk.
Ben slowly retracted his clawed hand, letting the body slump lifelessly back onto the table. Not a mark on him. No blood. No sign of trauma. It would look like sudden, inexplicable brain death—if anyone ever found it.
Which they wouldn't.
Still in Ghostfreak form, Ben phased the body into the concrete wall—embedding it deep, deeper than any forensic team would ever dig. Then he phased back out, leaving no hole, no clue, no trace.
Animo was gone.
Ben hovered in silence for a moment longer, then drifted out of the morgue and let the darkness reclaim the room behind him
Meanwhile, at the ruins of Stark Tower, Tony Stark landed heavily in what remained of his building's lobby and disengaged his armor with obvious frustration.
"Complete scan of the area turned up nothing," he announced to the SHIELD personnel who had gathered to assess the damage. "They've both completely vanished."
Tony's mood was understandably dark. Aside from the other creature, the fire-based entity who had claimed to be some kind of space law enforcement officer had demonstrated body temperatures exceeding several thousand degrees Celsius. Such a being couldn't simply disappear without leaving some kind of thermal signature or environmental trace.
"You disappoint me, Stark."
Nick Fury seemed to materialize from the shadows like a living embodiment of Tony's guilty conscience, his expression radiating disappointment and barely contained anger.
"Two superhuman entities engaged in pitched battle inside Stark Tower," Fury began, his voice carrying the measured cadence of someone delivering a formal reprimand. "The resulting destruction leveled your entire building, caused significant damage to two adjacent city blocks, and generated property damage in the tens of billions of dollars."
His single eye fixed on Tony with laser intensity as he continued, "And our supposed superhero, Iron Man, not only failed to contain the threat but couldn't even track the perpetrators after they left the scene."
Tony's expression darkened to match Fury's mood.
"Shut up," he snapped. "What exactly did you do that was any better? You and your so-called elite agents waited until the fight was over to swoop in and play cleanup crew. Don't lecture me—you didn't do a damn thing to actually solve the problem."
Tony's anger was entirely justified. Stark Industries would be absorbing virtually all of the financial losses from the evening's destruction, and he had been the only one actually fighting to protect civilian lives. Having Nick Fury appear afterward to lecture him about inadequate performance was adding insult to considerable injury.
"And speaking of failures," Tony continued, his voice rising, "how do I know your organization didn't create these monsters in the first place?"
The accusation caught Fury off guard, and for a moment, his confidence faltered. SHIELD hadn't been involved in Dr. Animo's research, but Tony's suspicion wasn't entirely unfounded. Hell, even Fury didn't know where this Dr. Animo had come from—any attempt to dig into his background turned up nothing. It was as if the man had simply appeared out of thin air in New York.
The military did have its own superhuman enhancement programs, including at least one that had produced a green-skinned rage monster considerably more dangerous than anything they had faced tonight.
Of course, military black projects were outside SHIELD's jurisdiction, and the two organizations often found themselves working at cross-purposes rather than in cooperation.
Recognizing that direct confrontation wasn't productive, Fury shifted to a more diplomatic approach.
"Regardless of the specifics of tonight's events," he said in a more measured tone, "I think we can agree that threats of this nature are beyond what any one person can handle alone. Your performance was admirable—but it also highlighted the clear limitations of your current methods."
Tony's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Let me guess—you're about to pitch me on your super-powered boy band again?"
"It's called the Avengers Initiative," Fury corrected. "And frankly, you might not even qualify. We'd need a full psychological evaluation before we'd consider bringing you in."
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