Norman began the slow, arduous process of assuming H.A.M.M.E.R.'s operations while simultaneously transferring control of Osborn Industries to Harry. The boy had managed the business ventures at Primus Technologies with a surprising aptitude, proving he could handle the immense corporate responsibilities. Besides, he wouldn't need to conduct the research himself—just oversee the operations and trust the scientists his father had put in place.
Peter, for his part, gleefully returned to his daily life as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, swinging through the concrete canyons of New York to fight street-level crime and help the occasional elderly citizen cross a busy intersection.
While his new official status as an Avenger brought certain conveniences, it also complicated his superhero career significantly. Far more people now wanted photographs with him, and a crowd would form almost instantly wherever he landed. Peter, however, never grew tired of the attention. He'd been a hero for almost a year, but this was the first time he'd achieved such widespread, positive popularity.
Of course, people constantly peppered him with questions: why he didn't reveal his secret identity; why the other, more serious Spider-Man known as Prime hadn't joined the Avengers; why Harry Osborn, the heroic Neo Green Goblin, also hadn't joined the team.
As for Ben, he had rarely appeared in public since the Hydra incident. In reality, he was spending his time helping Norman organize SHIELD's vast, labyrinthine archives and research projects. Norman may have been a genius in the corporate world, but he was a civilian entering a shadow world of secrets and conspiracies, and his understanding of many classified operations was understandably limited. Most of the clandestine projects were being explained by Agent Phil Coulson, a key holdover from the previous administration.
The mild-mannered agent was remarkably capable. When people thought of secret agents, they typically imagined conspicuous figures in dark sunglasses who exuded an aura of danger. But Coulson was a kind-looking, approachable man who could blend seamlessly into any crowd, a ghost in plain sight. Therefore, despite knowing Coulson had been Fury's most trusted lieutenant, Ben still recommended that Norman retain the agent's file and allow him to continue serving H.A.M.M.E.R. as a Level 7 operative.
At a former SHIELD ground facility tucked away in the Nevada desert, Ben, Norman, and Maria Hill arrived together. After SHIELD's fall, this location, like many others, had naturally become one of H.A.M.M.E.R.'s new operational bases.
"Nick Fury's secret bases rival Hydra's in scope and number," Norman observed, a hint of amusement in his voice as he surveyed the sprawling underground complex.
Hill was familiar with this particular base—in fact, both Natasha and Hawkeye knew about it as well. "Hydra's network is actually larger," Ben replied casually. "Because everything that belonged to SHIELD was also Hydra's, but not everything Hydra owned necessarily belonged to SHIELD."
The two men's easy jokes about the fallen organization made Hill visibly uncomfortable. She took a deep breath, the air hissing between her teeth, and glared at Ben with mild irritation, though without any real malice. "The item is located here," she said, her voice tight as she led them deeper into the facility. "Fury wanted to replicate Project Pegasus. He planned to use the artifact to create a new generation of powerful weapons, but research progress has been extremely slow."
The three of them entered a vast, circular chamber. In the center stood a massive, disc-shaped apparatus. The intricate metal platform resembled an enormous circuit board, and at its heart sat a cube, pulsing with a brilliant blue light that cast dancing shadows across the cavernous room. The entire assembly looked remarkably similar to an Arc Reactor, though on a much grander scale.
"Is this what you meant—the Tesseract?" Norman asked, his voice low with awe.
"To be precise, it's one of the Infinity Stones," Ben corrected. He stepped forward, his hands moving with practiced care as he began the process of extracting the cube from its containment device.
Norman could gradually assume control of SHIELD's legacy projects—those weren't going anywhere, and there was little difference between the artifacts being in his hands versus Ben's. But the Space Stone was critically important at this juncture.
"Infinity Stones? What exactly are those?" Hill asked, her agent's curiosity piqued. This was the first time she'd heard the Tesseract referred to by that designation.
Ben carefully secured the cube in a lead-lined compartment in his backpack, where it would rest alongside the Casket of Ancient Winters. He then turned to explain. "Six singularities of immense power, forged at the dawn of time. If someone manages to collect all of them, they can modify the reality of this universe at will. There happens to be a certain purple individual out in the universe who's currently interested in Malthusian population control. He's planning to use these artifacts to eliminate half of all life in the universe simultaneously, so for now, I'll be keeping this one safe."
His plan was to wait for Loki's eventual arrival on Earth, then allow the trickster god to transport the Tesseract to Sakaar. Of course, it would be ideal to suppress the cube's energy signature first. The Asgardians, who had studied the artifact for millennia, should excel at such containment techniques.
After securing the Space Stone, Ben no longer concerned himself with H.A.M.M.E.R.'s administrative affairs. He allowed himself to relax for a while, alternating between dates with Mary Jane and Felicia. Sometimes the three of them would even spend time together as a group, a complex but surprisingly comfortable arrangement.
After this brief respite, Ben secluded himself deep within Primus's underground laboratories and began planning a solution to the Alien X problem. He believed he'd conceived a method to resolve the transformation's inherent limitations.
When the Ben Tennyson of his home universe had first transformed into Alien X, its two personalities had reached a rare consensus: they'd agreed to honor his first proposal. Unfortunately, that Ben hadn't understood Alien X's true power at the time and had used a reality-warping ability for something as mundane as building a dam—essentially using a nuclear weapon to swat a fly.
"If my first proposal is, 'Let me control Alien X's body,' wouldn't I be able to obtain permanent usage rights?" Ben mused.
Deciding to test his theory, he rotated the Omnitrix dial to Alien X's silhouette and gently pressed the activation mechanism. Instantly, his body dissolved and reformed into a figure of pure black void dotted with a billion tiny, white stars, as if he'd become a living nebula, a walking representation of the universe itself. The omnipotent space entity from beyond space and time.
However, after the transformation was complete, this incarnation of Alien X stood utterly motionless, a silent, cosmic statue.
Within the consciousness space, Ben found himself floating in an endless, silent darkness. Far ahead, two enormous, nebular faces materialized before him. Unlike the two green, masculine visages that Ben Tennyson had encountered, the faces before him were one of pure, starless black and one of brilliant, stellar white, matching Alien X's physical form.
"You have arrived at last, Ben Parker," spoke the black face, its voice a low, resonant hum like the sound of a dying star.
"We have been anticipating your presence for quite some time," added the white face, its voice a chorus of soft, chiming bells.
Both faces appeared feminine, and their voices carried distinctly female tones.
"Since you are here," the white face began, "let us begin with your first proposal—"
"Wait," Ben interrupted, raising his hand. "Alien X, I'm here to bargain."
The two massive faces loomed over him, each one several times larger than his entire body.
"Alien X? You are quite an impertinent child," the black face said, its tone laced with cold displeasure. "My name is Enara."
The white face spoke more gently. "And I am Ouyana."
"Very well, Enara and Ouyana—I'm here to bargain," Ben said, undeterred as he floated closer to the two towering visages. He wasn't surprised that his version of Alien X differed from Ben Tennyson, The Omnitrix was designed to provide the optimal version of each species, and for an omnipotent Celestialsapien, every individual was already optimal. It stood to reason that different personalities would manifest.
"I want to gain control of Alien X's physical form," Ben declared.
Enara's expression immediately darkened. "Allow Ben Parker to control Alien X's body? Denied."
Ouyana, despite her gentler demeanor, echoed the sentiment. "The proposal is rejected."
Both faces spoke in perfect, booming unison: "Motion denied!"
"That straightforward? I thought you might give me the traditional automatic approval for my first proposal," Ben said, genuinely surprised. For beings like Alien X, concepts of justice and evil were irrelevant. Everything depended entirely on their whims. They could destroy or reconstruct the multiverse at will.
"That was our initial intention," Ouyana said softly.
Enara continued, her voice sharp. "Unfortunately, someone seeks to exploit us. We offered you the opportunity to make one wish, but you dared to request unlimited wishes, Ben Parker. Your greed knows no bounds."
Enara's assessment was accurate.
Ouyana added, "So, after learning of your intentions, we overruled the original protocol."
"You know what I was thinking?" Ben asked.
"Naturally. We are omniscient," they replied in unison.
"Fine, then I'll modify my proposal," Ben said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I know you require unified agreement to take action, so how about this: let's change the approval process to majority rule?"
Enara and Ouyana exchanged a long, silent glance.
"Change the proposal system to majority rule? Denied," Enara stated flatly.
"The proposal is rejected," Ouyana confirmed.
Once again, both shouted at Ben simultaneously: "Motion denied!"
"Why ?" Ben asked with growing frustration. He was beginning to suspect that the two personalities of his Alien X were deliberately conspiring against him.
This time Ouyana spoke first, her tone remaining gentle but firm. "We require unanimous consent from all three personalities to approve any proposal."
"But as the one making the proposal, I've already agreed to it," Ben pointed out.
"We disagree!" Enara declared sternly. "Ben Parker, you are only suggesting proposals that directly benefit yourself. Majority rule might seem fair, but when Ouyana and I are in disagreement, you become the deciding vote."
"Haven't you been waiting for me to help resolve your debates?" Ben countered.
"That is not the case, Ben," Ouyana explained. "If adding an additional personality serves only to provide a tiebreaking vote, then there is no purpose to our discussions."
"Precisely. If we simply wanted to resolve proposals, why not just play rock-paper-scissors?" Enara added contemptuously.
Ben considered this for a moment, then tilted his head. "Because you don't have hands?"
Both Enara and Ouyana became visibly, cosmically angry at this observation.
"GET OUT!" Enara roared.
Ben's vision went dark, and the next moment he regained control of his physical body in the lab, stumbling back as if he'd been physically pushed. His consciousness returned as if it had traveled across millions of light-years to reach him.
"Wait… didn't they say all three personalities had to agree?" he muttered to the empty room. "I never consented to canceling the transformation!"
Despite his protest, he abandoned the idea of transforming into Alien X again anytime soon. Obviously, his two cosmic roommates were far more difficult to manage than Bellicus and Serena. He genuinely had no idea how to convince them. "I can't really start from the extinction of the dinosaurs and slowly debate every issue with them, can I? No, but this is the Marvel Universe—there are far stranger phenomena here, so they'll likely have many more proposals to argue about..."
For now, the Alien X matter would have to be shelved until those two were less hostile, and he could attempt negotiations more gradually.
Meanwhile, far above Earth, cloaked from all sensors, a fleet of alien spacecraft was silently descending through the planet's upper atmosphere.