As the leader of the Plumbers, Ben always kept his word. Pietro, though visibly dissatisfied that he was being benched for a mission this cool, knew better than to argue.
With the Maximoffs sidelined for training, Ben turned to the others. "Who's in?"
Banner was the first to raise his hand, but only to withdraw. Soon after, Otto also declined. With Ben's help, Otto had successfully bio-integrated four fully functional mechanical arms, and after the super-soldier serum was confirmed safe, he too had taken a dose. In terms of raw combat power, Dr. Octopus was a formidable presence, but he had no interest in fighting and killing.
"I'm still perfecting the full-spectrum mimetic camouflage," Dr. Connors added, also bowing out. "With real-time environmental computation, true invisibility is theoretically achievable."
It was no surprise. They were scientists at heart. Unless their hand was forced, they would always choose the lab over the battlefield. But that left the Plumbers' roster for this critical mission dangerously thin. After Harry regretfully explained that he needed to stay behind to manage the company, the team was down to just Ben and Peter.
Ben rubbed his forehead, a wave of helplessness washing over him. "It seems," he sighed, "that I'll have to seek external help."
He had two candidates in mind. The first was the Winter Soldier.
Due to the deep-seated grudge between Bucky and Tony, the soldier had not joined the Avengers, despite his heroic actions during the Battle of New York. However, he had received extensive physical and psychological treatment at Primus, leaving him with a profound sense of gratitude toward Ben and his organization. Ben was confident that if he asked, Bucky would not refuse to join the Plumbers. Besides, with his vast combat experience, he could serve as an invaluable instructor for the new recruits.
The other candidate was, of course, Felicia Hardy.
Felicia had long known that Ben was the vigilante Prime, and Ben knew that she knew. It was a silent, thrilling understanding that existed between them, a game they both played without ever acknowledging the rules. Now, with Kingpin gone, the Black Cat prowled the city's rooftops at night. Manhattan was a ruin, and Hell's Kitchen was a warzone, but the criminal underworld, always grew new heads. Felicia, as the new Black Cat, had taken over many of Kingpin's former territories, bringing the gangs to heel through a combination of fear, force, and finesse. Her skills, first honed by her father's training, had been sharpened to a razor's edge in the hail of bullets and back-alley brawls.
Later that night, as a cool breeze swept across the city, Ben stood atop the Williamsburg Bridge. He wore the black-and-white suit of Prime, a stark silhouette against the backdrop of a healing New York. The city's reconstruction was a monumental task, proceeding section by section to avoid displacing too many citizens at once. Manhattan was first, followed by Queens, then Brooklyn.
He enjoyed a few moments of solitude before a second black shadow materialized behind him. The footsteps were utterly silent, light as a cat's paw, until she was pressed up tightly against his back.
Felicia blew softly in his ear, then pirouetted around him like a ballerina, her long, silver hair fanning out like a flared skirt in the moonlight.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Prime?" she purred, a playful smile gracing her lips. It was the first time Ben had taken the initiative to arrange a meeting. She couldn't help but feel a flicker of triumph, believing her playful offensive had finally worked. He's completely fascinated by the Black Cat, she thought. "Are you finally planning to tell me your real name?"
"Alright, Felicia, stop messing around," Ben said, his voice warm with amusement. He reached up and pulled off his mask, turning to face her with a knowing smile.
Felicia froze. "Wait… how did you know?" she stammered, completely stunned. Ben calling her name was a more shocking reveal than him taking off his mask.
"How could I possibly know?" Ben chuckled. He shot out a line of webbing, gently pulling her into his arms. He tapped a finger against her forehead. "Where do you think all this gear came from? The suit, the gadgets… the serum your father injected you with?"
The realization washed over her. He had known. From the very beginning, he had known everything. All her playful teasing, her bold seduction of the "regular" Ben Parker—it had all been a performance for an audience of one who already knew the script. A hot blush crept up her neck, turning her cheeks the color of a summer rose. The famously strong-willed Black Cat wanted nothing more than to find a hole to hide in.
Ben's chest, she decided, was a pretty good substitute.
With the game over, the fierce persona of the Black Cat seemed to melt away, revealing the flustered, embarrassed Felicia beneath. Even her posture seemed to soften, becoming more delicate.
"You're bullying me!" she mumbled, pounding a fist against his chest in mock anger. Then she added defensively, "If you hadn't known beforehand, you never would have guessed my real identity."
"No," Ben said, knowing exactly the right thing to say. "Even if I didn't know from the start, I would have figured it out." He looked into her eyes, his expression sincere. "Because there's only one Felicia."
He leaned in, and the playful banter dissolved into a moment of genuine tenderness. After a long while, they broke apart, sitting together on the edge of the building, their legs dangling over the city below.
Ben told her everything: the plan to hunt the Infinity Stones, the mission to space, and finally, the true nature of the watch on his wrist. Harry and Peter knew. Banner and Connors knew. At this point, it only felt right that she knew, too. He was powerful enough now that the need for absolute secrecy had faded. Even without Alien X, he had the Old Power-infused Four Arms as his trump card. With H.A.M.M.E.R. and the Plumbers at his back, what was there to fear?
"I can't believe it," Felicia said in awe, looking at the Omnitrix disguised as a simple wristwatch. "I thought you'd just lost your old watch. I had no idea it just changed its look."
It was only natural, then, for Felicia to officially join the Plumbers and become a member of the team venturing into the cosmos to find the Orb.
But before they could leave, there was work to do. Ben needed to upgrade Felicia's and Peter's suits to be space-worthy. More importantly, the members of this joint Avengers-Plumbers task force needed to train together, to learn each other's capabilities and rhythms so they wouldn't be tripping over each other in a firefight.
Ben brought Felicia, Peter, and the Winter Soldier to the Helicarrier. For the next several days, this would be their training ground. He was surprised to find that, while the Plumbers' contingent was small, the Avengers' was even smaller. Besides Captain America and Black Panther, no one else had volunteered. Still, a five-person team—Ben, Steve, T'Challa, Bucky, and Felicia—was more than enough to snatch the Orb. The real battle was yet to come.
Inside the H.A.M.M.E.R. base aboard the Helicarrier.
The newly formed team gathered. With Wakanda providing the raw vibranium, Ben had upgraded everyone's suits. Peter, with his symbiote, was a known quantity, but Felicia's safety was Ben's top priority.
"These new suits take full advantage of vibranium's unique properties," Ben explained, gesturing to a sleek black suit on a nearby mannequin. It was Felicia's new Black Cat armor. "After absorbing kinetic energy, it can be redirected and released in a counter-attack. At the same time, the claws are laced with Antarctic Vibranium—anti-metal—which can decompose most alloys on contact."
He was primarily addressing Felicia and T'Challa. He had not only adopted the energy-redirection functions from Shuri's designs but had also integrated the offensive capabilities of anti-metal.
But T'Challa still had a question. "When vibranium releases its stored energy, its own atomic structure is damaged. How have you overcome this?"
"Simple," Ben said with a grin. "The new suit is nano." He tapped a control on his wrist. The suit on the mannequin dissolved into a shimmering cloud of nanoparticles, which then flowed into a small, elegant pendant. "Nanotechnology."
Norman Osborn, who had joined them for the briefing, watched with a complex expression of pride and relief. It was with this very concept that Ben had first pitched his company to him, a wild, boastful claim from a brilliant teenager. Now, here it was, fully realized.
Ben didn't think it was any great feat. He had to give credit where it was due. Thank you, Galvan and Cerebrocrustacean engineering. He had spent countless hours as Grey Matter and Brainstorm, absorbing and processing knowledge at an exponential rate. Frankly, he felt that taking several all-nighters to perfect the nanotechnology had somewhat tarnished the reputation of both species.
"So, after the energy is released, the atomic structure of the vibranium is still damaged," Ben clarified, "but the nanites restore it instantly."
T'Challa's eyes widened in understanding. His admiration for Ben's intellect grew. Before this, the smartest person he had ever met was his sister, Shuri. Now, he knew that even she could not claim to be Ben's intellectual equal. Wakanda needs great scientists, T'Challa thought. It would be a great boon if Ben could be persuaded to join us. It would be even better if he would marry Shuri.
Ben, sensing the direction of the future king's thoughts, felt a sudden chill.
Rejection! Don't even think about it!
Fortunately, T'Challa's gaze fell upon the beautiful Black Cat, who was now sticking very close to Ben's side, and he knew it was an impossibility.
After distributing the new suits, Ben laid out the final mission details. "Intel from the Plumbers' headquarters has confirmed the location of the Orb. It's inside a temple ruin on the abandoned planet Morag."
A holographic map of the planet appeared. "Morag is a water world. For all intents and purposes, the entire planet is one vast ocean. The temple is only exposed to the surface during a planetary low tide, which occurs once every three hundred years. The next low tide is in four years."
"We have to wait four years to make a move?" Peter asked, his eyes wide.
Ben shook his head, a predatory glint in his eyes. "No. We dive." He turned to the team, his voice ringing with finality. "I have one last stop to make in Asgard. As soon as I return, we set off."
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