The moment Ben stepped out of his car, the cool night air carried the scent of ozone and burning metal. His gaze locked onto Ghost Spider—a spectral figure silhouetted against the backdrop of flickering emergency lights. Her pristine white costume, accented with neon-pink web patterns, seemed to absorb the surrounding chaos rather than reflect it.
"Who are you?" Ben demanded, his voice cutting through the hiss of broken steam pipes and the distant wail of approaching sirens. "And how the hell did you hack into Baymax?"
Ghost Spider remained motionless, the expressionless eyes of her mask revealing nothing. The wind tugged at the edges of her hood, but she stood unnaturally still—a phantom materialized from the debris and smoke of the ruined warehouse. The tension between them crackled like the exposed electrical wires hanging from the ceiling.
Behind her, flames licked at the collapsed eastern wall, casting everything in an ominous orange glow. Emergency sprinklers sputtered ineffectively overhead, droplets catching the light like falling stars.
Vulture, hovering a few feet above the ground, assessed the situation with calculating eyes. His mechanical wings hummed with energy, the vibration sending small clouds of dust swirling beneath him. The weathered lines of his face deepened as he smirked, shifting his weight to better balance himself.
"Well, clearly," he said, voice gruff with age and cynicism, "there's no reason to keep fighting here." His wings adjusted with a series of sharp clicks and whirs. "How about you two have a nice chat, and we just be on our way?"
Ben turned to him, jaw tightening as he stepped over a chunk of fallen concrete. The Omnitrix on his wrist pulsed faintly green, as if sensing his rising anger. "Right. Because letting a bunch of high-tech criminals just walk away makes so much sense." His fingers brushed against the device unconsciously. "You guys scream 'villain' from a mile away. Your past actions confirm it, and the tech you use? Way too advanced for today's standards."
Ben took another step forward, the rubble crunching beneath his sneakers. "I want answers. Who are you people? And how do you know my name?"
His challenge hung in the air like the dust motes illuminated by the emergency lights. The distant sound of police helicopters grew closer, searchlights occasionally sweeping through the gaping holes in the warehouse roof.
Before he could press further, Ben pivoted toward Spider-Man, who was perched atop a damaged forklift. The young hero's costume was torn in places, revealing glimpses of bruised skin beneath.
"And you—dude, why are you getting into fights without telling me again?" The concern beneath Ben's frustration was evident in the slight tremor of his voice.
Spider-Man threw up his hands in exasperation, the whites of his mask's eyes widening dramatically. "Are you kidding me? I was kidnapped last time I showed up!" He shot a web at a dangling pipe to swing closer, landing with feline grace beside Ben. "Ghost Spider here just rescued me. She literally broke through the roof and took down six armed guards before I could even get out of my restraints."
Ben's eyes widened, the implications hitting him like a physical blow. "Wait, what?!"
He immediately whirled around to question Ghost Spider, but where she had stood moments before was now empty space. Nothing but settling dust and the faint scent of something electric—like ozone after lightning strikes.
"Baymax, what the hell?" Ben hissed, pressing his finger against his earpiece. His heart rate spiked, a cold feeling of vulnerability washing over him. "Are you compromised again? Why didn't you tell me she was leaving?"
Baymax's usually calm voice carried an unusual note of confusion. "Sir, her suit is highly advanced. She possesses technology capable of jamming my sensors." There was a brief pause, followed by something that sounded suspiciously like digital frustration. "Additionally, her artificial intelligence was able to block my tracking systems. The sophistication suggests quantum encryption protocols that exceed my current capabilities."
Ben clenched his jaw, running a hand through his hair as he processed this information. Another AI? One advanced enough to outmaneuver Baymax? Whoever Ghost Spider was, she wasn't just some random vigilante. She had resources, technology, and knowledge that put her in a league far beyond street-level heroes.
A creaking sound from above made him look up—water-damaged ceiling beams groaned under structural stress. The building wouldn't last much longer.
His attention snapped back to the two remaining villains—Vulture still hovering nearby, and Electro, whose body pulsed with barely contained energy, creating eerie shadows that danced across the walls. Blue-white electricity arced between his fingers, reflecting in the puddles forming on the concrete floor.
Ben pointed a finger at them, his stance widening in preparation. "Alright, surrender or struggle. Your choice." His voice dropped an octave, carrying the weight of countless battles. "But make it quick—this place is coming down around us."
Vulture and Electro exchanged glances—a silent conversation between longtime collaborators. Vulture's weathered face broke into a smirk, the scars around his eyes crinkling. "Yeah, I think I'll take the—" With a deafening mechanical screech, he rocketed into the sky, his wings slicing through the air with enough force to send debris flying in all directions.
Ben sighed, shoulders dropping momentarily. "They never take the peaceful option." He glanced at Spider-Man. "You take the bird man. I've got Sparky."
Electro stepped forward, the concrete beneath his feet blackening as electricity coursed through it. The air around him wavered with heat as he grinned maniacally, sweat gleaming on his forehead. "Let's light this place up!" His voice distorted, carrying an electronic reverberation that echoed throughout the warehouse.
Ben didn't hesitate. His movements were practiced, almost ritualistic as he tapped the Omnitrix and slammed down the dial with determination burning in his eyes.
A blinding pulse of emerald energy erupted from his wrist, enveloping his body in transformative light. His silhouette stretched and contorted as his very DNA rewrote itself. His skin darkened to obsidian, with vibrant green circuitry flowing beneath like luminous rivers. His eyes blazed with pure energy as twin antennae extended from his head, crackling with power. The air around him seemed to bend, reality itself making way for this new form.
As the transformation completed, the ground beneath him cracked from the pressure of raw energy. The warehouse's remaining lights flickered and died, drawing toward him like moths to flame.
"FEEDBACK!" His voice resonated with power, echoing throughout the collapsing structure.
Electricity from the warehouse's damaged circuits surged toward him—broken wires, sparking panels, even the energy from Electro's own body seemed drawn to him. It fed into his form like tributaries to an ocean, currents of raw power coiling around his limbs and torso. His fingers twitched as tendrils of energy wrapped around his hands, forming crackling whips of pure electricity.
Ben smirked, his alien face somehow conveying a very human confidence. "So, who wants their butt kicked first?" The challenge hung in the air, punctuated by the steady drip of water and the groaning of failing support beams.
Across the room, Electro's expression morphed from confidence to uncertainty. For the first time, doubt flickered in his eyes—but pride quickly overrode caution. With a primal scream, he unleashed a massive bolt of lightning straight at Feedback—enough voltage to power a small city, concentrated into a single devastating attack.
The electricity, a blinding lance of destruction meant to incinerate Ben on the spot, did the opposite—it was absorbed into his body like water into parched earth. Feedback's form hummed with power, circuits glowing brighter as the energy coursed through him. The air around him became super-charged, small objects beginning to float as electromagnetic fields disrupted gravity itself.
"Thanks for the snack," Feedback quipped, voice vibrating with barely contained power. He planted his feet firmly, bracing himself as he stretched his arms forward. "But I'm still hungry!"
He redirected the stored electricity back at Electro in a devastating blast—not just Electro's own power, but amplified and refined. The beam sliced through the air with a thunderous crack, illuminating the entire warehouse in stark white light.
Electro barely had time to scream before he was flung backward, body arcing like a rag doll. He crashed through a stack of metal crates, the impact sending them tumbling like dominoes. Sparks flew from his body as his powers short-circuited, leaving him twitching and groaning amid the wreckage.
Meanwhile, high above, Spider-Man was engaged in a deadly aerial ballet with Vulture. Despite his escape attempt, the winged villain couldn't shake the agile hero. Spider-Man launched himself from beam to beam, each movement calculated and precise.
"You know," Spider-Man called out as he dodged a razor-sharp wing, "you could have retired years ago! Taken up bird watching or something less—" he flipped over a piece of falling ceiling, "—hazardous to your health!"
Vulture snarled, banking sharply to the right. "Some of us don't have the luxury of retirement, bug!"
Spider-Man's lenses narrowed as he shot a web at the ceiling, using it to slingshot himself directly into Vulture's path. "It's arachnid, actually!"
With perfect timing, he released a barrage of webs, targeting the mechanical joints of Vulture's wings. The synthetic material caught in the delicate mechanisms, gumming up the works. Vulture tried to shake him off, banking and rolling, but Spider-Man was relentless.
"Time to clip those wings!" With a final powerful web shot, he yanked hard, using momentum and leverage to send them both spiraling downward in a controlled fall.
With expert precision honed through countless battles, Spider-Man twisted mid-air, positioning himself above Vulture. As they plummeted, he drove his feet into the villain's chest, redirecting their trajectory to slam Vulture into the concrete floor. The impact created a small crater, dust billowing outward in a perfect circle.
Before Vulture could even groan, Spider-Man's hands became a blur, weaving an intricate cocoon of webbing around his opponent. "And that's a wrap!" he declared, stepping back to admire his handiwork. He dusted his hands off theatrically, the whites of his mask's eyes narrowing in satisfaction. "Special delivery for the authorities, one bird man, extra crispy."
Feedback landed beside him with a heavy thud, concrete splintering beneath his feet. He held the unconscious Electro by the collar, the villain's body occasionally twitching with residual current. "Yeah," Ben said, dropping Electro unceremoniously next to Vulture, "that went well."
The warehouse continued to crumble around them, support beams giving way one by one. Through the gaping holes in the roof, the first hints of dawn painted the sky in watercolor hues of pink and gold.
Ben powered down, the Omnitrix flashing brilliantly as he reverted to his White Suit .
In the distance, police sirens wailed, drawing closer with each passing second. The first rays of sunlight spilled through the broken roof, illuminating the dust motes floating through the air like miniature stars, casting the scene in a surreal, almost ethereal glow.