As the heroes assembled on the dusty savanna, the true scale of their opponent became terrifyingly clear. From the Quinjet, the Earth Elemental had been a distant threat; up close, it was a force of nature. It was a walking geological event, so majestic in its raw power that they barely reached the height of its colossal feet.
The first Gwen, her symbiote suit rippling with nervous energy, couldn't help but mutter, "How are we even supposed to fight that?"
The first Spider-Man, standing beside her, felt a similar sense of powerlessness. Could his strength, however great, truly shake a mountain? He clenched his fists, his resolve hardening. "We do our best," he said, his voice steady. "That's all we ever can do."
With that, he broke into a sprint. Though the plains were wide and empty, the elemental itself provided all the anchor points he needed. Firing a web line, he swung high into the air, landing silently on the creature's broad, rocky back. He took a breath, planted his feet, and threw a punch with every ounce of strength he possessed.
CRACK!
The sound was sharp and clear, like stone splitting under impossible pressure. A spiderweb of fissures radiated from his knuckles, and a chunk of rock the size of a car door crumbled away, crashing to the ground below.
"Whoa! You are awesome, man!" the second Spider-Man yelled from the ground, his voice filled with genuine shock. As a Spider-Man himself, he knew his counterpart was strong, but he'd never imagined the difference was this immense.
The elemental staggered, rocked by the unexpected blow. Before it could regain its footing, the Hulk, now fully transformed, came crashing down from above. He landed on its head with the force of a meteor, his two massive fists smashing down in a brutal, synchronized strike.
The double impact made the behemoth's steps weak. The second Spider-Man and Gwen exchanged a knowing glance. In that instant, they both recalled the same tactic from a past battle—the strategy used against a giant-sized Scott Lang. They shot off in opposite directions, each heading for one of the elemental's enormous legs, which stood like monolithic pillars. He could only hope the webbing Tony had supplied was as strong as advertised; his own certainly wouldn't be enough.
They became two blurs, arcing between the colossal legs and leaving shimmering, high-tensile threads in their wake. In moments, they had woven a complex, high-tech cat's cradle.
The webbing pulled taut. The Earth Elemental, already off-balance from the continuous assault, tried to take a stabilizing step forward. Its leg snagged. With another thunderous blow from the Hulk, its momentum shifted, and it lost its balance completely. With a ground-shattering thud that shook the very air, the giant sat down hard. It hadn't fallen completely, but its advance on Nairobi had been halted.
The shockwave from the impact sent Marko, who had just managed to re-condense his sandy form, flying apart again. With a silent sigh, he dissolved entirely into a swirling cloud of sand. He abandoned any thought of a head-on confrontation and instead began to work at the creature's base, piling sand around its lower body to impede its movement. He drew more and more sand from the semi-arid soil, knowing that even the tons he was moving could only barely cover the elemental's legs.
High above, the Hulk continued his frantic hammering, sending large sheets of rock and dirt raining down. Enraged, the elemental reached up with a massive hand, snatched the green goliath from its head, and hurled him away. The Hulk flew for hundreds of meters before crashing back to earth.
The first Spider-Man, who had been thrown off when the creature fell, scrambled back onto its rocky back. He looked at his bruised, reddened fist and ignored the searing pain in his knuckles. He punched again, and this time, the existing cracks deepened and spread.
Seeing this from below, Scott Lang, who had been waiting for an opening, had a flash of inspiration. "Yes! That's it! It's my turn!"
"Scott! Are you sure?" a voice crackled in his ear. "You could get crushed in there!"
"How will we know if we don't try?" Scott replied, taking two deep breaths to steady his nerves. "Who can give me a ride?"
"I've got you!" The first Harry swooped down on his Green Goblin glider.
Scott clambered aboard, pressed the shrink button on his suit, and laid flat. "Go!"
"Hold on tight!" Harry gunned the glider, racing towards the elemental. "Peter!" he yelled.
The first Spider-Man turned to see them approaching. As Harry flew past, he clapped hands with Peter, and in that split second, Scott leaped from the glider onto Spider-Man's hand.
"Get me in there!" Scott shouted, his tiny voice echoing in Peter's ear. "I'll find its core!"
"Are you sure about this?" Peter hesitated, the risk feeling immense.
"It's the only way, isn't it?" Scott retorted. He could already see the cracks on the elemental's head beginning to seal themselves. An attack of this magnitude wasn't enough to kill it.
"Okay!" Peter placed Scott on his left hand, drew back his right fist, and punched again, forcing the crack to widen. "Get in, quick! Good luck, man!" He thrust his hand into the creature's body.
"Wait for my good news!" Scott yelled, then jumped from Peter's hand and disappeared into the dark interior of the elemental.
The inside was a shifting labyrinth of stone and earth, far worse than he'd imagined. Though the external blows had created fissures, most of the creature's body was still a solid, grinding mass. Fortunately, the damage had left gaps and tunnels. From time to time, Scott could see a faint light pulsing through the elemental's body—the energy that controlled it. That had to be the core. He set off in its direction, constantly dodging what looked like falling boulders but were merely pebbles to the outside world.
Back on the surface, with Scott inside, the first Spider-Man grew cautious. The continuous heavy punches had made his wrist swell painfully, forcing him to stop. Below, Marko worked tirelessly, covering the elemental's body layer by layer with sand, pinning it down.
"ROAR!" The Hulk, having recovered, charged back into the fray. But the elemental was ready. It swatted him with a backhand blow that sent him tumbling. The hit only made the Hulk angrier, his strength surging. He had no concerns for the man inside. With a furious bellow, he leaped onto the elemental's massive arm and began to savagely climb, intent on tearing it apart piece by piece.