Many watched with conflicted feelings as Ant-Man squared off against the massive Zilo Beast, only for the battle to spiral completely out of control.
"Humanity's arrogance lies in thinking we can control nature," Steve Rogers muttered, his shield gleaming in the chaos.
In the strange, eerie silence that followed, Peter said calmly, "Let them fight."
The others stared at Spider-Man like he'd lost his mind, with reactions ranging from incredulous "Are you serious?" to outright "What the hell, Peter?"
"Shouldn't we try to drive them away from the city—"
"Let them fight," Spider-Man repeated firmly.
Ant-Man began trading massive punches with the Zilo Beast, who retaliated with equal ferocity. It was a colossal battle of epic proportions as two behemoths beyond imagination collided with thunderous impacts, each blow shaking the ground beneath their feet.
"The gas bombs will be deployed any minute, Peter," Falcon warned through the comm. "We need to get these two away from here and back toward the Senate building."
"Let them fight!"
War Machine quickly figured out what was going through the youngest Avenger's mind.
"You... you just want to see two giants duke it out, don't you? Like some kind of kaiju movie?"
"I'm not ashamed to admit it," Anakin chimed in with obvious excitement. "Let them fight!"
"Ani! You can't say that!" Padmé shouted in disbelief at her husband's enthusiasm.
"What? Can you blame us? This is incredibly cool and absolutely mind-blowing!"
Ant-Man—now in his GiAnt-Man form—dodged a devastating swing from the Zilo Beast's fifth appendage, wrapped his massive arms around it, and pivoted backward to launch a powerful counterattack.
"Wooo!" Spider-Man and Anakin cheered in unison, joined by several nearby clone troopers who had gotten caught up in the spectacle.
Studying the Zilo Beast's multiple legs as it fought, Spider-Man suddenly had a brilliant idea.
"Guys! I've got a plan!"
"We're listening, kid," Falcon shouted, unleashing a sustained barrage of repulsor fire into the beast's armored head.
"We need to tangle up those legs," Spider-Man explained, already swinging into action, "trip it up so it goes down hard."
"Risky, but it could work," Captain America decided quickly. "Peter, web up its legs. Sam, use your wing cables to help Spider-Man with the restraints. Rhodes, Scott—keep hammering that thing's head and keep it distracted."
"Roger that!"
Spider-Man and Falcon swooped low, with Peter swinging in complex patterns around the Zilo Beast's massive legs, coating them in dense webbing that quickly formed into strong binding lines.
"Hey, Pietro!" Spider-Man called out to Quicksilver and tossed him the web-line. "Think you can handle some speed-weaving?"
Quicksilver grinned wickedly and blurred into motion around the Zilo Beast, with Spider-Man providing a constant stream of webbing reinforced by Falcon's high-tensile cables.
The Zilo Beast began to stagger, struggling to maintain its footing. It was using its arms and additional appendages to stay upright when something incredibly powerful struck it hard on the crown of its head.
The creature barely had time to react before two massive fists—courtesy of Ant-Man—slammed into its face with bone-crushing force.
As the Zilo Beast toppled backward, Spider-Man cheered triumphantly.
His celebration distracted him from the beast's whipping fifth limb, which caught Spider-Man with a devastating backhand strike.
"Peter!" Ahsoka screamed as she and Barriss rushed toward the tumbling Spider-Man.
Falcon dove after him, having seen the young hero take the brutal hit from the creature's appendage.
As they converged, both Jedi padawans instinctively reached out with the Force to cushion Peter's fall and redirect his trajectory. However, Spider-Man was moving too fast, and ended up colliding with both girls. All three teenagers crashed through a building's exterior wall in a tangle of limbs.
When the dust settled and the groaning stopped, the three teens slowly untangled themselves.
"Thanks for the save, guys," Spider-Man said weakly, his voice muffled.
"You're... welcome," Ahsoka muttered, her head spinning from the impact.
Barriss began to struggle as she realized something was weighing her down.
"Peter," Barriss said pointedly.
"Yeah? What's wrong?"
"Would you mind moving your hands?"
Spider-Man looked down and his eyes went wide behind his mask as he realized his hands had landed on a rather inappropriate area of the Mirialan padawan's body. He jerked his hands away and stammered rapid apologies.
"Oh God, sorry! So sorry! I didn't mean—complete accident—"
"It's fine, Peter. Really." Barriss dusted herself off and offered him a hand up, her cheeks only slightly green with embarrassment.
"Everyone okay?" Falcon asked as he landed beside them, with Anakin jogging over from the main battle.
"Yeah," Spider-Man said tiredly, pulling off his mask to reveal his disheveled hair. "Just my pride that's wounded."
Ant-Man finally pressed the regulator that returned him to normal size, and Hope immediately rushed to Scott as he shrank back down.
"Scott!" she called out in obvious concern, grabbing his shoulders. "Hey, look at me. Focus on my voice."
Scott couldn't speak at first, just gasped as he tried to control his racing heart rate. After several long moments, his breathing slowly returned to normal.
Hope smiled with relief and pulled him into her arms.
"I'd say we can call that a successful field test," Scott said weakly, managing a grin.
"Yeah. I just wish Dad could have been here to see it," Hope replied softly.
They looked up to see Captain America approaching with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Aayla Secura.
"Have you been holding back on us, Scott?" Steve asked with good-natured humor. "Because you could definitely use that ability against Ultimo."
"What? No, no," Scott panted, still catching his breath. "That was purely experimental. I wasn't even sure it would work without major complications."
After finishing that sentence, exhaustion finally overtook him and Scott collapsed. Hope smiled lovingly and kissed his forehead as he lost consciousness.
Their tender moment was interrupted by the sound of metal scraping against concrete and a deep, rumbling growl.
Everyone turned to see the Zilo Beast struggling to get back to its feet. At that same moment, they spotted numerous Republic gunships approaching their position at high speed.
"Those are—"
"Republic forces, yes."
Within moments, a dozen specialized missiles launched from the gunships, streaking directly toward the wounded beast. Upon impact, massive clouds of green gas erupted around the creature, with several canisters detonating directly in its mouth. As the sustained chemical attack continued, the Zilo Beast screamed and thrashed violently before its movements began to slow dramatically.
When the toxic green cloud drifted too close to the ground team, the Jedi on scene used the Force to push the deadly vapor away, protecting everyone from the lethal gas.
Eventually, the Zilo Beast collapsed in the shadow of the Senate building, its massive form finally still.
"Well... that's not a pleasant way to go," Peter muttered as the creature's death cries echoed across the battlefield. "Reminds me of the ending of Peter Jackson's King Kong."
"What's that?" asked both Jedi padawans curiously.
"A movie from back home on Earth."
"This didn't have to happen," Mace Windu said with obvious frustration and disappointment in his voice.
"The last Zilo Beast just died right before our eyes," Obi-Wan said grimly, his usual composure cracking. "As Jedi... this represents a grave failure in our duties as protectors of life."
The Jedi Master looked toward Captain America, then back at the now-motionless Zilo Beast.
All in all...
This was not the ending any of them had envisioned.
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