Aunt May had just pushed open the bedroom door when a sudden burst of brilliant green light shot from inside, forcing her to shield her eyes.
The flash disappeared as quickly as it came.
When May blinked away the afterimage, she saw Bant lying in bed. The blanket was pulled up so high it looked as if he were hiding a full-grown animal underneath it, with only his head showing.
"Hi, May," Bant said, trying his best to sound casual.
"...Are you alright?" May asked slowly.
She had dozens of questions ready to spill out.
What was that flash?
What was that noise earlier?
And why did his blanket look like it was covering a two-hundred-pound hog?
But in the end, she swallowed all of it. Children needed privacy. Even her own worries had limits.
She simply stepped closer and rested a warm, gentle hand against Bant's forehead. Her hand had seen years of housework and life, but it had never lost its kindness.
"You do not have a fever. But I still think I should take you to the hospital." She already sounded like she was preparing to drag him out of bed.
The moment she reached toward the blanket, Bant tightened his grip, almost curling around it protectively. "Wait, Aunt May. I am okay. I really am. No hospital."
A hospital visit here was not a small thing. Medical bills were enough to crush a family. Bant refused to add burdens to the people who had given him everything.
May frowned. "You have been absent from school for days now, Bant. Since the day you and Peter came back from Oscorp, you have both been acting strange. At least Peter recovered quickly, but you... Uncle Ben and I are worried."
"I just... did not want to go to school." Bant looked away and clutched the blanket harder.
"Did not want to go to school?" May raised her voice slightly, surprised and disappointed. She was seconds away from launching into a lecture when the sound of an old car engine rumbled from outside.
Uncle Ben's old pickup. Its cough and rattle were unmistakable.
"Uncle Ben is home? I thought he had work today," Bant said quickly.
May's expression tightened.
"Peter got into a fight at school." The sadness in her voice softened everything. "I need to go check on him."
She reached the door, then paused and looked back at Bant.
"Later tonight, your uncle and I will come talk to you. Alright?"
"Yes, Aunt May."
She stepped out, closing the door behind her.
Only after her footsteps faded down the stairs did Bant finally release the breath he had been holding. He threw off the blanket.
He still had traces of the spider-monster form he nearly turned into. The Omnitrix had not finished repairing the mutation. That was why he had stayed under the covers.
[Omnitrix power levels low. Recharging in progress. Estimated time to complete genetic correction: 1 minute 37 seconds.]
"Unbelievable. You can power a universal fail-safe self-destruct protocol but you get low battery now?" Bant stared at the device in disbelief. But even as he complained, he felt the changes in his body receding.
This meant he would likely lose the Spider-Man abilities once the correction finished.
But Bant only gave a small, confident smile.
"As long as the Omnitrix is working again, Spider-Man's powers are just one of many possibilities."
Among its alien forms were countless species with powers similar to or even greater than those of Spider-Man. The most obvious example was Arachnichimp, the spider-like alien monkey species. Strength, agility, webbing, wall-climbing. It had everything a spider-themed hero could want.
One minute and thirty-seven seconds passed quickly.
Bant felt normal again. No pain, no extra limbs, no hunger. But before he could test anything further, the Omnitrix beeped. The green dial switched to blue. Strange silhouettes flickered across the display like shifting shadows.
[Calibration Mode Initiated]
"Calibration mode?" Bant's heart jumped. "Did it reconnect to Primus?"
The original Omnitrix did not store every alien form directly. It uploaded and downloaded from Primus, selecting ten forms during initialization.
Ten aliens. The classic starter set.
Which ones would he get?
The strongest of all was Alien X, the omnipotent cosmic being. But Bant had no desire to deal with the dual-personality cosmic arbitration nightmare that came with it.
While he was thinking, the calibration finished.
The exterior of the Omnitrix did not change. But new icons now filled the holographic selection.
Bant pressed the side switches. The dial rose. Two triangular plates rotated, aligning into a square shape.
The icon showed a humanoid figure engulfed in flame.
"Heatblast," Bant whispered.
He rotated again.
Wildmutt. Diamondhead. Four Arms. XLR8.
"The original ten."
Each form powerful. Each filling a different niche. And among them was the one he needed most: Grey Matter. The tiny genius alien with intellect rivaling Azmuth himself. Bant knew exactly how valuable that would be.
Not to mention, Bant was far more educated and logical than the original Ben Tennyson had been at ten years old. The potential was enormous.
He did not transform yet. Instead, he tugged his sleeve down to cover the watch. Because someone was climbing the stairs.
"That sounds like Peter," Bant murmured. Then froze. "Wait. How did I even hear that?"
His hearing was sharper. Sensitive. Spider-like.
The door opened.
"Hey, Bant. Feeling any bett—"
Peter stopped mid-sentence.
The moment their eyes met, an electric tension sparked between them. A primal instinct neither could name but both recognized.
Their senses sharpened. Awareness spiked.
Spider-Sense.
"You... too," Peter breathed, eyes widening.
"Do not tell me you also got bitten!"
A few days earlier at Oscorp, Peter had been bitten by a spider. Overnight, everything about him changed. His strength, his reflexes, his senses.
And now, standing before him, was his cousin. With the same unmistakable aura.
Bant was a little surprised himself. The Omnitrix had removed the destructive mutation, but it had preserved the enhanced physical traits. He had strength. Agility. Instinct.
He was not helpless anymore.
So when Peter asked, Bant thought for a moment before responding.
"To be precise," Bant said, expression serious and extremely honest,
"I ate the spider."
Peter just stared at him.
"...What?"