Norman began gradually taking over H.A.M.M.E.R.'s operations and handed Oscorp off to Harry.
Harry had already proven he could manage a company through his work with the Plaimos division. Besides, the research side of things didn't require Norman's personal involvement anymore.
Peter went back to his daily life as the friendly neighborhood hero, stopping criminals and helping old ladies cross the street.
The Avenger title brought some convenience, but it also complicated his superhero career.
Now, way more people wanted photos with him.
Peter loved every second of it.
He'd been a hero for a while, but this was the first time he'd ever been this popular.
Of course, people also hit him with all kinds of questions: why he wouldn't reveal his identity, why Hacker Spider-Man wouldn't join the Avengers, why Harry Osborn wouldn't join the Avengers...
As for Bant, he'd barely shown his face after everything settled.
But in reality, he was helping Norman sort through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s assets. Norman had been a civilian before, after all, so there were plenty of things he still didn't fully grasp.
Most of the classified research projects came courtesy of that old-timer, Coulson.
The balding agent was genuinely good at his job.
A spy didn't need that cocky, cool-guy routine where you put on sunglasses and instantly scream "I'm extraordinary."
What you needed was a kind-faced, nice guy like Coulson.
So even though he knew Coulson was Fury's right-hand man, Bant still suggested to Norman that they keep Coulson's file and let him stay on at H.A.M.M.E.R. as a Level Seven agent.
A former S.H.I.E.L.D. ground base.
Bant, Norman, and Hill all arrived together.
After S.H.I.E.L.D.'s collapse, this place had naturally become one of H.A.M.M.E.R.'s bases.
"Nick Fury's snake pits really aren't any fewer than Hydra's," Norman said with a chuckle.
Hill knew about this base. In fact, you could say Natasha and Barton knew about it too.
"Hydra still has more," Bant said. "Because everything S.H.I.E.L.D. had belonged to Hydra, but not everything Hydra had belonged to S.H.I.E.L.D."
The two of them cracked jokes about S.H.I.E.L.D. without holding back, and Hill's composure teetered a little.
She took a deep breath and shot Bant an exasperated glare, but it was completely harmless.
"The item is right here."
"Fury wanted to recreate Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., use that thing to build a powerful weapon. But the research has been going really slow."
The three of them walked up to an enormous disc. The metal disc looked like a gigantic circuit board, and at its center sat a glowing blue cube. The whole thing looked a bit like Iron Man's arc reactor.
"This is the Cosmic Cube you mentioned?" Norman asked.
"More precisely, an Infinity Stone," Bant said.
He stepped forward, reached out, and plucked the cube from its core housing.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s legacy could be taken over by Norman at a slow pace. Those things weren't going anywhere, and being in Norman's hands was no different from being in Bant's.
But right now, the Space Stone was more important.
"Infinity Stone? What's that?" Hill asked. This was the first time she'd heard the Cube called by that name.
Bant stowed the Cube away, tucking it into his backpack to keep the Casket of Ancient Winters company.
Then he explained.
"There are six Infinity Stones of immense power. If someone gathers them all, they can alter the entire universe's reality at will."
"And right now, there's a guy out in the universe who wants to try out some forced population control. He plans to use these things to wipe out half of all life at once. So this is better off in my hands."
Bant planned to wait until Loki reached Earth, then have him bring the Cube to Sakaar.
Of course, it'd be best to seal away the Cube's energy.
The Asgardians, who'd studied the Cube for thousands of years, should be quite good at that.
After securing the Tesseract, Bant didn't bother himself with H.A.M.M.E.R. any further.
He relaxed for a while, dating Mary Jane and Felicia back and forth. Sometimes the three of them even went out together.
Once he'd rested up, Bant locked himself deep beneath Plaimos and got ready to tackle the X Superman problem.
He'd thought of a loophole to exploit.
Back when Ben first transformed into X Superman, the two consciousnesses reached a consensus: they would agree to Ben's first proposal.
Unfortunately, Ben had no idea how powerful X Superman really was back then. He wound up using a cannon to kill a mosquito, wasting that proposal on fixing a dam.
"If my first proposal had been, 'Let me control X Superman's body,' wouldn't I have been able to get permanent access to X Superman's power?"
With that thought, Bant decided to give it a try.
He slid the watch's icon to the X Superman symbol and pressed down gently.
In an instant, his body turned black, dotted with specks of white starlight. He looked like the universe itself.
X Superman!
Born from the cosmic forge of creation.
The omnipotent Celestialsapien race!
But right after the transformation, the X Superman remained completely motionless, like a statue.
Inside the mind space.
Bant floated within an endless expanse of darkness. Far ahead, two enormous faces loomed before his eyes.
Unlike the two green faces Ben had seen, the faces before Bant were one black and one white, just like X Superman's body itself.
"You've finally come, Bant Parker."
The black face was like the night sky.
"We've been waiting for you for a long time."
The white face was like a bright star.
Both faces appeared feminine, and their voices sounded more like women's.
"Now that you're here, let's begin the first proposal..."
"Hold on."
Bant cut them off, raising a hand.
"X Superman, I'm here to negotiate."
The two giant faces were several times larger than his own body.
"X Superman? Rude little boy," the black face said, displeased. "My name is Enara."
The white face said softly, "My name is Owayna."
"Alright, Enara, Owayna, I'm here to negotiate." Bant floated toward the two enormous faces.
He wasn't surprised that his version of X Superman was different from the one Ben had.
The little Omnitrix transformed the user into the optimal specimen of a species.
But for an omnipotent being like X Superman, every individual in the species was optimal.
So whatever personalities showed up in the mind space wouldn't be strange at all.
"I want control of X Superman's body," Bant declared loudly.
Enara's face immediately darkened. "Allow Bant Parker to gain control of X Superman's body. Denied."
Owayna, the white face, echoed, "Proposal denied."
Both faces answered in unison: "Motion denied!"
"So decisive? I thought you'd give me one guaranteed pass," Bant said, surprised.
For X Superman, there wasn't much difference between justice and evil. They didn't care about such things, because everything was but a thought away for them.
X Superman could destroy or remake the multiverse on a whim. Even omniversal threats or worse were nothing to them.
"That was our original intention," Owayna said gently.
Then Enara took over. "Unfortunately, someone wants to game the system. We give you one wish, and you dare ask for more wishes. Bant Parker, you're far too greedy."
Bant: ...
Well, Enara had hit the nail on the head there.
"So after learning your intentions, we overturned the original proposal," Owayna said.
"You know my thoughts?" Bant shot back.
"Of course. We know everything."
"Alright, then I'll change my proposal." Bant rubbed his chin, thinking. "I know you two need to be in agreement to act. How about we change the proposal-passing method to majority rule?"
Enara and Owayna exchanged a glance.
Enara spoke. "Change the proposal method to majority rule. Denied."
Owayna: "Proposal denied."
Both shouted at Bant in unison: "Motion denied!"
"Why this time?" Bant asked, somewhat irked. He got the feeling that these two personalities of his X Superman were deliberately ganging up on him.
This time Owayna spoke first, her tone gentle. "We need the agreement of three personalities to pass a proposal."
"But as the one proposing, I already agree."
"It is we who disagree!" Enara said sternly. "Bant Parker, you're only putting forward proposals that benefit you."
"Majority rule seems fair, but whenever Owayna and I are deadlocked, you become the deciding vote."
"Haven't you been waiting for me to help you resolve proposals?" Bant countered.
"Not in this way, little Bant," Owayna said. "If adding another personality only gives you an extra vote, then debate becomes meaningless."
"Exactly. If we're just moving to resolve proposals, why don't we just play rock-paper-scissors?"
Bant tilted his head and said, "Because you don't have hands?"
Enara was fuming. Owayna was also a bit annoyed.
"You..."
"Get out!" Enara roared.
Bant's vision went black. In the next instant, he regained control of his body, but his consciousness felt like it had flown back across millions of light-years.
"Wait... didn't you say it took three to agree? I didn't agree to cancel the transformation!"
Even as he said that, Bant quickly abandoned the idea of transforming into X Superman again.
Clearly, these two personalities were even harder to deal with than Ben's Bellicus and Serena. He really couldn't figure out how to convince them.
"Don't tell me I have to start from the dinosaur extinction and slowly deliberate with them?"
"No, this is the Marvel Universe. There are far more bizarre things. The proposals between the two of them might be even more numerous..."
Bant sighed. For now, he could only shelve the X Superman problem and talk to them again when they weren't so angry.
Meanwhile.
In space.
A cloaked ship was steadily approaching Earth.
/-\
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