"The black tech in the Iron Man suit is really off the charts!"
In a deserted factory on the outskirts of New York, Bren, transformed into Kid Warrior, had disassembled nearly every single screw of the suit.
Before him lay various circuit boards, and with his large, wide pupils, he could almost trace their function in detail.
"The neural units in the helmet can connect with the wearer's armor, allowing for smoother control," he mused.
A heavy suit like this couldn't be powered solely by Tony's strength. But if every tiny movement had to be controlled by J.A.R.V.I.S., it would be too troublesome. Not to mention that War Machine didn't have an AI like J.A.R.V.I.S. and yet still operated just fine.
"Some parts are still beyond me... My knowledge of physics is too limited," Bren sighed before jumping off the suit.
The knowledge was all in his mind, but his brain was like a storage disk, merely recording without yet being able to apply it. With the transformation into Kid Warrior still active, he decided to read a bit more.
About half an hour later, Bren finally saw the Omnitrix deactivation sequence finish.
He pressed the button, and the core of the watch popped up. The symbol paused on a large, powerful creature. Bren pressed the core again, and black skin began to cover him, with green markings etched across his body like a circuit board!
"Shape-shifter!"
The Gaven Star shape-shifter was an intelligent life form created by Azmias on Gaven B, a moon of Gaven Star. Their biology was similar to amoebas, able to merge with and control mechanical objects, even adding new functions to achieve impossible modifications.
Now, Bren intended to use the shape-shifter's abilities to try and bring the unpowered armor to life once more.
The shape-shifter's body stood over two meters tall. Normally, it could maintain a bear-like standing posture but could also shift into a liquid-like form.
"This feels so weird," Bren muttered, watching the round pattern on his head flash.
"Alright, let's see how much the shape-shifter can upgrade Mark 3," Bren pressed his massive palm onto the unpowered armor, and in an instant, his body became like liquid, black and green, almost like Venom, as it began to cling to the suit.
Within moments, the originally red-and-gold suit was transformed into a black base covered in green patterns.
At the same time, the Omnitrix core filled the empty Ark Reactor slot. More importantly, Bren felt as if the suit had come to life, or perhaps, as if he had become the suit itself!
He tried to stand and move. As he did, the sound of metal and machinery filled the air.
"I've merged with the armor!" Bren looked down at his hands in awe.
Unlike simply transforming into the shape-shifter, by inhabiting the armor, he now had access to its full auxiliary functions. His body also felt considerably more durable.
He tried jumping and other movements and found them nearly identical to his own natural abilities.
While the armor's appearance didn't change drastically, Bren could alter it at will. For example, he could transform the whole hand into a thruster or a beam cannon. Essentially, he'd upgraded Mark 3 to a nano-level armor from the future's infinite wars.
Of course, this didn't mean the armor actually possessed nano-technology; it was more of a manifestation of the shape-shifter's life traits.
"Let's see how the weapons work." Bren struck a combat-ready pose, and in an instant, weapons popped out from every possible location on the suit, miniature bombs lined up neatly!
"These bombs were just consumables before, but now, thanks to the shape-shifter, they can be endlessly replicated."
"I'm like a mobile arsenal!" Bren was growing more excited by the second. If he wasn't worried about being detected, he would have flown out of the factory and taken a spin through the sky.
After about half an hour of playing with the suit, the Omnitrix started flashing red, and the factory was filled with sharp alarms.
Bren was forcefully separated from the suit, reverting to his original form. At the same time, the suit, which had previously moved with him as if it were alive, now collapsed like a pile of fallen building blocks.
Looking at the scattered parts, Bren patted his body. "What a pity, once the shape-shifter detaches from a host, the modifications become useless."
This meant Bren would have difficulty fighting while transformed into the shape-shifter and inhabiting the Iron Man suit. After all, he couldn't carry the heavy, cumbersome parts everywhere with him. Not to mention, Tony would definitely notice.
"If only the shape-shifter could devour technological creations like the shape-shifter demon."
The shape-shifter demon was a genetically flawed version of the shape-shifter. Its body patterns and core were red, as if it were on the verge of uncontrollable rampage or a corrupted program.
However, the shape-shifter demon's abilities far surpassed that of the regular shape-shifter. It could consume technology, integrate it into its body, and infinitely replicate and upgrade it—even the Omnitrix core.
If it were the shape-shifter demon, it could have easily "devoured" the Mark 3 and transformed into the Iron Man suit at will.
"Never mind, I don't want to risk contaminating the Omnitrix."
In the following hours, Bren kept repeating the transformation process and alien hero switches, all while waiting for the Omnitrix's cooldown to finish... until the evening gradually fell…
…
Nighttime in New York was far from safe.
Walking alone on the street at night was a common risk for robbery.
Especially when one had to cross 12 blocks and take a sparsely populated subway after finishing work at 9 PM, the journey became even more difficult.
May Parker huddled in the cold wind.
Years of fatigue had made her look frail, her graying hair was dry and unkempt.
She anxiously kept looking down the road, every passing shadow making her uneasy.
Earlier in the day, her nephew had promised to pick her up after school, but she had already been standing in the cold for hours without seeing Peter.
She could have gone home early, but feared Peter might have simply been delayed. If she left now, she might miss him.
But now…
"Could something have happened to Peter?"
The long wait was starting to make her extremely anxious. Peter had never been this late before. If he was home, he would have realized he'd forgotten to pick her up.
The longer the wait, the more worried May became.
If Peter had merely forgotten, it wouldn't be so bad. But she feared something might have happened to him.
At that moment, as she was about to leave, a shadow suddenly rushed toward her from the end of the street.
May instinctively tightened her grip on her bag.