The White-Clad Girl Swinging on Webs

Midtown Manhattan was a complete mess.

The wreckage of two mountain-sized Leviathans lay across the streets, still billowing black smoke. The surrounding Chitauri soldiers, like worker ants that had lost their queen, fell into brief disarray.

"Beep—beep—beep—"

A rapid, piercing red alarm sounded from the red-and-white giant's chest.

It was the wail of depleted energy. Though Way Big was powerful, maintaining the physical form of such a top-tier life-form born from the universe in this low-energy environment placed an exponential burden on the Omnitrix.

"Damn it, figures I couldn't stay cool for more than three minutes."

Jiang Li, in Way Big's form, felt a powerful wave of dizziness wash over him as his vision began to blur.

"Looks like show-off time is over."

The next second, red light exploded.

The towering giant vanished instantly, replaced by a tiny figure plummeting straight down from dozens of meters in the air.

"Jiang!"

On the street below, Steve Rogers, who had been using his shield to clear out the fodder troops, was horrified.

He had just started toward Jiang Li to catch him when several Chitauri thugs on flying vehicles immediately opened fire, cutting off his path.

"So this is the price?"

Jiang Li adjusted his posture in midair, trying to activate the Omnitrix again. Even turning into Stinkfly would do.

But the dial was nothing but silent red.

[Recharge Mode: Estimated recovery time: 180 seconds.]

"I'm screwed. Does Stark Industries' workers' comp cover 'falling from high altitude'?" Jiang Li gave a bitter laugh as he watched the ground rush closer.

At that critical moment.

The originally deep-blue wormhole in the sky suddenly twitched without warning, affected by the lingering gravitational waves from Gravattack's earlier attack.

A streak of purple lightning, crackling with glitch-like static, suddenly burst from the stable blue energy stream!

"Bzzzt—!!"

Space itself seemed to have been forcibly torn open by some unseen force.

Beyond that rift was not the dark void of space, but a world of dazzlingly vivid colors and neon light.

Whoosh—!

A tough white web shot out with the momentum of that world, sticking precisely to the "A" on Stark Tower.

Then, accompanied by a crisp cry of surprise, a slender figure swung out from the rift.

"Whoa! Why's the gravity here so heavy?!"

Using the web's swing, the figure glided through the air like a white sprite, tracing a perfect arc. With a midair twist, she spotted Jiang Li in free fall.

"Got you, unlucky guy!"

Jiang Li felt something tighten around his waist as a web wrapped around him.

Then a massive pull stopped his descent. He was yanked toward the figure and crashed into an... unexpectedly soft yet resilient embrace.

"Thud."

The two landed smoothly, sliding several meters across the roof of an abandoned bus before striking a classic superhero landing pose.

Jiang Li opened his eyes.

Before him was a face beneath a white hood, covered by a black-and-white mask.

The large pink eye lenses narrowed and widened with her expression as they studied him curiously.

Her skintight suit outlined the girl's athletic figure, its inner layer patterned with eye-catching purple-and-pink webs. A lock of short blonde hair peeked out from beneath her hood.

Spider-Gwen!

Gwen Stacy from Earth-65!

"Hey, handsome."

Gwen released Jiang Li from her arms, crouched on the bus roof, and tilted her head. Her tone was light. "I didn't want to interrupt your 'leap of faith,' but this place looks... not much like Brooklyn?"

Jiang Li froze for two seconds before abruptly looking at the Omnitrix on his wrist.

Though it was still glowing red in cooldown, the dial had vibrated wildly for an instant just now, as if it had detected some kind of highly compatible biological sample.

"Of course..." Jiang Li took a deep breath. "That hit from Gravattack burned out the Multiverse's servers."

"Watch out!"

Before Jiang Li could explain, the white eyes on Gwen's mask widened sharply.

Her Spider-Sense went into overdrive!

She slammed Jiang Li's head down, and both of them dropped flat.

"Boom!"

A Chitauri energy blast struck where they had just been standing, blasting the metal roof apart.

"Whoa, these aliens are ugly. Even uglier than the Lizard I fight back home."

Gwen flicked her wrist, her movements smooth and fluid.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Two webs shot out and instantly plastered themselves across the faces of two Chitauri soldiers. She yanked hard, ripping them straight off their flying vehicles.

"Hey! I don't know who you are, but it looks like we're on the same side?"

As Gwen nimbly leaped between flying vehicles, she shouted at Jiang Li, "I'm... uh, just call me Ghost-Spider. Or whatever you want."

"Gwen."

Jiang Li rose to his feet, picked up a Chitauri energy rifle, expertly chambered it, and smiled at Gwen.

"I'll just call you Gwen."

"How do you know my name?" Gwen's huge eyes turned into circles, and she nearly slipped. "Did we meet at some parallel-universe party?"

"Something like that."

Jiang Li pointed at the wormhole in the sky. "In a comic book store very, very far away."

By then, more and more Chitauri were gathering around them. Without his transformation ability, Jiang Li was like a prize piece of meat.

"Looks like we're surrounded." Gwen stood back-to-back with Jiang Li. "Can you fight, handsome? Or was that giant form of yours just an inflatable special effect?"

"I'm in 'recharge' mode right now."

Jiang Li glanced at the Omnitrix, which was still counting down. "I need two more minutes."

"Two minutes? In this hellhole, we could die ten times over in two minutes!"

"Then we hold on ten times!"

Jiang Li pulled the trigger, precisely detonating a Chitauri fuel tank. "Trust me. Once I'm charged up, you'll see an even better magic trick."

"Hey! You there, the chick in the ballet leotard!"

At that moment, the roar of thrusters came from the sky.

Iron Man swooped down, his repulsors blasting apart the Chitauri squad surrounding them.

Tony hovered in midair, his helmet open as he stared at Gwen with an expression like he'd seen a ghost.

"While I'm happy to see a new superhero joining in, could you first explain where that outfit came from? An Osborn Industries biological experiment? Or an escaped circus performer?"

"Circus?" Gwen was offended. "This is punk style, old man! And shouldn't you oil that tin suit of yours? It sounds like it's creaking."

"Old man?!" Tony felt an arrow pierce his heart, followed by another through his knee.

"Enough messing around!"

Steve Rogers charged over with his shield raised, smashing one alien flat with a single blow.

He glanced at Gwen. Though confused, his instincts as a captain made him choose to unite every available force first.

"Whoever you are, as long as you're fighting these aliens, you're our comrade."

Steve pointed at the top of Stark Tower. "If we don't close that wormhole, this fight will never end."

"Close the wormhole?"

Gwen looked at the purple-glowing opening, then at the watch on Jiang Li's wrist.

"That hole feels weird... The force that sucked me in just now seemed to resonate with the watch on your hand?"

Jiang Li's eyes narrowed.

That was right. The Omnitrix, the Space Stone, and the gravitational waves had formed some kind of connection.

Maybe... one of the species in the Omnitrix could understand that connection.

"Gwen, get me up there!"

Jiang Li suddenly grabbed Gwen's wrist, his gaze resolute. "I have a way to shut it down, but I need to get close to that machine!"

"Up there?" Gwen glanced at Stark Tower, hundreds of meters tall. "That's VIP seating. It costs extra."

Despite the quip, Gwen didn't hesitate.

She wrapped an arm around Jiang Li's waist, firing a thick web from her wrist that stuck to the tower's outer wall.

"Hold tight! This is New York's most exciting roller coaster!"

"Whoosh—!"

The two shot into the air, swinging through the hail of gunfire toward the top of Stark Tower.

At that moment, the Omnitrix's cooldown timer finally hit zero.

Green light shone again, like a beacon of hope.

Jiang Li looked at the wormhole now within reach, as well as Loki standing at the top floor, preparing to regain control of the situation with his scepter.

"Loki, did you think I was out of juice just now?"

Jiang Li placed a finger on the dial.

This time, he did not choose a combat-oriented hero.

Faced with the problem of a pure-energy shield and spatial science, he needed the smartest brain in the universe.

"Grey Matter!"

Jiang Li turned the dial and stopped on the icon of a gray little figure no bigger than a palm, yet possessing two brains.

"Who says saving the world always has to rely on fists?"

The corner of Jiang Li's mouth lifted as he pressed the dial in midair.

"Sometimes, brains work better than muscles."