Where Is Thy Sting?

Ben closed the door to his latest search as he'd finally taken care of all Bruce's safehouses. He felt a little guilty of letting Azmuth read the notes, but it was all towards a possible cure for the gamma scientist. Frankly, Ben couldn't trust the information with anyone better. After leaving the building, the hero started his drive home. Unfortunately for him, he was in the middle of rush hour traffic. Ben pressed his forehead against the steering wheel as he had been on the same block for the past 15 minutes. "Why didn't I just fly there?" he muttered.

In the Omnitrix, Azmuth was overlooking a model of Bruce's DNA. "Because that would be an irresponsible use of my greatest creation. Also, you mentioned wanting to use the car to relax."

"It's counterproductive at this point. I am regretting myself already." He reached for the radio to search for any music to pass the time. Over the static, he heard a subtle thump, raising a brow when the sound grew louder. Eyes shifted to the rear-view mirror before widening at the scene. One by one, cars were being launched into the air, and the cause was heading towards him. "Oh, crap!" Thinking quickly, he dived out of the car door before his Nissan suffered the same fate as the others.

The aggressor turned out to be a green tornado, not even slowing down. "Out of the way, jackasses!" a male voice called out. He wasn't remotely trying to be subtle.

Ben glared at the person. He was about to go after him until he heard moaning behind him. Turning around, he saw the aftermath of the tornado's warpath. Unfortunately, a number of people were still trapped in their overturned vehicles. Some of the pedestrians either ran away or tried to help the people out of their vehicles. As much as Ben wanted to chase after him, there were more important things at stake. Making a quick detour to an alleyway, Ben went into action.

With an emerald flash, a large winged creature hovered into the street. It was a green insect-like body with four legs and two arms. The most distinguishing features were the four yellow pedunculated eyes from the sides of his head and the large black stinger. It wore a green sleeveless jumpsuit with black lining with the Omnitrix symbol on the top of his forehead. "Hang on, Stinkfly coming to the rescue. Azmuth, contact EMTs to our location."

"Calls in progress now," the AI replied back.

The Omnitrix Wielder touched down at the nearest overturned car. Unsurprisingly, the appearance of a giant green bug scared away some of those trying to help. "Well, that could have been handled better." Wafting away the smoke, he looked inside to see the disoriented driver. Stinkfly attempted to open the door, but the locks were jammed. Not wanting to rip the door off its hinged, he raised his stinger to smash through the window.

It seemed that the breaking glass was enough for the woman inside to snap out of it. She turned her head to the sound. Her eyes widened in fear, and she began screaming hysterically. "Ahhh! What the hell! Stay back!."

Caught off guard, Stinkfly took a step back with his hand up in a defensive manner. "Woah. Woah. Calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you." As expected, she continued to scream. He sighed in annoyance and slowly reached into the vehicle. "Stay still."

The woman froze but mostly in fear of the approaching creature. A black clawed hand went by her face, so she closed her eyes, hoping for a quick death. Said eyes immediately snapped open at a clicking sound and her body dropping.

Stinkfly had unbuckled her seatbelt and carried her out of the vehicle and onto the sidewalk. When he put her down, she scooted away while still staring at the alien hero. He sighed once more. "Listen. No one is going to hurt you. You're safe, now. Stay here. Medics are on the way."

She slowly nodded, dumbfounded by her current situation.

To his left, a siren wailed as an ambulance arrived, and the crew exited the vehicle. While a few were wary of the green insect handling one of the injured, one of them wasn't even fazed and walked to the two. "I can take care of her from here..."

Ben moved to the side to let her do her magic. "Thanks. Stinkfly by the way."

"Jane Foster." She brought a light to the woman's eyes to check her dilation. "We received a call about a Code blue. I take it that the supervillain hasn't been stopped yet."

He shook his head. "I saw him, but I had to stay behind to help those who were trapped."

"Thank you for your assistance. Continue to open the other cars." She turned to her crew "Jake, bring out the Jaws of Life!"

With that taken care of, Ben moved onto the next vehicle. "One down. Several more to go."

Meanwhile at the Cornell University, NYC Division, Entomology Building

The campus bell rang through the university as a brunette looks at butterflies in a cage. She walked through the quiet room glancing at even more insects for studies. Janet sighed. "This is sad, Hank. I'm the one that makes all this possible, you know?" She held her hand to the room. "This- This-"

"Science," the blonde man in a lab coat interjected. His eyes never left the microscope in front of him.

"Right. All the business arrangements. The grants." Her tone became more dejected. "I manage your entire life so you can do this. And it's so boring. So boring," she relented with a frown.

"Jan." Hank pointed to his work. "I'm mapping insect genomes." He went back to work. "What could be better?"

Before Janet could answer, the building shook. She looked out the window for the source. "Did you hear something?"

Down below, a man was walking down the sidewalk when the double doors next to him burst open with a green tornado speeding through.

The interruption was big enough to pause Hank's work, removing his eyes from the microscope. "What was that?" He turned around to ask his girlfriend only to find her empty suitcase and her clothes strewn on the desk by the open window. "Jan?"

Outside

The green tornado continues its destructive path, sending cars flying out of the street. From behind, Janet comes flying in a black and yellow suit, much small than before.

Her comm rang with Hank on the other line. "Jan, where did you go? I just replicated an ant chromosome. It's amazing."

"That's awesome, Hank," she replied sarcastically. "Got to fly now!" Janet chased the disturbance. Both of her hands glowed with yellow energy. Brining her fists together unleashed a beam at the tornado. Unfortunately, it managed to dodge out of the way and began weaving around the traffic. After a minute, Janet hovered to catch her breath, noticing a shadow cast over her. Looking up, her eyes widened in shock. "That is one big bug."

"Look out, bumblebee!"

The giant green insect descended down and grabbed one of the cars flying in her direction. As it settled the vehicle and its driver on the sidewalk, the green tornado started attacking Janet. She held her arms up. Both her and Stinkfly tried to resist the tremendous gale winds.

Puckering, the Alien hero shot globs of green slime from his eyestalks at the center of the tornado's cone.

Finally, the winds died down. The tornado dissipated, revealing a green armored being with several blades. He wiped the slime off his armor in disgust. "Gross!" He narrowed his eyes at Janet. "Did you just shoot this crap at me?"

"Uh, it was that guy." She pointed behind the crook.

Turning around, he finally got a good look at the green insect. "What the hell is that?!"

Janet chimed in at the ready. "Not gonna lie. I was asking myself the same thing."

The newcomer shrugged at the cute heroine and the criminal. "For the record, the name's Stinkfly. What? You've never seen a hero before?"

Wasp raised a brow. "Forgive me if I say you stand out from the rest. By the way, it's Wasp, not Bumblebee."

The armored man huffed and started laughing at the absurdity of the situation before pointing at them. "Really, this is the best the world can throw at me. Literal bugs?! Facing me was a mistake." He got up close to Wasp, causing her to back away. "Nobody messes with Whirlwind."

Janet glared at him back. She charged both of her hands and flew around him taking potshots at his armor.

"Whirlwind? So what, you just woke up and thought you'd trash some college lab?"

Stinkfly cocked an eyestalk. "Really? This entire mess was about him attacking a school?"

She fired another blast and nodded to him. "Yup. Gotta say, not very ambitious. I was expecting a bank robbery or something."

The wind stirred around Whirlwind's lower half as he dodged several of their attacks. "Not very ambitious? Trashing that lab just made me a millionaire."

Stinkfly smirked. "Would you look at that? We got a confession and a hint to an accomplice." He tapped the Omnitrix, and Whirlwind's words replayed.

Janet smirked. "Nice job, Stinky. He just saved the cops the trouble of interrogation after we take him down."

Realizing his slip up, Whirlwind attempted to grab her, but she slipped through his grasp.

Stinkfly shot more slime, slowing Whirlwind's movements even more. "Light him up!"

Wasp raised both arms and sent multiple bolts at the sluggish crook. As soon as the energy came into contact with the slime, it exploded into flames. Being at the center sent him flying into the asphalt.

Stinkfly flew to her and raised his claw in a high five gesture. "Nice one." She returned it in kind. He then went down and attempted to restrain the man with more goop and his legs. Unfortunately, for Ben, Whirlwind regained his bearings start spinning again, sending Stinkfly away.

Wasp flew higher to get a better vantage. She was about to ignite the remaining sludge only to look down in shock. Whirlwind was flying right at her, putting her in the blast zone.

From behind, Stinkfly managed to recover and slammed his stinger into his side, allowing Wasp to maneuver out of the way. Seeing the crook stagger, she found her opening. With another energy blast, she aimed it at the only unarmored part of his body: his eyes.

A bright light filled his vision as Whirlwind yelled in pain and fell to the ground on his back.

"That's gonna leave a mark," grunted Stinkfly.

Janet landed on his face mask. "He's fine, relatively speaking."

The crook pushed himself back up. "If that's how you want to play? Let's play!" The fight went mobile again as Whirlwind chased down Wasp through the streets with Stinkfly not far behind.

As the fight was happening, an NYPD squad car drove down the street to the disturbance. "This is unit 4-10, en route to a possible code blue, over." The officers gasped at the incoming supers.

"Get out of the way!" yelled Stinkfly. The vehicled broke hard and turned left. While Wasp pulled upward, Whirlwind pushed forward full force. His rotating body cut right through the engine block like butter without even fazing.

Seeing that they were alright, Stinkfly waved an apology to the frozen officers. "Sorry!"

Wasp turned to her pursuer with Stinkfly attempting to grab him. "Look at you. You're blowing it. You can do so much more with your powers. You can blend giant drinks. Or cool people off in hot weather."

"I was thinking more along the lines of powering wind turbines." Stinkfly thrust his stinger to his arm. "But, I would totally pay to have someone blend a smoothie with his bare hands." Thinking of a new plan, he flew to the rooftops.

"See? So many uses. Instead, you're just going to the big house," concluded Wasp. She turned a corner and paused. "Whoa." Wasp quickly got out of the way.

Whirlwind turned his head back in confusion until he got a good look in front of him. "Huh? Hah? What? What is that?" He was heading right into a large swarm of bugs enough to make a cloud. Immediately, the swarm bit him all over his body as he screamed in pain.

Knowing exactly who was responsible, Wasp looked behind to the person in question. "Let me guess. An ant told you what was going on."

In front of her, Hank in his super suit was riding an ant. "A termite, actually. He was in the sonics lab when it happened."

Hearing the screams, Stinkfly flew back down to Wasp. "Looks like you got it handled. Thanks, ant-person. Name's Stinkfly." Ben was really intrigued at how the heroes in front of him could shrink like Nanomech.

"Yeah, Hank finally got out of the lab." Turning back to her boyfriend, she asked, "Why was he in the sonics lab? Did this guy steal something?" Stinkfly took note of the possibility.

She received no reply as Hank simply stared at the alien hero. "My God! You are a magnificent specimen!" He grew back to normal size and began picking and prodding his newest discovery. He pulled out a tape measure from his belt and started examining Stinkfly. "The wingspan. The antenna-like eyes. How did you evolve to be quadruped? Where have you been hiding all my life."

Stinkfly blanched. "This got uncomfortable real fast."

"You really are sapient!" Hank exclaimed. "Tell me, are you gamma induced or naturally evolved?"

"Natural?" Stinkfly answered warily.

Janet snapped her fingers in Ant-Man's face. "Hank, focus. You can talk to Stinkfly later."

In the background, Whirlwind shook his head as a swarm of ants attacked having him let out a scream.

He sighed at having to forcefully push back his scientific enthusiasm. With a deep breath, he got his mind back on the situation at hand. "Listen, Jan, we don't need to be here. We should leave this to the authorities. They can rehabilitate him, he could be a valuable member of society."

Stinkfly gestured behind them. "The dude sliced through a cop car and left then in the dust."

Wasp rolled her eyes at Hank. "I'm not saying we won't give him to the police to be rehabilitated. As Stinkfly said, I'm saying that the police can't handle him while he's loose. Hank, it's up to people like us to stop him and then let the professionals poke his brain."

Stinkfly interjected. "I highly doubt that New York is equipped with a Superhuman Swat Team for these situations."

Hank forced his questions for Stinkfly down his throat. "That's why we have SHIELD."

"And if no one arrives on time?" asked Janet.

Hank didn't answer. "Regardless, this isn't the best use of our time."

Stinkfly crossed his arms. "The civilians who got their stuff wrecked would beg to differ."

Wasp did the same. "You're wrong. This is the best use of our time. This is what we should be doing. Using our abilities, your inventions, to help people."

"Science helps people. Not fighting," Hank retorted.

"I mean, you're not wrong, but someone still needs to neutralize the threat." the Alien asked.

Hank groaned in annoyance.

Janet huffed in frustration. "Ugh! You're not getting it!"

Stinkfly turned his head back to Whirlwind to see him get more agitated with the wind picking up. "Uh, guys." He spat out more of his goop, only for the cook to move even faster.

The other two were too heated in their conversation to notice. Hank frowned at Janet. "No, I am getting it. You're not trained for this kind of thing, and I don't want you to get hurt. This isn't a-"

"Will everyone just shut up!" A large gust blew away the swam, revealing the enraged man. "Buzzblade Blast!" He extended his arms and rotated, releasing several buzzsaw-like blades at supersonic speeds.

Stinkfly did a 180 and used his stinger as a makeshift shield to deflect each hit.

Hank shrunk down, narrowly missing. He looked to his girlfriend in fear. "Jan!"

Wasp took things a step further and took them head-on. Wasp expertly dodged the first two and smashed through the last ones. Satisfied, Wasp flew to a cab and grew to normal size unscathed.

"No way," muttered Whirlwind in disbelief. That was his fastest attack.

Hank stared at his girlfriend. "Whoa." Stinkfly nodded in approval.

Whirlwind dashed to her. Her hand glowed yellow before bringing it up to Whirlwind's helmet. "Aah!" A yellow blast hits him hard, forcing him on his back.

Stinkfly and Ant-Man to them before facing Wasp.

"I know it's not a game, Hank. But I can do more than make money and take meetings. Together we can do more. And we can have fun doing it," Wasp said as her wings came up and she hovered as she shrank.

Stinkfly smiled. "Wow. What a woman."

Hank smirked. "Yup..."

The alien bent over and started patting down Whirlwind. He eventually found a pop-out compartment and pulled out a strange device. "Huh. Think this came from the university?" He handed it to Wasp.

She looked it over but couldn't make heads or tails of it before giving it to Hank.

"Hm..." The man was making connections in his head regarding it and the sonics lab. It reminded him of the rifle he encountered in Africa. Hank decided to set it aside for later when he had more resources. It took him a moment to realize that he was free to talk to their insect associate. "Now that distractions are out of the way, I can get down to business." He grinned in excitement at Stinkfly and began examining his clawed hands. "Where are you from? Does your species lay eggs or produce larvae? What reproductive organs do you have?"

"Hank?!" chastised Janet at his invasive actions.

Stinkfly backed up and stared at the overeager scientist before clicking his tongue. "And that's my cue to leave."

Hank's eyes widened in fear of losing his opportunity. "No! Wait! I need to study you!"

"Really not helping your case. Later Ant-Man, Wasp!" With a gust of air, the alien hero took to the skies.

"Come back!" Hank yelled to the retreating form. He shrunk down and hopped back onto an ant. "Follow that quadruped!" he commanded.

Seeing Hank's obsessive behavior surface again, Janet sighed. "Dammit, Hank. Leave the talking bug alone!" 'Huh. Never thought I'd have to say that.'

"Sorry, can't hear you over the sound of science!" With that, Ant-Man flew away in pursuit of his curiosity.

Wasp looked down at the knocked out Whirlwind and sighed. "Fine. I guess I'll be the one to call SHIELD. He so owes me for this."

SHIELD Helicarrier, 1 Hour Later

Nick Fury walked into the room. "Dr. Pym, SHIELD thanks you for lending a hand in taking Whirlwind down."

Hank looked to Fury. "Uh, well, I-"

"Ahem." Wasp cleared her throat bumping her hip into Hank's.

"Well, actually, it was Jan and a sentient insect who took him down." Hank frowned. "I still can't believe I let him escape. An entirely new species fell into my lap, and I lose him."

Fury made a contemplative expression. "I see... We have received similar reports about the creature earlier today. He was assisting EMTs with civilians." He pressed a button for the nearby screen. "Tell me. Do either of you recognize this symbol?"

Janet raised a brow and nodded. "Yeah. Stinkfly, the bug guy, had it on his forehead. Why?"

Fury noted that. "I'm sure the two of you had heard of Iron Man's confrontation with Hydra at the UN building."

Hank shrugged. "Mr. Stark may not be in my field, but his work is impressive."

"I heard that The Thing helped fight them off," added Janet

Fury shook his head. "Not exactly." The screen changed to show a purple rock and crystalline being along with a large bipedal reptile. "I contacted the Baxter Building, and Mr. Grimm denied any relation. As you can see, these strange creatures have something in common: said symbol."

"So, what? You think there's some sort of Monster Association?" scoffed Wasp.

"Well, from what Jan and I saw, the insect seemed nice," added Hank.

"Yeah, when you weren't picking at prodding his wings and claws."

"Maybe they do mean well, but I don't like unknowns. With the abilities I've seen these creatures perform, it's better for us to be safe than sorry. One of them was associating with the Hulk before his detainment."

The two heroes were surprised by the fact.

Fury smirked as he turned around. "Maybe you should come work for me and look into this matter, Ms. Van Dyne. The Wasp, agent of SHIELD."

Wasp smiled. "I like it. Maybe we'll get to see more of these guys."

"Sorry, but I have to decline that offer." Hank sighed at that as they made their way to the front of the Heli-Carrier.

"Hey, I think I can see my penthouse from here," Wasp said looking out the glass front.

"I appreciate the information, Director, but I'd like to get a status report on the Big House Facility," Hank said as he turned to face Fury. "I'm a little concerned, frankly."

The Director waved it off. "The Big House is secure, Doctor. Everything is fine."

"I'm sure we have different definitions of 'fine' for it. I created it to help people whose genetics have been altered. They need cures, and criminals need rehabilitation, not punishment. I can't help, but notice that not a single person has been discharged yet."

"This is simply SHIELD policy. I'm not against helping these people, but help is a two-way street. If they aren't willing to try and get better, it's out of my hands. You have to trust us. With what these guys are capable of, containment is the only option left. In any case, I would much rather talk about the two of you."

Elsewhere

Ben gave Ant-Man the slip by transforming into Nanomech out of sight. Thankfully, he got his car towed back to his storage unit. It had been a long day, so he kicked back and relaxed in his apartment. "Hey, Azmuth, what did you think of those guys today?"

The Omnitrix projected his mentor's image. "From what I observed, the duo displayed intriguing shrinking abilities. While the male's appeared to be from an outside source, the female's seemed to come from her own body."

"So like Nanomech?"

"Not exactly. I would need more time to look over the data I collected to understand their process. I would assume a form of body modification given her wings."

"What about that Whirlwind guy?"

"It appears we encountered another meta-human that this Earth designates as Mutants. I found similar genetic markers in him to those we encountered on our journey here. The variety of its effects is staggering."

Ben frowned. "They really have a bad rep. I hope Emma is doing alright."

"Based on what little she's told you, she has been through a lot in her life. In any case, I am concerned with the device that was stolen.

"Why? What was it?"

"During the brief time that you held it, I got a preliminary scan." He projected the small device with a round end. "In layman's terms, it's a Sonic Weapon. My diagnosis indicates it absorbs sound and can release it in a variety of concentrations.

"So, they practically made a Sonosarrian."

"Indeed," lamented Azmuth. Ben looked at the window, and the AI lightened up. "Dark times may be ahead for this Earth, but I trust you will make the right decisions."

Omnitrix DNA Entry:

Name: Stinkfly

Species: Lepidopterran A

Home World: Lepidopterra

Powers and Abilities:

Lepidopterran type A's possesses four insectoid wings that allow quick and agile flying. They can excrete high pressured streams of liquid from the pollen ducts located inside of his eyestalks and mouth. These liquids can be both a flammable toxin or an immobilizing adhesive. In some cases, they can emit a powerful herbicide. Their black stinger-like tail can tear and rend through steel near effortlessly. Their eyestalks allow 360-degree vision. The exoskeletal body is also fairly strong, allowing him to survive above-average situations. Similar to insects on Earth, they have great strength in proportion to his body, even while flying.