Chapter 43: Jurassic Manhattan

Ben's four arms moved in a blur of devastating motion, each fist striking with the force of a pile driver. His Tetramands physiology allowed him to throw dozens of punches per second, creating a continuous barrage that resembled automatic gunfire—except infinitely more destructive than any bullet ever conceived.

The afterimages of his arms created a crimson storm around Connors' helpless form. Each impact generated sonic booms that rolled through the building like thunder, and the shockwaves rippled outward with enough force to crack concrete and shatter any remaining glass in the vicinity.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

The thunderous percussion of Ben's assault echoed through the school and beyond, reaching the students who had managed to evacuate to the relative safety of the parking lot. The ground beneath their feet trembled with each impact, and many of them instinctively looked back at the building they had just escaped.

Felicia Hardy gripped Mary Jane's arm as the entire structure seemed to sway with each explosive sound. Her face had gone pale with worry as she stared at the windows, hoping desperately to catch a glimpse of Ben emerging safely.

"What the hell is happening in there?" Flash Thompson shouted over the noise, his usual bravado replaced by genuine concern. "Did terrorists plant bombs in the school? Are they trying to level the entire building just to make a point?"

The sounds of destruction were beyond anything the students had ever experienced. Flash found himself thinking of war documentaries he'd seen, wondering if this was what artillery bombardments sounded like to those caught in the middle.

Gwen Stacy pushed through the crowd of frightened students, her analytical mind trying to process the situation even as her heart raced with concern for her friends. When she spotted Felicia and Mary Jane huddled together near the edge of the parking lot, she quickly made her way over to them.

"Felicia, MJ!" she called out breathlessly. "Have either of you seen Peter or Ben? Please tell me they made it out!"

"Ben's still in there!" Felicia's voice cracked with emotion, and she looked like she might collapse from the stress. "I can't see him anywhere, and those sounds... What if something terrible happens to him?"

If Connors could have heard her concern, he would have felt deeply offended. After all, he was the one being systematically demolished by Ben's relentless assault, reduced to nothing more than a living punching bag for the enraged Tetramand.

Inside the building, Ben had planted one massive foot on Connors' thrashing tail to prevent his opponent from being knocked away by the force of his strikes. This allowed him to maintain his position and continue the devastating barrage without interruption.

His four arms worked in perfect coordination, each punch driving deeper into Connors' enhanced physiology. The Lizard's regenerative abilities were working overtime, but they couldn't keep pace with the damage Ben was inflicting. Bones cracked and reformed only to be shattered again moments later.

Ben's anger turned him into a walking natural disaster. Every blow was driven by the image of his parents turned into monsters, feeding the fire inside him and making each hit hit harder than the one before. The sheer force of his movements kicked up a storm all around him, whipping debris into the air like a miniature tornado.

The once-terrifying Dr. Connors—who could rip through steel and concrete like paper—was now a wrecked heap of scales and shattered bones. His long snout was twisted out of shape, and his sharp teeth were scattered across the floor like some twisted kind of confetti. The powerful skeleton that had made him so fearsome was now practically dust, held together only by the scraps of his accelerated healing.

Each of Ben's punches penetrated through Connors' armored hide and exploded inside his body, causing massive internal trauma that even his accelerated healing couldn't fully address. If Connors had been an ordinary lizard-man without the additional genetic modification, he would have been reduced to paste within the first few seconds of Ben's assault.

As it stood, Connors had long since lost consciousness, his body maintained upright only by Ben's grip and the continuous barrage of strikes.

Seeing his opponent's complete defeat, Ben prepared to deliver one final, decisive blow. His rage demanded a conclusive ending to this fight, something that would ensure Connors could never again threaten the people he cared about.

"How dare you threaten my parents!" Ben roared, his voice carrying all the fury of a Tetramand pushed beyond his limits.

He drew back his primary right arm, coiling his entire body like a spring as he channeled every ounce of his enhanced strength into a single, devastating strike. His Tetramand physiology allowed him to generate forces that defied comprehension, and this punch would carry the full weight of his alien heritage.

In Ben's rage-clouded vision, Connors was no longer a transformed scientist or even a living being. He had become a target, a green obstacle that needed to be obliterated with maximum prejudice.

The punch landed with the force of a meteorite impact.

BOOM!!!

The sound was so loud it seemed to shake the very foundations of reality. The massive impact sent shockwaves rippling outward that lifted clouds of dust and debris four or five meters into the air. Beneath Ben's feet, the floor disintegrated into powder under the tremendous forces involved.

Connors' eyes bulged from their sockets as the devastating blow connected with his chest. His entire torso caved inward like a crater formed by a meteor strike, and the scales along his back exploded outward from the transferred kinetic energy. The fragments shot through the air like buckshot, embedding themselves in the walls with enough force to punch clean through concrete and steel.

The force was so tremendous that it actually severed Connors' tail at the base, the tail separating from his body as he was launched backward like a cannonball. He smashed through three successive walls before finally coming to rest in what had once been a classroom, his body creating a perfect outline in the rubble.

The building, already compromised by their battle, finally reached its structural limits. Warning groans echoed through the framework as support beams snapped and load-bearing walls collapsed.

Outside, Police Captain George Stacy arrived with a full complement of officers just in time to witness the spectacular collapse of the school's main building. The structure folded in on itself like a house of cards, sending up a massive cloud of dust and debris that obscured the entire area.

"Jesus Christ," one of the officers muttered as they watched the destruction unfold. "What the hell happened here?"

From the settling rubble, a massive red figure emerged carrying what appeared to be an unconscious student under one arm and dragging the mangled form of some kind of monster with another. Ben's remaining two hands were occupied with a vial of serum and a cell phone that looked comically small in his massive grip.

Despite his alien appearance and the destruction surrounding him, Ben's first priority was ensuring his loved ones knew he was safe. He activated the phone and began making calls with surprising gentleness for such a massive creature.

"Hello, Dad.? Yes, there was some kind of attack at the school, but I'm perfectly fine. Peter's okay too—he just got knocked unconscious when some furniture fell over during the evacuation," Ben's voice was carefully modulated to sound calm and reassuring despite his current form. "Listen, I need you and Mom to stay inside and lock all the doors and windows. If you have access to the basement, that would be even better. This might not be over yet."

The next call went to Felicia, and Ben could hear the relief in her voice when he confirmed that both he and Peter were safe.

"Felicia? I found Peter—we're both fine. Spider-Man showed up and got us to safety before the building came down," he lied smoothly, knowing that the truth would be far too complicated to explain over the phone. "Can you make sure the other gets somewhere secure? Find an interior room or a basement if possible. The cell reception is terrible out here, so I'll call you again when we get somewhere safer."

After ending the calls, Ben made his way through the sewers, following the same route Connors had used to reach the school. Fortunately, the Lizard's massive size had already widened the tunnels enough to accommodate Ben's current form.

"Connors mentioned that Dr. Animo has already begun his operation," Ben muttered, checking his phone for any news alerts. "I remember the Canary Device being stored in the Oscorp building, but so far there haven't been any reports of break-ins or unusual activity there."

Ben scratched his head with one massive hand, a gesture that looked almost comical given his intimidating appearance. "I really need to figure out how to counter that genetic transmutation technology."

While Tetramands were indeed highly intelligent—their species had developed some of the most advanced engineering in the galaxy—Ben didn't have access to their accumulated knowledge base the way he did with Grey Matter. Even with enhanced intelligence, reverse-engineering technology that was potentially centuries ahead of Earth's current capabilities would be virtually impossible without proper equipment and research facilities.

His contemplation was interrupted by Peter stirring to consciousness. Peter's eyes fluttered open, and the first thing he saw was Four Arm's massive red form carrying him through what appeared to be a sewer tunnel.

"Ben... Oh my God! What kind of monster are you?!" Peter's spider-enhanced strength kicked in reflexively, and he began struggling with enough force to dent steel. To his surprise, Ben's grip didn't budge even slightly despite Peter's enhanced abilities.

"Wait a minute," Peter said, his analytical mind quickly processing what he was seeing. "I recognize that symbol..."

He had noticed the distinctive Omnitrix interface on Ben's left wrist, and the familiar hourglass design triggered his memory. His expression shifted from terror to amazement as the pieces fell into place.

"You're Ben? This is you?"

"That's right," Ben confirmed, deciding that the time for secrecy had passed. Peter was going to be crucial in stopping Dr. Animo, and Ben needed all the help he could get.

His previous concerns about keeping the Omnitrix secret seemed less important now. Once he had access to the full resources of his company fund and could properly protect his parents, he wouldn't need to hide his abilities anymore. In fact, having those resources would allow him to deal with any threats—scientific, criminal, or corporate—that might arise from people knowing about his powers.

"How did this happen to you?" Peter asked, his voice filled with concern rather than fear. "Please tell me you can change back. If you're stuck like this permanently, it's going to cause some serious problems. Your admirers at school will be heartbroken, Uncle Ben and Aunt May will be worried sick if they find out you've been transformed into some kind of creature."

"The transformation will wear off in a few more minutes," Ben assured him. "We can discuss the details later, but right now we need to focus on finding Dr. Animo before he can implement whatever plan he's been working on."

At the sound of their conversation, Connors began to regain consciousness. His enhanced healing factor was gradually repairing the most critical damage, though he was still barely recognizable as the imposing creature he had been earlier.

"You're... too late," he wheezed, his voice barely audible through his damaged vocal cords. "Soon you'll witness the birth of a new world... a world that belongs to the next stage of human evolution!"

"Next stage of human evolution?" Ben laughed coldly, his four eyes fixing on Connors with obvious disdain. "You've been completely deceived, Dr. Connors. If you honestly believe that Animo wants to elevate humanity, then you're even more naive than I thought."

Ben's voice took on a grim tone as he continued, "Dr. Animo has never been interested in human evolution. What he's always wanted is to return the world to its prehistoric state. He's been using your intelligence and your research, Dr. Connors, and if he succeeds, New York is going to become a primordial hunting ground."

"That's impossible!" Connors protested, his damaged features contorting with disbelief and growing horror. "He promised... he said we would create a better world..."

The terrible realization was beginning to dawn on him, but part of his mind still refused to accept that he had been so thoroughly manipulated.

But Ben's assessment was entirely accurate.

At that very moment, Dr. Animo had taken control of the tallest building in Manhattan and was positioning the Canary Device to broadcast its signal across the entire city. He stood on the roof, his arms raised toward the sky in a gesture of mad triumph.

"The time has come to cleanse this polluted world!" he shouted into the wind, his voice carrying a note of religious fervor. "Humanity has had its chance, and they have failed! Now we return to the purity of the prehistoric age!"

His finger hovered over the activation switch as he gazed out at the sprawling metropolis below.

"Welcome to Jurassic Manhattan!"

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