Ben slipped into Tony's body like a ghost passing through a veil.
The moment he settled into the familiar form, black and red markings appeared around both of Tony's eye sockets—the telltale signs of Ghostfreak's possession. When the eyes opened again, the consciousness controlling this body was no longer Tony Stark's.
This was one of the Ectonurites' most terrifying abilities. In theory, they could permanently seize control of another being's body, trapping the original consciousness in an endless sleep. However, the Omnitrix's safeguards limited Ben's time—he couldn't maintain the possession indefinitely.
More than twenty minutes had already passed since he'd left home. This time constraint was precisely why he'd chosen to possess Tony rather than wait for the billionaire to leave the workshop before making his move.
Deep within Tony's consciousness, Ben regarded the other presence with wary caution.
Tony Stark's own consciousness had fallen into the deep slumber that typically accompanied Ghostfreak's possession. Under normal circumstances, if Ben didn't voluntarily release control, Tony might never wake up. But this other presence—this ball of brilliant light—remained stubbornly alert despite the psychic intrusion.
"Could it be the Wisdom Stone?" Ben wondered.
As a devoted comic book fan in his previous life, Ben had heard theories about the seventh Infinity Stone. According to some storylines, Tony Stark's genius-level intellect stemmed from possessing the Wisdom Stone—a cosmic artifact that existed as a tumor-like growth in his brain.
Of course, not every version of Tony across the multiverse carried this particular burden.
[*The only reference I can find on this theories was on the Ultimate timeline]
The dormant presence before him likely was that very stone, and Ben couldn't shake his unease. He had no idea whether the Wisdom Stone's power could analyze twentieth-level cosmic technology like the Omnitrix. After all, the watch was Azmuth's masterpiece—even brilliant minds like Albedo and Dr. Psychobos couldn't fully replicate its construction.
Even Albedo's Ultimate evolution paled in comparison to Azmuth's pure intellect.
The Wisdom Stone might not be able to dissect the Omnitrix's secrets, but Ben wasn't willing to take that risk.
"Get the information and get out," he decided.
Just then, Jarvis's voice cut through his thoughts.
"Sir? Are you experiencing any difficulties?"
The AI had been waiting for Tony to respond to its earlier query, but when its creator had suddenly gone silent, Jarvis found itself in an unprecedented situation. As an artificial intelligence, it had no protocol for questioning Tony's behavior directly.
"I'm fine, Jarvis," Ben replied, shaking Tony's head and forcing a casual tone. "Actually, let me take a look at your underlying code. I'm thinking about some upgrades."
"You seem... different today, sir." Jarvis's voice carried a note of uncertainty that made Ben's pulse quicken. But as a program, the AI was caught in a logical paradox—Tony appeared unchanged from a physical standpoint, which meant Jarvis had no grounds to refuse the order.
Code cascaded across the holographic displays, streams of complex programming flowing past Ben's eyes. He tried to memorize what he could, though he understood precious little of it.
I should have brought a USB drive, he thought ruefully.
He'd never expected to become Ghostfreak tonight, so naturally he'd come unprepared. Memory would have to suffice.
"By the way, Jarvis," Ben said, remembering something crucial, "where's the spare arc reactor?"
He recalled that Iron Man possessed multiple reactors. If he planned to appropriate one for study, he couldn't very well remove the one keeping Tony alive.
"Did you forget that you gave it to Miss Potts?" Jarvis asked, and Ben could swear he detected a note of suspicion in the AI's voice.
Tony's behavior was becoming increasingly erratic. If Jarvis hadn't been monitoring Tony continuously, it would have suspected someone was impersonating its creator.
"Oh right, of course." Ben let out a soft curse under his breath. He had no idea if Pepper Potts was still in Stark Tower, and the thought of confronting her while wearing Tony's face made his skin crawl.
As if summoned by his thoughts, the workshop door burst open.
The strawberry blonde executive strode in with determined purpose, her heels clicking against the polished floor.
The sudden appearance of the real Pepper Potts sent a jolt of panic through Ben, but he quickly reminded himself that to all appearances, he was Tony Stark. There was nothing to fear.
"You've locked yourself down here for days just to work on those—" Pepper paused, her frown deepening as she gestured at the armor components scattered around the workshop. "Things."
Her voice carried a mixture of frustration and genuine concern.
"Ms. Potts," Jarvis interjected helpfully, "Mr. Stark has only slept three hours in the past seventy-two hours."
The AI's report only deepened Pepper's worry. She stepped closer, studying Tony's haggard features with growing alarm, her hand rising instinctively toward his face.
"Wait, Pepper, I'm fine," Ben said quickly, taking a step back to avoid her touch.
He looked at her with what he hoped passed for Tony's characteristic deflection of concern, but internally he was panicking. If this continued, the situation could develop in directions he absolutely couldn't handle.
Don't get any ideas, he told himself firmly. This is already complicated enough.
He shook his head, clearing away the unwanted thoughts. Honestly, Pepper Potts wasn't his type anyway—even the famous Black Widow had never struck him as particularly attractive.
"Are you kidding me? Look at those dark circles!" Pepper grabbed a mirror from Tony's workbench and thrust it toward his face. "You look like you haven't slept in a week!"
Ben time was running short.
His possession had already lasted nearly thirty minutes, and Pepper's interruption was eating into his remaining window. Fortunately, he'd managed to scan through the AI's underlying code structure. While he couldn't remember the specifics, memory was tied to brain function—once he transformed into Grey Matter, he might be able to recall everything he'd observed.
I don't need to remember every detail, Ben reasoned. Just the general architecture. Grey Matter can fill in the gaps.
But right now, he needed to extract himself from this situation before his time ran out.
"Hey, Pepper, do you know where I keep my emergency snacks?" Ben asked quickly, hoping to send her away. "I'm starving. I need to eat something."
Pepper looked at him with that long-suffering expression she'd perfected over years of managing Tony Stark's chaos. Sometimes she really did feel more like his mother than his CEO.
She sighed in resignation. "I'll get you something."
As Pepper turned to leave, Ben caught himself appreciating her silhouette. The tailored business suit emphasized her figure in ways that even Tony's memories found... appealing.
Watching her walk away, Ben found himself thinking: Don't look back, Pepper, I'm Tony.
The irony of the situation hit him like a slap.
"Don't tell me—I really am Tony right now!"
Ben shook his head at the absurdity of it all, then began the delicate process of separating from Tony's body. Like a cicada shedding its shell, Ghostfreak's essence peeled away from Tony's unconscious form.
This time, Jarvis caught a glimpse of his translucent shadow in the workshop's dim corners. The AI immediately began activating high-precision cameras to confirm the anomalous reading, but before the sensors could lock onto the target, Ben had already merged with the surrounding darkness and vanished completely.
Jarvis processed this information with the digital equivalent of bewilderment.
Could it be that even artificial intelligence was capable of experiencing hallucinations?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out early release up to 50+ chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~