Adam's answer had barely settled before Steve acted on it.
"We need to move people to a safer area."
That was not a suggestion. It was a decision.
Clint shifted his bow and glanced at the crystal wall. "Why not use help from this Ice Joker?"
Adam turned to him at once.
"My name is not Ice Joker. It's Adam."
Natasha's eyes moved briefly to Clint, then back to the street.
Tony cut in before that exchange could go any farther.
"Guys, I need a big hit right now."
All of them looked up.
Tony was racing across the sky with something enormous behind him.
Adam felt his stomach sink the instant he recognized it.
A Leviathan.
The giant creature tore through the air between buildings like a living warship. Its armored body ignored debris that bounced off it while Tony led it through the middle of Manhattan.
Even from the ground, it looked absurdly huge.
People on the street reacted all over again. Fresh screams broke out. Civilians who had nearly stopped moving started running once more.
Natasha looked back at Adam.
"Can you make a bigger one?"
Adam's mouth tightened.
"I'll try."
He stepped forward before he could lose his nerve.
This time there was no room for jokes. Tony needed something large enough to stop this creature. Steve needed the street under control. And a flying alien monster the size of a building was almost on top of them.
Adam raised both hands and pushed with everything he had.
Then the Omnitrix flashed red.
The light was completely different from the earlier green. Adam stopped at once and looked down at his wrist.
The watch pulsed twice more.
With the second pulse, the power left his body.
It happened fast. The heavy crystal pressure in his muscles vanished. His shoulders shrank back down. His extra height disappeared. The dense sensation under his skin retreated all at once.
Adam stared at his hands.
The diamond-like patterns were gone.
So was the power.
Steve saw it immediately.
"What happened?"
Adam had the same question.
'Of course it would fail now,' he thought.
He looked from his bare skin to the flashing Omnitrix and understood enough to hate it.
The transformation had ended.
The watch had dumped him straight into cooldown at the worst possible moment.
Adam looked back at Steve and gave the only answer he had.
"Sorry. I can't help you right now."
Steve clearly did not like that answer, but he believed it.
Natasha's eyes dropped to the Omnitrix. Clint followed her gaze. Neither of them looked impressed.
Tony's voice came through the comm again, tighter this time because the Leviathan was still on him.
"If that's a technical issue, now would be a great time for it to stop being one."
Adam winced. "I know."
The Leviathan roared overhead as it smashed past part of a building, sending glass and debris onto the avenue below.
Before anyone could say more, another sound cut through the street.
A motorcycle.
They all turned.
The bike came fast through the wreckage, weaving around abandoned cars and broken pavement before slowing near them.
Adam saw the rider and widened his eyes.
Bruce Banner.
Steve's reaction said enough. The timing mattered.
Banner killed the engine, looked around at the ruined street, the smoke, the dead aliens, and the sky full of war, then said, "So, this all seems horrible."
Even now, Adam almost laughed.
Instead he looked back at the Omnitrix because something was appearing above it.
A small system window flickered to life.
Adam read quickly.
[Transformation Ended]
[Cooldown: 1 minute]
Another line appeared below it.
[Use Loss: Each 1-minute cooldown consumes 15 minutes of total use time]
Adam stared.
That was a terrible exchange.
'What kind of scam system is this?' Adam thought.
He looked up again.
One minute did not sound like long in normal life.
In the middle of the Battle of New York, it sounded enormous.
Tony was still in the sky.