As dawn approached, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents became even busier.
“Commander, we’ve lost contact with the agents monitoring Stark Tower.”
“What?” Fury’s face darkened.
“Why wasn’t this reported sooner?”
“Sorry, sir, everything seemed normal before.”
“Damn it, they must’ve been mind-controlled by Loki, just like Barton,” Fury cursed.
The next moment, a dazzling blue beam shot up from Stark Tower, forming a massive portal in the sky with a diameter of several kilometers.
“The Chitauri army is here! It’s just like the old portal—it’s the Space Stone!”
At the window, Old Steve exclaimed in shock.
Xia Luo watched the blue light erupting over the city, narrowing his eyes.
“Figures. Fury didn’t tell us the truth. He thought we were also after the Tesseract, so he kept it hidden.”
Old Steve gritted his teeth. “Damn it, I’ve never been this annoyed with Nick before.”
“You cursed,” Xia Luo noted.
“I know. I’m old—what are you gonna do about it?”
“Fair enough.”
Xia Luo switched to his backup web-shooters and began to stretch.
“Just one thing—when you first woke up and saw that your superior was a bald black guy, what did you think?”
“I thought I’d gone to hell.”
Old Steve quickly suited up. “The fact that this world has the Space Stone is a good thing. What happens next should be similar to what I remember.”
Xia Luo nodded. “If things go as expected, once the council decides to nuke the Chitauri, that’ll be our chance.”
“Wait, you’re not seriously thinking—” Old Steve’s eyes widened in realization.
Xia Luo grinned. “Yep, you got it.”
He planned to replicate Tony Stark’s nuke interception from the first Avengers film, taking out the Sanctuary II in deep space and becoming the MVP of the competition.
“Hold on, if you nuke the Chitauri for the resurrection slot, what about me?” Old Steve looked torn.
Xia Luo turned back. “Before that happens, I’ll make sure those other guys are out of the picture.”
Wasting a resurrection slot on Old Steve was hardly ideal, but it was worth it to ensure Hydra Steve wouldn’t get it.
Assuming, of course, that the private brawl between Tony and Young Steve hadn’t already resulted in one of them dying at Hydra Steve’s hands.
His intel was still limited.
Soon after, jets began launching from the Helicarrier.
And in the sky above the city, the massive portal was spilling out Chitauri soldiers riding sleek gliders.
“ROOOAAAR—”
Then, giant Leviathan whales emerged from the portal, plunging New York into chaos.
“Ahhh!”
“Run for your lives!”
“Aliens are invading Earth!”
“Wow, for your age, you sure can run fast and scream loud.”
“Oh, I’ve got more tricks up my sleeve.”
The old man smirked, tripping a young man next to him with his cane. His face lit up with a mischievous grin.
“Haha, now they’ll eat you first! That’s what I call old man wisdom.”
“Zap~”
A sudden laser shot pierced through the old man, and he fell to the ground. Above, a Chitauri soldier floated in mid-air, baring its teeth in a cruel grin.
“Lord Loki has ordered us to kill the old and the young first.”
“And we don’t eat humans.”
“Kid, you were right.”
A jet zoomed overhead, and a red-and-blue figure dove down, kicking the Chitauri soldier off its glider.
“Look what I just snagged!” Xia Luo cheered.
“Boom~”
The glider wobbled wildly as Xia Luo desperately tried to figure out the controls.
“Damn it, I don’t know how to fly this thing!”
As the glider veered into a nearby skyscraper, Xia Luo leapt off and fired webs, hurling the out-of-control vehicle at a passing Chitauri.
“KA-BOOM!!”
Explosions lit up the city as Xia Luo swung between buildings, leaving behind a web of nearly invisible strands.
“Boom!!”
A Chitauri craft, speeding through the city, was instantly sliced in half by the webs, bursting into flames.
“Ratatatat~”
Amidst the blazing streets, Bruce Banner arrived on a second-hand motorcycle. He looked up at the massive Leviathan overhead and made a decision.
“ROOOAR!”
Green skin spread, muscles bulging as the beastly roar echoed down the block.
“BOOM!!”
The green giant kicked off the ground, and the unstoppable Hulk launched himself straight into the Leviathan’s belly, tearing it apart.
“ROAAAR—”
“Crack, crack, crack.”
Explosions erupted within the massive creature, armor plating falling away as it plummeted, unable to maintain flight.
“BAM!!”
The giant Leviathan crashed to the street, leaving a terrifying trench several hundred meters long.
“Nice job, Hulk!”
The red-and-blue figure shot webs over the whale’s carcass, setting traps. The pursuing Chitauri soldiers were quickly shredded into pieces as they fell.
“I’ve found you, Spider-Man!!”
“Crackle~”
Electric arcs zigzagged across the city, and a furious Max sped toward Xia Luo.
“I looked up to you so much, and you killed me!!”
Max howled with rage, surging forward as a Quinjet flew by, and the star-spangled shield flew from Old Steve’s hand.
“BOOM!!”
Xia Luo caught the shield and braced himself as the intense electric blast struck, sending debris flying.
“Hey, crazy fan! Please calm down!” he yelled at Max.
“Worry about yourself first!”
With a crash, a wall exploded, and Hydra Steve, wreathed in bloody tendrils, charged.
Seeing this, Xia Luo fired a web and swung to another building.
“Chasing me like this won’t get you the resurrection slot.”
“It’s not about that! It’s about making sure you can’t resurrect—keeping you in hell with us forever!” Hydra Steve laughed maniacally.
Xia Luo shrugged. “Yeah, you’re all nuts.”
Just then, another wall shattered behind him, and a bloody arm burst through.
“Steve, you have to survive!”
As Bucky lunged at Xia Luo, he activated his self-destruct mechanism without hesitation.
“Bucky!!”
“BOOM!!”
A hail of shrapnel that could tear Xia Luo apart exploded outwards. But Xia Luo had already ducked behind the shield.
“Clang, clang, clang!”
Heat and fragments pelted the shield, sparking wildly, but failed to pierce through to Xia Luo.
“BAM!!”
The blast wave sent the shield skidding down the street. Xia Luo stood, brushing himself off, and casually tossed Bucky’s severed black spine into a nearby alley.
Spider-Man doesn’t fall for the same spine twice!
“So you modified the self-destruct? Good thing I had the shield,” he taunted the charging Hydra Steve.
“Damn you, Spider-Man! This is all your fault!!”
As Bucky died, Hydra Steve’s rage exploded. Blood-red mist swelled around him, and his tendrils lashed out wildly.
“Oh great, now I’m the villain,” Xia Luo muttered, leaping backward and leaving a maze of web traps in his wake.
Meanwhile, Max surged in once again, electricity crackling. Xia Luo called out loudly:
“Old-timer, it’s your turn.”
“I’m coming.”
—
T/N: I knew Steve was racist…
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