Like Majin Buu

On this sci-fi battlefield, the Avengers team, whose damage output relied mostly on brawling, was like a pebble tossed into a lake—after stirring up a few ripples, it quickly returned to calm. Dr. Banner was still on his way, Thor had once again become entangled in a family dispute with Loki, and across the entire battlefield, only Stark still had the ability to hold the enemy back.

But the Mark VII was still in the testing phase, with limited weaponry equipped. Starrk could not go wild at all and was unable to attack without restraint. With the Avengers’ three main powerhouses crippled, this battle was especially frustrating.

Loki, the mastermind behind the war and everything it had caused, stood proudly atop Stark Tower, admiring the land beneath his feet. Before long, he would be crowned king here.

Whenever Loki was feeling smug and pleased with himself, his brother Thor would appear to stop him. This time was no exception. Thor descended before Loki wreathed in lightning, intending to persuade him to turn back, but the two could not see eye to eye and soon grappled in a tangled brawl.

Thor held back and fought Loki to a draw. Loki knew that too, so he pretended to repent. When Thor was distracted, he viciously drove a hidden dagger into his opponent’s waist. More precisely, into his kidney.

Asgardians possessed powerful physiques, their body density several times that of humans on Earth. Ordinary blades could not even break Thor’s skin, much less wound him. This dagger had clearly been specially prepared by Loki for him.

Feeling the blood continuously flowing and seeing no sign of the wound healing, Thor was finally enraged. Between his kidney and his little brother, he chose the former. After all, if his brother was gone, he still had a girlfriend; if his girlfriend was gone, he still had his hand. But if his kidney was gone, then he would truly have nothing left.

Enraged, Thor swung his hammer and sent Loki flying. Loki was no fool. Knowing he could only outwit the powerful Thor, he did not even stop to retrieve his scepter before leaping off the tower and escaping aboard a flying craft.

"Woooooo——"

A deep, drawn-out howl came from overhead. Thor, who was about to pursue Loki, could not help looking up. A gigantic half-mechanical fish slowly emerged from the Space Portal. Its massive body blocked and filled the thirty-meter-wide passage, while its gaping maw let out a series of earth-shaking roars.

The whale-like metal monster swished its tail fins as though swimming through water, its hundred-meter-long body floating in midair and leaving Thor and the Avengers below speechless for a long while. If that had been all, it would not have been much of a problem. The Avengers could have taken it down by working together. But when one enormous metal beast after another came rushing out, they could only stare in stunned disbelief.

The arrival of those giants was accompanied by the large-scale landing of the Chitauri. Perhaps realizing that Earth was not some inferior civilization they could crush at will, and that it possessed quite a few individually powerful warriors, they began systematically defending the Space Portal.

More than a dozen enormous shadows blanketed the skies above New York, diving down with overwhelming pressure. The captain instinctively raised his shield before his chest and said in shock, "Gold, can you handle it?"

"I’ll do my best." Gold transformed into WereGarurumon, his golden pupils filled with gravity.

Just then, Chitauri soldiers armed with blades and energy weapons ejected from the diving monster’s body. It seemed these bizarre metal beasts were merely transport units. After more than a hundred Chitauri soldiers sprang out and clung to the buildings on either side, most rushed inside to begin slaughtering people, while the rest charged straight at the Avengers.

Natasha and Dottie immediately took aim and opened fire, while Hawkeye shot arrows of all kinds with considerable destructive power. The Chitauri who charged in were either knocked down by the captain or torn to pieces by Gold. The five worked together and held their position.

Boom—crackle———

Lightning descended, sweeping through and killing more than a dozen Chitauri soldiers. Thor flew over, clutching his continuously bleeding kidney as he stubbornly said, "Need help?"

"I need help over here!" Stark’s voice came through the earpiece. Soon, he led a metal beast flying in from the distance.

Thor was about to swing his hammer when Gold stepped forward first. He crossed his hands left and right, bent his claws into loose grips, and gathered energy over both paws. A cold gleam flashed as he slashed down fiercely.

"Caesar’s Sharp Claws——"

With a buzzing sound of air being cleaved apart, six scarlet claws shot into the sky, tearing through the air above the streets and dyeing half the heavens red. The crimson energy soaring into the sky struck the weak point beneath the beast’s armor. Its sharp edge cut through metal like iron, severing half the beast’s body. Filthy blood sprayed across the sky as the nearly bisected creature let out a string of agonized cries.

Stark promptly finished it off, firing a missile at the exposed half of the beast’s spine and blasting it into two pieces. Its upper body was not yet dead. The monster rolled to the ground, crying in pain and twisting wildly. Every time its enormous body rolled, it crushed large swaths of low-rise buildings and cars parked along the roadside.

"Roar——"

A green figure descended from the sky. The Hulk entered the battlefield and smashed a fist into the beast’s head, ending its final struggle. It was none other than the late-arriving Dr. Banner.

The Avengers’ three giants had gathered, along with Gold and Dottie, who did not exist in the original story. With dazzling efficiency, they swiftly cleared out a large safe zone, giving civilians taking refuge on the streets somewhere to shelter. Though they had protected many innocent people, it was actually an unwise move, leaving them trapped in a dilemma with no way forward or back. Fortunately, agents from Triskelion Headquarters arrived in time, allowing them to disengage and fight the Chitauri. Squad after squad of police officers also joined in, either maintaining order or rescuing the wounded.

More and more civilians fled here for refuge, and the Avengers gradually found themselves run ragged. Against the Chitauri soldiers with their superior equipment, aside from a few high-end fighters, the others simply could not measure up.

Seeing that they would all be finished if this continued, Steve hurriedly assigned their roles. He had Dottie and Hawkeye, the two expert snipers, take the high ground; Thor and Stark deal with the airborne enemies; while he and Natasha handled the stragglers on the ground. As for Gold and Green Fatty, the captain told them to do whatever they pleased…

With the sensible division of labor, the three giants’ abilities were brought out to the fullest. Thor alone lived up to the name of Asgard’s God of Thunder. He flew high into the air and raised his hammer, summoning boundless thunder and lightning that electrocuted three metal fish beasts into charred black husks, while also wiping out quite a few flying craft.

Before this, Green Fatty, Gold, and Stark had only managed to take down one by working together.

On the ground, Green Fatty and Gold slaughtered gods if gods came their way and slaughtered demons if demons crossed them. Their skin was tough and their flesh thick, so they had no need to dodge or defend. Relying on instinct alone, they killed Chitauri soldiers one after another. Green Fatty’s jumping power was astonishing. He leaped and flipped between skyscrapers, flattening a Chitauri soldier beneath his feet every time. Gold, meanwhile, charged vertically along the sides of buildings, his body at a ninety-degree angle to the ground. Any Chitauri soldier who encountered him ended up sliced into several pieces.

Hawkeye and Dottie stood atop two facing buildings, covering their teammates while observing the Chitauri’s movements. Hawkeye never missed with his arrows, while Dottie had somehow found a sniper rifle. Their coordination greatly reduced the pressure on their allies.

Everything seemed to be moving in a better direction, but everyone knew it was only temporary. Even the Hulk could not fight endlessly. Even a monster with seemingly limitless stamina like him needed rest, let alone the others with bodies of flesh and blood.

The first to fall was the captain. His shield could not cover his entire body, and he also liked using it as a thrown weapon. During one concentrated barrage, he was unfortunately hit. Like Thor, he was wounded around the waist. Fortunately, it was only a graze and had not struck his kidney.

After that, Green Fatty and Gold were surrounded and attacked by a large force. Beams that covered the sky rained down on them. Though the two possessed great abilities, even elephants could be gnawed to death by ants. Hawkeye ran out of arrows. Though he escaped with his life, his injuries were severe and he lost his ability to fight. Natasha was only slightly better off than Hawkeye. After emptying her pistol, she was forced into an exhausting close-quarters battle, and was now panting so hard she could barely catch her breath.

Thor had already injured his kidney and then continuously unleashed large-scale destructive attacks, leaving him mentally exhausted. Dottie, on the other hand, was largely unharmed. The moment she saw things turning bad, she quietly slipped away. She was now hugging her sniper rifle in a corner of a rooftop, firing sneak shots.

Of all the Avengers, aside from Stark, who was still flying wildly through the sky while drawing aggro, everyone else had lowered their banners. With the situation unfavorable, the Security Council watched in growing anxiety and finally brought out their ultimate move—nuclear peace!

The most thrilling scene from the original story appeared. When the nuclear missile fell toward downtown New York City, the usually carefree Stark did not hesitate to carry it into the Space Portal. What Stark did shocked everyone. After all, he had always lived by the principle of enjoying life while he could.

Sacrifice… what was that?

That word was far too distant, something that had always run along a parallel line completely unrelated to Stark. Yet he still chose sacrifice without hesitation. Fighting terrorists in the past had been partly to atone for his sins and partly out of personal interest. Only today did he truly understand what being a superhero meant.

Just as in the original story, Stark sent the nuclear missile out of Earth and into the Chitauri mothership. But unlike the original story, the mothership activated its defensive shield. The missile merely set off some fireworks, and the Space Stone was still spinning.

"Has the plot gone off the rails?"

Duke stood atop a skyscraper, his lab coat billowing in the fierce wind. Watching Chitauri soldiers continue pouring in overhead, he muttered, "This isn’t part of my plan!"

Whoosh———

The Iron Man Armor, having lost power, fell out of the Space Portal. Thor and Green Fatty were still fighting the Chitauri fiercely and had no spare hand to save him. Just as Stark was about to be smashed into an iron-and-flesh pancake, Duke flew into the air and caught him with one hand.

What had just happened made Duke see him in a new light. Not everyone could do as Stark had said: they just went and did it without thinking.

Duke landed atop the skyscraper, removed the Iron Man Armor’s faceplate to make sure Stark would not suffocate, then tossed him aside. By coincidence, Dottie was hiding on this very building. Seeing her boss, she scampered over.

"Boss, are you going to make a move yourself?" Dottie wiped the sweat from her forehead, her face stiff as she said, "The Aliens’ army just keeps pouring in. We can’t kill them all on our own!"

Duke said nothing. He walked in a circle around the top of the building, keeping his eyes closed the entire time.

Stark woke with a light cough. Seeing Duke’s strange behavior, he asked the equally confused Dottie beside him, "What is he doing? Looking for a good angle to jump off the building?"

Dottie rolled her eyes at him and did not answer.

After completing the circle, Duke raised his left hand and spread his five fingers above his head like Majin Buu. His right hand’s fingers were pressed together against his brow, while his eyes remained closed.

"Target confirmed. The Chitauri’s ki… a total of 136,874!"

Thanks to readers ‘Little Salted Fish Shouting 666,’ ‘Izumi Sagiri Must Be The Heroine,’ ‘Ward, Oh God,’ and ‘Ice on the Snowfield’ for their tips!