"Loki!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
A flash of silver—the face of the hammer streaked by.
Loki raised the Mind Scepter, blocking the incoming Mjölnir—Bang!
"Getting all worked up, are we~? Didn't feel too good getting tossed from 9,000 meters up, huh~?"
"Loki! Shut down the Tesseract right now!"
Whoosh—Smack!
Thor clenched his hand, and Mjölnir flew back into his palm.
"Argh!"
Something unpleasant crossed his mind, and with a roar, he raised the hammer with both hands and leapt toward Loki with a massive downward strike!
Lightning crackled around him.
Thor looked absolutely majestic—except for the faint red mark around his neck, which was… a bit awkward.
"Shut down the Tesseract?"
Loki didn't choose to take the blow head-on. He rolled on the spot and dropped off the Stark Tower.
Whoosh—
A Chitauri soldier on a cosmic hoverbike zipped by below.
Smack!
Loki landed precisely on the back seat, grabbing the handle.
Then he turned around and smirked triumphantly at Thor, who was staring at him from Stark Tower.
"This is impossible. Now, only war..."
Bang!!
Before he could finish his arrogant speech...
The second prince crashed into something, falling along with the Chitauri soldier piloting the hover bike.
"Damn it!"
Falling, Loki looked up and realized he had crashed into a snorting Duroc pig!
This was no ordinary pig.
This thing could fly!
"Nice job, buddy!"
Thor was overjoyed. He leaped from the building and landed on the back of the Duroc pig.
"Oink oink~ Oink oink~"
The Duroc pig sniffed and grunted proudly, "Oink~"
It had received Odin's blessing.
Not only did it have a physique comparable to an Asgardian, but it could also fly at high speed!
Whump!
As he free-fell, Loki was caught at the last second by another Chitauri soldier.
He glared fiercely at Duroc with his shadowy eyes—That pig again!
Last time, it had defeated the Destroyer!
Someday, he would turn that stupid pig into roast pork!
Feeling cursed by fate to clash with pigs, Loki watched as Thor, now a full-on boar knight, charged after him.
"Go!!"
Loki urged the Chitauri driver to speed up, terrified the Duroc might glare and shoot another laser.
That power… it was burned into his memory. Even the Destroyer couldn't withstand it!
Seeing the distance closing, Thor excitedly slapped the pig's head and gave commands.
"Duroc, use your ultimate move to shoot down that aircraft! The laser eyes one!"
The pig blinked in confusion: Shoot what? I don't know how to do that...
I'm just a flying little pig....
…..
[Stark]
Natasha spoke over the comm: [We've arrived.]
[Oh!]
Tony complained: [Did you ride in on an ox cart? If it weren't for Li, I might already be dead.]
Steve asked: [Mr. Ye is fighting too? Isn't he just a regular guy?]
[Oh… it's a long story….]
Tony looked at the scene in front of him—almost identical to the one in The Battle of New York—and warned everyone: [I think... he knows something. Something big might be coming soon. Be ready.]
[That painting!]
Nick Fury joined the conversation: [He might have a solution! We need to contact him!]
[Can't reach him, he seems to be busy with something.]
Tony: [But I can send you the painting, Fury. However, you have to first...]
He really wanted to share it with everyone—but he couldn't break his promise to Ye Li.
[Sent it!]
Nick Fury: [I've already sent it to the club—they'll send it over soon!]
[Alright, alright.]
After sending the image to Fury…
Tony discussed with Natasha and the others: [You guys go fight on Park Avenue—there are fewer people there. I'll lure these alien raiders over that way!]
After saying that…
Iron Man, with a group of Chitauri riders hot on his trail, sped off toward Park Avenue———
Rumble!
Dark clouds suddenly filled the sky!
Crackle! Crackle!
Szzz—CRACK!!
A blue-white light descended from the sky.
Lightning wove through the sky, intercepting the Chitauri forces and wiping out most of the grunts.
Then—
Boom! Boom! Boom boom—!!
A metallic object, wrapped in crackling lightning, streaked through the air and smashed the remaining stragglers one by one.
Tony paused mid-flight and asked over the comms: [Thor? Weren't you supposed to be chasing Loki?]
[Hey! I am chasing him!]
Tony froze: [Then who is that?]
…..
"Mamma mia!"
A child, tears and snot running down her face, cried out for her mother in the ruins of the street—still clutching tightly to a balloon of the female knight character.
Today was supposed to be a joyful Children's Day, but in the panic, she had gotten separated from her mother and now stood helplessly as Chitauri soldiers flew overhead...
Click.
Her cries didn't bring her mother—but instead drew the barrel of a Chitauri ray gun.
Wuen—!
"Kid, get out of the way!"
Whoosh—Zzzzt~
The Chitauri soldier's body twitched slightly, and the rifle that was about to fire powered down…
Due to the close distance and sheer luck, a stun gun had hit an unarmored part of its body.
Lewis didn't have time to think. She tossed the stun gun away, grabbed the little girl, and ran.
She had come to New York hoping for a date with Ye Li, but who would have thought she'd run into an alien invasion instead?
"Aliens… again with the aliens..."
She was exasperated.
It had been like this in New Mexico—and now again in New York. Why did she always end up in the middle of this kind of mess...
Tap tap tap.
Her curvy figure jiggling slightly as she ran, Lewis suddenly felt a strange sense of dread.
She instinctively looked back—and saw that the creature had recovered and was raising its gun again!
Chitauri may be grunts, but they were still aliens—one stun gun wasn't enough to bring them down for good.
Wuen—!
The energy rifle lit up again.
The next moment—
A blue energy beam shot toward her!
"Shit!!"
Lewis had no other choice—at the last second, she shoved the little girl out of the way—
—Biu!!
The beam pierced through her abdomen… No blood spilled, but the wound was scorched black.
"Big sister!" The little girl let go of her balloon and rushed toward her!
'Am I… dying?'
Lewis felt intense pain in her abdomen, and images flashed through her mind…
Her parents and family…
Her friend Jane…
And a certain mischievous guy…
Then.
In a daze, she seemed to hear—
"Woof!!"
Huh?... A dog's bark?
Lewis shook her head. Suddenly, she realized her stomach didn't hurt anymore… Was she in heaven?
"Big sister… you…"
The little girl looked at her in shock, pointing at Lewis's stomach. "Are you a superhero… like the Knight Lady?"
"Huh?"
Lewis looked down at her stomach in confusion. It was smooth and unscarred, as if nothing had happened. Only the damage to her clothing proved that it wasn't just an illusion…
"What… just happened?"
Lewis was completely baffled.
Did I… awaken superpowers?
The voluptuous beauty had no idea that this miracle was due to the large amounts of a certain essence she had consumed in the past…
Ye Li had used that substance to grant her the power of the Dog Talisman.