BOOM—
The descent of the meteorite fragments all but reshaped the landscape. A massive tremor rippled through the earth, making the very ground beneath them wail in agony.
"I think we need to figure something out, and fast!"
Happy, his hand encased in a gauntlet of steel armor, shouted from the center of the group while relentlessly firing energy blasts.
"You're telling me!" Spidey had already toggled his suit to Instant Kill mode.
It was a setting he'd once activated by mistake and promised never to touch again; after all, he'd never been the type who wanted to solve his problems by taking lives.
But right now, there was no room for hesitation.
"Don't hold back on this one! Or that one! Wait! Stop! That one's a human!"
Parker felt like he was glitching out. Without Instant Kill, the pressure was suffocating, but even with it on, the weight of the situation didn't feel any lighter.
"The situation is critical," the AI inside the spider-suit chimed in, right as the frontline nearly buckled because Parker had swerved to avoid a non-infected human.
"Please, Suit Lady! We both really need to step it up right now!"
As the primary powerhouse on the ground, Parker had zero bandwidth to spare.
Scott, who was drifting around the battlefield providing support alongside the Cloak of Levitation, flinched as a fist nearly shattered his containment jar.
He couldn't help but wail, "Dr. Banner?! Use your invincible Hulk form and do something!"
Meanwhile, Banner's face was turning a frustrated shade of green, yet he still couldn't coax the Hulk out.
"Come on, Hulk!" Banner was on the verge of a breakdown. "If you don't show up, we're all dead!"
Bucky could feel his rifle burning his hands from overheating. "Banner!"
"I can't!" Banner cried out, his face a mask of misery. "I'm trying to talk to him, but it's not working!"
"If we don't have the Hulk, Vision can't do what he needs to do," Sharon said, her face grim.
The best move right now would be for Banner to let the Hulk loose to stabilize the front lines.
Then, Vision could take T'Challa to the broadcast facilities to play the frequency of the Mind Stone. Not only would the Wakandan soldiers stop their assault, they would become their greatest allies.
But as it stood, without the Hulk, they were about to be swallowed by the legion.
And more importantly...
Thanos stood on a high ridge not far from the army. He watched their pathetic struggle without a hint of mercy, tugging once more at the power of the Power Stone.
The earth split beneath their feet, and the group was tossed like dolls into the heart of the horde. Fortunately, the zombies were also knocked back by the shockwave, preventing them from swarming immediately.
Seeing this, Vision moved to dive in for a rescue, but Thanos wasn't about to let him have his way.
With a ripple from the Space Stone, Thanos flickered into existence right beside Vision, his hand lunging out to crush the android's head.
The Mind Stone proved its worth then; the sheer sensation of malice allowed Vision to react even before Thanos moved.
As the Titan's palm phased harmlessly through Vision's body, the android soared into the sky, well out of reach.
Thanos let out a guttural roar. If he still possessed his full sanity, he wouldn't have been shaken off so easily. But even for a Titan—even with a mind strong enough to shrug off most mental magics—his mental and physical stamina weren't infinite.
Maintaining a shred of reason under the influence of the virus was an uphill battle.
Still, at the very least, Vision was now too occupied to lend a hand to anyone else.
With their MVP forced out of the play, the rest of the group felt the crushing weight of doomsday closing in.
Faced with such overwhelming numbers, Hope should have grown to her giant size to sweep the field. But the damn catch was that these were all zombies.
Even a tiny scratch—infinitesimal to her giant form—would mean infection.
She didn't want it to come to that unless there was no other choice. It wasn't that she feared death, but such a move was essentially overdrawing her combat utility.
It might ease the situation for a moment, but once she turned, she would become a nightmare for her own teammates to handle.
After all, they knew there was a way to bring their friends back now.
That knowledge was a beacon of hope, but it was also a shackle; it meant they couldn't bring themselves to use lethal force on their fallen comrades.
She hesitated, but could they really afford to wait? Was there ever going to be a more "life or death" moment than this?
With that thought, Hope's gaze hardened. Scott, also hovering in mid-air, realized what she was planning, but he couldn't find the words to stop her.
A sense of powerlessness choked him. He could only watch blankly as Hope offered him a smile that looked far too much like a goodbye.
However...
"ROAR—!"
A howl like a tidal wave swept across the entire battlefield. Finally unable to ignore the mortal peril, the Hulk temporarily set aside his stubbornness. "Banner is a puny moron!"
The green giant tore through the crowd like an armored tank, wading through the sea of zombies without losing a beat of momentum.
"The big guy's finally out?!" Parker yelled in pleasant surprise, though he quickly realized the situation was still dire.
The Hulk was a massive help, but it still wasn't enough to flip the script.
Sharon, Happy, and Kurt were in a desperate spot.
Sharon at least had the skills of an elite agent, but the other two—one a former bodyguard and the other an average cop—had almost zero chance of surviving this tide of flesh.
T'Challa might have lost a leg, but his suit kept him in the fight, and Okoye's combat prowess and vibranium weaponry meant she could hold her own for a while.
The Hulk made a beeline toward Happy and Kurt, guided by Banner's internal shouting. The two had stayed together; though they'd been tossed by the blast, they weren't far.
Meanwhile, Spidey was pushing himself to the limit to reach Sharon.
In that moment, he absolutely loathed the wide-open terrain. The lack of buildings severely crippled his mobility.
Seeing that he wouldn't make it in time—with a zombie's hand inches from Sharon's shoulder—Parker felt his heart stop.
But then, the sound of tearing air descended from the heavens.
A figure draped in lightning and storm landed near Sharon. The sheer force of the impact sent the surrounding zombies flying dozens of feet back. Even Sharon lost her footing and tumbled to the ground.
"Oh! My! God!" Parker clutched his head with both hands.
"Just Thor will do. No need for the 'God' part." Despite being stabbed in the back by Earth lately, Thor was still friendly toward his allies.
Besides, he'd long since moved past the phase of introducing himself by his title; only Loki still got a kick out of that.
"Ah, sorry! I was just reacting! But I mean, yeah! I could call you 'God,' but that was just me yelling!" Parker was practically dancing in place.
Seeing a hero in person and seeing them actually cut loose were two entirely different feelings—especially when they show up at the 11th hour.
"Hahahaha!" Scott naturally caught the scene as well.
Even if Thor was the only one in the group who constantly insisted he was the "Strongest Avenger," to any outsider, that claim didn't seem like an exaggeration at all.
More importantly, Thor's arrival was a signal to everyone present.
The original Avengers would be gathering here very soon.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.