As a series of explosions rang out from the hovercrafts downstairs, Tony Stark quickly snapped back to his senses.
Even clad in his Iron Man suit, the swarm of mini-missiles that had just zipped past his face sent a chill down his spine.
Fortunately, the projectiles didn't explode upon impact—instead, they burst into sticky goo that incapacitated the enemy. Only then did he breathe a small sigh of relief.
Still, his astonishment didn't fade one bit.
"J.A.R.V.I.S... just now?!"
Picking up on Tony's questioning tone, J.A.R.V.I.S.—well-trained in reading his behavior—instantly understood what he was asking.
A virtual display locked onto the "pencil case" in the boy's hand, projecting a flood of data.
J.A.R.V.I.S. reported:
"Sir, there is no record of this weapon in our database. Preliminary analysis classifies it as a handheld micro-missile launcher with smart-lock capability. The missiles are filled with high-viscosity polymer compounds for effective enemy restraint."
"However, due to their slow flight speed, the Mark Armor has a 98.4% interception rate beyond close range. Threat level: low."
Tony got to his feet, feeling a bit embarrassed at how rattled he'd just been.
"But earlier…"
He was about to say that the first time he crashed in front of the mother and son, that thing was practically shoved in his face—that was close range.
And his suit's scanners should've picked it up even before the device deployed.
So why didn't J.A.R.V.I.S. warn him?
Before he could finish the thought, J.A.R.V.I.S. responded preemptively:
"Sir, your manual faceplate retraction interrupted the scan process."
"…."
Tony's face flushed. So the embarrassment was on him after all.
Still, he grumbled stubbornly:
"No big deal! J.A.R.V.I.S., remind me to add an external debris-clearing function to the suit's self-cleaning module!"
"Understood, sir."
With that settled, Tony was about to tell the mother and son to stay safe and bolt—there was still a war raging outside, after all.
But before he could say a word—
The boy, who had just put away his pencil case, suddenly accelerated, darting past Tony with incredible speed and rushing toward the gaping hole in the wall.
Though fast, the boy's movement was still within the suit's visual tracking range.
Tony turned and saw him come to a sudden stop by a soccer ball near the hole.
Raising his right leg high, Luka took a pose like a majestic eagle, eyes locked on something in the distance.
And there it was—a colossal Leviathan-class alien ship, over a hundred meters long, gliding toward their building.
From it, Chitauri soldiers leapt down one by one, scattering across the city.
Is he seriously going to—?!
BEEP BEEP BEEP – WARNING! WARNING! HIGH ENERGY READING!
"Scanning results: unknown power module… synthetic muscle fibers made from memory alloy… magnetorheological dampening layer… carbon nanotube crystalline mesh…"
Lines of data streamed across Tony's HUD, and J.A.R.V.I.S. kept warning him.
But all of Tony's focus was locked on the boy.
Electric arcs exploded from Luka's right sneaker, rainbow glimmers flashing across its surface.
Then—
With explosive force, Luka delivered a devastating kick to the soccer ball.
In Tony's slow-motion HUD, the ball visibly warped under pressure.
Air around it compressed with a thunderous pop.
Then, like a blazing meteor, the ball rocketed out.
Debris flew, shockwaves erupted, and the ball turned into a comet of orange flame.
A trail of sonic booms marked its path, shattering the windows of nearby buildings.
BOOM—!
The flaming ball smashed into the Leviathan with bone-crunching force.
The ship howled in agony.
Its armor cracked open at the impact point, and the entire beast staggered back in mid-air.
"…Unknown external enhancement technology. Unknown targeting system. Unknown…"
J.A.R.V.I.S. kept analyzing.
But Tony stood frozen, swallowing hard.
"Holy—crap…"
A Chitauri roar broke the silence.
The Leviathan, though injured, now flew faster—aiming straight for their building.
No time to think—Tony launched himself after it.
Luckily, Luka's kick had already ruptured part of its armor, saving Tony the trouble of breaking through.
A missile from his wrist hit the exposed muscle tissue.
BOOM—!
A gaping wound opened in the creature's side.
It shrieked, then crashed to Earth, smashing two more buildings before finally going still.
"Phew~ Seriously? That actually worked?!"
Hovering mid-air, Tony let out a triumphant whistle.
He hadn't expected the "soccer kid" to be such a game-changer.
But what kind of family equips a kid with weapons like that?!