Luca drifted leisurely back into the cockpit, not particularly caring if the Skrulls inside the space station had witnessed his brief "skirmish."
If there was an internal video feed broadcasting the fight, it must have been a rollercoaster. First, the Skrulls were getting hammered at their own front door. Then, their Queen descends like a god from the heavens to save them... only to get turned into a cube before she could finish two sentences.
He wondered if the green-skinned aliens could handle that kind of emotional whiplash.
Entertaining these dark, amusing thoughts, Luca pushed the control stick forward. He flew toward the massive breach in the station's outer wall—the exit point G'iah had smashed through after her transformation.
Luca didn't know that the Skrulls only had enough of Carol Danvers' DNA for a single dose. So, even though he had dealt with G'iah, he was genuinely worried that a few dozen more "Super Skrulls" might come bursting out at any second.
If that happened, even with the Stasis Field and the [Dehydration Gun], things would get messy fast.
However, when he arrived at the breach, he realized his worry was unfounded. Let alone mass-producing more Super Skrulls, the place was a wreck. G'iah had destroyed everything on her way out.
Luca initially assumed the Skrull Queen had left the lab before smashing through the wall. But looking through the jagged tear in the hull, he could see the laboratory inside was total chaos.
The massive central apparatus was snapped in half, and sparking equipment was scattered everywhere.
Worse, the white-coated Skrull scientists were floating lifelessly in the zero-gravity room, their bodies twisted and frozen from the sudden decompression.
If the blast doors to the rest of the station hadn't remained sealed, Luca suspected the entire station might have been compromised by her exit.
"She really was... ruthless," Luca muttered.
He wasn't sure if G'iah had simply lost control of her emotions or if this was premeditated, but one thing was certain: she was not a qualified leader.
But that wasn't Luca's problem.
Seeing that there was no threat of more Super Skrulls popping up, Luca relaxed. He piloted the Gundam to pry open the blast doors, contacting Natasha and the others to put an end to this farce.
...
"So, you guys got stonewalled by Tony's AI?"
Luca fired off two casual particle arrows, dropping a Skrull who tried to rush him. He looked at Natasha and the team, who had entered the station long before him but hadn't managed to finish the "main objective." His tone was a mix of amusement and exasperation.
Because Luca had already taken out G'iah, the Skrulls inside the station—who were already on the brink of despair—had split into two camps.
One group was acting like turtles, locking themselves inside the living quarters and praying that the "heroes" would spare the women and children once the fighting stopped.
The other group had snapped. Driven by despair, they gathered together and launched suicidal attacks against Natasha's team. Many even tried to storm the detention cells to get to the human hostages, either to use them as leverage or just to kill them out of spite—a classic "scorched earth" tactic.
Of course, a small minority tried to flee in escape pods, but the three Gundams guarding the exterior shot them all down. It didn't really matter which faction those escapees belonged to.
However, no matter how many Skrulls tried to take the Avengers down with them, they couldn't break through the defensive line formed by Natasha and the others.
These guys were classified by the universe as mere "NPCs." They stood no chance against main characters.
And once Luca arrived, their desperate counterattack—which had been somewhat organized—turned into a minor annoyance.
Hearing Luca's question, Natasha found a moment between taking down enemies to reply.
"Yeah. We were planning to find the server room and smash Friday's mainframe. But since you captured the Skrull Queen alive, maybe we can use her biometrics to bypass that 'Artificial Idiot.'"
Clearly, Natasha was full of resentment toward the stubborn AI Tony had built. If it hadn't blocked their path at every turn, they would have rescued the hostages and been back on Earth by now.
Luca didn't offer much sympathy, just a small nod. He prepared to release G'iah from the cube, freeze her with the Stasis Field immediately, and then either mind-control her or use his [Copycat Watch] to scan her bio-signature and regain control of Friday.
But before Luca could even pull out the energy cube...
Perhaps because Natasha had said the name "Friday" out loud, the speakers in the corridor crackled to life.
After a burst of static, a cool, electronic female voice spoke.
"Authority recognition scan initiated. Hidden privileges triggered. Backup database protocol activating..."
After a string of jargon that meant nothing to the team, the electronic voice suddenly shifted its tone. It spoke directly to Luca with distinct deference.
"Mr. Aurantius. According to Hidden Failsafe Clause No. 45, you possess the authority to issue a direct termination command to me under any circumstances."
The battlefield, which had already quieted down, fell completely silent.
Except for Hulk, who was still smashing things in the background, every Avenger turned to look at Luca in shock.
Even Luca looked baffled.
"Hidden privileges? Failsafe clause?"
Hearing Luca's confusion, the electronic voice spoke again.
"Yes. According to the settings established by my creator—the genius Tony Stark—'Soccer Kid' Luca Aurantius holds Third-Tier Control Authority and is the sole beneficiary of the Hidden Failsafe Clause."
"Your Third-Tier Authority was wiped when primary ownership was transferred to Ms. G'iah. However, the Hidden Failsafe Clause operates independently."
"This clause cannot be transferred, regardless of changes in ownership or the death of the primary user."
"You retain the authority to terminate current missions, delete target profiles, and shut down this program. Would you like to shut down the program now?"
Listening to Friday's explanation, Luca felt a sudden, indescribable emotion well up in his chest.
But quickly, a look of relief and a genuine smile appeared on his face.
"Heh... that is a heavy amount of trust."
"Alright then... Shut down the program!"