Northbound at 121st Street and Broadway in New York, the crowd was in total chaos. People shoved past each other in blind panic, scattering in every direction as a massive khaki-colored monster with jagged spines running down its back tore through the street like a living weapon.
A rocket screamed toward it, dragging a thick white trail of smoke behind it. But just before impact, the creature reacted with terrifying speed. It shot out one hand, caught the rocket in midair, and actually held it there like it was no more threatening than a thrown bottle.
Then it smiled.
It was a disturbingly human expression, filled with mockery, as if it were laughing at the pathetic effort of the people trying to stop it. A second later, its fingers clenched.
Boom.
The rocket exploded right in its hand, and a violent fireball swallowed its entire body. In the distance, the soldiers who had fired it nearly cheered, convinced for one brief moment that the thing had finally gone down.
Then the monster's head pushed out through the flames.
Completely unharmed.
It lifted its face to the sky and roared, and when it spoke, the voice that came out was unmistakably human.
"Give me an opponent!"
Overhead, a Daily Bugle news helicopter circled the battlefield, keeping pace above the destruction. Sitting inside it with a microphone clutched in one hand was none other than J. Jonah Jameson.
Ordinarily, a man like him would never have needed to come this close to the action. As the boss, he was supposed to sit behind a desk, bark orders, and let other people risk their necks. The only reason he was here now was because he had gotten himself into trouble.
Back when the armored man in Afghanistan had first started making headlines, Jameson had taken money to help shape the public narrative. He had happily called that mysterious figure the Tin Can Killer, never imagining that the man inside the armor was Tony Stark.
Then Stark had bought him out in the stock market without Jameson noticing until it was too late. He went to bed one night as the boss and woke up with a new owner standing over him.
Stark had told him to retire.
Jameson refused.
So Stark dumped him onto front-line reporting duty.
Jameson had endured it, but the humiliation never left his heart. What I lost, I'll take back with my own two hands. Even now, with a giant monster rampaging below and his fear of heights making his head spin, he still held onto that stubborn fury.
He took a deep breath and shouted into the microphone, his voice shaking only a little. "Viewers, we are bringing you an emergency live broadcast! A horrifying monster has appeared on the streets of New York and is tearing through everything in sight! Police and military forces are already on the scene, and they are—"
He leaned out, took one look, and nearly choked.
"Oh! What a generous gift. They've been smashed to pieces! Dear God, where is New York's savior? We need him right now! And, uh, of course, the incredibly powerful and beloved Iron Man Stark. He will definitely save the people from this crisis…"
On a rooftop in the distance, two men from S.H.I.E.L.D. were also watching the scene unfold.
Coulson held a pair of high-powered binoculars to his eyes and couldn't help muttering in disbelief. "That thing is insane. General Ross is in real trouble this time. I heard he came here to capture the monster that escaped all the way to Brazil during the last operation. Is this the same one? Damn. The director really is trying to get me killed."
Beside him, Clint Barton stood in silence.
He wasn't carrying a bow.
Instead, strapped at his side was a long Japanese sword.
During the demon invasion, Barton had lost his right eye. It had been replaced with an advanced mechanical prosthetic, one powerful enough to outperform a normal eye in some ways, but it hadn't fixed the real damage. Every time he tried to pick up a bow now, he remembered the officers and agents he had accidentally shot during that nightmare.
His arrows no longer flew true.
So he had put the bow down.
Looking at the monster below, at the screaming civilians and the ruined streets under the city's night sky, he felt a cold disgust rise in him. He was sick of S.H.I.E.L.D. surveillance assignments. Sick of standing back and watching while other people bled. For the first time in a long while, he wanted to go down there and stand with the people.
Alive or dead.
His thoughts drifted to Natasha, who had already gone off to begin her own journey of atonement, hunting the Red Room through blood and shadows. There was something almost enviable about it.
And what about mine?
…
Then everything changed.
Jameson's voice suddenly rose again over live television, now trembling with a kind of feverish excitement. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've just received word—our savior is coming! He and his Avengers team are about to make their first public appearance, and their first mission is to take down this terrifying monster! Let's all look forward to their performance. Oh my God, they're here!"
Under the eyes of the city, lightning crashed down from the sky.
The bolt struck with such force that the Abomination, who had been roaring and trampling through the street, let out a howl of pain and was blasted backward instantly. It was worth noting that the lightning didn't come from Locke. It came from Storm.
The Abomination's massive body was still flying through the air when a silver figure appeared behind it in a burst of speed.
Bang.
Colossus drove a brutal punch into its body and sent it hurtling even farther. Before the creature could recover, a red beam lanced across the battlefield. Cyclops' optic blast slammed into it with overwhelming force, changing its direction again and sending it crashing across the street like a living wrecking ball.
Snikt.
Logan extended all six claws and glanced sideways at the long blade in the hand of the man beside him. "You ready?"
Blade flashed a cold grin, teeth white against the dark. "I've killed eight hundred monsters, maybe a thousand. I could probably kill this thing by myself."
Logan rolled his eyes. What a load of crap.
As the Abomination hurtled closer, Logan launched himself into the air with a savage roar. "Die, you freak!"
His claws hit first.
The instant the monster slammed into the ground, Logan landed on its chest and drove his adamantium claws deep into its body. Skin and muscle that could shrug off rockets split open under the metal. The Abomination roared in fury and threw its hands up to grab Logan's throat, but before it could lock on, another flash of silver cut through the night.
A blade punched straight through its right arm and bit into the bone.
Blade's expression tightened. He had meant to sever the arm clean off, but the creature's bones were absurdly dense. Instead of slicing through, the sword jammed into the bone and stuck there.
The pain only made the Abomination more ferocious.
With a wild roar, it hurled Logan away and staggered back to its feet. It clenched its teeth, ripped the sword free from its own arm, and glared at Blade with pure hatred as it started forward one heavy step at a time.
Blade swore under his breath, drew a pistol from his waist, and retreated while firing. The bullets struck, but barely slowed it. The Abomination crouched, then sprang upward with both fists raised high, ready to smash Blade into the pavement.
At the critical moment, Scott fired again.
The red beam blasted into the monster's side and knocked it off course, hurling it away just before it could crush Blade. When the Abomination rolled up from the ground this time, it finally realized something important.
It was surrounded.
Storm hovered in the air overhead like a goddess of the storm. Colossus stood like a silver wall. Logan circled with claws extended and blood in his eyes. Blade had drawn both guns now. Cyclops stood at range, already charging another blast. On a nearby rooftop, Frank had set up with a rifle and was coordinating the battle like a battlefield commander.
And that was when the real fight began.
…
Locke didn't join the melee directly.
He floated high between the buildings, suspended in the air as he watched the battlefield below. This was the Avengers' first real public battle as a team, and they needed time to find their rhythm with one another. More importantly, he was also keeping watch for something else.
Another monster.
Almost at the same time the Avengers made their entrance, Bruce Banner had already jumped out of the military aircraft above the city. He smashed into the street hard enough to leave a crater, then slowly crawled out of it looking dazed, one hand rubbing his head as if he had forgotten something important.
But that confusion didn't last long.
The Abomination's miserable howls reached him quickly enough.
And there were many others watching too.
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury felt like his heart was being carved apart with a knife. The Avengers? A heroic response team? An organized superhuman unit? Those were his ideas. His ideas.
And now Locke had stolen all of it in one shot.
"Fake," Fury muttered darkly.
There had to be a mole in the agency. There was no other explanation. How else could Locke have come up with something so sharp, so polished, so annoyingly perfect? Fury's jaw tightened.
I'll find that traitor.
And when I do, I'll kill him.
After settling that in his mind, he looked back at the live feed showing the Avengers hammering away at the Abomination, then reached for a file lying on his desk. Since Locke had moved early, Fury had no intention of waiting any longer.
His own special team would begin forming now.
Working title: Justice League.
It sounded much more imposing than Avengers, even if, somewhere in the back of his mind, he had to admit it was also a little childish.
The file in his hand contained a list of potential candidates. There was the card shark out in Alaska. The giant musclebound specimen being held by Homeland Security. A few other names and locations marked with notes. Fury closed the file slowly, and a smile crept onto his face.
Just wait, Locke.
My Justice League is going to crush your Avengers.
The White House was watching too.
The President and a room full of senior officials stood around the television, studying every second of the battle. The military men cared most about whether this new team was powerful enough to compensate for the glaring weaknesses the armed forces had been exposed for having. The President wanted more than that.
He needed this team to win.
And not just win, but win beautifully.
He could already see the political value. If, during the next election, several impossibly charismatic superhumans were out there helping campaign for him, what would that look like? It would be devastating to any opponent.
A complete slaughter.
High above the battlefield, Locke's attention wasn't only on the fight. He was also monitoring another location—the place where the Abomination had been born.
That lab held a massive amount of precious Hulk blood.
And something even more valuable.
A big-headed little freak.
Dr. Samuel Sterns was the man who had gone furthest in studying Hulk blood and gamma mutation, and before the Avengers even made their move, Locke had already sent Lady Deathstrike, Erica, and the Nine Spiders to infiltrate Sterns' lab.
Their mission had two parts.
First, seize every sample of Hulk blood they could carry.
Second, secure Sterns before he finished transforming into the monster that would one day become the Leader.
They succeeded.
Sterns had still been in the middle of mutating when he was hit with an anesthetic and dropped unconscious on the spot. After that, they packed up as much Hulk blood as they could, then burned whatever they couldn't take.
Locke had rarely felt happier.
That haul meant one of his biggest long-term plans had just taken a major step forward.
And if the big-headed freak turned out to be powerful enough after all his upgrades and experiments, then Locke's dream of unifying the world might actually become possible. Not just Earth either. In his imagination, thousands of Abominations could march into Hell itself, crush the demons, and drag the devil back in chains.
…
On the battlefield, the Avengers had the Abomination suppressed.
Storm's lightning locked it down. Cyclops was the main damage source. Colossus and Logan kept it pinned in close quarters. Frank directed the flow of the battle from range. Blade moved in and out like a hunter, striking at openings whenever they appeared.
After Logan tore dozens of holes into its body, the Abomination finally realized that its regeneration wasn't keeping up anymore. It had absorbed too much damage—lightning, lasers, bullets, claws, fists, blade wounds, impact after impact. The pace of healing was beginning to slow.
Victory was starting to come into view.
The Avengers felt it.
The viewers at home felt it too.
Across New York, in apartments, bars, hospitals, and police stations, people who had been watching in fear were starting to believe. This team could actually win. They might really save the city.
And then, just as the momentum shifted, the live broadcast camera suddenly swung away from the battle.
Another monster had appeared between the buildings.
This one was green from head to toe, with thick bulging muscles and terrifying raw power. Every leap carried it dozens of yards at a time, and every landing smashed craters into the concrete below.
Jameson's voice cracked with hysteria and excitement. "Viewers, another monster has appeared! A green muscle monster! Dear God, the Avengers are in danger. This one doesn't look weak at all. Oh, what am I seeing? He's coming, he's coming, through thunder and lightning itself—New York, your savior!"
....
Join my P@treon FOR FREE and get 5 advanced chapters.
Paid members can get upto 60+ chapters ahead of the public release.
Link : [email protected]/thebookaddict