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***
After Cap's retort, Barton and Stark left the roof, taking off. Rogers and Romanova jumped to the stairwell, eager to get down to the streets.
That left just me and Thor and a chained Loki.
- It's almost like that time in Mohave, isn't it? - I ask the Thunderer.
- Bigger, my friend, - Thor began to swing his hammer, - and you come with me, - clutching Lafeyson's armour with a bear's grip, the God of Thunder took off, dragging the God of Deception behind him like a sack of potatoes.
This picture makes me grin involuntarily.
I'm glad you caught your breath, Bearer, but we have to go," Raj reminded me.
Right.
I lift my head and look at the scepter that's been in my symbiotic tendril all this time.
I lower Loki's weapon to eye level and study it closely.
The last time I picked this little bugger up I saw New York City in flames and the Chitauri Armada, if I picked it up again would that happen again?
Let it hang better for now, I tuck my spear stylus behind my back, I'm sure Doc can enlighten me.
And I really hope he's here now and not in some outside dimension fighting demons.
I shoot out an organic web and snag myself on the corner of a building, heading for the Sanctum Sanctorum.
***
At this time.
Upper East Side.
Arachnid.
- Jen, hurry up! - Benji shouted, dodging the lunge of a huge cleaver wielded by one of the Chitauri.
- If you want, you can try to hack into and disable the lead bionic alien ship yourself," the AI said grudgingly. - Try as I might.
Benji didn't press Jenny and shot his webbing and hooked the enemy's sword, pulling it as hard as he could. The ship's guardian couldn't compete in strength with Spider-Man's son and let go of the blade. The silver-suited spider unwound the weapon and returned it to its master, hitting the hilt in the face with good momentum. Chitauri reeled and Silver knocked his opponent out with a two-footed kick all the way to the same long-suffering head. Spinning through the air, Ben landed on his feet and watched the alien settle on the roof.
Parker sighed and looked at the distant funnel of the dimensional portal.
Could the brown-haired man have imagined, leaving the base this morning to hunt for the Red Masked Gang, that an alien invasion would begin in the evening, and the very same one?!
Of course not!
Another anachronism. He's so sick of them.
Future Spider-Man was so preoccupied that he almost missed the Sentience signal. But he didn't have to react to it.
- Heads up! - Black Cat swooped down on the Chitauri who had tried to attack the Arachnid from behind.
Punching the alien's body, Felicia spun around, landing on her feet and disabling the Jetpack.
- Tarantula? Did Spidey make you a new costume too? - The platinum blonde questioned, arching an eyebrow.
Benji couldn't answer anything, however.
Standing in front of him was his mother. His second. Albeit not his biological one, but the woman from whom he had felt a kindred warmth and love since birth.
Ben couldn't say he was bound to Fey by the same ties he had with his birth mother, Mary Jane Parker, the woman who had given birth to him. But there had been times, especially during the rigours of adolescence, when the gulf between child and parent was the greatest, and he had confided to Mama Fey the secrets he had not shared with his own mother. Even though that period was then over, the fact of such a thing remained.
And now she stood before him, young, at the height of her superhero career, not yet hanging up her costume because of the need to work hard at raising Felicity and Walter, who were slowly spiralling out of control. He was ready to see his parents young, there was no other way at this time, and yet, so abruptly and under these circumstances....
- Hela, ow! - The girl snapped her fingers in front of Ben's eyes. - Are you okay, Cain?
- А? I...I'm not Cain," Silver Spider answered confusedly.
After Parker's crumpled reply, Hardy frowned and shortened her distance to a safe level.
- You don't look like a Scarlet Spider either, he got a recent upgrade," the thief got into a stance. - And you're definitely not my Spider. Who are you?!
- I'm a friend! - Benji hastened to assure his mum, raising his hands in a peaceful gesture. - My name's Arachnid, I'm sort of Spider-Man, but not your Spider, I mean from another time, far in the future! Peter knows! Oh crap, I said his real name, didn't I? - The annoyed teenager finished, bashfully putting his palm over his face.
Felicia was surprised. Perhaps if it hadn't been for the alien invasion, she would have been shocked at what the kid was rambling on about. However, he clearly wasn't the best liar and he was definitely telling the truth right now. At the very least because he couldn't hide the guilt reaction of having spoken out.
Body language is very hard to fake.
- Let's say," Felicia said slowly, "why should I believe you?
At that moment, behind Fey's back, the Chitauri's lead ship came crashing down with a terrible rumble.
The blonde began to look around and her eyes widened in amazement, the air gunboats and the aliens themselves began to fall from the sky as if they had been unplugged.
- Well, it was actually my suit's system that hacked the tech worm the invaders call a ship, hopefully that's proof enough of my good intentions," Benji scratched the back of his head worriedly.
Well, maybe she believes him.
*
Aircraft carrier
Shield Hangars
Bruce took a breath, trying to tune in.
Fury was right, he did want to be a hero and really show that the Hulk could be useful to people, not just destroy everything around him. Plus, as much as anything, the big guy is part of him and the Hulk's reputation is Banner's reputation.
- I see you're tuning in," the Director of PROTECTION said, appearing on the dais.
- Yes, I'm really worried about the flight being delayed, what if I miss it? - Doctor of Physical Sciences had not been famous for his sense of humour before, and from the growing nervousness he became quite bad.
- I'm sorry, but I hope you realise that finding an agent who will agree to fly with you alone on a quinjet, with the order to push you down over the city, is problematic even in conditions of alien attack? - Despite the slight smile, Nick wasn't joking at all.
- Yes, I understand," the brunet nodded.
- So, are you ready, Dr Banner?
The man exhaled nervously for the last time and looked at his interlocutor as concentrated as possible.
- Ready.
*
Stark tossed Clint on the dais.
The archer set about his task, and Tony had his own.
- Jarvis, I need a way to get these tin cans down as soon as possible," the Battleship announced, manoeuvring between the alien gunboats and firing his repulsors at everyone he could reach.
- Sir, I need more data," the AI replied.
- And how do you propose to get it?
- I found out that the big ships are something like translators, they are the ones that transmit the signal to all the aliens.
- Are you saying we're looking at some sort of semi-mechanical humanoid swarm race? - GMPF clarified.
- Exactly, sir.
The man in armour sighed, his world view having received another knockout blow today.
- And how do you get that signal to recode?
- From within," the programme butler replied calmly.
Iron Man turned his head in the direction of the long, snarling intruder ship.
- Great," the inventor exhaled.
Stark wanted to go to the Tower and try to figure out how to close the portal, but if he could find a frequency that could knock these things out.....
- Plot a course, Jarvis, and please make sure you don't leave the ship through the back exit of that cyber slug, okay? - spoke the hero, speeding up his flight.
*
The defenders made their way towards Manhattan.
Scarlet Spider could tell he was really tired. Still, patrols on which he catches various gangsters are one thing, but a full-scale alien invasion is quite another.
However, the heroes were waiting for help.
Turning the corner at the intersection of Bowl and Stoll, the street heroes saw the alien gunboat explode due to being hit by an unknown purple energy projectile.
- Bravo, Cajun, seventeen-twenty in my favour.
The team members looked up and saw a girl in a tight yellow and green suit flying.
- This is not a race, Shari," replied a man with a French accent as he jumped down from the fire escape cage.
- I'm leading, though," the mutant woman said with a smile as she took off and punched the alien gunboat with her body.
- You haven't seen everything I'm capable of, my dear," Gambit smirked, opening his staff and beginning to infuse it with kinetic energy.
The next thing the Defenders saw was a metal man crushing the aliens, paired with a girl in a yellow and blue suit, walking through the car and the aliens.
Before the heroes could do anything, a natural demon appeared in front of them in a blue haze, with a muffled pop and the sharp smell of rotten eggs: a yellow-eyed one with blue fur and an arrow tail twirling haphazardly from side to side.
- I'm sorry, people, but you can't have civilians here, so take shelter somewhere," the teenager said in a worried tone of voice.
And he was clearly not embarrassed by his own appearance.
- Do we look like civilians? - Daredevil asked, pointing to himself and his teammates.
Kurt looked them over questioningly, until his gaze settled on Scarlet Spider.
- Ka...you mean Tarantula? When did you change your costume? - Wagner arched an eyebrow in puzzlement. - Or....wait, Spidey?
- Yes!" Ben exclaimed. - I mean, not that one, but I'm the third brother," Reilly hastily tried to clarify. - Is Tarantula here, is he with you?
Kurt just nodded.
- Can you tell me where he is?
- Sure, hold on a second," Night Snake fell silent.
While the mutant seemed to be thinking hard about whether or not to tell Ben where his brother was, the blond turned to his surprised partners.
- Don't worry, people, they're their own, a team of mutants called the X-Men, they're heroes too, so if you're covered by one of the guys with the X emblem on their clothes, you don't have to worry about your rear," Spider-Man lightly enlightened the defenders, as only Spider-Man could.
- Okay, I know where we're going," the blue elf finally came out of his trance.
Without saying anything, Kurt grabbed Ben by the forearm and the two heroes disappeared in a blue haze.
- Yeah, this day just keeps getting more and more amazing," Rand said.
- I agree, but since these guys are on our side, let's help," Cage said, banging his fist against his fist
- There's plenty more aliens to go around," Murdoch twirled his batons.
The defenders went on the attack.
At the same time, Night Serpent teleported Scarlet Spider to the roof of a small five-story building three blocks from the battle.
- This feels weird," Reilly gave a slight twitch.
- Thanks for using our airlines, and I'll see you next season," the smiling mutant teleported away.
- Funny guy," the clone chuckled.
- Ben?
Reilly turned around and saw his brother impaling two aliens frozen in mid-air as if by someone's will.
Cain jumped away from the bodies of the dead aliens and landed in front of the Scarlet Spider.
- What are you doing here? - The brown-haired man wondered.
- The Defenders and I were making our way through Hell's Kitchen, and when I spotted the X-Men, I knew we had to see each other," the blond sighed, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you, brother.
Cain was even surprised. Ben's voice sounded so tired, so tense, that the brown-haired man was embarrassed for a moment. He'd always been much tougher, Peter an unattainable ideal who never seemed to allow himself to be weak in front of his own clones and therefore seemed monolithic. The younger brother, on the other hand, was always the most insecure of them all, and cleverly hid it behind jokes.
He gave out witticisms even more often than the original.
However, the genetic copies of the same person could not stand and talk quietly.
Squads of four gunboats swooped down on the roof: twenty aliens.
- We'll talk while we deal with these," Reilly said, shooting a web at the nearest intruder.
Cain, on the other hand, withdrew his wrists slightly, lengthening his stingers and went for the left side of the group, leaving the twin to the right.
- How...how's Elizabeth?" the brown-haired man decided he needed to ask his brother that question, poking one of the chitauri several times.
- She stayed in our flat," the clone exhaled, dodging the alien's lunge and kicking it in a spinning jump. - I tried to convince her to go to Queens to see the girls, but you know Lizzie.
Yes, Miss Tyne has a temper of her own.
- By the way, have you tried contacting Spider? - Cain changed the subject, grabbing the aliens with his tenacity and, by inertia, hammering their heads into the concrete surface of the roof with all his might.
- No, I decided that if he was with the Avengers, I'd better give myself over to what was going on, working with the Defenders," Ben snagged the plasma cannon of one of the invaders, pulling it to him with his webbing. Fumbling for the hook, Reilly opened fire with the alien weapon. - And you? - The clone asked back as the fifth plasma-burned alien fell breathlessly.
- Same thing," Cain tried to stab another enemy, but failed.
A dozen of the remaining crew soldiers flew up several metres and were flattened on their sides, breaking their bodies.
Wonder Girl in her yellow, black and blue Team X costume landed on the roof.
- Are you all right? - The telepathic girl said, pushing back the red fringes that were in her eyes without using her hands.
- Yes," Cain turned to Ben. - Scarlet Spider, let me introduce this is my...partner, Gina Grey," the Tarantula said at the last moment.
- Ahhhh," the blond man stretched out with a smile in his voice, understanding perfectly well what his brother's hesitation meant. - Nice to meet you, Miss Grey," Reilly bowed jokingly. - I'm the younger brother of that scowling lone wolf over there," Spider jokingly pointed at the brown-haired man.
- You'll make a deal," Parker growled angrily at the clown.
Gina, however, only laughed at their altercation.
- It's nice to meet you too, but I think it's better to deal with the aliens and leave the discussions for later, don't you agree?
Confirming the correctness of the proposed approach, the redhead picked up two gunboats with her telekinesis and pushed them against each other.
The spiders found it unnecessary to challenge the idea.
***
Peter Parker.
The East Side.
My journey to Greenwich was uneventful, with a couple of delays when aliens directly surrounded groups of civilians and I had to intervene, but for the most part I continued on my way unhindered.
I was only delayed a few times, the first time I was distracted by a terrible rumble, like something heavy falling a few blocks to the east, but since there was a lot of noise, like blaster volleys or explosions, I didn't check it out.
The second one was a more pleasant sight: Shield agents in half-armoured military jumpsuits with jetpacks, armed with assault rifles and, for the lucky few, with prototype energy weapons.
I was distracted from my musings by a woman's scream.
I turn and see a girl with a six-year-old child in her arms being cornered by two aliens.
I grab the corner and swing myself into one of the Chitauri on the principle of a pendulum, pushing the alien into a neighbouring brick wall. Before his partner has time to react, I release about seven symbiotic outgrowths, tightly braiding the intruder and, squeezing him, throwing the enemy all the way into the same wall, into the same first chitauri.
- Is everyone all right? - I turn to the clutched woman, who clearly had time to say goodbye to her life, clutching her child to her chest.
- What? The young brunette opened her eyes. - Spider-Man?!
- Don't worry, you're safe," I reply to the shocked woman, and as the child pulls away from her mother's shoulder, I notice that the girl is also pregnant.
Pregnant... I wonder how Mary is?
Shaking my head, I try to shake off the sudden obsession.
- To all the nearest Shield agents, fix my coordinates and send a squad, we need to evacuate the civilians, - turning a little to the side, I activate the general channel of communication, delivering the information.
While I'm waiting for a reply, I feel a small palm touching my hand.
I lower my head and look into the boy's concerned eyes.
- You're not going to leave us, are you, Spider-Man?
I realise I urgently need to get to Dr Strange and then team up with the Avengers to end this nightmare, but...how can I?
- Don't worry, kid, I won't leave you," I lightly ruffle the whirls of the smiling boy. - We'll wait together," I squat down. - What's your name?
- Rick," I said, no trace of fear in the boy's voice, his eyes on me.
- Nice to meet you, Rick, you can call me Spidey. What's your beautiful mum's name? - A slight nod towards the blushing woman.
- Louise," the brunette answered for her son. - Thanks for your help.
- Not at all.
A squad of five armed agents won't keep us waiting and will arrive quickly enough.
- Take them to the nearest metro station, it's the safest place to be right now," I instruct the squad leader.
- Yes, sir," the agent says to me and orders his men to move out.
The kid waves goodbye and I answer him.
All right, let's move on.
This time I'm not flying across the rooftops, I'm flying across the streets. Rick reminded me of the most important thing. As much as I'm in a hurry, I need to keep an eye out for people.
Most of them had escaped to the underground or barricaded themselves in, and not many aliens had made it to Greenwich.
I land and look out into the distance. Chitauri lead ships and particularly large gunboats glimmer on the horizon.
Suddenly my Sense goes off, and there's a rumble behind me.
I turn round and see before me an almost four-metre tall, healthy green hulk, with familiar facial features.
- Dr Banner? - I'm shocked, and I say it faster than I can think.
Of course, the Hulk doesn't like the comparison, and growls at me.
Sensors ring in my head, reminding me of the click that came true. Perfect timing.
- The Hulk is not a weakling, Banner! - declares menacingly to me, Mr No Tearing Pants.
No, really, either Bruce has got himself some unstable molecule trousers somewhere, or they're held together by the sheer will of Stan Lee, preventing the gamma giant from shining his cucumber here.
Well, that's a nervous thought.
- No, no, no, no, no, I'm a friend of the Hulk, I like to smash things. - I raise my hands in a protective gesture.
- Bukash likes to destroy? - Hulk asked interestedly, but immediately growled again because of the purple plasma volley hitting him.
Together we turn round and see a gunboat with a Chitauri crew.
Oh, what good timing you guys have and what bad luck you've had!
- Hey, Hulk, whoever hits the least is a sucker! - I shout to the jade strongman and with all possible force I launch Loki's scepter into the body of one of the alien soldiers, impaling him.
Not the best use of the supposed infinity stone vault, but still, I've got one of Marvel's most powerful guys to convince of my good intentions, so don't blame me.
The Hulk just smirked and lunged at the gunboat, completely smashing the mechanism and destroying the soldiers.
- Okay, I get it, I'm a sucker," I approach the Hulk, who is stomping the burning pieces of the broken ship into the asphalt.
- Yes, but Bukash has potential, - the gamma-giant gave out a rather meaningful tirade for himself, - catch your toothpick, - the green threw me Loki's staff.
I intercepted the sceptre with a tendril, still not risking to touch it and thinking that the Hulk was able to because of his indescribable stability? Or was the reaction just with me?
- Thanks, big guy, by the way, if you want to crush more bugs, go towards that thing over there, - I point to the portal funnel looming in the distance.
Jade Thunderbolt barked in agreement and jumped, taking off a good hundred metres ahead.
- That was a good first meeting," I wiped the non-existent sweat from my mask.
I shoot out a web and fly on.
*
Time Square.
Cyclops shot down another gunship and looked around the battlefield.
The mutants were confidently crushing the aliens. Scott shifted his gaze to the man in the dark red devil suit. The Defenders, that was the name of the team of their unexpected allies. Gina had connected their minds to a common telepathic channel to better coordinate, good idea.
Summers raised his head and looked up at the Stark Illuminated Tower. It was their ultimate target, but as soon as someone tried to get through, the aliens would attack them all in one piece.
The mutant field leader was pulled from his musings by the scream of a body crashing into the garlands thrown over the poles.
- Damn bugs! - It was Logan.
- You okay, Wolverine? - Scott ran up to his teammate, giving him the palm of his hand.
- I'll live, Slim," Howlett said grudgingly, but accepted the palm.
No sooner had the mutants exchanged further words than they were distracted by a scream in the air.
The Ice Man was surrounded by aliens and exploded with a freezing wave, throwing the alien horde away with blocks of ice. Due to the scale of the power surge, Drake even triggered a snowfall. However, the guy couldn't hold on to his ice glide and began to fall downwards.
- Bobby! - Scott shouted.
But the mutant leader had no time to transmit anything over the telepathic channel, an orange fire flash flew sharply across the sky.
- Catch! - shouted Johnny loudly, removing the flame cover from his hands and grabbing the falling Drake.
- Thanks, mate! - Thanked the blond man, becoming covered in ice again. - Fire, huh?
- And you're ice," Storm grinned, letting go of the mutant, and Bobby immediately recreated his ice springboard. - I'm Fakel Man, by the way.
- Ice Man. We'll see you again, Torch," Drake saluted, moving towards the aliens again.
- Johnny, where are you? - came the voice of Storm's favourite big sister.
- I went on a reconnaissance mission like Reed asked," the superhero answered his sister. "Sue, hurry up and fly to the Centre, I didn't realise what a party we were missing while we were stuck with the aliens in Midtown," the blond man said as he watched the abundance of costumed men fighting the invaders.