Chapter 325: Allen Declares War on the Justice League and the Avengers
It hadn't even been a week.
The Justice League and the Avengers no longer had the bandwidth to worry about implementing any legislation.
At this point, not only had the families of many heroes been kidnapped, but some of the heroes themselves had met with tragedy.
It was a clear sign of how deranged the enemy was, to the extent that both major factions no longer dared to move around freely. Tony had even invited S.H.I.E.L.D. to step in and help look after the heroes' families.
Right now, Batman and Iron Man were meeting as representatives of their respective alliances to discuss cooperation.
It was a historic moment.
Up until now, the two sides had never formally interacted.
All heroes from the Justice League and the Avengers were present—just divided into their respective camps.
Everyone had returned to their original groups, as if they had reverted to the way things used to be.
Suddenly, a holographic projection lit up.
Before they could even begin discussions, something happened.
Tony was deeply frustrated. His AI systems were being breached every other day.
"You're all here."
Onscreen, a man wearing an owl mask greeted them casually.
More importantly, behind him was a bound and very recognizable woman.
Black Widow—Natasha.
She was tied to a chair, her body covered in electroshock patches.
Instantly, everyone held their breath, their eyes locked on the impending torture scene.
The sight sparked all kinds of unsettling thoughts.
After all, she was one of the top ten most beautiful heroines—a dream girl for countless men.
Suddenly, Natasha began convulsing, violently tossing her head, as though she were being electrocuted.
Then her head slumped to the side, as if she'd passed out.
"This is only the beginning. Heh heh heh…"
The masked man on screen let out a chilling laugh.
"Allen!?" Bruce asked cautiously.
The video wasn't static—the masked man stood eerily still.
After a long pause, Allen yanked off his mask and snapped, "Bats, how did you recognize me?"
"You could've at least changed out of that hospital gown," Bruce replied awkwardly.
Sure enough, the hospital gown was a dead giveaway.
No one else roamed the world in that kind of outfit—only Allen.
"Natasha, drop the act. I've been exposed."
Allen looked frustrated, clearly caught off guard and embarrassed.
Natasha slowly sat up. The restraints weren't even locked, and the electroshock patches hadn't been powered on. She stepped in front of the camera and said bluntly, "He's the one kidnapping your families and some of the heroes. Take it up with him."
She made a clean break, distancing herself to avoid drawing hatred.
After all, she was just as much a victim—still technically a hostage.
"Allen, release Alfred," Bruce said sternly.
He was slightly more at ease now. At least Allen wasn't harming innocents. But considering Alfred's age, the old man couldn't take much torment.
"What did you do to my Aunt May?" Peter blurted out.
"I don't release hostages," Allen said, then looked at Spider-Man with a wicked grin. "Kid, relax. I might become your uncle-in-law."
"…"
Beast.
Even the elderly weren't safe.
Peter was about to explode with profanity, but Tony held him back and asked, "What do you want?"
"Big nephew—no 'uncle'? That hurts my feelings."
With that, Allen skipped out of the room. Moments later, he returned with little Morgan Stark perched on his neck, grinning obnoxiously. "Granddaughter, say hello to your uncles and aunties."
"Hello, uncles and aunties!" Morgan chirped happily. "Grandpa Allen's place is so fun! I don't ever want to go home!"
Bang!
The meeting room doors slammed open.
Pepper Potts burst in, panicked and in tears. "Morgan's missing—my baby girl!"
Calmly, Tony pointed at the holographic projection. Pepper followed his gaze, instantly wiped away her tears, and put on her stern mom voice: "Morgan, where are you? I'm coming to take you home."
"No! I wanna keep playing here!" Morgan pouted.
As the pampered daughter of Stark Industries and Tony's beloved little princess, she'd lived a tightly controlled life. Now, in a place with food, fun, and tons of playmates, it was no surprise she didn't want to leave.
"Knight Morgan the Shark doesn't want to go home. Grandpa says you can keep playing here," Allen said.
He set Morgan down, letting her skip joyfully toward the play area.
Tony and Pepper exchanged a glance. Once this was all over, they'd be taking Morgan back immediately. There was no way they were letting Allen corrupt their little princess into a wild child.
And they absolutely would not allow Morgan to grow up to be a superhero.
"What do you want?" Bruce pressed again.
As much as Allen's methods infuriated him, Bruce understood there had to be a reason behind it all.
He suspected it was related to the legislation.
"It's simple."
Allen held up four fingers. "I have three demands."
Sure, go ahead—raise all the fingers and toes you want.
"First, everyone must oppose the legislation."
No problem there. At this point, everyone agreed the bill was outrageous.
Allen had been able to kidnap families with ease, and it wasn't hard to imagine the devastation that could result from deliberate leaks of personal information.
Now that Tony had seen his own daughter kidnapped, he had zero interest in supporting the act.
He felt like he'd made a massive mistake—one he now regretted. In the past, when he had no family, he feared nothing. But now, with a wife and child, everything had changed.
"Second, I want a pink female dolphin."
Oh, so this is for King Shark. You're still hung up on that dolphin.
And Allen was careful to specify female dolphin.
King Shark's infamous arrest after sneaking into the aquarium in the dead of night wasn't exactly a secret.
Even surrounded by police, he'd refused to let go of the albino dolphin in his arms.
"Third, I want you all to kill me. Tomorrow, Fat Ding Square in L.A.—I'm challenging both the Justice League and the Avengers to a solo fight."
Everyone stared at him, wondering if their ears had failed them.
"Ahahahahaha…"
Harley Quinn doubled over laughing and snarked, "Do you have any idea how many heroes we've got here? You want to take us all on? That's hilarious. Everyone, laugh at him!"
"You think I'm joking?"
Allen said seriously, "Only if you defeat me will your families be released. Otherwise… heh heh heh…"
The feed cut off.
The heroes all looked at one another.
Were they really going to fight him?
Allen's feat of crushing the Dark Knights was no secret. Many of those knights were still secretly imprisoned.
Still, with so many superheroes on hand, they figured victory should be achievable.
Superman, Hulk, Thor, Wonder Woman, Iron Man… any one of them could take on an army solo.
"If he wants war, then let's give him war," Bruce said firmly.
He had never doubted Allen's resolve.
Honestly, he'd wanted to beat that lunatic for a long time.
One-on-one? Bruce wisely discarded that idea.
But in a group fight? Now he stood tall and confident.
"What's Fat Ding Square?" Tony asked, confused, looking to the heroes familiar with L.A.
"It's a gathering place for undocumented immigrants, mostly from East Asia."
Undocumented? That made things easier.
If it were a normal residential area, evacuating the public would be a nightmare.
But with no legal status, clearing the area would be simple.
"I'll handle the evacuation," said War Machine Rhodes. As someone with military ties, he could mobilize the National Guard with a single order.
As for property damage during the battle, neither Iron Man nor Batman batted an eye—that was pocket change.
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