Chapter 466: Peter vs. The Avengers
Silas sprang up with a kip-up, glancing at the Tesseract housing that Peter had just shut down. Now, the matter of the incoming nuclear missile was becoming a bit of a problem.
"Who exactly are you?" Silas looked directly at the Peter in front of him. As for the unconscious Stark nearby, he didn't have time to worry about him yet.
Steve picked up the Tesseract and looked at Tony. "If you don't save him first, he might actually die."
"And you're going to give me the time to save him?" Silas sneered. He didn't believe for a second that an enemy would just stand by and watch him resuscitate Stark.
"Plug his cable back in, or he really is a goner," Steve hurriedly whispered to Scott, who was positioned near the Arc Reactor.
Scott quickly reconnected the wiring of the Arc Reactor. Tony, who had been on the verge of death, suddenly began to breathe in sharp, gasping rasps.
"Stark, are you okay?" Silas saw that Stark finally had a pulse.
Taking advantage of Silas's distraction, Scott leaped onto Silas and scrambled into his hair.
"Not dead yet," Tony finally regained his senses, staring dizzily at the sky. He felt like he had just taken a quick trip to hell and back.
"What is that!" Silas suddenly felt a sharp sting in his scalp, as if someone were tugging at his hair.
Immediately, black mist erupted from Silas's mask, enveloping his entire head.
"Oh no—" Scott realized things were going south and evacuated instantly. At the last possible second before the black mist could corrode him, he leaped away.
Peter caught the falling Scott with practiced reflexes. Without a word, he grabbed Steve and they lept off the roof, taking the Tesseract and the Mind Scepter with them.
"What just happened?" Tony was completely dazed, his memory of the event a blur.
Silas's expression was dark and unreadable. "Someone disguised themselves as Peter and Steve and made off with the Tesseract and the Scepter."
"What?!" Tony was stunned. Who would choose this moment to commit a theft and spark internal strife? If that nuke hit, everyone would be dead anyway.
On the Ground
The three of them successfully reached the street level. Scott returned to normal size in front of Peter, looking excited. "This is amazing! We did it!"
"Don't get ahead of ourselves. Professor Hulk hasn't secured the Time Stone yet," Steve said. Though his words were cautious, he couldn't hide the smile on his face.
Thwack!
Suddenly, a shield flew from the distance, slamming into the Tesseract in Steve's hand. The cube flew from his grasp, but before it could hit the ground, a web line snagged it and yanked it away.
"Oh my God—it really is our Captain. They look exactly like us!" A Spider-Man in a red-and-blue suit appeared, perched on a nearby wall.
"Who are you? Loki?" The 2012 Captain America caught his returning shield, looking suspiciously at the man who shared his face. In Cap's mind, only Loki was capable of such trickery.
"I'm certainly not him," Steve replied, raising his own shield. It looked like he was going to have to fight... himself.
The 2012 Spider-Man webbed the Tesseract to the wall and jumped down, looking energized. "Hey! Can you shoot webs too?"
The young Spider-Man was using excitement to mask his inner turmoil. This man looked identical to him under the mask. As far as he knew, only Mr. Stark and Silas knew his true identity. How did this imposter know what he looked like?
"Go back first, just in case things change," Future Peter said, looking at his younger self. He handed the Mind Scepter to Scott.
Scott understood the cue. Clutching the Scepter, he pressed the button on his belt and instantly vanished through the Quantum Realm, returning to the original timeline. It didn't matter if they left at different times; they would all arrive at the same moment back home.
Seeing the Scepter safely sent away, a weight lifted from Peter's chest. He turned to face the young Spider-Man. "Give me the Tesseract. We'll return it later."
"Wait!" As the young Spider-Man locked eyes with Peter, their Spider-Senses resonated violently.
The young Spider-Man's eyes widened behind his lenses. "You... you're a..."
He was speechless. Was his Spider-Sense lying to him?
"It's just as you feel. Trust me. Hand over the Tesseract," Peter said, extending a hand. Honestly, the last person he wanted to fight was himself.
"No. Even if that's true, I can't just give it to you," the young Spider-Man shook his head. He had to protect it.
Cap asked, confused, "What are you two talking about?"
"It doesn't matter!" Steve initiated the attack. He needed to end this quickly before the rest of the Avengers arrived.
The 2012 Cap reacted instantly, raising his shield to block.
Bang!
The two shields collided, and the two men began a struggle of pure strength.
Peter shrugged. It seemed a fight was inevitable. His Version 2 Nano-Spider suit rapidly expanded over his body, its colors vivid and sharp under the sunlight.
"Cool~ where'd you get the threads?" the young Spider-Man's eyes lit up. This suit looked even sleeker than Mr. Stark's armor.
Peter didn't reply. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of his younger self, launching a spinning back-kick.
The young Spider-Man didn't expect Peter to strike so suddenly. Even though his enhanced vision tracked the movement, his body wasn't fast enough to react.
Thud!
The young Spider-Man took the kick full in the chest and was sent flying. He slammed into a wall, creating a crater of cracked brick.
With five years of development, the Nano-suit's augmentations, and vastly superior combat experience, the Future Peter was on a different level. The young Spider-Man was down in a single move.
"Sorry," Peter muttered. He reached out for the Tesseract webbed to the wall.
Suddenly, his Spider-Sense blared like thunder. Without thinking, he pulled his hand back. A Chitauri blade whistled through the air, piercing the pavement right where his leg had been.
"You're not Loki. Who are you?" Thor arrived on the scene, currently empty-handed. He had just encountered his brother, Loki, and pinned him down with Mjolnir to keep him from causing trouble. Since Loki couldn't possibly lift the hammer, these two couldn't be his illusions.
"Thor? I have to say, you look a lot better than a tub of melted ice cream," Peter joked, looking at the thunder god.
"???" Thor frowned. What was this person talking about?
"Man, you're strong," the young Spider-Man groaned, slowly standing up while rubbing his aching back.
Steve kicked off the 2012 Cap's shield to create distance. "Can you still get the Tesseract?" he whispered to Peter.
He was currently deadlocked with his past self. Now that Thor was here and the rest of the Avengers were likely on their way, the window for a clean getaway was closing.
"Don't worry. You handle your past self. I'll take care of the rest," Peter said.
The Peter from five years in the future possessed power that had grown exponentially. With the latest Nano-suit and perfected control over his abilities, a one-on-many fight wasn't a problem. His younger self couldn't last a round, and Thor didn't have his hammer. He just needed to apply a little more effort.
"Then let's do it!" Steve, bolstered by Peter's confidence, engaged Cap once more.
Peter lunged toward the Tesseract. Thor snatched up a discarded alien weapon and tried to impale Peter's abdomen, but Peter dodged with ease.
"Someone told me to tell you something: keep up the cardio," Peter said. He grabbed Thor's arms, threw them over his shoulder, and pivoted his hips.
Slam!
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