"Hey~ Tony, I've cleared one Helicarrier. How much longer on your end?"
On the streets of Washington D.C., Luca, leisurely "roller skating" in his mech towards the Triskelion, didn't forget to harass Tony.
Yes, Luca knew perfectly well that Tony wasn't done yet. Initiating contact now was purely to be annoying.
In the northeastern corner of D.C., Tony, having just been knocked for a loop by the Helicarrier's anti-air guns again, replied exasperatedly: "Brat, don't rush! Uncle Tony is just playing with the big guy. Once I get serious, I'll take it down in minutes!"
However, as soon as Tony finished speaking, a voice cut into the comms channel to undermine him.
"Then you better get serious fast! I can't hold on much longer!"
It was Colonel Rhodes, who was with Tony tackling the northeastern carrier.
Because Tony's Veronica armor was bulky and awkward...
It couldn't forcefully break through the fire net with sheer mass like Luca's mech, and its large size made it an easy target, preventing it from getting close.
But because Tony drew most of the fire, Colonel Rhodes used the War Machine's smaller size and agility to penetrate the defenses early and land on the deck.
However, once inside, Rhodes lacked the destructive power to destroy the carrier outright.
Although his initial surprise attack caused chaos on the deck and destroyed two turrets...
When the two Inhumans stationed on the carrier counterattacked, Rhodes fell into a crisis.
Actually, these two Inhumans might not be stronger than the ones Luca killed.
But one could release ranged sonic attacks, hurting the airborne Rhodes and intercepting missiles.
The other could phase people into metal, slippery as an eel.
Bringing the sonic Inhuman along, the phaser would dive into the deck and pop out from another direction to blast Rhodes with sonic cannons whenever he tried to attack.
Combined with the supporting soldiers and cyborgs, Rhodes was overwhelmed and couldn't focus on destroying the bridge.
Hearing Rhodes' plea (and roast), Tony stopped arguing with Luca.
Gritting his teeth, he split the Veronica armor apart in mid-air.
The [Boxer Mech], larger than him, had broken through early. War Machine, smaller than him, had slipped through the net.
He couldn't get bigger and heavier, but getting smaller worked!
The Veronica armor, covered by crossfire, suddenly detached its limbs, turning into four small flying drones that moved away from the main body.
The CIWS turrets targeting Tony were confused.
Some kept firing at the main body, others tracked the flying limbs.
In the confusion, Tony broke through the barrage in the blink of an eye.
Uh... partially broke through.
The Veronica armor reassembled on the deck, missing its right arm (knocked away to god knows where), but immediately launched a fierce offensive, clearing all resistance with Rhodes' help.
While Tony made progress, Luca didn't stay idle. He had leisurely arrived in front of the Triskelion.
Luca had just confirmed with Steve.
Although Hulk and Thor were fast at smashing ships, they had just finished and were on their way.
So Luca, the first to arrive, was considering whether to storm the building alone.
Truth be told, the resistance Luca encountered along the way was pitifully weak.
Are all the Hydra forces hiding inside the Triskelion?
Although there were still Hydra soldiers blocking him with rockets and suicidal charges...
Luca felt this level of resistance didn't match the intensity of a "Final Battle."
But he didn't dwell on it. He piloted the [Boxer] closer, clearing trash mobs as he went.
Whether the Hydra leaders were hiding inside or not, the Avengers planned to storm the Triskelion anyway.
SHIELD's main servers were inside. Steve planned to crack them and expose all SHIELD and Hydra data to the world.
Actually, Luca was eager to attack partly because he wanted to get to the servers first and quietly delete some compromising data while "cracking" them.
"Anyway, unless they use nukes or some weird Inhuman ability, this resistance is nothing."
Luca thought as he watched waves of Hydra soldiers charge.
However...
Just then.
Inside the cockpit, the emergency red lights flashed violently.
BEEP BEEP BEEP merged into a single tone.
Haro in the co-pilot seat issued urgent warnings.
"High energy reaction ahead! HIGH ENERGY REACTION AHEAD!!"
In that instant.
Time seemed to slow down infinitely for Luca.
In his vision, the Triskelion ahead suddenly began to emit blinding red light.
It was as if a berserk beast inside the building was trying to break free.
The red light spread rapidly, expanding into an irregular, blazing red sphere in the blink of an eye.
The building's exterior was torn apart by the expansion, becoming insignificant specks on the surface of the red sphere.
Surrounding the rapidly expanding fireball were visible white shockwaves.
Where the shockwaves passed, buildings crumbled like toy blocks hit by a hammer. River water evaporated instantly. The Hydra soldiers charging at Luca, backs to the explosion, turned into carbon dust.
The heaving earth was scorched black like a volcanic eruption.
Only when the shockwave "gently" swept over the [Boxer]'s outer armor did Luca seem to feel it.
The violent impact, the searing heat, the twisting of tearing armor—all sensations flooded Luca's mind at once.
Yet in this moment, his hyperactive brain had only one thought.
Is it too late to do the thumb rangefinding trick?
BOOM.
The massive red fireball turned into a pillar of light soaring into the sky.
The heat wave from the center pierced the clouds. Millions of tons of earth and stone were uprooted, forming a swirling gray-black vortex in the high atmosphere.
No one expected that this time, the cute little mushroom cloud would bloom right in the middle of Washington D.C.