"Hmm?"
Hearing Axel's words, Dr. Erik Selvig looked at him in disbelief.
Out of all the answers Selvig had expected, he never imagined Axel meant that kind of courage.
Seeing Selvig's stunned expression, Axel burst into laughter. While laughing, he took another long swig from the expensive whiskey bottle in his hand.
Then he turned his eyes toward the battlefield ahead with anticipation.
Loki had just received Hawkeye's final arrow.
From the rooftop of Stark Tower, Axel watched as Loki caught the arrow and sneered at Clint Barton with open contempt.
A moment later.
Boom!
The explosion sent Loki spinning through the air before he crashed straight into Stark Tower.
At the same time, Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, landed gracefully near the glowing blue cube, the Tesseract.
She stared at it for a moment, then immediately began searching for Dr. Selvig.
While scanning the rooftop, she spoke through her comm channel.
"I made it to the top floor of Stark Tower, but I still don't know how to shut down the portal. If nothing unexpected happens, Dr. Selvig should know how. Hopefully freeing Barton from Loki's control still works... wait."
Natasha suddenly paused.
Her eyes locked onto Axel.
He was standing nearby, casually chatting with Selvig while drinking Stark's whiskey like he owned the place.
At the same time, Hawkeye descended to the ground while fighting off the surrounding Chitauri and replied through the comms.
"What's wrong, Natasha? Don't tell me you're imagining me beaten up and couldn't stop laughing."
"Relax. That's not it," Natasha said slowly. "There's an uninvited guest here."
As she spoke, she swallowed nervously and began walking toward Axel.
Tony Stark's voice immediately came through the channel.
"JARVIS spotted him earlier. Based on observation alone, this guy's physical strength might not be much weaker than Thor's. He kicked open my reinforced blast door, stole a two-thousand dollar bottle of my whiskey, and jumped straight through my roof."
Stark paused briefly.
"But don't worry. Once I deal with these alien bugs, I'll personally take care of him."
At that moment Stark had just crashed through the interior of a massive Chitauri carrier while wearing his Mark VII armor.
Unfortunately, the stunt had drained most of the suit's power. With his armor systems weakening, he was now in terrible condition.
Hundreds of Chitauri surrounded him in the sky.
Once the last six percent of power ran out, he would completely lose combat capability.
Natasha did not know how bad Stark's situation was, but she had no intention of waiting for him.
Axel was standing right in front of her.
So she walked closer and spoke calmly.
"You seem to be enjoying the view of Manhattan. Would you mind if I continue my work while you enjoy it?"
"Suit yourself."
Axel waved casually and took another drink.
Natasha sighed.
She pointed at Selvig.
"I really hate interrupting someone's relaxation, but I'm sorry. I need Dr. Selvig. He..."
"If you're trying to shut down the portal," Axel interrupted lazily, "you'll need Loki's scepter. Use it to break the energy shield around the Tesseract and the portal will collapse."
As he spoke, Axel casually slapped Natasha on the butt.
Natasha dodged instantly and stepped away, though she nodded seriously.
"Thanks."
She quickly moved off while scanning for Loki and spoke through the comm channel again.
"I just spoke with the mysterious individual. For now he doesn't appear hostile. He even told me how to close the portal. Until we have a better option, I'm going to try his method."
Stark responded immediately.
"I heard you. Loki's scepter, right? In theory that could work. The scepter and the Tesseract both contain extremely powerful energy. They might cancel each other out."
He punched a Chitauri soldier mid-sentence.
"If you get the chance, try it. I'll be there soon. After all, that's my house. And that mysterious guy you mentioned is sitting on my roof, so he's automatically my enemy."
Just as Stark finished speaking, Thor flew overhead.
With a casual swing, he threw Mjolnir.
The hammer shot through the air like lightning, smashing into the Chitauri surrounding Stark and instantly clearing space around him.
Stark seized the opportunity and blasted off toward Stark Tower.
Meanwhile, Natasha saw Loki fall into the tower's interior.
She immediately prepared to head downstairs.
But suddenly, a massive wave of Chitauri poured through the portal above the tower.
They surged toward the rooftop with clear purpose.
Unlike what movies sometimes showed, the Chitauri were not mindless. They shared a collective network controlled by their command ship.
The moment the command ship saw enemies approaching the portal, it redirected forces immediately.
Protecting the portal was their highest priority.
Soon, thousands of Chitauri streamed out of the wormhole like a living flood, rushing straight toward the Tesseract.
Natasha stopped moving.
"Damn it," she muttered.
Then she spoke urgently into the comm channel.
"I need heavy backup. Now. This place is about to become the center of the battlefield."
"Heh," Stark replied breathlessly. "That's my house. Of course it's the center of New York. Just buy me a little time. I'm busy dealing with a giant flying whale."
Natasha gritted her teeth.
"You've said that three times already. Hurry up. I also need someone truly powerful..."
Her words suddenly cut off.
Because the leading Chitauri soldier fired directly at Axel.
A beam of blue energy shot across the rooftop.
Axel casually tossed Selvig off the building.
Then he raised one hand and caught the energy blast in his palm.
Thud.
The energy dispersed harmlessly.
Axel clicked his tongue.
"Damn. After getting beaten up by Diana so many times, I almost forgot I'm actually pretty strong too."
He finished the whiskey and casually threw the bottle.
The bottle smashed through a Chitauri soldier, turning it into green paste.
Then Axel grabbed a nearby sofa.
With a powerful swing, he hurled it toward the portal.
Whoosh!
The flying couch sliced through dozens of Chitauri in a straight line, leaving a trail of green blood in the sky.
Natasha stared in shock.
Axel waved at her.
"This is your war. I won't get in the way."
He shrugged.
"I'm just here for the show."
Then he stepped backward and jumped off Stark Tower.
At the same moment, Tony Stark flew upward and caught Selvig before he hit the ground.
Just as Stark passed Axel mid-air, Axel suddenly grabbed his arm.
Before Stark could react, Axel swung him like a baseball and slammed both Stark and Selvig straight into the tower.
Crash!
Axel landed beside Stark instantly.
Before Tony could respond, Axel ripped the helmet off the Iron Man suit.
"Hey! What the hell!" Stark shouted.
He immediately raised his repulsor.
But the blast fired into empty air.
Axel twisted his body and dodged it easily while tearing Stark's gauntlet off.
Then he grabbed the armor with both hands.
With a violent pull, pieces of the Iron Man suit were ripped away one after another.
Chest plates.
Arm plates.
Leg plates.
Everything.
Even Stark's black shirt was torn off.
Tony froze in absolute shock, desperately covering his chest with both hands.
Axel calmly pulled out his phone.
Click.
He took a clear photo of the glowing Arc Reactor embedded in Tony's chest.
Satisfied, he put the phone away.
"Thanks for the contribution, Tony Stark."
Axel grinned.
"Your daddy Axel appreciates the donation."
He then gathered the scattered armor pieces into his arms.
When he could barely carry any more, he nodded politely at Stark.
"See you later."
Flames suddenly erupted around him.
Axel vanished instantly.
Tony Stark stood there half-naked, staring blankly at the empty space.
After a long pause he screamed into the comm channel.
"Are you kidding me?! That lunatic just stole my armor!"
He looked around in disbelief.
"And he disappeared into thin air! The only thing I know is his damn name."
Stark clenched his fists.
"Axel!"
Meanwhile.
Far away in Gotham City.
Inside Wayne Manor.
Flames suddenly appeared in the dining hall.
Axel stepped out of the fire holding a mountain of Iron Man armor pieces.
At that exact moment Bruce Wayne was calmly eating breakfast.
The next second he was completely buried under a pile of red and gold armor.
Bruce slowly pushed a helmet off his face.
"What the hell is this?"
He looked at Axel in disbelief.
"Weren't you supposed to be traveling across universes? You were gone for what, five minutes?"
Axel laughed excitedly.
"My dear brother Bruce, this is high-tech gold!"
He dropped the armor pieces onto the table.
"Come on, let's study it."
Axel pulled out his phone and showed Bruce the photo of Stark's Arc Reactor.
"You still owe me a combat suit. So study this carefully."
He grinned.
"Learn from the best."
===
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