"Damn it, I… uh…"
Inside the Avengers communication channel, Tony Stark was about to fire back at Steve when his words suddenly stopped.
Axel had appeared right in front of him.
Without warning, Axel leaned close to Stark's ear, pulled out Tony's earpiece, and shoved it into his own ear.
He tapped it lightly, then listened.
Steve Rogers was still speaking through the channel.
"Saying 'damn it' won't solve anything. Your personality is just like Howard's was back then. He was a good friend of mine, but sometimes he could be incredibly annoying."
Axel immediately responded through the comms.
"Yeah, of course I know. Every damn show off ends up hogging the conversation. People like that talk way too much."
Then he smirked.
"By the way, buddies, this is Axel. The same guy you've been talking about. Even though the Helicarrier is still a distance from New York, I heard everything loud and clear. Thanks for the compliment, Captain America. I appreciate it."
While speaking, Axel wrapped an arm around Stark's stiff shoulders and forced him toward the lounge area of the lab.
He dropped onto the sofa and continued talking into the earpiece.
"Honestly, the rest of you should learn something from Captain America. Stop getting so worked up all the time. Harmony is the key to a perfect world."
He laughed softly.
"So to celebrate this beautiful spirit of harmony, I've decided to host a banquet at Stark Tower tonight. All of you better show up."
The moment he finished speaking, Axel removed the earpiece and crushed it in his hand.
Beside him, Stark quickly slipped out from under Axel's arm and stared at him cautiously.
"Your banquet… at my house?"
Tony narrowed his eyes.
"And you're the host?"
Axel waved a hand dismissively.
"Relax, buddy. Don't be such a cheap bastard."
He slapped Stark heavily on the shoulder.
"If I hadn't intercepted that nuclear missile earlier, your tower would be glowing under a mushroom cloud right now."
He leaned closer.
"So technically, I saved Stark Tower. I saved New York too. Considering that, you're seriously unwilling to buy me one damn meal?"
Then Axel added bluntly.
"Let's put it this way. Everything you own in New York survived because of me. So for today, what's yours is mine."
He looked around the room casually.
"Now where's my Little Pepper? Call her up here. I want a foot massage."
"Bullshit!"
Tony immediately stepped away, glaring at him.
Axel burst out laughing and waved his hand.
"Relax, I'm messing with you."
He grinned.
"Your Little Pepper? I'm not interested in her. Hell, I wouldn't even let her lick my boots."
Tony clenched his jaw.
"Axel, I finally understand how annoying I must be to other people."
He turned and walked toward the lab door.
Without looking back, he spoke again.
"You like Stark Tower so much? Fine. It's yours. I don't care about a building that's been beaten half to hell anyway."
He waved a hand dismissively.
"As for that banquet, I at least need to inform my staff. Wait here for a minute while I…"
"You're trying to run away, Tony."
Axel suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking the doorway.
Tony stopped immediately.
He took a deep breath and raised both hands.
"Buddy, you're strong enough to rip a building apart with your bare hands. I seriously doubt you're interested in fighting me like this."
He gestured toward himself.
"I don't even have a suit right now. If you want to fight me, at least give me time to build a new one."
Axel chuckled.
He patted Tony's shoulder lightly.
"Tony."
Stark's expression turned tense.
"I've never eaten a full Manchu Han Imperial Feast before. And you happen to be ridiculously rich."
Axel leaned closer, his tone suddenly cold.
"So if even one dish from that banquet is missing tonight, I'll cut a piece of flesh off Little Pepper. Then I'll head down to Hell's Kitchen and find someone who knows how to cook it properly."
Tony blinked.
"That's it?"
Axel frowned.
Tony continued quickly.
"I thought you were about to threaten something serious."
He shrugged.
"If all you want is food, that's easy. Even with New York in this condition, I'll still prepare everything you want."
He smirked slightly.
"Consider it a reward for saving the city."
Axel laughed.
"Are you sure you're not doing it for Pepper?"
He walked past Tony toward the door.
"Damn stubborn rich guy."
The moment Axel left the lab, Tony curled his lips and muttered quietly.
"You said you've never eaten a Manchu Han Imperial Feast. So how would you even know if something's missing?"
Axel immediately turned around.
"Are you seriously trying to argue with me again? Do you get physically sick if you don't start an argument every five minutes?"
After yelling, Axel left the lab for real.
Moments later he reached the rooftop of Stark Tower.
The entire roof was covered in battle damage.
Debris was everywhere.
Chitauri corpses were scattered across the surface, and the portal device still stood in the center.
The Chitauri were creatures whose signals were connected to a central command entity.
With the portal closed, the connection between them and their mothership had weakened severely.
The remaining Chitauri twitched helplessly on the rooftop like dying fish.
Far away over the ocean, Thor and Hulk were still fighting.
The two had apparently carried their battle all the way out of the city.
From this distance Axel could already see Thor's swollen eyelids.
That fight was clearly nearing its end.
Meanwhile, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff were flying toward New York in a damaged Chitauri craft.
The vehicle was clearly losing power.
It probably would not reach the shore before crashing.
Flames suddenly erupted around Axel.
In the next moment he appeared directly on their aircraft.
Steve was gripping the controls while Natasha leaned over the side, calculating their landing angle.
"Steve, slow down," Natasha said. "This thing won't make it to the docks. We're probably swimming back."
"I know," Steve replied. "Swimming is fine. As long as I don't end up frozen in ice again."
At that moment, the aircraft began climbing sharply.
Steve was trying to reduce their horizontal speed before they hit the water.
Then Axel stepped beside him and cleared his throat.
"Cough."
Natasha instantly turned.
"Axel!"
Steve glanced over as well.
Recognition flashed across his face.
"So you're Axel."
Even while adjusting the controls, Steve spoke sincerely.
"If this weren't such a bad time, I'd thank you properly. You stopped the nuclear missile and saved New York."
He smiled.
"My hometown of Brooklyn was part of that. I owe you one."
Steve grabbed his shield and shouted to Natasha.
"Get ready to jump!"
Axel interrupted him.
"Or I could just save both of you. Then you can repay that favor together with the last one."
Before either of them could respond, Axel grabbed Steve and Natasha, one in each hand.
They stared at him in shock.
Axel grinned.
"Ever ridden a roller coaster?"
Then he jumped.
The force of his launch shattered the aircraft beneath his feet.
The sky blurred as they shot through the air.
"Whoa!"
Steve looked down at the rapidly approaching city and gave Axel a thumbs up.
"I've ridden roller coasters before, but none of them were this good."
Axel laughed.
"Glad you're enjoying it. I hope you're still smiling when you repay that favor later."
A few seconds later Axel landed near the harbor.
Without stopping, he jumped again.
The next leap carried them straight to the rooftop of Stark Tower.
Steve finally stood on solid ground again.
Looking around at the destroyed rooftop and scattered corpses, he exhaled slowly.
"This was a hell of a battle."
He shook his head.
"Before today I honestly believed the world had become peaceful after I was frozen."
He looked toward the skyline.
"Turns out the world was never peaceful. The problems were just buried deeper."
Axel suddenly interrupted him.
"Everything you said is great and all, but you owe me a favor. Time to repay it."
Before Steve could react, Axel grabbed his shield and yanked it straight off his arm.
Steve froze in shock.
Axel disappeared in flames.
For a brief moment he returned to Axel Manor and handed the shield to Luther and Bruce, the tech duo.
Then he returned to the rooftop just as suddenly.
Steve looked at his empty wrist and swallowed.
After a moment he sighed.
"If my shield could save a city every time, then maybe they should just make me a hundred more of them."
He extended his hand.
"Either way, thank you for today."
He smiled faintly.
"I'm Steve Rogers. Just an old soldier who crawled out of the past."
Axel shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Steve. I'm Axel."
He tilted his head slightly.
"In a strange way, we're pretty similar."
Steve raised an eyebrow.
Axel grinned.
"You crawled out of the past."
He tapped his own chest.
"I'm just a regular guy who keeps crawling back from death."