"This thing looks ridiculously complicated."
Peter scratched his head. The Little Broken Watch looked simple on the outside, but in reality, much of its internal technology was far beyond anything Earth could comprehend.
"You don't need to understand it," Bant said calmly. "Just do exactly what I tell you."
At the moment, Bant had transformed into Little Hero. A monitor sat in front of him, displaying a live feed of his own back.
He pinched his chin thoughtfully.
"First, remove the wireless receiver."
"Okay, but… what exactly is the wireless receiver?" Peter asked.
"The detachable ring on the outer edge of the watch," Bant explained. "Be careful. Its primary function is to protect the watch core, but it may also carry traces of genetic information."
"Got it. I'm wearing gloves," Peter nodded.
Even so, he had to control his strength far more carefully.
Once the wireless receiver was removed, the core of the Little Broken Watch was fully exposed to Peter's view. He couldn't make heads or tails of it—aside from thinking it looked incredibly cool, he had no other impression.
Bant, meanwhile, lowered his head and fell into deep thought.
Level-20 technology.
Forget replicating it—even understanding it was no simple matter.
At the same time, atop Stark Tower—
Everyone could see Tony Stark battling a gigantic monstrous bird high in the sky.
At this point in time, New York's citizens clearly hadn't developed the reflexes necessary to deal with supervillain attacks. Otherwise, they wouldn't be foolishly craning their necks to look up—forget about running, some were even applauding Iron Man.
What they didn't know was that Tony was already thoroughly fed up.
The monsters modified by Dr. Dong Wu weren't just scaled-up animals. Their internal structures were fundamentally different. Otherwise, those mutated beasts wouldn't be qualified to fight alien heroes at all.
And now, with the Lizard Serum as a reference, Dong Wu had vastly amplified the effects of the mutation rays.
All of this made Tony's fight extremely difficult.
The bird's aerial mobility was terrifying. Low-powered weapons were ineffective, while high-powered attacks risked hitting New York's skyscrapers—which the creature cleverly used as shields—forcing Tony to hold back.
He didn't care about wrecking buildings.
The problem was that there were civilians at the bottom of those buildings.
Worse still, he spotted another disaster unfolding—a gigantic bullfrog rampaging inside Stark Industries itself.
"JARVIS, evacuate all employees from the building immediately," Tony ordered while flying.
"What about Pepper?"
"Miss Potts is safe, sir. Agent Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division is currently protecting her."
"Damn it," Tony muttered. "When are they ever going to shorten that ridiculous name?"
Still, he relaxed slightly.
In his opinion, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents weren't much help in a real fight—but evacuations like this were at least putting them to good use.
"Then you're wrong, Tony Stark."
"…You?"
Tony's eyelid twitched. He immediately remembered the shadow that had once hacked into his home system, blending into the night.
"JARVIS, kick him out!"
"Don't!" Nick Fury shouted in a panic.
He'd gone through hell to hack into Tony's communication network. The whole point was to make a grand entrance—put on a show in front of this arrogant genius.
If he could knock Tony down a peg or two, recruiting him into the Avengers later would be much easier.
"My agents will handle the monster inside Stark Tower. You deal with the giant bird."
Then Fury added mockingly, "Don't tell me the legendary Tony Stark can't even handle a bird?"
Before Tony could respond, Fury cut the connection.
If he didn't, JARVIS really would kick him out.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.
Fury opened another channel. "Agents Barton and Romanoff, you heard that. Take down the monster. Don't embarrass me."
The pressure instantly landed on Natasha and Hawkeye.
Fortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D. had no intention of sending only the two of them. A full, well-trained strike team was already in motion.
They were fully armed, carrying the most powerful portable weapons available.
And among them was a certain freshly thawed human popsicle.
"Captain, are you alright?" Fury asked with concern.
Inside the helicopter—
Steve Rogers, dressed in an outfit that looked more like stage costume than combat gear, fell silent for a few seconds before replying.
"I just didn't realize the world had changed this much."
"Well… fighting a giant bullfrog isn't exactly common," Fury added after thinking it over, worried the man out of time might misunderstand something.
In truth, the one misunderstanding the situation was Fury himself.
Steve had fought a red skull over half a century ago. One more oversized frog wasn't that big a deal.
What really shook him was waking up to find that a damn Black guy was suddenly barking orders at him from above.
What the hell kind of world was this?
This was outright defying heaven itself!
Back in his era—who would've dared imagine this?
Still, as a captain with honey on his tongue, Steve maintained his politeness.
"Captain, five minutes to Stark Tower. Any battle plan?" the pilot asked.
"Yes," Steve replied.
He unbuckled his seatbelt, walked to the aircraft door, and opened the side hatch.
Instantly, violent winds surged in as the pressure difference threatened to suck everything out.
Steve stood firm at the open doorway, unmoving.
"What's the plan?"
"Attack."
With that single word, Steve Rogers leapt straight toward the rooftop of Stark Tower!
No parachute.
Shield raised, body angled straight down, he slammed himself earthward.
The other agents watched, their scalps tingling.
Worthy of Captain America.
Jumping from dozens of meters up—even with the Super Soldier Serum cushioning the impact, wouldn't that still rattle everything south of the waist?
Thankfully, S.H.I.E.L.D. had others capable of forming an actual plan.
"Agent Barton, provide cover. Everyone else, enter the building and eliminate the monster!"
Hawkeye nodded immediately.
As a long-range combatant, covering fire was his specialty.
Once the helicopter landed, agents flooded into the building. By now, Coulson had already evacuated all remaining personnel.
Pepper Potts looked shaken, her voice trembling. "Coulson, my assistant is missing. She might still be inside."
"Don't worry, Miss Potts," Coulson reassured her with a confident smile. "Agent Romanoff is inside. She'll take care of the monster."
Natasha, however, would've preferred he not sound so proud.
Because she was very close to her limit.
At this point, everyone else had evacuated. The massive bullfrog had been chasing her as prey for over ten minutes.
The interior of the tower was cramped for the creature—but its destructive power made obstacles meaningless.
She'd emptied every magazine she had without so much as scratching its hide.
Now she was out of ammo.
And the bullfrog had cornered her.
As she stared at the massive tongue—over ten meters long and thicker than her head—Natasha's face went pale.
If this were certain movies, what came next didn't even need imagining.
But…
It wouldn't fit.
No matter how you thought about it, it wouldn't fit!
Natasha despaired inwardly.
Just then—
Her support finally arrived!
Steve landed cleanly, hurling his shield the instant he touched down. It slammed straight into the bullfrog's eye.
"Captain!" Natasha exhaled, relief flooding her chest.
Steve's combat power wasn't overwhelmingly strong—especially against brute monsters that couldn't be outplayed with skill.
Yet somehow, whenever he appeared, it always felt like—
Everything's going to be okay now.
"Leave it to me!"
Steve raised his arm. The shield ricocheted through the building, rebounding off walls before snapping back into his hand.
The bullfrog finally turned its attention to him.
It twisted around, its feral gaze locking onto Steve.
Captain America tapped his shield.
"Come on. I can do this all day."
The bullfrog didn't understand human language—but it clearly sensed provocation.
Report!
The enemy is not surrendering—he's resisting!
Unacceptable!
The creature whipped its massive tongue forward, smashing it toward Steve with full force!
Before the tongue even arrived, the sheer pressure slammed into Steve's face!
But Steve felt no fear.
He raised his indestructible shield.
BOOM!!!
A thunderous impact echoed through the building.
Natasha looked on in shock.
The bullfrog's tongue, like a colossal axe, had split the tower open.
And the Captain who'd raised his shield just moments ago—
Had already fallen into the massive crack, disappearing from sight.
Natasha: …
Captain America: I got up, I one-shot it—what's there to say?
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