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"Blergh~"
Just as Venom finished speaking, Harry Osborn woke up.
However, the first thing he did wasn't speak. Instead, he clutched his chest and started dry heaving violently.
Actually, it wasn't exactly dry heaving, because with every heave, he spat out a considerable amount of black slime.
When the kid lost his mind earlier, he had been tearing and biting at the Venom on his shoulder. And Venom, for some reason, hadn't resisted, letting Harry swallow a mouthful of "black mud."
Venom didn't mind retrieving the parts of his body that Harry had swallowed and regurgitated. He extended a tentacle to catch the slime and reabsorb it.
He even extended another tentacle to pat Harry on the back.
Although Harry was too busy retching to speak, it was clear he had regained his sanity.
Luca looked at the other side, where Hulk was still furiously tearing at the giant black net.
"Is that just Hulk rage, or is he still mind-controlled?"
Fortunately, Luca didn't have to guess for long.
While Hulk was still playing cat's cradle with the net in the ruins...
Tony and the two Haro Mechs descended from the sky, bringing Steve, Natasha, and Gwen down to the ground.
Although the three looked grim, it was obvious they had regained their senses.
Their grim expressions stemmed mostly from guilt over the current state of New York.
Even if they had tried their best, they might not have stopped so many otherworld criminals from ravaging the city. But it wouldn't have been this bad.
Especially here, where The Spot had vomited out a massive amount of debris after being knocked out. The area looked worse than a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Tony Stark, though heavy-hearted, hadn't been mind-controlled, so he remained relatively stable.
Upon landing, he took command immediately.
"Natasha, go calm the big guy down. We need to resolve the chaos in New York ASAP and then head to Washington!"
Black Widow nodded silently, broke free from Erha's embrace, and walked toward Hulk.
However, Steve, having just been released by the Veronica armor, was more concerned about the second part of Tony's statement.
"What's the situation in Washington?"
Tony briefly explained that Hydra had taken control of the capital.
Hearing this, everyone's faces turned even graver.
Frankly, the situation in D.C. was far more critical than New York.
New York was suffering from unorganized destruction by random criminals. But D.C. was held by the core of Hydra, controlling the nation's capital.
And not just D.C. given Hydra's infiltration, the military couldn't organize an effective response.
Given time, Hydra would expand its control from D.C., and soon the entire United States would fall.
However, looking at the ruins around him, Steve couldn't bring himself to say, "Abandon New York and go to Washington."
Tony didn't have time for Cap's moral dilemma. He turned to the [Boxer Mech].
"Metal Knight, what's the status on The Spot?"
"Uh, he seems... slightly dead... Do we have any emergency medical supplies?"
Yes, Luca's original plan was to capture The Spot and control him.
Then, use The Spot's teleportation to quickly neutralize major threats in New York before porting everyone to D.C. for support.
But... to increase the [Pal Sphere] capture rate, he had turned The Spot into a pincushion.
Forget teleporting everyone around the country.
Luca was afraid the guy would croak the moment he was released from the sphere.
Or... should I chop off one of his arms and slap [Sweet Capture] on him to see if that saves him?
Wait, chopping an arm off in this condition might just make him bleed out instantly...
Just as Luca was preparing to be ruthless and sacrifice The Spot if necessary...
A massive roar of engines came from the sky.
Then, a familiar voice cut into the comms channel.
"Leave New York to us. Washington needs the Avengers more to break the stalemate."
Everyone looked up.
A massive Helicarrier was hovering slowly over New York.
Unlike the three Hydra-controlled carriers in D.C., this one still used old-fashioned turbine engines, not Tony's repulsor upgrades.
The hull showed signs of damage and smoke, indicating it had just been through a battle.
But its appearance lifted everyone's spirits.
It was the Helicarrier Nick Fury used to assemble the original Avengers during the Battle of New York.
Not only that.
A blue-and-white armor dived from the sky, landing with a THUD next to Tony's Veronica armor.
Colonel Rhodes, the Iron Patriot, looked at his own relatively thick armor (compared to standard Mark suits), then at the 5-meter Veronica and the 12-meter Boxer Mech.
He muttered softly.
"Big doesn't mean strong. Small can be cute too!"
Simultaneously, a cloaked Quinjet descended from the sky and landed on the ruins.
The rear hatch opened, revealing the pilot: Hawkeye, Clint Barton, who had disappeared with Nick Fury earlier.
"Fury said we had to steal back the big guy in the sky first. But now it seems you'll have to take my ride to Washington."
"So, anyone need a lift?"
Seeing their teammates gathering one by one, the heavy atmosphere lightened significantly.
But that wasn't the end.
Next moment.
A rainbow beam crashed down from the heavens.
Before the surging rainbow light fully dissipated, Thor's booming voice rang out.
"Heimdall told me you were missing a mighty warrior!"
Hearing this, the worry on Steve's face finally melted away, replaced by a smile.
He tightened the straps on his shield and spoke softly but firmly.
"Avengers... Assemble!"