What Kang had to face was the most massive lineup since the birth of Earth-616.
The world's strongest assembly of heroes, the Avengers—the most powerful team of heroes on the entire planet.
The Fantastic Four, the pioneers of the heroic age, fueled by curiosity and the spirit of exploration.
The X-Men, a team of mutant heroes who had fought for mutant rights for decades.
The Thunderbolts, a superhero team assembled by S.H.I.E.L.D., designed from their inception to rival the Avengers.
The Defenders, the street-level heroes fighting in New York to protect its ordinary citizens.
Beyond them were villains or former villains like Doctor Doom and Magneto; independent S.H.I.E.L.D. agents like Silk and Agent Venom; lone heroes like the Punisher and Ghost Rider; and even two young student squads from Xavier's School had charged into the fray.
That wasn't even mentioning the Ultron bots and Doom bots deployed to handle the Scarab minions, or the cloned heroes brought from the future by the Fantastic Four and the mutants brought by Magneto.
"We need to form a team to help evacuate the surrounding citizens. Tony, why wasn't the evacuation order sent out earlier?"
"Actually, it was sent the moment we decided to strike." Tony flew through the air, firing missiles at the wave after wave of Scarab robots launching from the ground. "And honestly, Cap, we've kept the battlefield well-contained. Everyone knew Kang was going to start something here, so the surrounding area is mostly empty. If things get desperate, you can just have Korvac teleport everyone out."
"Ensure the battlefield doesn't spread beyond Manhattan. No one get bogged down in a fight; split off a team to hold back these damn robots! Our target is the Cosmic Cube in Kang's chest!"
Cap quickly scanned everyone present and issued his orders: "Hulk, Thing, Colossus—clear a path! Make sure there are no obstacles between us and Kang! Where is he?!"
"He's heading down Sixth Avenue toward Times Park. I'm on him, Cap."
Peter, clinging to the exterior of a building, watched Kang leave the center of the battlefield, leaving his robotic soldiers behind to stall the others. He followed swiftly, swinging on his webs to close the distance and attempt a direct arrest.
At that moment, Peter's Spider-Sense blared. Fragments of the future flashed before his eyes. His brain, utilizing the shadow vision of Spider-Man Noir and the precognitive-level Spider-Sense enhanced by the Erskine Serum, began to construct Kang's next trajectory.
Just as he was about to reach Kang, Peter used his webbing to hook onto the buildings on both sides, performing a sharp mid-air brake. Using the elasticity of the webs, he vaulted upward, dodging a beam from Kang. He then plastered a web onto Kang's face, letting a full burst of bio-electricity surge through him, striking Kang with white lightning.
"Hey, Kang? Where's the fire? Is there a concert waiting for you at Times Park?"
Peter caught up to Kang quickly, but Kang had no interest in chatting. He simply hurled an energy sphere. Peter, having anticipated this, pursued him immediately while contacting the others: "Is anyone near Times Park? Kang is heading that way. Does anyone know what's actually at Times Park?"
"If you want to be technical, kid—dinosaurs."
A voice Peter didn't recognize well came through the comms. It was Hawkeye, watching the surroundings from atop a Manhattan skyscraper. "All I see in Times Park is a bunch of dinosaurs running wild."
Dinosaurs? Did Kang really think dinosaurs could beat them? No, that wasn't right. Was Kang planning to escape? That didn't seem right either.
Kang, having fused the Cosmic Cube into his body, was unable to time travel. Unless he chose to abandon the Cube, he could never leave the year 2013. The Cosmic Cube itself was incapable of time travel and could not be interfered with by the Time Stone or other devices. You couldn't accelerate or freeze a complete Cosmic Cube, which was exactly why Kang had to create it in the 21st century.
From that perspective, Kang had created his own fatal weakness. Had he only held the Time Stone, he would have been nearly immortal; every Kang killed could just be a variant, and he could set up time loops or "save points" like a video game. Yet, for the power of the Cosmic Cube, he had sacrificed his greatest advantage.
On the other hand, it was unlikely Kang would give up the Cube's power. Aside from how immense that power was, the moment he removed the Cube from his chest, Korvac would instantaneously seize total control of it, and Kang's life would be forfeit.
That was why Peter was certain Kang wouldn't run. A fight to the death was his only choice—so why was he running now?
"I've got some bad news, Spidey. I think I know why Kang is running to Times Park." Hawkeye, having just tagged a Scarab robot with an arrow, saw something new. "You're probably about to see it too. Want me to keep you in suspense?"
"Uh, no thanks. Oh... okay, I see it now."
Times Park. In the "Kang Dynasty," this place had been transformed by Kang into a Cretaceous-era Jurassic Park-style attraction. It was also the place Kang used the power of the Cosmic Cube to prevent Korvac from restoring. Now, he had rushed here, and the pursuing Spider-Man saw exactly what Kang was about to release.
Simultaneously, Hawkeye relayed the news to Cap.
"Cap, bad news. Kang just pulled reinforcements out of Times Park."
"What kind of reinforcements? Roman legions? Dinosaurs? Medieval knights? Nazis? People from the future?"
"None of the above, Cap."
Peter answered the Captain's question. Kang could no longer time travel himself, so he had come to this location. At Times Park, he had long ago prepared a massive temporal transport device. The reason he hadn't simply teleported here was precisely so everyone would witness this moment.
The variants Kang had released into every era were all returning to New York through the chronal tunnel. But if that were all, Kang wouldn't have needed to move so deliberately. He had come here for something far more massive.
Peter couldn't help but ask the Fantastic Four a question.
"Did you guys really not see this thing in the 31st century?"
"See what... Holy mother of—!"
A gargantuan, semi-mechanical armored giant stooped low to crawl out of the temporal gate. Then, Kang floated upward, using the Cosmic Cube in his chest as its power source.
"This is the weapon humanity prepared to combat the greatest doomsday they ever encountered. Avengers, meet the Celestial-Killer Armor!"
Tony was silent for two seconds.
"First of all, I definitely built that in the future."
"Secondly... what the hell is a Celestial?"
Participant List for this Battle:
The Avengers: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man, Wasp, Spider-Man, Black Panther.
Fantastic Four: Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, The Thing.
Thunderbolts: Hawkeye, Black Widow, Ghost, Astra, Moonstone, Songbird, Mach (Beetle), The Technician (The Tinkerer).
The Defenders: Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Mr. Negative, Cloak, Dagger.
X-Men: Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Emma Frost, Iceman, Beast, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Storm.
New Mutants Squad: Magik, Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Cannonball.
Hellions Squad: Hellion, Rockslide, Mercury, Dust, Wither.
Independent/Unfinished: Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, War Machine, Ghost Rider, The Punisher, Magneto, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Jubilee, Deadpool, Black Cat, Silver Sable, Silk, Ghost-Spider, Spider-Woman, Agent Venom.