"It seems… we'll have to accelerate the Avengers Initiative."
Nick Fury pulled General Ross away from the battlefield, his mood blacker than ever.
In the current situation, there was practically no chance left of recruiting Senju Haruto.
What's more, the power Haruto had revealed filled Fury with deep unease.
This kind of power was a double-edged sword.
If it could be brought under control, Haruto would be the strongest Avenger imaginable.
But if not… he would be the hardest enemy to face.
"I need a team," Fury muttered, clenching his fist, "a team that can make sure this man's power doesn't threaten the Earth."
His thoughts drifted to an old comrade—
Captain Marvel.
She too had once displayed unimaginable strength, singlehandedly repelling the invasion of higher lifeforms.
To Fury, she had once been the perfect Avenger candidate.
But her power was too overwhelming, too far beyond his control.
And so, the original Avengers Initiative had quietly withered away.
But Haruto's strength was something else entirely.
Captain Marvel was a lone powerhouse.
Haruto was the commander of a mechanical army.
And if he was being honest with himself… Fury thought Haruto was far more dangerous.
Within minutes, Fury and Ross had hidden inside a nearby building, soldiers dispatched to find medicine.
Though Fury had given Ross an injection, his condition remained precarious.
As the drug's effect faded, his body began failing again.
"We have to eliminate that man."
Even half-dead, Ross's mind was fixed on Haruto.
"The United States will never allow someone like him to exist," he said with iron resolve.
To Ross, those endless tides of steel, those mechanical lifeforms—
They weren't some unfathomable black technology.
They were machines, tools, things humans had already built long ago, many for military use.
If Haruto truly had such ability, then surely he had planted his tech inside them long before.
In which case, he should have already been king of the world.
Unbelievable, yes—
But once every other impossibility was stripped away, the last remaining option, no matter how unlikely, had to be the truth.
Which meant one thing.
Kill Haruto… and the mechanical plague would end.
Fury fell silent at those words.
"You're afraid?" Ross asked, surprised. He had assumed Director Fury would be as unshakable as himself.
But Fury only shook his head slowly. "What if we fail?"
After witnessing an army of millions of mechanical lifeforms, launching a so-called decapitation strike wasn't something you just said.
The price of failure would be more than anyone could bear.
To Fury, Ross's words bordered on lunacy.
Still, he couldn't entirely blame him—the man was gravely wounded, had lost a lot of blood. His mind wasn't clear.
Yes. Right now, no one could afford to provoke Senju Haruto.
Fury swallowed hard, certain of that truth.
But Ross wasn't as delirious as he looked. He simply hadn't spoken his full mind.
Because in his view, there was something in this world that could oppose Haruto.
The Hulk.
If they could obtain the Hulk, replicate his serum, and mass-produce it—
They could build a Hulk army.
With that army, they might just stand against Haruto's mechanical legions.
And when the time was right—strike him down.
After all, the power Haruto wielded was enough to threaten the entire planet.
Ross was convinced… that Haruto's strength could one day rewrite the very balance of the Earth.
Meanwhile, deep inside a Hydra base—
Madame Viper was watching the broadcast of the events in New York.
At first, seeing Stark face off against Iron Monger, she was intrigued but not shaken.
Impressive as the technology was, compared to the sorcery and forces she commanded, it was nothing exceptional.
She had only kept watching out of curiosity—half to kill time.
But as the battle escalated, her calm vanished.
She stood frozen, wide-eyed, stunned.
The sight of Optimus Prime crushing Iron Monger with his bare hands gave her a visceral understanding of the power of these mechanical lifeforms.
She began to covet that truck—
And the man who commanded it, Senju Haruto.
With Haruto's technology combined with Hydra's reach and resources, they could create a new world.
If Haruto would cooperate.
But when every car on the street transformed into Haruto's loyal steel servants…
She was shaken to her core.
That power was godlike.
"He's the one we've been waiting for," she declared. "Send the order—whatever it takes, we must make contact with him.
"Our cause needs him!
"Hail Hydra!"
Kamar-Taj.
The Ancient One had long since set aside her doubts about Haruto, even working to find a way to send him back to his original universe.
Still, from time to time, she checked in to see what he was doing.
When she first saw him clashing with human soldiers, she thought him merely… forceful.
But what came after exceeded even her imagination.
Those mundane vehicles, created by ordinary humans, gained life in an instant and marched to war at Haruto's command.
What kind of magic was this?
What kind of power?
Even the highest forms of sorcery could grant life, but such arts were beyond the reach of mortal sorcerers.
In her knowledge, only an existence like Dormammu could wield such power.
And even Dormammu, at best, created monsters imbued with life.
"Does this mean… Haruto has grown strong enough to stand beside Dormammu?"
The Ancient One drew a sharp breath, astonished by his power.
Asgard.
High King Odin sat upon his throne. Soon, the day would come that marked his son's most important trial.
But as he pondered how to prepare, he suddenly sensed a surge of overwhelming power.
It came from Midgard.
From Earth.
"This…"
His gaze pierced layers of space, fixing upon New York.
An endless mechanical army was fighting under the command of a single young man.
"The Sorcerer Supreme?"
Odin's throat tightened. He swallowed hard.
Power so vast and awe-inspiring—only one being could bear such a title.
The Sorcerer Supreme, Earth's greatest protector.
And in Odin's eyes, Haruto was not just the Sorcerer Supreme—
He was the most powerful one in history.
And Asgard was not the only realm shaken by the mechanical plague Haruto had unleashed.
Across the world—across realms—countless powers trembled.
In Wakanda…