At the same time, aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, the deck thrummed with tension.
Abomination stood near the launch rails, a mountain of muscle and hate. Beside him were Nick Fury, Captain Steve Rogers, and a handful of agents—all under the shimmer of Loki's mind-control.
A missile launcher squatted on the runway, aimed squarely at the glowing cube fixed in a cradle of instruments—the Tesseract.
Dr. Erik Selvig, still half-entranced from Loki's scepter, adjusted dials on his "Coordinate Engine," a device capable of locking onto any position on Earth—or beyond. When the Tesseract's portal opened, it could deliver anything through space in an instant.
Used properly, it was a weapon of gods.
And Abomination planned to use it to erase the X-Ville Mutant Academy—home of the X-Men.
He had no clue that Ant-Man had sabotaged his missile's targeting feed—or that Ryuuto, Tony, and Banner were already waiting for him to open the portal.
Abomination's grin widened. "I can't wait to see Red Mirage crawl to me and beg for mercy." He threw back his head and laughed. "Too bad he'll be dust before that happens!"
He glanced at Selvig. "Is it ready?"
"One minute to zero," the doctor murmured.
"Then stop wasting my time. Fire it up!"
Blue lightning erupted around the Tesseract, shredding the deck plating. A surge of energy split the air as a portal bloomed open—liquid light, rippling like a mirror in water.
"Ryuuto! You and your freaks can rot in hell!" Abomination howled and slammed the launch button.
BOOM!
The missile vanished into the blue rift—then reappeared miles away, streaking toward the mutant school.
Abomination laughed, already imagining the crater. "Beautiful. Let's take the carrier over there and enjoy the fireworks—"
He didn't finish.
Because Ryuuto, Iron Man, and the Hulk stepped right out of the same portal.
Abomination's face twisted. "STEVE! Agents! Kill them all!"
The mind-controlled S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers opened fire, a rain of bullets screaming across the runway.
Ryuuto's blade flashed—the massive Beheading Knife cutting through the smoke. Hulk roared, shielding him with his own bulk. One look between them was enough: Hulk wanted Abomination for himself.
"Fine," Ryuuto muttered. "Have fun, big guy."
He dashed toward Captain America instead.
The controlled agents kept shooting, but Ryuuto was faster than their eyes could track. Even if a bullet hit, he'd shrug it off; Shion's life-data backup made sure of that.
[Host, please try not to rely on dying as a strategy, okay?]
"Hey, if it works, it works," he shot back, sliding under a burst of gunfire.
Meanwhile, Hulk and Abomination collided like twin avalanches, the deck buckling beneath them.
Sparks flew, armor clanged, and Tony darted overhead, raining repulsor fire.
Realizing Abomination didn't have the scepter, Ryuuto changed course and sprinted toward the interior hatch.
He had three objectives:
Recover the Mind Scepter.
Secure the Tesseract.
End Abomination for good.
The cube could wait—first came the scepter. If he got both artifacts, he'd hold two of the six Infinity Stones.
Two down, four to go.
Shion snickered in his mind. [You realize people who collect all six get hunted by literal gods, right?]
"Then I'll just run faster," Ryuuto muttered, kicking open a door.
Inside, two agents aimed rifles at him. He didn't bother dodging.
Then, with a metallic thunk, both men collapsed—knocked out by someone behind them.
A familiar voice called, "You're finally here!"
Ant-Man grew back to full size, looking relieved.
Ryuuto answered with a flying kick to the chest.
"Ow—what the hell, man?!"
"That's for stealing the scepter," Ryuuto snapped. "If you hadn't, S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't be a puppet show right now."
Ant-Man winced. "Yeah, my bad. Didn't know Abomination was the one pulling strings."
"Where's the scepter?"
"In his private vault," Ant-Man said. "It's locked to his iris scan. I couldn't get close."
"Then you're taking me there."
Ant-Man nodded quickly. "Right behind you."
Back on the deck, Hulk and Abomination grappled in a thunderous deadlock—two titans locked in pure brute force. Bullets pinged uselessly off Hulk's back.
Tony landed beside him long enough to shout, "Banner! You got this!"
Hulk roared in reply, veins bulging like cables. He seized Abomination by the torso and hurled him toward the upper control tower, steel screaming as concrete shattered.