He coughed up another mouthful of blood—but Luca's smile never wavered.
If he hadn't still been adjusting to his severed right arm and instinctively raised his prosthetic to block the Chitauri's strike, he might've lost his left arm too.
How could he not be happy? This was practically a celebration.
Ignoring the excruciating pain and gnawing weakness flooding his body, Luca turned toward Tony Stark's position. Only two Chitauri soldiers remained.
His folding laser gun had been lost in the earlier explosion, so—with a grunt of effort—he ripped off his prosthetic right arm. It was now less than a third of its original size. He tossed it aside.
In the next breath, he stomped down with his right foot. Arcs of electricity crackled through his red-and-white sneakers.
Bang—
The discarded prosthetic, crushed beneath his heel, shot forward like a cannonball—blasting over ten meters through the air before slamming into a Chitauri soldier's head in a shower of sparks and lightning.
The surge of energy detonated on impact, scattering metallic shrapnel in every direction.
Whether it was the weight of narrative causality or simply perfect kinetic force, the struck Chitauri tilted its head, made no sound, and collapsed—out cold.
Tony Stark, having just dispatched the last enemy in the vicinity, stared blankly at Luca: right forearm gone, mouth stained with blood, yet standing unnaturally straight—still smiling that relentless grin.
This kid…
Even a veteran like Stark didn't know how to process him.
But one thing was certain: everything the boy had done had been to buy him time.
Before Tony could say anything, a sharp voice cut through his helmet comms.
"Stark! Can you hear me? A missile's inbound—heading straight for Manhattan!"
Nick Fury's warning snapped Tony's focus back into razor clarity.
He glanced once at Luca, now slumped against a wrecked car, then barked into the comm:
"How long?"
"Three minutes max. The nuke it's carrying can level the entire downtown."
No time to waste.
Tony shouted toward the boy, voice amplified by the suit's external speakers:
"Kid! Get to cover! Don't move—stay put!"
Jets ignited. In a burst of flame, Iron Man shot skyward.
Luca watched him go, smirking—though it was more grimace than grin. He hadn't taken Stark's warning seriously.
Propping himself up with one hand, he fixed his gaze on Stark Tower in the distance. For the first time, something like anticipation gleamed in his eyes.
"A nuke's already here?" he murmured, voice rough but amused. "Then I'd better hurry up too~"
Maybe Luca hadn't even noticed it himself—but somewhere along the way, the thrill of finally closing in on his goal had eclipsed any fear of death.
He grabbed the backpack that had fallen beside him and yanked a nearly pristine folding light gun from the belt of a nearby Chitauri corpse.
His lip curled in disgust.
Ugh. Not even a single spatial storage item. Seriously—what kind of transmigrator am I?
Time flew by.
For the next two minutes, Luca didn't engage any more Chitauri soldiers.
Though he could feel his excitement rising, he still knew the difference between savoring the thrill and actively courting death. He avoided enemies whenever possible, launching only the occasional sneak attack.
He watched as Iron Man soared into the sky, missiles trailing behind him—and then saw the colossal rift in the heavens seal shut.
Countless Chitauri soldiers collapsed in droves, like robots suddenly deprived of power.
The massive Leviathan warship plummeted to the earth, and the once-speeding Chitauri skiffs spiraled out of control, crashing into buildings and streets alike.
The few people still on the streets shifted from stunned silence to cheers, then to hysterical laughter and tears.
It seemed everyone was celebrating this hard-won victory.
Everyone except Luca.
He had already reached Stark Tower.
"So that's how they got upstairs?"
His eyes tracked the Hulk as the green giant leapt onto the tower's rooftop, Iron Man and Captain America cradled in his arms. Thor followed close behind, Mjolnir crackling in his grip, with Hawkeye bringing up the rear.
"How did they manage to pose in front of Loki before he even woke up?"
The question that had nagged at him for so long finally had an answer.
"Was it really necessary…"
Shaking his head in quiet disbelief, Luca's gaze snapped upward—and caught another golden-red figure slipping silently into the tower's top floor.
"It's starting…"
He glanced at it once, then looked away. His focus now shifted to the first floor of Stark Tower.
The Chitauri had only just been dealt with, and the lobby remained in chaos.
Police and rescue teams hadn't arrived yet. Most of those present were Stark Tower employees and nearby civilians—some trying to flee for help, others rushing inside for shelter. The few security guards still on duty were overwhelmed, unable to control the surging crowd.
If Luca wanted to sneak in now, it would be effortless.
But he knew S.H.I.E.L.D. agents would arrive soon—and he wasn't ready to reveal himself to them.
Besides, stopping Loki from taking the Tesseract didn't require stepping inside the building.
After scanning the area, he found a spot outside with a clear view through the lobby's glass façade and settled in to wait.
Soon enough, a flood of agents poured in to restore order.
But the atmosphere remained tense—and the Chitauri, with their alien appearance, were unmistakable.
As a result, the agents and NYPD officers focused solely on securing the wounded and maintaining order, leaving ordinary civilians largely unmolested.
Meanwhile, Luca noticed Tony Stark—the future version—leap from the rooftop and land in a shadowed alcove below.
Moments later, a fully armed "S.H.I.E.L.D. agent" in tactical gear emerged from that same spot.
But the faint golden-white shimmer around the figure gave him away instantly.
"Nano armor? How convenient."
As the disguised Tony slipped into the building—and Loki, flanked by the Avengers, descended in the elevator to appear in the lobby—Luca reactivated his [Power-Enhancing Shoes].
After a brief pause, he also pulled the [Monkey Bomb] from his backpack—the one missing its Hextech Crystal.
But just as he finished that motion—
—the world went silent.
The blaring sirens. The panicked shouts. The wails of the crowd.
All of it cut off in an instant, as if someone had flipped a switch.