"This is bad."
Hawkeye's voice came out low and tight as he exchanged a quick look with Black Widow, the two of them reading the same conclusion in each other's eyes. Something had gone very wrong, and it wasn't just the outcome of the fight—it was the shift in momentum, the way the entire situation had slipped out of their control.
Captain Steve wasn't just any fighter. He was one of the best close-combat specialists alive, someone who could go toe-to-toe with almost anyone and come out on top, and yet he had been dropped in a single strike. That wasn't just a loss—it was a warning.
If that blow had landed on them instead, there was no question about the result. They wouldn't just be knocked out; they'd be lucky to walk away at all, and that realization settled heavily in their minds.
But just as tension peaked, the turtle warrior didn't press the advantage.
Instead of continuing the assault, Leo stepped back, retreating to Dr. Lizard's side as if the fight had already served its purpose. That alone was enough to confuse both agents, because it didn't match the behavior of someone trying to finish a battle.
Why stop now?
What was he planning?
Leo didn't answer their questions directly. He walked up to Dr. Lizard with a calm, purposeful stride, clearly focused on something far more important than the defeated Avengers scattered across the ground.
"These Avengers heroes twisted the truth and labeled you a supervillain," Leo said, his tone steady but firm. "We can't let them get away with that."
Dr. Lizard blinked, confusion flickering across his face at first as he processed the words. The situation had escalated so quickly that even he hadn't fully grasped the narrative being forced onto him.
But then it clicked.
They weren't just fighting him—they were defining him.
And if that definition stuck, everything else would follow.
"I… I need to clear my name," he muttered, the realization sharpening into determination as a memory surfaced. Back at home, he had installed surveillance cameras to record his experiments, documenting everything in detail.
That included the moment he saved Gwen.
If he could show that footage—if he could prove what really happened—then everything would change. The Avengers wouldn't just lose face; they would be exposed, and the public would see exactly who had acted recklessly.
Hope rose inside him, fragile but real.
He had never wanted any of this. He was a scientist, someone who cared about his work, about helping people, and yet he had been pushed into a corner, labeled something he wasn't.
Iron Man had started it.
The others had followed.
And now they would answer for it.
Dr. Lizard lifted his head, his gaze sweeping across Black Widow and Hawkeye, and the intensity behind it made both agents stiffen slightly. There was no longer confusion in his eyes—only clarity.
Around them, the reporters had already begun shifting gears.
"The Avengers were taken down by a turtle-man?"
"Is this really the invincible team we've been told about?"
"They couldn't even handle him together. What does that say about their competence?"
"This is a complete failure!"
The whispers spread quickly, growing louder with each passing second as the media pivoted without hesitation. Just moments ago, they had been cheering for the Avengers, framing them as heroes in control.
Now?
They were circling like vultures.
"What a bunch of opportunists…" Black Widow muttered under her breath, anger simmering beneath her calm exterior as she watched the shift unfold.
She hadn't come here for this.
Her reputation mattered, and she had worked hard to shape it, to step out of the shallow roles people tried to box her into and stand as a true hero in her own right. But now, everything was unraveling, and the image she had built was taking a direct hit.
Her gaze turned toward Dr. Lizard, resentment flashing briefly in her eyes.
That look didn't go unnoticed.
Dr. Connors felt something inside him snap, the anger that had been building finally finding a target. These people had attacked him, labeled him, tried to crush him—and now they looked at him like he was the problem?
How dare they?
The moment was interrupted when one of the more aggressive reporters stepped forward, microphone raised as he seized the opportunity.
"As a supervillain, the Lizard, how do you feel about defeating the Avengers?" he asked loudly, his tone carrying an edge that made the accusation sound like fact.
Dr. Lizard froze.
"I…?" he started, but the words caught in his throat as the label hit him again.
"Supervillain??"
The anger surged, so intense it felt like it might tear him apart from the inside. He had saved someone. He had done the right thing, and yet they kept twisting it, reshaping it into something ugly.
"Do you have any evidence?" he shot back, his voice rising. "Or are you just making baseless accusations?"
"I do," Gwen stepped forward suddenly, unable to stay silent any longer as she placed herself between the crowd and Dr. Lizard. Her voice was steady despite the pressure, and her eyes burned with conviction.
According to her account, the situation flipped entirely.
The Avengers, the supposed symbols of justice, were the ones who had acted without understanding, while the so-called monster had been the one trying to help. It was a reversal that caught the reporters off guard, but more importantly, it created doubt.
And doubt was enough to change everything.
"Evidence?" Dr. Lizard repeated, the word snapping him fully into action. "I have evidence!!"
He didn't waste another second. Turning on his heel, he rushed back into the house and returned moments later carrying a recording device, setting it down carefully before connecting an external power source.
The screen flickered to life.
He scanned the crowd once, his voice rising as he addressed them all.
"Look at this! This is your so-called army of justice. Watch what they did to me!"
The footage played.
Clear and undeniable.
On the screen, the symbiote-enhanced figure equipped with Stark technology could be seen pursuing Gwen, its movements aggressive and relentless. Then came the turning point—Dr. Lizard stepping in, intervening, fighting to protect her.
The sequence unfolded exactly as it had happened.
And then—
Iron Man arrived.
The tone shifted immediately, his arrogance clear as he jumped to conclusions, branding Dr. Lizard as a threat without even pausing to understand the situation. The footage didn't lie, and it didn't leave room for interpretation.
It was judgment without evidence.
Action without thought.
"If this kind of behavior is allowed," Dr. Lizard said, his voice heavy with emotion as the footage ended, "then superheroes might become the real danger."
The impact was immediate.
The crowd went quiet for a beat, the weight of his words sinking in as the narrative cracked apart. Piece by piece, the image of Iron Man—and by extension, the Avengers—began to fracture.
Tony Stark didn't look like a hero anymore.
He looked reckless.
Worse—he looked wrong.
"This is going to spiral out of control…" Black Widow murmured, her expression tightening as she realized just how bad the situation had become.
If this kept going, it wouldn't just be Tony taking the hit.
It would drag the entire Avengers name down with him.
And that couldn't be allowed.
Without hesitation, she moved. Dropping to Steve's side, she delivered two sharp punches to his face, enough to jolt him awake.
"Ah—!" Steve groaned, blinking rapidly as he came to, his hand instinctively moving to his face. The swelling around his eye was immediate, and the realization of what had happened only made his expression darker.
"Captain, you need to stay calm," Black Widow said quickly, her voice low but urgent. "You're the only one who can fix this. Tony acted without understanding the situation, and now everyone knows it. If we don't control this now, the fallout will bury all of us."
Steve listened, his jaw tightening as he processed the situation.
This wasn't just about the fight anymore.
It was about perception.
About control.
And about damage.
His brows furrowed as an idea formed, sharp and immediate, and without wasting time, he allowed Black Widow to help him to his feet. Step by step, he moved toward the reporters, his posture deliberately unsteady, his expression pained.
By the time he reached the center of attention, all eyes were on him.
Then—
He bowed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
"Dr. Lizard," he said, his voice carrying across the scene, "we were wrong this time."
He paused just long enough to let the words settle before continuing, carefully shaping the narrative.
"This started because Tony misunderstood the situation and assumed you were a threat. We acted too quickly, and as a result, you were treated unfairly."
His tone softened, sincerity woven into every word as he lowered his head again.
"On behalf of the Avengers, I offer our deepest apologies. We will handle situations like this more carefully in the future, and we hope you'll give us another chance to serve the public the right way."
When he finished, he bowed again, holding the gesture long enough for every camera to capture it clearly.
From the outside, it looked perfect.
Humble.
Sincere.
Responsible.
But underneath it all, there was calculation.
Because this wasn't just an apology.
It was pressure.
A silent push, forcing Dr. Lizard into a position where rejecting it would make him look unreasonable in the eyes of the public.
The Avengers had already admitted fault.
So why keep pushing?
Why not let it go?
It was a clean move.
A dangerous one.
And every person watching could feel it, even if they couldn't quite put it into words.
.....
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