59: Chapter 59 The Avengers Assemble

"Stark, did you see that?" Captain America asked.

"I did, I just still can't quite believe my eyes," Tony replied. "What about Banner? Has he arrived?"

"Banner?" Captain America paused in surprise.

"Tell me as soon as Banner shows up." Tony cut the communication short.

"They're slaughtering civilians!" Peter pointed toward the buildings.

"Go! Save them!" Captain America barked. "Leave the ground to us!"

Peter nodded and leapt toward the nearest building. Following the densest sounds of screaming, he quickly climbed to the corresponding floor and vaulted through a shattered window.

Corpses were strewn across the hallway, their charred wounds still smoking.

It felt as if something had slammed hard into Peter's chest, and rage instantly flooded his entire body.

In this moment, he didn't want to hold back anymore.

Hiss—

Four massive mechanical spider arms sprang from his back, their blades gleaming coldly in the firelight.

"Aaaah!" Peter roared as he charged into the hallway.

A few Chitauri were pinning civilians to the ground. They had only just turned their heads, but it was already too late.

Three mechanical spider arms instantly pierced three skulls, and a Repulsor Cannon blast blew the rest away, smashing them into the security door.

The survivors stared at him blankly.

"Go downstairs, don't go out on the street. Hide if anyone comes. Do you understand?"

They nodded repeatedly and rushed toward the emergency stairs. Peter turned and ran again—there were more screams coming from other buildings, and more people waiting for him to save them.

He vaulted out of the window, swung across the street, crashed into the building opposite, and cleared out the Chitauri inside just as cleanly.

As he rushed back out, a squad of Chitauri chariots was descending on the street.

Peter shot out two thickened strands of Webbing, pulling them taut between the buildings on either side.

The Chitauri chariots swept past, and two were flipped over by the "clothesline," crashing toward the ground. The remaining chariots hurriedly turned away.

Peter leapt up and landed steadily on the first chariot.

As two Chitauri raised their spears, his palm repulsors lit up, blasting the pair away.

The chariots behind immediately turned their weapons.

Peter backflipped off the chariot, his four mechanical spider arms snapping open simultaneously, one of them violently piercing the pilot's chest.

Blue energy beams crisscrossed in mid-air; in their attempt to pursue him, several chariots hit each other instead.

Peter moved continuously between the chariots, his red mechanical spider arms quickly stained with dark bodily fluids.

It wasn't until the last chariot crashed to the ground that he flipped onto the rooftop.

Chitauri were climbing the walls with their claws.

Peter charged along the exterior wall, smashing them down one punch at a time.

A small squad at the corner of the building aimed their guns at him. He shot out Webbing upward, and as he swung down, he fired a Repulsor Cannon blast, sending the entire row of enemies falling to the ground.

Below, Natasha and Clint were being overwhelmed by a tidal wave of enemy troops.

Peter swung down from high above, his feet landing heavily on the back of a Chitauri.

Using the momentum, he rolled forward, grabbed the enemy's body, threw it against a utility pole, and immediately followed up with a glob of Webbing, sticking it firmly to it.

A few more lunged at him. He jumped and delivered a double kick, the sound of cracking skulls clearly audible. He punched into one's abdomen and grabbed the body to use as a shield.

Blue light beams punched through the meat shield. Peter tossed the corpse aside, and the chest repulsor suddenly lit up, a torrent of intense energy instantly engulfing five Chitauri soldiers.

His Spider-Sense flared. He launched himself into the air, narrowly avoiding a shot from behind.

Just as he was about to retaliate upon landing, an arrow had already pierced the Chitauri's skull.

Clint nodded at Peter.

"I can handle it myself," Peter said.

"The word 'thanks' sounds nice. How come you don't like saying it?" Clint chuckled.

A Chitauri suddenly dropped down behind him, but Peter raised his hand and fired a blast, sending it flying. Clint turned back, eyes wide.

"Thanks," Peter retorted.

A new wave of enemies surged forward. Natasha spewed blue energy with a captured weapon, Clint fired arrows in rapid succession, and Peter picked them off one by one with his repulsors.

He got close, snapped an arm, pressed his palm against its skull, and surged bio-electricity into its body, instantly electrocuting it into charcoal from the inside out.

Peter caught his breath; this move drained too much energy, he should use it less in the future.

Captain America cut into the battlefield, his shield crushing several skulls, and at the last moment, he blocked a plasma beam aimed at Peter.

The remaining Chitauri soldiers on the ground were closing in from all directions.

The next second, blinding lightning descended from the sky, detonating in the center of the enemy crowd.

The Chitauri at the front didn't even have time to scream before they were completely swallowed by the thunder.

Thor landed right behind the lightning, one hand clutching his wounded side, blood constantly seeping out from between his fingers.

"What's the situation up there?" Captain America asked.

"The energy around the Tesseract cannot be breached," Thor said, his gaze falling on Peter, his expression pausing. "My apologies, Spider-Man. I was too heavy-handed earlier."

Peter shrugged. "No time to settle that now, Goldilocks. We'll talk later."

"What's the plan now?" Natasha asked.

Steve scanned the group. "From now on, everyone follows my lead. We go together."

"I still have a score to settle with Loki," Thor said in a low voice.

"Get in line," Clint glared at him and adjusted his quiver.

"Save it. Loki will draw the enemy's attention to us, which is exactly what we need. Without him keeping them in check, these monsters would just run rampant all over the city. Stark is up there—"

The roar of a motorcycle suddenly interrupted Captain America.

Bruce, wearing loose clothes, rode up slowly on a beat-up scooter, parked it, and walked over.

"So... looks pretty bad," he smiled.

"I've seen worse," Natasha said.

Bruce's expression dimmed. "Sorry."

"No," she smiled instead. "Right now, we need you to come out and make the enemy's situation a lot worse."

"Stark, Banner is here, just like you said," Captain America pressed his comms.

"Banner is here? Perfect, tell him to get ready to transform. I'm leading that big guy right to you."

Tony's voice had barely faded when he swerved around the end of the street. The Leviathan was in hot pursuit behind him.

Natasha looked up. "You call this 'leading it to us'?"

Peter laughed. "To us, it's a monster. To Hulk, it's a punching bag delivered to his door."

"Dr. Banner, now might be a good time for you to get angry," Steve said.

"That's my secret, Captain," Bruce said, walking toward the giant beast as Tony streaked overhead. The Leviathan opened its massive maw, sliding along the road as it lunged.

"I'm always angry." He turned around, his body surged in size, and he met it with a punch.

Hulk's fist slammed the giant beast to a halt, sending its entire body flying backward into the air, its front armor plates cracking.

"Get down!" Tony roared, firing a missile into the exposed flesh. The giant beast exploded into fragments, its wreckage crashing into the street corner.

The group stood back-to-back in a circle in the middle of the ruins.

Captain America raised his shield, Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir, Tony landed on the other side, and Hulk let out a low growl at the surrounding enemy troops.

Peter looked around and suddenly smiled.

Until this moment, this group of misfits fighting on their own had finally started to look like a real team.