Chapter 88: Restart, Spider-Man! [88]
Old Steve: "..."
The Green Goblin had bad breath!
Norman's expression shifted from fury to a forced smile as he saw the two of them.
"Well, well. Looks like you caught me again. Can we have a fair duel this time?" he asked, recalling how last time he'd been ganged up on during a revival match.
"What do you think?"
Xia Luo grinned, stepping closer to him.
"I think I'm going to throw some dirt in your eyes!"
"No! You can't do this to me, I'm your most beloved Uncle Norman!"
Ten seconds later, with Xia Luo's assistance, old Steve raised his shield and took down Norman.
"Who's next?" he asked.
"The Lizard, that handsome guy."
"Peter?"
"No, it's Professor Curt."
"Great, I have a feeling I'll get to sit this one out again."
Ten minutes later, following the coordinates, Xia Luo finally found Professor Curt hiding in the sewers.
Boom!
The loud sound echoed from the sewers, and not long after, Xia Luo and old Steve emerged from the ground.
They had taken down the second competitor.
"Who's next?" old Steve asked.
Xia Luo thought for a moment. "Let's head to Hamlet Street and take out Loki!"
Hydra's Captain and Bucky were together, which would waste some time.
Venom Parker was strong, and right now he might be too difficult to beat.
Compared to them, Loki was much weaker...
Even if he could hold his own against Hulk's combo.
On the nearby street, Electro's fight with Tony was reaching its climax.
"Sir, armor energy at 300%."
"Excellent, initiate full-power energy output."
"Yes, sir."
Boom~~
Before long, with the tides turning, a desperate Electro retreated as his energy ran out.
"Oh, Mr. Stark won!"
"He chased away the villain."
"As expected of Iron Man."
"Thank you, thank you all for your support. Please vote for me, thank you."
As Tony waved victoriously, drones in the sky showered money, causing a frenzy.
"Stark, stop campaigning and pay attention. There's another weirdo incoming," young Steve said, picking up his shield.
Tony glanced down at his heavily damaged armor, while Steve's clothes were still intact. His tone turned sarcastic.
"Ice Cube, why don't you go home and take a nap? I don't need a soldier cheering me on."
"Stark, you're crossing a line," young Steve said with a stern look.
"I'm just telling the truth."
"Fine, then I'll be honest too—what are you without that armor?"
"Soldier boy, seems like you have a problem with me."
"Of course. Who would ever have goodwill toward a weapons dealer?"
"Fine. I'll switch to a new suit, and tonight, let's find a place to settle this—no backup."
"Whoever calls for backup is a puppy."
"Heh, you really are an old man from the last century."
Meanwhile, at the Hamlet Street theater.
"Ah! Run!"
Screams echoed as citizens fled in panic. A "horned creature" holding a staff unleashed a barrage of energy blasts.
Boom!!
"Stop, don't do this!"
Silhouettes flickered as clones intercepted the energy attacks, dispersing in the process.
"Loki, stop this! Don't go down this path!" A Loki in a tuxedo had encircled Horned Loki with clones, pleading nervously.
Horned Loki scanned the clones, a faint smile forming on his lips.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... Avengers from Earth. Don't think mimicking my appearance can stop me."
With a sinister grin, he abruptly spun around, swinging his staff, and a solid clone was instantly destroyed.
"What...?" Horned Loki's face changed, realizing he had miscalculated.
Squelch!
"Sorry, I can't let you keep killing. You're making things difficult for Thor and our father," the tuxedo-clad Loki said, his voice trembling.
But Horned Loki, even with a weapon sticking out of him, kept smiling.
"Really? Then that's just perfect."
With those words, his clone disintegrated, and the staff fell to the ground.
"Huh?"
Realizing he had only taken down a clone, Tuxedo Loki froze, then chuckled to himself.
"As expected of the God of Mischief—truly devious."
He picked up the fallen staff, his eyes nostalgic.
It was something "he" had left behind on purpose, intending to use the Mind Stone within the staff to sow discord among the Avengers.
No one understood how cunning Loki could be better than he did.
With that thought, he approached the unconscious Barton, gently touching his body with the staff's tip. Instantly, the hypnosis was broken.
"Wha...?"
A confused Barton woke up, but before he could react, two figures swung down onto the chaotic street.
"Hey, Spidey, your web shooters are fantastic. Mind making me a couple?"
"Of course."
Seeing the two figures land before him, Tuxedo Loki's brows furrowed.
"Who are you two?"
His gaze lingered on old Steve, as if catching a glimpse of someone familiar.
There was an unexplainable sense of recognition.
The shield in the old man's hands made it clear who he was.
A superhero—Captain America!
As for the red-and-blue-clad Spider, he'd never seen him before.
But anyone walking alongside a superhero was surely a hero too.
As he assessed them, Xia Luo was also sizing him up.
"He doesn't seem like the Loki of this world," Xia Luo said to old Steve.
Old Steve stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I noticed. His eyes... they're different from back then."
"So he must be the competitor Loki."
"Looks like it. Should we take him down?"
"Uh, I think we should."
The two chatted without any concern for Loki overhearing.
Realizing they were ready to attack him on a whim, Tuxedo Loki quickly stepped back.
"Wait, I don't want to fight you! We need to find this world's Loki and stop him before he makes a huge mistake."
"Huh?"
Xia Luo and old Steve exchanged bewildered looks.
"Did I hear that right?"
"Yeah, he said he wants to stop Loki."
"Careful, Loki is always tricky."
The two moved to flank Loki from both sides.
"What are you doing?!"
Tuxedo Loki sighed, exasperated. "I'm telling the truth! You're Avengers—you wouldn't want the Chitauri army invading Earth, would you?"
"We can still stop it... by taking you down," old Steve began, but before he could finish, Tuxedo Loki vanished in a flash of green light.
"Darn, he got away," Steve muttered, disappointed.
"But we got this," Xia Luo said, picking up the fallen staff and tapping the Mind Stone embedded in it.
"You know how to use this thing?" he asked old Steve.
Old Steve scratched his head, lost in thought.
"I can't quite remember. Back in the day, I used it to knock out my past self. Then my past self was ambushed by another version of me. And when my past self went to the shwarma joint, he was pretty annoyed... But it wasn't on purpose! My past self was in a rush, but couldn't escape from—"
"Stop! Hand over the web shooters."
"Why?"
"Because you becoming Spider-Man is way scarier than me."
He burst into laughter.
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