Didn't You See I Had a Gun?

Luca turned around quickly at the sound.

Behind the counter of the convenience store, two burly, bald Black men leaned out, their faces twisted in ferocity.

One of them held a pistol of unknown make, pointing it directly at Luca's chest.

"Asshole! What are you looking at? I told you to get out! Don't lead those monsters over here!"

The other man, holding a dagger, leaned further out and hissed, his voice strained as he shouted at Luca, punctuating his words with jabs of his blade.

Yet, given that he didn't even dare to speak at full volume, he lacked any real intimidation.

It was only then that Luca noticed something.

Right beside the counter, a young woman in a convenience store uniform lay in a pool of blood, having been stabbed multiple times.

After a moment's thought, Luca could guess the situation.

It was nothing more than two pieces of trash too cowardly to flee, squatting in someone else's space and waiting to die.

However, once the gunman noticed Luca's gaze, he seemed to gain a bit of false courage, his voice rising in volume.

"Get lost! If you don't leave now, this will be your—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Luca abruptly raised his gun.

A pale blue laser beam shot out, striking the gunman squarely in the chest.

The man, who had just been posturing, instantly flew backward, his chest charred black, crashing into a pile of debris behind the counter.

Before the other thug could even react to what had happened, a second laser followed.

"Boom!"

The same scene repeated; the man with the dagger was sent flying backward as well.

"Idiots. Didn't you see I had a gun too?"

Looking at the two men on the ground, Luca didn't bother to check if they still had a breath left. He stepped forward and put a bullet into each of their heads to ensure they were truly dead. Only then did he stretch his back, which had been aching from his earlier entry into the shop, and turned to continue on his way.

But as he reached the store entrance, he stopped.

Whether it was due to the explosion upstairs or the commotion from taking out those two thugs, several Chitauri soldiers were now slowly surrounding the shop, their energy rifles raised.

And the moment Luca spotted the Chitauri, the aliens spotted him in return.

There was no time to think.

Without a word, Luca hooked a soda can from the floor with his right foot and kicked it into the air.

Simultaneously, he aimed his folding energy pistol and pulled the trigger repeatedly.

The rapidly spinning soda can and several laser beams launched at once.

The can hit its mark perfectly, exploding against a Chitauri soldier's head and knocking him unconscious on the spot.

However, because the shots were fired in such a rush, only one of the lasers found its target.

The remaining Chitauri soldiers, naturally, would not let an enemy like Luca go, and they immediately raised their weapons to aim.

But before Luca could jump away to find cover, a familiar gold-and-red figure came spinning out of the sky.

Like a bowling ball, the figure crashed into four or five Chitauri soldiers with a series of clangs and thuds before slamming heavily into the ground.

The unlucky soldier hit first was blown apart instantly, his head rolling right to Luca's feet.

"Third time... was Tony this pathetic in the movie?"

Watching Tony Stark land in front of him in nearly the same posture as before, Luca couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and frustration.

"Soccer kid?"

Stark, struggling to get back on his feet, noticed Luca inside the shop as well.

Yet, before he could wonder why this kid wasn't hiding safely at home instead of running around, more Chitauri soldiers swarmed toward him.

Clearly, in the eyes of the Chitauri, eliminating the members of the Avengers was a high priority.

Several laser blasts struck Tony Stark's armor in rapid succession, preventing him from finding his footing.

He could only manage a difficult defense with his low-powered palm repulsors.

Wait! Isn't this the scene right before Iron Man carries the nuke?

The familiar sight made Luca realize he had to help clear these enemies quickly.

Otherwise, once Stark went full-throttle to deal with the nuke, Luca wasn't sure he could handle the swarm of Chitauri on his own.

With that thought, Luca quickly raised his gun and took aim.

A series of rapid shots instantly took down two Chitauri soldiers who were closing in on Tony Stark.

However, his actions clearly provoked the enemies who had previously ignored him.

Several Chitauri immediately raised their rifles and fired in Luca's direction.

Fortunately, Luca had anticipated this and had already dodged away from his original position.

At the same time, in the middle of the street, Tony, having caught a brief moment to breathe, immediately raised his hand and took out three Chitauri.

However, just as Luca rolled across the ground to get back on his feet and prepared to counterattack, he discovered that two light rifles were already aimed directly at him.

Oh no!

"Kid! Get out of the way!"

Stark lunged forward, tackling one Chitauri soldier while simultaneously firing a beam from his right palm, blasting another Chitauri soldier away.

However, that second attack was ultimately a split second too slow.

The trigger in the hand of the Chitauri soldier who had been blasted away had already been pulled.

A pale blue laser shot instantly toward where Luca stood.

"Damn it..."

Even though Luca had made an evasive move the moment he realized he was being targeted, his current crouching posture after rolling prevented him from fully utilizing the power boost provided by his Power-Enhancing Shoes, making his movement far less agile than before.

At this point, he could only try his best to raise his arms to protect his front while attempting to dodge.

BOOM!

With a loud explosion, sparks erupted from Luca's arm, and he was sent flying backward, slamming heavily into a car behind him.

Under the immense force of the impact, Luca felt a sharp pain in his back, followed by his vision going dark; he nearly lost consciousness on the spot.

The sound of the explosion, combined with the dull thud of the collision, left his ears ringing.

A thick, metallic taste flooded his mouth, and bright red blood trickled from the corner of his lips.

He slid slowly down the slightly dented car door.

Fortunately, his right leg, which was still under the "first gear" electric stimulation, remained strong, allowing him to force himself to stay upright.

This body is a bit lacking in training!

Luca opened his somewhat blurry eyes.

He "raised" his hand to look at his ruined prosthetic right arm, then suddenly grinned, his blood-stained mouth revealing a somewhat chilling smile.

"Hahaha, good thing I'm right-handed!"