Didn't You See I Had a Gun?

Luca whipped around at the sound.

Behind the counter of the convenience store, two burly, bald Black men leaned out, their faces twisted into fierce scowls.

One of them was pointing some kind of pistol straight at Luca's chest.

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

The other bald Black man, holding a dagger, leaned farther out and forced his voice low as he shouted at Luca. He didn't forget to wave his dagger around, either.

But with the way he was too scared to even raise his voice, he wasn't exactly intimidating.

It was only then that Luca noticed.

Beside the counter, a young woman wearing a convenience store uniform lay in a pool of blood, several stab wounds in her body.

After a moment's thought, Luca could guess what had happened.

The two trashy bastards hadn't dared go outside and run for their lives. They'd taken over the place and hidden here, waiting to die.

But when the gunman noticed Luca looking at him, he seemed to find some courage. His voice grew louder.

"Get out! If you don't leave right now, this is what you'll—"

Before he could finish, Luca suddenly raised his gun.

A pale-blue beam shot out and struck the gunman square in the chest.

The man, who'd only just puffed himself up, was instantly hurled backward, his chest charred black. He crashed into the clutter behind the counter, knocking a heap of it over.

Before the other burly Black man could even react, a second beam shot out.

"Boom!"

The same thing happened again. The Black man with the knife was sent flying, too.

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

Looking at the two men on the ground, Luca didn't care whether they still had a breath left. He walked over and shot each of them in the head, making sure both idiots were dead for good. Only then did he roll his shoulders to ease the pain in his back from crashing into the store earlier, then turn to head out again.

But when he reached the store entrance, he spotted something.

He didn't know if it was because of the explosion upstairs earlier or the commotion from killing those two bastards.

At that moment, several Chitauri Soldiers were slowly closing in on the store, their light guns at the ready.

And just as Luca spotted them, the aliens noticed him, too.

There was no time to think.

Without a word, Luca hooked a can of soda off the ground with his right foot and kicked it into the air.

At the same time, he quickly aimed his Folding Light Gun and pulled the trigger repeatedly.

The rapidly spinning can and several beams shot out in unison.

As expected, the can hit its target dead-on, bursting against one Chitauri's head and knocking him unconscious on the spot.

But because he'd fired the beams in such a hurry, only one of them hit.

The remaining Chitauri Soldiers weren't about to let Luca go. They immediately raised their guns and aimed at him.

But before Luca could leap away and dive behind cover again, a familiar red-and-gold figure came spinning down from the sky.

Like a bowling ball, he clanged into four or five Chitauri Soldiers in succession before slamming into the ground.

The first poor bastard he hit exploded on the spot, and his head rolled right up to Luca.

"That's the third time... Was Tony really this pathetic in the movie?"

Looking at Tony Stark, who'd landed in front of him in more or less the same way again, Luca couldn't help finding the whole thing absurd.

"Soccer kid?"

Stark, struggling to get back to his feet, had noticed Luca inside the store, too.

But before he could figure out why the kid wasn't staying put at home and had come running around outside, more Chitauri Soldiers had already rushed over to surround him.

Clearly, in the Chitauri's eyes, killing these members of the Avengers was a top priority.

Beam after beam struck Tony Stark's armor, leaving him unable to steady himself.

He could only struggle to fight back with the weak repulsors in his palms.

"Wait! Isn't this the scene before Iron Man goes to stop the nuke?!"

The familiar scene immediately made Luca realize he had to help deal with these enemies, fast.

Otherwise, Stark would soon unleash his full firepower and fly off to deal with the nuke, and Luca wasn't sure he could handle this many Chitauri surrounding him on his own.

The thought flashed through his mind. Luca quickly raised his gun and took aim.

A few quick bursts took down two Chitauri who were attacking Tony Stark.

But his actions clearly angered the enemies who'd been ignoring him until now.

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

Luckily, Luca had expected this and had already leaped out of the way.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the street, Tony seized the brief chance to catch his breath and immediately raised a hand, taking out three Chitauri.

But after Luca scrambled back to his feet with an ungainly roll, he was just about to counterattack when he noticed two light guns aimed at him.

"Crap!"

"Kid! Move!"

Stark lunged forward, tackling a Chitauri Soldier. At the same time, a beam shot from his right palm and blasted another Chitauri Soldier away.

But the second attack came a fraction of a beat too late.

The Chitauri who'd been blasted away had already pulled the trigger.

A pale-blue beam shot straight toward Luca.

"Fuck..."

Even though Luca had tried to dodge as soon as he realized he was being targeted, crouching after a roll kept him from fully benefiting from the strength boost from his Power-Enhancing Shoes. His dodge was nowhere near as quick as before.

All he could do was try to get out of the way while straining to raise his arm in front of himself.

"Bang!"

A loud blast rang out.

Sparks burst from Luca's arm, and he was sent flying straight into a car behind him.

The force of the impact sent pain shooting through his back. His vision went black, and he nearly passed out on the spot.

The explosion and the dull thud of the impact left Luca's ears ringing.

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

He slowly slid down the car door, which had caved in slightly.

Luckily, his right leg—still being stimulated by the electric shocks at "Level One"—remained strong. Luca managed to keep himself from falling over.

"This body's a little out of shape!"

Luca opened his blurry eyes.

He raised his hand to look at the wrecked prosthetic on his right arm. Then he grinned through his bloodied mouth, baring his teeth in a somewhat unsettling smile.

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