The Weakened Mouse Talisman

Steve sighed, having expected that reaction. "Don't be nervous. It isn't an enemy."

Banner stared at Shendu and swallowed. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Steve's tone was far firmer than before. "It saved me."

Banner fell silent for several seconds, then slowly relaxed and gave a bitter laugh. "All right. Today has been strange enough already."

Shendu crouched in the corner, continuing to play the part of an obedient little creature. His ears stood high, allowing him to clearly hear their conversation.

Natasha and Steve quietly discussed the battle.

"...Stark says the portal can't be closed. We need to find another way," Natasha said.

Steve replied, "I know, but the nuke..."

"It hasn't been approved yet, but it will be soon. Fury is holding them back, but he can't keep it up for long."

Shendu's heart skipped a beat.

A nuke?

He suddenly remembered the plot of the Marvel movies.

At the end of the Battle of New York, the council had indeed fired a nuclear missile at Manhattan. Iron Man had pushed it through the portal, destroying the Chitauri mothership and ending the war.

So the nuke hadn't been launched yet?

He looked at the two talking, then at Banner resting against the wall with his eyes closed. A thought suddenly surfaced.

He knew the plot. He knew what would happen next.

Could this... be used?

The thought had barely appeared before he suppressed it.

No. If he said anything now, it would only arouse suspicion. How could a "little dragon" they had just met know that humans intended to launch a nuke?

He had to keep playing dumb.

But perhaps he could do something without exposing himself.

For example, if the nuke really came, he had to make sure he was nowhere near the blast center.

Or, if Iron Man failed to push the nuke through the portal, he needed to prepare an escape route for himself.

Shendu lowered his eyes and continued licking the wound on his hind leg.

Just then, Steve suddenly turned toward him.

"Little dragon."

Shendu raised his head.

Steve looked at him with a serious expression. "If things get worse later, follow Natasha. She knows how to get out of Manhattan."

Shendu froze.

This man was arranging an escape route for him?

They had known each other for less than two hours.

He stared blankly at Steve, unsure how to react.

But Steve had already turned back and continued discussing evacuation routes with Natasha.

Shendu lowered his head and stared at his claws.

This feeling was a little unfamiliar.

In his original world, he had grown accustomed to schemes and counter-schemes, to the exchange of interests, to everyone trusting no one.

But this man...

He looked up once more at Steve's back.

Forget it.

They could talk about it later.

For now, the most important thing was staying alive.

Just then, a deep roar came from the distance, making the entire substation tremble.

Everyone stood up.

"What's going on?" Banner looked warily toward the entrance.

Steve gripped his shield. "Stay here. I'll go take a look."

He had barely reached the door when Tony Stark's voice came through the communicator, thick with harsh breathing.

"Captain, this is bad."

"A Leviathan broke into the tunnel system. It's headed your way."

"It's huge, and it's moving fast. I can't stop it."

Steve's expression changed.

A Leviathan had entered the tunnels?

That thing was three hundred meters long. If it really charged in here...

He turned to look at the others.

Natasha had already drawn her gun. Banner's skin was beginning to turn green as he gritted his teeth and desperately held himself back.

Several civilians huddled in the corner, pale-faced.

And the dragon stood behind Natasha, its five claws digging firmly into the ground, its eyes fixed on the tunnel entrance.

Then it made a move no one expected.

It walked up to Steve, raised a claw and pointed at itself, then at the tunnel entrance, before making a charging gesture.

Steve froze. "You want to stop it?"

Shendu nodded.

"Are you insane?"

Natasha blurted out, "That thing is three hundred meters long!"

Shendu ignored her. He stared at Steve, his eyes filled with determination.

He was indeed insane, but he knew even better that if that Leviathan truly charged in, everyone would die.

Rather than sit around and wait for death, he might as well gamble.

Since the Mouse Talisman could make him move, perhaps it could make other things move too.

For instance, the Leviathan wrecks discarded in the streets after the Chitauri had destroyed them.

Steve looked into his eyes, fell silent for a second, then nodded. "I'm going with you."

A deafening rumble came from deep within the tunnel. Dust cascaded from cracks in the ceiling, and the emergency lights began flickering at once.

Steve tightened his grip on his shield, pressed himself against the side of the tunnel entrance, and peered inside. His expression changed immediately.

He lowered his voice. "Two hundred meters away. It's accelerating."

Natasha stepped forward. "The two of you are going to stop that thing? With what?"

Shendu did not answer. His four claws dug into the ground as his eyes locked onto the darkness deep within the tunnel, where a pair of ghostly blue lights were rapidly growing larger—the Leviathan's eyes.

"Go!" Steve barked, charging into the tunnel first.

Shendu followed closely behind.

Banner's furious roar came from behind them. "You're both fucking insane!"

Before his words had even faded, Hulk's massive body crashed through the wall and charged after them.

The tunnel was extremely wide. The three humans and one dragon could walk side by side, but for the Leviathan, it was like a long, narrow straw.

Its sides continually scraped against the tunnel walls, spraying sparks in every direction along with the shriek of grinding metal.

Closer. Even closer.

The blue glow now illuminated the entire tunnel. Shendu could clearly see the savage metal fangs on the Leviathan's head, as well as the densely packed Chitauri soldiers covering its body.

The soldiers saw them too. They began leaping down from the beast's back and charging toward them.

Steve stopped. His shield flew from his hand, smashing three Chitauri soldiers to the ground before rebounding into his grasp.

"Banner, clear the grunts!"

Hulk roared and pounced forward, smashing five Chitauri soldiers into pulp with a single punch.

But the Leviathan was still charging.

Shendu took a deep breath. The Mouse Talisman pulsed within his chest.

He closed his eyes and tried to sense his surroundings. There was something—many things.

Above the streets, there were at least three Leviathan wrecks, along with more than a dozen Chitauri aircraft wrecks. Farther away, at the bottom of the Hudson River, there was even a fragment of a crashed mothership.

He chose the nearest wreck, lying in the street fifty meters above the substation.

Shendu activated the power of the talisman. Warmth surged from his chest, spreading through his veins to his limbs before bursting from his claw tips.

Shendu felt something stir, as though an invisible thread extended from his body, passed through the tunnel ceiling, and reached toward the ground above.

Then the thread snapped. Shendu jolted violently and nearly collapsed.

What was going on?

He tried again.

Warmth surged. The thread extended. Then it snapped again.

"Little dragon?"

Steve's voice came from the distance, mixed with the sounds of his shield blocking energy blasts.

Shendu had no time to think. Gritting his teeth, he forcibly activated the talisman and twisted that thread into a thick rope, pinning it tightly to the wreck.

It moved. That thing really moved, but it only moved.

Shendu could feel the Leviathan wreck rolling over in the street, and that was all.

It could not stand up, could not open its eyes, and could not even make any meaningful movement. Like a fish dragged from the water, it could only flop uselessly a few times on shore.

The Mouse Talisman was not as powerful as he had imagined.