"You see," the Skrull said, his white eyes glowing like two lamps in the firelight.
"I can adapt infinitely. Every attack you make will make me stronger, more complete, closer to perfection.
"You are not defeating me. You are helping me evolve."
Tony stood about twenty meters in front of the Skrull, with more than a dozen scratches across the armor's surface.
The light of the arc reactor in his chest was dimmer than usual. That full-power impact just now had consumed a great deal of energy.
Steve stood ten meters to his left, his shield covered in dust and Skrull blood.
The bruise on his right shoulder had already swelled, forming an obvious bulge beneath his combat suit.
Natasha emerged from the factory, her left arm hanging at her side and an energy pistol in her right hand. Dust and blood clung to her red hair.
She walked to Tony's right. The three of them formed a triangle as they faced the monster growing its sixth arm.
"What about the twelve agents? Why haven't they moved yet?" Tony asked through the comm, slightly out of breath.
There was no response from the comm.
Tony frowned.
"Natasha? Steve?"
He glanced at the comm interface. The signal was normal, and the connection was normal, but there was no response at all.
It was not a communications failure. No one was speaking.
He raised his head and looked around the factory.
The twelve S.H.I.E.L.D. agents should have established a perimeter outside, but right now, they were not there.
They had not scattered or hidden. They were simply gone.
There was not a single figure within Tony's field of vision. No footsteps, no breathing, no sign of life.
"JARVIS, scan the surrounding area."
"Scanning." JARVIS paused for 0.3 seconds.
"Sir, twelve human-sized life