On the ground, Barton was fleeing helplessly at full speed.
Ahead of him, Steve was tied up fighting T'Challa, Natasha was locked in combat with Scott, and Peter and Erik had gone after Sam and Bucky. Barton alone had to deal with the two flying tin cans in the sky—Tony and Rhodey.
"Rhodey, go after Steve," Tony said.
Cut off the leader and the rest would fall apart. As long as Steve was restrained, there'd be no need for everyone else to keep fighting to the death.
"OK. Perfect chance to test my new weapon."
A compartment opened on Rhodey's armor, ejecting a short baton crackling with electricity. He gripped it like a short sword and dove straight toward Steve with a brutal overhead slash.
"Looks like retirement life really doesn't suit you, Barton. Get tired of golf already?"
Tony hovered two meters above the ground, palm repulsor aimed at Barton, while Barton calmly drew his bow in response.
"You know me. Sports with clear targets are way too easy."
Barton shrugged.
"Eighteen strokes. Hole-in-one every time."
For a master marksman who never missed, golf was basically child's play.
"That honestly sounds boring." Tony shook his head. "You already know what's going on, right? Now's the time to bring him back. If he escapes, finding him again will be a pain."
Tony understood Barton well. As Natasha's longtime partner, there was no way he hadn't already heard about the fake Bucky.
"I know," Barton replied. "But how exactly are we supposed to explain that to Steve? Do you think he'll believe it?"
A wartime brother-in-arms from WWII returning from the dead—Steve was emotionally invested far too deeply. Convincing him this Bucky was fake wouldn't be easy.
"As long as we bring him back to the base, there'll be plenty of ways to prove it."
Tony didn't seem worried at all.
Even if Hydra brainwashed him, so what? With modern technology, reversing brainwashing wasn't exactly impossible.
Inside the terminal, the four combatants were fighting fiercely.
Sam and Peter had entered a bizarre contest of mobility—one relying on flight, the other on agility and overwhelming physical power.
Peter swung around the terminal using webs, weaving through the structure with incredible flexibility, while Sam continuously swooped in and out with aerial hit-and-run tactics. Neither side could gain the upper hand.
Then suddenly, Peter fired a web that stuck to Sam's wing.
With a violent yank—
Sam instantly lost balance and crashed through the glass floor below.
Peter immediately leapt down after him, firing webs repeatedly until Sam was pinned tightly to the ground.
"Just take a break for a bit," Peter said as he sat beside him.
"We're not enemies anyway. Once Mr. Stark and Captain America settle things, I'll let you go."
As an ordinary human, Sam simply didn't have the strength to break free from Spider-Man's webs without his wings.
"Sam," Peter lowered his voice, "you've been around that Bucky guy for days now. Did you notice anything strange about him?"
He deliberately spoke quietly so the fake Bucky wouldn't overhear him.
Not that it mattered much right now—the fake Bucky was currently getting beaten around and had no attention to spare.
"Strange?"
Sam thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"No. Why?"
"Karl said that Bucky is fake. The real Bucky died a long time ago. Mr. Stark came here specifically to bring him back, but Captain America's being too stubborn. They can't explain the truth to him, so things turned into this mess."
Peter didn't hide anything. The more people knew, the sooner this pointless fight could end.
"A fake Bucky? That doesn't make sense."
Sam frowned.
"He knows a ton about Steve. Even extremely private stuff. Nobody except the real Bucky should know those things."
Just like Steve, Sam had never doubted Bucky's identity.
Along the way, Bucky and Steve had talked endlessly about the past, reminiscing together. Nothing he said had seemed wrong.
"I don't know the details," Peter admitted, "but I trust Karl. He wouldn't joke about something like this."
Outside, Steve narrowly dodged Rhodey's attack.
Unable to stop his momentum in time, Rhodey slammed face-first into the ground, and the electrified baton snapped in half.
"Damn it! I knew this thing was unreliable!"
Rhodey tossed aside the broken weapon and shot back into the air. A Gatling gun unfolded from his armor and immediately unleashed suppressive fire around Steve, restricting his movements.
"Cap, catch!"
Scott suddenly ran over and handed Steve a toy truck.
Then he pulled out an enlargement disc.
"Throw it at them!"
Steve followed instructions and hurled the toy truck into the air.
The moment it left his hand, Scott threw the enlargement disc.
The tiny toy instantly expanded back to full size and came crashing down toward Rhodey and T'Challa.
"Holy shit! Scott, that's cheating!!"
Rhodey shouted as he blasted upward into the sky, while T'Challa sprinted away at top speed.
BOOM!!
The truck exploded the instant it hit the ground.
The massive explosion instantly drew everyone's attention.
Up until now, everyone had been holding back, but this blast was clearly on an entirely different level.
"Damn it! I thought it was a water truck! I just grabbed it from Pym's collection and stuffed it in my pocket!"
Scott looked horrified.
He didn't carry pockets himself, so he'd randomly taken one of Hank Pym's miniature vehicles. Who knew it would turn out to be an oil tanker?
The explosion affected Natasha and Barton as well. Even Tony got caught in the blast radius.
Boom!
Tony descended from the sky and stared blankly at the burning wreckage.
"What the hell happened?!"
He'd thought this was still just controlled skirmishing. How had things escalated into a blast this huge?
"It was Scott," Rhodey answered helplessly.
"He pulled out a toy truck and enlarged it."
Even Rhodey hadn't expected it to be an oil tanker. He'd nearly been blown straight out of the sky.
"You know what? He officially pissed me off."
Rhodey glared toward the direction Scott had run.
Meanwhile, Steve, Scott, and Barton sprinted toward the terminal to support Sam and Bucky.
But suddenly—
Bucky came flying out of the terminal and crashed hard onto the ground in front of Steve.
Steve immediately rushed over to help him up.
At the same time, Sam flew out from inside as well. Somehow, he'd managed to break free from Peter's webs.
"Get to the Quinjet!"
Steve shouted.
Everyone immediately sprinted toward the Quinjet's location.
But both Sam and Barton kept their eyes fixed on Bucky the entire time.
"There!"
Bucky spotted the Quinjet and quickly urged everyone forward.
Then suddenly—
A beam of light blasted down, cutting off their path.
"Steve, you need to surrender immediately and come back with us."
Tony and Rhodey descended from the sky once more.
At the same time, Natasha, Erik, T'Challa, and Peter quickly caught up as well.
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