Power Cycle +1
Right after Max, the next to arrive, traveling via mechanical arms and second only to Electro Max Dillon in speed, was Doctor Octopus.
And the moment Doctor Octopus made his move, four mechanical arms attacked Ryan simultaneously from four different directions—up, down, left, and right—ensuring Ryan would be unable to cover at least two flanks.
Faced with such a tricky assault, how could Ryan's two fists possibly handle Octopus's four hands?
The answer is... fight fire with fire!
Ryan crossed his arms, not even bothering to strike personally, and simply halted the mechanical arms mid-air.
From behind Ryan, four silvery-grey tentacles extended, catching each of Doctor Octopus's four attacking mechanical arms!
Moreover, the strength of Ryan's Symbiote tentacles was far beyond the mere dozens of tons of force from Doctor Octopus's mechanical arms. They effortlessly lifted the entire Doctor Octopus into the air and forcibly brought him before Ryan.
Ryan looked at the terrified Doctor Octopus before him and said impassively, "Tell me, you installed a backdoor in the Tesseract device. The way to shut it down is using Loki's scepter, correct?"
Doctor Octopus opened his mouth, about to speak, when a *whoosh* was heard—a sharp arrow suddenly flew towards his head, aiming to silence him.
But before the glowing red arrowhead could touch Doctor Octopus, Ryan casually caught it, gripping the arrowhead in his palm.
With a *thump*, faint sparks and black smoke rose from Ryan's hand. He opened his palm, which was completely unharmed, with only some arrowhead fragments falling from it.
"Explosive arrow? Such primitive high-tech..."
Ryan said disdainfully, then flung a slender Symbiote blade back towards the ambushing Hawkeye.
Even with Hawkeye's keen eyesight, his physical reaction speed was still at a normal human level. He barely caught a glimpse of a silvery-grey blur before he was pinned to the wall by the blade, with no time to dodge!
Just after dealing with Hawkeye, Ryan felt a gust of wind from behind, followed by the sensation of a soft figure clinging to his back, locking his neck tightly with her legs while repeatedly elbowing the top of his skull!
Listening to the *thump-thump* sounds from above his head and the slight *crack* of fracturing bone, Ryan remained completely unharmed. However, he figured that by the time Natasha regained consciousness, the bones in her hand would probably be mostly broken.
But it didn't matter; he had plenty of regeneration serum. One injection would have Natasha fully recovered in no time, ensuring she wouldn't get any paid time off.
Although Natasha's elbow strikes only injured herself and caused Ryan not even a hint of harm, as the boss, he couldn't just let an employee keep riding roughshod over him.
So, Ryan turned his head, preparing to give Natasha a physical reboot as well.
However, with Natasha straddling his neck, his turn nearly resulted in an awkward encounter!
Ryan wasn't into that sort of thing, so without any chivalry, he reached up, grabbed Natasha by her red hair, and forcibly peeled her off his neck.
What so-called inescapable armbar? It's just a matter of insufficient strength!
After peeling her off, Ryan didn't waste words. With a backhanded slap to Natasha's face, he sent her flying and knocked her unconscious.
After dealing with the minions, Ryan turned his gaze back to Doctor Octopus, still held aloft by the Symbiote tentacles. "Let's continue our conversation. Tell me, what's the backdoor to close the space portal?"
Doctor Octopus stammered, "What backdoor? I didn't install any backdoor. The device opening the space portal is protected by the Tesseract's power. Unless you have an item with energy equivalent to the Tesseract, you can't forcibly shut it down. There's no other way!"
Sensing Doctor Octopus's genuine emotions, Ryan frowned.
Is this idiot incapable of understanding human speech? Having a method to shut it down *is* the backdoor, isn't it?
"Fine, then where's Loki?"
Doctor Octopus obediently pointed towards the massive space portal in the sky. "Inside the space portal. He said you'd definitely come, so he left us here to ambush you while he went to command the Chitauri army."
Hearing this, Ryan flicked the now-useless Doctor Octopus away with a finger-flick to the forehead, his frown deepening.
Another unexpected change.
In the original Avengers 1, Loki never entered the space portal; he stayed in the New York battlefield the whole time.
It seems I really scared Loki last time, to the point he doesn't even have the courage to stay on Earth.
And this portal device can only be forcibly closed by an item of equivalent energy level—doesn't that mean you need one of the other five Infinity Stones to shut it down?
On Earth right now, apart from the Space Stone, only the Mind Stone and the Time Stone are items of equivalent level.
The Time Stone is with that old geezer, the Ancient One. Honestly, as a transmigrator, Ryan really didn't want to go looking for this head of the Marvel New Student Office.
If possible, he'd rather never see the Ancient One in his lifetime.
And even if he went looking, the Ancient One might not be willing to lend him the Time Stone.
So, the only option left was the Mind Scepter in Loki's hand, embedded with the Mind Stone.
Just as Ryan was considering whether to enter the space portal right then and drag Loki out, there was movement in the sky.
Accompanied by a roar, a massive, whale-shaped behemoth swam out of the space portal!
Yes, swimming through the air!
Seeing this, Ryan narrowed his eyes. This was... the Chitauri's biological warship, the Leviathan!
Although the Leviathan looked intimidating, Ryan didn't pay it much mind. His attention was actually on the figure standing atop the Leviathan's head.
That figure with the tall, upward-curving golden antlers—wasn't that Loki?
At this moment, Loki stood atop the Leviathan, with an endless tide of Chitauri soldiers pouring out of the portal behind him. He couldn't have looked more triumphant. Pointing his Mind Scepter down at Ryan on Parker Tower, he arrogantly declared:
"Worm of Midgard, do you like the surprise I prepared for you?"
"Those few earlier were just appetizers I sent your way. Now, my army is the main course!"
"This time, I haven't brought the foolish, primitive Frost Giants. This Chitauri army can all fly! You're just a worm that can only run on the ground. No matter how strong you are, how many can you chase? Hahahaha!"
Watching Loki, who thought himself untouchable in the sky and was getting carried away with arrogance, Ryan sneered and suddenly reached out into the empty air beside him.
Seeing Ryan's familiar gesture, Loki's heart suddenly sank!
Oh no, this familiar feeling... could it be...? When two enormous battle-axes came hurtling through the air from the distance and landed in Ryan's hands, Loki's unease turned into outright terror. He frantically slapped the Leviathan beneath his feet, shouting, "Oh no no no, turn around, turn us around now!"
But clearly, it was too late to run now!
Violent purple lightning erupted from Ryan and the axes. Like the God of Thunder descending, he transformed into a bolt of lightning streaking straight up into the sky towards the Leviathan behemoth!
Surprised, huh? Your grandpa can fly!!!