Chapter 302: The Depth of Hell's Kitchen
"What in the world is THAT... magic?!"
"Holy hell, did somebody spike my drink?! There's no way I'm seeing this right!"
"Wait, that portal thing looks familiar — isn't that the same power the Lord of Hell's Kitchen used before?"
"How many people just walked out of that thing? Is this Hell's Kitchen's entire army showing up at once?!"
"This is INSANE... put every superhero on Earth together and it still wouldn't add up to whatever Hell's Kitchen's got!"
"We might actually be saved! Right?! Ethan's gonna pull this off, I know it!"
The instant Ethan tore open a whole series of portals, everyone watching worldwide felt their brains short-circuit all over again.
People suddenly found themselves questioning everything they thought they knew about the world they'd been born and raised in — a world that suddenly felt like a total stranger's.
That unfamiliarity gnawed at them, maddening in its scale.
Since when did Hell's Kitchen have THIS many superheroes?!
Since when did the world have this many superheroes, period?!
Had everyone just been left in the dark this whole time?
Were superheroes just... mass-produced now?
The portals kept spilling out figures like some endless, mysterious wellspring — heroes standing weightless in midair, others perched on flying gear, every gesture radiating raw power and gravity.
Mutants. Tech-based fighters. All of it, pouring out at once.
Watching his own people charge the enemy like animals freed from a cage, Ethan felt a rueful sort of exasperation settle over him.
He waved, trying to get someone's attention — anyone's — but they all sailed past him without so much as a glance, breezing right past him and his three opponents alike, as if by unspoken agreement.
"Hey. HEY. You people are just going to walk right past me? Not even a nod? I'm the one who teleported you all here, you know — this is genuinely embarrassing for me." Ethan shook his head with a bitter laugh, watching Caine soar past on a wave of gravity manipulation without so much as glancing his way.
Caine not noticing him, Ethan could chalk up to the man being blind — though technically, Caine also had Observation Haki, a detail Ethan chose to conveniently forget about right now.
But John Wick? What was HIS excuse? Glancing over, then just turning and walking off? I'm your BOSS, man. A little help acknowledging me would be nice. Keep this up and I'm docking your pay.
Ethan watched, hopeful, as Tobey-Peter came swinging toward him on a strand of webbing.
Sure, Tobey-Peter didn't stand a chance against any of the three opponents currently facing Ethan — but honestly, at this point, Ethan would've settled for just a little acknowledgment.
Instead, Tobey-Peter and Harry sailed straight past him in perfect, practiced unison, not even a hello. Seriously? I'm your Master! Is this really how you treat your own teacher?!
Making it worse, Ethan caught the tail end of Harry and Peter's conversation as they passed.
"Wanna bet on who racks up more kills tonight? Loser owes the winner 100 Friend Points?"
"Cover for me here!" Uncle Fisk called out, tossing his coat to Bullseye behind him, already turning himself into solid diamond and charging straight into the Chitauri ranks.
Ethan had summoned this many people partly because it looked cool, sure — but mostly because he genuinely didn't want to fight these three alone.
And every single one of them had just breezed right past him without a word. He shook his head, laughing at his own expense.
Not that Ethan was petty enough to actually let it bother him.
The three Black Order members facing him, though, were far less amused. Watching a wave of Earthlings rise up and blow right past them without so much as engaging clearly soured their mood.
Ebony Maw gave a light flick of his hand, and a massive pile of bricks tore off the ground, hurtling toward the assembled superheroes.
Proxima Midnight gathered herself and launched skyward, picking a random hero to pound on.
And Corvus Glaive swung his scythe straight at Ethan.
"Just because they don't feel like fighting you doesn't mean I'm going to let you go bother them instead. I'm your opponent here."
The moment he finished, Ethan used his magnetic power to yank a wave of surrounding steel into a barrier, intercepting Ebony Maw's magic attack outright.
In the same motion, he blurred forward with a burst of speed and drove a single punch straight into the airborne Proxima Midnight, slamming her clean into the ground.
"Such incredible power!" Proxima Midnight, sent tumbling several times underground from the impact, barely managed to steady herself. She looked up at Ethan, shock and fury warring across her face.
Meanwhile, Ebony Maw's expression darkened at seeing his own attack so easily neutralized.
He flicked his hand again, and even more debris tore itself loose from the ground, streaking toward Ethan as if guided by unseen eyes.
But Ethan seemed to have already anticipated it. With a faint smile, he swept both hands out, drawing the surrounding steel into a wall that swallowed every last chunk of flying debris.
By then, Corvus Glaive's scythe was already bearing down on him.
Again, Ethan seemed one step ahead.
A slight tilt of his body, and the blade sailed harmlessly past.
He shot out a hand, and a surge of magnetic force erupted from his palm, yanking the scythe clean out of Corvus Glaive's grip and into his own.
"I'll be taking this." Ethan gave a faint smile, then hurled the weapon off into the distance.
A thunderous BOOM followed, the scythe punching a massive crater into the ground.
Watching his weapon torn from his control, Corvus Glaive's brow furrowed.
"Magnetism. Now that's an inconvenient power," he muttered under his breath — though he didn't let it rattle him.
Corvus Glaive had survived more real combat than most, and had crossed paths with plenty of strange, exotic abilities in his time.
He drew a slow breath, extended a hand steadily, as if reaching to grip something invisible in the air.
His fingers curled gently, as though drawing in an unseen thread, coaxing the weapon back toward him.
At his gesture, the scythe carved a graceful arc through the sky and shot straight back into his waiting hand with a sharp whoosh.
Proxima Midnight and Ebony Maw flanked Corvus Glaive on either side, all three fixing Ethan with the same locked stare.
Together, their combined presence formed a crushing, invisible weight — palpable even from a considerable distance.
"Man, those three are terrifying," Tobey-Peter murmured quietly, even from this far away feeling the pressure radiating off the three Black Order members. He couldn't even imagine what it would feel like standing where Ethan stood — probably hard just to breathe, let alone fight.
"We just need to do our own part. Leave the rest to Mr. Cross," Green Goblin said, offering some reassurance.
Watching the three of them, Ethan felt a genuine headache coming on. He'd already tested his magnetism against Corvus Glaive's weapon a moment ago, and this time, it hadn't worked — the scythe had come straight back regardless.
Which meant Corvus Glaive, weapon in hand, was effectively unkillable.
A mage, a warrior, and a tank. Not a bad little party comp, honestly. All they're missing is a healer, and this would basically be a boss fight where I'm the raid target, Ethan groused internally, even as he drew out his own weapon — the Sword of Victory — ready to actually fight this one properly.
Just then, a Dimensional Gate flickered open to Ethan's right.
"Three against one? Bit unfair, don't you think?" Tsukasa stepped out of the portal, with Kaito right behind him, giving Ethan a casual wave — we're here now.
"Two more fools looking to die?" Ebony Maw said, glancing at the new arrivals with a frown. As far as he was concerned, more bodies just meant more corpses.
He'd learn to regret that arrogance soon enough.
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