"Thanos? What kind of name is that? How did Li Yue come up with such a name!"
Hearing Li Yue announce his name with such authority, Tony and the others couldn't help but criticise inwardly. At this moment, none of them had ever heard this name before. They were also unaware that in another universe's future, this very name, Thanos, the purple titan, would bring them immense suffering.
"This ignorant bumpkin! How dare he call himself Thanos! Isn't he afraid the real Thanos will come after him?"
However, Loki, still bound and lying on the ground nearby, was very familiar with the name Thanos—as the orchestrator behind his arrival on Earth was none other than Thanos himself.
Loki also harboured intentions of using him, but he recognised and respected his position as a cosmic overlord.
Now, hearing someone audaciously impersonating that cosmic overlord made Loki laugh inside.
...
"Thanos, what exactly do you want on Earth? Why attack us and steal the Tesseract?"
At this moment, Captain America, as if too deeply immersed in his role, treated the situation as accurate, facing not his friend Li Yue but a cosmic tyrant.
"Steal? No, no, no, I merely took what was never yours! The Tesseract has never belonged to Earth, nor humanity, and certainly not to any of you!"
"The power of the Tesseract is beyond your imagination, and you humans are not worthy to wield such power! Only I, Thanos, have the right to possess and use it!"
Seeing Captain America's acting so intense, Li Yue couldn't let himself be outdone. He gazed passionately at the Tesseract in his hand as if mesmerised by its azure glow and disdainfully addressed the Captain and his companions.
"Damn, even though I know he's acting and it's all fake, why do I still feel like beating him up?"
Li Yue was also entirely in character; his dismissive attitude towards others reflected his immersion in his role.
Even those who knew Li Yue was acting felt an irresistible urge to teach him a lesson for his arrogance.
"Then let us show you who doesn't deserve to have it!"
Perhaps somewhat angered, Tony suited up in his armour and launched several specialised mini-missiles at Li Yue, bombarding his position.
Then, without stopping, Tony propelled himself forward with intense flames under his feet, charging straight at Li Yue and aiming a punch at his face. Tony went all out from the start, though he still held back somewhat, choosing not to use powerful thermal weapons immediately, instead wanting to engage Li Yue in close combat.
Of course, Tony knew they were just acting, but that was precisely why he went all out. Even if they all attacked Li Yue thoroughly, they likely wouldn't cause him much trouble.
However, Tony wouldn't admit that he had been genuinely irked by Li Yue's words, prompting him to retaliate so forcefully.
...
"Damn, Tony, you want to treat me like Thanos!"
Watching Tony approach with a combination of moves similar to the battle against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Li Yue was momentarily speechless.
But Li Yue wasn't Thanos and wasn't about to be bewildered by Tony's attacks. He lightly waved the tri-bladed staff in his hand, precisely deflecting the incoming missiles.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
The missiles exploded in the distance, creating a cloud of smoke and a heat wave.
As Tony rushed forward, delivering a powerful punch, it must be said that his timing was impeccable. Usually, even if someone could defend against the missiles, reacting to Tony's immediate follow-up attack would be almost impossible.
Even Thanos himself had been caught off guard by such a combo from Tony, leading to Tony drawing first blood.
...
"Hmph!"
Seeing Tony charge at him, Li Yue was ready to commit fully to his villain role, snorting coldly before plunging his tri-bladed staff into the ground.
Freeing his right hand, Li Yue also clenched his fist and met Tony's charge with a straightforward punch. In contrast to Tony's full-force attack, Li Yue's was merely a casual strike, his feet not even shifting to gather strength.
Bang!
But just this gentle punch was enough to send the armoured Tony flying back. In contrast, Li Yue, who took Tony's full-powered strike in his armour, didn't sway.
"Everyone, together now!"
As Tony flew back, he somersaulted in the air and clumsily stabilised himself before calling out to the others, who were still dazedly watching.
"Isn't it much to gang up on Li Yue like this?"
Although they thought this, their bodies honestly rushed towards Li Yue. Opportunities to attack Li Yue like this were rare, so they felt it necessary to take advantage and thoroughly press him. After all, it was just acting, and although Li Yue was powerful, he had to remember to pull his punches to avoid hurting anyone.
However, Tony and the others didn't need to hold back; they could use their full strength against Li Yue.
For this reason, a somewhat absurd scene unfolded: Tony and the others charged at Li Yue but were almost all sent flying back by his punches and kicks. Only Thor, with his greater strength, could exchange a few blows with Li Yue before only Thor, wielding Stormbreaker, remained.
With Stormbreaker in hand, Thor battled Li Yue amidst a storm of lightning that filled the area around them with dazzling electric displays. Li Yue seemed almost immune to Thor's lightning, but the others couldn't handle it.
So, as Thor and Li Yue fought, the others couldn't get close and had to resort to long-range attacks.
Even the energy beams Tony fired hit Li Yue directly without causing damage.
...
"Damn, this Thanos guy's skin is too thick! We can't even scratch him!"
Tony kept firing energy beams, harassing Li Yue as he fought with Thor, and couldn't help but exclaim. He did this partly because he noticed Natasha and Barton watching from the sidelines, showing that they were all out attacking, only to end up this way. After all, the opponent was too strong.
Bang!
However, at that moment, Thor, engaged in battle with Li Yue, failed to dodge in time and was struck in the chest by one of Li Yue's punches, sending him flying into a wall, which crumbled from the impact.
Thor, challenging as he was, didn't immediately get up from the hit, which seemed a bit too hard, leaving everyone wondering if he was hurt or just acting. The silver lightning swirling around him slowly dissipated as if he had been reset to his base state.
"Thor!" the group cried out in shock.
"Now it's our turn!"
Captain America's body blazed with intense heat, keeping others at a distance.
He gripped his shield and was the first to rush at Li Yue, with others following closely behind. Their charge was impressively spirited.
"What... what should I do? Should I transform?"
Only Banner stood hesitating, unsure of what to do.
...
As Captain America rapidly approached Li Yue, he subtly shook his shield and flickered his eyes at Li Yue as if to say, "Come on, hit here."
Li Yue caught the cue, ignoring the intense heat radiating from Captain America's body, and punched directly at the shield's centre.
Bang!
A thunderous noise erupted as the fist met the shield, triggering a massive sonic boom.
An invisible force swept outwards, visibly scattering everything around them.
Captain America was also blown back, crashing into a wall like Thor and lying on the ground, his condition unknown. His vibranium shield rolled away, landing upside down on the ground.