Three months of training had changed Arun in ways his gaming achievements never could. His body, while not superhero-level, had shed its softness. His mind, already sharp from years of gaming, now processed combat data with increasing speed. But nothing could have prepared him for this moment.
"We've got incoming," Natasha announced, bursting into the training room where Arun was running simulations. "Remember those temporal anomalies? One just opened two kilometers from the compound."
Arun's heart rate spiked. "Similar to how I arrived?"
"Bigger." She tossed him a tactical vest and earpiece. "Whatever's coming through, it's not human-sized."
This is it, Arun thought. The tutorial is over.
They reached the deployment area just as Steve Rogers – Captain America himself – was preparing a response team. Arun had seen him around the compound but had never directly interacted with him, Natasha keeping his training isolated.
"Romanoff," Steve nodded, then looked at Arun with mild concern. "He's not ready for field deployment."
"He sees patterns we don't," Natasha countered. "And with most of the team scattered, we need every advantage."
Steve's reply was cut off by an earth-shaking roar. Through the compound's windows, they saw it – a creature stepping through a massive quantum rift. It looked like someone had merged a Chitauri with advanced technology, creating a bio-mechanical monstrosity three stories tall.
"That's... not in any game I've played," Arun muttered, his mouth dry.
"Focus," Natasha commanded. "What do you see?"
Arun's gaming mind kicked in automatically, analyzing the creature like a raid boss. "Hybrid design. Chitauri base form but enhanced with... is that Kree technology? The energy signatures match those blue crystals from the archives you showed me."
"Can you find a weakness?" Steve asked, his skepticism giving way to tactical necessity.
"In games, hybrid bosses usually inherit weaknesses from both source types. The Chitauri we know are vulnerable at their neural links, and Kree tech..." Arun's eyes widened. "The power distribution isn't stable. Look at the energy pulses – they're not synchronized."
The creature charged, its steps leaving small quantum rifts in their wake. Steve coordinated the SHIELD response team while Natasha and Arun moved to flank it.
"Remember your training," Natasha said as they ran. "But trust your instincts."
"In games, I'd be checking the boss's attack patterns before engaging," Arun replied, surprised by his own calm. "We need to see its move set."
As if on cue, the creature demonstrated its abilities – energy blasts from modified Chitauri weapons, short-range teleportation through mini-rifts, and devastating physical strikes. Each attack left traces of quantum energy.
"It's not just using the rifts for travel," Arun observed, dodging debris. "They're part of its attack cooldown cycle. Between major attacks, it needs to vent quantum energy or—"
"The system overloads," Natasha finished. "Steve, we need to force it to use its heavy attacks in quick succession!"
What followed was like the most intense raid battle of Arun's life, except the damage was real and there were no respawn points. Steve's team provided covering fire while Natasha maneuvered the creature into position. Arun, using his pattern recognition, called out attack sequences before they happened.
"Teleport strike coming!" he shouted. "Three o'clock, then immediate energy blast at the previous position!"
His warning saved two SHIELD agents, but the constant quantum rifts were destabilizing the area. Reality itself seemed to be glitching around them.
"We need to end this now," Steve commanded. "What's your suggestion, son?"
The gaming reference came automatically: "In Mythic raids, when a boss has an unstable power source, you don't have to deplete its whole health bar. You just have to trigger a cascade failure."
"In English?"
"Make it burn out its own power system." Arun pointed to the creature's neural links. "Those crystals are barely containing the quantum energy. One overload..."
Steve nodded. "Natasha?"
"On it." She fired her Widow's Bites at the creature's legs, forcing it to teleport. The moment it reappeared, Steve's shield struck its secondary neural cluster.
Arun spotted the opening – a power junction exposed during its recovery animation. Without thinking, he grabbed a fallen Chitauri weapon, aimed at the weak point, and fired.
The creature's power system went critical. Quantum energy erupted from its body as it tried to teleport repeatedly, each attempt more unstable than the last. In a flash of blinding light, it collapsed in on itself, leaving behind only scattered technology and a rapidly closing rift.
Silence fell over the battlefield. Arun stood there, weapon still raised, adrenaline coursing through his system.
"Nice call," Steve said, retrieving his shield. "Where did you learn to spot weaknesses like that?"
"World of Warcraft mythic progression," Arun replied automatically, then blushed. "I mean..."
To his surprise, Steve chuckled. "Whatever works. But this isn't over. That thing was engineered – someone's combining Chitauri and Kree tech with quantum physics. Question is: why?"
Natasha was already examining the remains. "These components... they're not just from different species. They're from different time periods."
Arun felt a chill that had nothing to do with the quantum residue in the air. "Someone's farming resources from across time and space. Like... gathering materials for a major craft."
"Except this craft could unravel reality itself," Natasha added grimly.
As clean-up crews secured the area, Arun looked at the weapon in his hands – his first real combat victory. No achievements popped up, no loot dropped, but he felt something better: genuine pride.
"You did good," Natasha said quietly. "But this was just the first wave. You ready to level up?"
Arun nodded, his mind already analyzing the battle data, strategizing improvements. "Time to start the expansion content."
To be continued...