infinite hero

buzzing voices...

Blurred patches of color...

Spinning fast...

When Sid woke up, he felt dizzy.If I had to describe it, it would be like being swept to the back of the head with a baseball bat and then stabbed with thousands of needles.

Then he found himself lying face up on the wet, cold stone, surrounded by darkness.He tried to move his hands and feet, and found that they were still there; although he was numb, he was still conscious.He fumbled to sit up, and heard the muffled sound of water coming from his ear...

Is he still in the cave?

Sid reached for his pocket reflexively.The phone was still inside, so he quickly took it out.Two batteries left, of course... no signal.

But at least he had a light source.Turning on the flashlight that came with his phone, he took pictures around him.Then he found to his astonishment that he was standing on the edge of a big, gurgling river, whose surface was as far as the eye could see.He was standing not far from the river, and he could see the stones at the bottom of the clear water.There is a black mass at the foot...

Um, right?Seems like a person?

Sid carefully tiptoed the man over, and then he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.It was Williams, who looked harmless other than a head bump.

After half an hour.

Sid had already dealt with Williams' wound briefly.In his opinion, it was almost certain to be the result of blunt object knocking.There are some freshly broken stalactites scattered around the side, which should be the culprit.And he walked along the river bank in both directions, and found that one direction was completely blocked by falling rubble.

They suffered a landslide, true or false?

Sid thought he was going to be confused.Because there is no landslide in his memory at all, only the green light that seems to take people from one world to another.Maybe green light is not the right description, because there is clearly a hungry soul underneath it.

But there is nothing abnormal around now.They all disappeared, disappeared without a trace, as if everything before was his own imagination.But he can be sure that the green light and the Aztec ruins behind him are not his hallucinations, because there are still scratches on his clothes from the branches.

There was probably only one conclusion to be sure, Sid thought, and that was that the river was real.Williams may have been deluded, but the river is here.It was a risk, but it proved to be worth the price of admission.

The only problem is - the blow that knocked him out didn't leave any marks on his body at all!Not to mention swelling and pain, not even a hair is missing!

... WTF? !

Sid couldn't figure it out, but this is obviously not a good time to get to the bottom of it.He has checked the locator on Williams, and after checking, he is sure that they are now 1000 meters underground in the previous cave, and there are no artificial traces around them.But he hasn't felt suffocation so far, which means that the air is circulating and there must be an exit.

In this case, let's go!

Sid calmly began to look for a way out, and Tony was going crazy outside.

"Who can give me an explanation?" He almost slapped the table to say these words. "A broken hammer from nowhere, made of no matter what, and no one can pick it up?"

"It fell from the sky," Coulson replied.He carefully glanced at Fury who had a headache, "This should be certain."

Fury, who had just flown in from Washington, D.C., felt that he couldn't make any sense to the furious Tony, just like Tony knew that it was useless to lose his temper with them but still lost his temper. "As I said before, S.H.I.E.L.D. is not a fire brigade, and we are not responsible for earthquake rescue..."

"Then why are you responsible for this hammer?" Tony confronted, "Isn't the landslide the result of this thing?"

"...Okay." Fury found that if he didn't nod, Iron Man would probably be able to demolish the research base that S.H.I.E.L.D. had just built near the hammer. "I'll send agents who are good at this to assist in the rescue, so it's okay for the head office?"

Tony glared at Fury, then couldn't help but took two anxious steps.Why didn't he study excavators before?At least it's faster now!If he had his own way, why would he force Fury to help?

Fury made an intercom call and turned to see Tony with his back to him. "I'm surprised you care so much about your brother."

The gold and red steel battle armor seemed to stiffen a bit. "You think too much," Tony said in a cold voice, "I'm just worried that no one will clean up the mess for me."

Fury raised an eyebrow.This is really ugly to say, but from another perspective... "It turns out that you are more self-aware than I thought."

Tony snorted impatiently.He has always been self-aware, but most people can only see his appearance. "It's been more than three hours... When will it be cleaned up?"

"I don't know." Fury spread his hands. "You also know that the topography of the cave is complicated, and no one knows what's going on inside." He looked at his watch and said, "I've sent some electronic detectors into the crack."

Tony snorted again loudly.He's already done this before, so there's no need for Fury to say it?But then again, the more scouts you send out, the more likely you are to spot Sid's whereabouts.

What kind of caves are you running to see?Tony 1 and one curse.If Sid comes back alive this time, he'll...he'll...

This wait is unusually long.The small electronic scout that can drill through various cracks and can be used as a jack at critical moments is much more efficient than manual labor, and soon there are news one after another.

In the fourth hour, the first survivor was found;

At four hours and seventeen minutes, the second survivor was found;

At the fourth hour and 45 minutes, the third survivor... Oh, no, this is an old man. He was seriously injured in the landslide. He was sent to the nearest hospital for first aid just after he was dug out. He has not yet passed the critical period.

As more and more people were found, Tony's heart became more and more panicked.Because everyone knows that the longer the delay, the slimmer the chances of survival.And by the seventh hour, everyone was found, except Sid and Williams...

"I think they probably went a long way." Fury analyzed objectively.But even he is afraid to face Tony now - because the latter looks like a red-eyed lion now.

Tony said nothing.He pushed the top of the mask, smashed through the glass and flew out in an instant.

"Sir..." Coulson, who heard the sound and pushed the door in, was stunned at the debris on the ground. "Shall I get someone to clean up here?"

Fury frowned at the large gap. "Let them send some people to find Sid Stark first." He turned his head suddenly, and the black leather trench coat was swayed, "I don't want to deal with a crazy Iron Man!"

What Fury thought might drive Tony crazy—Sid—was dragging Williams along the seemingly endless, ever-forking beach.

At the beginning, he still recognized the direction, thinking that he was in the hidden upper reaches of the Bland River; then, facing more and more forks, he felt that the reason why everyone did not discover the underground river was that it diverted to Red River. River, Arkansas River, etc., it was not so noticeable; but in the end, he was getting more and more tired, and he just walked in the direction of his subconscious——

Yes, subconsciously.Because Sid always feels that there are many voices in the dark telling him that this is the right way to go; after turning another corner, there will be a new group of voices telling him that this is not the right place, the third fork that's right...

This feeling has actually surpassed the subconscious, and it is almost insane.At least that's what Sid thought; wasn't he crazy to think he could hear stones and water talking to him?

He also did not do what he said.But it turned out that those voices were telling the truth; even, when he went astray, whether it was water waves or stones, they would gently move, pushing Sid to the right path.

Tired and hungry as Sid was, he couldn't help feeling that the whole thing was hell.He always felt that a certain part of himself was abnormal, or there was something wrong with his perception; otherwise, how could such a thing happen under normal circumstances?Even if he was so tired that he had hallucinations, wouldn't the hallucinations be too outrageous?

So Sid nearly fell to his knees when he could barely feel his feet and finally saw a little water in front of him.Because he found that the exit was a curved underwater channel; when the water level fell, it was probably possible to get in and out by boat, but when it was high, there was no way.And now letting him swim out with people... is definitely impossible.

"Jump down, we'll take you out." Perhaps he was hallucinating from hunger, Sid heard the water saying this to him.

"But there are two of us..." he murmured.

"You'll all get out of here if you wish." The waters promised.

Sid was relieved.In fact, he can't worry about it, because he really has no strength at all.He dragged Williams down the river and was swept away by the whirlpool in an instant.

Tony hovered in midair irritably.He basically doesn't do such boring things, but there is nothing he can do now.Why hasn't there been news from Sid yet?

"Sir, there is a new infrared target within the scanning range." Jarvis's voice suddenly sounded, "It seems to be people... two people!"

Without Jarvis continuing to speak, Tony flew towards the red dot marked on the visor panel.Although it was a bit far away from the cave, he couldn't let go of any chance now!

One minute later, Tony landed on the slope that borders the Great Plains at the southern end of the Rocky Mountains.A tributary of the Rio Grande passes through this site, heading towards the Edwards Plateau.And on the bank of the river where a few messy vines were crawling, he saw a person lying half curled up there——

"Sid!" Tony sprinted over, completely forgetting that he was in armor and could fly.By the time he realized this, he had already knelt down, holding the wet man tightly in his arms.

"Tony..." Sid coughed weakly twice. "You're pushing too hard..." And the armor is too hard and too cold.But he couldn't say the next thing: relaxation and fatigue rushed over him at the same time; he lost consciousness in an instant.