Tony hovered above the chaos, his voice crisp.
"Jarvis, activate the energy conversion system. I'm tapping into the Ten Rings."
This wasn't just any armor—it was the new Fungus God Armor. Tony had spent the past month while Malrick was away upgrading everything. With a neural chip embedded in his neck, Jarvis could now directly assist him in manipulating the energy running through his body.
But with the Ten Rings embedded, it had evolved—Mark 8. The external energy source was replaced by the regenerative properties of the Ten Rings, powering the rapid expansion of fungal materials into a colossal exo-frame.
"Understood, sir. Energy channels are fully open," Jarvis responded, voice piping straight into Tony's nervous system.
"Great. Let's give our green friend a lesson in modern physics."
As the Ten Rings began to glow orange around Tony's wrist, they detached one by one, swirling around him. Blue energy surged through the air, their manifestation reflecting Tony's intellect—blue was the color of his calculated brilliance.
The rings locked into place across the expanding armor's major joints. In seconds, Tony towered over the battlefield at more than ten meters tall.
Now he was the giant.
And Hulk looked like the little guy.
"You were shouting a bit too loud earlier," Tony muttered, as the armor's right hand reached down and grabbed Hulk mid-charge.
Despite struggling violently, Hulk couldn't break free from the armored grip.
"You're still roaring?" Tony said dryly. He extended the armor's left hand, its thick index finger tapping Hulk on the forehead—once, then again.
"Roar!" Hulk bellowed.
"Still roaring?" Tony smirked, tapping harder each time, the finger now striking with the weight of a freight train.
"Roaring again? Let's fix that."
Each tap was heavier, pushing Hulk's head back. Tony wasn't trying to hurt him—he was trying to teach him a lesson. But the result was quite the opposite.
Hulk's eyes grew redder. His growl became shrill. His rage intensified.
A minute later, Hulk's muscles swelled grotesquely. With a bone-rattling roar, he broke free of the giant armor's grasp.
Tony's eyes widened. "That's… not supposed to happen."
The armor's massive fingers tried to clamp shut again, but Hulk had already leapt clear. He wrapped both arms around the armor's ankle, dug in, and—with a howl of fury—lifted the Iron Titan clean off the ground.
With a violent twist, Hulk slammed the giant down into the buildings lining the street.
The entire neighborhood trembled. Tony crashed into a shopping mall, debris flying everywhere. Thankfully, most of the civilians had been evacuated minutes ago by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s extraction teams.
Yelena groaned, rubbing her forehead. "I knew our boss's brother was a liability. Without him, the green guy would've been out cold by now."
Natasha nodded, scanning the destruction. "That thing's stronger than ever. We need to clear the streets. Stark will have to handle this alone."
The Men in Black worked swiftly, hauling civilians—sometimes even entire cars—out of the blast radius as fast as possible.
Back in the fray, the real fight had begun.
Tony erupted from the rubble, launching a massive punch at Hulk from above. Hulk met it with his own.
The resulting shockwave shattered every window in the surrounding buildings. Glass rained like crystal daggers through the midday sun, reflecting the monstrous silhouettes clashing in the street.
Tony had the upper hand at first, slamming Hulk into the pavement, pounding away like a mechanical titan.
But Hulk adapted quickly.
He grew faster, stronger—more feral. One moment Tony was swinging Hulk like a ragdoll, the next, Hulk had dragged him down, climbed on top of the armor's faceplate, and was hammering down with furious fists.
Every punch shook the city.
Their brawl leveled half a block. Fighter jets screamed overhead, but they didn't dare intervene. They just recorded, circling from a safe distance.
Eventually, Hulk gained the advantage.
He lifted the entire Iron Titan armor, spun it overhead, and hurled it into a row of buildings.
Dust clouded the streets. The shattered frame of Tony's armor groaned under its own weight.
Hulk, triumphant, beat his chest and roared skyward.
For the first time in a long while, he had won a fight —brutal, close-quarters, primal. He grinned wide.
But the moment didn't last.
"…Mordo, call me when you're ready."
A voice spoke behind him.
Hulk turned sharply—and instinctively threw a punch.
Malrick looked down at Banner, now unconscious and slumped beside him, breathing peacefully.
"So if I hadn't come back when I did, you were planning on letting this all escalate?" he asked, glancing sideways at Tony.
Natasha had already briefed him on what happened. If Tony had told the story himself, it would've been a very different tale—something about heroism and last-minute saves.
Tony scoffed. "You kidding me? I hadn't even tapped into the Ten Rings' full capacity yet. The armor had plenty more juice."
He crossed his arms, defensive. "If you'd shown up ten minutes later, you'd have seen me stomping that big guy into the pavement."
Malrick raised an eyebrow. "Right. Of course."
"Seriously," Tony said, tapping the arc reactor on his chest.
In a flash, energy surged back into the Ten Rings. The massive armor began to flake, turning chalk white, then shattering into dust as the materials calcified and fell apart.
Tony landed cleanly as the Ten Rings snapped back into place on his arm.
"Still looks like you got tossed into a department store," Malrick muttered.
"Fine. Maybe it didn't go exactly according to plan," Tony admitted. "But hey, I'm not footing the repair bill alone, right?"
Malrick gestured to the ruined street. "These buildings? This is going to cost tens of millions of dollars in damage."
Malrick clapped him on the back. "Next time you want to test a new suit, maybe don't do it in a shopping district. Otherwise, you superheroes are just flashy supervillains."
His eyes caught something across the street.
"Wait, is that… Coulson?"
Sure enough, Agent Coulson was at the edge of the perimeter, coordinating with military personnel.
Tony followed his gaze. "Yeah, I brought him back. Fury's best agents were reinstated after the restructuring. Coulson's solid—sharp guy, good heart."
Malrick chuckled. "You complimenting someone? That's new."
Tony groaned. "What do you think I am, some warlock brooding in a basement, whispering curses?"
"Honestly?" Malrick grinned. "Pretty close."
"Oh please. You're the warlock now. I just saw it—you opened a golden doorway like some dramatic wizard. What was that, a portal to hell?"
"Technically, yeah. Yours, if you keep acting ."
The two bantered like they always did, the tension between them dissolving into familiar sarcasm.
Just then, from the edge of the crowd, a woman pushed through the onlookers and sprinted toward them.
Tears streaked her cheeks as she called out.
She dropped to her knees beside Banner.
100 = 1 Bonus Chapter
200 = 3 Bonus Chapters