After Reed Richards' departure, Dr. Banner was left with little to do, so Kurogai decided it was time for another sparring session—with the Hulk.
Once again, the two of them traveled to a desolate desert, far from civilization. Kurogai raised his hand, weaving a hallucination spell that disrupted Banner's emotions. Almost instantly, a surge of fury rippled through the scientist's mind.
Rage exploded like a detonation.
His skin flushed green, his frame expanded in mass, and his eyes burned with primitive fury. In a blink, Bruce Banner was gone—replaced by the towering beast that was the Hulk.
"Not you again!" Hulk snarled, glaring at Kurogai. "Hulk doesn't like you!"
There was no fear in his voice, only frustration. Hulk had fought this man before—and each time, he'd been overpowered. His pride hated it. His instincts hated it. And for a moment, he contemplated withdrawing into Banner again.
But Kurogai wasn't going to let that happen.
Without a word, his golden eyes flared, and the ticking sound of a clock echoed faintly through the air.
First Bullet.
In an instant, Kurogai vanished from his original position and reappeared beside the green giant. He launched a precise strike with his right fist—directly into the Hulk's jaw.
The blow sent the monster flying across the sand like a cannonball. A massive crater erupted as Hulk crashed into the earth.
"HULK HATES YOU!! HULK WILL SMASH!!"
The beast roared in rage, leaping to his feet and charging back with a thunderous bellow. It was exactly what Kurogai wanted.
The fight erupted across the vast desert, shaking the ground with each strike. Hulk's brute strength clashed against Kurogai's refined speed, magic, and technique. Every punch from the Hulk was met with an effortless sidestep or counterattack. Dust billowed skyward, sand tore through the air, and shockwaves echoed for miles.
Eventually, Kurogai came to a halt, panting lightly. Not from fatigue, but because the moment he'd been waiting for had arrived.
A familiar ripple surged through his eyes.
[The Fifth Eye Ring is saturated. You can upgrade the level of the Fifth Eye Ring. Do you wish to upgrade?]
"So soon?" Kurogai murmured to himself. "Kurumi's powers really are in a league of their own."
Kurumi's eye ring held twelve distinct powers. Compared to the earlier rings, it seemed the conditions for advancing this one were more fluid, or at least more easily met.
Not that Kurogai was complaining.
"Upgrade," he said softly.
In response, a warm sensation surged through the Fifth Eye Ring. The aura in his eyes pulsed as golden energy funneled inward. The pointer on the mental image of Kurumi's clock shifted with a subtle twitch—clicking into place on the fifth mark.
[Fifth Bullet (Hei) Unlocked: Ability to foresee the short-term future.]
The moment the power activated, Kurogai's surroundings blurred, and he was pulled into a flickering vision.
In it, he saw Tony Stark.
Stark was on the ground, crawling desperately across a bloodied floor. His face was pale, his chest bleeding. His Arc Reactor had been removed. Reaching toward the table, he struggled to grab something... before the vision snapped away.
"So… precognition," Kurogai whispered. "It's like Bismarck's Geass, but better."
Indeed, his first Eye Ring—the Geass Eye—also had short-term foresight, but that ability had significant limitations. It could only be used on others, and only by locking eyes with them.
This new ability was different.
The Fifth Bullet didn't require visual contact. It didn't need a target. It simply showed him potential future outcomes—wherever he happened to be. A far more advanced, versatile power.
And right now, it was showing him danger.
"Even with the wards I placed on Stark, the Arc Reactor was stolen?" Kurogai muttered, frowning. "I warned him… this shouldn't have happened."
The vision clearly resembled the event from the original timeline—when Obadiah Stane betrayed Stark and stole the Arc Reactor. But in this version, Stark should have been protected. Kurogai had placed a complex set of magical defenses on him.
So how?
Suddenly, Kurogai felt it—a disruption in the protective magic he'd left embedded in Stark's chest.
"…It's happening now."
He turned to the Hulk, who was charging in again with a thunderous roar.
"I have something to handle," Kurogai said plainly.
With a flick of his fingers, he cast a spell of illusion. Hulk's expression changed, but his body staggered. The spell took hold, plunging the monster into sleep. Slowly, his bulk shrank and melted away—until Bruce Banner lay unconscious in the sand.
Kurogai opened a portal and sent Banner back to Monaco. Then, without hesitation, he stepped through a separate space gate, vanishing into the rift.
A moment later, he emerged in New York.
Stark's residence was a mess. Furniture had been overturned. Tables shattered. And at the center of it all, Stark lay unconscious—collapsed on the ground.
The Arc Reactor was gone.
"Just like the original timeline," Kurogai muttered, walking over to the table. He picked up the spare Arc Reactor—the older model—and quickly installed it back into Stark's chest.
After a moment, Stark stirred, groaning in pain.
"…Kurogai? You're here," he whispered. "I thought I was dead."
"You almost were," Kurogai replied calmly. "Want to explain what happened?"
Stark winced, struggling to sit up.
"Obadiah Stane… he found someone. A man with strange circular scars on his head. He threw some kind of knife—it almost pierced my heart. If it weren't for the magic you left on me, I'd be dead."
Kurogai narrowed his eyes.
A man with circular brands on his head?
That wasn't part of the original plot.
"Obadiah Stane teamed up with someone? A guy with circular burn marks on his head and incredible precision in projectile attacks?" Kurogai's eyes narrowed with interest. "Then it's him."
He didn't need more than a moment to identify the attacker. If he was right, it had to be Bullseye—a notorious assassin with uncanny aim and lethal efficiency.
Even so, Stark had still fallen into Stane's trap. The Arc Reactor had been taken, just as in the original timeline.
"Rest," Kurogai said, eyes still glowing faintly. "This isn't over."
He stood up, gaze fixed on the broken window across the room.
If they wanted to follow the script, then so be it.
But this time, the script would answer to him.