"It's just something like a stimulant," Tony Stark muttered impatiently. Without looking Reed Richards in the eye, he stepped into a dormant Iron Man suit beside him. He didn't want Reed to see his expression.
Reed, however, stood there with calm persistence, his gaze fixed on Tony. After a long pause, he finally spoke:
"If you're planning to rely on some kind of drug to enhance your strength, I strongly advise against it. I've seen too many bright minds fall apart that way. You shouldn't—"
Tony cut him off, his voice muffled through the armor.
"And now the man lecturing me is someone whose entire powers came from a freak accident with cosmic radiation. So tell me, Reed—what moral high ground do you have here? I know exactly what I'm doing. This discussion is over. I'm a genius. I know my limits."
Reed's eyes narrowed. "Even geniuses need someone to remind them when they're about to cross the line, Tony…"
"Enough!" Tony snapped, his tone sharper than before. But then, almost mid-sentence, his voice faltered into confusion. "…Wait. Something's not right."
The HUD inside his armor lit up with warnings. The suit's energy sensors had suddenly detected a massive spike in gamma radiation. The concentration in the air was climbing at an alarming rate. On the diagnostic display, numbers ticked upward like a runaway clock.
Then, bold crimson text flashed before his eyes:
"Gamma Radiation Levels Critical."
Instantly, the suit's defensive protocols engaged—energy shields sealed tight, cutting off all contact with the outside environment to block the surge of gamma energy.
"What the hell?" Tony muttered. "J.A.R.V.I.S., trace the energy source!"
Before the AI could respond, a loud metallic crash interrupted his train of thought. Tony whipped around. Reed was on his knees, trembling, his arms flailing for balance. In desperation, he pushed against a nearby steel lab table—so hard that the entire table flew across the room and smashed into the wall with a deafening clang.
"Reed?!" Tony shouted in disbelief.
But Reed didn't respond. His answer came in the form of guttural screams, half-pain and half-fury, echoing through the lab. Tony could only stare in horror as Reed's body began to swell, his skin rippling and shifting into a deep shade of green. Muscles ballooned, veins glowed with gamma light, and jagged fangs sprouted from his mouth. Within moments, Reed Richards—Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four—had transformed into something monstrous. Something horrifyingly similar to the Hulk.
The creature's blood-red eyes locked on Tony with unfiltered rage.
With a thunderous crash, the mutated Reed smashed through the lab's reinforced wall. A golden streak of light tumbled into the room, crashing through rubble and landing hard against the floor. The impact shook the ground, static briefly scrambled Tony's HUD, and even his brain felt rattled from the shockwave. Shaking his head clear, Tony looked up—just in time to see Reed's monstrous form lumbering toward him.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.! What the hell is happening?!"
His armor scanners swept over Reed. The readout was chilling—every single one of Reed's cells was saturated with gamma radiation, as if he had become a walking gamma bomb.
"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. reported coolly, "Reed Richards has absorbed just the right amount of gamma exposure to trigger mutation. Current readings show the entire Avengers Tower is flooding with rapidly increasing gamma energy…"
"Wait—" Tony cut him off, his voice tight. "You're saying the radiation source is inside the Tower?"
"Correct, sir. Though its exact location is untraceable, the concentration is climbing at an exponential rate and spreading throughout New York. In approximately two hours, gamma radiation will engulf the entire city. The majority of biological organisms exposed to such levels will inevitably mutate."
Tony froze. The horrifying thought that had clawed at the edges of his mind was now undeniable.
Before he could process, another deafening crash tore through the room. A wall exploded outward as a crimson figure shot through like a cannonball, smashing into the ground and carving a jagged trench in the flooring.
The Asgardian god of thunder staggered to his feet, shaking debris from his shoulders. His expression twisted in shock as more figures burst through the walls behind him—Falcon, War Machine, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. All of them… transformed. Their bodies grotesquely altered by the gamma surge, each resembling a twisted reflection of the Hulk.
"What sorcery is this?!" Thor bellowed, eyes wild as he glanced between Tony and the abominations.
"They've been hit by gamma radiation," Tony replied grimly. His sensors flicked toward Thor, analyzing him. His body showed only minor swelling, no major mutation. Tony exhaled in relief. "Thank god. You're still mostly unaffected."
Thor grinned, raising his hammer with reckless pride. "Ha! Then this proves it! The so-called 'gamma curse' has no power over the mighty sons of Asgard!"
"Yeah, yeah," Tony muttered, his mind racing. "But look around you, Goldilocks. Why do the rest of the Avengers all look like Hulk's ugly cousins?"
Thor blinked, momentarily lost in thought. "Hmm. Yes… I noticed that too." His face darkened as realization crept in. "Wait—you said the radiation is spreading across all of New York?"
Tony nodded grimly. "In less than two hours, the entire city will be crawling with Hulk-like monsters."
Thor's jaw tightened. "That means… millions of Hulks?"
"Try nine million," a cold, rasping voice answered before Tony could.
Both heroes spun toward the sound. A short, twisted figure emerged from the shadows—his body small and stunted, but his head grotesquely swollen with pulsating veins and intellect.
He smirked, his voice dripping with menace.
"You may call me… the Leader."
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