Tony was dragged across the ground, his once-shining armor ripped away, leaving him bloodied and barely conscious.
The group of Extremis soldiers held him down, pressing against his wounds to stop him from moving. Nearby, bound tightly with heavy ropes and duct tape, Pepper Potts struggled against her restraints.
Though Extremis coursed through her veins, unstable and volatile, her body still burned weakly with occasional pulses of orange light.
She could only watch helplessly as Tony fought in vain.
Aldrich Killian approached, his face twisted into a grin of cruel satisfaction.
"Tony, I finally fulfilled my wish…" Killian said, voice dripping with mockery.
"And I met you here, on the top of the building."
Tony glared at him through bruised eyes, barely able to lift his head. Every breath was pain.
Killian's skin radiated intense heat, his Extremis-enhanced body glowing beneath his torn clothing. He crouched beside Tony.
"When my work's done…" Killian said, voice cold.
"I'll make time for a nice long chat."
With a wave of his hand, he signaled his men to begin their final preparations.
The plan was cruel and clear, come dawn, the President would be executed in front of the world, and a new order would rise from the ashes.
The iron cables dug into the armor, and the President's helpless screams echoed through the dock.
"Hang him a little higher!" Killian shouted, releasing a searing pillar of flame from his hand. It struck the chain, sending sparks flying and making the President swing violently.
Killian laughed maniacally, throwing his head back in triumph.
Pepper turned her head away, eyes full of silent horror.
Tony clenched his teeth, fury and guilt warring in his heart.
But…
A strange light broke through the thick smoke overhead. A single, brilliant point of flame descending rapidly from the sky.
"What… is that?" Killian muttered, his grin faltering.
The point grew larger, closer, until it revealed itself to be a meteorite, massive and wreathed in a destructive aura that made the very air shimmer.
"Everyone, move!" Killian roared, his confidence finally shaken.
But it was too late.
BOOM!
The meteorite struck the dock like a wrathful god's hammer.
Explosion waves of heat and shrapnel in all directions. The dock buckled and splintered under the impact, flames leaped into the night sky.
Extremis soldiers were thrown like ragdolls, their flesh burning and regenerating in a grotesque cycle. Some were buried beneath rubble, others staggered to their feet.
Despite the chaos, the Extremis-enhanced fighters quickly regrouped, their wounds sealing themselves in seconds.
But the damage was done, their carefully laid preparations lay in ruin, the dock half-destroyed.
"What's going on?" Killian grumbled.
The crater where the first meteor had struck was still smoldering nearby, but after several tense moments of silence, nothing else happened.
He scoffed, brushing ash from his face. "Tch. A freak accident. A meteorite, of all things. Lucky break for Stark..."
But just as he raised a hand to signal his men, a panicked voice cut through.
"Boss, it's here again!"
Killian's head snapped up. His heart sank.
High above, streaking down through the smoke-filled night, dozens of burning meteorites were falling, a dense, fiery storm that would hit the dock in seconds.
And if his eyes didn't deceive him, their trajectory… was aimed directly at his group.
"Move! Scatter! Scatter!" Killian roared, panic finally breaking through his bravado.
The meteors fell with eerie precision, guided by an unseen will.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Explosions shook the dock, sending molten debris and broken planks flying.
What made it worse, terrifyingly worse, was that the falling meteorites deliberately avoided certain people.
Tony, Pepper, and the President, still shackled and wounded, were untouched.
The fiery rain never even grazed them, instead tearing through Killian's troops and relentlessly tracking Killian himself.
"No! No! No!" Killian's voice was cut short as a meteorite the size of a car smashed down on him, engulfing him in a hellish sea of flame.
The inferno bloomed high into the air.
The ground cracked beneath the weight of the impact, leaving a smoking crater where Killian had been.
Tony blinked in disbelief. The world around him looked like the end of days, and yet, somehow, he and Pepper remained unharmed, as if protected by invisible hands.
Pepper's wide, frightened eyes met his, and the two shared a moment of stunned understanding.
The space in front of them shimmered.
A figure materialized, emerging from nothingness.
Tall and radiating an aura of quiet power.
"Soren? Man, it's really you!" Tony choked out, overwhelmed by a surge of relief and disbelief.
Soren stood silently for a moment, taking in Tony's battered state.
"You look terrible." Soren sighed, shaking his head, already pulling on a pair of shining white medical gloves. "If I was a minute late… you'd be a smear under that maniac's boot."
He knelt beside Tony, his gloved hands glowing faintly as he touched Tony's wounds.
A soothing warmth spread through Tony's body, and the torn flesh and bruised muscle began to heal at a speed that defied everything.
Within seconds, Tony felt amazing again.
The pain vanished, replaced by a lightness he hadn't felt since the start of this nightmare.
"What… what is that?" Tony rasped, still catching his breath.
"Everlife magic. You don't have the clearance for the complete description."
Soren waved a hand. A thin blade of light swept through the chains around Tony, shattering them like brittle glass.
Tony staggered to his feet, grinning despite himself. "Thank you, buddy. You're officially my best friend."
Soren smiled. "Yeah, yeah, but you owe me. Three bottles of Romani Conti, '82. No excuses."
"Done. You'll have 'em by tomorrow. I swear."
Soren pointed toward Pepper. "Go check on her. If her Extremis is unstable, take her to my clinic. For the Romani, I'll even bump you ahead of the waiting list."
Tony nodded and hurried to Pepper, his heart aching with guilt and relief.
Meanwhile, Soren turned toward the smoldering crater where Killian had disappeared beneath the meteorite's impact.
The ground was still glowing red-hot.
Then he turned toward the chained President.
"Mr. President, I'm Dr. Soren Macaluso of Everlife Medical Center. General Ross and Director Fury sent me to extract you."
The President, sweat-soaked and terrified inside his steel armor, immediately recognized the situation.
He gasped, nodding fervently. "Yes~ yes! Thank you, Doctor, thank you…!"
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Fellow Phantoms and aspiring Phantoms to be, if you seek to access advanced parts of this story procced to my shadowy realm of p@treon.
PhantomDream