From beneath the rubble of the collapsed building, Marcus burst upward in a plume of molten debris. Flames from the Bloodflame thrusters on his arms and legs propelled him through the shattered concrete and twisted steel, sending him soaring into the air once again.
Below him, Reed Richards—the Super Fantastic Man—was already waiting. The two met in midair, their attacks colliding with thunderous force.
Marcus's Adamantium katana, crackling with red lightning, clashed against Reed's massive stone-covered fist. Sparks and flames exploded outward in a blinding flash as the two titans were forced backward from the impact.
When Marcus steadied himself, Reed had already vanished. His body shimmered, then faded completely into thin air—Invisible Woman's power now fully under his control.
Marcus frowned, sweeping his surroundings. He knew what was coming next.
Without hesitation, he unleashed a torrent of Bloodflame, creating a wide, dome-like blaze in front of him—an improvised barrier meant to reveal any hidden movement. The crimson inferno rippled outward, igniting everything within reach.
But Reed, now fused with The Thing's invulnerability, stepped through the inferno without hesitation. The heat that could melt steel was nothing to him.
Marcus caught the shift in the air a fraction of a second too late.
A massive, stone-covered elastic fist—dozens of meters long—burst from the air in front of him, striking like a cannon shell.
The blow connected squarely, sending Marcus hurtling across the cityscape. He crashed through a line of high-rises, shattering concrete and glass as he tumbled through the air.
Before he could recover, Reed's assault continued. His right arm expanded—ballooning into a colossal limb that stretched across entire city blocks. His five fingers, thick as oak trunks, clenched together as he swung downward with terrifying momentum.
Marcus's body was caught squarely in the enormous palm and slammed through another skyscraper. The impact was cataclysmic—the building folded in on itself like paper, collapsing into a storm of dust and rebar.
The massive hand didn't stop. It continued its rampage, swatting sideways across the skyline. Each swipe obliterated another structure, turning entire city blocks into craters.
After pulverizing several towers, Marcus finally tore himself free from the crushing grip, spinning through the air before crashing hard into a residential complex hundreds of meters away.
But Reed wasn't done.
He drew back his colossal arm, his hand curling into a massive fist. The muscles—or rather, the flexible pseudo-musculature of his elastic body—bulged grotesquely, each layer reinforced with The Thing's rocky armor. Flames surged along the arm, converging on the enormous knuckles, which glowed a molten orange.
Then came the finishing touch: a shimmering blue field—Invisible Woman's force energy—wrapped the entire fist, compressing the heat and density to their limit.
It was a fusion of all powers at once.
Fire, stone, elasticity, and force-field compression—combined into a single, devastating strike.
Marcus's eyes widened slightly. "So… it's Gear Third meets Armament Haki with a dash of Fire Fist, huh?" he muttered dryly. "Cute."
The sky fell.
Reed's fiery boulder of a fist came crashing down like a meteor.
BOOM!
The explosion swallowed everything. The entire residential block disintegrated in a blinding inferno. The ground quaked violently, splitting apart under the sheer kinetic force. A massive crater—nearly a kilometer wide—opened in the heart of Queens.
Everything within the blast radius was vaporized or buried beneath a storm of dirt and debris.
When the dust began to settle, Reed floated down slowly, retracting his now-normal arm as the flames died on his knuckles. His eyes scanned the massive crater below, the air thick with ash and smoke.
He spoke quietly to himself. "This altitude's too low for Wanda to interfere… and with his regeneration, he shouldn't have recovered from the last hit yet. That one had to finish it."
Hovering closer to the crater's edge, Reed peered into the dark pit. Nothing moved—no trace of Marcus, no flicker of crimson flame. Just silence.
He sighed. "Can't waste more time here. Ben's still out there—defenseless."
Turning away, Reed rocketed back toward The Thing's last known position, his body wreathed in fire and light.
Beneath the shattered earth, the soil shifted.
A hand, slick with blood and dirt, punched through the ground.
Marcus dragged himself upward, crimson steam rising from his wounds. His skin was cracked and charred, but his eyes gleamed with fierce amusement.
He exhaled sharply, coughing smoke. "Heh… unbelievable. He's stronger than I expected."
Then he reached back into the dirt beside him, feeling around for something. His fingers brushed against an arm—cold but not lifeless. With a firm grip, he pulled the body free.
It was Quicksilver, battered and unconscious, his silver hair streaked with dust and blood.
Reed's assumption had been correct—Marcus couldn't have escaped that meteor punch on his own. The blow had been too fast, too devastating. At the very last second, he'd called for help through the psychic link connecting his army.
And Quicksilver—ever loyal, ever reckless—had answered.
The speedster had arrived just in time, snatching Marcus from the point of impact an instant before Reed's fist struck. They'd avoided the full force of the blow—but not the shockwave that followed.
The result was clear: Quicksilver lay broken and unconscious, while Marcus stood barely healed, blood still dripping from his hands.
"You really are the perfect human shield," Marcus murmured, glancing at his fallen ally with a hint of dark humor. "Even in the movies, you played the same role."
He crouched down, brushing the dirt from Pietro's face. "Don't worry. You'll live. You've earned a rest."
Straightening up, Marcus turned his gaze toward the distant skyline, where Reed's fiery trail still burned against the clouds.
He clenched his fist, blood flames flaring faintly around his knuckles. "Now, Reed… let's see how you handle losing everything."
Activating the mental link, Marcus's voice echoed coldly through the network.
Marcus: "Winter Soldier, have you secured the target?"
Winter Soldier: "Yes, sir. Ben Grimm put up more resistance than expected, but without his powers, he's just a strong man. Our Chasers have subdued him with non-lethal force. He's alive—and in custody."
Marcus: "Excellent. Then it's time for Mr. Fantastic to experience what it truly means… to be alone."
_____
T/N:
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