"Stop right there!"
Just as Fenris, carrying Tony, was about to step through the portal, an anxious woman's voice suddenly came from all directions and interrupted him.
"Who are you? Where are you taking Tony?"
Following the voice, Fenris spotted the speaker hidden in the building's audio system.
"We're Tony's friends. He's in bad shape and needs treatment as soon as possible," Yinsen called back loudly after glancing around.
"Stark already has the best medical resources."
The woman's voice was growing more and more breathless, as if she were sprinting at full speed. "I know all of Stark's friends. I don't know either of you!"
"Pepper Potts, you can call Stark's private medical team right now. If those famous doctors and specialists can go from examination to a successful surgery within a single day, I'll put Stark down right here."
Tony had plenty of women around him, but only one of them truly cared about him, and Fenris named her without hesitation. "If we wanted him dead, he wouldn't have made it this far."
"..."
Pepper fell silent for a moment.
"Wait there. I'll be there immediately."
"Fine."
Not long after, the elevator doors opened, and a tall blonde woman came rushing out.
She was carrying her high heels in one hand and running barefoot, gasping for breath. Damp strands of hair clung messily to her temples, but she did not even have the time to brush them aside.
When she saw Tony lying pale-faced in Fenris's arms, and noticed the half-healed wounds beneath his torn clothes, she tossed her expensive heels aside without a second thought and gently lifted a hand to Tony's face.
Her lips began to tremble violently, and her eyes instantly filled with moisture.
"Who are you?"
"Put my boss down!"
Then, from not far away, another wary male voice suddenly rang out.
Dragging his slightly heavy body along, Happy charged over without hesitation and reached out, trying to snatch Tony from Fenris's arms.
Bang.
Fenris casually raised a hand. A soft, not especially bright light flared from his palm, and the air rippled for a brief instant.
The next moment, Happy seemed to slam into something invisible and was sent flying backward, landing neatly on a nearby couch.
"If you're worried, you can come with us."
Fenris glanced at Pepper Potts, then turned and headed for the portal.
Yinsen followed without hesitation.
"This..."
Pepper stared at the incredible doorway for a moment, then turned to look at Happy, who was groggily rubbing his head.
"Happy, call the best doctors. Right now. Immediately."
After throwing out the order, Pepper gritted her teeth and cautiously stepped through the portal.
...
"All things have their season. Those who force fate will only lose themselves."
A gentle breeze drifted under a clear blue sky.
On one of the school's lawns, a group of children sat gathered around Professor X, quietly listening as he told them the story of Arthur.
"A true knight is not defined by mastery of the sword, but by the compassion he carries in his heart..."
"Professor!"
Cyclops's voice came from not far away.
"Fenris is back, and he brought a scumbag with him. Do you want to come take a look?"
"Tony Stark? I see."
Professor X paused for a moment and immediately understood what had happened. He quietly closed the book and announced that class was over.
As the children burst into cheers, Scott pushed the professor toward the medical room.
"Wow. He really is a genuine genius!"
They had not even entered yet when Hank's voice came from inside.
"He built a miniature reactor in a cave in Afghanistan just to stay alive. That's not something an ordinary person could do."
"Hank, this isn't the time to be impressed. You should be figuring out how to save him."
Fenris forcefully dragged Hank's attention back to the matter at hand, then turned toward Jean, who was standing nearby silently reading the medical report.
"Jean, what do you think?"
The moment he asked, everyone turned to look at Jean Grey, who was frowning hard.
Pepper especially had both hands clenched tightly.
"I can handle the main surgery and remove most of the larger fragments."
After a moment, Jean shook her head.
"But the truly fatal part is the smaller fragments. I can't deal with those right now."
"If Kitty Pryde had finer control over her abilities, she might be able to help."
"Can't you use telekinesis?"
"No."
Ever since the Phoenix Force had erupted once before, Jean had been able to use that power in simple ways, but her control over her abilities was nowhere near what it used to be.
Trying to use telekinesis in surgery meant that one mistake could send those fragments straight through Tony's heart like shrapnel from a shotgun blast.
"This..."
Jean's words made Pepper's face turn gray on the spot.
After learning how serious Tony's condition really was, she had already realized that there were only a handful of doctors in the entire world who might be able to perform this surgery.
If even these extraordinary X-Men could do nothing, then Tony...
"There may be one more way... excuse me, move aside."
A strange voice with a slight hiss suddenly came from the side.
"Dr. Connors?"
Fenris glanced over at the speaker.
Connors was currently in full Lizard form. He wore a spotless white lab coat, along with a pair of custom glasses Hank had made for him, giving him an appearance that was somehow both savage and scholarly.
Using his thick tail to clear a path for himself, Connors came forward holding up a tube of transparent serum and stopped in front of Tony.
"If nothing else works, give Stark a shot of this, turn him into a Lizard, and then Dr. Grey can operate on him as much as she likes."
Over this period of repeated refinement, the Lizard serum had already gone through several versions. The one in Connors's hand was the most effective yet.
It gave the user a wildly exaggerated healing factor, but the side effects were just as intense, making the person injected far more violent and unstable.
Connors looked around the room, then finally fixed his eyes on Fenris.
"If Stark loses control, just do what you did to me back then and punch him once."
"Well?"
There was a hint of anticipation in Connors's voice.
"No..."
Pepper, standing to one side, looked at the terrifying Lizard-man who stood nearly three meters tall, then at the Beast who was staring at Tony's chest with burning intensity like some kind of wild animal. At last, she turned pleading eyes toward Fenris.
"You said you had a way. If he turns into... that, Tony will lose his mind..."
"If he can't even keep his life, who cares whether he goes crazy or not?"
Connors sounded displeased and leaned his face close to Pepper's.
"Look at these muscles. This tail. This smooth skin. Isn't it beautiful?"
"Your taste is deeply questionable."
Pepper Potts caught her breath and did not dare respond.
"Relax."
Fenris tried to reassure her.
"There's a brilliant doctor at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. His skill is exceptional. He can absolutely save Tony."
Thinking of that other famously arrogant medical genius, Fenris turned and walked toward the treatment room exit.
Stephen Strange had an odd temperament. Getting him to act was difficult, but also simple.
There was no way he would refuse the chance to save Tony Stark and earn both fame and prestige from it.
(End of Chapter)
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