Dust billowed across the battlefield.
Apocalypse, En Sabah Nur, the ancient mutant once worshipped as a deity by countless civilizations, wiped a trickle of blue blood from his lips with the back of his hand.
Though the Hulk had just punched him back dozens of yards, there was no trace of fear in his pale eyes. Instead, a twisted, perverse excitement burned within them.
"Hmph... intriguing."
Apocalypse cracked his neck, the sound sharp and brittle.
He glanced up at Frieza, who was floating high above, arms crossed, watching the show with a bored expression.
His master's gaze was upon him!
This was a golden, once-in-a-lifetime chance to prove himself!
Being instantly eliminated by that "Thor" guy's axe had already made him look like an idiot in front of his master.
If he couldn't even handle this green, screaming beast in front of him, how would Apocalypse ever gain respect in Frieza's 'Ginyu Force' equivalent?
That dagger-wielding Loki would be walking all over him!
"Beast, your strength is certainly commendable."
Apocalypse spread his hands, palms facing the roaring, charging Hulk.
"Pity. In the face of true godhood, brute force is nothing but a bad joke!"
"Watch closely, this is how real power is used!"
WHOOSH—!
The air instantly solidified.
A psychic force, vast enough to flatten mountains, clenched around the charging Hulk like an enormous, invisible hand.
"ROAR?!"
Hulk's forward momentum abruptly stalled, as if he had run head-first into a tank of solid cement.
He struggled furiously, his green muscles bulging high, veins snaking beneath his skin like angry dragons.
The ground beneath his feet couldn't handle the monstrous opposing forces and instantly shattered into countless fragments.
"Now... KNEEL!"
Veins pulsed on Apocalypse's face as he slammed both hands downward.
CRASH!
Hulk's enormous body was actually forced down onto one knee!
"RAH! HULK... DOESN'T KNEEL!"
Hulk squeezed out a guttural, beast-like roar, his eyes bloodshot, glaring fiercely at Apocalypse.
"Still talking tough?"
Apocalypse sneered, flicking his finger.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The invisible psychic force transformed into sledgehammers, relentlessly pounding Hulk's head and chest.
In just a few seconds, Hulk was bruised and battered, splattering green blood.
Any other person would have been reduced to paste.
But who was the Hulk?
He was the green monster who gets stronger the angrier he gets!
"RRRROOOOOAAARRR—!!!"
Just as Apocalypse prepared to deliver a final blow, an ear-splitting scream erupted.
Hulk's pupils instantly turned an eerie, fluorescent green.
Rage!
Pure, unadulterated rage!
Getting beat up by that blonde demon (Frieza) was one thing—he knew he couldn't win that fight.
But this blue-skinned, ugly jerk thinks he can take a dump on the Hulk's head?!
KRAK!
The psychic field binding the Hulk shattered like glass, unable to contain the explosive power raging within!
"What?!" Apocalypse's face changed drastically.
Before he could react, a massive green fist was rapidly filling his field of vision.
"HULK... SMASH!!!"
KABLAM!
The punch landed squarely on Apocalypse's surprised face.
Apocalypse spun like a top dozens of times in the air, then landed face-first, plowing a deep trench into the marble pavement. He looked utterly humiliated.
"Yeah! Get him, Hulk!" Peter Parker yelled from a safe distance.
---
On the other side of the battlefield, the tension was just as high.
Tony Stark, in his latest Mark VII armor, hovered in the air.
His repulsor rays glowed brightly, pointed directly at the old man in the white-and-purple suit and red helmet—Magneto.
"So, you fly too, huh?"
Magneto (Erik Lensherr) stood with his hands clasped behind his back, several twisted steel beams orbiting his body. He looked at Tony with detached calm.
His eyes held the smug superiority of a veteran watching a kid play with toys.
"These days, if you can't fly, you shouldn't bother leaving the house to pick a fight."
Tony's voice, muffled beneath the faceplate, still carried his signature smart-aleck tone:
"Listen, old man. If you throw your back out, Stark Industries' health insurance won't cover it."
"Hmph. All mouth."
Magneto sneered, slowly extending his right hand.
"In a city built of metal, I am a god."
"And you..." Magneto squeezed his hand in the air toward Tony. "...are nothing but a pathetic wretch who trapped himself in a tin can."
VWOOM—!
A terrifying magnetic field instantly enveloped Tony.
Magneto fully expected that with a slight exertion of force, the metal man would be crushed like a soda can, squeezing the "meat paste" out of the seams.
However.
A second passed.
Tony remained firmly suspended in the air, completely unshaken.
He even raised his arm and fired a repulsor blast at Magneto.
BLAST!
Magneto casually summoned a steel plate to block the attack, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Uncontrolled?"
"Vibranium?"
Magneto was sharp and instantly understood the issue.
If the armor was pure Vibranium, it would indeed be immune to his magnetic manipulation.
"Bingo! That's right, but no prize for you." Tony whistled smugly. "It's a gift from the Prince of Wakanda, even if it's only a partial application."
"A partial application?"
A cruel smile curled on Magneto's lips.
"That makes things easy."
"If it's not all Vibranium, then I'll just tear away the parts that aren't!"
Magneto abruptly ripped his hands apart!
ZZZ-ZZZ-ZZZ—!
A screeching sound of tearing metal erupted.
Tony's face went white:
"J.A.R.V.I.S.! What's happening?!"
"Sir, the armor's connecting components are not fully Vibranium. They are undergoing extreme magnetic separation! Structural integrity is down to 30%!"
CLATTER!
In the next second, Tony's Mark VII was disassembled like a pile of LEGOs.
Except for a few critical Vibranium plating pieces still clinging to his body, the thrusters, weapon systems, and even the helmet were violently ripped away, flying behind Magneto to float menacingly in the air.
"A-A-AHHH—!"
Losing power, Tony screamed as he plummeted from fifty feet up.
THUD!
He crashed hard into a heap of construction debris, landing in a perfect face-plant.
If Professor X hadn't subtly used his telepathy to cushion the fall, he would have been killed instantly.
"This is the so-called leader of the Avengers?"
Magneto looked down at the miserably scrambling Tony, his disdain practically pouring out of his eyes.
"Too weak."
"He's not even as tough as that man with the claws, Logan."
Tony staggered to his feet, spitting out blood and dirt.
He looked at the man controlling the swirling mass of metal debris and felt a chill run down his spine.
What kind of monstrous ability was this?
This was the "old friend" that bald Professor spoke of?
"Tony! Look out!"
Just then, Professor Charles Xavier's voice echoed in Tony's mind.
"It's Erik! Magneto! He controls all metal! Your standard armor is useless against him!"
"I know! Dammit, I know now!"
Tony grit his teeth, watching the dense, razor-sharp storm of metal fragments behind Magneto ready to launch and turn him into a pin cushion.
It was a nightmare scenario.
But "surrender" was never in Tony Stark's vocabulary.
His eyes sharpened with resolve.
"This thing was supposed to be for that blonde psycho."
Tony reached up and pressed a specialized device on his wrist.
"Since you've got these little tricks, you get to be the test dummy!"
"Activate the Anti-Frieza Armor!"
RUMBLE—!
A massive drop-pod sliced through the clouds and slammed violently into the ground in front of Tony.
The hatch popped open, revealing a huge, silver-white suit of armor, even bulkier and more monstrous than the Hulkbuster.
Magneto's eyes narrowed. He flicked his finger, and countless metal shards shot like an arrow storm toward Tony.
"Too slow, old man!"
Tony rolled and dove into the armor.
CLANG! CLUNK!
The armor instantly sealed shut.
At the same time, a pale blue energy shield snapped on.
TINK! TINK! TINK!
The metal shrapnel struck the shield, creating rippling waves of energy, but failing to penetrate an inch.
What shocked Magneto even more was the realization that his magnetic control had completely failed against this new suit.
"How is that possible? There's clearly metal in there!" Magneto's expression darkened.
"Of course there's metal," Tony thought smugly inside the cockpit.
"But I lined the exterior with a powerful magnetic shielding field generator, plus Wakanda's latest nano-polymer coating."
"And unlike my usual gear, this Anti-Frieza Armor is built with 99% Vibranium!"
"Science and tech are the ultimate power, got it, grandpa?"
ROAR!
Blue flames erupted from the armor's back thrusters.
Tony, driving this steel behemoth with the fury of vengeance, charged hard at Magneto!
"Now, it's my turn to attack!"
---