"Tony, he's yours to deal with now," Rowan said calmly. "I've got other things to handle. Oh, and use the same alloy models as last time. Make a few more sets. I'll pick them up tomorrow morning."
Using magnetic control, Rowan pushed the scrap-bound Ivan Vanko toward Tony. He'd come out tonight for a very specific reason. Everything else had been incidental. With the mastermind caught, his part was finished.
"No problem," Tony replied, gripping Vanko. "A few sets? I'll make dozens."
The material was expensive to anyone else. To Tony Stark, it was pocket change.
Vanko, who had been silent until now, suddenly smiled.
"You think you've won?" he rasped. "Then die together."
The explosion came without warning.
Vanko's body tore itself apart, the blast engulfing Rowan, Tony, and Rhodey. Tony took the brunt of it, being closest when it happened.
Vanko had known the drones were finished. He'd gone in expecting not to survive. Before arriving, he had swallowed a compact high-yield explosive, triggering it the moment Tony grabbed him.
"Protego!"
Rowan threw up a shield, but the force still hurled him back several meters. Tony and Rhodey were blasted straight out of the air, crashing hard into the plaza below.
Rowan dropped the spell, staring at the scattered remains with a flat look. "That was excessive."
Self-destruction wouldn't have killed Tony anyway. Prison would've left other options. Now Vanko had erased himself completely.
Shaking his head, Rowan descended to check on the others.
Rhodey was shaken but mostly intact, having reacted quickly. Tony was not. The front of his armor was torn open, blood soaking through as he struggled to breathe.
"George," Tony said weakly, forcing a grin, "you might want to call an ambulance."
Rowan snorted. "Unnecessary."
He raised a hand toward Tony's chest. "Episkey."
Soft white light washed over the wound. Flesh knit itself back together in seconds, the bleeding stopping as if it had never begun.
Healing magic wasn't Rowan's strongest discipline, but this was well within his limits.
"Wow," Tony muttered. "That's… much better."
"Tony!"
Pepper sprinted over and dropped to her knees, hands already checking him over in a panic. "Are you hurt? Are you—"
Rowan and Rhodey exchanged a look, then both stared pointedly at the sky.
"Time to go," Rowan said.
He vanished.
Back at the school, Rowan released Bruce Banner and Betty Ross from the storage box and handed them off to Professor Xavier for orientation. Then he took the still-unconscious Abomination down to the underground training chamber.
"Ennervate."
Abomination snapped awake, instantly bristling. Rowan didn't wait.
He expanded, towering over the creature, and slammed him into the floor with one massive hand. Fingers tightened around Abomination's skull.
"Calm down," Rowan said evenly. "Or I'll crush your head."
Abomination froze.
Rowan's giant form stood nearly nine meters tall. In raw strength alone, the difference was humiliating.
"I'm calm," Abomination growled quickly.
"Good. You have two options," Rowan said, releasing him and shrinking back to normal size. "One, I beat you to death here. Slowly. Or two, you work as this school's gatekeeper for five years. After that, you're free."
Abomination swallowed.
"I don't like either option," he thought.
Out loud, he nodded. "Five years. I'll do it."
"Smart choice," Rowan said. "Don't pretend to cooperate and try to run. I can find anyone I want. Anywhere. If you run, I will find you. And then I will choose option one."
He clapped Abomination on the shoulder and turned away.
"Stay down here for now. Learn to control yourself before you go topside. The students don't need that kind of fright."
With Professor Xavier on campus, Rowan wasn't worried. And Abomination wasn't stupid enough to test him again.
Some people didn't need chains.
They just needed to understand who held them.
...
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