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After Stan escaped, his eyes locked onto Ajie with unblinking intensity. After the prolonged skirmish, it became abundantly clear to him—this man was his greatest threat, akin to the danger Magneto posed to the X-Men or Darkseid to the Justice League.
Following a tense standstill that mirrored the stare-down between Batman and the Joker, Stan lost his composure. He unleashed his full strength and charged toward Ajie with the wild ferocity of Sabretooth on a rampage.
The kite flipped! Ajie soared upward with the grace of Nightcrawler teleporting mid-fight, dodging Stan's assault with birdlike agility. The entire motion was fluid and elegant, unlike his previous grounded and brutal fighting style—more like Daredevil's graceful acrobatics than Luke Cage's blunt force.
After narrowly avoiding the charge, Ajie twisted in midair, his right leg slicing through the air like Scorpion's tail from the Mortal Kombat universe. He landed a crushing blow on Stan's back, sending him hurtling like a kicked vibranium shield.
"Snake Fist! Double Dragon Leaping to the Sea! Bow Palm!" Ajie called out with each strike, reminiscent of Iron Fist invoking the Heart of Shou-Lao or Naruto announcing his techniques. Each move felt more like a named power than a simple attack, reinforcing the belief that true warriors, like Thor or Wonder Woman, wield skills, not just strength.
Stan reeled under the assault, his equilibrium shattered, rolling across the battleground. This was the first time since mutating—possibly by something akin to Weapon X's experimentation—that he found himself this humiliated.
The bio-armor shielding his body began to crack and chip under the onslaught. Even the virus coursing through him—perhaps inspired by the Extremis virus or a mutated form of Venom—couldn't repair his wounds fast enough to keep pace with Ajie's relentless speed.
Amid the chaos, an unexpected calm settled over the battlefield. Black Widow rubbed her eyes in disbelief, stunned at the overwhelming power on display. "We're all classified as enhanced operatives," she muttered, "but how is the gap this massive?"
Hawkeye went further. Silently, he holstered his longbow, questioning its worth. A seasoned marksman who once stood alongside the Avengers against Chitauri invasions, he now doubted his craft. Two monsters in a row immune to my arrows? What have I even been doing all these years?
Hovering above, Iron Man fared only slightly better. Watching the melee unfold, he busied his mind with engineering possibilities—conceptualizing a new "Anti-Ajie" armor, akin to the Hulkbuster he built for Banner.
Hand-to-hand combat was undeniably the most testosterone-fueled form of conflict, and yet, the longer Ajie and Stan battled, the more the onlookers—many hardened veterans of wars against Ultron or Parademons—found themselves questioning their very existence.
"Lushan Ascends, Dominating Dragon!" Ajie roared, as red-hot chi formed a draconic shape, echoing Shenron from Dragon Ball Z or Iron Fist's ultimate move, and blasted Stan skyward.
"Crow Takes Flight!" Like something out of a DC Elseworlds brawl, Ajie rose with him, then came crashing down, body-slamming Stan straight into the ground like a meteor summoned by Thor's Mjolnir.
"Huh? No movement?" Ajie blinked, hopping off him. Stan showed no signs of life.
"Are you playing possum?" Ajie tilted his head, sensing that Stan's life force—perhaps comparable to Doomsday's regenerative energy—wasn't completely extinguished.
"Crater Smash!" Ajie raised his fist high and brought it down like the hammer of judgment. Stan's head was driven deep into the dirt. From Ajie's clenched fist, super-corrosive pus—something akin to Carnage's acidic blood—dripped onto the ground.
"Mm~" Ajie nodded in satisfaction as Stan's life force flickered. He was nearly finished.
Qi Yun watched from afar and buried his face in his hands. Is this brute really one of mine? This is just embarrassing... Should I scrap this draft and start from scratch?
After Stan's resistance was thoroughly broken, Ajie casually seized one of his fingers and dragged him across the battlefield.
Tony descended from the sky, retracting his helmet. His eyes, filled with conflicting emotions, met Ajie's.
"Hey... You just wanted a mannequin to punch, right?" Tony sighed, eerily calm for someone who once held his own against Thanos.
"Exactly! Why would I lie to you?" Ajie grinned. "Don't worry, this was light warm-up. You stretch your muscles, and boom—day's not wasted!"
Tony's mouth twitched. Ajie's confidence made it hard to form a rebuttal.
As the dust settled, scavengers emerged. S.H.I.E.L.D. representatives arrived, including Agent Phil Coulson, fresh from Marvel Newbie Village, and General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, who once hunted the Hulk.
"My friend, ever thought about joining the army?" Ross asked, his tone self-assured, eyes gleaming like someone who'd just seen Superman lift a tank.
"Don't waste your talents in the army," Coulson said with a smirk, teasing Ross before turning to Ajie and offering a handshake. "Phil Coulson. S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Eh, no time. Gotta get home for dinner." Ajie patted Tony's shoulder and walked off, dragging Stan's body behind him without even sparing Coulson or Ross a glance.
Ross fumed from being ignored. Coulson, unbothered, was used to being brushed off—he once tried to recruit Wolverine and got nothing but a cigar puff in return.
"Stop!" Ross barked suddenly. "That monster's corpse belongs to the U.S. military. You can leave, but the body stays!"
Ajie's ear twitched. Is this guy serious? The ego on this one is almost Lex Luthor-level.
Ross, angered further, signaled his men. Though reluctant, his soldiers formed a shaky perimeter around Ajie, clearly aware of Hulk-level consequences.
Ajie, unimpressed, ignored them. These troops were barely a step above AIM foot soldiers or Star Labs security—fodder, in his eyes.
Ross misread Ajie's indifference as fear, thinking he had finally found leverage. He didn't need all of Stan, but he certainly wanted a slice. After all, military vultures had picked over remnants of Ultron and Sentinel tech before.
As the soldiers closed in, Ross made the mistake of leaving a gap—learning from his disastrous Hulk confrontations. Meanwhile, Coulson raised a hand to halt S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, watching Ajie silently from a distance.
Ajie had no intention of giving Ross face. He could ignore ants, sure—but if they blocked his path? He wouldn't walk around them.
"Ordinary Punch," Ajie muttered—eerily similar to Saitama from One Punch Man—and threw a casual-looking blow.
The energy exploded outward. Soldiers flew like ragdolls. The aftershock barreled through, reducing a tank to scrap metal—its remains resembling those left behind after a Sentinel rampage.
Stunned silence. A crater lay before them. Ajie dragged Stan's limp form away and vanished into thin air, like Doctor Strange slipping through a portal.
Ross seethed with rage but could do nothing. Ajie was untouchable. With his power and teleportation-like movement, Ross was left flailing.
Tony, observing from behind, said nothing. Though he disliked collateral damage, he couldn't bring himself to sympathize with Ross and his reckless militarism.
Nothing they did deserved praise.
As the dust settled, Tony noticed Coulson and Ross staring at him like hyenas eying prey.
Hyenas. That's what they were—hungry for every scrap.
Tony rolled his eyes, muttered something under his breath, and blasted off toward his ruined mansion.
Even in its broken state, they didn't dare trespass. Stark Industries' legal division wasn't just for show. If anyone dared, Tony would personally smash Ross—and in the end, Ross might be the one forced to apologize... again.
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