"No!!"
"What have you done?!" Hawkeye roared, leaning over the parapet.
Inside the Iron Man helmet, Tony's eyes went wide, the holographic HUD reflecting off his bloodshot pupils.
Any human with a shred of conscience would freeze at the sight below.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, who just moments ago had been hunkered down behind their barricades, were collapsing in droves. There was no blood. No explosions. They were simply dropping their weapons and clawing desperately at their own throats.
Their faces turned a horrifying shade of pale, then purple.
Suffocation.
The Bronze General's magic, No Dust Land, hadn't just repelled physical attacks. It had created a domain of absolute repulsion. It had pushed all the oxygen out of the street.
Tony watched, paralyzed by a cold, creeping dread, as the agents twitched and went still, their eyes bulging in the vacuum. Death is never pretty, but this was a massacre of absolute, silent efficiency.
Then, a spike of pure terror hit Tony's heart.
"Pepper!" Tony screamed into his comms. "Pepper, don't come here! Turn the car around! Abort!"
He had just told her the area was clear. He had just asked her to drive straight into this kill zone. Static hissed back at him.
"Pepper, respond! J.A.R.V.I.S., track her phone! Keep her away!"
While Tony panicked, Hawkeye's training kicked in. He rolled away from the ledge, seeking a better angle. He drew a high-explosive arrow, pulled the bowstring to his cheek, and fired.
The arrow streaked toward the Bronze General hovering in the sky.
But two meters away from the ancient armor, the arrow simply stopped. It hovered in mid-air, caught in the invisible sphere of the General's domain.
The General slowly turned his helmeted head toward the rooftop. He didn't raise a hand. He simply willed it.
The arrow spun around 180 degrees and shot directly back at the roof.
"Incoming!" Clint shouted, diving behind a heavy AC unit.
KABOOM.
The explosion blew a chunk out of the roof. Clint coughed through the plaster dust, lowering his bow in frustration. His attacks couldn't even breach the perimeter.
"I'll take the lead," Tony's voice crackled in Clint's earpiece, cold and focused. "You coordinate. He can't maintain that absolute defense forever."
Iron Man launched into the sky.
Tony raised his gauntlets, firing a rapid barrage of repulsor blasts. The concussive beams slammed into the invisible barrier around the General, shattering into harmless sparks and smoke.
But the smoke revealed the shape of the shield.
"It's wind," Clint reported from the roof. "He's surrounded by a hyper-compressed wind barrier!"
"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted, the HUD flashing yellow. "Armor power reserves have dropped to eight percent. Sustained ranged attacks are ineffective. I highly recommend adjusting your combat strategy to conserve energy."
"J.A.R.V.I.S., divert all power to thrusters and the right gauntlet laser," Tony ordered. "We're going melee."
"Clint, get ready to thread the needle."
Tony's boots flared. He didn't just fly; he pushed the suit to Mach 1 in a fraction of a second. The air shattered around him with a deafening sonic boom.
He moved so fast he punched right through the outer layer of the wind barrier.
Inside the suit, the G-force and the sheer atmospheric resistance made the metal groan. Tony could feel the hyper-compressed wind trying to rip the armor apart plate by plate. He gritted his teeth, pushing closer to the Bronze General.
"Now!"
Tony was at point-blank range. He raised his right arm, aiming directly for the unarmored gap at the General's neck. A concentrated, blindingly bright cutting laser erupted from his wrist.
But in the blink of an eye... a massive bronze hand moved.
The General simply raised his palm.
The high-yield laser blasted against the ancient metal glove, creating a blinding shower of sparks and a screeching hiss. But it didn't cut through. It didn't even melt the surface.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., increase output!" Tony yelled, sweat pouring down his face.
"Sir, energy is insufficient. At maximum output, the laser will deplete our reserves in exactly five seconds."
"Do it!"
The laser intensified, burning white-hot. But the bronze palm held firm.
Five... four... three... two... one.
With a dying whine, the laser emitter shut down.
Tony hung in the air, his primary weapon spent.
The Bronze General didn't retaliate with a weapon. He simply reached out and wrapped his massive, cold metal fingers around the Iron Man armor's throat.
The servos in Tony's neck screamed in protest as the General lifted the suit effortlessly, holding Tony suspended in the sky.
"Are these the weapons of modern humans?"
The voice resonated from within the bronze helmet. It was deep, archaic, and vibrated with absolute authority.
"Compared to a thousand years ago... you have made progress."
Tony choked against the pressure of the grip. He stared into the glowing red slits of the General's visor.
"Since you can talk," Tony rasped through the suit's external speakers, his voice laced with venom, "why didn't you try communicating? Why just slaughter them?"
The Bronze General tilted his head, genuinely amused by the question.
"Before you step on an ant," the ancient warlord rumbled, "do you count how many there are?"
A cold chill ran down Tony's spine. This being didn't just hate humanity. It viewed them as a completely different, insignificant species.
There was no negotiating with a boot.
'Clint,' Tony keyed his internal comms silently. 'Now.'
Tony stopped struggling. He let his arms drop to his sides.
Deep inside the chest plate of the Iron Man armor, the palladium core of the Arc Reactor began to glow with blinding, blinding intensity. A high-pitched, escalating whine filled the air.
If his gauntlets couldn't pierce the armor, he would hit him with everything he had left.
The Unibeam.
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