Click.
Click.
Inside New York landmark Stark Tower, reporters from American outlets such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, along with foreign media like the BBC, were packed shoulder to shoulder, every one of them armed with cameras and recording equipment.
Tony Stark, the billionaire playboy who had been missing for three months, had called a press conference almost the moment he stepped off the plane.
Nobody knew what he intended to announce, but no media outlet in its right mind was going to miss it.
“What do you think Stark’s going to say now that he’s back? Announce some bigger, nastier weapon? Promise retaliation against the terrorists?”
“Oh, I don’t think we need to worry about what he’s going to say. We should be worrying about what we’re going to ask him.”
The reporters were still arguing heatedly when Tony strode into the hall.
Applause erupted at once.
Every camera in the room swung toward him.
In another corner, Phil Coulson approached Pepper Potts.
“Miss Potts?”
“Yes?”
“Can I have a word?”
“I’m not handling questions, but the press conference is about to begin—”
“I’m not a reporter. Agent Phil Coulson. Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.”
Coulson handed Pepper his card.
“That’s quite a mouthful.”
“Yes. We’re working on it.”
“The Department of Defense, the FBI, and the CIA have already spoken to us…”
“We’re a separate division with a more specific mandate. We need to speak with Mr. Stark about the circumstances surrounding his escape.”
“I’ll put it on the schedule, okay?”
“Thank you.”
With that, both of them turned their attention toward Tony.
A reporter called out, “Mr. Stark, what happened to you over there?”
“My eyes were opened. I realized I could do more for this world than just make things that explode…” Tony said as he stepped up to the podium.
“So, effective immediately, I am shutting down Stark Industries’ weapons manufacturing—”
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Tony never got to finish.
A series of explosions outside instantly drew everyone’s attention.
On a lawn not far from the building, the earth suddenly split open in a massive fissure.
An instant later, enormous quantities of magma erupted from the crack like a volcano coming to life.
“ROAAAR! At last, I have come to this realm teeming with life!”
A deafening roar echoed across the entire Stark Industries Campus.
Naturally, every reporter broadcasting live immediately turned their cameras toward the disturbance.
Countless Stark Industries shareholders and investors watching the press conference from home saw the scene as well, and heard that terrifying voice.
Once the torrent of magma subsided, a colossal figure burst from the fissure.
It looked almost exactly like a demon torn straight from some old religious depiction of Hell.
That, of course, was entirely intentional on Evan’s part.
After all, if a religious person suddenly saw a creature that looked exactly like the demons described in their faith, there was no way they were going to remain emotionally calm.
“Oh my God! Is that a demon?!”
“This must be punishment from the Lord!”
Everyone present stared in horror.
The people watching the live broadcast were no better, their eyes glued to their televisions.
The demon stood over ten feet tall.
Curved horns rose from its head, its legs ended in cloven hooves, and a tail like a steel whip lashed behind it.
Its entire body was covered in armor that seemed to be formed from flowing magma.
The Molten-Blood Demon landed and immediately snatched up one particularly unlucky man.
Its hand tightened.
Crunch.
The man was crushed into bloody paste.
Then his flesh and blood began flowing toward the Molten-Blood Demon, disappearing into its body.
“Ahhh… Fresh flesh! How exquisite! I require more!”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The demon’s roar finally snapped the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Coulson had brought with him out of their shock.
They opened fire.
Bullets hammered into the Molten-Blood Demon— and did absolutely nothing.
They couldn’t even penetrate the armor formed from the layer of flowing magma covering its body.
“Impudent insects!”
The Molten-Blood Demon curled one hand as though gripping something invisible.
Magma surged into its palm, rapidly forming a long whip.
With a single vicious swing, the Magma Whip tore through several agents.
Their screams rang out as the molten lash sliced them in half.
Those who had not died instantly lay on the ground, wailing in agony.
That was the breaking point.
The crowd at the press conference erupted into complete panic.
People screamed, shoved one another aside, and fled in every direction.
Even Tony found himself being practically dragged toward a car by Happy and Pepper.
“Move, Tony!”
“Yeah, I got that part!”
Meanwhile, Coulson was directing his remaining agents to hold off the Molten-Blood Demon while calling S.H.I.E.L.D. for backup.
“Damn it! What the hell is that thing? Director, we need support!”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“Motherfucker… what the hell is that?”
Nick Fury glared at the live surveillance footage as the Molten-Blood Demon rampaged across the grounds.
“Get every nearby agent over there, now!”
Fury’s already fearsome expression somehow became even darker.
Back at Stark Tower, Coulson continued ordering his agents to stall the creature with everything they had.
The situation was deteriorating rapidly.
Stark Tower occupied some of the most valuable real estate in New York, with no shortage of wealthy and influential people in the surrounding area.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. simply abandoned the place and let that creature run loose, even Fury would have a nightmare on his hands afterward.
“Spread out! Move!”
Coulson’s blood ran cold when he saw the Molten-Blood Demon raise its whip again.
“MOVE!”
He screamed the warning to his agents.
It still wasn’t enough.
Several agents were struck and sent crashing to the ground, blood pooling beneath them.
“Hahahahaha! Pathetic humans! You are fit for nothing but feeding my kind!”
More S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were arriving one group at a time, but they were little more than a drop in the ocean.
Agents were still just agents.
They didn’t exactly carry heavy anti-armor weapons everywhere they went, which left them woefully unequipped to deal with the Molten-Blood Demon.
They couldn’t even break through its defenses.
Strangely, however, the Molten-Blood Demon made no attempt to slaughter them all immediately.
Instead, it toyed with them.
Like a cat playing with mice.
“You ugly bastard!” Coulson shouted as he fired another burst.
“You’re going to pay for this!”
“Hahahaha!”
The Molten-Blood Demon laughed uproariously as it demolished everything around it.
“I am the vanguard of my kind! What hope does a feeble human like you have of opposing me?!”
By now, it seemed to regard the humans around it as beneath notice.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Two deafening explosions cut its laughter short.
The blast wave hurled the enormous demon off its feet.
Two fighter jets screamed overhead while, farther in the distance, military helicopters were already closing in.
“You contemptible vermin!”
The Molten-Blood Demon staggered upright and roared at the rapidly maneuvering aircraft.
“You dare humiliate me?!”
But rage was all it had.
Against targets moving that quickly through the air, it had no effective means of retaliation.
The air to ground missile strike had even blasted a hole through its magma armor, exposing orange red flesh beneath.
Then the magma surrounding the wound began to flow.
Within seconds, the missing section of armor regenerated itself.
Seeing that, Coulson finally breathed a little easier.
“Fall back! Everyone, fall back!”
While the Molten-Blood Demon was busy roaring and clawing uselessly at the fighter jets overhead, Coulson quickly gathered his surviving agents and withdrew.
The cavalry had arrived.
There was absolutely no reason for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents armed with handguns and rifles to keep playing human shields now that the military had taken over.
Coulson led his people to a position far enough away to avoid getting caught in the fighting, but close enough to keep observing the situation, and, more importantly, close enough to run if things went south again.
“Director, we’re in position.”
“Good work, Agent Coulson,” Fury replied.
“Let the military deal with it. Once they put that thing down, move in and collect whatever tissue samples you can get from the body.”
On the other end of the line, Fury finally allowed himself to relax.
Some of the tension even left his perpetual scowl.