Night in the Big Apple has its share of ups and downs, from its various bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and social events that invite people from all walks of life to gather and enjoy themselves to the seedy underbelly, where criminals plot their various crimes to steal and abuse the innocent for their selfish desires.
However, for the last week, the city that never sleeps has been silent, at least for a particular area.
A week ago, the city was plunged into chaos. The Mutant Terrorist Magneto, backed by an army of Robotic Soldiers called Sentinels, launched a devastating attack. The Metal Army left a trail of destruction in its wake, but they were met with fierce resistance. Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, stood their ground. But they were not alone. To the astonishment of the citizens, a team of Mutants, the X-Men, joined the battle.
For most people who kept up with the news, the X-Men were known as a group of Mutant vigilantes that went around causing trouble for the MRD and often instigated public brawls with other mutants.
To see the X-Men fighting alongside the Avengers to protect the innocent people of New York. It was a surprise for most people.
But by far, the biggest headline was the appearance of a gigantic bird of prey that seemed to be made of fire, unleashing chaos and destruction in its wake.
Citizens reported seeing the sky on fire with storm clouds appearing and vanishing at will, lighting, hurricanes and explosions tore across the financial district from above and below.
It seemed as though the end of days had come upon them.
Just when all hope seemed lost, a bright green light illuminated the sky, and reports of rainbow flashes of light could be seen from the ground. The final glimpse was a comet shooting towards the sky like a firework before exploding, and the Flaming Bird appeared once more before disappearing.
After that, everything went quiet. All who witnessed the event held their breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But it never did. Seconds turned into minutes, and there was no further commotion.
Eventually, the people of New York realised that the danger was over. The heroes had won.
Cheers and celebrations erupted across New York as people celebrated another victory for their protectors.
The vigilantes who lent their aid to the evacuation were thanked by the citizens they were close to, and some were surprised by the positive interactions.
In the following days, people gathered in mass to celebrate another averted crisis and thank the heroes who had protected them. Others took this opportunity to vacation out of the city. While the rest decided that living in a city that seemed to be attacked every couple of months by supervillains or world conquerors just wasn't worth the minimal-wage jobs and promptly decided to leave the city.
While the damage across the city was severe, particularly around the bridges and the financial district, it was reduced mainly thanks to the Avengers Shapeshifting Hero. Dubbed by that Daily Bugle as "Alien X." After a witness overheard one of the heroes on the scene refer to the hero as such.
Government officials intended to get restoration projects underway. Since the HQ of Damage Control was situated in the financial district, repairs were initially going to be suspended until they could mobilise resources from one of their other facilities.
However, a wealthy entrepreneur named Wilson Fisk came forward and provided construction crews and equipment, covering the charges himself for the entire restoration project. This act of charity made quite an impact on the citizens, as Mr Fisk gained quite a reputation seemingly overnight.
As such, construction has progressed smoothly, with many buildings and bridges being repaired. For the time being, bridge usage has been suspended, resulting in daily commuters being forced to use subways, tunnels, and ferries to enter and exit the city.
Even more so for most of the financial district, many office buildings had to remain abandoned during construction. Resulting in many city blocks being uninhabited at night, leaving things very quiet in the late hours.
In a small ally next to one such construction site, a bright light illuminated the area. The wind picked up as a pulse of energy erupted, and several beings appeared. From the shadows, it seemed like there were seven individuals.
One of them took a few steps forward, fiddled with a device and checked the readings. The device pinged for a few seconds before beeping.
"This is it." A male voice announced. "I have his signal."
"Are you sure?" A female voice asked as she stepped forward.
"I'm sure." The first voice answered. Excitement in his voice. "There's no doubt about it."
Another member of the group, a tall individual, groaned. "This better be him. We've been searching for months and haven't found a thing."
"No." Another female voice spoke up. The figure raised her hand, and a pair of eyes glowed in the darkness. "I can sense him. There's no doubt about it."
A growl caught everyone's attention as they looked down at a dog-like creature sniffing the ground and walking ahead of them. The beast continued to sniff before it raised its head, sniffed the air, and barked.
"Well, that seals it. It really is him." A third female voice said from the group.
"How? Just cause the mutt picked up something doesn't mean…" The tall one started to say before being cut off by the first one.
"She was trained to track him. If anyone would know his scent, it's her."
"Then that settles it." Another male voice said as the group looked out into the city.
"Ben Tennyson is here."
"Come on, guys. Aren't you done yet?" Wasp asked.
She and the rest of the Avengers were standing in the training room. Iron Man and Panther were checking the numbers and running diagnostics while Ben, as Grey Matter, was inside a tiny access hatch making the final adjustments.
After their battle with the Phoenix Force, the X-Men stayed with the Avengers for a few days to help with the cleanup in the city.
During that time, Ben was asleep for two days to recover from his fight. Using multiple transformations, ultimate forms, absorbing a cosmic entity and shattering into a million pieces all in one night really took it out of the young hero.
When he eventually woke up, he was greeted by the usual crushing hugs from Laura, Carol and Janet. The former, having refused to leave his side the entire time he was unconscious.
After that, things sort of blurred together as he tried to catch up with recent events and assist with clean-up and rescue operations in the city. A lot had happened while he was out, but he was too focused on helping to pay attention. So, stuff like that will have to wait for another day.
Ben had to admit it was nice having so many people inside the mansion. Even with eight living together, a giant mansion still made things a little lonely. So having the X-Men fill in a few rooms certainly livened the place up.
The other Avengers seemed to agree. That is until they had their first joint training session in the training room.
After one session within the Avenger's state-of-the-art training facility, the Mutant Team seemed to all have the same response.
Meh.
According to the X-Men, the Avengers training room didn't hold a candle to the X-Men's Danger Room. If Ben was being honest, he had to agree. The times he had done a couple of training sessions with X-23 in the Danger Room. He got more of a challenge over there than at home.
That was something Iron Man could not take lying down. The moment the X-Men returned to the X-Mansion, Iron Man began working on upgrades to the training room.
Course, it wasn't just him. Both T'Challa and Ben felt the spirit of competition in them, and they lent a hand to Tony's project. Combining Wakandan Tech and Alien know-how to make a training room the likes no one has ever seen.
"Almost, Jan." Iron Man said, pulling up a holographic image. "Ben's just gotta install the final components. Once he's finished, we'll have a training room that'll make those X-Men cry, uncle."
"A little extreme, Tony." Captain America stated disapprovingly. "Should we not be aiming to improve our skills, not be trying to outdo our allies."
Tony chuckled at the Super Soldier. "Come on, Cap. A little friendly competition never hurt anyone."
"Stark is correct, Captain." Black Panther added. "In our efforts to compete with our fellow heroes, would we not be improving our abilities as a result?"
Cap could argue with that logic. Didn't mean he accepted the motivation behind it.
"You're just saying that so you'll have an excuse to invite a certain Silver-haired vixen back here. Aye Panther?" Hawkeye lightly gapped at the Wakandan King.
The Archer did not fail to notice the X-Men's Weather Witch spending an awful amount of time by the Panther-themed Hero's bed during his recovery and were practically joined at the hip during the reconstruction efforts.
Black Panther cleared his throat at the Archer's comment. Displaying an emotion that the Avengers have never seen in him before. Bashfulness.
But before anyone could comment on such unusual behaviour, a loud grunt caused everyone to divert their attention to the Gamma Giant, Hulk. Who had his arms crossed as he scowled at the Alien Avenger.
"This place better give me a challenge. Tired of smashing the same stuff every week." He groaned.
Hawkeye smirked as he glanced up at the Hulk. "If you're itching to smash something. I'd be happy to go a few rounds with ya, Jade Jaws. I promise I'll go easy on ya."
Usually, Hulk would jump at a challenge like that. Throw some smack talk with the Archer in their usual banter.
However, this time, Hulk merely scoffed at Hawkeye and looked away from him. Hawkeye's smile vanished as he also averted his gaze.
Ever since the battle with the Phoenix Force, Hulk and Hawkeye have not been on good terms.
During the battle, Hawkeye emotionally manipulated the Hulk into unleashing his rage and sent him right at the Phoenix Force. Effectively using Hulk as a weapon that he aimed and fired at the enemy.
For Hulk, this was a massive breach of trust. Anyone familiar with the Hulk's backstory knows that both Bruce and Hulk feared their power being used by others. For Hawkeye to manipulate him like that…
It put a strain on their friendship. One that won't be easily fixed. Wasp and Ben have tried to come up with ways to help them make up. But thus far, nothing has changed between them.
Though, some progress has been made. The fact Hulk was still in the same room as Clint was a step in the right direction.
Even so, they were still a long way off from being the bash bros they were before.
"If battle is what thou seeks, friend Hulk. Perhaps we can spar here and now?" Thor offered, twirling his hammer in his hand.
"Hey! No brawling until I'm done!" The tiny voice of Grey Matter shouted from inside his little hatch.
The Brainy Alien connected a few wires while he fitted a specially crafted motherboard chip into the circuit.
"Be sure to align the conduit relays properly." Tony instructed the Alien Avenger.
"I got it. I got it." Grey Matter responded in an annoyed tone. "Gimme some credit, Tony. I'm just adjusting the couplers to increase maximum output for the relays. Had we used a silver alloy instead of copper, we would have a higher conductive ratio."
Iron Man pondered the Alien's suggestion. Silver was more conductive than copper, but it had its drawbacks. "Wouldn't work. There'll be an uneven distribution of the current."
"Not if we use Omnium Steel as the alloy." Grey Matter counter.
The Billionaire mentally slapped himself. Of course. Omnium steel is perfect for the alloy. It's stronger than titanium, reduces the amount of heat as a byproduct, and with silver making up the structure, it'll be even more efficient at conducting electrical currents.
He already had JARVIS running the numbers on an Omnium Silver alloy for refinement. This will be a game-changer for future projects.
"Once I'm finished, we will need a trial run to calibrate the difficulty levels." Grey Matter informed.
"Any volunteers?" Iron Man asked.
Captain America moved forward promptly, as expected. In the face of danger, the Super Soldier willingly takes risks to protect others despite the presence of formidable team members like Hulk, Thor, and Ben.
That being said, when it comes to training, who better than the Super Soldier?
"Alright! Done!" Grey Matter called out just as the images on Iron Man and Panther's devices beeped to signal the completion.
"Ok, Cap. Let's see how you like…" Tony started to say before the ground shook beneath their feet.
Before the Heroes could react, the lights flickered as a massive energy surge blew through the mansion. Iron Man's HUD flashed warning symbols as a blinding purple light illuminated the far side of the training room. Causing everyone to shield their eyes from the intense rays.
A shockwave then erupted from the light, causing everyone to stumble. Iron Man accidentally bumped into the door to the access hatch, slamming it shut and locking it. Right onto Grey Matter's head.
"ARGH!" Grey Matter yelped as he clutched his head from the pain. The force of the metal door impacted against his head. The pain throbbed throughout his cranium as his ears rang, and his vision was filled with stars. He couldn't tell which way was up or form a coherent thought. All he could comprehend was the pain.
Up above, the Avengers were trying to blink the spots out of their eyes. Those who had trained for moments like this, such as Hawkeye, Black Panther, and Captain America, raised their weapons and got into fighting stances, while the rest rubbed their eyes to clear their vision.
"I don't see him?" A voice said.
"Signals strong, he's here!" Another cried out.
The Heroes turned to the sound of the voices as they forced their eyes open as their eyes cleared up. Then widened in shock.
On the far side of the training room stood a group of individuals. From what they could see, there were seven in total. The one that stood out the most to them was a woman floating above the group. Her body was dark purple, and pink energy flowed out of her head like hair that flowed like it was in the wind. Aside from her white, pupilless eyes and mouth, no other facial features were present.
The following two were not that bizarre; both were blonde humans, one male and one female, wearing silver armor over black body suits with a red dot symbol in the centre of their chests.
Next to them is a dark blue creature that appears to be a cross between a dog and a dinosaur. It has red eyes, blue-grey spike-like hair running down from Its collar to the tip of its tail, and black lines on its neck and legs.
But the last three were the most interesting to the Avengers. Standing before them were three of Ben's aliens.
Heatblast, XLR8 and Four Arms, to be exact. While they clearly weren't Ben, it felt unnerving to the Avengers to see different versions of his aliens.
The Heatblast looked almost identical to the original, save for being much shorter and scrawnier. The rocks that made up his body were also a darker shade compared to Ben's form.
Four Arms was similar to Ben, being shorter and scrawnier. He had a metal prosthetic pincer claw that replaced his lower left hand. He also had a pair of blaster pistols on his belt and a second pair behind each shoulder blade.
Finally, the XLR8 appeared to be female based on her body shape. She had three fingers on each hand, as opposed to black claws like XLR8, and her tail was pure blue, lacking any stripes.
The two teams stared down at each other. Neither side is making a move or sound.
However, the new arrivals shifted to a more aggressive stance while the Avengers still looked at them in shock.
"You guys seeing what I'm seeing?" Hawkeye said, blinking a few times in case his eyes were still messed up from the flash.
"Nope. I'm seeing it, too." Wasp responded, unable to tear her eyes off the three Ben clones.
"What manner of magic is this?" Thor asked, his hand gripping Mjolnir tightly. His eyes locked on the Purple Woman as he felt a tremendous amount of power radiating from her.
"Gotta be some kind of cloning thing." Iron Man stated. "Remember that Sinister guy the kid mentioned? Maybe he got his hands on some DNA?"
This raised red flags for most of the Avengers. They recalled Ben mentioning how he broke into the lab of some mutant scientist during his rescue of Jean Grey. However, Ben said that Mr Sinister was not present during the encounter.
Still, that didn't mean something may have occurred during that rescue mission.
However, that wasn't the only possibility.
"Hold on, Team." Captain America said as he lowered his shield to his side. "It's possible they're not hostiles."
"Breaking into people's homes isn't exactly a friendly action, Cap." Hawkeye pointed out.
Wasp looked a little hesitant. "I mean. We could try talking first?"
This is an unusual thing to hear from the size-changing heroine. She's usually the first one to jump into a fight. However, ever since Hank left, and recently with her encounter with Magneto during the Phoenix Force attack, Janet has started to become open to the idea of solving issues through non-violent means.
From the other side of the room, the opposing team were having their own conversation. However, the floating purple woman wasn't paying attention to anyone. Instead, she was scanning the room, frantically looking around as if she was searching for something.
Eventually, her eyes landed on the floor at the Avenger's feet. Specifically, the doorway to the access hatch.
The Purple Woman's eyes widened. Like she could somehow see through the metal of the panels.
"Let's try talking things out before they escalate," Cap suggested, taking a step forward.
The moment he did, his red boot landed right on top of the door to the access hatch.
Before he knew it, a flash of pink light illuminated his vision. Only for something to move in front of his eyes.
Thunder boomed as the Super Soldier recoiled and saw Thor standing before him, Mjolnir in his outstretched hand, in front of Captain America's head. His eyes narrowed as lighting crackled around his weapon.
From across the room, the Purple woman extended her right arm in front; pink energy flowed around her hand as it was aimed directly at Captain America's head. Her eyes burned with rage as her body glowed brightly.
The members of her group all looked at her in shock, clearly not expecting this sudden action.
"Take them down!" Iron Man shouted, sparking the conflict as Hawkeye fired his arrow, and Hulk roared before leaping at the group.
The Purple Woman raised her hand and a dome of pink energy surrounded the group as Hawkeye's arrow detonated against the shield.
Hulk then slammed into it, bringing both fists down on the energy dome, causing cracks to appear.
Just before Hulk could punch the shield again, the Purple Woman dropped the energy dome, and the Four Arms doppelganger launched forward and punched Hulk in the face with his two right arms. Sending the Green Goliath stumbling back.
This allowed the Female XLR8 to dash forward with a burst of speed; the Avengers quickly scattered to avoid the speedster. Hawkeye aimed and fired an arrow at the ground, which burst into a large smoke cloud, obscuring her vision and allowing the rest of the team to get some distance.
Iron Man flew into the sky and tried to lock on to the intruders. If he scans one of the Alien knockoffs, that could provide a clue to who or what they are.
He had only just cleared the smoke layer when a pink energy beam came screaming towards his head.
Only for Thor to intercept the beam and bash it away with Mjolnir, the Thunderer glared at the Purple Woman with fury.
"Your fight is with me, Wench!" He challenged her, pointing his hammer at her as it crackled with lightning.
The Purple Woman narrowed her eyes before her body glowed, and she charged at Thor. The Asgardian let out a battle cry as the pair clashed. Pink energy and mystical lighting blasted against each other as the two beings attempted to overpower each other.
On the ground, the skinny Heatblast unleashed a blast of fire at Captain America, who blocked the inferno with his shield. He then tossed his shield at the fire alien, who quickly dodged it and smirked.
"Ha, you missed." He called out.
Hearing his voice. Cap's eyes widened. He was a kid. A teenager just like Ben. If he was that young, did that mean…
"Wait, everyone…" He started to shout, only for his shield to ricochet off the walls and strike the Young Alien in the back of the head, knocking him down.
The Super Soldier immediately ran towards the young alien and crouched beside him.
"Are you alright, son?" He asked, concerned. He grabbed the young man's shoulder and flipped him over to check on him. Like Heatblast, his body was too hot to touch without getting burnt. Even with his gloves on, they were only heat resistant. So he had to move quickly to move him.
The Young Alien groaned as his eyes fluttered open. Seeing Captain America over him, his widened, and flames burst from his body.
"Stay back!" The Young Alien shouted as fire burst from his body, sending Cap flying from the explosion.
Meanwhile, Black Panther was moving around the field, getting behind one of the intruders before pouncing on her. With catlike precision, he tackled the blonde female to the ground, pinning her limbs and holding her in place with her face to the ground.
"Why have you come here?" The Wakandan questioned. "Answer me." His tone turned threatening.
The female struggled in his grip, but his enhanced strength kept her restrained. She had no leverage to wiggle free.
"I do not wish to harm you." Black Panther warned, his voice softening in an attempt to appeal to her emotions.
It seemed to work as the girl stopped struggling. Then, she started chuckling like she had just heard a funny joke. A childish giggle accompanied by a series of snorts.
"You really think you can?" She asked rhetorically.
Suddenly, her head turned to face him. Rotating a full hundred and eighty degrees to look him in the eye. As if she had no spine.
Black Panther's eyes widened as he felt her arms go soft like he was gripping putty, as her limbs stretched out and tried to grab him.
The Wakandan King quickly flipped off the girl as her body rose from the ground. Her head was still facing the wrong way, and her arms snaked in the air like a pair of firehoses.
She smirked as her body, armor included, went into a liquid-like state and flowed around until it was facing the right way.
Black Panther got into a fighting stance, drawing a single Vibranium dagger as he did.
The girl smirked as her whole body suddenly turned into a liquid state, growing and flowing, with her clothes and skin turning into a dark purple, sludge-like substance. When her body solidified, the girl had transformed into a large sludge creature, equal to the Hulk in height. Her body was long and serpent-like with no legs and two long arms with three fingers on each that supported the upper body like an ape. Her eyes had no pupils, and her sclera was bright magenta. Finally, she had four long antennae on her head. Two long ones flowed from her eyebrows, and a shorter pair extended from her cheeks.
She proceeded to roar as she raised her right arm, which morphed into a spiked mace. The Sludge monster whipped her mace at the Panther Hero, who quickly dodged out of the way, allowing the mud mace to smash into the floor and dent it.
Black Panther readied his dagger as the Mud Girl raised her arm for another attack.
Elsewhere, Hulk recoiled from a series of punches from the smaller Four Arms, who continued to press his advantage with a big grin.
"Come on, Big Man!" The Red Alien shouted with excitement as he continued to punch the Green Giant in the face. "Show me what you got! Show me what you got!"
Just as he was about to land another right hook to Hulk's face, the Gamma Brute caught his hand with his massive hand. Hulk turned his head to look the Four Armed Alien dead on with a smirk.
The smaller Four Arms eyes widened as his previous confidence evaporated and beads of sweat formed on his brow.
"Well ok then." He said before Hulk sent the four-armed alien flying with a powerful uppercut.
Hulk clapped his hands together with a satisfied grin before he heard a growling noise coming from behind him.
Turning around and looking down, Hulk saw the dog-like creature crouched before him. Its fang bared as it snarled at him.
Without missing a beat, Hulk bent over and roared right in the creature's face. The force of his roar generated enough wind to push the alien canine back a few inches.
Hulk had hoped his roar would be enough to frighten the creature away. He could never bring himself to harm a dog, even if it's an alien dog.
However, the dog-like creature simply shook its head like it had just exited the bath and glared at the Hulk. Suddenly, the collar around its neck glowed, and a hexagon-like disc on the collar illuminated a red light as its body glowed red.
The creature then changed, growing larger, and its blue-scale body turned into blueish-purple rocks. Its legs shifted into six crab-like limbs, with the two front limbs larger than the rear four. A series of spikes gutted from each of them. Its head enlarged, getting thicker, with several sharp rocky teeth protruding from its massive jaws and a giant rhino-like horn on its head. The Red Collar is still around the creature's neck, having grown with the beast to fit its new form.
Hulk's eyes widened as the Creature stood eye level with him before roaring in his face. Hot air blew his hair back, and drool splashed on his face.
When the creature finished roaring, Hulk wiped the drool off his face and spat out any droplets on his lips.
He stared back at the creature with a smirk before it charged at him like a raging bull.
Hawkeye fired another arrow at the female XLR8. The blue speedster easily dodged the projectile as it detonated a portion of the wall.
The alien raptor rushed at him, swiftly punching the archer in the face, knocking him off his feet, and sending him tumbling to the ground.
While the strike caught him off guard, it wasn't strong enough to daze him. Her speed matched XLR8, but her strength didn't reach his level. She also pulled her punches. If she wanted to kill him, she could have sliced his throat before he could have a chance to react.
Whatever the reason, it didn't matter to him. He is still alive, and that's her mistake.
The moment she disappeared in a blur, Hawkeye drew two arrows from his quiver. He notched one and kept the second tucked in his fingers. He pulled back on the bow and tracked her movements, predicting where she was going to be.
However, before he could lose the arrow, the speedster swiftly changed directions and shot towards him…
Just as planned.
The moment she changed direction, Hawkeye released his arrows. Firing the notched one and letting the second drop to the floor. The moment the second arrow hit the floor, the capsule inside the head cracked and a layer of ice spread over the floor around his feet.
A fine layer of frost covered his boots as well. Not that he minded. Given the nature of many of his arrows, Hawkeye made sure to design his uniform to protect himself from any kickback from his arrows, including insulated boots that can withstand freezing temperatures and electrical discharges.
Plus, a layer of frost anchoring him to the ground provides some stable footing so he won't be knocked over again.
The Speedster's eyes widened as she stepped onto the ice and immediately slipped. Losing her balance, she rapidly tried to keep her feet under her body as she skidded towards Hawkeye.
She was so focused on her footing that she failed to notice she'd skidded right into striking distance as Hawkeye swung his bow like a baseball bat, striking her in the face and knocking her off her feet.
Hawkeye placed the bow on his shoulder and looked back at her with a smirk. "Can't accelerate on ice, Toots."
However, he couldn't keep that smug look for long as he still had to deal with his boots frozen to the floor.
"Great. Ok, did I load flame arrows today?" He groaned, reaching into his quiver.
As the fight raged on, Iron Man flew over the battlefield, narrowly avoiding a blast from the skinny Heatblast as he engaged with Wasp, who flew around him, zapping him with her stingers and alternating her size to strike him with expertly placed kicks.
The Armored Avenger HUD then alerted him to a proximity alarm as he quickly dodged a missile that flew past him, detonating the wall behind him.
When he turned to the source of the attack, Iron Man's eyes widened to see a human member of the intruders piloting some kind of mech suit. It was bulky and seemed to be cobbled together with various bits of machinery and tech.
His eyes drifted around the man, and it became obvious that he used pieces from the training room to construct this battle suit.
Aside from his grievance that his tech was once again being co-opted to fight him, Tony had to wonder how the person managed to construct this mech so quickly. He didn't see any equipment on his person to aid with construction. Given how three of the attackers have powers similar to those of Ben's aliens. It's possible he could be the same. But if that's true, which alien ability would he possess? Upgrade? Jury Rigg? Or some other techno-alien that Ben has yet to reveal?
Only one way to find out.
"I'd say, nice suit. But considering you used my tech to make it. I'm gonna have to add theft to the copyright claim."
The blonde male narrowed his eyes at the Iron Avenger. "You're gonna call me out for theft? That's rich."
His mech's chest opened, and he fired a salvo of missiles at Iron Man, who responded by firing a beam of repulsor energy in a wide arc that destroyed each one.
"No. I'm rich." The Billionaire retorted.
Blasting his thrusters, Iron Man shot towards his opponent, cocking back his right fist as he did.
Just as he threw his punch forward, the mech responded by catching Iron Man's fist in its metal hand.
"What I'm still trying to figure out is how you did it." The man said as his blue eyes glowed.
Iron Man looked confused behind his faceplate. "Did what?" He asked. While he won't lie about having a long history of messing up the lives of other people. Both intentional and unintentional. Mistakes he has come to realise and has been trying to atone for.
However, in this case, he really has no clue what he could have done to this guy or his friends.
But before he could ask, something flowed out of the mech suit's hand. A black, tar-like substance flowed from the mechanical limb and washed over Iron Man's armor. Tony noticed that green circuit lines were entwined with the tar as it spread. Exactly like Upgrade.
The liquid metal covered Iron Man's armor in a few seconds, making it look like it had been given a black and green paint job.
Suddenly, the HUD within the helmet went dark, only to come back on with a green filter on the screen. The Billionaire's eyes darted over the image as a green ring appeared in the center of the display screen, Resembling Upgrades' eye.
"JARVIS. Activate countermeasures. Now!" Tony ordered.
"Ship." A computerized voice answered in a very simple tone.
This confirmed Iron Man's suspicions. This was definitely Upgrade's tech control power. Iron Man has wondered what his armor would be capable of when merged with the Alien Blob ever since Upgrade merged with his Mark 1 suit against Ultron.
"Oh boy. Bad time to install new software." Iron Man quipped as he tested out a few of his suit's motor functions. "Guess It's time to restore factory settings."
With that, he clenched his left hand and pressed his index and ring finger on two pressure plates on the palm of his gauntlet.
Instantly, an electrical surge shot across the armor. Arcs of electrical current danced across the metal body, causing the living metal to warp and contort while a scream of pain emanated from the alien being.
"SHIP!" The Upgrade knock-off shouted before its liquid metal body dripped off the Iron Man armor like mud in a carwash.
The Mech Pilot's eyes widened in shock as he watched the scene unfold.
"Ship!" He called out, repeating the Living Metals word.
Iron Man looked down to see the Liquid Metal reform itself. It turned into a small, slug-like being with what looked like two legs in the front end of the body and no back legs, giving it an overall appearance and size comparable to that of a baby seal.
The Blonde in the mech suit quickly ran to the Seal Upgrade and knelt beside it. Seemingly checking on the little creature out of concern.
Iron Man found this curious. From his observations, it seemed that the Mech Pilot produced this Upgrade spawn himself, revealing his power and how he was able to construct his mech suit so quickly. Yet, from his reaction to the creature, it's not a part of his powers but a separate being. Like it was his pet or something.
Such theories would have to wait as this was still a fight, and he couldn't give his opponents the edge.
Raising his hands, Iron Man charged up his repulsors and fired.