Chapter 53:
Tony was very sick, and it just went to show that when someone's determined to do something self-destructive, nothing can stop them. If he hadn't replaced his reactor with a more powerful one after eating the golden apple, he wouldn't be suffering like this.
During the surgery, Mark operated on Tony without anesthesia. He used the Hellish Cleaver to cut wherever he needed to, removing any palladium deposits he found. Tony was in a lot of pain, even though he couldn't speak or move much.
Finally, Dr. Ho Yinsen couldn't take it anymore and gave Tony anesthesia to put him to sleep. The surgery took over two hours, and Mark used special potions to help with the healing. Dr. Ho Yinsen helped by telling Mark about the parts he was cutting. Together, their medical and magical skills saved Tony from the brink of death.
"After doing the autopsy, I have the results," Mark calmly told the others, wiping the blood off himself. "The cause of death was the autopsy itself."
Nick Fury couldn't help but smirk. "So you knew you were doing an autopsy? I thought you genuinely believed you were doing surgery."
"You don't understand. This is the ancient and powerful magic of medicine," Mark replied, showing a bottle of regeneration potion. "Do you know what this is?"
"A potion that can heal the body?" Nick Fury guessed.
"This is the legendary potion that can even poison and harm gods," Mark said dramatically. "Drink it in the morning, lie in a coffin in the afternoon, and go straight to the crematorium at night. Three sips of this, and you're guaranteed to die."
"Don't try to fool me," Nick Fury replied. "I may have lost an eye, but I'm not blind. You used this potion to save Tony's life earlier. Now you're saying it's poison? Do you really think I'll believe that?"
"Where I come from, there's a famous potion maker called Dr. Jekyll. We have a saying that all medicine is a little bit poisonous," Mark explained. "You see, Tony was already poisoned by palladium. So using a little bit of poison to counteract it makes sense, right? And the result proves it. Palladium poisoning was no match for our Dr. Jekyll potions. Tony was saved."
"I've never heard anything like that before," Nick Fury said, used to Mark's strange ways and often hearing things he didn't understand. He asked directly, "But I'm curious about this potion of yours. Can you give me some?"
"It's $9.9 billion per bottle," Mark quickly replied.
"You know alchemy, so why do you need money?" Nick Fury couldn't help but ask.
"Alchemy is just for show, to prove that none of you are as rich as I am," Mark remarked. "But lately, I've developed a new hobby... making money off people."
"We don't even have $9.9 billion in all of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Nick Fury stated. "Even the gold you gave me was used for our agents' expenses. Honestly, S.H.I.E.L.D. is not as rich as you think."
"Then let's make a trade. Give me the Tesseract," Mark proposed. "I know it's precious to you. I just want to... hehe, play with it a little... Oops! Why did I say something so outrageous?"
"You want the Tesseract?" Nick Fury became cautious. "What do you want to do with it?"
"I just want to study it out of curiosity," Mark replied. "Don't treat it like such a precious treasure. It originally belonged to Asgard, but they're ignoring it now. I just want to borrow it and study it. If you don't want to lend it to me, I can return it to Odin, and then I'll go to Asgard to study it anyway."
"...I'll take you to see the Tesseract in a few days," Nick Fury said after thinking for a moment.
"It's a deal," Mark smiled. "Just trust me. We've known each other for a while now. When have I ever tricked you?"
"What about Tony?" Nick Fury changed the subject, not wanting to discuss the Tesseract in detail with others present. "Is he out of danger?"
"Yes," Mark nodded. "He's completely healed."
"That's quite a turnaround," Nick Fury said, rubbing his temples with a headache. "I've seen a lot of strange things in my career as an agent, but you've truly performed a miracle. Today, I've seen it all."
"Well... indeed..." Dr. Ho Yinsen couldn't help but agree. "Mark's actions have been... well, beyond anything we've seen in medicine."
"We sorcerers only care about the results," Mark said confidently. "The process doesn't matter as long as the person is alive and well."
While they were talking, Pepper suddenly exclaimed, "Um, Tony seems to be waking up..."
Everyone turned their heads towards the hospital bed. Tony Stark slowly opened his eyes.
"You're awake?" Mark approached with a smile. "The surgery was a success. Congratulations, you're now a girl."
"?" Tony was confused by the comment.
But then Pepper hugged him tightly. "Tony, thank goodness. They really cured you!"
"I... I'm still alive?" Tony realized as Pepper embraced him. "I've been saved?"
"Of course, with the help of this amazing doctor, we can cure anything... Oops, sorry, I got my lines mixed up. What I mean is, I've been practicing the mystical arts for decades. I can cure minor illnesses in minutes. Don't worry, the new you is completely healed," Mark said, imitating the voice of an old wise man.
'Physically healed, but mentally...' Dr. Ho Yinsen thought to himself.
"A minor illness?" Tony had just woken up and was still a bit groggy from the anesthesia. He said, "Palladium poisoning is a terminal illness, complete organ failure..."
"Don't worry, I removed all your diseased tissues," Mark pointed to the ground. "Look, all that stuff on the floor is what I took out of your body. Removing the damaged organs is like cutting chives. Once you cut some, more grows back. But now you're cured."
"I..." Tony looked at the ground and was shocked. "What
the heck is all that on the floor?!"