POV: Third Person
Avengers Base, Earth Orbit
Two Days After the Battle Against the Queen of Angels
The new official base of the Avengers was a massive space station orbiting Earth. Initially, when Stark and Baldur came together to plan the construction of a base, Stark's initial idea was to build a conventional facility on land. However, that idea was discarded the moment Baldur suggested constructing a base in space.
With Tony's technology, this idea became feasible. But building a base in space wouldn't make much sense, as they would have to deal with the hassle of traveling back and forth.
However, this problem was easily resolved when Baldur introduced them to Genosha's teleportation technology. They could easily construct a portal on land, where simply crossing it would transport them to their base.
So after a few months and a lot of hard work from Stark and the people of Genosha, they finally built a fully operational base with the capability not only to monitor problems across the Earth but also those coming from space.
All of this was to reduce response time in case of emergencies. Genosha even constructed several portals around the world connected to a single one at the base. Naturally, all of them were in highly secure locations, monitored twenty-four hours a day.
Of course, this base wasn't well-received by some on Earth. It wasn't a secret, as Stark didn't miss the chance to remind the world once again that he was a genius.
Many Avengers opponents likened the new base to a sword hanging over Earth, even trying all legal means to prevent its construction. Unfortunately for them, space wasn't subject to their laws, and there wasn't much they could do besides attempting to sway public opinion against its construction.
But once again, the majority of the public sided with the Avengers. It only took Captain America appearing at a conference to explain the reasons behind the construction of the space base.
Just with the words that this base could scan hundreds of light-years for any alien ships approaching Earth, it was enough to convince them.
"How are we doing, Jarvis?" Tony asked from outside the massive Avengers space installation.
{The sensors are back to normal operation, sir.} replied the AI voice in his helmet.
Stark was outside the installation, making repairs on the base's long-range sensors. Even though the project was fully completed, minor issues always cropped up.
"And how are things on the bridge, Banner?" he asked through the communicator to his friend.
{Everything is working perfectly.} replied Bruce.
"Then I'll finally take off this suit and get ready for my anniversary, maybe I'll be lucky, and neither a God nor a mad scientist will try to take over the world today," he said sarcastically.
{You definitely shouldn't have said that.} Bruce said, chuckling.
"Oh, come on, Banner, we're both the smartest men in the world. I highly doubt you believe in superstitions like that," he replied as he returned with his armor inside the installation.
"You speak as if only we hold the title of the smartest men in the world. Or did you forget about Dr. Reed Richards? Or perhaps you choose to ignore him?"
"I didn't forget about the stretchy guy, just..."
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The alarms inside the base began to blare. This meant that some event of great importance was happening on Earth.
Tony hurried to the control bridge of the base, where Bruce was sitting in a chair in front of several holographic screens. The doctor turned to Stark and spoke.
"I warned you."
"Spare me. What's the problem?" Stark asked.
Bruce returned to the controls and began to analyze the situation.
"It seems that something is happening in Moscow, Russia. Wait a moment. I'm positioning the satellites."
The holographic screens appeared, showing an image of a large square engulfed in flames. Even the buildings such as shops and nearby houses were engulfed in flames.
"A massive fire?" Stark deduced.
"No. Pay attention to the ground."
After these words, Tony looked at the ground of the square. The ground didn't exist; it was just steaming red lava that had taken over the street.
"I didn't know there was a volcano in that location."
"Not a volcano, Tony," Bruce said, typing commands into the computer keyboard. The image changed once again, focusing on the center of the event. When they saw the cause of the chaos, both were left speechless, staring at the image.
"Bruce, I might be hallucinating right now, but just to be sure, the cause of all this commotion is a demon riding a dragon?" he asked.
"That's what it seems," Bruce replied reluctantly.
The image showed a demon riding a fire dragon, flying over the city. Wherever the dragon passed, it spewed flames at the houses and nearby buildings. The demon was also doing a fine job of increasing the damage by shooting fireballs from its hands.
"Steve, Natasha, and Barton?" Tony asked.
"Steve and Natasha are uncommunicative, on a secret mission from S.H.I.E.L.D. Barton is on leave, out of reach."
"What a great time to take a vacation. What about Thor and Baldur?"
"You know how difficult Thor is to reach, but we have the device given to us by Baldur in case of emergency."
"I think a demon riding a dragon setting a city on fire qualifies as an emergency."
Bruce got up and went to the vault where he kept the communicator given by Baldur. He reported everything that was happening and returned to talk to Tony, who was no longer on the bridge.
"{Tony? Where are you?}" he asked through the communicator.
"The nearest portal to the city is twenty minutes away at my maximum speed, so I'll fly straight there. Did Baldur say anything?"
Tony replied as he left the station and flew towards Earth.
"{He'll be back as soon as possible, but it will take a few hours.}" Bruce said.
"Great! So what are you waiting for, use the damn portal, and turn green. I'll definitely need help."
"{Are you sure this is a situation for code green?}" Bruce asked, already knowing the answer, but fearing unleashing the beast.
"It's a damn demon riding a dragon!" Tony replied, almost shouting.
"{I'm on my way, but at Jet speed, it'll take at least half an hour.}"
Iron Man then began his re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, using only his armor to protect him.
"Jarvis, plot the route, and inform me of the damages."
"{Yes, sir.}"
Soon, a holographic route appeared in his helmet, helping Tony navigate his descent. It was either that or end up in China. As his speed increased due to gravity, his armor's temperature began to rise with each passing second.
"{Armor structure at 75% and falling.}" Jarvis reported.
"Forget about the secondary systems, and put all energy into cooling!" he said, enduring the pressure as best as he could.
After enduring what felt like an eternity, Tony finally saw solid ground rapidly approaching him.
"{Armor integrity at 45%, sir.}" Jarvis reported once again.
"Slow down!"
The back of the armor opened up like metal wings, designed to slow his descent. The impact nearly rendered him unconscious, but the armor did a commendable job of protecting him.
With the free fall controlled, he propelled himself towards the city below using his thrusters.
To locate the demon in question, all he had to do was follow the trail of destruction left by it.
"How are the civilians, Jarvis?" Tony asked after not seeing any bodies.
{The vast majority fled when the demon appeared, but some of them couldn't escape, and due to the high temperature, they were nearly completely extinguished.} Jarvis replied calmly.
Flying over the blazing houses, Tony finally saw his enemy from behind. He didn't bother talking to him; instead, he fired both repulsors at the enemy's back, hitting him squarely. The demon didn't say anything or even scream in pain; instead, he turned to face Stark.
"When I dreamt of being tormented by a female demon, she was much prettier!"
The fire demon was, in fact, female. A creature five meters tall, with her entire body constantly covered in red flames, leaving only her feminine form visible. She had two long pairs of horns, yellow eyes, sharp teeth, and a long tail made entirely of flames.
"You dare attack the Queen of Cinder from behind, you little worm!" The Queen shouted at Tony.
"By the Shakespearean way you speak, you must be one of Thor and Baldur's acquaintances."
The dragon beneath the Queen then opened its mouth and spewed a column of flames at Stark, who easily dodged in the air and fired another blast of energy, hitting the Queen's body.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The Queen then screamed in rage and pursued Stark.
As Stark fled, he tried to create an opportunity to attack. He crossed a narrow space between two buildings; the dragon didn't bother to avoid it and crashed into the two burning houses, destroying them and sending a large amount of debris flying, which hit Stark squarely in the back, slightly throwing off his flight. This slight delay was enough for the Queen to launch a fireball directly at his back. The explosion from the fireball sent Stark crashing through a house on the other side of the street.
The dragon then used its breath again, setting the house ablaze.
"BOOM!"
Before the house exploded, Stark managed to escape through the roof and land behind the Queen on the dragon. She turned her massive body and attacked Stark with a sword of fire created by her. Stark lowered his body, dodging the blow, and pointed both hands upward, hitting the queen squarely under the chin with his blast. The blow didn't have much effect, but it was enough to stun her momentarily.
"NOW, JARVIS!"
With Stark's shout, the triangular symbol on his chest glowed and fired a concentrated beam of energy, hitting the Queen squarely in the chest with enough force to launch her from her mount and crash into the lava on the ground several meters away.
The Queen then rose, and the lava flowed over her body as if it were water, now looking at Stark with eyes literally ablaze.
"HA!"
With her roar of anger, the ground trembled.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Small eruptions of lava exploded all over the street, creating columns of lava, turning the place that was once a hell into pandemonium.
"Bruce!? Where the hell are you?" Stark shouted desperately, maneuvering in zig-zags in the air to avoid the columns of lava and praying not to be hit.
{I'm two minutes away! Just hold on a little longer.} Bruce replied through the communicator.
"Easier said than..."
"Bam!"
The dragon, no longer a mount, struck Tony's back with its tail, causing him to fall into the lava on the ground. Fortunately, his armor was resilient enough that he wasn't killed the moment he hit the ground. But the damage to his armor became clearly visible as he took flight again.
"Raaar!"
The dragon growled as it attacked Stark once more, now attempting to bite him.
"How's our energy, Jarvis?" He asked calmly.
{We're at 35%, sir.}
"Great!"
Before being bitten by the dragon, Stark twisted his body in the air and pointed his fist at the beast. His fist then fired a small red energy laser that cleaved the dragon's body in half.
"One down," he said as an empty capsule ejected from his wrist.
BEEP!
By the stroke of luck, his sensors remained undamaged from the fall and warned him in time to dodge a sword of flames that attacked him from behind.
"And what about that talk of it being wrong to attack from behind?" he asked the Queen, who stood with her feet on lava.
"How dare you kill my beautiful mount, you'll pay by burning in the flames for eternity, Man of Steel!" Flames erupted around the Queen's body, and with a wave of her hand, they shot towards Stark, who could only evade them for the moment. He then tried to counterattack by firing small missiles, which were destroyed by the flames before even reaching the demon's body.
"Bruce! How much longer?" he shouted once again into his communicator.
"Look up!" And Stark did. He saw a jet with the Avengers logo open its doors, and a man jumping without a parachute in their direction.
"Finally" Stark said, smiling.
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