"Crack!" As the three Merlins focused on the scene unfolding in Los Angeles, a sudden flash of white light shot through the air, striking Stark, who plummeted downward.
"Bang!" He managed to stabilize midair and landed squarely on the chaotic street below.
"Ha!" An infected creature immediately lunged at him, its sharp fangs sinking toward his neck like thorny spikes.
"Crack!" The creature's teeth shattered on impact, blood splattering everywhere. Stark swiftly knocked it back with an elbow, then fired a palm cannon, striking its head.
"Bang!" The creature's head exploded, leaving its body to writhe on the ground as it began regenerating, a new head slowly reforming.
Unlike the desolate deserts of New Mexico, here in the city, an abundance of human "blood food" only strengthened the infected and vampire aliens. The more blood they absorbed, the more their self-healing abilities grew. With the urban landscape complicating human escape routes, those without silver weapons or purple light tools struggled against the monsters. With each passing moment, the infected spread their reach, and the vampire aliens grew faster and stronger.
Ignoring the infected closing in from behind, Stark kept his gaze forward, scanning for the next threat.
"Crack!" Ivan landed heavily, clad in battle armor. His electrified whips sent infected bodies flying as they closed in. Stark seized the moment to launch an electromagnetic bomb.
"Buzz!" The powerful electromagnetic blast hit Ivan's armor, but it remained active.
"Stark! You really think I'd fall for that twice?" Ivan sneered, whipping Stark around the neck with an electrified coil. A strong voltage surged, throwing Stark's suit circuitry into disarray.
"Let him go!" Rhodes arrived in his Iron Patriot suit, raining down a hail of bullets from his Vulcan cannon. Sparks flew as they struck Mourning Whip, whose armor was thick enough to absorb most of the hits.
"Bang!" Ivan retaliated, severing the Vulcan cannon on the Iron Patriot's shoulder with a whip strike. Stark had barely regained his footing when a shadowy figure sprang from the street, tackling him.
"Ha!!!" A vampire alien snarled as it tried to bite into Stark's face.
"Oh! Gross!" Stark muttered in disgust, fending it off with a palm cannon.
"Bang!" The vampire's large body flew backward, splattering green blood. Startled by Stark's strength, the creature retreated into the shadows, its blood sizzling as it hit the ground, leaving a corrosive black smoke that dissipated quickly as it healed.
"Sizzle…" Stark's eyes widened as he noticed part of his armor corroded. The blood of these creatures was far more corrosive than he'd anticipated.
"Stark, watch out!" Rhodes shouted.
Stark turned just as Ivan's electric whip streaked toward him once more. In an instant, Gwen appeared behind Ivan, her spider silk coiling around his arm.
"Hey, big guy! Over here!" she shouted, yanking his arm back.
"Bang!" Gwen landed a solid kick to Ivan's waist. A loud, twisting sound and bone-crunching snap echoed as Mourning Whip was sent flying, smashing into a building and leaving a dark pit among the rubble.
"Click! Click... Bang!" Ivan shot forward like a cannonball, smashing into a street light before crashing through the wall of a nearby house. Debris filled the sky, leaving a dark crater in his wake.
"Awesome!" Merlin landed beside Gwen, giving her a thumbs-up, visibly impressed. Despite Spider-Woman's "Little Hulk" nickname, the sheer power she'd just demonstrated was astonishing. Merlin couldn't help but think Ivan would definitely be feeling that impact in his back.
Arcee landed beside Merlin, standing guard with no intention of jumping into the fray—her focus solely on keeping Merlin safe. Gwen returned his gesture with a grin.
"This guy's armor is ridiculously thick; we're hardly making a dent," Rhodes muttered over the comms.
Stark nodded grimly. This tanky opponent had sacrificed flexibility for brute strength and armor, leaving the team with few options. It seemed they might need to use high-powered lasers to cut through. But just as he was about to activate his laser weapon, another alien monster charged him from the shadows, reminding him of the residual heat from his last encounter. His gaze brightened with an idea.
---
"Crash..." The crunch of broken bricks echoed as a figure emerged from the shadows of the ruined building. Ivan, holding his waist and grimacing, slowly made his way out of the pit. Gwen's kick had clearly left an impact.
"Hey, Ivan! Over here!" Stark's voice rang out. Ivan looked up to see a massive alien creature hurtling toward him.
"Biu! Biu!" Merlin fired a series of micro-missiles that exploded upon hitting the airborne vampire alien.
"Bang bang!!!" The alien burst apart mid-air, its corrosive green blood raining down on Mourning Whip below.
"Sizzle..." Ivan froze as the acid blood seared his armor, penetrating painfully to his core.
"Ahhhhh!!!" he cried in agony, as white smoke and the acrid smell of burning flesh and metal surrounded him.
"Yikes! That looks painful," Gwen muttered, stepping back instinctively at the sight of Ivan's suffering.
---
As the smoke finally cleared, Ivan lay motionless on the ground. Stark cautiously approached to check on him. One glance at the mess of broken bones, fused armor, and scorched flesh, and Stark quickly looked away.
"That's... brutal," he murmured.
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