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[Ironman] Ch: 151 [The Healer’s Shadow]
🕑 Added 2025-08-19 23:33:22 +0000 UTCMystique’s body rippled, her form shifting until she became the blue-skinned mutant, her yellow eyes were gleaming. She smirked, clearly believing she could talk her way out of this.
"You're not really going to do this, are you, Lorna?" Mystique's voice was smooth, almost coaxing, as she took a step toward the younger mutant. "You know we can do so much more together. Join me, and I can help you... free your father. Free yourself. Don't believe what they say to you about your father. They are liars. You don’t have to stay here, hiding behind Tony Stark’s tech. You’re more than that, Lorna."
Lorna didn’t flinch. Her eyes narrowed, her HUD flickering with data as it scanned Mystique. The results came back instantly: Infected. Sublime’s bacterial signature was coursing through her veins.
"You're infected," Lorna said.
Mystique’s grin faltered, just for a moment. But she quickly recovered, shrugging as if to brush off the accusation. "You don’t really believe that, do you? You're being manipulated, Lorna. You have no idea what you're doing. This... this isn't an infection. This is a gift. You’ll see that, eventually."
Lorna didn’t respond. Instead, she clenched her fist as her nanite suit shifted, the edges of her gauntlets pulsating as they morphed into a mini missile launcher. Five missiles' tips were visible, and there was a blue glow.
"Non-lethal form: electric homing missiles." Hermes's voice came to her ears.
Mystique, sensing the sudden shift in Lorna’s stance, dashed toward her. She was fast—too fast for most and a wristwatch-like device on her wrist glowed with a blue hue as nanites rushed out and coated her fist with a metallic sheen.
But Lorna got a suit and nanites way better than hers.
"Lock on and fire," Lorna fired the mini missiles. The projectiles shot out, streaking through the air with precision. Mystique tried to evade, flipping and twisting in midair, but the missiles tracked her effortlessly, locking onto her movements like hungry hounds. Each missile detonated with a pulse of electrical energy, sending jolts of current into her limbs and locking her in place.
Mystique’s attempts to fight back were futile as her body seized, her movements twitching under the shock. Before she could recover, Lorna raised her hand again, this time to create a shimmering energy field that surrounded Mystique in a nearly invisible cage.
The forcefield hummed, and Mystique slammed her fists against the barrier, but it held firm. "You think this is going to stop me?" Mystique snarled, her voice laced with venom. "You bastards with fucking technology! You bastards are always ruining my plans. How dare you? You think technology can beat us? There are hundreds of thousands of us."
Lorna’s face remained calm. "Shut up." She shot Mystique with another zap of electricity. "Freakin' parasite with a nasty mouth." She amped up the voltage till Mystique went unconscious.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway. Lorna turned, her sensors scanning the area. Her stance immediately shifted, her arm raised as a reflex.
Out of the shadows, a familiar voice broke the tense silence.
"Nice job," Tony said, stepping into view, his hands in his pockets and a slight grin on his face. He surveyed the scene—Mystique contained and unconscious, and Lorna standing poised, ready to act.
Lorna’s eyes narrowed, her muscles coiling with tension. She quickly scanned Tony, the readings flashing across her HUD.
The results came back clear.
Tony raised an eyebrow, noticing the subtle change in her posture. "Nice suit, huh?"
She lowered her hand.
"Sorry," she muttered.
Tony gave her a brief nod. "It's fine. You can never be too careful," he said, his voice easing the tension in the air. "You’re doing a good job. But I’m afraid we’re not done just yet."
Lorna looked back at Mystique. "What now?"
"Now," Tony said, "We are gonna fight. Let's give our team a breather."
"Wait! We?" She said with an excited expression. "You are gonna let me join in the fight?"
"Yeah, why not. I want to see your real power. So, you'll take the lead. But first," He bent down near Mystique and pressed his palm over the forcefield. It disappeared with a little hum and then Tony released the nanites with the cure into her body. "Let me destroy this parasite."
"ARGGGGGGG!!!!"
Mystique’s body jerked, her spine arching violently as the infection inside her writhed against Tony’s cure. Her scream echoed off the metal walls, a piercing wail that seemed to reverberate through Lorna’s bones. She could see the writhing bacteria, the twisting, pulsing mass of Sublime, desperately trying to adapt, to fight, to survive. But the cure Tony had unleashed was far more powerful than anything Sublime had ever encountered.
For a moment, it looked like Mystique’s entire body was going to tear apart at the seams. Her skin rippled, shifting hues, her bones elongating unnaturally as the infection fought for control. Then, with a violent spasm, her body collapsed into a heap, the bacterial lifeform inside her flickering out like a dying flame.
Mystique's eyes opened. But her eyes were glowing with a white hue.
"How did you create a counteragent in such a short time? How? I've survived and evolved since the beginning of the first lifeform, yet... A kid like you... My dreams. My rule... You..." She pointed a finger at Tony. "I can feel it. The energy of a Gem. Ah! I see... Hahahaha. So, it has begun. The Gems have begun to manifest themselves in this era. We have waited for its return since before your species crawled. Yet..."
Then, with a wisp of air, her body slumped on the floor.
Tony stood back up. “That’s it. The infection’s gone.” His right arm transformed into a gauntlet. "Let's put up some safety measures." He launched two drones from his gauntlet. The drones then flew over Mystique and released a force field around her.
"Gem?" Lorna asked with a curious expression.
"Don't think too much about it. I'll tell you in due time. For now, let's give our friends a hand, shall we?" He said while cracking his knuckles.
...
[Outside]
Lorna flew into the air. Below her, the battlefield was a chaotic mess of gunfire, explosions, and the screams of soldiers and mutants alike. Her HUD flashed with incoming data, showing movement patterns and threats. With a flick of her wrist, she shifted her focus to the ground forces, a team of mercenaries and mutants still entrenched in their assault. The metallic ground around them began to creak and shudder as she willed the metal beneath her to rise. It moved at her command, twisting into jagged spires and rising walls of debris.
Tony followed close behind. His eyes flicked to his HUD, watching the timer count down. Seven minutes. In seven minutes, the cure would blanket the planet, destroying every last trace of Sublime. The race against time was on, but the chaos on the battlefield wasn’t about to let up. Not yet.
"Alright, team," Tony’s voice crackled through the comms. "Fall back and take a breather. This is a momentary retreat. I want everyone to rest up and enjoy the show."
He watched as the Ultimates regrouped, pulling back from the front lines. The mercenaries and mutants, in their disarray, didn't know what hit them. Now, it was Lorna’s turn to lead the charge.
Tony's face plate retracted as he shot Lorna a grin. "This is your show, kid. Go wild, but no killing."
Lorna’s eyes glinted with excitement, her gaze turning to the mass of enemies below. "Understood." Her voice was cold, but there was an eagerness to her tone as she angled herself downward, diving toward the battlefield.
The ground below erupted as she slammed her fists down, sending shockwaves through the area, knocking mercenaries off their feet. The metal in the surrounding area trembled and surged toward her like it was alive, forming deadly projectiles that she hurled with brutal precision, piercing the enemies' arms and legs, nothing too fatal.
'Nice control,' Tony thought. He was impressed by her precision.
A group of mercenaries got instant heal, and they stood up and shot Lorna. But the metal bullets stopped midair around her. Another group fired multiple RPGs, but the projectiles got frozen in the air.
Lorna threw the RPG projectiles into the sky.
A deafening chain explosion rippled through the sky.
Lorna then flicked her finger, sending the bullets back at the enemies. But as usual, she made sure not to kill them.
But they were healed again.
"Tsk. Where the hell is the healer?" She continued her assault.
"Dang! She's good," Pietro said, impressed.
"Of course, she is good. She nearly killed Shaw," Wanda replied as she leaned against the wall.
Meanwhile, Tony zoomed in on the battlefield with his enhanced vision, scanning the area for that healer bastard. His eyes flicked skyward. There—hidden above the clouds—a faint glimmer. A stealth aircraft.
"Ah! There you are, sneaky bastards," He grinned.
He shot a glance at Lorna below, her suit shimmering as she tore through the battlefield, effortlessly dispatching enemies with calculated strikes. She didn’t need backup for now.
"Stay on the ground," Tony’s voice came through her earpiece. "I’ve got a job up top."
Lorna didn’t even look up as she ripped another group of mercenaries apart, the sound of their cries swallowed by the chaos of war. "Got it," she responded, her tone focused. "But don't take too long. These guys aren’t going down easily."
Tony adjusted his trajectory mid-air, rocketing toward the stealth aircraft above. His scanners locked onto it, but something was interfering with the signal. The ship was using a disruptor strong enough to block his scans, making it impossible to get a clear read on the interior. Tony’s grin widened.
"Forge," he muttered to himself, eyes scanning the edges of the craft. "Always one step ahead."
Tony's armor disappeared as he retracted the nanites into his bloodstream. Then he activated his cosmic power.
A burst of golden light lit up the night sky.
[Booom!] Tony blinked before the aircraft almost instantly and punched it hard enough to shatter it into pieces. The aircraft exploded.
Instantly, a giant metal fist appeared before his face.
---
AN: Sorry about the slow updates. I was attending a couple of interviews.
Comments
FieryD
Thanks for the chapter.
