7

Pepper didn't stay long. Just gave Tony a bunch of papers to sign. Which he did, seemingly without reading them. In fact, he had time to read almost everything. The mind-spirit fusion and the half-titan's body had a much greater speed of reaction, thinking and analysis. While Stark was in a frenzy of invention, he didn't notice it. But when talking to people or watching TV, he did not try to be in a world of constant slo-mo. At least videos, music and text could be viewed and scrolled faster.

After the girl left, Tony finally pulled out his finished suit, the Mark-II. All that was left was to run it through accelerated time. It looked like a futuristic silver armour, covering the body like a knight's armour. The hermetic exo-armour completely covered his entire body, leaving no unprotected gaps, and was stylised to fit his body shape. The head was covered by a helmet with two glowing rectangular visors around the eyes and a slit instead of a mouth, which was not only a speaker that transmitted his voice to the outside, but along this line, the helmet could open to reveal his face. It was completely technical at the moment, without a drop of magic. The runes beneath it were hammered out but not activated, as the metal had been transformed, and his astral body had yet to take hold.

The outer layer of defence was a puff of vibranium-adamantium-vibranium so that external shocks and internal overloads would be compensated for by the vibranium. If, by some miracle, the latter were to be punctured, it would be saved by the adamantium. Adamantium was used to make most of the loaded nodes like artificial muscles and servos, which allowed them to develop almost any power as long as the reactor and the strength of the user's body were enough. And the reactor would suffice even without considering the possibility of turning on the anti-material circuit at the centre. Stark had been wary of activating it at first. Still, the space collapse experiment had shown that it was even safer than his arc reactor. Since in the event of an explosion, the expanded pocket would self-destruct in spatial fluctuations.

For flight, Stark used the same ion-laser repulsor technology as for the Flyer. To begin with, the working body in the form of gas, in this case even air from the atmosphere can be used, enters an ionisation chamber where it is heated by lasers to 5-7 thousand degrees. After that, the ionised gas in the form of plasma is accelerated by superconducting electromagnetic coils and ejected outside. Thus, fuel costs are minimal, and efficiency is maximised.

By the way, there is another curious effect. You can use repulsors as weapons if you do not supply the working body. Give more energy to lasers without gas - and you get a laser beam, give more gas - and you get a throwing effect, give more to the coil, and the output is a hot plasma of a couple of tens of thousands of degrees. However, there are only five repulsors: two on the palms, two in the soles of steel boots and one big one on the chest. The last one had to be added for the possibility of horizontal flight. And without control of the thrust vector with the help of coils and mini repulsors all over the body and flaps was impossible. The human form of the body is not too adapted for flying.

The helmet was with its contraptions too. Augmented reality, infrared vision, thermal imager, radar and sound scanning, built-in on-board computer based on protean technology, and guidance systems are only a small part of what it can do. And it's all purely on technology! After getting the suit parts into the time acceleration cube, Stark closed it and, deciding to get some rest, re-watched Lord of the Rings. Jarvis alerted him to the cube's completion when he reached the Fellowship. Reluctantly setting aside the bowl of popcorn, Tony opened the cube and pulled out an exoskeleton. Putting it on without the aid of magic was quite a challenge. Jarvis' manipulators helped him with that. Speaking of the latter, he had acquired a supercomputer with a protean quantum module and was now much smarter, and breaking any crypto-defences was no more difficult than ordering sushi. Stark was still thinking of introducing mind-spirits, except none were being summoned. Even the spirits of the other elements didn't respond to summons, and what that had to do with, Tony didn't know. Maybe it was the universe or some other reason.

- Jarvis, how do you like me? - With the quiet whirring of servos and the clatter of vibranium boots, Stark strode across the garage. - And tweak the settings. I sense a delay.

- You look great, Mr Stark, unlike other meat bags.

By the way, all the impact surfaces - hands, knuckles, feet, shins, knees and elbows - had to be thickened in the form of adamantium inserts: vibranium dampens not only enemy blows but also weakens Tony's own blows.

- Have you been playing KOTOR again? I'm gonna rename you HK-47.

- As you wish... master.

Tony grinned. Jarvis was getting better at humour.

- Activating flight, watch your vitals closely.

Stark activated the repulsors by standing up straight and pointing his palms parallel to the floor. Then he was thrown, hit the ceiling, dragged along it, and Tony landed on his favourite McLaren F1! Good thing there are repair spells, or it would have been a problem to restore one of the first hypercars due to the rarity of spare parts.

- Readings off, Mr Stark, new settings loaded.

The next time Tony wasn't dragged through, he was just spun around and hit the ceiling. The problem was that the suit was not a monolithic rigid structure, unlike an aeroplane or a flyer. Move an arm, move a leg, and the force vector would shift immediately. In essence, Stark was really controlling the body with flight. But it was very complicated, and Jarvis could not compensate for all the errors without tests. So something more akin to taking off and hanging in the air only succeeded on the fifth time. And the twentieth time, I managed to fly outside. By the way, it was even easier to learn in the open.

- Jarvis, now let's test the maximum speed and altitude," Tony said.

- I hope you will not repeat the fate of Icarus?

- I'm more of a Daedalus, but I hope not. And my suit isn't made of wax and feathers.

The horizontal flight reached a speed of six thousand kilometres an hour. This was the limit of both the power of the engines and the hull, which did not have time to cool, and at this speed, Stark flew for about five seconds. The next test was the altitude. The higher you are, the more rarefied the atmosphere, but Tony had a reserve of liquefied gas for such a case. And that reserve could be replenished after the enchantment. But for now, Stark was only testing the physical properties of the exo-armour. What if he finds himself in a place where magic doesn't work? In that case, he'd have to rely solely on good old-fashioned physics. Tony climbed higher and higher. He flew through a lone cloud that had forgotten something on California's clear, sunny summer day. Here it was beginning to get dark, and the horizon appeared like an arc.

- Mr Stark, you've reached an altitude of twenty miles. I'm seeing signs of glaciation.

- Ole... What?

Only now, the man, delighted beyond belief, noticed that his hands and feet were covered in frost and ice. The insides began to freeze, and at that moment, the engines shut down - the lenses of the lasers froze from the inside. The man's soul went into a tizzy.

- Jarvis, what the fuck do we do? - Spinning haphazardly with his arms and legs, Tony asked. He still needed to bring the wand for which there was room in his wrist.

- Please note that you are my creator, which means you are my mother.

- I'll format, erase, and eat the crystal you're inscribed on!

- Try spreading out in the air; that way, you'll take longer to fall and maybe defrost.

- Well, thank you!

Tony's AI advice helped, though... At fifty metres high. When Stark, cursing everything and every one in five languages known to the genius, was finally able to start the engines. But the speed and low altitude didn't allow him to brake all the way down, and Tony crashed headlong into a hill not far from his house, leaving a deep hole. He didn't get out; he just collapsed in it.

- Mr Stark, body readings indicate you're fine.

- I'm gonna kill you, Jarvis.

Tony was so scared that if it wasn't for the half- titan's body processing all the food and water into useful substances and mana, he would have vomited, shit and pissed himself. His two hearts continued to pound like hunted birds. It was his body and the vibranium that saved him. But the vibranium only helped absorb the impact; it couldn't save him from the displacement of organs and bones at two hundred miles an hour. So now he was still waiting for the concussion to pass. It took about five minutes. But Tony didn't get up until another twenty minutes later.

- Fuck it, I'm gonna go fix and glamourise this shit.

***

Two weeks later. 17 July 2010, Los Angeles.

- Let me go, motherfucker, my son's in there! - a full-blooded black woman fought off the two firemen holding her.

In front of them, a three-storey building was burning violently. The fire had broken out on the second floor. At the moment, the entrance and windows were burning so vigorously, despite the hundreds of litres of water poured out by the firemen, that it was impossible to get inside. The woman was rescued in time, and when she came to, with an oxygen mask on her face, she began to fight back, despite the slight carbon monoxide poisoning and burns.

- Ma'am, we're doing everything we can, but our firefighters physically can't get in. The fire passages are blocked with burning rubble.

- Motherfucker Jones and I told him to put his fucking piano away! - the woman kept screaming and lashing out.

Suddenly something flew straight into the flames, and a couple of minutes later, a man in red and gold armour came flying out with a coughing roll in his hand. As he descended, a dark-skinned boy of about five or six years old in appearance became visible to the firemen, the victims, and a multitude of gawkers.

- Roy, son! - The woman began to lash out even harder, but the man in armour handed the child not to her but to the medics.

- He's got carbon monoxide poisoning," he explained to everyone. - Ma'am, I understand how you feel, but he could die if we don't get him help.

- Thank you. Thank you so much," the woman finally realised that her son had been saved, and her hysteria turned to sobs. - You're the Iron Man, aren't you? God bless you!

- No, ma'am, I was just passing by," Stark saluted, put his legs together and flew off, becoming invisible again and flying away.

He could put out the fire and even rebuild the whole house, but is it worth doing someone else's work? He'd rather anonymously send the victims money to rebuild. And secondly, mages were hidden in Pierce's world, and he didn't believe there weren't any mages of his own here. So he didn't show anything that couldn't be explained by science. He'd cured the boy, though, who'd been covered in burns and was nearly dying. But nobody saw that, so it's not really relevant.

In fact, Tony was really flying by. He couldn't physically help everyone, but if something was going on nearby, not helping when he could be a pig. He was scattering port keys worldwide to be on the spot instantly if needed. After all, even with the addition of magic at sixteen thousand kilometres or ten thousand miles per hour, it would take him an hour and a half to get there - acceleration and braking took time too. And by then, it could be all over.

So far, he'd only just begun to be talked about. Before that, Tony had been operating under averted vision and invisibility in Afghanistan, destroying the bases of the Ten Rings. The girl who gave him the doll he didn't find in the same place. Whether everyone had been killed or the inhabitants had sensibly left, he didn't know. This told him the world would not wait for him; it lives its way.

At the same time, Tony tested the suit. What. Direct hits of a tank and grenades of an anti-tank RPG are not terrible for him, not to mention small arms. Runes of indestructibility and magical barriers made him a flying tank. With the flight enchantment, he became faster and more manoeuvrable. Unfortunately, the absolute mirror enchantments could not be used. Or rather, not so: they work, but they block vision, hearing and any signals from both inside and outside. You become virtually invulnerable but blind and deaf.

Tony never got the hang of wand charms - there was no time for that. Direct control of any element was out of the question. So far, he had become a techno-artefactor with a strong body. Stark was fine with that, though. He was rich, strong, smart and handsome. What else is there for the soul? Unless saving people, which he suddenly enjoyed, because it's nice to be admired and sincerely thanked.

- Mr Stark, the Hulk, is fighting someone like him in New York - just as Tony was flying over Mexico and dropping another port key made of adamantium disguised as an ordinary, unremarkable pebble, Jarvis contacted him.

- Hulk, Hulk," Stark recalled. - Is that a big green rock like that?

- If you mean a super-strong mutant two and a half metres tall, that's him, sir.

Tony didn't answer as he watched a live video feed from a street camera on his helmet's visor. The quality was terrible, even though Jarvis had improved it. But it was clear enough that the Hulk flew in from somewhere on the right, leaving a deep groove on the tarmac. Then he got up, grabbed a car and threw it at someone off-screen. And then a monster similar to the Hulk flew out of there, only taller, with a smaller, grey head as if missing skin and bony growths all over his body, especially the vertebrae protruding under the skin. The new opponent punched the Hulk in the face, and he flew off just in the direction of the camera. The broadcast was interrupted.

- Jarvis, remind me, where did Pepper go today?

- New York, Mr Stark.

- Oh, shit!

If anyone could see Tony now, they witnessed the fast-flying exo-armour disappear into thin air with a pop and appear on the helipad of the Stark Industries headquarters in New York City. Stark's Tower, which was the rebuilt Metlife Building skyscraper.

Jarvis immediately highlights the flight path in front of Tony's eyes in the form of a red thread because New York is huge, unlike in the films. And even an event like the battle of the monsters could be overlooked at the other end of it. However, Tony saw the aftermath long before encountering the Hulk and the incomprehensible grey monster. Overturned, crushed and mangled cars, holes and trenches in the asphalt, torn fire hydrants now tall geysers, partially destroyed and punched through houses.

And worst of all. The people. Wounded, mangled and torn to pieces. People alive were trying to help the injured or fleeing as far away from there as possible. Some did it silently, some prayed, and some cried out in hopelessness and despair, recognising the disfigured body as a relative. Stark could call himself a rather selfish and cynical man. Still, seeing a girl of five pushing her father, who had been crushed by the wreckage and had apparently saved her, and not understanding why he didn't wake up, that crack in his soul, left in Afghanistan, widened. Her fists clenched, and there was a nasty creak of servos and metal.

- Jarvis... Where are those bastards?

- Seventy metres ahead.

However, Stark saw the rising dust cloud and flew at full speed in that direction, contemplating more misery and destruction. There were more than a hundred wounded and dead just at a glance. The fires had taken hold. And medics and rescue workers couldn't get through because of rubble, destroyed roads, and fear of being exposed to monsters. Finally, Tony flew to the crossroads where two monsters were kneading each other with fists. They split apart momentarily, and the grey one flew straight at the cafe, where people were left, caught between the hammer and the anvil. Stark, not slowing down but instead giving gas, flew into him from the side and knocked him forward onto the road. He gets hit by the green man who jumped up.

Tony, flying backwards from the recoil, was shocked. His magic shield had been blown away! Yes, he hadn't had the time or, rather, hadn't thought about putting more mana into it, so the reinforced vibranium had taken the brunt of the impact. But the tank couldn't penetrate this shield! How strong was the blow?

- Arrrrrr," the monsters started hitting each other again, forgetting about such a "bug" as Tony.

- Well, you asked for it!

Tony stood on the ground, hooks coming from his soles and digging into the asphalt. Stark half crouched, adopting a steady posture. The joints of Tony's armour began to glow brighter and brighter until they peaked. Extending his arms forward, he released two brightest beams that, like a light grenade, would have temporarily blinded anyone. The recoil hit the man's arms, shifting him back a step, causing him to tear the pavement with his claws, and moments later, deadly beams of super-hot plasma hit the monsters. The explosion was such that the intact glass was finally blown out of the windows.

But the green and grey monster took the brunt of the damage. The first one had the right half of his chest burnt out. The arm was literally hanging by a thread. The second had both legs torn off. But to Stark's horror, both began to regenerate rapidly! And now they looked at Tony as if he were an adversary. The man saw his chance and sprinted lower towards the central park, shooting backwards to keep the monsters' attention on him. Despite their enormous weight, they moved quickly and crossed several dozen metres in a single leap. Finally, in the park, Stark switched on the loudspeaker and shouted in an amplified voice:

- Get out of here, everyone; it's about to get hot!

Instead, however, people began to gather or ignore his words.

- Who the hell are you to give us orders? - A young man in a leotard with a girl under his arm became indignant. - We have a free country!

- You morons! Confundus maximus! Get as far away from the park as you can! - The argument was long and futile.

By covering a huge area of the park with spells, Tony had let a huge amount of mana flow through his body and soul. And if the half- titan's body was safe, his soul felt pain. It needed to prepare for this. And at that moment, the monsters arrived, but fortunately, the humans were already running away.

- Here you are, two acrobat brothers!

- Hulk! Break!

Tony tried to fly up, dodging the impact of the two arms of the Hulk leaping at him, but was hit by the grey man Tony had decided to call Abomination. That's how nasty he looked. Flying into the ground, Tony's head buzzed, and he quickly jumped aside before he was finally pushed into the ground by Abomination.

- Did you," Tony said, struggling with his buzzing head, "put all your points into strength? What about intelligence? Haven't you played Fallout?

Tony was talking rubbish, but it was his usual behaviour in a critical situation. It's a form of psychological defence. When other people freeze, panic or scream, he makes jokes. However, his interlocutors did not appreciate his sense of humour, attacking again. Stark's knowledge of martial arts came to his aid. He could only use mana somewhat to enhance his blows or moves. But it was still better than just waving his arms around. And Jarvis and accelerated perception would help with the missteps. Intercepting the Hulk's huge paw, the size of Tony's head, Stark threw him forward, using the green man's strength against him. Servos and artificial muscles screeched relentlessly, throwing him into the grey, who decided to kick sideways and demolish both of them. Before they could regain their senses, extending his ringed right arm, he shouted, sending out an enchantment:

- Bombarda maxima! Stupefai Maxima! Relachio Maxima!

These enchantments were, fortunately, powered by internal storage devices. However, they were standard for the same reason, meaning he couldn't put more in - they would have sprawled or even exploded in his hand. The dust settled, and Stark was surprised again.

- What are you, trolls?

And there was plenty to be surprised about. Unlike the plasma, the explosive charms did little damage to the enemies. Just minor scratches. Stark usually had enough in his arsenal. If he needed to take an enemy alive, there were spells. If he didn't, he could use his repulsors. Yeah, Tony's only other option was to fly away. Yeah, and put hundreds of people in danger. He still had a chance, but they didn't. So that left one last argument. The armour on his hip came off, revealing a straight, single-sided blade in a scabbard similar to a wakizashi. Actually, its main purpose is economic. To cut a man out of a car, cut a belt, or slice sausages. However, when Stark took it in his hands and pressed an inconspicuous notch, a fire of plasma compressed to the limit, to the thinnest string, lit up along the blade's edge. The thirty-centimetre-long blade was adamantium, enchanted for strength, sharpness and cutting, and the hilt was impossible to dislodge from his hands. It would be easier to tear off the hand. But he had just now thought of using it in battle.

- All right, boys, let's dance, shall we? Jarvis, you take control of the armour.

Tony, suppressing the urge to fuck off and drink himself into oblivion, struggled to his feet and sprinted forward, speeding himself up with armour spells and mini-repulsors. Running with a shiv at monsters was scary. Scary as hell. But somehow, it was also fun. He cast aside his doubts and decided to fight, leaving himself only one way to go. Tony did not notice how unconsciously he was accelerating his mind and strengthening his body with mana. His vision became a blurred haze with his enemies in the centre. His first target was Abomination, who had already been punched in the face by the Hulk, which was why he was closer. Leaping under Abomination's arm, Stark hooked his knife at the elbow, causing him to slow down and spin. He spun around by reinforcing the spin by jumping backwards and helping himself with the repulsor in his free hand. The arm fell to the ground. The monster roared and tried to catch him. Still, Tony had pushed his legs off the Abomination's chest and, doing a backflip, lurched forward again, streaking closer to the ground. He might not have succeeded. If the Hulk hadn't suddenly come to his aid, grabbing his severed arm and pounding the grey man with it.

Tony took advantage of this, slipping behind Abomination's back, cutting his tendons and turning to jump at his neck, slashing at it with his blade. The sword sizzled, the flesh burned, and if he had time to think at this point, Stark would have been happy to have a filter of air and a supply of oxygen. The vakizashi went like through butter, but he had to act quickly before his neck regenerated. Once again, the green helped. Grabbing his head, he ripped it off. Stark then jumped back, preparing to attack again. But the Hulk began to shrink and, turning into a bare skinny dishevelled man said "thank you" and slumped to the ground.

Only now was Stark able to pay attention to his surroundings. Well, the park would have to be rebuilt - there were potholes and holes everywhere, many trees were broken, and the pond was muddy. In addition, several helicopters hovered above them, one of which, judging by the colours and signs, was military, landed, and out of it ran a pretty brunette in a white coat, whose place was more like a fashion runway.

- Do you know him? Who are you? - Stark could have asked Jarvis, but he wanted to hear it firsthand.

- I'm Betty Ross, Bruce Benner's colleague and girlfriend. I guess. He wanted to save me and all of us, so he turned into the Hulk and fought Emil Blonsky, who became a monster. I'm grateful, really, but don't kill him; he's out of control in Hulk form.

- Betty, get away from Dr Benner. He's a danger to you," came a voice from a megaphone at the park's edge. Squads of armed soldiers and military Humvees also began to approach from there.

- No, we'll find a way to cure him! - the brunette screamed in desperation.

- I'm sorry to interrupt your drama," Stark said, "but are you talking about the genius of nuclear physics and biology, Dr Bruce Benner?

- Yes, that's him. As a result of a failed experiment with gamma rays and super soldier serum, he became the Hulk," Betty explained.

Tony could see from her aura that the girl wasn't lying. Or sincerely believed what she was saying.

- If I get you out and help Bruce heal, will you work for me?

- Yes, yes, of course... But it wouldn't work. My father, General Ross, won't let us leave in peace. He considers Bruce the property of the army. - the girl answered without thinking, so frightened was she.

- General Ross? - shouted Tony in an amplified voice.

- Yes. Who are you?

- I'm taking this Dr Jekyll and the lover of big green courgette with me,' Tony confused Betty. - Who am I? I'm Iron Man!

Stark clapped his hands together and disappeared, activating the portkey and carrying the unconscious Bruce and Betty. Not that he believed them completely, so immediately after the transfer, he cast a sleeping spell on both of them and put Bruce inside the cube. It was made of adamantium, and even if his new friend decided to turn green again, it wouldn't destroy his house. After that, he immediately returned because the wounded had not gone anywhere yet; there was a lot of work to be done...