Logan groaned in annoyance, crossing his arms as he stared at the golden boy himself. "Great... just what we needed."
Kurt, Kitty, and Bobby, on the other hand, practically beamed at the sight of Tony Stark descending in his gleaming suit.
"Is that... the Tony Stark?!" Kurt whispered, awestruck.
"Dude! That's Iron Man! Iron Man! Right here!" Bobby grinned, practically bouncing.
Kitty's eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh my God, it's really him!"
Tony smirked under the mask, hands on his hips. "Wow. I didn't know I had a fan club this far out." His voice oozed cocky charm as the arc reactor in his chest pulsed. "Should I start signing autographs now, anyone got a pen or should we do this later?"
Rogue rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, "Oh, give me a break…"
Before she could say more, the SHIELD choppers touched down with a whump-whump-whump of blades cutting the air. A squad of armed agents poured out, forming a perimeter with weapons raised eyes locked onto the mutants.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tony held up a hand. "Easy there, cowboys! You're making this look like a standoff at high noon. Stand down, soldiers!"
One of the agents, a broad-shouldered man with a square jaw, stepped forward. His voice was clipped, commanding. "Our orders are to secure the mutant who fought against Magneto. And Magneto himself." His eyes flicked to Tony. "Sir, I need you to step away from the crater."
Logan growled, stepping forward. "What the hell does Fury want with the kid?"
Tony casually glanced at the agent's name tag. "And you are…?"
"Agent Rumlow."
Tony clicked his tongue. "Rumlow, huh? What, your parents couldn't decide between 'Rumble' and 'Low'?" He tapped his helmet, opening a private comm. "Fury? You send this guy?"
Fury's voice crackled in his ear, dry as ever. "Nope. But I've got a pretty good idea who did."
Tony's grin sharpened beneath the mask. "How convenient. Looks like you're a little late to the party, Agent Rumlow. Who sent you? The PTA?"
Logan's claws snikted out again, a sharp flash of silver against the devastation. "Is everything a damn joke to you Stark?"
Tony shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much, old man. Helps me sleep at night and I definitely need my beauty sleep."
Storm's voice cut through, firm and low. "We're wasting time here we should be looking for Gojo!."
The tension snapped like a wire. The SHIELD agents swung their rifles toward Storm, ready to fire fingers twitching over triggers.
"Back off!" Logan barked, stepping in front of her.
"Stand down!" Fury's voice roared from Rumlow's comms, cutting through the chaos like a blade.
Rumlow clenched his jaw. "With all due respect, sir, the Council has authorized me to secure the mutants and bring them in one way or another."
Tony's repulsors hummed, hands glowing hot as he pointed them at the agents. "Well, I'm telling you one way not to do it, Rumlow."
Before the tension could snap again, Beast's ears twitched. Logan's nose flared. Tony's sensors beeped. The ground shifted subtle at first, a low, rolling rumble and then it happened again.
Tony's HUD flickered. "Jarvis? Did you feel that?"
"Indeed, sir. Seismic activity detected beneath your current location. Estimated depth... unknown. Possible destabilization due to prior engagement. Recommend immediate evacuation."
Tony frowned, scanning. "Is this from the structural collapse of the city? Or the energy feedback from the battle?"
"Uncertain, sir. However, the energy signature is unusual sir, it's non-nuclear, non-seismic. It's... pulsing."
"Great," Tony muttered. "That's all we needed. A pulse reading we can't identify."
Jean's eyes narrowed, her fingers pressed to her temple. "The tremors... they're coming from the crater!"
The ground shuddered again this time harder. Loose rocks tumbled. Cracks spiderwebbed through the earth. Some of the SHIELD agents stumbled, losing their footing.
Tony's sensors flared. "Everyone! Move backget away from the crater! Now!"
"Move, move, move!" Logan barked, grabbing Kitty and jubilee by their arm as the team scattered.
Bobby grabbed Kurt, dragging him to safety as the tremors intensified sharp shocks rippling out in chains, each stronger than the last. The crater's edges fractured, dust spewing into the air as the earth groaned under the pressure.
"Jarvis!" Tony called, flying higher. "Status report!"
"Sir, the epicenter is directly beneath the crater. Energy readings are spiking. Estimated force required to generate this... beyond conventional models."
"Awesome. Any theories?"
"Tony what the hell is happening over there?" Fury's voice came in.
"Best hypothesis residual energy interacting with ambient environmental factors likely destabilizing the subterranean layers."
Fury frowned. "In English, Tony."
"Something very powerful is trying to get out."
Before Tony could continue, the ground erupted.
The crater exploded outward in a geyser of shattered earth, pulverized rock, and smoke. A shockwave blasted out, sending the agents, the X-Men, and even Tony hurtling back. The immediate area caved in, collapsing into itself as the sky above filled with a cloud of dust, dirt, and shimmering debris.
"JARVIS!" Tony called, stabilizing mid-air as rubble clattered down. "Status report!"
"Life signs detected... one. Center of the blast zone."
Tony angled down, narrowing in as the dust parted in the wind.
Coughs echoed from the crater. A faint, raspy voice muttered "Beauty and danger... always go hand in hand…"
As the last of the dust cleared, Gojo lay sprawled on the shattered ground, his hair a mess, his clothes torn and singed, his body filthy and bruised but already healing. His eyes, half-lidded and unfocused, stared up at the sky as if seeing something no one else could.
He exhaled with a strained chuckle.
"So... that was Wanda, huh?" His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper, but the grin that spread across his face was unmistakable. "Yeah... I definitely don't want to be on the receiving end of her Chaos Magic again…"
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