Arthur stepped through the portal and into a world of steam and fire.
The transition was immediate and disorienting. One moment he stood in his manor, the next his boots hit cracked stone that hissed and bubbled beneath him.
The air shimmered with oppressive heat, thick with the acrid bite of sulfur and mineral tang. All around him, thermal vents punctured the landscape, exhaling plumes of vapor that turned the world into an impenetrable white haze.
He glanced down at the suit's control panel on his wrist. The readings weren't encouraging: unstable atmosphere, dangerously low oxygen levels, heavy concentrations of trace gases. Wonderful.
"Should've called first," he muttered, activating his armor's helmet. The Kree filtration systems whirred to life, converting the toxic air into something breathable.
The plan had been simple enough. He needed to test his new chi abilities against someone who could take a real hit, and Carol had been the first person to come to mind.
The portal should have dropped him right in front of her. But with this dense mist, he could barely see a few meters ahead.
Raising a hand, Arthur summoned a sharp gust of wind. The air surged outward, sweeping the mist away in an instant.
As the air cleared, Arthur finally got an unobstructed view of what lay ahead.
Carol was there, just as he'd expected. What he hadn't expected was to find her floating languidly in what appeared to be a natural hot spring, eyes closed, humming something that sounded suspiciously like an eighties pop song.
Steam rose around her in lazy, artistic swirls. She looked utterly relaxed, completely at peace.
She was also very clearly not wearing her uniform.
Or anything else, for that matter.
Arthur stopped dead.
This was definitively not the greeting he'd been anticipating.
Before he could decide whether to quietly retreat or announce himself, her eyes snapped open and locked onto his.
For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke. Only the soft bubbling of the springs and the faint hiss of vapor filled the silence.
"...Arthur?" Her voice was uncertain, as if her mind was still processing whether this was actually happening.
"Hey." He lifted one hand in what he desperately hoped was a casual, unthreatening greeting. "Sorry to barge in—"
"ARTHUR!"
Her aura exploded in a blinding burst of light. Energy gathered around her instantly, forming a glowing barrier that solidified into a makeshift suit. The pool detonated outward from the shockwave.
"What the hell—knock first!"
"I did knock!" Arthur protested, gesturing emphatically toward the still-shimmering golden portal behind him. "I thought a massive golden portal ripping through reality right in front of you counted as knocking! I even waited a few seconds before stepping through. It's not my fault you decided to take a relaxing soak in the one location on this planet where steam makes it impossible to see anything!"
The photon blast that followed nearly took his head off. Arthur tilted aside, feeling the heat graze past his helmet.
"Okay, that was completely uncalled for!" Arthur shouted, dodging again as another blast sizzled overhead. "It was an accident!"
"Maybe it was an accident," Carol shot back, both hands now glowing with barely restrained cosmic energy, "but still looking instead of turning around definitely isn't!"
Arthur made an exaggerated show of spinning around to face the opposite direction. "Fine, if you insist. Though I should probably mention that I have eidetic memory—perfect recall in high definition. So this whole turning around gesture? Purely theatrical at this point."
Silence.
He winced. "You're not charging another—"
A blinding flash answered him.
Arthur barely had time to brace before she rocketed out of the steam, fully suited now, glowing like a miniature sun.
"Oh, come on," he groaned, settling into a defensive stance as she hurtled toward him. "You're really going to blast me for an honest mistake?"
He sidestepped at the last instant, redirecting her momentum with a light touch to her shoulder—a move straight from Lei Kung's teachings. Carol spun out of control and crashed into a geyser that erupted on impact.
"Someone's been practicing," Carol observed, rising from the wreckage with water hissing and evaporating off her energy suit.
"Well, not all of us can afford to spend our time taking luxury baths on spa planets," Arthur replied smoothly, settling into a loose, flowing stance. "Some of us actually have to train."
Her response was a barrage of photon blasts. Arthur weaved between them, his movements fluid, economical—almost elegant. Three months in K'un-Lun had reshaped his combat style from practical to artistic.
"Show off," Carol growled, changing tactics mid-assault. She abandoned the ranged approach and dove in for close combat, fists blazing with cosmic fire.
This was exactly what Arthur had been waiting for.
Carol was strong—cosmically strong—but she fought like a bomber, all power and straight lines. The new Arthur, by contrast, had spent months learning to fight like smoke—never quite where his opponent expected, always one step ahead, turning force aside rather than meeting it head-on.
He caught her right cross as it came in, redirecting it past his shoulder while his foot swept her hovering position. She spun, off-balance despite flying, and Arthur's palm strike to her back sent her tumbling through the air.
"Since when do you move like that?" she demanded, launching another combo. "Last time you were—"
"Brutal? Predictable?" Arthur caught her arm, redirected her again. "Yeah, I've been working on my technique. Unlike some people, I don't spend all my time taking interstellar spa vacations."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You did not just—"
She fired another photon blast straight at his chest. Arthur spun, deflecting it with his palm so it shot harmlessly into the sky.
"Come on, Carol," he teased. "You're supposed to be one of the strongest beings in the galaxy. Surely you can do better than missing from three feet away."
Steam split apart as she lunged again, faster this time. Arthur met her head-on, and for a few seconds they were locked in pure strength. Carol's eyes widened slightly—he was holding his ground without tricks or magic.
"What have you been eating?" she grunted, pouring more power into the struggle.
"Dragon hearts, apparently." Arthur grinned, then did something she didn't expect. He stopped resisting entirely, dropping backward and using her own momentum to flip her over. "Ancient Chinese recipe."
Carol hit the ground hard, cracking the crusted stone beneath. She shot back up, clearly furious.
"Okay, that's it—"
She didn't finish. Arthur's fist blazed gold, and when he struck the ground, the entire area erupted. The shockwave caught her mid-charge, launching her backward. She steadied herself midair, staring at the massive crater beneath them.
"That's not magic," she said warily. "What is that?"
"Chi," Arthur replied, examining his glowing hand. "Concentrated life force. Like it? It's new—and it glows too."
"How is everything with you 'new'?" Carol demanded. "Every single time we meet, you've somehow learned another impossible technique or picked up another ridiculous power. Do you just collect abilities as a hobby?"
"I'm a quick study." His grin widened as his fist brightened again. "Want to see what else I learned?"
They collided once more—chi against cosmic energy. Each strike sent thunderclaps across the valley, shattering rock formations and boiling pools dry. The serene spa world was now a war zone.
A normal Iron Fist couldn't have done this. But Arthur was anything but normal. An already enhanced human gaining additional mystical enhancement created something exceptional.
Carol swung a haymaker powerful enough to flatten a building. Arthur caught it in his glowing palm, their energies sparking wildly. With his other hand, he jabbed her solar plexus—enough to knock the breath out, not harm her.
Carol roared in frustration and retaliation, unleashing a massive burst of photon energy at nearly point-blank range. Arthur countered instantly with a focused blast of golden chi, the two opposing forces colliding in a spectacular explosion that sent both combatants flying backward like ragdolls.
When the shockwave cleared, half the valley had turned into vapor.
Carol looked around—and froze.
Carol floated still, looking around in disbelief. Her tranquil retreat was gone. The terraces shattered, the hot pools overboiled and cracked.
Her glow dimmed significantly. "Oh, come on..." Her voice carried genuine disappointment. "I actually liked this place."
Arthur landed lightly beside her, dusting his gloves. "Yeah, I can definitely see the appeal. Very peaceful and scenic. Well—it was peaceful and scenic."
Carol shot him a look. "You're enjoying this way too much."
"Maybe a little." He grinned. "Good stress test, though. Chi's holding up great."
She sighed, the competitive edge in her posture softening as her aura faded completely. "So let me get this straight. You came all the way out here, to my secret relaxation spot, just to test your new power?"
Arthur had the grace to look slightly sheepish. "Um... yes?"
Carol's voice rose to a near-roar. "You destroyed my hot springs for a field test?!"
"Hey, don't get too worked up about it," Arthur said quickly, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "I can fix all of this. It's well within my capabilities."
Carol didn't say anything. She just stared at him with an expression of profound irritation.
"You want me to fix it right now?" Arthur asked, then added hopefully, "Can we maybe do it later? I'm actually pretty tired after all that."
Carol's glare intensified.
"Right. Now it is, then." Arthur sighed in resignation and began forming a large mandala in the air, intricate patterns of golden light weaving together as he channeled his mystical abilities. The damaged landscape responded, stone flowing back into place, water returning to its proper channels, thermal vents re-establishing their delicate balance.
Within minutes, the valley had been completely restored to its previous pristine condition.
Arthur dismissed the mandala with a gesture. "So... we're good?"
"We're good," Carol confirmed, looking genuinely pleased to have her relaxation spot restored to its former glory. Then, with a faint smile, "But if you want to get beaten around that badly again, next time we're doing it in the Mirror Dimension. I don't want to risk any more destruction out here."
Arthur waved a hand. "Nah, let's stop here. My hands are genuinely aching. You weren't pulling your punches back there."
"Good," Carol said with satisfaction. "I hope you learned your lesson. Next time, call before materializing in front of me."
"Sure, sure," Arthur agreed easily. "I won't intrude on your beauty sleep again. Though I never thought you needed any beauty treatments in the first place." He paused, then added with deliberate innocence, "Actually, after your transformation, do you think you'll get wrinkles as you age? Do you even age anymore? I didn't notice any wrinkles anywhere when I saw—"
"ARTHUR!"
"Um?" Arthur blinked at her. "Did I say something wrong? Okay, okay, I'll stop talking."
"Good," Carol said firmly. "I'm starting to think all that training everyday has affected your brain. You clearly need some rest. Maybe even a nice, relaxing bath to clear your head."
Arthur glanced toward the nearest steaming pool, then back at Carol, his helmet retracting with a soft mechanical hiss. "If you say so. I've actually never been to a natural hot spring before in my life. An alien hot spring sounds like exactly what I need right now."
"Hey, wait just a minute," Carol said quickly. "This hot spring is mine. Go find your own place to relax."
"Uh... you own this entire planet?" Arthur asked with genuine curiosity. "I didn't know you could just claim planets like that."
"No, I don't own the planet," Carol admitted. "Nobody owns it, actually. There's nothing to exploit here, no resources worth mining, so nobody bothers with it. But this particular hot spring? That's mine by right of discovery."
"Well, since you don't actually own the planet or have legal claim to the hot springs," Arthur said reasonably, already walking toward the largest pool, "I'm going to use it as well."
Before she could argue, he dismissed off his armor and stepped into the pool, conjuring a simple pair of trousers.
"Hey!" Carol protested, hurrying after him. "That spot is mine! Don't you dare take my favorite spot!"
The spa planet's thermal vents continued their endless cycle, and steam once again rose in peaceful swirls above the hot spring waters.