The audience erupted in excitement. No one expected such a rollercoaster of twists and turns.
Even Marcus and the other vampires were smiling. When Shang-Chi secured the ticket earlier, they thought Selene was done for.
If the siblings had combined their tickets, one of them would've advanced on the spot. And since Selene had already lost once to Tony Stark, no one believed she could beat him twice to make it to the finals.
Meanwhile, Bruce Banner, now shirtless after transforming into Hulk, sat dejectedly to the side, watching the outcome unfold without a shred of hope left.
He sighed. Although he'd successfully forced Hulk to appear, things hadn't gone the way he wanted. Hulk didn't help him fight; he even gave away Bruce's only coin.
Looks like his dream of using the Dragon Balls to eliminate Hulk was over. He'd have to resume his research with Mister Blue.
Still, Bruce was curious—what kind of wish would the winner make? Hopefully not something insane.
Back on the battlefield, Selene stomped on the still-conscious Shang-Chi. When he tried to resist, she knocked him out cold with a punch and retrieved the final gold coin from him.
Now holding three tickets, Selene was ready to secure her place in the finals.
When Xu Xialing rushed forward to stop her, Selene snatched her chain dart and kicked her away effortlessly. With her overwhelming speed and power, the siblings were like helpless infants before her.
BANG!
Xialing flew backward, but Selene didn't bother to steal her ticket. Instead, she sprinted toward the center of the island—she already had enough coins to qualify. All she had to do now was reach the central arena.
Struggling up from the ground, Xu Xialing looked around. Selene had already vanished from sight.
She quickly rushed to Shang-Chi's side, panicking as she saw him unconscious and bleeding from the mouth. At that moment, Smith Dole descended from the sky.
"Xu Xialing, Shang-Chi has lost his eligibility. Let me take him."
Xialing nodded, stepping aside.
"Mr. Banner, your round is over. Come with me."
Bruce emerged from under a tree and joined Smith without protest. Smith grabbed Shang-Chi with one arm and supported Bruce with the other, flying them both up to the aircraft overhead. He placed Shang-Chi in a healing pod and waited.
"Let's give it a few minutes. The preliminaries are wrapping up. I'll fly you all to the finals arena shortly."
Not long after Smith took off, and before Xialing could run far, Tony Stark arrived on the scene.
"Jarvis, scan for all moving life forms nearby."
In seconds, Jarvis locked onto Xu Xialing.
Still injured from Selene's blow, she was moving slower than usual.
Seeing her dot on the radar, Tony smirked.
"Gotcha. My third ticket."
This time, he didn't attempt a dramatic landing. Learning from past mistakes, he opted for a long-range assault. Several micro-missiles launched from his suit.
"Sir, that's your last batch of micro-missiles."
"I don't care. Let's test her strength. Hopefully she's not a powerhouse."
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH
Watching the sudden missile barrage, Smith Dole, hovering above, was dumbfounded.
"What the hell?!"
Cursing under his breath, Smith surged downward like a rocket, aiming to intercept the blast.
Xu Xialing wasn't like Selene—those missiles would turn her into ashes.
At the last second, Smith reached her and launched several ki blasts to detonate the missiles midair.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Though he blocked the missiles directly, the shockwave still blew Xu Xialing off her feet.
Thanks to Smith absorbing most of the impact, she survived.
Tony, seeing Smith interfere, opened his helmet in surprise.
"What's up, Smith?"
Smith pointed to Xu Xialing, now lying on the ground, coughing up blood.
"You win, Tony. She can't take another hit."
Tony descended beside him, then walked over to Xialing.
"Well then, looks like I've made the finals."
He approached Xialing and said calmly:
"Xu Xialing, please hand over your ticket."
Xialing, slumped on the ground and drained of energy, didn't argue. She weakly pulled the gold coin from her pocket and tossed it at his feet.
Tony didn't catch it. He let it drop, then bent down to pick it up.
He held up all three of his gold coins for Smith to see.
"I'm heading to the center platform. Take care of the girl."
With that, he sealed his helmet and soared off.
To Tony, everyone in this tournament was supposed to be elite—but somehow two regular humans had made it through. Laughable.
She couldn't even take a missile hit. Nothing compared to that leather-clad lady.
Xu Xialing was filled with regret. They had two tickets. Now both she and Shang-Chi were out in the preliminaries. Unbearable.
Smith picked her up and flew her back to the aircraft.
"When Shang-Chi is stable, put her in the pod. We're heading back."
Meanwhile, Selene and Tony both sped toward the summit arena.
Back at the venue, Fox resumed the role of host and announced:
"Ladies and gentlemen, the finalists have emerged! Please welcome Iron Man—Tony Stark!"
The six big screens shut off and merged into one, displaying the final results.
The screen froze on an image of Tony launching missiles midair.
…
(End of Chapter)
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