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Blood dripped steadily. From the stump of Ross's severed hand, blood gushed out like a fountain. A few ligaments and tendons were torn out with it, dangling limply on the ground.
Ross let out a scream, then immediately bit his lip so hard that it bled. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, trickling down his face. The immense, bone-deep agony twisted his features, subjecting his mind and body to terrifying pressure.
"Don't worry, my esteemed General Ross, feel free to scream all you want. There's no one else around. I've sent the soldiers and the low-to-mid-ranking officers to the front lines, and I've killed all the other surviving high-ranking officials and guards."
Tony wiped the ferocious expression from his face, looking at him with a gentle demeanor.
"Tony, do you have any idea what you're doing? The Military will launch a full investigation after this. You'll be an international fugitive, and no one will be able to save you! Only..."
"Only you can save me?" Tony cut Ross off. In the cramped space, the flickering lights of the equipment seemed to plunge everything into a deathly silence.
"Do you fucking think I'm afraid of death?! I've never been afraid of death. I just don't want to die yet!"
Tony suddenly raised his voice, his carefully maintained calm expression twisting into madness. His eyes began to glow with an inhuman, crimson light.
"I should have died long ago. That night, you stood in a helicopter, looking down on everything. Of course you didn't care how many people died, who they were, or what their names were. I just watched them, the two of them, in the driver's cab. As the truck tumbled, their necks snapped."
"I've already taken care of Abomination. You're next, and the Hulk is last. None of you are getting away. I won't give you the chance to become the Red Hulk, and I certainly won't give the Hulk the chance to become Green Scar or the Four-Armed Hulk."
Tony snapped out of his frenzied state, silently adjusted his posture, and once again looked at Ross with a gentle expression.
Yet, it was this very gentleness that made Ross's scalp crawl. It felt as if something terrible had been born, something he himself had catalyzed.
"You know, General Ross," Tony said gently. This time, he tore off Ross's other arm. Ignoring the man's soul-tearing scream, he immediately and meticulously staunched the bleeding.
"This world is dangerous, full of constant crises. I've known this since the day I was born, better than any of you," Tony said. "I considered moving, finding some remote corner to survive. But reason told me that would be even more foolish. I might have found temporary peace, but with one alien foe arriving after another, a small place like that would only need to get caught in the crossfire once for us to be completely wiped out."
"New York, at the very least, is a Military stronghold with superheroes everywhere. This city has been attacked countless times, yet it's never been truly destroyed. But those small towns? Forget metahumans or aliens—all it would take is a few unhinged small-time organizations or gangs targeting us, and we'd have nowhere to turn. Remoteness means no one gives a damn, let alone any heroes coming to our rescue."
"If we had moved, a single crisis would have finished us. It's a shame. I thought I'd made the best choice, but we ended up being the unluckiest of them all."
Tony muttered incomprehensibly to Ross. With each sentence he spoke, he would brutally tear another part from the "noble" Ross's body, only to immediately staunch the bleeding afterward.
Both arms, both legs, eyes, tongue, nose, teeth... Then, he began to remove the internal organs. Tony performed each action with the utmost seriousness, with the purity and simplicity of a pilgrim on a sacred journey.
"Thanks to you, my dear, noble General, I am no longer afraid of death. I used to be, but not after that day. People fear death because they have attachments to life—a career, loved ones, other bonds. So tell me, what do I have left? Nothing. Nothing but this worthless life of mine."
"All I have left is this worthless life, and I'm dedicating it to killing you and the Hulk. To be honest, if I wasn't worried about being targeted by a Nuclear Bomb, I would have killed you long ago. Did you really think I was loyal to you? That super-soldier technology? I stole it from someone else and modified it, all for the sole purpose of getting close enough to kill you."
Ross was a mangled mess of flesh and blood. Tony had torn off every last piece of his skin. The faint rise and fall of his chest was the only sign he was still alive.
Tony was very meticulous, so much so that he took out several medical kits to carefully staunch Ross's bleeding and suture his wounds—without any anesthetic, of course.
"I goaded you into attacking Wakanda just to have tens of thousands of soldiers die alongside you. That way, even in death, your reputation would be in ruins. The politicians back home would love to make a dead man the scapegoat. Your daughter will spend the rest of her life reviled by the public. And me? Do you hear the cannon fire and the roaring outside? I am leading my Legion and the surviving soldiers in a bloody battle. I am the superhero, gaining immense prestige and political capital, poised to take over everything you've built."
"I, a mutant, an anomaly in the eyes of many, will step over your corpse to reach heights far beyond your own."
"The people will worship me. The soldiers will rally behind me. I'll win over a faction of officials who will grant me political protection and help me recruit more followers."
"I know, I know, you people were always on your guard against me. That's why I only transformed some of the mechs on that battlefield. The truth is, I have the power right now to animate all four Aircraft Carrier Battle Groups by the coast. But I'm not stupid. If I did that, I wouldn't be greeted with flowers and applause, but with a Nuclear Bomb. Too much power just makes those people feel like you're uncontrollable."
Holding the vial of serum he'd found on Ross, Tony spoke gently, his words plunging the General into an abyss of icy despair.
"This Hulk serum... I'm going to inject it into your daughter. I'll make her serve me for the rest of her life, forcing her to atone for her father's sins. Don't worry, General. As the child of a sinner, I will send her to the front lines and ensure she dies at the hands of a fearsome enemy..."
"Oh, are you trembling? I see. Are you worried about the injection's success rate? What does that have to do with me? If it succeeds, I gain a powerful warrior. If she dies... she dies. It's just one more corpse."
"Your super-soldier program will be realized through your daughter, and she will carry it to new heights. Aren't you excited, General? AREN'T YOU?!"
All that remained of Ross was a mangled mass of flesh from the waist up. Tony had deliberately left only his ears intact. Ross trembled violently, guttural gurgles escaping his throat as his body writhed like a pathetic maggot. But with his tongue torn out by Tony, he couldn't utter a single word.
Not that Tony would have cared what he said. This avenger slowly stood up, his gaze flat and emotionless as he looked down at his foe. He reached out a hand stained with Sin, wrapped it around the man's neck, and slowly tightened his grip.
With a final snap, Ross slowly lost his life, dying with endless agony and resentment.
"I have no way of capturing a Soul. You should be grateful. If only I could..." Tony looked up, a blank expression on his face, and muttered to himself, "Ross, you can consider this my final act of mercy. I will let your Soul go free."
"I will take everything that was yours, and become... a superhero in the eyes of the public."
(end of chapter)
Ross let out a scream, then immediately bit his lip so hard that it bled. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, trickling down his face. The immense, bone-deep agony twisted his features, subjecting his mind and body to terrifying pressure.
"Don't worry, my esteemed General Ross, feel free to scream all you want. There's no one else around. I've sent the soldiers and the low-to-mid-ranking officers to the front lines, and I've killed all the other surviving high-ranking officials and guards."
Tony wiped the ferocious expression from his face, looking at him with a gentle demeanor.
"Tony, do you have any idea what you're doing? The Military will launch a full investigation after this. You'll be an international fugitive, and no one will be able to save you! Only..."
"Only you can save me?" Tony cut Ross off. In the cramped space, the flickering lights of the equipment seemed to plunge everything into a deathly silence.
"Do you fucking think I'm afraid of death?! I've never been afraid of death. I just don't want to die yet!"
Tony suddenly raised his voice, his carefully maintained calm expression twisting into madness. His eyes began to glow with an inhuman, crimson light.
"I should have died long ago. That night, you stood in a helicopter, looking down on everything. Of course you didn't care how many people died, who they were, or what their names were. I just watched them, the two of them, in the driver's cab. As the truck tumbled, their necks snapped."
"I've already taken care of Abomination. You're next, and the Hulk is last. None of you are getting away. I won't give you the chance to become the Red Hulk, and I certainly won't give the Hulk the chance to become Green Scar or the Four-Armed Hulk."
Tony snapped out of his frenzied state, silently adjusted his posture, and once again looked at Ross with a gentle expression.
Yet, it was this very gentleness that made Ross's scalp crawl. It felt as if something terrible had been born, something he himself had catalyzed.
"You know, General Ross," Tony said gently. This time, he tore off Ross's other arm. Ignoring the man's soul-tearing scream, he immediately and meticulously staunched the bleeding.
"This world is dangerous, full of constant crises. I've known this since the day I was born, better than any of you," Tony said. "I considered moving, finding some remote corner to survive. But reason told me that would be even more foolish. I might have found temporary peace, but with one alien foe arriving after another, a small place like that would only need to get caught in the crossfire once for us to be completely wiped out."
"New York, at the very least, is a Military stronghold with superheroes everywhere. This city has been attacked countless times, yet it's never been truly destroyed. But those small towns? Forget metahumans or aliens—all it would take is a few unhinged small-time organizations or gangs targeting us, and we'd have nowhere to turn. Remoteness means no one gives a damn, let alone any heroes coming to our rescue."
"If we had moved, a single crisis would have finished us. It's a shame. I thought I'd made the best choice, but we ended up being the unluckiest of them all."
Tony muttered incomprehensibly to Ross. With each sentence he spoke, he would brutally tear another part from the "noble" Ross's body, only to immediately staunch the bleeding afterward.
Both arms, both legs, eyes, tongue, nose, teeth... Then, he began to remove the internal organs. Tony performed each action with the utmost seriousness, with the purity and simplicity of a pilgrim on a sacred journey.
"Thanks to you, my dear, noble General, I am no longer afraid of death. I used to be, but not after that day. People fear death because they have attachments to life—a career, loved ones, other bonds. So tell me, what do I have left? Nothing. Nothing but this worthless life of mine."
"All I have left is this worthless life, and I'm dedicating it to killing you and the Hulk. To be honest, if I wasn't worried about being targeted by a Nuclear Bomb, I would have killed you long ago. Did you really think I was loyal to you? That super-soldier technology? I stole it from someone else and modified it, all for the sole purpose of getting close enough to kill you."
Ross was a mangled mess of flesh and blood. Tony had torn off every last piece of his skin. The faint rise and fall of his chest was the only sign he was still alive.
Tony was very meticulous, so much so that he took out several medical kits to carefully staunch Ross's bleeding and suture his wounds—without any anesthetic, of course.
"I goaded you into attacking Wakanda just to have tens of thousands of soldiers die alongside you. That way, even in death, your reputation would be in ruins. The politicians back home would love to make a dead man the scapegoat. Your daughter will spend the rest of her life reviled by the public. And me? Do you hear the cannon fire and the roaring outside? I am leading my Legion and the surviving soldiers in a bloody battle. I am the superhero, gaining immense prestige and political capital, poised to take over everything you've built."
"I, a mutant, an anomaly in the eyes of many, will step over your corpse to reach heights far beyond your own."
"The people will worship me. The soldiers will rally behind me. I'll win over a faction of officials who will grant me political protection and help me recruit more followers."
"I know, I know, you people were always on your guard against me. That's why I only transformed some of the mechs on that battlefield. The truth is, I have the power right now to animate all four Aircraft Carrier Battle Groups by the coast. But I'm not stupid. If I did that, I wouldn't be greeted with flowers and applause, but with a Nuclear Bomb. Too much power just makes those people feel like you're uncontrollable."
Holding the vial of serum he'd found on Ross, Tony spoke gently, his words plunging the General into an abyss of icy despair.
"This Hulk serum... I'm going to inject it into your daughter. I'll make her serve me for the rest of her life, forcing her to atone for her father's sins. Don't worry, General. As the child of a sinner, I will send her to the front lines and ensure she dies at the hands of a fearsome enemy..."
"Oh, are you trembling? I see. Are you worried about the injection's success rate? What does that have to do with me? If it succeeds, I gain a powerful warrior. If she dies... she dies. It's just one more corpse."
"Your super-soldier program will be realized through your daughter, and she will carry it to new heights. Aren't you excited, General? AREN'T YOU?!"
All that remained of Ross was a mangled mass of flesh from the waist up. Tony had deliberately left only his ears intact. Ross trembled violently, guttural gurgles escaping his throat as his body writhed like a pathetic maggot. But with his tongue torn out by Tony, he couldn't utter a single word.
Not that Tony would have cared what he said. This avenger slowly stood up, his gaze flat and emotionless as he looked down at his foe. He reached out a hand stained with Sin, wrapped it around the man's neck, and slowly tightened his grip.
With a final snap, Ross slowly lost his life, dying with endless agony and resentment.
"I have no way of capturing a Soul. You should be grateful. If only I could..." Tony looked up, a blank expression on his face, and muttered to himself, "Ross, you can consider this my final act of mercy. I will let your Soul go free."
"I will take everything that was yours, and become... a superhero in the eyes of the public."
(end of chapter)
