Chapter 55-Two on One
The scream was unlike anything the Equestrian Army had ever heard.
In one simple moment of clarity, when they weren’t defending their city and themselves against Ultron’s forces, the ponies covered in golden, dark blue, and shimmering armor turned their heads away from the streets that lied ahead. Instead, they spun around, jaws gaping at the sight of it.
The scream they had heard erupted from the building crumbling to the street. Bricks and glass, steel beams and the foundation that held the structure together came crumbling down in a mix of dust and fire. It fell straight down, spreading its cloud like a rushing fog throughout the streets.
Ponies that stood in disarray, wounded and bleeding, slowly began to wield whatever strength they had left and run. Even then, they were no match for the speed of the dust, its entirety filling the surrounding streets in less than ten seconds. It was near impossible to see. Ponies stumbled through the calamity, screaming to one another, swinging their weapons aimlessly as enemies drew into the smoke.
As silence returned, as much silence that could be offered in the war surrounding them, a titan stumbled out of the destruction of the building, its piercing, blue eyes scanning the battlefield. It saw as the Equestrian Army was left in disarray after the fall of the structure, coughing in the dust, peering through the madness, never escaping.
Tony Stark had nearly lost himself staring. He got shot in the back and was propelled forward like a rocket.
Impacting the building on the other side of the street face-first, the Hulkbuster tore through the entire building, coming to rest in the next street. Tony groaned, ignoring the flashing lights popping up on his HUD, and instead chose to listen to the AI.
“The Mark 44 isn't invincible, Boss.”
“Just like all the others,” commented Stark, ignoring the fleeing Royal Guard in the street. He pushed himself up and off the gravel, standing fully and staring straight into the building side. Through the hole, he could see the centaur emerge from the dust and smoke, a ball of glowing, red energy forming between his horns.
“How much power we got?”
“Power’s at 99.9% capacity.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Before Tirek had time to react, Stark shot out his palm and fired a repulsor beam. The beam went straight through the damage Tony had caused, hitting Tirek right where it hurt. The centaur growled as the beam struck his face. The energy forming between his horns died down, both arms reaching upwards to block the beam.
It held him down, but only for so long. Stark rushed through the building, making the hole even larger and stomping forward into the previous street. He jumped upwards, closed his fist that once had a beam shooting out of it, and punched Tirek in the jaw.
“Graahh!” Tirek bellowed, stumbling to the side from the force of the punch. He pressed a hoof deep into the cement, his right palm digging into the gravel. He looked back, only to receive another unexpected punch, this time on the other cheek.
Stark went at him while he was down. Tirek continued to swing, to slash, and to punch, but he missed every time, and every time Stark countered with another strike. Tony bent down as Tirek swung madly for his head, Stark replying with a fist to the abdomen. Tirek reeled over with another grunt, Tony delivering a swift kick across the face.
Tony kicked out his remaining forelegs, knocking the beast over. He finished with both palms pushed outwards, a pair of repulsor beams shooting down and blasting Tirek deeper and deeper into the earth. As the beams conjoined, growing brighter, stronger, Lord Tirek continued to scream in mixtures of pain and fury. Stark tightened his jaw, increasing the power on his repulsors.
“Friday, how are we looking?” Stark managed to say, his vision nearly blinded by the strength of the beams.
The AI replied almost instantly, flashing lights appearing on Stark’s HUD. “Boss, it’s not working. I’m detecting no physical damage to—”
Not even Friday had time to react. Stark saw as a red palm shot out between the beams, the fingers wrapping around Stark’s area of sight. Tony grunted. “Yep! He’s got me!” He brought up both palms, the pair of beams rising up and striking Tirek. Despite this, Tirek ignored the beams, standing fully and slamming Stark into the street.
He brought up the Hulkbuster armor and slammed it again.
“Worthless!”
Again.
“Foolish!”
Another.
“Piece of scrap metal!”
One more.
Okay, even with the Mark 45, even with the Mark 44, Tony Stark felt that one. He stared up, trying to take in a grasp of air. The fingers covering his line of sight broke off, revealing a large crack split across Stark’s HUD. And above, Tirek glared down at him, his yellow pupils burning bright. Stark shot out his palm.
Tirek brought up his foreleg and crushed Stark’s forearm, the beam shooting directly outwards and dying. Stark tried his other arm. It, too, was held down by Tirek’s other foreleg.
“Friday, give me something,” Tony muttered, flexing his palms, staring Tirek dead in the face. The crack broke off Tirek’s smile, making his face appear distorted. Another orb of glowing energy formed between his horns.
Friday responded, “On your right.”
“Now you see just what kind of power I’m capable—” Tirek was saying, only to be interrupted mid-sentence by a familiar force equivalent to a freight train.
Tirek’s screams echoed across the buildings as he was tackled by a green blur. Stark pushed himself up, lying on his left elbow as he observed the street ahead of him. Pockmarked and scattered, the Equestrian Army could do little as the two titans duked it out in the center of the battle. Ultron’s sentries were crushed as the two rolled and fought, demons chose to either flee or aid in the battle.
Either way, ponies were caught in the crossfire. Despite the damaged to his armor, Stark pushed himself up. “Friday, give me a count on the friendlies in the area.”
Quickly and precisely, his HUD picked up all of the friendlies in a blue outline, Hulk included. They were surrounded, the Equestrian Army holding their own as Hulk and Tirek pushed against each other in the center road. Tony nodded. “Alright…and the bad guys?”
His HUD was filled with red outlines, easily outnumbering the blue. Tirek especially.
The two struggled over power, both the Hulk’s and Tirek’s palms latched together, pushing against one another over who was stronger. In the midst of it, Hulk managed a few sneaky punches, Tirek replying with his own. The two didn’t care for who stood in their path, who got caught in their struggle.
But Stark did.
“Everypony, clear out!” he announced loudly. “Target all bogies, Friday!” Stark yelled, both his palms and feet igniting. The Hulkbuster shot forward, gaining speed and easily acquiring flight. As he was in the air, as he grew closer to the two titans, Tony shouted, “Now!” His suit fired off a barrage of rockets, each missile following its target, either demon or sentry.
Tirek looked around, saw as the missiles hit the area and spewed concrete into his face. He growled, looked up, saw and definitely felt the fist connect with his forehead.
“Clear the street! Clear the street now!” a pony in golden armor shouted, blood pouring from his forehead. He, as well as many others, began to make a run for it as the three titans stumbled forward, completely taking up the street. Many had listened to the warning, but others were still caught, whether it be fighting off remaining enemies or just being plain unfortunate.
Either way, blood was shed.
Tirek fell backwards from the force of the punch, rolling on his back and gaining his footing rather quickly. He stared straight ahead, ignored the blood pouring from his lip, and rammed his fists into the concrete. With an ear-splitting roar, Tirek managed to hit the concrete beneath him with enough force to jut it upwards. Hulk, who had unfortunately focused heavily on tackling Tirek once more, ran directly into the concrete’s edge.
As Tirek brought up his palms, the concrete fell, crushing the bellowing Hulk beneath it. He heard a crash behind him, the charging of a repulsor. Without a thought, Tirek swung his forearm behind him, striking his opponent with enough force to launch him into the opposite building.
And so it did. Stark grunted once his back hit the building side, his eyes landing on the centaur. Tirek stared upwards, another orb of energy building between his horns. This time, he unleashed that energy in a single beam of unhinged power, the beam striking the building Stark had impacted. Tony stared upwards, eyes widening at the sight of the beam demolishing the building side.
Remnants and debris from the building began to break off and fall to the street, supposedly to crush Stark beneath it. However, Stark saw something else. Ahead of him, there were still guards left in the street, all of them gazing at the falling debris, others trying to escape.
They could never escape. Not in time.
Instantly, Stark pushed himself out of the building and hovered several feet above ground. He stared up, both palms jutting outwards and firing a series of repulsor blasts directly above him. He destroyed the smaller pieces of building debris, nothing more than chunks the size of pebbles or smaller rocks raining down. However, as Tirek continued to plow the building side, larger pieces began to fall.
Tony bit his lip, destroying every piece he could see, but it wasn’t enough. He wasn’t enough. A massive chunk of building fell straight for him. Stark fired his repulsors right for it, but he was too late. With his hands held above him, he caught the chunk of building, other pieces falling and building on top of him.
Tirek ceased his destruction of the building, instead aiming for Stark’s leg. He fired. Tony screamed as his right leg was torn, causing him to fall to one knee and eventually collapsing under the weight he held. As the Hulkbuster crumbled, so did with the remainder of the building. Tony could only watch as chunks of debris continued to fall, crushing ponies who still hadn’t escaped.
Crushed. Just like that. Their voices drowned out until nothing but the sound of crashing brick and glass could be heard.
And he laughed.
Tony stared from where he lied, Tirek appearing upside-down to him. He watched as he laughed, his beam of raw, unhinged energy exploding from between his horns. Once the beam died, Tirek standing over the bloody corpses and the shattered remains of one of Canterlot’s finest towers, he said, “Do you see it now? No matter how hard you try, no matter what you do, there will always be those who die because you weren’t strong enough to save them.”
Stark looked over to see Hulk struggling, and managing to push the concrete off of him.
He turned back to Tirek, seeing him ready another orb of energy. “And you are not strong enough to stop me.”
“I might not be,” Tony muttered, his voice still heard by the centaur, causing him to chuckle in amusement. His eyes shifted back. “But I know someone who is.”
Tirek had no time to respond when a slab of concrete was slammed into him, launching him down the street tumbling and rolling. The Hulk roared, tossed the pieces of concrete he held aside, and jumped straight into the air, straight for the withering centaur.
“That was for them you son of a bitch.” Tony shifted his gaze over to the bloody chunks of building lying in the street. With a grunt of effort, he pushed the building off of him and rose to full height. Down the street, directly ahead of him, the fight between the two raged on.
In the darkness, in the heat of the flame consuming Canterlot, the two titans fought to the bitter end, no clear winner in sight. Before Tirek could manage to get back up, Hulk tackled him once more, sprawling him on his back with Hulk viciously pounding him on top. Tirek raised his hands to block the strikes, his strength either mirroring the Hulk’s or slowly degrading against it. Whichever it was, he couldn’t deny that each strike dealt a greater damage each time the beast successfully hit.
Roaring in pain, Tirek brought back his front forelegs and planted them on the Hulk’s chest. He pushed hard, launching Hulk back down the street. Before he had time to get up, Tirek’s eyes grew wide and he weaved his neck right, barely dodging the fist intended for his head.
Now embedded in the street, Tony ripped out his left fist and turned it to Tirek. He was met with a burst of energy striking his left shoulder, spinning him and landing with his chest on the ground. With both foes currently wounded, Tirek forced himself on all four hooves pain coursing through his body, blood leaking from wounds on his face.
He faced the red beast lying on its chest. He growled, charging up another spell. Just as Tirek fired away, Stark spun around, firing a repulsor beam to meet Tirek’s magic. The two energy beams collided, pushing Tirek back with his hooves skidding in the street and Stark digging deeper into the road.
When he came to, waving the smoke away from his vision, Tirek was met with yet another fist to the face. He felt something crack in his jaw, something that elicited a powerful scream from the centaur. He replied with his own strike, swinging madly at his foe and missing. The Hulk ducked under the swing, kicking up and delivering an uppercut to Tirek’s chin.
Once more, he was pushed back, this time taking steps despite the cries from his fractured mind. As Hulk dug deeper, punching harder and pushing Tirek farther and farther down the road, Tirek found himself slowly being degraded, slowly breaking down with each strike dealt his way. It wasn’t long before the Hulkbuster arrived, aiding in crushing any resilience that Tirek had to offer.
Together, both Stark and Hulk delivered their own strikes against the centaur. Tony applied severe punches against Tirek’s face and abdomen, deflecting Tirek’s strikes and responding with a repulsor blast to any part of his body that wasn’t protected. In turn, Hulk was an unstable fighting machine, delivering wild punches and kicks similar to that of a mad gorilla.
It was overwhelming. Whenever he tried to use his magic, he’d get punched in the face. Whenever he tried to retaliate with a swipe of his forearm or a punch of his fist, he’d get swarmed with strikes up and down his body. The Hulk reared forward, roaring as he rammed his green fist into Tirek’s ribcage. A sickening crack reverberated through the streets, an ear-splitting cry doing just the same. Tony struck him across the face.
With each hit pushing him down, the severity of the situation became more and more clear. Despite having consumed the magic of hundreds of ponies, despite sucking the power out of two god-like Alicorns, he was still faltering. He was actually losing to these two freaks from another world. Such a thought turned into questions he didn’t want to know the answer to. Like how could he falter to lower life forms? That he had become arrogant once more? That maybe his strength might fail him?
That he would lose everything…again?
That thought alone li a certain spark in Tirek’s dark, twisted heart, enraging him. Fueling him with the strength he needed to ignore the pain in his body and deliver it to his enemies. With that thought in mind, Tirek gritted his teeth, his fists clenched together, his eyes shut tight.
Tony Stark reared his left arm back.
“GAAAHHH!!!”
Just as he moved in to strike, another beam of dark magic exploded from between the centaur’s horns. It struck neatly between the arm and the shoulder, completely severing the Hulkbuster’s left arm. The Hulk flew back from the blast, roaring as he did so. As the arm flipped in the air, landing in the shattered cement, Tony Stark watched it fall. A bit of déjà vu, but nothing he couldn’t fix with a simple call.
“Veronica,” Stark stated loudly. He jutted his right palm forward, blasting a single, constant beam into Tirek. He replied with his own, the two beams colliding to create a shower of sparks dancing across the street. “I need a hand here!”
Just as he called, the Veronica device hovered over a pair of rooftops, shooting off the necessary pieces to form the Hulkbuster arm. Stark saw them coming. He kept up the repulsor beam, seeing it grow shorter and shorter as Tirek began to grow closer. The pieces flew in, forming together where the missing appendage once was to form a new one.
The fist came in, locked into place, and clenched together.
And Tony shot that fist forward.
Only to have it stop in mid-air.
He couldn’t move. No matter what he did, as the orange aura consumed his forearm and body, Tony Stark couldn’t move. “Friday…” he muttered barely over a whisper.
“Boss, we have an unknown energy spike in our systems. We can’t move,” she explained.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Tirek grinned madly. With a grotesque roar, he swung his neck back, bringing the entire Hulkbuster armor with him. He spun completely around, smashing Stark from building side to another, and slammed him into the charging Hulk. He released his grip on Stark after that, watching as the two went flying through an entire building.
The two broke apart once they exited the building, Hulk landing and tumbling through the street until he crashed into the next set of buildings, spewing marble and brick across the road. Tony managed to gain flight despite the flashing lights buzzing across his HUD that told him otherwise.
“Well, we can move now,” Tony said. Another roar, this time from behind. He spun around, shot out his arms, but wasn’t quick enough to fire on the quickly approaching Tirek. He leapt through the destruction of the building, ramming Hulkbuster with his head first.
The two dove straight into the next set of structures at the end of the street. They impacted the side of a small tower, crashing through it and landing in the street below. Tirek came out on top as the tower behind him fell. He reared upwards, fury in his eyes, and brought down his fist. To his disbelief, he saw as the machine beneath him caught his strike with one hand.
That same hand growing longer, consuming Tirek’s forearm.
“What is this?!” he bellowed, clawing at the device locked around his arm.
“Get ready for the ride of your life, asswipe.”
Still trying to escape, Tirek could only release another signature roar as he was lifted off the ground, held tightly by the grasp of the Hulkbuster. The suit lifted off the ground, hovered for a short moment, and then took off at blazing speeds down the road. Tirek struggled with the device around his wrist. Tony helped by lowering him down to street, letting him skid across the cement, ram into several demons, and even swing him into a nearby shop.
Even then, Tirek was not finished. He still thrashed in Tony’s grasp, punching and clawing at whatever piece of the Hulkbuster he could grab. And he was doing same damage. Even Tony, after smashing Tirek from one building to another, was having trouble holding him. It wouldn’t be long now. He just had to hold out a little longer.
Tirek reared his claws forward and gouged at the Hulkbuster’s abdomen. He yanked hard, ripping out the armor and exposing the wiring and circuitry beneath. Tony grunted. “Okay, you’re pissing me off.” He saw the city’s limits up ahead, the dark mountain approaching closer as they jetted down the road.
Before he had another opportunity at digging deeper into the armor, Tirek felt himself impact a much harder surface than earlier. He roared in pain as his back was dragged upwards a steep and jagged ground. Stark tightened his jaw as he continued to push Tirek harder Canterlot Mountain, the duo rising higher as Stark continued to climb.
“Release me this instant!” Tirek bellowed, his head constantly thumping against the side of the mountain.
To his surprise, his foe listened.
“Gotcha covered!”
And just like that, the lock was broken. And just like that, Tirek fell.
But he wasn’t finished with him just yet. Stark flew back down, dove close to the flailing centaur, and punched him right in the sternum. He plummeted like a meteor, impacting the very top of the closest building and bringing it down in a cloud of dust. But even then, as the building crumbled into nothing, Stark wasn’t finished.
Hovering in place, Tony released another repulsor beam, this time aiming for the mountain. As his beam of energy struck the side of Canterlot Mountain, massive boulders broke off and tumbled down to the city below, directly where the building had fallen. Stark continued this until a pile of boulders replaced the building, leaving nothing more than just that.
He lowered his arm, slowly turning back.
The dust had almost completely settled, the madness of war slowly beginning to trickle in. Stark flew back down to the city, landing in the fog with a heavy thud in the streets below. “Friday, give me a scan of the area. I want any heartbeats you can find.”
The first heartbeat was his own, followed by another deep underneath a pile of boulders.
Stark cocked his right forearm, his wrist lighting up. Jutting his right arm outwards, he slowly began to approach the remains of the building, to the piles and piles of rock and stone. Just as was the pile was Stark’s face, hardened to the point of a life-like sculpture, focused heavily on one point of interest.
Each step forward, each stomp creating small vibrations through the streets. The madness of the war around him had been completely drowned out, his entire focus solely based on whatever the hell the monster he was fighting. He took another step forward and stopped, his eyes glowing through the dust and darkness, forearm held outwards, ready to fire.
The pile of boulders were silent.
The dust had finally settled. It was clear.
Yet he was not dead.
Far, far from it.
Then they erupted. Like a volcano years of being untouched, the pile of rocks erupted, spewing slabs of stone across Stark’s field of vision. He didn’t care. He fired blindly through it all, only stopping once his right arm was blown to shreds. That same, orange bream of raw energy tore through the smoke and destroyed his right arm, Stark stumbling.
“Veronica!” he called out again.
Again, Veronica hovered close to the fight. However, before she could fire off another set of parts for an arm, she was blown right out of the sky by that same orange beam.
“No cowardly weapons can save you now.”
Stark spun back around after witnessing Veronica crash in the streets. There, pushing over boulders three times his size as if they were nothing, Tirek emerged out of the rubble, bruised, bloodied, but still standing. Still willing to fight. He wiped his mouth and slowly lowered his fists, nothing but blood-red teeth showing in his teeth.
He dug into the cement with his hoof, snorting. “Face me as you are…hero.”
His coordinates were set, the message being sent to his eyes in the sky. Tony Stark breathed through his nose, saying, “Bring it on, Mr. Tumnus.”
Someone didn’t like nicknames. In an instant, Tirek was charging with his head down, horns forward, and magic firing. Stark kicked up and to the right, dodging the blast and coming back with his left fist swinging downwards. His remaining palm struck Tirek in the back of the head, pushing the centaur into the ground with a painful grunt.
Tirek rolled over, only to be easily pinned and pushed back to the ground. He fought back, clawing at the Hulkbuster armor, clinging onto Stark’s remaining arm, but it was all for naught. Tony broke away, stood directly over the struggling Tirek, and punched him in the face. Repeatedly.
Like a lot.
In fast, piston-like motions.
His head bounced up and off the gravel, the indent in the street getting deeper with each strike. Tony knew it wouldn’t hold for long. If this bastard could survive a building falling on top of him followed by an avalanche of boulders then he could definitely take a few hits. He just needed to hold out until the cavalry arrived.
It had better hurry, too. Tirek kicked up with his front forelegs, launching Hulkbuster up and off of him. Scrambling upwards, Tirek quickly dodged the swipe, replying with his own. Tony grunted, sparks and flashes going off within his field of view. He jammed his left arm out and caught Tirek right in the throat. Igniting his feet, Stark burst upwards, firing a repulsor beam and launching Tirek right back into the street.
Once he landed, Tony heard, “Coming in hot behind you, Stark. Clear a path.”
He spun around and saw the Quinjet far down the street just above the rooftops. He never did see the beam of energy strike him in the chest. Tony hissed in pain, slowly spinning back but ultimately failing. He fell to one knee, his last palm pressed hard against the concrete. Directly ahead, emerging from the small crater, Tirek slowly arose from the smoke.
“Stark, I have the target in range. Move away now!”
Tirek charged blindly once again. Idiot. Tony licked his lips. Waited. Then struck.
His feet burst to life, his fist leading the charge with an uppercut right on Tirek’s white beard. Tony shot over him, spinning around and landing behind the centaur. With that advantage, Stark quickly wrapped his remaining arm around Tirek’s neck and held him there, strangling him, suffocating him.
He heard him struggle, he felt him reach back and saw as his fingers clawed at his helmet. Tony tightened his grip, forced whatever power he had in his suit and held the beast still.
He watched as the Quinjet swooped below the buildings, firing a barrage of bullets that kicked against the street, quickly leading up to the centaur and penetrating his chest. Stark could feel the bullets hit his forearm, but felt little damage actually affect his armor. Tirek roared in anguish, struggling even harder as Stark’s vice-grip tightened.
The bullets ceased. Instead, Maria Hill launched two missiles.
Tirek saw them coming, saw them grow bigger with each passing second. In his struggle, panic fueling his veins, Tirek reached back with all that he was, roaring in pain as his body disagreed, and found luck when he actually grabbed something. Using the remainder of his strength, and to Stark’s own horror, Tirek yanked the entire Hulkbuster armor forward.
The first missile struck Tony’s back, the other hitting Tirek.
He screamed. Both of them did. Stark flipped through the air, landing on his back in a scrambled heap. Tirek was pushed back as if a tidal wave hit him, his body crashing into a pile of boulders until he slowly sunk back onto the street. Yet, despite all the pain coursing through him, Tirek slowly pushed himself up, both fists planted downwards.
He looked up. The Quinjet hovered directly ahead, its Gatling gun revving up.
Tirek sneered, firing a single blast up above. The beam struck the Quinjet’s right engine, causing the flying beast to steer out of control. As his HUD slowly began to fade, Stark could only watch, could only listen as Maria Hill piloted the fumbling Quinjet.
“I’m hit! I’m hit! Any nearby S.H.I.E.L.D., I am relaying my location to you! Tony Stark is under fire and I can no longer provide support! He’s near the mountain on the city limits! This message goes to anyone out there! Mayday! Mayday!”
Tony saw as she steered right out of the sky, impacting a small tower and spiraling out of sight.
A straining groan began to build to his right. Tony turned that way, seeing Tirek push himself up with aid from a nearby rock pile. He looked up, his twin, yellow pupils staring at Stark lying in disarray. He turned away, eyes landing on the rising tower of smoke on the other street.
At that sight alone, he put the pieces together and slowly began to chuckle. “Oh, was that your friend?” Tirek asked, rising to full height.
Stark said nothing. His eyes remained hard, stare unbroken as Tirek limped over to him, slowly, deliberately. Tauntingly.
The silence was more than an answer. Tirek chuckled heavily, coughing up blood. “I see… How does it feel…knowing that they could have well have been killed upon the crash, but they surely could meet their end when our forces surround them?”
Tony tried to move, but couldn’t. He tried his comms, started to say something, then was interrupted once Tirek planted his hoof on Stark’s chest. He pressed down, increased the pressure greatly. “They can fight. You can still believe that they have what it takes to defend themselves, but in the end it will be for naught. They will die…just as you will.”
Behind him, the storm clouds grew restless, lightning flickering through the heavens.
“Just as this old world will. And begins anew.”
“Thor, bring down the thunder,” Tony grunted.
Mildly confused, Tirek glared down at his foe, only to realize his mistake once more. He didn’t have time to shoot around once the bolt of lightning struck his backside. Tirek reared forward as the streams of electricity coursed through his body, earning powerful cries from the centaur. Stark watched from where he lied as the lightning ceased, a certain God of Thunder swooping downwards and landing in the street to his left.
No longer confused, but rather furious, Tirek observed the one who struck him, seeing his red cape flow with the fiery winds, his electrified hammer held tightly. He didn’t even need to think when he lunged forward, the only thought he could have being the total destruction of his enemy. Even then, it never came to pass.
Thor, once more, shot out his hammer, yelling his own war cry as a stream of lightning blasted outwards from his weapon. The lightning shot out and struck Tirek again, this time right in the heart. He lurched forward, slowly moving forward one step at a time. Thor backed away, still gripping his hammer, still grinding his teeth, still wondering how the horned beast was withstanding his power.
He spun his neck around. He turned back to Tirek and broke off the current.
“Now, Banner! While he is weakened!”
Tirek looked up, instantly met with that same, foul, green beast from before ramming into him.
The same, absolute power of a freight train.
“Thor!”
Spinning accordingly, Odinson watched as Natasha Romanoff—trailed by several other soldiers exhibiting the S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia on their shoulders—approached him. A pistol in each hand, blood coated across her forehead from an ugly gash next to her temple, the Widow came next to the God of Thunder’s side, the soldiers in black remaining still, their weapons aimed forward.
Natasha cocked one of her pistols, eyeing the fight taking place several yards ahead of her. She said, “Got a call from above saying Stark needed some help, and it looks like we got a few reinforcements, as well.” She twisted her neck back to the S.H.I.E.L.D., eyeing them curiously.
Thor’s eyes shifted from Natasha to the soldiers, then back to her. “Romanoff,” he began, hand held out to her. He flinched, however, when a series of crashes and roars broke out deeper down the road. Both Thor and Natasha turned accordingly, the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers operating in the same regard. There, they witnessed Hulk holding his own against the mighty centaur, getting flung across the road and impacting the building.
Thor turned back to Natasha, fire in his eyes. “Get these men off the street and provide support!” he shouted, taking several steps forward.
“What are you gonna do?” she asked.
He faced Tirek. He spun his hammer. He cracked his neck.
“Teach this beast some manners.”
With a war cry of his own stature, Thor leapt into the air, gripping Mjølnir and smacking it against the unsuspecting centaur. Tirek roared as the hammer struck the side of his head, causing him to stumble where Thor had landed. The Son of Odin quickly spun with his hammer in tow, delivering a swift smack to Tirek’s head once more.
Natasha watched this. Breaking her daze, she focused towards the sidewalk, several chunks of building and carriages lined across and providing exceptional cover. “Come on!” she ordered, waving over the soldiers behind her.
As the eleven troops behind her followed, they fired off several rounds onto the struggling centaur. He brought up his tower-like arms, the bullets merely scraping or deflecting off of him. Tirek growled, firing off a stream of dark magic. The blast nearly tore the group in half, the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives dodging and rolling to several pieces of cover lined across the street.
Natasha especially rolled to cover, popping up and unloading whenever Tirek was open.
It spread. Not only did Tirek have to deal with the Hulk constantly charging him, latching onto him, beating him mercilessly only to be knocked aside and repeat the same process again, but a certain God of Thunder had him in his sights now, followed by the annoyance that were the soldiers lined across the street, popping up and firing away.
What became a tiresome annoyance turned quickly into panic as Tirek found himself surrounded, outmatched, and nearly outgunned. The green beast was on top of him, a hand on each horn, trying desperately to bring him down. Tirek stumbled across the street, reaching back while getting smacked and punched across the face by the god. Thor landed with a skid, unleashing another lightning bolt on the struggling centaur.
“AAAHHH!!!” Tirek bellowed, a fresh barrage of bullets sent his way. Hulk rammed his fists on top of Tirek’s, yelling as he did so. Thor kept up the electric current from his hammer to Tirek’s body, his cape flowing madly behind him.
The bullets penetrated his backside. The Hulk continued to pummel him until he slowly began to fall. The electric current flowing through his body weakened him, his front forelegs buckling and crashing to the street. Soon enough, he was basically on his knees, palms pressed firmly in the street. He looked up, seeing the god yell, “We have him now!”
With that said, he turned his gaze to the rest of the road, eyes widening. There, he could see the soldiers in black exit their cover, slowly move closer and unloading clip after clip onto the centaur. The Widow followed, leading actually, a pistol in each hand, firing one after the other. He shut his eyes tight, cringing as the fresh wave of bullets tore his skin and broke through muscle.
Just a little longer…
Just a little…bit…more.
They were close enough.
He fired one magical spell forward, a blast so powerful that even the might of Thor could not withstand. Odinson was shot back, hammer tumbling in the road as the wielder flew through a glass window and entered a small shop. The electric current had been broken. Tirek swiped with his right forearm, hitting every single S.H.I.E.L.D. soldier and flinging them backwards.
Natasha was the only one who saw it coming, dipping down low and weaving out of the way as Tirek swung at her again and again. She replied with a few bullets, each one aimed for Tirek’s face. He still struggled despite everything, the Hulk atop his back furthering its onslaught.
Ignoring the bullets grazing his skull, Tirek stood up to full height. “Off, you worthless beast!” he bellowed, reaching back and snatching the Hulk’s arms. He flung the beast forward, tossing him across the road. Hulk tumbled and rolled, disappearing within the darkness of the city streets.
He watched him vanish, flinching only when a bullet struck his temple. Twisting back, Tirek wasted no time in unleashing a stream of dark magic from his horns, obliterating the road and anyone on it. Natasha quickly rolled to cover, the soldiers with her unfortunately unable to do so once the beam crossed them, disintegrating them.
Natasha hopped over a piece of building debris, flinching as scraps of cement flew over her.
Tirek ceased. Looking around, he noticed the remained of the soldiers in black either crawled to somewhere safe or lied as a pile of human ash. He chuckled, twisting his hardened gaze to a certain pile of debris. “Why do you hide?” he taunted, stepping forward. “Reveal yourself, coward, and face the damnation you so rightly deserve…”
With her back pressed firmly against the debris, chest rising and falling uncontrollably, Natasha Romanoff gulped silently. She stared straight ahead, ignoring the sounds of the war around her and focused heavily on one thing: herself.
It wasn’t the first firefight she was in, it sure as hell wouldn’t be the last.
She raised her pistols, breathed in silently, then made her move.
Natasha rolled to her left, already dodging the beam of magic intended for her. As she rose up, she fired away, unloading an entire clip right away. Tirek brought up his arms, blocking the bullets but unfortunately losing the target.
She appeared on his left, firing away until a certain bullet struck Tirek’s skull, causing him to fumble. He roared in agitation, twisting his gaze over to where she stood. Already, she was gone, reloading her guns, running, and firing away. Tirek screamed, unleashed another stream of energy from his horns, which Natasha dodged. She slid amongst the gravel, unloading her right pistol until the slide cocked backwards.
“Crap!” she yelped, dropping the empty gun and handling her last weapon with two hands. She rose up, aimed down the sights, and fired three bullets. Each struck a nerve with Tirek, causing him to roar and shield himself. She didn’t stop. Natasha moved forward, eyeing every entry, any free area that Tirek wasn’t guarding and fired away.
It was to the point where even the mighty beast began to back off, each bullet tearing into his skin that he once believed was impenetrable. With each step he took back, Natasha pushed forward, the slide cocking back, moving forward, and repeating with every bang that echoed in the streets, every burst of light exiting the barrel and penetrating the centaur.
She shot two more bullets, one striking Tirek’s hand and the other grazing his head. Tirek yelled and brought up his hand, revealing his face. Natasha jutted out her forearm, aimed down the sights right for his eye, and pulled the trigger.
Click.
Both Natasha and Tirek looked to the pistol in her hands. The slide was fully cocked back, smoke rising from the chamber. Slowly, she brought up her gaze, stared into the growing smile of the beast five feet in front of her.
“Uh, oh…”
Tirek wasted no time. He had enough. He fired a beam of energy right where she stood, knocking the Black Widow out with a piercing cry erupting from her. Natasha hit the nearest piece of debris, sliding down to the street with her pistol cluttering and resting next to her motionless form.
The scream carried…
The Hulk pushed the rocks off of him, his eyes growing wide.
There, lying in a disheveled state with her eyes closed, Natasha Romanoff was encased within the shadow of the looming Lord Tirek. Blood leaked from her forehead, her chest remaining motionless. As if she wasn’t breathing. As if she…
Bruce Banner didn’t know what happened after that. He didn’t remember a whole lot whenever he went green. All he could see were flashes, glimpses of what he was capable of in his state of restlessness, ultimate power. They came back to haunt him in his nightmares. They always did. But something snapped that moment, something that locked Banner away and shielded his eyes.
The Hulk had control now. No man full of sympathy and understanding, but a killer. A monster.
One that wanted blood and would stop at nothing to do so.
So he did.
He screamed.
Tirek himself shook from the scream, spun around to see something entirely different charge him this time. Maybe it was the speed of the beast, maybe it was the power in its voice as it dug deeper into the street, pushing itself forward. No, it wasn’t that. What he saw were the eyes, the ferocity in them, the bloodlust and rage filling the veins and leaving nothing left. That’s what he saw.
That’s what left him frozen in terror.
For the first time in his long, long life, Tirek never experienced fear. The thought alone made him feel disgusted, inadequate. He never let such emotions plague his thoughts. But now, the beast ramming into him once more, with more strength than he ever thought possible, that thought became a reality, fear entering him for the first time and breaking down what made Tirek strong.
And he screamed.
He screamed and screamed and screamed.
Hulk delivered swift punches across Tirek’s face, his gut, his chest, kneed him in the foreleg, brought his leg back and snapped that foreleg in half, and continued despite the piercing cries from the beast now at his mercy. Tirek crumbled as his foreleg snapped, but Hulk wasn’t finished. He slammed his hand underneath Tirek’s chin, clutching the centaur’s throat and pushing him onto his back.
Tirek lied in disarray, blood flowing from his lips, his eyes, and coating his teeth. He could do nothing more as Hulk slammed himself onto his chest, pounding his fists into Tirek again and again and again. He raised his arms, hands held out, but Hulk slapped them aside, continuing to beat Tirek into the bloody pulp he now appeared to be.
Hulk reached down, wrapped his left hand around the centaur’s throat and used the other to deliberately strike him square in the face. He continued doing so, his green knuckles now red, droplets of crimson flying up and painting Hulk’s chest and face a whole other color.
Lost in the bloodlust, ripping his hands free, Hulk reared forward and wrapped both of his palms on Tirek’s right horn. He screamed as the centaur did, yanking hard and leaning back with all of his strength. A sickening, bone-snapping crack broke through the air, followed by the cries of a fallen lord, drowned out by the blood-curdling roars of the Hulk.
With the horn of another in his grasp, Hulk spun it around, the sharpened tip aimed right for the bloody eye of the broken beast below him. The fury never stopped, the fire in his eyes now a blistering firestorm that spread through his body.
He raised the horn above his head. Tirek’s eyes grew ten times wider, his jaw falling.
With yet another roar, he brought it down.
“Bruce!”
And stopped. The tip hovered mere inches from Tirek’s right eye.
Chest heaving, blood dripping like sweat, the Hulk turned his fiery stare over to where the voice cried out. Below him, the fires of the buildings lighting the street, he could see Natasha Romanoff make her approach, an unforeseen fear riddled in her eyes. Those eyes shifted downwards, to the horn in Hulk’s grasp, then to the beast.
Not Tirek.
But something far…far worse.
In that moment, Bruce Banner was shown the light once more. Freed from his bondage, the killer, the Hulk finally backing away, Banner looked to the horn drenched in blood. The same blood that covered his body, the blood dripping down to paint the broken creature underneath him. He breathed in weakly, his grip around the horn loosening.
And then he dropped it. The bone fell to Tirek’s left, remaining there.
He hopped off the wounded beast, slowly acknowledging his surroundings now that he had partial control. The Equestrian Army, what remained of it, galloped into view, some turning away, others appearing sick. They slowed to a halt and observed the massacre before them. A few mares appeared to be on the edge of vomiting, hooves rising to cover their muzzles.
But most of them, even the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers, turned their fearful eyes onto the one covered in blood. They stared fearfully, judgingly, slowly backing away. Banner saw such, knowing they no longer stared at the Avenger, but the monster hungry for blood. Basically bathing in it.
He looked down and stared at his bloody hands.
At the small, gentle one resting into his own.
He brought up his eyes, the fire long since dead, replaced only with mild confusion, regret, and pain. The small, delicate creature before him shared similar feelings, her mouth partially open, no words escaping. No words able to form.
Until…
“It’s over, Big Guy.”
The Hulk, Doctor Bruce Banner, breathed out, gently closing his hand and holding hers.
“It’s over…”
And Lord Tirek, broken and beaten, lied in his own blood and tears as the world stared at the monster Banner created.
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Holy throne! That was intense! This will be remembered... for centuries....
Damn, I almost feel sorry for the beating Tirek got. (The keyword being almost.)
It looks like the final showdown between the Avengers and Ultron will be happening. And boy will it be a brutal one.
On a side note, are you going to do a sequel to this, and if so, will it follow the Civil War storyline?
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...Nuff Said.
with thanks and Hopes,
From Your Biggest #1 Fan of all Time in the history of all of reality,
Shane W.L. Nokes aka James S.K. Plasma aka Dark-Pulse/Darkimus-Primal
Puny Tirek...
It's times like these I question why the Mark 44 never used a unibeam fuelled by eleven arc reactors. And Tony man, analyze his fight pattern. If it works for Cap.
Tirek got beat up real good. ;)
Oh,,,,My,,,,,,F***ing,,,,,,,God,,,,the Dumbass Centaur just Pissed off the Hulk so much that the Green Guy just beated the Living Shit out of him God of War style,,,,,,,,, THIS IS THE MOST BADASS VILLAIN BLOODY BEATDOWN YOU HAVE EVER MADE DUDE, AWESOME!
7343078 Tirek dun f*cked up real good.
7343128 Epic song! Great inclusion!
7343717 I wish most of us could share those feelings.
7344082 The sequel will tie into Civil War.
7346584 He probably should have...
7347111 Very satisfying...
7347700 Haha, thanks!
Ultron: Oh for gods sake Tirek! Show some dignity! Honestly, I think I'd have more luck finding compatible associates in an office.
Happy 4th of July! To you Captain America and to all Avengers!
Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep. go to sleep!
I happen to punch my bed repeatedly when reading that one.
Holy cow that was absolutely brutal!!!!
I knew Tirek was screwed but dang!!!!
I'll give him credit for lasting so long, but it just prolonged the inevitable. He's lucky that Hulk didn't go worldbreaker.
8812342
Tirek's weakness is his horns. They conduct his magic like two power lines.
Break those and he is weakened quite a lot.
clinging onto Stark’s remaining arm, but it was all for not
but in the end it will be for not
1. Naught.
2. Naught.
7349279
Just like the comics, Tirek, you don't wanna see what happens when you piss off the Hulk, doesn't matter how much magic you got, cuz the more madder the Hulk gets, the more stronger and dangerous he becomes, and he would like to see you as nothing more than a slump of blood then.
Hulk like big fire... like raging hot fire, Unicorn princess like, smoldering fire.
I have no empathy for Tirek...
If there's a couple things years of watching wrestling teaches me, when you're in a Handicap match (Even if you were big and strong, near invincible even) the odds are never in one's favor when the numbers are stacked against you. But Tirek refused to lose again, after gaining so much power since his release. But even he did not count on how relentless The Hulk is on his part, a being that won't stop until the enemy is beaten to a bloody pulp. At the end of the day, Tirek found himself losing only not to a small band of ponies but something even he did not prepare for. And the memory of such a loss is one that will surely haunt him for the rest of his life if he even lives long enough.
That was bullsh*t. Hulk could take more and more damage, as he got more and more angry. It's his gimmik. Tirek? Unless he managed to drain more and more ponies, as he was pummeled, then trhown, and then buried - his strenght should not increase. Hulk literally can take on more an more punishment. Tirek, despite being more angry and desperate, should not have gotten up from that.
9878331
I wholeheartedly agree. This battle with Tirek was drawn out way too much. Hulk should’ve been able to 1v1 Tirek easy. He’s fought far larger and stronger targets easily. Tirek isn’t hardy or strong, he’s just large, throwing around his weight both physical and magical. So the fact that he repeatedly got back up, able to fight and throw away Hulk numerous times, heavily damaged the Hulkbuster... it’s frankly BS.
10019303
9878331
You two seem to be forgetting that Tirek has absorbed the power of both Princess Celestia and Luna. In the Battle of Ponyville, he took an absurd amount of damage without Alicorn magic (technically the total magical equivalent of it) and had nary a scratch. It makes a tonne of sense that the battle would be hard fought.
Oh yeah! Tirek just met a much worse monster than him, and his name is The Hulk. That was so satisfying watching Hulk smash Tirek, tearing off one of his horns, and nearly impairing him on it. But, I gotta give props to Iron Man, Thor, and Black Widow too. They all got plenty of good moments in on Tirek. Just shows how when they stand together they can take down any threat they face that would otherwise beat them one on one. And Ultron is next.
Great boasts on both sides.
Takes punches from hulk, hulkbuster ironman, Thor and somehow bullets work on him....what? All these yrs and noone Said anything? Honestly hate this chapter more than your Thor and hulk.