X

X watched silently as Frank carried the soldier to safety. Frank Castle was on Dial's list of people to watch, right next to Matt Murdock and others, despite being a normal soldier.

X was still compiling data as to why, but it was worth noting that Frank had none of the reactions his fellow soldiers showed. No fear, no surprise. He hadn't frozen for even a moment, and had killed his opponent with brutal quickness.

X switched his focus from one body to another. That body was currently doing a makeshift repair on a walkway bridge spanning over a street. Rebuilding it would allow for faster transport to the beach for those escaping the chaos.

Making careful calculations, X carefully used the laser built into his arm to carefully attach one of the struts to another, supporting the bridge the other arm and floating in the air on repulsor boots.

His sensors tracked an object flying towards him. With the speed of thought afforded to all AI, he registered the object, then planned.

The object had seemed bipedal in shape from far away, but was clearly not human from the shape of its body. It was possibly organic, though beings like Diamondhead and Goop left the other possibilities open, and it also had a stooping shape to it.

The creature was laughing now as it stretched it’s massive arms out to grab X. X, in a split second, noted the thirty foot leap the creature had made and the speed of its approach, then twisted his arm around to fire a repulsor at the top of its arc. The blue beam splashed against the creatures face like water, doing nothing. Surprising, X had been hoping to force the creature off-balance, but it was unharmed, not even diverted.

Which meant it was going to impact this body soon.

X moved quicker, sacrificing efficiency for speed. By the time the being had slammed into him, X had finished the bridge, or at least, did a rough repair job on it.

Then the creature hit his body, fingers ripping through metal, and tore him apart in a smooth pull.

X would have sighed in annoyance if he could have. While the drones were meant to be expendable, it was still a waste. Still torn in half, X let his legs fall to the floor while his top half used the repulsor in one hand to float and the other to shoot at the being over and over. The being gave him a surprised look as it fell to the ground, giving X his first clear look of the creature.

It was hairy. Very hairy. With a red beard and locks flowing down his back, even hair on his shoulders. The being was also big, only a head shorter than the Hulk, with massive muscles bunched beneath brown skin. He wore an armored vest that X recognized as being made of uru metal, with a large metal skull over the abdomen, and two large uru knuckles wrapped around his fists. The creature had three fingers and two toes, and analysis of the air told X he was giving off odd odors.

The creature landed on the ground and leaped up again, finally destroying X's body, but by then he had already left it.

------

Tony Stark/Iron Man

In another part of Rio, Tony and Thor were working together.

“Yep that way,” Tony said as he floated over the many people currently walking down the street. “Ignore the big guy tossing the bus aside.”

Right on queue, a large blue metropolitan vehicle went flying overhead. Thor walked up with a wide grin, giving a nod to the amazed Brazilians and tourists as they walked past, then looked up at Tony with a frown.

“So much destruction... I've been in few places where death like this had happened,” he said solemnly.

“Same,” Tony said quietly, thinking of his time fighting in Afghanistan.

“Do we have any idea what was this cause of such devastation?” Thor asked grandly.

“Not yet,” Tony shook his head. “Bruce and the geeks have some theories, but so far everyone is drawing a blank. Besides, first priority is saving the civvies,” Tony shrugged. While his movement was nonchalant, he still shuddered. And beneath his mask, looking at all the people he hadn't been able to save, a thoughtful look came to his face.

An alert came in two minutes later just as the last of the civilians headed off.

“Tony, Thor!” Maria said through their comm units. “We have an enhanced in the field, covered in uru metal!”

They stiffened, Thor straightening up a moment later.

“Asgardian?” Thor asked.

“Not unless some of you only have two toes,” Maria replied.

“Those who have lost them in battle,” Thor admitted. “Or bets. Where are they?”

“Coming your way from the west. I'm sending in some support, but you're on your own for a bit.”

“We will not need it,” Thor snarled, the sound of a rhythmic booming sound heading toward him not fazing the thunder deity.

Tony grinned savagely, moving to float next to Thor. “Think it's one of yours? Someone responsible for all this?”

“I am not sure, Stark,” Thor spun Mjolnir in his fist. “But we will have our answers either way, this I swear!”

The last boom was followed by a giant being landing before them. The second he saw it, Tony felt his smile fade.

Shit. This thing was Hulk-sized. Abomination-sized. And hairy as hell, not to mention smelly.

“Oh... oh crap.”

Tony blinked. Then he looked at Thor, who was staring at the creature with a nervous look in his eyes.

“Uh... you know this furball?” Tony asked, looking over at the big (Man? Creature? Dude, dude worked) dude rising out of the crater it had made.

“Ulik,” Thor gulped. Thor actually gulped!

“And he is?” Tony asked.

“Big trouble,” Thor said almost softly, nervousness fading into resolution.

“...Jarvis, send in Veronica.”

“Already on the way, sir,” Jarvis replied.

Tony brought his hands up as the creature, the big man, blinked at the sight of them.

“Thor!” The creature laughed. “Yes! I found you, my friend! Now we can finally kill each other! Truly, this is a magnificent day!”

Tony blinked. “Not... what I expected.”

The monster sped forward suddenly, with that impossible velocity every giant monster from Hulk to Four Arms seemed able to do. Tony spun out of the way and blasted the monster as it passed, but Ulik just ignored him.

When the repulsors hit him though, the monster stumbled, looking surprised.

“Oh! You are a far mightier foe than the last! Might there be a man within that shell?” Ulik grinned at Tony.

“Uh... yeah?” Tony said weakly. “You want a piece, sasquatch?”

“Indeed I do! For it has been some time since mankind has been able to deliver such a blow to I, Ulik the Troll!”

“Have at thee!” Thor swung his hammer then, rushing forward and slamming the mystical weapon into Ulik's face.

The troll stumbled back, shouting happily, then swung one of his fists into Thor's stomach. Thor gasped, growled, then punched the troll back.

Tony flipped into the air to shoot him, only for his repulsors to miss, Ulik lept up to grab Tony out of the air. A desperate blast to the eyes loosened the grasp of the troll and allowed him to escape, Tony followed with right cross that sent Ulik slamming back to the ground. Tony blinked at the sound of metal snapping, giving his right fist a look.

The gauntlet, formed from gold-titanium, one of the strongest alloys ever made, had cracked.

Tony took his eyes off of it to look at Ulik. “Well great, you broke my armor. You know how much this costs?”

Ulik, rubbing his chin, frowned. “My apologies, but I do not have knowledge of the worth of Midgard metals and equipment. Regardless, we are in combat! The damage of weaponry is simply a part of that.”

Iron Man cocked his head. “Huh. Logic from giant monsters. Weird day.”

Then he blasted him. Ulik took two hits to the head, roared in anger, and blocked the next repulsor blast with his uru knuckles. Tony twisted his hand around, trading repulsors for a pair of lasers, the red hot blasts of red light smashing into Ulik's face. He shouted in real pain, blinking his eyes rapidly. Tony didn't let the fact that his high impact lasers apparently only irritated Ulik bother him too much. He stepped aside when Thor came flying in hammer first, Mjolnir smashing into Ulik's stomach with a booming sound that shook the area. Then Veronica came down, flowing around Tony to encase him in the Hulkbuster suit as Ulik grabbed Thor by the cape and tossed him aside. Thor flipped around and landed on his feet, spinning to punch Ulik in the face.

“Damn you!” Thor shouted, spitting blood.

“Yes!” Ulik shouted joyfully. “Let us shake the world, old friend!”

A crater began to form beneath them, the two punching each other again and again. Shockwaves flew out with the impacts and buildings across Rio began to shake.

“Guys, we need to contain this guy!” Tony yelled, flying up in his full Hulkbuster form as the helmet slammed down, blasting falling rubble away from fleeing civilians as fast as he could.

“He's tearing apart the whole city!”

------

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

Across the city, before all the fight even started, I was digging out another group of people, using my suit instead of the Omnitrix this time. Ghost popped out of the rubble nearby, watching me for a moment. I pulled the last chunk of stone off an older woman. I pulled her up, Ghost speaking to her in gentle tones as the woman weeped silently. I tried not to look the sight of her dead family behind her. I tried to memorize exactly how many there were. I tried not to look at the torn stuffed animal on the rubble.

I looked down at my red glowing Omnitrix, then at Ghost as she watched the poor woman walk away. We stared at each other for a moment.

Then we just looked away. With everything going on, being angry at her just seemed so... stupid. And I guess she felt the same way. We looked out over the destroyed city. It was almost peaceful, Ghost and I standing there in full armor, looking on that image of an apocalypse.

Then the ground shook, the both of us stumbling. We gave each other looks.

“Another quake?” Ghost asked frantically.

The ground shook again and again. I scowled. As someone who had lived in Cali, I'd felt earthquakes. They didn't have an almost rhythmic pulse to them.

A loud crack suddenly filled the air. Ghost and I turned towards the sound. A building shook with each shake, large cracks spreading across the cement, glass shattering to fall toward us, one of them taller than I was. I raised my hand and created my shield hastily, shouting when the glass pane slammed into my tower shield, while Ghost went intangible to let the razor sharp shards sliced through the air.

The shield wasn't going to help for the next part though. The building collapsed toward us. I was about to run when the Omnitrix beeped loudly.

“Move!” Ghost shouted at me.

“On it!” I twisted the Omnitrix, bringing up a moth-like being, then pushed it down.

Then the building slammed on top of us.

For a moment, things were quiet. Then I moved up through the building, clutching Ghost's arm. I had no idea what the physics were that let Big Chill and Ghost touch while still being intangible, but I took advantage of it, floating over the city. The building, hundreds of tons of stone, metal, and glass, sent up debris into the air, the sound of the thing landing like the fist of an angry giant.

“Right in the nick of time,” I mumbled. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Ghost responded, sounding a little freaked. “What is going on?”

“I don't-”

“Avengers!” Maria said over the radio. “We have an enhanced in the field! Get civilians out of the combat zone and backup Thor and Iron Man!” What followed next were the coordinates of where the fight was taking place and orders to other BRIDGE personal.

“On it!” Ghost said, looking up at me. I looked down at her as I held her there. “Put me down.”

“...It's faster if I carry you.”

She hesitated. “...Damnit. Do it.”

I twisted and flew over the landscape, Ghost practically grumbling.

Considering our powerset, both of us took the express route, diving directly through the buildings in front of us. We went through an office, a set of apartments, and finally a swimming pool, which froze over the second we went through.

Below us, a streak of silver sped past, followed by short shouts from civilians as the blur grabbed and moved them out of the way.

“Damn he's fast,” I mumbled, before focusing on the loud noises ahead of us.

In the middle of a street, a crater was being created by the three beings duking it out.

Any other day, I'd have dived into that mess.

Instead, I focused our orders. Drones were floating around the windows of a building on the brink of collapse.

Drones on almost every floor. Dozens of civilians. And it wasn't the only building.

I took one and dived into the window. As I did, I dropped Ghost, who fell through the floor to help the people beneath us.

There were three people, two women and a man, all in suits torn up and dusty. They screamed when I entered. Mothmen aren't reassuring figures.

I ignored that in favor of raising my hands up to fire beams of ice at the collapsing ceiling. Blue ice grew from the points of impact, creating a makeshift support for the ceiling. I didn't fire them for long, only enough to keep the people safe. The second I was done, I dived in and made to grab all three of them.

One of the women, in a blazing spin, kicked me in the face.

I stepped back, more surprised than anything. I spoke, the Omnitrix translating for me. “Really? I'm an Avenger damn it, I'm saving you!”

The woman who'd kicked me blinked. The ice above cracked.

I dived forward, grabbing the three in my arms, then dived out of the nearest window, clutching the three to my chest. Ice fell from the ceiling, dust and chilled air flying about.

We hit the Rio sunshine. Below me, I could see Falcon flying out from another floor with two more, then She-Hulk from a floor above me. A building nearby exploded outward, followed by Marian and Hulk leaping out of the roof, Hulk carrying several people while Marian protected him.

In the center of it all, Thor was shouting in pain, reeling from a punch to the face. Tony kicked the guy in the face. The guy they were fighting laughed, slammed fingers deep into Tony's chest and pulled away a massive chunk of the Hulkbuster chestplate.

“Holy...” The Hulkbuster was made to withstand blows from damn near everything. What the hell was this guy?”

I carried the three people to the evac point nearby. “Go! Go now!”

A stone slammed into my back, sending to the ground with a grunt. The three people I'd saved ran for it.

I twisted up, pulling my wings around me, then floated up.

A massive fist flew through my head. Only Big Chill's natural stoic attitude kept the scream from erupting, my intangible form saving my life.

“Oh?” the big hairy man blinked then smirked. “That is quite interesting. Do it once more!”

He punched through me again. I winced in shock when his knuckles passed through me. A tingling feeling following the movement through my torso. His fist was surrounded in ice once it passed through. He responded to that with a laugh and a shake to get the ice off him.

I blasted him in the face.

“Yes!” The crazy guy laughed, his beard and face frosting over then cracking with every move. “This is what I wanted!”

“Yay,” I said sarcastically. I snapped my wings open and floated up, continuing to fire away. Thor and Tony landed nearby, blasting away with lightning and repulsor beams.

For a moment the three of us seemed to almost have him on the ropes.

Then he slammed his uru knuckles together.

A wave of orange energy flew out from the impact. I went intangible. Thor raised Mjolnir. Tony created a shield.

The next thing I knew, I was sent flying back.

“Fuuuuck!” I hit a wall behind me, falling to the ground. Tony's armor was stripped off, my fellow Avenger landing beside me. Thor grunted in pain, but stayed standing.

“...oh my god,” I blinked slowly, stars in my eyes. I tried to move, only to feel immense pain. Wings were the same. I tried to get up, raising a hand up.

The giant guy was above me. He watched as I slammed the Omnitrix on my chest.

My skin turned red and armored. A pair of arms grew out beneath more normal ones. I narrowed four eyes at the guy as I rose to my feet and towering over him. In my full Four Arms form, I snapped out two arms to punch, ignoring the pain I still felt across my body.

The big guy stepped back to let my punch whiff, then lashed out with his own punch.

“Ahhh!” I staggered back. He stepped forward and started to punch me with incredible speed. Shockwaves erupted with each blow to my ribs, face, and stomach.

I blocked one of his punches, trying to ignore the blood in my mouth and the fact both my right eyes were swollen shut. The feeling of fur against my knuckles, then iron hard skin, then bone, his head snapping back. I punched him again and again. He barely shifted at all. In the end, my blood was still dripping, including a bit from my now split knuckles.

The guy was laughing.

“Damn you!” I shouted. The bastard was still laughing! I was in my strongest form, punching him with more power than I could remember, shaking the entire area with my blows. And he was acting like he loved it!

I drove him back, straining to block his own blows. Our feet dug into the asphalt, the hairy guy finally ending up with his back against a wall. I grabbed his beard and pulled him down, then pushed him back, smashing him through the wall. As the concrete fell I grabbed two massive blocks in my four hands and smashed them into him.

“RAAAAAGGHH!!!” Right and left, I smashed him in the face. I finished by grabbing him, lifting him up, then throwing him at a nearby building. The jerk was grinning as he disappeared through the wall.

Thor landed next to me as I leaned over to rest my palms on my knees. My breath came out fast and hard, burning from my lungs. “That guy… is strong.”

Thor nodded, looking tired. “Ulik the Troll is a formidable opponent.”

“Ulik?” I blinked. Oh yeah. Random Thor villain. Actually, not that random, he was a pretty big deal.

The sound of rocks shattering was followed by Ulik landing in front of us. I grit my teeth and stood up, clenching my fist while Thor stepped next to me. The troll was nodding, looking somewhat serious.

“Good. Good! Humanity has become strong, and has gained strong allies. I can see why you spend time with them.”

Ulik didn’t speak for long. He jumped toward us. Thor and I did the same, the thunder master moving faster than me to meet Ulik in the center Mjolnir first. The troll raised his right knuckle, an explosion following the massive impact. I ran in next to Thor, ducking under a punch from Ulik, then uppercutting him, my upper arms smashing into his chin while my bottom arms hit him in the chest. Ulik twisted with the blows, but Thor followed up with a literal hammer blow across his face. I followed up to hit him in the gut, then uppercut him again.

Ulik slammed into the ground. He grumbled something before spitting out red. As we watched, he reached into his mouth and rummaged around for a moment before pulling. Holding up a tooth as large around as a thumb, he grinned. “Shapeshifter. You throw damn good punches.”

Then he sprung to his feet, grabbed my face, and lifted me up before smashing me to the ground.

“Ahhhhhh!!!” I screamed, louder than I could remember doing.

Ulik punched Thor into the sky, then raised his uru knuckle wrapped right fist. It came down with immense speed as I grabbed his leg. The last thing I heard was a loud cra-