Welcome to Challenge Me
The smile on the Mandarin's face had yet to fully form when pure terror took its place.
What… what was he witnessing?
The black-armored figure before him completely ignored the power of his Ten Rings. In each hand, it wielded a long, obsidian-black blade, slashing mercilessly toward his chest.
There was something deeply unsettling about the energy pulsating from those blades—something that sent chills down his spine.
The thought barely had time to form in his mind before his body reacted instinctively, twisting and dodging frantically to avoid the fatal strike. But in the chaos of movement, his right arm strayed into the blade's path.
Szzzzt!
A sharp, searing sound filled the air.
Before the Mandarin even registered what had happened, his severed arm was already tumbling to the ground.
It wasn't until his eyes locked onto his own fallen limb that the excruciating pain finally hit him.
Agony shot through his body like wildfire, and with it, the power of the Ten Rings was cut in half.
The battlefield shifted in an instant. The gravitational distortions, electrical charges, and temperature anomalies that had once filled the area all vanished. Without the influence of the Rings, the sandstorm raging around them began to settle.
"I—I can give you anything you want!" The Mandarin's voice cracked as he screamed in desperation.
"I want nothing."
The cold, mechanical voice of the black-armored entity sent a shiver down his spine.
"I only want your life."
The Mandarin's vision blurred as the crimson glow of the V-shaped visor loomed before him once more.
He could feel it now—an icy, metallic presence closing in on him.
"AAAHHH!"
With a frantic cry, he used his remaining arm to block the incoming strike.
Szzzzt!
Another flash of the obsidian blade.
His last arm hit the sand.
The moment the second limb fell, the power of the Ten Rings fully collapsed. The once-mighty warlord, the feared overlord of shadows, now stood as nothing more than a broken man.
The Mandarin's breaths were ragged, his chest heaving as he stared at the black demon before him.
"You… you black devil… I will remember you!"
His voice dripped with fury, but it was overshadowed by an undeniable sense of dread.
"You will remember me."
Gene spoke with chilling finality.
"Because I will be the last thing you ever see."
The Mandarin barely had time to react before the black blade drove straight into his heart.
A surge of energy pulsed through his body, tearing him apart from the molecular level. His flesh and bones disintegrated into nothingness.
Splurt!
A mouthful of blood spilled from his lips. Yet, even as he perished, the Mandarin sneered.
"You think… you can kill me this easily?"
"You will never escape my shadow."
As the last fragments of his body faded away, a dark mist erupted from his mouth and nose, twisting into the wind in a desperate bid for escape.
"You're trying to run?"
The red glow in the Gene's visor flickered ominously.
A vast neural network unfurled, ensnaring the escaping mist in golden light. The trapped essence of the Mandarin writhed and shrieked, its screams piercing through the desert night.
Moments later, the mist was completely obliterated.
"Energy anomaly detected. Energy parameters recorded."
Within the dark armor, an advanced energy analysis system hummed to life, rapidly decoding the remnants of the Mandarin's essence.
"So this world truly holds more mysteries than I anticipated…"
Gene lifted his gaze to the vast sky above.
At first, he had believed himself to have arrived in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the deeper he delved into this world, the more he realized…
This was far beyond just the movies.
His gaze dropped to the severed arms of the Mandarin, still adorned with five rings each.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"The Ten Rings… interesting."
With a flicker of golden light, the black-armored figure vanished, returning to his Hive Base.
...
The battle between the Gene Mason and the Mandarin had not gone unnoticed.
The energy waves released during their fight had been so immense that they disrupted satellites and reshaped the very land beneath them.
What was once a vast desert was now a deep crater—ten meters deep and over a kilometer in diameter.
The entire world took notice.
"My God… what the hell happened in that desert?"
"The energy readings were off the charts! Is this an alien invasion?"
"How is this possible? The entire terrain was altered!"
"Has satellite reconnaissance provided any results?"
"Mobilize the nearest military forces immediately!"
...
At S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, inside the Triskelion, Nick Fury sat motionless, his one eye locked onto the high-resolution satellite images on the screen before him.
The sheer magnitude of the energy spike had overwhelmed the sensors—an event Fury had never encountered before.
"Status report." His voice was low and steady, but tension crackled beneath it.
"Director, we've allocated all computing power to image reconstruction. We're at 50% completion. Estimated time until full analysis: thirty minutes."
Agent Maria Hill's voice was as sharp and efficient as ever, but even she couldn't fully mask her unease.
Who—or what—could unleash such catastrophic power?
Whatever had happened in that desert… it was unlike anything recorded in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s archives.
And soon, they would have their answer.
...
Thirty minutes later.
A S.H.I.E.L.D. technician burst into the control room, his face pale and slick with cold sweat.
"Director Fury… Agent Hill…" His voice trembled.
Fury's single eye narrowed. "What is it?"
"Sir… you need to see this for yourself."
A massive screen flickered to life, displaying the final, reconstructed image.
A lone, black figure stood amidst the ruins.
But what sent chills down their spines was not just the figure itself—it was the data embedded in the image.
The entire screen was filled with a string of zeroes and ones—a coded message.
Fury's expression darkened. "Translate it."
The technician swallowed hard before reading aloud:
"I have revealed my strength. Welcome to challenge me."
__
Not just S.H.I.E.L.D.
All over the world, intelligence agencies received the exact same message.
A bold, unignorable challenge—broadcasted to the entire planet.
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T/N:
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