"See it? What do you..."
Tony froze for a second, then rolled his eyes as realization hit.
"Right, I forgot—you're a walking cheat code. So? What'd you see? A hidden mini-nuclear reactor? Or maybe Hydra's been secretly raising a Godzilla?"
"Much more fun than that." Henry pulled back his gaze, the corner of his mouth curling into a playful smirk.
"Two surprises. Come on... let's meet our new friends."
Without waiting for Tony, he shrugged and casually kicked the hidden passage door.
Boom!
The entire castle trembled as the massive door tore off its hinges, smashing into the wall and leaving behind a gaping crater.
"Fuck!! My door!"
Tony clutched his chest like he'd just taken a heart attack. Watching the heavy steel door crash down left him on the verge of tears.
"I told you—graceful! Graceful! You brainless brute!"
"You're just too slow." Henry's voice echoed from within the pitch-black passage.
"By the time you finish analyzing, that old bastard'll already be halfway to Siberia."
Tony cursed under his breath and hurried after him.
The passage was long, spiraling down into the depths. Soon, the brothers stepped into a vast underground chamber.
Gone was the gothic castle style. Here the walls gleamed sterile under cold incandescent lights, the air thick with a strange chemical tang.
This was Hydra's secret laboratory.
At the center stood a chamber of reinforced glass.
Inside, Baron Strucker had already released the restraints binding a young man and woman.
"Stark!" Strucker's face twisted into a grin when he saw the brothers step out of the passage. He jabbed a finger at Tony and screamed at the siblings.
"It's him! That man! He's Tony Stark! It was his weapons that destroyed your home! His bombs killed your parents!"
At the name Stark, both Wanda and Pietro's eyes flared with burning hatred.
"Stark..."
Wanda's voice trembled with fury as she locked her gaze on Tony, her expression like she was ready to rip him apart.
"We've waited ten years for this moment."
"Oh?" Tony slowed his steps, giving the twins a quick once-over before shooting Strucker a look reserved for absolute idiots.
"This is your ultimate defense protocol? Inciting two kids barely out of puberty to do your dirty work? Gotta say, your lack of imagination is as bad as your hairline."
"Shut up!" Pietro roared, silver arcs of lightning sparking around him.
"Today, we'll avenge our parents!"
"Kill them! Kill the Stark!" Strucker shrieked, losing all pretense of control.
The words barely left his lips before Pietro vanished.
He became a streak of silver lightning, too fast for the naked eye, leaving only a trail of afterimages behind. His target—Tony's head.
"Too slow."
The lazy voice appeared suddenly in his path.
Pietro's pupils shrank in shock. Somehow, the black-armored man who had been standing back watching was already right in front of him.
In Pietro's accelerated perception, the stranger was faster than him... and watching him with amused interest.
He didn't even see him move!
Pietro tried to dodge, to veer away—but it was too late.
To everyone else, less than two seconds had passed. They hadn't even registered what happened when Henry simply placed his right hand lightly on Pietro's shoulder.
And the world froze.
Pietro remained locked mid-sprint, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move an inch.
That hand felt like it carried the weight of a mountain, instantly nullifying his greatest weapon—his speed.
"Shh." Henry raised a finger to his lips, his voice calm.
"Children shouldn't interrupt when adults are talking. Be a good boy... and cool off for a bit."
A wave of irresistible yet strangely gentle power flowed into Pietro. His vision went black, and in the next instant he slumped unconscious. Henry caught him easily and set him gently on the ground.
"Pietro!"
Wanda's anguished scream tore through the lab. Seeing her brother collapse, she thought Henry had killed him. Grief and rage detonated the unstable power within her.
Her hands thrust forward, and crimson energy erupted in a thick beam, screaming destruction as it shot straight at Tony!
"Jarvis! Analyze the energy construct! Deploy maximum shield output!"
Tony's reflexes were razor sharp. His armor shimmered, a hexagonal blue shield flaring to life around him.
Boom!!!
The crimson beam smashed into the blue barrier with an earth-shaking explosion.
The underground lab shuddered violently, glass shattering and equipment bursting under the surging shockwaves.
Tony's suit ground backward, gouging twin trenches in the floor before finally halting.
"Warning! Warning! Shield power dropping rapidly! 70%... 50%... 30%... Energy structure unrecognized! Unknown interference detected! Attempting to rewrite reality framework!" Jarvis's urgent alerts filled Tony's helmet.
Tony clenched his teeth, muscles taut. He could feel it—this wasn't just raw force. The energy carried something far stranger... bending reality itself.
"Damn it!"
He cursed and poured more power into the arc reactor, barely keeping the shield from collapse.
Inside the glass chamber, Strucker was in hysterics, cackling as his eyes went wild with triumph.
"Do you see it, Stark?! This is divine power! A god's power! You mortals can never comprehend it! You're finished!"
"Really?"
The voice, cold and mocking, whispered right at his ear.
Strucker's laughter froze.
He whipped around—and found himself staring into a pair of eyes laced with amusement and lethal intent.
Henry was behind him. Already inside the supposedly bulletproof glass chamber.
The heavy door lay twisted on the ground in a heap of scrap metal.
"You... how did you..." Strucker stammered, his face drained of all color.
"Oh, that?" Henry pointed casually at the wreckage.
"I just knocked. The door opened itself. Guess your engineering quality's not up to standard."
He started toward Strucker slowly, each step deliberate.
"Now then..."
Henry's smile widened.
"Let's have a little chat... about how exactly we're going to remove your head."