"I heard from the others that you need to keep absorbing radiation to grow stronger, so I specially prepared these for you."
This was hardly any kind of secret at the X-Mansion. Anyone paying even a little attention could find out easily enough.
Tony stepped forward, casually took one of the reactors, and handed it to Fenris. Then, with a light tap, he pressed it against Fenris's chest.
"Want to see how it feels?"
As the reactor started up, a faint humming sound followed. Threads of warmth spread out from Fenris's chest.
After Tony's deliberate modifications, a steady stream of radiation was released from within it, passing through Fenris's skin and into his body without affecting the surrounding area at all.
"Oh, that feels good—"
A wave of clear, all-encompassing comfort shot straight up Fenris's spine and into his head, making him shiver involuntarily.
It felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring every second. After stretching lazily, Fenris's skin began turning rough at a visible rate.
At the same time, right before Tony's eyes, his body started swelling in size. His tail lashed once, and his whole body instinctively curled up as his eyes narrowed in pleasure.
What did it feel like to have a tail several times thicker than an adult man's waist, ten meters long, and covered in sharp spikes suddenly whip toward you without warning?
Tony felt his entire field of vision swallowed by shadow. A shrill tearing sound split the air, and the overwhelming sense of danger made his eyes widen instantly.
He threw himself to the ground in a frantic tumble, only to see the massive tail stop dead and pull back at the very last instant before it struck him.
"Fenris!"
Tony patted his chest in lingering fright, glaring in annoyance. "I'm still standing right here!"
"Sorry, puny Tony. Didn't mean to scare you."
The mountain-like gigantic figure vanished. After removing the Arc Reactor, Fenris held it in his hands and looked at it over and over, unable to put it down.
Compared to the crude method of drawing radiation through dimensional gates before, the efficiency of the Arc Reactor was overwhelmingly superior. It was a complete mismatch, practically a dimensionality gap in performance.
The sensation was so wonderful, so far beyond anything he had experienced before, that Fenris could not stop savoring it in his mind.
Now, when he thought of the bulky old reactor Hank had built for him, even with all that delicious highly concentrated nuclear fuel packed inside, he found himself almost completely uninterested.
"As expected, Hank may be brilliant, but compared to Tony in this area, he still falls a little short."
Fenris cheerfully pressed the Arc Reactor back onto his chest.
"As long as you like it, that makes all the preparation worth it."
Fenris's reaction made Tony nod in complete satisfaction, pride written all over his face.
"After redesigning this place, the radiation shielding has been massively improved, and there's plenty of space too. It'll be enough for you to use for a long time."
Thinking back to the overwhelming pressure that had flashed off Fenris just moments ago, combined with the change in his size, Tony said confidently, "And if it's not enough later, I'll just expand it again for you."
"Once the reactors run out of energy, you can contact me through Titan anytime. Stark Industries offers unlimited supply."
The moment he thought about how he had built this entire structure up to fifty meters tall in one go, Tony's confidence grew even stronger.
No matter how unreasonable Fenris's powers were, there had to be a limit, right?
If he really grew beyond fifty meters, then forget slowed neural transmission and delayed reactions - that kind of terrifying body weight alone ought to crush any living thing to death.
"If you're saying that, then I'm taking it seriously."
"Of course. I'm Tony Stark. I never go back on my word."
Tony thumped his chest proudly. "For me, this is nothing."
The moment Fenris realized Tony was actually promising to cover his food and housing indefinitely, he laughed. The space before them immediately began swirling with fiery sparks.
"Come with me. You've seen the gift you prepared for me. Now let me show you the surprise I prepared for you."
"What?"
Tony froze, then followed Fenris through the dimensional gate with obvious curiosity in his eyes.
"I'm taking you to meet someone you've dreamed of meeting."
Fenris smiled mysteriously.
...
Deep beneath the X-Mansion, inside Hank's spacious private laboratory.
A giant robot nearly six meters tall lay motionless in the center of the lab. The fine-scaled outer shell of the Sentinel had already been completely dismantled, exposing its complicated internal structure.
Hank was crouched outside the machine's chest cavity, bent over and jotting something down.
"Hank, with the Wakandan data added in, we've finished analyzing the Heart-Shaped Herb Fenris brought back. It's just that our environment makes large-scale cultivation extremely difficult."
Not far away, dozens of Heart-Shaped Herbs glowed faintly.
Jean withdrew her gaze from the screen and called across the room to Hank.
"If we can't cultivate it on a large scale, how feasible is a smaller-scale approach?" Hank asked in return.
"It's possible, but we'll need vibranium to make it work."
Jean gave him a definite answer.
"That's acceptable. This isn't Wakanda, after all."
Hank nodded. "What about the vibranium? When can we start using it in our suits?"
"And how much longer will development take for those vibranium weapons?"
"Soon. With Wakanda's huge data reserves backing us, we'll be able to do all of that very quickly." Jean smiled as she answered. "Fenris really helped us out this time."
"That's excellent! No time to waste. Call everyone over right now."
Hank laughed heartily, relaxing a little for once. "The situation is urgent. After setting aside what we need for farming, distribute the rest of the Heart-Shaped Herb to everyone."
"Mm."
Jean nodded. She had been thinking the same thing.
Not long after the message was sent out, footsteps echoed through the room. Fenris arrived first, with Stark in tow.
"So this is your lab?"
Tony looked around from side to side, taking in the surroundings. Judging from the equipment and data alone, he could easily gauge the skill level of the lab's owner. "Not bad. Never thought there'd be a mutant genius who could almost keep up with me."
"Kid, mutants saved your life."
A dry voice drifted over from not far away. Fenris turned toward it and saw that Magneto had already been waiting there.
At the moment, he was sitting calmly in a chair, holding a thick book in his left hand, while an invisible force quietly flowed over his right hand.
The skin that had loosened and aged with time was visibly tightening again, only to slacken once more a moment later.
With every cycle of tightening and relaxing, Magneto's muscles seemed to be gradually growing fuller as well.
"You're..."
Seeing this, Tony narrowed his eyes. After a brief sound of surprise, he instinctively stepped closer.
"Just a trivial little trick."
Magneto spoke blandly.
Electromagnetic force was everywhere. Compared to the macroscopic world, its role on the microscopic level was actually even greater, and far harder to ignore.
As his control over magnetic fields became more and more refined, Magneto had gradually begun discovering subtler applications for that power.
Strengthening his own body was one of them.
If nothing unexpected happened, then before long, he might even be able to restore both himself and Professor X to youth.
"Oh—"
Tony was not annoyed in the slightest. Instead, he watched with growing thoughtfulness.
"So it can be used like that too. I wonder if I can..."
(End of Chapter)
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