Inside Avengers Tower, Tony Stark stared in utter disbelief as squads of armored Atlanteans marched out from the ocean depths and onto land. Towering undersea warships loomed in the background—mighty vessels that shattered every preconception Stark had about what lay beneath the surface of Earth's oceans.
He had always known the world was big… but this?
"J.A.R.V.I.S., status report!" Tony's voice was tight with concern.
"Sir, the entities identifying themselves as Atlanteans have launched simultaneous assaults on coastal cities across the United States," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, as a holographic map flickered to life before Stark's eyes. Every coastal point on the map was under siege—devastation playing out live in real-time.
"Freaking fantastic," Stark muttered under his breath. "What the hell do they want?"
High above the chaos in New York, Namor the Sub-Mariner hovered in the air, his voice thunderous and full of righteous fury. His soldiers—thousands of them—stood at the ready behind him, each one clad in specially designed aquatic armor.
"Today, we teach these arrogant, short-sighted surface-dwellers a lesson they'll never forget!" Namor bellowed, his words echoing across the battlefield. "The oceans belong to Atlantis. We shall flood the coastal regions of the surface world and claim them as our buffer zone!"
He raised his golden trident high. "If they refuse to yield, then they shall fall beneath the tide—crushed beneath the iron and blood of conquest!"
The cheers of the Atlantean soldiers surged like a crashing wave. Their chants filled the air, weapons raised in unwavering allegiance to their king.
FWOOOSH!
A brilliant orange beam of energy cut through the air, narrowly missing Namor by a hair's breadth. Tony Stark shot in like a streak of light, repulsor cannon charged and smoking.
Namor's instincts kicked in instantly. His reflexes, honed over centuries of combat, sent him veering aside just as the blast sailed past. He turned, golden trident raised, eyes locked on the armored figure hovering nearby.
"Are you here to challenge me, you foolish surface-dweller?" Namor's voice was like steel wrapped in thunder.
Tony's visor glowed as he smirked. "I don't usually spar with seafood, but for you? I'll make an exception."
With a click, Stark's shoulder-mounted missile launcher rotated and let loose a volley of micro-rockets, each homing in on the troops below. The explosions that followed rocked the battlefield. Atlantean warriors were scattered in every direction—armor shattered, weapons snapped, formation in chaos.
"I told you," Tony taunted coldly, "you're nothing but overgrown shrimp with bad tempers. Go home."
Namor's eyes narrowed. "Let's see if you're still smiling after this."
He vanished in a blur of motion, reappearing right beside Tony and slamming his trident into the side of his armor. The golden weapon crackled with ancient energy, and the impact sent Tony spiraling through the sky.
Tony twisted mid-air, activating his thrusters at full power. In a blink, he reversed course and shot back toward Namor like a golden comet. Namor reacted instantly—his trident spun with impossible precision, its three-pronged tips aimed directly at Tony's chest.
Inside the HUD, Tony's eyes widened as alarms blared.
"Danger! Fatal strike trajectory detected!"
"J.A.R.V.I.S., disable the damn warning klaxon!" Stark shouted. "I hate that thing!"
He raised his repulsors and fired.
BOOM!
The orange blast collided with the spinning trident in mid-air, creating a shockwave that lit up the sky.
Down below, the Atlantean soldiers rallied, their weapons now aimed skyward. Countless beams of blue energy shot upward in a storm of plasma bolts, forcing Tony to dodge and weave through the crossfire.
"I'm getting real tired of you guys and your glowsticks," Tony muttered, twisting out of the way of a near-miss.
Suddenly, a voice crackled into his comms.
"Tony! We're here!"
Tony grinned. "Well, finally, some good news."
Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four swooped onto the battlefield in their newest jet, custom-built for high-speed combat.
Johnny Storm leaped out first, igniting into the blazing Human Torch mid-fall.
"Barbecue seafood—my favorite!" Johnny whooped, releasing a torrent of flames.
The sea-born warriors screamed as they shriveled under the intense heat, unused to the dry, scalding air of the surface world. Their armor warped, their weapons melted.
THOOM!
The ground shook as the Thing jumped out of the plane, landing with a seismic thud. His massive stone fists smashed through Atlantean helmets like paper, sending soldiers flying.
Without their aquatic masks, the warriors began gasping desperately—cut off from the life-sustaining water they needed to breathe.
Reed extended his limbs to shield civilians, while Sue Storm generated force fields to deflect incoming blasts.
Above, Tony was in his element once more—dancing through the air with new fire in his heart. With the Fantastic Four here, the odds had shifted.
He locked onto targets with his repulsors, blasting away at Atlantean troops like it was a game of whack-a-mole.
"Come on!" Tony shouted over the comms. "Is that the best you soggy sea-dwellers can do?! You bring a war to our shores and this is what you deliver?!"
But just as he said it—
ZAAAP!
A crimson beam of energy struck him out of nowhere. The air sizzled as Tony's suit was engulfed in red light.
When the beam faded, Tony was floating mid-air, armor scorched and sparking. Smoke curled from the damage across his chestplate and shoulders.
"Armor damage at sixty percent," J.A.R.V.I.S. reported grimly.
Tony's smirk was gone. His expression hardened. This fight was far from over.
And Atlantis wasn't done yet.
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