Marvelous Martial Arts (A Marvel Story)

Fisk Tower stood as an impressive monolith in the New York City skyline. Not the tallest or the biggest, it stood out for its rectangular, cuboid shape just north of the Empire State Building, lacking the slick look of other city towers.

The only imperfections were the antennas, invisible from the ground.

When Mason, Iron Fist, Izo, and Spider-Man arrived, soon followed by Daredevil, they expected the police and Fisk’s men to be at war, fiercely fighting for control of Fisk Tower.

And yet, as they arrived, everything was calm. The roads had been blocked, and the building was surrounded, so much so that it felt like the whole city’s police force was on the scene.

Facing them? No one. Only the closed doors of the tower. The only other presence was the news teams, spread in several helicopters above, and a few trucks hidden behind the police barricade.

It was an utterly strange situation, so Mason directly approached his student, Agent 19.

Bobbi was dressed in a suit that screamed federal agent, instead of her usual tactical SHIELD uniform. That was because SHIELD was still a covert organization, but she still kept her two staves on her hips. She had impressed him with them; she was an elite fighter. Better than Captain America, at least, since the war veteran had not received much training in martial arts as of yet, as it turned out. He was much better than the average person, but nowhere near the level of a true expert.

As Mason approached, Bobbi quickly took in the group following him before offering him a smile. ”You were fast. Probably wondering what the hell is happening, aren’t you?”

Before Mason could answer, Spider-Man, who was attached to a wall a few meters above them for some reason, said excitedly, ”You guys couldn’t bear to leave us out of the action? You’re gonna make me blush.”

Bobbi gave him a look before promptly ignoring him. ”Well, we just can’t get in. Everything is locked and protected. I suspect an invisible energy shield has been raised over the building, possibly with the help of a mutant. We know Fisk has hired some help recently, made a good enough offer to rattle the underground. Most did not take it, courtesy of you, but some most certainly did.”

Izo suddenly spoke from behind, his voice laced with heavy distaste, if not outright hatred. ”That’s no mutant; this is magic.”

”Magic?”

Izo spat on the ground, almost prompting Spider-Man to comment on littering, but Mason beat him to the punch. ”Are you certain?”

”Of course I am. It’s obvious, if you know what you’re looking for.”

”And do you know a way in?”

Izo turned his gaze to Mason, his hatred overcome by his urge to piss Mason off as he ridiculed, ”An Awakening Grandmaster, and Stupid still needs his old master to carry him. Stand proud; you bear your name well.”

Mason gave him a look, restraining himself from entering the old man’s game. ”Tell us before you suddenly croak out of old age.”

Izo huffed, ”You should already know, Stupid. Magic is weak to Chi. Unless fatso somehow got the Sorcerer Supreme in there, you should be able to easily breach the barrier.”

Spider-Man creepily scaled down the wall he was on, asking excitedly, because everything seemed exciting to him in this situation, ”Are we gonna fight an evil wizard? Do you think it would be safe to take on a single spell, just to see what it does?”

Daredevil, standing close to him, immediately warned, ”That would be stupid. Don’t get yourself killed stupidly.”

His tone was softer than it usually was, probably because his ‘eyes’ could see enough to deduce Spider-Man’s age. Mason still did not feel great about bringing a kid with them, but with the scale of the operation and the fact that it was a weekend, Spider-Man would have seen it anyway and come on his own.

Now, at least, Mason could keep an eye on him.

Mason looked around at the crowds of police men, who were eyeing his group with some obvious mistrust, and said, ”Once we’re in, do make sure the authorities don’t come in until we’re done or ask for help. Since he closed the building, Fisk probably prepared traps. Especially if he got a Sorcerer with him in there.”

Iron Fist looked around for any eavesdroppers before whispering, ”So, this Sorcerer… are we equipped to fight him? I’m still in, of course; I’m just wondering what to expect. They were mere stories back in Kamar-Taj.”

Izo shrugged, since he was the only one with knowledge of them. ”‘Sorcerer’ is a broad category. It’s like saying you’ll be facing a Martial Artist. I couldn’t tell you what to expect. Both the pretty agent here and this stupid Grandmaster are martial artists, but I’d tell you vastly different things depending on which one you faced.”

Having said that, his grip over his cane tightened as he stared at the building. ”However, to have erected this kind of large barrier means this is not a Novice. Not a Master, since I doubt Fisk could employ them, so most probably an Apprentice, or a Disciple. Their robes should make it obvious.”

Mason pulled slightly on his haori, smiling as he said, both honestly and to reassure them, ”And here I thought this would be a boring fight. You can leave the Sorcerer to me. I’m curious to see how a peak Grandmaster would fare against a decent Sorcerer. Maybe he’ll give me a nice reality check.”

Daredevil looked at him solemnly, offering, ”Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Mason smiled, stepping towards the building as he said, ”Everyone needs some level of pride, or you’ll only ever settle for equality.”

Daredevil’s tone was guarded as he asked, ”So you enjoy being superior to others? You believe it is something all people should aim for?”

”No. The point is not to be superior to others; it is to reach beyond your condition and help others up, instead of leaving them to be complacent in their supposed equality.”

”Very capitalistic of you. But what about the day you fall, and you give power to someone who does not share your values? Wouldn’t you have facilitated evil?”

Mason reached the doors to the tower and placed a hand on it as he smiled, and Izo answered for him to Daredevil’s query, ”Stupid is too proud to take this into consideration.”

Iron Fist mused, ”This is a matter that has been debated in K’un-Lun as well. There have been evil Iron Fists throughout history, which brought the question as to whether the power should continue being transmitted. We came to the conclusion that one should not prevent the good in fear of the bad.”

Meanwhile, Spider-Man watched from the side, finally exclaiming, ”Do you guys start every battle with a philosophical debate?”

Retrieving his hand from the door, Mason put an end to the debate. ”You’re right, wrong place, wrong time. The protection on the building is interesting; it completely blocks out my senses. Any luck, Daredevil, Izo?”

The old man scoffed, and Daredevil replied, ”If I just passed by without knowing? I’d say yes. But if I focus on it, there are odd details. Like an illusion that wants to show me the interior of the building, but it’s too perfect. Too empty.”

Mason nodded. ”I think we can assume this to be a rather unusual defence. It would be one thing if your sight was simply blocked, but since there’s an illusion, they most probably prepared for you. We should expect them to have prepared for us all then.”

Spider-Man contributed, ”Do you think the barrier itself could be a trap then?”

He raised an eyebrow. ”Possibly. Tell me if you get your tingle, but my working theory is that they got one-time traps inside reserved for us, something that would get wasted on the police. So they placed the barrier to make sure we would be the ones to get inside.”

Mason did not even consider the possibility that Fisk and his Sorcerer seriously thought that barrier would protect them indefinitely, since that would be pointless in the first place. His biggest worry was, of course, that Fisk would teleport away with his Sorcerer, but he could not say that since he was not supposed to know this was a basic skill for practitioners of the Mystic Arts.

Even though his Divine Sense was blocked, Mason did get the hunch that Fisk would still be in there. Not because it was the logical thing to do, but because he wanted to see them fall.

If he was right, then it would be a matter of taking down the Sorcerer swiftly enough to stop them from using their Sling Ring. Or find a way to stop them from using it entirely.

But as Mason prepared himself to breach the barrier, he heard Izo say, ”I’ll take the Sorcerer.”

Mason paused, sending a look at his master. He wanted to question him, but seeing the stony look on his face, he merely raised an eyebrow and said, ”Better not get yourself killed then.”

He looked back at the front doors, circulating his Chi. In reality, there was no technique to be used here because he knew nothing about magic. The plan was simply to overwhelm it with Chi.

And that was exactly what Mason did.

As he cocked his fist back, he channeled his Chi in its entirety, which was nothing to scoff at as a peak Grandmaster. It was not to the level of the Iron Fist, but it was entirely controlled. At first, his fist gained the same yellow luster as usual, but as he forced more Chi into his arm, the color deepened, turning into a golden wreath.

A feeling of fullness came from his arm; it was nothing painful, but his body was telling him that it could not take any more Chi, but the problem was that he still had some left.

And in the magic of the moment, he unconsciously found a solution. Instead of simply pouring his Chi into his arm raw, he gave it structure, his awakened Spirit making Chi manipulation countless times easier than before.

Taking inspiration from the Iron Fist next to him, Mason’s Chi gained the faint outline of a dragon. For a moment, it looked like Mason was wearing a shining, golden dragon-head-themed gauntlet before he punched.

Chi usually did little to influence the outside world, but everyone present could swear they heard a dragon roar as his fist slammed into the door.

A giant barrier of indigo energy was suddenly forced into sight, the barrier straining to contain the force of his punch. It immediately failed, and with a sound like glass shattering, it broke at the point of impact and sent a shockwave through the barrier.

Wherever it passed, the barrier was forced into sight and cracked before shattering as well. As for Mason’s fist, after piercing through that barrier, it continued into the doors, sending them flying with astonishing force.

The barrier itself was not completely destroyed, somehow keeping its integrity, with one of its sides destroyed. It appeared to be slowly rebuilding, which spoke of the barrier’s strength.

Mason was more interested in his fist, however, as he watched his Chi recede. Manifesting his Chi outside of his body had always been a hard limit, but here it had been so easy. He could feel that detaching it would be another step entirely, but being able to create constructs gave him ideas. It had been costly, though.

Normally, empowering a strike with Chi took negligible energy, but he could feel a decent chunk of his Chi had been spent with this attack.

Discovering more about his Three Treasures was always interesting, and particularly more so now that he had reached the peak of the realm, since any of those discoveries had the potential to be the key.

But now was not the time. Throwing a cocky grin at the group, he warned, ”Now’s the last chance to back off,” and stepped through the entrance.

In front, the blasted doors revealed a hall, its emptiness making it look eerie. The construction was symmetrical, with five elevator doors on each side, leading up to a large, currently unmanned reception desk. Going around that desk were two staircases that finally gave into a final elevator, this one with golden doors.

The ostentatious door formed a strange duality with the more modest hall, screaming at whoever might enter that the truly important people went through those golden doors. Very villain lair in Mason’s opinion. Or self-absorbed billionaire, which wasn’t that far off.

Behind Mason, the entire group followed, stepping in one after another, with Spider-Man closely watching the entrance as he fully expected the doors to reappear and slam shut like in a horror movie.

So he literally jumped when the elevator doors on the side all opened as one, with only the golden ones remaining shut. And out of the elevators came a veritable swarm of monsters.

They instantly spotted that something was wrong, as it was like a flood had been unleashed, the monsters coming out of the elevators in torrential waves. These monsters were not small either; Mason doubted two of them could stand inside an elevator, yet dozens were coming out of each of them in steady streams.

Mason immediately thought of spatial magic, and Daredevil warned loudly, ”I can hear them now! Hundreds of these demons are on the floors above, appearing out of nowhere!”

As the others prepared themselves for the fight and the swarm of monsters approached, Mason grinned, took a single step forward, and unleashed his Spirit for the first time.

There was nothing for the mundane senses to pick up on, for the spiritual energy Mason released did not exist in the physical plane. It spread through a plane parallel to their own, unimpeded by physical obstacles as it moved in every direction.

And despite the lack of presence in the physical world, the effects were instantaneous. The rushing monsters were like puppets whose strings were suddenly cut, their control over their muscles gone as their own spirits were overwhelmed, forced into unconsciousness.

Behind, the rest of his group was caught unprepared, all taking several steps back as their faces paled, making a visible effort to resist the strong oppression.

It did not stop on their floor either, moving up through the ceiling like it was not even there, assaulting the monsters up there as well, and so on.

A newly minted Grandmaster would have probably been limited to a few floors above them, and even the typical peak Grandmaster would have stopped somewhere around halfway up the building.

But if there was one Treasure Mason had explored in depth, it was his Spirit. So he may not be able to control who he affected, but amping it up to its full potential was easy.

The barrier surrounding the building attempted to stop the spiritual wave, but the moment it crashed into it, the already damaged barrier was completely shattered, utterly incapable of stopping the manifestation of Mason’s Spirit.

Mason offered a silent apology to the people outside he had probably knocked out, and sent a look at Izo. He had resisted the… spiritual outburst, if Mason had to give it a name, much better than the others, probably because he had experience with it, even if it was several hundred years ago.

His face was still ashen, but that was pretty much always the case. More importantly, Mason noticed a faint trace of awe on his master’s face, which was quickly wiped away the moment he looked, but it was too late.

He gave him a cocky grin, but said nothing as he extended his Divine Sense outward.

Mason felt the hundreds of lifeforms inside the building, all stationary, except for a few at the very top of the building, on the last floor. Focusing on them, he confirmed they were the targets.

But then, Mason felt a disturbance. It was hard to understand because Mason did not know what he was feeling, but when he saw sparks appear in front of him, he understood it was a portal opening.

Focusing on it, he felt the way space behaved, yet it seemed so foreign. He felt a connection being created, but not how or why.

Frustratingly, Mason felt himself at the cusp of understanding, but the portal fully formed, and the feeling disappeared as it became stable. If he studied the open portal long enough, Mason was sure he could glean something, but now was not the time, as the portal connected with the top floor.

Although the sight was daunting, Mason was familiar with the magic, even if from a metafictional point, so he stepped through it without hesitation.

This floor was just as spacious as the hall, because of the way the building was constructed, and it actually had a bit more space since there was a single, golden-doored elevator leading to it. This floor was apparently Fisk’s living quarters, with several art pieces displayed, long windows that gave into the whole city, and a separate bedroom in the back.

There were no demons or monsters on this floor, and although there were a few henchmen, they too had been knocked out earlier. That only left three people awake.

One was Fisk, of course, his large form dressed in his usual white tuxedo, and currently staring at one of his acolytes. The said acolyte was dressed in a long red robe, his features so deformed he barely looked human anymore. Mason could still recognize his expression as a frustrated grimace as he stared at the portal.

”Hey! I’m here too, don’t ignore me! Hey!”

And then, there was the third one. Not a Sorcerer, but a mercenary dressed in a red and black costume, covering him from head to toe. Two katanas were strapped to his back, two guns to his hips, and the mere sight of him sitting cross-legged gave Mason a headache. His words even more so.

While Fisk and his Sorcerer argued under their breaths, the mercenary, the one and only Deadpool, exclaimed excitedly, ”I finally get to meet the hero! Look, Mom, I’m in a main scene! Half-centennial for the win! That was one long chappy to get me in.”

He paused, looked around, peering through the large windows by the side for a moment, before exclaiming, equal parts scandalized and overjoyed, ”Wait, it’s not over yet?! Oh, I love you, you sly bastard!”

Mason pinched the bridge of his nose, unsure whether he should feel tired or annoyed, and ended up settling for both as the others stepped through the portal as well, and Deadpool mused, ”I wonder who I’m gonna fight.”

Meanwhile, the red robbed Sorcerer turned his attention to Mason, offering a mock bow as he greeted, ”Grandmaster, it has been too long since I met one of your ilk. Yet another useless martial artist who gave in to envy, taking the short-cut of magic to pretend competency. Your portal-” he abruptedly stopped, staring at Mason’s naked hands as he muttered, ”You don’t have a Sling Ring.”

Mason narrowed his eyes at Red Robe, for the lack of a name, intuiting from his words that he had not been the one to open that portal. He did not have to ponder on its origin for long, though, as a dry chuckle came from the portal they had entered, and another man, one who was not part of their group, entered.

He was a bald, dark-skinned man, dressed in a sleeveless yellow robe; his mere presence was intimidating. His stern eyes locked on Red Robe, proclaiming, ”Surrender, disciple of the Flesh Weaver-”

”No one cares, you discount Tilda Swinton! This is supposed to be the fateful match between the old master, full of mysterious hatred towards anything remotely magical, and the evil Sorcerer. You’re ruining the vibe!”

Although the Sorcerer was interrupted, Deadpool was ignored, with Red Robe watching the new arrival with a sinister grin. ”Disciple Drumm, you must pardon my lack of decorum, I was not expecting your arrival. May I present Mr. Fisk to you? He has been a wonderful donor to our cause, and I was sent here to protect him. How about you let me deal with these uneducated monkeys before we tango?”

The Sorcerer, Disciple Drumm, looked at Red Robe unimpressed, his beefy arms crossed. ”Do you feel no shame? Your corruption runs so deeply that I do not recognize you. I pale at the thought that you were once a student in our midst. It would appear your corruption extends to your integrity as well, involving the uninitiated within mystical matters.”

Then, he turned towards Mason, offering a martial bow as he greeted, ”Grandmaster, it is an honor to meet you.”

Mason nodded, and Red Robe cackled, ”You buffoon, you dare speak of my integrity when you lower yourself before a monkey? In all my years in Kamar-Taj, I have never understood this blind respect you old people hold for martial artists. Look at him,” he pointed at Mason, ”the very best they can produce, a spirit so powerful it would make any Sorcerer envious, yet only capable of knocking out the fodder, the fodder I conjured. Any of your spells could kill him, but you can’t keep your spine straight. In the end, like all the others, he’ll get stuck for a few decades and come grovelling to learn magic. What a disgrace.”

Mason tilted his head, looked at his group, before chuckling, ”I usually don’t fall for provocation, but I find you to be particularly revolting. Daredevil, I trust you can handle Fisk?” he nodded. ”And Spider-Man, I’m leaving the mercenary to you. Don’t underestimate him.”

Spider-Man saluted, and Deadpool complained across the room, ”What? I don’t get to fight you? Don’t get me wrong, I love Spidey, but man!”

Mason gave him a lazy, yet threatening smile. ”I know of your immortality, Deadpool. If we fought, I’d rip your head off the first chance I get and be done with it.”

Deadpool paused before pointing his finger at Spider-Man. ”Spidey! Our fated duel awaits! I promise not to shoot you too hard.”

Mason was about to finish with the plans, intending to tell Disciple Drumm he would be taking Red Robe alongside Izo and Iron Fist, when he suddenly realized Izo had mysteriously disappeared.

Blinking, he spread out his Divine Sense, only to find him with his naked eyes first.

”Kiyaah!”

Unbeknownst to everyone in the room, which was an impressive achievement in itself, Izo suddenly appeared right next to Red Robe.

The villainous Sorcerer must have improved his senses in some way because he felt Izo’s presence the moment he appeared and tried to swivel around to dodge, but then Izo screamed.

It might sound counter-intuitive to an assassination attempt, but it was no normal shout. Even from this distance, Mason could feel the Chi coming out of it. It was thick, and it was just enough to freeze the Sorcerer for a beat.

And yet, as Izo unsheathed his sword, going for his strike, Red Robe’s neck shrank impossibly, like a turtle hiding in its shell.

But his neck was never Izo’s target, as if the old master had expected this all along. His sword cut through the Sorcerer’s wrist, the cut all but beautiful as it severed the appendage in one smooth motion.

Before the hand could even hit the ground, Izo kicked it away in their direction and leapt away just in time to dodge Red Robe’s spell, ”Serpent’s Fang!”

An ethereal green light followed Red Robe’s gesture, slashing at naught but the air as Izo glided through the air back to Mason’s side as he cackled something in Japanese.

Red Robe looked furious, thrusting his stump forward. ”You think this means anything?”

The flesh there started wriggling, and Mason felt a distortion in their surroundings as a giant claw grew in the place of the severed hand.

Izo still looked content with himself, though, as he picked up the hand he had severed and asked in English this time, ”Now, you won’t be getting away.”

Red Robe stilled as he spotted the golden glint on his severed hand. His Sling Ring.

Izo unceremoniously took the ring and crushed it in the palm of his hand. Fisk, who had watched up to this point, looked livid as he growled at Red Robe, ”We have an agreement. How are you getting me out of here now that you went and lost your damn ring!”

Red Robe slowly turned to look at Fisk, but the Kingpin was not intimidated. It only made him madder. Then, with a snarl, Red Robe suddenly swiped his giant claw at Fisk, sending him flying across the room.

While Mason and his group stared at the airborne Fisk in shock, Deadpool reacted instantly, pulling out both of his guns and emptying them into Red Robe.

Mason expected Red Robe to pull something, to dodge, to block, but at the end of the day, he was still an average human without his spells. And bullets were fast.

Red Robe barely reacted to the first, conjuring a sparkling energy shield and blocking it, when the second hit him in the liver and the third in the left lung, and that was enough to dispel his magic.

By the time Fisk landed in a painful skid on his polished stone floor, Deadpool’s guns clicked empty, Red Robe stumbling back as he gargled on his own blood.

Reloading his guns with one swift move, Deadpool looked at the flabbergasted group, tilting his head. ”What? I was hired to protect Fisk, just doing my job.”

Only Disciple Drumm was still staring at Red Robe, his expression grave. After a second, Mason followed his gaze and noticed that while Red Robe looked like he would keel over at any moment, a crazy appearance appeared on his face as he rasped, ”O Flesh Weaver, Lord of the Everchanging Form, thou who stitches muscles and bones, Unmake the boundaries we fear to cross, Teach our bodies to forget their shape.”

Everyone understood something deeply wrong was going on, and sought to stop it. Deadpool kept firing at him, Izo threw a ninja star, and Spider-Man shot a web, but they were absorbed into Red Robe’s body, doing nothing to stop his chanting.

His voice grew distorted as he continued his prayer.

”O Flesh Weaver, hear my cry, Lord of what was meant to die. Twist my bones and shape my skin, Let, Your sacred work begin! Wake the forms forgotten in sleep, from the dark where monsters creep. Thread by thread and vein by vein, bind us in your sacred pain. Make my body not my own, mold it into Thine living stone. Break the shape that I once knew, Build me strange and build me true.”

Mason felt something ominous in the air as he looked at Disciple Drumm with a frown. ”Can’t you stop him?”

While Red Robe continued chanting, Disciple Drumm shared Mason’s frown, revealing, ”Unfortunately not. Any energy sent his way would only be devoured and accelerate the transformation. It was why I brought you here. I am going to need help taking down the Flesh Weaver incarnate.”

As if he reveled in their helplessness, Red Robe looked at them with childish glee, his prayer never stopping, ”In Your loom of blood and breath, Life is but a mask for death. Yet in ruin I arise, Woven new before Your eyes. Flesh to flesh and scar to scar, Show me, Lord, what You are. Till I fade and am remade, Lost within the form You have made.”

Red Robe’s flesh started bubbling under his clothes, the world as if screaming around him in Mason’s Divine Sense, and his voice reached its peak along with his prayer.

”O Great Serpent, take what’s mine, make this fragile form divine! In your honor let me be, bound in endless ecstasy!”

The moment he finished his prayer, his head suddenly burst open, exploding in a fountain of gore, the seams of what remained of his neck elongating and turning into a giant set of teeth. His form rapidly grew in size, with various parts of his body exploding into similar faceless heads, others turning into giant serpents.

In a matter of seconds, there was nothing human left about Red Robe. It, for there was no he, towered above them, standing at over five meters tall. Its body was a chaotic mix of appendages, with faceless maws, giant serpents coming out of its body, hooved legs, and arms that ended in spears.

Mason tried to focus on it with his Divine Sense, but it was made of multiple beings. Each of its heads had a will of its own, and his Divine Sense could only predict the actions of one, so he retrieved it.

Beside them, Disciple Drumm had been busy while Red Robe transformed, murmuring a chant of his own under his breath that caused the bracelets on his forearms to glow and form energy gauntlets around his hands. He then grabbed the staff on his back, which strangely caused the ground below him to crack faintly.

As the beast was fully unleashed, Disciple Drumm warned, ”Beware, my friends, for the Incarnation of Set is no easy foe. He may only have brought a fraction of his power; his venom is so potent that mere contact will burn your skin, and were you to be devoured, he shall take your very soul.”

They had many questions, of course, but no time to ask them as the Incarnation of Set charged them.

Izo was the first to move, muttering a curse under his breath as he moved otherwise silently, his speed astonishing for someone his age.

The others all moved a beat later, Spider-Man instantly taking the higher ground with his webs, Daredevil going for Fisk and ensuring he would not get flattened by the stomping beast, while Mason followed after his master, a grin on his face.

A serpent head whipped in Mason’s direction, and he met it with a Chi-infused punch, smacking it back. His grin widened, and he met each of its attacks with one of his own, pitting strength against strength. His haori was discarded, leaving him in his tight-fitting black fitness shirt.

Disciple Drumm stepped through the air by creating tiny platforms with Eldritch magic, struggling to lift his staff above his head, before he arrived above the Incarnation of Set. Despite its beastly looks, it had apparently enough brains to register the threat above it, sending two serpent heads at Disciple Drumm and angling its largest maw to devour him.

But it was not the only thing with eyes. Daredevil leaped at the beast, kicking away one of the serpent heads, and Iron Fist punched the other, disabling it also. Finally, for the maw, Spider-Man grabbed both halves of it with his webs and forced it shut.

With nothing to stop him, Disciple Drumm brought down his heavy staff onto the Incarnation of Set with a thunderous boom.

The ground under them cracked as the evil beast released a choked screech, its largest maw flattened into its center mass, bones sent splintering everywhere.

It was stunned for a moment, but as devastating as the damage was, its flesh started mending under their very eyes. Disciple Drumm warned them with a yell, ”Use your Chi!”

Almost at the same time, Iron Fist leapt in the air, his fist turning into a miniature sun as he summoned everything the immortal dragon Shou-Lao could give him. He was aiming right where Disciple Drumm had hit.

All the others worked to immobilize the Incarnation of Set, each grabbing onto an appendage or head, wrestling with it. It was strong, with only Mason and Spider-Man being strong enough to actually hold it, but the others were good enough to block it for a moment.

But as everyone held it down, and the Iron Fist bore down on it with the might of an immortal dragon, its body stilled before all of its heads unleashed a chaotic screech. The sound of it was so grating it attacked their very minds. Mason felt his Spirit get hit, and while he managed to power through it, the same could not be said about the others.

They all screamed, holding their heads painfully, with the strange exception of Deadpool, who looked even less affected than Mason, somehow.

With his focus shattered, Iron Fist’s control over his Chi wavered, and he ended up giving only a regular punch. Even worse, all the others were grappling with the Incarnation of Set, and this momentary bout of confusion opened them up to an attack.

And unfortunately, there were just too many of them.

Making a split-second decision, Mason let go of the head he had grappled down and went for the ones held by Izo and Daredevil.

The next moment, the rest of the heads lashed out. Despite his current state, Spider-Man still managed to instinctively dodge the head that, for him, his Spider-Sense protected him from.

That only left Mason, Disciple Drumm, and Iron Fist vulnerable. Mason gritted his teeth as the head he had let go of sank its fangs into his shoulder. He felt like fire was being injected directly into his veins, and the others were not doing any better.

Master Drum was swatted aside with enough force to send him flying into a wall and crack it, and human bones were no tougher than stone. Danny was similarly bitten by a serpent head, also affected by the venom.

Powering through the pain, Mason forced the serpent’s head to bite him open, his Chi circulating inside to fight the poison. Beside him, Izo and Daredevil reacted as soon as they regained their spirits, the old man yelling, ”I didn’t ask for your help, stupid! Now we don’t have a Sorcerer to exorcise it!”

Mason tasted blood at the back of his throat, but that only fueled him as he backhanded Deadpool, sending him flying as he laughed, ”I’ll give it an exorcism for the ages. Stabilize their conditions.”

Deadpool, taken by surprise by the sudden slap, barely landed on his feet, screaming, ”You’ll only get to spank me when this is finished.”

Mason ignored him. With Deadpool off the beast, there was only him, so Mason activated his Gravity Dao to the limit, applying the Concept of Push onto his immediate surroundings, which only included the Incarnation of Set.

Because of its immense size and weight, the Incarnation of Set was much more affected by gravity, pressing it into the ground with that much more force, causing several more cracks.

Mason ignored the white-hot liquid flames in his veins or his rapidly depleting Divine Sense, leaping up and directing all of his Chi onto his fists, manifesting into the same dragon gauntlets as before.

The pain should have made it impossible to focus well enough to perform this level of Chi manipulation, but Mason’s overwhelmingly strong Spirit and 18 years trapped as a soul had tempered his will.

The Incarnation of Set attempted another screech, but Mason’s fist was just a tad faster, slamming into its already deformed maw with a dragon’s roar. It was so powerful that the whole floor around them shook, the glass seemingly on the verge of shattering, and the ground beneath them finally gave way.

And still, Mason did not relent, keeping his gravity field up, which only accelerated their fall. And with another punch, they tore through the floor beneath as well.

Mason’s laughter echoed hauntingly across the entire tower as he and the demon rapidly plummeted through the floors, each of his punches doing immense damage to the demon. It fought back, with several serpent heads biting into him and the other limbs trying to push him off, but he laughed the damage off, putting everything into his punches.

Their descent only ended when they reached the ground floor, the Incarnation of Set crashing with a thunderous boom that covered the whole hall in dust. And when it gradually fell, Mason was there, standing on top of the still demon.

Only Mason could see the actual condition of it, though. Its body had been deformed, nearly torn apart by the sheer power of his punches, which only spoke of the strange nature of the creature.

Chi, as the energy of life, was supposed to be nearly incapable of killing a living being. It was not omnipotent, so if Mason had hit a normal human with that kind of power, they would have ended up dying, but this demon was many times more resistant.

And yet, Chi had acted more like a poison than anything. Mason did not understand the why, but it worked just fine for him, as it had helped him kill the thing.

Raising his blood-covered fists, Mason noticed they were shaking. The poison, he realized a second later.

Mason might have grown much stronger, but adrenaline still affected him, arguably even more than a normal person, so much so that he did not even feel the poison at work inside him. He had been bitten several times by the serpent heads, so Mason suspected he had gotten several times the lethal dose of the thing.

Taking a breath, Mason unclenched his fists, placing his palms together as he circulated his Chi through his body. Potent as the poison might be, Mason’s Chi was stronger.

As his Chi did its thing, Mason looked up at the many holes above. Fortunately for the group above, Mason and the Incarnation of Set had fallen in a straight line, and while the demon was large, the floors were much larger, so they had not harmed the structural integrity of the tower too badly.

Mason looked up at the top floor from where he was when he heard a crackling sound beside him. Looking down, a portal opened, bringing with it a wave of frigid air. Mason could see a snowy peak on the other side.

After a few seconds with no one passing through, Izo’s head poked through the portal. ”Come here already, Stupid.”

Mason chuckled and stepped through.