The cave was dark and smelled like gunpowder and burnt oil.
As they moved deeper, the sound of shouting grew louder.
Men were screaming in languages Sam didn't need to understand to know they were terrified.
A massive metal door at the end of the tunnel suddenly flew off its hinges.
It hit the opposite wall with a deafening CRUNCH.
From the smoke stepped a giant. It was made of thick, grey iron plates, bolted together in a hurry.
A glowing blue circle shone from its chest. This was the Mark 1—the first Iron Man suit.
"He's bigger than I thought,"
Natasha whispered, her batons sparking with electricity.
The iron suit began to stomp forward, flamethrowers on its arms lighting up the tunnel.
The Ten Rings soldiers were firing everything they had, but the bullets just bounced off the heavy iron.
"Stark! Get down!"
Sam shouted over the noise.
Tony Stark, sweating and trapped inside the metal suit, didn't know who was calling his name, but he saw the pink glow of Sam's sword.
He ducked his metal head just as a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) whizzed toward him from a side tunnel.
Sam didn't hesitate.
He moved faster than the eye could see.
With a single, elegant sweep of his Chinese sword, he sliced the rocket in half.
The two pieces hit the floor and exploded behind them, but the pink Qi protected Sam and Natasha from the heat.
"Who are you people?"
Tony's voice came out muffled from inside the helmet.
"The circus? The Power Rangers?"
"We're the rescue team, Tony,"
Natasha said, leaping over a pile of crates to kick a guard who was trying to sneak up on the suit.
"Keep moving! We'll clear the path!"
The exit was blocked by dozens of men with heavy machine guns. They were desperate. They knew if the "Iron Man" got out, they were finished.
"Stay behind me,"
Sam told Natasha.
He took a deep breath. The pink Qi droplets in his Dantian began to spin like a whirlwind.
He raised his sword, and for a moment, the dark cave filled with the scent of spring flowers.
He used the Budding Hope footwork.
To the guards, it looked like Sam was in five places at once.
He wasn't killing them, but his blade was moving so fast it created waves of air that knocked the guns out of their hands.
Cling! Clang! Shhh-ing!
In ten seconds, the path was clear. The guards were either disarmed and trembling or knocked out cold.
They reached the mouth of the cave. The bright Afghan sun was blinding.
Tony, in his heavy suit, was struggling to walk through the sand.
His systems were failing.
"The suit is dying,"
Tony groaned.
"I'm gonna have to... crash land this thing."
"Do it,"
Sam said.
"We've got the perimeter."
As Tony engaged the crude jet boots and flew into the sky in a trail of smoke, Sam looked back at the cave.
A man with a scar on his face—the leader—was crawling out, reaching for a detonator.
Sam didn't even use his sword. He just looked at the man.
The pressure of Sam's Qi was so heavy that the leader dropped the detonator and fell unconscious from pure fear.
A few minutes later, the iron suit crashed into the dunes far away.
Sam and Natasha ran toward the crash site.
They found Tony crawling out of the wreckage, his face covered in grease and sand.
He looked at the arc reactor in his chest, then at the man with the glowing sword and the beautiful woman in black.
"Okay,"
Tony panted, looking at Sam.
"Nice sword. But seriously... where can a guy get a cheeseburger around here?"
A few days after the desert rescue, a very expensive private jet landed in San Francisco.
Tony Stark was home, but he wasn't the same man.
He had a glowing circle in his chest and a lot of questions in his head.
He didn't go to Stark Industries first. Instead, he showed up at the gates of Sam and Natasha's mansion.
He was wearing an expensive suit, but he looked pale.
Every time he breathed, he winced in pain.
They sat in the garden. Sam was drinking a simple tea, his Chinese sword leaning against the table.
Tony was staring at Sam with his mouth slightly open.
"I've run the numbers,"
Tony said, tapping a tablet.
"I've checked the satellite footage. You moved at a speed that breaks the laws of physics. That sword of yours... What kind of plasma edge is that?"
Sam smiled and took a sip of his tea.
"It's not tech, Tony. It's an ancient power called Qi. It's the energy of life itself."
Tony rolled his eyes.
"Right. And I'm the Easter Bunny. Look, 'Qi' is a nice story for a fortune cookie, but we live in a world of atoms and electricity. You must have some kind of hidden battery or a super-soldier serum."
Sam didn't argue. He just held out his hand. He didn't touch Tony, but he let a tiny bit of his pink Qi flow out.
The air around Sam's palm began to shimmer like a hot road in July.
A soft, sweet smell of cherry blossoms filled the air.
Slowly, a small flower petal made of pure light formed above Sam's hand. It wasn't a hologram. It was solid energy.
Sam flicked his finger, and the light petal flew toward a large rock in the garden.
CRACK.
The rock split perfectly in half, but there was no heat, no explosion—just a clean cut.
Tony's jaw dropped. He stood up and walked over to the rock, touching the smooth surface.
"No radiation. No heat signature. This... this shouldn't be possible."
"Nothing is impossible,"
Sam said.
"And I am a Cultivator."
Tony sat back down, his face turning serious.
He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the metal circle in his chest.
The skin around it was starting to show dark, ugly veins.
"If your 'magic' is real,"
Tony whispered,
"Can it fix this? The palladium that keeps the magnet running is poisoning my blood. I'm dying. My own life-saver is killing me."
Sam walked over and placed a hand near Tony's chest. He didn't touch the metal.
He just felt the energy. The Arc Reactor was powerful, but the chemicals were messy.
It was like a dirty fire burning inside a beautiful lantern.
"I can't heal you completely,"
Sam said honestly.
"The poison is part of the metal you're using. But I can help."
Sam closed his eyes and pushed a wave of warm, pink Qi into Tony's body.
Tony gasped. For the first time in weeks, the constant metallic taste in his mouth disappeared.
The dark veins on his chest faded slightly.
He felt a surge of energy that didn't come from a battery.
"I can keep the poison away for a while,"
Sam explained.
"I can give you more time. But the answer isn't in my power. You need to find a new element—something pure."
Tony looked at Sam with a new kind of respect.
He realized that the world was much bigger than he thought.
"A new element, huh?"
Tony muttered, feeling the warmth of Sam's Qi still humming in his veins.
"I guess I better get to work. But stay close, Sam. I think we're going to be seeing a lot of each other."