Chapter 96.
In a burst of violent fire, the bald man under Tony's control met an instantaneous and fiery end. Tony, however, paid little mind to the man's death. He was a minor character, and his demise was of little consequence. What truly captivated Tony was the mysterious, unknown drug the man had just injected. Tony had never before encountered a substance with such a powerful effect, and it sparked his intense interest.
Observing the man's final moments, it was clear that the injection had failed, leading to the devastating explosion. Tony, intrigued, wondered what the drug's intended effect was and what results it might have produced had the injection succeeded. Pushing these thoughts aside, he decided to return home, confident that Felix would know the details of the mysterious medicine. With that thought, Tony turned and, as fierce flames jetted from his armor, the powerful thrust accelerated him instantly, sending him soaring toward his villa.
Felix and the others had witnessed the entire situation unfold with Tony. Jarvis, using satellite observation, had converted Tony's experience into a real-time virtual projection for them to watch.
Although he knew Tony was safe inside his steel armor, Rhodey couldn't help but worry that the suit wouldn't be able to withstand the missile barrage. However, as he watched Tony's subsequent actions, he was stunned by the performance, finding it utterly incredible. He couldn't comprehend how Tony had managed such a feat.
After seeing Tony successfully manipulate the missiles, Felix no longer felt any concern for his friend. Instead, his attention shifted to the two helicopters that had split off from the initial attack and were now flying toward the villa. To prevent the gangsters from attacking the villa and harming or frightening innocent people, Felix decided he needed to handle the situation himself and destroy the two separate helicopters. After all, among the superheroes present, only he and Tony could fly.
The Captain America was another possibility, as he could become a flame and fly. However, he hadn't fully mastered this state, and his flaming form was too high-profile and conspicuous. Besides, it would also destroy a set of clothes. So, Felix concluded it was better not to let him get involved.
Rhodey, who had been engrossed in watching –Tony's actions, was taken aback by Felix's words. He, too, had seen the two helicopters, but he couldn't fathom how a person could fight a helicopter. The helicopters were gunships, carrying heavy weapons and missiles, and Felix didn't even have steel armor like Tony.
"Can't you still fly?" Rhodey thought to himself, but he didn't voice the question.
"You don't have to worry about this, I have my own way," Felix said with a resigned smile. He knew Rhodey's concern came from a good place, but it was entirely unnecessary. Without another word, Felix walked to the window from which Tony had just departed.
"Felix, even though it's only three stories high, falling is dangerous. You should..." Rhodey began, not understanding what Felix was about to do. Suddenly, his eyes widened in disbelief, shocked by the sight before him.
"Holy cow, he can actually fly!" Rhodey exclaimed.
Felix had leaped forward, and after jumping a few meters, he instantly accelerated in mid-air, flying forward at incredible speed. As he accelerated, a flat air mass, resembling a small skirt, appeared around his body. Everyone heard a loud bang, and Felix's figure vanished. The powerful shockwave deformed the special windows of Tony's villa, and the nearby bulletproof glass shattered instantly. Fortunately, the onlookers were a safe distance from the window, so besides a ringing in their ears, they were unharmed.
Felix, in his consideration, had done his best to slow down. He had accelerated to break the sound barrier only after he was a few meters away from the villa. Had he not, the resulting damage would have been far more severe.
"That... if I heard correctly, the loud noise just now seemed to be a sonic boom?" Rhodey asked, rubbing his ringing ears in shock. He noticed that while he and a few others were stunned, the rest of the group remained remarkably calm.
"Don't make a fuss, that speed is not even Felix's full power," T'Challa said dismissively. Having witnessed Felix at his top speed before, T'Challa was unconcerned and sought to reassure Rhodey.
"Not his top speed? Hey, you have to be kidding, right?! You must be kidding, because there's no way that's true!" Rhodey exclaimed. Rhodey couldn't help but doubt his words. The fact that Felix could fly and break the sound barrier had already shattered Rhodey's worldview. Now, T'Challa was claiming that this was only a fraction of Felix's true speed, and Rhodey couldn't bring himself to believe it.
Meanwhile, outside, some people were confused.
"Did something just fly past again?" one person asked. "How is that possible? You must be seeing things! Iron Man already left and hasn't come back!" another responded.
Felix's speed was, of course, unparalleled. Even though he was holding back a significant portion of his power, he had already surpassed the speed of sound and arrived in front of one of the helicopters almost instantly. He felt no kindness toward these gangsters who had attacked Tony's villa. His eyes glowed red, and two scarlet beams of energy shot out, striking the helicopter. The gangster pilots didn't even have a moment to react, only able to watch as the red lasers hit their aircraft.
With a deafening boom, the helicopter was instantly engulfed in a blinding inferno, its fragments scattering everywhere. Without stopping, Felix accelerated and flew toward the second helicopter. Within a few seconds, he was in front of it and fired another blast from his eyes. With another loud boom, the final helicopter was also consumed by a dazzling blaze. It had taken him only a few seconds to destroy two heavily armed helicopters, and Felix's expression remained unchanged. With a thought, his figure vanished into the sky, leaving only a lingering trace of fire.
Rhodey, watching the events unfold, was utterly speechless. He stuttered, "Is Felix... even human? What is he?"
Felix's actions were so shocking that they rendered his psychological fortitude as an Air Force pilot completely useless.
"Of course I'm human! What else would I be, a ghost?" a voice replied.
"Ah! Who said that?" Rhodey shouted, startled. He spun around and was shocked to see Felix standing there.
"Fe... Felix, weren't you just outside? How did you get back here so quietly?" Rhodey stammered, completely bewildered by Felix's sudden appearance. He couldn't comprehend how someone who flew so fast could return so silently. Rhodey was deeply confused, wondering how Tony had come to know such a powerful and unusual person. He had just watched Felix destroy two armed helicopters effortlessly, giving them no chance to fight back. Felix could fly faster than the speed of sound and fire red laser beams from his eyes that could instantly obliterate a helicopter, demonstrating terrifying power.
"Oh, Rhodey, why are you making such a fuss?" Felix said with a slight smile before his gaze fell on Louise. He felt a pang of guilt, having forgotten to consider her feelings. He worried that seeing him engage in such a display of lethal force might give her pause.
Fortunately, Louise didn't seem to be like the "Virgin Mary" types he had seen in movies.
Seeming to sense his anxiety, Louise reached out and gently took Felix's hand. "Don't worry about me," she said softly. "I'll support everything you do."
Hearing her words, a wave of warmth washed over Felix, and he was deeply moved.
"Cough, Felix, let's not get all romantic just yet! Let's take a look at what's going on with the man I captured," a voice interrupted, pulling Felix out of his emotional moment. He turned his attention back to the virtual projection of Tony.
"This is... the Extremis virus?" Felix blurted out instinctively as he saw the bald man with his flame-like appearance. The man's condition was very familiar to him. It was a special super-soldier serum known as the Extremis virus, used by Killian in the third Iron Man movie.
This medicine was originally developed by a beautiful biologist with whom Tony had a one-night stand. Her goal was to create a medicine that could regenerate a person's body and cure disabilities. Under Tony's refinement, it eventually became the Extremis virus.
However, the medicine had a serious flaw. If it succeeded, it would allow a person to emit extreme heat and regenerate lost limbs. But if it failed, which was very likely, the user would instantly become a human bomb and explode.
"The Extremis virus? Is that the drug he just used? Felix, you know about this?" Banner asked, his attention now fully on Felix's words.
"Let's wait for Tony to get back, and then I'll tell you more about it," Felix replied gravely, having watched the bald man fail and explode into pieces. He hadn't expected the Extremis virus to appear, and he was puzzled as to who had given it to the gangsters who attacked the villa.
"Wait, I'm genuinely confused now. What is happening? Am I still dreaming? How can there be so many things and people in this seemingly ordinary world that I don't know about?" Rhodey said, feeling overwhelmed. The events of the day had completely shattered his decades-old worldview.
"Hey, calm down! You won't feel this way forever, you'll get used to it." T'Challa said, patting him on the shoulder. He felt a sense of camaraderie with Rhodey and spoke to him with the wisdom of someone who had already experienced the same shock.
A few minutes later, Tony returned to the villa, bringing with him Little Pepper.
"Sorry, everyone, for the long wait," Tony said as he entered, ignoring their stares and walking to his seat with Little Pepper. He had already retracted his nano armor.
"You must have seen what just happened," Tony began, addressing the group before turning to Felix with an expectant look.
"Felix, I think you're the only one who can answer our questions".
"Well, it's not a big deal," Felix started. "This potion is called the Extremis virus, and its origin actually has something to do with you, Tony". Felix glanced at Tony and then at Little Pepper with a mischievous smirk.
"It has something to do with me? Why don't I know about this?" Tony asked, stunned. He searched his memory but couldn't recall ever seeing this kind of medicine.
"Yes, it's you," Felix confirmed.
"More than ten years ago, in 1999, do you remember attending a dinner party and meeting a beautiful biologist named Maya Hansen? And then you...".
"Cough, stop, Felix, don't say more!" Tony interrupted quickly, a sudden chill in the air. He had instantly remembered the event, and he knew he had to stop Felix from saying anything more.
"We only had academic discussions!" he insisted.
"Tony, would you care to explain who this biologist is?" Pepper asked, a hint of vinegar in her voice. Tony shot a "you've hurt me" look at Felix.
Although Pepper could infer from their conversation that something had likely happened between Tony and the biologist, she didn't dwell on it for long and was simply jealous. Felix then explained the entire story of the Extremis virus to everyone and suggested that the attackers were likely sent by Tony's enemy, Aldrich Killian .
"KIllian? He and I used to work together, but we haven't been in touch for years," Pepper said, surprised.
"It is indeed the person Miss Potts mentioned," Felix confirmed, but he also had a question of his own.
"But this Killian was supposed to show up in a couple of years. I don't know why he's appeared now".
"Oh, don't worry about it," Tony said confidently. He had learned that he would defeat this enemy in his original timeline. With the Nano Armor and his new superpower to control metal, he was far stronger now and didn't fear this villain.
"Trash like this can't cause me much trouble. If he dares to come, I'll show him what happens when you go up against me!" he declared.
Elsewhere at the banquet, a man and a woman were whispering in a corner.
"The sound of the explosion just now seemed to be our people! What should we do? Should we continue with the plan?" the man asked.
"Damn it! Those useless fools couldn't even cause a little chaos. We'll have to abandon the plan for now! We'll look for another opportunity in the future," the woman replied.
"Tony Stark's laboratory isn't so easy to get into".
From their conversation, it was clear that their goal was to infiltrate Tony's laboratory, and the helicopters were merely a distraction to create chaos. They were astonished that all six of their fully-equipped helicopters had been destroyed in less than a minute, without even managing to cause a scratch.
...….
E/N : Please support me and read atleast 10 chapters ahead at my patreon for $5.
patreon.com/PrimorDious
I'll be really grateful and it would mean a lot to me. Thanks.