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"This guy didn't just change his skin—he even swapped out the power source for his suit."
As Peter slowly turned around, Tony stared at the new energy core in his chest—a glowing golden light that burned like a miniature sun. His eyes were filled with disbelief.
"And how the hell did he manage to shrink that massive artificial sun down to this size?"
Tony couldn't stop wondering how Peter had taken something so huge and dangerous and turned it into something compact enough to fit in his chest—something powerful enough to actually replace Tony's own Arc Reactor.
"You looked kinda rough just now," Peter said calmly, but the sarcasm in his voice was hard to miss.
"You don't get it—I was just giving him a free shot," Tony said, brushing it off. "He was my uncle, after all."
Whether he meant it or was just saving face, who knew.
"And you totally stuck your nose where it didn't belong. Even if you hadn't stepped in, I still would've taken him down, easy."
"So don't expect me to thank you. And by the way, you still haven't—wait, look out!"
Tony was mid-rant, acting all high and mighty, when his tone suddenly shifted. He shouted a warning at Peter.
ROAR!
A loud roar erupted from behind Peter. The monster—who everyone thought was down for the count—was suddenly on his feet again. The gaping hole in his chest was healing fast, the flesh knitting itself back together at an unnatural speed.
While the two were busy talking, the beast lunged at Peter from the ground.
But just as quickly, the monster realized Peter was gone. One second he was there, the next—nothing.
"What the hell? How is he that fast?!"
Obadiah, now fully transformed into the monstrous creature, couldn't believe his eyes.
"Whatever. Killing Tony's just as good. After today, no one will challenge my claim to the company."
With Peter nowhere in sight, Obadiah turned his wild gaze to Tony. His eyes gleamed with madness as he charged straight at him.
BAM!
Obadiah moved like lightning, and before Tony could react, he took a solid punch straight to the gut.
CLANG!
Like a meteor crashing from the sky, Tony was slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crater in the pavement.
"You're the one who said not to interfere, so don't come begging for help later."
Peter reappeared in the sky, looking down at Tony with amusement, like he was watching a show.
"Damn you, Superman… damn this monster…"
"You think I'm gonna beg you? Not a chance!"
Tony got back to his feet, fury blazing in his eyes.
But Obadiah was already coming at him again, leaping through the air. His fists were the size of sledgehammers, and gravity only made them hit harder.
"Come on then! I'll show all of you—Tony Stark isn't someone to be messed with!"
Tony's fighting spirit suddenly flared up. He raised his right arm, and the nanotech particles flowed across his suit, forming a man-sized metal shield in under five milliseconds.
The moment the shield was fully formed, Obadiah's fist smashed into it.
BOOM!
The impact exploded with deafening force, shattering the glass in the surrounding buildings. A shockwave rippled through the air.
"Let me show you what my upgraded nanotech suit can do. I may be human—but with this, I can stand toe to toe with gods!"
Blocking Obadiah's strike seemed to give Tony a massive boost in confidence.
The shield dissolved almost instantly as the nanotech shifted again—this time forming a razor-sharp blade in Tony's left hand.
Before Obadiah could react, Tony slashed toward him at lightning speed.
SWISH!
The blade cut through the air with a sharp whistle, moving so fast it sounded like it sliced the air itself.
SLICK—ARGH!
Obadiah sensed the danger and tried to jump back.
But he was a second too late.
The blade slashed across his thick right arm, leaving a massive, bone-deep gash. A spray of disgusting yellowish-brown blood burst out—so corrosive that it hissed as it hit the ground.
The searing pain only seemed to drive Obadiah into a deeper frenzy.
He let out a series of furious, inhuman roars...
The wound on his arm wasn't healing like before—actually, it was getting worse, like something was about to burst out from inside.
Riiip...
The sound of tearing flesh was sickening, and Obadiah's inhuman howl was downright hellish—like a demon groaning from the depths of the underworld.
The next moment, under Tony's shocked gaze, a pale white bone spike slowly pushed its way out of the gash in Obadiah's arm.
It didn't stop until it had grown into a bone blade nearly half a meter long, gleaming with a chilling, deadly light.
"Tony, bet you didn't see this coming. That serum didn't just give me insane strength—it gave me near-immortality, and... evolution speed that blows everything else out of the water…"
As he finished speaking, Obadiah suddenly launched himself at Tony like a cannonball.
He moved so fast, Tony didn't even have time to activate his nanoshield—he had to dive and roll just to get out of the way.
Shhhlick!
The attack missed Tony, but the bone blade was so sharp it sliced right through a streetlight behind him like it was made of butter.
Cough cough "If you need help, you could always ask me. I'm Superman, after all—I'm usually happy to lend a hand."
High in the sky, Peter, who'd been watching the whole thing like it was a movie, casually chimed in.
"No thanks—I haven't lost yet!"
Tony scrambled to his feet, flames blasting out from under his feet as he shot up into the air.
"Took him long enough to remember he's a ranged fighter."
Hovering in midair, Tony's confidence was back. Nanoparticles swirled rapidly around his arm, slowly forming a massive energy cannon.
Red energy crackled as it gathered, radiating danger. Obadiah, still on the ground, was instantly engulfed in that deadly aura.
ROAR!
Obadiah wasn't dumb enough to just stand there and take it.
He dashed around on the ground like a maniac, grabbing anything he could—chunks of debris, random junk—and hurling it up at Tony to disrupt the charging sequence.
And to be fair, it worked—at least a little.
Tony was forced to dodge, which slowed down the cannon's charge time quite a bit.
But after about ten seconds, the energy hit critical mass.
With a dangerous red glow, the cannon locked onto Obadiah's head thanks to JARVIS's targeting system—and fired.
"Let's see you regenerate after I blow your head off."
Tony was all in now—this was a kill shot.
But Obadiah must've sensed what was coming, because he suddenly moved even faster than before.
"JARVIS, goddammit, you missed!"
That last burst of speed threw off JARVIS's perfect aim.
Instead of his head, the thick beam of red energy slammed into Obadiah's left side.
Even so, the blast was powerful enough to vaporize half his body on impact, and it didn't stop there—the ground beneath him exploded, leaving a massive, bottomless crater.
"How's that? Pretty cool, right?"
Tony watched Obadiah's mutilated body crash to the ground, guts spilling everywhere.
Grinning proudly, he turned to Peter and bragged, "Told you I got this."
"Yeah... not bad. Too bad you're celebrating way too early."
Peter's words immediately gave Tony a bad feeling.
And sure enough—too late—a "rope" shot up from the ground and wrapped around Tony, yanking him back down at full speed.
Wait—rope?
Look closer—that wasn't rope. It was a chunk of Obadiah's intestines!
"....."