"Ugh…"
With a groan, Tony finally came to.
"You okay, Tony?"
Tony immediately grabbed Smith Doyle's arm and said:
"Thanks for your help, Smith Doyle. You saved my life again."
Hearing Tony acknowledge the favor, Smith was quite satisfied with the payoff of his trip. He replied:
"It was Pepper Potts who called me. She said something happened to you."
"By the way, she also said she found evidence of Obadiah framing you, but he might have already noticed her tail."
Hearing that it was Pepper who contacted Smith, Tony quickly asked:
"Where's Pepper Potts? She's not hurt, is she?"
Smith thought for a moment about the original story and said:
"Maybe? She went with some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to arrest Obadiah."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. agents? Those guys are useless. Looks like we'll have to step in."
He still remembered Obadiah mentioning that he built himself a big toy. Those useless S.H.I.E.L.D. agents wouldn't be able to stop Obadiah.
Tony stood up immediately and headed downstairs to the lab to change into his armor.
Smith, standing off to the side, reminded him:
"Tony, you're using the old reactor in your chest. You should switch to a new one."
"I remember last time I was here, the Mark 2 still had a newer arc reactor in it, but I couldn't find it in the lab."
Smith knew that because the old reactor didn't have enough power, Tony almost lost to Obadiah.
However, Tony shook his head helplessly and said:
"That one barely had any power left. I destroyed it."
Hearing that, Smith could only shrug. Looked like Tony was going to get his ass handed to him again.
"I'm going to save Pepper. You coming?"
Watching Iron Man versus Iron Monger was definitely going to be interesting.
"Sure, I'll come watch."
Hearing Smith agree, Tony immediately suited up in the Mark 4.
Once the helmet sealed, Jarvis' voice rang out:
"Sir, you have only 80% power remaining."
"That's enough!"
"Smith, let's see which of us is faster this time!"
Tony struck a dramatic flight pose and shot out of his villa.
Seeing Tony take the lead, Smith understood—it was worry for Pepper.
Smith didn't waste any time either. Powering up, he shot into the sky with Bukūjutsu to chase after him.
The two of them both left Mach rings in the air, moving at incredible speed.
…
Elsewhere—
Pepper Potts was leading Coulson and a team of agents as they drove to the massive arc reactor exhibition site.
Pepper muttered under her breath:
"Sector 16… Sector 16 is right underneath here."
Based on the file names, she guessed this was where Obadiah's project was located.
If it hadn't been for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s delays—holding meetings and moving personnel—they wouldn't have wasted until nightfall, and Tony wouldn't have gotten hurt.
But S.H.I.E.L.D. figured Tony's case wasn't supernatural enough to be their jurisdiction. They were more concerned with Smith Doyle. The only reason they cared about Tony was because of his identity and because his late father had been one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders.
In the end, it was Nick Fury who authorized the agents to move in and arrest Obadiah.
Pepper led the way underground but was blocked by a door her keycard couldn't open.
In the end, Coulson's team had to use explosives to breach it.
Once inside Sector 16, Pepper and the agents began searching.
By now, Obadiah had already suited up in his Iron Monger armor and was tracking Pepper.
Seeing the massive steel suit, Pepper—who'd seen Tony's Mark 1—immediately realized the agents' weapons would be useless. She turned and ran.
Meanwhile, the agents opened fire with handguns.
Biu, biu, biu!
But the bullets barely even scratched the armor.
Seeing their attack, Obadiah decided he wasn't going down without a fight. In his eyes, as long as he killed these people, he could cover everything up.
So he showed no mercy, smashing the agents into bloody pulp one by one.
Thanks to their sacrifice buying her time, Pepper managed to escape Sector 16 and get outside Stark Industries.
Her phone rang—it was Tony. She quickly answered and asked how he was.
"Tony, Tony! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Thank you for calling Smith Doyle. You and he saved me again!"
In Tony's mind, it wasn't just Smith who saved him, but also Pepper, who twice called on Smith for help.
"Tony, Obadiah's gone crazy—he—"
Before Pepper could finish, Tony cut her off:
"I know. Listen, you need to get out of there now."
"Did you hear me? Leave immediately."
But before she could move, Obadiah, piloting the Iron Monger, burst up through the ground.
"Where do you think you're going?"
His voice boomed through the suit's speakers.
Seeing the towering figure, Pepper let out a scream.
"I don't need you anymore, sweetheart!"
The Iron Monger raised his arm, the mounted minigun spinning up.
"Stop!"
Just then, Tony arrived at full throttle, slamming into Iron Monger at Mach 3 and knocking him out of the industrial park and into the street.
…
As Tony and Iron Monger fought in the street, it immediately caused a massive traffic jam and chain-reaction crashes.
The sudden appearance of two armored suits pushed bystanders to the edge of panic. They couldn't believe technology had advanced this far.
A mother in a car, with her child in the passenger seat, ended up directly in Iron Monger's path and nervously honked her horn over and over.
Annoyed, Obadiah grabbed the car and prepared to throw it at Tony, shouting:
"I love this suit!"
"Put them down!" Tony shouted back.
"You're finished, Tony."
Seeing this, Tony ordered:
"Jarvis, maximum power."
Boom!
The Mark 3's chest repulsor fired a massive beam, sending Obadiah flying and causing him to drop the car.
Tony spread his arms, catching the car and gently lowering it.
"Sir, power remaining: 60%."
That one blast had already consumed nearly 20% of his power. The old reactor really was weak.
At least when he'd used the new reactor to hit Smith, Jarvis hadn't warned him about power drain.
…
(End of Chapter)
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