Time seemed to stretch into infinity, only to be compressed into a single, dense point.
In Tony Stark's "Accelerated World," the entire underground lab had fallen into an eerie stasis.
He could clearly see the fiery trails of every micro-missile he had launched, see the subtle ripples in the air torn by every shotgun pellet. From three hundred and sixty cunning angles, they formed an impeccable web of death, closing in on the motionless Sideswipe.
This was the pride of his genius, a perfect calculation based on thought processes moving a hundred times faster than normal.
Victory should have been his for the taking.
However, the twelve funnels that had silently detached from the robot's body shattered his pride in a completely illogical fashion.
They followed no pre-set trajectory. Their movements were erratic, yet they always appeared with pinpoint precision at the most critical locations, assembling themselves into a perfect, spherical blue shield.
*VMMMM—*
The moment they made contact, all of his attacks, whether energy beams or physical munitions, vanished silently, like snow meeting a blazing sun.
There was no explosion, no shockwave, not even the slightest, stingy ripple.
Tony's pupils contracted violently.
An unprecedented chill shot up his spine and into his brain.
This wasn't defense. It was consumption! It was energy annihilation on a higher dimensional level!
"J.A.R.V.I.S., analyze the shield's energy composition!" Tony's voice was slightly distorted in the comms channel, warped by the sheer speed of his thoughts.
"Sir, I cannot parse the energy model. It contains an unknown data structure... Warning, the subject's computational output is increasing exponentially!"
For the first time, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s response carried a genuine tone of alarm.
And at that very moment, the twelve funnels moved.
They disengaged the shield formation and, like a school of bloodthirsty sharks, instantly transformed into twelve streaks of silver light, surging back at him from all directions!
"Dammit!"
Tony's heart clenched as he immediately maneuvered the armor to evade.
In his Accelerated World, his reaction speed surpassed all human limits. Every turn of the armor, every burst of the thrusters, was precise to the microsecond.
But as fast as he was, the funnels were faster.
They seemed to anticipate his every move. For every evasive maneuver he made, two or three funnels would already be waiting at his destination, sealing his escape route with precise energy blasts.
He was like a mouse being toyed with by a cat. No matter how he struggled, he couldn't break free from the invisible cage.
A wave of exhaustion washed over him.
Maintaining the "Accelerated World" placed an immense load on his brain. He could feel his temples throbbing, his thoughts beginning to lag.
For the first time in a fight, he felt powerless.
"Dad, the warm-up's over, you know."
Paul's casual voice now sounded to Tony like a devil's whisper, each word a hammer blow against his taut nerves.
"What?" Tony froze.
In that instant of distraction, Paul's voice rang out again, clear and cold.
"Sideswipe, activate 'Accelerated World'."
*BOOM!*
It felt as if an invisible sledgehammer had slammed into Tony's brain.
The entire world changed.
If before he was the observer who slowed time a hundredfold, now he was the pathetic insect trapped in amber.
He watched, helplessly, as the twelve funnels, once a blur, now moved with a clarity that was almost... slow.
Meanwhile, his own armor felt like it was stuck in a swamp, heavy and sluggish.
He tried to lift his arm, but it felt weighed down by a mountain. He tried to fire his thrusters, but the command was like a letter sent by sea, taking an eternity to arrive.
His "Accelerated World" had been overridden by another, more powerful "Accelerated World"!
He had been hit with a dimensionality-reduction strike.
With what seemed to him an infuriatingly casual grace, twelve silver streaks of light elegantly bypassed all his defensive actions. Twelve cold muzzles, from twelve different angles, locked firmly onto the Mark armor's cockpit, its joints, and the Arc Reactor in his chest.
An icy killing intent pierced through the armor, making the hair on his body stand on end.
He knew that if his opponent wished it, he would be torn into a pile of scrap metal in less than a hundredth of a second.
"...I concede."
Tony forced the two words through his clenched teeth, his voice filled with an indescribable exhaustion and defeat.
*Click.*
As if on command, the twelve funnels instantly ceased charging. They hovered in the air, the red glow at their muzzles slowly fading.
The world returned to normal.
*K-CHUNK—*
The Mark armor's faceplate retracted, revealing Tony's pale, sweat-drenched face. He gasped for air, looking over at his son, who wore an "I knew this would happen" expression.
"That's impossible..." Tony's voice was hoarse. "'Accelerated World' is a brain-computer interface technology based on neural interaction. It requires a biological brain for the hyper-processing... A robot, how could it possibly..."
"Oh, that."
Paul scratched his head and walked over, looking as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"It's because I couldn't figure out your complicated neural-link tech. It was too much of a hassle."
"So?" Tony frowned, unable to comprehend.
Paul threw up his hands, a grin spreading across his face that made Tony's blood pressure spike.
"So I went with a different approach."
"I just stuffed a prototype, stand-alone quantum supercomputer directly into Sideswipe's chassis. Its processing power is enough to forcibly simulate, predict, and surpass the speed of your accelerated brain--in the real world."
Paul patted Sideswipe's cold metal leg, which produced a dull thud.
"Dad, you didn't lose to technology. You lost to 'checkbook engineering'."
"I...!"
Tony almost choked. He pointed a trembling finger at Paul, his lips quivering for a long moment, unable to utter a single word.
Checkbook engineering?
He, Tony Stark, hailed as the smartest mind on Earth, wearing his own pinnacle of technological achievement, had just been defeated by his son using the simplest, most brutish method of all: throwing money at the problem?
This was an utter humiliation!
It was more frustrating than losing to any enemy he had ever faced!
"You..." Tony took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the storm raging within him. But a different kind of fire now burned in his eyes—the almost greedy desire of an inventor.
He stared intently at Sideswipe, then back at Paul.
"The virtual lab, the transformation tech, and that damn quantum supercomputer... I want it all! Now! Immediately!"
The shame of defeat was instantly forgotten, replaced by a fervent passion for the unknown technology.
He was already itching to tear Sideswipe apart, study its inner workings, replicate all of its world-breaking tech, and then... build an even stronger suit of armor!
"Tony!"
A crisp, firm voice came from the lab entrance.
Pepper Potts strode in on her high heels. She had heard the commotion from upstairs and had come down to see Tony acting like a child begging for a toy, shouting at Paul.
Her eyebrows shot up as she planted her hands on her hips, her full authority on display.
"What do you think you're doing now? You just finished the Mark III, the company's weapons division mess isn't even cleaned up, and now you want to start a new project?"
"This isn't a new project, Pepper, it's a revolution!" Tony waved his arms excitedly. "Didn't you see? This technology can change everything! Warfare, energy, even the future of humanity!"
"I only see an irresponsible CEO using company money to play at 'father-son wargames'!" Pepper shot back, puncturing his ego without mercy.
"Hey! This wasn't playing! This was a serious scientific discussion!"
"And what did your discussion produce? I just see you nearly got yourself dismantled!"
"That was an accident!"
"..."
Seeing that Tony and Pepper's argument was escalating from a technical debate to a matter of corporate governance and personal responsibility, Paul quietly began to back away.
He gave Sideswipe a subtle look.
The tall robot silently lifted a leg, using its massive frame to block Tony and Pepper's line of sight.
Paul seized the opportunity, ducked into the shadows, and tiptoed towards the exit.
Mission accomplished, time to disappear.
He had only wanted to spar with his old man. Who knew it would ignite a family *and* corporate crisis?
Best to make a strategic retreat.
By the time Tony and Pepper had finally argued themselves tired and paused to catch their breath, they realized the instigator of the whole affair had vanished.
In the vast laboratory, only the giant robot named "Sideswipe" remained, standing silently in place. Its silver paint glinted with a cold, mysterious light, like a giant temptation, silently plucking at every one of Tony Stark's nerves.
Pepper, on the other hand, watched Tony's obsessed expression and rubbed her temples, a headache forming.
She had a feeling that Stark Industries... no, that this household, was about to be turned upside down. Again.