Chapter 33: Iron Man VS The Trinity
The terrifying little black cat, like the incarnation of death itself, held a massive scythe above Venomous Spider's head.
Earlier, during the battle with the first symbiote, Xi Nian had already proven one thing clearly.
Even though a symbiote could rapidly heal its host's injuries, there was still a limit. If the host suffered damage far greater than what could be repaired in a short time, then even the symbiote could not sustain the host's life and would be forced to leave.
But if that happened, the host would inevitably die.
"Please, don't kill him!" Aunt May stumbled and crawled her way forward, throwing herself in front of Venomous Spider. She spread her frail arms wide, using her own thin body to block the black scythe.
At this moment, the rationality of the trinity-fused Xi Nian was already collapsing. He could no longer hear her desperate cries. He only acted decisively on what he believed to be right—
Even if, in the eyes of others, what he was doing now was no different from a villain's deed.
At the final critical moment—
Boom!!
Two blazing beams of light pierced through the tendril cage, blasting it apart. Under the astonished and hopeful gazes of the trapped civilians, a figure clad in red and gold armor descended from the sky.
Clang!
Kneeling with one knee and bracing a fist against the ground, the metallic crash echoed. The figure rose, godlike in steel, his repulsor palm glowing with a blinding white light that threatened to shake the battlefield.
"Quite a lively night you've got here," came the cheerful, sarcastic tone.
"Iron Man!"
"Iron Man's here, we're saved!"
"Thank goodness!"
The suffocating fear and despair instantly dispersed, replaced by hope.
In this city of New York, perhaps only Iron Man had that kind of power to reassure people.
"This isn't exactly a fan meet-and-greet." Iron Man quipped again. "Ladies and gentlemen, would you kindly head out first?"
Hearing him, the civilians immediately rushed toward the gap in the tendril cage and escaped.
From the moment he appeared, Iron Man carried himself with ease, as though he had everything under control.
But inside the armor, Stark's face was grim and tense. He stared hard at the small black cat, deceptively harmless in appearance, and muttered, "Jarvis, can you identify what that creature is?"
"Apologies, sir. There is no record in the database. Scans cannot penetrate its body. Preliminary assessment: extraterrestrial organism."
"Two unknown alien organisms, fighting each other?" Stark thought quickly, his hands raised in combat stance. He glanced at Venomous Spider lying behind Aunt May and easily pieced together the situation.
Just then, the black cat moved its paw slightly, pulling free the tendril lodged in the ground.
Startled, Iron Man thought it was about to attack the civilians still fleeing. He panicked—and fired a repulsor beam!
The street lit up like day as the blast streaked forward, striking the black cat square on the head.
Boom!
Fiery light and heat engulfed its small body. Xi Nian calmly retracted his claw from the ground—the tendril cage was no longer needed.
But the fact that Iron Man had blasted him in the face without a word? That made his blood boil.
Normally, Xi Nian might have brushed it off as a misunderstanding.
But now, this was Xi Nian in his trinity fusion.
Xi Nian, with almost no human rationality left.
Xi Nian, violent, bloodthirsty, wild, extreme—already drifting toward the path of evil.
As destructive waves of energy rolled off his body, Xi Nian's small black-cat form blurred into a streak of shadow. Breaking the sound barrier, he slammed hard into Iron Man's lower torso!
Bang!
Stark felt as if a truck had rammed him full-speed. Jarvis's alarms screamed "Component damage detected!" as the armored body crashed into the wall of a nearby skyscraper.
"Fire everything!" Stark roared angrily from within the crater.
At once, hidden weapon pods opened on his shoulders. Four micro-missiles streaked out, their exhaust trailing fire as they homed in on the cat.
Xi Nian hovered midair. His jaw suddenly opened wide—three, four times larger than his own head. Like a monstrous maw, he bit down on the incoming missiles.
He held them in his mouth as if they were candy.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
The missiles exploded inside his maw. His cheeks bulged out grotesquely, then flattened again.
Xi Nian burped, exhaling a plume of acrid smoke.
"..." Stark was speechless, disbelief etched across his face. Now he understood why Banner had been so desperate to transform into the Hulk earlier.
This cat—
It was a monster beyond reason.
Gritting his teeth, Stark launched into the air, unleashing his full arsenal. Missiles, lasers, everything at max power!
In that instant, he became a one-man artillery platform. Blinding beams, endless rockets—his entire body lit up as if he had turned into a flying sun, raining destruction down on Xi Nian.
Xi Nian only laughed savagely. His claws gleamed black and razor-sharp, while his tail stretched into a long tendril. Together, they swatted aside the attacks with ease.
He slapped down the missiles as though swatting flies!
Boom, boom, boom!
Explosions thundered across the streets, shockwaves shattering every window for blocks.
Suddenly, one missile veered off course, streaking straight toward Aunt May.
"No!" Stark shouted, but it was too late.
Aunt May's eyes widened in terror. Just as the missile was about to hit, Venomous Spider, still lying broken on the ground, suddenly twisted his body and shielded her.
The explosion ripped across the street. The gray-green monster's warped body acted as a shield, saving her.
Through the fire and smoke, half its symbiote armor melted away. A corner of Peter's young, fragile face showed through. A single tear rolled down his cheek, landing on Aunt May's skin.
"Wait…"
In the middle of the inferno, Xi Nian stood unharmed, cloaked in black alien armor. He calmly observed the scene.
Venom gave a low hiss of surprise: "That boy—he just seized partial control back! But it won't last. Soon, the symbiote will take over completely again!"
"You mean… he can still be saved?" Xi Nian's silver eyes regained a faint trace of clarity. His shredded rationality reconnected, thread by thread.
Venom replied, "Yes. If we separate him from the symbiote now, he'll live."
"I see."
Xi Nian glanced at Venomous Spider, then lifted his gaze toward Iron Man in the sky. A sudden idea struck him.
His claws shot outward like black whips, wrapping tightly around Iron Man's limbs.
"What the—?" Stark barely had time to react before he was yanked downward—straight into a pitch-black void that opened beneath him.
The hole snapped shut.
Xi Nian landed lightly on the ground, closing his mouth.
The street was filled with smoke and debris. Iron Man had vanished completely.
It was the optimal suggestion—straight from the alien beast within him.
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