The Skrull's soul floated in front of him, glaring with blood-red eyes as if it wanted to devour him whole.
"Haah.."
Lynn let out a helpless sigh and released a thread of the Power of Death from his fingertip.
In an instant, it ignited into a wisp of deathly flame and shot toward the Skrull's soul.
A moment later, the soul erupted into violent, agonized flames, screaming as it was reduced to ash.
"He's ..Dead."
Steve checked the Skrull's body tied to the chair, felt for a pulse, then shook his head at Lynn.
"Mm."
It was expected.. the Skrull couldn't survive when even its soul had been burned to nothing.
...
Meanwhile, in the Rose Mountains of Tennessee—
"Urg.." Tony Stark slowly regained consciousness inside his Mark XLII armor, jolting awake when he realized it was still flying.
He barely managed to steer it away from the dense forest ahead before the armor plummeted and crashed hard among the trees.
Night was falling, and thick snowflakes drifted steadily from the sky.
Inside the suit, Tony panted and asked, "Haa.. fuck.. Jarvis… why did you bring me here?"
"Sir, this is the flight path you programmed."
"Oh, come on, Jarvis. I never meant for you to actually follow it. Forget it.. haah, Jarvis, open the armor."
Wanting to stretch, Tony ordered the suit to open.
But Jarvis's voice sounded strained. "Sir, I believe the Mark armor may be experiencing a malfunction."
"Jarvis, open the armor! Open Mark XLII right now!"
At his insistence, the Mark XLII armor slowly unfolded—sparks crackling, arcs of electricity dancing across its surface.
"Haah!"
Tony sat up, exhaling sharply as cold air hit his face.
Night was closing in, snow drifting steadily from above.
"Fuu~" Rubbing his hands together, Tony shivered. "What a day. Forget it, Jarvis—it's warmer inside the suit anyway."
He grabbed an ice pack to soothe the bruise on his left hand and prepared to climb back into the armor.
"Sir, I think I ..need to go to ...sleep now."
Jarvis's voice faded, and a moment later, part of the suit sparked again before going completely dead.
"Jarvis? Jarvis.. Jarvis?"
Hearing the AI say it needed to rest, Tony called out to him several times.
But after calling several times with no reply, Tony's voice grew heavy. "Don't leave me, buddy."
Silence answered him.
"Sigh…"
After a long breath, Tony looked around at the snowy mountains, then stood, found a rope, tied it to the Mark armor, and began dragging the heavy suit through the snow.
A long track carved itself behind him.
...
Evening.
"I'm really worried about Tony right now."
Pepper pushed aside the dinner Natasha offered, unable to eat.
After a moment of hesitation, she turned to Lynn. "Mr. Hall, can you figure out where Tony is?"
Lynn thought for a moment. "There should be a way."
As soon as she heard that, Pepper stood up and grabbed his arm. "Mr. Hall, please help me find Tony. I'm worried he might be in danger facing the Mandarin alone."
"I know Tony wants you to protect me, but with Natasha and Steve here, I'll be fine."
"F-For the sake of your friendship with Tony."
Seeing Pepper's red, worried eyes, Natasha stepped closer to help persuade him. "Don't worry, Lynn. Steve and I will protect Pepper. I'll leave Tony to you."
"Alright."
Lynn swallowed the last slice of pizza and stretched. "Then I'll go find him."
He got up, left Natasha's apartment, climbed into the car, and started the engine. "I really envy those sorcerers and their portals. Maybe I should visit Kamar-Taj someday."
With that, he drove straight toward the airport.
...
The next evening,
In a small town in Tennessee—
Inside a makeshift workshop converted from an old warehouse.
"Oh my God! That's Iron Man!"
"Ah.. well, technically, I'm but whatever.."
"What happened to him? He looks broken.."
5 minutes later,
"Hmm! What's your name?" Tony asked as he ate a sandwich, looking at the kid in front of him.
"Harley... Harley Keener, and you?"
"You can call me the Mechanic."
Tony glanced at the Mark XLII armor that refused to start. "I fix these armors all the time. Alright, just call me Tony."
Seeing the boy's skeptical expression—as if Tony were trying to fool an idiot—Tony shrugged. "Got any more sandwiches? This tiny thing didn't fill me up at all."
Just as Harley was about to say there weren't any left, a voice sounded from the doorway.
"No more sandwiches—but do you want a cheeseburger?"
Tony Stark's eyes lit up the moment he heard the familiar voice.
Harley immediately grabbed a nearby potato gun, while Tony whipped his head around, jumped to his feet, and shouted excitedly, "My God—Lynn! How did you find me?"
"This is incredible, pal, you know that? I dragged the Mark XLII armor forever last night. I thought I was going to die out there."
"Thankfully, I found this little town and crashed at this kid's place, but the armor is… Oh—hey, what's that you're holding? Cheeseburgers?"
While Tony rambled excitedly, Lynn handed him the bag of cheeseburgers.
He understood exactly how Tony felt.
Tony didn't dare return to New York, afraid he'd drag more danger to Pepper.
But alone in a strange town, worn out, hunted by Extremis soldiers, and with his armor half-dead—his only "ally" was a little kid.
No wonder he reacted so strongly when he saw Lynn.
But as Tony grabbed several cheeseburgers from his hands—going so far as to share them with the kid—Lynn leaned against the doorframe with a smile.
"Didn't you used to refuse taking anything from anyone except Pepper? This time you didn't make me set them on the table first."
At Lynn's teasing, Tony shrugged. "Times change. People have to adapt."
He took a huge bite of the cheeseburger and let out a contented sigh, eyes half-closed as if he were tasting a divine dish.
"You know, when I was trapped in that cave in the desert, the thing I missed most every single day was cheeseburgers. They're my favorite."
He paused, then looked at Lynn. "Right—didn't I ask you to protect Pepper? How did you find me here?"
"Is Pepper okay? She didn't get scared by that terrorist attack, did she?"