Chapter 8: So, Why Is the Speedster Always One Step Behind?
Ben pulled his arm back, straight as a lance.
Iron Man visibly twitched. A short burst of static crackled from within the battle suit, and the helmet's lights flickered before dimming.
"Thud!"
The heavy battle armor crashed to the ground. On its glowing blue arc reactor, a small dent appeared, as if struck by a pickaxe.
"Sir, the arc reactor is damaged. Energy is leaking."
Even through the armor, Ben could hear Jarvis's voice.
Tony didn't need Jarvis to tell him how serious the situation was!
After all, this arc reactor wasn't just the suit's power source; it was his lifeline!
It was embedded in Tony's chest cavity. Only with the energy provided by the reactor could the electromagnet keep the tiny shrapnel particles in his body from flowing into his heart through his bloodstream.
Ben's powerful blow had shattered the reactor's casing, hitting Iron Man's vital spot.
Although it was only a superficial crack, it wouldn't cause all the energy to leak out, nor would it stop the reactor from functioning. However, under these circumstances, the palladium leakage from the reactor would be extremely severe!
In just a few seconds, Tony's palladium poisoning symptoms had worsened considerably!
Seeing this, Jarvis unhesitatingly reduced the reactor's operating speed, allowing it to barely sustain Tony's basic life functions, attempting to slow the rate of palladium poisoning.
"Calling Ms. Potts for you."
"No!"
Tony, enduring the nausea and dizziness from the palladium poisoning, cut off Jarvis's call without hesitation.
He still had no idea what Ben was, or what his intentions were. He couldn't let Pepper get into danger!
"Let's see how much time you have left, Tony Stark." Ben retaliated in kind. Of course, at this point, he had no intention of continuing the fight.
Killing Iron Man wouldn't benefit him in any way. However—he glanced at the Mark 3, sizing up the iron battle armor for a few seconds—this thing had research value.
Perhaps Grey Matter could figure something out.
With that thought, Ben acted without hesitation. He planned to dismantle Tony's battle suit into parts and take them with him!
Most of the traversers who ended up in Marvel usually snatched something after gaining their abilities. The unfortunate victims were typically the poor, empty wallets of small-time street thugs. But for Ben, Iron Man was the one who suffered.
But Tony had brought this upon himself.
After all, the guy had wanted to capture Ben and dissect him for research!
Ben only taking one battle suit from him was nothing.
He did as he thought, his hands moving so fast they became blurs. In an instant, he had detached one of Iron Man's arms.
"What exactly do you want?" Tony shouted, his voice tight with anxiety.
After the suit powered down, his vision was extremely limited, like a masked performer only able to see through a narrow slit. But he could feel one of his arms, unprotected by the battle suit, exposed to the air.
This made him incredibly nervous and scared. He felt like an unopened can...
"Time is money, Tony. You've wasted several minutes of mine, so I have to make up for my losses." Ben violently dismantled the suit, quickly ripping off Tony's helmet.
Instantly, a nauseatingly sour smell wafted over.
"Ugh!" Ben felt as if the air in front of him had changed color. He stumbled backward, trying to escape the foul odor. "You threw up inside the suit? Gross!"
It was a can, alright, just not the kind he expected – more like a can of rotten fish.
He looked at the iron helmet he held in his hand, feeling like he'd opened a jar of chili sauce and gotten his hands all greasy. He wanted to throw it away but felt a pang of reluctance.
After all, it was a life-sized action figure, and a functional one at that!
So, he shook it hard, flinging the disgusting vomit back onto Tony's face.
Tony took a deep breath, his face ashen. His hair was even damp.
"And you think who's to blame for this?"
"You, of course. Remember? I warned you not to meddle!" Ben said, speeding up his dismantling. "I'll have to wash this thing a hundred times and use a whole bottle of dish soap!"
"I have a better suggestion. Don't touch it."
"Shut up!"
Ben took a moment to land a punch.
In less than half a minute, he had completely dismantled the battle armor. Now, carrying a pile of parts almost as tall as himself, he cheerfully said goodbye to Tony.
"I suggest you call your little girlfriend, or you'll have to walk back to Stark Tower." Ben offered helpfully. "And tomorrow, your current state will be on every news headline."
With that, Ben left with the disassembled battle suit.
Strangely, XLR8 seemed to possess some kind of force field ability. Despite the large number of parts and his incredible speed, not a single screw fell off due to wind resistance or inertia.
Wait, XLR8 does have a force field-like ability. Otherwise, everyone he saved would have been cut in half by his speed. But it shouldn't be this powerful!
Ben quickly realized.
Unless XLR8 gained some of Spider-Man's abilities and used bio-electricity to attract those tiny parts together!
The thought made Ben's excitement surge.
To think that transforming into an alien hero would allow him to stack Spider-Man's abilities?
That was too cool!
However, so far, this was just Ben's guess. At least, his Spider-Sense hadn't triggered at all during his fight with Tony just now.
Ben also quickly checked the Battle Suit to see if there was a Positioning Device inside.
XLR8 could try millions of password combinations in tens of seconds, so checking the entire Battle Suit took less than a second.
As a result, he indeed found a small locator.
After destroying the locator, he hid the Battle Suit.
There was no rush to study the Mark Battle Suit; it would have to wait until he transformed into Grey Matter anyway.
Right now, his most pressing concern was returning to school.
He spent another ten seconds, easily and leisurely arriving at school, avoiding every camera that might spot him. He spent a long few tens of seconds in the restroom, finally transforming back to his original form amidst a flash of red light.
It was at this very moment that the school bell rang, and Ben rushed into the classroom just under the wire.
"Very good, arrived on time!"
"Not good at all, Ben Parker!" The Class Teacher's face was already ashen. He stood at the podium, glaring sideways, and raised his arm expressionlessly, "You're late!"
So, why were speedsters always late?
Reader engagement and collections are very important during the new book period. The author humbly asks everyone not to stockpile chapters. Thank you very much.
-----------
Translation by: randomtranslator.com
Read 2500+ original & fanfic translations and Translate for Free at: randomtranslator.com