"We should head back, Peter," Silas said, standing up.
Peter took one last photo of the exhibition and said, "Let's go. It's a shame the exhibition ended like this."
"Yeah, let's go." Silas opened the Shadow Realm and stepped inside. Peter quickly followed.
After the two left, Tony immediately said, "Rhodey, do me a favor, gather all the drones together."
"Why? Are we going to play 'Stack the Robots'?" Rhodey asked, confused.
Tony didn't explain further and started collecting the drone wreckage.
"Oh no, I feel like my bones are going to fall apart," Rhodey complained but went to help Tony.
Silas's Room
Because they had given an excuse earlier that they were going for a jog and a walk, Silas and Peter didn't go straight home. Instead, they first went to the park and then slowly walked back.
"That was so cool!" Peter exclaimed.
"But also quite dangerous," Silas said. The first thing he did upon returning was lie down on his lounge chair to rest.
Peter confidently replied, "Don't worry. With my skills, how could there be danger?"
"If you hadn't used a drone as a shield to block bullets, you wouldn't have been able to dodge in that storm of gunfire," Silas said helplessly. The scene at the time made Silas's heart jump. For caution's sake, he didn't rush in like Peter, even with his Spider-Sense.
"I thought it was super cool!" Peter struck the pose he had used at the scene. "Spider-Man is here!"
"Honestly, I think you looked a bit silly," Silas said, taking a bag of potato chips from Big Black, tearing it open, and starting to eat.
As soon as Peter saw the chips in Silas's hand, he said, "Silas, let me have some too."
"Here, take it. I have plenty." Silas tossed a bag of chips to Peter.
Seeing that it was getting late, Silas said, "Peter, go back to your room. It's time to rest."
"Alright." Peter sprang up from Silas's bed and jumped to the window. "Goodnight, Silas." He then went back to his room next door.
"Goodnight, Peter, but remember not to use the window next time." Silas wasn't sure if Peter heard that last part.
Never mind. After Silas finished the chips, a Shadowkhan handed him his toiletries. One knelt before him, holding an iron basin.
Soon, Silas finished his ablutions, lay in bed, and went to sleep.
While the two brothers were sleeping, Tony was quite busy. Vanko had sent far too many drones. Tony and Rhodey exerted a lot of effort before finally piling all the drones onto an empty patch of ground.
"So, what are you going to do, Tony?" Rhodey asked, dropping onto the ground. He was exhausted. Even though the armor did the work, it didn't mean it was effortless for him.
Tony raised a row of missiles from his shoulder and fired them. The missiles struck the pile of drone wreckage, making a ding-ding-ding sound inside.
"If we don't go now, we'll turn into human shish kebabs," Tony said, flying away immediately.
"I think I know what's happening." Rhodey quickly scrambled up and flew away as fast as he could.
BOOM!!!
A burst of intense flame erupted from the ground. The scorching temperature meant that even after the explosion subsided, no one dared to approach the area.
Tony used J.A.R.V.I.S. to carefully scan the vicinity for any remaining drones, just in case any had slipped through.
"Why destroy all this?" Rhodey flew up next to Tony and asked.
Tony replied, "I'm leaving the one on you for you; I won't be reclaiming it. As for the rest, they have to be destroyed."
"Thanks," Rhodey said, genuinely grateful. Tony giving him the armor meant giving face to the military. And Tony gave that face out of his friendship with Rhodey.
In truth, Tony was overjoyed. He had created the new element, so he wouldn't die. His armor had also received further upgrades.
"I'll leave the rest to you, Rhodey." Tony flew off. He still had to spend some time cherishing his relationship with Pepper.
Morning
The sun slowly rose, and its light brought life back to the chaotic exhibition grounds.
"Morning, embracing the sun!" Silas opened his window, feeling the warmth of the sunlight.
Little Black appeared next to Silas. "Master, that guy is still in the Shadow Realm, cursing constantly."
"I almost forgot." Silas suddenly remembered that Vanko was still being held in the Shadow Realm. He hadn't thought about it last night.
Before anyone else woke up, Silas was about to enter the Shadow Realm to check on Vanko, but a group of Shadowkhan presented him with his washing tools. Little Black handed him a hot milk and a bowl of prepared oatmeal—Silas's breakfast for the day.
"Thank you." Silas quickly finished his ablutions and breakfast, then went into the Shadow Realm.
The Shadow Realm
"Oh? You finally came." Vanko heard the movement behind him, turned around, and said darkly.
"How is it? It's not bad here, right?" Silas saw a trace of black energy already seeping into Vanko's eyes. This was a characteristic of being corrupted by the Shadow Realm. The Lizard was able to stay for so long last time because of his naturally strong constitution. While Vanko's armor was good, it clearly couldn't block the corruption of the Shadow Realm's dark energy.
"Not bad, but there are too many monsters." Vanko casually whipped and killed a nearby serpentine monster. He wasn't afraid of Silas keeping him locked up here. He had a self-destruct device on him, and if he couldn't take it anymore, he could just blow himself up.
Vanko was that ruthless. He was far more ruthless than the Lizard. In the original timeline, after being defeated by Tony, he didn't even think about whether Tony would kill him before activating his self-destruct device and killing himself. The only reason he hadn't killed himself now was his curiosity about this place, and he wanted to look around a bit more.
"I can let you live, but you have to teach him some technology," Silas said, pointing at Little Black.
"Really?" Vanko asked, chewing on a toothpick. No one wants to die, and that included him.
"Of course, as long as you teach him," Silas stated.
Vanko sneered. "What if he's too stupid?"
"It doesn't matter. If he can't learn, that's his business. I'll still let you go," Silas said, confident in Little Black's intelligence.
"Fine, deal. But the environment here isn't exactly suitable for teaching," Vanko said, looking at the boundless space.
Silas became more cautious. The Lizard was only powerful in biology, but Vanko was an extremely powerful hacker. What if he gave Vanko a computer to teach Little Black, and Vanko called for help?
"I'll let you out." Silas was still a little uneasy, but then he suddenly remembered that he had a secret weapon. Thinking of his secret weapon, Silas actually hoped Vanko would call for some help, as that would allow him to gain some Justice Points and Evil Points.
🗒️NOTE:
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
Explore up to 20 chapters in advance!