Chapter 39: Spider-Man To The Rescue
With Coulson and his team buying her time, Pepper managed to escape the building quickly.
The moment she made it outside, Pepper pulled out her phone and called Tony Stark.
"Pepper, are you alright?" Tony asked with concern.
"I'm fine. Agent Coulson and his team covered my escape," Pepper replied urgently. "Tony, Obadiah has armor!"
"I know. I'll handle him."
"They're still inside, Tony. You need to hurry," Pepper urged.
"I'm on my way," Tony replied. "Pepper, you did great tonight. Get somewhere safe and leave the rest to me."
"Okay."
After ending the call, Pepper quickly left Stark Industries headquarters.
"JARVIS, push it faster," Tony ordered.
"Sir, your current arc reactor cannot supply much more power to the suit," JARVIS warned. "Increasing your speed further may leave you without sufficient energy to fight Obadiah."
"I know," Tony replied.
"Diverting additional power to the thrusters."
The Iron Man suit's exhaust flared brighter as Tony accelerated, streaking toward Stark Industries headquarters at even greater speed.
…
"Spread out!" Coulson shouted, throwing two miniature bombs that precisely stuck to the weapon connection point on the Iron Monger's right arm.
The agents quickly rolled to dodge, bullets whistling past their tactical equipment and shattering the wall behind them.
"Run, run, scurry like insects!" Obadiah laughed as he watched the SHIELD agents fleeing in panic.
As the Gatling gun on the Iron Monger's right arm spun up, Coulson's two bombs detonated.
Bang! Bang!
The weapon mount on the Iron Monger's right arm exploded.
Sparks burst outward, and the Gatling gun's rotation abruptly ceased.
The Iron Monger's anger flared.
The massive armor lunged forward, each thunderous step cracking the floor beneath it.
One agent failed to dodge in time and was slapped away, crashing heavily into a wall.
"Ward!" another agent shouted.
"Worry about yourself."
In an instant, the Iron Monger appeared in front of him and brought its massive hand down.
Just as the agent was about to be crushed, a white strand of webbing shot in and yanked him clear.
Everyone looked up.
Spider-Man was clinging to the ceiling, looking down at them.
"Spider-Man." Coulson breathed a sigh of relief.
Without heavy weaponry, they were at a severe disadvantage against Iron Monger.
"Spider-Man?" Obadiah said, staring up at the figure on the ceiling.
"Hey, metalhead," Spider-Man called out. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
"Gladly."
A missile deployed from the Iron Monger's left arm and launched toward Spider-Man.
Spider-Man dodged the missile and shot a web, obscuring Iron Monger's vision.
"Damn it!"
Obadiah's vision went white. He grabbed at the webbing on his face and tore at it furiously.
"Iron Monger? I didn't expect Iron Monger to be Obadiah. I guess I'll have to pay more attention to the news from now on."
Boom.
The missile slammed into the ceiling, blowing a massive hole open.
Chunks of concrete rained down, smashing into large amounts of Stark Industries equipment across Section 16.
"I'm putting all of this damage on your tab, Iron Monger," Spider-Man said.
"Fall back!" Coulson shouted.
"Don't forget Ward!" the agent Spider-Man had just saved yelled.
The agents quickly carried Ward on their backs and left Section 16 together.
"Spider-Man, it's up to you now," Coulson called as he withdrew.
"Don't worry, Coulson. Just make sure you testify that Iron Monger wrecked all this. None of this was my fault."
"I doubt Tony Stark will hold it against you," Coulson said with a grin.
"Yeah, I figured."
Once Coulson and the others were gone, the Iron Monger tore the webbing off his face.
"Insect, you've made me angry," the Iron Monger growled.
"Insect? Your biology must be off. Spiders aren't insects, they're arachnids."
The massive armor roared to life, engines whining as the reactor in its chest pulsed with an ominous blue glow.
The shoulder plates slid open, missile racks extending outward as dozens of tracking missiles launched toward Spider-Man.
"Tracking missiles. I really hate tracking missiles."
Spider-Man fired webbing in rapid bursts, striking the incoming warheads. One by one, the missiles detonated midair.
Explosions echoed nonstop as smoke billowed through the room, the sharp stench of explosives filling the air.
Suddenly, the thrusters on the Iron Monger's back ignited. The hulking suit surged forward at an astonishing speed.
Spider-Man's spider-sense screamed. He barely twisted aside in time.
Boom—
The Iron Monger didn't slow, plowing through three plaster walls in a row before finally stopping.
Spider-Man peered through the gaping hole the Iron Monger had smashed open.
"If that had hit me, it would've hurt. I love you, spider-sense," he muttered.
"Insect, is dodging all you can do?" the Iron Monger snarled impatiently.
"I can do this too."
Spider-Man fired webbing, wrapping it around the Iron Monger's legs.
"Your flimsy webs can't do anything."
The Iron Monger tore the webbing apart with ease.
Losing patience, the Iron Monger blasted its foot thrusters, the massive frame lifting off the ground and slamming forward at a speed that completely defied its size.
This charge was even faster than before. Spider-Man had no time to dodge. He crossed his arms to brace for impact.
Bang!
The Iron Monger hit him head-on. Both of them smashed through the entirety of Section 16, crashed through the reinforced glass curtain wall of the main building, and burst out into the main hall of Stark Industries headquarters.
Spider-Man tumbled across the slick marble floor, rolling several times before finally skidding to a stop.
"I'd bet money I just broke a bone," Spider-Man said as he pushed himself up.
"This ends here," the Iron Monger rumbled.
Spider-Man looked up to see the Iron Monger advancing slowly, its glowing eyes locked onto him.
"Hey, don't stare at me like that. You're making me blush."
"Die!" Obadiah roared. The Iron Monger raised a massive hand, energy gathering in its palm cannon.
Spider-Man shot a web at the ceiling and yanked himself upward just in time.
Boom!
The palm blast skimmed past his feet and blew a crater into the floor below.
"That's another item you're paying for, Obadiah."
Swinging in a wide arc, Spider-Man drove both feet into the Iron Monger's chest.
The overwhelming spider-strength knocked the Iron Monger backward.
Sparks flew from Iron Monger's body, and a dent appeared in its chest.
Spider-Man landed atop the Iron Monger, his gaze sweeping over the armor before locking onto the arc reactor embedded in its chest.