While Pepper searched the factory with Agent Coulson and several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, the massive steel frame suspended in the assembly bay suddenly roared to life.
Hydraulics screamed.
Servos locked.
The Iron Monger stepped forward.
Pepper froze.
The towering armored giant turned its glowing eyes toward her.
Inside the cockpit, Obadiah Stane instantly understood.
"You accessed my computer."
The Iron Monger charged.
"RUN!!" Coulson shouted.
Pepper screamed and fled down the catwalk as the massive suit smashed through steel railings and concrete supports in pursuit. One S.H.I.E.L.D. agent fired; the rounds ricocheted harmlessly. Obadiah swatted the man aside with a single backhand strike, sending him crashing into equipment.
The armored giant reached Pepper.
Hydraulic claws seized her.
She struggled helplessly in the machine's grip.
"Heh… Pepper," Obadiah's amplified voice echoed from the suit, "I was willing to overlook your curiosity… but you chose the wrong side."
The Iron Monger raised its fist.
A thunderous impact interrupted the blow.
BANG—!!
A red-and-gold figure slammed into the Iron Monger, kicking it backward through a steel column.
Tony Stark had arrived.
"Pepper, get clear!" Tony said.
Then, over a private channel:
"Karl, if you're watching… protect Pepper."
Karl Moves Pepper to Safety
"Yeah, yeah. I've got her," Karl replied calmly.
He appeared beside Pepper in a flicker of motion.
She startled but recognized him.
He guided her quickly toward the exterior exit, keeping her shielded behind debris and structural pillars. He avoided the Shadow World — Tony had barely endured it; Pepper would likely collapse from the sensory shock.
Behind them, metal screamed as titans collided.
Iron Monger vs. Iron Man
"You shut down weapons manufacturing," Obadiah snarled. "And then built the most powerful weapon on Earth!"
The Iron Monger lunged.
Tony met him head-on.
The difference in mass was overwhelming.
The larger armor slammed Tony through a concrete wall and onto the roadway outside the factory. Asphalt shattered beneath him.
The Iron Monger strode forward and ripped a sedan from the street, hurling it downward.
Tony caught the car — barely.
The impact forced him to one knee.
The terrified driver slammed the accelerator.
The vehicle lurched forward, striking Tony and knocking him onto his back before dragging him several meters down the road.
Pepper gasped.
Karl winced.
"…that's brutal," he muttered.
The Iron Monger seized Tony and hammered him repeatedly into the pavement, sending shockwaves through the street.
Tony fired thrusters and blasted skyward.
High-Altitude Strategy
The Iron Monger launched after him.
Karl unfolded crystalline ice wings and ascended, observing.
Tony's HUD flashed warnings:
Power: 17%
Structural Integrity: Compounding Damage
Left Leg Thruster: Compromised
The Iron Monger caught Tony mid-air and struck him with a crushing blow, damaging his flight stabilizer.
Tony struggled to maintain altitude.
Still, he smirked.
"How'd you solve the icing problem at high altitude?"
Obadiah hesitated.
A beat of silence.
Then —
The Iron Monger's systems seized.
Ice crystals formed along joints and thruster vents.
Power dropped.
The giant suit went dead and plummeted.
Karl and Pepper watched from below as the armored mass crashed into the industrial yard with a seismic impact.
Tony descended, stabilizing with one boot thruster and palm repulsors, landing hard but upright.
"See?" he said, exhausted. "Handled."
Karl gave him a knowing look.
Pepper suddenly pointed behind Tony.
Iron Monger was moving.
Obadiah had survived the fall.
Final Assault
The Iron Monger surged forward and slammed Tony from behind.
It clamped Tony's right arm and deployed a rotary cannon at point-blank range.
Bullets hammered Tony's armor.
HUD alerts flared red.
Tony twisted his left arm and fired a repulsor blast into the cannon assembly.
The Gatling system exploded and fell silent.
Obadiah hurled Tony across the yard.
Power: 4%
The suit sputtered.
Obadiah launched a shoulder micro-missile.
It missed — Tony had destroyed the targeting system.
Furious, Obadiah fired blindly.
Explosions ripped across the pavement.
Karl stepped forward.
Enough.
He had promised Wanda and Pietro they would have a chance at justice — but Tony could not die here.
Karl vanished.
He reappeared between the explosions, helping Tony to his feet.
"Alright," Karl said calmly. "Rest. Your assistant is terrified."
Obadiah's voice roared from the Iron Monger.
"This is YOUR fault! I was one step away! ONE STEP!"
He charged.
Karl exhaled slowly.
A blue glow ignited in his eyes.
The air temperature plummeted.
Frost raced across steel and concrete.
With a flick of his hand, a massive serpentine ice construct — shaped like an Eastern dragon — burst forward, coiling through the air before slamming into the Iron Monger's chest.
The impact hurled the giant suit backward.
Ice spread instantly across its joints and power conduits.
Systems froze.
Servos locked.
The Iron Monger collapsed, powerless.
Obadiah struggled to override the controls.
Nothing responded.
Karl walked forward.
With precise telekinetic force, he tore the arc reactor from the Iron Monger's chest housing.
Power died completely.
Silence fell.
Karl teleported beside Pepper, took the USB drive containing Obadiah's weapons dealings, then returned to Tony's side.
The battle was over.
But consequences were just beginning.
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