Here's the polished version with improved flow and natural English while preserving all content:
"That won't work either." Dr. Helen Cho rolled her eyes. "What style do you want?"
"Mature woman."
"Be serious."
"Just something slightly form-fitting. Not skintight, and no metal." Helen paused, tapping her chin. "Can you wait? I could make you a temporary set."
Hong Fei shook his head. "No time."
When she opened her mouth to argue, he lifted his mask to reveal the lower half of his face. His arm slid around her waist as he brushed a kiss against her cheek. The motorcycle roared to life beneath them. "Go back inside. I need to leave."
As he pulled away, Helen's fingers caught his sleeve. She glanced at Samuel and the others—now suddenly very interested in their shoes—before murmuring, "Be careful. I'll wait at your place." Only when Hong Fei nodded did she release him.
The manor's lawn shuddered. A hidden platform descended.
Moments later, a black motorcycle launched skyward, landed smoothly, and vanished down the road.
Downtown, Justin Hammer's press conference hit its stride. The man himself swaggered across the stage with all the grace of a peacock on roller skates—a spectacle so painfully awkward it made teeth ache.
An attempt at grandeur that landed somewhere between ridiculous and tragic. Then the Iron Soldiers appeared, and the crowd erupted.
Pepper Potts frowned at the mechanical army. Stark Industries wasn't threatened by competition, but those reactors... Those definitely weren't Hammer's design.
Beside her, Natasha Romanoff stiffened. Her fingers flew across her phone, alerting Fury. In this world, miniature arc reactors were Tony Stark's exclusive tech. Any unauthorized copies meant trouble. Yet here stood Hammer, parading an entire squadron powered by them.
This wasn't the original timeline. No tampered War Machine, no cringeworthy rebranding as Hammer's "Variable Threat Response Battle Suit." But when the sea, land, and air units snapped to attention—
Chaos struck.
A single soldier shot forward, glass shattering as it snatched Pepper midair. The crowd froze for one breathless second before screaming.
Hammer's face purpled. He whirled, bellowing into his headset, "Ivan! What the hell—" Static answered him.
Every remaining soldier leveled weapons at their creator. Hammer's hands shot up in surrender.
The screens flickered. A crimson, digitized face materialized. Ivan Vanko's voice boomed through the speakers: "Tony Stark. I'll be waiting on Liberty Island."
Vanko's original plan involved painting the walls with blood. But Hong Fei believed in directing vengeance where it belonged. The soldiers fired warning shots before peeling away in formation, streaking toward the island.
Natasha was stunned for a second before rushing to the backstage area. She caught Justin Hammer mid-sneak, twisting his arm behind his back. Her knee dug into his spine as she snarled, "What did you do?"
"Jesus—ow! Not me! I swear!"
"Then who?"
Just as Justin Hammer was about to speak, an Iron Soldier suddenly descended from the sky, its muzzle aimed at him. Before he could even scream, Justin Hammer's head was blown off. Natasha rolled to dodge and fired back; bullets sparked against the armor, but the Iron Soldier ignored her and turned to fly away.
On the other side, Hong Fei was riding on the road when he suddenly saw a beam of light streak across the sky, followed quickly by dozens of light points flying in formation. Realizing Ivan Vanko had already made his move, Hong Fei immediately twisted the throttle to accelerate. Needless to say, Ivan Vanko was already on Liberty Island.
The Iron Soldiers could fly, Tony Stark could fly, but he couldn't. Poor Master Hong. It was all Jessica's fault! At the Long Island Villa, although Tony Stark knew about the Hammer Industries press conference, he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to Justin Hammer's actions. It wasn't until Jarvis reported the news that he hurriedly put on his armor and set off.
On Liberty Island, the Iron Soldier that kidnapped Pepper placed her on the torch of the Statue of Liberty. The height of over ninety meters terrified Pepper, causing her to collapse to the ground and scream repeatedly. Afterward, dozens of Iron Soldiers surrounded the Statue of Liberty, waiting for Iron Man's arrival.
Fortunately, it was past Liberty Island's visiting hours, and there was no one on the island. A rainbow light streaked from afar, and Tony Stark approached at high speed. Before he even got close, the Iron Soldiers aimed at him, bullets raining down with a roar. While dodging, Tony Stark shouted, "Jarvis, hack into their network." He immediately launched a counterattack.
Whether in terms of technology or materials, Tony Stark was far superior to the Iron Soldiers. After just one volley of fire, Tony Stark suddenly accelerated and took the initiative. However, the Iron Soldiers were more numerous, and Tony Stark was constantly distracted by looking after Pepper on the torch, so progress was slow. "Hi, Iron Man, need a hand?"
Hearing the voice, Tony Stark turned his head and saw another suit of armor flying in from the horizon. At this moment, Tony Stark couldn't be bothered to keep up the banter and quickly said, "Rhodes, quick, help me save Pepper." "No problem." The two worked together, and the Iron Soldiers were quickly cleared out. Hong Fei, riding a jet ski, saw this and cursed loudly: "Ivan Vanko, are you dead?
What are you doing, playing 'Calabash Brothers saving their Grandpa'?" Perhaps his cursing worked, as a brilliant blue light quickly descended from high above. "Tony, there's another enemy," Rhodes said, alerting him. "I see it. The energy signature is twice as strong!" A rumbling sound approached from afar; it was a black suit of armor.
When it landed within a hundred meters above their heads, the armor's arm flicked, and two buzzing, energy-condensed azure whips suddenly lashed out. Waving both arms, the two whips attacked Tony Stark and Rhodes respectively. Tony Stark quickly flew up to dodge, but Rhodes was a step slower, and the weapon mounted on his shoulder was snapped by a whip. Boom!
With a loud explosion, the black armor landed on the torch, just one step away from Pepper. The remaining Iron Soldiers flew behind him and hovered in formation, while Tony Stark and Rhodes stood side by side opposite him. "Who are you?" Tony Stark asked in a deep voice. "Tony Stark, you stole something that belonged to my family." Rhodes looked at Tony Stark. "Coming for you again?"
"But I don't even know him." Tony Stark defended himself, then stared at Ivan Vanko's armor and asked, "I don't recall ever being a thief, and looking at it now, it seems like you're the one who stole something of mine." Ivan Vanko said coldly, "A grudge from forty years ago—today, I will resolve it in four minutes."
Tony Stark smirked behind his helmet. "Sounds nice, but do you dare show your face so I can see who you are?"
Hong Fei's voice dripped with menace. "Open that faceplate, and you're dead before it hits the ground."