Far away in Mexico, in the capital city of Veracruz, Norman Osborn let out a desperate roar. He had implanted a chip in Victor's body, one that could monitor his location and vital signs.
Ever since the two had crossed the boundaries of morality, Norman Osborn had become Victor's captive lover. They complemented each other perfectly, like two irregular puzzle pieces forming the most flawless picture.
Their plan was to build power in Mexico. With Norman Osborn's popularity enhancers and Victor's miniature arc reactor technology, it would not have been difficult to carve out their own dominion there. But just as their grand ambitions were beginning, Victor's life was cut short.
It was truly like the founding emperor's work undone halfway, leaving Norman Osborn all alone in the world.
Inside the villa, Norman Osborn clutched Victor's clothes and wept silently. His aged face was twisted with grief, tears and snot streaming down as unbearable pain consumed him.
He inhaled the familiar scent on the clothes.
"I will avenge you. No matter who it is, I will ruin them completely, destroy their family, and make sure they never find peace for all eternity!"
After eliminating Victor, Aetheris felt exhausted. His heart longed for a peaceful haven, a shelter from the storms.
He had already been in this world for over a year. In that time, he had risen from a pathetic nobody at the bottom of society to become the Iron Man admired by all.
Yet the number of people who had died at his hands could no longer be counted on a single pair of hands. For an ordinary person, this was an unbearable psychological burden. Though it did not show outwardly, in the dead of night he often dreamt of the faces of those he had slain.
They all bled from their seven orifices, appearing in different forms to demand his life.
His mind was clearly troubled. Otherwise, how could one explain that night at the barbecue restaurant, when he nearly killed two bratty kids and their mother?
They were merely being rowdy and unreasonable. In the past, at worst, he would have ignored them. But that night, he had almost taken their lives.
That was not normal. A destructive, lingering hostility haunted his heart. He desperately needed an outlet, though he had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem.
Lacking experience and surrounded only by women who catered to him unconditionally, he had no true friends to confide in. No one was there to tell him that his mind was faltering.
If this continued, he feared he would truly lose control of himself.
At this moment, he needed a release.
New York. Brooklyn. The largest nightclub in the district.
The DJ shouted at the top of his lungs, "Tonight's tab is covered by the young master, Tony Stark! Let me hear you scream!"
"Whooo!"
Aetheris glanced around. There were at least a thousand people inside. Neon lights flashed, banners fluttered, the dance floor was packed shoulder to shoulder in a writhing mass of bodies, chaos and frenzy everywhere, faces indistinguishable.
The moment the crowd heard Tony Stark's name, the roar of cheers nearly blew the roof off the nightclub.
The attendees were all young people, and Iron Man's influence among the youth was unmatched.
Aetheris sat at the bar, ordered a blue cocktail, downed it in one gulp, then tore off his tie and slapped it onto the counter. Rising to his feet, he squeezed into the dance floor.
He didn't know what song was playing. All he knew was that countless frenzied people surrounded him. Closing his eyes, he let his body sway with the rhythm.
"Give me your hand and your waist.Let's melt into this rhythm.Forget the fragments of yesterday's sorrow.Forget those promises never kept.Let's sway together, sway together.Forget all the pain and sway together.Who knows what tomorrow will bring?So for now, let's just sway without restraint.Forget the sunscreen, forget the tax bill.Forget last summer's broken love.Forget the rose-gold, forget the fur dress.Forget the drunken, honeyed lies.Let's sway together, sway together.Forget all the troubles and sway together.Yesterday's joy becomes tomorrow's regret.Better to just sway without restraint.Don't wait for those who'll never return.Don't hope for things that will never come true.Recall all those endless nights.Have you felt the tears flowing silently inside?Let's sway together, sway together.Forget all the pain and sway together.Who knows what tomorrow will bring?So for now, let's just sway without restraint.Let's sway together, sway together.Forget all the troubles and sway together.Yesterday's joy becomes tomorrow's regret.Better to just sway without restraint.Sway together.Sway together."
The music pulsed with rhythm, and the people even more so.
Even with his eyes closed, trying not to think of his troubles, Aetheris could feel a warm body pressing against him. When he opened his eyes, he saw a tall, slender blonde beauty with blue eyes.
Her face looked somewhat familiar, though he couldn't recall where he had seen her. Perhaps he had been meeting too many women lately, and faces had started to blur together.
The blonde woman danced with her back against him, spinning and leaping in his arms. Yet her eyes were cold, even tinged with venom.
Indeed, she was none other than Tina, Watson's girlfriend the daughter of Tony whom Aetheris had trampled underfoot.
She had been upstairs with a handsome man, whispering sweet nothings, when she heard the DJ downstairs call out Tony Stark's name. She knew her chance had come.
With heavy makeup masking her face until even her own mother wouldn't recognize her, and wearing ten-centimeter high heels, she swayed her slender waist as she descended to the floor, driving away the flock of butterflies trying to get close to Aetheris.
She had a vicious plan: to drug him.
She wanted Aetheris to die in the very place he indulged himself the most, the place he would least expect.
She kept dancing in front of him, watching his melancholy eyes, his handsome face, his powerful physique. For just a moment, she felt drawn to him, and her resolve wavered.
But when she remembered the humiliation of that day his filthy foot stepping on her face—the flames of rage reignited within her.
Never in her life had anyone dared treat her that way. Once he fell into her trap, she swore she would humiliate him savagely, chop off his feet, and turn him into a living mutilated husk.
(End of Chapter)
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