Tony was comfortably sprawled on the living room sofa, munching on pizza, when Pepper called. "Hey! What's up? Pepper, did you find anything?"
"Tony! It's Stane! The person who kidnapped you is Stane! You're in danger!" Pepper urgently warned Tony over the phone, but then the signal cut out.
Pepper turned to Coulson beside her, panicked. "Tony's in danger! It must be Stane, he's already made his move!"
"Calm down, Miss Pepper! We'll dispatch a team immediately!" Coulson immediately ordered the agents under his command to assemble.
Pepper didn't intend to put all her faith in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents. While Coulson was gathering his team, she also called Rhodey, asking him to go to Tony's villa to help.
At the villa, Tony's face and neck veins had turned an unnatural blue-black. Unable to control his body, Tony could only stare at Stane with bloodshot eyes.
"Don't blame me, Tony! You and Pepper forced my hand. I didn't want to do this," Stane said with a smile, waving a small gadget in front of Tony's face.
"But it's a good piece of tech, isn't it? Paralyzing someone instantly with electromagnetic and sonic technology. Too bad the government didn't approve it." Stane said, his eyes locked on Tony. "Don't look at me like that. Your father, Howard, always had the upper hand over me. But we worked well together. We built Stark Industries into what it is today, the two of us."
Stane visibly agitated when he spoke of Howard, loosening his tie as he continued, addressing Tony directly, "I thought we could have a good partnership too, but you're not worthy! You're not like Howard; you're not someone I'd bow to! In my eyes, you're just a goose that lays golden eggs, and now you're about to lay your last one."
Stane removed the Arc Reactor from Tony's chest, muttering in fascination, "Beautiful!"
Leaving the dying Tony in the mansion, Stane immediately rushed back to Stark Industries' research and development center. Once the Iron Monger (Extreme) was complete, Pepper would be next.
The Invisible Time Demon Machine landed on the hospital rooftop. Zedd transformed and stepped out alone, while Woz and Dan Kuroto remained inside. Knowing Ethan's room number in advance, Zedd slid down a pipe to Ethan's window, then climbed inside.
It was just after dusk. Ethan was eating dinner when he saw Zi-O climb through the window, surprised. "Mr. Zi-O, what brings you here?"
"Uh, just checking in on you. How are you feeling?" Zedd pulled up a chair and sat down beside Ethan's bed.
"I'm recovering well. I should be discharged in a few days," Ethan replied with a smile, which quickly turned into a playful expression "Mr. Zi-O, what did you need?"
Ethan was smart, otherwise he wouldn't have become a scientist, but more importantly, Ethan possessed an indescribable kind of wisdom. Zedd knew he couldn't deceive Ethan, so he could only tell him the truth: "You were supposed to die in that cave."
"I know."
"I'm talking about your original ending, the one without my involvement."
"Unbelievable, but I understand."
Seeing Ethan so calm, Zedd continued, "Tony will be in danger tonight, but he can't die. And I need a lot, a lot of power, and you should be able to provide some of it for me."
Ethan's gaze drifted toward the night outside the window, the lingering dusk and the gradually darkening night looked beautiful.
After watching for a while, Ethan turned and looked at Zedd: "What do you need me to do?"
Zedd didn't waste any time and took out a Blank Watch Face, saying to Ethan, "I believe you can activate it!" Then he solemnly handed the watch face to Ethan.
Because of the incident with the watch face given to Jessica, Zedd was now more cautious. He would only hand over a watch face after personally witnessing its activation and being able to retrieve it on the spot.
Ethan took the watch face and said to Zedd, "Is this your goal? Saving me was just for this? Even saving Tony was for this!"
"Yes! But both of us need it, don't we?"
Ethan stroked the Blank Watch Face, as if speaking to Zedd, but also as if talking to himself: "I lost my most precious family, but I didn't expect that I could protect others."
In the underground laboratory of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Zangetsu Watch Face was being examined and handled by scientist after scientist, making Hawkeye feel a bit envious.
Dr. Karl walked out of the lab and said to Nick Fury and Hawkeye, "The watch face has been bound to Hawkeye; it doesn't react with anyone else. To truly analyze the mysteries of this watch face, we must disassemble it."
Dr. Karl and the other scientists in the base really wanted to disassemble the watch face, but such a precious sample needed the approval of Nick Fury.
Nick Fury pondered for a moment and said to Dr. Karl, "Only external testing is allowed; the watch face cannot be damaged. I understand your thoughts, but we only have this one watch face, and we can't afford to lose it. If we can get a second one, we will give it to you for research immediately."
In the midst of the scientists' resentful gazes, Nick Fury and Hawkeye left the lab. On the way, Nick Fury asked Hawkeye, "How did it feel wearing that armor?"
"Awesome! I feel at least ten times stronger."
"Indeed! That power is too great! It could cause immense harm to the world if it were to spread."
"But aren't the watch faces bound to their users? The possibility of widespread distribution seems unlikely, doesn't it?" Hawkeye questioned, a little puzzled.
Nick Fury took out his phone and opened a picture, pointing at Zi-O's belt. "You see this watch face inserted here, and this empty space on the other side? What do you think that's for! There's no one in this world who would give such power to others without expecting something in return. Zi-O can definitely use these activated watch faces, and he will find a way to get them back."
Hawkeye understood Nick Fury's concern. "So, Zi-O's belt is the most valuable thing. If that belt could be mass-produced, the whole world's structure would be impacted. Should we capture him when he comes to retrieve this watch face?"
Nick Fury shook his head. "No! If our security measures are effective, he doesn't know the watch face is with us yet. Matt is the most likely target. I need you and Natasha to team up and capture him!"
"Yes, sir!"
Tony, driven by a fierce will to survive, managed to crawl from the living room to his lab. But he reached his limit at the workbench; his legs were growing weaker, and his arms couldn't reach any further. Just as Tony was despairing, DUM-E handed him the old Arc Reactor.
"Phew, DUM-E! You're the best! I definitely won't donate you to a university!" Tony, having narrowly escaped death, didn't forget to crack a joke.
"Tony! Are you alright?" Rhodey, always a step behind, wasn't surprised this time, helping the weak Tony sit in a chair.
"I feel fantastic right now; I can't wait to go beat the crap out of Stane!" Tony gasped for breath.
"What happened? Stane? What's going on?" Rhodey was completely baffled.
"Stane kidnapped me, that's all you need to know! I'm going to save Pepper!" Tony shook off Rhodey's support and walked towards the Mark III Armor.
"My God! Tony! What have you invented?" Rhodey, seeing the Iron Man suit up close for the first time, gaped, his mouth wide enough to swallow a fist.
"Don't ask questions! Notify the military to arrest Stane! I'm taking off!"
Coulson, Pepper, and a whole team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents forced their way into the Stark Industries research and development center.
"Sector 16! Sector 16! Stane's Iron Armor is in Sector 16." Pepper, having reviewed Stane's secret files, led the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents towards their destination.
After opening the protective door to Sector 16, all they saw were a few failed prototypes that could barely stand.
"Are these it?" Coulson asked Pepper, puzzled, as these failures didn't seem like much of a threat.
"No! The one Stane built is much bigger than these!"
"Much bigger! How big?"
"This big!" The one who answered Coulson wasn't Pepper. With that answer, Stane, piloting the Iron Monger (Extreme), emerged from the dark warehouse.
The Iron Monger (Extreme)'s appearance and height were similar to the original Iron Monger, but each joint had yellow rubber buffer rings, greatly improving the Iron Monger (Extreme)'s mobility.
The cartoonish hairstyle and shoulder armor that Dan Kuroto had originally designed were also changed into a ferocious, protruding shape, making the Iron Monger (Extreme) appear even more imposing and intimidating.
"Pepper! You've been doing a great job! As a reward, I've decided to give you a vacation... forever!"
After saying these words, Stane prioritized attacking the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were armed. He wanted to take them out first, as then he could easily crush the defenseless Pepper.
Facing such a steel monster, the experienced S.H.I.E.L.D. agents found all their experience useless. Some died, some were injured, but at least they bought Pepper some time to escape.
"Pepper! Are you alright!" Pepper regained her signal after leaving Sector 16, and Tony immediately contacted her.
"Tony! You're okay! That's great! Stane created a steel suit even bigger than yours..."
Boom!
The ground above the Sector 16 lab was directly blown open, the loud noise interrupting Pepper's call. Stane, piloting the Iron Monger (Extreme), climbed out, "Where do you think you can run to? Pepper! Just accept your death!"
The Iron Monger (Extreme) raised the Gatling gun on its right hand, aiming at Pepper. Stane roared, "Die!"
Tony roared in the air, crashing into the Iron Monger's right arm at the last moment and protecting Pepper.
\n\n
The two were propelled a great distance by the immense kinetic energy. After shaking their dizzy heads, they got up and charged towards each other, roaring.
\n\n
"Tony!!!"
\n\n
"Stane!!!"
\n\n
------------------------
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(End of Chapter)