Chapter 163: Brutal Combat
From the AIAS Security factory to high altitude, then from high altitude back to ground level.
Tony Stark in his Mark III armor remained locked in combat with Obadiah's Iron Monger. In terms of raw power, Tony was absolutely no match for Obadiah.
But Obadiah wasn't a tactical genius. Strip away his Stark Industries board member identity and he was merely an ordinary man who'd just donned heavy armor.
Whether controlling the armor, flight stability, or the suit's details themselves—Obadiah's Iron Monger couldn't compare to Tony's Mark III.
Mindlessly piling on firepower made Iron Monger extremely bloated. Its massive size guaranteed it couldn't execute tactical maneuvers.
Compared to the repeatedly upgraded and refined Mark III, Iron Monger looked extraordinarily clumsy.
As long as Tony Stark kept circling behind and using repulsor beams to systematically destroy the exposed hydraulic rods at Iron Monger's joints, Obadiah would eventually become a sitting duck.
If Batman were Iron Monger's opponent, he'd execute a plan targeting these obvious weaknesses immediately.
But Tony Stark didn't. He first traded firepower directly with Iron Monger, then they'd flown into the sky together. Now after landing they were trading blows again.
CLANG!
Iron Monger's laptop-sized fist collided with Tony's slightly-larger-than-normal fist, producing crisp metallic sounds.
"Sir, if we utilize Mark III's speed advantage and attack those exposed components, we could win within ten minutes," JARVIS AI said.
"JARVIS, do you know how to truly defeat an enemy?" Tony Stark said. "Strike where they're most proud."
Tony Stark wasn't stupid. He'd chosen to confront Obadiah's Iron Monger head-on not merely to defeat the steel armor but to defeat the man inside.
He'd make Obadiah clearly understand the gulf between them.
Whether arc reactors, steel armor, or combat methods—Tony would prove he surpassed Obadiah by more than one level.
Even with the other side stealing his reactor, the armor gap would ensure their capabilities weren't remotely comparable.
Their battlefield returned to the AIAS Security factory interior.
As warehouse roofs and walls were demolished by their combat, various weapons Obadiah had hidden here became exposed.
From machine guns to missiles, even various explosives filling entire warehouses—virtually every weapon Stark Industries produced was represented here.
Tony Stark even saw all the Jericho missiles his company had manufactured but not yet sold.
They lay quietly in warehouse after warehouse. The Stark Industries logos were prominent and glaring, burning into Tony Stark's rage.
Mark III's fists clenched. Tony Stark raised his fists and hammered them frantically against Iron Monger's body. The metallic clanging rang continuously.
"He's venting, not fighting." Batman silently watched Tony.
Batman clearly judged that most of Tony Stark's attacks were hitting Iron Monger's thick armor—creating only noise and sparks with minimal actual damage.
From returning from the Middle East until now, Tony Stark had maintained emotional stability. But seeing Stark Industries weapons appearing here with his own eyes, his fury finally erupted.
Compared to Tony Stark's anger, Obadiah laughed loudly, his voice filled with mockery and satisfaction:
"Harder, Tony! Hit harder! Just like when you threw tantrums breaking toys as a child! Look at these!"
He grabbed Tony Stark's Mark III with one hand and slammed him into the ground, pointing at the weapons exposed by the destroyed warehouses:
"This is our family legacy! The foundation of the empire your father and I built together! You think shutting down factories makes them disappear? No! They're right here, waiting to be used!"
"Stop being childish, Tony. If we don't produce weapons, someone else will. Rather than letting that dangerous instability rest in others' hands, we should control it ourselves—like we've always done."
"Stop being stubborn, Tony. Your brain plus my operations—Stark Industries will become the largest arms dealer. Your father would be proud because you preserved his weapons empire!"
A missile launched from Obadiah's shoulder, blasting Tony Stark skyward before he crashed heavily back down.
"His anger has blinded him. JARVIS can see the weaknesses, but Tony refuses to accept it."
Batman watched Tony rise from the rubble and charge recklessly toward that massive figure again, his attack patterns virtually unchanged.
This was an emotion-driven, inefficient war of attrition.
Unless Tony Stark encountered danger or Obadiah lost the ability to resist and faced execution by Tony, Batman had no intention of intervening.
He'd come here only to prevent these two scenarios. Helping Tony defeat Iron Monger wasn't part of the plan.
Batman's gaze shifted past the two combatants toward those high-powered weapons.
To Tony, they symbolized shame, fuel for rage.
As their battle intensified, they began randomly grabbing every weapon within reach to attack each other.
Fire blazed into the night sky. Explosions rang continuously. This didn't seem like a New York suburb but rather that terrorist-infested Middle Eastern region.
Reporters, photographers, curious onlookers—
Besides Batman, many others hid at a distance watching the battle between one large and one small steel figure, recording footage and uploading it online.
Even with police desperately trying to disperse and evacuate the crowd, the effect was minimal.
BOOM!
Another explosion. Tony Stark and Obadiah both stood at the blast's epicenter.
Their combat had detonated a Jericho missile. In the close-range explosion, Tony Stark's Mark III form flew high while Obadiah's Iron Monger moved a beat slower—flames immediately engulfed him.
One missile's detonation triggered a chain reaction. Under Tony Stark's deliberate impact beam attacks, missile after missile exploded, gradually consuming the entire AIAS Security factory.
Black smoke filled the air. Flames reached skyward. Tony Stark charged back into the inferno, dragging out Obadiah—his armor completely destroyed, barely clinging to life.
Tony Stark desperately wanted Obadiah to die like this, but not yet. Tony Stark needed not only to defeat this man but completely expose his crimes and use him to thoroughly resolve Stark Industries' problems.
These subsequent matters barely concerned Batman. He only met Tony Stark once more as Peter, delivering the preserved chain of evidence.
The next morning, just as Batman prepared to head to his Bat Island for detailed work on the Batplane's elevator platform, the bat-communicator he'd previously given Sable suddenly activated.
The voice wasn't Sable's but an unfamiliar male voice Batman had never heard before:
"Batman, I am T'Challa."