Chapter 300: Blow It Open!
"Jarvis, how long until Rescue One deploys from satellite to Baxter Building?"
Tony Stark practically threw himself into the Mark IV armor like a lunatic. The instant the suit finished sealing around him, he blasted into the sky.
"Five minutes and forty-one seconds, sir."
By the time Jarvis finished speaking, Tony had already rocketed into the clouds.
"Too long! Divert all output power to the thrusters! That bastard only gave me two minutes—I need to get there in one!"
"Navigate to the coordinates that suicidal idiot gave me! Maximum speed! God, if he's missing a single hair before I arrive, I swear I'll wrap him in his own black webbing like a mummy and hang him from the top of Stark Tower!"
The terrifying G-forces and scorching heat from Mark IV's full-speed flight made Tony Stark feel like he'd been stuffed into a runaway centrifuge, then thrown into a blast furnace.
From standstill to supersonic in seconds. The exponentially climbing G-forces hit like a concrete wall slamming into his chest. Tony's cursing quickly became fragmented.
"God... damn... Mark IV... when I get back... installing buffer gel... Jarvis! Vitals!"
Gray spots bloomed across his vision—blood being yanked from his brain by the acceleration forces.
Jarvis's voice remained as steady as ever, though urgency crept into his tone.
"Sir, your retinal blood vessels are dilating. I strongly recommend reducing to subsonic speeds immediately."
"Cabin temperature is forty-six degrees Celsius. External armor friction temperature has exceeded—"
Tony gritted his teeth and cut Jarvis off.
"Reduce speed?! That idiot needs my help! God knows what he's facing if he's actually asking me for assistance! Push the overload limits! Max out the air conditioning! I don't care about power consumption!"
Outside the armor, air tore into superheated plasma trails. Inside, sweat barely had time to bead on skin before evaporating into acrid steam.
Tony licked his lips, tasting salt on his tongue. Just a dozen seconds of flight had left him nauseous, dizzy, and fighting the urge to vomit.
"That arrogant, dark, control-freak shut-in who spends his nights playing dress-up with criminals in New York is actually Peter Parker..."
Tony could hear his own heartbeat thundering. Every part of his body screamed in agony, repeatedly tortured by the extreme acceleration.
His pores were clearly leaking blood now. The blood changed the friction coefficient inside the Mark IV armor. Combined with being nearly naked inside the suit, Tony had abraded skin tissue across his entire body.
"Detecting critical cardiac load. Automatically rerouting to Metropolitan General Hospital." Jarvis announced.
The instant Jarvis finished speaking, Tony summoned energy from somewhere and rapidly disabled Jarvis's priority override based on his vital signs.
"Metropolitan can wait."
"Right now, give me a shot of adrenaline and an anti-pressure agent!"
"And contact Electro—tell him to get to Baxter Building at full speed!"
Stark Tower and Baxter Building were both in Manhattan. The distance wasn't far.
But from the moment Batman contacted Tony through encrypted channels to Tony sprinting toward the Mark armor's automated deployment system—at least forty seconds had already elapsed.
Even so, Tony Stark still managed to arrive above Baxter Building with less than ten seconds remaining on the two-minute deadline—thanks to his insane, constant acceleration.
"Scan!" Tony shouted.
Without needing specifics, Jarvis AI rapidly assessed the situation and initiated a full array of scans across Baxter Building—infrared, ultrasonic, X-ray, and more.
"Apologies, sir. Baxter Building's construction materials are too complex. Conventional scanning methods are ineffective." Jarvis reported.
Tony thought for less than half a second.
"Find the weakest points."
"Two locations identified. One at the southeast corner, one directly below your current position."
"No time to circle around. Blow it open!"
BEEP BEEP—
In extremely subtle system tones, deployment information for two small anti-armor missiles flashed across the UI inside Tony's faceplate.
Tony simultaneously raised both arms, targeting the relatively weak section of Baxter Building's wall that Jarvis had identified.
The red armor at the end of both extended arms rapidly lifted and slid open. Two anti-armor missiles rose into position along with their launch platforms.
These were the most powerful weapons on Tony Stark's armor—designed to take out tanks, bunkers, and other hardened targets.
Without pause, exhaust flames erupted from the missiles' tails. Under laser guidance, they screamed toward Baxter Building.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion shattered a hole through Baxter Building's wall.
Tony flew forward, grabbed the edges of the opening with both hands, and forcibly expanded it until he could fit through. As he worked, a question nagged at him.
"How did that idiot Peter even get inside..."
The question was answered as Tony entered Baxter Building and followed Batman's position data toward the full-wave projector.
Tony saw a path that appeared to have been literally torn through walls and floors by claws, extending from outside into the building. Obviously Batman—meaning that idiot Peter Parker—had followed this route inside.
Dinosaur corpses lined both sides of the passage. Some had heads smashed to pulp. Others had skulls sliced into multiple pieces by razor-sharp talons.
"When did he get claws?!"
"And what's with these dinosaurs?"
"Christ, dinosaurs in the 21st century?"
One question answered, a dozen more surfaced.
Then he heard a roar from the Hulk.
"Fuck!"
Tony jumped, rapidly raising his palm and targeting the repulsor at the source of that bellow.
"Tony Stark. I am Otto Gunther Octavius."
As Tony stood on high alert, a voice emerged from the communication device Batman had left beside the full-wave projector.
Tony found the name vaguely familiar. Before he could place it specifically, Jarvis AI supplied the answer.
"Sir, that's Dr. Octavius. Two months ago, he disappeared after conducting nuclear fusion experiments in the sewers."
"Doctor Octopus?" Tony made the connection, remembering the nickname NYPD had given him.
"Correct. That's me." Octavius's voice seemed to be imitating Batman's—low and powerful. "The sound you heard came from the Hulk. His other identity is Dr. Bruce Banner."
"However, I strongly advise against mentioning Banner's name in Hulk's presence. Just knowing that much is sufficient."
Tony realized events were spiraling beyond his expectations. One mysterious force after another was surfacing in response to Batman's distress call—powers Tony had never encountered before.
"That idiot Batman. Just how much has he been hiding from me?"
Tony was careful not to mention Peter Parker's name over the communication channel.
"A great deal. But please trust that regardless of circumstances, his intentions are good." Dr. Octavius said. "Batman's safety now depends on you, Tony."
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