Rampant laughter echoed across the rooftop. Obadiah Stane laughed like victory was already his.
"Psycho," Tony snorted, unimpressed.
The old fox grinned beneath the Iron Monger helmet. "Hey, kid, don't move—unless you want your pretty assistant to get vaporized. She's quite fragile, you know."
Tony raised both hands, pretending to surrender. "Alright, alright, no need to get all trigger-happy. I surrender."
"Tony! Don't worry about me!" Pepper cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Kill him and avenge me!"
Their acting was so dramatic it felt like a billionaire soap opera.
"Ahem, Pepper, can we not turn this into a telenovela? I'm getting second-hand embarrassment here."
A lazy voice cut through the air as a shadowy figure appeared on the rooftop.
"Who the hell—?!" Obadiah barked, not even looking. "Get lost, whoever you are!"
"Oh, shut it, you tin-plated turtle. You look like a pig trying to cosplay Optimus Prime," the newcomer replied mockingly.
Tony's eyes widened. "Leo?! You picked one hell of a time to show up."
Obadiah froze. That voice… that confidence. His face twisted in recognition.
"You—! It's you!"
The memory of Leo's power still haunted him. Every expert he sent after this man had vanished without a trace. He'd come to one terrifying conclusion—Leo was a high-level mutant.
Leo smiled, calm and taunting. "Surprised? You should be. I do enjoy showing up uninvited."
He moved like a cat toying with prey. "You think I'm a hundred meters away? Try a thousand. Think I'm on Earth? I might be in orbit."
Obadiah's pride burned. "Enough talk! Let's see what you can actually do!"
Leo waved a hand. "No thanks. He's your opponent, not mine. Bye-bye."
Before anyone could react, Leo hugged Pepper around the waist and teleported off the rooftop.
Tony's eyes bulged. "WHAT THE F*CK, LEO?! YOU SHAMELESS SON OF A—!"
He was furious—not just because he was left behind, but because Leo had hugged Pepper!
Couldn't he just carry her? Damn pervert!
Obadiah burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Tony! He ran off with your woman! This is priceless! You're dead, and your girlfriend's moving on!"
Tony's blood boiled. Even knowing Leo was only after money, the humiliation stung.
"F*ck this!" he yelled and charged forward.
The two armored titans clashed with thunderous force.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Metal screamed as fists collided. Sparks burst into the night sky. Tony punched at Obadiah's mid-section; Stane countered with a crushing blow to Tony's shoulder.
For a moment, it looked like two wrecking balls having a boxing match.
But Tony's Mark III wasn't just shiny — it was loaded. Twin shoulder-mounted mini-guns, pulse cannons, micro-missiles, and targeting flares.
Enough toys to turn the fight into fireworks.
"Jarvis, full weapons!"
"Yes, sir."
The armor's shoulder ports opened.
Bang-bang-bang!
Dozens of micro-missiles streaked toward the Iron Monger, exploding across the rooftop in waves of flame.
When the smoke cleared… Obadiah stood there almost unscathed, laughing.
"Haha! Tony, you like it? Titanium-nickel alloy, baby!"
Tony ground his teeth. "Show-off."
Obadiah retaliated with heavy weapon fire. Tony dodged and weaved through the air like a metallic gymnast, but even his agility couldn't save him from every blast.
A few shots landed—systems flickered, alarms blared.
"Jarvis, energy report!"
"Twenty percent remaining, sir."
"Twenty—? Yeah, okay, time to bail."
He'd already rescued Pepper; no reason to die playing hero.
But Obadiah wasn't letting him go.
"Running away? I don't think so!"
The Iron Monger fired a barrage of guided missiles. Tony shot upward but was hit mid-flight, crashing onto an elevated highway below.
BOOM!
Cars swerved and collided as debris rained everywhere. Tony tumbled across the concrete, armor sparking.
The Iron Monger landed with a ground-shaking thud, towering over him.
"Time to crush you like a bug, Stark!"
He raised his massive foot to stomp down—
—but Tony rolled aside at the last second, barely escaping.
Meanwhile, a terrified Pepper clutched Leo's arm. "Leo, please! Help Tony! I'll give you anything you want!"
Leo blinked. Wait, what?
Had these two already gotten to the flirting stage? That wasn't supposed to happen until after the Extremis incident.
"You'll… give me anything?" Leo asked slowly.
Pepper blushed crimson. "I—If it comes to that, just… don't let Tony know…"
Leo nearly face-planted. Lady, what kind of soap opera are you watching?
He shuddered. "Whoa, no, no, no! We have a saying where I'm from: 'A friend's wife is off limits.' Relax, I'll save him."
Pepper exhaled in relief. "Thank you!"
"Stay here and don't move," Leo said, before vanishing in a blink.
He reappeared between Tony and Obadiah, perfectly calm.
"Yo, Tony. How's life treating you?"
Tony snapped, "Stop talking sh*t and kill him already!"
He was panicking — he couldn't die here. There were still models to date, cars to crash, and billions left to burn.
Leo smirked. "No rush."
Then he turned to Obadiah, tone playful.
"Hey, old man. Tony's bid one billion for me to save his life. How much are you willing to offer?"
Both men froze.
"WHAT?!"
"You think this is a damn auction?!" Tony and Obadiah shouted at the same time.
Leo shrugged. "Hey, capitalism's a beautiful thing."