In the night sky over New York, a streak of bright fire flashed across the darkness, leaving a white trail behind it.
"It's definitely much faster than before," Harry said, his hands clasped behind his back as he enjoyed the speed of the new flying skateboard. Traveling at supersonic speed, he had to keep his mask on the whole time.
Following the system's prompts displayed inside his mask, Harry flew straight toward Stark Industries Headquarters.
...
At that moment, Pepper Potts, who had already learned about Obadiah Stane's conspiracy, was leading Phil Coulson and five S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into the secret Sixteenth District.
The loud noise of Coulson forcing open a door alerted Obadiah Stane, who had already acquired Tony's new arc reactor. After finding Tony's prototype armor, Coulson and the others thought they'd finally caught Stane's wrongdoing—but they didn't realize that a mechanical giant was lurking nearby.
As the agents continued to gather evidence, Pepper suddenly noticed a massive prototype suit hidden in a corner.
Two piercing white lights suddenly flared to life behind a curtain of hanging chains. The deep, metallic growl of moving armor made Pepper's blood run cold.
"Ah!" she screamed and immediately turned to run.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, unaware of how powerful the armor was, reflexively opened fire—but within seconds, they were smashed aside one after another by the Iron Monger's crushing blows.
Fortunately, the size of Stane's armor kept it from squeezing through the narrow corridor, and Pepper managed to flee out of Stark Headquarters.
Panting, she pulled out her phone and dialed Tony Stark's number.
"Pep," came Tony's weak but familiar voice through her headset.
"Tony! Tony, are you okay?" Pepper asked, glancing nervously back toward the building's entrance.
"I'm fine. What about you?"
"Oh, Obadiah—he's gone insane!" she said in panic.
"I know, I know. You need to get as far away as possible," Tony urged.
"He also built a steel suit, and—"
"Yes, I know! You'd better get out of there now. Someone might come to pick you up soon—it'll be obvious who," Tony said urgently.
"Oh!" she gasped as a sudden sound made her spin around, eyes wide.
"What happened?" Tony asked.
"I think I just saw him," Pepper whispered, trembling. High above, an arc of light cut through the dark sky.
"Okay—follow that person," Tony said.
At that moment, the ground behind Pepper split apart. The concrete bulged and cracked open, and a massive silver hand burst out from below, slamming onto the ground with a deafening clang. Then the whole mound collapsed, and the Iron Monger climbed out of the pit, its glowing eyes fixed coldly on her.
The towering armor—more than three meters tall—rose to its full height.
"My dear Pepper… where are you going?" Stane's voice echoed through the metallic speakers, cold and distorted.
The Iron Monger stomped forward, each step heavy as thunder. Pepper backed away in terror, but there was nowhere to run.
"I don't need you anymore," Stane sneered, raising his right arm and aiming a spinning machine gun straight at her.
"Then leave her to me," said a voice from the side.
The Iron Monger turned just as a streak of flame shot toward it.
Boom!
The massive armor was struck hard and sent flying backward, crashing into a parked vehicle dozens of meters away.
Boom—!
The S.H.I.E.L.D. car exploded into pieces.
"Target hit," Harry said coolly as he descended from the sky, the faint glow of his miniature missile fading behind him.
"Hi. We meet again, Miss Potts." He landed beside Pepper, the armor's mask retracting at a thought to reveal his face.
"Mr. Osborn!?" Pepper looked astonished—clearly, like her boss, she hadn't paid much attention to the news.
"Let's get out of here first. Tony should be on his way." Harry extended a hand toward her with a calm smile.
"Uh, o-okay." She grasped his hand and climbed onto the flying board.
Harry's lips curved slightly. Pepper Potts really was a fine woman—not stunningly beautiful, but sharp, capable, and composed. Tony Stark was truly lucky.
Behind them, the Iron Monger dragged itself out of the wreckage. Its armor was scorched, its left arm nearly shattered—a testament to the power of Harry's miniature missiles.
"You've made me angry!" Stane's enraged roar thundered through the night.
He lifted his remaining arm, six dark barrels rotating menacingly as they locked onto Harry and Pepper.
"Die!" he bellowed.
But before he could fire, something else slammed into him—a blinding streak of gold and red light crashing down from the sky. The Iron Monger was sent flying again, but this time, there was no explosion—just force.
Pepper turned to Harry, who didn't even flinch. Clearly, he'd been expecting Tony's arrival.
"I'll take you somewhere safe. Hold on tight," Harry said, steering the board sharply upward.
Meanwhile, Tony and Stane's clash tore through two concrete walls before both crashed onto a street below. Even with the suit's shock absorption, the impact left Tony dazed and aching.
Screams echoed from onlookers nearby, snapping him back to focus.
The Iron Monger recovered faster. Though slower and less agile than Tony's suit, it was a tank in comparison—built for raw power and endurance.
It stomped toward Tony and swung a massive fist downward.
Tony's thrusters flared, blasting him sideways just in time. The blow slammed into the ground, leaving a spiderweb of cracks.
Tony stood, raising his right hand—white light flared in his palm, and a repulsor beam blasted into the Iron Monger's chest.
But the powerful shot barely staggered the giant. Its massive feet left only a deep crater in the ground.
"Tony, you're a genius," Stane mocked through the speakers. "You've built the perfect weapon—for me! With this, I'll be unstoppable!"
To prove his point, he grabbed a passing motorcycle and hurled it straight at Tony Stark.
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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