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[Marvel : Spoiling Spider-man] Chapter 211 - 215
🕑 Added 2025-03-06 01:00:07 +0000 UTCChapter 211: Installing the Reactor
Otto squinted as he observed the massive Arc Reactor in the lower levels of Stark Tower, comparing it in his mind to the little sun he had once created in the sky.
In truth, he had been extremely cautious ever since that tragic incident. The fear of repeating the disaster still weighed heavily on him. Because of that, he had yet to resume any real experiments, choosing instead to focus solely on calculations—refining his data to ensure there were no errors.
So when he saw Stark Industries’ Arc Reactor, Otto couldn’t help but share the same thought Tony once had: If only we lived in the same world. He longed to witness such groundbreaking technology firsthand, to see the kind of innovations he had always dreamed of.
His research had stalled at a crucial stage—stabilizing energy conversion and output from the little sun was proving to be an overwhelming challenge. But Tony Stark had clearly already conquered that obstacle.
The First Generation Spider-Man knew exactly what Otto was thinking. After all, he had been assisting him with his research for some time. When he wasn’t fighting crime at night, he spent his free time during the day—outside of class—helping Otto.
Yet, despite his own high intelligence, he hadn’t been able to help Otto crack the core problem in a short time.
["Mad Money! Mad Stark!"]
[Pepper sat in a chair, watching a projection on the wall—a news segment covering Tony’s announcement to shut down Stark Industries’ weapons division.]
[On the screen, the host was practically shouting about Stark Industries' plummeting stock prices, urging investors to abandon ship. To emphasize his point, he smashed a cup to pieces with a baseball bat.]
[The dramatic imagery mirrored the state of Stark Industries’ latest business strategy—shattered. Pepper frowned as she watched, but before she could process it further, Tony’s voice suddenly came from her tablet.]
["Pepper, how big are your hands?"]
["What?" Pepper asked, confused.]
["How big are your hands?" Tony repeated.]
["I... I don’t understand," Pepper said, her brows furrowing. What kind of question was that?]
[Tony’s tone remained calm. "Come downstairs, I need your help."]
[Pepper sighed, putting down her laptop. The host’s voice still echoed faintly from it: "Unfortunate investors! Stark Industries has turned into a junk stock!"]
"It looks like Stark Industries’ stock took a major dive—at least 40 points?" Second Generation Harry muttered, shaking his head. He was all too familiar with such financial disasters. After all, Osborn Industries had experienced its own devastating declines.
"I just hope the investors don’t start jumping off rooftops," Harry added with a self-deprecating chuckle.
Osborn Industries had seen its fair share of wild stock fluctuations. Ever since discovering that the genetically enhanced spider turned 2nd Gen Peter into Spider-Man, their stock had been soaring. Then came Connors' regeneration serum, pushing their valuation to an all-time high.
But then, everything fell apart.
Rajit Ratha’s unethical human experimentation plans caused a dip in confidence. Then Connors injected himself with the lizard serum, mutating into the Lizard—and stock prices plummeted to historic lows.
Then, Max Dillon’s electrocution was covered up, causing another wave of panic. Harry’s desperate attempt to cure himself—injecting spider venom and becoming the Green Goblin—triggered yet another crash.
Osborn Industries became infamous for having the most volatile stock price fluctuations in history. Many shareholders had lost everything, having placed their hopes on the regeneration serum as their golden ticket. Instead, one catastrophe after another left them in financial ruin.
It was only thanks to 2nd Gen Peter and Gwen standing firmly by his side that Harry managed to keep things stable. Investors had slowly regained confidence, especially now that Connors had successfully restarted his regeneration research, giving their stock a much-needed recovery.
Otherwise, Harry would have lost his mind by now.
[Pepper entered the underground garage, inputting the security code. As the door slid open, she was greeted by the sight of Tony—shirtless, holding a new reactor in his hands.]
["Hi!" he greeted her.]
["Come here, let me see!" He waved her over, and Pepper hesitantly raised her hands as she approached.]
["Such delicate hands," Tony mused, his eyes flicking to the reactor in his hands. "I think... I need a favor from you."]
["Oh my God! Is that the thing that saved your life?" Pepper exclaimed as she got closer, noticing the reactor still embedded in Tony’s chest.]
[Tony raised the new reactor for her to see before explaining.]
["Yeah! The old one’s outdated. This is my new life-support system—I need to swap it out. But I ran into a small problem."]
[Pepper frowned. "What problem? What are you talking about?"]
[Tony casually pulled out the old model from his chest, showing it to her.]
["Nothing major, just a little issue. There’s a wire that’s gotten stuck under the device. It's touching the socket housing and causing a short circuit."]
[Hesitantly, Pepper took the old reactor from Tony. "You... what do you need me to do?"]
["Just put that on the table over there. It’s useless now," Tony instructed. As Pepper set it down, she muttered, "Oh my God..."]
["I need you to reach in and gently pull the wire out," Tony said, glancing at her.]
["Wait... is this safe?" Pepper asked, looking worried.]
[Tony gave her a calm, reassuring nod. "Yeah! It should be fine. Think of it like surgery—just don’t touch the wrong part, and nothing will explode."]
["Surgery?! What do you mean, surgery?!" Pepper’s eyes widened in horror.]
["Relax, it’s just like a game. You’ll be fine—just pull the wire out gently," Tony assured her.]
["Okay..." Taking a deep breath, Pepper gathered her courage and slowly reached into the hole in Tony’s chest. But the moment she made contact, she yelped and pulled her hand back. "Hah! Nope! Nope, I can’t do this!"]
["What? No, no, no! You can do this!" Tony insisted. "You’re the most capable, reliable, and qualified person I know! You’ll do an excellent job!"]
[He watched her hesitation and decided to provoke her. "What’s the problem? Too many questions? I really need your help."]
["Ugh... fine!" Pepper groaned, giving in. Taking another deep breath, she reached in again.]
["Oh my God! There’s pus inside!" she suddenly screamed in horror.]
["That’s not pus," Tony corrected her. "It’s just some inorganic electrolyte. It’s a fluid from the device, not my body."]
["Well, it smells disgusting!" Pepper cringed.]
["Yeah, I know. Now focus—did you touch the copper wire?"]
["Yes! I found it!" Pepper nodded quickly.]
["Good, now just—" Before he could finish, Tony let out a pained scream! "Ahhh! Gently! Gently!"]
["Sorry! Sorry!" Pepper panicked but managed to pull out the wire.]
["Okay! Now, just be careful... don’t remove the magnet, it’s underneath—" Tony’s words trailed off as Pepper, unknowingly, pulled out the magnet covered in electrolyte.]
[Tony stared at her, then sighed, raising his hands in defeat. "Welp... that’s it. You did it."]
[As the magnet was removed, alarms started blaring from the nearby equipment…]
Chapter 212: The Life-Saving Reactor to Be Discarded
["Oh, God! Okay! How did this happen?" Pepper gasped, instinctively moving to put the magnet back.]
[Tony's eyes widened in panic, and he immediately stopped her. "Don't put it back! Don't put it back!"]
["What do I do? I—Wait, what's wrong with you?" Pepper noticed Tony’s face pale, and a wave of panic surged through her.]
[Tony took a deep breath, his voice strained. "Nothing… You were just a little too rough! I'm going into shock!"]
[Hearing this, Pepper's panic turned to frustration. "What?! You just told me it was safe!"]
["We need to hurry. Take this!" Tony quickly handed her the new reactor. "We have to replace it immediately!"]
["Tony! Are you sure this isn’t going to cause a problem?" Pepper’s hands trembled slightly.]
["I hope not!" Tony flashed a weak smile.]
["No! It’s going to be fine! I won’t let anything happen to you!" Pepper’s expression hardened as she steadied her hands.]
["Alright, put it on the base—carefully!"] Tony guided her. As soon as she inserted the plug, he immediately yelped, "Aaah—!"
[Pepper, startled, nearly jumped. "Oh my God, what happened?!"]
[Tony let out a breath and smirked. "Relax, just messing with you. It’s in—see? That was easy, right? Kinda fun, huh?"]
[Pepper shot him an exasperated look. "Are you okay?"]
["Yeah, I’m good! How about you?" Tony chuckled, clearly enjoying himself.]
[Pepper let out an exhausted sigh, shaking her head. "Tony! Never. Ever. Ever. Never. Let me do this again!"]
["But I have no one else but you!" Tony replied, looking at her affectionately. They locked eyes for a brief moment before he smirked. "Anyway!"]
[He then peeled off the adhesive patch from his body, and Pepper flinched at the sight, shaking her hands in disgust. "Eww!"]
[After hurriedly wiping her hands, Pepper picked up the old reactor and held it up. "What do you want me to do with this?"]
["That? Destroy it. Burn it," Tony said, sparing it a glance before pointing to the new model on his chest.]
["You don’t want to keep it?" Pepper asked, surprised.]
["Pepper, I have many problems, one of which is that I get bored of old things easily," Tony quipped.]
[Pepper blinked, looking at the old reactor in her hands before raising an eyebrow at him. "Anything else, Mr. Stark?"]
["Nope, that’s it, Miss Potts." Tony turned away, calling out to his robot assistant, Dum-E, to begin work.]
[Pepper walked out of the basement, the old reactor still in her hands. No one knew what she was thinking at that moment. Tony, watching her leave, tapped his fingers against the new reactor on his chest.]
"Good thing you didn’t throw it away, or I’d be dead," Tony remarked to Pepper with a small smile.
Pepper nodded, recalling what happened later with a relieved expression.
"Yeah… Who knows what I was thinking at the time? I figured it might come in handy, but I never expected it would actually save your life."
"Thank you for saving me. What do you want as a gift?" Tony asked, stepping closer, his gaze locking onto hers.
Pepper smiled slightly. "That depends—what kind of gift are you planning to give me?"
"Hmm… I’ll have to think about it carefully."
"Ugh… that was terrifying!" First Generation Gwen shuddered at the memory of Pepper’s electrolyte-covered hands.
"Yeah, most girls would probably freak out," First Gen Spider-Man agreed. "But Tony Stark is one hell of a guy. He actually let Pepper operate on him."
"Maybe he wanted to keep the Arc Reactor a secret?" Gwen speculated. "After all, it’s probably one of the most advanced technologies in existence! Speaking of which, how’s Dr. Otto’s research coming along?"
Gwen had never been good at chemistry or physics, so she couldn’t contribute much to Otto’s research. But she was still curious.
First Gen Spider-Man shrugged. "Still stuck in the same place. He’s currently studying the cold nuclear fusion process that Tony Stark uses, hoping it’ll give him some inspiration."
"Oh, I see… Well, let’s hope he figures it out soon!" Gwen nodded, wishing Otto success.
"He will! It’s just a matter of time," First Gen Spider-Man said confidently, wrapping an arm around her waist.
[At a U.S. military airbase, a newly developed fighter jet slowly landed on the tarmac.]
[Rhodey walked alongside a group of high-ranking officers, speaking as he moved.]
["The future king of the skies! Will it be a manned aircraft or an unmanned one? With my years of experience, I can confidently say—no unmanned aircraft will ever replace the instincts of a trained pilot!"]
["The ability to analyze, adapt, and make critical decisions in high-stress situations is something no AI can replicate!"]
[Just as Rhodey was getting into his speech, Tony suddenly appeared, cutting him off with a teasing smirk. "Lieutenant Colonel, what if the aircraft was controlled by… an inorganic person?"]
[Rhodey didn’t let Tony’s teasing faze him. He turned to the officers and smiled. "Ladies and gentlemen, let’s welcome our alien visitor, Mr. Tony Stark!"]
["Hello, everyone!" Tony greeted, then grinned mischievously. "Speaking of people and no people, men and not men, it reminds me of something… Rhodey’s most embarrassing moment from back in the day!"]
[Rhodey stiffened. "Tony—no—"]
["Ah, yes! Spring break—1987! That hot chick you were dating? Turns out—he was a guy! His name was Ivan, right?"]
[The officers erupted into laughter. They were professionals, sure—but this? This was hilarious.]
["Tony! Stop! Don’t do this!" Rhodey groaned. "If you say it, they’ll believe it!"]
["Too late!" Tony grinned, turning back to the officers. "Nice to meet you all!"]
"Oh, damn Tony!" Rhodey groaned, facepalming.
Now, he knew exactly how Dykovich and Alexei had felt when their embarrassing moments were exposed. But this was even worse.
Tony had just casually revealed to a room full of military officers that he had unknowingly dated a transgender person. At that moment, Rhodes really wanted to strangle him.
Meanwhile, Tony, who had been flirting with Pepper, suddenly froze and covered his forehead. "Oh… crap."
He hadn’t expected the joke he made back then to actually make its way out into the open.
This was bad. Rhodey was definitely going to come after him.
Tony frowned, already thinking of a way to talk himself out of trouble—just as his phone started ringing.
He glanced at the caller ID. It was Rhodey.
Sighing, Tony picked up. "Hey, Rhodey! Listen, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, I—"
Before he could finish, Rhodey let out an exasperated groan on the other end.
Tony, sensing an opportunity, immediately switched gears, using his signature Stark charm to talk circles around him. Within minutes, Rhodey’s anger had nowhere to go, leaving him utterly defeated.
Every time Tony did something infuriating, he always found a way to wiggle out of it. And this time was no exception.
Chapter 213: An Embarrassing Moment
["Let's have a moment alone." Rhodes waved his hand to dismiss the others, then patted Tony on the shoulder with a smile. "I have to say, I didn’t expect it—I swear, I really didn’t expect you to recover this fast!"]
["I can only walk right now," Tony replied calmly.]
["Really?" Rhodes crossed his arms, giving him a skeptical look.]
["Yeah," Tony said before his expression turned serious. "Rhodey, I’m working on something big." ]
["I came here to find you. Come with me!"]
[Rhodes nodded involuntarily, smiling. "You really got everyone riled up back there! I mean, that incredible performance at the press conference? You’re amazing!"]
["This isn’t military business, Rhodey! I... can’t! This is different," Tony said firmly, emphasizing each word.]
["What? You actually turned into a humanitarian?" Rhodey tilted his head, giving Tony a strange look.]
["Listen to me carefully—" Tony started to explain, but Rhodes cut him off.]
["No! You need to think before you act! I’m serious, Tony!"]
[Tony narrowed his eyes at Rhodes, then smiled slightly and nodded. "Okay."]
["Nice talking to you, Tony." Rhodes turned and left, leaving Tony standing alone, muttering to himself, "Thank you."]
"So that’s what you were trying to tell me back then? You wanted me to be part of the armor project?" Rhodes sighed over the phone.
Even though he now had the Mark II, and Tony had upgraded it for him, it was still nowhere near the Mark Destroyer I that Tony had developed at this point.
That suit was something Tony had worked on with Banner after studying the Destroyer armor. His current focus was making it easier to wear. Because of the different materials used, several key functions couldn’t be implemented the way he wanted.
This was a pure combat and destruction-focused suit, but the problem was—putting it on was inconvenient. Right now, Tony still needed robotic arms to assist him in wearing it. He was working on developing a remote-controlled auto-assembly system to make equipping the suit more efficient.
On the call, Tony admitted that he did want Rhodey to be involved back then, but unfortunately, Rhodey hadn't taken him seriously at the time and didn’t even listen to the full explanation.
[In his Malibu villa, Tony sat at his computer, deep in thought. "Jarvis, you awake?"]
["At your service, sir," Jarvis responded instantly.]
["I want to start a new project file. Code name—Mark II," Tony said calmly as he studied the design on his screen.]
["Should I store it in Stark Industries' central database?" Jarvis asked.]
["I don’t know who to trust right now," Tony muttered. "For now, store everything on my private server."]
[Before he could uncover who was selling his weapons to the Ten Rings, Tony knew he couldn't trust anyone. He projected an image of the Mark I suit onto his table.]
["Is this a top-secret project?" Jarvis asked curiously.]
[Tony deleted the impractical aspects of the Mark I design and responded, "I just don’t want this ending up in the wrong hands. Maybe… it’s better if I keep it under my control."]
[Meanwhile, in the desert where Tony had escaped, a group of men were sifting through the sand, searching for the remains of the Mark I armor. Most of its fragments were buried deep beneath the surface.]
[One of them suddenly shouted, "Yusuf! We found it!"]
[As their leader approached, the camera panned up to reveal his face—it was Raza. He hadn’t died in the cave collapse. Instead, he bore ugly scars across his head and face, a lasting reminder of what had happened.]
[One of his men handed him the Mark I mask. Raza took it in his hands, staring at it in a daze, lost in thought.]
[Back at Tony’s workshop, he was designing the boots for the new Mark II armor. His small robotic assistant, Dum-E, clumsily tried to help, earning Tony’s complaints about how useless it was.]
[After finishing the boot thruster design, Tony couldn't wait any longer. He decided to test it immediately. Activating the video recording function, he stepped back to the center of his workspace.]
["Okay! No more mistakes this time. Stabilizing at half a meter above the ground—manually controlled."]
[Tony stretched his legs slightly. "Alright, initiating hand controls… Smooth start… Let’s see if 10% thrust is stable. Okay… 3… 2… 1—!"]
[The moment the countdown ended, Tony activated the thrusters—and immediately blasted backward, slamming hard into the ceiling before crashing to the floor.]
[As he lay there groaning, the fire-extinguishing robot seized the opportunity and mercilessly sprayed a massive cloud of foam at him.]
"Oh! No way! You actually played this part?" Tony groaned, covering his face.
Rhodey smirked. "You never calculated the thruster power, did you?"
"How was I supposed to know?!" Tony rolled his eyes. "I thought I was being careful—I only used 10% power! And still got launched like that!"
"Haha! Good thing it didn’t kill you, or the world would’ve lost its savior before you even got started!" Rhodes laughed. He glanced at Banner, who was struggling not to laugh himself.
Meanwhile, in another universe, little Peter Parker turned to Aunt May with a puzzled expression. "Why did Uncle Tony just launch himself into the wall?"
Tony, of course, had long reluctantly accepted the title of Uncle Spider-Man.
Aunt May hesitated for a moment before responding, "Because he didn’t test it properly first. Remember, Peter—always be careful when doing experiments."
Little Peter nodded earnestly.
"Hahaha!!! That’s embarrassing!" First Gen Spider-Man burst out laughing at Tony’s expense. Seeing the genius billionaire slam into a wall like that was just too good.
"Yeah! And that was only 10% thrust! Imagine if he’d gone full power," First Gen Gwen giggled.
Then, noticing Peter’s smug look, she smirked and teased, "Wait… haven’t you done something just like this before?"
Peter’s laughter immediately stopped. "Uh…"
["The original Peter Parker, do you like to laugh?"]
The sudden narrator’s voice made him freeze in place.
["You’ve made plenty of embarrassing mistakes yourself. Back then, I spared you some dignity, but now? Seems like I don’t need to anymore."]
["Once we finish Tony Stark’s story, we’ll be showing your journey—before you became Spider-Man. Let’s see if you’ll still be laughing then…"]
"W-Wait! NO! Please—please don’t!" First Gen Spider-Man immediately begged for mercy.
He definitely didn’t want his high school days—especially the bullying—to be shown to the entire multiverse.
Unfortunately, his pleas didn’t matter.
Gwen, on the other hand, suddenly became extremely curious. "Ohhh, Peter! What exactly happened to you before you became Spider-Man?"
Meanwhile, across the multiverse, countless people began eagerly looking forward to it.
Even Second Gen Spider-Man widened his eyes in excitement. "Hold on! Why did my embarrassing moments get aired, but his didn’t?! I need to see this!"
Chapter 214: Won’t Hurt Anyone
[After his first test failed, Tony didn’t let it discourage him. He continued working on the Mark II armor.]
[As time passed, his research progressed steadily. He successfully implemented holographic projection technology, allowing him to visualize the Mark II’s arm in midair.]
[Sliding his hand through the hologram, he found that the simulation ran smoothly, confirming that his design was functional. Wasting no time, he immediately began constructing it according to his blueprints.]
[Just as Tony was testing the functions of the new armor’s arm, Pepper walked into the basement, carrying a brown-paper-wrapped box and a cup of coffee.]
[She stepped inside and called out, "I've been calling you—didn't you hear me?"]
["Yeah! Didn’t hear a thing," Tony replied without even looking up.]
["Obadiah is upstairs," Pepper said as she placed the box on the table.]
["Okay, okay! I’ll be there in a minute," Tony responded absentmindedly.]
[Pepper sighed, clearly unimpressed with his tone. "What do you want me to tell him?"]
[Then, noticing the armored gauntlet in Tony’s hand, she frowned. "I remember you saying you weren’t going to develop weapons anymore."]
[Tony flexed the rough, unfinished armor arm and raised it. Without hesitation, he nodded. "Yeah! But this is a flight stabilizer. It won’t hurt anyone!"]
[He pressed the switch. A bright white glow flared from the jet nozzle in his palm as the system charged. Then—BANG!—a blast of energy shot out like a lightning bolt.]
[Tony was launched backward, slamming into the wall. Pepper, startled by the sudden explosion, instinctively covered her ears and let out a scream.]
[When the smoke cleared, she turned and looked at Tony, wide-eyed. "I didn’t expect that to happen!"]
[Tony, still sprawled on the floor, gave her an awkward smile.]
"Hahaha! Tony Stark, I never thought I’d see you in a moment like this!" Nick Fury burst into laughter. Ever since the sky screen began its broadcasts, he found himself enjoying these comedic moments more and more.
Natasha, who had been monitoring Peter Parker Jr. and Aunt May, chuckled as well. Even Hill cracked a rare smile.
"'Not a weapon,' huh? 'It won’t hurt anyone,' right?" Rhodey smirked, raising an eyebrow at Tony. His taunting was just short of an outright mockery.
Since the sky screen started showcasing Tony Stark’s life, Rhodey had become more and more comfortable roasting his old friend.
"Hey!" Tony shot Rhodes a glare, clearly annoyed. But he knew arguing was pointless. Instead, he silently poured Rhodes a glass of wine, already planning to get him drunk as revenge.
Banner, watching the banter unfold, couldn’t help but laugh. "Good thing you didn’t try out the Mark Destroyer I yourself, or you’d be covered in bruises."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah—fortunately you stopped me."
The memory was still fresh. When Tony had wanted to test the Mark Destroyer I, Banner had insisted it was too risky.
And it turned out Banner was right—because the first time they activated it, the suit punched a massive hole through the ceiling of Tony’s garage… before plummeting straight into the ocean.
Tony raised his glass. "Here’s to listening to smart people! Cheers!"
"You're welcome," Banner said with a grin, clinking glasses.
[Tony took the stairs two at a time and hurried upstairs, where Obadiah was leisurely playing the piano. As soon as Tony saw him, he asked, "So, how’s it going?"]
[Then his eyes landed on a pizza box Obadiah had brought. "Huh. That doesn’t look great."]
[Without stopping his playing, Obadiah responded, "Just because I brought pizza from New York, that doesn’t mean everything is bad, Tony."]
["Oh, really? Let’s see—" Tony popped open the pizza box and immediately gasped. "Oh! Boy!" The sight of a pizza loaded with toppings made his eyes light up. He grabbed a slice without hesitation.]
[Obadiah finally stopped playing. "It would’ve been better if you went yourself."]
["Oh, come on! You told me to keep a low profile! I’ve been following that rule! You’re handling everything!" Tony shot back, using Obadiah’s own words against him.]
["Hey! Come on!" Obadiah waved his hands dismissively. "I meant staying low-key in front of the public and media. But this is a board meeting!"]
[Tony blinked in confusion. "Wait—board meeting? What board meeting?"]
[Obadiah sighed. "The board has declared you unfit for duty due to post-concussion syndrome. They're seeking an injunction."]
["A what?" Tony frowned.]
["An injunction—to stop you from working."]
["Wait… Just because the stock dropped 40 points? We expected that!"]
["It's actually down 56 dollars per share," Pepper corrected him, arms crossed. The stock price had fallen worse than Tony had anticipated.]
["So what?! We have controlling shares!" Tony looked from Obadiah to Pepper, clearly frustrated.]
["Tony," Obadiah said slowly, "the board still has power. And they think you—along with your new ideas—aren’t in the company’s best interest."]
["Fine! Then I’ll take responsibility! This is a new beginning for both me and the company!" Tony declared. His voice was firm, unwavering.]
[Obadiah stared at Tony, his mouth slightly open in disbelief.]
["Honestly, the company should bear the cost," Tony continued, turning to Pepper. Then, picking up the entire pizza box, he added, "By the way—great pizza."]
[As he walked off, Obadiah immediately tried to stop him. "Oh, come on, Tony! Tony!"]
["Hey! Hey! Listen to me!" Obadiah quickly got up and grabbed Tony’s shoulder.]
["Look, I’m trying to turn this around. But you need to take action so I can convince them!"]
["Let me take that to the engineers to analyze! We can make technical specifications—"]
[Obadiah acted like he was doing Tony a favor, but his real goal was obvious—he wanted a reason to get his hands on the Arc Reactor.]
[But Tony saw right through him. "NO! NO!"]
["I could use this to convince the board—"]
["Absolutely not! This stays with me. No negotiations, Obadiah! No deal!" Tony shut him down immediately.]
["Okay, okay," Obadiah sighed, backing off. Then he reached for the pizza box. "But this? This is mine now." ]
[Tony casually pulled out one last slice as he turned to leave.]
[Obadiah called after him, "Can I go downstairs and check out your work?"]
["Goodnight, Obi!" Tony called back without looking. And with that, he was gone.]
Chapter 215: The Thief with a Ruthless Heart
"Old man Obadiah… good thing I was extremely cautious and didn’t trust anyone back then!" Tony said to Banner and Rhodes.
"Hmm! No one expected that old guy to be this bold. Who knows how many weapons he’s secretly sold?" Rhodes added, shaking his head.
But aside from Tony, the ones who remembered that time most vividly were Pepper and Coulson—both of whom had almost died at the hands of the Iron Monger.
Even now, Pepper still shuddered whenever she thought about it. Coulson, on the other hand, was used to brushing shoulders with death. Take the last time Thor came to Earth, for example.
The Destroyer Armor had been deployed. If Natasha hadn’t picked up Mjolnir, and if Tony hadn’t been caught up in a fight with her, most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents present would have never made it out alive.
[In his underground garage, Tony stood in front of the camera. "Day 11. Test 37. Version 2.0. Because I have no choice. And because Benben is still moonlighting as a firefighter!"]
[Tony turned around, pointing at his robot assistant. "If you dare spray me again while I’m not on fire, I swear—I’ll donate you to City University!"]
[With that warning issued, Tony began preparing for the next test. "Alright. Let’s keep it steady. Stay focused. Starting at just 1% thrust."]
[He took a deep breath. "Ready—3… 2… 1!"]
[As the countdown ended, the thrusters in Tony’s palms and feet ignited. He slowly lifted off the ground, hovering unsteadily as he fought to maintain his balance. Then, as the thrusters powered down, he gently landed back on the floor.]
["Great! Now relax! And stop pointing that thing at me!" Tony turned around to see Benben still holding the fire extinguisher aimed directly at him. "Seriously?! Do it only if I actually catch fire!"]
[Hearing Tony’s scolding, Benben slowly lowered its nozzle—almost like a scolded puppy.]
After his first success, Tony felt a surge of confidence. He grinned. "Alright! Now boost thrust to 25%! Ready—3, 2, 1! Here we go!"
[Tony successfully took off again, hovering in place. "Okay… nice and steady—"]
[But within seconds, he lost control. His hands weren’t positioned correctly, causing him to drift backward.]
["Hey! I didn’t want to go this way!" Tony yelped as he flailed in the air.]
[Despite his efforts, he crashed into a parked car, sending a pile of papers flying everywhere. "My car! My car! My car! The table! Oh, God—!" Tony shouted as he barreled through his own workspace.]
[He barely managed to stop himself before hitting the wall. But as he extended his hands to stabilize, he was sent flying backward instead.]
[Tony let out a dry chuckle. "Ahahaha… not bad… not great either. Okay! End the experiment!"]
[Finally figuring out how to adjust, he carefully maneuvered back to his starting position and landed with a thud.]
[As soon as he touched the ground, Benben immediately raised the extinguisher nozzle again.]
[Tony panicked and threw out his hand. "NO! NO—AAAAAH!!!"]
[At the last second, Benben hesitated and lowered the nozzle in disappointment. Tony let out a deep breath of relief. The last thing he wanted was to get sprayed again.]
[Tony grinned. "Yeah! I can fly!"]
"Wow, I really thought he was gonna smash his head into the wall again," Second Gen Spider-Man chuckled.
"Oh, come on! He’s a super genius! He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice," Second Gen Gwen rolled her eyes at Peter’s assumption.
"Alright, alright, I underestimated him." Spider 2nd Gen Peter admitted. He then sighed. "Seriously, though. He got this far in just eleven days? That’s insane. Harry’s armor took way longer, right?"
Gwen smirked. "Yeah! Unlike you, who never listens in class and still forgets things from your eighth-grade textbook…"
She never missed an opportunity to tease 2nd Gen Spider-Man about his lackluster academic habits.
And, as always, it worked. After every teasing session, Peter would actually go back and review his lessons—just so he wouldn’t embarrass himself in front of her again.
Now, both of them were in college, attending Columbia University. They were practically campus celebrities—the Spider Couple who openly showed off their relationship.
Fortunately, after the whole copyright fiasco, Spider 2nd Gen Peter had firmly rejected all autograph requests.
But that didn’t stop students from flocking to Columbia. The university had received a massive increase in applicants this year—so much so that they had to tighten their admissions process.
While 2nd Gen Spider-Man was waiting for Tony to crash into another wall, 1st Gen Spider-Man was way more focused on Dum-E—the adorably stubborn fire-extinguishing robot.
"Honestly, if I could, I’d want one too. It’s so cute!"
"If you were the one being sprayed, I highly doubt you’d still think that," Uncle Ben said dryly.
"Aha! Yeah… that’s true!" 1st Gen Spider-Man laughed.
By now, he had completely forgotten about the impending broadcast of his own embarrassing high school days. He figured… he’d deal with it when it happens.
[Meanwhile, Tony was hard at work adding the outer shell to the Mark II armor.]
[Holding up his new helmet, he called out, "JARVIS, you there?"]
["Always at your service, sir," Jarvis responded promptly.]
["Connect to alarm display. Import all selected programs from the system."]
[With Jarvis’ assistance, Tony’s helmet interface immediately lit up, displaying an array of analytical data across his vision.]
["Alright. How’s it looking? Let’s start a virtual test," Tony suggested.]
["File import complete. System is online. Resetting priority levels. Calibrating operational parameters now," Jarvis reported.]
["Run a full system check!" Tony commanded as he examined the data flashing across the HUD.]
["Yes, sir." Under Jarvis’ control, the Mark II armor’s components extended and retracted, going through a full self-diagnostic test.]
["Testing complete. Preparing to power down and begin data analysis."]
["Let’s do this! Check the weather and air traffic control first! Also, start responding to ground control signals!"]
[Tony couldn’t wait any longer—he wanted to take this thing for a ride.]
["Sir, I strongly object. There’s still a lot of data that hasn’t been analyzed—"]
["Jarvis! Sometimes, you gotta be proactive! Ready? Here we go! 3, 2, 1!"]
[As Tony’s countdown ended, Jarvis reluctantly ignited the thrusters.]
[Tony adjusted his posture, aimed for the exit, and—after a quick spin—shot out of Malibu Villa at full speed!]
