Stark Mansion.
Ever since the Molten-Blood Demon incident, Tony Stark had been gripped by an unease he couldn’t quite explain.
For several days straight, he buried himself in work on his armor.
After a long series of tests and refinements, the Mark III was finally complete in design.
Since fabrication would still take some time, Tony handed the remaining work over to J.A.R.V.I.S. and headed to a Stark Industries charity gala.
Not long after arriving, Tony discovered that Stark Industries was still selling weapons without his authorization.
Just as he was about to confront Obadiah, Obadiah approached him first, and bluntly admitted that he had been the one who forced Tony out of the company.
Tony stared at the man he had once regarded as an “uncle,” listening as Obadiah claimed it had all been for Tony’s own good.
His expression grew complicated.
After that, Tony had no interest in staying at the party.
He returned home soon afterward.
There, news reports showed armed militants using Stark Industries weapons to massacre innocent people while no one dared step in to stop them.
Tony decided it was time to do something.
The moment the Mark III was ready, he put on the armor and went after the terrorists responsible for the slaughter.
That operation was also what finally drew Obadiah’s full attention to Tony’s Iron Man Armor.
Meanwhile, Tony sent Pepper Potts to investigate Obadiah.
Realizing that his secrets had been exposed, Obadiah stopped pretending altogether.
He went straight to Tony’s mansion, ripped the Arc Reactor from Tony’s chest, and activated the Iron Monger.
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Near Stark Tower.
After the demon incident a few days earlier, several surrounding streets had been placed under S.H.I.E.L.D. surveillance.
Nighttime foot traffic in the area had dropped considerably compared to usual.
Ever since Evan pulled Gawain from the System, he had sent the knight out to wander the city.
According to the plot of Iron Man, Obadiah should be making his move against Tony right about now.
A story filled entirely with villains was obviously less interesting than heroes and villains fighting each other.
It protected the “crops” that generated Emotion Points, and conflict between opposing sides was much better at stirring up emotions.
So Evan had assigned Gawain the role of the warrior who stood against demons.
Gawain’s full knightly attire looked wildly out of place in modern New York, but nobody was eager to approach someone who looked that intimidating.
Even S.H.I.E.L.D. merely kept a casual eye on him.
This was America, after all.
People had seen weirder things than a man dressed like a knight.
Anywhere else, most wouldn’t even bother looking twice.
BANG!
A tremendous crash echoed through the New York streets.
Iron Man and Iron Monger burst onto the road, locked in a violent struggle.
“I love this suit!”
At that moment, Obadiah felt practically invincible.
Like there was nothing in the world he couldn’t do.
He turned, lifted an entire car off the ground, and sent the family of four inside into hysterical screams.
“Tony, you have to understand! The world has changed! We need stronger weapons if we’re going to fight things like that—”
Obadiah never finished.
Tony blasted him away with an Energy Blast.
Tony immediately caught the car carrying the family of five, only for the terrified woman behind the wheel to hit the accelerator and drag him along the pavement for several yards.
Tony had barely started getting back to his feet when Iron Monger grabbed a motorcycle and smashed him away with it.
Obadiah was about to pursue him when he noticed someone standing directly in his path.
“Move!”
The thrusters on Iron Monger’s back ignited.
Obadiah charged straight at the figure and swung one massive arm with all his strength.
What he didn’t expect was for the man to catch Iron Monger’s strike with one hand.
Solidly.
Without even taking a single step backward.
Inside the armor, Obadiah’s pupils contracted sharply.
Gawain gave a simple shove.
Iron Monger was forced backward.
“What was this ‘thing’ you spoke of just now?”
After repelling Iron Monger, Gawain made no move to pursue him.
He merely asked the question in a calm voice.
Behind him, Tony stared wide eyed.
“He’s basically Superman…”
Obadiah was equally stunned.
His shock quickly turned to viciousness.
“That thing was… DIE!”
Without warning, Obadiah fired two missiles straight at Gawain.
“Watch out!”
Tony shouted a warning.
He had no intention of watching the man who had just helped him get blown apart by Obadiah’s missiles.
Shing!
Shing!
What happened next left Tony even more speechless.
Gawain drew his sword.
With an almost casual flourish of the blade, he cut both incoming missiles apart.
“You treacherous villain!”
Gawain swung his sword toward Obadiah.
A golden arc of sword light erupted from the blade and shot forward.
In an instant, it was already upon Iron Monger.
Obadiah screamed in terror.
“NO!”
[Emotion Points from Obadiah Stane: +86]
[Emotion Points from Tony Stark: +168]
[Emotion Points from S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent: +0.8]
[Emotion Points from HYDRA Agent: +0.6]
Yet the golden slash did not take Obadiah’s life.
Instead, it carved a massive hole through Iron Monger’s chest armor and disabled the entire suit.
“Will you answer me now?”
Gawain walked over to the crippled Iron Monger and asked again.
Obadiah, however, was too terrified to speak.
That brief moment when death had seemed inevitable had scared him senseless.
Gawain frowned.
“Hey, Sir… Knight?”
Tony climbed back to his feet and approached.
“I think I can tell you about that thing.”
Gawain turned to look at him.
He had a somewhat favorable impression of Tony.
At the very least, a man who had gone out of his way to save civilians during a battle was far more to Gawain’s liking than Obadiah, who treated people as disposable weapons.
Tony gestured toward Stark Tower.
“Although this obviously isn’t the best place for a conversation. How about my office?”
Once he reached Gawain, Tony retracted his faceplate.
The usual arrogance in his expression had been noticeably toned down.
The man standing in front of him was simply too powerful to seem human.
“Lead the way.”
Tony visibly relaxed.
He turned and led Gawain toward Stark Tower.
Just then, Pepper arrived with a team of agents as backup.
The moment she saw Tony, she rushed over and threw her arms around his armored body.
Tony returned the embrace, trying to reassure her.
“I’m fine, Pepper. Have someone get Obadiah out of that suit and take him into custody.”
With that, Tony led Gawain into Stark Tower.
Pepper organized the agents and had them extract Obadiah from the Iron Monger armor.
Unfortunately, the man had completely lost control of his bodily functions from sheer terror, so they sent him to the hospital first.
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“The thing he was talking about looked like some kind of demon. Here. This’ll give you a better idea.”
Tony handed Gawain a tablet.
On the screen was footage of the Molten-Blood Demon rampaging near Stark Tower.
“Uh, listen. If you know anything about this thing, I think you should tell me.”
Tony chose his words carefully.
“I might be able to help.”
His tone was casual, but the questions hidden inside the offer were obvious.
Gawain rose and looked out over New York through the windows of Stark Tower.
He seemed to be deep in thought.
Tony didn’t interrupt him.
Instead, he opened a bottle of red wine, dropped onto the couch, and poured himself a glass.
A long time passed.
Finally, Gawain turned back toward him.
Golden light shimmered in his eyes.
Tony, who had been calmly sipping his wine, suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
He endured Gawain’s stare for several seconds.
Then he finally cracked.
“Want some?”
Tony stood, poured another glass of wine, and offered it to Gawain.
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📣 Announcement!📣
I just uploaded another new story!
The story is called Marvel: Dimensional Restaurant in Marvel.
This story will include several other fandoms, not just Marvel, but the main timeline will still take place in the Marvel universe.
If you enjoy Marvel fanfiction, don’t forget to check it out!
I hope you enjoy the new story!