“Hey, buddy—that thing you just did was pretty cool.”
Tony spoke to Adrian Cross with his usual casual familiarity, but inside the armor, he quietly asked, “JARVIS, what was that just now?”
“Mr.
Stark, I detected a sudden disturbance in the surrounding magnetic field.
I estimate that it was some form of telekinetic psychic ability.”
“I would not recommend engaging him in combat, sir.
The Mark IV lacks effective countermeasures against abilities of this nature.”
Tony’s AI butler, JARVIS, delivered his assessment through the armor.
“Just a little trick, Mr.
Stark.”
Adrian Cross naturally had no idea that Tony and JARVIS had already discussed so much.
Seeing Iron Man arrive had simply reminded him of something.
With an idea forming in his mind, Adrian Cross rose into the air and flew directly over to Tony.
Tony froze.
“He can fly?
Without any kind of flight equipment?”
“No fuel source or propulsion system detected.
I estimate that he is using telekinesis to propel himself through the air.”
JARVIS’s reply made Tony privately marvel at just how convenient superpowers could be.
Adrian Cross then looked at him.
“Perhaps you can tell me what was going on with those two men, Mr.
Stark?”
He was obviously referring to the two robbers below.
“They just robbed the Bauhinia Bank.
They killed two security guards and managed to escape.”
Tony apparently had no problem telling Adrian Cross what he knew.
“But they obviously picked the wrong escape route.
And they obviously didn’t know there was a mutant living nearby who could send bullets flying straight back at them.”
“Actually, I’m not a mutant.”
Adrian Cross had lost count of how many times he’d had to explain that today.
“But never mind that.
Mr.
Stark, perhaps we should find somewhere else to talk.”
In the distance, the flashing lights of approaching police cars were already visible.
“Talk?”
Tony clearly couldn’t think of anything the two of them needed to discuss, so he shrugged inside his armor.
“You want me to keep your identity secret?”
He had evidently assumed Adrian Cross was one of those superpowered individuals who preferred not to reveal their identities.
“No, Mr.
Stark.
I want to talk to you about something else.”
Adrian Cross stared directly at Tony.
“Your body is already reaching its limit.
Haven’t you noticed?”
The moment those words left his mouth, Tony’s body went rigid inside the armor.
Even the ordinarily arrogant genius couldn’t help swallowing nervously.
Still, he forced a smile and asked, “Hey, buddy, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean, Mr.
Stark.”
Seeing that Tony still didn’t want to admit it, Adrian Cross couldn’t help smiling.
Tony Stark’s personality really was exactly the same as it had been in the movies.
So Adrian Cross went straight to the point.
“I can solve your palladium poisoning problem, Mr.
Stark.”
“Adrian, I have to admit, where you live is a lot more ordinary than I expected.”
Inside Adrian Cross’s pet shop, Tony had removed his helmet and was looking around at the furnishings.
He genuinely hadn’t expected someone with Adrian Cross’s powers to live somewhere so ordinary.
Adrian Cross could only conclude that his worldview simply didn’t align with that of a billionaire.
After all, he had spent most of his inheritance acquiring this place.
To an ordinary person, it was already large enough to be considered practically villa-sized.
Tony’s comment was obviously just a joke, however, and the two soon made their way to the rooftop lawn.
“Mr.
Stark, I am detecting an unidentified form of energy in the surrounding area.
The effects of palladium poisoning in your body are subsiding.”
“Analyzing energy…
Analysis failed.
No corresponding sample exists in my database.”
Tony had barely stepped onto the rooftop when JARVIS’s voice sounded through the tiny earpiece in his ear.
But Tony didn’t need JARVIS to tell him.
He could feel it himself.
Ever since arriving here, something in his body had genuinely begun to change.
Within only a few breaths, his body, weakened by the effects of palladium poisoning, already seemed to be recovering.
“Adrian, I think I’m going to have to take back what I said earlier.
Is this place for sale?
I’ll pay you a fortune for it!”
For a moment, Tony was genuinely considering buying Adrian Cross’s entire building.
Adrian Cross naturally didn’t take the offer seriously.
He knew Tony only felt so comfortable because of the life energy Celebi had previously left behind on the lawn.
As Celebi remained away, that life energy would gradually dissipate, and the lawn would eventually return to being nothing more than ordinary grass.
“Sorry, Mr.
Stark.
I’m not planning to sell.”
“But as for your palladium poisoning, I really do have a way to deal with it.”
Adrian Cross knew that Tony had previously been kidnapped by the Ten Rings—the very incident that had ultimately led to him becoming Iron Man.
During that ordeal, Tony had been struck by missile shrapnel.
As a result, he had been forced to place a palladium-powered reactor in his chest to keep the fragments from reaching his heart and killing him.
But that had also left Tony facing the problem of palladium poisoning, forcing him to struggle against death almost every day.
“You mean this strange energy?”
Feeling the effects of the palladium poisoning receding within his body, Tony was already almost completely convinced by Adrian Cross’s claim.
“Yes.”
Adrian Cross nodded.
Then, with a wave of his hand, he summoned Celebi directly from the System Space.
The moment Tony saw the adorable, fairy-like Celebi, he froze.
“JARVIS, what kind of creature is that?”
“No matching sample exists in my database.
However, I am detecting an enormous amount of energy.
I estimate that it is an extraterrestrial life-form.”
“Adrian…
are you an alien?”
Tony frowned as he looked at Adrian Cross.
Adrian Cross couldn’t help feeling that this genius scientist’s imagination was truly something else.
“I’m from Earth.
I’m a Summoner.”
“This is Celebi, my summoned Pokémon.
It’s a creature from another world.”
Adrian Cross made no attempt to hide that information.
He knew that beings from other worlds weren’t particularly unusual in this universe.
There was no need to look far for an example.
One of Tony’s future comrades, Thor, was essentially a being from another world who came from Asgard.
“Another world?
This little thing?”
Of course, Tony hadn’t met Thor yet, so Celebi’s existence naturally filled him with curiosity.
“Bi-bi!”
Celebi, however, wasn’t happy when it heard that.
It was one thing for Adrian Cross to call it little guy.
That was an affectionate nickname from its Trainer.
Coming from Tony, though?
That was disrespect.
Celebi’s psychic power surged.
Tony instantly discovered that he couldn’t move.
Then his entire body, armor and all, was effortlessly lifted into the air.
“JARVIS!
Fire the thrusters and break free!”
For once, there was a trace of panic in Tony’s voice.
“Sir, the pressure being exerted on the armor is too great.
I am unable to break free under our own power.”
JARVIS had just delivered a rather terrifying conclusion.
The Mark IV could reach the speed of sound in flight, and with all its thrusters operating at full power, it was even capable of dragging a building.
Yet it couldn’t escape the grip of this tiny creature.
“Bi-bi!”
Seeing Tony’s increasingly grim expression, Celebi seemed to find the whole thing tremendously entertaining.
It began waving its tiny hands from side to side.
And then came a scene destined to become one of the most embarrassing moments of Iron Man’s entire life.
Tony Stark—the great billionaire and world-famous superhero known as Iron Man—was dangling upside down in midair, being tossed back and forth like a toy by a tiny Pokémon!
“Bi-bi!”
As Celebi happily played with Tony, it kept chirping at Adrian Cross as well, seemingly inviting him to come over and play with its new toy.