Seeing that Tony had successfully drawn the Super Iron Monger’s attention, Gaia did not dare to relax.
Seizing the perfect opportunity, he shot a web directly at the Super Iron Monger’s chest.
Using the web, he pulled himself forward and leaped, landing squarely on the giant machine’s chest.
*Thump!
Thump!
Thump!*
Inside, a watermelon-sized heart was beating frantically.
After scanning the surroundings, Gaia raised both hands.
He wreathed his palms in electric currents once more and reached toward the Super Iron Monger’s heart.
He was planning to crush it with his bare hands.
“Ah!!!”
The Super Iron Monger, who had been about to take off and catch Tony, suddenly felt a sharp, agonizing pain in his chest.
When he saw Gaia clinging to his chest, his rage boiled over.
It was this goddamn bastard again!
Ignoring Tony, the Super Iron Monger aimed the palm cannons of both hands directly at his own chest.
A beam of light nearly two meters wide instantly engulfed Gaia.
Seeing this, Tony’s eyes turned red.
“No!
Stop it, Stane!
Gaia!!!”
Seeing his friend in mortal danger, Tony felt a crushing weight of responsibility.
If he hadn’t called Gaia to help, Gaia wouldn’t be in this situation.
Blinded by fury, Tony flew straight over the Super Iron Monger’s head, desperately firing energy beams at his eyes.
Meanwhile, engulfed in the blinding light, Gaia was still holding on tight to the Super Iron Monger’s heart.
Realizing that he couldn’t destroy the heart quickly enough this way, and with his clothes completely incinerated, Gaia changed his strategy.
He grabbed the flesh and wires around the heart and pulled outward with all his might.
With a wet, tearing squelch, Gaia successfully ripped the beating heart out of the titan’s chest and held it high above his head.
“No!!!”
Almost instantly, the mechanical metal armor on the Super Iron Monger began to separate from the flesh.
Feeling his power drain away, Obadiah Stane let out a desperate, final scream.
“It shouldn’t be like this!
It shouldn’t be like this!
Tony Stark!
Gaia Parker!
I’ll be waiting for the two of you in hell!
I’ll be waiting for you!!!”
As his voice faded, the Super Iron Monger collapsed into a heap of scrap metal weighing several tons.
Staring at the mountain of metal, Tony quickly landed and rushed forward to search for Gaia.
But before Tony could even get close, a completely naked figure leaped out of the pile with a loud *thump*.
In one hand, he held the still-beating heart.
“Oi, bro, are you blown away by my performance?
I know you’ve never seen anyone this competent before.
Is that drool I see?
If you can still control your bodily functions, hurry up and find me some clothes.”
Tony stared up at Gaia, who was standing atop the pile of scrap metal.
Hearing the robust, lively tone of Gaia’s voice, the heavy weight in Tony’s chest finally lifted.
“I’ll call Happy right now.
By the way, you’ve lost a lot of weight recently.
Was it because you were worried about me?”
Gaia tossed the beating heart over to Tony and shrugged.
“As expected of a scientist, what a vivid imagination.
But I heard that dreaming too much is a sign of a bad liver.
I suggest you see a doctor.”
Tony didn’t reply.
He stepped forward, opened his arms, and gave Gaia a tight hug.
“Thank you.
Thank you for not giving up on me, brother.
You know what?
These past few months have made me realize what an absolute scumbag I used to be.”
Gaia patted Tony’s back.
“I understand how you feel, but you should let go of me.
Right now, we look like a couple of gay guys.”
Tony laughed, released his grip, and lightly punched Gaia’s chest before flipping him the bird.
“You’re the gay one, you virgin.
I’m Tony Stark, a man who has bedded countless women.
Did you know?
Just three months ago, I slept with a pair of cover girls.”
“Is that so?
And how many seconds did you last?”
“Motherfucker!”
The two sat on the ground, bickering back and forth.
Two hours flew by.
Happy arrived on a private jet, accompanied by a dozen of Tony’s most trusted men.
When Happy saw the state of the battlefield, he was utterly speechless.
He could only stare blankly at Gaia and Tony, and then at the still-beating heart in Gaia’s hand.
Seeing Happy’s arrival, Gaia tossed the heart back to Tony.
“This thing is useless to me.
See if you can research anything from it.
Now that everything’s settled, I’m heading out.
Bye.”
Waving to Tony, Gaia grabbed the change of clothes Happy had brought and walked away.
***
Ten hours later, Gaia woke up alone in another villa owned by Tony.
He unlocked his phone to check his messages.
The first was from Tony.
Happy and his team had dug Obadiah Stane’s mangled, paste-like corpse out of the metal heap last night.
Gaia had already expected that.
The second message was from an unknown number.
Gaia opened it:
[Gaia, it’s Gwen.
I need to talk to you about something.
If you see this message, please call me back.]
Gaia raised an eyebrow.
He checked the time; it was just past nine in the morning.
After a moment’s thought, he dialed Gwen’s number.
***
The story went back to the previous night.
After testing her powers after school, Gwen had just returned home.
As soon as she walked in, she saw her parents sitting on the sofa, their eyes locked onto her.
“Where were you last night?”
“Yes, Gwen.
We called you so many times but you didn’t answer.
Do you know how worried we were?”
Seeing her parents’ expressions, Gwen stood in place, lowering her head like a child who had done something wrong.
Seeing her react this way, her parents’ demeanor softened.
Her father, George Stacy, let out a long sigh and asked, “Just tell us.
Who is the guy?”
Her mother, Helen, quickly patted George on the arm.
George, however, refused to back down and said righteously, “As her father, I have a right to know, Helen!”
Gwen knew her parents had misunderstood.
She wanted to argue, but the moment Gaia’s face popped into her mind, her cheeks flushed a light pink.
She pressed her knees together, fidgeting with her fingers.
“Dad, Mom, it’s not what you think.
We didn’t do anything.”
Hearing this, George completely lost his composure, his face turning bright red.
“What?!
You wanted to do more?
No!
Kid, do you take your father for a fool?”
George practically roared the words.
Gwen shrank her neck back.
“Dad, you’re being really scary right now.”
George slammed his hand on the table and stood up, his voice cracking.
His face and neck were so red he looked like a boiled lobster.
“What?!”
Helen Stacy quickly stood up to hold George back, trying to soothe him.
“Gwen is going to get married sooner or later.
It’s a good thing she likes someone.
You don’t need to react like this.
Besides, wasn’t that how we started?”
George looked at Helen in protest.
“How can that be the same?
We’ve known each other since elementary school!
Besides, Gwen is three or four years younger than you were back then!
And I know exactly what the young people in New York are like these days.
They’re just a bunch of degenerate, useless trash…”
Before George could finish, Gwen frowned and cut him off.
“That’s not true!
He’s amazing!
He’s not degenerate trash at all!
For someone his age, he’s even stronger than you, Dad!”
George stared blankly at Gwen.
He was stunned for a moment, then laughed out of sheer anger.
“Hahaha, fine, fine!
Stronger than me?
Call him right now and invite him over.
I want to see exactly how he’s stronger than me!”
Gwen froze.
George’s words made her realize that she didn’t actually have Gaia’s contact info.
She awkwardly hid her hands behind her back.
“I…
I don’t have his number yet.”
“What?!!!”
George: (‡▼益▼)!
Ah!