After spending a moment wondering what had just happened, Iron Monger resumed moving forward.
The mysterious vines had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
They weren’t enough to stop him.
High above, Rowan sighed.
His flying form simply wasn’t built for combat.
There was no way he could physically stop Iron Monger.
“Well…” “I guess it’s time for the national treasure to step up.” He rubbed his chin.
“Hopefully this bald idiot likes pandas.” A moment later, the giant Roc appeared directly in Iron Monger’s path.
Golden light flashed.
The enormous bird transformed into an adorable giant panda.
“Charge!” The panda launched forward at a completely absurd speed.
A powerful magical effect slammed into Obadiah’s mind.
For a brief moment, he froze.
Stunned.
Rowan immediately stood upright.
Then delivered a mighty panda slap straight to Iron Monger’s face.
SMACK!
…
Nothing happened.
Iron Monger didn’t move an inch.
Somewhere overhead, a crow flew by.
Rowan suddenly felt extremely awkward.
A few seconds later, Obadiah recovered.
Iron Monger’s giant arm swung around.
BOOM!
A steel fist smashed directly into Rowan’s face.
Fortunately, the bear form’s incredible defenses combined with the Wild Mark shield made the punch feel little more than a gentle tap.
And so…
A bizarre battle began.
Panda.
Versus giant mech.
One punch.
Another punch.
More punches.
The sounds echoed through the streets.
Nearby civilians were completely dumbfounded.
“Wait…” “Is that a panda?” “It looks like a panda.” “But aren’t pandas supposed to be cute?” “Whose panda is this?!” “Why is it fighting a giant robot?!” Meanwhile, Rowan was growing increasingly frustrated.
His paws were starting to hurt.
The system’s optimized bear form was practically indestructible.
Unfortunately…
It had almost no offensive abilities.
No matter how hard he slapped Iron Monger, his claws couldn’t penetrate the armor.
Iron Monger couldn’t really hurt him either.
But this was exhausting.
Tony, hurry up already…
Obadiah was equally annoyed.
First a giant bird stole Pepper.
Now a giant panda was refusing to leave him alone.
What was wrong with today?
Enough was enough.
He decided to ignore the panda entirely.
The thrusters activated.
Flames erupted beneath Iron Monger.
He prepared to simply fly away.
The moment Rowan saw him taking off, he immediately roared.
“Challenge Roar!” Instantly, a wave of fury exploded inside Obadiah’s mind.
His blood pressure skyrocketed.
A single thought filled his head.
Destroy that panda.
NOW.
He spun around.
Missiles launched.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
A barrage exploded directly in Rowan’s face.
Before Rowan could recover— Iron Monger was already upon him.
A giant steel hand grabbed one of his legs.
Then…
SMACK!
SMACK!
SMACK!
Rowan was repeatedly slammed into the ground like a giant furry hammer.
A few moments later, the panda lay spread-eagle on the pavement.
His eyes had gone completely lifeless.
At that moment, Rowan began contemplating the meaning of existence.
“Damn it.” “More overtime.” “This time I’m even covering Loki’s shift.” He stared blankly into the sky.
“Stupid system.” “If it wasn’t for you…” “How did my life become this?” Clearly.
Everything was the system’s fault.
Looking down at the flattened panda, Iron Monger raised one enormous foot.
He intended to crush Rowan’s head.
Then— WHOOSH!
A red-and-gold blur slammed into him.
Iron Monger was sent flying backward.
Rowan’s eyes lit up.
“Tony!” “You finally got here!” He nearly cried tears of joy.
Tony landed beside him.
“You okay?” His expression was full of concern.
“I’m fine.” Rowan lazily waved a paw.
“You go handle the robot.” “I’m busy reevaluating my life choices.” Tony nodded.
Then charged forward with fury in his eyes.
Unfortunately…
Reality was cruel.
Very cruel.
Iron Monger was powered by Tony’s newest arc reactor.
Its energy reserves were enormous.
The armor itself was huge.
Thick.
Heavily armored.
Essentially a walking tank.
Meanwhile, Tony was running on the old reactor he had built inside a cave using scraps.
Its output was barely enough to keep the Mark III operational.
The armor was lighter.
Faster.
Built more like an assassin than a tank.
A lightly-equipped assassin.
Running on low battery.
Trying to fight a heavily armored juggernaut head-on.
The outcome was exactly what anyone would expect.
Tony got absolutely demolished.
Fortunately, things weren’t quite as bad as before.
Thanks to Rowan’s magic, Tony’s physical condition had improved significantly over time.
And now Rowan had refreshed both Rejuvenation and Wild Mark.
As a result, despite getting punched around like a ragdoll…
Tony remained completely uninjured.
Aside from severe damage to his pride.
Eventually, Tony broke away and shot into the sky.
He knew Iron Monger’s biggest weakness.
One he had personally discovered.
High-altitude freezing.
There was no way Obadiah could have fixed it so quickly.
Sure enough.
As Iron Monger climbed higher, frost began spreading across the armor.
Systems failed.
Controls froze.
Then the giant machine plummeted from the sky.
CRASH!
It slammed directly into the street in front of Stark Tower.
The impact left a massive crater.
Moments later, Tony descended somewhat less gracefully.
Rowan hurried over.
“Tony, you okay?” “I’m fine.” Tony shook his head.
“But the suit’s almost out of power.” He looked toward the crater.
“What about Obadiah?” “Did we get him?” “He fell into the sewer.” Rowan scratched his head.
“I don’t think that was enough.” Tony sighed.
“Great.” “Because I’m basically out of energy.” Rowan’s eyes suddenly lit up.
He leaned over and whispered something into Tony’s ear.
Tony blinked.
“Will that work?” Rowan shrugged.
“Maybe.” “If it fails, who cares?” “He can’t kill either of us anyway.” “Worst case, Rhodey shows up and cleans up the mess.” Tony thought for a moment.
Then nodded.
“Alright.” “Let’s do it.” A few minutes later.
Iron Monger emerged from underground.
Covered in dust.
Covered in dirt.
But otherwise unharmed.
The armor’s shock absorption systems had protected Obadiah almost completely.
His anger, however, had only grown stronger.
He felt humiliated.
Toyed with.
Mocked.
He wanted this over.
Now.
Then a familiar voice sounded behind him.
“Yo.” “Looking for someone, Baldy?” Obadiah turned.
His eyes narrowed.
“You?” “Where’s Tony?” “What happened?” “Too scared to face me himself?” “So he sent a brat to die instead?” Rowan simply smiled.
“You don’t need to worry about Tony.” “I’m just here to tell you something.” Obadiah frowned.
“What?” Rowan’s grin widened.
Then, very slowly, he mouthed every word.
“F—K.” “YOU.” “BITCH.” The words were crystal clear.
Obadiah saw every syllable.
The next second— POOF!
Rowan transformed into a panda.
And unleashed another Challenge Roar.
Whether it was the skill effect…
Or the insult…
Nobody knew.
But Obadiah’s eyes immediately turned bloodshot.
At that moment, he wanted only one thing.
Turn this panda into a rug.
Rowan calmly cast Entangling Roots.
Thick vines wrapped around Iron Monger’s legs.
CRASH!
The giant armor face-planted once again.
Before Obadiah could stand— Tony burst from hiding.
Landing on Iron Monger’s back.
He reached down and ripped away the exposed cables connecting to the neck assembly.
SNAP!
Instant darkness.
Obadiah’s visual systems failed instantly.
Growling, he opened the cockpit instead.
His face twisted with rage.
“TONY STARK!” His roar echoed through the streets.
“I gave forty years of my life to this company!” “I built it from nothing!” “I made it what it is today!” “And now you’re standing in my way!” “I won’t allow anyone to stop me!” Iron Monger swung a massive fist.
BOOM!
Tony was smashed straight through the wall of Stark Tower.
Obadiah immediately followed.
Inside the building, Iron Monger advanced slowly.
Relentlessly.
“Funny, Tony.” “You shut down weapons development.” “But then you went and built the greatest weapon of all.” Tony didn’t respond.
He simply charged.
A terrible decision.
Iron Monger grabbed him instantly.
Then both giant hands began squeezing.
Hard.
The Mark III armor groaned.
Metal bent.
Steel screamed.
Inside the helmet, Tony heard only one thing.
JARVIS alarms.
Constant.
Endless.
Warning after warning.
The armor was reaching its limits.
Tony’s heart sank.
One thought flashed through his mind.
This is bad.
Really bad.
I think we’re screwed.