Model 1

The first name that popped up in Kai's mind as he saw this new enemy was Iron Man.

Item-M had told him about the basic facts from the Marvel timelines, just enough to go on in case of random encounters. She knew little about the vast timeline herself, and even the strongest organizations had yet to explore the mysteries lingering in its corners thoroughly.

And knowing this was the exact reason that had puzzled him.

Where was the usual red and yellow? Why was this suit, if it was a suit, looked more beast than a human? Why was it so big?

Kai felt as if Andrik had come to him, wearing the bulkiest armor he could find in the entirety of Westeros. The metallic suit was gray, and it spoke of nothing but power. Raw power.

"Blessing?!" a voice boomed out of the iron suit.

Kai narrowed his eyes. Before he could take action, the iron man lifted his hand, pointing at Kai. A dangerous feeling bubbled inside him, and in the next moment, a jet of scorching flame shot out, trying to burn him to ashes.

Kai danced away, slithering low over the deck, and the remaining needles still revolving around him. The iron man's hand didn't follow, and it seemed extremely slow to Kai, too. But what he saw next made him give up distancing himself from it. The flames weren't meant for him, Kai concluded, raging. The heat had meant for the freezing red-haired man, who was now standing up, panting.

A figure landed behind the two 4th-floor Contestants, Kai noticed. It was paper Item-M. From the starboard, another blue figure climbed up, thrashing its tail. It was another Golduck-Kai. From the port, a black-haired, and dark, black-eyed man leaped onto the deck, brandishing a sword. It was Kai with Brock's appearance.

It was just a start.

Another blue-tailed figure followed the black-haired man, and then one more, until there were four Golduck-Kai on deck now, all looking equally menacing and cold. The three paper Goldduck-Kai rushed towards Kai, and the moment they entered within the 10-meter radius around Kai, he sent the needles flying towards them, which started to revolve around their head, just like the one revolving around him.

This was the strategy Kai had planned to use in case of unexpected scenarios.

"It's the Model 1 Mark 1 armor from Iron Man," Item-M's origami figuring shouted, "also called the Original Gray Armor. It has quite a few odd offensive and defensive properties. But it is slow."

The person inside the iron man suit guffawed. "Slow?" the man said, turning around to face Kai, as the red-haired man threw a red and blue capsule in his mouth. "If you know about Original Gray Armor, then you must have heard these words as well. The Mark I Armor isn't about pretty. It's about power. It's about iron and the man wielding it. You think a few clones will help you guys. Here? In the middle of nowhere?"

"Don't worry about him, Charles," the red-haired man spat, raising the greatsword, and eying the original Item-M firing arrows at Gyarados. "Our plan has worked. The idiot must have already used too much MP while finishing all the weaklings. Do you see those needles? He has been using Telekinesis since the moment he showed himself. Heh! Blessing he may have, but brains? I doubt it. He can also use some kind of freezing Skill. Keep an eye out for it. We don't want to repeat the scenes from the movie here, do we?"

"Haha!" the iron man laughed derisively. "Let him try, Yannis. I will give him a pleasant surprise. But first… let me do something about his Telekinesis."

Kai had been letting the fools rant, trying to get some meaningful information out of them. But as he heard the last sentence, his Perception roared again, screaming in his ears.

Run!

Kai backed up, as one of the three paper-Golduck-Kais rushed for the iron man, and he sent a needle flying at Yannis.

The needle didn't reach even half the distance.

A massive ethereal shockwave hit Kai, jolting his mind. He grunted, his knees buckling, and his hands went for his head, which was pounding in pain. He wasn't the only one who had been affected. All the paper figurines around him, including Item-M, stumbled, falling on the deck like lifeless figures. The needles dropped too and fell below the deck from the gap between the planks.

'An Electromagnetic Interference?!' Kai thought, returning to his footing, though shaking all the while. He had guessed about the weakness of the Telekinesis, and indeed, an EM-interference was one among them. Never had he thought he would encounter one this soon, though.

Yannis, taking advantage of this brief opening, shouted out his lungs. "Gyarados! Use Hurricane!"

An enormous roar shook the air over the narrow sea, and in the next moment, an even larger hurricane surrounded the battleground where Item-M, Selene, and the Pokemon were having at each other.

The iron man lunged at Kai, a jet of air bursting out from the sole of his metallic feet, and followed it with a punch. All directions seemed to abandon Kai as he saw the iron log coming at him. But his instincts took over his shocked body, and he slipped away. The punch landed on deck, and the wood exploded at the impact. Kai didn't get to marvel at the sheer destruction, though. Yannis had backed Charles, and now he was hacking at Kai from behind, in a long, powerful arc, using his greatsword.

Kai grinned.

He turned around and saw the shock written on Yannis' face. Why wasn't he dodging? Yannis must have thought. Does he want to die?

Exchange wounds, snatch lives. Such words had been part of Kai's life, his flesh and bones for ages by now.

The greatsword fell, and with a squelch, it hacked its way into Kai's right shoulder, then his right lung, and only stopped at his ribs. Dense, dark blood gurgled out like foaming rivers, painting Yannis' face red. It was then his eyes matched Kai's dark eyes.

Kai's breath rattled, taking the deepest breath, grasping for something more than air, and all happiness and hope abandoned this 4th-floor Contestant, getting replaced by red despair he would never forget. His knees buckled, his hands lost their grip on the greatsword's hilt, and his vision blurred.

Kai threw one of the three remaining HP capsules in his mouth before the darkness flooding his eyes could claim his soul for good. A rush of pure HP points bombarded his body, and all the injuries healed instantaneously. He grabbed the greatsword's hilt and pulled it out, the bones and flesh mending themselves as the steel left his body.

"What are you?!" the mechanic voice boomed behind in shock. "What did you do to Yannis?"

Roar!

Another deafening cry arrived from a distance at this moment. The Pokemon must have sensed something amiss, Kai knew. For now, the Deity of Destruction was thrashing itself against the sea in pure madness, and then it fired a brilliant pillar of golden light at Item-M.

'Hyper Beam!' Kai recalled the move. But the moment it seemed Gyarados would fire the Hyper Beam again, and now at Actaea, all movement stopped. All violence left it, and even the hurricane died, its power melting back into the sea. Kai saw the faintest hint of a white serpent perched up on Gyarados' head, before the iron man lunged at him again, making him bring his attention back to his own battle.

He didn't use the Telekinesis again, fearing for his senses, and giving the enemy a well-needed opening. But Kai's arsenal wasn't limited to one Ability. Moreover, the gray armor was keeping him from using Emotions Manipulation and any SP-based attack on the man inside, he observed.

Holding the greatsword, Kai ran in circles around the iron man, hacking at the joints of his armor. It was all in vain. Suddenly, the iron man spun and raised his hands. Kai thought he was going to use the flamethrower or a similar Skill again, so he distanced himself.

The attack came from behind.

A large iron hook had lifted on its own, as if pulled by magnetism, and smashed itself on Kai's back. Before he could even notice the damage notification, Charles had covered the distance between them in a powerful leap. Punches and kicks would have needed a big movement, so the iron man wrapped his arms around Kai.

And then a massive electric discharge coursed through Kai, electrocuting him. His teeth clenched hard, Kai found himself shaking as he regained some sense of his surroundings. Air was blasting against his ears, and all sounds felt distant. Only a mechanical laugh resounded inside his head, telling a tale of victory.

"You will pop like a balloon upon the impact," Charles said, his grin tightening around Kai. "Now that would be a sight to see, wouldn't it? Never imagined I would kill a Contestant with Blessing."

They were rising, Kai noticed, squinting his eyes. He felt the iron grip around him, crushing his bones. All struggle to break free would be futile, he knew. He used Cold Reversal, and instantly, a blue frost appeared on the iron, like tiny blue-white spiders crawling their way in and around it. But in the next instant, a blast of heat melted the frost, searing Kai's skin along with it.

"Told you, didn't I?" Charles said, still rising higher and higher, and now crossing the thinnest layer of clouds. "The miniature furnace cost me quite a sum to use it. But a pleasant surprise for those who want to reenact the movie's plot against me. Haha! And now… Die, you filthy Chaos' abomination!"

Charles let go of Kai, and then got the shock of his life. The last shock of his life.

Kai was smiling at him, sneering as he looked into Charles' eyes through the iron helmet's slits. "Say, Charles, my friend," he said, his laugh becoming evil and vile, "is this flying, using the suit's Jet Boots, a Skill?"

[

Skill Disable Activated

Time Limit: 30 Seconds

]

One mean look and the iron man lost the function of his Jet Boots. Kai saw the terror in those eyes as they both fell, a sheet of blue waiting for them. Another horror replaced the terror in Charles' eyes as Kai's figure transformed, a dark, foul being appearing in his place.

Dementor-Kai flew, following the iron man, and laughing eerily.

The Jet Boots Skill didn't even seem to be D-, for even after 15 seconds, they didn't activate again.

The iron man kissed the narrow sea in a picturesque vista drawn in raw white, gray, and blue strokes.

And a stupendous boom ended the tale of Charles, the user of Iron Man Model 1.

*********

AN: 4 images related to the chapter are now available on Discord.