Restart, Spider-Man! [27]
Xia Luo: "..."
"Uh, yeah, everyone says I'm a good kid," Xia Luo replied with an innocent smile.
Just as he finished speaking, Tony, still strapped to the iron frame, let out a groan and suddenly sat up, gasping for air.
"Huff... puff..."
He took a deep breath and looked around at everyone in the room, his face full of confusion.
"I... I just had a nightmare," he muttered, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
Yinsen gently patted Tony's shoulder. "That wasn't a dream. You were this close to dying."
"What?"
Tony recalled the torment he had just endured, shivering involuntarily at the memory. He forced himself to calm down quickly.
"Who are you?" he asked, looking at Xia Luo and the others with a puzzled expression.
"They saved you, Tony."
Yinsen briefly explained the story about the symbiote. Tony looked down at his own body.
"Amazing symbiote... but why don't I feel anything inside me? Shouldn't I be able to tell it's there?" Tony was perplexed.
Xia Luo explained, "Due to differences in hosts, the effects of the symbiote vary. You might not feel it right now, but it's there inside you. Maybe it's just shy."
"Shy?" Steve's face was incredulous. "A symbiote can be shy?"
Xia Luo laughed. "Of course! In some ways, each symbiote is its own individual with different personalities."
Natasha eyed Tony carefully. "So, what do you think Tony's dark side will be, now that he's been bonded with the symbiote?"
"Well, I know he's an arms dealer," Steve guessed boldly. "Maybe he'll want to sell weapons across the galaxy?"
"That's possible," Xia Luo said, stroking his chin.
Tony noticed the strange looks they were giving him and felt a bit uncomfortable.
"I've already sworn off being an arms dealer," Tony said, glancing at Yinsen with gratitude. "My friend, you made me realize that my life shouldn't be like that."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "So, you're planning to become a superhero?"
"No."
Tony spread his arms wide and closed his eyes, as if envisioning his future.
"I'm going to turn my story into a series of movies. Whether they make money or not doesn't matter. What matters is sharing this legendary tale with everyone. This movie will change the public's perception of me! After that, I'll run for office, and I'll flatten this godforsaken place in the name of justice! That's my mission—it's brilliant!"
Hearing this, Yinsen glanced at the half-finished Mark I suit in the corner and began to worry about his own future.
Xia Luo turned to Steve. "There you go—that's his dark side."
Steve sighed, rubbing his forehead. "This isn't the Tony Stark I imagined."
"But it's not exactly evil either," Natasha shrugged.
"Who knows what he'll do next?"
Just then, a faint crackling sound spread through the cave as small stones fell from the ceiling, and the ground began to shake.
"Crack, crack..."
Rocks started sliding down, and the cave began to tremble.
"We need to get out of here fast—this place is going to collapse!" Steve said in alarm.
Xia Luo chuckled. "What's there to worry about? In my current state, even if the sky were falling—"
Before he could finish, Natasha pressed the switch on her sonic device.
"Buzz~~~"
"Okay, okay! I'm leaving, I'm leaving!" Xia Luo said, rubbing his temples.
He grabbed the somewhat dazed Tony, and the group quickly dashed out of the cave.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Just as they made it outside, the cave collapsed behind them, sending dust and debris into the air.
By this time, the sky was beginning to lighten.
The valley was in ruins, and the remaining members of the Ten Rings hid in the shadows, watching helplessly as Xia Luo and the others stole the last functional desert jeep.
"Vroom~~~"
The jeep sped through the desert, with Steve at the wheel. He glanced at the time.
"We haven't gotten a notification yet, which means the mission isn't over. It looks like we need to get Stark to a safe place to complete it."
Natasha frowned. "I remember Steve said it would take ten hours to get to the nearest city, but there are only eight hours left until the mission ends."
Steve adjusted his sunglasses. "That was just something I said to trick the lizard."
Natasha: "..."
In the back seat, Tony asked curiously, "So, your mission is to save me? Who sent you?"
Yinsen replied, "Saving you is bound to bring in a nice sum of money. You just need to be ready to pay up."
Tony thought for a moment. "Fair enough."
He patted Xia Luo on the shoulder. "You're pretty strong—interested in working for me?"
"Sorry, I'm not interested in working for you."
"Then what are you interested in?"
"That." Xia Luo pointed at the giant rock formation ahead. Steve quickly slammed on the brakes.
"It's Venom Parker!" Steve's face darkened as he stared at the black figure in the distance.
Natasha frowned. "He figured out we'd pass through here."
Xia Luo opened the car door and stepped out, stretching his limbs.
"He's Peter Parker, a genius teenager with a high IQ. Just because his dark side has been amplified doesn't mean he's turned into an idiot."
Steve also stepped out of the car. "If he's really that smart, I'm surprised we even managed to take out his allies."
Tony smiled from the back seat. "Old soldier, you don't understand the mind of a genius like us. We don't need teammates."
Steve rubbed his forehead, exasperated. "Alright, genius Stark, can you shut up? That guy is dangerous."
"No, he's not dangerous anymore," Xia Luo said, as the black-and-gold nanometal suit began to cover his body.
"I'll handle this. You guys get Stark out of here."
"What?"
Before Steve and Natasha could react, Xia Luo had already turned into a blur, launching himself toward Venom Parker.
"Too impulsive, far too impulsive," Steve sighed.
Natasha nodded in agreement. "But he's a good kid."
"What kind of 'good kid' can smash a rock that big with his head?" Tony muttered under his breath.
Dust rose in Xia Luo's wake as he shot toward Venom Parker, like a high-speed train slamming into his body and smashing him into the rocky formation.
"Boom!"
The rock shattered, sending shards flying everywhere. The black liquid that made up Venom's body formed into a massive ten-meter-long blade, which sliced through the debris.
"Whoosh, whoosh..."
The blade cut through the air, stirring up the desert sands in a terrifying display of power. But with a single punch, Xia Luo's hundred-ton force shattered the blade instantly.
"Boom~~"
The two black figures in the desert exchanged webs, rapidly transforming the area into a battleground covered in black webbing.
As the two forces clashed, the ever-growing winds stirred up a sandstorm, burying the surrounding area in a whirlwind of dust.
"Vroom!"
Moments later, the jeep sped out of the sandstorm.
Steve glanced in the rearview mirror, watching the scene with awe.
"Do all Spider-Men become this powerful when they go dark?"
"Old man, that's just a normal sandstorm in the desert. It doesn't have much to do with them," Tony chimed in.
Steve: "..."
"Uh, I guess I was overthinking it."
Eight hours later, the group safely arrived in the nearest city.
[Congratulations to the "Old, Weak, Sick, and Disabled" team for winning this Resurrection Match. Reward: x3 Resurrection Tokens.]
[Bonus reward for rescuing Yinsen: Extra reward...]
---
If there are any mistakes let me know!
Read up to 30+ Chapters! [P@treon.com/WiseTL]