CH: 289 The Stronger Iron Man
{Chapter: 289 The Stronger Iron Man}
Iron Man soared high above William, his voice echoing with pride and vengeance. "See this? This is my power now. Today, I'll repay the humiliation you once gave me—tenfold."
William brushed dust from his shoulder and slowly rose to his feet, calm and composed. "Not bad. Iron Sheet finally has some bite. I'd say your strength is nearly approaching Thor's base level. That's impressive for a man in a tin can. As your elder, I'm genuinely proud. It seems even humiliation can be a good teacher."
"You arrogant bastard!" Iron Man roared, fury igniting in his core. Twin beams of searing repulsor energy burst from his palms and surged toward William with blinding intensity.
But in the blink of an eye, William vanished.
His voice echoed from behind Iron Man, smooth and mocking. "If I'm not your elder, what am I then? Your father? You ungrateful little rascal."
Before Iron Man could react, William's foot slammed into his back like a thunderbolt, sending him plummeting toward the deck below.
Boom!
Iron Man crashed into the deck like a meteor, punching through layers of reinforced steel as if it were paper. The impact sent shockwaves across the entire platform.
Descending calmly, William landed next to the crater, seized one of Iron Man's legs, and hoisted him effortlessly into the air. With a grunt, he began slamming him repeatedly into the deck like a ragdoll.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each thunderous impact echoed across the aircraft carrier, shaking it to its core.
"Nice—!" William roared like a wild beast, his muscles flexing with every slam.
"Enough!" Iron Man growled, releasing a massive blast of energy from the thrusters under his boots. The jet fire detonated in a sudden burst, launching William backward through the air.
Wasting no time, Iron Man spun through the air with renewed speed, a metallic blur streaking across the sky. He tackled William mid-flight and soared upward, breaking through the clouds with explosive force. Holding William tightly, he drove a fist into his chest like a piston.
"I want you gone, William!" Iron Man howled, fury boiling in every word.
His shoulder compartments opened, and a swarm of tiny missiles—each no larger than a fingertip—launched into the air like mechanical bees. They swirled around them and zeroed in on William.
William was blown backward, but quickly stabilized in mid-air. He floated silently, his shirt fluttering in the wind. His eyes glinted as he watched the swarm closing in.
With a quick step, he vanished again, dodging the entire wave of micro-missiles.
Tony's voice roared through his speakers. "You think that's it? You think I came unprepared? I've studied your tricks—your teleportation, your psychic force fields, your fire manipulation. For months, I've been dissecting every power you've shown. And now... it's time to counter them all."
William was about to speak when suddenly, the missiles all turned mid-flight and began pursuing him again like homing predators.
"Tch. Persistent little things," William muttered.
He stopped moving, hovering calmly in the sky.
The missiles halted exactly one meter from him, suspended as though held by an invisible wall.
With a casual flick of his hand, William whispered, "This really all you've got?"
Tony grinned behind the helmet. "Wrong again."
"Explode."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The missiles detonated in unison, engulfing the sky in a massive chain of explosions. A sphere of searing orange and crimson flame consumed the air, roaring outward with devastating force.
The night sky was lit up like daylight.
Below, the aircraft carrier trembled violently, groaning under the strain of the shockwave. People inside screamed, chaos erupting anew as control panels sparked and alarms blared.
The heat washed over everything like a solar flare. It was like a sun had erupted just above them.
Iron Man hovered above it all, breathing heavily, gazing into the firestorm below.
"Hah… Haha… HAHAHA!" he laughed, exhausted but elated. "The combined power of these tiny missiles can destroy a town. William, no matter how powerful you are. Even a monster like you can't survive that unscathed."
The flames still roared.
But deep inside the inferno, a silhouette began to move.
One step. Then another.
William's body emerged from the flames, smoldering but alive—unbroken. His expression was unchanged: calm, deadly, and impossibly confident.
His voice sliced through the aftermath of the explosion like a blade of ice.
"You're right... That kind of blast would have killed most people. But sadly for you, I'm not most people. I admit, my psychic field was nearly blown apart. Impressive."
As the scorching flames slowly faded and the smoke dispersed, William's figure gradually came into view.
Iron Man hovered in the air, his repulsors humming like a war drum. His laughter echoed with cruel satisfaction.
"You survived... But this is only the beginning, William. I won't grant you the mercy of a swift death. No. I'm going to drag you through hell first."
William's clothing had been reduced to scorched rags, hanging off him like remnants of a failed experiment. Blood seeped from cuts across his exposed skin, trickling down his arms and chest. Yet his face carried no fear—only a smile.
"Hatred is a powerful teacher," William said calmly. "It's driven you to grow stronger, faster than I anticipated. I must be a good elder after all. It seems I've trained you well through your resentment."
"Shut your damn mouth!" Iron Man roared, his fury erupting like a volcano.
But before Iron Man could launch another attack, William's wounds vanished in the blink of an eye. Skin once torn was now flawless, unmarred by even a scratch. His eyes gleamed with renewed power.
"Your tech is impressive," William admitted. "You've studied me well. Cracked a few tricks. But the question is—can you survive the next ones?"
"Try me." Iron Man's voice was hard as steel.
William's gaze sharpened. In an instant, the air around Iron Man thickened with invisible pressure as William's eyes changed. It shimmered faintly, warping the space around his target like heat over asphalt.
"Do you think I'd fall for the same trap again?" Iron Man's boots flared with white-hot propulsion. He vanished in a blur, evading the grip of the telekinetic field with sheer velocity.
William blinked. "You escaped the grasp of my psychic field? Impressive. Most can't even move inside it."
Iron Man's voice boomed from the sky.
"You think I wouldn't figure it out? Every time you activate your telekinesis, your pupils contract and emit a specific electric pulse. I had my sensors analyze that signal. Once I detect it, I just have to outrun the field's reach. Either flee its range or strike before it tightens."
William clapped slowly, genuinely amused.
"Brilliant deduction. Truly. You've earned more than just an upgrade in armor—you've evolved your mind too."
"And that's why you'll lose." Iron Man's thrusters surged as he darted toward William again.
With a flick of his wrist, William summoned a massive fireball, blazing with solar heat. He hurled it forward with a thunderous roar.
"Try enduring this!"
"It's still useless!" Iron Man yelled, bracing for impact.
BOOM!
The fireball collided with Iron Man mid-air. A swirling inferno enveloped him, scorching the very air as the sheer intensity of the blast lit up the sky. Flames danced violently across his armor.
But a second later, Iron Man emerged, body steaming, suit charred but intact. With a mechanical hiss, the armor expelled the flames, shaking them off like dust from metal.
"Your flames can reach one hundred thousand degrees. That used to be enough to liquefy any steel. But my new suit? It can handle one hundred and fifty thousand degrees without a dent. Your fire needs to evolve, William—because right now, it's just not enough."
William's eyes narrowed, unshaken.
"Technology and intelligence. Admirable. But power isn't measured by tools alone."
"Then prove it, old man!"
Iron Man surged forward again, his body a blur of speed and energy. But before he could close the gap—CRASH!—he smashed into a wall of solid ice that William had conjured in a heartbeat. The impact sent frozen shards scattering across the sky.
Iron Man didn't even flinch. His momentum carried him through the obstacle, and he rocketed straight toward his target.
"WILLIAM!"
He threw a punch, his gauntlet glowing as two thrusts came out of it giving him more raw kinetic energy.
"Haaaah!" William countered with a punch of his own, his fist crackling with lightning that burned brighter than the moon.
BOOOOOOM!
The moment their fists collided, the skies trembled. The shockwave rippled across the sky, warping clouds and rattling the damaged aircraft carrier far below. Thunder and energy exploded outward in a brilliant flash, distorting the very space around them.
Both men were hurled backward, spinning through the air like comets. Metal shrieked and wind howled as they crashed into opposite ends of the sky, like titans clashing in an endless war.
Smoke, lightning, and fire marked the battlefield—but neither had fallen.
The real fight had just begun.
*****
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