VS Strucker

Crashing through the floor and charging into the hall was a three-meter-tall suit of gray-black heavy armor. Its massive frame was covered in iron-gray plating, every joint roaring like a large engine. Its right hand was fitted with blood-red iron claws, fingers as sharp as blades, and from the back of the hand to the elbow, it was loaded with various weapon attachments.

Its power source was clearly the energy core in its chest—a circular Arc Reactor embedded within the armor, glowing with a milky white fluorescence.

"Strucker?" Michael identified the armor's wearer through audio recognition. "You really dressed up for the occasion."

Without needing his order, Sherry had already intelligently scanned the reactor on its chest. Structural analysis and energy spectrum data quickly fed back to the screen in front of Michael.

"It's an Arc Reactor, sir," Sherry reported confidently. "The same power source as Mr. Stark's Iron Man suit, but with several different technical characteristics."

"So Stark didn't build this," Michael said. "Let me guess—Ivan Vanko?"

The moment he finished speaking, the wall behind him burst open with a low rumble. A black whip shot out like an iron snake, coiling around his upper body without warning. High-voltage current raced along the whip and climbed onto his armor, crackling and popping against the shell.

The wall collapsed with a roar, and another bulky suit of heavy armor emerged from the dust. Its arms were wrapped in long black whips, charged with blue high-voltage current, writhing like countless restless serpents.

The armor's wearer was undoubtedly Ivan Vanko. The guy had some kind of obsession with whips as weapons—those two high-voltage energy whips were practically his calling card.

After losing to Iron Man last time, Ivan Vanko had refined his tech and upgraded his armor. Now his reactor's energy output had greatly improved, and the whip's power was on a whole different level. In the blink of an eye, the current had carved deep scratches into Michael's armor shell, sparks screeching as they flew.

Ivan swung both arms, lifting Michael off the ground with the whips and hurling him viciously. Michael flew like a black cannonball, snapping a load-bearing pillar in half before crashing into a pile of dust and debris.

Inside his helmet, a "beep-beep" alarm signaled component damage. The display flickered from the high-voltage current's interference.

"Chest armor shell melted through. The enemy's energy whip has astonishing destructive power. I strongly advise against direct contact, sir," Sherry suggested calmly.

"Good advice," Michael said, rising unhurriedly. "I'll take it."

Baron Strucker wore the "Satan's Claw" on his right hand, while his left held the hilt-shaped energy activator. He flipped the switch, and the Arc Reactor output energy. Pale blue plasma energy extended from the activator's tip, condensing into a thin, slender beam sword blade. Its radiating heat refracted light, distorting space.

Ivan Vanko stepped forward and lashed his long whips against the ground. The cracked floor was scarred with deep, charred grooves. The two massive mechs slowly advanced like iron mountains.

"You really know how to surprise people, Dr. Norton," Baron Strucker said darkly. "I'll admit, no one expected you to actually pull this off. And I still can't figure out how you did it—always staying one step ahead of us. For security reasons, every officer only knows the secrets of their own division, yet you seem to know everything about every branch of our entire organization. So you're lucky—I don't plan to kill you until I find out how."

He paused, raised the Plasma Lightsaber, and added in an even darker tone: "But that doesn't mean it'll be a tickle."

Strucker stepped forward, his massive metal soles slamming the floor, cracks spreading like a spiderweb. He raised the blade, and the lightsaber carved a searing arc as it descended. Michael dodged lightly, but Ivan Vanko's energy whip was already sweeping in, blue static clinging to its length as it tore through the air.

Though Wolfgang Von Strucker hadn't fought on the front lines in a long time, he was actually a skilled swordsman. His swordsmanship was eclectic but disciplined, his strikes vicious yet steady. The heavy armor's muscle-fiber power assist let him wield the lightsaber as lightly as a swallow, the intersecting beams dazzling the eye.

Ivan Vanko, while no martial arts master, had a natural talent for whip weapons. Combined with the whips' inherent advantages, his coordinated assault with Strucker posed a real threat.

Instead of retreating, Michael accelerated straight into the tangle of sword light and static. He silently chanted a spell, channeling spatial energy into his body, enhancing his physical abilities and reflexes to the limit. Multiple thrusters on his back fired in different directions in rapid succession, his body twisting and flipping with the aid of reverse thrust, weaving between the two attackers in movements no human could achieve.

With spell enhancement and supercomputer-assisted intelligence, Michael operated every function of the suit as if it were an extension of his own body, pushing mobility to its peak.

After dodging seven or eight strikes in a row, Michael's back thrusters suddenly flared. He launched himself into the air, soaring high above the two iron giants.

Ivan flicked his whip, the black cord shooting toward Michael's chest with a crackling current. Strucker reacted just as fast, his energy blade flashing upward like a spiraling spike.

Michael flipped his left hand, surging magical energy flowing into his palm and forming a Golden Magic Circle. Like a suction cup, it firmly caught Ivan's whip. He swung his right hand back, forming a similar magic circle in that palm, which caught the tip of Strucker's blade.

Michael guided both hands left and right, rotating the magic circles clockwise along the direction of their attacks. Effortlessly, he wrapped the whip around the lightsaber. The two energy weapons clashed. Both Arc Reactors ran at full power, energy pouring through their weapons at maximum output. The opposing forces flooded into each other's armor, visible shockwaves erupting from the collision. Both heavy suits crackled and sparked from the blast, while Michael's back thrusters fired again, his body shooting up several more meters. He spun in midair and landed steadily on the ground.

The violent clash of Arc Reactor energy sent both suits flying apart. Shockwaves swept through the hall, as if they would shatter everything in sight.

Another load-bearing pillar snapped under the energy storm, and a section of the ceiling collapsed under the strain. Scarlet Witch was just shaking her heavy head as she got up, only to see a massive chunk of debris falling toward her unconscious brother.

"Pietro!"

She screamed, but she was powerless to stop it. Tons of steel and concrete plummeted toward Quicksilver's head, about to crush him into a bloody pulp in less than a breath.

But in that split second, the unconscious Quicksilver suddenly shifted sideways in a bizarre, unnatural motion, narrowly dodging the falling debris—as if an invisible thread had yanked him out of the way. He slid all the way to his sister's feet before stopping, groaning twice as if beginning to stir.

Scarlet Witch froze. She turned her head instinctively and saw the black figure—supposedly her enemy—pointing a palm in their direction. In his palm was a complex, disc-shaped magic circle.

Without a doubt, he had saved Quicksilver—even though the twins had just tried to kill him.

The girl looked confused. "You?"

"Don't get the wrong idea." Michael saved the man casually, then shifted his gaze back to his enemies. "Your mutant abilities are both extremely rare. I just didn't want to see such valuable samples die so carelessly. That's all."

Then, as if impatient, he waved a hand. "Alright, if you've got nothing else, get out of here—unless you want another round."

Scarlet Witch stared at his back for a moment, then silently helped her brother up. The twins supported each other as they turned and left the hall down the corridor.

(Thanks to book friend Diao Si Ming Zi Bu Hao for the 5,000 Qidian points tip, book friend Zi Yu Mo for the 1,000 Qidian points tip, and book friend Justice League Shota Captain for the 100 Qidian points tip!)