You Bastard, How Dare You Shine That on Me?

Two jets of light, one large and one small, streaked through the pitch-black night like a big fish chasing a little fish.

"Hey! Mr. Stark, what a coincidence." The moment Merlin spotted the two of them, they also noticed the approaching Wildfire Fighter.

As he spoke, Merlin pulled up on the control stick. The fighter, which had been parallel to the ground, turned vertical, then spun like a nimble firebird, its tail jets blazing as it circled the two of them in a spiral.

"Merlin?" Stark was somewhat surprised upon hearing the familiar voice.

"It's me. I came to test the fighter I just built today. Speaking of which, your reactor is really useful. Maybe someday I'll build myself a suit of armor too."

"Who's the big metal shell behind you? It looks a lot like what you wore in that cave, except much bigger. Fat and ugly too—almost a match for the Hulk I fought with a while back." Merlin took the chance to toss in a jab.

Watching Merlin pilot the fighter around them like a butterfly while making snide remarks, Stark was left rather speechless.

"Alright, Merlin, stop following us upward. If we keep going, we'll freeze."

"But I'll need you to wait below and catch me. My energy's about to run out."

Seeing that he was about to reach the critical point, Stark hurriedly said.

"Okay!" Merlin saw the icing sensors begin to sound an alarm and immediately understood, slowing the fighter down.

High-altitude icing was deadly for machinery.

Seeing that the sudden fighter had not attacked and had merely circled them once before pulling away, Obadiah inside the Iron Monger also breathed a sigh of relief.

Merlin's fighter was equipped with a Chaff Countermeasure System, so Obadiah could not acquire a Radar Lock and fire immediately.

After the other party left, the missile launcher that had popped out from his shoulder was preparing to retract.

But just then, a layer of frost suddenly appeared across the surface of his metal shell, and the missile launcher that had been about to retract became stuck halfway.

"Crack! Crack! ..." Dense freezing sounds rang out one after another like music. In just a few breaths, the Iron Monger's massive body was covered in ice crystals, and the armor's drive system stopped functioning in the low temperatures.

"Wooo..." With its power gone, the Iron Monger's enormous body let out a mournful groan before dropping straight toward the ground like a giant iron barrel.

Iron Man, who had also flown to high altitude, did not freeze over. However, the energy in his chest had run dry. The thrusters beneath his feet and in his ballet-posed palms flickered twice, and he too began falling.

"Whoosh!" The fighter cut through the dark night sky and stopped beneath Stark.

At the instant they were about to collide, Stark immediately used his backup power to fire his thrusters, pausing briefly in midair to cushion his descent before landing steadily on the front of the fighter.

"Okay, you came at exactly the right time. Otherwise, I'd have been Apple City's headline tomorrow." He gave Merlin in the cockpit an OK gesture through the canopy.

"To be honest, I kind of wanted to see that." Merlin smiled, then piloted the fighter after the falling Iron Monger.

"What are you going to do?" Stark clung tightly to the surface of the cockpit and asked in confusion.

"Finish him off. John taught me that."

"...Stop hanging around those Assassins." Stark took a moment to figure out who he meant, then turned around and pressed himself tightly against the nose of the fighter against the force of its dive.

"The man inside is Obadiah. He was also the one secretly selling weapons through Stark Industries." He only said two sentences, but what came next was obvious.

"What a melodramatic plot."

Merlin soon caught up in the diving fighter.

Once the Radar Lock was complete, Merlin unhesitatingly pressed the missile lock button.

"You bastard, how dare you shine that on me!"

Missiles streaked out one after another, their tail flames crossing as they completely engulfed the falling Iron Monger.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

Balls of blazing fire erupted across the dark night sky, and the explosive flashes painted Stark and the fighter crimson.

"Hey, hey, hey... what are you doing?" Stark suddenly cried out. A powerful force shoved him back as the fireballs in the distance abruptly appeared before him.

The fighter suddenly accelerated, carrying him straight into the fireballs.

"Whoosh!" Roaring flames instantly swallowed both the fighter and Stark.

The next moment, Wildfire burst through the blazing fireball like a phoenix reborn from flames, trailing billowing smoke as it vanished into the night sky.

"Oh, my God! You're insane!"

The moment they landed, Stark flipped open his faceplate and glared indignantly at Merlin.

"You pushed me into a bonfire!"

"I flew into it too, didn't I? Didn't you feel that rush of adrenaline the instant we passed through the flames?" Merlin said nonchalantly as he opened the canopy.

"No, I only felt like I'd taken a stroll through burning Hell."

"Clang, clang..." Flaming fragments suddenly fell around them, ringing out sharply.

"Mm... saves on cremation." Merlin shrugged. Seeing Happy and Pepper hurrying over, he closed the canopy again.

"I'm leaving first. I haven't finished testing my fighter today."

Without waiting for a response, he shot into the night sky like a rocket.

"Oh, my God, Tony, thank goodness you're alright." Pepper glanced toward where the fighter had disappeared, then hurried worriedly to Stark's side.

"I'm fine. Though I could use a hamburger."

"Boss, leave it to me." Happy immediately got the hint and left the scene.

That left only the two of them kissing passionately amid the ruined street.

After completing another thrilling extreme test in a tunnel, Merlin returned to Merlin Aviation.

Back home, Merlin took out the Notebook again.

After checking the time, he pondered for a moment before saying, "Little Mute, send the AllSpark's location to Optimus Prime and the others."

"...And Starscream. Send him Megatron's frozen location while you're at it."

"Editing message..."

"Message sent."

"How is Professor Connors's progress?"

"The Canary Device has finished deployment. The operation is expected to begin tomorrow night." Little Mute displayed the data on the screen.

"Just waiting for tomorrow, then... I should take a day off." Merlin deftly sent an email to his schoolteacher.

After that, he began checking the latest news.

"Guys, come take a look. This is the Tyrant MK2. Let's test it out."

"Recruiting for the Bevel Magic Treasure convoy..."

"Oh God, I finally managed to get Superburn! Let me put on a show for you all... boom!"

Merlin: "..."