Ivan: Put on your armor and fight me fairly

The time rewound to October 25, 2010.

Moscow, Russia, in a shabby room.

Tony's Press Conference was being broadcast live on the television.

In front of the TV, a frail old man lay in bed.

His son—Ivan Vanko—was crouched before him.

"You should have been the one on television, living a life of luxury and extravagance, adored by countless people. But I'm sorry. All I can give you is my knowledge. I'm sorry, my son."

With that, Anton Vanko passed away.

The man placed the flowers in his hand before a gravestone.

He muttered, "I promise, I'll make them pay."

Then he turned and left.

During this time, Tony had truly been riding high.

He had learned magic, removed the missile fragments from his chest, and solved the problem of Palladium Poisoning; at the hearing, he had fiercely rebuked the senators and Justin Hammer; through Dual Cultivation of Physics and Magic, he had perfectly combined his armor with magic.

Wearing the Mark 4, Tony opened a portal in front of himself with a thought.

That was right—Tony had also learned Mind-Controlled Portal Opening.

This way, even while wearing his armor, he could use Portal Spells to assist him in battle.

It definitely wasn't because of Russell.

The armored suit flew toward the portal.

On the other side was one of Tony's seaside villas in California.

A party was underway in the villa.

A celebration? Well, Tony didn't need a reason to throw a party.

As long as he was happy.

Tony removed his armor and entered with small, bouncing dance steps.

"Hey, Russell."

"Hey, Gwen."

Russell and Gwen had also attended this party.

Ever since he had been able to travel between the two universes through portals, Russell had returned to Earth-404.

Every so often, he would go pick up Gwen and bring her to Earth-404 to visit George's family.

"Gwen, want to dance?"

Seeing Tony bouncing around, Russell was tempted as well and extended his hand to Gwen.

"I still prefer the drums."

Gwen pointed at the instruments nearby.

"But since it's you, Russell, I accept."

Gwen took Russell's hand and accepted his invitation.

The two danced gracefully toward the center of the dance floor, drawing everyone's attention.

Gwen moved like a professional ballerina, elegant and lively.

Hm? Someone was here to cause trouble.

Sensing someone had infiltrated the villa, Russell remained calm and continued dancing.

When he focused his senses, the intruder's figure and features became perfectly clear.

Ivan Vanko?

The Vanko and Stark family feud?

I hope you don't interrupt my dance. Otherwise, this will become a personal grudge between us.

Russell had no intention of interfering in Tony and Ivan's fight.

Although Russell was ruthless and rarely left anyone alive, he was a reasonable man—a civilized man.

This was between Ivan Vanko and Tony Stark.

It had nothing to do with Russell.

Russell had no standing to stop Ivan Vanko from taking revenge.

More importantly, Ivan Vanko was no match for Tony.

When the dance ended, Russell took Gwen to a corner.

Facing Gwen's puzzled gaze, Russell explained, "There'll be a good show soon. We just need to watch from here."

A good show?

Gwen's ears twitched. She seemed to hear something and asked, "Shouldn't we warn Tony?"

"No." Russell shook his head. "It's a personal grudge. We won't get involved."

Boom! Boom! Crash!

Amid several deafening blasts, a wall collapsed.

Ivan strode into the party hall with a cocky swagger, his chest bare.

Bang!

A whip lashed out, blasting the floor with a roar.

Ivan revealed a vicious grin as he looked at Tony in the crowd.

"Oh-ho."

Tony strutted forward with exaggerated steps.

"Sir, what business do you have crashing my party?"

The moment he saw Tony, Ivan said nothing and lashed a whip at him.

Tony dodged somewhat awkwardly, then mocked him.

"How rude. Attacking without saying a word."

Ivan advanced toward Tony while swinging his whips.

Watching Ivan approach, Tony remained unconcerned, not sensing any danger.

He had already thought of a solution.

"Tony, watch out!"

Pepper finally reacted and hurriedly warned Tony.

Then she and Happy went to look for weapons in hopes of helping him.

"You've ruined my party. It's very troubling."

As Tony spoke, he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

"Come back down when you feel like talking."

Two golden lights opened beneath and above Ivan.

Loki personally endorsed the Portal:

Free fall—you deserve to enjoy it.

"Suka blyat!"

Ivan cried out, unable to understand what was happening.

But he quickly reacted, swinging his whips in an attempt to grab the ground and steady himself.

Sizzle.

With sparks flashing, the whips were sliced in half by the edge of the Portal.

"Oh, and this."

Another Portal opened as Ivan fell through it.

A mechanical arm extended out and precisely removed the Miniature Arc Reactor from his chest.

Then it delivered it to Tony.

Tony picked up the Miniature Arc Reactor and examined it closely.

"Pretty advanced technology. It still has some flaws, but it's not a bad imitation.

I don't understand. With just a few minor adjustments, you could've made a lot of money from this.

Why attack me?"

As his words fell, Tony fired a burst of energy that caught Ivan and slowed his descent slightly.

Then he closed the Portal.

Bang!

Ivan crashed heavily to the ground.

After lying there for a moment, Ivan slowly struggled to his feet.

"Put away your tricks. Put on your armor and fight me fair and square."

Tony shrugged. "You've already lost."

As he spoke, he gestured at the severed whips and the Miniature Arc Reactor in his hand.

Ivan fell silent. He had originally planned to crash Tony's party.

In front of everyone, he would use his own technology to challenge Iron Man.

As long as the "god" bled, an endless stream of people would rise to challenge him.

He had never expected this.

Ivan stiffened his neck. "I haven't lost. My technology hasn't lost."

"My technology?" Tony pointed at the reactor in his hand and smiled.

"You mean this imitation?"

"This isn't an imitation."

Ivan argued.

"Your Stark Family are the real thieves."

"Thieves? You mean yourself?"

Tony raised the reactor in his hand.

"Where did you steal my blueprint from?"

"My father, Anton Vanko."

"Never heard of him."

Ivan raised a hand and pointed at Tony's chest.

"You're alive because of my father."

"What does that have to do with your father?"

"The Arc Reactor was jointly developed by my father and Howard Stark.

Without my father, you would've died in Afghanistan long ago.

But Palladium Poisoning doesn't feel too good either, does it?

Ha ha."

Ivan laughed twice, then spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm.

He slumped to the ground, giving up all resistance.

Clearly, that fall had injured him badly.

Tony said nothing.

When he was younger, his relationship with his father had been strained.

He didn't know much about his father's affairs.

Who Anton Vanko was, and what ties he had to the Stark Family—

Tony needed to investigate all of that.

"Transfer him to the police station first."