Whip Lock

"Marvel's Magnetic Field Rotation"

Before Tony Stark's brilliant mind could even process what was happening, the enemy made their move. Two long whips crackling with electricity extended from the wrists of the armor. The energy transmitted from the Arc Reactor endowed these two whips with indestructible power. With a single swing, the whips cleaved the car that Tony Stark had placed his hopes on in two.

Fortunately, the car was stationary at the time, otherwise the experienced driver Tony would have definitely crashed, but he was still in a sorry state.

"Tony Stark, Iron Man? You and your father are nothing but thieves who stole what was rightfully mine."

Through the armor's built-in speaker, Ivan Vanko's Russian-accented English reached Tony Stark's ears clearly. The disdain and mockery in the other's words ignited a nameless anger in Tony, but before that, the more important thing was to escape. The mysterious man in the Iron Man Armor did not have the typical villain's tendency to be a chatterbox. After simply stating his purpose, the long whip lashed down once again.

Unlike the previous attack that split the car in two, this one was aimed directly at Tony Stark.

Although he claims to be one with the suit and to be Iron Man, once he leaves the Iron Man suit, Tony Stark is truly just a scientist and billionaire with no physical strength, and genuinely no physical strength at all, unlike scientists from the Land of Light like Hikari, the Cosmic Sword Saint.

Tony Stark was speeding the whole way, but he didn't forget to wear his seatbelt. Now he's firmly strapped to his seat and has no chance to escape.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.!"

Tony Stark yelled, and the seat suddenly reclined. Iron Man suit parts emerged from unexpected places in the vehicle and spliced onto his body, quickly enveloping him in thick armor.

"Smack!"

Tony Stark caught the Energy Whip that cut through the car roof, and the energy surging from it clashed with the energy channels of the armor itself, causing sparks to fly continuously.

"Looks like I was right," Tony Stark said boastfully, though he was still uneasy.

If he hadn't impulsively decided to implement the idea of making the Iron Man suit portable and rapidly deployable, and converted one of his limited-edition cars into a loading device for the Iron Man suit, it would probably be a mangled corpse by now.

Grabbing his Energy Whip, Tony Stark sliced the car in half to escape, shouting, "Who are you? Where did you steal the Arc Reactor and Iron Man suit technology from?!"

His Hulkbuster Armor 1.0 was missing an Arc Reactor, which was likely stolen by someone with ulterior motives to crack the technology. After scanning the opponent's armor, his Iron Man suit concluded that the opponent's Arc Reactor was not his original one. The manufacturing concept and technology were very different, but it was very mature, obviously indicating that the technology had been thoroughly mastered.

Of course, it's the previous generation Arc Reactor, completely incomparable to the one on Tony Stark's chest. The technology of its New Element is ahead of its time, and it can't be cracked by reverse engineering.

"Steal? No, it was you Stark father and son who stole the Arc Reactor from my father! You're the thieves!"

In response to Tony Stark's questioning, Ivan Vanko, whose mindset was already fixed, thought he was turning the tables and lashed out with the Energy Whip on his other wrist.

Tony Stark reached out and grabbed the whip. Although the energy clash caused his body to crackle with electricity and his palm cannons to malfunction, he was unharmed inside his suit.

Nick Fury personally visited him, asking him to develop a targeted weapon for a powerful Mutant could manipulate electric currents and disrupt magnetic fields. Although the armor could not achieve breakthroughs in key technologies due to material issues, he had made initial progress and incorporated relevant technologies into the development of the new suit.

To put it bluntly, from then on, his Iron Man suit was no longer afraid of lightning strikes or electric currents; such attacks could only recharge his suit.

However, unlike the Energy Whip in the movies that rely entirely on inertia to change direction, with the technology and logistical support of Conglomerate B, the Energy Whip on Ivan Vanko's Whip Lock Armor is controlled by a mechanical structure. An internal command causes the energy whip to coil around Tony Stark's arms like a snake hunting its prey.

Now, Tony Stark's arms were restrained, and the Energy Whip extended from the wrists of his Whip Lock armor, leaving his hands free.

After quickly closing the distance with Tony Stark, Ivan Vanko landed a powerful punch squarely on Tony's Iron Man suit, leaving him dazed and disoriented, before slamming him to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw.

"What your father stole, you, his son, must repay!"

With one foot planted on Tony Stark, Ivan Vanko pulled a pickaxe from his waist. This type of weapon was like a can opener to medieval plate-armored knights. The one he had was a high-tech version, specifically designed to break through Iron Man suit.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., focus your energy on your chest."

Just as the hammer was about to hit his head, Tony Stark made a judgment and fired a repulsion cannon from the Arc Reactor on his chest, instantly knocking the Whip Lock Armor away. The hammer flew off to who knows where.

However, the two were connected by the Energy Whip. Ivan Vanko flew out, pulling Tony Stark up from the ground as well. Before they even landed, the repulsion generators on the soles of their feet and legs of the Iron Man suit activated at full power, propelling them into the sky with tremendous force.

Through the scan, Tony Stark discovered that the Whip Lock armor did not have a flight system. After all, anti-gravity devices are not a technology that just anyone can develop. Therefore, he wanted to continue using the tactics he used when fighting Obadiah's Iron Monger armor: take it into the air with its high-speed flight capability, and then drop it down to defeat the enemy with Earth's gravity.

This suit was prepared for the opening ceremony of the expo. To prevent any accidents, it was not equipped with any other weapon systems besides the basic palm cannon. This was the only option available at the moment.

In fact, this method is the most effective.

Considering that Tony Stark might not have had time to apply the brakes, Ivan Vanko's armor was maxed out for defense. His only weapons, besides the two Energy Whip, were a "can opener" specifically designed for Iron Man suit. Now, even that was useless, leaving him as helpless as a hare caught in the air by an eagle.

Once he reached a sufficient height, Tony Stark unwound the Energy Whip binding his arms and waved to Ivan Vanko: "Bye-bye."