Rainy Night, Farm, Adamantium

Rain fell like a silver curtain over the entire wheat field, and the tractor engine's roar seemed so faint beneath the thunder.

"Both of you, stay in the truck!"

Locke's voice pierced the rain. He grabbed the shotgun from beneath the seat and jumped off the tractor without hesitation, his figure instantly swallowed by the downpour.

"Dad!"

Dio instinctively tried to follow Locke, but—

"Dio!"

Clark's arm clamped tightly around him. "Don't cause trouble for Uncle Locke!"

"Damn it! Clark, don't stop me!"

Dio angrily wiped his face. Rain dripped from his blond hair, mixing with mud as it ran down his taut jawline.

Besides.

In the rearview mirror, that massive figure had already vanished into the depths of the wheat, leaving only a trail of flattened stalks to show where it had gone.

"Didn't you see it?"

Dio's voice seemed squeezed through clenched teeth. "That thing... it doesn't look human at all!"

"Dio—"

Boom!

A clap of thunder cut Clark off, but what drew the boys' attention even more was—

The deafening roar mixed in with the thunder!

Dio's chest tightened sharply.

It came from the direction Locke had gone.

"No!"

Before Clark could react, Dio shoved open the door, letting the icy rain instantly soak through his shirt. "I'm going to check!"

"Dio!" Clark hurriedly grabbed his wrist. "Uncle Locke told us to—"

"Clark!"

Dio violently shook off Clark's hand, his red eyes gleaming dangerously in the rainy night. "That's my dad!"

Boom!

Lightning split the night sky, its ghastly white light illuminating Dio's twisted expression.

At the very instant the thunder exploded, another loud crash came from afar, this one accompanied by the unmistakable sound of metal striking metal.

Dio's breathing stopped for a second.

Maybe it was instinct, or maybe it was because he had already mastered his Stand.

Time froze at that moment.

Raindrops hung in midair, forming a crystalline cage.

Clark only saw a blur before Dio, who had been standing right in front of him, vanished.

By the time he came back to his senses, all he could see was Dio's blond hair flash through the rain in the distance.

If there had been a Stand user present at that moment, they would surely have seen a golden figure carrying a child and running at a mad sprint.

"How was he so fast?!"

"And why did it feel like that again..."

Thinking his dizzy spells were acting up again, Clark punched the seat in frustration before jumping off the tractor without hesitation.

His super speed quickly allowed him to catch up with Dio, but just as he reached out to grab him—

"Don't touch me!"

Dio roared without looking back. "A brute who only knows how to use strength will just hold me back!"

The two boys faced off in knee-deep muddy water, rain streaming down their faces.

Boom!

Another huge crash rang out!

This time, it was accompanied by the clear flash of an explosion.

The farmer raised his shotgun at an unknown monster.

Don't get the wrong idea. This wasn't Dragon Ball.

This was reality.

Beneath the shattered metal faceplate, the exposed half of a human face twisted in pain.

The giant, over two meters tall, seemed to have had the right side of its brain split open, silver metal constantly leaking from within.

"Buddy."

"You're trespassing on my private property."

Locke's voice was low, as though he were merely scolding a wild deer that had wandered into his cornfield.

Rain dripped from the brim of his cowboy hat, splashing into tiny droplets against the shotgun's metal barrel.

His finger rested steadily on the trigger, his boots sunk deep into the muddy wheat field as he warily eyed the enormous creature before him.

But honestly.

Looking at the silver liquid continuously seeping from the metal monster's shattered right skull, Locke felt uneasy.

Where the fuck did this cyborg come from?

He cursed inwardly.

A Cybertron warrior suddenly appearing in a wheat field in Smallville was less likely than getting struck by lightning.

"Kill you... continue."

The metal giant slowly lifted its head. Its intact human left eye was a murky gray-blue, while its right eye glowed red with mechanical light.

Clang—!

With a crisp metallic hum, the metal man's right arm began to transform, liquid metal writhing together into a serrated longsword.

Bang!

The shotgun's roar tore through the curtain of rain.

The bullet struck the metal man squarely in the chest, blasting a hole the size of a bowl through it.

Silver liquid splattered everywhere. A few drops even landed on Locke's leather boots, immediately corroding several small pits into them.

But that was nothing compared to what came next, because even more horrifyingly, the wound was healing at a visible rate!

The monster merely let out an inhuman howl as the liquid metal wriggled like a living thing, filling the damage in the blink of an eye.

That familiar sense of déjà vu.

?!

Locke could practically hear the blood vessels at his temples throbbing.

Nanometal? Or Adamantium?

Where did this kind of high-tech stuff come from?!

Locke forced himself to calm down, reassuring himself inwardly.

If it really was the legendary Adamantium, then with the old shotgun in his hands, the bullets probably would not even count as scratches.

And the monster's chest currently bore obvious bullet marks, which meant its metal purity—

Bang!

The shotgun's roar once again ripped through the rain.

So that's it.

Seeing the metal body's regeneration noticeably slow, Locke grinned.

He unhurriedly pulled a blasting cap from his pocket.

A farmer afraid of wild animals carrying around a few blasting caps to protect his wheat field was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?

Lighting the blasting cap, Locke tossed the sparking explosive in a perfect arc.

"Looks like you're a defective model, friend."

"Die!"

The metal giant seemed enraged by the word. The liquid metal in its chest suddenly boiled, forming dozens of sharp spikes.

But just as it prepared to charge—

Boom!

The blasting cap stuck precisely to the monster and exploded.

The blast wave nearly sent Locke flying, but—

Looking at Star Platinum standing before him, with the words "invincible" practically written across its face.

He felt completely at ease.

Recalling Star Platinum, Locke looked through the rain—

The metal giant had lost both legs and knelt motionlessly amid the smoke.

That only strengthened Locke's conclusion.

How could Adamantium be shattered by a blasting cap?

And what kind of cyborg would use something as precious as Adamantium?

"Game over, Mr. Wolverine knockoff from who-knows-where."

Spitting out the muddy rainwater that had somehow splashed into his mouth, Locke stepped forward and raised his shotgun at the giant's head.

But just as he prepared to finish it off, he suddenly heard Dio's heart-rending shout through the torrential rain:

"Dad—!!!"

Turning back in surprise, he saw a blond boy madly charging through the rain, with an anxious-looking Clark following behind him.

That little bastard! Didn't I tell him not to come?!

Locke's face darkened.

And worse still, the metal giant seemed to have been provoked again by the shout.

Its remaining mechanical eye flashed red once more, and its legs began regenerating!

"Click... click."

Its stiff head locked onto Dio, and a broken electronic voice squeezed from the metal man's throat:

"Kill—"

Bang!

Without hesitation, Locke pulled the trigger. The modified shotgun in his hands blasted the metal man's head to pieces!

Smoke curled upward from the muzzle.

Under normal circumstances, no creature should have survived that.

But.

This was a Marvel world.

Bzzzz—!

As the shattered body let out an electronic roar, the serrated blade on the headless metal man's right arm suddenly split into three metal whips, lashing through the air toward Dio and Clark as they rapidly approached from beside Locke!

The consequences if they were hit were obvious!

No more holding back.

Locke's expression turned grave.

Star Platinum: The World!

Bzzzz—!

At the instant before the attack landed, the whips froze in midair like mechanical arms that had lost power!

Time stopped amid the torrential rain.

"Good grief."

Lowering his cowboy hat slightly, he looked at the frozen rain curtain.

"One second?"

"That's enough." The purple giant stood between heaven and earth. Locke pointed ahead with one finger and calmly commanded, "Smash him to pieces!"

Star Platinum!