Iron Monger? No, Iron Toy

Night fell, and rain poured down in sheets.

On the top floor of Stark Tower, thunder roared beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, concealing the faint sound of the elevator doors opening.

Obadiah Stane entered Tony's office with a hypocritical smile, holding the small Sonic Paralysis Device in his hand.

Although that kid named Jiang Li had startled him earlier that day, he was an old fox. He would never abandon his plan over a few words. On the contrary, that sense of danger had made him decide to act ahead of schedule.

As long as he got the miniature reactor in Tony's chest, his "Iron Monger" would gain an endless power source. Then, even gods would die if they stood in his way!

"Tony, working this late?"

Obadiah looked at Tony, who was sitting on the sofa with his back to him, and quietly pressed the button on the paralysis device.

"Bzz—"

A high-frequency sound wave, audible only at a certain frequency, instantly spread through the room. It could paralyze a person's central nervous system in an instant, rendering them unable to move and causing severe internal ear bleeding within minutes.

Obadiah looked at Tony's motionless back and smiled in triumph.

"Don't blame me, Tony. You forced my hand. You're like a goose that lays golden eggs, but now you don't want to lay anymore. I can only... kill the goose to get the eggs."

He pulled a pair of mechanical pliers designed specifically to remove reactors from his pocket and strode toward Tony.

"You know, this was originally my finest masterpiece."

Obadiah reached for Tony's shoulder, ready to turn him around and rip out his heart. "Unfortunately, you're going to destroy Stark Industries..."

However, the instant his hand touched Tony—

Smack!

A cold mechanical palm gleaming with metallic luster suddenly twisted around and clamped down on Obadiah's wrist!

"Are those your last words, Uncle Stan?"

Tony slowly turned around.

There was no pain on his face. A pair of specially made blue-glowing earplugs filled his ears, while his right hand wore a Mark Armor gauntlet that was actively charging!

"Jiang warned me long ago that you'd use such underhanded tricks."

Tony's voice was as cold as ice. "JARVIS blocked that sound frequency a minute ago."

"W-What?"

Obadiah's face changed drastically. He tried to pull free, but the mechanical hand held him in an iron grip. That was hydraulic power, far beyond what any human could resist.

"Since you like this reactor so much, take a good look at it!"

The Pulse Cannon in Tony's palm instantly lit up.

Boom!

A point-blank Pulse Cannon blast sent Obadiah flying! He smashed through an expensive glass coffee table and crashed hard into the liquor cabinet against the wall. Glass shards pierced his entire body as blood poured from his wounds.

"Cough, cough..."

Obadiah spat out blood, but instead of begging for mercy, he grinned viciously.

"Good! Very good! Tony, you've grown up! You've learned to scheme against me!"

He suddenly pulled a crude remote control from his clothes and pressed it hard.

"I originally planned to take the reactor before activating it... Since I can't have it, I'll send you off first with that damned 'disposable battery'!"

Rumble—!!

The floor beneath them suddenly shook violently, as though some colossal beast were awakening.

Then, the office floor exploded!

A massive, crude gray metal hand burst up from a hidden compartment below. It seized Tony, who had not yet managed to fully put on his armor, smashed through the floor-to-ceiling window, and charged toward the terrace in the rainy night!

Iron Monger had arrived!

It was a steel beast more than three meters tall, covered in heavy weaponry. Compared to Tony's precise Mark Armor, it looked like an upright walking tank, filled with the brutal aesthetic of the Soviet Union.

Although it lacked an Arc Reactor and could only operate for fifteen minutes on a set of high-energy batteries mounted on its back, that was more than enough time to kill Tony a hundred times over!

"Hahahaha!"

Obadiah staggered toward the terrace. The cockpit opened, and he slipped inside with practiced ease.

As the hydraulic rods sealed shut, the steel monster's eyes lit up with a crimson glow.

"Tony! You think your little toy can beat me?"

Iron Monger swung one of its enormous mechanical arms, swatting Tony—who had just climbed out of the rubble—away like a fly and slamming him into the edge of the helipad.

"Your technology is too delicate! Before a real War Machine, it's nothing but decoration!"

Obadiah controlled Iron Monger as the Gatling gun on its shoulder began to spin up, its barrels aimed at Tony, who was down and unprotected without his helmet.

"Goodbye, nephew."

Just then—

"Hey, baldy over there."

A lazy voice drifted through the curtain of rain.

Obadiah turned the giant mechanical head.

Jiang Li stood beneath a black umbrella, leaning against the terrace railing. He was casually tossing the Sonic Paralysis Device he had taken from Obadiah into the air.

"You're that little consultant?" Obadiah sneered. "Perfect. I'll send you both on your way together!"

Iron Monger raised its right arm, and an anti-tank missile instantly locked onto Jiang Li.

"Kid, remember in your next life: don't mess with people you shouldn't mess with!"

"Is that so?"

Jiang Li tossed aside the umbrella.

The torrential rain instantly soaked his suit, but the light in his eyes was more piercing than lightning.

"Obadiah, you think your armor is big? Strong?"

Jiang Li raised his left hand, pressed the button on the Omnitrix, and turned it to a brand-new icon no one had ever seen before.

"Then let me show you what truly... big means."

[System Prompt: Mission target confirmed.]

[Safety restrictions lifted.]

[To'kustar DNA loaded.]

"Transform!"

This time, there was no flash of green light.

Instead, a red-and-white storm that seemed to come from the depths of the cosmos shot into the heavens!

Boom—!!!

A terrifying wave of pressure erupted around Jiang Li, instantly blowing away the torrential rain that filled the sky!

Obadiah's vision went dark.

He looked up.

Then he looked higher.

Until Iron Monger's neck had tilted back as far as it could go.

What he saw was no longer the sky, but a... leg.

A colossal red-and-white leg as massive as a skyscraper!

As his gaze traveled upward, Stark Tower, which had once towered proudly over New York, now only reached this giant's knees!

A super giant over a hundred meters tall, covered in red-and-white cosmic armor and crowned with a massive streamlined crest, stood in the heart of Manhattan!

"Way Big!!"

To avoid crushing the building, Way Big did not fully land on the roof. Instead, using the tremendous momentum of his transformation, he hovered like a satellite for half a second before gently setting one foot on the terrace.

Just that "gentle" step—

Creak—

The steel framework on the top floor of Stark Tower let out a teeth-grinding groan, as though it might collapse at any moment.

And beside Way Big's foot—

The once imposing, three-meter-tall Iron Monger now looked like a... tiny plastic figure that had wandered into a Lego toy city.

Jiang Li, as Way Big, lowered his head.

Two yellow eyes like searchlights pierced through the clouds and locked onto Iron Monger below.

His enormous voice boomed like the roar of a god, echoing across the skies of New York:

"Who did you just say... was all show?"

Obadiah sat in the cockpit, trembling all over. It was fear born from biological instinct, absolute awe before something colossal.

The anti-tank missile in his hand now looked like nothing more than a toothpick.

"M-Monster..."

He pulled the trigger on instinct.

The Gatling gun roared madly, and the anti-tank missile screamed through the air.

"Clang, clang."

The bullets struck Way Big's ankle armor without leaving even a white mark.

The missile exploded like a tiny firecracker beside the giant's foot, unable to even scratch the paint.

Jiang Li sighed.

This is way too weak. It isn't even qualified to make me use a Cosmic Ray.

He slowly raised the enormous foot that could cover the entire helipad.

"Tony, remember to deduct the repair costs for this floor from my salary."

Then...

He brought it down with one stomp!

"NO!!!"

Accompanied by Obadiah's desperate scream—

Splat.

A crisp metallic crunch as steel was flattened.

The invincible Iron Monger was stomped straight into Stark Tower's reinforced concrete floor, becoming a genuine Two-Dimensional Foil of flattened metal.

The world fell silent.