The Altered Plot of "Iron Man 2"

On the Monaco circuit, two Stark-sponsored F1 cars tore through narrow bends at high speed, their engines roaring loud enough to shake the entire street.

Tony and Chen Tian ignored who was winning entirely, simply enjoying the thrill of extreme speed and the competitive spirit between friends.

"Hey, Chen Tian, dare to take the next turn without slowing down?" Tony's voice came through the earpiece, openly provocative.

Chen Tian curled his lips into a smile, tapping lightly on the steering wheel. "JARVIS, calculate the optimal cornering route."

"I have adjusted the traction control system for you, Mr. Chen," JARVIS responded promptly. "I recommend maintaining your current speed and applying slight oversteer when entering the turn."

"Did you hear that, Tony?" Chen Tian laughed. "Even your AI butler says I can do it."

"Ha! Then let's see!" Tony burst out laughing and slammed on the accelerator. The race car surged forward instantly, its tires screeching sharply against the asphalt.

The two cars charged into the bend almost side by side, their bodies only inches away from the guardrails. A wave of startled cries erupted from the stands.

Chen Tian's car fishtailed slightly, smoke rising from its rear wheels, but he controlled the steering wheel with precision. His car sliced through the apex like a blade, roaring past inches from Tony's vehicle.

"Beautiful!" Tony whistled. "Looks like you can drive my Mark-2 now."

Chen Tian grinned. "Don't praise me. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle losing later."

Inside the hotel restaurant

Pepper stared intently at the large screen, unconsciously tightening her grip around her champagne glass.

That dangerous turn had nearly made her cry out. Only after confirming that both men were unharmed did she let out a heavy breath and shake her head with a bitter smile.

"These two big kids..." She looked helplessly at 2B beside her. "They're absolutely terrifying to watch."

2B covered her mouth and giggled softly. "Master and Mr. Stark are like children playing around without regard for consequences, but... Miss Pepper, is it precisely because Tony is so special that you favor him so much?"

Pepper chuckled. "Special? Yes, especially good at causing headaches."

2B had just been about to respond when her pupils suddenly contracted. A strange stream of data flickered through her mechanical eyes. Her expression instantly grew grave as she lightly pressed the pendant hanging from her earlobe.

"JARVIS, contact Master immediately." 2B seemed to return to the coldness of a battle android. "Ivan Vanko has appeared in the spectator area approximately one kilometer ahead of Master and Mr. Stark. He is currently approaching the track."

JARVIS's urgent alarm suddenly sounded in Chen Tian's earpiece:

"Mr. Chen, Miss 2B has sent an emergency communication—Ivan Vanko has infiltrated the spectator area and is approaching the track. Mr. Stark may be his target."

Chen Tian's smile vanished instantly, his gaze sharpening. He immediately pressed the communicator button. "Tony, did you get that? Ivan Vanko, the one I asked you to look for, is on the track!"

There was a second of silence in the earpiece before Tony's voice came through, stripped of all playfulness. "Got it. Stop the race first and evacuate the crowd."

The two race cars slowed almost simultaneously, their engine roars gradually fading. Tony's voice came through again. "JARVIS, notify the race committee and initiate emergency evacuation procedures."

"Executed, Sir," JARVIS replied. "However, Ivan Vanko appears to be carrying some sort of jamming device. Parts of the circuit surveillance system have failed."

Chen Tian narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze across the spectator stands on both sides of the track. The crowd had already begun to stir. Security personnel were guiding the spectators away, but the scene remained chaotic.

Chen Tian jumped out of his race car, tucking his helmet under his arm as he looked at Tony, who had also gotten out of his car.

"See? I told you this trip to Monaco definitely wasn't going to be a fun vacation."

Tony chuckled. "Of course I knew that. But Ivan disappeared when I went looking for him, so I figured I might as well lure him out. As you people from the great Eastern nation say..."

Tony rubbed his chin, then clapped his hands. "Use yourself as bait. I got that right, didn't I?"

Chen Tian hooked an arm around Tony's neck. "You got it right, but with things this chaotic, can you handle it?"

Tony shrugged Chen Tian's arm off and raised his chin. "Are you kidding? I'm Tony Stark! Iron Man!"

As he spoke, he slapped his chest. The Eternity Core embedded there suddenly lit up, blue energy flowing out like liquid.

The metal seemed alive as it rapidly spread along his arms and torso, gleaming with a cold luster beneath the sunlight.

"JARVIS, activate the Mark-Eclipse combat protocol." Tony's voice carried a trace of excitement.

"Protocol activated, Sir."

Liquid metal assembled at high speed, covering Tony's entire body in the blink of an eye—the red-and-gold armor had sharp lines, while the light from the chest reactor seeped through gaps in the plating, flickering like breath.

The back armor rose slightly, and the mechanical wings behind him unfolded in an instant, erupting with blue photon energy.

Tony floated into the air, his still-uncovered face full of smug pride.

"I'm terrifyingly strong now. Even that piece of magical scrap metal from New York, I could tear it apart with my bare hands!"

"Wow~" Chen Tian stared at the armor and gave a mischievous grin. "Then you'd better be careful. According to the message 2B just sent me, Ivan has two long whips."

Tony's expression twitched when he heard "two long whips."

"Wait, what did you say?" Tony struggled to keep a straight face. "Two?" Then he suddenly let out an exaggerated laugh. "Ha! No wonder JARVIS could never find this guy—" His mechanical fingers drew a lewd wave in the air. "Don't tell me he was hiding in some special alphabet club for further study?"

"My dear little Chen Tian," Tony said, lowering his faceplate and blowing Chen Tian a kiss, "just stand here and watch..." Blue flames erupted from the Photon Wings. "Watch how Uncle Tony, this superhero, takes down the bad guy!"

Chen Tian watched Tony turn into a streak of red-and-gold light and shoot toward the other end of the track, then helplessly shrugged.

"Always showing off. One day, you're going to wipe out," he muttered, putting his racing helmet back on and driving toward the area where Tony and Ivan were about to fight.

Ivan Vanko stood in the middle of the track, his bare upper body packed with knotted muscles, the Arc Reactor in his chest flashing blue.

He threw back his head and roared, his voice echoing through the empty track via a loudspeaker hidden in his collar. "Tony Stark! Come out and face me!"

The red-and-gold armor cut through the sky, and Tony slammed onto the track in a perfect superhero landing, kicking up a ring of air.

At the very instant he landed, dozens of tiny fireworks suddenly shot from the back of his armor, exploding into dazzling sparks in Monaco's azure sky.

"Wow!"

"It's Iron Man!"

The crowd that had been fleeing in panic instantly erupted into deafening cheers. Quite a few people even stopped, raised their phones, and began filming. Tony rose to his feet and lifted both hands high, a smug curve appearing beneath his faceplate—he enjoyed being the center of attention far too much.

Tony was still immersed in the crowd's cheering. Just as he was about to look around and properly show off his stylish armor to the audience, the suit suddenly activated its emergency evasion protocol. Its thrusters fired violently, sending him several meters backward.

"Sir, high-energy attack detected!" JARVIS's warning exploded in Tony's ears.

Almost at the same instant, a blue-violet electric whip cracked against the spot where Tony had just been standing. The asphalt track was torn open with a charred black gash, sending gravel flying.

"Wow." Tony steadied himself in midair and looked down at the smoking scar. "Not bad."

Tony looked at Ivan. "At least it's flashy enough!"

Tony's Photon Wings suddenly erupted with blinding blue light, and a piercing sonic boom rang through the air. Ivan Vanko's vision blurred, and Tony vanished from sight.

"What—"

Before his question could leave his throat, Tony had flashed to his side at a speed beyond the limits of human reaction.

The mechanical palm encased in armor seized Ivan's shoulder with precision, its nanomaterial fingers tightening like hydraulic clamps.

"Good night, Russian Bear."

With Tony's teasing whisper, Ivan was swung up and smashed headfirst into the ground. With a thunderous boom, the asphalt cracked in a radial pattern. Ivan's body twitched in the center of the crater, the reactor in his chest flickering erratically.

Even louder cheers erupted from the stands, and some people even began whistling. Tony floated gracefully above the crater, his Photon Wings slowly folding behind him to form a magnificent halo of energy. He gave the surrounding audience an exaggerated bow.

"Ladies and gentlemen, applaud to your hearts' content. Great Tony has once again—"

Before Tony could finish his smug speech, JARVIS's urgent alarm abruptly cut him off inside his helmet:

"Sir! Twelve missiles are approaching from the southeast! Trajectory analysis indicates—" A holographic display unfolded before Tony, red trajectory lines pointing straight toward the most densely packed section of the stands. "—their target zone covers the entire main grandstand!"

Tony's smile froze instantly. He whipped around, and the armor's scanning system locked onto several plumes of white smoke rising in the distance—the missiles were rapidly closing in.

Tony was just about to have JARVIS calculate interception data when Chen Tian's voice suddenly came through his earpiece. "Tony! Forget the missiles, keep Ivan in check! Madara will deal with those missiles!"

"What?" Tony froze and turned toward the direction from which the missiles were coming.

At that moment, the entire sky over Monaco seemed to warp beneath some unseen force. Ripples spread through the air, and a figure in a suit appeared out of nowhere in midair. Madara Uchiha stood with his arms crossed, the patterns within his Mangekyō Sharingan slowly turning.

"Mere toys..."

Madara's voice was not loud, yet it strangely pierced through the noise of the entire circuit. He slowly raised his right hand as chakra exploded around him—

"Susanoo!"

With that low shout, a hundred-meter-tall blue giant rose from the ground. The complete Susanoo spread its wings, blotting out the sky. People in the stands looked up in terror at the myth-like giant.

The missile swarm was already close at hand, yet Madara did not even lift an eyelid. Susanoo's massive sword swung lightly, and space itself seemed to split wherever its blade passed.

All twelve missiles exploded simultaneously in midair, but not even the slightest shockwave spread outward—all the explosions were confined within a spherical space by some invisible force.

Watching the scene, Tony's mouth twitched. "Every time I see this guy fight, it's shocking."

The flames of the explosions churned within the purple barrier, reflecting off Madara's cold, stern profile.

Tony hovered in the air, his expression beneath the faceplate gradually shifting from shock to displeasure. He curled his lip and muttered into the communicator, "JARVIS, make a note—at the next press conference, I need to add an even cooler entrance effect to the armor."

"Sir, according to data analysis, your current popularity rating still exceeds Mr. Madara's by thirty-seven percentage points," JARVIS offered comfort at the right moment. "However, Mr. Madara's 'blue giant' has indeed sparked heated discussion on social media."

Tony rolled his eyes, just about to snap back at the AI for taking Madara's side, when Ivan, lying on the ground, suddenly began laughing loudly.

"Stark, you think this is over? Hahaha."

Tony looked down at Ivan's ugly face, blood streaming from his nose and mouth and staining his teeth. He mocked, "You should quiet down first. Don't worry, I'll prepare you a luxury prison suite, complete with no fewer than three gay roommates."

Ivan continued laughing wildly, his eyes filled with murderous intent as he stared at Tony. "Stark, you will die!! You'll be blown to pieces before the whole world!"

Tony frowned, because he heard a tremendous roar. A pitch-black Harley motorcycle charged onto the track, its engine thunder loud enough to make the advertising boards along both sides tremble. The rider was completely covered in black leather, his helmet visor reflecting a cold gleam. In one hand, he dragged a broken streetlamp pole.

Tony raised his repulsor cannon, just about to warn the biker who had intruded onto the track, when the rider suddenly swung the streetlamp pole. It shot toward Tony like a bolt from a siege crossbow.

Tony's repulsor cannon immediately reacted, but Chen Tian had already flashed in front of him like a ghost.

"Get back!" Chen Tian shouted, gripping his sword with both hands in an iaijutsu stance. The streetlamp pole came whistling toward them, and when it was less than three meters away—

Kitetsu drew a perfect arc, purple-black sword energy blooming like a crescent moon. The struck streetlamp pole froze strangely for a moment, then split neatly into two along the cut.

Tony clapped. "Wow... that's much cooler than my laser cutting."

Chen Tian sheathed his sword, the guard colliding with the scabbard mouth with a crisp ding. "Don't get distracted. Something's wrong with that guy."

The biker drifted, bringing the heavy motorcycle to a stop ten meters in front of Tony and Chen Tian. He tilted his head slightly toward Chen Tian. His helmet began to decay, ultimately turning into countless ashes and revealing the rider's face.

He was a white man, but his skin was ash-gray, blue-purple veins faintly visible beneath it. His eyes were black as ink, with only pinprick-sized pale lights flickering within.

He smiled at Chen Tian, but the corners of his mouth tore upward in a way that defied human anatomy, revealing sharp, pale teeth.

"Mephisto sends his regards, Chen Tian."

Chen Tian's pupils suddenly contracted. His fingers tightened unconsciously around Kitetsu, and his expression became increasingly grave.

Tony asked quietly from behind Chen Tian, "Mephisto? Isn't that a demon's name? Did you provoke a demon?"

Chen Tian nodded slightly. "Yeah. What happened in New Mexico was orchestrated by Mephisto and Loki."

Tony had only just opened his mouth when the biker crouched down and pressed both hands against the ground, grinning viciously at Tony and Chen Tian.

"Enjoy the agony of decay."

Starting from the biker's palms, the ground began to rapidly rot and collapse, spreading swiftly toward Chen Tian and Tony.

"Holy shit! What the hell is this?" Seeing the scene, Tony reached for Chen Tian's shoulder, intending to carry him into the air.

But before he could move, a heavy punch slammed into his waist and sent him flying.

Tony tumbled through the air, the armor's stabilization system operating frantically before he barely regained control. He crashed heavily into an advertising board beside the track, then looked up at the person who had sent him flying.

"Damn it, what's going on? JARVIS!" Tony cursed inwardly. "Since when did Ivan get armor?!"

"Sir! While you were confronting the biker, Ivan Vanko appeared through a portal similar to those used by Master Mordo!"

"What do those Kamar-Taj sorcerers have to do with this?!" Tony cursed. The Photon Wings behind him spread open and aimed at Ivan, firing several lasers.

Facing the lasers, Ivan stretched out one arm. A scarlet circular energy shield appeared in front of him. The lasers struck the shield and exploded violently, flames and yellow smoke carrying the smell of sulfur obscuring Ivan's body.

"Sir, Ivan's energy shield is similar to the hell energy used by your Mark-2-Devil."

"What?" Tony found it unbelievable. Hell energy?

Ivan strode out of the smoke with a vicious grin. Some kind of dark-red metal covered the surface of his body, and the Arc Reactor in his chest now spewed hellish flames.

"Thanks to your slaughter in the Middle East, Tony," Ivan said as his faceplate opened, half his face already demonized. "Otherwise, I never would have realized that demons existed in this world!"

Scarlet flames erupted beneath Ivan's feet as he lunged toward Tony.

Elsewhere, the decaying ground spread toward Chen Tian. He had intended to have Tony carry him into the sky, but instead watched Tony get sent flying by Ivan's punch.

Chen Tian gritted his teeth and assumed an iaijutsu stance, blackness spreading over his wrist.

"Armament Haki: Death: Lion Song!"

Kitetsu was drawn from its sheath like a bolt of black lightning. Sword energy flew out like a black crescent, directly cutting apart the ground and stopping the decay from spreading.

Seeing his decay stopped, the biker slowly rose. Veins writhed beneath his ash-gray skin, his pitch-black eyes locking onto Chen Tian. His mouth split all the way to his ears, exposing serrated fangs.

"Chen Tian..." His voice sounded like the whispers of countless dead souls. "No wonder Mephisto wants me to bring your soul before him."

"You want my soul?" Chen Tian sneered. "Then you'll have to ask my sword first."

Before his words had even faded, the ground beneath Chen Tian exploded. He shot toward the biker like a cannonball, Kitetsu aimed straight at the biker's throat!

The biker neither dodged nor evaded. He merely raised one palm, and a mass of pitch-black corruptive energy surged from it. The sword energy struck it and vanished instantly like a clay ox sinking into the sea!

"Useless." The biker grinned viciously. "Everything will decay, including your sword."

Chen Tian's pupils shrank, but his movements did not slow in the slightest. His figure flickered, and he instantly circled behind the biker, sweeping Kitetsu horizontally!

"Whoosh—!"

Kitetsu cut across the biker's neck, but the blade felt as though it had struck a pool of rotten mud. The biker's head twisted strangely. No blood flowed from the wound; instead, black corruptive matter surged out and rapidly healed it!

"I told you..." The biker's voice came from every direction. "Your attacks are meaningless."

Chen Tian suddenly sensed that something was wrong. Looking down, he saw that the soles of his boots had begun to rot, turning to ashes that drifted away!

"Corrosion?!" He immediately retreated, but the biker was already upon him, his decayed hands reaching for Chen Tian's chest!

"Your body will be eaten away bit by bit, just like your sword!"

At the critical moment, Chen Tian suddenly shouted:

"Soru!"

"Bang!"

His figure vanished instantly, leaving only an afterimage behind. The biker's claws missed, but the ground was instantly corroded into a deep pit several meters wide!

Chen Tian appeared ten meters away, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"This guy's ability... is more troublesome than I expected."

The biker slowly turned around, his black eyes locking onto him, his mouth splitting even wider.

"You're pretty fast, but how long can you keep running?"

He suddenly spread his arms. The ground centered on him rapidly decayed, the asphalt track collapsing inch by inch as if doused in concentrated acid, turning into a black swamp!

The corrupted area expanded wildly. The metal railings and plastic seats in the stands, even the air itself, began to distort and decay!

Chen Tian looked at the scene and cursed loudly. "Damn it! This is Marvel, not Jujutsu Kaisen! Why the hell is there a domain here?!"

After shouting that, Chen Tian suddenly paused, his expression turning playful.

"That's right. Domain Expansion. Then I'll use a domain against it."

A wild smile suddenly curved across Chen Tian's lips. His once ordinary eyes underwent an astonishing transformation—the irises seemed infused with liquid sky, gradually turning a brilliant azure blue, while stars appeared to flow within the depths of his pupils.