This Time, You're the More Impressive One

The silver-white armor and the army-green missile seemed to merge into one.

Together, they accelerated, temporarily pulling away from the other missiles as they traced a huge arc through the sky.

By then, the other missiles had begun to lose tracking accuracy, scattering through the air instead of pursuing Leon like a swarm of bees.

It was also a sign that the missiles were about to explode.

Leon calculated the timing in his head, then released the armor's hands at just the right moment and veered away from the side of the missile he had been controlling.

"Three, two, one, boom!"

He accelerated sharply. As his countdown ended, a thunderous explosion erupted behind him.

Boom!

Several missiles slammed directly into the side of the missile Leon had controlled, detonating prematurely all at once.

The air currents in the sky were violently blasted apart, and the other scattered missiles were caught in the shockwave and immediately exploded as well.

Flames spread across the skies above the West Coast Mountains. Within nearly a kilometer, everything was swallowed by thick, rolling smoke.

The pilots in the fighter formation stared in stunned disbelief. They could not understand how Mark II had evaded the missiles so easily.

But they quickly had no time to stand around in shock.

Even the high-altitude winds could not disperse the smoke from dozens of simultaneous missile explosions in such a short time.

The entire fighter formation failed to react in time and plunged straight into the pitch-black smoke.

"Target lost! I repeat, target lost!" the captain reported.

"Accelerate out of the obscured area and continue the pursuit. Do not let them get away!" command ordered.

However, Leon did not seize the opportunity to flee. Instead, he turned around and flew into the aftermath of the explosion as well.

"Based on the enemy aircrafts' flight directions and speeds, give me a simulated flight path, JARVIS."

The projection on the armor's faceplate flickered, immediately mapping out more than a dozen trajectories within the image of the smoke.

At the same time, Leon ran countless calculations through his mind, estimated the timing, and accelerated into the smoke.

He rapidly closed in on one of the trajectories.

"Prepare to turn, JARVIS!"

The moment he spoke, a fighter jet suddenly burst through the black smoke in front of Mark II.

Just as they were about to collide, the armor abruptly stopped and turned upward.

The pilot in the fighter jet widened his eyes in terror, but he immediately reacted, pulling the aircraft upward while pressing one of the hundreds of controls in the cockpit. He opened the weapons bay and activated the machine guns, spraying bullets.

"Aircraft Thirteen has spotted the target! I repeat, Aircraft Thirteen has spotted the target!"

"Attack! Attack!" the captain ordered.

Aircraft Thirteen clung tightly to Leon's tail, several bursts of bullets striking Mark II and making Leon's body sway.

This only excited the pilot of Aircraft Thirteen further. He pushed the thrusters to the limit and pursued Leon at top speed.

But suddenly, Mark II changed direction again.

The pilot froze for a moment. Just as he was about to follow, another fighter jet rushed out of the black smoke ahead.

"Fuck!" The pilot quickly pulled the aircraft up, but it was too late.

The bottom of one aircraft collided with the top of the other, and the friction at high speed destroyed most of both airframes.

The fighter jets immediately erupted in flames and black smoke. Their engine systems and exhaust systems were damaged, making continued flight impossible.

The pilot of Aircraft Thirteen helplessly pushed the control stick down, sending the plane into a descent. He activated the ejection mechanism and blasted out of the cockpit.

"Aircraft Thirteen has collided! Ejecting now!"

However, the other fighter jet that had suffered this undeserved disaster was in even worse shape.

Its glass cockpit was smashed apart, and the pilot instantly lost consciousness.

Leon noticed something was wrong and turned back. He pulled the pilot out of the cockpit, preventing him from falling along with the fighter jet.

Meanwhile, the pilot of Aircraft Thirteen also realized something was wrong.

He opened his parachute in midair and saw two aircraft falling together below him. Yet there was no second report of battle damage over the radio, so he hurriedly called for help.

"Aircraft Seven collided with me and is falling! He has no signal! He may be under enemy pursuit! Requesting rescue! Mayday! Mayday!"

The more passionately he had shouted for attack earlier, the louder he now shouted for Mayday.

Soon, Leon heard aircraft diving down through the clouds one after another. Clearly, the remaining fighters were all heading to the rescue.

He wore a strange expression.

"Looks like this exhibition match ends here?"

Then he looked down at the pilot dangling from his hand. Thoughtfully, he landed, set the man down on the ground, and flew toward Los Angeles.

"Good luck, buddy."

The fighter formation was busy rescuing people. Although command saw Mark II leaving through satellite imagery, they knew it was already too late to pursue him and could only slam their fists against the table in frustration.

"Damn it! We let them get away!" Ross raged helplessly. "Send out more Air Force squadrons!"

"It's too late, General." Rhodey bluntly analyzed from the side. "Based on the acceleration he displayed several times, we can't catch him now."

"Fuck!"

Elsewhere, Leon met up with Tony.

The two of them flew back to the seaside villa together.

Given the Mark armor's size and speed, as long as satellites did not capture them, no one could track them back home.

And with JARVIS keeping watch for satellites, the two flew at a leisurely pace.

"I didn't use any weapons, right? Just like you asked—no direct conflict, and no casualties."

Leon said, "But after watching what I just did, don't you feel like you got taught a lesson?"

He deliberately emphasized Tony's feelings.

After all, this whole trip had been about showing off in front of Tony.

He had been planning this for a long time.

Still, he had also been considerate of Tony.

After all, Tony was still fairly close with many people in the military, and he would most likely reveal his identity as Iron Man later on.

So, to avoid Tony falling out with the military, Leon had followed Tony's instructions throughout and had not attacked first.

In the end, he had even saved a pilot.

"...Not bad."

Tony was momentarily speechless, because he truly had found it astonishing.

JARVIS had been transmitting Mark II's footage to him in real time.

Leon's precise control over speed, timing, and direction was something Tony could not achieve yet.

Tony had not even considered that armor combat could be as agile as Leon had made it look.

After all, he had only just gotten the hang of it and had not flown many times yet. He only felt that Mark armor ought to be controlled the way Leon had controlled it. It was unbelievably cool.

Of course, Tony could never admit defeat out loud.

"You used your own powers just now, didn't you? It had to be that." Tony deceived himself.

"Absolutely not. JARVIS knows everything inside Mark II. He can vouch for me." Leon presented his evidence.

JARVIS immediately cooperated. "Yes, sir. Young Master Leon only operated the armor throughout the entire encounter. All data remained normal."

Tony naturally knew that was true. He was merely being stubborn.

"But you took down two fighter jets. You didn't resolve things peacefully, so it still wasn't that great."

Leon happily teased Tony. "I neither used weapons nor attacked first. Their mistakes are somehow my fault? Tony, you're not this strict with yourself."

"Fine, fine, my dear Leon. Since you prepared dinner for me, I'll admit that this time, you were better." Tony raised both hands in surrender.

"Thank you for the compliment. As long as you keep working hard, Tony, one day you'll be as outstanding as me."

Leon immediately wore a thoroughly satisfied expression.

"By the way, what dinner were you talking about?"

Tony looked stunned. "Don't tell me you didn't prepare dinner. I'm so hungry I could eat every cheeseburger in Los Angeles."

"Actually, I didn't cook. Right after finishing the power test, I went to save our soldier Tony. I didn't have time to make dinner." Leon gave Tony an answer that disappointed him.

"Then let's order takeout." Tony offered a suggestion.

"Agreed. While we wait for the delivery, maybe you can take the chance to tell Rhodey that the metal man who had the military running around like headless chickens today was you."

"Why tell him?" Tony did not understand. "That would expose my identity!"

"With your flashy style, you'll be exposed sooner or later. You might as well give Rhodey a heads-up in advance, so he can prepare himself and help cover for you."

"Oh! That actually makes some sense, Leon. Since when did you understand this stuff? Did you learn it from scheming against little girls at school?"

"I learned it when I was stopping you from bringing strange women home as a kid!"

"Then you really should thank me..."

The sounds of their conversation gradually faded into the wind.

Under the orange-red sunset, the sea rose and fell like maple trees in late autumn. In its reflection, three armored figures flew together into Stark Mansion.