A Grand Way to Repent

Before long, a thunderous blast rolled through the air.

Morgan didn't need to look to know Lin Yi was beating that monster senseless.

Each booming blow sent a shock wave rippling toward her, making her heart race.

He was pummeling Aberrant 78, the monster that had hurt Mommy.

It felt so good. Daddy had said Mommy had become a star. Morgan knew now that was a lie, but she still wanted to believe it. Could Mommy see this?

"Morgan!"

Speak of Daddy, and Daddy appeared!

After flying for several minutes, Tony finally reached the battlefield. He landed beside Morgan, his face tight with worry, and pulled her close, breathing hard as he held her little head.

"Daddy!" Morgan squirmed. She had made a terrible mistake and hadn't figured out how to face him yet, but here he was.

"Daddy, look! Lin Yi... the boss is fighting Monster 78!" Morgan pointed into the distance, trying to distract him.

Tony let her go, but instead of looking where she pointed, he stared at her sternly.

He stared until Morgan grew uneasy and lowered her head.

"Daddy, I was wrong..."

Before she could finish, Tony pulled her into his arms again.

"Promise Daddy you'll never do anything like this again. Listen to me, okay?"

His voice trembled with lingering fear. Morgan felt tears sting her eyes and gave a choked "Mm-hmm."

Father and daughter held each other for a while before Morgan remembered something else.

"Daddy, save Little Black and Little Red!"

"Don't worry." Tony's voice had steadied.

JARVIS had already reported Morgan's injuries. Tony didn't know what Lin Yi had done, but her broken ribs were healing before his eyes.

Guided by JARVIS, the belated Drone Swarm arrived, along with more than a dozen highly autonomous unmanned Nano Suits under JARVIS's supervision.

After the two little spider-heroes were hoisted onto drones and carried away, Tony left all the unmanned Nano Suits with Morgan and flew toward Lin Yi, who was still pounding Aberrant 78 in the distance.

Every punch brought another sonic boom. Tony felt the same satisfaction Morgan did. It was immensely gratifying!

"Oh, Tony, you old geezer. You made it!" Lin Yi had been hammering Aberrant 78 for a while, and much of his anger had faded.

"This thing's pretty tough, but it can't take much of a beating." Lin Yi pointed at the barely moving Aberrant 78 on the ground.

He had noticed when he first flew over that it was slowly writhing as its wounds healed. The glowing thing in its chest was flickering, too. His impact at Mach 29 seemed to have nearly killed it.

That impact had hurt Lin Yi himself. This thing was nowhere near as strong as Variant Thanos; it would have been strange if it had survived unscathed.

If Lin Yi hadn't wanted to vent his anger, Aberrant 78 would probably be gone by now.

"Well? Want to get a few punches in? It doesn't have much time left."

Tony looked at the battered Aberrant 78 for a long moment, then suddenly laughed.

His laughter grew louder and louder.

"Lin Yi, you know this thing escaped me once."

"It's fast and incredibly tough. It came to Blue Star three times. The first time, it took Pepper."

"The second time, I blew up every unmanned suit I had and wounded it badly. But it escaped."

"Honestly, it's been years. I can't remember the last time I felt this good."

Lin Yi hummed in understanding. Anyone would want to set off firecrackers at the sight of a hated enemy lying at their feet, barely breathing.

"All right. Have at this one while I bring its brother down." Lin Yi looked up at the sky.

Aberrant 78 and Aberrant 79 had come to Blue Star together, though for some reason, Aberrant 79 had remained in low orbit.

It seemed to be observing. Now, Lin Yi noticed, it seemed ready to flee.

Like hell he'd let it. Brothers ought to lie side by side!

With a hum, Lin Yi took off.

Tony followed his path into the sky. It was a clear day, and the sunlight felt warm on his face.

"JARVIS, the sky's so blue today..."

"Yes, sir. Just like your mood." It looked no different from usual, but JARVIS knew when to flatter him.

"Would you like to fire a few Repulsors to let off steam?" JARVIS suggested.

Tony lowered his gaze. The faint smile on his face chilled as he looked at Aberrant 78.

He gave a cold laugh. "No. Has the Authority Satellite finished warming up? Once Lin Yi brings its brother down, I'm sending them to hell to repent."

"Sir, warm-up is complete. Ready to fire at any time."

The Space-Based Energy Weapon was powerful, but sometimes it couldn't lock on to these monsters at all.

Their senses were extraordinarily sharp. Tony had lost several satellites because of it.

Boom!

High above, a shock wave burst outward, and a tremendous roar reached the ground.

Seen from the moon, Blue Star would have been a spectacular sight: the shock wave swept away a vast expanse of clouds. Lin Yi had cleared the sky by hand.

Tony looked up again and spotted a speck.

It rapidly grew larger. Lin Yi was back.

"That fast?" Tony was startled, then clenched his fist.

He felt as though he had smiled more today than he had in the past year.

"Fast? That's not a word you use to compliment a man." Carrying Aberrant 79, which stood more than twice his height, Lin Yi slowed and landed.

He casually dropped the equally half-dead Aberrant 79 beside Aberrant 78, then dusted off his clean hands.

"There. They're together now. I can sense an energy source—your satellite's still aimed here. Planning to blast them?"

"That's right," Tony admitted readily.

"I said I'd send them to hell to repent someday. I'm going to keep my—promise!" His expression changed on that last word, turning resolute and commanding.

"No objections here." Lin Yi shrugged. This was Tony's grudge, and Aberrant 78 had attacked his wife and daughter. Using an energy weapon on two half-dead monsters might be wasteful, but it made sense.

"Good. Can you keep them here for three minutes? That'll give us time to get clear of the blast." Tony wasn't taking chances, even with both monsters in this condition.

"Get clear?" Lin Yi frowned. "Couldn't you watch from high up? You want to watch from the ground?"

Tony flashed a toothy grin. "Of course. I'll feel the tremor when they fall into hell. It's the ceremony that opens the gates. How could I miss it?"

Well, Lin Yi had underestimated how much Tony hated these two monsters.

Fair enough. He understood. Lin Yi waved a hand. "Don't worry. It's only three minutes. I'll keep an eye on them."

"I'll leave with thirty seconds to spare. They won't have a chance to escape before then."

As he spoke, Lin Yi landed two more thudding punches.

"Okay. Be careful!" Tony didn't waste any more time and flew toward Morgan.

Lin Yi threw a few more thudding punches, but his mind was on something else.

Why can't I open a Portal in this universe?

Strange had been to the Dark Dimension, Lin Yi recalled. He should be able to open Portals.

Is someone targeting me?

Is there something here that can interfere with Dimensional Magic?

Lin Yi couldn't rule it out. When he had flown into low orbit to grab Aberrant 79, he had clearly felt gazes from deep in space grow stronger and lock onto him. Once he returned to the ground, they had vanished.

It wouldn't be strange if one of those powerful watchers could interfere with Magic. After all, Lin Yi wasn't particularly skilled at using it yet.

Once I get back, I need to check my own universe thoroughly for watchers like that. I hope it doesn't end up like this one...