At the Stark Expo, Justin Hammer had planned to outshine Stark with the military's Iron Man Armor and Iron Soldiers. Instead, he had a massive headache.
All the Iron Soldiers had gone out of control, and even the Iron Man Armor piloted by Rhodey was no longer responding.
He wanted to stop them, but his people had been completely locked out of the mainframe and could not access the system.
He could almost see his future turning bleak. Forget continuing his rivalry with Stark-with a scandal this big, the military would probably never buy so much as another bullet from Hammer Industries.
As a businessman, Justin Hammer was competent.
What he cared about was money, not anything else.
That was a good quality.
Even when it came to his archrival, Stark Industries, he had yet to consider sending Iron Soldiers to kill Tony outright.
He had come to the expo to get one over on Tony, who had overshadowed him for so long, and to secure those massive military orders.
As for killing for money, he only wanted the money. He had no intention of killing anyone.
But now everything had spiraled out of control, and Stark Industries CEO Pepper Potts was ready to call the police on the spot.
While Hammer frantically tried to stop the Iron Soldiers, Natasha came over and pinned him down.
Natasha was a professional agent, and computer skills fell within her area of expertise.
After forcing Hammer to reveal Ivan Vanko's whereabouts, she promptly headed for Hammer Industries.
As she drove away, she passed the car John was riding in.
John watched the rampaging Iron Soldiers with interest and could not help remarking, "Now that's talent."
Being able to turn Hammer Industries' Iron Man Armor into Iron Soldiers made Ivan Vanko an outstanding scientist, even if he was not quite Tony's equal.
"May?"
He spotted a familiar face. The woman was anxiously searching for a child as the crowd jostled her about.
"Stop the car."
John gave Ferdinand the order.
"Are you kidding me, boss?" Seeing the chaotic crowd, Ferdinand had no desire to stop there.
John calmly looked at Ferdinand's bald head and said evenly, "As a driver for someone important, what matters most isn't how clever you are. It's how well you follow orders, Ferdinand."
Hearing that, Ferdinand realized he had better do as John said if he wanted to keep his job.
He hit the brakes, stopping right beside May.
"Peter!"
"Ma'am."
John opened the car door and asked with a light chuckle, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"John?" Seeing him was like seeing a savior. May hurriedly grabbed his hand. "Please help me find Peter, with your, uh... magic."
"All right, consider it repayment for helping me last time." John drew his wand and used magic amid the chaos. "Accio Peter."
Little Peter, wearing an Iron Man mask, was also searching for May.
The next second, an unseen force caught his collar and dragged him over.
People saw a child being carried away as if an invisible hand had grabbed him.
But few of the adults running for their lives had the time to investigate.
Peter zipped through the crowd and arrived dangling from John's right hand.
John tapped the mask and chuckled. "I've saved you twice now, little Peter."
May screamed and snatched Peter into her arms. She had been terrified of losing him.
Peter, however, was utterly unfazed. "I just saw Iron Man, May!" he said excitedly.
"You shouldn't have left my side, Peter!" May did not forget to scold him.
Leaning against the car door, John asked May, who was hugging and kissing Peter, "If you don't mind, I can get you a ride home."
"Thank you so much, John."
May agreed without hesitation. With everything in such chaos, getting away as soon as possible was obviously the best choice.
She was about to climb into the sports car with Peter.
John stopped her, looking embarrassed. "Ahem, not this one. That one."
This car only has two seats. If you take one, where am I supposed to sit?
He pointed, and a yellow taxi pulled up. Even its driver had no idea why he had driven over.
May stared at John. "Are you serious?"
John said sincerely, "This car only has two seats, and I don't have a driver's license."
May was puzzled. Why had John been driving a car the first time she met him?
Still, a taxi would do. She took Peter and climbed in.
The bewildered taxi driver did not hesitate. He hit the gas and sped off in the opposite direction.
John got back into the car, and Ferdinand looked at him with newfound respect.
"Boss, from now on, you're my role model!"
Ferdinand swore that even if that beauty was a child's mother, with a face and figure like hers, he would have kicked his own brother out of the car to give her a seat.
John had remained unmoved and even sent her off in a taxi. He was truly an example for men everywhere.
Clearly, anyone destined for great things had a mind far beyond the ordinary.
John gave Ferdinand a strange look. His car only had two seats. Did Ferdinand want to walk home?
Unable to understand what the big Black man was thinking, John glanced at the wrecked Iron Soldiers ahead and urged, "Get moving!"
"Yes, boss!" Ferdinand floored it and nearly ran over an old man with a white beard.
"Hey, this isn't Texas, asshole!" the old man shouted, waving his fist.
The elderly woman beside him caught his fist and complained, "Stan, hurry up."
Only then did the old man let it go.
Apart from being a little reckless behind the wheel, Ferdinand was fine.
At least his driving skills were excellent.
"You're a good driver," John complimented him.
Ferdinand laughed as he took a sharp turn, leaving tire marks on the road. "We Pierces are born naturals behind the wheel. You should see my brother Roman."
"If he drives as well as you," John said with a chuckle, "I wouldn't mind having another driver."
"Then he'd better stay away." Ferdinand shrugged. "I don't want any competition."
"There are more cars than you could ever drive, Ferdinand."
John said it casually, and Ferdinand accelerated.
They arrived at the New York Ecological Park.
Looking at the enormous dome, Ferdinand said, "If I'd had a place like this when I was little, I'd definitely have become a biologist."
John looked up as Iron Soldiers streaked toward the New York Ecological Park in trails of fire and flew inside.
"Don't any of these guys know how to use the front door?" Ferdinand grimaced at the shattered glass.
John headed inside and said casually, "Look after my car. I hope there won't be a single scratch on it when I come out."
Ferdinand made an OK gesture. "No problem, boss. I guarantee there won't be a scratch on it."
He watched John walk inside.
With his hands on his hips, Ferdinand admired the sports car, let out a deep breath, and rubbed his hands excitedly. "From now on, I'll be the one driving you, baby."
He failed to notice another suit of armor flying across the sky.
The difference was that this one had a pilot.
It smashed through the glass and flew into the park.
A short while later, an explosive shock wave erupted inside the park.
Shattered glass flew everywhere. One piece happened to pierce the car's roof and embed itself in the driver's seat.
Ferdinand's smiling face slowly went blank.
Ivan Vanko's Iron Soldiers had failed, so he decided to take revenge himself.
Black Widow, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., infiltrated Hammer Industries to stop him, but Ivan had already donned his armor and flown toward Tony's location.
Having failed to catch Ivan, Natasha simply rebooted War Machine's armor, allowing Tony and Rhodey to join forces and take out the pursuing Iron Soldiers.
After Tony cleared out all the Iron Soldiers with a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spin and laser cutters mounted in both arms, a suit of armor descended from the sky.
The helmet opened, and Ivan stared at Tony. "Good to be back."
Rhodey and Tony looked at their uninvited guest.
Tony told Rhodey, "This isn't good."
Ivan snapped out his upgraded whips. Electricity danced along them, making for an intimidating sight.
Tony had stolen the spotlight by clearing out the soldiers, and his best friend Rhodey was not about to be outdone. "I'm going to use a special weapon on him."
"Let me blow him away with the Ex-Wife."
"With what?" Tony looked stunned.
Since when did Rhodey have an ex-wife? And he was going to use her to blow apart that vicious-looking armor?
The weapons pod on War Machine's shoulder opened, and a missile locked onto Ivan.
Full of confidence, Rhodey fired. The missile streaked toward Ivan with fire trailing behind it.
It struck the armor with a crisp clink, fell into the water, and fizzled out.
Seeing that, Tony asked flatly, "Hammer tech?"
"Yeah..." Rhodey answered quietly.
The unreliable weapon left both men speechless.
Tony decided he would be better off handling this himself.
Unfortunately, his firepower was also insufficient to penetrate Ivan's armor, which was made from military-grade materials.
The battle was poised to erupt.
Ivan struck first.
He swung his twin whips, carving terrifying arcs of electricity through the air.
Five-Strike Lightning Whip.
The first strike separated Iron Man and War Machine.
The second sheared off the heavy machine gun on Rhodey's shoulder.
The third wrapped around Iron Man's lower leg as he took flight and yanked him down.
The fourth caught War Machine directly around the neck, dealing him a crushing blow.
The fifth lashed left and right, winding blue lightning around the two most advanced suits of armor in the world.
The intense electromagnetic interference disrupted their armor's systems, leaving both men unable to break free.
The Five-Strike Lightning Whip had crossed the ocean and successfully proven its worth.
Amid the flashing lightning, Ivan was only one step away from taking his revenge!
Unfortunately, he had still underestimated Iron Man.
Even while restrained, Tony and Rhodey raised their hands toward each other and fired their energy blasts.
The explosion caused by the colliding blasts was about to engulf Ivan.
He flicked both whips, closed his armored faceplate, and swiftly took flight.
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