One Busy Night

By the time Lu Wen arrived, half an hour had already passed since the attack.

The Malibu Estate had been reduced to rubble. Baymax held the two women, his body giving off a warm glow as his heating system ran.

"Sorry, looks like I'm late." Lu Wen jumped off his glider and walked over to Pepper.

"It's all right. This isn't your fault," Pepper said, her voice trembling.

Although they hadn't met many times, they knew each other. Pepper Potts had even handled Lu Wen's identity registration.

"I know, but it seems someone's even later than me."

Sirens sounded, and the various belated emergency personnel arrived one after another.

Lu Wen walked into the villa and looked at the Swarm Robot debris littering the floor, figuring Tony probably hadn't been hurt too badly.

Turning to look at Pepper Potts, who was explaining the situation to the police, Lu Wen decided to take both women away with him in a bit.

He felt that since he was already here, there was no need to insist on following the original plan! Pepper Potts didn't need to suffer through that, and Maya Hansen, torn between morality and evil, didn't need to die so casually either.

She was talented, too. If she could create the Extremis Virus, she should be able to help Tony figure out that Green Goblin Serum for him and eliminate its side effects.

As for whether things on Tony's end would follow the original plan, that wasn't something he could control right now.

So, if Aldrich Killian dared to come looking for them, he wouldn't mind knocking his head off ahead of schedule.

As for his grudge against Tony... what the hell did that have to do with Lu Wen?

The sky gradually darkened. Lu Wen recovered tens of thousands of robots by the sea; the rest might have drifted away with the waves or sunk to the bottom.

He looked back and saw Pepper wearing a damaged helmet. She had probably received a voicemail from Tony.

Once Pepper took off the helmet, Lu Wen went over.

"Well? That mustached guy's still alive, right?"

"Yes, he's fine! But he's going to track down whoever's really behind this. He isn't planning to come back yet." Pepper wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"All right, then. We'll leave this place to the professionals. I'll take you somewhere to rest, and while we're at it, we'll see if anyone's stupid enough to come after you."

On the road into Los Angeles, Pepper drove, Maya sat in the passenger seat, and Lu Wen and a slightly deflated Baymax sat in the back. (Without letting some air out, he wouldn't have fit.)

Pepper booked a hotel suite. She and Maya sat on the bed talking, Baymax sat in front of the bed, and Lu Wen pulled up a chair to wait for his prey to come knocking.

Before long, someone knocked on the hotel room door. Lu Wen controlled the robots on the handle to open it, and two unfamiliar men entered.

Both wore vicious expressions. The moment they saw Lu Wen, their skin began glowing orange-red, and they lunged at him, radiating intense heat.

Lu Wen caught an outstretched wrist in each hand. With just a little pressure, he could hear their bones cracking, along with low growls of pain.

"Hiss-whew, that's pretty hot!"

Even with his current defenses, touching the Extremis Virus soldiers still stung! But it wasn't much of a problem. They were only a little hot, not enough to burn his skin.

"Oh my God, Lu Wen! Are you all right?" Startled by the commotion, Pepper cried out when she saw Lu Wen holding two men who looked ready to explode.

"I'm fine. You two take Baymax and hide. I can handle this."

With that, Lu Wen abruptly stood and shoved the two men back out into the hallway.

Given a brief chance to catch their breath, their wrists rapidly healed. When they saw Lu Wen come out, they immediately attacked again.

But against Lu Wen's absurd strength, their resistance looked so much like playful flailing.

After Lu Wen dealt with their limbs in a few quick moves and tied them into knots, all that remained in the hallway were two orange-glowing balls of men.

Worried these two things might explode here, Lu Wen took out two Pumpkin Bombs, activated them, stuffed them into the balls' arms, and kicked them out the window one after the other!

Two dazzling bursts of fire bloomed in the night sky outside the hotel.

"Done."

Lu Wen clapped his hands, returned to the room, and told the two still-shaken women, "We need to find another place."

Elsewhere, Aldrich Killian received word that the capture had failed and smashed his phone in fury!

Originally, he had wanted to capture Pepper and Maya himself, but the information his men sent him included someone outside the plan.

That young Asian guy who had suddenly appeared during the Battle of New York!

He had analyzed the footage. Even after injecting himself with the Extremis Virus, he might not be able to beat this freak, whose blows carried at least tens of tons of force.

So he had sent two men instead! Although that meant missing the pleasure of capturing his trophies himself, it had the advantage of keeping him safe.

What actually happened also proved that he had been right not to go himself!

"Boss, what do we do next?" one of Killian's men asked.

Lu Wen's appearance had disrupted their established plan.

"Leave those two women alone for now. Take care of the other things first. We'll get an opportunity sooner or later. Keep a close eye on them! For now, let's invite Colonel Rhodes and the president over."

Killian issued fresh orders, preparing to continue with the plan.

Although there were a few flaws, they could still be remedied later, as long as the people he wanted remained alive.

Loving Hospital, Los Angeles-

Two gliders landed steadily on the hospital rooftop.

"Honestly, flying on this thing is a little cold." Pepper rubbed her arms. The wind had left her covered in goose bumps.

Maya had already gone straight to Baymax for warmth.

"Can't help it. You can't wear my flight suit. But it's fine. There's a hospital right downstairs. If you catch a cold, they can treat it."

"Ha-ha... what a cold joke."

Lu Wen shrugged indifferently and gestured for Pepper to lead the way.

They had discussed it before coming. Of the nearby places that were reasonably safe, Happy's was their only option.

Besides, he had traveled by glider without leaving any information along the way, so Killian's people probably wouldn't find them anytime soon!

Happy's private ward was guarded entirely by Stark Industries security. Quietly hiding there until Tony contacted them wouldn't be a problem.

Things were even busier on Tony's end.

After falling into the sea, he hadn't suffered much injury thanks to the Swarm Robots' protection, and his armor wasn't badly damaged either.

It was just that this test model's capabilities were a little lacking, and its defenses were somewhat poor. While controlling the robots to push aside a huge rock on the seabed, he had hit his head and been knocked unconscious.

Fortunately, he had managed to squeeze out before passing out, and JARVIS had successfully brought him to safety.

But once he passed out, all those robots had stopped working too.

After landing in Tennessee, his armor unsurprisingly ran out of power. Still, the hundreds of Swarm Robots that poured out of the two Christmas stockings on the back of his armor gave him considerable comfort.

"If I'm not mistaken, this has to be Baymax's doing."

Tony controlled the robots, combining them into a belt around his waist. They would be his last remaining trump card for now.

While Lu Wen and the others rested in the hospital, Tony had already started following leads on the Mandarin with a boy from the town.

Although the process was dangerous, fortunately, nothing went wrong.

Taking advantage of his inability to sleep, Tony spent a single night more or less piecing together the truth.

After daybreak, he took his homemade equipment and headed off to fight the Mandarin he had tracked down, one-on-one.

Unsurprisingly, Tony was taken down.

Just as Killian was agonizing over his failure to capture Pepper Potts and Maya, his subordinate's report sent him into ecstasy!

When he arrived in Miami and actually saw Tony tied to a spring mattress, Killian grinned so broadly he almost looked like Venom.

But this time, without Maya or Pepper, he had no leverage. Apart from running his mouth, there was nothing he could do.

Seeing that Tony truly wouldn't budge, Killian had no choice but to temporarily abandon his plan to control Stark.

"Just wait. Once I finish another great undertaking, I'll come back for you."

With that, Killian punched Tony hard in the stomach! It was a little payback for all that cold wind he had endured on the rooftop years ago.

"Ow!" Tony spat up a mouthful of sour fluid and swore he would pay him back sooner or later.

After Killian left, Tony stayed quiet for a while. When he heard the alert from his Dora watch, he knew it was time!

The neural sensors he had attached beneath his clothes directed a small portion of the robots around his waist to split off and quietly climb up the ropes binding his hands from behind.

Tony himself began distracting the two guards. When the first piece of armor flew in, the little robots that had long since slipped behind the guards swiftly combined, wrapped around their ankles, and yanked backward!

Once the two guards fell, the little robots on Tony's hands quickly twisted apart the zip ties too!

The moment Tony broke free, he fired two repulsor blasts to finish off the guards.

Now the tables had turned!

Although only the armor for one arm and one leg had arrived, this time Tony had a mass of Swarm Robots that were like bonded beasts. With just a thought, the little robots would pounce on the enemy's face as fast as they could!

With just two pieces of armor and a mass of Swarm Robots, Tony managed to take down every guard around him!