Congratulations, your surgery was a success

As Lu Wen pressed deeper, more and more Extremis Soldiers surrounded him!

The first man charged up to him, his fist wrapped in searing heat as he swung at his chest.

Lu Wen raised a hand and caught the fist. His fingers tightened with a crack of bone, and he twisted his hand, tearing the entire arm off at the root before slapping the man's head down into his chest.

The current version of the Extremis Soldiers was still imperfect. Severe damage to their hearts or brains would kill them.

The rest surrounded him, and Lu Wen met them head-on! He punched straight through the first man's chest, his hand emerging from his back. The heat scorched his palm red but didn't even break his skin.

A second man grabbed him from the side, orange light burning so hot that the concrete beneath their feet melted. But Lu Wen stood utterly motionless. He reached back, grabbed the man's skull, and crushed the top of his head.

Then a third, fourth, and fifth rushed him together! Lu Wen didn't dodge. He shattered one with a punch, kicked another flying, and swung an elbow back to snap the neck of the one behind him. The sounds of cracking bones ran together as scorched flesh kept falling to the ground.

Someone attacked him from behind. Lu Wen sidestepped while grabbing the man's arm, swung him up, and smashed him into the ground. The body finally broke into two pieces, its orange glow flickering twice before going out.

In less than two minutes, the ground was covered in chunks of fading orange-red light. Seven or eight remained on the outskirts. They no longer charged forward; their feet had already begun retreating.

Lu Wen stood where he was and brushed the charred scraps of fabric off his shoulder. Not even a red mark remained on his skin.

"Aiya~ Who else wants to have a go at Uncle!"

Lowering his voice to imitate Uncle's lines, Lu Wen made a provocative gesture at the Extremis Soldiers opposite him.

Dozens of different models of Mark Armor flew around the docks! Controlled by JARVIS, they targeted every enemy identified.

Even those who wanted to flee because of Lu Wen's brutality were intercepted by the Mark Armors and finished off together!

Watching on the surveillance feed as the achievements he took such pride in were crushed like baby chicks in Lu Wen's hands, Aldrich Killian felt as though his entire world had collapsed.

Glancing aside, he saw Tony flying toward him on the monitor. Waves of scorching heat began rolling off Aldrich Killian's skin.

"Even if I fail today, you won't get to live well either!"

When Tony blasted open the iron door with a repulsor shot, Aldrich Killian, who had long been waiting, lunged at him like a wild beast!

An immense force dragged Tony down, and the tearing began right there in midair!

Although the Extremis Virus was imperfect, it still strongly countered Tony's current armor. The alloy he had spent a fortune creating was like paper against Aldrich Killian's skin, which burned at thousands of degrees.

In just a few minutes, Tony had already gone through three suits.

He had only just put on another suit when he turned around and Aldrich Killian tore through its abdominal armor with a swipe. Several repulsor shots missed as well. Faced with Aldrich Killian's laser-blade-like hands, Tony was forced to abandon the armor and retreat!

That retreat sent his foot into empty air, nearly making him fall! Fortunately, he quickly caught the edge of the elevated platform.

"Tony, haven't you been looking for the Mandarin? He's right here! No doubles. I! Am the Mandarin."

Grinning viciously, Aldrich Killian slowly raised his scorching foot, about to kick down.

Meanwhile, Pepper Potts rode the Glider with Rhodey and picked up the president, who had been suspended in the air. Along the way, she used a few Pumpkin Bombs to blow up the two Extremis Soldiers guarding him.

"Thanks, Pepper."

"No trouble at all. And this thing really is fun! I think I understand Tony now." Pepper sounded cheerful, even making the Glider do a somersault in midair.

She had now completely mastered how to use it.

"That's right, Tony's stuff really is interesting. But you'll have to find somewhere safe to wait for him. I need to get the president out first."

"Okay, see you later." Pepper climbed away on the Glider.

"Mr. President, I'll need my armor back."

After recovering his armor, Rhodey immediately flew away with the president in his arms. Once he reached a safe distance, he glanced back!

"My God, that's brutal."

Besides the armor flying all over the sky and Tony being beaten into dodging everywhere, Rhodey saw Lu Wen harvesting the Extremis Soldiers in a one-sided slaughter, as easily as chopping vegetables.

And apart from his scorched clothes, his skin wasn't even broken! Rhodey knew just how hot those guys were!

They could even breathe fire.

After working with JARVIS to knock the last Extremis Soldier's head off, Lu Wen looked toward Tony.

He happened to see Tony cornered high above, forced to cling tightly to a railing to keep from falling! Meanwhile, Aldrich Killian radiated intense heat as he slowly walked up to Tony, about to stomp down.

The armor wouldn't arrive in time to help. Lu Wen was just about to leap up and save the little mustached fellow when Pepper descended from the sky, swinging the Glider's tail around and ramming Aldrich Killian flying.

"Nice handling," Lu Wen praised.

"That was amazing, honey. I can't imagine what I'd do without you." Standing on the Glider, Tony held his Pepper Potts, his gaze full of affection.

Pepper lightly punched Tony's chest. "Behave yourself. Someone's watching."

They both looked over, meeting Aldrich Killian's face, which was twisted with rage.

Pepper immediately stepped on the button beside her foot. Two Stark Industries micro-missiles launched and exploded at Aldrich Killian's feet.

The crane collapsed with a thunderous crash, blasting the docks below into a sea of fire.

Wearing the late-arriving Prodigal Son, Tony flew down with Pepper, and they stood shoulder to shoulder before the sea of flames.

Suddenly!

A hideously twisted arm reached out of the flames! But it rapidly restored itself within seconds, and Aldrich Killian crawled out of the blaze, his entire body injured by the explosions.

"He's like a damn cockroach!" Tony quipped, raising his hand and blasting two repulsor shots into Aldrich Killian's face before his severe wounds had healed.

Pepper Potts immediately took out two Pumpkin Bombs, activated them, and threw them at Aldrich Killian.

Boom! Another pillar of fire rose. This time, there was no more movement from Aldrich Killian.

Only when the scanner no longer registered any signs of life did Tony breathe a sigh of relief.

Those two hadn't given Aldrich Killian a chance to say a single word! He hadn't even had time to swear.

Standing at the very bottom of the docks, Lu Wen looked up at the two embracing at the very top of the crane, along with the armor fireworks filling the sky... and couldn't resist commenting.

"It's romantic and all, but... this really is burning money in the most literal sense..."

As Christmas morning began, the turmoil caused by a terrorist born of Tony's lust-driven impulse thirteen years earlier finally came to an end.

Those involved were arrested or sentenced as appropriate, while our great heroes crowded into Lu Wen's home and ate cheeseburgers together.

"I don't think 'hero' really suits me." Watching the host on television refer to him that way, Lu Wen took a somewhat awkward bite of his burger.

Rhodey raised his Coke toward the image of the president on television. "Doesn't matter. As long as our president thinks you're a hero, that's enough."

"What should they call you if not a hero? A villain? Then you should've been blown into fireworks along with Aldrich Killian," Tony said with an obnoxious air.

"Oh, screw you~"

Tony's house had been blown up, but fortunately, Baymax had followed his instructions and moved everything valuable to the lowest level of the garage, so nothing much had happened to any of it.

That included the robotic arm Dum-E, who was still doing just fine this time.

So, after handing over the cleanup work to the people sent by the president, Tony brought Pepper, Happy, who had lost weight, and Rhodey to Lu Wen's home, planning to spend Christmas there this year.

Had Tony's psychological problems been cured?

He said they had, but Baymax's medical assessment indicated that health problems still remained.

But Tony had indeed overcome some of his psychological barriers, finally deciding to have surgery to remove the shrapnel from his chest.

Watching Dr. Wu, who bore a striking resemblance to Judy, wheel Tony into the operating room, Lu Wen hurriedly took out his phone to capture the moment.

Lying calmly on the operating table, Tony felt his eyelids grow heavier under the anesthesia. This time, he felt not a trace of panic...

In short, it had been a long time since he had slept so peacefully.

The punch that little bastard had given him last time had left him having nightmares for most of the night! All he asked was that Pepper be the first person he saw when he woke up...

After an unknown amount of time, Tony opened his eyes. Through his blurry vision, he saw Lu Wen's handsome face wearing an incredibly punchable smile as he spoke into his ear like a demon whispering~

"You're awake! Congratulations, your surgery was a success! You're a girl now."

"Holy shit!!!"

Tony's eyes flew wide open. He yanked the blanket away to investigate the truth!

"Whew~ False alarm." Tony let out a long sigh of relief.

That fright had woken him up completely. Turning to meet Lu Wen's mischievous grin at his successful prank, Tony felt a headache coming on.

I knew this kid was nothing but trouble!