Tony was flying through the air when a robot a size larger than him grabbed his leg and swung him hard toward the ground.
Rhodey reacted quickly, flames blasting from the thrusters beneath his feet as he slammed straight into Tony.
The three robots tangled together in midair, then spun apart.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three crashes of steel hitting the ground rang out from three different directions, leaving even Su Zhou dumbfounded!
Su Zhou: (•'╻'•)꒳ᵒ꒳ᵎᵎᵎ
Damn, those three big hunks of iron were tough!
They had just knocked sparks of love out of each other!
Tightening his grip on the Adamantium Blade, Su Zhou moved like a ghost, using the botanical garden's trees and rocks for cover.
Following a stream through the botanical garden, he crept toward the biggest hunk of iron!
Aside from a few dim streetlights, the botanical garden had almost no other sources of light.
But with [Super Vision], Su Zhou could see everything as clearly as if it were daytime.
Bzzzt-crack!
A bolt of deep blue lightning shot toward Su Zhou, pulverizing every obstacle in its path.
[Bullet Time] activated!
Su Zhou sidestepped the lightning, but forgot that he was standing in the stream.
The lightning hit the water, and a powerful electric current surged into Su Zhou's body.
His muscles instantly tightened, immediately bringing back the sensation he had felt when he was injected with the serum.
Boom!
Su Zhou's vision went black as the electricity sent him flying, black smoke trailing from his backside.
"Su Zhou! You think I don't know about your abilities? If it weren't for you,
that weakling Tony would've died at his dear uncle's hands long ago, and I wouldn't have had a chance to take my revenge!"
Ivan was covered head to toe in Iron Man Armor, brandishing two electrified steel whips.
Unlike in the movie, however, he hadn't taken off his faceplate.
Apparently, this second-generation villain also knew how Iron Monger had died!
"Who's a weakling?!"
Tony appeared behind Ivan, his thrusters firing at full power as he threw an all-out right hook at him!
Clang!
His fist struck the faceplate, once again knocking out sparks of love!
But Ivan casually grabbed Tony's leg again and slammed him into the ground.
While Tony was still stunned, Ivan planted a foot on his chest.
His foot even transformed, locking Tony firmly in place!
"Tony, your suggestion was excellent! The reactor's rotation speed has increased considerably!
Otherwise, this suit of mine wouldn't have nearly this much power!"
By now, Ivan felt invincible. The armor Tony wore was clearly the latest upgraded version.
Yet he was still no match for Ivan, and Su Zhou, the agent with unerring marksmanship, had also been dealt with.
Only Rhodey, upgraded by Hammer Industries, remained. What trouble could he possibly cause?!
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
A barrage of rotary machine-gun fire struck Ivan's armor, showering it with countless sparks.
The first thing Rhodey did after getting up was use his various weapons to rescue Tony.
Every weapon on his body capable of firing opened up, but not a single bullet could penetrate Ivan's armor!
Still, the impact of the bullets made Ivan stagger, lifting the foot pinning Tony slightly.
Tony seized that rare opportunity, firing all his thrusters and escaping from beneath Ivan's foot.
He even turned back and hit Ivan with a repulsor blast, forcing him back several more steps and raising a plume of black smoke.
But before he could fly far, an electrified whip pierced the rising smoke and wrapped around Tony's neck!
"Tony Stark! Don't even think about running!"
Ivan caught Tony in midair and yanked him down from the sky again.
Slammed so hard he was seeing stars, Tony felt as if he could see his dead father.
He pointed at the Arc Reactor in Tony's chest and said, "Remember to collect the Nobel Prize for me!"
Tony: (´ཀ`)
Damn Su Zhou, dismissing all my hard work outright.
I made this! I did!
Crack!
Unaware that Tony still had the leisure to think about such things, Ivan lashed his other whip at the approaching Rhodey.
Rhodey instinctively dodged. His body avoided it, but the machine gun mounted on his back didn't, and it was whipped into scrap metal.
The mechanisms in the hand of Ivan's armor rotated, rapidly retracting the steel whip.
Then it struck again like a venomous snake, coiling around Rhodey's neck!
Rhodey felt electricity coursing through his entire body, and the armor's entire control interface filled with red warnings.
They lit his dark face bright red too... though it wasn't particularly obvious!
"Tony, he's got me too. The suit's throwing errors like crazy. Got any ideas?"
"I've got even more errors and warnings over here. Want to take a look?!"
Tony's situation was much the same. Although his armor had been upgraded,
his palladium poisoning had forced him to stop much of his recent research.
He hadn't yet had time to reverse-engineer the alien technology obtained from the alien spaceship.
Otherwise, he could have upgraded his armor again, and then he wouldn't have had to fear Ivan's whips.
Rhodey realized they couldn't keep this up. The armor's neck defenses hadn't been particularly strong to begin with.
The electrified steel whip was already damaging his armor, so he thought of a move that would take them all down together!
"Looks like I'll have to blow this guy up with my 'Ex-Wife'! Hopefully our armor can take it!"
"What the hell? 'Ex-wife'?! You got married and divorced?!"
Tony had no idea what Rhodey meant and looked over at him.
He saw a small missile launcher rise from Rhodey's armor, and a cigar-sized missile ignited.
Trailing thick black smoke, it shot toward Ivan as Tony watched in horror.
Rhodey's "Ex-Wife" struck Ivan's armor, then spun down into the water.
After giving off a few electrical sparks, it went out completely!
"Rhodey! Your 'Ex-Wife' really sucks! Did Justin Hammer install that for you?"
"Yeah..."
"But you reminded me of something. I've got a good idea!"
Tony aimed his repulsor at Rhodey and shouted over the radio:
"Raise your hand!"
"Don't you dare! What if you blow me up?!"
Su Zhou's voice suddenly came over the radio as he appeared behind Ivan.
The Batman cowl on his head was gone, and his entire face was blackened.
His formerly immaculate hair had become an afro, making him look like a Black brother from Wakanda!
Ivan twisted slightly inside his armor. When he saw this budget African version of Su Zhou, his pupils abruptly contracted.
"How can you still be alive without armor protecting you?!"