"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen," Rhodes couldn't help but sigh in marvel when he saw Jarvis' mechanical arms installing the mechanical armor parts on Tony's body. He already knew that Tony was developing new weapons and equipment recently, but he was still stunned when he saw it with his own eyes.
"Keep the skies clear," Tony said to Rhodes, his eyes shining blue, before rushing out of the underground garage. Because of Li Yue, Tony didn't smash a hole through his roof and piano in the first flight test, so he had to fly out through the car exit.
"That's so cool! Next time, I'll definitely get him to make one for me," Rhodes thought enviously at the quickly disappearing Tony.
Tony directly used the titanium-gold alloy for the Mark II due to Li Yue's advice, so there was no unpainted silver armor lying around like in the movie, and Rhodes couldn't say "Next time" to that suit.
Jarvis' voice warned Tony during his high-speed flight to the Stark Industry research building, "Sir, the remaining energy in your Ark reactor is not enough to support you in long-distance flight and battle."
"Jarvis, how long will it take to reach the company?"
"Sir, with your current speed, you will reach the company in three minutes and forty-four seconds," Jarvis replied.
"Jarvis, activate the remote support program for F-HK1 armor. Set the destination for Stark Industries campus and launch immediately," Tony barked a series of orders after contemplating for a moment. He recalled that Obadiah alluded to another set of armor similar to his. It would be hard for him to defeat an armor as strong as his on his own, especially with his current situation, but fortunately, he had listened to Li Yue's suggestions.
"Sir. Activating remote support program...complete. F-HK1 armor has been activated with the aforementioned destination, entering autonomous flying mode. ETA 14 minutes and 38 seconds," Jarvis replied in Tony's ears, making him feel at ease.
"Jarvis, full speed ahead, we have to hurry to the company!" Tony ordered Jarvis. The armor suddenly accelerated, breaking through the sound barrier.
Rhodes was about to leave Tony's villa when he suddenly heard a booming explosion. He looked around in panic, trying to find the source of the sound.
If someone looked down at the villa from the sky, they would find that the roof of the villa was slowly opening to both sides, revealing a dark and deep hole. Within that deep pit, rows of bright lights gradually lit up from top to bottom, showing the content of the hole: a massive metal monster, a suit of armor painted bright red.
The motionless steel armor suddenly lit up with two bright white lights on its head, like a pair of massive eyes, inciting fear and terror.
The metallic giant seemed to have taken a life of its own, raising its huge head and aiming its hands down. Pure white flames ejected from all its limbs, slowly leaving the ground and taking to the sky. It flew out of the hole, heading to its predestined target.
Rhodes was beyond dumbfounded. He watched the entire thing in a daze, the menacing silhouette of the massive monster imprinted deep in his psyche. He no longer had any words to express his shock. What else had Tony done behind his back during the short time after the return from Afghanistan? It was like Rhodes was abandoned by the ages.
Li Yue followed Pepper and Coulson to the entrance of sector 16, accompanied by several more SHIELD agents. Pepper discovered that her top-clearance security pass couldn't open the door to the sector, so Coulson took over and stuck a small disk on the door.
Bang!
Beyond the door was a set of blackened steel armor. This was the Mark I armor that Tony created in the cave.
Obadiah heard the noise from the forcibly-open door. He rushed to plug the Arc Reactor he had snatched from Tony into the chest of his massive armor, breathing life into it with a flash of white light.
"Kill him!"
Li Yue was a bit late to respond, but the special agents they were with were the top elites of SHIELD. They didn't even flinch in the face of a charging steel giant, standing their ground with guns aimed at the mechanical armor.
However, these agents didn't even register in Obadiah's eyes. He simply waved his giant arm; the force would pulverize any human body in the way.
Li Yue sighed before using his superpower to save the daredevil agents. Li Yue was not a saint that would risk his life to save others, but he would save others in danger if there was no risk of him getting injured. At least he would save allies and bystanders.
One of the special agents had resigned to their fate as the steel giant's fist rushed at him, closing his eyes.
Pepper's cry of alarm made him subconsciously fire at the steel giant that chased her, but there was no way for him to fight back or even dodge the steel giant.
He waited for the dark embrace of death, but nothing happened even after a while. He opened his eyes in surprise. All of his teammates surrounded him, but there were only agents. None of them knew what just happened and why they didn't die.
The agents had no idea, but Coulson had watched the events that transpired from some distance away. He had witnessed Li Yue disappear in an instant before moving the agents in front of the steel giant out of harm's way. Coulson's face was filled with utter confusion.
Li Yue returned to his former position, taking less than a second to finish teleporting all the agents. If Coulson hadn't known about the precedent with Li Yue, he would've thought that he was seeing things.
Li Yue looked at Coulson's shocked face with a helpless feeling in his heart. He ultimately couldn't keep his superpower hidden.
But so be it. Keeping his superpower hidden doesn't take priority over saving lives.
"Mr. Coulson, I will rescue Miss Pepper first. I will leave this place to you." Li Yue's ability had been exposed, so there was no point in trying to hide it. He immediately disappeared from right in front of Coulson.
Pepper had thought that she was out of danger once she left the building. The call from Tony surprised her, and she immediately barraged Tony with questions.
But Pepper didn't have any leisure to hear Tony's answers. She suddenly felt the ground tremor beneath her before a black steel giant tore the parking lot apart from the ground. The light in its eyes and chest was dazzling, almost like a fiery demon from hell.
"Do you really think you can escape? Go to hell!"
Obadiah aimed the rotary cannon on his armor's arm at Pepper. The barrel of the gun accelerated before high-velocity bullets began to stream out of it, but they all hit the concrete ground, creating a lot of smoke and dust.
Li Yue arrived just in time to see Obadiah aim the gun at Pepper. Tony still hadn't arrived; Li Yue didn't have any time to think. He immediately teleported to Pepper's side and whisked her away. The bullets from the roaring rotary cannon lost their target and destroyed the ground instead, each of them causing a cloud of smoke and dust to arise.
Obadiah watched as Pepper disappeared in front of his eyes, causing all his bullets to miss. He quickly scanned his surrounding before he found Li Yue and Pepper not far away.
"Who are you? How dare you interrupt me? How did you even do it?" Obadiah had so many questions, and he shouted all of them through the suit at Li Yue. There was nobody else that could have interrupted him.
"My identity is not important. More importantly, you should know that villains are defeated by their own loose mouths!" Li Yue replied jokingly.
"What—" Before Obadiah could say anything, he was sent flying by a strong impact.
Tony had arrived, clad in his shining armor!