[BONUS CHAPTER]
Tony fell to the floor, grinding across the ground. "That was closer than I'd hoped it would be," he muttered to himself, and he started to get up with a plate from his leg missing and his trousers burned off.
"So close," mumbled Whiplash.
"We have him on the ropes; let's finish this quickly," added Firepower, slowly landing next to Whiplash.
"Agreed," replied Whiplash, swirling his whips around him.
Firepower lifted his arm and started to spray the area with bullets as Tony began to fly into the air. He didn't make it far as Whiplash threw his whip, catching Tony's leg and keeping him from getting away. Firepower lifted his arm, pointing his gun back towards Tony.
A compartment on Tony's shoulder opened and fired a rocket towards Firepower's gun, blowing it off along with the rest of the arm, revealing wires and Taggert's arm, followed by the sound of it crashing to the floor.
"SHIT!" yelled Firepower.
"DON'T FUCK IT UP NOW!" badgered Whiplash, slowly inching across the ground as Tony continued to try and thrust upwards. Using his other whip, he wrapped it around Tony's neck before yanking him to the ground again.
Through the small dust cloud, a repulsor beam caused Whiplash to fall and slide on the ground as Firepower started to throw a car towards Tony, who fired a missile in response.
As the car exploded only a few metres in front of him, Firepower, in his hulking suit, charged through the ball of flames towards Tony. He tried to fly back up in the air, but Firepower managed to grab his leg and throw him to the ground.
As Firepower tried to slam his foot on Tony, he fired a repulsor beam, landing on Firepower's exposed arm, causing him to scream in pain as his arm became red and black. Tony rolled sideways as the large foot slammed into the ground, creating a small crater.
Tony got up to his feet and ripped open the helmet from Firepower as the nails binding it together clinked on the floor. Firepower used his other arm to punch Tony away, but he still stood strong as his fear started to show on Taggert's face.
"I told you no second chances, Taggert," Tony stated, lifting up his arm and shooting bullet holes that threw Taggert's head as the suit fell to the floor and a puddle of blood quickly grew.
"That idiot," said Whiplash while walking towards Tony, coming to a stop a few metres from him.
"You should have chosen a better playmate," joked Tony.
"I didn't have a choice, but even I thought he would be better than this. Such a beautiful piece of equipment was wasted on a man like him." replied Whiplash.
"You need to get better taste," replied Tony, lifting his arm, only for it to be wrapped in a chain of lightning followed by a strike across his chest, leaving a black mark.
A flurry of strikes from Whiplash's whips were directed towards Tony, and every time he tried to strike back, his arm would entangle and yank away. Eventually, Scarlotti wrapped one of his whips around Tony's exposed leg, causing it to burn and sizzle while Tony groaned in pain.
"Now this is fun," said Whiplash, giggling a little.
While the whip stayed in place, Tony tried to get back up to his feet while the searing pain grew worse and worse. He fell back to the ground, starting to yell in agony while Whiplash giggled.
Tony raised his chest, and his arc reactor began to spin around faster and faster before unleashing a beam that forced Whiplash down the street with immense force, causing him to crash and roll for what seemed like ages across the ground.
Tony was breathing heavily and took a while to himself as small drops of blood trickled from his burn, the smell of burnt flesh all around.
Whiplash groaned while getting back up and cracking his neck, starting his march towards Tony. "I thought you could only do that once," he stated.
"I made a couple of improvements," replied Tony, getting back on his feet.
"I saw, very fine work," replied Scarlotti.
"I'm not sure how to feel about a crazy man with electric whips complimenting me after he almost killed me," replied Tony.
"You should be honoured!" exclaimed Scarlotti as he started to crackle his whips against the ground. Whiplash began another flurry of strikes across Tony's suit, aiming for his exposed leg periodically, which resulted in a loud groan from Tony every time.
Tony's shoulder compartment opened again, sending a missile towards Whiplash, who disappeared in a ball of fire and smoke. A powerful strike landed on Tony's helmet, and Scarlotti's image became clearer as the smoke cleared.
Some damage had been done to his suit, but not enough to reveal his body. He had small burns across his arm, not protected by his suit.
"I made a few changes myself, you know," stated Scarlotti, his whip now surrounding Tony's neck. "You can't imagine how much I've dreamed of this; it's been a long time coming, alright," he added, grinning.
Tony kneeled on the ground, placing his arm on his knee and pointing towards Whiplash with his hand closed.
"I never expected you to give up; you know I'll kill you no matter what, right?" asked Whiplash.
"You know your problem. You're a bit like me—arrogant. However, unlike you, I have the brains to back it up," replied Tony as a compartment opened from his arm placed on his knee and a sharp piece of metal pierced through the partially broken plate of Scarlotti's suit as blood poured outwards.
Scarlotti fell to his knees, holding the metal spear that had gone right through his suit, with blood dribbling down his chin and even more dripping to the floor.
"I didn't expect that," he said while coughing up blood.
"I thought about removing it a few weeks ago; thank you, Miss Potts, for keeping me preoccupied," replied Tony, falling to the ground while holding his injured leg.
"I got too carried away again, it would seem. You'd think I'd learn my lesson," replied Scarlotti, letting out a small laugh. A cough of blood soon followed.
"You almost got me this time," replied Tony.
"I may not have been able to get the better of you, but your karma will catch up to you eventually, Mr. Stark. You'll soon learn that not even you can cheat the death that awaits you. Have fun while you can stark. I'll root against you from hell," Scarlotti explained, giggling at the end before becoming silent.
The life in his eyes gone. As his corpse fell to the ground.