From the moment he saw the Shadow Corps mask, Robert understood that the demon king Constantine spoke of was not an interdimensional smuggler, so there was no demon king human vessel or other disturbances involved.
This masked individual had likely acquired the Shadow Corps mask by chance, gaining the ability to control the night bats, but his situation was not as Robert had imagined...
From what Robert knew, those who obtained a Shadow Corps mask were either dominated by the mask's consciousness, letting it dictate actions if they were controlled, or they maintained self-control if they resisted the mask's influence. In either case, the power manifested should be that of the mask.
Yet, while the masked man had shown the ability to control the night bats, the power he used was not the dark energy typical of the Shadow Corps mask. This was why the masked man's aura was colder than Batman's.
The masked man possessed not only the power of the Shadow Corps mask but also a supernatural power of his own! This power was different from the energy of the Dark Dimension, but it seemed the Shadow Corps mask had enhanced his own powers, even allowing him to augment his strength by draining others' blood...
The only explanation Robert could think of was that the masked man was originally a vampire. Even if the night bats summoned by the mask resembled vampires, they shouldn't instill a blood-drinking habit.
Ahead, the masked man fled swiftly, but Tony Stark was not far behind. His latest armor not only possessed nuclear-level combat capabilities but also represented the pinnacle of Stark's armor development before his advancement into nanotech armor in terms of speed and defense.
However, this armor had its drawbacks; notably, it lacked portability and had to be worn from the outset of an excursion. It couldn't be donned or doffed at will, and its considerable weight and significant energy consumption limited its use to just three nuclear-level blasts.
"Dammit! Who are these people? If not for them, I would have absorbed that blood by now!" The masked man, Michael Morbius, felt threatened by Tony's relentless pursuit, preventing him from integrating the blood orb into his body.
"Kill them! Kill them all!" Suddenly, a violent thought surged in Morbius's mind, his eyes flashing with murderous and crazy intent. The mask on his face emitted dark power, subtly influencing him.
"No! They're too aggressive, seems like they're from the same group as that last guy. I can't afford to take risks!" But soon, Morbius regained his composure, clenching his teeth without any intention of stopping, his cautious nature not allowing him to take such a risk. After all, it was his fear of death that had led him to this monstrous transformation.
Morbius, a biochemist, had turned to experimental treatments using bats and electricity to cure a rare blood disease, which instead transformed him into a vampire needing regular blood meals to survive. He called himself Morbius the Living Vampire, distinct from traditional vampires who became such through being bitten.
Morbius didn't mingle with true vampires, fearing that his abnormality would be discovered. He initially lived well despite his pale skin and sensitivity to sunlight, and he felt empowered by his new abilities, such as flight, enhanced physical and sensory capabilities, and rapid self-healing. He thought his only problems would be his need for blood and hiding his appearance.
Unfortunately, his luck ended when he acquired the current mask, thinking it was just a gimmicky mask that could help conceal his facial abnormalities. Once he put it on, he couldn't take it off.
And when he wore the mask, Morbius felt a terrifying consciousness trying to seize control of his body, known as General Barth. Although Morbius managed to retain control of his body, Barth's consciousness severely affected him. Unlike Batman or Joker, who could control or even harness their masks' consciousness, Morbius barely held on.
To try to rid himself of the mask's influence, Morbius sought to enhance his strength by consuming the blood of others, preferably those with supernatural abilities or laden with sin, so he wouldn't feel guilty.
Ultimately, Morbius targeted other vampires like himself, finding a group of reveling aristocrats in the dark corners of the supernatural world. Before he could feed extensively, Clare and Robert discovered him, leading to his current pursuit by Tony Stark...
"Locked on?" After a chase, Tony asked.
"Locked on, sir. Fire?" Jarvis responded quickly.
"Fire!" Tony ordered with a smile, debunking the notion that technology couldn't grasp the supernatural world.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Following Tony's command, a barrage of energy attacks and missiles targeted Morbius, launched not from Tony's suit but called in from his other armors tracking Morbius.
The barrage didn't come from Tony's personal armor because it was meant for direct combat; long-range attacks might miss if evaded by the target, which would be a waste of firepower.
"Boom!" As the assault enveloped him from all directions, Morbius's pupils constricted sharply. He hadn't even noticed when he had been surrounded, a testament to his usually sharp senses for danger.
Unfortunately for Morbius, Tony Stark had Jarvis's computational power at his disposal to pinpoint the attack coordinates. Even if Morbius could react, at best, he could only stop, making him an easy target for Tony, who was closely on his heels. Evading both the assault and Tony's pursuit simultaneously was impossible.
Moreover, Morbius was unable to dodge either the energy or the missile attacks and couldn't escape Tony's pursuit. As Morbius took hits from Tony's coordinated attack, Tony himself closed in, locking onto Morbius amidst the smoke and launching another assault.
"Buzz!" As Tony's repulsor cannon fired once again, the blood orb beside Morbius suddenly expanded, its crimson glow merging into Morbius's body, which then surged forward, reflecting the repulsor blast back towards Tony.
"Boom!" Under the joint control of Jarvis and Tony, the reflected repulsor beam and the blood-charged blast missed hitting Tony's armor, instead exploding against a distant target, creating a tremendous explosion.
"Ah, at this level of combat, it seems impossible to avoid collateral damage…" Tony noted as he observed the destruction in the distance, his form darting towards Morbius. He wasn't about to let Morbius go just because one attack was deflected, especially given his adversary's ability to drain vampire blood.
"Thump!" With a swift motion, Tony's armored fist struck Morbius, who managed to block it with his claw, but the side of the armored fist released an energy wave that instantly exploded Morbius's arm.
The armor had more than just the repulsor as an offensive measure, though Tony preferred that method. In actual combat, Tony used whatever tactic or tool was best suited for the situation.
After Morbius's arm exploded, he staggered backward while Tony followed up, his thoughts racing, "This so-called demon king doesn't seem very strong. Is his power less than the demon king I fought live, or have I reached a level where I can crush him?"
"Don't push me!" As Tony pressed forward, pondering, Morbius's voice rang out angrily, "Compromise? Why should I compromise? If you fully embraced my power, these weaklings would pose no threat!"
"You're just too weak. If you were to truly acknowledge your strength, how could you have ended up in such a plight?"
"What? Schizophrenia?" Tony frowned as he listened to Morbius's alternating voices, wondering.
"Roar!" Following Morbius's words, his aura underwent a dramatic transformation. The chilling power that had previously surrounded him faded, replaced by a dark energy familiar to Robert.
If before Morbius was struggling against the mask's influence, now he had completely succumbed to it, becoming a puppet to the mask's will.
"Ha ha ha ha!" As Morbius's aura completely changed, a maniacal laugh emerged. The voice belonged to General Barth, who had taken over Morbius's body. "Finally, this weakling has surrendered his body to me. It's about time he accepted my power fully. Why resist and make things so difficult?"
"Changed hands?" Tony's alertness spiked as he heard General Barth, but before he could react, Barth's previously withered claws sharpened and filled out, striking fiercely towards Tony's chest.
"Swipe!" Tony barely had time to react as his armor was flung backward, claw marks scratched across the metal of his chest.
However, General Barth was not unscathed. As his claws passed over the metallic material, no damage occurred to him, but when they touched the arc reactor, a terrifying force from it instantly ground Barth's claws down to nothing.
It seemed Barth was in a dire state, having one arm blasted and the other clawless, left with just a bare wrist. But as dark energy surged around him, Barth's injuries visibly healed quickly, his limbs regrowing, whereas the marks on Tony's chest would not just disappear—they weren't made of nanotech.
"This controlled by the mask? His current form seems stronger. The previous version, though demon king level, wasn't as powerful. Was it because he was holding back? No wonder Clare could retreat from him…" Robert mused from a distance.
"Now it's clear, the life under this mask is a vampire, now controlled by the mask and has abandoned vampire abilities. I wonder if Tony can handle it, but no matter, we have healing spells. He won't die, so let him get used to fighting in the supernatural world."
"Hmm? Where's Constantine? He didn't come along? Did he teleport back? Is he that scared? Just because we didn't help him
handle those shadows right away?"
"Whoosh!" As Robert pondered, Tony steadied his armor mid-air and launched another attack on Barth, who was rapidly recovering. He couldn't afford to wait for Barth to fully regain his strength…
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