Scene: A rooftop of a building 30 meters east of Hammer Tower in Manhattan.
Cast: Blake, Tony Stark
Director: Natasha Romanoff
Writers: Natasha Romanoff, Blake, Tony Stark
"Just got a call from Rhodey. Hammer is at the Air Force base installing weapons on Rhodey's new armor. As soon as we spot Ivan Vanko, Rhodey will take control of the situation."
When Blake and Tony returned, Tony had a long talk with Rhodey. The result: Rhodey, representing the military, received a suit of armor, and the Illuminati gained a new member—War Machine.
"Everything is set. How about you two? Ready, heroes?"
Black Widow's voice floated through their earpieces.
"Of course!" Tony replied with great confidence.
Blake, glancing behind him, nodded and said, "Let's do this!"
"Action!"
Black Widow gave the cue with a light tap on the table.
Boom!
As soon as Black Widow spoke, Tony's suit thrusters roared to life, slamming into Blake's abdomen, shattering the rooftop railing as they both launched into midair.
"Tony, you jerk! I wasn't ready!" Blake roared at Tony while suspended in the air.
"The director already called action, my friend! You need to learn what professionalism means. Remember, we're enemies now!"
As Tony spoke, he grabbed Blake's arm mid-air, spun around, and used the momentum to slam Blake towards the ground with a brutal throw.
Boom!
Visible cracks appeared on the ground outside the Hammer Tower where Blake landed.
"Huh? Didn't go all the way through?"
Tony hovered overhead, thrusters leaving a trail of flames, and the bright white light from his suit's hand repulsors flashed.
Two laser blasts aimed directly at Blake.
"Damn it, Tony! That wasn't in the script!"
Blake muttered under his breath as he rolled to dodge the lasers, then sprinted towards the Hammer building.
Without a word, Tony smashed through the building's glass doors, charging in.
No sooner had Tony entered than a table, grabbed by Blake with both hands, came flying horizontally at him.
Crash!
Glass shattered everywhere, and Tony was slammed hard into a nearby wall.
"You're pretty quick at improvising!" Tony's muttering came through the earpiece.
Tony then stood up, aiming his right hand at Blake.
A script line popped up on the screen inside his helmet, and Tony read it with a wrinkled expression.
"Blake, I trusted you as my best friend, and yet you're negotiating a business deal with that clown Justin Hammer? Do you have any idea how much I hate that pretentious idiot?"
The note beside the line indicated that Tony should deliver it with a sense of betrayal, hurt, and anger, with a slightly angry but also helpless tone.
Despite the detailed notes, Tony's delivery came out flat and emotionless.
A sigh echoed from Black Widow through the earpiece.
Meanwhile, Blake, looking at Tony standing there pointing at him, threw the now empty frame of the table aside with a thud.
"It's just a business deal; it has nothing to do with personal feelings. Besides, we haven't even signed the contract yet! And that's why you threw me out of the sky? I swear, I'm going to kick your—"
"Ahhh!!!"
Before Blake could finish, a girl—likely a receptionist from the first floor—screamed, holding her head, and ran between them, stepping on broken glass.
"—your ass, Tony!"
After the girl ran past, Blake quickly delivered his line.
Watching the scene unfold from the base, where she had hacked into Hammer Industries' surveillance system, Black Widow helplessly covered her face.
"Kicking my ass? I'm Iron Man. Do you really think my armor is as easy to defeat as the junk produced by Hammer Industries?"
Tony once again blandly delivered his line.
And then...
Tick-tock, tick-tock!
The sound of the clock on the wall echoed between them.
A gust of wind blew through, lifting some papers, which fluttered between the two.
"Looks like it's your turn now?" Tony's voice came through the earpiece.
"You changed the script, Tony. I don't know how to respond. That last part you said wasn't in the original lines," Blake whispered into the earpiece.
"Gentlemen! The script is to make your fight seem more realistic. Now everyone on the first floor has already run away. Stop acting and just break in directly!"
Black Widow gritted her teeth, sounding as if she wanted to slap herself. This was the worst decision of her entire spy career, and it was utterly embarrassing.
Meanwhile, in the underground research lab, the tremors from above had put everyone on high alert.
Five super soldiers remained, with only one woman watching over Ivan Vanko's work. The other four joined a group of guards that Hammer had hired from outside, all standing watch at the elevator.
What they didn't notice was that as soon as they left, Ivan Vanko glanced at the female super soldier at the door and smiled. His computer screen rapidly switched to a new interface, and he began typing furiously on the keyboard.
At the elevator.
With a boom, the elevator plummeted down at an unnatural speed, sending a cloud of dust billowing from the doors.
Swish!
The guards immediately raised their guns, aiming at the elevator.
Boom! Another loud noise, and the elevator doors were violently smashed open. A gold and red figure burst through, pushing the doors aside as it charged into the crowd.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The guards instinctively pulled their triggers, but before they could get many shots off, they were sent flying by the impact of Tony's armor and the crashing elevator doors.
Before anyone could react, the ceiling above them rumbled again.
Blake came crashing down from above, and the two of them, like wolves among sheep, tore through the guards with a few swift charges, leaving them scattered on the floor, unable to get up.
Surrounding the underground research facility were hundreds of fully assembled suits of armor, densely packed.
Tony knew these were the suits developed by Justin Hammer in collaboration with the military. He even had detailed information on them. As combat suits, they were actually decent in many aspects, but they lacked power sources and could only perform basic movements when charged.
However, some of the suits had a faint blue glow on their chests.
"Arc reactors!" Tony and Blake exchanged a glance.
They'd definitely found the right place.
Just as they were about to search for Ivan Vanko, shadows flickered, and four burly men appeared in front of them. Their expressions were blank, eyes lifeless, dressed in combat boots and camouflage pants, with only tank tops on their upper bodies.
Super soldiers!
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