Clearing his thoughts and feeling a surge of clarity, Lynch suddenly experienced a flash of inspiration. He opened his eyes, held his breath, and focused. Instantly, he felt an inexplicable urge flowing between his eyes.
This feeling—no doubt about it!
Although he had never unleashed that "thing" in this world, Lynch just knew that he could.
Overcome with excitement, Lynch struggled to contain himself. His gaze shifted, ready to release that power, but instead of focusing on Iron Monger, his eyes turned to something farther away.
There they were...
Three combat-ready armed helicopters.
Lynch could even see the fully armed and stern-faced American soldiers onboard.
Retracting his gaze, he squinted at Iron Man, studying him.
So, Tony brought reinforcements? Planning to take me down?
A strange feeling rose in Lynch's heart—part anger, part amusement.
The anger was understandable; Tony was backstabbing him before Iron Monger was even dealt with, already preparing countermeasures against him. The amusement came from realizing—maybe this is just who Iron Man is.
Despite his bad temper, arrogance, and constant chatter, he's still the one who, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as a mere mortal, stood up to the Mad Titan and snapped his fingers, sacrificing his life to save half the universe. He truly saved the MCU and Marvel itself.
But admiration aside, if they expect me to surrender to the military? Not happening!
Weakness invites bullying, while strength commands respect.
Even if I have to interact with official forces in the future—whether it's Stark Industries, the military, the government, or even S.H.I.E.L.D.—I must first establish my strength and stance.
Otherwise, I'll be at the mercy of these vast national machines in no time.
Do they think the various violent and security institutions of a superpower are charitable organizations, filled with kind-hearted people?
It's foreseeable—if I naively trust them, the outcome won't be good.
Might as well be tough from the start, make my position clear, and earn respect accordingly.
Of course, this depends on having the strength to back it up.
Contemplating this, Lynch tapped Tony's steel suit and said, "Hey, your friends are here."
Inside the Mark III, Tony already knew through Jarvis that the reinforcements had arrived. Hearing Lynch mention it, he shrugged off the responsibility, "Friends? If you mean those three military helicopters, I wasn't notified of their arrival."
"Really? Then why don't we shoot them down? You wouldn't want them taking you away to dissect your suit, would you?"
"Uh…" Tony blinked, "I don't think that's a good idea. Trust me, the military isn't easy to deal with…"
"Okay." Lynch smiled, "Not easy to deal with, huh?"
He suddenly thought of a certain big green guy who was likely also outwitting the military somewhere.
The military isn't easy to deal with? Well, am I?
As they spoke, the three helicopters surrounded the two steel-clad figures.
"Obadiah Stane, Tony Stark, we order you to cease flight immediately and exit your suits. You have ten seconds; after that, we will open fire…"
A voice boomed from one of the helicopters.
"Ten, nine, eight…"
"I should stop. There's no need for us to clash with the military."
Tony said as his suit hovered and came to a halt.
Obadiah wisely stopped as well, knowing his suit couldn't take much more damage.
From his position on the steel suit, Lynch observed the helicopters at close range. If necessary, one big leap could land him right on top of one.
At that point, an old saying might apply—"Close enough to challenge an entire nation!"
"Report, the targets are not resisting, repeat, the targets are not resisting!"
"Copy, do not open fire unless necessary! Repeat, do not open fire unless necessary!"
"Roger, proceeding with target apprehension."
On the helicopters, the temporary commander was updating Colonel Rhodes on the situation. They didn't want to fire unless absolutely necessary because the military had already profiled Lynch and simulated the scenario. Even if they could take him down, they'd have to pay the price with several soldiers' lives.
No need for that.
So after communicating with Tony, Rhodes intended to take a softer approach to detain him. Once they got him back to the base, even if this guy was a monster, he couldn't cause much trouble. Did he think this was a Hollywood movie? Treating a military base like his backyard, coming and going as he pleased?
At that point, whether it was friendly negotiation, detention, or even dissection, everything would be in their control.
"Don't open fire?"
Lynch muttered under his breath.
"Do they think I'm that easy to fool? That I'll just let them take me?"
"Remain where you are, do not resist, and exit the steel suits!"
As the helicopters issued commands, they inched closer to Iron Monger and Iron Man.
"Tony, are you really going to step out of your suit and let them take you back to their base?"
Lynch asked coldly.
"You need to think carefully—even if you have friends in the military… in the face of profit, what's friendship worth? Especially now that you've shut down your weapons division—do you really think your friendship is still as strong?"
Lynch wanted to persuade Tony to take him back to New York. If he had to swim back alone… who knows what kind of situation he'd face once he reached the shore? It might be something even he couldn't handle…
After all, even though he's a superhuman, he's still just a kid!
Tony was silent for a moment, mulling over Lynch's words.
He was right.
The military is a greedy and ruthless entity. If there's a significant profit to be made, friendship is a joke.
It's not that he doesn't trust Rhodes, but he's only a colonel…
If a higher-ranking general gave a direct order, Rhodes couldn't disobey.
And this steel suit…
As a weapons dealer, Tony knew the value of this as a war asset.
Though currently expensive and flawed, those issues could be fixed.
If it fell into military hands, would they really release him, or would they detain—or even secretly eliminate him—then pin everything on Iron Monger?
Slowly, Tony's expression grew cold and calculating.
He couldn't step out of the suit here!
Doing so would leave him completely at their mercy.
"Lynch, you're right."
Tony whispered.
"Sorry! My suit is damaged—I can't get out right now. How about I follow you back?"
There was a brief silence from the helicopters.
Lynch squinted and listened closely, then grinned.
"Tony Stark, exit your suit immediately, or we will open fire! Repeat, exit your suit immediately, or we will open fire!"
"What the hell's going on?"
Tony's face turned grim as he tried contacting Rhodes again, but…
No response.
The worst-case scenario was happening—he'd dug his own grave.
"Tony, don't be so angry."
Lynch gripped the shoulder of Tony's suit, standing on it.
"I'll handle this—you've never seen a trick like this before!"
"What are you doing? They'll open fire!"
Lynch stood firm, his eyes locking onto Iron Monger in the distance.
"Warning! Stop your actions immediately, or we will fire! Warning!..."
Urgent warnings blared as every weapon aimed squarely at Lynch.
But Lynch's eyes flashed with a power seemingly etched into his genes.
Two terrifying beams of energy shot out, slicing through Iron Monger like it was butter, cutting it into several pieces.
The beams pierced through Iron Monger and shot far into the distance, leaving the suit in fragments as it plummeted into the sea.
"How's that for a magic trick?"
Lynch retracted his heat vision, crossed his arms, and asked with a smirk.
"You call that… a magic trick?"