Inside the lab, John slowly opened his eyes.
"It's finally done. But I never thought it would be this difficult. As for the other two runes, I can only wait," he muttered to himself.
That's right—John had succeeded in inscribing one of the three new runes, which turned out to be of the metal element.
From his previous experience, John had suspected it would be metal, but he wasn't entirely sure. Now, he was 90% confident that the other two runes were air and thunder elements, though he wasn't 100% certain. Only after engraving them would their nature be fully revealed.
Feeling a little tired, John stood up and headed straight to the kitchen. He made himself a couple of sandwiches.
And a full bottle of milk.
Since his minor breakthrough, John had noticed his appetite growing considerably. While it isn't noticeable now, he is certain that as his strength increased in the future, his appetite would become monstrous.
After filling his belly, John looked around for familiar faces but didn't see anyone. He decided to ask Jarvis.
"Jarvis, where is Tony and the others?"
"Master John, sir is a bit busy at the moment. He asked me to inform you that he will be back later," Jarvis replied.
"Huh..." John was surprised by the secrecy but didn't think much of it. He decided to head down to Tony's lab to check out Mark 3. Because in the end of the iron man movie, it was mark 3 that was used by tony. And John was certain it should have been completed by now.
Upon entering Tony's lab, John only found Mark II. Curious, he asked Jarvis, "Jarvis, did my brother complete the upgraded version of the Iron Armor?"
"Yes, sir. He completed it, but he took it outside for inspection," Jarvis informed.
John began to suspect something was wrong. Turning toward the corner of the lab, he noticed broken glass beside the table scattered on the floor. Realization dawned on him—Tony had gone to Stark Industries sector 16 to save Pepper. That meant he was going to fight the big guy.
'But why would his brother hide this from him?' jhon muttered silently in his heart.
"Jarvis, tell me—did Rhodes come by today? And at what time?"
"Master John, Colonel Rhodes came by 30 minutes ago but left shortly after," Jarvis replied.
"Thirty minutes ago? That means the fight has probably already started. Even if I take a car, I'll be too late," John thought.
His eyes fell on Mark II. However, seeing the missing Arc Reactor, he remembered that Tony had created a next-generation Arc Reactor and given him one for research purposes. John had been so busy he'd nearly forgotten about it.
"Now, this will be easy," John said with determination.
"Jarvis, prepare Mark II for takeoff!"
---
Meanwhile, at Sector 16, Tony had just arrived and spotted Pepper in danger. Without hesitation, he hurtled toward Stane. Who was wielding the minigun on his arm, and was about to let loose a barrage of bullets.
In the blink of an eye, Tony smashed into the Ironmonger, sending them both crashing through a wall into the bowels of Sector 16.
Within moments, they tumbled through another wall and out onto a nearby freeway, colliding and rolling through traffic. A truck was torn apart, swerving dangerously as the two fighters finally came to rest amidst the chaos of oncoming cars.
An unfortunate family wagon screeched to a halt in front of the Ironmonger. Stane, smirking, lifted the car into the air with his massive metal arms.
"I love this suit!" Stane exclaimed, clearly enjoying himself.
Tony, furious at Stane's behavior, shouted, "Put it down!"
To mock him, Stane grinned. "Collateral damage, Tony."
The Ironmonger advanced, preparing to use the car as a weapon. Tony, unwilling to let innocent lives be harmed, ordered Jarvis, "Divert power to chest RT!"
Suddenly, Tony's chest light glowed brighter than ever. A burst of repulsor power shot out, sending Stane flying backward. The Ironmonger crashed onto the bonnet of a nearby car.
Before the car could hit the ground, Tony caught it in mid-air. But in order to put it down Tony had to go with little bit of trouble.
"Power reduced to 19%," Jarvis reported, his tone as calm as ever.
On the other side, Stane stood up from the wreckage, a calm but menacing look on his face. He hurled a motorcycle in Tony's direction, saying, "For 30 years, I've been holding you up…"
As the motor bike hit Tony which made him flung into distance while hitting the ground with a thud. Before he could rise, the Ironmonger stomped on him, the strain on the Mark III beginning to show.
"I built this company from nothing!" Stane bellowed, his anger growing.
He picked Tony up by the neck and sneered, "And nothing's going to stand in my way!"
With that, Stane flung Tony into a nearby bus, smashing through its side. The Ironmonger turned and prepared a missile from a cavity on its back, its red laser targeting the bus.
"Least of all you!" Stane muttered before launching the missile.
The bus exploded in a fiery blast, sending Tony hurtling through the air. His suit, battered and strained, seemed on the verge of collapse.
But Tony wasn't done yet. Righting himself mid-fall, he used his repulsors to hover in the air.
"Impressive!" Stane said, watching Tony's maneuver. "You've upgraded your armor. Well, I've made a few upgrades of my own!"
With that, the Ironmonger began to rise into the air as well, surprising Tony.
"Sir, it appears that his suit can fly," Jarvis remarked.
Tony frowned, muttering, "This just got a lot harder."