The invisible Luke suddenly stopped moving.
Christina reminded him that the remains of the surrounding steel soldiers had moved unusually, and she judged that the countdown for self-destruction had started.
Luke remembered that at the end of Iron Man 3, Ivan Vanko triggered the self-destruction of all the Iron Soldiers, setting off a massive fireworks display.
Unexpectedly, after Ivan Vanko died, he had also triggered the self-destruction automatically. The preparations were quite thorough.
"Tony, although I want to beat you up right now, I suggest you go save your friends first. These iron soldiers are about to explode," Luke communicated to Tony.
Tony had just stood up from the ground and was shocked when he heard that. "Pepper!"
Without saying another word, he soared into the night like a rocket, turning into an arc of light as he flew toward the exhibition venue at high speed.
Luke glanced at Rhodey, said nothing, then took off and chased after Tony.
Rhodey stood there in a daze for a moment.
He felt that following them would be pointless since he couldn't help. Moreover, he hadn't yet figured out the situation between Tony and the apostles, so he shouldn't intervene rashly.
But he couldn't not follow. He was the only military spy here, and he had received more than one call from the higher-ups asking what had happened tonight.
In the end, Rhodey had no choice but to fly back to the venue.
In the Sky
The communication screen suddenly displayed Black Widow's reproachful face.
"Luke, what are you doing? The mission is over."
"Sorry, Aunt Natasha. Hello, bye!" Luke decisively cut the call. If she called again, he would reject it.
Inside Hammer Industries, Black Widow held her forehead, suffering from a terrible headache.
She hadn't expected that after everything was settled, Luke would actually attack Tony. How much hatred was there between these two guys? Why did they always end up fighting whenever they met?
Forget it. She'd leave it to the boss. She pulled out the communicator and contacted Nick Fury.
In the original timeline, Tony had barely managed to save Pepper, who was standing next to the wreckage of an Iron Soldier.
This time, with Luke's reminder, Tony had more time.
After spotting Pepper from the air, Tony swooped down, scooped her up, and landed on the roof of a nearby building.
Just as Pepper was about to vent her frustration, Tony interrupted, "Stay here and don't move."
Then, he shot into the sky again.
At the same time, Rhodey also landed on the rooftop and opened his mask.
Just as Pepper looked confused and Rhodey hesitated, a massive figure streaked across the sky and slammed Tony down to the ground!
"Oh my God—" Pepper covered her mouth, eyes wide in shock.
Rhodey opened his mouth slightly and decided that, for the sake of his own life, it was best not to get involved.
On the Ground
Luke stood up and immediately turned fully invisible again.
Tony barely got to his feet before an invisible giant fist slammed into him, sending him crashing to the ground again. He bounced several times before landing, then quickly took off into the air.
"Jarvis, analyze the environment and find him!" Tony said seriously.
"Analyzing now, sir."
Tony knew invisibility wasn't flawless. Although the body disappeared, the surrounding environment wouldn't change accordingly. The smallest clue could expose the target's position.
"Found him, sir."
After all, Jarvis was a semi-artificial intelligence running on a supercomputer. By calculating ground temperature differences and subtle changes in light and shadow, he simulated a rough outline of the target and displayed it in front of Tony.
On the simulation screen, the six-meter-tall War Lord was like a massive ghost, lurking in a dimension no one could see.
Tony raised both hands and fired arc pulse cannons at the ground simultaneously.
On the Ground
"Exposed?" Luke thought to himself. He really is Tony Stark.
He pulled the joystick, commanding the War Lord to raise its massive mecha sword and block with the broad side.
"It's a pity I didn't pull out the block from the magic box this time."
A slight vibration came from beneath his feet as the giant sword absorbed the kinetic energy from the pulse cannons.
Luke stopped bothering with invisibility. The mech bent its legs, and the powerful force launched the War Lord into the air, appearing right in front of Tony.
Boom!
The mech's giant sword swung, slicing through the air with a sharp gust of wind.
The superior performance of the Mark VI armor allowed Tony to dodge the direct strike, but he hadn't accounted for the sword energy.
Hit by an invisible shockwave, Tony heard a loud bang in his ears and was sent flying, crashing hard onto the ground.
Boom!
The War Lord followed immediately, descending from above with another devastating slash!
The two landed in a square, surrounded by dazzling fountains and bright lights. But the place was now deserted—everyone had run away long ago.
A few hundred meters away, some brave tourists and reporters lingered, capturing the battle with their cameras.
The perfect battlefield.
What happened when a 6.5-meter-long, 1-meter-wide mecha sword was swung down with full force by a 6-meter-tall war machine?
The result was a crack several meters deep and half a meter wide!
Half of Fountain Street was split in two!
Tony barely dodged, but he was shaken as he stared at the massive sword.
"Jarvis?"
"Sir, that appears to be some form of energy wind. It is invisible, but not impossible to predict."
"Show it to me."
On Tony's HUD, Jarvis simulated the War Lord's attack range—it was ridiculously wide. Anyone within a dozen meters could be hit.
"Hit! Kill! Smash!"
Ross's excited voice rang in Luke's ear.
What it wanted most was for the apostles' power to be displayed before the world.
Luke's expression was focused, adrenaline surging.
Tony switched to long-range attacks. He abandoned close combat and started unleashing arc pulse blasts non-stop.
But the War Lord's adamantium coating absorbed the energy with ease.
"Sir, the opponent is using adamantium," Jarvis reported.
"Great. That makes things harder," Tony muttered.
Luke knew brute force alone wouldn't break Tony's vibranium-enhanced suit.
Neither could break the other's defense.
It was time to bring out some real power.
Tony's Mark VI suit only had a small amount of vibranium. He wasn't Black Panther—he didn't have a mine at home. Even with his wealth, vibranium wasn't for sale.
Likewise, Luke's armor was only coated with adamantium. Severe kinetic shock would still cause internal damage.
Both were getting frustrated.
"Excalibur!"
Luke swung his sword, unleashing a Shura Evil Light Slash.
It missed Tony but sliced through the exhibition hall's roof. The structure groaned and collapsed with a loud bang.
Tony's arc reactor flared. A thick, powerful energy cannon blasted the War Lord, knocking Luke to the ground.
But the next moment, Luke got up and countered with 24 Phantom Sword Dances!
The battle reduced the entire square—fountains, sculptures, and pavement—to rubble.
Tony, who was "so poor all he had left was money," didn't care.
Luke figured S.H.I.E.L.D. would compensate for the damage.
Pay for it himself? Sorry, no money! Go ahead, sue him for child abuse!
"EXCALIBUR!!!"
A colossal sword energy wave, over ten meters wide, swept toward Tony.
"Jarvis, focus all of the Ark Reactor's energy on me!"
A massive magic energy cannon fired back.
The two forces collided!
A visible shockwave rippled across the city.
Glass shattered in surrounding skyscrapers.
The battlefield was left in ruins...
Arctic Circle – Classified Location
This was a historic day.
Nick Fury stood before the frozen body of Captain America, Steve Rogers, watching as a machine salvaged his iconic star-spangled shield.
A smug grin formed on Fury's dark face.
"The kid actually asked me for this shield? Doesn't he know it's inseparable from the Captain?"
Then, his communicator buzzed.
"What did you say?! He and Tony are fighting again??"
Fury's face darkened.
The future Avengers weren't even assembled yet, and they were already at each other's throats.
It was time for a serious talk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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