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"I, Jack." Jack spoke lightly, almost casually, yet his voice carried across the enormous Stark Industries Expo hall as if it possessed an unnatural weight.
"Jack?" Tony Stark's brows pulled together. The name echoed somewhere inside his memory, faint yet nagging, like a half-remembered dream. He couldn't place it. Not from business. Not from weapons deals. Not from the press. Still, something about the man standing before him unsettled him.
Before Tony could speak again, murmurs rippled through the audience.
"Tony, blast him!"
"Who does this guy think he is?"
"Turn into Iron Man!"
"Crush that lunatic!"
The sea of spectators—moments ago intoxicated by fireworks, lights, and spectacle—had shifted. Excitement curdled into agitation. The Expo thrived on awe, but this interruption felt wrong, intrusive, hostile.
Tony narrowed his eyes at Jack. "You know my father, Howard?"
Jack smiled faintly, lifting the champagne glass Tony had offered him earlier. "Naturally. From the first glance, I could tell. Your father loved grandstanding. That charming disease clearly passed to you. Though," he tilted his head slightly, eyes gleaming with mock admiration, "you've surpassed the master."
Tony's expression hardened. He didn't like strangers analyzing him. He especially didn't like strangers doing it on his own stage.
Several security guards stormed forward.
"Sir, step away immediately!"
"You're coming with us!"
"Hands where we can see them!"
Jack sighed. "People today really lack manners."
The guards lunged.
Then froze.
Their bodies locked mid-motion, muscles rigid, eyes widening in terror. They couldn't move. Couldn't breathe properly. Couldn't even scream at first.
"What—what's happening?"
"I can't move!"
"What did he do?!"
A sharp silence swept the hall.
Tony's heart skipped a beat.
That wasn't technology. That wasn't stagecraft. That wasn't anything he understood.
Jack walked past the immobilized guards as if they were statues. His shoes clicked softly against the polished stage floor. Each step felt slow, deliberate, dominating.
Tony's instincts flared.
He spread his arms.
Mechanical rings unfolded beneath his feet.
The Iron Man Armor deployment system activated.
The crowd erupted.
"Iron Man!"
"Iron Man!"
"IRON MAN!"
Tony's familiar confidence returned like armor before the armor itself. The suit clamped onto him piece by piece—metal embracing flesh, identity locking into place.
Iron Man faced Jack.
"Last chance," Tony said coolly. "Surrender. Otherwise, you're leaving here in restraints."
Jack's smile widened. "That iron sheet of yours does look impressive. The arrogance it inspires must feel wonderful."
Tony chuckled inside the helmet. "Particularly wonderful when punching idiots."
Jack shrugged. "I was thinking the same thing. Except I'd be the one standing."
Iron Man charged.
A fist shot forward with hydraulic force.
Jack's hand rose.
Caught it.
The impact should have shattered bone.
Instead—
Nothing.
Iron met flesh.
Flesh did not yield.
Tony's eyes widened inside the HUD.
"How is that possible?"
Jack leaned slightly closer. "That little strength?"
Tony's disbelief morphed into anger.
Inside the suit, he barked, "JARVIS! Analyze!"
"Sir," JARVIS replied, voice tight with digital caution, "the previous attack did not register as a physical phenomenon. Data insufficient. Recommend extreme caution."
Tony clenched his jaw.
Jack's eyes flashed.
Invisible pressure slammed into Iron Man.
A Thought Power strike.
Iron Man flew backward.
Crashing through a decorative stone column.
The explosion of debris sent screams tearing through the hall.
People scattered in panic.
Tony staggered upright, smoke rising from damaged plating. Parts of the armor flickered. Warning lights danced red across his vision.
"You…" Tony growled, voice now stripped of showmanship. "You've really pissed me off."
Jack simply watched.
Calm.
Unbothered.
Amused.
Tony lifted his arm.
Repulsor cannon charging.
White-hot energy condensed.
He fired.
The beam screamed toward Jack.
Stopped one meter away.
Hung suspended.
Then—
Reflected.
The blast hammered Tony's chest.
Iron Man crashed again.
Harder.
The hall dissolved into chaos.
Jack lifted his hand slowly.
A giant fireball forming above his palm, pulsing like a newborn sun.
"Run!"
"RUN!"
"GET OUT!"
The crowd surged violently. Bodies collided. People tripped. Others screamed. Fear spread faster than fire.
Jack released it.
BOOM.
The Expo hall became an inferno.
Steel melted.
Glass vaporized.
Screams vanished into flame.
Outside, sirens wailed.
Police flooded in, weapons drawn.
Gunfire thundered.
Jack vanished.
Reappeared beside Alice and Ada.
"That group is yours."
Alice's lips curved coldly.
Ada's eyes gleamed.
Gunfire answered gunfire.
Police fell.
Iron Man staggered to his feet amid smoke and destruction. His mind raced. Pride burned. Rage simmered. Who was this man?
"Jack…" Tony muttered.
"Calling me?" a voice whispered behind him.
Tony spun—
Too late.
Jack's fist smashed into the helmet.
Iron Man tumbled across the ground.
The mask cracked.
Fell away.
Tony Stark's bloodied face emerged.
Jack stepped closer. "How does it feel?"
Tony pushed himself up, trembling yet defiant. "Feels great. Feels fantastic. AAAH!"
He unleashed another reactor blast.
Jack disappeared.
Reappeared instantly before Tony.
Hand closing around Tony's throat.
Lifting him effortlessly.
Tony's breath hitched.
Jack's eyes were cold now.
No mockery.
Only dominance.
"Feeling small?" Jack murmured. "Superhero?"
Tony gasped, "You… will regret this…"
Jack dropped him.
Then crushed his chest with a foot.
"Regret?" Jack said softly. "No. Because what I'll give you is far worse than death."
Tony's eyes burned with fury.
Humiliation.
Hatred.
A vow forming silently:
I will destroy you.
Even if it took everything.
Even if it took forever.