Chapter 352: Last Words
Inside the Daily Bugle's commercial building studio, Garrett froze for an instant when the yellow-green vortex appeared.
Just that single instant. The vortex had already completely devoured the bomb. Only now did Garrett begin raising his energy staff.
The next second, Iron Man Tony Stark—having exercised patience for far too long—moved.
Feet, legs, back, palms...
Every thruster on the Mark VI activated simultaneously. A clearly visible elliptical cloud formed before Tony's body—a sonic boom cloud!
At this moment, Tony Stark couldn't spare concern for whether his body could withstand the acceleration from static position to supersonic speed.
He only knew the opportunity was fleeting. If he failed to seize it now, Garrett could still use the other people in the studio to threaten him.
BOOM!
Tony wrapped both arms around Garrett's waist, maintaining full speed as he crashed directly toward the studio's opposite wall.
Caught completely off guard, Garrett instinctively whistled to summon his flying horse.
But the Mark VI's speed already far exceeded the horse's capabilities. Previously Tony had been limited only because Garrett kept diving into apartments and crowds, preventing him from operating at full capacity.
Through clouds of dust and debris, Garrett—wearing his black medieval knight armor—remained locked in Tony's grip as they crashed through seven or eight walls in succession before bursting from the building.
Iron Man Tony's left hand maintained its grip. The Mark VI's right hand's dorsal plating lifted, revealing repulsor fire beneath. The thrust drove Tony's fist from below in a vicious uppercut into Garrett's jaw.
BANG!
The punch sent Garrett rocketing skyward.
His combat experience was indeed exceptional. But facing Iron Man Tony Stark's absolute superiority in raw power, that experience and technique became a joke.
Not everyone wearing black armor was Batman.
Tony looked up at Garrett, whom he'd punched into the sky. Under gravity's influence, Garrett had already begun falling.
Without his flying horse, the flightless Garrett screamed mid-air, limbs flailing wildly as he plummeted toward the ground.
Only at the last moment before impact did Tony Stark catch him.
"I need a list of everyone involved in your operation." Tony Stark addressed Garrett's metal-helmeted face.
Garrett said nothing.
THUD!
Tony showed no mercy. He simply dropped Garrett on the ground, then reached out to remove the helmet from Garrett's face.
"You can choose not to talk, but that means you... uh."
Tony Stark's words caught mid-sentence.
Beneath the removed helmet, Nathan Garrett's face was covered in blood. His jaw had shattered into two pieces. Pink foam continuously bubbled from his mouth.
Clearly, crashing through seven or eight walls in succession, plus Tony's punch—even with armor protection—the massive impact force transmitted through the metal had left Garrett severely injured.
Beyond the shattered jaw, Garrett's lungs were critically damaged. The pink foam he coughed up proved it.
Watching Garrett in this state, blood unceasing, Tony Stark actually wondered if beneath this armor was just an ordinary human.
"You..." Tony hesitated several seconds. He wasn't sympathizing with this criminal who'd planted numerous bombs throughout Manhattan—he was puzzled why Garrett hadn't used memory fabric from Parker Industries as inner lining to resist such massive external impacts.
"The list..." Garrett coughed up blood foam. "On the horse's back. With the Ebony Blade."
"Ebony Blade?" Tony instinctively looked toward the Daily Bugle's commercial building. The flying horse remained outside the studio.
During Tony and Garrett's earlier battle, Garrett had consistently used various bombs, sonic weapons, and that energy staff—all obviously technological weapons.
This clashed dramatically with Garrett's medieval armor and self-proclaimed Black Knight identity.
"Correct." Garrett's voice was incredibly weak. "I always knew that someday I'd die pursuing my family's honor. But I never imagined my death would be this pathetic."
"Dying from inadequate armor shock absorption is indeed pathetic." Tony Stark watched Garrett warily, offering zero comfort.
Tony suspected this guy was putting on an act, trying to gain sympathy.
He was Hydra, after all!
"Hang on. Let me get you to a hospital." Tony said. "Afterward we'll discuss your plans in detail. And Hydra-related matters."
"No." Garrett used his remaining strength to push Tony's hand away. "I've already disgraced the Whitman family. Don't save me."
Tony Stark looked into Garrett's eyes, trying to determine if his words were genuine.
"I have only one wish, Iron Man. Bring that Ebony Blade to Batman." Garrett's speech grew increasingly fluent, his spirits remarkably high—clearly a final surge of energy before death. "I've always suspected Batman is a Whitman family member. All my plans were designed to meet him face to face."
Tony lifted his metal faceplate, frowning at Garrett.
"If he's a Whitman family member, give him the Ebony Blade. That forge fragment from the Metropolitan Museum might lift the sword's curse—it's a piece from the furnace where Merlin the wizard forged the Ebony Blade in the twelfth century." Garrett continued. "If he's not family, I ask that you give the sword to my nephew. His name is Dane Whitman."
"I will," Tony said.
Hearing the answer he wanted, the light in Garrett's eyes gradually faded. His pupils dilated. His neck tilted, and he stopped breathing entirely.
Tony Stark sighed. He sent an encrypted message to SHIELD Director Nick Fury: "Garrett is dead."
Afterward, Tony ignored how Director Fury might respond. He simply took flight, returning to the Daily Bugle's commercial building.
The pitch-black flying horse paced anxiously outside the studio, snorting, occasionally stamping its hooves against the ground.
A circle of Daily Bugle reporters surrounded it, eager to retrieve items from the horse's back as exclusive breaking news.
But the horse's periodically beating wings and clearly muscular legs deterred any reporter from actually approaching.
HUMMMMM!
Tony Stark landed. Before the reporters could react, he raised one hand and fired a repulsor blast, blowing a hole through the flying horse's head.
The reporters jumped in shock, scattering in all directions. Tony walked step by step to the horse's corpse and retrieved the Ebony Blade and Hydra name list hanging from its belly.