"Fenris!"
"Open your eyes and take a good look at who's here!"
Before the man himself even arrived, his flashy voice had already carried over from afar.
Not long after, Tony Stark, clad in a brand-new Mark III Iron Man suit, appeared in Fenris's line of sight.
Amid the thunderous roar of the thrusters, Tony skillfully controlled the armor and let himself hover in midair.
He lowered his head slightly and looked down at Fenris and Magneto below. Seeing the two powerful mutants who had once dragged him back from death now tilting their heads up to look at him, Tony's vanity was instantly and enormously satisfied. Beneath the faceplate, the corners of his mouth shot upward.
"Standing before you now is a superhero, Iron Man!"
Tony raised both arms high while hovering in the air. To better highlight his magnificent pose, the shoulder plating of the armor opened, and dozens of expensive missiles shot directly into the sky.
A chain of explosions rang out overhead, immediately drawing plenty of attention from around the school.
"Iron Man!"
"He's here to bring us snacks again!"
Inside the school building, dozens of bright, clear eyes pressed against the windows. These mutant kids, all at that age when they loved excitement, let out a collective cry of amazement at the sight of the cool-looking Mark III.
"So..."
Seeing this, Magneto pressed his lips together and tilted his head toward the strangely expressionless Fenris beside him. "I saved an idiot, didn't I?"
"Yes. That's correct."
Fenris nodded with complete sincerity.
"Hey!"
Up in the air, Tony heard both their voices clearly through the suit, and his face immediately darkened. "Fenris, stop talking nonsense down there. If you've got the guts, come up here and test my Mark III!"
"You?"
Fenris burst out laughing. "Get down here already. Since we're friends, I was planning to give you a little something later."
"What little something? Don't want it!"
Fenris's dismissiveness instantly dealt a heavy blow to Tony's robust ego. He let out a scornful snort, then aimed both palms of his hands directly at Fenris.
"Whether you fight or not isn't up to you, Fenris. Try out the replicated beam blast I built!"
As Tony's words fell, two beams of intense light erupted from the suit's palms. Even under the full midday sun, those twin bursts of brilliance still lit up the space around Fenris as though it had turned glaring white.
"Now this is interesting."
The moment Magneto realized there was a show to watch, he bent his knees and nimbly retreated into the distance. There was nothing about his movements that made him look like an old man.
"Tony, you're serious?"
At the very moment the brightness peaked, a tremendous blast of force slammed straight toward Fenris.
Seeing Tony's posture, and recognizing the familiar move, Fenris clicked his tongue softly, reached out with one hand, and drew the battle-axe at his waist forward. It flew directly in front of him and rapidly enlarged.
The broad face of the axe shielded Fenris completely, easily blocking the incoming blast head-on.
Boom!
Fenris himself did not move an inch, but the surrounding lawn was not nearly as fortunate.
Under the force of the massive impact, the grass was torn up by the roots, and the once carefully tended scenery was left in utter ruin.
"Aaaah!"
A cry rang out. When Fenris lowered the axe, he discovered that Tony Stark himself had failed to escape the all-directional shockwave.
The armor below the elbows of the Mark III was already a complete mess, and Tony himself had been blown violently backward.
Once the force dissipated, the suit no longer looked sleek and polished like it had moments ago. Instead, it looked battered and pitiful, like a piece of wreckage.
"Power system malfunction."
"External shell damaged."
"Weapons system offline."
After the thrusters failed, Tony quickly began dropping from the sky.
"This is really humiliating..."
Hearing JARVIS faithfully report the damage to the armor, Tony's vision darkened. Helpless, he covered his face.
Here at the X-Mansion, he was not in the slightest worried about actually injuring himself in the fall. What hurt more was that he had tried to show off and instead made a fool of himself.
Sure enough, as Tony fell faster and faster, Magneto raised a brow. A gentle force caught the heavy suit and lowered Tony smoothly to the ground in front of them.
"You, honestly. Why would you try imitating this kid's power?"
Looking at Tony sprawled on the ground with all four limbs spread out, utterly unwilling to face reality, Magneto was the first to stroll over with great interest and knock on the suit's faceplate.
"We all know Fenris's power is ridiculous. It's one thing that your version doesn't even have one percent of his output, but you also blew yourself up like this. Was it worth it?"
"It's actually not that bad."
Tony's muffled voice came from inside the helmet. He let out a slightly dispirited sigh. "I just may need to put a parachute inside the armor..."
Still, considering that he had once seen Fenris use this kind of large-scale attack only a single time, and had already managed to reproduce it with this much power, Tony was honestly very satisfied. The failure rate was a bit high, but otherwise he was pleased.
"I'm going to need your help again, Mr. Lehnsherr."
Tony tried several times to get up, but the Mark III was simply too heavy. Without mechanical arms to assist him, putting it on and taking it off was a genuine hassle. And with the suit damaged, that shortcoming was even more obvious.
Magneto lifted a hand, and piece after piece of the Mark III came free, then reassembled itself neatly beside them.
"Stark, you really are a genius."
Seeing the exquisite internal design of the suit, even Magneto could not help praising him in genuine surprise. "This armor is excellently designed."
Freed from the suit's restraints, Tony dusted off his backside and climbed to his feet.
Watching Magneto casually manipulate the Mark III as if it were second nature, Tony immediately forced out a rather awkward smile. "You're not bad yourself. Most people couldn't reassemble this that quickly from just one glance."
"Well said!"
Magneto burst into laughter, suddenly feeling that this playboy was not nearly as difficult as the rumors claimed.
Wasn't he showing excellent social instincts right now?
"Fenris, long time no see."
As Fenris strolled over from the distance at an unhurried pace, Tony's expression shifted. Acting as though he had not just attacked the man moments earlier, he casually held out a hand to him.
"Thanks to you, I'm doing great."
Fenris bared his teeth and leaned in close, his face darkening as he murmured into Tony's ear, "So you've already started researching how to replicate my powers?"
"Tell me honestly. Have you also been secretly working on a whole set of weapons specifically designed to counter me?"
"How does he know?"
Fenris's words made Tony's back go suddenly cold. His expression froze, and then he hurriedly waved both hands. "Nothing like that. We're good friends."
"If I were researching anyone, I'd be researching Magneto, not you."
"Hm?"
Magneto had just been about to turn and leave. But the moment Tony's words reached him, the old man's footsteps slowed, and the look in his eyes changed at once.
(End of Chapter)
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