In Marvel With Unique Skill Great Sage (MCU) [106]

"You might have survived those missiles, Stark, but you're still finished!" Vanko's amplified voice boomed from his suit. "Look around! I have thirty-three advanced machines here, far more than you!"

His voice dripped with hate. "Now you die, Stark! And everyone standing beside you dies with you!"

With that threat hanging in the air, Ivan Vanko's suit engines suddenly cut out. He dropped like a stone from the sky, landing hard right in front of the three defenders with a deafening CRASH. 

He struck that classic superhero landing pose, down on one knee, the ground cracking beneath him.

Damn, even Iron Man would have to admit, it was a pro move!

Ivan Vanko straightened up, and instantly, two long whips crackling with intense blue electricity shot out from his armored gauntlets. They lashed out violently, striking the ground and spraying showers of hot sparks everywhere.

No more talk, just action.

Inside his helmet, Ivan Vanko glared at the man responsible for his family's ruin... Revenge would be his, today!

Only one of them would walk away from this!

Bitter memories flooded his mind: his father dying poor and forgotten in their cramped, rundown apartment; the decades of hardship and being treated like dirt; the two of them forced to live like rats scavenging in filth...

A volcano of pure rage boiled inside him, molten hate churning, ready to burst out and destroy everything in its path!

Vanko crouched slightly, gathering power in his legs, ready to launch himself forward in the next instant and tear through all three of his enemies with his energized whips.

Suddenly, the Ghost Armor clapped its metal hands together sharply. "Alright, everyone!" Lemu's voice announced cheerfully through the suit's speakers. "Our main villain has finally made his entrance! The final showdown officially begins now!"

He raised one hand high, his voice taking on a mock-serious tone. "Okay, team, listen up! All weapons, prepare to fire! Ready!"

At the command, Stark and Rhodey reacted instantly, pure instinct taking over. They snapped into combat stances, aiming their palm repulsors directly at Ivan Vanko, ready for a fight.

"What are you two doing?" Lemu asked, tilting the Ghost Armor's head with a genuinely confused look.

Stark and Rhodey glanced at each other, equally confused.

"Didn't you just give the order to fire?" Stark asked.

"Yeah, wasn't that you?" Rhodey added.

Lemu nodded his head slightly, gesturing upwards with his chin. "I was talking to them."

High above, the thirty-two Hammer Drones that Ivan Vanko had brought with him had, unnoticed by Stark and Rhodey, fully deployed their weapons systems. 

Machine guns spun up, shoulder cannons locked on, missile pods opened every single weapon was now aimed squarely at one target: Ivan Vanko himself.

The situation was now:

35 versus 1.

Surprise! Turns out all your fancy soldiers, knights, and rooks... they're actually my spies!

Vanko remained frozen in his pre-leap crouch, whips held high but completely still, utterly silent. It was like someone had hit the pause button on a movie.

Inside his helmet, Colonel Rhodey was gaping, completely stunned and utterly impressed. He unconsciously licked his suddenly dry lips, his eyes wide. "Was this... your backup plan?" he stammered, his voice full of awe. "Holy crap... that's... that's incredible..."

Stark lightly slapped the Ghost Armor's shoulder pauldron. His voice came through the suit's speaker, filled with genuine admiration. "Okay, that was impressive. Nice work."

"Like I said, no backup plan," Lemu replied casually. "This is what we call 'on-the-spot recruitment'... Don't you guys understand the real power of a good pep talk?" He added playfully, "When villains monologue, it usually gets them killed. When heroes do it right, it wins the day."

Lemu took a step forward in the Ghost Armor, glancing up at the thirty-plus drones aiming down, then back at the frozen Ivan Vanko.

"Do you have any last words? I can give you, say, ten minutes... Is that enough?"

The situation had flipped so completely, so fast, it was beyond anything Ivan Vanko could process. He couldn't figure out where he'd gone wrong, how he'd ended up being played like a puppet on strings. 

It had happened too suddenly, but the cold, sharp feeling of deadly danger aimed right at him was undeniable. There was no time left for thinking.

"I..."

He straightened up slightly, managing to utter just that single word before the chest plate of his armor began flashing rapidly with an ominous red light he was triggering a self-destruct sequence!

Ivan Vanko tried to lunge forward, perhaps hoping to take them with him, but in the very next second, the full firepower of all thirty-two drones slammed into him simultaneously.

Sixty seconds later, amidst a continuous storm of explosions and searing energy beams, the entire suit of armor, along with Ivan Vanko inside it, was utterly obliterated, reduced to nothing but smoke and fading sparks.

A man who had lost everything ultimately has no final words to leave behind... Or perhaps, if he did, it would only be a curse, wishing death upon everyone else.

Tony Stark watched the fiery end of his enemy, letting out a long sigh filled with complicated feelings.

Well, he's gone. Good riddance, really. One less psycho terrorist in the world.

People's pain isn't always easy to understand, and their motivations can be even harder to grasp. After returning from Monaco, Stark had done some digging and learned about the old feud between his father and Vanko's. 

But even knowing that, he still couldn't truly understand why Ivan Vanko was so obsessed with killing him. 

They'd never even met before this whole mess started... To Stark, it felt like a completely random, undeserved attack. Now that Vanko was dead, a part of him honestly felt relieved, almost glad.

But then... something else occurred to Stark.

Stark flipped his faceplate open, glaring furiously at Lemu. "You're the one who kept saying how dangerous this was! I gave up my entire birthday party for this mess, and it ends just like that? Today is my actual birthday, you know!"

He gestured wildly. "You could have handled this easily the whole time, couldn't you? Were you just messing with us for fun?"

Lemu just waved a dismissive hand, completely unbothered. "Relax, relax, what's the big rush? I got you a cake, don't worry. It's upstairs right now. You can eat the whole thing later if you want. I promise I won't fight you for it this time."

He leaned in slightly, a playful glint in his eyes. "Besides, having you here made everything much safer, right? Don't you agree that you were always going to be our last, strongest line of defense if things went bad? So, see? You were our real backup plan all along!”