In Marvel With Unique Skill Great Sage (MCU) [99]

In the distance, Tony Stark, surrounded by a throng of fans and security, walked towards a raised platform near the spectator stands. It looked like he planned to say a few words to the cheering crowd, soaking in the adoration.

Down in the crowd, however, a large man wearing an orange track worker's uniform Ivan Vanko also spotted Stark making his way over. His eyes locked onto Stark's position. A grim, predatory smile spread across his face as he started forcefully pushing his way through the dense crowd, step by determined step... He'd waited so long for this moment, and finally, an opportunity presented itself.

He hadn't known exactly which building Stark was hiding in, but the fool had decided to come out into the open himself. Today, right here, right now, he was going to crush this imposter, this thief's son, right where he stood.

...

Up on the tower, Lemu sighed, tapping the brim of his baseball cap in frustration.

Seriously, Stark? Couldn't you just stay put? You just had to come out here and make things difficult for me, didn't you?

He yanked off the cap, letting it fall away. In the same motion, he summoned his Ghost Armor. It materialized around him instantly, plates clicking into place. With a powerful burst of blue flames from his thrusters, he shot into the sky like a rocket, streaking directly towards the unfolding situation on the trackside platform.

By the time Lemu was airborne, Ivan Vanko had already crept up close behind the unsuspecting Tony Stark. With swift movements, he pulled two long, whip-like tendrils from concealed holsters strapped to his back. He flicked a switch on his crude chest piece. Instantly, bright white electricity crackled to life, arcing violently across his upper body and down the length of the whips. The intense energy incinerated his orange uniform in a flash, revealing the rough, makeshift exoskeleton bolted onto his torso and arms.

"STARK!" Vanko roared, his voice filled with hatred. He violently swung one of the crackling energy whips forward in a deadly arc.

It looked like Tony Stark, completely caught off guard, was about to be sliced cleanly in two. But in that split second, a massive, spinning greatsword plummeted from the sky, embedding itself deep into the pavement with a thunderous CLANG! right between Stark and the incoming whip.

The electrified whip struck the flat of the sword instead of Stark. A deafening CRACK! echoed as sparks flew everywhere like fireworks. The impact left a deep, blackened scorch mark burned onto the sword's surface.

Startled by the sudden, violent noise, Stark and everyone else nearby finally snapped out of their daze and realized the terrifying danger they were in. Panic erupted instantly. People screamed in terror, scrambling backward, tripping over each other in a desperate stampede to get away. Within seconds, a large empty space had cleared around the confrontation zone.

Stark stumbled back, pure fear flashing across his face for a moment. But then, surprisingly, he steadied himself and took a couple of steps towards Vanko. He held up his hands defensively, attempting to de-escalate, to talk his way out of it.

"Hey! Hey! Don't get excited! Calm down! Just calm down! Are you looking for me? Is it me you want? Well, you found me! Whatever you have to say, just say it to me! We can talk!"

Just then, the Mark V suitcase armor, kept nearby by Happy, rapidly unfolded and encased Tony Stark. Now protected inside the Iron Man suit, he felt slightly more secure, though still shaken. A blue-and-white armored hand Lemu in the Ghost Armor gently but firmly pushed the newly armored Stark back. Lemu's annoyed voice came through the external speakers.

"Hey, genius, he's clearly here to kill you, not have a friendly chat. Get out of here, you walking trouble magnet! Couldn't you just stay put back at the nice, safe hotel?"

Lemu didn't wait for an answer. "I'll handle this."

The Ghost Armor took a few heavy, clanking steps forward. Lemu reached down and pulled his greatsword free from the pavement with a grating screech of metal on stone. He looked down at the ugly scorch mark marring the blade, feeling a tiny pang of annoyance. This sword was a custom piece.

"Hey, big guy," Lemu's synthesized voice echoed from the armor, projecting calm despite his irritation, "You messed up my weapon..."

He didn't even get to finish the sentence. Vanko let out another furious roar and lashed out with his whip again.

The Ghost Armor sidestepped with surprising speed, narrowly dodging the crackling energy tendril. Sparks showered the ground as the whip struck the pavement where Lemu had been standing just a millisecond before, leaving another deep, black scar.

"Alright," Lemu transmitted internally, more to himself, "Guess you're not planning on paying for the damages."

Vanko swung a third time, aiming directly at the armor's chest. This time, Ghost Armor met the attack head-on, blocking with the flat of the greatsword. With a smooth, practiced flick of the wrist, Lemu twisted the blade, deflecting the energized whip and redirecting its momentum. The whip snapped back in a tight arc, flying 180 degrees straight towards Vanko himself.

A direct hit with his own weapon would have been instantly fatal!

But just as the whip was about to strike Vanko, a repulsor blast shot out from Iron Man, who was standing nearby. BOOM! The blast hit Vanko square in the chest plate of his exoskeleton, sending him flying backward several meters before he crashed to the ground, unconscious. The blast knocked him clear of his own whip's path, saving his life at the very last second.

Lemu snapped his armored head around, the blue visor seeming to glare daggers at Stark. He opened a private comm channel between their suits.

<You saved his life?> Lemu's synthesized voice was flat, but the underlying anger was unmistakable.

Stark, incredibly, sounded genuinely baffled through the comms. <What? Shouldn't I have?>

Lemu felt an overwhelming urge to facepalm inside his helmet. You absolute MORON, he thought, utterly speechless at Stark's naive heroism. He knew arguing was pointless right now.

<You're going to regret that,> Lemu transmitted curtly.

Now Vanko was down, helpless, right in the middle of a public space with dozens, maybe hundreds, of witnesses and police undoubtedly on their way. Killing him quietly and cleanly was completely impossible now.

Unless... A new, calculating thought suddenly sparked in Lemu's mind. What if... Hammer Industries 'rescues' Vanko from prison? Let them go ahead with whatever plan they had, maybe build that army of Iron Man knock-off drones Vanko was probably capable of designing...

A cold smile touched Lemu's lips inside the helmet. Yes... let Hammer build them. Then... what's yours becomes mine, and what's mine... stays mine. Plus, he could use the inevitable disaster to utterly crush Hammer Industries financially, short their stock into the ground, and maybe even scoop up their factories and tech for pennies on the dollar afterward.

...Yeah, Lemu decided, thinking about it that way, letting Vanko live might actually be more profitable in the long run.

Having made his decision, Lemu glanced around at the huge crowd of onlookers still staring in stunned silence or frantically recording on their phones. This scene was over for him. He activated his thrusters again and launched himself straight up into the air, accelerating rapidly and vanishing from sight within seconds.

Down on the ground, Stark walked cautiously over to the unconscious form of Ivan Vanko. He looked down at the shattered, smoking Arc Reactor embedded in Vanko's crude chest armor. The design primitive but functional suddenly clicked in his memory, reminding him strongly of the old blueprint he'd found just days ago among Howard's belongings. A specific name from that blueprint surfaced. A suspicion formed in his mind.

"What's your connection," Stark asked the unconscious man lying at his feet, "to Anton Vanko?"