[Outside the cave, several armed men pointed their rifles at the dark entrance. The only sound they could hear was a steady thud… thud… thud—growing louder and louder.]
[Then, from the shadows, Mark I emerged.]
[The sight of the massive, armored figure sent a chill through the militants. The little leader, momentarily stunned, snapped back to reality and roared, "EVERYONE, OPEN FIRE!!!"]
[Gunfire erupted. A hailstorm of bullets rained down on Tony's armor. The barrage lasted until every gun clicked empty.]
[Smoke and dust settled. Then, Tony's voice came through—calm, almost amused: "My turn."]
[With a flick of his wrists, Tony activated the flamethrowers on his arms. Torrents of fire burst forth, engulfing the enemies in front of him. Screams filled the air as some were set ablaze, while a few lucky ones managed to escape to the sides.]
[Tony advanced, sweeping fire left and right. The intense heat reached a cache of explosives, and within seconds—BOOM!—an ammunition box detonated, sending debris flying. An unlucky terrorist was caught in the blast and flung through the air.]
[Destroying his own Stark Industries weapons was a priority—he would not let them be used for mass murder.]
[As he moved forward, an enemy stationed on a hillside spotted him and jumped onto a mounted machine gun. The heavy rounds rattled against Mark I's frame, forcing Tony to raise his arms in defense.]
[The surviving militants seized the opportunity to unload their weapons at him. Under the relentless gunfire, the control mechanism in one of Tony's legs snapped.]
[He dropped to one knee.]
[The gunner reloaded, ready to fire again. Tony gritted his teeth—then launched another burst of flames. At the same time, the earlier fires reached more ammunition stores—and suddenly, the valley was filled with deafening explosions.]
[The terrorists panicked. Some turned to run. Others froze in terror as the chain reaction of detonations escalated into a full-blown inferno.]
[Tony seized the moment—he activated the ejection switch in his arm. With a whoosh, the Mark I launched into the sky, propelling him high above the flames.]
[Below him, the valley erupted—a violent cascade of fire and destruction.]
[High above, the Mark I lost power almost immediately—gravity took over.]
["AHHH!!!"] Tony barely had time to scream before crashing into the desert below.]
[The soft sand absorbed much of the impact, and what remained was taken by the Mark I's frame. But even so, Tony felt the landing. Hard.]
[When the dust settled, debris lay scattered around the impact site. Half of Tony's body was buried in the sand. His chest ached, his muscles burned—but he was alive.]
[He exhaled sharply, taking off his helmet. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away, then smirked.]
["Not bad."]
"Wow! This is insane!" First-Gen Spider-Man grinned, stuffing food into his mouth as he watched.
"Yeah," Uncle Ben nodded, glancing at the TV. The news was still covering the chaos from last night. "And last night was insane too."
"Haha, yeah! I lost count of how many people I webbed up!" First-Gen Spider-Man shook his head, still exhausted from dealing with the rioters. "Completely crazy!"
Then, his expression darkened.
"The Battle of New York…" He sighed. "Just hearing that name, you know how bad it must've been. They even launched a nuclear bomb at the city? That level of desperation—I can't even imagine."
Uncle Ben let out a deep sigh. Even people with no military knowledge understood what it meant to nuke your own land.
And yet—the government had done it.
He thought about their own New York. If something like that happened here… could they really do anything?
Superheroes were powerful, yes—but against an army? Against an alien invasion?
Even Spider-Man's reflexes wouldn't be enough to dodge hundreds of bullets, let alone missiles or nuclear weapons.
[Tony, battered and exhausted, wrapped a cloth around his head and staggered through the desert. He had been walking for hours. His strength was fading.]
[Just as he was about to collapse, he heard it—the sound of helicopters overhead.]
[Two armed choppers flew over him. His heart leapt.]
[He waved wildly, shouting at the top of his lungs. "HEY!!! Hahaha!!!"]
[The lead pilot spotted him, and within moments, the helicopter descended. Tony fell to his knees, relief washing over him like a tidal wave.]
[Then, he heard familiar voices. Rod and his team sprinted toward him.]
[Rod grinned, kneeling beside him. "So… where's your Happy Hummer?"]
[Tony let out a tired chuckle. Rhodes clapped a hand on his shoulder and leaned in. "Next time? Don't ditch me, alright?"]
[Then, without another word, he pulled Tony into a hug.]
[Hours later, Tony was back in the U.S.]
[As the plane landed, medical staff stood at the ready. Pepper stood in front, anxiously waiting, while Happy stood behind her, his sunglasses concealing his expression.]
[The lift gate lowered. Rhodes helped Tony out of his wheelchair, guiding him toward them. His right arm was still in a cast.]
[Two beautiful medical staff members approached with a stretcher, but Tony took one look at it and scoffed. "I'm not that bad. They can go."]
[Rhodes gestured for them to leave.]
[Seeing him return safely, Pepper smiled—but Tony, ever the playboy, immediately zeroed in on her expression.]
["Your eyes are red. Were you worried about me?"]
["These are tears of joy!" Pepper shot back, regaining her usual sharpness. "I hate job hunting!"]
[That earned a chuckle from Tony.]
["Well," he sighed. "Vacation's over."]
[He climbed into the car, settling into the seat as Happy got behind the wheel.]
["Where to, sir?" Happy asked.]
[Before Tony could speak, Pepper cut in. "Hospital."]
["NO," Tony said immediately.]
[Pepper turned to him, incredulous. "NO? Tony, you have to go to the hospital!"]
["If I say no, then no," Tony insisted. "I've been locked up for three months—I just want to do two things right now."]
[He turned to her with a serious expression. "One—I want a cheeseburger. Two—I want to…"]
[Pepper's eyes narrowed. "Stop. Talking."]
[She knew where his sentence was going, and she wasn't about to let him say it.]
[Tony sighed. "It's not what you think! I want to hold a press conference."]
[Pepper blinked. "A press conference? Why?"]
["Yeah, yeah," Tony waved her off. "Hogan, drive. Let's get some cheeseburgers first."]
[Happy nodded. "On it."]
==============================================
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
=============================================