Boom!!
The clone troops immediately engaged in battle with the Extremis virus warriors—
The sounds of energy bomb explosions mixed with the explosions of the Extremis warriors, ringing endlessly in the air!
Soon.
Under the fearless and relentless assault of the [Fearless] soldiers.
The Extremis warriors fell one by one until only Killian was left standing alone…
"Who are they?"
Natasha, surprised by the clone soldiers' ferocious combat power, asked Stark, "Where did you find them?"
"Did you see the emblem on their uniforms?"
Stark pointed at one of the clone soldiers—
"Silver Sable Security Company, the [Fearless] Mercenary Corps, under that guy, Li."
After saying this.
He sighed, "Oh... you have no idea how expensive they are. I bet apart from me, not many people could afford this security team."
'Him again... What has he been up to lately...?'
Hearing the name Li Ye, Natasha found her thoughts drifting away for a moment.
'Why do I care what that guy is doing... He has Barbara watching over him anyway...'
Meanwhile.
The clone soldiers, along with the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. combat units, launched a combined attack, with Hawkeye providing sniper support—
Killian started to lose ground and couldn't help but curse the Extremis warriors and his Iron Patriot armor:
[Useless! Useless! It's all useless!!]
Rat-a-tat-tat—!!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Whoosh~~!!
He emptied all the Iron Patriot's ammo and weapons! Firing energy blasts without regard for energy consumption! He even opened his helmet and breathed fire from his mouth!!
In this final burst of power, he managed to take down many enemies around him.
But that was it...
After a tense minute or two, the Iron Patriot finally broke down, its armor pieces scattered across the ground…
With only a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents left———
Killian's body was covered in wounds, and he collapsed to his knees...
Bzzzz—Bzzzz—Bzzzzzz—!!
Accompanied by a strange buzzing sound, his body started to glow brighter and brighter…
"Get away! He's about to explode!"
Tony, realizing what was happening, shouted to warn everyone!
When his gaze landed on a nearby helicopter, he rushed over— "Pepper!"
Crack—!
He half-tore, half-ripped open the cabin door, quickly scanning the interior. Soon, he found Pepper and Maya Hansen, both locked in iron restraints…
"You both got captured?"
Tony freed both of them from their restraints.
But…
Seeing that Pepper's formal outfit had been stripped off and replaced with a light athletic outfit…
Recalling what Happy had told him—how Killian had met Pepper before and how close they seemed…
Stark couldn't help but overthink: 'Pepper definitely didn't change this herself… so that means…'
...The more he thought about it, the more he felt like dyeing his hair green, and his anger toward Killian grew!
After all, he and Pepper were officially in a relationship now…
"Tony..."
At that moment, Pepper, who had just been injected with the Extremis virus, weakly called out, bringing Tony back to his senses.
Maya Hansen tried to help support her, but she recoiled as Pepper's body burned hot to the touch, "Ah!"
"Oh...."
Tony took hold of Pepper, "They actually experimented on you..."
"Stark! Get out now! He's getting closer to you!"
Natasha's shout suddenly came from outside the helicopter.
"Huh?"
Tony looked outside and saw Killian, barely alive, staggering toward the helicopter...
"Tony, it seems we were never meant to meet on the rooftop..."
Killian's eyes gleamed with madness, "Then let's meet in hell, you arrogant bastard!"
Whoosh—!
Hawkeye's arrow pierced his neck.
But Killian no longer cared.
His body was already cracking open with glowing red fissures…
"Fuck!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Iron Man grabbed both women in his arms, overloading his suit's leg thrusters as he sprinted away with all his might!
Behind him, Killian's explosive flames kept chasing, triggering a chain reaction with the remaining Extremis warriors on the ground!
Rumlow watched the exploding Extremis warriors' corpses and silently thought what a waste… those were valuable research samples…
Whoosh—!
The grass was scorched black, and the flames finally stopped just inches behind Tony.
Just as he was about to catch his breath, he heard Pepper beside him shout, pointing to his left, "Tony!... Her!!"
Tony's heart sank. He turned his head to look at Maya Hansen on his left…
Her skin was abnormally red, and she looked extremely weak...
He stiffly tilted his helmet back a little more—and saw that the female scientist's back was completely burned…
With such severe burns, she barely had any breaths left…
It turned out.
Iron Man had his suit to protect him, and Pepper, due to the Extremis virus injection, had a strong resistance to fire.
Only Maya Hansen, with her mortal body…
"Tony....."
With her last breath, she grasped the cold metal hand of the Mark 42 suit and said weakly, "I think... I really made a mistake... Now... this is my atonement..."
"No...." Stark watched as Maya Hansen took her last breath, her eyes slowly closing, and he stood frozen for a moment…
After all, she was once a one-night stand.
Though Tony didn't cry or anything.
But at this moment, as she died in his arms, he still felt a deep pang of sorrow…
…..
As the explosion's flames dissipated.
Rumlow noticed that a few Extremis warrior corpses had remained intact, and he was secretly pleased. He led the remaining members of his squad to collect them.
With the right maneuvers, at least one or two of these bodies would end up in Hydra's hands.
…..
However.
Just as he approached—
Click! Click! Click!
He was immediately stopped by several clone soldiers who raised their guns at him.
Rumlow frowned, "What's the meaning of this?!"
"According to the service agreement..."
Stark walked over from a distance, explaining, "....These corpses count as spoils of war. They belong to Li's Silver Sable Security Company..."
"We contributed too."
Natasha blocked Rumlow, who was about to protest, and took over the conversation, "....Are you saying all these S.H.I.E.L.D. agents died for nothing?"
Barton nodded as well, "Tony, you're a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. You're on our side."
"What does that have to do with me?"
Tony said indifferently, "You guys contact him yourselves."
Upon hearing this.
Black Widow and Hawkeye exchanged glances, momentarily at a loss…
In the end.
Natasha took the initiative and contacted Li Ye on the spot—
[Hey, Little Nat, are you asking me out again? I'm a bit busy now, might have to reschedule…]
Natasha: "..." (Little Nat? What kind of nickname is that? A Chinese thing…?)
She quietly turned down the call volume before explaining the situation to him: [Li Ye, I need to formally state… this is the situation.]
[Oh, just that? You guys can take two bodies then…]
Natasha: [Two bodies…]
…..
The Extremis virus incident caused by Killian had finally come to an end.
Natasha, Barton, and the others finished handling the corpses at the scene and were about to leave to wrap up the mission.
However.
At that moment.
They, including Stark, received a summons from Nick Fury—
[Something happened in Greenwich. Suspected alien invasion. Avengers, assemble…]
"Huff..."
Barton exhaled heavily after reading the message, sighing, "I thought I'd finally get a few days off after this..."
[Being a superhero is exhausting…]
"Alright, stop sighing."
Natasha adjusted her gear, "This is urgent. We need to move quickly. Stark, you..."
"Ladies and gentlemen, you go ahead. I..."
Tony read the message, then looked at Maya Hansen's lifeless body and Pepper, whose veins still flickered with fiery orange light…
".....I have some things I need to take care of. If the situation is critical, I'll come."
Beneath the metal mask.
His usually carefree face showed a rare moment of solemnity—
[These dangerous events keep happening. There needs to be a way to deal with them…]
An idea that had been buried deep inside him since the Battle of New York resurfaced.
[Maybe a force like Li's is a good idea… I could use an AI like JARVIS to manage it… It needs more computing power…]