The r appuse still echoed through the Stark Expo when the first explosion rocked the stage.

  Liam felt the ground tremble beh him, the sound of metal shrieking against metal as a se of the stage erupted in fire. Smoke billowed into the air, and screams filled among the whole audiehe bright lights shattered plunging everything around into chaos.

  "Oh, e on. 't we have one Expo without something blowing up?" Tony's smile had vanished.

  Then came the voice, with artificial distortion.

  The massive s behind them glitched before cutting to static, then flickered to life with a live feed—revealing a hulking, armored figure stepping through the wreckage of the mairahe moment Liam saw the broad, steel-pted frame and the glowing red optics, he knew what it was.

  Iron Monger.

  "Did you really think I wouldn't have tingens?" the deep voice mocked, amplified through speakers embedded in the suit. The metal behemoth stomped forward, each step leaving deep imprints in the ground. "You stole my pany. You took my future. And now, I take yours!"

  Before Liam could process that, another preseered the fray. The air filled with the electrified hum of whips slig through the night.

  "Stark!"

  "You like to py with power, da?" Vanko sneered, his thick Russian at cutting through the chaos. "Let's see if you handle real power."

  "Okay who are you. That old piece of garbage I do take responsibility, but who is this guy." Tony was still in his usual self, but one could tell that he was a bit surprised. He had already eyed Pepper to pass on his metal suitcase.

  Then, the sky above darkened—not from clouds, but from a swarm of flying maes desding like meical vultures. These were flying robots enhanced and modified, hovered in formation, their glowing optics log onto the Stark Expo stage. Their ons primed. Ready.

  "Great," Tony muttered, rolling his shoulders. "Because one homicidal mania a mech suit wasn't enough—we needed a whole tag team."

  "Today, Stark," Stane tinued, "we introduce the world to a new kind of power. Not your empty promises. Not your fshy tech. Real, undeniable force."

  "And then, we kill you." Vanko cracked his whips against the floor, sending sparks flying.

  Liam ched his fists, his mind rag. There were thousands of i people in the crowd, scrambling to escape. If even one of those drones opened fire, it would be a massacre.

  "This is going to be a long night." Tony sighed.

  "Yeah, you have no idea, but first we o run."

  Tony didn't o be told twice. The sed Vanko's electrified whip shed toward him, he yanked Liam by the arm and sprioward the backstage entrahe whip struck the stage behind them, sending a wave of sparks.

  "Pepper! The case!" Tony shouted, weaving through the crowd. Pepper had already been expeg this and yahe suitcase to him.

  Tony caught it mid-stride, tossed it onto the ground, and stepped onto the release meism. In an instant, the case unfolded, log into pce around his body with seamless meical precision. The sleek Mark V suit ed around him just as he cleared the main stage.

  As soon as he transformed a missile detonated near him sending Liam and Tony tumbling backward.

  "You 't run forever, Stark," Stane's voied.

  "And you 't shut up forever," Tony shot back, firing a repulsor bst, after getting up.

  The red energy beam smmed into Stane's armor, barely making him flinch.

  From above, the swarm of flying drones zeroed in, their ons log onto their targets. Then, with a loud snap, Vanko's electrified whip coiled around Tony's arm, jolting him with a surge of energy. Sparks flew as Tony gritted his teeth, trying to pull free.

  Liam cursed under his breath. They were pletely exposed here. Too many people, too many eoo much open space. They needed cover.

  "The backstage! Go now!" Liam shouted.

  "Little busy here!"

  Liam acted first, he threw serrated k Vanko's helmet. These were spectral knives which Liam could jure using wraith abilities and were quite hidden, so the risk of exposure was minimum. He also used rocks to cover the fact that he threw knives.

  Vanko snarled as the kruck his visor, his grip loosening just enough for Tony to tear free.

  "Not a bad throw," Tony muttered before jetting toward the backstage entrance.

  Liam was already ahead, slipping through the heavy metal doors into the dimly lit corridors of the Expo's backstage area. The moment Tony got through, he turned and fired a repulsor bst at the ceiling supports. The metal framewroaned before colpsing, sealing off the entrance just as Iron Monger's heavy steps thuoward them.

  "You do realize they're just going to find another way in, right?" Liam said as he sighed in relief. Thankfully, those robots weren't in huge number like iual storyline, and they trated their firepower on Tony thus the general public hadn't been harmed.

  Yet, at least.

  "Now you go out and save people." Tony said since he could uand why Liam didn't show his abilities outside as his other identity a secret. He also checked if Pepper was fihankfully Pepper was taken away by Happy.

  "What about you? When is your armor reag here?" Liam asked.

  "My armor isn't autonomous. It 't fly solo, yet. I had been writing the codes but I haven't fi yet." Tony replied with a bit of embarrassment.

  "You got to be kidding me." Liam looked at Tony with daggers in his eyes.

  "Hey, I just fought against them. Cut me some sck." Tony replied.

  "Then how will you fight?" Liam asked.

  "There is no we here. You will fight and I will cheer for you from here." Tony said, as he looked at his own armor. It was busted and only one of his repulsors worked now. This was a shame for him. Liam was right, he should have fihose codes instead of getting himself a new fancy helmet.

  Liam sighed. He knew he would have to help this hopeless guy here. And thankfully he had pleted one of the 2 games that he had been given to py in a day.