Chapter Sixty-Six: A Perfect Ending

Gwen descended from the sky in her battle suit, landing right in the midst of the three, facing Vanko directly.

"Hey, do you guys need any help?"

Iron Man glanced at Iron Spider, a suspicion forming in his mind, but his stubbornness kept him from uttering a request for assistance.

"No, we can handle it."

Rhodey was barely holding on. "Tony, I think we need help."

"Rhodey, I’ve got a plan. I just need you to cooperate for a moment."

"What plan?"

Tony raised his hand. "Lift your hand."

Rhodey, attuned to Tony’s thinking, recalled their sparring match that night and immediately understood what Tony intended.

"This idea is terrible. Do you remember how last time turned out?"

"Come on, partner."

But Rhodey betrayed the revolution and turned to Gwen. "I need help. Thank you."

"Alright." Gwen raised both hands and fired at Vanko.

The result was only a burst of smoke, causing no real damage.

Vanko laughed exuberantly. "Stop struggling. Even another one won’t help you. My armor is thick enough."

Gwen shook her head. When fate wants someone destroyed, it first makes them mad.

"How about this?"

The six spider legs on Gwen’s back extended from her sides, their tips transforming to reveal the electromagnetic blaster cores.

Along with her two hands, eight electromagnetic blasters were aimed at Ivan Vanko.

Vanko was stunned. Was this even allowed? She wasn’t playing by the rules.

All eight blasters fired at once, the powerful shockwave sending Vanko flying.

Tony and Rhodey seized the opportunity to break free and stood with Gwen, raising their hands to fire together.

Twelve electromagnetic blasters targeted Vanko. Even inside his thick armor, Vanko felt the overwhelming force, hurtling him sideways and smashing a tree trunk behind him.

Such intense firepower would melt even the thickest armor. Soon, the chest of Vanko’s Whiplash suit glowed red hot.

He howled in pain, helpless as he caught the scent of burning metal. In a little while, whether the armor melted or not, he would surely become roast goose.

He glanced at Tony’s gold-and-red battle suit and activated the suit’s self-destruct protocol, his last resort—every robot contained a bomb.

With a bang, the Whiplash suit exploded, fragments flying toward Tony and the others.

Tony and Rhodey shielded their vital parts with their arms, while Gwen precisely predicted the danger and easily avoided it.

Tony was unaware of the bomb, thinking they had blown up Whiplash, and couldn’t help but remark, "This plan is a bit better than mine."

He cast a glance at the spider legs on Gwen’s back, quietly calculating.

Rhodey quickly said, "A bit better? It’s much, much better."

"By the way, who are you?"

Before Gwen could reply, Tony answered for her. "Spider-Woman. Michael’s girlfriend."

This was the conclusion Jarvis had drawn after analyzing her voice.

Rhodey looked her over. "Is this battle suit a product of Angel International? It’s much better than yours, Tony."

"What? I’m the inventor of battle suits; the concept is mine. He’s just added a few blasters on the back. What’s there to be envious of? I can add more too!"

"But this idea has surpassed yours, and the tough mechanical look seems cooler."

"What do you know? The arc design is more aerodynamic—haven’t you noticed planes are either oval or sleek and pointed?"

Gwen couldn’t be bothered to listen to their argument and took off.

Tony and Rhodey bickered for a while but could not convince each other, so they decided to return.

That’s friendship: when there are no enemies, your friend becomes your greatest threat.

The rest of the robots did not explode; Red Queen had already reprogrammed them. Vanko’s self-destruction only killed himself.

Hammer was taken away by the police; apparently, there were matters needing his cooperation.

After this incident, Hammer Industries’ already tarnished reputation would surely become infamous.

Michael removed his spy scorpion, successfully stealing all of Hammer Industries’ design blueprints.

Hammer had always copied and never surpassed—but look at who he was trying to imitate; it was no wonder he couldn’t exceed them.

Yet, even without surpassing, the military still valued him, so Hammer’s data was worth stealing.

Gwen flew back as well but couldn’t remove her battle suit just yet; she’d have to wait until she got home.

The first thing Tony did after flying back was to find Pepper, and the two embraced and kissed passionately, oblivious to everyone around.

Michael had already planned tomorrow's headline for them.

"Shock: Secretary rises to CEO, secures executive position."

Who knew how many aspiring women would curse the vixen in jealousy after today.

"I think they look like two seals fighting over grapes. What do you think?"

Michael glanced at Rhodey and said dryly, "You don’t have a girlfriend, do you?"

"No, how did you know?"

Rhodey looked puzzled.

Michael gave him a disdainful look. "It’s obvious."

Michael picked up Gwen, summoned countless feathers that transformed into the Bat Suit, and flew away.

Tony watched all this in astonishment. "How did he do that? Is it illusion?"

Pepper’s mind was elsewhere; she held Tony and kissed him again.

"Forget it, keep going."

Tony responded passively, but it was clear his thoughts were distracted.

Rhodey still couldn’t understand why it was so obvious he didn’t have a girlfriend.

He even thought to himself that this battle suit was more fun than a girlfriend.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, Tony, but why does he know I don’t have a girlfriend? Did you tell him?"

Tony, finally focused on Pepper, was interrupted again by Rhodey.

He looked at Rhodey in frustration, wondering how he ended up with such a friend.

"What do you mean why? Give back the suit, then you can get lost."

"Not a chance."

Afraid Tony would force him to hand over the suit, Rhodey immediately took off.

Tony watched Rhodey leave and couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Come on, let’s continue."

"No, you still haven’t explained what you meant by ‘you were going to die.’"

One interruption after another left Pepper unable to continue her magic, so she brought up old issues, launching into argument mode.

"We’ll talk about that later."

"I want you to tell me now."

Tony knew it was hard to placate a woman’s temper once it flared. Normally, his way was to just walk away, but Pepper was different.

He could only explain humbly.

"That was before. I won’t die now."

Happy happened to arrive, and Black Widow stepped out of the car, handed Tony a note, and left.

"What’s this?"

"Looks like an address?"

Pepper recalled Black Widow’s appearance, definitely a top beauty, and couldn’t help but worry. "Are you going?"

Tony whispered in Pepper’s ear, "She’s an agent."

"Oh my God."

Pepper remembered all their previous interactions; she really was unbelievably skilled.

"Are you still going?"

Pepper looked at Tony, worried.

Tony nodded. "I have to."

Then he looked at Pepper and said, "Now, let’s get down to business."

"What?"

Pepper was still puzzled, but Tony scooped her up and flew home, eager as a monkey.

"Ah~"