Nick Fury hurriedly sent people to bail Tony Stark out. Even if the U.S. military couldn't really do anything to Tony, what Fury worried about was other people.
After all, in this world, rational people were always the minority.
HYDRA wanted to take Tony, but they weren't confident they could hide it from Nick Fury. On top of that, Project Insight had only just begun. Unwilling to stir up trouble and risk exposing themselves, HYDRA could only watch as Fury's people took Tony Stark away.
Having failed before even getting started, Tony was forced to sit through Nick Fury's long lecture. Of course, he didn't listen to a single word.
"Did Zodhis upgrade the military's radar system… or was it War Machine's built-in radar that found me?"
The moment Tony got home, he started obsessing over the question. His Iron Man armor didn't have anti-radar coating, but JARVIS could hack and jam systems, so Tony had never bothered to develop anything in that direction.
Now, though, War Machine's AI had actually prevented JARVIS from infiltrating. Tony had lost his most powerful trick.
"Zodhis probably has his own AI, and it's more advanced than JARVIS…"
Even so, Tony Stark would never admit Zodhis was more of a genius than him. Tony was the smartest, the most talented person in the world.
He decided to upgrade his armor completely and abandon the design philosophy behind the Mark 3.
And right as Tony threw himself into research, Zodhis's Monster No. 2 made its entrance.
A massive body that could casually erase a city. A colossal monster, winding and surging like a living mountain range.
Elder Centipede!
Its pitch-black carapace carried an almost indestructible quality.
In less than an hour, the U.S. military's phones were blown up by calls from above. In fact, there wasn't even a need for civilians to report it and for police to file it upward.
Elder Centipede was simply too huge.
"Oh my God, what is that thing?!"
The police who rushed to the scene saw the giant centipede effortlessly twisting a building apart. Without another word, they dove straight into cover.
"I've seen a ton of monster movies. This is definitely a lab experiment that escaped!"
"Damn scientists!"
"Run, it's looking at us!"
Elder Centipede dove. It was about to swallow the crowd on the ground, and most of the people were frozen stiff by instinct, unable to move at all.
Splurt!
A blob of white webbing shot straight into Elder Centipede's face.
Silk arrived.
"Move, now!"
She slapped a web net over its face. She didn't know how long it would hold, so she immediately shouted to the people behind her.
The crowd fled at once. Under normal circumstances, they might have stayed to watch, but with Elder Centipede, a casual twitch could maim them or kill them. Better to go home and watch the live news instead. Reporters would film it even if it cost them their lives.
"Little bug!"
Elder Centipede roared, then dove again. Silk leapt to dodge. Elder Centipede swept past her, and the air current dragged by its enormous body hit like a hurricane. Even without being struck directly, Silk was blasted into a wall, smashed through it, and fell into the street with a muffled groan.
Just as Elder Centipede turned back, ready to eat Silk, a bus crashed into its face.
Because Elder Centipede's armor was absurdly hard, and because the bus came in with terrifying speed, the bus snapped apart on impact. Elder Centipede's head was knocked sideways anyway.
"Eddie, are you sure we can take this thing?"
Venom landed on top of Elder Centipede's head and tried to attack its face, only to get slapped away by its tail.
"What a huge centipede!"
The Human Torch arrived too, staring with his mouth open.
What was wrong with New York? Was Deep Sea King not enough last time? Now a giant centipede showed up too!
And it looked even harder to deal with.
He tried roasting Elder Centipede with flames, but he almost got swallowed in a single bite.
"This thing's shell is insanely tough, and it's not even afraid of fire!"
Luckily, Invisible Woman and Reed arrived at that moment.
Last time, they hadn't had enough damage. On top of that, Ben had refused to become the Thing again, so Reed used pure "I think it should work" logic and built a weapon that could make up for their lack of firepower.
Zod, who was watching the show, narrowed his eyes the instant he saw Reed pull out a sci-fi-looking gun.
Boom!
Reed fired an energy shot that blew a huge hole through Elder Centipede's body, nearly blasting it into two pieces.
"What the fuck, Reed. Since when did you make something that ridiculous?" The Human Torch jumped in shock. He hadn't expected his brother-in-law to quietly drop a bomb like that.
"I made it because of the Deep Sea King problem last time," Reed said, "but it looks like the output might be too high."
As he spoke, he prepared to shoot Elder Centipede's head next. He knew arthropods had terrifying vitality.
But then they saw Elder Centipede's body molt at high speed.
It shed its skin and regenerated completely.
A brand-new Elder Centipede appeared in front of them.
"This thing can regenerate?" The Human Torch's eyes widened. "That's ridiculous!"
This time, Reed aimed at its head. But Elder Centipede, now on guard, dodged the energy shot and charged straight at Reed.
Susan reacted in time, throwing up an invisible force field to block the impact.
"Reed!"
Susan couldn't hold much longer. She shouted his name urgently.
"Hold on, it needs to recharge!"
Reed was frantic too, but that kind of black-tech weapon needed charging time.
Watching this, Zod could only say one thing. As expected of Mister Fantastic, always dropping the ball at the critical moment.
Just then, an intense BGM kicked in.
"Looks like you could use a hand."
With that arrogant soundtrack, a gold-and-red Iron Man suit hovered above them.
"You are…?"
Everyone, including Elder Centipede, had their attention pulled to the armor.
"Tony Stark!"
Mark 4 Iron Man armor. Anti-radar coating, and an even more advanced system!
Tony had just finished it when he heard there was a monster in Manhattan. He didn't hesitate for a second. He put on the armor and rushed over, only to see Elder Centipede in person.
"This is… pretty damn big…"
Tony clicked his tongue as he looked it over, then both shoulders opened up.
The missiles inside were armor-piercing explosive rounds he'd prepared specifically after watching the news. You could also call them bunker busters.
Elder Centipede lunged. With JARVIS assisting, Tony barely avoided the charge. Then six missiles launched from his shoulders, all striking Elder Centipede's body.
"Hey, tin man, that won't work. This monster can regenerate. You've got to completely destroy its head!"
/-\
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