105 Chicken

Accompanied by the gradual deformation of his chest armor under Ivan Vanko's steady pressure, emitting a piercing metallic friction sound.

Tony's heart also sank gradually. The loss of energy meant his death. Tony wasn't afraid of death, but he hated that he couldn't avenge Pepper.

At this moment, the artificial intelligence developed by Tony, J.A.R.V.I.S., brought him a glimmer of hope.

"Sir, would you like me to make a distress call?"

Upon hearing J.A.R.V.I.S.'s prompt, Tony immediately thought of Zane. After all, even Zane's cat at home possessed extraordinary powers, indicating Zane himself was extraordinary as well. Though it was just a hunch, Tony had this intuition.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., call Zane."

"Sorry, sir, Zane is not in your contacts."

Tony's struggle suddenly paused for a moment, then he awkwardly said:

"Call 'Chicken.'"

Thus, the scene from earlier occurred again. In Zane's villa, after Zane teased Tony for a bit, Tony didn't retort.

"Zane, Pepper is dead, help me!"

The overflowing sadness and anger were palpable even through the phone for Zane. To make Tony Stark, this proud man, bow his head in request, indicated how desperate he was.

Zane also dropped the playful demeanor, becoming serious.

"Okay, send me a photo of your current situation."

Without hesitation, Tony had J.A.R.V.I.S. take a photo through the villa's surveillance, luckily one camera was spared from Stane's destruction.

When Zane received the photo, he glanced at it. He hadn't visited Tony's home before, and his teleportation ability couldn't take him to a place he hadn't seen. That's why he asked Tony for a photo.

In the photo, Tony was wearing his iconic gold and red Iron Man armor, but the situation didn't look optimistic. As Zane was about to teleport over, Lorna, sitting next to him, spoke up.

"Take me with you. Pepper was my friend too."

Previously, Zane had used the speakerphone, so Lorna heard the entire conversation.

When Pepper visited their house before, she taught Lorna many skills on how to interact with boys, and Pepper's gentle and intellectual demeanor made Lorna feel very close to her. The two girls had stayed in touch, becoming close friends.

So now Lorna also wanted to help.

"Okay."

Without further ado, Zane hugged Lorna's shoulder, then teleported to Tony's location.

Upon arriving, before Zane could act, Lorna immediately activated her mutant abilities, manipulating the Iron Monger pressing down on Tony and the whips, suspending them in mid-air.

The sudden feeling of weightlessness alerted them to Zane and Lorna's arrival. Stane immediately tried to shoot Zane and Lorna with the machine gun on his left hand, but Lorna's green halo suddenly brightened.

A large number of sparks erupted from the joints of the two Iron Man suits, and the energy blocks in their chests were instantly extinguished. Stane and Ivan Vanko's powerful suits instantly turned into two iron coffins, not only failing to give them strength but also trapping them tightly inside.

With her ability to control magnetism, Lorna neutralized them, crushing them as easily as squashing two ants.

While Tony struggled to break free, Lorna intervened, but Zane stopped her.

Zane shook hid head at Lorna.

"He needs to let it out."

"But..."

"No 'buts'. Tony Stark is a man! He doesn't need our pity. We just stand here and watch. He won't collapse." Zane said seriously.

Finally, when Tony was trapped in the armor, Zane nodded to Lorna.

Lorna then used her abilities, carefully dismantling the Iron Man armor without harming Tony.

But when Tony's mask was removed, both of them saw that Tony had tears streaming down his face without him even realizing it.

In his eyes, the fiery passion that never seemed to die before was replaced by an intense sadness, as deep as the ocean.

Nothing is sadder than a dead heart, and that's precisely Tony's situation now.

"Alright, that's enough crying. Once you're done, come with me to save Pepper!" Zane walked to Tony's side and said solemnly.

When he heard the word 'Pepper', a glimmer of hope flashed in Tony's eyes, but it vanished in an instant. When Tony hugged Pepper just now, he had used the Mark III's scanning function to test it more than ten times. Every time, the result was that Pepper's vital signs had completely disappeared.

How could someone who had already died be saved? This was common sense!

But, this was not Zane's common sense!

"But, Pepper is already... already..." Tony knelt down weakly, grief-stricken, unable to say the words 'dead.'

"Tony, trust me!" Zane grabbed Tony's collar and pulled him up, looking him straight in the eye.

After a moment, Tony saw the strong confidence in Zane's eyes and gradually rekindled hope in his heart.

"Okay, I trust you!"

*************************************

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