Restart, Spider-Man! [147]
With a tap on his helmet, virtual projections flared to life from its eyes.
Glancing over the genetic serum data, Tony immediately noticed something off.
"This serum was probably developed to treat some kind of illness, but he wanted too much from it. Fixing genetic flaws, gaining superhuman physical abilities, enhanced cellular metabolism, and even involving the brain's neural networks.
"Basically, a complete mess."
He looked over at Xia Luo. "What do you want me to do with this?"
Xia Luo asked, "Is there any way to improve the serum based on this data?"
Tony shook his head. "Impossible. I can understand the theory, but it's not my specialty.
"He went down the wrong research path. To get it right, he'd need to start from scratch, and even Dr. Banner would take ages to figure it out—if he could even succeed at all."
Xia Luo considered this. "What if we just wanted to reverse the effects, to restore whoever took it to their original state?"
"That's manageable. It's much easier but comes with side effects—the serum has interfered with neural pathways, so there's a high chance they'll develop dementia down the line."
Hearing this didn't surprise Xia Luo.
If Tony—the "man cursed with knowledge"—couldn't fix it, he couldn't think of anyone else who could.
But did this world's Tony have a knowledge stone in his head, too?
He wondered…
"What are you staring at?" Tony, feeling the intensity of Xia Luo's gaze, sensed a bit of mischief.
Xia Luo waved his hand. "Nothing, I'm just in awe of how fast you can understand all this."
Satisfied with Xia Luo's admiration, Tony stood up. "I'm not sure what you'll do with this, but since you saved my life once, I'll do this one free of charge."
He started toward his lab.
"How long will it take?" Xia Luo asked.
"Not long."
"No need to rush; I have a few other things I need your help with, anyway."
"That's fine. It's not like I have a nine-to-five, so I've got all the time in the world."
Xia Luo: "…"
He turned to a server collecting empty glasses. "Do you work?"
"Mr. Spider-Man, I'm working right now."
"Yeah, I don't have to work."
Server: "…"
No wonder all those supervillains wanted Spider-Man dead.
The Lab
Tony carefully mixed the serum antidote.
"Tony, someone's here to see you." Pepper knocked on the door.
Without looking up, Tony said, "Tell them to wait. I'm busy."
"I'm afraid they won't."
Pepper threw up her hands, exasperated, as a man strode into the lab.
"Tony, how long are you going to keep this up? Stopping weapons sales is going to be a huge loss for the company."
Obadiah Stane's face was grim, his tone filled with accusation.
Hearing the voice, Tony paused, rubbing his temples.
"This is my decision. If you don't like it, I can start your retirement a bit early." He didn't feel like explaining further.
Obadiah's face grew dark. "Tony, Stark Industries was built by me and your father. Are you planning to kick me out?"
Tony turned, meeting his gaze. "I know you and my dad worked hard to grow Stark Industries, but times have changed. Stark Industries has to evolve, or more innocent people will die because of the weapons we make."
"What do those people have to do with you?"
Obadiah tried to reason with him again. "We're not philanthropists. We're here to make money, not to run a charity. You're responsible to the shareholders—they're our lifeline."
Tony shook his head and handed his tools to the robotic arm beside him.
"Neither of us needs that kind of money. Those are just excuses; you're only interested in getting more."
"So what?" Obadiah didn't deny it. "Everyone's trying to make money. Why shouldn't I?"
"Fine. But there should be limits."
"Tony, you want to talk to me about limits?"
Obadiah scoffed. "Is that what your father taught you? He had no limits, either. If it weren't for him, Stark Industries would've quit the weapons business long ago."
Tony frowned.
"Do you even realize what you're saying?" He hated people bringing up his father.
"Of course. You might not know what Howard was really like, but I do."
"You're crossing the line."
Obadiah snorted. "This is my last time asking—are you going to reopen weapon sales or not?"
"No. My mind's made up."
"Very well. Then our conversation is over."
A glint of cold intent appeared in Obadiah's eyes.
His hand moved slightly in his pocket, activating a sonic device. Tony immediately felt a sharp pain in his eardrums; his heart seemed to stop, and his blood felt frozen.
In that instant, Tony's body locked up, his face turning pale as he collapsed. The reactor in his chest still glowed, but black veins spread rapidly from it, reaching up his neck.
"Tony!"
Pepper gasped, only to be knocked unconscious by one of Obadiah's men.
Seeing this, Tony's pupils contracted, but he could barely breathe, let alone speak.
He looked up at Obadiah's smug smile, stunned that his uncle—a man who'd been by his side for decades—had betrayed him.
Obadiah crouched down, placing his hand greedily over Tony's reactor.
"You brought this on yourself, Tony. By shutting down our weapons sales, you left me no choice but to deal with you early."
Early?
Tony's mind reeled. He'd suspected—
Obadiah continued, "Don't worry; I won't kill you myself. We've been through too much for that.
"So just sit tight here. Stark Industries will shine brighter under my leadership. It's lost a foolish owner but gained someone who knows how to do business. Howard would approve."
With a flick of his fingers, he easily detached the reactor.
Without it, Tony's face contorted in pain as he felt his heart laid bare to danger.
Obadiah stood and walked out of the lab.
Watching his retreating figure, Tony's eyes filled with despair.
Obadiah moved quickly down the corridor.
"Is everything ready?" he asked his henchman.
"All set."
"Excellent."
Obadiah stepped into the elevator, his expression growing more exhilarated as the doors slid closed.
"With the reactor in my hands, Stark Industries is finally mine."
Just as the doors sealed shut, a flash of red and blue darted into the elevator.
Obadiah jerked in surprise. "Spider-Man!"
Xia Luo leaned casually against the wall, ignoring Obadiah's henchman as he reached for a weapon.
"Yep, that's me. Seems you've heard of Spider-Man before."
Obadiah's face darkened as he hid the reactor behind his back.
"Are you here to—"
"Yeah, I ran out of web fluid, so I had to take the elevator. Sorry for the interruption."
Xia Luo's polite tone actually made Obadiah relax a little.
"No problem at all. I'm honored to share a ride with Spider-Man."
He smiled, quickly regaining his composure.
He guessed Spider-Man didn't know about Tony's situation yet.
Obadiah had always known that Spider-Man and Tony were connected.
If Tony hadn't been pressing him so hard, making him lose half his profits, he wouldn't have dared go after him.
Internally, he cursed his own security team for failing to detect Spider-Man's presence.
Any slip-up now could lead to a disaster.
For now, he just hoped this guy would leave soon and not delay his plans.
The elevator continued its descent in tense silence.
As the floors ticked by, Obadiah grew more and more anxious.
He'd never felt this level of agony before.
Finally, the elevator dinged as it reached the first floor.
"Mr. Spider-Man—"
He had barely opened his mouth when Xia Luo leaned in close and whispered:
"Hail Hydra."
Obadiah: "???"
"What?" he looked utterly baffled.
As the elevator doors slowly opened, Xia Luo shook his head in disappointment.
"Guess you don't get humor, huh? Oh well, I'm sorry to have to do this."
Under Obadiah and his men's stunned gazes, Xia Luo grabbed the elevator doors, his hand flexing as he unleashed his strength.
With a loud slam, he forced the doors shut.
Thud, thud, thud
A few muffled sounds echoed, and then silence.
Moments later, the elevator ascended back to the top floor.
When the doors opened, Xia Luo stood there, casually tossing a small device in his hand that resembled a car key.
"This thing nearly wrecked my eardrums. Symbiotes must hate this tech."
With Spider-Man's acute senses, Xia Luo had noticed the sonic device the instant it was activated, even through several walls, and had arrived just in time.
Iron Man now owed Spider-Man one more life.
Smirking, he webbed up Obadiah and his men, dragging them out of the elevator.
"You're too late—Tony's already dead. You can't save him," Obadiah sneered, one eye already swelling with a bruise. Watching Xia Luo walk toward the lab, he quickly called out, "Why don't we work together? We could make a lot of money."
Xia Luo paused, making Obadiah's heart leap. He's tempted.
But in the next second, Xia Luo turned, his expression irritated.
"Are you implying I'm broke?"
Obadiah: "…"
"No! That's not it at all. I just think we could make a fortune—bigger than anything Tony could ever offer. Trust me." Obadiah hastily explained.
Xia Luo scoffed, "I hate people who try to talk money with me."
"But Tony's dead—he can't help you now," Obadiah insisted.
Xia Luo chuckled. "You clearly don't know anything about protagonists."
With that, he turned and walked to the lab.
Outside the lab door, he found Pepper lying unconscious.
Xia Luo tilted his head, listening for her heartbeat.
Good, still warm.
He stepped over her and entered the lab.
Seeing Tony collapsed and unconscious on the floor, Xia Luo frowned.
Could he really be dead?
In the movies, Obadiah had already been wearing the Iron Monger armor by this point, and Tony was still fine.
Logically, he should have been able to hold on a bit longer.
Maybe this was the six paths of the Spider Totem in action?
With a shrug, Xia Luo slotted the reactor back into Tony's chest.
Buzz~
As the reactor flickered to life, its magnetic field realigned the shrapnel near his heart. Tony jolted.
"No!"
He took a deep breath, snapping back to consciousness.
Disoriented, he blinked up at Xia Luo before the recent events hit him.
"Where is that guy?"
"Outside."
"So, you saved me… again." His smile was bitter, his face still pale.
Xia Luo shrugged. "Just your luck."
"What about Pepper?"
"She's outside, taking a nap."
"Thank you."
"You should've led with that."
Xia Luo said, extending a hand to help him up.
Tony hesitated for a moment before clasping Xia Luo's hand.
He didn't seem as reluctant this time.
Back in the lounge, Tony, seeing Obadiah and his men looking worse for wear, launched into the classic movie routine: confusion, questioning, anger, argument.
In the end, he refused to forgive him.
Not long after, George arrived with a squad of officers.
"Spider-Man!"
Seeing Xia Luo there, George blinked in surprise.
Xia Luo waved, "Officer, we meet again."
George looked over at Obadiah and his men, then at Xia Luo. "So you're here capturing criminals?"
Xia Luo shrugged, gesturing toward Tony.
"This one's not on me."
Tony stepped forward, "Officer George, I'll provide complete evidence. Take Obadiah off my hands."
"Consider it done."
George clearly knew how to handle these corporate power struggles.
He wouldn't need to find evidence himself; the victor always handed over enough proof to lock up the defeated.
Soon, George escorted Obadiah out.
That's when Xia Luo remembered something.
"Oh no, I left the baby at the café! Gotta go pick him up. Let me know when you're done here," he said to Tony, then hurriedly leaped off the roof.
"Baby? Left… at the café?"
Pepper, who had just regained consciousness, rubbed her head, puzzled by what she'd overheard.
"Pretty sure he just said he left a baby at the café," Tony confirmed, bemused.
Pepper: "…"
"So… Spider-Man is a dad?"
"News to me."
In the Elevator
Handcuffed, Obadiah let out a heavy sigh.
He'd lost.
But it wasn't over yet; he still had options.
Glancing toward the elevator's glass walls, he suddenly spotted a flash of red and blue swinging by on webs.
With a start, he cursed.
"That bastard said he was out of web fluid!"
George: "???"
"Sir, you don't know the first thing about Spider-Man, do you?"
---
Evening, Café
Baby Kingpin stared with horror as the barista closed the door, flipping the sign to Closed.
Inside, he was drowning in despair.
Did that guy forget about me?
No, I don't want to be here!
You fools, call the orphanage! Have them send someone to pick me up!
And I'm hungry. I want my milk.
---
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