Pepper Dead

But Stane was quite a character as well. Assigned to Russia by Pierce, he managed to integrate that branch in just a few days and then focused on developing a new generation of Iron Man armor based on the wreckage of the Mark I.

At the same time, like Tony's father Howard Stark of his time, he certainly didn't forget Ivan Vanko and his father, who had been driven out of the United States by Howard and were now living as paupers in Russia. You see, Ivan Vanko's father was a genius scientist who had worked with Howard on the Arc Reactor.

Stane quickly located them through Hydra's intelligence resources, hoping they could help him solve the energy problem of the Iron Man armor.

Unfortunately, by the time Stane reached their residence, Ivan Vanko's father was already weak and barely clinging to life, passing away that very night with a heart full of resentment. Stane had no choice but to settle for Ivan Vanko and bring him back to the branch.

Ivan Vanko, who had been indoctrinated with hatred from a young age, wasted no time in joining Stane when he heard about Stane's plans to seek revenge on Tony Stark. Without a second thought, he grabbed his beloved parrot and followed Stane.

Ivan Vanko was also resourceful. While he hadn't developed a miniature arc reactor like Tony, he had managed to create the energy source for the Iron Man armor based on the Tesseract energy cube from the Russian Hydra branch.

Previously, after Zane took the Space Stone, Skynet threw the Tesseract to Hydra, which, as expected, willingly took the blame. After a few manipulations, it ended up in the hands of the Russian branch, where the researchers used the technology left by Arnim Zola to extract energy from the Tesseract.

However, before they could enjoy their success, the Tesseract was stolen by the infiltrating Black Widow. You see, the Tesseract autonomously emits gamma rays, which is how Skynet originally located it.

After Black Widow stole the Tesseract, the next moment, the Russian branch was attacked and turned upside down by agents from S.H.I.E.L.D.

This Russian branch was just recently established, or else Pierce wouldn't have sent Stane there.

Fortunately, a crate containing energy cubes was taken away by the retreating personnel, allowing Stane and Ivan Vanko to catch up with Tony's progress and develop the Iron Man armor almost simultaneously.

Upon completing the armor, ambitious Stane immediately slaughtered the Russian branch, declared himself a defector from Hydra, and then, along with Ivan Vanko, went to seek revenge on Tony Stark.

Being Tony's senior, he naturally knew Tony's whereabouts, hence the current scene.

Unprepared, Tony was directly bombarded by Stane's missiles. Even Pepper, his girlfriend, was buried under the rubble. When Tony regained consciousness, his first thought was to rescue Pepper, but with his limited strength, he couldn't move the large chunks of steel and concrete crushing her.

After saying "wait for me" to Pepper trapped in the debris, Tony rushed to his underground lab, where he put on the newly developed Mark III suit.

However, Stane and Ivan Vanko wouldn't just stand outside waiting for Tony to put on his armor. By the time Tony emerged in the Mark III suit, Stane was already holding Pepper's bloodied body in his hands.

Stane and Ivan Vanko's armor was vastly different from Mark III. Stane's armor was bulkier and equipped with various weapons, while Ivan Vanko's design was more minimalist, with only two electrified whips aside from protective armor.

"Tony, long time no see!" Stane lowered his Iron Man helmet and grinned.

"Stane! You..." Tony said incredulously.

"Tony, did you know? Pepper is a good woman, but unfortunately, she chose the wrong person. I want you to experience the feeling of losing everything too." Recognizing his impending death, Pepper mustered the courage to shout to Tony affectionately:

"Tony, I love..."

But before she could finish those three words, Stane, controlling his Iron Man armor, snapped her neck and callously threw her corpse in front of Tony.

"No!"

Tony rushed forward, catching Pepper and continuously caressing her face, hoping that everything that had just happened was just a hallucination.

But reality was cruel. Pepper had already lost her pulse. She was really dead...

In an instant, Tony Stark, who had been carefree and seemingly indifferent to everything, felt his world collapsing. Everything around him seemed to lose its color, turning into shades of gray.

He cried, he wailed, he kept kissing Pepper's face, but it was too late. Pepper could no longer respond to him, nor could she "annoy" him as she used to.

Meanwhile, Stane and Ivan Vanko were laughing heartily, tears streaming down their faces.

"Tony Stark, how does it feel? The despair of being the only one left in the world. You, the arrogant prodigy, should experience it too." This time it was Ivan Vanko who spoke.

But Tony couldn't hear their words anymore. His mind was replaying every moment he had shared with Pepper, and he was lost in it.

It wasn't until Ivan Vanko wrapped a whip around his neck and dragged him to his and Stane's feet that Tony snapped out of it. Fortunately, the Mark III detected the danger and automatically donned the headgear, or else Tony would have been electrocuted to death by the high voltage running through the whip.

With a surge of anger flooding his heart, Tony's previously clear eyes visibly filled with blood vessels at a visible rate.

"Stane, I'll have your life~!" With that, Tony blasted Ivan Vanko away with a repulsor, broke free from the restraint around his neck, and then lunged at Stane recklessly.

The tremendous kinetic force sent both Tony and Stane's Iron Monger crashing out of the now-ruined mansion.

However, the Mark III, just developed, hadn't been loaded with various weapons yet. At present, it only had flight capability and the palm repulsors. It couldn't break through the defense of Stane and Ivan Vanko, especially since their arc reactors were powered by the Tesseract energy cube, far exceeding the output of Tony's miniature arc reactor.

So, soon enough, Tony was overwhelmed by the combined force of Stane and Ivan Vanko, unable to move. Even when Tony gathered all his energy into a massive energy beam emitted from his chest, Stane's Iron Monger dodged it with a speed unsuited to its bulky size.

"Ivan Vanko, extract the arc reactor from his chest. With it, the future of the world will be in our hands!" Stane, piloting the Iron Monger, suppressed Tony with all his might, then instructed Ivan Vanko.

Although powerful, the arc reactor made from the Tesseract energy was not a renewable resource; using one meant one less in existence.

With Tony's miniature arc reactor in hand, Stane would be able to continuously produce Iron Soldiers, fearless of Hydra's counterattacks. Stane even had plans; once he acquired the technology, he would leave for Africa, control a small country, and develop it in secret.

Ivan Vanko nodded, without a second thought. He stowed away his right whip and aimed at Tony's chest arc reactor.

Tony struggled fiercely, disregarding the burning sensation caused by the overloaded output of the arc reactor in his chest, and exerted the Mark III's full power in an attempt to break free from the Iron Monger's restraint. However, his inner fury couldn't enhance the Mark III's strength.

From its initial design, the Mark III was not meant to be a powerhouse, so naturally, it couldn't break free from the Iron Monger, which possessed far greater strength.

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