Ch.86 What is a Real Iron Man?

Buzz. Zzz-

That cheap sound effect, the one that woke Tony Stark from countless midnight nightmares, echoed once again.

Especially since it sounded exactly like Jarvis, it made Tony Stark briefly question whether he had accidentally leaked Jarvis' voice code somewhere.

The cheesy 50-cent sound effect ended, and red energy whips wrapped around Ronan's forearms.

A black cape extended from Ronan's neck, flowing down his back all the way to his thighs.

The helmet color also changed to red.

"F**k!"

Tony Stark cursed, immediately giving an order to all the robots.

Attack!

But he was still too slow!

Ronan's figure had already disappeared from where he stood!

"Jarvis, locate the enemy!"

Tony Stark immediately went on alert; he didn't think the other guy would leave just like that.

"Mr. Stark, the enemy is right..."

The next second, Tony Stark only heard a heavy blow behind his head, sending him flying forward.

Jarvis didn't even get to finish the word "behind"!

Boom! Crash!

Thud! Creak-

Boom!

All sorts of strange noises rang out. When Tony Stark managed to get up from the ground, he saw a scene he would never forget.

The Iron Man suits that had been standing properly were now all reduced to parts!

Piles of parts littered the ground, the once-standing robots now reduced to heaps of scrap.

What the heck kind of speed was that!

And the next second, before Tony Stark could react, he took another punch to the face.

No, more accurately, to his helmet.

He saw stars, and his entire system began to glitch.

F**k!

This was the second time Tony Stark cursed today.

The opponent's punch had easily damaged the Iron Man suit. What if he landed a few more punches?

Even this special material might not be able to withstand it, right?

"Not bad, not bad, your Iron Man suit is still quite strong."

At this moment, Ronan spoke again.

Following the voice, Tony Stark saw something even more baffling.

Ronan had an Iron Man arm on each of his arms.

The left one was red, the right one gold.

Classic Iron Man colors.

What made it worse for Tony Stark was that Ronan had even clumsily drawn a triangle emblem on his chest.

Although it wasn't perfectly accurate, Tony Stark could tell.

The guy even wanted to copy his Arc Reactor!

"Do you have more of this material?"

"I'd like some to make a cool-looking glove."

Ronan flexed his fingers, feeling how lightweight the material was.

At the same time, it was also very strong.

He'd need to wear the Infinity Gauntlet on his left hand in the future, but leaving the right hand empty would surely draw attention.

Might as well make a fake Infinity Gauntlet for the right hand too.

One on each hand, perfectly symmetrical.

"Why don't you just ask for Vibranium while you're at it?"

Tony Stark rolled his eyes. He had finally found someone more unreliable than himself.

This was supposed to be a battle. How could you talk like this?

Sure, I know you're strong, but this is just insulting, you know?

Insulting!!!

Bam!

Before Tony Stark could finish his sentence, he took another solid punch to the other side of his face.

He was sent flying once again.

"Vibranium? Vibranium works too!"

"I'm very easy to please; I won't turn down Vibranium."

Ronan returned to his original position, clearly satisfied with Tony Stark's answer.

But Tony Stark didn't see it that way.

Once more, he rose from the ground, palms glowing as he began to gather energy!

Buzz!

With an ear-piercing noise, two blue beams shot toward Ronan's face.

Tony Stark was determined to find out what this guy really looked like!!!

"Whoa, you're really going all out!"

"This is your house, you know!"

Ronan made a sarcastic remark, as a golden ring appeared in front of him, instantly absorbing the two energy blasts.

Boom!

The next second, a rumbling sound came from outside, and the whole house shook.

Tony Stark looked at Ronan in disbelief. Jarvis had just reported what had happened.

"I already told you, just say 'I was wrong' and I'll let you go."

"Now, the cliff below your house accidentally got hit by your repulsors."

"Keep this up, and you might have to rebuild your entire house."

Ronan sighed, sounding almost earnest.

Judging by his tone, he didn't seem like someone who had just trespassed into someone else's home; Tony Stark, on the other hand, sounded more like a stubborn child refusing to admit his mistake.

Tony Stark found it unimaginable!

How could anyone have skin this thick!

If Ronan knew what Tony Stark was thinking, he'd probably say just one thing.

Yes, and I'm standing right in front of you.

"What exactly do you want?"

"From the start until now, you haven't even seemed like you want to fight me seriously."

"What is your purpose?"

Tony Stark took a deep breath. Though he didn't want to admit it, everything happening was the truth.

There were several moments when the other guy could've ended it for him.

Including when he was falling endlessly before, and even just now when those repulsors were fired.

No matter how he thought about it, Tony Stark could only come to one conclusion.

The other guy was just toying with him!

Even if he didn't want to admit it!

"Actually, I told you my purpose from the beginning."

"You were looking into my secrets, so I had to show up to give you a little warning."

"And before you, there was also 'Soy Egg' who got a warning from me."

"Only his price was much heavier than yours."

Ronan clapped his hands gently, and a Laggardor ring appeared in his palm.

Slicing Tony Stark's newly developed Mark 42 in half was probably warning enough, wasn't it?

Soy Egg?

When Tony Stark heard that nickname, he was slightly stunned.

Soon enough, though, Jarvis analyzed the meaning of "Soy Egg."

A type of...Eastern cuisine?

A boiled egg prepared with a special cooking method.

The outside was black.

???

"You even have racial bias?"

Tony Stark nearly blurted out.

Ronan couldn't help but roll his eyes. When had he ever shown bias?

Wasn't that just a vivid metaphor?

"Think whatever you want."

"But before anything else, I'm going to give you your warning!"

With that, the Laggardor's Ring in Ronan's hands began to extend, forming serrated edges.

At that moment, a sudden voice rang out!