Chapter 25: Easily Settled

The Lizard was installing a launching device on the roof of the Oscorp building when a voice sounded from behind him.

“Give it up, Doctor. What you’re doing is wrong!” Peter called out to him.

The Lizard glared at Spider-Man, “Peter Parker, you want to stop me? I will force all of humanity to evolve. Anyone who stands in my way must die!”

“How arrogant!” Arthur appeared at Peter’s side, looking down on the Lizard with disdain.

“It’s you!” The Lizard was visibly shocked at the sight of Arthur, as though he was especially afraid of him.

Arthur lunged at the Lizard, driving a fist into his abdomen and sending him crashing into the signal tower. Without pause, Arthur followed up with another punch to the Lizard’s chest, caving it in and causing the Lizard to cough up blood.

Arthur then delivered a powerful kick, striking the Lizard and the steel signal tower behind him, toppling both. The twenty-meter-tall signal tower crashed down toward the pool below, while the Lizard lay on the ground, barely clinging to life. His body shrank, gradually reverting to a human form.

Peter looked at Dr. Connors, who was lying on the ground, and said to Arthur, “Let’s leave him to the police.”

Arthur had no interest in killing an ordinary man. “Alright, then let’s go.”

Peter and Arthur slipped away quietly, leaving only Dr. Connors bound tightly in spider webs on the rooftop.

Arthur called Tony, informing him of the incident. The higher-ups at Oscorp had also been killed by the Lizard, and Arthur suggested Tony acquire Oscorp. Although Tony had little interest in biopharmaceuticals, he agreed to Arthur’s request and bought out Oscorp Biotech.

Arthur and Peter rode home together after the affair was resolved with ease. Gwen’s father had survived, and all ended happily.

Peter hesitated several times, wanting to speak, but Arthur preempted him. “I know what you want to ask. Like you, I have superpowers, but I was never bitten by a spider. I carry the bloodline of Atlantis.”

Arthur briefly recounted the story of Atlantis and his own origins to Peter, who was amazed by Arthur’s extraordinary background. Yet he was also delighted—not alone anymore, he and Arthur were both people with powers, a kind of kinship.

...

Tony Stark had finally created a new element to replace palladium, curing his own poisoning and building a brand-new arc reactor for himself.

Just then, Tony received a call from an unknown number. The familiar voice on the line was Ivan Vanko, the man who had attacked him at the racetrack.

“Tony Stark, how are you? That advice you gave me about doubling the speed to generate more energy—excellent suggestion!”

“You sound in great spirits,” Tony replied, instructing Jarvis to trace the call’s location.

“I’m about to change Stark family history. What your father did to my family forty years ago, I will finish with you in forty minutes!” Ivan Vanko hung up.

The trace failed—Jarvis could only narrow it down to somewhere in Manhattan.

A thought struck Tony, and he checked the news: his old rival, Hammer Industries, the second largest arms dealer in America, was holding a weapons expo in Manhattan.

Ignoring Jarvis’s warnings, Tony installed his latest energy reactor, donned his armor, and flew straight to the expo.

There, he found his good friend James Rhodes. Tony greeted Rhodey and told him Ivan Vanko was still alive.

Suddenly, all the robots at the expo and Rhodey’s suit started moving. Every robot aimed its weapons at Tony. Rhodey warned Tony that his suit had been hacked as well.

To avoid casualties among the audience, Tony could only flee.

Tony, clad in red armor, flew ahead while Rhodey in silver armor fired at him from behind, with over twenty robots in pursuit. On the ground, dozens of non-flying robots raised their cannons and launched explosives at Tony.

The vicinity of the expo erupted in fire and chaos—a fierce battle ensued.

Meanwhile, Arthur’s “partner” Natasha and Happy Hogan arrived directly at Hammer Industries’ building.

Natasha, the Black Widow, dispatched all of Hammer’s security with swift, effortless strikes.

Natasha found the console Ivan Vanko was using and successfully rebooted Rhodey’s War Machine suit, restoring his control.

With Tony and Rhodey working together, they quickly dealt with the pursuing robots.

Just as Tony and Rhodey caught their breath, Natasha warned them that a much stronger enemy was approaching.

Sure enough, a figure in armor flew down from above—it was Ivan Vanko.

Vanko unfurled two electrified whips, lashing out at Tony and Rhodey in a relentless assault. In the end, he fell to the combined energy blasts of Tony and Rhodey in a tremendous explosion. (Iron Man 2’s plot is rather shallow, so let’s not dwell on the details.)

...

Tony received a file from Nick Fury, inviting him to formally join the Avengers Initiative.

But Fury handed him another report—Natasha’s evaluation of Tony. Reading it, Tony became furious. The report claimed he was impulsive, unstable, had suicidal tendencies, and was a narcissist! Most importantly, Tony was not recommended for Avengers membership!

Tony, the great Iron Man! Billionaire! Genius of the scientific world! The dream of countless women! Not recommended!

He was instantly incensed. Not recommended? What does that mean? That woman must have a bias against me!

Nick Fury told Tony he could only serve as a consultant to the Avengers.

Tony retorted, “You can’t afford me!” and turned to leave.

But halfway out, he turned back and said, “Fine, I’ll be a consultant—on one condition: tomorrow, have someone in Washington present me and Rhodey with medals.”

The next day, a ceremony was held in Washington, and Senator Stern, gritting his teeth, awarded Tony and Rhodey the Medal of Excellence.

...

On weekend evenings, the Atlantis Restaurant was closed once again. Why would it close during the busiest time of the week?

Because Arthur had invited Peter and Gwen to join him and a few others from the restaurant for an outdoor barbecue.

Peter and Gwen sat to Arthur’s left, while Isa, Omily, and Lina sat to his right. The other three—Jack grilled fish, Zhao Long cooked Chinese dishes, and Mike was on kebab duty—were the perfect support team.

Everyone ate and laughed together. Peter and Gwen even broke their own rules and had a little to drink. The atmosphere was warm and cheerful. Arthur smiled at the scene before him. If only life could always be this simple and pleasant. But in this world, conflict was never in short supply, and Earth was a place of constant disaster.

To protect the beauty around him, Arthur knew he had to continue growing stronger. He had found his motivation once more.

Everyone was happily enjoying themselves. The girls even taught Peter and Gwen some drinking games. Just then, Arthur’s phone rang. Glancing at the screen, he apologized and stepped aside to take the call.

“Hello? What is it, Coulson?”

“Arthur, a meteorite just fell from the sky in New Mexico. We’ve made an astonishing discovery, and I need your help!”

After waiting so long, it had finally arrived! Arthur immediately agreed to Coulson’s request, as he had been anticipating this moment.

Staring at his phone after the call ended, Arthur’s lips curled into a smile.

...