I Am Iron Man

After dealing with the terrorists who had purchased Stark Industries weapons, Tony Stark flew back in the Mark III.

He did not know why the military’s radar had failed to detect him when he left America earlier, but when he returned, he was picked up by radar.

So the military dispatched two F-22s to intercept him.

After acquiring Wakandan technology, every nation had improved its military equipment considerably. However, most countries were reluctant to discard the weapons they had spent enormous sums purchasing before. Fortunately, they had not replaced their old fighters with the latest models, or Tony Stark would not have escaped the Air Force’s pursuit so easily.

With the intervention of Stark’s friend Colonel James Rhodes and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Tony Stark made it home safely. However, Pepper Potts also discovered his identity.

After a heated argument, the seasoned playboy Tony Stark ultimately convinced Pepper to help him steal the weapons transaction records from Stark Industries.

Just as Kraft had no way of accessing the truly important databases of other organizations, Stark Industries used an isolated, closed internal network. Even with Jarvis’s help, Tony Stark could not infiltrate a network that had no connection to the outside world.

In his dreams, Kraft had learned a wireless infiltration method from a guy in an LED mask nicknamed Wrench. However, it required a specially modified phone or some other device as a carrier, and he had to be near the target network to hack into it.

Tony Stark actually had similar methods, but he normally hated going to the company. Now that the board had kicked him out, he had even less reason to return to Stark Industries. The moment he showed up, whoever had been secretly selling weapons would definitely go into hiding. So he could only entrust this dangerous mission to the Little Pepper he trusted most.

Little Pepper successfully stole the files, but that also alerted Obadiah Stane. He arrived at Tony Stark’s mansion first and tore the miniature nuclear reactor from his chest.

"I hate sonic weapons…"

Tony Stark struggled with all his strength and finally shoved the first reactor he had hammered together in the Middle East into the hole in his chest before the shrapnel in his blood could take his life.

After getting humiliated twice because of sound-related issues, Stark decided that he absolutely had to equip the future Mark IV with a sonic weapon.

But before that, the most important thing was settling the score with Obadiah!

"Tony Stark has appeared again."

When the Mark III flew out of the mansion, Angela promptly reported it to Kraft.

"Again? That guy really is willful…"

Kraft smacked his lips, feeling somewhat envious. No matter what, he was only a boy who had just turned fifteen. Deep down, he truly wanted to show himself to the world, but as someone of Chinese descent, he also understood perfectly well that he could never receive the same preferential treatment from the American authorities as Tony Stark.

"So where is our playboy planning to fight crime this time?"

Picking up two dumbbells, Kraft carried out his workout for the day while asking.

Although he had no interest in modifying the human body, biotechnology in his dreams was not limited to enhancement. There were also many supporting technologies, such as nutrient solutions and body repair pods. With their help, Kraft’s physical condition improved rapidly, and excessive training would not harm his body.

"New York."

"…What?"

Kraft stopped lifting and stared at Angela’s projection above the workbench with a puzzled expression.

"The location where Tony Stark is fighting crime is New York."

Angela repeated herself, then projected footage from near Stark Tower onto the wall.

"Who’s this oversized tin can? I have to say, its design looks way more imposing than Stark’s."

Kraft looked at Iron Monger on the screen and gave his assessment.

"But why do all of them like giving themselves catfish faces?"

He truly could not understand Tony Stark’s bizarre aesthetic sense. As for that big brute, it was clearly a knockoff. It did not even have palm repulsors, and its overall construction was rough at best, shoddy at worst. It had even copied that catfish face, so its aesthetic sense was obviously terrible too. Its only advantage was its massive size, which made it look rather intimidating.

"Based on the audio recording from the scene, the larger one should be Obadiah Stane, a major shareholder of Stark Industries."

"Wow! This really is… betrayal from all sides."

Tony Stark was really miserable. Not only had the board kicked him out of his own company, but the armor he had just invented had also been stolen by his own people. Kraft was secretly delighted by his misfortune.

"If the terrorists who attacked him back then were also hired by his own people, that would be hilarious."

After finishing his workout, Kraft sat in his chair, drinking an energy drink and cracking sunflower seeds as he watched the show.

"Why does it feel like… Stark’s new armor is worse than the previous one?"

As he watched, Kraft began to feel that something was off. Stark’s red-and-gold armor performed worse than the silver-and-white one he had fought before. It was getting beaten senseless by that huge, obviously low-end suit.

"His power system seems to be malfunctioning." Angela rapidly analyzed Stark’s behavioral patterns. "Since appearing, Stark has only used an arc pulse once as an attack. After that, he chose close combat every time. There is a 73.47% chance that this is due to insufficient energy."

"Did he fail to recharge his reactor after returning from the Middle East?" Kraft scratched his head. "That’s way too reckless… Is he seriously going to get himself killed by his own stupidity?"

In the footage, Tony Stark seemed to realize that things could not continue like this. He turned and flew into the sky, and Obadiah refused to be outdone, flying after him.

He used ordinary rocket thrusters.

"Tch, so low-end…"

Kraft, who had no idea how hard life was for those without his advantages, curled his lip disdainfully.

The two tin cans flew higher and higher until the street cameras could no longer capture them.

"Should I dispatch the Banshee fighter jet to broadcast it live?"

Angela suggested.

"Forget it. It’s already so lively over there. It would be bad if someone spotted it by accident."

Though watching the drama was fun, Kraft still chose caution.

Tony Stark did not keep Kraft waiting long. Before long, the two tin cans fell from the sky and crashed onto the roof of Stark Tower. However, the nearby cameras could not capture what was happening at the top of the building either. Kraft could only see sparks and flashes of lightning on the rooftop through distant cameras, then imagine the exciting battle himself.

Finally, a pillar of light shot into the sky from Stark Tower. The powerful electromagnetic pulse disabled all the nearby cameras, and Kraft had no more show to watch.

"I wonder how it ended…"

Kraft scratched his chin, curious about who had won.

The next day, Stark Industries’ press conference answered Kraft’s question.

Tony Stark, dressed in a suit, stood on the stage. After reading a couple of lines from his cue cards, he fell silent for a moment before speaking to the gathered media.

"I am Iron Man."

I just arrived out of town, so I haven’t had time to check the tips yet…

Kraft’s influence is still relatively small at this stage, so the plot will not change too drastically. Those who read my previous book know that I prefer gradually changing the plot rather than making it go completely off the rails right from the start.

Also, I personally like the character development of Iron Man and Spider-Man. I think it is quite representative, so I wanted to spend more time writing about it.

Most importantly, it’s still the public release period anyway. Can’t you let me pad the word count a little?! I’ve seen other fanfics use plenty of original plot even in VIP chapters to fill space. Quite a few even directly copy movie dialogue and such. At least I removed the dialogue! Totally justified.jpg

Lastly, a little off-topic note: I preferred the actor who played Colonel James Rhodes in the first Iron Man movie. The later one looked too much like an ape, which really broke my immersion.

Regarding Stark’s intuition, there is actually a similar setup in the comics: the kind of person Purple Yam called "cursed with knowledge" in the movie. Of course, it was not called that in the comics, and the settings differ depending on the writer. There is even a parallel world where Stark’s brain tumor is the seventh Infinity Stone. The protagonist’s intuition, which was shown earlier, was actually added based on that setting.

I also think Stark’s anxiety disorder in Iron Man 3 may have been referring to this aspect of the setting, but that is open to interpretation.

Sure enough, after disappearing from the rankings, the rate at which bookmarks increased dropped by half…