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[Frog] Chapter 60: Tony Wins, Gwen's Blurred Happiness
🕑 Added 2024-09-02 03:50:23 +0000 UTCA shockwave swept through the air.
The car teetering on the edge of the bridge shook violently before plunging downward. George lunged forward with all his might, but it was futile. He could only watch helplessly as the car plummeted off the bridge.
The mother of the baby inside the car, upon witnessing this, suddenly found an inexplicable strength. She shoved aside the detectives holding her back and dashed toward the falling car.
Just at that moment, a sticky strand of web attached itself to the front of the car, jerking it back and forth precariously. Finally, the car stopped its descent.
George followed the web with his gaze and saw Spider-Woman clinging to the bridge above, holding on to a beam with one hand while gripping the web tightly with the other.
"Captain George, I've got them! You get the people out!" Spider-Woman shouted.
"No problem!" George responded.
Gwen adjusted her position, freeing her other hand to shoot another web that adhered to the back of the car, stabilizing it and slowly pulling it upwards.
As the car neared the bridge, several detectives rushed over to pull it onto the bridge. They quickly retrieved the baby inside and handed it to the frantic mother.
Gwen let out a long sigh of relief. "Just in time."
She glanced angrily at the sky. If Iron Monger wasn't flying so high that her web couldn't reach, Gwen would have yanked him down for a good beating.
The rescue efforts below were naturally left to the detectives. Gwen stood on the bridge, watching the aerial battle above, already deciding that once it was over, she would give him a piece of her mind.
After helping with the rescue, George looked up at Spider-Woman, his mind replaying what Alan had told him earlier that evening.
"Is late justice still justice?"
If Spider-Woman hadn't shown up tonight, that mother would have lost her precious child. Even if the person behind the giant mech was eventually brought to justice, what would it mean to that grieving mother?
"Spider-Woman," George called out loudly.
Gwen turned her head in confusion. "What is it, Officer George? Are you trying to chase me away?"
"Don't forget, you just—"
Before she could finish her sentence, George interrupted, "Thank you."
Gwen was taken aback, unsure how to respond. "You're welcome."
With the tension broken, Gwen turned back to continue watching the sky.
George wiped his nose and resumed directing his men in the rescue efforts.
On a nearby skyscraper, Alan, clad in his Emperor Armor, watched the scene unfold with a smile. He then turned his attention to the sky.
Meanwhile, Tony and Obadiah's battle had already caught the attention of the military. Not long ago, they had lost an F-22 in the area, which had been a significant blow.
"Sir, you won't believe this. It's back," the monitor reported to his superior.
"Get Major on the line. Order the planes to take off immediately. We need to shoot them down."
Just then, Rhodey appeared beside the operator and hung up the phone. He spoke in an official tone, "Relax, everyone. It's just a training exercise."
"Yes, sir," the operator responded.
In the sky, Tony was flying at full speed. Jarvis continuously reported the remaining power in the Arc Reactor.
"Power remaining: 11%."
"Just display it, Jarvis. I know what I'm doing. Keep flying!"
"Understood, sir."
With Jarvis silent, Tony glanced back to see Iron Monger closing in.
"Tony, stop struggling. I can go even faster," Obadiah's voice boomed from behind.
Ignoring him, Tony continued to soar upward.
"The game of cat and mouse is over, Tony," Obadiah taunted as the flames from Iron Monger's boots flared even brighter.
In an instant, Obadiah closed in on Tony, grabbing his leg and yanking him back. Obadiah boasted, "Tony, you didn't expect this, did you? My armor is more advanced than yours in every way. It's far more perfect!"
Tony sneered, "Then how did you solve the issue of high-altitude icing?"
"Icing issue?" Obadiah was puzzled by Tony's question. But a second later, he understood completely.
All the electronic displays in front of him flashed red warnings and then abruptly went black. The Iron Monger suit lost all power.
Tony gave a quick knock, and the Iron Monger plummeted from the sky. "Clearly, you don't understand," Tony remarked.
However, Tony wasn't in great shape either. The power in his Arc Reactor was too low to sustain flight, causing him to descend as well. Fortunately, the remaining energy slowed his fall.
On the bridge, Gwen quickly noticed Tony falling. But just as he was about to hit the ground, flames burst from his boots, slowing his descent.
"Red Queen, which direction is that?" Gwen asked.
"Stark Industries," came the reply.
"Alright, let's go settle the score!" Gwen swung off towards Stark Industries with her webs.
Watching Gwen leave, Alan felt a strange sense of anticipation. "Could this end up being a Spider-Woman and Iron Man vs. Iron Monger battle?" Curious, he followed her.
Tony landed with a rough but safe descent, thanks to the last bit of power in his suit. He thought he had taken care of Obadiah.
"Pepper!" he called out.
"Tony! Are you okay?" Pepper's voice was full of concern.
"I'm almost out of power. I need to get out of this suit immediately. I'll be right there," Tony replied, trying to conserve the last bit of power as he tore off one of his palm repulsors.
Just as he was about to remove his helmet, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps and machinery behind him.
Tony instantly realized that Obadiah wasn't dead yet. "Nice try, Tony!" Obadiah shouted, raising a massive fist to smash Tony.
Tony quickly closed his helmet and dodged, instinctively raising his hand to aim at Obadiah.
But without the repulsor, he was unarmed.
"Shit!" Tony cursed.
Obadiah didn't give Tony a chance to react and hammered him with the other fist, sending Tony flying.
"Tony, accept your defeat," Obadiah taunted, catching Tony as he flew back and crushing him against his chest, squeezing with all his might.
"Turn into mush, Tony!"
"Report weapon status!" Tony demanded.
"Repulsors offline, missiles offline!" His display screen kept showing errors.
"Hey, big guy. Picking on a kid isn't cool," Gwen quipped, swinging a manhole cover with her web and smashing it into Obadiah's head. The powerful impact forced Obadiah to release Tony.
A dazed Tony muttered, "Thanks, but I'm not a kid."
Gwen glanced at him and said, "But he’s a big guy."
"You're right," Tony conceded. "Who are you?"
"Spider-Woman!"
Tony steadied himself and said, "We might not be able to take him down just the two of us. All my weapon systems are offline."
Gwen thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have any ideas?"
"If we can rip off his mask and land a few solid punches, that should do it."
"No problem, that makes things simpler," Gwen replied.
Tony gave a wry smile. "I hope you're not just talking big. I only have incendiary bombs left, but I can't provide you with fire support."
Gwen looked at the massive figure ahead and asked, "Can your incendiary bomb get inside his suit?"
"If I can get close enough, no problem," Tony said confidently.
Obadiah, still dizzy from Gwen's hit, looked at her and asked, "Who are you, anyway? Where did you come from, little girl?"
"Actually, I prefer being called Spider-Woman," Gwen replied.
Tony gritted his teeth. With the last bit of energy left in his suit, he charged at Obadiah again.
Seeing Tony charging at him, practically courting death, Obadiah sneered coldly and raised a hand to grab Tony. This time, he intended to crush Tony with just one hand!
As Tony was caught, he jammed his hand into a gap in the Iron Monger suit. "Now, Jarvis! Release the incendiary bomb."
Flames instantly surged through the gap, flooding the interior. Although it didn’t cause any real damage to Obadiah, it was enough to make him very uncomfortable.
"Spider-Girl, it's your turn!" Tony quipped, never one to lose in a battle of wits.
Gwen quickly jumped up and kicked Obadiah to the ground. She then grabbed the manhole cover from earlier and started smashing it against Obadiah's head repeatedly.
Already dazed, Obadiah was now utterly disoriented. Gwen noticed a gap between his helmet and neck. She quickly shoved her hand into the gap and yanked it open.
Seeing this, Tony was stunned into silence. Obadiah's face was now exposed right in front of Gwen.
Her first reaction was, "You’re really ugly. No wonder you built such an ugly suit."
"You little brat, you’ve really pissed me off!" Obadiah growled as he maneuvered a mechanical arm to grab Gwen.
Gwen threw a punch at him. "Ugly thing, you pissed me off first!"
The punch landed with a bang. How strong was Gwen? Even Curt Connors, who had regenerative abilities from his mutation, would have been knocked out by a single punch.
So, of course, Obadiah, a mere mortal inside the Iron Monger suit, immediately lost consciousness.
The mechanical arm fell limply to the ground. Just to be sure, Gwen landed another punch on Obadiah, confirming that he was unconscious with barely any breath left.
Satisfied, she dusted off her hands. "All done!"
She turned to look at Tony. Exhausted, Tony sat down helplessly and removed his helmet, lying flat on the ground.
"Thanks, Spider...Woman," Tony said, now too cautious to call her "Spider-Girl" after seeing Obadiah’s fate.
Gwen nodded with satisfaction and said, "It was nice working with you. Goodbye!"
"Goodbye..." Tony weakly lifted his hand as Pepper and the others rushed to his side.
Alan, standing on a rooftop, watched the scene with a nod of satisfaction. Although the process had some deviations, the outcome was as expected. Tony had won.
Next, Tony would reclaim what belonged to him at Stark Industries, and the company would undergo a transformation, leading to a surge in its stock price.
This meant Alan would make a fortune while doing nothing.
As he looked down at the cleanup efforts within Stark Industries, Alan decided not to stick around and returned directly to Gwen's room, waiting for her to come back. With Red Queen monitoring, there was no need to worry about surprise inspections from Gwen's mom.
Not long after Alan returned to the room, Gwen swung by the window on her webs. Excitedly, she removed her mask and said to Alan, "I just took down a big guy... He was absolutely gigantic..."
Gwen eagerly described everything that had happened since she went out. By the end, she moved closer to Alan and said even more excitedly, "Captain George just thanked me...!"
Nothing could make her happier than her father's approval.
Alan nodded, "Looks like he doesn't dislike Spider-Woman as much now..."
...
