Chapter 28: MARK
Watching something on TV is one thing, but some experiences need to be lived to truly feel and understand them.
For Tony, this is war, weapons, death, and blood. When all of this was placed right in front of him, Tony Stark transformed from a playboy into Iron Man.
For Blake, perhaps it was a game-like attitude towards crossing worlds, or maybe it was the god-like perspective of knowing what would happen next. The battles in Afghanistan didn't give him any special feelings or beliefs about killing. But this didn't affect his other senses. For example, the first time he saw Tony Stark don the Iron Man suit in real life.
The reality had a much stronger impact than watching the movie.
As he watched Tony's robotic arms help put on the armor, piece by piece, Blake was deeply captivated by the suit, despite it not being painted yet and despite knowing about the more advanced Mark 85 nanotech suit from the movies.
The feet, hands, back, joints—every part had cleverly designed components moving and revealing the glowing blue energy inside.
"This is freaking awesome! Damn, this is every man's ultimate dream!" Blake shouted excitedly.
Yes, this was a man's toy. Compared to this, cars and guns seemed pathetic.
"Don't get too excited, buddy. The ultimate dream is yet to come. You're going to scream at my next move! JARVIS, activate the propulsion system, I want to fly for real!"
"Sir, that would require trillions of calculations first," JARVIS dutifully advised.
"JARVIS, sometimes you have to learn to run before you can walk. Let's do this!"
As Tony finished speaking, the thrusters on the suit's feet burst out with red flames, lifting the suit about half a meter off the ground. After hovering for a few seconds, the thrusters on the palms fired simultaneously.
With a "whoosh," Blake saw a silver flash streak out of the garage and into the sky.
"HO! HO! HO!" Tony's excited voice echoed from outside.
"Blake, you have no idea what this feels like, hahaha! WOO~~~~~" Tony laughed triumphantly.
"Tony, be careful. There's a saying: 'Great joy begets sorrow.' Have you heard of it?" Blake said, a bit enviously.
"Haha! You're jealous, absolutely jealous. I'm Tony Stark! JARVIS, what's the altitude record for the SR-71 Blackbird?"
"Official record is 85,000 feet, sir."
"Alright, Blake, today you're witnessing a new flight record!!!"
Tony cheered, and a streak of light shot through the Los Angeles night sky, heading straight up.
Knowing the movie plot, Blake knew what was coming next. He pulled up a chair and sat in front of a blue and white vintage car in the garage, sipping a drink.
Sure enough, within two minutes, there was a loud crash.
Tony, in the suit, had fallen through two floors, landing right on top of the car in front of Blake, smashing it.
"Sigh!!!" Blake heard Tony's forlorn sigh over the speakers.
"Dummy! Get to work! Spray him!"
Tony's household robot arm, Dummy, slowly moved to Tony's side, raising its modified arm to spray a large amount of fire extinguisher foam all over the suit.
"Shhh~~~~~~"
In the original storyline, Obadiah angrily berated a Stark Industries scientist, saying that Tony Stark built a miniaturized Arc Reactor out of scrap in a cave, while an entire lab of scientists at Stark Industries couldn't even grasp the concept of the large prototype.
In reality, even without the advantage of technology and genius intellect, Tony Stark's sheer hands-on ability, combined with JARVIS and his numerous mechanical arms, equates to the capability of a large-scale production line. After the high-altitude icing incident, it took him only three days to build a new suit of armor. This timeframe even included a full day just for ordering materials and transportation.
Now, the familiar red and gold color scheme was back, complete with thrusters that doubled as laser cannons and the glowing Arc Reactor on his chest. Blake felt a bit dazed for a moment.
There are many superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iron Man and Captain America have the largest fanbases, but if you ask which hero people enjoy seeing the most, many would say Iron Man. From the clunky Mark I in the cave to the Mark II that required mechanical assistance to don, from the suitcase-like portable Mark V to the tracking suit in the first Avengers, from the modular Mark suits in Iron Man 3 to the awe-inspiring nano armor in Endgame, each appearance of Iron Man offers a new visual feast.
"How do I look?" Tony asked, striking a pose as the suit was finally completed.
"Hmm!" Blake, adopting the air of a fashion designer evaluating a model, thoughtfully stroked his chin and nodded. "Quite impressive. Congratulations, Tony. You now look almost as tall as me." He compared their heights with a gesture.
Tony: (╬￣皿￣)
The incident in Gulmira, including Yinsen's death and the terrorists still heavily armed with Stark Industries weapons, enraged Tony. Before dealing with Obadiah, he needed to eliminate the terrorists himself, which is why he rapidly built the suit. However, because of Blake, Tony had to reconsider his plan of going solo. Originally, Tony didn't intend to involve Blake, thinking he was sufficient on his own and that Blake was no longer a match for him.
This notion ended abruptly when Blake casually crushed some leftover armor materials into a sphere with his bare hands.
"I thought Super Soldiers weren't supposed to be that powerful?" Tony questioned.
Blake, striking a dramatic pose and looking skyward, replied in a deliberately pretentious manner, "I can't speak for others, but I, Blake, am simply this powerful!"
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