"Let's give it a try then!"
Clark wasn't intimidated by the opponent's words. He immediately charged forward with his weapon, engaging in combat with Tony's brand-new armor.
It has to be acknowledged that Tony is indeed a genius in mechanics. Just a few months apart, and every function of his armor had been comprehensively upgraded.
Whether it was strength, speed, firepower, or reactive capabilities in combat, all had been significantly enhanced.
Even with Clark's current strength, without using the power of the Blood Sky, it took him three moves to finally find an opening, aiming a counter-hand palm strike towards Tony's back from above.
In Clark's calculation, this strike was bound to hit!
And his force was enough to embed Tony directly into the mud below, preventing him from getting up for a while.
However, halfway through his strike, Clark felt a sudden warning in his heart.
Without thinking, he retracted his hand, channeling formidable qi to his palm, but it was still half a beat too slow. An energy beam shot from Tony's armor hit him squarely, causing his entire hand to tingle with numbness.
The power of the strike, despite Clark's qi defense and his strong recovery ability, took a full three seconds to completely recover.
Frowning inwardly, Clark rallied his spirits once more, his miraculous healing hands transforming into a myriad of spear shadows enveloping Tony's armor, while Tony unleashed his full firepower in return, refusing to back down in their clash.
The battle between man and armor raged in the sky for nearly half a minute before Clark finally seized an opportunity, transforming his healing hand into a whip, aiming for Tony's right ankle.
He planned to immobilize his opponent as he had done before against other armor suits, then throw him to the ground for a rough landing.
However, his guaranteed strike was blocked by an invisible force field emitted from Tony's armor, causing the cloak to slip off without any effect.
Interesting! After two unsuccessful attacks, Clark's competitive spirit was aroused. He charged at Tony again, his cloak transforming into various weapon forms, while his fists and feet launched in a full display of his integrated martial arts techniques after his power surge.
But it was to no avail.
In terms of techniques, Clark naturally had the upper edge.
However, Tony had developed his armor's defensive capabilities to an extreme level. Nearly every inch of the armor hid energy activation devices.
The most infuriating part was that these devices weren't controlled by Tony's conscious mind but would automatically activate when anything approached within half a foot, delivering a counterattack.
After about ten minutes of continuous fighting and consecutive failures in his attacks, Clark had to pause, looking warily at Tony.
The two combatants separated, and Tony, with a smirk, said, "This new armor is specifically designed against your unusual attack methods. I've even given it a fitting name, the Clark-Resistant Armor. Apt, isn't it?"
"Apt my foot!" Clark cursed dismissively. "If I'm not mistaken, your defensive energy beam consumes a lot of energy each time it's activated. I just need to be a bit more careful in my attacks, and in less than an hour, I can drain the energy from your reactor."
"You're right about that. Against someone as agile as you, I indeed don't have a better strategy," Tony's smile was as annoying as ever. "But who told you I was planning to fight you one-on-one?"
"To seek revenge and gain support from the government and S.H.I.E.L.D., I've provided them each with three suits of armor. They've promised to fight for me when needed," Tony said with a smug smile. "If I'm not mistaken, they're on their way here now."
Six additional helpers?
Clark had no choice but to run again. Given the current speed of the Iron Man suits, an hour was enough to fly halfway around the Earth theoretically.
And Clark could not possibly defeat Tony's Clark-Resistant Armor before those reinforcements arrived.
With no chance to win, his only option was to flee. Otherwise, being entangled would only make him more passive.
Thus, Clark ran, Tony pursued, and the chase continued with verbal jabs exchanged.
"Clark, thought you were tough?" Tony finally got a chance to gloat. "If you're so capable, stop running."
"Stop chasing if you're so capable!"
The chase went on, with Clark continuing to flee and Tony persisting in pursuit.
"Tony, if you want to prove you're stronger, we should find a proper opportunity for a one-on-one duel. How about picking a day?"
"Sure, I choose today, right now, immediately!"
"Goodbye!"
The banter and chase continued, with Tony questioning their friendship and Clark defending his past actions, only to be rebutted by Tony blaming him for protecting his parents' killer.
As they approached New York, Clark tried to avoid involving innocent civilians in their fight, but Tony's reinforcements finally arrived – six Iron Man suits.
Tony, having anticipated Clark's combat patterns, coordinated the seven suits to corner Clark at an abandoned private airport on the outskirts of New York.
Surrounded by seven Iron Man suits, Clark couldn't help but smirk, "If I'm not wrong, the other six suits aren't as advanced as yours, right? Facing seven on one under these circumstances, do you think I'll be scared?"
"Who said you were facing seven?" Tony confidently revealed, "I called them just to prevent you from escaping. To deal with you, I alone am enough!"
As if to prove Tony's point, the six other suits took off, surrounding the area, leaving Tony and Clark enough room to battle.
"Are you so confident in your tin can?"
Ready for combat, Clark prepared himself, as Tony wondered if Clark really was the mythological Thor.
Just then, an impolite voice interrupted, attracting everyone's attention to a blond strongman, claiming to have heard his great name mentioned, questioning their way of welcoming a god.
Tony, thinking the newcomer was delusional, tried to scare him off with a pulse cannon, only to switch to a special bullet when the newcomer, seemingly Thor, became angry at being threatened with a toy-like weapon.
The bullet, containing electricity, stunned Thor, highlighting Tony's tactical genius since electricity is Thor's known weakness.
With Thor incapacitated, Tony instructed Rhodey, War Machine, to take Thor to a safe place, not wanting the upcoming battle to harm innocents.
As Rhodey left, Clark and Tony resumed their confrontation, only for Clark to surprise Tony with a silver flash – a dagger, aimed at Tony but deflected, only scratching the paint of Tony's armor.
Then, a figure in a green robe and antlered helmet, resembling someone from an opera, accused Tony of attacking his brother, Thor, declaring it a death wish.
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