Chương 65: Chapter 65: Stopping the Iron Drone Legion

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"You might have lived wrongly as a man, or you might have lived wrongly as a woman. In the end, it's still a way of human."

- Bon Clay, (One Piece)

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<(Atem POV)>

"Now, let's see what my favorite teenage dream waifu is doing," I muttered with a grin on my face as I expanded my cosmic senses to begin looking for the infamous Black Widow after I finished killing Justine Hammer. "Wait, it has been almost a year since I left for space?... How long was I fucking Caiera for? I thought I was quite quick about the entire thing." I exclaimed in surprise after my mind registered all the information about everything happening around me in a 10-kilometer radius.

"Don't worry master, this is not your fault. As you know, space doesn't quite follow the rules of time uniformly since time is only relative in the vast expanse of space. So, two planets in entirely different galaxies will of course follow different time zones as well. Earth is in the Milky Way galaxy while Sakaar is in the Fornax galaxy, a small satellite galaxy outside the Milky Way. So, yeah the concept of Time always gets a bit tricky when it comes to traveling between two different planets in completely separate galaxies, especially since you have been living on a planet that was surrounded by numerous artificial wormholes that were actively disrupting space and time around it." Zoya tried her best to alleviate my worries.

"I see. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Zoya. But I think I'll have to work on my habit of suddenly disappearing for months on end. It's almost like my life is some kind of subpar fanfiction with the author having no idea how to pass the time without making me too OP and therefore comes up with stupid shit like this." I chuckled at my stupid thought as I continued scoping the area. "Ah, there she is... Interesting, it almost seems like destiny has been trying to correct its course despite this universe not precisely following the exact 'canon'." I theorized.

"That is definitely a possibility master. After I got access to the Zero Force, I am now able to sense a lot of unique universal or multiversal entities and forces. Most among them would prefer destiny and fate not changing for the wider world, although only a few of them have the capabilities to effect or influence it directly."

"I see. I guess I'll take that as a warning." I answered with a small nod of my head. According to her, there was a chance that I could be attacked by those entities if the 'plot' got derailed too much because of me but again, that is just a theory. Anyway, I should stop worrying about stuff like that and focus on the more important things... like how hot the Scarlett Johansson lookalike looks with that tight suit on her. It almost looks like it would slip right off her with just a tug.

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<(Omniscient POV)>

"Dammit, I am slowly getting locked out of the system, Mr. Stark. Ivan Vanko seems to have taken a lot of measures to make sure that no one but him can use this system to shut down all the units or take control of all of them at once. The most I can do is take control of them one by one and self-destruct them after making them fly high enough in the sky. But that probably won't be fast enough since it won't take long for Vanko to realize that something is wrong with his drones. If that happens, we might find ourselves having a chain self-destruct explosion in our hands." Natasha warned as she furiously typed on the computer in front of her. "We are talking about a city-wide explosion that can claim thousands of lives."

She was currently at the Headquarters of Hammer Industries, trying to hack her way into the system to gain control of the Iron drones designed by Vanko but unfortunately for her, that task has been slowly proving extremely hard if not almost impossible due to the intricate and complex security protocols Ivan had installed in his system beforehand. Of course, Natasha was still confident that she would be able to crack it given enough time, but time was a luxury she didn't have right now.

The Black Widow had initially planned to take control of the drones and pass over their control to her bosses at Shield for some 'merit' but after realizing that she needed help to even prevent the drones from activating their self-destruct feature in time, she quickly decided to accept her weakness and call the first genius that came to her mind, the very well-known and probably only expert on advanced weaponized armors.

"Miss Romanova, right? Look, calm down, and take a deep breath... Now, I don't want you to take control of all the drones at once. I just need you to tell me if there is any direct connection between that system with Whiplash's armor, any embedded backdoor, or whatsoever that he might have been using to control his army, however small it might be." Tony asked through his communicator while blasting a few drones through his repulsor and avoiding Whiplash's whip strikes.

He exercised meticulous precision in his choice of words, ensuring that his words did not seem inadvertently flirting to the attractive woman. His tone remained consistently respectful as he engaged in conversation, recognizing her significance as a key employee within one of his closest partner's companies.

"... Yep, you were right. There is one specific armor that seems to have a different type of connection with this system, something more complex. That armor is acting like a remote control for the entire server. But unfortunately, I can't take control of it. Ivan made sure to design this as a one-way connection only." Natasha lightly clicked her tongue at her inability.

"I see. As I suspected, this was all part of his plan from the outset. His ultimate aim extends beyond merely eliminating me or tarnishing my creations; he seeks to obliterate everything associated with Stark Industries and the Stark Expo. His true intention is to trigger the self-destruct sequence, resulting in the demise of everyone present as his final act," Stark remarked with a heavy sigh, his frustration palpable as he crushed one of the drones' heads and aimed both his hands at the Russian scientist.

"Why the hell target me, you fuckhead? I wasn't the one who 'betrayed' you or your father, so why come after me?" Tony's voice dripped with annoyance, tinged with a rare fury as he unleashed a powerful unibeam from the arc reactor in his chest, accompanied by two repulsor blasts aimed squarely at the assailant.

The beams struck Whiplash, Ivan Vanko, squarely in the chest, instantly short-circuiting his system. The extra surge of energy, fueled by Tony's newly invented Badassium within his arc reactor, overwhelmed the limits of Vanko's armor.

"Aaaah," Vanko yelled in pain, thrown back onto the ground. He struggled to catch his breath as he accumulated the last of his remaining strength to speak in a heavy Russian accent. "You want to know why I want to destroy you, Stark... Hahaha. It's simple. I hate you and your family."

He chuckled as he ceased his feeble resistance, aware of the inevitability of his defeat. "I may have lost this battle against you, Stark... but make no mistake, I will win this war. HAHAHAHA." His laughter dripped with malice as he pressed something like a button on the wrist of his right hand. "This is the last gift from me... Go to hell, Stark," he uttered weakly, a bloody grin etched on his face.

*Beep... Beep... Beep... Beeep... Beeep*

A sudden sound reverberated from all the Iron drones encircling Tony, accompanied by an ominous red glow emanating from the center of their chests where their arc reactors were typically housed.

"Oh, no. It seems he's activated the self-destruct sequence for all his drones including his own armor," Natasha exclaimed, swiftly commandeering control of a few individual drones dispersed throughout populated areas in the city. She directed them skyward, ensuring their explosions posed no threat to nearby civilians. However, there were just too many drones for her to control this way.

Even though Vanko was out of the picture now, Natasha still didn't seem to be able to exert full control over all the drones at once despite her advanced hacking skills.

"Wait... What the...?" Natasha's voice trembled as a notification flashed across her screen. "Even this place seems to be rigged with explosives. The entire Hammer HQ is going to blow up in about three minutes." With a sense of urgency, she began to prepare to evacuate the building.

"What? But so many people... We have to save them. I can't let them die because of me. Even Pepper is there. Damn it, I have to do something..." Tony's voice wavered as he processed the dire situation. "That damn Hammer just had to mess around with Jarvis' servers, didn't he? I guess I should have never relocated them. I knew my house was the safest place for all my important stuff." He muttered to himself as he flew towards the Expo, a knot of fear tightening in his chest.

"I'm not going to make it." Tony's pulse quickened as he surveyed the city below, his gaze drawn to the menacing red glow of hundreds of drones scattered throughout the streets, each powered by its own arc reactor that could deal substantial damage to the city if they were to explode.

"Why aren't those drones moving?" Tony wondered aloud, his gaze fixed on the motionless machines. They were supposed to be executing their programmed directives, wreaking havoc on anyone in their path.

A familiar voice cut through his thoughts, interrupting his puzzlement. "Oh, that'd be me. Apologies for the delay. I've been a bit preoccupied lately like taking down an intergalactic dictator and all for the last few months, you know." The screen in Tony's headpiece glitched momentarily as it suddenly showed the face of a certain 'Sugar baby'.

"You... what did you just do?" Tony asked, utterly confused.

"Hmm? Nothing much. I merely had my AI take control of the drones and the central servers governing them," Atem replied casually. "Oh, and Miss Natasha, isn't it? You can cease your escape now. You should be quite tired from all your running. I've halted the self-destruction sequence of the Hammer HQ. That building and its contents hold considerable value, and as a major shareholder, I prefer it intact."

'It was certainly not as easy as he is making this sound.' Both Natasha and Tony seemed to think the same thing in their minds as they noticed all the ominous red lights slowly stop blinking on the chests of the drones.

"...Hmm? What happened guys? Why the sudden silence?"

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