Obadiah wasn't the type to go down gracefully. Inside the mangled cockpit of the Monger, his face was a mask of concussive shock and pure, unadulterated ego.
"You... you're a freak!" Stane's voice crackled through the distorted speakers, sounding more like a dying machine than a man. "I don't care what tricks you have! I built this company! I built this world!"
The Monger's remaining thrusters hissed, fighting the gravity of the damaged roof. The suit's right armāthe only limb Ethan hadn't twisted into scrap metalāraised slowly. The arm-mounted missile launcher locked onto the giant Arc Reactor beneath their feet.
"If I'm going down, Tony, I'm taking everything you ever loved with me!"
"Pepper! Do it now!" Tony screamed into his comms, his voice cracking with desperation.
Ethan saw the blue light beneath the glass floor start to pulse with a violent, blinding intensity. The air began to hum with a frequency so high it made his teeth ache and the hair on his arms stand up. He knew what was comingāthe overload was about to turn this entire roof into a giant microwave.
"Hey, Stark," Ethan said, his voice calm even as literal lightning began to arc between the floor panels. "I'm putting this on your tab."
Ethan didn't wait for Tony to answer. He slammed his hands together and then pulled them apart with a sharp, grinding sound. Instead of a shield, he cast a localized Mirror Dimension fragment. The space around the Iron Monger warped, the air shimmering and folding like a shattered looking-glass.
When the Arc Reactor finally erupted, a pillar of pure blue energy shot into the sky, vaporizing the glass and steel. The shockwave should have incinerated Tony and sent Ethan flying into the next zip code. Instead, the energy hit Ethan's shimmering barrier and was sucked into the dimensional fold, redirected entirely into the pocket where the Iron Monger sat.
Stane didn't even have time to scream. The massive suit was bathed in millions of volts of raw electricity. The heavy plating glowed white-hot, the internal systems melting into slag instantly. With a final, muffled thump of its own internal reactor, the Iron Monger slumped and plummeted through the shattered roof, falling straight into the heart of the dying reactor.
Silence returned to the roof, broken only by the sound of the pouring rain hitting the scorched concrete.
Ethan let out a long breath, watching the blue sparks fade. Even with me here, that thing still managed to blow, he thought. Some things just want to happen.
He waved his hand, dispelling the Mirror Dimension. He walked over to Tony, who was sprawled out on the edge of the roof. The Mark III armor was smoking, blacked, and completely dead.
"You still alive, tin man?" Ethan asked, looking down at him.
Tony groaned, coughing up a bit of soot. He looked at the empty space where Stane had been, then at the glowing, unbothered sorcerer standing over him without a scratch on his leather jacket.
"I think... I think I need a drink," Tony wheezed. He looked at his ruined suit, then back at Ethan. "You just... you redirected the entire overload. That shouldn't be physically possible. The thermal output aloneā"
"Magic, Tony. Remember? Suggestion, not a law," Ethan interrupted, reaching down and offering a hand.
He pulled the billionaire up with a single, effortless jerk. Tony winced as his bruised ribs complained, but he stayed upright. He looked Ethan in the eye, his usual snark replaced by a rare moment of genuine clarity.
"You saved me. Again," Tony said. "And you said you wanted a favor."
"I do," Ethan said, glancing toward the sound of approaching sirens and the bright spotlights of news helicopters. "But this isn't the time. I'll pay you a visit later when you're not smelling like a burnt circuit board."
"Well... I won't keep you," Tony said, glancing at the roof access door. "I think I have a reunion to attend."
Ethan heard the sound of running footstepsāPepper, red-eyed and frantic, burst onto the roof.
"I'll leave you to the touching reunion," Ethan remarked. He spun his fingers, opening a portal behind him. "Try not to get kidnapped before our next meeting."
He stepped through the sparks and was gone before Pepper could even scream Tony's name.
Ethan stepped out into his bedroom in the Sanctum, the portal closing with a soft vwoom. He tossed his leather jacket onto a chair and flopped onto his bed, the weight of the night finally settling on him.
"System," he muttered. "Status."
[ Synchronization Update ]
Current Template: Albus Dumbledore (93%)
Current Points: 14,010
Status: You are 7% away from your first Random Template Ticket.
Ethan ignored the silent glowing text and closed his eyes. All in all, it was a productive harvest. He drifted off to sleep with the satisfied smirk of a man who knew his stock portfolio was about to go to the moon.
****
The next morning, the sun was barely over the horizon when Ethan was already on the roof of the Sanctum. He wasn't using magic. He was mid-way through his daily physical routineāone hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, and one hundred squats.
His shirt was off, discarded on a nearby stone ledge. The "Saitama" physical routine was no joke; his muscles were packed and defined, looking more like they were carved from marble than grown from flesh. Sweat glistened on his back as he powered through his final set of squats.
"Are you really a sorcerer? Because you look more like a boxer," a voice said from behind him.
Ethan didn't stop. He finished his last rep and stood up, turning to see Gwen Stacy leaning against a chimney stack. She was wearing the oversized clothes he'd given her, looking a lot more rested than she did the night before.
Ethan smirked, his competitive streak flaring up. He didn't just stand thereāhe struck a pose, locking his hands behind his head and clenching his chest muscles, making them jump in an rhythmic up-and-down gesture.
"Like what you see, Spider-Girl?" he grinned.
Gwen stared at him for a flat second, her expression unimpressed. "Tch. You're such a dork."
She turned on her heel and headed back toward the roof door, her mood visibly spoiled by his lack of shame.
"Hey, wait! Answer me!" Ethan laughed, grabbing his robe from the ledge and pulling it on as he jogged after her. "Was that a compliment or not? My ego needs to know!"
*****
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