Chapter 242: The Golden Legend Iron Armor
"Hey, friends, your savior Iron Man is here!"
At that moment, a golden humanoid armor figure came streaking through the sky from afar at nearly Mach 5 speed, then landed heroically in front of Steve and Logan.
"Flashy guy, but perfect timing."
Though a bit speechless at Tony's flamboyant entrance, Logan and Steve couldn't help but smile.
"Tony, we'll draw their fire—go straight in and try to stop the Helicarriers from taking off!"
Steve said.
With Tony added, they were just three people against over sixty HYDRA robots, hundreds of HYDRA soldiers, and several superpowered individuals with unknown abilities.
A head-on clash would only result in a Pyrrhic victory at best, and by then, the three Helicarriers would already be airborne.
Their top priority was to stop the Helicarriers from launching.
"It's just the two of you left? Where's everyone else?"
Tony nodded, not arguing with Steve's plan this time.
After the last battle in Asgard, their relationship had improved a lot, and he now respected Steve's character and his ability to make tactical decisions.
"Probably all captured," Logan replied helplessly.
"George too?" Tony asked eagerly.
Steve shook his head.
"George didn't come. He stayed at the school with Professor Charles."
"What a shame. I was hoping he'd been captured so I could rescue him and show him my Golden Legend armor."
Tony's expression of anticipation turned to disappointment.
He'd always been the one getting saved by George. This time, he had finally upgraded his armor using Asgardian technology. It would've been a thrill to save George for once.
"They're coming!"
Before Tony could finish feeling regret, the HYDRA robots had already swarmed forward.
"Try this on for size!"
Tony aimed the arc reactor in his chest at the incoming HYDRA robots. Rings of golden energy formed, then a thick golden energy cannon shot out.
The cannon was so powerful it pierced straight through the robots' bodies.
But that wasn't all—Tony moved his upper body, and the cannon followed, sweeping across the enemy ranks. In the blink of an eye, more than half of the sixty-plus HYDRA robots were destroyed.
Only then did Tony retract the golden energy cannon.
"That burned through a ton of energy. That's all I can do to help. You two handle the rest—I'm heading to shut down the Helicarrier launch system."
The golden energy cannon was incredibly powerful but consumed a huge amount of energy. Even with his upgraded arc reactor, that one blast had used up half his power.
If he'd had this armor back in Queens, the Hammer Industries robots would've been laughable, utterly helpless—including Whiplash.
The overwhelming power of the golden energy cannon also startled the enemy, giving Tony a chance to accelerate toward the building.
"Watch out for those superpowered ones!"
Steve and Logan shouted a warning as they lunged at the remaining HYDRA robots and soldiers to prevent them from interfering with Tony.
"It's kind of like my plasma electromagnetic cannon."
Meanwhile, high above the Triskelion, an invisible George looked down at Tony and muttered while stroking his chin.
He had arrived even earlier than Tony, but seeing that the Helicarriers hadn't launched and Steve and the others weren't in mortal danger, he'd held back.
Banner had been accidentally teleported away, but he wasn't in any real danger—just temporarily delayed.
For George, stepping in now to resolve the crisis would make the situation seem trivial and wouldn't demonstrate the value of the Academy of Superpowers.
Better to wait until the Helicarriers took off and world leaders started to panic—then he could step in.
Of course, if Steve and the others managed to handle it on their own, he'd pretend he was never there.
Tony's chest cannon attack just now resembled George's plasma electromagnetic cannon in form.
The difference was George's cannon was a fusion of magic and superpower, while Tony used Asgardian tech to mimic the Rainbow Bridge's effect.
In terms of power, Tony's chest cannon was far weaker than George's.
George's cannon could slice a small mountain in two—if he used it now, the Triskelion would be cut into pieces.
That made sense, since the Rainbow Bridge wasn't just a technological artifact—it was the pinnacle of Asgardian magic and tech, possibly infused with divine power, giving it that level of destructive force.
Tony had only used the tech aspect. The fact that he could create something so powerful was already a sign of his genius.
"That guy again. I can't believe the Inhumans of this world are working with HYDRA."
George's attention was drawn once again to Tony's situation.
After breaking through the remaining HYDRA robots and soldiers, Tony was blocked at the building entrance by Inhumans.
Gordon the eyeless teleporter, and Daisy the quake-wielding woman—George knew both of these iconic Inhumans well.
He hadn't expected the Inhumans of this world to be under HYDRA's control.
Just as Tony was about to fly into the building, Daisy raised both hands—now equipped with HYDRA's specialized arm devices—and released concentric shockwaves toward him.
Having grown up in "Afterlife," Daisy had learned a lot about superpowers. After awakening her abilities with a crystal, she quickly mastered them.
HYDRA had even developed support gauntlets tailored to her powers, enhancing her control.
The shockwaves she released now weren't simple concussive blasts—they passed through armor and directly affected the brain, causing headaches and disorientation without being lethal.
Sure enough, hit by the waves, Tony immediately stopped flying, clutched his head, and fell.
"Jarvis, activate isolation mode—block the shockwaves."
Tony immediately ordered Jarvis as he hit the ground.
"Yes, sir."
Jarvis activated the armor's shielding system, blocking all shockwaves from entering.
Just then, Gordon, the eyeless man who had previously teleported Banner away, appeared behind Tony, attempting the same trick to teleport him as well.
Pierce's mission was to delay them until the Helicarriers launched. If they could just teleport everyone far away—like to the other side of the planet—they wouldn't make it back in time.
Gordon had just sent the Hulk to the Great Wall.
Later, when Captain America and Wolverine became more alert, he couldn't get close without being hit. Now, with Iron Man stunned by the shockwaves, it was the perfect moment to teleport him away too.
Even if Iron Man could fly fast, there was no way he'd return from the Great Wall before the Helicarriers launched.
(End of Chapter)