At Tony Stark's request, Pepper found evidence that Obadiah had hired someone to kill him. For a moment, she panicked and was about to call
At Tony Stark's request, Pepper found evidence that Obadiah had hired someone to kill him. For a moment, she panicked and was about to call the police. But as she reached for her phone, she felt a business card.
When she pulled it out, she saw it was from an agent claiming to be part of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, whom she had met at a charity gala. She had originally intended to throw it away since she'd never heard of the department before—but forgetting about it turned out to be a blessing.
When she contacted Coulson, Hope somehow found out and offered to help.
Pepper was initially reluctant to involve anyone else, but Hope insisted, and she finally agreed.
Soon, Coulson arrived with several agents to pick up Pepper and Hope and head to Stark Expo to arrest Obadiah.
But like NYPDs in movies, they were never absent—but always late.
By then, Obadiah had already taken the arc reactor from Tony's chest. If Pepper hadn't been smart enough to contact Rhodey to check on Tony in time, Tony might've been a goner.
"Watch out!"
Sensing danger, Hope ducked down with Pepper, just in time for a strong gust of wind to sweep over their heads. When they turned, they saw a massive, heavy suit of armor looming behind them.
"Run!" Hope yelled, immediately grabbing Pepper and taking off. Though trained since childhood and capable of taking down several grown men alone, she was still flesh and blood—and with Pepper beside her, there was no way she could take on Obadiah.
…
…
After escaping to the surface, Pepper received a call from Tony. Flustered, she was incoherent. Hope couldn't stand it anymore and snatched the phone.
"Where are you right now?"
"Hope? You're with Pepper?"
"Yeah."
"I'm on the way. Get her out of there."
"Afraid that won't be possible."
A crashing sound came from behind them, and the ground shook. A massive mechanical hand burst through the floor. Obadiah, clad in the Iron Monger suit, smashed through the ground to face them.
"Oh, darling, you're no use to me anymore." Obadiah wasted no words, raising his arm and aiming his weapon at Pepper and Hope.
Pepper froze in panic, her mind blank. But Hope stood in front of her, grinning slyly at Obadiah, not looking the least bit like someone facing death.
"I bet you can't even pull the trigger."
"Hope van Dyne, if you want to blame someone, blame your bad lu—"
Boom!
A golden beam struck the bulky armor, sending it flying far into the distance.
Flowing blue hair waved in the air, and black armor shimmered coldly under the lights.
"Geez, are you always this dramatic?" Galen said, looking annoyed at his fiancée.
Hope was stunning—great figure, graceful and heroic, brave and kind. But she had one habit that drove Galen crazy: she loved danger. Wherever the chaos was, that's where she wanted to be.
"Because I knew you'd come save me," Hope replied with a sweet smile.
"Ugh…" Galen groaned, feeling a headache coming on. It was fine now since he had no missions and they were still in their honeymoon phase, but what about the future?
"Don't worry. I know my limits," Hope said knowingly.
"Let's hope so…"
"Galen! You…" The sudden turn of events left Pepper stunned. She looked from Galen to Hope, completely lost.
"See? I didn't even want to blow my cover," Galen complained.
"Oh, come on. She was going to find out eventually." Hope chuckled, then turned to Pepper. "Let me reintroduce you. This is my fiancé, Galen—a Silver Saint of Sanctuary."
"Fiancé? Sanctuary? Saint?" The words bounced around Pepper's mind in confusion. Though she was now the acting CEO of Stark Industries—and technically Galen's boss—she hadn't been in the role long and had no idea what Hope was talking about.
Their cheerful chat didn't last long. Pepper's eyes widened as she saw something. "Watch out!"
Galen didn't flinch. He simply turned slightly and raised his fist.
Clang!
The steel fist of the Iron Monger collided with Galen's own, creating a piercing metallic crash.
"Didn't expect a Saint working in our company. What a surprise," Obadiah growled, increasing pressure on his punch. But despite the suit creaking under strain, Galen's fist remained unshaken.
"You should feel honored," Galen said coolly, side-eyeing Obadiah.
"Hmph, so what if you're a Saint? I've got the most powerful weapon on Earth now! A mere Saint… a Saint… damn it!"
Obadiah tried to boast and overpower Galen using the suit's strength. But not only did he fail—his armored fist began to buckle under the pressure. The plating started to warp.
"The most powerful weapon? This toy?" Galen sneered.
"You—"
Before he could finish, Galen shoved his fist forward and knocked Obadiah's back. With a flick of his finger, he sent him flying again, crashing through several walls before finally stopping.
"You weren't even supposed to be my opponent, but trying to hurt Hope really pissed me off. Consider that interest."
At that moment, from the opposite direction, Tony streaked through the night sky like a shooting star.
"Pepper, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Tony. He…"
"Huh? Galen? What are you doing here?"
"Well thanks for noticing," Galen said sarcastically, pointing at Hope.
Tony instantly understood why Galen was there. After all, he knew about Hope and Galen's relationship.
"So, where's Obadiah? Did you take care of him?" Tony asked.
"Over there. He's all yours," Galen replied, pointing to the giant hole.
"Uh… why didn't you just finish him?"
"You expect me to deal with small fries like that? That's beneath me. He's yours. I'll take the ladies to safety."
Before Tony could protest, Galen was already gone with Hope and Pepper.
"Hey! Wait—this guy! Not even a second thought…"
Boom!
A loud crash interrupted Tony's grumbling. Turning around, he saw Iron Monger leaping at him.
"Tony…"
"Obadiah."
With those words, they collided mid-air, tumbling together.
Clearly, Tony's suit was smaller and more agile, but in every other way, he was outclassed. Obadiah was basically pounding him into the ground.
"I gave everything to this company! I made Stark Industries what it is today! I won't let anyone take it from me! Not Howard, not you!"
Missile after missile launched, explosions rocked the air. Using the blastwave, Tony stabilized in mid-air, now looming above Obadiah.
"Stark Industries has always belonged to the Stark family. It was never yours," Tony declared.
"Don't get cocky. You're not the only one who upgraded their armor!"
Iron Monger's boots flared with brilliant fire. The powerful thrust slowly lifted the bulky suit into the sky.
"Sir, it appears he can fly too," JARVIS noted.
"I can see that. Take us to maximum altitude."
"Given you have only 19% power remaining, the odds of success—"
"I'll do the math myself. Just do it!"
One large, one small—both blazed through the sky like comets.
"Tony!" Pepper gasped, covering her mouth in fear.
"Don't worry. He'll be fine," Hope comforted her, glancing at Galen.
"Right! You're here! Galen, can you help Tony?" Pepper asked anxiously.
"Wow, now you sound like you care," Galen said, ignoring her request and teasing instead.
"I— I just hate job hunting— no! That's not the point! Galen…"
"Relax, relax. Tony will be fine. Don't underestimate him," Galen waved her off casually.
"But—"
"It's okay, Pepper. If Galen says it'll be fine, then it will be." Hope reassured her.
Seeing them both so calm, Pepper reluctantly gave up on begging and let her heart settle a bit—though her eyes never left the glowing streaks in the sky.
A brilliant light flashed, and Mu, clad in Aries Gold Cloth, appeared beside Galen.
"What are you doing here? Where's Lady Athena?" Galen asked in surprise. Mu's job was to guard Athena—why was he here?
"Lady Athena's car was almost hit just now. So I came," Mu said with clear displeasure.
"Uh…" Galen was instantly embarrassed, his face switching between pale and red.
"Is that Tony up there?" Mu asked.
"Yeah. Think of it as a trial," Galen nodded.
"Then finish this quickly. Don't let something like this affect Lady Athena's peace."
"I got it."
With that, Mu vanished. Just then, the two figures in the sky began falling.
"Sigh, guess I'm getting scolded again…" Galen scratched his head. He never expected Athena's car to be passing by at just the wrong moment.
Thud!
With a crash, Iron Monger landed in a deep crater. Tony was about to fall too—but Galen caught him with a wave of his hand.
"Game over."
"You—me—I just got beat to hell, and you call it a game!?" Tony almost fainted from rage.
"Wasn't it?" Galen shot him a look and flipped his hand. The arc reactor stolen by Obadiah appeared in his palm. He tossed it to Tony. "Here. You're low on power, right?"
"Uh… thanks. You gonna step in now?" Tony asked, grumbling.
"Lady Athena is nearby. You guys nearly hit her."
"Uh…" Cold sweat poured from Tony's face as he avoided Galen's gaze.
"Toooony~!" Obadiah roared. With the arc reactor gone, the Iron Monger suit was powerless, and he could only rage helplessly inside it.
"Galactic Explosion."
Ignoring Obadiah's screams, Galen summoned a small star and slammed it onto him. Flames burst high into the air. Obadiah and his armor were reduced to ash, not even leaving behind a final scream.
"Whew~ that felt good." Hope sighed in relief. Having had a gun pointed to her head and nearly involving Athena by accident, Galen finally vented his pent-up frustration.