Ultimate Iron Man

Natasha stepped forward and aimed her arm at the ground. The gauntlet shifted, building a charge, the nanites around her wrist glowing a deep crimson.

"Let's see what's down there," she said.

The pulse fired with a thundercrack. A focused beam of plasma drilled downward, vaporizing steel, ice, and concrete like paper. A column of steam and dust erupted as the beam carved a direct tunnel straight into the lower depths of the facility.

When the light died, a perfect circular hole remained, its walls glowing orange with residual heat.

Yelena peered down into the hole. Her visor adjusted for the light contrast, mapping the depth. "Straight drop, seventy meters. No defenses triggered," she said.

"That's what bothers me," Natasha replied.

She activated her left wrist, and five drones shot out. They spiraled down into the shaft in stealth mode, scanning every inch as they descended. She didn't move. Her gaze stayed locked on the dark hole, expression unreadable behind her visor.

"Something's off," she muttered.

Yelena turned to her. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If this guy's really Tony's grandfather," Natasha said, "he's a genius. Which means this is all too easy."

Yelena nodded. "Agreed. I was expecting more resistance."

"Exactly."

Their suits were among the most advanced on Earth. Each had adaptive shielding, real-time combat AI, regenerative armor, and deep field sensory mapping. But even the best tech in the world couldn't guarantee survival if they walked into a mind like Tony's gone cold, obsessive, and unhinged.

They stepped back from the hole.

Yelena raised her wrist and expanded the drone feed on a holographic display. The live video split into five perspectives. Each drone glided smoothly through the vertical tunnel, scanning as they moved. No tripwires. No defense grids. No interference.

That alone was alarming.

"Either this place is dead," Yelena said, "or someone wants us to think that."

Natasha scanned the room again, eyes sweeping over the walls, floor, and ceiling. The bots they destroyed had been fast, coordinated, and dangerous, but too weak.

She shook her head.

"No way this is his best. Not if he's half the genius Tony is."

Yelena moved to the far corner of the chamber and tapped the wall. The nanites around her fingers pulsed, searching for embedded tech. Nothing. Not even basic shielding.

A split-second flicker.

Then their HUDs lit up red.

[WARNING]

[ENERGY SPIKE DETECTED — NON-STANDARD FUSION CORE]

[ESTIMATED DETONATION: 5 SECONDS]

Both women reacted instantly. They flew up, smashing through the ceiling and bursting into the open sky, snow whipping past them as the air howled in the Arctic dark.

Behind them, the ground cracked.

A massive pulse of blue-white energy surged upward through the tunnel like a volcanic eruption. The explosion tore through the ice and metal with blinding force. A column of fire and light roared into the sky, stretching hundreds of meters, followed by a deep, concussive blast that flattened everything in a mile-wide radius.

The shockwave hit them mid-air, but they stayed locked in formation, stabilizing even as chunks of ice and metal shot past them like shrapnel.

They climbed higher, watching from above as the entire shelf imploded in on itself.

Nothing was left.

Only a crater where the underground base had once been, now glowing faintly beneath drifting ash and snow.

Natasha's voice finally crackled through the comms.

"Trap."

Their HUD screamed a warning again.

[INCOMING OBJECT - HIGH VELOCITY]

A giant fist punched up through the smoke and snow, aiming straight for Yelena. But her suit was faster. She twisted mid-air, letting her armor's gravity field pull her down and to the side. The robotic fist missed by inches.

She spun around and raised both arms. Her gauntlets shifted, forming twin missile pods.

"Wrong girl to swing at."

She fired.

A swarm of micro-missiles flew toward the crater. They hit with a series of controlled detonations, lighting up the snow like daylight.

From the crater, a shape rose.

Huge. Towering.

A giant robot stood in the smoke. Over twenty feet tall. Its armor was black and silver, glowing with red lines. Energy shield. Heavy plating. It looked like a giant mecha. But not as good as the ones Tony made. It looked like a cheap knockoff. 

Inside the chest of the machine, sealed in a cockpit of clear armor, sat Howard Stark Sr. His body was wrapped in a web of wires and cybernetic implants. His face was pale, stretched thin over bone. Tubes were fed into his neck and chest. His eyes glowed red. One big and one small.

He grinned. 

"Yelena Belova. Natasha Romanoff. I've heard much about you both."

Natasha landed beside Yelena.

Yelena's gauntlets shifting into pulse cannons. Two turrets popped up from her shoulders. Her white suit transformed into pitch black with red linings. She was in attack mode. While Natasha's suit began to shift form, bulking up like a Hulk Buster. She will tank the attack and provide cover fire. 

"You look worse for a dead old fart," Yelena shouted.

The robot raised both arms. Cannons unfolded from his shoulders. His voice came through speakers with a metallic echo.

"You don't understand what I've built," he said. "This machine is evolution. This is the future."

Yelena smirked. "Looks like a trash can with limbs."

Natasha planted her feet wide. Her suit finished shifting, thick armor plates clicking into place. The Buster mode was ready.

"Let's end this."

Howard's mech moved first. Fast. Too fast for something that big. He rushed forward and swung a massive fist at Natasha.

She caught it with both arms.

Metal slammed into reinforced nanite plating. The shockwave cracked the ice beneath her, but she held steady. Her boots locked down, repulsors flaring.

Yelena launched into the air.

Missiles fired from her back. Dozens. They curved through the air and slammed into the mech's side. Explosions lit the sky. Smoke burst out.

Howard spun and fired his shoulder cannons. Plasma bolts streaked through the air.

Yelena twisted mid-flight. Her armor absorbed the hits. The energy shields flared, but held. She dropped low, then fired twin pulse blasts into the mech's knees.

Direct hit.

The mech staggered.

Natasha took her chance.

She charged forward and slammed her full weight into the mech's chest. Her fists, now the size of car tires, struck with bone-breaking power. The shield shattered. Metal dented. Circuits sparked. The cockpit window cracked.

Inside, Howard snarled.

"You think I didn't plan for this?"

The mech's chest opened. A wave of drones poured out, small and fast, glowing red with heat blades.

Yelena spun around. Her shoulder turrets rotated and started blasting the drones out of the air. Sonic bursts shattered metal. Plasma darts ripped through wings.

"Hahahaha! This is so freakin' fun," She was laughing and enjoying the situation. After months of boring training and testing in a controlled area, she was finally having a real fight. And she was excited.

More drones kept coming.

Natasha pulled out two energy blades from her back. She cut through the drones like a storm. Each swing left melted scraps flying. Sparks danced in the air.

The mech grabbed her from behind.

Its massive arms locked around her. It started to squeeze.

Her HUD blinked with damage alerts.

"Nat!" Yelena shouted. "You are getting sloppy."

"I've got this!" Natasha yelled back.

She braced, then fired a full shockwave.

The explosion blew the mech's arms apart. Natasha turned around and threw a hard punch at the cockpit again. The robot flew back from the impact.

Yelena flew in fast. Her hands reformed into a massive rail cannon.

She aimed at the cracked cockpit.

"Say hi to Hell."

She fired.

The shot tore through the air and hit dead center. The cockpit exploded into flames and glass.

The mech stumbled backward, sparks pouring from its chest.

Inside, Howard screamed. His body jerked as wires ripped free. The mech's systems went haywire.

Yelena landed in front of the burning giant.

"Any last words, Grandpa Stark? Or, not. Fuck you! I don't care." 

She shot another charged shot at Stark Sr.

However, a tiny pink portal opened before him, and the shot disappeared. Then the fire disappeared. 

Bamf! 

A red-skinned man appeared before Stark Sr. 

Yelena open fired, but the red man grabbed Stark Sr. and disappeared with another 'bamf' sound.

"What the fuck?!" 

Natasha looked up into the night sky and saw a man in a red and purple suit and a helmet, flying in the air. Behind him were three other people. A young guy who was playing with a lighter, a girl with pinkish skin, and the red-skinned man with Howard Stark Sr. on his shoulder. They were standing on a thin metal platform.

The storm has stopped.

The man in purple raised his right hand. 

The shattered metal around them began to groan. Pieces of the destroyed mech, broken drones, and fragments of the facility lifted into the air like leaves in a storm. 

He turned his fist slowly.

The floating metal began to twist.

Long shards stretched out, sharp. Thousands of them.

They formed a spinning halo over Natasha and Yelena.

Yelena's voice crackled in Natasha's comms.

"Metal control?! Ain't that the Eric guy?"

[How did they know about Magneto? > Tony told them. Magneto right now hasn't done anything drastic. This is his first step after leaving the school. As for what deal they made, we'll see that later.]

"Yes," Natasha said, stepping forward. Her armor was shifting back to combat mode. "Looks like that old fart made a deal with Magneto."

"Great," Yelena muttered as she cracked her neck and activated the Overdrive Mode. The nanites shifted, increasing the combat capabilities to max. "Because one old cyborg and a robot swarm weren't enough."

"Let's go with Plan D," Natasha said.

The man in purple floated lower, his voice calm and deep.

"Leave."

Yelena disappeared from Magneto's vision. She was right there before him a second ago. A shadow appeared behind the red-skinned guy, followed by a hard kick. Yelena grabbed Stark Sr. and injected him with untraceable nanites almost instantly. 

Considering their mutation of teleportation and portal, they will definitely escape. And searching for them would be difficult and... extra work. So, even though she could have killed that old fart, she decided not to. He was more valuable alive than dead. Now, if they take him to their base, the nanites will send a signal.

Magneto's base will be exposed.

"Should we use the mutant killing mode?" Yelena asked Nat over secure comms.

"Don't. Stick to the plan. This way, we'll be able to take them down together," Natasha replied.

Bamf! Yelena pretended to slow down just a bit for the red guy to take Stark Sr. back.

She then shot back and unleashed the Uni-Beam.

"Eat shit... Metal man."

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