The Far Side of the Moon
Tony Stark's eyes flashed with disappointment as he controlled his armor and landed on the far side of the moon.
"I knew it. They wouldn't come out to see me."
Although disappointment filled his eyes, his tone still tried to sound indifferent.
"After all, if they really wanted to see me, they wouldn't have stayed hidden for more than twenty years."
Seeing Tony's forced calmness, Linen thought for a moment before stepping forward and patting him on the shoulder.
"Maybe it's not that your parents don't want to see you," Linen said softly. "It might be that they can't."
"After all, to the world, they died in a car accident back in 1991."
"Besides, you already know about your parents' responsibilities from Delis."
"Maybe they're afraid that appearing in front of you would only bring you trouble."
Hearing this, Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Trouble? You think I'm afraid of trouble?"
He waved his hand dismissively.
"Forget it. I didn't have much hope for this trip to the moon anyway."
"Well… maybe a little," Tony admitted, then shook his head. "But forget it. As long as I know they're alive, that's enough."
After saying that, Tony looked around and asked,
"Do you remember which direction the rocket is?"
"Of course," Linen nodded with a smile. "If we forgot, we'd be stuck on the moon for the rest of our lives."
Just as they were about to activate their armor and fly back, something strange happened.
A cloud of gray dust suddenly drifted up from a crater ahead. Then, countless pieces of lunar rock floated into the air, as if something massive was about to burst out from beneath the surface.
Seeing this, Tony's eyes lit up.
"Linen… could this be—"
"No."
Linen stepped in front of Tony, a solemn expression flashing across his face.
"I sense an extremely strong magical aura. If I'm not mistaken, someone is using magic to open a dimensional passage and release creatures from another dimension."
The moment his words fell, a deafening roar echoed from the crater.
"Wait—this is unscientific!" Tony shouted. "There's no air in space! There's no medium for sound transmission! How the hell did I hear that roar?"
Facing Tony's disbelief, Linen's expression remained grave.
"I don't know how," he said seriously. "But Tony, this thing is extremely dangerous."
The next second, a horrifying monster more than thirty meters tall leapt out of the crater.
Its body was made up of countless human arms and legs twisted together, as if hundreds of corpses had been forcibly stitched into a single entity.
At the top of its body were hundreds of faces—twisted, resentful, and screaming in pain.
"Oh my God…"
Seeing the grotesque monster, Tony instinctively took a step back.
Looking at the agonized faces of people of different races, Tony felt a chill run through his soul.
"FUXX, Linen! What the hell is that thing?!"
Hearing the sharp panic in Tony's voice, Linen shook his head.
"I've never seen it before."
"There's no record of such a creature in the Book of the Dead."
"It looks more like a monster created by forcibly fusing hundreds of dying people together."
Listening to the anguished screams pouring from the monster's many mouths, Linen frowned. Even he could feel the immense pressure radiating from it.
The Core of the Moon
"Oh my God… what is that thing?"
Watching Tony and Linen encounter such a monster, Maria Stark immediately grew anxious.
"I don't know," Howard Stark said gravely, staring at the screen. "We've lived on the moon for more than twenty years, and we've never seen anything this terrifying."
On the display, the monster charged toward Tony and Linen.
Tony's armor fired energy cannons. Linen unleashed powerful magic.
But none of it worked.
The monster absorbed every energy attack and grew even stronger.
Howard's expression darkened.
"No… Tony's in danger. Our son's life is in danger. I have to save him."
Maria immediately moved to activate the Ultimate Eraser, but Howard quickly stopped her.
"Move!" Maria shouted.
"Calm down, Maria. Believe—"
"Calm down?!" Maria interrupted angrily. "When Tony was attacked by missiles and kidnapped in the Middle East, we were off in other dimensions fighting monsters that were about to invade Earth!"
"When we came back, all we could do was watch our son suffer!"
"And now he's in danger right in front of us! How can you ask me to just watch?! That's our son!"
Seeing his wife completely lose control, Howard hurriedly said,
"Dear… Tony will be fine."
"Have you forgotten what Uatu told us before he allowed us to become Wall Keepers?"
"He said Tony is the most important person in the future of this universe."
"So don't worry. Our Tony will survive."
"Uatu?" Maria snapped. "You actually believe him? The Watchers never interfere! Even if the universe is destroyed, they only observe!"
"I don't trust them. Don't forget what happened to us—and that female Loki from the multiverse—"
"Shh!"
Seeing Maria about to reveal their suspicions and the Watchers' true plan, Howard immediately silenced her.
"Tony is my only child too," Howard said firmly. "Believe me—I would never gamble with our son's life."
Hearing his words, Maria finally calmed down.
Taking a deep breath, she handed the Ultimate Eraser to Howard.
Looking back at Tony and Linen struggling against the monster, her eyes reddened.
"Remember this," Maria said softly. "If Tony and Linen are truly in mortal danger, I will appear—no matter the cost."
Hearing the determination in her voice, Maria finally collapsed into Howard's arms and began to cry.
The Far Side of the Moon
"FUXX!"
Tony twisted mid-air, barely dodging the monster's attack, and fired another palm energy blast.
The monster absorbed it effortlessly.
Tony frowned deeply.
"Damn it, Linen! This thing can absorb our energy attacks and convert them into its own power!"
"Even physical damage is useless!"
"What the hell do we do now?!"
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