Whoosh!
A pulse beam shot from Tony's palm, flying toward Norman.
Norman deftly dodged it using his glider. Holding a pumpkin bomb, he mocked, "Your attacks are too slow~"
"My apologies, I thought a green caterpillar on a senior's skateboard would be less flexible," Tony retorted. He had definitely been underestimating his opponent.
Norman activated the weapons on the underside of his glider and launched an attack at Tony!
Clang, clang, clang! The bullets were all deflected by Tony's armor.
"Are you an old man who was phased out by the times? Still using weapons like this? Why don't you come buy some decent ones from Stark Industries?" Tony's shoulder weapons popped up, aimed at Norman, and fired a missile.
Norman immediately climbed higher. The missile flew beneath him and soared into the sky. Boom!
"Ha ha ha~ Too bad your aim is terrible~" Norman laughed. The moment he turned around, a red metal fist appeared right in front of him.
Clang!
"I didn't intend to hit you with the missile." Tony punched Norman in the head, grabbed his arm, and flew toward the distant suburbs. There were too many people below, and he risked injuring innocents.
Norman shook his head. Regaining his senses, he raised his free fist and struck Tony's chest, but Tony merely swayed and continued flying.
"I'm going to take this glowing thing off!" Seeing his attack had no effect, Norman prepared to rip out the arc reactor from Tony's chest.
Tony looked down and immediately said, "You'll regret that."
"Will I?" Norman didn't believe him. The moment he reached for the reactor, a strong pulse of energy shot out.
"Ah!" Norman cried out in pain, raising his injured hand.
Tony smiled under his mask. He was almost over the suburbs.
"Look behind you," Norman suddenly said.
Tony instinctively looked back. Clang! The glider slammed into his head, causing him to lose his balance and spin uncontrollably in the sky.
Norman seized the opportunity to break free from Tony's grip. The glider returned to his feet, bringing him to a stable stop mid-air.
Tony quickly stabilized his thrusters and held his position, looking up at Norman above him. "Did the green caterpillar get roasted yet?"
"Hmph!" Norman raised his injured arm, staring grimly at Stark. He had initially thought his gear was good, but comparing it to Stark's, it suddenly felt worthless. Aside from the glider's superior agility in the air, he had no other advantage.
"I heard you were the one who bombed the school, too? Is that right, green caterpillar?" Tony flew up to the same level as Norman and asked.
"That's right~ I bombed it, but right now, I think bombing skyscrapers is much more satisfying," Norman said, reaching behind him toward the pumpkin bomb storage.
Tony noticed Norman's small gesture but ignored it. Instead, he said, "You want to bomb a skyscraper? Fine. I recommend you go bomb the Oscorp Group. That would be extremely satisfying."
Norman's eyes widened instantly, and his heart jumped. Had Stark said that unintentionally, or did he know his identity?
"What's wrong? Do you think that's a good plan?" Tony continued.
"Goodbye!" Norman said no more, threw a pumpkin bomb, and fled without looking back.
Boom!
Tony tried to dodge the bomb, but to his surprise, it detonated a short distance right in front of him. The resulting shockwave momentarily knocked Tony off balance, sending him crashing down.
Bang! Boom!
Tony slowly shook his head and got up, finding a small boy eating a Burger King hamburger staring at him wide-eyed.
"That looks like a good flavor. Don't worry, I'll pay for that," Tony said, lifting his mask, grabbing another hamburger, and taking a bite.
The little boy swallowed, pointing to the hole in the ceiling.
"Mmm~ Now you can look at the stars at night," Tony said, sitting down next to the boy.
The little boy cautiously asked, "Are you Iron Man?"
"Yep. Want an autograph?" Tony asked, taking another bite of the hamburger.
The boy quickly shook his head. "No, thank you. But can you pay for the repairs quickly? Otherwise, my dad might kill me when he gets back."
"Where's your mom?" Tony asked. In the US, children weren't allowed to stay home alone; if someone reported it, the guardian could face jail time.
The boy replied, "My mom is sleeping."
"Sleeping?" Tony frowned, surprised. "She hasn't woken up through all that?"
"My mom is a very heavy sleeper. Last time, my friends and I were turning the house upside down, and she didn't wake up," the boy explained.
Tony nodded, finished the last of his hamburger, and said, "Someone will be bringing you the money soon. See you later."
With that, Tony's mask closed, and he flew away.
Tony could have used J.A.R.V.I.S. to transfer money to the family, but afraid the boy wouldn't be able to explain it, he contacted Happy, instructing him to deliver the money to the family.
"Bye~" The little boy waved, then went back to eating his hamburger and watching TV, though the sunlight streaming through the ceiling was quite blinding.
In the Air
Tony didn't immediately pursue Norman because he was tired of the chase, and the Palladium poisoning was getting worse.
"Sir, are you returning to Freedom City now?" J.A.R.V.I.S. asked.
"Of course. And contact Happy. Tell him to get some people to fix Stark Tower—that hole is ugly. And send compensation money to anyone who got hit by the glass," Tony said, covering all the follow-up work.
"Understood, Sir." J.A.R.V.I.S. immediately drafted a message and sent it to Happy.
Tony wasn't going to let this debt go unpaid! He needed to find the green caterpillar's true identity for a precise strike.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., hack into all the surveillance along the green caterpillar's route to Stark Tower. I want to know who this is!" With an AI like J.A.R.V.I.S., finding the green caterpillar should be simple.
J.A.R.V.I.S. immediately carried out Tony's instruction but found nothing.
"Apologies, Sir. The Green Goblin was flying in the sky, and no surveillance cameras captured him," J.A.R.V.I.S. reported.
Tony was back in Freedom City. Using a mechanical arm to remove his armor, he saw that the suit was damaged in several places, especially around the chest, which was severely dented.
"He's certainly strong," Tony observed.
Next time, he would install something different on his armor.
Tony grabbed a glass of milk from the table and went upstairs. Norman had completely ruined his mood. His armor was supposed to be far superior to the green caterpillar's, yet he hadn't managed to capture him.
"That green caterpillar is as disgusting as this green liquid," Tony said, glancing with distaste at a glass of green liquid sitting on the table.
If he could, he would throw out both the green caterpillar and the green liquid.
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