"Put them down!" Tony Stark shouted.
Obadiah Stane, piloting Iron Monger, ignored him. He was feeling a little awkward at the moment...
This show-off act wasn't going quite as planned, though for the moment he could not figure out exactly what had gone wrong.
Bumblebee was certainly young, but no matter how young he was, he still did not want to be picked up by a human!
He was right at the age when kids were at their most unruly. Seeing Iron Monger try to lift him without so much as a word made him furious.
Even though Bella had given no order, Bumblebee clung firmly to the ground. Obadiah Stane only managed to lift the front wheels. His planned move—pick up the car and then smash it at Tony Stark—stalled halfway through. This car was far heavier than expected!
What kind of car was this? Why was it so heavy? He was about to slip a disc and still could not lift it.
"I said put them down!" Tony Stark was hardly a battle-hardened warrior, but Obadiah Stane was bent over with his backside sticking out, leaving his lower back wide open as he struggled to lift a car he could not budge. Even Tony could seize an opening that huge.
He leaped into the air and kicked Iron Monger hard in the lower back with both feet.
Obadiah Stane instantly lost all feeling below the waist!
He was from the same generation as Tony Stark's father. He was not quite a hundred years old like Captain America, but he was unquestionably an old man.
Worried that his body might not be able to operate Iron Monger, he had installed plenty of life-support equipment inside it beforehand. Unfortunately, all of it was aimed at things like blood pressure, blood lipids, and blood sugar. He had never thought to plan for his back...
Caught off guard, with his lower body no longer responding, Iron Monger pitched forward. His huge head hit Bumblebee's hood with a heavy thud.
An ordinary person would have been terrified senseless by now. Fortunately, no one in this car was ordinary. The two children had no idea what was happening. The Divine Dragon, awakened by the noise, clenched his little fists and cheered Bumblebee on. Bella wanted to roll down the window and shout a few curses, but Stark might not want anyone exposing his true identity yet. The Camaro also had tinted windows that let them see out while preventing anyone outside from seeing in. After hesitating, she held back.
"Bumblebee, run him over!" She decided not to get involved in this mess. We should hurry up and go get ice cream!
Bumblebee's rear wheels began spinning rapidly. With overwhelming power, he pressed against Iron Monger and pushed forward little by little.
What the hell was this? Iron Monger had already taken a kick from Iron Man to the lower back and was leaning forward. The moment Bumblebee applied force, he lost his footing and instantly dropped into a half-kneeling posture.
Obadiah Stane was furious, but even more than that, he was confused. What was going on? Could a Camaro really have this much power? Was this a tank? If he had known, why had he bothered researching reactors and building armor? Wouldn't it have been much easier just to acquire the Camaro line?
Bumblebee matched Iron Monger in both power and weight. He had been caught unprepared before; now that he was ready, there was no reason to fear such a crudely built suit. At his age, he was exactly the sort of brat who feared nothing. Once Bella gave permission, he rammed Iron Monger to the ground without hesitation and, amid a shower of sparks, drove right over his body...
Tony Stark, standing ten meters away and watching the scene with his own eyes, was stunned. Was this still the world he knew? Were there really cars with this much power?
Iron Monger slowly climbed back up with a tire mark across his face. Tony Stark was astonished, while Obadiah Stane felt that he had lost every shred of dignity he had. Without thinking, he grabbed a passing motorcycle and tried to use it to smash the stunned Tony Stark.
His idea was reasonable enough. Today clearly wasn't his lucky day. If grabbing a car did not work, then grabbing a motorcycle should be fine, right?
The battle between him and Iron Man had cleared a large empty patch of highway. Only two vehicles happened to pass through: the Camaro carrying Bella, who was busy chatting and had not paid much attention, and this motorcycle.
Iron Monger grabbed the motorcycle and tried to use it to smash Iron Man.
The moment he grabbed it, something felt wrong again! Why was this motorcycle so heavy too? His old arms and legs could not compare with a young man's. He did not have enough strength, and he nearly dislocated his shoulder!
Arcee was a female Autobot. After going a long time without receiving any communication from Optimus Prime, she had come to Earth specifically to ask Jazz and the others for information. Because of her small frame, she transformed into a purple motorcycle on Earth and used a hologram to create a rider.
Ratchet and Ironhide were both homebodies. Jazz, under Charlie's influence, had become obsessed with American country music and was now having such a good time that he had forgotten all about leaving. Arcee had wandered around Los Angeles for two days without finding anyone. Only today had she happened to spot Bumblebee and hurried over.
Bumblebee had been stopped by Iron Monger while passing by. Now Arcee was stopped in exactly the same way.
Arcee did not have nearly as many scruples as Bumblebee. She kept Optimus Prime's strict order not to harm intelligent life firmly in mind, but after Iron Monger picked her up, she quietly extended a mechanical arm from beneath the motorcycle.
She raised a laser gun and, without the slightest hesitation, fired straight at Iron Monger's knee!
Iron Monger was merely a bulked-up, heavier version that Obadiah Stane had designed using the Mark I as a prototype. Even one of Stark's future suits would have trouble taking a laser shot directly to the knee like that!
Iron Monger's knee joint shattered on the spot. Before Obadiah Stane even understood what had happened, Arcee began ramming her front wheel hard into his chest.
Once, twice, three times!
Arcee used tremendous force. Iron Monger's shock-absorption system could not absorb impacts of this magnitude. Even if the Iron Monger shell could withstand them, the pilot inside certainly could not.
Obadiah Stane instinctively let go. Arcee, still masquerading as a motorcycle, knocked him to the ground, then rode straight over Iron Monger's faceplate and sped away...
She was busy. She still had to catch up with Bumblebee!
Before, Iron Monger's left cheek had carried a car-tire mark. Now his right cheek had a motorcycle-tire mark too. They were almost symmetrical.
Looking at the obvious tire tracks on Iron Monger's face, Tony Stark nearly choked on his own saliva. One, then another? Were they all this fierce? What kind of people were these?
JARVIS searched the databases but found no registration information for either the Camaro or the motorcycle. Tony still had his doubts, but there was not much he could do. There were so many Camaros in the world. Where was he supposed to start looking?
Obadiah Stane's chest throbbed from the impacts. He had no feeling in his lower back, and his blood pressure was climbing rapidly. Outside, Iron Monger's knee had been completely shattered by the passing Arcee, while the armor over its chest had been caved in.
He was falling apart both inside and out. Even with plenty of energy remaining, in this condition he was no match for Iron Man!
The old man refused to surrender even in the face of death. In the end, he spat blood and died in the cockpit.
He had every reason to feel wronged. It was not that he was incompetent; the random passersby were just absurdly strong!