In the end, the military still placed an order for ten Iron Mongers.
If they had to, they could simply mount heavier weapons on them.
Reed Richards' weapon had been impressive enough.
Unfortunately, when military personnel later went to speak with Reed and the others, they learned that the weapon had overloaded and exploded after the battle with the Centipede Elder. Stranger still, Reed himself was no longer able to reproduce it.
The military suspected he was just hiding it.
But even if that was true, there was nothing they could do about it. The Fantastic Four were at the height of their popularity now.
As for Tony Stark, after giving an interview, he made it very clear that he was not "Iron Man."
He was "the Invincible Iron Man."
Unfortunately for him, he was also the least enviable superhero in the public eye, because by the ti Iron Man showed up, War Machines were already flying everywhere.
If you could pass the screening, anyone could be an "Iron Man."
That left Tony with a frustration he did not quite know how to put into words. It only deepened his resolve to build a stronger suit and surpass Drex Valen once and for all.
Drex, for his part, did not really understand Tony Stark's mindset.
After the second monster, the Centipede Elder, had been blown apart, he felt a lot more at ease.
It seed that even the Marvel world could withstand a dragon-level monster.
That ant he could safely start making even stronger monsters.
These sudden, pressure-cooker disasters would keep the superheroes on their toes and sharpen their instincts for battle. That way, when the Chitauri or anything else eventually ca calling, they would not be caught completely flat-footed.
Of course, by then, Drex had no idea how far he himself would have grown.
At Urd's apartnt, Drex was sitting on the sofa.
Between his previous life and this one, it was the first ti he had ever been inside a girl's ho.
Back on Krypton, he had held a high position and was one of the finest researchers on the planet, but Kryptonian relationships were all mind and no body. Drex had never been interested in the won there. They were too rational, too restrained, too focused on intellectual exchange over anything physical.
Urd was in the kitchen, busy with dinner.
There was no denying it: this woman embodied the word gorgeous.
Like Venus herself, she carried an elegant allure that made n lose their composure. She was a ripe fruit hanging from a branch, and even after tasting her once, Drex could still rember that rich, intoxicating sweetness.
"Drex, dinner's ready."
Urd tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She had even gone and signed up for a cooking class. After learning that Drex liked Chinese food, she had spent a long ti practicing it, and now she felt confident enough to serve it.
She had invited Drex over after work.
He had not refused.
That made Urd privately delighted. Her boss had finally been willing to step out of the lab.
"This is braised pork belly. This is sweet and sour pork. This is West Lake vinegar fish..."
She presented her handiwork with a small flourish.
"Everything is sweet-and-sour?" Drex asked, amused.
"I think these dishes are delicious," Urd said.
She said it with the sa enthusiasm she had for the chicken feet she had fallen in love with the first ti she tried them. Phoenix claws, cloud-washed chicken feet, pickled pepper chicken feet, dicinal chicken feet, all of it.
Drex took a bite and smiled.
"The flavor is good."
It was a little off from the standard version, leaning too heavily into sweetness, but it was good.
"Cheers."
Urd looked pleased with the praise. She poured both of them a glass of red wine.
"I do not really like drinking," Drex said, swirling the wine in his glass.
"Today is special," Urd replied softly. "Isn't it okay?"
"Mm."
He agreed.
It would not even make him drunk.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Urd told Drex to go take a shower.
He complied without protest.
There was not much for him to wash, though. A quick pass of electromagnetic force was cleaner than any shower.
When he ca back out, Urd was the first thing he saw.
She had lowered her head and turned slightly to the side, trying to hide herself in the shadows.
It was a futile gesture.
So things could not be concealed.
Moonlight slipped through the window and fell across the room, outlining the mature, captivating curves of the beautiful woman before him with exquisite clarity.
The thin silk nightgown draped over her shoulders did little more than add a layer of teasing suggestion.
Drex no longer bothered suppressing the hormones surging through him.
Among animals, humans stood at the top of the food chain for many reasons. One of them was that they could learn, think, and avoid being ruled by desire at every turn.
Beastliness was necessary for aggression.
Humanity was necessary for order.
Drex stepped forward.
He was almost pressed against Urd now.
She lifted her face, her body trembling slightly, a flush spreading across her beautiful features.
...
The next morning, Urd woke up to find that Drex was already gone.
She reached out and stroked the side of the bed, looking a little lost.
Seriously, why was her boss so disciplined? Was it really that hard to sleep in a little longer?
Urd had imagined waking up beneath the morning sun with her lover's arm around her, or his chest beneath her cheek. That would have been such a perfect morning.
Unfortunately, her boss was far too self-controlled. He never slept late. He woke up exactly when he intended to and never lingered.
She sat up slowly, still feeling weak and thoroughly worked over from the night before.
Wasn't it supposed to be the man who lost in that departnt?
She had even trained her body and practiced yoga for this.
And yet, after last night's war, a battle of two million words, Urd could still only rember the first ten thousand.
The rest was a blur.
When she entered the kitchen, she found a steaming breakfast waiting for her, along with a note.
She paused, then picked it up with mild surprise.
"I saw that you were sleeping soundly, so I did not wake you. The breakfast should be just right for when you get up. Eat it while it is still hot."
Urd read the note and smiled, sweet and happy.
...
Drex studied the file the Black Queen had sent him.
A new target had appeared in the superhuman dossiers.
The mutant White Queen and her sister, Silver Fox.
Of course, in this universe without mutants, the two of them were just ordinary people.
White Queen, Emma, and her sister Silver Fox were born into a wealthy family in Boston, raised with silver spoons in their mouths.
Still, being born rich did not automatically make soone happy.
At least, White Queen did not think so.
Her father was a cold-blooded capitalist who never invested much affection in his family.
As far back as she could rember, White Queen had never gone to an amusent park. She had never even received a simple word of praise.
Worse, her parents' relationship was a ss. They argued constantly.
Bla. Criticism. Insults.
That was what filled the vast, cold luxury apartnt they lived in.
User Comments
0 comments from readers