When Dragon Balls Descend Upon Marvel

Hearing that answer, Tony fell silent. Even after upgrading with his new element, he could only reach a top speed of Mach 7 — yet Smith Dole had just hit Mach 20. That was intercontinental missile territory… and Tony wasn't even sure that was Smith's limit.

If it hadn't been for his recent upgrade to adamantium plating, that last strike would have shattered his gold-titanium suit without question.

While Tony reeled from the shock, Smith's expression turned serious. Was this truly pure adamantium? He decided to find out for himself. No matter if it was real or not, he would go all out and see if he could break through Tony's defenses without transforming.

Tony went on the offensive, firing off every micro-missile he had as though money were no object. Even the launch ports on his arms spat out two more warheads each, all of them screaming toward Smith.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out in rapid succession, fire and smoke engulfing the sky.

When the haze cleared, Smith stood completely unscathed before them. Not only had Earth's conventional weapons failed to harm him in the slightest, but his aura had protected his clothes without a scratch.

By then, Tony's chest-mounted repulsor cannon had fully charged. A beam of pure energy lanced out toward Smith.

"Roar!"

Smith bellowed, unleashing a massive wave of energy from his mouth to meet Tony's laser head-on.

Boom!

The collision detonated into a blinding blast, a mushroom cloud blooming between them. The shockwave hurled seawater into the air, which came down moments later as a sudden, torrential rain.

Ivan Vanko's eyes went wide with excitement.

"This… this is the leader's true power?"

Before Tony could marvel at their destructive force, Smith appeared right in front of him, driving a punch into his midsection and sending him flying again. Before Tony could stabilize, Smith reappeared at an even higher speed and struck him once more.

Blow after blow hammered into Tony's abdomen, driving him from low altitude all the way into the stratosphere. Tony tried to counterattack, but his hits barely tickled Smith — and for every few strikes he landed, Smith had already pummeled him several times.

Amid the relentless assault, Smith noticed something — cracks forming in the armor under his fists. In that instant, he knew. This wasn't pure adamantium. It was secondary adamantium.

At the same moment, J.A.R.V.I.S. lit up Tony's HUD with warnings about suit integrity.

"I yield!" Tony shouted immediately.

He had realized the key issue — he simply couldn't match Smith's speed, especially in short bursts. His own acceleration to Mach 7 took time, whereas Smith could jump to top speed instantly. Tony couldn't even track him, let alone land a clean hit.

He couldn't hurt Smith, he couldn't keep up, and now his prized armor was showing signs of structural fatigue. If the fight went on, Smith would tear it apart piece by piece.

Better to concede than be dismantled.

Even so, Tony was impressed. The adamantium's durability exceeded his expectations — with a larger frame, he might be able to take down the Hulk or Abomination.

Hearing Tony yield, Smith stopped his assault. The two of them descended toward the villa. On the way, Smith asked,

"Tony, how much does this adamantium cost per gram?"

"$100,000," Tony replied. "It's too expensive — I only used it for the outer armor plating. Even with my wealth, I wouldn't build the entire suit out of it."

Smith's mouth twitched at the price. The military was gouging hard — $100,000 a gram for secondary adamantium. A hundred kilograms would cost $10 billion, and a full ton? Unthinkable.

"This has to be the hardest metal in the world," Tony said, "and yet you can still damage it. I can't imagine — if someone ever made you angry, who could stop you?"

Smith chuckled.

"Why would anyone want to stop me? The only ones who could truly anger me are evil criminals."

Tony smiled faintly at that answer.

Meanwhile, Smith was turning over another question in his mind — now that secondary adamantium existed here, what about Captain America's shield? Was it vibranium alloyed with other metals, or forged from true adamantium ore?

From what Smith knew, the latter would make it far more indestructible than in the movie universe — even Thanos' double-edged sword couldn't break it.

He glanced at the cracks in Tony's abdominal plating.

"With this suit, there can't be many in the world who could break your defenses."

…

Elsewhere, in Asgard…

After a heated argument with Sif and the others, Loki made no move to plead with Odin for Thor's return. Instead, he went straight to Odin's vault.

Before him sat the Casket of Ancient Winters. Taking a deep breath, he lifted it in both hands — and as he did, his fingers began to change.

Just as Loki was marveling at the transformation, Odin's voice sounded from behind him.

"Put it down."

Loki didn't turn. Still holding the casket, his voice trembled as he asked,

"Am I cursed?"

"No."

Loki slowly set the casket down.

"What am I?"

"You are my son."

Loki turned to face him, his skin now an icy blue, revealing that he was no Asgardian at all, but the son of a Jotun from Jotunheim.

"And?"

As he stepped toward Odin, letting go of the casket, his skin returned to its normal color.

(End of Chapter)

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