I Think That's Pretty Scientific

Chapter 43: 042: Young Men Don’t Play Fair

Antigravity technology. In the real world, this stuff is still just a fantasy, but in the dream world, there’s an abundance of related technologies. Not counting the levitation techniques from the occult realm or those limited by material constraints, there were already no fewer than ten types of levitation technology that Kraft could replicate right now. So Stark’s assumption that he could gain the advantage of air superiority was nothing short of wishful thinking. “Could you please stop hitting me in the head? Uncle Tony’s getting old—heavy metal rock is a bit too intense for Uncle Tony.” Stark, who had somersaulted twice in midair before regaining his balance, rubbed his throbbing head as he flew back up and discussed the matter with Kraft. “FUMO (No problem).” Kraft nodded, stowed away his stun baton and riot shield, then pulled out a shark-shaped rocket launcher and slung it over his shoulder. “Oh… shit!” Seeing the menacing-looking rocket launcher and the massive projectile—far larger than a standard rocket—firing from it, Tony Stark turned and ran. As a prototype, the Mark II had no other weapons besides the arc-pulse blaster, and he had no intention of testing the Mark II’s defensive capabilities against that terrifyingly large projectile. “Are all kids these days so hot-headed?” The Mark II executed a graceful somersault in midair, dodging Kraft’s Fishbone rocket launcher. The shell, having missed Stark, continued soaring toward the sky before exploding violently in the air. “BOOM!!! Crackle, crackle, crackle—” Huge golden fireworks lit up the entire coastline, and countless sparks rained down from the sky like a golden downpour. “Well, he likes to play pranks, but all in all, he’s a good kid.” Realizing he’d been tricked, Tony Stark shrugged and gave Kraft—who had switched to another heavy machine gun—a thumbs-up. “Wait! I just finished building this suit, and it doesn’t have any weapons, so…” Stark asked in a conciliatory tone, “How about we exchange some hand-to-hand combat techniques?” Although Kraft had knocked him down twice earlier, those hits had come when he was off guard. Besides, Tony Stark had at least learned a bit of boxing from his bodyguard, Happy, so he didn’t think he’d lose to a stuffed animal in close combat. Kraft thought for a moment, holstered the six-barrel Gatling gun in his hand, and then assumed a hand-to-hand combat stance. “FUMO (Okay).” “Aren’t you going to use that stick from before?” Stark pointed at Potai-kun’s chubby hand and offered a friendly reminder: “Those floppy fists of yours probably don’t pack much of a punch, do they?” “FUMO (Bring it on)!” Kraft offered no further explanation—and Potai-kun’s voice system wouldn’t let him anyway—so he chose to charge straight at Tony Stark, letting him experience the power of the λ-Driver system firsthand. “FUMOFUMO (Black Tiger Heart Strike)!” The λ-Driver system converts the pilot’s emotions into a special form of energy that is channeled into the AS and its weapons. After a few test runs, Kraft discovered that shouting the names of special moves while attacking effectively amplified his emotional output. It was a bit embarrassing, but since no one else could understand Potai-kun’s language anyway… Facing Kraft’s ferocious punch, Tony Stark instinctively raised both arms, crossing them in front of his chest to block the blow. “Boom—!” The squishy fist slammed into Stark’s arms, producing a thunderous sound. Accompanying the impact was a force far greater than Stark had anticipated, which penetrated the steel plating of his Iron Man suit and jolted through his body. “WTF?!” Tony Stark, who had been knocked flying, was completely dazed. The sheer force could be attributed to the excellent performance of that puppet, but what was up with all that destructive power? Tony Stark glanced at the Mark II’s status display on the screen, which showed that the arms he’d just used to block the punch had sustained some damage; the force of that punch was significantly greater than that of the stun gun he’d faced earlier. “What kind of weird technology is this?” In the past, it was always Tony Stark who would pull out all sorts of cutting-edge tech to surprise others; today, he finally understood how those people must have felt back then. He’d originally just wanted to meet the person behind the Red Queen and see if there might be a little surprise in store—but now it seemed… “That’s a bit too many surprises.” Stark pulled himself together and assumed the boxing stance he’d learned from Happy. “Come on, kid! Uncle Tony’s getting serious now!” Then he got chased down and beaten to a pulp by Kraft. Thinking he could teach Kraft a lesson after just a few days of boxing lessons from his bodyguard—Tony Stark must have been out of his mind. Although Kraft didn’t know any martial arts, he’d cut his teeth in Hell’s Kitchen, where he’d been in a scuffle with a bunch of troublemakers every other day—small ones every two days, big ones every three. Teaching a half-baked fighter like Stark a lesson was a piece of cake for him. Mr. Tony Stark is feeling quite dejected right now. Ever since he saw Kraft’s “Botaijun,” this test has been spiraling wildly into a farce. If he could, Stark would have ended it long ago, but the thought of ending it this way leaves Mr. Stark feeling deeply resentful. Because from start to finish, he’d been at the mercy of that unknown brat, who’d been manipulating this ridiculous puppet to beat him up. To admit defeat in such a farcical battle was something the proud Tony Stark simply couldn’t accept. “Sir, a call for Ms. Pepper.” Jarvis’s voice rang out just in time, finally giving Stark an excuse. “Wait! I’ve got a call!” Hurriedly calling a halt to Kraft’s relentless assault, Stark eagerly answered Pepper’s call. “Hey, Pepper—is something wrong at the company again?” Pepper frowned on the other end of the line. “Are you sick, Tony?” She actually asked about work on her own initiative. If it weren’t for the fact that her voice and tone over the phone were exactly the same as always, Pepper would have thought she’d dialed the wrong number. “…Okay, I was just a little out of it just now.” Stark, caught off guard, rolled his eyes and brushed the matter off with a casual remark. “So, did you call about something?” “It’s nothing important…” Pepper could tell Tony Stark was brushing her off, but she knew that if he didn’t want to talk about it, no amount of pressing would help. “It’s just that a huge firework suddenly went off over there a moment ago, Tony. Are you having a party at home?” “Oh no, not at all,” Tony Stark flatly denied. Unlike before his kidnapping, he was now planning to settle down, so he didn’t want Pepper to get the wrong idea. “I was just setting off some fireworks to celebrate—to celebrate my, um, new beginning. Yeah! That’s it!” “…All right, Tony. Whatever it is you’re celebrating, please keep it down a notch. The shareholders of Stark Industries can’t handle any more drama.” “OK~ Got it.” Just as Pepper was wondering why he’d suddenly become so easygoing, Tony Stark had already hung up and shrugged at Kraft. “You heard that too? We made too much of a fuss earlier. Why don’t we just call it a day for now? We can try again when we have time.” Stark made no mention of who had won or lost, and Kraft didn’t care—he’d recorded the entire fight anyway. “FUMO (Okay).” Kraft nodded, then guided Potai-kun up into the sky. A beam of light suddenly shot out of the empty sky, shining on Potai-kun as if guiding him into the invisible plane. Then Tony Stark watched as that comical yet powerful puppet rapidly shrank until it vanished from sight.