???

Tony stared at the scene before him, a hundred question marks running through his head.

What the hell just happened?

That's it?

What did Mr. Superman say earlier again?

That the other guy wanted to blow up Stark Tower?

Just now, when Tony saw that green-skinned freak, the man had shouted

『Green Goblin』: Bastard! Die!

And then…?

He was blown to bits by a single round of micro-missiles.

???

What the hell.

So that's all he amounted to?

Instantly dead?

That's it? A tank would've lasted longer!

How did he even dare to show up?

Tony looked at the spot where Norman Osborn had just vanished, his expression a mix of disbelief and awkward amusement.

Not just him,

Even Carl didn't see this coming.

He truly hadn't expected that Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin himself,

Would be taken out by Tony in a single strike.

After all, in the Spider-Man movies, that guy could go toe-to-toe with Spider-Man.

Sometimes he even overpowered him.

Of course, he still lost in the end.

But his on-screen performance was impressive enough.

And yet

Here, he'd been vaporized by one missile volley.

Uh…

On second thought, that actually made sense.

Tony, as Iron Man, how much was that armor worth again?

Each suit was valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Built from high-grade alloys powered by an Arc Reactor,

That kind of configuration made his speed leagues beyond anything the Green Goblin could manage.

Otherwise, Tony wouldn't have reached the scene faster than Osborn despite starting from farther away.

And then there was J.A.R.V.I.S.

With all that onboard assistance: data scanning, targeting, and tactical analysis.

Not to mention, the suit was packed with enough firepower to level a small army,

Missiles, armor-piercing rounds, bullets, incendiaries…

Meanwhile, what did Norman Osborn have?

A glider.

A glider armed with a few guns and some sharp edges.

Osborn himself carried throwing knives and grenades.

That was pretty much it.

How was he supposed to compare with Iron Man's arsenal?

His grenades probably couldn't even dent Tony's armor.

Just like earlier,

A single round of missile fire, and poof, Norman was gone.

The gap between them was just way too big.

So, really… Norman Osborn being one-shotted wasn't that surprising after all.

...

After dealing with Osborn, Tony flew over to Carl, still looking slightly dazed.

『Tony Stark』: Uh, Mr. Superman…

Even though he'd just won, he honestly didn't know what to say.

He hadn't intended to kill the guy at first.

Osborn's glider and armor had looked intimidating enough,

But he'd gone down so fast.

That kind of anticlimax was hard to process.

『Carl』: Mm. The enemy's been handled.

『Carl』: Iron Man, well done.

『Carl』: Now, go back and get some rest.

Carl spoke calmly, then did something with a faint flash of light,

[Daily Sign-In Complete]

And in the next instant, he vanished.

『Tony Stark』: Oh… okay then…

Tony looked around at the empty Stark Tower, not sure whether to laugh or sigh.

Did Mr. Superman just… leave?

『Tony Stark』: Huh, well…

『Tony Stark』: Come to think of it, that might be the first time he's ever complimented me.

『Tony Stark』: Feels… kinda nice.

He chuckled softly, then stood for a while, gazing out over the city lights,

Before flying off into the night himself.

...

Time passed quietly.

In the blink of an eye, several days had gone by.

During those days, Peter Parker had been busy refining his Spider-Suit.

Not long ago, he'd already completed a version equipped with web-shooters,

And he'd been playing hero every night since then.

Once darkness fell, he'd sneak out to track down and capture criminals.

His relationship with Gwen Stacy was also progressing nicely.

They'd already been on a date.

And tonight,

He was heading to her house for dinner with her family.

Things were really looking up for him lately.

Except for one thing that worried him,

His best friend, Harry Osborn, hadn't seen his father in days.

Norman Osborn had completely disappeared.

Even Peter, while patrolling at night, had tried to help search,

But found absolutely no trace.

...

At Oscorp Tower,

Dr. Curt Connors sat alone in his lab, carefully studying a vial of serum.

With Peter Parker's provided formula, he had successfully developed a serum using reptilian genes.

The purpose of the serum was to replicate the regenerative systems of reptiles for medical use.

If it worked,

People would no longer have to fear losing limbs.

They could regrow them with this medicine.

Of course, part of Connors' motivation was personal.

He had lost an arm years ago and had always dreamed of restoring it.

And now, through experimentation,

He had managed to make a lab rat regrow its severed limb.

Of course,

Healing a rat was one thing; healing a human was another matter entirely.

To be safe, he still needed to conduct many more tests.

Then, suddenly,

『???』: Hey there.

Dr. Connors froze.

It was late. By now, every other staff member in the lab should've gone home.

So who could still be here?

Puzzled, he lifted his head,

And saw a handsome young man with black hair and dark eyes looking straight at him.

『Dr. Connors』: You… you're Mr. Superman?

Indeed,

The one standing before him was Carl.

Dr. Connors had seen Superman in comics and movies,

But he'd never been particularly interested in superheroes.

Still, given how huge the topic had become recently,

Even someone like him knew that Superman and Iron Man were now real.

He wasn't exactly a fan,

But as a decent and kind man, Connors respected someone who had saved countless lives.

He knew Superman had defeated that brown-skinned monster not long ago and saved many people.

So, even if superheroes weren't his thing,

He couldn't help but feel a measure of admiration.

『Carl』: Hello, Dr. Connors.

『Dr. Connors』: Ah… Hello, Mr. Superman.

Connors blinked, surprised that Superman even knew his name.

Sure, he was an expert in the field of reptilian genetics,

But scientists weren't exactly celebrities, especially not in such a niche area.

So the fact that Carl recognized him caught him completely off guard.

『Carl』: Mm.

Carl nodded slightly, his gaze falling on the vial of green serum nearby.

『Carl』: Is this your new research project?

『Dr. Connors』: Ah, yes, that's right.

Connors nodded, his tone growing animated as he began explaining.

『Dr. Connors』: This serum is designed to help humans regrow lost limbs.

『Dr. Connors』: As you can see… I could really use something like that myself.

He gestured toward his missing arm, chuckling softly.

『Dr. Connors』: Of course, it's still unstable and needs more testing before it's safe.

He didn't know why Carl was asking about it,

But when it came to his own research, Dr. Connors couldn't help sounding excited.