"Which Earthling can fly?" Tony snapped, voice echoing through the scorched metal and fractured asphalt.
Lin Feng didn't respond right away.
His expression went still, unreadable.
"I can explain…" he started, awkwardly scratching his head.
Before another word could be exchanged, a deep mechanical hum cut through the tension. Obadiah Stane—clad in the monstrous Iron Monger armor—was far from finished.
"You two done chatting?" he snarled, raising his massive mechanical arm. With a hydraulic hiss, a small but deadly rocket launcher clicked into position, the sight aimed squarely at Lin Feng.
"Hey! Black-haired kid!" Obadiah barked.
Lin Feng turned his head lazily. "Huh? You talkin' to me?"
Obadiah's mask slid open, revealing a face twisted with fury and calculation. "I don't care who you are or what you're doing with Stark. I'll give you one minute—get out of my way. Now."
The rocket chamber locked in with a sharp clack, primed and glowing faintly with an ominous light.
"You don't wanna be collateral for this guy," Obadiah added with a sneer.
He wasn't entirely reckless—Lin Feng's earlier display, the casual creation of a crater in the pavement, was still fresh in his mind. There was a chance this mysterious youth was something far beyond his comprehension. Still, he couldn't allow interference.
But Lin Feng? He remained planted, completely unfazed.
"Oh, I can't do that," he said with a playful grin. "Tony gave me a villa, remember? You think I'd just walk away from that kind of reward?"
Without warning—
BOOM!
The rocket fired with a thunderous whoosh, leaving a blazing trail of fire behind it.
Tony's heart dropped. "LIN!"
The explosion swallowed Lin Feng in a ball of fire and smoke, erupting like a firework show gone horribly wrong.
Tony's stomach clenched. Lin wasn't wearing any kind of armor. There was no shielding. No defense.
He took a step forward, panic building—until a figure emerged from the settling smoke.
"Yo! Tony, I'm good!" Lin Feng called out casually, brushing off his shoulders like he'd walked through a dust storm, not a missile strike.
The crowd—if there had been one—would've gone silent.
Even Tony stood slack-jawed, blinking as Lin Feng stepped forward. His clothes weren't even scorched. The sleeves of his jacket fluttered slightly in the wind, undamaged. Not a single strand of hair out of place.
Obadiah's eyes widened behind his HUD. "What the hell…"
Lin Feng tilted his head and stretched. "Rocket felt like a mosquito bite, man. Seriously. That all you got?"
Obadiah's face twisted with frustration. Gritting his teeth, he launched three more rockets in rapid succession.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Explosions engulfed Lin Feng again—but when the smoke cleared, he hadn't even flinched.
"Still just tickles," he muttered with a sigh, visibly disappointed.
This wasn't a fight. This was a joke.
With a sigh, Lin Feng rolled his neck. "There's a saying back home. It's not polite to yell at someone and not get yelled at in return."
He crouched slightly, eyes narrowing. "Your turn."
In a blur, Lin Feng vanished from where he stood, reappearing a split second later with his fist connecting squarely with Obadiah's chest.
CRACK!
The punch triggered a deafening sonic boom. The impact hurled Obadiah like a ragdoll, his enormous frame flying backward and smashing into a pile of wreckage with enough force to crater the steel beneath him.
His reactor flickered violently before exploding in a burst of sparks. Obadiah didn't get back up.
Tony stared at the wreckage, then looked at Lin Feng.
"…You're not human," he muttered, stunned.
"JARVIS, did you see that?" Tony asked, shaking his head as if trying to wake himself from a dream.
"Yes, sir," JARVIS responded smoothly. "Mr. Lin Feng's punch exceeded Mach 1. Based on current analysis, it delivered enough kinetic force to compromise the Iron Monger's main chassis and… end Obadiah's vital functions."
"…He's dead?"
"Yes, sir."
Tony let out a long exhale, rubbing his forehead.
"Contact the cleanup team," he said. "We've got a hell of a mess."
"And your arc reactor, sir—Obadiah's unit has been completely destroyed in the blast."
"Of course it has," Tony muttered. "One more thing to rebuild."
Meanwhile, Lin Feng wandered over, casually examining his hand. "Hey, Tony! That punch was kinda cool, huh? You catch it on tape?"
Tony gave him a sideways look. "You're a damn monster, Lin. You sure you're from Earth? Because if you told me you came from some distant galaxy, I'd believe it."
Lin Feng laughed. "You're not the first to say that."
Tony gestured toward the sky. "We need to go. Reporters are going to flood this place any minute."
Lin Feng nodded, stepping over. "Want a lift?"
"You're offering to fly me?"
"Why not?" Lin Feng smirked. "Hold on tight."
Before Tony could second-guess it, Lin wrapped an arm around his shoulder and the two soared into the night sky, disappearing in a streak of light.
—
Stark Villa – Later That Night
Back at the villa, Tony—now out of the armor—was lounging on the couch with an ice pack pressed against his temple and a whiskey glass in hand.
Lin Feng sat across from him, flipping through channels on the massive screen. News coverage was already rampant. The battle at Stark Industries had been caught on several phones and broadcast across the internet within minutes.
"…And the unidentified figure in black delivered what eyewitnesses described as a 'godlike' punch…"
"Look at that!" Lin Feng pointed at the screen, grinning. "You're famous!"
Tony scoffed. "I've always been famous. You? You're trending."
The footage showed Iron Man trading blows with Obadiah, clearly at a disadvantage. The commentary highlighted his technical brilliance but also his lack of battlefield experience. Then the screen cut to Lin Feng dropping from the sky, landing with a shockwave before obliterating the Iron Monger in one blow.
Online forums exploded. Speculation was rampant.
"Alien."
"Mutant."
"Government weapon."
"Stark's secret project."
One thread even theorized Lin Feng was the result of a rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. experiment gone right.
Tony glanced at Lin. "You ever plan on wearing a mask?"
Lin Feng scratched the back of his head. "I got caught up in the moment…"
As if on cue, a soft chime echoed in Lin Feng's mind.
> Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the mission. You've earned 1,000,000 prestige points and unlocked the Black Superman Battle Suit.
In his system inventory, a sleek, dark suit now glowed faintly. The fabric shimmered with strange energy, designed to amplify solar absorption and restore physical stamina.
Even better—
> Expected fame increase: Over 1,000,000 pending public reaction.
Lin Feng smirked. "Today was a win."
Just then, Pepper called to say she was on her way back. Tony, rubbing his temples, said he had some cleanup to finish and postponed any deeper conversation for later. Lin Feng took the hint.
"Alright. I'll swing by tomorrow," he said, stepping outside and taking to the sky once more.
—
Waist Twister City – Midnight
Flying through the night sky, Lin Feng laughed, carving wide arcs across the skyline.
An S-curve. Then a B-shape. He was doodling on the sky itself.
It was a feeling no plane could match. A freedom no technology could replicate.
Down below, the city buzzed with nightlife, sirens, music, arguments. Lin Feng opened up his super hearing—tuning into the city's heartbeat.
Somewhere, Tony was flirting shamelessly with Pepper. Lin grimaced. "Yeesh. Too much information…"
Further downtown, he heard the staccato chatter of gunfire. Hell's Kitchen. Of course.
Elsewhere? A loud argument. Domestic dispute. But… the woman was yelling at the man? Lin blinked. "Damn. That guy's got it rough…"
He chuckled, shaking his head. "Not my business."
Still, he kept listening. Hoping.
He wanted his first real act of heroism—not just punching a warmonger into scrap metal, but saving someone who needed it.
Then—he heard it.
"Help!"
His whole body tensed. He stopped mid-air, locking onto the sound instantly.
Using his super vision, he scanned the area—three kilometers out, near a shadowed alley.
A blonde woman, camera clutched tightly in her hands, was cornered by four large men in street colors—clearly gang affiliates.
Lin Feng's eyes narrowed.
Finally. Something heroic.
He leaned forward—and vanished into the night like a bullet breaking the sound barrier.