Marvel: Restart! Spiderman!

Charlie shook his head and then looked toward Tony on the operating table.

"Hey, red and blue baby, I heard your pajamas are made of metal," Tony quipped, blinking as his hands and feet remained bound.

Charlie glanced at Tony and reached out, violently breaking the handcuffs restraining him.

"You okay?" he asked.

Tony sat up from the operating table, gingerly rubbing the red marks on his wrists.

"I'm fine, just almost died, no big deal," he said, pointing to the reactor in his chest, trying to sound casual.

"Did Pepper send you to rescue me?" Tony asked again.

Without responding, Charlie looked back at Harry, who had just entered the room. "He seems alright. Let's get out of here," Charlie said.

"Got it," Harry replied, then introduced himself briefly before helping Tony onto his glider.

"My ride can't carry three people," Harry mentioned to Charlie.

"I'll drive," Charlie said.

"All the cars were destroyed."

"There's still one outside."

"Alright, I trust your superpowers," Harry said as he flew out of the cave.

Charlie glanced at the struggling Yinsen and then spotted a silver briefcase on the table.

"This thing..." he muttered.

Noticing how nervous Yinsen had suddenly become, Charlie grinned, grabbed Yinsen and the briefcase, and ran out of the cave.

Soon, under the desert night sky, a speeding off-road vehicle kicked up dust as it raced across the terrain.

"Alright, let's talk about your payment. How much did Pepper offer you—one million, or ten million? Whatever it is, it doesn't really matter to me," Tony said, reclining in the passenger seat, his eyes closed as if he were napping.

He rubbed his forehead, looking tired.

"Call Pepper. She'll send someone to pick me up," Tony said.

"I already notified her. It's been a pleasure working with you, Mr. Stark," Harry replied with a smile, extending a hand.

"Working together?" Tony raised an eyebrow, confused. He wasn't accustomed to handshakes.

"Yes, I agreed to rescue you in exchange for Stark Industries funding Oscorp," Harry explained.

"Oh, I remember now. You're Norman's kid."

Tony chuckled. "From what I predicted, Oscorp won't last three months. It's a bad deal."

"Will you still agree?" Harry asked nervously.

"Of course, you saved me, after all," Tony said, then turned to Charlie in the back. "Hey, you also saved me. Should I send you a golden set of pajamas?"

Charlie scoffed. "You should know who I am."

"Alright, you're Spider-Man. I didn't expect you to still be alive."

Tony awkwardly scratched his nose. "But since you came to save me, I figure you understand that I'm not your enemy."

He continued, "Someone bought weapons from me. The deal was good, so I didn't refuse. But I didn't expect them to bomb a residential area. When S.H.I.E.L.D. found me, I knew I was in trouble."

"So you came up with this arms-selling excuse to hide here?" Harry asked.

Tony nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, before the situation went public, I wanted to lay low for a bit."

"You didn't have to run. S.H.I.E.L.D. has no evidence," Charlie said.

Tony smiled wryly. "True, but the fact that my company's weapon killed the popular idol, Spider-Man, threw me into an unimaginable media storm. I sensed this was a conspiracy against both me and Spider-Man. I couldn't show my face because I didn't know what their next move would be."

Yinsen, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "Now you know."

Tony glanced back at Yinsen and replied mockingly, "Yeah, now I do. You guys easily captured me in this hellhole and even planned to modify my body. But I survived, and I bet you regret not killing me right away."

Yinsen sneered but said nothing further.

Charlie, still puzzled, asked, "Body modification? Were they planning to give you a metal arm?"

"No, they wanted to replace my spine."

"Your spine?" Charlie asked, his curiosity piqued. He glanced at the silver briefcase and saw Yinsen grow more anxious.

Charlie opened the briefcase and saw a glowing black spine inside.

"That's the thing," Tony said with lingering fear.

Charlie looked at Yinsen. "Alright, I know you won't talk."

Charlie reached out to touch the black spine, feeling a chilling energy surge into his hand through the nanometal. He quickly pulled his hand away, deciding not to investigate further.

"It looks like a snake's spine," Charlie remarked, closing the briefcase and turning back to Tony. "You still haven't told me who bought the weapons from you."

Tony took a deep breath. "It was a woman—a perfect woman. That night was truly unforgettable."

"You mean her 'perfect conditions' referred to her, not the terms of the deal?" Harry's face twitched as he realized.

Tony shrugged. "Yeah, you know I'm not interested in money. I like beautiful things."

Charlie rubbed his forehead. "I bet you don't know her real identity."

"No, the first time I saw her, I was captivated, like she was a fire in the middle of winter..."

"I don't need to hear your emotional journey."

Charlie interrupted him. "What I want to know is who tried to kill me. Is there a way to get more clues?"

Tony shook his head. "Not at the moment. But I guess they were just trying to kill you on the side. The real target was me. They probably wanted my company to supply them with large-scale weapons."

"It's more complicated than that," Charlie said, patting the briefcase. "This thing is the key."

At the mention of the spine, Yinsen stiffened slightly, confirming Charlie's suspicions.

As long as he kept this thing with him, the people behind it would surely come after him again.

They wouldn't have expected Tony to be rescued so quickly, nor that they would lose such a strange item.

"By the way, Norman's wounds were caused by clawed weapons. You can compare it with this metal arm," Charlie said, handing the metal arm he'd taken earlier to Harry.

Harry tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "If these guys really did it, I'll make them pay," he growled, accepting the metal arm.

"You won't be able to," Yinsen said with a mocking smile.

"So it really was you," Harry snapped, slamming on the brakes and glaring back at Yinsen.

Yinsen's smile faded. "So what if it was? Your father had to listen to us, and what can you do?" he sneered.

Hearing this, Harry lost control and lunged at Yinsen.

"I'll kill you!"

"Don't act on impulse. That's what he wants," Charlie stopped Harry, then turned to Yinsen. "You want Harry to kill you because if they get to you, it'll be much worse, right?"

Yinsen's face changed. He gritted his teeth and admitted, "Yes, I admit it, but I don't regret it."

He glared at Tony. "Stark destroyed everything I had. He's an arms dealer with blood on his hands. Do you know how many people die each year from Stark's weapons? My wife and daughter were among them. They were so kind and innocent, but Stark's greed for wealth led to their deaths and destroyed my family. I'll do anything to get revenge on him! And you, Spider-Man, you're helping a bloodstained demon! What kind of hero are you? You don't deserve the title!"

Yinsen's voice rose in anger as he struggled against his bonds. Charlie calmly added more webbing to secure him.

"But I'm innocent, too. You guys have no idea how painful it is for a poor little spider when a missile drops on them."

Charlie muttered as Tony furrowed his brow in thought.

"Stark Industries only supplies weapons to the military. What they do with them is beyond my control," Tony explained.

Stark Industries had been born during wartime, supplying weapons for the battlefield. Back then, Stark's weapons were seen as tools for victory and protection.

No one questioned the morality of Stark Industries making weapons.

But over time, the people using Stark's weapons changed, and that shift had led to tragedy.

After this experience, Tony began to reconsider his actions—and the future of Stark Industries.