As soon as he entered the atmosphere, a thunderous sonic boom erupted around Leon. His speed exceeded even the second cosmic velocity. Cutting through the heavens like a divine spear, his figure split the sky in two. The immense air pressure generated by his ultra-high speed tore through the sea of clouds, the shockwaves shaping invisible air currents that swirled around him like an ethereal shield. In the sky above, the clouds dispersed, leaving a long, streaking trail.
It was as if a world-serpent had descended from the heavens, crashing toward the earth with unstoppable momentum, ready to devour everything in its path.
As Leon neared the ground, he began decelerating at over 5000 meters per second squared. He had to slow down. Even with his bio-field's protection, landing at full speed would cause catastrophic destruction to the terrain below.
The distance between his spacecraft and the surface was 30,000 kilometers, and the distance from North America to Afghanistan spanned tens of thousands more. Yet Leon had covered it all in less than twenty minutes.
Now he hovered high above Afghanistan. The air currents radiating from his descent had dispersed every cloud overhead, clearing the sky for ten thousand miles. It was around ten o'clock at night, and the stars twinkled clearly above the desert landscape.
Leon didn't pause. Twisting his body mid-air, he glided eastward at a leisurely pace—just over 200 meters per second. It was a crawl compared to earlier, not even breaking the sound barrier. Like an invisible ghost, he drifted above the barren terrain until he reached the cave where Tony Stark was imprisoned.
"Tony, time to wake up," Leon murmured. His X-ray vision allowed him to see Tony frowning in his sleep, murmuring anxiously.
Then, like a meteor streaking from the sky, Leon dove straight down.
Rumble!
The rugged mountain terrain was like paper before Leon's momentum. He pierced through dozens of meters of stone and soil headfirst, entering the cave with surgical precision.
He landed in a half-crouch directly in front of Tony's makeshift bed, mimicking the iconic pose Tony himself struck in the movies while wearing his Iron Man suit. Gravel tumbled in from the gaping hole in the cave's ceiling, crashing down in a chaotic chorus.
Thump! Bang bang bang!
Vibrations shook the cave violently. The deafening crashes and quakes were enough to jolt anyone from sleep, and Tony Stark was no exception.
"Ah, ah, ah!"
Tony had been dozing lightly. The moment the mountain shook, he sprang awake, heart pounding in terror. He thought the worst—an enemy assault.
"They're attacking?!" he shouted, his eyes wide with panic. The terrorist group that had kidnapped him had demanded the construction of a batch of Jericho missiles. Tomorrow was the final deadline he'd set for their delivery. According to plan, he and his fellow captive, Ethan, were supposed to escape tomorrow using the Mark I armor.
He'd even prayed before sleeping, hoping the escape plan would succeed. If it didn't, he hoped Pepper and Leon could carry on without him.
But barely minutes after his desperate prayer, chaos erupted around him.
"Damn it! Even when Leon was wetting his pants, he wasn't this anxious!" Tony muttered, disoriented, while scanning the cave.
"Ethan! Ethan, are you okay? They're here! They're attacking—wait… why is the ceiling collapsing? Leon, go check on Ethan… Wait a minute—Leon?!"
Tony froze.
Leon was crouched beside his bed, dressed in nothing but pants. Gravel fell from above, yet not a speck of dust touched him. He was completely unscathed, a picture of calm amid the chaos.
"Leon… you?! What are you doing here?" Tony leaned back, blinking, almost rubbing his eyes. Was this a hallucination? A dream before death?
A storm of emotion surged in his chest: disbelief, confusion, hope.
Leon smiled. "Because I heard you thinking about me in the middle of the night, calling my name in your sleep, saying you couldn't rest without seeing me. So, here I am."
He added with a grin, "To be honest, I'm surprised. My dear brother, 39 years old and still needing a bedtime service?"
He chuckled. "I can sing lullabies or hum country songs. Tony, what's your preferred sleep aid? Just so you know—I'm not rocking you to sleep. That's Pepper's department."
Tony blinked, stunned, before instinctively snapping back.
"Hey, kid, I rocked you to sleep. Pepper didn't hold you nearly as much as I did."
There it was—Tony's prideful tone, as sharp as ever. The two always bickered like this. Leon enjoyed teasing Tony's arrogance, and Tony always took the bait.
Who else but Tony would act haughty and aloof, then carefully display a holiday gift in his vault like a priceless treasure?
As soon as Tony fired back, he realized something.
He stared at Leon with widening eyes. His body trembled slightly from the adrenaline rush.
"You… Leon, you really came? But how? You were supposed to be in space, like, three hundred kilometers away…"
He reached out to pinch Leon's arm.
The skin was solid—firm as marble. The sensation was unmistakably real.
Not a dream. Not a hallucination.
Leon had really come for him.
Relief surged through Tony's body like a warm wave. All the tension he'd carried for months suddenly melted away. His legs gave out, and he collapsed back onto the bed, exhaling deeply.
No one knew Leon's power better than Tony. During tests six months ago, Leon had already demonstrated a strength of 500 tons. His body could withstand sniper fire with barely a scratch.
Now that Leon was here, the terrorists outside were as good as defeated.
Leon raised an eyebrow.
"To be precise, I came from over 40,000 kilometers above the Earth—satellite orbit. I heard you mumbling about me in your sleep and figured I should drop by."
He blinked. "After all, besides Pepper, no one else is allowed to make my brother feel so miserable."
Tony groaned, exasperated. "Whoa, whoa, slow down. First of all, Pepper can't make me feel miserable. No one can! And I'm not miserable!"
Leon gave him a look. "So you're saying you're having the time of your life here? A little vacation in a terrorist compound? What is this—business trip turned spa getaway?"
He looked Tony over carefully. Tony's trademark spark was still there in his eyes, but the fatigue ran deep. Months of stress had left its mark.
Tony sighed. "You're a pain, you know that?"
"Of course I am. That's why you love me."