DC: Becoming Doomsday in Marvel Universe

In truth, Rook Tanner was playing dirty. He had the advantage of knowing the plot ahead of time and skillfully used vague and seemingly reasonable words to bluff Obadiah.

Did he actually have any solid evidence?

Of course not. Unless they captured the leader of those desert terrorists and got a confession, there was no proof.

But his words weren't baseless. The only one who truly knew the whole scheme was Obadiah himself. He knew that the trap and ambush had been orchestrated by him.

And that was why the guilty man fell for the bait.

Obadiah lacked the confidence to hold his ground. He thought Rook and Tony really had uncovered the truth and were already planning to take him down.

This blueprint in front of him was the proof. If Tony actually developed this new concept and next-generation weapon, and even created a new energy source, he'd have every right to kick Obadiah out of the board.

After that, Tony would have all the time in the world to dig into Obadiah's shady dealings in the company.

So, for Obadiah, there was no way out.

"How can I trust you?" Obadiah asked, still trying to gauge Rook. Why should he believe Tony's bodyguard?

Rook pointed at the blueprints on the desk. "Come on. I brought you Tony's designs. What more do you want?"

"But these don't include anything about the core." Obadiah sneered. He had already checked. The suit's design was clear enough, but how was it supposed to run?

Surely not on gasoline.

What made Obadiah buy into Rook's pitch was the unspoken truth that to power this suit, you needed a revolutionary energy source. The old methods wouldn't cut it.

Batteries? What kind of batteries?

Fuel? Even more impossible.

Obadiah knew that Rook was holding back the key secret, the heart of the whole thing. Only when he got that would he believe Rook and take action.

After all, he wasn't an idiot. He was a cunning old fox.

But what he didn't expect was that Rook actually didn't mind giving him the key.

"It's simple. That big thing downstairs of yours, if you can figure out how to miniaturize it, the arc reactor's energy would be enough to power this suit. In fact, let me give you a tip. This is just the basic version. You can keep improving it. Thicker armor, greater strength, built-in advanced weaponry, and so on," Rook said without holding anything back.

Of course, what he revealed was the original Iron Monger design.

Obadiah, the true creator of the Iron Monger suit, listened and nodded to himself. It all sounded exactly like what he had envisioned.

But when it came to the arc reactor, Obadiah hesitated.

"Are you sure that thing even works?" Obadiah frowned. "Howard built it thirty years ago. It's been sitting there ever since, nothing but a showpiece for visitors."

Rook wasn't wrong. The arc reactor had been little more than a PR tool all these years. A way for Stark Industries to say they weren't just arms dealers, they were innovating in clean energy too.

But no one had actually continued the research. Not for thirty years.

And now, Rook was claiming it was the future of energy, capable of powering a battle suit.

"You people had a golden rice bowl in your hands, and you went begging instead." Rook couldn't help but feel exasperated.

From a more advanced perspective, if they had developed a full energy system based on the arc reactor, they could have revolutionized the world's entire energy sector and dominated the global market.

That would have made more money than any weapons ever could.

And here they were, still dreaming of selling weapons. How foolish.

But Rook had no interest in reshaping Earth with the knowledge he'd gained on Krypton. He didn't want to play the role of some visionary savior. This was good enough.

"Are you sure I can beat Tony?" Obadiah finally voiced the ambition in his heart.

Rook shrugged. A pity he didn't have a recorder on him. This was something Tony ought to hear.

Then again, even without a recording, it didn't matter.

"Tony's a genius. He's upgrading his suit too. That's why I'm telling you, if you build a bigger, stronger suit with thicker armor and more brute strength, you'll have the upper hand," Rook said, pretending to offer earnest advice, all while steering Obadiah into a trap.

If sheer size and power decided battles, Tony could have just built a thirty-meter-tall colossus and been done with it.

On the contrary, the bigger the machine, the clumsier it was.

If you couldn't even land a hit on your enemy, what good was all that mass?

Rook was leading Obadiah right into the failure that was Iron Monger.

"Well, I'm done here." Seeing that he'd said all he needed to, Rook stood up to leave.

Obadiah watched him go, still filled with hesitation.

As Rook opened the door, he looked back and reminded him, "Oh, and my payroll account is all set up. Don't forget to wire the money."

Half of Obadiah's tension eased at that.

People die for wealth, birds die for food. Rook's greed looked all too real. If he was willing to betray Tony for money, why not believe him?

More importantly, Rook had handed over Tony's design and tipped him off about Tony's suspicions.

If Rook had truly been loyal to Tony, he wouldn't have done that. He'd have snuck around, investigating Obadiah in secret, maybe trying to hack his files.

But Rook hadn't done any of that. He acted exactly like a traitor, stealing Tony's work and bringing it here for profit.

Obadiah had seen plenty of this kind of thing before. There was no reason to doubt it.

Now, it was time to think about how to beat Tony to the punch and build the future first.

"This time, Tony, let's see how you survive," Obadiah thought, his face smug with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, as Rook walked away, his lips curled into a cold, devious grin.

Obadiah. Oh, Obadiah. Everything I said was the truth, sure, but only because I know the story. I've got no actual proof.

That's why he needed Obadiah to take action. Only when Obadiah moved would the truth reveal itself.

Obadiah was short-sighted. He didn't realize that even though Rook stood with Tony, he didn't mind helping him build Iron Monger.

So what? If it flushed Obadiah out into the open, it was worth it.

And Obadiah would never know that even the blueprints he was clutching so tightly had been printed out by Tony himself, handed to Rook as part of the plan.

He would never understand, not even at the end.

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