"Ryan? It's urgent. I need you to go to the location I'll give you as soon as possible. Also, if you can, protect Pepper for me!"
Tony’s voice sounded urgent, stripped of its usual sarcastic tone. This noticeable change made it clear that the situation was serious, even though Prime still couldn't fully grasp what was happening.
"Why do you sound so desperate? Did Pepper finally decide to leave you or something? Just so you know, I’m not playing matchmaker"
Prime’s tone also became more serious as he asked the question. Despite this, he tried to insert a joke to lighten the mood. It had been a while since his last contact with Tony, but he still had some information. One of those pieces of information was that Tony’s house had been partially destroyed during a fight between Tony and his friend Rhodes.
Furthermore, Rhodes had taken one of Tony's suits. Overall, this was all the information Prime had about the situation. After that, Prime recalled his symbiotes from Tony’s house, as there didn’t seem to be anything left to observe.
"It’s Hammer. He’s working with Vanko. All those people, including Pepper, are in danger"
Prime knew who Vanko was, as he had appeared in the newspapers. Additionally, Prime did his own investigation and found out some information about him. In summary, Prime assumed that if he had another chance, Vanko would certainly try to kill Tony again.
"Alright, I'll be there soon"
Upon hearing these words, a sincere "thank you" came from Tony. Prime decided to record the moment, knowing he’d probably never hear those words from Tony again. Anyway, after hanging up the phone, Prime left his room, which also served as his current office, and headed to the living room.
When he arrived, Prime noticed Annie and Ema watching TV, while Sara was lazily lying on the couch, swinging her feet back and forth. Noticing Prime’s gaze, Sara questioned him.
"What’s the problem?"
Hearing Sara's words, Prime just sighed. He had already given up trying to motivate her for exercise or any activity that didn’t involve staying on the couch. Well, he didn’t blame her, since he was the one who somehow contributed to her becoming this way.
"Why are you looking at me like I’m beyond saving? Actually, I know exactly what you’re thinking, but just to clarify, it didn’t quite happen that way"
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Even with Sara’s words, Prime continued to watch her with the same look, as from his perspective, her words were nothing more than excuses. Sara, in turn, also knew that her words were just excuses.
"You know what, screw it. Let’s go, we’ve got work to do, right?"
With that, Sara got up and began stretching, catching the attention of Annie and Ema, who started looking at Prime with curiosity.
“Daddy, are you going somewhere?”
Hearing Ema's question, Prime shook his head in denial. Seeing this, Ema puffed out her cheeks, but Prime knew there wasn’t much he could do. He was likely heading somewhere dangerous, and intentionally bringing Ema along would be irresponsible, especially considering she didn’t have her symbiote yet.
“Annie, take care of Ema while Sara and I are out”
Upon hearing Prime’s words, Annie nodded. Then, Prime and Sara went up to the apartment’s rooftop. As the cold wind hit their faces, they exchanged a brief glance. With a smile, Sara ran and jumped off the building at high speed, an adrenaline-fueled scream echoing from her lips.
Then, Prime’s body disappeared from the ground floor, while Sara was quickly enveloped by a red, living mass. Her body grew rapidly, and a fierce expression with sharp teeth took over her face. A white hood appeared, covering her head.
Next, tentacles shot from Prime’s arm, gripping the neighboring building. Fueled by this force, Prime leaped to the top of the building and began running, jumping from one building to another. His speed likely exceeded that of motorcycles and cars.
***
After a few minutes, Prime finally arrived at the location Tony had specified. The city lights at night made the place look strangely bright from the top of the buildings, but Prime’s contemplation was quickly interrupted by Sara.
(Prime, look!)
Prime didn’t even need Sara’s help to identify the correct direction. Loud noises and bright lights cutting through the air clearly indicated the situation. Without thinking too much, Prime realized it was Tony, who seemed to be pursued by killer android robots.
With one of his tentacles holding the phone, Prime dialed Tony’s number. A few seconds later, Tony answered the call.
“Hey Tony. I’ve arrived at the place you told me about. Looks like the party started before I got here”
Hearing Ryan’s words, Tony, on the other end of the line, sighed, recognizing that Ryan remained the same even in situations like this. Of course, Tony knew that, to begin with, Ryan wasn’t even human.
“Relax, I’m bringing the party to where you are too. Take down as many as you can, but leave the big guy behind me”
Prime didn’t respond. After Tony’s words, the bright lights in the sky quickly changed direction, heading towards where Prime was. With a wry smile on his lips, which, due to his current form, seemed more threatening than anything else, several tentacles emerged from Prime’s back, and his hands turned into scythes.
Then, Tony quickly approached Prime. As he passed by, several tentacles began to grasp the robots that were pursuing him. One by one, the robots were captured and destroyed in different ways: some were crushed against other robots, others were thrown forcefully to the ground, and many met their end in Prime’s scythes, which tore them apart with lethal precision.
If it could be described in words, Prime, at that exact moment, would be recorded in the robots’ internal memory as someone any machine should avoid at all costs if they wanted to keep operating.