007: The Colossus Battles the Iron-Headed Man

"The Juggernaut has already proven himself invincible. Will his next opponent finally bring his reign to an end?"
"Do you all want to see it?"
Before Su Ye even entered the arena, the host was already hyping up the crowd.
"The next victim—if he can last three minutes in the cage, he will receive a prize of three thousand dollars."
The audience erupted in cheers. The prize money wasn't the main draw—it was the cage!
Unlike previous matches, where the ring was open and a fighter could surrender and jump out at any time, the upcoming bout would take place inside a locked cage.
Unless the referee declared the match over, no one could leave. It was a fight to the death, or until someone was maimed beyond repair.
This brutal, unforgiving spectacle was exactly why everyone loved underground fights.
"Juggernaut! Juggernaut! Juggernaut!"
The cheers thundered louder.
But the host wasn't finished.
"If he survives five minutes in the cage, he will receive a prize of ten thousand dollars!"
Ten thousand dollars for lasting five minutes—now the crowd's eyes burned with greed.
Especially those who hadn’t signed the supplementary agreement; they were itching to stir up trouble, as if signing it would somehow save them from being thrown out in less than thirty seconds.
"If he lasts ten minutes in the cage, he will earn fifty thousand dollars! And the organizers will add another fifty thousand as a bonus!"
At the host's final words, the audience grew strangely quiet. The cheers faded, and many began cursing the venue manager.
"What a load of crap. No one survives three minutes against Juggernaut. Offering a hundred thousand dollars for ten minutes—what’s the point? Just wasting our time!"
"Enough nonsense! Start the fight already! Hundred thousand dollars, my ass. We just want to see how he dies!"
"Who’s the next victim? Get him out here, for god’s sake!"
Amidst the chaos, the host regained control.
"If he survives ten minutes, the hundred thousand dollar prize will go to our terrifying, deadly... Iron-Head Man!"
With a flourish, the host introduced Su Ye, who appeared wearing a casual athletic hoodie and an Iron Man helmet.
The host had a wicked sense of humor; the nickname Iron-Head Man was almost laughable.
Seeing his lean, almost frail physique, the crowd sent up a storm of upside-down thumbs and middle fingers.

Around the entrance, women dressed as characters from the same gritty world as Su Ye’s gray-card persona hurled insults.
"Juggernaut will twist your head off!"
"You'd better not beg for mercy!"
"We’ll tear you apart. Go home and cry to your mommy!"
"I’ll rip off all three of your legs, Iron-Head Man!"
Four gray-card women circled Su Ye, spewing curses, while from the stands, spectators hurled popcorn, bra pads, and other debris.
In this underground venue, the audience was savage; throwing things was nothing compared to the chants echoing from the stands: "Kill him! Kill him!"
Fortunately, Su Ye was prepared. Wearing the Iron Man helmet, he felt nothing when struck.
The frenzy and bloodlust filled everyone’s hearts.
Their mania disgusted Su Ye, but making money off such a venue and crowd didn’t trouble his conscience.
After he entered, the cage was quickly lowered and locked, sending the crowd into an even more frenzied state.
Watching others suffer was always the best way to vent their emotions.
Yet, they felt dissatisfied; because of the helmet, Iron-Head Man’s expression was hidden, and his calm demeanor only made them angrier.
Once again, the crowd roared in unison,
"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"
In the arena, the hulking Juggernaut McQuig twisted his face, wearing a dumb grin that suggested his head was filled with nothing but muscle, as he looked at Su Ye.
"Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll let you last three minutes. In those three minutes, I promise to give you the most intense, most thorough experience imaginable! Trust me!"
Su Ye ignored the oaf’s words and reached into his pocket.
"Huh? You brought a weapon?"
Juggernaut McQuig was startled, but his face soon lit up with excitement and bloodlust.
"Bringing a weapon won’t help. You’ll soon learn that weapons only make your defeat uglier and your suffering more complete!"
With the crowd egging him on, Juggernaut McQuig delivered his threats, but then noticed that Su Ye wasn’t holding a weapon at all—it was a book.
A comic book, to be precise.
The newly released "Iron Man vs. Captain America."

Those in media and publishing always have the keenest instincts. Iron Man had burst onto the scene barely three months prior, and already they’d paired him against the ancient superhero, Captain America.
Without Tony Stark’s authorization, the comic’s publication was technically illegal.
But that didn’t stop it from becoming wildly popular across society.
Seeing Su Ye pull out the comic, many were dumbfounded—not because of the book (they’d all read it), but because…
He was about to be killed. And instead of writing a will, he was reading a comic? Was he brain-dead?
No, maybe he had no brain at all!
"Kill that idiot!"
"Kill him, for god’s sake!"
"Let that damned bastard die!"
Juggernaut McQuig cracked his knuckles, responding to the crowd’s demands by lunging at Su Ye.
"The three-minute timer starts now. Put down your comic, and come play, baby!"
Juggernaut McQuig was powerful and fast, and in such a small arena, his tackles almost never failed.
The audience awaited his signature move: a tackle and a bear hug, pinning the skinny Iron-Head Man, followed by the abuse and humiliation everyone relished.
Just imagining the scene was enough to polish off a whole tub of popcorn.
But no one expected that Juggernaut McQuig’s supposedly flawless charge would send him crashing straight into the cage wall.
He didn’t even manage to grab Iron-Head Man. When he rubbed his head and turned around, the arena was empty—his opponent had vanished.
"Damn it! Where the hell are you!"
Juggernaut McQuig spun around, roaring in disbelief. How could a living person just disappear?
"Look up!"
"Juggernaut, check above you!"
Following the crowd’s shouts, Juggernaut McQuig finally saw his opponent.
Iron-Head Man, at some point, had climbed to the top of the ten-meter-high cage.
There he was, legs hooked over the bars, hanging upside down, calmly reading his comic.