I Became Spider-Man's Cousin in Anime Crossover

Chapter 280 [3 Chapters Combined] The Stolen Years of Life

That's right, this is the unexpected discovery Riley made at the secret base of the Skrull radicals.

Obadiah, who is active in public and constantly targets Tony, is actually a Skrull in disguise.

Just a quick note...

The Howards were murdered in 1991.

In addition, in the Marvel short series "What If," there was a scene where the Red Guards and Bucky were working together, and Obadiah participated in the assassination of Howard and his wife.

This led Riley to believe that Obadiah in this universe was also undoubtedly a villain.

But Riley clearly forgot that the Skrulls entered Earth in 1995.

There was ample time, in that era when technology was not advanced, to take action against Obadiah, who was just an ordinary person, and replace him.

And that is indeed the case.

Back in 1998, Nick Fury, who took over S.H.I.E.L.D., believed that if a large arms manufacturing company like Stark Industries were to defect to the enemy, it would have a huge negative impact on the country and even the international community.

Therefore, Nick Fury secretly instructed the Skrulls to find a way to infiltrate the upper echelons of Stark Industries and monitor their every move in real time. This would allow S.H.I.E.L.D. to strike swiftly and decisively, nipping any crisis in the bud, should any signs of trouble appear.

Theoretically speaking, this is taking precautions and is a good thing.

After all, no one can be sure whether the next heir to Stark Industries after the Howards' deaths will be a war-mongering fanatic who supports the war and is eager to profit from the national crisis.

But the crucial point is...

When Nick Fury gave the order, he only asked them to infiltrate the upper management circle, but he did not restrict how they were to infiltrate it.

Furthermore, S.H.I.E.L.D. was dealing with all sorts of events every day in those days, requiring Nick Fury to make decisions. Overwhelmed with work, Nick Fury quickly forgot about this matter, just like his promise to find a new home for the Skrulls.

This led to the Skrulls quickly targeting Obadiah after receiving Nick Fury's instructions.

Then, using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources and their unique and ever-changing abilities, they quickly and easily kidnapped Obadiah and replaced his identity in an era before surveillance cameras were widespread.

Of course, at the beginning, this "Obadia" dutifully fulfilled his duties, tried his best to play the role of "Obadia", and diligently monitored Stark Industries' every move.

However, as time goes by, people witness firsthand how various weapons of mass destruction produced by humankind are used against their own fellow human beings, and the new home promised by Nick Fury remains a distant prospect.

This caused Obadiah to gradually lose trust in humans and choose to join the radical faction.

Then, in order to ensure that his people had sufficient weapons and equipment when they attacked Earth, Obadiah began to harbor ambitions to replace Tony and take control of Stark Industries.

This led to the deal with the Ten Rings, in which they were asked to attack and kill Tony in the Middle East.

As for why they didn't simply kidnap Tony and clone his genius mind to serve the Skrulls, just like they did with Obadiah, instead of choosing this time-consuming and laborious assassination method...

The reason is also very simple.

That's because they can't do it.

Every time they were sent out to assassinate or replace Tony's kinsmen, they would inexplicably lose contact halfway through the mission.

When they were found again, they were already gruesome corpses.

Clearly, they had no idea that Spider-Man, in addition to his immense strength, also possessed the ability to travel through time!

Thus, by relying on the action logs they left in the secret base, they precisely intercepted every operation targeting Tony!

After numerous failures, and even suspecting an internal traitor who was tipping off Tony, the Skrull radical leader had no choice but to abandon this futile and suicidal mission.

Instead, "Obadia" used Stark Industries' financial resources to meticulously prepare an assassination service for Tony, ensuring he would die far from home.

On this basis, why were the thugs who were tricked by the Skrull radical leader into attacking Tony's villa carrying weapons made by Stark Industries, and why were they able to gather so many people in such a short time?

And when "Obadia" kept looking at his phone screen before the shareholders' meeting, who was he waiting for good news from?

The answer is obvious, isn't it?

Of course, this is different from the "Obadiah" standing in the conference room...

The real Obadiah, stepping out of the cockpit, carried the pent-up anger of a decade.

At his own request, and with Riley's help, he was wearing the same haute couture suit he had worn ten years ago when he was attacked.

Although it looks outdated and old-fashioned now.

But every inch of fabric perfectly fit Obadiah's figure, highlighting his old-fashioned aristocratic air.

Coupled with those deep nasolabial folds and eyes as sharp as a hawk's...

This is the iron-fisted manager that the board members remember!

The next second, Obadiah pounced on the imposter in front of him like an enraged lion.

Upon seeing the main character appear and realizing that his identity had been exposed, "Obadia" originally wanted to sneak away, but Riley fired spider silk and bound him tightly.

He could only watch helplessly as Obadiah's massive, towering body pounced on him, pinning him down. Obadiah's fists, as big as sandbags, pounded into his face again and again!

During this time, with each punch, Obadiah would recall the moment he was rescued by Riley and regained consciousness.

For Obadiah, he simply took a normal nap, and when he woke up, ten years of his life had been stolen!

Therefore, through the video footage provided by Riley, it was clear how the imposter with his own face was chatting and laughing with the Ten Rings terrorists.

And then, after revealing Tony's whereabouts, he repeatedly emphasized that the Ten Commandments should leave no survivors and kill Tony on the spot.

Obadiah's eyes were glazed over, and he looked as helpless as a child.

He even tried to hypnotize himself, deceiving himself into believing that Riley was joking with him, or that everything he was experiencing was just an absurd dream.

Until the scene changed...

Obadiah watched from those cold, hard images as Tony, who had fallen into a coma, was taken away by the Ten Commandments. Then, in that unsanitary cave, a heart-stopping emergency surgery was performed.

Then she looked at the boy she remembered, who had always been so spirited and looked just like her deceased friend, and saw how he had been brutally murdered, with a gaping hole ripped into his chest. He was now barely clinging to life with a rudimentary electromagnet, struggling to survive in a dirty, cold, and damp cave.

On the other side of the screen, deliberately edited out by Riley for contrast, "Obadiah" is shaking hands with a military general, a victorious smile on his lips. It's as if the more suffering Tony endures, the better news it is for him…

This stark contrast made Obadiah, who was already furious, feel his heart bleeding even more after he subconsciously turned his head a few times and glanced at the reactor on Tony's chest that was constantly glowing!

So much so that when Obadiah turned back to look at the imposter in front of him, his eyes bloodshot as he continued to swing his fists, he couldn't help but roar angrily.

"Ten years...you stole ten whole years of my life—!!!"

With a single punch, Obadiah's nose was knocked askew. Blood gushed out, and severely injured, Obadiah could no longer maintain his disguise. With a series of twists and changes in his body, he reverted to his original Skrull form.

"You used my face...you used Tony's trust in me to almost get him killed!"

Each punch was accompanied by furious words, causing the Skrull's face to contort under the relentless blows, green blood splattering everywhere. It stained Obadiah's suit, further highlighting the elderly man's burning hatred.

"That's Howard's son...the child I cherished and watched grow up! How dare you treat him like this—!!!"

Memories flooded back like a tide.

Obadiah clearly remembers that the last time she saw Tony was at a Christmas dinner in 1998.

Tony was just 28 years old at the time, at the peak of his success, holding a glass of champagne and talking loudly in the middle of the party, his eyes shining with the same light as his father's.

Obadiah, on the other hand, stood at the other end of the banquet, raising his glass with a smile, just as he had for the past ten years, silently shielding this proud young man from the board's open and covert attacks.

Then came darkness.

A long, endless darkness.

When he woke up again, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar environment. He was being supported by a strange stranger who called himself "Spider-Man" and was dressed in bizarre clothes. The stranger told him that he had arrived in 2008 and had been asleep for ten years.

How many decades does a person have in their lifetime?

Not to mention, in what seemed like just a nap, Tony was almost killed by an imposter with his own face! Their relationship had deteriorated to the point of irreconcilable conflict!

Thinking of this, Obadiah threw another punch, which landed squarely on the imposter's chin.

In an instant, as the Skrull's entire face twisted and deformed violently, a chilling sound of bones cracking echoed through the conference room!

Obadiah still felt unsatisfied. He raised his fist, ready to continue smashing it down.

But at that moment, Tony stepped forward, grabbed Obadiah's wrist from behind, and stopped him from moving.

"Alright, Obi, that's enough... If you keep hitting, you'll ruin your hands."

As Tony spoke, the look in his eyes as he gazed at the old man before him was exceptionally complex.

Until Riley informed him, Tony had always believed that Obadiah, the mastermind behind it all, had become completely blinded by greed and no longer cared about their past relationship.

But she never imagined that the elder who had accompanied and loved her like a father was not blinded by money and had stopped loving her...

Instead, he had been ambushed and trapped in that dark and secluded secret base ten years ago, where he spent a long and lonely decade.

Ironically, if Tony had just thought about it carefully, he would have realized just how big the loopholes were in Obadiah's plan against him.

Putting everything else aside, if Obadiah truly harbored any ambition to replace Tony and take over Stark Industries...

So, back in the year that Howard and his wife were assassinated, Tony, who had lost his parents' protection, was probably sold out by Obadiah in this treacherous business world. He should sincerely thank Obadiah!

There were plenty of opportunities to deceive Tony, who was only around twenty-one years old at the time, completely ignorant of the complex rules of business warfare, and had almost no one to support him except Obadiah! He could easily acquire the large number of shares inherited from Tony!

How could she suppress her grief and wholeheartedly nurture Tony until he was able to shoulder the heavy responsibilities left by his father, and then willingly choose to step down and return the power to Tony?

"...Don't blame yourself too much. After all, he copied all my memories, so it's normal that you didn't recognize him...Besides, people's hearts are very complicated. Maybe after being your second-in-command for more than ten years, I might have had other thoughts?"

With Tony's reassurance, Obadiah's trembling anger gradually subsided.

Slowly lowering his bloodied and mangled fist, he casually tossed the half-dead Skrull on the ground like trash.

Obadiah then turned around, and even through the mask of the Iron Man suit, he could keenly discern Tony's inner thoughts by observing the changes in Tony's tone of voice. He tried to keep his tone as calm as possible, as if joking, to ease Tony's guilt and frustration.

However, after taking a second look at the arc-shaped reactor on Tony's chest, it was hard to imagine how much pain Obadiah, the kid who could make a fuss even when getting a shot, had endured. He couldn't help but feel a surge of impulse.

With trembling hands, he reached out and, through the special glass, touched the area in the center of Tony's chest where the arc reactor was located. He opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something.

In the end, Obadiah simply reached out his hands and gave Tony a big hug.

Tony, who is always stubborn and arrogant, immediately removed his Iron Man suit after realizing Obadiah's intentions. He then embraced the familiar yet unfamiliar old man after a long time.

Meanwhile, Riley, who was originally full of charisma, felt his anger dissipate after witnessing the heartwarming scene of this father-friend duo resolving a misunderstanding that had lasted for more than ten years with just a hug, with all their emotions unspoken.

As his body rapidly shrank back to its normal Spider-Man form, he casually placed his hand on the silently observing bodyguard, making a pointed and joking remark.

"What a touching scene! It proves that even someone as awkward as Tony can avoid so many melodramatic misunderstandings if he just talks things out face-to-face... Don't you think so, Captain?"

That's right, after being disguised, the bodyguard following Riley was none other than Steve Rogers, who had just left S.H.I.E.L.D. and joined District 13.

Riley, who had anticipated this turn of events, specifically brought Steve along after discovering the shocking truth that the real Obadiahs had been replaced by the Skrulls.

The purpose was to give Steve a heads-up beforehand, so that he could witness firsthand that Tony, who seemed to have an extreme and arrogant personality, was actually a soft-hearted tsundere with a sharp tongue.

To ensure that when Bucky reappears someday in the future, Steve's first reaction will be to find Tony, honestly share the intelligence he has gathered, and seek Tony's help.

Instead of using the pretext of doing what's best for Bucky to delay the truth, which led to a civil war within the Avengers and their eventual disintegration.

Of course, the entire incident, from beginning to end, was not entirely within Riley's expectations.

For example, the scene where Obadiah broke out of the Iron Monger's cockpit and personally beat up the Skrulls was something Riley never expected.

After all, he had been imprisoned for ten years without being injected with the super-soldier serum.

Even though the Skrulls, just in case—like Riley killing Nick Fury and needing to replicate his memories to fill the void—maintained Obadiah's vital signs for ten years by constantly supplying him with a special nutrient solution.

However, Obadiah's body, like that of a patient who has been bedridden for a long time and lacks exercise, inevitably developed symptoms of muscle atrophy and a significant decrease in strength.

Theoretically speaking, this doesn't even qualify as a disease, but rather as an adaptive change in the body.

Just as with old age, the ability to perceive the five senses will inevitably show signs of decline to some extent.

Even when Riley used the Horse Charm, he couldn't help Obadiah recover the effects of the stolen ten years of his life on his body.

Unless Riley is willing to take the dog charm off and let Obadiah wear it on his person forever.

But Riley in his corrupted state is clearly not so generous.

Therefore, Riley chose another form of compensation for Obadiah.

That is, to have Thor, along with Obadiah, raid the weapons production line secretly maintained by the imposters. To seize the Iron Monger, whose development is nearing completion, with only the energy problem remaining unresolved.

Then Thor transforms into a humanoid portable power bank, providing the Iron Monger with ample energy so that Obadiah can drive the Iron Monger to the outside of Stark Industries.

Finally, together with Tony, who had rushed over after receiving the news, they stormed into the conference room, staging a dramatic scene of the Iron Duo's unexpected arrival.

This way, they can strike at the root of the problem, taking away the imposter's last trump card ahead of time. It also gives Obadiah, whose physical condition is failing, the means to exact revenge himself!

Otherwise, Riley wouldn't have bothered arguing with the imposter. He would have punched him through the heart long ago, tearing his disguise apart on the spot!

However, Riley originally thought that Obadiah, who was in poor physical condition, would choose to use the Iron Monger to punch the imposter to death.

Unexpectedly, enemies are bound to be furious when they meet. As soon as Obadiah saw the imposter with his face, he stepped out of the cockpit and pounced on him without thinking!

The agility of his movements and the strength of his power were completely unimaginable; this was an elderly man who had been imprisoned for ten years and had developed severe muscle atrophy!

It's no wonder that Tony suddenly intervened and stopped Obadiah...

It's no big deal that the fake is dead, but if it causes any health problems for Obadiah, Tony would be heartbroken!

"I always felt there was something behind your words... but now it seems you were right. I'll remember this lesson, sir."

Initially, Steve was indeed intimidated by Riley's seemingly righteous evil. He even doubted more than once whether his decision to join District 13 was like escaping one danger only to fall into another.

However, after a day and a night of close contact, it became clear that Riley himself was vastly different from the description provided by Nick Fury. Furthermore, his decisive and ruthless personality made him a perfect warrior, clearly more to Steve's liking, given his battlefield background.

This made Steve and Riley much more relaxed and intimate when they were together. Steve even dropped his serious poker face, a hint of a smile appearing in his eyes, and gave Riley a military salute.

"Hmm, I hope so."

Seeing that Steve had agreed, Riley, knowing that Steve would definitely keep his word, nodded in satisfaction.

He then shifted his gaze to the horse talisman in the system's storage space, which could restore his mind to normal at any time, and the paper records lying quietly beside it. He briefly pondered, considering that Steve, in a sense, had already experienced the plot of *Captain America: The Winter Soldier* ahead of time, which shouldn't prevent them from smoothly advancing the storyline.

After carefully considering his words, Riley turned to face Steve, put aside his joking thoughts, and spoke seriously, word by word.

"Our gains at that secret base went far beyond that... If you're mentally prepared and have truly remembered what I said, then once I've returned to normal, I'll assign you a special investigation mission, giving you a chance to meet up with old friends?"

"Oh? Old friend... about what?"

"Winter Soldier"

While Tony and Obadiah embraced, Riley met with Steve, secretly plotting their next move.

Because of the growing "threat" posed by Spider-Man, coupled with the blow of Captain America's "defection".

The Hydra members lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D. felt that the current situation was gradually slipping out of their control.

By a twist of fate, they ended up having the same idea as Riley: to arrange for specific personnel to awaken the long-frozen Winter Warrior.

The goal is very simple...

Disguised as Spider-Man, he went to assassinate Sheriff Black, who had provided Riley with the most help!

This would create a crisis of trust between the two, and even between Spider-Man and Section 13, allowing Hydra to reap the benefits!