"Escape!"
Obadiah Stane was, if nothing else, a ruthless shark who had survived forty years in the cutthroat world of corporate warfare. Though his pride had been shattered, his survival instinct quickly overrode his shock.
He didn't try to continue the fight. Instead, he rerouted every last drop of energy from the Iron Monger's systems into the boot thrusters. He was leaving.
He was no match for the boy, and with Tony Stark right there, there was zero hope of victory. But as long as he wasn't caught *now*, he had a chance. He'd worked with the government for decades; he had senators and high-ranking military officials in his pocket.
If he offered the Iron Monger technology to the Department of Defense, they would move mountains to protect him from prosecution.
"Mr. Son! I'm with S.H.I.E.L.D., a friend of Professor X! Please help us stop that man—he's an extremely dangerous criminal!" Agent Coulson shouted as he saw the metal giant begin to lift off.
Goku, who hadn't planned on chasing a fleeing opponent, tilted his head at the mention of Professor X. He vanished with a sharp *crack*, reappearing directly above the Iron Monger.
"Get down!"
He delivered a massive, full-power kick directly onto the crown of the Iron Monger's helmet.
*BOOM!*
With a thunderous crash, the Iron Monger slammed back into the center of the street. Metal plates buckled, hydraulic fluid sprayed everywhere, and the suit finally gave out, becoming a heap of scrap metal. Inside, Obadiah's status was unknown.
By nature, Goku didn't believe in kicking a man when he was down, especially if they had surrendered or fled. But if a "friend of the Professor" and the S.H.I.E.L.D. people—who had fed him well and helped him before—asked for help catching a "bad guy," that was a different story.
"Take him into custody!" Coulson barked. His agents swarmed the wreckage to haul a dazed and broken Obadiah out of the suit.
Coulson then hurried toward Goku, who had landed lightly on the pavement. He extended a hand, his professional demeanor masking his intense relief.
"Hello, Mr. Son. My name is Phil Coulson. I'm a colleague of Natasha Romanoff. Thank you for your assistance."
Now that they had found Goku, Obadiah was yesterday's news. The priority was keeping Goku calm and finding a way to bring him back to headquarters.
"Hi, mister!" Goku shook his hand politely. "Are the Professor and the others doing okay?"
"They're doing very well. Our Director would very much like to meet you. Do you have some time?" Coulson asked tentatively.
Goku blinked. "Is your Director a good fighter?"
"Our Director... he's... very smart," Coulson stammered. Nick Fury was plenty tough for a human, but compared to a boy who could kick a tank-sized suit of armor into the dirt? He wasn't even in the same universe.
"Oh. Then I don't have time right now. Maybe next time."
Goku's interest vanished instantly. He was here for one reason: to use the Dragon Balls to resurrect the soldiers who had died because of him.
Once that was done, he had new training to get to. Maybe in a year, when he returned for the next wish, he'd meet the "smart" man. But not today.
Coulson didn't push. He had already signaled the Director; they would send someone more "persuasive" later.
...
"I could have handled it myself, but thanks for the assist anyway," Tony Stark said as he landed, retracting his helmet and looking down at Goku with a touch of his trademark ego.
He'd wanted to help, but Goku had been so fast there was simply no opening for him to jump in. His Mark III was superior to the Iron Monger in design, but with his older reactor, his power had been too low. Deep down, he knew he might have lost without the boy. He owed Goku one.
But as the Great Tony Stark, head of Stark Industries and the world's most brilliant mind, admitting he'd been saved by a twelve-year-old was... difficult for the image.
"No problem! That guy was really weak, it didn't take much work at all," Goku said dismissively.
Tony's eye twitched. If the Iron Monger was "weak," what did that make Iron Man? But looking at the boy, he realized his Mark III really wasn't much of a threat to him. Lies don't hurt; the truth is the sharpest blade.
Tony made a mental note: Upgrade the Mark III. Build a suit that can actually keep up with this kid. He decided to tentatively name the project the "Anti-Goku Armor."
...
"This spot looks good!"
Goku looked around. The battle had cleared the street of civilians, leaving a massive empty space in the middle of the road. He reached into the magical box Dumbledore had given him and began pulling out the seven Dragon Balls, placing them carefully on the asphalt.
"Mr. Son, people are starting to gather again. It would be best if we moved to a secure—wait, what are you doing?" Coulson asked, confused. He watched as the boy pulled seven crystal spheres, each larger than a grapefruit, out of a tiny, palm-sized box.
"Is this more magic?" Tony asked, his scientific curiosity piqued. He assumed the box used some kind of spatial-folding technology—something even he hadn't mastered yet. How did a kid have this?
Earlier, he'd seen the "balloon" Goku created turn back into a missile on the ground, which suggested a sophisticated holographic or molecular-restructuring trick.
"I'm going to call the Dragon now. You guys should step back," Goku warned.
He ignored the bewildered stares of Coulson and Tony. Once the seven balls were arranged, he stood back and shouted at the top of his lungs in a language that sounded ancient and powerful—a tongue neither man had ever heard.
"APPEAR, SHENRON! AND GRANT MY WISH!"
"What is he shouting?" Coulson muttered to Tony.
Neither of them got an answer. In the next heartbeat, the world changed.
A sudden, unnatural darkness swallowed New York City as thick, black clouds swirled directly over Manhattan. Thunder shook the skyscrapers, and lightning crackled in a terrifying rhythm. The seven spheres on the ground began to pulse with a blinding golden light, shooting a pillar of energy straight into the sky.
From that light, a colossal, serpentine green dragon erupted, its body coiling through the clouds until it loomed over the entire city, its glowing red eyes fixed on the small boy in the street.