[Big Annoucement!]
[Hi, everyone!! months since I talked directly here xD, not really the best talker (maybe because I spend all day reading...) anyway! as how prices of everything is going up and everyday life is getting expensive I decided to reduce the price of my sub on P@tr30n.
I don't want to make my readers stop having a good time so this is the least I can do.
To coushion a little the lost of money I added a tier for people that want to support me and have access to the polls for new fanfics and incoming events. Just a 1 buck one xD.
The next event will be a poll to pick one of my fanfic to get 10 extra chapters!
Thanks for your support!]
"JARVIS, scan the model of the 1974 Stark Expo."
Inside the spacious room, the moment Tony Stark gave the order, a massive blue holographic model was projected into the air.
"Fenris, look."
Tony stroked his chin and stared thoughtfully at the huge globe in the center of the model. "Doesn't this thing kind of look like an atomic nucleus?"
"An atomic nucleus?"
Fenris's eyes lit up, and he slapped his palm with sudden realization. "I know that one. Delicious food."
"Just go find somewhere to lie down."
Tony smacked a hand against his face and let out a helpless sigh. "I'll make you something good later."
"JARVIS?"
"I am here."
"Mark the globe."
"Remove the walkways. Remove the parking lot. Remove the exits and entrances..."
As the structure in the model became more and more simplified, a clear blueprint gradually took shape in Tony's mind, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"Use the pavilion structure as the core atomic framework. Construct the protons and neutrons."
The moment the final command was given, JARVIS's supercomputer brain kicked into overdrive.
The Stark Expo hologram shifted along with it. Not long after, a complex atomic model appeared before Tony's eyes.
"Dad..."
Watching the concept in his mind gradually simulated into reality by the computer, Tony drew in a deep breath, covered his eyes, and almost did not dare keep looking.
"Sir, congratulations. You have discovered a new element capable of replacing palladium as the core of the arc reactor."
Only when JARVIS spoke did Tony open his eyes again. A stable, fully formed atomic model was quietly rotating in midair.
When the model enlarged several times over, more than a hundred electrons raced around the central nucleus, scattering gorgeous blue fragments of light through the slightly dim laboratory.
"After all this time, you can still teach me one more lesson."
Moisture quietly welled in Tony's eyes. He shook his head and said with emotion, "JARVIS, this isn't my invention. It's another genius's invention. All I did was recreate it."
"Fenris, did you see that?"
"Yeahhh!"
"I did it!"
Once the flood of emotion settled down again, Tony looked at the tiny model in his hand and could no longer suppress the excitement bursting inside him. He sprang up from the chair in a single bounce.
"Fenris?"
But instead of the congratulations and cheering he had expected, Tony turned his head and found that the man who had just sworn he would share in the joy was now fast asleep, eyes closed, with an arc reactor balanced on his forehead.
"I really got emotional for nothing."
Tony curled his lip, then casually found a large hammer and weighed it in his hand.
The weight was just right. Perfect for knocking down walls and hand-building a particle accelerator.
"Time to get to work."
...
Stark Industries Headquarters.
"Why isn't there a single person in R&D today?"
The sound of high heels echoed through the empty floor with every sharp click.
The usually lively Stark R&D Department was inexplicably deserted today.
The unfamiliar atmosphere, so different from normal, made Pepper Potts's steps grow more and more cautious.
"Why would Tony suddenly call me here? And why clear everyone out first?"
Pepper frowned and walked forward slowly. "Could he be trying to take advantage of the empty place to..."
"No. No, that's not right."
Pepper's sharp instincts instantly caught a thread of something strange and wrong. Looking around at the slightly unfamiliar environment, she stopped dead in her tracks.
The next second, a chill shot straight up her spine. Alarm flashing in her heart, Pepper spun around without hesitation and bolted back the way she had come.
Bang!
A heavy alloy blast door slammed shut without warning, letting out a deafening roar.
Clank. Clank.
Dull metallic footsteps suddenly rang out from every direction, mixed with the hum of motors turning. In the dead silence of the empty space, the sound was especially jarring.
"Who's there?"
Pepper threw herself against a thick concrete wall not far away. Only now, when she realized she might actually be in danger, did she start forcing herself to breathe. At the same time, she slipped her trembling right hand into the small purse she carried with her and quietly dialed a number. Only then did her nerves calm a little.
"Hi."
"Pepper. Potts."
A man's mechanically distorted voice rang out, openly dripping with arrogance and contempt, as if this little game of cat and mouse delighted him.
Boom!
As the steel footsteps drew closer and closer, the surrounding lights gradually dimmed. In the next instant, a giant steel hand smashed down hard, punching straight through the thick wall behind Pepper before curling lightly around her waist.
"Don't be afraid. I'm not going to let you die that easily."
The solid wall was utterly fragile in the intruder's grasp. In no time at all, it was torn apart and reduced to debris across the floor.
"Ah!"
As the dust rained down, Pepper, trembling all over, let out a sharp scream without thinking.
A steel monster more than three meters tall stood silently in front of her, bright white light blazing from its eyes and chest, flooding the area with harsh illumination.
"You..."
"Who are you?"
Pepper slipped her hand out of her purse without drawing notice and forced herself to sound calm.
Hiss...
With a heavy metallic clank, the lights in Iron Monger's eyes went dark. Its thick chest compartment opened, revealing the smug face of Obadiah inside.
"You?"
The moment she saw who it was, Pepper's pupils shrank sharply. As if deliberately emphasizing it, she raised her voice toward the direction of her purse and said, "Obadiah, where did you get that suit of armor?"
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Pepper, Tony keeps talking about shutting down Stark Industries' weapons division, but he himself built something even more powerful in the Middle East."
Watching the fear written all over Pepper from head to toe, Obadiah's expression turned grim and icy. "He wants to destroy the work of my last thirty years. He wants to destroy Stark Industries. No chance."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Iron Monger armor sealed shut again, and thick jets of flame blasted from beneath the suit's feet.
Obadiah grabbed Pepper in one hand, and the two of them shot into the sky, racing straight toward Tony's house.
"I'm going to make him taste what it feels like to lose everything too."
"Get ready to die, Tony Stark!"
...
"Betty, don't walk me out any farther."
In another dark corner of the city, Bruce Banner looked at the woman before him with aching tenderness. She was the lover who had followed him through hardship after hardship all this way.
He reached out and gently cupped Betty's soft cheek, brushing away the dust on her face before bending slightly and kissing away the tears from her eyes.
"You're Ross's daughter. There's no reason for you to suffer through this with me. If nothing unexpected happens, my trail is probably already sitting on his desk by now..."
Banner forced a bitter smile onto his face. "At this point, I have no other choice. I have to leave."
"Take care, Betty."
Banner stared into Betty's eyes without blinking, while their clasped hands quietly slipped apart.
"Banner..."
As tears gradually blurred her vision, Banner himself also became more and more indistinct in Betty's eyes.
"Betty, I'll come back. I promise."
In the dim alley, Banner turned and left. Before long, his figure disappeared completely from Betty's sight.
With the physical stamina forged through constant flight, Banner moved quickly through the city.
Boom!
Suddenly, a tremendous roar from high above reached his ears.
He looked up just in time to see a huge unidentified object dragging a bright tail of flame as it came straight toward him.
"This is the middle of the city!"
"Has Ross gone insane?"
(End of Chapter)
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