Tony's knowledge base had grown tremendously, and so had his imagination.
Of course, the most important thing was that many of the gadgets he built nowadays only looked scientific—more often than not, they weren't scientific at all.
Take his current suit, for instance. Not only did it mimic Ant-Man's tech, it didn't even need Pym Particles. The only logic behind it was essentially: "I figured... why not?"
At the moment, Tony wasn't in Ant-Man mode. Instead, he told JARVIS to initiate recon. Instantly, several nano-drones launched from the turret mounted on his back.
As the spheres landed near the military camp, they transformed into tiny bugs—mosquitoes, flies, ants, spiders—easily ignored by human eyes. They scuttled into the camp from all directions.
These miniature nanobots could slip through almost any crack, transmitting real-time audio and video. All the data fed into Tony's AI system, helping him pinpoint exactly what he needed.
It didn't take long for the bugs to locate Captain Carter.
Conveniently, she was in the middle of a discussion about the Tesseract. In the room with her was a white-haired military officer, and—Tony blinked—a familiar face: his father, Howard.
Staring at the projection, Tony muttered, "Animated or not, you're still one good-looking old man, Dad. Too bad I can't just talk to you…"
Their conversation revealed that HYDRA had already obtained the Tesseract and was transporting it to Berlin. Carter proposed intercepting it with a special task force before HYDRA could secure it.
Howard backed her up, but the general flat-out rejected the plan.
The old man was stubborn to the core. He thought Carter and Howard were being reckless, and refused to believe the Tesseract was anything more than a fancy cube. No matter what they said, he wasn't budging.
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Perfect. That gives us an opening." He relayed everything to Banner over the team comms.
Banner wasn't originally part of the team. But after Banner gained access to the time-space portals, Bruce Wayne figured it was only a matter of time before they needed him for cross-dimensional missions. So, after Spider-Man One completed a few more tasks and earned another team slot, they gave it to Banner.
Banner immediately began making moves. Spider-Man Three—clearly getting a little bored—asked, "So... we're not gonna help?"
Tony looked away from the projection and gave him a side glance. "They've got this. Our job is to keep an eye on Carter—make sure we don't end up clashing with her."
Although the general had shut them down, neither Carter nor Howard gave up. Over a quiet drink, Howard slipped her a shield and some high-grade gear, encouraging her to act on her own.
Carter didn't hesitate. She geared up and set off for Germany.
Tony, being Tony, not only followed quietly—he also secretly recorded her changing into her gear. He planned to send Steve a very special "gift" later.
Then he and Spider-Man Three set off after her.
They tailed her all the way to Berlin. It wasn't an easy journey—Germany at that time was at the peak of its power, the beating heart of the Axis, and crawling with soldiers.
But somehow, they made it in one piece. Tony stayed in touch with Banner throughout, and it seemed Banner and Pietro were doing well—they'd already intercepted the convoy.
"Mr. Stark, since we're already here… shouldn't we, I dunno, help?" Spider-Man Three couldn't help asking again.
Tony patted his shoulder. "Look, if Hulk and Quicksilver can't handle one transport squad, maybe it's time they start exploring new career options."
But just as he finished speaking, fire suddenly flared up to the south, followed by the sharp crack of gunfire echoing through the night.
Carter heard it too. Without hesitation, she darted toward the commotion.
Tony sighed. "Great. You're right. Looks like we do need to step in."
They followed. Spiderman swung through the air, while Tony soared behind in his armor. Out of nowhere, a shield flew at Tony from the darkness.
He braked hard. The shield—painted with a Union Jack—barely missed his face.
"Shit! She really doesn't pull punches." Tony cursed. If he'd reacted half a second slower, that thing would've smashed into his kidneys—and this nanotech armor wasn't exactly top-tier in the defense department.
"HYDRA's secret weapon?" Carter stepped out of the shadows, eyes sharp like a blade. She flicked her wrist, and the shield boomeranged back toward her.
Tony was ready for it and dodged with ease.
"Hey, beautiful," he called out. "Lovely night, huh? How about we grab a drink instead of throwing things?"
That wasn't just his usual flirting—he genuinely wanted to stall her and buy Bruce and the others more time.
But Carter clearly took it the wrong way. She smirked, tapping her shield twice with a clang clang, then said, "You think I'm letting my guard down because I'm a woman? Please. And don't bother pretending you're alone—I saw your tight-suit buddy lurking. Yeah, I'm talking to you, creepy weirdo in the spandex."
Spider-Man Three looked a little heartbroken. 'Come on,' he thought, 'I look cool as hell in this suit. Guess people just didn't have taste back then.'
He'd already ducked into the shadows once he saw Tony exposed, trying to stay out of it. But now that Carter had spotted him, he had no choice but to swing out into view.
He shrugged helplessly at Tony, his face asking, So… what now?
Tony was just as exasperated. The plan had been stealth, but—well, plans never survive contact with reality.
He raised both hands and gave a casual, modern French salute. "Listen, Captain Carter—we're not your enemies. This is just a misunderstanding. We genuinely hope you'll lead the Allies to victory against HYDRA. I believe that day is coming very soon. So really, there's no need for us to fight. Right?"
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