"Mr. Stark?"
Coulson deliberately called out to Tony Stark a couple more times.
When had Tony Stark ever been treated this way?
"It's late. Time to head back for the press conference. And thank your boss for me—looks like he knows who the most important man in this country really is." Tony didn't want Coulson dragging this out any further.
He gave him a thin, insincere smile and nod, then headed off with Pepper and Yinsen toward the waiting sedan. Happy had been there for a while already.
Happy was one of the few people Tony actually considered a friend.
Calling him a chauffeur was underselling it.
He was more like a butler. Even when Tony wasn't around, Happy helped Pepper manage things at Stark Industries and kept an eye on everything.
He hadn't always been a driver. Happy had once been a boxer—Tony first met him after being rescued from a car accident, and afterward hired him as both his chauffeur and bodyguard.
Now though, the once-muscular boxer had eaten himself into a soft, round figure.
"Back to my place. You know the one."
Pepper and Tony slid into the back seat, while Yinsen, acting as if he belonged, hopped into the front passenger seat. Happy blinked in confusion.
"Who are you? You sure you're in the right car?" He hadn't noticed Yinsen exiting the plane earlier and assumed the frail middle-aged man was with S.H.I.E.L.D.
"He's my friend, Yinsen. Helped me a lot these past days," Tony explained.
"A friend?"
Happy's tone softened immediately. That was a word he almost never heard Tony use. He reached across and shook Yinsen's hand warmly.
"Step on it." Tony urged.
"You just want to hurry back and catch up on those missed cover girls, don't you?" Pepper rolled her eyes, her voice tinged with acid.
"I've got more important things to do."
Tony's mind wasn't on women at all. He was already thinking about the Iron Man armor he'd built in that Afghan cave—and how it could be pushed further.
He was itching to get into a workshop with real equipment and create something that would stun the world.
"Uh... once we're in the city, could you drop me off?" Yinsen asked cautiously as the car left the airport, turning to Tony.
"You want to see the lights of New York? Good choice. Believe me, you'll fall in love with this city. I'll even set you up with a position at Stark Industries worthy of your talent. You can stay here for good, no need to go back to that chaos."
Tony wanted to show he knew how to repay a debt.
He couldn't exactly pay back the mysterious informant who'd saved him, but this friend he'd made in that terrorist cave—this was someone he could help build a better life for.
"Actually... I'm here to find my wife. She's a scientist too—she works at a company here called Umbrella."
Yinsen declined Tony's offer politely. "She used to suggest I join them as well. I always thought their research was... dark. But now I understand. Inventions and creations aren't evil—it's people's hearts that can be."
Those words hit home.
After everything he'd just endured, Tony could only nod in agreement.
"Umbrella? The biotech company? I get it. You want to be with your wife. I can't stop a man who loves his family from choosing them over my company." Tony covered his disappointment with an awkward excuse.
For his wife, right?
It wasn't that Stark Industries was lacking. Tony just found it maddening—when did repaying someone's kindness become so damn complicated?
"I remember that company. They do biotech research," Pepper added. She was well-versed in the big names in the U.S. corporate world.
"They also have armed units of their own and are developing their own equipment. I should be able to land a decent role there."
Yinsen's thoughts drifted to his wife, the woman he hadn't seen in so long. Anxiety gnawed at him. After all this time, had she moved on without him?
"I know you'll do well. Here's to a new beginning," Tony said, his encouragement genuine.
And so, Yinsen got out in front of the Umbrella Corporation tower.
He stood there for a moment, watching the sedan drive off.
Only after a long breath did he gather his courage and step through the doors.
...
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Inside the Helicarrier.
"Stark made it back safely?"
Nick Fury popped a bear-shaped cookie into his mouth, glancing at Coulson, who had just returned.
"Yes. And his attitude is as rotten as ever."
Coulson gave a small nod.
"Then maybe we should've left him there a little longer." Fury brushed the crumbs from his hand, then shifted to another matter.
"Have you looked into the Mandarin yet?" During Obadiah's interrogation, they'd uncovered more than just intel on Tony Stark.
S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't only about protecting America. They operated worldwide—and the Mandarin was a global threat.
For now, though, they knew little. Only that he commanded terrorist cells and armed factions across multiple regions.
"Our manpower there is thin. We only picked up scraps of information—nothing that confirms the terrorist leader's whereabouts." Coulson sighed, frustration clear in his tone.
"Don't dwell on it. Our top priority is figuring out Ghost Rider—what exactly he is and who he's been fighting."
Fury's face was unreadable. He picked up a newspaper from the desk, shook it twice, then spread it open in front of him.
"Tech says that battle looked like a factory hit by Tomahawk missiles. I need to know what other monsters might be hiding in New York." His voice was tired; the workload these days had been crushing.
"And that damned scroll you found at the scene? It's already driven half a dozen lab techs insane." Fury's tone carried rare frustration. Every researcher was precious to S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Yeah... those whispers... unbearable." Coulson shivered at the memory of the wailing voices he'd heard when he first picked it up.
Even now, the thought made his skin crawl. If not for sheer willpower, he would've cracked like the others.
"Think it ties back to some kind of demon in the old texts?" Coulson muttered. He was convinced the scroll carried some curse.
"Tsk. That's the kind of thing you bring me as a report? I want answers, not bedtime stories."
Fury's look was flat, bordering on annoyed. "What's next—you gonna tell me gods are real too?"
Sure, he often compared Herman's power to godhood, but those had been metaphors—mostly.
"I mean... it's possible." Coulson had always been the imaginative type. Even with a receding hairline and middle age creeping up, he still leaned toward the supernatural. It was part of why he enjoyed chasing these cases in the first place.
Fury had no words for him.
"Anyway, get some rest. Tomorrow you're covering Stark's press conference. Make sure he doesn't say anything outrageous."
He gave Coulson yet another assignment.
"What about Natasha and the others?"
Coulson just wanted to go home and sleep for once.
"They're on a different op. Military stirred up something—some kind of green monster. We need intel on how dangerous it is."
Fury kept nothing from him. Coulson was one of the very few agents he could trust, at least somewhat.
"A green monster... that's not exactly comforting." The word monster alone made Coulson's head ache.
And really, who wouldn't feel the same? Fury sighed. Times like these, he almost missed the days when all they had to handle were rogue enhanced humans.
He turned back to his paper. The headline story was about Spider-Man.
"Hero of the city? No—just a disruptor of order! Vigilantes outside the law are criminals, plain and simple!"
The Daily Bugle's star reporter had gone off in print again.
Fury couldn't help thinking that, for once, the man deserved a thumbs-up.
...
A new day.
A new beginning.
Herman called Jean Grey to probe her condition, and to his relief, the Dark Phoenix seemed to have gone dormant again. Only then did he set aside his worries about the X-Mansion.
Still, a faint sense of loss lingered. It had only been one night, yet he already found himself missing that wild side of Jean Grey.
"It's up! It's really up!"
Matt burst into Herman's office, voice shaking with disbelief and shock. His stumbling entrance made it clear how rattled he was.
"What's up? Your weight? Men don't need to care about that." Herman raised a brow, baffled at Matt's behavior.
"Stark Industries' stock! My god, that playboy actually came back! No missing limbs, no death, nothing!"
Matt's voice brimmed with awe.
"I told you he'd be fine." Herman kept his tone calm, though inwardly he was a little surprised himself. He hadn't expected Tony Stark to return this quickly.
"Boss, your prediction was scary accurate. Everyone thought Stark was dead for sure. How were you so certain he wasn't?"
Matt couldn't wrap his head around Herman's sources.
"I've got people upstairs."
Herman answered coolly.
"....."
Matt was left speechless.
He froze for a moment, then remembered the update he'd just seen. "After the news of Stark's return broke, Stark Industries' stock went completely insane!"
His tone was a mix of amazement and regret. Regret that he hadn't bought any Stark shares. Daredevil might hate evil with a passion, but even Daredevil needed to eat and pay bills.
Nobody ever complained about making too much money legally.
Regret! He was practically kicking himself.
"The stock's soaring?"
Herman only chuckled, unconcerned.
He'd foreseen this, and he knew the surge would be short-lived. Before long, the stock would crash to its lowest point yet—lower even than when Stark first went missing.
After Matt left, still torn between greed and regret, Herman turned on the TV.
Sure enough.
The Stark Industries press conference was already underway.
Reporters swarmed in.
Media outlets scrambled to broadcast it live, eager to see what shocking statement Tony Stark would make on his return.
"At that moment, I truly woke up. I realized my responsibility to the world is to contribute meaningfully, not just build weapons designed to explode."
Tony Stark had delivered a bombshell.
"Therefore, I've decided to shut down the weapons division immediately. Permanently."
The words rippled through the hall like a detonation.
Gasps erupted from the crowd.
Even Pepper Potts, who had been smiling moments earlier, was left slack-jawed by Stark's sudden declaration, her smile vanishing instantly.
Why had Stark Industries been so highly valued? Because it was one of the most powerful arms manufacturers, its weapons top-notch and reliable.
Now, suddenly, the arms dealer announced he was done making weapons.
At first, reporters and viewers thought it had to be a joke.
But Stark's expression was dead serious. Gradually, the audience realized this playboy wasn't putting on a show.
"What business will Stark Industries profit from now?"
"What about the contracts with other nations?"
"Have you thought about your shareholders?"
...
Sensing a bombshell story, reporters pounced, questions flying. Stark only smirked dismissively.
"As long as I'm here, Stark Industries won't collapse." He stared straight into the cameras, his gaze steady and confident.
"Damn it!"
Down below, Coulson realized the mission was slipping out of his hands again. This was exactly the kind of outrageous statement Fury had warned him about.
"You've got to talk some sense into him," Coulson whispered to Pepper.
"I wish I could... but you don't know Tony. Once he decides, no one can change his mind." Pepper gave a bitter smile, her eyes fixed on Stark under the stage lights.
Soon after answering a few softer questions, Stark walked off, leaving the stage to the company's new CEO.
Poor Pepper.
Stark had no interest in the aftermath, returning straight to his mansion.
"Jarvis, did that Herman Chu sell off his Stark shares?" Stark asked his AI butler, anticipation in his voice.
He prided himself on being the smartest man alive. He knew the stir his words would cause—but it was all part of his plan.
He'd already resolved to make this move, but he also wanted to use it to reclaim at least some of his company's stock.
In his mind, the man who'd been buying up so many shares—the one he'd recently identified as Herman Chu—couldn't possibly have seen this coming.
You believe in me?
Then I'll cripple my own strongest arm, shut down the most profitable division. You'll have to cut your losses eventually. Stark's calculations were clear.
However—
"There's been a massive sell-off of Stark stock," Jarvis reported. "But every share has been snapped up immediately by Herman Chu."
"Even the shares held by major venture firms and global investment funds have almost all been taken over by him."
Jarvis spoke with his usual flat, emotionless tone.
Stark's smile froze.
He really wasn't afraid of losing it all?
This wasn't how it was supposed to go!
I don't even know how Stark Industries will turn a profit from here—yet you trust me this much? Stark didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Buy! Keep buying!"
He knew if he didn't dive in now to grab more of his own company's shares, the empire his parents left him might slip right out of his hands.
...
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