"Tony Stark. We finally meet. You look a lot like your father—but your temperaments are completely different."
"Who are you? Do you even know my father?"
Tony couldn't help feeling uneasy when a Black man suddenly burst in claiming to have known Howard Stark.
After all, racial discrimination was still rampant during his father's era, and given Howard's extraordinary status, few people—especially white elites—could truly get along with him, let alone a Black man.
So Tony instinctively assumed the man before him, Nick Fury, was bluffing.
"I'm Nick Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"S.H.I.E.L.D.? What's that?"
"Our full name is the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division," Coulson interjected calmly as he stepped into the room. "We're a special task force dedicated to handling extraordinary and potentially dangerous incidents."
Seeing Coulson—a white man—offer a composed explanation, Tony gave a silent nod. Their story suddenly seemed more credible.
But a moment later, he frowned again, turning to Coulson with confusion. "'Extraordinary incidents'? What exactly do you mean by that?"
"A being whose flight speed outclasses your so-called 'Ironman,' whose computational power dwarfs your AI, and who can effortlessly hack into your Iron Man armor," Fury said bluntly, glaring at Tony without an ounce of deference. "A silver-haired woman who nearly sent you plummeting to your death—and then beat you senseless in close combat. Isn't that bizarre enough for you?"
"!!!!"
"Shut up, you bastards! Are you spying on me?!" Tony snapped, instantly furious.
Everything he'd been through was already humiliating enough—and now this smug stranger was dredging up his worst moments right to his face.
"You're bringing up something completely irrelevant!"
"Mr. Stark, please don't misunderstand," Coulson said quickly. "We weren't surveilling you. It's just that you made quite a bit of noise while testing the Iron Man armor. Remember when you shot down two military jets? The Pentagon flagged the incident and alerted us. We launched an investigation on your behalf and activated the Sky Eye system to track your movements—it was purely coincidental."
"Coincidental?" Tony scowled. "Do you really expect me to believe that nonsense?"
As chairman of Stark Industries and America's most influential technological genius, Tony placed immense value on his reputation. The idea that these strangers had witnessed his most vulnerable, embarrassing moments was infuriating.
"Believe it or not—I don't care what you think of us," Fury said coolly. "All you need to understand is this: our purpose is to protect global security. Any entity that poses a potential threat must be monitored and contained within a controlled, safe perimeter."
"So what does any of this have to do with me?" Tony shot back.
He watched Fury's arrogant expression—the man was practically posturing—and felt his irritation grow.
Pretending to be cool was his specialty. Until now, no one had dared try to out-cool him… because no one ever could.
Well… except Loren. But that was different. After all, Loren held the title of Master Morgan—hands down the most insufferable title imaginable. There was simply no comparison.
However, there was one thing he was very relieved about: Loren could only rely on his father.
But he was different. Not only was his father powerful—he himself was even more so. The title of "technological genius" was not undeserved!
"It really didn't have anything to do with you before… but it does now."
Nick Fury stared at Tony Stark with a stern expression, his tone leaving no room for doubt.
"What do you mean?" Tony frowned, confusion flickering across his face.
"It's simple. The Iron Man suit you created has unlimited potential—and it will be invaluable in fighting those evil forces. So I hope you'll join us and become a member of the Avengers."
Nick Fury had laid the groundwork for so long… just for this moment.
"The Avengers? What the hell is that?"
"It's the strongest team I'm assembling to combat evil. Those selected—people like you, with extraordinary talents—are the only ones capable of shouldering this responsibility." Nick Fury explained.
"I get it now—you want me to be your free laborer!
Sorry, I'm not interested.
I can fight those so-called 'evil forces' on my own. I don't need to join any organization."
"If you could really do it yourself, you wouldn't be standing here talking to me right now.
It's only been one night—have you already forgotten how badly that silver-haired woman beat you?"
"..." Tony fell silent.
"Shut up, you one-eyed bastard! If you can't say anything useful, I'll sew your mouth shut myself!
It's none of your business. I'll settle the score with that damn silver-haired woman on my own.
Her combat patterns have already been recorded and analyzed by my AI.
Next time I see her, I'll beat her to a pulp!"
After being rubbed raw with salt by Nick Fury, even the usually composed Tony Stark couldn't hold back his outburst.
"Since you've already recorded and analyzed her fighting patterns," Natasha interjected from the side, her tone sharp and unflinching, "you should've won last night.
Instead of getting tortured nearly to death, you should be grateful she showed you mercy—otherwise, you'd be dead."
"…"
Tony had never felt so utterly humiliated. They kept twisting the knife, and the worst part?
He couldn't argue back—because every word was true.
"You all shut up! I don't want to hear another word. No matter what you say, I won't join you."
"Really?" Nick Fury's voice cut through the tension just as Tony turned to leave the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
"Don't you want to know where that silver-haired woman came from?"
He gave Natasha a subtle wink. She nodded instantly and tossed three glass orb-like devices onto the floor.
A holographic image flared to life before Tony.
On screen played a series of recently uncovered intelligence files—on Miss 2B and Loren.
"Loren!? How is this possible? He's the one behind all this?"
"Surprised?" Nick Fury asked meaningfully. "Join us, and we'll share even more intel—and resources—with you.
Oh, and I almost forgot: your father, Howard Stark, was also a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. A veteran, in fact."
He placed a firm hand on Tony's shoulder.
"!!!!" Tony's eyes widened.
At that moment, Barton burst into the room.
"Sir! A man has been found—frozen in the ice of the Arctic Ocean!"
"!!!"
"After all these years… you've finally found him!"
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