The press conference at Stark Tower was chaotic, a brilliant display of media frenzy centered on the resurrected industrialist. Tony Stark sat before a sea of cameras and reporters, looking like a disheveled prophet, his attire rumpled, his face framed by a wild beard.
He was holding a massive, half-eaten cheeseburger—a deliberate act of defiance against decorum.
"I have decided," Tony announced, speaking over the clicking shutters and the agitated murmurs, "that effective immediately, the Weapons Manufacturing Division of Stark Industries will be shut down."
The room erupted. Reporters surged forward, screaming questions. The news was catastrophic, a seismic event in the global arms market.
In the front row, Obadiah Stane, CEO and Tony's supposed mentor, maintained a veneer of avuncular concern. But a cold, vicious glint flickered in his eyes—a rage he had to smother instantly. He knew, however, that he couldn't publicly oppose Tony now. He was the hero.
"What we should be focused on is that Tony is safe and sound!" Obadiah shouted, trying to regain control of the narrative, his voice booming over the noise. "He's been through a terrible ordeal; his judgment may be temporarily impaired."
The consequences were immediate and dramatic. Stark Industries' stock price went into a freefall, plummeting across every major market. The headlines were universally negative:
STARK SELLS OUT: CEO SHUTS DOWN CORE BUSINESS! Wall Street Panic: Stark Stock Halved, Analysts Fear Corporate Collapse! Genius Gone Mad? Stark's Mental Stability Questioned After Kidnapping!
Su Yi watched the stock ticker with detached interest from his villa. His $1.1 million was, indeed, inconsequential in the face of a company valued in the hundreds of billions.
Shutting down the weapons division is the key pivot point. Now, to strike while the confusion is high.
He waited patiently for Tony to follow through on his promise of contact.
Tony, however, had forgotten Su Yi entirely. Fueled by adrenaline and a desperate need to survive the palladium poisoning he was now aware of, Stark locked himself in his subterranean lab. With prior knowledge and enhanced focus, he worked through the early afternoon and into the night, fabricating a completely new, vastly improved Arc Reactor.
He called out at last, exhausted but triumphant. "Pepper!"
Pepper Potts rushed down, finding him tearing out the old, failing reactor. She helped him replace it with the clean, glowing new one, instantly stabilizing his system and stopping the palladium poisoning.
"Tony, you must rest now!" Pepper insisted, eyeing the clock. "Look at the time! You've been awake for nearly two days!"
Stark, feeling a rush of clean energy for the first time in months, finally paused. "Rest. Right."
As Pepper went upstairs to fetch him a much-needed beverage, Tony's eyes fell on the contact information Su Yi had forced upon Yinsen.
"The Spider Bully," Tony muttered, snapping his fingers. "I completely forgot about the guy who saved my life and knew all my secrets."
"Jarvis, run a full profile search on 'Su Yi'—specifically the one associated with the Midtown High School video and the recent villa purchase."
J.A.R.V.I.S. instantly complied, accessing every public record.
Analyzing: Su Yi. Age 19. Attends Midtown High School. Inherited considerable estate following the death of guardian/grandfather. No known military, scientific, or mutant affiliations. Public profile is that of a recently relocated, wealthy orphan.
An orphan attending high school. The source of teleportation, a bulletproof suit, and impossible combat skills. Stark was utterly intrigued.
"He said he knew a secret that I really want to know. I'm Tony Stark! What could I possibly want that I don't already have?" He grabbed his phone. "Forget the investigation. Let's just contact him."
Su Yi's phone rang. He answered on the second ring.
"Hi, Sue, this is Tony Stark."
"Couldn't you have called earlier, Tony?" Su Yi complained, the annoyance genuine. "I have to be up for school in four hours."
"Right, the whole school thing," Tony conceded. "Look, do you have time now? Or should we reschedule?"
"I have time. Just send me your exact location. I'll teleport over."
Stark hesitated, then accepted the strange reality of dealing with a teleporting teenager. He scanned the lab environment with his phone. "Location sent. Don't, you know, land on anything expensive."
A moment later, Su Yi materialized out of thin air in the middle of Tony's pristine, high-tech subterranean studio.
"Tony," Su Yi announced, adjusting his jacket. "I'm here. Let's talk about the deal."
Tony jumped back, startled despite his prior knowledge. "God, that is genuinely terrifying! My entire security system is useless against you."
"Relax. I don't use this trick for casual visits. I usually respect property lines; this is a business exception," Su Yi assured him. "I'm here to make a deal."
Just then, Pepper Potts returned, carrying a mug of coffee. She stopped dead, staring from the empty air where no one had been seconds ago to the stylish, unfamiliar young man.
"Tony! Who is he? How did he get down here?" Pepper demanded, her protective instincts flaring.
Stark hesitated, trying to find a cover story. "He's... an extremely new business partner, Pepper. Just stepped in."
Pepper was skeptical. "Tony, I've known every person who has stepped foot in this lab for ten years. You don't have male friends who look like fashion models and materialize out of thin air."
Su Yi smiled at Pepper. "She's right, Tony. Hi, Pepper. We're not friends yet; we're establishing a business relationship. I pulled your boss out of a very deep hole in Afghanistan, and now I'm here to collect my compensation."
Pepper's expression softened into relief, then gratitude. "You saved Tony? Thank you! What do you want? Name your price."
Stark felt utterly ignored. "Hey! I'm the one who writes the check! Yes, I was saved. So, what's the damage, Spider Bully?"
Su Yi took the coffee Pepper intended for Tony, sniffed it appreciatively, and took a slow sip. "The damage is simple. I want money, yes, but not in cash."
He set the mug down and looked Stark dead in the eye. "I want a 20% stake in Stark Industries. That makes me the second-largest shareholder. In return, I'll throw in three crucial secrets—three things you desperately need to know right now."
Stark scoffed, regaining his arrogance. "Twenty percent? That's tens of billions! And secrets? Secrets like how to defend against your ability?"
"No, Tony. Secrets about your life and your death." Su Yi leaned forward, his voice dropping to a theatrical whisper. He listed them with devastating precision:
"The first secret: I'll tell you the name of the man who planned your kidnapping and who is actively working against you right now."
"The second secret: I know how to perfect that new Arc Reactor. The current one will cause you palladium poisoning down the line, but I have the formula for a new element that solves the problem permanently."
Stark remained guarded, nodding slightly at the mention of the palladium. That knowledge alone was worth a fortune, but he maintained his poker face.
Su Yi delivered the final blow, the secret that would shatter Tony's carefully reconstructed reality.
"The third secret: Your parents' deaths—Howard and Maria Stark—were not an accident. They were murdered. I know the killer."
The air in the lab grew instantly cold. Tony, who had only moments ago felt the invincible rush of his new reactor, stumbled back, his face draining of color. The trauma of his parents' unexpected, uninvestigated deaths had defined his reckless life.
"What did you say?" Stark whispered, trembling violently. "My mother and father... murdered? Who? Tell me! You want twenty percent? I'll give you twenty-five! I'll give you half the company! Just tell me the killer's name!"
Su Yi took another calm sip of the coffee, letting the weight of the secret settle. "Don't get agitated, Tony. You need to be stable before you can handle this information. I have the answers, but you need to calm down first."
"Calm?" Stark roared, his voice shaking with raw, agonizing grief. "How can you expect me to stay calm? You just told me my entire life is a lie! TELL ME THE ANSWER! NOW!"
Su Yi has leveraged his foresight to force a massive, high-stakes negotiation with Tony Stark.