Tony Stark was breathing heavily, his entire frame shaking with repressed fury and overwhelming shock. His parents' deaths—the anchor of his life's recklessness—were not an accident. They were an assassination.
"The deal is done," Stark grated out, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "Twenty percent. I agree. Now, I demand the answers to those three secrets, especially the one about my parents."
Su Yi met the industrialist's gaze, seeing not the arrogant playboy, but the deeply wounded man. He knew he had to deliver the information cleanly and convincingly to secure the deal and, more importantly, to ensure Tony followed the necessary steps to accelerate the timeline.
"Done," Su Yi affirmed. "I appreciate your trust." He took a deep breath and delivered the first piece of treachery.
"The first secret: The man who orchestrated your kidnapping and wanted you dead wasn't the Ten Rings leader. It was Obadiah Stane."
Stark recoiled as if physically struck. "No. Absolutely not. Obadiah... he was my father's partner, my godfather! He raised me! Why would he—"
"He wants the company," Su Yi finished bluntly. "He found the Ten Rings gang—which, by the way, has been dealing in stolen Stark weapons for years, something Obadiah certainly overlooked—and offered them a simple deal: eliminate you. They decided to keep you alive to force you to build them the Jericho missile, but Obadiah's intent was always murder."
Stark desperately wanted to reject the claim, but his genius was already turning. The crude Mark I armor was built with Stark weapons. Obadiah had been strangely absent during the most critical moments of the crisis. The dots, horrifyingly, connected.
"I'll verify that," Stark swore, his jaw clenching. "But the other two secrets. The Arc Reactor. I am the world's expert in this field. No one knows more about the Arc Reactor than me."
"You're wrong, Tony," Su Yi corrected with a slight, knowing smile. "There is one person who knew more: your father, Howard Stark."
Stark frowned. "My father? What does he have to do with the palladium poisoning?"
"Howard Stark's original research—the foundation for your Arc Reactor—was based on the Tesseract, the Cosmic Cube. He was trying to create a new element, but he was limited by the technology of the 1940s. He hid the key to the new element inside the blueprint for his greatest obsession: the model of the City of Tomorrow."
Su Yi tapped a finger on the desk. "That city model? It's sitting somewhere in your company's archived storage, likely gathering dust. Furthermore, Howard was a founding member of a secret global organization. The organization that now holds his core research data is called S.H.I.E.L.D."
Pepper Potts, who had been quietly standing by with the coffee, gasped. "S.H.I.E.L.D.? I met an agent once. Agent Coulson. He said the acronym stood for something like... Homeland Strategic Defense, Attack, and Logistics Agency."
Stark's mind was racing, already calculating the structural data needed to analyze the city model. "Pepper, contact that Coulson character immediately. Tell him I need a meeting."
He took a shaky step toward Su Yi, his eyes burning with a desperate, singular focus. "Now, the crucial question. The third secret. Who killed my parents?"
Su Yi delivered the final, chilling truth. "The organization that ordered their deaths, and is still operating in the shadows today, is HYDRA."
Stark immediately commanded Jarvis to pull up every file on the ancient Nazi-affiliated terrorist group. He slammed his fist down, rattling a nearby circuit board. "HYDRA? That organization was dismantled decades ago! Are you making this up?"
"Dismantled? Or did they just melt into the shadows, waiting for the right opportunity?" Su Yi challenged. "Tony, they are deeply entrenched. They are your parents' murderers, and they are hiding in plain sight. They are massive."
A horrifying plan began to formulate in Stark's mind, driven by pure vengeance and the desire to erase his life's greatest regret.
"No problem," Stark declared, his voice hard as tungsten. "I will wipe them out. I will build an Iron Legion. I want my suits patrolling every nation, every major city. We will find every HYDRA operative on this planet and exterminate them."
Su Yi inhaled sharply. The Iron Legion? This is too fast! I can't have him accelerating the global surveillance state and Ultron's creation this aggressively!
"Tony, stop!" Su Yi interrupted, raising his hands. "I didn't tell you this so you could become a hyper-vigilant paranoid. You cannot take down an organization like that by yourself, even with a hundred Iron Men! If you strike too early, you'll only scatter them, driving them deeper underground."
He lowered his voice, delivering the necessary, stabilizing command. "You need to be patient. You need to wait for one specific person. When he appears, HYDRA will be forced out of the shadows, exposing their vast network. That is when you strike."
"Wait for whom? For how long?"
"Wait for a very specific soldier," Su Yi clarified. "It might be six months, it might be a year. But you must not reveal the HYDRA secret to anyone. I will give you the remaining clues when the time is right."
Stark, despite his rage, recognized the tactical logic. He hated waiting, but he hated failure—and the thought of his parents' killers escaping—more. "I will wait. But the Iron Legion is still happening. I will use that time to prepare."
The deal returned to the matter of payment.
"Right," Stark said, composing himself. "I will sign over the first 10% stake in the company immediately. For each of the three secrets that you successfully verify—the Obadiah betrayal, the New Element key, and the HYDRA revelation—I will transfer an additional 4% stake, totaling the agreed-upon 20%."
"Agreed," Su Yi confirmed. "But transferring a large chunk of shares to a complete unknown is messy. It will attract massive unwanted attention from the SEC and the board."
"Then what do you propose?" Stark challenged.
Su Yi locked eyes with Pepper Potts, who was still standing nearby. "I propose you transfer the initial 10% to Pepper. And for the rest of the shares, I want to trade them for her continued service. I want Pepper Potts to work for me."
Stark's protective instinct flared instantly. "No! Absolutely not! Pepper is not a commodity, and she is my CEO!"
"I'm not his merchandise, Tony," Pepper stated, offended but intrigued by the boldness.
"I may not have a company now, Tony, but I will," Su Yi countered. "I need a capable CEO to help me manage my incoming wealth and interests. And who is more capable, or more beautiful, than Miss Potts?"
"I'll hire you a suitable assistant! I'll hire you a hundred suitable assistants!" Stark insisted, blocking Pepper with his body.
Su Yi merely smiled. I have all the time in the world to poach her.
"Fine. For now, I'll accept the 10% stake in my own name," Su Yi conceded. "But know this, Tony: I am now a shareholder of Stark Industries. Pepper, you will be required to contact me regarding all major board meetings and shareholder votes. I intend to be an active owner."
Pepper, still slightly stunned, nodded professionally. "I... I will ensure you receive all necessary communications, Mr. Yi."
Su Yi retrieved the coffee mug, finished the drink, and set it down.
"Excellent. Then I believe our business is concluded for the evening, Tony." He gave a polite nod. "Good night, Miss Potts."
Before either of them could react or object to the sudden termination of the meeting, Su Yi teleported out of the underground lab, leaving behind only the echoing silence and two profoundly shaken people.
Su Yi has secured a 10% stake in Stark Industries and set the stage for Tony's future evolution and confrontation with HYDRA. The next step is to process the Fate Point rewards for this massive world-altering event.