"Thank you for your valuable input," Jarvis's smooth voice began, only to be interrupted by Stark's own.
"Hey, Austin. What've you been up to? What brings you to calling me?"
"I heard about Happy. Is he okay?" Li Ming asked with concern. "Need any help?"
"Happy's fine now," Stark replied after a brief pause. "Actually, there is something I need from you. Come to my place—we'll talk there. I'm at 10880 Malibu Seaview Villa."
Li Ming nodded, gripping the phone as he opened another Teleportation Door. Stepping through into Stark's workshop, he smirked at the eye-rolling genius. "Heard you've been having a blast lately."
Assuming Li Ming was referring to his public feud with the Mandarin, Stark rubbed his nose and shrugged. "Wasn't my fault. That 'Mandarin' guy started it.""Uh..." Li Ming scratched his head and interrupted, "I was referring to you building an Armor Legion at home, which has seriously irritated Fury's fragile little heart." Pausing, Li Ming asked curiously, "From what I gathered from Jarvis, you built the Armor Suits for me? Why? Did I offend you?"
Stark's face stiffened. He turned to grab a bottle of liquor and poured two glasses full, shrugging as he said, "Don't listen to Jarvis's nonsense."
Li Ming took the glass, downed it in one gulp, and then poured himself another drink. "Buddy, compared to you, I trust Jarvis's words more."
Jarvis's voice immediately echoed in the room, "Thank you for your trust."
"See?" Li Ming winked at Stark. "Even Jarvis can tell you're lying."
"Jarvis, you're my personal assistant," Stark snapped at a device in the corner of the room before turning back to Li Ming, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alright, fine. The truth is, you scared me when you threatened New York with that nuke before."
Stark stared at Li Ming, his expression serious. "Others might not see what you're thinking, but Jarvis analyzed that you had over a 90% chance of detonating that nuke at the time. Tell me, what were you thinking? Did you really not care about the lives of New York's citizens?"
Great. So the incident where you carried a nuke to blow up the Chitauri and developed anxiety is gone, but now it's replaced with watching me nuke New York and developing anxiety instead? Stark, you're hopeless.
Li Ming shook his head slightly, firmly denying it. "No way. No matter how much I mess around, I wouldn't dare cause trouble in New York. There are big shots here I can't afford to provoke."
"Ancient One," Stark took a sip of his drink, looking as if he'd already guessed it. "Because the Ancient One stopped you. But what if she hadn't shown up? What would you have done?"
"What could I have done?" Li Ming slumped his shoulders in defeat. "New York is the Ancient One's turf. I wouldn't dare blow it up. Believe me, one second before that nuke detonated, she'd have hung me on it to dry."
Seeing Stark still half-convinced, Li Ming adopted an 'I-don't-care-if-you-believe-me' expression and said, "Let's drop this. Tell me, how much do you know about the 'Mandarin'? Need my help?"
Stark froze, taking a deep breath to calm his agitation. "There aren't many people I'd call my friends. You're one of them."
Li Ming raised his glass in a silent toast—'my honor'—as Stark continued, "Happy is also my friend. But now this 'Mandarin' nearly killed Happy. This is a grudge I have to settle myself."
"This has nothing to do with politics or the Pentagon," Stark pointed at Li Ming. "And it's none of your business either. This is just old-fashioned revenge—a personal matter between him and me."Li Ming tilted his head in thought for a moment before shrugging and saying, "Alright, handle it yourself. If I'm not even allowed to watch from the sidelines, then why did you call me here?"
Stark awkwardly pinched the bridge of his nose and hesitantly replied, "I've already declared war on 'Mandarin.' I'm worried Potts might get caught in the crossfire, so I was hoping you could look after her for a few days."
At this point, Stark explained, "If the enemy uses explosives or bombs, I have plenty of ways to intercept them before they get near Potts. But after Happy woke up, he told me that people themselves can be the bombs. Unless I prevent anyone from approaching Potts, 'Mandarin' will likely use her to threaten me. I don't want Potts to suffer any harm."
Clearly, unlike in the movies where Stark stubbornly insisted he could protect Potts himself, Happy's early awakening this time provided Stark with more intel. He realized Potts would only face greater danger by staying with him.
Li Ming had no reason to refuse Stark's small request and immediately nodded. "Sure, just have Potts move into the cabin. You know my place has a bunch of soldiers guarding it now—security won't be an issue."
As Stark smiled and said 'thanks,' Jarvis suddenly chimed in, "Sir, there's a woman at the door asking for you."
Stark quickly glanced at the surveillance screen and, without hesitation, suited up in his Armor Suit and headed for the entrance. Li Ming, meanwhile, casually picked up a bottle of wine, took a sip, and leisurely followed behind Stark.
Moments later, Stark reached the door and let the knocking woman inside, instructing Jarvis to scan her for weapons and check if she was a human bomb. In truth, before Jarvis even finished the scan, Stark had already recognized the woman as Maya Hansen, a botanist he'd had a one-night stand with over a decade ago.
Given the awkward atmosphere, Stark couldn't exactly offer her a warm hug, so he deflected with a joke: "You're not 'Mandarin,' are you?"
Maya Hansen raised an eyebrow as Stark lifted his armor's faceplate and confidently added, "Probably not."
Assuming Stark genuinely didn't remember her, Maya diffused the awkwardness with a smile. "I'm not surprised you don't remember me."
"Don't take it personally," Stark cut in. "I don't even remember what I had for breakfast."
At that moment, the ever-loyal Jarvis interjected, "Sir, you had waffles."
Hearing Jarvis expose Stark's lie, Li Ming couldn't help but grin at the surveillance camera and praise, "Nice one, Jarvis. By the way, is Stark even wearing underwear today?"
Jarvis didn't answer immediately. Instead, he asked Stark, "Sir, should I keep that confidential?" Stark snapped irritably, "I'll say it again—you're my personal butler, not this guy's who likes peeking at people's underwear."
"Understood, sir," Jarvis said to Li Ming. "My apologies, Mr. Austin. Mr. Stark has prohibited me from answering questions about underwear."
"Can we not mention underwear?" Stark immediately pulled down the visor of his Armor Suit. Damn it, I can't show my face right now.
Li Ming was laughing so hard he could barely stand, leaning against the wall while clutching his stomach. He waved at Maya Hansen and said, "Hey there, beautiful."
Maya Hansen waved back, then turned to Stark. "I need to talk to you alone—it's urgent."
Stark quipped, "In the past, I wouldn't have refused. But now, I have an official girlfriend."
Before Stark could finish speaking, a suitcase suddenly landed at his feet. Stark looked up at Potts and said, "That's her."
Hearing someone talking to Stark in the hall, Potts hadn't even come downstairs yet, but her voice had already drifted into the hall.
"Tony, do we have guests at home?"
Stark was taking off his Armor Suit as he replied, "Yes, Austin is here, along with an old friend—a botanist, Ms. Maya Hansen."
As he spoke, Stark moved closer to Maya Hansen, glanced at the car by the door, and whispered, "Don't tell me there's a 12-year-old kid in that car I've never met before."
Maya Hansen raised an eyebrow flirtatiously. "Actually, he's 13."
Seeing Stark's stunned expression, Maya quickly added, "Just kidding. I need your help."
Stark whispered back, "Help with what?"
Maya glanced at Potts, who was coming downstairs, and said with some concern for Stark, "I read the papers. I know about you and the Mandarin. To be honest, you might not live past this week."
While Maya and Stark were talking, Li Ming waved at Potts with a smile. "Long time no see, beautiful."
"Hey, Austin," Potts said as she walked up to Li Ming, looking apologetic. "Tony and I should be hosting you properly, but he's gotten himself tangled up with terrorists again..." She glanced at the luggage on the floor and added, "Sorry."
Li Ming waved it off casually and grinned. "Actually, I came to pick you up. I should be the one hosting you."
Potts was taken aback, thinking Stark had finally listened to her advice and was planning to find a place to hide from the terrorist attacks.
There was no helping it—Stark was too flashy. He'd publicly announced his home address to the world when declaring war on the Mandarin. Now, who knew when the terrorists would come knocking?
Just as Potts sighed in relief, Li Ming suddenly turned his head toward the window, raising a shield to protect everyone in the room. "Stark, need me to step in?"
The moment Li Ming spoke, a missile shattered through the glass and struck the shield. The missile was then deflected straight back toward the helicopter outside.
Furious, Stark glared at the shattered floor-to-ceiling window as he suited up in his Armor Suit. "Austin, don't interfere! This is personal. Even if my house gets blown to bits, stay out of it. Worst case, I'll capture the Mandarin alive later and make him rebuild my house brick by brick with his bare hands—hammer and tools included!"
With that, Stark spread his arms, ready to fly up and tear the helicopter apart with his bare hands.
Too bad his Armor Suit hadn't loaded flight mode yet.
Stark awkwardly held his pose before sheepishly turning to Li Ming. "Buddy, mind stepping out for a sec? I don't want my suave moves to scare you." Li Ming rolled his eyes, cast a tracking spell on Stark, and then waved his hand to open a Teleportation Door. He took Potts and a bewildered Maya Hansen back to his lakeside home.