Chapter 55: The Extremis Virus, Tony's Desperate Call
The next morning, in the hotel room.
Lynn let out a long, satisfying stretch and slowly sat up in bed.
He padded into the bathroom, letting the hot water sluice over his body.
'Man,' he thought, 'administrative leave is the goddamn best. I can sleep in as late as I want.'
He looked at his reflection. 'I really need to find a new place. I can't just live in hotels forever.'
'When those bastards from the Hydra Council shot my last apartment to hell, why the hell didn't I demand they pay for damages?'
'Note to self: next time, don't let rage cloud my judgment. Get the money first, then kill them.'
He finished, got dressed, and headed out, planning to grab lunch and then go apartment hunting.
Thanks to that high-roller Tony, he had millions in the bank. More than enough to buy a nice place in Manhattan.
He'd just gotten to his car when his phone rang.
He picked it up. It was Tony Stark, and he sounded frantic. "Lynn! Do you have any of that magic potion? The kind that heals people, fast?"
Hearing the panic in Tony's voice, Lynn thought, 'Cha-ching.'
"Of course I do. You know, I'm the world's only Death Sorcerer. Doesn't matter how bad the injury is, as long as they're not dead, my potions can bring 'em back."
"The price, though... it's a bit steeper than the usual healing potion. The ingredients are incredibly rare…"
Before Lynn could even finish his sales pitch, his phone buzzed with a text alert.
He glanced at it. A wire transfer. One million dollars.
Lynn wanted to shout at the sky. 'Thank you, you crazy, rich bastard!'
"Lynn, I'm at my private hospital in Manhattan. I need you to get that potion over here. Now. It's an emergency."
"Ten minutes."
With the cash in hand, Lynn's customer service was, naturally, excellent.
He slammed his foot on the gas and tore across town.
When he got there, he found Tony and Pepper standing anxiously in the hospital corridor.
Pepper was trying to reason with Tony, but he was just shaking his head, his jaw set.
The second he saw Lynn, Tony rushed over. "Lynn, you're here. Thank god. Come with me."
"What happened?" Lynn asked, letting Tony basically drag him down the hall.
"It's Happy. He was tailing that guy, Killian. One of Killian's goons spotted him."
"And then... the guy just, I don't know, he mutated... he exploded. Happy almost died."
"He's in surgery right now. The doctors say even with the operation, he's only got a 60% chance."
Tony stopped and grabbed Lynn's arm, his eyes dead serious. "Lynn, Happy is my friend. Your magic potion... it'll save him, right? 100%?"
Before Lynn could answer, Pepper stepped in.
She gave Lynn a polite nod, then turned back to Tony. "Tony, we have to trust the doctors. Happy is my friend, too. I don't want him to get hurt."
"But we have to trust science. Not this... 'mystic potion.' My god, Tony, I just... I can't believe in that."
She looked at Lynn, her expression apologetic. "I'm sorry, Mr. Lynn. I don't mean any offense. I hope you understand. It's just... Happy is my friend, and I can't risk anything happening to him."
Lynn just shrugged. "I get it. It's like this one time in London, I sold a Youth Potion to this Countess."
"She didn't believe it could make her look twenty again, either. But after she tried it... well, let's just say she paid me a lot of money and asked for a permanent subscription."
'There was no goddamn Countess. He'd just remembered the Youth Potion from his LV1 recipes—useless to him, but...'
'It only lasted six months.'
'...for a woman like Pepper, this was more alluring than any cosmetic on earth.'
'Maybe I can make a killing off this, too.'
As he'd predicted, Pepper's eyes lit up.
She was still skeptical, though, and didn't press the issue.
But Tony looked at her, his voice pleading. "Pepper, please. Trust me. I've seen what Lynn can do. He can save Happy."
Just then, the surgeon came out. "Mr. Stark, we need a decision on Mr. Hogan's surgery. Now."
"His injuries are critical. If we wait any longer, the success rate is going to drop significantly."
"You don't need to," Tony said flatly.
He turned and led Lynn straight into the ICU.
Happy was on the bed, intubated, his body covered in severe blast trauma.
Tony looked at his friend, his face tight with pain, then looked at Lynn. "It's on you."
"No problem."
Lynn nodded. He walked over and pulled a vial of purple, glowing potion from his pocket.
He pulled the breathing tube from Happy's mouth and poured the potion in.
The surgeon standing nearby lunged forward, yelling, "What are you—" but Tony just threw an arm out, blocking him.
They all watched as the potion went down.
Within seconds... literally seconds... the horrific blast wounds on Happy's face began to visibly heal.
The skin stitched itself back together. The burns faded. His breathing, which had been ragged, evened out.
The vital signs monitor next to the bed began to beep steadily, the numbers climbing, stabilizing.
"My... my god."
The surgeon's jaw was on the floor.
Even Pepper, who had been terrified Tony was being scammed, was staring, her eyes wide.
She couldn't believe it. It was real. Happy's devastating, heartbreaking injuries... were just vanishing.
"Oh my god," she whispered. "That's... that's impossible."
Tony let out the breath he'd been holding and gave her a weak shrug. "See? Told you my friend wasn't a con artist."
He turned back to Lynn. "How long? How long until he wakes up?"
"He was hurt bad. Not just the outside, his internal organs took a major hit. But they're healing now."
"A few hours, tops. By the time he wakes up, he'll be fine."
Relief washed over Tony. He clenched his fists. "This isn't over. Not by a long shot. Extremis... I remember now. What that scientist, Maya, told me..."
----
HAND OVER YOUR GODDAMN INFINITY STONES!! 💎
Give my new original fanfic a shot, my dear readers.
You can find it on my profile or in the recommendation section below: Anime Crossover: Love Simulation System.