A cave in the Gobi Desert, Afghanistan.
Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.
The rhythmic sound of a hammer striking metal echoed frequently through the dim cavern. A mature-looking, middle-aged man with a distinctive mustache was sweating profusely as he continuously swung his tools, beating a piece of scrap metal into shape.
Next to him stood a half-bald, bespectacled man. He handed over a pair of pliers, his voice laced with anxiety. "Tony, we have too little time. I am afraid they won't give us the time we need to finish this."
"Then let's hurry up. Trust me, Yinsen," Tony Stark said, wiping sweat from his brow. He patted the glowing white circle visible through his thin shirt, exuding a sudden burst of confidence.
A month ago, Tony had traveled to Afghanistan to demonstrate Stark Industries' new high-end technology: the Jericho guided missile. On his way back, his convoy was ambushed by terrorists using his own weapons. Although he was lucky enough to survive the initial blast, shrapnel had pierced his chest, inching inexorably toward his heart.
With the help of his fellow captive, Yinsen, they had rigged an electromagnet powered by a car battery to attract the shrapnel and prevent it from entering his heart through his bloodstream.
Finally, inspired by Yinsen's words, Tony regained his focus. Working together in secret, the two geniuses had created a miniaturized Arc Reactor to replace the bulky car battery.
He should be thankful that these terrorists didn't have a tactical genius among their ranks, otherwise his plan would have been foiled immediately.
For a long time, they worked methodically, dismantling the provided missiles. In reality, they were secretly building a massive suit of armor right under the terrorists' noses—a mechanical behemoth that could break them out.
But even though the terrorists couldn't decipher what Tony was building through the grainy surveillance cameras, they still had their suspicions. The bald leader of the Ten Rings suddenly marched into the cave.
The bald man had explicitly ordered Tony to build a Jericho missile, intending to use it to conquer the region. But what he saw on the workbench didn't look like a missile at all.
The leader walked up to Tony, his face twisting viciously. "Why don't you listen to me?"
Yinsen hurriedly stepped forward to defuse the situation, explaining, "This weapon is very complicated. It takes time to assemble the—"
"Shut up!"
The bald leader gestured sharply. Two armed guards grabbed Yinsen, forcing him to his knees, while the leader grabbed a pair of hot tongs from the forge, intending to torture him for answers. "What the hell is this?"
Yinsen remained very calm. He didn't betray Tony's plan, simply repeating, "He is just building the Jericho missile as you asked."
"What do you want?!" Tony yelled nervously, stepping forward as the hot tongs approached Yinsen's face. "I need Yinsen to help me build this! Do you want me to give you a deadline?"
The bald man paused, the glowing iron inches from Yinsen's skin. He slowly let go, glaring at Tony viciously. "Tomorrow. I must have it by tomorrow, or else—"
"Don't wait for tomorrow. The new comics drop tomorrow."
Suddenly, a relaxed, completely out-of-place voice echoed through the tense cavern.
Everyone present turned toward the sound. In the middle of the empty air, a transparent, glowing pink doorframe materialized out of nowhere.
A young man pushed the door open and walked casually into the terrorist stronghold. He was dressed in comfortable street clothes, looking around the grim cave as if he were a tourist on vacation.
"Oh my God!?"
One of the terrorists stared with his eyes wide open, unable to control his exclamation. His entire worldview had just been shattered. Someone had literally opened a door in thin air and strolled inside?
Tony's mouth twitched. Despite the sheer absurdity of the situation, he forced a charming smile. "Hey. Are you sent by the military to save me?"
Since Tony had been ambushed on his way back from a high-profile military demonstration, he assumed the U.S. Armed Forces hadn't given up on finding him. This kid must be some kind of black-ops mutant deployed for a desperate rescue operation.
"Tony Stark, please be serious. I am not from the military," Light Inksworth said, adjusting his collar and pretending to be very serious. "I came all the way out here to talk about a corporate partnership."
"Who are you?!" The terrorist standing behind the bald leader snapped out of his shock and leveled his assault rifle directly at Light.
Although Light's entrance was incredibly peculiar, these were hardened insurgents armed with heavy firepower. They weren't going to simply surrender out of shock.
Light took two steps forward, ignoring the guns pointed at his head. He spoke calmly. "I advise you to put down your weapons and leave yourselves an exit strategy."
He turned his head back to Tony, completely dismissing the terrorists. "Think about it, Stark. As long as you agree to cooperate with me, I can take you out of here safely right now."
Yinsen frantically winked at Tony. The Mark I armor could be ready by tomorrow, but its actual combat effectiveness was a massive gamble. Now, there was someone offering a literal magical door out of the cave. It was a lifeline they desperately needed.
Tony processed the situation instantly. He looked at Yinsen, then back at the strange teenager. "As long as it doesn't violate my principles, I can promise to cooperate with you."
Tony didn't want to escape the wolf's den just to jump into a tiger's mouth. He would never allow himself to be forced into making weapons for someone else ever again.
"No problem at all," Light smiled.
"Shut up, all of you! This is my territory!" the bald leader yelled, absolutely furious. This newcomer had ignored him from the second he arrived, casually discussing business deals while surrounded by armed guards.
This was the domain of the Ten Rings!
The leader didn't say another word. He raised his rifle and opened fire, fully intending to turn Light into a bloody sieve.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Facing the hail of metal warheads, Light didn't want to test if his Toughness Level 2 would protect his clothes from getting shredded. He directly raised his hand and spoke with cold indifference.
"Hadō No. 31: Shakkahō."
A thick, concentrated blast of red spiritual flames gushed from his palm. The fire washed over the front of the cave, instantly engulfing the armed guards. The terrorists, including the bald leader, didn't even have time to scream before they were incinerated, turning to ash in a burst of frantic agony.
The metal bullets were vaporized mid-air, turning into droplets of molten silver that hit the ground with soft, sizzling hisses.
Yinsen and Tony stood frozen in absolute terror. They watched Light casually burn several heavily armed men to death with a single wave of his hand. As Light turned and walked toward them, both men unconsciously took a step back. It wasn't rational thought; it was the primal, instinctual fear of an apex predator.
But Tony was an incredibly proud man. He would never allow himself to appear timid. He immediately forced himself to stand upright, tilting his chin defiantly to show he hadn't been scared.
"I should remind you," Tony said, clearing his throat. "There are still dozens of armed men outside that tunnel."
Sure enough, the sound of the explosion had alerted the rest of the camp. The chaotic noise of shouting, running footsteps, and the racking of heavy machine guns echoed down the dark tunnel toward them.
"T-800," Light called out, clapping his hands.
A hulking, burly man wearing dark sunglasses stepped out of the pink Anywhere Door. He held a heavy assault rifle in each hand and carried a massive rotary machine gun strapped across his back.
Light had acquired the Terminator T-800 from the System Lottery, but because he primarily used it to flawlessly ink comic panels in his studio, the combat cyborg had basically been sitting in a corner gathering dust.
"Destroy them," Light ordered, pointing down the tunnel.
The T-800 nodded blankly, its face entirely devoid of emotion, and swaggered out toward the cave entrance.
"He is going to die!" Yinsen couldn't help but shout, trying to warn them. Walking out into the open against a heavily fortified camp was suicide. He'd be turned into a hornet's nest in seconds!
Tony frowned, his genius mind analyzing the situation. His eyes were fixed on the back of the T-800. The man's posture was too rigid. His expression was completely blank. 'That's not a human,' Tony realized. 'It moves like a machine.'
Da-Da-Da-Da-Da!
A deafening, continuous burst of heavy gunfire erupted from the tunnel. Yinsen couldn't bear to watch and turned his head away. Tony, however, poked his head around the corner, his eyes wide.
His pupils shrank to pinpricks. Tony was stunned by the absolute carnage. Several high-caliber bullets struck the T-800 directly in the chest and face, tearing away chunks of flesh to reveal the gleaming chrome endoskeleton beneath. But the T-800 didn't even flinch. It didn't fall.
It simply raised its dual rifles, standing perfectly still in the open, and fired back with mechanical, algorithmic precision, slaughtering the terrorists one by one.
After a minute of unilateral, systematic killing, the gunfire ceased. The T-800 strode back into the cave, its synthetic skin smoking and riddled with bullet holes, and stood silently beside Light.
"A robot," Tony said, his voice laced with absolute certainty. Having seen the endoskeleton, the conceptual designs for his own Iron Man armor began to rapidly refine themselves in his mind. The sheer, unstoppable power of the T-800 left a profound impact on the man who had just spent weeks trying to build a clunky suit out of scrap metal.
Tony turned to Light, his eyes burning with intense curiosity. "Who exactly are you? I've never heard of any defense contractor possessing robotics this advanced."
"And more importantly," Tony added, crossing his arms. "What kind of cooperation are we talking about?"
Light smiled cheerfully. He reached into his coat and tossed a glossy magazine to Tony.
"I want you to star in a promotional advertisement for my company. And I want you to mandate that all Stark Industries employees purchase our comic publications."
"An advertisement... for a comic magazine? You want me to promote comics right after a dramatic, life-or-death escape from a terrorist camp?"
"..."
Tony Stark was completely speechless for a solid ten seconds. Yinsen just sighed, muttering a prayer for Tony's sanity.
Tony wanted to outright refuse the absurd request, but then his eyes drifted to the smoking craters left by the Shakkahō blast, and then to the terrifying, bullet-riddled robot standing silently behind Light. Tony looked back at Light's smiling eyes and felt a sudden chill in his heart.
He didn't hesitate any longer.
"Deal," Tony declared confidently. "I will shoot this commercial. You have the word of the Chairman of Stark Industries, Tony Stark."
Since cooperation was the only way out, Tony threw his pride aside and extended his hand forward.
"Chairman of Marvel Entertainment, Light Inksworth," Light replied, shaking Tony's hand firmly.
Tony was genuinely surprised. He thought the comic book thing was just a bizarre joke or a code word for something else. "You're actually running a comics company?"
He couldn't even begin to fathom how absurd it was for the world's leading technology and weapons giant to officially partner with an indie comic publisher. It sounded like an elaborate April Fools' prank.
Light smiled, choosing not to elaborate. Partnering with Stark Industries wasn't a joke; it was a massive strategic play to elevate his comics into a global phenomenon.
He had already swallowed nearly 80% of the domestic American comic market, and the One Punch Man anime was set to broadcast online tomorrow. The animation would undoubtedly attract a massive youth demographic, but that wasn't enough. Uncle Andy was planning to expand into overseas markets to sell physical volumes globally.
When that happened, Light planned to print a massive, high-definition photo of Tony Stark on the cover of the magazines. 'Billionaire Genius Tony Stark Recommends This Comics After Surviving Terrorist Kidnapping!' The sheer publicity would break the internet. The sales would explode the moment Iron Man made his public debut.
It was all money. And more importantly, it was all Fan Value.
Once the Marvel Entertainment brand was established worldwide, having the backing of the Stark Industries conglomerate would open every door. Stark Industries didn't just make weapons; they had branches in clean energy, civil engineering, telecommunications, and more. They were deeply ingrained in the global infrastructure. By tying his comics to Stark, Light would make his stories an inescapable part of global culture.
Every single copy sold was a potential Sincere Fan.
"Alright, Tony," Light said, gesturing to the door. "Now, you have a choice. You can wait here for the military to actually find you, or you can come directly back to New York with me."
Light knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. and the U.S. military were already scouring the desert. If Tony just walked outside, he would be rescued by conventional forces within the day.
"Wait for rescue? Hell no," Tony scoffed, utterly fed up with the miserable cave. "I'm going straight back to New York! Yinsen, you're coming with me. I'm going to show you the high life in the city."
Yinsen was his savior. If he hadn't built that electromagnet, Tony would be dead.
However, Yinsen smiled warmly and shook his head, politely declining the offer. He wanted to return to his hometown. He hoped that Tony's survival would bring real change to the region.
"T-800, go back outside and secure the perimeter. Ensure Yinsen leaves the area safely," Light ordered. The Terminator nodded and marched out of the cave. Yinsen thanked them deeply and disappeared into the tunnel.
"Let's head back to New York," Light said.
Tony eagerly stepped through the pink Anywhere Door, overjoyed to be leaving the desert hellhole.
In the blink of an eye, the arid heat vanished, replaced by the cool, damp air of a small, shadowed alleyway in New York City.
"Hey, what is the scientific principle behind this door?" Tony immediately demanded, spinning around the moment he stepped through. His genius mind instantly slipped into 'scholar mode,' completely ignoring his own exhaustion.
He didn't even wait for Light to answer. "Is it utilizing spatial warping phase technology? I don't see any exposed structural components or a power source. The quantum folding matrix must be hidden within the frame..."
Tony knocked on the pink wood. "I have to say, your aesthetic taste is terrible. A device utilizing technology that surpasses everything currently known on Earth, and it's painted in a gaudy, lady's pink? It should be coated in a hot-rod red and gold alloy. I really can't stand looking at it."
"Stop talking," Light sighed, rolling his eyes. He had been expecting this. The Anywhere Door came from the System exactly like this. He couldn't manually repaint it; the aesthetic was tied to its conceptual reality as a cartoon item.
Even Alice didn't fully understand the physics behind how the door functioned. Light knew that if he let Tony examine it, the billionaire would undoubtedly try to dismantle it to figure out how to replicate the Space Stone's effects.
"Well, Tony, you're officially back in New York," Light said, gesturing toward the neon lights at the end of the alley. "Right outside is a rather hungry red-light district."
Light waved his hand, and the Anywhere Door vanished into thin air, returning to his Warehouse. He grabbed Tony by the shoulder, half-guiding and half-pushing the exhausted billionaire out of the alley and onto the brightly lit, bustling street.
Tony stumbled, his mind still entirely focused on the magical door. "Wait! You still have a subordinate back in the desert! How is he going to get back if you dismiss the door?"
Tony's eyes widened as he processed what he had just seen. Light hadn't just closed the door; he had folded the entire frame into a pocket dimension with a wave of his hand. It was incredible. Was it a localized spatial storage technology?!
"Don't worry about the Terminator, he has other tasks to complete," Light deflected.
"No, listen to me," Tony insisted, grabbing Light's sleeve. "Lend me that door for ten days to study. I'll pay you whatever rental fee you want."
"I'm not short on money," Light replied dryly.
"Okay, how about this? I'll shoot five more commercials for your company. I'll become your official global spokesperson!"
Light flatly rejected the offer. What good was Tony Stark as a permanent comic book spokesperson? One dramatic advertisement was enough for a viral marketing campaign. Having Iron Man constantly hawking comics would just look pathetic.
Ignoring Tony's relentless bargaining, Light gave him a final, hard shove forward. Tony, exhausted and distracted, stumbled awkwardly onto the crowded sidewalk.
"Ah! Hey! Watch it!"
Tony crashed directly into a woman standing on the corner.
The pedestrians nearby immediately turned to stare. Tony looked incredibly sloppy and rough—his clothes were dirty, his hair was matted, and he looked like a vagrant who had just crawled out of a slum.
Tony hurriedly tried to apologize, instinctively turning back to look for Light to back him up. But when he looked at the alleyway... it wasn't an alleyway. It was a solid brick wall.
"How is that possible?" Tony murmured in shock, rubbing his eyes. He had obviously just walked out of an alley with Light! How did an entire alleyway disappear in the blink of an eye?
"Wait... is that Tony Stark?!"
One of the onlookers finally recognized the billionaire beneath the grime and shouted in disbelief.
The next moment, the entire street erupted into absolute chaos. The crowd swarmed toward Tony, pulling out flip-phones and screaming his name. But the most aggressive person in the mob was the woman he had just bumped into—a streetwalker working the red-light district.
She had just been groped by the missing billionaire Tony Stark! How could she miss the opportunity of a lifetime? She was going to demand a massive settlement, or failing that, demand he take her to a luxury hotel. Spending a night with Tony Stark right after his dramatic rescue would make her infamous across New York!
Surrounded by a mob of screaming civilians and aggressive opportunists, Tony frantically tried to run. He didn't have time to ponder the disappearing alleyway or the magical pink door. All he knew for certain was that his corporate partnership with Marvel Entertainment was very, very real, and he could find Light Inksworth later.
The Gobi Desert - S.H.I.E.L.D. Forward Operating Base
S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives and U.S. Military forces had been scouring the desert day and night. The senior agent leading the search operation was Clint Barton, Hawkeye.
As they were preparing to sweep the next grid sector, a priority transmission came through.
Tony Stark has been found. He is currently in New York City.
"Are you kidding me?!" Hawkeye yelled into his comms, absolutely exasperated. "We have practically turned this entire desert upside down looking for him!"
On the other end of the line, Agent Coulson sounded highly perplexed. "He was located in a red-light district in Manhattan. He looks incredibly battered and exhausted, and he has a minor head wound, but he is otherwise alive."
Hawkeye rubbed his temples, furious. "Maybe the rich bastard just wanted to 'experience life' in a cave before going back to partying."
He had spent weeks eating sand and sweating in the desert, only to find out the target had somehow bypassed their detection.
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Word count: 3298
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