On the lawn outside Xavier's School, the patch of turf Tony had torn up earlier had already been restored.
At a glance, there was no sign at all that the place had been a complete mess just moments ago.
"Tony, are you really planning to take revenge by yourself?"
Watching Tony effortlessly haul the heavy Mark III upright from the ground, Fenris asked with visible concern.
"James Barnes took the new generation of Super-Soldier Serum Mr. Stark developed from his car back then."
"If that serum has already been cracked, then odds are you'll be facing several super soldiers at once. Maybe more."
When Tony had first woken up, his emotions had been running so high that he had wanted Fenris to help him get revenge.
But once his reason returned, his old pride and stubbornness came roaring back with it. He stopped mentioning it entirely and insisted on avenging himself through his own strength alone.
"It's okay, Fenris. Trust me."
At Fenris's attempt to talk him out of it, a warmth rose in Tony's chest. "You, Yinsen, and even Magneto... so many people dragged me back out of hell. How could I not value my own life?"
"I used to have everything, and still have nothing. But now, at the very least, I have you as a friend."
Tony smiled faintly. He stepped in front of Fenris and gave him a light hug. "Don't worry. I'm not an ordinary person anymore either. They won't be able to do anything to me."
"Don't do anything reckless. If you run into something you can't handle, call me immediately."
Even looking at Tony's confidence, Fenris still could not help worrying.
Even if their physical abilities were roughly on the same level, Tony and those Winter Soldiers who had gone through hellish combat training could not possibly bring out the same level of actual fighting strength.
And the Mark armor still was not fully mature. If Tony tried to take on those battle-hardened, highly experienced super soldiers alone, and his anger got the better of him and he decided to fight them in close combat with the suit on, the danger of that was almost impossible to overstate.
"Fenris, do I really look to you like the kind of idiot who doesn't know how to call for backup when he's losing?"
Tony thumped a hand against his chest and, for once, made a joke. "I'm a genius. What is there that even I can't do?"
"Don't worry. I'll investigate slowly, patiently, one step at a time, until the day I drag them all out into the light and wipe them out in one strike."
Tony braced the heavy Mark III with one hand and extended the other toward Fenris in invitation.
"Mr. Fenris Etherreal, a revolutionary invention is about to appear before your eyes. Would you be interested in sparing just a little bit of time to witness this historic moment with me, and help open a brand-new era?"
"This is the key to the future passed down through the Stark family. And if my best friend isn't there beside me to share in the joy of success, then that would be a little too dull."
Seeing the anticipation buried deep in Tony's eyes, Fenris smiled in understanding and clasped his hand firmly.
"Let's go. I definitely want to see how a super genius like you plans to change the world."
As tiny prismatic lights began rippling across the space in front of them, the two vanished from where they stood in the very next instant.
...
At the same time, inside the Triskelion, SHIELD Headquarters.
Bang!
A thick stack of files slammed heavily onto the desk with a dull thud.
"Something showed up out of nowhere in the Middle East recently. No one even knows what it is, and it's been systematically destroying terrorist weapons depots."
"It's been this long, and we still don't even know who's behind it."
Nick Fury stared at Sitwell without blinking. His voice was calm, but anyone could hear the anger simmering beneath it.
"If one day that thing turns its attacks on civilians and we still don't know what the hell it is, what do you think the clowns at the CIA and FBI are going to say about us?"
"Director, this doesn't appear to be a superhuman incident. It's not even within SHIELD's scope of responsibility. Even the military said it's probably just a new type of unmanned aircraft."
"There's no reason for us to get involved in this at all. So if you ask me..."
Looking at Nick Fury's face, dark as the bottom of a pot, Sitwell lowered his head and sighed helplessly.
Not long ago, Sitwell, who had always worked diligently inside SHIELD, had suddenly been handed several unusually difficult assignments for no obvious reason.
Normally, there was no way tasks like those would ever have landed on his desk.
At first, he had assumed his Hydra identity had been exposed, and he had even prepared himself for the worst.
But the very next day, former SHIELD director and senior Hydra leader Alexander Pierce had easily learned from an entirely unsuspecting Nick Fury that Sitwell had been given those assignments because Fury had taken notice of him and was actually considering promoting him.
If he could prove his ability in front of Nick Fury, then advancing through SHIELD would become much, much easier.
And the higher his position rose within SHIELD, the more value he would carry within Hydra as well.
On top of that, Alexander Pierce was perfectly happy to see one of his subordinates moving up in the world, so after using a few small methods, the difficult missions that ordinary SHIELD agents could not complete easily were naturally wrapped up successfully by Sitwell.
Sure enough, after he met Nick Fury's expectations, Sitwell's promotion speed entered an unprecedented surge. His clearance level jumped by two full ranks in a short span, which left him ecstatic.
But just as he rolled up his sleeves, ready to do something big, he realized things were not nearly as wonderful as he had imagined.
Because of the exceptional ability he had displayed before, more and more difficult missions were now being dropped directly onto his shoulders.
For the sake of his advancement, he sometimes had no choice but to cautiously lean on Hydra's resources.
Fortunately, Nick Fury had not let all his effort go unrewarded. Caught in that strange torment of pain and satisfaction, Sitwell's rise had only continued accelerating.
"Sitwell, I thought you were one of the rare capable people around here. What I didn't expect was that you'd actually believe that garbage about it being some kind of aircraft."
"You tell me. What kind of unmanned aircraft can precisely blow that many weapons depots sky-high in such a short amount of time? What kind of aircraft has that kind of endurance?"
"I promoted you because you're smart, capable, and loyal. But your performance this time has been disappointing."
Fury let out a sigh. "That's enough. You can go."
Hearing the deep disappointment and frustration in Fury's voice, Sitwell, who had been lost in thought, suddenly jolted.
"Director, actually... I do have one other piece of intelligence. The only problem is that its reliability hasn't been confirmed."
Sitwell gritted his teeth.
Using a little intelligence for the sake of his own advancement... Hydra would understand, right?
"Oh?"
Nick Fury's eyes lit up. He had sharply caught the flash of hesitation that crossed Sitwell's face.
He had only bluffed a little, and he had actually gotten something out of him?
(End of Chapter)
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