The next morning.
Fox, Wesley, and the others were having breakfast while watching the TV mounted on the wall.
"Cole James Rudd—The Stark Industries Incident!" The official explanation of last night's events aired.
"According to unverified sources, a prototype robot malfunctioned, causing considerable damage."
"But our very own 'Superman' showed up and saved the day."
"Actually, this was all part of a top-secret movie production sponsored by Stark Industries, supposedly aiming to surpass DC's Superman series."
As the anchor and Colonel Rhodes spoke confidently on-screen, Fox bit into his sandwich without really paying attention. He was waiting for Smith Doyle to make an appearance.
---
John Wick drove Smith Doyle and Bulma to the press conference venue. Once they entered the backstage area, Smith saw Pepper Potts retouching Tony's makeup.
When Tony saw him, he said cheerfully,
"Smith! Haha, you made it."
Pepper gave an apologetic smile.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Smith shrugged and replied,
"The whole thing's gone viral on YouTube. Kinda hard not to show up."
He glanced over.
"Right, Agent Coulson?"
Coulson smiled politely.
"Just stick to the agreed script. We'll handle the rest and minimize any fallout."
Tony ignored that and picked up a newspaper.
"Smith, they're calling me Iron Man. Not a bad name, huh?"
"And you didn't do too bad either. They're calling you 'Our Own Superman.'"
"Someone even designed a custom super-suit for you. Take a look."
Tony held up a tablet, showing Smith an illustration. The cape wasn't Superman's usual style. Instead, it was an American flag draped like a cape, with a bold caption:
"We've got our own Superman!"
Smith's brain briefly short-circuited. The person who made this—did they come from Florida or something? This wasn't Superman.
This was Homelander.
What were they trying to get him to become?
"It's fan-made. What do you think?" Tony asked.
Smith didn't answer the question. Instead, he asked:
"Was the designer from Florida, by any chance?"
Tony, a bit surprised, ran a quick search.
"Yep. IP's from there."
Smith chuckled.
"Figures. Bold imagination."
Tony asked curiously,
"What, you don't like it?"
Smith gave him a crooked smile.
"I don't eat beef."
---
Bulma tilted her head.
"Brother Smith, you don't eat beef?"
Seeing the others confused, Smith didn't explain. He just smiled and said,
"Just messing with you."
Coulson walked over then and handed Tony a folder.
"This is your alibi, Tony."
"As for the robot, it's now a film prop. The movie is exclusively sponsored by Stark Industries."
"Alright."
Tony set down the newspaper but didn't reach for the file—Pepper took it for him and handed it over.
Coulson continued,
"You were on a yacht that night. The port authority confirms you stayed docked at Avalon Harbor the whole night, with over 50 guests to back it up."
Tony raised an eyebrow at the documents.
"Wouldn't it be simpler to just say it was me and Pepper alone on an island?"
Coulson deadpanned,
"We don't falsify records. Just stick to the script."
Tony arched a brow.
"No falsification? Seriously, Agent?"
Then something caught his eye.
"You didn't mention Obadiah?"
"We handled it. He's officially 'on vacation.' You know how unreliable small aircraft can be."
"But how's this movie ending gonna work? Are we really filming a 'Superman vs. Killer Robot' flick?"
"How about a buddy movie? Smith Doyle as Clark Kent, me as Bruce Wayne—we team up to save the world from…"
He paused dramatically.
"…the Iron Monger."
"What do you think of that idea?"
Coulson didn't answer the pitch directly.
"As long as you follow the official narrative, everything will be fine."
"You know this isn't our first time handling something like this."
He turned to Smith.
"Mr. Doyle, you've been invited to join this film project, playing a Superman-style character. To differentiate from DC's version, your powers include shooting laser waves from your hands—not laser eyes."
"What happened yesterday? All part of a movie shoot."
Smith nodded with a smile. His speaking slot came after Tony's, so Coulson's arrangements wouldn't matter by then. What he'd say—well, that depended on how he felt in the moment.
He turned to Bulma.
"I'm gonna plug our product during the conference. Sneak in a little ad."
"And I'll be introducing you, our genius girl scientist. You ready for that?"
Bulma didn't care much about the press conference. She just said,
"Got it, Brother Smith."
This little promo segment was one of the things Smith had negotiated with Coulson last night.
Coulson glanced at his watch.
"You'll have 90 seconds."
And with that, he turned and walked off.
As Coulson left, Pepper hurried after him.
"Agent Coulson, I truly appreciate everything you've done. Thank you, sincerely."
Coulson smiled.
"Just doing my job."
"There'll be more collaborations in the future."
Pepper hesitated, then asked,
"Your agency… National Homeland Strategic Defense… um…"
Coulson cut in with a smile,
"We're going by 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' now."
"Oh, that's a much better name."
Coulson chuckled and walked away.
Pepper turned back, grabbed the blazer off the couch, and said,
"Your turn, Tony."
Tony looked at the alibi notes and walked up.
"So faking it isn't that hard after all. Even if I still don't believe I'm Iron Man."
Pepper helped him put on his jacket.
"Of course, you're not Iron Man."
"I am."
"Fine. Whatever you say."