Malibu, Tony Stark's Mansion.After a short break, Coulson changed into fresh clothes and arrived at Tony's house to continue his unfinished task—monitoring Tony and uncovering his father's secrets.
"When this is all over, I think I'll apply for a vacation," he muttered.
But when Coulson walked in, he found that Tony's house looked even more dilapidated than before. Construction debris was scattered everywhere, and various lab equipment and props were lying around chaotically.
The whole house looked like it was about to be demolished. There was even a hole in the middle of the living room that led straight to the basement.
If Coulson hadn't been told by his colleagues that no one but Tony had come by in recent days, he would've thought Tony had gotten into another fight at home.
Hearing noise from the basement, Coulson figured that's where Tony was—doing who-knows-what. Sure enough, when Coulson entered the basement, he saw Tony assembling some unidentifiable contraption.
He casually entered the basement using Tony's passcode.Apparently, everyone who visits Tony knows the code.
"I heard you weren't home the last couple of days?"
"That's ancient history, right? Where'd you go?"
Tony, in the middle of his work, looked up when he heard someone enter. Upon seeing it was Coulson, he simply continued his task.
"Had some stuff to take care of."
"Really? What a coincidence—I did too. And I cracked this."
After completing a component, Tony pulled out a level to measure the angle and ensure everything was perfectly aligned—because the next part of his experiment couldn't afford any mistakes.
But after checking the setup, he found it slightly misaligned. While continuing his conversation with Coulson, Tony searched for something suitable to prop it up.
Looking around, he spotted a shield-like object in the box beside Coulson.
"Hey Coulson, could you pass me that thing over there?"He pointed to a partially finished shield in the box.
"What is this? And why is it here?"
Coulson followed Tony's gaze and picked up what looked like a prototype of Captain America's shield.
As a die-hard Cap fan, Coulson had seen records of this shield back at S.H.I.E.L.D. It was a highly coveted collector's item among fans.
"Yeah, that's the one. Hand it over."
"Do you even know what this is?"Seeing Tony so serious, Coulson couldn't help but wonder if there was a secret behind it.
"Something useful."Tony took the shield, wiped off the dust, and used it to prop up a mysterious pipe.
Coulson stared at the scene, speechless for a moment.He figured: Well, it's not the original anyway. Sure, it has some collector value… but hey, Tony's rich.
Tony lifted the pipe again and checked with his level."Perfect!"
With the setup done, Tony's expression suddenly shifted. He turned to Coulson and said sternly:
"I'm about to be very busy. Do you need anything?"
Translation: If you've got business, speak. If not, leave.
Coulson smiled and said:"You mentioned you cracked your father's code?"
Tony just kept staring at him.
"Got it. I'll wait for you upstairs. Hurry—we need you."
Seeing that Tony wasn't willing to talk yet, the ever-practical Coulson decided to give him space and left the basement.
"I know you need me."
As Coulson reached the door, he heard Tony's voice and looked back.
"That's not true," he replied.
"Ha."That was Tony's only response.
After leaving the basement, Coulson found a fairly intact guest room upstairs and decided to take a short rest. Even for a seasoned agent like him, the past few days had been exhausting.
First, there was Thor from myth.Then, the Frost Giants attacked.And then Clark—Superman—blew up a lake on his own.
Each of those events could've been a story in its own right.But Coulson had experienced all of them back-to-back.
Still, he had a job to do. The mission was his, and under Fury's orders, he needed to keep an eye on Tony and wait for him to discover the new element from his father's message—otherwise, he couldn't return to regular work.
Queens, New York.
"Ivan, I hope you've got good news. The Stark Expo is tonight. Don't disappoint me."
After finishing the weapons install on Rhodey's Patriot tank suit, the sharply dressed Justin Hammer arrived at his armory with four bodyguards to check on Ivan Vanko.
He was in a great mood today—even without Tony Stark or Ivan Vanko—because he finally had his own Iron Soldiers.
Still, Justin Hammer thought: if Ivan's soldiers could also appear at the expo alongside Rhodey's suit, his booth would definitely steal the show.
Of course, if Ivan tried to stall and say his robots weren't ready, Justin wasn't going to tolerate that.
"Of course. Everything's ready."Ivan gestured to the three robots beside him."Land, sea, and air models—more than enough to crush Stark."
"Excellent. Get ready—you're coming to the Expo with me later."
Thrilled, Hammer planned to bring Ivan to the Stark Expo. As the designer of the Iron Soldiers, having Ivan on stage would be a PR goldmine.
"No thanks. I'm tired today. I'll pass."
Of course Ivan had no intention of going with Hammer.He had far more important plans for tonight.As far as the expo was concerned, sending the robots would be enough.
"Alright, rest up. You might even catch me on TV later."
Hammer didn't press the issue. He was in a great mood. Sure, Ivan would've been a bonus, but he wasn't about to let Ivan steal the spotlight.
Still, just in case, Hammer pointed to the two bodyguards behind him and said:
"I'll leave these two guys with you. Make sure no one bothers our brilliant scientist."
Although those words were meant for the guards, Ivan knew the real message—don't try anything funny.
Ivan gave a wry smile.It wasn't time to turn against Justin Hammer just yet—he still needed him to get the Iron Soldiers to the Expo.
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