The hospital corridor was eerily silent, its sterile walls echoing with Daniel's measured footsteps. Without turning, he spoke to Sunil Bakshi, his tone casual yet commanding:
"Arrange the manpower. I want ships ready—untraceable ones. If anything happens in Manhattan, you move immediately. Bring reinforcements and be prepared to clean up."
Bakshi hesitated. "Will there really be… an accident in Manhattan, Boss?"
Daniel stopped. His gaze lifted toward the ceiling as though his sight pierced through layers of concrete and steel, straight into the endless, star-flecked sky.
"Yes," he said softly. "You know me, Bakshi. People like us… we glimpse the threads of fate. I've seen countless possibilities. And in one of them, a massive rift will open above Manhattan from which monsters will come through."
Bakshi stiffened, his breath catching. But Daniel's expression darkened, and he cut himself off.
"That's enough for you to know. Just prepare. When the chaos comes, you'll be there to collect the spoils of war."
"...Spoils of war?" Bakshi echoed, confusion flickering in his eyes.
"You'll understand soon enough," Daniel murmured, already walking forward, his voice trailing behind like a shadow. "Just be ready."
He pushed open the heavy door to the underground lab. Inside, the air buzzed faintly, heavy with the hum of machinery. Dr. Spencer stood alone, working meticulously amidst three mechanical spider drones skittering across the floor. Each spider fetched tools and data tablets with precise, mechanical efficiency.
"Doctor," Daniel's voice broke the silence, "any progress on the super-intelligence project?"
Spencer's tired eyes lifted, adjusting to reality. "You're here." He sighed. "Honestly? Not much progress. I'm no AI expert. I can build basic intelligence systems with fixed routines, but I'm nowhere near Stark's level when it comes to true artificial intelligence."
Daniel's lips curved slightly. "Don't worry. Soon, you'll have the perfect prototype to study."
Spencer straightened, gesturing toward a row of alloy containment pods along the far wall. "Super-intelligence may still be out of reach, but the super robots? Those I've perfected. They can execute missions flawlessly under remote control—or operate independently with pre-programmed directives. They're far more advanced than Vanko's early models."
Daniel's eyes gleamed. "Good. Hammer Industries' tech hasn't gone to waste. But don't expand production yet. Improve their internal programming first. I don't want a single chance of them being hacked. The last thing we need is our ultimate weapon turning against us."
He didn't have to mention names like Ultron or Vision. Spencer might not understand the depth of those threats, but Daniel did. Any premature overproduction of robots would only serve someone else's game in the future.
"Understood," Spencer replied quickly.
"And the armor?" Daniel asked.
Spencer's gaze brightened. "The prototype is complete. Come see for yourself."
He walked to the central chamber, opening the pod with a hiss of pressurized air. Inside stood a gleaming suit of battle armor, bathed in cold silver light.
Daniel's breath hitched—just slightly. "My armor…"
It wasn't sleek like Stark's designs, but brutal and mechanical, closer to Ivan Vanko's crude, lethal style. Plates of overlapping scales covered the chest and back, twenty-four interlocking pieces designed for both flexibility and protection. The shoulders flared high like armored pauldrons.
But the centerpiece was unmistakable: a hollowed energy core in the chest, large enough to hold not just an arc reactor but his mjolnir, or any magical power source he chose.
"The main body is forged from Al-Zn-Mg-Cu super-strength aluminum alloy," Spencer explained. "Lightweight yet tough. I've used a minimal amount of gold-titanium alloy where critical. This keeps the costs manageable while retaining structural resilience."
Gold-titanium alloy, the backbone of Stark's suits, was heavily regulated. Even Hammer Industries couldn't get enough to build multiple suits. Daniel didn't care. This armor wasn't meant to mimic Stark's—it was built to amplify him.
Aluminum alloy had another advantage: exceptional conductivity. It would absorb his magic-charged lightning like a living conduit, turning him into a walking storm.
"This isn't armor," Daniel whispered, his eyes glinting. "It's a conduit for power."
His vision sharpened with possibilities. The armor would be inscribed with twenty-four runes, each meticulously carved with rare materials:
Strength and Speed Enhancement
Healing and Damage Transfer
Magic Affinity and Blessing
Elemental Channels: Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, Metal, Wind, and Wood
Flight, Invisibility, and Energy Absorption
Mental Shielding, Mind Control Resistance, Vision Enhancement
Energy Explosion and Dissociation
With Mjolnir in one hand and a reforged steel whip—derived from Whiplash's weapons—in the other, he would be unstoppable.
The thought made his lips curl into a predator's grin.
"Of course," Spencer continued, "this is just the foundation. Like Stark's evolution from the Mark I to the Bleeding Edge, this suit will need iteration."
Daniel nodded. "And it will evolve. But for now… this will do."
He planned to refine it, but time was short. The Chitauri invasion loomed, and he needed to be ready.
"By the way," Spencer added, "Hammer Industries tried to acquire vibranium through Ulysses Klaw, but his asking price is… insane. No agreement was reached."
"There's no rush," Daniel said with a dismissive smirk. "I have substitutes. As for Klaw… I'll handle him personally when the time comes. He's not as untouchable as he thinks—especially with children studying in New York."
Spencer hesitated. "And… about Arist. We've traced some leads, but Kingpin moved him before his arrest. It'll take more time."
"He's still in New York," Spencer added with quiet certainty. "He won't leave until Spider-Man is dealt with. Track Spider-Man, and you'll find him."
Daniel nodded once, his gaze falling back on the silver armor, glinting like a sleeping predator.
'This is just the beginning,' he thought.