A month later, in the Ancient One's small courtyard.
Watching a portal slowly form, Lucas was overjoyed.
"Haha!"
"I did it! I did it!"
A portal opened in front of Lucas.
On this side of the portal was the Ancient One.
On the other side of the portal was also the Ancient One.
Time rewound to October 25, 2010.
(Note: This is Universe 404.)
In a humble room in Moscow, Russia.
Tony's press conference was being broadcast live on TV.
In front of the TV, a frail old man lay in bed and his son, Ivan Vanko, knelt before him.
"It should have been you on TV, living a luxurious life, adored by thousands. But I'm sorry. All I can give you is my knowledge. I'm sorry, son."
With those words, Anton Vanko passed away.
The man placed the flowers he held in front of a tombstone and mumbled, "I promise, I will make them pay."
After saying that, he turned and left.
...
A few months later.
During this period, Tony was in high spirits. He learned magic, removed the missile fragments from his chest, and solved the palladium poisoning problem.
At the hearing, he angrily confronted the senators and Justin Hammer.
He perfectly combined his armor with magic.
Tony, wearing Mark 4, opened a portal in front of him with a thought.
That's right, he had also learned to open portals with his mind. This way, he could use portal magic to assist in combat even while wearing his armor. And it definitely wasn't because of Lucas.
The armor flew towards the portal.
On the other side of the door was Tony's seaside villa in California.
A party was being held at the villa.
To celebrate… well, Tony didn't need a reason to celebrate to throw a party. He just needed to be happy.
Tony took off his suit and entered the party with a small dance.
"Hi, Lucas."
"Hi, Gwen."
Lucas and Gwen also attended the party.
Ever since he could travel between the two Universes with portals, Lucas had returned to Earth-404. From time to time, he would pick up Gwen and bring her to Earth-404 to visit George's family.
"Gwen, a dance?"
Seeing Tony bouncing around, Lucas was also moved, and he extended his hand to invite Gwen.
"I still prefer the drums." Gwen pointed to the musical instruments nearby.
"But if it's you, Lucas, I accept." Gwen took Lucas's hand, accepting the invitation.
The two danced gracefully, moving towards the center of the ballroom, attracting everyone's attention.
Gwen moved with the elegance and agility of a professional ballet dancer.
'Hmm? Someone's about to cause trouble.'
Sensing someone had snuck in, Lucas remained calm and continued dancing.
Upon closer inspection, the intruder's figure and appearance were perfectly clear.
Ivan Vanko?
The family feud between Vanko and Stark?
I hope you don't interrupt my dance, or it will become a personal feud between us.
Lucas had no intention of interfering in Tony and Ivan's fight.
Although Lucas was ruthless and rarely left anyone alive, he was a reasonable man, a civilized man.
This was a matter between Ivan and Tony. It had nothing to do with him.
Lucas had no standing to stop Ivan from seeking revenge. More importantly, Ivan couldn't beat Tony.
After the dance, Lucas pulled Gwen to a corner.
Facing Gwen's questioning gaze, Lucas explained, "There's a good show coming up, we just need to watch from here."
A good show?
Gwen's ears twitched, as if she heard something, and she asked, "Shouldn't we warn Tony?"
Lucas shook his head. "No need. It's a personal vendetta, we won't get involved."
Boom! Boom! Bang!
With several roars, the wall collapsed.
Ivan swaggered into the party hall, chest bared, with an air of utter disregard.
Bang!
A whip struck the ground with a resounding crash.
Ivan revealed a sinister grin, looking at Tony in the crowd.
"Oh."
Tony walked out with an exaggerated gait.
"My dear sir, what brings you to crash my party?"
Upon seeing Tony, Ivan, without a word, lashed out with a whip.
Tony, seeing this, dodged somewhat clumsily and mocked, "How rude, attacking without a single word."
Ivan walked towards Tony, swinging his whips.
Looking at the approaching Ivan, Tony was unconcerned and didn't feel any danger. He had already thought of a solution.
"Tony, be careful."
Pepper, who had just realized what was happening, quickly warned Tony.
Then she and Happy went to find weapons, hoping to help Tony.
"You've ruined my party, and I'm quite annoyed." Tony said, raising his right hand and snapping his fingers.
"Come down when you're ready to talk."
Two golden-yellow portals opened beneath Ivan's feet and above his head.
Loki personally endorsed this method.
Freefall, an experience you deserve.
"What!"
Ivan exclaimed, not understanding what had happened.
But he quickly reacted, swinging his whips, trying to grab the ground to stabilize himself.
Sizzle... Sizzle...
With a flash of electricity, the whips were cut in half by the edge of the portal.
"Oh, and this."
Another portal opened, and as Ivan free-fell past it, a mechanical arm reached out, precisely removing the miniature arc reactor from his chest. Then it delivered it to Tony.
Tony picked up the miniature arc reactor and examined it closely. "Pretty advanced technology. Though it still has some flaws, it's a decent imitation."
"I don't understand, you could make a lot of money with just a slight adjustment. Why attack me?"
As his voice faded, Tony shot out a burst of energy, supporting Ivan and slowing his descent slightly.
Then, he closed the portal.
Bang!
Ivan fell heavily to the ground.
After lying on the ground for a moment, he slowly struggled to his feet. "Stop your tricks. Put on your armor and fight me fairly."
Tony shrugged, "You've already lost."
He gestured to the broken whips and the miniature arc reactor in his hand.
Ivan was silent.
He had intended to crash Tony's party. In front of everyone, he would challenge him with his technology. As long as Tony suffered slightly, there would be an endless stream of people challenging him.
He hadn't expected this.
Ivan stubbornly said, "I haven't lost, my technology hasn't lost."
"Your technology?" Tony pointed to the reactor in his hand and laughed.
"Are you talking about this imitation?"
"This isn't an imitation." Ivan argued.
"Your Stark family are the thieves."
"Thieves, are you talking about yourself?" Tony held up the reactor in his hand as a gesture.
"Where did my blueprints get stolen from?"
"My father, Anton Vanko."
"Never heard of him."
Ivan raised his hand and pointed to Tony's chest. "You're not dead because of my father."
Tony asked, "What does that have to do with your father?"
"The Arc Reactor was co-developed by my father and Howard Stark. Without my father, you would have died in Afghanistan long ago. But palladium poisoning doesn't feel good, does it? Haha."
Ivan laughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
He slumped to the ground, giving up resistance. Clearly, that fall had injured him quite badly.
Tony did not respond.
In his youth, his relationship with his father was strained. He didn't know much about his father's affairs.
Who Anton Vanko was, and what his connection to the Stark family was, Tony needed to investigate all of this.
"First, transfer him to the police station."