"Click—Hiss—"
The heavy armored hatch on the exterior of the mothership slowly opened.
Following the coordinates sent by Fury, Tony Stark finally landed on the massive flying fortress.
Tony, who had already removed his gold and red suit, walked into the bridge with confident strides, wearing an expensive black printed T-shirt.
However, his appearance, instead of easing the already tense atmosphere, made the air even more awkward.
Tony's gaze swept across the round table, first spotting the old U.S. cadre.
His steps paused imperceptibly, and the expression on his face instantly became somewhat complicated.
...Captain." Tony gave Steve a perfunctory nod.
"Stark."
Steve also turned around, responding politely but with a hint of scrutiny.
The history between Tony and Steve was simply too deep.
Ever since Tony could remember, Captain America had always been spoken of by his father, Howard Stark.
He was that 'child from another family' who was always brilliant, always perfect.
Furthermore, Tony had not only lacked maternal love since childhood but also severely lacked paternal love.
This made Tony subconsciously feel extremely annoyed and repulsed by Steve, his 'imaginary enemy'.
After exchanging this extremely dry greeting, Tony immediately shifted his gaze.
As he looked around, he saw Reze, who seemed out of place in the serious, old-timer-filled setting. She was sprawled on the S.H.I.E.L.D. round table, idly toying with the collar ring around her neck with her fair fingers.
Seemingly sensing his gaze, Reze lazily lifted her head.
Their eyes met.
The air, in that instant, seemed to completely freeze...
It got even more awkward...
From Tony's perspective.
He had personally chosen a Christmas gift for this 'cheap daughter,' and had even, for the first time, included a awkwardly worded but sincere letter.
Yes, the two million dollars wasn't meant as a gift to impress with money; it was Tony's subtle gesture.
Tony wanted to prove to Reze that he didn't resent her or hold any prejudice against her because of that money.
But what was the result? Months passed, like a stone sinking into the sea, with no response to this day!
The esteemed head of Stark Industries, the handsome and dashing Iron Man, offered goodwill only to be ignored by an underage girl.
This was only Reze; if it had been anyone else who dared to slight Tony like that, he would have already lost his temper.
Now, suddenly encountering her on this mothership ten thousand meters in the sky.
The shame of being 'read but not replied to' and then meeting in person immediately made Tony's toes curl frantically inside his handmade leather shoes.
That was more than a little awkward.
He shifted his gaze, looking past Reze, wanting to temporarily escape the awkwardness.
Finally, Tony's eyes fell on Makima, on the other side of the round table.
For Tony at this moment, Makima's appearance was a lifesaver.
He almost sighed in relief, taking two steps at a time to approach her.
"Miss Makima, it's good to see you again. Are your injuries better? Any lingering after-effects?"
Tony naturally entered small-talk mode, covering his mouth with the back of his hand and whispering, "Honestly, I'm actually a good man who respects elders and cherishes the young, but the old and young in this room are a bit off... you're the only one who's somewhat normal."
Makima tilted her head slightly, responding with that pleasant, refreshing tone of hers.
Her innate charisma, in just a few words, completely soothed Tony's nerves, which had been taut from the awkwardness.
As a result of Makima's'soothing,' Tony's inherent hyperactivity was reactivated.
He turned around, completely abandoning the previous awkwardness, and walked directly towards Dr. Banner, who was working at the console.
"Dr. Bruce Banner." Tony extended his hand, his eyes shimmering with the unique camaraderie shared by scientists. "Your research in anti-electron collision is simply unparalleled, and of course, I'm also a huge fan of your big green guy."
"Uh... thank you." Banner shook his hand somewhat awkwardly, but facing Tony, who was also a top genius, he clearly relaxed a lot, even making a rare joke, "But I'm trying not to get angry now."
After the two chatted about technical terms like kindred spirits, Tony's restless energy began to act up again.
Like a curious child, he wandered over to Nick Fury's central command console, poking at a holographic projection one moment and touching buttons on the control panel the next.
He kept muttering, "God, Fury only has one eye, how does he see the left screen?"
Hmm... good question...
Hill silently chimed in, "He has to turn around..."
"That must be tiring... he'd be perfect for playing Batman..."
He stood at the command console, then looked up, surveying the busy S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents around him, as if he were the pirate Captain of this 'great ship': "All hands, listen to my command, raise the mizzenmast, turn the topsails."
The S.H.I.E.L.D. employees below were momentarily stunned by his commands.
However, as veteran S.H.I.E.L.D. employees, they were accustomed to Tony Stark's eccentric personality and simply ignored him.
Feeling deflated, Tony suddenly discovered something new, pointing at an operator in the lower left and loudly complaining, "Hey! That guy's playing 'Galaga'! He thinks no one can see him, but I did."
Hearing this, Steve, who was sitting not far away, suddenly turned his head, looking around nervously, then asked earnestly, "Is someone keeping bees here?"
This preserved zombie meat from the 1940s clearly had no idea what video games were.
Watching Tony rummage through his command console and, in just a few words, expose his mysterious, pretentious image, Fury's dark face immediately stretched long, his eyes full of exasperation, but he really couldn't do anything about this technological genius.
Meanwhile, to prevent awkwardness, Coulson found an excuse to pull Steve away...
Steve remained aloof and restrained, but he also felt that he had made Coulson too awkward on the plane earlier.
He looked around and took the initiative to break the silence: "Agent Coulson, regarding the set of cards Agent Natasha mentioned..."
Makima, who had been standing nearby, timely pulled out an exquisite fountain pen from her uniform jacket pocket and handed it to Steve:
"I think you'll need this, Captain."
"Thank you." Steve took the pen, nodding gratefully at Makima.
On the opposite side, Coulson was so excited that he could barely breathe.
With trembling hands, he pulled out the set of vintage collector cards, slightly yellowed at the edges, which he cherished as treasures, from his inner pocket.
He respectfully handed them to Steve.
Su Modie remembered this plot very clearly.
According to normal development, before Coulson could get the autograph, the alarm detecting Loki's actions would definitely sound, interrupting everything!
Su Modie, Reze, and Makima held their breath, waiting for the piercing alarm to ring.
One second... two seconds... three seconds...
Nothing happened.
Swish swish swish—
Accompanied by the sound of the pen tip scratching against the paper, Steve carefully signed his name on the card.
Su Modie was slightly startled.
That's not right, why did you actually sign it?
It seemed that due to Su Modie's intervention, many things had changed unexpectedly.
A sense of incongruity welled up in Su Modie's heart.
She looked at Tony, who was chatting animatedly with Banner, and suddenly realized something.
Could it be that because Hawkeye wasn't mind-controlled by Loki, Loki changed or postponed his plan to steal iridium in Germany?
Something's not right... nine out of ten things are off...
In a way, this also seemed to be a butterfly effect.
Su Modie, too, is a butterfly...
Ãdvåñçé çhàptêr àvàilàble óñ pàtreøn luffy1898