One week later, faced with a barrage of questions and cameras from the press, Tony finally said the words,
“I am Iron Man.”
Some of the questions also involved Gawain, but the knight hadn’t attended the press conference at all, and naturally Tony wasn’t about to talk about him.
Information concerning Gawain had also been suppressed by an invisible hand from the very beginning.
S.H.I.E.L.D.’s work, most likely.
While Tony was publicly announcing his identity as Iron Man, Ivan Vanko sat in a run-down apartment somewhere, clutching the body of his recently deceased father in grief and swearing vengeance against Iron Man.
Tony, of course, knew none of this.
The moment he returned home, he found a certain one eyed bald man waiting for him.
“Who are you, and why are you in my house?”
Gawain was sitting cross legged nearby, so Tony wasn’t particularly concerned about what the stranger might try.
He knew perfectly well what Gawain was capable of.
As for the possibility that they were working together?
Please.
King Arthur’s England hadn’t exactly been full of Black knights, and these two looked like they belonged in entirely different genres.
“You can call me Nick Fury. Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.”
Fury paused.
“Or S.H.I.E.L.D. That’s the new name we’re going with.”
Tony walked over to the couch, dropped into it, and crossed one leg over the other.
“So, Director of Whatever the Hell That Was, what exactly are you doing in my house?”
Pepper had already mentioned S.H.I.E.L.D. to Tony before, but Tony clearly hadn’t considered the organization particularly important.
“I knew your father, Howard Stark,” Fury said.
“In fact, he was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s founders.”
Tony’s expression changed.
“I also know about the problem you’re dealing with. Your father left something behind for you. Something that may be able to solve it.”
Tony’s eyes immediately hardened.
“You’ve been spying on me?”
Fury gave an unconcerned shake of his head.
“I prefer to call it protection.”
“Fuck that! Who asked for your protection?”
Tony shot to his feet.
For someone as proud as Tony Stark, discovering that he had been living under someone else’s surveillance was infuriating.
“Easy, Tony.”
Gawain, still sitting cross legged nearby, finally spoke.
“Hear what he has to say first.”
Tony’s Arc Reactor problem still hadn’t been properly resolved.
And there was obviously no convenient way for Gawain himself to provide Tony with the solution.
Fury approaching Tony this early had already deviated from the events Evan remembered from the movies, so Evan saw no problem with letting Tony solve his Arc Reactor issue ahead of schedule.
Tony took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
“All right, Director Fury. What exactly did my father leave me?”
“You’ll have to come and retrieve it yourself.”
Fury gave him a faint smile.
“It’s at S.H.I.E.L.D.” Find the original chapter at g.com.
Fury quietly breathed a little easier.
Solving Tony’s problem was merely a side benefit.
His actual reason for coming personally was Gawain.
More specifically, he wanted to test both Tony’s and Gawain’s reactions to the Avengers Initiative.
“As Sir Gawain has already said, the world is facing challenges unlike anything we’ve encountered before.”
Fury’s expression grew serious.
“I intend to establish the Avengers Initiative, bring exceptional individuals together so we’re prepared to face those threats.”
“I am a knight of King Arthur,” Gawain replied immediately.
“I will not join another organization.”
Fury had expected that answer.
His eye shifted toward Tony.
Tony remained silent for a moment.
Eventually, he chose not to commit.
The threats Gawain had described had given him a genuine sense of urgency, but Tony had no idea whether Fury’s proposed organization would eventually become another tool in the hands of politicians.
Seeing that neither man intended to agree immediately, Fury didn’t push.
The world needed heroes.
And Tony Stark was clearly a man with an extremely strong sense of responsibility, whatever else could be said about him.
While Evan watched Fury and Tony talk, he suddenly sensed something.
The Molten-Blood Seed was calling out to the Molten-Blood Demon.
Obadiah.
There was little need to guess.
Without hesitation, Evan deployed the Molten-Blood Demon and established a Sensory Link with it.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Ever since the Molten-Blood Demon had broken him out of prison, Obadiah had spent his time hiding from one place to another until he finally managed to slip back into New York.
It had taken considerable effort before he was able to make contact with Justin Hammer.
The moment the two met, Hammer immediately unleashed a barrage of mockery.
They had once been business rivals, after all.
Neither man had ever particularly liked the other.
But the sarcasm vanished the instant Obadiah demonstrated his supernatural power.
Justin Hammer kept an extremely close watch on everything involving Stark Industries.
Naturally, he knew exactly what had happened that night.
“So… you actually got your powers from a demon?”
Hammer stared at Obadiah in disbelief.
His eyes were filled with shock.
“I know you want to knock Tony off his pedestal,” Obadiah said.
“So do I.”
He smiled.
“I think we can work together.”
“What do you need?”
“I have power now. You have resources.”
Obadiah spread his hands.
“We need to create enough chaos to draw Tony, and that damned knight, out into the open.”
“But before that, we need more power.”
Hammer hesitated.
“So what do you want me to do?”
The oppressive aura radiating from Obadiah made a strange look flicker through Hammer’s eyes.
[Emotion Points from Justin Hammer: +20]
[Emotion Points from Justin Hammer’s Bodyguard: +1]
Obadiah noticed Hammer’s reaction, and the corners of his mouth rose.
Being able to openly display his power in front of others was intoxicating.
“We need some homeless people.”
Hammer stared at him.
Obadiah smiled.
“Demons always require sacrifices, don’t they?”
“Fine.”
Hammer immediately ordered his men to handle it.
New York had no shortage of homeless people.
And in Hammer’s view, if a few of them disappeared, the police probably wouldn’t even bother looking.
Before long, Obadiah and Justin Hammer arrived at a large underground warehouse.
Dozens of unconscious homeless people lay scattered across the floor.
Obadiah transformed into his Demonspawn form and grabbed one of them.
The man never even had a chance to scream.
In moments, his entire body was absorbed into Obadiah.
Feeling the increase in strength surging through him, Obadiah nodded in satisfaction.
Then he brought both hands together in front of his chest and began murmuring under his breath.
As the chant continued, the temperature inside the warehouse rose at a rate everyone could physically feel.
[Emotion Points from Justin Hammer: +30]
[Emotion Points from Justin Hammer’s Bodyguard: +2]
[Emotion Points from…]
Hammer and his bodyguards stared in utter disbelief.
For men raised in a culture heavily influenced by religion, what they were witnessing struck particularly deep.
Before long, a bubbling pool of magma appeared in the center of the underground warehouse.
Then a colossal figure slowly emerged from within it.
The Molten-Blood Demon.
“Oh my God…”
The bodyguards’ legs trembled.
One of them simply collapsed to his knees on the spot.
“Why have you summoned me?”
The Molten-Blood Demon’s deep voice rumbled through the warehouse.
Even as it spoke, it swept one hand through the air.
Every unconscious homeless person lying on the ground dissolved into streams of flesh and blood, which surged through the air and disappeared into the Molten-Blood Demon’s body.
Obadiah drew a deep breath before stepping forward.
“We need more power if we’re going to create the chaos you asked for.”
The Molten-Blood Demon gave a slow nod.
“Very well.”