Gawain looked at the glass of wine Tony was offering him, thanked him, and took a small sip.
Tony visibly relaxed.
“So… friends?”
“Friends?” Gawain repeated.
For a moment, something distant flickered in his expression.
“It has been many years since I last heard that word. If that is what you wish, then in gratitude for the information you have provided concerning the Nether Abyss Demon… yes. We may be friends.”
With that, Gawain extended his hand.
Tony’s eyes lit up, and he immediately reached out to shake it.
The instant their hands met, magical energy flowed from Gawain into Tony through their clasped hands.
Tony instinctively tried to pull away, only to discover that Gawain’s grip was as immovable as a steel vise.
Still, he wasn’t particularly worried.
He had already seen what Gawain could do.
If the knight actually wanted him dead, there would be no need for tricks.
He could simply draw his sword and cut Tony in half.
“This is a gift for a friend,” Gawain said.
“And my thanks for the information you provided. The magical energy I have placed within you will purify and stabilize your body, preventing certain harmful substances from taking root.”
Tony froze.
The symptoms of palladium poisoning had not yet begun to manifest, but he was more than aware that palladium was toxic.
“You’re telling me this can deal with the palladium poisoning?”
Disbelief entered his voice.
Of all the problems that desperately needed solving, he had never expected this one to simply… disappear into his lap.
“Permanently? No,” Gawain replied.
“Not unless you rid yourself of that device in your chest. Once the magical energy I have given you is exhausted, that substance will begin corroding your body again.”
He released Tony’s hand.
“That said, you should have little reason to concern yourself with it for the next several years. Unfortunately, I possess no expertise in medicine. I cannot remove the metal fragments lodged within your body.”
“That’s more than enough. Seriously, thank you.”
Tony seized Gawain’s hand again, this time of his own accord.
The grin on his face was impossible to hide.
A few years?
That was plenty.
Give Tony Stark several years and he was absolutely confident he could solve a little problem like palladium poisoning himself.
He was Tony Stark.
Genius.
“What do you wish to know, my friend?”
“Tony Stark. Just Tony.”
Tony settled back into his seat.
“And what do I call you? Also, why are you here? And what exactly was that thing?”
The barrage of questions actually seemed to stump Gawain.
Nearly a minute passed before he finally answered.
“You may call me Gawain.”
He set down his wine.
“I serve King Arthur, one of the Six High Councilors of the Ashen Council. I came here because of the appearance of the Nether Abyss Demon.”
Tony’s expression sharpened.
“As for where those creatures originate… that is not something I should discuss in detail.”
Gawain looked him directly in the eye.
“Believe me, Tony. Knowing too much would do you no favors.”
“You need only understand that the human world is facing an unprecedented crisis. The demons of the Nether Abyss represent but one part of that threat. They originate from a dimension entirely separate from our own.”
Tony stared at him in shock.
“Oh my God.”
He leaned back slowly.
“I’ve been alive this long and somehow nobody thought to mention any of this.”
His eyes narrowed with curiosity.
“So what exactly are the Ashen Council and the Nether Abyss?”
“After the Age of Gods came to an end, the King led us into a new world.”
Gawain paused.
“Though I call it a new world, we could clearly sense that it existed in dependence upon this one. And we were not alone there.”
His gaze grew distant.
“In fact, we were not even the first to arrive.”
Gawain took another sip of wine before continuing.
“It was within that world that we first encountered enemies who threatened all of human civilization.”
“They were powerful. Brutal. And countless.”
“After the King led us through several great battles against them, the mysterious Speaker of the Ashen Council sought us out.”
Tony remained silent now, listening intently.
“The Speaker persuaded the King. Afterward, the King led us in joining the Ashen Council so that we might stand together against the threats facing mankind.”
“According to the Speaker, that world is known as the Eight Desolations Realm.”
“The Ashen Council is not the only human organization within it. Likewise, the evil beings inhabiting the Eight Desolations Realm are far from united.”
Gawain’s expression grew more solemn.
“As for the Nether Abyss Demons, they do not originate from the Eight Desolations Realm at all.”
“They are invaders from an anomalous dimension.”
“According to the Ashen Council’s Divination Order, the appearance of the Nether Abyss Demons will mark only the beginning of the coming crisis.”
Tony remained silent for a long time.
Eventually, he swallowed.
“Holy shit…”
He had never imagined that beneath the seemingly ordinary surface of the world lay something like this.
[Emotion Points from Tony Stark: +240]
[Emotion Points from Nick Fury: +150]
[Emotion Points from Alexander Pierce: +60]
Gawain had discovered the listening devices hidden throughout the room long ago.
Evan simply hadn’t cared.
After all, to people like S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, information they had secretly overheard was always going to seem more credible than something deliberately handed to them.
“All right, Tony.”
Gawain stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“As your friend, I will offer you one piece of advice.”
His voice became serious.
“Seeking further answers will bring you no benefit.”
Gawain understood all too well just how much trouble Evan’s particular sense of humor was going to cause an anxiety ridden billionaire like Tony.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
At a S.H.I.E.L.D. base, Nick Fury’s expression shifted repeatedly as he processed everything he had just heard.
The self-proclaimed king of spies had always prided himself on knowing what mattered.
Now he was discovering just how much existed completely beyond his knowledge.
That sensation, that so many things lay outside his control, cut deeply into Fury.
Elsewhere, Alexander Pierce was experiencing much the same thing.
The high-ranking HYDRA leader hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D., and the driving force behind Project Insight, had never imagined that secrets of this magnitude might one day be dropped directly in front of him.
But the demon had been real.
And so was the power displayed by the man calling himself Gawain.
“Get me several experts on Celtic mythology and ancient history,” Fury ordered.
“Immediately.”
Elsewhere, Alexander Pierce issued almost the exact same command.
Legends had apparently begun stepping out of storybooks.
At that point, learning everything they could seemed like simple common sense.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Back inside Stark Tower, Tony sat with his brow tightly furrowed.
He wasn’t yet the Iron Man who would one day stand as a mortal among gods.
But something inside him had already begun to change.
People often said that growth could happen in a single moment.
For Tony Stark, this was one of those moments.
He had taken another enormous step toward becoming Iron Man.
“J.A.R.V.I.S., order another batch of materials.”
“Certainly, sir.”
“The best available. No compromises.”
“Understood, sir.”
With the future suddenly looking far more dangerous than he had ever imagined, Tony knew he needed to prepare early.
Better armor.
Better technology.
Only with both could he protect humanity against the threats Gawain had described.
Tony had made up his mind.
He would continue upgrading his armor.
Gawain watched him, his expression becoming more solemn.
He was bound by Evan’s orders and could not reveal Evan’s plans.
But that did not stop him from admiring Tony’s resolve.
“Since you have made your choice, it is time for me to depart.”
Gawain turned toward the windows.
“Still, I believe we shall meet again, Mr. Stark.”
Then he jumped straight off Stark Tower.
Tony’s pupils practically exploded.
“Okay—what the hell?!”
Gawain had completely ignored every normal method of leaving a building.
Not long after landing below, however, he found himself approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Elsewhere, Evan Mercer lounged on his couch and stretched lazily.
“Another nice haul of Emotion Points.”
He scratched his chin.
“Doesn’t seem like Iron Man 2 is that far off either.”
Then a mischievous smile crept across his face.
“But Tony when he’s actually motivated?”
“Ivan Vanko isn’t even remotely enough to give him trouble like that.”
Evan’s grin widened.
“Guess I’ll have to give Vanko a little upgrade…”