Roger could now easily crush this suit of armor with either his telekinesis or sheer physical strength.
Stark’s armor had become nothing more than a decorative piece to him.
Perhaps he’d wear it for a thrill sometime in the future before putting it in a display case.
Roger looked down at his hands.
Pure strength was the only truly reliable security.
“I’m getting too obsessed. I need to relax,” Roger said with a chuckle, shaking his head.
He reached out and grabbed a bottle of red wine that flew toward him out of thin air, popped the cork, and began chugging it down.
“Mr. Roger, that’s…” Jarvis’s voice trailed off.
Roger sprawled out on another sofa, covering his face with a magazine featuring a cover girl, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
***
During the nine days Roger was away, General Johnson’s base welcomed a mysterious guest.
“Welcome, Mr. Killian,” Johnson said, embracing the man with unusual warmth, his joy and welcome plain to see.
The man named Killian leaned in and whispered into Johnson’s ear in a low, muffled voice, “Hail Hydra!”
Both men smiled in unison, their unspoken alliance now firmly sealed.
Killian, sharp in his suit, stepped aside to reveal a display case behind him.
Inside, videos of the Extremis Program were playing—currently in the animal testing phase.
The stunning results of limb regeneration left Johnson both shocked and deeply satisfied.
As they spoke, the grin on Johnson’s face threatened to split his cheeks.
Finally, they shook hands, bringing this clandestine deal to a close.
If Roger had seen this, he would have been utterly floored.
*Isn’t this guy the main villain from Iron Man 3?
What’s he doing here?
Has A.I.M. already teamed up with Hydra?*
Roger was none the wiser.
He was currently lying in Stark’s garage, listening to Tony Stark snore.
When the body is too exhausted, it unconsciously starts snoring during sleep.
Perhaps this is a way for the body to relax.
Looking at the breakfast spread filling the table before him, Roger hesitated over whether to wake him.
With a soft click, Pepper struggled to open the garage door while clutching a bundle of bamboo.
“Oh! Roger! You’re finally back! Where on earth did you get a giant panda from? Aren’t they protected animals back home?”
Roger raised a finger to his lips and shushed Pepper.
“Quiet, Tony’s not awake yet.”
After taking the bamboo from Pepper, she sat down and quietly watched the sleeping Tony, a maternal smile on her face.
“Tony… he seems like a completely different person. He’s turned down eighteen cover girl invitations this month alone.”
Roger smiled but said nothing.
Stark needed peace, and he needed this brief moment of leisure.
After sitting in silence for a while, Pepper suddenly stepped forward.
She saw Stark’s brow furrowed deeply, his face covered in sweat, as if he were trapped in a nightmare.
She wanted to comfort him, just as one would soothe a child.
Suddenly, Stark grabbed Pepper’s arm, his eyes snapping wide open as if he had just witnessed something horrific.
“Yinsen!” Stark shouted.
Pepper was startled at first but quickly recovered.
She gently pulled Tony into her arms, patting his back and continuously trying to calm him down.
“Pepper! What are you doing here?” Stark gasped, his breath coming in ragged gulps, but he slowly began to relax in her embrace.
Pepper looked at him with eyes as gentle as water.
“Did you have a nightmare, Tony? Or was it the kidnapping from last time?”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s all over now. Everything will be fine.”
Stark snuggled into Pepper’s chest, like a little baby in his mother’s arms.
“Ahem! Now that the baby’s awake, isn’t it time for a feeding?” Roger sat with his legs crossed, a knowing smile playing on his lips.
Startled, the two quickly sprang apart and began smoothing their clothes.
The sight of Roger ignited a sudden, inexplicable fury in Stark.
“Roger! You bastard! I—”
“I’ll eat breakfast before I swear you out!” Stark’s raised fist abruptly dropped, reaching instead for the steaming breakfast on the table.
While Tony was eating, Roger took out a Master Ball and handed it to Pepper.
“What’s this?” Pepper asked, her face filled with confusion.
“Press this button, then throw it. It’ll summon that Iron Boulder,” Roger explained the Poké Ball’s mechanics to Pepper, then urged her to try it out.
Stark, a bun still in his mouth, looked on in disbelief.
He was just about to swallow the bun and shout to stop her from doing something so foolish when Pepper threw the ball.
*Clang!*
The Poké Ball shot out a golden light, and Iron Boulder landed on its backside with a thud.
It rubbed its eyes with both paws, then tilted its head to look at the feast on the table.
Stark’s eyes went wide.
He recalled the nine days of panda-inflicted hell he’d endured.
“No! Get it away from me! Damn it, Pepper, put it back in the ball, now!…”
But Iron Boulder had already lumbered to the edge of the table.
It grabbed a palm-sized char siu bao with one paw and began devouring it.
As the food on the table rapidly vanished, Stark abandoned all pretense of dignity and started stuffing food into his own mouth like a madman.
Pepper watched the scene, utterly bewildered.
Roger, on the other hand, was struggling to hold back his laughter.
He quickly shoved the bamboo he’d been holding into Iron Boulder’s arms, finally slowing the creature’s eating pace.
“This little guy is an Iron Boulder, a creature from another world,” Roger said, petting its head.
“It doesn’t have a name yet, and it’s not the kind of giant panda you find in my hometown. This thing can eat rocks when it’s desperate, but its favorite food is metal, like steel.”
He looked at Pepper.
“I’m entrusting its care to you from now on, Pepper. Once it grows up, it can even protect you.”
Pepper froze, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.
“What?”
“Give it a name, Pepper,” Roger said as he slowly picked up a glass of soy milk and took a sip.
Stark couldn’t take it anymore.
He wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and yelled, “This is my house! I’m not letting you keep it here! Send it to the zoo—that’s where it belongs!”
Pepper, who had been completely won over by the Iron Boulder’s adorable appearance, immediately frowned and said with feigned anger, “Tony! It’s just a baby! How can you be so cruel?”
But Stark stood up and pointed at the Iron Boulder.
“It ate nineteen of my tool sets! It even ate one of the sports cars in the garage! And most importantly, it ate Clumsy Ghost! My god, I haven’t even buried Clumsy Ghost yet…”