They didn't stay at the military base for long. At Tony's fierce insistence, the military arranged a private cargo transport plane to fly him straight home.
Luke naturally hitched a ride on the flight.
"Hey, Luke. How long were you actually out there looking for me?" Tony asked. He was currently confined to a wheelchair—a strict, non-negotiable requirement enforced by Rhodey.
After everything he had just been through, Tony's paranoia was at an all-time high. He wasn't exactly in a trusting mood, and Luke's sudden, miraculous appearance in the desert carried far too many suspicious variables for Tony to ignore.
"Hmm? I found you right before you busted out. I was actually about to call in an airstrike for backup, but then you just marched out on your own," Luke replied casually. He summoned two Shadow Ninjas, handed them opposite ends of a sturdy tarp, and hopped onto his makeshift hammock.
"Right," Tony nodded, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
Luke's timing was simply too perfect. Showing up the exact second Tony fought his way out of the cave? It made Tony seriously wonder if Luke had somehow orchestrated the entire kidnapping.
Furthermore, Luke had conveniently bumped into him multiple times right before the abduction. That only amplified Tony's suspicions. While everyone else at the base seemed perfectly familiar with whatever government agency Luke worked for, Tony had never even heard of it. He had managed to scrounge up some heavily redacted information on S.H.I.E.L.D. using a military terminal, but it still bothered him.
As a billionaire genius and America's top weapons contractor, Tony had personal dealings with virtually every branch of the US government. How had this agency slipped completely under his radar?
"Did your little agency just pop into existence recently? I certainly don't recall the US government actively employing superhumans," Tony remarked, his tone dripping with its usual biting sarcasm. But Luke easily caught the underlying accusation.
Luke lowered his handheld console. "You're suspecting me. You think I orchestrated your kidnapping."
Tony's expression darkened, turning entirely serious.
"Alright, let me answer your questions," Luke sighed, tossing his hands up.
"The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division is a cutting-edge intelligence organization founded immediately after World War II, spearheaded by top American scientists and built upon absorbed resources and defecting scientists from Germany." Luke rattled off the unclassified S.H.I.E.L.D. lore. "Right after World War II. Isn't that an incredibly convenient timeline?"
"Back then, almost all the top scientific minds in the country were recruited into this division. However, at the time, it was known as the Strategic Scientific Reserve."
Luke hopped down from the hammock and stepped right in front of Tony. "Alright, my turn to ask a question. Name the top American scientists during World War II. Name the one you are most familiar with. The one who left the deepest impression on you."
Tony's eyes widened in sudden realization.
"The top scientist of World War II... Howard Stark. My dad."
Luke nodded. "Exactly. The SSR was founded by your father, alongside a few prominent figures active on the front lines of the war, including Agent Peggy Carter."
Watching Tony fall into a stunned silence, Luke continued, "You are Howard Stark's son. So, the moment you went missing, S.H.I.E.L.D. mobilized its entire network. Even a brand-new Security Consultant like me was deployed to the desert with a sweep team of nearly four hundred ninjas to find you."
As he spoke, dozens of Shadow Ninjas melted out of the darkness, filling the cargo bay.
Up in the cockpit, Rhodey caught sight of the shadowy figures on the security feed and immediately marched out into the hold.
"Hey! What's going on back here?" Rhodey yelled over the hum of the engines.
Luke glanced over his shoulder. "Nothing major! Tony just wanted to meet the guys who helped break him out. I think he wants to throw them a thank-you party."
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Rhodey looked highly skeptical but didn't freak out. He wasn't particularly shocked by the ninjas anymore; when Luke first arrived at the military base with over a hundred of them in tow, Rhodey had already exhausted his capacity for surprise. He just assumed Luke was some sort of registered mutant.
"Okay, well, keep it low-key," Rhodey warned, rubbing his temples. "Don't play around too much. We're currently at thirty-three thousand feet. If you blow a hole in the fuselage, they won't even be able to separate our body parts when we hit the ground."
Luke flashed a thumbs-up and waved a hand, banishing the Shadowkhan back into the darkness.
"Alright, genius. Back to your ridiculous conspiracy theory," Luke said, crossing his arms.
"Think of me as a traveler who just moved here. I got hired by S.H.I.E.L.D. as a consultant. I ran into a certain arrogant jerk at the Apogee Award ceremony in Vegas, and then I spent half a month eating sand in the desert trying to rescue that exact same jerk. Yes, my timing was incredibly coincidental. I can't explain it. Chalk it up to God's plan or blind luck. It's up to you who you want to believe."
"Are you satisfied now?" Luke finished bluntly, hopping back into his ninja-supported hammock.
Tony's face was a mixture of pale shock and deep embarrassment. He had just been hit with a massive lore drop about his father's legacy, and on top of that, he had just been called a jerk to his face.
Normally, the only time Tony heard that word was when an angry supermodel threw a drink in his face. Being chewed out by a teenager was a new low. But the worst part was... Luke was absolutely right. Tony was the one at fault.
For all his arrogance and sharp-tongued defense mechanisms, Tony Stark was a reasonable man of science. When presented with the truth, he accepted it.
He sat in the wheelchair in complete silence for a long time. Finally, he looked at Luke and mumbled very, very quietly, "Sorry."
Luke blinked, genuinely stunned. 'Did Tony Stark just apologize?!'
"Uh. Right. Well, we're good then," Luke stammered, feeling completely thrown off. "Considering you practically gifted me thirty million bucks at the casino, all is forgiven."
Truthfully, Luke felt a tiny twinge of guilt. He technically had stood by and watched Tony get kidnapped without intervening. It was a bit of a stretch to blame himself, but he had undeniably been present when it happened.
A heavy, awkward silence fell over the cargo bay. Neither of them knew what to say next.
Luke shifted uncomfortably in his hammock. "Want to lie down for a bit?" he offered, patting the tarp.
"I don't share beds with men," Tony scoffed, his defensive snark instantly returning.
"Right, just like you have a strict 'don't hand me things' rule?" Luke shot back smoothly. "Because I clearly remember you snatching a cheeseburger straight out of my hands yesterday. I didn't see you demanding I throw it on the dirt so you could pick it up."
Tony's face flushed with mild embarrassment.
"Oh, relax," Luke laughed, waving his hand. "I have more than two pillars."
Two more Shadow Ninjas instantly materialized from the floorboards, diligently grabbing another tarp to form a second hammock across the aisle.
"Need a lift?" Luke asked, nodding at Tony's injured legs.
"I've got it," Tony grunted, trying to push himself out of the wheelchair. After a brief struggle, his battered muscles gave out, and he slumped back into the seat.
Without a word, a Shadow Ninja stepped forward and effortlessly scooped Tony up in a bridal carry, gently depositing him onto the second hammock.
"Thanks, buddy," Tony muttered to the ninja. "Though I really would have preferred a different lifting technique."
The ninja offered absolutely no response before melting back into the shadows.
"He's the strong, silent type, huh? Where exactly do they go when they disappear?" Tony asked, genuinely intrigued. He had assumed Luke's power was some form of spatial manipulation and that these were highly trained mercenaries he kept on standby.
"The Shadow Dimension," Luke explained, knowing Tony's genius brain could handle the concept. "It's a dimensional space inherently tied to my abilities. And they aren't human. They don't speak."
"Another dimension. Fascinating," Tony murmured, his scientific curiosity thoroughly piqued. "So, are these ninjas the native inhabitants of that dimension? How did you conquer them?"
"That dimension belongs to me, so naturally, they belong to me as well," Luke replied. "Honestly, they're just pure energy constructs. They take this form because it's based on my deepest childhood memories."
"Wait, so if your foundational memories were different, they'd look completely different?"
"Exactly. In a way, they're the embodiment of a cartoon I watched as a kid." Luke picked up his game console, mashing the buttons.
Tony gave him a highly skeptical look.
"You're Chinese, right? Why on earth are your childhood memories full of Japanese ninjas? I mean... you know."
"They were the villain's henchmen in the show, commanded by a set of magical masks and tattoos," Luke explained, ignoring the historical implications. He met Tony's curious gaze. "At one point, the protagonists gained the power to command them, and our perception of them completely changed. When I was a kid, we all thought the Shadowkhan were absolutely omnipotent."
Tony nodded slowly, staring up at the curved ceiling of the cargo hold. "Omnipotent. Yeah. I understand that. When I was a kid, I thought my dad was omnipotent too..."
Realizing he had suddenly veered into traumatic daddy-issue territory, Tony quickly cleared his throat and changed the subject. "So, do they ever need a break? Won't they get tired holding us up like this for hours?"
Luke glanced at Tony. He knew Tony didn't fully understand Howard Stark's legacy yet, but he would in time.
"They don't need rest. They don't eat. They don't even breathe," Luke said, leaning back into his hammock. "They have infinite stamina, and they can never truly die."
Tony let out a low whistle of genuine shock.
With the tension finally broken, the two of them settled in, casually chatting the hours away as the transport plane carried them back to civilization.