At the same time.
Los Angeles, near the coastline.
A sprawling luxury villa sat on a massive estate here.
This was Obadiah Stane’s private residence.
At this moment, Obadiah sat on the couch in the center of the living room.
The living room boasted lavish decor, with expensive carpets underfoot and a grand chandelier hanging overhead.
Yet the villa felt unusually cold and quiet.
Obadiah held a glass of red wine.
He gently swirled the liquid, his face dark and grim.
He was replaying everything that had happened today in his mind.
At the press conference this afternoon, Tony Stark had announced in front of all the media that Stark Industries was shutting down its military weapons division.
Luca Stark had gone even further, threatening to audit the company’s internal accounts to root out the insider traitor.
Obadiah felt certain the two brothers had caught wind of something.
They must have uncovered leads on the weapon smuggling in Afghanistan, which was why they had targeted him the second they returned.
Damn it!
Obadiah downed the wine in a single gulp and slammed the glass down hard onto the glass coffee table.
Ever since his mind had begun spiraling, his resentment and anger had grown stronger by the minute.
He had worked tirelessly for decades, dragging the massive ship that was Stark Industries forward.
Ever since Howard Stark died, it was *he* who stabilized the company’s stock price, and *he* who ran around the world securing military contracts.
When Howard was alive, Obadiah did the heavy lifting.
When Howard died, Obadiah kept the company afloat with his own hands!
Tony did nothing but hide in his lab tinkering with junk, and Luca was an even bigger useless waste who spent the company’s money chasing women!
Fair was fair—had he not contributed?
On the contrary, his contributions were monumental!
One could even say there would be no Stark Industries today without him.
At least, that was what he believed.
So why did Tony and Luca, two kids who only knew how to indulge themselves, get to decide the fate of the company on a whim?
Just because their last name was Stark?!
What a joke.
Yet he had to admit that was reality.
With a single sentence, Tony slashed the company’s most profitable business line.
Luca showed him no respect at all, humiliating him in public.
At the time, Obadiah was so angry he almost laughed, and he was sick of enduring it.
Why hadn’t they been killed back in Afghanistan?!
That was right—the kidnapping two months ago was secretly orchestrated by him.
He had spent a fortune bribing those terrorists.
There was only one goal: kill Stark!
Unfortunately, those useless fools had failed, letting the brothers escape back alive.
Now he had to find a way to eliminate them once and for all and take complete control of Stark Industries.
The more Obadiah thought, the angrier he got.
Fortunately, as a scheming, veteran businessman, anger didn’t blind his judgment completely.
He began carefully recalling Tony and Luca’s reactions at the press conference, as well as Luca’s statements.
“Did they squeeze some lead out of those terrorists?
Fuck!!” Obadiah felt a surging sense of crisis that his secret was about to be exposed.
If the Stark brothers really traced the kidnapping and assassination attempt back to him, he would not only lose everything, but spend the rest of his life in prison.
He didn’t want that, and he could never let it happen!
Just then, the living room doorbell rang.
Obadiah frowned.
Who would visit him at this hour?
A moment later, the housekeeper led several people into the living room.
These men wore identical black suits and black ties.
Most strangely, their faces were covered by featureless white masks.
Such attire looked eerily unsettling in the dead of night.
Having several masked men in black break into one’s home in the middle of the night would give anyone goosebumps.
Obadiah put down his glass and stood up, unsure of who they were.
However, he guessed they were the group that had contacted him this afternoon.
He waved his hand, dismissing the housekeeper.
That was right.
This group had inexplicably contacted him earlier that afternoon.
Not long after the press conference ended, his phone had suddenly rung.
He had thought it was some junk project manager pitching business.
Instead, the voice on the phone said directly: “If you want to eliminate the Stark brothers, let’s talk at your villa tonight.” Obadiah had broken out in a cold sweat on the spot, filled with murderous intent.
These people actually knew about his plan?
They even knew he had orchestrated Luca and Tony’s kidnapping!
Without a doubt, this was his fatal weakness.
Obadiah had immediately wanted to send hitmen to trace and kill the caller.
He had been ready to explode over the phone, but the caller calmly said: “I know what you’re thinking.
Our leader is very interested in your idea.
You understand, don’t you?
Surely you don’t want the Stark brothers finding out about your plans?” They were threatening him.
Obadiah had instantly calmed down.
Since they knew about his hitman plot and his secret number, their intelligence network must be terrifying.
If they released that evidence, he was finished.
And so, the scene unfolded with the housekeeper bringing them in.
“Gentlemen, visiting dressed like that in the middle of the night isn’t exactly polite,” Obadiah sneered, crossing his arms and trying to project authority.
“Speak.
Who are you?
What do you want?” Of the four, the leader stepped forward.
A deep, confident voice came from beneath the mask.
“Good evening, Mr.
Stane.
Who we are doesn’t matter.
What matters is that we’re here to help you achieve your wish.” The leader unceremoniously sat down on the opposing couch, his tone oozing composure and total control.
“Tonight, Luca Stark and Tony Stark hosted a party on a luxury yacht with dozens of women and plenty of alcohol.
They’ve already gone to a hotel suite downtown.
I imagine they’ll let their guard down tonight.” The leader stared into Obadiah’s eyes.
“Tonight is the best time to strike.
We can eliminate them once and for all.
And you, Mr.
Stane, will become the sole leader of Stark Industries.
Isn’t that what you’ve always dreamed of?” Obadiah froze, slightly caught off guard.
What did he mean by “eliminate them once and for all”?
Did they plan to assassinate Tony and Luca tonight?
That was insane!
That was the most heavily secured place in all of Los Angeles!
Having navigated the business world for so many years, Obadiah was no fool who jumped at empty promises.
He knew there was no free lunch in this world.
They possessed a terrifying intelligence network and even dared to directly assassinate the Stark brothers.
Going to such lengths to help him was obviously driven by profit.
As long as there was profit, everything was negotiable.