"You need to increase the planning for counter-Hulk armors. Hulk's strength grows stronger the angrier he gets. If you only estimate his power on paper, you'll suffer big losses," Bruce Banner said.
"Hmm." Tony Stark nodded. On the screen, his own Iron Man was barely holding Hulk back, almost letting him turn the tide.
Relying solely on paper data before, he had indeed been overconfident.
But only he knew that so far, the counter-series armors he had secretly prepared were not limited to the Hulkbuster. There was also a counter-Captain America armor, a counter-Thor armor, and a counter-Wonder Woman armor—those were the ones he considered extremely dangerous and potentially uncontrollable.
Among them, Hulk was uncontrollable due to his lack of intelligence and inability to communicate.
The other three shared one common trait: they were outsiders.
Lin Feng came from another universe, Wonder Woman from the DC universe, and Thor was a god from another planet. Though appearing human, he was fundamentally a different being.
With Tony's severe persecutory delusions, that meant anyone not of his kind was inherently untrustworthy. Even if they fought on Earth's side, who knew if they might betray him in the future?
So it was always better to be prepared.
These counter-series armors could remain unused for a lifetime, but once deployed, they had to be effective—just like the Hulkbuster.
Although the cost was massive, it at least restrained Hulk's rampage this time.
For Tony, money was just a number; achieving his goal was what mattered.
The others hadn't yet reached a level that warranted developing a specialized counter-series armor.
"But who controlled Hulk and made him wreak havoc? That's despicable," Hawkeye Barton said. "Seems like there was a big battle earlier."
"Who else could it be? Most likely Wanda, the Scarlet Witch," Natasha Romanoff said. "That robot looks familiar, right? The one who killed Quicksilver. Later, Wanda extracted the core device. If this is part of the same major incident, with that robot and someone controlling others, it's probably Wanda."
Everyone thought about it—seemed plausible.
"Judging by the timeline, this probably happened after we attacked Hydra's castle, before the battle in which Quicksilver died," Nick Fury said. "But the exact events that led to this are still unknown. At this stage, Wanda likely hasn't turned fully to our side yet."
While they spoke, the third clip appeared.
In the video, a mansion lay in ruins, and one by one, Iron Man armors flew out from beneath the rubble.
Tony Stark's face darkened as he realized this destroyed mansion was none other than his own.
Though reduced to rubble, he immediately recognized the surroundings—it was the villa he had built in a scenic location, nestled between hills and water.
So, his mansion had been blown up?
He recalled Lin Feng mentioning that because of Tony's Iron Man identity, his mansion had been targeted before, and he almost died—could this be that incident?
Before, the danger had been to him personally. Now, it had clearly escalated to those around him.
His address was not a secret. Anyone motivated could find it. Previously, no one dared act, but now someone had—and the illusion of safety was gone.
Luckily, in this timeline, he had prepared a fortress in advance.
Even a zombie apocalypse wouldn't faze him; anyone attempting an attack would have to see if they could actually succeed.
The scene shifted to a yacht in international waters, with two figures quietly approaching.
Everyone focused—they were Tony Stark and his friend, War Machine Rhodes.
But what puzzled everyone was that although they were clearly on a mission, both had armors, yet neither was wearing one.
Tony frowned. He couldn't understand why, especially since from prior experience, leaving the armor off immediately made them susceptible to Wanda's manipulation.
And he wasn't a professional agent or combat specialist. Going out like this could easily get them shot in the head.
He had armors—weren't those the ones flying out from the rubble?
Everything was too strange, unconnected, and confusing.
Others also wondered why Tony had such boldness.
By Iron Man 3, Tony's mind was strong enough to discard the armor and still be a superhero.
While the armor was his source of combat power, over-reliance on it was also his greatest weakness.
Once, Captain Steve Rogers had asked him, "If you lose your armor, who are you?" Tony had replied, "I'm still a billionaire, philanthropist, genius, and scientist."
In the footage, even without the Iron Man suit, Tony was undeniably a superhero.
The scene then shifted—on the yacht, armors were hanging midair. One was familiar: War Machine.
But its paint scheme looked strange—no longer gray-black, but red and blue, resembling the U.S. flag.
Like how seeing red instantly evokes China, this was unmistakably American.
But wasn't this suit supposed to be in Rhodes' hands? How did it end up here?
This also explained why Rhodes wasn't wearing his armor.
When Nick Fury saw who was trapped inside, his face changed immediately.
Senator Ellis!
Everyone recognized him—the current top contender for the U.S. presidency from the opposition party.
Especially for S.H.I.E.L.D., they knew this clearly. Part of their long-term mission was to protect key world leaders, including those of the five permanent member states.
Not everyone qualified for S.H.I.E.L.D. protection, but a future U.S. president naturally did.
But why kidnap a senator?
"No, if it were just a senator, there'd be no value in kidnapping him… unless…" Fury murmured.
"Unless he's the next U.S. president," Tony immediately realized.
Indeed, it made sense. As part of the elite billionaire circle, Tony knew many had already placed bets on Senator Ellis, backed by powerful corporations.
For ordinary billionaires, knowing the next president and investing early could yield huge profits. But for someone like Tony, it didn't matter—whoever became president would still have to appease him.
He cared more about protecting humanity. Election politics were trivial in comparison.
"So someone kidnapped the U.S. president?" Barton said. "What kind of organization thinks of this? Crazy?"
Everyone nodded. It was absurd. While the presidency is high-risk, very few have the courage to actually target the U.S. president.
Any attack would provoke the full force of the world's strongest nation. Who could withstand that?No country would help—the maxim 'when the rabbit dies, the fox grieves' applies.If anyone kidnapped a president over minor disputes, world leaders would be constantly in danger.
"Even more problematic, no one seems to be responding. Why?" Captain Rogers asked.
Regardless of how the president was kidnapped—or even if it was just a U.S. senator—this was a huge issue.
"Because the outside world doesn't know yet?" Tony frowned. "Impossible. With modern information, a single news post would immediately reach the world."
"And for only you two to attempt a rescue… that's unreasonable. Even if trying not to alert the enemy, sending just two people is suicidal," Coulson added.
"Unless your identities prevent calling reinforcements, or someone blocked you…" Fury said.
A billionaire and a mid-level military officer should have enough connections—not just a solo mission.
Only one conclusion remained: someone intervened. With the U.S. president kidnapped through layers of protection, the implication was clear.
"There's a traitor, and in a high position. Plus, kidnapping the president doesn't yield much—if he dies, someone else takes over anyway," Natasha murmured.
"Right, the president's successor is the only one who benefits. Kidnapping the president alone doesn't bring any real gain. It's a mature national system, not a monarchy," Tony said.
Suddenly, everyone's thinking aligned. It all made sense—the logic of the entire event clicked.
-----------------------
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