After returning home, Anton pulled several photos from Cyborg's database—pictures taken during last night's incident involving Tony.
He picked the one he found most interesting, uploaded it to his email, and sent it to Eddie, who had just gotten home.
In the photo, Tony—wearing his Iron Man armor—had already lost his helmet. Sweat had soaked his forehead, making his hair stick messily across his face, revealing half of his exhausted, disheveled expression.
The Iron Monger had him pinned to the ground, fist raised high. It looked like Tony's head would burst like a watermelon in the next second.
Tony's eyes were closed—like he was waiting for death.
"Tsk tsk… this photo should haunt Tony for a very long time."
Anton chuckled.
Earlier tonight, he had actually considered inviting Tony to join the Justice League.
But once the event ended, he hadn't mentioned it.
There were many reasons.
First: Tony was still as arrogant and rebellious as ever.
Even during the early days of the Avengers, Tony, Thor, and Captain America were constantly butting heads, none willing to give an inch.
Especially Tony and Steve—they disliked each other from beginning to end.
The root cause?Leadership.
Both of them had dominant personalities. Neither was willing to give up control. Both acted independently.
It wasn't until Coulson was stabbed by Loki that the two temporarily let go of their grudges and began cooperating more deeply.
But that required a common enemy.
And even then, after the Battle of New York, they still fought for leadership.
By the time the Civil War storyline arrived, and the Winter Soldier incident triggered everything, the hidden conflict between the two erupted completely.
But that was all later.
For now, as Anton prepared the Justice League, his thoughts gradually became clearer.
If Tony joined now, he would inevitably clash with Batman's role.
After all, Tony was not someone who listened to advice.
Rather than bringing in a hot-headed, self-willed Tony who loved to do things alone…it was better to let him grow on his own.
Nick Fury's Avengers Initiative was recruiting anyway.
Tony could go there.
Besides, the almost-complete founding lineup of the Justice League already had more than enough people.
Ding!
The computer chimed.
Anton snapped out of his thoughts and saw Eddie had opened the email and replied with three huge exclamation marks—showing just how shocked he was.
Anton had no idea that, on the other side of the screen, New York's number-one reporter currently had a stampede of grass-mud horses running through his heart.
He had finally gotten off work on time for once…and missed such a massive event.
Eddie almost spat blood.
He didn't know who the Iron Monger was, but he could absolutely recognize the other guy in the photo—
Tony Stark.
What a loss!!Eddie regretted everything.
Right then and there, he swore:He would never get off work on time again.From now on, he would be a hardworking reporter who never missed big news!
Completely ignoring April lying on the bed, Eddie sat at his computer and rushed to write the article.
He had to make sure that tomorrow morning—the moment office workers woke up—the article, along with the explosive photo, would be posted on the Daily Bugle website and pushed to everyone's news feed.
Chasing hot topics—The Daily Bugle is professional.
The next day.
New York's streets bustled with heavy traffic.
Office workers, students, unemployed wanderers, even homeless people—everyone stared at their phones or nearby TVs with shocked expressions.
Last night's battle between the two Iron Men in Manhattan had spread across New York in a matter of hours.
Its hype instantly overshadowed the previous day's Doctor Octopus incident.
After all—this was Tony Stark.
Compared to Tony, Doctor Octopus was just a nobody.
Also, last night's silver Iron Man—the huge one—seemed to be from Stark Industries.
Cars passing outside Stark Industries saw the two figures exploding out of the building with their own eyes.
Internal conflict at Stark Industries?
Countless people began theorizing.
Tony's haters even compared him to Cyborg, claiming Tony's so-called "genius inventor" reputation was overrated.
Their combat power wasn't even close!
Among all the circulating material, one photo became the centerpiece of public discussion:
Tony Stark being stomped on by the Iron Monger.
And of course—it came from the Daily Bugle.
Stark Industries Headquarters
Tony sat in the CEO office reading the news. When he saw the photo, his teeth clenched in fury.
He didn't know how the picture was taken, but he knew with his backside alone that Cyborg and Batman must be involved.
Those two had deep ties to the Daily Bugle.
Especially that bastard Anton!
It was probably his doing!
Batman really had been there just to watch the show.
"Tony, I've contacted all New York media outlets. The press conference starts in two hours."
Pepper walked in.
"This is the SHIELD-approved speech."
She hesitated, then handed him the document:"Even though there's a photo circulating online, most eyewitnesses didn't actually see your face. As long as you insist it's fake, modern computer effects can easily produce such an image… Also, the shareholders want you to stay quiet. They're worried this could negatively impact the stock price."
"…Got it."
Tony suppressed his anger, took the speech, and stared at it emotionlessly—his eyes flickering with thoughts.
Two hours later—
Tony stood at the podium.
Facing the curious crowd, he hesitated only for a moment—then lifted the speech and tossed it into the air, letting the pages scatter.
Pepper covered her forehead helplessly.
She already knew what was coming.
Coulson beside her also sensed disaster incoming.
Down below—
Eddie held his camera high. Seeing Tony's move, he instantly knew another major headline was about to explode.
America's citizens would be eating good melon today.
"I know what you want to ask."
Tony scanned the audience.
After a breath, he calmly said:
"I am Iron Man."
DC Headquarters
Anton turned on the TV and watched the live broadcast, witnessing the iconic scene.
But this time, Tony's public reveal lacked the explosive brilliance of the original timeline.
After all—
Batman had appeared first.Cyborg was already in the public eye.And Tony had gotten beaten into the ground by Iron Monger.
If Cyborg hadn't intervened, Tony wasn't even sure he could have turned things around.
Still, Tony's fame pushed him back into the spotlight, overshadowing Doctor Octopus again and even boosting Cyborg's popularity.
"Iron Man" and "Cyborg" held the top trending spots.
The heat wouldn't die down for days.
Anton had no idea that right after declaring himself Iron Man, Tony was whisked away by Nick Fury for a private "talk."
Even if Anton knew, he wouldn't care.
Because he had just received a call from Phil—who was still in Brazil.
And what Phil said made Anton completely freeze.
"Boss!!"
On the other end, Phil hid inside a room, trembling with fear.
Even while reporting, he still sounded traumatized.
"S-something happened! A green monster appeared! It stole the last component of the Mind Transmission Device! And… the military found us!"