I was lost in thought as I rode Talaria to Malibu. What if my interference kept Tony's trauma from being resolved?
'Maybe I should just protect Pepper...'
And I had some selfish desires too. Various doctors appeared in Marvel, and among them was Dr. Maya Hansen. The Extremis technology had severe side effects, but it was indeed a quite useful piece of tech. With the help of nanotechnology, we could minimize the side effects while giving humans regenerative abilities and monstrous strength. Moreover, if combined with the super soldier serum, who knew what kind of synergy would emerge.
'I'm not sure if I can save her, but I should at least try.'
If I couldn't save the doctor, I decided my goal would be to obtain her research materials at the very least.
Then suddenly, I got a call from Deadpool.
"Hey~ buddy, don't you need my help? Around this time, Iron Man's in a bad state, right?"
"Hey, you don't even have a driver's license. And Christmas is coming up—aren't you going to see Vanessa?"
"Time is relative, you know! What's with you? Such a smart friend."
"Ah! Brother Stein... I forgot for a moment."
I thought for a bit. How to use Deadpool.
'Damn it! He's useless. I thought about using him as Pepper's bodyguard, but I don't want to hear her complain later. Maybe I should just send him to Tony instead...?'
As I was mulling it over, Deadpool spoke up.
"Anyway, I'll be on the rooftop of my place in Del Rio. You know I hate being stood up."
"Uh, sure."
I turned Talaria around and headed back to New York to pick up Deadpool. Deadpool was armed and in his costume.
"Long time no see, sweetheart!"
"Hey!"
"What?"
"Why don't you even have a driver's license?"
"I want to get one, but I ran into this weird lady examiner. My jokes don't work on her, and she's such a hysterical old maid... Seriously..."
There seemed to be some issue, but it was probably something trivial.
"Then go to another city and get it. Or start with a motorcycle license."
"I should do that."
As we moved, I kept thinking about how to use Deadpool. But no ideas came to mind. Seeing me silent, Deadpool asked.
"What are you so worried about?"
I couldn't tell the truth, so I brought up Tony's situation.
"Well, you see, things might resolve on their own, but what if I meddle and Tony's trauma doesn't get resolved?"
"Leave that to me. You saw how I fixed Wolverine's trauma. I'm an expert in psychiatric treatment. Call me Doctor Wilson from now on."
"Hearing you say that makes me even more worried."
"Just trust me! Have a little faith."
It was Deadpool, so faith was absolutely out of the question.
"You talk big for someone who can't even get a driver's license."
Anyway, we arrived at Tony's house in Malibu. When we went inside, Tony came out in his Iron Man suit.
"It's Cassian. And who's this?"
"This is Deadpool, my friend. You could say he's a hero who does mercenary work."
"I see. I'm Tony. Nice to meet you."
"Oh~ my god! The famously expensive real-life Downey... I mean, Tony! I was trying not to be nervous. Ahem... I'm Deadpool. Pleasure to meet you."
Tony chuckled at Deadpool's antics. I looked around the house, but nothing seemed amiss. Sensing movement upstairs, Pepper seemed to be home too.
"I see Miss Pepper is here as well."
"Yeah, it's safest for her to stay with me."
As soon as he said that, Pepper came downstairs and greeted us.
"Cassian, nice to see you. But who is this..."
"Nice to see you too, Miss Pepper. This is Deadpool. He's my friend and a hero who does mercenary work, you could say."
"I see. Nice to meet you. I'm Pepper Potts."
"Deadpool here."
After the greetings, we sat on the sofa in the living room and started talking.
"Tony, this was reckless. I can handle you getting hurt, but people around you could get injured too."
"I know. Happy got caught up in this and was badly hurt. I admit I made a mistake, but I'm really pissed off too."
Deadpool chimed in at that.
"I know that feeling. I have anger management issues too. When I went to get my license, I struggled so hard not to smash that hysterical female examiner's head into the dashboard."
"..."
The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward. It felt like when someone tells a dad joke and fails at a friend gathering. Anyway, to break the tension, I asked about Happy's condition.
"How's Happy? Was he badly hurt?"
"He got injured, but they say it's not life-threatening. He hasn't regained consciousness yet."
"That's a relief at least."
Then Jarvis announced that someone was approaching.
[A woman is entering the mansion now.]
Hearing that, Tony quickly put on his Iron Man suit and prepared. Then a beautiful woman with black hair was seen entering Tony's house. It was Dr. Maya Hansen.
"Hold it! You're not the Mandarin, are you? Right?"
Hearing that, Maya smiled and said to Tony.
"You don't remember."
"Have we met before?"
"Switzerland, don't you remember?"
Hearing that, Tony thought for a moment and seemed to recall the incident in Switzerland. That day, Tony met Maya and Killian, but since Tony was about to leave, he told Killian to meet him on the rooftop, then enjoyed a one-night stand with Maya, making Killian wait on the rooftop all night, which became the trigger for him turning into a villain. Seeing this, Tony really is a villain-maker.
"Ah~ that botanist. Name's Maya Hansen."
"Yes, that's right. I need to talk to you alone. Not here."
"Don't tell me there's a 12-year-old kid in that car?"
Maya was taken aback and said.
"Huh? No! And the Switzerland thing was 13 years ago."
"I see. That's a relief. Anyway, normally I'd go right away, but I already have someone."
Tony took off his suit and introduced Maya to us.
"This is Maya Hansen, a botanist I knew briefly in the past."
I stood up and greeted Maya.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Cassian. Dr. Hansen, I've read your papers."
"I'm surprised to see Chairman Cassian here. Pleasure."
Maya seemed a bit startled to see me. We shook hands lightly and greeted each other. Tony asked why Maya had come to his house at such a time.
"So why did you come?"
"I need your help."
"What kind of help? And why now?"
"Because it looks like you're going to die soon."
Then Deadpool, watching TV, said.
"Hey, isn't that Tony's house?"
On TV, breaking news was being broadcast, showing live footage of some aircraft flying toward Tony's house. This was Killian's subordinates arriving in multiple attack helicopters and firing missiles.
"Damn it!"
I hurried to the window and used my [Mystic Arts] ability to create a defensive magic circle to protect Tony's house.
Boom! Crash!
The helicopter missiles couldn't penetrate my defensive magic circle and exploded in mid-air. Everyone seemed shocked by this.
"What the hell is this!!!"
"Hey! Don't just stand there watching, do something!"
I kept maintaining the defensive magic circle, and the helicopters started firing missiles continuously to break through.
Boom! Crash! Kaboom!
Finally snapping to his senses, Tony quickly put on his Iron Man suit and went outside to fight the helicopters, while Deadpool evacuated Pepper and Maya outside.
I kept the magic circle up until it seemed no more missiles were coming, then released the magic and checked the situation outside. Iron Man fought well enough, but his movements were unnatural, as if something wasn't working, and eventually, he was hit by a missile from the last helicopter and crashed into the sea.
Thud!
The attack helicopter hovered over the falling Iron Man for a moment before flying off somewhere. I quickly called Jarvis to ask about Iron Man's condition.
"Jarvis, is Tony okay?"
[Sir is still alive. However, he seems to have lost consciousness from the impact.]
"Can you get him out of the sea?"
[Working on it now.]
After a short wait, Iron Man emerged from the sea and flew off somewhere. As in the original story, Tony seemed to have flown to Tennessee.
"Jarvis, where is Tony heading now?"
[Sir is moving toward the last registered destination.]
"Can't you redirect him?"
[You do not have command authority.]
"Sigh... alright."
I went outside. Then I saw Deadpool riding Talaria and ascending into the air.
"Hey!! Where are you going!!"
As if hearing me, Deadpool lowered Talaria's window and said to me.
"Just trust me and wait! Leave Tony to Doctor Wilson!"
"What!?"
Deadpool rolled up the window and flew off on Talaria, following Iron Man. I was utterly baffled.
"Sigh... what a mess... I don't know anymore."
As I was saying that, Pepper came over and asked with a worried face.
"Cassian! Is Tony okay?"
"Hard to say, he flew off somewhere. He'll be fine. More importantly, let's move to a safe place quickly. They might attack again."
"Alright."
I was about to take Pepper and Maya and get into any of Tony's cars when suddenly, the Odyssey appeared above Tony's house, and Natasha's voice came from it.
"Sweetheart! Did you miss me?"
"Seriously... talk about timing."
Pepper, Maya, and I boarded the Odyssey. Pepper and Maya were so amazed by the Odyssey that they couldn't close their mouths.
"Cassian, you made it out safely. I knew you weren't an easy one to kill."
"Captain."
The Captain and I shook hands. Then Natasha ran over and hugged me.
"Cassian! You're safe."
"Yeah. That kind of thing won't kill me easily."
Vulture also approached and shook my hand.
"Boss."
"Toomes."
They seemed very worried about me and Tony. We sat in the ship's living room and started talking.
"How did you know to come?"
Natasha answered my question.
"How? It was live on TV."
"I see."
The Captain continued the explanation.
"We've been stopping and investigating terrorist attacks across the country, and we found that all those involved are former soldiers. They seem to have been used in some experiment."
"Any other information?"
"We obtained one of the drugs they have. There must be a secret here. Natasha recommended it, and we were going to ask you, the smartest in this field, but this happened."
"I see. Can I take a look at that drug?"
"Sure."
The Captain showed me a silver syringe from his pocket. No doubt, this was Extremis. I was about to take it to the lab when suddenly Maya Hansen blocked my way and said.
"That's my field, so I might be able to help. I can probably analyze it, so give it to me."
Maya Hansen was sweating cold sweat, trying desperately to prevent the drug from being analyzed. But it was too late. I had already analyzed it with [Naked Eye].
"I refuse. I can't trust you yet. All communications are monitored, so don't cause unnecessary misunderstandings and just stay quiet."
"Ah... alright."
Maya finally stepped aside. I went straight into the lab and pretended to analyze the drug. After killing about an hour, I came out and told everyone the results.
"This is a drug that alters human DNA."
The Captain spoke as if it wasn't surprising.
"I see. So that's how the soldiers got such powerful strength."
"The next part is important. Analyzing this drug, it matches the Extremis technology Dr. Maya Hansen mentioned. Do you have anything to say about this, Dr. Hansen!?"
Maya, realizing there was no way out, suddenly took a syringe from her bag—the same kind I had analyzed—and held it to her neck, threatening us.
"Let me off this ship now! Or I'll inject this! Even half of this drug will make my body explode!"
We tensed up at her words. Then the Captain said to Maya.
"Calm down! Dr. Hansen! You can't escape from here. Give it up!"
I added my persuasion.
"The Captain's right. You can't escape from here. And even if you do, you'll be wanted nationwide. Give up!"
Maya, perhaps realizing the reality from our words, shed tears but still didn't let go of the syringe.
"Dr. Hansen, it's not too late even now. I don't know why you're helping the terrorist group, but if you give up and help us, I'll do my best to defend you and support your research. Think carefully. What's the right thing to do."
"Innocent people are dying because of the terrorism even now, Dr. Hansen."
Maya looked at me and spoke.
"How can I trust your word?"
"Because I support your research. It's true there are many side effects, but if we improve it gradually, it might truly lead humanity to evolution."
Finally, Maya seemed to give up, shedding tears as she dropped the syringe on the floor.
"When we were at rock bottom with our research, no one supported us. That might be why Killian changed like that..."