...
Almost the moment Ryan Cole's voice fell silent, a fire-red "sports car" descended smoothly from the sky, coming to a precise stop on the same platform Tony Stark had landed on earlier.
The sleek, aggressively aerodynamic design caught both Tony Stark and Pepper Potts immediately.
Tony, of course, didn't just think it looked cool.
He had JARVIS begin scanning it the instant it appeared.
For a genius, ignoring a flying supercar with tech this advanced would've been a crime.
Pepper, on the other hand, wasn't much of a tech person.She simply thought the thing looked insanely cool—and couldn't help imagining what it'd feel like sitting inside.
As the doors slid open automatically, a woman in a sharp black business suit stepped out with composed elegance.
Maria Hill.
Senior agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, her screen time was relatively limited.A few appearances in The Avengers, a handful of cameos in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—nothing compared to another S.H.I.E.L.D. icon and full-time Avenger:
Natasha Romanoff.
In Ryan's opinion, Natasha's combat skills and professional training were top-tier.Even her figure edged out Maria's by a noticeable margin.
But from a purely personal aesthetic standpoint—
Maria Hill fit his preferences better.
Which was exactly why he'd made that request earlier.
What surprised Ryan slightly was just how efficient S.H.I.E.L.D.—or more accurately, Nick Fury—really was.
They'd only just finished talking.
And now Maria Hill was already here, reporting for duty.
As for why Ryan insisted on planting a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative right next to himself—
He had his reasons.
Compared to her usual tactical gear, Maria in a sleek black office outfit lost some of her battlefield sharpness—but gained a cold, refined elegance instead.
"Welcome, Maria Hill," Ryan said with a smile, stepping forward and extending his hand.
"Thank you, boss," Maria replied smoothly, already slipping into her secretary role as she shook his hand.
Knowing this wasn't the time for deeper interaction with a major plot character, Ryan kept things brief before turning into introductions.
"Allow me to introduce her," he said casually."Maria Hill—my new secretary, and CEO of Umbrella Technologies."
"Hello, I'm Pepper," Pepper said quickly, stepping in with a practiced smile to avoid any awkwardness.
"Nice to meet you," Maria replied, a faint smile appearing on her normally cool expression.
Before the gene optimization treatment, Pepper might've felt a flicker of admiration—or even mild jealousy—standing next to Maria's composed elegance.
But now?
Setting aside that innate icy temperament, Pepper completely dominated in both looks and figure.
"Maria will be handling the collaboration details," Ryan said."You two can take your time discussing it."
With that, Ryan pulled a classic hands-off CEO move and walked toward the landing platform.
The situation Pepper had worried about earlier never materialized.
The moment the Bugatti-Vollger Luxury Transport appeared, Tony Stark's attention was utterly hijacked.
After all—when everyone else is still flying around in private jets, and someone suddenly rolls up in a ridiculously flashy flying super-vehicle—
Yeah. No one's not going to stare.
And while Tony's personal life might've been chaotic, from another angle, he was the definition of a hardcore tech genius.
By the time JARVIS finished reporting the scan results through the wireless earpiece Tony had slipped on earlier at the bar—
Tony had completely dropped the sarcasm and snark.
"Ryan," Tony asked eagerly, standing in front of the vehicle,"what the hell is this thing?"
"This," Ryan said, gesturing to it proudly,"is the Bugatti-Vollger Luxury Transport."
"Length: 4.24 meters. Width: 2.79 meters. Height: 1.95 meters."
"Maximum takeoff weight: ten tons. Empty weight: seven tons."
"It supports manual piloting and full autonomous intelligent control."
"Two nano-plasma pulse thrusters," Ryan continued,"plus a fission-based nuclear pulse propulsion system."
"So—what do you think?"
Exactly as Ryan expected, the moment the topic hit Tony's interest zone, he fully locked in.
For over half an hour, question after question came flying.
As long as it didn't touch core proprietary data, Ryan didn't bother hiding anything.
After all, Maria Hill had already ridden in it.It was parked openly at Stark Industries.There was no way S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't already know.
"So," Tony asked, clearly unwilling to accept being outclassed,"how fast is it?"
"Pretty decent," Ryan replied casually."What—want to test it?"
"How?" Tony asked, eyes lit up.
"Simple," Ryan said with a grin."You use your Iron Man armor. I use my transport."
"Let's race."
"Destination?" Tony asked.
"Your seaside villa," Ryan replied."I've always wanted to see it in person."
"No problem," Tony said, rolling his shoulders."And what does the loser pay?"
"Sounds like you want stakes," Ryan chuckled."Alright—if you lose, you give me the villa."
Before Tony could explode, Ryan continued calmly:
"If I lose, I give you the gene optimization formula."
"That's fair enough, right?"
"Add the transport," Tony said, pointing at the red vehicle.
Faced with an obviously unfair demand, Ryan's answer was immediate.
"Deal."
"Tony, what are you doing?" Pepper asked anxiously as Tony began suiting up.
"Relax," Tony said mid-assembly."Just going out for a quick joyride."
"What do you want to eat? I'll bring it back."
"Be careful," Pepper said, knowing full well this wouldn't be simple—and that stopping him was pointless.
Nearby, Maria Hill glanced at Ryan.After receiving a subtle it's fine look in return, she said nothing.
"You want a head start?" Tony asked confidently after donning a drastically different Iron Man suit.
Ryan knew exactly where that confidence came from.
Mark XL — Shotgun.
A high-speed armor designed specifically for velocity.
Capable of exceeding Mach 5.
Five times the speed of sound.
"Nope," Ryan said, wagging his finger."That'd be unfair. Let's start together."
He stepped into the Bugatti-Vollger.
"As you wish."
Certain his plan was foolproof, Tony activated hover mode and floated beyond the platform.
The moment JARVIS's countdown hit zero—
The Mark XL vanished into the New York skyline.
Meanwhile, the transport's doors slid open again, and Ryan leaned out.
"Maria—once the talks are done, wait for me at the company."
"Yes, boss," Maria replied, then casually pointed upward."You go ahead."
Ryan flashed an OK sign, retreated inside, and issued the takeoff command.
"Maria, aren't you worried?" Pepper asked, watching the red vehicle rise leisurely.
"No," Maria replied calmly."This isn't something I need to worry about."
A statement with more than one meaning.
She then resumed discussing the biological beverage and Umbrella's other business collaborations.
High above, the Bugatti-Vollger locked onto its destination and tracked Iron Man's trajectory—
Then pushed its engines to full output.
Even with just two nano-plasma thrusters, its speed was anything but slow.
After all, it could reach Elysium Station from Earth in under an hour.
Calling that "slow" would be a joke.
Combined with its fission-based nuclear pulse system, its endurance was equally absurd.
So when Tony Stark arrived at his seaside villa at maximum speed—
He saw a familiar red vehicle already parked on the helipad.
"Damn it!!"
Not only had his plan failed completely—
He'd just lost a villa.
And then realization hit.
"Wait—something's wrong."
Tony frowned.
"JARVIS. Back at Stark Tower—did you detect any abnormal mental interference targeting me?"
JARVIS replied instantly:
"No, sir. All readings were normal."