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*****
With the armor now protecting his body, Tony's hesitation vanished instantly. He streaked through the air, arriving at Black Widow's side in a flash. Without a word, he reached out and grabbed the wildly flailing energy whips. Turning his head, he shouted to Natasha and the bystander, Happy:
"Alright, leave this to me. You two get somewhere safe, fast."
He then turned back to face a visibly displeased Ivan Vanko. "I don't know where you managed to steal my technology from," Tony said, his voice dropping an octave, "but the game is over."
As he spoke, he gave the energy whips a powerful yank. However, things turned a bit awkward...
They didn't budge.
The Mark V was a lightweight, portable suit. While it offered incredible convenience and speed, it sacrificed raw physical strength. Fortunately, Tony had never relied solely on brute force. With his recent development of the new element, his energy reserves were far more abundant, allowing him to use his weapons without the usual restraint.
In an instant, the circular port on his chest flared with a blinding light. A concentrated unibeam blast caught Ivan square in the chest, sending him flying backward. He crashed into the distance, lying motionless on the ground, his fate unknown.
Deafening cheers erupted from the venue once again. The crowd roared the name "Iron Man" in a rhythmic chant. For the Stark Expo, this was a disastrous opening ceremony. But for Tony's persona as Iron Man, it was a wildly successful solo show.
To prevent any further surprises, Tony immediately stepped over to Ivan's side. He reached down and ripped the miniature arc reactor from the man's chest. Deprived of their power source, the two energy whips flickered and finally went dark.
Staring at the scanning results displayed on his HUD, Tony felt a flicker of surprise. Right then, Ivan—who had been lucky enough to survive the energy blast thanks to his makeshift chest piece—regained consciousness. Spitting a mouthful of blood, he looked up at Tony with a grotesque, triumphant grin.
"Stark... You lose."
"You lose!"
Tony didn't say a word. He simply frowned at Ivan Vanko as he crushed the slightly modified arc reactor in his hand.
Now that the danger had been neutralized, the security teams and guards—who were desperate to prove their usefulness—rushed onto the stage. They surrounded Ivan as if they were the ones who had actually subdued him.
"Mr. Stark, should we take him away now?" the head of security asked tentatively, looking at the silent Tony. After such a massive security breach, there would undoubtedly be a harsh investigation into their incompetence later.
"Yeah," Tony replied distractedly. His mind was elsewhere as he watched the guards haul Ivan away. Even as he coughed up blood, Ivan continued to laugh maniacally, hurling insults and curses until Tony turned and left the venue.
Mingling within the crowd, Fini watched the entire scene unfold. Today's accident was something he hadn't fully anticipated. He had interfered with Tony's life too much, and the ripple effects were making the future increasingly unpredictable.
Watching Ivan Vanko being led away, Fini felt a bit conflicted. The plot had already shifted significantly; he couldn't be sure if Justin Hammer would still manage to break Ivan out of custody as he did in the original timeline.
I should probably keep a close eye on Skye for a while. I can't let her wander around too much, Fini thought to himself. Regardless of how the timeline changed, Ivan's primary target would always be Tony. His revenge was aimed at the entire Stark legacy, including Tony's reputation and assets.
This was likely why Ivan hadn't tried to kill Tony immediately. He wanted a "perfect" revenge—he wanted to dismantle everything Tony stood for.
The Expo continued despite the chaos.
Ivan Vanko's appearance hadn't dampened Fini's mood too much. If anything, he was happy to have shaken off those two "troublesome" girls earlier than expected. However, since he had promised Billy he'd help out, he decided to give him a call to explain his disappearance.
But as soon as the call connected, Billy's frustrated voice came through first: "Fini, I've been fired."
"What?" Fini was stunned.
"That fat bastard of a manager actually said it was our fault! He claimed we didn't do the security checks properly and let that guy in. He fired all of us on the spot," Billy said, his voice thick with indignation. It was clear the management was using the newly hired interns as scapegoats for the security lapse.
"By the way, are you okay? Where are the girls?"
"I'm fine, but I got separated from them in the crowd earlier. I forgot to get their contact info, too. You should check in on them," Fini replied honestly.
"I'll call you back later then." Hearing that the girls were missing too, Billy's mood plummeted further. He hung up without another word.
Fini didn't take it to heart. In truth, he also felt that Ivan's ability to sneak in was a testament to how lax the Expo's security actually was—after all, even someone like Billy had been able to score so many tickets.
Slipping away from the throngs of fanatical fans, Fini continued his tour of the Expo. He looked at the various imaginative inventions and creative ideas on display, feeling a genuine sense of admiration.
About two hours later, Billy called back to say he had found the two girls and asked if Fini wanted to rejoin them. Fini declined. He found wandering alone to be much more relaxing. Billy didn't push the issue either; he knew that if Fini were there, the girls wouldn't spare a single glance for him.
Fini spent a full two hours exploring, yet he didn't even cover a fraction of the exhibits. The Expo was scheduled to run for an entire year, with displays constantly rotating and changing.
When he finally returned home that evening, Skye was waiting for him in the living room.
"Why are you back so late today?" Skye asked. She had assumed Fini was off practicing his mystic arts at Kamar-Taj.
"I went to check out the opening of the Stark Expo," Fini explained as he kicked off his shoes.
"Is the news true, then?" Skye's interest was instantly piqued. She spent most of her time glued to her laptop, always on top of the latest media breaks. She had known about the incident at the Expo long before Fini walked through the door.
"Is what true?" Fini didn't quite catch her drift.
"The man with the whips. The news is saying he exposed Stark's lie. During the recent Senate hearing, Stark claimed it would be years before anyone could replicate his technology."
"How should I put this..." Fini found it a bit difficult to explain. Technically, Ivan Vanko had successfully built a miniature arc reactor based on the original blueprints.
But then again, since he had the blueprints as a foundation, it wasn't a true "replication" or "cracking" of the tech from scratch. Moreover, Tony was now using a version powered by a completely new element.
"Anyway, that guy definitely isn't one of the good guys," Fini said, dodging the technicalities. He then looked at Skye seriously. "You should avoid wandering around for the next few days, especially anywhere near Stark's properties. I have a feeling things are going to get messy."
Skye always trusted Fini's instincts, so she nodded obediently. However, she couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "What kind of things?"
"I'm not entirely sure myself," Fini said with a shake of his head. With his involvement, the "future" he once knew had become increasingly foreign.
At roughly the same time, after examining the devices Ivan had used, Tony went to visit him. Ivan had been under interrogation for hours but hadn't uttered a single word.
"I don't understand why you didn't just sell this," Tony said, dressed in a sharp suit, looking down at Ivan, who had been stripped for the search. "You could have sold it to any country and made a fortune."
Ivan sat with his head bowed. The dim lighting of the cell made it hard to read his expression, but his voice sounded oddly cheerful—almost gloating.
"Tony... Do you know? If you can make God bleed, people will cease to believe in Him."
"Oh? So you're trying to turn me into an atheist?" Tony's expression was grim. He had just made those bold claims to the government, and now he had been publicly humiliated.
"When there is blood in the water, the sharks will come. All I have to do is sit here and watch, and they will swallow you whole."
Ivan finally looked up, a twisted smile playing on his blood-stained face. He seemed certain he had Tony backed into a corner. "And... a death by palladium poisoning is very painful."
"Oh," Tony responded flatly.
If he hadn't already synthesized the new element, his face would have likely turned pale at those words. Fortunately, he had already eliminated that particular "ticking clock."
"You're right about that. That stuff really is quite uncomfortable."
Tony adjusted his tie slightly, his expression turning cold and professional. "So, let's get down to business. Where did you steal my father's blueprints from?"
(End of Chapter)