Authors Note-
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The fight came to a screeching halt with Ivan's sudden appearance. Clark, ever obedient to his father, stopped his assault. Wonder Woman, however, fueled by old and new hatred, lunged towards Ivan.
"Stop!" Ivan shouted, raising a hand to calm the enraged warrior.
Wonder Woman would be kept from being swayed. "There's nothing left to say! One of us dies today!"
"Princess Diana," Ivan countered, using her formal title, "perhaps there's been a misunderstanding. Even if there's animosity between us, surely it doesn't warrant killing my butler. I could hold you captive, your life hanging in the balance. Yet, I offered to spare you, even entertain you. Shouldn't gratitude be the response, not further violence? You've injured my son, killed my housekeeper, and destroyed my farm. And despite your lineage – daughter of Zeus, Amazon princess, future leader – that doesn't grant you a free pass."
Wonder Woman, speechless, felt the weight of her actions. Her initial anger had fueled her pursuit of Ivan, but now, the reality of her destruction settled in. The sight of the dying Henry and Abigail's grief gnawed at her conscience.
Sensing a shift in Wonder Woman's demeanor, Ivan pressed his advantage. "Here's a proposition: I overlook the death of my housekeeper, and we call a truce. How does that sound?"
A flicker of anger returned to Wonder Woman's eyes. "What kind of deal is that? Is your butler just a bargaining chip? He was a living person! You can't play with human lives!" Her voice trembled with conviction. "I take responsibility for his injuries. I'll pay the ultimate price if need be. But I will never compromise with someone who disregards human life!"
Ivan, surprised by her unwavering principles, applauded. "Wonder Woman, you truly embody unwavering belief and compassion. It's rare to find someone who sticks to their core, even in such a situation. But you misunderstand. My people are precious to me. My housekeeper is irreplaceable. I won't let him die. I will resurrect him."
Wonder Woman's eyes widened. "Resurrect him? You expect me to believe that with his injuries? Don't play me for a fool!"
"Indeed, under normal circumstances, he wouldn't survive," Ivan admitted. "But my housekeeper is special. Saving him won't be difficult. So, do we have a deal? Agree, and we can settle this and save a life."
Diana, desperate to make amends, agreed. "Alright, your terms. But only if you can truly save him."
Ivan, fearing her changing heart, rushed forward and grabbed Henry. In ten minutes, he reappeared with a fully healed Henry, looking as good as new.
Believing Ivan had used some extraordinary method, Wonder Woman profusely apologized to Henry. Henry, clueless to his near-death experience, brushed it off. Ivan, feigning piety, looked skyward as if thanking some higher power.
Clark, Abigail, and even Simba, privy to the truth, silently despised Ivan's deception. Death held a certain weight for them, but it was a mere inconvenience for Henry, thanks to his resurrections. Wonder Woman, utterly oblivious to Ivan's trickery, had been manipulated. The future remained to be seen – how would she react upon learning the truth?
The story concludes with a restored farm, courtesy of Ivan's magic, and a seemingly peaceful resolution. However, the underlying tensions and hidden knowledge create a sense of unease, hinting at future confrontations.
The animosity between Ivan and Wonder Woman had finally subsided, but it left a lingering awkwardness. Perhaps Wonder Woman needed to be fully committed to reconciliation. Regardless, she made a peculiar request. She downplayed admiration for Ivan's strength, instead expressing a desire for more interaction to "help grow her strength."
In essence, Wonder Woman wanted to spar with Ivan regularly. However, Ivan was more interested in something other than this kind of combat. Ivan believed their current sparring sessions were pointless against foes like Wonder Woman, like "abusing vegetables" with no real benefit. Ivan wasn't interested in these free-for-alls.
Caught in a bind, Ivan knew refusing Wonder Woman's polite request would seem insensitive. So, with a touch of trickery, Ivan "threw Clark under the bus," claiming that defeating Clark was a prerequisite for fighting him.
Sure enough, Wonder Woman took the bait, shifting her focus to Clark. From then on, Clark's life turned miserable. Daily battles with Wonder Woman left him utterly exhausted and on the verge of a breakdown.
While acknowledging the brutality, Ivan saw this as a potential path to better communication between Diana and Clark. Maybe, just maybe, their constant sparring would eventually lead to...well, let's say, a more intimate outcome.
Time flowed by. Ivan had finally recovered from the physical toll of battling Thanos and Darkseid, and the period of rest and rejuvenation significantly improved his overall fitness. However, to truly defeat these cosmic threats, further enhancement was necessary.
Ivan embarked on a rigorous training regime. He utilized the energy converter daily, channeling the unique energy of rules to strengthen his body and abilities. His strength steadily rose while his mind delved deeper into the universe's fundamental rules.
One day, amidst his usual energy absorption routine, the Red Queen arrived with news. Kyle and Howard had unexpectedly arrived on Skull Island, requesting an urgent audience with Ivan.
"Kyle, you two coming here together must mean something serious," Ivan acknowledged. "Tell me what's going on. Let's hear the details."
Howard's worried expression confirmed Ivan's suspicions. "Tony's missing, Dr. Ivan. Please, we need your help. I haven't told Maria yet, fearing it would worry her, but I can't keep it a secret much longer. Please, find Tony as soon as possible," Howard pleaded.
"Tony? Your son! Where did he disappear?" Ivan suddenly realized this. Based on the timeline, this aligned with the pivotal moment in Iron Man's origin story. Tony's terrorist capture would catalyze his transformation into the superhero Iron Man.
Feigning ignorance, Ivan pressed for more information. "Tony went missing during a military exercise a week ago, launching a missile he designed. But on the return trip, he was attacked by terrorists..."
Howard recounted the events, mirroring the plot of the Iron Man movie. Though already familiar with the story, Ivan listened intently, maintaining the act.
"...We've conducted thorough satellite searches, but the vast desert landscape hinders our efforts. It's impossible to determine what transpired during the attack. Every attempt to locate Tony has proven fruitless, so we're contacting you for help."
"Ah, OK," Ivan said, feigning surprise. "Rest assured, Tony has a magical item I created. Using a compass pointer, I can pinpoint his general location. Once we have that, another nanobot search will surely lead us to him."
Wasting no time, Ivan retrieved a compass etched with intricate, otherworldly runes from the warehouse. As he cast a spell, the pointer spun wildly. The runes flickered to life one by one, highlighting a specific region on a nearby map. After a brief analysis, Ivan circled a designated area.
Kerry swooped into action, deploying a nanobot shell at the center of the marked zone. Invisible to the naked eye, countless nanobots swarmed outwards, meticulously combing the area. Within half a day, they located Tony Stark.
Deep within a dark cave, Tony stirred awake. Having feigned cooperation with his captors, he'd bought himself some time. His fingers brushed against a familiar green spar pendant, his brow furrowing in thought.
Unbeknownst to everyone, a couple of mosquito-sized drones, their red eyes like tiny beacons, buzzed in from outside and settled in a hidden corner. A closer look would reveal these weren't ordinary insects; their eyes were sophisticated electronic cameras, silently transmitting the cave's interior directly to Skull Island.
"You're saying," Tony asked his cellmate, Yinsen, another captive, "during my coma, when I was on death's door, this pendant emitted a green light and…melted into my body? You believe it saved my life?"
Yinsen, a fellow prisoner, nodded grimly. "Yes. Your condition was critical. Your heart even stopped. But then, every time your heartbeat faltered, this pendant seemed to emanate a light that coursed through you. It has to be some mystical power. You're lucky it appears unremarkable. Someone tried to yank it off, but the cord held firm. Given your state, I didn't dare risk a struggle."
Tony's mind drifted back to his mother, Maria. Could she, even in death, still be watching over him?