Phil handed Liam the phone after introducing himself. He was certain that General Ross had been watching everything, given the multiple drones hovering above. Liam took the phone.
"Ross speaking," Ross answered over the phone.
"Your worst nightmare here. You have some guts pinning the blame for what you've done on me," Liam replied.
"Son, you have some nerve speaking to a high-ranking official..."
"I don't care even if you're the US President. Listen here, you piece of garbage—if you don't back off now, I will find Banner and your daughter to testify about what you've done. I'm sure SHIELD will be able to track down the scientists involved in the super soldier serum research. From what I know, it's banned. And I kid you not, I will drag every bit of your honor and dignity through the mud if I decide to bring you down. Your Erik Stevens has done a lot of dirty work outside the US. I will hunt down every one of your black ops soldiers and feed them to your enemies. Then we'll see how much support you have left in your position."
"You dare threaten a US General while standing on US soil..." General Ross was incensed.
"General Ross, I'd advise you to stop saying those words. He will definitely come for your head. Why don't you do some research on this person before you threaten him?" It was Tony, who had somehow hijacked the call and added himself in.
"..."
"Tony Stark, you're running out of favors to ask for. Your company has already shut down the weapons department, and you've been running solo in the Middle East. Oh yes, I know what you've been busy with..."
"Listen here, General. I'm saying this for your own good—don't cross the line when you haven't seen the entire picture. Now, do as Wraithborn says. Or before the ghostly gentleman here takes another dig at you, I will personally sue you for human experimentation," Tony said. This shut Ross up.
After a moment of silence, he hung up. Promptly, the US soldiers backed off. Of course, they took Erik too. They were thankful he was alive, just passed out. Meanwhile, SHIELD took the unconscious body of Abomination.
Fury hadn't had time to reprimand Ross before, as he had to go through proper channels. Now that he had time, he used the World Council to take custody of Abomination. Phil sighed in relief as everything calmed down. It had been an exhausting couple of hours, and the situation could have been devastating for New York.
Though he was sure that by morning, the news headlines would be quite explosive.
"Did you see the news? A monster broke out in Harlem... There were some casualties, and some people even got video footage."
"Yeah, I saw. It was horrible. But that guy called Wraithborn is so cool. He looks like an elf. I bet you he's an elf."
"He must be a high elf. Did you see the crown?"
"Look at you two. Elves aren't real. Get a grip."
"Oh yeah? Well, monsters weren't real yesterday, and now look at Central Park and Harlem. It's done and dusted. It'll take years to rebuild."
"But I'm also glad the General got indicted. Apparently, he started the super serum project, and that led to the monster."
"It's the NY Times. I don't believe them."
Such conversations were rampant when Liam returned to school. Surprisingly, there was no negative news against him. He was sure he had been accused in front of everyone, and the drones must have recorded it.
Maybe SHIELD had lent him a hand. But along with the news about Abomination, his name became famous as Wraithborn. He was happy with the name, though. Tony was also amazed at how powerful Liam had become.
There was also good news from Tony's side. He had replaced his arc reactor with a new element, far better than the previous one. And the Stark Expo was finally on the horizon. Liam would be teaming up with Tony Stark to showcase their new invention. Since Liam had been skipping class a lot, the principal had asked him to include Midtown High School's name in the event.
Liam promised, which made the principal very happy. The dark cloud of drug issues in the school would now be overshadowed by Liam and his two friends. He was glad he had chosen to listen to Liam that day instead of just suspending him.
"Welcome to LA." Happy was waiting for them on the runway with his car as Liam and his friends landed. "Tony has booked a villa for you near his home."
"Thanks, Happy." Liam thanked him by bringing him New York pizza, which he loved. Happy had been handling more responsibilities lately. He then spoke about the upcoming itinerary.
The Expo would last for three days, with their exhibition scheduled for the final day on the main stage. So they had plenty of time to look around and have fun. After dropping off his luggage, Liam went to Tony's home.
Chris and Bonnie opted to rest instead. By now, they had realized that Liam was very close to Tony, and joining in on their reunion would feel like an invasion of privacy. Besides, they wouldn't understand their technical mumbo jumbo anyway.
"Welcome back, Sir."
"Hello, JARVIS. Where is he?"
"At his lab, Sir. He has been informed. You can go directly."
"Thanks."
"My pleasure."
Liam walked in to see Tony working on a brand-new suit. This one was different from any he had seen before. Unlike Tony's traditional suits, the helmet seemed to be made of a transparent material. It resembled the helmets worn by Kryptonians in Man of Steel from his previous life.
"Like my new suit? The helmet is made from the same technology as the shield of BT. Though my helmet can't redirect bullets, but it has the same ability as the rest of the suit. I would have liked if the whole suit could be made of the same tech, but too much energy is being consumed."