"Light-Speed-Engine!" Tony blurted in surprise and ate up the entire report like the most succulent meal of his life. His body froze and he read the entire research report from top to bottom. He hoped that it was real, and he wanted to make sure of it.
Thud!
Tony dropped to the floor with a metallic thud, rubbing his tired eyes. He glanced around at the ship's massive structure, taking it all in with a mix of fascination and fatigue. "Alright, Jarvis, cancel all my plans for the week. We're not going anywhere until we've taken this thing apart, studied it, and recorded everything."
Jarvis instantly obliged. "Your schedule has been cleared, Sir."
"Great, time to live a nerd's dream." Tony stood up again and started reading all the data that was available in the ship's system. Surprisingly, it was written in two languages. One was English and the other was some alien language. Thankfully, Jarvis was there to compare the two formats and quickly learn the new alien language.
Slowly, Tony started to notice mentions of what was likely an alien species. Skrulls, Kree, and many more. However, when he found the word Empire added to the Kree name, he felt a little shaken. There were space empires out there!—Earth stood no chance if they decided to invade.
Or worse.
"They're already among us." He murmured as he stopped reading. "Whoever ran this joint, that creature was researching the Light Speed Engine on Earth. But this makes no sense—the schematics demand an energy source that's cosmically impossible."
Following that, Tony started to inspect the entire ship. Trying to make sense of all the intricate technologies, and especially the artificial gravity, and the engine room that housed a peculiar device.
"It's called Universal Neural Teleportation Network, Sir," Jarvis voiced. "I found an engineering manual. It's written in the Kree Language only."
"Water to a thirsty man! Pour it onto me, Jarvis. Guide me through this." Tony started to play around with the engine, or whatever the thing was. The entire ship was definitely centuries ahead of Earth's technology, but that didn't stop him. Born with inhuman intellect, most problems took an hour at best.
With the manual and the very thing right in front of him, it became even easier. One after another, he went through checklist after checklist. One room at a time, he slowly studied everything—from anti-gravity to navigation, air circulation, food processing, life support, emergency pods, and even some weapons systems that were more defensive than offensive. Slowly, days passed, eating nothing but the emergency rations he had brought with him.
The best part was that he felt no fatigue. So excited about everything that he only stopped when there was no other option but to take a small nap. Even in those moments, he'd hand Jarvis some work.
Eventually, he found a part of the ship that showed signs of damage. Not natural, but rather, evidence of a battle.
"The marks point towards an energy attack. The scratches on the floor are matching a feline."
"Cat?!" Tony exclaimed and checked the marks all around the area. He could imagine signs of an intense battle. Surprisingly, he found no dead bodies. "Too bad. I'd have gotten an idea what alien ladies look like."
"Sir, there is something ahead of you, in a vent." Jarvis alerted him.
Tony carefully walked to the said vent and looked inside it. It was a small, pipe-like thing hidden by a mesh-like screen.
He burned the mesh and looked inside. He noticed the pipe went long and far, and had turns going upward as well.
Reckoning it fell through and got blown that far, he shoved his metallic arm in and pulled out the stuck thing. It felt tiny, rectangular, and very thin, like a sheet of plastic. He looked at it as soon as it was out.
"What the—" He froze, eyebrows hitting the ceiling. "Is that Fury? With hair? No way. He knew about this place? Hold on… Is this how they made that Quinjet?"
It was a SHIELD identity card with Level 3 clearance. He chuckled at the pitifully low level. But then again, he remembered he didn't even have Level 1.
I can't wait to get elected to know all these things. If I had this treasure trove before, the Iron Guardians could have been so much stronger. Tony didn't know what to feel about this. And real aliens are walking on Earth.
Despite having met with Hulk and the mutants, he felt more threatened by the existence of aliens.
Earth needs protection.
"Jarvis, how long have I been here?"
"Ten days, eight hours, nineteen minutes, and four seconds."
Ten?! I thought it was only a week, or at best eight days. He disappointedly sighed. Can't be gone for this long.
"Alright, let's hit the pause button for now. Start plotting the Iron Guardian upgrades. I want this whole ship in pieces, and they'll do it." Tony ordered and walked back towards the hanger. "How's the secret base coming up?"
"Nearly complete, Sir. The satellites are in position, and the Iron Guardians have constructed fifteen underground levels as instructed."
"Great!" Tony stepped back into the attachments of his Destroyer Armor that had brought him to space. "So, did anything blow up while I was out? How was the public reaction towards my interview?"
"Sir, the automotive lobby is exerting significant pressure on Ms. Potts to delay the launch of Stark Industries' automotive division. Although the government has retracted its direct opposition following your recent interview, the general sentiment among the bureaucrats remains unfavorable. On a brighter note, public interest is surging—we've received over half a million emails and nearly a million phone calls regarding bookings for the showcased vehicles. Additionally, both Boeing and Airbus have expressed interest in the proposed engines and are requesting a demonstration."
Tony smirked with pride and jumped out of the alien ship, taking a straight dive down to the magnificent planet he called home. "And the stock?"
"It has fallen."
"What?!"
"Your absence over the last ten days has sparked quite the conspiracy theories, Sir. Some believe the government has done away with you, while others speculate more imaginative fates. The stock, unfortunately, has taken a five percent hit—I bought the dip, Sir."
"Hah! MY BOY!" Tony bellowed in true pride for his AI son. "Now crank up the tunes. It's time to make some noise!"
Woosh!
From ice to burning flames. Tony re-entered Earth's atmosphere like a champ. The new Destroyer suit's integrity was out of the world. In fact, Tony accelerated and went as fast as he could, pushing his suit to the limit. Rarely did he ever get the chance to go 100% output. This was one of those times.
On top of that, he was hoping to wake up the residents of Manhattan by making some loud sonic booms while high. The clouds over the city even shined bright orange as his thruster's flames slowed his reentry.
Shwoooo!
Boom!
He came down from the clouds with an intense wave of rocket rumble. But he was sure not to overdo it, lest the glass buildings shatter and kill those walking below. However, he did enough that thousands of mobile phone cameras tried to capture his flying figure.
He went lower, between high skyscrapers, waving at the pretty ladies in various offices. All the while he spoke with Happy on the call.
"Where were you, Tony? We almost booked a funeral for you."
"Calm your tits, Happy. I was out in space. Now, did you pass the message to Professor Bill Foster?"
"I did it ten days ago. The guy's been calling me a dozen times a day, asking about you. Even Ms. Potts got in on it and hired him right away. He still insists on meeting you," Happy replied.
Tony frowned, confused as to why the man wanted to meet him. He only invited the man because he needed a hand in nanotech research.
"Tell him I'll visit his college tomorrow," Tony replied and cut the call abruptly. "Jarvis, what's happening to me?"
"Nothing, Sir. All your vitals are normal."
"No!" Tony groaned all of a sudden. "No! Not again! It's that same crap—what's-her-name with the red hair did! My head… It feels fucking heavy! Activate the electromagnetic field, Jarvis!"
"It's been active since we entered the atmosphere, Sir."
"What? Then…" Tony clutched his forehead, feeling something interfering with his thoughts. But this wasn't like the time at Charles' school. No, this time it felt as if his body had gone numb and he was no longer alive. "H-Hospital! Take me to the Hospital!"
Jarvis ran all the medical diagnostics but found nothing wrong with Tony. So Jarvis took over the controls and jetted straight downward towards the nearest hospital. At the same time, it sent an emergency call to the same hospital, along with texts to all the needed doctors to be ready to report.
Shhhhh~
Soon enough, Jarvis landed in front of the emergency room of the Metro-General Hospital. Nurses were already present there with a stretcher, but they failed to move, too much in shock.
"Mr. Stark needs medical attention!" Jarvis announced in a robotic voice and made the suit open up to let Tony out.
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