"Hey, buddy! I was waiting for your call," Tony's voice came through, oozing his usual cocky charm. In the background, Dave could faintly hear the buzz of machinery and what sounded like someone—probably Happy—arguing with another engineer. "Please tell me you've landed yourself another one of your Devil Contracts or something equally dramatic."
Dave chuckled, shaking his head. "Nope."
"Then don't call me," Tony quipped, the sound of something clattering in the background. "I'm a busy man, you know."
"But I've got something equally exciting," Dave teased, leaning back in his chair.
"Oh, great," Tony said, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Give me a moment to get champagne ready."
Dave smirked, knowing exactly how to pique Tony's curiosity. "You're going to want to hear this."
"Nope, I'm not, unless it's another world adventure," Tony said flatly.
"Oh, there is another world—only this time, an alien army is coming to invade us," Dave replied with a calm yet teasing tone.
Tony paused, his voice dropping. "Wait, let's not joke about this," he said, dismissing Happy, who had been fussing over the tower's decorations. The Stark Tower was now fully operational, and Happy was helping with some final touches to its design.
"You're joking, right?" Tony asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Nope, and it wasn't me this time, if that's what you're wondering," Dave said with a smirk. "You know SHIELD?"
Tony nodded. "Yeah. My people sued them over a breach of privacy last year. A pretty spicy back-and-forth until we settled the whole thing. What about them?"
"They screwed up," Dave said bluntly.
Tony sighed, leaning back. "Typical. What did they do now?"
"They've been playing around with a cube from Captain America's era—the Tesseract. It turns out it's not just a fancy paperweight. They accidentally opened a portal, and now Loki—Thor's brother—has shown up, mind-controlling people and plotting an invasion," Dave explained.
Tony shook his head. "Loki, huh? As in Viking myth Odin thor and Loki stuff? You're serious about this?"
"As serious as I can be," Dave replied. "And before you ask—no, I'm not involved. This was all SHIELD's doing."
Tony exhaled loudly. "SHIELD. I should've known. They're like a toddler with a nuclear reactor—always on the verge of a meltdown."
Dave raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you once say you liked one of their agents?"
"Yeah, Natasha," Tony admitted, grinning. "If it weren't for Pepper, I'd definitely try to charm her. Too bad she's also a lethal assassin who could snap my neck."
Dave chuckled. "Sounds like your type."
"Not anymore. These days, I stick to monogamy. Mostly," Tony joked, but his tone carried a hint of sincerity.
"Oh, the great playboy finally met his match," Dave teased.
Tony snarked back, "I was actually planning to propose, but now this alien invasion nonsense pops up."
"Really?" Dave asked, raising an eyebrow. "Am I to assume this is your way of inviting me to your wedding?"
Tony nodded with a smirk. "Yeah, I was gonna call you once it was approved."
"Don't be nervous. She'll say yes. I can see that she's really into you," Dave assured him.
Tony chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. Anyway, you said you needed my help?"
"Yes and no," Dave replied.
"SHIELD is coming up with their Avengers plan—a team of superheroes to fight this alien threat," Dave said.
"And why do you think I'll say yes to them?" Tony asked. Unlike the original timeline, SHIELD couldn't strong-arm Tony since there was no Arc Reactor poisoning him, thanks to the Turbo Force-Steel, Dave had given him.
"Because your father was one of SHIELD's founders," Dave replied, imagining Tony's expression change to disbelief.
"You're joking, right?" Tony said, sitting up straighter.
"Nope. Dead serious. He was close friends with Captain America. In fact, your dad made Steve's shield and was a big part of SHIELD's early days," Dave explained.
Tony sighed, leaning back. "Okay, fine. I'll join them. I'll also take a look at who else they've got besides us and see what their so-called superheroes bring to the table," he said, cutting the call.
Dave smirked, nodding to himself. "Well, this should be interesting."
Back at the newly built Stark Tower, Happy walked into Tony's private lounge, finding him sipping a drink.
"There's a visitor," Happy said.
"Who?" Tony asked, not looking up.
"His name is Phil Coulson. Says he's with SHIELD," Happy replied.
Hearing "SHIELD," Tony paused mid-sip, then sighed. "Fine. Tell him to come in."
Happy nodded and left to fetch Coulson. A moment later, Coulson walked in, carrying a large file under his arm. He was just going to say when...
"Dave filled me in on already." Tony interrupted.
"Wait, you're friends with Dave?" Coulson asked.
Tony nodded turning to look at him. "I am," he replied,
Coulson nodded as he find himself looking at Tony's chest curiously. "What happened to your Arc Reactor?" he asked, noticing the glowing M-like emblem on Tony's chest, unlike his circular Arc reactor.
"I got an upgrade," Tony said with a smirk.
Unlike the traditional Arc Reactor, which was a physical device embedded in his chest, the one Dave had provided was a fusion of advanced technology and magic. It appeared as a tattoo of steel etched into Tony's skin, glowing with a soft blue light. The new "Reactor" tapped into Turbo Force—a specialized energy field that allowed Tony to manipulate technology and advanced systems seamlessly. And also unlike the Max steel -Steel which is an autonomous robot, his Steel is just an glowing M shaped tattoo.
"Leave it, I got already filled on Alien problem, I want to ask you guys connection with my Dad?" Tony asked sitting back a seh picked up his poison.
" Your father was a founder of SHIELD, a organization meant to protect Earth from anything beyond Human, Aliens, Super power individuals and such" Phil said as he gave the file to tony.
"It has all you need to know" he said as Tony took the file, opening it several holograms came up, each showing a different person.
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