After waking up around midday, Liam felt refreshed. He dressed, grabbed his sling ring, and thought, 'Time to get to know the new form of my spear better.'
He focused on creating a portal, managing to open one just large enough to step through. On the other side was a vast, flat area filled with dark yellow grass. "Cloncurry, Australia. One of the flattest places in the world with endless open space," he muttered. "Much better than the freezing in the Arctic," shivering at the thought.
He stepped through the portal and took a seat on the warm ground, enjoying the sun shining down on him. " Ohh I'm going to put this sling ring to great use," Liam said, a small smile on his face. "Alright, enough messing around. Let's get started."
He summoned Incursio's armor around himself and grabbed his spear, Neontote. "The normal form has changed quite a bit too," he noted, looking at the edges, which had changed to a lighter color red than before. "It's gotten sharper too. I could probably slice through that fiend's armor in one hit now."
"Time to test the new form," he said aloud, while thinking, 'New form.' Neontote responded, morphing as Liam watched with a grin. The edges of his blade shifted back, making way for a dragon's head with open jaws to appear in between them. "Looks better every time," he mused.
Looking at the weapon, he noticed its color had changed to a deep crimson. "I wonder how hot this can get," Liam said to himself. He aimed at the ground, channeling energy through it. Flames shot out, glowing a bright red. "This should be around 1,000 degrees Celsius," he said while remembering basic chemistry, then he increased the amount of energy he send through. The flames gradually changed from red to orange and finally to a deep blue color. "Now it's around 2,000 degrees," he estimated, noticing the ground in front of him starting to melt.
He stopped pouring in energy and let the weapon cool. "For 2,000 degrees, I have to use five times the energy I do for 1,000. It's draining, but its really nice to have."
'It could probably get hotter,' he thought, 'but I've got other things to do today and don't want to exhaust myself.' Leaning back, he mused, 'This is a perfect crowd-control weapon, especially at lower temperatures, where I can supply it with enough energy to keep it active for the entire time Incursio is summoned.'
Deactivating Incursio, he sat down to think. "I should name this form; calling it the 'new form' is getting annoying. With the dragon head on the spear, 'Dragon Mode' fits." He chuckled. "I don't have to shout the name like an anime character anyway."
Satisfied, Liam stood up and used his sling ring to portal back to his room in the sanctum. Taking out his laptop, he pulled up a press conference video with interest. "An unfortunate training exercise involving an F-22 Raptor occurred yesterday. I'm pleased to report the pilot was unharmed. As for the unexpected events on the ground in Gulmira, it's still unclear who or what intervened, but I can assure you that the U.S. government was not involved," said the spokesperson, Rody, onscreen.
Switching tabs, Liam thought, 'In two days, Tony's going to face off with Obadiah in California. I should head there now and book a hotel room for a few days.'
'But first,' he thought, 'It's time to invest everything in Stark Industries.' He spent the next few minutes purchasing as many shares as he could. Once done, he closed his laptop, considering his next steps. 'I still need to meet with Nick Fury at some point… I can just meet with Coulson too I guess. In the movies, he was in California following Tony for a debrief.' A memory of a recent conversation with his grandfather surfaced, confirming that Coulson had transferred him to a safe location.
Liam opened a portal to an alley in Los Angeles, California. Once there, he took out his phone and began searching for nearby hotels. As he walked, he thought of a way to bring Coulson to him. 'I still have my credit card,' he thought. 'S.H.I.E.L.D. must have noticed me buying online stocks earlier, so they're probably still watching for any other credit card activity. A small charge should be enough to lure them here.'
Changing course, he walked to a nearby diner, ordered a midday cocktail, and paid with his credit card. Moving to the outside patio, he took a seat with a view of the street. 'Now, I just have to wait.'
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"Sir, we've detected a transaction," an agent informed Nick Fury. "Liam's credit card was just used to place an order."
"Do we have a location?" Fury asked.
"Yes, he's at 448 S Hill Street," the agent confirmed.
Fury reached for his phone.
Coulson, already driving in his black SUV, answered his ringing phone. "Yes, boss?"
"Change of plans. Head to 448 S Hill Street—Liam's credit card was just used there."
"Understood, boss," Coulson replied, ending the call and making a U-turn toward the address.
"Meeting him at a restaurant, huh?" he muttered as he navigated through traffic.
Within minutes, Coulson parked outside the restaurant and scanned the outdoor patio, quickly spotting Liam sipping a cocktail and waving him over.
"Hey, Coulson, over here!" Liam called.
Coulson walked over, a wry smile on his face. "So, you wanted to meet?"
"Yep. What took you so long? I thought you'd be here before I finished my second cocktail." Liam smirked. "You should try one; they're really good."
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Sorry for the shorter chapter today, I have a massive headache. I will try to upload 2 chapters tomorrow.