10 reviews = bonus chapter
500 gems = bonus chapter
Advanced chapters at:
patreon.com/FanFictionPremium
***
- You just let me drive a Lamborghini Aventador, it's good to be rich," August said aloud as he accelerated to two hundred kilometres per hour in a sports car worth over four hundred thousand dollars. The wide toll road was almost empty in the evening, the rare cars on the road gave way to the Lamborghini travelling at breakneck speed. No one wanted to be involved in an accident with such an expensive car.
The great speed did not interfere with August's control of the car. His perception exceeded that of a normal person by more than a hundred times. With this perception, even a speed of five hundred kilometres per hour would have no effect on him. He would be driving as relaxed as he was at two hundred kilometres per hour, thinking about something in his head.
August knew about Stark's night flights. The girl tried to hide them from him, but the mercenary's keen senses were hard to deceive. He said nothing about the flights to the girl, giving Anita a chance to comfortably test the new suit. "Mark the Third" was the standard and basic Iron Man suit in the film, and it was the suit that started his superhero career.The turning point in the Iron Man film canon was when he flew into Afghanistan and pogromed the terrorists occupying the city. It was after this moment that America became aware of Iron Man.
But the Afghanistan event was in the film, and how it would be in this world, August didn't know. Perhaps Anita might not have become a superhero at all and then the world would have lost a key figure in its history. Alien invasions without Iron Man would have been far bloodier than the films showed and perhaps the world wouldn't have even survived the first attack of Thanos' army provoked by Loki.
Everything came to a head when Anita climbed back into her suit for the night and flew to an unknown destination. August did not sleep during the girl's night flights, but actively monitored news feeds on the Internet or did some other business of his own. On Anita's last flight, the mercenary, as usual, sat and watched American news covering the situation in Afghanistan.
In his head he was still thinking about returning back to Afghanistan, so he tried to keep abreast of all the latest events in that country. And the situation there was pretty grim. Local terrorist groups were gradually driving American forces out of the country, capturing city after city. A year or two and the country would be completely taken over by terrorist groups.
The Americans had the forces to confront the Afghan terrorists and even drive them completely out of the country, but they simply did not deploy troops at full strength. The top American commanders were bogged down in their personal interests and didn't care about their soldiers.
When August was in Afghanistan as a mercenary, he heard more than once about American drug trafficking out of Afghanistan. Some took advantage of the chaotic situation on the battlefield and made money, while others turned a blind eye.
Leafing through the news feed as usual, August came across a colourful news post. It had been posted a couple of minutes ago, and it had already become incredibly popular, making it to the top of the list. The post contained several photos and even a two-minute video. The mercenary's pupils focused on the very first photo, which showed a rather familiar figure in iron armour. Anita Stark had arrived in Afghanistan and cleared the militants from the occupied city.
Apparently it has begun, August thought then and smiled. At least somewhere his knowledge had helped, and he already had a rough idea of what would happen after Afghanistan. It would be worthwhile to hint about them to Anita, so that she could prepare for them in advance. Though even without preparation this overly cheeky girl could handle everything.
Coming out of the bedroom into the kitchen, August made himself a coffee and noticed with his side vision that the camera in the kitchen was following him closely. There was no need to guess, the artificial intelligence, Anita Stark's faithful assistant Joanna, was responsible for all the security in the house.
Perhaps before she left, Anita had ordered Joanna to keep an eye on his movements around the villa. Now the artificial intelligence is bound to report on his nightly visit to Stark's kitchen and she may suspect something. After all, the mercenary was more than sure that Anita had already planted bugs in his phone, which meant that Joanna could easily follow his activity on the Internet. It would be strange if, upon learning of Stark's appearance in Afghanistan, Augustus would do nothing.
Holding a cup of coffee in one hand, the mercenary walked to the villa's exit and jerked the front door handle a few times. It was obviously locked. Anita's villa had electronic locks that could be opened with a fingerprint or with the permission of an artificial intelligence. Stark still hadn't given August access to her villa. Whether she didn't trust him or something else.
Having finished the remaining coffee in his cup, the mercenary went up to the first floor and entered Anita's room. As expected, she wasn't there. The only thing left to do was to go up to the helipad and wait for her to arrive, and then reprimand the bitchy person for her stupid actions.
If she was going to Afghanistan, why hadn't she told him? She could have loaned him a Mark Two suit and then he could have helped her in case of emergency. But the girl didn't. In the film, such stubbornness, one might say stupidity, didn't drive the original Tony to his grave. But that was in the film, and how it will be here is unknown. Given the bleakness and brutality of the universe he's in, it would be no surprise if Anita fails to debunk as a superheroine in Afghanistan and just dies an ignominious death.
Stark is very difficult to control and if she notices attempts at manipulation from someone, she could easily turn against that person. Her character will not allow her to be led about by any person, rather she will be the leader. That's why Augustus roughly speaking hoped only for luck, without getting deep into Anita's personal affairs. He could only guide her a little and give her safety tips, but no more.
During the meeting with Stark, August decided to make an attempt to set the girl straight a little. He pretended to be a very annoyed mercenary, whose interests Anita had blatantly disregarded by going to the battlefield in Afghanistan. Without saying anything to his hired bodyguard.
Although there was no need to pretend, Augusta Stark had been annoyed by his behaviour too many times lately, and he just decided to vent all the accumulated emotions at once.
Having arranged a small scuffle on the helipad, the man had achieved his goal. Anita was silky smooth for a while. All the rest of the night she stayed away from him and did not annoy him, and in the morning she made a good breakfast. Then the rest of the day the girl hung around him, not showing her past character. August was even surprised at this transformation Stark, it seemed as if she was replaced by another person.
Towards evening, the system window suddenly appeared in front of the mercenary sitting on the chair. He almost twitched at the sudden appearance of the system's alert.
[Mission received!
Friendly Neighbour.
Description: Go to the Ozborn family dinner and stay overnight.
Reward: Superhuman Dexterity Level 2]
The system gave out quests very rarely, always rewarding generously for completing them. This time the assignment wasn't about killing or protecting someone, but about a regular family gathering. And what could go wrong at a family gathering? Lots of things.
August's contract with Anita spelled out in black and white the days off he'd never taken advantage of. To get to the Osborne family dinner, August had taken advantage of the days off he'd been given this month.
Anita was surprised at his sudden departure and decided to provide the mercenary with her personal car. In this way she tried to smooth over the sharp edges that had arisen between them. The girl thought that the reason for August's sudden departure on holiday was her recent misdemeanour. Perhaps it was the last straw in her relationship with the mercenary and now they were irrevocably spoilt.
Of course, Anita's behaviour didn't upset August, all the irritation had been vented yesterday. The mercenary didn't see the point in long grudges, he always had something to do, there was no time to take offence at anyone.
Leaving the toll road and speeding through the dark streets, August drove into the private sectors. A few sharp turns and the sports car stopped in front of a huge territory surrounded by a fence. Getting out of the car, the mercenary approached the gates of the mansion and pressed the intercom button.
- Hello, I'm here at the invitation of Norma Osborne.
***
Don't forget to donate gems.
And subscribe at:
patreon.com/FanFictionPremium