7. Humble Beginnings

Previously..

"Hey...Name's Tony Stark", he stretched his hand for a handshake.

"Iron Ma...I mean It's nice to meet you. Names Dastaan. Dastaan Moirai", I took his hand in a firm grip before replying and almost fucking up the universe (figuratively).

"Oh Yes! I wanna buy your company", he looked like a bulb just turned on in his head.

"And I yours...", I replied without hesitation smiling at his direct approach.

For a second he looked stunned before he started laughing and pat my shoulder.

"That is a good one, I hear you are not from around here", he smiled and said.

I froze for a second before I understood that he is talking about my place of birth.

"Oh you have no idea..."

"Say", Tony started after we I took a sip from my drink " I heard you created micro-food, something that could fulfill all dietary requirements without actually making use of real food. How did that come to your mind?"

'Should I nudge him..or...'

"Well I heard someone say 'With great power comes greater responsibility'. I think he stands corrected especially for people like you and me; our intellectual prowess makes us much more suitable to do something about the world with it. Just saying and not exactly against you but I think that I as a young genius should start with permanently finishing off one of humanity's weakness."

Tony snorted,"Yeah makes one hell of a performance if you ask me."

'Hmm, he didn't get it. All in time, I guess.'

He was right; for now the world had nobody out there that could create what I had. The principle behind the invention is simple but the creation is a impossible especially considering I invented the organic atomizer that could actually create the Magic-Eat pills. There was no problem with the final product and any sort of mimicry is impossible so I am the worlds only food source that can completely vanish starvation. That's just the start; with the food problem out of the way actually dealing with various Economic issues becomes a ..well a choice. A worker could just forgo any of restaurants and just bite down on one of my pills.

'When I put it that way..Hmmm.. by the time I do put my products in the market, the world's food organizations would all be begging to be mine.'

Saying it like this didn't look big but considering the situation happening right now in the MCU and the situation that will happen (not if I have a say in it) in the future, Avengers would get ostracized even after saving the world a few times over. I needed..no Earth needed its Heroes whether they like them or not. I am just taking precautionary methods so that if the time comes that they hate us or ostracize us, I do have some cards to play.

"Nice meeting you. Gotta go...", Tony shook my hands and winked towards one of his entourage (a buxom blond) and made his way towards the doorway.

I finished my drink and went to find Alexander as quite frankly he is the only one who didn't watch me like a meat slab both physically and mentally. He smiled when he looked at my bored and exasperated face.

"Nothing of interest, I guess", his tone is light and carefree while he looked around the venue for someone.

"Well these party's are not really my thing. They seem boring with a bit too much politics and business back-stab mixed in", I nodded as I simply mimicked him while I looked around for someone interesting.

"Well I do see some of my acquaintances but I am not sure as to how they will react to you. I will see if they can help you", he simply stated.

"Don't let me keep you. Who knows, I might just find someone interesting."

My eyes roamed and then stopped when I finally chided myself for being too stupid.

'X ;scan the Venue and cross-reference with Marvel Characters. Find me someone interesting.'

[Scan complete. Please start walking towards the point highlighted]

A HUD display pinged and started displaying a straight route to the other side of the Venue, one that led to the balcony.

"Who is it?"

[It's a surprise]

Immediately I started walking through the little cache of people and made my way across them to reach my destination. While walking I could still feel the eyes following my every move which did make me slightly uncomfortable. I put a smile on my face and took a glass from a passing waiter. My walk led me to the balcony which over-viewed the city. There leaning against the edge is a woman wearing a flaming red dress.

'I don't know what kind of dress that is but holy shit does it look hot on her.'

Her figure gave me a pause before I resumed my walk and put on the best honest smile that I could. Her hairstyle was different from the 'first' time I saw her but she still looked just as cool and confident as ever. Well she was younger than the first time I 'saw' her. Very Young. I walked right next to her and looked down at the multitude of lights that lit up the city.

"Are you just gonna stand there and stare or are you gonna introduce yourself?", a voice besides me broke the silence.

"Well considering you wanted some quiet, I just felt rude to interrupt", I lazily looked at the gorgeous woman besides me.

A woman who in the future will be known as 'The Wasp'. I am looking at the young and beautiful Hope Pym. Her father is the legendary scientist which actually created the Pym Particle. Besides it's name (quite cool!) everything else is..extraordinary. To be able to affect the atomic forces between 2 atoms to such a length that it can expand or shrink the distance between them. In layman terms the ability to shrink things and enlarge them i.e the Ability of Ant-Man. Even in Marvel Cinematic Universe this is in my opinion one of the most over-powered ability present.

I still lament the fact that it's creator didn't clearly use it's creation as much as he should have but that's for another time...

My monologue aside; the lady across me studied my face for a second before a curious smile made its way on her face. No doubt the lady knew her men...

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Moirai."

"Oh you know me, Miss?", I took her hand and just slightly kissed it. My smile widened when I saw her slightly red face. She faced the city and continued on as if to hide her embarrassment.

"Hope. Hope Py..Well who wouldn't know you? The forefront of Humanity is what I heard you were called", she praised while looking at me.

"Please call me Dastaan and thanks for the praise", I answered while looking at the starry sky, not questioning her about the last name omitting.

"Is it true that you will be given the Title of Saint?"

"'Yeah, Vatican called the other day confirming the date. Honestly I didn't think they would get so involved", I shrugged and told her my thoughts.

"Looks like someone is full of himself.."

"Well I did earn it. Didn't you hear them saying about the long lasting effects of my invention. The media is going crazy about it", I lifted my glass to take a sip of what I think is fruit shake.

"Of course they would; one of the Humanity Principle Death reason was solved by a 20 year old that appeared out of nowhere. By the way, just how did you do that?", her curiosity was getting piqued I think.

"Do what?", I looked at her innocently.

"You know clear out one of the Humanity's weakness yada yada yada..", she piped up with a smile.

"That's easy. I tried.", I looked at her gobsmacked expression before we both burst into laughter.

The silence returned but this time it felt comfortable.

'The night sky is pretty nice up here. Hmm.. Maybe I should think about buying a penthouse around here..'

I sipped my drink without disturbing her while she did the same. Suddenly the silence was broken and the hall behind me started playing out some soft music.

'Oh that's right. I forgot. She did say plus 1...hmm..maybe'

"Care for a dance..", I asked her with a smile.

"I don't think that's such a great idea. I am not a very good dancer", she politely refused. Her eyes moved towards the throng of people inside. I could feel her nervousness.

'Oh yeah..she is not the Hope I saw. That's in the future. Now she is just a young, inexperienced lady. But I want to dance with her..'

"Oh come on. You are going to refuse the savior of this world", I asked her with a light smile.

"Hey now that's playing dirty", she countered with a raised eyebrow. I smiled in return and offered her my right hand.

"I would like to have this dance. Would you care to join me?", I repeated.

"I would love to..", she answered with a charming smile while taking my offered right hand.

"You would love who.?", I asked with mischief.

"Very charming, Dastaan", she mocked and smiled at me.

We walked into the hall where we could see some others moving with the music. The eyes fixed on me the moment I brought a girl with me. I could hear the deep breath Hope took besides me. I put some pressure on her hand and smiled when she looked at me.

I took her right hand in my left and took the lead while we danced with the music. We enjoyed the music while our laughter filled the air. The tempo slowed down after a while and we just moved with the music. Her head dipped a bit before she started speaking in a quiet tone.

"Crowds are not my thing, especially since my father..", she tried to explain her nervousness but I cut her off.

"Oh..was that so? and here I thought you were just too charmed by me that you felt nervous."

"Ass", she countered.

"I do have a great ass if I do say so myself", I replied.

Her laugh jingled like bell and I smiled looking a side of her not seen 'on screen'. I smiled at her having fun. After the dance we retook our spot under the night sky talking about nonsensical things.

"Well before I go; considering this fantastic evening we had together and in lieu of my generosity I could give you my number?"

"Someone's feeling pretty generous today, huh. Well let me consider.."

Ding. Her phone pinged and she looked at the message. It read 'Already considered. Call me if need be.'

She looked at my face with a gobsmacked expression and whispered.

"How did you.."

"Trade secret. See you around..", I smiled while walking back into the party.

The moment I walked in, I saw a bald head. I mean a man with a bald head. For a second I froze up completely not because I knew the man (which I did) but because I knew what this man was capable of (which is seriously horrifying). For a single reason I am more afraid of this man than Fury. The man, the ex-protégé of Hank Pym. The bald head belonged to Darren Cross (Yeah! The one with the experimental shrink gun!)

Then I calmed down cause that Darren Cross was..is of the future and not the one in front of me. I sighed at myself before a polite cough made me look at him.

"Darren Cross. I work over at Pym tech. It's an honor to meet you.", I took his hand and shook it firmly before putting on my work smile.

"No introductions needed Mr. Cross. I have read some of your papers", I lied through my teeth and tried to be polite..which didn't go well.

[He has established a total of 22 papers over a variety of topics which mainly center around electronics. His most talked about paper referred to the Pym particle and had thus garnered him quite some bad reputation. For now he is by far the most infamous person in the scientific community.]

"You have!", his surprised face made me smile before I elaborated with the help of X (Obviously).

"Of course I have. Your paper on electromagnetic feedback was particularly refreshing."

"Yeah that's one of my better ones." He took a champagne glass from a passing waiter.

"Pym particle huh...can't say I blame the community.", his eyes sharpened when I mentioned Pym particle. His thirst for it is bleeding out now.

'I must be close to the time he forces Hank out of the company and takes over it. Hmm.. should I help..we'll see.'

"Enough about me. Tell me about your plans. Magic-Eat huh...quite a name and even more so the tech behind it. I am interested in just how you did it?"

"Hey now no spoilers but as a genius to another genius, it was actually quite easy. Should I say I just got lucky."

"Just got lucky huh...very well I won't ask but answer me this why did you rejected the plea of all the patent organisations? You did already give them the product, why would you not give them the production tech? They will reject your patent you know..."

"Is that supposed to be a such a big thing. I just didn't want the hassle.", I immediately responded.

The future? super villain? looked surprised before I smiled at him once more.

"It's been a fun chat but I hope you could excuse me."

"Before you go..Here. If you get some time come on down to Pym Tech. It's quite something.", he gave me his card which I pocketed quickly before I bade him farewell.

The rest of the party was spent trying to socialize and increase my 'connections' as Alexander tried to make me do. He did have some interesting findings based on how I met Mitchell Carson (the guy who gets punched in the face by Hank!) and I had to politely decline any offer he made (for fear of my life! What you think I am thinking of going head to head with the Hydra right now...!) based on the product still being in test phase. He seemed to understand but I could tell this wasn't the last time that I would meet him. There were a few others but none noteworthy, I had hopes of finding Hank Pym himself or even Obadiah Stane (even S.H.I.E.L.D employee would be fine by now) but they didn't seem to be present (or were they?)

I tried to elevate my boredom elsewhere but it didn't work so I gave up and went for the exit. My work here was mostly done; the party worked quite in my favor, you could say. I had a chance encounter (a very beautiful one!) and chance encounter (a very dangerous one! from my PoV) and made some friends or as they say some acquaintances. I couldn't meet anyone else but it seemed that now that I was a prominent member of the inner circles at least superficially. Anything else would be too much to ask for right now and as a bonus..

[Relation Managing] (Passive) {Lv. 4/10}

You are now able to properly correspond to people and able to affect people's judgement by speech alone.

Based on Charm and Wisdom may have an extreme effect.

Now includes : {Speech. Persuasion. Deceit...}

This was new even for me as similar skills that I had learnt the moment I tried them (Deceit wasn't that hard to learn you know...I do work with a spy!)were all assimilated into a single skill which was good since I hated to see a long list of similar skills. Another thing I learnt was that the effect the skills had on me were greater the higher the skill level. I mean I didn't have to think to correct my posture, change my behavior, speak affluently and observe minute behavior patterns.

The passive skills were affecting me without any prompt which at first scared me a bit but once I felt their effects I figured out their triggers and it was not as of I could simply delete the skills now,could I?. My life is a game now so skills were the same..something that I can and will use to become stronger.

Speaking of which I still haven't found the dungeon. I think combat does make me level up though considering I didn't kill the bully back in China and still leveled up. So for now I have to increase my combat awareness to level up.

While I sat on top of the Wilshire Grand Center I synchronized with the high-point but there weren't any quests around here. I sighed and looked at the stars feeling melancholy about this world and my role in it.

"Natasha, prep the jet. I grow bored of the meetings here..". I answered the call when it connected.

"Understood. Anything else?"

"That's all."

The next few days flew by in a jiffy and soon I was informed by X that my press release for our Magic-Eat was scheduled for tomorrow. The venue is the 3rd floor Media Relations Office (Honestly I didn't even know such a thing existed..until X notified me.) I am a bit nervous over it but I shrugged what's the worst that can happen (I just jinxed myself, didn't I? SHIT!)

The rest of the evening was spent trying to organize and iron out the details concerning the first unveiling and furthermore the first testing that would be simultaneously taking place. The last one was my idea. I mean who is better than the reporters themselves to be a walking talking advertisement (no offense). Well it could also be taken as a publicity stunt which is a plus in my head.

For security, instead of S.H.I.E.L.D (or HYDRA) appearing on the premises making me nervous; it would be much better if I just invite them in. So I gave my buddy Fury (Samuel Jackson for the win) a call.

"Hello, is this the angriest person in S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"..."

"Come on, don't be like that. That is a good one."

"..."

"I mean it is kind of bad.."

"..."

"I admit not my best but that bad huh..."

"What do you want?", perhaps tired of my jokes but Fury's voice is a octave lower as if someone is choking him while he spoke.

"Well I wanted to invite you for my press conference. I mean I know you would be there anyway but it's always nice to be invited. I don't know why but I feel as if there would be trouble."

"And why would S.H.I.E.L.D help you?"

"Yeah that's fair; so word of advice do not come to the conference tomorrow."

I cut my call after that. God's eye and Sherlock's eye were operating fully on the event tomorrow. The guest list was scanned, the profiles were scanned and their history updated or in some cases monitored.

'Am I over-reacting...perhaps but better safe than sorry'

That evening when I looked at the crowd that had arrived in the hall (through X), I tried to loosen up my tie. My eyes roamed the audience seats and I took in all those that had come. I had X look through all the incoming guest or more importantly through their disguises. She had me informed of every agent whether S.H.I.E.L.D or Hydra that entered if they carried any weapons (which thanks to X were escorted from the premises)

[Sir we have a situation]

'Sigh..here we go again...'