Chapter 70: Anton Vanko (Part 1)
"You're certainly popular," Daniel Davis chuckled, shaking his head as he looked at the news and newspapers, all plastered with images of Tony Stark. After Stark publicly confirmed his identity as Iron Man, New York, and indeed all of the USA, buzzed with excitement. People quickly connected the recent footage of a hero fighting terrorists to Stark, amplifying the spectacle.
For most people, Stark being Iron Man was just another spectacle to watch from the sidelines. Whether Stark was a billionaire playboy or a superhero didn't change their daily lives.
Yet, the keen American merchants wasted no time. Soon after Stark's revelation, Iron Man figurines and even comics started flooding the market.
Now, alongside his title as a playboy, Stark was celebrated as a hero. Official reports stated that the other Iron Man suit from the recent battle was part of a terrorist retaliation against Stark. Obadiah Stane's involvement was quietly swept under the rug, with his death attributed to a car accident.
In any other situation, the death of someone like Stane would have dominated the news for days. However, in the current frenzy over Stark's revelation, no one paid it much attention.
Despite his newfound fame, Stark wasn't having an easy time. The U.S. military quickly approached him, demanding he hand over the Iron Man suit.
The military wasn't outright forcing Stark to surrender the suit's blueprints. Instead, they suggested that Stark Industries should produce the suits exclusively for them, effectively sidelining Hammer Industries.
But Stark, resolute after his kidnapping ordeal, refused. Determined not to sell weapons any longer, he cited the sanctity of personal property, and despite their frustration, the military couldn't coerce him into handing over the suit.
For anyone else without Stark's connections, refusing the military would lead to severe consequences—companies shut down under various pretexts, personal ruin. In today's world, it's easy to find or fabricate reasons to bankrupt a business or bring down an individual, even without any actual wrongdoing.
No matter how powerful Daniel was, he knew he couldn't stand against an entire nation.
Of course, the military wasn't ready to give up entirely. When underhanded methods failed, they turned to legal ones, and soon Stark received a subpoena from the military committee.
"Restoring things to their original state isn't always possible," Daniel sighed, examining the damaged mini arc reactor. This was from the Iron Monger suit, handed to him by Stark after the SHIELD clean-up. Stark had hoped that Daniel's magic, which had restored the damage to Stark Industries, might also fix the arc reactor.
Daniel had conducted numerous experiments with the "Reparo" charm, intrigued by its seemingly miraculous effects. Through these tests, he discovered that like other spells, "Reparo" required a clear mental image of the item's original state.
For simple objects like tables or walls, the spell worked perfectly. But for advanced technology, the charm struggled. Daniel had tested it on various modern devices and found that while it could restore the appearance, functional restoration was another matter. Tanks, cars, planes, and computers might look whole again, but they wouldn't work.
Moreover, the magical effort required increased with the technological complexity of the item.
Even with his precise understanding from the Ope Ope no Mi powers, Daniel found that restoring complex machinery like the arc reactor was challenging. The best wizards like Dumbledore or Grindelwald would face similar limitations.
This explained why Ron Weasley's mother was so furious when their flying car got damaged—it needed conventional repairs because "Reparo" wouldn't suffice.
For Daniel, learning advanced physics or engineering could help restore the arc reactor's appearance but not its functionality.
Advanced technology seemed to share a similar limitation with magical objects. For instance, in the Harry Potter world, damaged magical items like Harry's shattered broomstick or Ron's broken wand couldn't be restored with "Reparo."
Only exceptionally powerful magic, like that from the Elder Wand, could achieve such repairs, much like how Daniel couldn't expect the Sorcerer Supreme, Ancient One, to reverse time for every broken item.
Marvel's advanced technology also diminished the effectiveness of many traditional spells. For example, the unlocking charm "Alohomora" could easily open conventional locks and might work on simple electronic locks with more magical effort. But it was useless against more sophisticated security measures like fingerprint or retina scanners. In such cases, spells like "Open Sesame" or "Portus" might be more effective.
The wizarding world's spells have evolved over time. The modern "Alohomora" is a subtle, safe way to unlock things, unlike its explosive predecessors that worked more like blasting curses.
Most spells, however, remained highly effective in the Marvel world. Spells like Apparition could bypass most physical barriers unless protected by spatial defenses. Marvel's bank vaults, for instance, couldn't withstand Apparition without magical defenses, unlike the advanced security measures in the wizarding world post-modernization.
Transfiguration, a prominent spell, stood out as one of the most powerful. It could transform living beings into entirely different forms, akin to the effects of Pym Particles. With sufficient magical power, one could even permanently alter the substance of objects, turning lead into gold or coal into diamonds.
While only a few, like Nicholas Flamel with his Philosopher's Stone, could achieve such feats, Daniel believed that only beings as powerful as the Ancient One could match that level of transfiguration today.
Most wizards could only change appearances temporarily, not alter fundamental properties.
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"I won't hand over the Iron Man suit. For me, it's like a high-tech prosthetic. You wouldn't expect someone to give away their prosthetic limb, would you? Without it, how would I walk?" Stark declared to the generals and senators at the military committee hearing. He seemed unfazed, even playing a shooting game on his smartphone while Justin Hammer spoke.
During the game, Stark hacked into the committee's computers. Despite assumptions that J.A.R.V.I.S. handled everything, Stark's hacking prowess was unmatched. J.A.R.V.I.S. was his creation, not his father's, a testament to his genius even in his youth.
While Skye's hacking skills were impressive, she still lagged behind Stark in both hardware and software.
As Stark's hack displayed on the big screen, the military committee abruptly ended the inquiry, leaving Justin Hammer seething. Hammer had hoped to pressure Stark into handing over the suit's blueprints to Hammer Industries, potentially catapulting his company to the top of the arms industry.
Though the military and Hammer Industries fixated on the Iron Man suit, they were oddly silent about the arc reactor. This wasn't due to a lack of interest but rather fear. The energy sector, especially a breakthrough like the arc reactor, was already controlled by powerful American families like the Rockefellers.
Attempting to encroach on this territory would be suicidal. When Anton Vanko demonstrated his ability to build an arc reactor, and after his death, no one else pursued it largely because these families intervened. One of these families, the Symons, was particularly familiar to Daniel.
While Hammer Industries thrived, ExoSphere Aerospace struggled. Their research into humanoid armor was rendered obsolete by Stark's Iron Man suits. The military immediately froze their research funding.
Unwilling to fade into obscurity, ExoSphere Aerospace turned to Oscorp Industries. Failing in humanoid armor, they shifted focus to super-soldier serums. Despite the skepticism towards such serums post-Raccoon City incident, some factions, like General Ross who created the Hulk, still supported them. ExoSphere Aerospace aimed to acquire Oscorp and pivot to this new line of research.
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"Stark seems to be back to his old ways," Daniel mused as he attended a lavish party filled with beautiful women. Stark's recent return to his playboy lifestyle disappointed many, including Pepper Potts and his friend, James Rhodes.
"The stress from the poisoning is making him reckless again," Daniel sighed, observing Stark from across the room. The once-responsible hero now seemed to have reverted to his carefree, hedonistic ways. Stark had even recently appointed Pepper as CEO of Stark Industries, a role she had little time for as Daniel's company's CEO. Managing two major corporations was no small feat, requiring someone of significant capability.
Daniel knew many skilled individuals in Marvel, mostly in scientific fields like Dr. Helen Cho, the pioneer of nanotechnology. However, finding management talent was trickier.
"You've been out of control lately," Daniel confronted Stark after the party. In the past, Stark would have eagerly discussed magic with Daniel, but now he seemed indifferent.
"I've always been like this," Stark shrugged. Although he continued to host parties, he no longer indulged with women. The latest Playboy models didn't even catch his eye.
"You seem to forget that I'm a wizard. Just because others can't solve your problem doesn't mean I can't. I've been waiting for you to ask for my help," Daniel said, placing a set of white chopsticks on a nearby table.
"These chopsticks are made from a unicorn's horn. They won't cure your poisoning completely, but they can alleviate the symptoms."
"You killed a unicorn for me?" Stark leapt up in shock.
"Calm down," Daniel replied, shaking his head. "I got them from poachers. I'm working on a new spell that might solve your problem entirely. So, keep your spirits up."
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