DeHYDRAted

"I'm Agent Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D., this is your alibi, as long as you stick to this version, the incident will quickly calm down. We have arrangements for the aftermath."

Coulson handed Tony two cards filled with words.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Tony muttered in confusion, then shook his head.

"I don't like things handed to me"

Coulson only smiled and kept the cards down. Which then Tony picked up.

Written on them were ridiculous stories that even third-rate screenwriters couldn't come up with, like going on vacation, the Iron Man suits being just products of the lab gone rogue, and so on, stretching the truth beyond belief.

"I don't know what department is S.H.I.E.L.D. But I know what I need to do."

Tony said disdainfully, then smirked and handed the cards back to Coulson, before walking towards the podium for the press conference that had been set up.

"Mr. Stark..." Coulson was about to continue persuading, but was intercepted by Happy, so he had to give up.

Then, Coulson walked to a corner, pressed a button on the earpiece he was wearing.

"Director, mission failed, requesting further instructions."

There was silence on the other end of the communicator for a moment, then Nick Fury's deep voice came through.

"Understood, Agent Coulson, return. I have another assignment for you."

"Okay, Director."

Inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. building, Nick Fury stood up and gazed out the window, sighing deeply.

"This world is getting messier..."

On his desk lay two sets of documents. One was detailed information on Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man. The other was about an old man in Milwaukee who overdosed on gamma energy after drinking a beverage from Brazil.

And underneath the documents was a silhouette of a chubby man in boxer shorts leaping away into the distance.

Meanwhile, Tony made the exact same choice as in the original story during the press conference.

"I am Iron Man!"

It was the best solution he could think of.

Firstly, it would quickly calm down the chaos and save him a lot of time.

Secondly, it invisibly placed a protective umbrella called 'public opinion' over him.

Tony could guess that now that he had voluntarily exposed himself, the military and government would definitely come looking for him regarding the Iron Man suits.

And they would use any means, including coercion or even robbery, to extract the technology of the Mark 3 suit from him.

By announcing himself as Iron Man, he completely exposed himself to the public eye. Although he might lose some freedom in his life, it would maximize his and Pepper's safety.

This was the difference between the current Tony Stark and the one in the original story. Although their choices were the same, their motivations were completely different.

In the original story, it was more like showing off, while now it was about protection!

Protecting his regained love!

And that evening, while watching the live broadcast of Tony announcing himself as Iron Man, Zane raised the glass in his hand and pointed towards the TV, then drank up the wine in the glass.

He was toasting not to Tony, but to his own journey since arriving in the Marvel world.

He toasted to both tomorrow and the past!

After many reporters left with the explosive news that Tony Stark was Iron Man, Tony sat weakly on the ground.

These reporters were too ruthless, asking all sorts of ridiculous questions that exhausted Tony mentally.

For example, Reporter A asked, "Mr. Stark, how do you urinate in the suit?"

Tony replied, "I don't urinate in the suit!" (Face turning red with embarrassment)

Reporter A continued, "But what if you did?"

Tony replied again, "Next question!"

Reporter B asked, "Mr. Stark, you're so short, can other people wear your suit?"

Tony: "..."

You guys aren't reporters, you're trolls, you're devils...

And it didn't end there. Military and government officials came afterwards, just as Tony expected, all coming to demand the Mark 3 suit technology from him.

But because Tony had already exposed himself voluntarily, they chose to cooperate or offer huge sums of money considering public opinion.

Tony, of course, refused them all.

By the time Tony had dealt with all the factions seeking cooperation, two days had passed.

Although Tony knew he had missed the best time to investigate the forces behind Stan, he still stubbornly spent a huge amount of effort on it.

The result was just one piece of information: Stane's suit, the Iron Monger, was made in Russia.

Nothing else was found. No phone records, no travel records, and even those who had seen Stane had mysteriously disappeared, leaving no trace behind.

In the end, Tony could only bury this hidden danger in his heart and go to Zane's house to pick up Pepper.

Since he had already exposed himself to the public eye, Tony was sure that the mastermind behind the scenes wouldn't act again in the short term. So, he felt safe bringing Pepper back.

Hydra would express grievance: 'We didn't mean to provoke you, it's all Stane's fault for being a moron.'

If Pierce knew Tony's thoughts, he would definitely feel wronged and cry out loud.

Hydra had become an organization dedicated to taking the blame. No matter what bad things happened, they always ended up being blamed for it, and strangely enough, people believed it.

After Pepper left that night, Zane and Lorna couldn't wait to try out the allure of the uniform.

Zane had been feeling frustrated these past few days, unable to touch what he could see. 

That night, the bed in Zane's bedroom didn't stop moving, and if it wasn't for its good quality, it would have been broken apart by Zane.

The bedsheet unknowingly turned into a large map overnight.

As a result, Lorna didn't get out of bed the next day, and even her meals were brought to her by Zane.

This was her body after being greatly strengthened by prolonged exposure to the power of faith, otherwise, she might have DeHYDRAted to death yesterday.

"Here, open your mouth, girl." Zane sat at the bedside, holding a bowl of soup and feeding Lorna.

"Hmph! Men."

After being ravaged by Zane all night, Lorna's body was completely devoid of strength, and she could only glare at Zane with her eyes filled with 'anger'.

"Are you angry?"

"Hmph!"

"I remember someone was screaming loudly last night, and kept urging me to hurry up. How come you're pretending to be innocent now?"

Zane grinned mischievously, putting the soup he was holding on the table, and leaned down to Lorna's ear, blowing hot air.

And after being teased by Zane, Lorna's ears visibly turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In the end, unable to bear Zane's teasing, she directly covered her head with the blanket, perfectly playing the role of a turtle retracting into its shell.

*************************************

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