Chapter 149: The Red Queen's Power, Crisis Averted

Inside S.H.I.E.L.D.

Nick Fury was resting his chin on one hand, watching the live broadcast of Hammer Industries' press conference with a cold smile.

When it came to Hammer Industries, Fury knew them inside and out. Typically, he wouldn't waste time on a clownish company like that. But Ivan Vanko was a different story. Here was a man who, like Tony Stark, had built an arc reactor. If he truly possessed genius-level talent comparable to Tony's, it wouldn't hurt to consider recruiting him.

After all, for S.H.I.E.L.D., there were no good or bad people, only people who were useful or not.

On the big screen, Justin Hammer was flaunting his ties with the Department of Defense, harshly criticizing Tony for refusing to hand over the Iron Man armor technology, supposedly for the "protection" of American citizens. Hammer wasted no opportunity to disparage Stark Industries, all while painting himself as some sort of patriotic hero.

In the audience, Pepper Potts, Natasha Romanoff, and Happy Hogan watched Hammer's performance with quiet disdain. They were well aware that Hammer had only invited them for appearances.

"Honestly, he doesn't have Tony's charisma," Natasha remarked bluntly to Pepper.

Pepper nodded in agreement. "Of course. And Tony would never be so…."

After choosing her words carefully, she continued, "Annoying."

Natasha nodded in strong agreement, while Happy, bored, was playing games on his phone, reminiscing about the parties he'd attended with Tony. After all, those gatherings had a lot more charm… and women.

Nick Fury's disdain deepened as he watched Hammer's theatrics. Just then, Maria Hill entered the room, noticing Fury's attention on the press conference.

"I thought you weren't interested in Hammer Industries?"

"I'm not interested in Hammer Industries, but Ivan Vanko has piqued my interest," Fury replied. "He's Anton Vanko's son, after all—a man who once collaborated with Howard Stark. Even though Howard later had him deported, his abilities are still noteworthy."

Hill nodded, agreeing. Anton Vanko hadn't been deported for lack of skill, but rather because his motives were questionable—a moral lapse that Howard Stark couldn't overlook.

"So, what's going on?" Fury asked, turning to Hill.

"Well, I didn't mean to interrupt your…."

"Pointless press conference," Fury said, waving a hand dismissively. "Just minimize it."

The press conference window shrank as Hill brought up a new video feed featuring Dr. Erik Selvig, who was working on the new Pegasus Project.

In the footage, Selvig held a weapon resembling a pistol with a wide, trumpet-like barrel. He aimed it forward and instructed his team, "Begin recording."

With that, he pulled the trigger. A pale blue energy blast shot out, hitting a test dummy in front of him. The dummy instantly disintegrated into a pile of black particles, scattering across the floor. Selvig looked pleased with the result, and Fury's face lit up with satisfaction as well.

"It seems the research is finally paying off," Fury said, a hint of a smile on his face as he looked at Hill. He couldn't help but feel gratified for his decision to restart the "Pegasus Project."

Decades ago, an accident during the original Pegasus Project had resulted in the creation of a powerful superhuman. That incident had given Fury an unforgettable lesson on the tremendous energy the Tesseract held—enough to alter someone's destiny with just a small exposure. So, when he took over as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he wasted no time in rebooting the project under the name "New Pegasus Project."

Unlike Howard's vision for the project, which aimed to use the Tesseract's energy for a worldwide energy revolution, Fury's New Pegasus Project sought to create military equipment that would surpass anything of its era.

After all, Hydra had also pursued this goal years ago, though Captain Rogers had thwarted their ambitions. And as Fury basked in the success of the recent experiment, Hill remained impassive.

Just then, Selvig lowered the energy weapon and said to his team, "It can only fire once…. Reduce output power, and find a new composite material to substitute."

"Only one shot?" Fury's face fell. "Are you kidding me?"

He barely managed to hold back his frustration. After all this time, and this was all Selvig had accomplished?

Hill intervened, "Dr. Selvig has only been on the project for a year. Making this much progress is already impressive, considering the years of stagnation before him."

Her words earned her a sharp look from Fury.

Indeed, ever since Dr. Selvig joined the "New Pegasus Project," progress had accelerated significantly.

"It's a pity he hasn't seen Howard's notes," Fury remarked. "Only Tony truly understood them and even managed to develop a new element."

When Fury had handed Howard's notes to Selvig, all Selvig could do was marvel, saying, "Impressive!" but he made no other discoveries. At one point, Fury even wondered if he had chosen the wrong person.

"Well, at least it's a decent start."

"Any breakthroughs on the new energy source?" he asked.

Hill shook her head. "Not yet. Right now, Dr. Selvig and his team can only control a portion of the Tesseract's excess energy and store it for weapon development. They haven't yet created a sustainable energy source."

"Seems there was only ever one Howard Stark…," Fury muttered, disappointed. Sliding his hand across the table, he returned to the original broadcast.

On stage, under the dazzling lights, a gray Iron Man suit descended.

"It seems the military has managed to reverse-engineer nearly everything but the core power source," Hill commented, surprised as she recognized the armor.

The armor was none other than Tony's Mark II that Rhodey had taken. But, because it was fitted with Tony's biometric locks, only Rhodey could operate it in the hands of the U.S. military. Now modified, Rhodey had given it a new name: War Machine.

Behind Rhodey were rows of robot-like figures. With passionate energy, Hammer introduced them as "Hammer Iron Soldiers!" Each of them had a glowing device on their chests—the arc reactor designed by Ivan Vanko.

Meanwhile, Ivan Vanko, seated in a laboratory, sneered as he watched the press conference. His hands moved deftly over the computer keyboard, controlling the feed on his screen.

Every Hammer Iron Soldier was under his control, along with the most robust machine of them all, Rhodey's War Machine. Now, every weaponized unit at the event was under Vanko's command, giving him the power to massacre the entire venue if he wished.

And that was exactly what he intended to do. He knew someone important to Tony Stark was present among the audience.

"Tony, let's see you suffer the pain my father and I have endured for forty years," Vanko muttered. Just as he was about to press the button to unleash chaos, a red figure descended from above, landing on stage right in front of Rhodey.

The appearance of Iron Man electrified the atmosphere instantly. The audience jumped to their feet, applauding.

Hammer fumed, watching in frustration. He had been talking all night, his throat was dry, and yet Tony's appearance had stolen the entire show in an instant. For someone like Hammer, obsessed with appearances, this was unbearable.

Tony approached Rhodey, trying to contain his anger. "You're in trouble."

"Tony, there are civilians here," Rhodey cautioned, thinking Tony was angry about the Mark II being repurposed into this monstrosity. As Tony's long-time friend, he knew Tony's personality too well. If Tony got genuinely angry, he'd ignore the surroundings and jump into a fight right there.

In fact, when Tony was in college, he often ended up fighting at events and press conferences, so Rhodey didn't doubt for a second that Tony would throw a punch if provoked.

But Tony ignored Rhodey's concern, leaning in and saying, "Wave to the crowd. Now listen to me: everyone here is in danger. You have to trust me on this."

Tony's serious tone caught Rhodey's attention; the room was filled with innocent civilians—and Pepper.

Reluctant but listening, Rhodey muttered, "Fine, but I remember when you said that last time too. Then you dragged me into a brawl at the university mixer."

"Stop reminiscing," Tony interrupted. "I suspect he's working with Ivan Vanko."

"Ivan's alive?"

Apparently, not many were aware of Ivan Vanko's prison escape.

Tony turned to Justin, no longer concealing his suspicions. "Where is Ivan Vanko?"

...

In the lab, Ivan Vanko's lips curled into a smirk as he rapidly manipulated the control systems for each mech.

"Say hi, Tony!"

War Machine aimed its shoulder cannon at Tony, followed by the Iron Soldiers behind him, all raising their arms to target him.

"Tony, my system is being controlled!" Rhodey shouted.

Tony knew that this was Vanko's doing—he was pulling the strings behind the scenes, and now every mech had its sights on Tony. With a burst of flames from his boots, Tony shot up into the sky.

"Let's take this fight outside!" he called as he flew out of the venue. The mechs immediately unleashed a hail of bullets, turning the ceiling into a mess of shattered glass and debris that rained down.

Gunfire erupted, throwing the entire venue into chaos. As Tony took off, Vanko directed all the mechs to follow him.

Inside War Machine, Rhodey was helplessly caught in Vanko's grip, unable to do anything.

"Tony, what should I do?!" he yelled.

Tony, in a rare moment of humor amidst the crisis, replied, "Don't blame me—take it up with Hammer Tech!"

In an instant, all the mechs rushed out of the venue, with one goal in mind: destroy Tony Stark.

Sitting at his computer, Ivan knew that taking down Tony with just these drones would be difficult.

"Tony, this is just the appetizer," he muttered. Then, with a quick command, a massive gray mech flew toward him. Admiring his favorite creation, Ivan smiled and murmured, "I'm going to tear you and your suit to pieces."

Outnumbered, Tony focused on dodging, keeping the mechs' fire directed at him.

...

"Jarvis, hack into their systems."

"Understood, sir."

Meanwhile…

Gwen and Pikachu were lounging contentedly on the couch.

"Alan, your cooking is getting better and better," Gwen sighed happily. "But if I keep eating this much, I might get fat."

"Don't worry. You're out fighting crime all the time; you burn it all off," Alan reassured her. "It's just balanced compensation."

Gwen nodded in agreement, thinking it made sense—whatever she ate, she burned off through exercise. No chance of gaining weight! Her worries disappeared in an instant.

At that moment, the AI, Red Queen's hologram appeared at the table. "Master, Miss Gwen," she said. "All robots at Hammer Industries' press conference have gone rogue and are indiscriminately attacking people."

The scene was projected in front of them, showing several mechs chasing Tony and firing bullets. Despite Tony's efforts to dodge, some bullets hit innocent bystanders, sparking panic.

Gwen shot up, exclaiming, "Robots again!"

"Red Queen, set a route for me; I'm heading over now."

"Understood, Miss Gwen."

Gwen was about to rush to her gear when Alan held her hand.

"Exercising right after a meal isn't good for you," he joked.

"But… the situation…" Gwen replied, glancing anxiously at the chaotic scene in the projection.

Alan smiled. "Let me handle this." Turning to Red Queen, he said, "Hack into their systems and shut them down."

"Understood, Master!"

Under Gwen's curious gaze, another holographic screen appeared, displaying a list of all the Iron Soldiers at the venue, including Rhodey's War Machine. Initially marked in red, all the Iron Soldiers turned blue within seconds, indicating they'd been neutralized.

Gwen watched as every Iron Soldier quieted down, no longer posing a threat to civilians.

Was the crisis Ivan Vanko had orchestrated resolved just like that?

"Red Queen, you can do that?" Gwen asked, stunned, looking at the AI's young-girl avatar.

At the venue…

One of the Iron Soldiers, under Ivan's control, raised its weapon toward a terrified bystander. Tony noticed but knew he wouldn't reach in time.

"Damn it!" he cursed. "Jarvis, what's the status?"

"Sir, shutting down from the terminal isn't possible, trying alternative infiltration methods."

Behind him, Rhodey could only look on helplessly as his weapons remained locked on Tony, roaring in frustration.

Tony pushed his suit to its limits, speeding downward.

"I have to make it… I have to make it…"

Suddenly, he saw the Iron Soldier aiming at the bystander but hesitating, unmoving.

Then Rhodey's voice crackled through, "Tony, my system… it's back online…"

"What???"

...