Chapter 169: They Won't Give Us Time

"Pepper, don't worry."

"The man I am now is not the man I was before."

Tony received the call about the meeting location. He looked over at Pepper, who was watching him closely. His helmet retracted, revealing his handsome face, and a confident smile spread across it.

"I know. I believe in you," Pepper responded, smiling as well. She knew Tony had evolved far more times than she had. With the help of his armor, Tony's strength was considerable, making her feel at ease.

"Sir, do you think Mr. Harvey might have predicted these events? Is that why he insisted you stay on Earth?" Jarvis asked, breaking the momentary silence.

"With his abilities, that's entirely possible," Tony mused. "But I'm glad he did. If I'd been off gallivanting in space and something happened here… I would've been in real trouble."

Tony's mood was remarkably relaxed despite the impending threat. He wasn't worried; in fact, he felt invigorated, ready for the fight. His confidence stemmed from his growing strength.

"Looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. is planning to bring in the Hulk," Jarvis reported.

"You mean Bruce Banner? The guy who has all that power but is too afraid to use it or even try to control it?" Tony asked, already familiar with the situation.

With Jarvis always keeping an eye on things, not even the military's attempts at secrecy could keep information from Tony. He'd looked into Bruce Banner and the Hulk before.

"Yes, sir."

"If they can get him on board, maybe this 'Avengers' initiative will start looking like a real team."

Tony's interest was piqued. Without the Hulk, the Avengers wouldn't have much firepower, aside from himself.

Sure, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Captain America were useful for handling Earth-based threats. But when it came to otherworldly enemies—ones who could shrug off bullets and explosions—being lucky enough to survive would be a feat, let alone being useful in battle.

But with the Hulk? That was an entirely different story.

Even if Bruce couldn't fully control the Hulk, as long as they could direct him into the right area, the Hulk would be more than enough to tear apart tanks and shrug off weapons fire. From what Tony had gathered, the Hulk was essentially a superhuman on a galactic scale.

The problem with Bruce Banner was that he feared his power, much like Harvey had once mentioned about people fearing being treated as "monsters."

Banner was scared of losing control, terrified that the Hulk might destroy without meaning to.

But Tony knew he could show Banner that even if the Hulk went berserk, Tony had the means to stop him. Once Bruce realized that, he might not be so afraid of his power.

Tony couldn't help but wonder how strong the upcoming threat would be. Whatever it was, he wasn't overly concerned.

Harvey had mentioned an alien invasion, and Tony suspected that this upcoming enemy might be the one Harvey had warned him about, not the Destroyer from Asgard. That was something he'd stumbled into on his own.

But Tony had no regrets about intervening back then. He'd gained Uru metal and forged a friendship with Thor.

Speaking of Thor, where had he been? It had been over six months, and Thor hadn't even dropped by Earth for a visit. According to Thor, he could travel between Asgard and Earth hundreds of times a day if he wanted to.

If Tony had that kind of power, he'd be zipping between Earth and the universe all the time. Whatever was keeping Thor busy must have been serious.

Still, Tony pondered. If they could recruit Thor to the Avengers, the team would truly be formidable, with enough strength to defend Earth.

Without Thor, it might just be him and the Hulk holding the line. That wouldn't be enough.

Tony wasn't too worried, though. If things got really bad, there was always the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, or even Odin, the King of Asgard.

And then there was Harvey, living on Earth. While Harvey might not care about the planet, if someone destroyed his home, Tony had no doubt Harvey would obliterate them in retaliation.

Yes, the battle might spill into New York and cause some casualties, but failing to stop the enemy would lead to far worse consequences—something Tony understood well.

The Next Morning

Nick Fury paid a visit to Captain Steve Rogers himself. He knew Tony didn't hold S.H.I.E.L.D. in the highest regard, so trying to direct Stark through formal channels wouldn't work.

Aside from Tony, Steve was the strongest asset in the Avengers. Fury had heard that Steve had been training relentlessly, not only regaining his peak physical condition but surpassing it.

Faced with a threat from beyond the stars, Fury knew they needed these superhuman heroes to step up. The last thing he wanted was to resort to heavy ordnance like missiles or, worse, nukes. The collateral damage would be catastrophic.

"A threat from space?" Steve asked, incredulous. He threw a powerful punch, sending the sandbag flying across the gym before turning around, a skeptical expression on his face. "You're kidding, right?"

"I've told you before, Captain. The world's changed. Earth's no longer hidden from the rest of the universe. There could be enemies coming from out there at any moment," Fury explained, eyes narrowing as he saw Steve's strength in action.

"You guys probably brought this on us, didn't you?" Steve shot back, not buying Fury's reasoning.

"We've been studying the Tesseract, yes, but we had no plans to activate it. Someone else triggered it, opening a gateway to Earth," Fury admitted, knowing there was no point hiding the truth from Steve.

"The Tesseract is dangerous. You shouldn't mess with things we can't control," Steve muttered, frustrated. He wasn't surprised, but still, it was maddening.

"I'd love nothing more than to shelve it until we're ready, but the universe isn't going to give us that kind of time," Fury said, his tone dark.

"That's a load of crap," Steve said bluntly.

"Tony Stark is also part of this mission," Fury said after a brief pause, gauging Steve's reaction.

Steve's expression shifted. "Where's the meeting?"

"Come with me, and I'll show you," Fury replied, smiling slightly.

They'd been monitoring Tony's movements closely. Fury knew all about the tension between Steve and Tony.