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[Ironman] Ch: 80 [Gods and Ghosts]
🕑 Added 2025-05-01 22:46:09 +0000 UTC[Meeting Room – Evening]
Tony sat at the end of the long table, leaning forward, elbows on the surface. He wore a dark shirt and jeans. Melina stood near the wall screen, her arms crossed. Yelena sat across from Tony, tapping her fingers on the table. Natasha sat beside him.
Melina was the first to speak. "I got what we needed from the assassin. The Mandarin is in France. Lyon. An old fortress converted into a compound. Underground, fortified. And he has something else."
Tony looked up. "What is it?"
"Ten rings," Melina said. "Not symbolic. Magical. Real magic. Ancient tech or something close to it. That's how he's been staying ahead of everyone. The rings make him untouchable."
'Damn it! Those fucking rings! Haaa...' Tony blinked. "Great. Magic rings. As if one mad billionaire wasn't enough."
"They don't behave like standard tech," Melina said. "The assassin said he watched the Mandarin melt a steel tank with a wave of his hand. Then survived a missile to the face like it was nothing."
Tony nodded slowly. "We'll figure it out. Thanks, Melina."
Then Yelena spoke. Her tone was clipped. "Ross gave me everything. Three sealed bunkers in New York. Full of mutated freaks. Failed experiments. They're still active. And worse... he was planning to use them on Shield and use that incident to take over."
Tony's jaw tightened.
"But that's not all," Yelena added. "He has a place. A base. Celestial Island, somewhere in the Indian Ocean. I tried to find it. No luck. Satellite scans came up blank. Ross said it's not just an island. He said... It's a giant alien rock."
Tony's eyes widened.
Natasha noticed. "You know something."
Tony sat back slowly, mind racing. "Yeah. I do."
He pulled up another screen and typed quickly. Images flashed... giant stone structures, red glowing rock, massive formations. He discovered it a few months back while testing his remote armor and drones.
"That island... It's not just an island. It's the body of a Celestial named Tiamut. He tried to emerge from the Earth, but the Eternals stopped him. Turned him into stone. Now, his body just sits there in the middle of the ocean."
Natasha frowned. "Wait. Celestial? Eternals? Who are they?"
Tony looked at her. "Big cosmic beings. Think gods... but weirder. They plant seeds inside planets. When the planet reaches a certain point of evolution, the seed hatches and a Celestial is born. Earth was one of those planets. But the Eternals, who were supposed to protect us, turned on their mission and stopped it. That's why Tiamut's stuck. Half-formed."
"Wow! Wait a sec," Yelena's eyes widened. "Like real gods? You mean heaven and hell are real?"
"Well, yeah. Like gods, considering their insane power. As for heaven, I don't know much, but as for hell, yup! Hell is pretty real and worse than what those fantasy books say." Tony explained briefly.
Yelena's eyes narrowed. "And Ross set up a base on it? That insane fucker! What if it suddenly wakes up?"
"Yeah," Tony said. "And if he knew what that island really is, then he's way ahead of the rest of the world. That place is rich in natural adamantium. Stronger than vibranium. The whole island is sitting on that stuff. And don't ask how I know it."
Natasha crossed her arms. "So why hasn't anyone else taken it?"
Tony leaned back in his chair. "Because almost no one knows what it is. Ross kept it quiet. Probably only told a handful of people. That means if we move fast, we can take it before it becomes another war zone."
Melina nodded. "What's the plan?"
Tony looked around the room. The map zoomed in on the Indian Ocean.
"We'll handle Mandarin later. Right now," He turned to Natasha. "You are behind the computer again. Make three teams and take down those bunkers. Yelena, smash up Ross. Use truth serum if needed. Find out who else knows about that island. Take them out if necessary and start an expedition with the researcher team. Melina..." He pulled up a map of the Arctic region with a big red circle on it. "Take a team. Set up a temporary base there. That's all. Move out."
...
[Midnight] [Private Lab]
There were various floating holographic displays around the place. The hum of machinery underscored the rhythm of Tony’s work. Sparks danced off his gauntlet as he adjusted the molecular binders on a suspended humanoid frame.
Long limbs, a feminine silhouette, flawless synthetic skin still half-transparent, revealing layers of nanite muscle structures beneath.
Hovering nearby was a hard-light projection of Elena.
“You’re shaping me up to look like a model, boss,” Elena said, voice rich with sarcasm and a smooth, sultry British accent. “Should I start practicing my catwalk or just assume I’ll be parked in a glass case for admiration?”
Tony smirked, tightening a filament thread inside the synthetic arm. “You want tactical efficiency or centerfold aesthetics? Pick one. I’m doing both.”
The projection shimmered as Elena tilted her head, mock thoughtful. “I suppose you want me to say 'tactical efficiency', but you’ve been sculpting these hips like they owe you rent.”
Tony raised an eyebrow. “You said you wanted full articulation. That includes balance and weight distribution. Hips happen to help.”
“Mmhmm,” Elena replied. “You didn’t need to make the cheek implants modular, Tony.”
“Everything’s modular,” Tony muttered. “That’s the point. You want to switch chassis mid-mission, I’m not going to stop and unscrew your butt panel.”
The AI let out a low laugh. “God, I’ve missed this kind of banter.”
"You are having too much fun, aren't you? And there's poor Hermes, your senior, without a body. Feel sad for the guy," Tony said with a low chuckle.
Elena flickered into a lounging pose midair, reclining on an invisible surface with one arm behind her head, the other playing lazily with a floating string of light. She said, "Legion has armor and suits. Hermes is just like... That oldie can control everything. But I was made for versatility. So, my performance will increase by multiple folds with a new body."
"Yup! Now, let's select your hair style and iris color..."
Tony kept customizing the body as if he were playing Sims.
“You always know how to make a girl feel special, boss. Custom nanite muscle systems, seamless sensory feedback matrix, modular everything..." Elena chimed in. "And if my calculations are right, you are going to use the natural adamantium in place of vibranium, right?"
"Yes," He replied. "Vibranium’s flashy and rare, yeah. But natural adamantium from a dead Celestial's body? That’s the real deal. Indestructible. Stable at the molecular level under nearly any conditions. No degradation. But I still gotta run experiments on it since I don't have much info on how different it will be from the adamantium I know. Well, if things go right, I’ll weave it through your skeleton and core plates. Reinforce the whole structure.”
Tony activated a deeper scan across Elena’s synthetic frame. Sparks crackled softly. A mechanical arm descended from the ceiling, laser-measuring the flex points of the nanite-woven muscle layers.
Elena stretched one leg experimentally on the support cradle, testing torque resistance. “And what about combat input routing? You said you'd add that cognitive reflex layer.”
Tony nodded, not looking up. “Already integrated. You'll have neural-latency response under 0.03 seconds. That’s faster than most enhanced operatives.”
Elena's projection glowed with a touch of amusement. “So I’m officially faster than Natasha.”
“She still hits harder,” Tony muttered. “Well... depending on the suit.”
A second projection popped in near the terminal... Hermes, flickering in with a restrained, minimalist form. No body, just a floating core of light and a neutral tone.
“I would like to remind you,” Hermes said dryly, “that having no limbs is not equivalent to lacking contribution. I am currently monitoring 164 ZB global data streams, six satellite trajectories, and three hostile AI signatures, which I just snubbed.”
Elena replied with a mocking tone. “And yet you still sound like a butler with no hobbies.”
Hermes responded without emotion. “Efficiency requires no flair.”
Tony shook his head with a grin. “You two keep flirting, I’m going to weld your operating systems together and call it an accident.”
Elena tilted her head. “Tempting. But let's keep our codebases separate until at least the third date.”
...
[Meanwhile...] [Location: SHIELD HQ – Washington D.C]
The command center buzzed with controlled chaos.
Dozens of agents moved through the halls like ants in a disturbed colony. Emergency meetings were nonstop. Alerts poured in by the minute. The global infrastructure of power, wealth, and influence was collapsing under the weight of exposed corruption.
At the heart of it, inside the primary war room, four of SHIELD’s most formidable minds sat around a circular display table.
Nick Fury.
Howard Stark.
Peggy Carter.
Hank Pym.
On the screen before them: red pins covering every continent. Labels blinked in and out: “ARRESTED,” “DEAD,” “ASSETS SEIZED,” “MISSING.”
Fury stood with his arms crossed, the lines on his face deeper than usual. “Two senators have committed suicide in the last twenty-four hours. One tried to flee with a private security team, but somebody intercepted them mid-air. Now there’s no wreckage. Just… nothing.”
Howard sipped black coffee, frowning as he scrolled through a data tablet. “This kind of coordination doesn’t come from amateurs. This wasn’t just whistleblowing. This was surgical. Weaponized leaks. Not a hacker with a conscience... someone with a plan.”
Peggy leaned forward, “We’ve confirmed over 300 illegal black-ops operations dismantled in three days. Laundering trails burned to ash. Medical experiments exposed. Whole research labs gone dark.”
Hank Pym tapped his fingers on the table, irritated. “You call that a mess? That’s divine intervention with military efficiency. This was someone with global infrastructure, elite field assets, and tech that no government has access to. Not even us.”
Fury grunted. “You mean someone like us.”
“No,” Howard said finally, lifting his eyes. “Someone smarter.”
They all turned to him.
Peggy raised an eyebrow. “What are you thinking, Howard?”
Howard set the tablet down slowly. “As I said before. This group is really pro. They left no trail. Money rerouted through humanitarian fronts. Surgical strikes with no civilian casualties. Shadow Legion, huh? Advanced suits with weapons beyond anything we have ever seen. You've seen the footage of Ross's facility, right? Not to mention their insane healing capabilities, which are beyond unbelievable... Haa... I think I've got an idea of who this group is. But I can't say anything until I am 100% sure."
He looked toward Peggy and then to Fury.
"What's your take on Shadow Legion, Fury? You think they are a threat or maybe friends? I need an honest answer," Howard looked toward Fury.
