c35 – The Uncontrollable Demon
Pepper wanted to ask Tony a question quietly, but when she noticed his furrowed brow, as if deep in thought, she refrained from interrupting. However, she could sense that Tony Stark's personality and behavior had changed
since he met Phil Coulson and Harvey Ambellaca and they had secretly discussed something.
Because she had cared for Tony for years and handled nearly everything for him at Stark Industries, he used to often share his thoughts and needs with her, especially after the events that led him to become Iron Man.
Pepper considered herself to know Tony very well, but now he seemed to have things he couldn't immediately explain to her.
And the conversation between Tony and Harvey Ambellaca earlier, though brief, sounded completely incomprehensible to
her, yet both Tony and Harvey Ambellaca seemed to know exactly what they'd discussed.
This made her increasingly unable to fathom Tony's thoughts.
Despite having known Tony for over a decade and understanding each other intimately, Tony now felt strangely distant.
She couldn't comprehend what Tony was thinking all day long, especially ever since he began obsessing over solving the flaws of the Arc Reactor and eliminating the palladium poisoning that once threatened his life.
Just then, the sound of the helicopter's rapidly spinning blades came from outside.
Pepper heard the sound and knew it was Coulson, and knowing Tony's personality, especially when dealing with matters tied to S.H.I.E.L.D., she knew he would definitely tell her to leave.
"I'm full, you guys go ahead with your work."
So Pepper stood up, observing Tony's reaction, a hint of expectation in her eyes, hoping Tony wouldn't say he needed privacy.
Even just to pour them a cup of coffee, as long as he didn't have to send her away.
"Okay... you should go back to your room and rest for a bit."
"We have some things to discuss."
"No matter what noises you make, don't come down, and don't look."
"You can only come down when you get my message."
But Tony, after hearing the helicopter, came back to his senses and nodded, clearly prioritizing the matter related to his father Howard Stark.
"Okay..."
Pepper saw Tony's reaction, and although she had expected it, she was still a little disappointed. She agreed and went upstairs.
Tony had many things to think about, about his father, about the new element he might discover, and about the path he was stepping into so he didn't have time to pay attention to Pepper's feelings.
Jarvis immediately displayed the helicopter's information.
Not only Coulson had arrived, but also some faces Tony Stark didn't recognize.
"Jarvis, open the door for them and guide them to me."
Tony stood up and said, already anticipating who might be coming.
"Yes, sir."
Jarvis immediately opened the door upon receiving the instruction.
This time, Coulson wasn't the only one present; Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff, and several other agents were also there.
After entering, guided by Jarvis, they quickly arrived at the dining area carrying a large secured case.
When Nick Fury and his group entered, they glanced at Harvey Ambellaca, who was still elegantly dining as if nothing around him mattered.
"Tony Stark, Howard's son."
"I never thought you'd remember your father, that he might have left some belongings."
Nick Fury glanced at Natasha, then approached Tony Stark and spoke.
"It sounds like you know what my father's belongings really mean?"
Now that they were officially meeting face-to-face, Tony Stark spoke upon hearing Nick Fury's words.
"Of course, because your father was a super genius."
"And he had close cooperation with the military and our S.H.I.E.L.D.."
"So his belongings became classified assets and have always been kept under our supervision."
"I was planning to find an opportunity to hand them over to you and have a proper talk with you just like I did when I first approached you about something bigger than yourself."
"I didn't expect you to remember them on your own initiative. Like father, like son."
Nick Fury, now in a formal setting, spoke far more directly than during the earlier video call.
"No need for such flattery. Just hand over my father's belongings to me."
Tony Stark noticed the shift in Fury's tone, his eyes narrowing slightly as he spoke bluntly.
"Of course I can hand them over, but you must study them under the supervision of our S.H.I.E.L.D.."
Nick Fury did not refuse, but added a condition.
"You weren't acting like this just now."
"So you mean if I kick you out, I won't get my father's belongings?"
Tony Stark raised an eyebrow, his usual arrogance surfacing.
"Tony Stark, I didn't want to do this either, but you have to understand we have our reasons."
"We need to ensure that whatever you discover won't be leaked."
Nick Fury said, his tone firm, reflecting the caution that had led him to monitor super-powered individuals long before forming initiatives like the Avengers.
His words drew some irritated clicking sounds from the side.
"Sending people to monitor me, and sending this spy to watch me."
"Is this what you people at S.H.I.E.L.D. mean by not having any ill intentions?"
Harvey, while eating, glanced at Natasha standing several meters away, clearly referring to her previous actions involving covert surveillance.
"Harvey Ambellaca, we didn't want to either, but we believe you are one of the insiders."
"And your assets combined with your connections could pose a threat."
"So we need to ensure you won't leak anything, and we need you to sign an agreement."
"Any large transfers of your assets in the future will require review."
"Once you sign this, we can let you leave at any time."
Nick Fury turned to Harvey and said.
"If I need your money to be monitored from now on, can I leave?"
"Should I thank you for your generosity?"
Harvey chuckled, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Harvey Ambellaca, you understand underground networks and information channels, and your wealth could potentially be used in dangerous ways."
"So, for the sake of mutual non-interference, this is a precaution we must take,"
Natasha said, staring directly at Harvey Ambellaca, her sharp gaze reflecting the discipline of a top-tier S.H.I.E.L.D. operative.
"What if I don't agree?"
Harvey retorted.
"I hope you don't put us in a difficult position, otherwise we'll have to use other methods to get you to agree."
Natasha Romanoff immediately pulled out a gun and said sternly, her posture reflecting the lethal precision of the Black Widow trained by S.H.I.E.L.D..
"Verbal negotiation fails, so you're planning to resort to force?"
Harvey's smile vanished, his eyes became calm, and his words turned cold.
As soon as he finished speaking, the agents saw Harvey Ambella's figure disappear from the spot, moving faster than even enhanced humans like Captain America could track.
"Now you might as well tell me, what do you want if I don't agree?"
Harvey grabbed Natasha's neck with his left hand, lifting her into the air, and said coldly.
Harvey's right hand grabbed Natasha's arm holding the gun, and it snapped with a crack.
"Ugh… Ah!!"
The immense pain caused Natasha to scream, cold sweat pouring down her face.
Except for Phil Coulson, the other agents immediately drew their guns and aimed them at Harvey Ambellaca.
In an instant, a series of cracking sounds echoed throughout the dining hall. All the pistols were reduced to dust, scattering across the floor, and the hands that had been gripping them were snapped.
The intense pain caused the other agents and Nick Fury to groan, their eyes filled with horror.
"Mr. Harvey Ambellaca, please stop,"
Coulson said hastily upon seeing this.
"Realizing that verbal negotiations were unsuccessful, you're resorting to force."
"Now that force isn't working either, you're going to try verbal negotiations again?"
Harvey's actions didn't stop. With a flick of his wrist, Natasha's body flew out like a rag doll, crashing heavily against the wall.
With a loud thud, horrifying cracks appeared.
"Pfft!"
The impact caused Natasha's internal organs to churn, and a surge of intense pain shot through her, causing her to cough up a mouthful of blood.
"Ugh...!!"
Natasha felt as if all the bones in her body were broken, unable to move, and let out a few mournful cries.
"Is it painful?"
"You came to test me for the first time, even shooting me to force me to fight, to see if I would display extraordinary power."
"If I did, you wanted to pull me into something like your so-called initiative… the same way you tried to recruit Tony Stark after he became Iron Man?"
"Didn't your arrogant mind consider that if I truly possessed power beyond your control?"
"Because you intentionally attacked me, do you think I wouldn't have killed you on the spot?"
Harvey leaped more than ten meters to stand directly in front of Natasha, looking down at her face contorted in pain, his eyes indifferent as if he were looking at an insignificant ant.
At this moment, in everyone's eyes, Harvey seemed to have become a lawless and terrifying demon, and his words sent chills down the spines of everyone present.
Tony Stark knew that Harvey Ambella was extremely terrifying.
Because Harvey Ambella had only casually treated him, yet his physical abilities had greatly improved—far beyond what even the Arc Reactor could compensate for physically.
And that method was merely described by Harvey Ambella as a minor trick.
But now, seeing it with his own eyes, Tony Stark realized just how terrifying Harvey Ambellaca truly was.
This was not something humans could handle with ordinary weaponry; even in his Iron Man armor, he would be nothing more than a toy in Harvey Ambellaca's presence.
"Harvey Ambellaca, let's talk this out,"
Nick Fury, enduring excruciating pain, raised his still-intact left hand and pleaded, abandoning his usual commanding tone.
"Talk this out?"
"You're saying Earth might encounter alien threats in the future?"
"The same kind of concerns that led you to start forming something like the Avengers?"
"This Natasha is one of your top agents, trained and enhanced to peak human limits?"
"If she dies, it will be a loss for your organization?"
"Leaving aside whether the death of someone like her will have any real impact."
"What does your loss have to do with me?"
Harvey sat directly on the back of the dying Natasha, looking calmly at Nick Fury.
"..."
Nick Fury, his thoughts laid bare so bluntly, fell silent.
"Didn't I just tell you?
If I can't afford to deal with you, I can at least avoid you."
"You've annoyed me, so letting me vent a few times would have been even."
"As long as you don't bother me, I won't bother with you."
"But now it seems your arrogance, the same arrogance that makes you think you can control everything from the shadows, has pushed you to try and pressure me."
Harvey said indifferently, seeing Nick Fury's silence.
"…"
Nick Fury realized that he couldn't restrain Harvey Ambellaca with authority, nor with morality, and for the first time, the situation had completely slipped out of his control.
Indeed, it was his miscalculation believing Harvey was merely a wealthy civilian that led him to push too far.
But he hadn't considered that Harvey Ambellaca's confidence wasn't rooted in wealth like Tony Stark's influence over Stark Industries.
It came from overwhelming, uncontrollable power.
"I advise you to give up your idea, or I'll crush every bone in your body and let you experience what real pain is."
Harvey's gaze remained fixed on Nick Fury as he issued a final warning.
This warning made Natasha, who had been trying to move despite her injuries, stop abruptly, and a hint of despair appeared in her eyes.
This man… was not someone who could be negotiated with like ordinary enhanced individuals.
He was something else entirely, a force that even S.H.I.E.L.D. could not control.
...