Chapter 24: The Stark Father and Son's Arc Reactor
Although New York is often called the city that never sleeps, only a few areas truly stay active all night. In most residential neighborhoods, things begin to quiet down after eleven o'clock.
A Mercedes-Benz slowly pulled to a stop in front of a small townhouse. Even though the engine was quiet, a few neighbors who had just fallen asleep still peeked out their windows.
Lance Ryder stepped out of the car, nodding apologetically toward the curious onlookers before casually walking toward his apartment.
He hadn't expected to run into Tony Stark tonight.
Back when Lance had appeared under a different identity during Dr. Abraham Erskine's Super Soldier experiment, he had met Stark's father, Howard Stark. Now he had met the son as well.
Tony Stark—the famous playboy who constantly appeared on magazine covers—was no longer young.
Even though Howard Stark had become a father later in life, Tony was already approaching thirty-eight years old.
It was obvious that Lance's identity as the water giant hadn't escaped Tony Stark's attention.
Otherwise Stark wouldn't have come directly to see him at Betty Ross's house.
Discovering Lance's identity wasn't particularly difficult.
Anyone who investigated General Ross's recent contacts would eventually find him.
The only problem was timing.
Unless someone had access to an advanced artificial intelligence system like JARVIS, digging through the military's protected data would quickly run into walls.
U.S. military cybersecurity experts would make sure of that.
That was why even some cabinet members still didn't know Lance's identity—while Stark had already tracked him down.
Tony Stark was not only a brilliant scientist but also an extremely successful businessman.
American corporations had always maintained close ties with politics.
Stark Industries was no exception.
Like many large companies, Stark frequently contributed massive sums to political campaigns during elections.
Because of that, Stark could move in and out of the White House almost freely.
The President could even contact him directly by phone.
Their relationship was extremely close.
Stark already knew that General Ross was preparing to enter politics.
Although Ross wasn't poor, the political world required enormous financial support.
That was one reason Stark had shown interest in him.
During the meeting, Stark also extended an invitation to Lance.
He invited him to join a superhero team that S.H.I.E.L.D. was planning to establish.
The Avengers.
In recent years—especially after Stark publicly revealed himself as Iron Man—more and more people with extraordinary abilities had begun appearing across the United States.
Some tried to become heroes.
Some became villains.
Many simply caused chaos.
Ordinary police forces often couldn't deal with them.
That responsibility frequently fell to S.H.I.E.L.D.
But even S.H.I.E.L.D. was beginning to feel overwhelmed.
So the Avengers initiative was created.
Before Lance could even respond to Stark's invitation, General Ross had already refused on his behalf.
He simply placed Lance's newly issued active-duty military ID on the table in front of Stark.
Ross explained that the matter was now under the authority of the White House.
Stark had already investigated Lance thoroughly.
He knew Lance wasn't even technically an American citizen.
Yet the military ID was completely legitimate.
In truth, the United States didn't care much about nationality when it came to useful assets.
As long as someone could serve American interests, that was enough.
Since the President himself controlled this particular asset, no one else could interfere easily.
If Stark wanted to pursue the matter further, he would have to negotiate directly with the President.
When Stark finally left, Lance showed a hint of regret.
To be honest, although he had no desire to deal with the current version of S.H.I.E.L.D., joining the Avengers would have had advantages.
Fighting alongside Thor, even temporarily, would provide significant safety—at least until Hydra was fully exposed.
But General Ross clearly had other ideas.
"Don't assume that would have been a good thing," Ross told him bluntly.
"Nick Fury isn't easy to deal with."
"And the World Security Council behind S.H.I.E.L.D. is even more complicated."
"This situation is far more complex than it looks."
From Ross's words, Lance immediately understood that deeper political struggles were involved.
Although S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters were located in the United States—specifically in Washington—it did not belong directly to the U.S. government.
Instead, it operated under the authority of the United Nations World Security Council.
The United States held considerable influence there, but it did not control everything.
If several other countries united, even the U.S. government could be challenged.
Looking at the eventual members of the Avengers, it was easy to see the problem.
Captain America and Iron Man were American.
But Black Widow was a former Russian spy.
Hawkeye had no direct military affiliation.
The Hulk was practically an enemy of the U.S. government.
And Thor wasn't even from Earth.
In reality, the U.S. government had very little direct control over the Avengers.
Which was one reason conflicts and divisions eventually appeared within the team.
Lance understood the Avengers' origins even more clearly.
Nick Fury had not started the project because of the recent rise in superpowered individuals.
The plan had begun much earlier.
Even the name "Avengers" had originally been suggested by Carol Danvers.
The long-term target of the Avengers wasn't Earth's criminals.
It was the Kree Empire, far beyond the stars.
But in the beginning—and for many years afterward—the Avengers' true enemy wasn't the Kree at all.
It was Thanos.
And the reason for that conflict was simple.
The Infinity Stones.
Although Ross's refusal prevented Lance from joining the Avengers, staying aligned with Ross had advantages of its own.
It helped him stay clear of Hydra's hidden operations.
For now, that might actually be safer.
Still, whether the future would follow the original timeline depended largely on Odin's intentions.
Lance knew many events that were supposed to happen.
But those events were only the surface.
Beneath them lay far greater struggles.
Those were the real dangers he needed to prepare for.
Even now, Lance's strength wasn't enough.
He had struggled against the Hulk without revealing his true abilities.
Compared to enemies like the Chitauri, Ultron, Loki, or Thanos, the Hulk was only the beginning.
Regardless of his unique situation, Lance was still an inhabitant of Earth.
And he would inevitably stand against anyone who tried to destroy it.
There was also another looming threat.
Ragnarok.
In a few years, Asgard's fate would reach its climax.
And since Lance had already attracted Odin's attention, hiding forever wouldn't be possible.
For now, his top priority was simple:
Recover his former power as a legendary mage.
The fastest way to do that would be through an Infinity Stone.
The power of an Infinity Stone could break the natural magical limitations that Earth imposed on him.
Unfortunately, Lance still didn't know where the Tesseract was hidden.
But that might not matter.
Soon enough—
Loki would come to Earth.
Even if Lance couldn't obtain the Tesseract itself, he might still have an opportunity to seize something else from Loki.
Something extremely valuable to a mage.
Lance glanced at the invitation letter in his hand.
The Stark Industries Expo.
That was an event he definitely shouldn't miss.
There might even be a few unexpected opportunities there.
Recently, Tony Stark himself hadn't been having an easy time.
Shortly after the preparations for the Stark Expo began, the U.S. Congress had summoned him to a hearing.
Their goal was obvious.
They wanted to seize control of the Iron Man armor.
But the hearing quickly turned into a farce.
Although many politicians and corporate rivals coveted Stark's technology, Stark had far more allies.
If the government could seize any invention under the excuse of national security, then no private inventor would feel safe.
And in a capitalist country like the United States—
Capital always fought back.
The media became the first weapon.
After the hearing, much of the American press openly mocked members of Congress.
Some politicians even avoided interviews entirely.
Then something unexpected happened.
At a Monaco racing event, Stark was attacked.
The man responsible was Ivan Vanko.
Although Vanko's armor was still primitive, the core concept was similar to Stark's technology.
Which meant that with enough support, Vanko could eventually create a fully functional Iron Man suit.
This changed everything.
Now the government no longer needed to seize Stark's technology.
Someone else had already begun replicating it.
The incident struck Stark hard.
Especially when questions arose about his father's past.
Years earlier, Anton Vanko—Ivan's father—had been expelled from the United States.
Had Howard Stark stolen his work?
Or had something else happened?
The media narrative shifted quickly.
Stark faced heavy criticism.
Eventually, even his close friend James "Rhodey" Rhodes took control of one of Stark's suits and delivered it to the military.
The U.S. government finally obtained its own Iron Man armor.
Meanwhile, Justin Hammer and Hammer Industries began aggressively developing their own armored weapons.
Stark Industries itself began to look increasingly unstable.
Yet when Lance met Tony Stark tonight, Stark showed no signs of defeat.
On the contrary, he appeared calm and confident.
As if he already knew how to turn everything around.
When Stark mentioned forming a superhero team, Lance had been genuinely surprised.
The name alone meant something important.
It meant Stark had already learned the truth about his father.
That Howard Stark had been one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D.
And it also meant something else.
Soon, Stark would create a new element.
The power source that would become the next generation Arc Reactor.
Perhaps it had already been completed.
Lance could only hope Stark wouldn't destroy the legacy his father left behind.
Otherwise Lance would have to find another way to obtain what he needed.
A new element.
One inspired by the structure of the Tesseract.
Conceived by Howard Stark.
And finally created by Tony Stark.
The technological barrier behind that element was enormous.
Even Lance wasn't certain he could replicate it.
Simply stealing a copy of Stark's Arc Reactor wouldn't be particularly useful.
At best, it would only serve as a powerful energy source.
But what Lance truly wanted—
Was something far more valuable.
Something that could push his magic to an entirely new level.
End of Chapter 24
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