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[Frog] Chapter 89: Just a Passing Emperor
🕑 Added 2024-09-17 14:30:01 +0000 UTC"Yinsen, have you figured anything out?" Tony asked as he watched the rotating model.
"It looks like the structure of an atom, but there's too much clutter," Yinsen said insightfully.
"Exactly. Maybe we need to remove a few things."
Snap!
Tony snapped his fingers, and the rotating model stood upright and stopped spinning.
"The globe in the middle looks like the nucleus of an atom..." Tony mused. "Jarvis, zoom in on that."
Yinsen watched Tony’s actions with amazement.
"Remove the walkways, the shrubs, the entrances..." Tony instructed.
As Jarvis followed his commands, the digital model became more streamlined. Eventually, only a few glowing points remained.
Yinsen’s jaw dropped. "This is... unbelievable."
Tony's expression remained calm, but inside, waves of emotion surged. Even after all these years, his father, Howard, had taught him yet another lesson.
"Using pavilions to represent protons and neutrons..." Tony continued as the remaining glowing points quickly fused with the globe, forming a new atom.
Tony spread his hands, and the newly formed atom expanded, magnified countless times, covering the entire workshop like a giant web.
Yinsen could only marvel. "Howard Stark was a genius..."
For once, Tony nodded in agreement. "You've been dead for twenty years, and you're still teaching me lessons..."
"The new element you've discovered should be able to replace the palladium you're currently using," Jarvis chimed in.
The digital model of the new element condensed into Tony’s hand, glowing like a small orb of light.
"Thanks, Dad," Tony said sincerely.
"But unfortunately, it can't be synthesized," Jarvis noted after analyzing the difficulty of manufacturing the new element.
As Tony was about to say something, a loud crash of thunder echoed from outside. Both Tony and Yinsen were startled, turning to look in the direction of the sound.
"Looks like it’s going to rain," Yinsen commented.
Tony nodded. "I think so."
"No, sir," Jarvis interrupted. "Something has fallen."
"What do you mean?" Tony asked, confused.
Jarvis displayed a video feed, showing an object descending through the Earth's atmosphere, the cause of the thunderous noise.
"What is that? A meteor?" Tony wondered. Apart from meteors, there wasn’t much else that could fall from the sky.
"I'm not sure," Jarvis replied.
The unexpected event didn’t seem to interest Yinsen and Tony too much. Yinsen walked over to Tony and took the new element from his hand. "How on earth did your father discover something like this?"
Tony waved dismissively. "It was probably just a stroke of genius."
Yinsen shook his head. "Doesn’t it strike you as odd? Your father discovered a new element, yet left no clues behind."
"You know he died suddenly. I assume he didn’t have time to document anything."
"No research notes at all?" Yinsen pressed.
This question left Tony in silence. Indeed, it was strange. Such a groundbreaking discovery, yet there was no research data to be found. When Tony went through his parents' belongings after their car accident, there had been no trace of any notes on this new element.
Yinsen continued, "There are only two possibilities. Either the research notes are being kept somewhere else, or... someone else stole them."
Tony felt a surge of unease but brushed it off. "Doesn’t matter now. We've got work to do."
"Work?" Yinsen asked, looking at Tony quizzically. The confident smile on Tony’s face quickly clued him in. "You’re planning to manually synthesize the new element, aren’t you?"
Tony gave Yinsen a mischievous glance before turning around. "Time for a major renovation. Let’s sweat a little, dude!"
....
Boom...
On the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Nick Fury was uncharacteristically taking a rare moment of laziness in his office when a loud crash of thunder jolted him awake.
"Is it going to rain?" was his first thought. Just as he was about to settle back into his break, a knock came from the office door.
"Sir, do you have a moment?" Maria Hill's voice sounded from outside. She didn't want to burst in like the last time—where she'd seen more than she should have.
Nick Fury quickly gathered himself. "Come in, Hill."
As soon as Maria entered, she said, "There's a situation."
"What happened? Why are you so worked up?"
"Take a look at this."
She handed him a tablet showing footage of an object falling from Earth's atmosphere.
"What is that? A meteor? Or some kind of plane debris?" Fury asked.
Hill took a deep breath and replied, "Neither. It’s a... hammer."
"What?" Fury couldn't believe his ears. "Did you just say a hammer fell from the sky?"
"Take a look at this." Hill showed him another clip. "After it landed, locals were immediately drawn to it. People went to see it and started uploading photos."
Nick Fury clicked on the images. On the ground was a deep crater, and in the center, a silver hammer stood embedded.
Fury snapped to attention. "Where is this? Seal off the area immediately."
"New Mexico," Hill replied.
"Make sure the news doesn’t leak beyond the local area. Where’s Coulson?"
"He's about to meet Tony Stark again," Hill checked the records.
Fury rubbed his bald head and said, "Send Coulson to New Mexico. I’ll deal with Tony."
"Understood, sir."
---
Outside Tony Stark’s home, a private car slowly came to a stop. Agent Phil Coulson stepped out, glancing at the house built against the hillside. He couldn’t help but think, It must be nice to be rich.
He was about to knock on the door and chat with Tony, as an old friend would, to complete his task when his phone rang again.
"Hey, Hill. What’s up?"
"The boss wants you in New Mexico. There’s a more important mission for you. I’ve sent the details to your phone."
Coulson looked at Tony's house, about to say that he had just arrived at the front door. But all the thoughts in his mind condensed into one short sentence: "Got it, mission change."
"Good luck."
After hanging up, Coulson glanced again at Tony's house. Since he was already there, he might as well take a peek inside.
His phone pinged as Hill's mission data arrived, but he wasn’t in a hurry to check. A few minutes wouldn’t hurt.
He walked up to Tony's front door and pressed the doorbell.
Instead of a chime, Jarvis’s voice came through: "Hello, Agent Coulson. Please hold on."
"Tell Tony an old friend is here to see him."
"Right away."
---
In Tony’s workshop, he was marking positions on the wall, preparing for some serious remodeling. As he picked up a sledgehammer, Jarvis announced, "Sir, Agent Coulson is here."
"What does he want? Let him in."
Tony had a fairly positive opinion of Coulson, especially since he'd helped protect Pepper during the Obadiah situation.
Crash! Tony swung the hammer with all his strength, breaking through the wall. A few more heavy blows followed, making the hole even larger.
Behind him, Yinsen was drawing on the wall, following Tony’s renovation plans.
It wasn’t long before Coulson came downstairs, only to be greeted by the sight of two men smashing walls and a scene of complete destruction.
"What are you guys doing?" Coulson asked.
"Major renovation. Why are you here?" Tony responded bluntly.
"Was on my way to a mission, thought I’d drop by," Coulson said.
Crash! Tony swung the hammer again and replied, "Good luck."
Seeing that Tony and Yinsen were too engrossed in their work to chat, Coulson lingered briefly before turning to leave.
As Tony finished another swing, he looked around and asked, "Jarvis, where did he go?"
"He’s already left, sir."
Outside, Coulson returned to his car and opened the mission file from Hill. His eyes widened as he stared at the image on the screen. "Is this... a hammer?"
Just as he was processing the new mission, his phone rang again. It was Nick Fury.
"Coulson, what was Tony doing when you went inside?" Fury asked.
After a moment of thought, Coulson replied, "He seemed to be renovating his house."
"Renovating?" Fury sounded puzzled. "Tony, doing renovations himself? That doesn’t sound right."
"Yeah, he was smashing walls, and Yinsen was sketching designs on them," Coulson confirmed.
Fury pondered for a moment, then said, "Never mind. Get to New Mexico as soon as possible."
....
"The hammer is going to be a big deal over there," Coulson thought.
"Understood, sir," he replied and hung up the phone, then drove off.
Back in the office, Nick Fury was already packing up the items Howard Stark had left behind, placing them back into a box.
"Looks like I need to get this to Tony sooner rather than later."
Something was making Fury uneasy. Ever since Tony had come into contact with that golden armor, Fury had the distinct feeling that Tony was slipping out of his control. He was starting to worry that, soon, there might be no way to leverage Tony with a favor.
Thinking it over, Fury decided he had to act quickly. He pressed his earpiece and asked, "Natasha, where are you right now?"
After a brief pause, Black Widow’s voice came through. "Just finishing up in Monaco with Miss Pepper."
"Plan to return tonight. I’ll be back at Stark Industries by tomorrow."
"Find a chance to meet with Tony Stark privately. I need to see him," Fury instructed.
There was a brief silence before Natasha replied, "Understood."
---
"Pikachu... 5000 volts, discharge!" Gwen pointed at the firewood pile in front of her.
"Pika!" Pikachu shot out a powerful burst of electricity, and with a whoosh, flames sprang to life.
Gwen quickly sat down beside Alan. "Much warmer now. It was really getting cold up here on the mountaintop."
Alan smiled and nodded. "Next time, we should bring some food and have a barbecue up here."
After dinner, Alan had driven Gwen to the top of a nearby mountain.
---
Looking out over the bright lights of New York City, Pikachu sat between them, happily munching on a bag of chips.
"For the barbecue, I’d love some steak and..." Gwen began listing her favorite foods, then turned to Alan. "By the way, Alan, do you remember that Emperor from last time?"
Alan blinked. "Yeah, the one who helped freeze Dr. Connors."
"I don’t know why, but when I saw him, I felt this strange sense of familiarity."
"Especially now that I’m getting more in tune with my spider-sense, that feeling is even stronger."
As she spoke, Gwen suddenly looked directly at Alan, her eyes fixed on him. "Do you think he’s a superhero too?"
A superhero? Alan had no interest in being one. He shrugged and said lightly, "Who knows? Maybe he’s just passing by."
Hearing his explanation, Gwen nodded thoughtfully. Maybe he really was just passing by.
As they sat by the flickering fire, which gave off a comforting warmth, Gwen naturally leaned her head on Alan's shoulder.
"Alan, what do you think life would be like if I never got my spider powers?"
"I don’t know. Life doesn’t have that many ‘what ifs.’"
"Whatever happens, just go with the flow."
"Pika... Pika... Chu..." Pikachu turned around, gesturing animatedly.
"What’s Pikachu saying now?"
"He’s saying if we’d brought more food, he wouldn’t be out of snacks by now."
Gwen glanced at the empty bag of chips. Sure enough, it was completely gone.
"Pikachu, how are you such a glutton? You didn’t even leave me any."
"Pika... Chu..." Pikachu looked at her with wide, innocent eyes.
Alan chuckled. "He said, 'I didn’t even have enough for myself.'"
"You greedy little thing! Be careful, or you’ll get fat!" Gwen scolded playfully.
Alan patted Pikachu on the head. "You shouldn’t eat so much junk food, you know that, right?"
Pikachu stuck out his tongue. "Pika..."
Boom!
Suddenly, a loud rumble of thunder echoed in the distance, accompanied by a flash of lightning. The sky lit up with strange, colorful lights.
"Thunder? Is it going to rain?" Gwen looked up at the sky. There weren’t any clouds—she could still see the moon and stars.
Yet, the strange phenomenon in the distance caused Alan’s eyes to narrow.
Could it be...?
---
In New Mexico, a specially modified van drove along an empty road. Without warning, a blonde man smashed onto the front windshield.
Inside the van, two women screamed in shock at the sudden impact.
The man in the van, however, remained calm. After a brief moment of exchanging glances, the three quickly got out to investigate.
---
Author's Q&A: The current timeline is set during Spider-Man 2, Iron Man 2, and the beginning of Thor 1. To keep the story interconnected, the plot will differ from the movies you know (since an exact copy of the movies would be boring—you could just watch the film for free, right?).
