Tony Stark's Troubles

After giving Coulson a rough demonstration of his abilities, Xia Yu told him only what he had seen of The Mandarin. As for what Coulson wanted to know about Tony Stark's invention in the cave, he could ask Tony himself. Coulson hadn't brought up the Avengers, and Xia Yu knew he still had to go back and consult Nick Fury. The next time he dealt with S.H.I.E.L.D., he would probably face Nick Fury himself. Fury was also a client of his, and Xia Yu seemed to owe him a few more sessions he hadn't finished yet. That was awkward.

Avengers: Endgame had established that the Battle of New York took place in 2012. Now it was just past the middle of 2008. Xia Yu remembered that Iron Man 2 had come out in 2010 and Thor in 2011, but judging by the story, Iron Man 2 followed right after Iron Man, taking place six months later. Thor happened at the same time as Iron Man 2. It wasn't until after the Avengers that the timeline became clearer and clearer.

At the beginning, Marvel probably hadn't had much confidence, and its funding and talent hadn't been in place either. It had started laying the groundwork, but its pace hadn't kept up. Now that Xia Yu was in this world, though, it looked like he couldn't go by the movies' release dates anymore. Iron Man 2 might well begin soon after the fight with Obadiah Stane.

It looked like he had better join S.H.I.E.L.D. as soon as possible. The sooner he joined, the sooner he could start laying his plans. When the Avengers became independent later on, Xia Yu didn't want some World Security Council or United Nations hanging over his head.

Having decided to join S.H.I.E.L.D., Xia Yu thought of Natasha and left her a message, asking her to come see him when she had time. Why a message? Because his beautiful secret agent girlfriend's phone was often out of service.

He waited three days, but instead of Natasha, Tony Stark showed up. That afternoon, Xia Yu had gone for a swim and was lying by the pool soaking up the sun when Tony arrived, flying down from the sky.

Xia Yu glanced up and saw quite a few scrape marks on the Iron Man Armor. He sat up and asked, "Where have you been? Did you get into a fight with an army somewhere?"

Tony Stark said nothing. He picked up Xia Yu's glass, filled it to the brim with whiskey and drained it in one gulp before saying, "I went to Afghanistan and killed a few Ten Rings terrorists who were massacring civilians. I found out someone at the company has been secretly selling weapons to terrorists."

"Then you should report it to the police, Tony," Xia Yu said.

"I suspect it's Obadiah. All the signs point to him. He was strongly opposed to me shutting down the weapons division in the first place, and then he joined forces with the board to remove me from my position on the grounds of my health. I even suspect he was behind my kidnapping. He's one of the founders of Stark Industries. After my father died, he helped me establish myself at the company. I thought of him as my own uncle, Xia. Do you understand?" Tony said agitatedly.

Xia Yu picked up the bottle and poured Tony a little, then took a big swig straight from the bottle himself. "Tony, I've heard about your father's stick theory. There's only peace when your stick is bigger than everyone else's. An interesting analogy. Your father lived through World War II. When he chose to make weapons back then, he was choosing to do the right thing. Your choice to shut down the weapons division now is the same. Obadiah Stane is the uncle of Tony Stark the weapons genius, not Tony Stark the peacemaker. You two are no longer on the same path, Tony."

"But when I was kidnapped, I hadn't even thought about shutting down the weapons division. Why would he? Before you, there were only two people besides Pepper Potts who had access to my house. He was one of them, you know?" Tony Stark said. He had figured everything else out long ago; he just didn't want to believe it.

Xia Yu had been about to get up and give Tony a hug, but seeing him in his Iron Man Armor, he settled for patting him on the shoulder. "You may be a billionaire, Tony, but at heart you're not a businessman. Obadiah Stane is. He's someone who values profit, and Stark Industries is a massive source of it. He didn't help you establish yourself at the company because you were Tony Stark, but because your technology could help him turn the company into a behemoth. Do you know about raising pigs, Tony? Of course you have to fatten them up before slaughtering them. That way there's plenty of meat!"

Tony Stark sat there in silence. Xia Yu knew Tony actually understood it all; he just couldn't quite accept it. So Xia Yu stayed with him, clinking glasses and taking a drink from time to time.

After two or three drinks, Tony sighed and said, "I can't give up until I see proof. I want Pepper to go to the company and help me look for records of illegal weapons deals, but I'm worried about her. Can you go with her?"

"Of course. Tony, do you remember that blond guy who drove you away from Afghanistan? What was his name again? Eh, never mind. Where did you say you sent him last time? Ask him about your kidnapping. You might learn something."

"I sent him to Iceland. I bought him a house there and gave him five million euros. I'll find a way to contact him. Four tomorrow afternoon, outside Stark Industries. Pepper will be waiting for you there." With that, Tony flew straight off with a whoosh.

"That's drunk driving!" Xia shouted from the rooftop.

Xia Yu knew the final boss was about to appear. With him accompanying Pepper, Obadiah Stane would probably still snatch Tony's Arc Reactor, but that was all right. There was still the Heart of Xia. The system had said that if he didn't go, the plot wouldn't change, so all he had to do was wait for Iron Monger to come out and fight the boss.

The next day, Xia Yu arrived at Stark Industries on time. Sure enough, Pepper Potts was already waiting for him at the entrance. When she saw him, she came over with a smile and hugged him. "I was going to ask Happy to come with me, but Tony said Happy was too handsome and he wouldn't feel comfortable with him accompanying me. He said he'd found me the ugliest bodyguard in all of North America, and I guessed right away he meant you."

Xia Yu was practically blowing smoke out of his nostrils. Seriously, lady, what do you mean, you guessed right away it was me?

"Tony's been jealous for a long time. You should know that," he said irritably. "I'll go up with you. From now on, I'm your personal bodyguard. After you, Miss Potts."

Potts led the way in a business suit and high heels, carrying herself with an imposing air. She really was a future CEO. Xia Yu had come to be a bodyguard today, dressed in a black suit and even wearing sunglasses. He followed Pepper Potts with a blank expression.

Pepper's position at Stark Industries was executive assistant to the CEO, though the vast majority of her work was actually as Tony Stark's personal assistant. Everyone at Stark Industries knew how much she meant to Stark, so employees nodded and greeted her as Xia Yu followed her through the company. Pepper Potts kept her eyes straight ahead, giving only a slight nod in response to their greetings. Xia Yu couldn't help straightening his own chest, lest he fail to match Pepper Potts's air of a domineering female CEO.

They made it to Tony Stark's office without any trouble. Xia Yu played along, hurrying ahead to open the door for her. Once inside, Pepper Potts went straight to Tony's desk and used the USB drive he had given her to hack into the company's servers. She found a secret drive inside.

She opened two folders, both containing files on weapons development and sales. The third folder was called Sector 16. Pepper Potts clicked on it and found it full of blueprints for converting the Stark Mark I into Iron Monger. Then she found a video. When she opened it, it turned out to be a video the terrorists had made for Obadiah after kidnapping Tony.