Blocked from the Door by the Egg

"I am Iron Man... Did you think you were the only superhero?"

In the evening, Tony Stark returned to his seaside villa, only to be stopped at the door by a bald, one-eyed man so dark he barely reflected light.

"Mr. Stark, there are many people like you, you just don't know it."

"Who are you? A superhero fanatic?"

Stark raised an eyebrow, mocking.

He'd seen plenty of people who came looking for trouble for no reason, but usually security handled them. It was rare for someone to break through the cordon and get to him.

As for the "people like him" the dark figure mentioned.

Stark thought about that mouse plush toy that had beaten his Mark II, and his mood immediately soured.

"Were my security guards negligent, or did you use some special means?"

The one-eyed bald man in front of him wore a black leather suit and exuded an imposing aura, clearly not an ordinary person. And since he mentioned superheroes, maybe he really knew something.

Faced with Tony Stark's flippant attitude, Nick Fury couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. He didn't really want to stop Tony Stark at his doorstep like a hater, but there was no other way. S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't break through Tony Stark's home security system.

Although this made his agency's programmers look incompetent, it also strengthened Nick Fury's resolve to recruit Tony Stark into his Avengers initiative.

Stark's home security system hadn't been this strict originally. However, after being invaded by Kraft, he had upgraded Jarvis several times. Coupled with the fact that Obadiah Stane had nearly killed him by sneaking into his home, he had become much stricter about screening personnel entering and exiting. This prevented Nick Fury from infiltrating Stark's home and making a dramatic entrance as planned.

Without the cool, silent appearance in Stark's home, it resulted in Stark not taking Nick Fury very seriously.

"Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Unable to intimidate Tony Stark as planned, Director Fury chose to get straight to the point and announced his identity.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.? That agent... uh..."

"Coulson."

"Yes, that's what I was about to say."

Stark snapped his fingers, smoothly recovering without any embarrassment. His attitude had improved slightly, after all, Coulson had been quite helpful during the Obadiah incident.

"Come in and have a seat."

Stark tilted his head towards Fury and then opened the villa door.

"Jarvis."

"Welcome back, sir."

Jarvis illuminated the lights in the hall, and Stark gestured casually.

"Sit anywhere you like. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you."

Nick Fury shook his head. As a seasoned veteran agent, he rarely consumed food that wasn't under his control, even in Tony Stark's home.

"So, what brings you here?"

Stark poured himself a drink, plopped down in the center of the sofa, and leaned back lazily.

"I want to talk to you about forming the Avengers."

"Avengers? What's that? A band name? Sounds pretty good."

Stark swirled his glass, the ice cubes clinking against the glass with a crisp sound.

"No, it's an organization, or rather a team, that gathers people with special abilities like yours."

Nick Fury ignored Stark's teasing and explained.

"Wow, that's a nice idea," Stark took a sip of his drink, then smirked and asked Nick Fury, "So, how much salary are you planning to pay me?"

This was a polite refusal. Given Tony Stark's net worth, even with all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s funds, they couldn't afford his salary.

Nick Fury understood the subtext. He gave Stark a deep look, then stood up to leave.

"I'll be back to see you."

"Make an appointment next time."

Stark raised his glass in a farewell.

After spending a long time in the laboratory, Kraft visited the FEAST Homeless Shelter, built by Martin Lee, for the first time in a while.

This was actually related to that guy Tony Stark. Because of his fight with Obadiah, there were many casualties in New York City. As a charity organization, the FEAST Homeless Shelter, in addition to housing homeless people, also served as a temporary hospital for the poor who couldn't afford hospitalization.

Although Stark Industries had stepped up to provide compensation this time, hospitals in America, especially in New York, weren't just accessible with money. Therefore, the shelter still received quite a few patients.

Originally, this didn't have much to do with Kraft. But Alice, the soft-hearted robot, couldn't stand seeing others suffer. After learning about this, she often went to help on her own. Since the shelter was short-staffed recently, she went to the lab and dragged Kraft, who was fiddling with a wrench inside, along with her.

"Brother! The patient in bed five needs a dressing change! Quinn, help me throw these things in the trash."

While tending to patients, Alice seemed like a different person, incredibly assertive. Not only Kraft, but even Quinn the dog was ordered around by her to help out.

"Coming, coming..."

Exchanging a glance with Quinn, who was running towards the trash can with a bag of garbage in his mouth, Kraft reluctantly walked towards bed five with bandages and medicine.

Is it possible that the personality I adjusted for Alice only manifests at times like these?

Kraft sighed as he skillfully changed the dressing on the patient in bed five. He had been adept at this sort of thing since he was very young. In the days after he and Martin escaped from the Magia Gang, he and his father were almost always injured.

"Hey! Kraft! Your sister is way cuter than you are! You should really learn from her," Peter Parker said, popping out from goodness knows where. He clapped Kraft on the shoulder and teased him.

Kraft turned his head and gave him a sideways glance.

Is this guy asking for a beating?

This was the first time Peter had actively come to provoke Kraft, which surprised him a little.

Unfortunately, Peter's bravado didn't last long. After Kraft glanced at him, Peter seemed to recall past tragic experiences and immediately chickened out again.

"Oh, right, how did you train Quinn? He's so well-behaved," the now-submissive Peter said, quickly changing the subject.

Kraft, however, didn't reply. Instead, he frowned and scrutinized Peter from head to toe.

"W-what's wrong..."

Peter Parker cautiously shuffled back half a step, on guard. Due to Kraft's past misdeeds, he couldn't help but be wary.

Kraft continued to stare silently at Peter Parker, his gaze sweeping over Peter's face, making him feel incredibly uneasy.

Just as Peter Parker was about to bolt, Kraft finally spoke.

"Where are your glasses?"

Thanks to [Bai Jiu Shi You], [Can Ye Feng], and [Jian Fei Zhong] for the tips.

Actually, the movie version is quite unreasonable. Stark clearly had Jarvis, but when Obadiah and Fury came in, not only did he not stop them, he didn't even warn Stark.

I changed to a new environment over the weekend, and there was construction work going on outside. Zhongyuan was probably scared and stayed incredibly still in my arms. Other times, he'd hide under the bed or behind the curtains. He just wasn't eating much, so I guess he needs some time to adjust.