The Fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tony Stark's Soul

Earth, Washington, D. C., USA.

In the still of the night, under a sky dotted with stars, Tony Stark, who had just come off the operating table, lay unconscious on the hospital bed, his body still connected to IV drips.

Pepper Potts, the Pepper on night watch, sat by the bed, dozing with her eyes closed.

She was too tired.

I'm mentally exhausted.

The events of today were truly beyond her capacity to cope.

Tony Stark, who is now lying in bed and barely able to keep his heart beating by receiving intravenous infusions costing hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars a day, was almost driven to the brink of collapse.

"Knock knock knock".

There was a knock on the hospital room door in the dead of night. Pepper Potts opened his eyes instantly and asked warily, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Banner."

Bruce Banner, carrying a bag, pushed open the hospital room door, looking travel-worn and somewhat haggard.

"I brought you some food, why don't you eat something first?"

Bruce Banner placed the bag containing sandwiches and milk on the chaperone's table.

"How's it going with S.H.I.E.L.D.."

What did they say?

Pepper Potts, who had pinned all his hopes on S.H.I.E.L.D. technology to cure Tony Stark, hurriedly stood up and asked.

"Pepper ..." Bruce Banner hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to tell the truth.

"I was unable to contact S.H.I.E.L.D.., including Natasha, who had spoken to me on the phone earlier."

"It's as if they've all disappeared."

"But don't worry, trust them. They are all well-trained agents, they'll be fine." Banner's last words of comfort sounded pale and powerless.

Judging from what happened before, it was Beckett and Beckett men who attacked them.

And the consequences of their actions...

"In fact, most of them are already dead."

An extremely unfamiliar voice, accompanied by the creaking of the door, reached Pepper and Banner's ears, and a strangely dressed figure immediately came into view.

First impression: This person has a very long face.

"Stephen Strange?!" Pepper Potts couldn't help but exclaim as he turned around and saw the person's face.

"What? You know Pepper?" Bruce Banner, who had been living a life of "escape-seclusion-escape-seclusion" before the Battle of New York, looked puzzled.

"A very famous doctor, but he retired from the medical field after a car accident, and nobody knows where he went," Pepper Potts explained.

Because Tony Stark was in a coma, she spent the afternoon alone in her hospital room searching for various medical celebrities.

Stephen Strange's name was naturally also on her search list.

Only...

She had just searched for "Stephen Strange" in the afternoon, and he appeared in front of her that evening?

This big data surveillance has even reached her?

"I used to be a doctor," Strange, dressed in a mage's robe, admitted his identity and made a small correction.

"Now, I am a magician."

"Wait, what did you mean when you said most of them were already dead?"

Bruce Banner, realizing what was happening, reached out and Pepper Potts behind him, remaining vigilant and ready to call for the Hulk at any moment.

"As you can see, I am a magician. During the day, while I was practicing in the New York Sanctum, I sensed a spatial anomaly, and then I saw the S.H.I.E.L.D.. mothership explode."

"Unfortunately, when I arrived at the nearest crash site, only two people were still alive."

"One is called Coulson, and the other is called Barton."

"They are now working hard at the resettlement site to find other companions and to hold a funeral for their chief, Nick Fury."

Strange made it clear to Banner and Pepper what S.H.I.E.L.D..'s ultimate fate would be.

The entire army was wiped out, all resources were destroyed, and even the king of secret agents, Nick Fury, was forced to sacrifice his life.

And this was all because of a casual strike from a distance by Beckett, the Son of Titan.

"..."

"..."

Bruce Banner and Pepper Potts fell silent.

Strange's statement confirmed the very suspicion that the two of them were least willing to admit.

"What evidence do you have?" Pepper Potts, unwilling to lose hope of Tony's recovery, was still struggling.

"Evidence..." Strange pondered, then made a decision.

With arms outstretched, he pointed his left hand into the air, and a rainbow appeared at his fingertips;

With a sweeping motion of his right hand, a lifelike dragon roared with its mouth open.

A magnificent magic circle spun in Strange's palm, its flickering light completely immersing the two people before him in a world of magic.

Buzz!

With a soft chant, the magic dissipated, and the chaotic ward returned to calm. Stephen Strange looked at the two people who were drenched in cold sweat and asked, "Now, do you believe me?"

"Then, can you tell me why you've come here?" Pepper Potts' voice was still trembling as he forced himself to forget the scene from before.

"Tony Stark."

"The Earth needs him."

"He can't die now."

Strange was very serious.

In the letter left by his teacher, the Ancient One, before he left, Tony Stark's name was mentioned five times.

And each paragraph is crucial.

"Tony?"

"You can save Tony?!" Pepper Potts' eyes lit up instantly.

"No, I can't do that. His injuries are too severe right now, but I can temporarily separate his soul from his broken body."

Strange shook his head and explained his solution.

Tony Stark's injuries weren't just from the missile explosion; they also included the impact of the Mind Stone's isotope energy, making them difficult to heal.

His plan was to wait until the energy released from the Mind Stone isotopes had completely dissipated before treating Tony Stark.

"...soul...?"

Yes, just like that.

Stephen Strange walked to the bedside, made a hand seal, and placed his right palm on Tony Stark's forehead.

As Strange's right arm gradually rose, Tony Stark's spirit slowly appeared before the stunned Pepper and Banner.

"This is... my corpse???"

Tony Stark, now detached from his body, looked at himself on the hospital bed, then at the three people in the room, a rare look of bewilderment on his face. "Pepper?"

"Tony?"

"Is it really you?"

Incredibly, Pepper Potts tried to touch Tony Stark in his spirit form, only to find that he had touched nothing.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Pepper. So far, none of you except me have been able to touch Tony Stark."

Stephen Strange, the mastermind behind this scene, opened a sizzling portal with one hand, gesturing for the three to follow him.

I'll start paying off my debts at four o'clock every night when I get home on the Android 17...

Everyone knows I'm leaving on the Android 15, and now they're contacting me every day to handle things, each saying they'll finish before the New Year...

I'm speechless.