Vengeful Spirit? Curse? Hmph... Ridiculous!!

Stark Industries Tower.

Ever since the incident at the Four Seasons Hotel, Tony Stark had turned down all interviews and stayed in his lab, where he developed a missile.

He named it the Jericho Missile.

These past few days, he had truly had enough of those people mocking him in the news and online. He was ready to prove to those dim-witted bastards that they would never understand the world of a genius!

"Oh, and that green-faced bastard Loki.

I swear, the next time I see him, I'll kick his ass hard!"

[Emotion Points from Tony Stark +333]

Tony Stark gritted his teeth, wishing he could find the other man immediately and shove every one of these newly developed little darlings straight up his ass.

"You'd better hope I don't see you, Loki!"

Tony was cursing when he saw Obadiah beckoning as he walked toward him, making him shudder reflexively.

He quickly took the coat from Happy's hand, put it on as he walked, and rushed toward the press conference venue.

Behind him, Obadiah's face darkened.

He felt that Tony had been trying to distance himself from him lately.

"Could it be... he noticed what I did?"

Whatever he thought of made his eyes turn cold, and Obadiah let out a heavy snort.

Inside the conference hall.

Reporters from major newspapers, New York's wealthy elite, and even military personnel had already been waiting eagerly.

"JARVIS, are all the materials for the press conference ready?"

"Yes, sir. As instructed, everything has been uploaded."

"Good."

Standing at the podium, Tony loosened his tie and began with a smile.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very pleased that you could attend this press conference today. I believe none of you will leave disappointed."

"This is the latest military weapon I've developed. I call it the Jericho Missile.

Its design eliminated the shortcomings of the past... blah blah... and it possesses the finest strike system in the world."

Tony was in high spirits, spreading his arms as he spoke eloquently.

Hmm?

The anticipated cheers and applause never came. Instead, the atmosphere in the venue suddenly turned strange.

[Emotion Points from Phil Coulson +187]

Standing below the stage, Coulson urgently issued orders through his earpiece to the agents lying in wait around the venue.

"Move it, all of you! Sweep the entire area and search for suspicious individuals!"

[Emotion Points from Happy Hogan +191]

Happy anxiously stood up and repeatedly signaled to Tony with his eyes.

The expressions of the military personnel and wealthy attendees changed as well. They frowned slightly, confusion flashing through their eyes.

[Emotion Points from Everyone at the Venue +138.11]

What... happened?

Finally sensing that something was wrong, Tony followed everyone's gaze and turned to look behind him.

[Emotion Points from Tony Stark +277]

His eyes widened, and Tony angrily demanded through his earpiece, "JARVIS, what the hell is going on?!"

What the giant screen was playing was not the PowerPoint presentation he had prepared at all, but a bizarre video!

It seemed to show a dilapidated wooden house. Judging from the furniture and décor shown in the footage, it was probably somewhere in Southeast Asia.

Under the gloomy color grading, an elderly woman hung dead inside the house.

She wore tattered clothes, her head hanging down, her bare feet exposed.

The corpse swayed back and forth in the air. The rope around her neck was tied to a beam, rubbing against it with creaking squeaks that sounded especially eerie.

The venue grew somewhat noisy as people whispered and discussed it among themselves.

The reporters instinctively aimed their cameras at the scene, and the quicker ones had already finished writing and sent out their articles.

<Renowned super-genius Tony Stark strikes again with another blunder!>

A prank, or revenge from an old lover?

<Tony Stark never takes the usual path—what message is he trying to convey by playing a film live at the event?>

"Damn it! JARVIS, take that video down! Put the original content back!!"

Tony wore a sour expression, somehow thinking of that bastard Loki.

[Emotion Points from Tony Stark +299]

"Pah, what rotten luck. I never want to see him again!"

Just as he thought that, Pepper came jogging into the venue, clutching a postcard as she headed straight for Tony.

Her expression was grim, carrying a trace of nervousness as she carefully handed the card to Tony Stark.

Taking the postcard in confusion, Tony's expression abruptly changed.

"Loki!!"

Speak of the devil. A few lines were written on the postcard, unmistakably in Loki's hand.

[Tony, I heard you were looking for me and couldn't stop thinking about me, even neglecting food and sleep to develop new weapons.

Haha, come to think of it, the last time we met was the last time we met.

I have to say, your actions have moved me deeply.]

"Fuck. Who asked you to be moved?!"

Tony cursed inwardly, once again recalling that humiliating incident where he had been photographed naked. His mood immediately soured.

After barely suppressing his disgust, he continued reading.

[Recently, I acquired a fun little toy.

I couldn't wait to share it with you.

Do you like it? Aren't you excited?

Given the friendship between us, there's absolutely no need to thank me!]

"Thank my ass, you bastard!!"

[Oh, one final reminder.

This recording carries the curse of the vengeful spirit Fusang Sister.

Anyone who sees the video will be hunted endlessly by her.

So, Tony, you understand~

Your "good friend," Loki.]

[Emotion Points from Tony Stark +337]

".I don't understand!"

His expression changed as Tony immediately turned around. Only after seeing that JARVIS had already shut off the image on the big screen did he finally let out a long breath.

Pepper asked worriedly from beside him.

"Tony, are you all right? Do we need to stop the press conference?"

He waved a hand.

"Vengeful spirits? Curses? Heh heh, ridiculous!!"

The super genius Mr. Tony Stark utterly disdained such unscientific nonsense!

Though he still felt somewhat unsettled, he had already regained his composure.

On the stage, he raised the postcard in his hand and projected its contents onto the enormous screen behind him for everyone to see.

Now, everyone could read the words on it.

With several cold laughs, Tony Stark began his counterattack against Loki, holding up the letter as he loudly mocked him.

"I'm sorry, everyone.

Today, some clown overestimated himself and wanted to take center stage.

But unfortunately for him, today's protagonist can only be me—Tony Stark!"

"As for this so-called vengeful spirit? Curse?

Hahaha, such petty threats will never scare Mr. Stark!"

Facing the cameras, he swung his arm and gradually raised his voice.

"Loki, if you're watching this on TV, I have to tell you this.

Go wash your ass, then get yourself a fresh new brain!"

"My personal recommendation is that you check yourself into a psychiatric hospital. After all, for a lunatic with such an overwhelming need for attention, that's where you belong!"

As he spoke, he tore the postcard in his hand into pieces.

He scattered them on the ground, then stomped on them viciously several times to show his contempt.

Seeing such an explosive scene, the audience broke into applause.

"Hahahaha! What Loki? What evil spirit? A psychiatric hospital is where you belong!"

"Curse? Heh-heh, that's the funniest joke I've heard all year!"

"He's nothing but a clown jumping around!"

"Mr. Tony Stark, well done!!"

"."

Cheers erupted throughout the scene. No one took the contents of the letter seriously; they all scorned Loki's crude, overreaching tactics.

When writing this kind of story, the most awkward part was that many famous characters had already been written by other authors.

I could only do my best to dig up some new characters and see if I could offer everyone something fresh <(￣▽￣)/