I Drew Your Blood

Quill listened to Tony's words, and his heart suddenly sank.

Tony's voice remained calm. "There are signals from two humans, coming from that agent and you. And there's another, more interesting signal—only a trace of residual energy remains."

"But," Tony abruptly changed tack, "the waveform of that residual energy perfectly matches the energy fluctuations from that cloud of smoke to the east."

Quill's breathing paused. He had never expected this rich tech guy to have a method like that.

Tony stepped forward and lowered his voice. "You're not alone. This is a group operation. Where's the guy causing chaos to cover for you?"

Quill returned to his usual flippant manner. "Mr. Stark, what are you talking about?"

Tony's gaze lingered on his face for a moment. "Fine. If you won't talk, I'll ask something else."

He pointed at Quill's clenched hand. "Can I take a look at whatever you're hiding in there?"

Quill instinctively drew his hand back.

Tony raised an eyebrow, and his expression turned serious. "Listen, kid. I don't know what happened to you last night, and I don't know what benefits that guy who dragged you into this gave you."

"But you're standing on my turf, with my colleague beside you, holding something that can turn him into a chicken."

Tony paused briefly. "I'm not trying to steal your thing. But I need to know whether that thing might turn me into some strange poultry while I'm asleep."

Quill remained silent. The smoke in the distance was thicker than before, and several explosions could faintly be heard.

Tony glanced back, frowning deeply. "Coulson's side won't hold out much longer. I'll count to three. Either you show me what's in your hand, or I haul you over there and hand you to him to deal with. He can interrogate you nice and slow."

"One."

Quill tightened his grip on the talisman.

"Two."

Quill's mind raced, countless thoughts surfacing. Could he turn into Tony and fool him? Or turn into a bird and fly away? Or just fight?

"Three."

Tony raised his hand.

At that moment, the sound of flapping wings came from outside the chicken coop. Both men looked over.

A pigeon landed at the entrance of the coop, its head tilted to one side. A string was tied to one of its legs, and the other end was connected to a scaled hand—Shendu's hand.

Tony's gaze shifted back and forth between Shendu and the pigeon tied to the string.

He said slowly, "Let me guess. This pigeon wouldn't happen to be one of our S.H.I.E.L.D. agents too, would it?"

"Mr. Stark truly is sharp."

Shendu's voice was calm. "This one is indeed a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He was previously patrolling the eastern area. Now, he may need a little help to return to normal."

Tony raised his eyebrows but did not respond. He turned toward Quill. "So the two of you teamed up to run some charity organization that turns people into animals and then turns them back? Pretty comprehensive service."

Quill gave a dry laugh.

"All right, relax."

Tony stepped back and leaned against the chicken coop's doorframe. "I'm not Coulson. I'm not going to cuff you and interrogate you. But..."

Tony paused. "You need to give me an explanation."

"What kind of explanation does Mr. Stark want to hear?" Shendu asked evenly.

Tony was blunt. "You know perfectly well. Don't try to fool me with that Chitauri radiation nonsense. I scanned that area."

Tony stared into Shendu's eyes. "You know better than I do that it wasn't radiation."

After a moment of silence, Shendu said, "Mr. Stark is right. It truly wasn't radiation."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Finally ready to tell the truth?"

Shendu's tone remained calm. "I can tell you the truth, but before that, I would like to ask you something."

"That wild boar from that night—how do you think it accurately found the wreckage containing the Chitauri energy core?"

The smile on Tony's face froze.

Shendu continued, "The wreckage in that area was scattered randomly. The energy core's radiation was wrapped in a shielding layer, so ordinary animals could never sense it. But that wild boar went straight for the target, swallowed the core, and then coincidentally blew up the gas station."

He looked at Tony, his tone gently leading. "Don't you think that's too much of a coincidence?"

Tony was silent for two seconds. "What are you trying to say?"

Shendu lowered his voice slightly. "It's simple. Someone is deliberately creating chaos."

Tony narrowed his eyes slightly. "Go on."

"That wild boar appeared at exactly the same time a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was monitoring Quill's mother's house."

"The agent who turned into a rooster was also outside that very house."

Shendu spoke each word distinctly. "If you look at those two incidents together, you'll notice an interesting pattern."

"Every time someone sets their sights on us, accidents happen. And those accidents always divert attention at exactly the right moment."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "You're saying someone is helping you?"

Shendu shook his head. "Quite the opposite. Someone is using us to create the chaos they want."

Tony stared at him, then suddenly laughed.

"Interesting," he said slowly. "Are you telling me there's a mole inside S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Shendu did not answer directly. "I'm merely stating the facts. How you interpret them is Mr. Stark's business."

Tony's smile vanished as he fell into thought.

"Do you have proof?" he asked.

"Not yet."

Shendu answered candidly, "But if Mr. Stark is willing to cooperate, we can find the proof together."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Cooperate? Cooperate with what?"

"Put on an act."

Without changing expression, Shendu continued spinning his tale. "Right now, that mole probably thinks we're already in trouble. An agent has vanished, there are energy fluctuations, and everything is in chaos. That is exactly the result he wants."

He looked at Tony. "But if Mr. Stark is willing to help us clean up this mess while publicly declaring that everything is normal, the mole will know his plan has failed."

Tony was silent for several seconds, then the corner of his mouth slowly curled up. "So you want me to clean up after you two? And play along in a little mole-catching drama?"

"Yes." Shendu nodded.

Shendu's words seemed to hit Tony's funny bone, and he laughed wildly.

After he finished laughing, he clapped his hands. "All right, that's an interesting proposal. But what do I get out of it?"

Shendu had expected the question. "What benefit does Mr. Stark want?"

Tony took two steps forward and circled Shendu once, his gaze sweeping across the scales, horns, and tail on his body. Then he spoke slowly.

"Actually, I thought something was off about you the first time I met you."

Shendu's expression did not change at all.

Tony continued, "You said you were Valmont, that you used to be human and had now turned into a dragon. That explanation sounds reasonable, but there's one problem. You know far too much about Chitauri technology."

The tip of Shendu's tail twitched slightly. He had learned about Chitauri technology when he used the Mouse Talisman to infiltrate the Leviathan, but he had not expected Tony to become suspicious over that.

Tony noticed Shendu's reaction, and the smile at the corner of his mouth deepened. "Also, while you were unconscious, I drew a little of your blood."