It'll Cost Extra

After receiving the call, Colonel Rhodes immediately dispatched a fighter jet to escort Tony back to the United States.

Tony was unusually quiet, without any of the wild indulgence from his trip over—no champagne, fine wine, or dancing flight attendants.

This ordeal had affected him deeply. Not only had he been physically injured, but he had also seen his weapons being used by violent extremists, leaving him deeply unsettled.

And there was that mysterious Easterner. Why hadn't he saved him? Yet why had he worried about him dying?

There was too much for him to think about.

Back in the United States.

A huge crowd of reporters who had caught wind of the news blocked the airport.

A top scientist, a billionaire, and a playboy had been kidnapped by violent extremists and had finally returned home. Who wouldn't want the first scoop on such explosive news?

As Tony got off the plane, Pepper Potts and his friend and bodyguard, Happy, were already waiting for him.

Pepper's tears were on the verge of falling as she rushed forward and hugged Tony tightly, refusing to let go. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Tony shrugged. "Didn't I come back? Don't cry. Your makeup will run."

Happy anxiously called out from the side, "My turn."

Seeing that Pepper still wouldn't let go, he simply dragged his bulky body over and joined the hug. The three of them squeezed together, making Tony yelp in pain.

Seeing Tony's chest, Pepper cried out in alarm, "What happened? You're hurt? We need to get to the hospital right away."

Tony said, "No rush. I have something more important to do. Happy, get me a cheeseburger. And arrange a press conference."

The reporters were already there, so the press conference was arranged quickly.

Holding a cheeseburger, Tony sat on the floor beside the podium without a care for appearances.

Tony said, "You know, what makes food taste best isn't the food itself, but the environment. Over the past month or so, in that cave, I had the best cheeseburgers and Orleans-style roast chicken in the world."

"Now that I'm back, I'm eating the finest burger available, but it doesn't taste even a tenth as good as the one from that cave."

"I want to thank that delivery guy. He not only brought me the most delicious food in the world, but he also saved me and my benefactor. I don't know what his purpose was, but as long as he isn't trying to destroy the world, I'll do everything I can to repay him."

The room immediately filled with buzzing whispers as everyone exchanged confused looks. What was Tony talking about? Burgers? A delivery guy? Had they gotten bad information?

At last, a reporter couldn't hold back any longer. "Mr. Tony, pardon my bluntness, but were you kidnapped, or did you go on vacation?"

Tony said, "I was indeed kidnapped and imprisoned in a cave for over a month. I was attacked by a bomb, and there are still fragments in my chest. I'm currently relying on a battery to stay alive."

The room erupted. It had only been speculation before, but now Tony himself had confirmed it. The reporters couldn't help their shock.

The United States practiced hegemony across the world, bombing other countries at the drop of a hat and assassinating foreign generals and leaders. It had made far too many enemies, and violent attacks were a nightmare it could never shake.

Now even a wealthy man like Tony, under military protection, had been kidnapped. That only made them feel even more unsafe.

A beautiful female reporter stood and asked, "Then... what was that about a delivery guy? Do violent extremists order takeout too?"

Tony said, "I don't know any more than you do. I can't discuss the details for now. What I want to announce is another major decision."

Hearing there was bigger news, everyone had no choice but to suppress their curiosity and stop pursuing the matter of the delivery guy.

Tony continued, "I never got to say goodbye to my father. I've always had questions I wanted to ask him. I wanted to ask whether he ever struggled, whether he ever doubted. I saw young Americans being killed by weapons I created to protect them. I realized I could do more for the world than just make things explode."

"Therefore, I hereby announce that Stark International's weapons manufacturing division will be shut down, effective immediately!"

The venue fell silent for a moment before exploding into chaos. Reporters surged forward frantically, trying to ask more questions.

But Tony was already exhausted. He gave no further answers and left under Happy's escort.

Over on Apocalypse's side.

He had placed Yinsen with Dr. Sterns. The two scientists hit it off the moment they met and got along surprisingly well.

When Apocalypse saw Tony's decision on the news, he knew that once Tony returned home, he would improve the Iron Man armor.

Sure enough, a few days later, under cover of night, a humanoid suit of armor flew out of Tony's house.

Apocalypse sat at an open-air bar some distance away, casually drinking beer. This initial model should have been the Mark I Iron Man armor. It had not even been painted yet, leaving its silver-white metal surface exposed.

However, the Mark I was still immature and had a fatal flaw—it lacked an anti-freezing system.

Sure enough, Tony began testing the armor's flight ceiling, pushing it higher and higher into the sky.

Ten thousand feet, twenty thousand feet, thirty thousand feet... eighty thousand feet...

The artificial intelligence JARVIS warned, "Sir, potentially fatal icing has appeared."

Tony said, "Keep going. I haven't broken the eighty-five-thousand-foot record for fixed-wing aircraft yet."

Before long, the frigid upper atmosphere coated the armor in a thick layer of ice. The internal power system was affected by the low temperature and suddenly shut down.

"Oh..."

Tony screamed as he fell from the sky.

Apocalypse remained unmoved. According to the original plot, the power system should restart just before Tony hit the ground, and Tony would safely fly back home.

"Puff... crack... puff..."

Tony kept trying to restart the power system, but it only spat out several bursts of black smoke, accomplishing nothing.

Oh no! Apocalypse inwardly cried.

A violent gust swept through the open-air bar, knocking tables and chairs to the ground. Apocalypse vanished from where he stood.

"Boom..."

Unfortunately, he was too far away. No matter how fast Apocalypse was, he couldn't catch Tony in time. Tony crashed straight into the ground, smashing out a deep crater.

After several flashes, Apocalypse arrived at the crater and tore off Tony's helmet with a snap.

"Cough, cough... Hey... we meet again."

Tony coughed up blood. He had clearly been badly injured. He had been worried that he might die, but when Apocalypse arrived, he inexplicably felt safe.

Apocalypse smiled. "Why are you always so unlucky whenever I see you? I thought I'd get to see you show off this time."

At that moment, JARVIS's alert sounded. "Injury diagnosis: spine broken into three sections, both legs fractured, internal organs ruptured and bleeding. The nearest hospital has been contacted, but it will take at least twenty minutes. Sir, I'm afraid you won't last that long..."

Bloody foam kept spilling from Tony's mouth, a sign that his lungs had been punctured. At that moment, he was already having trouble breathing.

With a flick of his hand, Apocalypse took a bottle of Recovery Potion from his storage compartment.

"Drink it. I'm partly responsible for your injuries."

Tony was deeply moved, believing Apocalypse felt guilty for failing to catch him in time. He hurriedly said, "Cough, cough... How can this... be your fault? Cough... cough... I was too impatient."

However, Tony had misunderstood. No matter how much of a genius he was, he could never have guessed what Apocalypse meant.

Tony had originally been meant to remain in the cave for three months. Those three months would have been difficult, but they would also have given him enough time to think through the armor's details and perfect it.

But Apocalypse's arrival had unexpectedly allowed Tony to escape more than a month early, causing him to overlook some technical details.

Those overlooked details made the power system just a little worse than in the original plot, which in turn prevented Tony from landing safely and left him half dead from the fall.

If Apocalypse hadn't been nearby, Iron Man might have died before he was even officially born.

The Butterfly Effect, Apocalypse sighed inwardly.

Even the slightest change could completely alter everything that followed. It seemed he would have to be more careful.

Otherwise, he would never know when he might change the plot and cause some superhero to die unexpectedly.

"Drink it first. Wait a few more minutes, and you won't even have the chance to speak."

As he spoke, he forced the Recovery Potion down Tony's throat.

A burst of green light lit up around Tony. In the blink of an eye, all his injuries had completely healed.

Apocalypse carefully examined the Arc Reactor in Tony's chest and found that it had not been repaired.

It seemed Dr. Sterns had been right. The potion judged those old injuries to be part of his body now, so it would not repair them.

Tony said, "Is this the same potion you gave Yinsen? It's incredible. It can heal injuries instantly. If it could be mass-produced, people on Earth would never have to fear getting hurt again."

"I'd like that too, but unfortunately, the quantity is limited. It can't be produced at all right now."

Thinking about it, Tony agreed. If something so miraculous were as common as cold medicine, that really would be impossible.

Tony tried to stand, only to find that without power, the armor was too heavy. With his strength, he simply couldn't get up.

The Mark I was still made from ordinary steel. In the original plot, when Tony flew home and shut off the power, he crashed straight through the concrete floor and fell into his underground lab. One could imagine how heavy the armor was.

"I'll help you take it apart," Apocalypse said.

"Wait." Tony hurriedly stopped him. "You can't dismantle it by force. I need to inspect what malfunctioned inside. Taking it apart would destroy the scene of the malfunction."

"Looks like I'll have to carry you home again," Apocalypse said helplessly. "I've never carried the same man twice in my life. It'll cost extra!"

With that, he scooped Tony up by the waist and leaped toward Tony's home.