"Everyone has received the official report on last night's incident at Stark Industries. There are unconfirmed reports that a robotic component malfunctioned, damaging the arc reactor. Fortunately, one of Tony's personal bodyguards..."
Rimu watched quietly as Rhodey spouted nonsense with a straight face on television. The last time Tony had flown to Afghanistan to play superhero and brought down an F-22, Rhodey had covered it up the same way. When Rimu had seen it on TV, he had even complained about Tony not taking him along.
Pepper was working with a serious expression to cover the wounds on Tony's face. Tony looked perfectly at ease as he read the newspaper, agreeing that Iron Man was a good name, though not an accurate one: the armor was made of gold-titanium alloy.
For someone so fearless, he could still suffer from anxiety. Yet for all his composure, he could be utterly unhinged at times. He had even dared to electrocute Bruce Banner. If Bruce had turned into the Hulk, the whole team would have been wiped out.
Coulson walked in carrying a card.
"This is your alibi." After one failed mission after another, he felt his standing with the director had reached an unprecedented low. He desperately needed to complete a mission in style and regain his boss's trust.
He had specifically requested this assignment. It was simple but high-profile, and as long as he completed it, he would still be the director's trusted right-hand man. Surely nothing could go wrong with something this simple?
(A quick complaint here: in the movie, Iron Man was established as someone who never accepted things handed to him, but this time he took the card from Coulson.)
Coulson: "You were on your yacht. We have harbor reports placing you on Avalon all night, and statements from your fifty guests..."
Tony: "Maybe say it was just Pepper and me alone on the island, ah~"
Pepper had had enough of this playboy. Even at a time like this, he couldn't stop flirting.
Watching Tony act like a playboy, Coulson suddenly felt uneasy for some reason and couldn't help reminding him, "Just read it as written."
Tony: "How come there's nothing here about Obadiah?"
Coulson: "It's been taken care of. He went on vacation. Small aircraft have a poor safety record."
Tony: "What about that story about my bodyguard? It sounds way too scripted. It won't hold up at all."
"This isn't the first time we've done this. Just read the official statement. Soon, all of this will be over. You have ninety seconds."
When Rhodey saw Tony walk in, he was close to his limit and readily handed the stage over to his good buddy. He had already laid most of the groundwork, and as long as Tony followed the normal procedure, the matter would be over. But he knew Tony too well, so he made a point of adding, "He won't be answering any questions."
"There's been speculation that I was involved in last night's events on the freeway and the rooftop..."
"It's been a long time since my last press conference. I think I'll stick to the script this time."
But Tony had barely said a few words when a reporter interrupted him.
Before Tony had finished speaking, a female reporter named Christine, seated in the front row of the crowd, spoke up, her voice ringing clearly through the somewhat noisy venue.
"Mr. Stark! I'm Christine Everhart, a reporter for Vanity Fair. Sorry to interrupt, but you just mentioned the freeway and the rooftop. Does that mean you're admitting that last night's incident wasn't a robotic component malfunction as the official report claims, but was directly connected to you?"
Rimuru sat behind the screen, excitedly recording everything.
"Here it comes, here it comes! The beginning of the Marvel Universe. That one improvised line brought on all the chaos that followed. I have to record something this momentous."
The room fell silent in an instant, every camera and every eye focused on Tony.
Colonel Rhodes pressed a hand to his forehead, wearing a helpless "I knew this would happen" expression. Backstage, Coulson stared at the monitor, his heart skipping a beat. His earlier bad feeling was coming true.
Pepper also looked nervously at Tony, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the folder in her hands.
Tony looked at the little card in his hand, with its perfect lie written on it, then at the countless pairs of eyes below the stage waiting for the truth, and at his good buddy Rhodey beside him, giving him a pleading "Please, stick to the script" look.
The carefree, irreverent look on his face slowly faded, but the corners of his mouth curved into a more genuine smile, even one of slight relief.
He lowered his head toward the microphone, as if talking to himself, yet also as if making an announcement to the entire world:
"Stick to the script..." He paused, then loosened his fingers, letting the card flutter onto the podium.
Sensing trouble, Rhodey tried to step forward and remind him in a low voice, but Tony had already raised his head, his gaze fixed resolutely on Christine and on all the cameras.
"Pretty boring... right?" Tony said, completely ignoring Rhodey's warning not to answer any questions.
"The truth is..."
He paused again. A pin could have been heard dropping in the press conference, and every reporter present held their breath, waiting for the earth-shattering news.
"The truth is," Tony Stark said clearly, "I am Iron Man."
Whoosh~
After a brief, deathly silence, the room erupted in a tidal wave of gasps, questions, and clamor.
The reporters nearly rushed the podium, and camera flashes lit the room as bright as day.
Rhodey covered his face and sighed deeply. He knew the military and the Pentagon wouldn't get a wink of sleep that night.
Backstage, Agent Coulson pulled out his phone with a pained expression and quickly pressed a few keys. The screen showed a message being sent to Nick Fury.
He had already worked out what to put in his mission report, but now Tony's offhand remark seemed to have completely buried his career. Should he change it into a resignation letter instead?
As for Tony, standing at the center of the storm, he seemed to have cast off a heavy burden after saying those words.
He glanced at the dumbstruck Pepper beside him and winked at her. Then, amid the chaos, he turned and left the podium with his trademark smile, a mixture of arrogance and candor, leaving the mess to an overwhelmed Rhodey and S.H.I.E.L.D., whose workload was about to get even heavier.
Rimuru lay on the couch behind the screen, laughing so hard he couldn't sit up. Rhodey's dark face had gone pale. A crowd of reporters surrounded him, asking why he had helped Tony falsify the facts and whether the military had done anything similar. How was he supposed to answer that?
Tony had spun a clever chain of schemes, and Rhodey had blundered onto the chopping block.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Fury watched the live broadcast on the screen and read the message from his subordinate, his dark face growing even darker. He swore this was the hardest group he'd ever had to manage.