Los Angeles, the Stark Industries complex.
Skyl followed Lady Moonshadow over to inspect the ship. It was shaped like a willow leaf, finished in pearl white, no more than a hundred and fifty feet long and forty-eight feet across at its widest point. Resting on the steel frame inside the dock, it looked as light as a drifting feather.
"What are you thinking right now?" Lady Moonshadow asked with a smile when she saw Skyl enthusiastically fiddling with the controls and instrument panel. "You're a homegrown Earthling about to head out on an interstellar voyage. Aren't you going to say a few words on behalf of humanity?"
"This wouldn't be my first trip into space. I've been to Asgard before. But honestly, yeah, I am a little excited."
At the central console, Skyl entered the galactic star charts he had stored from Asgard, and a dazzling spread of worlds appeared before them.
While people on Earth still sighed over the loneliness of the universe, civilizations and species all across the galaxy were thriving. It had all the romance of the Age of Sail.
Gali and Jormungand excitedly pointed out one star after another. Back in Asgard, they had already asked around about which planets were famous for food and which ones were home to exotic beasts and rare wonders. For Skyl, this trip was about collecting the Infinity Stones. For Lady Moonshadow, it was a cultural expedition. For those two, it was basically one giant foodie road trip, wake up and think about what to eat next.
Before the first crewed test flight, Skyl gave Tony a call. The playboy had been saying for a while that he wanted to hitch a ride and go tear it up on some alien world, but who knew whether he had changed his mind by now.
"Hey, Stark, you just woke up? …It's already nine-thirty… Yeah, nine-thirty in the morning."
Tony yawned on the other end. "Too early."
"Aren't you successful people and elite types supposed to believe in early to bed, early to rise?" Skyl teased.
"That's all nonsense. Those posers need discipline to succeed. I succeeded because I had a great dad. So to hell with early mornings."
Tony sounded more awake with every word, then started asking Skyl about magical theory. He had already made some headway on improving the armor, but there were still gaps in his knowledge.
"I'm planning to use runes to build a life-support barrier. It needs to handle temperature differences and provide oxygen circulation so the armor can fight in space. Kamar-Taj doesn't have much material on that, so I figured I'd ask you."
Skyl laughed. "Funny timing. I just finished studying at the birthplace of runes not long ago. Once you join The Tower of Tomes, you can look it up yourself. Anyway, enough small talk. The ship's done. Want to come along for the maiden voyage?"
"Save me a seat, preferably the captain's chair," Tony said shamelessly. "I was born to command a ship."
"Beautiful answer. Congratulations, you're the pilot."
The test flight was set for three days later. In the time they had left, they needed to think about the ship's interior decoration and stock the storage room with supplies.
Compared to a government space mission, all rigid procedures and grim faces, their private spacecraft was a lot less formal. The emergency food stores came from Walmart, while towels, toothbrushes, cups, side tables, and all the other everyday necessities came from IKEA.
Tony wasn't used to cheap stuff. The moment he saw Skyl hauling all those budget industrial goods into the ship, he immediately contacted a professional company and ordered custom high-end furniture. The interior had to be luxurious and upscale, otherwise it wouldn't be worthy of a billionaire.
Skyl mocked him for it. "You're only rich on Earth. Stark, people like us, Earth-born locals, aren't even in the galactic financial system. We don't have a single credit to our names. We're flat broke."
"Then before the dollars in my account turn into worthless paper, I'm converting them into things that'll make life in space a whole lot more comfortable."
On the eve of the test flight, Tony's assistant, Pepper Potts, came to visit Skyl in New York.
"Ms. Potts, what an unexpected guest. Please, come in."
Pepper had flown all the way from the West Coast. "This address is really out of the way. It took me forever to find it."
Stan Lee's house looked ordinary enough, but anyone who made it here was someone invited by fate. Otherwise, even a cosmic god could forget about setting foot inside.
"Coffee or tea?" Skyl waved a hand, and the coffeepot floated up on its own, pouring a steaming cup of black coffee into a bone-china cup. To Pepper's astonishment, the cup drifted naturally into her hand.
She got straight to the point. "Mr. Skyl, I want you to talk Mr. Stark out of going into outer space."
Skyl pointed toward the couch. The scattered cushions bounced up on their own and arranged themselves into a comfortable nest for the guest. After a long trip, no one could resist collapsing onto a sofa that inviting.
"Can you tell me what exactly is making you so worried about this trip?"
"The company can't function without Mr. Stark."
"That isn't the main reason." Skyl held his teacup with easy composure, but there was something unmistakably wizardly in the way he spoke, as if he could always see through appearances and grasp the root of things. "What you're really worried about is that once Stark leaves, Obadiah Stane will turn the company into his own private kingdom."
"…Yes." Pepper was startled, and without thinking used Tony's nickname, just as he did. "Mr. Skyl, you're Tony's friend. Please persuade him. Obadiah may once have been his father's partner, may once have been a reliable uncle to him, but the truth is, he's a frightening man."
"Don't keep looking at Stark through outdated eyes," Skyl said gently. "He may still be a playboy, but he's also a wizard now. Science can't see into a person's heart. Magic can."
At that same moment, Obadiah was visiting Tony's beachfront mansion in Malibu.
Tony lounged on the sofa while Obadiah rambled on about the board of directors, the stock price, technical materials, the national economy, and the company's future. Every word was really about one thing, he wanted Tony to produce some flashy new invention that would restore market confidence and help Stark Industries regain its footing.
"Tony, shutting down the weapons division was a mistake. I get it, you suffered in the Middle East and it left a scar on you when it comes to violence and war. But that was just an accident, and life teaches us to grow. It's time to move forward. Ever since the weapons division was closed, the company's stock has been falling. The maniacs on the board are on me every single day."
Obadiah widened his eyes and tried his best to look sincere. "You've got to give me something real so I can shut them up. Tony, you can't just sit there and watch me get torn apart by wolves."
"The Middle East." Tony Stark's voice was low and heavy. "I've been there. Two days ago, I found the terrorists who kidnapped me. The Ten Rings, a bunch of tunnel-crawling rats, fanatic idiots with holes in their brains. They have to haul water from a village two miles away, and the appliances they use belong in the last century. So how does a gang of bandits like that get their hands on the most advanced weapons in the world?"
Obadiah's heart jolted, and his face darkened despite himself. He argued back, "Primitive tribes in Africa hunt with AK-47s. Weapons always reach the corners of the world faster than civilization does."
Quietly, he slipped a hand into the inner pocket of his suit and took out a compact device, keeping his eyes locked on Tony's lazy figure stretched across the couch.
His gaze settled on the orange arc reactor in Tony's chest. He had no idea that it was really a magical artifact, but he did know Stark had completed a miniature fusion reactor. If he could get his hands on it, the entire world's energy system would end up kneeling before this new technology. And whoever held that scepter would become the uncrowned king of the world.
Slowly, he put in earplugs, leaned forward from the sofa, and brought the small, exquisitely made ultrasonic emitter close to Tony's ear.
All he had to do was press the switch. The high-frequency sound waves would disrupt the vestibular system in the inner ear, throwing the victim off balance, causing violent dizziness, and leaving them unable to move.
In his heart, Obadiah whispered, Goodbye, Tony. Take your softness and your childish innocence with you to hell.
"Obie." Tony sounded like he was rubbing sleep from his eyes, or maybe holding back tears. "I trusted you. You were family to me. Why did you send people to kill me?"
The next second, the ultrasonic emitter released its high-frequency pulse.
Tony froze where he lay.
Obadiah let out a pleased sigh. "Tony, you're smart, but not smart enough. I'm done playing with you and watching you waste your gifts. You may be a goose that lays golden eggs, but you're too damn stingy.
"You always think that if you come up with an idea, the whole project belongs to you. Who's been keeping this company running? Me. Your father and I built Stark Industries, but all anyone ever sees is the glory of the two of you, father and son. Nobody understands that every great achievement is built by the nameless ones.
"And now, I'm taking back everything that belongs to me."
Obadiah reached for the arc reactor.
Tony, who should have been unable to move or speak, suddenly grabbed Obadiah by the wrist.
"Enough." Tony lowered the hand that had been covering his face. His eyes were red, but his expression was ice-cold. "Mark Armor, suit up."
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