On the highway leading to Stark's mansion, a revitalized Tony Stark faced Pepper Potts' interrogation...
The secretary's flushed face made it clear she was furious at her employer for hiding his palladium poisoning.
"So you were planning to wait until you were hospitalized and declared dead before telling me the truth?" Pepper turned away, her eyes slightly red, refusing to acknowledge the flustered Iron Man.
Tony, usually so adept at handling women, found himself at a loss for once. In his panic, he deflected the blame, "I wanted to tell you, but Sean insisted we shouldn't burden women with such news, they supposedly can't handle the shock."
Stark put on an innocent expression, secretly proud of his quick thinking. After all, he'd helped Sean when S.H.I.E.L.D. took him in... taking the fall now was no big deal.
Pepper, half-convinced, reluctantly forgave the seemingly sincere Tony while feeling a surge of relief.
Since graduating and joining Stark Industries, becoming this man's personal assistant, she has grown accustomed to this life... managing everything for her careless, playboy boss, serving as secretary, housekeeper, and nanny all in one, arranging his affairs and cleaning up after his one-night stands.
It had become a habit formed over time. If anything ever happened to Tony, she wouldn't even know how to start a new life.
While Pepper was lost in thought, Tony stole a glance at her from the driver's seat.
Her conservative beige dress only accentuated her dignified, unapproachable aura. The infamous playboy, known for chasing beauty, harbored complex feelings for the woman who'd stayed by his side all this time.
Having been betrayed by those he trusted, Tony now understood how precious it was to have someone reliable beside him.
So he resolved to seize this opportunity and cherish this hard-won relationship. As for Sean's threat, he knew Pepper wasn't the type to easily open her heart. With the advantage of proximity, how could the ever-victorious playboy Stark lose to some young upstart?
"How are things with S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Pepper asked softly after composing herself.
She knew some government-affiliated organization had recently been in contact, apparently inviting Tony to join some team.
"Unimaginative concept. No independent action, just following their orders... what kind of superhero is that?" Tony complained, disliking Nick Fury's methods intensely.
"Maybe you should lay low. The government's stance on superheroes is still ambiguous." the perceptive Pepper pinpointed the issue.
While the public saw superheroes as applauded champions of justice, negative voices persisted, accusing them of trampling legal principles, damaging property, and fostering rebellious ideologies that defied government control.
Superheroes weren't omnipotent. World order still relied on national governments. While they could rescue countless lives and uphold justice, they also represented instability. Causally speaking, they were both beacons of hope and sources of chaos.
Currently, the government maintained an ambiguous stance due to public opinion. But should superheroes ever lose the people's trust, their conflict with authorities would erupt in full force.
Tony scoffed. He refused to accept that Iron Man should bow to government control. Heroes were meant to be free... why cage themselves?
Pepper shook her head. She knew her sometimes-childish boss hadn't truly listened. Just as she sighed in resignation, a black figure suddenly materialized ahead on the sparsely trafficked overpass, blending seamlessly into the night.
"Brake!" she urgently warned Tony, hoping to avoid a gruesome accident.
Before the car could slow, the shadowy figure raised a black grenade launcher. Surprisingly, no muzzle flash followed, only a disc-shaped explosive that latched onto the chassis like a spinning frisbee.
With a thunderous boom, the two-ton red convertible flipped skyward before crashing down, scraping violently across the asphalt in a shower of sparks, leaving deep scars on the road surface.
The attacker was a man in black armor, his face masked, with a metallic arm. Sidestepping the tumbling vehicle, he discarded the launcher and wrenched open the twisted door.
The luxury car's bulletproof and crash-resistant frame tore like paper under his strength.
"Warning! Step away from the vehicle!"
Black-clad bodyguards swiftly surrounded the assailant with overlapping fields of fire.
The slightest provocation would unleash a hailstorm of bullets.
These were elite soldiers turned professional security after retirement. Many such military service companies now protected VIPs... most famously Blackwater, which boasted the world's strongest private army, one highly sought after globally.
The dangerous figure turned, his eyes cold and vacant, as if devoid of independent thought, moving purely on instinct.
A dozen bodyguards had him surrounded, all heavily armed... They were Tony Stark's professional security team.
Then, as if receiving some command, the man raised his metal arm defensively, his body coiling like a leopard before springing forward.
The guards opened fire, their muzzle flashes merging into a continuous blaze. Most bullets deflected off the whirling metal limb; the few that penetrated his armor did negligible damage.
In seconds, he breached the cordon. With superhuman physique and that metal arm, he slaughtered the highly trained professionals with terrifying efficiency.
Firearms crumpled in his grip. His unbelievable strength, lethal precision, and machine-like coldness left the battle-hardened bodyguards helpless.
With the guards eliminated, the man approached the overturned car. Thanks to their sacrifice, Tony and Pepper had escaped the wreckage. Without his high-tech armor, Iron Man was just flesh and blood, a single bullet could end him.
Through his earpiece, the assassin received his final order:
<...Kill Stark...>
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