"Raiden, why did you bring this guy along for our gathering?" Tony pointed at Coulson and asked.
"Because he's paying" Raiden replied matter-of-factly.
"Oh, I can pay too. Send him away" Tony said, waving dismissively at Coulson.
No way!
Coulson thought to himself.
I spent two months' salary to book this entire restaurant. I'm not leaving just like that!
"Mr. Stark, your speech earlier..." Coulson began.
"Wasn't it brilliant? Did you all clap? Honestly, I think I'm still a bit short of being a superhero, but I can learn. I'll work hard to become one!" Tony said with a confident smile.
"Tony! No one asking you to be a superhero!" Pepper snapped angrily.
"But in people's eyes, I already am!" Tony stood up, spreading his arms wide.
At that moment, a waitress approached to take Raiden order.
"OMG! Tony Stark?! Iron Man! Oh, could you give me an autograph?" The young waitress covered her mouth in excitement.
"Of course" Tony took a photo with her, signed an autograph, and only then did the waitress reluctantly head back to the kitchen, still staring at Tony the entire time.
Raiden couldn't help but wonder if she even remembered that she was supposed to take his order.
"See? I'm a superhero" Tony spread his arms again, gazing up at the sky... or rather, the ceiling, eyes closed as if waiting for cheers.
Rhodey, sitting beside Tony, yanked him back down to earth.
"Tony! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused? Because of you, I'm definitely going to be working overtime this month! People were starting to forget about this whole thing, why did you have to..." Rhodey waved his hands in frustration, already exhausted just thinking about the workload ahead.
"Yes, Mr. Stark, your actions are causing us a lot of trouble" Coulson chimed in, adding to the pressure.
Watching Tony being ganged up on by Pepper, Rhodey, and Coulson, Raiden and Yinsen quietly sipped their tea.
"This tea is pretty mediocre" Yinsen suddenly remarked.
"Yeah" Raiden nodded as if he agreed.
"Raiden, do you even know how to appreciate tea?" Yinsen put down his cup and asked.
"Nope!" Raiden replied.
"Then why did you nod?" Yinsen turned to look at Raiden.
"I just thought what you said made sense" Raiden took a sip of tea.
Ugh, bitter. Not a fan. Still prefer cola.
Yinsen shook his head helplessly at Raiden, then picked up his teacup and took a gentle sip.
Bitter at first, but with a sweet aftertaste.
"Stop!" Tony shouted hysterically. "Enough! Let's talk about the real issue here! I don't believe this guy just came here to treat us to dinner!" Tony pointed at Coulson and declared.
The five of them turned their gaze towards Coulson in unison. Right, no matter what, our issues are internal, while Coulson is an external problem. Let's deal with the external one first.
At this moment, Rhodey instinctively distanced himself from Coulson. After all, one was from the military, and the other from the government—there was really no connection between them.
"That Strategic... whatever Bureau, what exactly do you want?" Tony questioned.
"SHIELD. You can call us SHIELD. My main purpose is to have a chat with Mr. Akatosh. We're very interested in his powers" Coulson said, casting a fervent and admiring look at Raiden.
Meeting Coulson intense gaze, Raiden could only respond with a forced smile.
"What? Is SHIELD planning to dissect Raiden?" Tony suddenly leaned in with great interest and asked.
"Of course not! We just want to ask Mr. Akatosh a few questions" Coulson quickly waved his hands in denial.
"Ah" Tony let out a sigh.
Everyone turned their eyes to Tony, wondering what that sigh meant!
Seeing everyone gaze, Tony quickly pointed at Coulson, signaling him to continue.
Coulson turned to Raiden and aske, "Mr. Akatosh, I'd like to ask what exactly is the nature of the power you possess?"
"Magic" Raiden nodded and said.
"Magic?" Coulson didn't seem surprised by this answer. He continued "We are somewhat familiar with the mages on Earth, but..."
Before Coulson could finish, he was interrupted by the other four.
"There are other mages on Earth?"
"Are they powerful?"
They were all astonished.
So, besides Raiden, there were other mages? You really do learn something new every day.
Coulson chuckled dryly and went on "But other mages, they wield energy. However, Mr. Akatosh, you wield elements. This is unlike any mage we've encountered. So, we're curious—can elements harm you? For example, fire or other elements you control."
Coulson expression turned serious as he asked.
"Of course they can. I can merely control these elements, they can still harm me. Since you've asked so many questions, I'd like to ask one too—what exactly is SHIELD?" Raiden inquired curiously.
The other four were also curious about this, as even Rhodey was hearing about this department for the first time.
"Our full name is the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."
"Oh, that's quite a mouthful" Rhodey remarked.
"But we've since been renamed SHIELD," Coulson explained. "We were established after World War II and have been responsible for managing issues like those concerning Mr. Akatosh."
As he said this, Coulson subtly glanced at Tony.
Then, the group continued to ask Coulson various questions, such as how many mages like Raiden existed, who led SHIELD, and so on.
Of course, Coulson didn't answer every question, but oddly, he never refused any question posed by Raiden. This made Yinsen, who was standing nearby, sense that something was off.
Finally, the Q&A session was declared over as delicious dishes were served.
After the meal, everyone didn't linger much. With their stomachs full and hearts content, they all headed back to their respective homes.
Of course, Coulson was the exception. While his stomach was full, his wallet was now empty.
Returning home, Tony hummed a tune, feeling particularly cheerful. But as he stepped into the living room, an unfamiliar voice greeted him.
"So, you're Iron Man? Do you think you're the only superhero in this world? The universe is infinite, but our understanding of it is limited."
"Who's there?!" Tony quickly looked around but saw no one. "JARVIS, turn on the lights!"
A shadowy figure emerged under the light.
'Why wear black when you're already in the dark? And standing by the window, as if you don't want to be seen!' Tony thought to himself.
"Who the hell are you?" Tony asked bluntly.
"I am..." Nick Fury turned around.
"Oh!" Tony exclaimed in realization. "You're the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., that bald guy!"
Nick Fury almost choked on his breath. "Bald guy? How the hell do you know about that?"
"What do you want?" Tony stepped forward and asked.
Nick Fury exhaled, spread his hands, and walked up to Tony. "I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."
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