"You were right after all. Alexander Pierce does have a problem."
Having reached an agreent with S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony returned to Stark Industries’ new headquarters in Los Angeles and got on a call with Luthor.
"You didn’t need to report your deal with S.H.I.E.L.D. to ," Luthor said calmly on the other end. "Your goals don’t conflict with mine."
"Aren’t you worried that my actions might ss up your plans?"
Tony couldn’t help but ask. The calmness of both Luthor and Reid made him uncomfortable. It felt like everything he was experiencing was nothing more than a script they had already written.
"The future was already set the mont LexCorp was founded. If you don’t like the feeling of being controlled, you’re free to fight back with everything you’ve got."
"But even my resistance is just another part of your plan, isn’t it?"
Luthor didn’t answer.
In one comic storyline, Luthor’s brilliance allowed him to outmaneuver the Son of Krypton even decades in advance with limited intel. Now, with the advantage of foresight and preparation, predicting Tony’s every move wasn’t a challenge.
"Not answering?" Tony continued, "Well, I already know the answer anyway. But you’re right, I don’t really have a problem with your thods. If you truly have the ability to rule Arica, then so be it."
Tony Stark was no underdog hero. He was born with everything—status, fa, and power. He was the very embodint of privilege and hierarchy.
Unlike those superheroes who ran around shouting about freedom and justice all day, he had no problem with soone capable taking control of everything. He was a completely different kind of person.
If that weren’t the case, then in both movies and comics, it wouldn’t always be Tony and Steve who ended up starting the civil war.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. intends to build a new base," Tony said. "One that can fly, an airborne headquarters that can move across the globe. With that in motion, Hydra mbers within the agency will definitely start making moves to benefit their organization. Do you have a plan for that?"
After revealing his cooperation with S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony wanted to hear what Luthor had in mind.
"There’s no need to dig too deep. Hydra has managed to stay hidden inside S.H.I.E.L.D. for so long because of their unique operating structure," Luthor replied. "Trying to uproot them during this project is nearly impossible. Even if you expose them publicly, they’ll just sever whatever trails you’ve discovered without hesitation."
Aside from Pierce, most Hydra agents in S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t even know each other’s true identities. And those who had revealed themselves to one another would start disappearing from operations due to so sudden ’accidents.’ Then soone new would replace them.
In this setup, unless Hydra decided it was no longer worth staying inside S.H.I.E.L.D., trying to eliminate them entirely was very difficult.
"The best ti to deal with Hydra is right now, when Nick Fury has just taken over as Director. He may be one of Pierce’s trusted people, but he’s not Hydra. Only when he has enough authority will he be able to pull them out by the roots."
"Nick Fury, huh?"
Tony thought of the one-eyed man and gave a slight nod.
At this point, he believed about seventy percent of the information LexCorp had provided through Reid’s psychic abilities. As for the rest, he would have to judge it through his own experience.
"So the primary target now is Reed Richards. According to news from the Skrulls, he has already grown distant from S.H.I.E.L.D. Once his research is complete, he plans to leave with the results. There’s a high chance he’ll leave behind one superpowered individual for S.H.I.E.L.D., or more accurately, for Hydra. But one enhanced person won’t be enough to satisfy their appetite. They will make a move on Reed. As for how to stop them and strike a real blow to Hydra, that depends on you."
With that, Luthor stopped talking.
Other than this warning, LexCorp wouldn’t be offering Stark Industries any more assistance.
"I got it," Tony responded and ended the call.
Then he slumped into his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose between two fingers.
"I need help. Help that doesn’t co from LexCorp."
Tony wasn’t naive enough to think he could just throw evidence in Fury’s face and everything would stop.
Against an organization like Hydra, without real power, nothing could be done.
Sure, he could hire rcenaries. But in terms of quality, they didn’t stand a chance against Hydra’s highly trained operatives equipped with who-knows-what kind of black tech. If Hydra took things seriously, those hired guns would be useless. Worse, they might just make Stark Industries an obvious target.
He wasn’t Luthor. He didn’t control most of his own company to act however he wanted. If he made too much noise, he’d alert the board. And those idiotic shareholders would only beco his weakness.
Right now, Tony had never hated the board of directors more. But that wasn’t a problem he could solve overnight. All he could do was make a silent vow to slowly reclaim control over Stark Industries, piece by piece. Even if the process had to be quiet and ruthless.
He didn’t need to own ninety-five percent of the company like Luthor did with LexCorp, but at the very least, he needed to ensure that everything at Stark Industries was under his command.
Amid that frustration, Tony soon locked onto his target.
"Yeah. It has to be them."
He pulled out a file from a year ago, related to the mutant incident.
Written inside were the nas of the three surviving children of Magneto: Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff, and Polaris, Lorna Dane.
"They’re dangerous... but I still have to go."
And so, Tony boarded a plane to Sokovia under the pretense of an investnt trip.
* * *
anwhile, back in New York, inside the chairman’s office at LexCorp.
Victor had returned after a long absence. This ti, he was fully clad in a suit of armor, a tal mask covering his face. He had now beco the very image Reid had once envisioned of the man: Doctor Doom.
"Looks like you found what you were after."
Reaching out his hand, Reid took the magical to that Doom had retrieved from his late mother’s belongings.
"So? What was the result, Doom?"
"It was perfect."
Reid didn’t need X-ray vision to sense it; he could tell that beneath the mask, Doom was smiling.
"This powerful magic... it was actually much easier to control than I thought."
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