Tony Stark POV:
Well, Tony did in fact know what was coming.
He leans back in his chair, slowly replaying the footage of Obadiah chomping on that fruit — the one that turned his hand into a freaking pistol.
"Well, that proves my theory," he mutters to himself, rubbing his temples. "The fruit I ate was definitely not natural. Definitely."
He lets out a heavy sigh. He'd been 99% sure someone — or something — put it there intentionally, but now? Now it's a solid 100%. That fruit didn't just happen to end up on Obadiah Stane's desk like a free hotel mint. Someone wanted it there.
Tony drags a hand down his face and groans. His forehead feels like it's grown to the size of a basketball. Great. Just great. He gets up, crosses the room, grabs a sleek, futuristic-looking gun off his desk, then picks up a small red vial sitting next to it. Loads it.
Click.
He spins the gun around and presses it to his temple.
Bang.
A soft, sizzling noise follows.
"Ahhh… that's nice," he mumbles, relief washing over him as his oversized forehead slowly shrinks back down to something resembling a human skull.
Tony Stark - Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist… and apparently, part-time head-deflater.
Yeah, he's remade the Pym Particles. Improved them, naturally. Uses them whenever his brain decides to outgrow his skull — which, lately, is happening a lot. The whole "infinite brain capacity" thing was cool until he realized it came with a literal big head. Thankfully, with the particles, he can shrink the packaging without losing any of the data.
Perfect system. Perfect win-win. He loves it.
Still, he's been thinking about improving the formula — make the effect last longer, make it stronger, make it his. In fact, he's already got a name picked out: Stark Particles. Original, right? Look, when you're Tony Stark, branding matters. Why should Pym get the credit every time he saves his own ass?
Not that he's made them yet, but hey — they exist up here… and up here? (He taps his temple.) Everything's better than Pym.
Tony sighs again and walks back to his desk, replaying the video one more time. Obadiah's still there on-screen, doing his best impression of a wannabe gunslinger.
"What to do with you…" he mutters under his breath.
His mind races. He knows what he got from eating that fruit — infinite brain capacity, expanding knowledge, borderline god-tier intellect. But Obadiah? What's his deal? Is it just pistols? Did he… seriously eat a pistol fruit? That's so stupid it almost makes sense.
Or maybe it's broader than that. Maybe it's a weapon fruit. But what even counts as a weapon? Technically, anything can be a weapon. If it is weapons across the board, then… could Obadiah make a nuke?
…No. No, probably not. He knows Obie's brain — hell, he built Obie's brain. The guy's old-school. He'd stick to Stark weapons. Pistols. Rockets. Nothing creative. Nothing futuristic. He's predictable like that.
Still… what if he could?
"Can he actually make a nuke, though?" Tony mutters, staring at the paused frame of Obadiah holding his newly-formed pistol-hand. "And if he does… and he blows himself up… does he die? Does he regenerate? Where's the limit? C'mon, there's gotta be a limit."
Tony drums his fingers on the desk, thinking faster than most supercomputers on a caffeine high.
If it's just pistols, that's boring. But if it's more… that's dangerous.
"What to do, what to do…" he whispers, eyes locked on the screen.
This isn't just business. Obadiah wasn't just a bad partner. He's the guy who hired terrorists to kill him. The guy who tried to erase Tony Stark off the face of the Earth.
Yeah. Tony can't and won't go easy on him.
Not this time.
Alexander Pierce POV:
Sitting at his desk, Alexander Pierce is not having a good day. Recently, S.H.I.E.L.D. got not one, but two power-ups. First, there's this kid, David Ramirez — can control wood, turn it into some freakish weapon, and literally absorb people alive in seconds. Then there's Clint Barton — Agent Hawkeye — who somehow ends up with a ring that has seemingly infinite energy.
Why is it always S.H.I.E.L.D. getting the toys? Why not HYDRA? HYDRA's better. HYDRA deserves it. HYDRA will rule the world.
And that's not even the worst part.
From the outside, Pierce looks like a man deep in thought, sitting behind his desk, jaw tight. But if anyone walked in right now, they'd see something… strange. A bruise, small but visible, forming on his forehead — darker and more defined by the second. His face twitches every so often, but there's nothing obvious causing it.
From Alexander's perspective, though, there is.
There's a man standing right next to him. Pale — deathly pale — with deep, dark eye bags like he hasn't slept in years. Pitch-black eyes. Black hoodie. Black clothes. Silent. And he's hitting Pierce in the face. Over and over. With a spoon.
When this started in the morning, Pierce did the logical thing — he shot him. Point-blank. But the guy got up like nothing happened. Pierce called in agents, ordered them to capture and kill him. They looked at him like he'd lost his mind. Because to them, there's nothing there.
Alexander's figured out the truth: no one else can see this thing. It doesn't speak. Doesn't follow commands. It just follows him… and keeps hitting him. Same spot. Same spoon. Every. Damn. Second.
At first, he thought he could ignore it. He can't.
Pierce hisses under his breath, rubbing at the forming bruise, forcing himself to focus. Because if the universe wasn't already screwing him over, he's just gotten new intel — there's a giant ape on a newly discovered island. And not just any ape, a three hundred feet tall ape.
HYDRA's going to have to capture it. Brainwash it. Control it. With that ape on their side, HYDRA would be unstoppable.
After all… what the hell is S.H.I.E.L.D. going to do against a 300 foot tall ape?
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Author Note -
Pretty short chapter. It's been nearly a month since my last chapter, I'm gonna try and get motivated to write more :)
So we see in this chapter that Tony has remade Pym Particles to shrink his ever-growing brain. We also see Alexander Pierce getting followed around by the Spoonkiller.
Make sure to give 5 stars!