[Tony is back.]
[Yes, Tony Stark, kidnapped for three months, has returned!]
[The first thing he did upon returning wasn't to see a doctor, but to hold a press conference and announce:]
[The permanent closure of Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division!]
[He doesn't realize that this decision will cause Stark Industries' stock to plummet and his wealth to evaporate?]
[No. As a genius who built circuit boards at four and an engine at six, he knows this all too well.]
[Yet he made this decision without hesitation!]
[Though no one understands his reasoning—not even Pepper, whom he trusts most at the moment—]
[I know this is the beginning of his transformation!]
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D.,
Nick Fury had been waiting for Su Che's seventh diary entry ever since Phil Coulson reported that Tony Stark had built crude armor and escaped wearing it.
Though the sixth diary had been updated just the night before—nearly getting him killed—
Nick Fury knew Su Che would update again.
After all, Tony Stark was recorded in the black-gold diary as a future member of the Avengers.
How could Su Che remain indifferent to his return?
Sure enough, tonight's wait was not in vain.
The seventh diary had arrived.
[Actually, I once asked Tony over drinks why he shut down Stark Industries' weapons division.]
[That was after he'd made peace with his father, Howard Stark.]
[Facing my question, he smiled and said the weapons division had betrayed his and his father's original intent.]
[It not only failed to protect ordinary people and maintain world peace but had created one disaster after another, leaving many homeless, bereaved, or dead.]
[So, before escaping the cave, he'd made up his mind.]
[As he spoke, I saw shame on his face—]
[Like when he faced the mother who'd lost her child after Sokovia, rendered utterly speechless.]
[Though we saved more people during the Battle of Sokovia,]
[Tony, usually so eloquent, was left wordless before that grieving mother.]
Nick Fury skimmed the diary's content without much interest.
He was glad to see Tony Stark, Howard's son, improving, but whether Stark Industries' weapons saved or killed more people didn't concern him.
It wasn't that he despised life—countless people died daily from weapons—but S.H.I.E.L.D. had bigger priorities.
Small sacrifices were inevitable for greater goals. At least, that was Nick Fury's belief.
Still, the diary's records reassured him.
Such character and reflection were essential for the future Avengers.
A superhero couldn't afford to be like him—ruthless and pragmatic.
Nick Fury knew he could never be a superhero, just as Steve Rogers could never be him.
People were destined for their roles.
In her apartment,
Wanda unconsciously pursed her lips.
Though she knew Obadiah Stane was the true murderer behind her parents' deaths,
she still held a grudge against Tony Stark—after all, he'd created the weapons.
But reading Su Che's account of Tony's change of heart,
she merely snorted lightly, withholding further judgment.
Meanwhile, Natasha Romanoff recalled what she'd seen with Su Che at the café earlier that day:
Tony Stark's announcement about closing the weapons division.
Like many online, she'd been baffled at the time.
Now, understanding the catalyst—those three months of captivity—
she saw it as the start of his journey to becoming a superhero.
It seems I can't judge Tony Stark by old standards anymore, she thought.
Without a parallel-world superhero like Su Che who knew the future,
neither she nor Nick Fury would have easily believed in Tony's transformation.
The leopard cannot change its spots—or however the saying goes.
But perhaps, sometimes, it could.