Marvel: A New God's Reign

Chapter 66: A Tempting Offer

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"Helping other people is the best way to make up for your mistakes."

- Kenshin Himura, (Rurouni Kenshin)

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< (Atem POV) >  

"All in a day's work," I muttered with a pleased smile as the last of the Iron droids were taken into custody by Hammer Industries for 'immediate disposal' before Shield or the army could get a chance to get involved in this mess. After all, there was no way I was going to let any of those guys get even a quarter mile near this tech.

"Sir, our clean-up crew has finished retrieving Ivan Vanko's body. Shall we proceed with triggering the explosion to erase any remaining evidence?" Zoya's telepathic message reached me.

"Yeah sure, go ahead. Ensure that all remnants of his armor and the arc reactor's technology are thoroughly eliminated. Investigations into the subject should yield nothing but charred remains and scrap metal," I replied through our telepathic link as I watched the cops and ambulances finally reach the scene while the victims and their families tried to recover from what might be the worst nightmare of their lives.

Observing the chaos unfolding in New York City within the Marvel universe, I couldn't help but cynically think to myself that such incidents would soon become commonplace in this bustling metropolis. It even seemed to me that today's events might actually serve as valuable training for the inhabitants of the city who are soon going to face much worse disasters and situations than this.

"Hey, Mr..." Descending from the sky encased in his iconic red and golden armor, Tony Stark hesitated momentarily, probably failing to recall my name. "I'll just stick with 'sugar baby' for now," he quipped with a casual tone, before expressing his gratitude. "By the way, thanks for today. For a moment there, I almost feared I wouldn't make it," He confessed, his gaze drifting towards Pepper Potts engaged in what looked like a professional conversation with news reporters nearby.

"I don't know what I would've done if I lost someone close to me again. So really, you have my genuine thanks. You did me a solid two times now, which is something because I generally don't accept favors." A successive nervous chuckle escaped him as he attempted to lighten the mood with humor after realizing that he might be showing his emotional side to an outsider. "Guess this incident will leave me with one hell of a case of PTSD, won't it?"

"Don't fret over it, Tony. I simply did my part to advance my vision to build a more peaceful world, as we discussed in that video conference. You recall that, don't you?... "And you may call me Atem. That's my true name, well at least the name everyone likes to use." I revealed.

"Atem? Like the so-called God King, those zealots in Neo Genosha rave about?" Tony chuckled, seemingly dismissing any connection between the names as merely a coincidence.

"Exactly like that," I confirmed, maintaining my enigmatic smile.

"... Shit, you are the same guy, aren't you?" The genius billionaire asked with a tired sigh, his weariness evident in his voice.

"Yep."

"...Would it make a difference if I said I didn't mean any offense by my previous words, or should I brace myself for some hired guns come tomorrow?" he asked, half-jokingly.

"HAHAHA. As much as I appreciate the humor, Tony, I assure you, I'm not foolish enough to entertain such notions, especially with someone who most probably possesses an entire army of highly advanced weaponized armors and other such high-tech weaponry." I quipped after having a hearty laugh.