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"The key is the model," Marcus said into the phone. "The future city model your father left behind."
The plot had progressed far enough. There was no point being cryptic anymore.
Tony was silent for a moment. "The model? You mean the Stark Expo display?"
"Exactly that one."
"You're serious."
"Completely serious."
Tony let out a breath. "Okay. I'll trust you on this. Again."
"Good luck, Tony."
Marcus hung up and went back to his training.
Tony found the model within an hour—it had been sitting in storage along with the rest of Howard's Stark Expo materials. A miniature recreation of the "City of the Future" that Howard had envisioned back in 1974.
Tony had seen it before, years ago. He'd thought it was just nostalgia, his father's grand dreams made tangible.
But now, looking at it with fresh eyes...
"JARVIS, create a virtual projection of this model. Full three-dimensional rendering."
"Of course, sir."
The holographic display sprang to life, showing the model in perfect detail. Tony studied it, turning it slowly, looking for patterns.
The globe at the center. The walkways radiating outward. The landscaping, the pavilions, the decorative elements.
"Let's try something," Tony muttered. "JARVIS, use the central globe as the atomic nucleus. Remove the walkways first."
The walkways vanished from the projection.
"Now remove the landscape elements. Bushes, trees, parking structures, entrances, exits—all of it."
One by one, the decorative elements disappeared, leaving only the core structural elements.
"Use the pavilions as the framework. Model them as protons and neutrons."
The projection shifted, reconfiguring itself according to Tony's instructions. The pavilions moved into position around the central globe, forming orbital patterns.
And suddenly, there it was.
An atomic structure. A brand new element that had never existed in nature.
"Sir," JARVIS said, and Tony could swear the AI sounded impressed, "you have discovered a new element. Based on preliminary analysis, it should be able to replace the palladium in your current arc reactor design."
Tony stared at the projection, throat tight.
His father had done this. Had encoded the solution into a museum display decades ago, knowing Tony would eventually need it. Knowing only Tony would be able to see it.
"Old man," Tony said quietly. "You've been dead for twenty years and you're still teaching me lessons."
He reached out, fingers passing through the holographic element.
"Thanks, Dad."
Tony spent the next few days converting his workshop into a particle accelerator.
His villa was already trashed from the fight with Rhodes, so what was a little more property damage? He could renovate everything once he wasn't dying anymore.
He tore up floors, ripped out walls, installed high-energy focusing equipment in a ring around his workspace. The setup was crude compared to what a proper research facility would use, but it would work.
It had to work.
JARVIS monitored the synthesis process, adjusting energy levels in real-time as Tony bombarded the targeted substrate with high-energy particles. The workshop filled with blinding light and heat, alarms blaring warnings about radiation exposure.
Tony ignored them. The arc reactor in his chest was already killing him—what was a little more radiation?
Finally, after three attempts and one minor explosion, the new element stabilized.
It glowed with a soft blue-white light, completely different from palladium's harsh glare.
Tony fabricated a new reactor core, installed the element, and swapped it into his chest piece.
The change was immediate. The toxicity readings dropped to zero. The constant ache in his chest vanished. Energy flooded through him, clean and powerful.
"Congratulations, sir," JARVIS said. "You are no longer dying."
Tony laughed, giddy with relief. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm really not."
Meanwhile, at Hammer Industries, Ivan Vanko was hard at work.
Justin thought Ivan was building what he'd asked for: remote-controlled mech soldiers, safe and reliable, ready for military deployment.
And technically, Ivan was building exactly that.
He just wasn't building them for Justin.
The control systems looked perfect on the surface. They'd pass any inspection. But buried deep in the code were backdoors only Ivan could access. When the time came, those mechs would answer to one person only.
And it wasn't going to be Justin Hammer.
Ivan smiled to himself, soldering another circuit board. Stark had taken everything from his father. Soon, Ivan would return the favor.
Justin's money. Justin's resources. All of it in service of revenge.
The fool had no idea.
The night of the Hammer Industries Expo arrived.
Marcus attended with Ada, meeting up with Pepper and Natasha in the venue's main hall. The place was packed—journalists, military brass, corporate executives, all here to see what Hammer had been working on.
"Marcus!" Pepper smiled when she saw him. "I wasn't sure you'd come."
"Wouldn't miss it," Marcus said. "How's Tony doing?"
"Better, actually. Much better. He's been locked in his workshop for days, but when he came out yesterday, he looked..." She paused, searching for the word. "Healthy. Like himself again."
"Good to hear."
"What did you tell him, anyway?" Pepper asked, curiosity clear in her voice. "He won't say, but I know you two talked."
Marcus smiled. "Sorry, that's classified. Guy secrets. You want details, you'll have to ask Tony."
Pepper rolled her eyes but let it drop.
They found seats in the auditorium. On stage, Justin Hammer was already warming up the crowd.
And by "warming up," Marcus meant "embarrassing himself spectacularly."
Justin was attempting some kind of dance routine—awkward hip movements, finger guns, a few attempted spins. It looked like he was trying to copy Tony's showmanship and failing catastrophically.
"Is he seriously trying to be Tony right now?" Marcus asked, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.
Pepper looked pained. "Apparently, yes."
Natasha's expression was carefully neutral. "The imitation is extremely poor. He looks like a clown."
Marcus had to agree.
Justin finally stopped dancing—thank God—and launched into his presentation. Standard corporate nonsense: America needs protection, Tony Stark is selfish for not sharing his technology, Hammer Industries is here to save the day, et cetera.
Then he got to the reveal.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the future of American defense—the Hammer Drone Army!"
The stage floor split open. Platforms rose up, each carrying a combat drone in sleek armor. Army drones in desert camo. Navy drones in blue-gray. Air Force drones in tactical black. Marines in forest green.
Dozens of them, standing in perfect formation.
The crowd went wild.
Marcus and Ada remained calm. They both knew how this was going to end.
Justin basked in the applause for a moment, then raised his hands for silence.
"But that's not all! We also have a very special prototype, piloted by one of America's finest—Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!"
Music blared. Another platform rose, this one carrying Rhodes in the War Machine armor—Tony's Mark II, heavily modified with Hammer Industries weapons.
Pepper's eyes went wide. "What?!"
Marcus wasn't surprised. The military had requisitioned the Mark II months ago. Of course they'd get Hammer to weaponize it and parade Rhodes around as their poster boy.
The applause grew even louder.
Justin looked like he'd won the lottery.
Then a sonic boom echoed across the expo grounds.
Everyone looked up.
A streak of flame cut through the night sky, approaching fast. As it got closer, the distinctive red-and-gold armor became visible.
"IT'S IRON MAN!"
"STARK'S HERE!"
Tony landed on the stage with perfect precision, repulsors flaring. The crowd absolutely lost their minds.
Justin's smile froze on his face. In one second, Tony had stolen every bit of attention Justin had worked months to build.
But Justin forced the smile back, stepping forward with false cheer. "Tony! Welcome to my expo!"
Tony ignored the pleasantries. He walked straight up to Justin, voice low and urgent.
"Where is he?"
Justin blinked. "Where's who?"
"Don't play dumb. Where's Vanko?"
Justin's heart skipped. "I don't know what you're—"
"Ivan Vanko!" Tony's voice rose, drawing stares from the audience. "Where the hell is he?"
Justin's mind raced. How did Tony know about Ivan? Had there been a leak? Was this going to blow up in his face?
Before he could formulate an answer, Rhodes spoke up behind them.
"Tony," Rhodes said, voice tight with alarm. "We've got a problem. My armor—it's not responding!"
Under everyone's gaze, the War Machine armor suddenly moved on its own.