Inside the cave, dim light struggled to penetrate the pervasive dust, casting mottled shadows on the rough stone walls.
Tony Stark jolted awake from unconsciousness, a violent pain making him shiver, the clear thin tube in his nose trembling slightly with his rapid breathing.
This foreign sensation irritated him immensely. He reached out with a trembling hand and yanked out the tube, the intense stimulation eliciting a groan from him.
One should know, this tube was at least half a meter long; there was no telling how deep it had been inserted.
Freed from the restraint, Tony struggled to sit up, his gaze falling on a metal bowl on a stone table nearby, which contained some Water.
He instinctively tried to raise his hand, but found his body too weak to obey.
He desperately reached out, but his body wouldn't listen, his fingers slipping powerlessly as soon as they touched the rim of the bowl.
The bowl clanged to the ground, creating a jarring echo in the silent cave.
He coughed violently, the sharp pain in his chest surging like a tide, his vision blurring intermittently.
Once his breathing steadied, Tony finally noticed the man with his back to him.
The man was holding a razor, shaving his beard in front of a mirror, as relaxed as if he were in his own bathroom.
Tony's heart tightened. He forced himself to roll over and sit up, but unexpectedly, a wire connected to his chest pulled on an object on another table.
"I advise you not to do that," the man shaving his beard warned, his voice sounding very relaxed.
Tony gasped and looked back, seeing a car battery on a wooden table against the wall, two wires snaking like snakes, finally disappearing under the bandages on his chest.
His trembling hand touched his chest, only to find the sensation as hard as iron.
A chill shot up his spine to the back of his neck. Tony tore off the bandages on his chest, the sound of the tearing bandages mixing with his heavy gasps.
When the bandages fell away, what was revealed was not only a gruesome wound but also a circular metal device embedded in his sternum: copper coils wrapped around a central electromagnet, the ends of the wires connected to the battery, trembling slightly with his heartbeat.
Unbelievable, incredibly unbelievable.
It was as if one moment he was demonstrating his missile to the Military, and the next he was lying here, utterly weak, with some unknown machine connected to him.
It was as if he had suddenly fallen from heaven to hell... The rest of the story is what everyone is familiar with.
The young, talented, rich playboy, genius weapon inventor, Mr. Tony Stark.
After demonstrating the effectiveness of a new type of missile to the Military, he was attacked on his way back.
The most ironic part was that the attack on him involved Stark Industries' missiles.
By the time he regained consciousness, he was already in this state.
Even though Doctor Ethan, who saved him, had done his best, there were still some shrapnel fragments in his heart, constantly burrowing deeper into it.
In desperation, Doctor Ethan installed an electromagnet in his chest and connected it to a car battery for power, allowing the electromagnet to continuously hold those remaining fragments, which saved his life.
Next, the Terrorists who had captured him came and demanded that he build missiles for them, the same kind of missiles he had demonstrated to the Military.
Tony, who considered himself righteous, refused.
After suffering a period of torture by the Terrorists, he was taken to their camp.
Seeing every person with a Stark Industries rifle in hand, and boxes upon boxes of Stark Industries equipment piled in the corner, he felt utterly disheartened.
He thought his weapons were used to defend peace, but he never expected them to become tools for executioners to kill.
Fortunately, Doctor Ethan reminded him, making him realize that he couldn't let these sons of bitches, the Terrorists, get away with using weapons he made. He absolutely couldn't sink into despair and inactivity.
And so, he began his resistance.
Tony first built himself a miniature Arc Reactor, which, to exaggerate, was a palm-sized nuclear power plant.
With this miniature Arc Reactor, he no longer needed to carry that battery around everywhere.
Then, he designed a suit of armor for himself.
The materials for this armor were entirely sourced on-site, cobbled together through welding and forging.
Even during its construction, the Terrorists realized that they didn't seem to be building missiles, and thus became vigilant, demanding that they assemble the missiles by the next day.
So, the manufacturing and assembly became even more rushed.
When they were discovered by the Terrorists, the armor's program wasn't even fully installed.
If it weren't for the tripwire installed at the door, the two of them might have been finished.
Doctor Ethan, to buy Tony time, picked up a gun from the ground and rushed out.
After drawing the enemies away, he ended up facing a neat row of gun muzzles waiting for him.
"So that's it," Dr. Paradox nodded in sudden understanding, taking a sip of iced cola. "So, in the original timeline, or rather, the timeline you know, Doctor Ethan actually dies, right?"
"Yes," Gwen nodded, "He died."
To prevent Dr. Paradox from getting bored, Gwen decided to tell him the story of Iron Man, along with some spoilers for later events.
Such as carrying a nuclear bomb, creating Ultron, the Civil War, and snapping his fingers.
Anyway, most of the events were recounted.
Of course, she mainly wanted to know what Dr. Paradox thought of Tony Stark as a person.
Gwen looked at Dr. Paradox, her eyes shining with curiosity, her body unconsciously leaning forward, as if wanting to dig out something special from his mouth.
Dr. Paradox understood the meaning in her eyes, a smile playing on his lips, and he gently said, "He's quite good. He's a hero."
Gwen waited, her gaze fixed on Dr. Paradox, eagerly hoping he would offer more unique insights.
However, Dr. Paradox said nothing more, only smiled back at her.
"Is that all?" "That's all there is," Dr. Paradox said with certainty.
Seeing Gwen's disappointed expression and drooping brows, he couldn't help but burst into hearty, infectious laughter. After laughing, he explained, "I've met many heroes. But among these heroes, the one I've seen the most is Ben Tennyson, all sorts of Ben Tennysons."
"Some of them like slushies, some don't. In some Universe quadrants, the Omnitrix doesn't even exist; in some quadrants, you are male, and Ben Tennyson is female instead; even more absurdly, there are Universe quadrants where Ben Tennyson and Albedo are married."
At this point, Dr. Paradox instinctively assumed Gwen would be surprised, but looking at the strange expression on the girl beside him, he suddenly slapped his forehead: "Oh right, the World you were in before that DC Universe, had a Shadow of our World, so it's not strange that you know these things."
But in reality, what surprised Gwen was... Nani? Is the love watch and the 63rd quadrant real?
"Anyway, these Ben Tennysons made me understand..." At this, Dr. Paradox's expression became serious. "A hero, so-called, is not about how much power they possess, but about being a being who, even knowing their power is limited, still actively stands up to protect others."