Tony turned his attention to Alexander Pierce.
Pierce was backed against a terminal, his face a mask of aristocratic terror. "You can't do this, Stark! I have diplomatic immunity! I am a member of the World Security Council!"
"You're a corpse that hasn't stopped talking yet," Tony replied.
His Cognitive Multitasking was already deep into the bunker's mainframe. With his Technopathy, he bypassed the self-destruct sequence Pierce had tried to initiate. Instead, Tony slaved the bunker's global communications array to his own suit.
"JARVIS, broadcast. Every channel. No encryption. Let the world see the face of the man who sold them out."
"Live in three... two... one," JARVIS confirmed.
Across the globe, every screen that wasn't already showing the Hydra list flickered to a high-definition feed of the bunker. Billions of people saw Tony Stark, his armor scorched and bloodied, standing over a trembling Alexander Pierce.
"This is Alexander Pierce," Tony's voice was broadcast to every corner of the Earth. "He's a leader of the World Security Council. He's also the man who signed the order for the assassination of Howard and Maria Stark. He's the man who managed the Winter Soldier program for two decades."
Tony leaned in, his Boy Eye zooming in on Pierce's sweating pores. "Tell them, Alex. Tell them how it felt to trade the lives of your friends for a seat at a table built by Hydra."
"It was necessary!" Pierce screamed, his ego finally snapping. "The world is too chaotic! It needs order! Howard didn't understand that—he was too soft, too focused on the future! We are the future!"
"No," Tony whispered, the word echoing through the speakers of a billion devices. "You're the past."
Tony didn't kill Pierce with a repulsor blast. That would have been too quick. Instead, he used his Magnetism to seize the heavy gold ring on Pierce's finger—the seal of the World Security Council.
Under Tony's control, the ring began to vibrate. It heated up, glowing white-hot, before it liquefied. Tony manipulated the molten metal, shaping it into a searing-hot brand in the shape of a Hydra.
"You love the symbol so much? Wear it."
With a flick of his mind, the molten gold slammed into Pierce's forehead, searing the mark of the beast into his bone. As Pierce shrieked, Tony's Technopathy triggered a final command. Every bank account, every offshore shell company, and every asset tied to Pierce and the Hydra high command was instantly drained and transferred to the Stark Foundation for Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism.
"I've stripped you of your name, your money, and your shadow," Tony said. "Now, I'm giving you to the people."
Tony used his Magnetism to hurl Pierce through the hole he had punched in the ceiling, depositing him right into the middle of a crowd of angry, betrayed S.H.I.E.L.D. loyalists on the surface.
Tony turned back to the Winter Soldier. The man's eyes were clearing, the hypnotic fog of the "Longing, Rusted, Seventeen" triggers fighting against the sheer shock of Tony's magnetic paralysis.
Tony's Technopathy (fed by the data Aryan had provided) allowed him to see the Soldier as a machine with a corrupted OS. He reached out with his hand to interface.
"JARVIS, we're going in. Deep dive into the neural-link. I want the Hydra triggers erased."
"Sir, the risk of neural collapse is—"
"I have Cognitive Multitasking, J. I can calculate the synaptic firings in real-time. Do it."
For the next ten minutes, Tony stood perfectly still. To an outside observer, it looked like a statue of a god touching a fallen angel. Internally, Tony was at war. He was navigating the labyrinth of Bucky's mind, using his Technopathy to cauterize the Hydra pathways and his Boy Eye to identify the physical implants in the brain.
His Super Soldier stamina was the only thing keeping him upright as the mental strain threatened to blow his own circuits. Finally, with a sharp, digital "snap," the triggers vanished.
Bucky Barnes slumped to the floor, his breathing ragged. He looked up at Tony, his eyes filled with a crushing weight of seventy years of memories. "I... I remember them. Your mother... she was wearing a blue dress. I'm... I'm so sorry."
Tony's hand, encased in the Mark IV, trembled. He could have crushed Bucky's skull. His Magnetism could have turned the man into a red mist. But as he looked at the broken man before him, Tony realized that Bucky was just another victim of the rot he had just spent the morning burning out.
"Get up," Tony said, his voice thick. "I'm not forgiving you. Not today. Maybe not ever. But you're coming with me. We're going to the Umbrella. We have a way to fix what they did to your head."
Tony stepped out of the ruins of the Triskelion, carrying the Winter Soldier over one shoulder like a trophy of war.
The sun was over Washington D.C., casting long shadows over the burning remains of the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Thousands of people stood on the banks of the Potomac, watching him. They stood in a stunned, terrifying silence.
They had seen a man dismantle a global government in four hours. They had seen the truth of their masters. And they saw Iron Man, glowing in the twilight, a god who had outgrown his armor.
Tony looked at the horizon, his Boy Eye picking out the distant silhouette of the Umbrella HQ in the distance. He didn't care about the government. He had his revenge, and he had his truth.
Tony called Aryan and said, "Aryan…"
"I'm here, Tony," my voice came through.
"The Shield is gone. Hydra is screaming. I'm bringing the asset in." Tony paused, looking down at the smoking crater of the Triskelion. "The world is going to be looking for someone to lead them out of the dark. Tell me you're ready."
"I've been ready since the day we met, Tony," I replied. "Come home. We have a new world to build."
As Tony ignited his thrusters and vanished into the night, the era of S.H.I.E.L.D. officially ended. The age of the hero was over. The age of the Tarot Club had begun.
——-
In the Umbrella HQ, I watched the final confrontation. Tony was standing over the ruins of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Winter Soldier neutralized, and Pierce in his grasp.
"He's evolved," the Red Queen whispered, her avatar glowing with pride. "He's not just a man in a suit anymore. He's a force of nature."
"He's exactly what I needed him to be," I replied, my Omega-Level Telepathy feeling the ripple of Tony's victory across the psychic plane. "The old world is gone. The Shield has fallen. The Hydra is exposed."
I stood up, adjusting my suit. "Queen, have the staff prepare and clean the guest room for Tony, and arrange a secure room for Bucky."
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