Luca, already half-asleep and finding Tony a bit naggy, had only casually asked to change the subject.
But the moment the word "Hydra" left Tony's mouth, Luca jolted awake, his drowsiness vanishing instantly.
Fortunately, he was sunk deep into the soft sofa, so he didn't literally jump up in fright.
To avoid seeming too suspicious, Luca forced himself to stay calm and asked in a feigned nonchalant tone.
"Hydra? You mean the evil villains Steve fought in WWII comic books?"
Tony, who had just been chatting casually, looked at Luca on the sofa with disdain.
"You actually read Capsicle's biographical comics? Unacceptable. I need to find a company to publish an Iron Man comic series."
"Hmm, the company that draws Superman is pretty good. Should I just buy them?"
"What do you think about a plot where Iron Man joins the Justice League and leads Superman and Batman?"
Seeing Tony veer off-topic into comic book fantasies, the tense Luca relaxed considerably.
If Cap had solid evidence that Hydra still existed, Tony wouldn't be this dismissive.
Right. If it was a real emergency, Tony wouldn't be flying back to New York with me on a private jet. He'd be suited up and flying back at mach speed.
Plus, most of the US Hydra branch is inside SHIELD. If a fight broke out, it would be at the Triskelion in DC.
Having sorted through his thoughts, Luca fully relaxed and adjusted his position on the sofa to lie more comfortably.
Although he guessed the situation wasn't severe, Luca still wanted to probe Tony for details on what exactly was happening with Cap.
So, Luca glanced at Tony, who was still plotting his comic book debut, pretended to be speechless, and played along.
"Leading the Justice League? Mr. Wayne is the richest man in his world too. Adding you in would be character plagiarism!"
"Why don't you just make an Avengers comic? Dig Hydra out of the grave for a whipping. Fighting Hydra alongside Cap sounds decent."
Hearing this, Tony got defensive.
"What character plagiarism? I am the actual richest man in the world. Bruce Wayne is a comic book character. How am I plagiarizing him??!"
Seeing the topic drift further away, Luca groaned internally.
Is that the point?!
He decisively steered the conversation back.
"Fine, fine. You're the richest, he's fictional. So, what about Hydra? Why did Cap call you back?"
Since Luca admitted Tony was better than Batman, Tony let the comic issue slide and explained.
But before he started, his expression turned weird.
"It's all because of that Tar Boy you recruited last time."
"Huh? Tar Boy?"
Luca blinked, then realized.
"Uh, you mean Harry Osborn? I didn't recruit him. Isn't he your fanboy? He wanted to be a hero on his own."
Tony shrugged, adopting an "It's normal for someone of my status to have fanboys" pose.
But he continued.
"You know the symbiote on the Osborn kid came from a parallel world with The Spot, right?"
"That symbiote has its own consciousness. According to it, it hasn't just been to one parallel universe."
"When it met Cap a couple of days ago, it randomly asked him if Hydra was destroyed in this world. The old soldier naturally recounted his glorious WWII history."
"But the symbiote said that in several parallel worlds it visited, it heard similar stories, yet the result was always that Hydra survived and remained active into the modern era."
"Capsicle hates Hydra to the bone. Hearing that, he panicked. So he called Daddy Tony to discuss it."
"Huh??"
Listening to Tony's explanation, Luca was dumbfounded.
So... it wasn't Hydra exposing themselves or Cap finding a clue. It was a freaking Spoiler Dog spoiling the plot??!!
Seeing Luca's stunned face, Tony misunderstood and chuckled.
"You find it ridiculous too, right?"
"I told Capsicle he's being paranoid. Parallel worlds are complicated; every world develops differently. The old stubborn mule hears wind and thinks it's rain. I'm only going back to give him a lecture on basic multiverse theory."
"Besides, the symbiote on Tar Boy seems a bit loose in the head. It talks crazy. Who knows how much of it is true?"
"..."
Listening to Tony ramble about Cap being stubborn, Luca felt sick.
I just became a Hydra boss! I haven't even milked their resources yet! And now a non-human Spoiler Dog is about to flip the table?
Tony looked at the dazed Luca and added.
"Going back is partly to calm the old guy down. Also, we have a bunch of otherworld invaders locked up in SHIELD prisons, right?"
"I plan to take Cap to interrogate them. Let him see the diversity of parallel worlds. Once he realizes how different they are, he'll stop believing Hydra still exists here."
Hearing this, Luca, who was debating whether to cover for Hydra or cut ties, felt a chill run down his spine. He asked hesitantly.
"So, Cap only told you about what the symbiote said? Or did he tell others?"
Tony looked confused but answered nonchalantly.
"Technically, he only discussed it with me?"
Luca was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Tony continued.
"But when Tar Boy was sharing his parallel world trivia, the other Avengers were there. Otherwise, how do you think I'm going to explain to Fury why I need to interrogate the otherworldly prisoners?"
"..."
It's all over...