Chapter 535

The moment Farrell’s missile knocked the scarred woman unconscious, a squad of black-clad soldiers came charging in, fully armed and carrying a coffin-like containment case.

They wasted no time.

The woman was loaded inside, several buttons were pressed, and the lid sealed with a heavy mechanical click.

If she had been conscious, Evenson suspected her immediate thought would have been something along the lines of: I’m pretty sure I can still be saved.

Evenson watched the soldiers with growing irritation.

"Gentlemen, taking someone else’s spoils is extremely rude." His voice remained pleasant, but the threat underneath it was unmistakable. "Why don’t you leave her here and walk away safely?"

The soldiers showed no fear.

Their rifles came up as one, muzzles trained directly on Evenson.

Above them, Farrell’s armor spun upward. Mechanical sections unfolded across her body with a series of sharp clicks. Her chest, abdomen, arms, thighs, and even smaller sections of the armor opened, revealing missiles of various sizes.

It looked less like a suit of armor and more like someone had strapped an entire rocket barrage to a woman.

"To be honest, everyone, I really don’t like fighting." Evenson’s expression darkened at their answer. "But if you insist on making me..."

He slowly raised one hand.

Then a woman’s voice drifted in from the side.

"How about doing me a favor?"

Evenson’s raised hand lowered slightly.

He turned.

Dottie approached at an unhurried pace, a grappling line wrapped around her right hand. A man who was either unconscious or very close to it was being dragged along behind her.

"Let us have these people. Thank you."

"Dottie?" Genuine surprise crossed Evenson’s face. "What are you doing here?"

"Wow. Now that is a great question."

Dottie gave the grappling line a vicious tug, dragging the man closer before planting one high-heeled combat boot directly on his head. The heel settled neatly against his temple.

"I was supposed to have dinner with my beloved Little Pe tonight. Then my wonderful, absolutely delightful boss suddenly called and sent me out to capture experimental specimens."

"Uh..."

The corner of Evenson’s mouth twitched.

"Management doesn’t exactly have a reputation for caring about employee morale, but maybe don’t insult your boss quite so openly."

"I know."

Dottie shrugged.

"Anyway, back to business. Can you let us have these two?"

"Lady Black Widow!"

One of the black-clad soldiers stepped forward.

"Why are you being so polite to this man? We can take the specimens ourselves. What can he possibly do about it?"

Smack.

Dottie slapped him across the face without even looking at him.

"Shut up. You have absolutely no idea who you’re dealing with."

This kid has potential, Evenson thought.

He even knows how to add a little extra drama to the scene. I’ll make sure someone gets him a steak after this.

His eyes narrowed.

"But these people have offended me. And my friends."

"If that’s the case, then they should definitely be handed over to us."

A cold smile touched Dottie’s lips. Something distinctly sinister glimmered in her eyes.

"They’re nothing more than experimental specimens we captured. Trust me, being experimented on is not going to be a pleasant experience."

"Hm..."

Evenson pretended to hesitate.

His gaze slid toward Tony Stark, who was still crouched behind the car.

The message was obvious.

You have a problem with this?

"Can you two make up your minds already?"

Dottie sounded increasingly impatient. She pressed her heel harder against the unconscious man’s head.

"I’d like to finish this mission as quickly as possible, take some proper leave, and bring Little Pe back to Britain for our honeymoon."

Tony immediately popped up from behind the car.

His expression was casual, but his eyes were suddenly burning with interest.

"You’re sure you can take Aunt Peggy to Britain for your honeymoon after this?"

"Of course."

Dottie tilted her head.

"She’s been wanting to go back home for a while anyway."

"Deal!"

Tony didn’t hesitate for even a second.

"Take them. Get them out of here. Right now. Immediately. Make them disappear."

Dottie glanced at him.

"You’re starting to remind me a lot of your father."

She turned back toward Evenson.

Her expression said everything.

We’re already this far. If you keep dragging this out, I’m done playing along.

Evenson sighed.

"Fine. Take them."

He sounded reluctant enough to sell the performance.

"But do me one favor. When you experiment on them, don’t make it too easy."

At that moment, the roar of a massive transport aircraft filled the sky.

It passed overhead, and several cables dropped from its underside.

The soldiers clipped themselves into the lines, secured the containment coffin, and were pulled rapidly into the aircraft.

Dottie rose with them.

Before disappearing into the darkness, she looked down and flashed Evenson and Tony a smile.

"Don’t worry. I promise they’ll get to have a little meeting with Death."

The transport disappeared into the distance.

Only after it was gone did Evenson and Tony finally relax.

Evenson glanced sideways at him.

"Are you sure it was wise to let them take the woman?"

"Who cares?"

Tony sounded as though a tremendous weight had just been lifted from his shoulders. He slapped Evenson on the shoulder.

"They’re small fry. Completely irrelevant. I’ve already got the important clue. Once I crack it, I’ll know who’s behind all of this."

"Hopefully."

Evenson gave him a noncommittal answer.

Then he climbed into a car with Tony.

Their destination turned out to be a Christmas beauty pageant.

Evenson stared at the stage in disbelief.

He had to hand it to Tony.

The man was dealing with a potentially catastrophic conspiracy, had just survived an Extremis-enhanced assassin, and somehow still had the time to watch a lineup of bikini-clad models posing under Christmas decorations.

What is wrong with this guy?

At a time like this, you’re watching a beauty pageant?

Forget it. Tell me what you want to see. I’ll watch it for you. Just crack the damn clue.

But Tony wasn’t interested in the pageant.

He headed straight for a television station’s satellite truck.

The information he’d obtained was buried inside several layers of encrypted data. Downloading it required a sufficiently powerful signal, and the satellite truck was the perfect place to get one.

Unfortunately, the truck was currently being used to broadcast the beauty pageant.

Its signal strength wasn’t anywhere near maximum.

Fortunately, the owner of the truck soon appeared.

He was a genuine Tony Stark superfan.

Not the normal kind of fan, either.

This man was the sort who would probably agree to almost anything if Tony Stark personally asked him.

So when Tony explained what he needed, the fan immediately climbed into the truck and boosted the transmission power.

Tony got what he wanted.

The screen filled with a series of video recordings.

The central figure in every recording was Aldrich Killian.

The subjects around him were wounded soldiers.

Davis was among them.

So was the suspected bomber from the theater-square explosion.

And there was the same scarred woman who had been hunting Tony only moments earlier.

All of them were injected with a strange substance.

Then the impossible happened.

Under the drug’s effects, their damaged limbs began regenerating inside waves of flame.

Broken bodies rebuilt themselves.

Missing flesh returned.

Ruined limbs were restored.

But the treatment clearly wasn’t stable.

Some of the subjects suffered violent rejection.

Their bodies overloaded.

Then they exploded.

Tony watched the footage in silence.

By the time the final recording ended, the uncertainty was gone.

So was the confusion.

He knew who was behind everything.

Aldrich Killian.

And there had never been any bomb.

The explosions themselves had been caused by the unfortunate experimental subjects.

They had been the bombs all along.

...