The Wick house was a mess, but a brief peace had settled between John and Tony.
After all, continuing to attack a naked man would have seemed like a very strange hobby.
"You mean… my father sent people to kill you?" John asked, breaking the silence.
The atmosphere was tense. As the Witch King, John admitted he never expected the Disarming Charm to strip the Iron Man suit completely off. He certainly did not expect his opponent to show up in someone else's home without wearing anything underneath.
John distinctly remembered that Iron Man always wore clothes when suiting up. Why was today different? Perhaps the cold wind had sobered Tony up quickly, and now he was calm.
What started as a confrontation had become a reckoning. Tony, naked and wrapped in a blanket, was being judged by John's odd gaze. It made him more than a little embarrassed.
"Maybe you, the son of a powerful family, do not understand your father's influence," Tony bluffed, straightening his back as he walked toward the sofa. He spotted a blanket, picked it up, and wrapped it around himself. "Your father, Watson Wick, is the largest shareholder of Hammer Industries. He is also the head of an underground alliance that spans the globe."
Seeing that John did not stop him, Tony continued, "Under his management, this alliance has only grown stronger, reaching into all kinds of industries. Arms are just one of his businesses."
Now that he had been captured, Tony sat down and asked, "By the way, what did you use just now? Was it superpowers or magic?"
John did not answer, only frowning in thought. "My father would not try to assassinate you."
"That is not necessarily true," Tony replied with a dry laugh, surprised by the innocence of the underground king's son.
"Uh… could you hand me your helmet? I do not have any shoes, and I would rather not step on the glass and dust." Tony pointed to his steel helmet, eyeing the debris on the floor.
The Iron Man suit was impressive, but it required assistance to put on. Tony made a mental note that he needed to design a suit that could be donned without help.
John silently raised his hand and pointed at Tony. With a wordless spell, the helmet floated over.
"Wow," Tony said, catching it, clearly intrigued by the gesture.
"Jarvis, are you still there?"
"I am here, sir," the AI replied.
Tony breathed a sigh of relief. The strange lightning and unusual powers needed to be recorded.
He spoke aloud, "Jarvis, show me everything S.H.I.E.L.D. has on Watson Wick."
Tony shrugged and placed the helmet on the dusty table. "If you do not believe me, see for yourself."
The helmet's eyes lit up, projecting information onto the wall. John turned to look. The display was filled with details about his father.
"Watson Wick, classified as extremely dangerous, security level eight. He has united many forces to form an underground alliance known as the Continental Hotel. He maintains close ties with the so-called King of War, Yuri Orlov. They were seen together in Sokovia, where they triggered a coup and a war. He is an investor in Hammer Industries and has connections to mysterious Russian organizations."
John read the information, his expression gradually changing. The last lines—"close contacts with the King of War, Yuri Orlov" and "investor in Hammer Industries, with ties to mysterious Russian forces"—stood out.
Tony pointed to these lines and said, "I am sure you have seen the news, or you would not know who I am. The person who attacked me yesterday was a Russian scientist."
He stared at John, searching for any emotion beyond calm. "How did he know I would be in Monaco? How did he know I would go to the race?"
"I can tell you with certainty," Tony said, walking toward John with the blanket wrapped around him, "only someone with that kind of reach could arrange it. Your father, Watson Wick, is the underground president. Even if he offends a president, he can make it so they cannot sleep at night."
John met Tony's gaze, using Legilimency. From what he saw, Tony truly believed what he said. It was not an excuse.
"My answer is still the same. My father would not be the one to assassinate you," John said quietly, shaking his head.
Tony's anger flared. He tore off the blanket, exposing his palladium-poisoned body, and laughed bitterly. "Really? Then tell your father not to worry about Tony Stark. It will not affect his business! Because I am going to die soon!"
His last words came out as a growl. The pressure of knowing his own death date was immense. Even a genius like Tony Stark could not escape the torment of impending death.
He jabbed a finger at John's chest. John, displeased, caught his hand, his wand shifting in his left hand like a small snake. Before Tony could react, the black wand was at his eyes.
"Be respectful to my family and me," John said coldly. "Do not forget that you broke into my home and attacked me without reason."
"Alright, alright, let us handle this rationally," Tony said, his voice trembling, raising his hands in surrender. With his suit dismantled, he was no threat.
Tony took a deep breath, feeling suffocated. He was used to being in control, but today, he was the one caught off guard. His reputation as a genius and billionaire had always made life easy, but not today.
John told him to keep his distance. Tony stepped back and tripped over a rug, giving a rather sad display of a naked man in distress. John covered his face, looking away.
"I imagine my father has some clothes left in the wardrobe, Mr. Stark."
"Really, that is a relief." Tony stood up, not at all comfortable being exposed. If John had been a beautiful woman, he would not have minded. "That is my sister's room; you had better not go in."
"Oh, sorry."
John watched Tony's awkward movements and realized the person who had been walking around the house earlier was not Tony. It had to be someone else—probably the same organization as the agent in London. Were they also investigating his father?
"I do not know what kind of trap my father is setting," John thought with a sigh. He had just finished praising his father's business acumen, only to be ambushed by Iron Man at home. If he praised him a little more, would the God of Thunder show up next?
"Your father is about the same size as me," Tony said, returning in a new set of clothes. "But I suggest he try a different brand. Maybe another—alright, alright, I will stop." He noticed John's impatiently raised wand and wisely stopped complaining.
"You have not told me yet—are you a superhuman or a magician?"
"No, you can call me a wizard."
John glared at Tony and said, "You had better leave before my sister comes home. I do not want her room to look like it was hit by a bomb."
"Alright, I know a construction crew. They can make it look exactly as it did before." Tony was still thinking about the attempted assassination as he changed clothes. The cold wind had sobered him up, and in hindsight, he realized he had been too impulsive. John's abilities were so strange that it made no sense to try to kill him with a whip-wielding assassin. Or perhaps the underground king was simply a loving father who did not want his children tainted by blood.
John ignored Tony's speculation and waved his wand. "Reparo."
The shattered walls flew back together, and even the broken chairs reassembled themselves. With the magic completed, the room was restored to its original state.
The magical display made Tony sigh. "If you started a renovation company, you would be very popular."
"I will take that as a compliment," John replied, rolling his eyes and kicking aside the pieces of the steel suit.
"This suit is impressive—very stylish."
"I will take that as a compliment," Tony echoed, picking up the helmet. "If there is nothing else, I will be going."
"Oh?" John said with a faint smile. "You are not going to pretend nothing happened, are you?"
"Alright," Tony said, setting down the helmet. "How much?"
"What?" John asked, surprised.
"How much money will it take for you to let me leave?" Tony asked. For him, anything that could be solved with money was no problem.
"You misunderstand," John said, raising his eyebrows. "I do not care about your money. What I care about is this." He pointed at the helmet.
Tony's face darkened. "You want the Iron Man technology?"
If that were the case, Tony would have to consider eliminating John.
"What would I want with that?" John replied, exasperated. "I want information about my father and where my family has gone."
"That is all?" Tony was surprised. Compared to his own intellect, S.H.I.E.L.D. information was not especially valuable.
"I will say it again, Mr. Stark," John said seriously. "My father did not try to assassinate you—at least not this time."
Kill Iron Man? John decided to let it go and leave Tony to deal with the purple titan in the future.
His eyes fell on the reactor in Tony's chest. He tapped it with his wand and said, "You should realize that the person who attacked you has the same thing as you."
Tony looked down, recalling the attacker's words: "Your family are thieves and butchers." The memory left him shaken.
Because…
Palladium poisoning.