Marvel Login System (Rewrite)

S.H.I.E.L.D. – Nick Fury's Office

The silence in the room was interrupted by a discreet chime. Nick Fury raised an eyebrow as he saw the incoming message.

After reading it, his expression hardened.

"He must be dying…" he muttered to himself.

Tony Stark had temporarily stepped away from Stark Industries to take a vacation.

Fury stared at the screen for a few seconds. It didn't make sense coming from Stark. The only plausible explanation was that Tony felt the end was near and needed to spend more time with the people who truly mattered.

He leaned back in his chair, thoughtful.

"Maybe the time really is coming…"

If that were true, then the box left behind by Howard Stark... maybe it finally needed to be delivered to Tony.

"Agent Hill," he called out, his voice firm.

Maria Hill entered almost instantly, always prepared, as if she had been waiting to be summoned.

"Sir?"

"I want you to track Tony. See where he's going."

"Yes, sir."

She immediately activated the tablet in her hands, her fingers gliding across the screen with precision. But after a few seconds, her expression shifted.

"I'm having trouble locating him... it seems J.A.R.V.I.S. has blocked our tracking network."

Fury nodded with a brief sigh.

"After last time, he's keeping his guard up," he said, more to himself than to her.

"All right. You're dismissed."

Hill hesitated for a moment.

"Sir…" she began cautiously.

Fury looked at her—directly, piercingly.

"If you have something to say, say it, Agent Hill."

"I... have a feeling. I believe Tony Stark may have discovered a new element to replace the palladium. That might be why he's been so... calm lately."

Fury studied her in silence for a few seconds before slowly shaking his head.

"Unlikely. Even if Howard theorized something along those lines, he never concluded anything that could be replicated. And Tony doesn't have access to the base material."

"You mean the Tesseract?"

"Exactly. Howard studied the cube for years, and his notes are stored here at S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony can't recreate what he doesn't even fully understand. Not on his own."

Hill got the message. To Nick Fury, Howard was still the greatest genius of his generation—even greater than his own son. Arguing would be pointless.

"Understood, sir," she said simply, before leaving the room in silence.

As the door closed, Fury sat in silence for a moment. Then he let out a faint, almost imperceptible chuckle.

"Tony, recreating an element based on the Tesseract…" he murmured.

"What a crazy dream."

Arthur Morgan's Residence

Under the table, Jean wiped her mouth with a light sigh, her face still slightly flushed.

"My mouth is sore…" she mumbled, a hint of humor mixed with exhaustion.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, smiling with a contained air of superiority.

"Expected. You were the one who called for a break, remember?"

Jean huffed, stood up, and fixed her hair.

"Hmph. I'm heading home," she said, pretending to be indignant.

"Go ahead. I've just about finished up here."

Arthur watched her leave and couldn't help but smile. Jean was an experienced woman, and it showed in everything she did.

But his thoughts were interrupted by a holographic projection appearing beside him. It was Ruby.

He sighed. Normally, when she showed up in moments like this, it came with uncomfortable questions.

But this time, she simply said:

[Master, Tony Stark has just arrived, accompanied by Miss Virginia Potts.]

Arthur was slightly startled.

"Tony and... Pepper?"

He frowned, surprised for a moment, but quickly understood. It must be a courtesy visit. Or... maybe that lunatic just wanted more of his milk tea.

"That guy…"

He stood up and headed downstairs. He didn't have to wait: Tony had already walked in like the house was his.

"Hey, Shakespeare!" said Tony, with his usual charmingly sarcastic tone.

Arthur crossed his arms, smiling back.

"And you're still giving me nicknames…"

Pepper Potts entered right after, elegant even in casual attire. Her eyes widened upon seeing Arthur.

"Mr. Morgan, sorry for dropping by like this. I didn't know Tony was coming to visit you today... and I dressed quite informally."

"It's all good," said Arthur with a calm smile.

"Tony and I are friends. No need for formality here."

Pepper was a very formal woman, and honestly, that made Arthur a little uncomfortable.

"I'm sure you know why I'm here, Arthur," Tony said.

Arthur, wearing an expression that showed he already knew, raised an eyebrow and replied with a tone of inside-joke humor: "You're here for the tea, right? Because if it's for anything else, you caught me off guard."

"Exactly," Tony replied.

Arthur gave Tony a look as if saying, 'Seriously? You're really doing this?' and nodded toward the fridge.

Tony, with a mischievous grin, replied, "Great!" and darted off to the kitchen like it was an order from a superior.

He returned quickly, carrying two cups of tea—one for Pepper and one for himself. "Here you go."

Pepper took a sip, paused, and nodded with a smile. "Hmm, that's the flavor."

"It's not every day a genius like me finds such a refined drink," Tony said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Maybe I should open a café. What do you think, Pepper?"

"I'd rather you focused on Stark Industries, Tony," she replied, not falling for his irony.

Arthur, smiling and quietly observing, added, "Humility isn't your strong suit, huh, Tony?"

Tony made a dismissive gesture, as if being wronged. "And you think that's news, Arthur? I'm amazing—just stating a fact."

Pepper couldn't help but smile. The teasing between the two was like a sport—and surprisingly, Tony seemed genuinely more at ease with Arthur than with most people. For Pepper, that was a sign he might have actually found a real friend.

From upstairs, Jean appeared at the top of the stairs and looked down.

"Arthur, is that one of your friends down there?"

When she saw who was in the room, her eyes lit up at the sight of Tony Stark and Virginia Potts.

Tony, on the other hand, looked at Arthur with an expression that said, 'Okay, you're messing with me. Who's she?'

Jean, as calm as ever, kept her composure while Tony, unaware, studied her face as if trying to calculate who she was.

Pepper immediately recognized Jean and quickly made the connection. "She was on the guest list for the last party, Tony. How do you not remember?"

Tony smirked. "Ah yes, the party. The one where I was busy... being Tony Stark."

Pepper rolled her eyes, while Arthur, with a faint smile, just observed. 'This guy has the memory of a goldfish, but at least he's entertaining.'

"Hello, Miss Jean Grey," Pepper said politely, though still with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

Tony, still unsure who Jean was, looked back at Pepper and asked, as if piecing together a mystery, "You know her?"

Pepper nodded with an 'obviously' expression. "Yes, she was on the guest list at the last party. Arthur met her there."

Arthur simply shrugged, trying to stay calm while Tony started analyzing the situation. 'Okay, this is weird. Why would she be at Arthur's place?' he thought, but didn't say out loud.

"Interesting..." Tony murmured. "So, you... know a famous mutant, Arthur? And here I thought your only power was making decent tea."

Jean, with a subtle smile, wasn't bothered. "We're all a bit 'weird' around here, aren't we?"

As the women stepped aside to give the men space, Tony turned to Arthur and, with a more serious tone (though still tinged with sarcasm), said, "Arthur, I have to thank you again. You just saved my life with that new element. In two days, I'll be able to replace the palladium core, all thanks to a piece of information you gave me. So... thank you."

Arthur smiled lightly. "It's fine. I got a lot from you, too. And let's be honest, that stuff was left for you by your father, wasn't it?"

Tony made a face, thoughtful. "I should've realized that. The old man was a master of leaving unexplained clues."

Arthur raised his cup of milk tea in a toast.

Tony took a sip, his expression pensive, and murmured, "But what's weird is, if the old man knew what he was doing, why didn't he give me any real hints? He was always so... straightforward."

"I think he liked seeing you confused. Howard Stark: master of making things complicated," Arthur smiled.

As expected, the conversation soon veered into familiar territory for two men like Tony and Arthur: careers, women, and competition.

"By the way, Arthur," Tony said with a glint in his eye, "there's going to be a street race in Monaco in two weeks. If you're up for it, come along."

Arthur considered saying no, but something in him wanted to see that circus unfold. "Sounds interesting. I think I'll stop by."

Tony looked like he was already planning it in his head: "I knew you'd be in. You're fast—at least on the racetrack, right?"

Arthur smiled. "I know a thing or two."

(If he only knew about my ability...)

Tony, with a wink, replied, "Then let's race. Get ready to witness the machine that is me in action."

"By the way, Tony, I have an idea, and I think you're the best person to talk to about it." Arthur smiled as he looked at Tony.

Tony gave him a curious, slightly skeptical look.

"All right, let's hear it, genius," Tony said.

"But if it's another one of those 'turn coffee into quantum energy' ideas, you'll lose my respect."

Arthur laughed but wasn't intimidated.

"No, nothing that absurd," he replied.

"It's something that could change how we deal with technology on a molecular level. I was thinking... about building machines—but on a nanoscale. Tiny. So small they could enter the human body, repair tissues, destroy diseased cells. Or maybe build and dismantle materials from the inside out."

Tony furrowed his brow, picking up a pen and spinning it between his fingers—clearly interested, but cautious.

"Nanomachines? Like invisible robots? That's science fiction, Arthur. No one's come close to anything like that… yet."

"I know," Arthur replied.

"But what if we start small? Literally. Instead of thinking of them as 'robots,' we could work with structures that respond to external commands. Maybe based on molecular circuits, activated by specific frequencies. Or… you have the arc reactor, right? Imagine if it could directly power those structures…"

Tony leaned forward, his expression now much more serious.

"So... you're suggesting I use my reactor as a kind of power hub for... nanodevices?"

"Exactly. And not just for medical applications. Think armor that assembles itself, self-repairing materials... or invisible infiltration systems that only exist when needed."

Tony was silent for a moment, his gaze distant. It was clear the idea was starting to take root.

"Okay, now you've got my attention. But you know that if we pull this off… we'll be creating tech the world isn't ready for."

Arthur smiled.

"And since when has that ever stopped you?"

Tony replied with a sideways grin.

"Fair enough."

Suddenly, Tony stood up and grabbed as much tea as he could, as if stocking up for an emergency, and made his way out quickly. "See you soon, my friend. Come to my lab so we can talk more about your idea."

"Soon," Arthur replied, watching Tony leave.

(End of Chapter)

Give me some power stones there you go~😉

Finally, I am back and with good news, after spending the whole weekend overwhelmed with things to do, I finally finished everything and now I am on vacation. The glorious 'paid vacation'. I believe that now I will be able to write everything without delay, unfortunately Saturday and Sunday are still out of the question due to other responsibilities I have on those days.