The Sage of the Mind

Disclaimer - The rights of the respective characters are with their respective owners. I don’t mean to violate their intellectual property rights and thus, only my original characters are my IP. 

The Sage of the Mind: Chapter 53 [September 2010]

–Axle Riddle–

“Look, I have had it with Stark, you don’t have to start being a thorn in my side as well. Just give me something so that I can make the vultures get off your back because you must know that I have been keeping people away from this place,” Fury pleaded to him, for something to show to his superiors.

Unfortunately, “Then let them come, Fury. I have nothing to fear, especially with anything that you guys could throw at me. Ross crossed the line when he didn’t stop at just Banner and had the harebrained idea of creating more of his kind. Thank the one above that they came to me and not some mercenary group who could have taken full advantage of their powers.”

Fury’s one eye narrowed as he looked at the phone in front of him, “So what? Am I just supposed to forget their existence? Forget the fact that the most dangerous person on the continent, if not the world, is staying in Manhattan in a quaint little apartment with his lover, going on fun and artsy brunch dates?”

“Yes!” Fury reeled back at the simple answer.

“So you don’t plan on using his power at all, then?” Fury probed once more.

Good lord, what is with this man and his paranoia?

“Fury, I am going to say this for the last time, I have no need of any of the people under my protection. I am plenty powerful all on my own. Power is the least of the things that I lack,”

“What about the shipments from Mordashov?” Fury asked him, out of the blue.

“Well, what about those?”

“We have kept a close watch on all the shipments that come in and out of the city, along with what the people in the city have been ordering, and Mordashov’s order lists seem a little bit too random to my people so I have another question for you, what are you building in here?” Fury leaned way too close to the phone, not realizing that this intimidation tactic was not going to work here. He actually looked way too funny doing that, with his trench coat and everything.

“You can leave, Miss Agent,” He said out loud, drawing a squeak from the now awake agent who scrambled to get out of the safehouse under Fury’s scathing glare. God, she was really fired this time around.

A shame, he liked her shenanigans.

“You wanna know what I have been doing here, Fury?”

“It would help me sleep a little better,”

“Fine. An Arc Reactor,”

“What?”

“An Arc Reactor, Fury. You know, the one that Stark uses to fly around in his death suit, that one.” 

He could literally feel Fury’s mind cogs turning furiously as he tried to process this information.

“Why?”

“That information is not for today, Fury. Now, If you don’t have anything of value to tell me, I’ll be leaving,”

“Wait! So that’s why you have BAnner working for you. You don’t need his muscle, you need his brains. The man’s a genius as well so it works out why you would protect him,” Fury said, as if he had an epiphany. All that was left was for him to get naked, go running into traffic, shouting “Eureka! Eureka!”

The poor man couldn't even fathom someone helping out someone from the goodness of their heart, not that he was doing that but still.

“And I do have important news for you. POTUS has a single question, as does everyone else in the world. Why New York?” Fury asked him and he actually had to think of an answer.

Sure, he knew the logical one, the truth of it being one Sorcerer Supreme fucked him over so the Vishanti and the ROB came up with some sort of deal that allowed him to reach his destination but in doing so, used the VIshanti’s energy so they imposed some restrictions on his powers for some reason, not that he was complaining in any way, mind you.

“It was where I got my powers, Fury. The world is a vast place and even I, with all my powers, might find myself on the backfoot if I encountered the true monsters of this world,”

“You know something,”

“Of course, I know things, you fool. I am well on my way to becoming one of those monsters but until that happens, I will put my ass in this city, safe and sound. The helping part is just a side project of mine, allowing me to put my powers to use and train them while I get ready to take my place among the big boys,”

His tirade finished, and he parted the safe house with a single warning to Fury.

“Make sure that no politician takes a step too much against the city because I can assure you that you would not like that, FUry. I have some ways that can help SHIELD stave off the political pressure but that will take time. I will inform your ambassador when I am ready. Stay safe, Fury. After all, if you left Goose unattended for long, she might just start eating humans for snacks,”

The way Fury’s face looked as if it was set in stone was hilarious. Still though, POTUS huh?

So even the big wigs were starting to get on Fury’s case about him then. Well, he might have to do something, establish some sort of dialogue without going too deep into anything because if he knew one thing about politicians it was the fact that they were scums of the highest order, ready to take advantage at the slightest sign of weakness, and never to be trusted with anything important of note.

Well, he might be a little biased but that is what his opinion was and he will be sticking to it.

It’s been two days since the party incident in Stark Residence, LA. Tony should have been grounded by now and must have gotten access to SHIELD files on Howard Stark’s research documents. 

Hopefully, the birth of the new element is close by. Not that he needed it in particular.

The one with the Palladium core works fine for the moment.

Man, the addition of the Arc Reactor has been game changing. Randall requested another floor, exclusively for him to tinker in, and he had to say, if he had allowed Randall to just draw power from the city, half of his experiments would have shut down the grid or not been viable at all.

Most of all, it was all nontraceable now. They did not have to worry about pesky things like power budgets since they made their own power now. He was particularly excited about the flying car that Randall was trying to make, all with Repulsor technology.

Once he was successful with that, he would commission a truck with the same tech and make that his mobile base as he travelled around in his search for ways to defend Earth.

Yeah, he was going to go full on RV mode as he gallivanted across the world in his highly advanced truck, enjoying all the planet has to offer in terms of scenery. 

Who knows? Once Randall is advanced enough in his tech skills, he could make a spaceship with the same specs. Now, THAT would be truly epic.

____xxx____

Just like that, days passed and the Stark Expo was supposed to open in a couple of hours. He had already sensed the shipments of Hammer Drones being put into position. He could also see the dozens of different Vibranium armoured guards as Princess Shuri and Prince T’Challa were waiting in a 5-star hotel nearby.

Apparently, their security was casing out the whole thing before the expo, to make sure that the probably impromptu visit was not dangerous to the Princess in any form or manner.

Prince T’Challa, he was sure could handle himself, judging by the abnormality in his body’s, well, everything. His muscles were denser than any human’s he had ever sensed, the same for his bones.

He was clearly the Black Panther as of now.

The thought brought him relief because that meant he had one more hero to count on when things went sideways.

Unfortunately, no sign of Tony himself anyway. Pepper Stark had long since arrived at the Expo and was coordinating everything with everyone to make sure that the event that had not happened in decades would go through successfully.

Well, she was the CEO of the Company.

The Hammer Show was well into the evening and it was still noon right now. The Expo had started drawing crowds, heaps of attendees from all around the world, waiting to see the latest cool thing that the tech industry had to offer.

He could also see Romanoff with Pepper, helping her coordinate with the Expo staff in her capacity as PA. 

She was….attractive, that is all he would say on that topic.

Seriously, there was no way, no freaking way she was not enhanced in at least some manner because that body and those curves did not look natural at all.

Welp, time to shift focus before his mind went on a tangent.

He focused on the entry and exit points of the expo as the 6 hulks had already taken their positions in the nearest Sewer line. Once the Expo started, they would mingle with the crowd, especially since the Expo was open to all.

There was no charge to enter so no tickets were required.

The hulks would swoop in once he registered Tony’s armour flying to meet Rhodey.

Alright! He was PUMPED!

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