A loud blaring alarm went off after a second of their appearance. And after a couple of seconds the door to the stairs was opened with a huge force. And from the stairs came out men in black suits all over. They had guns in their hands. Natasha and Clint who saw the suits were surprised. It was because they too once used to wear the same suits.
"Seems like SHIELD." Natasha said.
"From when did SHIELD become a private property of a billionaire?" Clint asked. None of the Avengers moved as men poured out. They had surprised looks on their faces as they saw familiar faces among the members of the Avengers.
"Sir, didn't we see Tony Stark down below?" said a man to another man who was pointing his gun at the Avengers.
"Umm yes.. But we have seen fakes.. So these are probably fakes. Hands up in the air." said the supervisor of the small team that just emerged and surrounded them while pointing their guns at the Avenger team.
"You know John here doesn't like guns being pointed at him." Tony said as he came forward. Tony waved his hands and all the guns melted with a second in the hands of the SHIELD agents.
"Huh!"
"The hell..."
John was surprised that Tony was able to control the anti-metal properties of his suit so efficiently.
"Tony, when did you learn this?" John asked.
"What? You thought I am a bear that is in hibernation just because we don't have enemies to face?" Tony asked with a smirk. The SHIELD agents who lost their guns gulped in their throats.
They understood that these lookalikes just might not be simple copies. As they were thinking how to react to this situation, a man came out of the stairs. He looked handsome and had an anchor style beard.
"Hey guys, what is taking you so long.. Eh..." the man who looked at the Avengers stopped in his tracks. His eyes first fell at John and then at Tony. He trembled in his place. His knees felt weak as he almost stumbled.
"Hi Tony.. Long time no see." John said with a smile to the man who just appeared. Yes, he was Tony Stark. The Tony Stark of Earth 616 who had lost his high intelligence.
"You.. John... and uh!! Hi to me." 616-Tony fumbled a lot in reply. He had nothing but fear for the person who came. And this time he had brought his team. And even himself.
Tony who looked at the other version of himself was disgusted to say the least. 616-Tony reeked of alcohol. He looked like he hadn't had a shower in a long time. His eyes had dark circles around it seemed like he hadn't been looking at himself for a long time. All in all, 616-Tony looked like had given up on life for a long time.
"Don't you ever call yourself Tony. You are a blot in that name. John told me that the other versions of me are really powerful. One is even a Sorcerer Supreme and even a god in one. You reek of failure and disappointment." Tony scolded his counterpart right on his face.
The SHIELD agents who were ready to jump on the enemy just stopped in their tracks listening to the Tony lookalike's words. All the Avenger members now had interest written all over their faces.
They wanted to see how these two narcissistic men fight it out in the arena. 616-Tony stiffened when Tony said that. He had lost everything when John said the words 'no more Avengers'.
He had money to spend but no innovations, no ideas, no cool suits to work on. He lost all his suits as it crumbled away. And he didn't have the schematics or his intelligence or his knowledge to make another one. All he had was money to spend.
And that's what he did. Drink his life away, because he really felt that there was nothing more he could have done. SHIELD was sent to be his security as it did to all the heroes that had been hiding.
After the fall of the Avengers, SHIELD took over world security but it proved to be a very tough situation for them. All they could do is try to pour a bucket of water on a burning building on fire. This didn't help at all. And the current director of SHIELD asked a special team of agents to look after members of the Avengers. It was in the hope that the Avengers would be revived once again. And if they do, they need all the members of the Avengers.
616-Tony who had almost tears in eyes clenched his fist. At that moment all he felt was anger and humiliation. He had never been mocked in such a way by anyone. Not even his genius father.
"You have no right to say such hollow words when your friend here is responsible for the bad things that are happening to the world and us." 616 Tony almost screamed when he said that spitting out spit all around.
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Thank you.