Chapter 23

"I never thought I'd like this kind of thing, but I have to admit, it really excites me to wear it, and it gives me unparalleled strength!" Stan controlled the Iron Monger, raising his hand once more. The Gatling gun on his right arm fired a series of bullets, but without the targeting system, the shots went wild. Abel raised his wand again and cast Protego, shielding himself from the stray bullets.

"Oh, you destroyed my targeting system, Tony, but that didn't affect me much. You wanted to halt Stark's weapons research and sales, yet you developed the strongest weapon yourself. Your father would definitely be proud of you, Tony!"

Ignoring Stan's words, Tony turned to Abel and asked, "Did you say that as long as Stan opens the armor, there's a way? What's the plan now?"

"Don't worry, leave it to me."

Abel stepped forward, looking directly at Stan. "Stan, do you know what your biggest mistake was? You opened your armor."

Stan didn't understand why Abel said that, but he sensed something was wrong. He tried to close the armor to protect himself, but it was too late.

A red electric light shot from Abel's raised wand, hitting Stan square in the chest. Moments later, Stan slumped unconscious, and the Iron Monger lost its controller, remaining motionless.

Looking at the unconscious Stan and the now-quiet Iron Monger, Tony blinked behind his armor and hesitantly asked, "Is it... over?"

"Yes. Or do you want to keep fighting him?"

"Heh...haha, I like your sense of humor."

With Stan defeated, Tony finally relaxed, his true personality starting to shine through.

But suddenly, Tony staggered and fell to one knee. The arc reactor in his chest was nearly depleted and couldn't sustain the armor's operation any longer.

Frowning slightly, Abel knelt beside Tony and asked, "What's wrong? Can I help?"

"If—if possible, please... take out the energy core from Stan's armor and give it to me."

Abel quickly understood what was wrong with Tony. Without hesitation, he approached the Iron Monger, examined the tightly sealed core area, stepped back, and cast several Expulso spells. The core compartment opened, and Abel retrieved the arc reactor inside.

When Abel returned to Tony, he found that Tony had manually opened the chest piece of his armor. His face was pale, and he was breathing heavily. He reached out to take the arc reactor that Abel handed over and swiftly replaced the drained one in his chest, tossing the depleted unit aside.

As energy flowed back into the arc reactor, Tony sighed with relief, lying back on the ground. He looked up at Abel and said, "Thank you, you saved me twice today. But what is that thing in your hand? It seems to have a high level of technology—shooting out various rays and flames—and I haven't seen any obvious energy source connected to it. Is it some kind of embedded energy device?"

Lifting his wand, Abel looked at Tony and replied, "This isn't a piece of technology. This is my wand. It's made of wood and feathers—no technology or energy device involved."

Tony blinked, then suddenly smiled. "You must be joking. There's no such thing as magic in this world; this isn't a Disney fairy tale."

"That just means you know too little about the world."

"I don't like how that sounds. I believe in aliens, and I'm sure I'll meet them one day."

Abel looked at Tony with a slightly odd expression and nodded. "Well, I believe that. I think you'll meet plenty of aliens in the future."

"Then maybe magic exists too..."

Before Tony could finish, there was movement nearby, and the sound of voices approaching.

Abel flicked his wand and tapped the corner of his eye, empowering himself with night vision. He saw a group of agents in black suits approaching quickly with guns drawn, Pepper among them. Abel immediately knew that S.H.I.E.L.D., still not officially renamed, had arrived.

"Tony, let's continue our discussion about technology or magic another time. Some people are here, and I'd rather not meet them—it would be troublesome."

"People? Who?"

"You'll find out soon. While I'm not fond of them personally, they shouldn't be a problem for you. They'll guarantee your safety."

"Oh, that's good. But should we exchange numbers? Or maybe Facebook or Twitter?"

"No need. I'm sure we'll meet again soon."

As they spoke, Coulson arrived with a team protecting Pepper. They looked at Abel, standing next to Tony, and were about to speak when Abel suddenly levitated into the air and, with a light leap, vanished into the night.

Unable to follow, Coulson and his team turned their attention to Tony and Stan. However, Coulson made a mental note. The way Abel had left and the fact he had saved Jessica from Kilgrave before matched descriptions of someone they'd heard of: Abel Shaw.

With this in mind, Coulson pulled out his phone and dialed Sharon Carter.

"Hey, sir."

"Sharon, I have a new assignment for you."

…

When Abel returned home, Treya still hadn't come back. It seemed her restaurant had been busy lately with several gourmet customers.

After taking off his clothes, Abel placed his black hooded sweater in the back of the closet. He showered, changed clothes, and grabbed a can of iced Coke from the refrigerator. Sitting at his desk, he began reviewing his notes on healing potions.

The second step in his plan with Tony Stark involved creating a potion to alleviate Tony's palladium poisoning before S.H.I.E.L.D. intervened. Once they were involved, there would be no chance to help.

Abel had already selected a potion in mind. The only problem was that it would take about six months to fully restore the ingredients needed for it. If he wanted to complete it faster, he might need to consider asking for help from Kamar-Taj.