Coulson took a ginormous gulp as those words left my mouth. He was terrified at this moment. Stark obviously knew more than what his file said he should know. Maybe his father trusted him more than he did publicly? “May I ask, how much do you know about S.H.E.I.L.D.?” Asked Coulson.

I just shrugged and said, “I know it exists and that my father kept me out of it. That is about it. It is nothing more than someone who isn’t living under a rock would.” I could see him take a visible sigh of relief as he continued, “We wish to inquire as to how you escaped a compound full of soldiers, almost unscathed?”

I just laughed out loud at that and said, “Unscathed? My entire body is black and blue. I’ve also got a bullet hole in my leg, a broken arm, and several dozen pieces of shrapnel in my chest. Besides, all I did was build a few weapons. They wanted me to build them a few Jericho missiles in exchange for my freedom. I knew they weren’t going to actually release me, so I built a jet pack and managed to escape at an opportune moment while also detonating their entire stockpile of weapons. It’s nothing spectacular except for the boom. But I expect I’ll probably sell the government some prototype jet packs or two. I doubt they’ll buy it en masse, though.”

Coulson took a few moments to assess what I had just said before saying. “Very well, Mr. Stark. I’ll let you get on with your business.”

As he got up to leave, I said to his back, “Actually, there was something. The majority of weapons they possessed were Stark ones. I have a suspicion that one of my employees may be dealing under the table. My lawyers are investigating currently; if I were to hand this to you in a few days, could you see to it that the culprits are tried without delay?”

Coulson froze after my words and said, “I can look at it once you have something; here’s my card. Call me when you do. We’ll also do our own investigation.” I just smiled as I saw him slowly walk away. I decided to head home before the board meeting that was scheduled just before lunch.

As I got into the car, I flipped through a manga I had grabbed. This world hadn’t gone through the whole Isekai phase yet, I think. Though it still made it dawn on me what this world really was, either this world is fictional or is made real by our world in some sort of psychogenic manner. Or then again, maybe the multiverse is real. Was this world real and somehow affected my old world, or am I in a coma and this is all a very realistic delusion? I leaned my head back as a constant ringing seemed to fill my ears. Who cares?

I had looked, and it seemed that some media, like songs, books, and movies, existed while others didn’t. There were also some new ones that I had never heard of. 

…

I ended up relaxing and while brainstorming ideas with jarvis for two weeks, while avoiding Obadiah.

I entered the meeting room full of investors and upper management, and the room went silent as I took my seat at the head of the table. I then steadied myself and said, “Thank you for coming on such short notice. I have an announcement to make, and it is going to cause quite a stir, so I might as well get on with it. 

“I will be temporarily suspending the stark industries weapons division due to the fact that somewhere down the chain our weapons are ending up in the hands of terrorists.”

I looked around the table, but before anyone else could say anything, Obadiah stepped in. “Tony...” with a deprecating attitude. “You can’t just suspend the way that we make ninety-five percent of our money. You will bankrupt the company.” 

I looked at him and felt the urge to gauge his eyeballs out and shove them down his throat. The man was a leech who had sucked off of my father’s and my success. That would end soon, though. I knew he wouldn’t vote in favour, so I needed to sway the rest of the board since I owned only 42% of the company.

Obadiah owned 16%, and when he still worked with me, I usually just assumed that I had the majority. I then tried to persuade the rest of the board and said, “The FBI is currently beginning an investigation into the matter, and we will soon receive a warrant to stop distribution anyway.

“I am trying to hold it back for as long as possible as well, but a reporter has gotten a hold of the news and is preparing to report that we are selling weapons to terrorists. I don’t know whether that is true or not, but..."

I saw the majority of the board gulp at that, and I smiled as I realised I had won. I looked over at Obadiah, and one could literally feel the pulses of killing intent coming my way despite his best efforts. I then bid them all fair well and headed off to lunch.

…

I went to a press conference, straight after the investor meeting.

I entered the conference room, and at the base of the stage stood a person I was familiar with, Natasha Romanoff. Though I guess currently, under the alias of Natalie Rushman, as I approached, I said, "You're not my lawyer?" while looking her figure up and down in one glance. She was just as much of a bomb as in the movies.

I then stared at her face for a few moments as I pretended not to know who she was. Even though her face was different from Scarlett Johansen's, like most of the characters in this universe, the resemblance was uncanny. Even though I looked slightly different, I could see the resemblance to Robert Downey Jr. clearly.

"Oh, Samantha Carlisle is currently delivering documents in LA. So, she asked me to look over your script for the interview." She said it with a slightly curious hint in her voice. If I had been without Andy's memories, I would have taken that as her being interested in me, but now I just know it was one of her manipulation tactics. In Iron Man 2, when she needed to get closer to me, she spiked Samantha's coffee with a sedative in order for her to be able to get closer to me. I was not dumb enough to fall for the Widow's trap. I just raised an eyebrow and said, "Well?"

"It should be fine as long as you stick to the script." She spoke. "Though I doubt you will…"

I was just walking to the podium when I heard her add on that last bit, which just caused me to smile lightly as I walked onto the stage. As soon as I did, I looked down at the crowd of reporters and began to speak.

“Welcome; it's good to be back in the land of the free. I have things to say, so I’m going to say them and take questions afterward. 

“As you can see, I didn't exactly come out of Afghanistan in one piece.” There were a few chuckles as I continued. “Not just that, though, I watched as Americans and civilians were killed by weapons I built to protect them. So that’s why I am temporarily suspending all deliveries of arms from stark industries until I can take responsibility when the system refuses to.

Once that has been dealt with, any profits that come from the weapons that are meant to go to me will be donated to various relief charities. 

Not just that, but we will be diversifying away from solely arms production. I’ve realised that I can do a lot more than build bombs and kill people. Any questions?”

A sea of hands rose as I just randomly gestured, "Umm, Michael Guevara, New York Times. Has your time in Afghanistan made you a pacifist? If not, in what way has it affected you?"

"No, I am not a pacifist. I simply believe that there needs to be more accountability, and yes, it has affected me. I am not the same man that I was before I went there. I almost died; several people gave up their lives in exchange for mine, and all I can do is keep asking the question, What exactly have I ever done that warrants that?" There were a few seconds where I just looked in the distance before refocusing, and I then said, "Next question."

"Christine. Let's here Vanity Fair's question." I said, gesturing to her. She just looked shocked since she hadn't even raised her hand, but she soon asked a question, and I knew she would. "You say accountability, but even if you give all of your profits to charity, what good does that do if you keep killing people?"

I just smiled at her half-question and half-accusation and said, "It’s a nice sentiment to think that I can just stop making weapons and people will stop dying, but if I do, then Washington will go shopping somewhere else and say they go somewhere like Hammer or Oscorp and those weapons malfunction and kill more. If I didn't give the military a weapon that was more reliable, then wouldn’t those accidental deaths be in my hands?

I ended up answering several dozen questions before leaving the conference.

I spent the next few days relaxing and healing while brainstorming. When Pepper had just come over, Jarvis decided to tell me something. “Well, I have managed to compile a legal document of evidence that implicates Obadiah Stane, several board members, and shareholders, as well as multiple government employees, in smuggling Stark Weaponry to sanctioned parties.

“I have also compiled a legal document for you to seize the company shares of Obadiah Stane and the other shareholders who will be implicated if the primary file is submitted to the appropriate officials. I have already contacted Agent Coulson on your behalf since you made it evident that you wished for the evidence to be handed to them, and he is waiting at stark industries at the moment.”

I got up and said to Pepper, who had just entered the villa, “Come on, Pepper, let’s get control of the company back.” 

Happy ends up driving us in the SUV to the company, but about five minutes from the entrance, the hairs on the back of my head stand up, and I sense imminent danger. I push Pepper back into her seat as I notice a semi truck speeding through a red light. “St-...” I try to shout at Happy as the truck impacts the middle of the car, and we are sent spinning off as the car crumbles around me and my head shoots in the direction of the impact. We were travelling in a 90-degree direction to the truck we spin out as the semi careens into a shop across the street. 

...

The world is ringing as Tony checks to see if Pepper is okay and sees that she is bleeding from the head but is still breathing. The world is blurred as he takes out his phone, rings Jarvis, and begins to scream down the phone. “J-jarvis, help. We’ve been in an accide…” 

Before he can continue, the car door on his side is opened, and Tony immediately realises it is whoever tried to kill them due to the pistol in their grip. He had been an idiot, thinking Obadiah wouldn’t do anything, and now he was risking the lives of the only people he truly cared about. Neither Tony nor Andrew had anyone else, really.

He immediately lunged the man with all of his strength and felt a round fire somewhere in his stomach region but ignored it as he grabbed the gun, and it fired twice more, one going into the side of his lower pelvis and the other into the ground. Once he pried it free, he was now laying on top of the man and immediately pummeling him. Three hits to the neck, and the man’s air passage collapsed. I immediately grabbed the gun and looked around to see if there had been any other attackers. After a few tense minutes, I relaxed as I saw red and blue lights in the distance, dropped the mag, and unloaded it. I then slumped against the car as my vision blurred. 

My body was already damaged, and the gunshot wounds were bleeding. My entire body ached since I had essentially torn most of the muscles in my body due to adrenaline. I heard the police car stop as my vision finally collapsed despite my best efforts. I hadn’t been this injured in a while.