Marvel: I Am The Lord of the Shadow Dimension

Receiving a reply from Tony Stark so quickly was actually quite surprising to Luke. Over the past six months, Tony and Pepper's relationship had progressed at lightning speed. Tony had even managed to convince Pepper's father to give him his blessing for an eventual marriage. 

'Shouldn't he be spending a romantic evening with Pepper right now? Why is he replying to a blog post?' 

Curious, Luke decided to just call him. When the call connected, Luke could hear the distinct, loud buzzing of a welding torch in the background. 

"Sounds like you're pretty busy," Luke said, pulling out some freshly bought street food and taking a bite. "How did you reply to my update so fast? Do you have Jarvis actively monitoring my blog?" 

"Yeah, I've been incredibly busy," Tony's voice sounded slightly muffled, as if he were speaking from inside a tin can. "But since you finally crawled out of that 'Kamar-Taj' place after half a year, I had to send my regards." 

"Are you wearing the suit? What are you doing?" Luke asked, munching on a piece of spicy crinkle-cut potato. It was delicious. He briefly wondered if he should open a global street food franchise like Tony's burger chain. 

"I am currently manually replacing the primary power conduit for Stark Tower. In a few minutes, my tower is going to become the global benchmark for clean, self-sustaining renewable energy," Tony bragged. 

"You built a tower? You didn't mention that to me," Luke said, instantly interested. "Is it in Manhattan?" 

"Yep. I was planning to surprise you with it, but you sound more shocked than surprised," Tony muttered, cutting the final cable casing and slotting the massive arc reactor component into place. 

"Alright, the tower is about to light up. If you're fast enough, you might make it in time to take a picture of the grand illumination." 

Luke glanced at the small mountain of street food he had just bought. "I'll be there. Wait for me. I'm bringing gifts." 

"You better hurry, then," Tony chuckled, hanging up and rocketing out of the ocean toward the city. 

Luke put his phone away. A Sling Ring portal opened beside him, and several Shadow Ninjas stepped out, their arms completely loaded with takeout boxes and bags of food. 

"Good thing I've been to Manhattan before, otherwise I wouldn't be able to open a portal there in time." 

Luke stepped through the portal directly into Manhattan. He immediately spotted Tony flying through the sky above him. 

"Looks like I made it." Luke looked in the direction Tony was flying. A massive, sleek skyscraper dominated the skyline. He hadn't seen it during his previous visits to New York; it was undoubtedly Stark Tower. 

Tony flew up to the top of the tower, hovering steadily in front of the massive glass windows. 

"Jarvis, is our photographer in position?" 

"Sir, the photographer has been located on the street below." 

Jarvis pulled up a live feed, showing Luke standing on the sidewalk, holding his high-end camera and giving a thumbs-up. 

Tony smiled and spoke into his comms. "Pepper, light it up. The paparazzi is ready." 

Inside the tower penthouse, Pepper Potts smiled. "Looks like we're having a party tonight. I didn't prepare any food." 

She pulled the master breaker switch. 

Instantly, Stark Tower illuminated from the ground up, sections of light climbing the massive structure until the iconic 'STARK' logo blazed brightly at the top. 

"Looks fantastic," Tony said, flying alongside the ascending lights. Down below, Luke happily snapped a rapid-fire sequence of photos. 

Flying up to the penthouse landing pad, Tony casually strolled inside. A highly advanced, automated mechanical gantry system immediately began disassembling his Iron Man armor piece by piece as he walked down the hallway. 

"How long do you think it's going to take Luke to take the elevator all the way up here?" Tony asked over his shoulder. 

Pepper chuckled, but before she could answer, a voice echoed from the living room. 

"Probably faster than you flew up here." 

Luke casually tossed his camera back through a closing portal and leaned comfortably against the bar counter. 

Tony shook his head, straightening his suit jacket. As he walked past a side table, he grabbed a sleek, black keycard and tossed it to Luke. 

"Catch. It's a master access pass for Stark Tower. I highly recommend you use the front door next time, otherwise you make my billion-dollar security system look completely useless." 

Luke caught the card, noted that it already had a picture of his face printed on it, and slipped it into his pocket. 

"Thanks. So, are we throwing a party tonight?" Luke looked around the massive, empty penthouse. "Where are the supermodels? Where's Rhodey?" 

Tony took a glass of champagne from Pepper. "Actually, my original plan for tonight was to enjoy some private, romantic time with Pepper." 

"Oh. My bad," Luke said, not sounding apologetic in the slightest. "But I brought gifts to apologize! Ninjas, bring the food!" 

Several Shadow Ninjas materialized, carrying massive bags of highly aromatic street food, and began setting them down on the expensive glass coffee table. 

Pepper leaned over, sniffing the air. "That actually smells amazing. What is it?" 

"It's authentic street food from my homeland. My personal chefs made it," Luke said proudly. "We've got spicy crinkle-cut potatoes, spicy crayfish, a massive assorted barbecue platter, and a few other things." 

"Crayfish? You can eat those?!" Tony asked, eyeing the bright red crustaceans suspiciously. "Aren't those just swamp bugs?" 2

"Actually, they're incredibly delicious. I honestly have no idea why they're considered an invasive pest over here. Back home, demand is so high we have to artificially farm them just to keep up," Luke said. He pulled on a pair of plastic gloves, grabbed a crayfish, expertly peeled the shell in two seconds flat, and popped the meat into his mouth. 

"It does look pretty good," Pepper said, mimicking Luke. She struggled slightly with the shell but managed to eat the meat. Her eyes widened. 

"Oh my god, Tony, you have to try this. It's incredible!" 2

Tony stubbornly refused, maintaining his billionaire pride, but Pepper simply peeled one and forcefully shoved it into his mouth. 

Tony chewed for a second. His arrogant expression instantly melted into genuine delight. 

"Okay, that is actually fantastic," Tony admitted. "I should add these to the menu at my burger chains. They'd sell like crazy." 

Seeing the arrogant billionaire finally put on a pair of cheap plastic gloves and start aggressively peeling crayfish, Luke smirked triumphantly. He grabbed a massive skewer of barbecued meat and took a huge bite. 

"You're eating like a savage. Have some class," Tony criticized. He picked up a skewer, carefully used a fork to slide the meat off the stick onto a plate, and then ate it cleanly. 

"Are you seriously trying to lecture me on how to eat street barbecue?" Luke challenged. He rapidly devoured three more skewers in the time it took Tony to plate one, staring at Tony provocatively. 

Tony, realizing his 'classy' method was highly inefficient and the delicious food was rapidly disappearing, completely abandoned his dignity and started aggressively eating the meat straight off the skewers to compete with Luke. 

Pepper, meanwhile, happily snacked on the spicy potatoes, giggling as she watched the two billionaires fight over street food like hungry teenagers. 

Just as the food war reached its climax, Jarvis's voice echoed through the penthouse. 

"Sir, Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. is requesting access on the intercom." 

Tony swallowed a mouthful of meat. "If he's here to congratulate me on the tower, let him up. If he's here for business, tell him I'm not home." 

Tony glanced over and realized Luke had just devoured another massive handful of skewers in the span of five seconds. Tony rubbed his slightly bulging stomach. "Damn it, is your stomach a black hole?!" 

"Well, it looks like someone isn't going to have room for the main course," Luke teased. 

Luke opened another small portal. A ninja stepped out, carrying several massive, foil-wrapped trays radiating the heavenly scent of spicy grilled fish. 

"You manipulative bastard! You saved the best stuff for last so I'd fill up on the appetizers?!" Tony groaned, clutching his stomach in sheer defeat. 

"Don't worry, Tony. I'll eat it very slowly right in front of you," Luke grinned maliciously. "And if I can't finish it, I'll share the rest with your security staff downstairs so it doesn't go to waste." 

Under Tony's murderous glare, Luke picked up an entire grilled fish and took a massive, highly exaggerated bite. 

"That smells wonderful. Let me try some," Pepper smiled, completely ignoring Tony's suffering as she grabbed a piece of the fish. 

Seeing Tony glaring at him with pure envy, Luke slid a small takeout box toward him. "Here. You can have the chicken feet. They're mostly bone and cartilage anyway, so they won't take up much space in your stomach." 

"Chicken feet?! There's absolutely no meat on those!" Tony complained, shaking his head in disgust. 

Luke didn't care. He grabbed a chicken foot and practically shoved it into Tony's mouth. "Exactly! It's the perfect snack for someone who's already full!" 

As Tony slowly, miserably began chewing on the chicken foot, desperately trying to figure out how to extract the tiny bits of meat from the bone, Jarvis spoke up again. 

"Sir, Agent Coulson insists he has urgent S.H.I.E.L.D. business. I informed him you were unavailable, but he did not believe me. He has overridden the elevator security protocols." 

Since Tony's mouth was currently full of chicken bones, he couldn't formulate a sarcastic reply before the elevator doors dinged open. 

Agent Coulson stepped out, looking incredibly exhausted. 

"Looks like I'm just in time for a late-night snack." 

Since Coulson had personally delivered the prototype Captain America shield to Tony a few months ago, their relationship had become significantly less hostile. 

Coulson walked over to the table, picked up a skewer of barbecue, and took a bite. He immediately noticed Tony glaring at him with absolute, unadulterated murderous intent. 

"Uh..." Coulson chewed slowly, highly confused. He had already taken a bite, so it would be rude to put it back. 

He quickly placed a high-tech tablet directly in front of Tony. "I see you're not eating the barbecue. Do you prefer the chicken feet?" 

Seeing Tony's glare intensify to lethal levels, Pepper quickly intervened. "Tony's just full. What brings you here so late, Phil? Shouldn't you be off the clock?" 

"Oh, the clock doesn't exist at S.H.I.E.L.D.," Coulson sighed, swallowing the meat. He tapped the tablet. "This contains highly urgent, classified intelligence." 

Tony stared at the ceiling, desperately praying for patience. 

"I only offer freelance consulting between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM on Thursdays. Remember our agreement?" 

"This is an Omega-level emergency, Tony." 

"Does this have to do with the Avengers?" Pepper asked curiously. 

Coulson shot her a highly suspicious look. "I have no idea what you're talking about. The Avengers Initiative is highly classified." 

Pepper rolled her eyes. 

Tony wiped his grease-covered hands on a napkin and begrudgingly picked up the tablet. "I thought the Avengers Initiative was officially scrapped." 

"It was," Coulson admitted. 

"Yeah, because I didn't qualify for the 'boy band,' and that guy over there," Tony pointed at Luke, "flat out rejected the invitation." 

Pepper chuckled softly. Coulson maintained his perfect, emotionless poker face. "I have no idea what you're talking about." 

Tony powered on the tablet, a smirk forming on his face. "If I recall correctly, I didn't qualify because my psychological profile stated I was highly arrogant, deeply impulsive, lacked any fundamental concept of teamwork, and most importantly... your pirate boss didn't like me!" 

"That part, I actually do know about," Pepper laughed out loud. 

Tony glanced at the first few files on the screen. His smirk instantly vanished. The data was incredibly alarming. He stood up, carried the tablet over to his main console, and physically linked it to his servers so Jarvis could begin a deep-dive analysis. 

"Looks like he's going to be pulling an all-nighter," Pepper noted, watching Tony instantly slip into his hyper-focused 'mad scientist' mode. She walked over to him. 

"Looks like you have a lot of work to do tonight," she said softly. 

Tony paused, looking back at her apologetically. "My original plan was to spend a romantic evening with you. Don't worry, I can just kick Luke out right now." 

Pepper smiled gently, her eyes scanning the complex, terrifying holographic data projected across the room. 

"What exactly are you looking at?" 

Tony looked at the massive holographic projections floating around them. Seeing the horrifying destruction of a classified S.H.I.E.L.D. facility and the impossible energy readings, Pepper's expression turned incredibly serious. 

"Looks like I'm going to have to fly to Washington D.C. tonight to handle the company," Pepper said, immediately shifting into CEO mode. 

"No, you don't have to go tonight. This work can wait until tomorrow," Tony argued, not wanting to ruin their evening. 

Pepper looked deep into his eyes. She offered a soft, knowing smile and leaned in, whispering something directly into his ear. 

Tony's eyes instantly widened, shining with excitement. 

Pepper stepped back, grinning playfully. "Do your homework!" 

Watching Pepper and Tony share a passionate kiss before she turned and walked toward the elevator, Coulson quickly shoved the rest of the barbecue skewer into his mouth. 

"Director Fury requested your presence as well, Consultant," Coulson said to Luke as he stepped into the elevator with Pepper. "I'm heading back to the Helicarrier now." 1

"So, you're going to be busy all night?" Luke asked Tony, who was already completely engrossed in the holographic data streams. "Alright, then I'll leave the leftovers for your security guards. I need to run home and grab some gear. I'll fly up to the Helicarrier with you tomorrow morning." 

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Tony replied absentmindedly, completely ignoring Luke as he began rapidly dissecting the Tesseract's energy signatures.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!