Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

Evenson’s words landed like hammer blows.

Tony Stark was arrogant, but he wasn’t a fool.

Everything Evenson had described was a real possibility. If he failed to solve the palladium poisoning, he would die. Iron Man would become nothing more than a brief Chapter in history, and every ambition he still carried would disappear with him.

That outcome was unacceptable.

For the first time that evening, Tony didn’t argue.

He also didn’t agree.

But with Tony Stark, silence was often the closest thing to surrender.

Seeing the hesitation in his eyes, Evenson knew he’d struck exactly where he intended.

That Chapter on exploiting personality traits really is useful, he mused, mentally thanking the oddly practical appendix in his Warlock’s Spell Compendium.

Then he eased the pressure.

"To be honest, your case is unusual."

"My magic can’t cure you."

"At best, I can buy you time."

"In the end, the person who saves Tony Stark... will still be Tony Stark."

Those words hit exactly the right note.

Tony’s pride remained intact.

He wouldn’t be relying on someone else to save his life.

He would simply be accepting a little extra time to solve the problem himself.

"...All right."

Tony finally nodded.

"If you’re putting it that way..."

"We have a deal."

"Pleasure doing business with you."

Evenson offered his hand.

"I am one of your shareholders, after all."

"If you die, my investment goes with you."

Tony shook it before looking at him suspiciously.

"Shareholder?"

"I don’t remember seeing your name on the board."

True, he’d never actually attended a board meeting.

Still, he generally knew who owned significant portions of Stark Industries.

And unless he’d missed something...

No one named Evenson Richter had suddenly become a director.

Fury answered for him.

"Retail investor."

"He owns roughly thirty thousand dollars’ worth of Stark Industries stock."

"Mostly lives off the dividends."

"He also made a tidy profit trading your shares while you were missing."

Evenson coughed awkwardly.

"Risk management."

"You understand."

Tony stared at him.

This mysterious warlock...

This man capable of impossible magic...

Lived off dividend payments?

After several seconds, Tony finally settled on the only description that made any sense.

"...You’re surprisingly low-key."

"I wasn’t aiming for that."

Evenson rolled his eyes.

Tony suddenly narrowed his own.

"Wait."

"Are you telling me that dog found me immediately..."

"...and you deliberately left me there for a while because you wanted Stark Industries stock to climb even higher afterward?"

"Absolutely not."

Evenson denied it instantly.

"Habs was the only one in Afghanistan."

"I was still in the States."

Tony thought about it.

That made sense.

Habs was incredibly intelligent...

But probably not intelligent enough to execute a long-term investment strategy.

Probably.

As for the truth...

Some things were better left unsaid.

Fury chose that moment to casually add fuel to the fire.

"He also owns some Justin Hammer stock."

Tony nearly dropped his glass.

"...What?"

"You bought Hammer Industries stock?"

He looked genuinely offended.

"My stock wasn’t good enough?"

Buying shares in another company was one thing.

Buying shares in Justin Hammer’s company?

That bordered on personal betrayal.

For years Stark Industries had dominated the weapons industry.

Justin Hammer had never been anything more than an irritating second-rate competitor.

Owning both stocks almost implied they belonged in the same league.

Tony refused to accept that.

"Easy."

Evenson raised both hands in surrender while noticing the tiny, satisfied smile tugging at Fury’s mouth.

So that’s your revenge for Habs.

I didn’t realize you could be this petty.

Unfortunately for Fury, his attempt at stirring trouble became the perfect setup.

"Sell Hammer’s stock."

Tony pointed decisively.

"Immediately."

"And I’ll hire you."

He paused to think.

"...As my personal health consultant."

"Five-figure salary."

Evenson’s hand shot forward before Tony could reconsider.

"Deal, Mr. Stark."

Two jobs.

Two salaries.

Life was good.

As their hands separated, Evenson’s expression became more serious.

"Since I’m officially on your payroll now..."

"I should warn you."

"Justin Hammer may be trash."

"But even trash can create problems."

Tony snorted.

"Hammer?"

"That idiot?"

He had never considered Justin Hammer a serious rival.

Not before.

Certainly not now.

"Listen."

Evenson cut him off before he could continue.

"When Stark Industries was still manufacturing weapons, yours were unquestionably the best."

"But they were never the best-selling."

Tony opened his mouth to object.

Evenson raised a hand.

"Hear me out."

"Your weapons are cutting-edge."

"They’re also extremely expensive."

"Your customers are major world powers."

"They don’t buy tanks and missiles because they’re constantly using them."

"They buy them as deterrents."

"Once they’ve equipped their military, orders slow down."

"They only return when you’ve invented something even better."

Tony quietly sipped his whiskey.

He couldn’t argue.

The better Stark technology became, the longer it remained effective.

Ironically, superior products reduced repeat sales.

It had always been one of Stark Industries’ biggest business headaches.

"Justin Hammer is different."

"He’s less an inventor than a manufacturer."

"He licenses existing designs."

"He mass-produces cheap, reliable weapons."

"Assault rifles."

"Grenades."

"Outdated armored vehicles."

"The kind of equipment sold in bulk to places where wars never seem to end."

"African dictators."

"Middle Eastern militias."

"And he enjoys plenty of political support."

Tony frowned.

"The government supports that clown?"

Evenson smiled.

"Do you know who the world’s largest arms dealer really is?"

Tony looked ready to answer.

"It isn’t you."

"It’s the President of the United States."

"The U.S. government sells more weapons in a single day than most private companies sell in a month."

He took another sip of whiskey.

"But governments prefer not to leave fingerprints on every deal."

"So they use intermediaries."

"Justin Hammer is one of them."

Understanding dawned in Tony’s eyes.

"So they’ll use Hammer to pressure me."

"He becomes the public face..."

"...while everyone else pulls the strings."

"Exactly."

The government wanted the Iron Man armor.

The military wanted the Iron Man armor.

Rather than confront Tony directly, they’d happily let Justin Hammer act as the spearhead.

If Hammer succeeded, everyone benefited.

If he failed...

He would take the blame alone.

Tony slowly raised his glass.

"I’ll keep that in mind."

The meeting had finally run its course.

As Fury reminded Tony to seriously consider the Avengers Initiative, he and Evenson left the Malibu mansion together.

Outside, Fury pressed a button on a remote control.

A black Chevrolet SUV rolled silently toward them under its own power.

Fury couldn’t resist showing off.

"Autonomous driving."

"Satellite navigation."

"Vertical takeoff capability."

"Full ballistic protection."

"Built-in weapons systems."

"The only thing your car has over this one is style."

"In every other category, this wins."

Evenson climbed into the back seat and leaned comfortably against the leather upholstery.

"Really?"

He looked around thoughtfully.

"I don’t know."

"I think the air conditioning is still the best feature."

...

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