Marvel's Iron Lady

After a long day of work, even with the support of a deteriorated Super Soldier Serum, Nick Fury still felt severe mental exhaustion.

There were far too many matters for S.H.I.E.L.D. to handle, and as the director of the organization, Fury always had an endless list of responsibilities.

But just as he dragged his weary body back to his office, a sudden and unexpected change occurred.

In the middle of the S.H.I.E.L.D. director's office, right before Fury's eyes, he witnessed space itself—being torn apart.

It was something difficult to describe in words; by the time he realized what was happening, a rift had already opened in the center of his office.

His expression turned grim. Faced with the unknown, even the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't help but feel a mix of caution and bewilderment.

"I think something might have gone wrong with my experiment, Nick—did you really have to react like this?"

As Miss Stark stepped through the rift and entered the director's office, what did she see?

Nick Fury stood there, as if ready for battle, holding a gun in his hand, and the entire office had been sealed off by iron plates.

The barrel of the gun was aimed directly at her forehead, as if the slightest movement from her would result in immediate gunfire.

"Who are you—tell me why you're impersonating her!"

"I don't care what kind of monster you are; if anything happens to me, this place will be nuked instantly."

As an expert in dealing with abnormal events, Fury didn't believe that the person standing before him was truly Miss Stark.

Deep down, he suspected that what he was facing was some [anomaly] disguised as Miss Stark.

"What—oh, fine, it's me, it's me! Something went wrong with the Tesseract!"

Miss Stark raised her hands in resignation, indicating that she meant no harm, but Fury didn't seem convinced.

"How can you prove it's really you? What time did we finish talking yesterday, and what was the topic?"

"We talked until 7:30 AM, when S.H.I.E.L.D. started its workday. The topic was the licensing of the advanced combat suit."

"Alright, I won't sell it to anyone outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. Damn it, Nick, put the gun down—"

Having acquired the power of the Space Stone, Miss Stark wasn't afraid of Fury's gun.

She didn't even need to actively dodge because the clothes she wore were impervious to bullets from that gun.

As for why she chose this moment to come here, it was simply to prepare for her next move.

Only then did Fury silently nod, finally confirming that she was indeed Miss Stark.

"Alert lifted—stand down, everything's fine, disarm the warheads."

He glanced at her, then at the space rift hanging behind her, his expression complex and difficult to describe.

After a long pause, he took out his walkie-talkie and slowly spoke into it.

"Are you serious—there really were nukes?!"

Miss Stark was puzzled. What was wrong with him? Did he really have ballistic missiles aimed at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters?

Fury ignored her, tossing the gun onto his desk and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

That was too close. In all these years, he'd never encountered something so bizarre—someone who could invade his office undetected.

This kind of god-like ability, if it fell into the wrong hands, could quickly plunge the world into chaos.

His gaze moved past Miss Stark's shoulder, focusing on the rift in space behind her.

"So, tell me, what exactly is going on? What the hell is that thing?"

"I don't know what happened either, but the Tesseract somehow merged with me."

Miss Stark shook her head in frustration and wiped away the traces of the space rift with a wave of her hand.

She sat down on the sofa in Fury's office, putting on a worried expression.

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, are you still, you know, human?"

"Of course I am. You're the one who's not human! I've had a physical exam, and everything's fine."

Miss Stark rolled her eyes at Fury's question, clearly annoyed.

"I don't know where the Tesseract has gone. If it weren't for the ability to open space rifts, I wouldn't have even noticed anything."

As she spoke, she tossed the thick manila folder she had been holding onto the coffee table beside the sofa.

Fury frowned as he picked up the folder, pulling out the stack of forty to fifty A4 pages inside and flipping through them carefully.

These were the highly condensed research findings on the Tesseract, compiled by Howard Stark and Miss Stark.

There were also a few pages of medical reports summarizing the results of the physical exams she had conducted on herself using her own equipment.

"A portal—so this is what you've created? You can move anywhere at will?"

"Yes, without any restrictions, but it does cause a bit of a commotion."

Miss Stark shrugged slightly. She certainly wasn't going to tell Fury everything.

She could open space portals at will and teleport anything to any location.

Moreover, she could teleport herself or anything else without even creating a visible rift.

It was clear that the power granted by the Space Stone wouldn't stop there—

In addition to providing unlimited energy and space manipulation, the Space Stone also possessed incredibly potent offensive capabilities.

Of course, compared to its siblings, the Space Stone's offensive power wasn't particularly impressive.

It could tear apart an object's existence within space, and even a planet wouldn't be able to withstand this power.

"So—are you saying it doesn't have any other functions?"

Fury, his lone eye filled with suspicion, scrutinized Miss Stark, but she remained calm and nodded without hesitation.

"That's all there is to it. By the way—does anyone else know about this?"

As he spoke, Fury slowly got up and retrieved an empty S.H.I.E.L.D. file folder from his cabinet.

"Just you and me. My physical exam results were done by JARVIS, and I've already deleted the records."

"Good, at least you understand the importance of secrecy."

He placed Miss Stark's medical reports into the folder and casually stamped it with a red seal.

[Level 10 Top Secret], the highest level in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s classification system.

Basically, no one other than Fury himself would have the clearance to access documents marked with this seal.

"You've refused us before, but this time, I'm insisting that you join us."

The Tesseract, a symbol of unlimited energy, was now lost to S.H.I.E.L.D. because of this incident.

But Fury wasn't the type to let valuable assets slip through his fingers.

After sealing the file, he turned to face Miss Stark, who was still seated on the sofa.

"I'll assign you the title of a consultant in the Research Department, and I won't require you to come to work every day."

"However, when S.H.I.E.L.D. needs you, you must be available. I'll have someone keep an eye on you."

"When it comes to matters of profit—I will never compromise, Nick."

"None of my resources, whether technology or finished products, will be taken for free."

What followed was a lengthy discussion about Miss Stark's role as a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant and the compensation she would receive.

After some back-and-forth negotiation, both sides eventually compromised, and Miss Stark agreed.

Becoming a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. meant she had the right to be involved in their operations, which was advantageous for her.

Having thought this through, Miss Stark no longer insisted on her original stance, and she and Fury reached an agreement.

"Miss, you have a new email in your private inbox. It's from Norman Osborn."

As she left Fury's office, her phone suddenly vibrated, and JARVIS's voice chimed in.

Miss Stark opened her email, surprised, and began reading the message that had been sent to her phone.

Specifically, it was an invitation—a private invitation from Norman Osborn, inviting her to a cocktail party.

"Norman Osborn—why would he send me an invitation? What's his angle?"

Frowning slightly as she looked at the invitation, Miss Stark's expression became one of confusion.

She didn't think she had any significant connections with Norman Osborn, the chairman of Oscorp.

Moreover, Stark Industries and Oscorp were essentially competitors in the business world.

So, what could a competitor's invitation possibly mean?

In the end, she decided to accept the invitation to see what game Osborn was playing.

"Hey, girl, got a minute? Mind lending me a ride?"

Thick-skinned, Miss Stark opened the door to Maria Hill's office at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

Okay, this was a bit of a blatant misuse of resources, but there was at least some reasoning behind it.

Hill didn't seem surprised that Miss Stark had come to her; Fury had already given her a heads-up, so Hill didn't refuse the request.

Soon, Miss Stark was in Hill's car, and the two of them were en route from Washington to New York.