Ultimate Iron Man
Ch: 118 [Exposed]

Tony shook Fury's hand. 

At first, it seemed like a regular handshake. But as soon as they touched, the nanites activated. 

Black liquid metal surged from Tony's wrist and moved up Fury's arm. In an instant, it wrapped around his body tightly. Plates formed, and locks clicked into place. The Skrull didn't have time to react. 

He struggled, but it was too late. The nanites had already begun their work. A faint spark appeared, followed by a crackle as whatever gadgets he was carrying shorted out. The disruptor activated. 

Fury's face twitched, and his skin moved like water under pressure before it peeled back. The disguise fell apart, revealing green skin and black eyes. The Skrull hissed, his mouth twisted in pain as his true form showed. 

Howard Stark staggered back two steps, clenching his jaw.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, his voice low with disbelief.

The Skrull tried to push forward. The armor flexed and locked again. The nanites responded instantly to Tony's thoughts, pinning the Skrull to his knees. The floor groaned under the pressure.

Tony stepped forward, looking down at him.

"Surprised, motherfucker?"

His voice was casual. Cold.

The Skrull glared up at him, mouth clenched shut.

Tony leaned in, eyeing him like a broken toy.

"First, you bastards infiltrated my base, kidnapped my girls, replaced them, tried to kill me, but failed. Then you fuckers tried to kill us in space, but failed again. On, not to mention you infiltrated my house and Stark Industries. Now, here you are posing as Nick Fury, and the balls you got... Hahaha," He said with a chuckle. "You came here to meet me using Fury's face. What? You planned to kill me here at close range?"

The Skrull's lips curled into a strained snarl, and then he spoke through gritted teeth.

"I'm not one of them. I work for Fury. My name is Talos. I came here on his orders."

Tony raised an eyebrow but didn't look impressed. He heard the name Talos before in his past life, but right now, it doesn't matter. There are too many variables involved with this mixed-up reality. He couldn't take the risk. He could extract info from that green guy, but at this point, he doesn't care.

"They're not all like the others. There's a war coming. I'm trying to stop it. Fury saw your invention and wanted to..."

Tony didn't let him finish.

The nanites surged across Talos's face and sealed his mouth instantly. A black sheath clamped over his lower jaw, silencing him with a sharp, mechanical snap.

Tony's eyes burned gold for a second as he stood straighter.

"I don't care who you work for. Fury, the UN, your Skrull mom. Makes no difference. You wear that skin, you die in it. I'm going to wipe out every last one of you. Every infiltrator, every imposter, every sleeper agent rotting this planet from the inside."

Talos thrashed, trying to speak through the seal, eyes wide in panic, but the nanites held tight.

Just then, a low alarm echoed through the ceiling. The lights flickered red for half a second.

The door slammed open.

Yelena stepped in fast, weapon drawn, visor flicked down. She looked serious.

"Tony, we've got a problem. SHIELD agents just surrounded the building. They've got air support and a team on every exit."

Tony didn't even blink.

"Are they armed?"

"Locked and loaded. And too many of them."

Sue stepped closer, already forming the shimmer of a field around her hands. "Are they here for him?"

"Yup! I fried his little gadgets. So, here they are," Tony said casually. "Tell the Widows to suit up and be on standby." He then turned back toward the team. "You all have what these shapeshifters can do. And now, SHIELD is working with them, or they are controlling SHIELD from inside. Now the big question... What is your stance on this? Stand with me and defend Earth from their invasion. Or, back down now. But once you stand beside me, and then change your mind midway, then I'll expose your browser history, and we won't be friends anymore."

Johnny stepped forward, cracking his knuckles with a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. The heat shimmered faintly off his skin.

"I mean... alien shapeshifters trying to kill us? That's pretty hard to forgive. Count me in. I've got a few fireballs with their names on them."

He stepped beside Tony, arms crossed, like he'd been waiting for this kind of fight.

Sue took a deep breath. Her eyes swept over Talos, the SHIELD threat outside, and Tony. She didn't hesitate.

"You already know where I stand," she said. "We survived space together. They tried to kill us and hurt our friends. I'm not letting some alien operation undo what we've built. I'm with you, Stark."

A soft shimmer of blue light swirled around her as her forcefield readied itself.

Ben cracked his neck slowly, then clenched his fists. His expression was calm, but his voice was solid.

"I'm not about to let some green-skin parasite take this planet from us. I'm with you."

He stepped in line with the others.

They all activated their nanite suits. Blue and white for Sue, red for Johnny and gold for Ben.

Tony turned to Howard, watching him closely.

Howard's face was stone, but his jaw flexed. He glanced once at the sealed Skrull still kneeling, then back at Tony. "Skrulls," He muttered. "You're telling me these things have been hiding inside SHIELD? Inside our systems? Our agencies?"

"Yeah," Tony said. "Probably from the very beginning. And they've been keeping it quiet. Fury didn't trust anyone."

Howard let out a breath, pacing a step to the side. He looked at Talos, really looked at him, his brows furrowed.

"I built SHIELD from the ground up. I poured everything into making sure it would outlast politics, war, and corruption. But this? This was never part of the plan. Fury's been holding onto this. Watching this happen."

He stopped, turned toward Tony.

"For all I know, Fury's been watching me for decades. Waiting for a moment to probably take over the industry or replace me. Hell, you just said, they already infiltrated our house and industry," He looked down at Talos. "Was your target my wife? That's the best way to keep an eye on me and my son. But bad news for you, I guess. Knowing my son, he has already taken care of them. Now, I want to look Fury in the eye and ask him why he did this?"

Howard tapped his nanite watch. Thousands of nanites gushed out, forming a combat suit over his body in an instant.

"I've wasted one lifetime ignoring my family. Not anymore. If this is war, then I fight for my family."

Tony gave a single nod.

Yelena's voice cut in from the side, sharp and direct.

"Widows are in position. Mechs are locked. Drones are hovering. We can open a path or hold this floor. Your call."

"Now. We won't attack unless they attack, but let's live stream this entire situation. Let the world see the truth," Tony said as he suited up. He then turned toward the team. "If things get bad, don't hide... You know what I mean. Time to establish The Ultimates Protocol, starting now."

Tony's eyes were on his HUD. 

"Elena, time to start live stream. I want the world to see the truth."

"Affirmative." 

It took less than a minute.

Elena's voice came through Tony's comm. "All global media feeds are under control. TV, radio, digital... everything. Live stream is active. We're broadcasting now."

"Good," Tony said.

He looked at Talos and controlled the suit. The nanites wrapped around Talos responded instantly. The green-skinned Skrull, still locked in the blackened armor, was forced to stand. His limbs jerked into position like a puppet on invisible strings. He struggled, but the commands were precise.

"Let's take a walk, shall we?" 

Talos walked stiffly ahead of them as the doors opened.

The air outside hit them like a wave. Hot. Dry. Tense. Sirens were blaring in the distance. Dozens of SHIELD hovercrafts and gunships circled above. The landing pads were packed. Streets around the base were sealed. There were even jammers around the area, but too primitive compared to Tony's tech.

Hundreds of SHIELD agents in advanced combat suits stood in formation. Their weapons glowed faintly with alien tech signatures. Black rifles with green energy pulses. Armored helmets with HUD visors. Some wore heavy suits, full-on exo-armors.

Tony scanned the entire crowd with a glance.

"Scan completed," Hermes whispered in his ear. "Twenty Skrulls. Rest, humans."

The nanites around the Ultimates shimmered, reading every detail, adapting. Sue's suit thickened its external plating. Johnny's suit adjusted his core temperature and insulated his arms. Ben's shifted into a hybrid mode, ready for either form. Tony's own armor sharpened, plating interlocked tighter, disruptors armed across his forearms and back. 

Howard stood beside him, scanning just as fast. "It would seem Fury hid way more than I imagined."

Talos marched ahead, silent and locked in black armor. His face still exposed, every twitch and expression streamed live to the world.

Tony stopped in the open area, then he began.

"This is for the people watching around the world."

The SHIELD line tensed.

Tony raised his hand and gestured to the captive Skrull.

"This creature came here disguised as someone trusted. As Nick Fury. Probably to assassinate me. They are called Skrulls, a shapeshifting race from another planet. Oh, he ain't the only one."

Tony activated the disruptors around the place. The Skrulls among the SHIELD agents came to their real form.

"As you can see, they can take any form and can even access our memories. Imagine the person you have known for your entire life could be an alien posing as your loved ones after killing or just... Replacing them."

The Skrull agents began to stir. 

Tony went on, calm but with force behind every word.

"They've infiltrated our governments. Our security agencies. Our scientific institutions. They've replaced your friends. Your coworkers. Your leaders. And they've done it without a single vote. Without your consent. Now, I won't sugarcoat it, but I request everyone not to panic. I repeat, don't panic or start riots, killings, things like that. It's what they want. Don't let them win. I trust you all to make the sane decision and to just stay put. Please. I, Tony Stark, promise you all that I'll get rid of these creatures from Earth. I won't let aliens invade my world. I won't let them hurt anyone."

Tony opened his helmet, revealing his face.

"Now, to all the Skrulls out there, you have 24 hours to leave our planet, my planet. If you fail to do so, I'll vaporize you all. Every single Skrull will be annihilated. Sounds unbelievable, right? Like, how can he do that? There are too many of us; he'll never get us all. Well, if you really think so, stay and find out. The rest leave and survive. I don't care where you go. But your kind are not welcome on Earth. You messed with my family, for that, your entire race will pay." 

The agents moved, making a way for a black SUV. It stopped a few feet from Tony and the others. The door opened, and the real Nick Fury stepped out. One eye patch, expressionless face, long black coat, and according to Tony's scans, he wasn't carrying any weapons.

Fury walked without any bodyguards and stopped before Tony.

"That was a nice speech, Mr. Stark. I don't know how you are going to vaporize all Skrulls from Earth, but that sounds like genocide to me," Fury said.

"And?" Tony looked into Fury's eye with confidence and a hint of arrogance.

"I have to stop you. This speech of yours just now... You have any idea how much damage it can cause? Riots, killing, chaos. You just unleashed a wave of destruction," Fury replied coldly. 

Hermes's voice chimed into Tony's ears.

"Boss, the weapons are in place. The production process was faster than I calculated. Right now," Hermes explained as the controls appeared on Tony's HUD. "You can vaporize every single Skrull with a single order."

The live stream was still on. For once, the people listened. What a surprise. 

"I trust them. They won't start mindless killings. Now, enough chit chat. Take your little band and get out of my way. This isn't a warning. This is an ultimatum," Tony said, and his helmet formed again. 

A yellow blur slammed right between Tony and Fury. 

A blond woman, glowing yellow.

Tony raised his arms, "Don't say, I didn't warn you."

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