And in the tower, in a glass case, sits the original prototype—the one that saved Captain America. Engraved on its broken backplate are four words:
Tony Stark hadn't slept in 72 hours. The battle with the Chitauri had exposed a terrifying vulnerability. Not in the Mark VII armor—but in himself. When Loki threw him out of the window, his suit’s internal comms and vital sign relays had flickered for 1.8 seconds. To Pepper, it felt like an eternity. To Tony, it was an unacceptable gap. xtm avengers 1.8
“Right away, sir. The device was rendered to approximately 14% of its original thickness. However, the internal SSD is miraculously intact.” And in the tower, in a glass case,
Tony grinned. “1.8 seconds, Cap. I told you. Never again.” And in the tower