Obviously, Mantis was not as strong as Dio, but SHIELD promised Dio that Mantis would be safe as a temporary Avenger member!
Nick had agreed on Dio’s term that Mantis shouldn’t be exposed to danger no matter what happened!
Dio didn’t have any demands for SHIELD as he knew that the movement of Nation Leaders to create the Sokovian Accord has ensued, the Civil War plot was inevitable, and so Dio refrained himself from joining the Avenger as he knew that it would be too much trouble later.
That was also why Dio agreed to let Mantis become a temporary member of the Avenger because, at the end of the day, Mantis wouldn’t be obliged to stay if Dio had to leave Earth!
As Dio and Nick Fury reached an Agreement, Steve and Tony arrived at the office!
Tony’s appearance was too pathetic that Fury was confused by what had happened to him!
“What’s wrong with him?” Fury asked curiously.
“Dio’s joke is what happened,” Steve said while keeping his composure. He surely found Tony’s suffering to be hilarious.
“Take this thing down! I can’t breathe!” Tony said hurriedly. His face was pale from exhaustion and the unbearable weight on his chest.
What caused this phenomenon to Tony was [The Lock]!
A one-time use Stand that didn’t have any combat value and a little value overall!
Dio had thought that Tony would feel a bit guilty about his action, but he never expected that Tony was this guilty!
Now, Dio knew that even though Tony didn’t say it, he was suffering from his own guilt!
“It would be gone after half an hour, don’t worry, you will not die because of that lock!” Dio said casually while smiling at Tony awkwardly.
“Half an hour? I couldn’t even feel my chest after 5 minutes! I am going to pass out from this!” Tony said annoyedly.
Dio rubbed his head and immediately cut off the link between him and the [The Lock], destroying the one-time card and freeing Tony from the lock on his chest!
Although Dio still believed that Tony could survive for half an hour, seeing that [The Lock]’s ability was to increase its weight injunction of the target’s guilt, Dio decided that it would be better to remove it now.
“What the hell was that! What is that lock? What have you done to me!” Tony said as he fell to the ground and tried to catch his breath again.
Tony was aware of Dio’s endless abilities, and thus he knew that he never wanted to make Dio his enemy again!
“You cold-hearted bastard! I am leaving! But tonight is Pepper’s birthday, be sure to come and bring an expensive gift for her!” Tony said as he left the office.
“Of course, tell Pepper that I will definitely be there!” Dio shouted as he smiled at Tony.
Tony smiled as he walked out of the office to pick up a new dress he ordered for Pepper’s gift. He knew that Dio was the only one close enough to Pepper out of all the Avengers, and thus, Tony didn’t invite the other Avengers.
But Dio already realized what was happening here. Pepper wasn’t one to celebrate her own birthday. Thus Dio knew that Pepper only wanted to help Tony and Dio to reconcile!
Dio knew that Pepper was a very sensitive person, making her worried about Tony’s guilt-ridden heart!
Unlike Natasha, Pepper wouldn’t be able to leave a problem alone for too long!
Besides, Hulk has gone missing right now, and Natasha had a worried expression for the longest time that Dio has known her.
Dio then left the SHIELD’s base to buy Pepper’s gift while ignoring the Hulk’s disappearance. Dio already knew that it was Hulk’s own choice to leave Earth!
But as Dio walked out, Steve immediately followed him! “Hey, Dio! Wait up. I have one more thing to talk to you about!” Steve said solemnly.
“What is it? can you talk about it as we walk?” Dio said as he kept walking and let Steve talked beside him.
“I want you to train the new Avenger as they didn’t have any team coordination as of now, and there is no better candidate than you!” Steve said solemnly.
“What? Did you hit your head on a rock, Captain?” Dio said as he felt shocked after hearing Steve’s word. Dio never thought that he had done any team coordination with the Avenger all this time, and now, why would Steve want him to teach the new Avenger team coordination when he himself lacked that exact aspect!
“No, I believe that my decision is the best for the Avenger! Your presence would develop their team spirit, but I also want them to develop their potential and awareness more than anything! Look at Wanda and Pietro. Your presence stimulated their development more than anything!” Steve said confidently, although he was a little bit annoyed by Dio’s words.
Steve was aware of his own strength, and therefore, he knew that he was still lacking if he was comparing himself to Dio. After all, Steve wasn’t even confident that he could defeat Wanda and Pietro with his current power!
But Steve knew that Dio was different!
Dio had so much secret that even the SHIELD didn’t know where to start! Every time Dio appeared again after a while, his power always developed beyond everyone’s expectation!
There was no one better when it came to motivating an individual besides Dio!
Thor was the other Avenger that Steve has considered, but Thor has gone back to Asgard! Steve’s intuition told him that the crisis hadn’t ended just yet!
