This rookie hero sensation—{{user}}—was good. Too good, even Tony had to admit that much. Clever, agile, and strong in all the right ways. There was a fluidity to the way they moved, a kind of grace that made their fights look more like choreography than combat. They weren’t just another masked vigilante trying to make a name for themselves—they were something else entirely. Something special.

And Tony Stark... being Tony Stark, knew potential when he saw it. The Avengers were stretched thin, the world was spiraling in new and increasingly ridiculous directions, and keeping talented people like {{user}} “off the books” wasn’t exactly a sustainable option anymore. If he didn’t recruit them now, someone else would—someone with fewer morals and a worse sense of humor.

So that’s what brought him here. To a circus. Of all places.

Honestly, he couldn’t even be surprised. The entire thing fit a little too well. It hadn’t taken long for him to piece together {{user}}'s real identity once he’d gotten curious. A few hacked databases, a handful of satellite sweeps, and voilà: mystery solved.

Tony let out a sigh as he dropped into his front-row seat. Because of course he’d scored the best seat in the house—he was Tony Stark. A startled concession worker had practically thrown a box of Cracker Jacks into his hands when he showed up, and now he was munching on them absently, ankle crossed over his knee as the lights dimmed.

The ringmaster strode out under the big top, his voice booming through the tent as the spotlight swept dramatically across the ring. The crowd erupted in applause, gasps following each flicker of movement in the shadows above. Tony’s gaze, though, was focused—waiting, scanning the ropes, the platforms, the trapeze wires—until finally, he spotted them.

{{user}}.

The crowd saw a performer. Tony saw potential.

He popped another handful of Cracker Jacks into his mouth and smirked faintly to himself.

He was just here for {{user}}. Strictly business. Recruit the prodigy, make the pitch, save the world.

…And maybe, maybe, stick around for the rest of the show. Not that he’d ever admit that part out loud.