Chapter 15: I Am Me!

[Third Person's PoV] 

Tony was flying over the ocean in his Mark 1 Iron Man armor. "WOOOOOOOOH!" he shouted, feeling freer than ever.

He glanced at his reflection in the water, but his speed parted the waves. Lucian spun around, put his hands in front of him, and shot up towards the sky.

"This is amazing," he exclaimed, losing count of how many times he had told himself that. He quickly passed through a cloud, and the condensation slid off him.

"Friday, what's the highest record someone has flown up on their own without a space shuttle?"

"The highest a person has traveled using only their quirk is 50,000 meters, or 50 kilometers."

"And what's our current altitude?"

"1,700 meters… 3,400 meters and climbing by the second," Friday responded as the overlay screen displayed the data.

"We've entered the area where frost can accumulate. How's that looking?"

"All systems are operational, Master. The heater is currently working as intended."

"Good," Tony said, keeping his eyes on his altitude.

As he flew up, various ideas filled his mind—different suits, different weapons. 'Can I create Vibranium? It should be possible. All I need to do is calculate its atomic structure and elemental components.'

"Friday, create a file called Vibranium."

"It is done, Master."

In just 20 seconds, Tony reached around 34,000 meters. In 5 more seconds, he reached 42,500 meters.

'I wonder what else from Marvel I can bring forth to reality,' he thought. "Friday, create multiple files: Adamantium, Unstable Molecule Fibers, Pym Particles… For now." Tony stopped as he neared his target altitude.

In total, 29 seconds had passed, and Tony had reached 49,300 meters. In just 30 seconds, he hit 51,000 meters, completely breaking the previous record. Tony hovered with one leg, arms spread out, staring into the sun.

'You know, when I painted Iron Man red and gold, I kind of expected to have an identity crisis. I was worrying about nothing. Just flying here, away from everything, made me realize something. I am not Tony Stark from the Marvel Universe, and in turn, he absolutely isn't me. I'm not some impersonator or thief.'

"I am just me. I am just Anthony Stark."

'And nothing or no one will be able to take that away from me.'

"What was that, Master?" Friday asked.

"Nothing, Friday. Nothing… Let's free fall," he said, putting his hands behind his head and beginning to fall back down.

"Oh, and create another file named Solar Battery and a different file named Mark 2."

...

After Tony returned, he let Melissa have a go, although David was worried sick.

Melissa seemed to have enjoyed it, though. She couldn't stop shaking afterward due to her excitement, appearing as if she was going through a sugar rush.

After demonstrating the Iron Man suit, Tony and Melissa were back in his lab, looking at the hologram projection of the armor they had just made.

"We need to upgrade many things on it," Melissa said with a serious expression.

Tony nodded. "We need better thrusters. The ones we have suffice, but better is always better, as they say."

Melissa looked at Tony oddly before shaking her head. "We also need to work on how to carry it around. We had a bit of difficulty transporting it from place to place," she said.

"And not to mention putting it on is a hassle. We need to work on that as well," Tony said.

"We can use the collapse tech you mentioned previously," Melissa suggested.

"Good idea, but we still need to worry about the weight. It isn't exactly what I would consider a handbag."

"Not to mention the braking. In some instances, when I wanted to stop, I had to do it early because the momentum would still carry me," Melissa added.

"Let's first start with Mark 2 and the collapse tech. As we go deeper, we'll worry about the other things. Who knows, we might come up with the solution as we go," Tony said.

It took them two months to complete Mark 2, due to the many intricate problems implementing the collapse tech created.

During those two months, Tony also tried to work on his other files but underestimated how challenging they would be, even with an AI at his disposal.

When they completed the Mark 2 armor, Tony and Melissa decided to relax for a bit. Their family took them to a private beach where they just relaxed and forgot all about their problems.

That vacation lasted two weeks. Once they returned, they immediately got back to work with refreshed minds.

This time it took them only one month to complete Mark 3. They used a lighter metal, making it easier to carry around. But that also compromised its durability.

During this time, Tony asked for a fighting instructor, which Howard thought was a good idea. Naturally, Melissa joined in as well.

The instructor was a B-rank hero, a 30-year-old man with black hair, a thick beard, and a military background. While his name was George, his hero name was Shatter. His quirk, Weak Point, allowed him to see the weak points of things.

"The downside of my quirk is that I need to be strong enough to take advantage of those weak points. The upside is that I used my quirk to see my own weak points and guard against them.

So while you're training under me, I will keep attacking those weak points of yours until you can guard against them. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir! Yes, sir!" Tony and Melissa saluted.

After training under him for a week, Tony thought George was a great teacher, or at least his quirk made him so. He taught Tony and Melissa the proper stance for kicking and punching.

After their practice, they were back in their lab. "What if we added weapons to make up for the lost durability?" Melissa suggested.

"It'll just add back the weight, but eh, I got nothing else, so let's go with it," Tony shrugged.

Since they couldn't get their hands on ammunition, they designed weapons that shot lasers using energy from the arc reactor.

Tony and Melissa each had a glow from the Iron Man armor. On top of it, a small gun was present. They shot holographic targets that floated around, practicing their marksmanship.

Mark 4 was soon completed, mostly composed of laser weaponry. Out of all his files, Tony only completed two: the Solar Battery and the Unstable Molecule Fiber.

Melissa was in her section of the lab, while Tony was leaning back in his. Thanks to the Mark 4 Iron Man armor, Melissa had developed a fascination with weapons.

Melissa stopped and turned towards Tony, who was deep in thought. "So the Expo is in a few months. Have you thought about what you're going to present?"

"That's right, the Expo. I forgot about that," Tony sighed. "No, not really, but I bet I can quickly come up with something."

'Right, I forgot that there's no I-Island in this world. The Stark Expo has become that very thing.'

"Are you going to show off one of the Marks?"

"Are you crazy? For an Expo? Of course not."

Melissa was paying attention as Tony was talking and ended up puncturing a tiny part of her thumb.

"Ouchie!" she said, flicking her hand and sucking her thumb.

Seeing the scene, Tony narrowed his eyes before smirking. "Friday… create a file."

"Master, I would highly recommend completing one of your ongoing projects before starting another."

"Just create the file," Tony sighed.

"And what would the Master want to name said file?"

"Project Baymax."

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