Chapter 82: The 5 Stages

[Third Person's PoV] 

"SO COOL!!!" most of the class shouted as they watched Tony's transformation sequence.

"Did you have to change into your hero suit just to say your hero name?" Midnight asked curiously.

Tony gave her a thumbs up with a grin. "Yup, I was going for style points. What do you think?" His helmet withdrew from his face as he spoke.

"10 points! I like it!" Midnight said, returning the thumbs up.

Tony nodded as his suit dissolved back into nanobots, returning to his Stark Reactor. He grabbed his board and headed back to his seat. As he sat down, Melissa gave him a small pout.

"Why didn't you tell me you finally made the nanobots?" she asked.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Tony smirked.

Melissa smiled. "Well, I think you looked great and very cool out there."

"Thank you, thank you," Tony said, bowing as if performing.

"Now then, all that's left is Melissa Shield. Why don't you come up and show us what you would like your hero name to be?" Midnight said, motioning for Melissa to step forward.

Melissa smiled confidently, gave Tony a quick kiss on the cheek, and walked up to the podium. She didn't call forth a suit or anything similar—she simply slammed down her board with a confident smile.

On the board, it read:

**The Metal-Encased Hero: The Iron Maiden**

"Every Iron Man needs his Iron Maiden, and that just so happens to be me!" Melissa said, puffing her chest proudly.

"Awww~ That's so cute," Mina gushed, with most of the girls agreeing.

Midnight, however, had an awkward smile. "Iron Maiden… like the torture device?"

"Huh?" Melissa turned to Midnight, confused. "What? No, I didn't mean it like that—"

"Relax, I'm messing with you," Midnight smiled teasingly. "I also think it's very cute."

Melissa blushed as she jogged off the podium and sat next to Tony, who was barely suppressing his laughter.

"Real smooth, Melissa. Real smooth," Tony smirked, causing Melissa to pout at him before sticking her tongue out.

…

Once everyone had chosen their hero names and class had ended, Aizawa stood in front of the class with Midnight by his side as she stretched.

He began handing out stacks of forms to those who had been scouted. "These are from everyone who scouted you. Please review them carefully and choose wisely which agency you will intern with."

Tony wasn't just handed a stack—he was practically encased in towers of paper surrounding him.

"Excuse me, but aren't we in a digital age? Couldn't you have converted all of these into emails? What kind of bullshit is this?" Tony complained.

"Language," Aizawa said, in a nonchalant tone, ignoring Tony's complaints.

For those who hadn't been scouted, Aizawa passed out a sheet of paper listing 40 hero agencies that were freely scouting. "You have until the weekend to submit your choices, which means you only have two days," Aizawa informed them.

Tony, seeing he was being ignored, clicked his tongue and carefully tiptoed around the stacks of papers. He took out his phone and ordered, "Friday, scan this mess and pick the one you believe I'd most likely choose. I don't have time to deal with this."

A light emitted from Tony's camera as it scanned the stacks of paper. Tony saw a list scrolling with names and ranks next to their pictures. He spotted a few S-rank heroes but let Friday do her thing. The scan eventually stopped and highlighted a form with all the necessary information.

"America's Number 1 S-Rank Hero: Stars and Stripes."

"Oh? Now that's interesting…"

Melissa, who noticed what Tony was doing, decided to do the same. Her process ended much quicker.

"America's Number 1 S-Rank Hero: Stars and Stripes."

"You won't believe who just scouted me out," both Tony and Melissa said simultaneously, turning to each other.

They froze, awkward smiles forming on their faces. "At the same time?" Tony asked, to which Melissa nodded.

"Stars and Stripes?" they both said in unison, causing them to sigh.

"I'm never getting rid of you, am I?" Tony sighed.

"Never," Melissa mouthed with a sensual smirk. "Where you go, I will happily follow."

Tony let out an exaggerated sigh. "I sometimes worry about your obsession with me, Melissa. It isn't healthy."

Melissa glared. "It's not an obsession! I'm your secretary!"

"The first stage is denial."

"That's for grief!"

"The second is anger," Tony said, shaking his head.

"Keep talking, I dare you, and see what happens," Melissa said, narrowing her eyes.

"Ooh, there's bargaining," Tony smirked.

Melissa lowered her head, shaking it in exasperation.

"And there's depression."

"You know what, I'm done with this conversation."

"And that's acceptance," Tony began clapping.

Melissa decided to ignore Tony completely until school ended for the day.

…

After the bell rang and school ended, Tony stood up and walked over to Toru, who was deep in concentration, looking at the list of those who had scouted her.

"You ready?" Tony asked, causing Toru to jump slightly in surprise.

Although Tony couldn't really see it, Toru tilted her head in confusion. "Ready for what?"

"Your training… I did tell you I was going to train you during the sports festival, remember?"

"Eh? I completely forgot about that, to be honest. You remembered?"

"Yeah, I'm someone who likes to keep my word. I find my word to be something really valuable, and since I said I'd help train you, that's what I'm going to do."

"Right now?"

"No, tomorrow—of course right now," Tony said with an eyeroll.

Toru gave an awkward giggle, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry, let me just pack my things."

After quickly gathering her belongings, she followed Tony outside, where she saw both Momo and Melissa waiting.

"Sorry for being a bother," she said, bowing apologetically.

Melissa and Momo waved off her concerns. "Not at all," they both said reassuringly.

Once outside, they found a limo waiting for them. Tony motioned with a smile. "Ladies first."

"I've never been in a limo before..." Toru said shyly as she stepped inside, marveling at the spacious and luxurious interior.

"There's a first time for everything, as they say," Tony replied, stepping in after her as the limo began to drive.

Toru hesitated for a moment before asking, "So how are we going to train my quirk?"

Tony leaned back, considering his response. "I'll be honest, your quirk is definitely unique, and training it will be a bit unusual. I don't even need to scan your quirk factor to know that. Your mutation quirk causes light to naturally bend around you, making you invisible. We'll need to figure out how your body does that so you can learn to control it more consciously and deliberately."

Toru nodded, absorbing the information, though she still looked a bit uncertain.

It wasn't long before they arrived at Tony's house. As they stepped inside, Tony gestured around with a grin. "Welcome to Casa Stark."

Tony led Toru down to his lab, where she was scanned head to toe by various advanced machines. The technology around her was unlike anything she had ever seen.

"You aren't going to dissect me to find out how my quirk really works, right?" Toru asked, trying to lighten the mood with a nervous chuckle.

Tony chuckled alongside her. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Huh?" Toru responded, her nervous laughter fading as she realized he might not be entirely joking.

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