9: Dinner Party

Evening, Stark Mansion's underground laboratory.

Tony kept rubbing his chin, staring intently at his Mark armor. He had been in this state for a long time.

Lyon stood beside him, struggling to suppress his laughter.

"So, why did you paint it pink?" Tony finally spoke, pointing at the now pink Mark armor with a blank expression.

"Oh, that." Lyon instantly straightened up, clasping his hands behind his back, putting on a serious face.

"It's a special surprise Jarvis prepared for you."

He stepped forward, pointing to the spot on the armor's chest where the energy core was placed. There was a faintly engraved circle of English words.

Lyon read aloud: "Tony has a pink heart."

He winked at Tony. "How about it? Isn't it touching? Pink represents purity and kindness. Jarvis is complimenting you."

"Hmph, thank you for clearing that up; otherwise, I really wouldn't have guessed." Tony's lips pressed into a cold smile.

His face darkened, as he couldn't imagine how "beautiful" it would be to wear this armor again.

He was afraid that before he could even make a move, the enemies would see the words on his chest, die laughing on the spot, and save him the trouble of using any ammunition.

Tony took a deep breath, some words stuck in his throat, making his face slightly red with frustration.

"Pf.. Pfft!! Bahhaha. It looks like you don't love this 'surprise'!" Watching Tony's colorful expressions, Lyon almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

Finally, Tony turned his head away, deciding not to look at his beloved armor anymore.

"Jarvis, why did you paint her pink?" Tony asked another key culprit.

He really loved his first suit of armor, so much so that he referred to it as "her."

"Sir, it was Master Lyon's suggestion. He said that seeing the repaired and pink armor would make you even happier," Jarvis explained, though it felt like he was subtly passing the blame.

"Oh, wait a minute, Jarvis, you didn't object at the time. We both thought it was a good idea, didn't we?" Lyon tried to drag Jarvis down with him.

"Master Lyon, please forgive my impertinence, but you know that AI has no independent thoughts."

"Only dumb AIs have no thoughts. Jarvis, you even remind Tony that Pepper will be angry when he dates a cover model, so it's normal for you to prepare a surprise for Tony," Lyon retorted.

Tony's face darkened even more.

"Enough!" he shouted, casting a helpless glance at Lyon, who was already laughing. "Don't think I don't know you're doing this as payback."

Lyon didn't deny it. "So, you also realize that making me go all the way back to the cave to haul your armor here wasn't exactly fair?"

"This kid..." Tony spread his hands, "Alright, alright, I surrender. Let's just drop it, okay? I'm not mad, and you don't need to keep torturing me over that small matter."

Over the years, Tony had endured quite a bit of "torture" from Lyon.

He had grown accustomed to the emotional self-control needed when dealing with a "mischievous" kid as a guardian.

Of course, that mischief was only Tony's perception; to others, Lyon was perfectly well-behaved.

For instance, when Lyon was younger, he disliked Tony constantly bringing new cover models home.

Several times, just as Tony was about to "get down to business," Lyon would stand outside his room and play, at maximum volume, recordings of Tony's past sweet talk to other women.

As a result, the lady in Tony's arms would become furious, storm out, and Lyon would then pop out from around the corner, waving his little hand, saying, "Goodnight, sweet dreams, Tony."

Tony would then turn red with anger and chase Lyon around the house with a pillow.

The next day, when Pepper heard Tony's complaints, she would be so pleased that she'd give Lyon a generous amount of pocket money.

However, Lyon only kept this up for about half a month.

Because after that, Tony's newly custom-built soundproof bedroom was completed.

From then on, even if Lyon was throwing a dance party outside the door, Tony could enjoy a quiet night inside, listening to Mozart and spending a lovely evening with his lady.

This kind of "sparring" had been going on between them since Lyon was three years old and continued until he started bringing girls home during high school.

On the night Lyon brought a girl home for the first time, the two of them exchanged glances and smiled knowingly.

Thus, the two brothers reached an understanding.

However, their "battles" in other areas did not stop.

Sometimes Tony would mess with Lyon, and sometimes Lyon would strike first.

Pepper's assessment was that they were just two overgrown children.

"Jarvis, put this suit away and repaint it. I don't want to see it again until it's been fixed," Tony waved dismissively. "And while you're at it, order some new materials for me. I'm going to build a new suit."

"The conditions in that cave were too crude; the suit I made there didn't show my true capabilities. Lyon, this time, I'll make sure you see that my suits aren't just 'toys'!"

Lyon shrugged indifferently, "Whatever, I'll be waiting to see it."

At this moment, Dum-E and U, the lab's robotic arms, came over and together pushed the pink suit out of the room.

Lyon even lent a hand.

He had asked Jarvis to paint the suit pink just to tease Tony; he never expected Tony would actually wear it.

What Lyon didn't expect was that ten years later, when he visited Tony's armor collection room, this most bizarre-looking suit will be prominently displayed at the forefront of all the Mark armors.

"Are you already starting to make the new armor?"

When Lyon turned back, Tony, true to his word, had already cleared the table with a single swipe and was ready to begin a new round of work.

"Are you in such a hurry to prove yourself?"

"Watch your words, Lyon. Tony doesn't need to prove himself; he only challenges himself," Tony replied.

"Alright, just make sure to finish your challenge before dinner."

Lyon began walking toward the stairs leading out of the lab.

"To celebrate your safe return, Pepper is planning a small family gathering. Yinsen and Rhodey will be there."

Rhodey was Tony's good friend in the military, and in the movies, their relationship was so close that Tony even gave him an Iron Man suit which he made The War Machine with Hammar industries.

"Just the few of us? No problem, as long as I'm not the one cooking, I can handle it," Tony replied without looking up.

Ever since the time he attempted to cook a sea bass that ended up as charcoal, which Lyon laughed about for a long time, Tony had sworn never to step into the kitchen again.

After wrapping up the mess Tony left behind at the press conference, Pepper rushed to the mansion.

In the hall, she excitedly embraced Lyon gently.

"Lyon! Oh my God, Tony told me you were back, and I could hardly believe it. The Mark Spacecraft is still orbiting outside Earth!"

Tony had personally built the spaceship and named it the Mark Spacecraft.

"And yet, you just flew back on your own! That's incredible!"

"Oh wow, my goodness, you're so strong now! It feels just like yesterday that you were a little kid who only reached my waist!"

Pepper patted Lyon's chest, astonished by the marble-like texture, and covered her mouth in surprise.

"If I had known you were this strong, I would have contacted you months ago. That way, Tony wouldn't have had to..." As she spoke, she began to feel guilty again.

Lyon quickly reassured her, "It's okay, Pepper. You didn't want to worry me, right?"

"If I hadn't become as strong as Superman, even if you had told me about Tony's disappearance, I would have been helpless, just floating aimlessly in the lonely cosmos."

For Lyon, Tony was not just a brother but also half a father figure.

And Pepper, who had raised him since he was little, could easily be considered half a sister and half a foster mother.

Lyon winked and added, "Besides, although the journey was a bit rough, for Tony, surviving such an ordeal might not be such a bad thing, right?"

"Is that what you think? But I feel like he's become a bit irrational," Pepper frowned.

"Maybe that's because you don't quite understand what Tony is like after having a near-death experience," Lyon said as he gently nudged Pepper towards the kitchen. "Come on, Pepper, we'll need you to take care of dinner. I'll keep you company and tell you all about Tony's extraordinary adventure this time."

A few hours later, the dinner ended on a high note, with all the guests having a wonderful time.

Through Tony's introduction, Yinsen met Pepper and Rhodey, seamlessly integrating into this small circle.

In the foreseeable future, Yinsen would take up a position in Stark's R&D department, where he could work on what he truly wanted to do.

At the dinner table, Tony also shared his ideas about wanting to do something more beneficial for the world. Unfortunately, Rhodey wasn't quite able to understand this new direction just yet.