Chapter 104: Resolve

[Third Person's PoV] 

Tony was deep in thought, rubbing his chin as he muttered, "Emotions are a form of power in themselves, so if I can harness them, I could use that energy to fuel my constructs. I'll have the ring read my electro-neural pathways and focus on my strongest emotions as the base. Then, I could convert emotional energy into light—just like the energy conversion theory but on a more personal scale."

Swiping away his notes, Tony began scribbling an intricate equation in the tablet with his fingers, lost in his mental calculations.

After a while, Friday's voice cut in, "We've arrived, Boss."

Tony barely looked up, responding with a distracted, "Uh-huh…"

"Say, Friday," Tony asked absentmindedly, "if you had to name my strongest emotion, what would it be?"

"Pettiness," Friday replied without a moment's hesitation.

Tony paused and looked up with a straight face, "I was being serious…"

"So was I," Friday quipped. "Boss, you are by far the pettiest person I know."

Tony sighed, regretting the sense of humor he'd programmed into her. "Okay, what positive emotion would you say is my strongest?"

"Do you have any?" Friday replied cheekily.

"Friday…"

"Don't blame me, blame your programming. You added comedic timing into it."

"Alright, no funny business. I want your honest answer."

"But Boss, I'm an AI. I don't have opinions, just calculated responses. Opinions are for humans."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Alright, based on your calculations, what would you say is my strongest emotion?"

"Calculating…" Friday responded, taking a moment before answering. "Your strongest emotion is resolve. After the death of Edwin Jarvis, you resolved yourself to honor his memory by becoming a hero. That unwavering resolve has been the core of every decision you've made—pushing the limits of your inventions and constantly evolving."

Tony let out a deep sigh, leaning back in his chair. "Too bad being smart isn't an emotion…" he muttered as he exited the car. "Thanks, Friday."

As Tony made his way to the lab, still furiously writing in the tablet, he heard an explosion nearby but chose to ignore it. His focus was too sharp to be shaken.

"Come on, Mei! We talked about this!" Melissa's voice rang out in frustration.

"Hehe, but explosions are fun, aren't they? Things always work perfectly after they explode!" Mei replied enthusiastically.

"That's a terrible way to do things, think of all the resources you're wasting—oh, hi, Tony!" Melissa greeted as she spotted him.

"Uh-huh… hello," Tony mumbled, barely paying attention.

Mei peeked out from behind a cloud of smoke, grinning ear to ear. "Hiya, Boss man!"

"Hiya…" Tony responded absentmindedly, his eyes fixed on the equations he was writing.

Mei turned to Melissa with a confused look. Melissa sighed, "He's in his creative stage again. He blocks out everything when he's like this."

"So… no lesson today?" Mei asked, a bit disappointed.

"Are you saying I'm not good enough?" Melissa teased, raising an eyebrow.

Mei patted her on the shoulder. "You're no Tony Stark… but you'll do for now!" she chirped before happily skipping off.

Melissa's mouth dropped open in mock outrage. "Now that's just mean! I'm teaching you out of the kindness of my heart!"

"Never said I didn't appreciate it! Come on, creative sister, let's make some babies!" Mei yelled excitedly as she returned to work.

---

As the night wore on, Friday chimed in again, "You have an incoming call from: Spawn Point."

"Answer," Tony commanded.

"Tony?" came Maria's voice.

"Hello, Mother. How do you do?" Tony replied, briefly pulling his attention away from his work.

Maria let out a sigh of relief. "I was worried about you. You didn't come for lunch, and then I heard about what happened in Hosu… I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I didn't sustain a single injury, fortunately. Just shows how effective my suits are," Tony said, the pride in his voice unmistakable.

"That's good… Will you be coming over tomorrow?"

Tony hesitated, his fingers hovering over the holographic keys. "I have some plans I need to oversee…"

"Oh…" The disappointment in Maria's voice was clear.

Tony closed his eyes and sighed. "But I'll make sure to come over tomorrow, even if it's late. How does that sound?"

"Hehe, that sounds lovely. Alright, goodnight. Love you."

"Love you too…" Tony blushed slightly as Maria ended the call. He shook his head. 'Why is that always so embarrassing?' he thought before diving back into work.

It wasn't long before midnight rolled around, and Mei finally left the lab. Melissa appeared shortly after, wrapping her arms around Tony and kissing his cheek.

"Are you staying here all night?" she asked softly.

"Unfortunately, yes…" Tony sighed as the code and equations flowed across the screen, his fingers dancing over the holographic interface. He leaned back into Melissa's embrace, taking a brief moment to enjoy the comfort before diving back into his relentless work. 

Tony kissed her cheek without looking away from the screen. "Sorry that I won't be joining you today."

Melissa shook her head. "It's okay, I know how busy you are."

Tony and Melissa shared one final kiss before Melissa retired to her room.

"Friday, get the 3D printer to start working on the design I just highlighted."

"Sure thing, boss," Friday replied as she followed the instructions.

Tony continued typing as he muttered, "Stronger emotional output equals a stronger, sturdier response from light... and there."

Tony began stretching and cracking his fingers. "Uuuggghhh, talk about overworking. I don't think I've had a good sleep in a while..."

Tony stood up, swinging his arms as he stretched and cracked his back, which was stiff from sitting too long.

Tony walked over to the 3D printer and saw that a single mole of a ring was being made. Multiple parts of the printer were moving and building what looked like circuitry lines on the inside of the ring. After a while, the machines retracted, leaving a silver and blue ring.

"It is done, boss. You can now go and collect it."

Tony nodded as he entered the room and took the ring off what appeared to be a pedestal.

He weighed it in his hands, flipping it in the air and catching it once more.

"How did it come out, Friday?"

"It was a success. The combination of Vibranium and Adamantium, with the help of other alloys, created what you would call Proto-Adamantium."

"Booyakasha!" Tony celebrated, pumping his fist.

"Now then..." Tony walked towards another part of his lab, grabbed a Stark Reactor, and began looking around for a blue disc.

"Friday, did you make the shrinking disc like I said earlier today?"

"Yes, boss. They're in the drawer, third cabinet," Friday responded.

Tony opened the cabinet and found two glass cases: one with blue discs and another with red. He opened the blue case and took one out.

He closed the cabinet, hit the middle part of the blue disc, and threw it at the Stark Reactor, causing it to shrink to an even smaller size.

Tony smirked. Even though it's smaller, it should have the same amount of power, he thought as he grabbed tweezers.

Tony picked up the tiny Stark Reactor, concentrated with his tongue to the side, and placed it on the empty large part of the ring. As he released it, the ring emitted a pulse of energy. Blue circuitry lines glowed with life as it activated. The casing closed over the power core, and the front casing of the ring displayed a glowing image of an arc reactor, which was larger than the core he inserted.

From the back of the ring, a needle appeared, which Tony pressed his thumb against. As it accepted his blood, the ring spoke, "Prime User Registered."

Tony flicked his wrist and sucked his thumb. He then walked towards his desk. With just a thought, he caused the back of the ring to open and connected it to the computer, transferring the coding he had previously created to the ring.

"The coding has been successfully transferred," Friday informed Tony.

Tony nodded, smirking as he backed away. He lifted his hand, causing the ring to start floating upwards, glowing with silver and blue.

The ring shot out from where it was standing, tearing itself from the cables that connected it to the computer.

The ring landed in Tony's hand, where he snatched it and slid it onto his ring finger. Silver and blue light began to swirl over his body.

On his chest appeared the image of the Stark Reactor as he began floating upwards. "The Silver Blue Lantern reporting for duty," Tony smirked.

"I know this is going to sound corny, but I'm going to make myself an oath... an oath for the first official Resolve Lantern Corps."

Tony put a hand on his chin and pondered for a minute, considering different words, before he smirked. "I got it..."

Tony held out his fist, where the Silver Blue ring was present and glowing. It began to glow brighter as Tony closed his eyes and began to say:

"In darkest night or blinding light,

My will of steel will forever fight,

For in my heart, I know who I am,

My Resolve Unbreakable— I am Iron Man."

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