Chapter 14: Mark 1

[Third Person's PoV] 

Howard, Maria, and David were seen standing outside a hangar with a runway in front of them.

"Did Tony tell you what he wanted to show you? Melissa didn't want to say anything about it. All she kept saying was that it was amazing," David asked, looking towards Howard and Maria.

They both shook their heads. "They've been pretty secretive about this project," Howard said.

They then heard something like a wheel moving behind them. When they looked, they saw Melissa pushing one of those machines that shoot out tennis balls.

Howard blinked a few times and looked towards Melissa, who was wearing a lab coat, an earpiece, and a backpack.

"I'm sorry to say, dear, but those already exist," Howard teased.

Melissa let out a sigh and shook her head. "You're just like Tony."

Howard only smiled upon hearing that.

Melissa reached for her backpack and pulled out a tablet. She then tapped the earpiece and said, "You can start now, Tony."

They barely managed to hear Tony's voice as he said, "Copy that."

"Start what, sweetie?" David asked.

Melissa didn't answer and just pointed to the air. Soon, they saw a red and gold metal suit of armor flying around.

They saw how the armor had its legs tucked together while its arms were a bit apart and was flying in the air.

It started moving around, doing flips and spinning. It even started writing in the air with the trail of smoke it left.

The name Tony Stark was written before it was underlined. At first, Tony wanted to make the suit black and blue for individuality, but since it was the first Iron Man ever made, he decided on making it his signature color.

Soon, the piece of armor dropped from the sky and landed in front of them on one knee, cracking the ground due to its weight.

"Superhero landing," they heard Tony whisper.

As he looked up, the mask also went up, revealing his face. He watched in amusement as they stood with their mouths agape and their eyes widened.

Melissa went in front of them and snapped their picture on the tablet, giving Tony a thumbs up. "I got it."

The flash from the picture snapped them out of their trance.

"Tony, what are you wearing? What is that?" Howard asked excitedly, his excitement only growing as he looked at the arc reactor on Tony's chest.

"I look cool, right?" Tony said smugly. "And this is my superhero outfit."

Maria softly smiled at Tony. "I see, so this was the answer to the question that day."

"Okay, wow, you figured that out way too quickly," Tony said, looking at his mother oddly.

"I'm your mother; it's only natural," she said smugly.

David looked at the suit in awe. "What else can it do?"

"I'm glad you asked, Davy," Tony teased, causing David to scoff slightly.

"Melissa, hit it," Tony said.

Melissa nodded and gave a few taps on the tablet. The tennis machine started charging up, and a ball was then shot into the air.

They watched as Tony aimed a hand towards the ball. They heard the sound of something quickly charging up before being released.

*Whirr* *Zap*

They watched a repulsor shot shoot out from Tony's armored hand and hit the ball, causing it to explode upon impact.

"More, Melissa."

Melissa gave the screen a few more taps, and more balls shot out.

Tony moved his hands back and forth, shooting repulsors from both his hands, each hitting the balls and causing them to explode.

Tony then turned towards them and gave them a thumbs up with a large smile.

"Whoa," Howard and David muttered.

"You guys haven't seen anything yet. Melissa, rapid fire," Tony said as he crossed his arms.

Melissa's fingers started to rapidly tap on the tablet, and the balls all shot out in a rapid burst.

They heard the sound of something charging up once again, but this time it was much louder. Tony puffed out his chest, and a large repulsor beam shot out from it. Tony followed the rows of tennis balls as they disintegrated upon contact.

They were all left speechless. Tony and Melissa performed a low five before bumping fists.

"Tony, are you planning on taking over the world?" Howard asked, unsure of what else he was supposed to think after such a demonstration.

"I'm only showing you this so we can get more funds to continue building and creating new things," Tony said with a smile, completely ignoring the question.

Howard put a hand on his chin and narrowed his eyes pensively. "Tony, tell me, what are your future plans?"

"Why?"

"Like always, humor me."

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "I was planning on studying abroad in Japan for hero school. I looked it up, and U.A. is the best school there. Since I declared I wanted to be a hero, I'm following through. I'm going where the Hero Association was first created and where the three-time world champion currently resides."

Howard then turned towards Melissa. "And how about you?"

"Tony already told me his plan before, so I did my own research. It turns out U.A. has its own Tech department, so I was planning on joining that. Plus, I can see Uncle Might if I go there, so it's a win-win."

Howard nodded. "Tony, when you turn 10, I'm putting you in charge of a Stark branch in Japan, and Melissa, you will be going there as his secretary."

"WHAT?!" they all shouted as they looked at Howard. Tony's suit was now unimportant compared to the news Howard just dropped.

Tony was the only one who didn't react; he just nodded his head and accepted the news.

"You're not sending my baby all on his own to another country," Maria said with narrowed eyes.

"He won't be alone. I have a friend there who owes me a couple of favors. I'm sure he would be more than glad to have Tony and Melissa. You remember the Yaoyorozus, honey. You even got along very well with the missus."

"Why is my daughter included in your plans, Howard?" David asked with narrowed eyes.

Howard didn't answer with words. He just made a motion with his hands that said: Take a look for yourself.

Melissa was standing next to Tony, holding the tablet close to her chest, and her earpiece had a blue glow. The glasses didn't help the case. Melissa looked like the definition of a secretary standing next to Tony.

"Have you even asked your son if he wanted this? I sure as well know my daughter didn't agree to this," David said, not having anything else to retort.

"No, and I don't need to. Tony's smart. He already figured out why I'm doing this."

They all then turned to look at him. "Oh, you want me to explain it?" Tony said before sighing.

"Basically, he wants me to not be dependent on him for money and make my own. This will also be a test to see if I can take care of a business so when the time comes, he can safely pass Stark Industries down to me. Probably when I graduate or something," Tony briefly explained.

"Heh, you even figured out this was a test," Howard said with pride.

David ignored him. "I'm not letting my only daughter be away from me—"

"Please let me go, Daddy," Melissa said, looking at David pleadingly.

"What? But why? No offense, but you've only known Tony for like three or so months. I don't think the reason you would want to follow him to another country is because you guys are the best of friends."

"Two reasons," Melissa said, raising two fingers. "First, I told Tony I was going to be his lab assistant. I don't want to go back on my word. And second, just like you said, I've only known him for three months, but in those three months I've learned so much—things I wouldn't even have thought possible. I want to keep on learning new things from Tony. If I have to follow him to another country to learn, then so be it."

"But honey, that would mean being away from each other," David said sadly.

Melissa hesitated. "I promise to visit during the holidays?"

Hearing that, David almost went to his knees as he held his heart in pain. "My own daughter…"

Maria just patted his shoulder with a sympathetic look.

"Can we go back to testing my armor, please?" Tony pleaded.

"Oh, right," Melissa said upon realizing why they were there. "Have you tried going at your max speed?"

Tony shook his head as he walked towards the runway. During this time, David turned towards Howard. "We'll talk more about this later. And properly."

Howard had a serious expression as he nodded.

Tony then got on the runway, tucked his legs together, and stuck out his arms slightly. He shot into the sky, creating a giant gust of wind that stirred up a cloud of dust.

They all had to cover their faces and take a step back. Once the dust cleared, Melissa was looking at the tablet with concentration.

"So, how fast is he going?" Howard asked as he saw how high Tony was flying.

Melissa turned the tablet towards everyone. "He's currently going at Mach 5. I think the new arc reactor would allow him to go faster, but his thrusters were not designed to accept any more power than the previous arc reactor had," Melissa explained.

"Incredible," Maria couldn't help but say.

"Do you know what he called that suit?" David asked curiously.

Melissa nodded. "He called it Mark 1."

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