1 Not Everything is Flowers

"TONY!! Why do you have to be so stubborn?!" Howard Stark yelled with an almost distorted face, extremely angry with his only son.

"I'm not being stubborn, Dad! I'm proud of what you've done, proud of your intelligence, and proud of the legacy you've created. But..." Young Tony Stark tries to calmly present his reasoning to his father, but he is interrupted before he can continue.

"And that's why you intend to abandon everything I've created?!" Howard pounded the table and yelled in disbelief and anger.

"As I was saying, BUT that was a different time! Back then, you may have contributed as much as Captain America to win the war, but now, in peacetime, creating weapons will only bring blood to my hands. Instead of creating something that takes more lives, why don't I use my mind to help people?!" Tony began to raise his voice while presenting his point of view.

Tony and Howard began to stare at each other in tense silence, not even blinking.

After a few minutes of silent warfare, Howard was the first to speak.

"Tony, there's never true peace. We develop weapons to save the lives of our American soldiers. They use these weapons to defeat the evil out there that threatens the innocent." Howard spoke seriously, trying to make sense to his son.

"But soldiers don't always fight just against evil, right? After all, politics isn't a clean thing. I don't want one day, an innocent father, an innocent family, or an innocent child to lose everything just to become another casualty. I don't want the last thing they see to be a missile with the words 'Stark Industries' on it!" Tony said with a bitter look and voice, still sitting in the chair.

And he continued, "I'd rather have a family smile because they received a box with a Stark Industries prosthetic, and someone in that family can walk again. Or have a life saved because there's a Stark Industries medical device that saved them. There's so much I can do, so much I can help with, I have a much more valuable gift than just making missiles that take lives," I said seriously, looking at my father.

Yes, I am Tony Stark. Well, now I am. As in many fanfics and stories I've read, I officially joined the reincarnator's club.

I regained the memories of my past life when I was seven years old, and Tony had just invented a bomb. Despite being in a panic, I still had the presence of mind to hide the bomb I created, and ever since, I've been hiding my academic achievements, except from my parents, but I made them promise not to reveal them to anyone.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I didn't receive a system or a golden finger, but I believe being Tony Stark is already a cheat in itself. Billionaire, handsome, and above all, a genius. I don't see any flaws there.

A few years have passed, and using my super IQ and an almost supernatural affinity with machines and knowledge in general, which the Tony Stark package seemed to possess, I've come up with some pretty fun inventions.

But that's for later. Right now, I have to see the response from this old man who's as stubborn as I am."

Well, the old man is quite rigid, just like his name, but I could still see the pride in his eyes when I talked about using my mind to save lives and do good. 

He fell silent for a few seconds and finally spoke with a sigh, "*Sigh* Alright, Tony, do as you wish. I'll separate the weapons division from the company and use it to acquire all the shares of the other company sectors. Stark Industries will lose its weapons sector, but the company will have all the shares firmly in its hands. It's time for this old man to retire and leave everything in the hands of the new generation." He seemed very tired when he talked about selling practically his entire legacy, but I felt that his shoulders seemed lighter after the decision.

I admit I was surprised that he agreed to let me do what I wanted, and not only that, but my original proposal was to distance myself from the company and not inherit it. I didn't want to destroy his legacy, but I also didn't want to continue it. But his decision to shut down the weapons department surprised me. It made me clench my fists and look down. I felt really bad about making my old man dismantle his legacy with his own hands, but I knew it was for the best.

Then I felt him approach and pat me on the shoulder. When I lifted my head, I saw him looking at me with a gentle smile on his lips. "Tony, maybe I'm not the best father, but in my heart, you have to understand that for me, my greatest creation is... you. You are my legacy, and I know you will still amaze this world." He said, smiling and looking firmly into my eyes. I couldn't help but let a gentle smile appear on my lips, and I moved forward to hug him. 

Maybe this is the first time since I was 6 or 7 years old that I hugged my father. Howard has always been a strict and serious father, not because he didn't love me or because he was a cold man, but because he believed it was best for me and my education. Foolish? Perhaps. But no one could say that he didn't care or love me.

The next day, the old man did what he promised. The old shareholders had a heated discussion, but the old man giving his promise that a new weapons division would not be reopened in the company and that he would pass the new company to his son ensured that the old shareholders willingly took the weapons sector and left the company. The weapons division was then merged into a new company called Stane Industries, and I don't need to say who the largest shareholder was. Goodbye, Uncle Obie, no Iron Man suit for you.

Honestly, what my father did was practically throw money away. Stark Industries removed its largest sector and turned into a shell of what was once one of the largest industries in the world. 

Moreover, to secure 100% of Stark Industries' shares in my hands, my father gave up nearly 70% of the profit margin he had from selling the weapons sector. And it was only possible to obtain all the shares because I never exposed my genius out there, except to my parents. 

So my father used my lack of reputation to make me look like a spoiled fool who didn't want to inherit a violent industry... which wasn't far from the truth. 

Poor fools, I would love to see their faces when they realize that the company they thought was doomed to fail since Howard was retiring and promised not to get involved, would become the world's largest company in the hands of the new president, known as me. 

I wasn't the least bit worried about losing the weapons sector and a lot of money. Tony's intellect + knowledge of the future = no financial problems.