18 Chapter: 18
"...Hmm, where am I?" Tony, waking up from unconsciousness, looked at the adorable face of Baymax in front of him (●—●) and felt a bit bewildered.
"Sir, due to an unidentified impact you experienced earlier, you suffered minor soft tissue contusions. I have already treated the affected area. You are currently in the garage of Villa 10880, Malibu Point, with the ZIP code 90265."
"You're awake, old man. You've been lying down for quite a while. I'm already having lunch." Mark, holding Tony's favorite cheeseburger, came down from the living room upstairs.
"Do you have my portion?" Tony shook his head and didn't feel any discomfort. It seemed that Baymax once again perfectly fulfilled his duties.
"One hundred dollars, please. Thanks." Mark showed a sly smile.
...
After lunch, Tony and Mark returned to their state of design and development. This time, Tony didn't continue working on other parts of the suit; instead, he added a balance stabilizer to the gauntlet in the design.
"Hehe, in the end, you still have to listen to me!" Mark suddenly interjected, wearing a triumphant expression.
Of course, Tony wouldn't admit defeat. After all, how could he compromise his fatherly authority? "Hmph, what do you know! These are the results I obtained from personal testing this morning. Your suggestions are miles away from that!"
Mark shrugged, shook his head, and felt quite helpless facing Tony's stubbornness. Moreover, Tony's actions to maintain his fatherly authority gave off a sense of a child throwing a tantrum.
"Oh, by the way, old man, I need your help. I've completed the design for my own suit, but I need some equipment and materials that can only be obtained through Stark Industries channels."
"Send the list to Pepper; she will take care of it for you. Aren't you going to show me your design? I can give you some advice as well." Hearing that Mark had completed the design, Tony couldn't help but feel a bit eager. After all, he knew his son's technological prowess very well.
"Nope, not now. It won't be a surprise if I show it to you. Besides, I came up with a brilliant idea yesterday, and I can't let you plagiarize it."
Seeing that it was impossible to convince Mark, Tony remained silent, rolled his eyes, and continued perfecting his own balance stabilizer.
Ding dong!
Ding dong!
"Hmm, JARVIS, who is it?" After being immersed in his research for an unknown period of time, Mark was interrupted by a series of urgent doorbell rings.
"It's Miss Potts."
Upon hearing JARVIS's response, Mark turned to look at Tony, who was still engrossed in his research. "Let Pepper come directly down."
"Mr. Stark, I've been ringing the bell. Didn't you hear the intercom?" Pepper walked down the stairs holding a box and a cup of coffee.
"Sorry, I was too focused. What's up?" Tony continued to communicate with Pepper while fiddling with the balance stabilizer in his hand.
"Mr. Obadiah Stane is waiting for you upstairs."
"Okay, I got it. I'll go up right away."
"I thought you said you were done making weapons?" Pepper looked puzzled when she saw the prototype of the balance stabilizer on Tony's arm.
"This isn't a weapon; it's just a flight stabilizer. It poses no threat."
Sizzle—Boom! The blast of air from the stabilizer pushed Tony against the wall, and the tools in the garage were thrown into chaos.
To prove his point, Tony demonstrated to Pepper, but now it seemed that the results were not as harmless as he claimed. "It was an accident..."
"What's wrong, Uncle Obie? Isn't it too bad?" Tony came from the garage to the living room and asked Obadiah, who was playing the piano.
"If it's just because I brought you pizza from New York, that's not enough to say it's not bad."
"You're right, it doesn't prove anything." Tony picked up a slice of pizza and started eating. "I've been experimenting in the garage all day, and now I'm really hungry. Can I ask Mark to join us?"
"Feel free, this is your home. But I have to tell you, at today's board meeting, the directors believe you have post-traumatic symptoms and have passed a ban because of it."
"What? A ban!"
"Yes, they plan to kick you out."
"Why?" Tony wiped the oil off his mouth. "Just because the stock price dropped by 40%? These things happen—"
"It's actually 56.5%," Pepper corrected him.
"That doesn't matter. We have a controlling stake in the company!"
"Tony, but the board of directors also has their rights. They believe that you and your new research direction are not beneficial to the company."
"I've always been the one to make decisions. It's my work, my company—forget it, I'm going to the workshop." Tony took the entire pizza box and stood up to leave.
"Don't do this, Tony, Tony! Listen, Tony, I'm trying to turn things around, but you have to give me something, something that can convince them. I can help you find an engineer to draw some sketches or something, especially since the Arc Reactor is complex. Then I can use it to distract—"
"No, no, absolutely not!" Tony forcefully interrupted. "I'll handle this project myself. That's the final decision. Don't think about anything else, Obie. If they want to see something, they can go take a look at the gift Mark gave Pepper. That's our secret weapon for entering the medical field."
After saying that, Tony returned the pizza brought by the other person and walked away without looking back.
"Hey, aren't you giving two slices to Mark?"
"Fine, thanks." Tony turned around and took two slices of pizza before heading back to the garage.
"Tony, do you mind if I come down and see what you're working on?" Obadiah persisted. He had no interest in some healing health consultant; what he wanted was mass-destructive weapons.
"Goodnight, Uncle Obie. Thanks for the pizza."
...
"Good evening, Pepper."
Seeing Mark peeking his head out, Pepper stopped her work and looked at him. "Good evening. What were you sneaking around for?"
"I was observing if the big beard guy left or not."
"He's gone, come out. Is there something you need from me?"
"There is, there is!" Mark nodded vigorously, clearly having an ulterior motive. "Did the stock acquisition of Stark Industries go smoothly today?"
"Don't worry, the individual investors in the stock market can't wait to get rid of their Stark stocks. Today alone, nearly 2% of the shares were bought with $400 million from your account. That's the result of a tactical move to avoid attention and cause a rebound for the Stark family. If we go all out with the acquisition, we might be able to swallow up all the scattered stocks today."
"Hehe, thanks for your help, Pepper." Just thinking about the future value of those stocks made Mark unable to help but smile, drooling at the corners of his mouth.
"Alright, since we have such a good relationship, you don't have to be so polite with me. Did I ever treat you politely when I took Nini in?"
"That's different. That was just a small favor, while you're sacrificing your own rest time to help me. But since you said that, I have one more request without being polite..."
"Go ahead, no need to hesitate." Pepper, wearing a light yellow dress, reached out and ruffled Mark's fluffy hair.
"I'm currently developing a new project and need to purchase some equipment and materials through Stark Industries channels. Dad told me to ask you, and I've already sent the list to Nini's server."
"Alright, I'll take it to the purchasing department tomorrow and apply for it. Is there anything else? If not, I'll leave for home."
"No, that's it. Goodnight, Pepper!"
"Goodnight!"
