Another Copycat
Stanley's Pizza Parlor, Willowdale, Virginia-
-May 13, 2010, 2200h local-
"As much as I want you two to continue to a poorly lit sex scene..." Naruto interrupted the emotionally charged moment causing Bruce and Betty to release a groan. "We still need to deal with some stuff. Like maybe dealing with the soldier's sent to watch over Betty here."
Bruce and Betty's eyes immediately widened in alarm while Erik took out his sidearm and looked out the window. However, he hadn't found anyone outside.
"You're slipping, boss. There's no one outside." Erik replied, still not entirely putting his guard down.
"Of course, there's no one outside..." Naruto answered before taking a bite out of his pizza. "They're following that Samson guy. They think Betty's with him. Set up illusions and all that jazz."
Erik immediately reholstered his pistol, but it looks like Betty is still skeptical.
"Illusions? What are you? Some kind of wizard?" Betty asked incredulously.
"I just think of him as a magical ninja, and everything fits." Erik replied with a shrug.
This didn't seem to satisfy the female Ross since she turned towards her 'ex,' expecting for him to back her up, but his sheepish expression already clued her in his answer.
"I'm not saying I believe in magic or real-life ninjas, but I'm a 5'8" nerd that can turn into a 12' green berserker that violates the law of conservation of mass or law of conservation of energy if you're picky. That's got to account for something. The golden chains certainly support that claim..." Bruce countered. "Besides, I kinda trust Erik over there since he helped in the past three months."
"Anyway!" Naruto cut Betty off when he saw that she would argue. "I gotta go, but you can stay. You're responsible adults..." He added while pulling out a bundle of hundred-dollar bills and placing it on the table. "And you, Ms. Ross. Be careful when you decide to visit again. Remember, your dad is a paranoid patriotic asshole." He finished before standing up from his seat, leaving a flabbergasted Elizabeth Ross.
It was only when Naruto was near Stan that everyone else at the table noticed that Naruto's pizza was gone.
"How did... Where did...?" Betty stammered out.
"Told you. Magic ninja." Erik answered nonchalantly before taking another pizza slice.
Meanwhile, Naruto approached Stan somewhat cautiously. Ever since Naruto restarted the 'Earth's Pulse' and started to use his sage mode to take regularly a census of the world, he had been detecting these weird chakra signatures. However, every time he comes close to one, it always disappears before appearing on the other side of the planet. Naruto had already dubbed the signature as the 'copycat.' Luckily, there seems to be one right here and now.
"Stan, right?" Naruto asked to which Stan nodded. "You'll look after those two, right?" He gestured towards Bruce and Betty. Erik can handle himself in almost any situation.
Stan released a chuckle before answering.
"Don't worry. I'll watch over them..." Stan replied. "You can say it's my full-time job." He added cryptically.
-Stark's Private Plane, Atlantic Ocean-
-May 21, 2010, 1300h local-
The Potts-Stark family, including Happy, 'Natalie,' and Naruto, are currently on their way to watch the Monaco Grand Prix. One of the few sports events Tony regularly watches.
Over the past two weeks, Pepper has already implemented a few of her ideas that she hadn't been able to do since she wasn't the CEO, even though she has been arguably running the company in the past few years due to Tony's aversion to paperwork and meetings.
Her husband's death timer that's been hovering her head in the past few days was temporarily pushed to the back of her mind to spend some time with her family. The only upside with Tony's condition is Naruto's certainty that he can heal Tony or, at the very least, remove the heavy metal in the bloodstream regularly.
Only Tony's pride in finding the solution himself has prevented Naruto from completely healing the gaping chest cavity.
"I heard Vanity Fair is going to do a piece on Hammer." Pepper said while looking through her tablet detailing Stark Industries' projected growth rate.
"Ha! They can't get an interview with me, so they went to that 2nd rate poser." Tony replied while eating burgers with Morgan.
Despite their hectic lifestyle and the looming death timer, Tony and Pepper are still relatively hands-on parents. The couple also decided to make this outing Morgan's first official public appearance. A couple of pictures has been posted online, but it never saw the light of day due to JARVIS's deep net scanning algorithm.
The Stark heiress's first public outing has also made Happy a very unhappy guy. Creating a security plan and coordinating the detail is a pain in the ass. Even after all the background checks and interviews while strapped into a lie detector, Happy decided to use the security sent from SI Italy mainly for crowd control. Only he and Naruto would stay with the family.
To be honest, Happy is still not sure what to think about the blonde mercenary, but there are two things he's sure of. One, Naruto is a one-person army with his ability to multiply and disguise himself, and two, he can instantly transport everyone away.
"Happy! Tony!" Naruto called out suddenly after standing up from his seat beside 'Natalie.' "We need to talk." He added before walking towards the bedroom to get some privacy.
Tony gave Pepper a small shrug before scooting Morgan over to her mother. He stood up and walked just behind happy to the bedroom.
"I know I'm hot and all but you're just not my type." Tony joked with his usual smirk.
"You don't have the boob or the ass for you to be my type..." Naruto countered before pulling up two SI tablets and handed them over to Tony and Happy. "Anton Vanko. Russian Scientist. A brilliant one at that. Basically built half what powers your chest."
Tony looked up from the tablet and stared down at Naruto when he heard the tail end of his statement.
"My dad built the arc reactor." Toyn stated.
"Correction. Howard and Anton built the reactor. You can see the original plans on your tablet. Copied them from SHIELD archives itself..." Naruto could clearly see the disbelief on Tony's face. "You can read up on Anton later cause that's not who's important. It's his son. Ivan."
"Why? What's he gonna do?" Happy asked.
"Well he built a homemade suit with a working arc reactor and he plans to either kill or discredit Tony at Monaco GP in front of the whole world. You know. The usual."
"Fuck." Tony and Happy said at the same time.
Contrary to popular belief, most of the parts currently used on the Iron Man armor are only a decade or two ahead of the competition. Any smart enough group with a significant amount of resources can build their own suit. The only hurdle almost anyone can't overcome is the power generation problem. The suits use a ton of power even in their idle state and conventional energy production and storage just can't keep up with the demand. That's where the arc reactor comes in. It can produce the same amount of energy as a small nuclear reactor with a size smaller than a can of coke. The moment someone else figured out how to make the arc reactor or something similar, it could kick start another global arms race.
"So what are we going to do about this?" Tony asked a little meekly.
"I can erase him but it would leave a lot of questions. A few intelligence agencies are already on his tail and protecting him to make sure he meets with you. I guess they really want to make sure the Iron Man tech goes public." Naruto answered.
Tony walked back and forth across the room to think of a solution while Happy pulled out his phone to call the assigned security to upgrade their gear with high-caliber weapons and emp grenades.
"I got it. Instead of hiding it, we'll do what you do best. We'll make a spectacle out of it and prove that your gear is still a few generations ahead. You just got to make sure you wipe the floor with his face." Naruto suggested.
Tony released a groan and ran his hands through his hair.
"And I thought I could have a quiet vacation for once."