By the time Alvin came downstairs, the charity gala was nearly over.
He glanced around and spotted Tony sitting alone in a corner, drinking his sorrows away. Alvin couldn't help laughing.
"Hey, if it isn't our resident playboy."
Alvin straightened his clothes, plopped down beside him, and teased, "I thought you'd have left ages ago with a few models."
"Don't even get me started. What a lousy night!" Tony set down his glass with a scowl, looking deeply aggrieved. "All I did was announce I was shutting down the weapons division, and everyone came out against me. Even Obadiah doesn't agree. Do they really have so little faith in me?"
Looks like I missed a key part of the story. Alvin glanced around the banquet hall and realized Obadiah was nowhere to be seen.
He'd probably argued with Tony and then left.
"I can see you're in a pretty bad mood." Alvin patted his shoulder. What Tony needed most right now wasn't comfort or reassurance.
"Tell me. Did I really make the wrong decision?"
Tony hadn't yet gone through the painful soul-searching that would come with Yinsen's death, so he was still lost.
He wasn't sure whether shutting down the weapons division was the right thing to do. And with even his closest confidant, Obadiah, opposing him, he felt even more uncertain.
Before he could truly become Iron Man, he still had a long and difficult road ahead.
Only when an iron will had been forged into his very bones would he become the Iron Man who saved the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
Looking at Tony, lost and uncertain, Alvin felt a jumble of emotions. He said softly, "This isn't like the Tony Stark I know. If you think something is right, then do it without wavering, even if a lot of people oppose you along the way."
"You mean you agree with me shutting down the weapons division?" Tony stared at Alvin blankly, bewilderment written all over his face.
"No. I mean you need to think it through." Alvin spoke earnestly. "Why are you shutting down the weapons division? Is it because Yinsen told you Stark Industries' weapons were being sold in the Middle East and had caused many civilian casualties, and you feel so guilty that you want to shut it down?"
"I..."
Tony opened his mouth, but the words wouldn't come.
"Think it through before you decide what to do." Alvin smiled and handed him a drink. "Whatever you decide, I believe in you."
"Why... do you believe in me so much?"
Tony took the drink, a look of surprise on his face.
Even his uncle Obadiah and Pepper Potts were questioning his decision to shut down the weapons division.
And yet Alvin, whom he'd only just met, always seemed to have such faith in him.
"Do I really need to explain?"
Alvin raised his glass and clinked it against Tony's. As Tony stared at him in surprise, he said slowly, "Because you're Tony Stark."
Those simple words brought Tony out of his slump. He straightened up again. "Right. You're right. I'm Tony Stark, the smartest genius in the world!"
"Oh, I almost forgot—I have some good news for you."
After clinking glasses, Tony downed his drink and slung an arm around Alvin's shoulder, his words slightly slurred. "Come home with me. I'll show you something amazing!"
Completely bewildered, Alvin had no choice but to let Tony drag him into a luxury sedan.
The driver was, naturally, the director—no, that was wrong. It was Happy.
Before long, Happy drove them to Stark Industries Group. By then, Tony was already quite drunk. He dragged Alvin straight to the top-floor lab.
Looking at Tony's mysterious act, Alvin had already more or less guessed what his surprise was.
Sure enough, Tony stood on the circular platform in the middle of the lab, spread his arms, and shouted through the fumes of alcohol, "J.A.R.V.I.S., put on some upbeat music, then let's see the show!"
Upbeat music played all around them as several mechanical arms extended from beneath the platform.
A silver, streamlined suit of armor was quickly fitted onto Tony. The moment its faceplate closed, Iron Man of the Marvel Universe was born!
Tony could never kick his habit of showing off. He turned around a few times in front of Alvin, grinning proudly. "Well? Not bad, huh?"
"Eh, it's okay. Nothing special."
Alvin wasn't about to humor him. He pursed his lips and said, "Other than looking a little lighter and less bulky, it doesn't seem all that impressive."
"...I haven't shown you the really impressive part yet!"
Tony wasn't about to take that lying down. He'd been sneaking around for days just so he could show off in front of Alvin.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., engage combat mode!" At his command, two mechanical arms grabbed a massive metal backpack and locked it onto the armor's back. More arms emerged from beneath the platform, attaching external weapons, reinforcing the shoulder and chest plates, and fitting all the rest onto the Mark II!
The Mark II, which had stood only two meters tall and still looked like a humanoid suit of armor, instantly transformed into heavy armor!
And why did the weapons mounted on its thighs look so familiar?
Oh, they were Bolters—just without the Purity Seals.
Wait, what kind of person puts two miniature shoulder cannons on a suit of armor? Was he getting ready for a war?
The Mark II had become the Mrak IV!
So, it was all Mark Series stuff, and he'd just gone ahead and copied it, huh?
"Uh... did you pay the licensing fee?"
Alvin's eye twitched as he looked at the Iron Man armor mounted on the metal backpack.
By the Emperor Lord, he could swear on the Ecclesiarchy's holy scripture that he hadn't taught Tony any of this. Even if they came asking for licensing fees later, they'd better not come after him!
"What do you know? It's called art!"
With combat mode fully assembled, Tony looked like a kid showing off his toys as he explained his design choices to Alvin. "I didn't think that far ahead at first. But then I thought I might run into enemies like you someday, so I developed this Mark II model!"
"So I increased the thickness of the external armor to keep high-energy weapons from punching through it, like that gun of yours."
"But with so many weapons mounted on it, I figured I might not have enough power, so I added external Energy Batteries."
"I studied your Bolter. As a close-combat weapon, it has unparalleled stopping power. Its only downside is the recoil—but with armor, that's no problem!"
"And I mounted two shoulder cannons, too. I based them on your Plasma Gun, but I haven't managed to get them working yet."
"Finally, I connected your Deflection Field defense system to J.A.R.V.I.S.'s control system at the armor's core. That way, it can defend against attacks from every direction."
"You're not calling this thing the 'Anti-Alvin Armor,' are you?"
Alvin's mouth twitched. So Tony had already built armor specifically to counter him!
"That's not important!"
Tony planted his hands on his hips, brimming with confidence. "Trust me. Once the next-generation Mark III is finished—with all its weapons and an Energy Backpack—it'll be able to suit up automatically using infrared. Then it'll be complete!"
By the Emperor Lord.
If there was a problem, he could go ask Tzeentch.
This had absolutely nothing to do with him. Who knew what Tony was thinking?
Alvin prayed silently, while sparing a moment of sympathy for Obadiah.
Before you continue