Iron Man's "Home Visit"

An hour later.

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rang.

When he opened the door, a handsome middle-aged man in a suit stood outside.

"Hello, Mr. Parker." Tony Stark smiled and greeted him first. He seemed quite friendly, neither as aloof as imagined nor as aggressively domineering and sinister as the capitalists in Shadow Spider-Man's memories.

"Hello, Mr. Stark." After a brief moment of surprise, Peter nodded, stepped aside, and invited Tony Stark in.

Tony Stark gave Peter a surprised look.

He had not been paying attention to Peter for just a day or two. He had noticed him around the time Peter gained his abilities and began acting as the street-level hero Spider-Boy in that homemade baby suit.

Then, with little effort, he had discovered Spider-Boy's true identity beneath the mask.

After gathering Peter's background information and determining that what Peter was doing was simply a teenager's superhero role-playing, born from admiration for superheroes and a desire to become one, Tony had stopped paying much attention.

He had even helped Peter erase some traces to keep certain people from noticing him and causing unnecessary trouble.

Because of that, even without deliberately keeping watch, he had continued to receive and collect information about Peter.

Yet among all the information that had shaped his impression of Peter, "composed" was not one of the descriptors.

In fact, Tony Stark's word for Peter was: childish.

He could not even be called immature.

"Have you been doing well lately?" After studying Peter carefully, Tony Stark suddenly asked.

"Uh, pretty well, Mr. Stark," Peter said. "My name is Peter. You can just call me that."

"Alright, Peter. I'm Tony." Tony Stark patted Peter on the shoulder. "Wow, you're a sturdy young man."

"Mr. Stark, please come in and sit down," Aunt May invited at just the right moment.

Peter once again gestured for him to enter.

Tony Stark walked into the house, briefly looked over the living room, and sat down on the sofa.

Aunt May went to make tea while Peter sat down beside Tony Stark.

"Mr. Stark—"

"Call me Tony."

"Alright, Tony. Then may I ask why you came to see me?" Peter asked quietly.

Tony studied Peter carefully. "It seems you already have a guess."

Peter nodded slightly. "The Sokovia Accords?"

He did not ask foolish questions like why the Accords involved him or why Iron Man knew his identity.

In his earlier speculation, if Iron Man had come personally, then the entire situation was already predicated on him knowing Peter's identity.

"Yes, but not entirely." Tony looked at Peter with some surprise and spoke softly. "I hope you'll sign the Accords, but the main reason I came this time is that I need your help."

"You need me?" Peter was stunned. Had he really guessed right? Because of Captain America's rebellion, Iron Man needed help dealing with them?

"Ahem." Before Peter could ask his next question, Tony coughed lightly and raised his voice. "I've approved the September Fund matter. So, Peter, whenever you're ready, we can discuss working together."

"The September Fund? Working together?" Aunt May came out of the kitchen carrying tea and the snacks she had prepared in advance.

"Uh, sorry, Aunt May, I really..." Peter knew this was an excuse Iron Man had come up with to conceal their real purpose, so he deliberately acted hesitant.

Tony looked at Aunt May, stood up to take some of the items from her hands, and smiled. "Peter is an excellent young man. I'm looking forward to working with him."

"I'm actually looking forward to working with you too, Mr. Stark," Peter said solemnly, even changing the way he addressed him.

From Aunt May's perspective, this sounded like a discussion about the September Fund and sponsorship. Her nephew Peter had probably applied for funding, with Stark Industries as the provider or something along those lines.

But between Peter and Tony, Peter's words meant that he agreed to sign the Sokovia Accords.

"Mr. Stark, can we discuss the details of our cooperation?" Peter asked.

Tony smiled faintly. "Of course, Mr. Parker."

"Aunt May." Peter looked at her.

Aunt May clenched her fist in encouragement and mouthed, "Good luck!"

"Mm!"

Peter and Tony stood up and headed toward Peter's room.

"What is this, retro technology?" The moment he entered the room, Tony was drawn to the bulky old desktop computer on Peter's desk.

Peter glanced at it. It was indeed a computer, assembled from a pile of parts he had scavenged from a recycling station. He mainly used it to calibrate his web-shooters, so he had added many ports to the back, making it look rather bloated.

"Actually, it is pretty retro..." Having his idol see these things made Peter feel slightly embarrassed.

Tony secretly chuckled. At last, he had found an expression appropriate for Peter's age on this kid who had been pretending to be so profound.

That was right. After thinking it over carefully, he decided Peter was merely putting on a serious act.

After all, before coming here today, all his intelligence had described Peter as that same childish brat.

How could someone suddenly grow up overnight?

Even if it happened, it should have been because they had suffered some major turning point in life.

But everything in Peter's life had been calm and uneventful, no different from before. Where would the conditions for such "forced maturity" come from?

"Although you seem to have already admitted it, I still want to confirm something. The one wandering around the streets in baby pajamas was you, right, Peter?" Tony took out his phone and opened a video.

"...Yes, that was me, but those weren't baby pajamas. That was my... suit, just like your Iron Man Armor!"

"You call this thing a suit? Hahaha!" Tony slapped his thigh and burst into laughter.

Peter looked at him, somewhat annoyed.

"Ahem, I didn't mean to laugh at you." Tony turned serious and apologized on his own initiative. "Hahaha, but I can't help it."

"..." Peter said helplessly, "Tony, can we stop talking about the baby paj—ptui, the suit, and discuss the Sokovia Accords and the help you need from me? I think that's why you really came."

"Mm, right. The Sokovia Accords are..." Tony gave Peter a general overview of the Sokovia Accords, since understanding them was a prerequisite for joining.

Peter also wanted to understand the agreement in its entirety.

Although he believed that people with superhuman abilities needed a certain degree of oversight, if that oversight was too severe, he could not accept it.

Moreover, influenced by Shadow Spider-Man's experiences, he did not have much faith in the integrity of those in power.

He did not want to become someone else's tool for profit without even realizing it.