Tony Stark's New Armor

The old TV in the repair shop buzzed, static flickering across the screen. Lin Mo stood on an oil drum, adjusting the antenna. The metal can groaned beneath his feet, but Physical Enhancement let him keep his balance easily. With a light flick of his fingers, the image suddenly cleared—an silver-and-red torrent of metal sliced across the desert sky, blue flames from its thrusters tearing through the heat haze beneath the sun like a burning meteor.

"Holy crap!" Ted sprang off the toolbox, the wrench in his hand hitting the floor with a clang. "That thing is insanely cool! Ten times cooler than the robots we saw at Stark Industries last time!" He pressed his face close to the screen, nearly smashing his nose against the glass. "Look at that shine—it's definitely Titanium Alloy! And those missiles, they just go whoosh!"

On the TV, Tony Stark hovered in midair in the Mark 3 Armor. His faceplate slowly opened, revealing his trademark roguish grin. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is what you call a commuting vehicle." The moment he finished speaking, the armor shot upward. As it pierced the clouds, the thrusters erupted in blinding blue light, turning the entire desert into something out of a sci-fi movie.

Peter pushed up his slipping glasses. His notebook was already filled with sketches. "The thrusters use energy conversion technology from the Arc Reactor. They're three hundred percent more efficient than traditional jet engines, and the Antigravity Device's stability..." He suddenly stopped and looked up at Lin Mo. "Brother Lin Mo, do you think a propulsion system like that could be commercialized? Like... mounted on a bicycle?"

Lin Mo did not answer. His gaze was fixed on the thruster nozzles on the screen. The shape of those blue flames looked oddly familiar, almost exactly like the energy fluctuations from that stone in New Mexico when it heated up. He instinctively touched his pocket. The shard he had dug out of the woods lay quietly inside—the one he had wrapped in layers of metal boxes after discovering it could interfere with circuits. He had only taken it out occasionally to inspect it, never expecting it to act up now.

"Look, look, it can transform too!" Ted slapped Lin Mo on the shoulder hard enough to crack walnuts. "The shoulder parts can open up—there have to be machine guns inside! And the knees definitely have shock absorbers, or it would've fallen apart after jumping from that high..."

But Lin Mo's mind was on the stone. His wristband suddenly vibrated, faint as the flutter of a mosquito's wings. Without drawing attention, he rolled up his sleeve. A line of small text flashed across the pale blue screen before disappearing: [High-energy reaction detected. Resonating with Asgard Shard.]

His heart clenched. Resonance? He quietly took out the metal box. The instant his fingertips touched its surface, he jerked his hand back from the heat—it was far hotter than when he had buried it in the woods. The paint on the box had begun to scorch, and a faint red glow seeped through from inside.

"What's wrong?" Peter noticed his movement and leaned closer. "What is that? It's so hot." The boy's fingers had barely approached before he flinched back. "Is... is that the stone from New Mexico?"

"Yeah." Lin Mo shoved the metal box into the bottom of the toolbox and covered it with several oil-stained rags. "Probably TV signal interference." He pressed the power button, and the screen instantly went black, leaving only a lingering afterimage of static.

Ted complained unhappily, "Hey! I wasn't done watching! Did the armor blow up any aliens in the end?"

"No aliens. It was testing new features." Lin Mo crouched down and pretended to inspect the toolbox, feeling the stone's temperature through the metal box. It was still rising, like he had tucked a red-hot branding iron inside. He remembered what Martha had said: the stone carried the sinister taint of a divine object. It seemed she had been right.

"What feature could be cooler than fighting aliens?" Ted refused to let it go, pulling a crumpled lollipop from his pocket. "I bet it can turn into a sports car. I saw that in a comic once..."

Peter, however, looked thoughtful. "The TV said the Mark 3 Armor's reactor output is one and a half times that of the Mark 2 Armor. Energy that intense could affect the surrounding electromagnetic field. Brother Lin Mo, could your stone react to energy at a specific frequency?" He opened his notebook and pointed at an energy waveform he had drawn earlier. "Like tuning a radio. You can only receive signals on specific frequencies."

Lin Mo's eyes lit up. Peter had a point. Asgard's Mjolnir was a divine artifact itself. It was not strange for a stone stained with its energy to resonate with Tony's Arc Reactor—after all, both kinds of energy bore the traces of alien technology. Looking at the boy's serious profile, Lin Mo suddenly felt that Peter might one day figure out these supernatural phenomena.

"Maybe." Lin Mo answered vaguely as he locked the toolbox. "I need to deliver medicine to Grandma Gretchen. You two watch the shop." He grabbed his coat and headed outside, the heat from the metal box seeping through the fabric and burning his skin.

The late-autumn wind whipped fallen leaves against his face like tiny blades. Lin Mo did not head toward Gretchen's house. Instead, he circled around to the woods at the edge of the neighborhood—the place where he had buried the stone before. Using his Phasing Ability, he passed directly through the earth, dug up the metal box beneath a large rock, and opened it. A wave of heat blasted into his face. The stone glowed red like lava, and its surface was even faintly boiling.

"Damn it," Lin Mo cursed under his breath. If this thing kept burning like this, it would sooner or later draw S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention. He looked around, made sure no one was nearby, then activated his Phasing Ability and reached three meters underground. He buried the stone directly in the earth, pressed an even larger rock over it, and reinforced the spot with several scrap steel bars.

Only after finishing all that did he breathe a sigh of relief. His wristband had stopped vibrating, and its screen had returned to black. Lin Mo leaned against a tree, catching his breath. The endurance from Physical Enhancement kept him from feeling too tired, but the irritation in his heart would not go away—Tony's new armor test, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s covert surveillance, and this restless stone. It felt like his peaceful days were being shattered bit by bit.

On his way back, he passed the neighborhood park and saw Aunt May sitting in the sun with several elderly women, knitting sweaters on a bench. When she saw Lin Mo, she waved. "Little Lin, come sit for a while. I just baked some cookies."

"No thanks, Aunt May. There's still work at the shop." Lin Mo smiled and waved back, but his footsteps stopped—he saw the pattern on the sweater Aunt May was knitting. It was a silver-and-red robot with a glowing circle on its chest, looking exactly like Tony's armor.

"Peter drew the design," Aunt May said, holding it up for him to see. "That boy said it was called Iron Man and could fly in the sky. Technology these days is really incredible. Even clothes can fly now."

The corner of Lin Mo's mouth twitched. "It really is impressive." He suddenly remembered what Peter had said. If the thrusters could really be commercialized and mounted on a bicycle... Ted would probably ride one straight into the Brooklyn Bridge.

When he returned to the repair shop, Ted and Peter were gathered around an old motorcycle, studying it. A printed picture of the Mark 3 Armor lay spread out on the floor. "Look here," Ted said, pointing at the thruster section. "If we modify the motorcycle's exhaust pipes like this, maybe it can fly!"

"No." Peter shook his head. "The Arc Reactor's energy density is a thousand times greater than ordinary fuel. A motorcycle engine couldn't handle it. It would explode." He picked up a pencil and drew a small fan on the diagram. "Use this instead. Magnetic levitation. It won't fly high, but it could hover a few inches off the ground."

Lin Mo leaned against the doorframe and watched them, suddenly finding it amusing. Two half-grown kids were studying a printout, trying to build a flying motorcycle, while he, someone who knew the future, was worrying over a burning stone. Maybe ignorance really was bliss. At least they did not have to live in constant fear.

"Stop messing around," Lin Mo said as he walked over and picked up the printout. "This armor uses rare metals. There aren't many on Earth. If you want to modify a motorcycle, stick with steel." He pointed at the joint near the thruster. "The hydraulic system here is something you can learn from, though. Modify it a bit, and it could improve the motorcycle's shock absorption."

Peter's eyes immediately lit up. "Right! Why didn't I think of that? Connect the wheels with hydraulic rods, then add springs..." He grabbed a pen and began writing furiously, muttering to himself, "Damping coefficient, modulus of elasticity..."

Ted leaned over to look, completely lost. "Speak human."

"It means the bike won't bounce around as much." Lin Mo patted him on the head and taped the printout to the wall. "If you want to learn this, study math first. Otherwise, you won't even understand the blueprints."

That evening, Carlos suddenly showed up carrying a bottle of whiskey. He did not look well. "Old Carlos?" Lin Mo was a little surprised. The old man had rarely visited since Lin Mo opened the repair shop, claiming that "out of sight, out of mind."

"Did you watch the news?" Carlos set the liquor on the counter, his voice hoarse. "That lunatic Stark flew his armor over the United States Capitol and called it a display of 'a new force for national defense.'" He poured himself a drink and downed it in one gulp. "Something's going to happen sooner or later."

Lin Mo's heart skipped a beat. He knew this was the prelude to Tony publicly revealing himself as Iron Man, and the spark that would accelerate the Avengers Initiative. "The military didn't stop him?"

"Stop him? Who would dare?" Carlos sneered. "His father was the military's honored guest back then, and now no one can control him. But..." The old man lowered his voice. "I heard from some old buddies that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been secretly gathering people lately. Sounds like they're looking for something."

Lin Mo's fingers tightened. Looking for something? Were they looking for that stone? Or people with "special abilities" like him? He remembered the Energy Detector partially visible in the passenger-side compartment when Phil Coulson had come to repair his car last time. He had not thought much of it then, but now it all seemed suspicious.

"It has nothing to do with us." Lin Mo pretended not to care and handed Carlos a bottle of cola. "We fix our cars. If the sky falls, the tall people can hold it up."

Carlos looked at him without speaking, then poured himself another drink. Outside, night had fully fallen. Streetlights came on, stretching the repair shop's shadow long across the ground. Shield lay dozing by the doorway, his tail occasionally sweeping the floor with a soft rustle. The TV had started replaying the Mark 3 Armor test. The silver-and-red metal stood out sharply against the night, like a bomb that could explode at any moment.

Lin Mo sat on the toolbox, watching Tony Stark's arrogant grin on the screen as he touched the wristband on his arm. There were still 256 days until his next check-in. He had no idea what the world would look like by then. Suddenly, he missed the days when he had first crossed over. He had been frightened then, but at least he had not needed to deal with all these chaotic troubles.

"Oh, right," Carlos suddenly said. "There's a batch of scrapped military jeeps being cleared out next week. A few of the engines are still good. Want them? I can sell them to you cheap."

Lin Mo froze for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, definitely." Maybe burying himself in car repairs would let him forget these worries for a while. At least in the world of wrenches and motor oil, everything left a trace. Unlike alien stones and Iron Man armor, it was not full of unknown dangers.

Late at night, Ted and Peter had long since gone home, leaving Lin Mo alone in the repair shop. He turned off the TV but did not turn on the lights, sitting in the darkness and staring at the Mark 3 Armor picture on the wall. The stone in the metal box was still buried in the woods. He did not know whether it would cause trouble again. The wristband rested quietly against his skin like a silent secret.

Lin Mo sighed, got up, and locked the door. The night wind swept across the ground, stirring up fallen leaves. In the distance came the wail of sirens and the faint roar of helicopters—probably the military tracking Tony's armor. He looked up at the sky. There were no stars, only thick clouds like a massive curtain blocking out all light.

Maybe peace really was only temporary. Lin Mo clenched his fists. The power of Physical Enhancement flowed through his muscles more clearly than ever before. He did not know what he would face in the future, but at least for now, he had to be prepared—for himself and for the people around him.