"So, you just exposed yourself like that?" Tony watched the video of Luke fighting Abomination on the tablet, along with the final close-up of Luke's face, then looked at Luke helplessly.
"I had no choice. That monster almost turned the tables back there. I had to go all out." Luke lay listlessly in a chair, staring blankly at the ceiling.
After his face had been exposed yesterday, a whole crowd of "helpful netizens" had immediately dug up his information. Never mind his name-even his address and photos from his everyday life had been posted. God knew how those people had gotten pictures of him.
Now he didn't dare go home, with a mass of reporters and onlookers surrounding his place so tightly that nothing could get through.
Left with no choice, he had the ninjas take away the little flower he kept on his balcony, then came running to Tony's place to lie low.
"Well, I never imagined you'd expose your identity in such an idiotic way," Tony mocked him.
Luke silently gave Tony the internationally recognized friendly gesture.
"So, how did things go with you two last night?"
Tony smiled. "A delicious lunch, a wonderful movie, and a romantic candlelit dinner."
"That was it?" Luke had thought this guy wouldn't let Pepper go home.
Tony looked a little helpless. "Pepper's father dropped her off yesterday morning with a Winchester in his hand, shouting things like, 'I'll be back at eight tonight to pick up my daughter.' What could I do with so little time? I even washed the dishes myself yesterday."
"I thought you'd just throw the dishes away." Holding back his laughter, Luke continued, "Looks like he doesn't have a very good impression of you."
"What can I do about it?" Tony said helplessly. "It's not like I can travel back in time and slap myself."
"Honestly, I thought you'd skip the candlelit dinner and show your true colors."
Tony looked a little helpless. "Is that the kind of person I am to you?"
Luke nodded without hesitation.
"Oh, come on. I respect Pepper's wishes." Tony said slowly, "Besides, I think I'm starting to understand that feeling you talked about. It's not bad." He raised an eyebrow at Luke, his eyes brimming with smugness.
Even the air didn't feel so pleasant to Luke anymore. What could draw more resentment than flaunting your love life in front of a single guy?
Luke got up and headed toward the room assigned to him, planning to water his little flower.
Tony called after him, "The Stark Expo opening ceremony is tonight. I'm planning an Iron Man-style opening. Want to come?"
"No, thanks. Otherwise, I'm afraid there won't be any coverage of you tomorrow."
Luke returned to his room and watered his little flower. Thinking about how he'd have to sneak around like a thief whenever he went out from now on left him thoroughly frustrated.
At eight that evening, the alarm suddenly rang.
"Uh... JARVIS? Turn off the alarm." Luke sat up groggily. "Why did I set this alarm, anyway?"
"Your note says: watch the Stark Expo opening ceremony."
"Oh!" Luke remembered. "Put it on for me."
A projection appeared on the wall, showing the Stark Expo opening ceremony, which had just begun.
He watched Tony land onstage in his armor, causing an uproar throughout the venue, then begin his speech with an extremely smug air.
"So, that's an Iron Man-style opening? It really is his style." Luke watched Tony showing off with displeasure.
"JARVIS, what does Tony do if someone makes him angry?"
"Generally speaking, sir collects their confidential information or dirt, then releases it or sends them a legal notice directly."
"Oh..." Luke remembered that in the original story, whenever someone blasted Tony, he would release their confidential information or dirt and turn the attack back on them. That included Hammer, Fury, and even Captain America.
Luke nodded, found his camera's memory card, and placed it on a nearby device.
"JARVIS, read the photos and send them to me."
Luke smiled at the photos he'd received on his phone. These definitely qualified as dirt on Tony.
And so, just as the Stark Expo opening ceremony concluded successfully and Tony was riding high, a few photos quietly appeared online.
Tony didn't know yet. All he knew was that the court summons he'd just received was really annoying him.
"How far are we from D.C.?"
"D.C.? Two hundred and fifty miles."
"All right. Looks like I won't be going home today."
The following afternoon, Luke was lounging comfortably on the couch, watching a DC movie on television, when Tony suddenly pushed the door open and walked in.
"How did you get those photos?" Tony exclaimed helplessly.
That morning, after soundly defeating Hammer and that senator whose name he couldn't remember, he'd wanted to see what people online thought of his brilliant debate performance. Instead, he'd discovered that pictures of him forging iron in ragged clothes with a thick beard were spreading all over the internet.
He'd thought some of his kidnappers hadn't been eliminated yet and had JARVIS trace the source, only for JARVIS to tell him the photos had been sent from his own home.
"What, don't you like them?" Luke smiled. "I thought you'd feel nostalgic about those days."
"God, I can already picture the headlines in tomorrow's papers-or even tonight's," Tony said despondently, flopping down beside Luke.
What could he do? He couldn't beat Luke in a fight, and he'd been the one to show off first.
"Look on the bright side. Maybe Pepper will see those photos and come running over to comfort you."
The words had barely left his mouth when Pepper walked in.
"Tony, are you here?"
Luke poked his head out in surprise. Pepper really had come. Was he about to become a gigantic third wheel?
"What is it, Potts?"
Tony pushed Luke's head down behind the couch and gave him a look. Taking the hint, Luke slipped into the shadows and disappeared.
"I need you..."
"Don't worry. It's fine. They're just a few photos," Tony said, pretending not to care.
"Uh, what photos?" Pepper asked in confusion.
"It's not about the photos?"
"What photos?"
"Then what are you here for?" Tony asked, a little puzzled.
"Uh, remember how you wanted to make me CEO? I've already started handling the CEO's work, but there are still some important formalities to complete before you can fully hand the position over to me. Otherwise, there are things I can't handle."
Tony deflated a little. "All right. Tell me where to sign."
"Looks like you two have business to take care of?" Luke quietly emerged from the side. "Should I leave you to it?"
Pepper greeted him with a smile. Ever since Luke had given them that assist last time, her relationship with him had gone straight from acquaintances to friends, not to mention that he'd given her ten extremely powerful bodyguards.
"Don't you go anywhere. There are some documents here that need your signature too."
"Uh, mine?" Luke was a little puzzled. What documents needed his signature? He wasn't a shareholder in Stark Industries.
"They're for the phone company. Its scale has already reached nearly a hundred billion, and you're the second-largest shareholder. Some documents need your approval before they can be issued."
"Uh, nearly a hundred billion? So that makes me a billionaire too?" Luke really hadn't expected the phone company to grow so quickly.
Then again, compared with the button-operated phones currently popular in Marvel, full-screen smartphones were worlds apart. Their popularity was only inevitable.
"Well, looks like neither of us is getting away today," Tony said helplessly.
"Then let's wait for the woman from Legal. She knows which documents we need to fill out."
"All right. Luke, want to get some exercise? I really feel like working out right now."
A little later, Luke stood holding training pads in both hands, looking at Tony in front of him.
"Why am I the one getting hit?"
"Because I can't take your punches."
As he spoke, Tony threw a fast punch, which Luke easily blocked. Unsurprised, Tony kept attacking.
Luke looked at Tony helplessly. If he wanted to sulk, couldn't he go play on that treadmill over there?
Luke blocked punch after punch. Eventually, he yawned in boredom and withdrew one hand, using just one to block Tony's attacks.
"You're really no fun." After glancing at Happy, who was holding back laughter nearby, Tony turned toward him. "Get in here, Happy. You spar with me."
"Uh." Happy felt a little helpless. For some reason, he wanted to dock Tony's pay.
Wait, he was just a driver. Why was he thinking about docking his own boss's pay?
Luke handed the protective gear to Happy and smugly walked over to Pepper, who was working on documents.
"You look busy?" Luke watched Pepper's hand swipe across the tablet nonstop.
Pepper smiled helplessly. Stark Industries had shut down its weapons division, and things within the company still hadn't completely settled down. A large number of researchers and factory workers were protesting. After all, they'd been fired.
Luke lay down on the other side, poured himself a glass of cola, and took a blissful sip as he watched Happy spar with Tony.
Happy did have some training, after all. He soon adjusted to Tony's rhythm and began coaching him. Tony quickly got into the groove too, launching increasingly fast and fierce attacks.
Just as Luke was about to fall asleep, the door suddenly opened, and he saw Natasha walk in.
"You're here." Pepper smiled. Natasha came over, handed her a stack of documents, and explained how to fill them out.
Stroking his chin, Luke watched the famous Black Widow's role-playing with interest.
Natasha found a moment to shoot Luke a threatening look. Luke nodded, indicating that he wouldn't mess things up.
With her head down the entire time, Pepper didn't notice the exchange between Luke and Natasha. Once she understood how to fill out the forms, she handed several to Luke for him to complete.
"Tony, the woman from Legal is here. You need to come fill out a few documents."
Only then did Tony and Happy notice there was another person there.
Unlike Happy, who was immediately captivated, Tony had become much more alert after his "happy Humvee" trip, which made him feel there was something odd about Natasha.
"You, get in here," Tony said to Natasha. She paused in surprise, then stepped into the ring.
Handing Natasha the gloves, Tony walked over to Pepper.
"Who is she?"
"She's new in Legal. She's very capable."
Tony took the documents and signed a few places, then started looking up Natasha's information on the side. But all he found online was her impeccable résumé.
He searched a few other websites and discovered that Natasha had also worked as a model. There were plenty of photos.
Pepper cast a few worried glances at Natasha in the ring, only to turn back and find Tony looking at Natasha's photos.
"Tony!" Pepper said helplessly. They'd only just had their first date. Was Tony already going to ruin their honeymoon phase?
She sent Luke a pleading look. Understanding immediately, Luke quietly closed the webpage.
Tony, who had been looking with great interest, gave Luke a puzzled look, but Luke merely gave him a look that said he was on his own.
"Uh, all right."
Feeling an intense gaze on his back, Tony shrugged helplessly.
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