Everyone Wins

"What I mean is, you can fly on your own, right?"

"What if your armor isn't fast enough, and you fly past me yourself?"

Tony finally remembered that Leon's own speed was dozens of times that of an Iron Man suit.

"Do I look like the kind of person who cheats?"

"If you don't cheat, why did you knock me out two days ago?"

"Fine, then I'll get out of the armor. JARVIS, you take control of it."

"Wait, JARVIS can control it? You mean your armor can operate unmanned for the entire trip?" Tony had not yet developed anything like that.

"Mm-hmm. What do you think? My armor's impressive, right?"

"It is very... cough. I mean, it's a decent idea. I thought of that before too, I just didn't have enough time."

"...Then you really are amazing, Tony."

"Cough, cough. All right, JARVIS, are you ready? We're starting the competition." Tony changed the subject with a hint of guilt.

"Yes, Mr. Stark. I will begin timing in three seconds. Are you ready?"

"I've been ready."

JARVIS issued the command. "Ready, three, two, one, begin!"

Both suits ignited their thrusters at the same time, taking off at full power and shooting into the sky, their long trails of flame streaking across the heavens.

Leon watched as the two vanished into the clouds and could not help commenting.

"Honestly, both suits are pretty slow."

"As expected, armor like this doesn't really do anything for me except satisfy my sentimental attachment."

Then he tugged at his collar with both hands. His Biological Force Field spread out, and he shot into the high sky like a meteor flying in reverse.

"Woohoo!!" Tony continued accelerating high above the clouds. He had never experienced the freedom of soaring through the sky like this before.

"For millions of years, the sky has loomed over humanity."

"Flying into the sky and conquering it is a desire etched into human genes."

"No wonder so many people throughout history tried to fly. This feeling is just incredible!!"

Tony was exhilarated, filled with heroic ambition as he felt that he was now the invincible king of machines.

"JARVIS, has Leon's armor already been left far behind me?" He felt certain of the answer.

Yet JARVIS was as merciless as ever. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but regrettably, the armor controlled by my subprogram has already left you three blocks behind."

"What?" Tony froze. "That's impossible!"

"I'm sorry, but the fact is that there is already a seven-hundred-meter gap between your armor and Young Master Leon's."

Tony looked upward, but layers of clouds shrouded the high altitude, preventing him from seeing anything above.

"This has to be some kind of mistake. Accelerate, JARVIS. Full acceleration!"

Mark 2 erupted with even greater thrust, parting the sea of clouds as it charged upward.

Yet several minutes later, Tony still could not see Leon's armor—not even its exhaust trail.

"Damn it, why is it so fast?"

"Because Young Master Leon employed a more coordinated movement system, reducing the armor's weight. Both its acceleration and top speed have improved," JARVIS reported.

"...Fine, I'm starting to admit that kid's a genius. But I can't lose this competition. JARVIS, use power beyond the load limit."

"Sir, I must remind you that if you continue ascending, the low temperatures may cause the armor to freeze."

"Listen to me. Keep flying!"

Several more minutes passed, and Tony finally caught a faint glimpse of Leon's armor's flame trail.

"Good, that's it. Catch up to it, then blow right past it!"

"Sir, frost has already formed on the armor's outer layer. Continuing flight may damage the components."

"Don't worry about it. Keep accelerating!"

Tony's blood was pumping now, and his competitive spirit had been fully roused.

In a hot-blooded manga, he would undoubtedly power up next, surge past Leon's armor, and complete a glorious comeback.

Unfortunately, the laws of physics in the Marvel universe would not cut him any slack for such a reason.

—In Marvel, only the more tragic a person was, the more they could ignore physics and cheat their way to victory.

As the altitude continued to rise, layers of frost began coating Mark 2's shell, rapidly spreading and thickening.

The armor's acceleration began to drop.

Before JARVIS could even issue a warning—

The next moment, Mark 2 suddenly shut down!

Every electrical circuit inside the armor froze, cutting off its power in an instant!

"Wait, what's happening... uh, ah, ahhh!!"

Tony's upright body lost its balance, and he plummeted like a frantic frog flailing all four limbs.

"JARVIS, JARVIS! Deploy the wings!"

Tony discovered that the frozen armor would not obey him and tried to call for JARVIS.

But the current had short-circuited, and the intelligent system had long since stopped functioning.

The armor fell faster and faster, as gravity ruthlessly demonstrated its might.

"Oh no, oh no, Leon! Leon, save me!" Tony shouted in panic.

The next second.

"No problem, Tony."

Leon instantly appeared before Mark 2 and caught it around the waist, immediately halting its descent.

That damned sense of security was just too damned reassuring.

Still shaken, Tony said, "M-My God, that was close. Thanks, Leon, though I know you were definitely down there watching me make a fool of myself."

"Don't say that. I actually wanted to see whether you could stay calm in a crisis and turn things around."

"You'd better mean that..." Tony took several deep, gasping breaths to steady himself.

"Whew!" On the other side, JARVIS piloted Leon's armor down.

"Sir, it is wonderful that you are unharmed. That was truly dangerous just now." JARVIS expressed concern in his mechanical voice.

Leon continued carrying Tony. "All right, the competition is over. Let's head back."

Tony had no objections.

On the way back, he suddenly asked, "The gold you mentioned was meant to solve the freezing problem at high altitude?"

"That's right. Adding gold allows the armor to keep functioning in extreme environments."

Tony fell completely silent.

Back in the underground garage, Tony removed his armor with the help of the robotic arms.

"Leon, you... you won," he said, sitting down somewhat dejectedly.

"That's right. I won."

Leon smiled happily.

He walked over and sat down beside Tony. "But actually, you won too, Tony."

Seeing Tony's puzzled look, he explained, "You taught me how to build an Iron Man suit, which was why I could make this one."

"If you taught this knowledge to other professors of mechanical engineering, would they really be unable to learn it?"

"Of course they could learn it. In fact, because everyone thinks differently, they might even build armor with more functions than yours."

"The hardest thing in this world has never been learning and expanding upon something. It is creation—creating something from nothing!"

"Tony, you are the one who created it."

"If it hadn't been for you, perhaps even twenty years from now, no one would have built a Small Arc Reactor or an Iron Man suit."

"My victory over you this time only came from refining a few things that you did not have time to refine yet."

"Do you think you can't do those things, Tony?"

Tony immediately shook his head. "Of course not..."

"It's just... all right, give me some time, and I can do it too."

"See?" Leon patted Tony on the shoulder. "Tony, you only lacked a little time. I merely saved that time by using Super-Brain."

Tony's earlier dejection slowly faded. His expression was complicated. "Leon, you really... are different now."

"You only noticed? I'm practically a little Superman now. How could I still be the same as before?"

"No, I mean you've grown up."

"Sorry, I can't tell whether you're insulting me or complimenting me."

"Of course I'm complimenting you!"

"Then, Tony, I have to say that after coming back from Afghanistan, you've grown up too. After all, you never used to—"

"Stop! Stop! Why are you suddenly insulting me in such a roundabout way?"

"See? What did I just say?"

"...You won. You won again. Oh, this damned competitive streak of adolescence. You should hurry up and go to school in Columbia instead of staying home all day and getting on my nerves."

"Look at you, look at you. Tony, you're getting worked up again."

"Get out! Get the hell out of here!"

"Sure thing, I'll gracefully roll myself out of here." Leon picked up his armor and vanished in a flash.

"That kid..." Tony shook his head helplessly. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly smiled. "He's really remarkable."