Tony's Family Talk

"The next ability... hmm, that's it. We've finished testing them, Tony." Leon spread his hands.

"Finished?" As if he had heard good news, Tony perked up at once and straightened his back again.

He enlarged the chart on the computer. "I thought you'd be able to give me a whole page of abilities."

"A whole page? No matter what, it couldn't be that exaggerated." Leon flew toward Tony.

"Why not?" Tony said theatrically. "I remember you saying you had all of Superman's abilities."

"I thought you were going to demonstrate something like the time-reversal ability from Superman I, or using Heat Vision to heal wounds."

Leon landed in front of Tony. "Don't joke around. How could I possibly have abilities like that?"

"You said it yourself. You have every ability Superman has." Tony emphasized, "I still remember how confident you looked when you said that in the garage!"

Leon was left speechless. This time, he had been struck by his own boomerang.

After all, this world didn't have Henry Cavill's Man of Steel Superman yet.

The Supermen in other films were all far stronger than Henry Cavill's Superman.

So when he had compared himself back then, he had really only been comparing himself to Henry Cavill's Superman.

Leon sighed. "Fine, I take that back. I only have the abilities of a Kryptonian."

"Superman is so powerful because he's the protagonist of a comic book."

"His fellow Kryptonians aren't nearly as powerful as he is."

"And I'm the same." Leon walked over to the computer and checked the records.

"Don't let my rapidly increasing strength fool you."

"I figure I'm actually not too far from my limit at this point."

Tony found that an interesting topic. "Really? That makes more sense. A species capable of reproducing shouldn't have the ability to evolve infinitely."

He stroked his chin. "Maybe we could conduct a simple experiment and build a model to estimate your future growth curve?"

"That's what I wanted to do too," Leon readily agreed. "But I'll still need your help with the later tests."

"No problem. Leave it to me," Tony said.

Leon smiled and patted Tony on the shoulder. "Thanks, Tony."

"But for now, it seems we should head back. There's still a basement at home waiting for us to repair it."

"Damn it, you shouldn't have mentioned the basement. I'm already imagining how angry Pepper will be." Tony looked up at the sky, where countless raindrops fell in an endless curtain.

"How about this? You handle Pepper, and I'll handle the basement."

"I don't like this deal very much, but deal!"

Night fell.

Leon used the Biological Force Field together with Heat Vision and Freeze Breath to solidify the last section of the rebuilt wall.

He casually wiped the cement from his palm onto his denim coveralls.

"Whew... done!"

Leaning against the wall, he looked around and was quite pleased with what he had accomplished that night.

The battered, battle-damaged basement, once riddled with holes, now looked brand-new. Even the spray paint had been redone.

Superpowers really were productive!

After confirming there were no problems, Leon headed upstairs.

When he reached the yard, he casually took off his coveralls and dove headfirst into the pool.

After swimming several dozen laps, he emerged from the water, swept his hair back, and leaned against the pool's edge as he gazed up at the stars.

Mist drifted over the pool on the summer night, and the sound of waves lapping against the shore was wonderfully soothing.

Streams of water gathered from the beads on Leon's body and ran down his chest, making every line of his muscles look especially defined.

"Exhausted, huh? Congratulations on your promotion to the Stark household's renovation boy. From now on, we'll never have to worry about repairs again."

Tony's voice suddenly came from behind him.

Without turning around, Leon said, "Just this once. If you break anything in the house again, Tony, you can fix it yourself."

Tony handed him a glass of red wine. "Then next time, you can deal with Pepper. She just left, and she kept going on about how all I do at home is wreck things. She even urged me to go back to work at the company."

"She's not wrong. You really should go to work, Tony."

Leon could not help laughing. "What company president stays home all the time without ever showing his face at the office? A company like that will eventually run at a loss and go bankrupt."

Tony swirled his wine. "Perhaps I just happen to have a president like that beside me?"

"Fuck off. I'll find a successor president soon enough. I'm not like you." Leon picked up his own glass and took a deep drink.

Their conversation ended there.

The pool fell quiet, with only the night wind and the flowing water still echoing.

After a while, Tony actually jumped into the water with a splash.

After swimming a few laps, he stopped beside Leon, breathing slightly heavily as he imitated Leon and looked up at the stars.

"Leon..." Tony suddenly spoke, then said nothing for a long while.

"What? Just say whatever you want to say. Why are you being so hesitant?" Leon saw through Tony's little thoughts at a glance.

Tony shrugged. "I just think maybe we brothers should have a proper talk."

"Why do you suddenly want to talk? What is this, a sudden bout of concern from Daddy Tony? Did I scare you today?"

Tony nodded. "You did scare me, but you didn't."

"I just never imagined your power would become as outrageous as what you displayed today."

He paused, drinking his red wine as he spoke. "That has already surpassed the limits of what ordinary people can comprehend!"

"The power of one punch is equivalent to 3.6 million tons of TNT. There isn't anyone in this world who can stop you from doing anything!"

"Not even me." Tony sounded awestruck.

He looked at Leon's sculpture-perfect body. "You're too strong! If anyone else had taken part in today's tests, they might have been too terrified to sleep tonight!"

"Would you?" Leon asked directly.

"Of course not! I'm your dearest big brother!"

"I'm the big brother who would still take you to dances to look at pretty girls even after you peed on me when you were two!"

"How could I worry or be afraid just because you've gotten stronger? I'd only be happy for you!"

Tony was utterly sincere.

Leon knew Tony never lied, because no one was qualified to make him choose to lie.

Besides, Tony's tone at that moment was incomparably gentle, like flowing water, making people naturally choose to believe him.

"I know you, Leon. You've never been the sort of person who likes to rely on strength, power, money, or anything else to do whatever you please."

"After all, over these eighteen... nearly nineteen years, you've never used that money or other people's admiration to do anything bad."

"Just like me!" Tony did not forget to include himself.

"So I wanted to ask whether you have any plans for the future."

At that moment, Tony truly resembled a father painstakingly offering earnest guidance to a son about to enter society.

From his words, Leon could tell that Tony was afraid he would lose his balance like a nouveau riche after suddenly gaining such power.

Even if Leon felt that this concern somewhat underestimated him.

He still had to admit that Tony's concern, once he set aside his tsundere pride, was genuinely moving.