The next morning, I woke up in my new house in New York. The suburban peace was a stark contrast to the spiritual turmoil of the last few weeks. I completed my morning training in the backyard garden, my body humming with renewed energy. After a quick breakfast, I returned to the living room and found a walking, talking suit of armor standing there.
"What are you doing here, Mr. Stark?" I asked, a hint of amusement in my voice.
The faceplate of the Iron Man armor lifted. "We had a deal. Training room, Stark shares, blah, blah, remember?"
"Okay then. Do you want a drink?"
The armor shook its head, the gesture comically human. "Oh, I'm not here. Come to the Avengers Tower. You know the way." With that, the helmet opened to reveal its empty interior, and the suit of armor flew out the front door and disappeared into the sky.
As I changed my clothes and made my way to the tower, I questioned the reliability of my new house's security system. But then I realized it would be a waste of money to upgrade it. It wouldn't help much if anyone of consequence decided to drop by. So instead, I simply decided to add a specific security system to my training room's features.
I entered Stark Tower and took the elevator to the top floor. I found Mr. Stark on a phone call with Ms. Pepper Potts. He looked up, smiled, and gestured to me with a nod. "Look, he's here. Ryan, meet Pepper. Pepper, meet Ryan."
"Mr. Angelo," Pepper said, her voice warm but firm. "Tony has told me about the deal of you wanting a training room in exchange for Stark shares. Are you sure you want to go through with it? I feel you are losing out quite a bit."
'Her complexion and posture feel off. I see. So that's how it is.' I kept my expression neutral as Tony jumped in.
"Hey, don't dissuade him! I finally got such a beneficial deal for you, and you're trying to ruin it."
"Don't listen to him, Mr. Angelo," Pepper countered smoothly. "If he's pressuring you, I can assure you that I can have him build you your training facility for a lot less."
"Thank you for your kindness, ma'am," I replied, a subtle smile on my face. "Then I would like to add a clause on my part."
"Oh, damn, what is it?" Tony asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"I want Miss Potts to be the party who will be receiving the shares from me."
Tony looked from me to Pepper. "Then you can have her build your training room, too."
"Are you sure, Mr. Stark?" I asked, my voice calm. "Because from what I can tell, Miss Potts appears to be pregnant."
The room fell into stunned silence. Pepper's phone dropped from her hand. Tony's mouth hung open. "What?!" they both exclaimed at the same time.
"Are you sure?" Tony asked, his voice a disbelieving whisper.
"You do know that I was named a medical prodigy, have heightened senses, and studied a lot about the human body, right?" I said. "Well, her posture and body condition scream early pregnancy to me."
Pepper's shock gave way to a new kind of look—one of sudden, panicked joy. "I'm going to the hospital to check. Meanwhile, Tony, you will finish your business with Mr. Ryan before I call you back." She hung up.
Tony turned to me, his face a mixture of wonder and disbelief. "Man, are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Really, really sure??"
"Mr. Stark," I said, a hint of impatience in my voice. "You're losing time."
"Right!" He shook his head, pushing the personal moment away. "So, tell me what you need for your training room."
'Looks like someone's in a hurry,' I thought. "First, a security system which tells me if anyone other than me enters. Then, anything you can put in to have my body go through harsh physical exercises, extreme pressure, and test my decision-making and neural responses to the limits. Oh, and something that ensures I survive, and an override of that survival failsafe that only I can activate."
"Okay," Tony said, his mind already racing with engineering plans. "How much do you want the upper limit of difficulty to be?"
"Enough that Captain Rogers calls it hard and that he can't do it all day."
Tony's grin returned. "Okay, you can go now while I wait for my call." He all but rushed me out.
Later that evening, Mr. Stark called to ask if I could use any weapon. I told him I could use a sword. He said he would make me one as a gift for this morning's reveal and hung up before I could respond.
Eight days later, I received papers to a property a 10-minute drive from my house. When I reached the address, I found a house identical to mine with a gift box on the doorstep. Inside was a sword made of vibranium with an adamantium edge that could collapse into an armguard. There was also a manual for the training room in the basement.
After sending the papers for the shares to Miss Potts in a gift box, my life as a shut-in began. For the next four years, I spent most of my time training, with occasional outings with Danny and Colleen or having dinner with Tony, Pepper, and their daughter, Morgan, until that happened.
This morning, I just finished my daily morning routine. Like the last year and a half, I am stuck just four movements short of 18 cycles. No matter what I do, I can't improve, so I just left it at that and went into the house.
I was in my living room cooking for myself when my instincts screamed at me to jump back. I did, and a robot burst inside, shattering the wall and my stove, causing a small blast. The robot's red optical sensor locked onto me.
"Mutant detected," it spoke in a cold, metallic voice. "Proceeding for elimination."
"Shit! I know my security system is bad but this is just too much." I said as I gave the robot a look over.
As the robot made its way toward me, I jumped up and kicked it in the chest, sending it skidding back. But I could feel my foot's impact had barely dented its armor. I realized I wouldn't win with my fists. I ran to the living room and picked up the gauntlet from the table. It instantly turned into a glowing sword. I used it to cut the robot's arm, but to my surprise, it simply reattached itself. Realizing it had some kind of self-repair function, I attacked the glowing orb in its chest and cut it up, putting it down for good.
I picked up my phone and called Mr. Stark, but there was no answer. I then called Danny, and when the call connected, I spoke.
"Danny, come to my house. I need some help."