"Hello everyone, this is the news! Today we recorded a shocking incident from last night," a female reporter said as she approached a school.
"Last night, for some reason, many people fainted here, mostly students, teachers, school staff, and even two elderly people were affected!"
"Currently, the police still don't know why, but I guess this news report will end here. I'm too lazy to keep talking, lol, see ya!"
At the hospital:
"..." Harry watched the news video and scratched his head.
He didn't know why he was at the school anymore. According to Peter, he was kidnapped by some villain who had the ability to cause memory loss.
Sounds pretty bad...
"UAAA!! WHERE'S PETER!!"
Harry clutched his forehead, turning to look at the girl flailing her arms and legs like a child.
Yeah, no introduction needed—it's Gwen.
"Calm down, Peter's taking care of his family."
"I'm his family too!!"
"Are you his wife or something?"
"I'm not?"
Wow, blunt as hell.
Knock knock
Harry heard a knock at the door, got out of the hospital bed, and walked over to open it.
"Oh! Peter!"
"AH! PETER, I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!" Gwen shoved Harry aside and hugged Peter tightly.
Peter looked at both of them and closed the door.
"You okay?"
"Nah, the doctor said I'm fine. Even though you said I lost my memory about being kidnapped, the doctor says nothing's wrong with me."
"You gonna trust me or the expert?" Peter sat down while Gwen tried to lift his shirt to mess with his chest.
"…Well, at first I didn't believe you, but then I went through some… unforgettable stuff, so now I'm starting to believe it more."
"Yeah… Ugh, being too serious is exhausting. I hope nothing else happens." Peter stretched and pulled Gwen off him.
"When are you getting discharged?"
"Tomorrow."
"Got it. I'll head out then."
"What?! No! Peter, don't leave me! I don't want to stay here with this muscle-brained idiot!!" Gwen clung to Peter's leg, spouting words that stung Harry.
"Gwen… I suggest you stay here until tomorrow. If you don't listen, I won't let you mess with my chest anymore."
"Yes, sir!"
Harry watched as Gwen returned to her bed, pulled the blanket over herself, and fell asleep soundly.
"…I didn't know you were into that kind of kink."
"Shut up."
And so, Peter left, rummaging through his pocket and looking at a card.
The card was from Tony Stark.
Last night…
A ton of police cars and ambulances showed up.
They were about to take me to the hospital, but Tony stopped them.
He approached me as I sat on a stone bench.
"How should I put this? Should I give you a round of applause?"
"No need, Mr. Stark."
"Nah, you deserve it… even though I don't really want to admit it."
He sat down next to me.
"So, how'd you do it?"
"Huh?"
"Handle this in 30 minutes? Even my AI registered the disappearance of the Alternates, like they just poof—vanished."
"So, I did a good job?"
"Yeah, too good. Good enough to make me think you're a threat, kid."
"Didn't you already say that before?"
Tony reached for a cigarette, but I snatched it away.
"What are you doing?"
"It's bad for your health."
"Are you my mom or something?"
We both went quiet for a bit, then Tony stood up.
"How about this? If you don't want me to see you as a long-term threat, why not join Stark Industries and ditch that school?"
"Is that mandatory?"
"Nah, I'm not forcing you. You do what you want, and I'll do what I do."
Peter put his hand on his chin, thinking.
"…Can I try it out first?"
"Deal."
Back to now…
I set aside game programming for now… to give this a shot.
The security guard looked at me suspiciously.
I pulled out Tony's card.
"T-The card from Mr. Anthony Stark?! My apologies!"
'Anthony? Oh, so Tony's a nickname.'
So, I went inside, asked the staff, and found out where Tony was.
I pressed the elevator button and waited, the elevator music playing softly.
…
…
The elevator doors opened, and I stepped out, a bit overwhelmed by what I saw.
…It was a giant man with green skin, staring at me with a very angry expression.
"…Uh, hi?"
"RAGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" His roar made me cover my ears.
"Ouch… That's rude, muscle man."
"Hulk don't know you! You look weird!"
"Huh? Oh… I was invited by Mr. Stark."
"Stark? Hulk don't like Stark! Stark bad boss!"
"Really?"
"Don't listen to him, kid."
Tony appeared out of nowhere, slightly drunk.
The moment Hulk saw Tony, he roared angrily and lunged to attack.
"No, no, no, doing that in front of the new employee is bad form, Bruce." Tony pressed some button on the floor, and Hulk was suddenly trapped in a plasma sphere, floating in the air.
"HULK HATE THIS THING! LET HULK OUT!!!!" Hulk pounded repeatedly but couldn't break free.
"Isn't this a bit… mean, sir?" I looked at Hulk raging and then turned to Tony.
"If I didn't do this, this monster would've torn my company apart. He's a beast." Tony grabbed a beer, popped it open, and chugged it.
"He'll turn back into Bruce soon enough. Nothing to worry about. Let's go, kid."
I glanced back at Hulk, still furious.
"…Well, nice to meet you, Hulk."
"…" Hulk stared at me for a moment before looking away.
Not very friendly, I guess?
I followed Tony, and he plopped down onto a sofa.
I glanced around, completely blown away by his ridiculously cool suits of armor.
[Hello, Peter.]
"Oh, hey Jarvis."
"Have a seat, kid. Make yourself at home."
I sat down on a small chair, and Tony lazily turned on the TV.
"Um… I'm here now, so why not let me start the trial or something?"
"Oh, right… Hang on a sec."
Tony scratched his head and looked at me.
"What's your power?"
"…Programming?"
"Not that. What's your superpower?"
"…Can I pass on answering that?"
"Pfft, dream on."
Suddenly, all the lights went out, and the windows slammed shut.
The room started moving rapidly, and I was totally caught off guard by what was happening.
Then everything… looked exactly like an interrogation room?!
My hands were instantly cuffed.
"…Ohhh, you trapped me."
Tony smirked.
Should've known better than to come to this guy's place.
*****
I want to try writing a Mecha novel, but I'm busy with this fanfic. Do you think I should write it?