Peter Parker stood frozen, stunned and surprised. In all the possibilities he imagined for his rebirth, he never once pictured Tony Stark walking into his small home like it was nothing.
Tony sat at the table with Uncle Ben and Aunt May, casually leaning back as if he belonged there. When he noticed Peter standing still, he raised a brow.
"Well, what are you doing, kid? No handshake?"
He pushed himself up from the chair, extending his hand with the kind of confidence only Tony Stark could radiate. Peter blinked, trying to maintain his innocent act.
"Ah, right. Sorry," Peter said, his voice stuttering slightly as he stepped forward.
Instead of shaking Tony's hand, Peter pulled it. Tony chuckled and nodded at the unexpected move.
"Ah, you pull and not shake. Not bad," he said with amused approval. "You know, my dad is a real piece of work. Always told me to pull it and not shake it. Weird."
Tony drifted off for a moment, eyes unfocused as some old memory pulled him away. Then, just as quickly, he snapped back to his usual sharp, confident demeanor.
"Any who, I personally came to see you, kid."
Peter felt his chest tighten. He knew in his paat life, Tony had quietly investigated him ever since recruiting him to help during the whole mess with Captain America, the Winter Soldier, and the assassination framing of King T'Chaka of Wakanda. The father of T'Challa. A lifetime ago for him, but still raw in memory.
Trying to stay in character, he tilted his head and frowned with practiced innocence.
"What are you doing here?" Peter asked, though he already had a dozen guesses.
Tony placed a hand dramatically over his heart.
"Well, for once, I am offended by your 'what are you doing here' vibe," he said, mimicking air quotes with exaggerated flare.
He stepped around the small dining table, studying Peter with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.
"But back to business. Why? Just why?"
Peter blinked. "I don't follow, Mr. Stark?"
"Of course you don't."
Tony rolled his eyes.
"What, you think I am an eight-year-old, kid? I am asking why you, Peter Parker, invested five thousand dollars into StarkCoins. A brand-new currency similar to gitcoins or bitchcoins, or whatever they are calling them now."
Tony crossed his arms, waiting for an answer, his expression a blend of playful annoyance and genuine confusion.
Peter felt Aunt May watching nervously from the kitchen doorway, while Uncle Ben looked between them like he was trying to read the air.
Peter swallowed slowly, still playing the innocent teen while trying not to smile at the irony.
Tony Stark confronting him about an investment he had made because he already knew exactly what that coin would become.
"Peter, is that why you wanted to go to the bookstore the other day?" Uncle Ben asked with a clueless but gentle tone.
He scratched his cheek while thinking about it. "No wonder. I see a lot of trading, stock, and investment books in your room."
Peter froze for a moment, then forced out an awkward laugh.
"Ahahaha... yeah. I thought about doing something small, but I accidentally invested five thousand into it." He rubbed the back of his head, the classic nervous gesture as he tried to look innocent.
Let us go with that for now,
he mumbled in his thoughts, smiling to keep the act going.
Uncle Ben sighed and placed a hand on the table.
"Boy, you know the stock market is not easy. But I am glad you are taking risks. Still, five thousand is too much. And accidentally?"
Aunt May crossed her arms, her voice rising as she scolded him. Peter kept laughing it off, doing his best to look like a clumsy teenager instead of someone who knew exactly what he was doing.
Tony Stark coughed loudly, drawing all eyes back to him. He straightened his jacket and spoke with his usual flair.
"Well, kid. Your little accidental investment..." He raised his fingers for another set of exaggerated air quotes.
"...skyrocketed at the perfect time. Congratulations, kid. You just got back five million. Not bad for a fifteen-year-old."
Uncle Ben's jaw dropped so hard Peter swore he heard something crack. Aunt May covered her mouth with both hands, stunned speechless.
Peter, however, kept his expression controlled. He already knew StarkCoins would explode in value. He had lived through this before.
He had deliberately invested five thousand last week, late at night, using the old laptop in his room.
He knew Stark Industries would release the market and that the coin would skyrocket by 99,900 percent within hours.
His past life had handed him the script, and he had followed it perfectly.
Now he just had to survive the reactions of the three people staring at him like he had pulled off a miracle.
"You little brat! Come here! You got five million now! Hahahaha!"
Uncle Ben grabbed Peter in a playful chokehold and gave him rough knuckle rubs on the head. Peter struggled while laughing, his face red and his hair a mess.
Aunt May was still frozen in shock. She pinched her own arm, then pinched it again, hard, trying to confirm she was awake.
"Umm, do you not mean we got five million, Uncle Ben?" Peter said, pretending to be confused as Uncle Ben finally let him go.
Peter straightened his shirt and took a breath.
"I wanted to make something of myself… for both of you," he said softly. "So I kinda studied stock markets to help you guys live an easier life."
Uncle Ben and Aunt May shared a long look before pulling him into a warm, tight hug. Aunt May's hands trembled slightly as she held him, her voice cracking with emotion.
Tony, watching the wholesome family moment, cleared his throat and stepped forward. He held out a gold-edged card toward Peter.
"Well, kid, I guess my job here is done. Here is your five million, all clean and official." He tapped the card with a flourish. "Mind if I talk to you privately?"
"Sure, Mr. Stark."
Peter followed Tony outside. The moment they reached the driveway, Tony suddenly staggered, clutching his chest.
"Dammit… again…" he muttered under his breath. "Kid, do me a favor. Go to my Lamborghini and grab the reactor from the glove box."
Peter moved fast, opening the sleek car and grabbing the portable arc reactor inside. He rushed back and helped Tony replace the fading core in his chest.
"Palladium," Peter said quietly as he sealed the casing. "A toxic substance."
Tony let out a strained laugh. "Yeah, kid. Tell me about it. I am trying to find a new element for it, but so far every attempt has either blown up or almost blown me up."
Peter watched him carefully, remembering how in his past life Tony nearly died trying to fix this exact problem.
"You know…" Peter began slowly, choosing his words with caution, "your father may have left something behind that could help. Something important. Maybe the solution is not about creating something entirely new, but finding what he already hid."
Tony frowned, confused but attentive.
"My dad?" he muttered. "The man who thought emotions were optional and replaced conversations with old films?"
Peter shrugged lightly. "Sometimes people say more in what they leave than what they say. Maybe he left a clue. A design. A formula. Something connected to the arc reactor theory, but… evolved."
Tony leaned back on the car, thinking hard. For a moment his confident smirk faded, replaced by something more vulnerable.
"You talk like you know him," Tony said quietly. "Better than most."
"Not really," Peter replied, trying to sound casual. "But I think he wanted you to finish what he started."
Tony stared at him, suspicion mixing with curiosity, but before he could question further he slipped the sarcasm mask back on.
"Huh. Look at that. The kid is not just rich, he is philosophical."
Peter smiled, hiding the memories of a past life and the knowledge of the new element Tony would one day build.
But the seed was planted.
And Tony Stark never ignored a seed.
Back at his home, Tony walked down into his garage workshop, the heart of his world.
Rows of Iron Man suits lined the walls like armored sentinels, each one reflecting faint glimmers of light as he passed them.
Tools, prototypes, engine parts, and holographic screens filled the room with organized chaos.
But his mind was somewhere else.
Peter's words echoed in his head.
Something your father left behind.
Still puzzled, Tony exhaled and called out.
"Jarvis."
"Yes, sir," the A.I. responded calmly.
"Bring out everything about my old man. All records. And his work with S.H.I.E.L.D."
"As you wish, sir."
While Jarvis processed the request, Tony drifted toward a dusty corner of the workshop. Something caught his eye.
A sculpted board leaning against a wall, something he had taken from Stark Industries during a visit to Pepper's office. Howard Stark's old diorama. A map, a layout, a design.
A clue.
Tony crouched and stared at it, tilting his head. He lifted his hand, forming a shape with his fingers, tracing angles in the air. His brow furrowed.
"Huh… strange."
He stood up and carried the board to his main workstation.
"Jarvis, give me a three-dimensional hologram of this."
A holographic grid lit up the room, projecting the diorama into the air. Tony began rotating it, zooming in, zooming out, stripping away layers with practiced precision.
Minutes passed. Tony worked with intensity, tapping commands, adjusting structures, scanning shapes. Slowly, he cracked the hidden code.
"Remove the bridge. Remove the house. Roads. Monuments. Strip everything except the underlying layout."
"Understood, sir."
Piece by piece, the projections vanished. When the final layer dissolved, Tony stepped closer and snapped his fingers, sending a pulse through the hologram.
It exploded into swirling particles, forming a glowing structure. A blueprint. A lattice. The design of something that had never existed before.
Tony's eyes widened.
"Well, I will be damned," he whispered. "Still teaching me from school, huh, Dad?"
"Sir," Jarvis spoke, "this appears to be a completely new element."
"Run it, Jarvis," Tony said as he backed away, adrenaline rising. He spread his arms wide and shouted across the workshop, overflowing with energy. "Alright, gang, get ready for reconstruction. We are going full construction mode!"
For days, the mansion shook with sound. Sparks flew, machinery roared, robotic arms assembled massive components, and the arc reactor frame glowed brighter and brighter as the new element took shape.
At last, the chamber opened.
"Congratulations, sir," Jarvis announced. "You have just synthesized a new element."
Tony wiped sweat from his forehead, leaning on the railing.
"Well, I would not call it an element without a name." He smirked. "How about Badassium? Because that is exactly how badass it looks."
Jarvis did not comment, though Tony imagined the AI rolling its digital eyes.
Later that night, exhausted but triumphant, Tony stepped out onto the balcony of his mansion. The ocean breeze brushed against his face as he stared out at the city lights.
He thought about what sparked this discovery. What planted the idea. Who nudged him in the right direction.
"Peter Parker…" Tony murmured, a slow grin forming. "Now I am really interested in this kid."
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Chapter 18 — End.