Bonus chapter
***
Once Tony entered "work mode," he became a paranoid scientific maniac.
Time lost all meaning for him.
The underground lab became his personal kingdom.
Here, there was no day or night—only the endless flicker of data and the ceaseless churn of ideas.
Again and again, he refined his creations.
He perfectly merged Henry's ideas on nanotechnology with his own engineering theories.
Every model built, every energy circuit designed—he did it himself, striving for perfection.
Pepper had come several times, each time trying to drag him out so he could get some proper sleep.
But every time, she failed.
"Hey, Pepper," he would say without even turning his head toward the exasperated woman standing at the door.
"Don't you see I'm in the middle of a project that could change the world? Sleep? That's a low-level biological activity for mortals. I'm a genius. Geniuses don't need sleep."
And then she would threaten him with her tried-and-true method: If you don't get some rest right now, I'm dumping all your doughnuts into the Pacific.
Of course, that kind of forced rest usually lasted only a few hours.
Once a genius's brain starts running, not even the softest bed in the world can keep him from running back to the lab.
Until, one afternoon a few days later—
A black Audi A8 rolled steadily along California's Highway 1. Outside the window stretched the blue Pacific and brilliant sunlight. Inside the car, however, the atmosphere was a bit tense.
Happy Hogan gripped the steering wheel tightly, sneaking glances through the rearview mirror at the quiet, polite-looking man in the back seat.
"Uh, Dr. Banner," Happy cleared his throat, trying to find something to break the awkward silence.
"Thirsty? There's water in the car, and… um, Mr. Stark specially prepared some kind of herbal drink that's supposed to help calm emotions."
"Thank you, Mr. Hogan. I'm fine." Bruce Banner smiled politely, his voice gentle.
But those eyes, always carrying a trace of sadness and unease, made him look weighed down.
Happy's scalp prickled.
God knew how nervous he had been when sent to pick this man up.
His job had gone from protecting Tony from crazed female fans to chauffeuring an expert who could at any moment transform into a green goblin and tear him in half.
"I've gotta say, Doctor…" Happy couldn't hold it in any longer. He lowered his voice like he was sharing some world-shattering secret. "Although I know it's true, I still wanna ask… can you really turn into… y'know… the big guy? The green one?"
A bitter smile appeared on Banner's face.
"Yes, Mr. Hogan."
"Wow…" Happy blurted an awed sigh before quickly realizing his slip and scrambling to recover. "I mean, that's, uh, impressive. Of course, I'm not saying smashing stuff is cool—I just mean… it's, um, powerful."
He felt his words turning to mush.
Inside his head he was screaming:
F**! What am I even saying?! Am I seriously complimenting a monster who could rip me apart on how cool he is?! I've lost it!*
"Your boss… he's sure about this?" Happy asked cautiously.
"I mean, bringing you here. You know, there's a lot of fragile stuff around."
Banner looked at the cliffside mansion outside the window and gave a helpless smile.
"I think, with Mr. Henry here, Mr. Stark will be safe."
"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S.'s calm voice rang out in the lab.
"Dr. Banner has arrived."
"Oh? The big guy who might do an impromptu demolition?" Tony lifted his head from the complex data models. Glancing at the clock, his face showed an expression of I almost forgot.
"Let him in. I'm guessing he's not here to discuss anger-management techniques."
Soon Bruce Banner, guided by Happy, entered the lab a little stiffly.
He had been here once before, but still felt overwhelmed by the facility.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Stark," Banner said with a faint smile as he took in the high-tech surroundings.
"Of course."
Tony stepped out from behind the console with a cup of coffee in hand.
He looked Banner up and down like he was examining an interesting specimen, delivering his trademark welcome in his own way.
"Welcome back to my toy house, Dr. Banner. Gotta say, you look better than the last time we met. Looks like our catering's an upgrade from that tropical island you were on."
Banner opened his mouth, but had no comeback.
"All right."
Tony shrugged, walked up, and patted him on the shoulder.
"No need to be so tense, Doc. Relax. I didn't bring you here to slice you up for study. Although, I admit, I'm very interested in the big guy inside you."
He snapped his fingers.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., show our new friend the latest research results."
The next moment, a sleek, muscular nanotech suit model appeared, floating in midair.
Banner stared at the model, at the theoretical diagrams.
He was surprised.
Last time he and Henry had been working on it, it had just been a preliminary concept. He hadn't expected such staggering progress already.
"That's right."
Seeing Banner's captivated look, Tony gave a satisfied smile.
"Cool, isn't it? And we've already secured the materials we need."
He pointed to the other side of the lab.
Inside a temperature-controlled storage unit lay a mysterious piece of metal—vibranium.
"I've handled Wakanda," Tony said evenly.
"They sent over a batch of samples. But we've run into a little problem."
He enlarged the holographic model.
"This stuff is too stable," he admitted, rare frustration showing on his face.
"It absorbs almost all kinetic and energy input. I can't break it down or restructure it effectively. It's like some stubborn old man."
"So, Doctor," he looked at Banner with a challenging glint in his eyes,
"I need your help. I need you to help me figure out how to make the old man behave."
Banner looked back at him, thinking.
But as his gaze fell on the armor model and the vibranium sample, he knew he had no way of refusing.
***
69 perfection achieved
next goal is 150 stones
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