Stark Tower Japan — 6:12 a.m.
The morning after Momo's new suit had survived its first full Creation test, Tony Stark had already moved on to his next problem.
Because apparently solving one impossible engineering problem only made him hungry for another.
The Stark penthouse was unusually peaceful.
Pepper had made breakfast.
Steve had somehow produced a color-coded schedule for everyone.
Rhodey was reading news reports.
Happy was eating enough food for three people.
Bruce sat at the end of the island with a reinforced bowl containing something green, thick and deeply offensive to Tony on a personal level.
Tony stared at it.
"What is that?"
Bruce took another spoonful.
"Protein."
"That's not an answer."
"Spinach, oats, protein powder, banana, Greek yogurt—"
Tony raised a hand.
"Stop."
Bruce looked amused.
"You asked."
"I regret it."
Pepper placed a plate in front of Tony.
"Eat."
Tony didn't look away from the hologram floating over his wrist.
Pepper reached through it and turned the display off.
Tony finally looked at her.
"That's incredibly rude."
"Breakfast."
"I'm working."
"You've been awake since four."
"Exactly. I'm behind."
Steve looked up.
"Behind what?"
Tony stared at him.
"The future."
Bucky walked into the kitchen.
"Don't ask."
Steve looked toward him.
"I shouldn't have."
"Nope."
J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke through the penthouse.
"Sir, your vehicle will be ready in twenty-two minutes."
Tony nodded.
"Perfect."
Pepper pointed at his breakfast.
"Twenty-two minutes."
Tony sighed.
"Yes, Mom."
Pepper stared.
Tony immediately corrected himself.
"Terrifying future CEO."
"Better."
Bruce smiled into his protein sludge.
Tony caught him.
"You're judging me."
"Scientifically."
U.A. Cafeteria — 12:26 p.m.
Lunch at U.A. was chaos.
Tony liked chaos.
It meant people were interesting.
Class 1-A occupied several tables, but the international students had quickly destroyed any neat division between classes, courses or nationalities.
People moved around.
Introductions happened.
Arguments started.
Quirk comparisons followed.
Tony had already identified at least eleven people whose abilities he wanted to study.
Unfortunately, Pepper had forbidden him from referring to classmates as research opportunities.
Apparently that sounded "concerning."
Tony sat at the center of one table.
Steve Rogers sat across from him.
Bucky Barnes beside Steve.
Sam Wilson was explaining flight mechanics using his hands.
Scott Lang was stealing fries from Bucky's plate and denying it while actively chewing them.
Bruce Banner occupied nearly an entire end of the table simply because seven-foot green teenagers were not considered when U.A. purchased cafeteria furniture.
And beside Tony—
Izuku Midoriya was muttering into a notebook.
Tony glanced sideways.
Izuku hadn't noticed.
"…Rogers' shield angle means he can redirect rather than absorb, but Barnes compensates for the return trajectory and Wilson's aerial mobility could create a three-dimensional—"
Tony smiled.
"JARVIS."
"Yes, sir?"
"I've found my people."
Izuku stopped.
His face turned red.
"Was I muttering again?"
Everyone answered simultaneously.
"Yes."
Izuku sank slightly.
Tony slapped him on the shoulder.
"Never apologize for overanalysis."
Steve looked at Tony.
"You literally complain when Bruce corrects you."
"That's different."
"How?"
"Because he's correcting me."
Bruce raised his tea.
"Remarkable self-awareness."
Sam leaned toward Izuku.
"You'll get used to him."
Tony pointed at Sam.
"He hasn't."
"Definitely haven't."
Scott reached toward Bucky's fries again.
Bucky caught his wrist without looking.
Scott froze.
"I wasn't doing anything."
"You're holding my fry."
Scott looked down.
"Evidence is circumstantial."
Tony stared at him.
Then slowly smiled.
"I like you."
Bucky groaned.
"Great. There's two of them."
Across the cafeteria, another group had formed naturally.
Pepper.
Momo.
Ochako.
Natasha Romanoff.
Jiro.
Mina.
Hope van Dyne.
Natasha was halfway through lunch when Hope leaned across the table.
"So."
Natasha looked up.
Hope pointed her fork.
"Your dad is Red Guardian."
Natasha closed her eyes.
"Why does everyone ask me that?"
Mina immediately leaned forward.
"Because that's awesome!"
Natasha stared.
"You've never met him."
"Is he actually as loud as interviews make him look?"
Natasha considered the question.
"Worse."
Jiro laughed.
Hope smiled.
"My dad once spent three hours explaining why ants could theoretically defeat almost every professional hero."
Ochako blinked.
"Could they?"
Hope paused.
"That's not the point."
Momo smiled.
"What was the point?"
"That our fathers are insane."
Natasha finally smiled.
"My sister is worse."
Hope tilted her head.
"Yelena?"
Natasha's expression softened immediately.
"She's nine."
"And?"
"She thinks she's already better than me."
Pepper laughed.
"Little sisters."
Natasha stabbed another piece of food.
"She might actually be right."
Tony had stopped listening to his own table.
Not because he was bored.
Because he was watching Izuku's hand.
The finger he'd injured during Aizawa's assessment was healing.
But Tony still saw tiny compensations in how Izuku moved it.
The kid didn't.
That bothered Tony.
Tony had spent the previous night running simulations.
And he'd reached a conclusion.
"Midoriya."
Izuku stopped writing.
"Yes?"
Tony reached beneath the table.
Steve immediately became suspicious.
"What did you build?"
Tony looked offended.
"Why does everyone ask me that?"
"Because you're reaching for a case."
"Fair."
Tony lifted a silver case onto the table.
THUNK.
Everyone looked over.
Izuku stared.
"What is that?"
Tony pushed it toward him.
"Open it."
Izuku hesitated.
"Is it going to explode?"
Tony looked genuinely offended.
Bruce answered for him.
"Probably not."
"Banner."
Izuku slowly opened the case.
And stopped.
Inside was green.
Dark green.
Black.
Red.
White.
Familiar.
His costume.
But not his costume.
Izuku reached toward it.
Tony immediately said:
"Careful."
Izuku froze.
Tony smiled.
"I'm kidding."
Izuku looked like his soul briefly left his body.
Bucky laughed.
Tony rotated the case.
"Same visual identity."
He pointed.
"Green base. Black reinforcement. Red utility belt. Your ridiculous respirator."
Izuku frowned.
"My mom helped design that."
Tony immediately stopped.
"Then it's excellent."
Izuku smiled.
Tony continued.
"I didn't want to turn you into me."
That caught Izuku's attention.
Tony tapped his own chest.
"You don't need Iron Man armor."
Iron Man still wasn't a hero name.
Not publicly.
Tony used it only as an internal designation for his armor project.
"You need a Deku suit that can survive Deku."
Izuku blinked.
"Deku?"
Tony frowned.
"Isn't that what Bakugo calls you?"
Izuku looked embarrassed.
"It's complicated."
"Okay."
Tony tapped the suit.
"We'll workshop branding later."
Then the engineering began.
A holographic cross-section appeared.
OUTER LAYER — FLEXIBLE TRI-POLYMER
THERMAL LAYER — NOMEX/KINETIC FIBER
STRUCTURAL LAYER — VIBRANIUM MICRO-WEAVE
Izuku's eyes widened.
"Vibranium?"
The entire table went silent.
Steve leaned forward.
"Tony."
Tony raised one finger.
"Microscopic quantities."
Bucky stared.
"You put Wakandan vibranium in a school uniform?"
"Again—microscopic."
Bruce leaned closer.
"That's what you were working on?"
Tony smiled.
"With permission."
That mattered.
Tony opened another hologram.
T'Challa appeared briefly in a recorded message.
"Stark."
Tony paused the recording.
"There. Royal permission."
Steve stared.
"You recorded him saying your name."
Tony pointed.
"Context."
Then he turned back to Izuku.
"The Wakandan weave isn't armor plating."
The hologram enlarged.
Microscopic vibranium fibers appeared woven through ordinary flexible material.
"You'll still move normally."
Izuku touched the fabric.
It felt like athletic clothing.
Not metal.
Tony continued.
"The vibranium does something more useful."
He brought up footage from Izuku's entrance exam.
The punch.
The shattered arm.
Izuku's expression changed.
Tony pointed toward the force diagram.
"When you hit something, Newton gets involved."
Izuku immediately understood.
"Equal and opposite reaction."
"Exactly."
Tony displayed the force traveling backward through Izuku's fist.
"Your problem isn't only generating ridiculous force."
The energy slammed backward through the holographic arm.
"It's surviving the force coming home."
Then the suit appeared.
The impact struck.
The vibranium weave activated.
Instead of traveling through one narrow path—
the force dispersed.
Across the forearm.
Shoulder.
Torso.
Opposite arm.
Legs.
Entire suit.
Izuku stared.
"It distributes the recoil."
Tony smiled.
"Now you're getting it."
Bruce leaned closer.
"How much?"
"At low Full Cowling outputs?"
Tony changed simulations.
"Enough that normal impact trauma becomes negligible."
Then—
100%
The model turned red.
Izuku looked toward Tony.
Tony's expression became serious.
"It will not make one hundred percent safe."
Izuku nodded slowly.
"The force originates inside me too."
Tony pointed.
"Exactly."
He liked that Izuku understood.
"The suit can absorb and redistribute incoming mechanical energy. It cannot magically make your bones capable of generating unlimited force."
Tony leaned closer.
"So no getting clever and deciding Stark gave you permission to start throwing hundred-percent punches."
Izuku looked away.
Tony narrowed his eyes.
"You were already considering it."
"No!"
J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke from Tony's watch.
"Elevated heart rate suggests deception."
Izuku looked betrayed.
"You scanned me?!"
Tony shrugged.
"Occupational hazard."
Steve shook his head.
"Boundaries, Tony."
"Working on those."
Tony lifted one of the gauntlets.
White.
Reinforced.
Still recognizably Izuku's.
"This part I'm particularly proud of."
Izuku put it on.
Sensors immediately activated.
A tiny HUD appeared.
OFA OUTPUT: 0%
Izuku's expression changed.
"How does it know?"
"Your Quirk has measurable bioelectric and kinetic precursors."
Tony tapped the glove.
"And after watching you nearly turn yourself into modern art twice, I had plenty of data."
Izuku grimaced.
Tony stood.
"Activate your Quirk."
"Here?"
"Low output."
Izuku breathed.
Green lightning flickered.
One For All spread through his arm.
The gauntlet illuminated.
RIGHT ARM: 8%
Tony looked toward Izuku.
"Now your left."
Izuku concentrated.
LEFT ARM: 3%
"Legs."
LEFT LEG: 2%
RIGHT LEG: 4%
"Torso."
1%
Tony spread his hands.
"There."
Izuku stared at the numbers.
Tony had given him something nobody else had.
He could see his mistake.
"You're concentrating power."
Tony walked around him.
"You've been thinking about One For All like a weapon."
Izuku looked toward him.
"Punch."
Tony touched Izuku's gauntlet.
"Arm."
He tapped Izuku's boot.
"Kick."
Then his chest.
"But your Quirk isn't in your fist."
Tony pointed at Izuku.
"It's in you."
Izuku stopped.
Tony brought up a full-body model.
"Stop thinking where do I put the power?"
The model illuminated evenly.
"Start thinking…"
Tony smiled.
"Turn everything on."
Izuku stared.
Something clicked.
Not completely.
But enough.
"Full…"
Tony waited.
Izuku whispered:
"Cowling."
Tony's eyebrows rose.
"That's actually good."
Izuku's eyes brightened.
"Really?"
"Don't sound so surprised."
Tony pointed toward the suit.
"Try it."
Izuku closed his eyes.
One For All activated.
Not his arm.
Not his leg.
Him.
Green lightning erupted.
The vibranium weave reacted.
For the briefest moment, tiny geometric patterns illuminated beneath the dark-green fabric.
J.A.R.V.I.S. started reading the distribution.
"Arms: six percent."
Izuku adjusted.
"Legs: four percent."
Again.
"Torso: two."
Izuku breathed.
The suit pulsed tiny haptic signals against him.
Not controlling.
Guiding.
More here.
Less there.
Spread it.
"Five percent."
One arm.
"Five."
Other.
"Five."
Legs.
"Five."
Torso.
The entire display changed.
FULL COWLING — STABLE
Izuku opened his eyes.
Green lightning danced around him.
But nothing broke.
Nothing cracked.
Nothing hurt.
The entire cafeteria had gone quiet.
Izuku looked at his hands.
Then his legs.
Then Tony.
"I…"
His eyes filled.
Tony immediately pointed at him.
"No."
Izuku sniffed.
Tony backed away.
"Absolutely not."
"Tony—"
"Midoriya, don't."
Izuku started crying.
Tony looked desperately around the table.
"Rogers."
Steve smiled.
"Don't look at me."
"Banner."
Bruce shook his head.
"You did this."
Sam laughed.
Bucky looked extremely entertained.
Scott whispered:
"Hug him."
Tony stared.
"I will throw you across this cafeteria."
Izuku suddenly hugged Tony.
Tony froze.
Completely.
His arms remained awkwardly out to either side.
Everyone watched.
Tony slowly looked toward Steve.
"Help."
Steve shook his head.
"Nope."
Tony sighed.
Then carefully patted Izuku's back.
Once.
Twice.
"Okay."
Izuku pulled away, wiping his eyes.
"Sorry."
Tony straightened his shirt.
"Never speak of this."
Scott raised his phone.
Tony stared.
Scott slowly lowered it.
Tony pointed toward Izuku's boots.
"We're not finished."
Izuku looked down.
The red boots were still there.
Just heavier.
More structured.
Tony smiled.
"Your legs."
"What about them?"
"They're better."
Izuku blinked.
Tony brought up his biomechanics.
"Stronger bones. Larger muscle groups. Better force distribution."
Izuku understood.
"My legs can tolerate more."
"Exactly."
Tony displayed the boot construction.
Vibranium reinforcement surrounded the sole, ankle and shin.
"Impact absorption."
Another diagram.
"Joint stabilization."
Another.
"Kinetic recovery."
Izuku's eyes widened.
"Recovery?"
Tony smiled.
"Vibranium absorbs kinetic energy."
He dropped a simulated Izuku from a building.
The boots hit.
Energy entered the weave.
Then Izuku jumped.
The stored energy released.
He launched upward.
Izuku stared.
"It recycles my landing."
"Some of it."
Tony held up one finger.
"Limited capacity. You're not becoming a kinetic battery."
Bruce looked over.
"Yet."
Tony looked at Bruce.
"Don't tempt me."
Izuku studied the boots.
Tony pointed.
"Also…"
A hologram showed Izuku kicking.
"Stop punching everything."
Izuku looked confused.
Tony stared.
"You have legs."
"I know."
"Do you?"
The table laughed.
Tony continued.
"You've modeled your fighting style around All Might."
Izuku became quieter.
Tony didn't mention why.
"You're copying his habits."
Tony displayed All Might's fighting posture beside Izuku's.
Very similar.
"That's fine if you're built like All Might."
Tony changed the image.
Izuku's smaller frame appeared.
"But you're not."
Izuku stared.
Tony highlighted the legs.
"Build your style."
Izuku looked toward the red boots.
A thought began forming.
Tony saw it.
"Yeah."
Izuku looked up.
"Shoot Style."
Tony smiled.
"See? Didn't even have to name that one."
Then Tony showed him the gauntlets.
Tiny channels surrounded each finger.
"Air Force."
Izuku frowned.
"What?"
Tony flicked his finger.
"Your Quirk moves air."
Izuku's eyes widened.
"You think I could create ranged attacks?"
"I think physics already decided you can."
The gauntlet changed configuration.
"Wide aperture."
Broad shockwave.
"Focused."
Compressed projectile.
"Burst."
Close-range knockback.
"Downward."
Izuku watched the simulated blast slow his fall.
"Air braking."
Tony nodded.
"And the vibranium absorbs some of the vibration before your finger joints take it."
Izuku looked at him.
"You thought of all this last night?"
Tony shrugged.
"Couldn't sleep."
Bruce looked over.
"You drank six coffees."
"Unrelated."
Then the final system appeared.
Tony's expression changed.
No jokes.
No smile.
EMERGENCY SMASH PROTOCOL
Izuku stared.
"What is that?"
"The system I hope you never use."
Tony enlarged it.
"If the suit detects output above your established safe threshold, it warns you."
The holographic suit turned amber.
"If you continue increasing power…"
Red.
"Maximum protection shifts toward the active limb."
The vibranium weave redistributed.
Joint braces tightened.
Muscle support engaged.
Kinetic pathways opened across the entire costume.
Izuku understood.
"For emergencies."
Tony nodded.
"If someone's going to die and you decide breaking yourself is worth it…"
He looked directly at Izuku.
"…I'm not going to have your costume fight you."
Izuku went still.
Tony continued.
"I'm going to make sure you survive your own decision."
That was the difference.
Tony wasn't trying to remove Izuku's instinct to sacrifice himself overnight.
He knew better.
He was designing around the reality that someday Izuku Midoriya would look at impossible odds, see somebody in danger and press forward anyway.
Tony could lecture him later.
First—
keep him alive.
Izuku looked at the suit again.
"Thank you."
Tony shrugged.
"Don't make me regret it."
Principal Nezu's Office — 1:47 p.m.
Tony didn't knock.
Again.
Nezu looked up from his tea.
"You are aware doors possess a social convention."
Tony walked inside.
"Your cybersecurity is terrible."
Nezu blinked.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Stark."
Tony dropped a holodrive onto his desk.
"JARVIS cracked three separate security layers during my entrance exam."
Nezu looked at it.
"You hacked us."
"Yes."
"And now you're complaining that you were able to hack us."
"Yes."
Nezu smiled.
"I admire the audacity."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't praise."
"Still taking it."
A shadow moved behind Tony.
"You really don't learn."
Tony didn't turn.
"Morning, Fury."
"Afternoon."
"Time's subjective."
Nick Fury stepped into view.
Tony continued.
"If a fifteen-year-old with caffeine addiction can get into U.A.'s examination network, villains can."
Fury crossed his arms.
"You're not a normal fifteen-year-old."
Tony looked toward him.
"That's flattering."
"It wasn't."
"Everyone keeps doing that today."
Tony pointed toward the holodrive.
"Stark Industries upgrades U.A.'s cybersecurity."
Nezu folded his paws.
"Cost?"
"Nothing."
Fury immediately said:
"Bullshit."
Tony looked over.
"Excuse me?"
"Starks don't do free."
Tony stared at him.
"My father helped build half of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Exactly."
Tony considered that.
"Okay, fair."
He looked toward Nezu.
"Bill Dad."
Nezu laughed.
Then J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted.
"Sir."
Tony's expression changed immediately.
"Go."
"Unauthorized network activity detected."
Fury straightened.
Nezu's smile disappeared.
"Location?"
"East-wing external security node."
Tony looked toward Fury.
Fury was already moving.
"Lock it down."
J.A.R.V.I.S. responded.
"I do not possess authorization."
Tony looked at Nezu.
"Permission?"
Nezu nodded.
"Granted."
Tony's eyes briefly glowed blue.
His technopathic connection entered U.A.'s network.
He felt the breach.
Not physically.
But Extremis translated technological architecture into something almost instinctive.
Something foreign was moving through U.A.'s systems.
Tony grabbed it.
The attack attempted to erase itself.
Tony smiled.
"Oh no you don't."
His fingers moved through holographic code.
Fury watched.
"How fast?"
J.A.R.V.I.S. answered.
"Eleven seconds."
Tony frowned.
"Slow."
Fury stared.
The malicious code unraveled.
Then a hidden signature appeared.
A symbol Fury hadn't seen in years.
His face changed.
Tony noticed.
"What?"
Fury stepped closer.
Blood-red letters appeared.
A.F.O. COMMAND NODE
ORIGIN: UNKNOWN
STATUS: ACTIVE
Nobody spoke.
Tony looked toward Fury.
Fury's face had become stone.
"No."
Nezu's tail went rigid.
Tony frowned.
"Someone want to explain?"
Fury stared at the screen.
"All For One."
Tony knew the name.
Everyone did.
A villain from another generation.
A monster buried beneath enough classified files that most civilians weren't even sure how much of the legend was true.
Tony looked at the status.
"Apparently not as dead as advertised."
Fury's jaw tightened.
"If that's authentic…"
Nezu finished:
"He's rebuilding."
Tony stared at the screen.
Something cold moved through him.
Not fear.
Calculation.
Resources.
Capabilities.
Targets.
Response.
His brain began assembling possibilities automatically.
Fury noticed.
"Don't."
Tony looked over.
"Don't what?"
"Whatever you're planning."
"I haven't said anything."
"You've got the Stark face."
Tony frowned.
"What Stark face?"
"The one your father gets before my budget disappears."
Tony almost smiled.
Then something occurred to him.
A name.
Something Tony had found several nights ago while wandering through old S.H.I.E.L.D. archives he absolutely wasn't supposed to have accessed.
"What's the Avengers Initiative?"
Fury stopped breathing for half a second.
Tony noticed.
Nezu noticed Tony noticing.
Fury slowly turned.
"Where did you hear that?"
Tony smiled.
"Your encryption used to be worse."
Fury closed his eye.
"I'm going to kill Howard."
"Get in line."
Fury approached Tony.
"You stay out of S.H.I.E.L.D. archives."
"Improve them."
"Stark."
"Fury."
Nezu quietly drank his tea.
Fury finally sighed.
"The Avengers Initiative was your father's idea."
Tony's humor vanished.
"What?"
"A global-response framework."
Fury brought up an old classified file.
AVENGERS INITIATIVE
Howard Stark's name appeared underneath.
Tony stepped closer.
"Enhanced individuals. Heroes. Specialists."
Fury nodded.
"People capable of responding to threats conventional agencies couldn't."
Tony scrolled.
Potential classifications.
Power.
Intelligence.
Espionage.
Mystic.
Extraterrestrial.
Tony's expression darkened.
"Why was it shelved?"
Fury looked at him.
"Because your father eventually realized collecting powerful people isn't the same thing as creating a team."
Tony kept reading.
"He didn't trust them."
"He didn't trust the idea yet."
Tony scoffed.
"Same thing."
Fury's voice hardened.
"You're fifteen."
Tony turned.
"And?"
"And you think because you can build armor and hack a government database, you're ready to organize global defense?"
Tony's reactor brightened.
"I think All For One apparently didn't wait for me to turn eighteen."
Silence.
Fury stared at him.
Tony stared back.
Neither moved.
Then Tony said:
"Call Howard."
J.A.R.V.I.S. responded immediately.
"Connecting."
Fury muttered:
"Oh, hell."
Howard appeared.
Hair disheveled.
Glasses halfway down his nose.
"What?"
Tony didn't bother with hello.
"Avengers Initiative."
Howard froze.
Tony pointed.
"That face."
Howard looked toward Fury.
"Nick."
Fury raised both hands.
"Don't look at me. Your kid hacked it."
Howard slowly removed his glasses.
"Anthony."
"No."
Tony paced.
"You built a global-response program."
"Tony—"
"You identified enhanced threats."
"Listen—"
"You designed team structures."
"It was theoretical."
"You buried it."
Howard's expression hardened.
"Because it wasn't ready."
Tony stopped.
"Or because you weren't ready?"
Howard stared at his son.
That landed.
Tony continued.
"You spent your whole life building things because you didn't trust anyone else to build them properly."
"Watch yourself."
Tony's reactor glowed brighter.
"I'm becoming you."
Howard went silent.
That wasn't an insult.
That was what made it hurt.
Tony looked toward the A.F.O. signature.
"And I'm starting to understand the problem."
Howard's voice softened.
"Tony."
"You can't build everything yourself."
Howard stared at him.
Tony continued.
"So why didn't you build the team?"
Howard looked older suddenly.
"Because people aren't machines."
Tony said nothing.
"You can't design them."
Howard looked toward his son.
"You can't optimize friendship. You can't calculate loyalty. You can't engineer people into trusting each other."
Tony's anger faded slightly.
Howard continued.
"And if you start treating them like components in one of your systems…"
He paused.
"…you'll lose them."
Tony went quiet.
Fury didn't interrupt.
Neither did Nezu.
Tony looked toward the Avengers file.
Then back toward Howard.
"So don't build them."
Howard frowned.
Tony's mind was already moving.
"Bring them together."
Howard stared.
Tony smiled faintly.
"See what happens."
Howard sighed.
"You really are my son."
"Unfortunately."
"Tony."
Tony's smile softened.
"Yeah."
Howard looked toward Fury.
Then Nezu.
Then Tony.
"Don't turn your classmates into soldiers."
That one landed too.
Tony nodded.
"I won't."
"Promise me."
Tony hesitated.
Then:
"I promise."
Howard relaxed slightly.
Tony immediately added:
"But heroes choose fights."
Howard stared.
"Anthony—"
"Love you, Dad."
Tony disconnected.
Fury stared.
"You hung up on Howard Stark."
Tony shrugged.
"He'll call back."
J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke.
"Incoming call from Howard Stark."
Tony declined it.
Fury almost smiled.
Then Tony's expression changed.
"Oh."
Fury immediately became suspicious.
"What?"
Tony smiled.
"Dad forgot one variable."
"No."
"Mom."
Fury's face actually changed.
"Stark."
Tony was already calling.
"Anthony, don't."
Maria Stark appeared.
She was wearing a robe.
Her hair was messy.
She looked tired.
"Tony?"
Tony smiled sweetly.
"Hi, Mom."
Maria immediately narrowed her eyes.
"What did your father do?"
Fury whispered:
"How does she know?"
Tony ignored him.
"I'm sending you a file."
Maria read.
Silence.
Tony waited.
Nezu drank tea.
Fury slowly moved backward.
Maria looked up.
"Howard created a secret global defense initiative?"
Tony nodded.
"And didn't tell me?"
Tony nodded again.
Maria's eye twitched.
"JARVIS."
"Yes, Mrs. Stark?"
"Call my husband."
Fury whispered:
"We should leave."
Nezu nodded.
"Probably."
Howard appeared.
He saw Maria.
Then Tony.
Then Fury.
His face fell.
"Anthony."
Tony smiled.
"Love you too, Dad."
Maria inhaled.
"HOWARD ANTHONY STARK!"
Tony leaned against Nezu's desk.
Fury rubbed his forehead.
For the next four minutes, one of the most powerful industrialists on Earth was reduced to saying:
"Yes, dear."
"No, dear."
"I understand."
"No, I wasn't hiding it exactly—"
Tony winced.
"Ooh."
Fury looked at him.
"He shouldn't have said that."
"Nope."
Maria's expression became terrifying.
"YOU CREATED A CLASSIFIED SUPERHUMAN DEFENSE ORGANIZATION AND YOUR DEFENSE IS THAT YOU DIDN'T EXACTLY HIDE IT?"
Nezu quietly refilled his tea.
Tony smiled.
"This is better than television."
Stark Tower — 10:38 p.m.
Tony stood alone in the laboratory.
Mostly alone.
J.A.R.V.I.S. was always there.
The A.F.O. intrusion remained displayed on one screen.
Howard's Avengers Initiative occupied another.
Tony stared.
He remembered his father's warning.
People aren't machines.
Tony knew that.
He wasn't assigning soldiers.
He wasn't recruiting an army.
He was looking at people he already knew.
People who were already choosing heroism.
Steve Rogers.
Bucky Barnes.
Sam Wilson.
Natasha Romanoff.
Clint Barton.
Thor Odinson.
Bruce Banner.
Scott Lang.
Hope van Dyne.
Pepper Potts.
Momo Yaoyorozu.
Izuku Midoriya.
And others.
Tony opened a blank file.
J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke.
"Sir?"
"Don't call it recruitment."
"Very well."
"No assignments either."
"Understood."
Tony thought.
"Compatibility."
Profiles appeared.
Not rankings.
Not orders.
Possibilities.
STEVE ROGERS — LEADERSHIP / DEFENSE
BUCKY BARNES — TACTICAL / DEFENSE
SAM WILSON — AERIAL / RECONNAISSANCE
NATASHA ROMANOFF — INTELLIGENCE / STEALTH
CLINT BARTON — PRECISION / RECONNAISSANCE
BRUCE BANNER — SCIENCE / HEAVY RESPONSE
THOR ODINSON — HEAVY RESPONSE / EXTRATERRESTRIAL
SCOTT LANG — INFILTRATION / SCIENCE
HOPE VAN DYNE — INFILTRATION / TACTICAL
Tony paused.
Then:
MOMO YAOYOROZU — LOGISTICS / SCIENCE / FIELD SUPPORT
Another.
IZUKU MIDORIYA — RESCUE / HEAVY RESPONSE / ANALYSIS
Tony looked at that one longer.
J.A.R.V.I.S. noticed.
"Interesting selection."
"He notices everything."
"Much like you."
Tony smiled.
"Except nicer."
"Considerably."
Tony created another category.
UNKNOWN VARIABLES
Wanda Maximoff.
Stephen Strange.
Shuri.
People Tony knew of but didn't yet understand well enough.
Then he stopped.
One final name remained.
ANTHONY STARK
Tony stared.
"What am I?"
J.A.R.V.I.S. responded:
"Would you like my assessment?"
Tony smiled.
"Always."
A moment passed.
SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY / STRATEGY / FIELD SUPPORT
Tony frowned.
"No heavy response?"
"You possess considerable firepower."
"Thank you."
"But your greatest contribution is rarely the weapon itself."
Tony looked toward the hologram.
"What is it?"
"The person deciding what should be built."
Tony went quiet.
Then smiled.
"That's annoyingly sentimental."
"I learned from you, sir."
Tony looked toward the enormous display.
A title appeared.
AVENGERS INITIATIVE
Tony stared.
Then shook his head.
"Dad's name."
He deleted it.
A new title appeared.
THE AVENGER PROTOCOL
Tony considered it.
Better.
Underneath, he added:
STATUS: CONCEPT ONLY
NO RECRUITMENT
NO COMMAND STRUCTURE
VOLUNTARY HERO RESPONSE FRAMEWORK
Howard's warning remained in Tony's mind.
Don't turn your classmates into soldiers.
Tony wouldn't.
If this ever became real, they'd choose it.
Every single one of them.
Tony walked toward the windows.
Musutafu stretched beneath him.
Somewhere out there was All For One.
Maybe.
Tony didn't have enough evidence yet.
And Tony Stark hated acting without evidence.
"JARVIS."
"Yes, sir?"
"Don't assume that A.F.O. signature is authentic."
"Agreed."
"Could be bait."
"Yes."
"Could be someone using the name."
"Possible."
Tony folded his arms.
"Have Fury investigate."
There was a pause.
"Director Fury may object to being assigned tasks by a fifteen-year-old."
Tony smiled.
"He'll survive."
"And the Avenger Protocol?"
Tony looked back.
Steve.
Thor.
Bruce.
Natasha.
Bucky.
Sam.
Hope.
Scott.
Pepper.
Momo.
Izuku.
Not soldiers.
Not pieces.
People.
"Lock it."
"Encryption level?"
Tony thought.
"Stark-Fury."
J.A.R.V.I.S. paused.
"That terminology is not recognized."
"It means make it annoying enough that Fury gets angry trying to open it."
"Understood."
Tony smiled.
The file vanished behind layers of encryption.
Then his attention moved toward another hologram.
Izuku's new suit.
Green.
Black.
Red boots.
White gauntlets.
And beneath everything—
Wakandan vibranium micro-weave.
Tony enlarged the Full Cowling telemetry.
CURRENT STABLE OUTPUT: 5%
TARGET: 8%
TARGET: 10%
TARGET: 20%
He smiled.
One problem at a time.
All For One could wait until Tony knew what he was actually dealing with.
The Avengers could wait until the people involved decided they wanted to become something together.
But tomorrow morning?
Tony Stark had a green-haired teenager to teach how to stop exploding his own skeleton.
"JARVIS."
"Yes, sir?"
"Schedule Midoriya for six."
"He has classes at eight-thirty."
"Exactly."
"And what shall I title the session?"
Tony looked at the Full Cowling model.
The suit illuminated evenly from head to toe.
Green lightning danced across it.
Tony smiled.
"Lesson One."
A pause.
"Learn to wear the power."