"Okay, okay, guess we are done talking."
Peter sprang back and instinctively checked his suit.
Under the mask his eyes went wide.
"Oh no. Come on, I only wore this for two days. You are paying for that."
"Arno" ignored him, yanked up a steel girder, and hurled it.
A black figure dropped from the sky. The girder crumbled into powder midair.
When the dust thinned, a tall silhouette hovered above the street, black armor glinting coldly.
"Kids, do not be afraid. The Knight is here," Shiratori Riku said, voice low and steady.
Peter boggled.
"Whoa, a knight? I am Spider-Man, you are..."
"Talk later."
Riku, well aware of Peter's chatterbox habit, cut him off and locked onto "Arno."
"Tony, get the kid to a safe distance."
"On it, Dark Knight," Tony replied as he touched down beside Peter.
"Come on, pajama baby. Let the pros handle it."
Before Peter could argue, Iron Man carried him to a nearby rooftop.
"Wait. He injected something. His strength is still climbing," Peter warned. "I can help."
Tony set him down and stayed breezy.
"Just watch, kid. You do not need to worry about that guy."
Below, "Arno" seemed to sense danger. His muscles bulged again.
He grabbed a police car and hurled it with everything he had.
Riku did not budge. As the car was about to smash into his face, he lifted a palm to meet it.
A ripple flowed across the armor. The car sank into that surface like a bog, its momentum swallowed whole.
He set the car gently aside.
"Arno" froze, then retreated a half step on instinct.
"It is over."
Riku spoke softly, yet the words carried through the entire block.
A violet jet flared from his back, and he crossed the gap in a blur.
Even with enhanced sight, Peter saw only an afterimage.
"Arno" never had time to react.
Riku's hand touched the pointed crown of that swollen skull, violet lightning skittered across the armor, and the air filled with a harsh sizzle.
ZZZT! ZZZT!
White rolled over "Arno's" eyes. He collapsed like a felled tree.
The fight had lasted less than three seconds.
"That... that is it?" Peter gaped. "I tangled with him for over ten minutes."
Tony patted his shoulder.
"That is the power of tech. Welcome to the field, kid."
Riku knelt to check the unconscious brute.
"As expected. Not a natural mutate. Signs of organized experimentation."
Sirens swelled from the distance. Peter tensed.
"Uh, I should go. Someone is waiting for me."
"Great to meet you guys. I am Spider-Man. Dark Knight, you are crazy cool. And you too, Mr. Tony Stark."
Tony could not help an eye roll.
He knew he had not done much, but that was a pretty flimsy thank you.
"All right, kid, scram. Cops are coming."
Peter shot a web and swung off, shouting back, "Sir Knight, your armor is amazing!"
Riku watched the red and blue figure vanish between concrete canyons and smiled.
"Interesting young man."
"Vigilante in pajamas," Tony muttered, though the appreciation in his eyes was clear. "Promising, though. So, how does the armor feel?"
Riku glanced down. In sunlight, the black suit looked understated yet imposing, a perfect fit for his presence.
"Not bad."
He rose and knifed into the sky.
"I have not put this through its paces. I will sweep the city and find some fun."
Tony watched the dark shape fade toward the horizon and murmured,
"Guess I need to stock more substitute materials. That guy makes anything look dashing."
...
The sun slipped. Night bled across the sky.
Tony Stark stood before a dust-coated model of the expo, fingertips brushing the miniature buildings.
Sweat soaked his shirt, not from heat, but from excitement.
At last, with everything else done, he could study it.
Thanks to Riku's hint, he was thrilled.
"JARVIS, scan the model. Find unusual structures."
Blue laser grids washed over the layout, and a three-dimensional projection lifted into the air.
Tony's eyes snapped to the central hall's supports. The lines formed a variation of an atomic diagram.
"This is it."
His fingers trembled as he pulled up the periodic table.
"Project the structural formula."
A never-before-seen atom bloomed in the air. JARVIS analyzed at once.
"Sir, this appears to be a stable isotope. In theory, it can replace palladium."
Mad light flared in Tony's eyes.
He seized his tools and dismantled the model, focused as he had been when he took apart radios as a kid.
When the final piece came free, a design lay in his palm.
Howard Stark's last gift to his son.
"Dad..."
His voice snagged, only to be cut by a lab alert.
"Sir, high-velocity object approaching."
Before he could react, Shiratori Riku was behind him.
"Looks like you found the new element."
Tony spun and, reflexively, tried to hide the plans behind his back.
A heartbeat later he chuckled at himself.
Riku ignored the gesture and scanned the lines.
"Your father was a genius."
"Yeah. Pity he was better at leaving puzzles than being there," Tony said lightly, shaking the page. "But this will fix my problem."