Two thirty a.m., the underground lab at Stark Industries still blazed with light.
Tony, in an oil-stained T-shirt, was tuning the particle accelerator before him.
Shiratori Riku stood by, dropping in key suggestions from time to time.
"Not like that. The proton beam will diverge."
He pointed at a parameter. "Increase the magnetic field strength by 13.9 percent."
Tony arched a brow, then adjusted it anyway. He wanted to see if this Divine Talent the guy boasted about was really that strong.
Machines thundered, and a ribbon of blue flowed through the vacuum tube.
Tony held his breath as the lines on the monitor steadied.
"Success!"
He snatched up the new element, glittering with a triangular glow, and whooped like a kid.
"JARVIS, prep for implantation!"
Before the words finished, Riku lifted him off his feet.
"Nope. Your first priority is sleep."
"Look at you. You look like you binged videos all night. You are spent."
Tony, hearing the jab, noticed the weakness dragging at his limbs. Riku was right. After working so long, surgery now was a bad idea.
Still, his mind spun fast. He grinned. "Then our almighty god can snap me back to full strength, right?"
Riku tipped up his chin, pleased. "Of course I can. Even the thing in your chest is nothing to me."
Tony's eyes lit. He was about to ask for the boost when Riku held out a hand.
"But I am not going to do that now, so go to sleep."
A wave of irresistible drowsiness crashed over Tony. In the last instant before darkness, he dimly realized the jerk had hit him with some kind of sleep effect.
...
Eight hours later.
Tony woke on Riku's schedule.
He squinted into the harsh white of the overhead lamp, then the sting of disinfectant prickled his nose.
Instinctively he touched his chest. His fingertips found no cold metal ring, but a brand new reactor.
Different from before, not embedded, but adhering to the skin like it was magnetized.
"Yo, Tony, you awake? Surgery was a success."
"You are a girl now."
Riku's teasing voice made Tony blanch. His hand shot for his waistband.
After a frantic check, he sighed with relief. All parts accounted for.
He turned and glared. Riku stood by a bioscanner; a hologram showed a 3D model of Tony's chest cavity. Surgical tools were neatly arranged, each bearing obvious signs of modification.
"You... operated on me?"
Tony's voice rasped from hours without water.
Riku shut down the projection and came to the bedside, all smiles.
"What else? For a god, this is nothing."
"Your vitals are stable. The new element fused perfectly with the myocardium. Palladium toxicity is gone."
"I also cleared the remaining shrapnel from your heart."
Tony checked himself. No incision. No sutures. As if he had never been opened at all.
That level of medicine...
A thought struck him. He looked at Riku. "Wait, you modified my medical equipment?"
Riku picked up a standard surgical robot. "Added a control module."
Light glimmered at his fingertip as he traced the casing, revealing completely reworked internals.
Tony's breath went short. As an engineer, he knew exactly what that meant.
The guy could be obnoxious and infuriating. But as he said, even without any so-called god power, he had god-tier talent and a god-tier mind.
"All right. I have to admit, your talent is outrageous."
He exhaled and let the point go.
He sat up, rolled his shoulders, and felt the new power source thrumming in his chest.
Blue light bled through the shirt, bright in the dim lab.
"Did that really need admitting? It has been obvious the whole time."
"Tony, did you binge so hard last night that your brain turned to mush?"
Riku ribbed him while handing over a cup of liquid.
Tony ignored the taunt, used to it by now, and eyed the drink. "What is in it?"
"A standard nutrient solution, modified. Accelerates cellular repair."
Tony took a sip. His eyes lit. "Delicious. Did you add ice?"
"Do not compare my work to harmful stuff. I just made it feel that way. It temporarily boosts neural conduction efficiency."
Tony drew a long breath and spoke earnestly. "Thank you, Riku."
"You were right. Calling you boss was not a loss."
"I cannot repay you for saving my life."
Riku looked a bit surprised. "What is this, middle age making you sentimental?"
"If you want to thank me, bring something real to the table. No need for the melodrama."
Tony gave a wry smile. Maybe this was just venting after surviving a brush with death. Maybe he had become a sentimental man.