"Interesting."
Watching Tony mock everyone around him with a sharp tongue like a child, Artoria sat next to Pepper, feeling a sense of delight. She was just short of taking out some 'Fat House Happy Water' and melon seeds to snack on while critiquing. Eventually, the guy acting as the judge was scolded so hard he began to doubt his life. The presiding judge simply said, 'Tony Stark, you big jerk,' and brought the farce of a 'hearing' to a hasty close. Tony didn't even use much of the video Artoria gave him; he just connected his phone to the big screen for a full-screen broadcast. Justin Hammer's face turned green because the video showed everything, and the person sitting inside the suit during the experiment was injured. Now his position was quite awkward.
"I believe having me alone is enough, because I am Iron Man."
As things were wrapping up, Tony wore a confident smile, spreading his arms toward all the media as he made his proud announcement.
"That was quite a performance. Well done, big brother."
In the car on the way back, the siblings, Artoria and Tony, each held a cheeseburger, chatting about the recent events while they ate. Seeing this, Pepper couldn't help but roll her eyes; they truly were siblings, with nearly identical personalities and tastes.
"Artoria, I'm going to the small city of Monaco in a few days to have some fun. I heard they're holding a car race there. Do you want to go?"
His vanity as an older brother seemingly satisfied, Tony spoke to Artoria while eating his cheeseburger. For the upcoming trip, he hoped his sister would get out more—ideally with him. Of course, if Artoria were to go out alone, he would definitely hire a mercenary group to protect her. Even though he knew Artoria was stronger than him, as a relative, he felt he had to do it to feel at ease.
"I won't go. You know I don't really like such noisy environments."
Rolling her eyes at Tony in her mind, Artoria had no desire to be a third wheel and get fed 'dog food' by this affectionate couple. Especially since Whiplash, Ivan, should have been preparing for a long time, looking forward to his 'encounter' with Tony. Plus, with that 'gay' guy Justin there, how could Artoria bear to interrupt? So, big brother, go by yourself!
"Alright then! Be careful. If anything happens, have Saturday notify me, or Jarvis can do it too."
Artoria's refusal to come along made Tony, who was originally in a good mood, feel a little disappointed. Artoria gave Pepper a look, signaling that the rest was up to her and to seize the opportunity to spend time with Tony. Pepper smiled shyly, giving her sister-in-law a hundred likes in her heart for the assist.
After the spectacle ended, Artoria returned to her office. With Maya, the green-skinned scientist, present, the secrets within Spider-Man's lineage were mostly uncovered.
"I really can't imagine someone actually being able to use this method to fuse controllable gene segments with human DNA without any rejection. Interesting, truly interesting."
Maya excitedly held the test results, happily telling Artoria that this was the second most interesting thing she'd found since 'Extremis'.
"Is this method replicable?"
Artoria asked curiously. What exactly was that spider that caused Peter's mutation? Since Artoria didn't have it now, she could only use her own methods to create a new Spider-Man. Artoria was confident in producing this; while the Sentry Serum wasn't perfect yet, a Spider Serum could still be slowly refined. If Peter's father had completed it over a decade ago, she didn't believe it couldn't be perfectly replicated with today's technology.
"I do have a method: use a person's genes to cultivate an insect. Genetic mutations in insects don't have as high a probability as in other animals. Once the insect has completely adapted to the gene segments, extract it for injection. This is the safest way. We still need to run a simulation, but the success rate is very high."
After laying out the framework she had in mind, Maya looked at Artoria, asking for her approval. Artoria understood Maya's concerns; the choice of candidate was still a bit difficult. However, Artoria did have a predetermined candidate: Gwen. Her intuition told her this was reliable. Ultimately, Artoria indicated they could begin simulations using Gwen as the blueprint. She decided to discuss the matter with Gwen personally. Upon hearing the name, Maya looked at Artoria with deep suspicion—could the rumors be true? Did Artoria really like that 'little vixen' who had just recently joined?
This was a bit hard for Maya to accept, but her professional integrity as a scientist kept her silent, and she didn't cause any trouble for Artoria.
"The rest is the matter of the suit. As expected, a liquid suit is the coolest."
After dismissing Maya, Artoria thought of her brother's Bleeding Edge Armor from Avengers 3, which automatically covered the body—it was incredibly cool. At the thought, Artoria's heart grew restless, and she began heading toward the Base where Helen Cho was located. She wanted to urge Dr. Helen Cho; it wouldn't be bad for this thing to be released a bit earlier.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.