Henry chuckled inwardly.
This guy… still as stubbornly tsundere as ever.
Anything bad about himself, he'd rather bury deep inside than admit aloud—acting as if ignoring it meant it never happened.
"Is that so? You sure about that?" Henry mercilessly tore through the façade.
"Do you need me to remind you that the palladium poisoning in your body is about to hit critical levels? Let me guess—you've been staring at mirrors lately, checking whether you've turned into Avatar? Sure, the super soldier serum boosted your cellular activity and temporarily slowed down the toxin's spread, but that's just a band-aid. It's like pumping air into a tire about to explode—it only makes the blast louder when it goes."
"My guess? Give it a few more days, and even if you do turn into Captain America, you'll still die of organ failure. Unless you actually act like the genius you claim to be and find a stable element to replace palladium."
Tony froze.
He knew that in front of Henry—this monster among monsters—there was no point in hiding anything.
The bastard always knew how to stab him with the sharpest truth, wrapped in the nastiest words.
But his pride wouldn't let him admit defeat. That damned ego forced him to immediately change the subject.
"Why waste time on pointless chatter!" he snapped, pretending to be impatient.
"Come on, let's not drag this out—it's time to test out my brand-new, priceless body! Let's see how far I am from becoming the most beloved man in America!"
"You mean the most narcissistic man in America. Honestly, you should run for lifetime honorary president of the Narcissists' Association—you'd win in a landslide." Henry fired back without hesitation.
Tony ignored him and glanced around, searching for something to demonstrate his strength with.
His eyes locked onto a thick alloy rod on a nearby workbench.
Striding over, he grabbed it in one hand and shot Henry and Ethan a provocative grin.
"Behold, mere mortals!" he declared, like a strongman stepping onto a stage.
"Bear witness to the miracle! Cheer for me! Cheer for your genius, Tony Stark!"
He took a deep breath, braced himself, and pulled with all his strength, trying to bend the bar.
One second. Two seconds…
The alloy rod didn't budge.
Tony's face turned red.
Veins bulged on his forehead as he strained with everything he had.
He looked less like a superhero and more like a man suffering severe constipation.
The rod remained perfectly straight.
"…"
The air grew thick with awkwardness.
"Ahem."
Tony quickly let go, casually setting the rod back on the table and dusting off his hands like nothing happened.
"Just a slip-up. Didn't warm up—that was just a rehearsal. You know, every great performance needs a dress rehearsal."
Then he grabbed the rod again, this time putting in absolutely everything.
The result was the same: nothing.
Just then, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s calm voice cut through the silence.
"Sir, a reminder: that's a composite testing alloy. Theoretically, it requires at least 60 tons of instantaneous force to create permanent deformation."
Tony: "…"
His cheeks burned hot.
"Pfft—HAHAHAHA!" Henry burst out laughing.
"Tony, are you running a comedy act? That constipation face of yours deserves an Oscar! Imagine the headlines: World's Richest Man Fails to Bend a Metal Rod. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
"It was an accident!" Tony snapped, throwing the rod back onto the table. His expression didn't falter for a second.
"I just didn't want to waste expensive materials! That's all! Yeah, exactly!"
"Sure, sure. Whatever you say." Henry smirked, then turned to J.A.R.V.I.S.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., stop letting him embarrass himself. Run an analysis on his body and give him a reality check before he tries something even dumber."
"Yes, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied immediately.
"Based on the serum modification data and biological models, Mr. Stark's maximum strength is approximately 17 tons—three times that of the original super soldier serum. In theory, you are the equivalent of three Captain Americas."
"Three Captain Americas? Not bad." Henry stroked his chin.
"So when you fight, one can do the punching, one can stand on the sidelines cheering, and the third can take selfies to show off on social media. Handy."
"Not exactly the results I was aiming for," Tony muttered, but his smug grin betrayed him.
"Sure, I'm not the freak you are, but this is more than enough. After all, I don't just rely on brute force—I've got brains."
"Right, brains—the kind of brains that can't bend a stick of metal and make everyone laugh themselves silly." Henry added another jab.
Tony chose to ignore him this time and marched over to the testing area.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., get ready! Time to show someone here what real strength looks like!"
"Always ready, sir."
Henry and Ethan followed, Henry still heckling from the side.
"Oh really? What's the plan, headbutt the force gauge? Careful—it's harder than your skull."
"Shut up!"
Tony inhaled deeply, set himself in a boxer's stance, and slammed a punch into the thick alloy force plate.
BOOM!
A dull thud echoed through the lab, the plate trembling violently. Numbers instantly appeared on the display.
"Instantaneous force: 8.6 tons," J.A.R.V.I.S. announced.
"Not bad." Tony shook out his fist with mock casualness, as though he'd just swatted a fly.
"Looks like I wasn't even trying yet. Warm-up's over."
He moved to the weight-testing area, lifting specialized equipment as if shopping for groceries.
He curled massive loads one-handed, like they were nothing more than candy sticks.
"Too light. Boring." He tossed the equipment back with a loud crash.
"What about this one?" He moved on to another, heftier machine.
For the next half-hour, Tony rampaged around the lab like a kid with a new toy, testing everything within reach.
By the end, he stared at his hands—hands brimming with explosive power yet completely unscathed. His excitement slowly gave way to something more contemplative.
He turned serious, looking Henry straight in the eye.
"Alright, Henry," he said quietly.
"With this kind of power—something humans were never meant to have—I think it's time we had a real talk."
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We're 49 stones off from 200 goal, thank you guys for being so supportive 🙏
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