"Welcome home, Master Leon. I'm so glad you're safe."
As soon as Leon's face was recognized, the doors to the villa opened and J.A.R.V.I.S. greeted him warmly. There was a subtle shift in his tone, almost as if he'd developed a hint of emotional awareness.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., how long has it been since my brother went missing?"
"Master Leon, this is the evening of Day 85."
"What?!"
"It's already been 85 days?!"
Leon's heart sank. That was cutting it close.
In the original timeline, Tony had been kidnapped and held captive for roughly three months. The movie had been vague on whether it was a full three months or just close to it.
The Ten Rings had originally been hired by Obadiah Stane to assassinate Tony. But they'd switched plans midway, opting to keep him alive and force him to build them a Jericho missile to achieve world domination.
Instead, Tony, having miraculously survived the explosion, was secretly saved and imprisoned in a cave. There, he was given only seven days to complete the missile.
Of course, Tony used the materials provided to build the Mark I Iron Man armor, and managed to escape.
But Ho Yinsen, the scientist who had saved his life, died buying him time.
That was the spark that launched the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Yinsen's sacrifice…
Gave birth to Iron Man.
And now, Leon wanted to save him.
Because in this altered reality, where he himself existed, anything could change. Including deaths that were once inevitable.
And with someone like Yinsen by Tony's side? Leon figured life would be a lot more comfortable. Maybe he could even dedicate himself full-time to "education reform."
Leon pressed his finger to the encrypted scanner.
The elevator descended into Tony's underground lab-slash-garage, a place Leon jokingly called "Tony's Magical Workshop."
He glanced around. No sign of what he needed.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., is the Jet Sliger operational?"
"Master Leon, the Jet Sliger is currently in standby mode. However, due to its incomplete design, the stress it places on the pilot is extreme. Without Mr. Stark's permission, I am not authorized to activate it."
"Oh come on, J.A.R.V.I.S., look at the situation. Sometimes you've got to be flexible with your moral programming."
"Sir, I am not a person. I am an artificial intelligence developed by Mr. Stark, and must follow his programming protocols."
"Well, to me, you're family."
"…"
A stop.
Then, ding, a hidden elevator door slid open from the wall.
Leon grinned.
He stepped in and rode it deeper underground… only to be greeted by a massive blast-proof alloy vault door, just like a bank's.
"I'm afraid this is as far as I can take you, sir."
"Without Mr. Stark present, I cannot open this door."
"It's fine, J.A.R.V.I.S. You've done more than enough."
BOOM!
Leon smiled and slammed his fist into the reinforced steel.
A small dent appeared. Dust and debris rained from the ceiling.
If he had more time, he could probably punch his way through the whole thing, but that would take too long.
The chest cannon might blow the door wide open, but it'd likely also vaporize whatever was behind it… along with half the villa.
"According to Mr. Stark's notes, that alloy door can withstand a full nuclear blast. Physical breach is highly unlikely."
As J.A.R.V.I.S. finished, CRACK!
Leon smashed the concrete wall beside the door using his shield, tearing a hole straight through a meter-thick slab of rebar-reinforced cement.
"…"
J.A.R.V.I.S. fell silent.
Leon chuckled, shaking the shield in his hand.
"If the door's stronger than the wall, then the wall becomes the door. My brother clearly still has a lot to learn about security."
"This, my dear J.A.R.V.I.S., is what we call adaptability."
"When he gets back, remind him to upgrade the wall material too. That thing shattered like paper."
Bragging just a little, Leon crouched and slipped through the hole into what Tony had jokingly dubbed "The Garage", a private workshop custom-built just for him.
It wasn't huge. The room was cylindrical, the walls ringed with equipment used for manufacturing and modification.
Roughly 100 square meters. About four meters tall. Looked like it had been carved directly from the cliffside.
And in the center of the room,
Stood a monstrous, jet-black motorcycle that dwarfed most passenger cars.
Leon's eyes lit up.
This was his dream, a dream he'd once described to Tony in ridiculous, over-the-top detail.
And like some techno-genius Doraemon, Tony had actually built it.
"Heheheh…"
Leon stroked the cold metal lovingly.
"According to your dream-inspired concept, Master Leon," J.A.R.V.I.S. began, "Mr. Stark equipped the Jet Sliger with multiple military-grade jet thrusters along its rear and sides."
"Paired with a newly developed omnidirectional wheel system, the Jet Sliger possesses agility far beyond any conventional motorcycle."
"It's capable of extreme maneuvers, 360-degree spins, lateral drifts, near-ground hovering, and more."
"Additionally, Mr. Stark included a submersible module, enabling it to operate across land, sea, and air."
"Max speeds: Underwater: 100 km/h. Water: 650 km/h. Land: 1,300 km/h. Air: 2,500 km/h."
"It runs entirely on electric power, driven by a medium-sized arc reactor. At full charge and full output, it can operate for up to a week without refueling, assuming no mechanical or thermal failure."
Leon's eyes narrowed.
"Wait, wait, arc reactor?!"
"That lying bastard!"
"I asked him to shrink the arc reactor for power use, and he told me, 'That's impossible! That tech's decades ahead of its time!'"
"Turns out he'd already done it!"
"Actually," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, "Mr. Stark completed the medium-sized reactor's design and prototype the day after you first mentioned the idea."
Leon went quiet.
He wouldn't admit it, but… yeah. He was touched.
Tony really was a damn genius.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., fire it up."
Leon dismissed the shield into system storage and climbed onto the Jet Sliger.
J.A.R.V.I.S. said nothing about the vanishing shield. Instead, he issued one last warning:
"Sir, the Jet Sliger's design is not optimized. The G-forces exerted on the pilot exceed those experienced in fighter jets by at least three times. No ordinary human could survive it."
"You think I'm ordinary?"
"Start it up."
"…As you wish, Master Leon."
The moment he finished, the engine roared to life with a deafening jet-whine.
Screens lit up. Turbines engaged. The floor beneath the bike split into a rotating launch platform, slowly spiraling downward into the launch chamber.
Elsewhere, beneath the cliffside villa
RUMBLE…
Massive slabs of rock shifted apart, revealing a hidden launch tunnel glowing with neon-blue energy rails.
WHOOSH!
A black blur, a rocket-like object moving too fast to see, blasted into the sky.
It was the Jet Sliger, carrying Leon Stark across the Pacific Ocean, straight toward Afghanistan.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., you handle the flight path and customs paperwork."
"It would be my honor, Master Leon."
Every 250 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter
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