MHA Learns From The MCU

by Infamoustrixter

The MHA cast is brought to some theater by a mysterious being named Trixter who wishes to show them another reality called MCU. They will see what this world has in store for them as they discover new heroes, new villains, and new ideals. Who knows, maybe they'll even learn a few lessons along the way.

13. Iron Man 2 (Part 2)

Author's Note

Hello everyone and welcome back to my story.

Now, I know a lot of you have had trouble finding this story on Wattpad. But don't worry. Later today, this story will be posted on Ao3. Plus, I will continue to post on this site for as long as I can. Meaning you all will be able to read this story on here, Wattpad, or Ao3. Choose whichever site you prefer.

Now, with that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy today's chapter.

---

Tony and Pepper where in their private jet, heading home. Pepper was watching a news broadcast where Senator Stern was discussing the Duel of Monaco.

"It's just unbelievable. It proves that the genie is out of the bottle and this man has no idea what he's doing. He thinks of the Iron Man weapon as a toy." Stern claimed.

Tony then entered the room, carrying a plate of food.

"I was at a hearing where Mr. Stark, in fact, was adamant that these suits can't exist anywhere else, don't exist anywhere else, never will exist anywhere else, at least for five to ten years, and here we are in Monaco realizing, 'Uh-oh. These suits exist now.'" Stern continued.

(0:40:12 - 0:40:40)

"You can't blame Stark for that! How was he supposed to know about Whiplash?!" Mei asked.

"It doesn't matter. The fact is, Stark did claim that it was impossible for anyone else in the world to possess the same tech as him, at least not for a few years. But he was just proven wrong." Nighteye said.

"Which means both Hammer and Stern have been proven right. There really are threats that Stark doesn't always foresee." Endeavor added.

"Now the government has even more reason to take Stark's tech. If one person managed to get there hands on the same technology as Iron Man, then it's possible others could do the same." Iida said.

"But it wasn't even a full on suit! It was just a couple of whips! Why are they acting like this is a big deal?!" Bakugo asked.

"That guy with just a couple of whips nearly killed Iron Man. The fact of the matter is that Whiplash has proven himself to be a great threat. And it's reasonable to think that more major threats like him could start appearing. The government, as well as the public, have plenty of reasons to be worried." Aizawa said.

"Plus, this is a convenient reason to try and take the Iron Man armor again. Stern is probably delighted right now." Gentle said.

Tony muted the TV and approached Pepper.

"He should be giving me a medal. That's the truth." Tony said as he sat across from Pepper.

(0:40:40 - 0:40:46)

"Precisely. Whiplash was dealt with, thus proving that even someone with Arc Reactor technology couldn't hold a candle to Iron Man. You should be showing him more respect!" Mei said.

Eri nodded in agreement.

"What is that?" Pepper asked about the dish Tony had brought.

"This is your in-flight meal." Tony answered as he removed the cover of the dish, revealing a plate of very poorly cooked food.

"...Did you just make that?" Pepper asked, trying her best to not be impolite.

"Yeah. Where do you think I've been for three hours?" Tony answered.

(0:40:46 - 0:41:03)

"You spent three hours on THAT?!" Sato questioned.

"That looks absolutely disgusting." Uraraka said, trying not to barf at the thought of eating that.

"Good thing Lunch Rush isn't here." Mic joked.

"Tony, what are you not telling me?" Pepper asked, sensing that something was wrong.

Tony stared at her for a moment, unsure of what to say.

(0:41:03 - 0:41:13)

"Come on. You need to tell her." Kirishima said.

"It'll hurt, but it's better than her not knowing." Recovery Girl said.

"I don't want to go home. At all." Tony answered. "Let's cancel my birthday party and... We're in Europe. Let's go to Venice, Cipriani. Remember?"

"Oh, yes." Pepper smiled.

"It's a great place to... be healthy." He said.

"I don't think this is the right time. We're in kind of a mess." She said.

"Yeah, but maybe that's why it's the best time." He countered.

"Well, I think as the CEO, I need to show up." Pepper explained.

"As CEO, you are entitled to a leave." Tony said.

"A leave?" Pepper questioned.

"A company retreat." Tony rephrased.

"A retreat? During a time like this?" Pepper continued to question Tony.

"Well, I'm just saying, to recharge our batteries and figure it all out." He explained.

"Not everybody runs on batteries, Tony." She said.

The two smiled at each other before Tony decided to sit silently, realizing that he could not change Pepper's mind. At least not without telling her the truth.

(0:41:13 - 0:42:05)

The audience frowned. Stark obviously wanted to spend what little time he has left with Pepper. And if she knew the truth, she'd probably grant him that wish. Unfortunately, she doesn't know the truth.

"If you would just tell her the truth, then she'd listen to you." Uraraka frowned.

"If you're ever sick like this, you better tell me!" La Brava told Gentle.

"Absolutely, my dear. I'd never lie to you." Gentle said.

---

Ivan Vanko was sitting in his cell when a guard brought him his meal and left. Ivan took the tray and noticed a note hidden under his drink. He quickly sat down and read the note.

'Enjoy the potatoes.'

(0:42:05 - 0:42:30)

"Enjoy the potatoes? Um, okay?" Mineta said, unsure of why that note was there.

A few of the heroes and villains, however, became suspicious of this. They had a feeling they knew what was about to happen.

Ivan inspected the "potatoes" and spotted a timer on the bottom of it. It was a bomb.

(0:42:30 - 0:42:34)

Everyone widened their eyes.

"Is that a bomb?!" Mina gasped.

"Tch! Someone's breaking him out!" Aizawa said.

"No way! Was getting captured part of his plan too?" Toga wondered.

"I don't think so. The way he talked earlier made it sound like he had accomplished his mission already. He didn't care if he was stuck in jail." Izuku said.

"It's likely that this is the work of someone else. Perhaps a supporter." Kurogiri said.

"Maybe it's the Ten Rings. They did help him out earlier." Tsu said.

"Iron Man is pretty much their greatest enemy. And considering how close Whiplash came to killing Iron Man, it would make sense that the Ten Rings might want to team up with him." Todoroki said.

The guard from earlier returned and opened the cell door while another guard pushed another prisoner into the cell. The two guards locked the door and then left.

Ivan looked at the other prisoner and focused on the number on their uniform. The number was 6219. The same as Ivan's, who gave a sinister smirk.

(0:42:34 - 0:43:04)

"A body double!" Midnight said.

"What's the point of having a double? It won't be hard to figure out that that isn't really Whiplash." Kaminari said.

"It will be when the body's blown to bits!" Shigaraki laughed.

"That's what the bomb is for. It's to make the body harder to identify." Shoji realized.

"Whoever's orchestrating all of this intends to fake Whiplash's death." Spinner said.

Ivan killed the other prisoner by smashing their head against the sink while one of the guards from earlier left the key to his cell at the door.

Ivan set the bomb and used the key to unlock his cell. He then casually walked down the hall to find an exit.

Ivan ended up walking past a guard that tried to stop him. Unfortunately, Ivan punched the guard in the gut before swiftly breaking their neck and walking away as the bomb in his cell exploded behind him.

(0:43:04 - 0:43:34)

The audience cringed at the sound of the guard's neck snapping.

"Jeez. That was brutal." Ojiro said.

"He doesn't waste any time." Dabi said.

"Even without his tech, he is proving to be quite dangerous." Thirteen said.

The sirens in the prison blared as Ivan searched for a way out. He eventually found an exit, but spotted some guards.

Realizing he couldn't go that way, Ivan turned around only to be met by the two guards who had been aiding him earlier. The two guards grabbed him and put a bag over his head. They then dragged Ivan outside and dumped him into a van as the screen faded to black.

(0:43:34 - 0:43:55)

"And just like that, Whiplash is free once again." Shigaraki chuckled. He was interested to see what Whiplash would do next, now that he's free.

"Dang it! He just got put in there too!" Sero said.

"Whoever's helping him is gonna pay! Someone like Whiplash should never be allowed to roam free!" All Might said.

Many in the audience were upset and worried now. Whiplash had accomplished so much already. Now that he's freed from prison, who knows what he'll do next.

---

Some time later, the doors to the van Ivan was in had opened, revealing that he was in some sort of private airport.

A certain someone was sitting down at a dinner table, awaiting Ivan's arrival.

"Hey, there he is. There he is." Justin Hammer chuckled. "What an absolute pleasure. Welcome."

(0:43:55 - 0:44:17)

"No way." Kirishima said.

"You have got to be kidding me." Jiro said.

"Hammer broke him out?" Midnight questioned.

"Why on Earth would he let that madman out of jail?!" Iida asked.

"Because he and Vanko have something in common." Kurogiri answered.

"They both hate Tony Stark." Dabi said.

"Hammer definitely has a grudge against Stark, but I never would have expected him to go this far." Tsu said.

"See! I was right all along! He's no different than Obadiah!" Mina said.

"Oh, goodness gracious. Can you get the handcuffs off my friend here?" Hammer requested as the guard complied.

Hammer then apologized to Ivan for the rude welcome and told the guard they could leave.

The guard, who seemed reluctant to leave, said something in French, but Hammer simply brushed them off, not caring about their concerns.

(0:44:17 - 0:44:43)

"I'd listen to the guard if I were you." Aoyama said.

"What did he say?" Uraraka asked.

"To put it simply, they don't want to leave Hammer alone with Whiplash. Because Whiplash is crazy." Aoyama explained.

"I think that's pretty obvious." La Brava said.

"Not obvious enough for Hammer apparently." Sero said.

"Crazy is such a strong word, you know. People toss it around far too casually these days." Twice said.

"I know, right?" Toga said.

"My name is Justin Hammer. I'd like to do some business with you. Please sit." Hammer said as he and Ivan sat down at the table.

Hammer's butlers began setting the table while Ivan looked around, still somewhat confused by what was going on.

Hammer rambled for a bit about the food they have available before eventually bringing up Tony Stark.

"What I saw you do to Tony Stark on that track, how you stepped up to him in front of God and everybody, that was... Wow! You spoke to me with what you did. And I know that you knew that I'd be listening." Hammer said.

(0:44:43 - 0:45:28)

"What?" Kota asked.

"He really thinks everything revolves around him, doesn't he?" Thirteen said.

"This is why I couldn't bear to have you shipped off to God knows where. It would have been such a waste of talent. But if I might make a suggestion, you know, you don't just go and try and kill the guy. I think, if I may, you go after his legacy. That's what you kill." Hammer continued.

Hammer then stated that he and Ivan have a lot in common, the only difference being that Hammer has resources.

"I think, if I may, you need my resources. Someone behind you, a benefactor. I'd like to be that guy." Hammer offered.

(0:45:28 - 0:46:02)

"That could be a problem." Aizawa said.

"Whiplash was already able to turn himself into a dangerous threat all on his own. With the support of Justin Hammer, he could become far more dangerous." Nezu said.

"And Iron Man struggled to beat him before. Who knows how things will go now." Midnight said.

Ivan laughed at the proposition before saying something in Russian.

"...Okay. Do you speak English? Because I can get a translator. I don't know. Have you been understanding everything I'm saying?" Hammer asked, unable to understand what Ivan said.

"Very good, man." Ivan answered in English.

Hammer laughed happily upon hearing that Ivan has apparently agreed to the partnership.

(0:46:02 - 0:46:30)

"If only you knew what he really said." Mic sighed.

"You speak Russian?" All Might asked.

"Yeah. I speak a lot of languages. I love to talk!" Mic said.

"That much is obvious." Aizawa said.

"Well, what did he really say?" Kaminari asked.

"He said 'if I'm killed, don't wake me. It is better to die than to live in your world.'" Mic translated.

"Jeez, talk about harsh. Although I can't say I blame him." Sato said.

Ivan then told Hammer that he wanted his bird.

"A bird? You want a bird?" Hammer questioned, a little confused by the request.

"I want my bird." Ivan repeated.

"I can get you a bird. I can get you ten birds." Hammer said, still not understanding.

"I want MY bird." Ivan slammed his hands on the table.

"Well, okay. Nothing's impossible. I could... Are we talking about... Is this a bird back in Russia?" Hammer asked.

(0:46:30 - 0:46:49)

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that bird." Toru said.

"I hope they're alright." Koji said.

Meanwhile, the heroes were more concerned with this partnership. Villains are already dangerous enough as is. Having the backing of a multi-billion dollar company would only increase the problem exponentially.

---

Back at Tony's mansion, Pepper and Natalie were on their phones, talking to different news networks about the recent events involving Iron Man.

Rhodey entered the room and asked where Tony was.

"He doesn't want to be disturbed." Natalie said.

"He's downstairs." Pepper answered.

Rhodey then saw the news reporter that Pepper was talking to on TV.

"But his continuing erratic behavior may lead many people to ask themselves, 'Can this man still protect us?'" The news reporter said.

"Iron Man never stopped protecting us. The events in Monaco proved that." Pepper attempted to defend Tony.

Rhodey chose to head downstairs and talk to Tony. They need to deal with this.

(0:46:49 - 0:47:12)

"Exactly! How can you people so easily doubt the guy who's been protecting you this whole time?!" Bakugo asked.

"This is exactly what Whiplash wants." Shoji said.

"Everyone is starting to turn their backs on Stark." Tokoyami said. "Talk about ungrateful." Dark Shadow said.

"You constantly risk your life saving people, and yet all it takes is one slip up and suddenly everyone is at your throat." Endeavor said.

The students and especially the heroes were very annoyed. Iron Man had done so much for these people. He had saved countless lives. Brought peace to their world. And now, everyone seriously has the gall to question if he can truly keep them safe. Sure, the truth of the matter is that he can't. With him slowly dying, he absolutely can't truly protect everyone. But the rest of the world doesn't know that. And after everything Iron Man has done, he at the very least deserves the people's faith. They should trust him. But no. Instead, they're all doubting him. All because of one villain. All it took was one villain to begin destroying the faith the public has in Iron Man.

The audience wasn't used to seeing the public act this way towards a hero. Due to the nature of their society, heroes are always viewed in a positive light by the public. Their ability to do their job is never called into question. Even the lowest ranking heroes are adored by society. So seeing the people of this world begin to doubt Iron Man was so jarring.

---

Down in Tony's workshop, Tony was sitting in one of his cars while looking at some holograms of all the information JARVIS had gathered about Ivan and Anton Vanko.

"Anton Vanko was a Soviet physicist who defected to the United States in 1963. However, he was accused of espionage and was deported in 1967. His son, Ivan, who is also a physicist, was convicted of selling Soviet-era weapons-grade plutonium to Pakistan, and served 15 years in Kopeisk prison." JARVIS summarized. "No further records exist."

(0:47:12 - 0:47:37)

"That's it?" Ojiro asked.

"That still doesn't tell us much." Momo said.

"It tells us enough. It's safe to assume that Howard Stark is likely the one who had Anton Vanko deported." Aizawa said.

"That would explain why the Vankos have a grudge with the Stark family." Nighteye said.

"Yeah, that seems plausible." Izuku said.

Rhodey then entered the workshop.

"Tony, you gotta get upstairs and get on top of this situation right now." Rhodey said.

Tony said nothing.

"Listen. I've been on the phone with the National Guard all day, trying to talk them out of rolling tanks up the PCH, knocking down your front door and taking these. They're gonna take your suits, Tony, okay? They're sick of the games." Rhodey warned.

(0:47:37 - 0:48:00)

"They can't do that! It's his stuff!" Eri argued.

"Yeah! They can't just waltz into his home and steal his property!" Mei agreed.

"They can if they deem it necessary. Remember, Iron Man is not official law enforcement. He still technically qualifies as a vigilante. And Stark no longer has public opinion to hide behind. There is nothing preventing the government from being able to confiscate his suits." Nezu said.

"You said nobody else would possess this technology for 20 years. Well, guess what? Somebody else had it yesterday. It's not theoretical anymore." Rhodey continued.

(0:48:00 - 0:48:09)

"Yeah, I can see how that would look bad." Mina said.

"Especially when everyone is counting on you to protect them. As a hero, when you tell people that there is nothing to worry about, they expect you to be right." All Might said.

"The fact that Stark was proven wrong so quickly just gives people even more of a reason to start doubting him." Kurogiri said.

Tony still didn't respond. Rhodey approached him and placed a hand on their shoulder.

"Are you listening to me?" Rhodey asked.

Tony just gave him an exhausted look.

"Are you okay?" Rhodey asked, now a little concerned for his friend.

"...Let's go." Tony finally spoke as he began exiting the car.

However, the moment Tony stood, he nearly fell to his knees. Rhodey quickly rushed to his side and helped him up.

"You alright?" Rhodey asked, now even more concerned.

"Yeah, I should get to my desk." Tony answered.

(0:48:09 - 0:48:28)

The audience frowned. It was just one thing after another. Whiplash partnering up with Justin Hammer, the public beginning to lose faith in Iron Man, the government trying to take Stark's suits, and Stark's condition getting worse and worse. There was just no end to the bad news.

"The beginning of this film felt so bright and hopeful. But now, I feel like we're at the complete opposite of where we started." Uraraka said.

"At the start of this, we got to see Iron Man at his peak. He was unrivaled. He brought peace to the world. He was his world's greatest hero. But now, we're seeing him at his lowest point. It's been proven that he isn't invincible, the peace he's created is starting to fall apart, and the world is beginning to lose faith in his abilities as a hero. And to top it all off, he's struggling with an illness that even he can't cure." Izuku summarized.

"That is pretty rough." Toga said.

"The last time we saw him at this low of a point was back when the Ten Rings captured him." Sero said.

"And it's only gonna get worse from here. Especially now that Whiplash is free." Todoroki said.

Rhodey helped Tony walk over to his desk. Tony then asked him to open the box containing the palladium and to give him one. While Rhodey did as Tony asked, Tony removed the Arc Reactor from his chest and removed the palladium core from the Arc Reactor.

"Is that supposed to be smoking?" Rhodey questioned the now used and burnt palladium core.

"If you must know, it's neutron damage. It's from the reactor wall." Tony explained as he handed the Arc Reactor and the used palladium core to Rhodey.

"You had this in your body?" Rhodey questioned.

Tony did not respond.

"And how about the high-tech crossword puzzle on your neck?" Rhodey pointed out the dark, vein-like lines on Tony's neck.

"Road rash." Tony answered, not willing to tell Rhodey about his illness.

Rhodey didn't buy it, but chose to not press on the matter. He replaced the palladium core and handed the Arc Reactor back to Tony, who thanked him before putting the Arc Reactor back in their chest.

(0:48:28 - 0:49:08)

"Come on. You won't even tell your best friend?" Kirishima asked.

"You have to tell someone. This isn't something that you can just keep to yourself." Toru said.

Tony grabbed a bottle of the green liquid he had been drinking to stave off the symptoms. He looked at Rhodey, who was silently staring at him, seemingly analyzing him.

"What are you looking at?" Tony asked.

"I'm looking at you." Rhodey answered. "You wanna do this whole lone gunslinger act and it's unnecessary. You don't have to do this alone." He insisted.

"You know, I wish I could believe that. I really do. But you've gotta trust me. Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I'm doing." Tony claimed.

Rhodey stood silently, not knowing what to do with Tony at this point.

(0:49:08 - 0:49:38)

"Can one man protect the world?" Trixter's words echoed through everyone's minds.

This is what Trixter meant. Stark can't protect the whole world by himself. But he believes he has to. He believes that he is the only one who can do this job. The only one who can keep people safe. He has people that want to help him, but he doesn't think they can. He truly believes that he has to do everything alone.

Many of the heroes understand that feeling. But none understand it as much as All Might does.

All Might has always understood the importance of teamwork. The value of having the support of his fellow heroes. But in the end, when push comes to shove, All Might is alone. Because he is the only person who can truly keep everyone safe. That is the burden of those who wield One For All. In the end, the fight for peace and justice rests entirely in All Might's hands. Everyone else...? They simply can't keep up.

"Talk about arrogant." Trixter rolled their eyes.

Most of the audience assumed that Trixter was talking about Stark. But All Might had a feeling they were talking about him.

---

At Hammer Industries, Justin Hammer and his butler, Jack, were giving Ivan a brief tour.

"This is where we do it. This is my humble abode. You can work in absolute peace. Must be fun to be dead, right? No pressure." Hammer joked.

(0:49:38 - 0:49:52)

"If only he were actually dead." Bakugo said.

"And Stark doesn't even know that Whiplash is alive, so he doesn't realize that he should prepare for another attack." Spinner said.

Hammer then showed Ivan the Hammer Armor prototypes.

"Here they are. I'm very excited. They're combat ready. I may have done a few miscalculations and rushed the prototype into production. Sue me, I'm enthusiastic." Hammer chuckled.

(0:49:52 - 0:50:00)

"Tell that to the test pilot you nearly killed." Recovery Girl said.

"Cutting corners rarely ends well." Power Loader said.

Ivan approached a nearby terminal and began hacking into it.

"Oh, you don't want to do that. You'll be able to access that as soon as we generate some encrypted pass codes." Hammer said.

Ivan ignored him and easily hacked into the computer terminal within seconds.

"Wow. Okay. Good stuff." Hammer said, surprised that Ivan so easily hacked into his software.

Ivan then said something in Russian.

"Sorry?" Hammer questioned.

"Software shit." Ivan translated.

(0:50:00 - 0:50:32)

The audience chuckled.

"Yeah, that was way too easy." Ojiro said.

"That or Whiplash is just that smart." Melissa said.

"Probably a mixture of both honestly." La Brava said.

Hammer chuckled nervously. "You're good. You really blasted in past the firewall there." He said.

Ivan ignored Hammer and took a closer look at one of the Hammer Armor prototypes.

"Uh... Let me show you where you're gonna be working primarily. Go ahead, take a look." Hammer tried to continue the tour even though Ivan was basically showing himself around at this point.

Ivan began analyzing the head of the armor.

"You know, those are really just for show and tell. They're $125.7 million a pop so..." Hammer said.

(0:50:32 - 0:50:55)

"$125.7 million?! It costs that much just to make one of those suits?!" Uraraka's jaw dropped.

"And his suits barely even work." Kota said.

"That's actually a shockingly low price. A suit on the same level as Stark's would likely cost at least a few billion dollars." Power Loader said.

"Hammer must have cut a lot of corners to make his suits so cheap. And it definitely shows." Melissa said.

"That's cheap?!" Uraraka's jaw dropped even more. How could anyone call that much money cheap?

Ivan suddenly ripped the head of the prototype off to take a look inside.

"Wait! Oh, gosh. Uh..." Hammer rubbed his head in annoyance. "Jesus Christ. Get somebody up here." He whispered to Jack. "Um, that's where the pilot goes. I'm having a tough time finding volunteers." He chuckled.

(0:50:55 - 0:51:09)

"I wonder why." Compress said sarcastically.

"Most people aren't gonna line up to try out your little death trap." Dabi said.

"I volunteer as tribute! No way! I like having a spine, thank you very much." Twice said.

Ivan decided to put the head back and then turned to Hammer.

"What you want them do?" Ivan asked.

"Well, long term, I want them to put me in the Pentagon for the next 25 years. I want to make Iron Man look like an antique. I wanna go to that Stark Expo, I wanna take a dump in Tony's front yard." Hammer answered.

"I can do that. No problem." Ivan chuckled.

"Yeah? Hey, fabulous! I love it. Hey, this is are guy. Didn't I tell you? I had a feeling." Hammer smiled at Jack and Ivan.

(0:51:09 - 0:51:34)

"Hmph. What an idiot." Dabi said.

"You trust that madman at your own peril." Tokoyami said.

"Their interests are aligned for now, but that won't always be the case." Aizawa said.

"Indeed. It's already been made clear that Whiplash doesn't like Hammer. The only reason he has agreed to this partnership is because it benefits him. Once Hammer is no longer of use to him, Whiplash will likely dispose of them." Nezu said.

---

It was the night of Tony Stark's birthday party. Many guests were arriving at Tony's mansion.

Tony was shown in his bedroom looking at the Arc Reactor in his chest in despair as a hologram showed his current condition.

The hologram listed Tony's palladium poisoning as 89% and estimated that he only has 7 days left to live.

(0:51:34 - 0:51:43)

"No..." Iida said.

"He only has a week left..." Izuku said.

Shigaraki smiled. "Not too much longer now. In just a few days, this world will lose it's one and only hero."

"Well, there's still Banner. At least he'll still be around." Uraraka said.

"Unfortunately, Banner could never fill the void that will be left behind by Stark. He did good against Abomination, but his dangerous power and criminal status make it impossible for him to ever be a proper hero." Aizawa said.

"Just because Banner can't be a hero by your standards doesn't mean he can't be a hero at all. Still though, I will agree that, for the time being, Banner really isn't in any position to be a superhero." Trixter said.

Natalie entered the room, carrying a box of watches. "Do you know which watch you'd like to wear tonight, Mr. Stark?" She asked.

"I'll give them a look." Tony said as he quickly buttoned up his shirt.

Natalie sat the box down on a dresser and began fixing Tony a martini.

"...I should cancel the party, huh?" Tony asked.

"Probably." Natalie answered.

"Yeah. 'Cause it's, um..." Tony began.

"Ill-timed." Natalie finished.

"Right, sends the wrong message." He agreed.

"Inappropriate." She added as she handed him the martini.

(0:51:43 - 0:52:02)

"About time you realized that." Nighteye said.

"Hopefully he'll do the reasonable thing and cancel the party." Thirteen said.

"But this is his last birthday. He should celebrate it." Tsu said.

"Normally, that would be fine, but this is a really bad time." Aizawa said.

Tony took a sip of his drink before sitting down and requested that Natalie let him look at the watches.

Natalie brought the box over and handed it to Tony. She then sat on the arm of his chair and began applying concealer onto his face to hide his bruises.

Tony stared at Natalie for a moment. "...I gotta say it. It's hard to get a read on you. Where are you from?" He asked.

"Legal." Natalie dodged the question.

(0:52:02 - 0:52:38)

A few in the audience laughed at Natalie's answer.

"She is quite the mysterious woman." Midnight said.

"A little too mysterious if you ask me." Aizawa said.

Aizawa could tell Rushman was dodging Stark's question, but why? What was she trying to hide?

"...Can I ask you a question, hypothetically? Bit odd. If this was your last birthday party you were ever gonna have, how would you celebrate it?" Tony asked Natalie.

Natalie thought for a moment. "I'd do whatever I wanted to do. With whoever I wanted to do it with." She answered.

(0:52:38 - 0:52:58)

"Same." Mina said.

"I think that's pretty much what anyone would want to do." Midnight said.

"Then what's so bad about him throwing one last birthday party?" Toru asked.

"His responsibilities as a hero should come first. And right now, the world is starting to doubt Iron Man. Stark should be trying to make people feel safe again. Throwing a party like this will just make him seem more careless in the eyes of the public." All Might said.

Natalie then finished applying the concealer and left the room.

Tony sighed and gulped down the rest of his margarita, having decided how he wanted to spend his last birthday.

---

Tony was then shown partying with his guests while wearing the Mark IV Iron Man suit.

Pepper entered the room, surprised to see Iron Man dancing in front of all his guests.

(0:52:58 - 0:53:27)

"He is not partying in the Iron Man armor!" Endeavor said.

"He is." Compress said.

Many in the audience, mostly the heroes and villains, were annoyed by this. The Iron Man armor is not a toy.

"Well, the suit wasn't made for partying, but it is still his. I guess there's nothing wrong with wanting to show it off." Mei tried to justify.

"Partying is one thing. But wearing the Iron Man suit while doing so is something else entirely! Iron Man is not a party trick!" Aizawa said.

Stain could feel his blood boiling.

Outside, Rhodey had just arrived. He was on the phone with his superiors, assuring them that he would handle the Iron Man situation, even promising that Iron Man would be back on watch within 24 hours.

(0:53:27 - 0:53:41)

"Maybe Rhodes will put a stop to this nonsense." Recovery Girl said.

"We can only hope." Nezu said.

Rhodey entered the party and looked around until he spotted Pepper. He greeted her, but she simply responded that she was going to get some air. When Rhodey asked what was wrong, Pepper decided to show him the source of her stress.

"I don't know what to do." Pepper said.

"You gotta be kidding me." Rhodey said as he saw Tony, in the Mark IV and with a beer in hand, stumbling over his own feet.

(0:53:41 - 0:54:02)

"Oh, no... He's drunk too." Inko said.

"This is their Symbol of Peace? A drunken man partying in his war machine?" Shigaraki questioned.

"Okay, I'm all for showing off your babies, but you should do it with a sound mine. Not when you're drunk." Mei said. Even she wouldn't use the Iron Man armor while intoxicated.

Many in the audience became worried. The Iron Man suit is a very dangerous piece of technology. It's not something that Stark should be using while he's drunk.

Stain, meanwhile, felt his rage building more and more.

"That's it. I'm making-" Rhodey began leaving right as Pepper stopped him.

"No, no, no. Don't call anyone." She pleaded.

"Pepper! This is ridiculous! I just stuck my neck out for this guy!" He said.

"I know. I know. I get it. I'm gonna handle it, okay? Just let me handle it." She tried to calm him.

"Handle it. Or I'm gonna have to." He tried to compose himself.

(0:54:02 - 0:54:14)

"Someone better handle it before somebody gets hurt." Kirishima said.

The drunken Tony grabbed a microphone and began speaking to his guests.

"You know, the question I get asked most often is, 'Tony, how do you go to the bathroom in the suit?'" Tony said before pausing for a moment and shutting his eyes. "...Just like that." He said, causing the whole crowd to laugh at the fact that he really just pissed in his suit.

(0:54:14 - 0:54:25)

"Ew! That's so disgusting!" Mineta said.

"And inappropriate!" Iida added.

Pepper then approached the giggling Tony and took the mic from him. "Does this guy know how to throw a party or what?" She said, trying to hide her embarrassment.

The crowd cheered.

"I love you." Tony said.

"Unbelievable! Thank you so much. Tony, we all thank you so much for such a... wonderful night. And we're gonna say good night now, and thank you all for coming." Pepper said, causing the crowd to groan in disappointment.

"No, no, no, we can't- wait, wait, wait. We didn't have the cake. We didn't blow out the candles..." Tony protested.

"You're out of control, okay? Trust me on this one, okay?" Pepper said.

"You're out of control, gorgeous." Tony attempted to flirt with Pepper.

"It's time to go to bed. It's time." She ordered.

"Give me another smooch. Come on, you know you want to." He said as he leaned in for a kiss.

"You just peed the suit. It's not sexy." She said as she leaned away from him.

"It has a filtration system. You could drink that water." Tony explained.

(0:54:25 - 0:55:01)

"Again, that is disgusting!" Mineta repeated.

"A filtration system? I never would have even thought of something like that. Could be useful though." Mei said.

Izuku, while finding it gross, noted that the Iron Man suit has a filtration system.

"Just send everybody home, okay?" Pepper tried to reason with the drunken Tony.

"If you say so." Tony finally agreed as Pepper took his drink and handed him the mic. "Pepper Potts. She's right. The party's over. Then again, the party was over for me, like, an hour and a half ago. The after-party starts in 15 minutes!" He declared.

All the guests began cheering.

"And if anybody, Pepper, doesn't like it, there's the door." Tony pointed his hand at the glass door and accidentally fired his repulsor, shattering the door.

The whole crowd began cheering excitedly.

"YEAH!" Tony yelled.

(0:55:01 - 0:55:38)

Everyone widened their eyes when Stark accidentally fired his repulsor, fearful of the fact that his weapons are indeed active.

"ENOUGH! How can any of you call this man a hero?!" Stain yelled, unable to contain his anger any longer. "When confronted by death, every choice he's made has been completely selfish! He refuses to tell anyone the truth of his condition, he participates in a race just for the thrill, and now he plays around in the Iron Man armor like it's a toy! These are not the actions of a hero!"

Many in the audience actually agreed with Stain. But a few still felt a need to defend Stark.

"I mean, he's dying. You gotta cut him some slack." Kaminari said.

"What about All Might?! What about Banner?! Banner has endured far more hardships than Stark. If Banner were in Stark's position, do you honestly think he would be making these same decisions?!" Stain asked.

"No." Eri answered. "He wouldn't."

Eri had forgotten this side of Iron Man. Ever since he came out of that cave, Eri had only seen him as an unstoppable hero. She had completely forgotten about the rude and arrogant playboy from the beginning of the first Iron Man film. But this scene was reminding her. Eri understood why Iron Man was acting like this. He just feels hopeless. He's giving up. She understands. But she still didn't like seeing Iron Man like this. This was a side of him she didn't like to see.

The heroes and students didn't want to admit that Stain was right. That the Hero Killer was right about Stark not being a real hero. But with how Stark is acting, how could they deny it? Real heroes don't act like this, even when faced with death.

One of the guests then threw a bottle into the air, which Tony proceeded to blast out of the sky. (Pretty good aim considering how drunk he is.)

Rhodey had finally seen enough and left the room. He wasn't gonna let this nonsense continue any longer.

One of the guests threw another bottle into the air and Tony blasted it once again.

The entire crowd erupted into cheers, not realizing the danger they were in.

(0:55:38 - 0:55:54)

"I hate to admit it, but Stain is right. Stark is not acting like a hero!" Iida said.

"His reckless actions are putting people in danger!" Aizawa said.

"He's acting less and less like a hero, and more and more like a billionaire playboy." Gentle said.

"Seems the armor is best left in the governments hands after all." Endeavor said.

Everyone agreed. Even the most understanding of individuals in the audience felt that Stark was out of control. His actions were extremely irresponsible and he might hurt someone if he isn't careful. This scene was causing the audience to doubt Stark as a hero. Just like how the public is viewing Iron Man now.

Rhodey made his way downstairs and entered Tony's workshop, where the Iron Man Mark I, Mark II, and ruined Mark III were being kept.

(0:55:54 - 0:56:00)

"Is Rhodey gonna put on the suit?!" Mina gasped.

"He might have to if he's going to put a stop to Stark's antics." Midnight said.

While Tony continued blasting bottles out of the sky, Rhodey put on the Mark II Iron Man suit.

This time, one of the guests threw a watermelon into the air.

"I think she wants the Gallagher!" Tony said as he fired his Unibeam, blasting the watermelon to bits.

The crowd's cheers grew louder and louder.

"I'm only gonna say this once!" A voice yelled out amidst the chaos.

Everyone turned towards the source of the voice and saw Rhodey in the Mark II.

"Get out." Rhodey ordered as the helmet of the Mark II closed.

All the guests complied and quickly exited the house. With the civilians out of the way, Rhodey confronted Tony.

"You don't deserve to wear one of these! Shut it down!" Rhodey ordered.

(0:56:00 - 0:56:38)

"It's about time people started realizing that." Stain said.

"That armor should be in the hands of someone who can use it responsibly. It's clear someone like Stark shouldn't have it." Aizawa said.

"Goldstein." Tony addressed his DJ.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?" Goldstein answered.

(0:56:38 - 0:56:43)

"Wait, Goldstein? As in, Adam Goldstein?" Jiro asked.

"Yep. That's him." Trixter answered.

"Who?" Ojiro asked.

"Adam Goldstein was a famous DJ a long time ago. He died in 2009." Jiro explained.

"In your world. In the MCU world, however, Goldstein lived longer. The events of Iron Man 2 take place in 2010, and as you can see, Goldstein is alive and well." Trixter said.

"Another small, yet interesting difference between our worlds." Izuku said, noting the new information.

"Give me a phat beat to beat my buddy's ass to." Tony said, laughing mid-sentence.

Goldstein did as requested and began playing 'Another One Bites the Dust' by Queen.

Rhodey then grabbed Tony from behind. "I told you to shut it down." He repeated.

Tony's helmet closed and he suddenly flew himself and Rhodey backwards and through a wall, sending them both into the gym room.

While Rhodey fell on the floor, Tony stopped his momentum using his hand repulsors.

(0:56:43 - 0:57:02)

"And now they're fighting." Mic sighed.

"Honestly, when he implied that he might wear the armor back in the first Iron Man film, I thought it would be more of a teamwork situation. Not a fighting each other situation." Sato frowned, finding it sad that Rhodey has to fight his best friend.

"Well, I think this is gonna be awesome. Iron Man vs. Iron Man, baby!" Bakugo yelled.

"I wonder who will win." Toga said.

"Isn't Rhodey at a pretty big disadvantage? With his armor being worse than Stark's and all." Mineta asked.

"Actually, I'd say this is a pretty even fight. Stark does have the superior armor and more experience using it, but he might not be able to fight as proficiently as normal since he's drunk. Couple that with the fact that Rhodey is the superior fighter thanks to his military training, and you've got a rather even match." Izuku analyzed.

"Besides, it's not like Stark would actually go all out against his best friend... Right?" La Brava asked.

"Who can say? There's no telling what Stark might do in his current state." Compress said.

A few in the audience were quite curious to see how this fight would play out. While they were a little excited to see two Iron Men (Is it Iron Men or Iron Mans?) duking it out, they were also worried about how far the fight might go. Especially with so many people nearby.

"Now, put that thing back where you found it before someone gets hurt." Tony said as he began walking away until he was hit in the back of the head by a thrown training weight, causing him to turn back to Rhodey.

Rhodey then threw another training weight at Tony, but this time, Tony dodged it.

"Really?" Tony said, unimpressed.

Tony then picked up a barbell with some weights on it and hit Rhodey with it, knocking him across the boxing ring and into the wall.

"Sorry, pal, but Iron Man doesn't have a sidekick." Tony said as he hovered over to Rhodey.

(0:57:02 - 0:57:26)

"Maybe you should have one. Then you wouldn't have to do everything alone." Momo said.

"If he did have someone to support him, he might not have fallen to this low of a point." Shoji said.

Rhodey grabbed a large pipe. "Side... kick... this!" He said as he hit Tony with the pipe three times. Once in his gut, and twice across his face.

Rhodey then went in for a fourth strike, but this time, Tony grabbed the pipe. Rhodey reacted quickly and kicked Tony in the leg, knocking him onto his knee.

With Tony still holding onto the pipe, Rhodey swung the pipe up, sending Tony straight through the ceiling and into a bedroom.

Rhodey then flew up to Tony, who was lying on the floor. "Had enough?" He taunted.

(0:57:26 - 0:57:40)

"I hope so. You two are already causing a lot of damage." Tsu said.

"Stark's not gonna quit that easily." Dabi said.

Downstairs, Pepper, Happy, and Natalie had finally gotten all the guests outside.

"Natalie!" Pepper called out.

"Miss Potts." Natalie answered.

"Don't you 'Miss Potts' me! I'm onto you! You know what? Ever since you came here-" Pepper began, about to accuse Natalie of being responsible for Tony's recent behavior, when Tony and Rhodey suddenly crashed down through the ceiling.

While Pepper shrieked in fear, Natalie instinctively got into a fighting stance.

(0:57:40 - 0:57:45)

While a few in the audience did notice Natalie's reaction, they didn't think much of it. She has already shown that she studies martial arts, so the fact that her first instinct when in danger was to prepare to fight wasn't all that strange.

Tony and Rhodey stood and continued their fight while Happy got Pepper and brought her outside with the guests. Natalie, meanwhile, exited a different way.

(0:57:45 - 0:57:57)

"They're getting too close to the civilians. This fight has to stop." All Might said.

"A shame these civilians are too stupid to realize that they should be fleeing." Endeavor said.

The crowd outside watched as Rhodey and Tony continued to fight, some even recording the fight.

Rhodey grabbed hold of Tony, trying to restrain him.

"You want it?! Take it!" Tony said as he broke free and used his hand to sweep Rhodey's leg, flipping him over.

The moment Rhodey got back up, Tony immediately punched him in the face. When Tony went in for another punch, Rhodey dodged it, sending Tony stumbling past him.

Tony recovered and approached Rhodey before punching him in the face once again. This time, Rhodey replied with a punch of his own.

The two continued trading blows for a moment before Tony caught one of Rhodey's punches and slammed him head first into the counter next to them.

Tony then turned towards the crowd outside and noticed them watching and filming him.

"HAAAAAAAAA!" Tony roared at all the guests, causing them all to run away in fear.

(0:57:57 - 0:58:32)

"Now you're scaring people? Some hero." Kota said.

Everyone in the audience was very disappointed in Stark. They may have seen him as a good hero before, but now, they're beginning to think that he never should have become a hero. Not if he's gonna act like this. His illness can only earn him so much pity before he goes too far. And tonight, he crossed a line. Heroes do not scare and endanger innocent civilians.

Eri was extremely saddened by this moment. In fact, she was scared. Scared of Iron Man. It felt like her entire perception of Iron Man was shattered. He was scaring people. Fighting his best friend. This wasn't the hero Eri grew to admire. This wasn't Iron Man. At least not who Eri thought Iron Man was.

While Tony was distracted, Rhodey tore the sink out of the counter and hit Tony with it, sending him flying into a nearby lit fireplace.

Unaffected by the fire, thanks to his armor, Tony pulled himself out of the fireplace before turning to Rhodey and aiming his repulsor at him. Rhodey did the same.

"Put your hand down." Rhodey ordered.

"You think you got what it takes to wear that suit?" Tony questioned.

(0:58:32 - 0:58:47)

"He's more worthy of the suit than you." Stain answered.

Just about everyone agreed with Stain.

"Please, just listen and stop fighting." Melissa begged.

"We don't have to do this, Tony." Rhodey attempted to reason with his dear friend.

"You wanna be the War Machine, take your shot." Tony demanded, refusing to back down.

"Put it down!" Rhodey ordered once again.

"You gonna take a shot?" Tony asked.

"PUT IT DOWN!" Rhodey yelled, growing tired of Tony's stubbornness.

"NO!" Tony refused as he began charging his repulsor.

"DROP IT TONY!" Rhodey ordered one final time as he began charging his repulsor as well.

"TAKE IT!" Tony yelled as he and Rhodey fired at each other.

The beams from their repulsors clashed, creating a massive explosion of energy, blowing both of them away.

(0:58:47 - 0:59:05)

Everyone was shocked by the blast.

"Oh, my gosh! Are they okay?!" Uraraka asked.

"What the hell happened?!" Kirishima asked.

"The combined energy of both repulsors clashing must have caused some sort of destabilization. Something akin to when Stark had Pepper overload the large Arc Reactor at the end of the first Iron Man film, but on a much smaller scale." Power Loader analyzed.

"But they'll be fine, right?" Thirteen asked.

"I'm not sure. Those suits are tough, but that blast was pretty powerful." Power Loader answered.

Izuku took note of what happens when two repulsor blasts clash with each other.

Inside the now destroyed room, Tony could be seen laying against a wall, the suit inactive.

After a few moments, the Mark IV's eyes lit up and Tony began moving.

(0:59:05 - 0:59:38)

For a moment, everyone was beginning to think that Stark might be dead. Once his suit came back online, they all took a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness he's okay." Iida said.

"I was really worried for a second there." Kaminari said.

"Dammit! I was hoping they'd both die." Shigaraki said.

"You seriously thought they'd kill each other?" Dabi asked.

"Like I said, I was hopeful." Shigaraki answered.

"To be fair, they nearly did. I doubt either of them anticipated the blast being that powerful." Kurogiri said.

As Tony surveyed the area, he spotted Rhodey walking away.

Rhodey looked back at Tony one last time before flying away with the Mark II. Tony did nothing and simply watched as Rhodey stole his suit.

(0:59:38 - 1:00:04)

"No! He's taking the suit!" Mei yelled.

"Good. Perhaps Rhodes can put it to better use." Endeavor said.

"But it's not his!" Mei countered.

"Stark may have built the suit, but tonight, he proved that he shouldn't have it." Aizawa said.

"But-" Mei began.

"Regardless of who the suit might belong to, I believe it is best left in Rhodes hands as well as the military's. They won't use it as recklessly as Stark has." Power Loader said.

---

The next day, Rhodey was shown arriving at the Edwards Air Force Base.

"Edwards Tower, this is Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, inbound from three miles east at 5,000 feet..." Rhodey radioed in, informing the base of his arrival.

The soldiers in the base watched as Rhodey rocketed towards the base and landed in front of them. All the soldiers approached Rhodey and gazed in awe at the Iron Man Mark II.

Major Allen greeted Rhodey and expressed his surprise at seeing him in possession of the Iron Man armor. Rhodey simply said that they should bring the armor inside one of the hangars. Allen agreed and all the soldiers cleared out.

(1:00:04 - 1:01:14)

"But now, what's stopping them from weaponizing the Iron Man suit?" Kaminari asked.

"Nothing. That's exactly why Stark didn't want them to have the suit." Gentle said.

"Stark's experience with Obadiah and the Ten Rings might be clouding his judgement. He's become hesitant and quite possibly even fearful of sharing his technology with anyone." Recovery Girl said.

"But we must remember that not everyone is Obadiah Stane. At the end of the day, these are soldiers, not businessmen. Their intentions are born from a desire to protect." Nezu said.

"Even General Ross was doing what he believed was best for America. Even if his methods were questionable." Midnight said.

"We'll just have to trust that Rhodes and the military will use the armor wisely." All Might said.

---

Tony was shown, still in his suit (without the helmet on), eating some donuts while sitting inside of a giant, fake donut atop a donut shop.

"Sir! I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the donut." Someone called out to Tony.

Tony looked down at the individual and saw that it was Nick Fury, who had a stern look on his face.

(1:01:14 - 1:01:40)

The audience chuckled.

"It's Fury. He looks a little angry." Izuku said.

"He's probably mad about the whole party incident." Todoroki said.

"You might even say he's FURYous." Kaminari joked only to be stabbed by Jiro's earphone jacks. "Ow! I didn't even say anything inappropriate!"

"Maybe not, but that joke was still terrible." Jiro said.

Tony and Fury were then shown sitting at a table inside the donut shop. No one else was present.

"I told you I don't wanna join your super-secret boy band." Tony stated bluntly.

Fury chuckled. "No, no, no. See, I remember, you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?" He asked.

Tony just sighed.

(1:01:40 - 1:01:51)

"It's not working out at all." Aoyama said.

"This must be about the Avengers Initiative." Izuku said.

"So Stark refused to join it? But we saw him talk to Ross about it at the end of The Incredible Hulk film." Toru said.

"That'll make sense later." Trixter said.

"I'm sorry. I don't wanna get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye?" Tony asked.

Fury did not answer that.

(1:01:51 - 1:01:55)

"Rude." Sero said.

"That's actually a pretty good question." Toga said, wondering the same thing.

"The patch! The eye! Why not both?" Twice said.

"Honestly, I'm a bit hung over. I'm not sure if you're real or if I'm having..." Tony said.

"I am very real. I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet." Fury said.

"Just my luck. Where's the staff here?" Tony asked, wondering why there were no workers in the shop.

Fury then focused on the dark lines on Tony's neck. "That's not looking so good." He pointed out.

"I've been worse." Tony lied.

A woman dressed in black appeared and approached the two.

"We've secured the perimeter, but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer." The woman told Fury.

Tony stared at the woman in disbelief. The woman was none other than Natalie Rushman.

Fury couldn't help smiling at Tony's shock.

(1:01:55 - 1:02:19)

"WHAT?!" The audience yelled in shock.

"Rushman?! She's..." Mina began.

"A SHIELD agent?!" Iida finished.

"No wonder she's such a good fighter." Midnight said.

"Scary and deceptive. Why are the hottest girls always the craziest?" Mineta asked.

"You're... fired." Tony said.

"That's not up to you." Natalie said as she sat next to Fury.

"Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff." Fury introduced her.

(1:02:19 - 1:02:26)

"Romanoff? So even her name was fake." Izuku realized.

"Yep. Her real name is Natasha Romanoff." Trixter revealed.

"They must have known that Stark would do a background check on her, so using a completely false identity was the only way to ensure that he wouldn't learn of her connection to SHIELD." Kurogiri said.

"While we're on the subject, that SHIELD agent that eventually gets sent to spy on Banner and ends up capturing Samuel Sterns is actually Romanoff." Trixter revealed.

"I remember you saying they were also one of Fury's top agents." Nighteye said.

"Yep. And when I say top, I mean top. Top two in fact." Trixter said.

"Wow. That's impressive." Izuku said, noting the fact that Romanoff is one of Fury's two best agents.

"I wonder who his other top agent is." Thirteen said.

"Maybe it's Coulson." Ojiro suggested.

"Good guess, but no. You'll all see the other top agent later." Trixter said.

"I'm a SHIELD shadow. Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury." Natasha explained.

"I suggest you apologize." Tony said, annoyed that Fury was spying on him this whole time.

"You've been very busy. You made your girl your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit." Fury listed off all of the odd decisions Tony has been making. "Now, if I didn't know better-"

"You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it." Tony claimed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You're Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?" Fury mocked.

(1:02:26 - 1:02:53)

"When you put it that way, it does sound pretty pathetic." Tsu said.

"To be fair, Stark wasn't exactly fighting at his best." Momo said.

"Is that possible?" Fury questioned if Rhodey could've actually stolen the suit.

"Well, according to Mr. Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage." Natasha revealed.

(1:02:53 - 1:03:02)

"Huh? Then how did Rhodey take it?" Kirishima asked.

"The answer is simple. Rhodes was authorized." Nezu answered.

"Rhodes was probably one of the few people Stark trusted with the suit. The other potential candidates are Pepper and maybe Happy." Melissa said.

"This also means that Stark could have stopped Rhodes from taking the suit, but he chose not to." Power Loader said.

"What I don't understand is why. He didn't want his armor in the hands of the military, so why did he let Rhodey take it?" Mei asked.

"Because he trusts Rhodes. And even more than that, I think he wants Rhodes to be the next Iron Man." All Might said.

Everyone looked at All Might with a confused expression.

"Back when Stark talked about finding a successor for his company, it got me thinking, who will be Iron Man's successor? He chose Potts as the next CEO of Stark Industries, and I think he chose Rhodes as the next Iron Man." All Might explained.

"Of course! He probably knew that his armor would end up in the military's hands once he died anyway. So he wanted the suit to at least be in the hands of someone he trusted." Iida realized.

"And out of every potential candidate, Rhodes is by far the best choice. In some ways, he'll be an even better Iron Man than Stark." Aizawa said.

The audience thought about what it will be like to have Rhodes as the new Iron Man. He wouldn't be nearly as flashy as Stark which is a bit of a bummer for a few in the audience. But none of them could really deny that Rhodes would probably be a better hero than Stark.

The only ones who weren't very fond of the idea of Rhodes becoming a new Iron Man were Stain, Shigaraki, Mei, and Eri.

Stain was certain that Rhodes would be more suitable to the role of a hero than Stark. But so far, Rhodes has not proven himself to be a true hero yet. Stain would have to see more of Rhodes actions before he can determine if he is worthy of being called a hero.

Shigaraki found this news upsetting. He had hoped that with Stark dead, Iron Man would be gone and the world would lose their only hero. Instead, Rhodey will simply take Stark's place. How annoying.

Mei didn't think that anyone could truly replace Stark as Iron Man. It's good to know that the suit will continue to benefit humanity even when Stark is gone, but there was no way anyone could be a better Iron Man than Stark.

Eri, meanwhile, just refused to believe that Iron Man would die at all. Like Mei, Eri believed that no one could replace Iron Man, but she also believed that no one would have to. Despite everything that has happened, despite all the doubts that he'll live, despite how he acted during his birthday party, Eri still believed in Iron Man. She believed that he could find a way to survive. Because no matter what happens, Tony Stark is Iron Man. And he is a survivor.

"What do you want from me?" Tony asked, growing tired of this conversation.

"What do we want from you? Uh-uh. What do YOU want from ME?" Fury corrected as Natasha stood up and walked away. "YOU have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with." He said.

(1:03:02 - 1:03:17)

"What's going on in the southwest region?" Toru asked.

"You'll find out later." Trixter answered.

"Well, now I'm curious." Sero said.

Natasha then returned with a syringe in hand and, on Fury's order, injected Tony with it, much to his shock.

"Ah! Oh, God, are you gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" Tony groaned. "Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds?" He said to Natasha as the dark lines on his neck began disappearing. "What did she just do to me?" He asked.

"What did we just do FOR you?" Fury corrected. "That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work." He explained.

(1:03:17 - 1:03:35)

"Lithium dioxide? I've never heard of that element before." Momo said.

"That's because it was never discovered in your world. That or it just doesn't exist in your world. Both are plausible." Trixter explained.

"I don't suppose you could tell me how to make it, could you?" Momo asked.

"I'm generous, but I'm not that generous. You're gonna have to figure it out on your own." Trixter said.

"I see." Momo said, a little disappointed.

"Give me a couple of boxes of that. I'll be right as rain." Tony said.

"It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms." Natasha clarified.

(1:03:35 - 1:03:40)

"Dang it. For a second there, I thought they cured him." Uraraka said.

"It's just a temporary solution. They're just prolonging the inevitable at this point." Shigaraki said.

"How do they plan on getting him back to work with just a short-term solution?" Gentle asked.

"Doesn't look like it's gonna be an easy fix." Fury said.

"Trust me, I know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element." Tony stated.

"Well, I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all." Fury revealed.

(1:03:40 - 1:03:55)

Mei perked up at this. "What? He hasn't?"

"But how? He's tried literally everything. What more could there be?" Shigaraki asked, not liking what Fury was insinuating.

"Maybe... No, that can't be it." Momo said.

"What?" Todoroki asked.

"Well... I was thinking that maybe there is some undiscovered element that Stark could create. But the chances of that are slim." Momo explained.

"The only other possibility would be that Stark must have missed an element. Maybe there really is an element that he just forgot to try." Melissa said.

"No way. Stark's too smart. There's no way he forgot to try one of the elements." Mei said.

"Then discovering a new element is the only option. But like Yaoyorozu said, the odds aren't exactly in Stark's favor." Power Loader said.

"Then Stark will just have to beat those odds!" Mei said.

The audience wasn't sure what to think. Fury claims that Stark hasn't tried every element, but the only way that makes sense is if there is some undiscovered element. But can Stark really discover a brand new element? It sounds insane.

---

Back at Hammer Industries, Ivan was busy working on one of the Hammer Armor prototypes. Hammer and Jack then showed up with a surprise for him.

"Hey, hey, hey. Special delivery. Candygram." Hammer said.

Ivan stopped what he was doing and approached Hammer.

"I brought you something. Oh, yeah." Hammer smiled as Jack placed something on the table near them.

Jack then removed the cloth that was covering the object he was carrying, revealing it to be a bird cage with what was supposedly Ivan's bird inside.

"We got you the bird, pal!" Hammer revealed.

(1:03:55 - 1:04:12)

"Wow. I can't believe he actually went through the trouble of getting that bird." Thirteen said.

"I doubt that's really Vanko's bird. Hammer probably just bought a brand new bird instead." Compress said.

"This is not my bird." Ivan said.

"What do you mean? That's the bird. This is the bird. Yeah!" Hammer claimed. "Pulled a lot of strings to get this bird. This is a great bird!" He said.

"It's a beautiful bird." Jack added.

"We got this all the way from Russia." Hammer stated.

Ivan slammed his hands on the table. "Hey, man, this not my bird." He said.

"...Well, listen, even if it's not the bird, I mean, this is a gorgeous bird. I mean, you know, look, don't get so attached to things. Learn to let go." Hammer said.

(1:04:12 - 1:04:40)

"How can he tell it isn't his bird?" Uraraka asked.

"He just doesn't believe Hammer would actually go all the way to Moscow just to find Irina." Trixter explained.

"Irina?" Koji questioned.

"That's the bird's name." Trixter clarified.

"You'd think he wouldn't care much about his pet, what with him being a villain and all." Kirishima said.

Shigaraki's eye twitched. Villains can like pets.

Hammer then turned his attention to the prototype Ivan was working on and noticed something odd.

"Wait a minute. Jack, what is that?" Hammer asked as he pointed to the helmet of the prototype armor, which looked less like a helmet and more like a robot head.

(1:04:40 - 1:04:46)

"It looks like a drone." Mei said.

"So instead of a suit, he's making a robot? That's lame." Shigaraki said, disappointed that Whiplash wasn't going to try to make a superior version of the Iron Man suit.

Hammer went up to the prototype and removed it's head for closer inspection. Confused, Hammer handed the head to Jack and began questioning Ivan on what it was.

"Is that a helmet? It doesn't look like a helmet to me. How are you supposed to get a head in there?" Hammer asked before ordering Jack to try wearing the drone head as a helmet, which obviously didn't work. "See, Ivan? He can't put his head in there. That's... That's not a helmet. It's a head. I need to put a guy in there. I need to fit a person in that suit. You understand?" He asked.

"Drone better." Ivan gave a simple answer.

"What? Drone better? Why is drone better?" Hammer questioned.

"People make problem. Trust me. Drone better." Ivan gave a simple explanation.

(1:04:46 - 1:05:29)

"How the hell is a robot better than a person in an awesome suit of armor?" Bakugo asked.

"There are pros and cons to both." Kurogiri said.

"Drones do have the benefit of being safer. There's no risk of the pilot dying." Melissa said.

"Not to mention the fact that multiple drones could theoretically be piloted by a single person, granting more strength in numbers." Mei added.

"The downside though is that drones are more limited to their basic functions. They aren't able to go beyond their limits like actual people can." Power Loader said.

"While drones can be more reliable than humans at times, there are perks to having a human touch." Nezu said.

"Right. Iron Man is proof of that. The suit isn't the only reason Iron Man is strong. Stark himself is an important factor." Izuku said.

"No matter how impressive these drones might be, I doubt they'll compare to Iron Man." All Might said.

"Ivan, you know, I like you. I got you the bird... You said, 'No problem.' That's what you said to me. Now I need suits. The government wants suits. Like Iron Man. You understand? That's what the people want. That's what's gonna make them happy." Hammer said.

"Hey, man. Don't get too attached to things. Learn to let go." Ivan used Hammer's own words against him.

(1:05:29 - 1:05:56)

The audience chuckled.

"Practice what you preach." Compress said.

"These drones better steal the show, Ivan. You understand? Better rock my world, Ivan." Hammer said as he left Ivan to his work.

(1:05:56 - 1:06:07)

"I really hope he kills you." Shigaraki said, really wanting to kill Hammer himself.

"Guys like Hammer always think they can boss people around without any consequences. We'll see how that works out for him." Dabi said.

---

Back at the Air Force base, Rhodey, who was no longer wearing the Mark II, was showing the suit to Major General Meade.

Meade expressed his amazement and asked if the suit was functional. Rhodey responded that it was fully mission-capable. Upon hearing Rhodey's confirmation, Meade ordered him to have Hammer begin weaponizing the suit.

(1:06:07 - 1:06:27)

"No! Don't let Hammer anywhere near the suit!" Mei ordered.

"You don't need to worry too much. The suit is in good hands." Trixter said.

"It doesn't seem like it." Mina said.

"It's fine. Really. Rhodey actually managed to work out a deal with his superiors before this." Trixter revealed.

"A deal? What kind of deal?" Aizawa asked.

"Basically, Rhodey agreed to allow the suit to be used for military purposes so long as he is it's sole pilot. He also insisted that everything concerning the suit's development, armament, and deployment be vetted by him first." Trixter explained.

"Those are reasonable terms." Midnight said.

"And it ensures that no matter what, Rhodes will have a say in what the military does with the armor." All Might said.

"Good. In that case, there shouldn't be anything to worry about." Melissa said.

"Sir?" Rhodey questioned Meade's orders.

"Justin Hammer's making a weapons presentation at the Expo. We'd like this to introduce it." Meade explained.

"Sir, I don't believe that the Expo-" Rhodey tried to voice his concerns.

"Colonel, the world needs to see this fast. We've got to make this happen." Meade said.

"Yes, General, but-" Rhodey continued to protest.

"It's also an order." Meade said, making it clear that Rhodey was in no position to argue.

"Yes, Sir." Rhodey finally complied.

"Good work, Colonel. You've made your country proud." Meade congratulated Rhodey before leaving.

"Thank you, Sir." Rhodey said, unsure of if the military was making the right move.

(1:06:27 - 1:06:56)

"So much for Rhodey having a say in this." Toga said.

"Well, it's not like Rhodes downright refused to do this. He just expressed some concerns." Nighteye said.

"Why do they need to prepare the armor so quickly? What's the rush?" Kota asked.

"The world is in turmoil right now. People felt extremely safe with Iron Man around, but now that their confidence in Iron Man is beginning to disappear, that sense of safety is vanishing along with it." Aizawa said.

"This is the military's attempt to put people at ease." Mic said.

---

Tony and Fury were now at Tony's mansion, sitting in the same part of the mansion that Tony and Rhodey had destroyed, continuing they're discussion from earlier.

"That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology." Fury said.

"No, it was finished. It has never been particularly effective until I miniaturized it and put it in my-" Tony began.

"No. Howard said the Arc Reactor was the stepping stone to something greater." Fury revealed.

(1:06:56 - 1:07:11)

"Something greater than the Arc Reactor?" Melissa questioned.

"Is that even possible?" Momo asked.

"I sure hope so!" Mei said, excited by the idea of something even greater than the Arc Reactor.

"He was about to kick off an energy race that was gonna dwarf the arms race." Fury continued. "He was onto something big, something so big that it was gonna make the nuclear reactor look like a triple-A battery."

(1:07:11 - 1:07:22)

"That's insane." Iida said.

"So the Arc Reactor Stark built isn't even the complete product! It's capable of producing even more power!" Mei said.

"Howard Stark really was a genius, huh?" Thirteen said.

"Must run in the family." Power Loader said.

"Just him, or was Anton Vanko in on this too?" Tony asked.

"Anton Vanko is the other side of that coin. Anton saw it as a way to get rich. When your father found out, he had him deported." Fury explained.

(1:07:22 - 1:07:33)

"So Howard Stark is the reason Anton Vanko was deported." Shoji said.

"And thus, Anton developed a grudge with the Stark family. One that he would pass on to his son as well." Kurogiri said.

Fury continued. "When the Russians found out he couldn't deliver, they shipped his ass off to Siberia and he spent the next 20 years in a vodka-fueled rage. Not quite the environment you want to raise a kid in, the son you had the misfortune of crossing paths with in Monaco."

(1:07:33 - 1:07:46)

"Yeah. Ivan Vanko must have had it pretty rough." Sero said.

"He likely suffered abuse from his father. With a childhood like that, it's no wonder he's gone down such a dark path." Aizawa said.

Shigaraki understood that completely. Whiplash had an abusive father. A father who hated Howard Stark and took their anger out on their own son. And over time, Whiplash learned to hate the Stark family just like his father did. It was so much like what Shigaraki himself had experienced. Shigaraki used to love heroes. But his father hated them. For many years, Shigaraki had to put up with his father's abuse as they took their hatred towards heroes out on him simply because he wanted to be one. Through all that pain and suffering, no one, no hero, ever came to help him. When he was homeless and alone, waiting for help, no hero came for him. Once All For One found him, Shigaraki eventually learned to hate heroes just like his father did. It seems Shigaraki and Whiplash both learned something important from their fathers, even if they were terrible parents.

"You know, Vanko seemed to still care about his dad though. Why would he care so much about them if they were abusive?" Mineta asked.

"Sometimes people can't help but care about someone, no matter how horrible they are." Recovery Girl said.

"You told me I hadn't tried everything. What do you mean I haven't tried everything? What haven't I tried?" Tony asked.

"He said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started." Fury explained.

"He said that?" Tony questioned, clearly not believing Fury.

"Are you that guy? Hmm? Are you? 'Cause if you are, then you can solve the riddle of your heart." Fury said.

(1:07:46 - 1:08:07)

"Why so vague? Can't you just tell him the solution to his problem?" Kirishima asked.

"Well, Fury just said that Stark is apparently the only one with the means and knowledge to figure this out. So Fury himself probably doesn't know what to do either." Tsu said.

Tony just shook his head at Fury's words. "I don't know where you get your information, but he wasn't my biggest fan." He said.

"What do you remember about your dad?" Fury asked.

"He was cold, he was calculating. He never told me he loved me. He never even told me he liked me, so it's a little tough for me to digest when you're telling me he said the whole future was riding on me and he's passing it down. I don't get that. You're talking about a guy whose happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school." Tony vented.

(1:08:07 - 1:08:31)

"Man. I guess both Stark and Vanko didn't have very good fathers." Kirishima said.

'I might not come from the wealthiest family ever, but at least I have such loving parents.' Uraraka thought to herself.

Everyone felt bad for Stark. But none understood how he felt as much as Todoroki did.

Todoroki couldn't help but think of Endeavor as Stark described his own father. It seems Endeavor and Howard Stark have a bit in common. Cold and calculating. That describes Endeavor pretty well. Not once has Endeavor ever showed Todoroki even an ounce of affection. Never, has he said the words 'I love you, son.' And yet, he still constantly goes on about how Todoroki will be the one to surpass All Might for him. Much like Stark, Todoroki doesn't get it. How can someone who cares so little about their own child have so much faith in their ability to achieve something they couldn't? How dare they think they have the right to put everything on them. What kind of bastard treats their children like trash and then proceeds to put such a heavy burden on them?

"That's not true." Fury said.

"Well, then clearly you knew my dad better than I did." Tony said.

"As a matter of fact, I did. He was one of the founding members of SHIELD." Fury revealed.

"What?" Tony questioned, surprised by the new information.

(1:08:31 - 1:08:40)

The audience was just as surprised as Stark was.

"Howard Stark helped create SHIELD. He probably supplied them with most of their tech when he was around." Izuku said, noting the new information about Howard and SHIELD.

"It's kind of surprising that Stark never even knew." La Brava said.

"Considering how secretive SHIELD seems to be, and Stark's poor relationship with his father, it's not that surprising that he never knew." Nighteye said.

Two SHIELD agents, along with Natasha and Coulson, delivered a crate in front of Tony.

"I got a two o'clock." Fury said as he stood up from his seat, about to leave.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. What's this?" Tony asked about the crate.

"Okay, you're good, right? You got this?" Fury asked, clearly ignoring Tony's question.

"Got what? I don't even know what I'm supposed to get." Tony said.

"Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover intact. And you remember Agent Coulson, right?" Fury said as he began walking away. "Oh, and Tony, remember, I got my eye on you." He gave Tony one last look before leaving.

(1:08:40 - 1:09:05)

"I can't tell if that was a joke or if he was being serious." Kaminari said.

"I feel like it was a mix of both." Toru said.

"You know, Fury is starting to remind me of you, Aizawa." Mic said.

"How so?" Aizawa asked.

"You're both so serious and straight forward, and yet so vague and secretive at the same time." Mic explained.

"Not to mention the fact that you both seem to secretly love screwing with people." Midnight added.

"You're one to talk." Aizawa said.

"We've disabled all communications. No contact with the outside world. Good luck." Natasha said before leaving.

Tony then turned to Coulson. "Please. First thing, I need a little bodywork. I'll put in a little time at the lab. If we could send one of your goon squad down to The Coffee Bean, Cross Creek, for a Starbucks run, or something like that, that'd be nice." He requested.

"I'm not here for that. I've been authorized by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises. If you attempt to leave or play any games, I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet. Okay?" Coulson threatened in the most casual way possible.

"I think I got it, yeah." Tony nodded.

"Enjoy your evening's entertainment." Coulson said as he walked away.

With nothing else to do, Tony turned his attention to the crate, which was labeled 'PROPERTY OF H. STARK.'

(1:09:05 - 1:09:47)

"Jeez. That seems a little harsh." Toga said.

"Stark has less than a week left to find a cure. SHIELD is forcing him to focus on doing just that. This may seem strict and harsh, but it's necessary to ensure that he remains focused on the task at hand." Aizawa said.

"See. You and Fury think just alike." Mic said.

Aizawa just ignored him.

---

Meanwhile, Rhodey and Major Allen were preparing the Mark II for Hammer's arrival.

(1:09:47 - 1:09:56)

"Back with Rhodey." Iida said.

"They must be preparing to arm the Mark II." Momo said.

Mei wasn't sure how to feel. On one hand, she was excited to see what the military would do to the Mark II. On the other hand, she didn't like the idea that they would be messing with one of Stark's personal babies.

Rhodey carefully removed the Arc Reactor from the suit and hid it away, not wanting Hammer to see it and possibly copy it. Allen questioned if it was the power source, but Rhodey told him to just focus on arming the suit.

(1:09:56 - 1:10:16)

"Yeah, hide that. We wouldn't want Justin Hammer seeing it and potentially copying it." Melissa said.

"But Hammer already has Whiplash, who knows how to make an Arc Reactor, so does it really matter?" Uraraka asked.

"Whiplash seems to be keeping things close to the chest. He probably hasn't told Hammer how to create the Arc Reactor. And keeping Hammer from figuring it out is definitely important." Melissa said.

"Hammer's probably not smart enough to copy it just by seeing it, but it is safer to just hide it entirely." Power Loader said.

Right on cue, Hammer arrived. And he was as excited as a kid in a candy store. (Which is fitting since he is eating a lollipop)

"Oh, yes! Oh, yes, yes, yes! Is it my birthday? You got it. What did you do? What did you do?" Hammer expressed his amazement as he approached the suit. "Oh! Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes, it is. Hammer, I want to know what you're gonna do for us." Rhodey said.

"What am I going to do for you? Well, the first thing I'm gonna do for you is I'm gonna upgrade your software. And then, second, I think I should-" Hammer began.

"That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about firepower." Rhodey clarified.

"Well, you're talking to the right guy." Hammer said confidently before taking a bite of his lollipop.

(1:10:16 - 1:10:48)

"Yeah! No one cares about the software! Show us some firepower!" Bakugo yelled.

"Considering how easily Whiplash hacked into your software, I don't think it could be considered an upgrade anyway." Thirteen said.

Hammer then proceeded to showcase various Hammer Industries weapons that he would use to upgrade the armor, from pistols to a shotgun to an assault rifle to a grenade launcher and even a Minigun.

(1:10:48 - 1:11:43)

"He might not be the best person ever, but his salesmanship is on point." Mei said.

Rhodey and Allen gave no reaction to anything Hammer presented, leading Hammer to decide that it was time to bring out the big guns. Hammer approached Rhodey and Allen with a box in hand.

"These are the Cubans, baby. This is the Cohibas, the Montecristos." Hammer said as he opened the box and took out a cigar-sized missile. "This is a kinetic-kill, side-winder vehicle with a secondary cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine RDX burst." He explained as he handed the missile to Rhodey.

(1:11:43 - 1:11:56)

"I'm sorry, what?" Uraraka asked.

"The hell did that mean?" Bakugo asked.

"It sounded like a bunch of gibberish to me." Jiro said.

"It's basically a missile that uses kinetic energy to pierce through armored targets." Melissa explained.

"It's capable of busting the bunker under the bunker you just busted. If it were any smarter, it would write a book. A book that would make Ulysses look like it was written in crayon. It would read it to you. This is my Eiffel Tower. This is my Rachmaninoff's Third. My Pieta. It's completely elegant. It's bafflingly beautiful. It's capable of reducing the population of any standing structure to zero. I call it the Ex-Wife." Hammer exaggera- I mean explained the capabilities of the hilariously named missile.

Rhodey seemingly had to stop himself from laughing at the name.

(1:11:56 - 1:12:26)

Some of the audience couldn't help but chuckle at the name of the missile.

"I have to admit, that's the first piece of Hammer tech that I'm actually impressed by." Mei said.

"Seriously. The idea that such a small and light missile could pack such a serious punch is incredible." Melissa said.

"Let's wait until we see it in action before we start to praise it. Hammer's tech has already been proven faulty before." Power Loader said.

"That's the best I got." Hammer said as he put the missile away and turned back to Rhodey and Allen, who still showed no reaction. "Are we gonna do this? Give me something here. You're like a sphinx. I can't read you." He said.

"I think I'll take it." Rhodey finally spoke.

"Which one?" Hammer asked.

"All of it." Rhodey answered.

"...All of it." Hammer repeated, somewhat surprised.

(1:12:26 - 1:12:48)

"All of it?" The audience echoed in surprise.

"That's a lot of guns." Kirishima said.

"Well, they did ask for firepower." Kurogiri said.

"Even so, this seems like a little much." Thirteen said.

"I get that the suit is meant to be used for military purposes rather than hero work, but do they have to make it so... lethal?" All Might asked.

"You talk like the other Iron Man armors weren't lethal. This isn't anything new." Dabi said.

"True, but at this point, their suit is going to be more akin to Iron Monger than Iron Man." Midnight said.

---

Back at Tony's mansion, Tony was in his workshop, looking through the crate containing some of his father's belongings. Inside, he found various things like the Arc Reactor blueprints, a newspaper article about Anton Vanko, and some blooper reels of the Stark Expo video his father made.

Tony played the videos on a projector while he looked through his father's notebook. The video began similarly to the video that was shown at the Stark Expo.

As Tony looked through his father's notebook, he stumbled upon some notes about a 'hypercube.' Tony made some notes about the 'hypercube' and then moved on, not seeing how it could help him.

(1:12:48 - 1:13:58)

"'Hypercube?' What's that? It sounds interesting." Momo said.

"It's yet another thing that you'll learn more about later." Trixter said.

"Well, for now, it doesn't look like it can help Stark anyway." Melissa said.

As the video continued, a young Tony Stark eventually appeared and took a piece of the Stark Expo model. It didn't take long for Howard to notice.

"Tony, what are you doing back there? Put that back. Put it back where you got it from." Howard ordered firmly. "Where's your mother? Maria?" Howard called out.

One of the employees then appeared on screen to take the young Tony away.

With Tony out of the way, Howard decided to do another take.

(1:13:58 - 1:14:22)

"Aw, Tony was such a cute kid." Toga said.

"I guess this is further proof of Stark's poor relationship with his father." Izuku said.

The video cut to a clip of Howard sitting down, taking a swig of his drink. The cameraman asked if Howard was waiting on him, to which Howard simply held up his finger, signaling them to wait as he continued to drink.

The video cut again to another clip of Howard trying to record the Stark Expo video.

"So, from all of us at Stark Industries, I'd like to personally show you... My ass." Howard said, forgetting his line at the end.

(1:14:22 - 1:14:35)

A few in the audience chuckled.

"I always love watching bloopers like this. They're great." Mina said.

Tony continued flipping through the pages of the notebook until he had reached the end. Having found nothing useful, he tossed the notebook to the side and rubbed his eyes before taking a sip of his drink. Once again, he was stumped. Even with his father's notes, he didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, the video changed to a clip that was seemingly meant for Tony.

"Tony?" Howard spoke to the camera, prompting Tony to look at the screen. "You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you." He said.

(1:14:35 - 1:15:08)

The audience was surprised by this.

"A secret message?" Momo questioned.

"Maybe this is the clue Stark needs." Uraraka suggested.

"I built this for you. And someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future." Howard explained as the models of the Stark Expo and the Arc Reactor were shown. "I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation... Is you." He gave a heartfelt smile and the video ended.

Tony stared at the screen, shocked and on the verge of tears. His father did love him. And this video was proof of that.

(1:15:08 - 1:15:55)

Everyone was silent, shocked by Howard's words. After the way Stark always described Howard, these words were the last thing the audience would have expected him to say.

"He really did care about Stark. Even if he never showed it." La Brava commented on the true relationship between Howard and Tony.

"And here I thought his dad was a jerk. He's actually not so bad." Sero said.

Todoroki once again couldn't help but think of Endeavor during this moment. Howard's statement about Stark being his greatest creation reminded Todoroki of what Endeavor would often say about him. However, the difference between Howard and Endeavor is that Howard actually loves Tony. That much is clear. Everything he did was for Tony's sake. But Endeavor? He only feels pride towards Todoroki, not love. Todoroki knows that he only exists as a tool for Endeavor to achieve his own goals. And it's for that reason that Todoroki refuses to be the creation Endeavor desired. He won't be something that bastard gets to be proud of.

Endeavor, meanwhile, was thinking about Howard's words as well. He understood Howard's feelings completely. The idea that you can truly entrust the future to your child. The idea that of all the things you have and ever will do, your child will always be your greatest achievement. Howard always considered Stark to be his greatest creation. Someone who would achieve what he couldn't. Endeavor feels the same way towards Shoto. Shoto is his pride and joy and the one who will surpass All Might where he could not. Shoto just needs to accept his destiny first.

Dabi, upon hearing Howard's words, couldn't help but glare at Todoroki. His father's 'masterpiece' and the painful reminder that he was never good enough. He couldn't wait to see the look on Endeavor's face as he destroys his precious creation.

While the message from Howard was sweet, many in the audience wondered if there was more to it. This secret message must be the clue Stark needs to find a cure for himself. But they weren't sure how this clue will help him. They would just have to wait and see.

---

To be concluded...

---

Author's Note

And that's it for this chapter. Next chapter will be the finale to this film.

The next chapter will also be when Present Mic shall give an introduction to Black Widow and War Machine. I want to know what you guys think their titles should be. What kind of heroes are they? Let me know your suggestions.

Anyway, I'll see you all in the next chapter.