Well, Tony gets busted. Leave it to Tony to think he could hide his secret project from someone living in his own house.

The pizza wasn't ice cold when it arrived, but it wasn't piping hot, so mine already got points for that. Then they decided to microwave the other stuff, so it lost the crispy crust but gained melty cheese. Mine, on the other hand, was hot, crispy, and melty almost as if it had just come out of the brick oven. In the end though, both sides got overshadowed by my "fold it in half to eat it easier" trick, which somehow none of them knew even though it was the oldest trick in the book for eating pizza. We left on the note that I would have to cook for them at some point, even though I was a better critic than a cook.

Now later that night, after Pepper and Obadiah had left, I was fast asleep, at 12:30am...

When the entire house shook, the piano downstairs made a loud sour note, and a car alarm went off, a loud crash sounding at each event.

Yay, middle of the night, loud noises, time to die.

I jumped out of bed, still half asleep, and ran downstairs to find the piano in shambles, the roof above it hole punched, and in the basement, a full body steel armor suit sitting on top of a crushed sports car getting sprayed by a fire extinguishing robot.

I stared at the unusual scene, quickly putting the pieces together. The flight boots, the upgraded Starkheart, the "MK2" project label, everything suddenly made sense.

He was rebuilding the suit.

I spoke as soon as the robot stopped spraying him. "Tony, is that you?"

"Tony's not here, leave a message."

"You're okay, right?"

"Yeah, I'm indestructible in this thing. Help me get this off."

He gestured to an impact driver on the table to the side, and I grabbed it and started undoing the screws on the suit, while JARVIS started undoing some of the electromechanically attached armor plating. Soon we had the flight equipment off as well, and immediately Tony headed for his desk, finding Pepper's gift on the way and taking a moment to admire it.

"Well Pepper, ya got me. Gotta find somewhere nice to put this."

He placed it down where he found it before arriving at his desk, where he opened the MK2 project file and started making changes. "Notes. Main transducer feels sluggish at plus 40 altitude. Hull pressurization is problematic, I'm thinking icing... is the probable factor."

"A very astute observation, sir. Perhaps if you intend to visit other planets we should improve the exosystems."

"Connect to the sys. co. Have it reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold titanium alloy from the seraphim tactical satellite. That should ensure a fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio. Got it?"

"Yes. Shall I render using proposed specifications?"

"Thrill me."

I shook my head in amusement. "I gotta admit, as risky as this is, it's freaking awesome. So is it just a flight suit, or can it fight?"

He was only half paying attention to me. "If I want it to. Hey JARVIS, did we get an invite for that?"

I followed his gaze to the tv, finding a reporter speaking on a Stark Industries event. "I have no record of an invitation, sir." Tony kept watching the tv, and JARVIS spoke up again. "The render is complete."

"A little ostentatious, don't you think?"

"What was I thinking? You're usually so discreet."

"Tell you what. Throw a little hot-rod red in there."

"Yes, that should help you keep a low profile. The render is complete."

"Now THAT, is some dramatic flare!"

"Yeah, hey, I like it. Fabricate it. Paint it."

"Commencing automated assembly. Estimated completion time is five hours."

"Don't wait up for me honey."

He left for the party after that (the one he wasn't invited to), leaving me to try and fail at falling back asleep. Eventually, 6:00am came, and I made my way down to the basement garage to continue my work.

And in a flash of light, I was in the desert.

I guarded my eyes from the searing sun, taking note of the sound of gunshots in the distance. Shoot, please don't tell me this is a time loop. I saw Tony's gold and red suit fly overhead. Nope! Not a time loop.

I slammed my fists into the sand. "Gosh damnit!"

It geysered into the air like a volcanic eruption.

I ducked my head to save my eyes from the sand rain, noticing that the stone on my ring had turned red. And when the sand stopped falling, I found Tony's suit staring me down.

"How'd you get here, kid?"

"I have no clue. What are you doing out here?"

"Not for you to know. Don't move, I'll be back to pick you up."

He flew off the same direction he was heading before. Well, that's not happening. However I'm here, I'm here for a reason. And I'm gonna find out what it is.

I began walking in the same direction as him, and eventually found myself staring at a town held by a LOT of men with guns. They were firing missiles off at a target I couldn't see, but they themselves seemed to be mostly standing around doing nothing. They even had a tank, and it wasn't being used in the actual fight! It's a tank! Who puts a tank anywhere other than on the front lines, where it can blast everything to smithereens?!

The ring turned yellow again, and I dove to the side as a sniper bullet hit the sand dune behind me.

Shoot, they saw me, of course they saw me, why wouldn't they see me? I can't stay here, and I'll never outrun them, and even if I could, how would Tony find me?

Now the ring turned orange, and I felt a pebble hit me in the head, interrupting my...

The sniper round fell to the sand in front of me.

Well, that's not a pebble. Did that just hit me? Another one hit me, this time in my chest where my heart was. Well, I'm a Christian, so whether there's a limit to this, or if it's just some kind of cosmic fluke, I may as well make good use of it. There's a better life waiting for me after this one anyway.

Another round hit me, this time in the crotch, and I pretty much didn't feel a thing, laughing at the probably pissed off sniper and kicking the sand a kilometer into the air as I started my walk towards their camp.

Can I airdrop Julian? Yes I can. Does he have superpowers? Yes he does. For now at least. We'll see if it stays, because the idea I had for them is turning out a little too OP.