The armor stood gleaming under the cold white lights of the lab. Its design was powerful yet unfinished—Tony's first working prototype, a suit capable of boosting strength, speed, and reflexes several times over. But even he knew this was just the beginning.
Right now, its functions were still basic. Running, jumping, enhanced movement—all at an elementary level. Flight and advanced propulsion weren't ready yet. The armor couldn't sustain high energy output long enough to launch into the air.
"This is just the original version," Tony murmured, crossing his arms, admiring his work. "The real deal will come after a few upgrades."
Beside him, Pepper Potts was still testing the suit. She raised a hand and grabbed a chunk of metal from the workbench. With a casual squeeze, the solid piece of titanium bent, compressed, and turned into a dense sphere.
"Oh my God…" she breathed, looking at the crushed metal in her palm. "What a powerful force!"
Tony grinned like a proud inventor. "Not bad, right? You could outpunch a forklift with that thing."
Pepper dropped the metal ball and began to stride around the lab, her movements light, effortless. Each step she took seemed to rebound with mechanical grace, the armor assisting every motion.
She laughed, spinning around with a delighted smile. "Tony, this is incredible! It's like having jet boosters in my shoes!"
Tony chuckled, but his grin froze when he saw the mischievous look in her eyes.
"Oh no. Pepper—don't even think about jumping."
But Pepper, feeling almost superhuman, bent her knees like she was about to leap.
Tony's voice rose, alarmed. "Be careful! This suit doubles strength and output! If you jump now, you'll hit the ceiling—or worse!"
Just as she was about to spring upward, the armor suddenly flickered. The light in its energy nodes dimmed out completely.
The humming sound vanished. The suit went still.
Pepper froze mid-motion—literally.
She tried to move, but the armor had run out of energy, locking her joints in place. The confident expression on her face collapsed into embarrassment as she realized she couldn't move an inch.
Her voice, now slightly muffled inside the armor, came out in frustration. "Tony! What happened?!"
Tony raised both hands defensively, fighting a smirk. "Don't look at me! The suit's out of juice. I swear, that wasn't intentional."
Pepper glared. "You planned this, didn't you?"
Tony coughed and turned away. "You know how it is—genius requires experimentation. And sometimes, the experiment explodes."
He began pacing, slipping back into engineer mode. "Actually, this was my biggest problem these past ten days. I've been trying to find the perfect energy source—something clean, compact, and infinitely efficient."
Pepper blinked. "So you mean… you still haven't found it?"
Tony sighed. "Not yet. I've tried everything—graphene batteries, fusion cells, high-density plasma cores. But nothing holds long enough. The current battery I'm using barely lasts five minutes."
He picked up a coin-sized power cell from the table and rolled it between his fingers. "This thing can power a full-sized electric car for three hundred kilometers. But the armor drains it in minutes."
Pepper shook her head, trapped and impatient. "Well, while you're solving the future of energy, can you at least get me out of this thing?"
Tony snapped his fingers. "J.A.R.V.I.S., give her a hand."
"Right away, sir."
The mechanical arms whirred to life, carefully unlocking each segment of the armor. Within seconds, the plates disengaged, folding away with metallic precision.
Pepper stepped out, stretching her limbs in relief. "Finally! Remind me never to be your test subject again."
Tony smirked. "Oh, don't be like that. You wore history's first real Knight Armor."
Pepper tilted her head. "Knight armor?"
"Knight Zero-One," Tony declared proudly, eyes glinting with inspiration. "Because every knight has to start somewhere. And this is my first."
He gestured dramatically at the suit, now standing idle on the platform. "I built this by dismantling some of my favorite racing gear and personal mounts. The name feels right—it's my first 'heroic' creation."
Pepper crossed her arms. "Are you planning to show this to the board of directors?"
"Of course not!" Tony replied instantly, almost offended. "They wouldn't understand art if it hit them in the face. This—this masterpiece—isn't for them."
He poured himself a glass of wine and took a sip. "No, for those soulless suits, I'll give them a downgraded model."
"Downgraded model?" Pepper repeated.
"Yep," Tony said, smirking. "J.A.R.V.I.S., show her the presentation version."
The lights dimmed as J.A.R.V.I.S. projected a holographic image in the air. It showed a man wearing a more practical, stripped-down frame—the Stark Exoskeleton Armor.
"This one's purely mechanical," Tony explained. "No AI interface, no advanced polymer core. But it enhances mobility, endurance, and strength by about fifty percent."
Pepper studied the projection. "That's… actually impressive. Kind of reminds me of those exo-suits from Edge of Tomorrow."
Tony grinned. "Exactly! Simple, believable, and good enough to convince the shareholders that Stark Industries is still innovating."
He leaned back against his desk. "The Knight Zero-One stays with me. The board gets their 'toy soldier.' Everyone's happy."
Pepper smiled faintly but then seemed to recall something important. "Tony, speaking of the company… you've been locked in here for almost two weeks. There are contracts you still haven't signed. And one of them is urgent."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "How urgent?"
"There's a shipment waiting for authorization at the Air Force base in Afghanistan. Military-grade tech components. They need your signature before dispatch."
Tony hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Afghanistan, huh? Perfect. Maybe a little field trip will clear my head. I could use some sun—and maybe I'll find the inspiration I've been missing."
He turned to J.A.R.V.I.S. again. "Prep my private jet for departure. And pack the Knight Zero-One. I want to run a few design tweaks on the way."
"Understood, sir."
---
The Next Morning
The dawn sky over the Malibu coastline blazed orange as Tony Stark's private jet soared upward, engines roaring like a promise of change. He sat in the cabin, glass of whiskey in hand, staring thoughtfully at the prototype armor beside him.
The Knight Zero-One gleamed faintly under the cabin lights, silent yet alive with potential.
Somewhere deep in Tony's mind, an idea was forming—a vision of endless energy, clean and limitless, powerful enough to fuel the future. But it was still beyond his reach… for now.
Hours later, news spread across the world.
Stark Industries officially unveiled the "Exoskeleton Combat Armor."
In the promotional video, a slim test subject wearing the exosuit performed incredible feats—lifting weights beyond human capacity, sprinting faster than Olympic athletes, scaling walls with magnetic grip.
Within hours, the video went viral.
Major media outlets began to praise Stark Industries once again, calling it the dawn of a new era in defense technology. Investors who had doubted the company suddenly flooded back in.
For the first time in weeks, the stock price of Stark Industries rose sharply.
Pepper, watching from the office in Los Angeles, couldn't help but smile. "Well, looks like the genius pulled it off again."
Back in the jet, Tony looked at the display of rising numbers on his tablet. "Told you, Pepper," he muttered under his breath. "Never doubt a Stark."
He glanced again at the armor beside him, its chestplate empty—waiting for a new energy core, a true heart.
And deep down, Tony knew the solution wasn't far. Inspiration often came from chaos. And sometimes, chaos found him.
Somewhere in the deserts of Afghanistan, fate was already waiting.
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