"How could that be?"
Tony's eyes, previously dull with despair, immediately snapped to life with a spark of excitement. But the spark vanished almost as quickly, replaced by exhaustion. He sank back down onto his bench.
"Do you really think discovering new elements is as simple as ordering a pizza, Leo? And speaking of simple, your appetite isn't simple either, kid." Tony gave him a weak, tired look.
"In short, synthesizing new, hypothetical elements isn't something that can be accomplished in just a few days, or even a few years, Leo. It takes massive resources and accelerators. Don't you always claim you can see the past and the future?"
Tony, despite his staunch, life-long belief in scientific materialism, was so desperate that he momentarily abandoned his skepticism and looked to Leo, who he usually dismissed as a charming, slightly strange charlatan.
"Then tell me, psychic boy, what should I actually do? Give me something real."
It was true. Even though Leo had shared some deeply personal secrets and proven impossible strength, Tony still mostly thought of Leo's visions as colorful nonsense. Ultimately, Leo's superhuman physicality was the main reason he allowed the child to stay in his immediate proximity.
Leo took the opportunity. His eyes flashed with a faint, imperceptible golden light as he engaged his Golden Eyes. His gaze penetrated through Tony's clothes and skin, directly entering the blood vessels near the Arc Reactor. He tried to observe the molecular battle within.
He could see tiny impurities moving sluggishly in the bloodstream—likely the palladium residue—and he could barely make out the shapes of platelets, but everything was extremely blurry at this microscopic level.
Blinking, he realized his Golden Eyes' vision enhancement still had definitive limits; the atomic level was currently out of reach. He wondered if this feature would upgrade later.
He stepped forward and gently placed both his small hands on Tony's chest, right over the glowing reactor.
Tony grinned, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips as he watched Leo's intense concentration. "I used to treat everyone else like this, trying to fix them with a touch and a smile."
Leo tried to sense the palladium atoms in Tony's body, but the scale was too small; the individual atoms were far smaller than the metal powder he usually manipulated. He attempted to gather the metal atoms he could barely sense, but it was an impossible task.
Neither his mental strength, his subtle insight, nor his current level of Matter Manipulation control was sufficient to move or control individual atoms.
Seeing the deep frown and concentrated failure on Leo's face, Tony shook his head in disappointment and gently pushed Leo away.
"Get some rest, kid. Remember to come to my birthday party tomorrow. Oh, I forgot, you already live here, haha."
In that instant, Tony seemed to revert to his usual, glib self, burying his fear under a facade of easy humor.
Leo watched Tony turn to walk away but quickly spoke up. "Mr. Stark, there's still a way out of this."
Tony stopped dead, his back to Leo, his shoulders slumping. "Leo, please. Don't give me any more false hope."
"Your father, Howard Stark, has already left you clues about the new element. If you can decode his message, you can synthesize the element and fix the reactor within a few days."
Tony slowly turned back around. His face was unreadable. "Where, Leo? Tell me where the hell it is."
"In the next two days, someone will deliver the item to you, Stark," Leo said, watching the tension drain out of Tony's posture.
Tony seemed to perk up again, but the spark in his eyes was muted. "Haha, whatever, I'm kind of looking forward to tomorrow's dinner anyway. Maybe I'll blow something up."
Leo merely shrugged. He doesn't fully believe me anyway. Oh well, there's no real danger. Natasha is here to keep me updated, and Nick Fury has the lithium dioxide ready just in case.
Starting in the afternoon of the second day, the quiet Malibu mansion began to buzz. Luxury cars that were rarely seen outside of European capitals began to drive into the parking lot one after another.
One by one, the rich and the beautiful stepped out of their cars. Among them were several handsome men with countless female companions draped over their arms—all well-known playboys and socialites from across America, invited to Tony's massive birthday bash.
In the secluded basement studio.
Leo was focused on his work. He held two deactivated, built-in Arc Reactors from the Mark II suit—palladium plates removed—in his hands. He was methodically overloading them with excess energy. A huge surge of current ripped up his arms to his shoulders, where it was then systematically absorbed and converted by his body.
The expensive gold-titanium alloy sheets that were neatly stacked beside him began to dim and wither, as if new wood were instantly turning into rotten wood, the material degrading under his relentless draw of metallic energy.
The golden light—the sign of his continuous evolution—slowly gathered across Leo's entire body. While less efficient than pure Vibranium, the gold-titanium alloy was readily available and plentiful.
Leo's Metal Control ability increased from 113 to 114 points, and simultaneously, the enhancement of his Iron Bone trait seemed to have reached a critical, final turning point.
More and more golden, shimmering energy surged into Leo's 206 bones. The white calcium structure of his skeletal system appeared to begin to glow faintly, radiating a subtle internal brilliance.
Upstairs, Tony stood in front of his bedroom window. His reflection was clearly imprinted on the huge, floor-to-ceiling glass.
Black, vascular patterns had appeared around the Arc Reactor on his chest and had now spread dangerously close to the edge of his neck.
A cold, clinical blue warning suddenly appeared overlaying his reflection on the glass: "Palladium concentration: 89%"
Natasha walked in wearing a stunning light gray, fitted, waist-cinching long dress, carrying a mahogany watch box. "Mr. Stark, which timepiece would you like to wear tonight? The Patek or the Rolex?"
"I'll choose in a bit, Natalie."
Tony quickly buttoned up his open shirt, desperate to hide the cursed, spider-web-like patterns that were creeping across his skin.
Looking at her own flawless reflection in the mirror, Natasha turned and asked, "I should have advised you to cancel the party, shouldn't I?"
"Probably!" Tony mumbled, not meeting her eyes.
"Yes, because it really is..."
"It's not the right time, Tony," Natasha finished for him, her voice cool and measured.
She brought the watch box over and casually sat on the armrest of Tony's sofa, exuding effortless charm and professionalism at all times.
Tony glanced at the watch box in her hand, then at Natasha.
"To be honest, I don't know anything about you. Where are you actually from, Natalie? I mean, your background check is spotless, which means you're too good to be true."
Tony was genuinely concerned about the possibility of an unknown entity—a spy—being placed so close to Pepper.
"Legal Department," she replied simply, repeating the official line.
"Can I ask you a hypothetical question? It's a bit strange, considering the context." Tony swallowed hard, looking deeply troubled.
"If this were your final birthday party, Natalie, how would you celebrate?"
Natasha met his gaze without flinching, her expression unchanging. "You can do whatever you want, Mr. Stark. With whomever you want."
After Natasha left the room, Tony stood alone. He poured himself a martini, carefully examined the growing darkness over his heart, and drained the entire glass in one gulp.
When Pepper finished her intense day of corporate damage control and returned home, she came in carrying a beautifully packaged birthday gift box.
She was instantly appalled. Tony was fully suited up in his Mark IV armor, dancing drunkenly in front of the makeshift bar, wiggling his metal posterior to the blasting music, while guests cheered him on.
Disgusted, Pepper turned to leave, only to bump straight into Rhodey, who had rushed over from the base, wearing a formal suit. "What the hell is going on here?"
Pepper quickly led Rhodey back to the relative quiet of the third-floor lobby, watching the figure of Iron Man raging in the crowd.
"I don't know what to do, Rhodey. He's totally out of control."
"Are you kidding me, Pepper?!" Rhodey looked at the sight of his best friend, drunk, armored, and acting like an idiot, and angrily turned toward the exit. "I'm calling the National Guard! This is a threat to national security!"
Pepper grabbed his arm desperately. "No! No, please don't call anyone! They will seize everything!"
Pepper didn't want the military brass to know about Tony's fragile mental state or the palladium poisoning. She knew Rhodey was the only vital buffer zone between Stark Industries and the entire US military apparatus.
"Pepper, that's absolutely ridiculous! I just vouched for him and risked my entire military career speaking well of him after the Monaco disaster!" Rhodey pointed angrily at the dancing, armored figure.
"I know! Just give me a minute, I'll go handle it, okay? Let me handle it," Pepper pleaded with him.
"You have one minute, Pepper. Hurry up, or I'll come down and handle him myself," Rhodey warned, his patience completely gone.
Pepper marched over and began arguing furiously with Tony.
The result was painfully obvious: Tony, entirely consumed by alcohol and self-pity, ignored Pepper's advice and was determined to continue the self-destructive party until dawn.
Seeing this final act of defiance, Rhodey's anger exploded. He stormed straight to the basement, passing the massive Mark I and the badly damaged Mark III display.
Naturally, he chose the sleek, pure silver Mark II, which Tony had already, strangely, prepared for him. Rhodey was so furious that he didn't even stop to wonder why the Mark II was unlocked and fit his frame so perfectly.
The pure silver Mark II was fastened onto Rhodey piece by piece, and he ascended to the lobby.
Tony, completely oblivious, was now playing a drunken game where he shot pulse cluster cannon blasts at watermelons, surrounded by screaming, busty women in bikinis.
Rhodes stormed forward, the Mark II's visor glowing ominously. He faced all the confused guests and scantily clad partygoers.
"I'll only say this once! Party is over! Get out!"
Seeing Rhodey's dark face and feeling genuinely intimidated by the second, massive steel armor, the entire party panicked and ran for the exits.
"You are not worthy of wearing that steel armor, Tony. Take it off, now." Rhodey's voice was distorted by the suit's speakers.
He rushed forward and hugged the Mark IV from behind, trying to physically pull Tony out of the suit.
Tony, surprisingly nimble despite his intoxication, pulled down his mask, threw the microphone into the crowd, grabbed Rhodey's arms, and flew backward.
The two suits smashed through a wall, crashing into the gym equipment room. Rhodey tumbled violently to the side.
Tony skillfully braced himself with his hands, firing a controlled burst of his repulsors to stop his momentum.
He looked at the Mark II lying on the ground and walked back towards the hall. "Put it back, Rhodey. Before someone gets hurt. You're losing it."
Suddenly, a 10kg barbell plate flew through the air, hitting the Mark IV square on the head with a sickening clang.
Tony instantly turned, dodging another barbell plate that embedded itself deep into the wall.
"Are you serious, Rhodey? We're throwing weights now?"
Tony casually grabbed a barbell with a 50-kilogram counterweight attached and, treating it as if he were holding a plastic straw, flung it at the Mark II, sending the suit careening across the room.
In short, the two powerful steel armors were locked in a fierce, childish battle, neither able to inflict serious damage on the other, only succeeding in utterly demolishing the surrounding environment.
The two fought incessantly, crashing through walls, floors, and countless expensive objects.
Pepper stormed up to Natasha in the second-floor lobby, yelling, "Natalie!"
"Miss Potts?"
"Don't even try to pretend. I saw through your scheme long ago. The moment you arrived..."
Before she could finish her accusation, Tony and Rhodey, locked together, descended violently from the third-floor hall, smashing directly onto a grand piano and utterly demolishing it.
The two fought fiercely, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings, truly locked in a battle of drunken, wounded rage.
Happy, who had rushed back to the scene, quickly grabbed Pepper and pulled her out of the debris zone.
Natasha, seeing her chance, used the chaos to silently leave the house, disappearing into the cover of the darkness.
Pepper watched the two steel figures battling in the center of her demolished living room, feeling utterly agitated and helpless. Suddenly, a clear thought broke through the confusion. She quickly turned to Happy.
"Go and fetch Leo, now! He's the only one who can stop them without getting crushed!"