RedX43
patreon
[Frog] Chapter 100: The Gift Left by Howard
🕑 Added 2024-10-12 10:49:06 +0000 UTCInside Tony’s workshop.
Yinsen carefully inspected all the equipment, nodding once he confirmed everything was in order. Just then, he heard the sound of someone stumbling at the entrance.
Turning his head, Yinsen saw Tony, his face slightly pale, leaning weakly against the door of the workshop. His whole body appeared drained of energy.
“Tony,” Yinsen hurried over to support him. That’s when he noticed that the arc reactor in Tony’s chest was dimming. Yinsen immediately knew what was happening.
“Come, sit over here. I’ll grab a new palladium core for you right away.”
After helping Tony sit down, Yinsen quickly fetched a fresh palladium core. He expertly removed the reactor from Tony’s chest and replaced the burnt-out core with a new one. Once the new core was in place, color began to return to Tony’s face.
“You can’t keep using the Iron Man suit, Tony,” Yinsen warned. “With your current condition, you’ll only be able to use it two more times at most.”
Yinsen had also noticed the poisoning spreading to Tony’s neck. He placed a fresh glass of chlorophyll juice in front of Tony.
“Drink it. You’ll feel a bit better.”
Tony took a deep breath and weakly replied, “Don’t worry, as long as we figure out the new element, everything will be fine.”
As he drank the juice, Tony surveyed the setup in the workshop, nodding in satisfaction.
“Let’s begin, Yinsen,” he said.
“Aren’t you going to rest a little more?” Yinsen suggested.
Tony glanced at Yinsen, his tone serious. “I don’t think I have that much time left. Let’s get started. Success or failure, it all depends on this.”
Seeing Tony’s determination, Yinsen didn’t argue further. He handed Tony all the calibration data. “These are all the adjustments I made while you were gone. Everything is set up just the way you wanted. Check it over.”
Tony looked at the documents Yinsen handed him, his expression showing a hint of struggle. Yinsen immediately recognized Tony’s quirk—he didn’t like accepting things directly from others. So, Yinsen placed the papers on the table instead.
“Here, take a look.”
“Thanks,” Tony said, picking up the documents and reviewing them thoroughly. Once he was satisfied that everything was in order, he stood up.
“Alright, let’s get to work!”
As he stood, Tony’s eyes fell on the case that Nick Fury had brought. According to Fury, the contents were something Howard Stark had left behind. However, the immediate priority was synthesizing the new element.
Tony set the case aside. “Yinsen, where’s the prism?”
Yinsen quickly placed the triangular prism into a slot. Tony picked up a large wrench and, at his signal, Yinsen activated the device.
A powerful blue laser shot out from the apparatus, striking the prism. The laser then refracted off the prism and hit the wall of the workshop, burning a hole right through it with immense force.
“Okay, let's get to work!” Tony said, adjusting the angle of the prism. As Tony rotated the prism, the laser beam moved with it, leaving a scorched trail along the wall. Anything in the beam’s path was sliced clean in half.
Finally, the laser beam struck a triangular material. This time, instead of cutting through it, the material seemed to absorb the laser's energy, slowly emitting a radiant blue glow.
After a while, the blue glow grew more and more intense until it reached a point of saturation. Tony lowered his hand, signaling Yinsen to shut off the device.
A triangular energy block, glowing softly with a blue light, stood in front of them. Tony and Yinsen quickly approached it.
“This thing is beautiful,” Yinsen said in awe, admiring the energy block up close. He could clearly feel the steady and gentle energy it radiated. It was nothing like the palladium-powered arc reactor they had been using before.
“Tony, did we succeed?” Yinsen asked excitedly.
Tony nodded. “I think so.”
“Congratulations, sir,” JARVIS’s voice chimed in. “You have successfully synthesized a new element.”
Carefully, Tony used tongs to lift the glowing triangle and placed it into the new arc reactor they had prepared.
JARVIS said, "Sir, I will complete all the tests as quickly as possible."
After finishing everything, Tony finally let out a long sigh of relief. He knew the new element was successfully created. But to be completely sure, he entrusted JARVIS with running the final tests.
"I owe you a huge favor, Emperor," Tony muttered. After all, it was Emperor who had provided the crucial clue.
Feeling much lighter, Tony turned his attention to the case Nick Fury had brought. With a smile, he said to Yinsen, "Now let's see what my father left for me."
"Is it okay for me to join you?" Yinsen asked with a smile.
"No problem. I think it's probably some unfinished experiment, and you might be able to help."
The workshop was no longer usable—Tony and Yinsen had damaged it too much—so it needed renovation. They carried the case upstairs to the second floor.
At the table, Tony opened the case. Inside was a notebook, a scattering of videotapes, and some small gadgets.
"Yinsen, there's a VCR in the storage room. Could you grab it?"
While Yinsen went to get the VCR, Tony flipped through the notebook, which was filled with formulas and research notes on a cube-shaped object.
"What... is this?" Tony murmured, astonished by the experimental data. The cube mentioned in the notebook seemed to contain infinite energy and secrets, but Tony had never heard of such a material before. The more he read Howard’s research notes, the more shocked he became. The findings were uncannily similar to what he had just developed.
After a while, Yinsen returned with the VCR. Tony stepped aside so Yinsen could load the tape.
"JARVIS, turn off the lights and close the curtains. We're watching a movie."
"Yes, sir," JARVIS responded, and the first floor was plunged into darkness.
Yinsen set up the VCR and started the tape, and the content on the screen made both Tony and Yinsen freeze for a moment.
"Isn’t this... the Future City project?"
They had already seen a lot of this footage in the past few days.
"Tony, should we keep watching?" Yinsen asked.
Tony thought for a moment. Since the tape had been stored in S.H.I.E.L.D., there was likely something different about it.
"Keep playing. Here, take a look at this," Tony said, handing Howard's research notebook to Yinsen.
Yinsen hesitated briefly before accepting it. He knew this was a sign of Tony's absolute trust, and he didn’t want to betray that trust.
Yinsen began reading the contents of the notebook, while Tony focused on the tape. Slowly, Tony began to notice subtle differences in the footage.
This wasn’t just a tape about the Future City project—it seemed more like behind-the-scenes footage. Howard kept forgetting his lines, asking the cameraman for retakes. At one point, young Tony even made a brief appearance on set, which brought back some old memories for Tony, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“This... this is exactly like what we’ve been working on,” Yinsen remarked after reading the notebook. He had the same realization as Tony.
If they hadn’t already synthesized the new element, Yinsen would have had no idea what to make of the notes. But now, it was like seeing the solution to a math problem—everything suddenly made sense.
Tony nodded. “Yes, it seems the City of Future model corresponds directly with what’s in this notebook.”
Yinsen agreed, nodding. “Howard Stark truly was a genius.”
“Did you notice anything in the tape?” Yinsen asked.
Tony shook his head. “Nothing special. I think he probably threw this in when he was bored, and it all ended up in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s archives by coincidence.”
At that moment, the screen suddenly went black. Just as Tony was about to ask Yinsen to turn off the projector, the screen flickered back on. A familiar voice rang out, making Tony’s body tense involuntarily.
“Tony…”
On screen, Howard Stark leaned casually against a desk, looking directly into the camera, as if he were speaking to Tony in person. Even Yinsen felt like Howard was standing right there in front of them.
Both of them were captivated by the screen. Howard Stark continued, "You're too young to understand."
"That's why I took it upon myself to record this."
Howard gestured towards the desk behind him, where the model of the Future City was displayed.
"All of this is made for you. One day, you'll realize that it represents more than just an invention."
"It's also the culmination of my life's work."
The screen shifted again, showing a close-up of the Future City model.
"I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day, you'll understand it all."
"And you'll change the world."
Both Tony and Yinsen immediately understood that Howard was referring to the new element hidden within the Future City model.
Howard's explanation wasn’t over, and his final words were filled with emotion, impossible to miss.
"No matter what, my greatest creation will always be..."
"You!"
Tony fell silent.
For the first time in decades, he had received recognition from his father, albeit posthumously. It came late, but from this moment, Tony's deep-seated perceptions of Howard shifted completely.
Seeing Tony's silence, Yinsen wisely stood up and quietly left the room. Now, only Tony remained, staring at the darkened screen.
As Yinsen stepped outside, he saw a familiar figure hurriedly approaching.
Just as the person was about to rush inside, Yinsen stopped him.
"Mr. Rhodes, now's not the time to disturb Tony."
"Why not?" Rhodes asked, clearly anxious. "I have something urgent to talk to Tony about."
Yinsen didn’t budge. "No matter how urgent it is, it's not more important than what Tony is dealing with right now."
Rhodes glanced at Yinsen, confused. "What’s he doing in there?"
After a moment of thought, Yinsen replied, "Saying his final goodbye to his father."
That completely baffled Rhodes. "What?"
Wasn't Howard Stark long dead?
But seeing Yinsen's serious expression, Rhodes, as Tony’s long-time friend, knew how significant Howard was to Tony. Given that, he decided not to interrupt.
Standing outside with Yinsen, Rhodes couldn't help but ask, "But... his father is dead, isn’t he?"
Yinsen looked toward the dark room inside and slowly recounted what had just transpired...
---
"So you're saying we can move out in just two days?" Gwen asked in surprise as she looked at Alan.
Alan nodded. "Yes, the new house we bought has been under renovation by Red Queen. I just checked it out recently, and it's almost ready for us to move in."
Gwen glanced at their current place. "I like it here too. Why the sudden move to a new house?"
Alan pointed to the notebook on the table. "This place is too small for Red Queen to fully operate."
"Her abilities can't be utilized to their fullest here, so we’re moving to a bigger place."
"Plus, there's a studio in the new house."
"A studio?" Gwen asked, puzzled.
"Red Queen, show it to Gwen," Alan instructed.
The computer screen shifted, and a high-tech lab appeared before Gwen.
Alan explained, "The longer you work as a superhero, the more kinds of enemies you'll face. The Spider-Suit is just a tool to assist you, after all. So, I plan to set up a studio here to develop different versions of the Spider-Suit."
He pointed to several features on the screen. "In the future, your suit will be tailored with various functions for different environments or opponents."
Gwen's eyes lit up. "So... I'll have lots of different Spider-Suits to wear?"
"And I can switch them up?"
Alan smiled and nodded, agreeing with her interpretation.
Sure enough, girls, no matter what world they’re from, always feel like they never have enough clothes to wear.
Alan’s idea was mainly inspired by Tony Stark’s countless Iron Man suits. If Tony could do it with his Mark armors, Gwen's Spider-Suits should be no different.
Excited, Gwen gleefully kissed Alan on the cheek.
"I love you so much, Alan!"
Alan, not one to be outdone, kissed her back. How could he let her have all the fun?
Pikachu, watching their affectionate display, pointed to its own cheek. "Pika... Pika..."
Gwen laughed and asked Alan, "What does that mean?"
"Pikachu says, it wants a kiss too!"
"Hahaha..." Gwen burst out laughing at Pikachu’s cuteness and leaned in to plant a kiss on its little cheek.
---
