Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Iron Man 2 Begins 

"So, you just exposed your secret identity like that?" Tony asked, looking at the tablet in his hand. The screen was playing the viral footage of Luke battling the mutated Abomination, ending with a high-definition close-up of Luke's face right before he summoned his shadow mask. Tony looked up at Luke, completely exasperated. 

"I didn't have a choice! That monster almost wiped my army. I had to go all out!" Luke groaned, lying completely limp on the sofa like a salted fish, staring blankly at the ceiling. 

Yesterday, literally minutes after his face had been caught on camera, a massive horde of 'enthusiastic netizens' had somehow tracked down his personal information. Not only did they find out his name and where he lived, but they had also somehow dug up random, everyday photos of him buying groceries. 

Now, he didn't even dare to go home. A massive mob of reporters, paparazzi, and curious onlookers had completely surrounded his apartment building. 

Out of sheer desperation, he had ordered a Shadow Ninja to sneak into his apartment, retrieve his favorite potted plant from the balcony, and then immediately shadow-stepped directly to Tony's Malibu mansion to hide out until the heat died down. 

"Well, out of all the ways I thought you'd expose your identity, doing it by accident because you forgot your mask wasn't on the bingo card," Tony mocked relentlessly. 

Luke wordlessly raised a middle finger at him. 

"Anyway, how did things go with Pepper last night?" Luke asked, desperate to change the subject. 

Tony smiled softly. "A delicious lunch, a wonderful movie, and a perfectly romantic candlelit dinner." 

"That's it?" Luke sat up, surprised. He honestly thought the infamous playboy wouldn't have let Pepper go home that easily. 

Tony sighed helplessly. "Well, yesterday morning, Pepper's father personally drove her here. He was casually polishing a Winchester rifle in the passenger seat and yelled at me, 'I'll be back to pick my daughter up at exactly 8:00 PM.' With a deadline like that, what exactly did you expect me to do? I even washed the dishes myself to score some brownie points!" 1

"I'm surprised you didn't just throw the dishes away to save time," Luke snickered. "Sounds like her dad doesn't have the highest opinion of you." 

"Can you blame him? He reads the tabloids. It's not like I can invent a time machine and go back to slap my younger self," Tony grumbled. 

"Honestly, I thought you'd just skip the candlelit dinner and revert to your old playboy habits." 

Tony looked slightly offended. "Is that really how you see me?" 

Luke nodded without a second of hesitation. 

"Give me a break. I genuinely respect Pepper," Tony said softly. "Besides... I think I'm starting to understand that 'sweet feeling' you were talking about. It's not bad at all." Tony raised an eyebrow at Luke, his eyes flashing with a smug, deeply irritating superiority. 

Luke suddenly felt a strong urge to punch the billionaire. Was there anything more universally hated than a smug guy showing off his new romance to a single friend? 

Luke stood up, deciding to retreat to the guest room Tony had assigned him to water his rescued plant. 

"Hey, the Stark Expo opening ceremony is tonight!" Tony called out after him. "I'm planning a classic Iron Man grand entrance. You wanna come?" 

"No thanks. If I show up, you won't get any media coverage tomorrow. I'd steal all your thunder," Luke shot back over his shoulder. 

Returning to his room, Luke watered his little plant. Thinking about how he would have to sneak around like a thief every time he went outside from now on, he felt a massive headache coming on. 

At 8:00 PM, an alarm blared loudly in the guest room. 

"Ugh... JARVIS? Turn the alarm off," Luke muttered, groggily sitting up in bed. "Wait, why did I even set an alarm?" 

"Your memo states: 'Watch the Stark Expo Opening Ceremony', sir." 

"Oh, right!" Luke remembered. "Put it on the screen." 

A massive holographic projection appeared on the wall, showing the live broadcast of the Expo. 

Luke watched as Tony, clad in the Iron Man armor, dramatically parachuted out of a plane, landed precisely on the main stage surrounded by dancing cheerleaders, and began delivering an incredibly arrogant, theatrical speech while the crowd went absolutely wild. 

"So that's what he meant by a 'classic Iron Man entrance'. Fits his personality perfectly," Luke muttered, slightly annoyed by Tony's overwhelming smugness. 

"JARVIS, hypothetically... if someone really pissed Tony off, what would he usually do in retaliation?" 

"Historically, Sir would instruct me to compile highly classified or embarrassing information regarding the offending party and leak it to the press, or alternatively, bury them in frivolous lawsuits," JARVIS answered promptly. 

"Oh, is that so?" Luke nodded thoughtfully. He remembered how, in the original movies, whenever Tony was publicly attacked, he would immediately fire back by exposing the attacker's dirty laundry—whether it was Justin Hammer, Nick Fury, or even Captain America. 

Luke smirked maliciously. He pulled out the SD card from his digital camera and plugged it into a nearby terminal. 

"JARVIS, access the hidden folder on this drive and send those specific photos to my phone." 

Looking at the photos that popped up on his screen, Luke's grin widened. These were definitely the ultimate blackmail material. 

And so, while Tony was basking in the thunderous applause of the Expo crowd, feeling like the absolute king of the world, a few highly embarrassing photos quietly found their way onto the internet. 

Tony had no idea yet. Right now, his biggest annoyance was the congressional subpoena a hot blonde US Marshal had just handed him backstage. 

"How far are we from D.C.?" Tony asked his bodyguard, Happy Hogan. 

"D.C.? About 250 miles, boss." 

"Alright. Looks like we aren't going home tonight." 

The next afternoon. 

Luke was comfortably sprawled on the couch in the Malibu mansion, eating popcorn and watching a DC movie, when Tony violently kicked the front door open and stormed into the living room. 

"How the hell did you even get those pictures?!" Tony yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at Luke. 

Just this morning, Tony had spectacularly dismantled Senator Stern and humiliated Justin Hammer on live television during the congressional hearing. Feeling incredibly smug, he had logged onto the internet to bask in the public's praise—only to find the entire internet exploding over viral photos of him trapped in a cave, looking emaciated, wearing literal rags, and hammering a piece of scrap metal over an open fire with a massive, unkempt beard. 

Tony had initially panicked, thinking the Ten Rings terrorists had somehow leaked the footage. He immediately ordered JARVIS to trace the IP address—only for JARVIS to calmly inform him that the photos had been uploaded from the mansion's own guest room router. 

"What, you don't like them?" Luke laughed, tossing a piece of popcorn into his mouth. "I thought you'd be nostalgic for your humble beginnings." 

"Oh my god. I can already see the tabloid headlines for tomorrow," Tony groaned, completely defeated. He flopped onto the sofa next to Luke, burying his face in his hands. 

What could he do? He couldn't beat Luke in a fight, and to be fair, Tony had provoked him first. 

"Look on the bright side," Luke teased. "Maybe Pepper will see those photos, feel incredibly bad for you, and rush over here to comfort you." 

Right on cue, the glass doors slid open, and Pepper Potts walked in, carrying a massive stack of folders. 

"Tony? Are you here?" 

Luke peeked over the back of the sofa, genuinely surprised. 'She actually came? Am I about to become a massive third wheel?' 

"What's wrong, Pep?" Tony asked, perking up. 

He quickly shoved Luke's head down behind the sofa and gave him a desperate 'get out of here' look. Luke rolled his eyes, silently melted into the shadows, and sank into the floor. 

"I need you..." Pepper started, sounding stressed. 

"Hey, it's totally fine. They're just a few old photos," Tony interrupted smoothly, trying to sound nonchalant. 

"...What photos?" Pepper asked, thoroughly confused. 

"You didn't see the photos?" 

"What are you talking about?" 

"Then why are you here?" Tony frowned. 

"Remember how you made me the CEO? I've already started taking over the executive duties, but I desperately need you to sign a few final, legally binding transition documents so I actually have the authority to do my job!" Pepper said, exasperated. 

Tony instantly deflated. "Right. Fine. Just show me where to sign." 

"Looks like you guys have official business to discuss?" Luke suddenly stepped out from behind a decorative pillar on the other side of the room. "Should I leave?" 

Pepper smiled warmly and waved at him. Ever since Luke had basically forced Tony to ask her out, Pepper's relationship with Luke had quickly shifted from 'Tony's weird friend' to 'genuine ally'. Not to mention, Luke had secretly assigned ten highly competent, invisible bodyguards to watch over her, which she deeply appreciated. 

"Actually, don't leave. There are several documents here that require your signature as well, Luke." 

"Me?" Luke pointed at himself, confused. "Why do I need to sign anything? I'm not a Stark Industries shareholder." 

"It's regarding the new smartphone subsidiary," Pepper explained, pulling out a separate stack of files. "The company's market valuation has already reached nearly a hundred billion dollars. As the second-largest shareholder and patent co-owner, I need your executive approval on several major operational changes." 

"Wait, a hundred billion? Does that mean I'm technically a billionaire now?" Luke was genuinely shocked. He hadn't expected the smartphone company to explode that quickly. 

But then again, introducing a sleek, bezel-less, touch-screen smartphone to a world currently dominated by clunky flip phones was like introducing a machine gun to a sword fight. Total market domination was inevitable. 1

"Alright, looks like neither of us is escaping today," Tony sighed dramatically. 

"We need to wait for the legal department representative to arrive anyway. She knows exactly which forms you both need to fill out," Pepper said, organizing the files. 

"Fine. Hey, Luke, wanna spar?" Tony suddenly asked, stretching his arms. "I really feel the need to hit something right now." 

A few minutes later. 

Luke stood in the middle of Tony's private boxing ring, holding up a pair of padded focus mitts. He looked at Tony, who was bouncing on his toes, wearing boxing gloves. 

"Why am I the one holding the pads?" Luke asked dryly. 

"Because if you hit me, I'll literally die," Tony replied honestly. 

Without warning, Tony launched a surprisingly fast, heavy right hook. Luke effortlessly caught the punch with the mitt. Tony didn't pause, launching into a rapid flurry of jabs and crosses. 

Luke sighed inwardly. 'If you're mad about the photos, just say so. You could literally just go run on the treadmill instead of trying to punch me.' 

Luke casually blocked punch after punch. Eventually, getting bored, he yawned loudly, dropped his left hand to his side, and started blocking all of Tony's strikes with just one hand. 

"You're not even trying. This is insulting," Tony stopped, breathing heavily. He glanced over at Happy Hogan, who was standing nearby, desperately trying to stifle a laugh. "Happy! Get in here. You spar with me." 

"Uh..." Happy hesitated, suddenly feeling a strong urge to deduct his boss's pay. Wait, he was just a driver/bodyguard; why was he thinking about docking the billionaire's pay? 

Luke happily tossed the focus mitts to Happy and hopped out of the ring, walking over to where Pepper was sitting at a table. 

"You look stressed," Luke noted, watching Pepper rapidly swiping through multiple holographic spreadsheets on her tablet. 

Pepper smiled tiredly. "Since Stark Industries officially shut down the weapons division, the internal company structure has been in chaos. A massive number of R&D scientists and factory workers are protesting because they were technically laid off during the transition." 

Luke nodded in sympathy, grabbing a can of soda from the mini-fridge and lounging on a nearby chair. He took a sip and watched Happy spar with Tony. 

Happy, a former professional boxer, easily adapted to Tony's rhythm and began offering genuine coaching advice. Tony quickly found his footing, and his strikes became noticeably faster and sharper. 

Just as Luke was starting to doze off to the rhythmic thwack-thwack of the boxing gloves, the heavy wooden doors to the gym swung open. 

A stunningly beautiful woman with fiery red hair walked in. 

"You're here," Pepper smiled in relief. 

Natasha Romanoff—currently operating under the alias 'Natalie Rushman'—walked over, gracefully handed Pepper a thick stack of legal documents, and softly explained where the signatures were needed. 

Luke rubbed his chin, watching the legendary Black Widow playing the role of a demure legal assistant with great amusement. 

Noticing his gaze, Natasha subtly shot Luke a chilling, deeply threatening glare when Pepper wasn't looking. Luke just smirked and gave her a slight nod, silently promising he wouldn't blow her cover. 

Pepper, entirely focused on the paperwork, didn't notice the silent exchange. She handed several files to Luke and pointed out where he needed to sign. 

"Tony! The notary from the legal department is here! You need to sign these!" Pepper called out. 

Tony and Happy paused their sparring and finally noticed the new arrival. 

Unlike Happy, who was instantly mesmerized by Natasha's beauty, Tony's situational awareness had drastically improved after his traumatic kidnapping in Afghanistan. He immediately felt something was slightly 'off' about the way she carried herself. 

"You. Come up here," Tony ordered, pointing his glove at Natasha. 

Natasha blinked in feigned surprise, but obediently climbed through the ropes into the ring. 

Tony tossed his gloves to her, ducked under the ropes, and walked over to Pepper. 

"Who is she?" Tony asked quietly. 

"Natalie Rushman. She's new in the legal department, but her efficiency is incredible." 

Tony quickly scribbled his signature on the forms, then pulled out his phone and immediately ran a background check on 'Natalie Rushman.' He only found a completely flawless, almost suspiciously perfect resume. Digging a little deeper into the search results, he found a few glamorous modeling photos attached to her alias. 

Pepper, who had been anxiously watching Natasha in the ring (where Natasha had just effortlessly flipped Happy onto his back), turned around to see what Tony was doing. 

She saw him scrolling through lingerie modeling photos of the new assistant. 

"Tony!" Pepper hissed, exasperated. They had literally just gone on their first date yesterday, and he was already trying to ruin the honeymoon phase?! 

Pepper shot Luke a desperate, pleading look. 

Luke instantly understood the assignment. With a subtle pulse of dark energy, he remotely completely shut down Tony's phone, causing the screen to go pitch black. 

Tony, who had been intently analyzing the photos for 'security purposes,' tapped the dead screen in confusion, then looked suspiciously at Luke. 

Luke simply gave him a look that clearly said: 'You're on your own, buddy. Good luck.' 

Feeling the intense, fiery glare burning into the back of his head from Pepper, Tony let out a long, defeated sigh and slowly turned around to face the music.