The good thing about youth? Close your eyes, open them again, and another day has passed.
When Leon finally woke up, another full day had gone by.
At his bedside, Tony was sitting backward on a chair, arms resting on the backrest, sipping from a large mug of murky green veggie juice, his perfectly mascara-worthy eyes watching Leon closely.
"Hey, skinny little man, you're finally awake."
"Did you know you just set a Guinness World Record?"
Seeing him stir, Tony downed the last of the sludge and pulled out an ultrathin tablet, tapping on it quickly before turning the screen to Leon.
On it, a heart rate chart more chaotic than a rollercoaster ride.
"Max BPM, 315. Kid, you're insane."
"And don't even get me started on your weight. You've crossed the 200-kilo mark. I guarantee no woman's gonna willingly let that sit on top of her."
"It took me everything I had just to haul you into the medical bay. Now, mind telling me what the hell happened?"
Leon, already halfway through getting dressed, waved him off.
"Just a minor superpower experiment. Nothing serious."
"Long story short, I got stronger again."
He kept his tone breezy and carefree, then quickly changed the subject.
"Wait, hold up. If I weigh that much now, how did you, those noodle arms of yours, drag me all the way here?"
Tony's eyes lit up like he was waiting for the question.
"Glad you asked!"
Without warning, he hopped up and led Leon down to his underground workshop.
But,
"Watch your- "
WHAM!
Leon had barely stepped past the living room before his foot found nothing but air.
"Son of a-!"
He fell like a brick.
"…There's a hole there," Tony said helpfully, several seconds too late.
Leon lay sprawled out, dazed.
"Have you gone full Siberian husky, old man? Since when do we have a gaping hole in the floor, covered with a single piece of cardboard?! Wow, thanks for that!"
"Relax. Just doing a bit of testing, same as you," Tony said with a smug grin, doing his best imitation of Leon's earlier tone, complete with a flourish of his fingers.
"You absolute bastard! You did that on purpose!"
"This grudge is going in my notebook!" Leon shouted, dusting himself off as he glared around.
That's when his eyes landed on the Mark II, sleek and silver, surrounded by dozens of robotic arms as it rested in the workshop's spotlight.
Not far from it, inside a glass case against the wall, stood the battered remains of the Mark I, the suit that had saved Tony's life.
It had been brought back by Jarvis piloting the Jet Sliger while Leon opted to fly home the slow way, on Tony's private jet.
"What do you think?" Tony asked, barely containing his excitement.
He saw Leon examining the Mark II with a hand on his chin, and his grin turned smug.
"Same tech base, but performance-wise? The Mark II makes the Mark I look like a tin can."
"Flight mode is ready too. Watch this!"
Without waiting for a response, Tony stepped into the ring of mechanical arms, and the suit began to assemble around him piece by piece.
Seconds later,
WHEE-BOOM!
Up he went. Straight into the ceiling.
A new hole was born.
Leon stared at the crumpled luxury sports car now sporting a Tony Stark crater.
"…So that's your excuse for not fixing the last hole?"
"…That was just an accident."
Tony rubbed the bridge of his nose, well, the helmet's approximation of one.
"Jarvis, what happened to the flight assist?"
"Sir, you disabled it during your first test flight."
"…Right."
"Looks like we still need to optimize flight controls, and the freezing issue at high altitudes is still a problem too."
He lay back in the wreckage, muttering troubleshooting ideas to himself like it was just another Tuesday.
Leon shook his head. He didn't interrupt.
That's just how Tony was, hit a wall, solve the problem, forget the world around him.
Maybe that's what being a genius meant.
Leon walked over and placed his hand on the Mark II's plating, giving it a curious pat.
[Query: Would you like to check in for today's reward?]
'System hungry. System want food.'
[Ding, Check-in complete. Congratulations! You've received the "Starlight Template."]
[Starlight Template: Enhanced superhuman physique, focused on defense and endurance; grants energy absorption, conversion, and release. Final output depends on user aptitude and mastery.]
[Note: Good kid, eat up some energy and charge your batteries.]
"Oho!"
Luck, when it came, really poured.
This was exactly what he'd been lacking!
With the Starlight Template added to his existing Soldier Boy base, not only did Leon gain yet another physical boost, he now had flight.
Maybe not supersonic flight yet, but hey, floating was a start.
(Note: Leon got nuked by Truck-kun right after watching Season 3 of "The Boys." He never saw Season 4, where Starlight performs a double-burst aerial dash. So as far as he knows, she just kind of glows.)
That final "ult" move in the Season 3 finale? Total whiff, sure. But it did prove she could fly.
And that's all Leon needed.
System Log (Updated):
Soldier Boy Template: Superhuman stats with emphasis on strength, durability, stamina, and resistance. Capable of generating a chest-mounted energy blast that can suppress or even erase the abilities of mutated superhumans (ineffective against naturally born supers). Essentially a mobile nuke.
Super Regeneration: Regrow from nearly any injury, even a single surviving cell.
Adamantium Skeleton: Unbreakable, heat-resistant, system-certified, side-effect-free metal skeleton. Scales with user power. (System override: immune to magnetic manipulation in future; regen unaffected.)
Starlight Template: Energy absorption, conversion, and output. Primary traits: endurance, defense, latent flight potential.
Inventory:
Soldier Boy Suit
Desert Eagle with Infinite Ammo (Indestructible Quality)
Compared to the soul-tearing agony of merging with the Adamantium Skeleton, the Starlight Template was a breeze.
Leon barely felt a thing.
He absorbed it like water into a sponge.
Casually checking his status panel, he turned to Tony, gave him a hearty slap on the back, and said:
"Hey, big bro, check this out!"
"Huh?!"
Before Tony could even process, Leon was already drawing power from the environment, siphoning energy like a vacuum.
And not just from nearby outlets, he even started draining the Mark II, causing the arc reactor on Tony's chest to flicker erratically.
Sparks flew. Tony's limbs jittered. His mouth hung open in a twitching grimace.
Leon's hands and eyes were glowing gold with power.
With a thrust of his palms, he shot himself off the ground.
Floating. Shaky. Wobbling, but airborne.
Tony stared in shock.
Wait... wait a damn minute.
Wasn't this exactly what happened to him yesterday?
This jerk, he can fly now?!
And he didn't even need fifty parts or a billion-dollar R&D team?
Leon wobbled in the air like a newborn duck, teeth clenched as he flailed for balance.
Under Tony's begrudging guidance, Leon began to get the hang of flight control. Slowly.
Unlike Iron Man's HUD-assisted, AI-stabilized systems, this was all raw superpower. No computers. No servos. Just Leon and his new template, fumbling his way into the sky.
It took way more effort than either of them expected.
Beep
A fingerprint unlock triggered.
Pepper Potts, in full secretary mode, walked in holding two cups of coffee.
"You guys-"
She didn't finish.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two more luxury cars became craters.
One under Tony.
The other under Leon.
Both men lay flat on the wreckage, eyes meeting through the dust, grinning like fools.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" ×2
Meanwhile, Pepper stood at the door, coffee splattered on her blouse, completely baffled.
She had no idea what these two lunatics were laughing about.
Every 250 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter
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