Noticing that Heisenberg truly had no intention of killing people, or at least, that he did not look like he was about to start a massacre, Pepper finally relaxed a little.
In any case, with Tony's arm held tightly in her embrace, Pepper slowly sat down across from Heisenberg.
Sunlight poured in through the broken wall, slanting across Tony's face.
Yet the warm sunlight that made Heisenberg feel so comfortable could not heat the gloom on Tony's face at all.
Heisenberg glanced at Tony and felt like the man was about to bite his own gums to pieces.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Finally realizing how weak you are? A suit you sank hundreds of millions into, and it couldn't even take one slap?"
Heisenberg's teasing made Tony suck in a sharp breath.
A moment later, Tony's expression actually improved. He shrugged helplessly and said, "Alright. It's not that big a deal. Everyone says you're Superman, and my suit doesn't have a bat on it, so of course I'm not your opponent."
As he spoke, his mood shifted in an instant, turning from dark and dejected to unruly and cocky again.
He leaned forward, grabbed his glass, and clinked it with Heisenberg's in a smooth, effortless motion.
"This bottle costs sixty thousand. My assistant's office wall costs three hundred thousand. Tell your company to wire me the money!"
"Hahaha, as if. Let's drink to the renovation crew you're about to hire, buddy!"
Heisenberg drank happily. They set their glasses down almost at the same time.
Pepper sat to the side and quietly picked up her own glass.
There was plenty of annoyance and resentment hidden under her tear streaked face.
You men were always like this. Drink a little, and you forget the woman sitting right next to you. So what, I don't even have the right to clink glasses with you?
You want to throw hands, you bastards!!!
Pepper took a worried sip, and at this moment, the air between Heisenberg and Tony no longer felt as simple or as cheerful as it had a few seconds ago.
Tony set his glass down and immediately clenched his jaw, forcing a bit more confidence into himself.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but drew in a deep breath instead.
Only after exhaling did he finally make up his mind.
"Heisenberg, the way you handled the protesters earlier was far too cruel!"
"They deserved it, Tony!" Heisenberg replied with disdain.
"But the price shouldn't have been their lives. You had plenty of other ways to make them pay, like making them live in poverty for the rest of their lives. For you, that would be easy!"
"So you're even more cruel than I am." Heisenberg sneered. "I only want them dead, but you want them to live in misery."
Mocked like that, Tony frowned in displeasure. He shook his head while pouring more alcohol.
"Scum like that, maybe death really is a good thing. But it's still a violation of law and order, and it's also a contempt and insult to life itself."
"Isn't that fair?" Heisenberg said. "They stand in the street insulting my character. I stand in the sky insulting their lives."
As he spoke, Heisenberg stood up from the sofa.
He took his glass and clinked it with Tony's again.
"Let's stop here. Our conversations will never be pleasant, because we only believe in ourselves."
He drained his glass and set it back on the coffee table.
Then he waved at Pepper.
"I'm sorry I beat up your man, and wrecked your office, and most importantly, frightened you.
To make up for it, I'll give you the life you want. It'll be precious beyond measure. Don't thank me. Treasure it."
With that, Heisenberg flew out through the hole he had smashed open on the way in.
Not long after leaving, as if he suddenly remembered something, Heisenberg returned to Pepper's office.
He looked deadly serious as he spoke to Tony.
"I just remembered something, Tony. You'd better remember this, one extremely important thing.
You love your father, you love your mother. No matter how much of a playboy act you put on, you can't change your devotion to family.
But you always treat your family and your hero career like weights, placing them on both ends of a scale.
Unfortunately, the word 'hero' always outweighs your responsibility to your family.
That isn't fair to your lover or your future child. And it isn't fair to you, either."
After that string of abrupt, seemingly unrelated words, Heisenberg vanished again, leaving no trace.
All the way back on his own rooftop, he floated in the air and looked down.
He did not know whether his beating had worked on Iron Man, or whether the leader behind the protest had received a warning call.
Either way, the protesters had stopped shouting and begun preparing to leave.
But Heisenberg did not want them to leave so easily.
He took out his phone and called Jessica.
A moment later, the call connected.
"Mmm, boss. You need something?"
"For fuck's sake, can you stop saying shit like that every three sentences?" Heisenberg scolded helplessly, finally making Jessica, whose brain was overflowing with female hormones, shut her mouth.
After a brief pause, once she quieted down, Heisenberg continued.
"Bring your people. Watch the key figures in the protest team downstairs. The moment they led the crowd in cursing me, they lost the right to go home and keep enjoying their lives.
Follow them. Break their legs. You're good at that kind of thing. They're all bastards who've been rolling around Hell's Kitchen!"
Jessica accepted happily.
"Sure. That's easier than fighting the Hulk. But the reward you promised me last time…?"
"Tonight, come to my room…"
Heisenberg laughed helplessly. That woman.
After hanging up, Heisenberg smiled and lay back in his lounge chair.
He felt much better than before.
Not because he had decided to wipe out all the gang bosses, and not because he had sent Jessica to deal with the main instigators in the protest.
What truly put him in a good mood was that he had finally thought of a way to deal with Iron Man.
Back when he had still been an ordinary person, among the countless movies Heisenberg watched in the Origin Universe, Iron Man had been one of his favorite characters.
But after he personally arrived in the Marvel Universe…
He discovered he faced a choice.
Either he would have to assimilate into the American superhero system, devoted wholeheartedly to doing good, and even then there was still a small chance he would end up as Iron Man's enemy in the Civil War storyline.
Or he could to hell with American heroes, and follow his own path, exactly what he was doing now.
In that case, it would not take long before he clashed with Iron Man head on.
So how could he prevent Tony Stark from causing trouble, without killing Tony Stark?
Talk him down?
No. Not everyone's talk no jutsu could persuade a man cursed by knowledge.
Besides, Heisenberg did not have the silver tongue of a shonen protagonist.
The subordinates he had taken in so far were all subdued under the pressure of absolute strength, guided by the situation.
There was never any "aura burst" that made people surrender. There were only people happy to borrow a tiger's might.
So that would not work.
Then what if he used another method, making Iron Man lose his genius?
And taking it further, what if while Tony lost his genius, he also became someone who cherished love and family more, someone who would no longer abandon Pepper and his daughter for the sake of hero work?
Then there would be no need to worry about Tony continuing to fly around as Iron Man, and no need to worry about him snapping that finger that cost him everything.
Most importantly, Tony would stop being a problem for him.
Of course, if Tony knew what Heisenberg planned to do to him, he would have suited up and blasted Heisenberg twice in the face immediately.
But sorry. As long as the result satisfied him, Heisenberg did not care about the process.
He was always Heisenberg. He meant what he said. He did what he wanted.
He did not need to consider others, because in a person's life, everything, food, clothing, shelter, travel, love, hate, all of it, existed only to satisfy that person's own needs.
You need love because you don't want to be lonely.
You need family because you don't want to be lonely.
You need friendship because you still don't want to be lonely.
And you need money, power, status, attention, and other people's respect, because you will always pursue a better life.
That was human nature.
So, while Iron Man himself knew nothing, Heisenberg was about to erase the great hero Iron Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to make himself comfortable and satisfied.
At the same time, he would create a Tony who loved his family, loved his wife and child, and lived happily.
Ahem.
Heisenberg did not know whether he was right or wrong. He did not care about right or wrong. He only knew this was the result he wanted most right now.
It was better than being forced to kill Iron Man, Tony Stark, in the future.
"System!"
Heisenberg called out in his mind immediately.
"How much Origin Matter does it take to erase the curse of knowledge the Marvel Universe placed on Iron Man?"
"Two thousand six hundred and seventy two cubes of Origin Matter are required."
"Ha. So cheap. Is he only worth that much?"
"He is the only Iron Man of this universe, but he is also only one among infinite Iron Men across the infinite multiverse."
"Fine, fine."
Heisenberg nodded in realization.
"Everyone has an Iron Man in their heart, right?"
He spoke, then waved his hand decisively. In an instant, his Origin Matter was consumed by the number the system demanded.
And it was not over.
Heisenberg continued.
"Next, alter Tony Stark's subconscious, so that none of the desires in his heart can ever exceed his love for his family!"
"This is simple. Only 8.97 cubes of Origin Matter are required."
"Uh… that's ridiculously cheap…"
Heisenberg truly had not expected it to be so low, so low that he could only ship two watches over from the Origin Universe with that amount.
And he quickly got an answer.
"Do not be surprised, Keeper of Order. The method to alter Tony Stark's subconscious has many adequate options. You may exchange for the ability of Thought Machine Superman to dominate him, or you may use the cheapest Inception Universe subconscious alteration method.
With too many available options, the system will automatically recommend the lowest cost plan."
"This system…" Heisenberg muttered instinctively. "Why does it feel like it thinks the same way I do? Is that my imagination?"
Then he made his decision without hesitation.
"Change it."
The moment the words fell, everything changed silently, without anyone noticing.
…
That night, Tony stormed out of his lab in frustration.
He seemed to have been shaken by Heisenberg's inhuman power, to the point that all the inspiration he had for upgrading his armor had vanished.
His mind felt like a tangled mess. He almost felt like he was forgetting the very methods he once used to build his suits himself.
It was awful.
At that moment, Pepper, who had been watching Tony, quickly noticed something was wrong.
She hurried over, worried.
The moment she sat down, she heard Tony say to her, "My mind is a mess, Pepper. I don't think I'm as great as I always thought I was."
Pepper rolled her eyes helplessly. Exactly how great did you imagine yourself to be? Don't you know?
How narcissistic are you? This was the eighty sixth time he had brought up something like this.
But every time he faced trouble, he always solved it quickly. This time would be the same.
So she hugged him, intending to comfort her lover the same way she always did when he fell into these familiar lows.
But Tony pulled her into his arms instead.
He held her tightly, then leaned close to her ear, his voice serious and sincere.
"This is stupid, but I want to propose. Let's get married."
Pepper's eyes widened instantly.
Only then did she truly realize what was different. This Tony was genuinely different.
She was about to answer, but Tony took a deep breath.
In that instant, Pepper clearly saw Tony crying.
Even though he wiped the tears away quickly by lowering his head, she carved that moment deep into her heart.
Then Tony murmured sadly against Pepper's ear.
"I… suddenly miss my father. He would be happy that I have a warm family.
I love you, and I'll love our child, the way my father loved my mother and me.
I… really miss him."
…
Meanwhile, at Heisenberg Tower.
Heisenberg lay on the rooftop and glanced in the direction of Stark Tower.
"Maybe you don't like my solution. But considering your future, you should still thank me.
And I suppose I should say goodbye too, the Iron Man of the future."
/-\
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