Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Fire!
[Third Person's PoV]
"FIRE! FIRE! JARVIS, HELP!" Tony screamed as he ran around his lab. Jarvis appeared with a fire extinguisher and quickly put out the flames on Tony's workstation.
Tony coughed and patted Jarvis on the back. "Jarvis, what would I do without you?"
"Killed yourself," Jarvis said with a tired look.
"Most likely," Tony nodded in agreement.
"Friday, how many failures was that?" Jarvis asked.
"151," the robotic female voice answered.
"Young Master, how are you not discouraged already? Any seven-year-old I know would have thrown a temper tantrum and given up by now."
Tony looked at Jarvis weirdly and backed away slightly. "You know other seven-year-olds apart from me? Why are you meeting them?"
Jarvis maintained a straight face and turned back towards the door. "I'm leaving."
"No, no, no, Jarvis, I'm only kidding. Come on, my guy, you know I was only kidding. Plus, you know I can't be here without you."
"And the reason I'm not giving up is simple. The road to success is built upon the bricks of failure, as I always say. Each mistake I make just gets me closer and closer. Plus, the next one is it, the next one is when I complete it, I just know. I have everything ready already."
Jarvis nodded. "That is a very nice saying, young master."
"Thank you, Jarvis," Tony smiled.
The door to his lab opened, and Howard appeared. "Get ready, Tony. We're going to a party."
"Party? What party?" Tony tilted his head in confusion.
"A party thrown for David Shield. He has won a Nobel Prize, and since we are collaborators, we have to be there to show our support."
"Ah, alright," Tony gave him a thumbs up. "I'll go get ready then, old man."
Howard nodded and exited the lab while Jarvis looked at Tony weirdly.
"What?" Tony asked.
"I would have just expected you to throw a hissy fit or something."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Dad has already given me so much. It would be wrong of me to start complaining when he asks for something in return, even if it's small."
Jarvis looked surprised and put a hand over Tony's head. "What are you doing?"
"Checking to see if you're sick. That was surprisingly mature of you, young master."
Tony gave him a plain look and smacked his hands away. "I hate you."
Jarvis just smiled. "I love you as well, young master."
Tony rolled his eyes again and walked away to get ready. "Friday, power saver mode on."
Everything dimmed, and Tony got dressed in a little tuxedo with a black bow tie and black sunglasses. He licked his finger, ran it through his eyebrows, and finger-gunned the mirror. "Oh yeah, baby, you still got it," he said with a charming smile.
Maria walked in and blinked at Tony's actions. "What are you doing?"
"What do you think, my beautiful mother? Admiring God's greatest creation."
"I really need to get you checked to see if you really do have a case of narcissism," Maria teased. "Now come on, Jarvis is waiting with the car outside."
"Don't miss me too much," Tony told his reflection with a snap of his fingers.
Maria couldn't help but laugh. "How do you even come up with these things, Tony? Hehehe~"
They soon walked out and got into the limo while Maria was still laughing at what she had witnessed.
"What's so funny?" Howard asked curiously.
"You should have seen Tony in the mirror just now..." Maria recounted the scene, which earned a chuckle from Howard.
"So, Dad, are you and this David Shield guy close?" Tony asked.
"Very. We went to the same hero school together and had a bit of a friendly rivalry," Howard said with a reminiscent smile. "We lost contact after he became the sidekick to Japan's number one S-Class hero. It was only recently that he came back into the business side of things."
"Huh? S-Class?" Tony asked, looking at Howard in confusion. 'I thought this was a My Hero Academia world?'
"You haven't been doing your research, have you?"
"I mean, I have, just not when it comes to heroes. I researched other academic things, like science and physics… So again, an S-Class hero?"
Howard sighed and began to explain. "It first started with Japan. They were the first to implement the system of ranking heroes in something they called the Hero Association. The rankings went from C, B, A, and finally, S-Class. At first, people took examinations and were placed in their appropriate rankings. They would go up in ranks due to their deeds and popularity among people. The higher the rank, the more money they were paid. Thus, more and more people started to apply.
"The other countries, seeing the success of what Japan was doing, started doing the same. They built their own associations funded by the government itself. To further motivate heroes around the world, all nations hold an event named the World Conference every ten years, where they show off the achievements of their S-Class heroes. The five with the most achievements in the world gain the title of World Hero."
"Woah… That actually sounds cool. I see how they would use that to motivate people to become heroes," Tony said, a bit impressed.
Howard smiled as he continued. "The hero David worked with is one of the best heroes in the world... All Might. He gained the title of World Hero for three decades in a row. It's said that he has brought a long state of peace to Japan."
"He has become some sort of symbol from where he's from. He's known as The Symbol of Peace."
"Well, that's awful," Tony sighed, shaking his head.
Maria and Howard looked at him in surprise, expecting him to be excited or have some sort of admiration.
"Why is it awful?" Howard asked curiously. Maria was also curious and waited for an answer. Even Jarvis, who was driving them, was listening in.
"Just imagine the chaos that would ensue when that symbol crumbles or retires. Once they lose that sense of security, villains will lose the shackles that kept them in place. Everyone and everything would go wild."
All three looked surprised by what Tony was implying. Howard stroked his chin and nodded thoughtfully. "I see what you're trying to say. And you do have a point. So what are you going to do about it?"
"What?" Tony asked, looking at Howard weirdly.
"It seems to me you truly understand what being a hero means, so I'm curious if you have a plan to fix the situation," Howard said with a smile.
"You're asking the quirkless boy if he has a solution for a problem relating to heroes?" Tony asked, staring at Howard as if he had lost his mind.
"Humor me, Tony," Howard continued to smile. "I know that being quirkless doesn't stop you. You've never once viewed your status as quirkless as a weakness that shackles you and stops you from reaching your dreams. So I ask you again, what would be your solution?"
Tony sighed and leaned back. "I guess I'll do the thing I'm best at. I'll build something that can't crumble, that can't be stopped, that can continue even after I'm dead. Something that would be passed on to my kid and the next."
Howard let out a hearty laugh while Maria looked at Tony with a soft smile. Even Jarvis, at the wheel, had a proud look.
Howard patted Tony's head and nodded. "I know you can do it, son."
"Yeah, I'm not being a hero. That seems like trouble that puts the people I love at risk, so I'd rather just keep inventing."
Howard and Maria kept smiling, their expressions clearly indicating they didn't believe him.
"Yeah, think what you want. I'm not being a hero," Tony said as he fixed his hair.
The limo began to slow down as they approached a large house. It wasn't quite a mansion, but it wasn't modest either. Other cars were pulling up, and people in fancy clothing and dresses were entering. They then heard Jarvis' voice over the intercom.
"Master, we have arrived," he said as the car stopped.
Jarvis then came around and opened the door for them. Tony was the first to step out. He took his glasses from his shirt and put them on, walking with a swagger as Howard offered Maria a hand. They both exited the car and followed Tony.
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