Chương 19: Chapter 19: Partnership Talk? Kind of
The representatives are in the other room, discussing the details. While Norman Osborne and Tony Stark are in Tim's office. Ryan is stuck awkwardly there.
"So this is the new Tony Stark!" Tony said sarcastically. He is a little mad that the media keeps comparing them. His genius is unparalleled. A thing like smart tech, he cracks it with no effort at all.
Seeing the toddler in an adult body, he became amused. Tony Stark before the kidnapping is a dick. But he did maintain some professional courtesy. Emphasis on some. Otherwise, things will be a lot worse.
"You know the media likes to exaggerate stuff. How could I compare to the genius of our time?" But it is true. He only has the trading site to support him. He could not be compared to him.
"First you plant trees, then you find ways to grow them out. Now you've done it, what will you do next? Clean the ocean? Stop wars?" Tony is dissatisfied with the kids' attitude. He knows that the kid does a lot of humanitarian aid, this is not a difficult matter for him to find out.
But he couldn't understand his thought process. This is because Tony thinks " When the kid used his money to help others, he didn't even take credit for it. If I do it, I will tell the media about it and take credit for all the things I have done."
"Maybe I'll clean up the ocean. You know the plastic isn't gonna clean up themselves." Ryan said. "Thank you Mr. Stark for the suggestions."
"Maybe we can partner up in that." Osborne, who's been keeping silent, said that while Stark scowls.
Before this, Norman has the impression of " What a jerk" to the kid. Ryan's effort is making all the capitalists look bad. He needs to either stop or join him, but looking at the guy, he notices that the guy is only a naive kid, instead of an opportunist. So, he decides to join him.
Previously, the kids' efforts have caused the stock price for Knight's company to soar. They can now rival Osborne's and Stark's. As compared to the previous beneath them. Knight is still considered a startup company though as its influence isn't great in the public arena.
Stark and Osborne do make their own smart tech, but considering the Knights industry holding the patents, and brand recognition as the leading company in smart tech, they look second rate although their product is not inferior.
If Ryan knows their thoughts, he would think about Apple and other smartphone companies in his previous world.
Tim joked with the duo, "If my son weren't fearful, we might not have met". When he explains why, suddenly.." That seems about right."
Norman agrees with Ryan's thought process. Seeing their surprised expression, Norman sighs and explains. "Unlike the 'other' rich second generation, whose dads already stabilised their company, or leaving the management to someone who knows how the world works, your fear is real."
"I couldn't tell you how many times the government has interfered with something my company is doing. Most people who create their own business will experience it."
Norman turns to Tim. "I guess you have a backer before, or your industry isn't special enough for the government to interfere, but now, they will try. Under the guise of patriotism, under the guise of humanitarian effort, these people are like hyenas, waiting to hit a piece of your flesh. "
"You're exaggerating," Stark interrupted. He couldn't believe it. Norman smiles and concludes it. " Ask yourself this, if food becomes abundant, what do you think will happens"
"It'll solve world hunger," Stark said. "It'll cause war," Ryan said.
Stark and Tim are looking at Norman and Ryan in disbelief. The two of them are the same type of person. "When food is stable, it's easy to fight long wars. You can even disrupt another country's dependency on the serum if necessary, to destabilise a country."
After talking for a while, Stark and Osborne leave their representatives here as they are busy men. Ryan believes that for Osborne but maybe Stark is busy as a human planter. His first meeting with the future superhero and supervillain ended.
" To be honest, Norman and I are kindred spirits. Will I become a supervillain in the future?"
Knight's, Stark's, and Osborne's partnership soon became known to the world. Many countries' governments reach an agreement with them. The US government does look at this as some kind of opportunity, maybe they can get some benefit from these countries.
But with Osborne and Stark company as backup, even the government is hesitant to make a move. The agreement with these countries went smoothly.
The media is going crazy about it. "Solving world's hunger", "Big Company Humanitarian Effort" and many more. Stark was feeling naughty and he complimented Ryan and put the credit towards him, causing Ryan to become the focus of the media for a while.
When Ryan keeps avoiding the media, Stark becomes the target for it. His narcissistic tendency makes him love it, but when interviewed, many questions are about Ryan making him regret his actions a little.
Gwen is sitting next to Ryan on the sofa, in his penthouse watching a new movie released by the Knights entertainment. "So, what do you think?"
What he just shows Gwen is the movie" The Greatest Showman", an idea he stole from his previous world. "It's really good. I like the songs. I don't know that my boyfriend is also a songwriter." Gwen is a little bit depressed about it. Her boyfriend is a little too good.
"Once it gets out he's making movies now, many more celebrities will make a move on him", she worries. Even now there's an 'accidental encounter', blatant flirting, some straight-up seducing him. Luckily, he doesn't pay much attention to them.
He trusts her a lot. He already told her about his coma, his stand-in, and everything. Gwen is surprised about it and now knows why she hated the previous Ryan so much, compared to him now.
She's also tried to comfort Ryan about his missed years, in which Ryan gladly accepted her 'comforting'. Gwen is staying here for a while as the media is surrounding her house.
The more Gwen learns about Ryan's deed, the more surprised she is. Ryan is low-key. She even knows about the Bugatti, the most sought-after sports car, even Tony Stark praises it, which was invented by him as soon as he wakes up. If she knows Ryan from before, maybe she'll think that he had switched bodies with someone.
They are cuddling together. "Are you going to clean the ocean?" Gwen asks while resting on his chest. Ryan has his arm around her. "I already started. But it'll take a lot of time and effort."
His ocean clean-up crew is already online. He shares proper waste management procedures with the world, not hiding it a little bit. About how you can use waste to get energy, repurposing plastic waste, trapping trash before it gets into the waterway, the danger of overfishing and fishnets being thrown into the sea, and more.
"What drives people is profit, if I show you can make money with this, people will compete to clean up the ocean."
He also hired a film crew to make documentaries about the seas, Seaspiracy (seas conspiracy) that will be shown on Netflix. "A new subscription-based streaming service that shows your favorite television shows and movies that was released by the Knights Entertainment."
"You know, you should get rewarded for your good deeds," Gwen said before kissing Ryan. "Well maybe I should… ", he kissed back, and said with a smirk, "But how?"
Kai's POV.
"It's been 3 weeks since I took Skye in. As she is also in the rebellious age, it's fun to tease her. " Although Kai didn't go home very much, he spent time with Skye in the clinic where the girl is helping out.
She is also responsible for his laundry, taking out the trash, and a few chores. He knows that she will be reluctant to take the money without doing anything, so he decides on a few things for her to do.
Skye is taking out the trash in the clinic, normal trash, not hazardous ones, while Kai is treating a patient in the consulting room. *Ting-a-ling*, the bell on top of the door rings, signaling people entering the clinic. Skye sees two people wearing black suits, and she knows them as she has met them several times before. They are from… child protective services.
Skye panicked! There's no way to run as the clinic only has one exit. She likes living with Kai. She has her room, she can eat whatever she wants, the only downside is that Kai is forcing her to study.
He will check up on her every day for this. It's a little frustrating, but she is a smart girl, it wasn't hard for her. She is also secretly happy that Kai is concerned and taking care of her.
"Mary Sue Poots, it's not nice to run away from your foster parent's house." One of the women in the government agency spoke out.
"Luckily Mr. Kai took you in, otherwise who knows where you'll end up." She continues. Skye then realises that Kai was the one who contacted the CPS. She felt extremely betrayed. Tears started pooling around her eyes.
Kai comes out and takes a look at the commotion." You Betrayer", Skye yells at him. He smirks when he takes a look at Skye who's on the verge of crying. He knows what Skye might think. Then he cheerily greeted the government agent. Further amplifying Skye's hatred towards him.
After shaking hands with her, he asks. " Are the procedures done?". "It's done, you are now the official guardian of Mary Sue Poots.", the government agent replied. She takes out a few documents and hands them to Kai.
Kai picks them up and checks on them. He then waved the document in front of Skye teasing her. "Looks like you're gonna stay here longer than you thought", he said while grinning.
"What?" She, who is already tearing up, realises the situation. She feels extremely grateful to the doctor. After saving her, giving her a job, and showing kindness to her. When she thought about leaving a week before, she became really sad.
Although Skye wants to find her parents, it stems from her not getting any love from others while growing up. It's not like she's rejecting every family that adopts her. But her unlucky streak makes her end up with bad families.
Skye wiped up her tears. She says in a low voice "You should have told me about it and asked for my opinions '. She puts out a tough facade, but Kai just thinks it's funny with her tear stains and snots.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise,'' Kai said playfully. Skye inches into Kai slowly then hugs him suddenly." Oof '' She says in a whisper".. thank you... '' Kai has a father's smile on his face and pats her head.
"You know it's good and all, but there's bad news for you Skye. " The little girl whose mood is rollercoaster-ing, releases him, then asks quickly " What is it? ".
She's afraid of the previous foster family or maybe there's trouble with Kai because of what he did. But then she hears something that shook her to her core.
"You'll have to go to school", Kai said with an evil smile. He applied to become Skye's guardian about a week ago.
At the same time, he had reported Skye's former foster family to CPS. Those bastards didn't even report that the girl was missing. They are already removed from further adoption applications and now facing legal charges.
The CPS agent who sees all this has a kind smile on her face. She has sent Mary Sue to other families before, but she has never shown emotions like this. "I hope you find happiness now Mary Sue Poots"
After living with Skye, he has a sense of familiarity in his actions."I feel like I've done this before." He knows that he didn't have a child in his previous life, but maybe a niece or nephew. He likes the feeling and he doesn't want it to end early.
Even if he ends his quest, later on, he thinks that he'll just bring Skye to wherever he might end up." There will be other quests, right? 'Kai' didn't have to end early." He also doesn't plan to stop Skye in her search for her parents, as Skye has an important role in the future.
Looking at his quest, he now has done (5/10) in saving people. After knowing what to do, he tried to save some near-death people, as in hell's kitchen, people are dying every day.
4 other people he saved are a pair of police officers, who was shot on patrol, a beaten-up prostitute, and an overdosed drug user. He's now halfway there in completing the quest.
"I'm like a vigilante in the night. But instead of beating people up, I run around to save people"
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