[On a dark highway, Tony was driving while talking to Harley on the phone: "Harley, tell me how it went. I want to hear a detailed report!"]
["Yeah! I'm still eating candy! Do you want me to keep eating?" Harley answered while popping pieces of candy into his mouth one after another.]
[Hearing this, Tony couldn't help but ask: "How much have you eaten?"]
["Two or three pots!"]
[Tony's voice rose in surprise: "Can you still see straight?"]
["Almost!"]
[Tony sounded relieved: "That means you're fine. Call JARVIS!"]
[Hearing this, Harley placed his phone next to the Mark 42's helmet.]
["JARVIS, what's going on?"]
[JARVIS immediately responded: "I'm totally fine, sir! I was functioning properly for one part! And then at the end of the sentence I said the wrong cranberry!"]
["And! Sir! You are correct! I located the Mandarin's broadcast signal when I acquired the AIM downlink device!"]
[Tony immediately pressed for details: "Where are we talking about? The Far East? Europe? North Africa? Iran? Pakistan? Syria? Where?"]
[But JARVIS's reply was beyond Tony's expectation: "Sir! Actually... in Miami!"]
[Tony's first reaction was that JARVIS had a language error, because this location was too outrageous!]
["Okay! Kid, I'll teach you later! Restart JARVIS's voice driver, but not now! Harley, where does it say he is? Look at the screen and tell me where he is!"]
[Harley clicked around on the laptop, "Uh... it does say Miami, Florida!"]
[When Tony realized the enemy was right under his nose, he broke out in a cold sweat and quickly asked about the armor's condition: "Okay! Let's talk about the important things first! I need the armor. How is it now?"]
["Uh... it can't be charged!" Harley hesitated for a moment before revealing the problem.]
[Tony slammed the brake pedal to the floor and pulled over to the side of the road. His entire body was sweating and his fingers trembled slightly.]
[JARVIS's voice came through: "Sir, actually, it is charging, but there is a problem with the power supply! It may not be able to restore power to the Mark 42!"]
[Tony shouted anxiously: "What's wrong with the power supply?! Okay! This is my suit, I can't... I can't... I don't want to..."]
[The anxiety attack made Tony unable to speak clearly. He took two deep breaths and said, "Oh! God! Here it comes again!"]
[Then he suddenly flung open the car door and stumbled outside to gulp in fresh air.]
[Harley listened to his labored breathing and called out worriedly: "Tony? Are you having another attack? I didn't even mention New York!"]
[Tony complained: "Okay! You just said it! You said it when you said you didn't mention it!" Then he slid down, sitting with his back against the car door.]
["Okay! Uh…" Harley bit his finger awkwardly.]
[Tony hugged himself, looking utterly miserable. "Oh! God! What am I going to do?"]
[Harley quickly coached him: "Take a deep breath! Really! Take a deep breath!"]
[Then he asked: "You're a mechanic, right? That's what you said!"]
[Tony clutched the door handle and replied weakly: "Yes! That's right!"]
["Why don't you build something?"]
[After hearing Harley's words, Tony suddenly blinked as clarity returned. Harley had made Tony realize that he wasn't without options.]
[He stood up slowly. "Okay! Thanks, kid!" Tony got back into the car, adjusted his cap, and started the engine.]
"Tony Stark! It seems like his anxiety disorder is really serious! Once he loses his sense of security, he has an attack!"
Uncle Ben couldn't help but sigh as he watched Tony panic just because the Mark 42 couldn't be charged.
"That child is very smart! He reminded Tony Stark at just the right moment!" Aunt May obviously liked Harley very much.
"Yeah! It would be nice if he didn't talk so much!" Uncle Ben nodded and then complained about Harley being a chatterbox.
Spider-Man was a chatterbox, and Harley was also a chatterbox. Were all the kids Tony met so talkative?
After Harley's mother finished her call with the school, she came over and hugged him. She hadn't expected her child to be so talented that he could even provide guidance to Tony Stark himself.
Just moments ago Tony had laughed at Rhodes, but now it was Rhodes' turn to tease Tony: "How did three sentences make Tony Stark go from calm to collapse and then back to calm again?"
Everyone burst into laughter at this observation, even Wanda giggled happily. After the battle, their relationships had undoubtedly grown much closer.
Tony rolled his eyes and ignored Rhodes's ribbing. He concentrated on checking if there was anything else worth salvaging from Killian's compound. Maya helped him organize the important information.
After loading everything onto the Quinjet, Barton and Steve Rogers stayed behind to guard the site and wait for SHIELD personnel, while the others departed.
[The scene changed to a hardware store. Tony picked up a pair of large pliers and tossed them into a shopping cart, which already contained a bag of fertilizer. He sipped a small beer while selecting what he needed.]
[Soon he had filled an entire shopping cart, and as the camera panned, it revealed he had actually filled two carts with supplies.]
[After returning to Harley's temporary workspace, Tony began crafting what he needed. In short order, he fashioned a pair of simple armored gloves, a homemade stun gun, a nail gun, and various other improvised weapons and tools.]
[After preparing his makeshift arsenal, Tony drove to Miami, Florida.]
[He soon arrived at the location of the broadcast signal—an expansive coastal manor. Tony climbed up a tree and used a telescope to observe the distribution of guards inside.]
[He quickly formulated a plan. Rushing to the perimeter wall, he scaled it with surprising agility. He ascended the exterior stairs and found a guard with his back turned.]
[Tony swung a length of rope, hooked the man's foot, and pulled hard. The guard's chin smacked against the stairs, and he crumpled unconscious.]
[Tony then produced his nail gun and shot another guard in the neck, following up with a devastating knee to the man's groin. The guard immediately collapsed, clutching himself in agony.]
[A third guard discovered the commotion and rushed toward Tony, but Tony deployed his homemade stun gun. The man convulsed as electricity coursed through him. Tony delivered a precise kick, knocking him to the ground unconscious.]
"You know, for someone without his armor, Tony is still pretty dangerous," Natasha commented, watching Tony's infiltration with professional interest.
"That's the thing about Tony," Rhodes replied. "People think the suit makes the man, but it's always been the other way around."
Captain Marvel nodded in agreement. "That's true of most heroes. The power isn't what makes them special—it's how they use it."
"I wish Peter could see this," Aunt May said softly. "He's always looking up to Iron Man for the technology, but this is the lesson he really needs to learn."
The second-generation Harry watched intently. "Without resources, without backup... just his mind and whatever he can find. That's impressive."
"That's Tony Stark," Bruce Banner added with a small smile. "The mechanic at work."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more than 60 chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~