This Is Also Magic

Pepper rushed into the studio to find the miniaturized ark reactor she had wrapped up as a gift for Tony—the same one Tony had built in the mountain cave. Tony's face became much better after she fitted the reactor carefully into his chest. He smiled at Pepper.

"Not bad; your skill has improved since last time!"

"Tony!" Pepper sighed in relief after seeing that Tony was back to normal. She immediately hugged him with teary eyes, ignoring Fanny's discomfort.

Determined to not let the two fill the city with their lovey-dovey atmosphere, Fanny used all his brainpower to play the obstructive third wheel. He called them out from the side, "Hey, hey, there are still people here. And what happened to you? How did you end up like this?"

Pepper and Tony snapped back to reality by Fanny's voice. Pepper's face turned red, and she quickly released Tony. "I'll go get tea."

Tony, however, was a veteran playboy with unimaginably thick skin. "You just have to ruin that beautiful atmosphere, don't you?" He scolded Fanny, dissatisfied.

"Come on. You almost lost your life; you still have the mood to talk about that kind of thing?" Fanny snorted.

"It was exactly because I almost lost my life that I knew I should cherish what I have!" Tony proclaimed. He then shakily forced himself to stand up. He said with a formal tone, "Thank you!"

His gratitude wasn't just for finding Pepper, but also for opening a portal to save him.

But such sincerity only served to discomfort Fanny even further. Like Tony's prior apology, it was out of character for him.

"It doesn't matter. I have my own reason." Fanny turned his face away awkwardly, then clarified, "Perhaps these things wouldn't have happened if I hadn't met you before."

Tony didn't understand what he meant, but Fanny knew that Pepper wouldn't have been caught without his intervention. Tony would still be in danger, but he would be saved in the end.

Fortunately, Tony didn't pry further. He switched to the next problem at hand, "Obadiah took my ark reactor. We can't have him analyze the technology. We must find and stop him as soon as possible."

Pepper arrived with a pot of tea. "Tony, he was the one who ordered the hit on you. He also established a secret project in Section 16 under the ark reactor. It seems to be related to your armor."

"I have to check it out." Tony struggled to stand up. He wanted to put on the armor, but he had not fully recovered; he couldn't even walk straight yet.

"Alright, you should recover first. I know about Obadiah." Fanny stopped Tony. He hesitantly explained, "He got the wreckages and blueprints of the armor that you created when you're kidnapped by the terrorist and built a bigger one."

"But until today, he lacked the power source for the armor. Now that he had obtained the reactor from you, he would probably test it first. There's no need to hurry." He sighed at Tony's puzzled and surprised face and made up an explanation, "I can't predict the future like my Master, but I know a few key events that would happen as long as I don't interfere."

Tony really believed what Fanny said about predicting the future. He gained some respect for Ancient One.

"Come, eat some fried chicken fillet to recover your energy!" Fanny casually summoned two 'Sumire Karaage Rolls' and handed them to Tony and Pepper, who stared at him in shock.

"When did you make these? Where did you take them from?" Tony swept his eyes up and down Fanny's person. He couldn't see where Fanny could have pulled out the 'Sumire Karaage Rolls' from. Pepper also inspected him curiously.

"Magic, this is also magic!" Fanny summoned another fried chicken roll in front of them.

Pepper was especially dumbstruck. Between the strange armor, the teleportation portal, and now the Sumire Karaage Rolls, her worldview was shattered into pieces.

"It's not made of some weird chemicals, right?" Tony's curiosity overcame his thoughts about Obadiah. He studied the fried chicken in his hand closely, tempted to taste it. He then recalled that he discovered Fanny's fried chicken snack shop during his investigation.

"Why don't you have a taste? Then you could be sure." Fanny took a bite of the fried chicken in his hand to gain their trust. The rich fragrance that filled the room made Tony and Pepper swallow their saliva.

They had gained some level of trust toward Fanny after the ordeal that they went through. They looked at each other and finally bit down on the fried chicken.

The food Fanny summoned was nothing less of a miraculous elixir. Pepper couldn't help but reveal a happy expression after eating it, and her breathing became heavier. She subconsciously let out a single word:

"Delicious!"

Tony's expression wasn't as exaggerated, but he still involuntarily showed his bliss. He turned to Fanny and commented, "Well, it's not bad. If you can't find a job in the future, you can apply to be my chef."

Fanny rolled his eyes and ignored Tony's joke. He continued to eat the fried chicken.

Just eating one each wasn't enough for them, but they stopped after eating two more. Tony's face almost returned to normal, and he looked much more energetic than when they found him.

After recovering some energy and filling their stomach, they began discussing the problem.

"Is it really okay not to tell the authorities about this?"

Pepper still wanted to solve the problem through a proper channel, but her two companions disagreed.

"If they're too slow to act, they would just cause more problems." Tony knew full well the destructive potential of his armor, so he was the most worried about the harm that the Iron Monger would cause. He didn't want ordinary people to get involved.

"I don't want to contact the people of that organization for the time being." Fanny shrugged.

"Was that part of your strategy?" Tony was curious about Fanny's insistence, especially after knowing that Fanny might really know about what the future held.

"Yes." Fanny nodded, but he didn't elaborate. Just a little contact with Tony had caused such a big impact. If he intervened any further, the Avengers might even fail to form.

"Okay, two to one. We will go and take care of Obadiah now. Pepper, you go find Rhodes; I already told him to send someone to protect you." Tony summed up their current plan.

"Is your reactor okay?" Fanny looked at Tony's chest. This was the first prototype that was created in the cave. No matter how sophisticated or precise its manufacturing was, it would never be as refined as the second generation.

Tony casually knocked on his chest twice, producing 'ding' sounds. He said proudly, "The important thing is the armor. There's no problem with the energy source."

"Alright!" Fanny nodded. He watched as Tony performed maintenance on the mechanical armor.

Fanny was actually looking forward to the battle. He almost gave up on obtaining experience from the Iron Monger and didn't expect to be given another chance.

"The battlefield will be Mount Everest. Get ready!" Fanny told Tony and summoned his 'Demon Armor Incursio.' He then opened a portal to the Stark Industry Section 16.

Under the night sky, two figures wearing different armor styles appeared in New York, ready to battle the third one.