Chapter 17: Stark Expo Part 2

[Third Person's PoV] 

The next day…

Everything appeared like a big celebration; the place was filled with decorations. Everyone had big smiles on their faces as they entered a giant building with a sign that was bright red and read: THE STARK EXPO!

As Tony and Melissa made their way towards the Expo, Melissa turned to Tony. "I know this is mostly an exposition, hence the name. But I heard there will still be judges and the one with the highest score wins. But what do they win?"

"One of the most important things a scientist can get: exposure and recognition," Tony answered before fully explaining. "They will gain opportunities. Big and famous heroes will come to them when they need something, which in turn would make them somewhat famous. Winning the expo opens a lot of doors for people, so it's a really big deal. For example, if someone wants a job and they've won an expo before, they would be automatically hired."

Melissa nodded in understanding before narrowing her eyes at him slightly. "What?" Tony asked.

"Your dad owns everything, which means you will too. You will be their boss. What if the judges choose your creation as the winner to curry favor?"

"Don't worry about that. The judges are impartial. That's been the case for many years," Tony reassured her.

"I'll trust you on this," Melissa said.

When they got inside the building, they saw multiple panels with different advertisements trying to draw people in. They maneuvered through the crowd while carrying their suitcases. Soon, they saw two empty panels. One had Tony's name on it, and the one across from it had Melissa's name.

"Try not to cry when everyone turns their backs on you to look at my Expo," Tony smirked.

Melissa scoffed and went towards her stand, while Tony walked towards his. Each panel appeared like a stage. Tony opened his suitcase and took out two things: a red and purple box, which he laid on the ground, and a foldable chair, which he opened and sat on. Tony then took out his phone and extended it, turning it into a gaming console.

Meanwhile, Melissa was taking out many items from her suitcase, most of them weapons, ranging from swords to guns, all with different colors and designs, to gauntlets of various sizes. When she turned to look at Tony, she couldn't help but twitch her lip at his behavior. She glared in his direction before shaking her head and focusing on finishing her final touches to the stage.

It took nearly an hour for the Expo to officially begin. Fireworks were lit up outside, visible from within. Soon, people began exploring the different panels.

Seeing this, Tony smirked as he turned the gaming console back into a phone. He reached into his pockets and pulled out an earpiece to amplify his voice. He began tapping quickly on his phone, and soon every advertisement screen was hacked, showing his name, face, and location. 

Everyone, seeing this, grew interested as they had never seen anything like it. What mostly drew their attention was his last name.

Tony soon saw the area around him become crowded. "Why, hello everyone. I wonder what brings you all here today?" Tony smirked, earning a few chuckles from the crowd.

"I'm not sure if you all have seen, but my name is Anthony Stark. To show off what I created here today, I would like a volunteer who isn't ashamed to divulge their medical history. Anyone interested?"

Tony saw a few hands go up and covered his eyes with his hands, moving them around. "You!"

When Tony uncovered his eyes, he saw he was pointing to a woman. "The beautiful woman with the beautiful smile. Oh, wait, I have to be more specific since every woman here is beautiful and has a beautiful smile." This earned him a few awws, mostly from the women, due to Tony's age and appearance. "The woman in the white summer dress and pink hair."

The woman soon made her way to the stage. "So, what do you want me to do?" she asked sweetly.

Tony reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a roll of duct tape. "Please give me your arm," Tony said, pulling on the piece of tape.

The woman looked at Tony in confusion and stuck out her arm. "I'm sorry," Tony said.

The woman continued to look at Tony in confusion until he put the tape on her arm and ripped it off. "Ouch! Why would you—"

*Beep* *Beep*

The woman stopped talking and turned towards the sound of the beeping. She saw the box on the ground next to her open up. A white marshmallow-like figure began to inflate, growing in size. 

Seeing the figure, many became interested and were instantly drawn to its cute appearance. The marshmallow looked down at the ground, slowly stepped out of its small box, and softly walked towards Tony and the woman. It bumped into the foldable chair, lifted it slightly off the ground, looked both ways before setting it aside, and continued waddling towards them.

The marshmallow approached the woman, lifted a hand, and moved it in a circle as it introduced itself. "Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. I was alerted to your need for medical attention when you said 'ouch.'"

The woman blinked as she stared at Baymax. A screen lit up on Baymax's stomach with numbers going from 1 to 10, with a smiley face progressively turning into a frown as the numbers increased. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you describe your pain?"

"Ummm, a 3?" the woman answered, unsure how to respond.

Meanwhile, everyone watched curiously, interested in what was going to happen next.

"I will scan you now," Baymax said as it looked her up and down. "Scan complete."

It showed a white demonstration of a female body on its screen before highlighting the section around her forearm where Tony had ripped off the tape.

"You have a slight epidermal abrasion on your forearm," Baymax said as it lifted a finger. "I suggest an antibacterial spray." Baymax waddled closer and took her hand into his.

"Whoa, whoa, Baymax, what if she's allergic?" Tony said with a smile.

"The main ingredient in the antibacterial spray is Bacitracin. She is not allergic to Bacitracin, but she does have an allergic reaction to peaches."

"Whoa! I do! How did it know?" the woman asked with a smile.

Hearing this, the crowd began to clap slightly. Baymax then started applying the spray to the area. After he was done, he presented her with a lollipop.

"You have been a good girl. I hope you have a safe delivery and childbirth."

The woman's face dropped. "What?" Tony then heard another person in the crowd scream 'what' as well.

"I take it you didn't know?" Tony asked.

The woman shook her head, tears starting to stream down her face as she put a hand near her mouth. "Can you please tell me more?"

"During your scan, another sign of life was detected around your abdomen," Baymax said, showing a picture of the same white figure and highlighting the small sign of life it had detected.

The woman turned towards Tony. "It isn't lying, right?"

Tony shook his head. "Baymax was built to detect anything within a person's body, so if it says you are pregnant, that is most definitely the case."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you truly. My husband and I were having a bit of difficulty conceiving. We took this trip to take our minds off it. Who knew coming here would reveal this?"

A man with dark blue hair came running up the stage. He picked up the woman and spun her around. "We're going to have a baby!" he said excitedly.

"Let's give the couple an applause for their wonderful news," Tony said, motioning towards them.

The crowd began to clap, even more interested in Baymax. The couple gave Tony a bow of thanks and started exiting the stage.

Baymax then started to follow them. 

"Wait," Tony called out awkwardly.

When they turned, they found Baymax following them, causing them to look towards Tony in confusion.

"It won't leave your side until the person in distress says they are satisfied with their care."

The woman smiled upon hearing that and turned towards Baymax. "I am satisfied with my care."

Baymax nodded and started walking back towards its box.

"Wait, Baymax buddy, I still need you," Tony called out, making it waddle back to Tony's side.

"Well, that sure was a surprise, wasn't it? But a welcome one." Tony scratched the back of his head. "That honestly threw me off a bit. Hold on a minute, everyone."

The crowd chuckled at that. "Let's talk more about Baymax, shall we?"

Tony went and touched the place where a normal heart would be. The area slowly opened, and out came a chip.

"This chip contains over one hundred thousand medical procedures. It is what makes Baymax, well, Baymax—your helpful healthcare companion. Due to this chip, Baymax has absolutely zero desire to harm anyone and only wants to help."

"His insides are mostly made of carbon fiber, making him extremely light, while his outside is made of vinyl, giving him this squishy, marshmallow-like appearance," Tony said, giving Baymax a hug and sinking slightly into him.

Tony then went on to present all the medical equipment he had installed in Baymax, like defibrillators in case someone went into cardiac arrest, bandages, and band-aids, a heating and cooling system, and much more.

Tony and Baymax then bowed to the crowd. "And that, everyone, is Baymax, the ultimate nurse. Always making sure you are alright in this dangerous world we live in."

Everyone soon began to clap, genuinely impressed with Baymax.

"During this Expo, everyone can come up one by one to get your very own checkup by Baymax. Who knows, you might discover something you didn't know before," Tony said, winking at the couple from earlier.

Everyone then became curious, wondering if they themselves had something they didn't know about. One by one, they all went and received their checkup from Baymax.

Baymax discovered hidden injuries in many of them, which took most by surprise as they believed they were healed. Most of them were heroes who had fought many battles. They thanked Baymax and congratulated Tony on his incredible invention.

One of the phrases Tony mostly received was, "You truly are worthy of the Stark name," making him inwardly roll his eyes.

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