A briefcase for Leon

Inside the lab's glass isolation chamber, the captured bodyguard writhed in agony. His body was a twitching wreck, swarmed by ants crawling over sugar-smeared cuts that Leon had ruthlessly inflicted. His face twisted in pain, sweat beading on his brow, but his lips stayed stubbornly sealed.

Leon watched the man's struggle, his voice icy and detached. "This guy's tougher than he looks. Most would've cracked by now. He's been through hell but he's still holding out."

Munching on an apple, Leon glanced at Tony Stark, who was hunched over a holographic display, scribbling equations. "Even if he doesn't talk, it's not like Obadiah knows much that could hurt us," Leon said, tossing the apple core into the trash can. "Still you have to finish this early, as soon as possible."

Tony didn't look up, his focus locked on the glowing numbers dancing across the screen. "Relax, I've got this," he muttered. "Howard's cryptic as hell, but extracting the new element from his model? Piece of cake."

Leon smirked, crossing his arms. "Piece of cake, huh? You've been at it all day."

Tony waved a hand dismissively, still not breaking his stride. "Day's been packed Leon, I am tinkering with the suit's portability. A neural controlled suit would be ideal, but all I've got are some rough ideas. For now, I'm leaning towards a compact, box-like design. It's not as seamless as a full neural summoning system, but it beats suiting up manually."

Leon nodded, his tone sharpening. "Good. The sooner we're locked and loaded, the better. Obadiah won't sit idle."

Tony paused, shooting Leon a sideways glance, suspicion flickering in his eyes. "You're awfully sure Obadiah will come knocking. What, you got a crystal ball now? Or just betting on his paranoia?"

Leon's expression hardened. "It's obvious, Tony. You have butted heads with him for years, he's ruthless and doesn't leave loose ends. If his guy is MIA, he'll send someone to sniff around. And if he confirms we've got him? He'll send a hit squad to clean up the mess. No loose lips."

Tony sighed, shaking his head, a mix of frustration and realization in his voice. "I get it, but it's wild. Obadiah's got power, money, hell, I've let him run the company most days. Except for some deals, I stayed out of his way. Guess that wasn't enough."

Leon cut in with a dismissive snort. "That's just you. Now, let's get back to your experiments."

Tony's eyes suddenly lit up as he grabbed a table and quickly assembled a makeshift circuit. Within seconds, sparks flew as he activated a small launcher. A burst of energy crackled through the air, and there it was, a shimmering new element, glowing with untapped power.

Without hesitating, Tony slotted the new element into a fresh Ark reactor, the device humming to life with an eerie, pulsating glow. "JARVIS, assemble the suit, now."

In less than a minute, the lab's machinery whirred, snapping the iconic red-and-gold armor onto Tony's frame. He stepped forward, the suit's systems booting with a surge of power. The chest plate flared to life, brighter than ever, the new reactor's energy flooding the suit. His HUD flooded with data, and power levels spiking, showing a massive power output advantage over the previous one.

"Wow," Tony breathed, flexing his gauntlets. "This… this is insane." He shot Leon a wild grin. "Gotta take this baby for a spin, be back in a flash!" With that, he blasted off, the lab's ceiling hatch flipping open under JARVIS's control as he rocketed into the night sky.

Leon watched him disappear, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.

.....

Ten minutes later, Tony burst back into the lab, his eyes alight with uncontainable excitement.

"Man, that was insane! This new element in the Arc Reactor blows the old palladium version out of the water. It's unreal!" Tony exclaimed, practically bouncing as he turned to Leon.

Leon crossed his arms, his tone dry. "What, you trying to rub it in? Quit gloating and hand me one already. I know you created one for me"

Tony grinned, leaning in with a mock offended look. "Whoa, is that how you ask for a favor? Where's the grace, bro?"

"Grace is overrated." Leon shot back, waving a hand dismissively.

Tony grinned and called out with playful defiance, "Before we keep going, how about a rematch?

Tony's smile turned sly. "Think you can keep up without that big sword of yours?" Without warning, he lunged, his armored fist rocketing toward Leon in a sudden blur.

Leon's spider-sense kicked in, a tingling warning at the edge of his mind. He twisted aside, the punch whistling past his ear. Before he could catch his breath, two turrets snapped up from Tony's shoulders, unleashing a barrage of bullets. The rounds screamed through the air like drills, tracking Leon's every move. Tony wasn't holding back. 

Leon moved like a gymnast on overdrive, flipping and twisting through the chaos.

Inside the suit, Tony smirked. 'Just as I thought, his mutant reflexes are unreal.' He had programmed JARVIS to calculate Leon's every dodge, feeding the previous fight's data into it. Yet, even with all that, Leon kept slipping through. 'Can't pin him down that easily.'

Tony's grin widened as Leon evaded another volley. He was a little jealous of his brother's raw ability but mostly proud. 

After a solid minute of suppression, Tony eased off, the turrets retracting. "Impressive."

Leon straightened, brushing off his clothes. "Good practice." He wasn't mad, sparring like this honed him for real danger.

Tony chuckled, then tapped his temple. "Hold up, I've got something better. Give me a few hours to crack the portable armor formula." 

.....

Five hours later, Tony cracked his fingers. "Done." He directed JARVIS to fire up the lab's fabricators, and within half an hour, they'd churned out a sleek, grey briefcase. Tony handed it to Leon, pulling out a second one for himself.

Leon raised an eyebrow, turning the case over. "What's this supposed to be?"

"Portable armor," Tony said, smirking. "Set it down and press the front."

Curious, Leon placed the case on the floor and hit the button. It sprang to life, unfolding like a Transformer into a gauntlet-like frame with an open slot. He slid his hand inside without hesitation.

A crisp voice chimed: "DNA verified. User identity confirmed."

Metal surged from the case, flowing up Leon's arm and across his body in a wave of interlocking plates. In moments, he was fully encased in a gleaming suit of armor, sleek and powerful. A familiar voice rang in his ears: "Master Leon, JARVIS at your service."

Leon flexed his hands, feeling the suit's strength hum through him. He glanced at Tony, his smirk stretching into a grin. "Alright, Tony. You've outdone yourself this time."